The Food for Thought Faithcast with Be Rob
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The Food for Thought Faithcast with Be Rob
Ep.8- Holy Tuesday-The Day of the Lord: Finding Hope Beyond Babylon
Holy Tuesday stands as a pivotal moment in Jesus's final week, revealing the mounting tension between divine truth and human authority. The religious leaders—threatened by Jesus's influence and unwilling to relinquish their power—attempt to publicly discredit him through theological traps and accusations. Yet Jesus remains undeterred, flipping not just tables but entire belief systems as he challenges their assumptions and traditions.
The Biblical concept of "The Day of the Lord" illuminates these confrontations. This powerful theme traces from creation through Babylon and Egypt, representing moments when God confronts human systems that have corrupted good and evil for their own benefit. Jesus reveals himself as the fulfillment of this pattern—not through military might as many expected, but through sacrifice. Rather than wielding death as a weapon like Babylon, he absorbs its full power through his own blood, creating an escape route from humanity's endless cycles of oppression.
On this tense Tuesday, Jesus delivers the Olivet Discourse, providing glimpses of what lies ahead while cautioning against obsession with apocalyptic signs. Instead of fear-mongering, he redirects his followers toward continued kingdom living and gospel spreading. The image of Jesus returning on a white horse transforms—he's not coming bloodied from battle but bloodied before it begins, having already achieved victory through sacrifice rather than domination. This Holy Tuesday teaches us that true power doesn't look like we expect: it's found in self-giving love that exposes and overcomes the world's broken Babylon systems. How might this revolutionary understanding of power transform your own approach to conflict and justice?
The Day of the Lord. It's a phrase in the Bible that religious people use usually when talking about the end of the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, things like Armageddon or the apocalypse. You might be familiar with this image of Jesus returning on a white horse. He's got a sword to bring final judgment and everyone wants to know how will it all go down. So a lot of these images come from the last book of the Bible, but to understand them you have to go back to the first book.
Speaker 1:When the story begins, we watch God create an amazing world, and then he gives humans power to rule over it on his behalf.
Speaker 2:But the humans are tempted by this mysterious, unhuman character who offers them a promise you could define good and evil on your own terms and put yourselves in God's place.
Speaker 1:Which is what they do, and the resulting stories are about the broken relationships and violence that results.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this promise creates huge problems. Now everyone has to protect themselves and fight for survival, and they're all using death as this weapon to gain power.
Speaker 1:It all leads to a story about the building of the city of Babylon.
Speaker 2:Or in Hebrew, bavel. Everyone comes together to elevate themselves to the place of God, and God knows how devastating this could be. A whole culture redefining good and evil as if they are God.
Speaker 1:So God confuses their language and scatters them.
Speaker 2:Now, from here on, babylon becomes like an icon in the biblical story. It's an image that represents humanity's corporate rebellion against God.
Speaker 1:And the next time we see it is in the story of ancient Egypt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He feels threatened by these immigrant Israelites. He starts killing all of the boys, enslaving the rest, and this is really evil. Yeah, egypt's like this bigger, badder Babylon. They take care of themselves at the expense of others by redefining evil as good. And so God turns Pharaoh's evil back on him. His pride drives him forward and he's swallowed up by death.
Speaker 1:Now, after this great deliverance, the Israelites sing a song about how God is their warrior, who liberated them from evil.
Speaker 2:And the Israelites referred to this moment as the day. The day they were rescued from a corrupt human system, and every year since then, the Israelites have celebrated the day of their liberation with this symbolic meal of a sacrificial lamb. It's called Passover.
Speaker 1:Eventually, israel comes into its own land, have their own kings and they face new enemies.
Speaker 2:So that past day of the Lord, celebrated every Passover, begins to generate hope that God will bring the day again to save Israel from new threats.
Speaker 1:Now out in the hills was a sheep herder named Amos.
Speaker 2:He was appointed by God as a prophet to announce shocking news to Israel that God was bringing another day of the Lord against his enemies, and this time the target is Israel. What, Sadly, Israel's leaders had also redefined good and evil for themselves, resulting in corruption and violence.
Speaker 1:So God's people have become like Babylon the oppressed become oppressors. Babylon seems like a trap no one can escape.
Speaker 2:And so the day of the Lord comes upon Israel. They're conquered, taken captive, into exile, and from then on, israel suffered under the rule of continuous oppressive empires. This is the story.
Speaker 1:Jesus was born into.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in his day, the oppressive empire over Israel is Rome.
Speaker 1:So is Jesus going to confront Rome. Take him out.
Speaker 2:Well, no, jesus saw the real enemy as that mysterious, unhuman evil, the evil that's lured Babylon, egypt, rome, israel. All humanity has given in to evil's promise of power. This is what Jesus resisted, alone in the wilderness, when he was tempted to exploit his power for self-interest.
Speaker 1:But he didn't, and after that he started to confront the effects of evil on others.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he started saying that he was going to Jerusalem for Passover, for a final showdown to confront the evil of Israel and Rome by dying.
Speaker 2:Dying I mean that feels like losing Jesus was going to let evil exhaust all of its power on him, using its only real weapon death. Jesus knew that God's love and life were even more powerful, that he could overcome evil by becoming the Passover lamb, giving his life in an act of love. And something changed that day, when Jesus defeated evil, he opened up a new way for anyone to escape from Babylon and discover this new kind of power, this new way of being human.
