WEBVTT 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:06.019 Welcome to Season 3 of Love & Context. This season, 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.640 we're exploring the life of Jesus step -by -step 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.140 and uncovering what His story teaches us about 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:13.919 loving God and others. Here on Love & Context, 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.059 we're all about having real conversations about 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:18.140 how to live out that love in practical, everyday 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:20.199 ways, and understanding the Bible in its full 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:22.839 context. We're so glad you're here. Let's dive 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:28.530 into Season 3 of Love & Context. And we're back 00:00:28.530 --> 00:00:31.329 with the Love in Context podcast with Benjamin 00:00:31.329 --> 00:00:35.530 Edwards and Spencer McDowell. That's right. That's 00:00:35.530 --> 00:00:38.280 right. Funny thing is this last Sunday at church 00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:40.920 you were preaching, and Pastor Nick and I got 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.859 you a very large print Bible because you were 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:48.079 reading from your phone previously. And I think 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:50.140 it was like 30 times that you said something 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:52.640 wrong from the phone because you're like, what 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.420 is it? And I was like, well, Spencer's eyes are 00:00:54.420 --> 00:00:56.539 getting older. Maybe we should order him a giant 00:00:56.539 --> 00:01:00.079 print Bible. You know what the really funny thing 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:04.760 is? You love it? No. No. No, the Bible's great. 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:07.299 The really funny thing is I had my eyes checked 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:10.140 a year and a half ago and they were fine. So 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:11.859 it's just your brain. Your brain can't read. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:14.859 My brain couldn't read, but I was like, I appreciate 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:17.620 the new Bible. I would like to pull out a thing 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:20.319 you just said and just make sure that everybody 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.379 on the podcast knows this. Spencer thinks the 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:25.159 Bible is a great book. Yeah, I do. That was it. 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:29.780 I do. I read it regularly, actually. Oh, man. 00:01:30.629 --> 00:01:32.989 Life of Jesus. Did you know the Bible is actually 00:01:32.989 --> 00:01:36.689 multiple books? It is. Now you guys are like, 00:01:36.769 --> 00:01:38.670 quit mansplaining the Bible. Let's go back to 00:01:38.670 --> 00:01:41.549 Life of Jesus. Beardsplain the Bible. That's 00:01:41.549 --> 00:01:45.489 what I do. Life of Jesus, last week or a week 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:50.510 and a half ago, we were talking about Jesus at 00:01:50.510 --> 00:01:52.810 the... Lord's Supper and this, this, you know, 00:01:52.829 --> 00:01:54.310 formational thing of like, what does it actually 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:57.290 mean to lay yourself down to have authority and 00:01:57.290 --> 00:01:59.670 to a servant leader? And then he's going to have 00:01:59.670 --> 00:02:01.950 this discourse that's going to pick up. Uh, there's 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:03.510 a lot of different places they talk about it. 00:02:03.549 --> 00:02:04.950 So we're going to kind of jump around the gospels, 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:06.650 but we're going to jump into John first because 00:02:06.650 --> 00:02:08.409 John has quite a bit of stuff going on after 00:02:08.409 --> 00:02:15.009 this. Yeah. Um, so Jesus is going to tell them, 00:02:15.030 --> 00:02:16.770 uh, he has this conversation with him. He says, 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:19.090 Hey, by the way, I'm going to die, which they 00:02:19.090 --> 00:02:22.229 don't quite get. And this is around John 13, 00:02:22.310 --> 00:02:23.949 14. I'm going to die. You're not going to get 00:02:23.949 --> 00:02:25.610 it. And Peter's like, he's like, well, we're 00:02:25.610 --> 00:02:27.169 never going to leave you. And he's like, yeah, 00:02:27.229 --> 00:02:29.569 you are. Yeah, you are. It's going to be, you're 00:02:29.569 --> 00:02:31.210 going to actually deny me like three times. Yeah. 00:02:31.990 --> 00:02:34.650 Y 'all are going to run away. John will sneak 00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:36.689 his way back in to be there when I'm, when I'm 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:41.150 dying. But you know, and so he's having this 00:02:41.150 --> 00:02:43.250 conversation because like, it's kind of depressing. 00:02:43.849 --> 00:02:45.050 They're, they're not sure really how to deal 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:46.469 with that, but he lets them know. He's like, 00:02:46.550 --> 00:02:47.830 Hey, if I don't go to the father, I can't send 00:02:47.830 --> 00:02:50.860 you the spirit. Right. I have to go. I have to 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:52.400 go. And he says the Holy Spirit is going to come. 00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:54.900 One of the things I think is really interesting 00:02:54.900 --> 00:02:56.680 and something that we should always know is that 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.780 trouble doesn't leave them when the Holy Spirit 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:01.639 comes. He resides with them. Yeah. In trouble. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:07.240 Right. But then as Jesus is working his way towards 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:09.039 the Garden of Gethsemane, where they're going 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:10.659 to go out and where we're going to probably conclude 00:03:10.659 --> 00:03:12.819 this episode, depending on how long wind we are 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:16.159 today. I want to jump in chapter 15 because he 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.560 starts talking about unity. So right in the end 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:21.120 of chapter 14, it says, come now, let us leave. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:24.389 So they leave, right? So presumably they're having 00:03:24.389 --> 00:03:26.949 this conversation in the garden, which makes 00:03:26.949 --> 00:03:30.129 sense given what it actually says. So starting 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:33.590 in verse 15, or sorry, chapter 15. I was like, 00:03:33.610 --> 00:03:35.849 I'm on the wrong verse, man. Let me get there. 00:03:36.509 --> 00:03:39.129 It says, I am the true vine and my father is 00:03:39.129 --> 00:03:41.189 the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me 00:03:41.189 --> 00:03:43.689 that bears no fruit. While every branch that 00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:45.889 does not bear fruit or does bear fruit, he prunes 00:03:45.889 --> 00:03:48.110 so that it will be even more fruitful. Fruitiful? 00:03:48.550 --> 00:03:51.969 Fruitful. Fruitiful is not a word. This is the 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:54.310 Ben Edwards translation of the Bible here. Yeah, 00:03:54.330 --> 00:03:57.370 right. So people who are listening have no idea, 00:03:57.449 --> 00:03:59.150 but if you are watching on YouTube, I'm actually 00:03:59.150 --> 00:04:01.090 trying to read this, and sometimes the mic gets 00:04:01.090 --> 00:04:03.569 in the way as you're trying to read it. That's 00:04:03.569 --> 00:04:09.469 okay. Let's see here. Remain in me. Let's go 00:04:09.469 --> 00:04:11.729 back. While every branch that does bear fruit, 00:04:11.789 --> 00:04:13.849 he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:17.899 You are already clean because of the word I have 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:19.339 spoken to you. By the way, that's something he's 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:21.740 told Peter earlier when he watched feet remain 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:24.379 in me. And as I also remain in you, no branch 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:26.579 can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:29.120 vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:31.769 in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Now, 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:33.550 I want to pause here really quick because there 00:04:33.550 --> 00:04:36.110 is a really important thing in verse 2. It says, 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:37.990 he cuts off every branch, talking about the father. 