They say (whomever “they” are) that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, as you are about to hear in this PODCAST, sometimes one word is worth a thousand pictures.
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More than a play on words in that title, I assure you.
As you will hear in this PODCAST, when we refuse to refuse? Well, let’s just say that that never ends well. Ever.
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What a story.
As you will hear in this PODCAST…
Is he a caricature? No. A living, breathing human being? Yes.
One whose tortured life teaches us much today.
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As you are about to hear in this PODCAST…
A futile night of fishing…
A breakfast on a beach…
A cringeworthy conversation…
Changed EVERYTHING.
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God bless you richly as you listen.
In our run-up to Easter, please join us in this week’s PODCAST as we follow Jesus step-by-step on this Virtual Israel Study Tour through the final hours of Jesus’ life.
Last week, we joined Peter in the seclusion of the Garden of Gethsemane. This week, we’ll meet again in the courtyard of the High Priest.
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God bless you richly as you listen.
No matter how you cut it, this man was an enigma.
As you will hear in this PODCAST, this man — handpicked by Jesus and elevated to the rarified air of the apostles — repaid Jesus’ generosity by betraying Him to His executioners.
Is there any human emotion more painful than that of betrayal?
Ever felt it? Betrayal?
That midnight darkness of the soul that enshrouds us like an impenetrable fog when we have dared to trust someone — with our deepest feelings, our most hidden secrets, as if we have just entrusted to the person our very hearts, perhaps our very lives — only to have him or her shatter our hearts and break our trust by their soul-crushing betrayal.
Jesus sure felt it. The pangs of betrayal. Boy, did He ever!
That moment frozen in time when for the first time you see with crystal-clarity that you have been played.
Well, for 3½ years Jesus had been played.
Where did this man — Judas Iscariot — come from? What causes a man to make the fateful plunge from believer to betrayer? What do we really know about him?
You are about to find out.
But even more importantly, you are about to see the heart of Jesus in action as He responds in real time to this real threat posed by this very real con-man, the Apostle Judas Iscariot.
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It was an epic one-two punch to the gut. Jesus’ gut, not to put too fine a point on it.
A brutal betrayal coupled with a devastating denial by two of Jesus’ handpicked and beloved disciples.
In this PODCAST, I am referring of course to Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s three-time denial.
If there is a silver lining to these increasingly billowing clouds, it is this: There is a clear pattern emerging here in John 13. A pattern that tells quite a tale, striking subtext to the entire crucifixion story.
A pattern that should illuminate for you a bright, blazing beacon of hope to light your way during your darkest hours and most difficult days.
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God bless you richly as you listen.
Welcome to the Thursday of Jesus’ final week. As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, with these words, we are less than twenty-four hours from the crucifixion. Words wherein Jesus could just as well have said to Peter and John,
“Go and prepare my final Passover meal together, so that we can eat it together.”
Jesus will on this Thursday evening celebrate with His disciples THE singular observance on the Jewish calendar, from time of Moses (Exodus 12) even to today. Indeed, as Rabbi Joseph Telushkin so succinctly stated in his classic work, Jewish Literacy,
“Passover is the most widely observed Jewish holiday.”
But here’s the thing: Overshadowing this entire discussion tonight is this raw reality around which I cannot begin to wrap my mind: The centerpiece of Passover, of Jesus’ final Passover — the Passover lamb — has throughout redemptive history pictured one and only one person: Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That person, Jesus, whose sacrifice in less than twenty-four hours would pay the penalty for the sin of world.
What emotions must have flooded Jesus’ mind, heart, and spirit…
All of this, and so much more, flooded like a tsunami of emotions Jesus sizable heart on this, the day Jesus told Peter and John,
“Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
Preparing for this Passover meal, and every annual Passover meal, was and is #NoSmallThing. Given the enormity of the symbolism of every single aspect of a Passover celebration, preparation required effort and deliberation.
For our many Jewish friends, Jesus’ words to Peter and John, “Go and prepare the Passover meal,” involved much that we might easily miss. Consequently, in order to understand what took place in that Upper Room on this Thursday evening, we’ve got to hear Jesus’ words, “Go and prepare,” as Peter and John heard them.
So let me start with this…
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It’s getting real. Real fast.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, something in the last few days of Jesus’ final week triggered Judas to do the unthinkable.
You talk about someone selling their soul to the devil, literally or figuratively? Well, Judas did both. Judas sold his soul to the devil, literally and figuratively.
“Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.”
Why here? Why now? Why this?
In order to answer these and additional questions, let’s meet Judas the Betrayer up close and personal.
A fitting title because the very first time we encounter this tragic individual, we are introduced to him with these telling words: “Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).”
How would you like that as your moniker?
Who was this guy? And what does it all mean for us today?
Allow me to set up this discussion in this way: It’s one of the most precious passages in all of the Bible. That is no exaggeration or overstatement. Yet, it gets relatively scant attention because in most of our English translations it’s rendered rather clumsily. The words of Hebrews 4:15-16 don’t exactly roll effortlessly off our tongues, with its double negatives and cultural references with which we might not be familiar. But since this is such a precious picture of exactly who Jesus is, and how Jesus relates to our lives, I’ll read it to you in the NKJV, and then paraphrase it for you so that you can hear it as original readers heard it.
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God bless you richly as you listen.
It’s my absolute favorite spot in all of Israel.
Which, given my love for the land and its people, is quite a remarkable statement.
In this PODCAST, you will hear where it is, and why it is.
Here’s a clue: It’s the Apostle Peter’s favorite spot too.
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HAPPY LISTENING, and please “Share” this podcast with your family and friends.
Dewey Bertolini’s Podcast
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Dewey Bertolini 