Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1113 | Jase & Al Face Their First Father’s Day Without Phil

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

Jase and Al face their first Father’s Day on earth without Phil, but instead of despair, they’re met with surprising moments of comfort, joy, and eternal perspective. Jase reflects on two powerful experiences from the weekend—a preschool breakfast with a boy he loves like a son and a moving celebration of life at a baseball game for kids with special needs. The guys dive into John 9 and unpack why Jesus called himself the “Son of Man” more than anything else, revealing the Kingdom’s promise of healing, restoration, and hope—even in the shadow of loss. To find out more about The Bryn & Harrison Thompson Foundation and their work for children with special needs, check out https://thompsonmemorialfoundation.org/ In this episode: John 9, verse 35; 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20–27; 1 Corinthians 15, verses 44–49 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. The last time we were all together on the set. Now Zach and I are back in our boxes. And Jase has done something because I'm looking into my little camera shot here. And there's some sort of food, Jase. Well, what does it mean? As soon as we leave, what happened? I had a guy who, uh, we called. call him, well, my dad called him nurse man. Nurse man. And because he used to wear the little, or I guess he still does.

What do you call these things? Scrubs. And so my dad. It's like kind of you and Willie in your youth. Scrubs. But he's kind of like burly. He doesn't look anything like someone who could produce comfort and in healing in a time of crisis because he just, he looks like all of us,

you know, beard. Yeah. He's a rough guy. So he's in the medical world. But he said his dad had made some jelly. He'd breaking new ground. So I had to do an event, which I'll share at some point, this weekend. Not like an event where we go speak.

It was just involving some members of my family, which was fantastic and spectacular. But when I got back home, there were two jars of jelly. on my little island in the kitchen. And, because he knows how the game is played. I'm like, just go in there and, you know, set them down. So he was breaking new ground. He had his dad, and he made this by hand. He combined Mayhall and Blackberry,

and he called it Mayberry, which I'm a big fan of Andy Griffith. And so, look, which by the way, the perfect timing of this, Jay, is the perfect timing because I read yesterday, spoke at a church. Actually, I heard the pastor there say that when they do a poll on the most memorable TV dads, Andy Griffith is number one by far. So just to play right into your dad. He was a good dad. Well, you know, they don't make shows like that anymore. I loved it.

So, you know, I tried, so, you know, I didn't, I got, I got distracted this morning on another man. I got on the phone for an hour. I was actually going to make some biscuits this morning. But got on the phone, it was good. It was all good. It was a Bible study related issue. So then I looked up. Well, then I had to go and be here.

So I'm like, well, I'll go to Chick-fil-A and get me a couple biscuits. And so I took the jar of jelly and I broke the seal. and I put some of the jelly. Of course, I wasn't going to do this for the podcast. I was hurriedly coming in here and getting it already. And if you're listening to the podcast, what he just, Jace just held up a zip,

a Ziplock bag with, I would say probably three tablespoons of jelly in it. So it looks, it does look awkward, I'll admit. With a plastic spoon, our lovely unseen. Is there a plastic,

there's a plastic spoon. Yeah, you could get on there. It looks, yeah. The unseen voice of the podcast, lovely Maddie said, oh, you're going to do this for the podcast? And I was like, no, I'm fixed to eat this right now. Good, bad, or ugly? So you haven't tried this yet.

You dip this out of the jar, put this in the Ziploc bag. You're going to put it on the Chick-fil-A biscuit. And we're going to see if the Mayhall Blackberry combo known as the Mayberry is going to get the thumbs up. Your comprehension is off the charts. That's why you're so smart. So, yes. And this was not planned for the podcast, but. I mean, it's like if you just think I'm 55 and I'm doing something I've never done before.

Yeah. And you got to remember in my family, jelly is real close to our heart. I mean, this is fruit of the land provided by the creator. You have the Mayhall, which is kind of a wild berry that lives in the low swamps of the land. And as you're listening, as you're listening for the playback for the listeners, he's scooped out two spoons of the jelly out of the zip-blockback has strategically placed it on the split chick-fil-a biscuit that sits on the tinful wrapping.

I mean, Zach, your color commentary... Boy, you give a guy a couple of days off, and he's just like burst onto the scene now. Well, to be fair, to be fair, I do want to say this, because we've been talking about spiritual blindness and blindness and John 9, we actually had someone in the comments that said, for the blind people you should and the people listening. They said both.

