“Coming Out of Your Pores”
EPISODE 233
Grow Closer to Jesus
What's so great about Jesus? Here in Square One session 6, we reflect on Matthew 27-28, share our thoughts on the characteristics of true friendship, and unpack the story of Lazarus from John 11. From Jesus' compassion, unwavering commitment, and wise counsel, join us as we uncover why Jesus is the ultimate friend we all need. Plus, we discuss our favorite friendship stories, chat about how Jesus' love changes our lives, and pose a thought-provoking question: If you could ask a friend to help with something important in your life, what would it be? Let's grow closer to Jesus together!
Takeaways
The Big Idea: Once you know Jesus and his love, your life will never be the same.
This Week's Challenge: Reflect on this question: If you could ask a friend to help you with something important in your life, what would it be?
-
Introduction and Welcome
Bryan: like it should be coming out of your pores, like somebody who went to a really bad Italian restaurant, like the garlic coming out of your body should just be the love coming out. That's a weird picture here. But, Well hello everyone and welcome to the Bible Geeks podcast. This is episode 233. I'm Bryan Schiele.
Ryan: I'm Ryan Joy.
Bryan: And thanks so much everyone for tuning in.
Recap of Session Five
Bryan: We are back here continuing our conversation in our square one series. We got into session five last episode which was really a good conversation about one of our three major checkpoints.
But for now we're going to talk about the extended version where we get into session six, moving into a discussion about Jesus and really answering the question, "What's so great about Jesus?"
But before we get there, on our last conversation in session five, checkpoint two, we had this challenge.
Discussion on Matthew 27-28
Bryan: Read Matthew 27 to the end of Matthew, basically to the end of Matthew 28 on your own. Reflect how this important moment in Jesus' story affects your life. And so let's check in. What did you think about that verse as you were able to read
Ryan: Yeah, verse, like a lot of verses. It's, uh, it
Bryan: What did you think about almost all of the end of Matthew?
Ryan: Yeah, I mean, because it's not just long. It is, like, every verse is packed with details. And some of them, don't remember. Like, I think I noticed some of the details for the first time somehow, though I've studied through this. Others, I appreciate it again.
The Resurrection and Its Impact
Ryan: As I read them this time, I was struck most, I think, by the interaction with the women as the first witnesses of his resurrection. You know, we just have been talking about the resurrection a lot. As you read it, you can almost hear their hearts thumping as they run, it says, with fear and great joy. And they're, you know, going to tell the others about the encounter with the angel, the empty tomb, the open stone.
And then what do they see along the way? They meet Jesus along the way. And he says something like, you know, joyful greetings. This, like, message of gladness and hope and peace in this one word, this one Greek word that he gives. And then they just, they fall at his feet, they clutch his feet and they worship him.
I mean, it's all a really good lead into this discussion about why Jesus draws us all to him, why we love him and want to follow this Lord who, as the passage closes with, is with us always, even to the end of the age. And that's a pretty good setup.
Bryan: I saw that connection with this conversation in session six really heavily as well as I was thinking through it. Obviously all the sacrifice and everything that we see Jesus going through there and everything that he enabled through his resurrection.
But actually before the moment in that story where you were talking about where they see him resurrected for the first time, I was noticing that in the end of chapter 27 how right after this amazing scene of darkness and earthquakes and the veil of the temple splitting in two and literally dead people, actual dead people coming back to life, it stops to mention that there's a bunch of women staring off at a distance, people who had been following him for a very long time.
But I love how Matthew keys in on some of these details and is able to connect the story in a more relatable way. It's like the people who cared about Jesus the most and loved him and were following him, they watched these things from a distance. And I just love those little details like you were saying.
It adds so much color to the story and it helps me to be able to connect to it in a lot of ways. And for these maybe quote/unquote insignificant moments to be brought up right alongside these powerful ones just kind of tells you that this was a very complex event here at the scene of the cross.
Ryan: absolutely. And the people are kind of the point of the whole thing. And so all of the gospels are packed with just these interactions and what Jesus meant to different people and the scene you're talking about sets up the scene I talked
Bryan: Yep, exactly.
