Badlands Media - The Choice (S3E8): Sustenance - Season Finale, Part 2

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

Ghost and Ashe in America close out season three by walking through the Decapolis arc all the way to Simon stepping out of the boat. The hosts unpack why Andrew and Philip's parable of the great banquet sparked a literal street brawl, why Judas is the only apostle in the room who instantly grasps everyone's offense (because his ego is still fully intact), and what it means that Jesus heals a deaf-mute Greek before he's even had a chance to introduce himself. The conversation widens into Socrates dying for "corrupting the youth" the same way Jesus would, the Nabateans of Petra, the Haskalah and why Orthodox versus secular Jews are headed for a civil war in present-day Israel, and what the chosen people actually got chosen for (hint: Deuteronomy 28, and it isn't a status upgrade). Then it lands on the feeding of the five thousand and Simon's brutally honest, cynical kind of faith. He believes Jesus can do it. He's just afraid Jesus will choose them. It ends where every storyline this season has been pointing. Keep your eyes on me. The mercies are new because we need them new.

The badlands, one of the badlands, explain those badlands. That's a hell of their name. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to The Choice. This is our season finale, part two. We'll be discussing the remaining storylines. Well, we're going to discuss one of the main remaining storylines. And then next week for our season three recap episode, we will tie up the rest of them and reflect on season three. How are you, Ghost?

I'm great. I'm good. How are you? Yeah, I'm doing all right. I'm doing all right. It's been a heavy news week. And there's so much, so much going on all over the place. President Trump is in China. Yep. Elections are on display. CIA whistleblowers talking about treason and all sorts of things. This show is recorded. So it's actually Wednesday. So if we make a current event reference that doesn't resonate on Thursday, it's because it's Wednesday. Yes.

Yeah, you're right. I mean, there's a lot of stuff going on. And it's, yeah, I mean, there's just our government is a joke. But it's not just a joke. It's a, it's a, it's a blithe on human civilization. It is a cancer on human civilization. And it has to be rectified. and it has to be confronted.

And if it's not confronted, then Satan will continue to dominate humanity. And humanity cannot live in peace. I also feel like we just have to be brave. Like we can we can solve this problem. I agree with everything you said about the government. And it's frustrating to see people still begging the government to fix the government because that's never going to happen. Right.

But that takes us being brave. And that starts with saying the true things. and then showing up and, you know, reclaiming the power in certain ways. And that is almost a bridge too far for people still, which is. Yeah, yeah. And again, like, and this isn't the current event show, so we won't get good on the rabbit hole. But I think people just get, there's like, they get cognitive dissonance because they're like, wait a minute, President Trump is the president, Donald Trump's the president.

And, you know, that means he's the head of the government. That means it's his government. That means if I criticize the government, that means I'm criticizing Donald Trump. And it's like that's not how the government works. I mean, were you paying attention at all during the first Trump administration? Are you paying attention right now when these people are whistleblowers are talking about how the government subverted and betrayed President Trump in order to destroy him and the populist counterinsurgency known as MAGA, you know? It's like we need to be logical. And we need to be adults.

We need to stop looking at this with like childish eyes, you know, this whole like white hat, black hat, good guy, bad guy thing. Someone's going to come save us. It's a thousand gray hats and they're all operating on their own incentive structures, right? And I think what President Trump is doing is he's creating incentive structures to get them to eat one another. And showing us all, right? Because I think we're seeing a lot of stuff that it's the same kind of stuff that has always gone on, but it's happened in the shadows. And now it's happening more in our faces. And that is, you know, what truly matters is not which party.

controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people, if you see the corruption, if you see the shadow incentive structures, if you see the shadow operators, what are you going to do about it? And apparently the answer to that is beg them to do better or stop. Begging to become good guys. Yeah. Yeah. Like it makes no sense. It's illogical, but it is emotional and it is a very emotional time, which is why we need to be. We need to Jesus, which is what this show is all about. And we're going to get into it as we wrap up season three today. But before we do that, we're going to hear from our incredible sponsors. And I think I'm going to start with Mr. Zach Payne and his lotion detector debut.

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we love soft disclosure so one more time that's soft disclosure dot com promo code memorial 15 and let's also hear from rise attire what up badlanders are you ready to rock something new in 2026 Well, as always, we got you covered with the Rise Badlands Native Collection. Built from the rich tones and rugged terrain of the Dakotas, equal parts beautiful and brutal. Old roots, new vibe. Whether you got gaiters in your backyard or you have to take a bushplane to the post office, Badlanders are worldwide. Different dirt.

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Speaking of Deadwood, we will be in Deadwood next month. And we're very excited about it. June 25th to the 28th, Badlands Media is heading back to Deadwood, South Dakota for the 12th stop on the Great American Restoration Tour. Whether you're attending in person or virtually a Gart veteran or a virgin, there's something for everyone. Early bird prices for virtual tickets are available through May 15th. Merch packages are also now available for both in-person or virtual ticket holders. Get your Gart 12 tickets today at Badlandsmedia.tv slash events. And that is going to be a blast.

We love Deadwood. We know Deadwood. You know, we go to these places, and we're in places for the first time, and we're all sort of figuring out the location together. But this will be our third time in Deadwood, South Dakota. and we know the spots, we know the places to go to do the things, and it's going to be a blast. Yes, yeah, it's definitely going to be a blast, and really looking forward to it. Absolutely.

All right, so we'll save our, this show. Today's show is sponsored by Native Path, getcryl.com slash badlands. We're going to talk about them a little bit later in the show, but we definitely appreciate them for sponsoring the choice and, you know, helping Ghost and I eat. So we appreciate that. All right. So let's start. I think we decided we're going to start with the Decapolis. And this might take the whole show for us to get through this whole story arc of what happened in the Decapolis, what happens as they resolve that.

And then out of it setting up season four. So we're going to talk about that probably for the whole show. And then as we said, the remaining storylines from season three, we will tie up next week in our season three recap. show. So do you want to play the clip? Yes, yes. Let's start with the, I mean, obviously we're to do the Decapolis. So let's start with the first Decapolis scene. Yeah, I think that's right. So this is the result of, you know, Jesus sent them out two by two. They did a bunch of stuff. They, you know, all of the things, cast out demons, healed people, all of those things. but it didn't quite go the way they expected to in the Decapolis.