For the blind people and the people listening, you should do the commentate, like you should explain what's going on. I think that's good, Zach. That is awesome. That's awesome. And this has a backstory. But Jay's, Jays, before you go though, Jays, before you do that, I'm nervous for nursemen because this is the second, the last time this happened.

I was fixed to bring that up. I hurt their feelings. They stopped at a five and dime store. I don't know where they stopped. But they bought a jar of may haul jelly and they got one for like all my brothers but uh i said do you realize the risk you're taking here i said you bought this i was like have you tried it and he was like no well i just popped the top on it and put the nose to it and i thought hmm and it wasn't a good hmm i thought doesn't have the smell so i tried it and i said nope well then it got awkward because here's the guy He bought us gifts, and we, what did we do?

We rejected them. We rejected the gift. And Martin did, was standing right behind me, and Martin looked at the back. He said, well, it was cut by cranberry juice. That explains it all. Yeah, it was no good. It was, it was. But this was close to home.

This is close to home, so we're going to check it out. This is homemade. And I will admit, I will admit, Chad, the nurseman. I mean, he's in the inner circle here. So he's already gone through the gamut. You cannot hurt his feelings. I mean, because especially when we're in a duck blind, we use plain talk.

We tell the truth. And you're seeing the soul of men on a daily basis in a duck blind situation. And so if you get out of line as men, we are to speak the truth in love. I think you're going to like this. Something tells me. Well, here's why I'm excited. It has the look. It looks great, and I'm going to give it the smell test.

it passes the smell to it it looks inviting it has the smell i feel like we need a drum roll you can probably cue that in jason is taking his first bite processing it through it's a look of satisfaction he's chewing he got two thumbs up the blackberry may hall mayberry combination i'm stunned Which is a interesting combination because it's super brightberries are pretty sweet and mayhawes are very tart. So it may be the perfect in the middle Mayberry. Wow, you actually hit it. It's like a sweet tart. Because the mayhaw tartness is there, which is the problem with the Shane and Shane jar.

There was no tart. Where's the mayhaw? You poured a bunch of cranberry juice, you know, after an investigation. We did an autopsy on the jelly and figured out where all. went wrong. I mean, you can just slap mayhaw on something. No, some cranberry juice and probably had four or five little mayhaws in there. Well, I mean, I think here's the lesson to learn. If I go to Italy to visit a friend in Italy, the one thing I'm not going to bring them as a gift is pasta. I'm not doing that. You don't come into our house and give us a gift of the thing that we do.

I mean, that was, I mean, I love those guys. No, that's what kids do. You know, we take them to a restaurant and they're like, you know, we take them to a seafood restaurant when they're like six and they're like, I'll take the grilled cheese or, you know, whatever it is. I'm like, grill cheese. They don't eat grilled cheese here. We're eating some shrimp. I mean, if you go to, if you're on a hunting trip in Nebraska,

you go to a restaurant and you look at the menu, and they've got Cajun, Cajun, Cajun, Gumba, or Jumbaya or Etouet, I'm like, I'm not eating outside of Louisiana. You're so right. I've said that so many times. We go, I said, do you realize how far we are from the coast? Yeah. And you're fixing to order something that has something in the coast in it?

Bad move. Unless it's like real expensive and they flew it in that day or whatever. Yeah. And a guy named Tibido is cooking back there. So Chad, the nurseman, boy, he dodged a bullet here. Because now we have to have a new arrangement because I want to have some more. I mean, it's fantastic. Fantastic.

out of the park. I'm impressed that you're impressed. That doesn't happen very often. And you didn't even compliment him with a backhand to compliment. It was a full-scale endorsement, which typically what you'll do is your endorsement would typically be something like this. Well, you know what? It's not the worst I've ever had. And that means it's pretty good.

No, this was fantastic. That one, you came in there and just owned it. Do you know what I noticed too? This is not for sale. When people say, where can I get some? Oh, you can't. This is what people in these parts do. And somebody had given Chad the nurseman's dad, who I don't think I've ever even met.