Ryan: what a payoff, you know, what a, that's too small a word, a payoff.
Like it's a, episode of some TV show or something, but like, what a, completion, what a circular ending to the story of these ladies who watched him die. And they're weeping and they're like, we can't just leave him there. Let's do something else. We got to do something for him.
And they go to attend to his supposedly dead body, only, have a conversation with him instead.
Bryan: Joyful greetings!
Ryan: Joyful greetings.
Transition to Session Six
Bryan: so moving into here in session six in this conversation today, we're going to answer this question. We're going to talk through what's so great about Jesus. this is the one where we fall in love with Jesus.
we've been talking about him and all these conversations leading up to this point. And this is the one where we start to really connect with him on a deeper level, I
Ryan: Yeah. I like that question that we're going with for this one. You know, what's, the special thing? Like, like there's two levels of the question, like this almost flippant Seinfeld quality. What's
Bryan: What's the deal with that?
Ryan: Why is everyone so enamored with this Jesus guy? But there's also this literal meaning of what makes him so great.
Kind of like, make me think of when Willow, this is an old 80s reference, but Willow in the movie, Willow sees Val Kilmer fighting and he declares, you are great. Jesus really is great. And so let's tell people why he's so great because he really is so amazing.
Bryan: I was not expecting a Willow reference to kick off this episode, but that probably leads us into our hook that we'll get into and our icebreaker question.
Square One - 6: This is Square One. What's so great about Jesus? Why do we love stories about friendship? Whether it's Samwise refusing to let Frodo carry his burden alone in the Lord of the Rings, the way Watson and Sherlock work together, or Dorothy's unlikely friendship with her crew of traveling companions, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man.
Or maybe even Jonathan in the Bible, a friend who loved David as his own soul. Don't we all want a friend like that? Someone who offers a shoulder to cry on. Someone you can laugh with or just call when you need a little help. They're always around, you can't shake them. A good friend is one of life's greatest blessings.
So before we get into some deeper conversations about friendship, what's your favorite story about friends? And what character do you connect with the most and why?
Icebreaker: Favorite Stories About Friends
Bryan: Okay, so the icebreaker question there was before we get into a deeper conversation about friendship, what's your favorite story about friends? connect with most and why?
So Ryan, who do you connect with? What's your favorite story about friends?
Ryan: Well, I mean, we've been watching the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings movies right now as a family. So the Samwise reference there was pretty great. But I was thinking of a friend, a couple of friends just went and saw the musical of the outsiders. And I haven't seen that yet, but that brought me back to how much I loved the S.E.
Hinton book as like a 12 year old, 13 year old. And then the movie, I think it's a Francis Ford Coppola movie with all those young stars in it. And just the way that Ponyboy and Soda Pop and all of these different guys are really like have each other's back, the karate kid. And the only other thing I know him as standing up next to Ponyboy and being a really good friend to him through like all of these hard things as they're growing up. I really related to that as a young person who wanted to have, you know, sometimes felt like an outsider, but wanted my own crew that would stand by me no matter what.
So that's the one that comes to mind for me. What about you?
Bryan: gold, Ponyboy, stay
Ryan: That's right. Stingold.
Bryan: I mean, there's so many. I think in the past, during our 2x2 guided study, we had a whole episode about how friends can be don't know, almost like the odd couple where one is polar opposite from the other one. I actually really like some of the classic TV shows like the Andy Griffith show, for example. Andy and Barney are like two of the closest friends, but I mean, they are just so different from each other. It's not even funny. Andy is patient and Barney is like good-natured and silly and just kind of misguided most of the time.
And there are days where I feel like Barney, and then some days I feel a bit stuffy like Andy. And I don't know. I love those two friends, and I think I could put myself in either of their shoes, depending.
Ryan: well, La-T-Dol. I heard you say or saw you say Andy and Barney and I was like, I have no idea what he's talking about. So now I'm back. I get it now because, you know, you think of the last names with those,
Bryan: Oh,
Ryan: but no, that's great. I love that. I love the old Nick at Night reference there.
