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. We want to take
this moment to formally and officially welcome
you back to this podcast. Hi there. Hi. Hi there.
If you're listening, it's good to hear. Nope,
that's not it. We're not going to hear you. It's
good for you to hear us. Congratulations. Today
you'll hear our voices. I'm sure if you're in
the room with somebody, they're thinking it's
good to hear you right now. But, you know. I
was having a conversation with a friend of mine,
and I was looking at our metrics and people who
actually listen, and I was like, I can't believe
that many people want to listen to us talk. That's
surprising. So thank you for being here. Sometimes
I'm talking in a room, and I'm like, I don't
even want to hear what I have to say. See, no,
this is a good thing because our wives are like,
yes, they are talking about the Bible. And we
don't have to listen right now. Yeah. That's
what's going on. Sometimes when we say that,
it makes it sound like our wives don't care about
the Bible. That is not what we're talking about.
They do care. They don't care about listening
to us talk about minutiae in the Bible. For hours
on end. For hours on end. Yeah. They're like,
aren't you guys pretty much saying the same thing?
I was like, no, it's very different than minutiae.
And I'm right. That's wrong. And they're like,
all right, well, we'll be back in an hour. Yeah.
Yeah. And then they're like, are you on the same?
Yes. Yes, we are. We're in the exact same spot.
want to point out to everybody on my my chest
here it says hi hungry I'm dad huh this is a
shirt that I got for my birthday because I I
believe that one of the best things about having
children is that you get to tell dad jokes and
and now I actually have justification for the
jokes I already told before I had kids every
time I tell say that joke to my daughter she's
like dad stop so the other no no So I'm wearing
this the other day. So this is like the second
time I've worn this shirt, but I'm wearing it
the other day. And James goes home from school
and he goes, I'm hungry. And I was like, why?
And I took off my over shirt and I was like,
hi, hungry. I'm daddy's like. I don't like that.
And I was like, doesn't matter. I love it. So
it was great. All right. Life of Jesus. So we're
going to keep going. We just posted this last
week. We were talking about this conversation.
Jesus coming out of the Seder, having this conversation.
I'm going to go. I'm going to send the advocate.
By the way, you need to abide with me. I'm the
vine. You're the branches. The evidence that
you actually are my disciples is how you're going
to love each other if you love each other the
way that I have loved you. And we said, hey,
love isn't defined as just some squishy feeling
or by your own definitions. You actually have
to look, what did Jesus do? How did Jesus love
people? And he didn't start by flipping tables,
right? No matter how much you want to flip those
tables, that is not the first thing he did. And
so then coming out of that. And Jesus has then
prayed for, prayed that God's going to glorify
him, prays for his disciples because they're
about to get, have a very bad time. And then
he prays for the people yet to come. And that's
where we're going to pick up. And he's then asked
his disciples to go and pray with him in the
garden. And then we're going to, so we're going
to talk about that. And we're going to talk about
Judas coming and betraying him up to the point
then where next week we're going to start talking
about the crucifixion, the trial and crucifixion.
Yeah. So that's where we are. We're going to
jump around a little bit today. We're going to
be in Matthew chapter 26, starting in verse 36.
It says, Then Jesus went with his disciples to
a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them,
Sit here while I go over there and pray. He took
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with
them, that's James and John, and he began to
be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them,
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point
of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Going
a little further, he fell with his face to the
ground and prayed, My father, if it is possible,
may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will,
but as you will. Then he returned to his disciples
and found them sleeping. Couldn't you men keep
watch with me for one hour? He asked Peter, Watch
and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
He went away a second time and prayed, My father,
if it is possible for this cup to be taken away,
If it is not possible for this cup to be taken
away unless I drink it, may your will be done.
When he came back, he again found them sleeping
because their eyes were heavy. So he left them
and went once more and prayed the third time,
saying the same thing. Then he returned to the
disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping
and resting? Look, the hour has come. The Son
of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.
