Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1071 | Jase Secretly Helps a Missionary Family & Al Emotionally Dreams About Phil’s Legacy

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

Jase shares how one secret act of kindness toward a missionary family may have opened the door to something bigger. Al recounts a deeply emotional dream involving Phil, Donald Trump, and a presidential medal, and the guys reflect on their generational fear of the potluck dinner. They dive into John 6 and the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000, unpacking how God takes what little we have and multiplies it beyond what we could imagine. In this episode: John 6, verses 1-15; Matthew 6, verses 7-8; Deuteronomy 18, verse 15 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashame. We've been studying the book of John. We're going to get to John 6 today. And I don't know, Jay, she said you had a weird night leading into your Bible study. I've been having a lot of weird things happen. I told you a couple podcasts ago about a study I had with a guy. and then it's like he was an employee of a guy I knew from a card game, you know, and it's like that morning they talked about how, you know, you should function in the work environment. That was the sermon. And then I'm studying Jesus on the stairwell with this guy, and the first person I ever studied with just comes walking by, you know, it's like, man, is this God orchestrated and all this way I felt?

And then I had another. So now I have a couple days later, another weird thing, because I hadn't studied John 6 yet, which I knew it was about, I knew it was something about, you know, isn't that where Jesus fed the 5,000? But my night kind of fit in with what I was fixing to study. So I'll tell you about it if you want to hear. It's kind of weird. We're all ears. Okay. So, you know, we're trying to help my dad.

He's not doing great. But, you know, his spirit is good. And so, but we're trying to, we try to think of creative ideas. And, you know, we've gone public years ago about we're food snobs. And so it's very difficult for someone else to like, you know how people gather around. They're like, we want to help and we'll bring meals, you know. Like a meal train. They call them a meal train.

Well, that's bad for the Robertson family because we're not going to like most people's cooking. Yeah, potluck was a four-letter word in our vocabulary. Yeah, and it's not that we're, you know. It's not that we think we're better than people. It's just something. We think we're better than people. No. It's funny because you think about, yeah, it's, it's,

a lot of people though I mean I would say most people well I don't want to get too offensive here but I just haven't had a lot of good cooking I'll give you the line you're looking for because my wife became a new creation in our marriage

and she will attest to that and not only with her status with the Almighty but when it comes to cooking and because I wrote a book one time and you know I wish I could rewrite it now because I've learned a lot so you know most of it's it all came from a pure heart but I'm saying theologically I think I've come a long way since then but one thing I shouldn't have done when I wrote that book is I described how my family you know cooked and what

I thought about their cooking. Well, duh, Jase. When they read your book, this is going to cause some problems. So that took about a year to walk through and get feelings were heard, apologies were made, checks were written. So a lawyer said that at a card game when somebody said, are they still breaking the law?

And he's like, look, mistakes were made, apologies were given, checks were written. We're good. That's what I do. So. Because of your joke at there, people. He didn't pay off his in-laws. It's okay. But your wife's cooking, though.

Well, what I was going to say is my wife famously said some people eat to survive. But when I became a member of the Robertson family, I realized that this family survives to eat. Oh, that's good. I think I put that in the book, if I didn't, I should have. That's good, though. But so which can lead to, you know, being overweight as Al and I can. Well, by the way, Zach, you're exactly right. And I did not with my current diet, but in past diet, a doctor told me, he said, there's two biblical words.

You've got to practice if you want to lose weight. And I said, and I said, biblical words, he said, yeah. I said, well, lay it on me because I'm a Bible man. He said, well, first is repent. You see, you know what that word means? I said, yep, it means change. He said, that's right. You got to change your habit.

So I got that one. He said, and the second one is divorce. And I was like, whoa, Dot. Now, wait a minute. He said, you have to divorce your love for food. And I said, Doc, I'm thinking more just like a separation with a hope of reconciliation. I don't think I can be active. simply rooting for divorce, especially what Jay's just said because we survived to eat.

Well, I'm going to have to take issue with both of you on that. It's not the food. Y'all, you, Zach, see, he immediately went to what big people say. And that's, it's not that. It's not the quality of the food. It's the quantity. There's where your problem lies, because look, I'm eating at the same. I received that. I received that. I received it, Jace. But let me say this real quick.

