Numbers 15:17-16:40, Mark 15:1-47, Psalms 54:1-7, Proverbs
11:5-6
Today is the 11th day of March welcome to the Daily
Audio Bible I am Brian it is always a great day when we get to get together
like this, come around the Global Campfire, find our place, step out of
whatever’s going on and just let the Scriptures speak. And, so, let’s let the
Scriptures speak. We’re reading from the New International Version this week,
picking up where we left off yesterday back into the book of numbers and just
remembering what has happened. Spies have been sent into the land, the people have
moved out, it’s time to go into the land, but a bad report comes back. And, so,
they are disqualified and now an entire generation will spend the rest of their
lives in the wilderness while their children grow up and then it will be their
job to go into the promised land. And, so, we’ll turn into some areas now where
we feel like we’re reviewing things - additional laws, a reaffirming of laws, a
rehearing of laws. This is because we have a shifting of generations that is
taking place. Numbers chapter 15 verse 17 through 16 verse 40.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of Mark today, we covered the
territory that includes the crucifixion of Jesus, His death, and before that
brutal mistreatment and mockery. And this culminates with Jesus hanging from
the cross having been crucified. So, He’s got nails affixing Him to beams where
He’s hanging waiting for death to come and He cries out in a loud voice, “my
God my God why, why, why have you forsaken me?” And, so, let's…let’s just work
our way to that point by just looking back at the last days of Jesus. We…we
remember Jesus, walking through Jericho and healing blind Bartimaeus while He’s
on His way to Jerusalem. We…we…we know that Jesus knew what was going to happen
because He kept telling His disciples what was going to happen. And, so, He
heals blind Bartimaeus as He passes through Jerusalem knowing that He’s 18
miles away from His death, an uphill climb to Jerusalem. And as He is on that walk,
we remember some of the disciples coming around Him arguing who’s the greatest
and can they have a position with Him on the left and on the right. And we see
Jesus loving and caring for them but understanding that what’s about to happen
is beyond them. They really do expect the Messiah to cause a revolt and
overthrow the corruption and overthrow the government. So, you…I mean…how could
we put ourselves in the position of the Savior in that moment, but we can think
about it, at least, we can consider it, at least, we can consider what it might
be like if we knew that we were going to be dying. And none of us want to think
about that, but if we knew that we were going to be dying in the next couple of
days and our friends or family, they come around us asking for things, we might
find that to be isolating, we might find that to be tremendously lonely. Like
nobody actually does understand what we’re going through. We read the story of
the Last Supper the Jesus had and we certainly know that this is where the
Eucharist or communion originated and comes from, this tradition that we carry
on until this day. But Jesus had this last meal, and that’s the thing. It was
the Last Supper. It’s called that because of some huge theological meaning. It’s
the last meal. It’s the last meal before the suffering and He’s having that
meal with the one who is betraying Him to death. So, you have to wonder, like
what is that like? Usually we find out we’re betrayed and it causes a big
battle and there’s broken relationships and all that but He’s like sitting
there enduring it, even inviting His betrayer to partake…take of the cup. We
could say Jesus is enduring the betrayal. And anyone…and I think everyone in the
sound of my voice at least understands the concept of betrayal, but many of us
have been betrayed in some sort of way in our lives. And, so, we know the
isolation in that and the depression in that, the uncertainty, sort of the
shift of what we thought was real being tipped upside down. Jesus is enduring
all of this. This is all part of the makeup of a fully human and fully God
being upon the earth. We’ve followed Jesus into the garden of Gethsemane now a couple
of times in Matthew and Mark and we see Him crying out to God very, very human
prayer, very human prayer, “if there’s any way that we don’t have to do what we’re
about to do that would be great. Like, is there any way the cup can pass? If
there’s any way that I don’t have to do what I’m being sent to do, if it…if it
can go away or if there’s some other way…but not my will but yours.” And, so,
we’ve seen Jesus sweating it out. Like He’s in anguish in the garden of Gethsemane,
anguish - a very human thing to experience. And then the time comes, and the
mob shows up and the kiss of betrayal and the binding of the hands and freedom
is taken. And Jesus, the Divine One made flash has lost His freedom and He’s
willingly going. And then we go in before the high priest and all of the
accusations. And let’s imagine that this is taking place at night and that it
goes the deep, deep into the night until exhaustion sets in. And we know that
when we’re being yelled at and we’re exhausted at the same time, the feelings,
the emotions involved in that are so isolating and so confusing and so upside
down. And Jesus is being falsely accused and He’s taking it. He’s not saying
anything back. He’s listening. He’s taking everything that they’re trying to
concoct against Him. They’re verbally abusing Him for hours. And some of us
