Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, welcome back to this season of the YA podcast. We are going through Matthew and I'm here with Jess.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Hello, I'm back again, back again.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: And I'm Thomas. We weren't planning to be here together today. Well, here we are, a few people calling in sick. But here we go. We'll see what happens.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll be good.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: What's your favorite thing about Matthew at the moment?
[00:00:23] Speaker B: Oh man, that is a big.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: The Gospel of Matthew.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: It is such a good, it's just such a good book of the Bible. I just love that there is so many layers of revelation about Jesus and as much as it is written to a people at a time, it's like for us there is so much application. Yeah, it's always been like my favorite really. I mean more recently I'm like obsessed with John but like it's always, ever since I was a kid I was like, I just feel like it communicates Jesus really well. My favorite part specifically couldn't tell ya. What about you?
[00:00:57] Speaker A: I. Yeah, I like the way Matthew presents the kingdom. I think it's quite challenging to a modern day worldview. I think the other gospels can be a bit more palatable but like especially like say with like a Luke who's presenting the gospel to gentiles everyone. Whereas I find Matthew, for someone like us of a modern day faith have we have to do a bit of work, which I kind of enjoy when scripture forces us to do a bit of work to get the juicy meat out of it.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: I feel like when we do the work though, we find out that the way that they thought is not that different to the way that we thought.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Yes. And the problems they face is not different.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: You think it's such a big difference. But when you come down to it, we're all human and we all do.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: You were saying just before like, because obviously we've been doing this as like life groups studies in our life groups as a church community.
There's kind of been a thread that's been coming through and something that keeps coming up. Do you want to just touch on that?
[00:01:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I think both personally and in life group studies and just reading this, I really have sense that the biggest common thread is a preconceived idea or a misconception about who Jesus is or how we expect him to move and then our expectations actually causing us to either miss what he's doing or to I guess have disappointment. Yeah, that's just a normal thing that we all experience. When you have an expectation for someone or something and Then are disappointed because it wasn't the way you expected it to be. Be. And I feel like that's a common thread throughout this and throughout a lot of conversations.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: That's definitely what we're going to be talking about today. Yeah. Because we're going to be diving into chapters 11 to 13. If you haven't read it recently, maybe pause and go for a read now.
But yeah, it's definitely the case in these chapters as we head towards, like, that center part of the book, which really is that revelation of Peter of who Christ is.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: So obviously we're going to start talking about the preconceived ideas. Jesus challenging that.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: To bring his disciples to the point of actually, oh, Jesus, you are the Christ, you are the Messiah, you are the Son of God. Yeah. Yeah. Which is fun to come to that revelation.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Which is cool. Because when we start in chapter 11, if you're open there in your Bibles, the first thing you'll see is, like, kind of confusing because they're like, it's John the Baptist, a very stable, familiar character who, like, cool. Like, this guy was on fire for Jesus. He was at the very beginning, like, willing to look stupid and to be out there in the wilderness.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: We all know them.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: And to be. Yeah. To be a wild one for the Lord. When the Pharisees and everyone was like, yeah, excommunicating him, like, we don't want to have anything to do with this guy. And then sees Jesus and was like, behold the Lamb of God.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Yeah. He had a revelation of who Jesus was.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: He. He had a revelation, he baptized him and he saw the Holy Spirit. Like, imagine that encounter. And then chapter 11, we see John the bat just go.
Go to his two best, best disciples. And he goes, can you go ask Jesus if he's really the Messiah?
[00:03:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Verse two. Like, sorry, verse three. Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?
Like, like, this is the guy that said crazy. Behold the Lamb of God.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: Who comes to take the sin away. Like, and here he is going, hey, Jesus, I just want to confirm some things. Do I need to look for another guy? You weird.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Like, yeah, that's challenging.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: That is very confronting.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Like, the fact that we can be so on fire. Have a full revelation of who Christ is.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Like, be able to see him rightly as the Lamb of God. See him like, anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit descends. Hear the audible voice of the Father.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Saying, this is my Son, in whom I'm well pleased and yet later down the track, it's like, are you sure you're the one?
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Why did he do that?
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I think I look at it and even in my own life, I go, there's definitely places where life gets tough.
