Mark 3-4: Ya Better Hang On! (LSFAB S13E084)

[TEASER - 0:00]
What is blaspheming The Holy Spirit?

[INTRO S13E084 - 0:10]
It's the Lifespring Family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California. Podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is a daily podcast and you and I are reading the entire Bible together in a year. Is that cool or what? The website is lifespringmedia.com and this is Gospel Saturday. Our reading will be Mark 3 and 4, and I'm calling the episode "Ya Better Hang On!"

It is of course Christmas Eve, which is also my middle son Steven's birthday. So happy birthday, Son. Your mom and I love you very much.

And Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Paul of Seattle sent in a fun Christmas question. So James'll answer that one. And then tomorrow. I'll have my last question for James.

Now, not only is tomorrow Sunday and Christmas Day, it's also prayer request and praises day. So send in yours at prayer.lifespringmedia.com, or call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511.

Now before we read, let's pray.

[OPENING PRAYER - 1:10]
Our heavenly Father, we thank you so much for what this day means as we prepare for the celebration of the birth of the Messiah. And as we open your Word today, Lord, I pray that you would help us to understand. I pray, God, that you would touch our minds and our hearts and our spirit. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

Okay, let's begin. 

[MARK 3 (HCSB) - 1:32]
Mark, chapter 3.

(1) Now He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a paralyzed hand. (2) In order to accuse Him, they were watching Him closely to see whether He would heal him on the Sabbath. (3) He told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand before us.” (4) Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do what is good or to do what is evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. (5) After looking around at them with anger and sorrow at the hardness of their hearts, He told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (6) Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

(7) Jesus departed with His disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, Judea, (8) Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to Him because they heard about everything He was doing. (9) Then He told His disciples to have a small boat ready for Him, so the crowd would not crush Him. (10) Since He had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward Him to touch Him. (11) Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, those possessed fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God! ” (12) And He would strongly warn them not to make Him known.

(13) Then He went up the mountain and summoned those He wanted, and they came to Him. (14) He also appointed 12 — He also named them apostles — to be with Him, to send them out to preach, (15) and to have authority to drive out demons.

(16) He appointed the Twelve:

To Simon, He gave the name Peter;
(17) and to James the son of Zebedee,
and to his brother John,
He gave the name “Boanerges”
(that is, “Sons of Thunder” );
(18) Andrew;
Philip and Bartholomew;
Matthew and Thomas;
James the son of Alphaeus,
and Thaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot,
(19) and Judas Iscariot,
who also betrayed Him.

(20) Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. (21) When His family heard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, “He’s out of His mind.”

(22) The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul in Him! ” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!”

(23) So He summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? (24) If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. (25) If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. (26) And if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished!

(27) “On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house and rob his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he will rob his house. (28) I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme. (29) But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” — (30) because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

(31) Then His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to Him and called Him. (32) A crowd was sitting around Him and told Him, “Look, Your mother, Your brothers, and Your sisters are outside asking for You.”

(33) He replied to them, “Who are My mother and My brothers? ” (34) And looking about at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! (35) Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.” 

[MARK 4 (NIV) - 5:10]
Mark, chapter 4.

(1) Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. (2) He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: (3) “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. (4) As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. (5) Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. (6) But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. (7) Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. (8) Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

(9) Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

(10) When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. (11) He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables (12) so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

(13) Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? (14) The farmer sows the word. (15) Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. (16) Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. (17) But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. (18) Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; (19) but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (20) Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

(21) He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? (22) For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. (23) If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

(24) “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. (25) Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

(26) He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. (27) Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. (28) All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. (29) As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

(30) Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? (31) It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. (32) Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

(33) With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. (34) He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

(35) That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” (36) Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. (37) A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. (38) Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

(39) He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

(40) He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

(41) They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

[COMMENTARY - 9:59]
Today I've got comments on both chapters 3 and 4. Mark chapter 3:28 and 29 says, “(28) I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme. (29) But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin...”

Well, Beloved, this passage receives a lot of attention. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the one unforgivable sin. So what is it?

People worry about that. Let's talk about it. To answer the question, let's first put these three verses into context. The scribes had just said of Jesus, “He has Beelzebul in Him! ” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!”

So here, Jesus has been performing miracles, healing people, casting demons out of people, and forgiving people. And the scribe said that he did that by the power of Satan.

Jesus’ answer to their accusation was, of course perfect. He said, “How can Satan drive out Satan? (24) If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. (25) If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. (26) And if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished!” So in saying this, Jesus was pointing out to them that Satan would never work against himself.

