Jesus For Sex Workers, Church People, and Me

In the opening episode of Season 2, we step into a world on the brink of collapse—political violence, religious certainty, and a people desperate for God to step in. As competing voices promise salvation through power, John Mark offers a better, but unsettling, alternative.

His observations may hit closer to home than we’d like.

Mark 1:1–15

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Most Christians see resurrection as something that happens after we die — the promise of heaven in the sweet by-and-by. But what if that’s only half the story? In the final episode of Season One, we return to the mountain with Jesus and discover that resurrection isn’t just our future hope — it’s a present reality. The kingdom of heaven has already begun breaking into this world, and we’re invited to live its life now: to be transformed, to love our neighbors, and to help bring God’s will to earth as it is in heaven.

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Good Church People have a problem with legalism. It’s a problem they recognize, but they can’t seem to rid themselves of it.

The source of their legalism is in a place they’re afraid to look. It’s in the black box at the core of their faith. The black box that tells them who God is, and what He is like. Maybe it’s time to open that box, face the fear, and see God for who He really is—and finally be released from this nightmare once and for all.

In this episode we look at the crucifixion in Matthew 26—27.

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Here is a link to the podcast episode on the Atonement that my friend Davey Hibbett shared with me: https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/lordofspirits/the_priest_shall_make_atonement/

Is it a persistent illusion, or delusion, that we see ourselves as inherently better than the ancient followers of God? We scoff at their faithlessness. Why couldn’t they see the truth of what was going on? Why didn’t they listen to the prophets? Why did they worship those silly idols?

We think if we had lived back then, we would have done better.

But the reality is that we’re no different from them. We share the same tendencies, and we’re just as blind to those tendencies as they were.

The anti-beatitudes in Matthew 23 should open our eyes to the fact that we need to be making some changes.

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Good church people say they revere scripture, but they don’t read it very well. Perhaps that explains why they don’t bother to read it very often, either. When you read the gospel of Matthew like it was intended to be read, as a single document, you start to notice themes that you don’t see when you reduce it to the twelve verse vignettes we see in most Sunday schools.

Like the theme we see repeated throughout Matthew 13—22. These ten chapters are all about the same thing, and it’s one of Matthew’s central ideas. But it’s likely not something you learned about in church. Maybe it’s time to dust off this book, and give it another look.

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Who are the first twelve people you meet in the Kingdom of Heaven? And what can they tell us about who this kingdom is for?

Good church people think they know the answer—at least to the second question. And their answer explains why the church looks the way it does today.

In Matthew 8—11, Jesus issues his first invitations for people to join him in this kingdom. Based on his choices, it seems pretty clear that his kingdom isn’t going to look much like our churches after all.

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In the war to make America safe again for Christianity it seems like for every two steps we gain, we take five steps back.

We’ve been doing the same things over and over again, expecting different results. Some would say that’s the definition of insanity, but others would say we just need to try a little harder, for a little longer. Who are we supposed to believe?

In Matthew 7:13–27, Jesus tells us how to know who to follow.

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After 50 years of all-out war, who is winning? And, remind me, who are we supposed to be fighting?

And, who is the Golden Rule supposed to be applied to? Just the people on our side?

Good church people have gotten pretty far off track in all the fighting. Maybe Matthew 6:1–8, 16–23, and 7:1–14 will help remind us of what needs to change, and who needs to do the changing.

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In this new Kingdom of Heaven, what are the standards of crime and punishment? Of law and order?

One of the problems church people have with Jesus’s radically simplified law code is that it seems ready-made for people to take advantage of. We can see the need for mercy and forgiveness, but only for those who seem to be on the right path.

In Matthew 5:48, 6:12, 14–15, and 18:21–35 Jesus gives us a wake up call about his limits.

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There are 613 statutes in the ancient Hebrew law. How many are there in the new law?

It depends on who you ask. Church people will give you different answers, depending on what flavor of church—what denomination—they happen to be a part of. This is one of the fundamental clues pointing to how they misunderstand Jesus and his priorities.

It turns out that his answer to the question is as shocking as it is liberating. Join us as we look at what he says in Matthew 5:13–48.

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