Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 745 | Jase Claims ‘Survivor’ Was Based on His Childhood & the Jonah Movie We All Need to See

Episode Date: September 1, 2023

Jase compares his childhood to the show “Survivor” and wonders where his prize money is! Jase gets creative on how a movie about Jonah and the whale could be dramatically filmed, and the guys examine the similarities between the stories of Jesus and Jonah. Al urges Christians not to get so caught up in creature comforts that we forget the mission God has called us to do.  In this episode: Jonah 1–4; Luke 11, verses 29–36; 1 Kings 10; 2 Corinthians 3, verses 13–18 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to Unashamed. We're thankful Jason is back with us. We talked to on the last podcast. It's the same day we're recording, but we talked about his travel issues to be here. So, Jay's, we're glad you're here. Not only here, but also here to do another podcast. Well, in two words, I survived. You made it. And it made me think, you know, we had done a commercial about on the last podcast, about the brave books that Missy's involved in. But it just made me think, you know, where are we at in our culture where they had a show that was called Survivor? And they paid the winner like a million dollars to survive.

from what I never watched the show, but from what I ascertained, they survived in places where people already live. And I thought, my childhood, we were just surviving. And wasn't anybody paying us anything. And there were definitely forces that worked against you

and people were teaming up. And you're right, it has a lot of the elements of survival. Yeah. The prize was you served. Survived. That was the prize. That's it. You lived.

But I think about that show, I'm like, what are they surviving? I mean, they don't have their cell phone. You know, they take their phone away, and it's like, oh, you are the best survivor. So, you know, let's be, let's keep it real. We would have cousins that would come into our survival story and then like Zach and his crew, and then they would try to survive our experience, you know. Could they get out alive? So it really was, I never thought about it before, but we actually spawned that show was our childhood.

Nobody knew it but it's true. No, and we did it for free. But, well, my mom was thinking this because the texts were at today. You know, Jesus was getting into the sign of Jonah. I mean, you want a survivor story? Go have a big fish ingest you for three days and you live to tell about it. No. That'd be quite stuart.

Well, somebody needs to pay that man. He won the game show. Yeah. I was swallowed by a fish and I was vomited out. You know, I studied on this, so I dreamed that they made a movie about this. And, but the fish, because you know how Hollywood is. Well, the walls of a fish's belly would be pretty rough territory. Well, you would think.

But for the people that say, oh, you know, it's been scientifically proven that a man could not survive three days. I'm like, well, what about making the woman from a rib? I think God can work it out. Or the resurrection of the dead or the creation of the universe out of nothing. You're going with Jonah and the well. But in my dream, because I always think, you know, since I do a TV show, how would they film that? How would they film a man being ingested because it would be dark inside?

so because you know on all these films when it's dark even when we treasure hunt at night you know they always have dimly lit like the moon is on four posts you know they'll put lights up out there i'm like well it's supposed to be it's way brighter than you would anticipate it you see it on film but once you on the other side of the camera you're like man it's really bright out here you i don't know whether they take any grub with them or not but uh but but it'd be pretty tough for a few days to walk around. He could be eating what the fish was eating. Did it ever get how long? He stayed. He stayed how long? Three days. I mean, that was the symbolic language. But in my dream, you know, God could have put it to the thing where it had to find his little clothing gone.

Well, I think he was being punished. So, uh, I don't think it was a bushy little hotel inside that fish. Yeah, you got to remember that Jesus has fixed to lay out the point that it's the equivalent of being dead for three days. In a two. Yeah, I think it was not good. So in my dream, how we filmed it was the, you know how these whales or whatever, they'll run aground. And so that's what happened because it says he spit him out on dry land. I read the book, the whole, it's only four chapters. And I think.

It's one of my favorite books in the whole Bible, by the way. I was a little perplex at the end. It's a fascinating story. Because he was not happy. And I was like, well, you did your job. You know, at the end, the fourth chapter is kind of perplexing. You know, it was almost like he was mad that he went and preached, and then God didn't bring judgment on the city.

