No Experts Allowed

“Do you love me?” asks Jesus. Just as Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him three times. In English, the questions seem repetitive, but the Greek forms of “love” help clarify Jesus’ questions. Jonathan and Seth discuss this passage as great storytelling and a profound narrative about grace. It’s one of Jonathan’s favorite passages; we hope this episode becomes one of your favorites as well.

Revelation can be scary. But, like the whole Bible, it doesn't have to be. Looking for Jesus, knowing that Revelation addresses a particular time and place, and embracing the unknown help tame it. Since this is the podcast's first dive into Revelation, Jonathan and Seth give a short primer to the book. They discuss how Revelation can encourage people during difficult circumstances. The pair also connect this text to the Easter season and discuss why the lectionary compilers may have included it.

No one rises from the dead. That's why many of Jesus' disciples did not believe the news that the stone sealing the tomb moved and that it was empty, except for Jesus' folded clothes. Thomas receives the worst treatment for his unbelief. He's "doubting Thomas" for almost 2,000 years. Mary, however, encounters Jesus in the garden and believes. Jonathan and Seth discuss who we trust and what that says about God. It's an episode about shifting the focus so that people previously on the margins are now at the center.

We wish everyone a joyous Easter and the resurrection life Jesus offers!

Around 1700, a Catholic priest in Peru created a service commemorating Jesus’ three hours on the cross and his final words. Traditionally, it runs for 3 hours. Jonathan and Seth adapt this service for this Good Friday episode and condense it to roughly 10 minutes. They encourage you, however, to pause and reflect on Jesus’ sayings.

The next episode airs on Easter Sunday (rather than the usual Saturday schedule). They wish you a blessed Holy Week.

Entering Jerusalem, Jesus emanates peace. He knows what will happen there and has alluded to it frequently to the disciples. More importantly, Jesus knows who he is. Jonathan and Seth discuss how we achieve this peace in our daily lives. It looks similar to Jesus': knowing whose we are, neither overinflating our ego nor belittling ourselves. Inner peace can affect the world too, make others feel at ease with us, and bring out the best in them. It can do all this even on the way to a cross.

After one hundred episodes (counting only a handful of re-airs), Jonathan puts Seth’s Bible knowledge to the test against two longtime friends. See how Seth fairs and whether he can continue hosting No Experts Allowed.

We’ll return next week with an episode related to Palm Sunday. Until then, thank you to all our listeners, whether you’ve listened once or have been following us for almost two years. We’re glad you’re journeying with us through the Bible.

This episode is marked “explicit” because Seth swears during the second round of Bible trivia.

Reconciliation involves power dynamics. The two parties are rarely equal. This inequality applies to God who “reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Cor. 5:18) and, in turn, gives people the task of reconciling too. Jonathan and Seth, however, discuss how people may force reconciliation or use it to maintain the status quo. They discuss how reconciliation is ultimately God's doing and not to be coercive. To hear this passage in a new light, they turn to Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of the Bible, The Message.

If you're like us, you're familiar with the phrase: "My plans aren’t your plans, / nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord" (Jer. 55:8).  It often loses its context; it stands alone. Jonathan and Seth discuss how they've heard this verse cited. They also discuss Israel's situation in exile as the background for Isaiah's pronouncement. This context helps them hear the phrase as comforting to people with an uncertain future.

Abram "cuts" a covenant with God. But this covenant requires children; Abram's heir is enslaved, who Abram does not want to receive the inheritance. Later in Israel's history, being enslaved in Egypt will become central to their identity. Jonathan and Seth use this reversal to discuss how what bothers us about ourselves may also bother us when we see those qualities in others. It's a reflective episode, perfect for lent.

Declarations that “Jesus is Lord” (Rom. 10:9) inevitably also declares that others are not lords. Caesar was not in antiquity, neither are contemporary despots, nor employers, or partners. But how does one decide what and who to support? Jonathan and Seth tackle that question and apply it to the conflict in Ukraine.

With the late Thomas Merton we pray for peace: “Teach us to be long-suffering in anguish and insecurity, teach us to wait and trust. Grant light, grant strength and patience to all who work for peace. Grant us prudence in proportion to our power, wisdom in proportion to our science, humaneness in proportion to our wealthy and might. And bless our earnest will to help all … peoples to travel, in friendship with us, along the road to justice, liberty and lasting peace.” 
(Taken from the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative)