"Favorite Bible Story"
EPISODE 206
Treasure the Stories of Scripture
The results are in and the votes counted. This year’s Bible Bracket has gone from a field of 64 beloved Bible stories down to one. On this episode we walk through some lessons learned from our Final Four and celebrate the life-changing power of Scripture’s many rich stories. We also share our own personal favorites and upsets and discuss what Jesus Said about his parables. A big thank you to all who shared, commented, and participated in this year’s tournament. Go to biblegeeks.fm/bracket to see the full bracket.
Takeaways
The Big Idea: Scripture’s stories pierce us like a two-edged sword.
This Week's Challenge: Ask someone about their favorite Bible story.
Episode Transcription
I will just declare it. Therefore, this is authoritative for all time. This is the favorite Bible story of the world. Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to the Bible Geeks podcast. This is episode 206. I'm Bryan Schiele. I'm Ryan Joy. And thanks so much, everyone, for tuning in. That music means that it is time for us to reveal the results of our 2024 Bible bracket on the favorite Bible stories. We're super excited for this episode, and we really, really appreciate everybody for voting in our bracket. It's been amazing over the last few weeks, watching all the votes come in and getting everybody's feedback on social media. We really super appreciate it. Oh, it's been so fun. Oh, around here, there's a lot of people who are happy about Purdue making it to the final four here up in Indiana. But I tell you, this has been the real joy, has been watching these stories from Daniel, just charging through, seeing how far Esther makes it, watching walking on water and raising Lazarus, battle it out. Just as it's a strange but fun experience I look forward to every year. If you have no idea what we're talking about, if you're brand new to the show, you can head over to biblegeeks.fm/bracket to see the results of the bracket and to see the results of past brackets. We began this tradition a while back. I think this is now our third official draft. The first one we did was all about our favorite Bible chapters. And then last year we did one on the favorite figures of faith. And we figured this year we were going to do the favorite Bible stories. It just makes sense. We're going to get into a discussion on the final four from our series and some various and sundry things along the way. So we're looking forward to this conversation on the favorite Bible stories bracket that we did this month. And you want to kick this thing off with something light? Let's do it. So for our icebreaker, you know, a big part of what makes a bracket challenge exciting is seeing, you know, a lower seed pull off an upset. So what was your biggest upset during this year's bracket, Bryan? So listen, I didn't really do upset in the traditional sense here. I did the thing that I was most upset about. Is that okay? Oh, so my upset, I was so upset when Elisha and the bears got dropped off. Oh man. Come on now. Like of all the stories, go up you bald head and he calls out those female bears to come in and wipe those kids out. Like, come on, that's one of the best stories in all of the Bible, but okay. Fine. You know, the, that amazing story lost to the fiery furnace, which went very far. In fact, even into the final four that we'll get into here in a second. But I think for me, some of these matchups that we saw were just so cool. Like we saw the fiery furnace versus the burning bush, which I just love that idea. You know, fire versus fire. Unfortunately, we had the Ruth versus Esther in the first round, which just was probably not the best, but I think one of my favorite matchups here hands down was the baby Jesus versus baby Moses matchup. That's just one of the best. I mean, it's a great story, but you're going against Jesus. But you know, you think about these stories and it's like, how do you pick your favorite fire or how do you pick your favorite baby or like, you know, in all these things, it's so challenging to think about, but yeah, Elisha and the bears, I was very upset about that. I can see a young Bryan loving that Elisha and the bears story and just cracking up in Bible class. I went with an actual upset, which is also another trope or classic aspect of a bracket is the David versus Goliath. And I loved that Esther came in a David versus Goliath matchup. Number one seed was David and Goliath and she was the nine seed and she took David and Goliath down. I did not see that coming, but you know, David and Goliath, that song, we sing that on the way to church just about every Sunday about one little shepherd boy David. But you know, Esther has some staying power and I thought for sure that she was going to go even further once she took out the giant, but alas, she did not. All right, so let's transition here before we talk about the winners, before we talk about the final four, let us talk about something that Jesus teaches us about stories. We picked favorite Bible stories here for this bracket and Jesus has a lot of things to say in scripture about stories. And I think one of the things that stands out to me is the Matthew 13 passage where it describes Jesus as preaching to the people only in parables, how all the things that Jesus said to these crowds of people who were surrounding him were all in parables, they were all in stories. You know, he didn't tell them anything that wasn't in a story or shrouded in some kind of a veil and it says that this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world." Stories are