You're listening to the 10-minute Bible number podcast. It's best on the free daily deep minute Bible. And right now we're talking about Galatians.
SPEAKER_00Hello, my name is Matt Whitman, and this is the 10-minute Bible hour podcast, where from time to time I like to open with a deeply probing personal, emotional question that you are then morally obligated to shriek out your answer to, regardless of the setting socially in which you happen to find yourself as you're listening to this podcast. And maybe some of you are like, that's ridiculous. You can't just make people answer questions that you asked on a bit of time shiftable media. That isn't how things work. I'm not bound to that. What if I'm at a wedding or a funeral? Or what if I'm at a corporate board meeting that's a little bit dull and I sneaked an earbud into my ear that I'm covering with my hand and nobody can know that I'm listening? Am I just supposed to shriek it out then? Look, I don't like it either, but I don't make the rules. The International Code of Podcast Listening etiquette and conduct, which is definitely a real thing that exists that you could look up and see the rules of. I there's no need to look it up because it's definitely a real thing. But it dictates that if a question gets asked of you on a podcast, you have to shriek out the answer, regardless of where you are. So I'm sorry, uh you could always tap out, but you're still here. So I guess here we are. Here's the deeply probing personal question for today. What is the maddest you've ever been at a fictional character? Think for a minute, think for a minute, wait until the officiant says if any person has reason to object to this union, let them speak now or forever, hold their peace. And now's your chance. Yell it out! Cipher from the Matrix! And then just sit right back down and let the wedding proceed after everybody calms down. You've done the right thing. Well done. I'll tell you who it is for me. It's Edmund from The Lion, the Witch in the Wardrobe. My parents read that book to me, particularly my dad, when I was a little kid. I don't remember exactly how old I was, but it was the first time that I had ever felt truly betrayed by a character. And in this story, you know, these four kids, they find a magical parallel, snow-covered wonderland by walking through the back of a magical wardrobe. And one of the siblings, a kid named Edmund, turns out to be a dirty rat. An evil white witch tempts him with some Turkish candy or dessert that I'd never heard of before that and have never heard of since. And he's like, This dessert is delicious. I will be your evil slave forever. What must I do? And she's like, Sell out your family members. And he's like, okay, fine. And he does it. I could not believe that anybody would do that. And I was so angry in my heart at him that it was very difficult for me a few nights later when we got further into the book, and he has his redemption moment. In the Narnia books, the big good guy is this lion who's always in control and always knows what to do. His name is Aslan. And just when it looks like Edmund's shenanigans that he used to sell out his family are going to boomerang around on him, he is saved, he's rescued, and most of the rescue seems to happen kind of off-screen. But then when we're back on screen, Edmund is walking and talking with Aslan. And that doesn't seem right. It seems like Edmund should have to pay a price for what he did, but Aslan seems to know everything, seems to indicate that Edmund's redemption arc, like we've been talking about the last few days here on the podcast, is real. Well, still, my little heart is crushed and angry at Edmund. And so I'm thinking to myself as I'm hearing this book read to me for the first time, oh, you just wait, Edmund. It the lion's being nice to you, but your family members, they are gonna have a bone to pick with you, pal, and you're finally gonna get what's coming to you when you have to look them in the eye and talk about what happened. But I never got that catharsis because before any of that confrontation could happen, Aslan stepped in and used his credibility to vouch for Edmund to his siblings. Specifically, Aslan the Lion simply says to the other siblings, here is your brother, he said. And there is no need to talk to him about what is past. And then it says Edmund shook hands with each of the others and said to each of them in turn, I'm sorry. And everyone said, That's all right. And then everyone wanted very hard to say something which would make it quite clear that they were all friends with him again, something ordinary and natural, and of course no one could think of anything in the world to say. And you know, in that moment, as my dad read those words to me, and of course, you know, my dad is Aslan, is Optimus Prime, because all of the father figures and all the stories that I was exposed to when I was a kid who were good and virtuous and protectors, you know, that's just automatically type of my dad. And so maybe dad reading this to me with his voice coming from Aslan. Maybe that helped smooth it over. But I got to the end of this little passage and I was like, okay, good enough for me. If it works for Aslan, and based on the tone of his voice, if it works for my dad, I believe the redemption story is real. Okay, where do we go from here? Now look, that's a real long way of saying likewise, but I think it's a good likewise because in the second part of Acts chapter nine, Saul, who has done all of these horrible things to people, has now gone through his redemption arc. But the question still lingers, what's it gonna be like when he actually goes and hangs out with the people he wronged? Well, I would guess it would be a pretty rocky road if he just had to go by himself and be like, I swear, I super swear, I'm really sorry, I'm not gonna do things like that to you all anymore. But what if there was someone with massive credibility, a gentle Aslan type authority figure who could come along with Saul and say, No, it's real. I'm vouching for this redemption story. It's the