1 00:00:01,050 --> 00:00:03,340 Hey friend, welcome to another episode of the podcast. 2 00:00:03,350 --> 00:00:07,780 We're grateful to have you joining us for a conversation on 3 00:00:07,850 --> 00:00:10,640 Luke 18. We're wrapping up chapter 18. 4 00:00:10,790 --> 00:00:13,600 So we're talking about Jesus predicting his death, and we're 5 00:00:13,610 --> 00:00:18,170 talking about the last healing in the gospel loop before Jesus 6 00:00:18,180 --> 00:00:19,900 death and resurrection. I don't think I mentioned that 7 00:00:19,910 --> 00:00:22,220 on Sunday. So that's like the last miracle 8 00:00:22,230 --> 00:00:24,600 healing. And that's a good one. 9 00:00:24,650 --> 00:00:26,980 It's a good one and positioned really intentionally. 10 00:00:27,590 --> 00:00:30,060 So we're going to get into all the good things. 11 00:00:30,070 --> 00:00:32,970 But if you were here on Sunday, you watch the sermon. 12 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,310 One of the main things that we want to tackle today is the idea 13 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,570 of things being hidden inside of Scripture and all of what that 14 00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:42,690 means. Because we touched on it a 15 00:00:42,700 --> 00:00:48,190 little bit and didn't sort of have a chance to go deeper into 16 00:00:48,260 --> 00:00:49,790 what that means throughout Scripture. 17 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:51,720 So I think that's going to govern like the bulk of our 18 00:00:51,730 --> 00:00:54,810 conversation today. But again, we hope that this 19 00:00:54,820 --> 00:00:58,850 helps you well, for in the 1st place, we do help. 20 00:00:58,860 --> 00:01:03,020 Hope that this helps you draw closer to Jesus in your here so 21 00:01:03,030 --> 00:01:05,810 you walk with God. Pray a little bit more, think 22 00:01:05,820 --> 00:01:07,580 these things through for your own self. 23 00:01:08,780 --> 00:01:10,900 Is it challenging? Is it encouraging? 24 00:01:11,090 --> 00:01:13,380 What are you feeling as we're wrestling our way through the 25 00:01:13,390 --> 00:01:16,200 gospel? And then, and I think especially 26 00:01:16,210 --> 00:01:18,780 then to have a conversation with somebody else about it. 27 00:01:18,790 --> 00:01:22,030 So we we really hope that this pushes you toward the 28 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,600 conversation. So we're going to jump in and 29 00:01:25,610 --> 00:01:30,120 we've got some questions and. So, so just to give like a 30 00:01:30,130 --> 00:01:32,720 little bit of a backdrop here. So, so we got these two 31 00:01:32,730 --> 00:01:36,520 different stories that are kind of just contrasting, you know, 32 00:01:36,530 --> 00:01:40,600 very, very clearly contrasting. You have the disciples. 33 00:01:40,850 --> 00:01:47,260 So Jesus predicts his death 1/3 time with the most amount of 34 00:01:47,270 --> 00:01:49,270 specificity that we've seen thus far. 35 00:01:49,430 --> 00:01:53,930 And even like, even there's a little mini contrast even with 36 00:01:53,940 --> 00:01:57,360 that, that like he, he gives the most detail possible. 37 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:01,590 And the disciples are like, I don't get it, you know, And then 38 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,310 there's this kind of macro contrast between the disciples 39 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,419 who are, who are blind to what Jesus is saying and doing and 40 00:02:08,430 --> 00:02:14,290 then to this literally blind man who sees who Jesus is, right? 41 00:02:14,340 --> 00:02:17,570 Doesn't call him out as Jesus of Nazareth, which is just sort of 42 00:02:17,580 --> 00:02:21,750 a generic, generic term for like, you know, grant of you 43 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,110 said grant of Toronto or Montreal or wherever, right? 44 00:02:25,180 --> 00:02:28,330 Justin of Guelph, Like, like there are lots of Justins in 45 00:02:28,340 --> 00:02:32,140 Guelph and lots of grants in Montreal, like, and, and so like 46 00:02:32,150 --> 00:02:37,220 there he calls him though Jesus, son of David. 47 00:02:37,270 --> 00:02:40,840 You know, there's a messianic, there's a messianic nature to 48 00:02:40,850 --> 00:02:43,460 what he is calling toward Jesus for. 49 00:02:43,550 --> 00:02:48,140 And, and so he gets healed and he is able to see, but he saw 50 00:02:48,150 --> 00:02:50,440 who Jesus was before he could see. 51 00:02:50,630 --> 00:02:53,400 And meanwhile the disciples are struggling to see who Jesus 52 00:02:53,410 --> 00:02:56,570 truly is while they are conceived right. 53 00:02:56,580 --> 00:02:59,240 So like it's, it's poetic in many ways. 54 00:02:59,250 --> 00:03:02,270 It's it's. There's a lot to unpack there, 55 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:08,150 but there is one in particular, one piece in particular that I 56 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,520 know that when we were, you know, you and Allison and I were 57 00:03:10,580 --> 00:03:12,830 unpacking this passage, we're like, I don't like that. 58 00:03:12,900 --> 00:03:15,190 I don't like that it's and it's been nagging at us. 59 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:20,310 And you, you alluded to it in the in the sermon, but it says 60 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,710 in verse 34 of Luke 18, it says the disciples did not understand 61 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,370 any of this. That's nothing new. 62 00:03:25,860 --> 00:03:29,240 What is a bit unique is it says it's meaning was hidden from 63 00:03:29,250 --> 00:03:32,670 them and they did not know what he was talking about. 64 00:03:33,420 --> 00:03:39,060 So my mind went to a couple places my mind went to thinking 65 00:03:39,070 --> 00:03:44,050 about, OK, OK, is, is God intentionally doing this or are 66 00:03:44,060 --> 00:03:47,430 they just, are they just dumb dumbs that like just don't get 67 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:49,470 it? And so it's like just stating a 68 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:51,700 fact that this, this, the meaning of all this was just 69 00:03:51,710 --> 00:03:54,830 hidden from them because they were too stubborn or whatever, 70 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,350 right? So like, there's the question 71 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:58,550 there. But also I think there's 72 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,950 another, you know, another thing to explore across the scriptures 73 00:04:02,060 --> 00:04:08,120 about where, where things get hidden or not hidden, right? 74 00:04:08,180 --> 00:04:11,940 So like I, my mind went to Pharaoh in, in, in Exodus, 75 00:04:12,090 --> 00:04:14,460 right? And, and now Pharaoh hardens his 76 00:04:14,470 --> 00:04:18,620 heart and also God hardens his heart, kind of causing him to 77 00:04:18,630 --> 00:04:21,120 act or believe certain things are not right. 78 00:04:21,130 --> 00:04:24,600 And and it's this interesting dynamic that OK, is it, is it, 79 00:04:24,670 --> 00:04:27,330 is it the disciples doing the thing or is it not right? 