Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 561 | Jep's Son Plays His First Football Game & Why Jesus Had to Be Betrayed

Episode Date: October 9, 2022

Jase talks about Jep's son getting to play his very first football game and how he could barely hold back his excitement to do the touchdown dance! Phil discusses the crowd that acknowledged Jesus' power when he performed miracles, but did not acknowledge who he was. Al discusses the requirement for Jesus to be betrayed in order for God's plan to be fulfilled. And Jase explains why he thinks it's interesting that Jesus chose to use the disciple who betrayed him instead of the other 11 who did not. Watch the Unashamed overtime show, only on BlazeTV: https://BlazeTV.com/Unashamed - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? I don't have any audio. Well, you need to put your... Phil, you don't have your ears on. Headphones. Oh. I thought I put him on. How about now?

Here you got... Made all the difference in the world. You got all kind of... It's the equivalent of the problem with the engine and people had looked all around and they had researched and they had asked the smartest people they knew. And then they met a fellow who wasn't real bright, but he said, ain't got any gas in it. Sometimes it's just the basic.

But it's so funny, Dad, that Dad is feeling that way and he said that because, like, so I'm in Alabama. We dodged another hurricane here, but unfortunately for the people in Florida, they're getting it. But Jersey Joe has been here all week, Dad. And, I mean, everything he thinks of is in the computer world. He told me, he said, wouldn't you like to have it on your phone where you could see everybody that walks up to your door and does this, that, and the other? I said, not really, Joe. I guess I'm going to have to defer to my dear old dad. That's just things I don't need to know.

I mean, it's probably good that somebody knows it, but I don't really want to invest the time into every time something happens outside my house, I have to look it up on my phone. I don't really want to go to that level. It is a device that stirs up a lot of what was going on when Mark was writing about it about the people rebelling against them. Now, it's at the speed of light. Whatever you say, whatever you do, it can go just in a few milliseconds. I mean, the wrath of whoever is on the other end, I mean, it's just too much, in my opinion, about people being in other people's business. No, there's, I mean, we talk about it all the time.

There's a definite downside, but I will give in upside, Dad. So last night we went to our local pregnancy center down here was holding their fundraiser. And, you know, Lisa and I speak at these all around the country. And so we just happen to be down here and we said, well, we're going to go and support. But the authorities are coming after people like you, Al. Who the guy? The one, the head of the right, the life. I mean, he's got his kids and why.

Yeah, they're weaponizing the federal government against us. There's no doubt. But look, you can't win because we're a part of the bigger kingdom. So we'll go to this event. It's the biggest one they've ever had. It's had a great speaker, an African-American woman that just had humble beginnings that now is amazing and she spoke. She was fantastic.

But this woman came up to him and she said, I just want you to know, I'm unashamed. And I'm listening to the podcast and love it. She said, you guys are inspiring me every single day. I mean, she was so excited. She and her husband about what we're doing. So just to put it in perspective, Dad, as bad as it is in some ways,

we are reaching a lot of people through the process of the internet, phones, computers. They're listening to us at work. I met two UPS drivers since I've been down here that said they listen to us every day. So the words getting out, so it's not all bad. Just to encourage you. Well, when you think about the first three chapters, I mean, just to give a review in Mark, I mean. Can I back up your review after you get done?

Sure. Okay. This is freedom. Let me know. Give me a signal. When you're ready, I'll just have a few comments to make about Mark. Chapter 1, 2, and 3. I mean, he starts off then the beginning of the gospel of Jesus, the Son of God.

Yep. And then he gives, he immediately goes to the action of John the Baptist preparing the way Jesus being baptized by John, which was a pivotal moment because he then receives the Holy Spirit and he has this declaration from the Father that, yes, this is the Son of God. And so he proceeds now through the power of the Holy Spirit. He drives out demons. He heals various diseases. A guy that's paralyzed, he heals.

He, the guy with the shriveled hand, he says, stretch out your hand. So he also introduces faith in that because you've got to remember in each instance. Even on healing the guy on the Sabbath, you know, he, he asked the person who's afflicted to do something. He said, get up and walk. Well, if you've been paralyzed your whole life, that would be a leap of faith. Even though God has healed you, I mean, I guess they could have felt differently, but still when he said stretch out your hand.

