Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 613 | Jase Is Judging His Brother Hard for What He Did in Church & Missy Keeps Jase in CHECK

Episode Date: January 13, 2023

Jase couldn't believe his not-exactly-gifted-in-singing brother would stand up and sing for the whole congregation in church, but Phil says he won't judge anyone on his singing ability. Missy keeps Jase in check when he thinks his singing is sounding album-ready. And digging more into Mark 15, the guys discuss the road to Calvary, Jesus' trial, and how the one thief realized — at the very last opportunity — that he needed to follow Jesus and he did. Phil reminds us that each of us has that moment in our lives when we choose whether or not to follow the Lord. And how do you make the facts about Jesus real and personal when you tell others about him? -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So I'm back in the studio. I bus down at the southern layer the last time we had podcast. Of course, Zach was supposed to be here once again. He's in my, he's actually in town. I heard he was duck cutting today, which is kind of ironic. I'm not sure what's going on here. We didn't go today, so we would be fresh for the podcast, the multiple podcasts, that we we do. That's right. Now, Zach.

We got some special guests that are coming on in a couple of podcasts, so we're excited about that. He didn't text me. The last I heard from him, there was a low cell service issue from his perspective. Yeah. We talked about that. Yeah. But that's it.

I haven't heard. We'll see. He's a North Carolina man. We have a new podcast engineer starting her first day today. So welcome to Madison. You alert her to turn this thing down and knock. I like Little Miss Blondie, turn her down a little bit. Oh, there's your name.

So funny that look when someone knew enters our arena, because when they open the door and look at us, they're like, oh man. What have I done? See, she's not on camera, obviously, but I would love to hear her thoughts on that. We'll have to ask her. But we were glad she's part of the picture. podcast. Our old buddy Kate has moved on to greener pastures. Well, I want to commend you yesterday. So I was, you were preaching. You and y'all do the

tag team sometimes. Yeah, usually we kickoff a series week and I preach together. And so Al, he's doing, I don't know what they call that in the preaching world, the icebreaker or, uh, yeah, the cold open, I guess. I guess. So for everyone not familiar with how I guess production works, They try to speakers or even on the podcast or TV shows, they try to do something that's like an icebreaker. I'm not really sure why I'm just to kind of ease into the proceeding, I guess. Yeah. Sometimes it could be funny, sometimes, you know, touching whatever.

So yesterday, Al is up there. You weren't there, Phil, because you're, I guess, what, were you, one day from surgery? No, two days. Yeah, you've got to have your back procedure. After tomorrow, they're going to drill another hole in my back. Yep. Go down and then one of my vertebrates. And it's one of them deals where, you know, life is full of trouble.

Short, full of trouble. Yeah, this gives new meaning to drill, baby drill when they're talking about going into your back. I'm telling you. Well, I'm just glad, hopefully this will get you back, you know, good, back in the dump line. We all hate it. So Dad took, stayed home yesterday so he could do podcast today because he's battling with his back. And we appreciate you being here, Phil. You are one of the toughest humans on the planet.

No doubt about that. Man's got a broke back, but he's here. Well, when the old back goes, you know, you'll say, I'm just preparing y'all to say, we got trouble coming. The resurrection. Resurrection. New body. 70.

And if we have the strength, 80. So that little, if he has the strength, I'll give him 80. And you know because you're literally in that stretch. I'm just, I'm three, three to four years shy. of the 80 mark. But you know, it's amazing that. Moses wrote that Psalm 90 is your reference. He wrote that 3,500 years ago.

Yeah. That lucky dog, and he lived with be how long? He lived by about 120, I think. Yeah. So back to your icebreaker, Al started doing, I could tell he was fixed to do a joke. And he started talking about singing. He said, I've been working on a new arrangement.

Of course, I know that you can't sing. That's right. You know, everyone can sing to the Lord, make a joyful noise. I'm not gifted with a singing. There you go. So I thought. And I'm sick on top of that. Al is fixing to actually sing a song.

Which was a bold. I mean. Bold. I thought bad move. Because I'm your brother. I'll tell you the truth. If you would have asked me about this icebreaker, I would have said two thumbs down. I didn't even tell Kellett because I thought of it on the way into the,

church building yesterday morning. Yeah. He just hit me. I mean, this is, I would have tested that spirit to see if it was from the Lord. I didn't, I was just, I literally put all the chips in, Jason. I went all in. Oh, you did. I didn't even tell Mike, because I wanted his reaction live.