And then next, he gave them an illustration or a parable. He said, "(27) On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house and rob his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he will rob his house.” In this parable, Satan is the strong man guarding what belongs to him. Jesus was saying, “I am not in league with Satan. I am demonstrating that I am stronger than he is.” So by casting demons out of people, Jesus was taking from Satan what belonged to him, one life, or one soul, at a time. As one commentator said, “There is *nothing* in our life that *must* stay under Satan’s domination.”

So Jesus binds the strong man and plunders his house.

Now, let's get back to answering the question at hand. What is blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

Well, let's look at what the Holy Spirit's ministry is. Jesus tells us in John 15:26, "When the Counselor comes, the One I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father — He will testify about Me.” The Counselor is the Holy Spirit. How do we know that? In John 14:26 Jesus said, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit — the Father will send Him in My name — will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”

So the Holy Spirit is who tells us the truth about Jesus. He lives in us and he testifies to our heart, that Jesus is who He says He is.

Well, by blaspheming the Holy Spirit, a person is in the sorrowful state of rejecting Jesus. If a person continually rejects Jesus, they are rejecting the forgiveness that is only available *through* Jesus. It's not that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is too big a sin to be forgiven. It's that this person has cut off the only way that he or she *can* be forgiven.

Commentator H. A. Ironside put it this way. “These words were never intended to torment anxious souls honestly desiring to know Christ, but they stand out as a blazing beacon warning of the danger of persisting in the rejection of the Spirit’s testimony of Christ, until the seared conscience no longer responds to the gospel message.”

Beloved, this is a sin that puts terror into my heart when I hear someone reject Jesus. What gives me hope is that until that person draws their last breath, there is hope that their eyes will be opened. And that hope spurs me on to redouble my prayers for them. I don't know when God gives up on trying to woo someone to himself, so I pray for that lost soul until their heart is softened, or until I draw my last breath.

And now let's talk a little bit about chapter 4. Jesus and the disciples were on the lake and Jesus went below to take a nap. And then the storm came up. And the disciples came to wake Jesus because they were afraid of the storm at sea. They were afraid for their lives. They were panicked. So when they went to wake him up, what happened? Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And then he said to *them*, “Why are you so fearful? Do you still have no faith?”

And then what does the Scripture say next, it says, “And they were terrified.”

Do you remember a few days ago, I talked about how we take God the Father too lightly because of the grace we receive from Jesus' shed blood? Well, here we have the disciples who have spent a great deal of time with Jesus, and one would assume they knew him fairly well by now, and they were terrified. It doesn't say they were afraid. It doesn't say they were panicked. They were *terrified* when Jesus calmed the storm.

I don't know about you, but I usually think of the disciples at this point in their education from Jesus as just not having as good an understanding of who Jesus is, as I do. I know that sounds presumptive, and I'm sure it is, but hear me out.

I had a conversation with a fellow Christian once and in our conversation, he brought up this parable. And in our discussion, he pointed out that at first, the disciples were terrified of the storm. But when Jesus calmed the storm with just his word, they were terrified of *him.*

And that got me to thinking, I usually think of Jesus as being generally soft-spoken and easy-going. Strong, yes. But not someone with an intimidating demeanor. Certainly not someone to engender terror.

But maybe I have it wrong. I must have it wrong, don't you think? I mean, if the disciples who lived with him were terrified, maybe there is something about Jesus that I've overlooked.

And of course, there is. Jesus is not just a man, Jesus is God. He's fully human and fully God. And since that's true, Jesus has every bit of power that God the Father has, and is just as offended by my sin, as the Father is. And talk about power. Colossians 1:17 says that Jesus “holds all Creation together.” *All* creation. Think of that. Without the power of Jesus, all of creation, you, me, the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, *all creation* would come apart. The only reason I'm here is because he allows it. And if I'm honest with myself, I should be just a little bit terrified of him as well.

It is only because of his unfathomable love, that the terror I should feel is balanced with the peace that passes all understanding that he gives to me. He has promised that because I have placed my faith in him. I have been adopted into his family. And I am secure and safe today, tomorrow, and all the tomorrows to follow.

I can rest in that. And I do. But I also have a new appreciation for the unmeasurable, infinite, and awesome power of my Savior.

[LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE - 17:29]
Let me know your thoughts. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511, or comment at comment.lifespringmedia.com, or send me an old-fashioned email at steve@lifespringmedia.com. I do read every comment and there's a good chance I'll share your comment or your voicemail on the show. 

Now tomorrow, in addition to being Christmas Day, is Epistle Sunday, so our reading will be 1 Corinthians 9 and 10. Yes, we will be having our regularly scheduled reading even though I realize you may not be able to listen on Christmas Day but I hope you will get back to it sometime during the week.