And here we go. Philip and Andrew went to the Decapolis. They didn't realize they were preaching to Gentiles because Jesus told them to focus on just the Jews at this point. And then they told a parable, the parable of the wedding, right? Where people gave excuses for why they couldn't come to the wedding. So then the master said, we'll go out to the street and invite whoever can come. and they took it and the Gentiles took offense to that

because that means we were just the leftovers, right? Before this scene though, wasn't there a scene, I think it might have been in episode seven, but a scene where they were arguing about this. It's in the Purim one. Yes. Play that first because that kind of sets up where we get to here. Yeah, hold on one second.

Let me pull that up then. And of course we talked about this a little bit last week, but it's Purim. It's a, you know, exciting time, happy time. for everyone. I think that might have been it. Oh, no, that was Simon. Yeah, so it's supposed to be a happy time, but these guys are stressed out because their ministry didn't go the way that they thought it would. Yeah, exactly. Well, I think it's even before this, ghost. It's when they're still in Copernum and they're arguing. He's not,

it's like kind of at the beginning, I think, of episode seven. You're talking about the, the, when they're debating about what happened. Yeah, that sets up what we're doing in this whole storyline. Yeah, that's about right. How did you know? Pages and compel people to come in so that my house everything is ready. It's time. Only the guests that he's inviting are making excuses. The first says, I've just bought the field. I must go out and look it over. Please excuse me. And another said, I've just bought five york of oxen. And I must examine them. Therefore, I cannot come in another said I've just married a wife. And therefore, I cannot come.

There's perfectly legitimate reasons. Even our own people have come. Someone in the crowd said the exact same thing. So, the servant reported these things to the master, and the master of the house became very angry. And he said to the servant, go to the streets of the city and bring back the poor and crippled and blind and lame. So he did, and they came, only there was still room left over in the banquet. So he said, go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in so that my house may be filled. You said this to a mixed crowd?

We did not know the extent to which the crowd was mixed. So go out and find some leftovers did not exactly play well. Well, it should have. God wants everyone to come to the party. The master said, I want my house filled. Everyone is invited. Okay. Okay, so tell me, tell me if I have this right. The Jews understood you to mean that Jesus was calling for Gentiles. And the Gentiles thought you were calling them second class. And then the conservatives who lived by Jeremiah would have heard you saying that the original guest who didn't want to go to the banquet would miss the party.

And those better vers than Isaiah, behold, I am doing a new thing, were probably emboldened except that Gentiles. Yeah, that's but right. How did you know that? I am a businessman. It's my job to know people, and I've met all kinds. What's interesting about the brilliant way that that was written is that this is all pride and ego. That's the reason that these people are all bickering with one another because they're all full of pride. They're full of ego.

And here's the one apostle who is full of pride and ego because he's never had ego death. And so he perfectly understands why everyone's offended while the other apostles who have experienced some form of ego death, you know, they're past all that. They don't play identity politics. They don't really play identity politics anymore. And so it's almost like, you know, Judas is almost like siding with the people in the crowd. He's like, yeah, I totally get like, what were you thinking doing this? right yeah i think that's a great point great insight i want to just read the part of scripture that this parable is it's the parable of the great banquet luke 14 12 through 24 he also said to the man who had

invited him when you give a dinner or a banquet do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors lest they also invite you in in return and you be repaid but when you give a feast invite the poor the crippled the lame and the blind and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just when when One of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things. He said, blessed is everyone who will eat the bread and who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. But he said to him, a man once gave a very great banquet and invited many. And at that time, at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, come for everything is now ready.

But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a field and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to examine them. please have me excused. Another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant,

go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. And the servant said, sir, what you have commanded has been done, and there is still room. And the master said to the servant, go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled. for I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. Good. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. All right, let's keep going.

It was demoralizing. Maybe you're over-identifying your role in it. Would people be brawling in the streets of the decapolis, Judas? If we hadn't gone there and preached, brawling, voice, it is way too early for the war. We have to be smarter. Had been smarter. Not?

Come on. It's a holiday, not shiver. I think we may have created a crisis in the decapulists. Talk to Jesus about it. I was just about to suggest that. Happened to your foot. We are going to go see Jesus first thing in the morning. How often does Philip get like this? About twice a year.

Just keep my distance. I'm sitting right here. We know. Okay. jump forward. Where they talk to Jesus. Okay. Yeah, this may be.

Do we wear these anyway? You okay? You know, he's just so rude sometimes. And what was your strategy to clarify it? Well, we told, we tried to tell one of your parables. Parables? Good. That's what I would have done.

Which parable? The banquet? The one where the guests give excuses, not to come, and so everyone else gets invited. You chose the banquet? People get upset by that one. Of course they do. Well, if it makes you feel any better, we first considered the wheat and the tears, but we thought better of it. I already told you. Some people wouldn't understand that parable. I'm not even sure I understand the wheat and the tears.

Give it time. The problem is that they did understand the parable and it caused fights in the streets. writing between Jews and Gentiles. Leander's told us it's getting worse every day. The prominent Hellenistic priest has changed his ways, which is good, but when he abdicated his duties as priest and leader, others tried to fill the void. And so projects are going undone and people are just angry and blaming each other for everything. It led to stealing fights in the streets. many people are actually leaving their homes to escape violence.

That's the environment you suggest sending us into? What part of the parable caused this fight to break out? The people outside the city, the ones on the highways and the hedges, last to be invited and will last to accept the invitation. That's what I suspected. Speaking of which, the highways and hedges, does that actually refer to Gentiles? He who has ears to hear. Let him here.

We leave in the morning. Everyone go home, gather your things. We take to the highways and the hedges before dawn. Boys, this is part of it. You try and carry heavy things. Sometimes one gets dropped, but we pick it up and keep going forward. John, may I have a word? Yes, Rabbi.

Okay, so this is where he tells John to stay behind and hang out with... Right. They mentioned, yes, hang out, wait for Simon, because Simon is not with them. Yeah, and he says the whole success of the trip is dependent on Simon, the success of Simon, right? Yeah. Okay. So then we jump forward. I just want to mention the wheat and the tears is found in Matthew 13 versus 24 to 30 for folks who want to explore that further. And it's kind of the same offensive net effect, right?

