Ep 1023 | Jase Is Carted Off by the ATF at the Airport & Get Ready for the 'Judge Jase" TV Show

Summary

Unashamed with the Robertson Family – Episode 1023 Summary

Release Date: January 15, 2025

In Episode 1023 of Unashamed with the Robertson Family, hosted by Jase, Phil, and Zach Dasher, listeners are treated to a blend of heartfelt family anecdotes, humorous hunting tales, and a profound Bible study focusing on the Book of John. The episode seamlessly weaves together personal stories with deep theological insights, embodying the show's mission to share the Gospel beyond the church walls.

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1. Birthday Gifts and Family Dynamics

The episode kicks off with lighthearted conversations about birthday gifts within the Robertson family, highlighting the bond and playful exchanges among siblings.

• Phil Robertson shares a nostalgic moment about his younger brother Zach giving him a "$100 bill for his birthday" (00:06), reflecting on past familial interactions and efforts to "make up for it through the years."

• Jase Robertson humorously references giving his brothers a "$100 bill or a cream cheese pie," emphasizing the sentimental value behind these gifts:

  “I give him a cream cheese pie for his birthday. Which is worth a hundred dollars to you, isn't it, Jason?”
  — Jase Robertson (01:05)

• Zach Dasher mentions planning to be in town for his birthday next week, adding a sense of anticipation and family reunion (00:53).

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2. Hunting Adventures and Humorous Misadventures

The conversation shifts to hunting stories, showcasing the family's passion for the outdoors mixed with moments of levity.

• Jase Robertson recounts a hunting trip where his son brought a "neon white hat" that ironically contrasted with the camouflage, leading to amusing confusion among the geese:

  “He had a camo pattern on it, but it glowed in the dark... It embarrassed him.”
  — Jase Robertson (05:19)

• Phil Robertson and Zach Dasher laugh over the antics, with Phil noting how Jase’s unique style “makes everybody look and then be suspicious” (03:30).

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3. Jase's Airport Encounter with the ATF

A standout moment in the episode is Jase Robertson’s thrilling story about being escorted by ATF agents at an airport.

• Jase describes the intense experience:

  “I have two ATF agents escorting me... waiting on the interrogator. He recognized me.”
  — Jase Robertson (08:54)

• He explains the misunderstanding over a firearm accessory:

  “They found a choke tube from one of my guns. It's a firearm attachment, but it does nothing dangerous.”
  — Jase Robertson (10:34)

• The ordeal ends with Jase losing his choke tube and learning a valuable lesson:

  “Don’t put a choke tube in your bag and look like I do, or you're going to an interrogation room.”
  — Jase Robertson (11:36)

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4. Giving Money as Gifts and Generosity

The discussion moves to the tradition of giving money as gifts, illustrating the family's unique approach to generosity.

• Jase shares his method of gifting cash discreetly to his mother:

  “I gave my mom two 100 bills just because her birthday is right around Christmas.”
  — Jase Robertson (14:23)

• Phil adds a humorous twist by mentioning he now gives odd amounts:

  “I give her like, $43.50 and just put it in a card.”
  — Phil Robertson (15:00)

• Zach narrates a memorable tip he received:

  “There is a wad of money... all $1 bills... crammed into a ball... a great tip for a $12 meal.”
  — Zach Dasher (15:18)

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5. Shaquille O'Neal’s Financial Realities

A relatable story about financial management follows, drawing parallels between celebrity experiences and everyday money matters.

• Phil recounts a story from Shaquille O'Neal’s book about handling newfound wealth:

  “Shaq had two huge barrels in his bedroom full of quarters. It was a quarter of a million dollars worth of quarters.”
  — Phil Robertson (17:00)

• This anecdote underscores the importance of practical financial planning and grounding oneself amidst abundance.

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6. Introducing the 'Judge Jase' TV Show Concept

The family entertains the idea of expanding their media presence with a new TV show, blending humor with their signature style.

• Zach Dasher proposes the concept:

  “This needs to do a show called Judge Jace where he rules like a judge.”
  — Zach Dasher (13:13)

• Phil expresses interest and humorously contemplates the dynamics:

  “You might be pretty good.”
  — Phil Robertson (13:40)

• Jase playfully responds, indicating openness to the idea:

  “I'm gonna tell them to take you and dress up like me and you be me.”
  — Jase Robertson (13:31)

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7. In-depth Bible Study: The Book of John

The latter half of the episode delves deep into a theological discussion surrounding the Book of John, exploring its themes and connections to the Old Testament.

• Jase and Zach discuss the significance of the testimony in John, highlighting how the word “testify” is used extensively:

  “The word for testify... is mentioned around 70 times in the New Testament, with over half in John.”
  — Zach Dasher (20:14)

• Phil emphasizes the unique witness of the Gospel of John:

  “John's the only book where there's examples given multiple... the only gospel where you see the actual witnessing of who Jesus is.”
  — Phil Robertson (23:19)

• The conversation bridges Old Testament elements with New Testament fulfillment, discussing concepts like the Temple, the Tree of Life, and the nature of Jesus as both divine and distinct from God:

  “Jesus embodies God and it says he's full of grace and truth.”
  — Jase Robertson (42:16)

• They explore the theological implications of Jesus's incarnation, relationship with the Father, and the promise of the Holy Spirit, reinforcing the episode's spiritual depth.

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8. Conclusion and Reflections

As the episode wraps up, the Robertson family reflects on the intertwining of their personal stories with their faith, emphasizing the unending grace and truth of Jesus Christ.

