Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 714 | Phil’s Dinner Table Ministry & the Only Fast Food the Robertsons Eat

Episode Date: July 10, 2023

Jase thinks America’s downward spiral can be summed up by one interaction at a fast-food joint. The guys describe their own fast-food horror stories, and it’s evident that there’s only one place the Robertsons trust when it comes to drive-thru dining. The guys explore the importance of food during Jesus’ ministry and contemporary ministry. Al leads the discussion about the Roman centurion in Luke 7 and how the mindset of the Jewish clergy clouded their judgment about their country’s occupation by Rome. In this episode: Luke 7, verses 1-10; Luke 5, verse 30 https://philmerch.com — Get your “Unashamed” mugs, shirts, hats & hoodies! "The Blind" hits theaters Sept. 28th. Get your tickets TODAY before theaters start to sell out! https://www.fathomevents.com/theblind — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed podcast. What a difference today makes. Yesterday we were recording a couple of episodes. We were all four in studio. And now we're kind of back in our layer. Yeah. Zach, I have to say, I'm impressed because I only had to go six hours yesterday to get to the southern layer. You had to go all the way to North Carolina. So I've impressed here. here, bro. Well, I will tell you this, that it was not easy.

I mean, it was, I realized last night about 9 p.m. That America is in serious trouble. Jason, I've been told you prophesied on this on the podcast. Our most viral clip was a rant that you started. I haven't seen it yet. Well, I got to say, well, here, I'm going to say they said it was about fast food, but I don't even remember what I said. Well, if you, well, I'm going to tell you something.

If you want to take a look into the future of America, then go to your local fast food restaurant. I don't do it a whole lot. I do Chick-fil-A, but last night, I probably can't say the names. We might get sued. I'll just, I'll keep it ambiguous, but it's 9 p.m. We show up at a gas station. They've got a restaurant, a sandwich shop inside the gas station.

I wait for 15 minutes. Nobody ever comes to take the order. And the lady that's standing behind the other. counter is like, I apologize and I'm sorry. And I'm sorry. I don't know where they're at. They couldn't find the person who worked behind the counter to make the sandwiches. So I was like, well, I guess we're going to leave.

So we left. Then we went and drove to a hamburger place in an hour about 930, same town. And the guy takes our order. He gets halfway through the order. He says, hold on one second. I'll be right back. Eight minutes. Wait, eight minutes.

and he he's not coming back like this guy just like well you've already ordered half the food I'm like he's not coming back

I'm telling you the guy's not coming back and then a guy comes out of the restaurant with like the thing they cook the fries in and it's full of grease and he pours it in the drain

like the drain and the storm drain and I'm thinking and I'm like I'm just I can't unsee what I've seen. If that's what they're,

if they're doing that with the grease, Jill, I said, what do you think they're doing inside there? I mean, you cannot, we can't eat this food. So then I go to another hamburger place and order the food.

This time, the mistake I made here was I paid for it. So then you got to wait because you've already paid for it. And we waited for 22 minutes. And so we sat just to get, just to get fast food. It was almost an hour ordeal. I don't think.

it's really fast food. I think now that's that that does not apply to your experience. That's slow food. What is fast about it? Anyway, there's nothing fast about it. No, don't do it. I mean, Jill, we got home this morning like we got home at one o'clock at 1.30 in the morning and the first thing she said we got back to our house, she said,

I want to, I want to have a garden. Like after that experience, yeah, we need to have a garden and we need to make our own food. That is that this is, that, this is This is where we're headed. I don't know. Jay, what did you say? You said something. Look, I don't do fast food, and I haven't done it in 30 years.

But I'll go to a grocery store with a Yeti ice chest, and I will get me the sandwich stuff or whatever I want to eat. And I just travel around. I got me some ice there, and I have a traveling picnic. I mean, that's what I do. I don't stop in those places. Well, I'm joining the team. It's funny because we stopped last night. at a hamburger place because I had two of the youngest grandkids with me and they wouldn't

eat. And my experience wasn't as bad as yours, but it wasn't awkward experience. So the woman has already ordered. She's waiting for her food. And so I'm in the process of ordering our food. And then the woman is not happy with her setup, whatever it was. She didn't get what she asked for. So she's talking to a manager, but she keeps looking over at the young girl who took

her order and saying, she heard me, she heard me. She, she, she, she just, you know, it's like she's attacking this girl. And I'm in the middle of our order and the girl's like defending herself. No, ma'am, you didn't say that. Here's what you said. So they're going back and forth with a full argument. When I'm just standing there kind of looking down at the ground, I mean, it's just, I thought if I was just in a breakout and it was like, that's not what you, that's

what I said. And it was like, then she looks back up at me and she said, I'm sorry. And I was it's okay. You know, I'm happy. I knew it was going downhill when I pulled up and the first thing out of their mouth was, what you want. Just what you want. It's like, no welcome.