Rise up, let us go. Here comes my betrayer. Okay,
we'll get to the next part in a minute. I think
one of the things first to note here, I also
have been tired and wanted to take a nap during
a long prayer session. And so I'm listening to
the disciples here. And I want to be fair to
them because I think they recognize something
significant is going on, but they don't really
realize what's about to happen. They don't plan.
I mean, can you really think that on Passover
night, you're going out to the garden, you're
praying. You know, you're having these conversations
with your rabbi that suddenly soldiers are going
to show up and get you and take away your rabbi
to go and be executed. Yeah. Like that's not
exactly what you think is going to happen that
night. So you're like, okay, Jesus is serious,
but also I haven't slept in like 20 hours. Right?
Maybe that's exaggeration, but I haven't slept
in a really long time and I am. Tired. Well,
yeah. And I've been at prayer meetings where
like literally people are like, OK, I'm going
to go bow down in the front of the church and
pray. And I remember one time as a friend of
mine, he's bowing down in the front of church
and praying. I was like, man, he's been up there
a long time. And I went to like, you know, go
check on him. And and I get up there and his
hands are down, his face is on the on the stage.
His hands are down. He's like. And I was like,
Oh, all right. All right. I see. I see what happened.
I see what happened. Like it, like I, I can totally
relate to the disciples in this. So, uh, this
is a word of encouragement for the people who
fall asleep when you pray. The disciples who
spent three and a half years with Jesus also
fell asleep when he prayed. Yeah. And when they
prayed, um, it does happen sometimes. And I was
like, and notice he doesn't really chastise him.
He's like, Hey guys, couldn't you stay away with
me? You have, don't you get what's about to happen?
But they fell asleep still. Yeah. The other thing
is I did hear this statement from a pastor, which
I really enjoy, and he said people will come
up to him and they'll say, I always feel bad
because when I pray, I fall asleep. He's like,
you know what? That's not ideal, right? That's
one of the reasons, like, if he's going to pray
for a long time, he stands up and walks as he
prays, right, so that he doesn't fall asleep.
He said, but also, I'm just going to be really
honest with you. If you believe God is your father,
I can't remember the last time my kids were laying
in my lap talking and fell asleep and I was mad.
Yeah. There are definitely worse things in life
than to fall asleep while talking to your father.
Yeah. Right? And I said that, and anybody who's
listening that's a parent is like, oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not a big deal. You
know? Um, same guy who said, by the way, he's,
they're talking about a Bible reading. If they're
like, I just can't remember what I read. He's
like, I don't remember what I ate for food last
week. Yeah. Still nourished me. It's part of
just like consuming and staying awake, you know,
uh, alive. Yeah. Um, but Jesus goes and like,
I think the, the thing that brought this text
is highlighted is, uh, there's, there's a, there's
a humanity and a, um, divine nature both being
revealed in jesus right now like the divine and
the and the human the one thing is he knows he
knows what's coming and he's like this is gonna
suck yeah huge this is gonna be terrible like
i mean i've had projects the way i know that
we have to do x y or z and i know when we get
to a certain part it's gonna be rough nothing
like this Right? Nothing like this. You know?
Where you know where you're going to have to
push through because you're like, oh, it's going
to be uncomfortable. Well, actually, a good example
is I'm actually getting ready to move from house
to house. Right? Getting in the new house is
going to be great. You know what isn't great?
Moving everything from the first house to the
second house. That's not a fun thing. So people
are listening. Yes, I did just compare moving
houses to Jesus about to be beaten and crucified.
