Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

The Wrong Messiah: Luke 22:66-71

Published April 26, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 22:66-71 (GW)

⁶⁶In the morning the council of the people’s leaders, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings, gathered together. They brought Jesus in front of their highest court and asked him, ⁶⁷“Tell us, are you the Messiah?”

Jesus said to them, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. ⁶⁸And if I ask you, you won’t answer. ⁶⁹But from now on, the Son of Man will be in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne.”

⁷⁰Then all of them said, “So you’re the Son of God?”

Jesus answered them, “You’re right to say that I am.”

⁷¹Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We’ve heard him say it ourselves.”

Read Luke 22:66-71 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

When the religious leaders arrest Jesus and bring Him to trial, we can read an interesting phrase in the gospel of Luke that helps frame why Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders of that time.

While the trial was happening, somewhat unsuccessfully, the religious leaders turn to Jesus an simply point blank ask Him: “Tell us, are you the Messiah?” (v. 67a)

This is important for our discussion because these religious leaders had a picture of who the Messiah would be, and what role the Messiah would take. Jesus seemed to act like “a Messiah”, but He wasn’t really acting the role of “the Messiah” they were looking for.

Jesus’ response to these leaders is amazing. He responds by saying, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. And if I ask you, you won’t answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne.” (v. 67b-69)

Jesus was not the Messiah that the Jewish leaders expected to see, and Jesus responds by telling them that if He admits to being the Messiah that God had promised to their ancestors, they wouldn’t believe Him anyways – and they wouldn’t be open to a discussion about it either.

Claiming to be the Messiah was certainly something Jesus could have done, but it would serve no point when these religious leaders only had one picture of the Messiah that would come, and their picture was flawed when compared with the Messiah God was sending into the world.

So to these religious leaders, Jesus was not the Messiah; He didn’t fit the role they had created for their messiah to fit into. But Jesus was a Messiah – Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised would come from the point where Adam and Eve sinned and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

There was no way for Jesus to convince these leaders He was the Messiah, because they were only open to a messiah role that Jesus wouldn’t fit. So Jesus doesn’t even try to make that claim. Instead, He leans on His relationship to God the Father, and He focuses on this instead.

This also challenges me to ask myself if I am trying to make Jesus fit a role He was never meant to fit in my own life. If so, it would be wise to open my mind to the role He was meant to play.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Testing Jesus’ Teaching: John 7:14-36

Published April 25, 2024 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue moving through John’s gospel, our last episode ended with Jesus secretly going up to the feast, alone, without either His disciples or His brothers. Part of the reason for this was because the Jews were openly looking for Jesus in order to arrest Him. However, as we will discover in our passage for this episode, Jesus had a hard time staying out of the spotlight.

Our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read it from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 14, John tells us that:

¹⁴When the feast was about half over, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The people were amazed and said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”

¹⁶Jesus answered, “The things I teach are not my own, but they come from him who sent me. ¹⁷If people choose to do what God wants, they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from me. ¹⁸Those who teach their own ideas are trying to get honor for themselves. But those who try to bring honor to the one who sent them speak the truth, and there is nothing false in them. ¹⁹Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

Pausing briefly, the way Jesus opens His response to the question of where His knowledge came from is powerful. First, Jesus acknowledges that what He is teaching is not His own ideas. Instead, Jesus is teaching ideas from God. However, Jesus then makes an amazing statement. In verse 17, Jesus tells this crowd: “If people choose to do what God wants, they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from me.”

This statement is powerful, and it is a promise we can apply in our own lives and our own world today. If we choose to do what God wants, we will know whether Jesus’ teaching is from God or not. The reverse is also true. If we choose to ignore or reject doing what God wants, we will ultimately discount Jesus, His teaching, and everything about Him.

With that said, how do we know whether we are doing what God really wants?

If this is an open question in your mind, we don’t need to look any farther than a few weeks ago in our podcast episodes, and into the previous chapter in John. Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, while challenging the crowd He fed, Jesus shares the answer to the question about what God really wants. In John, chapter 6, verse 29, Jesus tells the crowd plainly: “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.”

According to Jesus, believing in Him is the clearest way to discover whether His teaching is from God or not. In other words, Jesus invites us to try life His way and when we accept Jesus’ challenge, we will discover personally whether Jesus’ way is best.