Well, you did your job. But it's like he sat there and wanted to see the fireworks. Yeah. We're back to the fireballs. You know, where's the fireballs? And because Jonah acknowledges a couple of times in his letter there, that God was full of grace and he knew that he wouldn't bring calamities. He wouldn't bring calamity on people without a good reason, you know.

But so it's like, well, you did your job. It should be a happy ending, but it's a perplexing ending. But to get to my point, so the big fish to film the movie, Jonah, he winds up like a beached whale and dies. And then it was real hot. And he just started decomposing. And then, you know how what happens is all the birds and all. they start eating the flesh, and they usually start around the gut region in the back, then all of a sudden, as the birds, or instead of having him inside the whale,

because it would be dark, you wouldn't be able to film that. All of a sudden, you just see a hand burst forth. You know, the birds come up and he climbs out, you know. So, I mean, because it says it vomited him out, but same principle. you know, he vomited due to decomposing, which would go along with the debt. He was inside three days of a dead well. But now, I'm not changing the scriptures. I'm just saying if you were going to film it, that's the only thing I could think of.

Yeah, you're right. Because you can't, the reason why you always have to have light in a film is because when it's pitched by it dark, you can't see anything. Well, right. So how can you film without seeing it? So, Jay, it's interesting because I just read a piece last week or, the last few days that said that the 60th whale or dolphin had beached in up and long New Jersey, New York coast in the last, I don't know, just a handful of months, maybe six months.

They've had 60 and it showed this huge whale that was there, a picture of them up close. And of course, most people there think it's from the wind turbines that they're building out off the shore of New Jersey in New York, supposedly to provide all this new green energy. The problem is whatever that those things are putting out or driving the whales and the dolphins out on the beach to die. And so it's been 60 to them just in a few months. So it's kind of interesting just on the politics side of it.

But the other side of it is the government says, no, that has nothing to do. We don't know what's happening, but it has nothing to do with what we're doing. We can prove that by just telling you. A lot of dead fish. A lot of dead fish around there. There are.

So I can imagine that when I saw that picture, Jay, is your picture, because it was just like you described. There were already birds on them. There were all kind of critters that were crawling all over this whale by the time they got to it. Exactly. I actually saw it. Well, I'll read the passage. And so it says, as the crowds increased, Jesus said, this is a, wicked generation, it asked for a miraculous sign, but none will be given except the sign of Jonah.

And if I stop there, you remember one of the accusations in the last story that they were hurling against Jesus, and these were the Pharisees, they were saying, you know, the only way he was driving out demons because he had a demon. But in verse 16, it also says that others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven, which he's doing all these miracles and all these wonders you would think he's doing enough, but they were, they were demanding it for them to believe. And Jesus didn't operate like that. So here he kind of clarifies the sign he will give. So in verse 30 it says, for as Jonah was assigned to the Ninevites, so also will the son of man be to this generation, which is, I think the profound thing he's saying, because it's, you know, you can either get hung up on signs,

which people still are today, trying to interpret the signs, or you can camp out on what the signs point to, which in this case is a person. And that's why people have a hard time study in the Bible because they view it as a rule book or a collection of fairy tales or some made-up story or, you know, even some history. And, but it, it is, revealing an actual living and active person. You know, as the song said, there is a God and he is alive and he became a man. His name is Jesus. Everything's pointing to him, which is what he's doing.

And so he's making this point, which is a great illustration because when you read the story of Jonah, it was the same thing. It was like, what are they going to do? Well, he sent a man there. And they listened to him. So then in verse 31, he brings up another. illustration, the queen of the south will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom,

and now one greater than Solomon is here. You want to guess on who that is? Huh. The man speaking. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. So you have two characters, and I think everyone has agreed that this queen of the south is the queen of Sheba. And there's a story in First Kings. Ten. I wanted to read verse seven because, you know, you read the whole thing on your own time because it's fascinating.