I mean, the same food that I was eating and that y'all have been eating. Well, Jase, I swallow a lot of aggression, along with a lot of Johnny's pizzas. I just wanted to clarify. Go ahead, Zach, make your point. Well, I mean, in our family, what we do, and you guys have been preview to this, is we will have open. And I would say even heated. And sometimes there's a, there's, there's, the dialogue turns into a shouting over food and over different ingredients such as the cheese that I introduced you guys to with the burger situation.

But that's how you. I never, up, up, I never gave the conclusion of that. What is your conclusion? I'm the one who ended up, thank you Sargento owners. I ended up with the cheese and I have eaten every slice. They're all gone. And there were multiple packages that I went through.

You did the test. I did the test. And the test was so, I mean, like on a scale from one to ten, you have your, yours was a one. What was the test so people know what you're talking about? It was a,

it was the processed. We won't use names, but processed cheese versus. is, well, we can use Sargento because they sent me a box of cheese. They sent us the cheese. It's natural American cheese. That's what they sent me a hat that I've been wearing this. Got a lot of good, led to a lot of conversations.

Yeah, I've been wearing that too. Life is Gouda. Gouda. And you said that mine was, my, my recommendation was a one. Only because there's no number less than one available for me. You didn't. You didn't try it. I don't believe you.

It's no way. Oh, yeah. It's God. It's not. absolutely hideous. So now we're getting into it. It was like, you know what it was reminding me of? It's like you get something out of a package, you know, and you eat it, which should tell you already, you're on a dangerous road.

And then you didn't realize that whatever you were fixed to eat was actually still connected to the package that it was in. And it just melted on what you're fixing to eat. This is a hypothetical situation. And then you're eating some weird form of plastic. I just want to clarify, you really did do the test. I did the test. If that's your conclusion, I do want to, I want to say this. The word came up last podcast, hubris.

I think there's some kind of hubris. This is, your pot committed. It's a pride issue. You can't see. You cannot admit what you experienced that. So if you really want to know what I think, I think, you know, your weight issues and that can be attributed to, you need to go have your taste buds analyzed, but something went wrong. They have a real piece of cheese that functions like the crap that you're putting on your burger,

and it's delicious. It's fantastic. They may have created that. I'm not denying that. Oh, they did. But you can't tell me that what I have is, what I've created is a one. That's not true. I would tell one, and I would give. The point is this. I will say there have been people that sided with Zach in the argument.

Oh, a lot of people. But I don't know that they've tried this natural American that's a different discussion. I didn't know about that. I haven't tried that. That's a different thing. But the people that listen to this podcast, they do know. And I probably, I mean, but what the point is is that if you bring potluck or like the meal train to the family, the problem is that Phil,

historically has been pretty brutal and critique, he openly critiques whatever the cuisine is. So there's been some people over the years that may or may not have gotten their feelings hurt, but I don't get my feelings hurt when I come in with a, with like, because I expect that you, whatever you're bringing to the table, it's meant to be critiqued. And then from there,

the whole food game evolves into a more sophisticated state of existence, if that makes sense. Because it's a fundamental of greatness, achieving greatness. You must be criticized and critique and competition needs to be there. This is how they make great football teams. You compete, you could critique, and that's how you produce something that's better than average. I've heard the next generation, Jay, is talking about it at our Thanksgiving gatherings

because our kids, they love to come up with something and try to bring it to impress all of us. because if they ever get the thumbs up that this is a Robertson favorite, then it becomes part of the lexicon going forward. But it's usually a train wreck, you know. You use it is. It's trial and error. Yeah, I did want to say something about this, too. I was trying to pull it up here, but I just read this.

And it made me feel so good about our family and our relationship, mainly with me and Jace. It made me really feel like we were on the right road. And the headline was that research shows we all should absolutely. relentlessly roast our friends. They've actually done the research now, and that friends and family members who relentlessly roast each other actually have better relationships than those who don't. So I feel like we actually have a very healthy dialogue that we can come in here.

But to show Jason's point is right, Zach, when you read that whole thing, the word I focused in on was roast, because I love a good pot roast. Yeah, you've got to sear it. You got to steer it in some flour. You get the sear, hold in those juices. Dust it in some flour.

