1 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,160 Hi everyone, welcome to this bonus episode of the Daily 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,840 Gospel Exegesis podcast. So in today's episode. 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,560 Like we do sometimes, we. Want to go through some feedback 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,720 that I've received here at the Ministry and once again the 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:17,080 point of this. Is really to? 6 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:20,000 Show you what can happen when people have the tools to 7 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:22,920 understand the Word of God and to study the Word of God in more 8 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,320 depth. The Word of God we believe is 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:30,120 Catholics is alive and active, and it has amazing results when 10 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,560 people are willing to hear the Word of God explained faithfully 11 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,120 and in a more more than a superficial way. 12 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,760 Amazing stuff happens which you may not think is the case. 13 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,800 Sometimes people are discouraged from doing serious academic 14 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,840 Bible study because they're afraid that it might make things 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,760 less spiritual or or make them more likely to doubt the faith. 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,960 But I've found here time and time again that the opposite is 17 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,200 the case. When people are able to hear the 18 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,440 Word of God explained and they're given tools to 19 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,600 understand the Word of God in a deeper way themselves, amazing 20 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:03,680 stuff happens. So you'll hear a few stories 21 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,440 from people today who've written into the ministry in recent 22 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:09,000 months. And thank you so much to all of 23 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,160 those who do reach out to the ministry with your stories and 24 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,520 your feedback. I do read each one of them. 25 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:16,920 We don't always have time to cover all of them in these bonus 26 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,360 episodes, but again, I want to encourage each of you who are 27 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,200 listening, use the skills that God has given you to serve the 28 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,360 people of God. That's what I'm trying to do 29 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,320 with this podcast. And as you can see, God has 30 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:31,600 taken the small grain that I'm able to offer and he's made it 31 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,560 grow into amazing things that has touched many people's lives. 32 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,120 And that's what we're all called to do as Catholics. 33 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:42,040 So firstly, this first bit of feedback is from Maricella, she 34 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:43,280 says as a cradle. Catholic. 35 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,120 I'm amazed as to how much I'm learning now in my older years. 36 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,320 Your work is amazing and changing my life into a true 37 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,680 believer and follower of Christ our Lord. 38 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,280 The explanations are clear and thought provoking for me to 39 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,520 reflect on my daily life. So thank. 40 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,440 You so much Maricela, and isn't that amazing? 41 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,720 She has been a cradle Catholic, but she's now in her older years 42 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,560 and now she's just hearing the word of God explained in this 43 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,400 way for the first time. And as she says, it's changing 44 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:12,760 her into a true believer and follower of Christ. 45 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,720 That is amazing. And that is the ultimate purpose 46 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,720 of this podcast. It's to bring people into a 47 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,480 deeper relationship with Christ. The next bit of feedback I want 48 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,280 to share with you is an interesting comment that I've 49 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,840 received here on Patreon. And this is one of these ones 50 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,320 where sometimes listeners will write in with a different 51 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,200 interpretation from what I've often in one of the episodes. 52 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,520 And it makes me think a bit more and dig a dig a bit more because 53 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,240 this particular one I hadn't heard before. 54 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,600 So Bonnie wrote in to talk about the line Jesus says on the 55 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,200 cross, Eli, Eli Lama Sabachthani, which is typically 56 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:46,960 in most translations. It's then give the translation 57 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,880 is given by the gospel authors as my God, my God, why have you 58 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,840 forsaken me so? Bonnie says the Aramaic 59 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,520 translation via Doctor Neil Douglas Klotz is my God, my God. 60 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,400 For this I was spared. Therefore, Jesus was not 61 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,360 expressing despair and doubt because he knew that he had not 62 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,960 been forsaken by the Father. Rather, he was emphasizing what 63 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,680 he knew, that he came into the world to do, the will of the 64 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,120 Father, which was to give his own life in reparation for the 65 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,120 sin of the world, the world which gods so loved. 66 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,560 Jesus understood and accepted his destiny, and when he cried 67 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,520 out to the Father, he was punctuating his yes, his Fiat, 68 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:27,720 his surrender to the will of the Father. 