Assumptions About the Woman at the Well (John 4)

Barrett: Hello and welcome to the PS Podcast. That's post-sermon podcast. For those of you listening and watching and however else you're taking this all in. My name's Barrett. I'm one of the ministers at McDermott Road Church of Christ in Plano, Texas. Joined as always by our preaching minister, Wes McAdams. How are you, Wes?

Wes McAdams: I am great, Barrett. How are you?

Barrett: I'm doing real well, man. no bumper video today and I like that. So that I get to do a little heavy lifting up top and describe what this podcast have you ever wanted to continue a conversation with your preacher after the sermon? Well that's what we're doing today, ladies and gents. I'm excited to get into

Wes McAdams: People that haven't listened to previous episodes are so confused right now what you're talking about.

Barrett: Yeah, well I mean, if they've made it this far, they're gonna be shocked at how good this podcast is when we get a little further in. man, great sermon yesterday. one of my favorite chapters. We were in John chapter four, one of my favorite I hate to say story because it you know, it it's something that really happened and I feel like sometimes we can chalk it up to like a children's story, but one of my favorite stories in scripture, one of my favorite chapters, one of my favorite Narratives maybe is a better word for it, but a really great arc for the woman at the well, a really great example of why Jesus came. so just a great subject matter. And then I thought you did a great job of really challenging us with some unique thoughts. And I know I talked to a at least a couple people, and some of the comments we'll read here in a second where there was some really good questions that came from yesterday's sermons and sermon and some good thoughts. but I was gonna ask you what sort of feedback did you get and how did you feel going into yesterday's sermon?

Wes McAdams: Yeah, I'm I'm always a little bit nervous. This is the s second time I think I've preached this text here at McDermott Road and and I know that I take sort of a unique perspective compared to sermons and lessons that people may have heard in the past, because I don't take the perspective that this was a sinful, awful woman who was an outcast in her community, and we may get into that later in this conversation. But I didn't get a lot of feedback afterwards, which kind of makes me nervous because I I want to hear, even if somebody disagrees, if if somebody takes a different perspective or thinks I went too far or didn't go far enough, I w I wanna hear their their feedback. But I didn't hear a whole lot yesterday, which I guess no news is good news, but I I'm always curious how people are thinking and what questions they're asking. So I really appreciate those that send in their their questions and their thoughts to the podcast. That way we get to talk about it a little bit afterwards.

Barrett: Yeah, for sure. I know when we spoke briefly in between our first and second worship I was like, Hey man, I thought it went really well and you're like, good. I hadn't heard anything, you know, and just kinda

Wes McAdams: It was a relief, yeah.

Barrett: Yeah, sure. The the radio silence can be a little nerve wracking, but I know yesterday was a very full day on our campus and there was a lot of things going on. There were a lot of people here and so I I was very excited that the the sermon was as well received, I think, as it was. But you brought up some emails and people that send in their questions and we encourage everybody every episode to leave comments below, wherever you're listening or watching and send in your questions. I'm sure it's linked below as well. and thanks Wes for making that happen. But yeah, send us your questions. We wanna talk about what you wanna talk about. I think it always makes it more interesting for sure, but and Wes does a great job of dealing with the content that we throw out for him, but we would love to take this in the direction that you guys want to go. I thought that Dwayne had a great comment and compliment, so I wanted to read that for you Wes. Dwayne McNeil, one of our brothers here Said thanks for exposing how we can fall into exegesis of the scripture without historical bias or past common misinterpretations of a text instead of an unbiased and impartial exegesis. this was like a mental rebooting when I study a familiar text, and I love I mean what a banger of a last sentence from Doyen. I loved that because immediately I was like, I need to reboot mentally when I get into really familiar texts, especially if I'm preaching or teaching them.

Wes McAdams: Yeah. Yeah, I really appreciate this comment. And and for those that aren't familiar with the ideas of exegesis and isegesis, exegesis is when you're you're bringing the meaning out of the text, and isegesis is when you're sort of inserting a meaning that's not there. And I think that this is one of those texts that we we sort of read into something that may not actually be there. And people make a lot of assumptions about this woman. And ironically, I think that's what the story is about, is about Making assumptions about people, dismissing people because of their ethnicity or because of their gender, because of where they're from. And we have this tendency to do that even though Jesus is not doing that. He's accepting this woman, even though she's a woman and she's a Samaritan and she's, you know, had five husbands. And we don't know why. But unfortunately, the church over the last 2,000 years, when we read this story, we make assumptions about her and we put labels on her. And I think that's really unfair. And I think it's the opposite of. Of what Jesus is doing in the story. And so I think we have to be really careful to Dwayne's point to bring the meaning out of the text and say what was the author intending to convey? What was John intending to convey, not just by telling us what happened, but in the way he told us what happened. And he's describing certain elements and he's including certain details. And he's probably leaving out certain details for a particular reason because he wants to make a particular point by telling this. this story in this way at this time and he's making that point. And so we we want to try to understand that and get the meaning out of the text without inserting our own ideas into the text.