• Phil ties back the discussions to biblical promises:

  “The Lord won't give up on me.”
  — Phil Robertson (48:06)

• Jase encapsulates the episode's central message:

  “God's not giving up on people, and he literally came here to save the world and not give up on you.”
  — Jase Robertson (49:28)

The family leaves listeners with a sense of hope and encouragement, urging them to engage with both their personal lives and spiritual journeys.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jase Robertson (00:01): “I am unashamed. What about you?”
• Phil Robertson (10:37): “That's what that cost. Those choke tubes, those specialty chokes, they're expensive.”
• Zach Dasher (37:39): “We have the spirit of Christ because then in verse 22, and with that he breathed on them.”

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Final Thoughts:

Episode 1023 of Unashamed with the Robertson Family masterfully balances entertaining personal anecdotes with enriching spiritual discussions. Whether sharing humorous hunting tales or delving into the depths of biblical scripture, the Robertson family continues to inspire and engage listeners, living out their unashamed faith in every aspect of their lives.

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For more episodes, subscribe to Unashamed on Apple Podcasts or YouTube, and join the Robertson family as they explore faith, family, and life's adventures.

Transcript

[Jase Robertson]

I am unashamed. What about you?

[Phil Robertson]

Welcome back to unashamed. Well, came in this morning. Zach, my brother. It's already got my little brother. He's like 56 years old, but he's. My younger brother. Gave me a crisp hundred dollar bill for my birthday. Now, that's pretty good. Hey, I mean, I didn't always treat Jay as well when he was young, but. But I've tried to make up for it through the years. I gave him.

[Zach Dasher]

He gave Willie, then he give Willie. Or did Willie give him fifty?

[Phil Robertson]

No, Willie gave him fifty. Fifty dollar bills. On the podcast, that's way back, we.

[Jase Robertson]

Called that a guilt offering.

[Zach Dasher]

Well, I need to. I need to tell you guys something. And if you could get the message to Willie, I will be in town next week and it will be my birthday.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah, well, that's one of the reasons I brought it up.

[Jase Robertson]

Zay, I'm not sure you've gotten a hundred dollar bill still status. I give all my brothers. Al will attest this. A hundred dollar bill.

[Phil Robertson]

Yep.

[Jase Robertson]

Whether I have it or not.

[Phil Robertson]

And look, you know what? I give Jace instead of a hundred dollar bill, I could just give it save and give it back to him, but I give him a cream cheese pie for his birthday. Which is worth a hundred dollars to you, isn't it, Jason?

[Jase Robertson]

Al has a special skill set on the cream cheese pie.

[Phil Robertson]

And I know Jace loves it, so I make it.

[Jase Robertson]

I think it's a fantastic gift. I actually got some pretty good gifts this year way back in Christmas, which was shocking because most of the time, what do you. I would be difficult to buy for.

[Phil Robertson]

Because if you need something, you get yourself.

[Jase Robertson]

And my son gave me these moccasins, and they're waterproof. Now, I realized when I did this, I exposed pants, which. Look here. You know what this.

[Phil Robertson]

Jays came in, he took off his outerwear, and Maddie and I are sitting there watching him, and. And he's got this look he's got today. And I was like, james, what is this supposed to be camo?

[Jase Robertson]

What.

[Phil Robertson]

What? It. What do you call what you're.

[Jase Robertson]

That's what happened. What happened.

[Phil Robertson]

What happened was because you went duck hunting this morning, did you wear this? And the duck. Well, no wonder y'all didn't get them.

[Jase Robertson]

You gotta remember, it was very cold today. The high. The high while we were out there was 32 degrees.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah. And it's still like 34 right now.

[Jase Robertson]

The wind was blowing, so I had a pair of chest waders on. Now, I didn't have any more layers on the bottoms. And look, this was a Christmas present. My wardrobe provider. It's a hole in the wall Store used to be a 7 11. The honey hole. And all I've done is I wear their stuff because I like their stuff. They have quite the array.

[Phil Robertson]

Oh, yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

And they say every time you mention us on the Unashamed podcast, people find us because I'm not giving any blurbs, and I have no affiliation other than I wear their stuff. And they said.

[Phil Robertson]

And we went to church with their family. So it's like, we know it wasn't personal. I know you didn't. You weren't doing it.

[Jase Robertson]

I walked in there and thought I was looking for some jigs.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

And I was actually looking for a hoodie the first time I went there because I was going to the airport, and I. I knew my layover times were real small and people recognized me in crowded places. And so I was like, the only way I'm going to get to my next flight is if I have a hoodie on. Because I'm not gonna be rude.

[Phil Robertson]

Thinks the same thing. Y'all are so wrong. Because when what y'all looking the way you do put a hoodie on, it makes everybody look and then be suspicious and start taking pictures of it.

[Zach Dasher]

Draws more.

[Phil Robertson]

Well, draws more attention.

[Jase Robertson]

I have been escorted, you know, by security on a couple of occasions because I had a backpack and a hoodie on.

[Phil Robertson]

And, I mean, you look like you just left a liquor store robbery.

[Zach Dasher]

Well, it reminds me of when Phil used to tell my dad. He would tell him, gordon, you got a look about you. You got a strange look, which.

[Phil Robertson]

Which is a true statement. Gordon does have a look about him, but coming from Phil, that was that.

[Zach Dasher]

He was like, hold on, we're at the airport. Me and you were in the airport together, and. And I'm the one they're going to look at.

[Jase Robertson]

I don't know if I've ever shared this story, but I actually. And I forgot even what I was talking about.

[Phil Robertson]

Oh.