00:04:38.509 --> 00:04:41.370 If you actually go into the Greek, the cuts off 00:04:41.370 --> 00:04:44.129 verb is actually to be lifted up. I think that 00:04:44.129 --> 00:04:45.889 Brad Gray has a really good description of what's 00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:48.170 going on in his flora and foliage, I think is 00:04:48.170 --> 00:04:51.470 the series they do. But it actually is he lifts 00:04:51.470 --> 00:04:53.370 up. So if there is one that is not producing 00:04:53.370 --> 00:04:55.790 fruit but is connected to the vine, what the 00:04:55.790 --> 00:04:57.589 father does is he actually lifts it up and supports 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:01.050 it so that it can bear fruit. Um, so cut off, 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:02.930 not necessarily related to what happens to the 00:05:02.930 --> 00:05:05.829 branches that are not connected later. All right. 00:05:06.350 --> 00:05:08.949 Uh, jumping into verse five, I am the vine. You 00:05:08.949 --> 00:05:11.449 are the branches. If you remain in me and I in 00:05:11.449 --> 00:05:13.689 you, you will bear much fruit apart from me. 00:05:13.750 --> 00:05:17.490 You can do nothing if you do not remain in me. 00:05:17.569 --> 00:05:19.029 So this is the people who are not connected. 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:22.220 You are like a branch that is thrown away and 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:24.139 withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown 00:05:24.139 --> 00:05:26.579 into a fire, and burned. If you remain in me 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:28.439 and my words remain in you, ask whatever you 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:30.620 wish, and it will be done for you. This is to 00:05:30.620 --> 00:05:33.920 my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:40.240 yourselves to be my disciples. Okay, so I really 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:42.240 want to focus in on this because this is something 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:43.939 we talk about in our podcast constantly, and 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:48.660 this is a really important verse. Jesus is divine. 00:05:49.210 --> 00:05:53.029 We are the branches. He is the life. And because 00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:55.329 we're connected to the life, we have life. Yeah. 00:05:55.750 --> 00:05:57.970 If you are connected to the life, you will have 00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:02.750 life. So do you create righteousness? No. You're 00:06:02.750 --> 00:06:04.810 connected to Jesus who creates righteousness 00:06:04.810 --> 00:06:08.910 in you. Yeah. Right? So you have a responsibility 00:06:08.910 --> 00:06:12.949 to be connected. to abide, to connect with Jesus, 00:06:13.009 --> 00:06:15.170 and to allow his life to flow through you. That's 00:06:15.170 --> 00:06:17.629 how fruit is produced. And you can't accurately 00:06:17.629 --> 00:06:20.589 show who Jesus is unless you are connected with 00:06:20.589 --> 00:06:22.529 him. Correct. If you're a branch who gets cut 00:06:22.529 --> 00:06:25.389 off in this situation, you are no longer connected. 00:06:25.649 --> 00:06:27.949 Yeah. Even if you think you know who Jesus is 00:06:27.949 --> 00:06:29.850 or you're living with him, you cannot show him. 00:06:30.029 --> 00:06:34.800 Right. Yeah. One of the things, this is not a 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:36.939 foreign concept because the two greatest commands 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:38.959 Jesus has already said is to love the Lord your 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:40.819 God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.680 What does that mean? Abide. You are connected. 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:47.360 And when you do that, you will love your neighbor 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:52.019 as yourself. Right? So loving your neighbor as 00:06:52.019 --> 00:06:55.439 yourself is a direct outcry of abiding. It's 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:57.360 producing fruit. It's connecting. It's bringing 00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.399 life. All right. Why is that important? Well, 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:03.949 because verse 9 is there. As the Father has loved 00:07:03.949 --> 00:07:06.509 me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. 00:07:06.589 --> 00:07:08.709 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my 00:07:08.709 --> 00:07:10.370 love, just as I have kept my Father's commands 00:07:10.370 --> 00:07:12.569 and remain in his love. I have told you this 00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:14.550 so that my joy may be in you and that you may 00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:17.670 be complete. My command is this. Love each other 00:07:17.670 --> 00:07:21.050 as I have loved you. Greater love has no one 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:23.730 than this, to lay down one's life for his friends. 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:25.750 You are my friends if you do what I command. 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:50.139 Mm -hmm. Love each other, right? Mm -hmm. this 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:52.699 is the command. If you're going to bear fruit, 00:07:52.819 --> 00:07:54.740 if you're going to be impactful in the world, 00:07:54.779 --> 00:07:56.300 if you're going to carry the Father's command, 00:07:56.459 --> 00:07:58.420 if you want people to know who you belong to, 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.500 you will obey my command. Now, does that apply 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:04.100 to all of his commands? Sure. But this sentence, 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:06.819 this conversation he's talking about, is that 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:09.480 you love each other as he has loved you. Right? 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:13.040 And so sometimes I've seen this apply where people 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.639 say, well, so if you love Jesus, you're going 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.660 to obey his commands, plural. I said, yes, correct. 00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:21.899 but also he's talking specifically about this. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.160 The evidence, the fruit, the things that show 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.600 up in your life that demonstrate you belong to 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:31.899 Jesus, that you're a follower of Jesus, is if 00:08:31.899 --> 00:08:39.340 you love people, that's it, right? And I do think 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:41.440 it's worth having that conversation. Love does 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.039 not mean you let people do whatever they want. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:45.019 We love our kids. We don't let them eat donuts 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:48.820 for breakfast. Wow. All the time. Yeah, right. 00:08:49.659 --> 00:08:52.720 And oftentimes we put caveats on that. Like, 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:55.940 we show that we love the Lord by loving people, 00:08:56.059 --> 00:08:58.919 and it's like, no, you show you love the Lord 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.659 by loving everyone around you. Yeah. And there 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:02.879 are different ways that it looks, don't get me 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.440 wrong, but I've heard all too many preachers 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:09.080 and teachers say, well, loving people, and this 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:10.360 is what it looks like, and they list there are 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:12.259 three things that are big and important to them. 