I think if we go back to the parable of the great banquet, for I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. it, that's an incredible, that's, that would have been, if we're, if we're using this as metaphor, for Jews and Gentiles, that would have been an incredibly offensive thing to the Jews, I would think. All right. So now we're, now they've, they've left Copernium. They've, they've gone to the Decapolis. This is them arriving at the Decapolis.

And this is the Greek, uh, what's his name? Leander. Yeah, that's right. I think it's his name. He's, he's the one who asked them to come. Andrew, Phyllic. I knew you'd return. Why are you acting like this?

There's so much unrest and anger. I don't want to draw attention to... You. He must be the rabbi we've heard so much about. More than heard about, as I understand. Rise. I'm sorry for the trouble. No.

The strife between Jew and Gentile was there all along in a village, just simmering beneath the surface. It's simply out in the open now. It's bound to happen sooner or later. It was bound to happen now. Rabbi. Tell him Marcus? Jesus of Marius.

Azrith, your teachings have reached us. So I have heard. He has not. What do you mean? He's deaf. Ayabba cannot hear and can barely speak. Tell him, because you are out of line. This is not why we need Jesus.

Why shouldn't it be? Because, Rabbi, there are far greater problems right now than one man's name. I can think of no better place to start. Didn't mean spring us on you, I promise. I really didn't know. Please, Rabbi. I don't mean to disrespect that. I understand, son. That's what birds sound. I don't even hear them.

The sound of your voice. The sound of my voice. Le Marcos. Are I sitting at him? Yes. How do I know? How can we ever repay you? I have no money to compensate.

Actually, you can. How? By telling no one what happened. I strictly charge. charge you to keep this quiet, which should be easy for you. You've had quite a lot of practice. Now is not the time to this word to spread. Do you hear me?

Now I hear you. You brought friends. I thought we've seen the last to you. Pause it for a second. Consulting with Greeks. Okay, so this healing is found in Marx, chapter 7 verses 31 through 37. Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sid, Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Decapolis.

And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. And they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears. And after spitting, touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, fatha, that is, be opened. And his ears were opened. And his tongue was released.

And he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to. tell no one, but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it, and they were astonished beyond measure saying he has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. Yeah, and so the guy right there made it an interesting comment. He says, like, how do I know? I assume this is the first time he's ever spoken or you've been able to hear.

Yeah, I mean, they said he can barely speak and you could see him trying to make words when he was still so I don't know right I mean I just read what the Bible says yeah yeah yeah I was just curious like the Bible specified like did yeah yeah no it just says that he was deaf and had a speech impediment but that implies that he had speech right if you have a speech impediment it implies that he has speech I would imagine he has some you know some knowledge of an ability with the language of the day in the region but his, I would also think that the healing would enable him to speak, right? Like not just to not just to not be able to speak anymore, but that he would have the actual

ability to speak, which is what we see here. Yep, fair enough. Nashan, they're here to bring peace. Nishan is a healer. Argo never had enough money for Nishon to heal him, though. Here to bring peace? That's what they said the last time. You must be the rabbi when everyone's been talking so much about. Tell me, what sort of respectable rabbi would be speaking amicably with a man who corrupts our Hebrew children by teaching them Greek philosophy?

If this corruptor of children were to raise money for your fee, would you speak to him then? He will never raise the money, I know that. You want to dilute our faith. How do you know what he wants? Argo. What did you just say? The town deaf mute He's not the town deaf mute anymore, Nashon.

Go on your way. Who did it? I want to know who healed you. Your deafness was no doubt. Punishment for some ghastly sin committed by you or your parents. And I want to know who. It doesn't work that way. Oh, then how does it work?

So there we get a pretty good example of a few things, actually. There's a few things that happened there. blood libel, like this idea that like if your parents sin and you are then stained and you can't be redeemed and you can't go to, you know, something we hear the Pharisees say in their readings. That, you know, once you, once you commit enough sin, then your bloodline is permanently stained and you're just condemned to hell forever. This guy clearly is not part of the Sanhedron. He's wearing fine clothes. He's wearing Greek clothes. He's dressed like a Gentile.

We've learned that later when he goes to. visit the sand heian the pharisees in jerusalem um and uh he's a healer as they say but he will only heal you for a fee which explains why he has all his nice all the fine clothes um it's funny that he sits there says and talks about corrupting our youth by teaching him greek philosophy because greek philosophy of course is the foundation of western of modern western civilization along with christianity it's the it's the it's the um it's the it's the merit of the between Greek philosophy and Christianity that actually forms the foundation

of Western civilization. And our entire system of law, our entire system of government, democracy, all of it actually comes from the Greeks. And then when you get the morality of Christianity, that's what makes us who we are. So it's very, very well done that the writers have this guy who's clearly a he's a gatekeeper but he's also like a grifter

call that out and call that something that is evil yeah agreed what is it what have we here I should also note the most famous figure like the father of Greek philosophy Socrates who lived a few centuries before Jesus dies in a very similar method to Jesus right he's accused of corrupting the youth

he's told by the government that he must repent and renounce all of his teachings. He refuses to and they say, all right, then we're going to kill you. He says, fine, kill me and they kill him. So interesting that like two of the most important thinkers, philosophers, whatever, however you want to say it, the two ideologues, so to speak, that form Western civilization, meet the same end. And they had similar views from secular views in terms of like being humble, um and uh yeah and having like a righteous selfless mentality the galileans return this time in droves

a drove is a flock or heard of animals oh i know they're a son of venetian my friends you seem upset how can i help you are you the one they call jesus of nazareth i am they say you do miracles all we've heard is rumors and heresy from the other side of the sea of Galilee. Show us proof of who you are. Give us a sign, or at least some food and supplies for other people displaced from their homes. Otherwise, take yourself, your followers, and your monotheism back west where you belong. I mean, the Jews and their long-awaited, Messiah finally arrived to cause even more trouble, and this is His army.

Nabatins. How many is that? Nine. I have more children than that. Could I be your Messiah? Blasphemy. What else think we should move to higher ground? I agree.