[Jase Robertson]

I was talking about why I have these pants on. I guess I should finish that story. So I got dressed because I didn't want to wake up my wife. And I was so tired yesterday because I didn't get a nap. And I duck hunted. So I just went to bed, and I didn't know where my clothes were. I mean, it was one of those angry sleeps. I don't even remember going to bed. And so I was looking around, I had the first couple of layers on, and then I thought, oh, well. Well, yeah, I'm going to wear these. I got a little Christmas package from the honey hole. Well, they gave me like three pair. They look like pajama pants, but they're warm. So I'm going to try these. But I couldn't see which were the dark camouflage. And this is obviously. What would this be? Yuppie camouflage.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah. I called it urban camo.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, urban camo. But I had waiters on over it.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

But then when I took the waiters off, I went, whoa.

[Phil Robertson]

Because the urban folks missed the idea of camouflage. They're wearing these camo patterns. But if you're in an urban area and you want to get camouflage, you need to look like a side of a building.

[Jase Robertson]

Exactly.

[Phil Robertson]

And I'll tell a car maybe or something like that.

[Jase Robertson]

And I'll tell you this story really funny. I wasn't going to do this to my son's friend, but might as well. I won't give his name. How about that?

[Phil Robertson]

There you go.

[Jase Robertson]

He hadn't duck hunted much. And my son came in from Nashville, hey, let's go duck hunting. I was like, we don't have any ducks. But he wanted to go, we'll spend family time. Well, we actually go. And he said, well, can I bring my buddy? I was like, is he. Is he an experienced duck hunter? And he went, no. I was like, well, I'll have to give him a speech. So when he showed up, he was fully camoed, but he had a neon white hat on. I mean, you could see it glowed in the dark. Because you say, how do you know that? Because before daylight when we got out there, you could see one thing, his hat. But it had a camo pattern on it.

[Phil Robertson]

Oh, boy.

[Jase Robertson]

And so I thought, well, I hate to embarrass him. I gave him the gun safety speech and here's your lien and all this stuff. So I just said, make sure you stay under the roof and I'll say when to get him. And I thought, that'll take care of the problem. Well, so I have my son, my son's buddy. We had Jep's son in law. So I mean, this was duck boy day.

[Phil Robertson]

And then this was duck boy slash Zach day.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, we had yuppie day. And my son's a pretty good hunter, but. And so on the end is one of my buddies, Chad, who looks like Grizzly Adams. Yeah, you know, he's, he's a hunter and he's actually, you know, a nurse practitioner, but he's valuable to the operator. We had one bunch of ducks kind of flare and he just turned over and said, hey, buddy, we need to do something with that hat. And, well, it embarrassed him, you know, and he said, it's camouflage. And laughed and said, camouflage? That thing glow in the dark, you know, everything I was thinking, he said, yeah. So he just took it off, you.

[Phil Robertson]

Know, he took on a new role in the blind. He became your enforcer. Oh, Sergeant at arms.

[Jase Robertson]

This got funny. So then all of a sudden it was foggy, and now he's. He's hatless. So now he looks kind of weird because he doesn't have a hat on. And I start working these snow geese because they were confused in the fog. And I'm making a snow goose sound with my wood duck call. And they were circling us even though we couldn't see them because they were lost. And it's snow goose season. I'm like, if we kill a snow goose in a place where.

[Phil Robertson]

Which is rare in our part, we.

[Jase Robertson]

Haven'T killed a Snow Goose in 10, 15 years. And that was on a drizzly, sleety day where they were also confused. So I'm blowing, blowing, you know, and they're talking back to me. So I started getting excited. I was like, hey, dude, get that hat back on. Get that hat back. But he didn't know what I was talking about because I was thinking, it's a fluorescent white hat.

[Phil Robertson]

At this point, it's actually helpful.

[Jase Robertson]

Maybe they'll think you're a snow goose. But he never figured out. And I thought it was funny because Chad was laughing so hard because he knew what I was like, find that hat.

[Phil Robertson]

Get that hat.

[Jase Robertson]

And wouldn't you know it, even without the hat, we get that bunch of geese in shootable range and shoot two of them.

[Phil Robertson]

Really?

[Jase Robertson]

Yes. And I was like, if you would have had that hat on, this story would have been awesome. How did you know so?

[Phil Robertson]

Because when you. When you snow goose hunt, those of you out there in our audience, that goose hunt, you know, you use white towels or white. Lot of white things for decoys. People use diapers, all sorts of.

[Jase Robertson]

Oh, it was a funny story. So my airport story is one time, me, Phil, crew of us, we're on a duck hunting trip. When they get to my bag, you know, something goes off, they look at it. My carry on, they say, step over. Step on the side here. Next thing you know, I have two ATF agents escorting me, one under each arm. Have I told this story? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I was in Washington, Oregon, California, somewhere that leans blue, blue state. And so they looked at me and whatever they found in my bag, and they said, oh, yeah, we got him.

[Phil Robertson]

And so I thought you weren't wearing a hoodie that day.

[Jase Robertson]

I go into a room, and it literally was like a movie. They turned on a bright light, and I'm at a table, and there's about five ATF agents around me. And we're waiting on the interrogator. He walks in and says, huh, Jase, what are you doing here? Only because he recognized me. Did this not go south? But he said, it's all right, guys. I know this guy. And of course, I didn't know him, but he just knew who I was. And he said, what we found. He pulled it out. It was a choke tube from one of my guns. Now, how it got in my bag, you know, we're all the time using different choke tubes. And somehow another. Because we had none of our hunting equipment. That was all shipped. But. And for you that don't know you, you can screw any. It's not dangerous.

[Phil Robertson]

That's what I was to say. Why would that even be dangerous?

[Jase Robertson]

Well, because it is a firearm attachment.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

And I had it in my.

[Phil Robertson]

But it does nothing.

[Jase Robertson]

It does nothing.

[Phil Robertson]

It's just for looking through. I mean, you couldn't even.

[Zach Dasher]

They. But they reckon. That's weird, that they recognize that as a. Because all that is. Is a round cylinder.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah. Just. It screws into the end of your gun to. To make your. Your pattern either smaller or.