Bryan: All righty. So let's get into it here with part two of our conversation where we find ourselves focused on Jesus for a little while, and we get into the big idea and introduce the reach-out question.
Square One - 6: Let's get into it and grow closer to Jesus. What's so great about
Qualities of a Best Friend
Square One - 6: Jesus? He wants a relationship with each of us, so he calls us to follow him.
Jesus elevated the quality of the word "friend" when he described what he did for us as an act of friendship and called his disciples friends. He said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Jesus is the best friend you never knew you always needed. The best comparison he could give for the way he loves you is the unfathomable, perfect love God the Father has for him.
Just let that sink in. So here's the big idea. Once you know Jesus and his love, your life will never be the same. You mean more to him than you will ever fully grasp. But may God grant you strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Jesus stood up for us and gave his life while we were enemies far from God. If that's what he does for his enemies, just imagine the confidence his friends have in him. He's already been a friend to you, so if you decide to be his friend and follower, he will never leave you so you can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper.
I will not fear. What can man do to me?" What are your favorite qualities of your best friend?
Ryan: All right, Bryan, what are your favorite qualities of your best friend?
Bryan: You know, I do like the ease and the comfort that comes with a relationship with a good friend, but I've also come to appreciate the tension. love it, but, like, I appreciate it after the fact. It's like, you know, it's that tension. It is exactly that, right?
It is the iron sharpening iron. It kind of reminds me of, like, when you go to the gym, you know, you go there and you're pushing yourself. Your heart rate is up, you're sweating, you're like, everything is just really difficult. But at the end of it, you know you've accomplished something. And, like,you know, if I'll be out hiking or mountain biking or something, you get to an uphill climb, and it's like, here we go.
You know, I've got to, dig in. And it's these moments when you've just got to, like, almost literally lean in to get through it knowing that all the work that you put in will be worth it. And in a friendship in those moments where it's like, you know, it's easy to just kind of always agree and always have, everything light and easy.
But it's those, like, difficult moments, I think, where you realize the value that you have in a relationship with somebody. And like you said, iron sharpening iron. it's all about sparks and difficulty. And, you know, it's not comfortable. It's not easy.
these are the things I think that are really positive in a friendship in the long run. What about you?
Ryan: I was thinking of two kinds of moments, the easy hang, like you were saying, and then like the moment you can't make it alone. And to me, those are the two kind of most important friendship moments. There's like the fellowship and companionship in the everyday and then the support and partnership in the trial.
And I mean, there's like a million components that make those two moments work, like how you see each other, how you show up and support each other, how you trust each other, you just enjoy each other. But, you know, it really does boil down to like we are reliable and we have this strong affection for each other.
And just really liking each other and having rock solid commitment to each other is, that's the heart of it. But,I really like what you said there, like a really good friend is going to make you better.
Bryan: Oh, yeah.
Ryan: like that trust and that appreciation and that mutuality allows it to become this source of growth in your life. So that's a cool part of it, too.
Bryan: let's get into part three here in the discussion where we dive into the book.
It's about time. We're going to get into the book. And boy, howdy are we. We are in John chapter 11, verses 1 to 44, a big long reading that we'll tackle after this. But let's play here our discussion from part three.
Square One - 6: Jesus might seem distant when you only think about him reigning in heaven. To get to know him, you have to also see who he was when he lived among us. He shows us his heart as we watch him interact with people like when his friend Lazarus got sick while Jesus was out of town.
It's just one of the many treasured moments in Jesus' life that, when we hear them, make us want to learn a little bit more about him. So read John 11 1-44 together and notice what he's like. How does he feel about people? And what can he do to help? They say you learn who your real friends are when bad times come.
Notice what kind of friend Jesus was when Lazarus and his sisters needed him. After reading, take some time to discuss it. What do you notice about Jesus?
Bryan: Okay.
Reading John 11:1-44
Bryan: So we're going to read together John 11, verses 1 to 44. As we've done, we've been reading these in our podcast conversations. So buckle up, strap in, grab a Bible, John 11, and I'll start reading here in verse 1.
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, " not lead to death.
It's for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. after this, he said to his disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?"
Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him." After saying this, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him."
