Latest / The Foreign Saint's Podcast / The Truth Behind Judas's Silver: Why Sell Out the Son of Man? | Matthew 26:1-25

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The Truth Behind Judas's Silver: Why Sell Out the Son of Man? | Matthew 26:1-25 · The Foreign Saint's Podcast

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What's the real reason Judas betrayed Jesus 2000 years ago?
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And why should we care all these years later?
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I'm saying, hey, you're listening to foreign Saints, and
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it is my mission to keep Christianity unique in this
0:14
world by reviving the hearts of those who are called to die
0:18
daily. And it is good to be back.
0:27
OK? We had a lot of drama in the
0:28
personal life. Might make a separate episode
0:31
just kind of detailing all of that.
0:33
OK. But one of the announcements
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that I want to start this episode off with is that this
0:42
show on Spotify alone has reached 51 countries around the
0:49
world. Let me say that again, 51
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countries around the world, all right, and I just want to take a
1:00
minute or two to just read the list of countries that I have
1:06
here on Spotify and I not to give me the glory, OK, because
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I'm about to I'm going to tell you why, but I want to give God
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the glory for a setup this, you know this, you know, this isn't
1:20
a high the budget production that you're listening to.
1:23
You're right, but just the fact that God is using something so
1:27
humble to touch the lives and spiritual health of so many
1:33
around the world. So these are all the countries
1:36
that Foreign Saints has reached the United States, Canada,
1:41
Vietnam, Russia, Malaysia, India, South Africa, the United
1:46
Kingdom, Chile, Ghana, Australia, Brazil, Iraq,
1:51
Ukraine, Bangladesh, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Romania,
1:57
Germany, Poland, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Peshemite,
2:03
Kingdom of Jordan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Nepal, Tunisia,
2:08
Venezuela, France, Finland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Nigeria,
2:14
Netherlands, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan,
2:20
Albania, Algeria, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
2:26
Colombia, Mexico, Palestine, Qatar and Senegal.
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Praise God, 51 countries. OK, now you combine that with my
2:45
partner podcast, Let Nothing Move You, hosted by the
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brilliant and humble host Christian Ashley.
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You have to open up, give him a round of applause, people.
2:56
Let nothing move you on Spotify, right?
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You combine my efforts with his efforts, right?
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Two misfits for the Kingdom, 2 foreign Saints have sent good
3:09
solid Bible teaching to potentially I got to check with
3:12
him, but potentially over 100 countries on the planet.
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OK, praise the eternal dynasty of the one Godfather, Son and
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Spirit. Christian, Ashley and myself are
3:26
just two men trying our best to do what one man can do to push
3:31
forward the gospel in every land.
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And the Spirit of God has seen fit to use our humble
3:37
contributions to disciples some and awaken others.
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Why do I say that? Not because I want the glory on
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both of us. OK, even we couldn't have done
3:46
what we are doing without the help of those in the church
3:49
around us. In my case, shout out Damian for
3:53
just building a freaking PC. That's helped me out.
3:56
Christian's got some people helping him out on the Anna's
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Out Ministries podcast, right? We're doing what we're doing
4:02
with obviously the support and blessing of God, but also the
4:05
support of the local body, the local church around us, and of
4:10
course each other and anyone out there that is sending up prayers
4:15
for us. I say all this to encourage you,
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the listener, OK, if two men with some recording equipment
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can reach potentially 100 countries, over 100 countries,
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what do you think Jesus can do with your two fish, 5 loaves of
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bread? Think about it, OK?
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As we jump into the text, we are in Matthew chapter 26.
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We are going from verse one to verse 25, OK?
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The 1st 25 verses of Matthew 26. This is going to be a good
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study. This is going to be a good
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study. OK, let's tackle the 1st 5
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verses, OK? We're going to read each section
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a little bit at a time and then chop it up after that.
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And that's how we'll move through, OK?
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So Matthew 26, starting with verse 1, verses 1 to 5, when
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Jesus had finished all these, had finished saying all these
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things, he told his disciples, you know, that the Passover
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takes place after two days and the Son of Man will be handed
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over to be crucified. Then the chief priests and the
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elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high
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priest who is named Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest
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Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him.
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Not during the festival, they said, so there won't be rioting
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among the people. OK, so this first section I've
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given a mini title. Jesus is the first sufferer.
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OK with these first 2 verses here, verses one to two, Jesus
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brings all of that talk in chapter 25 about future
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persecution into the present by saying that the Son of Man will
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be handed over to be crucified. OK, Of course you recall if
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you've been paying attention to the Matthew series, Matthew 25
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was all end times prophecies, but also prophecies about how
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things would be for the disciples and Christianity
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during the in between time between his ascension and his
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return. OK, it was not a happy days.
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We're not exactly prophesied. OK, So Jesus brings all of that
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talk of future persecution, right?
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And he anchors it now into the present by saying, not only will
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you suffer, right, I will also suffer.
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All right? Jesus's plan was crucifixion all
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along. The crucifixion did not catch
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him by surprise, all right? And I'm glad that that Messianic
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secret ideas kind of fell by the wayside finally.
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But you know, Jesus knew where he was going.