[Jase Robertson]

And here's the key information. I never got that choke tube back because I said, well, him in my choke tube. I'll be on my way. And he's like, no, no, that. That you're not getting this choke tube. I was like, well, mail it to me. He's like, no, you're not getting this back. Don't bring anything associated with a firearm to the airport. You will never see it again. So that was $150. That's what that cost. Those choke tubes, those specialty chokes, they're expensive. And so, yeah, that was my story there. So don't put a choke tube in your bag and look like I do, or you're going to an interrogation room.

[Phil Robertson]

Well, we were going one time with Paul and Kim, Stephen somewhere, and she had a auto loader. It didn't have any bullets in it, but, you know, it's just. It's a chamber that holds six or eight bullets that just pops right into your gun. And it had gotten left in her purse. But again, no bullets, Just the cylinder that holds the bullets. But same story. I mean, the police it was here. Local Monroe PD pulls her aside.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Phil Robertson]

Back and forth. But they let her go. They didn't take her away, but they kept her auto level.

[Jase Robertson]

I'll tell you this, even though, you know, I also had another weapon in my back because they had all my stuff laid out.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

Except the joke tube. And my bible was there.

[Phil Robertson]

Your sword.

[Jase Robertson]

And so I said, look, I mean I got my Bible. I thought that would help because I was going to start a Jesus conversation. I don't know what else to do. But I think that actually made it worse.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Zach Dasher]

Because now they're like n. You brought a sword, so you brought.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, I think they just thought I was a radical. You know something you're over to put.

[Zach Dasher]

You on a list.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Zach Dasher]

You got.

[Phil Robertson]

Well, he's over 2. Remember when he had his little seat belt altercation last year? Remember he tried to bring the bible into that ball?

[Jase Robertson]

I don't know what you're talking about because the money was returned and the handshake was.

[Phil Robertson]

But it wasn't because of your first interaction that that came later. Kind of like your deal with this guy.

[Jase Robertson]

Knowing you, I think to their words, it never happened.

[Zach Dasher]

You know, the team. Based on your interaction with the seat belt, the team in West Monroe. I just found this out this morning. They. They had a show idea for Jace that I thought was hilarious.

[Jase Robertson]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Phil Robertson]

You're talking about your team.

[Zach Dasher]

You're talking about the Tread Lively.

[Phil Robertson]

Okay.

[Zach Dasher]

This needs to do a show called Judge Jace where he rules like a judge.

[Phil Robertson]

Like Judge Judy or Judge Janine from Fox. They just said.

[Zach Dasher]

I thought that'd actually be funny.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, my. Tell them to call me because I'm gonna tell them to take you and dress up like me and you be me. He gets.

[Phil Robertson]

He's the one that actually gets into all the altercations. Right. And then you decide what happens to it. I might actually pay to watch that myself. I might be pretty good. All right, so Zach, we'll see if you get that Hondo, you just hold out. We'll see.

[Jase Robertson]

That's left call. I usually. It's my kids and some safe.

[Zach Dasher]

If you give it to me. If you give it to me. Let's do it on the podcast. Let the let. Let the people know.

[Phil Robertson]

Well, you'll. You're supposedly. If all things go well, you're going to be in studio with us next week. So we'll see when we see those gold backs. Then we'll talk about some green backs.

[Jase Robertson]

I usually have a roll of my brother's. I actually gave my mom two 100 bills just because her birthday is right around Christmas. She gives money to most of the grandkids. Great grandkids. And I just thought, I'm only going to give you this if you don't give me anything. And just put that in the pile.

[Phil Robertson]

Well, it's kind of funny how your parents, as they get older, they do kind of become childlike again. Because she was so excited about you giving her cash.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Phil Robertson]

Like she couldn't get it herself. It is kind of funny that it's like, when you give them cash. So I've started doing it as a joke, But I give her, like, off things. Like, I'll give her $43.50.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Phil Robertson]

And just put it in a card.

[Jase Robertson]

Because she gives it all away anyway. So I thought, you know, I think it's the gift that keeps on giving.

[Zach Dasher]

When I was in college, waiting tables, Willie showed up at Bennigan's, where I was waiting tables at. And he orders this food or whatever. I think he came by himself, which is weird. He came just to do this, which is hilarious. But he leaves.

[Phil Robertson]

He likes to eat.

[Zach Dasher]

But, you know those black folders that they. They put the credit card in you. You know, they put the bill in it. They have to hand the customer the black. Little black, like, vinyl folder.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Zach Dasher]

At every restaurant. So I hand him his bill, and. And it was, I don't know, 12, $13. I walked back in the back, and. And I come back and I see the. The folder is, like. It's like, got something just wadded up in it where it wasn't closed. It looked like a pac man. You know, it's opened up like.

[Phil Robertson]

Like a.

[Zach Dasher]

Like it's trying to eat something. And I open it up, and there is a wad of money. All $1 bills in a wad. Like a ball with. With change inside of it, a ton of pennies. And it's just like all of this money. It was like $32, like, crammed into a ball that he had. He had brought that. That was. That was the tip. So it was a great tip for a $12 meal. But it took me about an hour to unfold all the money.

