Week 7 (Days 316-322): Was God harsh?

Hey Bible readers! I'm Emma Daughter and I'm Kirsten McCloskey and this is our friend and co-worker Laura Bouchelt. We like to call you LB. Yes LB is a great one of my nicknames for many years and that's probably what we'll call you for the rest of this episode. But for those who don't know you, would you just share a little bit about yourself? Yeah, I work here with the Bible Recap family in various roles. I get to help coach our theology teams as we work on Bible study, as we work on this podcast, as we work on other things. And then I also get to take our trips to Israel, which is pretty sweet. It's pretty rad. I'm not going to lie. It's a fun trip. Yeah, so it's awesome. It's been a great job to have. It's a dream gig I love it. Well, we're super excited that you're here with us today. So thank you for joining and you guys are going to really enjoy what LB has to say. So we're excited to kick it off. Okay, so we're ready. So I'm ready. Let's do it. All right. Question number one comes from day 319 and the question is can someone please explain John 20, 22? We'll do our best. So this is what it says. John, 2022 is he breathed on them. This is Jesus and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. So this was before the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in the upper room and acts. Okay, so this is still in the book of John. So what actually happened when Jesus did this and said these words? Okay, it's a really good question. It's a great question. It's a great question. It's a question to look into. And it means whoever's reading and asking this is a very astute reader. They're paying attention because they're rightly noting, hey, this statement by Jesus here in John seems to take place, yes, after Jesus' resurrection, but before his ascension in the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. So is this a contradiction? How do we make sense of it? Yes. So there's several options. As I was digging into it and you guys jump in, if you've got more or thoughts, but one of them is that when Jesus breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit, it was a symbolic or prophetic act, not the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but a preview, like the previews at the movie theater. It was a pledge of what was to come or a heads up. Hey, this is going to happen. Yeah. And it's going to happen soon. Yeah. That was also what one person phrased it as a preliminary giving of the Spirit in anticipation of the full receiving of the Spirit and acts. So more like a preparation, like what you're saying, kind of this preview versus what we actually see in Acts 2-2. Well, and it is interesting because it's not the first time we see the Holy Spirit show up in people. No. We see that throughout the Old Testament, we see the Spirit come and go in different spaces in ways. So it makes sense of why now, but also this isn't a new thing. That's right. That's right. But what is interesting is the Greek word for breath that's used here is super rare in the New Testament. So a lot of scholars think this is calling all the way back to Genesis 2 where God breathed life into Adam suggesting that Jesus is saying, hey, this is going to be a new creation, a new spiritual life. And this time, this life is going to be through the endwelling Holy Spirit or this power to live. You could say. So then they'd say, hey, at Pentecost, then that's when the disciples actually received the Holy Spirit in a permanent, yet powerful and keyword public way. This situation is not public. Exactly. Exactly. And Jesus had promised this in John 14, 16 through 17 and Acts 1, 8. So one thing I just want to piggyback on with, with specifically talking about this had been promised in John. So one theologian mentioned that this is potentially more of a theological consideration for John as he's writing this book versus a chronological consideration. So what I mean by this is that Jesus breathing on them and giving them the spirit had more to do with what John was trying to say in his book. So the message he was trying to convey rather than like, this is the facts and these are the historical, you know, this is how it happened. So basically John ties the spirit in his book to Jesus' glorification. Okay. So in John 7, 37, 39, John says, the spirit hadn't come yet because Jesus hadn't yet be glorified. And then John 16, 7, which I think is what you just referenced, right? So Jesus tells his disciples that it's better if he goes away because then the spirit will come. And so basically if you're still tracking with me here, it's that John wrote this gospel and he needed the ending of, no, the Holy Spirit. Yeah, the Holy Spirit coming. Coming. Yes. But he leaves kind of more of the specifics to Luke because Luke is doing something else. Luke is doing a very historical narrative, right? Whereas John has maybe has some more theological bend to it. Totally. It was very interesting to like look into this. I don't think I'd thought about it at times. Yes. John also goes a really long way throughout his whole gospel to like emphasize that the Jesus has God and the Jesus God, Jesus has got Jesus has got this is it. This is it. This is it. John 14, I think you referenced of like 14 16 to 17 to the spirit. We see a lot of that language. And so it would make sense that