Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: For today, for our last session, I wanted to talk about courage.
Because if you think about what we've been trying to do, we've been trying to say, okay, when we look at sorrow, when we look at anger, when we look at compassion, how do practicing these things make us imitate him more? That's really the goal for this particular class. This is a class of practice. We want to practice some of these virtues and become more like the person of Jesus.
And when we think about courage, CS Lewis has a really insightful. And it's a quote that I want us to talk about that I wrote up on the board because I want to get your thoughts on it.
He says this about courageous. He says the virtue of courage is a blank of all other virtues.
What do you think the blank is?
Virtue of courage is a blank of all other virtues.
Combination.
Combination. Good guess, Robin. It's not a combination.
It's not a common word.
It's a multi syllable word.
The virtue. This is what he says. The virtue of courage is a prerequisite.
Prerequisite of all other virtues. Meaning that underlining all of these virtues we've been talking about, courage is a prerequisite for living a life of virtue. Okay, so let's talk about this a little bit.
Do you agree?
I mean, if you disagree, you're disagreeing with C.S. lewis. Okay, so just understand you're on very thin ice.
What do you think the virtue of courage is a prerequisite of all other virtues. What do you think of that?
[00:02:18] Speaker B: I don't even know what prerequisite means.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Prerequisite.
Anybody else not know what it means?
It means that it's a pre. Requirement to possess.
If you're going to possess all the other virtues, courage should be the first prerequisite to embody and own and practice.
Before you practice some of the things that Brad talked about in his sermon, like righteous anger or compassion or gentleness. Patience.
Courage is a prerequisite.
Yes. Yeah. Talking about love, joy, peace, patience.
Catholic church would include things like charity and chastity in there, but a prerequisite of all these other elements that we've been talking about throughout our whole class.
What do you think?
It's an interesting premise. I think if he's right, you should.
[00:03:30] Speaker C: Have taught it first, not last.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Maybe the whole class should have been on courage.
Here's what he says. He says that the virtue of courage is a prerequisite for the practice of all other virtues. Otherwise, one is virtue. Only when virtue has no cost.
Yeah. I think what you're saying Is you must be saying that courage is required for all the other virtues. I think that's what you're saying.
Did you hear, did you hear what he said, Barbie?
I don't understand. Exactly. I think he's saying that courage, something.
[00:04:39] Speaker D: About someone that don't want to be father.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Annoy your father.
Okay.
What Lewis says is that the virtue of courage is a prerequisite for the practice of all other virtues. Otherwise one is virtuous only when virtue has no cost.
In other words, virtue is the place where we practice these things to become like Jesus. Right.
But if there's no cost to practicing those things, then you don't need courage.
It's very similar to what Jesus talks about when he says if you love people who love you back, there's no cost to that. Because even sinners can do that. Sinners can love people who love them back. But I say to you, love your enemies and give without expecting anything in return. Does that make sense? Because when you do that, there's cost.
There's a cost to you to love somebody that doesn't love you back. To love an enemy to give and not expect anything in return.
So Lewis goes on. He says courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
Interesting.
Which means at the point of highest reality, a chastity or honesty or mercy. All other virtues which yields to danger, which will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions.
Pilate was merciful until it became risky.
Think about that. Pilate was merciful until it became risky. He didn't find any wrong in the person of Jesus.
But when the crowd started to form a mob and riot, it was getting risky. So he said, okay, okay, take him, he's yours. I'm washing my hands of this.
Pilate didn't show courage. He was trying to be merciful. But then it became risky.
So what Lewis is saying, I think is that it takes courage to lament out loud. It takes courage to be publicly angry in the temple and turn over tables. It takes courage to be faithful to the end. It even takes courage to be compassionate and servant hearted.
Takes courage to go outside your comfort zone and love somebody and care for someone and serve somebody. Again, this is this idea that it's the prerequisite of all these other virtues that we're talking about.