have experienced this in some sort of way or another. We…we get the concept if…if
not like the whole thing if we don’t understand exactly what it’s like to be
verbally abused. But for hours. But then…then they judge Him. He tells the
truth about who He is and then they call Him a blasphemer and they start
beating Him and blindfolding Him and tearing out His beard. We can read these
things as if they don’t hurt, as if He doesn’t really feel them, somehow, He’s
above it, somehow, He’s aloof, somehow, He’s not really enduring it, somehow,
it’s not really what it appears to be. If they grabbed His whiskers and yanked,
then it would hurt. If they spit upon Him which the Bible says that they did,
it would drip off His nose, it would drip down into His beard. Like, let’s not
make this what it’s not, let’s make it what it is. This is what He’s doing. This
is what He’s going through. And like I said, we can’t really put ourselves in
that position but we can imagine just briefly what the emotions might be inside
of us if this is what we were enduring. And after being smacked around and
beaten up then He’s given over to the Romans who…who professionally beat Him
until He's…He’s a bloodied pulp gasping for breath trying to endure every
frayed nerve that is screaming agony. And then He tries to carry this cross and
He gets some help. But in the end, the cross gets to where it’s going, up on the
hill of Golgotha where they strip Him, humiliate Him and nail Him to beams and
hang Him to die. So, when we get to this moment where He’s like, “my God, why
have you forsaken me?” Well, we can understand the path that brought Him to
that moment just before His death. And I know. All my life I’ve heard the theological
explanations for the “why have you forsaken me, my God, my God.” The thing is,
it’s theological conjecture. It’s trying to solve a problem when it’s not
inherently explained. So, it is what it is. We take it at the face value. We
take the words at what they say that He hung from this cross and He cried out. It’s
why, which is so human. I don't…I don’t even…I wouldn’t even know where to
begin to count the times that I’ve said that to God over the course of my life
and I know I’m not alone. It’s sort of the question we end up at with all the
time, “like why is this happening?” So, I don’t think that God was confused
about what was going on. I don’t think Jesus was confused but I think He was
feeling the things that human beings feel because He chose to descend, to
condescend Himself, to reduce Himself, to become one of us, to show us in
person the way that we should go and to call out the truth and model life for
us in person, experiencing what we experience in all points except for without
sin. So, He would experience what any human being would experience, which
brings us to the big point here. We’re looking at Jesus died on the cross and
this is the second time we’ve crossed this territory in our readings for this
year, but if we just simply look back over the last few days of Jesus life and
the things that transpired, the things that He had to deal with physically,
spiritually and emotionally we would realize that we really don’t have anything
to hold onto when we are crying out to God that He doesn’t understand what we’re
going through. Probably more accurately is that we can’t understand what He
went through, but He certainly understands what we go through. And, so, the
cross certainly means a lot of things to us, as believers in Jesus. It is
pivotal, it is irreplaceable in the Christian faith and in our story, but one
thing that it should tell us very clearly is that God does understand. So, my
suggestion or word of advice, or whatever you want to call it is, that we just
don’t go there anymore. It's…it’s not true. God understands all of it. He’s the
only one that understands all of what you’ve been through, all that you’re
going through, anything that you might go through, things that you’ve had to
endure that have left scars, things that you desire that are just out of reach,
brokenness that’s too painful really to even think about. This is the thing
about this story. This is the thing about the gospel, is that Jesus came to
rescue us eternally, but also, He came to identify with us personally. And when
we kind of hurl these why questions - I don’t get it, You don’t understand - all
of this stuff that gets built up and that we say or at least feel or think,
it’s not true. And that only estranges us, that only puts up a wall between us
and the only one who actually does get it. So, we’ve been in this season, a season
known as Lent. We’re still in that season. It ends the Saturday before Easter,
so April 2nd I believe. This is the time, a season, an actual season
to meditate upon and consider these things deeply, not just quickly, not just
surface, but to actually take 40 days to contemplate and sit with them and
meditate upon them and open ourselves completely to God in every conceivable
way, maybe even fasting so that every time we have a craving that we can
consider what we’re doing to remind us of what’s happening or opening ourselves
fully to God so that He can rearrange us in any way that we need so that
there’s nothing off-limits to Him because He does understand us and we do put
our hope and faith in Him and Him alone utterly. So, this is a really good time
then to look at what’s happening here and look at the humanity of Jesus and
understand that he does understand what we’re going through and that we would
be lying if we claimed that He didn’t. And, so, we should never put that
between us and Him ever again because He does know.
