Isaiah cries that God has hidden God’s face. The miraculous deeds of the past have ended. Yet, Isaiah is confident that God is the potter and God’s people are the clay, which Jonathan and Seth discuss in more detail.

Jesus' story of the sheep and the goats continues Matthew's theme of Emmanuel, God-with-us. Jesus is with us in the hungry, thirsty, outcast, naked, sick, and imprisoned. Jonathan and Seth explore how the disarming simplicity of providing food or a drink to someone can complement reforming entire systems.

Psalms 120-134 are Songs of Ascent, which were sung as pilgrims went up to Jerusalem, which sat on a hill. These Psalms combine praise with poetic descriptions of Israel's past; they describe where the people of Israel are going and where they've been. With Psalm 123 as a guide, Jonathan and Seth discuss the state of the Church and where it needs reform.

Jesus’ parable of the 10 bridesmaids cautions us to stay awake and be prepared because “you do not know the day or the hour” (25:13). Jonathan and Seth try to read against the grain while wrestling with the parable in light of God’s love.

Micah rails against Israel's injustice as the Assyrian army encroaches. He blames the oppression by influential rulers, priests, and prophets for Israel's situation. We discuss the failure of those in power to listen to the needs of people "who [can] put nothing into their mouths" (3:5).

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus answers with two of them: love God and love your neighbor. Jonathan and Seth discuss how these two commandments are intertwined. They also disagree about which gospel is the greatest.

In what might be the oldest book in the New Testament, Paul praises the Thessalonians for being models to others in their region. Jonathan and Seth discuss what being a model might look like and how the early, persecuted Jesus-followers differ from the contemporary Church.

Paul writes to the Philippians from prison; the letter-carrier, Epaphroditus, almost dies during his journey (Phil. 2:25-30). Yet Paul's letter is characterized by joy. Jonathan and Seth discuss what rejoicing in the Lord looks like and how admonitions to "Rejoice!" land differently depending on the position of the sender and recipient.

Jonathan and Seth welcome their longtime friend, Jared Lorraine, to the podcast. We discuss how the Sabbath disconnects what people produce from their value and how rest relates to equity and justice.

Our discussion briefly comments on the book Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now by Walter Brueggemann, which is available from an independent bookseller here: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780664263294

Just after this short section, Joshua is appointed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land instead of Moses. Jonathan and Seth talk about preparing for one's successors and having bifocal-like vision that sees both immediate and long-term goals.