And I experience contradictions in my life to what Scripture presents. I mean, a clear example is when there's sickness or there's. Or another example where there's lack. It's like, hold up. Like, God, you said you would look after me. Currently, I'm lacking something. Or you said that you would put the salt the isolated in family. I currently don't feel like I have family. I don't have community. You said you would heal the sick. Why is this person still struggling with cancer? Like, there's contradictions. And I think for. For John, that is the reality. He was like, hold up, you're not. I know who you say you are to be, and I know who. Who you're meant to be, and I know what you're meant to be bringing us.
But the way you're doing it, I don't really understand.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:53] Speaker A: And I think that's more of where we land. Right. Is.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: Jesus said he's come to heal, he's come to provide. But sometimes the way he does it is that's actually the struggle less of Jesus, I don't know what you're doing, and more I don't know if how you're doing it is the way that I want to do it.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think also just going.
Focusing on what you're not doing.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: Perhaps John is going while Jesus is not. I don't know whether John also had that same idea that a lot of the Jews had of like, okay, he's coming to establish a political role. So you're not doing that or. And this is the same for us, God, you're not healing this person or you're not providing the finances, or you're not bringing me friends or relationship or whatever it is I'm praying for. But it's like Jesus is responsible. Here's what I am doing. And it sounds like more of a perspective shift.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: Jesus says, go and tell John the things that you see in here. He tells those disciples, look, people are being healed. The blind are seeing, the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised. And the poor have the gospel preached to them. Not the poor are getting lots of money, but the poor have the gospel preached to them. The poor are actually getting a revelation of the truth.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Back to the Beatitudes.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Right. Yeah.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: The poor. And blessed is the poor in spirit for this kingdom. Kingdom, yeah. Wow. There you go.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: And then Jesus says, blessed is he who is not offended because of me.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: That's really the setup for this whole section of Matthew. Right. Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. And I think, like, my next question is, okay, well, Jesus, how can we not be offended by you?
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: When you. When you. There is areas of our life that we want you to move and we can't see you moving. How can I maintain a soft heart and a humble spirit to not be offended by you? Like, that's. That's a question I've got no answer for.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: That's a very big question. I really enjoy going this. Going through this with my life group. We did a few weeks ago, and it was. It's. I feel like sometimes the first step is just admitting that we are offended.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: And. And to be okay with, like, okay, I have slipped up. I have been offended in this area. And to just that. To the Lord, and then let him deal with it. Because if we think that we're not or we try and shove down that emotion, then we can't heal it totally. And Jesus says, blessing you if you're not offended. I. I think he's got enough grace to go, if you have been offended, let me heal that so that you don't live in that place. So then you miss. You keep those expectations, and then you miss everything that I want to do.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: To deal with it quickly.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: That's very true.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: I guess it's like it comes back to any kind of offense. Like I'm. I'm offended at someone because I think that they misunderstood my heart or they had an idea about me that wasn't true.
[00:08:42] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: And if we put ourselves into a real life situation, well, what causes me to be offended or someone else to be offended at me?
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Often misunderstanding.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Misunderstanding.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: It's a big one.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: The other one's like. Like unfulfilled expectations.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Like, we often enter into environments where we've got these expectations that we don't tell anyone about.
You know, I mean, we. We make jokes about it, but the person who's got the internal timeline in their head of how the day is meant to go, and then no one's sticking to the timeline. Yeah. Like, and they get really annoyed and frustrated because that's an unfulfilled expectation.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: And I think a lot of the time with the Lord, when we're offended by him, it's because of unfulfilled expectations. We expected him to move in a certain way. We expected him to do something.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Just like John.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: Just like his disciples. And then it's like, we're offended.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: And the offense causes us to question the very revelation that we had at the very beginning. Like, John being offended by the lack of potential action from Jesus causes him to question the very revelation he had at the very start of, you're the Lamb of God. Like, our offense causes us to go back to revelations that were once, sure, rock solid, unquestionable, and start questioning them with different eyes. Yeah.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: I think that though, like, in a really practical sense, like, outside of this passage of Scripture, when we're dealing with offense and dealing with expectations and misunderstandings, the answer to everything in terms of, like, relationships is communication. Right. So if you're not communicating your expectations, then of course they're going to be unmet. It's very rare that they're actually, actually met when you haven't communicated them. So even though we can make fun of John and be like, how silly he didn't, why are you asking the dude's healing people? Like, yeah, like, why don't you just say, like, the fact that he asked a question. I actually respect that. Because it's like, you're opening up the conversation to communicate and to then solve the problem.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Because the problems don't get solved if they're not communicated.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's the posture of, like, even Jesus in the garden of not my will, but yours be done.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Like, that statement implies that he had a different will.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:57] Speaker A: Like, which is fair. Like, yeah, I don't want to die.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Like, fair enough.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: And it's a lot deeper than that. But, like, to simplify it, like, yeah, that prayer is like, even our prayer of going, yeah, God, I have a different will.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: I desire something else right now.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: But not my will, but yours be done. Yeah. Like, that communication that you're talking about.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: And like, this scripture is filled with this verse that says, ask and you shall receive. Like, God actually wants us to have a conversation with him.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: And. And to ask and to let him.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Know what we want anyway, we then dive into, literally, like, story after story of offense. Yeah. And most of it is in reality the Pharisees and the religious people being offended by Jesus, which is not a hard thing to do.
