Filmed at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Dr. David Pocta and Hannah DeSouza discuss John 11–12 in Thread’s Gospel of John series, joined by six Chord Scholars who introduce their research and a word for friendship with God. The episode traces three movements: Jesus’ friendship amid grief in Lazarus’s death, including Mary and Martha’s honest lament and Jesus weeping; Lazarus’s resurrection and its echoes in Israel’s hopes of restoration and resurrection; and Mary’s costly anointing of Jesus as risky, embodied devotion that foreshadows his burial, exposes Judas’s false concern for the poor, and reframes value. The conversation culminates in John 12’s teaching on self-giving love, contrasting Greek and Christian views of divine love, and closes with personal reflections on embodied worship, consent in sacrificial love, and “coming home” to God.

[00:44] Podcast Introduction & Setting

[02:01] Theme Introduction: The Friendship of God in John 11 & 12

[03:07] Chord Scholars' Introductions and Core Words for Friendship with God

[07:42] The Story of Lazarus's Illness and Jesus' Delay (John 11)

[11:06] Jesus Weeps: Leaning into Grief

[16:50] Old Testament Echoes of Resurrection and Restoration

[23:13] Mary Anoints Jesus: Friendship that Risks Love (John 12)

[25:36] Mary as the Theological Actor: Disrupting Power Structures

[34:03] How Friendship with God Reframes Economic Value

[40:03] Divine Friendship Challenges Philosophical Conceptions of Love

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Dr. David Pocta

Hannah DeSouza