Summary of The Bible and self-forgiveness? The Ascension and were the Samaritans really Israelites?

Overview of Ask NT Write Anything with Tom Wright and Mike Bird

In this episode of Ask NT Write Anything, Mike Bird and Tom Wright answer three listener questions about self-forgiveness, the origins of the Samaritans, and the meaning of Jesus’ Ascension. The discussion moves between pastoral care, biblical history, and theology, with Tom Wright emphasizing that Christian forgiveness is rooted in receiving God’s forgiveness, that the Samaritans were likely a mixed population with real Israelite continuity, and that the Ascension is about Jesus’ exaltation and rule rather than a literal journey into outer space.

Self-Forgiveness and the Bible

Main point

Tom Wright argues that “self-forgiveness” should not be treated as an alternative to God’s forgiveness. Instead, it is best understood as the process of accepting and internalizing God’s forgiveness.

Key takeaways

• Confession and forgiveness can happen formally and sincerely, yet a person may still feel crushing guilt afterward.
• That lingering guilt often requires:
  • pastoral counseling
  • prayer over time
  • wise spiritual guidance
  • sometimes even therapeutic support
• Wright suggests that when people say, “I forgive myself,” what they often really mean is:
  • “I accept God’s forgiveness,” and
  • “I will stop endlessly condemning myself.”

Important nuance

• Forgiveness is not the same as minimizing wrongdoing.
• Wright stresses that real forgiveness says, “It really did matter, and you really did do it—but you are forgiven.”

Pastoral and social application

• Mike Bird connects this to concepts like moral injury, especially among soldiers and others who carry deep regret over tragic outcomes.
• Both speakers frame forgiveness as a vital Christian resource for:
  • mental health
  • healthy identity
  • social repair
  • reconciliation in broken relationships and societies

Notable line

• “Forgiveness is not tolerance.” It acknowledges harm while still releasing the burden of resentment.

Were the Samaritans Really Israelites?

Main point

Tom Wright says the Samaritans were likely a mixed population, not simply foreign outsiders or pure descendants of one tribe.

Historical outline

• After the Assyrian exile of the northern kingdom:
  • some Israelites were probably left behind
  • some may have returned
  • other peoples were likely brought in or settled there
• Over time, the population became ethnically and religiously mixed.

Biblical and geographical context

• The Samaritans lived in the land between:
  • Judea in the south
  • Galilee/Nazareth area in the north
• In the first century, this middle region was a zone of tension between Jewish groups and Samaritan communities.

Religious tension

• Jews and Samaritans disagreed about:
  • the proper place of worship
  • the legitimacy of the Samaritan temple
• This conflict shows up clearly in:
  • John 4 (Jesus and the Samaritan woman)
  • Luke’s Good Samaritan
  • broader New Testament tensions between Jews and Samaritans

Present-day relevance

• Wright and Bird note that Samaritan identity still exists today.
• Bird adds that Samaritan studies is a real academic field, including:
  • the Samaritan Pentateuch
  • comparisons with the Hebrew Bible and Septuagint
• Wright also gestures toward modern Middle Eastern ethnic and political anxieties as a continuing echo of ancient tensions.

Theological significance

• Jesus’ ministry to Samaritans breaks down ethnic and religious hostility.
• In John 4, Jesus moves the question away from geography and toward worship “in spirit and truth.”

The Ascension: Up, Clouds, and Jesus’ Kingship

Main point

Wright says the Ascension should not be read as Jesus literally traveling upward into the sky, as though heaven were a location in outer space.

What the Ascension means

• “Up” and “down” are symbolic, human ways of speaking about a deeper reality.
• Heaven is not part of ordinary physical space-time.
• Heaven is God’s sphere, which intersects with the earthly realm.

Biblical framework

Wright connects this to:

• Genesis 1: God creates heaven and earth
• the temple as a place where divine and human realities meet
• Old Testament visions of the heavenly council and divine activity

The real theological meaning

The Ascension is about:

• Jesus’ exaltation
• Jesus’ enthronement
• Jesus’ universal lordship

Wright’s memorable phrase:

• “Heaven is the CEO’s office.”
  • Meaning: heaven is where the world is truly governed from.

Acts and the Spirit

• In Acts 1, a human body—Jesus’ resurrected body—enters the heavenly sphere.
• In Acts 2, heaven’s breath, the Holy Spirit, comes to earth.
• Together, they show that heaven and earth are being joined in the renewed people of God.

Why it matters

• The Ascension is not Jesus “leaving us alone.”
• It means Jesus is already reigning.
• His rule is shaped by the values of the Sermon on the Mount, not by coercion or domination.

Supporting texts

• Psalm 110: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
• 1 Corinthians 15: Christ must reign until all enemies are subdued.
• Hebrews: the Ascension is described as an anchor for the soul.

Practical and Liturgical Takeaways

For forgiveness

• Stop treating self-forgiveness as self-salvation.
• Learn to trust God’s forgiveness and let it reshape your inner life.
• Seek pastoral or therapeutic help when guilt becomes spiritually or emotionally entrenched.

For reconciliation

• The Samaritans episode highlights the need to cross boundaries of suspicion, ethnicity, and resentment.
• The episode implicitly calls listeners to pray for peace and reconciliation in divided places.

For worship and church life

• Wright and Bird urge Christians to recover the significance of:
  • Ascension Day
  • the lordship of Christ
  • the ongoing reign of Jesus now
• They note that Ascension is often neglected compared with Easter and Pentecost, but it is central to the New Testament story.

Notable Insights

• Forgiveness is a Christian tool for healing, not a denial of justice.
• The Samaritans were historically complex, likely carrying both Israelite and non-Israelite ancestry.
• The Ascension is about authority, not altitude.
• The New Testament presents Jesus as already reigning, and the church as the Spirit-indwelt temple where heaven and earth meet.

Overall Summary

This episode offers a layered set of answers: self-forgiveness is really about receiving God’s forgiveness and learning to live from it; the Samaritans likely emerged from a mixed historical and ethnic background with real continuity to ancient Israel; and the Ascension is a profound statement about Jesus’ present reign, not a crude picture of him floating into the sky.