Not just what you want. Did they teach that in the counterculture of how you're supposed to take an order? No, it's no doubt. It's kind of reflective of kind of the overall downward spiral, I would say. Well, I think it's a work. ethic issue. But my opening line last night was, I spoke last night at a sportsman's account. Oh, yeah.

You told us you were going to do that. How'd that go? I think it went pretty good, you know. We had a room full of, they were 14 to 19 years of age. So I'm always interested in that. But I asked them how many duck hunters were in there. And I would say a third of them. raised their hand.

And I said, That's pretty impressive. I said, it's the greatest fast food on earth. Of course, they didn't laugh. I said, they fly up to speeds of 70 miles an hour. They still didn't laugh. And I thought, well, this could be a long night.

Tough crowd. Yeah, so I was like, what are the rest of you people eat? And so then they got into deer. And I was like, well, a deer on the dead run, that would qualify as fast food. No laugh. So then I got off the corny jokes, you know. I said, I better get to Jesus. I like that you tried it three times before you gave up on it. That says something about your tenacity, Jay. Well, I'm glad that you laid the groundwork because I'm speaking to them tomorrow.

Oh, are you? Okay. Well, they asked me if you were coming and I said, I don't know. I said, I would tell you to call him and ask him, but he doesn't have a phone. So good luck. Send some smoke signal. Well, what's so funny is they all got in trouble because, You know, these people, you know, have watched us operate, and they went out and did a late night frog hunt out of the pond down there, which I wonder where they got that idea. So, because one of the questions, I did a reverse Q&A. So I said, we're going to do a Q&A. So I asked them questions. I'd never done this, which what's funny about it is I had a lesson prepared.

But when I got out there, my first couple of jokes fell flat, I just, I got off that. And I just said, well, let's do a Q&A. So I'll ask the question. So the first half of it, I asked the questions. And then the second half, they asked me the questions. Of course, my questions were, what are the three questions that all human beings should ask while living on the earth? and to my surprise, they named all three. Hmm.

You think that's because they've been listening to the podcast? I, you know. Because you've talked about a lot. I think it's universal. Yeah, I just think those are universal questions that everybody asked at some point. They really, I don't think they knew them. They just said, you know, some guy said, how are we getting off this earth? You know, I mean, I thought, that was the first one.

And I thought, that's a good question. How can we get off of it? How are we leaving? What are we doing here? And somebody, you know, they didn't ask, I mean, say them exactly like I'm saying, you know, how'd we get here? But it was the... Oh, I heard a clip. Oh.

So that was my fast food clip that they got. So maybe y'all should do a playback. Evidently, I gave a rant on fast food once a point of time that I forgot. Yeah, it just popped up. One of our producers sent it. to me and it popped up on my screen. So it's a minute long. I do what I would like to play it here in a second. Well, listen to that and let it soothe your soul and then then send it to me so I can know what I said. But so anyway, we went from there. I asked them about about Jesus and their

view of Jesus and you know the point of the Bible. I just ask them spiritual questions. Of course, now some of those questions they just, it was crickets. So then I would I introduced Jesus in that format to them. So I thought it went, I thought it went real well. What were their questions to you? What kind of stuff were they asking you? Nothing spiritual. Right.

You know, what's your favorite duck episode and what's your favorite duck call? And, you know, how many bands have you kids? You know, it was all, all that. However, when it was over, Of course, they all came to where I was, which I told them that, you know, the people who put it on. I was like, that's fine. We'll meet them on, take pictures. Yeah.

Well, when they came after it was over, which was 30 minutes later, then the spiritual questions came up. Hmm. And it was all pretty well spiritual. And one of the guys, you know, responded. And so they were taking him off to baptize him. And he had a real, real cool story. When he was born, he weighed one pound and four ounces. Wow.