80 00:04:27,340 --> 00:04:31,000 So launching pad there just to kind of go wherever you, you 81 00:04:31,010 --> 00:04:31,920 feel like. So yeah. 82 00:04:31,930 --> 00:04:34,240 Yeah, yeah. So I think the first, the first 83 00:04:34,250 --> 00:04:36,920 thing that I want to say is there's this really interesting 84 00:04:36,930 --> 00:04:41,820 parallel in the these two stories and and you you 85 00:04:41,830 --> 00:04:44,060 mentioned one of them. So I think this is maybe a 86 00:04:44,070 --> 00:04:46,740 helpful place to start, or at least I find an interesting 87 00:04:46,750 --> 00:04:50,030 place to start. So when, when the disciples are 88 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,900 being described, when Luke writes that the disciples don't 89 00:04:52,910 --> 00:04:57,320 know what's going on. So we see there's kind of these 90 00:04:57,330 --> 00:05:02,440 like 3 fold way of like escalating their lack of 91 00:05:02,450 --> 00:05:04,780 understanding. So the disciples did not 92 00:05:04,850 --> 00:05:09,490 understand any of this one, its meaning was hidden from them too 93 00:05:09,630 --> 00:05:14,280 and they did not know what he was talking about 3 So there's 94 00:05:14,290 --> 00:05:20,070 this like escalation of unknowing even to use a word 95 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,730 that doesn't exist, unknowingness, right? 96 00:05:22,740 --> 00:05:25,620 Like they don't know what's happening, they don't understand 97 00:05:25,630 --> 00:05:28,670 it, they don't see it. And and Luke basically escalates 98 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:34,130 that 3 * 1 of those times is that it's meaning was hidden 99 00:05:34,140 --> 00:05:35,890 from them. And one of the questions just 100 00:05:35,900 --> 00:05:38,590 naturally comes, well, who does the hiding, right? 101 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,780 Is it just hidden from them as in they can't see it? 102 00:05:40,790 --> 00:05:44,030 Like it's it's they just don't understand it. 103 00:05:44,180 --> 00:05:47,230 And some, a lot of people lean in that direction because of 104 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,530 that threefold escalation, Right. 105 00:05:49,580 --> 00:05:52,970 So Luke says the disciples did not understand any of this. 106 00:05:53,060 --> 00:05:55,190 Well, so that sounds like it's on them. 107 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,970 Yes, it's meaning was hidden from them. 108 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,630 Oh OK, well that may be sounds. Like be on God. 109 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,110 Could be on them, could be on God, a combination of both. 110 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:06,270 They didn't know what he was talking about. 111 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:07,470 Kind of sounds like it's back on them. 112 00:06:07,540 --> 00:06:10,860 Yeah, but you get this threefold escalation if you flip over to 113 00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:12,640 the blind beggar who receives a site. 114 00:06:13,410 --> 00:06:17,180 There's also an escalation. And I, I wanna tease this out 115 00:06:17,190 --> 00:06:20,920 because, again, not having enough time to do it on Sunday 116 00:06:21,010 --> 00:06:23,280 sermon was already too long. Had communion it was a longer 117 00:06:23,290 --> 00:06:28,910 service, but you get this this blind man who's sitting at the 118 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,810 gates of Jericho and there's a whole question there about which 119 00:06:32,820 --> 00:06:38,070 Jericho are we at and like it it in the other gospels it's Jesus 120 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,840 is entering Jericho here in the other gospels he's exiting 121 00:06:40,850 --> 00:06:42,010 Jericho. So what's going on? 122 00:06:42,020 --> 00:06:45,650 But there's a whole like, you know, side plot about old 123 00:06:45,660 --> 00:06:48,090 Jericho and new Jericho in Jesus day. 124 00:06:48,100 --> 00:06:51,190 And to get to new Jericho, you had to exit old Jericho. 125 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:56,460 So you had to go in anyways. So it is very likely just 126 00:06:56,570 --> 00:06:59,240 different descriptions of the same event, right? 127 00:07:00,310 --> 00:07:03,270 In Jesus's day, they talked about old Jericho as Jericho and 128 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:05,460 new Jericho as Jericho. So is he exiting Jericho or is 129 00:07:05,470 --> 00:07:07,340 he entering Jericho? Yes, very. 130 00:07:07,350 --> 00:07:09,660 So, yeah, more, more exactly more. 131 00:07:09,770 --> 00:07:12,890 But if you continue reading, So blind man, he's sitting there, 132 00:07:12,950 --> 00:07:16,080 he heard the crowds going by. He asks Jesus of Nazareth, they 133 00:07:16,090 --> 00:07:18,860 say, and then he calls out Jesus, son of David. 134 00:07:18,910 --> 00:07:20,360 He calls out a second time, son of David. 135 00:07:20,370 --> 00:07:24,490 And then we get this great. So Jesus stopped and in English 136 00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:26,850 it just skips. He's like he stopped. 137 00:07:26,900 --> 00:07:28,950 He ordered the man to be brought to him. 138 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,340 And when he came near, Jesus asked him, what do you want me 139 00:07:32,350 --> 00:07:34,730 to do for you? But the implication and and like 140 00:07:34,740 --> 00:07:37,330 you kind of put like your nerd hat on here for a second, but in 141 00:07:37,340 --> 00:07:44,410 the Greek is actually this again, escalation of 142 00:07:44,420 --> 00:07:47,270 intentionality in drawing this guy in. 143 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,870 So he calls out Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. 144 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:57,270 Jesus stopped and then a truer translation could even say he 145 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:06,690 stopped and moreover, he told the crowds to bring him to me. 146 00:08:06,700 --> 00:08:11,270 And moreover, when he came near, Jesus asked him. 147 00:08:11,310 --> 00:08:14,690 And then moreover, Jesus said to him, receive your sight. 148 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,110 And so it's this, it's this in my mind like it, it's kind of 149 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:24,190 serves as this parallel escalation of in many ways, 150 00:08:24,380 --> 00:08:28,950 Jesus drawing this guy in to what he already knows. 151 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,210 He, you know, to use air quotes. He sees Jesus for who he really 152 00:08:32,220 --> 00:08:34,169 is. He's got this spiritual site, 153 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,710 but just like the the the disciples lack of understanding 154 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,390 is escalating through the passage. 