Now normally what we do is we would find a few case study passages on Jesus showing courage and then study those things and, and we're going to do something similar to that.
But what I found, as I was preparing for this, is that it's just like every single thing that he does is courageous almost. It's like everything all of his ministry is undergirded and laced with this bravery and boldness to go and say and do things that no one has ever done before. Right.
And so there's so many scenes that we could look at. I mean, we could look at Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, the courage to pray. Not my will, but your will be done.
You could look at him on trial in the Roman tribune, in the Jewish tribune, not saying anything, when he had every right to defend himself.
And he stood silent like a lamb being led towards the slaughter.
There's all sorts of things that we could point to.
But I do want you to think about, like, think about somebody in your own life who you would deem as courageous.
Just throw out who's somebody in your own life. When you think about that, that's a. That's a bold person, that's a courageous person. That's a brave person.
Anybody come to mind?
Sydney?
Very courageous person. Why?
Since I've known her, I've seen her face hard things.
Because it's the right thing to do.
Yeah, it's really good.
Anybody else?
The gentleman that has touched our lives.
[00:09:44] Speaker C: His name is Doug Pace.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: He's not only a wonderful Christian man, but a minister, missionary.
And he's a missionary that you. That you know. Yes. Okay.
[00:10:06] Speaker C: He has the courage and the fight.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: Missionaries are very courageous. Extremely.
Anyone else?
It's not something. It's not something that we think about often. I feel like it's kind of an overlooked virtue. Right. But if you think about a courageous person, if there's anybody that came up in your mind, this person is likely not selfish.
They're likely not self seeking or proud or puffed up.
Because those who practice courage, those who embody courage, are usually doing so for something outside of themselves at no gain, at no personal gain for their own benefit. Right.
So this is my. This would be kind of my definition of courage.
Courage is faith exercising righteousness or doing what is right despite the costly consequences for the sake of another.
That's how I would define that. So courage is faith, exercising righteousness, doing what is right despite the costly consequences for the sake of another. Now another can be a cause or an idea. Right.
It can be a person, it can be a group of people. Right. It's somebody that is saying that will stand up and say this is not right, this is wrong.
And I'm willing to Lay down my life for it.
I'm willing to lay down my life for a righteous cause. You think about somebody like Martin Luther King righteous, courageous person.
So if that's a biblically accurate definition of courage, then it makes sense that it would mark every part of Jesus life.
Especially like we talked about earlier, the end of his life.
You know, the garden, his arrest, being put before the chief priests, and Pilate. The cross, of course, was incredibly courageous and painful. But it also includes his ministry, his confronting the Pharisees and overturning the tables, even performing his miracles.
All of what Jesus has done in his ministry thus far is undergirded by courage.
So here's what I want us to do. I want us to look at six instances, five in the Gospels, one in the book of Acts where Jesus is.
There are places where you're going to see him displaying courage, but. But where he's encouraging those around him to take courage.
And Jesus uses a phrase in all of these instances that I really think capture what it means to be courage and be bold. And it's two words.
Take heart.
Take heart.
Jesus says this a total of five times in the New Testament.
And then one other time we'll look at.
It's not Jesus saying it, but it's somebody else echoing it.
And I would like to look at all of these scenes, these kind of miniature scenes of where this phrase is uttered in the Gospels and take some things from them because there's. Because you're going to see some new dimensions of courage each and every time. Does that make sense?
Cool. All right. Take heart. Scene number one.
This is Jesus here healing a paralytic. If you have your Bibles, you can go to Matthew chapter nine, Matthew 9:1:8.
In fact, does someone want to read Matthew 9:1:8?
Patrick. Thank you, brother.
[00:14:51] Speaker D: Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man lying on the. Lying on a map.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven.
At this some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, this fellow is blasphemy.
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?
Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say, get up and walk.
But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth and forgives sins.
He also said to the paralyzed man, get up, take your mat and go home.
Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe and they praised God who had given such authority to many.
[00:15:53] Speaker A: Yeah, so this is a pretty well known story in Jesus ministry, right.