important. Stories are an important part of Jesus teaching and an important part of the Bible as a whole. So what do you learn here from Jesus about the power of stories? It is a cool thing that you pulled out. I liked that you chose this statement from Jesus because it has made me think a lot about parables. This parable regional we had was fun to consider and earlier in this chapter in Matthew 13 that you've quoted there, it explains why Jesus speaks in parables. He's constantly speaking in parables, which is a story, but a particular kind of story and he says there in verses 11 to 13 of that chapter, "To you it has been given to the disciples, those who are in his inner circle, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven." The secrets. Isn't that interesting? "But to them it has not been given for to the one who has more will be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. That is why I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand." So I just been reflecting on how nothing in the parables is a straight up moral of the story kind of tale, like Aesop's fables. That's how I used to think of parables is like, Oh, it's a story with a moral, you know, a story with a lesson at the end, but that's not really what he does in the parables. The parables hide as much as they reveal and they force us to lean in and think. And sometimes even with the explanation and knowing the rest of the story, like we do that all of those people that he told these stories to didn't understand. We have a lot more of the story and we have explanations and all of these pieces, but they still leave me confused sometimes and wrestling with it and trying to find the truth. But that's the point. If you seek it, you can find it and you work for it and you see deeper than an obvious truth that you can easily dismiss. And even our winner, which seems to me like the closest to a moral story, if there's ever any of the parables that like, Oh, it's a nice story that has a moral at the end. See, just love your neighbor, be nice to everybody, not just this person, but really it is more than that. It is flipping everything upside down. It does not directly answer the scribes question. It broadens the question and says you're asking the wrong question and answers it in this sideways diagonal direction that forces you to say, what did he understand the what? And you're just trying to wrestle with the ending and how it all works together and broadens our thinking on what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. I think it's a good chance, at least for me to step back and think about how Jesus taught in such a profound and different way than anybody else and how even his stories are in some ways instantly understandable. Like they get right to your heart, but in other ways you have to sit and think about them. And that's the beauty of Jesus as the great rabbi. I firmly believe that Jesus in teaching these parables in the ways that he did. I firmly believe that Jesus wanted people to work to understand. Right. He's giving them these stories and they're so obvious on the surface, but with just a little bit of investigation beyond the obvious, I was thinking how these stories are such like they're two edged swords almost on one hand, they're very neutral in their ground that Jesus gives to us, right? He tells these stories and none of these things like poke anyone right in the eye immediately for the most part. And you know, you get to the point of the story, maybe they're more obvious than others, but it's like, okay, we're thinking about a shepherd. We're thinking about somebody who's lost something, you know, whatever it is, whatever in these parables he's teaching us, even when you go back to like Nathan and the way that Nathan speaks to David, when David has sinned with Bathsheba, you know, he uses this story of a man with a sheep and it's like, okay, this is a nice story. It's neutral ground. Right. And on one hand, you could take that story and you could just file it away into your filing cabinet of like, oh, that was a really good, helpful story. Maybe I'll tell that story to my children, you know, but it's like on the other hand, on the other side of it. And I think that's what you're saying. If you dig a little bit deeper, then that is a convicting, sharp, powerful, active kind of story that really changes your life. Even though it has maybe nothing to do with you on the surface, stories are like that and Jesus knows how to tell a story. Jesus knows how to share these things. But if you, if you go a step further, then these are the stories that really change our lives. And I love that about the way the Bible teaches. And I love that about how Jesus is teaching people in parables because they've got to work at it. So am I willing to work at it when I think about these stories? We inherently understand stories. We inherently intuitively relate to them and get something. And if the story is told well, if you get, if when you watch us, you know, listen to a story or hear a story told, you automatically, something jumps out at you. You can see, you can feel what was wrong and what was right, you know, what character did the good thing. And you feel empathy for the one that had tragedy come towards them that they didn't deserve. And, you know, and so they are there, you know, God has made us a storytelling people. And so it's no surprise that he chose to reveal so much of the truth to us in story. It would be an interesting study and I've never done it. I'm sure somebody has to find out what percentage of the Bible is story, but it's got to be a giant chunk of