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:15.620 And it's like, actually, when you enter into 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:17.700 somebody's life and you are to love them with 00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:19.820 the love of Christ, you are meeting them where 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:22.440 they're at. Which, you know, it might mean that 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:24.899 it looks different from one person to another, 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:28.620 right? Well, and redirecting on that loving as 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:31.580 Christ. So he says, you love each other as I 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:34.100 have loved you. Which begs the question, how 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:36.000 had Jesus loved his disciples up to this point? 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:38.500 Now, he's about to go die on a cross for him, 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:41.259 so that's significant. But up to this point, 00:09:41.299 --> 00:09:43.340 how has he loved them? Yeah. So, like, let's 00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:45.480 just go through a couple of stories about just 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:47.360 weird things that have happened so far in the 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:52.159 story. Yeah. Right? James and John are near Samaria, 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:54.779 and they encounter some people who don't treat 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:59.129 Jesus particularly well. Right? they say, can 00:09:59.129 --> 00:10:02.990 we call down fire to burn them off the face of 00:10:02.990 --> 00:10:05.289 the earth? Hey, Jesus, we know who you are. They 00:10:05.289 --> 00:10:07.929 were mean to you. Can we Sodom and Gomorrah them? 00:10:08.129 --> 00:10:10.830 Yeah. They did not appreciate what we had to 00:10:10.830 --> 00:10:13.570 say. Now, obviously, please go read the story 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:17.129 because I am abridging it 100%. Them asking for 00:10:17.129 --> 00:10:18.830 fire and brimstone, absolutely what they're asking 00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:23.049 for. And Jesus says, no. We're not going to do 00:10:23.049 --> 00:10:24.840 that. We're not going to do that. You know what's 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:26.460 interesting is he says, no, we're not going to 00:10:26.460 --> 00:10:28.759 do that, but he never brings it up to them again. 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:32.399 In fact, in the next couple of verses, he is 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:36.440 then going to send them out to do ministry, to 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.700 preach the good news, to drive out demons, heal 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:41.700 the sick, raise the dead, preach the good news 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:44.340 of the kingdom. It's amazing the number of times 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:48.720 his disciples do something that we're like, if 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:51.259 that happened in our church today, we would pull 00:10:51.259 --> 00:10:53.860 them aside and be like, okay. this is like you 00:10:53.860 --> 00:10:56.220 are going to lose your job type dad. And Jesus 00:10:56.220 --> 00:10:57.740 is like, hey, don't do that again. All right, 00:10:57.740 --> 00:10:59.480 now go share my love with those people. Yeah. 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:02.460 And to be fair, there is an expectation with 00:11:02.460 --> 00:11:04.759 Jesus, hey, I'm correcting this, but don't do 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:07.399 this anymore. Yeah. Right? And I think maybe 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:09.659 that's perhaps lost in a world where our word 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:12.320 is not quite our bond, like when we're given 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:14.399 correction. Like the relationship between rabbi 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:17.000 and Talmudid is significant. So when your rabbi 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:18.879 is like, don't do that, you don't do that. Right? 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.299 You know, other stories like... Peter walks in 00:11:23.299 --> 00:11:25.759 the water. Jesus is walking by. They're just 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:28.139 in the boat, stormy. Jesus walks by. He's like, 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:32.259 hey, what you doing? And God calls Peter out 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:33.899 onto the water. Peter walks out of the water, 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:35.799 and he gets scared because of the waves, and 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.440 he starts to sink. Jesus catches him, pulls him 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:43.159 up, and he says, why did you doubt? Not, you 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:46.860 idiot. Right? Hey, why did you doubt? I'm right 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:48.659 here. Look at me. I'm standing on the water. 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:52.049 That's me. editorializing that a little bit. 00:11:52.090 --> 00:11:54.250 But I'm standing on the water. Why did you doubt? 00:11:55.509 --> 00:11:57.789 You were looking at the wind and the waves. Don't 00:11:57.789 --> 00:12:01.490 look at those. Look at me. So when we start saying, 00:12:01.629 --> 00:12:04.950 hey, we need to love people and that this way 00:12:04.950 --> 00:12:06.190 is how people are going to know we're our disciples, 00:12:06.370 --> 00:12:08.309 you should actually know how Jesus treated his 00:12:08.309 --> 00:12:11.509 disciples. Even the Pharisees and Sadducees, 00:12:11.549 --> 00:12:13.269 when he has conversations with them, he engages 00:12:13.269 --> 00:12:16.450 them in normal dialogue. It's very rare that 00:12:16.450 --> 00:12:20.759 he, I mean, because we covered it. with the scribes 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:23.340 and Pharisees, you hypocrites. He does do that, 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:26.019 but it's rare. Most of the time he engages them 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:27.539 in conversations, corrects their understanding. 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:29.980 He's like, I hear what you're saying. That's 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:33.019 not what we're talking about, right? How many 00:12:33.019 --> 00:12:34.659 times have you had that conversation with your 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:38.649 kid? I have that conversation. I don't know how 00:12:38.649 --> 00:12:41.570 many times in the working in the schools every 00:12:41.570 --> 00:12:43.730 day. Yeah. Or I'm like, hey, we're not going 00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:45.649 to do that. And then like, oh, well, I was like, 00:12:45.710 --> 00:12:47.470 no, we're not talking about that. I'm talking 00:12:47.470 --> 00:12:52.049 about this. Yeah. This one thing. Yeah. So like, 00:12:52.110 --> 00:12:54.590 but Jesus, Jesus is here. He says, he's like, 00:12:54.649 --> 00:12:57.789 hey, I'm going to die. And it's good that I die 00:12:57.789 --> 00:12:59.690 because if I don't leave and I don't go back 00:12:59.690 --> 00:13:01.830 to the Father, I can't send you the Spirit. But 00:13:01.830 --> 00:13:03.350 here's what I need you to really understand. 