Mark 2 records this in much more detail.
But if you remember, this is the scene where they actually had to lower the paralytic. They had to take off the roof of the house that Jesus is teaching in and lower him in from the top of the roof into the house because of the crowd.
And Jesus sees the paralytic and the faith of the men who lower him into the house.
He's likely teaching about the kingdom of God. And he looks at the paralytic and he says, take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven.
This man has probably been a paralytic for his entire life up to this point, until today, until Jesus utters these words, take heart.
He offers strength and courage to this man.
And the scribes are upset by this. They start murmuring that this is blasphemy against God.
And what's interesting is that up to this point, Jesus, he hasn't healed him yet.
All he's done is they've lowered him in. And he looks at them and he says, take heart, your sins are forgiven. They're like, well, this is what's going on here. This is blasphemy.
And this is a courageous thing for Jesus to say, is it not?
Why, why would this be one example of courage?
He's flying in the face of authority and he's taking his own authority upon himself to say, your sins are forgiven.
So a lot of people who deny the divinity of Jesus like to say that there's nowhere in the synoptic gospels, that's Matthew, Mark, Luke, where Jesus divinity is ever on display. But this is a prime, prime example, because look at what he says.
He hears them. They're like, this man is blaspheming Jesus, knowing their thoughts, says, why do you think evil in your thoughts? For which is easier to say your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise and walk?
Which one's easier for me? Is it easier for me to authoritatively declare that this man's sins are forgiven on my own authority?
Which, spoiler alert, is the authority of God, right?
Or is it easier for me to say, get up, rise up, walk and be healed?
This is why it's courageous. It's because Jesus can be killed for this.
When he says this, like we talked about before, he's choosing the way of the cross.
He's choosing the way of the cross because this authority that Jesus has been given is from none other than the reality that he is God himself, right?
So he's not God's representative. He's not just a prophet, he's not an agent. He is God.
And only after declaring his own divinity and authority before the people. Only after forgiving this man of his sins.
Right?
Because remember, in a traditional Jewish system, it had to go through the proper sacrifices and be sacrificed before a priest. Jesus is just saying, you're forgiven, okay?
Only after that does he heal the man. And his encouragement to him is this, take heart, be of courage. I have forgiven you. Take heart.
And so this is what we're going to see from this particular scene is that when we sin, when I sin, and we take that sin to God, the Son of man says, take heart, my son. Take heart, my daughter, because your sins have been forgiven.
There's courage in receiving the forgiveness of Jesus.
There's courage in receiving his forgiveness, because Jesus is going to fulfill this promise completely and perfectly on the cross.
Right again.
All of what Jesus is doing here, it's leading him to the cross. Now, I want you to scroll down a little further or look down a little further. In Matthew 9, 18:26, the subtitle here says, a girl restored to life and a woman healed.
So it says. While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. And Jesus rose and followed him with his disciples. And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for 12 years came up behind him and touched the frame of his garment.
For she said to herself, if I only touch his garment, I will be made well.
Jesus turned, and seeing her, he said, take heart, daughter. Your faith has made you well. And instantly, the woman was made. Well, stop there.
There's kind of a story within a story going on, right?
So Jesus is on his way to heal a young girl of a ruler whose daughter had died. And. And while he's on the way to this ruler's house, a woman kind of pops up out of nowhere, out of the crowd.
And the text indicates that she has some kind of blood flow problem.
And scholars have conjectured as to what kind of problem this was.
I'm not going to be specific about that, about the nature of the said problem, because the text doesn't get specific with it or graphic with it.
But we can imagine that it was something embarrassing and something that the woman probably didn't want to talk about.
The other places we know from Mark says that she's been dealing with this problem for about 12 years.
And we know that she's been to many different doctors. None of them can die, really diagnose what's going on, and none of them can heal her.
So you can imagine that there's like just shame from the woman about having to deal with this.
And I think for us, this is just kind of a side note.