it. Right. That's so much of what God has given and all that he has preserved and all that he has chosen. This is how he chose to reveal himself is largely in story. It's it is a two edged sword. All right, so enough delay, enough putting this thing off. Let's talk about the final four winners and in fact, our champion here from our bracket. And we're going to do that by taking a closer look. Number one, perhaps you better take an away team down and have a closer look. I said Dr. Crusher, join me in transport a room three. Can we just acknowledge the fact that if anybody thought we were going to do it, here's the story segment. We just we just flipped it on you because we're going to talk about a whole bunch of stories here, but we're going to take a little bit of a closer look at each of them. Can we talk about what our final four were just for a second from each of the regionals? Absolutely. Well, let's talk about I'll start in the ancient heroes regional where we saw a elite eight matchup between Elijah and Mount Carmel and the fiery furnace and the winner there, it was the fiery furnace entering our final four. A hundred percent the fiery furnace. I knew was going to go far and there's another Daniel story that comes in our Sunday school classics regional. And that was a four six matchup between Jesus birth and the lion's den and the lion's den pulled it out. It's a win. Believe that I was super surprised. You know, honestly, as soon as I picked Jesus birth in the original draft, I had a feeling it was going to go far. I was concerned that it might just take it all the way. And we might've done something a little bit shady there by picking the greatest story ever told. Right. Yeah. We barred off the crucifixion and the resurrection, and we probably could have barred off that aspect of it. Also, the incarnation of Jesus is a core part of the gospel also, but it did not come into our final four, Daniel and the lion's den. So we had two stories from Daniel in our final four and then two stories from Jesus, one of Jesus in action. The Jesus in action regional was left with raising Lazarus and walking on water and raising Lazarus there in the gospel of John took the prize to get into the final four and then which parable took it all the way, Bryan. So here it comes of the profound parables. We've been talking about it. We've been hinting about it, but it was a one, two matchup between the prodigal son and the good Samaritan. And I was super surprised that the good Samaritan pulled it out. The good Samaritan won that matchup, took the prodigal son down, but the good Samaritan went on to take it all. The good Samaritan went up against the lion's den and the good Samaritan is our champion for the Bible bracket on favorite Bible stories. Surprising it beat the lion's den. I, I really loved the lion's den story. And I think, you know, at least at some point during this final championship round, the voting was completely tied. Like it was a split 50 / 50, but yeah, the good Samaritan is definitely our Victor of the two stories. And I will just declare it therefore, this is authoritative for all time. This is the favorite Bible story of the world is good Samaritan as determined by the Bible bracket. No, it's really interesting to see that. And of course, this is small sample size and we, we gave limited perspective and took, cut out some of the stories that we wouldn't allow in, like, like the stories of Jesus there, but it was interesting to see that this was the one that people loved the most. And upon reflection, it makes sense. And I see it and you know, it makes me all the more want to think through what is special about it. And as we take a closer look, let's explore that this winner here, it's of course found in Luke 10:25-39. And it tells this story of an outsider from a people group that the Jews wouldn't associate with the Samaritans. Who shows extraordinary kindness to this injured man on the roadside after the priest and the Levi walk by, see him and don't do anything. This Samaritan helps him. And Jesus says, this is the answer to the question, who is my neighbor? And actually it flips the question on its head and says, which one proved to be a neighbor. So why do you think the good Samaritan is so beloved among Bible stories, Bryan? Well, I think obviously it's because we just got done talking about it a couple episodes ago and PR. Oh yeah, we, it was all about recent discussions that we had on the story. But no, I mean, for me, I think you can look at this story for so many lessons, right? It is centered around the two great commandments, right? Loving God and loving our neighbor as ourself. It's really the focus of what our life should be about. But I think about, you know, these like behind the story kinds of documentaries that we see, you know, this was a really cool story, but like, it's all the stuff behind the story that I think makes it such a winner of a parable and the context in which Jesus is telling this story about, you know, the priest and the Levite who passed by the man beaten down on the side of the road and this Samaritan who comes along and picks him up and does all the great things for him. Like that's a cool story, but I think it's Jesus and the situation in which he's in that makes it even cooler of a story. Just when you stop to think about how, you know, Jesus is helping this lawyer answer these questions about what is the great commandment? What are the things we should do in our lives? We'll love God and love your neighbor as yourself. And as he's trying to justify himself, he's asking this question. Well, who is my