And he asked an interesting question. He said, I want to give my life to Jesus, you know. And he was asking about baptism and all. And I think his dad was coming out to baptize him, which was cool. But he did, he asked a very interesting question. He said, and I think, you know, I want to do a podcast. like y'all do and i said well what what will be your point and he said well i want to tell my story i said well you've got one podcast i said i recommend you tell god's story and you can have hundreds

because it you know you can come at that from every conceivable angle but the look on his face because he really had not thought about it you know i was like you tell you your story well that's one so you mentioned band they didn't know anything about bands which is the little pieces of information they put on the captor ducks band them put up on on their wrist yeah that was last pike well i just explained that because i thought most people don't know what they carry that that band the rest of their days on the earth but uh but but if you just talked said something about band they'd think of some musical musical instruments yeah exactly you'll be it's some musical musical instruments yeah exactly They wouldn't even know what you were talking about.

No, exactly. Well, and, you know, a lot of them, I think, even in the Jesus conversations, you know, they're looking at it because all these guys and girls, they love the outdoors. So I made the segue, I did a little duck call seminar and taught them how to blow a duck call. But I said, look, why are y'all here? And that was one question I asked, like, at this camp. well it was all about the outdoors and the creation. Right.

And I said, well, there's a danger here. Because I love the outdoors too. I said, but if you're so focused on the creation and you miss the creator, you missed it. If you're so focused on pursuing all the creatures and they're delicious, they are the greatest fast food, Zach. I said, but you miss the creator, you've missed it. And so that was kind of the segue. into the more meaningful question. That was kind of like

Sye's point, Sa was talking about that with talking about the movie, Dad's movie, or our movie The Blind, was that, you know, it really kind of zeroed in on dad's

love for the outdoors at a young age and kind of how that shaped him. But then Cy was saying, isn't an ironic that the guy who loved the creation missed the creator until he was older, which was kind of to your point. I mean,

I thought that was kind of a theme of the movie as well. Let's take our first break. So are you going to play that clip, Zach? Can we play that or are we just saving that? What are we doing? No, let's play it. We don't have to play it. We can just play it for the audience. Yeah, it's just a minute. I mean, the audio is not going to be great, but I think I actually listened to it. And it's, well, this will be the first, this will be the first podcast. I'd like to hear it, and then we can comment on it before we get into our Bible.

This is the first podcast I've ever listened to. I feel like it's biblical what you say. I mean, I really feel like this. Yeah, I've never listened to one. All right, let's hear it. Here we go. Let me tee it up here. So, Jay's, you don't listen to the podcast?

I'm never listening to one until right now. I saw my, when I got stung by the wasp several times. There's some funny memes about that now. Oh, that one did well too. Yeah. Here we go. We got it going on here. Fast food.

It wasn't because it was fast food. And I'm excluding Chick-fil-A because you'll understand. understand why when I tell you this. I mean, I waited about, I would say, 15 or 20 minutes. That was the first thing. So it wasn't fast. So I get up to the window. Just about any of them, James.

And the girl shoved this bag out that had grease stains on the outside of the bag. And she went here. And I just, it just did something to it. It broke you. I grabbed it and I was like, thank you. She was just looking at me. get out of here i was saying you should have said thank you but she thought i was thanking her for going here i just i thought you know what we came in here you're working because i'm stopping

yeah and people like me you can at least be courteous in that moment even if you don't believe that that was it that was that you captured you captured you captured my experience right there in that 59 second bit of wisdom. Yeah, in a moment of weakness, y'all, that hasn't been there in 30 years. I mean, there's been a few exceptions, and that was one of them. But it just validated why you can't go there.

Here? I'm looking at just a grease-stained bag. I mean, you ought to be saying, thank you so much for behind this grease-filled garden. What's your feeling, Jenny? I have not been. to a fast food thing. Establishment.

Restaurant. I have not been to one. I'm saying two decades, a couple of decades. I've not been there. Don't do it. But people might be bringing you stuff. I see people bring, they bring in some stuff from the...

Well, you have people, see. But I've never actually been to fast food. Chick-fil-A is different. I mean, I will say, Chick-fil-Lah. is not, I mean, it is consistently good. And I go there a lot because it's the only fast food place you can do with. Well, they've really zeroed in there on the idea of taking care of the customer,

having a good attitude. I mean, they work hard at it. I mean, every once in a while, they make a mistake. But it's not often. And if they do, they're willing to, they apologize. They're like, let me make this right. Let me give you some free stuff. Yeah.

It's not even so much. I mean, I love that, you know, the people, I think, behind it are believers. But they just say. Why not let's, we have an idea. Let's get some chicken. I mean, we'll fry it up, you know, whatever. And when we give it to the customer, we'll say, thank you, or it's our pleasure. Have a great day.

I never went into a fast food operation from the time that I was leaving Pineville, Louisiana. I would say 10 o'clock at night. I pulled over at some fast food joint. Hadn't eaten all day. I've been selling duck calls and I ordered the burger ate the burger threw up from 11

to daylight the next morning and I just and I looked around at Ms. Casey said what in the world I said I was fine there was no problem but I ate this burger from Pineville, Louisiana

and a fast food join I said I just ended eating fast food yeah over I had a similar experience. I never went down that road again. No. People bring it. You know, I'm saying, yeah, it looked pretty good.

But me buying it, pulling up and saying, wait on me, not. Yeah. No. Okay. Not in the last 15 years. It's a rare experience when you have something to happen that will change the way you operate forever. And last night for me was that. I mean, I've already been fading that on fast food, but last night was like the Declaration of Independence.

It's like I'm done. Yeah. I don't think I'll ever eat one ever again unless I'm if I have to. That's really the only way to change it. But, you know, we live in a world now where like gathering around the table or, you know, going out in the woods or fishing and creating your own meal. That's just a lost thing. It is. People are like.

But, Jay, I do the same thing as at least I do it because we're backing forth a lot down here. And unless my grandkids are with me, I mean, we do the same thing. We just, I have an ice chest. I put me some ham in there, some cheese, stuff I like. It's right there. I don't have to, I don't have to stop anywhere to get it. I can eat along the way and just stop and go to the restroom. And I'm cat-legged.

One of the features you'll see, you know, in our treasure hunting show is that. And it came from just being in so remote of places. You know, the TV people are looking around. I mean, there's not a restaurant within 40 miles of here. What are we going to do? I was like, we're in the woods. This is a skill set that I have. I'm going to eat well.

They're like, well, how are you going to cook it? I'm going to build a fire. I mean, it's just so, you know, people, they don't have that skill set. One time we all, the whole family went up to our marriage retreat, which is up in Arkansas. They serve food there. I mean, they cooked food, but it wasn't very good. And so in anticipation of that, mom, brought ice chest, two ice, two or three ice chests with ham, heavenly hams and all these different

kind of things in them. She made potato salad and she brought this whole thing. Well, so every time everybody else in the retreat would go to their meal, we would all go to mom and dad's room and eat. It was Willie and Corey, Jason, and Lizzie, and Lisa and so then. And ate well. And we ate well. And we weren't saying anything about it. One is we didn't want to be rude, but then also we didn't want to like people to know about it. But then words started getting around. So I would show up for a meal and there would be a line of people outside the door.

And I'd be like, hold on. Y'all wait out here. We'll see if there's anything left. We'll let you know. So it's like other people began to come to the route. No, I have a big problem with that. You know, when we were, I was reading Luke 7 last night to prepare for this. one of the things I was kind of convicted on,

which I had no idea, we were going to talk about fast food today. But in 36, when one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went. I had to stop right there because most of the time when people invite me to dinner, I'm terrified.

And it's not because I don't want to be sociable, but I'm scared of what I'm going to be forced to eat. Well, I have found myself in a pretty good predicament, a real good one, because I'd never seen this before. Some people from New Jersey started watching the podcast. One morning, the male of his, male, his wife, and about three kids. So one morning, he wakes up and looks around in New Jersey. He looks around in New Jersey. And look, he tells me previously about.

a week early he said I'm a great cook and I'm an Italian is it's a full-blooded Italian and we all looked at what was going on in New Jersey and we got out of there where he said we're getting out of here and moving to where those people are they know what they're doing they enjoy good food so now once a week he has a complete Italian meal of flavors I've never gotten a hold of I mean this is authentic Italian cooking. Is it good? Is it good?

And he cooks every week. He comes down, usually on a Wednesday. On a Wednesday night, we all sit around the table. He prepares the whole thing. He and his wife, including dessert. And all you can eat, some great leftovers for the next day. These red sauces, you know, that the Italians eat, I never had eaten authentic Italian food. They call it gravy.

But that guy, I'm saying when he came down to lose his. Louisiana, you said, how'd you meet him? We converted that family structure, that whole group. And they all came as one, and they got out of there. They said, we're getting out of here. So there was no more fast food just running, you know, trying to get new. I mean, but he cooks for us once a week. And they serves it.

And it is a great, for them, their new converts, that's been about now probably about two to three years. But he still cooks for us every Wednesday night. He cooks for us. So, Dad, I don't know if you knew this or not, but his son is dating my granddaughter. You're a great-granddaughter. That is correct. And everybody is far that, I noticed.

