"That’s a Sick Burn"
EPISODE 220
Share the Savior’s Satisfying News
This week we finish up Season 1 of The Chosen with a conversation about episode 8, “I Am He.” Reflecting on Jesus' interactions with the Samaritan woman, we (fittingly for our recent episodes!) find lots of insights about evangelism and disciple-making. We also discuss what Jesus Said in Matthew 9:10-13 about God’s desire for mercy!
Takeaways
The Big Idea: Jesus’ mission was to show mercy to broken people, and ours should be the same.
Episode Transcription
That's a sick burn after I just said that I like drinking salty water earlier in the episode, but I get what you're saying Well, hello everyone and welcome to Bible Geeks podcast. This is episode 220. I'm Bryan Schiele. I'm Ryan Joy And thanks so much everyone for tuning in yet again. We are at the final Episode in our Bible Geeks AV club for the chosen season one episode eight the chosen Season one episode eight. I am he this is where it starts to get really cool and again, I don't know how we really folded in these episodes of the chosen alongside all of the Evangelism conversations that have been happening, but every time I turn around I just feel like these fit so perfectly together Oh, it fits so well the the pictures of Jesus calling disciples and making disciples who are going to make disciples the way that the gospel and the identity of Jesus spreads and changes lives This is what it's all about. And so I guess it makes sense We're probably not gonna get away from the theme of evangelism in in these episodes as it's so central to the stories of the Gospels, but we're gonna start here with an icebreaker Just a light-hearted question that has nothing to do with very much Except you'll see how it loosely ties in the episode. So Bryan besides water. What drink do you want when you're really thirsty? I Don't know why we start the episodes like this, but I really enjoy it. So I don't care It's all dumb, but I see what you're doing here with this water conversation from the episode It has a lot to do with water and wells and being thirsty and you know what if I'm really thirsty I've actually been craving salt a lot lately You know, I'm not like a big soda drinker or anything like that But man if I've got this drink mix that I love it's called element and I add it to water It's water with stuff in it It's like electrolytes and magnesium and a little bit of flavor and not very much sugar at all, but it is so good I love it, especially when I'm sweaty and it's hot outside It sort of just recharges my battery so to speak so salty water. That's what I like to drink. What about you? I love it. Yeah, we we do the same thing. We use this thing called Ultima, which is an electrolyte drink But I'm gonna I would say some days you can't beat a really good homemade lemonade like you know actually buy a bunch of lemons and go home and juice them and That on a hot day is pretty perfect and it does have you know So probably has a lot of the electrolytes and stuff but also, you know a lot of sugar Yeah, oh it's all about the sugar for sure. But when life gives you lemons definitely make lemonade. I appreciate that answer Let's get into our first actual segment here on the conversation And that is something that Jesus said in Matthew chapter 9 verses 10 to 13 where Jesus is reclining at table in a house and There's a bunch of tax collectors bunch of sinners and he was eating with them Him and his disciples the Pharisees see this and obviously if you've seen the episode of the chosen You know why we're talking about this But Jesus is eating with the the tax collectors and sinners and the Pharisees do not like that They start not just approaching Jesus, but they they go the end around and they talk to the disciples Hey, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners and Jesus catches wind of it? Obviously and says probably the most famous and impactful phrase those who are well have no need of a physician But those who are sick go and learn what this means I desire mercy and not sacrifice for I came not to call the righteous But sinners drop the mic Jesus boom. There is a smackdown for sure What do you learn from Jesus words here in this great dinner feast scene? Oh, it is a smackdown The go and learn what this means go and learn is like what you say to your disciples You know and and he's like pointing them to the scriptures and saying you don't understand this thing that you think you're the experts on You are the students that need to go and learn this and it is a mic drop But you know like throughout this episode from the feast at Matthew's house the conversation with a Samaritan sinner This episode centers all around Jesus intimate interactions with problematic people people We still have to check ourselves. I still have to check myself as his disciples not to Apologize and like rationalize like, you know, surely we're not meant to bring wicked people into our inner circle No, I mean that's that doesn't you know the way that we have taken first Corinthians 15 33 Evil companions. Let's put that in its context and notice what it's actually saying there, but we have taken it and Made it like we are as if the Pharisees, you know We're totally separating ourselves from those that need the gospel that need to Catch this contagious holiness as we talked about last time, you know, so unlike Jesus we're separating ourselves and It's it's messy out there. There's things that you know, we are aware that we can't condone it We can't participate in it. Jesus doesn't condone or participate in the kinds of things that this Samaritan woman has done You know, we're mindful of all of that But there's this sense that Jesus is bringing people into his trusted friendship group He's treating them as if they're his people and and it is scandalous It is shocking to the Pharisees