Rejecting Rejection | Disruptive Presence 68

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[00:00:00] John: So David last time we just reflected on This idea that Paul is appealing to his world to be carriers of light to the Gentiles but of course the crucial difference is that Paul is appealing through Jesus Messiah and And, and of course that's a divisive issue. So we, we've now got a an interpretation of what the light looks like and, and what it may have looked like to those who don't carry Jesus as Messiah, and those who do. 

[00:00:32] What we did see though was an incredibly positive reaction from the Gentiles. And they're going, Whoa! What do you mean? We're included? We can be part of this amazing, amazing message? And we saw this gorgeous idea that the word of the Lord spread through the whole region. but in our reading Sections of within that Jewish world, along with very prominent and powerful people, stirred up serious incitement. 

[00:01:00] And we get this incredible phrase, which some of our listeners may hear an echo of even into the Gospels. But we get this incredible little phrase, verse 51. So they shook, that's Paul and Barnabas, shook the dust off their feet. as a warning to them and went to Iconium and in verse 52 says and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. 

[00:01:24] But this quite dramatic moment shook the dust off their feet as A warning. Wow. So, so it's a, it's a bit of a moment before we get to Iconium. I don't think we can rush to what's about to happen in chapter 14 without reflecting on, whoa, hold on a minute, what's going on here? What is happening here? What's Paul saying here? 

[00:01:47] David: Yes. I mean, goodness, it, it, it, well, when I heard it read just there as well, it reminds me in the, in the last episode, we talked about the echoes of Jesus in this story. There's, there, this story feels like, there's the tensions that Jesus has encountered. And then you get this this phrase, which, which leans back into instructions Jesus gave to the first disciples he 

[00:02:11] John: indeed. 

[00:02:12] David: Um, and. I, and John, this question arises, I'm going to put it to you because it literally just arose to me and it is so embarrassing but I'm going to, I'm going to just ask anyway. Does this happen anywhere else? I'm trying to think where, can you think off the top of your head? Do we ever actually see this happen in another situation? 

[00:02:33] I know Jesus tells them they can do it. But I, I literally, as we, as you were reading it just there, I thought, why have I not thought this before? I was so caught up in the parallels with it being something Jesus has instructed them. I was thinking, I, I'm trying to remember another point in scripture where the dust is, is shook off shook off their feet. 

[00:02:55] And can you think of one off the top of your head? 

[00:02:57] John: I, I, apart from the obvious one in the Gospels that I think we're both probably going to head towards there is an interesting little reference in Acts chapter 18. And it says when they opposed themselves in blasphemy, he shook his raiment, but we're not, we're not getting sort of necessarily a shaking of the, of the, the dust off the feet. 

[00:03:24] So I I'm struggling, I'm struggling to off the top of my head, think of anything on that. Maybe as we go along, we can it, it, it shows to our, our listeners that we are not making this stuff up. We literally just chat as we go. And sometimes stuff pops up and you go, Oh, I've never thought about that. 

[00:03:42] So  
 

[00:03:42] David: well, that's it, isn't it? Cause we do the, we do the prep work in terms of, okay, we're going to read about this. We're going to talk about this, but sometimes it just a very obvious question. Doesn't strike you while you're doing your prep work, which is, does this happen elsewhere? I mean, I I'm trying to, I'm doing a little Google while we're in the background talking, but I can't. 

[00:03:58] I can't find it, but it's taken such significance for so many so many people, obviously Jesus mentions it in in his instructions to them, but in the only place I can actually find it happening. is is in Acts 13 51. So, so we tried to add some weight to it that actually this is a pretty, like, it's a serious thing. 

[00:04:24] It's not something that we're seeing. Let me say this better. Sorry. Luke thinks it's worth mentioning. He hasn't thought it's worth mentioning before, and it doesn't seem to get mentioned elsewhere before, so I think it's worth us giving some pause to say, okay, this is obviously very significant what's 

[00:04:43] happening here, isn't it?  

[00:04:45] John: Completely, completely. And actually, David, before we get to the dust shaking bit, I saw another little connection to the Gospels which might help with this bit. So, so what struck me was the language of Luke. When it says this in our reading says they stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them, 

[00:05:06] David: mm 
 

[00:05:08] John: expelled them. 