Labai, tell us what to do. Wow. Are your followers always this strong and intimidating? Everyone calm down and settle it. Looks like we're going to be here for a while. Pause it for a second? Just... So, uh, I just asked the machine.

who were the Navatians historically? That's that woman. That's who she represents. They were an ancient Arab civilization who transitioned from nomadic herders into extravagantly wealthy merchant traders. They controlled luxury, spice, incense, and frankincense trade routes, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula to the Mediterranean. Their legendary rock-cut capital city was Petra,

located in modern-day Jordan. And because the Decapolis was a commercial, commercial hub, the Nabatian merchants frequently, frequented and lived alongside the Greeks and Jews in these cities. Yeah, I'm familiar to Petra. Petra is like a modern. It's really cool looking, actually. I'll pull up a picture of it. Yeah, it's like a tourism, like a, as I understand, I've been there, but it's like a modern tourism site, archaeological site. But yeah, it's like carved into the side of giant stones. And it's one of those things.

where you have to be like seriously hand tools. I know, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's what it looks like. I would love to go there. That would be awesome. Yep, me too.

All right. Let's continue. So now we've, that was the end of the seventh episode. We're now on the eighth episode. Yeah. And this is, so it picks up basically right where that left off. Yeah.

If your own followers can figure out how best. to share or live your teachings, then why should anyone else? Sit down. That's your answer. I don't mean you, I mean my students. Sit with me. Now? Yes, please. Hello, Simon.

Rabbi, we didn't come here to cause trouble. Well, it could appear that trouble has found us, so then we should address it. And how do you propose to do that, Big James? Listen to them. My friends. My friends, sit with me. We cannot go any further until we agree on something. Please.

And Simon and John have just caught up. Yep. And I would say what he's doing here is he's like, this is turning into a Mexican standoff. And everyone's obviously, tensions are high and there's already been violence we've been told. And so by getting everyone, by getting at least his students to sit down, he's disarming the situation by once you're in a seated position like that, you're not in a position to attack, right? So they're, yeah. So that's, I think, what the tactic is here. I'm a rabbi.

And as these Jewish brothers will tell you, we like to teach by asking questions. And we all like to solve problems by talking. By the way, that's Socratic method as well. Asking questions to teach at Socrates was the first to do that. begins with a disagreement even better so feel free to listen and if you'd like to argue a bit that's fine too rabbi we look weak and defenseless on the way to gyrus's house in capernium see and judas has an ego so he doesn't understand what jesus is doing and jesus like yeah that's the point the point is to look defenseless so that we're not a threat so

everyone it lowers the temperature. Yeah, I would just, to your previous point, the ancient Jewish traditions predate Socrates. And it is the talking by asking questions is biblical and it is before Socrates, just FYI. Yeah, but now we consider it the Socratic method. Sure. Yeah. Not the Jewish method. Yeah, no, I'm just responding to the Socrates was the first to do that. Fair enough. Fair enough.

What happened when the woman Veronica touched me? Power went out from you. No, I mean, what happened to her? She was healed. How? I'm touching the fringe of your garment. No. My friends, you forget so quickly.

You are dear to me. But your memories are short. You said, daughter go in peace. Your faith has made you well. Your what? Faith. Faith. Her faith.

Many of you are afraid right now, instead of choosing to have faith in me. But, Rabbi, you must see what's happening all around us. Of course he does. That's the point. Rabbi, increase our faith. Judas, if you had faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you could say to a mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.

Can a mulberry tree go in the sea? He's making the point. Truly, if you have faith like a grain of mustard sea, you could say to a mountain, move from here to there, and it will move. And nothing will be impossible to you. How?

How do we get there? Like Judas said, you increase our faith. It's not about size, Philip. It's about who your faith is in. is in. If your faith is secure in God, trusting his promises, choosing his will for your life, instead of your own, this size faith is enough. These people we are ministering to, they are like bees hovering among the flowers, waiting for them to open up so they can

sip the nectar and spread it to others. But they must see a faith in you that is secure. Big or small. Looks like you have your work cut out for you. Hey, hey, hey, hey. You're right, teacher. They do have short memories. Excuse me. What are you doing?

Step back. We're listening to our teacher. So am I. Ignore him, son. This moment is about us and Jesus. When is that smell? Rancid. It is an infection, okay?

My leg is broken and they got infected. Mind your own business. You need to get that checked out. It's really bad. You're right. Unclean. Silence. Look, I didn't ask to get a broken leg.

And we didn't ask for him to come into this region and make things worse. I'll talk to you in a moment. I'm here to test what he said about the faith of the bleeding woman. I already know, brother. I know you. Under normal circumstances, I would strictly charge you to tell no one in some regions and with some people. It's just not my time to be revealed and to escalate tension too soon. But it looks like we're past that.

It's been a long time since I've ran. Thank you. Thank you. Glad you came, Simon. It's going to be a long day. Okay, if you want to pause it for processing. Okay, so that the speaking was from Luke 17. This shows up in some of the other gospels,

but the part with the mulberry tree is in Luke, 17, verse 5. Actually, let's go. I'm going to just start at the beginning. And he says to his disciples, temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea,

than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying, and turns to you seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him.

The Apostle said to the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you had faith like the grain of a mustard seed, you could say this mulberry tree be uprooted and planted in the sea and it would obey you. Will any of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come into the field, come once and recline at the table, will he not rather say, prepare supper for me and dress properly? So the part about, so this is, so they've kind of merged two different passages. here. So the part with the mulberry tree is Luke 17. The mustard seed is Matthew 17, which says,

and Jesus said to them, and this was in response to them not being able to cast out demons. They were unsuccessful when they tried. And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief, verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall remove. And nothing shall be impossible unto you. So they've kind of smushed those two things together and put it in this context of this and added, you know, this healing. But that's that's the root of where that comes from.

Nice. Yeah. And that's obviously the notorious passage about the millstone that people will point to when talking about pedophiles. So that's obviously very relevant to the modern times. Importantly, though, ghost, it is not just about pedophiles. It is about temptation to sin and being a stumbling block, being someone that enables the sin of others. And, you know, it says cause one of these little ones to sin.

Oftentimes we're told to have faith like a child. And it also, when you have like baby Christians, there's the passages about milk versus meat. So, you know, I think, I think the caution of the millstone. is certainly pedophiles, obviously, but also being a stumbling block and causing other people to sin. Yeah, not just pedophiles, but groomers too. Sure. Now, what is your name? Fatia.