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:07.409 Being connected to me is everything. Yeah. You're 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:09.850 not going to do it on your own. Yeah. It's going 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:13.230 to be the Spirit of God working through me into 00:13:13.230 --> 00:13:16.009 you that brings life into the world. And the 00:13:16.009 --> 00:13:18.450 tangible fruit that this is actually happening 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:20.769 is going to be the fact that you love each other 00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:24.289 the way I loved you. Yes, tax collectors. Yes, 00:13:24.570 --> 00:13:29.250 women. Yes, Pharisees. Yes, zealots. Yes, Herodians. 00:13:29.330 --> 00:13:34.470 Right? Yes, Gentiles. It's going to be evidence. 00:13:35.370 --> 00:13:39.769 that you follow me when you love people into 00:13:39.769 --> 00:13:43.350 the kingdom of God. Yeah. And I think this gets 00:13:43.350 --> 00:13:44.730 really squishy because people are like, well, 00:13:44.750 --> 00:13:47.429 you have to stand on truth. And I was like, yeah. 00:13:50.169 --> 00:13:52.850 But some of the ways we treat people, we would 00:13:52.850 --> 00:13:55.309 never talk to people we love like that. Yeah. 00:13:56.009 --> 00:13:58.950 At least I hope not. I mean, good golly, some 00:13:58.950 --> 00:14:00.409 of the things that I've seen Christians do in 00:14:00.409 --> 00:14:02.090 the name of Jesus and loving people and making 00:14:02.090 --> 00:14:04.269 sure that they're convicted of their sin, I was 00:14:04.269 --> 00:14:06.210 like, I hope you don't talk to people you love 00:14:06.210 --> 00:14:08.529 that way. Because if that's the case, we might 00:14:08.529 --> 00:14:11.129 want to call CPS. Because that's emotional abuse. 00:14:11.409 --> 00:14:14.220 Yeah. Like you don't care about their well -being. 00:14:14.259 --> 00:14:17.259 You want to be right. And how many times have 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:20.740 believers said, okay, I want to correct this 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:22.840 because I want their life to look like my life. 00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:26.399 Which may be the life that you're leading isn't 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:29.100 the best for that person. Yeah. Right? I mean, 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:30.980 you and I are very different people, right? Okay. 00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:33.080 There's things we do in our household that you 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:34.960 guys would probably be like, no, no, no, no, 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:38.019 no. At the very least, we don't have dogs. Right? 00:14:38.789 --> 00:14:40.870 So our households are going to be very different. 00:14:41.009 --> 00:14:43.889 Right, right. And I know you would love to have 00:14:43.889 --> 00:14:48.230 a rooster. Yeah, you know it. It is at least 00:14:48.230 --> 00:14:50.169 six times a year that you threaten to give me 00:14:50.169 --> 00:14:55.389 chickens. Uh -huh. Yeah. Uh -huh. Yep. Yep. And 00:14:55.389 --> 00:14:58.129 I said, yeah, I mean, I guess I could butcher 00:14:58.129 --> 00:15:00.590 them for food. Because I'm not keeping them in 00:15:00.590 --> 00:15:03.509 my house. Yep. And so, like, you and I, we live 00:15:03.509 --> 00:15:06.850 life a little bit differently, right? And that's 00:15:06.850 --> 00:15:10.190 okay, right? The goal of being a believer and 00:15:10.190 --> 00:15:12.950 living life in community is not to make your 00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:15.470 friends look exactly like you. It's to support 00:15:15.470 --> 00:15:17.490 your friends and be there for them and build 00:15:17.490 --> 00:15:21.149 them up and help them walk with Jesus, right? 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:26.409 It doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter the 00:15:26.409 --> 00:15:28.850 car you drive, right? It really doesn't matter 00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:33.429 what your house looks like, right? What matters 00:15:33.429 --> 00:15:35.799 is that you're building each other up. and that 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:38.100 you're helping each other draw closer to Jesus. 00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:41.200 Yeah, and please don't overhear this and say 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:42.799 that you're never supposed to confront people 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:44.600 on the garbage of life. I think if you look at 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:46.440 the life of Jesus and his disciples and the people 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:48.639 he interacted with, he does have these conversations. 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.759 They're just different. And that is, by the way, 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:54.440 why we encourage people to be in the Gospels 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.500 on a regular basis, hearing the words of Jesus. 00:15:56.860 --> 00:15:59.500 Like, I think Paul is great, but Paul is quoting 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:03.350 Jesus to a Gentile audience. And he's helping 00:16:03.350 --> 00:16:05.230 the Gentiles and the different nations understand 00:16:05.230 --> 00:16:08.129 what Jesus was talking about. And so you actually 00:16:08.129 --> 00:16:09.990 need to go back and be like, okay, what did Jesus 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:11.730 actually do? It's why this season is really important. 00:16:11.909 --> 00:16:13.909 What do you actually do? What's going on here? 00:16:14.629 --> 00:16:20.250 He doesn't even really get... He literally has 00:16:20.250 --> 00:16:26.149 a discourse with Satan. Satan, right? Pitchfork, 00:16:26.250 --> 00:16:29.320 red tights, that guy. right yeah he has well 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:31.500 maybe not in this context you know but you know 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:33.279 you're gonna get an email now that's like there's 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:35.259 actually biblical accounts that say that's not 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:38.320 what he looks like yeah yeah and if they if they 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:39.740 do that i'll be like you clearly this is the 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:43.120 first episode you listen to um but he like early 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:45.820 on in the ministry he goes out and he has a conversation 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.259 because a discourse and and a testing with with 00:16:48.259 --> 00:16:51.039 satan and the only time he raises his voice is 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.980 when he's when satan insinuates that he should 00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:54.299 worship him instead of god and he's like nope 00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:56.909 get out of here We're not going to do that. And 00:16:56.909 --> 00:16:58.830 the interesting thing about that whole time, 00:16:59.009 --> 00:17:01.330 Satan's like, hey, you should do this because 00:17:01.330 --> 00:17:04.130 Scripture says this. Yeah. And Jesus is like, 00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:07.529 and it says this too. Yeah. And I think it was 00:17:07.529 --> 00:17:09.210 Les and I having that conversation because it 00:17:09.210 --> 00:17:13.029 was early on in the season. When we had this 00:17:13.029 --> 00:17:14.670 conversation about how you can sometimes use 00:17:14.670 --> 00:17:17.269 Scripture to bring your own agenda and not Jesus's. 00:17:17.589 --> 00:17:19.930 Yeah. And it's problematic. So coming back to 00:17:19.930 --> 00:17:22.490 this text, like Jesus says, okay, so the fruit, 00:17:22.589 --> 00:17:23.990 the way that you're going to evidence that you 00:17:23.990 --> 00:17:25.390 actually do these things is you're going to follow 00:17:25.390 --> 00:17:27.670 my commands. And so you need to know his life. 00:17:27.690 --> 00:17:29.430 You need to know how he treats people. You need 00:17:29.430 --> 00:17:31.269 to know how he interacts with his disciples. 00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:32.809 You need to know how he interacts with community. 