69 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,880 In no conceivable circumstance would God forsake or abandoned 70 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,520 his beloved Son. Ancient Semitic languages such 71 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,320 as Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic proved challenging to later 72 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,040 scholars or scribes who attempted to translate Jesus 73 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,400 Aramaic into Greek. Thank you logical Bible study. 74 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,480 I listen to your exegesis every day now. 75 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:51,680 This is one of these ones where if you're a listener and you're 76 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:53,880 a faithful Catholic and you've been studying the word of God 77 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,160 for a while, hopefully as I was reading that out, you should be 78 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,120 starting to formulate how you might respond to a claim like 79 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,960 this, that the, the translation should be my God, my God. 80 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,600 For this I was spared. The first thing to say is 81 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:08,960 sometimes when you hear these, these cool claims, you will 82 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,120 sometimes be tempted to think, oh, that's really cool, That's 83 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,120 amazing. And you'd be tempted to think 84 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,519 some new discovery has been made that that we should accept. 85 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:20,760 But when you dig a bit deeper, you'll discover that this is 86 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,240 really not a well regarded translation. 87 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,920 So firstly, think about what's the motivation for translating 88 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,760 My God, My God For this I was spared rather than my God, My 89 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,840 God, why has thou forsaken me? What's the motive for 90 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,600 translating Eli, Eli Lama Sobakhtani that way? 91 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,480 Well, it's probably theological. It's probably because the 92 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,960 translator doesn't like the implication that Jesus is saying 93 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,600 God has abandoned him and they're trying to find another 94 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,120 way of translating the text which which avoids that. 95 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,200 And that's exactly what Bonnie hints at in this comment here. 96 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,160 So she says here that the reason that we've that scholars have 97 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,920 translated it wrong for all these years is because ancient 98 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,960 Semitic languages proved challenging to later scholars or 99 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,680 scribes who attempted to translate Jesus Aramaic into 100 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:10,480 Greek. Now the problem with that is 101 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,240 what are the Gospels? The Gospels are written in Greek 102 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,800 and occasionally what they do is they record the Jesus original 103 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,560 words in Aramaic, particularly when they think Jesus says 104 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,720 something really important. They include the original 105 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,680 Aramaic and then they include a translation into Greek. 106 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,280 Now she says here later translators, but that in itself 107 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:33,360 is not correct. It's not later translators or 108 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,240 scribes. It's the actual Gospel authors 109 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,320 themselves who are doing the translation from Aramaic into 110 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,560 Greek. So what we'd have to say is that 111 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,440 the Gospel authors themselves were struggling to translate the 112 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,200 Aramaic. That's an interesting claim, but 113 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:54,680 as I dug a bit deeper into this, I discovered that this is not a 114 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,440 well regarded translation. Virtually no scholar supports 115 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,240 this translation into My God, My God. 116 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,400 For this I was spared. There's really only a couple 117 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,640 that have suggested that. And in fact, this translation 118 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,640 from Doctor Neil is not a direct translation from the Aramaic. 119 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,920 It's a translation from Syriac, which is a related language, but 120 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:12,640 it's not the language that Jesus spoke. 121 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,880 So you can see that this translation is a little bit far 122 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,120 fetched. This is the kind of feedback I 123 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,680 really enjoy interacting with because it's an opportunity to 124 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,280 teach the audience how to evaluate claims like this, the 125 00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:28,240 kind of tools we can use when we hear a claim that may not be 126 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,400 exactly right, but it but it has some appeal to it. 127 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:32,960 And I always enjoy doing things like this. 128 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,520 So whenever you have an alternate translation that I 129 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,960 haven't offered as part of the podcast and you think there 130 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,920 might be something to it, please feel free to write in and then 131 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:42,880 we can discuss it in one of these episodes here. 132 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,480 We've got a brief comment here from I Am Key on Patreon. 133 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,680 They say I cannot tell you how much I've learned through your 134 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:51,640 podcast. I cannot get enough. 135 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:53,720 And I tell everyone about the exegesis. 