Reflective Bible Study

At the beginning of the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, one of the most famous events is Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Tradition suggests that this happened on Palm Sunday, which was one week before Jesus would step victoriously out of the tomb.

However, as I read this event, I am amazed by something that isn’t said, that isn’t even hinted at, but something that only God and the Holy Spirit could be behind.

Let’s read this event and draw out what we can learn from what happened. Our passage is found in John, chapter 12, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 12, John tells us that:

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
    see, your king is coming,
    seated on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

When we read this event from John’s gospel, I am amazed at the order of events. According to John, the people start shouting and proclaiming their praise for Jesus before Jesus has even sat down on the donkey. Part of me wonders if this celebrating began while two of Jesus’ disciples were away borrowing the donkey Jesus asked them to go and get. After the celebrating had begun, Jesus’ two disciples arrive with the young donkey and Jesus sits on it in order to fulfill the prophecy.

However, in this event, I am amazed because nowhere do I find Jesus requesting or asking anyone for praise or celebration. If it were not for Jesus’ words in a different gospel record when challenged to silence His followers and their praise, we might conclude that this was something that the crowd had prompted. Instead, when challenged to silence the crowd cheering for Jesus, Jesus told the religious leaders that if they were to be quiet, the rocks themselves would cry out. This celebration was entirely God inspired and God prompted.

However, while the celebrating was going on, John inserts an interesting detail into this event that seems out of place. In verse 16, John tells us that “At first his disciples did not understand all this [referring to the prophecy]. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.”

While on the surface, we might be tempted to think that this celebrating was the point in time when Jesus was glorified. However, looking at the details of this verse, I suspect that John really means after Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. In our next few episodes, we will discover how John paints Jesus being glorified as a future event, and not as this single celebration.

Because of this detail, I wonder if the crowd understood or remembered this prophecy about Israel’s King riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. This prophecy, and its fulfillment, is incredibly counter-cultural. The typical grand entrance for a king during that era, would be riding into the home city victoriously riding a mighty warhorse, riding in a chariot, or entering in an equally strong fashion. I don’t know of the Bible talking about any animal that would be considered lower than a donkey that could be ridden.

Not only were donkey’s considered among the least symbolically strong animals, John points us to the detail that this was a young donkey, and I wonder if this donkey was barely old enough to support Jesus’ weight. These details draw us to the conclusion that Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the weakest animal that could be ridden.

If the crowd remembered this prophecy, while the disciples didn’t, I wouldn’t be too surprised to then hear them proclaiming Jesus to be a King, especially after seeing Him riding on the donkey. However, John frames this event as the people proclaiming Jesus to be a King before the donkey shows up. This is powerful. The people proclaim their praise and belief in Jesus as someone sent to them from God before they witness the fulfilled prophecy!

By riding into Jerusalem on the weakest available animal, we are reminded that Jesus is not interested in proving His strength, His power, or His influence to us. That is something sinful people do. Instead, we are called to recognize that Jesus’ kingdom is one that challenges us to continue stepping down in order to help. We are called to help the lowest and least in society, regardless of what others think, regardless of whether we will be thanked or repaid, and regardless of what being associated with these other people means for our reputation.

Jesus didn’t focus on what other people thought of Him. Instead, Jesus focused on who He could help at each moment in time, Jesus focused on how He could step down in each situation, and Jesus focused on pointing all glory and praise upwards to God while He stepped down.

Interestingly enough, other people hoisted Jesus up onto the cross. Other people lifted Jesus up in order to glorify Him. In the same way, we are called to intentionally step down, pointing all glory and praise upwards, and let God, perhaps through other people, lift us up.

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, continue seeking God first in your life and choose to intentionally step down when given the opportunity to. Choose to point all the praise and glory you might receive upwards to God and intentionally seek out places where you can step down and help those who need help. Choose to help those people who cannot pay you back for your kindness.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to Jesus each and every day. A personal relationship with Jesus is best formed and built on the foundation of prayer and study, and the closer we are to Jesus, the more we will recognize the opportunities He sends into our lives to help those in need.

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!

In our last episode, we focused in on one of Jesus’ most famous illustrations about a man seeking a single lost sheep from his flock of 100. This parable is found in two of the four gospels, and it is interesting to discover that the context and focus of each of these parables is different.

Because of this, for our episode today, we’ll spend our time looking at the other similar parable and discover that not only does God seek out His lost children because He wants to keep them safe, but God also seeks out a different group of people to save. This second group is the focus of Luke’s version of this parable.