But, you know, Solomon, in all his wisdom and all his stuff, who I think was probably the richest man ever, would we agree with that? Yeah. A lot of wealth. Certainly the richest man in the Bible. Yeah. So in verse one of 1 Kings 10, it says, when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the Lord. And here's what I wanted to zero in on. She came to test him with hard questions, which is exactly.

exactly what's going on with Jesus. Yep. They're testing him at every angle, and they're asking all these questions, and they're trying to trap him. So arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels carrying spices and large quantities of gold and precious stones, she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind.

Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. And when the queen of Shiva saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in the robes, his cup bears, the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed. She said to the king, the report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things.

the verse I wanted, this is the sermon that'll preach, Al. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me in wisdom and wealth. You have far exceeded the report I heard, which is why Jesus is using this as a reference, because in a way, he's saying, bring it on and when you come to me on this personal level you will be overwhelmed it's going to far exceed

any expectation that you thought because he's saying I'm the king of kings the kingdom is here I think it's a really powerful argument and they were familiar with this also his audience which is I think

let's take our first break which is definitely just the whole point because, and I love that you picked up on that test verse, because you could make the same claim with Jonah as well. Jonah was testing God in the sense that he wouldn't go and do what God called him to do. So it's interesting because Jesus uses two examples, one where the person goes and he is the sign, Jonah, the sign of Jonah, to share.

And then in this case, she comes to Solomon to inquire about what God has. And you know what's interesting, Jay, she gave Solomon four and a half tons of gold. And then also it said spices and other stuff. Four and a half tons, Dad. I mean, that was a pretty good offering. But I loved it that you made the spiritual application because it was what she believed and what she saw. She had heard these things, but she wasn't sure. And it wasn't just everything he had because she had.

she bestowed on him these great gifts, all these spices and this four and a half tons of gold. But it was more the idea of who he followed is what really made an impact to him. Yeah. So when she got to verse 8 through 10 of First Kings, which I was going to bring up, she then went into the results of Solomon's kingdom. And it's amazing how you see from Jesus's perspective how much greater because watch what she mentions. In verse 8, she talks about how happy your men must be, how happy your officials who stand and hear your wisdom. Praise be to the Lord your God who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne. Because of the Lord's eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.

And then there's the mention of she gave the king 120 talents of gold, spices, precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Shiva gave to King Solomon. So you see that. You think about how much Jesus is greater than Solomon, which is what he made. When it comes to God's love, people's joy, the wisdom God has, maintaining justice and righteousness, which goes in really to the last story on when they questioned and tested Jesus' authority. And you think about what he said in the last story. He has the authority to judge.

He has the authority to transform. He has the authority to love. He has the power to heal anything that you have, physically, spiritually, mentally, socially. So that's the picture. That is the sign. He's like, I am the sign. Yeah, that's it. I mean, I think that's his point is that the sign was the Queen of Shiva coming.

The sign was Jonah and his going. One was coming. One was going. But then also the flip side of this was what was the response to the sign. And in both cases, whether it was the Queen of the South or whether it was the Ninevites, the response was they repented. I mean, they looked at this and said, you know what, God is better. And I think that's his whole point in the context of what we're studying is he's saying, look, you said I was from Satan, Beelzebub, you said that I had to show more signs.

The only sign you're going to get is the sign of me. And if that's not enough, and you can't repent for that reason, I can't do anything for you, which is how we're going to close it out. God's love and mercy. It's all potentially unfolded right here. So back to my original statements. but on this podcast about perfection. I mean, everything that was given was basically perfect. I mean, everybody happy.