But somebody had given him some constructive criticism along the way because you don't get to this level without a lot of big pans of boiling water and dumping berries and saying, let me just get this right. Agree to agree. Oh, I mean, we're living now. I'm excited. It was fantastic. Well, I guess so the next couple of segments on the podcast. Yes, Jace will be eating, Zach and that will be discussing. Well, the problem is, yeah, because now we've got to, you know, now I've got to sit here

because I don't want to be doing this with a full amount. So I'm going to have to revisit. But trust me, that'll give me incentive to get through this with a happy heart. Happy, happy, happy, happy. Yeah, everybody happy, happy, happy. So I'm removing this. So I will say this while Jace is repositioning there. So yesterday, I'm not sure, I think this will air later this week, but yesterday was Father's Day.

which was, you know, I didn't really think that much about it at first, and then I realized, you know, obviously this is our first Father's Day without our father here on planet Earth. But because we view everything from a crossover eternal perspective, a lot of people were sending me notes about it. But I just didn't feel the way they were trying to comfort me, but I didn't feel discomforted. In fact, I had already been asked months ago before dad even, probably before he was sitting in the facility, to speak yesterday at a church down here in Mobile. And it was, I felt so honored because I preached the same sermon I did at West Ferry Road from Joshua 3 called crossing over the Jordan. But it was, and the reason I did is because it allowed me there's kind of a part at the end where I talk about dad's crossover. But it could not have gone better.

I just felt very humbled and honored. Jason, I don't know how you felt yesterday about it or, you know, my kids sent me notes, but I just, it was, it wound up being the best possible therapeutic for me was just to be able to preach gospel. Exactly. I got distracted because I was seeing if they actually sell Mayhall and Blackberry Jelly together, but I can't, I'm not an internet. You were going, I'm thinking of this.

Yeah, I was going super deep, emotional. I shipped it and taste is still. This is borderline idolatry now. Well, it, Al, the reason I'm thinking that is because, I mean, one of the most famous things our dad was famous for was his excitement about picking up berries and making jelly. I mean, it's not like. No doubt. And he would have loved to have been there with your taste test. My dad would have been.

more excited about this than anything you can imagine. I mean, this is like, well, here we, and the fact that it's really good would have been shocking. He literally would have moved Chad, the nurseman, because he would say that you've moved way up the list. Of course, then people say, what list are we talking about? He's like, oh, there's a list, and you just went way up on it. Nobody really understood what the list was.

But it's like the Robertson Code. You know, he told me about the Robertson Code. I said, Dad, I didn't know there was a code. He said, oh, there's a code. No, I got involved in it. And I was like, well, I don't know. Nobody ever wrote it. I got involved in two events this weekend in the spirit of Father's Day.

And both were kind of shocking for different reasons. I'll give you the thumbnail of it. And it made me think, you know, about our dad, Al. But, you know, little man, I talk about, I haven't talked about him in a while, but there's a three-year-old that, you know, we help raise and we're still in his life. And so, and the mom who, when we got the little boy, was incarcerated, and it's a long story, but she's doing really well and, you know, went through a, you know, a program. And long story short, you know, the program that she was in was all women. And so I kind of became the father figure in this little man's life. So anyway, he's in a little preschool thing,

and they were having breakfast with dad was like the theme. I think it was called Donuts with Dad or whatever. And so I was asked to, because we don't want this little man to be here by himself, you know. And a lot of the circumstances and details I'm leaving out, but I'm pretty much, you know, the main guy in his life. So I was like, yeah, I'll do it. So I go up there and do it. What I didn't realize is, well, people know who I am.

And so there was a lot of dads here with a lot of kids. Well, they're looking like, well, who is, you know, it's breakfast with dad. I'm with a kid that's obviously not my son, you know. And so people were asking about the story. And I was like, at first, I realized they're kind of standing. at me like and their mind was raised well you know what it made me think of Al and Zach is it made me think of how Joseph felt with Mary saying oh you know she's a virgin and you know even though she's pregnant you know and I mean that that that that's the way I felt now maybe I was being

self-conscious about it but people kept asking man I was like I was like I'm not explaining this again I'm just like it's complicated you know but Then I felt like they're looking at me like, what's the story here, you know? And but. Yeah, like there's more to it than your chair. Well, right. You know, and basically I'm like, I love this boy. And he was giving birth in a difficult situation, you know.

And we're trying to give this kid a chance here in life. And really all the parties involved now are doing really well. but it was awkward, you know, because it was just an awkward situation. But I just thought, you know what? God is my witness and love for life and tip of the hat for this mom in a difficult situation, choosing life. And now we're all gathered around as the kingdom, you know, trying to help this family. And I'm not going to worry about my reputation or what people are thinking. So that was kind of story one.

And so I was told me to that, I was like, she's like, how'd it go? I was like, well, you'll never, you don't ever guess. I kind of felt like people were looking at me thinking, oh, you know, something's going on here. Do you have, you know, a son from another mom or whatever? So that was one. The other thing I was going to share was, read and Brighton, my son and his wife, they came down because every year there was a tragedy that happened that we shared on a podcast, it's been a while. I'm not sure the dates on all that.

We could figure it out. But I told the story about in Reed's family, in his wife's family, you know, they had a tragedy where two children were killed in a car accident. And the mom was driving. And, you know, and there was three kids in the car. And, you know, one of them survived and the mom. But, you know, she was injured.

and was burned, the vehicle caught on fire. Horrific story. The dad was behind the car, you know, following them when this all happened. You know, an 18-wheeler crashed into the back of them. And it was just a brutal, I don't think they can be any worse of a story, you know. But since that time, they've done numerous things to honor their memory and many really good things. Well, yesterday, they have. There was a baseball tournament where the proceeds are going to this foundation,

which the names of the kids is part of the name of the foundation, which is Bryn and Harrison. And I wanted to give you this information about their foundation, just so you want to check it out. Because after I tell you what happened, you're going to say, ooh, it's called the Thompson Memorial Foundation. So anyway, one of the things they did was at this baseball tournament, They sang the Star Spangled Banner, which Reed sang it.

And they had a little baseball game, but it was for special needs kids. And they said a few things about Bryn and Harrison. They actually sang the child that survived saying happy birthday, because it would have been his brother's birthday, which was pretty heavy to sit there, you know, when his brother's singing him happy birthday. But anyway, they just did this. Then all these special needs kids, which is where the money that goes into this foundation,

this is things that they do in their memory. They gave them all one at bat. And I mean, it was so moving. These kids, they would be introduced. They had a guy on the mic, you know, the crowd, because it was a huge crowd. And some of those kids, and you could tell some of up some of them. Some of them are in wheelchairs and some of them could barely walk. But you know what?

They all could hit a baseball somehow and other, despite all their problems. And some of them, you know, when they were introduced, there was one girl who just, she was just looking at the crowd like, like, yep. You know, it's give it, give it up for me, you know. And it was so funny. I was like, I leaned over and told Missy. I was like, if a kid did this in normal life, we would be like, oh my goodness, you know. Look at, they're being cocky, you know. But in this situation, it was like so awesome.

She was like, yeah, watch this, you know. And I kind of got choked up at many times just the kids around in the basis. So what they do is they hit the ball. And then they have all these like college kids out in the infield and outfield. And then the kid that survived, he was like on the pitcher's mound. And then they basically throw the ball around like a bunch of clowns, which is kind of funny while they're running around the bases. And the crowd is going nuts, and they all hit home.

And, you know, it was fantastic. You know, people crash, they laugh. It was awesome. But it made me think, you know, isn't this what the kingdom should look like? You know, we're talking about John 9 and the man born blind and the beggar. And here are all these kids with all these problems. And a tragedy happened in a family's life. who are now trying to do things that make society great

and provide, you know, healing and hope in spite of just, you know, what the alternative is. And I tell you, it was moving. So that's why I wanted to bring it up. And I didn't tell them I was going to do this. I just, I went and thought, oh, wow, I didn't know this was going on in our society. But it was fantastic.

That's exactly what the kind of overcomer mentality is, especially of kingdom people. You know, when terrible things happen, it can either totally destroy you. You can wipe out your family. You can never recover from it. You can go into depression. You can go into addiction. I mean, all the things that are out there to try to deal with something like that, or you can somehow pivot and say, you know, we got through something really hard.