How about we dive into, I guess, the passage around the Sabbath.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: That is helpful.
Towards the end of chapter 11, there comes this discussion around rest and then another encounter with the Pharisees around, you know, Essentially, they saw the disciples taking grain from a field, and they see that as work. And Jesus flips it on his head. Do you have any thoughts around that, Jess?
[00:12:14] Speaker B: I just love that, like, at the end of chapter 11, that Jesus sets it up that way of. Like he says in the nkjv, which I'm reading, it says, you've hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. It's like this. Like, babies just sleep all day. So talk about rest.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: Jesus is setting them up like, hey, I'm not coming to just add more to the law. I'm not trying to give you more burdens and trying to load this stuff on you. But I'm actually. I'm coming to it from a place of what is best for you.
And it takes being a baby to understand it that, like, I'm coming to give you rest. And then he. One of the really obvious ways to address rest in a religious sense is Sabbath.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Because I go, okay, well, I can work hard and try and do all this stuff every other day of the week, but it's like Sabbath, they got to this point of, like, they'd over work. This is not a word, but, like, work. Sized it in the sense that it wasn't even rest anymore because it was like, we have all these laws that we need to meet Sabbath so that we're not breaking.
[00:13:18] Speaker A: It was actually a burden to Sabbath.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So they've taken away the grace.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: Crazy.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: They're taking away the heart and the intention behind what the law that God had given. And like, even I've been studying Exodus recently, and with my studies, and I'm just noticing how much, like, the idea that I had about the law was that it was like God's harsh judgment, but it's actually the grace of God. It's so much about his grace for the people and to.
I guess, I don't know what I'm trying to say. His. His desire to give them what they need and what they think they need.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: To show them a better way. Right?
[00:13:56] Speaker B: Yeah. And it was all. It was all for the people and out of God's love. And so you look at this and you go, well, why have they taken something that God has given to them for rest? You know, when they were. When they had a slave driver and they were used to working seven days a week in Egypt. And then God's like, here's the Sabbath, so you can rest. And then we've taken a gift from God or, you know, the Pharisees in this case have taken a gift from God and then turned it into something that it's not.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: And that's. That's where we find Jesus sort of confronting these things. He says that the Son of Man is lord over the Sabbath. So they're sort of addressing this.
This moment where the disciples are hungry and they.
They eat grain. The disciples, like, that's. You shouldn't be eating.
[00:14:46] Speaker A: I was like, well, like, yeah, that just baffles me. It's like, oh, they're hungry on Sabbath, so why wouldn't they eat?
[00:14:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: It's like, you're telling me that the law of God, that loves us so much, tells me that I can't eat. Like, make a way for me to eat on Sabbath. Like, it just doesn't make sense. And, like, Jesus confronts him and calls that out. And I'm just reminded of, as you're talking about, like, this gift of Sabbath and then becoming, like, a. A burden to people. I'm reminded of, like, Romans, chapter six, where it's like, you've been set free, so don't submit yourself again to a yoke of slavery.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: And what Paul's talking about there is actually the. The slavery to the law.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: And that this, like, continuous going back into putting themselves in slavery to something.
And we see that it's like the Pharisees are enslaved to their own rules and regulations. When she's like, no, no. Like, come back to the gift of rest. Like, I'm here to bring you rest.
And what that looks like today is very different. But I still, like, think that there's a lot in there of, like, hey, maybe we need to, like, actually lean into the rest of Christ.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: Yeah. I think it comes back to, like, a principle of the way that you see God. And, like, if what I would assume these guys have done in. In legislating all these extra laws about the Sabbath is then taken away. The heart of God.