Barrett: That's great. And I think I read exegesis twice instead of Isegesis. Yeah. I was gonna say, y when

Wes McAdams: That's okay. I knew exactly what you meant 'cause I read Duane's email earlier.

Barrett: you said it, I was like, hmm, that's not what I said. then I thought, Kyle Beard, our middle school minister, he is no longer anonymous. I think he checked anonymous on here, and I apologize, Kyle. I'll never do that again. good.

Wes McAdams: No, he didn't. I gave him a hard time that he didn't, so he he's he's fair game.

Barrett: Perfect, great. Well, I would never read somebody's name on here if they'd marked anonymous, unless it was Kyle Beard. but Kyle, our middle school minister here at McDermott Road, had some really great thoughts and a great question. I think it is a reasonable argument, and I agree with you, that you made about not assuming anything about the woman's past, like we were just talking about on the text. You talked about not assuming or reading into the text about the woman's past. taught, believe her, to have a questionable past because of her actions. You also mentioned the people from the city called Jesus the Savior of the world, which comes from John four forty-two, which was a term used typically for Caesar. That info is not given to us in the Bible either, so why is it okay or permissible to use the outside extra biblical sources for some context and not others? Why do we assume that if she had a questionable past, that she wouldn't have influenced or get the attention of the city when she shared about Jesus? Couldn't her questionable past, in quotes. also cause people to be curious about who Jesus is based on what she was saying. Thanks, bro. Signed off with a thanks bro after all that great thought.

Wes McAdams: Well, I say back to Kyle. Thanks, bro. Good, good question, bro. I I'm I'm really glad that he he submitted this question because I think this is the the question that we need to ask when we're reading scripture. Because when we talk about context, context is more than just the verses that come before and the verses that come after a particular passage. One we're looking at the entire context of the entire book of John. So we're asking, you know, how does John write and and what are some of the details that he includes? Like For instance, the time of day. And he tells us that this particular story, this particular account is happening at noon. And so wh what does that mean? What does he mean by describing that? Well, some people have speculated, well, maybe he's he's including this detail so that we know that this woman is not coming early in the morning or late in the afternoon or the evening when most people would come to get water because those were the cooler parts of the day. Well, if she's not coming during those parts of the day, maybe she's coming because she's a social outcast and she is has been rejected by her community and and that's because she's been divorced so many times. Well, again, as I said in the sermon yesterday, that's reading a lot into the text. Should we really conclude that she's coming at noon because she's a social outcast? Well, is it possible that people would come to the well at other times other than early in the morning or late in the afternoon? Sure. It's not always hot in in Palestine. It's not always hot in Samaria in the first century. It's not always summer. There are other times where it would have been perfectly reasonable to come to the the well at the sixth hour or at noon. That would have been completely reasonable at many times. So we have to be careful not to speculate so much that we build an entire case around a detail or even a historical note. So, yes, it it is. Possible to take a historical note and say, well, most people at most times in this area, they got w water early in the morning or late in the evening, and they didn't typically come at noon. And it's okay to take note of that. But if you're going to build an entire case around that, to have your entire lesson so be supported by that cultural or historical detail, you need to be very careful that that's what the author was intending to convey with that. I mentioned, as as Kyle mentioned in his email, I mentioned also that the Samaritans said that Jesus was the savior of the world and how that phrase was often used for Caesar, for the emperor, that he's savior of the world. And and my point in saying that was simply to say that Jesus is savior in more ways than simply The forgiver of sins. Yes, he is the forgiver of sins, but he is also the rescuer, the redeemer, the liberator. He is all of those things that Caesar claimed to be, and Jesus really is. But I wouldn't want to build an entire case around this is why John included that detail, or this is why the Samaritans use that particular phrase. I wouldn't want my entire lesson to hinge on that extra biblical detail. Because I while I do think that there is good historical cultural context and reason to say this is probably what they meant when they said this. Like he's the king, he's the anointed one, he's the Christ, he's the Messiah, and Caesar is not the savior of the world. Jesus is the savior of the world. I I think that is probably what they meant. But I I wouldn't want to press that so hard that my entire case stands or falls on that particular point, because again. To his point, I am using extra biblical sources to support that idea. So we do need to we do need to take historical and cultural context into consideration when we're interpreting a text, but we need to be very careful that we sort of hold that with an open hand to say this is a possibility, this is one possible way of reading the text. But we need to be really careful that we don't make our entire case hinge on something that we're we're trying to draw from history or culture. That can inform our interpretation, but we need to be really careful that it doesn't all stand or fall on that. And I feel like a lot of people, when they say, Well, she was an outcast, their entire case is standing