and I think in some ways to us like it still is like Really? You don't bring people to your table Especially in that culture and eat with them and act like they're your people You don't go and stand at a well and talk to a Samaritan woman who has done these things If you're in that culture unless you are saying this is part of my mission here This is what I'm here to do and I see their humanity and I see that they were meant for more You know, he sees this woman's purpose and place in God's family if she gets to know him and and he lovingly Makes time for this extended exchange one of the longest Conversations we see Jesus have with anybody and so, you know, he's not here to call the righteous but sinners I need to remember that that's part of my job, too I'm here to go to the sick and Bring them this message knowing, you know, remember what we've been saying all season I think of the first episode of the season we talked about What is evangelism but one beggar telling another beggar where you can find bread and I'm not so far away From that and I need Jesus they need Jesus. I need to be willing to interact in that way It's such a powerful connection because I we get on the Pharisees for that like oh the Gentile cooties, right? But like we're the same way, you know, we can build the same walls We can have the same kind of prejudices We can develop the same kinds of aversion to being around unholy people and that's a problem If we're gonna follow Jesus, we've got to be as a fisherman out there doing the work getting stinky with the fish Right, like that's just a helpful reminder to check ourselves and make sure we haven't built those walls unnecessarily Because man when he says I desire mercy and not sacrifice that is such a powerful throwback to Hosea When in Hosea 6 verse 6 he says for I desire Steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings It is absolutely not to minimize the importance of sacrifice because God clearly called people to offer sacrifices But unless we see the reason behind it all we're missing the whole focus of the work We're missing what the work is all about and the work is about people it is actually the same thing that Jesus referenced in Matthew 12 when he's walking through and his disciples are picking the heads of grain and eating them on the Sabbath day and The Pharisees have a fit about it at the end of that in verse 7 of Matthew 12 He says and if you had known what this means another like mic drop moment right there He's like I desire mercy and not sacrifice you would have not condemned the guiltless He brings the same point up there to them basically saying you are missing the point and Am I missing the point have I missed the point is really I think what you were saying there It just reframes everything about our conversations everything about our life. What is the point of? Evangelism if not about other people What is the point about my life in general as a disciple if not about showing mercy to other people and that's the point that Jesus Is getting people to see is if your life is not about other people and serving them and helping them you've missed the point That's it. That's it. That's your mic drop your mic drop People you missed the point. All right, that's good. Let's get into our second segment here on the episode And that is here's the story So we're gonna tell the story here of the chosen season 1 episode 8 called I am he and where are we that has led us? Up to this final episode in the season man We're building here Nicodemus is still in conflict about you do I want to follow Jesus or not, but Matthew has committed himself that last episode at the end He is not only following Jesus But Jesus has like invited himself and his friends into Matthew's home for a party Which was just just delighted Matthew because he has and who wants to be at my house Nobody comes to my house. And so now he's he's gonna be hosting him and this whole entourage of disciples He has these days all these men and women Mary Simon Andrew James all these different people and so you've seen the movement Slowly growing kind of on the down low, but you're waiting for this next move. There's something more They're still just in in town and it's coming in this episode. What's what's next? So the story of episode 8 really starts out with a throwback to the Old Testament Which by the way, I just love how these episodes Start with something, you know throwing back to the Old Testament like the one with the bronze serpent and Moses totally It's so cool that he goes back to Jacob and Jacob's well And it's just funny to think about like the conversation Jacob is having about this well and what's going on He's like he talks about how God broke his hip once, you know, God's invisible most of the time but one time he broke my hip and that's a Throwback to Genesis 32 and Jacob wrestles with God They're out in the middle of a field at a well and this well would obviously be later on Very close to a Samaritan city. And so that's an important detail We'll learn about here shortly but the point of Jacob's well is gonna be Quickly made a connection to later when Jesus has a conversation with an important Samaritan woman Yeah, and we're gonna end the episode with that conversation before we get there We pick up with Jesus and the disciples Like I said at Matthew's dinner party and some Pharisees as we just talked about in Matthew 9 over here people inside Matthew's place come to chide Jesus and the others for Associating with such people for what did you say stinking like the fish over here? such Unsavory pasts like like Matthew and Mary, you know, I can't even put in my mouth the things that happen in the in the red District that she she was in and and Jesus gives the words that we read earlier I came for sinners to learn what Hosea meant God wants mercy and that then