Episode 25: What About Me?

Here's a question for you:  if you were walking around the region of Galilee in about 30 AD, and this man named Jesus was preaching about a New Way and gaining followers, would you believe?  Or would you be doubtful?

I honestly don't know, but I'll tell you one thing ... I'm so glad God put me on earth right now, when we have the benefit of the entire Bible, centuries of books and ministries and missionaries available to read and what about all the video resources we can put our hands on now?

I welcome back my guest Leslie Caperton who shares her thoughts on this topic as well as a ton of valuable resources that help her strengthen her faith and her knowledge.  I guarantee you'll find some that you'll like!

Bible Study Fellowship

Community Bible Studies

The Bible Project on YouTube

John McArthur's books

Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel

The Chosen

Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby

Right Now Media

Drive by Gospels

Transcript

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Hi, I'm your host Lori Larson, and this is the year I read the Bible. Welcome a Lifelong Christian. I thought I was familiar with the Bible, but in 2023 I accepted the challenge of reading the whole thing, cover to cover. Whenever I encountered something I didn't understand or wanted to learn more. I jotted it down, but I kept reading to stay on schedule. Then I reached the end Imagine Confetti rating down on me, and a huge sigh of relief. I had 40 topics to research in 2024. I started diving into all those topics. I did research, I wrote blogs and I shared them with whoever might wanna learn too. And in 2025, the project continues. I published a book containing all my essays, and now a podcast. Is there something you can learn from that dusty book that sits on all of our shelves? Yes. Yes, there is. Let's dive into The year I read the Bible. Hello friends, this is Lori Larson and you are listening to the year I Read the Bible. I hope you're listening along every Tuesday morning as the episodes drop. And more than anything, I hope that you're getting some godly and biblical insight and learning that is aiding your daily life. Today's episode, is called What About Me? And I hope you enjoy it. We read the Bible. We've heard Bible stories of Jesus's miracles our entire life. We almost dare I say it, take it for granted. We even say haughty things like, why did they have so much trouble believing Jesus was the son of God? What else do they need to believe it? But then I take a step back. What if the New Testament hadn't happened yet? What if I were standing in those crowds of people that encountered Jesus and trailed after him listening to his words and watching him perform miracles? Would I become a believer or would I assume he was a scam? We see in John 2 23 in the new international version. Now, while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover festivals, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name, but Jesus would not entrust himself to them for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind for he knew what was in each person. Jesus can read our hearts, not just our words. I'm sure there were people who got wrapped up in the miracles he was performing and proclaim, yes, you are the Lord while in front of him. But as the day faded into night, doubt started setting in. Research that I did for another one of my, the year I read the Bible essays comes into play here. I learned that Jesus wasn't the first person to come on the scene in the region, performing miracles and claiming that he was the Messiah. For reference, see, why don't Jews believe Jesus is their Messiah In the episode list? Likely some Jews of the time familiar with the numerous prophecies of the coming. Messiah heard and witnessed some of the fake prophets and jumped on board believing incorrectly. If that had happened to me, I would be very wary of making the same mistake. Have you heard the motto? If it's too good to be true, it usually is. This would've come to my mind if I were in the audience watching Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself warned us not to believe when others claim to be the Messiah. In Mark 13, five, we read, Jesus said to them, watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming I am he and will deceive many. You must be on your guard. Whoa. So Jesus who was drawing a following, who believed he was the Messiah, is warning us not to fall for others who were claiming the same thing. I know myself, I would've been cautious and very careful and slow to believe unless something absolutely convinced me beyond all doubt, for fear of believing in the wrong one. And how about John the Baptist? The Bible tells us that John's mother was related to Mary, the mother of Jesus. They are relatives of different generations. Elizabeth was in her sixties and Mary was most likely a teenager or barely 20. Maybe they were cousins, second or third removed, or a great, or even a great, great aunt. Regardless, John and Jesus born just months apart were related and we have to assume they were acquainted with each