136 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:57,680 Every Catholic needs this. Well, thank you so much for that 137 00:06:57,680 --> 00:06:59,520 wonderful feedback. I'm glad to hear that you were 138 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,800 benefiting from it. Deb wrote in to say the exegesis 139 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:05,640 is on my daily routine through Hello. 140 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,320 I learned so much and really look forward to listening every 141 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,240 day. Thank you for your tremendous 142 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,000 effort to bring context to the Gospel. 143 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,360 Thanks again, Deb, and I'm glad that this is one of the many 144 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:19,800 resources that you're using as part of your morning routine. 145 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,120 By the way, Hello has a really cool feature where you can sort 146 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,640 of add a group of shows that you like and turn it into a routine. 147 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:31,640 So hello, the, the app will actually present you this series 148 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,360 of your favorite shows in whatever order you like as part 149 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,080 of a routine. It's well worth checking out on 150 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,800 the Hello app. Chris, a supporter on Patreon 151 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:41,600 says I've been listening for about a year. 152 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,040 I've learned so much and continue to learn. 153 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,480 My kids listen to it with me while we drive to school. 154 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,400 Chris, that is fantastic to hear that you and your kids are doing 155 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,200 this as something together and that you are allowing your your 156 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,520 kids to learn the Catholic faith in this deeper way. 157 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,280 Thanks so much for writing in, Chris. 158 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:02,960 We've got this amazing comment that's been left here on Apple 159 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,720 Podcasts from N Clark. This podcast has made me look 160 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,520 forward to my mornings. I've been a Catholic since birth 161 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:13,120 and even attended Catholic school many years ago, but I've 162 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,400 learned more in the few months I've been listening to this 163 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,400 podcast each morning. In fact, it's inspired me to 164 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:20,920 look into getting another degree in theology. 165 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:25,000 Your work is such a blessing. That is fantastic to hear and 166 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,400 thank you so much for leaving that five star review on Apple 167 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,160 Podcasts. I definitely would encourage you 168 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,679 to do some theology study. I've done quite a bit myself and 169 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,400 there's always new things that you can learn by doing formal 170 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,280 theology study and I'm glad this podcast has been part of your 171 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,240 journey. We've got a comment here from 172 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,120 Jeremiah on Apple Podcasts who says this is the best 173 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,000 examinations of the Gospels of Jesus Christ. 174 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,360 They say I wish I could give it seven stars. 175 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:54,960 The presenter takes a deep dive into the daily Gospel readings 176 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,560 of the Catholic Church by giving a word for word exegesis of the 177 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:02,160 literal meaning of the text. It's as if he takes our 21st 178 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,440 century's eyes and gives us 1st century reading glasses to 179 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,840 examine the Gospels with. He does a very thorough job of 180 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,200 giving all sides viewpoints where translations or scholarly 181 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,720 debates differ. If you're searching for the 182 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,680 truth, you can find it right here. 20 to 30 minutes every 183 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:19,800 day. This is the best examination of 184 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:21,520 the Gospels of Jesus I have found. 185 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:23,800 Wow. Well thank you so much for that 186 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,400 great review Jeremiah. I love that analogy have of the 187 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,560 podcast helps people have 1st century glasses to understand 188 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:32,960 the the gospels in their original context. 189 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:35,400 That is one of the goals of the podcast. 190 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,000 And by the way, if you've been listening to this podcast for a 191 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,200 while, one of the best ways you can support the ministry is by 192 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,040 leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. 193 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,000 Leave a five star review or whatever, however many stars you 194 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,560 think it's worth, and a comment so that people who are 195 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:52,160 interested in exploring the Gospels but don't know where to 196 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,120 start, they might encounter this podcast through a search on 197 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,160 Apple Podcasts and they might be able to scroll to your comment 198 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,760 to see if it's the kind of podcast that they do want to 199 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,240 give a listen to. And often the best feedback or 200 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,480 the best way to promote the podcast is people's honest 201 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,600 stories about how they're benefiting from the podcast. 