I mean, see what I'm saying? Yeah. Well, that's the coming kingdom. Jesus is saying, look, that's a good example right there. Good. And to be fair to Jonah, the reason he didn't want to go, when you do a little bit of background study, when I've taught the book of Jonah before,

I did some background study into the Assyrians, where Nidavah was the capital, these people, they were some of the most vicious, vile, I mean, terrible country and people that has ever lived on the planet. I mean,

these were the pyramid of skulls. You know, you've seen these depicted before. Like, when they would go in and conquer somebody, it was bad. I mean, it was destructs,

like you hadn't seen lately. And so when Jonah was called to go priest to him, I mean, I was trying to think, I can't even think of any place on earth that would be equivalent now for us to even compare them to. It was so bad. So his thought process was why do we want them to live? So to your point, Jay is about when he gets to the end of it, he was disappointed because he was like, these people are too bad to come to you. And so, but that wasn't the case because they did repent, which was amazing. Well, it's fascinating when you read Jonah, you know, so he tries to run from God and he gets on a ship. And so all of a sudden, the storm comes up.

And the closer they tried to get to the bank to let him off, because in chapter one of John in verse 10, it says an interesting statement. It said, you know, Jonah said in verse 9, he said, I'm a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea. in the land and this terrified them and they asked well what have you done and then in parentheses it says they knew he was running away from the lord because he had already told them so which makes sense by when they finally cast him overboard of course only after they prayed to god don't let his blood be on our hands but we don't know all of a sudden they became a believer in this sign because they're like, we can't get rid of this guy. And he's like, throw me overboard.

I mean, I don't want y'all to have to suffer. But I think when you fast forward, the reason the Nineveites repented is because I'm sure once he told them this, that story got out. This doesn't stay quiet. I mean, here's a guy that a storm is brewing, and then they cast him overboard and they get wind that he's surviving. He survives. Talking about survive. He said he can't kill him. Because a fish swallowed him.

That's how he made it out of the storm. Which is why. So when Jonah got up and preached, you know, they actually repented. They were following all kinds of other gods and all. But the O swallowed by the fish, the sailor's tail, the sign led them to realize. that he was sent from God. Something way bigger than we are is acting here. So we better.

That was the... Yeah, and ironically, with Jesus battling all the Pharisees, Jonah kind of has that pre-Farisee spirit at the end because at the end, he was wanting to light them up. Yeah. That's right. You know, I mean, that's why this is so... When you look at the details of what Jesus says and you go back and look at these stories

and you put all these things together, and you're thinking these things were written and recorded hundreds of years apart, it's just overwhelmed. You feel like what the Queen of Shiva felt being overwhelmed by Solomon's answers. It's the same thing when you start questioning Jesus and looking at his responses to all this that have been picked over for a couple thousand years, and people still, they just can't get around it. I mean, they can say we don't believe, we're setting this aside.

But when you start putting all these pieces together, it's just too much. It's a lot of pieces falling together. It's too much for it to be a coup. It's too much. There's just no way. But, you know, there was another link, Jays, to Jonah and the Pharisees, too, is because you mentioned that, you know, once he went in and preached to him, then he went back up and he set him up a little overlook over Ninevehiva, where he was sitting there to watch him get

burned. He was ready for the fire to fall. And so he had him a nice little perch there. And so I thought about that, how that relates to the Pharisees. It's so easy for people who feel like judgment is for other people to want to get a front row seat to watch the judgment. You know, I want to watch this happen because these people are fixing to get what they got coming. Just don't judge me though. This don't judge me. Now, I got my, that's right. I got my perch. And so he was trying to be comfortable in the moment, but some of the scholars that, you know, I think they're probably right. They said, one of the reasons he was so susceptible to this hot wind and everything as he's sitting there is because he had been inside a fish for three days. Can you imagine what that would have done to his skin and his hair and everything else? So he's probably sitting up there ballheaded with a blanched skin ready to watch this judgment happen. So he wasn't comfortable and he wasn't happy that these people repented and made it. had a change of heart. So I think it does kind of fit into the judgmental mindset.