So I think he's introducing faith. I want to say a comment to that, because you're exactly right. Because later in Mark, it says when he was somewhere, he didn't do hardly any miracles because there were so little faith. And so I think that totally props the point you just said. I mean, a lot of people would say, you know, they're like, get up and walk, and you're like, well, I can't walk. So I'm just hitting the high points here.

He touched, he cleansed a leper, so he actually held him. And he touched him, which I think was noteworthy. He invited a tax collector to follow him, which is, you know, we went through that. I made the illustration that, you know, we had gotten into the Galilean underworld of money and... It's for everybody. Well, right. He was making a point there. And so not only that, then he had a... He went to a party where other tax collectors were and the underbelly of the underworld making money and means that was, let's just say, was beneath...

And scrupulous. Yeah. Yeah. And so he's there. He goes to that. He bested the Pharisees in a couple of arguments. I mean, we're still in the first three chapters here over fasting and the Sabbath. He had tons throngs of people now following him, trying to get at him, almost in a sense of something you'd see in a zombie movie.

with people with all these diseases, lepers, people who have been infected by various things, following him around, pressing against him. I mean, the wording in these first three chapters are like he's having to escape him. He's having to preach out of a boat. They're just wanting to touch him, which is an eerie kind of thought when you think about it. I mean, I don't think we ever think of it like that, but it hit me there when I was doing the review, I said, it was almost like a zombie apocalypse movie here. He, uh, let's see, what else did he do?

We had the demons crying out that he's declaring him as the son of God. They knew who he was. They knew who he was. And the obvious conclusion is, based on all the evidence that I just went through, that God is here and his name is Jesus. and no one, which I've thought of this, no one ever denied the miracles. There's no word mentioned in any of the New Testament, not just the first three chapters, that people are saying, well, that didn't happen, or that was a trick.

So they're not denying the power, but they're not necessarily acknowledging him as the son of God either. are the source of it all. All right. And I found another interesting conclusion before you can add to the synopsis is that he's withdrawing from the crowds. And he's also telling them not to say who he, he told the demons, don't, don't say, you know, who I am. And other people that he is healing, he's saying, you know, keep this secret, which is not

working, but still. So he's withdrawn from the crowds. But he's taking his stand against opposition. Every time the opposition comes, he stands his ground on that. He's not withdrawing from that, which I think is interesting. So, having said that, that was the synopsis that I came up with up to this point. So what you see going on within a few years, when was the book of Acts written, Al? it would have been it would have been right when most of them were written probably in the late 50s early 60s

yeah so within 30 or 40 years god is sending out particular individuals who were speaking on the same topic that we're looking at in acts chapter 6 choosing of the 7 and then of verse 8 Stephen a man full of grace and power did great wonders like Jesus was doing when he was on the earth and miraculous signs among the people. Here's a guy who's doing basically the same thing. But check this out. Verse 9. Opposition arose, however.

Uh-oh. It's the same thing J. was talking about. They were denying even the power of the Holy Spirit, which is an eternal sin, Mark records. From members of the synagogue, the freedmen, Jews of Cyrene, Alexandria, these men began to argue with Stephen, like they did with Jesus. Or they just sat there and watched him and tried to figure out how they could kill him.

They could not stand up against his wisdom, Stephen, or the spirit by which he spoke. He's doing exactly what Jesus did post-death burial and resurrection. They secretly persuaded men to say, we got these people to lie. We need to lie our way out of them. We've heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against mulges and against God. He wasn't doing that. but they're blaming him with it like they blame Jesus. So they stirred up the people, which they did in Mark records, and the elders and the teachers of the law.

Well, those are the ones that crucified Jesus. So we're looking at a picture before it happens from the Apostle Mark, and we're looking at a 20, 30-year period, whatever, when the book of Acts is written with a guy named Stephen. They brought him before the Sanhedron. and they produced false witnesses. Does that sound familiar? Who testified this fellow, just think about what Jesus was doing. Never stop speaking against the holy place and against the law.

