Welcome to Season 3 of Love & Context. This season,
we're exploring the life of Jesus step -by -step
and uncovering what His story teaches us about
loving God and others. Here on Love & Context,
we're all about having real conversations about
how to live out that love in practical, everyday
ways, and understanding the Bible in its full
context. We're so glad you're here. Let's dive
into Season 3 of Love & Context. Welcome back
to the Loving Context podcast. Side note, Ben's
starting a DJ career. If any of you have bar
mitzvahs, he only does bar mitzvahs. Only bar
mitzvahs. Yeah, no bat mitzvahs, only bar mitzvahs.
Just bar mitzvahs. It is Wednesday, and we're
both exhausted. It is one of those days. People
don't know, but we post on Friday, but usually
we record on Wednesday. And we were going to
record last Wednesday, but Spencer was so sad
about the Mariners that he couldn't record. No,
that's not it. But we could record on Wednesday,
and sometimes we get here, and I'm like, this
feels like the end of the week. And it's not.
And I've got like two more days to go. And I'm
like, hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Wednesdays, we did try
recording on Fridays, but my usually like my
Wednesday, Thursdays are just slammed. And by
the time I get to Friday afternoon, my thoughts
are like, all right, we are talking Bible stuff
and there's words here we should read. And I
have a thought it's somewhere. And those are
the things Ben gets to edit out. He gets there
and he's like, he's like, yeah, that guy that
did the thing. Jesus. If you guys remember last
episode, we talked about Lazarus, the raising
of Lazarus, and we're going to be jumping right
around that story. There's going to be this time
where Jesus is now the start of the passion.
He's going to be going into Jerusalem, and that's
the story that we're going to be reading today.
We're going to read it from two different places,
even though you can find it in all four Gospels.
We're going to start in Matthew, and I think
you got that one. Yeah. As Jesus and the disciples
approached Jerusalem, they came to a town of
Bethpage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two
of them ahead, go into the village there. He
said, as soon as you enter it, you will see a
donkey tied there with the colt beside it. Untie
and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you're
doing, just say the Lord needs them and he will
immediately let you take them. This took place
to fulfill the prophecy that was said, tell the
people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming
to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey, riding
on a donkey's colt. The two disciples did as
Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and
the colt to him and they threw their garments
over the colt and he sat on it. Most of the crowd
spread their garments on the road ahead of him,
and the others cut branches from trees and spread
them on the ground. Jesus is a Jew, so that's
okay. You nailed it. Jesus was in the center
of the procession, and the people all around
him were shouting, Praise God for the son of
David. Blessings to the one who has come in the
name of the Lord. Praise God in the highest heavens.
Uh, they enter the city of Jerusalem, uh, the
entire city of Jerusalem. I am so tired. Let's
try that again. The entire city of Jerusalem,
uh, uproared as he entered. Who is this? They
asked. The crowds replied. It is Jesus, the prophet
from Nazareth in Galilee. All right, so Spencer
says that he's tired, and that's why he's having
trouble reading. I think we all know, and we've
established on this podcast, Spencer can't read.
He's just memorized a lot of words. Yeah, it's
not like that's what I teach at school every
day. All right, now let's hear this from the
Gospel of John. So the reason I chose Matthew
and John is Matthew's going to be one of the
earlier accounts written, and John's going to
be one of the later accounts written down. And
so just kind of seeing how they're shaped for
a different audience. Also, Matthew written more
to a Jewish audience. John also writing to Jews,
but in a Gentile area. So starting in chapter
12. So he's just had, they just had this conversation
with, they've called out Lazarus. Then he's been
anointed by Mary. And Judas has that conversation
about like, oh, you could have sold this for
the poor, even though that's definitely not what
was going to happen. And, So it says, the next
day. So this is what happened previously. The
next day, the great crowds that had come for
the festival heard that Jesus was on his way
to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went
out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna, blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed
is the king of Israel. Jesus found a young donkey
and sat on it. As it is written, do not be afraid,
daughter Zion. See, your king is coming, seated
on a donkey's colt. At first, his disciples did
not understand all this. Only after Jesus was
glorified did they realize that these things
had been written about him and that these things
had been done to him. Now the crowd. that was
with him when he raised Lazarus from the tomb
and raised him from the dead continued to spread
the word. Many people, because they had heard
that he had performed this sign, went out to
meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another,
see, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the
whole world has gone after him. Okay. So a little
context here. Jesus isn't the only one entering
in a procession. There's another guy by the name
of Pontius Pilate that's also entering in a procession.