Let's take another break. Well, it does because in chapter four, what's amazing about of Jonah, when he says Jonah was greatly displeased, now this is when they repentant, it was right after they repented. That's three in verse 10 says when God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and didn't bring. destruction that he had threatened. So Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. But watch what he says in his prayer, because he got, he has the first part right. He says,

oh Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? Because he was like, I didn't even want to do this. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. He says it like it's a negative. It needed to stay right there. And then he adds this line, which I really studied this line for a long time. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live. And I thought, you know, really there's a thin line between giving your life to Jesus and giving up on life.

Yeah. And he just didn't like, I mean, I'm sure he was still in shock and trauma. I mean, the man spent three days in a way. I mean, he was not himself here. Shock is an understatement. That's why I brought that analogy about Survivor. This is a true surviving story. You can imagine it's one thing to read it, but another thing to live this out.

I mean, what do you do for three days in the belly of a whale? Right. Panic. panic, shock. But the Lord replied in verse four, have you any right to be angry? And then Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city and he made himself a shelter,

sat in its shade, and waited to see what would happen to the city. I mean, he's still not getting it. There's nothing going to happen. They've been redeemed. But instead of having joy on that, which is really the first. parisical problem.

He was just waiting. Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it to grow up over Jonah to give him shade for his head to ease his discomfort. And Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day, God provided a worm which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind. And the sun blazed on Jonah's head. He got sunburned. so that he grew faint and he wanted to die,

for he said it would be better for me to die than to live. But God said to Jonah, do you have a right to be angry about the vine? I do, he said, I'm angry enough to die. But the Lord said, you have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell the right hand from their left.

which was used in a sense of, you know, they had some moral compass issues. And many cattle as well should I not be concerned about that great city, which is so crazy to end it. It ends with a question. Yeah. Who should know what's right? And really, when you get to what Jesus is battling with all these religious leaders, that's what the whole argument was about.

They thought, here's the way we feel God. should administer justice and do things. And here's Jesus saying, I have a new way, and it's based on grace. Pick a side. And it led to him acting out in a way what happened to Jonah in the well, which is crazy. Yeah, and Jay's you made the point earlier, the Matthew 12, Matthew's telling of this, Matthew adds the line that Luke doesn't have in his account, but it really does kind of bring home the sign.

It says in Matthew 12, verse 40, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So that just kind of drives home his point that the sign was Jonah and his telling them to turn and repent. It's the same thing Jesus is doing. And he said, you know, so there's no doubt that this part of this whole story and the reason it happened wasn't just in the moment of what Jonah did with the Ninevites, but this was going to carry over as a shadow all the way to Jesus and what he does for us with the three days and the three nights. So that was what it represented was this idea about death and then being brought to life because in a sense, Jonah was resurrected in the sense of him being spit out by the fish.

That is kind of the same concept. wild thought how that unimposed. You know what I'm saying? That's right. Amazing. Which wasn't enough for the people of that day, or our day either. I mean, it's like you think about the resurrection. For some people, they're like, no, I want more, which I think is just point in Hebrews.

When you leave that, after you've received that, Hebrew 6, he's like, there's nothing. This is the whole thing right here. So I think that was almost like a, the only sign you're going to get is the ultimate sign, the sign of Jonah, which a lot of people reject and some people turn, like we've chosen to turn and repent, like the people of Nineveh, when we saw the sign of Jonah and the fact that Jesus died was buried and raised from the dead. Yeah, exactly. It's the same concept, which is why he lays it out there. I wonder, Jason, you have something you were going to say, I was going to read this last segment. Well, I was just going to say one key point, though,

you know, we tend to think about the resurrection and he, you know, he was vomited out by the whale. but also for what God did, you know, they repented, but God did display the good news of the gospel also came of him withholding judgment against them. And, you know, it made me think of that verse that Paul wrote Timothy in 1, 15, and 16. There's a phrase I wanted to zero in on. But it says, here is a true. trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his, and this is the phrase I wanted, his unlimited patience,