Well, that's what they all said about Jesus. But now they're on Stephen, because Stephen is saying what Jesus said and doing what he did. We've heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth, listen to this lie, will destroy this place, which happened a few years. later 70 AD and changed the custom Moses had handed down to it all he was sitting in the sand even listening to tithel Stephen and this was just a little caveat and they saw the face his face was like the face of an angel you get on further and he wraps up his what he was doing by saying

verse 52 of Acts chapter 7 was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute they even kill those who predicted the coming of the righteous one well now we're we're down to what the prophet said and now we have Jesus on the earth marks recording and now we're looking what happened just after that now you've betrayed and what you know and murdered him well this is post-day of Jesus. But that's where it led to, you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels, but have not obeyed it. So I just wanted you to realize that Stephen's message is an exact replica of Jesus and what he did, and the fate that is received by both, the Lord Jesus and Stephen, speaking on the power of the Holy Spirit, they killed him too, who had him stone to death, and amazingly the Apostle Paul went on to be a soldier for Christ was standing there watching him being slaughtered. I just thought those two things really come together when you read Acts chapter 26 with Stephen

in that story and what he was saying to what Mark was saying just before the kingdom came and Jesus died of his bed and raised from the dead. What you think, Jay's? No, I agree. I agree 100%. Let's take a break. It made me think, though, you know, I guess maybe three arguments that have come up so far

in our first three chapters of jumping ahead here is, because I've been fascinated that, number one, in the first three chapters, there was a lot of demonic activity that Jesus was engaged in. I mean, one that they knew who he was, and, you know, two, it seemed to be, I mean, it's happening a lot. And he would also say not to declare this, which seems to be, you know, when he comes, he's like the time has come.

And he refers to himself as the son of man, which is this answer to the vision that happened in Daniel. He's declaring that the Messiah is here. That's why I was going to end my little session up a while ago, but I'll bring it back. What was happening was Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation. That they had a hard time dealing with. By him, all things were created. They were having a difficult time of that, Chase. Things in heaven, look at the cosmos, and on earth visible and invisible,

where the thrones or powers or rulers or authority, all things were created. by him and for him. They're saying he's lying and he's not doing what he's doing by the power of God. The power of Satan's got him. He's before all things. They had no idea of that. And in him all things, if you saw God walking down the road,

the one who is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation, everything was created by him. He's the head of the body, the church which came. And they were saying repent for the kingdom, which is the church, was coming. He's the beginning and first born from among the dead. They're scratching their heads and do what?

And everything he might have supremacy. Say what? For God was pleased to have all his fullness. If you saw a fellow walking down a dusty road, Jace, and he had about 10 or 12 old raggedy-looking fishermen, and they were speaking on what they were speaking. And the miraculous was just coming out of Jesus in front of everybody. They're running around and saying,

what in the world? who I mean, who is that? I mean, but they couldn't deny the miracles, so they're in a bind because they're rejecting him because of their traditions of the fathers. Yeah, I think that's where we're at. And that's what I was going to say, because a lot of people... But it would have been hard to believe somebody like Jesus was on the premise. Well, Phil, it's still hard to believe it.

I know it. And that's what I was going to say. That's why I'm following him. I think people, I think some of the arguments that come up here is, one is, you know, are there demons today? And what does this mean to that? But I think it helps you understand who God is and why he came. If you kind of stay away from the extremes. And my point is you have extremes now in life where you have a large group of people

who don't believe in any spiritual warfare whatsoever. That is correct. They're like, well, you can't even distinguish good and evil, which is a lie. I mean, it's obvious. Remember, Satan is the father. of lies. Right. But the other extreme is people who follow Jesus. Well, they see demons in everything. And I'll give you an example. I mean, it's like, well, we can't see Al today. And since we're talking about Jesus, you know, there'd be some people would say, oh, well, that's, that's the devil.

It's trying to stop this message, you know. And I was going to give you an example because I thought about this. A simple trip to the grocery store for some people. is a spiritual warfare demonic happening. And I'll give you an example. Because I've heard people in the Lord share stories like this. They're like, I pull into the parking lot and, you know, I look up. And there's someone who has put their reverse lights on and they won't move. And I'm sitting here saying, what could be the problem?