Barrett: Mm-hmm.

Wes McAdams: on the the possibility that she wouldn't have otherwise come to the well at noon. And I I just don't think the text supports that idea.

Barrett: No, that's great. I I'm curious, and we do have another email comment to get to, but I'm curious what made you kind of pull back those assumptions in the first like the first time you had that thought, the first time that you got into that, like where did that come from to say like, hey, you know, what what led you, I'll phrase it this way, to re examine, you know, that way of thinking, those popular assumptions, and how did you, you know, strip that down, get away from the stereotypes? And how did that view change for you?

Wes McAdams: Yeah, I d I don't know. I that's a great question. I I one of the first books I remember reading with this particular idea. And when I say this particular idea, I just mean sort of like you said, stripping down the assumptions that we tend to make about this woman that that she must have been married five times because she was adulteress or because she was a social outcast, because she was a a bad person and that she had done something sinful and wicked, and that's why she was divorced so many times and that's why she came to the well at this particular time. When I started to question those assumptions, I don't know if this was the first time, but I I read a book called The Jewish Gospel of John. And really it was written from a Jewish perspective and saying that John was probably writing to a a Jewish audience, Jud Jewish as in the diaspora, the the Jews that are living outside of of this particular place in Judea. And he's writing to these These Jewish people around the world and helping them to understand that Jesus is the Messiah, He's the Christ. And and he was really sort of questioning some of those assumptions that we make about the the text. And I don't know if I was before that or if that just confirmed what I was had maybe heard from someone else. I don't remember the first time I began to question that. But yeah, when you start to question and say, well, wait a second. Do we really have evidence to support that? Now, maybe, again, maybe it is true. Maybe she was coming at noon because she was a social outcast. Who knows? I don't know. But but if she was a social outcast, it makes it hard for me to believe that she could go into her town and say, Hey, come meet this man who told me everything I ever did, and everybody would listen to her and follow her if if they didn't like her, if she was so such a social pariah that that She had to go to the well at a completely different time. Why are they suddenly going to listen to her? That doesn't make any sense. And even if that is true, is that how John is painting this woman? And when we really listen to the way John is painting this picture, he's giving us the view of a woman who is very theologically astute. Like she's hungry, she's

Barrett: Right.

Wes McAdams: thirsty, she's knowledgeable, she knows the scriptures, she's waiting for the Messiah, she wants to be. Where God is, she doesn't seem like a wicked woman. And and if that if that was the case, that she was rejected by her community, I just don't know I just don't know why John would describe it the way that or describe her the way that he does. It seems like he would have been more explicit if that's what he was trying to say.

Barrett: This is a great time to remind our audience, both listening and watching, that this is a free podcast. Can you believe that? That's one of my favorite compliments to you. I just can't believe we get all this for free. I can't believe I worked down the hallway from you. Wow. let's go back to our email from Arella Collins. she says, hi again. Thank you for the encouraging sermon, Wes and Arela. Yeah. Dude, I

Wes McAdams: And wait, wait, wait, Barrett, I I have to I have to say it's Arela. Aurela, yeah. She she's she's probably yeah, and I I say

Barrett: I'm so glad you heard me.

Wes McAdams: that because Arela is is one of our top commenters at this point. I think she gets the she gets the prize. Yeah, absolutely. If anybody wants to

Barrett: Yeah, three weeks in a row. She does, absolutely.

Wes McAdams: challenge her for the top spot, they they got some work cut out for them 'cause I think Arela has the has the title right now.

Barrett: Yeah. I give it to her. we need we need to make it an announcement about that probably. That'd

Wes McAdams: Right.