You never really get over or something like that, but you get through it. And then we want to help other people get through what they're going through. So I just, I love that mindset. It's exactly a kingdom mindset of what happens if you really think God is in charge. Yeah. Even when you go through something really, really difficult, that's the mindset. Well, one of the things the mom said, just in, you know, it was a pretty long little deal, but it was all fun and, you know, they were just masters at doing this.

but just like they love Jesus, and it's even on their page, you know, where their foundation is. And I just thought, there was no doubt. I mean, they were little kids, you know, and this thing happens. There's no doubt in anybody's mind 100%. We will see these people again. You know, when we talk about Jesus and the resurrection and him destroying death itself one day,

that's just a fact. And so when you embrace that, I think you get into doing Jesus type stuff because you realize his whole ministry with, you know, take the guy that was born blind, take, you know, the guy at the pool, you know, take the woman with all the problems. But no matter what situation you get in,

you know, he eventually goes to, you know, what happened to Lazarus, and then you're like, wait a man, that's a game changer. We're talking about death at six. self is destroyed. So we all know we're going to be back together again, and it softens you up to recognize, you know, other people that need to be lifted up and need this hope. And so they had all these special needs kids. I'm not sure where they, you know, they all came from. But the joy in their faces and just in that experience, it was like, you didn't have to know, oh, is this a good thing

to do? And it was, it was real quick. They got one in bat. They ran around the base. the crowd cheered and it was just fantastic. I mean, it was absolutely fantastic. That sounds like a fun time. I think you see that idea that you got that Al was talking about too. You see it even in this passage we've been in in John 9 because that's a tragedy, right, in some regards. Like you're born with this inability and then how, is there something bigger at play here? What's the reason why this happened?

I mean, these are the big questions. that I think we keep bumping up against in the Bible. One of y'all mentioned Job quite a bit in the last couple, but maybe both y'all did. But, I mean, it's the story of Job. It's like we're trying to make sense of pain and suffering in this world. But it is such a beautiful, beautiful example of how the kingdom works to see such goodness come out of such tragedy.

It's pretty powerful. Exactly. Yeah, and that fast answer, Zach, is that Jesus makes, is the so that the work of God may be displayed in his life. I mean, you could really just take that one phrase and then work it into whatever tragedy and situation you're working with. And it's really hard to see it in the moment you're going through it.

But once time passes by and you start to see some of the things that happen, you can get a better grasp of that as well. No, exactly. That's what I was going to say. That's why at the end of the day, you know, life is so sacred to us. You know, I mean, in every situation. So I think there's a reason, and I believe the function of life is to image God. And even if they're born in difficult circumstances, you know, with God, I believe all things are possible.

It's just not something that's a little tagline that said. And because it makes you reflect on your own life. I mean, even just watching that little baseball game and the little production. I mean, I'm telling you, the things that don't matter is way away from your mind. It's just value in life and not taking it for granted and all the gifts that we have that have been given to us just to be able to speak and to think and to walk and to talk. You know what's amazing about that? I want to say this. There was a girl in a wheelchair when she took her at bat because she don't realize this.

She's in a wheelchair. Well, I'm sure her upper body, you know, gets extreme workout because that's how she's doing that. Well, when she hit the ball, it was a rocket. And the crowd erupted because it just looked. Here was this girl who you could see obviously had a lot of problems. But, you know, she had elevated it just a hair. It would have gone out of the park. It was just ripped.

And all the college kids got out of the way. way. I'd love to know the mile per hour off the bat because the sea parted and it just was smoked to the album. And I was like, you would have never thought that in your wildest dreams that a girl in a wheelchair could hit a ball that hard. It was amazing. Jay's, you know what I love about you telling that story is that so last Saturday night, LSU was playing the College World Series and me, you and Willie were texting. each other during the game. And, you know, we're watching it.

We're intense, you know, because they're up against the rival. And, you know, it's a big deal. It's a big game. We all get into it when they make it to the World Series. The same game, baseball, in that intensity, and we're all watching it, wondering what's going to happen. We're commenting back and forth when LSU is, you know, play it. And then the same game with a different perspective, what these kids are talking about,

you have a whole different appreciation. It's just, it was baseball. It was a game. But the circumstances and the situation changes everything. I think that's a beautiful thing. No, I really. It's weird you bring LSU baseball because my son this morning sent me some kind of social media post or whatever.

And because Josh Pearson and his brother now, I guess, they're from our hometown in West Monroe. And so everybody seems to love Josh Pearson. He's like the veteran that, you know, when they, he had his last at bat at, uh, in Baton Rouge in the regional. And he struck out on three pitches. And the crowd gave him a standing ovation. I'm like, where have you come in life to where you strike out?

And they give you a standing ovation. But it was, they were getting him standing ovation because it was probably his last game. I guess it wasn't probably his last game, uh, in Baton Rouge. But anyway, my daughter went to school with him at West Monroe. And she always told me, she's like, he's a really, really good guy, Dad. And you know how kids will say that. And you're like, yeah, but she's like, no, dad, he really is. And I was like, well, maybe that's why he's so likable down there.