There's great food involved. Let's take another break. It is incredible to think about the power of food in amplifying our human agency. It really is. And you think, I mean, I was joking about the, well, I really wasn't. I wasn't joking about the fast food stuff, but I mean, it really is. Like, you do it. I mean, it's to sit around a table with somebody, you know, to sit at a, or a restaurant

that where they take, it's a craft, it's a, it's a story. You know, I mean, that's what it's about. I mean, I think about how many times we've sat around that big black jambalaya pot and John Gimber, somebody cooking it. I mean, it's a story that's been told in our family for years and we all get together and eat that. And, you know, the whole, it's, it's, it's as much. about the story that's being told it is about the food that's being eaten. And, you know, I think we have, we did lose a lot of that in the culture of convenience

that says, just give it to me quick. I don't even care if it's good. I think the hope for America is local restaurants and sitting around your own dinner table is, I say that tongue and cheek, but I think, I think it's needed. You know, when we had, we had Adam Carolla on the podcast, he said something so profound. I never forget it. He said, you know, he said, when I look at, Phil, I look at your family and watch you guys on TV around a dinner table. Or I go to Prager's house.

He's friends with Prager. Does Prager you? And they're Jewish. He said, when I watch them sit around on their Friday night celebration and they eat together, he said, I'm envious. Because when people get to my house, somebody's brought food in, and then everybody goes to their rooms and nobody talks. Yeah. And it really made me sad. I just, I thought, you know, he looks at that and he thought, you know, that's a good, what you're describing as, Zach, is a good thing, which, and to Jason's point, there's a lot of great moments in the, in the days of Jesus around the table.

Yep. You know, whether it's the last supper or whatever, I mean, including the one we're going to get to eventually, probably on the next podcast. I mean, there's some moments that happen around a dinner table that are powerful in the Bible. Yeah, what think about the Pharisees in Luke four. I mean, this is biblical. I mean, Luke 4, this is why they got mad at Jesus, because they understood that there's something about food and a dinner table, too. When they saw Jesus reclining at the table with them, the Pharisees and the scribes, this is chapter 5, verse 30, began grumbling at his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, it is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

I think about how much of Jesus' ministry did revolve around food and eating with certain people. You know, Jay's just talked about this in Luke 7, too. I mean, there was a lot of ministry happening around dinner table with Jesus, and to the point that that's one of the things that the Pharisees did not like about him, was that he would sit down at a dinner table and eat with sinners because there's something intimate going on there. And there's a connection that happens there at that dinner. Last Wednesday, last Wednesday, Jersey Joe, we call him, the Italian,

and his family structure cooked for us. Some other guy from Ashland, Ohio, his thing is they build trailers. Well, he came down that day, and I said, well, we'll just eat, well, they give him a good Italian meal. They'll love that. So they came from Ashland, Ohio. he had the trailer with him, pulling it all the way down here to Louisiana. He said,

I just want to give you the podcast people. I want you give you all this trailer. And that's what they do for a living, you know. His name was Jason, by the way, Jason. So they showed up. Jersey Joe came, and he's from originally New Jersey. We all come together, one group from, how?

One group from, from, where is they were? Jersey. Yeah, and there we were, but all that was just happened because of what we're doing right now. Just welcome people. You know, we got somebody authentic Italian food. You like that, you know. They said, well, good night. We'll just bring you the trailer and everybody be happy.

So that's what's inside the kingdom out. It's a beautiful thing. You know what's ironic about that, dad, is almost 40 years ago, 30 plus years ago. when you were first a Christian, we first moved on the river, and Jason would remember this too. You invited out weekly some of the leaders of our church, mainly Smith, but some others. And every week you would feed them fish, which, you know, if you feed a preacher, they will come. And you fed him fish, but in exchange for the fish, for the great meal, you expected him to feed our family and you in particular from the word. Yep.

And I remember those sessions every week when he was. would come out. We'd have a big fish fry. Everybody's happy. And then the Bible got broke out. And to me, and Zach and I talked about this when we first started to this podcast, that's kind of how the mindset of this podcast began. It's like sitting around a table, really just in feasting over one. There's New Jersey. There's Louisiana. There's Italy. And we were all worth. And I mean, And the builders, builders were trailers. And we were all come together. I had a meal, you know.

And everybody followed Jesus. It was a great thing. Well, let me set this up where we're heading, because we're heading into chapter 7 of Luke. And we just finished in Luke chapter 6, Luke's version of the sermon on the mouth. However, you know, we discussed the different ways he kind of put that together. And I don't think it's any accident.