[00:05:09] And I immediately, because I'm a Luke reader, I heard an echo and I checked it out and found exactly the same sort of phraseology is used. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. And it's, and in fact, there's even a nuance or a hint of it in Luke six. So, so let me, let me for our listeners so the Luke four is where Jesus announces the spirit of the Lord is on me, et cetera, et cetera. 

[00:05:36] And then it says at the end, all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this, they got up and drove him out, expelled him. 

[00:05:45] David: Mm-Hmm 

[00:05:46] John: And he, they took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff, but he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. 

[00:05:53] There is a little echo of that again in Luke 6. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you, and insult you, and reject you. Reject your name as evil or literally expel your name as evil. So, so in Luke's gospel we've come across the idea of being expelled once in the experience of Jesus in his own time, in front of his own people. And then Jesus suggesting that actually there's blessing to be found in being expelled at some level for whatever reason, but of course, the main reason being because of the Son of Man. 

[00:06:39] David: Yes. 
 

[00:06:39] John: So, so again, this could help us with the looking trajectory. The expulsion is not simply a spat over over some, some power brokerage here. 

[00:06:51] I think now Luke is showing that there is real difference in the view of Jesus. So, so we've come across this before that this word before on both times it's to do with the person of Jesus. Jesus himself has expelled those who because of the son of man are expelled or find some measure of exclusion or persecution. 

[00:07:12] And then Paul and Barnabas are expelled. Now, again, we could be overcooking that, overstretching it, but, but again, it seems to suggest the expulsion is to do with the interpretation of Jesus Messiah rather than just, hey, get lost sort of thing, because it's very, very, very aggressive language. And it does feel like they're being driven out just in the same way that Jesus. 

[00:07:36] Was driven out and he suggests his followers may be driven out. So I thought that was before we get to the dust thing. I think the dust thing might actually be easier to understand in the light of the expulsion thing. 

[00:07:49] David: Yes. 
 

[00:07:50] John: Makes sense. Does 

[00:07:50] that  
 

[00:07:51] David: it does. It does. It's, it's fascinating. I mean, the language is, even the use of, of region, the driving out of a region all kind of draws you into this rejection and push of Jesus that we saw so often in Luke's gospel. It's fascinating as well. This is probably, possibly a rabbit hole, but Luke tends towards using that Ekbalo language. 

[00:08:16] Negatively, right? And it's even to the extent that when Mark tells the story of Jesus being led into the, into the desert to be tempted, Mark describes that as Jesus being ekballoed into the desert, but Luke doesn't. Luke uses a different word. He says, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit. And I wonder if that's because in Luke's sort of narrative, this language of ekballo is, is. 

[00:08:43] Is negative. It's harsher. It's a throwing out. It's a casting out. And and, and so I, I think, I think it's really, I mean, it's. It's gorgeous. And you can tell I got excited when you, when you sort of drew that connection, but you're seeing Luke point you towards things that he's given you before in this story to sort of point out you've seen this. 

[00:09:06] And I love this tendency to just keep narrating the story of Jesus so subtly through the story of Acts. This is none of this is surprising. None of this is shocking. You shouldn't be right. And even right down to the fact that Jesus. Is instructing his disciples, like it's not going to go well for you everywhere that you go, you're not going to get total agreement from everybody that you know that you encounter. 

[00:09:32] But I think it's also interesting that it's worth noticing that it is simply a shaking of the dust off your feet. It's a symbolic action to say, I, I have done what I can do here and you don't wish to receive me. But it's interesting. The reason I mentioned it like that is that there's also traditions that have appeared within Christianity that you shake the dust off your feet. 

[00:09:59] As a curse or, and you then curse the people who have, who have rejected you, that is not in the language of Jesus that I, that I can see. He's just saying, okay, like, okay, we've done our best here. We move on. And so I think it's important to spot here when we read this in verse 51, this is a protest in them being rejected. 

[00:10:19] It's not a judgment brought against yeah. Against these, these people in this particular place. I mean, would you would say okay with that? 

[00:10:29] John: Yes, I would. I would. And, and, if, if you, if you look back at the original reference to the dust shaking stuff in Matthew, I think you find it in Matthew 10. So, so the sort of quote, the whole section is quite powerful. As you entered the home, Jesus says, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest upon it. 