other while growing up. John's parents were told by an angel exactly why he was being born to them and what his mission was on earth to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. John knew this from the very beginning. When Jesus was born, amid all the hoopla of the star of Bethlehem, the visiting shepherds, the escape to Egypt to avoid Herod's plot, to kill Jesus and the visiting wise men, I have to imagine that the Zacharia Elizabeth John side of the family heard all about it and therefore believed that Joseph and Mary's son, Jesus was the Messiah. They were all waiting for. My point is John grew up knowing exactly what his work was and for whom. So why in Matthew 11, one and two, when John the Baptist was in prison, did this happen After Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John who was in prison. Heard about the deeds of the Messiah. He sent his disciple to ask him, are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else? I'm blown. John knew from the beginning of his life that he was the preparer of the way for the Messiah. And because of the family connection, he knew in his heart that it was Jesus. But now, while he's imprisoned, probably sitting alone in a stone cell left with nothing but time to run all his questions and doubts through his mind, he begins to wonder, is Jesus really the Messiah? Maybe he started thinking. Hold on. I didn't sign on for this. This is harder than I thought it would be. I mean, prison was this in the plan? God equally surprising are the reactions of his 12. These disciples formed his inner circle. They dropped everything in their lives. When he asked them to follow him, they had to have known he was something special in order to make such a supreme sacrifice in their own lives. Yet the gospels are filled with examples of the disciples, the ones he spent the most time with, talking to them, teaching them, delegating his ministry to them, not understanding who he was. In Luke chapter eight, starting with verse 22, Jesus is in a boat with his disciples crossing the lake and he falls asleep. A squall bruise on the lake, and suddenly they're all in great danger of the boat filling up with water. Verse 24 says, the disciples went and woke him saying, master, master, we're going to drown. He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters. The storm subsided, and all was calm. Where is your faith? He asked his disciples in fear and amazement. They asked one another. Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water and they obey him. Who is this? They actually asked, who is this? Hello, that's Jesus, the son of God, the Messiah, who has come to save the sinners of the world. And by the way, you've got a ringside seat. So back to my original question, what about me? If John the Baptist had doubts occasionally, and if his 12 chosen disciples had doubts occasionally, maybe I should throw myself a little net of grace and say that if I were walking the earth the same time Jesus was and I encountered him and I had doubts because I didn't know if he was truly the one. That's okay. I'm human just like his close followers. And if they struggled, it's expected that we'll, each struggle too. And by the Bible showing us this grace. We know that even today in the complicated 21st century, when we have the benefit of the New Testament and the mature establishment of the Christian Church and thousands of years of missionaries and ministries and writings to teach us about Jesus, we know that he is exactly who he says he was back in those early days. Because it's not just what your brain tells you about Jesus that makes you believe in him. It's not just reading the scriptures and studying history and comparing the prophecies in the Old Testament to what Jesus brought to the world to determine that yes, in retrospect, he fulfilled everything the Old Testament Jews were waiting for. It's what your heart tells you. Our faith in Jesus involves prayer and meditation, and worship, and singing and fellowship. Those are all the things that don't appeal to our brains. They appeal to our emotions, our hearts. In my heart, I know that Jesus is the son of God, the Messiah, who came to bring light to a dark world. I talk to him every day. I ask him for help with my problems. I praise him for the good and wonderful things in my life. I worship him with joy and thanksgiving in my brain. I know it too because I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. The Apostle Paul's second letter to his friend Timothy in chapter three, verse 16 says. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. That was the new international version. What about me? If I were walking the trails of Galilee with Jesus in 30 AD listening to his teachings, would I have believed in him? I hope so. I think so. Even if I wasn't completely sure at the time, just like his most treasured followers. But God put me on earth now when I have so many resources at my disposal to not only help me believe, but so that I can, through my experiences, help others believe too. And isn't that the purpose of this entire? The year I read the Bible project. Let's pray. Dearest father, thank you for sending your son to pay the ultimate price of redemption on our behalf. Thank you for those brave people who followed him way back when and believed in their hearts that he was who he said he was. Thank you that you've put all of us. In this place at this time where we have a wealth of resources to help us know in our brains and our hearts that Jesus is Lord. Amen. And now stay tuned for a very enlightening discussion with my friend Leslie, who was with us last week, as well as my guest. She has a lot of insight about this topic and also is going to provide us with a ton of resources that she uses in her daily walk with Jesus. So stay tuned. It's coming right up. And we are back and I'm here with my friend Leslie Caperton, those that listened to last week's podcast. Met Leslie, in our last essay, and now I'm so excited to have her back for this essay called, what About Me? Welcome, Leslie. Thank you. Glad to be back. All right. Well, last time we talked about why Jesus was so secretive about who he is, and today we're gonna talk about how we would react if we were one of those people walking around Galilee. And here was this rabbi. Around 30 ad his name is Jesus and he was getting a lot of hype. People were starting to talk about him. He was doing miracles, and he was preaching about a new way. Do you think you would've believed in his message? Do you think you would've, like, jumped on right away? Would you had to think about it or, get used to'em? And then why or why not? Great question. I would hope so. In John 10 27 through 28, it says, my sheep listen to my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them outta my hand. I think that I would know his voice and be drawn to him. So that's how I feel about that. I really do think that I will. And I love the way that he preached in a new way. I love that he taught in parables because you can visualize and understand scripture better and it stays with you. I think everyone remembers those stories. The parable of the sower, the lost coin, the mustard seed, the prodigal sun. Most people have heard that one, right? Mm-hmm. Um, I think, I think those that were living in Gey at that time, that heard him speak, that they were changed through his teachings just as we are changed through his teachings, you know, that is such a great parallel that you drew the new way is what that, sect of followers called themselves the new way. But it was also a new way of teaching and preaching. Mm-hmm. And your example of the parables. There were so many people, even in the New Testament that were frustrated by the parables. They're like, why are you telling me another story? Why don't you just tell us the way it is? But the parables require you to think, thinking is required a commandment. Is one way to teach and here's the commandments, don't do this, do do that. But Jesus introduced this new way of telling stories that showed the new kingdom as it was gonna be. And it was so new to those people at the time. I always try to think about. These people didn't have all the benefits that we have now. It was brand new to them and, your example of the parables is such a great, great way of thinking about that. Parables can also be interpreted many different ways, or at least. If you're out on the, hillside and he's giving you a new parable that you've never heard before, you're not gonna get it right away. You're gonna have to go home and think about it, maybe talk to your friends. What was that about? What was that about A lost sheep? Why would he leave 99 and go and find the one, you know? But that, just goes to show how great God's love is for all of us. That he would sacrifice so much for one loss sheet. I love your thought there. So I talked in the essay about John the Baptist. As we know, John was conceived for the sole purpose of being, the Messiah's predecessor. He was raised, his parents knew that he was the one who was going to prepare the way for the Messiah. Now, he may not have known that the Messiah was Jesus, but he knew he was being raised to prepare the way for the Messiah. In Matthew 11, here we find John sitting in jail because of some political trouble he got into and he sent his followers to ask Jesus if he was the one they were expecting, or should they wait for someone else. About that. I mean, this man was obviously raised knowing exactly what he was gonna do, and yet he had to ask about Jesus's purpose on Earth. I believe John knew who Jesus was. But a lot of people did not understand Jesus's true purpose. The Jews were looking for a triumphant messiah, one that would rescue them from their oppression. They expected the Messiah to be a political military king who would overthrow the Romans, which you had also stated in our last session, I believe John sent his followers. To Jesus to ask if he was the promised Messiah, because his followers were doubting Jesus's identity, not John John's question gave them an encounter with Jesus, allowing them to witness firsthand who he was by witnessing the miracles that Jesus was doing and seeing the results. So that's what I think about that. Oh, Leslie, that is something new that