155 00:08:41,460 --> 00:08:45,750 This blind man's understanding is escalating through the 156 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:50,350 passage with Jesus invitation because it's like, moreover, he 157 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,230 stopped and even more he he told them to be brought to him and 158 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,690 even more he said to him, what do you want me to do for you? 159 00:08:57,740 --> 00:09:01,350 So we've got these like it's almost like, you know, I picture 160 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,570 in my mind like in this bad analogy, but like on elevators, 161 00:09:04,580 --> 00:09:07,250 you get 2 elevators side by side and glass tubes and like one 162 00:09:07,260 --> 00:09:09,870 elevator is going down, one elevator is going up at the same 163 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,430 time at the same speed, and they're just headed in different 164 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:13,890 directions. So you get the disciples who 165 00:09:13,900 --> 00:09:18,510 seem to be falling more and more into this unknowing and this 166 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:23,300 blind man who is drawn by Jesus into more and more awareness of 167 00:09:23,310 --> 00:09:27,390 who Jesus actually is. So that kind of frames out the 168 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,040 whole thing. Now, the thing that I said on on 169 00:09:30,050 --> 00:09:35,240 Sunday, which might be a helpful place to turn to is that the the 170 00:09:35,250 --> 00:09:41,020 one story is very intentionally positioned here to comment on 171 00:09:41,090 --> 00:09:44,380 the other. So, and again, whether whether 172 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,580 whether you as as a reader of Scripture think that Luke is 173 00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:53,160 doing this intentionally and he's taking two stories that 174 00:09:53,170 --> 00:09:54,990 might not have happened back-to-back and putting them 175 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,760 together, or whether they did happen back-to-back and Luke is 176 00:09:57,770 --> 00:10:01,000 just accounting for them as back to like that doesn't matter. 177 00:10:01,250 --> 00:10:05,880 What matters is that this is what we have and one comments on 178 00:10:05,890 --> 00:10:09,160 the other. So just like the disciples are 179 00:10:09,170 --> 00:10:13,180 kind of descending into their unknowingness and this blind 180 00:10:13,190 --> 00:10:18,620 beggar is ascending into greater awareness and and knowledge of 181 00:10:18,630 --> 00:10:23,620 who God is. That invitation that Jesus gives 182 00:10:23,630 --> 00:10:27,940 that threefold and moreover he draws him in and moreover, he 183 00:10:27,950 --> 00:10:37,140 asks him is serves as as a like a foretaste or a promise to the 184 00:10:37,150 --> 00:10:40,300 disciples of where they will be led. 185 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,030 Yeah. So, so even in their 186 00:10:44,220 --> 00:10:47,370 uncertainty, even in their hiddenness, even in their 187 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:53,330 unknowing, Jesus immediately gives them this beautiful sign 188 00:10:53,380 --> 00:10:57,730 of what is to come for them, which is that there will be a 189 00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:02,800 day where they fully understand and know the things that are 190 00:11:02,810 --> 00:11:07,130 currently hidden from them. Be it because of their own, you 191 00:11:07,140 --> 00:11:11,520 know, their their own intellect or expectation, which is what we 192 00:11:11,530 --> 00:11:15,420 talked about on on Sunday, their own expectation of Jesus or be 193 00:11:15,430 --> 00:11:20,220 it because of divine hiddenness or like God hiding the thing 194 00:11:20,230 --> 00:11:22,400 from them. So I think a helpful place to 195 00:11:22,410 --> 00:11:25,560 start is not out of this place of like fear. 196 00:11:25,570 --> 00:11:28,920 And, you know, I think it's honest to say, oh, I don't love 197 00:11:28,930 --> 00:11:31,300 that this is here. Like, does God hide this from 198 00:11:31,310 --> 00:11:32,300 them? Yeah, I don't love that. 199 00:11:32,310 --> 00:11:36,460 That's an honest thing to say, but I think it's helpful to 200 00:11:36,470 --> 00:11:43,700 frame the whole, the, the these two stories out as a promise. 201 00:11:44,190 --> 00:11:47,650 This is like foreshadowing what will happen to the disciples so 202 00:11:47,660 --> 00:11:49,700 they're not going to be left in this state forever. 203 00:11:49,770 --> 00:11:54,260 And that just helps, I think, change our conversation around 204 00:11:54,270 --> 00:11:57,740 what hiddenness is in scripture. Before you go down kind of the, 205 00:11:57,750 --> 00:12:02,040 the rabbit hole of the instances of, of what is being hidden, who 206 00:12:02,050 --> 00:12:03,580 is hidden in scripture? What does it mean? 207 00:12:03,590 --> 00:12:05,090 Because it's not morally neutral. 208 00:12:05,100 --> 00:12:06,620 That's the thing. Like when things are hidden in 209 00:12:06,630 --> 00:12:08,400 scripture, it's not morally neutral. 210 00:12:08,490 --> 00:12:10,550 It's not. I mean, it is ambiguous a little 211 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:18,070 bit sometimes, but it's not the fact that it is saying something 212 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:22,460 specific about the people and the situation, the context like 213 00:12:22,690 --> 00:12:25,720 that, you know, that is not ambiguous. 214 00:12:25,730 --> 00:12:27,350 When things are hidden, they're hidden for a reason. 215 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,460 They're hidden for a purpose. And so I just hope for for 216 00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:33,800 people not to start at this place of fear like, oh, maybe 217 00:12:33,810 --> 00:12:36,260 stuff hidden from me and will I ever find out? 218 00:12:36,350 --> 00:12:39,780 The word to the disciples in this is very clearly there will 219 00:12:39,790 --> 00:12:42,890 be a day where you do find out. So things won't be hidden from 220 00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:47,040 you in perpetuity or ever to your demise. 221 00:12:47,180 --> 00:12:50,270 It's really, and we're going to get into this, but it's for 222 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,670 their own good. It's for their own, You know, 223 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:56,610 the way in which we talk about the divine hiddenness is so 224 00:12:56,620 --> 00:13:02,140 often for their own good. In the end, we're just not 225 00:13:02,150 --> 00:13:03,400 there. Yet, Yeah, exactly. 226 00:13:03,510 --> 00:13:06,180 And, and so I think like I think it's helpful way to frame it. 227 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,940 There's still like there's still part of me that doesn't like it, 228 00:13:10,230 --> 00:13:12,720 you know, and then that's just there, there's this part of me 229 00:13:12,730 --> 00:13:13,840 that's like, it doesn't seem fair. 230 00:13:13,850 --> 00:13:18,620 It doesn't seem like why, you know, if, if it is God and I 231 00:13:18,630 --> 00:13:21,540 think that it's still a question if it is God that is doing the 232 00:13:21,550 --> 00:13:27,490 hiding. That feels like, OK, yeah. 233 00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:28,960 Like what else is God hiding from me? 234 00:13:29,030 --> 00:13:30,870 What is what else is God holding out on me for? 235 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:32,360 I'm like, these are like genuine questions. 