I didn't want to tell him about it. So tell us what you did, Al. You took a famous hymn that I haven't heard song, and I would say, 30 years. At least. It's the, it's the song, No Tears in Heaven. You remember that song, Phil? No tears in heaven. That's it.

So I asked the audience, I said, does anybody here besides me dealing with the crud? Because now we've got all these, you know, we got COVID, we got respiratory, RSV. Let me interrupt you. I didn't like that. Because then the 10 people that raised their hand, I leaned over and told Missy,

I said, I guarantee you that those 10 people will be avoided. from the fellowship from here on out because I took a good look because I thought I never even thought about what you're calling the crud maybe COVID or some kind of and I'm like well he just embarrassed those people because a bunch of people probably had and didn't raise their hand for that very reason lo and behold usually I leave early just for weird reasons but I stayed throughout the whole thing but I saw one of the guys who raised his hand and I immediately turned the other way. I just kept walking after service.

I never thought about it that I outed this. I usually overlook anybody who's not skilled that has a great voice but sings from the heart. That's good enough for me. Well, Al did it so that I didn't mean to interrupt. I just thought that was a bold move to single those people out who were sick in the assembly. Yeah, that's true. I didn't think about that. Well, I said I could never with a straight face say, you know,

start to judge a person's singing ability because, you know, I can't care of tune. And I was doing it obviously as a joke, so I was covered either way. It didn't matter where they're going to. No, look, Phil, and before you finish out, I mean, I have sung many times in the shower or just passing through the house. I'm a loud singer at my house. And every once in a while, I really feel like I'm getting better. That had to be good.

And so I'll look at Missy. But since you're the only, I don't know. Missy's there. Okay. And so... You have to watch that observation carefully. But nine out of ten times when I asked her, I said, no, that had to be good.

And she went, nope. I'm like, is it something wrong with my ears? Because to me, it knows all about keys and... Right. I'm not on key. No. And so, I mean, there's a delusion here that every person experiences, you know, that show American Idol, they made a show

that because all of these people who believe they could sing. Oh, yeah. You can't fake that. These people, everybody told them, yes, you're awesome, yes, you're awesome. When I saw Willie Boy doing the singing, I said, yeah. There you go ahead, Al. So you went for a pretty job. Did Missy laugh yesterday when I sang when I did the thing?

You know, she was just mums the word. Yeah, I was curious. I think she was impressed with your courage. Yeah. But I think she viewed it as you took something funny. and the uncomfortable happening when you actually saying, you turned it into a joke, so it was okay. Yeah, it was pretty funny.

So, Dad, so I asked if there was, anybody else had the crud, a few people where I am, isolated now. And I said, well, you know what I think about when I'm sick like I am right now, just the sinus problems and all this. I said, I was talking to Kellett, you know, and he said, what's that? I said, have it. I said, and I'm working on a rewrite of a song. I said, do you want me to sing it?

Well, he's looking at me like, are you really good? He fixed to sing. That's what I was saying. I know. So it was pretty funny. And so I changed the words. So I just came up with the one little stanza. No, you had three.

You had three. Yeah, three lines. So it was, it was no phlegm in heaven, no tissues needed. All of our airways. will be clear and then I stopped you know so I did little things so and everyone laughed my surprise it was funny except the probably the dozen people who thought somehow that was being sacrilegious to the song well I thought about that when everybody started clapping I was going to say don't encourage because if I keep going with this you're not going to like it it's not going to turn out exactly just a just a smidge

no it was funny now it was uh when you're that vulnerable yeah people tend to support you. They do. That's right. Because, and they'll realize you'll pretty much go anywhere, you know, for a laugh. But, but it's the ultimate cold open because of what we were talking about, too, because then I got into, you know, we got into our lives and when our lives changed and stuff like that. So. Yeah, and y'all did, uh, y'all are, you're doing, going through a book first, first Peter. Are y'all going to do it first and second Peter? Yeah. Yeah, probably. We're going to see how long it tastes. And we're also going to, that's the plan for the podcast, too. Yes, you're double-diffing. I'm double-diffing. I'm double-diffing. I don't, I don't

don't like to waste a good Bible study. So we're going to be going there. My thought process on that days was that we've been in Mark, which as I said, kind of a shadow writing from Peter because Mark was getting all of his intel from Peter on exactly some of these things that happened. How did y'all come up with that? That's where he was getting his intel. Well, because they were, when you read it the other accounts in Acts, then you realize that they were, they're related. Yeah. And that he was like his, he was his apprentice. Yeah, I knew there was a connection somewhere, but just I forgot. And I think we didn't talk about this, Jason.