202 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,040 So please consider leaving a positive review on whatever 203 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,160 platform you're listening on. It really does make a 204 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,480 difference. One more bit of feedback from 205 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,800 Apple Podcasts from Brainy Baby. I initially heard this podcast 206 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,680 on radio, Radio Maria Australia and now listen daily on Apple 207 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:31,360 Podcasts. May God continue to bless this 208 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:33,840 ministry. It is truly one-of-a-kind and 209 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,800 very much needed for both Christians and non Christians. 210 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:38,880 Thank you very much for all that you do. 211 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:41,720 Thank you so much for that comment. 212 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,920 And Radio Maria Australia is a radio channel in Australia. 213 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:50,960 It's a little bit like EWTN in the USA where has a whole lot of 214 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:55,080 Catholic podcasts that it gets out into the airwaves in the 215 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:57,720 eastern part of Australia. And if you're an Australian 216 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,160 listener, you should be able to get access to the Radio Maria 217 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,800 radio channel and it's also on their website as well. 218 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,680 So if you are interested in radio channels, this might be 219 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:09,440 one that's worth checking out in Australia. 220 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,520 The next bit of feedback I want to share, and this is amazing 221 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,280 feedback, so I want to share this entire e-mail in full. 222 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,560 It's from Audrey, my name is Audrey. 223 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:21,320 I just wanted to express my gratitude for your podcast. 224 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:25,480 I found it just over a year ago after the Bible in a year and 225 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,480 have been listening to it daily ever since. 226 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:32,120 As a medical student, free time doesn't exist, so I'm grateful 227 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,800 for an audio program that has already done the research and 228 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:38,320 background for me so that I have no excuse to let my faith 229 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:41,400 studies slip. I'm so grateful that I can start 230 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,080 every single day with the Word of God and have immediate 231 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:48,280 explanations line by line. The real incredible blessing is 232 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,560 the impact your podcast has had on my family. 233 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,040 I introduced your work to my parents, and they've similarly 234 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,040 been listening daily. My father is a Lutheran, and 235 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,160 he's one of the biggest supporters of your work. 236 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:02,720 In fact, when I'm home, he reminds me to do our daily 237 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,880 exegesis. When I'm at school, they listen 238 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,640 faithfully, too. And just the other day, at the 239 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,440 end of the Bread of Life discourse, he expressed to my 240 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,800 mum and I how he feels he never understood the true nature of 241 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:16,800 the Eucharist and Christ's presence. 242 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:19,960 He's now the most Catholic Lutheran you could meet. 243 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,080 He even said how the links you made to the Catechism are the 244 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,480 first times he's heard the Catechism and heartily agrees 245 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,040 with almost every teaching lead laid forth. 246 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:32,160 It's thanks to your biblical scholarship and clear and 247 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,680 truthful presentation of the exegesis that has opened his 248 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:37,840 heart and squashed misunderstandings. 249 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,240 My mum's relief and shock after 25 years of marriage disagreeing 250 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,200 over these issues was an extra blessing to see. 251 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,640 Your podcast has been a blessing to my family and I'm certain for 252 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,520 many others. I hope God continues to use your 253 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,960 work to help more than just Catholics to better learn the 254 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,440 faith and grow in our walk with the Lord. 255 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,520 Thank you for all the effort and care you put into this intensive 256 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,400 project. We can see and hear the quality 257 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,280 and dedication you have. Audrey, thank you so much for 258 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,560 that wonderful feedback. This is amazing to hear how the 259 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:13,280 podcast is help. Well, firstly, it's helping you 260 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:15,520 have good conversations with your parents about the faith, 261 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:17,280 but also your dad who's a Lutheran. 262 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,240 This podcast is helping him understand Catholic teachings 263 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,600 for the very first time. I love how you talked about the 264 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,320 bread of life discourse. Indeed, I've found that the 265 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,440 Bread of life discourse for a lot of Catholics, it's something 266 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,200 they know about. They know that it talks about 267 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,760 the Eucharist, but very rarely do we get the opportunity to dig 268 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,480 into it line by line. And here your feedback shows 269 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,040 that when we do are willing to do these studies, it really does 270 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,400 support the Catholic position and it helps non Catholics 271 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,160 understand things and be willing to to be more open to the 272 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,360 Catholic faith. Often you'll hear this idea that 273 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,120 Catholics don't really do Bible studies. 