neighbor? It's like that whole interaction between Jesus and this man help us to see when he tells this story, it's like, oh, that's why this story is important because this story highlights the fact that you religious person are probably the guy who walks on by and doesn't do anything for this man and doesn't help and doesn't support him. And it's like it's Jesus poking him in the eye so gently, I guess, so like thoughtfully poking this lawyer in the eye. And it's like that those kinds of backgrounds and all the surrounding context really helps give this story a lot more meaning and meet as if you just like read this story, read this parable by itself without all the surrounding context. I don't think it would have been as powerful. Yeah, if you don't know who a Samaritan is and why Jesus is choosing him and who a Levite is and why Jesus is creating that contrast, you really miss a lot. And it is disarming the way he just it's it is confrontational and disarming as Jesus stories tend to be like we were talking about. And I think this was a story bracket and this is just a great story. First of all, right, it just has this beautifully told design full of all these details that bring these people to life. But I think also the truths it captures are forever relevant and they express so much of Jesus message. Think about problems that confronts and like racial prejudice. Is that still an issue today? I feel like that's still relevant. Hippocritical religion, you know, people still have an issue with that. Is that show up? Yeah, that is the kinds of things that Jesus just by telling a story, not by saying here's what you shouldn't do. He just shows people's choices and how people's choices reveal themselves. Yeah. And showing the beauty of this person who truly loves their neighbor. No matter how much you think of them as a them as this outsider or as somebody that you would never eat with. Yet you see the, you know, the worth of this person and they show you, you know, I think there's this underlying lesson, of course, that well, who should I love? Well, this Samaritan did this in this story for someone that they saw in need. What if this Samaritan next time was the one in need? Would it be right to do something? Would they be a neighbor worthy of your attention? And so the sacredness of life, the beauty of truly loving as Jesus is trying to teach people to love all just shine in this simple story, you know, the way it has three different people come by, you know, just classic good storytelling techniques, the way it plays out. But you see this extra care and Jesus goes above and beyond in showing how the Samaritan goes above and beyond as he tells details about the care he's given. So like I said, in retrospect, I thought, oh, prodigal son, that's got to be number one. And then good Samaritans number two in the, in the, you know, parables bracket. But thinking about it, I can see how this would be the one story that if you have to choose one that you're going to tell somebody about, this is a pretty good one to isolate and love and treasure. What if you stop and really think about the message of the prodigal son story and the story here of the good Samaritan, they're not super far off in their meaning, right? In their, in what they're dealing with. So very cool. Yeah, I think about the closer look here from a couple of our other final four contestants and the two stories in Daniel were a really surprising one here where we've got the three Hebrews who refused to worship an idol and they were thrown into the fiery furnace. But then you also see Daniel's commitment to continue praying and how this landed him in a den of hungry lions. And you can just imagine this story as we talk about this story to our kids, you can just picture it and how God delivered all of these men. So what stands out to you about these two Daniel stories and why do you think these two stories made it to the final four? I think we relate. I think every Christian has experienced the clash of our values with a world that is hostile to God and the difficulty that comes with living faithfully in an unbelieving society. Obviously, I can't relate to being thrown into a lion's den or thrown into a fiery furnace. Okay. This is an extreme version of the pressure that they were under, but it shows me a way forward whenever I'm in my own kind of metaphorical lion's den or fiery furnace. And they're just moments that we can relate to. And we believe that this is something that happened to these four men and God delivered them. But the point isn't even God's deliverance. It's the way they stood. It's the best kind of defiance and strength. And I think that the statement of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3 to Nebuchadnezzar, whenever they're like, "Okay, what are you going to choose?" really resonates with me and has helped me as I've thought about it through the years. They say, "Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of your hand, oh, King." There's the certainty he will deliver us. But then listen to this next verse, "But if not, but if not, be it known to you, oh, King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." There's that. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if he delivers us. He can. We think he will. But even if he doesn't, it's not about that. It's about who we are. It's about who God is. It's about where we have chosen to stand. And that kind of resolute power is, I think, what we see in those moments told in these powerful stories. I mean, who doesn't love a hero like that that shows courage, not the courage to slay a dragon, but the courage to just not worship the false God, the courage to not stop praying because somebody told you to stop praying three times a day, and to keep doing it and then to face whatever comes. We'll face whatever stacks up against us at the end. We'll deal with that. But I already know what I'm going to do. As Daniel, back in Daniel chapter one, in the first test that Daniel faced, he purposed in his heart not to sin against God. And that's kind of the theme through these stories. It seems like when these stories come up in Daniel, it's just a super dark period for the children of Israel, right? It's such a bleak time as everyone has just turned their backs on God. And that's why they're in exile in the first place and all the things that are happening. It's like it's finally this bright moment after this period of some heroic figures, like maybe David might've been one of the last heroic figures back in their time. And then you get to the story of Daniel and his friends, and they just stand out as being so courageous and heroic. And I think while you've got the details of their story that resonate with young people, like lions and fiery furnaces, right? As you dig into the story a bit more as an older person or as somebody with a little bit more context, I think it's so cool like you were reading in that passage in Daniel 3, just to see how they held at both moments this confidence in God with also allowing God to do whatever God is going to do, right? Leaving space for God to act. And the more you just as an older person stop and look at this story, you know, while it's a heroic bright spot in the history of the children of Israel during all the bleak darkness, you also really see the complexity of these two stories and how they really help us. Like you were saying, deal with our own moments of pressure and difficulty today. Well, you know, of course we may not be thrown into a fiery furnace or anything like that. Yeah. Pure pressure starts to feel a little less when you see what the pressure they were under really was. And it says, hey, if they can do it, you know, it's like Hebrews 11 type of moment. If they can have faith in this way in that time, they are showing me as a cloud of witnesses around us, cheering us on, pushing us forward. We too can endure and press on to the end. And I think that those stories stood out in this bracket and people chose them. But we had one story from the Jesus in action that stood out, as we said, the raising of Lazarus. And we talked about that recently too. Maybe it's our PR that was helping that too. Such good PR. As if Jesus needs our PR. Oh, he does not. But I was still surprised that it was the one standing from that Jesus in action, from the life of Christ regional that we had there. Out of all of these things we talked about Jesus washing feet and Jesus, you know, calming the storm and walking on water and, you know, all of these different moments, the transfiguration and 12 year old Jesus, the baptism, the wilderness, there's such tremendous stories of Jesus example. And yet this is the one that people chose to, you know, represent this bracket into the final four. Why do you think this one stood out as a favorite moment in the life of Jesus? Sometimes you just have to pick up an artist's greatest hits album. Sometimes those greatest hits albums really scratch a special itch. And I view this story, Raising Lazarus as a greatest hits story. How it's one of the most impactful miracles that we see throughout all of Jesus ministry. The fact that he raises Lazarus from the dead with just a word. I mean, it's just an amazing miracle, right? And especially how everyone was around watching all of this happen. But not only that, not only his great power, but also his close friendship. This is what we had just gotten done talking about, right? With Jesus and his close friends, Mary and Martha and Lazarus and the relationship that they had together. How relatable Jesus was in this story, how he wept. I mean, the fact that Jesus breaks down and cries shows how much he loved these people and how much he connected with them. And just the struggle that Jesus has not only between him and the religious leaders, because obviously after this story, they are trying to kill Jesus. Oh, and by the way, they're also trying to kill Lazarus, which I find hilarious, right? He raises him from the dead and immediately people are trying to kill him again. But we also see this connection between Jesus and his disciples. How Jesus, you know, on their way, he's talking to them and they're afraid for Jesus safety. And they think, you know, we're heading out to Jerusalem to die. Let's go and die with the Lord like they're ready to go and committed to him. And all the things surrounding this story, it's like a it's like a greatest hits of Jesus life all here in one little account. And I think that may be one of the reasons why this is probably one of the favorite stories. There's a lot of his great attributes that show up in that one story. I agree. And there's there's a lot. I mean, it's a long story, too. I mean, there's a lot of verses that all go together in this and it's at the center of the book of John. I feel like this is a crux. You know, this is a moment that John is building up to and working within this this part of the signs. And like you said, I think we're struck by the way this moment juxtaposes the divine power of Christ with the humanity and compassion of the Lord. I think we all probably learned the shortest verse in the Bible at a young age. Our favorite memory verse. Yes, swept. Yep. And Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. That's