I think we skipped it. But when we were the last time we did the podcast, verse 51 of Mark 14, it says a young man wearing nothing butlinant garment, they seized him. He fled naked. A lot of people think that Mark may have been referring to himself because he would have been like, you know. I don't know. I mean, some of them, you know, like some of them do refer to themselves. in third person, John did it too. So it's possible.

You know, we don't never know. Now, that is being vulnerable. Yeah, that's exactly right. If you would admit to that. But it kind of makes sense that if he, as he's writing it, that he might put a little personal narrative in there? I mean, it did seem crazy to... Why would you mention that as my point?

Well, it's just, it's so... Random. It's sad that all of these disciples were basically, you know, saying they wouldn't do this in the spirit of Peter. I mean, because when Peter's like, I'll die with you, I'll never disown. No, you're going to deny me. And then Jesus said, you're all going to fall away. I'm sure they all in their minds thought, no, not me, not me.

You know, I'm not going to do this. But then they all deserted him. And I think that picture is in there just to show you that the amount of fear that they had where you're running out of your clothes to get away from him. Right. And I thought it was interesting that in Mark's account, of course, he shortens everything. It's kind of like a condensed version, but he doesn't mention, and this, like I said, this is obviously Peter was part of this process.

He doesn't mention that Peter's the guy that cut off Malchus's ear. We had to get one of the other versions to know that it was actually Peter that cut the guy's ear off. So it's kind of interesting the thought process of them going into it. But we're in chapter 15 today. Let's take a break. It was interesting. before we get into this, you know, we did a whole deal about the trial and with pilot. And, I mean, that's where we left off, I believe.

And so we're doing like a little community house church that I think you're going to be there. Yeah, I was, I felt under the weather last night. Because you had your, you were down with the crowd. It's worse at night. It's a little better than the morning. But it's weird is they, you know, they had some of the young people. do the worship, which is always awesome. But then they also, the whole lesson was about...

Who did the lesson? Johnny. Oh, good, good. One of the elders at our church and family, the... Corey's dad. Yeah, Willie's wife's dad. But he did it about absolute truth, which we had just studied the podcast. I tried to keep my mouth shut because it got into a discussion.

Because I was thinking... we just talked about this 30 minutes on a podcast. And I did pretty good to the very end. I just had to get in there. Missy said, will you please say something? Because she could tell I was antsy. I was, you know, some of the discussion I was wanting to get in there. But it made me think, though, of that discussion when he said,

what is truth? Yeah. As Pilate walked away. because Jesus, when he said, you know, Pilate was looking, he's like, so you're a king then. And but it's, he doesn't fit the bill for a king. And Jesus is like, yeah, I think this is John's account. It's John 18.

Yeah, John 18. And so he's like, everyone on the side of truth listens to me. And he's like, oh, what is truth? Right. as he walks away. So Johnny last night in the discussion, he was making a point that this idea of absolute truth makes the world nervous because they think if you had that,

it disqualifies freedom. Of course, you have a clear verse in John 8 that Jesus said, you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free. And he also another point, I am the truth. Well, he brought that up in John 14, which I think was the point, ultimately when we got to the end, and we talked about this, you know, that was the point, because if you try to get everyone to

agree on a creed or, you know, every detail on the what, the things of the Bible, and I brought up John 5, when he said, you know, twice he said, I tell you the truth. I tell you the truth in John 5. And some of those truths he was declaring was actually what would eventually get him killed. Right. When is in John 519?

Yep. Let's see what that says. I tell you the truth, the son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what he sees the father doing, which is, you know, this is a claim. You're claiming to be the son of God. And then 24, look, I tell you the truth. whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned.

I mean, what a statement that is, but he's telling the truth. Well, look what he says. I know I've read this many times. In John 539, which is this is the point I made in the house church, you diligently study the scriptures because you think by them you possess eternal life. Well, just take that statement by itself. I don't know of any church group on the planet that wouldn't agree with that. Is that not what we do is study the scriptures so by them you will possess eternal life?