236 00:13:32,370 --> 00:13:34,740 I remember, like, I, I went through a phase in my own life 237 00:13:34,750 --> 00:13:37,890 where like I, I had a lot of friends who were like leaning 238 00:13:37,900 --> 00:13:42,880 into like reformed theology and particularly more like, more, I 239 00:13:42,890 --> 00:13:45,760 would say like they were in this like stage of life where it was 240 00:13:45,770 --> 00:13:48,200 like they, they really wanted to be like hardcore, like 241 00:13:48,210 --> 00:13:52,320 Calvinists. And, and if that means nothing 242 00:13:52,330 --> 00:13:56,280 to you, don't worry about it. But like, it was. 243 00:13:56,290 --> 00:14:00,350 And so they really, really leaned into the like themes of, 244 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:06,040 of predestination and, and limited atonement and things 245 00:14:06,050 --> 00:14:07,480 like that. And again, if that means nothing 246 00:14:07,490 --> 00:14:09,860 to you, you know, maybe, maybe gonna go down a rabbit trail. 247 00:14:09,870 --> 00:14:12,440 It's fun. But I, I had like deep 248 00:14:12,490 --> 00:14:15,680 existential crises about some of these things. 249 00:14:15,770 --> 00:14:19,890 And so my hackles get up when I, when I'm like, oh, like there's 250 00:14:19,900 --> 00:14:22,270 like this part of me and part of that I, I've learned to be OK 251 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,230 with it over the years. I've learned to, I've learned to 252 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,310 like accept some of the mystery of God. 253 00:14:28,180 --> 00:14:30,060 So like, you know what? I'm reading passages like this 254 00:14:30,070 --> 00:14:35,340 when I'm reading passages like say, like Asians one where I'm 255 00:14:35,350 --> 00:14:39,620 reading them and I'm like, OK, I don't know the, the full mind of 256 00:14:39,630 --> 00:14:43,610 God and the full scope of God and why God might hide something 257 00:14:43,620 --> 00:14:47,630 from the disciples, You know, and, and, and there is, there is 258 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,440 something of a mercy, you know, and, and maybe, maybe thing is 259 00:14:51,450 --> 00:14:53,700 something I could compare it to. I don't know if this works or 260 00:14:53,710 --> 00:14:57,830 not, but like, I'm thinking about like, you know, my, my 261 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,130 child as a 10 year old, she's 10. 262 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:06,690 There are things that I don't tell her that one day I will 263 00:15:06,700 --> 00:15:09,410 tell her, right. There are things about life. 264 00:15:09,420 --> 00:15:14,150 There are things about even like church and theology and the 265 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,980 Bible that like, hey, she's only 10. 266 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,910 Her mind can't hold all these like all the nuance and all of 267 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,360 the tensions and all of the things together, right? 268 00:15:23,470 --> 00:15:26,080 Her brain is not fully developed and won't be for another almost 269 00:15:26,090 --> 00:15:31,040 15 years, you know, like, and so I, I think like the way that I 270 00:15:31,110 --> 00:15:33,760 can come to terms with it is like it's, it's a mercy in some 271 00:15:33,770 --> 00:15:35,300 ways. Yeah. 272 00:15:35,350 --> 00:15:39,480 So I do think that's a helpful way to frame it because like 273 00:15:39,490 --> 00:15:42,250 that we do that all the time and we think that it's OK and good 274 00:15:42,260 --> 00:15:43,750 and even, right? Hmm. 275 00:15:43,940 --> 00:15:49,880 I think that it's also OK to just name the fact that we, we 276 00:15:49,890 --> 00:15:54,210 don't like that God might be hiding something from us because 277 00:15:54,220 --> 00:15:57,530 now it's us. Like it's me who's implicated. 278 00:15:57,620 --> 00:15:59,950 Just like, just like put your, put yourself in your kid's 279 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:03,710 shoes, Like your kid doesn't like the fact that you, you 280 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,030 know, you, you don't tell them everything. 281 00:16:09,370 --> 00:16:11,870 You know, I think it's hard. We just sometimes we read things 282 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,840 in Scripture and the hardest thing is going, OK, that's 283 00:16:14,850 --> 00:16:16,500 there. I don't like it. 284 00:16:16,510 --> 00:16:19,270 Yeah, but it's there. Uh-huh. 285 00:16:19,350 --> 00:16:24,960 And I've gotta at least find a way to say, OK, it's there. 286 00:16:25,390 --> 00:16:28,440 What is the invitation to me now? 287 00:16:28,450 --> 00:16:30,360 I would encourage people to say like when you're reading 288 00:16:30,370 --> 00:16:34,810 Scripture that that's the best, I think frame of mind that you 289 00:16:34,820 --> 00:16:36,810 can be in is what is the invitation? 290 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,210 What is the invitation? So let's, let's talk through a 291 00:16:40,220 --> 00:16:43,100 lot of the, the reasons or some of the reasons why, OK, Some of 292 00:16:43,110 --> 00:16:46,210 the instances of, of, of things being hidden in Scripture 293 00:16:46,220 --> 00:16:48,270 throughout because like I said, so it's, it's not morally 294 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,080 neutral. It happens all throughout 295 00:16:51,090 --> 00:16:53,010 Scripture. It's an Old Testament and New 296 00:16:53,020 --> 00:16:55,990 Testament phenomenon. There's language for it in, in, 297 00:16:56,060 --> 00:16:57,550 yeah, Hebrew. There's language for it in 298 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,990 Greek. And it starts at the very, very 299 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,750 beginning. So you get Adam and Eve who hide 300 00:17:02,820 --> 00:17:06,900 from God in the garden, so hidden they are attempting to be 301 00:17:06,950 --> 00:17:09,420 hidden from God, which is impossible. 302 00:17:09,490 --> 00:17:13,000 Yeah, but from the very beginning we get this 303 00:17:13,050 --> 00:17:20,380 relationship dynamic of hidden Ness don't eat from the tree. 304 00:17:20,710 --> 00:17:26,560 There is an implied hiddenness there and there is an implied 305 00:17:26,569 --> 00:17:30,600 trust at the beginning. And then the the deceiver comes 306 00:17:30,610 --> 00:17:32,440 in, right. So Satan the accuser comes in 307 00:17:32,450 --> 00:17:36,660 say, did God really say that? Like, did you really say like, 308 00:17:36,670 --> 00:17:40,660 can you really trust and and I think that like not to push too 309 00:17:40,670 --> 00:17:42,860 hard against you not liking that this is in the passage. 310 00:17:42,870 --> 00:17:44,610 We all have things that we don't like in the passage. 