And he's going to have this military procession.
There's going to be soldiers and weapons and
horses. And there's going to be Hail Caesar and
all these different things that are going on.
This military type of procession coming into
this city. And then you've got Jesus coming in
on the other side. Cold donkey, free people,
praising. cutting down palm trees, which we'll
get to in a minute. But the reality here is that
we've got two kings, we've got two kingdoms,
and there's a collision of pageantry, if you
will. Jerusalem's population is roughly seven
times its normal population because of the festivals
that are coming up Passover. It's one of the
three festivals that you actually come and you're
there for pilgrimage. uh, this one. And then
typically they'll stay for Shavuot, which is
50 days later. This is going to be a tense time
for the Romans because this is the celebration
of Passover, which is when they're celebrating,
um, Exodus from Egypt. When a dictator was overthrown
by the power of God, um, makes you, makes you
a little bit nervous about like riots breaking
out. That's why Pontius Pilate is even there.
Um, So there's a ton of political messianic tension,
right? Expectations. There's, there's tension
going on here. Um, pilot is coming in with this,
this position of power and authority and sword.
And, um, you know, what Rome is is that they're
going to lay waste to all of their enemies. And
Jesus is riding on donkey, right? He's coming
in. And, uh, if you actually read the account
in Luke, he's actually going to, um, he's actually
going to weep when he actually sees them rejoicing.
And we're going to talk about why that is in
just a minute. But this is a very, very different
picture because like if you think about what
the people are expecting, they're expecting this
messianic king that's going to rise up and destroy
Rome and put Israel back in forefront. And Jesus
is doing none of that. You have that. That's
Rome. I mean, obviously the Jewish people are
oppressed, but it's like that's their thing.
It's not what I'm doing. Well, and that's a realistic
expectation because they're coming from the context
of the Exodus, right? Where the world powerhouse
was brought to its knees by the Lord, right?
And so Rome at the time spread through parts
of Africa, Middle East, over like through what
would be modern day Pakistan, Turkey, all the
way up into Europe, right? Italy, and it was
actually working on its spread northward and
actually eventually did get all the way over
to England, right? So Rome was this massive,
massive empire, right? And so the Jews are probably
holding on to only our God can take care of this,
right? Only our God can free us from these guys,
right? As crazy as it is, Rome is almost more
formidable than Egypt was. It was more formidable.
Yeah. Like from their perspective, because I
mean, like, yes, they were enslaved in Egypt
and Egypt was a powerhouse, but now Rome is like
the nation conquering nation. Right. One of the
things that's going on in the story is every
word, every prop is telling a story in this.
So one of the first things that's actually mentioned
is it comes from Zechariah 9. That's not even
a word. That's not a number. That's not a reference.
It comes from Zechariah 9. And it says that the
king comes humbly. riding on a donkey, bringing
peace instead of war. Now the next verse, Zechariah
9 and 10, is then going to declare that the king
will banish chariots and command peace to the
nations. So he comes on the colt saying, I'm
bringing peace, not war. But that's not what
the people see. Like Jesus is telling a story
even how he's coming in. He's like, I'm bringing
peace, not war. And they're just like, yeah,
peace when you drive out the Romans and then
we'll be at peace, right? They actually quote,
let's see here, donkeys in the Old Testament
in Solomon in 1 Kings 1 .33, donkeys will symbolize
royal mounts for peacetime kings. They quote
from Psalm 118. You heard that. We said the crowd's
cry of Hosanna come from this festival. It's
actually a festival hymn, right? Sung as pilgrims
as they enter the temple. Save us, we pray, O
Lord, is the exclamation of hope, right? From
the Psalm. And there's actually even a connection
back to Genesis 49, where it says that Jacob
has this oracle over Judah, where he says the
kingship is going to be tied to a donkey. Right.