[Phil Robertson]

It reminds me of that story I read about in Shaquille O'Neill's book, when he had that. When he first signed his first contract with the Orlando Magic out of lsu. And it was for several million dollars. Then he had all these endorsement deals. But he was young because, you know, he. He had left. I Think he was maybe 21 years old. And so he said it didn't seem real to him. He grew up with a. Like an army dad. And so he. He was very structured and strict. And so he wasn't just some kid. I mean, he. He was like, man, I know I got this money. But it never felt real to him because it was just numbers on a piece of paper. And so one of the first things he's. His financial guy told him to invest in was car washes in Orlando. He said, you know, you got to get where the people are. Which you now look at Shaq. He's everywhere. He owns part of a Papa John. Like, he's a. He's a huge businessman. When he was this young, he figured it out. So he. So he started going down to the car wash and he would go visit them because, you know, he was just like. He knew they were his and they were making money. And so what they didn't know was he was taking money every time from the manager. He'd say, you know, give me X amount of those quarters. Well, they came to him like, a year or two later when they said, shaq, we think somebody is stealing money from me in your organization because we're like 250,000 short from what these should be making. And he said, nah, we good. And he's like, well, no, I mean, this is a serious thing. He said, come back here. And he took him back to his bedroom. There were two huge, like, 50 gallon barrels in his bedroom full of quarters. It was a quarter of a million dollars worth of quarters that Shaq had in his bedroom. And he said he liked to come in after a game or a road trip and just run his hands through those quarters. It was the only thing that made it feel real to him that he was rich. So I was like, what a great story. And he told that about himself in his book.

[Jase Robertson]

I need to get that brain specialist back on. Look into that.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah, map Shaq's brain.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Phil Robertson]

So that guy was intriguing. All right, so we're ready to study a little bit of John.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, this John has been fascinating.

[Phil Robertson]

It's so good.

[Jase Robertson]

I. I've. I don't know where we left off. I think we left off at the last couple of verses.

[Phil Robertson]

Well, we just had read, like, the first four verses was kind of all the text that we've gotten into.

[Jase Robertson]

But I skipped to the end because he kind of tells, like, here's what this book was all about. And so at the end of chapter 20, he gives this little dissertation On Jesus did many other miraculous signs. And this is 20, 30 in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus Son is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. And then kind of he refers to himself in chapter 21 and verse 24. This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. Yeah, but here's what I found fascinating. So we left out there. But when I just read that in 2124, you see that word? You'll like this since you're a Bible nerd. Zach, you see that word where it says, this is the disciple who testifies to these things.

[Zach Dasher]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

And who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Well, it's the same word, even though it's translated in English. Testifies or testimony. Did you know I looked this up. Remember when I was talking about all the thread lines that are in the Book of John? We talked about light as opposed to darkness, life as opposed to death, love as opposed to hate. We talked about. What else did we talk about? The temple is a thread line. Well, you have also this testimony or testifies, which in the Greek, it's the word for where we get being martyred. So I looked this up and it is mentioned. I think it was somewhere around 70 times in the entire New Testament. And in the book of John is 30 something. It's almost half, really. And when you throw in first, second and third John, you get another dozen more. So we're talking almost two thirds. So. And you say, well, why. Why are you bringing this up? So when he gets to John the Baptist, even here in chapter one, you start seeing that word again, testifies testimony. But he does it in all sorts of ways. I looked them all up, and it's amazing that you're basically having like a heavenly case for. For Jesus. Yeah, it's a. And that's why he said, my testimony and I testify that this is true. So, you know, just when you think it couldn't get more interesting, you have that and it keeps coming up, which you say, well, what's the Old Testament reference to this? Well, you remember when they said the only way we can have validity is on the testimony of two or three witnesses? Well, he gives multiple in Multiple ways. Including Jesus himself, including him, including John the Baptist, including. There's this big debate in John 8, you know, about testimony and testifying. And even when he was before Pilate, it's the. This keeps coming up. So I think it's interesting when you go back to see how this is so appealing on convincing individuals and as a whole, uniting on this one and only individual, this unique Jesus who's God but also distinct from God. I mean, the first verse says that it was the, you know, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, the Word was God. Well, those two things which Zach and I talked about at length, but I just thought I found that fascinating. There's another link that you see all the way through. It's like, well, judge for yourself.

[Phil Robertson]

Now, I meant to cake. I mentioned this before, Jay's last time, that John's the only book where there's examples given multiple. Some of the other ones have one or two. But there were six that I mentioned last time that actually say I believed because of meeting him, because of my testimony. One was John the Baptist in John 1:33, Nathaniel, because remember, Nathaniel was. At first he was like, what good thing can come from Nazareth? I mean, how do we. And then all of a sudden, Jesus convinces him. He said, oh, wait, you are the son of God. Peter says the same thing in John 6:66. Now he says it in the other gospels, too. But then you got Martha in John 11, 24, 27, she says the same thing. Oh, yeah, you are the resurrection of the light. She has that moment of acceptance. And then you got Thomas in John 20, the same thing. And there are a few others, too, because you could also even throw Nicodemus in there because eventually it happens for him, because at the end. But it's the only gospel where you see the actual witnessing of who Jesus is. And then them turning to him in the moment saying, I'm in, I'm all in. You don't see that as much in there, the Gospels, to your point.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah. Well, I was just going to say there's a big debate on who wrote the book of Revelation. You know, some people think it's this same John. Others are like, just the way it's written is so bizarre because it's, you know, picture form.

[Phil Robertson]

Well, not only that, Jason, since you said that, I wrote this down. John 1:12 has some elements of the other Gospels. It's three years. It's the public proclamation and the miracles, but the last half of the book is three days. The whole thing is Based just right at the very end, the last few days. Not, you know, it's about seven but three plus days of Jesus's end of his life is half the book of John.

[Zach Dasher]

Well, Mark follows a similar pattern too.

[Phil Robertson]

And because it came from Peter is the reason why I believe that to be true. That's right.

[Jase Robertson]

No, I think, okay, now you've done opened up a can of worms here and I got to study this last night, but I'm not in a position to remember everything I study. But I will at some point when we're studying this book of John. But it looked like he makes a point of saying, even I'm just looking down Here in John 1:35 he says the next day John was there again. Then 43, the next day Jesus decided, well, I look and there's like seven days because you look at two, one on the third day a wedding took place. So he has these seven signs and there are seven days. And then when he gets to the end, you're right, there's a seven day period of his death, burial and resurrection. Well, when you think about what we've already said about the temple and you think about where he started, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. Well, you go back to the beginning. Well, how many days did you have before the work was complete?