So without delaying any further, let’s look at our parable and passage for this episode and discover what God wants to teach us through Jesus’ words.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. ² Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

³ So He told them this parable, saying, ⁴ “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

In this parable, the sheep that God seeks are sinners who are willing to repent. While on the surface, this sounds similar to the “little ones” in our last episode, the context this passage suggests is actually about the opposite. The little ones in Matthew’s version of this parable could mean those who society has rejected, it could mean children in a literal sense, or it could mean followers of God, who are people we sometimes refer to as God’s children. Matthew’s version of this parable focuses on God seeking and protecting His children if they get lost or wander away.

Luke’s version of this parable contrasts this by showing how there is celebration when God finds someone who was not His child who is willing to repent and be adopted into His family. The focus on redeeming sinners is similar but distinctly different in this similar, but also distinctly different parable.

When I read this parable, I am wowed by the fact that God is willing to leave those who are living righteously in order to search out someone who is lost. Through the details in this parable, we discover God is in the business of seeking sinners and bringing them to Him. When God finds a sinner who is willing to repent, it is as though He finds one of His lost children and is excited to bring them home.

However, as I read this parable, I am amazed at something else. Both Matthew and Luke’s parables include a detail like this, but each detail is different. In our parable, we discover that when the man realizes that one of his sheep are missing, he leaves the ninety-nine “in the open pasture” to go after the one who was lost. Matthew’s gospel describes the location as in the mountains, which sounds more dangerous, but it also implies that there is some natural protection from predators from the landscape.

When in the open pasture, there isn’t much protection from predators, and it is amazing to think in my mind that God was willing to do this for us. While my mind might be quick to conclude that this decision is reckless on the man’s part, when we look at the big picture of what God did for humanity, we discover an amazing truth: Those who need no repentance are not in danger. While there may be a group of people who live perfectly righteous, with no need for repentance, and while I know this is one goal Jesus has for His people, I wonder if we are forgetting God’s unfallen worlds in our first thoughts.

God is a God who creates, and it is illogical to think that God created the universe, the angels, then humanity, before then stopping. It is much more logical to picture God as a God who has created and who keeps creating. It would be an understatement to limit God’s creation to simply 100 worlds in a universe larger than we can comprehend, but this is one way of understanding God’s perspective in Luke’s version of the Parable of the Lost Sheep.

In this parable, we discover how God, through Jesus, leaves heaven, which includes all the righteous created beings, and He comes to earth to rescue and redeem the one world that was tricked by Satan and fell into sin. Those left in the open pasture had everything they needed. Looking from the big picture, those left in the open pasture had food, water, and a safe place to rest. The only place where there is real danger in the universe is the places that have been infected with sin. Places in the universe that are still sinless are safe places for God’s unfallen creation.

Zooming back into the smaller picture, the same is true for our individual lives. When a sinner turns away from their sins, when they repent, and when they let God into their lives and hearts, there is more joy in heaven because the number of redeemed people has just increased. While those who need no repentance don’t get a party in heaven like those who had just repented do, it is worth remembering that we all have sinned. This means that we all need repentance at some level and at some point in our past, and when we repented from our sin, there was a celebration in heaven at that point in our lives. When we turned away from sin, there was a celebration in heaven!

This passage also points us to another amazing realization. If we want to bring joy to heaven, all we need to do is partner with Jesus in helping bring sinners to Him. It is also worth noting that this is something that is only possible for God’s people to do in this life and in this world. When we reach the new heaven and the new earth, there will be no need to bring sinners to God because the only “sinners” present are those who Christ has redeemed and recreated!

Because of this, we have a reminder in this parable that we can partner with God and bring joy to those in heaven when we bring people who need a Savior to Jesus. This is one of our highest callings in the world today, and this calling helps God with His goal of redeeming and saving the greatest number of people possible for eternity!

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

As always, keep seeking God first in your life and keep trusting, believing, and sharing Him. If you haven’t been intentional about doing so, choose to live your life in a way that leads others to Jesus, and in a way that prompts people to give their hearts to God.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God. Through prayer and Bible study, you can develop a personal relationship with God and with a personal relationship with God, you can better understand His will, plan, and purpose for your life. Don’t take my word, or anyone else’s word, for it. Discover God’s truth for yourself by reading and studying the Bible for yourself.

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

As we have moved through our year looking at John’s gospel, we are just a little over half way through the year, but with how John’s gospel is written, we are about to slow down and focus in on the series of events leading Jesus to the cross. While Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead prompts the latest wave of religious opposition to Jesus, we now arrive at the week leading up to Jesus’ death. To start this week off, we find Jesus returning to Bethany and enjoying a special meal.

Within this meal, we discover several of the final pieces moving into place regarding Jesus being hoisted onto the cross a mere six days later.

Let’s read our passage and discover what happened. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will read it from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Six days before Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany. Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life, lived there. ² Dinner was prepared for Jesus in Bethany. Martha served the dinner, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus.