I've never heard before or, read before in my research. So you are thinking that John is, basically wasting away there in prison. He can't do his ministry, he can't do what he knew he was supposed to be doing, and his disciples were probably getting a little. Embittered and discouraged coming to him for, comfort and, inspiration and John rerouted them to go talk to Jesus and ask, are you our messiah? So that Jesus could have that impact on them. That's what you're saying? Yep. So they would have an encounter with Jesus because John knew his purpose. He knew he was to prepare the way, and I think he was still preaching in that, cell, he was still telling people about Jesus in that cell, to anybody that would listen. He knew his time was coming to an end, but he wanted them to now look at Jesus, see who he really was and follow him. I love that interpretation. I love that. I'm gonna keep that with me. Thank you. Thank you. Jesus's 12 disciples sometimes had trouble understanding who Jesus was, and they were the closest humans to him. I mentioned in the essay about when they were crossing the river Jordan, and the storm comes up. The boat is rocking. And the disciples, it may be the time when Jesus was sleeping, they woke him up and said, we're in trouble. The, the storm's gonna capsize the boat. And Jesus spoke to the weather and it calmed down. And the disciples said, who is this man that he can talk to? The storms and, the weather. Listens to him, who is this man? Which kind of is funny because of all people of the time. They should know who he is. They're following him. They gave up everything in their life to go and follow him. Do you have any thoughts about what caused the disciples to lose their faith or understanding about Jesus at times? I believe again, it was for a purpose. Jesus kept their eyes and their hearts somewhat closed because certain events had to take place. The disciples loss of faith or understanding stems from their human limitations, including not understanding Jesus' teachings and his message of the suffering Messiah, they lacked spiritual insight, all of which led to confusion, doubt, and fear like you said. It was after the resurrection that the Holy Spirit lifted the veil and they remembered and finally understood everything he was saying. They were finally equipped. We are blessed to read these examples of their shortcomings. Where the disciples who were with him and they still don't understand. That helps all of us when we're reading the Bible and sometimes there are gonna be things in there that we just don't understand, but we have. Much better insight because we have the entire Bible laid out for us to read. We know the beginning and the end, and they didn't see all that. They didn't have all that. We definitely have an advantage over them for that. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. In today's business and just in everyday world, we have the internet, which is a curse in a lot of ways, but in a lot of ways it's such a blessing to be able to spread the word, learn so much, know what's going on. These first century people didn't have any of that stuff. Mm-hmm. They just had what they were listening to by their Jewish rabbis, their neighbors, and then by Jesus on his 12, it was a completely different experience. But yes, I remember reading through Acts, and the whole development of the first Christian Church with, the disciples and the apostles, Paul and Steven, and, Luke and Timothy and all the ones that joined on after the resurrection and how knowledgeable the disciples were, Peter preaching to big groups that, he started to learn about it, the three years that he, walked the earth with Jesus, but. Grew so much in his knowledge and his leadership and his teaching ability and all that after the Holy Spirit came and filled him and gave him the words to say. So yeah, I really like what you're saying there. Thank you. As you were saying, as 21st century believers, we have the vast benefit of the full Bible. A mature Christian structure of churches, missionaries, lots of written resources. I mean, how many books can we check out a library or find on Amazon? Written about commentating on the Bible and visual resources. We've got series of, the Bible brought to film like the chosen and just so many different, visual resources. As we were saying, the first century believers didn't have that. You as a 21st century Christian woman, and I know that you, are active in teaching, Bible study in your church. What are the resources that you use the most to stay in touch with your faith and to continue to learn? I mean, we could learn, learn, learn for decades, and not learn everything there is to know. So what are the resources that you like to use? Number one, the Bible. Absolutely. I've been studying that for over 40 years, and it's amazing because it is the living word of God that every time you read it, like you said, you learn something new, something different will pop out to you because God is. Speaking to you through that word, which is so incredible. And then prayer. I think prayer is so important that we be in constant communication with God. He