Sear that thing. So anyway, so that, so that, so I, we thought, how can I help my dad to get back to the story? And so I don't know if it was Missy's idea of mine. And I said, why don't we just go get some crawfish, bowl crawfish, and just have an experience. And so that's what we did. And so it was it was awesome, which I realized Carlfish are expensive. And, you know, my head.

Did he eat them? Did he eat them? Did you have to peel him for him? He peeled one. It took a while. And because he's just, you know, my dad's not clicking on all cylinders. But he insisted on peeling one. He got it done.

But what's funny is he, Missy was like, no, I'm going to peel him for you, you know, which I thought, here's my wife who. wouldn't even attempt to eat a crawfish. When I met her, she wouldn't be in the presence of a crawfish alive or dead. Well, you've made it clear. Missy was freaked out by bugs in general. So, yeah, it goes against her. Now she's peeling crawfish for my dad.

I mean. That's a good daughter-in-law. So it was great. Just the experience, you know, was outside eating crawfish. but anyway So I do that All right And so I was going to play cards

So I stopped at a convenience store On the way to play cards And I'm in there And you know I mean the problem with looking like this Is you're easily recognizable You know And you get the feeling you're being watched

And look There was this You know Young woman with her daughter And they were kind of looking at me like I think that's a Duck Dynasty guy I got I've seen that look Yeah. So I was getting some tea, I think. And so when I come back, well, here they came. I said, well, here we go.

And so, because I'm a little nervous about that because once that down breaks, you know, it kind of turns into a meet and greet, which is okay because I realize these are moments where you can have Jesus conversations. Yep. So I went into that mode. And to my surprise, this woman's like, we don't want to. anything, you know, from, because usually people ask for a pitcher or something like that. I don't want anything. We just appreciate y'all's ministry. And I thought, well, now, here we go. So I started asking a few questions.

She's like, well, there's my husband and my son. They were, you know, they came over and we kind of had a little talk there. And I was like, what do y'all do? They're like, well, we're missionaries. Like, well, how about this, you know? Isn't this? Isn't this cool? So anyway, we had our little meat and greet.

Well, when I got over getting all my stuff, I looked at them and they had, you know, something snacks. It was all snacks in each hand. I thought these people are missionary. So the guy behind the checkout, I was like, you want to do something good today? Which I didn't realize how that sounded, I guess, in the moment, because he just snapped up and looked at me kind of wild-eyed.

And I said, I'm going to see a little family there? I was like, I just met them. I was like, they're really, I like how they roll. I said, they are missionaries for the Lord Jesus. I said, which means something, because I've met a lot of missionaries, it means they don't have a lot of money. I said, so you take this $20 bill. I was trying to assess what they had, and I figured $20 would cover it,

which shows you they ain't got a lot of money, you know, there's four of them, and what they have may not be $20. I said, the only problem we're going to have is if, because they had multiple registers, It's just that big huge thing on Well Road. You know, it's bigger than a store. I mean, this place is a circus. I said, so, because I'm going to leave, because they were like in line.

And I was like, because they're in the other line there. So if you, I'm going to trust you to make this happen. He's like, hey, I'm a man of integrity. Which I thought was interesting for the checkout guy to say. He said, I'm a man of integrity. And then he said, and this is exciting. So I thought, great. So as I was leaving, he was going over to tell the other checkout, you know,

I saw him whispering in his ear. I was like, oh, this would be good, you know. So I got to do that. And I'm sure, you know, I wish I'd have been there to see the, oh, you know, somebody paid for, oh, the duck guy you met, you know, which was I thought was good. I felt good about that. So then I played cards, and here's what's interesting. I won after a few hours of the card game.

I won the amount of money that I had just spent on the crawfish and the snacks. Don't you find that weird? I didn't realize that until I was going on. I was like, well, you know, I didn't win much. Then I thought, well, wait a minute, we did two good deeds. You got your deeds. And I actually got, you know, a bunch of heathens to pay for it. I mean, this is just.

So you're saying, if you do the right thing, then, And, yeah. Apologies are made, checks are, yeah. That sounds like the prosperity gospel to me. I don't know, Jace, but. No, you know what it sounds like? You said, well, you just got lucky. No, it's like what Al said about potluck.