The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he meant taking a rest in sleep. And Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." So Thomas called the twins, said to his fellow disciples, " also go, that we may die with him."
Now when Jesus came, found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,
and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, He will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the
Ryan: When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now, Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.
When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, Where have you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, See how he loved him. But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. And Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me. And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.
The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go.
Bryan: there it is. So in this reading, aside from obviously Jesus' great and powerful statement there, "I am the resurrection and the life," what do you notice about
Ryan: Well, like a lot of John's Gospels, this whole passage is built around Jesus' conversations. And I don't think I had seen before just how much it flows that way. So after challenging the disciples with a new perspective about Lazarus' death, he gives Martha hope and then he comforts Mary. And at the end, he raises Lazarus and he knows each of them.
He knows what each of them needs and he's able to help all of them through it in all these different ways. And so that was just striking. Again, like we said at the beginning, that personal nature of each of the interactions, Jesus is the Lord of glory. He's defeating death. He is the resurrection and the life.
And yet he was a person that every story we have, every one of these accounts as the Holy Spirit has captured them, gives us this sense of his focus on people and on specific life things that I go through. I need comfort. I need hope. I need resurrection someday. And I definitely need new perspective on the things that are happening to me and the death of my friends and all these kinds of things that are going on.
So yeah, that's what struck me as just, I guess, the people factor. What about you?
Bryan: love how he was moved, like, multiple times in this story. Did you notice how, you know, he was moved and then he was moved again? And it, like, you know, it kind of highlights the fact that there are these moments in this great story where, on paper, Jesus knew exactly what he was going to do. He knew that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.
He knew that this sickness was not leading to death. he knew the facts about it all, but yet the emotion in that moment over and over again was still powerful enough to cause him to feel deeply about it and to be troubled or to be at least concerned or compassionate for their emotions and even for himself to weep.
Like, leading to that moment in this story where Jesus cared enough. And it just highlights, again, so many moments of Jesus' ministry. Matthew 9, where he looks out at the crowd and they're, harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
He had compassion for them. He was then moved with compassion for that leprous man in Mark chapter 1. Like, all these moments where Jesus shows his emotion and letting that be visible to people, he knows how to help. He feels deeply enough to act on people's behalf. And I guess that's what he's calling us all to do.
And I think that's one of the relatable parts of this whole story is, like, he wants us to know what the right thing is or to know what truth is. To feel so deeply connected to it and connected to people, really, and compassionate for what's going on in the lives of other people and to get to work serving them.
And he gives us a great example here that, he wasn't just some, robotic human, executing some programming instructions or whatever. He was absolutely deeply emotionally connected to people's well-being.
Ryan: I like that you brought that out because I remember thinking of Jesus' miracles at one point in my Bible study as just, evidence. That's all he's giving. And that is a part of this in this story. He wants them to see the glory of God. And he talks about that. He sees them needing faith, but it's so much more than that throughout all of his miracles.
You see this thing happening where the primary reason given is compassion and something about, again, I kind of used to think of that as, you know, all the feels as something that people had, you know, you're making Jesus all emotional and everything, and Jesus knew everything.
And there's this sense of like, no, he's strategizing and creating something that's going to last as evidence for us. All of that can be true and him be deeply emotionally connected to the pain and needs of people, just like we see throughout the whole Bible, that God, God the Father, that the whole Trinity is an emotional, you know, this is where we get our emotions, right?
Bryan: Yeah.
Ryan: Is this is who God is. And Jesus shows us who God is as we get to know him. He is the perfect image of God as Colossians and Hebrews kind of talks about.
Bryan: anyway, deep conversation. I really appreciate this reading and our connection to Jesus. Let's get deeper. in part four here, where we get into some of Jesus' favorite qualities, I think, about friendship, some of the ways that he reaches out and touches us in very particular ways.
And then we'll get into the big question there.
Square One - 6: Ready to go deeper? As we consider our favorite qualities of our friends, people we want to be around and share our lives with, it's easy to see how Jesus' character makes him "best friend" material.
Let's notice a few of those together. Jesus is our compassionate friend. He sees our weaknesses and understands when we're hurting. Jesus once looked at a crowd of people and saw they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He wasn't detached from their struggles. He deeply felt their pain and lack of direction.
