Reflective Bible Study

As we begin our year looking at Jesus’ parables, it would be good to begin by answering the question about why Jesus used parables when He spoke to people. While parables are fascinating and simple illustrations, there are plenty of other ways of sharing God’s truth, many of which are clearer and simpler to understand, while others are more complex and less relatable.

Fortunately for us living today, the disciples asked Jesus why He used parables when speaking to the crowds, and most of the gospels include Jesus’ answer to this question. While it would be easy to speculate why Jesus used parables, let’s let Jesus answer this question for us.

Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 13, and we will read it from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 10, Matthew tells us that:

¹⁰ [Jesus’] disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

¹¹ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. ¹² To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. ¹³ That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don’t really see.
    They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.

¹⁴ This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,

‘When you hear what I say,
    you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
    you will not comprehend.
¹⁵ For the hearts of these people are hardened,
    and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
    so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and let me heal them.’

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.

In His response, Jesus not only answers their question, but He also shares that He was fulfilling prophecy while doing so. Jesus used parables to share truth in a simple, yet challenging way. While parables are simple sounding illustrations, we must be paying attention in order to understand what Jesus is teaching.

Jesus’ response tells us there is a difference between looking versus seeing, and hearing versus listening or understanding. In verse 13, Jesus summarizes a key idea in Isaiah by saying “For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.”

In order to understand Jesus, we must not only be looking and hearing, but we must also be seeing and listening.

However, how is it possible for someone to be looking but not seeing, or hearing but not actually listening? Isn’t the definition of looking actually seeking something out, and isn’t hearing necessary for learning?

It is in this subtle concept that we discover an amazing truth about what Jesus likely warns us about in these parables. While these illustrations are simple, the temptation is to read them, pull out a theme, and then discard the parable. This is looking and hearing with a closed mind, and it is what the religious leaders were good at doing in the first century.

When Jesus stepped into history, there was expectation in the culture about the Messiah appearing. However, the expectation was so exclusively focused on one understanding of prophecy that Jesus simply didn’t fit the expectation. Jesus ultimately was rejected because the religious leaders had closed their minds to any other understanding of prophecy. As we spent a whole year looking at, without covering everything, the Old Testament is filled with prophecies that Jesus did fulfill in His lifetime, including prophecies that Jesus could not have directly influenced while here on earth.

But because Jesus didn’t fit the picture of the Messiah that the religious leaders were looking for, they rejected Him. These religious leaders give us a model for looking but not seeing, and hearing but not really listening. The religious leaders looked with an agenda, and they filtered their ears with their ideas about who they believed God would send.

Jesus’ warning in His answer is that more understanding will be given when we listen to Jesus’ teaching, and we will have “an abundance of knowledge”, but when we don’t listen, even the little understanding we think we have “will be taken away”.

We live in a world today that has pushed Jesus and His teachings to as far on the sidelines as it can, and we are seeing the fruit of this decision. Without Jesus’ teachings that affirm creation, we are left wading through theories about our origins that keep getting disproven. The problem isn’t the theory; the problem is with the assumptions that are used to form the rules that define what theories are acceptable. By rejecting Jesus, knowledge may be increasing, but understanding is being lost.

Without Jesus’ teaching on all the subjects that this world struggles with, we are left with a world that is growing more chaotic, more polarized, and more hostile than it has been in a long time.

Jesus shares the solution in His response. In verses 16 and 17, Matthew quotes Jesus saying, “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”

When we look with open eyes for Jesus and when we listen to Jesus, we will be blessed. Seeing Jesus means that we are looking for examples of ways God is working in the world today, not just supernaturally, but also through His people. Listening to Jesus means that we hear His teachings with an open mind and we apply the themes and lessons He shared into our lives. This is the simple recipe for gaining knowledge about God, and it is the framework for our focus on the parables during this year of podcasting.

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

As I always open these challenges by saying in one way or another, continue to seek God first and let Him lead and guide you as you walk through life. Don’t just look with a closed mind at what God may be doing, but open your mind and see what God is doing in the world around us. Don’t just selectively hear what you want to hear, but listen with an open mind and bring what you have learned to the Bible to discover if it is truth.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, keep praying and studying the Bible for yourself to discover what the Bible really teaches and to grow your own personal relationship with God. While studying the Bible isn’t the last or only step when growing a relationship with God, combining prayer and Bible study are the only way to have a strong, solid foundation for your relationship with 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!