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He told his disciples on multiple occasions what was
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going to happen to him. And something I always find
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interesting is that when Jesus speaks of his crucifixion,
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especially in Matthew, he always or maybe not always, but very
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often will juxtapose it with his one of his highest titles, the
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Son of Man Amazing. He uses one of his highest
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titles in conjunction with his lowest humiliation.
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He highlights both because in his Kingdom, the greater you
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are, the more costly your service will be.
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So coming off all of that intimidating end times
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prophecies of the 12 and all Christians to come suffering a
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long painful endurance of persecutions through history.
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The final thing Jesus says in this moment is before any of you
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suffer even an ounce. I myself will suffer first to
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the death. I will lead the way.
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And then you've got verses 3 to 5.
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You know, most of the entire elite Jewish religious
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establishment. Most, not all.
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There were a couple exceptions, but most of them have banned
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together against Jesus for the express purpose of murdering
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him. They are plotting to murder an
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innocent man, but even worse than that, plotting to murder
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their own God and then engage in a religious ceremony supposedly
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in worship to that God. Religious hypocrisies.
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Insanity knows no bounds, but that is a topic that will be
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further expounded on as we continue this study.
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Really, as we continue pushing through chapter 26 in its
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entirety, religious hypocrisy is going to be a theme we keep
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coming back to, but for now, we push forward versus 6 to 16.
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I've titled this next section in Eternal Testimony, but let's
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read the Scripture. While Jesus was in Bethany at
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the House of Simon the Leper, a woman approached him with an
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alabaster jar of very expensive perfume.
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She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table.
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When the disciples saw it, they were indignant.
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Why this waste? They asked.
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This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the
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poor. Aware of this, Jesus said to
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them, Why are you bothering this woman?
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She's done a noble thing for me. You always have the poor with
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you, but you do not always have me.
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By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for
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burial. Truly, I tell you, wherever this
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gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done
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will also be told in memory of her.
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Then one of the 12, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to
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the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me if I
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hand him over to you? So they weighed out 30 pieces of
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silver for him. And from that time he started
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looking for a good opportunity to betray him.
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All right, so let's get into it. Verses 6:00 and 7:00 here Jesus
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is staying at the lepers house. And if you have been paying any
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attention to the Matthew series, you know that this kind of text,
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this kind of a set dressing, the text that is used just tell you
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where things are happening, is usually very important to what
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comes later in the story. And this is no exception.
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Jesus is staying at a leper's house.
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I would go even further and say specifically a leper that he and
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heal. OK, why do I say that?
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Well, I'll show you all right. If we go earlier in Matthew,
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Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 and 18, Jesus speaking says this.
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Don't think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets.
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I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
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For truly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not
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the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass
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away from the law until all things are accomplished.
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All right, Jesus did not abolish the law.
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He fulfilled it. And because of that, we actually
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have to look at what the law says.
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And I won't give a full read through of it, but Leviticus
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chapters 13 and 14, OK, you can either pause the screen as I
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scroll through this chapter and you can give it a look.
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Or what I would really recommend you do is you pause this video,
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open up your own Bible and give Leviticus chapters 13 and 14 a
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read so that you know that I'm not lying to you when I tell you
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that in these chapters, the law commanded A quarantine outside
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of the city for those with leprosy and leprosy like
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ailments. So Simon the leper would not
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have been able to entertain guests unless Jesus had healed
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him from it. Basically pretty much is if
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Jesus doesn't heal his leprosy, his leprosy is not going
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anywhere. So the only way Simon, if he's
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known as a leper, could be hosting anyone at a house inside
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of the city, even at some of town, is if his leprosy was
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healed. OK so but this.
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But this is where rubber meets road right?
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For anyone to approach Jesus while he was at Simon the lepers
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house, they would have to reckon with a few things concerning how
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they viewed Jesus. Right?
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Because the woman approached Jesus while he was in the House
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of a leper, which means that this woman had to have answered
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a couple of questions like who is Jesus really?
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Because if Jesus really is King of the Jews, if he really is son
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of David the Messiah, then he should be Torah observant.
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He he should be observant of the laws of Moses and the Law of
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Moses. So why is he lodging with a
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known leper when that would be a clear violation of Torah?
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Who is Jesus really? He can't be any old Jewish holy
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man because even the temple priests have to go outside of
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the town to the leper to perform the exam to simply check for a
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healing or naturally resolving leprosy, right?
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Those follow up exams don't happen at the home of the
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patient, ever. Who is Jesus, really?
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According to prophet Isaiah, the Messiah is God in human form.
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So he could just heal his leprosy and then there would be
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no conflict with Torah, right? But even if you work all that
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out, there's a second question that you have to contend with.
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Is Jesus worth the risks to me? Right, Because as this woman's
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going to Simon Leper's house, she could ask herself the
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question. But what if Simon isn't healed
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when I get there? Then what do I do?
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And secondly, and more interestingly, what if Simon is
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healed when I get there? Not everyone believes that Jesus
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is who he claims. So people, other people in my
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community may want to avoid me for believing me to be a disease
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carrier if they learned where I went this afternoon, because
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they won't take the explanation of, well, it was OK for me to go
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to the leper's house because Jesus healed him.