And so in their quest to live a good life, they start saying, I mean, this is the evil one trying to tempt me. So I go around and now I see a non-handicap sign vehicle pulling into a handicap parking lot. And they're like, a parking place. And they're like, well, you know that's from the evil one. Because here's someone who would take something like that and pose as being handicapped just so they could, get so you see where this is going so then they go in and they look over there and there's a person in the line that has the express uh the express aisle that says you can't have more than 12 items in your in your buggy well they have clearly have 20 now what kind of demonic person

would make everyone else wait who's following the rules and so that's the way they're looking so then look, they buy a package of hamburger meat. They buy what they need. Then they get home and they open the hamburger meat and it looks red on the outside, but in the middle is brown. So you know what they're thinking? I mean, this is just of the devil that someone would do that. So look, then they make tacos.

They're so upset about the trip to the grocery store that they don't wash the lettuce again because they're trusting. Let me interject and give you a little point. They'd be better off if they lived their life. Look, and they were known for their love. Well, I agree, Phil, but I was trying to be humorous here. So look, then they eat the tacos with the brown meat, the lettuce that wasn't washed, and guess what?

All of a sudden, they feel a heat in their gut. Well, I must tell you, Jason. Because now. I don't run with people like that on the tail lights not coming on or going off. So now they're in the bathroom. They're looking up. Now they're sick and they're like, this is a demon-possessed world that I'm living in. And so I only made that dramatic embellishment of a point to say,

when you go to the extremes of this thing, I think you tend to miss that Jesus has won. When he showed up, we've won here because he came here for us. He came here as the creator of the universe, and we're not trying to win, you know, in life, and we're not fearful over disease and demons and even death, because Jesus conquered all that. That was the picture he was giving when he came. So I think as we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we're responding to the victory that he declared. instead of, you know, saying, oh, I hope I make it, or I hope I can, you know, I can navigate the life, you know, with spiritual warfare, which, so I said all that to say, I think that's why it led to something that's very confusing that causes a lot of arguments is that, well, how come he was telling people to be quiet about this? And I don't know if you want to jump in there and give your opinion, Al, because I'm having to just, I feel like, I feel like you're in the role of faith.

I'm not sure you're there. I'm here. I'm here. Well, first of all, to your thing about how people view life, it's the flip side of that is the guy who was started a diet, but he really wanted to eat a donut. So he said, well, if the Lord wants me to eat a donut, there'll be a parking spot right in front of the donut shop. And so he drives up there.

Well, there was full. There was no parking spots. So he said, well, I'm not sure if the Lord really wants me to. So he drove around the parking lot for five minutes to one open. up and then he went and ate a donut. That's the mindset. Sometimes people try to... No donut, no God.

Yep. Exactly. Well, I agree. I agree. 100%. No, I think you're right about it. And it is interesting because it almost seems when you're reading it like you're like, did Jesus not, I mean, it doesn't seem like he's in control of the situation.

I mean, these people are pressing in on him. The demons won't be quiet about him. I mean, it's almost like he's just trying to. to juggle this situation like he didn't know what he's doing. But he obviously did know what he was doing. Yeah. By the way, to strengthen Jason's point, when I quoted that from Colossians 115, he's the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, and right down to the bottom, it said, once you were alienated from God, you were out, and were enemies in your minds because you're evil behavior, which were the people that were practiced in law and were accusing Jesus. But now,

he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight. He's made you perfect forever, the Hebrew writer said, as you're being made holy. Without blemish, that's us, and that's what we receive from Jesus, free from accusation. But there is a caveat here. If you continue in your faith, which that's the key to what we're discussing here, established and firm, that's what the teachers of the law and the, and the high priest and all of them didn't realize. If you continue in your faith, it's simple.

It's not difficult. Established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel of which Mark records in Mark 1-1, the beginning of the gospel. This is what you receive, to Jesus' point. And it's all you need, really. Yeah, that was what I'm my point was. I see Satan at every turn, okay, it's a wicked world, evil world. What is.

