Hi everyone, welcome to this bonus episode of the Daily Gospel Exegesis podcast. So in today's episode. Like we do sometimes, we. Want to go through some feedback that I've received here at the Ministry and once again the point of this. Is really to? Show you what can happen when people have the tools to understand the Word of God and to study the Word of God in more
depth. The Word of God we believe is Catholics is alive and active, and it has amazing results when people are willing to hear the Word of God explained faithfully and in a more more than a superficial way. Amazing stuff happens which you may not think is the case. Sometimes people are discouraged from doing serious academic Bible study because they're afraid that it might make things less spiritual or or make them more likely to doubt the faith.
But I've found here time and time again that the opposite is the case. When people are able to hear the Word of God explained and they're given tools to understand the Word of God in a deeper way themselves, amazing stuff happens. So you'll hear a few stories from people today who've written into the ministry in recent months. And thank you so much to all of those who do reach out to the ministry with your stories and your feedback. I do read each one of them.
We don't always have time to cover all of them in these bonus episodes, but again, I want to encourage each of you who are listening, use the skills that God has given you to serve the people of God. That's what I'm trying to do with this podcast. And as you can see, God has taken the small grain that I'm able to offer and he's made it grow into amazing things that has touched many people's lives. And that's what we're all called to do as Catholics.
So firstly, this first bit of feedback is from Maricella, she says as a cradle. Catholic. I'm amazed as to how much I'm learning now in my older years. Your work is amazing and changing my life into a true believer and follower of Christ our Lord. The explanations are clear and thought provoking for me to reflect on my daily life. So thank. You so much Maricela, and isn't that amazing?
She has been a cradle Catholic, but she's now in her older years and now she's just hearing the word of God explained in this way for the first time. And as she says, it's changing her into a true believer and follower of Christ. That is amazing. And that is the ultimate purpose
of this podcast. It's to bring people into a deeper relationship with Christ. The next bit of feedback I want to share with you is an interesting comment that I've received here on Patreon. And this is one of these ones where sometimes listeners will write in with a different interpretation from what I've often in one of the episodes. And it makes me think a bit more and dig a dig a bit more because this particular one I hadn't heard before.
So Bonnie wrote in to talk about the line Jesus says on the cross, Eli, Eli Lama Sabachthani, which is typically in most translations. It's then give the translation is given by the gospel authors as my God, my God, why have you forsaken me so? Bonnie says the Aramaic translation via Doctor Neil Douglas Klotz is my God, my God.
For this I was spared. Therefore, Jesus was not expressing despair and doubt because he knew that he had not been forsaken by the Father. Rather, he was emphasizing what he knew, that he came into the world to do, the will of the Father, which was to give his own life in reparation for the sin of the world, the world which gods so loved.
Jesus understood and accepted his destiny, and when he cried out to the Father, he was punctuating his yes, his Fiat, his surrender to the will of the Father. In no conceivable circumstance would God forsake or abandoned his beloved Son. Ancient Semitic languages such as Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic proved challenging to later scholars or scribes who attempted to translate Jesus Aramaic into Greek. Thank you logical Bible study. I listen to your exegesis every day now.
This is one of these ones where if you're a listener and you're a faithful Catholic and you've been studying the word of God for a while, hopefully as I was reading that out, you should be starting to formulate how you might respond to a claim like this, that the, the translation should be my God, my God. For this I was spared. The first thing to say is sometimes when you hear these, these cool claims, you will sometimes be tempted to think, oh, that's really cool, That's
amazing. And you'd be tempted to think some new discovery has been made that that we should accept. But when you dig a bit deeper, you'll discover that this is really not a well regarded translation. So firstly, think about what's the motivation for translating My God, My God For this I was spared rather than my God, My God, why has thou forsaken me? What's the motive for translating Eli, Eli Lama Sobakhtani that way?