In our last episode, we began reviewing our past year’s worth of podcasting by focusing in on insights and profound thoughts we discovered while studying through Luke’s gospel. Our last episode focused us on insights we learned during the first portion of this past year.

For this episode, we turn our attention onto the second half of our year of podcasting in Luke’s gospel, and onto things we learn as Luke leads us through Jesus’ journey towards the cross.

However, before diving into these insights, I always like to take a minute or two to talk about what we will look at next year. As some of you might remember, a little over three years ago, I suggested that we take the next four years and focus each year on one of the gospel records. We began with Matthew two years ago, Mark was last year, and the year we wrapping up with this episode focused on Luke.

I have been amazed and blessed with the time spent in each of these gospels, and we have one gospel left: the gospel of John. Following the grand plan we began a few years ago, let’s take next year and focus on what one of Jesus’ closest disciples can tell us about Jesus’ ministry on earth. I’m not sure what we’ll focus on for the year following John, but we will have plenty of time to figure it out as we move through the last of the four gospels.

However, in order to get to John’s gospel, we need to finish up looking at our insights from Luke’s gospel, and with that said, let’s dive into what we learned over the last half of this year of podcasting.

Let’s begin by looking at some big insights from episode 27, which focused in on Jesus’ message about Jerusalem and some Pharisees warning Jesus about Herod. In this episode, we are reminded that doing evil separates us from God, and that means our present choices outweigh our past decisions for God. Our present choices matter when we are discussing salvation because being saved is a decision that is always made in the present! The only decision that truly matters is a present decision to accept Jesus, repent and move away from doing evil, and accept the gift of salvation.

Before Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and return, Jerusalem is known as the city who killed God’s prophets, Jesus included, but when Jesus ultimately returns, God’s people will get to experience the New Jerusalem, which is the city God built that will ultimately protect His people forever!

Jumping forward to episode 29, when we learned what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus and to count the cost of following Jesus, we were challenged with the truth that if following Jesus does not have much of a commitment, then following Jesus doesn’t have much value. The more committed a relationship is, the more valuable it is – especially when we are talking about a relationship with God!

Jesus is looking for disciples who will follow Him even when their families, their friends, their coworkers, and anyone else in their lives thinks they are crazy.

Moving forward, we reach episode 31 which looked at Jesus’ famous parable of the prodigal son. In this parable and Jesus’ teaching, we discovered that an arrogant pride is the biggest temptation for people who have been in the church for a long period of time and this arrogant pride is what ultimately formed in Lucifer’s heart. An arrogant pride looks down on others while ignoring one’s own faults.

However, more importantly, we learned that this parable focuses on how patient God is as the father of both sons. Let’s remember that while our lives are likely not going to be as extreme as either brother, we are best served by modeling the prodigal son’s return when we fail God than brushing over our faults like the older son did.

Jumping forward to episode 34, we looked at Jesus’ warning about stumbling blocks for our faith, forgiveness, and being God’s servants. In this episode, Jesus challenges us with the truth that the attitude we have towards God says a lot about our character. Nothing we can ever do, say, or give can repay God for everything He has already blessed us with. Instead of living an immature spiritual life looking for immediate blessings and rewards for every act of obedience, determine today to live a spiritually mature life that sees our lives of service as the best way to show gratitude and thanks to a God who has already given us everything!

A few episodes later, Jesus shared an odd parable about an unjust judge. In this episode, which was number 37, we discovered that when it appears as though God is silent and an unjust world has turned against us, never give up hope, never stop praying, and continually trust that God has a bigger perspective than we do. We can trust that God’s perspective extends infinitely farther into the future than sin lasts, because God’s perspective extends into eternity! Faith, hope, trust, and prayer draw our hearts to God, and even when times are bad, we can know and trust that God will always give what is right to His people, and that He will ultimately judge fairly all the unjustness we experienced in our lives in a sin-filled world.

In the next episode, number 38, where Jesus shares about a Pharisee’s prayer versus the prayer of a repentant tax collector, we learned that we should never be confident in our own perfection because we are not perfect. We have sinned, and because of this, we have fallen short of God’s perfection. We should live confident in Jesus’ righteousness instead of our own and 100% aware of our continual need for Jesus to be our Savior.

Skipping forward a few episodes, we come to Jesus’ parable of the evil vineyard workers that we looked at in episode number 41. In this episode, we were impressed with the idea that Jesus tells these leaders that they would ultimately kill the vineyard owner’s son, and by pressing for Jesus’ death, these leaders push Jesus into a role they likely never wanted Him to be in since the vineyard owner in this parable represents God.