She is Nabatian. I didn't ask her ethnicity. Fatya, help us all understand what exactly has happened in this region. Your students preach the Navay about the kingdom that entranced many from this. region visiting the city, including the Agra of Abila, who stopped performing his ceremonial civic duties upon returning to Decapolis. Work came to a standstill. Construction was halted. Merchants could not get permits and wells went undugged. So you're telling me that the region was paralyzed by the absence of one man? What Fatya did not say is that the merchants who could not get permits

hijacked the caravara of exports from my Sira-Fanishan brothers. We had a deal in place that you reneged. What is your name? Erimus. I'm a bronze caster. You're appear to be in good health and strength. You're well dressed in Athenian blue. It matches your eyes. Tell me, Hermes, what is your plight? I bought a plot of land in the north. I needed a reading of the auspices to determine

the god's favorability regarding construction of a new casting facility. Hmm. Sounds so simple. But because of what those Jews said, Do not associate these people with our order. You stood by it as reports of their teaching poisoned the mind.

You don't know what we have and have haven't done, Fatya. We strenuously disavow all of their teachings. We have been punished for crimes we did not commit. Andrew, Philip. Yes. Did you direct your teaching to Jewish citizens? Yes. As you instructed. But the auger from Abila overheard and was moved.

Erimus, what were the auger's reading I've told you? Whether they were good or bad omens. Doesn't that sound absurd? You would call us absurd? Jew? Your laws about food and purity are laughable. What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sit down, brothers. The last thing these people need is thunder.

How can I build the business without knowing where the gods want me to build? Nazarene, if you are any sort of self-respecting rabbi, you will not dignify that question with an answer. Your people's condescension is unending. Oh, and there's never been a note of condescension in your voice, Fatia? Let's stay on topic. So here we have Eremus, paralyzed by fear that his business ambitions might not be sanctioned by the gods of his religion. How could this lead to violence? The ogreous flagrant rebellion undermined Greek authority.

And yet the Jewish community was targeted in a brutal wave of attacks. My people were hardest hit for not having paperwork with Rome. And you turned to crime! Out of desperation! That is why I brought Andrew and Philip back to clarify their message. They told the story about hospitality. But for some reason, Jews and Arabs came to blows over it. The people originally invited to the banquet in your story

had perfectly legitimate reasons for not come. Which is another way of saying, some people think the old way of doing things is better. Look to the ancient roads where the good way is and walk in it. You know your prophets? Of course I do. What about Isaiah? Forget the former things.

Do not dwell on the path. Do not pit prophets against each. each other, especially on this issue. The people on the highways and hedges, surely you're not referring to the Gentiles. You sound like you don't want us to come to the banquet. The meaning of the story is that God wants his house full. And everyone who believes in me is invited, plain and simple.

Harrison! You know, you sound just like the people at the beginning of the story who declined to come to the banquet. I wouldn't be caught dead at a banquet with you. You. I couldn't stand before God if I was. Loud do you see. So you're telling me that prior to Andrew and Phillips' visit, the Decapolis was a veritable paradise of peace and unity?

At least groups kept to themselves. Stop. A town of Abila has been on edge for decades. Ah, we always knew the Jews were fractious and divided, but quietly inside their synagogue. At least we go to Jerusalem to make our sacrifices. Not like you Greeks who leave your offerings on public altars through rot. and stink. Ever wonder why Zeus

never seems to come down to eat of your offerings? Maybe it's because the wine is sour and spoiled. Maybe it's because there is no Zeus. The augerous apprentice secretly removes the vote of offerings on the cover of a night when the stench is unbearable. So basically your religion is a sham. Again, that contempt you a spirit.

Are you proud to belong to this denigrating race? Hermes, please. Jesus. I mean, he's not wrong. Like, that guy definitely has like a supremacist worldview where he's like, anyone who's not one of us is just, is beneath us. And that's kind of a mentality that you're seeing carried forward today geopolitically. That is certainly at the heart of what's happening right now in this region.

Well, I mean, Simon has it too, though, right? There was a few episodes ago where maybe it was last season, but where he's like, we're chosen. Like we are the chosen ones. And that's always, I think, been the slip up and the misunderstanding. And it's the core. We talk about this every single week, every single episode. It's trying to take God's glory for yourself.

And when the real question is, who do you say that I am? So we've been chosen by God. That must mean we're like God. That must mean we're better than everybody else is not the point of being chosen. chosen. The point of being chosen is here's what happens. It's Deuteronomy 28. Here's what happens when you give all glory to God and live in his, live in obedience to him and protection, provision, prosperity of God. And what happens when you don't. It is my opinion that is what they are chosen for is to be the example of what happens when you're walking with God. What happens when you're not? What happens when you give God all the glory and what

happens when you make it about yourself. Yeah, hence why Israel was consistently punished by God throughout. And also glorified. I mean, there are there are yeah, that's that's the, that's the central tension of Deuteronomy 28. And I would, you know, we gave that as homework a while back. I would encourage people to make sure that you've read it. Fame is well known. We've heard how you work wonders and change lives and preached a sermon on the Karazim plateau that some are saying may become the most significant spiritual spiritual spiritual. the speech the world has ever known. I wasn't doing it to become famous.

Well, too bad, because you are. And specifically for succeeding at all you put your hand to. Looks like you were right at your first failure. Jesus of Nazareth, if you are who you say you are, why do you inspire and transform some people but threaten and disgust others? Let me tell you a story. I know, I know. But this is another thing we Jews do.

And come to think of it, so do the Greeks. So everyone just listen up. A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path. I can't hear you. Or listening. I'm going to move back so we can welcome as many as possible. Students, please, spread out and organize the people and help pass my words on to those far away.

You want to send us out into... Go on. We can trust him, John. Zay, Big James, stand here for protection. And the parable of the Sower is Matthew 13, first part, versus 1 through 9 for people. It's come from prayer. Okay, so this guy's going to... He does not have his prayer tassels.

That ties back to the Matthew and Mary storyline, which we will tie up next week. Yeah, so basically she's just calling him out. I'm just like, you're on your way to Jerusalem. Well, if you're not wearing your prayer tassels, you're going to be called out for that. And it's, it is, that's getting to the, the Hellenistic influence of the time. And how the, that kind of Greek influence was really eroding the, if you think about like how Schmuel feels about the law. It was eroding that kind of a little bit of leaven, let these different customs in.