³ Mary took a bottle of very expensive perfume made from pure nard and poured it on Jesus’ feet. Then she dried his feet with her hair. The fragrance of the perfume filled the house.

⁴ One of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray him, asked, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for a high price and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ (Judas didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and carried the contributions.) ⁷ Jesus said to Judas, “Leave her alone! She has done this to prepare me for the day I will be placed in a tomb. ⁸ You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me with you.”

⁹ A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life. ¹⁰ The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too. ¹¹ Lazarus was the reason why many people were leaving the Jews and believing in Jesus.

During this dinner, we can see three huge ideas present that are key details laying the foundation leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion.

The first detail we’ll focus on is the last one present in our passage, but the one that may have prompted this entire event. Verses 10 and 11 draw our attention onto an interesting side note: “The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too. Lazarus was the reason why many people were leaving the Jews and believing in Jesus.”

In an interesting twist, the religious leaders want to not only kill Jesus, but they also decide they should kill the most significant person Jesus raised from the dead. Not only is this funny in my mind, since these religious leaders want to kill someone God wanted alive, but this detail also stresses how far these religious leaders were willing to break God’s law to suit their own purposes. If you’re wondering how I know God wanted Lazarus alive, I arrive at this conclusion using this simple logic: If God didn’t want Lazarus alive, Jesus would not have raised Lazarus from the dead.

However, the least contested commandment in all of God’s Ten Commandments is the command telling us to not kill, or in some translations, the command is to not murder. While warfare presents a unique situation in the Bible, the religious leaders plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus is a direct violation of this commandment, especially when framed in the way Jesus framed breaking the law in His famous Sermon on the Mount. I have no idea whether the religious leaders succeeded or followed through with their plans to kill Lazarus, but by plotting for Lazarus’ death, these religious leaders display a complete disregard for God and God’s Law even if they believed it was the only way to save the nation. In this event, John draws our attention to how far the religious leaders would be willing to go against the clearest commandment in God’s law.

However, not only this, but in this event, the stage is also set for Judas Iscariot’s betrayal. While John does not include the details of Judas Iscariot’s meeting with the religious leaders to set up his betrayal, John does tell us how offended Judas Iscariot was at Jesus reprimanding him for speaking out against Mary’s gift.

There is some speculation over what may have prompted Mary to give Jesus this gift. While Jesus uses it to foreshadow His upcoming death, Mary may have believed she was anointing Jesus before He would step into kingly glory – specifically into the Messiah that the first century Jewish culture believed the Messiah would take.

However, I wonder if Mary’s gift, which all the gospels describe as being a very expensive gift, was also subtly a way of saying “Thank You” to Jesus for returning Lazarus back to life. Jesus did not raise Lazarus from the tomb in order to be paid, however, there was no taking this gift back, and Mary knew it. In a powerful way, Mary’s gift to Jesus said thank you to Him for all of Jesus’ kindness, generosity, mercy, and help that He had given to Martha and her. It is very possible that Jesus had healed Mary from demon possession, Jesus had taken a personal interest in their family, and Jesus had raised her brother from death. Mary knew this perfume was the best she had, but even her best gift could not come close to repaying Jesus for everything He had done for her.

Judas Iscariot, who John tells us was only thinking selfishly, doesn’t care about the gift Mary gives to Jesus, only the amount that he could have pocketed while the other disciples were not paying attention. Because Jesus validates Mary’s gift and insults him in the process, Judas Iscariot then seeks out the religious leaders in order to betray Jesus.

However, Judas Iscariot likely wasn’t paying very close attention, because Jesus attributes Mary’s gift in this event to something that none of those present would have guessed. With Mary’s expensive gift, Jesus attributes this sacrifice to preparing His body for burial, which logically only happens after one has died. This is significant, because regardless of when this death and burial would happen, the Jewish culture believed the Messiah would last forever, and lasting forever does not include death and burial.

Except that in Jesus’ case, lasting forever does include a death and burial, because following Jesus’ death and burial is a resurrection. While the disciples should have known this, the gospels tell us that they were too afraid to ask the questions they needed to ask to understand this truth. The disciples missed knowing God’s plan for Jesus’ life before Jesus died, was buried, and was raised from the dead.

As followers of Jesus, we have foreshadowing in Jesus’ experience. In our own lives, we may face death and burial, but if we do, when we fall asleep with our faith in Jesus, we rest in peace awaiting a resurrection. Jesus defeated death, and when we have allied with Jesus, death cannot and will not defeat us. With Jesus, even if we rest in His peace, our lives are safe waiting for resurrection when we place our trust in Him!

While this event sets the stage for Jesus’ crucifixion on a number of levels, we are also assured that through Jesus’ death, we can have a new life with God, and our new life with God can begin today and extend into eternity!