00:17:33.269 --> 00:17:35.930 Because the way that he loved them, the way that 00:17:35.930 --> 00:17:37.730 he interacted with them, the way that he demonstrated 00:17:37.730 --> 00:17:40.809 the kingdom of God among them is going to be 00:17:40.809 --> 00:17:43.670 how we do that for each other. are brothers and 00:17:43.670 --> 00:17:46.289 sisters. And I would argue that the way that 00:17:46.289 --> 00:17:48.089 Jesus interacts with the people outside of Judaism 00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:49.930 is how we interact with people who are not part 00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:53.609 of the faith. Yep. The Roman officials, the centurions, 00:17:53.650 --> 00:17:57.250 the woman who comes and says that she needs her 00:17:57.250 --> 00:17:59.329 daughter healed and they have this conversation 00:17:59.329 --> 00:18:02.009 about table scraps. Yeah. Like he loves all of 00:18:02.009 --> 00:18:03.650 them and he still meets them where they're at. 00:18:05.769 --> 00:18:08.869 So then with that conversation, it's going to 00:18:08.869 --> 00:18:10.710 be really important that you do this because 00:18:10.710 --> 00:18:14.210 verse 18 is coming. You want to read that through 00:18:14.210 --> 00:18:18.309 20, 25? Yeah. If the world hates you, remember 00:18:18.309 --> 00:18:20.950 it hated me first. All right. Just stop right 00:18:20.950 --> 00:18:22.970 there. Right. Okay. Just pause. Let that sink 00:18:22.970 --> 00:18:25.910 in. The hates you hated Jesus first. Yeah. If 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:28.029 the world hates you, remember, it hated me first. 00:18:28.210 --> 00:18:31.309 The world would love you as one of its own if 00:18:31.309 --> 00:18:33.849 you belong to it, but you are no longer part 00:18:33.849 --> 00:18:36.549 of the world, and I choose to come out of the 00:18:36.549 --> 00:18:40.210 world so it hates you. Do you remember what I 00:18:40.210 --> 00:18:42.849 told you? A slave is not greater than its master. 00:18:42.910 --> 00:18:45.829 Since they persecuted me, naturally they will 00:18:45.829 --> 00:18:48.670 persecute you. And if they had listened to me, 00:18:48.750 --> 00:18:51.950 they would listen to you. They will do this all 00:18:51.950 --> 00:18:55.269 because of me. Do this all to you because of 00:18:55.269 --> 00:18:57.789 me. For they have rejected the one who sent me. 00:18:57.890 --> 00:19:02.950 They would not be guilty if they had not come 00:19:02.950 --> 00:19:07.670 and spoken to them. But now they have no excuses 00:19:07.670 --> 00:19:34.690 for their sin. But I will send you an advocate, 00:19:34.890 --> 00:19:48.680 the spirit of truth. He will come. All right. 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:52.680 You are going to be defined by love. How you 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:56.440 love each other. And that's important because 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:58.769 the world's going to hate you. They're going 00:19:58.769 --> 00:20:00.690 to hate you because they hated me. They hated 00:20:00.690 --> 00:20:02.549 me because I came in. I demonstrated the kingdom 00:20:02.549 --> 00:20:04.390 of God among them. I invited them to a different 00:20:04.390 --> 00:20:06.470 kind of life. They recognize the power. They 00:20:06.470 --> 00:20:07.990 recognize the authority. And they're like, yeah, 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:11.230 I don't want that. Yeah. Jesus is like, I showed 00:20:11.230 --> 00:20:14.529 them everything. Yeah. I said who I am. I performed 00:20:14.529 --> 00:20:17.150 signs. I told them about the kingdom of God. 00:20:17.329 --> 00:20:21.490 I showed them what it's really like to live life. 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:24.559 Torah fulfilled. Literally in the earlier part 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:27.460 of this book, in the Gospel of John, he raises 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:30.779 Lazarus from the dead. From the dead. Four days 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:35.799 dead. He feeds 5 ,000 men and women and children 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:40.009 with... some fish and some bread, right? He calms 00:20:40.009 --> 00:20:42.289 the seas. He performs all these miracles, casts 00:20:42.289 --> 00:20:45.329 out demons. He preaches the good news, right? 00:20:45.470 --> 00:20:48.450 The kingdom of heaven is near. Repent. And I 00:20:48.450 --> 00:20:50.289 think it's probably important to point out here, 00:20:50.390 --> 00:20:52.470 when he says the world, he's not saying every 00:20:52.470 --> 00:20:54.430 single person in the world, because there are 00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:56.109 a lot of people who followed after Jesus, a lot 00:20:56.109 --> 00:20:58.890 of people who trusted Jesus. But the, I'm going 00:20:58.890 --> 00:21:01.910 to call it the authorities of the world, we're 00:21:01.910 --> 00:21:05.509 not a fan. Yeah. Yeah. I would think in this 00:21:05.509 --> 00:21:07.309 case we're really looking at the powers of the 00:21:07.309 --> 00:21:11.130 world. Paul's going to call it the powers of 00:21:11.130 --> 00:21:15.329 the air, you know, like those principalities 00:21:15.329 --> 00:21:19.890 and authorities, right? So the world, those guys, 00:21:19.930 --> 00:21:22.990 they didn't like you. They didn't like me. They're 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:24.369 definitely not going to like you. You're not 00:21:24.369 --> 00:21:26.710 going to be bigger than me. Like no servant's 00:21:26.710 --> 00:21:28.890 bigger than their master. And so if they didn't 00:21:28.890 --> 00:21:30.490 like me, they're definitely not going to like 00:21:30.490 --> 00:21:34.839 you, right? And I think a lot of church history 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:36.799 shows that that's actually the case, especially 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:41.339 in the first few hundred years, right? He then 00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:43.819 says, I'm going to send the Spirit. It's going 00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:45.400 to testify for you. It's going to reside in you. 00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:47.920 It's going to be with you as you do these things. 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:50.640 Reminder, he's still coming, but you're still 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:52.259 going to be in the middle of it because 16 picks 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:54.619 up and says, all this I have told you so that 00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:58.809 you will not fall away. Love each other. Bear 00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:01.269 with each other. They're going to hate you. The 00:22:01.269 --> 00:22:03.190 Spirit's going to be with you. Don't fall away. 00:22:03.630 --> 00:22:06.009 They will put you out of the synagogue. Big deal. 00:22:06.569 --> 00:22:09.369 Really big deal. Yeah. This is your entire identity, 00:22:09.509 --> 00:22:11.789 synagogue, right? In fact, the time is coming 00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:13.849 when anyone who kills you thinks that they are 00:22:13.849 --> 00:22:17.369 offering a service to God. They will do such 00:22:17.369 --> 00:22:19.049 things because they have not known the Father 00:22:19.049 --> 00:22:21.470 or me. I have told you this so that when the 00:22:21.470 --> 00:22:23.930 time comes, you will remember that I warned you 00:22:23.930 --> 00:22:25.789 about them. I did not tell you this from the 00:22:25.789 --> 00:22:45.269 beginning because I was with you. Sorry. Yeah. 00:22:45.789 --> 00:22:48.009 He will prove the world to be in the wrong about 00:22:48.009 --> 00:22:50.049 sin and righteousness and judgment about sin 00:22:50.049 --> 00:22:52.329 because people do not believe in me, about righteousness 00:22:52.329 --> 00:22:54.250 because I am going to the Father where you can 00:22:54.250 --> 00:22:57.730 no longer see me and about judgment because the 00:22:57.730 --> 00:23:00.130 prince of this world now stands condemned. I 00:23:00.130 --> 00:23:02.369 have much more to say, more than you can now 00:23:02.369 --> 00:23:05.619 bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.140 he will guide you into all truth. He will not 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:09.579 speak on his own. He will only speak what he 00:23:09.579 --> 00:23:11.380 hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:13.880 He will glorify me because it is from me that 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:15.660 he will receive what he will make known to you. 00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:17.700 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:21.859 is why I said the Spirit will receive from me 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:25.839 what he will make known to you. Okay. Put yourself, 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:28.180 when you're reading this, put yourself in the 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:31.220 disciple's shoes. Yeah. Okay? You essentially 00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:34.289 have Jesus saying, I got to go away. But the 00:23:34.289 --> 00:23:36.230 Spirit's coming, and it's going to be better. 