Bob is to tell him that Jesus loves him and he died on the cross for him and was buried and resurrected. But the point is life can be chaotic. Hang on, Jase. Hang on. Let's take a break. Can it be chaotic? Well, it's chaos. And I went through the grocery store trip because people who are functioning like that,

you're talking about anxiety and panic and fear and frustration. Well, that doesn't sound like anything pleasant about being in Jesus. and living in his life. So that's why I think the reason Jesus did this and the way he did it and revealed it was that he is the, he's the focus here. There's going to be a lot going on. But when we trust his character and the plan he has for us, which we're going to see as he expands it as we go on.

But I said all that also to say, you know, Jep was telling me he's introduced his adopted son, Gus, who just turned seven. to football because I, you know, I look at this, this young man, and I say young man, because as far as six-year-olds go, he is in the upper 1% of athletic and size and speed. And so he's going far. He's really aggressive. So I kept telling you, I was like, you need to introduce this kid to football.

I was like, because I, you know, I had one of my kids was real aggressive. athletic and you know football was a great thing for him and even to this day he's like thank you for introducing me to football i mean he thrived in that environment so anyway so well jell i talked jep into it i think there were other factors well he goes up there well they had already started the league and they hadn't played any games yet but there was a lot of practices so jep asked this guy i mean you look at jep what is jep five foot nothing he when you're looking at him you're not thinking athlete. So Jep talks to the coach for one of these teams, and he's like, look, I'd like my son,

you know, to play on your team. And they were like, well, you know, Jeff said they immediately started crawfishing. I mean, we've already started practice. And Jep said, oh, no, you'll want this kid on your team. And they're like, what he looked. And so when they saw, you know, we got the different, they were looking at Jep's son, because they weren't realized since he's an African American. Oh, that's your son?

You know, because he was thinking, where's your son at? He was thinking River. Yeah, I don't know what he was. I mean, I don't think he knew. But so anyway, so they, of course, he's never played football. And I'm telling you this long story because when, when Jeff's son became a part of that team, the outcome of the game,

was now not in question, even though we hadn't played any. Because Jelp has brought in an unstoppable, and I mean unstoppable force to the six-year-old league. And so what I found interesting, because when Jep was telling me about the first game last night, he was like, you know, they didn't have him in the game at first. And I thought, well, what's the deal? I mean, what? Because I know, I've seen this kid. And so Jep said, I realize what the deal was is because by introducing Gus right off the bat, you were going to break the spirit not only of the other team, but the team he was on.

Because basically there's one play. Give him the ball. And when you have the ball, he's fixed to run past or through any opposition because he's just a head taller. He's five times as fast. It was over. So, Jep said, I thought the coach was clever in to not break the spirit of both team. But it made me think about, you're seeing where I'm going with this illustration. Did they win the game?

Well, of course they won. The game was never in question, though, it was over. But I thought about this on why Jesus was saying, hang on. You got to think about what he's doing here. I mean, he's taking a religion. in Judaism, and he's basically saying, that's over. Well, you know, just to come on out there and say that, they're not ready for that.

This is going to be, and we know, you know, for what you read. We call them the Krusty, the old Krusty brothers. He's fixed to turn this whole idea of religion on its head, and now have you focus on a single individual who is God and has become flesh, that's just a difficult thing to introduce. It's hard to wrap your head around it. And so I think, you know, he is empowered by the Holy Spirit now and he starts doing these things. Well, we're going to see in what we're going to.

In 21. In 21. 21. His earthly family says we have to do an intervention because Jesus is out of his mind. And look, then on the other side, here's the religious leaders. They say he has a demon. Yeah. Now, just think about where you're at in your life, where your own family and the most respected people on the earth, which you would say are religious leaders, or they should be.

One group says you're crazy, which is your family, and the other group say you have a demon. And so that's why I said introducing what he's introducing. and you remember some of the phrases, you know, when they're like, what is this new teaching and what is this new? People are bewildered and he's become famous, but he's like drawn away from that because he's not here to be famous because of what he can do in the short term. So that's why I'm saying all these crowds, we've won.

Humanity has won. But it's going to have to be a process, which eventually he's, he's going to die and being buried and being raised. And I think that's the only way to answer the argument. And I found that in my own mind trying to work that out with Jeff telling me about Gus, who didn't play but a third of the game. And he was disappointed. He was like, how come the coach keeps taking me out?

