Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 388 | Jase Solves Why ‘Many Are Invited, but Few Are Chosen’ & a Crazy Fisherman’s Bad Decision

Episode Date: November 29, 2021

Jase and Phil discuss why the difference between generosity and stupidity is a thin line. The unusual story of Zach’s YouTube debut. Phil and Jase recall the time a fisherman was upset with the fish market and made a terrible business decision. Jase attempts to answer the question of who would do their jobs if everyone were paid the same. Zach shares something we can learn from his kids. And Jase explains the meaning of “many are invited, but few are chosen.” - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? We got Zach back from North Carolina. We just hope we can keep him because sometimes you got to understand. You're listening to the podcast. Some of you are watching. So we're looking at Zach. We're seeing it on a camera.

And sometimes we just look up and there's a chair. He's gone. It's just like he's been raptured or something. And so we're never sure if he's coming back or what. And then sometimes they'll just show back up. He's been whisked away. Yeah, just whisked away. But, you know, he's a man.

He's a businessman, Des. He's the one that works on all our stuff. Well, he needs to make a couple calls and get that wall that he's sitting in front of fixed. I've actually got to be moving to a different place here at about four weeks. So we're going to lose that long black train. What I've learned is there's never, there's always a pretty good. choice of abandoned buildings that you can choose from. So, good luck with your next one.

This place there, of course, when I go up to North Carolina, I like that little spot. So are you still going to be in the town there in Black Mountain? Yeah, I'll be down the road. But the problem is, yeah, I didn't think about the fact that the train, and I should have known, there's a track that literally runs right outside my window. I predict to hear the train in this podcast because, you know, usually runs around the second podcast. But so Zach, so you got to imagine that, so Zach's like downtown there in Black Mountain in this office. And so he's, it's close to his house. And so I thought, you know, we were,

the last time I was there, Lisa said, do I need to take you down to the podcast? And no, I said, no, I'll just go, I'll just walk down there. So it's not even a mile away. Well, that was a good idea going. It's all downhill. I forgot this place is in the mountains. So it was all downhill to get there, but I had to walk back was the problem. And I'm not exactly in a good walking, you know, I'm not in the best of shape these days. You've let yourself go. Yeah, I've been eating a few too many, you know, Twinkies. So, so about halfway back up the thing, I thought, I've made a serious mistake here. Because if I die of a heart attack here in the middle of blackbound, I was like, Debbie, I'm wheezing. You know, it's like, I made it, but I was like, okay, note to self. Don't, you

don't run down to the podcast. Don't do that. So anyway, that was my experience. But we're glad to have you, Zach. You're such a good addition to Unashamed podcast. Even though our biggest complaints are come about you that you use too many big words. They say Dad's more quiet when you're on the podcast. I don't know if that's necessarily true.

Dad, are you intimidated by Zach's acumen and vocabulary? One glaring fact, you all indeed remember this. The same blood that coarsely. through her veins is in Zach. His mother, his mother is a Robertson. I didn't say it was. That's right. Is the seed line, the bloodline.

And Zach, when he was 40-7 years ago, he burst forth from her loins. That's right. And the blood is there. You remember that, Zach, that phrase? That was, we should have put it. That's my. That was my YouTube debut. Yeah, I look on there, and it's, I think, the title of it,

he burst forth from his sister's loins. It's my face on the Sean Hannity show. So, yeah. That was, this is getting uncomfortable, and I don't know why. It shouldn't. It shouldn't. Yeah, Zach. That's the Robert, so we appreciate it.

So we're in Matthew chapter 20 today. And we jumped ahead a little bit to the end of the chapter. but I want to go back and pick up the first segment because we didn't have a chance to we talked about it on the last one because it's a follow-up to what we talked about with the rich young ruler because he ends it with this verse 30, many who are first will be last, many who are last will be first. And then like Jesus does a lot of times, he's going to go deeper into the thought by telling his disciples a parable.

And so in the parable, starting in verse 20, he says, for the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner, which to my point, I was talking about on the last podcast, you notice a lot of the people in Jesus' parables are businessmen, managers. This starts in chapter 20, not verse 20. Oh, chapter 20, sorry. Just clarification. So he talks about these people. He's not anti-capitalism because a lot of people think, oh, yeah, you can't have anything and be a Christian. It's not true.