We all, all of us, myself included, deal with sensitive issues, sensitive problems in our life that are hard to tell other people about, whether it's a form of sin or a form of suffering.
There are really sensitive things that we struggle with, that we're uncomfortable with, that are hard to take to somebody else.
But this is an amazing loving gesture of Jesus here because what it demonstrates is that there's nothing too sensitive that Jesus can't deal with, right?
And so Jesus, again, he's doing ministry, he's being interrupted, and he stops and it says that he sees the woman.
He sees the woman and says, take heart, daughter.
Your faith has made you well. It's just an amazing thing to be called daughter by the person of Jesus. It's an amazing thing to be called son.
And I love this image too. In Mark and Luke's account, she's physically reaching out and touching the cloak as he passes by. And as a kind of like a last hope, last ditch effort, like, I've come to the end of my life.
If only I can touch his cloak, I'll be healed.
And Jesus stops and he says, take heart, be of courage. Why? Because your faith has made you well.
Now, why? Why would Jesus encourage this woman to take heart, to take courage upon her own self for engaging in such an act like this? Right? Why would he encourage her towards this?
Jesus tells her to take courage because she had every human reason to be afraid.
She had every human reason to be afraid of her condition, of rejection, of judgment from the crowd, even divine judgment.
But by saying take heart, Jesus is immediately reassuring her, you can have courage because he's lifting the crushing weight of shame and fear from her shoulders.
Right?
Your faith has made you well. Take heart.
There's another, I'm getting ahead of myself. But take heart. In the New Testament, it's one word.
It's the word.
I don't know what it is, but it's like thesateris or something. It means take heart, but it also means be of good cheer.
Interesting.
Take heart, be courageous. But in other places, be joyful, be of good cheer, lift up your heart to God.
Think about. I want you to just like, ponder that for a second.
Third scene. Let's go to mark six, mark chapter six, 45 through 51.
Somebody like to read that. This is Jesus walking on Water. Mark 6:45, 51.
[00:26:36] Speaker E: I'll read Tim.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before them to the other side to Bethsaiah, where he dismissed the crowd. After he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to.
And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out for. They all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded. But they did not understand about the loaves.
[00:27:23] Speaker A: But their hearts were.
Thanks, Austin. Yeah, okay, so context here, context for this story.
Jesus has just fed the either the 4000 or the 5000, right, with the fishes and the loaves. He's just done that. He's just multiplied that amazing miracle.
And he tells his disciples, go out on a boat, go ahead to Bethsaida, I need to get alone and be with the Father. And so he goes and he spends virtually the whole day with the Father in prayer. Okay, so Jesus communes with the Father and then he comes back down from the mountain and he can see the boat off from a distance, making headway due to the strong winds. And so it's, it's nighttime now, fourth watch of the night, Jesus comes out and he passes by them.
Now the disciples, they know Jesus isn't with him because he told them, go ahead.
But I think what's funny is that they, they've seen Jesus do the like, like feed 10,000 plus people.
They've seen him heal so many people up to this point, and their first instinct is like, it's a ghost, It's a ghost. It can't possibly be. You know, the person who's doing all, like all these amazing supernatural acts.
But Jesus approaches them on the water and what does he say?
He says, take heart, it is I do not be afraid. Now, the word, let's look at the word. We're gonna look at take heart in a second. But the phrase it is I.
That's kind of, that's almost like a, in modern day terms, like a colloquial. Phrase that a villain would use in a Marvel movie. Like, it is I sandman or something like that. Like, it's very catchphrasey kind of language. But that's not what Jesus is doing here. He's not like, it is I.
Look at me. You know, that's not how he's saying the phrase. It is I in Greek is ego eimi.
Ego eimi. E, G, O.
Let's see here. E.
This marker just died. Okay. There's like no marker when I open that. That was weird.
[00:29:58] Speaker C: Ego.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Amy.
This is the same phrase that Jesus that Jesus uses in John when he tells.