311 00:17:44,620 --> 00:17:48,430 Yeah, But I I do feel like that's the it's honest and good 312 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,350 and right to name that we don't like it. 313 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:56,490 The the wrong step to take then is to say, well, does it really 314 00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:59,570 say it though? Does it really say the thing 315 00:17:59,580 --> 00:18:01,250 that I don't like? Yeah, it does. 316 00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:03,450 It still does. Even if we don't like it, it 317 00:18:03,460 --> 00:18:05,340 still says the thing. And like, sometimes there could 318 00:18:05,350 --> 00:18:08,020 be, you know, like nuanced translations that like, you 319 00:18:08,030 --> 00:18:10,290 know, leave certain things open to interpretation. 320 00:18:10,300 --> 00:18:11,360 I don't get that impression here. 321 00:18:11,370 --> 00:18:13,090 Though no, no, I don't. I don't. 322 00:18:13,100 --> 00:18:15,330 I don't think so either, but I just think it's helpful also to 323 00:18:15,340 --> 00:18:18,390 name that this is this, this challenge, this wrestling starts 324 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,680 at the very beginning. And so from the very beginning, 325 00:18:21,750 --> 00:18:24,890 human beings have to wrestle out their relationship with God, 326 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,890 which if you take it at face value, is an unequal 327 00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:31,090 relationship. The creator creation, right? 328 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,250 God and humanity are not, we're not equal. 329 00:18:34,620 --> 00:18:39,630 And so I do think that your child parent analogy is just a 330 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:43,150 really simple, helpful way to think about that They, you know, 331 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,130 you are not it. It is not a relationship of 332 00:18:46,140 --> 00:18:48,870 equals. Yeah, when you are taking care 333 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:50,650 of your kid and making sure they're staying. 334 00:18:50,660 --> 00:18:52,460 Alive. Sometimes they try to make it 335 00:18:52,470 --> 00:18:55,260 Yep, but it's. So, so we see from the very 336 00:18:55,270 --> 00:18:58,660 beginning Adam and Eve. We see it in Israel's spiritual 337 00:18:58,670 --> 00:19:01,470 blindness. So in in passages like Isaiah 9 338 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:06,400 or 69, I think it is, or Isaiah 69, which is hearing, you will 339 00:19:06,410 --> 00:19:09,450 hear and not understand. Hmm. 340 00:19:09,490 --> 00:19:14,410 So again, like this implied hiddenness that you will, you 341 00:19:14,420 --> 00:19:17,850 will not understand. There's also the religious 342 00:19:17,860 --> 00:19:20,490 leaders that Jesus talks to in the New Testament who 343 00:19:20,500 --> 00:19:25,890 continually don't understand and recognize what Jesus is saying 344 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,370 and the implication for them. You know, and I think about his 345 00:19:29,380 --> 00:19:32,430 constant battles with the Pharisees about the right 346 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:37,430 reading of law and application of law and Jesus saying things 347 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,660 like you have what it said, but I say to you, So he, he has this 348 00:19:41,670 --> 00:19:45,880 constant sort of undertone of, of conflict with the, the 349 00:19:45,890 --> 00:19:47,460 religious leaders running through. 350 00:19:47,790 --> 00:19:50,480 So some of the reasons why, though things are hidden. 351 00:19:50,490 --> 00:19:53,730 And I wrote a few down just to be helpful, which I very rarely 352 00:19:53,740 --> 00:19:56,760 do for podcast episodes but trying to be organized. 353 00:19:56,770 --> 00:20:01,260 Here. So one divine initiative like so 354 00:20:01,270 --> 00:20:04,940 these are the places in Scripture where God is doing the 355 00:20:04,950 --> 00:20:08,300 hiding of the thing. So this is hidden. 356 00:20:08,370 --> 00:20:14,550 Revelation this is moments, you know in in some ways like what 357 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,920 we've just seen in Luke where the disciples 3 times in a row 358 00:20:18,930 --> 00:20:22,550 Jesus has said to them this is what is going to happen and they 359 00:20:22,620 --> 00:20:26,690 they it's hidden from them. They don't understand but one of 360 00:20:26,700 --> 00:20:31,690 the key verses here is Matthew in Matthew 1125. 361 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:38,640 So the, the idea being that there are occasions where God 362 00:20:38,950 --> 00:20:44,880 and, and this is Jesus is speaking in a way that hides 363 00:20:44,890 --> 00:20:49,840 things from human beings to cultivate humility in the human 364 00:20:49,850 --> 00:20:55,700 being and as an, an acknowledgement of divine 365 00:20:55,750 --> 00:20:58,550 sovereignty. So again, it's, it's we're 366 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,540 establishing a relationship that is unequal. 367 00:21:01,810 --> 00:21:04,560 So this is, this is God's sovereignty. 368 00:21:04,630 --> 00:21:09,980 This is divine sovereignty and human humility, our humility. 369 00:21:10,030 --> 00:21:13,390 So in Matthew 11, you've hidden these things from the wise and 370 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,270 learned and revealed them to little children. 371 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,530 So we talk about this with parables all the time, that 372 00:21:19,540 --> 00:21:26,440 Jesus spoke in a way that was, I use this word carefully, but 373 00:21:26,450 --> 00:21:32,020 like cryptic, like parables are not straightforward teaching. 374 00:21:32,290 --> 00:21:37,890 They are meant to communicate truths when the listener leans 375 00:21:37,900 --> 00:21:42,600 in and actively participates and works at understanding like 376 00:21:42,610 --> 00:21:45,130 Jesus teaches. And his desire is that you lean 377 00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:48,450 in and that you want to participate in the thing. 378 00:21:48,620 --> 00:21:52,400 And if you don't, well then you know you're probably not going 379 00:21:52,410 --> 00:21:56,220 to understand what he's saying. So there's divine initiative 380 00:21:56,230 --> 00:21:59,410 there, Like there's there's initiative on God's side, on 381 00:21:59,420 --> 00:22:01,670 Jesus side with the way he's teaching. 382 00:22:01,830 --> 00:22:05,270 But I think you also have to acknowledge that there's human 383 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,450 response to that divine initiative. 384 00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:10,450 It's not just that I got hidden that for me. 385 00:22:10,460 --> 00:22:12,300 And I guess I'm one of the ones that's hidden from because I 386 00:22:12,310 --> 00:22:13,280 don't know what he's talking about. 387 00:22:13,290 --> 00:22:18,730 No, he's, he's inviting you to lean in and to, to want to learn 388 00:22:18,740 --> 00:22:23,230 and grow and be challenged and find this place of humility, 389 00:22:23,380 --> 00:22:26,650 which says I I need to learn and grow and be challenged. 390 00:22:26,660 --> 00:22:31,430 So Jesus does this all the way through it. 391 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,850 So and and again, it's it's in one of Jesus prayers, I think. 392 00:22:34,860 --> 00:22:37,200 So Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and 393 00:22:37,210 --> 00:22:39,010 earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and 394 00:22:39,020 --> 00:22:40,570 Lord and revealed them to little children. 