And this is always the central contention with God and the Jews is that they're chasing after other nations, adopting their customs, intermarrying, intermingling, having children, diluting their bloodlines, ultimately adopting their gods and worshipping their gods. And so that, I think, with this Jewish synagogue leader who's coming in, but he's kind of in the fad of the day of the day of the, the Greek influence. It's very trendy the way that he's wearing his religion and Schmiel straight up calls him out on it. But we'll talk about that next week. Yeah. And this actually comes to a head or is revitalized in a lot of ways in the 18th century of the late 18th century in Eastern Europe where you have the Hascala, which is the Jewish Enlightenment of Central and Eastern Europe, where the 1770s, this is when Orthodox and Hasidic Judaism is created. And basically the central idea in these communities is that Jews should live in segregation from Europeans, from Gentiles,

because living side by side with them waters down the culture and they will lose their way. and that leads to a rebel like I don't know if it was a rebellion but a counter a counter view another another form of Judaism where they advocate for integration with European society where they say hey if we integrate and we teach them and we show them our ways and we and our children go to school with their children then they will learn not to hate us and then we won't have to worry about being in conflict with them. So those are the two kind of, those two conflicting schools of thought, which right now in Israel is actually coming to a head

where the Orthodox and Hasidics are about to engage in a civil war with the secular Jews because they don't want to serve in the IDF. So that's a separate discussion. But this is all. Yeah, I think we see it too in the Christian church with the kind of, you know, there's a lot of,

some of like new agey energy frequency stuff. There's influences of Kabbalah that are being framed as Christianity. And it's, I think that God wants the same thing of the Christian that he originally set out with the Jew because God doesn't change, right? He wants you to rely on him.

He wants you to recognize him as God. Let him be the Lord and master of your life and to live in obedience in his protection. protection provision and prosperity and abundance. And when you do, you're doing well. And when you don't, you're having a harder time with it. But I think the Western Christian churches in a lot of ways very similar. Yeah.

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and reveal them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father. And no one knows the son except the father. And no one knows the father except the son. And anyone for whom the son chooses to reveal him.

And I am revealing the father to you now. Jew and Gentile. What is stirring in your hearts in the middle of such divine? vision and unrest is Father God being revealed to you. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart.

And you will find rest for your souls. Or my yoke is easy. My burden is light. Speaking of rest, we all need it now, including me. So wherever you want to lay your head, let's sleep. And I will continue in the morning. Shalom, shalom. I think it's funny here.

People just like start just like laying down, they just go to sleep. Yeah, I mean, what are you going to do? They're like, all right, just going to bed. Yeah, what are you going to do? Think about being like in a concert crowd of, you know, 18,000 people or whatever. It's like we're all stuck here together. All right, this is my little patch. Yeah.

Okay. So then I- There were still people arriving after the sun went down. Are Andrew and Philip back? No, but before it got dark, both points of the compass looked roughly equal in population. So 2,000? And counting? I said roughly, but yes.

We should get going. We have a situation. What situation? The Gentiles. They're out of food. I don't think anyone expected the teaching to last all day. No one is forced him to stay. Simon, they're hungry for his words.

Yeah, now they're hungry for food. It's not our problem. Can't they go back to their villages? They were driven out by violence. It's nighttime. They have to sleep in these fields. He doesn't get it. He doesn't get how bad things were when we first came.

Whatever happened, it wouldn't change the facts of the situation. Well, I can see things are going just as well here as out there. What do you mean? Some of these people were driven from their home more than a week ago. They're hungry and tired. Don't trouble Simon with your news. His mind is anywhere but here.

Andrew, be gracious with your brother. Gracious? He just said the people's hunger and it's not our problem and we should send them away? Did you really say that, Simon? It doesn't matter now. What matters is that we need to solve this without Simon's help. We can't. He's not the Messiah, John. Jesus is.

No arguments there. Jesus told me that the success of this trip depends on Simon. He said that? That's why I stayed behind. Jesus insisted that I stay back, wait for Simon, and bring him. Did he say how? No. If it all depends on you, what's the plan?

Nothing. What? Jesus is capable of doing whatever he wants. In the end, that's what I'll do. Father, your P. Jesus wants to provide a solution for these hungry people. that's what's going to happen. I'm sure of it. You don't seem very happy to be sure of it. So there's an interesting dynamic that's happening here because, you know, the big problem that

Simon has had throughout this entire story is his ego has gotten in the way of like every single time Jesus is trying to accomplish something. He always tries to come in in metal. He always tries to come in and say, all right, we, the apostles, need to take control the situation and we need to do like do something about whatever the problem is in front of us and jesus keeps saying guys if you just have faith in me like everything will be okay just believe in me and we'll like it'll all work out and it's taken and again this is historical fiction right i mean we're not this isn't exactly how it happens to the bible but i think it's a it's really good storytelling because what simon is saying right here is coming from a position of cynicism right he is he's he's expressing this cynically he's like he's like yeah guys like

Jesus, if Jesus wants to fix it, he'll fix it because he can fix anything, right, except for my wife having an abortion, I mean an abortion, except for my wife having a miscarriage, right? So he's very cynical right now because he's angry about what's happened. And he's watching Jesus heal strangers, heal strangers. He heals the guy with the broken leg and then turns to Simon and says, I'm so glad you came, Simon, right? Like we have a lot of work ahead of us. Like he was like rubbing it in almost, right? It's like ego death that's happening. But because of the ego death, Simon.

is finally surrendering himself to the reality that it doesn't matter what the apostles do. The only thing it matters is that they believe in Jesus. And even though he's expressing this cynically, what he's saying is accurate, right? Absolutely. And believe in him when it doesn't make sense, right? Like, they don't get to see. They don't get to have the assurances. They have, they likely have, I would think, all of the doubts that we have.

Right. But, but, but, and it's a, and it's a process. It's why his mercy is new every morning is because we fail every day at this. And they were walking with him, right? So this is historical fiction. The entire premise of Eden's miscarriage that leads Simon to be so bitter, to be in anger, to be at the point where Jesus is, you know, teaching him a lesson and giving him ego death is fabricated. It is, it is showrunner invention. And that's important for folks to realize. But what, you know, what, you know, what, you know, what, you know, what, We generally do is say, okay, what's the message there? And is it consistent with what the biblical message is? And I think it is. I think that every single day we face trials and tribulations. That is biblical. Jesus promises us that every day in this world, you're going to have trials and tribulations,

but fear not, I have overcome the world. What he wants is for us to want him, for us to seek him. Seek first his kingdom and all these things will be added to you. Seek first his kingdom and his glory. Go ahead. Ash, just give me one second.