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He's not a leper anymore. That's only going to work with
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people that actually believe who Jesus is to a certain extent.
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But if people don't believe who Jesus is, they're not going to
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believe her, right? And all of this difficulty comes
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as a result of Simon the Leper's past.
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And it's in those moments where we ourselves, right, as we try
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to do ministry work, as we try to be the hands and feet of
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Jesus in our lives. So the people in our lives to
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our communities around us, sometimes we get into situations
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where we think that our past is a hindrance to us having a more
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effective ministry, right, because Simon the leper could
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very well, you know, beat himself up over hell.
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Man, it sucks that I had leprosy in the past.
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If I if I didn't have the leprosy in the past, then maybe
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more people would come here to hear Jesus.
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He could have think like that. And you could think like that
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too. You know, you could think that
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your past of whatever it is, you know, alcoholism or being
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abusive or being a sexual deviants or being trans or what
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what whatever your past happens to be.
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You might also be under the assumption that if your past
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were simply less bad, Jesus would be more able to use you.
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But what you're not considering is that just because you think
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your past as a hindrance doesn't mean that Jesus didn't intend it
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exactly in that way, right? To the soft hearted, the people
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in your life that are soft hearted towards the gospel, the
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redemption of your sins, and the subsequent cleansing and
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purifying of your lived life day by day by Jesus.
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Let me make sure we're still good.
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Yep, by Jesus magnifies the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
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Jesus would love to use your story of redemption as a way of
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bringing other repentant sinners into life eternal.
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Let me show you a verse. First Timothy chapter 1, verses
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12 to 17. This is the apostle Paul writing
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about his past, and this is what he says, I give thanks.
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I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened
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me because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the
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ministry even though I was formerly A blasphemer, A
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persecutor, and an arrogant man. Other translations will say
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insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I
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acted out of ignorance and unbelief, and the grace of our
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Lord overflowed along with the faith and love that are in
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Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and
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deserving of full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world
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to save sinners, and I am the worst of them, says Paul.
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But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me the worst
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of them, Christ Jesus, might demonstrate his extraordinary
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patience as an example to those who would believe in him for
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eternal life. Now to the King, eternal,
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immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory forever
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and ever, Amen and Amen indeed and Amen indeed.
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All right. Paul was perfectly OK with Jesus
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using his past as a platform to magnify his grace.
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You should be too, but you should consider this other use
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of a difficult, offensive path to people who are hard hearted
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against the gospel. The redemption of your sins and
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the subsequent cleansing and purifying of your lived life day
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by day by Jesus will be offensive, but hear this and be
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freed by it. Christian Jesus is OK.
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Jesus is perfectly OK with your redemption being a stumbling
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block to arrogant and unrepentant sinners.
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Jesus is perfectly OK with your Christian story having that kind
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of an effect on arrogant, unrepentant people because it
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exposes those people as the children of Satan that they
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really are. And Jesus is perfectly OK with
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that, All right? But as we continue to push into
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the story here in Matthew, right, what we see is that this
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jar that she brings, right? This blast, this alabaster jar
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very expensive perfume was nothing ordinary.
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OK, this alabaster flask of nard is extremely important.
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It's not just something valuable she owned.
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It was, if I'm understanding the text right, it was the valuable
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thing she owned above all other valuable right In the original
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Greek language, what we translate as an alabaster flask
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or alabaster jar very expensive perfume.
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Some translations will use alabaster plastic Renard, right?
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But that translation there comes from the two Greek words
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pesticos and nardos. Pesticos means having the power
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of persuading skillful and producing belief, trustee,
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faithful, that which can be relied on, the object of trust.
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Nardos is defined, as you know, nard, the head or spike of a
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fragrant East Indian plant which yields a juice of delicious odor
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which the ancients used either pure or mixed in the preparation
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of the most precious ointment. All right, the Gospels of Mark
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and Luke both describe her ointment as pesticos, nardos and
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their accounts of the event. And as I like to do, I like to
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try to combine multiple definitions into one concept to
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really stick it into the mind. OK.
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This woman's Pesticos Nardo was the juice of an East Indian
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plant that had the power to skillfully persuade her that it
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was trusty, faithful and reliable enough to put her trust
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in. Because of its versatile uses
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and being a deliciously scented precious ointment, along with
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some other things, you know, it's got it has some medicinal
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uses. Plus it was extremely valuable.
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I imagine it was probably a nest egg for anything ever went
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wrong. We just sell it and I don't, you
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know, have enough money to make it to the next stage of life.
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You know what I mean? But here's the point, right?
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Everyone, and I mean everyone has a pesticos nardos before
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they come to Jesus. You have something in your life
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but is trying to convince you that is trying to skillfully
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persuade you that it is more trusty, faithful, and reliable
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than Jesus. All right.
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I have no clue what yours happens to be because I'm not a
24:00
prophet. I'm just a podcaster, OK?
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I don't know if it's your career, your significant other,
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some personal possession or hobby or lifestyle, but whatever
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it is, you need to break it and dump it out at the Son of God
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and worship full reverence to Him because anything less is
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absolutely insane. Those around this woman's
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thought that she had lost her mind.