And we would all say, well, what's wrong with that? Well, then he clarifies that statement. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. And so I think that statement is so important to our studies because what we're fixed to read is there's a lot of things that happen on the cross and in the trials and in the surroundings that were fulfillment of other scriptures. They were testifying to Jesus going back to John 1, who is the logos, the word, the real purpose of God. revealing himself. Right. So you have the words that everybody are trying to agree on.

And when you think of that, you think of all the arguments over all the scriptures and all the different denominations and all the disagreement. And then over here you have the word that was revealed through the words that we must agree on that. And so that was my whole point. You have things you disagree with. you have things that we can talk about but the absolute truth the whole key to understand that

is it's a person it's Jesus he is the absolute truth plus we tend to make a a mistake serious one when the death of Jesus

occurred in which we are now reading it was not with With normal death, Al, it's lights out. When Jesus died, amazingly, Jase, it was lights on. Lights on, not out. Because this is the beginning of a world to where when you die,

although you die, yet shall you live, you face in Jesus. So death is, immortality is yours. Lights on. not lights out all the people that killed Jesus surrounded them and all the and all the piling of all of them you said they thought

we're going to get rid of him lights off we're going to turn the light off but they didn't read the scriptures the scriptures say no that's it's not lights off it's lights on this is this is the beginning of immortality I'm going to show you how it works right which

is quite amazing you take a dead man And all of a sudden, he's standing there talking to you, he said, this is what I told you about. It's the truth. I am the truth. I'm bigger than death. Well, it helps my feelings to know from one man, Jesus, he saved the whole world. And he did it by counseling death.

That's true. Conquer death. Well, and to Jason's point, Dad, when you think about the scriptures, especially in the modern, era. Once Jesus was came here, established, did what he came to do, and then went back to heaven, these books they were written from Romans through Revelation. Yep. People have a lot of different idea. These are letters written to people who were having a lot of issues, not seeing Jesus. And so they were fighting amongst themselves. These are letters.

You got to remember all during this period, everybody's deserted him. The only way to eternal life is is his death. So, but that's a hard pill to swallow. I mean, I'm 76 years old, but you say, well, what's keeping, what's, why you, you keep your faith? It's all I have. It's all I have. Yep. You say, bad back and all, you say, in the end, the resurrection of the dead.

Well, my point out, I agree with you 100%. Because, like, I thought about that Galatians 2, which really is about, you know, he uses a phrase in there because you had people who are trying to add something to Jesus requirements you know in this case was circumcision all the priests up to him leftovers they died and stayed dead yeah but when jesus came along he's high priest he dies whoops three days you're like whoa oh well he that's why he is the that's why i keep going back to this when you talk about absolute truth i think my point is like if you're Galatians too we don't have to get off into it but he said some had infiltrated their ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and make us slaves that's verse four and it says they we didn't

give into them for a moment so that the truth so here's this truth and freedom uh correlating of the gospel might remain with you so and then it says god doesn't show favoritism so what they were doing by adding some laws to the gospel was they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, which the gospel, you know, is Jesus himself, the absolute truth in a person.

I'm only bringing this up because I think it's difficult. I mean, we all understand the truth about Jesus, I think, in the religious world. You realize that if Jesus didn't come down and he didn't die and he wasn't buried and he wasn't resurrected, and he's not at the right-handed guy. I mean, you can't make it.

And I think most people feel comfortable saying, look, I'm not sure you can find another way other than Jesus because everybody else who's claiming some truth like that, they're dead. So we, I think we're comfortable with that. Now, the world is not. But where we're not comfortable is thinking somehow another truth produces freedom.

because most people in the world, they're like, well, don't we have to follow a bunch of rules? What is this freedom you speak? And I think the freedom part is a little more complex to understand because it's not without restrictions. When you come to Christ, you're surrendering and there's some things you understand, okay, I'm not going to do this. But it's part of your bigger freedom that you're, I mean, my point is, like, I heard an illustration one time. It's like if you take the world's view of, there's no absolute truth, you just be who you are and find out, you're perfectly free to decide. And I heard this illustration one time that I thought was great.