[00:10:55] If it is not, and the implication is it's not deserving, not because of, of merit, but because of acceptance or rejection, or rejection here. If it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that town or home and shake the dust off your feet. Now Jesus adds a little commentary at the end. 

[00:11:17] He says truly I tell you it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town. Now of course, that has to be understood in terms of, of the long view. So essentially Jesus is saying, if they have rejected my message, then, and remain rejecting that message, then the consequences are pretty severe. 

[00:11:40] David: Yes. 
 

[00:11:40] John: it's not an act of judgment on them at that moment, is the point I think you're making, which is the point I think Luke's making, and absolutely I would concur with. So ultimately the, the language would be, if you reject Jesus, there will be ultimate consequences, sort of conversation, but a person or a town that rejects Jesus, The Jesus message at that moment. 

[00:12:04] The shaking of the dust is to say, okay, I'm done here and I'm gonna move on and I'm moving forward. What's really quite interesting, of course, and I'm jumping the gun a little bit, but when we get to the end of chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas come back this way again. They circle back round. So, so the shaking the dust off is not the rejection of the time. It's the rejection of the conclusion. 

[00:12:33] David: Yes. Yes. 

[00:12:34] John: Do you know what I mean, David? 

[00:12:35] David: rejection of the rejection 

[00:12:37] John: Absolutely. It's exactly right. That's exactly right. And I think that's a really, really important distinction. This is not rejection of a group. This is not rejection of a geographic location. This is not a rejection of an ethnic group. 

[00:12:54] Minority. This is a rejection of a rejection. It's a rejection of a conclusion. Now, now, now, our listeners have really got to hear that because I think this has been used very badly over the years and we have. Allowed ourselves to interpret someone's rejection of us as a wholesale rejection of them. 

[00:13:17] David: Mm-Hmm. 

[00:13:18] John: But that's, that's the wrong conclusion. If that was the case, very few people would get a second or third chance at this conversation, which they clearly do within the Gospels. It's a rejection of the rejection. It's saying we don't accept that opinion and we are rejecting that opinion and we're shaking the dust off our feet as an expression of how aggressively we reject the rejection. And I really think that's important. We're not rejecting people. We're rejecting their conclusion, their, their worldview, which means that you can still reach out to people while understanding that even sections within that people group have rejected your view. 

[00:14:05] David: And, and I think there's, there's even a level of, just not taking that rejection with you, and. liKe Paul and Barnabas are heading off to do their work and they need to be free to go and do their work and not carry the tensions and rejections of where they've just been, with them on that journey. 

[00:14:27] I was looking, John, at, a couple of things at once, which is, which was interesting to me. But the first one is actually Luke's account of the shaking your dust off your feet is, is actually maybe really interesting now that you've read Matthew's one as well. So he has it in verse nine, whenever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town, shake the dust off your feet. 

[00:14:52] And then the Greek is as, as As a Marturon, a Marturion against, as a witness against them, but, or upon them. I actually quite like, so, so like. And I think that's a really important word there from, from, from Jesus as a witness against them, not as a judgment against them, not as a, not as a curse against them. 

[00:15:14] Just a, let's just mark what has happened here and and, and, and a hundred percent to your point. It is not ours to curse. That is always, that is always God's. And so there's a level of which maybe you are saying, listen, I've done what I can do. You, I'm returning you back to God to look after. But I also think there's a sense, and you see this in the New Testament a lot, as a witness. 

[00:15:37] To maybe bring you to your senses, right? As a witness to, I think about Paul in Corinth when he talks about kicking people out of the church. His aim is not to kick people out of the church. It's to help people realize, like, you're in a really serious situation here. And if you are acting as if you're not part of this church, so what if we were to act like you weren't part of this church? 

[00:16:00] And the hope is that that will make everybody come to their senses and go, oh, wait a minute. This needs to be fixed. But then I noticed that, so Luke chapter nine, verse five, whenever they do not welcome you, as you're leaving that town, shake the dust off your feet as a witness to them. And then verse six, they departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere. 

[00:16:21] It's interesting that Luke pulls the tradition of Matthew where, where Jesus reflects a little longer on this and says, okay, wait a minute. This would be Luke doesn't mention that. And almost, I don't want to try and speak into Luke's intention, but it's fascinating. We've seen this before from Luke, where, where he, he pulls a quote or he allows Jesus. 