Like a friend moved by our tears, Jesus was moved with compassion for a leprous man who begged for healing, and the widow who lost her son. It wasn't just a feeling, but it spurred him to action, to heal, to comfort, and to restore. And he understands our weakness since he sinlessly walked in our shoes, experiencing our temptations, anxieties, and frailties of daily life.
He doesn't condemn our struggles, but lovingly meets us where we are with empathy and grace. He's also our committed friend. He's there for us, reliable and dependable. He left the glory of heaven and entered our world not for his own benefit, but to be with us and ultimately to save us. He lived his whole life with the cross in mind, setting his face to go to Jerusalem, knowing the suffering that he'd face.
His commitment to his mission and to us was unwavering, even coming at immense personal cost. He finished the job, announcing with his final words from the cross, "It is finished," signifying his complete commitment to the Father's task. He didn't give up or turn back. He saw his commitment through to the very end, and he did it all with joy, knowing how desperately we needed a Savior to take care of our sin problem.
And he's our counseling friend. He teaches us how to live. Like a good friend who offers wise counsel and valuable insights you might not see yourself, through his words and actions, Jesus shows us how to live a life that's pleasing to God. His teachings on love, forgiveness, humility, and seeking God's kingdom offer a roadmap for navigating life's complexities.
Before his death, he promised to send the Holy Spirit, the helper or counselor who would guide believers into all truth. The Spirit gave us the living words of Christ, and he remains present in believers, producing the fruit of Jesus' character within us. So Jesus offers a constant source of wisdom and direction in our lives.
And he calls us to a better way of life. And like a good friend who doesn't always agree with you, challenging you when necessary to help you grow, Jesus offers wisdom that's not always easy to hear. He often challenges our worldly perspectives and calls us to a higher standard of living, one marked by love, justice, and faith.
He wants what's best for us, gently pushing us beyond our comfort zones towards spiritual growth. Basically, Jesus embodies the best qualities of a perfect friend because he offers the deepest compassion for our struggles, an unwavering commitment to our well-being and salvation, and wise counsel that guides us towards truth and life.
He's the friend who sticks closer than a brother. So here's the big question. Are you intrigued by Jesus? Are you drawn to following him?
Bryan: Okay. So, here's the big question that we asked. Are you intrigued by Jesus? Are you drawn to following him?
Ryan: you know, every time we talk about this, this conversation is great because it draws me all the more like you can always be more magnetically drawn to Jesus and committed to following him.
And gratitude is such a powerful motivator and love and admiration for our Lord is such a faith builder. I really loved the counsel section of this. That was really good. You wrote this section. And so I got to just read it and appreciate it. And I think it's easy sometimes to think of Jesus as giving us one great act of friendship and then like one and done, like that's why he's our friend.
And boy, what what an act, what an act of friendship.And that solidifies and is the great manifestation of Jesus love and God's love is what he did for us on the cross and him coming to save us. But his friendship is ever present. Like once we come to him and act as a friend to him, like we read about earlier, choosing, I want to follow you.
I want to be your disciple and your friend and be committed to you. That is a relationship that is ever deepening. And it's different than other friendships, of course. But it is this ever present quality that Jesus has that the disciples talk about that our reading ended with. I'm with you always.
Jesus wanted his disciples to know as he ascended that I'm not leaving you. I'm sending the spirit. But in this way, I am always with you and I am continuing to work among my people. You know, think of the Revelation two and three letters. I know you. I know your work. I know your challenges. I know what's going on with you.
And he sees what we can do better and challenges the churches there, like you said, about difficult things that we find and learn as we are always connecting with him and his word, always aware that he's with us. We're communing with him. We're growing closer. And I think that's an area that I have been blessed in my walk with God over the last few years more so is just a growing sense of that closeness where I can say with Paul, you know, it's no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me.
And that sense of not that I live that perfectly, of course, I fall short of being able to say all of the none of self, as the song says, but it is a growing sense of that connection and his guidance and yielding to him. And I don't know. I felt a little rambly, but I'm trying to get across something that's been very important to me anyway.