Prayer:
Jesus, we confess. We have said it more times than we can
count. We have come to You with misunderstandings. We have come with
estrangement. We’re angry with You that You didn’t show up in the way we wanted
You to, or You don’t understand what we’re going through or the depths of the
blackness of what we’re facing, or that You just couldn’t possibly understand
the depths of the human experience. And yet that’s not true. You do indeed
understand the depths and blackness and darkness of the human experience. We
just bore witness to it with what we read in the book of Mark today. You
understand. And, so, we’re sorry that we’ve used that, that we’ve hurled that. Like
when we face You hanging on a cross on our behalf and then we think of the
insults that we’ve hurled or the accusations that we’ve leveled at You, that You
couldn’t possibly understand what we’re going through, O it’s embarrassing,
it’s humiliating. This is what we should feel, sorry. We should feel sorry. We
should repent. We should turn and go the other way and never come this way
again. And, so, this is our prayer, and this is our declaration. We will never
accuse You of not understanding us, never again. It’s not true and it only
divides us. It pulls us away from each other, where it’s only going to get more
destructive in our lives. So, we’re clinging to You and we’re inviting You as
we continue through this season of lament and repentance to show us, Holy
Spirit come. What are the ways, what are the places inside of us that we’re
still walling off, that we’re still withholding from You? We want to move
through this season and give everything to You. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In
the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be
waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning DAB family God bless you all. Guinn from Texas
you had called in for a father who has one son in jail and the other homeless
and you also mentioned how you had a son who is in jail and you know he had experienced
an…an encounter with the Lord and is saved although you lost him late along in
a motorcycle accident. First of all, I’m sorry about your loss Guinn but I’m
grateful that you got to know the Lord. And for father that you called in for I
am praying for him. I am praying in the name of Jesus that both your sons are
going to come to know the Lord in the name of Jesus. I am believing in the name
of Jesus not only are they going to come to the Lord they are also going to be
a witness to the Lord in the name of Jesus. That the one who’s incarcerated
will be able to witness the gospel to others in the name of Jesus. And the one
who is homeless will be returning home in the name of Jesus. Melissa from
Alabama I am sorry for the loss of your friend your dentist doctor Kirby. I am
believing and praying that his wife and kids are going to be comforted as well
as you and all those who have survived him in the name of Jesus. Lynn newbie
your daughter’s marriage rocky marriage that is and I am praying for her in the
name of Jesus I am praying for all things that are not of God in that marriage
to be bound in the name of Jesus I am believing for restoration in the name of
Jesus I am believing for assistance with the four children. You know,
especially the ones with the special needs I am believing in the name of Jesus.
Maria first time caller long listener your daughter Taylor 26 years old I am
binding that in the name of Jesus I am binding everything that is attacking and
restraining her away from the Lord in the name of Jesus God bless you all.
Esther…
Hello this is Michael Gene Elmore from way out West. We had
a couple of praise reports. And first one is about my wife Terry…Terry Elmore
she’s been working the last couple years in a Christian school as a teacher’s
assistant for the preschool kids and it has just been wonderful. I mean it’s
really just blessed her life and really been a great thing for her and for the
kids that she get to teach these kids about Jesus teach them how to spell their
name tie their shoes and do all this basic stuff and she just absolutely loves
it. And another praise report is about my daughter. My oldest daughter Jessica has
told me that she’s been listening to the Daily Audio Bible since the first of
the year and she’s got a couple kids and stuff and I think they’re listening to
the…I think they are listening to Zeke the kids are too. So, just really really
an answer to many of my prayers and stuff. I’m also praying for all these
people on here. I…I listen to all of the requests and some of ‘em just really
touch my heart. I mean this lady that said that her husband she overheard that
her husband’s leaving her and I’m praying for her and praying for him to come
to his right mind and change his mind and repent. And all the people who are
sick and so forth, I pray for em’ every day and and I love you people love this
family, the Daily Audio Bible. Adios.