Sure. Yeah. So I think that that's the central point is that he wants you to rely upon him. He wants you to seek him. He wants you to turn your eyes to him, keep your eyes on him. And that comes to a head here at the end when they're on the boat, which we'll get to in a second, but that he's continually teaching them that. Whether it's through what we see in the actual scriptures or what the showrunners have put in, I think it's largely consistent with that principle that seeking Jesus is. keeping your eyes on Jesus, all things for the glory of God. Who do you say that I am? That's the most important thing. And it's a life choice, right? In the Western Christian Church, we have the kind of one saved always saved doctrine of you say the prayer and say the words, then you're saved. And that's a whole other rabbit hole in discussion.

But it's, I think it's a day by day and moment by moment choice as well in terms of how you're going to live your life and be the hands and feet. Yeah, agreed. And that's what Peter's going through. Simon Peter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. First and said, son, go and work in the vineyard today.

And he answered, I will not. But afterward, he changed his mind. And he went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, I will go, sir. but did not go. Which of the two sons did the will of the father?

You, where did you find that? At the bottom of my back. Forgot it was in there. It's a little stale, but it'll do. You've been out here for days, and you just, you just discovered it? I followed some men who told me we were coming to watch a fight. A fight? Everyone was just in such a hurry.

Does anyone have any food? Your name is Andrew. Yes? Yes? Tell me. I wanted to say thank you again. For everything. I'm not the one. He and your father, but I can certainly pass that a long.

You've been asking about food. Yes. I want to share what I have. Ten feet. I wanted to do what I could. The kingdom of heaven. Are you okay? It's like a treasure hidden in a field,

which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that fee. What do you mean by that? I don't... Let me say it another way. It's like a merchant in search of fine pearl. There's no way to feed this.

One pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it. Listen carefully, because this is accessible to all of you, regardless of race or creed. It's the last thing we need to do. The kingdom is so valuable that once you have glimpsed it, it's worth parting with everything you have in order to gain it. We shouldn't burden me. Even though to others you might look like a fool,

throwing away your life savings to buy what would look to others an unremarkable feel. What you know of the hidden treasure, and that makes it worth everything. Have you come closer to here better? No. There is a... the issue. My friends, if you'll excuse me, I must speak with my students a moment. People are after food. So this isn't really, I mean, this is a reasonable concern that these guys have because you're talking about thousands of people, essentially starving a death, right? Or dying of

thirst. And when people get to that level of hunger, they turn to like desperation. They can turn and things could become violent. Like, there are a lot of things that could happen here that, where this could get very ugly, very quickly. And so that's why they're very anxious and panicking over this. It's not just about, you know, giving out snacks at story time, right? Yeah, I'm just going to read it. So it's Matthew 14, verse 13.

Actually, we'll go to, we'll start. Oh, yeah, we'll just start there. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. He went ashore and saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now, when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, this is a desolate place. And the day is now over. Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.

But Jesus said, they need not go away. You give them something to eat. And they said, we only have five loaves here and two fish. And he said, bring them here to me. Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass and taking the five loads and two fish. He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. And the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about 5,000 men besides women and children. So it's 5,000 men plus the women and children that were there. So it's more than 5,000. Yeah. All right. And so let's it play.

They've been without food for... Yeah, and this is obviously like one of the most famous stories from the Bible. I think even people who aren't religious or practicing, I think, are aware of this story. Or even Christian are aware of this story. Days of theirs have traveled great distance. So, give them something to eat. We're out of food. They're out of food. It's the time to send them home.

But at this point, they're so hungry and tired that we send them home, they're faint along the way. You knew they were hungry? Yes, Judas. I can see them while I'm talking. Hmm. Well, this is a tough one. Why can we buy some bread for all these people? We only came with a little over 200 and I.

Rabbi, that's not even enough to get a little bit for everyone. I wouldn't even know how to calculate that. Matthew and I can calculate that. That's really easy. Autism. Maybe if we go into the cities, we can negotiate something on credit. Yes. Yes, that could work.

Negotiate with whom? The closest city is a villa and its entire population is here. It's nine miles away, and even if we raided every house in town, we'd have to find a way to bring it back here, and it would still only feed a fraction of the masses. Can you bring me anything? Surely there's some food from someone, even a small amount. Five loaves of bread and two fish.

But what is this for so many? Barley loves. Two fish and five barley loves. Thank you for clarifying. This is humiliating. John, you will take care of it if he wants to. He looks scared. What are you afraid of?

Afraid that he'll choose them. See, that's like the ego kind of slipping through. It's like he's afraid that Jesus is going to choose the masses. He's going to choose the crowd. He's going to choose the Gentiles. He's going to choose. them as opposed to choosing his loyal followers. And that, you know, like you say, that's stealing the glory of God for yourself.

Well, yeah, I mean, the answer is he chooses all of them. He chose, he chose the apostles first, right? Yeah. And God came to the Jews first. But that's, but he wants his house full. Remember Jesus said in the party, the point of this is that he wants his house full. It's not about you. It's about God and what God wants.

God wants. If you recognize God as God, the master of the universe, the most high God, the maker of all things, it's about him. It's not about you. Don't invert it and make yourself the main character of the story. Yeah. And again, like I think this is really, really good writing, like good storytelling because as a child, like as a kid in Sunday school, I never really understood this story. Like I didn't understand. I was like, okay, so they go and they give this big teaching and they feed the masses and they get in the boat to go home and then Jesus has this moment where Simon where he has to like get out of the boat right which we'll get to that um but it just never made sense to me I'm like I don't understand what Jesus was trying to prove I don't

understand why is are Simon and Jesus like in contention like what like what is happening here and and they're alluding to it right here the writers are that Simon while he is saying the thing he's like have faith in Jesus he doesn't actually really believe that he's just doing it from a cynical position like yeah like Jesus will figure it out like he'll figure it out or he won't like but he will um right and he'll choose them it'll probably choose them and he won't choose us so yeah and that it goes to also like going back to the mustard seed thing and the the size of their faith it's not uh unprecedented what happens here when the Israelites and they know these stories right they they know their history their oral tradition history really really well

when they were in the Exodus time, right, wandering through the desert, God made food fall from the sky. Like they had food fall from the sky. So they know if they recognize him as God, there should be no doubt that they're going to be able to feed the people. But they're all struggling with the doubt. And that's, you know, the other part of this. Yeah.