395 00:22:43,420 --> 00:22:47,830 God veils, Kingdom mysteries, Kingdom realities. 396 00:22:48,610 --> 00:22:55,460 I, I do think that there's this invitation to lean in and from a 397 00:22:55,470 --> 00:22:58,480 place of humility or a starting place, I guess of humility. 398 00:23:00,010 --> 00:23:04,300 Be ready for God. Do some work changing your heart 399 00:23:04,310 --> 00:23:07,230 and your mind. That doesn't happen if you start 400 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:11,810 from a place of certainty where you know everything that that 401 00:23:11,820 --> 00:23:14,730 God has said, or everything that the scriptures contain or 402 00:23:14,740 --> 00:23:16,530 everything that you think is correct. 403 00:23:16,580 --> 00:23:18,650 There's no, there's no transformation that's gonna 404 00:23:18,660 --> 00:23:20,150 happen from a place of certainty. 405 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,190 Reminds me of just I just put up the first screen, the ends one 406 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,270 where where Paul's kind of tracking with a similar idea 407 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,980 where he's like for the message of the cross is foolishness to 408 00:23:27,990 --> 00:23:29,480 those who are perishing. So they're not going to get it. 409 00:23:29,490 --> 00:23:30,690 They're not going to understand it. 410 00:23:30,740 --> 00:23:32,680 The the meaning is obscured from them. 411 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,280 But to those of us are being saved who have humbled 412 00:23:35,290 --> 00:23:38,060 themselves before God, it is written, I will destroy the 413 00:23:38,070 --> 00:23:39,910 wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the 414 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:41,110 intelligence. Little frustrated. 415 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,220 Like there's, there's. You see that even there? 416 00:23:43,230 --> 00:23:44,100 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 417 00:23:44,170 --> 00:23:46,840 So the other reverse that I had written down is Colossians, 418 00:23:46,850 --> 00:23:53,640 Colossians 126. And that just says has a 419 00:23:53,650 --> 00:23:55,860 beginning. So the mystery that that that 420 00:23:55,870 --> 00:23:59,060 has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now 421 00:23:59,070 --> 00:24:01,740 disclosed to the Lord's people, right? 422 00:24:01,990 --> 00:24:06,320 You also get Matthew 1335. And I know that we're jumping 423 00:24:06,330 --> 00:24:11,940 around here, so apologies, but in Matthew 1335 says so was 424 00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:13,360 fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet. 425 00:24:13,370 --> 00:24:14,690 I will open my mouth in parables. 426 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:17,610 I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world. 427 00:24:18,100 --> 00:24:25,050 So there's this desire, I think that for followers of Jesus, for 428 00:24:25,060 --> 00:24:29,250 people, for humanity to understand or to at least grasp 429 00:24:29,300 --> 00:24:34,590 eventually, the idea that our understanding, our 430 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,350 transformation that happens, our knowledge, the things that we 431 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:44,350 have received, we've learned from Jesus rests on, on grace 432 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:50,480 and love and mercy and kindness, not on aptitude or intellect. 433 00:24:50,490 --> 00:24:53,700 It's not about just figuring out the mystery. 434 00:24:53,780 --> 00:24:58,420 So, so the, the, the Christian life is not, and this is not in 435 00:24:58,430 --> 00:25:00,370 my notes, so this could go sideways, but so the Christian 436 00:25:00,380 --> 00:25:01,740 life is not. Have you ever done one of these? 437 00:25:01,750 --> 00:25:06,680 Like was it like lock rooms, escape rooms, escape rooms? 438 00:25:06,850 --> 00:25:08,050 I have not. My daughter did one. 439 00:25:08,060 --> 00:25:10,360 For the whole idea, yeah. It's terrifying. 440 00:25:11,070 --> 00:25:16,300 Locked in A room and there's a whole bunch of clues and if you 441 00:25:16,310 --> 00:25:19,920 string together the right clues in the right way, then you can 442 00:25:19,930 --> 00:25:23,010 escape from the escape room. Yeah. 443 00:25:23,020 --> 00:25:24,760 And you you get the key Eventually you get the key at 444 00:25:24,770 --> 00:25:26,890 least this is what I've heard I don't know anybody else have 445 00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:28,370 anybody done. Yeah, OK. 446 00:25:28,380 --> 00:25:29,990 A couple of people have done escape rooms. 447 00:25:30,140 --> 00:25:33,950 This is a thing. And like that, that. 448 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:39,050 So I think that our, our default is to think, oh, if God's hidden 449 00:25:39,060 --> 00:25:41,750 something from us, it's kind of like an escape room. 450 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:46,610 It's a divine escape room where we have to work to like solve 451 00:25:46,620 --> 00:25:49,920 the mystery and prove that we're smart enough. 452 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:51,730 This is why, like, I don't want to go to escape room. 453 00:25:51,740 --> 00:25:53,900 I don't want to confront the fact that I'm an idiot and I 454 00:25:53,910 --> 00:25:57,540 can't get my way out. Like I can't find the, the key. 455 00:25:57,740 --> 00:25:59,680 Like I, I just don't want to do it. 456 00:25:59,730 --> 00:26:02,550 So, so we have this baseline assumption that when things are 457 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:08,230 hidden, like, OK, I need to, I need to work and prove my 458 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:13,010 intellect and aptitude in order to uncover the mystery and 459 00:26:13,020 --> 00:26:16,670 escape the escape room. That is, you know, this 460 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:22,830 Christian life, things are hidden to I, I, I believe, and I 461 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:27,030 think scripture is clear to to do the exact opposite, which is 462 00:26:27,180 --> 00:26:33,410 to show that it's all grace. All of it rests on grace and the 463 00:26:33,420 --> 00:26:36,630 moment, like so just wants you to lean in and to be an active 464 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,790 participant in understanding the parable. 465 00:26:38,860 --> 00:26:40,950 What does that look like? It looks like humility. 466 00:26:41,020 --> 00:26:44,610 It looks like confronting the things inside of yourself. 