transitions us to Nicodemus the scene quickly flips We've been following him around the entire season and this is a conversation between him and his wife You can see Nicodemus is really struggling here having a hard time about what he wants to do Whether he wants to follow Jesus or not. He knows he's had this intimate conversation with the king But is he gonna be willing to to put himself out there? I think we know the answer to that but Caiaphas is a is brought up as part of this conversation and you know the high priest here Caiaphas the one who at Jesus crucifixion played a big part in that and They're gonna celebrate the Shabbat and so he's gonna give Nicodemus is gonna give the blessing over the table and they're sort of preparing for that when Shmuel comes on the scene and they talk about how Jesus is Calling himself the son of man and they throw back to Daniel 7, you know Where that language is being used and there's this ban put in place about religious gatherings And people are looking for Jesus and you can just see that Nicodemus is in the middle of some of these things, but he doesn't want to be you can just see that struggle happening Yeah, he's he's stuck you really you feel for him, but you're you're rooting for him There's some heartbreaking moments here coming up But then we shift to Jesus healing Simon's mother-in-law Simon's wife Eden has been tending to her sick mom in the background Maybe a couple episodes now Simon noted that I'm the only one that's married. He's struggling with what is this gonna be? He's thinking I'm gonna go and earn a little money to leave with Eden and her mom Jesus then is talking to Eden and we really haven't seen them interacting but she needs to know she's part of his plan, too It's not just like I'm taking Simon. You're on your own. Goodbye, you know It says, you know You were the first person to notice what I see in Simon and she he tells her Simon can't make sacrifices that aren't yours also you guys are one flesh and he goes and he Does this work of healing in her mother and she immediately gets up and just like in the story? She says no one move. I'll be right back with some drinks like exactly. She's dying to now She's serving them and so typical that kind of prepares the way for Simon to soon leave Yeah and the the whole idea of leaving is important here because they are heading out and we know, you know going back from the Gospels that they're heading out because there's a lot of Questions about all the work that's going on and how you know Jesus and his disciples are baptizing more people than John But you know when you actually get back to this episode like they're just going out on a journey they're heading out into the world out into Samaria to go teach and I find it interesting that Matthew leaves his dog behind. That is a really touching moment for me. I I wept like a baby you know, I The thought of leaving your dog behind is just I can't even imagine but this is the kind of picture I have with Jesus disciples They're traveling like this is what they're gonna be doing and this is the beginning of that journey And so Jesus wanted to visit Samaria Obviously the disciples are not very happy about that. There's a very special reason though to go there and they don't yet understand that But I love in this story here How Jesus starts to get into a political conversation with them about the history between the Jews and the Samaritans and like their long-standing Beef with each other. It's kind of cool how Jesus is able to like talk through just like the real-life Modern-day issues about what's going on like hey, you know quit viewing them as the enemy, right? Like Jesus has a different view of them as he's trying to get his disciples to share that same view So they take off and they leave and then Jesus eventually meets this amazing woman Yeah, he sends the disciples on he's gonna hang out by himself here at this well They're going to get some food and the woman comes up to him and it's the heat of the day He asks her for a drink, you know He asked her why is she coming at this time instead of when the other women come and you know that are when it's not so Hot he has a bunch of questions as we've been talking about in our evangelism series. He engages with her I guess next he gets into analogy land as we would call it and he starts taking this idea of water and talks about Living water that when you drink it you're never thirsty anymore and he tells her soon She'll be able to worship anywhere if she worships in spirit and truth Of course, that's part of the conflict with the Samaritans and the Jews they say you have to worship, you know in the temple There's a particular place Jesus kind of wants her to get past this idea that there's gonna be this holy geography at some point It doesn't matter where you're from doesn't matter where you are You worship God in spirit and truth and she says something like until the Messiah comes. I'm not gonna trust anybody He's gonna explain it all and Jesus says I am he and he tells her, you know I haven't I haven't been telling people this but you're somebody I'm gonna tell this to and As he starts to tell her the story of her marriages her checkered romantic past he gives names and he you know gives all kinds of details and Then she runs off in faith excited. I'm gonna tell everybody this man told me everything I ever did and that's the disciples come back and There's a kind of a cool moment when Simon is like you you told her we can tell people now It's happening and he like hugs Jesus and and so it's it's a cool moment that like, okay We're at the point of unveiling some truths here that we weren't ready to really let out into the public before I like how this episode really is sort of giving you the disciples viewpoint of things and you have to imagine they are super confused