as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory. Because really that's what Jesus is setting forth, him being greater than Jonah, because we're like, it's a sign that he's like Jonah, but it's a sign that he's greater than Jonah, and he's greater than Solomon. So whatever the wealth,

whatever the power, whatever the inheritance, whatever, you know, his wisdom and able to answer questions, and the very fact that he, He displayed an unlimited patience and grace on that city. And going into that, remember to Jesus' point, it's in, you know, chapter, verse 14 there, before you get to the sign of Jonah, what he's rallying against and ripping them about,

some of them said by Elzebub, the prince of demons, he's driving out demons. Others tested him by asking for a sign. They didn't believe. and that's that he goes back that far. He said, let me tell you a little story here. It basically was to show him. I may be a lot, but I'm not a demon.

Yeah, he's not a demon. And he loves people. Look, because even in Jonah himself, I mean, just think if you're a God of the universe, you've made tens of millions of people, you've set the earth amongst all the galaxies and all. And here you got a guy who you gave. the honor of being the spokesman to save a city. Yep. And now he's mad at you.

Yeah. Well, you know, that's a bad person to be mad at. Oh, I'm telling you. And not only did God show his unlimited patients with Ninevites. He's showing the utility of it all. He showed it with that one guy with Jonah and didn't just, you know, send a fireball on him. Now, he sent a nice win, and he got his attention. but it just shows you how God wants us all to be saved,

and he works with us, and he's patient with us. And I think the cross ultimately is, you know, showing that to a level that's even hard for us to wrap our head around because we're like, we got it. But, I mean, that's his love and his willingness to be our eternal father and spend eternity together. That's what he's willing to do to show these qualities. Because so many times, you know,

you see these churches, they're all about the judgment and all about the judgment. Well, here's a story where, yeah, he's a God of Justice. He's not going to put up with people, you know, who disown him and turn their backs on him. But when you see that story, I mean, I'm like, wow. Yeah. What?

I mean, if I was God, that's all I've got to say. It just wouldn't be that way. And he just has these. qualities that are not found on the earth. And that's why he's greater. Let's take another break. But it also shows you, Jay, there's some Jonah in all of us, right? Because I love the way that the story is crafted, even on the little things that seem so insignificant,

like the little vine and the worm and then the wind. I mean, it shows you how we're such creatures of our own comfort. I mean, Jonah is playing out. on this large scale. I mean, this is judgment against one of the superpowers on earth. And he's right in the middle of it as a reluctant preacher. And yet when it boils down to it, he's just as mad about that vine being killed by that worm as he is about what's going on in that city.

And I think there's a little bit of Jonah and all of us because so many times we take our eyes off the big picture and the prize to get into our own little creature comforts and discomforts, you know? No, that's a great point. I mean, we don't want to be uncomfortable. And we sure don't want to be caught up in a shipwreck and storms and, you know, being sunburned and big wind. I mean, you just think of the misery. I mean, look, it took me all night just to get here.

You know, there were a lot of moments during the last 24 hours where I thought, this is not happening. This is uncomfortable. I mean, you just can't help it. It just tends to make you get your focus, you know, off what you should be focused on, you know. So I want to read this last segment because I think it kind of ties it all together, this whole segment, which is why Luke puts it here. Because I've kind of seen this as kind of, you know, two different sides of having issues with Jesus. you had the first the deniers and then the doubters. And he deals with the doubters with this idea by sign.

He's like, you've got to trust in me. And then it's like he has to give you the ultimate choice. And that's why I think he closes this kind of segment out with these last four verses. He says in verse 33, no one lights a lamp. And this is coming out of this, you know, Jonah and Queen of Shiva. No one lights a lamp. and puts it in a place where it will be hidden or under a bowl. Instead, he puts it on its stand so that those who come in may see the light.

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body is also full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it then that the light within you is not darkness. therefore if your whole body is full of light and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted as when the light of a lamp shines on you. So he comes back to this theme of light and dark, which I think is where he started when he talks about the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of Satan.