There's a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. So the setup is these guys were going to work all day and they're going to be paid a certain amount and they agreed to it. About the third hour, verse three, he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing because some people waiting to be hired. He told them, you also go and work in my vineyard. I will pay you whatever is right, which I thought was interesting.

So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the 11th hour, so now we're getting close to the end of the day. He went out and found still others standing around. And he said, why have you been standing here all day doing nothing? Because no one has hired us, they answered. He said, you also go and work in my vineyard. Verse 8.

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired, and going on to the first. So he's making a point in his story. The workers who were hired about the 11th hour, which means they only worked about an hour, each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first,

they expected to receive more, which is interesting because they had agreed on the denarius. And they were doing it on the grounds of fairness. Exactly, which Jason brought this point up last time. but each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These men who were hired last worked only one hour, they said, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.

But he answered one of them, friend, I'm not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I'm. I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first and the first will be last. America right now, they are this batch of workers. That's them. Exactly. Well, see, in the world, in a worldly situation, I wouldn't like this either. In a business situation, and I think this is not a good way to run your business.

Then you need to stop and say, what do we get out of this? And do we get any less? How much less do we get because we're not working as long? I would at least clarify it. I said, well, I wouldn't like it, would you? And if he said, you all get paid the same thing, no matter how long you work. That's my up to me to side. But to me, the point is in a spiritual context, as far as heaven, this is awesome.

But in the world, I would hate it. Yep. Yeah. Because. Why would you hate it? But it comes down to you agreeing to do it. Because I wouldn't think that if a guy worked one hour, he should get paid the same as someone working 10. With Jesus said, that kind of thinking. This has socialistic tendencies and I don't like it. Oh, you shouldn't.

But I think his point is in the kingdom, it's all based on God. mercy and grace, not your effort. But you could, but you could also, go ahead, Zad. I would say, yeah, I would say that the point is not that. I think, well, it kind of is. I would say the point is it's God's grace. It's his money. It's the, it's the landowner's money.

All right. I said that. So we don't have a conflict there. But I wouldn't like it. I wouldn't like it in the world, in a worldly setting, because he's not God. Yeah, but, well, I mean, but if you're a business owner and you've got some employees and the same situation unfolds, for example, like maybe Phil has a big Walmart order. Let's make it personal. Let's say I hired your wife and decided I would pay her the same amount for one hour and I hired you for the same job and you worked 10 hours and y'all both got paid the same.

If I agree to it, if I agree to it, it's your money, your business. I think that's the point he's making it. But what would you be thinking alone in your house staring at the ceiling? Yeah, and I think my sinful nature may take over and I may be envious. I may be jealous. That's my only point. My point is in a worldly setting, I think it's okay not to like that. But in the kingdom, his point is, no, we shouldn't.

It's jealousy. We shouldn't look at it as far as based on how we are, as far as how many sins are forgiven, or whether you think you're high and mighty in the church or somebody was just converted. I mean, there's different levels. Or you just convert a guy who's off Skid Row. Well, he's just as important in the kingdom as you are. That is correct. But that doesn't seem fair.

But when you're looking at it from God's grace and we all make mistakes, okay, that becomes fair. because this is what God does. Yeah, but I think that's the ultimate point. It's the hardest thing to differentiate between the unfairness of any situation in the world versus the always fairness of who God is. And I think, but look, we carry that over though, Jay's. Think about it. You'll have somebody in a, say, they're in a shirt setting, and they're a decent person.

They try to do a good job. They bring their family. And you got this other guy who's just a complete screw up. And every time he comes in, he's had another mistake. And yet he's struggling. You're still, from God's perspective, there's no difference. The guy who is the massive struggler versus the guy that, you know, because sin is sin and grace is grace.

I think that's the hardest thing to grasp because we want to bring that whole idea of envy and jealousy and I'm better because. What comes to light a little bit since in Romans 5, the apostle Paul's talking, he said explaining grace, since we've now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him? For if when we were God's enemies, we were enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son. How much more having been reconciled shall we be saved through his life?

if if if god could say oh this is for even my enemies i mean it kind of knocks this thing about the pay scale and all that he said you got to remember something it's not a question of fairness it's a question of grace and forgiveness and yeah and and it's a good thing it's not a matter of fairness because if it if it was they got they got they they got they they made they got what they agreed to work for that's right yeah yeah but but But think about the big 800-pound elephant in the room is what is fair. What is fair is that every one of us gets condemnation. That's fair.