[00:16:42] He has Jesus giving a quote that doesn't lean into the judgment side of things. So if you're reading Luke's trajectory, you go down to Acts, they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went off to Iconium, right? Jesus says, shake the dust off your feet. And they departed and went off to bring the good news. 

[00:16:59] Elsewhere. It's kind of nice the way it lines up, isn't it? 

[00:17:03] John: that's brilliant. I hadn't quite seen that before. That is really gorgeous. The way you've sort of aligned the looking. Version, I jumped to Matthew and just haven't quite seen that. That is absolutely beautiful. And I literally was just looking at X 1351 in the Greek text when you were, when you were chatting. 

[00:17:20] And it's just absolutely beautiful. That little conclusion, they went to Iconium and, and so you get that. Okay. Okay. All right. We're not done. we're just rejecting this rejection and we're going to move on and we're going to move on to the next place and we're gonna, we're gonna see what, what the Lord does. 

[00:17:40] And, and I, and I love that. And of course, you, you and I will, will sort of lean into the, into the chapter. 14 story probably in our next podcast. But chapter 14 verse 1 starts in the most gorgeous way. It says, At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual to the Jewish synagogue. Right? So again, chapter division, heading division is, is not helping us here. 

[00:18:07] And the danger is we finish. Chapter 13 verse 52, have our coffee break, have a 24 hour break in between picking up chapter 14 and you've missed the drama at the end of chapter 13, the shaking of the dust and the feeling, Oh, has, has Paul rejected the Jewish world? No, in the very next verse, he goes to a Jewish synagogue as was. 

[00:18:28] His custom, as was usual, almost an echo gain of the Jesus of Luke's gospel. Jesus who went into the synagogue as was his custom. So, so, if there's any doubt in a generic rejection, Luke knocks it straight on the head in verse 1 of chapter 14, and I think we have to really be careful about taking the dust shaking stuff further than it was intended to go, and I think, I love your language, and I would absolutely grab that, I'd never thought of it like that or phrased it like that. 

[00:19:08] I, my, my phraseology would have been they, they, they rejected the worldview or they rejected the conclusion. But I love what you say, the rejection of the rejection. They are shaking the dust off to the rejection. They go down the road to Iconium and the first thing they do, right, let's go back to a Jewish community and see, see what happens. 

[00:19:25] So, so. That really helps us. And again, any accusation of anti semitism, I think, look, a gentile writer is working very, very hard to show this is not an anti semitic agenda. This is a Jesus agenda, desperately trying to pull every Jewish man, woman, boy and girl into his light carrying mission. But those who reject it, okay, we reject the rejection and we'll move on to the next group and see what they think. 

[00:19:56] David: And there's, there's also like, I feel like there's a pastoral comment in it, John as well. And I want to be cognizant of, people's pain and trauma that they've encountered in church settings. Right. But. So, so there's a huge sort of series of caveats that I hope people will be generous enough to give me that they're, I'm not denying that people are hurt in churches. 

[00:20:24] I'm not denying that people are hurt by other Christians. I mean, how could I deny that, right? This is so obvious and sometimes grievously so, but there's something powerful about the shaking of your feet, the dust off your feet here, because there's almost a sense wherein it allows. Paul and Barnabas to not take this rejection of the rejection allows them to not be grieved by it. 

[00:20:49] Right. In that sense. And this is so, I meet a lot of people and could have leaned in those places myself before where people from a particular organization, a particular group, the church generally have hurt me. And. And, what comes up in my heart is like, well, forget them then, right? Like, like I'm done with them. 

[00:21:11] And, and then I start to judge other people through the lens of, of. Of that, of that experience, and and there are situations where whole organizations are problematic, but generally speaking, and again, I'm, I'm, I hear my caution in saying this because I'm not trying to let anyone off the hook, but generally speaking there, my experiences suggested that. 

[00:21:38] The vast majority of people in churches are trying to be good and serve Jesus, right? And so when you encounter somebody hurtful, it's an exception, not the rule. But it's so, so easy to just. I decided that must be the rule and I'm not, I'm not doing anything anymore. And, and, and I love this idea of having, let me say it like this, have some sort of ceremony. 