Your kingship is actually gonna be tied to a
donkey in Genesis 49. So there's a lot of things
that are connecting from the Torah here. And,
um, I don't want to say that people miss all
of it, but they miss a lot of it. And I think
John highlights as well. He's like, we didn't
really understand what he was doing, but after
he rose, we're like, Oh yeah. And like, And don't
jump on the people's case too much on this. No,
totally BS. Let's just ask a simple question.
Have you ever been so single -minded or focused
that when a change in direction is put in front
of you, you still can't make that change? Right.
Right? So my daughter's second grade and your
son's first grade? Mm -hmm. Am I about to hear
a story about today? No, you're not. But there
has been times where my kid has been so focused
on every detail on how something's going to play
out that when one little thing gets off, she's
like... My world is undone and there's no way
I can function throughout the rest of the day.
Well, there's also, and beyond that too, there's
also this thing of like, we have this expectation
of how we think it's going to play out. Like
to your point, one of my favorite stories is
the story about there's this flood coming into
an area and this guy, his neighbors come and
tell him, they're like, hey, you got to evacuate
because there's flood coming in there. He's like,
listen, I already prayed and God told me he would
save me. And they're like. Okay. So then later
the floodwaters would come up to the, to the
top of the roof, right? And he's sitting on the
roof and this guy comes up in a boat and he says,
Hey, you know, we're getting people out of here,
like jump on the boat. And he says, no, God already
told me that he had saved me. And then he's standing
on the top of the roof and the water's up to
his chest and a helicopter comes up and he says,
dude, we can get you out of here. Come give me
your hand. We'll get you out of here and we'll
save you. He says, nope. God already said that
he would save me. Then he drowns and dies. And
he's in heaven. He asked God, he's like, God,
you told me that you would save me. He's like,
I sent your neighbors. I sent a boat and I sent
a helicopter. What do you need? Right. And, uh,
and so we're like, well, this is how God's going
to save. This is how God is going to, um, he's
going to, he's going to fix the world. Right.
Um, and, and I would also say, don't get on the
Hebrews case about, uh, about them having this
focus of the heat. We're going to get freed from
Roman oppression because look at, look at the
old Testament moving forward. You have, you have
Egypt that gets freed from Egypt, right? You
have them being conquered by Assyrians. They
get freed from that. The Babylonians, they get
freed from that. I'm probably forgetting a few
others, but like, but you see, you see what I'm
saying? There's other nations that have come
in and conquered them time and time again. And
the Lord has brought up somebody to free them
from that. Right. So it, so in their minds, it
is a very, very continuing a pattern, very reasonable
expectation to say the Lord's going to rise up
somebody to free us from Rome. So the, uh, so
the question I wrote here as a prompt for us
to talk about kind of talking through these points
because what they do, um, by the way, once again,
I want to point out, we're not getting onto the
Jewish people. We're just using them as a talking
point, really talking about us. Right. Um, did
the crowd cheer for the wrong kind of Messiah?
And would we have to? Yeah, because so one of
the things they're doing is they spread cloaks
on the on the road If you look at 2nd Kings 913
that Jehu is proclaimed king. This is the same
thing that they do So this is a king thing you
throw your cloaks out The palms symbolize victory
and Jewish nationalism, but they're often used
in revolts like the Maccabean uprising Which
happened just a couple hundred years before right?
And, uh, so in your, in your, like their head,
they're like, Oh, this is it. This is Maccabean.
This is what we've seen. This is like, they're
going to come and liberate. They're going to
come and overthrow. Uh, we're going to see, you
know, all these things coming back. And in the
middle of this, people are, they're going, they're
Hoshana, Hoshana, you know, and they're excited
because they're like, Rome is going down. And
if you read the, um, read the text in Luke says
that Jesus looks at it and he starts crying.
And I remember when we talked about Lazarus,
we talked about that Jesus wept. And it's one
word for it's like deep emotional anguish. The
word here is different. And he's very sad. Like
he's actually shedding tears, like legit tears.