Like if God said, I'm just going to be fair about this whole thing. I'm going to give you what you deserve. I don't want anybody to be slighted on this deal. Everybody's going to get what they deserve. Then what's fair is that there would be universal condemnation of all men and we would be cast into hell with no hope of life at all. And so I think that the point of there is what we deserve is death and what we deserve is condemnation.

But God's grace, to Phil's point out of Romans 5, is God's grace gives us what we don't deserve. And that's the whole thing. And if I get that, then I should be, instead of, I shouldn't have the spirit of jealousy or envy. I should have the spirit of, whoa. I'm extremely thankful that I didn't get what I deserve. I don't want to go into this argument. Your best attitude would be.

I tell you what, that old guy that owns all this land out here, I mean, you got to give him credit. I mean, he's just very generous. I mean, looking at it from the positive side, he paid everybody the same thing, no matter how long they work. One thing about that dude, I mean, he is, he is generous. But nobody's saying that. Nobody's saying that. They're going on strike. That's right.

We need justice. I won't be here tomorrow. That is right. If this could be a TBD, if we would just keep it going, it'd be like, I see. Show me the, show me worldly fairness next time you think about it. Well, because justice. This council culture, you say, yeah, they're being fair to people, what happened to them 300 years ago.

They still hold it against them. They're out. They just can't. Because they still want justice. Yeah. Yep. I mean, that's the society we live in, which it has some positives. Right.

But in the kingdom, it's not our call. So, let's take a break. So to everybody's point, I think we're all agree of what Jesus's point was because it is just a story. But there are some interesting things within the story that make you think. But the ultimate point is going back to because he closes this parable the same way he closed the conversation about this rich guy who was a good guy, but who obviously, as we said before, thought he could either earn or buy his way in and couldn't. the idea was it's a gift. And so that's the bigger point of the parable is that grace is the gift. That's why whether you're the guy that got brought in at the 11th hour or you've been there all day,

it doesn't matter in the sense that under Christ you're the same. That's his point. But, you know. Well, don't you think there was an angle here, too, of the Jew and the Gentile? Because the Jews were first. It's a great point. And they had been God's chosen people. This wouldn't be called generosity in the Jewish world at that time, that time frame.

obvious deal today. This wouldn't be because this caused stupidity. I'm trying to say that. I'm not saying, we're not saying Jesus doesn't know what he's talking about. We're just saying if you function like this. There are people who will not give you one thin dime more. You came late. You better be, you better be grateful you're getting anything out of me. I think he was trying to rile them up so they could see the greater purpose. But this would cause people to get riled up. In a business setting, you're like, what is going on? No, I think your point is valid. I think that's...

He used generosity. He said, why are you questioning my generosity? You're questioning. He said, I've been generous here. I'm the one that has the money. I can pay them what I want to pay them. Well, to believe you to tell me how much I'm going to pay somebody for how long it works. When I've got the money, doing the paying.

Which is like us telling God who's in and who's out. Yeah. I mean, is the ultimate equivalent. Yeah. I mean, we're going to tell the creativity. of the universe, the one that knows every thought and how many hairs you have on your head? Who gets in and who doesn't? I think this story would be a great place to start a Bible study with people of the far left. If I had been the last... Because I think they would like,

they were like, oh, well, I didn't know Jesus was believing like me. Because if you don't understand how God's mercy as the owner of all is factored in here, then you're... you're riled up if you're over here on the right. If I saw the money being paid and the guy was paying and I was the ones that didn't work for 30 minutes and I'm getting the same amount as the bunches that worked all day, I would tell my buddies, let's get out of here. I mean, I would be saying, let's get out of here because of man. Oh, that'd be. You remember the guy down right here, not very far from here, who was dumping the fish out of his vehicle because he drove to the fish market.

And they were not paying him. what he felt was a worthy price. But it's the same price we were getting, exactly. And he's like, that's not enough. And so we're sitting there watching him, dump them back in the river? He said, I showed them. So instead of taking the lower price, he went and dumped all that hard work to catch him. Back in the river.

Dumped him back in the river. He said, I showed him. And was justified. It was acting like he was smart. So I said, but I was thinking myself, dude, but how much did you make? here's what he made. Zero. So he could have took the lower price and it had been pretty substantial.

But he said, no. He had a lot of fish. I remember that. Oh, yeah. But he got nothing. Last night, my kids were bears got a bottle of, it's like champagne grape juice. It's like a sparkling grape juice. Probably not a good thing to be giving your kid.