Luke, and I'm glad you went back to Luke 4's act. because Luke is on purpose, you know, every time there's like a Jesus giving us some truth or, you know, how you should live, then it seems to always be followed up or led into by him interacting with real people. And so I think it's a great, like, lesson for us all. Every sermon, sermons are great. We've all delivered them. But real people is where it's at. I mean, like, your sermons are only as applicable as your ministry is in the heart.

and lives of real people. Yep. And so he's going to follow up on that great, you know, sharing of Jesus from the sermon on the Mount with what I call the undesirables too, because he's going to hit some more people here that the world around them would think they're not worthy of having a discussion with. And yet he's going to do that. And so there's three illustrations and seven, and we're going to kind of bounce around

to catch those three and skip over one section. We'll come back to it. I mentioned yesterday that what we're doing here and what Jesus is doing throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he's laying the foundation I mentioned yesterday of what the kingdom would look like. It's brothers, sisters, meeting for a meal and loving each other, and they come together. It's not all so structured with a group of men over you. You know, with a stick in their hand, hollering about it. In other words, it's lived out through all kinds of just having a meal. There's three different states, New Jersey with McCormick there, the trailer man.

And then there's Jersey Joe. He's cooking Italian meals. He's out of New Jersey. And we're down in Louisiana, but we all come together. That's what he's showing in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John about how the kingdom functions. Yeah, there's a certain unity there. It's a beautiful thing. Let's take another break.

So back in Luke 4 and 5, it was the leper. It was a paralytic and it was a tax collector. You know, that was the three kind of looked at. In this upcoming section, it's going to be a Roman centurium who had the faith for his servant, which we're about to get into that. Then there's an instance where there's a widow who's lost her son, and he's going to deal with that. And then the last one is the supper that Jesus has already alluded to in a Pharisee's home that deals with a woman who's really just a town prostitute is kind of the implication we get of her life. And so those are going to be the three that he sort of deals with.

So, Jace, you want to read us that text? Yeah. So when in chapter 7 verse 1, when Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Copernum. there a centurion servant whom his master valued highly was sick and about to die then said i'm having a hard time saying that then centurion the centurian heard of jesus and sent some elders of the jews to him asking him to come and heal his servant when they came to jesus they pleaded earnestly with him this man deserves to have you do this because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue. So Jesus went with him.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him, Lord, don't trouble yourself. For I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word and my servant will be healed. for I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one go and he goes and that one come and he comes. I say to my servant, do this and he does it.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him and turning to the crowd following him. He said, I tell you, I have not found such great faith, even in Israel. Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. So it's a fascinating story for many, many reasons. I think the first of which is you see Luke expanding, you know, the narrative here that you got a Gentile. This is Roman center, which means he was over 100, at least 100 soldiers. Someone said it's kind of a comparison to a sergeant major, you know, in a company. And so this guy was important.

I mean, he was important in his community, but he was important to the Romans. And it was interesting because he's there in an occupying role. And so, you know, there was not any love lost between Romans to Israel or Israel to Romans. I mean, it's just they didn't associate with each other. But they did have a high regard for this guy. Although it's interesting, Jason, when I did a little bit of research on this, you know, it wasn't uncommon for them to build synagogues, some of these guys in power. but it wasn't because they loved them or they loved their religion.

It was because they wanted to continue to control them. And the Roman mindset was if you kept them involved in religious stuff, you kept them out of the political world. So I'm not saying that's what this guy did, but I'm saying that was typically why they were allowed to do this, to even build them these synagogues. So there was an ulterior motive for most of the people that would do something like this, but this guy seemed to be a little bit different. Well, I think what's really weird about this story is because you read it and you just kind of your eyes glaze over and say, oh, isn't that cool? But if you went back into that culture, I mean, there's so much disdain for being occupied by another country. I wouldn't like that. And it would be shocking to me to see a guy who has power, who's considered powerful.

I mean, this Roman centurion is shocking. to see how humble he is, which is why I think Jesus bragged on him. So in his, and also seeing this contrast with the Pharisees, you know, what's hidden here are the religious leaders, I guess, is they deem the situation, you know, he's worthy. It has our blessing. When he was so humble by recognizing Jesus' true power, that, you know, he's worthy, that, you know, he's that he wouldn't even, he didn't even want to go to him himself. So it's like you see this, this contrast of what, what is true power, you know, who is really

qualified to deem people worthy, you know, Jesus should be the only one in that category. And I just, I think it's, it's amazing. I mean, when you read that in the Bible, the underlying theme is that, God is for everyone, and he looks at your heart. And even if you claim, even if you have some religious part about you, that doesn't necessarily mean anything, especially if you think you're some kind of high and mighty person who can deem people as worthy. And so those were the points that kind of stuck out to me as glaring.