he would want at the end of his gospel to make sure he's saying, hey, this is how it's going to be now. Yeah. And this spirit is going to come from me because this because this is how this is how John's view as he wrote the whole book of what he wrote, recalled of this conversation was Jesus. So it makes sense. It makes sense. Okay. So here's another option. Yeah. Another option is that Jesus truly imparted. Okay. He gave them the Holy Spirit in John 20. In Pentecost, these scholars would say was a separate different work of the spirit that was more about empowerment versus indwelling. So they'd say, hey, there's just a distinction here. They'd say, yes, Jesus gave the disciples the indwelling of a spirit, which happens at salvation. And they'd refer to the baptism of the spirit. And by that, they're referring to empowerment for ministry. And they're saying that empowerment comes at acts too. Again, this is just one view. So what would the, I guess, what would the differences be pragmatically for me, like if I'm holding one question or a different view, like, does that ultimately, does that change anything? I mean, I don't think so. And one of the things that I was thinking about looking into this was that some of the things that we see with the early church and the Jesus is ministering, all that it's descriptions of what happened. It's not the prescription of how all of these things are always going to go for all Christians at all times. Yes. So I think that what I would want to be really clear about is that when you believe in Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit as a deposit, the Holy Spirit in the world. Yes, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit. So that is very, very important to know. And this is just one of those places where it's like, there's a couple different ways to look at this. But it's, I think it's very important for us, kind of like your everyday average believer is like, we're just trying to recognize this isn't a contradiction. There's multiple ways to make sense of it. We just, we have imperfect minds. And we're not going to know fully. And that's okay. This is one that I am looking forward to finding out in eternity. What did you mean by that? Yeah. Come on. That one. That one. That one. That one. What is right? Who is right? Who is right? Who is right? That's right. That's great. Oh my god. All right. We got to go to our next question. All right. Great. So this question comes from day 321. And the passage is Acts 5, 1 through 11, which is the story of Ananias and Sephiras. Since it's pretty long, well, maybe summarize it here in a moment. The question is, why do you think God responds so decisively here when we don't see him do this in other stories of sin? What makes this moment different? It was different too. I mean, sorry, you want to summarize it? I'm looking at it. I'm like, we don't know why. Sure. So I found a great quote from Nancy Guthrie if it's okay if I read that for us. She says, Luke doesn't tell us how Peter knew that Ananias was misrepresenting his gift. So this couple is contributing funds and they're being dishonest about how much money they have. And Peter is picking up on the fact that they're being dishonest. And Nancy Guthrie says, but clearly the Holy Spirit was at work making it known to Peter through either extraordinary or ordinary means. It's not just that they lied to the apostles in the entire community. This was God's representative community on earth. So lying to the apostles in the community was lying to God himself. Peter can see where this deceit finds its true source, the lying voice of Ananias. Peter recognized this as the voice of the Father of Lies and he said, Satan has filled his heart to do this. And then Ananias dies and soon after his wife will die as well as a consequence for their sin. Yep. And both of them end up coming to Peter and lying. Yes. Yes. Both of them lie individually. Yep. I loved this quote. One theologian said, this story must be ranked among the most difficult for modern readers of acts. I agree. I agree. But you know what, what's interesting about, so this, this story in Acts reminds me of a different Bible story all the way back in Joshua. Yes. Where God does something similar and acts really decisively in judgment. And so if you remember back in, back in Joshua, if you haven't heard this story before, let me do a little quick summary here. So they have, they've entered the Promised Land. Okay. And God is establishing the Israelites in the Promised Land that he has brought them to. They just experienced an incredible victory at Jericho. And they were not supposed, that's the one with the walls coming down. Yeah. And the screams. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right. You are around. Go ahead. Maybe later. Okay. Okay. Um, so they had one the battle at Jericho. Yeah. Then what, what God had said is they were not supposed to take any of the spoils of war. Okay. But a man named Aiken sinned and he took what he shouldn't have, and he hid it in his tent. In his tent. And because of this, then the Israelites in their next battle were defeated. Yeah. And they're like, what, you know, what's going on? What would we doing? And so then eventually, Aiken and his family are found out and put stuff. So there were great communal consequences because of this one man sin. And God decisively brought judgment because of that. And it's a, it's very unique because it's, it's this period of time where God is acting to bring about this new community. The Israelites and the Old Testament, the church and the New Testament. And they're just for whatever reason, this is the moment where it's like, we're not doing that. And what's interesting about that, I love that you brought up that story, is because there's this pattern throughout the scriptures of God acting very similarly, whenever there's a major biblical transition, a huge transition in the narrative. So here, the church is a baby. Yeah. Like this is the young church. They're learning to walk pretty much. And at this moment, God's setting a holy standard, much like he does with Aiken. So as I'm digging into this studying, you see similar acts of God in major transitions. So one would be Genesis 3. Adam and Eve are expelled after one act of disobedience. Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu Abihu are struck down for unauthorized worship, Joshua 7 with Aiken. And second, Samuel 6, Uza killed for touching the ark. So you see this even Moses, yes, not able to know. Yes. That feels like another great transition. So God takes his holiness seriously. And we see that very clearly when there's some transition. And he takes sin seriously because because his holiness is so serious, like he has to take sin seriously. And I think like you were saying, there is this, this almost like he's protecting this early church. As he's establishing it. And there are certain lines, you know, we get common grace. I mean, to be honest, we all deserve to be struck dead every time. Yes. We deserve that. That's that's what we deserve. However, in his grace, God doesn't strike us all down. But in this situation, we see, and I think in my mind, as I read it, it goes into like almost a performative faith. So totally. They were what they were doing. They sold this land and then said that they gave it at that same, you know, right? Oh, yeah. The land gave you the money. I mean, they were fakers. They were, it was a performance. They did, did they give some of the money? Yes. They gave some of the money. But the, the, I think the bigger piece that caused the, the strict judgment was don't set yourself up and use, I feel like it's almost like God, God, from God's perspective, don't set yourself up and use my name. And then not, you know, because we're all doing this for God. And God's holiness will not allow performance for what we're trying to say. So I think I was just recently having a conversation with a friend about if we get up in front of people and our faith is anything but genuine and fully transparent before the Lord, and we're living in confession, but like if we get up and we lie publicly on and say on behalf of the Lord, and God's gonna, there's other places where God shows judgment for pastors and other people who teach the Bible. And I feel like this is sort of that similar idea of like, man, God does not take performance lightly. And I think that's something that's hard because how can you tell what's sincere? How can you tell what's not? But I think that, that performative faith, the danger of that for me is one of the takeaways from the story. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's interesting because this story can seem so harsh. I again, going back to the quote, this is ranked among the most difficult of modern readers because I think we, we forget about the mercy piece. We forget that there are so many stories in all of scripture where immediate judgment doesn't come. Right. That's going back to like God is establishing whose people God is doing something new. And he's dealing with sin in that community. And he's showing the point of the cost of sin. He's making that point like, this is the cost of sin. And these, both of these stories and some of the other ones that you'd mentioned, like they show that judgment that all, this is the judgment that all sin deserves. Really. Romans tells us the wages of sin is death. So that's, that is what we deserve. But in God's mercy, he, that's where we don't get what we do deserve. So I talked so much about that. And on that note, I don't know. Kirsten, you got the next question. Yeah, let's move on. All right. Question three, this comes from specifically from Acts 6, 6, which is on day 321. But I'm going to back us up just a little bit. I'm going to start reading in Acts 6, 3. Good call. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. This is taking care of the widows. That's the duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said, please, the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timone, and Parminas, and a proclade of Antioch. These, Timone, I never made that Lion King connection. Okay. Here's the verse. These they set before the Apostles and they prayed and laid their hands on them. So the question that's coming from this is, what is the significance of praying and laying hands on people? And then kind of bringing it into our modern day, should we be doing this specifically talking about the laying on of hands? Yeah. I want to give just really quick. I mean, you guys have done so much research. So I want to make sure you get into it. But as I have read scripture, as I look at this, I think we are holistic everywhere in