And Jeff was like trying to explain to him after the game. He was like, because the game was never in question because you're on the team. You did great, buddy. I mean, you did awesome. But we don't, because when Jep told me the first time he scored a touchdown, I mean, they gave him the ball, and in the twinkling of an eye, he was 30 yards behind the defense headed toward the end zone. Well, he said what the kids did when they saw that is they just plopped down on, they quit running after him, and they just plopped down on the ground and half of them started crying.

We're not going to catch him. You know what? This is not fair. This is not football. I mean, and so it made me realize that it was too overwhelming in the short term. And I'm just telling you that analogy because I think in their world, and another question, Gus asked Jep, he's like, well, when should I dance after the touchdown? Because he saw that on TV.

They scored a touchdown. They started dancing. And Jep says, too early for that. Because they're not going to be able to handle that. I'll let you know when it's time to do a touchdown dance. When they're crying when you score, it's probably too early to dance. It's too soon.

Hang on, let's take a break. No, I think that's a great illustration. Jay's when you think about Jesus being so far beyond them, which is why I think he was tapping the brakes. I had another point about this idea of this evil spirit recognizing, because this has happened two or three times now in our study,

and we're only right into the book. book. So, you know, it's interesting. There's several instances throughout Scripture where Satan primarily, or in this case, evil, evil spirits, evil beings speak truth. I mean, because what the evil spirits were saying was true. He is the son of God. And I thought about that because, you know, he's saying, I, you know, he'd drive him out and say, you know, be quiet because he's not ready to reveal himself yet for who he really is. But I thought about that. How many? times that evil has the potential to speak truth. But without really having the purpose of salvation, you can't trust it.

It was like when Satan was tempting Jesus, you remember he quoted Isaiah. He quoted scripture to Jesus. He was the son of God. And yet, without purpose, his purpose was only to steal, kill, and destroy. So I think it's one of those little warning signs for me that you have to be careful because evil can speak truth. It's just without the purpose of helping or building up or salvation. There's no grace.

There's no mercy when evil speaks truth. But I did think it's interesting. This is two or three times now where he's like silencing these evil spirits who are proclaiming truth about who he really is. But it's not in Jesus's timing. So it's not for his good. So you have to watch that because, you know, people hear a lot of voices out there. You know, God told me this.

God told me that. I hear this. I hear that. I got a word today. Here's my word. You got to be careful because evil does speak truth, but it's not with the purpose of helping. Well, the reason we went through this synopsis is because basically Mark kind of, he, it's almost like there's a timeout. Let's address where we're at when he gets to 3.6 because he said, I mean, a 3.7.

Now, this is right after he, Jesus, he records Jesus healing the man with the shriveled hand. and then the Pharisees and the Herodians, you know, they, they begin to plot about how they might kill Jesus because they feel threatened that he's powerful and he's not fitting the narrative that they have on who the Messiah should be. Because the backdrop of what their, when they think read Daniel, they think this Messiah was going to come and, you know, cast Rome out into the sea and they're going to take over and live here. because they were all thinking earthly, which we all do. And we're even tempted, you know, in our faith today, thinking, well, if I'm following Jesus, you know, I should be the most blessed person on the planet, even materially, you know. I mean, there's always a temptation to do that.

So it's like he gives a little overall review when he says, Jesus in verse 7, withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. when they heard all he was doing many people came and you see where they're coming from i mean all over the place judea jerusalem uh the regions across the jordan tire sadan because of the crowd he told the disciples to have a small boat ready for him to keep the people from crowding him that's right i got the idea about this zombie because all these people had diseases and all they were like i mean if you knew somebody had that power to heal for real well what would you do

you would go try to grab a hold of him. Which is why you know the word is spreading because you notice the regions coming are getting further and further out from Galilee. So, I mean, word is going. There's somebody that can heal people. Even to this day, if a Jesus showed up in flesh and started walking around in the streets of our major cities where all this crime and all that stuff is going on, interject him in the middle of all that, it wouldn't take long out.