Bryan: I absolutely connect with what you're saying, I think this is about how he's not distant. And seeing it that way, I think, is important. You know, it's not like a long-distance relationship, although it is kind of like that, I suppose. it's a nearness, it's a closeness.
He's approachable. The more that we learn about him, the more we grow to love him, the more we start to see, like, the unsearchable riches of his nature and his love for us. it's complex, right? There's a lot to it. And I think it's what I'm also appreciating as I'm preaching through right now the cross-training series that we did years ago.
It's like I'm starting to see, you know, as all these qualities of Jesus, as I start to -- like, how can I be more like that? How can I connect more with that in my life? How can I put that into practice and let him control me in those ways? You know, how can I change to be more like him? I think the more multifaceted that you see Jesus and more complete, really, that you see Jesus -- not like trying to make Jesus more complicated, but, you know, try to understand how he really is, who he really is.
think that really helps to draw closer to him. And I just want to know more and I want to be more like him. And, in all the ways that you were saying, in all the rambliness, it's like I think there really is just such a depth and an all-encompassing connection we can have with him. And it's just something to pursue every day.
It's not like, you know, one and done, like the sacrifice he made. It's not like one and done, I commit myself in baptism once to him and that's it. It's like, no, every day it's a constant figuring out of, like, how would Jesus handle this situation? Who does he want me to be? What do I need to think about to be more like him today?
And maybe it's just one of the reasons why, like, the regular reminder of the Lord's Supper helps.
Ryan: Yeah.
Bryan: You were talking about that commitment there. And, you know, of course it's not one and done that he went to the cross once and, you know, that's all he's ever done for us or will ever do for us. But that reminder, that constant reminder of what he went through is a real staple in my life to help me, you know, just remember and appreciate that.
Like you talked about gratitude there, to be grateful for what he's done and to not just say, well, thank you very much and then go off and live the way I want to live. But like, thank you very much and be more committed tomorrow because of that reminder.
Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. I love I'm so glad you brought that up. Yeah. And to commune with him that time, commune with one another and with him in the remembrance. That's a really great moment to to build our friendship. So good point.
Bryan: All right.
Challenge and Closing Thoughts
Bryan: So let's get into part five, wrap this whole thing up with a challenge. We'll look ahead to our next conversation and we'll offer a closing blessing.
Square One - 6: Jesus is such an amazing friend. So let's take some time to notice the value of friendship in life. Consider this week if you could ask a friend to help you with something important in your life, what would it be?
As you start the next conversation, take a moment to talk about what you noticed. As we probably all remember from our younger years, we tend to become like the people we spend our time with. That's what Jesus wants us to do when we develop a deeper relationship with him, to become like him. In our next conversation, we'll consider how our lives change when we walk with him.
As we break from our past and walk down a new road with Jesus, we'll see the powerful ways that God can use us and mold us into his children.
Part 5 Discussion
Bryan: Okay. So before we answer the challenge,
We'll cover that on the next episode. But what do you think about this challenge here? And the challenge that we've asked people to do here is, consider if you could ask a friend to help you with something important in your life, what would it be?
Ryan: continues to support the theme of this whole conversation, focusing on the relationship, focusing on following Christ. I think whenever I start studying with people, a lot of times it's just about morality. I need to be baptized because that's the right thing to do. I need to become a Christian because ethically I want to be good or something.
And starting to realize absolutely righteousness is a huge part of what God is creating in us and wanting us to choose. And, that's what we are drawn to in him and start to walk in. But it is a relationship that he wants to reestablish first. And from that comes these new ways that we're walking after him as we follow him.
And so I like this focus. And I think it's it's, you know, just pondering a pondering question is good. One of our friends, Allen Greely, I just met up with him for lunch the other day and I noticed he has his license plate it just says ponder. And I thought, what a great conversation starter ponder. And so this is this is a call to ponder what it is that makes a good friend and what it is that you would want to be able to rely on someone for.