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And I'm going to tell you right now, listener, if you choose to
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dump your nard for Jesus, then you will be mocked and ridiculed
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by this world too. I was alright.
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Mine at the time was a sinful relationship with with the woman
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who was my girlfriend at the time.
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When Jesus came and called me, I got the commandments first and
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that proved my need for a Savior.
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But then came time for my choice later on in life.
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Would I dump her? Would I pour out my pesticos
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nardo, so I could get true salve from my soul, from Christ?
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All right, all true partakers of the divine, all true foreign
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Saints will be ridiculed in like manner, because we all had to
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crack open our prestikos nardos and throw it down so that our
25:26
hands were free to pick up the life of Jesus Christ.
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We had to jettison it from our mind to make room for knowing
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the Father and the Son, He said, which is eternal life.
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John 17 three all right, verses 8 to 12 here.
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When the disciples saw it, they were indignant.
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Why this waste? This might have been sold for a
25:49
great deal and given to the poor, right?
25:53
The reaction of the other disciples here is very
25:56
instructive. All right, as you go through
25:59
your Christian life, you will see people reverse the 2
26:03
greatest commands all the time, right?
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Jesus said the actual greatest command is the Lord our God is
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1. Love him, love the Lord your
26:15
God. But while your heart, mind, soul
26:17
is strength and the second is like it love your neighbor as
26:22
yourself. But people reverse those two
26:25
commands all the time. People think the greatest
26:28
command from Jesus in Jesus's eyes as the love your neighbor
26:32
as yourself. And then if you have time and if
26:36
it's not socially awkward, if it's not personally
26:40
disadvantageous, then I'll think about how much of my mind, body
26:46
and soul I can also give to God. All right, you will constantly
26:53
in your life run across people that get offended at things you
26:58
do for Jesus and will come against you by saying what you
27:05
could be doing instead. It's what I like to call the ABC
27:10
effect, the anything but Christ effect.
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In other words, people are OK with you giving away your money
27:18
for anything but Christ. Animal shelters, political
27:23
candidates, school fundraisers, strippers, only fans, models.
27:29
People are not offended by you burning through cash or anything
27:35
but Christ. So I pulled up this clip right
27:37
here because I wanted to give you an example in real life of
27:41
the ABC mindset of the anything but Christ mindset.
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OK, this right here is a short from one of my more favorite St.
27:51
preaching evangelism, a YouTube channels out there of
27:54
abolitionist rising as they just got out there in the streets and
27:58
they are doing their best to reason with people and just just
28:02
share the gospel and convince people that abolition or sorry
28:06
that abortion is murder that should be fully abolished by the
28:12
law and that people themselves shouldn't do it.
28:16
But at the same time, they're also offering the forgiveness of
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Jesus Christ to men and women that have committed this act of
28:24
murder against their own children, right?
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And So what we have here is a short video of a woman who's
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going to come up and is going to ask the exact same question that
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Judas does in the text, OK, the exact same question.
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Why this waste? This might have been sold for a
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great deal and given to the poor.
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Why are you wasting your time when you could be doing
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something else? I just want you to pay attention
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for that, for that ABC mindset as we listen to this.
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With all the money that you spend on cameras, with all the
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platform you have, with how much that camera cost, you think you
29:05
probably could have donated that helped out.
29:08
How many have you adopted? Foster How many?
29:11
Women have you? It's a pretty It's a pretty
29:14
common. Objection.
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Yeah, it's, it's a pretty common objection because it dates back
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to, because it dates back to Judas.
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Of course he knows that, but I want you guys to see how this
29:24
plays itself out in the modern era so that when it happens to
29:28
you, you don't get caught off guard, that you stand firm in
29:35
Jesus. So it's legal to on a live human
29:40
beings when they're living in the wombs of their mothers.
29:44
So our focus is on protecting freeborn humans from murder and
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establishing equal justice to where all human beings have the
29:53
same equal protection of the laws.
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Now, there are other things in the world, like all sorts of
29:58
things, right? Other things that we could be
30:00
doing, but that's what we're doing to that end.
30:04
Because you guys are just, you're staying out here, you're
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stopping people. People are stopping to talk to
30:08
you and you're talking. Yeah, people stop to talk to us.
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We do not stop anyone you could be doing.
30:12
What your? Evening is helping a mother who
30:14
can't feed her child. But no.
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But I'm focused on. I'm focused on changing the
30:19
culture's disposition towards killing children unborn.
30:22
Children. Why would I stop doing that to
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do something else like why can't I?
30:29
That's such a great question. Why would I stop doing that?
30:32
To do something else or or, you're going to see that comes
30:36
up in the text as well. I do it Friday night at 8:25 or.
30:42
Whatever it is, well. OK, so just just not care about
30:45
the. Baby after they're born.
30:48
Because we're about to keep the parents who do give birth.
30:51
I do care about them so babies foster care so staying on the
30:55
same line they. Go into foster care and they're
30:58
giving a horrible life. So the child in foster care or
31:01
the born child, all I'm trying to do is get equality with the
31:06
born child who's in foster care to the preborn child who's in
31:10
the womb. So the specific thing
31:12
criminalizing child sacrifice in the womb needs to be done.
