Latest / If Bibles Could Talk / Repentance Is More Than Saying Sorry : Matthew 3:8 and Luke 19:1–10

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Repentance Is More Than Saying Sorry : Matthew 3:8 and Luke 19:1–10 · If Bibles Could Talk

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to today's deep dive.
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  Speaker 2: We are we're exploring a really fascinating source document today
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  Speaker 2: that basically reexamines the entire concept of repentance in Christianity.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it really contrasts our modern assumptions with, you know,
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  Speaker 3: what the ancient texts actually say.
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  Speaker 2: Right. OK, let's unpack this because modern apologies, right, they're
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  Speaker 2: usually just a quick like, I'm sorry, maybe shedding a
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  Speaker 2: tear or just feeling super guilty.
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  Speaker 1: Totally.
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  Speaker 3: It's almost like a PR move.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's a superficial band-aid. But these sources define true repentance as, well,
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  Speaker 2: a complete U-turn in life. Right.
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  Speaker 3: And to really ground this, we have to look at
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  Speaker 3: the original definition. It literally means a change of mind
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  Speaker 3: that fundamentally produces a change of direction.
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  Speaker 1: So not just, you know, regretting the consequences of getting caught.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly. Not just regretting the fallout. but actively turning away.
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  Speaker 3: Because true repentance is a U-turn, we really must look
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  Speaker 3: at how the early figures demanded visible action.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so what does this all mean for like the
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  Speaker 1: average person?
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  Speaker 2: Is having a good religious background effort just feeling really
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  Speaker 2: bad about it enough?
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  Speaker 3: Well, according to the texts, no. I mean, look at
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  Speaker 3: Matthew 3.8. John the Baptist demands fruits meet for repentance.
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  Speaker 1: Fruits meet for repentance, meaning like evidence.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: He challenged the religious folks of his day to show
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  Speaker 3: visible everyday change. Like in Luke 3, he tells them
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  Speaker 3: to literally share their clothes and food.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, wow. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: So very practical.
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  Speaker 3: Highly practical.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: He told them to refuse exploitation. What's fascinating here is
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  Speaker 3: that repentance was always meant to be practical, not just
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  Speaker 3: some private emotional state.
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  Speaker 1: Which is wild.
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  Speaker 2: And here's where it gets really interesting, I think. It's
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  Speaker 2: like the difference between just recognizing you are driving the
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  Speaker 2: wrong way down a one-way street versus, you know, actually
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  Speaker 2: turning the steering wheel.
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  Speaker 3: That is a perfect analogy. And this strict requirement for
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  Speaker 3: practical action brings us to two perfectly contrasting stories from
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  Speaker 3: the sources.
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  Speaker 1: Right. Zacchaeus and the rich young ruler.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. So Zacchaeus in Luke 19, he didn't just offer
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  Speaker 3: an emotional apology for extorting people.
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  Speaker 1: No, he went all out.
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  Speaker 3: He really did. He paid back fourfold and gave half
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  Speaker 3: his wealth to the poor. Which is a massive financial hit. Huge.
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  Speaker 3: But conversely, you look at the rich young ruler in
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  Speaker 3: Mark 10. He walked away sorrowful because he just wouldn't
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  Speaker 3: surrender his wealth.
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  Speaker 1: So he felt bad, but he didn't turn the steering wheel.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly.
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  Speaker 3: Feeling uncomfortable about your behavior is absolutely not the same
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  Speaker 3: as changing it. Which brings up this whole idea of
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  Speaker 3: worldly regret versus, like, restorative sorrow.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and knowing you've done wrong obviously brings up regret also.
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  Speaker 2: But the source is distinguished between two distinct types of sorrow, right?
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  Speaker 1: In 2 Corinthians 7.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow.
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  Speaker 2: But let me push back on that for a second.
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  Speaker 2: Because both Judas and Peter, they both felt terrible for
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  Speaker 2: their actions, like crushed.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely. They were both devastated.
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  Speaker 1: So why did their, you know, their U-turns end so differently?
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  Speaker 3: Well, if we connect this to the bigger picture, worldly
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  Speaker 3: sorrow just leaves you trapped in regret. That was Judas.
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  Speaker 3: He was focused on his own guilt.
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  Speaker 1: A closed loop.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly.
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  Speaker 3: Well, godly sorrow actually produces true repentance and restoration. Like Peter,
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  Speaker 3: who he returned to the community after denying Jesus. Right.
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  Speaker 1: He actually went back to fix it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: And the texts like Ephesians 4 and Romans 6, they
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  Speaker 3: emphasize replacing that destructive behavior rather than just using grace
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  Speaker 3: as like a permission slip to keep sinning.
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  Speaker 2: You put away the old self and actually start practicing
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  Speaker 2: kindness and honesty.
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  Speaker 3: You replace the bad with the good.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: So pulling this all together, the big takeaway here is
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  Speaker 1: that repentance is not measured by how emotional you become
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  Speaker 1: during an apology.
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  Speaker 3: Not at all.
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  Speaker 2: It's measured by the direction your life takes after recognizing
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  Speaker 2: a failure.
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  Speaker 1: Which leaves us with a final thought for you, the listener,
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  Speaker 1: to mull over today.
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  Speaker 3: A pretty challenging one, too.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Are you genuinely trying to change your behavior? Or have
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  Speaker 1: you just become comfortable repeating the exact same mistake and,
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  Speaker 1: you know, simply apologizing afterward?