scripture. Everyone's scripture. We're whole people. I think sometimes we try to separate the sacred and what's the other one? Secular. Secular. There is both our asses. But we try to like separate those two things where we're such holistic people, our physical bodies are a part of our existence. Do we are? While we're on the surface? You can worship the Lord with our bodies. It's why some people raise their hands in worship. You know, it's an expression. And so I think because we're holistic people and one of the things we are called to is unity. We see it time and time and time again, especially in the New Testament. We're called to unity. We're called to togetherness. We're called to oneness. We're a body, the body metaphor. And so I think there's something, there's just something special about being able to hey, let me, let me pray for you and put my hand on your shoulder and pray for you. It's not, it's not a magic spell. No, it's not. I'm not somehow like sending power into you from my hand or anything like that. But I think there is something deeply spiritual about physical touch in the way that says, hey, let me, let me pray for you with you. Yeah. So that's my, that would be my take on this. I think that's great. As I was studying it, one of the things that the commentators pointed out was that this gesture, it did, it did play a role of formally commissioning, meaning sending out these people. So as part of the process is this local body sending out those who are going to serve Christ abroad. Yeah, they would lay hands on them. And then second, it was a way of affirming them. So with our holistic bodies, it was a way they could say, hey, we, we support you, we support where God's calling you to go. We're behind you. We're going to be praying for you. Let's, let's bless you. It would be the third one. You're going, we're staying. Yes. We're still. Yes. So formal commissioning affirmation that they're going and a blessing. Hey, as you go, we're behind you supporting you through prayer. We want you to experience God's nearness on this journey. Others would say, hey, this was significant because it was a public recognition and a symbol of unity within the church. So there was an importance behind this visible part of the affirmation so that those in the entire community, not just the church, possibly might have seen that these men were set apart. There was something different about them. Yeah. Well, and the ones that were, the people that were laying hands on them were the apostles. Yes. Yes. Have that authority associated with them to say we are commissioning you in this specific area to do this work. Yes. So that's pointing out that it's the apostles is also helpful. I think it's also worth noting we see this gesture in other places and acts. Yeah. But in those moments, it's more so associated with receiving the Holy Spirit. Examples would be Acts 8, 17 and Acts 19, 6. But that's not the focus area here. The gesture is carrying the connotation, the connotation of God's empowerment to go. Well, and they're not really actually going in a set because this is where there's step up and lead. Yeah. I think we think of it a lot of times in our context as like the missionary from church is going and we're going to commission them and we're going to lay hands on them, which is I think that would be my instance of like when am I seeing this in church? Yes. But it could also be, so like should we do this today, totally can some churches, its missionaries, other churches, it's the installation of pastors, elders, deacons, or prayer for healing and spiritual strength. I know at my church whenever there's a new elder, we bring them up on stage and all of the current elders commonly hands on them and pray for them in front of the congregation. So that's one way it can look. Yeah. And I think can we should we, is this practice we should do today? That's the question. I think I would say it's it's not a biblical mandate. No, right. It's not a biblical mandate that we're like descriptive of what we're seeing. Yes. I think it is it is a great opportunity to express unity and what is. So you like you said there were listed different things. If it's a commissioning thing like we see in here or if it's praying for healing or strength or whatever, I love when people come around me, lay their hand on me and pray for me, I know people are with me. Yeah. There's just something about that. We are together in this. So I think I think absolutely do it today. I don't think you have to. If someone's like, I know that was just you're okay. I think it was just at a prayer meeting and they'd had some people stand up and said, now we're going to gather around them and put your hands on them to pray. And the person I was closest to asked those who are encroaching. They said, please, please don't touch me. And I really appreciated that honesty. They wanted the prayers, but yeah, but they were a little claustrophobic. And that's okay. My other request and we should say this real quick. My other request is if you're going to lay your hands and pray for someone, don't don't push on them. Don't don't don't shut down the bad. There's some people that I'm like, okay, I'm not your support. Like I mean, I am your support spiritually. This is too hard. Can you feel good? Lighter touch. Just too much weight. Yeah, just a little, just