about what comes next and like how to They've never been out on the road with Jesus before and when they actually go out It's kind of a confusing time like they've got a lot of things to work through So it's a good episode especially to close out the series with season one So let's get into our next segment here after we have told the story. Let's get into our scripture du jour What is the soup du jour? It's the soup of the day That sounds good, I'll have that so we're gonna root ourselves back in the book of John in chapter 4 Verses 1 through 30 and if you are tired of hearing us talk about the Samaritan woman Well, just buckle up. We're gonna talk about the Samaritan woman some more. Oh, man. It's so good And yeah, so we see him show up here and a lot of that scene is pretty faithful I mean, there's details of course added to it that aren't in John's text But there is a lot that we're just pulling out but man you see the story and then you want to walk away and go sit somewhere in your chair and Drink a cup of tea and think about it for a while and and there's there's a lot of depth to this So much depth and really this is only gonna scratch the surface as we're sort of pulling out some insights that we got from this Text again after reading it one more time in the context of all the conversations We've been having as I go back and read the story of the Samaritan woman. It really just reminds me how Jesus is able To read the room and start where people are like in the last episode how we talked about Jesus meeting fishermen And then he uses the connection between catching men like being a fisher of men Now Jesus is talking to a thirsty woman who's out there to get water about living water And so if you just read the scriptures and you just kind of come across these things It's like oh, yeah, of course Jesus talks to fishermen about fishing and this woman at the well about water But like how skillful is Jesus? Obviously, he's the master teacher who we're learning from him But how skillful is he at just diving into a deep conversation? Wherever he is like in light of all of our Square One discussions coming up. It really makes me appreciate his nimble approach Like thinking about reading the room and just responding to people where they are he's able to talk about the political and religious differences without it becoming a huge roadblock and so much of the conversation that Jesus has with her is Easily a model for me But I guess my big insight here is just how much Jesus cares enough to blow past all the obstacles that would have kept them from talking to each other and This fits so perfectly in Jesus ultimate mission to heal people and reach out to them where they are Jesus is willing to do the work not to prepare a hundred and fifty three point PowerPoint sermon You know and give it to somebody in all the details but to have these conversations with people Meeting them where they are reading the room and just investing in people in the way that he is doing here with this woman a woman who he probably shouldn't have been talking to if it just a random Jewish man would have been traveling around by himself a Woman who probably because of her nationality most of the Jews wouldn't have even talked to you anyway But the fact that Jesus like blows past all of that and then just approaches her where she is So much of what Jesus does is masterful here in the example And I love the lesson that I get from that meeting people where they are and being nimble being Flexible in where we start the conversation but always leading it to where Jesus is Always leading it pointing to the king and why we need him so badly Yeah, that was a good summary of what he does and how he's working in this conversation I mean he creates these pivot moments where he's just dropping those truths Like you were saying breadcrumbs like if he knew you would ask me and I'd give you living water Which wasn't in itself a I mean that was just a term that was an idiom that they would use for like spring water but Jesus obviously means something more and he starts to unpack that and That's where this just gets so profound to me and and he really deepens this metaphor of living water We started out talking about being thirsty, but he says here whoever drinks of this water He won't be thirsty again. And what a powerful idea Of course not just talking about her not having to go to the well again in the heat of the day But water that becomes within us a spring of water Welling up to eternal life not just a longer life the eternal means not just a quantitative difference but a qualitative difference another kind of life and a couple chapters later in John 7 He's gonna pick up this theme again and say if anyone thirsts Let him come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water and then John adds Parenthetically now this he said about the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive So both of these passages just speak of this inner sourcing from God of a different kind of life a life from God a life From the spirit of God what Jesus gives us Satisfies like nothing else can you're not gonna you're not gonna be thirsty in the way that so much of the world is Just dying of thirst. It's like you're drinking salt water or something And you just everything you drink makes you more thirsty because it's not the satisfying Drink that you were made to run your body on and in the same way You're not drinking what your spirit and your soul and and your inner life was meant to be satisfied by which is ultimately the Lord himself and Him with you and leading you and showing you the way of life and so ultimately all of this in The way we're thinking about it and where we are right now Just keeps bringing me back to the importance of sharing this water with others That's a sick burn after I just said that I like