When he's speaking about himself. And he says, before Abraham was, I am ego ami.
It's a callback to the Exodus in Exodus, chapter three, when Moses says, when I tell people who has sent me, who do I say, who sent me? And God says, you tell them that ego ami sent you, that I am sent you.
So this is a very divine statement from Jesus here. That's the divine part of it. But. But there's also a human element to it as well. Because remember, Jesus is both fully divine and fully human. When he says it is I, he's saying, hey, take heart. It's me.
It's me.
Right?
When you know somebody intimately in your life and you call them on the phone or you. You see them, you don't have to, like, introduce yourself each time and say, hey, this is Taylor.
You know, like, if I'm talking to my best friend, I'm not going to say that. What am I going to say?
Hey, it's me.
Why?
Because I know my friend well enough that he knows my voice.
He knows what the sound of my voice sounds like. The same with your spouses. When you say, hey, it's me, you're saying that because you know that person very intimately. So this is an intimate statement that Jesus is making. He's saying, take heart, be of courage, because it's me. And then he says, don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid.
And he gets into the boat with him and the wind ceases.
So I think this is just a very personal moment from the person of Jesus here that we can take courage even when it's hard because we know the sound of his voice.
And the more and more that you and I learn the sound of Jesus voice, the easier that it's going to be to take heart because we don't have to be afraid. He's here.
Right?
That's the. That's. That's. That's kind of what I would take from this particular scene.
It's a beautiful thing for a follower of Jesus to know the voice of Jesus, to know when he says echo Eimi. To know when he says it is I.
Don't be afraid.
So that's our third text. Fourth text, go to John 16, 28, 33. John 16:28, 33. This is Jesus in the upper room.
He's giving his disciples one of his last substantive teachings before he gets arrested. So John 14:16 is called by scholars. It's called the upper room discourse.
And this passage that we're going to read here is the last message to his disciples before he prays to the Father. Because remember, in 17 he's going to pray the high priestly prayer to his Father. And then after 17, 18, John chapter 18 is when he's going to get arrested. So this is his last message to his disciples. Does someone want to read John 16, 28, 33.
[00:33:56] Speaker D: I came from the Father and I've come into the world again. I am leaving the world, going to the Father.
Disciples said, yes, now you are speaking plainly, not any figurative speech. Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have any other question.
By this we believe that you came from God.
[00:34:16] Speaker A: Jesus answered him.
[00:34:17] Speaker D: You now believe the hour is coming. Indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to this moment. And you will be.
Yet I am not alone, as the Father is with you.
[00:34:31] Speaker A: I have sent this to you so.
[00:34:32] Speaker D: That in me you may have peace in the world.
[00:34:35] Speaker A: You face persecution. Take courage.
[00:34:39] Speaker D: I have conquered.
[00:34:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you, Christian. What version is that? Is that csp.
[00:34:45] Speaker D: Nrsv.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Edu? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's your version. Okay, that's great. That's great.
I joke about him with his. With his Bible translation.
Christian, Christian Standard version.
So this is Jesus last words to his disciples before his arrest.
And I think it's pretty incredible that Jesus would say, take heart, I have overcome the world. Because, like, it hasn't happened yet.
Like, he hasn't gone to the cross yet. He hasn't suffered and been tried under Pontius Pilate yet. He hasn't bore the sins of the world and endured the wrath of the Father. And he hasn't risen from the grave victorious over those things.
This is Jesus basically calling his shot here, right?
So Babe Ruth, famous baseball player, 1932.
There's a legendary story of him where he gets up. It's like game three of the World Series.
And he gets up to the plate and he just does this and he points with his back where he's about to hit it.
And there's all kinds of, like, conflicting stories of, like, who he was pointing at. But, like, the first pitch that's thrown in, he, like, nails it and it goes exactly where he pointed it to. And it's actually where we get the phrase, like, call your shot. It comes from Babe Ruth, of all people.
I think that's kind of insane. But Jesus did it first. Okay, Jesus called his shot first. He said, I've overcome the world.
And again, it's very easy for us in retrospect to say, yeah, yeah, of course he overcame the world because he died and rose again. But if you put yourself in the shoes of the disciples, imagine what they're thinking and feeling in that moment. It's like, what do you mean you've overcome the world? Like, what are we doing here? You just washed our feet, like, what's about to happen?
And so what's equally important for us to hear is not just that Jesus's words of saying, take heart, for I have overcome the world, because he's about to do that. But he says in the sentence right before that, he says, I've said these things to you that in me you may have peace.
In this world, you will have tribulation. Other translations translate that to trouble. In this world, you will face trouble, you will face tribulation, you will face persecution. But take heart, because I'm bigger than those things.
I've overcome every trial, every. And tribulation and temptation. And I'm going to do what nobody has ever done before.
So Jesus tells us to take heart. He tells his disciples to take heart. Because his victory actually redefines our own trouble.
It redefines our own trouble. Because if Jesus is going to be victorious and Jesus is going to overcome, then that means we're going to overcome. Because in first John, I think it's one John five, what does John say about overcoming the world? He says, not only has Jesus overcome the world, but he says everybody who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father has been born of them.
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.
So not so, because Jesus overcame, everyone who believes in him overcomes. And that's going to redefine the trouble that you and I face.
And so because of that, we can take heart. We can take courage. Because Christianity is unlike any other religion in the sense that it's real about suffering it's real about pain.
It doesn't shy away from.
This is how you escape it. This is how you reach nirvana. This is how you reach God and get it out of your life. No, he's saying, you're gonna face it, it's gonna be hard, it's going to be difficult. You will be persecuted, you will face tribulation, you will face immense suffering.
But take heart, because I've overcome the world, he's overcome death itself, and he's risen to life, literally speaking.
Okay, so that's our fourth one, fifth one.
Turn to mark 10, 46, 52. Mark 10.
Starting in verse 46 through verse 52. Does someone want to take that?
Thank you. James 46 through what? 46, 52.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timisuus, was sitting by the roadside.
And when he heard this, when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and said, call him. And they called the blind man, saying to him, take heart, get up. He is calling him you.
And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you?
And the blind man said to him, rabbi, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Thank you, James.
This particular instance in the Gospels is unique.
Remember like I said earlier, because it's actually not Jesus uttering the words, take heart. But let me give you some context.
Notice how first of all, notice that Bartimaeus is even mentioned because in other Gospel accounts his name isn't mentioned. Bar just means the son of somebody, the son of Timaeus, Bardemaeus. Okay, so in other words, Mark is including his name here, which usually means according to church tradition.
That's signifying that this person is important and still known to the original audience of Mark. So Bartimaeus was probably a well known church member. Congr. Like somebody still following Jesus up to the point that Mark was wrote. This like, hey, this is this, this story that I, that I'm writing here is about Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. So that's significant.
And then the second thing that's significant is how he's addressing Jesus. He's calling him the son of David. Jesus, son of David.
This is messianic. This is a messianic designation rooted in God's covenant with David. Okay?
And we can't surmise too much here, but I think it's because.
It's because of one or two things that Jesus stops in his tracks. Either Bartimaeus is really loud and annoying and his voice is just lifting up and he's like, okay, call him.
Or it's because of the way that Bartimaeus is addressing him, where he says, jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
I like to think it's that one.
Because Jesus loves to heal people and rescue people that know they need mercy.
You look at Luke 18 with the Pharisee and the beggar who's pounding his chest and says, have mercy on me, a sinner. And he says, which one is which one walks away justified, the one who asked for mercy.
And so Jesus stops and he says, call him. And we don't know who's calling him, but it's likely the disciples. I think that it's the disciples. So look at what the disciples say. They say, take heart.
Get up. He's calling you. Okay?
In other words, hey, man, this is your moment.
This is it for you. Like, you've been. You've been a blind beggar your entire life.