00:23:36.410 --> 00:23:40.450 Yeah. Right? Okay, they know who Jesus is, and 00:23:40.450 --> 00:23:41.950 they have been walking with Jesus. So they're 00:23:41.950 --> 00:23:44.509 saying, okay, the Son of God, our Messiah, is 00:23:44.509 --> 00:23:48.789 leaving us? Yeah. Right? And what is their understanding 00:23:48.789 --> 00:23:51.150 of the Spirit at this point? Like, they know 00:23:51.150 --> 00:23:52.829 the Spirit that rested on Samson, that rested 00:23:52.829 --> 00:23:56.569 on David, that came on people and caused them 00:23:56.569 --> 00:23:58.529 to prophesy. Yeah. You know, like, they know 00:23:58.529 --> 00:24:01.119 these stories, but like... What does that mean? 00:24:01.180 --> 00:24:02.380 The Spirit's coming to you and He's going to 00:24:02.380 --> 00:24:05.000 reveal all truth. Mm -hmm. He's going to be a 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:07.819 prophet? Yeah. Like, what are you saying? Mm 00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:10.180 -hmm. It's really easy with hindsight for us 00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:14.019 to be like, oh, well, it's going to... But they're 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:17.319 in the moment. Mm -hmm. And Jesus, he actually 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:19.059 tells him, he's like, I actually have more I 00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:20.680 need to tell you, but I don't think that you 00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:23.059 would get it. Which I imagine probably happens 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:25.359 in that 40 days between the time he resurrects 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:28.599 and he leaves. This is what goes on in my brain 00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:31.759 when I read passages like this. And I want to 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.240 preface this with, this is not a theological 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:36.539 desertion right here. This is just Spencer's 00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:39.720 brain spouting something out. But I can imagine 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:41.680 Jesus saying these things, and he's seeing the 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:44.079 look on his disciples' face, and he's like, And 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:46.440 I have more I need to tell you, but that's going 00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:48.900 to wait. Yeah. Because you can't handle it because 00:24:48.900 --> 00:24:50.339 you're already having a tough enough time with 00:24:50.339 --> 00:24:52.759 what I am saying right now. Yeah. That's just 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:56.619 how my brain works. But put yourself in the disciple's 00:24:56.619 --> 00:24:59.420 shoes. Be like, dude, like our Lord and Savior. 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:02.559 Yeah. Because that's what we know him as is going 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:05.460 away. Yeah. The one who's supposed to free us 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.799 from this captivity, who's supposed to bring 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:10.220 us out from oppression. This is the guy that 00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:14.039 I have seen on stop years. make icy, the lame 00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:16.019 are walking, the dead are raised, demons are 00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:20.319 departing, food is multiplied. So hunger, death, 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:23.579 sickness, infirmity, these aren't a thing around 00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:26.799 him. And he's telling us that he has to go because 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:33.059 something better is coming. What? Oh by the way, 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:35.099 everybody's going to hate you because they don't 00:25:35.099 --> 00:25:38.720 like me. And I'm not going to be here. So you're 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:40.160 telling me that you're going to go away and we 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.160 are going to have to face the brunt of this without 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:48.279 you. Yeah. Right? And right on the heels of this, 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:49.980 he's then going to come to this place. It's a 00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:51.799 very large portion in John. I'm not going to 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:52.779 read through it. We're going to just kind of 00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:54.759 talk through it. Yeah. But he's going to have 00:25:54.759 --> 00:25:57.640 this massive high priestly prayer in John 17 00:25:57.640 --> 00:26:00.119 where first he's going to pray for himself and 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:04.619 he's asked God to glorify him. Okay? the first 00:26:04.619 --> 00:26:07.519 thing is that the sun needs to be glorified so 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:09.140 that everything that's about to happen is going 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:11.460 to happen. Now, connect this back to the teaching. 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:15.680 I am the vine. You are the branches. What's going 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:17.920 to happen to me, glorification, is actually going 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:19.900 to have a direct impact on what happens to you. 00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:24.579 Your job is to remain and to love people as I've 00:26:24.579 --> 00:26:27.900 loved you. To continue to bring this command, 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:35.360 or to continue to bring this... understanding, 00:26:35.360 --> 00:26:39.480 walking it out in life, right? So he prays for 00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:41.000 himself, and he prays for the things that are 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:42.900 coming up, and we get this really intimate look 00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:45.440 at the prayer life of Jesus and the Father, and 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:47.460 I don't know how many times they hear Jesus pray, 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.059 but they're definitely hearing it now, right? 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:53.660 And then he goes and he prays for them, and basically 00:26:53.660 --> 00:26:56.259 the prayer is, they're going to fail, but you 00:26:56.259 --> 00:26:58.259 need to strengthen them and continue to work 00:26:58.259 --> 00:27:00.670 through them. And then he prays for another group 00:27:00.670 --> 00:27:02.789 of people, and he says, but the people who aren't 00:27:02.789 --> 00:27:05.809 here yet, and I'm going to pray for them that 00:27:05.809 --> 00:27:08.130 what happens here with me is going to spread 00:27:08.130 --> 00:27:09.930 to these guys, and it's going to go all the way 00:27:09.930 --> 00:27:14.869 out to them. And here and here and here, they're 00:27:14.869 --> 00:27:17.210 going to be filled with the Spirit of God, and 00:27:17.210 --> 00:27:19.130 they're going to live according to this command 00:27:19.130 --> 00:27:20.869 that I've given to love one another as I have 00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:23.910 loved you. And as they do that, the fruit of 00:27:23.910 --> 00:27:25.990 the kingdom of God is going to go forth. and 00:27:25.990 --> 00:27:27.569 people are going to be invited back into this 00:27:27.569 --> 00:27:29.990 kingdom because the way is now accessible through 00:27:29.990 --> 00:27:31.930 the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ 00:27:31.930 --> 00:27:34.650 because that is coming up. Yeah. Right? Yeah. 00:27:35.009 --> 00:27:37.309 It is now accessible, and now you can live in 00:27:37.309 --> 00:27:41.269 it because of the Spirit of God. Yeah. And in 00:27:41.269 --> 00:27:43.470 his prayer, things he talks about frequently, 00:27:43.670 --> 00:27:51.829 unity, protection, truth, sanctification. These 00:27:51.829 --> 00:27:56.660 are the things that define... maybe demonstrate 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:59.599 that you're actually a group of people following 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:03.779 after Jesus. And these things are rooted in community, 00:28:04.019 --> 00:28:06.519 right? They're not rooted in do it by yourself. 