Such a first world problem. But the thing is,
I can feel nervous about what's coming up. Jesus
knows what's going to happen. And sometimes we're
like, okay, the physical. He's about to be ridiculed
by the leadership of the entire nation. He's
going to be pranced out in front of people and
made to look like a fool. Yeah. For doing nothing
wrong. He's going to be part of a legal trial,
which we'll talk about next week, that is rigged
from the start and is not about the justice of
the Jewish system. Yeah. Like, he has a lot of
anguish and he looks at the situation and he's
like, if we can let this go past, I would love
for that to be the case. Yeah. I do want to,
I want to hone in on something Jesus says a second
time, which I think is very significant though,
because this is, this is part of the attitude
of the person. Like, I think when we, when we
step into suffering on behalf of other people
or on behalf of Christ, like this, this is the
kind of thing that we're, where we can gather
strength. He's when he prays the second time,
he says this, uh, my father, if it is not possible
for this cut to be taken away, unless I drink
it, may your will be done. So the first one is
if it's like, can we take away this cup, right?
This cup that I have to drink, this cup of God's
holy suffering, which by the way is mentioned
in the old Testament. Yeah. And it is a, it is
going to be drunk by God where he's talking and
said that he's going to drink this, this cup
on behalf of the suffering of the people. But
Jesus says, if it's possible that I don't have
to do this. Yeah. For your will to be accomplished.
Let's take it away. But if the only way for what
you need to have done is for this to be done,
I gladly step in. Well, I step in. Yeah. I mean,
gladly, joyfully, but not gladly. Maybe. Yeah.
You know? So referenced in actually in the book
of Isaiah, this cup that they're talking about.
I mean, there's other places the cup is referenced,
but I want to pull this from Isaiah because there's
a lot of Isaiah 50 through 55 happening in this
section of the Bible. Right? Uh, starting verse
17 of chapter 51, it says awake, awake, rise
up Jerusalem. You who have drunk from the hand
of the Lord, the cup of his wrath. Okay. Jerusalem,
you've woken up and you're actually drinking
from the cup of God's wrath, right? This is what
your sovereign. Okay, so Isaiah saying, because
up to this point, like you have been drinking
from his wrath. You have been bringing the wrath
of God on yourself. And a lot of this is tying
back to this idea of you're not actually living
into what Torah calls you to be, to love God
and love your neighbor as yourself, to actually
put this on display. It's being about all nations,
and it's about justice and mercy, and yes, sure,
tithing, right? But don't neglect the later without
doing the former, right? And Jesus continues
his cup imagery, and he says that cup, that cup
that you have been drinking, you don't get it
anymore. It's mine. And I'm going to drink every
last drop and it's not going to be yours anymore.
Yeah. You may have wrath come on you, but it
will not be the wrath of God. You may have pain
come on you, but it will not be pain from God.
You may have brokenness come upon you, but it's
no longer to be brokenness of God. If you trust
me, it's a good story. Yeah. It's incredible.
And it's one of the reasons why we have to be
really careful. There's a statement that people
will make about the wrath of God being poured
out on Jesus. Jesus drinks the cup of God's holy
wrath. That's what the Bible says. It's a difference
between a vengeful God and a God full of love
who takes what was for somebody else and drinks
it for himself. And in the middle of this, Jesus
knows exactly. What kind of wrath people have
stirred up in the world. And he's like, I'm going
to have to take that on myself. Yeah. And it's
going to be terrible. It's going to be rough.
I am not feeling great about this. So, Father,
if we can let this pass, I would love that. But
if there's no way for this to be accomplished
without me taking on the cup of your wrath, I
gladly drink it. Yeah. And there's people who
have made the argument of like, well, if God's
all powerful, like then why can't he just find
another way? Right. Right. And the reality is,
is God created things to work in a certain way.
Yeah. Right. There were systems that were created
for atonement. Right. For restoration. And those
systems usually required some form of sacrifice.
Right. Right. Some form of you saying, OK, I'm
going to give give up something so that I can
be made right with God. Right. Or drawn near.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Or drawn near.
Right. Yeah. Right. It's actually it's actually
a concept that we can still take into play today.
We're like, maybe there's something that's holding
you away from God and you're like, hey, I need
to give that up so I can draw near to him. Right.