A couple episodes later, in episode number 43, we looked at Jesus warning the disciples about the time of the end. In this episode, Jesus shared the powerful truth that when we press forward, determined to endure to the end, we will ultimately gain our lives. When we endure to the end, we gain Jesus’ life, and Jesus’ life is eternal life. Through what Jesus did, when we endure through persecution, we gain eternal life!

Moving forward to episode 46, we looked a little closer at Jesus’ prayer in the garden on the night He was arrested. In this prayer and in this episode, we discovered that Jesus’ prayer to God reflects how we are challenged to pray. When we come before God in prayer, it is worthwhile to bring our requests to Him. However, we also are challenged to frame our requests as being less important or significant than His will.

Jumping forward to episode 48, where Jesus is being tried before Pilate, we learned that if we want to hear God speak and if we want God to show up in our lives in powerful ways, we must be open to receiving the Holy Spirit into our lives. Demanding God will do something for us is an easy way to receive silence and disappointment.

In the next episode, number 49, we come to a powerful truth we learn from the time Luke describes Jesus hanging on the cross. While most people focus in on Jesus’ promise to a criminal, there is much more to Luke’s account than this single detail. In this episode, we are reminded and challenged with the truth that Jesus lived a life of forgiveness. Jesus offers sinners paradise, and Jesus’ spirit belongs to the Father. Forgiveness leads to salvation, and salvation leads us to the Father!

And to wrap up this year of podcasting through Luke’s gospel, I don’t know of a better statement to leave you with than the big concluding thought from this, second-to-last episode: Jesus came to die for each of us, to forgive our sins, to offer us the gift of paradise, and to show us God’s love and His character. While Jesus was misunderstood throughout His entire ministry, including during the first portion of His time on the cross, starting with the words of a criminal, those present for the crucifixion began to realize who exactly Jesus was and the ultimate Messiah He came to be!

As we enter a new year, let’s keep our focus on what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross and the life He offers us as a gift when we give our hearts, our lives, and our belief to Him!

In our last episode, we began our annual two-part finale looking at insights from this amazing year looking at prophecies and connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry. In our last episode, we made it up to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. In this episode, we’ll begin by looking at the prophecies focusing in on the night Jesus would ultimately be betrayed and arrested, leading up to His death.

However, as is our custom, before diving into looking at these insights, for this last episode of our year, it is nice to take a quick look at where we have been and where we are planning to go. For those of us who have been listening for a few years, you will know that prior to this year looking at prophecy, we spent four incredible years each looking at one of the gospels. Four years ago was Matthew, three years ago was Mark, two years ago was Luke, and last year was John. If you were with us a year ago, you remember that I thought at that time it would be neat to look at prophecies that pointed forward to Jesus, since John’s gospel included several amazing prophecies and our year in John had put prophecy fresh in my mind.

For this next year, I’ve been thinking about the parables and illustrations Jesus shared. Several episodes ago, we focused in on an amazing parable Jesus shared that appeared to be prophetic, and since that point, I’ve had parables and stories of Jesus running through my head, and I think there might just be a year’s worth of podcasts that would be a fun journey to take.

However, before starting in on that journey, let’s dive into the insights we learned during the second half our year as we looked at prophecies pointing towards Jesus’ ministry starting on the night He was betrayed and arrested.

Picking back up where we left off, in episode 25, Jesus stepped into the role of a priest during the Last Supper, and we learned that Jesus as our High Priest came to bridge the gap that sin caused between Heaven and humanity. Through Jesus, we discover just how far God was willing to go to redeem sinners – which could only happen if He loves sinners more than Satan would want us to believe.

In episode 26, we looked at a prophecy about Jesus not losing even one of His true followers. On the night He was betrayed and arrested, even though all of Jesus’ followers scattered, we were reminded that when Jesus faces what some might believe to be the greatest challenge of His earthly ministry, He has His followers still in focus. If any of Jesus’ followers had died during that arrest, it would not have brought glory to God. Instead, the path that brought God glory was Jesus fulfilling His promises, His Word, and Jesus protecting His disciples through the chaos of that weekend.

Jesus is not surprised by the world’s chaos. Jesus knows what will happen and He is actively working to bring about the end of sin and the salvation of His people.