31:17
Child sacrifice outside of the womb doesn't have to be done
31:20
because it is illegal to hurt children after they're born.
31:23
What do you guys? See.
31:31
Got to give a round of applause to that.
31:35
Got to give a round of applause though, OK, That is what I mean
31:38
by the ABC mindset, by the anything but Christ mindset.
31:42
There is no answer that would appease this woman, right?
31:47
Because at least at the time that this video was recorded,
31:50
she's operating under a similar mindset to Judas.
31:54
Not the same, but a similar one. A similar one.
31:58
OK, why this waste? This might have been sold for a
32:01
great deal and given to the poor.
32:04
Now, the thing with Judas, though, is we'll get into this,
32:06
right? Judas didn't actually mean this.
32:08
Judas was lying when he said this.
32:11
All right? Judas was a thief.
32:15
I got proof of that. I'll show you right.
32:20
But people today that hit you with the ABC with the anything
32:24
but Christ usually are hypocrites.
32:28
Usually 8 or 9 times out of 10, people that hit you with the ABC
32:33
do not care about any of the things that they're mentioning
32:38
to try to get you off track. Nothing, absolutely nothing,
32:42
right? I'm, I'm, I'd be willing to bet
32:44
a lot of money that that Lady that was pressing Russell, the
32:49
abolitionist rising guy. And I don't think she does any
32:52
of the stuff that she was accusing him of not doing.
32:55
You take your time out with shelters.
32:57
Do you give your money? Probably not.
33:00
So what is it? So what are we even doing in
33:02
this conversation? People that hit you with the
33:05
ABC, but the anything but Christ don't care about the
33:11
distractions they throw your way.
33:13
They are just meant to be that distractions.
33:16
So don't let them distract you, all right.
33:20
Underneath that, though, and this is again one of those
33:24
things that would offend a person like her, according to
33:29
Jesus, it is a greater moral good, a moral prerogative with
33:35
greater urgency is to love God, not love people.
33:41
Now of course, those two things do go hand in hand in the
33:45
Christian paradigm, but in this Dark World that we live in that
33:51
has love confusion about everything, they will prioritize
33:57
appeasing the cultural norms of good and bad before bowing the
34:02
need to God's definitions of the same.
34:05
And that is why you can't put love of people above love of
34:11
God, because if you do that, you're going to allow the
34:14
culture to dictate what it means to love people instead of
34:19
letting God dictate to you what it means to love people.
34:25
All right, Jesus says something that's really not politically
34:30
correct here, right? He says right here in verse 11,
34:34
you always have the poor with you, but you don't always have
34:36
me. OK.
34:40
This is another one of those phrases I would use if I was
34:43
trying to prove to somebody that Jesus is God, because this is a
34:49
very that's a very arrogant, narcissistic thing for someone
34:53
who's not God to say. You always have the poor with
34:56
you. No, no, don't worry as much
34:59
about helping the poor as you should about giving due honor to
35:05
me. Could you imagine a regular
35:07
human being saying that? That'll be arrogant for me to
35:12
say. But if Jesus really is God in
35:15
human form, that's just accurate.
35:17
Yeah, you're always going to have the poor with you, but
35:19
you're not always going to have me visiting in human form.
35:24
So recognize me for who I am, while I am very easily
35:28
recognizable people. That's what Jesus is saying, all
35:35
right. There will always be poor
35:38
people, according to Jesus. Now the specific people who are
35:42
poor will not always be the same as people move between socio
35:46
economic classes throughout life, but the category of poor
35:51
will not be fully eliminated in this age.
35:55
All right, do not miss out on Jesus because the culture
35:59
successfully gas lit you about Jesus.
36:02
Now this here is Mark chapter 1, verses 29 to 34.
36:06
All right, we're going to read this.
36:07
You're going to see Jesus choosing.
36:10
Jesus chooses loving God in a way that would make our culture
36:15
tell Jesus all that he could be doing instead of wasting his
36:19
time. Let's see.
36:21
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon
36:23
and Andrew's house with James and John.
36:26
Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they
36:30
told him about her at once. So he went to her, took her by
36:34
the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she
36:37
began to serve them. When evening came, after the sun
36:41
had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon
36:44
possessed. The whole town was assembled at
36:46
the door, and he healed many who were sick with various diseases,
36:50
and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the
36:53
demons to speak, because they knew him.
36:56
But look at what happens the next day.
36:59
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up,
37:03
went out and made his way to a deserted place.
37:06
And there he was praying. Simon and his companion searched
37:10
more, and when they found him, they said, everyone's looking
37:13
for you. And he said to them, let's go on
37:17
to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too.
37:21
This is why I've come. All right?
37:25
Jesus could have stayed in that town doing miracles, healing
37:30
people, doing exorcism. He was doing it all night, could
37:33
have had a great ministry out of that city, loving people, right?
37:39
But no, he took the time to show honor to his father and his
37:44
father made the way clear. Hey, you got to love me before
37:48
you love them. Son, I sent you to preach the
37:52
good news that is of greater benefit to them than any
37:57
temporary miracle of healing that you stay around locally to
38:02
do. So you got to you got to pack
38:05
your bag and keep it moving. Son, we see Jesus doing the
38:09
opposite of what that woman would have had Abolitionist
38:13
Rising do. Amazing.