467 00:26:44,660 --> 00:26:48,010 It doesn't look like an escape room where you're like, OK, we 468 00:26:48,020 --> 00:26:49,370 solved this clue. Now we solved this clue. 469 00:26:49,380 --> 00:26:51,030 Now we solved this clue. And then suddenly, like Bing, 470 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,520 like the key is gonna pop out of a wall or from behind a painting 471 00:26:53,530 --> 00:26:55,850 and away you go. So. 472 00:26:55,910 --> 00:26:59,860 So things are hidden. Divine initiative, hidden 473 00:26:59,870 --> 00:27:06,300 revelation is is meant to point us toward grace and what Jesus 474 00:27:06,310 --> 00:27:10,100 is doing. So that's number one #2 second 475 00:27:10,110 --> 00:27:15,480 reason is human blindness. And this I think is we see a 476 00:27:15,490 --> 00:27:18,680 mixture of in the disciples. So this is what we've talked 477 00:27:18,690 --> 00:27:23,280 about, which is that the the disciples don't get it. 478 00:27:23,570 --> 00:27:28,670 And if it if it just said that it was hidden from them, period. 479 00:27:29,570 --> 00:27:31,550 That'd be more difficult. That'd be more that that would 480 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,900 be, you know, I think we'd be tipping one right, divine 481 00:27:34,910 --> 00:27:38,600 initiative only. But the fact that that Luke says 482 00:27:38,690 --> 00:27:41,420 the disciples did not understand any of this, then it's its 483 00:27:41,430 --> 00:27:43,400 meaning was hidden from them. They did not know what he was 484 00:27:43,410 --> 00:27:45,300 talking about. I think to me implies that there 485 00:27:45,310 --> 00:27:47,440 are multiple things going on here. 486 00:27:48,090 --> 00:27:54,520 And so we do see this, that when like when people reject Jesus 487 00:27:54,590 --> 00:28:01,480 and reject what he is saying, that leads to further hiddenness 488 00:28:02,190 --> 00:28:08,240 and further concealment, or at least further like unknowing for 489 00:28:08,250 --> 00:28:11,470 the confusion. So again, I, I do think that 490 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,180 we've got to see this in the disciples. 491 00:28:13,190 --> 00:28:19,000 So three times the disciples are told of the cross and its 492 00:28:19,010 --> 00:28:21,660 message, it's understanding was hidden from them. 493 00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:24,680 Now I think it's hidden from them because they don't want to 494 00:28:24,690 --> 00:28:28,320 accept what Jesus is saying. They do not want to accept that 495 00:28:28,330 --> 00:28:32,500 Jesus has to go and die and that everything they've thought about 496 00:28:32,510 --> 00:28:34,660 who the Messiah would be is wrong. 497 00:28:34,710 --> 00:28:37,160 So they're not willing to confront that in themselves has 498 00:28:37,370 --> 00:28:39,990 less to do with what Jesus is saying and more to do with 499 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,750 what's going on in their own mind and their own heart. 500 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:44,660 They're just, they're on the feelings, you know, they're just 501 00:28:44,670 --> 00:28:46,360 kind of stuck there. Yeah, yeah. 502 00:28:46,430 --> 00:28:51,290 Yeah, now, now what Some of what some commentators and some 503 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:58,840 writers wonder in this, and I like it, is that in in part, the 504 00:28:58,850 --> 00:29:04,160 hiddenness is a grace to the disciples because they don't 505 00:29:04,170 --> 00:29:07,230 want to accept that Jesus has to die, right? 506 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:11,150 So, so Peter says it, right? Like, surely not. 507 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:12,830 He's like, you will never do this. 508 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:14,190 And what does Jesus respond to him? 509 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:20,050 Get behind me, Satan. So like that's a that's a harsh 510 00:29:20,060 --> 00:29:21,210 line. It is. 511 00:29:21,260 --> 00:29:26,210 It is a grace because if they fully understood, if it was not 512 00:29:26,220 --> 00:29:31,250 hidden from them and they refuse to follow Jesus to that point, 513 00:29:31,260 --> 00:29:32,790 like that's a very different story. 514 00:29:33,010 --> 00:29:35,670 Hmm, and. So like an anxious mess, all of 515 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,390 them like. Yeah, at, at, at. 516 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,150 Best. Yeah, So the hiddenness, and I 517 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:42,570 hope this is tracking for people. 518 00:29:42,580 --> 00:29:49,430 The hiddenness serves as a grace to the disciples because it 519 00:29:49,660 --> 00:29:52,750 delays accountability. They can. 520 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,470 They're still wrestling it out. They're still like, we don't, we 521 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:56,950 don't like this, we don't want it. 522 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,560 This is not going to happen and the final word that Jesus speaks 523 00:30:00,570 --> 00:30:02,360 to Peter does not Get behind me, Satan. 524 00:30:03,070 --> 00:30:05,180 It's go feed my sheep. Hmm. 525 00:30:05,890 --> 00:30:09,680 So it allows for the disciples to be prepared for what is 526 00:30:09,690 --> 00:30:14,880 really true and going to happen without the necessity of 527 00:30:14,890 --> 00:30:16,460 judgment or accountability in the moment. 528 00:30:16,470 --> 00:30:17,520 They can wrestle out their doubt. 529 00:30:17,530 --> 00:30:21,440 And that's why I love so the the quote that I started with on 530 00:30:21,450 --> 00:30:25,270 Sunday was that in order to be a person of faith, you have to 531 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,480 become a person of doubt or you have to wrestle with doubt. 532 00:30:27,490 --> 00:30:32,550 Is is such a beautiful thing because in in some ways the 533 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:37,080 hiddenness allows you the space for doubt and the mystery allows 534 00:30:37,090 --> 00:30:40,170 you the space for doubt. And it's doubt without judgment, 535 00:30:40,220 --> 00:30:42,430 or at very least it's doubt without judgment toward 536 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,410 condemnation. It allows for grace and it 537 00:30:45,420 --> 00:30:49,370 allows for mercy, and it delays accountability so that you can 538 00:30:49,380 --> 00:30:52,710 wrestle it out on the way with Jesus as you follow him to 539 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:58,500 Jerusalem. And it allows for more time for 540 00:30:58,510 --> 00:31:02,120 God to transform your life, your heart and your mind and for you 541 00:31:02,130 --> 00:31:06,070 to respond. O it's like a Divine Mercy that 542 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,010 that things might also be hidden. 543 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,560 OK, The last thing I want to say because we I could go on. 544 00:31:12,570 --> 00:31:13,810 I could go on for a long time with. 545 00:31:13,820 --> 00:31:19,830 All of this. Jesus himself represents this 546 00:31:20,630 --> 00:31:25,660 hiddenness, this like paradoxical hiddenness, because 547 00:31:26,090 --> 00:31:29,870 all through his ministry and all through his life, people are 548 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,660 trying to figure out who he is. So he's got this great 549 00:31:32,790 --> 00:31:37,020 interaction with the disciples where they're walking by well 550 00:31:37,030 --> 00:31:38,620 there. So they're walking by this this 551 00:31:39,290 --> 00:31:42,350 it's actually a spring. So where water would come where 552 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,620 where drinking water would well up out of the ground and where 553 00:31:45,630 --> 00:31:48,980 people for generations came to gather drinking water. 