This is wonderful bread, Delamachus. I know something enough. Oh, it's enough for me. I can do a lot with this. Thank you. And he's showing them how he can multiply their gifts. They find some bread. If they've got bread, be ready, we'll probably be first.

Feed them. What has changed? Are we organized the people into groups of 50 and 100? Gather up 12 baskets to distribute the loaves and fish. Was I unclear? This feels familiar. Maybe. Come on, feed them.

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seeds that a man took and sowed in his field. This is the smallest of all seeds. But when it has grown, it is larger than all the darkness. It becomes a tree so that the bird of the air can come and make their nests in its branches. Come on, can't make up the bread.

All right. All right. So then they go about feeding the crowd. And it's like the basket's just no matter how much food they give out, the baskets just remained completely filled. Yeah, and they gather up 12 afterwards, which we read in the scripture. really well done the way that they presented how that worked. You were talking about your experience with this story as a child in Sunday school. Mine was always like, how did that work? Like how did it work? You know, how to logistically explain this to me.

And I like the way that they chose to do it. So now we're on the boat, right? And we'll do this last bit and then wrap up for the week. Yeah. So like while they're doing this, Simon kind of goes off on his own. He finds a boat. He finds a, he pays a guy to get a boat. And he's like, all right, instead of walking home, we're going to take the boat.

And Jesus tells him, Jesus says, yeah, go ahead and take the boat. I'm going to stay here, you know, and, you know, pray and do my thing that I always do, which is be by myself. And this is Matthew 14, verse 22. Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And this is right in Matthew right after the feeding of the 5,000 that this shows up. and after he had dismissed the crowds he went up to the mountain by himself to pray when evening came he was there alone but the boat

by this time was a long way from the land beaten by the waves for the wind was against them and in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified and said it is a ghost they cried out in fear but immediately Jesus spoke to them

saying take heart it is I do not be afraid and Peter answered him Lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water he said come so peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to jesus but when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out lord save me jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying oh you of little faith why did you doubt and when they got into the boat the wind ceased and those in the boat worshipped him saying you truly you are truly the son of god it's always watching i know he's always

the observer he's not eating right now pause for a second just to show because i forgot they overlaid these two parts. So Eden is, we talked a little bit about how Zebedee and his wife, the mother of James and John, came to her to be kind of counseled to her because

there was obviously something happening in their marriage, her and Simon's marriage. Her and Mary is there too and I don't know why I can never remember Zebedee's wife. Salome. Salome, thank you. Salome and Mary basically kick

somebody out and talk to her. And they come to the conclusion that while she did the ceremonial cleansing bath thing in the ocean that she's supposed to do after a miscarriage, that it would be better for her and her, you know, it would be a beneficial thing to actually do it in the ceremonial bath. And so we're seeing her being cleansed after the miscarriage at the same time that Simon is going through this walking on water thing with Jesus. They're overlaying it. And And it's all show runner invention. Again, the entire miscarriage story is created, or fabricated, I should say. But I do think that this was a good creative choice in terms of how they lay it over each other.

Yeah, agreed. Also, like, the whole, like, Peter testing Jesus, right? Like, it all makes sense in the context that they create. Because, like I said, as a kid, as a kid, it didn't really under, I didn't quite understand why it was. was happening, you know, other than just like, why would Peter suddenly ask Jesus to like, you know, prove himself to him suddenly, right? It just never really made sense to me, like, why that happened. But this provides context. Not that this is actually what happened, but it's a theory, I guess you would say, but it is compelling and it certainly makes sense. Yeah. And to the

conversation we were just having about the doubts and, you know, kind of your faith having to be maximize day by day as opposed to you, you know, accept Jesus and then everything's cool and chill and you have all the faith and you're fine, right? We don't know for sure what was going through Peter's mind when he walked on the water if he had doubts or whatever. But certainly the direction that they've gone in telling this story, not just for Peter or Simon, but is doubt, right? They are all having doubts kind of all the time.

And it should not be lost on anyone that even going through this period of time when he's walking with him. He has Jesus. He can ask Jesus questions face to face, right? Like he's walking with Jesus. We get to the crucifixion. He denies him three times. You know? And that, like it's our, our, his mercy is new every morning because we need it to be.

Yeah. Yeah. And well, even here, he's going to have doubt because he's going to fall in the water. Exactly. Yeah. It's been my problem. I gave up everything to follow you. But you're healing told of strangers.

Lord, our God, King of the universe, who gives and takes away. Do you think I allow trials? In our faith. In our grief, and the eyes at the wounds of the broken hearted. It does not be. The shadow of your wounds, do we take refuge?

It's where he wants. Thank you. Let me go clinging to him stage. Including hard things. Your eyes on me. I let people. Probably end up there, yeah. Yep.

All right. Yeah. I mean, that's, yeah, it's a good way in the season. It is. And we'll, as we talked about, tie up the remaining storylines from season three in our next week's season three recap episode. So be sure to tune in to that same time, same channel. And we'll, you know, I think. I'm pretty sure we cover it.

It is the same theme, right? It is the same. All of these plot lines that we're going through gets you back to the same point of all things for the glory of God. Who do you say that I am? Eyes on Jesus. That's the point. And he showed us that point first with his disciples. And he's showing it to us every day in our lives as well.

And really, really excellent season, I think. But we'll talk more about that next week. Yeah. Should we talk about Native Path? Oh, absolutely. Yes, we should. Oh, how did we miss that? I got so wrapped up in it.

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out to native path for sponsoring this show a huge huge fan of their collagen i use it every single day and they have other great products as well so check them out over at get krill dot com slash badlands all right yeah well thank you to native path um absolutely yeah all right well everybody have a wonderful week. God bless and we will see you back here next week. If there are any rants that came in this week, we will read them next week as well. Yes. All right. Cheers, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us and don't forget to hit the thumbs up on this video. And a special thank you to all of our advertising partners. Please remember to shift your dollars to support those businesses that support Badlands Media.