Right. It's still a concept we play out in families,
for example. Maybe maybe there's a parent in
the family who's addicted to alcohol. right or
some other type of substance and it's ruining
their family yeah and all and if they could only
give that up they could draw closer to their
family yeah right right it's not a we treat it
as this very foreign concept and here and here
you have and in this moment you have jesus saying
okay i i don't you basically have jesus saying
this is going to be really difficult yeah really
really difficult and he's saying but i I'm going
to take on the worst of the worst for everyone
around me. And this is, by the way, not a new
thing with God. No. I mean, you think back to
the story of the blood covenant with Abraham
and God, like the blood path covenant, right?
You think about even going back to the flood
where God puts his bow in the sky so he has to
remember, right? The more powerful is remembering,
right? Yeah. God is frequently taking on both
sides of the covenant. Even in the sacrificial
system where they, like, because we're like,
ah, the sacrificial system is brutal. If you've
read in Leviticus when we talked about it, the
sacrificial system is all about how to draw near
to God. Yeah. And restoration of. relationship.
And then Jesus comes and he's breathing and walking
in this system and he's Torah on display and
his blood is what is going to draw us back to
the fathers. You know, and so like you were talking
about the person who says, well, if God is all
powerful, why couldn't he do a different way?
He's already telling them a story. And so he's
going to do it in a way that's going to make
sense in the story that they're doing. Right.
And so God is bringing his children back. He's
providing a bridge that they can walk across
when you trust in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ
and then go and find yourself restored unto God.
Yeah. Right. And, and when that happens, you're
going to instantly be different, but also you're
going to have the deposit of the Holy Spirit,
which is going to change who you are. Yeah. But
you got to go and drink the cup first. Yep. Well,
rather Jesus has to go and drink the cup first.
Yeah. And I would, I would argue, I might make
a suggestion that sometimes what we do as Christians
is we go and drink a cup on somebody else's behalf
so that they can be restored to God. Yep. Now
don't get caught up in literal cups. Don't get
caught up in the cup of God's holy wrath because
I'm using an analogy to talk about how we suffer
so that other people can find Christ. Yeah. That
we willingly step into the fray. We willingly
take the hit to protect somebody else or to give
them the opportunity to see Jesus. Yeah. Now,
the disciples are taking naps because they're
tired. Oh, poor baby. No, I'm just kidding. And
I do love, by the way, that, oh, by the way,
I'm still in Isaiah. Hold on. I got to get back
to Matthew. I do like that the first time he
comes back to his disciples and he's talked to
James and John and Peter. By the way, Peter's
the only one named here that says the two sons
of Zebedee, but we know who they are. He comes
back and the third, was it the second time? He
goes to Peter and he says, couldn't you keep
watch with me for one hour? One hour, dude. Right.
By the way, Peter has just said, I will never
deny you. And I don't want to throw Peter under
the bus because I 100 % believe that would be
me. I'd be tired. I was like, I love Jesus, but
I also love the inside of my eyelids. So then
he says, all right, guys, I'm here. You're still
sleeping and resting, but the hour has come.
The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of
sinners. Rise, let us go. Here comes my betrayer.
And while he was still speaking, Judas, one of
the 12, arrived. With him, a large crowd armed
with swords and clubs sent from the chief priest
Okay, pause. These are not Roman soldiers because
they're sent from the chief priests and the elders
of the people. So these are temple soldiers.
Yes. Yeah. Well, they're probably temple soldiers
and just a mix of civilian. Right. Yeah. So now
the betrayer had arranged for them a signal with
them. The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him.
By the way, it's crazy to me that they don't
know who Jesus is at this point. Going at once
to Jesus, Jesus said, Greetings, Rabbi, and kissed
him. Jesus replied, Do what you came for, friend.