drinking salty water earlier in the episode But I get what you're saying. I mean you're not going to the ocean right and just drinking from the Pacific. I Know what you're talking about though. I really appreciate that Jesus gets to the deeper Meaning of satisfaction here It kind of just folds right into what I'm thinking about with the Square One series coming up how in the first conversation It's really gonna be like why is life so unsatisfying what you know? Why do people search for meaning in life and not find it? What is the purpose of life? You know kind of that Ecclesiastes style search, right? And then you get to the point where you're like, here's Jesus who satisfies everything that we could ever have wanted and more and Really? That's how Jesus approaches this woman I can give you something that will make you never thirst again you will never ever be looking for anything else after you find me and What a just beautiful picture to offer somebody who is thirsty like here. I've got a cup of water Yeah, the bottomless well of living water not salty at all. Not salty It's just so easy for me to forget What it's like without the living water I just need to constantly remember that I have something that other people need and Like that we're not in the same reality I am living in a totally different way of being in fellowship with God then so many around me and You know, obviously they have to choose it But I have this job to say come and drink the water of life without cost All right, so we've been talking about the chosen season one episode 8 Let us reach out and as we zoom out have a question a little bit about the whole season that we've just gotten done So what moment Ryan from season one has impacted you the most and what kind of sticks with you as you look back on this whole Chosen series season one now that we finally finished season one. We've got a lot of catching up to do Yeah, well, I think there's a moment like this in every episode where Jesus shows up You know, it's like the big reveal of Jesus not that he isn't in maybe the episode earlier But he connects with someone in a new way a deeper way he makes himself seen by them and you're like seeing it again and then you just want to cry and Get the goose bumps and everything and the one that sticks with me the most is the first time just because that you know It's just a powerful moment. He comes to Mary He heals her she gets something about who he is immediately in that powerful exchange between them. She is such a Wonderful character, you know, she's just well acted You really want her to be saved and you see how desperate and how lost and and then Jesus just you talked about brokenness and You see her brokenness and you see Jesus like piecing her back together Just all in a moment. It's really cool. I think that's one of the most impactful for me really It's all those times where Jesus just shows up in the actors portrayal here clearly, you know Where he's able to look and with just the presence he brings to the scene It really reminds you that Jesus had a presence like he really did as you read through the scriptures it's clear that Jesus showed up and things changed and obviously, there's so many moments, but one of the most impactful moments was in episode 6 where he heals the leper and that was just one of those moments where you've got all the disciples around like Jesus has an audience and That Egyptian woman that's there who sees these things as well the leprous man comes up and everyone's like running for the hills because they don't want anything to do with this man and the Shock on their face versus the compassion of Jesus and the look that he's able to give this man Meeting this man's needs healing him and just like what a beautiful scene as they are both embracing and He's healing him and the man's realizing what's going on It's obviously a dramatization and the chosen as a series has done this so well But it really reminds you that Jesus made huge differences in people's lives Not only in their physical condition, but most especially in their spiritual condition and you know This whole segment is called reach out but I think what Jesus does for broken people and the way that he reaches out to them is just one of the Coolest things that we see in this series So anytime I'm willing to open up and follow Jesus in his example to reach out to other people it's just a great reminder to focus on that to focus on what I can do for other people and Touching people's lives in sort of that same way. There's a lot to take from this. So you really I don't know I hope people like this this thing we're doing. I know some people care. I don't care if they like I like Talking about the chosen it's all good. I appreciate it. It is a really rewatchable Series of finding like I want to as soon as I watch an episode I want to go and like hey grab like my wife or grab my kids or grab some other people and Watch it together do watch parties. It is really really well done So I'm excited to have completed something because we're so far behind I think we know how the story ends though. Yeah That's true. I'm sure everybody is beyond where we are if you're watching it along But it'll be cool to keep moving forward and have these all collected together Somewhere on a page on our website these these conversations about this and it's been fun for me. All right, everyone Thanks so much for tuning in to 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 or at biblegeeks.fm/220 You can also follow along with our upcoming Square One guided study over at biblegeeks.fm/squareone that is where we're starting that on the next episode. We're really excited for that. Please tune in let people know about This upcoming series we would really appreciate that and until the next conversation may the Lord bless you and keep you! Shalom.