[00:22:02] If even just for yourself, that when you draw lines and conclusions over some things to almost try and decide, I'm not going to take that with me now. I'm, I'm, I'm going to let them, I'm shaking this dust because you don't want me. But I'm not taking this rejection on my journey, and, and I think, and I'm, I'm, I'm playing amateur psychologist here, but I love the fact that Paul and Barnabas get to Iconium and they're like, Oh, well, let's go back to the synagogue then. 

[00:22:29] And 
 

[00:22:29] John: That's right. Exactly. 

[00:22:31] David: do all the same stuff again, because they've not carried, they've not judged the people of Iconium based on what they've just encountered. I feel like therapeutically and pastorally, don't be unwise, don't, don't be silly. Don't keep opening yourself up to hurts that you can't handle, but also actually have something that helps you say, I'm just stepping away from that now. 

[00:22:55] And I'm, and I'm going to actively choose to not take that with me on the journey. I mean, am I being too unkind?  

[00:23:03] John: No, I, I, I think that's beautiful. And I, I think that really does join the end of 13 to the beginning of 14. How can you, um, aggressively, it seems, With an aggressive gesture of shaking dust off your of your feet, which, you know, in a Semitic world in a Jewish world in a in a Middle Eastern world, the fact that your feet aren't even worthy of the dust or sorry, your dust is not even worthy of the feet is like pretty strong language on even today. 

[00:23:37] Still, taking your sandal off and throwing it at someone, or hitting them with your shoe would be regarded as a humongous insult in the context of still of that world. So, so the fact that they're able to, like, at one level, shake the dust off and in almost the next breath, go to a Jewish community and just start again, means they have resolved that conflict within themselves. 

[00:24:00] They have, they've differentiated between an opinion and a person. And I think that's really important. I think one of the terrible, terrible traps I've fallen into sometimes is that I, I get hurt by someone and then I say, Oh, they're all the same now. I would never articulate that, but in my mind I'm going, Oh, well, that's what they're like. 

[00:24:25] David: Yes. 
 

[00:24:25] John: And of course, what I've done is I've connected one particular person from a particular community or worldview. And I've then generically. Placed my rejection of their idea on everyone associated with that community. Which then, if Paul and Barnabas would have done that, then I, chapter 14 verse 1 doesn't happen, 

[00:24:49] David: Yes. Yes. 

[00:24:50] John: or it doesn't happen in the way that it happens. 

[00:24:53] So a community and Iconium end up missing out here in the gospel because We got trapped by the pain of someone's rejection from a similar community in another part of the world. And, and I think, as you said, and I think you thought you did it very, very sensitively, no one wants to minimize anybody's pain. 

[00:25:18] Pain is pain and there are very real issues. But the idea to be able to then distinguish between Sort of the pain, the rejection of an idea on a person and not then allow that to become a marker for other people from that world. So, so the church, one church has hurt me. Therefore, all churches are bad places. 

[00:25:43] I know it's an oversimplification, but But it's that it's rejecting the sort of the idea prevents us from carrying something into a world that will damage the world we're going into, because we end up seeing the world as we are, not just as it is. So if we leave Pisidian Antioch and we go to Iconium, carrying the pain of that rejection, we carry that rejection into Iconium. 

[00:26:11] And then the Iconium people suffer because of something that happened up the road. So it's a terrible, it's a terrible challenge. It's, but it's what we must grapple with. And I think Paul and Barnabas in this context are, are grappling with it. As somebody once said to me again in a, in a business context, he said, as a businessman, he said, for me, no, it's just another word. 

[00:26:33] If people say no, I just move on until I find someone who says yes. So he doesn't take no personally. And I think Paul and Barnabas seem to be doing that, David. 

[00:26:44] David: Mm. Yes. And that's, that's the, the genius, I think, of what we're seeing with them enacting Jesus's work here is, is, is leave that with God and then carry on with what God's called you to do. And it's. And that's, and that's where, and it's a, it's a difficult thing for you and I, as two pastors, male pastors that, that, we see the same news stories that our listeners see, and they're, some of them are awful and you're like, my goodness, these, these people that have just brought so much pain and devastation to people's lives, disrepute to the church of Jesus. 