Well, it's probably theological. It's probably because the translator doesn't like the implication that Jesus is saying God has abandoned him and they're trying to find another way of translating the text which which avoids that. And that's exactly what Bonnie hints at in this comment here.
So she says here that the reason that we've that scholars have translated it wrong for all these years is because ancient Semitic languages proved challenging to later scholars or scribes who attempted to translate Jesus Aramaic into Greek. Now the problem with that is what are the Gospels? The Gospels are written in Greek and occasionally what they do is they record the Jesus original words in Aramaic, particularly when they think Jesus says
something really important. They include the original Aramaic and then they include a translation into Greek. Now she says here later translators, but that in itself is not correct. It's not later translators or
scribes. It's the actual Gospel authors themselves who are doing the translation from Aramaic into Greek. So what we'd have to say is that the Gospel authors themselves were struggling to translate the Aramaic. That's an interesting claim, but as I dug a bit deeper into this, I discovered that this is not a well regarded translation. Virtually no scholar supports this translation into My God, My God. For this I was spared. There's really only a couple
that have suggested that. And in fact, this translation from Doctor Neil is not a direct translation from the Aramaic. It's a translation from Syriac, which is a related language, but it's not the language that Jesus spoke. So you can see that this translation is a little bit far
fetched. This is the kind of feedback I really enjoy interacting with because it's an opportunity to teach the audience how to evaluate claims like this, the kind of tools we can use when we hear a claim that may not be exactly right, but it but it has some appeal to it. And I always enjoy doing things like this.
So whenever you have an alternate translation that I haven't offered as part of the podcast and you think there might be something to it, please feel free to write in and then we can discuss it in one of these episodes here. We've got a brief comment here from I Am Key on Patreon. They say I cannot tell you how much I've learned through your podcast. I cannot get enough. And I tell everyone about the exegesis. Every Catholic needs this. Well, thank you so much for that
wonderful feedback. I'm glad to hear that you were benefiting from it. Deb wrote in to say the exegesis is on my daily routine through Hello. I learned so much and really look forward to listening every day. Thank you for your tremendous effort to bring context to the Gospel. Thanks again, Deb, and I'm glad that this is one of the many resources that you're using as part of your morning routine.
By the way, Hello has a really cool feature where you can sort of add a group of shows that you like and turn it into a routine. So hello, the, the app will actually present you this series of your favorite shows in whatever order you like as part of a routine. It's well worth checking out on the Hello app. Chris, a supporter on Patreon says I've been listening for about a year. I've learned so much and continue to learn. My kids listen to it with me while we drive to school.
Chris, that is fantastic to hear that you and your kids are doing this as something together and that you are allowing your your kids to learn the Catholic faith in this deeper way. Thanks so much for writing in, Chris. We've got this amazing comment that's been left here on Apple Podcasts from N Clark. This podcast has made me look
forward to my mornings. I've been a Catholic since birth and even attended Catholic school many years ago, but I've learned more in the few months I've been listening to this podcast each morning. In fact, it's inspired me to look into getting another degree in theology. Your work is such a blessing. That is fantastic to hear and thank you so much for leaving that five star review on Apple Podcasts. I definitely would encourage you
to do some theology study. I've done quite a bit myself and there's always new things that you can learn by doing formal theology study and I'm glad this podcast has been part of your journey. We've got a comment here from Jeremiah on Apple Podcasts who says this is the best examinations of the Gospels of Jesus Christ. They say I wish I could give it seven stars. The presenter takes a deep dive into the daily Gospel readings of the Catholic Church by giving a word for word exegesis of the
literal meaning of the text. It's as if he takes our 21st century's eyes and gives us 1st century reading glasses to examine the Gospels with. He does a very thorough job of giving all sides viewpoints where translations or scholarly debates differ. If you're searching for the truth, you can find it right here. 20 to 30 minutes every day. This is the best examination of the Gospels of Jesus I have found.