It keeps boiling down to these simple choices about whether you want to do what's right or whether you want to do what's evil. You don't read too much about good eyes when your eyes. when you're eye-hows. That's why I read that First King's 10-7 because when the Queen of Shiva, she had heard all these things, and you imagine relating it to Jesus.

They're hearing about all this. And one after one, religious leader and people of power, they're coming up to him, and they're asking him questions. They're having conversation. And at every point, he is just absolutely taking them to the woodshed. Yep.

From a theological standpoint, from a practical standpoint. I mean, he's God in human form. But when she said, I did not believe until I came and saw with my own eyes. And I do think that is a reference while Luke put that here. Because when you just think about the simplicity of this, if a room is dark, at some point you're probably going to fall if you're trying to navigate it. but if it's lit and your eyes are bad or you can't see,

you're probably still going to fall. To this day, Jace, why are you there? To this day, the last little paragraph, Al, when Jesus left there, after he gets through talking, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, uh-oh, began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.

That's a response of the people of that day. Yeah. That's what they were, you said, basically, did he lay a glove on them? Well, that's when your eyes are bad. When your eyes are bad. You're missing it. I mean, they disobeyed him fiercely. Yeah.

No, and let's take our last break. It kind of goes back to the parable. I mean, we just had in the last chapter about the Good Samaritan. Remember it was what you see and how you look at things. Because remember these two guys from the temple, they come along. And, I mean, in theory, they should have been the ones looking for ways to help people, right? Because that was their whole purpose in life, being in the temple, offer sacrifices. Instead, they crossed over to the other side of the road.

so they wouldn't even have to look closely at this person who was hurt to not do anything about it. And then, of course, the Samaritan comes along and does the right thing. And he's like the most, you know, the biggest enemy that these people thought they had. So I think it's that same concept. He's just bringing it back out and repackaging a different way. What's in your heart affects how you look at things and what you see and vice versa. What you see and what you look at determines them any time what goes into your heart. So it really is as become a window or a mirror to yourself.

But coming up are the woes. But even that, well, you can see this in almost every paragraph, even with the Jesus and them accusing him of driving out the demons, you know, having a demon. Well, they were blinded by their ability to drive out demons. You know, their followers were doing the same thing. And you know they were probably justifying what they were doing,

thinking we've had some success. But Jesus, in his wisdom is like long term, that's not going to work because there's going to be more powerful ones come. Trust me. Well, they're looking at him. Like, well, how do you know that? It's kind of like you're blinded in the Pharisees case from the light, the true light, because of all the other lights. You know, I heard an illustration one time. It's like, you walk outside and you see all these lights, but you're not realizing that the sun is shining.

the bigger light because you're looking at all the lights you know the man-made artificial lights or that we come up with and i think that's what we do from a self-righteous aspect and the people that are just a million miles away from god you know they're just blinded by they're not seeing any light how hard they're working when jesus had finished speaking a Pharisee invited him to eat with him so he invited for a meal well he's he's beginning to get it so he went in and reclined at the table but the Pharisee noticing, not a little, watch this, noticing after they've heard

what we've covered today, you'd think, they'd say, you know, he may be on to something. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before their meal, he was surprised. I mean, you couldn't even

take a step without somebody eyeballing you and bringing up some little thing, Not enough to Hill of Beans, but they're still looking for all the wrong things. Still looking for all the wrong things. And I read this. It was funny, Dad, which we'll get into this a lot more in the next podcast. But I was reading this thing, and I thought, you know, I have to confess something, though. Jason has given two stories about airport restrooms the last two times he's been in the thing.

When I noticed somebody not washing their hands, especially when I'm at the airport, I'm like, what is wrong with these people? I mean, later in the day, you're going to go somewhere on your business trip. Some guy's going to come up and you're going to shake hands. And I saw you leave this restroom and not wash your hands. What is wrong with you? So I guess there's even some percy in me because I have to say I noticed that as well. You know what I wish you would have said, Al, when that happened.