Like this is heartbreaking for him. It's hard.
Yeah. And I mean, we do that. Like as parents,
we do that, right? Yeah. When our kids get so
stuck in their ways and they're like, you are
just missing the point. I mean, sometimes we
shed tears. Sometimes we yell a little bit, right?
Speak for yourself. I have never yelled in my
life. I have never heard you yell at your kids.
Hey, get down from there. Exactly. But, you know,
that's just kind of it's. It's one of those things
that we can relate to as well. Yeah. Like Jesus
sees the people doing this and these people think
they're doing the right thing. Yeah. And Jesus
is like, no, like you're missing it. This. Okay.
So kids is actually a great way to talk about
this because we went to the zoo. It was either
Boise Zoo or it was the - To be clear, Ben went
to the zoo with his kids. I didn't go with Ben.
Yeah. Spencer and I went to the zoo. Just Ben
and I went to the zoo. We ate some corn dogs
and we had popcorn. No, I'm just kidding. So
I can't remember if it was the Anchorage Zoo
or the Boise Zoo, but we went to the zoo because
James wanted to see animals, right? And so this
was sometime in the last couple of years. Right
at the entrance of the zoo, there's like these
little animal figures that you can like - crawl
on mm -hmm and James wanted to crawl on him totally
fine right then we're actually gonna go into
the zoo We're going to go because there's a playground
on the way. You can see the tigers. You can see
the bears. We can see the fish. All the things
that are going on. I still thought you were going
to go lion so that I could go, oh, my. Sorry.
I messed you up. Sorry. I was waiting. I mean,
I teed you up, and then you went to fish. And
I was like, bro, golden opportunity. That's how
you can tell I did not plan what I was about
to say before I said it because I totally would
have done that. Oh, my. anyways so he's on this
playing with these like little figurines like
he's playing with them and he doesn't want to
leave he's like these are the best things that
I've ever had or been around and so we're like
hey we need to go deeper in and he just pitches
the biggest fit I'm sure you have no idea what
this is like right And, and like, it gets to
this point where I know where we're going and
I know the excitement that he's going to have.
Yeah. But I almost don't want to go there now
because it's getting ruined, you know, because
he's focusing on something. He's focusing on
something of not where we're going, but like
where we are. Yeah. And he's so focused on where
we are that he doesn't understand. I'm like,
dude, you have no idea what's coming. You have
no idea what's coming. Yeah. You know, and you
are, you are so convinced that this is the best
thing that's ever happened to you. We need to
go deeper. Right. And I just, I just think that
this is a lot of what like is happening. And
this, this is like legitimate, like fears and
concerns. And like, I don't want to minimize
how people feel when, when oppression and sin
and brokenness and all the things that we deal
with in life. Right. Where we're waiting for
God to break through where we're at. And we're
like, we're like, you know, right here. Like
God's going to do this. But he's like, dude,
just go a little bit deeper. I've got something
way better planned for you. Right? No! You know?
Well, and you look at the act of throwing your
cloaks down and throwing palm trees down. Part
of the reason that this was done, or at least
this is one interpretation of it, is the roads
that you traveled on back in those days were
incredibly dirty. Right? They were full, we've
talked about it, full of animal poop and full
of just like, they were not clean around. And
in case you missed that, he said poop. Poop.
Yes, animal poop. And so you, like, this is the
only podcast that talks about the Bible and poop.
So, but part of that act of like throwing your
cloak down for a king or a savior or something
like that is you are trying to keep them clean
and pure in the sight of the Lord. Like it's
this imagery piece that takes place, right? Yeah.
But then the question becomes is why were they
trying to keep him? Why were they trying to keep
this purity, right? Were they trying to keep
it for Jesus' sake so that Jesus could remain
pure? Or were they trying to do it for their
own sake of like, if we keep him pure, we get
saved from this oppression, right? And like,
if you take that interpretation, I personally,
and please don't take this as like, this is...
like a hundred percent theologically true. This
is just a Spencer interpretation. Okay. But we
take that. And then personally, I see Jesus going
and weeping and being like, you guys just missed
the point. Yeah. It's not just about you. Yeah.