274 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,160 That's a Protestant thing and sometimes that's quite true. 275 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,720 But hopefully feedback like this encourages you that when we are 276 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,440 willing to do true Catholic Bible studies, that actually 277 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,960 helps other Christians see that we're serious about the Bible 278 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,560 and that we do have biblical support for our positions. 279 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,600 So I'd encourage all of you as listeners to consider getting 280 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,440 involved in a local Bible study or starting one if there's not 281 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,360 one in your local area. Small group Bible studies 282 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,520 continue to make a massive difference in the Catholic 283 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,440 Church, but there needs to be more of us who are willing to 284 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:28,680 make these things happen. So thank you so much for that 285 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,440 wonderful feedback, Audrey. The next bit of feedback here is 286 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,040 from John on Patreon. He says, I think you're doing an 287 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,400 incredible job through your podcast and exegesis to help 288 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,960 people deepen their faith. I hope your ministry is so 289 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:45,000 successful that you're eventually able to exegesis all 290 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,600 of the New Testament letters and books and then the Old Testament 291 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,720 too. Thanks so much, John. 292 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,280 That is the plan. If we are able to keep the 293 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,320 ministry going, I would love to be able to continue to do other 294 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:57,560 books of the New Testament. We're currently working on the 295 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:58,240 book of. Acts. 296 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,440 So there will be some exegesis episodes for the Book of Acts 297 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,640 coming out very soon. The response from people to the 298 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,040 exegesis episodes of the Gospels has been really popular and 299 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,680 positive. So that's been a great blessing 300 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,560 and encouragement to keep doing the rest of the New Testament 301 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:16,280 using this same format and style. 302 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,880 So if you've been a supporter of the ministry for a while, keep 303 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:21,680 an eye out for some announcements in the coming 304 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,040 months about how you can get access to an exegesis of the 305 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,680 book of Acts. And then if all goes well with 306 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,400 the ministry, we'll then be able to move on to Paul's letters and 307 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:31,720 other books of the New Testament. 308 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,200 So there's some exciting things in the pipeline, God willing. 309 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:37,440 And it's you guys as the listeners who make that 310 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,320 possible, particularly those who are able to financially support 311 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,120 the ministry through the Patreon page. 312 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,760 And if you're interested in supporting the ministry in that 313 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,160 way, there's a link in the episode description. 314 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,000 Next, we've got some feedback here from Steve. 315 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,000 He says I've been enjoying your podcast very much. 316 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,320 I have really learned a lot and it has become part of my daily 317 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:01,520 routine since early in the year. I especially enjoy your approach 318 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,360 and flow of the podcast. That starts with understanding 319 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,640 and reflecting on the context of the passage before digging in, 320 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,000 but then also how the other gospels treat the same story. 321 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,680 I think this allows us to get a more comprehensive picture and 322 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,560 helps me learn more. Thanks so much for that 323 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,040 feedback, Steve. And yeah, what I often want to 324 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:23,680 do in this podcast is when we're looking at a particular passage 325 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,880 from one of the gospels, it's always worth cross checking the 326 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:31,400 other gospels to see if they add in information that's not 327 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,440 present in the passage that we're currently looking at. 328 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,800 Because often that helps fill out the scene and help 329 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,600 understand why particular things play out the way they do. 330 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,480 And that's actually a really important part of studying the 331 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:46,200 Gospels is being aware that each of the gospel authors focuses on 332 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,000 different aspects of often what is the same situation. 333 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,200 Next, we've got a brief comment here from Susan, who's a Patreon 334 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,000 supporter. She says, I happened upon this 335 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,560 show within the Hello app. I learned so much from it. 336 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,600 The historical and literal commentary helps me to 337 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,920 understand why Jesus said the things he did, which at times 338 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,920 make no sense to me. I chose to support the ministry 339 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:10,960 because it is in my daily routine. 