Moving forward, episodes 27 and 28 focused our attention on Judas Iscariot as the betrayer, and the thirty shekels of silver he was paid to betray Jesus. In these episodes, we were reminded that while Judas Iscariot chose to betray Jesus, Jesus walked the path to and through death ultimately opening the way for us to experience a new life with God. Nothing in our present or future with Jesus predetermines that we will fail like Judas Iscariot. Instead, when we ally our lives with Jesus, we ultimately gain eternity that will outlast sin.

In a similarly predicted way, Jesus has promised to return. While His return may feel as though it has been delayed, a delayed trip doesn’t mean the trip has been cancelled. Instead, a delayed trip gives us the opportunity to share Jesus with more people as we look forward to the day He does return and welcomes us home!

In the next episode, which was episode 29, we looked at the disciples scattering when Jesus was arrested. In this episode, we learned that the way out of sin that Jesus made was taking our punishment onto Himself allowing God the option of forgiveness. Anything less than punishment for sin make God not just, and strict punishment against the sinner makes God unloving and unmerciful.

Jesus came to take our punishment, and give God the ability to extend mercy while also remaining just. This truth purifies God’s people, and as we move forward with Him, living our lives in a way that says thank you to Jesus, we become more like Jesus and better able to reflect Jesus’ love in the world around us.

As we move through the prophecies regarding Jesus’ trial, condemnation, and crucifixion, these themes about Jesus taking our punishment are found in almost every single episode. These truths make up some of the most amazing pieces of the gospel message, and for the rest of this finale, we’ll group several episodes together that cover specific points in time during Jesus’ crucifixion weekend.

From episodes 31 and 32, which focused in on the trials Jesus faced before the Jewish leaders and before Pilate, we discovered that when Jesus stayed silent, He assumed our guilt without admitting to anything. The only reason for Jesus to stay silent was because He actively chose to do so. Jesus stayed silent for you and for me, because His goal was making salvation possible for God’s people.

When Jesus faced some of the worst torture ever imagined by the human race, He did not back down, buckle, or cave with the intention of avoiding pain. Jesus spent close to 24 hours in pain and agony that would be unimaginable for someone living today. However, Jesus’ mission was bigger than the pain He faced during that time. Jesus’ mission was focused on eternity.

Moving into episodes 33 through 38, which focused on prophecies Jesus fulfilled while hanging on the cross, we were first reminded about a different pole that was raised many centuries earlier. From the pole that Moses lifted up that contained a serpent, we were challenged with the idea that often times our redemption will come from the place we least likely expect, or from the place we are least likely to look.

By facing death, Jesus defeated Satan’s impossible looking challenge against God’s character by both proving God was willing to punish sin while also extending grace towards those who had sinned. Jesus’ took our sins, our imperfections, and our guilt with Him to the cross, and He offers us His perfect, sinless life in exchange. This is great news worth sharing and celebrating!

Moving into episodes 39 and 40, which looked at Jesus’ burial, we were amazed to discover that in an amazing way, the Passover both looked back in remembrance of God freeing the Children of Israel from Egypt, but it also pointed forward to the Messiah freeing God’s children from the penalty of sin.

Jesus’ death becomes the perfect Passover sacrifice because Jesus’ life and body fulfills the requirements of the Passover sacrifice. Jesus is the only individual to have avoided being stained by sin and Jesus’ bones were not broken after the point of His death allowing Him to be the perfect Passover sacrifice.

While the disciples were hiding for their lives, and while the religious leaders were plotting what to do next, God the Father was validating Jesus’ sacrifice leading into the opening of that year’s Passover celebration.

Moving to episodes 41 through 44, we looked at prophecies which predicted Jesus’ resurrection, including a parable where Jesus predicts His own death. In these episodes, we were reminded that while Satan wants us to minimize, ignore, discount, or distract us away from Jesus, remember that Jesus’ sacrifice defeated Satan while also making the way possible for us to experience salvation.

If the religious leaders wanted to avoid playing into Jesus’ prophetic hand, they would have taken Jesus’ words in a parable He shared to heart, and simply rejected Him rather than plotting for His death.

However, Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s kingdom that these religious leaders rejected and this is one of the biggest themes in the Bible. We have the choice how to respond to Jesus. Jesus challenges us to come humbly to Him, bringing with us the fruit God wants us to have, and letting Him transform us into being the people He created us to be.

Just like David wrote, God the Father would not abandon the Holy One of God or let His body decay. This leads us into focusing on Jesus’ resurrection. After Jesus lay in the tomb over the Sabbath day, marking Him resting following the completion of the work of salvation, Jesus returns to life and into the next phase of His ministry.