Right. Well, and that's, and that's, what's going
to be continuing to go on as, as, because we're
going to be, uh, the back half of the season
is going through passion week. Right. And there's
so many times, like even next week, we're going
to talk about Jesus going through and cleansing
the temple. He's like, you missed the point,
right? It's going to be a lot of, you missed
the point. Yeah. You missed the point over and
over and over again, uh, to the point that they
get frustrated and they, they're like, well,
maybe we'll just kill you. Yeah. You know? Well,
and the combination of those two stories is you
have the story of like, here's the show we're
going to, we're going to keep you quote unquote
clean, uh, free from mess. And then Jesus goes
to the temple and he's like, what the flip are
you doing? Yeah. Right. Literally. And then flip
stables. And I do, I'm like, I don't want to
under, understate how, I think sometimes like
we hear it and we just don't necessarily think
about how revolutionary, like the way that Jesus
tells us conquering actually happens because
he goes in on a cult. So Romans come in chariots.
you know, loud noises, singers, you know, whatever
you want to call it. Right. It's, it's loud.
It's bombastic. And he's coming in on a cult
and he's weeping because he recognizes that they're
missing the point. It's a lot of like humbleness
that he's, he's coming to bring peace. Like not,
it's going to be not that many days later. He's
going to be walking out, carrying a cross. So
he comes in humble and he leaves in one of the
most humiliating ways possible. Right. Literally
carrying a cross. Like, And this is how the world
is conquered. Like, I don't think we can understate
how, how weird the way that God's kingdom actually
works is that when we say upside down kingdom,
we really mean upside upside down. His coronation
event is a crucifixion. it's, it's strange. He
says to conquer the world, you have to lay your
life down. You have to be willing to pick up
your cross and follow after him. Yeah. Right.
You gotta be well, and that's not just die because
you're, you're, you're a diehard. It means because
you're willing to lay down your life to protect,
to liberate, to lift people up, to bring the
kingdom of God into the midst of other people
so that people are able to engage with who God
is. That's the kind of thing that actually conquers
the world. Yeah. And we say that, but it's not
actually bred into the... It feels like it's
one of the things that's missing in the fiber
of the Christian church. That we actually exist
to lay ourselves down for other people. To disciple
other people. Well, a lot of Christian church
talk today talks about... is still, still kind
of leans towards that. This is what you receive.
This is what you get. Right. But then it's, what
do you do with what you get? Like, as you were
following Jesus, you are going to inherently
become more like him. Right. As you're leaning
into that relationship with God and you're inherently
going to start seeing the world the way God sees
the world and living the way God wants, wants
you to live. It's a natural progression and we
often treat it like a checklist, but we often,
we often like, uh, we often say those prayers
like, Oh Lord, thank you for everything you've
done for me and all that I've gotten out of it.
And then we kind of leave it at that. And then
we forget to add in the, put people in my place
so I can put people in front of me that I can
share you with or something like that. Right.
Right. Because it goes hand in hand. We receive
so we can give, we don't just receive so we can
keep it to ourselves. I mean, I think Jesus talked
about this a few. few chapters ago about something,
something about like a light on a hill or something
like that. Well, and, and even going all the
way back to Genesis 12, you have been blessed
so that all nations would be blessed. Right?
So you have been like, God has done something
in your favor so that through you, all the people
around you receive the blessing of God. Right.
And, uh, and so what does that, what does that
actually look like? You know? And, and, um, I,
I wrote down this quote because I thought it
was great. Um, sometimes divine truth comes dressed
like a street protest and street poetry at once.
You know, I was like, uh, it just, it's down
and it's dirty and it's in your face, you know?
Um, one of the, one of the things that we have
to not be afraid of, uh, which Jesus definitely
does cause we're, we've been talking about poop.