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.500 They're rooted in you doing life together with 00:28:10.500 --> 00:28:13.859 Jesus. And I think maybe one of the most encouraging 00:28:13.859 --> 00:28:17.559 things is that Jesus prays for unity in a church 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:22.259 that does not yet exist, which means... He knows 00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:27.619 we are not going to be unified, right? But if 00:28:27.619 --> 00:28:29.440 there is power in prayer and there's power in 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.119 prayer in the voice of Jesus Christ speaking 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:34.680 prayer, we're going to be brought together in 00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:41.000 unity as we submit and as we abide, right? I 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:43.440 think the fact that we know Jesus already prayed 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.019 for our unity should give us hope for victory. 00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:50.380 Yeah, absolutely. That is a very important piece, 00:28:50.420 --> 00:28:53.039 I think, for people who are in churches that 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:55.279 are struggling right now, where you think there 00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:57.500 is an insurmountable difference between you and 00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:01.240 name the person. Yeah. Jesus has already prayed 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:05.700 that you would be unified. Your job is to abide 00:29:05.700 --> 00:29:10.099 and bear fruit that looks like love. And to be 00:29:10.099 --> 00:29:12.359 unified doesn't mean that you all think the exact 00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:16.089 same thing on everything. Correct. We can get 00:29:16.089 --> 00:29:17.869 that misperception, but it really means that 00:29:17.869 --> 00:29:19.390 you're coming together and you're saying, no 00:29:19.390 --> 00:29:23.170 matter what, we are going to glorify Jesus and 00:29:23.170 --> 00:29:26.269 bring him to our community. Well, and it's encouraging 00:29:26.269 --> 00:29:28.250 because Jesus said this to a group of people 00:29:28.250 --> 00:29:30.750 that couldn't be more different in their theological 00:29:30.750 --> 00:29:33.009 beliefs, including tax collectors who people 00:29:33.009 --> 00:29:34.349 didn't even think were part of the faith anymore. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:38.980 Oh, and by the way, there were zealots in that 00:29:38.980 --> 00:29:40.839 group, too, who were known for trying to kill 00:29:40.839 --> 00:29:47.039 tax collectors. Yeah. Yeah. It's a big deal. 00:29:47.220 --> 00:29:50.359 In this episode, we didn't cover a lot. We covered 00:29:50.359 --> 00:29:52.880 kind of Jesus' post -mill dissertation. Yeah. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:30:00.440 Post -mill dissertation in prayer. But I don't 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:03.950 think you can go past this spot. without stopping 00:30:03.950 --> 00:30:06.089 and pausing and recognizing what Jesus is doing 00:30:06.089 --> 00:30:10.049 here. Like, he's just done washing the feet. 00:30:10.190 --> 00:30:11.869 They've just had the Seder meal. They're going 00:30:11.869 --> 00:30:13.829 out to the garden. They're heading there. And 00:30:13.829 --> 00:30:17.289 he's like, all right, I need to make sure that 00:30:17.289 --> 00:30:21.309 you guys get this. Like, this is like the last 00:30:21.309 --> 00:30:22.849 thing, like when you're about to take a test 00:30:22.849 --> 00:30:26.190 and you need to cram. He's like, because I guarantee 00:30:26.190 --> 00:30:28.150 you, this is all littered all over his teaching. 00:30:28.989 --> 00:30:31.210 And that they've heard this type of thing before 00:30:31.210 --> 00:30:33.690 in some sort of format, but now it's game time. 00:30:36.109 --> 00:30:38.670 They're getting ready to take the field. Eye 00:30:38.670 --> 00:30:43.430 in the vine, you are the branches. You have to 00:30:43.430 --> 00:30:46.069 abide. If you don't abide, you're going to be 00:30:46.069 --> 00:30:48.609 worthless. It's like sticks collected up and 00:30:48.609 --> 00:30:50.390 tossed into fire. Which, by the way, don't just 00:30:50.390 --> 00:30:52.250 jump to hell. Just recognize that they're not 00:30:52.250 --> 00:30:58.180 useful. Right? Let's use this analogy. The Super 00:30:58.180 --> 00:31:00.299 Bowl is coming up, right? Super Bowl is coming 00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:04.099 up, right? Now imagine if somehow the team got 00:31:04.099 --> 00:31:06.839 there and then they said, hey, we got this two 00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:08.619 -week window from when we won the championship 00:31:08.619 --> 00:31:10.519 to the Super Bowl. We're not going to do anything. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:14.079 Right. Right. What team do you think would be 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:16.240 more likely to win? The team that spent those 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:17.960 two weeks preparing or the team that was like, 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:22.900 eh, we're good? Yeah. Yeah. The point being is 00:31:22.900 --> 00:31:25.160 that there comes a point where it's like the 00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:28.079 coach is there those two weeks being like, all 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:29.319 right, we're doing this, we're doing this. Okay, 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:32.099 that looks great. Don't ever do that again. You 00:31:32.099 --> 00:31:35.079 know, coaching his team. But when it comes game 00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:37.880 time, they're the ones on the field. Yeah. Right? 00:31:37.980 --> 00:31:40.269 The coach is there. still being like, hey, let's 00:31:40.269 --> 00:31:42.170 do this, let's make this happen. But the coach 00:31:42.170 --> 00:31:44.049 isn't running out on the field being like, this 00:31:44.049 --> 00:31:45.829 is how you throw the ball. At least he's not 00:31:45.829 --> 00:31:47.369 supposed to. Right, he's not supposed to be. 00:31:48.509 --> 00:31:50.430 He might throw the red flag and chew the ref 00:31:50.430 --> 00:31:52.509 out because it's the Super Bowl and you're going 00:31:52.509 --> 00:31:55.569 to do whatever you can to win. But the coach 00:31:55.569 --> 00:31:57.210 is supposed to be on the sidelines and the players 00:31:57.210 --> 00:31:59.329 are supposed to be on the field making it happen. 00:32:00.430 --> 00:32:04.049 We're the players. And Jesus is there saying, 00:32:04.150 --> 00:32:05.829 hey, we need to run this play. We need to do 00:32:05.829 --> 00:32:09.460 this. You need to do this. hey, let's work on 00:32:09.460 --> 00:32:11.380 this together, right? Somebody's going to be 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:12.819 like, that doesn't quite work. Well, it's an 00:32:12.819 --> 00:32:14.640 analogy. All analogies fall apart. Yeah, I could 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:16.559 rip this analogy apart if you want me to. The 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:19.720 point being is that Jesus is, this is their last 00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:21.660 huddle before they hit into the game. Yeah. Right? 