This is the best strategy to take, because it is a personal strategy, and it opens the door for God to show up in our lives. The worst thing someone could do is ignore Jesus on the recommendation of someone else who has chosen to ignore Jesus and ultimately miss out on the rewards because they didn’t try Jesus’ way out for themselves!

However, the people, or at least some of those in the crowd, are a little confused at Jesus calling out the plot to kill Him. In verse 20, John tells us that:

²⁰The people answered, “A demon has come into you. We are not trying to kill you.”

²¹Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²²Moses gave you the law about circumcision. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision; it came from our ancestors.) And yet you circumcise a baby boy on a Sabbath day. ²³If a baby boy can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the law of Moses, why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? ²⁴Stop judging by the way things look, but judge by what is really right.”

²⁵Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the man they are trying to kill. ²⁶But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him, and no one is trying to stop him. Maybe the leaders have decided he really is the Christ. ²⁷But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”

²⁸Jesus, teaching in the Temple, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don’t know. ²⁹But I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”

³⁰When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him, because it was not yet the right time. ³¹But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him. ³³Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. ³⁴You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.”

³⁵Some people said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live and teach the Greek people there? ³⁶What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘You cannot come where I am’?”

In this extended time teaching in the temple, I am amazed because Jesus takes one of the groups of people and turns their hesitation into belief. While Jesus shares some challenging things, this group rightly concludes that it would be unlikely for anyone to come afterwards who will do more miracles or be a more positive influence in the world than Jesus was.

While I could share more, the big challenge I see in Jesus’ message is that we should trust Jesus even though there will likely always be unanswered questions. Some of our questions are simply unanswerable, and when we face a question that does not have a good answer, the easy temptation is to doubt because we don’t understand. However, we are called to have faith that every question we have will be answered at the right moment, and it is possible that the right moment for some questions will be when we stand face to face with Jesus after He has returned and brought us home to heaven.

The big thing for us to remember and focus on is doing what God wants us to do, and that is believing the One He sent, and testing Jesus’ teachings out in our own lives to know personally whether what Jesus shared is from God or not. When we have personally walked the path God created us to walk, we’ll discover who Jesus truly is and we’ll get a glimpse of the amazing future God has prepared for us when Jesus returns to bring us home!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to believe in Jesus and trust that His sacrifice on the cross is enough to pay the penalty for your sins. Choose to take Jesus at His word and trust that He will give you the answers to your questions when the time is right.

Also, pray and study the Bible for yourself and try God’s way in your own life. Choose to pray and study the Bible for yourself and test God’s truth by applying it into your life in order to know whether Jesus’ way is really the best way to live. I’ve done this in my own life and determined that Jesus’ way is both better today, even with the challenges it brings, and the rewards for following Jesus are better than we could even imagine. This is what I have discovered in my own journey, and I challenge you to take the journey for yourself instead of taking anyone’s word for it.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Year in John – Episode 17: When Jesus stands up in the temple to teach part way through a Jewish festival, discover how Jesus challenges the crowd to test His teachings and how Jesus tells us whether we can know whether His teachings are from God or not.

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Our Decisions Determine Our Destiny: Luke 16:19-31

Published April 24, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 16:19-31 (NIrV)

¹⁹“Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. ²⁰A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. ²¹Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.

²²“The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side. ²⁴So the rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’

²⁵“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain. ²⁶Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’

²⁷“The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family. ²⁸I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’

²⁹“Abraham replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.’

³⁰“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.’

³¹“Abraham said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Read Luke 16:19-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Sometimes, when I read about an event or look into the details of a parable, I wonder what the broader context is. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus – the focus of this passage – is one place in the gospels that seem to bring more questions than answers.

For this journal entry, let’s focus not as much on the illustration, but instead focus on what we can gather from the context – and what are some ways we can view this teaching:

The first thing that jumps out at me that relates to the context is that this teaching does not start in typical parable fashion. Most parables begin with “The kingdom of God is like . . .” and then go from there, but not all parables do this. The most well known parable that does not start this way is the parable of the farmer and the four types of soil he spreads seed on (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1–20; Luke 8:4–15), and the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

This tells me that Jesus did share stories that taught truth beyond just looking at God’s kingdom, and this illustration was likely one of those.
The next thing we should look at is what the surrounding passage/teaching sounds and looks like. Are there illustrations/parables before this one, and if so do they start in typical parable fashion? And are there illustrations/parables after this one, and if so, do these ones start any differently?