That's the problem I have when you attach luck with food. I'm out. I'm out. I never got past the name. Oh, we're having a potluck. Everybody's invited. I'm not going to be there. Well, that's what dad used to say when he talks about, you know,

take everything out of the refrigerator, throat, and a pot. hey, maybe we'll get lucky. You know, that was that was the way he described it. So let me tell you this, because Jay, you talked about a weird night. So it was night before last, which was the night, last night we recorded the podcast a couple days ago. And I did something, I'm trying to think if I've ever done it. I don't know if y'all've ever done this before. I woke up and I was crying.

Like I had tears on my face. and it was from this dream I was having. And it was about dad, you know, because, you know, all of us have been concerns. I pray all the time for him and, you know, for him, mom. And so a lot of times I think about it before I go to sleep. You know, it was the time I spend with the Almighty to close out, you know, the day he blessed me with. But in my dream, President Trump was awarding dad the presidential Medal of Honor, whatever they do for civilians. And of course, dad couldn't be there.

And so we were there, Jace. It was all the boys and Phyllis was there too. And we were receiving it on his behalf. And I rarely remember a dream. I've dreamed things before and I thought, man, I woke up like what happened. It was something scary or whatever. I couldn't remember the details. But this one was so clear.

But I don't know that I've ever cried in a dream and then woke up with actual tears on my face. Have you ever done that? I've never done that. But that's an interesting thought. Yeah. I mean, it was so, it was so impactful to me the dream was. I was so proud, you know, in the moment that like Trump was recognizing dad. And look, Trump said in the, in his like thing when he was putting, you know, giving us the medal, he said, this man shared the gospel with me, you know, and I've always remembered it. So he says what dad always says about him. So I guess that was it. It was just, it was a weird thing. But I mean, I've never worked. woke up crying before that I can remember.

Maybe I have. Well, I do understand it. I mean, it's tough because I can't sleep real good. I'm having, you know, weird dreams like that, too, but I can't remember what they are. But, you know, I think when you're going through just tough times. Yeah, emotional thing. And you're thinking about and you're praying about it, you know. So, because Missy and I had this same conversation before, you know, you're just kind of restless.

Yeah. Even though you feel like, hey, everything is. you know, we're in God's hands and we're doing the best we can. Yeah. So, well, we're in John 6. I mean, because then I thought when I read John 6 after that happened, I thought, it kind of opened my eyes because all that was around food. However, it was more about bringing Jesus in his qualities into difficult situations.

I mean, when you think about it. That was the opportunities, you know, with my dad and with the missionaries. Because, you know, you just think what missionaries do. Because both of those things, dealing, you know, with the health of my, you know, mom and dad, and just the life of a missionary. I mean, that's all about sacrifice. That's all it is. I mean, you're, it's like even the people, you know, when you look at certain jobs,

are like people who work in, you know, health care facilities, you know, with mental patients and or people who are just in dire straits. I mean, you just think they do, even for their job, it's just sacrifice. I think the same thing about teachers. I mean, who would, because they're obviously not doing it for the money in the teaching world. But to go up, let's just say you're a kindergarten teacher, you know what your life is about? Sacrifice. I mean, who would do this on purpose?

Same thing with law enforcement or first responders a lot of time. I mean, just not a lot of money, but man, you're talking about just putting your life on my life. Yeah, exactly. So which leads you back to the image of Jesus, you know, and he came here humbly. And, you know, I thought Zach had a good line the other day when it was like the whole plan was for him to be conquered so that everybody could be saved, you know. and by humans, to be killed by humans that he made because he loved him. I mean, that's just, you know, when you start doing Jesus stuff, that that's where you're getting into that road.

Which is why I mentioned that fault line before, because Zach mentioned this in the last podcast, the first time we see this idea that they're wanting to kill him comes up here in chapter five, and that's going to continue forward. What were you going to say, Zach? Yeah, I was thinking about your story about, or, bringing the crawfish to fill. And because when I went and saw him when I was in town, it was funny. The first thing he asked me, the first question he asked me was, do you bring any grub?