Well, my son sent me a post that, because they're interviewing him at the College World Series now, about everything. And it was basically him saying, he was in the dugout, and they were interviewing him. And he's like, you know, I attribute, you know, really my growth has. a man and as a baseball player to the weekly Bible study that the team puts out there. He's like, I used to go to a few. He's like, now I'll go every week. Well, then I sent read. That was the gist of it.

I sent read a text. I was like, well, I didn't think I could get any more fired up until you sent me that text. Because now we're not just playing in Omaha. We're on a mission from God, you know. because I had just listened to a podcast that somebody else sent me about that freshman Derek Curiel. He was on a spiritual podcast. Talk about his faith.

And I was like, what's going on here? This is good. But I'm glad even in that environment, some of those young men are thinking about, you know, the bigger picture in life, which is you don't get any bigger than the Lord Jesus. So it was really exciting. You love hearing that for sure.

If we keep this up, I'm going to have to go to Omaha. So back to John Chapter 9. We last night, Jay sent us a text, Zach, and said, all right, we got to go back and revisit this question. Because, you know, we've been kind of going through and there have been some questions. This whole thing about blindness, it started out, of course, with this man physically born blind,

as we've been talking about. But it quickly morphed in. into a discussion about spiritual blindness and this investigation ensues and, you know, it's just a lot of ugly stuff and the Pharisees are involved. And then at the end of the text that we read last time, it says, if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. So obviously, he's going to get this into a very spiritual context with people who are spiritually blind.

But he asks a question that I think Jason has done a rabbit hole. So I'm looking forward to going down with him on this. In verse 35, he said, Jesus heard that they had thrown out this guy who just basically stuck up for Jesus because he didn't know any better. I mean, he's just telling what happened. And so they threw him out of the synagogue. And when he found him, so he's looking for this guy. He asked him this question, which now we've added to our hall of questions from Jesus in the book of John. Do you believe in the son of man?

And so, Jace, I'll let you take it from here on where that question took you. We'll do some deep dive into that. Let me just tell you this, Al, because we're going to have to put our seatbelt on. I started last night, I sent you the text at 8.30. Well, I started this study at 6 o'clock p.m. And it finished at 2 a.m. Non-stop. On this one question, do you believe in the son of man?

Yep. What is that? Do the math. I didn't put that much into it, but I will say when you sent the thing, I said, well, let me go look at this. I did a little, not quite that extensive, but I did a pretty good little deep dive too. Well, good, because look, we're going to have to take a time out. There was a movie I saw one time, and he was like, time out, okay? We're going to have to take a time out on this because this shocked me. And I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you'll see where I'm going with. this, did you know, when you think about how Jesus referred to himself, I could only come up with two things. Now, I don't mean, because when you think of who is Jesus, so if you ask yourself that question, who is Jesus, we could start naming a lot of things.

He's Lord, he's Christ, he's the Messiah, he's the son of God. Yeah. All right. But when you look at how he referred... Chief Shepherd. Yep, Chief Shepherd. I mean, you can come up with a lot of things. But when you look at how he referred to himself,

and so in asking that question, do you believe in the son of man? How does Jesus refer to himself? And I only came up with two things. Can you name them? Well, I know one's the son of man. One's the son of man. And look, did you?

you know over a hundred times in the gospel. Over a hundred, he refers to himself as the son of man. I thought it was 80, but still a lot. Well, mine said 100, but that was AI, so they may. Well, and also, and also when he refers to himself as the son of man, he's really the only, he's only referred to the son of man outside of his own reference to himself, I think, a couple times. So this is like Jesus's preferred way to identify himself. And nobody else seems to be doing it except for him. Exactly. Which is worthy of note.

And what was the other? Do you all know the other? It's so simple. Would you say, would it be Son of God? Nope. The Christ? Other people referred to him as Son of God. No.

Other people referred to, they'd ask him, are you the Christ? And he would say, I am the way? Well, you just got it right. I am. Even when they said, are you the Christ, I'm going to show it to you in this rabbit hole. And they say, aren't you the Christ?

And he'd say, I am. He referred to himself as I am and the son of man. Yeah. I found that fascinating. Now, you'll Google this on the internet and they'll have 10 things, but, you know, I think they missed it. He doesn't go around saying, you know, the Christ or he'll say I am. I am, I am, I am, I am.