Well, what happens to a young kid when he's in school and he hears that be the best you can be? You can be anybody you want to. and so he's, you know, five foot nothing, 130 pounds to quote that off of, you know, the Rudy, the football. And he says, you know what I'm going to be? I'm going to be an NFL offensive lineman. That's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to discipline myself. I'm going to train. Well, after a while, we know how this is going to end up. You're not going to be an NFL offensive linemen. You're going to waste your entire life and you're going to put all these restrictions on yourself chasing something that is a lie. It doesn't matter how you feel about it. It's just not going to work. So I look at the world claim on that of saying, I'm going to be free to do whatever I want to do. There's always going to be some kind of discipline

or restrictions in whatever you do. And it's not going to work just because you say that. So I'm going to use that same principle and apply it to Jesus. If you have, when you look, look at who Jesus is and ultimately what he did because we're here at the cross. Well, he made some sacrifices and ultimately a sacrifice that because of his love for us. Well, we do the same thing in marriage. So you think, are you free? And we even make jokes about when you're married. Well, yeah, you're free.

But there are some restrictions that you put on yourselves to allow this freedom in marriage to flourish. And let's take a break. And one of the things you do is when you tell your wife, when you get married her that you're going to be faithful to her, that's, you've now restricted yourself that you're not going to be with anybody else. You're going to be with her. So my point is, just when you think of this freedom, it doesn't mean that there's, that there's necessarily an absence of restrictions or a presence of them because I don't think it's either one. it's the right ones dependent on your relationship. I mean, there's some things that that's why Jesus is like, you're free, you're free, and now I obey God.

And you're like, I thought it was free. Why am I obeying? Because you're trusting him to know that there's just some things in life that this is what's best for your life. I mean, he has your best interest in mind. So where I was going with this, because when you see what Jesus did for us on the cross, and we then surrender to him,

the reason this works is because you have two beings, you have God and humans, actually having this sacrificial moment, but he started it because he is the basis of it, and you're responding to it, and it's not unlike marriage. If you have two people, a man and a woman, who are on a daily basis being unselfish,

which what does that mean? They're putting, the other one's interest. They're restricting themselves. Even though they're free in Christ, they're going to live forever. They're restricting themselves because of their love. Well, you'll have a dynamic marriage. You have two unselfish people on a daily basis looking after the other interests.

And it's a quality that works. It helps other individuals. It does. But you're not going around saying, oh, you know, I'm having to do this. Well, you want to because of love. when you insert love in the dynamic of the relationship. And so that's why I'm going back to that when Jesus said, you're trying to look at all these words and you're arguing about them

and what we should do, but you're missing me. Because if you don't have that relationship, that person being God in person, showing you the love and sacrifice, well, you now lose your motivation. You lose your meaning and you lose all hope because at the end of the line, you're winding up in the grave,

no matter what. Right. And so I think back to your original point, Jay's, which is a good one, that when you talk about the scriptures, one of the reasons why I feel like our podcast is successful in landing with people to study the Bible is because you realize that all scriptures God breathe, but some matters in here are much weightier than other ones. Even Paul said that, right? Yeah.

They're a weightier matters. So when you talk about, Jay's talks about the red letters. when Jesus was here and said things, you really need to zero in on those because the Lord said that when he was here. Now, the stuff after is it important? Sure. And we gained a lot of application and principles from the study of these letters and these churches. But when you find yourself fighting all the time and nobody sees Jesus in your fighting, which is what happens so many times in churches and in the religious world, I think somehow you're missing the big picture and the big point, you know. And so I think it happens all the time.

love the Old Testament. But look, when you go back, it's a historical study. There's all kinds of stuff back in there. But is it interesting? Yeah, but does it save you? No. What saves you is Jesus and his sacrifice, which is why we keep coming back to the Gospels and study them, because there's so much good stuff in there. Well, yeah, and I think it always, it goes back to when you realize that you're created in the image of God and that he has a purpose for you, it's within that context of you trust in his plan for you through Jesus, which is we're at the apex of that right here. Jesus died on a cross for you, him substituting himself for our sins and taking the punishment, which God's justice demands, you know, payment.

Within that context, there is a freedom that the world would not know of, nor could they, that is equal to, you know, I think the rest of creation, it's like a fish. You know, you would think that if you took a fish out of the water, you're freeing him from the trap of water. But you're actually doing the exact opposite. He was designed to be in water. So I think when you look at that in the context of who we are, there's always going to be some restrictions. But you're not doing it to be saved or to accomplish it. or in the Galatians deal to do something where you feel like you're earning yourself.