Like he, like he, it's interesting there. Like you get somebody outside. You get them, you know, you bring the crawfish. There's something about the food situation that brings like the certain degree of human agency. And not just, it's not just a. utilitarian. I'm just going to, you know, I'm not, I could, I could hook myself up to an IV and feed myself through some kind of, you know, feeding to, but that's not really what, like, it's not that. It's the enjoyment. It's the story. It's the, how did you make the crawfell for? Man, we went and ran these crawfist troughs. Look at what we got, boys. And, man, we put, you know, we put mushrooms and ours and, and potatoes and all the, it's, it's all the story. Get around together and eat that. And I think it's something that Jesus and John, six. I mean, how much of John six is about food and what you eat? Well, and if you're right, it's a whole community thing because the Cajuns, they have made tables, you know, long tables and

round tables with the hole in the middle and where everybody can converse as they're enjoying this delicious crawfish boil and all this stuff. It's very communal and it's designed for that. Exactly. I mean, I said, you want to know what the afterlife looks like. I told you. miss i was like go down to that crawfish city yeah about seven o'clock yeah i mean if you cannot stick another person in there they're all outside everybody's wanting to get it i mean it's like everyone and it's that way every night i mean it's the best thing you can eat and we're just it's a party atmosphere i mean well louisiana's different too because it's the you're right out the equipment it seems like every time every two or three three three three three

years that passes, there's like a new upgrade in equipment. And I mean, it's like how we were boiling crawfish 20 years ago, it's a whole other set of equipment now. Even like I think about like a jambalaya recipe, we used to cook that in an old black wash pot that was literally, that's what it was a wash pot that was converted into a pot that you cook jambalaya in. And the burner was kind of made specifically for that pot. Well, now they've got a whole cottage.

industry. You can, like, you order these pots that are made and, you know, they have like little heat shields around them. I mean, the game just keeps elevating them and the story continues, but there's something central about, you know, humans getting around a meal together that does bring some kind of something, there's something spiritual about that. You know, to back up your point, Zach, when we would, when we used to rent big houses down here, when the whole family would come and now we're so big, we can't do it anymore. But in the old days we did, Lisa got to where she would ask before we would rent a house because there's a lot of Louisiana people that own houses down here, especially from South Louisiana. She would say, is this house owned by someone

from Louisiana? And the reason we asked that is because we knew the cooking equipment would be there that we needed for our week with the pots and pans and everything else. So, I mean, we literally asked the question before we would rent a house. Is it Louisiana owned? Yeah. So, And you got to remember up until this point, it's been a lot about water. And when you think about the importance of food and water, you're getting down there to survival. Yeah. Not to mention the experiences that you are talking about.

I mean, even, you know, our show that took off, I think the reason it did is because you had people gathered around a table, eating a meal together, which is unheard of now in our culture. Everybody goes and gets their strains and goes to their rooms and does their own thing. Well, you remember Adam Carolla said that when he was on our podcast a few years ago, he mentioned about, because he's agnostic or atheist or used to be, I guess. I don't know if he still is, but he said, you know, I admire you Christians. It was the way he put it.

Talking about us. He said, and on your show, the way you. you do it. He said, when I come into my house, everybody goes to their rooms to eat their meals and nobody's ever together. He said, but when I go to Dennis Prager, who's Jewish, or, you know, I'll watch you guys on TV. He said, y'all seemed to really like being around the table together. It was just an interesting observation, I thought, and almost like he lamented it, you know, that he didn't have it in his own family. Oh, it's number one childhood memory. I mean, you gather up and you talk about the day's events or relive the stories that just happened.

which is why I said before, I think that's why we wound up on television because you had your little moment the spotlight on the table and you didn't want to blow it. You want to have something to say that was either funny or, you know, mattered. You didn't want to waste your moments. You didn't get that many.

Yeah. So you may read this, John 6? Yep. Or I'll read some of it. Read at least the first 15 verses, just let's get into that, which is the actual miracle. So we're coming off the difference in Moses and, you know, following Moses and Jesus being the fulfillment of Moses, which is a key context

for where we're going here. So then it says sometime after this, this is John 6.1, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, that is the Sea of Tiberius, and a great crowd of people following because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountain side and sat down with his disciples. Now here's another key verse, verse 4. The Jewish Passover festival was near. So this is the second time this is brought up

where Jesus is going to do something cool when the festival of the Passover was celebrated. So the first time it was in John 2, where he cleared the temple. Yep. And talked about his resurrection. Yeah. Yeah.

So if you think about the Passover, which we'll get into the temple, details of that. But you actually had a lamb being sacrificed and eaten when the original Passover happened, which led the Israelites to be liberated from Egypt. Yep. Right? Correct. So speaking of Day of Liberation, I mean, when I first heard that coming out, Trump, I guess, a few days ago by the time you're hearing this, said there's a day of liberation. And I thought, every day is a day of liberation.