340 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:13,640 So thank you so much for your support, Susan. 341 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:17,359 Your support really does make a difference to the ministry and 342 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,079 indeed, one of the purposes of this podcast is to help you 343 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:22,520 understand why Jesus said things the way he did say it. 344 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,000 Next, I want to share some feedback that's coming from 345 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:30,080 Renee and he's sort of offering a interesting spiritual 346 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,000 interpretation based. On what he heard. 347 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,160 From the literal sense in one of the podcast episodes here, which 348 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,800 I think is worth sharing because often listeners to this podcast 349 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,640 will have a sense and make connections with other things in 350 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,840 the Bible that I'm not necessarily always aware of or 351 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:47,480 able to bring out in the podcast. 352 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:48,920 So I think this one's worth sharing. 353 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,880 I've been following your program at hello for quite some time, 354 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:54,880 and I believe it serves as a beautiful means of 355 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,360 evangelization for those seeking to deepen their Catholic faith. 356 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,640 I wanted to share some thoughts on your lesson from the parable 357 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,720 of the Prodigal son. Firstly, I learned from your 358 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,280 program that the father instructs his servants to bring 359 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,200 the white robe and the signet ring for his lost son, alluding 360 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,240 to the Old Testament specifically when Joseph was 361 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,400 made second in power only to Pharaoh. 362 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,040 Secondly, I mentioned to our pastor that Jesus might have 363 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,720 drawn a parallel between this parable and the story of Isaac's 364 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,240 sons Esau and Jacob from the Old Testament. 365 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,280 In that narrative, Rebecca favoured Jacob while Isaac 366 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,600 favoured Esau. Later, Esau sells his birthright 367 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,360 to Jacob for a meagre price, much like the prodigal son 368 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,560 squanders his father's inheritance, dismissing his 369 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,120 older brother's birthright and causing a family grudge. 370 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:49,360 Moreover, Esau, like the older brother in the prodigal Son, 371 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,960 grows angry at Jacob for his actions, just as the older 372 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,480 brother appeals to their father to celebrate the return of the 373 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,720 prodigal son. Jacob, who received the blessing 374 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,480 of the Abrahamic covenant, became the leader of God's 375 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,360 people and was renamed Israel. In the old Jewish tradition, 376 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:09,640 celebrations and feasts are essential signs of forgiveness 377 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,920 and mark the renewal of new covenants as we see through 378 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,840 Israel's story. It's worth noting that this 379 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,880 interpretation is personal and not rooted in traditional 380 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,440 biblical scholarship. But I was listening to the story 381 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,960 of Isaac through Bible in a year, and it matched 382 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,960 coincidentally with the Mass that Sunday which read the 383 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:33,960 parable of the Prodigal Son. So this is a really interesting 384 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:35,880 interpretation. And and well, it's more of a 385 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,160 connection rather than interpretation between Jacob and 386 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,960 Esau and the two sons in the parable of the prodigal son. 387 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:43,720 And I think it's a really good point, Renee. 388 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,480 Maybe Jacob is in a sense a prodigal son. 389 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:49,840 He certainly squanders his father's inheritance or he 390 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:54,000 abuses it and treats it lightly. But then he later becomes a 391 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,800 great model of faith. There's not an exact parallel 392 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:00,280 between every aspect of the Prodigal Son parable, but it's 393 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,960 quite possible. That when Jesus gave the parable 394 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,400 of the prodigal son, this may have been in the background of 395 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:08,680 people's minds. So well done on picking that up 396 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,040 and thank you for sharing it. Renee. 397 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,640 This is a brief e-mail from Bob, who is a Patreon supporter. 398 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:18,120 She has a really good point here to make about Luke chapter 14, 399 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:23,080 verses 15 to 24, which is the parable of the wedding banquet. 400 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,240 And you'll remember that in Luke's version of that parable, 401 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:30,240 at the end of it, the master says to the messengers, because 402 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,320 he still wants more people to attend the wedding, he says to 403 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,560 the messengers, go out and compel people to come in. 404 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,760 And of course, that word is generated a lot of controversy 405 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:46,400 across theological history because it might imply that a 406 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,840 God wants people to be forced into the Kingdom. 