[00:16:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Which is. Yeah. Like, I want you to eat if you're hungry kind of thing. It's like, I actually care about you. Not that you're a robot or you're an employee that meets certain criteria, but I actually care about you. And I hear Christians sometimes say things like, oh, being a Christian is so hard. And it's like, well, have you misunderstood the heart of God? Like, he's not trying to, I guess, make you do something that you don't want to do. He's trying to bring you into revelation of how good he is so that you can submit to that. And Actually live in this place of genuine freedom. Not thinking you're free, but actually being stuck in something.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: It's another conference, like, confrontation about expectations. Like, what do you think God is, like, actually doing in your life?
[00:16:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: Do you think God is oppressing you into a way of doing things that's one. Not even, like, beneficial. It's like. No. Like, there's a heart posture there.
Yeah. That's really good. It goes. And, like, Jesus confronts this. I mean, then he goes and heals someone.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: He's like, you think, like, picking some grains. Bad. I'm gonna go heal someone. I'm gonna really offend you.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: And they do get offended because afterwards it's like verse 14 of chapter 12. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him. How to destroy him. Like, they're so offended by, like, Jesus healing someone.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: Bringing freedom to someone.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: And bringing rest to someone that they want to destroy him.
Like, that's it. Yeah. It's quite crazy.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: It's. He is literally bringing rest to this person. Like, imagine, like, he gives the example of a sheep in a pit, but it. The exact situation is a guy with a withered hand. Like, imagine how much harder that would make your life. Like, you wouldn't be in rest.
[00:17:55] Speaker A: No.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: So Jesus is like, okay, it might look like work that I'm, like, healing this person or taking a sheep, but it's like, I'm actually giving that person that she rest.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: By delivering them from the thing that is causing them to be stuck.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: And they're like, oh, well, we're going to. It's almost like, stay in your. In your destructive comfort zone.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Face the. The challenge and then walk in freedom.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: Totally. And then you, like, we end up. I mean, there's a challenging section there where he starts calling him a brood of vipers and all this stuff. And it's like, yep. Jesus is just saying it how it is.
But then he goes to talk about the sign of Jonah that, like, no other sign. This. Like he says, this generation, this adulteress and evil Generation in verse 39 seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just a. Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish. So will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The Meta Nivena Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. Which is like, I didn't even realize this before, but that's essentially he's saying that the Ninevites, which were seen as the. The worst of the worst.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: They will condemn essentially the Pharisees.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: Like they are more righteous.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: Than the generation of Pharisees. Like it's. Yeah. Because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And the preaching of Jonah was essentially just like, God loves you. Repent.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Wasn't it like the shortest sermon ever?
[00:19:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:31] Speaker B: Like four words.
[00:19:32] Speaker A: Yes. Four words. Like it's. And. And they repented. Something greater than Jonah is here. He's talking about himself. The Queen of the south will rise up at the judgment of this generation and condemn it for she came from the ends of the earth. She's talking about Solomon. To hear the wisdom of Solomon. Behold, something greater than Solomon is here. He's like foretelling the fact he's going to die and be resurrected in three days. Yeah. And you know, the Pharisees just don't get it.
But he's saying, hey, the sign will be that I will die a king and I will be resurrected a king and it won't be how you expect. It's going to be offensive.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: And that's going to be a sign.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: If you're not okay with that, then those you condemned will actually be the ones that will be condemning you.
That's heavy.
[00:20:20] Speaker B: That I'm just thinking of like in a modern day context.
[00:20:23] Speaker A: Context.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: Like it's like fill in the blank. The worst people. People you can think of or like the most. What you would call the most sinful. Those ones condemning us as Christians in church.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: Being like, they, they saw Jesus and we didn't.
[00:20:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:39] Speaker B: That. That should be convicting for us to think about. We don't want to be the ones that are going to miss him because of offense. We don't want to be the ones that are going to be seeking something that he has not come to give.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That phrase there. They saw Jesus and we didn't. Like, that's. I think that would. Could be the worst thing on that day for them to condemn us and to come to that realization of, oh, I thought I saw Christ, but they saw Jesus and I didn't because of my offense, because he wasn't what I expected. And in reality, like, Jesus is the sign of Jonah, is the gospel. It's the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Like Easter's this weekend. Like it's coming. And yeah. In light of that, I guess that question of like, what's my expectations of Christ.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:27] Speaker A: And is it a lot in Alignment with the gospel.