so they know. Yeah, you're there. Unity. Unity. I love that. Yeah. So maybe ask someone. But if you feel comfortable with that, I say go for it. I think it's, I think it's great. I think it's great. I'm pro. I'm pro. Amazing. Okay. We're ready for the next question. Yeah. Let's do it. Okay. This one's coming from day three sixteen, specifically from Matthew 27, 55 through 61, which I will read for us. There were also many women there looking on from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Aaron, Aaron, Matthew, I get that pronunciation right here. Yeah. That's why I'm with you. I was going to be saying, and I'm with you. Name Joseph, who is also a disciple of Jesus. He went to pilot and asked for the body of Jesus, then pilot ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it on his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. So the question is, it seems like there were other disciples who proved more faithful to Jesus at the end of his life. The woman at the cross, Joseph of Arimathea, they've seemed more faithful than his 12 who deserted him. What do you make of this? And why don't we talk about these people more? Yeah. I think it's such a great question. I love questions that like you see what's missing. No, it's there. I think one of the things, well, a few things I was thinking about. So as you're reading through the Bible, and I'm just thinking of those of you who this is maybe your first trip through the Bible, and you might hear a question like that, and you're like, man, I had, I didn't even know we didn't see these people. You know, some of these people are mentioned elsewhere in Scripture, but like just kind of the idea that, oh, I didn't realize that we hadn't really talked about these people. So definitely there's the overarching, you know, there's the overarching Bible story, and there's more of kind of the main characters, if you will, that come up more that we know their names. So sometimes there can be a lot of names, and a lot of kind of just getting confused. So these people can be in some ways like easy to miss, easy to fly over. And I think one of the things I actually really like about a question like this, is it reminds us that this is a real story, and there are real people, regardless of whether they get one line in Scripture or 20 line in Scripture, you know, or whatever it is. So I agree that these people might have seemed more faithful to Jesus at His death. They were actually the ones that were there. I think it's a fair observation. Yeah, it can be a fair observation. But we also see that when we continue reading that Jesus wasn't done with the work that He had for the disciples. For the 12th to know. Yeah. But we do end up knowing more about Peter, James, John, than we do about these people that are mentioned. But it doesn't necessarily mean that these people are more or less important. But again, in terms of kind of the overarching story, they would be seen more as minor characters. Yeah, I think one of the one of the things that I my first instinct when I heard this question when I read it was Matthew 26 when Jesus and verse, you could kind of go back and read him 26, 33, but I'm going to start at 32. Jesus is saying at the last supper with his disciples, after I'm raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Peter answered him, though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. And Jesus is like, no, you're going to. And that's really pretty. It's the denial of Christ. And then he did nice and three times and three times. But what we see is like his closest guys are put in this in this position where all the sudden, what's happening makes absolutely no sense. And I think it's really easy for us to be like, what was their deal? Well, their deal was one of their best friends just got crucified. And so I think there really is a human element to this that Jesus predicted that it would happen. So one, we knew we know because we have hindsight. But two, these 12 weren't his only people. He had other people. Right. Yeah. But I think be careful not to be too hard on the disciples in this moment. Unless you stop to take into consideration, the danger that they're in to because they're thinking, this is it, we're good. But then this guy dies and there is closest companions. They're think their lives are totally. And the 12 play a foundational role in apostolic authority of the early church. So of course, we focus on them more. Because even if even if you just think about the Bible as a book, there's the main character, Jesus. And then there's, you know, you could call the 12 primary characters. And then you've got the secondary tertiary characters. We know the people in the Old Testament too. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Totally. And the 12 do play a significant role as the story continues. And I mean, we don't know what the women were up to or what Joseph was up to. But this is their moment to shine. And it's okay that this is their moment. Yeah. It's smaller than none of the others. We love to just add because the question seems to almost have this undertone. Jesus values women. Yes. And so in the including the, the like this, this place where they stood and stood with him to where faithful to him, I think that's a beautiful picture of the relationship that Jesus had even with women, even in a day that that that would have been unthinkable. So I think the faithfulness of the women is more important than that the disciples deserve at him. Yes. Well, totally. I agree. Because if you were a writer of one of the gospels, culturally, it would not have made sense to even include the women's role. Like that, that would have. Joseph Faremuthaya for sure. Sure. But not the others. But not the others. Yeah. And so I think it's also worth, as you alluded to, I'll be highlighting the significance of the gospels unapologetically, showing the role of women to be last at the cross in first at the tomb. Yeah. Cool. Because that parallel is just, it shows the value that that God in Jesus, who is God put on women when society downplayed them saw them as less than when we see that throughout scripture. Yes. Absolutely. I actually thought though when you said the undertone of the question was going to be, you were going to point out the why don't we talk about this more? And I think some people do. So I read that and I thought, oh, man, that hasn't personally been my experience. And I was curious what y'all's experiences were with that. I feel like I have heard throughout my life, the significance of the women being taught about Joseph. Is that abnormal? You think that I wouldn't think to ask why don't we talk about this more? No, I mean, I think I, like I grew up in a Christian household. It adds a pastor. So the stories of scripture, I have heard so for me, I grew up with them as a story. But I think the undertone is it feels unfair when they were the ones that were faithful. Oh, I see. You're saying it's less about these stories being taught. Yeah. And it feels unfair that these people who are faithful to Jesus are the ones that get the spotlight. Oh, interesting. Okay. That was not how I was reading it. But that's a very interesting. Yeah. That's great. Okay. Cool. I would say that, I mean, I think that some of the details of this story, which this feels more like these details, these little like minor characters in the story, I think that some of that is so easy to blow over. Yeah. Sure. And so that's where it's kind of like I like when there's a question like this, or you're you know, you're reading the Bible and you just like take a second to actually think about, wow, what did it mean that these women stayed? What did it mean that Joseph went to pilot and asked for Jesus' body? Like those are those are big deals. But you have to spend a little bit of time digging into that or meditating at or just kind of researching it. Right, versus the the writer is not, you know, just spelling that out. Right. It's a detail on a story that's very important, but you sometimes have to spend a little time just thinking about it. But yeah. And I think the the main thing that we do want to emphasize too is that basically all human characters in the Bible story are truly more minor characters like God is good. Yeah. Major point. He's the main character of the story. And so we do we yes, it's good to look at like the human faithfulness and to see kind of places in scripture where we can be like, I want to be like those ladies. I want to be like Mary. I want to be like Solomon. Yeah, I want to be like Joseph. But really in the really in the end, we're looking at the faithfulness of God. But did you just say I want to be like Solomon? Because it's do who? Solomon. Oh, I thought you said Solomon. I was like like what part of Solomon's life? I'm into the wisdom. The wisdom. Stop it. That's what I was thinking. Yeah, the rest I'm not into. Yeah. Okay, great. All right. All right. Ready for the next question. This next question comes from day 319 and the passage is John 21 versus 9 through 10. So let's read that passage. Here's what it says. And when they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it in bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish that you have just caught. That's 9 and 10. So the question is, Elbe is going to love this question. The question is, why did Jesus tell Peter to bring him some fish from the catch when he already had fish and bread on the grill on the beach? This is a very important question. So here's the thing. John 21 is maybe my favorite topic to talk about because when I look like zoom way out, there was a man who claimed to be God. There is eyewitness account. People followed him. There are stories about him. People did not like that. They killed him. The man then raised from the, we have historical evidence that this man was killed. And then a couple days later, we find him grilling on the beach with his guys. If I zoom way out, the dude that beat death and went back to spend time with his guys, like that's the person I want to follow. I might not understand everything, but the guy that beat death and came back to meet with his guys, there's something about that that's so powerful that just caught it any time my faith. I go, why? Is this Christian? Anything really? I go, oh, yeah, that's right. I'm going to follow the guy that died and then came back to life, you know, and made fish on the beach with his guys. Yeah, I mean, right, it's on the beach. I mean, to it. I just, there's just something about my faith that this passage anchors so deeply. That's very cool. And there's a lot of symbolism in this, even with the charcoal fire and the call of the disciples at the