Speaker 1:Okay, so something changed, but the power of evil is still alive and well, and we keep building new versions of Babylon.
Speaker 2:Right. And so the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, points to the future and final day of the Lord. It is when God's kingdom comes to confront Babylon the Great, this image of all the corrupt nations of the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is it Armageddon, final judgment. How is Jesus going to finish off evil?
Speaker 2:Well, that is not how you would expect. In the Revelation, the victorious Jesus is symbolized by a sacrificial bloody lamb. And then, when Jesus does arrive in the end riding his white horse to confront evil, he's bloody before the battle even starts.
Speaker 1:Pre-bloodied. That's a strange image.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's because Jesus isn't out for our blood. Rather, he overcame with his blood when he died for his enemies, and the sword is in his mouth. It's a symbol of Jesus' authority to define good and evil and hold us accountable when he brings final justice once and for all. And so, in the meantime, the Day of the Lord is an invitation to resist the culture of Babylon, and it is a promise that God will one day free our world from corruption and bring about the new things that he has in store.
Speaker 1:Thanks for watching the Bible Project. This themed video is one of many that we make, and you can watch them here on our YouTube channel or on our website.
Speaker 2:We're a non-profit and we're crowdfunded, which means that you can help us make the next video. You can learn more and help us at thebibleprojectcom.
Speaker 3:Hey guys, it's B-Rob. This is the Food for Thought Faithcast, and that was a short clip from the Bible Project and if you want to check them out, go to thebibleprojectcom. Guys, this is the third episode about Holy Week. It's an episode about Tuesday, and just imagine this Jesus has rode into town on a donkey, he has flipped the tables over of the money changers, he has done all those things and he is just unwilling to obey the religious elite. Unwilling to obey the religious elite. They simply made him an enemy to the leaders, israel's leaders. They challenged Jesus with their assumptions and doctrinal traditions, which Jesus has come to destroy. They're trying to publicly prove that he's a fraud. Just get this. I mean the whole city's against him, except for the people, except for his followers, except for his disciples. They're trying to make him out to be a criminal, a liar. That would be like you walking into a small town, say, just give an example, say Lincoln, okay, and you walk into a small town and you start preaching and the people, the actual people that live there, trust you and trust your words. But the authority, the cops, the government, everything, just uh, they're not buying it and they see that you're changing their people and your traditions and and what makes you tick. And they're, they're actually mad. Um cause? Uh, jesus is actually telling the truth and showing the leaders how the mistake is their mistake. The irony about it is they're mad at God for not being godly enough, but that's according to their own judgment.
Speaker 3:I want you to do me a favor. I'm not going to read this for you today, because we've got a lot to cover today and some more episodes to get us to Good Friday. But Matthew, chapter 21, verses 23 and 27,. Mark, chapter 11, verses 27 through 33, and then Luke, chapter 20, verses 1 through 8. Read those. That's a little homework for you.
Speaker 3:Jesus actually predicts that the Roman armies will one day surround Jerusalem and destroy the city and his temple, but his disciples, they're still struggling to understand what he is talking about and keeps asking him Lord, when is this going to happen? When is this going to happen? So in a speech that a lot of times is referred to, the Olivet Discourse, jesus gives a vague image of what's coming. He predicts his death, but also assures his disciples and his followers that his death will not be the end. He says he will resurrect from death and beat death and continue to live after death before eventually returning to fully establish his kingdom here on earth. Jesus also cautions his disciples and warns them against trusting people who say they know the ends of times, those so-called signs, which are natural disasters, wars, rumors of conflict. They're just normal parts, birthing pains of the world being renewed in Jesus. Renewed in Jesus. So instead of losing focus by getting wrapped up in the fear which we know fear is false evidence appearing real Jesus urges his disciples and his followers to remain focused on him and follow his loving way and the example that he set for everyone. He says keep living into the kingdom of God, he says, and don't stop spreading Jesus, the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to all people.
Speaker 3:In the clip we heard from the Bible Project, they venture into themes in the Olivet Discourse by tracing the biblical concept to the day of the Lord, a day where God will bring his judgments against evil and allow a new creation to flourish on earth. Ultimately, obviously, he's going to accomplish this through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well, guys, that's enough for that. We're talking about Holy Tuesday, which would be day three in Holy Week. I want to say I love you, guys. Thanks for tuning in to the Faithcast today. It's been an amazing journey, guys. I love you. Guys Just want to say a quick prayer, dear Heavenly Father.
Speaker 3:We come to you today that this day may be a day of you. This day we may seek you and follow that narrow path instead of that wide path the enemy would have us go through lies and everything else that comes along with what he promises. We know that you promise a new day, a new life through Jesus Christ, lord, and we thank you for that, lord. We just want to pray for any unspoken prayer requests or any prayer requests we do have. You know the case, case by case, name by name, lord. We thank you for that, lord. We thank you for your grace, lord, we thank you for your mercy, we thank you for just being a good father, lord, and we say all this in Jesus' heavenly holy name. Amen and hallelujah.
Speaker 3:Guys, don't forget to down below in the comments section, you can click on prayer requests. So if you want us to pray for you or you have a specific prayer request for a friend or family member, let us know and we will definitely pray. And also, if you want to support the FaithCast, click support or donate, and that would be grand as well, and we thank you in advance for all those things. We do everything in Jesus name and we'll see you on the next one. Guys coming up real soon. We'll do quite a few of them today to get us to Good Friday, so stay tuned. Love you guys. God bless.