[00:27:22] And, and, And, but I want to keep confessing that, we have possibly encountered bad leaders in our life, undoubtedly. And this is unacceptable and it's, I tell you, it's unacceptable to Jesus more than it's unacceptable to us. You know what I mean? So we know that, but I also know, and I want to state this and confess this, that the vast majority of pastors, the utter vast majority of pastors, if you go to their church. 

[00:27:52] They want to love you, care for you, and see you grow in, as a follower of Jesus. And, and I would say the highest likelihood is if you just randomly walk into a church, that's what you'll encounter. They might not do it the way that you agree with theologically, stylistically, program, wise. 

[00:28:10] But I think... I, I spend a lot of time with pastors and that's what, that's what's in all of their hearts, and so, there is always that sense, and this is what you see with, with, with Paul here, isn't it? If he shakes his, his, his feet and shakes the dust off his feet, he's now... Rejects a whole group of people from finding the love of Jesus, if he decides they're all the same and and what I love is if we go and read Romans and you get through to Romans chapter nine, 10 and 11, you realize that Paul has not, has not given up on his people, you know what I mean? 

[00:28:50] Like he is absolutely committed to them to quite gorgeous ways, isn't he? 

[00:28:55] John: Absolutely. And again, just, just forgive me for repeating this, but when we, when we get to the end of chapter 14, I think at that stage they, they reach Derby and from Derby back to Antioch. That is Syrian Antioch, not Pisidian Antioch, where we are now, but from Derby back to Antioch. The quickest route is via Tarsus straight 

[00:29:17] across,  

[00:29:18] David: Yeah. 
 

[00:29:19] John: Paul and Barnabas go back the way they've came. 

[00:29:22] And one of the places they return to is Pisidian Antioch. They return to the same place, and they're there to both strengthen the brothers and sisters, but also to proclaim the good news. So again, even geographically, they haven't shaken the dust off. 

[00:29:38] David: Amazing, isn't 

[00:29:39] John: And it reinforces the idea that actually it is possible to shake your dust off the, the, the, the rejection of something you believe in, but that not become a crippling condition. 

[00:29:55] or debilitating position in your own life that stops you being effective and generous even, even in, in, in the places where you experience that rejection. And, and the light of the gospel, if it is nothing else, is gloriously, magnificently persistent and generous. And, and, and even Even where there have been rejections, the gospel still has the power to find light and life and give those who perhaps even originally rejected it the opportunity to hear again and receive again. 

[00:30:34] So, so I, I love the generosity of this, even though it's a potentially awkward moment in the text. If we keep reading and see the trajectory actually there's more to this than meets the eye 

[00:30:46] David: Yes, no, absolutely. I love, I love that. And, and, and, and, and God gives us wisdom and guidance and there's, there's markers that we can see, as Paul will discover, you can head back to a region, give them a second chance and see that we're still still not safe space for me. So I don't think the gospel would ever, want you to ignore. 

[00:31:06] I mean, I think about, I think about how in Proverbs talks about a dog returning to its vomit. There's that. Like, I think we're allowed to use our wisdom to go, okay, I'm rejecting this rejection, but I'm also not a punching bag, and I'm not going to but you know, perhaps this, this might be a fun little space to land this, this episode. 

[00:31:24] John I don't know that we often read this text exactly like this, but I feel like it's appropriate for this moment. If you go to the end of Romans chapter eight, um, but let's just read it as it's written, not as it, not as it's versified. So there's the bit that almost. Every Christian knows in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

[00:31:46] Then Paul says in verse 38, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I am speaking the truth in Christ, and I am not lying. 

[00:32:06] My conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people. My kindred, according to the flesh, they are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises to them belong the patriarchs and from them, according to the flesh comes the Messiah who is overall God be blessed forever. 

[00:32:38] John: Wow. Beautiful. 

[00:32:40] David: And it's interesting to me that we often don't read the run on of that. We stop at separate us in the love of God in Christ Jesus. But note that little amen there that Paul is, Paul's not, he's not done. And what we see is this man that shakes the dust off his feet, he, he rejects the rejection, but he does not reject the people. 

[00:32:58] And in fact, he's willing to even say. If there was a trade possible, I would trade myself for the people of Israel, and, and I think, I think there's a gorgeousness to that, that let us not misrepresent this story here because even we see now years later, this apostle, this is still still on his heart to carry those people..