very beginning with John 21. So there's a lot, a lot he get into, but the significance specifically around this fish. And I think we see it later on too in this passage, but Jesus says, hey, bring the fish up and they've have caught this huge catch. So bring the fish up, but then he's sitting there with fish on the grill. So I think he's using it. He's bringing them into say, hey, look, I've got what I need. But I want you to bring what you have. You know, there's a friend of mine uses the line. God uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines of like God's plan for salvation is in Christ. And then he established the church to get that message out. The church people, you know, that's right. sinful, fallen people. And so the fact that he allows his disciples to participate in his work, he then he'll then talk in a little bit about the fish. I think other people disagree with me, but I think he talks about the fish when he asked Peter, do you love me more than these? Because I think the guys went back to fishing because Jesus had died. They didn't know what to do. Jesus then resurrected, but Peter thinks I've already blown it. So I'm out. I'm going to go back to fishing. That's what I know. I'm a fisherman. That's how I can make money. That's how I'm going to have a living. And so I think this was a, I'm going back to a life that I knew and that I that I know I can sustain and fulfill. And Jesus interrupting that saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you don't go backwards. You go forwards here. So bring that fish to the beach. Do you love me more than these fish? You know, and and so I think in his reinstatement, that gets into later, but I think why he had them bring in fish when there was fish on the grill was I just think God, God invites us. But do you think he would? I would, is, but I think I hear you saying is. Yeah. He was teaching them some hundred percent. He was teaching them. You don't need this old way of life. You don't need it. Bring it in. Bring it in and put it right here because we're going to have this fish. Okay. So I got something different. Oh, great. I got a different. So I agree. Jesus didn't need their fish. He'd already provided. But he invited them to contribute what they had. So, so hang with me. Okay. As I was studying this question, some commentators were suggesting that Jesus's call for them to bring their fish was symbolic of how Jesus invites us into kingdom work, even though he doesn't need us. So whereas what I heard you presenting was this dichotomy between their old way of life and Jesus's way, the presence of the fish that weren't needed is evidence saying or pointing to how God uses us, even though he doesn't need us. Yeah. Which I don't think contradicts. No. What do you say? Just another angle. No, a different angle. Look at it. A different angle. And some even say because there are what 152 different types of fish. It's like 53. Yeah. Maybe they're different fish. Like a rainbow fish. A puffer fish. And then there's some that would say like the number of people group. So like there's so many different things with those numbers. Yeah. This is yes. There's a lot underneath that. But we can we can both. Well, the other interesting thing that I found was that fish in this verse is I guess singular in the Greek. So did it mean that Jesus was just cooking one little fish? Oh, or that's supposed that is an option. He's making himself breakfast on the snack. And this is going to throw my appetite out. Exactly. All right. Wait, here's here's something that could support your your paradigm. So we got to remember this is the first recorded conversation we get of Peter and Jesus since Peter denied him three times. And if you go back and look at those instances, there's one or two I believe that are at a charcoal fire. Yes. Yeah. So the very place are the very setting at which Peter denied Jesus is also the place where Jesus is reestablishing fellowship. And I don't know if you're looking at him, but yeah, sent in memory for me. Like, have you ever smelled something? And it takes you back. And you're like, oh my gosh, like I smelled something and it's like, oh my gosh, my grandpa wore that cologne and all of a sudden I have these memories of my grandpa. Yes. You know, and I feel like that probably was happening for Peter. Maybe not. No, no, it could be like he's really could be that he's thinking, oh my gosh, the last time I was at a charcoal fire, I really messed up. Right. And that was Jesus's way of saying, hey, you still have sure did. And yeah, you're you're useful to my mission. We're not done. Yeah. I loved absolutely. Yeah. It's great. And it's fun to, although we don't, I'm not so sure we came up with an exact answer to that question. But we don't need possible options. Yes. We need it's options. It's about the important thing to know is that yeah, Jesus has everything he needs. And yet still invites us. Yeah. I think at the end of the day, I think we can confidently say that. Amen. Awesome. All right. Well, LV, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for allowing me to sit with you guys and chat. I love talking about Bible. We love that about you. Okay. Awesome. Well, thank you for taking a deep dive with us and we'll see you next week as we continue to read, understand, and love the Bible and the God who wrote it.