the headline. You have that in big bold print at the top of the newspaper. But when you read the rest of the story, you see more than just a doer of mighty deeds. You see the Savior who cares enough to put his power on the line for the good of people, people he he just loves. And he feels these things. And he he has this quietly different spiritual agenda that everybody around him are trying to figure out and understand. And it's not just the obvious of if you can raise a guy. No, there's a lot more that's happening here. And there's a deeper, bittersweet truth to it. And I think, you know, we can all relate to the bittersweetness of life and that there is tragedy in death. Death is real in this world. And Jesus faced that head on. He had to deal with that. He saw the sadness in it. And yet he offers hope because he not only can bring resurrection, he is, as he says there, the resurrection and the life. And he will, as Martha says, he will raise up all people on the last day. And so we have hope, but we also have a facing of a relatable mourning, a relatable just heartbreak that we all experience in this life also. And so, you know, when you get to the end of these and you start talking about why these are special stories, we could have probably done this kind of a conversation for any of these. But you can see how a story like this just speaks to us. And the more you think about a story like this and a moment in the life of Jesus, the more it captures so much of what Jesus offers to us and why we love him so much. I think what you're really saying here about all of these stories and the way that they can impact us really leads us into our reach out questions. So let's dive right into that. Reach out, reach out and touch someone. All right, so reaching out here, which Bible story has made a major impact on you, Bryan? And how? I guess we're probably going to focus mostly on these Bible bracket stories, but you could go wherever you want. What story comes to mind as something that has just changed your life? Yeah, I really feel like Elisha and the Bears made a huge impact on me as a young person, but I love that story. It's such a good one. No, I think one of the first times in reading through a few of these stories that I was struck by something deeper and maybe a connection that these stories brings out that I hadn't really made before is the story about Joseph and his brothers. This was one of the Sunday School classics and how this story for one of the first times really highlighted how they're not just stories about these people long ago, but they point us to Jesus. And in studying the story of Joseph and his brothers and all the things that happened in his life, you can just see very clearly the parallels between Jesus and Joseph. There are so many connections and it's really deep how Joseph's life parallels Jesus in so many different ways. And I think for me, looking at that story, it struck me as really powerful. When we talk about finding Jesus and looking back to stories long ago to find Jesus or to see where Jesus is in those stories, you can almost go to no better place than Joseph and his brothers to see that connection. So for me, I feel like that was one of the first moments in Bible study that I had this light bulb moment. It's like you look at so many of these things in Joseph's life and it's like, yeah, that's Jesus. That's Jesus in action all the way back there in the Old Testament. And he's pointing us to the one who is going to save us from the famine that we're going through right now. I love that example. And in addition to what you said about seeing Jesus there, it's easy for me to see myself somehow. It's kind of like the Daniel and the fiery furnace and the lion's den. You're like, yeah, I haven't been sold into slavery by my brothers and I haven't had the kind of betrayal and tragedy constant throughout Joseph's life. But I can see that this is a life of a man trying to do right. And yet things don't always go well for him, but they sort of do. And it's sort of like things aren't black and white in life. And the way God works in our lives is not everything is always great and it's not, yeah, you're on your own here. God isn't reaching down and doing things in the world. It's that he has a bigger purpose than just me having a pleasant, easy road. And that's not what is best for me even anyways. And he's going to use me like he used Joseph and Joseph's words at the end as he looked back and could see some things about years and years of being trapped in a dark prison and all the things that happened that he had to have had questions and tried to figure out what is going on? Why is this happening to me? But looking back, he saw you meant this for evil brothers, but God meant this for good. And he brought about good in all that I went through. And so that story has had an impact on me also. But to your point about seeing Jesus in it, that's I chose a story that is all about seeing Jesus in all of the stories and all of the moments of scripture. And I snuck in the road to Emmaus story and Luke 24 as a 15 seed in the life of Christ regional and it didn't make it far, but I love it. And I think it has helped me not feel alone in the way I feel about scripture. I mean, we call this thing Bible geeks, you know, and I just embrace that. Yes, I'm geeky about it. I just love it so much. And these two men don't know that it's Jesus talking to him, but he explains how all of the Bible had this often overlooked theme about Christ and the gospel. And after he leaves, disappears on them and they say to each other, we're