Episode 45 focused on Jesus ascending to heaven, and episode 46 looked at Jesus being seated at God’s right hand. In these two episodes, we were encouraged and reminded that Jesus’ ascension into heaven is a promise we can claim when this world seems to be crazy. Jesus’ goal is not to give us a comfortable life in a sinful world. Instead, it is to prepare a place for us to live forever in a sinless, perfectly recreated New Heaven and New Earth. When we ally with Jesus, we are assured of a world that is much better than the one we live in, and a world that will ultimately last forever.

Jesus, our priest, has done everything needed to prepare the way for our salvation, and His sacrifice on our behalf, opens the way for God to forgive our sins while remaining just.

Following Jesus being seated at God’s right hand, episode 47 and 48 focused us on the first thing Jesus does following being honored with this position. The first thing Jesus does is keep His promise to send the Holy Spirit to His followers. In these two episodes, we learned that every prophecy that came to pass was directly because the Holy Spirit prompted a prophet or messenger to write it down, and then also crafted history to move in that specific way.

Jesus stepped into history at the moment prophecy specified, and His life and ministry fulfilled an amazing amount of prophecies. When we let the Holy Spirit lead and guide our focus, we will be led to grow closer to Jesus both today, and every day, moving forward into eternity!

With the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance, Jesus’ followers would be fully equipped to share God’s message of forgiveness with the world.

We are challenged to lean on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance and move forward sharing the great news of God’s law, Jesus’ love, and the forgiveness God wants to give everyone who accepts Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins.

To wrap up this year looking at prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, let’s be reminded of His promise to return, to resurrect all of His people, and to bring us together to be with Him in the New Heaven and New Earth. We looked at this promise in episode 49 and discovered that because Jesus came, lived, died, and was resurrected just like what was predicted and foreshadowed in the Old Testament, we can trust God has a grand conclusion to history planned. In God’s conclusion for history, while it may not be welcome news for some people, He will put an eternal end to sin, while stepping forward with all of His people into eternity.

As we move through each day, each month, and each year, let’s remember what Jesus accomplished for us. Because Jesus gave His life for us, God gives Him a portion with the great. Because Jesus stayed silent when He was accused, He is able to speak up and intercede on behalf of all who have sinned. Because Jesus poured out Himself to death, all of God’s people are able to receive new life.

As we begin our special two-part finale for our year podcasting through Luke’s gospel, let me first wish you a very merry Christmas to you and your family and friends. I hope that you are able to spend time with people you love and I hope that you are healthy over this entire winter season as well. I know I definitely don’t like being sick, and often, when the temperatures turn cold, I start catching a cold, which is aggravating.

However, as we moved through this year looking at Luke’s gospel, one big theme we saw was that sick people who came to Jesus did not stay sick people. Luke is one gospel which loved to draw our attention onto Jesus healing peoples’ physical and spiritual illnesses.

Luke also includes the most detail about the events of Jesus’ birth, as well as John the Baptist’s birth too. With that said, let’s begin our review of our podcast episodes from this past year and focus in on some of the biggest and most profound insights that we uncovered. For time considerations, I might have to skip over some insights because it is always difficult to pull these lists down to a manageable length.

Starting off our year review, let’s look at what we learned in episode 2, which focused in on Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah to promise this elderly couple a child. In our discussion, we discovered that while Zechariah’s silence likely lasted less than a full year, it served as an amazing symbol for God being silent, before stepping into history in a big way through John the Baptist and through Jesus. Zechariah’s silence also served as a sign for everyone present that God was doing something in their midst. Lastly, this sign of muteness served as a reminder to Zechariah himself that God’s promise to him was real!

Jumping ahead to episode 4, we looked at Jesus’ dedication in the temple as a baby, and were awed by the realization that before Jesus had fully stepped into history, and actually barely after He had even entered this world, Simeon, led by the Holy Spirit, forewarns Mary that Jesus’ life as a Messiah would end in death. Jesus would die before she would.

Moving forward to the next episode, episode number 5, we looked at Jesus staying in Jerusalem when He had turned twelve. In this event, we concluded the truth that it is easier to lose Jesus than it is to find Him! One day without Jesus may ultimately result in three days of searching and worry to find Him again!