I wish you would have said germs. I created germs. That's right. Exactly. Exactly. I am germ. What do you mean telling me I can't watch? No, but to dad's point, I think that's exactly right. I think it fits as larger narrative. And I couldn't help but think about John 1. When John starts with that first amazing four verses, he says, in Jesus verse 4 was life. That life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. And I think it's that same thing that Luke is making that same stand is that no matter how strong evil is, it will not overcome the light of Jesus Christ. And so I think it keeps coming back to that over and over and over again. Over and over and over.

The darkness will not overcome light. What do y'all think when he said 35 because it seems to be, that's a hard thing to wrap your head around when it says, see to it then that the light within you is not darkness. I mean, wouldn't that be an apposition? Yeah. The absence of light, which is really darkness. Right. So, because then he...

It just depends on who's looking. Well, then he makes a point that the light shines on you, which I, you know, made me think about that, that passage in 1st Corinthians 3, I think it's 1st Corinthians 3, when it says we, God's light, reflects like Moses you know no it's second Corinthians three let me just read it yeah you

remember the analogy of Moses when it says we're in verse 13 of say Corinthians three we are not like Moses who would put a veil over his face to keep the other lights from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away but their minds were made dull to this day the veil remains when the old covenant is read it has not been removed because only in Christ has it been taken away. Even in this day when Moses is read, a veil covers our hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

And we all who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, which is the Spirit. You know, they would glow just even getting in the presence of God. So they had to, you know, he's the God that lives in unapproachable light, which is one of the pillars, especially in the book of John. You know, he really talks about love, you know, for God to love the world. Life, and he raised Lazarus from the dead, but he was, you know, I can't, I give you life and light. you know in the john three when he said this is the verdict light is coming to the world but that's at the end of chapter three but men love darkness for fear that they won't come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed so really i think that's what jesus is declaring he's the son of god but people don't want to they want to hide their sinful behavior and even these pharisees are coming across as such heroes of the faith

But we all know all men have skeletons and baggage in the trunk. You know, it's just we all make mistakes. And we're fearful of those things coming out because then we don't look religious or because we think that somehow the more righteous we are, we gain God's approval. When all along he loves us just because he loves us. They make movies about people like that. Yes, they do. Which comes out this month, by the way, which comes out this month. This month.

We've got to get your tickets. We've been September. That's right. Yeah. We're in September now. So September 28, buy your tickets now. What's it called? There's a light coming all right.

That it is called, Dad. It is called The Blind. It's kind of a little double fame because of the duck lines. But the idea is when you were blinded, you could not see not only your own actions, but you couldn't see Christ. That's it. But he changed. To that point, I mean, Jason made earlier, only in Christ, are these things made visible.

I was thinking that passage in 1st Corinthians 1, 1st, Corinthians one, about how God hid certain things. For us, this is chapter 2, actually, I apologize. To us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the Spirit of the man, which is in him. even so the thoughts of God, no one knows except the Spirit of God. So we can't know the thoughts of God. The only one who knows that is the Spirit of God.

Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit, in my Bible, this is a capital S being the Holy Spirit, who is from God, so that, here's the reason why we received the Holy Spirit. We may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak not. in words taught by human wisdom, but those taught by the spirit combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them. Here's the reason. Why? Because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is

appraised by no one, for who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. I think that's the whole point of 2 Corinthians 3. It's about the spirit where the spirit of the Lord is there's freedom. The reason why there's freedom is because it is through the spirit that we can now remove the veil and we can see reality for the way that it really is. Not the way that the devil has and our own lives have convinced us of the way the world is. No, we can see the world for the way it really is. And that's true freedom, is to be able to behold the glory of God. You bet.

That's great and to shine that to other people. All right, we're out of time on Unashamed. So we're going to go to overtime blaishton.com slash Unashamed is where you can go to find our overtime content as well as everything that Blaze has to offer. So follow us over. We'll finish up this discussion about light and dark. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes.

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