554 00:31:49,090 --> 00:31:52,930 And so as you would assume, many different people, many different 555 00:31:52,940 --> 00:31:57,060 communities would gather, would find their literally the source 556 00:31:57,070 --> 00:32:01,500 of life water, drink it, and then build these idols and icons 557 00:32:01,510 --> 00:32:03,180 to gods. They they build altars, they 558 00:32:03,190 --> 00:32:06,460 carve out images of various gods. 559 00:32:06,630 --> 00:32:11,180 And so it Cesaria Philippi is the location of this place. 560 00:32:11,190 --> 00:32:14,340 And so Jesus is walking with disciples and he asked them this 561 00:32:14,350 --> 00:32:16,510 question, who do you, who do people say that I am? 562 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:21,550 And you know, some of us think they go, well, some say you're, 563 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:22,790 you know, some say you're Elijah. 564 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,540 Some say, you know, profit and, and, and just double s down. 565 00:32:26,550 --> 00:32:28,100 He says, well, who do you say that I am? 566 00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:30,310 And they say you are the Messiah. 567 00:32:30,660 --> 00:32:38,650 And it's this, it's this process of gradual, like revelation. 568 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,810 The disciples eventually get to a place where they name him as 569 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:44,450 Messiah. Now it's still their 570 00:32:44,460 --> 00:32:47,730 expectations are sideways, Yes, but the disciples don't begin 571 00:32:47,740 --> 00:32:49,570 like when Jesus calls them. They don't, hey, that's the 572 00:32:49,580 --> 00:32:51,670 Messiah we're going to follow. I think he's a rabbi. 573 00:32:51,940 --> 00:32:55,390 And so they do, they follow him and eventually they they figure 574 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,380 it out. But the whole of like the whole 575 00:32:58,390 --> 00:33:01,630 of the area and people were everybody's trying to figure out 576 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:05,020 who Jesus is. You see it all the way through 577 00:33:05,030 --> 00:33:09,940 to Jesus trials where you know, like some say, you know, you're 578 00:33:09,950 --> 00:33:14,060 you're the king of the Jews and like, who are you gonna say that 579 00:33:14,070 --> 00:33:15,780 you are? And she has remained silent, 580 00:33:15,850 --> 00:33:19,980 keeps it hidden. But him, he himself is this 581 00:33:20,290 --> 00:33:25,240 paradox of speaking very boldly about what is to come while also 582 00:33:25,250 --> 00:33:27,600 remaining somewhat of a mystery to people. 583 00:33:27,610 --> 00:33:29,240 People don't know. And intentionally. 584 00:33:29,330 --> 00:33:31,800 Intentionally, yeah. Because that's the question that 585 00:33:31,810 --> 00:33:35,040 every single one of us has to wrestle with, which is who is 586 00:33:35,050 --> 00:33:37,100 Jesus? Who is Jesus? 587 00:33:37,370 --> 00:33:40,160 Because that changes my life and that changes your life. 588 00:33:40,170 --> 00:33:43,680 And listener, that changes your life when you wrestle out the 589 00:33:43,690 --> 00:33:45,620 question. I think every human being that 590 00:33:45,630 --> 00:33:49,540 has ever existed and will ever exist needs to reckon with that 591 00:33:49,550 --> 00:33:53,160 question, Who is Jesus? Because if he is who he says he 592 00:33:53,170 --> 00:33:56,640 is, then it's game on. And if he isn't, then none of it 593 00:33:56,650 --> 00:34:02,020 matters. And you, listener, me, we all 594 00:34:02,030 --> 00:34:04,140 need to be confronted with that question. 595 00:34:04,390 --> 00:34:10,550 And I think that's in part that happens when it is this gradual 596 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,750 revelation through Scripture of Jesus and this gradual unfolding 597 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:17,429 of, you know, not. I would say that not from full 598 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:19,909 mystery to full certainty, but from mystery to certain. 599 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:24,130 Like along that trajectory of being able to declare who Jesus 600 00:34:24,139 --> 00:34:25,400 is. I think that every single person 601 00:34:25,409 --> 00:34:27,600 needs to answer that question. Who do you say that I am? 602 00:34:28,659 --> 00:34:31,190 So Chris, like Christological implications as well. 603 00:34:31,199 --> 00:34:34,670 We see it all the way through that there's this back and forth 604 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:41,699 of hiddenness and understanding, not knowing, discovering, being 605 00:34:41,710 --> 00:34:43,280 known. And that's what Paul Lutes do 606 00:34:43,290 --> 00:34:47,580 when he says, listen, now I I know partially, but then I will 607 00:34:47,590 --> 00:34:52,080 know fully as I am fully known. And it's this great promise of 608 00:34:52,150 --> 00:34:54,670 of what is to come. And yeah, and there are things 609 00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:59,440 that we even today and like looking at the the full Canon of 610 00:34:59,450 --> 00:35:03,000 scripture and have, you know, like theologians have not 611 00:35:03,050 --> 00:35:05,820 finished plumbing the depths of, of all that is there. 612 00:35:05,830 --> 00:35:10,420 And, and even even if they did, it still would not, you know, 613 00:35:10,490 --> 00:35:13,440 contain the totality of of all that we could possibly know 614 00:35:13,450 --> 00:35:15,400 about God and the universe and Jesus. 615 00:35:15,410 --> 00:35:19,370 And those are questions we'll have, hopefully, you know, some 616 00:35:19,380 --> 00:35:21,080 good conversations with God in heaven. 617 00:35:21,150 --> 00:35:24,480 Yeah, absolutely. I had, I had lots of other 618 00:35:24,490 --> 00:35:26,480 thoughts and questions, but it felt like that was like the 619 00:35:26,490 --> 00:35:30,160 right place to, you know, to end and the, the grappling with who 620 00:35:30,170 --> 00:35:33,370 Jesus is. And, and so we hope that whether 621 00:35:33,380 --> 00:35:37,400 you've been a follower of Jesus for decades or whether this is 622 00:35:37,690 --> 00:35:41,200 newer for you, that we are still in the process of asking those 623 00:35:41,210 --> 00:35:46,280 questions, who is Jesus and living out the implications of 624 00:35:46,290 --> 00:35:49,120 that answer. So good place to end. 625 00:35:49,380 --> 00:35:50,650 Yep. Have a great week. 626 00:35:50,660 --> 00:35:55,210 We hope you'll join us next week as we get into a little bit of a 627 00:35:55,260 --> 00:35:58,510 fun story about Zacchaeus, a little bit of a Sunday school 628 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,510 story that you often hear, but we're going to hopefully go a 629 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:01,950 little deeper than Sunday school. 630 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:02,810 Have a great week.