[Phil Robertson]

Six.

[Jase Robertson]

Six days. And then the seventh day he rested. Well, if you do the math, when you get to the end of the book of John, he rests in the tomb. And then we have, oh, we have an eighth day because look, it's now.

[Phil Robertson]

A new creation on that next morning. Right?

[Jase Robertson]

Well, we had a creation, seven days. And what was the garden really? It was pretty much you could make the case. And if you were doubting me, you could listen to someone like N.T. wright because he's going into detail. He's like, it was set up like a temple with the creation days and the presence of God and he does a really good study on that.

[Phil Robertson]

And would that include the trip into Gethsemane and the anguish and all that into that garden?

[Jase Robertson]

Was that, well, I told you that I studied it and I was, wow.

[Phil Robertson]

I mean you got me, you got my mind rolling.

[Zach Dasher]

Let me give you a couple examples of what you're saying that I think are very pertinent. And I may have said this on a previous podcast, I can't remember, but we talk so much. If I did and repeat myself, I'm sorry, but in the Garden of Eden, if you think about when they were cast out of the garden Genesis chapter three. God says, I'm going to basically block the tree of life. And the way that he blocks that is with the cherubim and the flaming swords. Well, if you skip ahead and you read in Exodus chapter 25, and I think in First Kings as well, so Exodus 25 is the instructions that God gives to build the tabernacle. And he says, build this tabernacle so that I may dwell with my people. Essentially, like build me a house so that I may live with my people. I want to dwell with them. And God would show up and meet with Moses in a particular part of the tabernacle, which is called the holy of holies. And you could only get access into the holy of holies if you are a high priest. And you could only get it. And this is at the temple too, because the temple later became more of a permanent structure of the tabernacle. The tabernacle. Think of it as a. A mobile temple that they would construct and deconstruct and move around with them as they were in the Exodus, through the wilderness. Well, the curtain that blocks anyone from going into that place. And even if you read about the Ark of the Covenant, when it would sit in the holy of holies, you know what would guard that was cherubim, the cherubim with the swords. And it's a picture of the Garden of Eden. So the temple, the first temple, you're right. This is so profound to me that the first temple structure ever known in Scripture was the garden. And there's another guy, Gregory Bill, who's written a bunch about this as well, along with a host of others. But that was the original temple because that's where God lived and that's where God was good.

[Jase Robertson]

That's where I was going. And you had the image, and all the temples had an image. We were made in the image of God. And to your point, I'm going to bring up NT Wright again. When you brought up the Tree of Life and the cherubim on each side, well, what happened at the Resurrection? The tomb? Well, there was two angels on each side. Well, and you also have Jesus, you know, saying about the I've come to have life. You remember there were two trees in the garden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And so the verse I just read in chapter 20, which we didn't really think of it as a big deal, but in 31, when he said, I write these so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by Believing you may have life in his name. And we've always made that comparison. You had the tree of life. Well then Jesus was crucified on a tree. Why? So we'd have life. It actually was a tree of death that became a tree of life for us, but also it was a cursed tree. This came from N.T. wright, but I did think it was interesting. And he said also it seems to him that he was like, I don't know what else conclusion you could make but. And this is a sermon that's called he did on John. It's called the Mission of God through the Book of John. And I listened to it, but I only listened to it once, I have to listen to it again because he's a little bit deeper than I usually roll. But I did notice this because when he gets to chapter 20, he says, Peace be with you. Verse 19. After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord again. Jesus said, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. And you got to remember his prayer in John 17 and this inner action that him and the Father has, and they're passing that on to us, his disciples, and eventually the world. And so we have the spirit of Christ because then in verse 22, and with that he breathed on them. Well, you remember the first time God did some breathing on somebody? Well, it was the first creation. He breathed the life. Well now he breathed into them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. But watch this next statement. I thought, this is a fantastic point and I know it's deep, but just think about it. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive, they are not forgiven. And he's like, there's been people debating that since time and eternity. You know, they're like, what did he exactly mean there? But it's almost like you now have the tree of knowledge of good and evil because you have the spirit of Christ. You make those determinations when you share Jesus. Well, when people say, what does it mean to follow Jesus? Well, there's just a certain aspect of character, good and evil that comes forth. I thought it was a really interesting point because basically you have this picture of what happened in the garden and now you have this new creation which is what Jesus accomplished through his life, death.

[Phil Robertson]

I would even say that the idea of sacrifice for sins was present in the garden because when they sinned and they were guilty and they realized they were naked, God had to kill animals to give them skins to Cover themselves eventually, but they weren't skins that lasted.

[Zach Dasher]

What he said was you need a more durable or suitable covering.

[Phil Robertson]

And so. Right. Which of course Christ is when you think shadowing. Yeah, exactly.