And then there's this hidden, Russian Russian doll kind of gem within it of as you unpack it, you start to see, well, whatever it is, I bet Jesus is doing that for you, whatever it is that you want to rely on a friend
Bryan: that's the important focus for me is just that good friends do important things. you know, when we think about a friend in our life who does important things, making that connection between Jesus and our earthly friends, I think is a good thing to ponder.
A Closer Look: Leading the Conversation
Bryan: So let's get into here a closer look on our thoughts for leading this discussion. Okay. So like I said, this is the one where we want to fall in love with Jesus. This is the conversation that you're having with somebody where you want to highlight that Jesus is not just some, you know, historical figure that did all of these amazing things. It's not, you know, he's not just the focus of the Bible like we talked about in a past conversation, but he's the one who we want to have a relationship with.
Like Ryan was just talking about it. This is more about developing that connection. So if you can kind of keep that as the thread throughout this whole discussion, I think that's a really helpful thing. And breaking down this study into part one, when we get into this sort of lighthearted icebreaker to begin everything, you know, thinking about friendship on TV or in the movies or in a book or even in the Bible, thinking about these friendships and kind of starting the conversation that way, I think is a real good setup for this discussion.
And however you do it, just make sure that it's approachable and relatable, that people can connect with a story or some conversation about a friend that they know.
Ryan: friendship is sort of, I think, a Trojan horse that's bringing in a conversation about love, about real love, not romantic love. But the friendship angle allows us to talk about real commitment and loyalty and somebody who shows up for you and wants your best and is willing to sacrifice.
And I just think that so many people don't even realize what it is to be loved like this. And, you know, sometimes even Christians don't get it for years. And then once they get it, it just blows them away.
it just is a game changer when people start to get how much they're loved. And it's like, you know, oh, yeah, Jesus loves me. This I know. I've heard that song.
I've heard this before. And then you get what it means to be surrounded by someone's true and deep affection to just have this kind of pouring out of commitment to you. So I think that's a big part of this, too, is just like letting the love part really drive it.
Bryan: think what you're talking about is where we hone in on part two, right? It's where we move on from like the icebreaker and the lighthearted, you know, intro. Part two is really all about this big idea. Once you know Jesus and his love, your life will never be the same. So that's exactly what you're saying here.
The idea is focusing on his love. And then clearly as he talks about there that we read in John 15 where he's talking all about there, about the love that he expresses for us in the commitment that he made. And boy, I mean, it really does change the game.
Ryan: Yeah.
Bryan: And I think one of the things that I appreciate from this conversation, big idea, the end of it is your life will never be the same. And for me, that's kind of a setup for what's coming next. In our upcoming conversations, we're going to be talking about that change of life. Like what happens next in your life when you realize that Jesus loves you?
Your life will never be the same, meaning you don't want to be the same person that you used to be. And so, you know, thinking about that, that's where we're headed. But it's developing that relationship with Jesus, understanding his love, really centering on that, for this conversation so that it will propel you into that idea of repentance and what God can make out of your life now.
But you're never going to get to that point unless I think you really, do focus on and agree to this idea that Jesus loves you and wants a relationship with
Ryan: And that that prayer of Paul in Ephesians three has been important in my life. And I hope, you know, like it's just calling on on God to give us, as we've talked about before, the strength to comprehend, but to get how big of a love God has for us, Jesus has for us. and then that sense that he is he's reliable.
He's a helper. He's with us, as we see in Hebrews 13. And then this and then the reading as we get into the part three starts to personalize it.
Right.
Bryan: Well, yeah, and that is the whole idea here, right? It's all about, making sure that this hits home for somebody. And, I think, in our conversations of this, it's easy to gush and we're talking about our feelings about it. But you, as you're leading this conversation, man, if you can't get excited about Jesus' love in this conversation, maybe you shouldn't be the one who's having this conversation with somebody.
Because you should just be like it should be coming out of your pores, like somebody who went to a really bad Italian restaurant, like the garlic coming out of your body should just be the love coming out. That's a weird picture here. But, you know, I
Ryan: Well, I just preached on Second Corinthians two, where the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ is flowing out so that people come to see him. I didn't think of it as garlic,
Bryan: should smell it on
Ryan: I
Bryan: Oh,
Ryan: know I think what you're saying is is good. And it's so hard because you can't give somebody a should like you should feel this way. it's a challenge maybe to a listener like, everybody experiences this differently and there's not a right way to feel or whatever. I'm not trying to make you have my experience.