Hi family this is Biola from Maryland I hope you’re all
doing well. Brian And Jill God bless you, God bless you for this powerful
ministry that is a ministry to thousands around the world. Family when you do
think of Daily Audio Bible and you throw your log into the campfire remember to
give. This is very important for continuity. I want to pay for the young lady
that called in dealing with postpartum depression. Doctor John from New York give
you an excellent, excellent advice. Sister I want to direct you to 2 Corinthians
10:3-5 that tells you how to fight. Like doctor John said, every time those evil
thoughts come to your head just take them captive like prisoners of war, pull
them down in the name of Jesus. Hold them captive to the obedience of Christ. And
right now, I come against every contrary voice that is disturbing you that is
harassing you. I bind you foul spirits in the name of Jesus. Sister I want you
to listen to doctor John’s advice, excellent advice. And I want to pray for
Lynn. I want to pray for your daughter, her situation and your son in law. Father
I pray that you will arrest this young man’s heart O God Lord, that You will
arrest his heart for You, that You will break his heart, make it tender for You,
let him come to know You. And I pray for deliverance oh God for Lynn’s daughter
in this situation in the name of Jesus, that you will reconcile them, reconcile
their marriage in Jesus’ name. Maria, I heard your heartbreaking prayer request.
I pray for Taylor. O Father Lord I break the hold of the enemy over Taylor’s
life in the name of Jesus. Father Lord of heaven I pray that You would deliver
this Young lady, soften her heart for You, Holy Spirit pursue her diligently.
Let Andrew and his team, let them be successful in the name of Jesus. And
Lastly, Julie I’m praying for you in your situation that the Lord will step in
and take…
Hi, my name is Amy I’m calling from Vancouver Canada and I
am so grateful for this Daily Audio Bible. Brian I discovered it back in the
fall and countless days of pure joy and that the scriptures have just come
alive through your voice and through…through God in…in you. Thank you very much
for that. Thank you to the community for your prayers for your encouragement
for one another. I have realized that there is a family out there that is
worldwide and just God’s Angels everywhere is incredible. I’ve had the
opportunity to pray for so many and I thank you for that. I thank you for moving
forward your prayer concerns. Today I bring you mine. I’ve been diagnosed
finally, praise God, after waiting for three years to have diagnosis with a
pelvic prolapse. I’ll spare you the details but it’s incredibly painful and
there’s at least a two year wait list for surgery here in Canada, at least. And…and
34…and it’s really really painful. I’m off work and I want the joy of the Lord
back in my step. I’m persevering, I’m continuing on. __ and…but I also pray for strength and determination
too, to learn what he has for me in this season of my life so that one day I
can __ and __ and encourage others as
well in their own journey. Thank you so much for the prayers and the support
and I…I really truly have come to love each and every one of you that I have
had the opportunity to hear. Thank you so much. Wonderful…have a wonderful day.
Bye bye.
Hello, DABbers this is Bianca calling from North Carolina
it’s actually Sunday March 7th at 9:07 PM __. I decided I would call
in every 7th of the month or at least try to. So, I was just calling
really to say thank you to Brian and the Hardin family. I actually started to
listen to DAB Kids with my son in the morning with Ezekiel and five and a half.
He get really excited when Ezekiel reads by himself. And, so, that’s really
awesome, those short little tidbits on the way dropping him off at school is
really cool. And I’ve just been pondering a lot lately how Brian has been
talking about having situations happen taking a pause and just observing for a
moment before we respond. So, I just wanted to call and say that I am praying
for that for myself. I definitely know that I can be quick tempered and quick
to speak before I think and it’s something that I know that I’ve needed to work
on but I haven’t truly invested the time and the thought into it in order to do
it because it is a skill that can be learned if it is practiced. And, so, I’m
just calling in today praying for that ability to take that pause before
responding and try to respond from a place that’s in line with who I want to be
versus who I am in that moment of frustration and inability and anger and
sadness. And, so, I’m just asking for prayers for that. I’m praying for all of
you as I listen through. There’s so many different things going on but just know
that when your prayer is voiced and played it is heard and someone is praying
for you. Thank you. I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Hey DAB family this is David from Pennsylvania first-time
caller just started listening back in January. Just wanted to call in and say
thank you to all those people who have been sending in prayer and
encouragement. I’m praying along with you guys and the encouragement just keeps
lifting me up as I listen to them. So, thanks. I actually was touched by one
caller who came in and was talking about how God still does the little things.
It really hit me because in the past week I’ve been asking God, “hey can you
show me something that…that you are still doing small things?” And he showed me
at least three times in the past three days, “yeah I’m still doing small stuff.”
So, thanks…thanks for just bringing that up again. Well…hoping to call in again
soon. Bye.