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus, and
arrested him. With that, one of Jesus' companions
reached for the sword, you know who it was, drew
it out, and struck the servant of the high priest,
cutting off his ear. Put your sword back in its
place, Jesus said to him, for all who draw the
sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot
call on my Father? And he will at once put all,
well, I can read, at once put at my disposal
more than 12 legions of angels. But how then
would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it
must happen in this way? In that hour, Jesus
said to the crowd, am I leading a rebellion that
you've come to me with swords and clubs to capture
me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching
and you did not arrest me. But this has taken
place and all the writings of the prophets might
be fulfilled. And then the disciples deserted
and fled. All right, I want to jump one other
place here because talking about the fact that
these are temple guards, John adds a little bit
more to the story. Now remember that James and
John and Peter are specifically with Jesus the
entire time. All the disciples are probably there,
but they're closest. So they're going to have
probably the clearest recollection of what's
happened. So if you start in chapter 18, verse
2 of John, it says, Now Judas who betrayed him
knew the place because Jesus had often met there
with his disciples. Okay, that's a nice tidbit
to know. So Judas came to the garden, guiding
an attachment of soldiers and some officials
from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were
carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons. Jesus,
knowing all what happened, went out and asked
them, Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth,
they replied, I am he, Jesus said. And Judas
the traitor was standing there with them. When
Jesus said, I am he, they drew back and fell
to the ground. Okay. Why did they fall to the
ground? This is very important for people who
talk about Jesus never claiming to be God. Why
are they falling to the ground when he says,
I am he? These are temple guards. And what name
did he just say? I am. I am. Right? This is a
really big deal. Like, they know exactly what
name. And apparently he says it with enough authority
that they're like, whoa. Right? So he asks them
again. He says. I am he, they drew back. Again,
he asked them, who is it that you want? Jesus
of Nazareth, they said. Jesus answered, I told
you that I am he. If you are looking for me,
then let these men go. This happens so that the
words he had spoken would be fulfilled. I have
not lost one that you gave me. Then Simon Peter,
sorry to throw you under the bus, dude, who had
the sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's
servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's
name was Malchus. Side note, have you ever just
wondered what beef was between John and Peter?
Um, just be, I mean, just because like, uh, the,
all the other gospels are like, oh, and then
a disciple did this. And then, and John will
even do that. I'd be like, oh, and then the disciple
did this and I'll be like, and then I'm faster
than Peter. And oh yeah, Peter cut off that guy's
ear. Yeah. Uh, that's a very side note. No, it's
first of all, it's really funny. Like I, there's
been some hilarious memes about it, but there
is actually a conversation that, so Matthew being
the most Jewish of the gospels, um, Matthew goes
out of his way to repeatedly remind them that
Peter is still with them. Now, why is that important?
Because Peter is about to deny his rabbi. And
this is going to be really hard for some people
to hear because they're not going to understand
this. In the Jewish mind, Peter is more at fault
than Judas. Because Judas, yes, betrays Jesus,
but Peter denies him. Judas actually doesn't
deny Jesus. He betrays him. And I know you're
going to hear that and you'll be like, whoa,
whoa, wait, wait, wait. I was like denying like
you ever knew the person, that you ever followed
them, that you were ever a part of them. It is
significantly worse in this culture, in this
kind of upbringing. And so in the book of Matthew
where it tends to say like, you know, a disciple,
I feel like he's kind of softening it a little
bit. Because you'll actually notice in the book,
I think it's in Matthew, but as they're going
after the denial, they'll say the disciples and
Peter. The disciples and Peter. And he's reminding
the Jewish readers because they would not have
seen Peter as a disciple when he wants he denied.
Yeah. I also think that's really important why
even though John seems to throw him under the
bus, there is actually this passage where Jesus
comes back and restores Peter because there was
questions in the Jewish church. about the validity
of peter's leadership yeah and then he's like
no no i was there like don't get me wrong like
peter's not a strong runner he chops people's
ears off right but jesus absolutely restored
him yeah like he he's he's our bro right like
so um i love i love so they come here and they're
like they're like who he's like who you looking
for and they're like we're looking for jesus
yeah that's me right i am he And they fall to
the ground. He's like, okay, seriously, who are
you looking for? Stand up. Yep, stand up. Let's
try it again. And one of my favorite things,
he's like, why are you coming at night with clubs
and swords? Like, he knows why they're coming.