He's calling you.
Take heart.
You're about to meet Jesus.
You're about to encounter him. He wants to see. You can imagine, like, the intensity and excitement that would come from after all of his cries and all of his prayers.
Jesus is hearing him. I think this is another reason why take heart can also be translated, be of good cheer.
Like, I really think that that's the thrust of what they're saying. Like, hey, it's about to happen.
Get up. He wants you.
And so I think that's again, like going back to Lewis's quote on courage being the prerequisite to all the other virtues is because I think without courage, we don't change.
If Bartimaeus doesn't cry out and address Jesus as the son of David and say, I need you, Lord, there's gonna be no chance.
Let's just keep looking at the story.
Jesus, he throws off his cloak, he sprang up, and he came to Jesus. So he's like, super excited. He probably gets to Jesus in like, 10 seconds. Okay, runs over to him. Jesus says, what do you want me to do for you?
Now, this isn't a curious question.
Jesus doesn't actually isn't actually asking, like, what do you need? You know, like, what can I. This isn't like a doctor asking what I can do for you. Jesus already knows what he needs to do for him, But I think it's significant that he wants to hear him say it.
He wants to hear him say, tell me what you need. What do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, rabbi, let me recover my sight.
Very simple prayer, but it's a very. It's a very courageous thing to say because he's taking heart in this moment.
And Jesus recovers his sight, and he says, go your way. Your faith has made you well.
What's amazing about that? The go your way, your faith has made you well. Look at the last sentence.
Immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
He's like, I'm not going my own way. I'm going your way now, you know, I want to follow you. I want to be with you. And again, like I said before, we have a lot of evidence that points to the fact that Bartimaeus was still following Jesus 20, 30 years after this story occurred.
So Bartimaeus did not go his own way. He got up and he followed Jesus immediately.
That's courage.
Okay, y' all are doing great. Acts, chapter 23. Acts, chapter 23. Starting in verse one, we're going to go from 23:1 to 11.
Acts 23:1, 11.
Anybody want that?
Thanks, brother.
[00:47:57] Speaker C: And looking intently at the council, Paul said, brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.
And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.
Are you sitting to judge me according to the law and yet contrary to the law, you order me to be struck.
Those who stood by said, would you revile God's high priest? And Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest. For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.
Now, when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other were Pharisees, he cried out in the council, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.
And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And the assembly was divided.
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection nor angel nor spirit spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledged them all.
Then a great clamor arose and some of the scribes of the Pharisees party stood up and contended sharply, we find nothing wrong in this man.
What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?
And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn, torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by horse and bring him into the barracks.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.
[00:50:01] Speaker A: Amen.
Context for the scene. Okay, so Paul's before the Jewish Sanhedrin.
He's on trial for preaching the resurrection.
And he gets up and he says, I've lived with a clear conscience before God in front of all of you.
And the high priest Ananias commanded, because of this utter blasphemy that he feels was spoken, commands somebody to punch Paul in the face, strikes him in the mouth.
And then Paul, here's the, here's, here's. This is an interesting thing about Paul. I. In seminary, I used to think like, did Paul sin? Like, did he ever. Is there ever, like anywhere recorded where it talks about. He just seems like this, like, perfect man before God who lived this amazing missionary life.
Look at this moment of weakness from Paul, though.
Paul gets a little bit angry and he rebukes the high priest and he says, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Are you sitting to judge me according to the law? And yet, contrary to the law, you order me to be struck.
He's mad. Mad, okay? Big mad, all right?
And then those who stood by him said, hey, you know, you just said that to the high priest, right? And he's like, I think that Paul is making an apology here when he says this. Like, I think he's actually saying, I'm sorry. He's like, I didn't know, brothers, that he was the high priest. For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.
That's just, that's just an aside. Like, Paul was a sinner too, okay? Paul needed grace too. Paul was not Jesus.
Jesus would have perfectly acted in that with great courage. Paul did not.