38:14
Absolutely amazing. But coming back to Matthew here,
38:22
Jesus says another amazing thing.
38:25
By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for
38:30
burial. Implications abound, people.
38:35
When you prepare a body for burial, is the body typically
38:39
still alive or dead already? Dead already, right?
38:43
Yet this woman prepares his body for burial while he's still
38:49
alive, which means that she had a greater understanding of who
38:53
he was and a greater trust in what Jesus has been saying
38:57
repeatedly up until now that he's going to die very soon.
39:02
OK, Ancient Near Eastern burial customs typically involves
39:09
giving gifts that honored and revered the status of person
39:12
held. So for the woman to pour out
39:15
gnard on Jesus is for her to say that Jesus has the highest
39:21
status in her eyes before he goes to the grave.
39:26
While Jesus is still in the position of a slave, a la
39:30
Philippians 2, this woman honors him as king.
39:36
Absolutely incredible. All right, Second Chronicles, by
39:43
the way, Second Chronicles, chapter 16, verses 13 and 14,
39:50
just from a purely historical perspective, show what I'm
39:52
talking about with the ancient Near Eastern burial culture.
39:58
Yeah, Burial customs. ASA rested with his ancestors.
40:02
He died in the 41st year of his reign.
40:05
He was buried in his own tomb that he had made for himself in
40:08
the City of David. They've laid him out in a coffin
40:11
that was full of spices and various mixtures of prepared
40:15
ointments, You know, like Jesus. Then they made a great fire in
40:19
his honor. And this guy was not a good
40:21
king. And he got this.
40:22
How much more is you know? Would Jesus have deserved
40:26
treatment like that? All right.
40:31
And then of course, verse 13, she is given a memorial by Jesus
40:40
throughout the world and until the end of time.
40:44
OK, like that. That is staggering.
40:46
There are plenty of kings throughout human history that
40:51
are untold and forgotten in history, but her story remains.
40:57
Her story remains makes me think of a first John of first John
41:03
chapter 2 verse 17. The tail end.
41:08
The one who does the will of God remains forever.
41:12
The world with its lust is passing away, but the one who
41:16
does the will of God remains forever.
41:20
And so her story remains forever, mainly as will all of
41:28
ours, On into eternity, people. Now, verses 14 to 16.
41:36
Finally, Judas Iscariot says what he's going to say to the
41:40
chief priest. What are you willing to give me
41:42
if I hand them over to you? OK, The goat separates from the
41:48
sheep people. That was the straw that broke
41:52
Judas. But maybe not from just being
41:56
offended as modern interpretations like the Chosen
42:01
would kind of portray. Not that I have not.
42:06
Not that I am disavowing the Chosen.
42:09
OK. I rather like it.
42:10
There are some things where you know, that that's just that's
42:14
not accurate. And Judas's motivation, I think
42:18
in the Chosen, from what I've seen so far up through like
42:22
Season 5, is not really accurate to the text.
42:26
He's a bit too sympathetic for what record we have of him in
42:31
the scriptures. OK, Judas was a thief, plain and
42:36
simple. He helped himself to the money
42:38
bag during the ministry days. OK, let me pull up the verse.
42:42
But as I'm pulling up the verse, let me say this dog like people
42:45
love trying to give Judas, you know, like a more cuddly
42:52
motivation for betraying Jesus. And I think that there's, I
42:57
think one of the problems with that is that for a guy that was
43:03
as up close and personal with Jesus as Judas, there was very
43:07
little room for misunderstanding the kind of person that Jesus
43:14
was, right? It was a loving person because
43:18
he was God. All right?
43:19
God is love, which means Jesus was the epitome of what it meant
43:23
to be a loving individual. And Judas betrayed love itself.
43:30
All right. I just, I don't know how
43:32
sympathetic a person's motives can really be when you're
43:37
betraying love itself. I like you.
43:45
You couldn't, you can't be operating from a place of even
43:48
misplaced positivity, I think, when you're betraying the very
43:52
fountainhead of love, not just a loving person, but The
43:56
Fountainhead of love itself. But look, John 12 verses 5 and
44:01
6, right? This is the Apostle John's
44:04
personal commentary on this same event, right?
44:10
Why wasn't this perfume sold for 300 and Marian getting to the
44:13
poor? John just tells you straight up,
44:15
he didn't say this because he cared about the poor but because
44:19
he was a thief. He was in charge of the money
44:22
bag and would steal part of what was put in it.
44:28
OK very clear statement from the apostle.
44:31
He was just a thief y'all. He was a thief that knew how to
44:35
play his part. That's who he was.
44:39
He didn't say this because he actually cared about the
44:43
messianic hopes of Israel and just kind of wanted to push
44:46
Jesus into becoming the kind of Messiah that he thought Israel
44:50
needed. No, no, the text doesn't say any
44:53
of that. No, no, the text says he he did
44:57
what he did and said what he said purely from a financial
45:03
motivation. He was a thief.
45:05
That was what moved him. So why did Judas betray Jesus?