Wow. Well thank you so much for that great review Jeremiah. I love that analogy have of the podcast helps people have 1st century glasses to understand the the gospels in their original context. That is one of the goals of the podcast. And by the way, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, one of the best ways you can support the ministry is by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts.
Leave a five star review or whatever, however many stars you think it's worth, and a comment so that people who are interested in exploring the Gospels but don't know where to start, they might encounter this podcast through a search on Apple Podcasts and they might be able to scroll to your comment to see if it's the kind of podcast that they do want to give a listen to. And often the best feedback or the best way to promote the podcast is people's honest
stories about how they're benefiting from the podcast. So please consider leaving a positive review on whatever platform you're listening on. It really does make a difference. One more bit of feedback from Apple Podcasts from Brainy Baby. I initially heard this podcast on radio, Radio Maria Australia and now listen daily on Apple Podcasts. May God continue to bless this ministry. It is truly one-of-a-kind and very much needed for both Christians and non Christians.
Thank you very much for all that you do. Thank you so much for that comment. And Radio Maria Australia is a radio channel in Australia. It's a little bit like EWTN in the USA where has a whole lot of Catholic podcasts that it gets out into the airwaves in the eastern part of Australia. And if you're an Australian listener, you should be able to get access to the Radio Maria radio channel and it's also on their website as well.
So if you are interested in radio channels, this might be one that's worth checking out in Australia. The next bit of feedback I want to share, and this is amazing feedback, so I want to share this entire e-mail in full. It's from Audrey, my name is Audrey. I just wanted to express my gratitude for your podcast. I found it just over a year ago after the Bible in a year and have been listening to it daily ever since.
As a medical student, free time doesn't exist, so I'm grateful for an audio program that has already done the research and background for me so that I have no excuse to let my faith studies slip. I'm so grateful that I can start every single day with the Word of God and have immediate explanations line by line. The real incredible blessing is the impact your podcast has had on my family. I introduced your work to my parents, and they've similarly
been listening daily. My father is a Lutheran, and he's one of the biggest supporters of your work. In fact, when I'm home, he reminds me to do our daily exegesis. When I'm at school, they listen faithfully, too. And just the other day, at the end of the Bread of Life discourse, he expressed to my mum and I how he feels he never understood the true nature of the Eucharist and Christ's presence. He's now the most Catholic Lutheran you could meet.
He even said how the links you made to the Catechism are the first times he's heard the Catechism and heartily agrees with almost every teaching lead laid forth. It's thanks to your biblical scholarship and clear and truthful presentation of the exegesis that has opened his heart and squashed misunderstandings. My mum's relief and shock after 25 years of marriage disagreeing over these issues was an extra blessing to see. Your podcast has been a blessing to my family and I'm certain for
many others. I hope God continues to use your work to help more than just Catholics to better learn the faith and grow in our walk with the Lord. Thank you for all the effort and care you put into this intensive project. We can see and hear the quality and dedication you have. Audrey, thank you so much for that wonderful feedback. This is amazing to hear how the
podcast is help. Well, firstly, it's helping you have good conversations with your parents about the faith, but also your dad who's a Lutheran. This podcast is helping him understand Catholic teachings for the very first time. I love how you talked about the bread of life discourse. Indeed, I've found that the Bread of life discourse for a lot of Catholics, it's something they know about. They know that it talks about the Eucharist, but very rarely do we get the opportunity to dig
into it line by line. And here your feedback shows that when we do are willing to do these studies, it really does support the Catholic position and it helps non Catholics understand things and be willing to to be more open to the Catholic faith. Often you'll hear this idea that Catholics don't really do Bible studies. That's a Protestant thing and sometimes that's quite true.