Looking at the teaching included in the surrounding chapters, we have the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, the prodigal son, the illustration of the unrighteous steward, and then a brief teaching on trust, greed, and the unchanging nature of God’s Law (Luke 15 and the first portion of Luke 16). After this illustration, Jesus teaches on the subject of not being a stumbling stone, on unconditional forgiveness, on increasing faith, and on being humble regarding our role in life (Luke 17:1-10), before the narrative shifts to another healing.

The surrounding verses tell me that while this passage is not tagged as describing God’s Kingdom, neither are any of these half dozen or so teaching topics.
The third thing we should look at is whether this illustration is meant to teach us something about the present world, or if it is meant to teach us something else.

It has been said (or speculated) that Jesus took a famous parable of the religious leaders and flipped the conclusion. This theory says that in the original version of this teaching, the rich man goes to Abraham while the poor man continues to be punished.

While this makes for a good explanation for some of the unique qualities of this illustration (i.e. This is one of the only, if not the only, time Jesus includes a name in a parable), looking from the broader context seems to challenge this thinking. Luke wrote his book as a letter to someone who wasn’t present for any of Jesus’ life, teaching, or miracles. The recipient of the letter could have heard or known the original parable, which might have prompted Luke to include Jesus’ opposite version, but this is speculation – especially if the letter was being sent to someone outside of the region of Israel.

What is less speculative is that Jesus used anything/everything He could to teach truth, and it would not be unlike Him to use a well known, but inaccurate, parable and change it into teaching truth – but nothing in this passage or the context suggest this or that He is teaching about anything beyond the choices we make in our current life being important after our life has ended.

In the broader context of this specific passage, Jesus is teaching us about something bigger than any of the details of any specific parable/illustration: Our lives on earth matter to God, and our choices in this life determine our destiny. Each parable/teaching hints at one or both truths, and Jesus wants to get this truth through to us in as many ways as He can.

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Recognizing Jesus: Matthew 14:22-36

Published April 23, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 14:22-36 (GW)

²²Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him while he sent the people away. ²³After sending the people away, he went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone.

²⁴The boat, now hundreds of yards from shore, was being thrown around by the waves because it was going against the wind.

²⁵Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and began to scream because they were afraid.

²⁷Immediately, Jesus said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid!”

²⁸Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?”

³²When they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. ³³The men in the boat bowed down in front of Jesus and said, “You are truly the Son of God.”

³⁴They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. ³⁶They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.

Read Matthew 14:22-36 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

When we read about the big events where faith is demonstrated, they can easily overshadow some of the side truths that we can learn from some of the more subtle stories that aren’t as glamorous.

One such place is immediately following Peter’s miraculous, faith walk on the water towards Jesus in the storm. Sure, Peter did have some doubt, and that made for a little tension and suspense, but all was well and the boat made it to shore with both Peter and Jesus alive and well – and on board.

But too often we stop reading there and we miss what happened next. We are tempted to think that because this big event is over, there is nothing special to pay attention to until the next big event. But if we let this temptation win, we miss a big truth that can be learned in the last verses of our passage – after the boat has landed at the shore:

“They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.” (v. 34-36)

There are two big things we can take and learn from this simple, transition-like set of verses.

The first thing that it is very important for us is to be able to recognize Jesus. If the men on the shore had not recognized that it was Jesus who had just landed, then none of those who were in that region would have known to come and be healed.

The second thing that is very important for us is to act on the smallest amount of faith that we have. We are tempted to think that there was only one person in the gospels who was made well by touching Jesus’ clothing, but in this short transition, we learn that dozens or maybe even hundreds of people were healed by simply touching Jesus’ robe. The people didn’t need any more faith than this. They believed that just by touching something that was Jesus’ would be enough to make them well.

And this brings us to a key truth: When we call ourselves Christ-followers or Christians, we are people who are dedicated and bought by Jesus, which makes us His. If these people believed that by simply touching cloth that was Jesus’ would heal them, what would happen if we truly believed that by being Jesus’, we can make a significant and miraculous impact on those who are hurting around us.

When we truly recognize Jesus and act on the small amount of faith like those living in Gennesaret, our world will be transformed.

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