Well, that I am is quite the statement, especially when you know where he's getting it from, which I would say the primary place he's getting that from is, where is that, Exodus 3? We talked about that earlier when God said, I am, who I am to Moses. Well, and the Son of Man famous passage from the Old Testament is Daniel 7. Now there's other references where Son of Man is, used in the Old Testament, but Daniel 7 seems to be the one most used because from the Israel

perspective, it was the prediction of this coming kingdom. And I would like to go to Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. That's what took me so long, is because then you start getting into Daniel. And Daniel can be difficult reading if you're not familiar with it. that. So I took a deep dive on that. But since I only want to introduce it, I just wanted to say that and see if y'all are aware of that. Yeah, that Daniel 7 too, it's not just an introduction of the kingdom. It's an introduction of the king who, by the way, it's an introduction to his authority and his dominion and it's an invitation into submission to him, which I think is what ultimately was what's at stake here when you see this interaction. He's happened with the Pharisee.

Yeah. So let's define son of man. What does that mean? Jack, I figured you would come up with a good definition as far as. What is the son of man? Well, just what does that mean? Well, I think he's referencing Daniel 7. I think he's... Well, I know that, but I was more thinking, you know, what is that practically? I would say it is the physical human manifestation of God. is what he means when he says the son of man.

In other words, he's God, but he's also here and he's made. Yeah, which if you think about the idea, if we're talking about a kingdom, that Christ brought his kingdom. He inaugurated the kingdom with his incarnation and coming and death, burial, and resurrection. Then it's like, yeah, then it is the manifestation, the incarnation of the king. It's heaven coming to earth. So that's why it's a son of man because he's coming into earth and becoming human to reign. You know, he's taking, I should say it this way, Philippians 2 language.

He's taking on the nature of a human in addition to his divine nature. Yeah, I can live with that. So when you think of Adam and how it relates to that, you know, he's a human. He was the first human. Well, then Jesus becomes the first human. human that would come back from the dead, would, you know, God in human form. I mean, it's a combination of all that. He's a new Adam.

He's the new Adam. Yeah, the new Adam, which is why you see the passages like, you know, I'm just, I'll read this, because what I would like to do is read some of these verses, which we're just kind of introducing this. It's going to take us the whole podcast to go through this. But once you see this, you will never unsee it. Because the reason I spent eight hours studying this, it wasn't because I was like trying to pass a test.

I was so excited about it that I thought, why have I not been talking about this before? And it really made me go back to that question. When he said, do you believe in the son of man, that was a very exciting question for people to consider. but I'll just give you a little thumbnail of this. 1 Corinthians 15, which I think is a famous passage, verse 20. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,

the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through, well, here's this word, a man. Who's that man? Adam. The resurrection of the dead comes also through a what? a man. It's so easy of a definition that I think we've just, we've never thought about it. For as in Adam all die, that first man, so in Christ, this new man, all will be made alive. But each in his own turn, Christ's the first fruits, then when he comes, those who belong to him.

Now listen to this in 24. Then the end will come when he hands over the king, kingdom. Well, now we're getting into this Daniel chapter two and Daniel chapter seven prediction about the kingdom where one like a son of man would be riding on the clouds ascending to the ancient of days, which is a different definition than a lot of religious people view of the kingdom, but I'm just telling you what it says, and we'll get deep into it in the next podcast. But when he hands over the kingdom to the father, after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for he has put everything under his feet. Because I'm going to read you the Old Testament version of that at some point. But then I wanted to skip down and read 1st Corinthians 15 and verse, where is this 44, second part of 44 where it says if there's a natural body, there's a spiritual body.

So it has written, the first man, Adam, this is first coming in his 1545, became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. Now,

but I want to remind you, he still had a body. Remember when he said in Luke 24, a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have? He had a new body. And that's kind of the context. I'm skipping.