Barrett: be fun. I got an idea, we'll do it later. But Arela says hi again. Thank you for the encouraging sermon, Wes. You may have touched on this and I might have missed it due to seeing about my children, which is a real nice way she phrased that. she was probably checking on those kids. I know they keep her busy, but I wanted to ask more about why Jews and Samaritans didn't have dealings with one another, even though Jacob was an ancestor of both groups. She says, I could Google it, but I trust your understanding more than Google, which I think is very funny. Funny and I like that. So yeah, why don't the Jews and Samaritans have any dealings with one another?

Wes McAdams: These questions this week are perfect examples of why this podcast exists, because this is all information I wanted to get into, as in particular this

Barrett: Sure.

Wes McAdams: question of why don't the Jews and the S Samaritans have dealings with one another. I wanted to get into this historical information, but there just wasn't time in the sermon. And we're really trying to do this friends and family month. And so I'm hoping that we have guests that maybe this is their first time at church. And I don't know how much historical detail to to jump into. But yeah, this is a Phenomenal question. So the Samaritan people were are descendants of of Abraham. They are also Israelites. And there were, when the Assyrians came in and they destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and they carried the Israelites off into captivity, there were still Israelites living in the land around the city of Samaria. And the Assyrians sent other people from other nations, other ethnic groups. To live in the region of Samaria and they intermarried with the Israelites and they had children. And so these people were both Israelite and Gentiles. They were from a lot of different nations. So the Jewish people considered them, I don't even like this term, but they considered them to be half-breed people. They considered them to be of mixed race, and they weren't purely Israelite. But these were descendants of Abraham. They are Israelites, and they did have. scriptures and they did obviously based on this woman's testimony, they did have hope in the Messiah. They were also longing for the Christ. They were longing for God's anointed king to come and set them free. They believed that the proper place to worship was at this place where they were, Mount Gerizim. And in fact, about a hundred years before Jesus was born, there was a temple at Mount Gerizim. Of course the Jewish temple is in Jerusalem. The Samaritan temple was at Mount Gerizim. Now the Jews, again, because there's this constant conflict between the Jewish people who consider themselves to be the true descendants of Abraham, and the Samaritan people who also consider themselves to be the true descendants of Abraham, they had this conflict with one another, and the Jewish people went up to Mount Gerizim and tore down their temple, destroyed their temple about a hundred years before Jesus. And so they're still holding on to this place and still believing that this is the holy place, this is the place to meet God. And when This woman has the opportunity to ask this Jewish man, again, someone that that she could justifiably have a lot of disdain for because his people are the ones that tore down her people's temple and and treated them like dogs. And there was this conflict that had been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years before either of them were born. When she has this opportunity to ask him, who she perceives to be a prophet. Where is the proper place to worship? She's probably asking, where can I meet God? You obviously are speaking on God's behalf. I want to meet him. So these Samaritan people, of whom she's the first one we're meeting in this story, but will be followed after by all of the people of Sakar, all of the people of her town, or many people in her town, who were also hungry and thirsty for the Lord. So the Samaritan people were Israelites, like Arela said, descendants of of Jacob. descendants of of Israel, they were also intermarried with Gentile people, but they maintained their own version of the scriptures and their own hope in the Messiah. And Jesus comes along and these people of Sakar believe that he is the Messiah and put their faith in him.

Barrett: Man, that's so good. Thank you, Wes, and thank you, Arela. you you mentioned this a couple of times about this was clearly a a a woman that was thirsty. and so, you know, she comes there for I liked the way you phrased it and I got a good laugh of like, why did she come to the well? Well She wanted water, right? You know, there's all these other assumptions we make, but it's like clearly she just wanted water. And and there's this contrast, and you mentioned earlier in the podcast like how John is writing, and he's very deliberate in his contrast between, you know, John 3, John 4. There and you had a great list on one of your slides about, you know, there's the named and the unnamed and the light and the dark, and but this literary contrast between Nicodemus coming at night, the Samaritan woman meeting Jesus broad. daylight, you know, what do these back-to-back encounters really teach us about what it is to be like the woman, what it is to be thirsty for God, and how does Jesus really subvert the religious social expectations of the day, you know, in these interactions?

Wes McAdams: Yeah, yeah. And and I think that's exactly how we should read the Samaritan woman's story. I don't think it's fair to read this in isolation, to read this as if it's not coming right after the Nicodemus story, because that I think is the proper way to understand the noon. The the fact that she comes at noon, I don't think the text is

Barrett: That's good.