Paul fell short. Paul let his anger get the best of him at that moment by rebuking the high priest. So I think this is a moment here. There are very few you could see in scripture. You could also point to his relationship with John, Mark, and whether There was sin involved there regarding their separation and their ministries.
But Paul is not perfect. That's just an aside.
Okay, so then what he does is Paul cleverly sees that the council is divided among Pharisees and Sadducees.
And he knows that the Pharisees believe in the resurrection of the dead and the Sadducees don't. And so cleverly, kind of in a lawyer like move, he gets up and he's like, hey, I'm a Pharisee, which means I believe in the resurrection of the dead. You should too, right? I'm not preaching anything contrary to what the Old Testament scriptures teach, which is that there will be a resurrection of the dead and that God's chosen Messiah, Jesus has risen from the dead.
And so then there's this great scene of this dissension and the Pharisees and Sadducees, it's getting very, it starts to get very violent.
It says a great clamor arose and some of the scribes of the Pharisees party stood up and contended sharply and said, hey, what? We find nothing wrong with this man, that is Paul. What if a spirit or angel spoke to him?
The dissension is getting so violent in the, in this tribune that the, the Roman commander who's, who is also present there is afraid that Paul's about to get torn to pieces. He's afraid that it's, that it's going to get really, really violent. And so he gives him, sends for a military escort, basically military security to escort him out of the courtroom and to the barracks. And so Paul is taken to the barracks by the Roman soldiers.
And you can imagine putting yourself in the scene, how Paul is feeling right now, like this is all, it's not going well.
He's back on missionary. He's back on leave from his, from some, one of his missionary journeys. And he's in Jerusalem. Okay, and this is what one commentator says. He says for years Paul had hoped to give fruitful witness in Jerusalem. But when he arrived, he found a compromising church full of legalistic believers who held him suspect because of his contact with the Gentiles.
Now his hopes of convincing the leadership of his people had gone up in smoke as well. His dreams of effective testimony to the Jews lay in ashes at his feet. And his vision for successful witness in Rome began to fade as well.
So Paul is back in the barracks in his tent, very discouraged, probably is feeling a little bit of weight of the trauma that he just experienced, this major political backfire that has gone wrong. And he's probably upset with himself, too, because he let his temper fly off the hook and he rebuked. He rebuked the high priest without knowing it. So there's a lot of reasons for Paul to just be dejected right now.
And what happens is it's in this moment and this place where the Lord Jesus himself shows up.
The text says that the Lord stood by him.
I love that.
That Jesus stood next to him.
And the exact same words, the same words that he spoke to the paralytic, to the woman with the blood problem, to his disciples in the upper room, and to Bartimaeus, exact same word, take courage.
Why?
Because just as you've testified to me, the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify to me in Rome. In other words, what I think Jesus is doing here is I think he's making him a promise at this moment because Paul is worried about whether or not he's actually going to get there, that if he's actually going to make it to Rome, and Jesus comes and he says, hey, just as you told the truth about me in Jerusalem, you're also going to testify to me in Rome.
You're going to make it all the way to Rome, and I'm going to see to it, right?
And so it's this immensely helpful message of, you're going to make it.
You're going to make it there.
I'm going to stand next to you and you're going to take courage and you're going to make it. And what happens after this if you go on. In Acts 24, that night, Paul's nephew informs the tribune of a plot to kill Paul.
And so the tribune orders a huge secret escort to take him from Jerusalem to Antipetrus, which is like, on the way to Caesarea. So this military escort takes him out in the night with a bunch of soldiers to this camp.
And it's just Jesus delivering on his promises of, you're going to make it. Like, I'm going to make sure that you start making your way over to Rome. And so sometimes when we're down and when we're suffering, the message that we need to hear from Jesus is to take heart, to take courage, because we need his assurance that we're just going to make it, that we're going to make it to wherever we're going. He's going to stand next to us and we're going to get there, wherever that there is, right?
So that's it, folks.