But hopefully feedback like this encourages you that when we are willing to do true Catholic Bible studies, that actually helps other Christians see that we're serious about the Bible and that we do have biblical support for our positions. So I'd encourage all of you as listeners to consider getting involved in a local Bible study or starting one if there's not
one in your local area. Small group Bible studies continue to make a massive difference in the Catholic Church, but there needs to be more of us who are willing to make these things happen. So thank you so much for that wonderful feedback, Audrey. The next bit of feedback here is from John on Patreon. He says, I think you're doing an incredible job through your podcast and exegesis to help
people deepen their faith. I hope your ministry is so successful that you're eventually able to exegesis all of the New Testament letters and books and then the Old Testament too. Thanks so much, John. That is the plan. If we are able to keep the ministry going, I would love to be able to continue to do other books of the New Testament. We're currently working on the book of. Acts. So there will be some exegesis episodes for the Book of Acts
coming out very soon. The response from people to the exegesis episodes of the Gospels has been really popular and positive. So that's been a great blessing and encouragement to keep doing the rest of the New Testament using this same format and style.
So if you've been a supporter of the ministry for a while, keep an eye out for some announcements in the coming months about how you can get access to an exegesis of the book of Acts. And then if all goes well with the ministry, we'll then be able to move on to Paul's letters and other books of the New Testament. So there's some exciting things in the pipeline, God willing.
And it's you guys as the listeners who make that possible, particularly those who are able to financially support the ministry through the Patreon page. And if you're interested in supporting the ministry in that way, there's a link in the episode description. Next, we've got some feedback here from Steve. He says I've been enjoying your podcast very much. I have really learned a lot and it has become part of my daily routine since early in the year. I especially enjoy your approach
and flow of the podcast. That starts with understanding and reflecting on the context of the passage before digging in, but then also how the other gospels treat the same story. I think this allows us to get a more comprehensive picture and
helps me learn more. Thanks so much for that feedback, Steve. And yeah, what I often want to do in this podcast is when we're looking at a particular passage from one of the gospels, it's always worth cross checking the other gospels to see if they add in information that's not present in the passage that we're currently looking at. Because often that helps fill out the scene and help understand why particular things play out the way they do.
And that's actually a really important part of studying the Gospels is being aware that each of the gospel authors focuses on different aspects of often what is the same situation. Next, we've got a brief comment here from Susan, who's a Patreon supporter. She says, I happened upon this show within the Hello app. I learned so much from it.
The historical and literal commentary helps me to understand why Jesus said the things he did, which at times make no sense to me. I chose to support the ministry because it is in my daily routine. So thank you so much for your support, Susan. Your support really does make a difference to the ministry and indeed, one of the purposes of this podcast is to help you understand why Jesus said things the way he did say it.
Next, I want to share some feedback that's coming from Renee and he's sort of offering a interesting spiritual interpretation based. On what he heard. From the literal sense in one of the podcast episodes here, which I think is worth sharing because often listeners to this podcast will have a sense and make connections with other things in the Bible that I'm not necessarily always aware of or able to bring out in the podcast. So I think this one's worth sharing.
I've been following your program at hello for quite some time, and I believe it serves as a beautiful means of evangelization for those seeking to deepen their Catholic faith. I wanted to share some thoughts on your lesson from the parable
of the Prodigal son. Firstly, I learned from your program that the father instructs his servants to bring the white robe and the signet ring for his lost son, alluding to the Old Testament specifically when Joseph was made second in power only to Pharaoh. Secondly, I mentioned to our pastor that Jesus might have drawn a parallel between this parable and the story of Isaac's sons Esau and Jacob from the Old Testament.
In that narrative, Rebecca favoured Jacob while Isaac favoured Esau. Later, Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a meagre price, much like the prodigal son squanders his father's inheritance, dismissing his older brother's birthright and causing a family grudge. Moreover, Esau, like the older brother in the prodigal Son, grows angry at Jacob for his actions, just as the older brother appeals to their father to celebrate the return of the
prodigal son. Jacob, who received the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant, became the leader of God's people and was renamed Israel. In the old Jewish tradition, celebrations and feasts are essential signs of forgiveness and mark the renewal of new covenants as we see through Israel's story. It's worth noting that this interpretation is personal and not rooted in traditional
biblical scholarship. But I was listening to the story of Isaac through Bible in a year, and it matched coincidentally with the Mass that Sunday which read the parable of the Prodigal Son. So this is a really interesting interpretation. And and well, it's more of a connection rather than interpretation between Jacob and Esau and the two sons in the parable of the prodigal son. And I think it's a really good point, Renee. Maybe Jacob is in a sense a prodigal son.