speaks to us through prayer. It connects us to him. So that is really, really important. I think that I probably pray all day long. I'm constantly talking to God and then worshiping him, through worship to give him all the glory for everything that he has done for the creation that we get to see every day. The beauty in everything. I'm always listening to Christian music. In my car I'm constantly, I wake up with a song in my head. I go to bed with a song in my head. So, I'm constantly praising him and worshiping him. And then I love all the commentaries, like you said. There's so many resources we have today, but I love all the commentaries. Like John MacArthur, what an incredible commentary. He has books and books on every Bible. The Bible Project, which is, on YouTube, it's an animated short film, and it gives you an overview of every single book in the Bible, they will have an overview, that's done and it's animated. It's phenomenal. They've done such a great job with that. I also love listening to Bible believing teachers and ministers like Gary Hamrick, from, cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia. He's on YouTube. He has incredible teaching. He is an amazing teacher. But there's so many research resources out there. There's so many studies that we can get ahold of to study God's word, and I've done so many over the years. Gosh, I love, experiencing God by, Henry Blackaby. I've probably done that one. Oh, about four or five times now. What's that? Oh, it's, so good. It's, experiencing, God is learning how to hear God through his word, through prayer, through circumstances, through other people. It's how you can see how he's working and join him. It is phenomenal. It's a Bible study. Yep. Okay. I wanna throw in one that I particularly enjoy, as far as A visual, it's a mm-hmm. TV show. I think it's on Amazon Prime. It's called the Drive by Gospels. It's a guy, I can't remember his name at the moment, but I can link it into the show notes. It's a series and he breaks it down. By, when Jesus was alive. And then he breaks it down to, Paul's, apostolic journeys, his missionary journeys, but he actually goes to the places and he does his filming, in Bethlehem, in Nazareth, in, Jerusalem. And he shows the, there is a lot of ruins left, of what the Bible is talking about. But as he's there, he pulls out bible verses and Bible references and he points and that's exactly where it was. And there's just something about connecting what you're reading. To what you're seeing. Mm-hmm. Um, that I find really, really interesting and, educational. So, yes. And there's also, right now media, which a lot of churches use, and thankfully the church we go to now, and the one that we used to go to when we lived in Maryland, use it as a resource and it has hundreds and hundreds. Video Bible studies and and that's what I use to facilitate our ladies bible study at our church. We use right now media. So we're bringing in ministers from all over and they are a lot of times on location, like you said, they're teaching. And right now we're going through the book of Romans. Which is such an amazing book, and it's with JD Greer who has a church in North Carolina. But we're able to watch these videos and we have a study guide and we go through the study guide and we learn. Two other really great things I'll mention is, community Bible studies. I did that for years. It's a in-depth study. They usually start in the fall and they end in the spring. And you go through a book of the Bible or you go through, like we did the Pentitude, which is the first five books of the Bible. Or you'll do maybe an Old Testament or minor prophets or, major prophets. So it's this great study, but very in depth where you really learn a lot of stuff. And then a spinoff of that, or actually community bible studies, a spinoff of Bible study fellowship, which we do have one. That's the one I was. Thinking. Yes. Yes. We have one here. I've heard of that one. Yes. And that's also very in depth and I did those for years and years and it's wonderful because you can go with a community of believers and study God's word in depth and, you get. So much information from it. It's just wonderful. So yeah. We are so blessed that we have so many resources for us to study God's word and learn more about him, versus what the, first believers had, they didn't have any of this, yes. And then of course we have the Holy Spirit that guides us, which is huge. Yeah. I was, asked by a fellow writer to, um, she's doing a series on the Psalms of David and she's doing a video series. And then she's asking some of her writer friends to write a response to a psalm, she assigned me. A Psalm to write a response to. And I said, oh yeah, I'll do that. And I just went to my shelf and randomly pulled out a Bible and I probably have at least 10 or 12 Bibles now. Some are the same translation. Mm-hmm. But, several different translations. And so I opened it up and, I saw that this was the Bible that I used when I was 16 years old to do a Bible read through straight through. This is what I did in 2023, which inspired me to do this whole, the year I read the Bible