No, yeah. And he had the whole bottle turned up and he was finishing it off. Well, Max is. get, I mean, like, he's furious and he's drinking the rest of the grape juice. And, and I might, well, do you want any? He said, no. I said, why are you so mad? Because I don't want him to have it all. So he was, his motivation was, I just don't want him to have it. I might want some in the future, but he's going to have more than that. Now we're getting, that's why we learn from kids, because they say what we're thinking as adults, but we never say, because it would be embarrassing

that we would be that self-absorbed. But really, that's what he's attacking here. Current American thought, they would say, this is not good, whatever went out here. It is. They wouldn't like that at all. I mean, look at me, slaving all day. That's what them guys were saying.

Phil, I've already told you, I wouldn't like it either. Well, that's what I'm saying. But you're caught up in this left-wing thought, and it's a challenge to get out of it. Well, it is unless... Be grateful that everybody got paid. I know. but you've got to realize the bigger picture and then then you say oh I get it but I still think

he wasn't saying that all businesses should be like that he's just saying if it did technically the guy can do whatever he wants with the money it's his money but he left out the part that's going to cause a strike and a riot and people to be fighting out in the streets but you just think if God picked and chose this one that will know them because this I mean it's The grace of God is available to all human beings. Well, right. And remember, remember again the context, the rich young ruler has said, I kept all those since I was a boy. And then he says, well, what do I still lack?

And he said, he wouldn't have done this. Right. Exactly. Because he didn't get that wealth from being like that. Exactly. And so I think it ties back into that. You can't, it's not going to be about you doing enough. I've been here working all day.

I deserve more. Because remember their first thought was they were expecting to get more because they thought, oh, well, he's going to pay these guys what I agreed. So I'm going to get more. That was the idea. I've been telling people here lately, and I mean it when I tell them, I said, in my 75 years on the earth, I have concluded a simple fact that does not sound like it would work. generosity pays pays rich dividends generosity pays rich dividends

I've seen with my own eyes over and over it's a pretty consistent biblical theme oh yeah it needs to be we need to have more of it yeah it pays you think you think about what's unfolding here kind of in this narrative of Matthew and just kind of the whole

what we would call scheme of redemption is you've got the the nation of Israel who in the past is God's chosen people, and this is the ones that had kind of an exclusive access to God's salvation. And to Jason's point earlier, because he asked the question, how does this tie with the Jew and Gentile thing? And now salvation is about to be opened up by Jesus to all people.

And I think that's part of the deal. You think what Paul's getting at in Romans 9, when he's like, man, I want to arouse people of jealousy here to move them, meaning the, the, God's chosen people that when God opens it up to everybody, I think that some people may look at that and say, well, man, we've been sitting there doing this thing for the last, you know, several thousand years. And now all of a sudden, you're going to open this up to everybody. So I think there is an element here of, you know, historical context of what is about to unfold with with Christ opening up salvation to all people, which would include us here, you know, doing this

podcast. And one of the things in the book of Romans you read, he says, if you call yourself a Jew, this is Romans 2, 17, if you rely on the law, brag about your relationship to God, if you know his will, approve of what's superior because you're instructed by the law, if you're convinced that you're a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants,

because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth. You then, now listen to where he goes, and it comes up regarding, money, generosity, or lack thereof. You then who teach others, do you teach yourself? You who preach against stealing. Do you steal? He's talking to the Jewish world and why they're being condemned,

along with the ones who are passing judgment on others and the ones who have just butchered the truth, you know, God's wrath being revealed against them. You say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? So a lot of this is about money. You brag about it, but you dishonor God by breaking the law.

And you read that, you say, Jesus was trying to make a point. If someone is practicing generosity, you should all bow your head and move out. Whether you work 30 minutes and got the same money that they worked all day, it's not your call if some guy wants to do that at all. He was being generous.

Right. Which is one of the points of the story. Yeah. And to practice generosity, I think that's really the big picture here is to practice generosity. That's what I'm thinking. But that is to live. Like that's where life is found is when we are generous, when we pour out as opposed to pull in. Because God doesn't pull in.