He certainly squanders his father's inheritance or he abuses it and treats it lightly. But then he later becomes a great model of faith. There's not an exact parallel between every aspect of the Prodigal Son parable, but it's quite possible. That when Jesus gave the parable of the prodigal son, this may have been in the background of people's minds. So well done on picking that up and thank you for sharing it. Renee. This is a brief e-mail from Bob, who is a Patreon supporter.
She has a really good point here to make about Luke chapter 14, verses 15 to 24, which is the parable of the wedding banquet. And you'll remember that in Luke's version of that parable, at the end of it, the master says to the messengers, because he still wants more people to attend the wedding, he says to the messengers, go out and compel people to come in.
And of course, that word is generated a lot of controversy across theological history because it might imply that a God wants people to be forced into the Kingdom. So Bob says, listening to your exegesis for this reading, I have some thoughts about the word compel. I think it could mean convince as a lawyer presents a convincing case or argument, as an orator persuades his audience, or as a son of God compelled his followers by his very actions. So Barb, I think you're spot on.
And this is the interpretation that I was leaning towards in my exegesis of that text. When it says compel, I think the master doesn't mean go and physically grab them and drag them into their Kingdom. He means persuade, earnestly convince them to come into the Kingdom. I think that's a very good solution. And I think you're spot on there.
And again, this shows the importance of doing exegesis on the gospel text because this is a text which if taken out of context, if that verse is just read as a verse, you could easily say, well, this proves that God goes against people's free will and forces them into the Kingdom.
But if you do good research and access good scholarly perspectives on these things, often you can come to a resolution, which is what I think is the case here with Luke chapter 14. Next, I want to share some feedback here from Jimmy, who is a fellow Australian and a Patreon supporter. I've come to known logical Bible study from the Hollow app. I really appreciate your work and I give thanks to the grace God has given us through you.
I've been a Protestant all my life for 38 years already and after 20 months of exposing myself to contents like yours and some others like sing the Hours and Word on fire, I now find myself attracted to the depth and beauty of Catholic faith and how I helped and how it helped me to get much closer
to God than before. So thank you for that wonderful feedback to me. I'm so glad this podcast is helping you and many others consider the Catholic faith as the true faith that God wants all Christians to become a part of. This is the important work that podcasts like this can do. It can show people that Catholics can interpret the Bible and they can do it in a really dynamic, faithful way that can allow people to
reconsider the Catholic faith. So Jimmy goes on to say talk about his some of the struggles he has as a Protestant. And indeed, I had a phase of my life where I was a Protestant as well as many of the Patreon supporters would know. And you can hear more about that a bit about my own back story through the Patreon page. Since that time, Jimmy and I have been able to have some brief exchanges about some other areas of Catholic theology that he has questions about and that
I've been able to help him with. Lastly, we'll share some brief feedback here from Victoria, who is also a Patreon supporter. She says, thanks so much for how you have helped me to grow spiritually. I'm now leading a Bible study at my Anglican church and I'm spreading the word there about your podcast. Thank you so much, Victoria, for your kind feedback and for spreading the word about the
podcast. Hopefully this kind of feedback that we've heard today can show you what a ministry like this can do for Christians of all types. It's not just for Catholics. It's for anyone who wants to study the word of God. Seriously, thank you to all of those who are listening. Thank you for keeping this ministry in your prayers. And for those who have been able to support it financially, thank you so much.
Keep an eye out for more bonus episodes in the coming months where I'll share some more questions and more feedback and some news about some things the ministry is doing. We'll see you next time.