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:29] Speaker A: And if not, I'm going to get to a point where I might have to say the very people I condemned saw Christ and I didn't see Christ.
And that's. That's. Yeah, that's. That's confronting, very confronting. I'm being confronted as.
Yeah, we didn't touch on this before we recorded, but, yeah, I feel like there's a weightiness to that, especially in light of Easter.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: Yeah. And I. Even just that verse 42, that the queen of the south, like this. This person that is so far removed would go all that way because they saw wisdom from a farm. Like, I want that.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: And that pursuit of truth, like that, that. That kind of person would condemn someone that's. That's sitting in their pews and being like, oh, the truth right here. But I can't see it and I can't receive it.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: It actually brings me back to the story of the prodigal son and how the sun was far away and he was feeding the pigs, and he was like, oh, what I had back there in the kingdom, like, in my Father's house was better than what I have here. I'm going to go back. Even though it might be shameful, even though I might not be received, I'm going to go back because that is better. And then the far. The Father says to the older brother who's offended the younger brother. There you go. He's offended. And he was like, I can't believe that you would, you know, slaughter the best lamb for him and you would give him a ring and a robe and like, here I am. And the Father says something to him. This is in Luke 15. So we're jumping away from Matthew for.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: A sec, but this is good.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: He. This, like, I have wept over these. These words. And I feel like, oh, there's a lot of us have been in this situation where the Father turned to the son, Luke 15:31, and he said, son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
And I'm just like, are we.
Are we sitting in the kingdom looking at everything that the Father has and not seeing it? Because we don't ask or we don't think he wants to give it.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: We're so offended that it blinds us.
[00:23:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, what is that blockage for us?
[00:23:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: Why are we always with him? And he says, all I have is yours.
But we. We're not accessing that.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. And really, like, that's.
Yeah, that's. It's a lot It's a lot. And that's. That's not a light question.
And I think sometimes the very thing that we're. That we. The only thing that we can do to resolve that is go to the Lord. And it's often the thing that keeps us away from the Lord. Like, the place of freedom is the place that we won't go to because we're offended. Like, when you're offended by God and he's the only one that can bring you freedom from your own offense.
Like, that's a hard thing.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: That is. Is a hard place to go.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: And I have had many conversations with many people, even this year.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: That have just gone. I know what my issue is, and I know that, like, I just need to go to the Lord with it. But I know going to the Lord will cause a bit of pain because I've got to bring it up. Like, I've got to actually confront what I'm feeling. And maybe this fear of pain, this fear of dealing with stuff is keeping us bound.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: And then we're stuck just in that. In between.
[00:24:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: Because we can't go to the Lord and be like, okay, but that is hard. And I, like, want to acknowledge that.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: It is very hard.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: He is the only solution.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: Yep. Yeah. And then it's even like, I'm reading chapter 13 in a different light now. Like, you know, the parable of the sower being Jesus is the sower and he's sowing seed, and our heart is the soil. If there's a fence, it's not going to receive the seed. It's not going to grow anything. In actual fact, it's probably going to be caught up by the enemy, that seed. Because our heart is going to be hard. And you know, that's like Jeremiah's prophecy is that we will receive a heart of flesh in exchange for a heart of stone.
[00:25:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: And I think offense can make us go back and have a heart of stone instead of a heart of flesh.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: And then even, you know, the. The parable of, like, the mustard seed and the leaven, like, that's in relation to the Pharisees. But the Pharisees were the ones that were most offended by Jesus.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: The way offense can breed in a community and breed unhealth and breed toxicity and.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:09] Speaker A: Pull people away from Christ. Like, but then the comparison of the mustard seed.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: Which brings life in the same way. Like, there's such a. It only takes a tiny bit of faith. And even that of, like, you know what? I have a Tiny bit of faith that Christ, that Jesus, that our Father can help me. And so no matter how painful is, I'll go to him and I'll bear my offense to him and I'll process with him because I have a tiniest amount of faith, like that's a mustard seed that will then grow.
And then that last encouragement of Chapter 13 being the. The triad of parables, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great value, and the parable in there, it's like sometimes we. We need to just have an abandonment to all other things in order to get the treasure and go. I don't care how painful it is to process. I don't care how much I have to bring up the past. But I want freedom because I want Christ.