Wes McAdams: saying or implying that she's coming because she's an outcast. I think it is implying that she's coming in broad daylight, whereas the Jewish leader, the Jewish teacher, the Sanhedrin member, th this Pharisee, he comes under the cover of darkness. He's sort of sneaking around at night and she's coming and meeting Jesus in broad daylight. I think that's the contrast here. And he's the person that you would expect, given the labels, given the identity, given the assumptions and the stereotypes, that he would be the righteous one, the religious one, the the person full of faith, the one who's Ready to follow Jesus anywhere. And in fact, he does come to Jesus and says, Obviously, you're from God. No one could do what you do unless they're from God. So she he perceives in Jesus the same thing that she perceives. Obviously, you're from God. But the way that the stories end are very different. He is very hesitant and she is very willing to accept: I think this is the Messiah. I think this is the Christ. Whereas he takes a lot more time. To commit himself to Jesus. Nicodemus or eventually comes around to believing more in Jesus, but but here in in John chapter three, he's pretty hesitant. And so I think that we're supposed to see that God is seeking, as John as Jesus says in John 4, God is seeking these kinds of worshipers who will worship in spirit, as opposed to those who simply worship in the flesh. It's not just about circumcision or uncircumcision. It's not about your ethnicity or where you come from. It's about The spirit of God and those who will be adopted into and brought back into the family of Abraham, grafted into this family tree, or in the Samaritans' case, grafted back into the family tree, so that they can become a part of the family of God again, and that they worship in the spirit or in spirit and truth. And Jesus is the truth. Throughout the Gospel of John, over and over again, Jesus is revealed as the truth, the Big T truth. He is reality, that Jesus is the Messiah, he is the Savior, He is from God. This is the truth that John is committed to portraying. And everyone who comes to Jesus in faith and who worships in spirit and truth. Jesus is saying those are the kinds of worshipers that I'm seeking. I'm not seeking the the famous. I'm not seeking the knowledgeable. I'm not seeking those who have a an ethnic pedigree that is pure. I am seeking people who worship in spirit and truth. God is seeking those kinds of worshipers to worship him, which is good news for the whole world. Anyone who is willing to to come to him in faith can be grafted into this family tree.

Barrett: That's great. And I think part of what you ended on there will be, you know, part of our answer for this next one. But one of my favorite details from the sermon and something that you highlighted really well was verse twenty eight, you know, the woman left her water jar and and so she came for this, you know, physical water, but you know, she gets I I don't wanna say caught up in the moment, but I think she reprioritizes everything, right? Like that moment changed everything. And so she leaves behind the water because she found the truth. She found the living water. and so even though she had, you know, unanswered questions you know, she says, could this be the Christ? Even and I liked that highlight that she made that her immediate response was to go and invite the community, invite her people to come and see, which is what we're doing this month. That's the name of the series that we're in. You know, so how should that story e encourage us, today who feel that we don't have all the answers, to still invite people, to experience Jesus, to meet Jesus, and like you said last year or last year, last week, like let him do the you know enticing and and the convincing and the influencing.

Wes McAdams: Yeah. Yeah, I I really hope that the sermon and in the series really helps people break down barriers. And that's what Jesus is doing, breaking down bar barriers between people of different social groups, different ethnicities, but also breaking down our barriers to evangelism. Like we we put up all kinds of barriers for ourselves and put all kinds of expectations upon ourselves. Like we can't share the faith unless we know what questions people might have, unless we're able to answer everything. And you don't you don't have to do that. I still have questions. Don't we all have questions? None of us, the longer I live and the longer I follow Jesus, the more questions I have. I have all kinds of questions. And so does this lady. And I'm so thankful that her declaration of faith is framed as a question. Could this be, could this be the Christ? Could this be the Messiah? So she still has questions, but she's willing to invite other people because not only do they need to hear, but also. She wants to work this out in community. And that's the really the best way to work out faith is to say, hey, let's let's work on this together. Like I'm I'm pretty sure that I found the one who can answer our questions, the one who can solve our problems, the ones who can fix our mistakes. Like I'm pretty sure that's the case. Can can you come join me and we can work on this together? And and really, if we're just that vulnerable and honest with each other. It would be such a refreshing way to share our faith, not to say, hey, I have all the answers. Come listen to me. I want to teach you. But hey, would you come and sit with me at the feet of Jesus? Because not only do I think that this would be good for you, but having you to work through this with would be good for me. And I think that'd be a refreshing way for us to share our faith.