It always goes back to the cross in Jesus' example in your response to it. Well, in that is a freedom to do what's right and a freedom not to do what's wrong based on the relationship you have in the word, the word, the person of the word. That's why the first 100 years were so rocky in Christianity. You get it because people had been, under Judaism, which was God sanctions is what he told him to do. But now Jesus comes along and says, okay, this is a new, this is a new covenant. We're not going to take the old traditions, the old trapping.

Well, it's hard to give up stuff you've always been doing. So they tried to add it in. They kept trying to add it back in. But you can't bring your list of regulations or traditions to your cross in response to Jesus' cross. You know, because that's what he said, you want to follow me, bring your cross. Why did he say that? Because you're going to have to put this code to death. You've got to put it to death.

I mean, you're surrendering. Which is the Roman 6 application. When you bury an old person, you're putting that person to death. That's the idea. What comes forth now lives for Christ. And he says, now if you wanted to use a slavery illustrator, you're enslaved to me because you're now and me. Exactly. And they thought, well, what happened to this freedom thing?

But it's a freedom within the context of this is what you were designed for. This is why God made you. It is freeing. So, you know, when you get into talking about putting off the old self and put it on the new self, it's still within the context of a freedom in Christ and a flourishing because you're trusting God and not your own abilities. Yeah. And we talked about this when we talked about Peter yesterday in our sermon about the idea

that brokenness tends to bring transformation. And so it could be little things that break you down or it could be one big event. I mean, Dad, you had a big event. I had a big event. Some people are like that. Something happens. And then all of a sudden you're just like, all right, I got it. And now I'm going to commit my life to it.

Other people, it's more incremental, you know, which Jace is kind of your story. Let's take another break. So we left off in Mark, and I think we want to read, we've decided we wanted to read Luke's account here. Yeah, because we read the last podcast, we read the Mark account. And we've been studying this a while, so we keep telling you guys that Mark is kind of a condensed version. And then the Luke and John references, you're going to get a little more flavor and some of the things that Jesus said on the cross. So we wanted to kind of deal with us today. So at Mark 15, 12, when he said, what shall I do then with the one who called, the one you call the king of the Jews, Paul,

as he crucified him, they shouted. Wow, what crime is he committed? But they're like, crucify him. wanting to satisfy the crowd to pilot Pilate released Barabas to them he had Jesus flogged and hand him over to be crucified so then the soldiers are gonna you know they're gonna mock him and they

you see in verse 16 through 20 the soldiers led Jesus way into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers they put a purple robe on him twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him and they began to call out to him hail king of the Jews This is very difficult to read this because you realize this is God's plan for us and our sins in a way contributed to this. So when you go to Luke, he has way more details here.

So we decided to read this. Luke 23, 26, would you say? 26, yeah. So watch this, watch Luke's account of this. So as they led him away, they see Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from. the country and they put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Now, I believe this is the only place that has what happens next. Jesus turned and said to them, daughters of Jerusalem, do not

weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, blessed are the barren women, the wounds that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will say, to the mountains fall on us, and to the hills cover us. That's from Josea 10-8.

For if men do these things, when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? Now, we'll just talk about why he brought this up. Two other men, both criminals were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified him along with the criminals,

one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing. What a statement that was. And they divided up his clothes, casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, he saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the chosen one.

So the soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine, vinegar, and said, if you're the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was a written notice above him, which read, this is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him, aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us.

But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God, he said, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly for, we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. then he said jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus answering him i tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise yeah and we don't get that in in that detail in any other

version which was a that was huge i mean because this guy recognized jesus power even though he's hanging there with him being killed alongside him which is pretty powerful yep so and then the next three verses of Luke in 44 he basically says father into your hands i commit my spirit you know the darkness comes over the whole land when he said this he breathed his last that's when the centurion and mark records that says surely this is the son of god right luke said this is righteous man so if you go back to mark you see that which i found this interesting in 1521 now this is just thrown in here it says a certain man from Cyrene Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus was passing by on his way from the country and they forced him to carry the cross. Well, nobody, and I read all the scholars,

they've never heard of this, the father of Alexander and Rufus. But the reason I'm bringing this up is because when Mark wrote this years later, I believe the only reason he was bringing that up because it was somebody they would know locally. Why would you just invent this? You know, it's the father of Alexander and Rufus. Well, I'm sure those people back then knew exactly who that was. Yeah, that's right. They were like, oh, yes.