That's the follower of Jesus. We're making new creations. The old is gone. But that was their day of liberation as a nation, as a people, you know. So I think that's a key thing to remember because just I put that little phrase in your mind, a lamb was eaten. Blood was spilled and put on the doorframe from the lamb and it was eaten. And it was, and then the celebration of that, Jay's, is a meal.

I mean, you eat that lamb, you eat the unleavened bread, the herbs, all the stuff that goes with it. Well, and later, in which you'll introduce, this is going to come up again in John 13. We're just talking about what we call the Lord's Supper now, which he introduced at the last supper. And so it's like when he starts making some claims in the back end of this chapter, it's going to make a lot more sense if you look at it from their perspective. You remember the first thing John the Baptist said in John, too, when he saw him, he said, look, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. So that's why, because if you just go to the verse where Jesus says, which we'll get to,

he's like unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you you'll have no part with me well people are like oh wait a man i'm out on this what is this some kind of cannibalism type of thing and you can look up the greek words and say what were the word no it pretty much meant eat and drink you know so it's like well what did he mean by that but now we're giving you the clues to kind of wrap your head around what he was saying and jay said me give one little tease before you go back to the text he mentions the passover one more time And guess when that is, when he's about to go into Jerusalem, and John mentions it three times as Jesus is going in for the last Passover, which is very interesting that he mentioned it three times in his book and three times at the last time, just to show the importance. Which was right before his death on the cross.

Yeah, right. Because you think about it. He didn't pick the Day of Atonement or the Jubilee or, you know, whatever. Pentecost, right. Yeah, he picked the Passover. One of the, yeah, I think one of the things happening here, too, you think about the significance of how much food was left over. There was 12 baskets of food left over.

Yeah, we're going to get there. We're going to get there. Okay. All right. I'll hold off then. Yeah, let me read verse 5 because, and now we get, if you're keeping score, how many questions that we had so far out that we've written down? Four? Yeah.

Where we just take Jesus' questions. Now, granted, this was a kind of a trap question because John says that. And this one doesn't seem as profound when I first read it. But boy, once I went down a rabbit hole or two, this became very profound. And that's in verse five. This would be our fifth question if you're keeping score. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?

And I just thought, just immediately think, you think, well, that doesn't seem like a very profound question, but how many times have you had people coming over, and especially for people who cook of our reputation, this is a serious thing for us. Getting ready to feed people for people like our family is a big. deal. It's all hands on deck. We've got the best places in mind. Price is not the issue. Whatever. That means nothing. I mean, you'll pay twice as much as something's worth. Best brand, the brand, the best one, you're not going cheap at any level. It's abundance. Because there's going to come a moment in these festivities where people take that first

bite of a meal that you've prepared. And what they think matters to my family a whole lot. And basically my dad was overblown if they didn't say, because he's as soon as you take the first bite, you remember what do you tell people out? Every person that ever sat there. What about it? What do you think? What about it?

What about it? Is that? And if they hesitated, he said, is that the best thing you've ever eaten? Is that the best thing you've ever laid a lip on? That's the way it said. So he asked that question, but then there's a clarification because he asked this, John intervenes here, which I love how John takes it upon himself to say. He asked this only to test him.

So in verse 7, Philip answered him, it would take more than a half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite. another of his disciples, Andrew, which was cool because you don't see a whole lot of interaction from Andrew in the Gospels. I don't think the other three mentioned Philip or Andrews for sure no conversation. Yeah, but it shows you Andrew kind of had a pulse on the crowd because then he says Andrew in verse 8, he spoke up what, there's a boy with five barley loaves of bread and two small fish. but how far will that go among so many?

Which is weird that he would even bring it up. But it is something like, here's what we got. Maybe he can do something with it. That's what I put in my nose, Chase. It was like, maybe, maybe. Here's some. Which sounds like a good sermon. Yeah, it's a good sermon with, you know, you take what you have and God, you know,

let's see what he can do with it. Yeah. So verse 10, Jesus said, have the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. About 5,000 men were there. I mean, we're talking huge crowd. Probably double that with the kids and women. Which now his question seems funny.