Barrett: That's great. I really admire this about Matt Mead, who also hosts this podcast and is on staff here in McDermott Road. And Matt is very good at saying, I don't know the answer to that. And I hear that so J yeah, I d I don't hear that often. I guess is the best way to phrase that. Like you don't hear many people I I'm quick to be like, Well, I'll tell you my thoughts on it. I'll guess for you, I'll talk around at the point to ultimately say, I don't know. But, you know, Matt is very quick to start with. I don't know the answer to that. but you know, here's what I do know, or here's the context to it. And I think that is such a great mentality that this woman is kind of encouraging us as especially I think as Christians today to say, I don't know the answer to that. And that's a that's okay. We can say that. Like we have permission to say that. We have permission to say, let's go figure it out together, let's get into the weeds together, let's live it out and see what happens if we say, Well, I'm not sure if this is the answer, but here's what I think Jesus wants. I I think that was a point that was made in our life group last night. Like we all shared assumptions that we made about you know, assumptions that have stopped us from sharing the gospel. I think is the way Sam, our life group leader, you know, posed the question, like what are some things that you assumed of other people or circumstances that have prevented you from getting into sharing with people? And that was kind of where we came back to is like, man, we don't know all the answers and so We're nervous to invite people into kind of the journey. And I think this is what Jesus is inviting us, like he invited this woman into. Hey, let's figure it out. I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna lead you. On your final slide, you said the one who makes God known knows and loves you. And I thought that was a great way to end the sermon. and it's a great way for us to start wrapping up the podcast. the one who makes God known, Jesus. Jesus knows you, Jesus loves you. I think it is again Matt that said this last week. maybe the most theologically sound song that we sing is Jesus Loves You or Jesus Loves Me. and I couldn't agree more. So Wes, where are we going next week in our Come and See series?

Wes McAdams: Yeah, great question. Well, next week, I I think the the text will be the moment when Jesus Jesus lost his friend. He lost Lazarus. In fact, I I shouldn't even phrase it that way. Next week's sermon will be when his friend Lazarus died, and Jesus went there, and Lazarus' family is understandably very upset, and they want Jesus to come and see. So every other text has been someone invited to come and see

Barrett: Yeah.

Wes McAdams: Jesus. In this text, it's actually turning the tables a little bit in that Jesus is the one invited to come and see. Come and see your friend who's dead. And he could still be alive if you had just gotten here in time and you didn't come in in time. We asked you to come when he was sick and you didn't show up in time. If you had, he'd still be alive. Come and see where we've laid him. And and I think this phrase is used. That way very strategically, because we all want God come and see, come and see this mess that I have, come and see these questions that I

Barrett: Yeah.

Wes McAdams: have, come and see this hurt and pain that I've experienced. And that's the beauty of the gospel is that God does that. God, in the person of Jesus, comes and sees our mess. He comes and becomes part of it. And he comes not just to see it with his eyes, but he comes to experience it. And then he comes to. Make what is broken whole again, and and that is the beauty of the gospel.

Barrett: That's awesome. Very, very excited about that one. I almost got a little chills talking about Lazarus there. I think that's gonna be a great one and just kind of the the turning of the tables. And again it's our friends and family month, and so we're excited to meet so many new people and maybe we've got some new listeners. We're glad that you joined us. And if you are a regular listener to the PS podcast, thank you so much for continuing the conversation and for joining us today. Wes, any closing thoughts as we wrap up?

Wes McAdams: No, I appreciate all the the comments and the No, no, no, but I love it. And I and I love that

Barrett: Never asked it before.

Wes McAdams: the questions that were sent in this week are exactly why this podcast exists because we cannot in thirty-two minutes or thereabout get into everything in the sermon. So I'm so glad that this this exists. And thank you to you and Matt for for hosting it and for being being part of this conversation because I think it's so important.

Barrett: I knew there was a reason I asked if you had any closing thoughts. It's because I wanted you to thank me on the podcast. But we needed an additional thirty-two minutes this week to get into all of the context and the details of John Four. I think this is definitely worth everyone's time. We hope that you think that way. Thank you for watching and for listening. Thank you for your questions and comments, and we'll catch you next time on the PS Podcast.

Wes McAdams: Thanks so much for listening to P.S., the Post Sermon Podcast. To find out more about this podcast or about the Church of Christ on McDermott Road, you can visit our website at ccmcdermott.org slash P.S. If this has been an encouragement to you, we also hope you will rate and review the show wherever you're listening, as well as share it with a friend. Because we believe sermons are not just for Sunday, but for our whole week and our whole life.