But why are you coming at night? I went to your
house where you had authority. And I was there
teaching every day. And you did nothing. Because
while Jesus is on trial. So were they. Yeah.
Yeah. He was like, you know where to find me.
Yeah. Right? One of the things that's apparent
to me, the more you actually read this, is the
whole time Jesus is on trial, he's not the only
one. Pontius Pilate is on trial. Caiaphas is
on trial. And the Pharisees are on trial. And
the Sanhedrin is on trial. And really, all of
humanity is on trial. And Jesus still willingly
steps to the cross and drinks the cup to its
streaks. Right? All this while, while they're
trying to accuse him, he's still the one who's
actually going to go and step in for all these
people. And the hypocrisy, the injustice, the
brokenness of the system, the brokenness of what
we have called the Jewish mafia at times. Yeah.
Right? The brokenness of all of that is going
to be put on display. And even in the middle
of that, Jesus is still going to stand pat and
he's going to love people around him. Yeah. Even
to the point where, and we're going to talk about
this in a couple of weeks, but even to the point
where when he's on the cross and he sees his
mother, he says, hey, John, I need you to take
care of her. That's Ben's paraphrase, but I need
you to take care of her because she's got no
one else to take care of her. The next few episodes
are going to be difficult because we're going
to talk about the fact that Jesus came to save
us. And humanity decided that the best thing
to do was to tear them apart. Yeah. And we got
to sit with that because as much as we want to
be like, oh, they did this. We would, too. We
would be in the exact same spot. Yeah. And as
you read through the story, Jesus sat with it,
too. Yeah. Like they came with false accusations,
all sorts of stuff. And could Jesus have talked
his way out of this? Probably. Yeah. Right. But
he didn't. He also didn't need the sword. I love
it in the book of Luke. He's like, we're going
to go. And they're like, well, we need a sword.
Here, I've got it. And they're like, well, we've
got two. And he's like, yeah, that's enough.
I'm actually going to read the passage because
it cracks me up every time I read it. He tells
Simon, he says, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked
to sift you as wheat in chapter 22. But I have
prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not
fail. And when you have turned back, it's going
to happen. Strengthen your brothers. And Jesus
answered, I tell you, Peter, before the rooster
crows today, you will deny me three times that
you know me. And Jesus said, when I sent you
without purse, bag, or sandal, did you lack anything?
Nothing, they answered. He said, but now I have,
if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag.
If you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and
buy one. It is written, and he was numbered with
the transgressors, and I tell you that this must
be fulfilled in me. Yet what is written about
me is reaching its fulfillment. The disciples
said, see, Lord, here are two swords. Okay, you
guys aren't hearing what I'm talking about, right?
He goes, that's enough, he replied. By the way,
it actually says that's enough with an exclamation
point. That's enough. Right. Then he went out
to, as usual, to the Mount of Olives. So there's
this thing like he's trying to have this conversation
with the disciples. And they're like, oh, we
got swords. I heard you say sword. You said sell
your bag, get a sword. I got two swords. We're
good to go. And then this whole thing comes in
like this servant steps forward and Peter cuts
his ear off. And Jesus was like, no. No, no,
no, no, no. Do you not think that I couldn't
command legions of angels to come to my aid?
Uh -huh. That's not what we're doing, Peter.
And I just think it's coming back to last week
when we were talking about how did Jesus love
people in the middle of it? Yeah. Can you imagine
if you're stepping out into the most fundamental
part of your mission and it's about nonviolence,
right? And about standing pat in the face of
injustice. And then somebody throws a canister
of tear gas at the people that you're standing
across from. And you're like, no. Come on, guys.
Or whatever. And yet Jesus is going to make that
person the rock of his church. You know the one
who didn't quite understand the mission and stepped
out and struck off the guy's ear so that he had
to heal it right in the middle of being arrested?