not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us. And that's how I have so often felt. I know that you can relate to this too. And a lot of people can that the scriptures were open to me and my mind was lit up and my heart was full and fiery. And for some reason, I don't know, it just felt like growing up, I didn't hear very many people talk about that kind of experience. But learning from Jesus as you read his word is a sacred moment. What these men experienced was very literally the physical presence of Jesus in his resurrected body. But for all of us to learn from Jesus as we read his word is sacred. It's like coming before the burning bush. It's an encounter that brings fire into our lives. And I just think it's such a beautiful story. And it's a cool story anyways, and so many other details that we're not talking about. But I like that I can find an example of people who aren't doing anything special. It's not like, oh, wow, your hearts were burning within us because you're so great. No, Jesus taught you and explained this to you. And that's how that's what it does is it lights you up when you get it. And when you see it. And I just I hope that more and more people in my life and around me can see that. And that's why I do what I do with my life is I just want other people to experience knowing Christ, knowing God and what these truths do for us as we receive grace and we receive who Jesus is. And we see what the good Samaritan is telling us and what we can learn about standing in the truth from the fiery furnace and all of these stories. So that was my pick. I think that's a really good one. And obviously, as the 15 seed went up against the Samaritan woman, yeah, we were definitely not going to make it very far on the road to a maze there. You know, Mariton woman. I was actually surprised the Samaritan woman didn't make it even further than she did. But that story, both of those stories, 16. Yeah, both of those stories. You really you see the power of people having their eyes opened, right? It's like, oh, I see now something I didn't see before. And I can see why that's a really good connection for you. Those two guys are just you don't know much about them, obviously. But I kind of wish you'd follow their story around a little bit longer. They'd seen some pretty amazing kinds of things throughout their life for sure. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we look at all the other resurrection appearances and see Peter and Thomas and all of these things. And this is one sort of an isolated moment, just walking down the road and sitting down to eat. It's kind of like their anonymity lets me think of, hey, it's like it's me. It's like me and Bryan were walking with Jesus. That's probably heard him talk to us much more relatable in that way. Yeah. All right. So let's get into our challenge for this week on the heels of an exciting Bible bracket. I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me. Simple challenge this week. But I think a fun one, ask someone about their favorite Bible story. And it could be asking a little kid, it could be asking someone who knows the Bible better than you do. And you just want to know what are they going to say? Or ask somebody who is not a member of the church that's not a Christian and see if they have a favorite Bible story. Maybe that engages a conversation. But you know, these stories have a way of connecting with us and creating insight and conversation dialogue. And that was the point of the Bible bracket from the beginning. So we hope that you will have a good conversation about Bible stories by asking someone about it. Yeah, it's obviously not groundbreaking here, but on the heels of this discussion, I feel like it's a good way of breaking the ice with somebody. Just ask them what their favorite Bible story is. You're going to find an interesting answer for sure. Hopefully people are thinking about these things regularly. And if not, maybe this spurs them on to thinking about it in ways they've never thought before. So you think about this episode and we really appreciate again everyone for not only tuning in but also for voting and for rocking the vote, telling other people about it, getting your opinions out there. We have super appreciated that here on the episode. We are going to be taking a break next week and we'll be back in two weeks with our session five from our two by two guided study. And that as we talked about, I think on the last episode, we're calling listen up. And so we're going to talk about building our friendship by building our ability to listen. And if you want to prepare for that conversation, we encourage you to read James 1:19 Proverbs 12:15 also Proverbs 18:2 and 18:13. Those passages I think are all about listening and being better listeners and more receptive. And so we encourage you to listen along with us in two weeks when we're back with that episode. I think there's certain skills that you just spend your life working on. And this is a good one to spend some time thinking about and just meditating on how we can be better listeners to everybody around us. All right. So thanks so much everyone for tuning into the Bible Geeks podcast. You can find us on our website at biblegeeks.fm. You can find show notes for this episode in your podcast player of choice or at biblegeeks.fm/206. You can go look at the results of this bracket at biblegeeks.fm/bracket. And if our two by two guided study has your interest peaked, go over to biblegeeks.fm/twobytwo to go find out more. And until next episode in two weeks, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Shalom!