[Zach Dasher]

I mean, I think the key text here is go read Hebrews chapter 10. I mean, he makes this whole argument in Hebrews 10. This is the argument of Hebrews 10. But if you think about Garden of Eden, that's what matters to us. I think man, Garden of Eden, man's kicked out. Genesis chapter 3, verse 24. What is he kicked out from? Man is kicked out from the presence of God centered in the tree of life. And he's kicked out because sin had entered the world. And, and, and so what happens as a result of that is there is a veil. That, that's what that picture of the, of the cherubims with the flaming swords guarding the tree of Life it that, that picture is a picture of a barrier. A veil is a barrier. A veil is a, is a blockade. It's like you're not getting through this blockade and partaking of this tree of life and being in God's presence because of your sin. And that's why they had that veil, that same veil in both the tabernacle and the temple. And I don't think it's coincidence that in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke, when they record Jesus's death and barren resurrection, when they record the event of the death, it says that the veil was torn. And that's what that means. It's like this, this thing's been cut wide open again. And now man has access back into the presence of God through the atoning blood of Jesus. It's through the blood of Jesus that we, the Hebrew writer says, like our consciences are clean and we can now approach God again. We don't do what Adam and Eve did. We don't have to go run and hide from God. You know, like we can actually go and approach God and we can pledge a good conscience towards him. And not because we go in and say, man, look how awesome we are that now we can draw near to God because we've done these great things. It's because the resurrection, Peter says it's by the resurrection that we can pledge a good conscience towards him. And that only happens if God comes near to us first. Which puts us right smack dab in the beginning of John chapter one. That's what it means when it says the word became flesh, God came near. I mean, it's the basis for the whole point of The Bible.

[Phil Robertson]

Which is interesting that because so many people are so concerned with the where, you know, where is the original Garden of Eden? Where did this happen with exactly? With Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Where, where, where. And you're like, the where is not near as important as the who. It's the, it's God's presence that makes the difference.

[Jase Robertson]

I think they found that there's some.

[Phil Robertson]

Oh, I know, that's what I was like. But even if you did.

[Zach Dasher]

But think about, but think about, but think about this though. Even in the, even in the garden, it was never the point to sit down there and hunker down in the garden.

[Phil Robertson]

Exactly.

[Zach Dasher]

What was the call? Go subdue the earth and roll over it. Have dominion over the entire earth. So the, the initial one of the. I would argue Michael Heiser argues this in his book the Unseen Realm. One of them argue.

[Jase Robertson]

Because we're not disagreeing with you.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah, you don't have.

[Zach Dasher]

Yeah, I'm not saying you are. But I mean he makes a really a point that part of it of being made in the image of God, he claims the most part, primary part, is to have dominion. So when you read in Genesis, chapter one of this idea, we're in the garden, everything's perfect. But he says, go basically make the whole rest of the earth like the Garden of Eden. Go cultivate and spread this, be fruitful and multiply, have dominion and go across the entire globe and do this, turn the whole world into the Garden of Eden. So you see that the point, even pre sin human agency had something that we were supposed to do and we were supposed to take dominion of the entire earth and make it God's home where he would live with us. And so that Edenic vision that God had instituted in the very creation itself, he's not done with that. That's the whole thing. You read the whole Bible, you get down into Revelation and they're like, I see a new city coming, you know, a new Jerusalem coming. God is going to accomplish what he set out to accomplish, which is he will have a dwelling place where he will dwell with all of the nations and it will all be made right in the end.

[Jase Robertson]

No, I agree. In Revelation 21 says that in verse 3 of 21. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, now the dwelling of God is with men. Which I think is in contrast of now is it would be different if he said now the dwelling of men is with God because it was coming down out of heaven.

[Zach Dasher]

That's why those songs you know those songs we sing? I was thinking about this. This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid out somewhere beyond the balloon. I'm like, no, it's actually not the picture in the Bible. My treasures are not beyond the blue meaning, beyond the sky, as if I'm going to go to heaven. No, heaven's coming to us. I think that, that, that's. That's the big shift that, that. That I had to, like, start to see the beauty of God's kingdom and the beauty of what he's doing. He's bringing heaven to us. You know what I mean? We think it's somewhere way out there that we. One day.

[Phil Robertson]

I didn't want to. I looked up because Zach dropped in one a phrase I'd never heard before, the Edenic vision. Did you hear him when he said that, Jason?

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Phil Robertson]

I didn't know Edenic vision. So I looked it up. It is a representation of the Garden of Eden, a symbolic space of perfect harmony and happiness. Now, that's a. AI definition of it. So I don't know that that's.

[Jase Robertson]

No, he's right. What we're gonna attempt to do is, you realize John looked backwards and all the way to the beginning. That's why it starts there.

[Phil Robertson]

Right.

[Jase Robertson]

And he's basically.

[Phil Robertson]

Which is exactly why it goes back to pre creation and creation. Right.

[Jase Robertson]

And then. And he's going to say, this is a new Jesus. When it says. Because when you look at the Greek words and all this, it makes way more sense because what Zach just read in verse 14, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. That word dwelling is tabernacle, but it's a verb form of it. They say, pitched a tent among us, God came down. And it uses the word tabernacle. Well, you remember what tabernacle in the.

[Phil Robertson]

Old Testament, that was a moving temple.

[Jase Robertson]

It was a moving temple. And look, remember when the glory would rest on top of the tabernacle? Well, you. When you keep reading this, where does it say glory for the first time here in John 1 somewhere.

[Phil Robertson]

It says it in 14:14.

[Jase Robertson]

We have seen his glory.

[Phil Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

So when you go back and read that in the Old Testament, look it up, tabernacle. And you'd see the glory of God. Whether he, John, is saying all that happened to lead us here. Well, then he moves on and he starts talking about Moses for verse 16 from the fullness. And we remember that word fullness in Colossians is so prevalent there in Christ. All the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness. Well, that's not unlike while ago, when he breathed on them and said, just as the Father sent me, I'm sending you. I think that one verse, which it's taken us four sessions to get to it is one of the most important in the Book of John. Because now you're seeing the connection to us. I mean, you're like, well, that was his disciples. Well, that has continued. When Jesus went to the right hand of God, he promised in John 14, 15, and 16 that he's going to pour out his spirit. He breathed it on them. He had a special relationship, but it's the same spirit that we get when we surrender to Jesus. Exactly. You've been given fullness in Christ. You literally become a new creation. And you say, well, what does that look like? Like what we're fixed to read in the Book of John, like Jesus. Which is a very good thing for you to ask yourself.