there would be a gigantic following. Well, look, what if Jesus would appear during the coronavirus and he started healing people instantly? The whole globe would go try to grab a hold to this guy. That's right. They would be pulling him and it. Well, that's exactly what was going on here, which is, by the way, it's the reason we don't get too stressed out

about people, you know, having demons or the various diseases that happen or even, you know, death, the deaths of people that we love and cherish. And you say, what do you mean? You don't get too stressed out. Because after reading these first three chapters and us declaring Jesus as Lord, because that's what this is really going to get down to. Who do you say Jesus is? And in the case of his family, who thought he was a lunatic,

which is, by the way, C.S. Lewis came up with that quote, and I'm 99% sure this is where you got it from, Mark chapter 3, because the Pharisees thought he was a liar, and these disciples would eventually call him Lord. And that's really what it comes down to. So we trust in Jesus, and to get back to the verse I'm reading, it says, for he healed meaning in verse 10, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.

And whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, you are the son of God. To your point now. But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was, which is why I introduced that thought, because that is hard to wrap your head around. You're like, well, I thought the whole purpose for him coming here was so people would know who he is. Well, yeah. but it's so overwhelming and it's actually if you if your heritage was on the line and everything

you knew and he was changing that in God and his wisdom would have to make that process a little slower just so you could grab a hold of it. I mean am I wrong here? No, I agree. Let's take it our last break. I agree and it makes sense when you think about it. it. You're like, because people are like, wow, this demonic activity and all that, it seems to be so much.

But think about it. If there had been so, so you're in the spirit, that realm where God is and where Jesus is and Satan's there and all the, everything that's happened outside of our existence. And then God creates this planet and creates life on it. And then there's a few thousand years of human history. And, you know, God has made a deal with these people. Here's what you're supposed to do and not supposed to do. Satan is a part of it, all of the, all of that realm has got to be looking on to what's happening

on earth saying, what is this about? I mean, it had to be the biggest curiosity in the other realm. And so now of a sudden, God becomes flesh and becomes one of those people. I mean, like, of course there's all, every evil representation is like, what's going on here? And so they're like, why are you here? What are you doing here? It's almost like it was a mystery theater, you know? There was more of the demonic activity at this time frame in the world history. This was where it all rose up right here. And it's not really a big mystery. Why is because Jesus was here.

I mean, God became one of us. I think the unbelievers out in our world, they live, you know, they deny that this spiritual warfare is going on. But when you look into their lives, look, every human being, and I think this attributes to when Jesus, you know, that passage in John 2 where it says he didn't need testimony about him, he knew what's in a man. He knows that once you reach, you know, go through puberty, everyone is familiar with the consequences of sinful behavior and evil acts, not just out in the world, but in their own life.

We all know every human being knows right from wrong. It's written on their conscience. If you, you can say you don't believe in God and you can chunk that later and you get married and you start doing evil activity, I'm going to tell you something. Your wife, she's going to get hot about that. There's going to be consequences. There's going to be struggle and strife. And so really deep down, humanity is really familiar with diseases and getting sick and illnesses and evil behavior and unspeakable evil things happen. We all know that that's part of our world.

So it's like you can try to detach yourself from reality all you want. But to have someone to enter this earth and start taking care of these problems should be the greatest thing to get behind the world has ever known. No doubt about it. I mean, everybody should be applauding and say, okay, no disease. This will work. He can heal any kind of infirmity. He can get evil out. I mean, just if you're looking for an oasis where only good and righteous things happens

and nobody is having to go through pain and misery and losing their arm or losing their loved one, and why would this not be appealing? A rejection of this will prove that their peace of mind is what I call the rarest of commodity. Peace of mind because they won't bow down to the ones. who is the prince of peace. Exactly. So he's introducing himself. Jay's your point is so proven.

And you mentioned this earlier about the pandemic, using that as an illustration. The pandemic showed you what you just said a minute ago is exactly true. All you've got to do is inject now in our current culture, a microbe that can make people sick. And then some people are going to may die from it. And you'll see the human condition at its absolute worst. You see tyranny. You see people trying to control other people's lives. You see fear.

You see panic. You see all of it. And to me, it's like, for believers, I mean, you know, everybody's like, I don't want to get coronavirus. But we're like, you know what? It's way bigger than that. Jesus has provided us with everything we need, whether we're in a pandemic or not. But I think this showed you the perfect illustration of what you said is true. Well, I want to read this next paragraph, and we can talk about it in overtime.

But part of the having the crowds there, You know, I think this is a pivotal moment. I doubt there's ever been a sermon preached on Mark 3, 13 through 19, but I think it's a key moment because Jesus introduces the idea in this moment that he's going to use other people, ordinary people, fishermen, tax collectors, to work, to have God's work done in them. It's amazing. It doesn't seem like a very,

you know, adventurous or exciting passage. This was a raggedy-looking group. I mean, this is a moment here because when this happens, it then trickles down all the way 2,000 years later to you. And if you have that thought, well, he could use me too. Oh, yeah, he introduced it right here. So he went up on a mountain and he called to him those he wanted. Now, I think he used that word because what is what does God do?

to us. He calls us through Jesus. Now, eventually, you think, well, you choose God, but the first thing you realize when you come to Christ is that he chose you first. That's right. And he then appointed a 12, designating them apostles, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach, which I love that they might be with him, because that is the presence of God through Jesus is what this is about. It's the old ambassadors for Jesus.

Yeah, we walk with Jesus. And you're like, even now, oh, yeah, this is going to be passed on to us in the same light. And to have authority to drive out demons, these are the 12, the 20 appointed. And he lists all the 12. And some of them have nicknames, different names that he would change. And so when you. you see what he did there, I just thought, man, how neat a moment is this? Just 12, yes.

And I do think it's interesting that one of the 12, the last verse of 19 that says, who betrayed him. So we can spend a whole podcast on about that. Well, I've made to make the cut. Well, but the fact that he chose him anyway says something, and I think it says that he loves everybody and he wants to use everybody, even though. those who would act like they're going to follow him and act like they're going to trust him and would later portray him. But it still means that God views all people as valuable.

And he calls all people. Yeah, and I think Judas shows you the true sovereignty of God because Jesus had to be betrayed because he never did anything wrong. So for him to die, the only way it was going to happen was for someone to betray him and him to be killed for something that he did. didn't do. So it's what made him the perfect sacrifice. So even in the calling of the 12, you see the plan of God being laid out. And you're right, Jay's, God can use anybody for anything. Even those things that were meant for evil, we know the Bible tells us God uses them for goods. This is the exact same thing. And I don't want to get hung up talking about Judas because these other 11 men would, and look, it was bumpy. They had to grow like all our lives are. They

struggled. They didn't really get it. I mean, Peter finally had a moment there when he said, because this whole point is, is do you believe that Jesus is Lord, lunatic, or liar? And you remember when Peter finally got it when he said, who do you say I am? And Peter said, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. I mean, we, okay, yes. Well, then the next paragraph, Jesus then says, well, get behind me, Satan. I mean, he called Peter that because Peter's, because Jesus said, well, for this reason I got to die. And look, Peter, all of a sudden, he just said he was Lord, but then you think about what Peter did that we do, even in our own life.

Sometimes we don't like what the Lord wants to do with us or even it doesn't fit what we think he should be doing because Jesus is like, well, yeah, now I'm going to die. And Peter's like, no. Well, you just said he's Lord. that means you're trusting him, not the other way around. You know what I'm saying? But even as difficult as that was, look, I'm grateful for these men because they turned into warriors for the Lord.

And I think, what, 10 out of the 12 of these men were martyrs and Judas killed himself and the other was exiled, John. I mean, just think of how they're alive all these, none of this was a happy ending on this earth. But it was a happy ending to show you, look, they blazed the trail that God works in flawed human beings to do his work. And he also introduced, which is what we're going to get into next podcast, the idea of being part of his forever family. Yeah, which is big. Well, we're out of time. I do want to flash out a little more on the disciples in our overtime segment.

because there's a couple of interesting things about some of these guys when you talk about. So if you want to follow us over, that's blazedtv.com slash unashamed for some bonus time talking about the disciples of Jesus. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get anywhere else, subscribe to Blasen. Blase TV at blazedtv.com slash unashamed.