It's really shocking in that context for Jesus to go, the son of God, to go down this road. No, and you're right, because think about, listen to the word he says, he says, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. I mean, that was his first step of you. I mean, I don't deserve anything good from you. And he also obviously understood by that statement or it was implied that Jews couldn't go into Gentiles homes. I mean, that was persona non grata. You couldn't do that. So he was even looking out for his religious beliefs, I think, as part of that, too.

I mean, just think of how many war movies you've seen. Have you ever seen any kind of sergeant or any kind of military leader depicted in this kind of humble way, especially to a guy who was just a carpenter who didn't have anything? You're never going to see that on a movie because they always cast the character. Oh, these guys are hard guys. I'm there hollering, you know, you go here. You just don't see it. And that's what's so fascinating to me.

But he recognized true power, which is really, you think about how we view Jesus. Yeah. And that is the most important view that you'll ever undertake. And he recognized true power. What he's doing was not near. Hang up. Hang on, Zach, let's take our last break. You mentioned in the last segment that he recognized true power, which I think that's one of the main points.

It wasn't just, you know, that he was, you know, this great leader. This guy recognized the power of Jesus. When Jesus said, this is what he recognized his faith, that's what he was recognizing. He was saying, yeah, you get it. You see it. And the guy, I think about what the guy, he's in a position of power over these certain elders, right? And those elders are the ones that think they have the power to tell Jesus we deemed this guy worthy when the guy, he was one that had the power over them. And the man with the power, when he came to Jesus, he's like, look, I'm a guy that has power over people.

I tell them to do stuff and they do it. So when I saw you, I knew you're that kind of guy on a cosmic scale, which I think it's important because in 2023, I think often we view. Jesus is just that cosmic bellhop. You know, he's just the, he's, he's the nice guy. He's the, he's the savior, but we don't necessarily see him as Lord. You know, he is sovereign. He is the king. He made, all things are made through him and by him.

He will judge the world. He, I mean, he's the guy that John saw on the Alapapus that we mentioned in the last episode, and fell at his feet as though he was dead, the same guy that Saul experienced on the road to Damascus. And he saw him, what did he do? felt his feet and just in fear. And so there is this element of Jesus that if you don't understand that he is powerful and he is God incarnate, then you're not going to really understand the gospel

because there is no gospel without God condescending and taking on human flesh. And he saw that. In some way, he saw a glimpse of that. And that's what Jesus recognized him. Well, and it was, he used the word authority. And it was really interesting because he, He figured out through his observation, whatever. I mean, obviously he had heard about Jesus before.

You know, he was pretty nearby, you know, where he's from. But he surmised that Jesus had the power within him and the authority over sickness and death that he could heal his servant and didn't have to be there, you know, even in the room. I mean, he's like, no, you know, you got this. If you just speak the word, you got it. And we've seen this by others as well. What an amazing acknowledgement. And you notice that Jesus, in his praise of the centurion, rebukes his own people.

Because he says, I have found not such great faith even in Israel that this man has. So it's kind of a double-edged story because what he says is this guy is amazing, unlike you, as he's looking around, who didn't recognize his authority. Plus, you look in the military community then and now, it's easy for me to understand that you wouldn't appreciate someone far more powerful than you. Yeah, exactly. Especially someone who's not in the... In the military. And who has seemingly, you know, no material wealth or power.

This guy recognized that somehow. Well, I think that's the underlying theme. The humility, you know, you just talked about everyone has this plank in their eyes. you know, which we kind of talked about is a sinful problem that we should always have as a, you know, the thought of when we're dealing with other people. Because when you see these religious leaders, they're like, yeah, go do this. But in the next two stories, in the same chapter, if you put them in the same scenario, well, what would they deem, would they deem Jesus raising a kid from the dead as would they give? their blessing on that. I guarantee you they wouldn't. They're like, well, he's dead. What are you doing? Well, his own looksers. You shouldn't even, you can't even touch the coffin, you know, or what about the

woman who's a prostitute? How would they have deemed her? They would have said, no, you don't need to be doing that. So I think the underlying theme is, who are you to, to think that you have, you know, you're plankless in your eye and have this kind of power? I think that's the underlying thing. He was looking around and seeing how Jesus rolled, and he said, this man deserves to have you do this, do the healing path, because he loves our nation, one of the things that means. Well, because he built a synagogue. Yep. And so I think that's why they were deeming him worthy. It was like, well, it wouldn't fly too well these days to build some type of thing and to pay homage to Jesus if you went to Washington, D.C. and said, look, we're going to build a.