45:11
Remember the contacts people? Lately, the heat has been turned
45:16
up against Jesus's ministry. We are in Matthew chapter 26 in
45:22
the various pre in the very previous chapter, Matthew 25,
45:26
Jesus just prophesied a lot of hard times ahead without a
45:32
single material blessing being listed or highlighted at all
45:38
during chapter 25. And now on top of that
45:43
prediction of bad weather forever, Jesus confirms that
45:47
he's going to die within the next few days.
45:52
I I wonder and feel pretty convinced that all Judas really
45:59
did in the end was what all modern day religious con men do.
46:05
They get out early to maximize profits.
46:08
All right, Judas, he's in it front of money, not the mission.
46:14
And so when Judas saw that the stock in Jesus was going down,
46:20
he sold him for a final payout of 30 pieces of silver.
46:25
In other words, the maximum market value that Judas could
46:30
get quickly for a soon to die Messiah that, according to Jesus
46:36
himself, will not ever be popular again for the rest of
46:40
time. It was a good run, Jesus, says
46:45
Judas. But a man's got to make his
46:47
coin, you know, so no hard feelings.
46:52
But you know, you said it yourself, you know, the entire
46:54
world going to hate you. So I can't count on being able
46:58
to skim off the top of the money bag and not be noticed.
47:02
So it sounds like you're going to have some rough times ahead,
47:05
Jesus, I got to, I got to make my coin, says Judas.
47:12
All right, I'm moving on verses 17 to 25, The betrayer
47:18
threatened by the lamb on the first day of Unleavened bread.
47:24
The disciples came to Jesus and asked, where do you want us to
47:27
make preparations for you to eat the Passover?
47:30
Go into the city to a certain man, he said, and tell him, the
47:34
teacher says my time is near. I'm celebrating the Passover at
47:38
your place with my disciples. So, so the disciples did as
47:44
Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
47:48
When evening came, he was reclining at the table with the
47:51
12. While they were eating, he said,
47:54
Truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.
47:59
Deeply distressed, each one began to say to him, Surely not
48:03
I, Lord, he replied, the one who dipped his hand with me in the
48:08
bowl, He will betray me. The Son of Man will go, just as
48:12
it is written about him. But woe to that man by whom the
48:16
Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for
48:20
him if he had not been born. Judas, his betrayer replied,
48:25
Surely not I, Rabbi, you said it, He told them.
48:31
All right now, something I want to just highlight quickly here.
48:35
We're not going to focus on it. That'll be for next episode
48:37
probably, but verses 17 and 20, first Day of Unleavened bread
48:42
making, preparation for the Passover.
48:44
Jesus eager celebrate the Passover.
48:47
All right, Jesus was Jewish, y'all right, Christianity is
48:53
true Judaism, not the modern rabbinic Judaism that's pushed
48:58
by the rabbi's today. All right, you want to know what
49:01
Judaism really is? It's Christianity.
49:03
That's what it is. More on that next episode, but
49:06
for now, suffice to say for the original 12 to follow Jesus,
49:10
they had to know Torah and Tanakh.
49:13
But again, next episode. All right, for now.
49:18
Something to note is that Jesus is comfy at the table when he
49:23
drops the bomb, that there is a betrayer at the table.
49:26
Jesus is not concerned, OK? Jesus is not shook in any way by
49:31
Satan, OK, Does it? Is a painter afraid of a
49:36
painting or does he simply destroy the canvas?
49:39
Hello. Jesus is not concerned and Jesus
49:46
being cryptic when he says this right?
49:49
Truly, truly I tell you, one of you will betray me always.
49:53
Imagine Jesus kind of giving Judas a side eye when he says
49:56
that, right? Jesus being cryptic is not just
50:03
for shell, even though me personally I like displays of
50:07
aura. Me personally, I don't know
50:10
about you, how about you? I like displays of aura from
50:14
people that have aura because that's fun and I don't need
50:18
another reason, right? God wants us to marvel at him.
50:22
So when God does something that has infinite aura, marvel people
50:29
have fun and be in awe of what your God can do.
50:32
But there, there is more to it than that.
50:34
Jesus being cryptic is a way to let Judas know that his plan to
50:41
be stealthy in his betrayal is foiled by nature of who Jesus
50:48
is. OK, none of the 12 ratted Judas
50:54
out when Jesus said this. All of them based on their
50:59
reactions about saying, oh, not me, it's not me, based on their
51:03
reactions, they all thought it was more plausible for people to
51:08
believe they would be the betrayer than Judas.
51:13
And in every account of this moment, in all four accounts of
51:17
this moment that we have, no one accuses Judas at this table
51:22
except Jesus. What that says to me personally
51:27
is that Judas played his part perfectly to fool the 12.
51:32
All right, Jesus mentioning A betrayer at all should have sent
51:41
a chill of fear down Judas's spy.
51:45
Because the only being in the universe who can see through a
51:50
perfect mask would be the Father and Son, the being with perfect
51:55
sight. OK, liars and thieves will enter
52:01
the church. They have entered the church,
52:03
liars and thieves have entered the church, are entering the
52:07
church, and will enter the church.