series, which has That's so cool. Turned into a book and a blog and a podcast, well, when I first started this whole project, I thought, well, I have read the Bible cover to cover before, but I was 16. I probably didn't get much out of it, and I certainly don't remember that much about it. Well, I have to apologize to my 16-year-old self because when I opened up that Bible that I used back in 1979, I think it was, I really delved into it. I wrote inside the cover or there were several blank pages. I wrote headings, like my favorite verses, and I had like 70 verses. So as I was reading and I liked something, I would go back and write it, and then I would have another column praise worthy things. And then I had another column of terms that I didn't understand, like, marina and what that means and what language it came from. And, in the Bible itself, I had all kinds of things underlined and highlighted. I also had references you know, sometimes like in the New Testament, it'll have. The Old Testament reference in this Bible when it had something in the New Testament that had been prophesied, it had it in the footnotes, you know? Right. So I had gone back and written in the Old Testament, the New Testament section that it referred to, and I'm like, wow, I did a great job of really absorbing that. Bible read through when I was 16, so, I'm kind of tying off of when you said it's the living word of God. Yes. So, yeah, it's the same words that I read when I was 16, but what I got from it when I was 16 is different than what I'm getting. From it now as a 60 whatever. Yes, yes, totally. When our children were little, one of the biggest things my husband did with them every night he read with the Bible with them. And so, they've been through the Bible quite a few times, so they did the children's Bible, which is a little. Paraphrase with pictures. So that was their first bible. Then they went to an adolescent kind of bible. And then when they got older, they got their big Bible and that one he went through with them. That was their goal before they graduated from high school, was to be able to go through that whole thing all the way through with them so that they had knowledge. And then, as an adult, of course, our hope is that they continue and they are continuing to read that Bible. What a blessing for your children to have a godly father who is such a example of the Christian faith. For them to follow and to remember as they go through life's challenges. Yeah. And mother of to of too. Of course. Yeah. It was such a blessing that he did that. He just felt that that was one of the most important things that he could do for them as they were little. Yeah. Yep. We set examples for our children. Yes. They don't always follow, but we try. No, we try. Well, is there anything else that you wanted to share after reading this essay or anything else on your mind that you wanted to share before we wrap it up? Just to open that Bible, open that Bible and read it. And even if you don't understand it, there are so many resources available to you to help you. And, just ask God before you read it, pray and say, Lord, help me understand this. What am I supposed to get out of this, word? Reveal that to me and he will through the Holy Spirit. Yes,, I did that a lot, especially through kind of the drier parts of the Old Testament. Mm-hmm. Like, Leviticus, please be with me as I'm reading this'cause I don't know what I'm supposed to be getting out of this. Right. So please illuminate that for me. Yes. But yeah, that's one of the big. Parts of this whole project of mine the year I read the Bible is to, of course, educate others about what I learned, but also to encourage people to pick up their Bible and do their own, the year I read the Bible project so that, if they are inspired to do it, they can let me know how that, impacted their faith and encouraged them. Awesome. You got right on there with the whole purpose. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Leslie. I appreciate the time that you spent with us today. As we're recording this, and of course, Leslie and I live in the same neighborhood, we're both looking out our windows at the rain. We have a hurricane, a potential hurricane coming up. Yes. So I wish you the best as you get through the rain over the next four or five days and hope, For minimal damage for all of us. Yes, absolutely. Thank you for, having me on. What an honor. Thank you. Oh, thank you, Leslie. and that's it for today. Thank you very much for being here with me on the year I read the Bible Podcast. We'll be back with another episode next week. If you enjoy this podcast, please do all the normal things to spread the word like it. Review it, share it with your friends. If you are interested in additional the year, I read the Bible resources such as the book, the video channel, and the blog, I will certainly include the links in the show notes, and I'd love to hear about your own journey to read the Bible cover to cover. Have you done it or are you doing it right now? Please reach out to me and let me know how it's going. Until next time, it's Lori Larson with the year I read the Bible. Bye.