WEBVTT 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.480 Welcome to the MetaCurch podcast. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.440 My name is Clayton. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:14.240 I'm the pastor at MetaCurch, and I hope that today's message is inspiring and enlightening and really builds you up wherever you're at in life. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:20.800 Well, I want to welcome you wherever you are joining us from. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:25.839 If you're here at one of our physical locations, if you're here in Holotus, man, I just want to welcome you in. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:27.120 I'm so glad that you're here. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.160 If you're with us online, man, I'm so glad that you joined us as well. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:34.640 If you're here with us online and you're in the San Antonio area, what are you doing? 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:36.560 Get to one of our locations, okay? 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.200 Uh but I'm glad you're here and I'm glad we have this online platform. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:41.119 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:49.679 I'm the lead pastor here at MetaCurch, and what we have been doing consistently for a while now is going line by line through just one book of the Bible. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.799 We're in Luke's gospel in the New Testament. 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:58.799 And listen, we are going at whatever pace God decides that we are going to go at. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.240 And apparently God has decided slow. 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:05.599 We are going very slow through the gospel of Luke. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:12.400 Um, we are in an incredible moment in Luke, and we're at an incredible moment in the calendar. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:21.040 And so from time to time, we will step out of Luke when the calendar or when things happening in the culture kind of push us towards that. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:22.959 And one of those things is Holy Week. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:27.359 So do you guys realize we are just a few weeks away from Easter? 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.319 Is anybody excited about Easter 2026? 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:31.680 Yes. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:35.680 Holy Week starts on March 29th. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:36.719 That's Palm Sunday. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:38.719 That's two Sundays from now. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:48.959 And so during Holy Week, starting on the 29th, all the way through baptisms on the 12th, we're gonna step out of Luke and into a series called Paradise. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:50.159 Paradise. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:51.920 I'm very excited about this. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:53.280 I think it's the perfect time. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:56.000 I think it'll help carry us to Easter and through Easter. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:58.239 I hope you'll join us for every week of that. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:12.800 And to get us ready to get into the Holy Week on March 27th, Friday the 27th at 7 p.m., we are going to have a movement-wide worship night, a night of worship and prayer. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:15.280 It will happen at our Petrenko location. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:22.639 Now, let me tell you, we had it at Petrenko last time, and the room was at least 50% Holodus. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.840 Holotus, you showed out at our last worship night. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:27.280 I'm sure you will do the same. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:32.479 Uh, we are going to provide child care that will be very minimal for worship night. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:37.520 Um, we don't want all of our kids volunteers in that room watching kids. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:40.719 We want them in here, praying and worshiping. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:45.199 And so a few people have been willing to sacrifice to watch some kids. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:49.520 So I need you to know worship night child care will be first come, first serve. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.639 You want to come early at 7 p.m., it was packed. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:57.360 We'll have overflow outside, you're gonna want to be inside, you're gonna want your two-year-old in child care. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:58.719 And so come early. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.280 Child care will only be for kids 18 months to five years old. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:08.400 I know you don't like that because you've got a 15-month or a seven-year-old, but let me just explain. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:14.879 If your child is small enough to reasonably hold through the whole thing, we're gonna let you hold them. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:23.280 And if your kid is old enough that with the right oh, you can turn that behavior around, then we're gonna let them be in the room as well. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:27.520 And so if your six-year-old doesn't have that figured out, you got like 10 days, okay? 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:35.840 Um we're gonna have worship night, and I wanna go back to that, but then we've got the paradise series. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:44.719 We have Easter coming up on the 5th, and we will tell you about Easter times at the end of our services, and then on the 12th, we have baptism. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.919 And baptism is the best thing that we do at Metachurch. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:54.560 And many of you have raised a hand to believe in Jesus, and you haven't taken your next step that Jesus asks us to take. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:58.400 It's a step of obedience, going public with your faith and getting baptized. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.560 So I'm gonna encourage you to do that. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:07.280 And listen, baptism is personal, it is public, and it is spiritual. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:08.560 It's all of those things. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:14.879 And the spiritual aspect is where we let the enemies of God know that we are taking ground for the kingdom of God. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:15.759 Amen? 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:21.600 And because of that, this is important to me, you get baptized at your venue. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:27.040 And so if you consistently come to Petrenko Venue, you get baptized at Petrenko Vinu. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:35.120 If you consistently come to Helotus Venue, you get baptized at the Holodas Venue, and that is sending a message that we are in fact taking ground. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:40.399 We are not cowering away in our one little space and just staying away from the big, bad world. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:43.279 We're going out into the world and we're taking real ground, all right? 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:48.639 We baptized over a dozen people in Helotus last year, and that is putting the enemies on alert. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:49.920 We're taking ground for the kingdom. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.160 You can clap for that, that's a good thing. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:00.959 Now, worship night on the 27th, we're gonna start a fast together as a church. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:05.120 I'm gonna ask you to abstain from food for 24 hours. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:09.600 You can go longer if you want, but I'm gonna ask you to fast for 24 hours. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:11.439 And here's what's so interesting. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:20.800 In about the last six months, this is the second time where I looked ahead, prayed, put a date on the calendar to start a fast. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:25.279 And what we'll do is at worship night, we'll take communion together. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.959 That will be like our last meal for 24 hours, okay? 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.839 And we'll talk about fasting, that's the whole sermon today. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.920 I just want to point something out. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.920 How good God is. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:45.759 Because last time, six months ago, I put a date on the calendar and I said, before baptisms, the Friday before baptisms, I want the church to fast. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:49.680 And then, as I was studying Luke, that's all we're doing. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:50.560 We're just going through Luke. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:51.839 That's what we do every Sunday. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:06:01.680 As I'm studying, I realize that the weeks leading up to worship night, Jesus goes into the wilderness and fasts for 40 days. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:02.720 Let me tell you something. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:04.560 I put another date on the calendar. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:05.600 I say, you know what? 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:10.160 I want the church to fast leading into Holy Week, March 29th. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:10.639 You know what? 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:11.360 March 27th. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.199 We'll do Friday night, we'll do this. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:14.480 I get into Luke. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:18.399 I'm studying today, Jesus teaches on fasting. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:25.439 For 15 years, I tried to put together my own series to make stuff like this happen. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:27.600 And it was always the hardest thing in the world. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:34.319 I just quit trying, and the Holy Spirit was like, watch, watch what I can do if you let me plan the series. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:36.399 It's blowing my mind. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:39.759 I'm really excited. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:42.879 We have three verses today, but man, they are so dense. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.800 And before we get into them, I need to remind you a little bit of context. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:54.240 Uh, not everyone was here, not everyone was here every week, but I need to talk about the last two passages over the last two Sundays. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:07:02.319 So, two weeks ago, if you were here, you remember this is when the friends lower a paralytic through a roof to Jesus. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:06.480 Jesus heals him, but also forgives his sins. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:15.920 And if you remember, in that passage, the religious elite begin thinking accusations against Jesus. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:20.480 So they are bringing questions with bad intentions behind his back. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:28.319 Last week, we saw Jesus call Levi, who he later renames Matthew, who wrote the Gospel of Matthew. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.279 He calls him to be one of his disciples. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:38.319 In return, Levi throws a huge banquet for Jesus and he invites all of his friends. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:46.560 But the problem is Matthew's a tax collector, and tax collectors are hated, and they only hang out with other tax collectors and sinners. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:55.279 And so there is a banquet full of tax collectors and sinners where everyone has their dancing shoes on and they're spinning records and they're popping bottles. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.600 Okay, that's what's happening at Matthew's house. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:03.040 And Jesus is there with his disciples, and this scripture says they are eating and drinking with them. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:03.519 Okay? 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:12.480 Now, if you remember what happens at the end of that, once again, the religious elite they come, they're cowards, they won't face Jesus himself. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:22.720 So they go to his disciples and they ask, with bad intentions behind his back, why is your guy associating with sinners? 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:24.639 That's the last two weeks. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:27.759 If you missed him, go on our YouTube, get caught up. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:37.200 I just need you to see that context because today, in our passage, we are still in Levi's house at Levi's party. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:38.399 You need to know that. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:47.120 And you need to know that in our last two passages, the religious elite have gone behind Jesus' back to ask questions with bad intentions. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:48.399 Are you tracking? 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:51.120 Okay, let's look at verse 33. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:56.960 It says, Then they, we gotta answer this question, who is they? 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:08.480 Then they said to him, John's disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:12.159 Now, let me give you a little bit of context. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:18.960 The Pharisees are obviously the religious elite, and the Pharisees would have their own followers, their own disciples. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:26.960 We know just through extra biblical records that the disciples of the Pharisees typically would fast two days a week. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:40.080 Now, this might not have been a 24-hour fast, it might have been a 12-hour or an 18-hour fast, but two days a week, religiously, literally, religiously, they would abstain from food in order to pray. 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:43.840 Now, we also, early in Luke, we learned about John the Baptist. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.600 Here's something we know about John when it comes to the Pharisees. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:10:05.600 John despises the Pharisees, he despises the religious elite, and yet fasting is such an important part of their spiritual disciplines that even John's disciples fast probably a couple days a week in order to devote themselves to prayer. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:09.360 And so we come into the text and it says, then they. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:12.159 And the question we gotta answer is, who is they? 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:14.720 Who is asking this question? 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:22.159 This is really important, and I can't stop saying this because it's everything. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:26.720 We have to slow down when we're reading scripture. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:33.759 You do not get graded on volume when it comes to your scripture reading. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:54.480 Scripture reading is about depth, it is about a recognition that every word of the scriptures were inspired by the same Holy Spirit of God that if you're a believer in Jesus now lives in you, and so that Holy Spirit can enlighten those scriptures because the Holy Spirit wrote these scriptures. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:56.559 And so we slow down. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:58.960 Here's the danger. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:04.799 Two passages ago, religious elite go behind his back to ask questions with bad intent. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:09.919 One passage ago, the religious elite go behind his back to ask questions with bad intent. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:12.399 Our brains are pattern recognition machines. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:20.080 We can read this and assume this is the Pharisees who are asking him out of accusation, like, hey, what's wrong with your guys? 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.159 Everybody else fasts, your guys don't fast. 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:23.519 What's up with that? 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:26.960 We can assume that and we'd be wrong. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:28.399 So who is they? 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.399 Then they asked Jesus. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:32.399 I'm gonna be real honest. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:34.080 We don't know. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:41.919 Luke doesn't tell us, but we can just go slow and we can find out who it's not. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:47.679 So if you look at verse 33, then they said to him, John's disciples fast often. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:49.679 You know who's not asking this question? 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:51.600 John's disciples. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:57.840 Then it says, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.679 You know who's not asking this question? 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:01.120 The Pharisees. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.759 And then it says, but your disciples, you know who's not asking him this question? 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:07.440 His own disciples. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.399 It's not those three categories. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:17.519 Because they would be asking a question in the third person, and people don't do that in the ancient world. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:25.440 This would be like if I came to you and asked you, do you know why Clayton Tyner doesn't eat Brussels sprouts? 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:32.000 That would be weird because I'm Clayton Tyner, and that would be weird because we all know the answer. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:36.559 Brussels sprouts were created after the fall, all the other vegetables before the fall. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:38.000 We all know that. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.080 You thought you weren't gonna learn anything today. 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:49.840 We don't know who they is, and so I'm gonna tell you my best guess. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.000 I always want to make this clear. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:56.639 I'm stepping out of theology, and now I'm giving you my best guess. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:01.360 We know that Jesus is at Levi's banquet. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:06.559 I think they are the people at Levi's party. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:20.159 And regardless of who it is, we have to understand the mood of this conversation because they did not go behind Jesus' back, they came straight to his face. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:22.879 This is not an accusation. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:27.200 This is being asked with spiritual curiosity. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:29.919 This is a well-meant question. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:47.279 Now, once again, this isn't in the text, but it is possible that Levi threw this party on one of the very days that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast every week. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:14:00.159 Meaning that this is on top of mind to the people at the party, because watching Jesus and his disciples eat and drink while all of the disciples of the other movements are fasting draws such a sharp contrast. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.759 We don't know that, but it's possible. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:07.600 Regardless of what made them curious, they were spiritually curious. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.399 Jesus is in a setting no one expected him to be. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:15.200 His disciples are at the party, engaged in the party, and they wonder why. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:19.440 Why, if everyone else fasts, are you guys here? 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:21.919 Are you guys living it up? 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.799 It's a well-meant question and it's asked to Jesus' face. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:29.039 Now, this isn't my sermon, but I felt the Holy Spirit putting this on me today. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:44.080 And so I just want to tell those of you who are following Jesus: it is a real sign that your spiritual maturity is progressing when you start asking the questions that you have about people directly to their face instead of telling everyone else about their business behind their back. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:49.120 If you want to kill your witness for Christ, be a gossip. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:55.360 If you want to kill your spiritual momentum, talk about people instead of talking to people. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:01.360 It's a sign of spiritual maturity when you will just come, believing the best with love in your heart and ask the questions you have. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:03.519 Can I go another step further? 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:12.799 It is a real sign of spiritual maturity when someone can come and ask you a question to your face, and you can handle it with grace and peace in your heart. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:17.759 There is something about us as humans, and I'm gonna say, especially as men. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.120 Men, we do not like to be questioned. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:22.879 A fair question. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:24.960 Our wife can ask us a fair question. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:30.559 Like we said we were going to do that thing, and the thing has not been done, and they just want to ask a question about it. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.679 And there's this voice, I don't know if it's all men or just me. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:38.080 There's a voice I have, and it's like at whatever part of the brain this is back here. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:48.559 And when anybody, someone at work, you know, it's a fair question, and they ask it, and what I say out loud is like, that's a great question. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:51.679 But what I say back here is like, you want to step outside? 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.320 And I gotta work on that so you can pray for me. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:06.240 We don't like to be questioned, and so as all of us are growing in our spiritual maturity, Jesus gets asked a question and he just handles it. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:09.360 These people have a question, they just ask it. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:20.320 We could improve our standing in the culture significantly if we would be people who refuse to gossip and who have the courage of our conviction to just lovingly confront people when we have something to say. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:24.399 Jesus is a good example for us here. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.639 It's a good question. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:35.120 There's a sharp contrast between Jesus and his followers and all of the other religious leaders and all of their followers, and there needs to be an explanation. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.759 And Jesus is gonna get into this explanation. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:43.279 And it's just two verses, but in these two verses, it's the life of Jesus, it's the mission of Jesus. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:51.039 In these two verses, we see the cross, we see the tomb, we see the ascension, we see him cracking the skies someday to come back and to get us. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:58.320 We see the church, we see our purpose, we see all of this in these two verses, because that's how good God is, and that's how good his word is. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.879 And so I want to start walking you through this. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:10.319 In verse 34, Jesus said to them, You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:14.559 Jesus is not afraid to answer a question with a question. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:17.039 A little rhetorical response. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:23.519 It's like, obviously, you are not going to plan your fast for the same day as the wedding. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.720 Once the groom is there, the wedding is popping. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:27.920 You don't fast now. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:29.599 You feast. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:37.519 Now, if you're kind of new to faith, uh fasting means intentionally giving something up for spiritual reasons. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:45.359 Kind of the baseline definition of a fast is abstaining from food entirely for a set amount of time. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:50.559 This is what Jesus is referencing: abstaining from food entirely for a set amount of time. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:57.039 And Jesus says, Look, when the groom is there and the wedding feast is on, you do not fast. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:58.319 And you know this. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.559 Or if you don't, you should know this. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:12.880 If you feel convicted that you should fast to spend time in prayer and growing in your intimacy with Christ, and you're looking at your calendar, and your best friend has a wedding coming up, you don't put your fast on that day. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:25.200 Your coworkers got a wedding, your kids got a wedding coming up, you don't put your fast on that day, and I'll go a step further from some of you who have kind of been infiltrated with the super religiosity. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.440 If you accidentally put it on the same day, move your fast. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:35.759 It is not spiritual to fast at a wedding, it is selfish. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.359 Weddings matter, marriage matters, and you know this. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:48.079 I mean, my definition of marriage, I just I don't make it up, I just come out of here, which means God has to be involved. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:19:01.440 It's a covenant that is put over a couple by God, and it matters because marriage is the closest approximation God gave us as a gift to help us understand our relationship with Jesus. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.599 That's gonna be my whole sermon today. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:06.880 And so when you go to a wedding, you celebrate. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.839 When you go to a wedding, you wear your dancing shoes and you spin records and you pop bottles. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:13.599 That's what you do at weddings. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.680 People think because I'm on stage in front of people, I'm a level 10 extrovert. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:18.559 I am not. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.319 If I'm an extrovert at all, I'm a level one extrovert. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:25.039 And my wife is a level 10 introvert. 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:32.480 And so when we if we're gonna plan a big night, it involves sweatpants and our back porch. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:34.240 That's a big night. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:42.480 But I'll let you know, when we go to a wedding, and how honest can I be? 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:43.680 Can I be honest? 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.640 All the all the introverts in the room know this. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:49.759 When you get invited to a wedding, you're like, dang. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:54.640 No, I know I've been involved in some of y'all's weddings. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:57.599 Not y'all's, not y'all's, everyone else's. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.039 You know, like the night of, we're like, you know what will be fun? 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:04.640 Sweatpants. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:10.160 But when we go to a wedding, we are in. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:15.359 We laugh, we cry, we party, we dance. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:20.960 If we go to your wedding, you better have a fire DJ or a fire band, because we will dance. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.519 And we don't know how to dance. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:25.039 I feel like we're pretty good. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:27.680 I have a feeling if I saw a video of it, it would be a different story. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:29.759 I feel good in the moment, though. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:34.960 Because if we're not gonna celebrate a wedding, what are we gonna celebrate? 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.039 This is the point Jesus is making. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:46.000 It's like, bro, if you are up in your self-righteousness trying to fast at a wedding, they're passing the order, and you're like, I'm sorry, I'm fasting for the Lord. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:47.599 No, you're not. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:50.000 Fast tomorrow, bro. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:53.680 Celebrate what God is doing. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:02.480 Now we have to put this in the ancient context because the way we get married today, uh, it's beautiful, but it is different. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.519 We know some of this, if you've been here, you know, through the chosen king, the first part of Luke. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.480 We saw this with Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:19.759 We saw how they don't just get engaged, and then it's kind of like another step from boyfriend, girlfriend, and then they get married, that there was a two-part process. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.559 And I want to explain this a little bit more because this will tie all of this together for you. 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:29.519 In the ancient Near East, when you were going to get married, you would become betrothed. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:34.880 This is kind of like our engagement, but unlike our engagement, this was legally binding. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.319 You were not spiritually under the covenant, but you were legally bound. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:44.960 As a matter of fact, after you were engaged or betrothed, you had to get divorced to break up. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.359 So this was legally binding. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:52.960 Once you were betrothed, the man, the groom, would leave. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:59.599 Typically, he would go back to his father's land, and you could not get married until he. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.720 Had prepared a house for y'all to live in. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:10.160 So he would leave, typically back home, hopefully to his father's land, and he would put a house together for you. 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:13.440 That means the groom's job is preparation of the house. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.799 Does that make sense? 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:19.119 Now, you as the bride, you do not know how long this will take. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:23.920 Even with modern construction, if you've dealt with construction, timelines are all over the place. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:26.240 In the ancient world, you had no idea. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:32.400 And so the groom's job was preparation, the bride's job was preparation. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:41.839 Her job every day was to show up prepared for the groom to return, because the day he returns is the day you get married. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.000 So every day you made sure you were ready. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:51.599 Your heart was ready, your mind was ready, your dress was ready, you got ready. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:56.160 When the house was built, the groom would return to your village. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:12.240 And as soon as people saw him on the horizon, they'd start gathering around them, and they would start shouting, and they would bring out the shofar, which is the trumpet of the Lord, and they would sound the horn, and you would hear it in the distance, and you would know that's my man. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:21.839 He's coming, it's coming today, it's on sight today, like the wedding is going down, and he would come and sweep you off your feet, and then you would celebrate. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:26.559 And the wedding celebrations would last for days, sometimes a whole week. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:28.880 This is how it happened. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.880 Now that's very different than today. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:36.400 Today you propose, you pick a venue, you get a wedding planner, you get the whole nine. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:39.920 I am going to save a future marriage right now. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:40.640 Are you ready? 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:42.960 I'm gonna save a I thought you'd be more excited. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:45.200 I'm gonna save a future marriage right now. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:52.319 Men who are seriously dating and you're thinking about proposing, I'm gonna help you out. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.920 Number one, your girl wants to be surprised. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:58.319 But this is very important. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:02.960 Your girl does not want to be all the way surprised. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:08.000 Only women laugh because the men don't know what that means. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.720 You're preparing. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:16.400 You're working overtime, saving for the ring, selling some stuff. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:20.559 If you're me, you gotta get a ring that is worthy of the woman you want to marry. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:22.720 I sold some guitars, I went all in. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.400 You're preparing. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:26.880 She gotta prepare too, okay? 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:32.480 So she needs to be 90% surprised, but when you know you're close, you have to give a hint. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:33.839 This is all she needs. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:35.519 You just gotta something like this. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.640 Hey, just so you know, at some point this year, I'm dropping to a knee. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.160 That's all she needs. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:42.240 And then she can stay prepared. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:53.920 And that means a few things, and I'm not gonna go, but in 2026, with Instagram close-ups, at minimum, I'm telling you, this could turn a yes to a no for you guys. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:07.359 If her nails aren't did, if you propose when she has God's naked nails on her hands, she may say no. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:13.279 It's the groom's job to prepare, it's the bride's job to prepare. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:14.640 Are we tracking? 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:17.519 You have to understand that to understand this. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:22.640 Because here's what I need you to know: Jesus is the bridegroom. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.119 This is what scripture calls the bridegroom. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:25.920 This is the groom. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.119 Jesus is the groom. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:32.000 All over the New Testament, Jesus is the groom, the church is the bride. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:34.240 If you don't know that, you gotta know it. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:39.680 Jesus is the groom, we, the church, we are the bride. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:42.880 Remember the context. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:50.240 The groom's job is to prepare, the bride's job is to prepare. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:52.079 You want some homework? 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:53.440 Read Matthew 25. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:00.559 The parable of the ten virgins, the ten brides. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:05.519 Five were prepared, five were not. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:07.680 Their husbands came to town. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.799 It's our job to prepare. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:12.640 My question is, are we? 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.839 As the bride of Christ, are we preparing our hearts? 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:19.440 Are we preparing our minds? 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:21.119 Are we preparing our finances? 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:22.480 Are we living out our mission? 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.559 Are we serving God's purpose? 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:28.079 Or are we caught up and distracted? 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:32.160 I want to show you how John talks about this. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.480 This is Jesus being quoted the night before he dies. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:39.599 Jesus has told his followers, I'm leaving. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:42.880 And they're like, don't do that. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:44.960 Do anything but that. 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:47.680 Jesus goes, No, I have you don't understand, I have to go. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:54.640 So if you're a believer, you've heard this verse so many times, and you're about to hear it for the first time. 00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:02.559 If you're a believer, you have heard these verses so many times, and you're about to hear them for the first time. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.240 Let me read them, John 14. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:07.519 Jesus says to his followers, Do not let your heart be troubled. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.079 Believe in God, believe also in me. 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:12.880 In my father's house are many rooms. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:18.079 If it were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:28.160 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:32.960 This is not just Jesus giving us comfort that we will see him again. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:38.400 This is the groom of heaven promising to come back and get his bride. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:45.519 Can you imagine? 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:46.559 You get engaged. 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:50.000 Some of you have have had to go through this because we're a military city. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:55.039 You get engaged, and then your fiance gets deployed for nine months. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:56.720 Don't see him for nine months. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:03.920 Can you imagine every single couple in Jesus' time, they get engaged, and then the man goes, I'll see you when I see you. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:06.799 You know she's like, I don't want you to go, babe. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:15.680 It's like if I don't go and get a house together, we cannot take our next step. 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:22.000 The disciples are like, Jesus, if you could stay, I'm pretty sure you could run this thing better than us. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:23.920 And they're right. 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:26.559 But Jesus is like, there's steps to this. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:36.240 And I gotta go to my father's land and I gotta prepare a house so that when I come back, we can make this thing right. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:39.519 We can fulfill God's plan. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:41.599 It's incredible. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.160 The application is simple, but it's worth stating. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:49.680 In Jesus' presence, there is no fasting. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.000 In Jesus' presence, there is no fasting. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:29:09.039 The picture of him and his disciples in the house of a tax collector, surrounded by tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners and the marginalized and ostracized, it could not have been more shocking to everyone, even the sinners in the house. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:13.200 Even the sinners are like, so why are you guys in here? 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:19.599 Like, why are you so different than like everything else that's going on in Israel? 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:26.640 And it's because Jesus didn't come to do anything like all the other things that were happening in Israel. 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:30.640 Jesus came to do something brand new. 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:35.759 And he just says, I'm just telling you what scripture already told you. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.640 While the groom is here and the party is on, we're not fasting. 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:43.759 Here's our last verse in Luke, verse 35. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:49.599 Jesus says, But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:55.200 And then they will fast in those days. 00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.599 Jesus is the ultimate prophet. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:02.400 And this is prophecy. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:10.079 And like most prophecy, it involves what we simply call a double reference. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:14.640 Just means it references more than one thing, more than one event. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:20.640 Almost all biblical prophecy has double reference, some triple reference. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:32.079 What this usually looks like is it is referencing a prophetic event in the immediate future, within the next years or months, or sometimes even days. 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:35.759 But it's not a single reference, it's a double reference. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:40.160 It also refers to another event in the cosmic future. 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:41.920 And the same is true here. 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:48.240 This most obviously refers to the death of Jesus. 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:52.400 His arrest and beating and crucifixion. 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:54.720 He will be taken away. 00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:56.160 I want to show you this. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:58.319 This is a compound verb. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:03.279 It is the verb arrow and it is the prefix apo. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:05.839 This is a violent term. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:08.960 Snatched away without consent. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:10.799