Skipping over some great episodes we don’t have time to touch on, we move forward to episode 10, where four friends bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus to heal him. In this episode, we learned that sometimes God will validate a message He sends with a miracle. However, don’t expect this to be God’s default method. In the gospels, this might be the only time Jesus uses a miracle to prove a spiritual point. It’s also worth remembering that if God was specifically punishing this man for a sin in his past, there would have been no way for Jesus to heal him against God’s will!

Moving ahead to episode 12, Jesus warns His followers about judging others and He shared a parable about two homes with different foundations. In this event and episode, we ultimately learned that the only thing that matters from eternity’s perspective is what God thinks and how God judges. Jesus has promised us that we can change the measure God uses to judge through the way we interact with others.

Jumping forward to episode 14, Luke includes an event early in his gospel about Jesus’ feet being anointed at Simon’s home. In this episode and event, and within Jesus’ response to Simon and his guests who looked down on what took place, we discovered that the reason we know context matters is God associates with sinners. Jesus came into this world because God loves sinners. While God doesn’t love the sin, that isn’t going to stop Him from seeking out the sinner.

When God forgives our sin, it is like He erases our debt and all that is left is the essence of who we are that He loves. What we do, what we look like, or what is in our genes is not relevant when discussing God’s love.

Jesus assured this woman that her sins were forgiven, because He wanted her to move forward in a new life with God without the cloud of her past weighing her down. Jesus wants us to know that God has forgiven us because He wants us to begin or continue our lives with Him without the sins of our past weighing us down. God wants to redeem us out of sin and into new, eternal lives, with Him!

Continuing our pattern of looking at even numbered episodes, which is something I just noticed but didn’t plan, we arrive at episode 16, where we looked at Jesus casting out a legion of demons and sending them into a herd of pigs. In this episode, when we looked closely at the details, we discovered that God allowed the demons to kill the pigs, but these demons did not, or maybe even could not, kill this man. I wonder if Satan had dispatched a whole legion of demons to kill this man and the closest they could get was driving him from society.

However, nothing could stop Jesus from reaching this man. Nothing Satan could do could stop this from happening. While the demons weren’t restricted from killing the pigs, they were powerless to kill this man under God’s protection. It didn’t matter how many demons were present in this man, God’s protection of this man’s life was clearly stronger.

When Jesus wants to heal a life, free a life, or change a heart, the best Satan can muster is no match for a single command from Jesus’ mouth. And from what Jesus did for us on the cross, nothing Satan can muster can steal eternal life away from those God has chosen and called!

We finally break from this pattern as we move forward by jumping ahead and stopping at episode 19. In this episode, we focused on Jesus sending out the 72 disciples to the surrounding towns and villages and we learned that Jesus challenges us to not become proud about the words we speak, because we are simply a messenger for Jesus. In the same way, we should not take rejection personally, because those who reject us aren’t rejecting us as much as they are rejecting Jesus and God.

The mission of God’s people at every point in history has been pointing people back to what God and Jesus have done for us, and pointing us to His arrival and return. While it may be exciting to have the Holy Spirit with us, we should be even more excited that when we follow God, our names are written in the Book of Life in heaven. In the big picture, it won’t matter what we have done for God. What will matter is whether our names are among those who God is planning on redeeming from sin and bringing with Him into eternity!

Jumping forward to episode 23, we looked at Jesus teaching us about our eyes being lamps for our bodies while He challenges some religious leaders. In this episode, we learned that God wants a personal relationship with us. Any leader, teacher, guide, or mentor who wants to get in the way of you growing closer to God has more in common with these religious leaders that Jesus speaks out against than people God actually sends into our lives.

In the very next episode, number 24, Jesus continued His teaching turning His attention onto greed and worry. Included in the passage we covered in this episode is the parable about the man who was blessed and chose to build bigger barns. This episode taught us a number of very powerful truths that we can use to wrap up the first part of our year-end finale. In episode 24, we learned that when we give up our possessions and give money to help others, we rob greed of its power. Greed has power in our lives when our focus is placed on what we own. When we shift our focus onto selling, giving, and focusing on helping others, greed is robbed of its power in our lives.

The biggest benefit of living a generous life of service to others is that our hearts will be stored with where our treasure is, and when our treasure is stored in heaven, our hearts will be there as well!

God desires your heart and mine. When we live lives focused on serving God, helping others, and storing our treasure in heaven, God gets our hearts as well – and God is the only one who is able to restore a sin-stained heart. God solved the sin problem through Jesus, and He is willing to solve our personal sin problem when we give our hearts to Him!