That guy. is going to be the rock. That guy is
going to be the rock. Yep. James and John, those
two guys that wanted to call down fire to burn
down the village of Samaria. They're going to
be pivotal, right? Like Jesus just does ministry
so differently than we do. And I, I just, I just
there. And also these, these guys, these, they,
they, they have like these big traumatic gestures,
but when they see the revealed Christ. When they're
filled with the Holy Spirit, something changes
in them and they're drastically different people.
Yeah. That's not to say they never screw up again.
No, they do. Right? They do. But something changes.
Yeah. Yeah. It's so interesting. I love just
talking about Jesus and his group of disciples
because it is the most odd combination of people
that you could bring together. Yeah. Right? You
have tax collectors. Nobody liked tax collectors.
Jews didn't even consider them Jewish. I mean,
to be fair, people still don't like tax collectors.
Yeah, I don't either. Then you had zealots who
were like, we're going to kill all the tax collectors.
And the Romans. And the Romans, right. And then
you had fishermen, and they're like, okay, well,
these are the guys who couldn't cut it in school,
so they're back at their family business. The
list goes on, right? And so you have this group
of people where it's like, okay, they're collectively
together. They're not going to accomplish anything.
Then Jesus is like, watch me. And to be fair,
in this scene, they didn't accomplish anything.
They were supposed to go and just watch with
him and they couldn't stay awake. And then all
they were supposed to do is just stand behind
him and then they cut off someone's ear. Yep.
Now, he's going to get arrested. They're going
to go running off. I think there's like one of
the accounts says that somebody gets their cloak
stolen, so they run off naked. So clearly, they're
booking it. But it is an odd amalgamation of
people. It's almost like Jesus works with all
sorts of different people, and he brings out
the best in them, and about working together
despite our differences is so important, which
touches on our last episode. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And one of the things we've talked, we talked
about in a previous episode, but I want to point
out here one more time. Two people are going
to have extreme regret over what happens here.
Peter for denying Jesus and probably for chopping
the guy's ear off. Yeah. Right. He's going to
have regret. And then Judas for betraying Jesus.
The difference between them. Is when they have
realization about their sin. One of them goes
to Jesus. Yep. And one goes takes care of himself.
Both of them could have had redemption. Yeah.
Right. I don't know if you think that the sin
of betraying the son of God to the chief priest
is too big of a sin for God to forgive. He's
got it. He's got it. Like he already knew he
was going to do it. The difference between Judas
and Peter is one comes back and one doesn't.
It's why that word repent, shuva, return to who
you're supposed to be, matters. You're going
to fail. Sometimes you will be with Jesus in
a garden and you'll chop someone's ear off. He
can put it back on. Sometimes people are going
to ask you if you belong to Jesus and you're
going to deny him. He'll meet you by a fire later
and restore you. And sometimes you're going to
be called to be like Jesus and go take a cup
that nobody wants to drink so that somebody else
can have life. Yes. And I think all of those
things, like obviously you could carry any of
those analogies too far. Like here the intent,
not necessarily the ending. Here the intent is
that following after Jesus and being like Jesus
means sometimes stepping into situations that
are not going to be good, that are going to hurt
for the sake of what we know is on the other
side. Yeah. That's part of being human. That's
part of being, uh, recognizing the image of God
in us is our willingness to deal with the gross.
Yeah. Right. I think that's probably a good place
for us to stop. Yeah. Uh, next week we'll talk
about, uh, the actual trial. We're probably going
to lead all the way up to the actual crucifixion,
uh, maybe get into the crucifixion. And then
the following week I wanted to take some time
talking about the words of Jesus on the cross.
Yeah. Um, and then his death and death and burial.
Yeah. And, uh, and then we'll be talking about
the resurrection. Yeah. So until next time. And
that's a wrap for today's episode of Love and
Context. We hope this conversation encouraged
you and gave you fresh insights into how we can
better love God and others through the powerful
truths of the Bible. We'd love to hear from you.
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