[Phil Robertson]

Which is one of the things I didn't get to ask doctor. Amen. Maybe if we have him back on sometime because he's a believer. I wanted to know, for a man that knows the brain so well, what he thinks, how he thinks, because I got my own opinions. The Bible doesn't tell us, but how does the spirit of God interact with our spirit and brain? He mentioned about the brain being a spiritual component, but I would love to know what he thinks about how that actually happened.

[Jase Robertson]

I'll go ahead and tell you. And I'm not a brain surgeon, but I did have a good night's sleep.

[Phil Robertson]

I did ask Dr. Carson that same question.

[Jase Robertson]

But I will say this because he brought up my dad in the movie and all that. Well, once you give your life to Christ, your brain's obviously going to look better because you're going to act better. Well, all the vices that you know, his list is almost like the Old Testament, Leviticus.

[Phil Robertson]

They didn't get to thwart him about that.

[Jase Robertson]

No, I was going to make fun of him because he has a big. One of his big things is don't act like a jerk. And he didn't say jerk. He said something like a donkey. But I won't say it. You get the idea. But I thought, well, you know what I wanted to say when I heard all that is to say, well, you know why I'm acting like a donkey? Because I ain't had any coffee.

[Zach Dasher]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

But so, okay, I digress.

[Phil Robertson]

He made a moderation point, though, which is true for any of this stuff. Well, don't want to overdo it. He said the guy was like, ask him his all caffeine bad. He said, well, no, but just don't go crazy with it.

[Jase Robertson]

So I don't know if we want to read it. I mean, there's so much I was going to say. I was going to make a point about. Here comes grace and truth from Jesus. He embodies God and it says he's full of grace and truth. You think, well, what is the importance of that? Well, he compares it in verse 17. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God but God, the one and only. This unique Son has made him known or has explained him, some versions say. But you say, well, why is. Why is he bringing up Moses? And you're literally seeing from the beginning the garden. And even when you think about what we're going to get to, you don't think this is a new Exodus, freeing humans from what ends.

[Phil Robertson]

It's even a new glory. Because you described about the glory. And it would come down on Moses and Joshua in a tent. But Paul makes the point in 2nd Corinthians 4 that it was temporary because he would be glowing from the glory. Literally. He looked like he had some kind of thermonuclear reaction, but it faded fairly quickly. And so the people then would be like, oh, man. We thought there was going to be some glowing Moses, but the idea was, under this system, it was. It wasn't going to last. It couldn't last unless it was in us. And then he said, now we with unfail, unveiled faces, shine with the glory.

[Jase Robertson]

Remember, look, God Moses, he went up to the cave or whatever, and this is after the golden calf. And these. God was going to destroy the Israel nation, Israelite nation. Moses says, kill me instead. You got to look up all these stories. And God said, okay, I'm going to let them off as a whole, because you're willing to do that. But after all that happened, remember there's a weird conversation about you can't look at him or you'll die. You couldn't look at his body. Remember, he's like, no one can see me and live. Well, now he becomes a body to explain him. But, oh, yeah, and what happened in between? Well, God marries them, gives them a covenant called the law. That's what it was. Here we have an arrangement. We have a covenant relationship. Do this and everybody will be fine. What happened? It exposed our failure and our unfaithfulness to the Lord. So what it really says when you read this is humans need help. And the two greatest things that you could supply for that condition is grace and truth. And here comes Jesus, and he's introducing Jesus as, here is God in a human form that's going to help people, going to help this relationship, this dwelling, covenant, existence of God and humans by having a lot of grace. And just think, everybody that's ever come to Jesus, how much grace is needed? A lot. You can't even. You'll sit here, you can't calculate it.

[Phil Robertson]

That's why he said, zach, you got two minutes. Bring us home.

[Zach Dasher]

Yeah, I mean, there's no second chances. He didn't bring a second chance. He brings way more than chances. He brings full grace. But I was thinking about this arrival of Christ, particularly how John says, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing had been made. I thought about that verse. The first one that popped in my mind was Colossians 1:15 that says, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things are created in heaven and on earth, visible, invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So this idea. He says, that guy is the one from Isaiah. Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, Isaiah 44:24, who formed you in the womb. I am the Lord who made all things. That's Jesus, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by itself. That's the one that arrived in the form of the flesh, was the God who made everything, is now here in human flesh. And that to me is. I mean, that's the basis for everything that he's going to talk about moving forward in his gospel.

[Phil Robertson]

And it makes me think of Lamentations 3, which is not a book you quote very often. When Jeremiah said, God's mercies, his compassions, his grace are new every morning.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, that's what I want.

[Phil Robertson]

If you wonder how often you need it, how about every day you wake up?

[Jase Robertson]

That's what I was going to say. You say, well, this has been deep today because we're tying the Old Testament. But what is John actually saying? Here comes Jesus, full of grace and truth, a God in a body. And he's bringing up the negative things that happen with the law, even though they weren't negative. The covenant agreement. The law was good. The people were the problem. So he's saying God doesn't give up on people, and so that's what he embodies. So when you start putting that in your heart and then look at all these portraits and conversations that are fixing to happen, Jesus lays something out there, very profound, and it causes chaos, confusion, conflict. But then it leads to a long conversation. But I'm going to tell you the theme of that is because it's the theme of grace. God's not giving up on people, and he literally came here to save the world and not give up on you. So if you think I'm too far gone or you give up on somebody else, only the grace of God through Jesus is going to fix that.

[Phil Robertson]

We sang that song Sunday. The Lord won't give up on me, which is really, really good. All right, we're out of time. Great way to end it, though. So we'll get back into John next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.