You know, even the glory that the father consumes, you know, the father that he gives it to the son. And then in John 17, the son gives the glory that he received from the father to us. So the God's always like pouring out. He's a, that old song is a fountain of love, a fountain of blood that overflows. I mean, I think that's this thing we're getting at here. And when you get to verse 17, and he basically is talking about, he's fixing to go to his death. again another act of pouring out and then when they moved to the sons of Zebedee

they don't even get it because they're like they don't even get what's happening here they're like hey we want to be with you we want to be on the right and the left if they knew what they were asking they knew what was about to happen they would that that mother would not be asking that question that's right if she knew where Jesus was headed she wouldn't be asking that question

because she didn't get it which they keep forgetting let's take another break which to dad's point he's been talking about that because back a few chapters back. You notice now every chapter we're going in Matthew. I think just the third time. Yeah, he reminds him of what he's got to do.

And no one gets it yet. No. No, they don't. And he said, we're going up to Jerusalem. The son of man will be betrayed to the chief priest and cheeser of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged and crucified on the third day he will be raised alive. See, they're looking at the miracles and they're saying,

you're going to let that happen to you? Right. How's it possible? It's not adding up. I mean, you're going to do what? He said, I'm going to die. I think they were probably thinking he's meaning some other son of man. It can't be him.

Who? Who? I mean, because they come to him and all of a sudden, they're over there talking about who's going to be the power. Well, it is interesting that after the reminder, as you said, the third reminder in just a few days here, the response is the mom. And maybe she didn't hear it. Maybe she just showed up. Maybe she didn't hear that part. But in the other version, I think in March, you get the idea that they kind of put her up to this.

I mean, she, they were a little embarrassed. that's why I said if the plan, I'm not positive about that. What is that? Mark 10. Yeah, let me look over there and see. We can look at it. But I was going to make the point that, I mean, my whole point about this business venture is that most people are concerned where we get the phrase the bottom line. We're like, the bottom line is.

Well, the bottom line doesn't lead to making these kind of decisions because bosses are not generous. by in general. By nature. Yeah. If you're, they're not going to say, okay, I'm going to hire everybody

and they get paid the same, which just sounds like some kooky left-wing ideas, what my point was, because who's going to do that? But that's why I think Jesus is the son of God because he took something that would cause a lot of debate,

anger, and just disembate. agreement, and he turned it into something that was actually quite beautiful in that how his father views humanity, as in you want true equality, which is what the left seems to be pursuing. This is more equality than anything you've cooked up. I'm telling you. This is like, I don't care.

Where are you from? What you look like, what you did, or how many times you did it. We're all going to be rewarded. Yeah. because of my grace and mercy and love. So that's why I said I think it would make a great place to launch. Yeah. And people who have cookie ideas.

I think you're right. My economics professor in college, when we all got in there, his opening statement was, in heaven will all be communist. And it was pretty like a shocking statement. And his point was, in heaven, And it will be a, there's, it's going to be complete sharing. He said, but here on earth, he said, we're sinful.

We're sinful people. It will never work here on earth. But it was kind of funny to think about like, when you think about heaven and you think about the kingdom and you think about what like here, you know, we're trying to accumulate as much as we can possibly accumulate, whether that's pleasure, whether that's money, whether that's power, prestige, influence. And it seems to me, the more that we can see. assume of that, the more miserable we become because the further that we get away from the character

of God. And as image bears, the Bible says we're made in God's image, I think we're only going to find true fulfillment to the extent that we reflect the character of God, because that's when we kind of get in our real nature. And again, just to reiterate, that he continues to say the same thing over and over again, the first shall be last, the first shall be last, the first shall be last, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. And then kind of sums that up in verse 28 that we mentioned in the last episode when Jesus himself says the son of man himself did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus did that for a reason. He didn't do it because he was insecure. Jesus is fulfilled. He was, he didn't like, this is how he is fulfilled. He's outpouring. He's outgiving. So I don't know. well and so jess you're right in in the math the mark 10 uh it doesn't mention the mom so it

it tells it mark tells it as if they came up and asked the question matthew includes the mom the interesting part is i wonder why he mentioned the mom and mark didn't but for whatever reason either to make them look better or worse because i don't know which is we all feel like it makes it worse if your mom comes in that's why i'm saying i think matthew who was a little bit you know I love what the chosen, you know, that show, you know, his personnel, I mean, this guy was a tax collector, so his social skills. Bean counter. Lacking. And he just went ahead.

He had all the details. Well, that's something a tax collector would do. He probably lived with his mom in the late 20s because he had no other friends. Because the good thing about your mom is she'll defend you and be biased. And that's okay. I mean, everybody needs one friend. And I think that's why I got set this up. What's interesting is to the point when the 10, in both texts, Mark and Matthew,

when the 10 heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers, not the mom. Right. So the reaction was, who do you two think? Who? Who do you take you two? That's where I got the idea. Because he was talking to them. So he's like, you've lured your mother out here.

I'm not going to attack her because I know where this came from. But you know, it's interesting. He asked them both. He said, so can you do what I'm going to do? You want to be in the big chair? You want to be the speaker of the house and the VP? Can you do what I'm going to do? And they both said, oh, yeah, we can do it.

Then he said, oh, you will. You're going to drink that cup. They didn't know what he was talking about, though. But, yeah, I think side point here that we should say is that because a lot of people will read these different accounts that the different gospel collectors, like Mark and Matthew, they have different accounts and say, well, why are they different? There is a caveat here, a difference between scripture being dictated by the Holy Spirit, which would be the Holy Spirit saying, I want you to write this down and word for word,

write this down as opposed to the Bible says the scripture is inspired. So these guys are under the influence and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they're given their own accounts of what they saw. And so Michael LaCona, I think he was one that said this, that talked about like if you had multiple witnesses that witness a wreck and they may have little different details of what they saw from their vantage point and there may be from differing the facts or whatever but the overall gist of what happened at the wreck is pretty much going to be universal the witnesses are all going to agree on what they saw and so when you see these stories

like this as recorded by different people that may have these different little nuances to them. The bigger point is that they all saw this happen. And it was real. And that's why these scriptures are validated and that's one of the reasons why we believe that they're accurate is because you do have these multiple accounts. And they don't look like they got together

in a room and colluded and came up with this story and made up. This is what they saw. And they made a lot of little different details with the same points there. Let's just, let's take another break. Which is great points out because it shows you there's power in more witnesses, not less. So

being able to get these little caveats actually gives you a better picture. Just this reason why you want four witnesses to an accident, not just one. That's why the unbeliever doesn't get it. You know, one of the ways I came to Christ is I went to the Bible to try to disprove it. But the nuances from Matthew's perspective and knowing what he did for a living in his Jewish background, once you, the deeper you dig in here, you see his personality in with the Holy Spirit of God as he's writing. And it actually becomes a more powerful evidence that I really believe there was a guy named Matthew a couple thousand years ago that johned this down.

Like a real guy. Yeah. And so, I mean, that is, it's hard to explain that to an unbeliever because you have to be seeking and searching to really see those details. Which is, and the interesting part is about the four gospels is that you have John, who we know his relationship with Jesus. And his is a very intimate picture. And it's very different because it's not just a series of events. He just picks up a certain period, mostly the end when Jesus was here. John Mark was Peter's right hand man.

So we know his gospels from Peter's perspective. Then you got Matthew, who was the tax collector, which he has way more detailed in all the verses from the Old Testament. prophecies, all that. It seems like a lack of emotion. You know, John, you, you, you, it moves sometimes. And you feel like Mark is just saying, let's go. I mean, let's, which is typical Peter. So, and then you get to Luke, who is a, who is a Gentile physician who came in under Paul. And yet, so he's getting a lot of the stories from these guys. So it's really interesting that, that those were chosen by God and the Holy Spirit to give us our narrative. of being able to see Jesus.

I mean, but to Zach's point, when you see the nuance of all four of those together, it's powerful. That's why a Bible study is so fun. It's kind of like the questions you would ask just as any individual investigating anything. It's the things that you would look for in any investigation that kind of prove the, they give testimony to this.

You know, it's the thing. If you were going to make something up like this, then you would get in a room and everybody's story would be exactly the same, There would be no deviation whatsoever, but that's not the case in the scripture. There are some slight deviations on how the story is told, which to Jason's point on the Chosen and what Dallas and those guys are doing over there, so amazing, because they're putting in artistic form that these guys had personalities. These were people.

God used people that had different personalities, and there was a diversity of thought and things that were going on. I love that, how you see that coming to life in the gospel, the four gods. Gospels, which would be the four accounts of people who actually walked with Jesus, saw what he did, they saw the miracles, they got the teachings, and then they put them in these forms where we could now read them and study them as what we're doing today and glean these eternal wisdom from it. So it's beautiful. Yeah.

Then when you look at the stories themselves, I mean, we're in chapter 22 where this workers in the vineyard seems crazy. But then he, you know, it tells that story about the wedding and nobody's showing up. So what do we do in our culture when that happens? You just go to the justice of the peace. But Jesus was like, no, go invite whoever. I mean just, all right, we invited all these people. They didn't show up.