407 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,040 So Bob says, listening to your exegesis for this reading, I 408 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:54,960 have some thoughts about the word compel. 409 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,280 I think it could mean convince as a lawyer presents a 410 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:02,200 convincing case or argument, as an orator persuades his 411 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,360 audience, or as a son of God compelled his followers by his 412 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:08,000 very actions. So Barb, I think you're spot on. 413 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,000 And this is the interpretation that I was leaning towards in my 414 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,480 exegesis of that text. When it says compel, I think the 415 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,360 master doesn't mean go and physically grab them and drag 416 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:21,720 them into their Kingdom. He means persuade, earnestly 417 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,520 convince them to come into the Kingdom. 418 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:24,880 I think that's a very good solution. 419 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:26,000 And I think you're spot on there. 420 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,760 And again, this shows the importance of doing exegesis on 421 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:33,200 the gospel text because this is a text which if taken out of 422 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,280 context, if that verse is just read as a verse, you could 423 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,520 easily say, well, this proves that God goes against people's 424 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:41,320 free will and forces them into the Kingdom. 425 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,960 But if you do good research and access good scholarly 426 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:47,480 perspectives on these things, often you can come to a 427 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,440 resolution, which is what I think is the case here with Luke 428 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,680 chapter 14. Next, I want to share some 429 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,240 feedback here from Jimmy, who is a fellow Australian and a 430 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,680 Patreon supporter. I've come to known logical Bible 431 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,400 study from the Hollow app. I really appreciate your work 432 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,600 and I give thanks to the grace God has given us through you. 433 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,680 I've been a Protestant all my life for 38 years already and 434 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,120 after 20 months of exposing myself to contents like yours 435 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,880 and some others like sing the Hours and Word on fire, I now 436 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,480 find myself attracted to the depth and beauty of Catholic 437 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,320 faith and how I helped and how it helped me to get much closer 438 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,080 to God than before. So thank you for that wonderful 439 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,800 feedback to me. I'm so glad this podcast is 440 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,040 helping you and many others consider the Catholic faith as 441 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,760 the true faith that God wants all Christians to become a part 442 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:39,960 of. This is the important work that 443 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,800 podcasts like this can do. It can show people that 444 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:47,160 Catholics can interpret the Bible and they can do it in a 445 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,640 really dynamic, faithful way that can allow people to 446 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,360 reconsider the Catholic faith. So Jimmy goes on to say talk 447 00:22:55,360 --> 00:22:57,960 about his some of the struggles he has as a Protestant. 448 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,720 And indeed, I had a phase of my life where I was a Protestant as 449 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,280 well as many of the Patreon supporters would know. 450 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,680 And you can hear more about that a bit about my own back story 451 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,640 through the Patreon page. Since that time, Jimmy and I 452 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,200 have been able to have some brief exchanges about some other 453 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,840 areas of Catholic theology that he has questions about and that 454 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,520 I've been able to help him with. Lastly, we'll share some brief 455 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,320 feedback here from Victoria, who is also a Patreon supporter. 456 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,440 She says, thanks so much for how you have helped me to grow 457 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,280 spiritually. I'm now leading a Bible study at 458 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,400 my Anglican church and I'm spreading the word there about 459 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,480 your podcast. Thank you so much, Victoria, for 460 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,160 your kind feedback and for spreading the word about the 461 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,240 podcast. Hopefully this kind of feedback 462 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,480 that we've heard today can show you what a ministry like this 463 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,560 can do for Christians of all types. 464 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,720 It's not just for Catholics. It's for anyone who wants to 465 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:50,920 study the word of God. Seriously, thank you to all of 466 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,080 those who are listening. Thank you for keeping this 467 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,600 ministry in your prayers. And for those who have been able 468 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,560 to support it financially, thank you so much. 469 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,920 Keep an eye out for more bonus episodes in the coming months 470 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,080 where I'll share some more questions and more feedback and 471 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,040 some news about some things the ministry is doing. 472 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:08,760 We'll see you next time.