You know, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? You know. So verse 11, Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, gather the pieces that are left over, let nothing be wasted. So they gathered them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves

left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, surely this is the prophet. who is to come into the world. So there's that verse that we talked about at the last chapter. And that's the Deuteronomy. Where was that at in Deuteronomy, Al?

I think 1815. Yeah. So there was predicted that there would be a prophet sent. Yeah. As king, I think. But they call him a king here. So Jesus...

And Moses even said, greater than I. So he was letting him... That was it. So verse 15, Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him king. Because at first when you say, oh, here's the prophet. But he knew, okay, they're going to make him, you know, Messiah by force withdrew to a mountain by himself, which seems kind of opposite from what you would think he would have responded.

So that's when we take a turn here. So Jesus was coming here to declare himself. king and son of God. However, they had the wrong motivation. You're going to see that later in the story. We're going to take a little time out, or John does, and you have this scene where he walks on the water, and then you get back to the controversy that comes from the feeding of the 5,000,

which you think, well, how could that be controversial? Well, their motives, they started following Jesus just for the meals. instead of recognizing who Jesus is on his terms. Yeah, they had their fill. Yeah, and it's really going to get down to that. The point is going to be you're following Jesus for what you can get out of it. Right. Because the truth is, if you understand the Son of Man reference that he's mentioned already multiple times,

and he will mention again multiple times in all the Gospels, that he Jesus is king when he appears before the ancient of days you know and so that's what he says you'll see the son of man coming on the clouds and all of that

so but that they don't want that king they don't want the king that suffers they don't want a king that's going to walk a Roman road to a cross all by himself they don't want that king they want the king that's going to feed them them that's going to put they want the they're to your point they're

looking at the power it's kind of funny because they did kind of worship the prophets. We just saw that in the last chapter five of what he said, made the reference to Moses and kind of the upholding of all the prophets and they studied the scriptures and all that. But here they want to make Jesus a prophet. They just want to put him in the stack of other kind of leaders that they've had. He's going to be our current guy. We're going to lift him up as the guy because he obviously is bringing something big to the table. Which is an interesting thing, too, that you get from reading the other gospel narratives because John is just kind of

picking these events along. He's not necessarily trying to be chronological. But when I read the other versions, the other eyewitness accounts, there were two things else that had happened. I think they helped set the context or the mindset, because Jay's right. It seems counterintuitive to us for him to take the task he took that now is the time for him to step out because now they're saying and wanting him to be king, but it's not in the right context. So two things have happened. One is this follows him sending out the disciples. They just got back right before this happened. And so that's part of the reason they were retreating is to get a little rest because they had just gone out. Remember when he sent them out and said, you know, shake the dust off. So that had just happened.

So they're probably on cloud nine that they got to get out on their own and share about the kingdom, about what was coming. And the second thing that had happened from one of the other accounts is that John had just been beheaded in prison, which effectively ended the forerunner, you know, his life and everything he had come to do. And now it's just Jesus. So he's the only one less. So one is, you know, Jesus has taken that personally, which I think is part of the mindset with him and the idea that this was his cousin as well as somebody he loved deeply.

He said there's no one greater on earth than him. And yet these two things that happen leading up to this event. So I do think that helps us the context as to kind of why Jesus responds the way he does as well as the disciples and probably why there's that little interlude of him walking on the water too. I think the part of him where he collects 12 baskets is not accidental as well. I think if you go back to the history of Israel, you know, Israel didn't last long before it divided into two kingdoms. I mean, if you look at me, it was three kings as a long. It lasts in Saul, David, Solomon, then it split after so. So then you got to keep in mind that what happens there to the 12 tribes of Israel is they're divided.

They're not together anymore. And so part of what's happening here is that Jesus is also being established, establishing himself as the true shepherd of Israel. So the 12 baskets are the 12 tribes that are coming back in. Jesus is going to bring, he's bringing the 12. 12 tribes back in under his shepherding. And he's also building out the bigger vision of the kingdom, which is going to bring also the Gentiles in as well. So you see all of that is going on here in this context. This number 12 is not just a random number. There's great symbolic connection here between the 12 tribes of Israel that were now divided and the 12 baskets that

were now being collected. And it also shows the abundance of what God provides, God's shepherds. There's an abundance left over. Everyone had their fill. They ate as much as they wanted. And then there was so much left over that it was just, it was just overflowing with abundance. But it's also the classic way of how God does business. He's also looking at the needs of those in the moment. Because by the way, how many disciples were there that needed to eat? Because they've been serving this old time, 12. So guess who got the basket full of the leftovers, probably, each one of them, those 12 disciples to their sustenance in the moment. So to prove your point, Zach, it's the sustenance of the moment, which is what

prophecy does, but also the bigger picture of what it provides for everybody. And don't you think it's connected? We're going to get to this in probably the next episode, but it's connected to the mana. No doubt. Do I think, right? No doubt. He's going to bring that up later in this chapter.