Go buy whoever. We wouldn't do that because they might show up. That's right. We don't want them there. So he tells this weird story where then the king shows up. There's a guy not in wedding clothes, kind of shady looking fellow. He's like, you know, how'd you get in here? Of course, he gets thrown out.

And it gets to the end of the story, and it's a phrase, the reason this popped in my head, because Phil mentioned this while ago. He says, many are invited, but few are chosen. And it's like, do what? So, I mean, it's like, not only do you see all the personalities and the evidence, then you have Jesus coming up with stories that is better than anything Hollywood's ever written. Yeah. How do you even think of this? Right.

And so seeing it through their own different person. personalities to me is just powerful. I mean, because you think about, well, why did he choose Judas? No one he would betray him. Many are invited, but fewer chose them. That's just the way it is. Well, it's also, it shows you the duality of Jesus, because he's living in the moment as Jesus Christ, the son of man, here to say, but living in the moment. But he's also the son of God who was outside of time and space until he chose. to become time and space. So he also knows all that. So when he tells these stories, Jay's, he does it with the authority of understanding

exactly what God is going to do and what he's not going to do. But you notice when he gets in a, he told the sons, he said, it's not for me to grant. These places belong to those whom have been prepared by my father, meaning, hey, I'm here with you. I'm here to do God's will. So it's not up to me to give you. But what does the Christian say when they were. that, oh, so you're telling me there is a chance to be.

Yeah, that's right. Again, missing the whole. Missing the whole point. It's like we do this to these stories because we just can't help it. Right. It's like, that's why I was saying, personally, if something happened to you in a business setting that you were wronged, I'm not picking on Zach, but he's my cousin.

I feel the same way. I can't believe that dog on rascal is paying this guy. for an hour's of work and I've been working for too much. And you're going to pay me the same? We need to find somebody else. Which again proves the big point. If it was up to us as to who got in and who didn't, it would be a tough place. Just like you were talking about it with uncanneled Dan, if it's up to us to decide who gets canceled, who doesn't, everybody's in serious trouble.

Because this is based on my concept. You're headed for self-condemnation. every time every time when you start passing judgment on people or the condemnation and you do the same thing to other people it's like who's what zax let's take our last break it's like what zach said about you know the guy that got up and said you know heaven's going to be like being communist you know when i was in greece it just seemed i kept saying boy you don't want to have a socialistic society because just the streets were just dirty and it just seemed people just seemed poor

and there was a lot of homeless people and everybody was crowded and they're working for the government. Well, when we got outside that city that last day, we took a walk down the beach. Well, I came up there and there was a few million dollar yachts gathered up. I said, well, somebody's making some money around here. And the boy walking down and said,

well, these are the government officials. I said, ah, and it's like, you know, the same thing, what they didn't like about capitalism, which is a few people with million-dollar boats, it just changed on who had the keys to the boat. That's right. Yeah, because the thing is, this is an interesting thought. I was thinking that you're saying that. You know what the foundational principle of capitalism is? It is built on one thing that socialism and communism totally disregard.

You say, what is the foundational principle of capitalism? And here's what it is. That man is corrupt. That's it. So if you're a capitalist or I say conservative, I use that tongue in cheek because I don't know what that means anymore. The term classical liberalism, like people that would share my political economic philosophy would say, we believe that humans are very fallible creatures. Lord Acton said it best that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

So the goal is to distribute power to the far corners of the earth. We don't want it in a centralized form. We don't want it in the hands of a few politicians who get to dictate where the money goes. So we're trying to build a system with the idea that man is sinful, an economic system. In heaven, there won't be any sin. There's not going to be any people. there's not going to be people that are, you know, abusing others and manipulating others and stealing from one another and creating Ponzi schemes and all these sophisticated ways of stealing

other people's stuff because the power dynamic has been shifted. And in heaven, it's going to be outpouring and overflow and everybody's going to be giving to one another. That's why it's going to be the real utopia. But we know as believers that real utopia can't exist here because of that three. letter word called sin and that we all have it and we don't need to be trusted with that kind of power. That's what's at stake in. I agree. And if that's true, then it's also true. The reason this will work is because God has no sin. Amen. His decision making process is always righteous. It's always

holy. That's the reason it will work because the one in charge is making the right decisions, which I think comes back to Matthew 20 on the landowner. That's also. if the landowner is 100% righteous, holy, true, and just. Which God would be? So to get at the end of this, when we have the 10 who are in it dignite with the two, over them wanting to have positions of authority, by the way, over them. Because if you get to sit right and left, that means we all are down the line. And so he says, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them.