But, you know, Romans five, verse five, makes this something I think of, you know, that the love of God is poured out into your heart or, you know, Second Corinthians five, 14, the love of Christ controls me or, you praise God later on Second Corinthians for his inexpressible gift. The more we pray this prayer that I just brought up in Ephesians three, you know, that God would give us the strength to comprehend the breadth and depth and length and height and to know the love of Christ, then you could be filled with all the fullness of God.
It is worth meditating on and pondering the love of Christ yourself as you prepare for these studies. You could just be confident that if you love Jesus, it shows up and people will be affected not just by the stories of Jesus and the truth of Jesus, but to see someone who has come to know him and be drawn to Jesus and want to give their whole life to follow him.
Bryan: And in this third part here where we're talking about the reading, you know, it's a pretty long reading. And I think, you know, we asked the question there, what do you notice about Jesus? And like you were just talking about, you know, showing up in this conversation. I think we need to be ready to show up to answer this question because it is very open-ended.
So if you can be there ready to like guide the conversation if necessary and answer this in a way that kind of steers it towards things that are more helpful and more relational, I guess, that would be good. You know, what do you notice about Jesus and his friendships, how he connects with people? You know, your answers to this can really probably go a long way in helping them see like what this is really talking about.
Ryan: I think that seeing Jesus interacting with people that he loves and doing great things like the miracles are powerful, like anything they notice is going to be real and meaningful.
But seeing these things with people is is helpful to keep it from just being, I don't know, like I think another I'm just unveiling all of my bad beliefs that I used to have here in this episode about about Jesus. But like I sometimes I think when I was younger, I used to think of it kind of like, well, yeah, Jesus died for me, but he had to do that because that was the right thing.
And you still somehow can feel like a number in the great plan of God because he died for everybody. And he really did it as an act of obedience to God. And, you know, how much how personal really is his love for me? And you see it here in both the reading in John, chapter 11. And then, as you said, in section four, that you're filling out this and framing it within the context of friendship. I don't know. I think that is helpful, too,
Bryan: then we get into the fourth part here where it's really the depth and the meat of this conversation. You know, our favorite things about Jesus as a friend and this focus on compassion, commitment and counsel, just three of the biggest qualities you can think of having in a friend on earth. And seeing all these and the way that they connect to Jesus, I hope, is starting to deepen that connection with Jesus.
And then part five here, we get into our challenge. We talk about this challenge to notice friendship throughout the week, give this blessing at the end to close everything out.
we're focused on the next conversation about change. And I think too often, we skip right over the, session five, talking about Jesus' amazing salvation to the how do we change and what do we do as a response to that, you know, without really focusing on the relationship first.
And that, again, it goes back to kind of what you were talking about, you know, relationship over just righteousness, and, being able to connect these things, like the reason why we change is because of the relationship we have
Ryan: Yeah. So we're going to basically be fleshing out some of the things we talked about in the last session, like repentance is really a deeper conversation about repentance that isn't just around that word, the change aspect and the transformation aspect then starts showing up even more in the next conversation.
And then we're going to flesh out the baptism concept, you know, in the next session and talk about the story of baptism. So we're going to let all of these have more meaning so that people will see them not just as a proof text that they need to do this, but start to see more deeply the whole biblical story around these acts of obedience that transform them into children of God.
Shalom.
Outro and Next Steps
Bryan: All right, so this has been episode 233 of the Bible Geeks podcast. You can find show notes for this episode in your podcast player of choice or at biblegeeks.fm/233. You can also follow along with the Square One series over at biblegeeks.fm/squareone. You can sign up for our newsletter on our website.
You can check out our blog for more details. You can get in touch with us if you have a question, something you want to hear on an upcoming episode, or if you want to record a voice recording so that we can include those on a future episode, we'd love it if you'd do that. And until next time, Until next episode everyone, may the Lord bless you and keep you.