We're like, who in the world is that? Because there's no other reference to them anywhere in the Bible. I look. But the personal detail of it is all I'm bringing out is that here's this old guy who's just passing by. Yeah, he just literally, he just walked in. He came in for the Passover. And I'm assuming at some point he put two and two together, and I would like to believe that he probably put his faith in Jesus.

Which is probably why Dwight knew his sons. That's exactly right. So I was bringing that. That's a name there needs to be brought back Rufus. That's a biblical name. I like that. Sometimes the details that you read over, when you do some research on, they're powerful details because this becomes personal,

and this becomes something too impossible to be made up. Yeah. So two or three things. Let's take our last break. Two or three things I'm going to mention James from the Luke passage, and then we'll see a few different ones in John 2. Is this little speech that Jesus gives to the mourning and wailing women, which is really interesting because basically he's telling them,

look, you don't need to mourn me. This is why I came. Of course, you can imagine what he loved. looks like he's just been beaten to a bloody pulp he can't even carry the cross and he's telling them look it's going to be worse than this for you guys and and again i think he's referencing what's going to happen in 40 years to you know i was actually surprised at how many scholars agreed with that you know i thought what are they going to say but most that i read it's the same reference when he said you know in what was it luke 24 when he said see these these stones

not one will be left on top of another. So he's given them a hint that, look, judgment is coming on this place. And, of course, obviously, they didn't get it because they're weeping and mourning it. When they told our guy today, you will be in paradise with me. That tells you that before he had put his faith in Jesus,

told the other guy. The point is, again, Again, Jesus was fully aware that he was in paradise. Now, that's at the dead stage. Yeah. It wasn't lights off. It was lights on. All the way down.

So, yeah, he died, but that who you are. Well, there was a lot going on there, and we'll probably devote our next podcast to that whole discussion. What happened in the three days. Yeah. True. But right before this, I'm preparing you to when we get there.

None of this crowd got it on why he was dying, except the other thief on the cross. Now, he actually, it makes a lot of people speculate he got it because he heard him say, you know, Father forgive them for they know what they're doing. Because who does that? Think about it, Jay. That verse we covered.

when we were in the book of Hebrews. In other words, he got to where he is, but through the power of an indestructible life. Yes, you can put him to physical death, but inside that, you can still be alive. Right. I mean, or he wouldn't be indestructible. That's right.

So don't you find it interesting that whenever Jesus, it's almost like, and I'm not saying he's giving him a pass, but when he talked to Pilate, now he does this with the Roman guards, it's almost like he's telling the Gentiles here, these Romans, look, you don't even know what this is all about. That's right. Because he told Pilate, remember he said,

someone else is guilty of a greater sin than you, the ones who brought me to you. And so, because they had no excuses. They've been looking for the Messiah for hundreds and hundreds of years, and now he's here. So it is really interesting, Jay, is that he says this in this comment. One of the things I always thought about, there's kind of a thing that floats around from time to time that people say, well, you don't have to forgive people unless they ask you for forgiveness. And I'm just like, well, that's not what Jesus did.

I mean, I want to try to do what he did. So even if somebody wrongs me and we never have a confrontation, I think it's better for me to let it go, which is kind of what he's doing. In this case, we have a saying in the human world, in other words, the grave, you know, you don't succumb to the grave. You know, graveyard dead is what we used to. He was graveyard dead. Well, in this case, there was life still there through death. Well, and we made this point, Dad, even when he died. None of us would get out of here.

His death was so powerful knowing what was going to happen that a bunch of people came back to life when he died. That's my point. I mean, grays broke open. That's my point. People were wandering around, the zombies jace calls them. It wasn't a cut off from humanity. This here is a connection. Yep.

Well, it ticks me off at all these movies. There's thousands of zombie movies. And I know ultimately where they got the idea from. They would never tell you that. But this is. the only truth where this bodily resurrection occurs. Right. They always go back. I don't believe any, any other religion. The truth sets you free. It sets you free from death. I mean. Well, and it sets you free from, you know, yourself or trying to, yeah, you're earning your, you know, your salvation in some way. Well, there's a lot of, you can take a sigh of relief. knowing, because just think if it's up to you to figure out how to answer for your sins,

to justify them, to give you meaning, purpose in life, and to take care of your imminent death, well, you're just enslaved. You're going to be enslaved in wherever you go with that if it's up to you. There's a freedom knowing that, oh, he has provided that open door. That's right. What struck me when we were talking about this. Forget probably, Jase, the spirit of God is given to the ones who believe and the ones who do not believe, the spirit of God is not given to them.