[SUPPORTER SHOUT-OUTS - 18:14]
Got some donations that came in. Weekly donations came in from Anonymous to the tune of $22.22. And Michael Haner with his Stryper donation of $7.77. And with their weekly amounts, they are Associate Producers and I thank them both. God bless you two.

And Ando came in today with $33.33 via Zelle. He said, "ITM, Happy Anniversary, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. No Agenda and the Holy Spirit brought me to Lifespring. Thanks for the breakfast. Thanks for the interview. Thanks for being you," he said. "Many more years to you and the Lovely Lady LeeAnn. Pretty sure this is airing after Christmas, but Happy birthday, Jesus. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of the Lifespring family."

Well, thank you, Ando. You packed a lot into that note, Brother. The most important part was the Happy Birthday, Jesus part. The Lovely Lady LeeAnn and I appreciate your Christmas and anniversary donation, Ando. Thank you so much, Brother, God bless you.

And yeah, we enjoyed having breakfast with you, as well. And doing the interview with you was a kick. So that was fun. Thanks for the donation, Ando, appreciate it. God bless you

[JINGLE SINGERS - 19:23]
lifespringmedia.com/support

[BOOSTAGRAM JINGLE - 19:27]
Boost! Boost! Boostagram.

[BOOSTAGRAMS - 19:32]
Another 3333 boostagram came in like it did yesterday from user10800 et cetera et cetera, et cetera. He or she (I don't know which) said "ITM, me again. The best Christmas movie is definitely "Die Hard." Although I agree with James that "Muppet Christmas Carol" is tragically underappreciated. Thank you for your courage."

Well, but of course, you know that Bruce Willis himself said that "Die Hard" isn't a Christmas movie, right? But I get it. It's a fun ride. Thank you so much for the boostagram. God bless you. And you know, you can change that username. 

[CHRISTMAS QUESTION - 20:12]
All right, Christmas question number 24. Brother Paul of Seattle sent this one in just under the wire. He said, "Steve, I'm still super behind. Just finished December 5th, and so I may be too late for this, or maybe this question has already been asked, but what's the deal with reindeer? Is there any connection to Jesus Christmas or is it strictly a Santa thing? Merry Christmas."

Well, Paul, that is a good question. Let's find out the answer together. Hey, James, what's the story?

[JAMES COOPER ANSWERS - 20:43]
Well, that's a good question, Paul. And as you say, it is strictly a Santa thing. There are no reindeer in the Bible. Well, the Bible story actually doesn't contain any donkeys either, but they're normally associated with Nativity play, but that's another side matter. Anyway, back to the reindeer. Believe it or not, the first time we hear about reindeer traveling with St. Nicholas or Santa is in 1821 when an anonymous poem called "Old Santeclaus With Much Delight" was published in New York. It was the first time that Santa or St. Nicholas was described in the sleigh being pulled by a reindeer. The poem was published with eight illustrations in a book called "The Children's Friend: A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve." And it's the earliest image of Santa Claus rather than St. Nicholas. Two years later, in 1823, the much more famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" otherwise known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" was published. It was written by Dr. Clement Clarke Moore. Although some people say it was really written by Henry Livingston, Jr. who was a distant relative of Moore's wife but never mind.

And, so we get back to the poem. And in it, we have St. Nicholas described as a "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" and is coming with "a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer." And it's also the first time we found out any of the names of the reindeer. The original eight reindeer described in the poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. Did you know that over the years, Donner has been called Dunder and Donder? And Blitzen has also been called Blixem, Blixen, and Blicksem. In 1902, the author L. Frank Baum, who also wrote the Wizard of Oz, wrote a book called "The Life and Adventure of Santa Claus." In it, he lists a team of 10 reindeer, and they have rhyming names in pairs. They were Flossie and Glossie, Racer and Pacer, Fearless and Peerless, Ready and Steady, and Feckless and Speckless.

And in different books, TV shows, films and songs, and all those things over the years we've had different named reindeer. But it was in 1939, when we first learned about Rudolph the most famous reindeer of them all when he was written about in a book by Robert L. May for the Montgomery Ward department stores. Rudolph then had a cartoon made about him in 1948, and the famous song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was written in 1949.

And did you know that Rudolph and Santa's other reindeers might well be all girls? That's because only female reindeers keep their antlers throughout winter. By Christmas time most males who have discarded the antlers and are saving their energy ready to grow a new pair in the spring.

So those are the reindeer and they're normally associated with Santa, or St. Nicholas, or Sinterklaas. Just who was this guy? And why is he got so many different names? Well, St. Nicholas was a real man. He was a bishop. And he lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra which is now in Turkey. There are lots of legends about him being a very rich and generous man. The most famous legend even gives us Christmas stockings.