and their high officials exercised authority over them. In other words, he described the structure and hierarchy in government and military and systems. He said, you've seen this. Not so with you. And what do you mean to each other? Instead, whoever wants to become great must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life. So what he's saying is, I'm the son of man.

and yet I came here to die for you, to serve you in that way, to save you. That's how I want you to treat each other. So Jesus puts himself, every knee will bow at his name. He puts himself underneath, even them. He's going to show this later when he washes their feet, you know, on the night, you know, that he's going to go and basically, you know, give himself up for all of us. So I think that's the concept and the ultimate thing. And then we talked about this last one, Jay.

she talked about last time, the two guys that are sitting there, which is the perfect example of what he's talking about. You got two blind guys sitting on the side of the road yelling, and they got it right. Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us. He said, what do you want? We want to see. And so he had compassion on two blind guys. But in a sense, they really saw the bigger picture, even though they didn't have the physical

vision. So I think that just kind of is a good way to wrap that section up. That's the way we should be. And I think it's a good thought. When you think about how Jesus responds to this, I mean, he asks the mother of the disciples, what do you want? And he asked this question. So I think it's a good question.

You know, if Jesus asked you, it's a good thought for you to ponder in your quiet time or your meditation or your prayer thing. Imagine in Jesus saying, what do you want? Right. And it makes you take a look at yourself because I'm sure that had to be embarrassing at some point. over your mom asking for places of honor when this whole thing is Jesus is like, I didn't come here to be served. I came to serve. Yep.

You're like, what one? Who wants to do that? I mean, look, that's why many are calling for you or chosen because some say, well, I'm not doing that. Right. I'm going on. What does he say? What's his call?

Take up your cross and follow me. If you want, take up your cross and follow me, which is, which on the surface, it seems ridiculous and seems like, why would I ever want to do that? And I think the case Jesus is making in all of these texts here is like, because that's where Lys at, because that's where I'm at. Yeah. So it gets us to the point. And we'll get here next time. We'll talk about him actually coming into Jerusalem. And this is a big moment because this is going to start what we call Passion Week. This is going to start the process of him giving himself up. He's only got a week left here when we get to this point, you know, when he's going to come into Jerusalem.

And so Matthew's going to do a really good job at pointing out all the idea of the prophecy that led to this moment. What's interesting is Jesus is coming in, is going to come in like a conquering king. And he is because he's conquering death. He's conquering the fear of death. He's conquering the grave. But nobody's going to recognize it. I mean, in this moment they do, but they recognize it for all the wrong reasons, which I find

very interesting because everyone. Everybody that's singing Hosanas is going to wind up saying crucify him at the end. We kind of know how the story is. So this is a pivotal moment that obviously we're going to get to in the next podcast, which is going to kind of show how this process begins to happen. And I want to be sure, and Jay's, for us when you guys get here next week, to look at the Luke 19 account of this same story, because as we were talking about, it adds different flavors in.

And Luke's going to give you the idea what Jesus, was thinking in this moment because, you know, he weeps at this moment. Matthew doesn't mention it, but Luke does. And I think it shows you the emotion of how he felt about it because most of the people in this great city, all his people, the chosen people, they're not going to get it. They're going to miss it. And they're going to not only miss it before it happens, they're going to miss it after it happens. Yeah. And it makes him very sad. You know, the Bible only talks about Jesus weeping twice. One was that Lazarus, you know, right before he raised him from the dead,

and the second one was here in this moment because of all the loss, which is pretty powerful when you think about it, didn't you think so, Zay? I mean, the motion of that moment as to what he was thinking about? 100%. Yeah. So that's where we're going to be next time.

Chase, any last words of wisdom? It's your chance to shine one more time. Well, maybe the next time I see y'all be a proud grand ball. That's right. You should have big news. for the next podcast. I'm going to stop and get me a cane on the way back. Maybe a pipe.

There you go. Are you still holding with the rock? You're trying to... I've tried to push it through, but we'll see. But what they don't know is, as this young child grows up, I'm going to say, you can call me rock. If you can get the kid, that's the key. Get the kid to call you the rock.

It doesn't matter what anybody else think. That's true. There you go. I like it. All right. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes.

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