They're like, what? I don't think we could push it through, Jay. No. Well, you know, what's interesting to me is the guy really shows his heart before you ever get in the conversation with Jesus. Because why would he feel so strongly about a servant? If you go back and look at their relationships, especially in this era and time frame, I mean, from their mindset, servants, and these are people, but they're just like a tool or anything else, they have no value. And a lot of people killed their servants. They were abusive to their servants.

I mean, all these things happened. And yet this guy valued this person's life so much that he was willing to send people to find Jesus. So, I mean, it shows you something about his heart right off the bat. He's not a typical Roman overlord or anybody in that culture because he cares about what happens to this person who is his servant who works for it. And so I think it shows you right off the bat. He's got a little bit different setup and a little bit different heart than some of the other. the other people are looking at. He does.

Yeah, I mean, I'm thinking when, you know, Jesus brings up faith in each of these stories, I mean, you think about we can't ever prove this, because that's the big smoking gun that the world says, but they can't prove people who don't believe that this didn't happen. So it comes down to what if you put your faith in? And for a guy who's leading a company of soldiers,

in a different country, for him to watch Jesus enough and to hear about it to conclude this, that's the kind of faith God's looking for. I mean, at some point, he was like, whoever this is deserves my humility. I'm bending the knee, which is, and for a guy in that position would be very difficult to do. I think that's the key. He was in a position of power, but he recognized the supremacy of Christ to some degree, at least to the degree that he said, I'll bend the knee. I think that's the thing that everybody's got to. If you think about what is the dividing line between those who are in Christ and those who aren't, it's the ones who are in are the ones that say they see him in his glory and they say, I'll bend the knee.

that's the dividing line. Will you bend the knee before the king and kings? And doesn't it? Doesn't it, does you think it shows you that it's also a bit of desperation, too? Because when even powerful people, when you're looking at death, when you're looking at disease, things that are beyond your power. I mean, how many people have thought they had a lot of money, they had a lot of influence, they had a lot of power? but somebody in their family has cancer or something happens. And all of a sudden, what happens to all the power, all the money, all the influence,

it doesn't mean anything if you can't save the one you love the most. And so in a recognition like that, what do you do? I mean, what's your response? In his case, as you said, he bowed the knee because he said, you know what, this guy seems to have the authority to be able to do something about this. And really, isn't that with everybody? That's where you get to the point. The ramifications run pretty deep.

I tell you, I have now found, I have not found such great faith, even in Israel. So Jesus talked to a lot of them, dealt with a lot of them. He said, that guy right there, that's the most faith I've seen that coming out of y'all. I mean, it's a pretty scary thing is what it is. Right, it really is. And it also just shows you the nature of, of once you make a decision about who Jesus is, it doesn't matter what your background is,

your position, your authority, or anything else. Powerful people become humble people when they recognize who Jesus is. So I think it's a great reminder for all of us because, you know, we always stress on the people as Luke did here about the lessors. But, you know, people with money and power and fame, they have the same need for Jesus as anybody does.

Yep. They may put up a good face like they don't need him, but they need him. They're going to get to a destiny place. About an hour ago, I was coming out here, and there's a judge that's retired on up in years, and he had another guy with him. He had a lot of years behind him. So I'm guessing they were in their 80s, and I'm coming out of where I live right up here, and they're coming in.

Of course, Lock Gate, and he's got a key to it, so he comes on in there. He's my next door neighbor right there. And I said, boys, I first stopped. And I was, how are you doing, Judge? He was a judge for years. So I said, Judge, how's it going? He's pretty good. I said, all I can tell you and your partner there is that each passing day,

the resurrection is looming larger and larger. I said, have a nice day. And I could hear that the judge saying, you know, are you telling it right? That's for sure. So we went on our way, you know. Even the powerful face the grave. Oh, yeah. We're out of time.

We'll talk a little bit more about this centurion and his faith in our overtime segment. If you want to follow us over, it's blaishtiv.com slash unashamed. Check us out. 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 blazed TV at blazestiv.com slash unashamed.