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:24.180 Right. And he's like, listen, you've got to be 00:32:24.180 --> 00:32:25.799 a part of what we're doing. You remember what 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:28.859 I've taught you. Mm -hmm. I'm going to say a 00:32:28.859 --> 00:32:30.940 new command. Yeah. It shouldn't be surprising 00:32:30.940 --> 00:32:32.579 to you. Yeah. You should love each other the 00:32:32.579 --> 00:32:34.539 same way I love you. Yeah. It's the, when we 00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:36.279 leave this locker room, you're on the field, 00:32:36.380 --> 00:32:39.670 I'm not. Yeah. Right. And so when you're on that 00:32:39.670 --> 00:32:41.069 field, just keeping with the football analogy, 00:32:41.230 --> 00:32:45.309 those people sitting next to you on your line, 00:32:45.410 --> 00:32:48.569 those are your brothers. Yeah. I don't care what 00:32:48.569 --> 00:32:50.730 kind of beef you have off the field. When you 00:32:50.730 --> 00:32:55.170 are on that field, you are one team for one purpose 00:32:55.170 --> 00:32:58.849 and you will figure it out. Right. Imagine if 00:32:58.849 --> 00:33:01.269 one of the O -line men was like, I don't like 00:33:01.269 --> 00:33:03.670 your political beliefs and did not block for 00:33:03.670 --> 00:33:05.470 the quarterback and he just got sacked. Yeah. 00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:08.079 Just was like, nope, I'm just going to... What 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:10.240 would happen to that alignment? Oh, probably 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:11.859 something similar to what we see happening in 00:33:11.859 --> 00:33:15.779 the church today. Right? Right? Like, yeah. So 00:33:15.779 --> 00:33:18.079 like when we are talking about unity, like we're 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:20.440 talking about like, okay, you might not fully 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:22.220 agree with the person who's sitting next to you, 00:33:22.259 --> 00:33:25.859 right? But when you say, hey, I love Jesus, you 00:33:25.859 --> 00:33:28.160 love Jesus, we're both called to bring Jesus 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:31.579 to our community, right? And Jesus has gifted 00:33:31.579 --> 00:33:34.900 us the Holy Spirit. to empower us, to guide us, 00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:38.380 to lead us, right? Okay, we need to set aside 00:33:38.380 --> 00:33:40.240 some of these petty differences that we have 00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:43.980 and say, hey, we can have those conversations, 00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:46.200 but we need to set those aside and say, we're 00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:48.420 going to focus here. Focus on Jesus being brought 00:33:48.420 --> 00:33:51.880 to the community. Focus on us being unified in 00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:55.119 the gospel, on us as believers living in community 00:33:55.119 --> 00:34:00.420 together, right? And then I hear it. Well, what 00:34:00.420 --> 00:34:04.380 about the big issues? Yeah, Jesus addressed people 00:34:04.380 --> 00:34:08.360 like that in his books too. And I know immediately 00:34:08.360 --> 00:34:10.960 you're going to go to a quarter whips, but there's 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:14.320 conversations, there was discussions. There was 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:16.019 a lot of things before the tables got flipped. 00:34:16.659 --> 00:34:19.579 And there's a long portion of discussion happening 00:34:19.579 --> 00:34:22.519 before he starts declaring the woes to the Pharisees 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:26.260 and hypocrites. And even those are direct critiques 00:34:26.260 --> 00:34:31.579 of specific things. And he weeps when he's done. 00:34:34.450 --> 00:34:36.869 When you have to bring severe correction into 00:34:36.869 --> 00:34:40.730 somebody's life, it is never an easy thing. And 00:34:40.730 --> 00:34:44.510 if it is, it's a problem. If it is, you should 00:34:44.510 --> 00:34:48.949 examine yourself. Yeah. Because the book of James 00:34:48.949 --> 00:34:51.130 talks about it, restoring people gently, right? 00:34:51.429 --> 00:34:53.849 When you have to bring correction into people's 00:34:53.849 --> 00:34:58.989 lives, at least for me, it's a hard... uh aching 00:34:58.989 --> 00:35:02.550 moment because it's like man i it's really sad 00:35:02.550 --> 00:35:04.829 we got to this point yeah where we have to have 00:35:04.829 --> 00:35:08.889 this conversation yeah right um and and usually 00:35:08.889 --> 00:35:10.690 and just to be clear we've talked about this 00:35:10.690 --> 00:35:12.389 too i'm not bringing correction into people's 00:35:12.389 --> 00:35:14.489 lives that i don't have a relationship with yeah 00:35:14.489 --> 00:35:16.929 right that i'm not in community with correct 00:35:16.929 --> 00:35:19.449 um but when i'm bringing that correction man 00:35:19.449 --> 00:35:22.570 it is it is a heartbreaking moment and usually 00:35:22.570 --> 00:35:24.909 it starts off with a gentle conversation yeah 00:35:24.909 --> 00:35:28.750 right Right? Jesus, taking the story of the whips, 00:35:28.849 --> 00:35:32.429 that is a moment where he walks in and he's like, 00:35:32.550 --> 00:35:35.989 the people who set this up know better. They're 00:35:35.989 --> 00:35:38.570 the people literally in charge of the temple. 00:35:38.690 --> 00:35:42.789 Right? So, nutshell of everything we're talking 00:35:42.789 --> 00:35:45.989 about here is when Jesus says love each other 00:35:45.989 --> 00:35:48.570 as I have loved you, the first question you should 00:35:48.570 --> 00:35:50.309 always ask is how did Jesus actually love people? 00:35:50.469 --> 00:35:54.539 Yeah. Right? what do I think he meant by love? 00:35:54.679 --> 00:35:59.199 What did he actually do? Like, look in the Gospels. 00:35:59.219 --> 00:36:03.260 How did Jesus love people? And then also see 00:36:03.260 --> 00:36:06.400 how he was messed up emotionally when he had 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:09.099 to do some severe correction. Like, when he gave 00:36:09.099 --> 00:36:13.039 the woes and the woes to the leadership, he's 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:16.559 not happy when he's done. I mean, in a lot of 00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:19.659 ways, he's gutted. Like, he's like, I see everything 00:36:19.659 --> 00:36:23.460 that you could be. I have longed to gather you 00:36:23.460 --> 00:36:31.219 up. You just don't want to. And I feel like there's 00:36:31.219 --> 00:36:32.900 even something inherent in that, that if you 00:36:32.900 --> 00:36:40.380 ever do, I'm here. Yeah. Yeah. Abide. Live into, 00:36:40.519 --> 00:36:42.260 allow the Spirit of God to flow through you. 00:36:42.659 --> 00:36:44.679 Model your life after what Jesus actually did, 00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:46.320 not what you think about what Jesus actually 00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:52.059 did. And I think if we start there, we have way 00:36:52.059 --> 00:36:54.019 better conversations about the nuance. Yeah. 00:36:54.260 --> 00:36:57.099 Right? If we start there where we're like, we're 00:36:57.099 --> 00:36:59.079 all trying really hard to figure out what did 00:36:59.079 --> 00:37:01.679 Jesus do and to live out that way, I think that 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:03.480 we get a lot closer to a place where we can agree 00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:08.340 and find at least unity. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Next 00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:11.340 time we'll be in the Garden of Gethsemane and 00:37:11.340 --> 00:37:14.860 talking about Jesus being so overcome he drops 00:37:14.860 --> 00:37:17.900 like blood. Yep. And about the fact that just 00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:19.760 like the disciples, we all want to take a nap. 00:37:19.900 --> 00:37:26.090 Yep. Right? Yep. Yep. Until next time. And that's 00:37:26.090 --> 00:37:28.530 a wrap for today's episode of Love and Context. 00:37:28.610 --> 00:37:30.750 We hope this conversation encouraged you and 00:37:30.750 --> 00:37:33.050 gave you fresh insights into how we can better 00:37:33.050 --> 00:37:35.210 love God and others through the powerful truths 00:37:35.210 --> 00:37:37.849 of the Bible. We'd love to hear from you. Send 00:37:37.849 --> 00:37:41.070 your questions, thoughts, or suggestions to loveandcontext 00:37:41.070 --> 00:37:43.809 at gmail .com. Your feedback means the world 00:37:43.809 --> 00:37:46.710 to us and helps shape future episodes. Stay connected 00:37:46.710 --> 00:37:49.050 with us on social media for updates, behind the 00:37:49.050 --> 00:37:51.309 scenes content, and additional resources. You 00:37:51.309 --> 00:37:53.889 can find us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and 00:37:53.889 --> 00:37:55.690 Facebook at loveandcontext. 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