It's repent and be baptized for the remission of your sin and God will give you the gift of the spirit. You're going to have to have him when it comes to physical death. You're going to have to have him. What happened to Jesus, you have to have the same power that raise him from the dead. It will raise you from the dead. Well, right. And how all that...

Believe in vain. Right. And how all that worked, I thought about when Paul in 1st Corinthians 1,17, when they were having this argument about, you know, division had cropped up. You know, speaking of truth, though, and because we're all splintered off, because what, we disagree on all these truths or words of the Bible when we should, you know, agree on the ultimate truth and the word of, you know, being Jesus. and then use a lot of patience when it comes to the rest of that. There was not an amount of explanation to the thief, but he's hanging there, and when he hears that today,

he's going to be in paradise. Well, I know, he probably saying, say what? I mean, he had to believe with what, he didn't have much time to make a decision here. He was the only one who was getting what Jesus was doing. as the son of God. You are correct. Somehow he knew in that moment,

we don't assume he knew what we all better. Maybe it heard something before. Right, exactly. But I think, I mean, the previous word said when Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. I mean, I'm assuming he heard him say that. I mean, it's right before. He says when your kingdom comes with power.

What father are we talking about here and forgive them? and he has the power to forgive. I mean, I see the connection there. Yeah. And then, of course, Jesus knows the heart. And so you can't hide. God ultimately knows all our heart. One thing you love about this thief is that he realizes he's basically at the last opportunity.

Because in a few hours, the opportunity to make a life change is done. At some point, we all do what they do. That's exactly right. I mean, it's he. Well, but the other thief, look, was. They may not all believe you, but I believe you. That shows you the contrast. We're throwing the other thief onto the bus and rightly so, but look, he didn't do anything we don't do on a daily basis.

He was like, save me. Save you and save me. I mean, how many times do you pray that prayer? That's right. You get in a bad situation and you're like, it wasn't like, what was the terrible thing he said, save me? That sounded pretty good. But when you look into his heart, he was just being. being selfish.

Well, and he joined in with the other people by heaping the insults, which obviously was disrespectful, so much so that it bothered this other guy. He's like, look, you and I deserve to be here, but this guy doesn't. Well, look, the last study I had, which was just a couple days ago, with a guy,

so a buddy of mine asked me, you know, hey, let's share Jesus with this guy. Well, I assume he didn't know Jesus if you're asking me to share Jesus. I said, yeah, I'll do. So we did it. And in a, you know, duck blind situation, which is perfect because they can't leave. And it was a pretty slow day.

So what else are you going to do? But I was fascinated that as we went through this, and it was not done in like, are you ready for the Bible study? You know, we didn't bring out a Bible. It was just conversation. And it was questions. And it was. So what I was fascinated is, is that he knew everything about Jesus you can know.

and so it kept getting back to well how's your life and that was you know it's life is a complete disaster and so after a while it hit me that you know you can you can go through life looking for this this thing to fix your life you know if i marry this woman my life's going to be great well that that came and went you know if i get a promotion at my job my job money guess what that came and went All these things were happening, not finding success. Well, here's another one. If I come to the Lord, then it'll fix my marriage. It'll fix my money situation.

It'll fix my attitude. Yeah, it'll fix all this. Well, guess what? That came and went. And so you say in there, what seems to be the problem? How could you even acknowledge and believe the things about, Jesus and still not have a relationship with him. And so kind of this debate, we were talking about this truth that produces freedom,

you know. And I saw it real life right in front of my eye. I heard this guy's life. He couldn't be any more miserable. I mean, completely miserable. Nothing is going his way. And you're like, well, how do you convince someone that these facts, how do you make those facts about Jesus somehow become real in a person and in a relationship?

Well, I don't know, but I know this, unless they do, you're not going to figure this out. You're not going to have meaning. You're not going to put this as a religious compartment and say, well, I checked all the boxes here. That's right. You know, and then all of a sudden when things don't go right, you're having the wrong thief on the cross as your representative. You're like, save me, help me, fix it. And the spirit of God flies away. Yeah, not present.

We'll talk a little bit more about this in our overtime. We're out of time. If you want to follow us over, it's blazTV.com slash unashamed, which is where you get not only the overtime content, but everything that Blaze has to offer as well. So we'll see you on the other side. 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 Blaze TV at blazedtv.com slash unashamed.