genuine article. We should receive him as a brother. Well, that's exactly what happens, and the dude's name is Barnabas. So I'm gonna read this passage to you from the end of Acts chapter nine about Saul's reintroduction to the people he had betrayed and deeply wronged. And let's see if with Barnabas' vouch you get to the end of it and you feel the temperature coming down the way I felt the temperature coming down with Edmund when Aslan vouched for him. So Saul was going up to Damascus to kill or harm or arrest a bunch of Christians. Jesus knocks him off his high horse on the way, definitely figuratively, maybe literally as well. And he says, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And Saul's like, Who are you, Lord? And Jesus says, I'm Jesus, who you're persecuting. Now get up and go to the city, and you'll be told what to do. And then Jesus himself also communicates to this guy, Ananias. He puts Ananias, who's a follower of Jesus, together with Saul, and Saul's blindness, which he acquired from being struck down on the road, goes away and he's nursed back to health. And Jesus says specifically that Saul is going to be Jesus' chosen instrument to carry Jesus' name before the Gentiles and to their kings, and also before the people of Israel. And then everything works out just like Jesus said it would. And now we come to the point where Saul is going to be reintroduced to the people he wronged. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus, Acts 9, verse 20. At once he began to preach in the synagogue so that Jesus is a son of God. Whoa, so now he's doing the stuff that he used to punish people for. The very stuff that Peter and John have been doing, that they got flogged for by team Saul. Okay, what? All those who heard him were astonished and asked, Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests? Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. So he's showing well, he's doing the stuff that followers of Jesus have done before. But I mean you heard the question, and there's an entirely reasonable question. Like, isn't this Edmund who sold us out and betrayed us? After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him. Wow, we're already there. And also, man, the people who oppose Jesus are quick to turn on their own. We used to love Saul, but now you said the wrong thing and think the wrong thing. No redemption for you, death for you. But Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him, but his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. Dang. Okay, so some people are coming around to the point where they're willing to risk their own necks to protect Saul. It seems like by his actions, many people are starting to say, okay, this redemption arc, this redemption story is real. But what about the people who haven't seen those actions in play? People who are hearing about all of this from a distance, like Edmund's siblings, who haven't seen any change from Edmund with their own eyes yet. Well, that's what we get next. Acts 9, 26. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. Understandable. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord, and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he'd preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. It grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. It sure looks to me like the amount of damage that Saul had done and the reputation he had built was not going to be the kind of thing that was easily fixed. He was going to need somebody else to lend their credibility and their reputation to his name. He needed a credible vouch in order to be able to move forward. And who steps up and plays the Aslan role here? It is this Barnabas fellow whose name apparently means son of encouragement. And Saul makes Barnabas look smart, look good for giving him his vouch because he proves out, once he's given a little trust, that the change is real. The redemption story is the real deal. And the proofs in the pudding, it goes so well, and he does such a good job representing Jesus that the enemies of Jesus who had Jesus killed try to kill Saul again while he's in Jerusalem, and eventually Saul has to leave Jerusalem. But this passage that opens with massive turmoil in the middle of chapter eight, things are going so badly, everybody has to flee out to these far regions to get away from this guy who's breathing out murderous threats. Well, that guy flips to Team Good Guy, and the passage rounds out very symmetrically, I might add, by highlighting that now there's a time of peace, and it's no longer a time of persecution and chaos as it had been. And it really all had to do with the strategic flip of this one asset from Team Bad Guy to Team Good Guy. There's something reflexive that's left over from my little boy heart that wants to be mad at Edmund still. But I think the more powerful force is the vouch of Aslan and my dad to say, hey, the redemption story here was real, receive him. Likewise with Saul, I get why people are mad. They had good reason. But because of his actions and because of the well-timed, deeply powerful, high character, high credibility vouch of Barnabas, Saul seems to have been overwhelmingly received as legitimately being redeemed, as legitimately having his course redirected. But we're going to find out later on, there are still a few who have questions about who he is and whether what he's saying is right. And that thing that nips at his heels from time to time will be nipping once again when we get to the book of Galatians. Put a pin in this point in the story. It's very important for where we're going next. I'm sort of sorry that the wedding got ruined, but the International Code of Podcast Listening Ethics is what it is. I didn't write it. And here in a few minutes, when you have to try to explain all of that to everyone and they're very upset and disappointed with you, make sure to give them the link. I think we're having a good time over here. They might enjoy the program as well. I'm Matt. This is the 10-minute Bible hour podcast. Let's do this again soon.