And that's what I was going to say when Al said the sustenance of the moment. So here's what we need to do. before next time is our readers. This rabbit hole made this question when Jesus asked, where are we going to go buy some bread? I mean, it was this thrilling of a revelation from these scriptures that I've ever had.

Because I read Exodus 15, 16, and 17, which is, 15 is about water being provided, 16 is about the manna and the quail, and 17 is the water that was provided when he struck the rock, and you remember what Paul said about that, that rock was Christ. And in the vein of Jesus being the fulfillment of everything written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms, I went to his prayer because obviously I thought manna like Zach, but I also thought when he taught them how, how to pray in Matthew 6. I want to read this.

We're not going to have time to fully develop this, but I had brought that question up, and Al, you said us that statement, that sustenance in the moment. And when you read Exodus 15, 16, and 17, this really comes out. Because look, he only provided them by the day. And just full disclosure,

Exodus 16 is, you know, one of the few places in the Bible that maggots are mentioned, the larva of flies, because what they did, they had to have all this manna, and they were scared, so they was like, well, I'm going to gather some of this up for tomorrow, which he said don't do. Just in case he doesn't drop bread out of the sky tomorrow, I better make sure I get mine. But since they didn't trust what he said, And the word becoming flesh now, claiming eventually in this chapter, to be the bread of life that the bread wouldn't keep.

You know, and that's why the maggots. And he's like, no, I want you to live one day at a time. Well, when you think about this prayer, and I want to read this, so he says in verse, this is Matthew 6, when you pray, and you think, when are we supposed to pray? as a follower of Jesus and a son of God. When should we pray? I was asking y'all.

When should you pray as a follower of Jesus? All the time. I mean, any time. Thank you. Every day. This is something as much as possible. That is happening now to every believer. And it, you know, the next generation, this is a daily conversation.

When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans for they think. they'll be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. For your father knows what you need before you ask him. This then is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, how'll be your name. Now watch this. Your kingdom come, your will be done.

And look, the previous chapters in Matthew, you know what it's been about? Jesus saying the kingdom is at hand. So now he brings us up in this prayer. your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. And then the first thing he says for us to pray about personally is give us today our daily bread. And when you look up the Greek language here, give us today our daily bread. this is the only place in the New Testament that that word daily is mentioned.

And the only reference when you look that up, don't you find that fascinating? The only reference that you get is they're like, well, the Hebrew language doesn't even have a word for that, but it's liking to Exodus 16, given your daily... Seastomans. Yeah, daily...

God providing, which then he's going to go forgive us our debts, and then he's going to say, and lead us not into testing or temptation, but deliver us. So you think about, well, who delivered us, who forgave us, and who provides for us? Well, we're getting a picture of Jesus here. Yeah. You know?

And so I'm going to go further into that when we come back on the next podcast, because what you're going to see and the reason that it's only that, mentioned that one time. Jesus is wanting you to live in the moment every day, but we, you know how humans think? We always think, oh, you know, tomorrow I'll do this

or I'll save my money and I'm going to retire one day. We all look like that and in reality none of that is promised. And there's many verses about that, James 4, you know, don't say tomorrow we'll go down there and build a town and there's something

about, and to get back to the stories that I said, you know, helping the missionaries or, you know, helping my dad, looking at Jesus's whole life. You're talking about living one day at a time, which is why he said, hey, you know, where are we going to buy this bread? And I thought, that's what we should be thinking of who Jesus is every time we're fixed to go to the store or buy some food or all these things should be wrapped around in the true bread of life.

No, and that's so good because that's, we're out of time, but that's exactly where we're headed with his explanation when we get into the text, too. So we'll pick it up here next time on Unashame. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.