But I just want to keep reading. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural. And after that, the spiritual, the first man was of the dust of the earth. The second man from heaven. Remember how many times Jesus kept saying, I came from heaven, I'm from heaven, I came down from heaven. I came down from heaven. And remember, even when he was with Pilate, he was like, my kingdom is not of this world. And people took that to mean, oh, it's not in the world.

but that would be a wrong assessment. And they don't realize it's for the world. So we'll get to that. Verse 48, as was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth. We die. And as is the man from heaven, so also those who are of heaven. Oh, resurrection, death being destroyed. And just as we have been born the likeness of the earthly man,

so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. So I only did that to show you the definition is he was he was the son of a human. He became a human being. God became a man and he did it for a purpose. And the purpose is awesome. So what I want to bring up next, so out of the 80 or 100 times that Jesus referred to himself as a son of man, from what I studied, there's basically three, major themes when he refers himself as the son of man. And this is, I didn't read this out of a book, this is basically what I wrote down.

When he would say that, he was basically given the impression to his hearers when he said son of man that the first thing is he had the authority to rule. He's from God, God, his father is in heaven, and he has been given this authority from God. the son of man. The second is that he would suffer and die and, you know, by that defeat the powers

that brought sin and death to our world. So just think of all the verses when he says the son of man will be handed over. The son of man will be betrayed into the hands of men. He will be lifted up on the cross. Exactly. He will die and be all the, every time it's the son of man. It's the son of man. And you kind of see an attitude of humility in there. Think the verse, and we'll read the verses next time, but think the verse where it says the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom of many. So you have, he had authority of rule, but he also came in humility which he would suffer and die and be raised, which would defeat the powers that caused the problems in the first place. And then the last, the third one is, it's a

a picture of him being exalted, enthroned, bringing heaven and earth together. And through that would create the judgment scene, good or bad. And so you get in all that language about the temple being destroyed one day. He's like, the son of man has this authority, but he'll be exalted. Yeah, because a lot of times you read those passages and you think, oh, there's talking about the Second Coming. When he talks about, you'll see the son of man on a cloud, that's talking about the reception that he's going to receive in terms of the kingdom.

He's going to receive the kingdom and the authority and the dominion. Exactly. And judgment on, you know, the powers that led to the temple being tainted itself. And in essence, he would become the temple, the place where heaven and us beat. Which NTI rights so helpful in understanding that, although, by the way, he is dead wrong on his comments on abortion recently. I was shocked to hear some of the other. I heard that, too, and I agree. I just, you know.

I was like, whoa, okay. I still think one of the things you can take from this is like, no, we need to, Christ has the authority. We don't get to determine life and death. That is Jesus's prerogative, not ours, especially when it comes to the unborn, no matter what they're predisposed. Yeah, probably should. I do want to make a note of that, by the way, for our audience. reference NTI right a lot on here.

We do not agree with his latest comments on abortion at all. Yeah, I did want to say that. Yeah, I would have never said it, but you sent me that. But even in the spirit of what I was saying about that baseball game and those special needs, it just brought

John 9 to me. And the reason I told the story about that little boy, that, you know, who I love, like a son. It's like when life goes bad and people choose life. You never know what God's going to do. And even with all those special needs kids I saw, it was, there was something supernatural that was being displayed in the lives of humans with extreme difficulties. And it just made me think of that John 9. This happened

so that the work of God might be displayed in their life. And it was being displayed, right before my very eyes. And I do know that there is a God who became the son of man and gave not only the impression, but gave you the fact that all of these things will be made right. Yes. All the difficulties, all the physical problems, all the tragedies. That's why he's going around healing.

That's why he's casting out demons. That's why he's forgiving. I mean, these are the impressions that he's given that the earth and everything in it will be made right. This is called the new creation. It's happening now and will ultimately happen later in a perfect way. Yeah, I love that. And that's the point of that our whole role in under God's rule and reign and kingdom

is that we are to be a vessel of life works, not death works. I mean, that's not, I mean, you mentioned that beautiful baseball game with the very people that some would say, oh, we should not let them live. And I'm like, oh, are you kidding me? Look at the blessing that you received. Look at the blessing of my own daughter. I mean, I mean, that I received when she wasn't really viable,

you know, viable in the womb, but I cannot imagine life without precious Ruth. And so, you know, I do think that this idea of what the son of man is bringing, I love what you said, because it said authority, I wrote these down authority that he would suffer, and then him being exalted and enthroned. That's the life work right there, because he mediates for us.

And that's the life that he's called us into. Well, we're out of time. But, Al, I just wanted to say, yeah, I just wanted to say, read Daniel 2, read Daniel 7, and look up every verse where Jesus referred to himself as the son of man, and then we'll go deep into the weeds on the next one. That sounds good. We'll check that out.

We'll see you next time on a shame. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. 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.