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 place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Him. Trust that regardless of what happens in this life, when we have allied with Jesus, our future is safe with God. Our future is eternity with Jesus!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and move closer to God. Through regular prayer and Bible study, develop a solid foundation for your relationship with God and discover what God wants to teach you personally through His Word. While other people can have interesting ideas, filter what you read, see, and hear through the truth found in the Bible.

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!

As we continue looking at the parables Jesus shared, we come to one of the more familiar parables in all the gospel record. However, when I was putting together this year of podcasts, I did not realize that the two times this parable was shared each had a slightly different focus. For this reason, and because it appears as though Jesus told two similar parables in two different settings, we will split up these very similar parables into two episodes and focus our attention on one of the key details that makes these parables different.

Our parable in this episode comes immediately following Jesus inviting children to spend time with Him and Jesus teaching the disciples that we should love and accept those that are considered the least in the world because when we do, we are inviting God into our midst.

Immediately following this is our passage and parable. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 12, Matthew continues telling us Jesus’ message:

¹² “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? ¹³ If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

In this passage, the context of the sheep refers to the sheep being children, like children, or simply being those who are the least in the world’s eyes. In this parable, what we might write off as a loss is not forgotten in God’s eyes. God loves the smallest, least significant child who has chosen to love and accept Him, and according to Jesus’ words in this parable, God is not going to let a child under His watch and care be lost.

This is an amazing theme and truth for us to consider. The last verse in this passage states “it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

God is passionately interested in saving His children and keeping them safe. This not only refers to keeping His children safe for the time we spend in heaven, it also references keeping us safe during the time we spend on earth in this life.

But wait. What about all the bad things that happen to people who are clearly following God? Why do bad things happen to good people?

Many people have used this argument to discredit God because they cannot see a God of love allowing pain, hurt, and death if He could stop it and has promised protection. This is a rational, logical argument built on a flawed foundation. This argument assumes that God wants us to have comfortable, or average, lives in a sinful world. This argument ignores the future, subtly assuming that this life is all there is.

To challenge this argument, we look to one word in our parable. It is the very last word. It is the word “perish”. “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

While perish means to die, more often than not, when used in a Biblical context, the word perish does not mean the first death that has a future resurrection. The word perish refers to a death where there is no future resurrection. It is most famously contrasted with eternal life in one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

This contrast is important for us to pay attention to because it tells us that God’s primary goal is to keep us safe for eternity, or specifically, for eternal life. He wants to keep us safe from the death that has no resurrection. That is His goal. God’s goal is not for us to have a good or great life in a sinful world; His goal is to have us redeemed into an eternal life in a perfect, new heaven and new earth.

While a sinful earth is all we truly know, God doesn’t want us to be so sheltered from the sin that defines it that we would prefer it over the new sinless heaven and earth He has promised us in the future. God’s goal is a future where sin no longer exists, and in order for that to happen, those who are saved and redeemed from this sinful world must experience the consequences of sin.

I am certain that God protects us from way more than we could ever realize. I’m sure Satan would kill anyone and everyone he could for simply acknowledging Jesus. Satan is trying to build a kingdom and world that is united against God. This kingdom is a kingdom of sin. We can be thankful that God is stronger than Satan and that God protects us from a countless number of bad things that could happen.

That doesn’t mean that God protects every one of His children from every negative thing in our sinful world. Stopping all sin would be trying to force sinlessness onto this world where Satan is tempting people to turn away from God. If the world, specifically God’s people in the world, don’t experience the effects of sin, then there would be no reason to look forward to a new heaven and a new earth.

God wants to save all of His children for eternity. As our parable concluded by saying, “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.” God knows that in the timeframe of eternity, the history of sin is insignificant. Instead of protecting His people from every bad thing that could happen, He protects us from most things while allowing things to happen that help us desire the end of sin.

God’s goal for us is not an easy life in a sinful world; His goal for us is a sinless, eternal life in a perfect world. That means that if bad things happen in our lives, or if people we love die, we have reasons to look forward to the sinless new heaven and new earth where there will be no more pain, hurt, disease, or death.

Remember that death in this life awaits a resurrection. This means that the death we might experience has no real power over us. Jesus conquered this death, and because He conquered this death, we can see it as simply a stepping stone on our way into eternity.

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

As always, continue to seek God first in your life and trust that He knows what He is doing in the world today. While things might feel like they are spinning or spiraling out of control, remember that God is still in control, and His goal is redeeming His people for eternity while also being sure sin will never reappear in the new heaven and new earth.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each day. Intentionally set aside time for growing closer to God and be sure to make your relationship with God personal. Don’t let me or anyone else get in between you and God.

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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!