[00:27:06] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:27:07] Speaker A: And it is valuable that, like, it's so valuable that I'll sold it. I'll do anything I need to.
[00:27:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I think all of these parables sort of point to the fact that the kingdom of heaven, like chapter 13, is all parables. The kingdom of heaven is like something you just see a glimmer of hope in.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, Just.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: Just a little, A little shining pearl or that little hidden treasure and that little thing. If you can just catch that little bit of hope that the Lord wants to give you and then give everything to it, watch what can happen. It's like, talks about even the leaven, like in, in verse 33. That's something that you can't see. Like, you can't. If you, if you've ever made bread before, like, you can't see the yeast in the dough when it's growing. But it affects the whole thing, it affects the whole culture. And then the hidden treasure. Like it's. This guy finds, finds a treasure in a field and is willing to give up everything for that little bit, but also knowing that when he buys that field, it could be filled with plenty more treasures.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: Like he's actually partnering with. Like, I will take the little that the Lord will give me and I will abandon everything else for that. Because on the other side of that, look how it affects everything else. I think sometimes we get it backwards. We want everything to be perfectly aligned and to know what we're getting into before we get into it, know the end result and know the big picture. But God's just like, no, I just want you. Yes, I just want your response. And if you can give everything to that response, then watch what I do.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: And we're back at John the Baptist. Yeah, he wanted. He wanted everything. And Jesus response was, hey, look at what's happening.
[00:28:39] Speaker B: Glimmer of hope.
[00:28:41] Speaker A: Yeah. People are healed. People are being set free. Like the lame walk. Like John, do you understand?
And that's the truth. Right. Like, we want to see the whole thing. It's like, no, no, there's hope.
[00:28:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:53] Speaker A: There's hope. And that's like Hebrews, you know, faith is the substance of things hoped for.
[00:28:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: That, like our faith actually has substance and it is the things hoped for. Without hope, there's no faith.
And I think the, like. Yeah.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: That's what the Lord's doing. He's restoring hope.
[00:29:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: And he's. He's trying to draw our attention to. Look what's. What's happening. The lame walk. Like the. The people are being set free.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: And I think more than ever, like, if we can't share the testimonies of God, then look at souls coming into the kingdom.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: Like, that's the biggest encouragement when we're offended by God is when, oh, no, no. There's a baby Christian that's just been born.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: And that's hope. It's enough hope.
[00:29:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: Like that in itself. When there's salvation in the house of. Of the Lord, that's enough hope to get by and to get through our offense.
[00:29:46] Speaker B: Yeah. And then that hope leads to faith.
[00:29:49] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: Faith becomes a reality. The reality of that hope is not a met expectation.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: Reality of that hope is that your faith in God would increase, that you would look at that little glimmer and say, there is more in God and he is faithful and he will fulfill his promises no matter what it looks like. I have seen this in my life countless times. Like, if you. If you're listening to this, come and talk to me. I'll tell you a story of a time where I have felt so hopeless and God has just given me a glimmer of hope and how that has affected my faith.
[00:30:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:18] Speaker B: It has changed my perspective of. I need this to happen at this day, at this time, and to go. No, no. I trust in the God that gave me the hope in the first place. And all it takes is a glimmer of hope and a heart that is willing to receive that hope, to respond to that and to actually then enter into faith.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: The kingdom is like, that's what the kingdom of. It's a glimmer of hope.
Yeah. This has been great. I feel like I need to go process some things with the Lord and.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: We hope that you guys do too. And like, you know, maybe. Maybe your first response to this is actually Okay, I need a pause and just say, God, what are you doing? What. What is a testimony that's happened in my life last week? Like, let's celebrate that. We love to celebrate testimonies, but to go, God, what are you doing?
[00:31:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:10] Speaker B: What is the good. What can. How can I see that and see you rightly as a result of that?
[00:31:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:16] Speaker B: Not focus on all the other stuff.
[00:31:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Now. Awesome. Shall we end there, then?
[00:31:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:23] Speaker A: That was good. Thank you for being with us. I hope this has blessed you as much as it's blessed us, but. Yeah. Matthew chapter 11 to 13. We'll continue with going through Matthew in the next episode after Easter. So enjoy Easter and we'll see you somewhere soon. Bye.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: See ya.
[00:31:44] Speaker A: All right.