The tale goes like this. There was a poor man who had three daughters. They were so poor that they didn't have enough money for a dowry, so his daughters couldn't get married. One night, Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the chimney into the house, and the bag fell into the stocking that had been hanging up to the fire to dry. (Or through the window into the shoe that had been left out by one of the daughters.) This was repeated later for the second daughter. And finally determined to discover the person who had been given them the money, the father secretly hid by the fire every night until he caught Nicholas. Nicholas begged the man not to tell anyone what he had done because he didn't want to bring attention to himself. But soon the news got out and when anyone received a secret gift, they thought it must be from Nicholas.

But, St. Nicholas didn't actually have a very easy life. He was exiled from Myra and later put in prison during the persecution of the Christians by the Emperor Diocletian, and he was released in the time of the Emperor Constantine. St. Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in 325. And there he famously punched a heretic. He really did.

No one's actually sure when Nicholas died, but it was on the sixth of December, which is St. Nicholas Day in either 343, 345, or 352. In 1087, his bones were stolen from Turkey by some Italian merchant sailors, and the bones are now kept in the church named after St. Nicholas in the Italian port of Bari.

The term "St. Nicholas" got changed to "Sinterklaas" in Northern Europe, especially in Belgium and the Netherlands. And he's still known as that there today. When Dutch settlers to the USA took old stories of Nicholas with them, Sinterklaas became Santa Claus. You might have heard Santa called Kris Kringle as well. And that comes from the name of another mid-European present-giver. In the Reformation, old saints, and things like that got thrown out. So the Protestants wanted a new gift-giver, so they use Jesus, known as the Christkind. It was meant to be Jesus, but it's more represented by an angelic girl these days. And again, the Christkind, or Christkindl, got taken over to America with German settlers and got changed from Christkindl into Kris Kringle.

So when you're emptying your stocking this year or looking out for the reindeers, remember that it all started with a Christian bishop who gave presents because he loved Jesus.

[CHRISTMAS QUESTION (CONT’D) - 25:53  
Well, I never knew that about Kris Kringle. Wow, the things you learn on this show. If you'd like to know more about different Santa Claus traditions and names and stuff like that, James gave me a link to put on the show notes page, so it'll be there at lifespringmedia.com/s13e084. And then tomorrow's question, the Christmas Day question will be a question that only James can answer. It's about how *the* Christmas expert James Cooper himself celebrates Christmas. Brother Paul of Seattle thank you for the question. And as always, James, thank you for sharing your encyclopedic knowledge.

Oh, and tomorrow we will draw the names to see who will win the two pairs of tickets to see the "Jesus Revolution" movie and who will win a signed copy of my book "Webb's Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide." Come on, you're not going to want to miss that.

[SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER - 26:50]  
My special thanks to the team. Kirsty who just sent out the Christmas newsletter and I do hope you're signed up for it. If not go to news.lifespringmedia.com, I had a special Christmas greeting in there to the Lifespring family so I hope you're subscribed. I do promise never to spam you and I won't share your info with anyone. So if you are not signed up, go to news.lifespringmedia.com and get that done.

Thanks to Denise who corrects the transcripts. Thanks to Michael Haner who does the chapters and Scott Snider who helps out with the episode art.

[OUTRO S13E084 - 27:23]
So here we are on Christmas Eve and it seems appropriate to play “Do You Hear What I Hear,” what with the lamb and the shepherds and et cetera, right? Well on this show I'm going to play you a very atypical version of the song by Jill Parr. And if you haven't heard this version before, all I can say is, hang on. And let me just say a very warm and love-filled Merry Christmas to you from the Lovely Lady LeeAnn and me just in case you'll be too busy to listen tomorrow. We appreciate you. We love you and you truly are our extended family. Do you have any last-minute shopping to do? You better hurry! May God bless you richly. May your Christmas be filled with love and laughter and take some time tomorrow to give thanks to God for the birth of the Messiah. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

[JILL PARR SINGS “DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?” - 28:22] 
Do you see what I see?
(Do you see what I see?)
Do you hear what I hear?
(Do you hear what I hear?)

Said the night wind to the little lamb
Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold

(Do you know what I know?)
Do you know what I know?
(Do you hear what I hear?)
Do you hear what I hear?
(Do you see what I see?)
Do you hear it?

Said the king to the people everywhere
Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere
Listen to what I say!
The child, the child, he is sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness...

The child, the child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

(Do you hear what I hear?)
Do you know what I know?
(Listen to what I say!)
Do you hear it?
(Do you hear what I hear?)
Do you hear it?

Transcribed by https://otter.ai