So this is real discipleship, real fellowship
in the kingdom of God is messy, right? It's going
to be messy, uh, because we're taking broken
people and helping them put their lives back
together. We're introducing them to a King who
can clean up their life, but like, there's a
lot to clean up. Like cleaning, coming to Jesus
with your garbage means that there's garbage
that has to be cleaned up. Right. That's not
a bad thing, but life is messy. Discipleship
is like going into someone's house, someone who's
made a lifestyle of pooping on the living room
floor. Yes. And you being like, hey, I want to
help you clean that up. Yeah. Right. Yeah. That's
what I mean. It's a really weird analogy for
it, but that's what it is. Right. It's like when
you are. bringing the gospel to people you're
bringing you're bringing life to a place that
is so dirty and messy and you're bringing you're
bringing jesus who's the one who's like hey i
see how much you've crapped in the living room
yeah and i'm gonna help take care of that so
there's a lot of things going on in this in this
picture there's this image uh there's this juxtaposition
of uh kingdom of god and rome and there is this
juxtaposition of like um the people and what
Jesus is doing. There's this old Testament connections.
There's these, this pageantry of items. He's
going to be coming in and confronting like the
Jewish leaders. They're like, yeah, we're not
a fan of what's going on right now. He's way
too popular. Right. So they're going to try to
bring him down a couple of pegs, which is going
to lead to some very fun conversations. Um, but
the, the overwhelming image. that we should be
getting during this passion week that, that Jesus
is driving home. And it's going to be, uh, in
the conversations, it's going to be in, um, it's
going to be in the debates. It's going to be
in the crucifixion. It's going to be a resurrection.
It's going to be in through all the, uh, through
the trial is that the kingdom of God is coming
to conquer, but not through coercion, but compassion,
that, uh, passion, the compassion, I would even
say of God that it's, he is coming to, it's coming
to conquer, but not in, it looks very different
than Rome. Yes. And this type of kingdom can't
be stopped. No. Right. It goes all the way back
to Genesis one, where you have, where you have
the chaos waters in the dark. And the first thing
God does is he brings his presence, which brings
calm and he brings light to reveal what it is.
Right. You have. you have that tie back over
to that Matthew passage where Jesus is like,
you're the light on top of a hill. When light
is brought into a situation, it reveals what's
broken. Right. Right. And then you have Jesus
here weeping. Well, in a little, in a bit, he's
going to be weeping because he realizes that
there is a light that's coming, but they don't
see it. Jesus is going to just a couple of chapters
later in, in Matthew, he's actually going to
go up and he's going to lament. And in, um, It's
really interesting because they've been very
much like, yeah, he's here and he's the best
and blah, blah, blah. But in Matthew 23, he's
going to say this, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you
who kill prophets and stone those sent to you.
How often I have longed to gather your children
together as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wing. And you were not willing. Look, your house
is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you
will not see me again until you say, blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now,
ironically. what's the thing that they said when
he came in? Blessed is the one who came in the
name of the Lord. Yeah. And, uh, and so like
Jesus knows exactly what's going on here, but
it's, uh, we, we may touch on the laments. I
can't remember if that's in our, in our, in our
notes, but we probably referenced them as we're
going through either way. Um, but Jesus is coming
in and I think that. The craziest thing about
this is because you're talking about being light
on a hill and coming back to the Sermon on the
Mount. Jesus is literally going to a dark place
to shine light. They're not going to appreciate
it. In fact, they're going to kill him for it.
But because of that, he's going to actually conquer
the world, conquer sin, and light is going to
continue to spread everywhere that he goes. Yeah.
Right? He says, hey, you know, Jerusalem, you
who stone prophets and kill those sent to help
you. Yeah. I'm here. I've longed to gather you
up. Yeah. Yeah. It's coming. Yeah. So this is
the, this is the beginning until next time. I
think the next, the next story we're going to,
we're going to tackle the historically there's
this conversation about doesn't happen twice.
Doesn't happen once. It's the Jesus cleansing
the temple. We're going to. approach this as
it happening at the end of his ministry, because
we're going to be referencing John. So if you
want to read ahead, go look at Jesus cleansing
the temple. Yep. Until next time. And that's
a wrap for today's episode of Love and Context.
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gave you fresh insights into how we can better
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