52:10
But even if they fool everyone there, they don't fool the Son.
52:15
So rest easy in that and be as faithful as you can.
52:19
But additionally, you should also read the New Testament and
52:22
see what the apostles and Paul have to say about church
52:27
discipline. And you know, you know, making
52:32
sure that you're raising up leaders with character more than
52:37
ability, right, right. If you if you if you pay
52:41
attention to the warnings and the prescriptions of the
52:44
apostles give you give us all and how to raise up church
52:49
leaders the chance of you dealing with a Judas that high
52:55
up in your in your church organization very minimal, very
53:01
minimal. I would say all right, but as we
53:07
come here to the end right about Jesus talking about him, the one
53:11
that dips his hand in the cup. How did how did Jesus word that
53:15
again, Let me look let me look just the not misquotem.
53:19
He replied the one who dipped his hand with me in the ball.
53:22
He will betrayed it all right, This is amazing.
53:25
Look at Psalm 41. Psalm 41, verse 9 says this.
53:32
Even my friend in whom I trusted one who ate my bread, has raised
53:41
his heel against me. Fascinating.
53:45
OK, now this particular Psalm is not, you know, it's not purely
53:51
about Jesus. It's not prophetic in the strict
53:53
sense of the word, because earlier in the Psalm and Psalm
53:57
4, the same speaker of verse 9 says, Lord, be gracious to me,
54:01
heal me, for I have sinned against you.
54:02
Jesus never sinned against the Father, right?
54:07
Jesus never sinned against the Father.
54:09
But but Jesus does subtly appeal to this song, right?
54:16
And it's an example of what I've been talking about throughout
54:20
Matthew's Gospel, a thematic fulfillment.
54:25
In short, what has happened in the Tanakh in the Hebrew Bible
54:29
is happening again concerning the Messiah.
54:33
All right, Matthew did it all the time.
54:35
If you really want an in depth look at a couple of examples,
54:38
look at my episodes in the early days of this show in Matthew
54:43
chapter 2. The episodes all through Matthew
54:46
chapter 2 deal with thematic fulfillment.
54:48
I recommend you go look at it. Still some of my favorite
54:52
lessons I've ever taught. OK, still some of the favorite
54:56
lessons I have ever taught on this concept of how did Jesus
55:00
fulfill, fulfill the Hebrew Bible?
55:06
All right, and one last thing to talk about here.
55:10
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.
55:13
But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
55:17
It would have been better for him if he had not been born.
55:20
All right now, people love the people love to avoid giving a
55:28
clear line on what happened with Judith.
55:31
I understand why, right? But me personally, I'm not a fan
55:36
of being vague, of being overly vague where I think scripture
55:41
gives us a clear answer. Even clear answer is not
55:44
comfortable for another reason. He was.
55:48
It would have been better for him if he had not been born.
55:52
A plain reading of that makes it seem unavoidable that Judas has
55:57
one heck of a punishment waiting for him.
56:00
Assuming that Judas did not repent.
56:04
But that's the question, right? Did Judas repent?
56:07
Well, the answer to that question is the topic of another
56:12
show of another episode, right? But food for thought.
56:17
You can look at Matthew chapter 18 verse 6 and you see Jesus
56:22
using a similar phrasing, right? But whoever causes one of these
56:26
little ones who believe in me to fall away, it would be better
56:30
for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he would
56:33
drown in the depths of the sea. Now, if someone who caused one
56:40
of those little ones, Christians who believe in Jesus to fall
56:44
away were to repent of that or to repent of that evil to Jesus
56:51
truly, then yeah, Jesus would save them too, right?
56:56
This is assuming that there is no repentance on that person's
57:00
part. But it's very real if there's no
57:05
repentance, right? If the person doesn't repent
57:08
that kind that that level of punishment doesn't wait, OK, if
57:14
you want to. And this is where I kind of land
57:17
the plane, right? If you want to scoff, if you
57:21
want to make fun at, if you want to joke and jest about the mercy
57:27
of the Lamb, then one day, very soon, you will tremble and quake
57:32
and fear as you face the wrath of the Lamb.
57:38
You want to scoff at the mercy of the Lamb, Then prepare to
57:41
tremble before the wrath of the Lamb.
57:45
OK, now this is just one episode in our little miniseries about
57:52
Judas that the text of Matthew seems to be throwing our way
57:56
here. But for now, I think I've given
57:58
you guys quite a lot to think about in Ponder.
58:01
So let's let's go on. Correct.
58:06
Holy Father, righteous Son, King of the Universe, and Spirit of
58:11
God who gives the new bar. Thank you for every fruit that
58:14
grows on the vine, and especially the fruit that grows
58:17
and will be prone within US. God, give us the courage to go
58:25
out into this World of Darkness with the light of Jesus on our
58:30
lips and shining through our actions.
58:32
Thank you for shepherding the flock and protecting us in the
58:36
name of your Son Jesus. And so, God, we just ask that
58:42
you give us everything that we need according to the blood of
58:45
the eternal covenant to do your will in this earth.
58:49
While we have time to do it. We pray.
58:53
Thank you, Amen. And until next time for insane,
58:57
go do something for Jesus and go in peace.