Reflective Bible Study

While several of the other gospel writers include an event like this much later in Jesus’ ministry, John shares with us a time very early on in Jesus’ ministry when He goes to the temple and clears out the commerce. However, while John’s gospel includes this event, what fascinates me more than Jesus kicking the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple is what John tells us happened next.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 2, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 13, John sets the stage saying:

¹³ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courtyard he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So Jesus made a whip out of ropes. He chased all the sheep and cattle from the temple courtyard. He scattered the coins of the people exchanging money. And he turned over their tables. ¹⁶ He told those who were selling doves, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered what had been written. It says, “My great love for your house will destroy me.”

Pausing briefly, while we might think Jesus challenged those in the temple because they were cheating people and being dishonest, nothing in John’s description of this event suggests dishonesty. Instead, John frames Jesus’ actions as being against cheapening God’s house and making it like any other marketplace. This challenge is one that says God’s house should be a place where the focus is on God and not on anything else.

This challenge also strongly suggests that God’s house shouldn’t be a place where money is exchanged. Giving money as tithe or offering is different. The big issue I see in Jesus’ actions and words is against exchanging money for goods or services in God’s house because treating where we worship as a marketplace cheapens the holiness of where we come to God to worship Him.

However, Jesus’ actions don’t sit well with the Jewish leaders. Continuing in verse 18, John tells us:

¹⁸ Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “When you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple. Are you going to raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But the temple Jesus had spoken about was his body. ²² His disciples later remembered what he had said. That was after he had been raised from the dead. Then they believed the Scripture. They also believed the words that Jesus had spoken.

Pausing again, whenever I read this brief discussion Jesus has with the Jewish leaders, I chuckle a little because I am confident Jesus answered the way He did in order to be truthful but misunderstood. Jesus intended the Jewish leaders to misunderstand Him.

I suspect that Jesus did this intentionally because if He had spoken in a way that was more clear, they probably would have tried to kill Him on that spot.

Also very interesting to me is exactly what Jesus says in His response. In verse 19, Jesus tells these religious leaders, “When you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again in three days.”

When I casually read this, and John’s explanation that Jesus was referring to His body and to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, I might be tempted to understand it instead as “When you destroy this temple, [God] will raise it up again in three days.”

However, Jesus does not tell us that the Father would resurrect Him, but that He would resurrect Himself. John, chapter 10, verses 17 and 18 also emphasizes this point when Jesus tells the religious leaders and those present that, “The reason my Father loves me is that I give up my life. But I will take it back again. No one takes it from me. I give it up myself. I have the authority to give it up. And I have the authority to take it back again.”

While I don’t believe we can understand the full nuances present in Jesus’ statements about His power to restore Himself, and while we cannot understand exactly how He was able to do this, we do know from all the gospel records that Jesus was crucified and that He returned to life on the third day!

However, our passage isn’t finished yet. John has one more thing to tell us about this event. Continuing reading in verse 23, John tells us that:

²³ Meanwhile, he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. Many people saw the signs he was doing. And they believed in his name. ²⁴ But Jesus did not fully trust them. He knew what people are like. ²⁵ He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. He already knew why people do what they do.

In this final portion of our passage, John emphasizes how Jesus gave the people signs from God and that this prompted people to believe in Him. However, John quickly follows up with an interesting framing of Jesus’ response. John tells us that Jesus did not fully trust people. Jesus did not fully trust sinners. This is significant because as followers of Jesus, we should clearly and wholeheartedly trust God, but we shouldn’t blindly trust sinners.

At the same time, we shouldn’t distance ourselves from sinners, because we would live a lonely life, and because we might even go crazy trying to get away from ourselves. Whether we like admitting it or not, we all are sinners.

Jesus came to redeem a world full of sinners living in active sin. He came to fulfill God’s plan for the redemption of His people. Jesus triumphed over sin and over Satan. Jesus succeeded God’s mission for His life because He didn’t push sinners away and because He didn’t blindly trust them either. Either option is a trap that could have derailed Jesus off of His mission, and we face the same two traps if we let people’s opinions take precedence over God’s plan for our lives.

As we move forward through life, remember to keep God’s plan first and to trust God exponentially more than sinners in every area of our lives.

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 and place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him. Choose to trust God, have faith in Jesus, and move forward leaning on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance. Choose to protect the places where you worship God and keep them special and free from distraction.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and step into the person God has created you to be. Through prayer and Bible study, discover how much God loves you and how much He has given to show you His love. Jesus came for you, and God wants to redeem you personally out of sin.

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

One event that has always fascinated me in the gospels is the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet. Each of the four gospels includes a story describing an event like this. However, while Matthew, Mark, and John frame this event as one leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross, Luke’s gospel includes it early on, and Luke’s gospel draws out a parable Jesus shares at this event.

Because Luke’s gospel is so unique in the details and timing of this event and because Luke’s gospel doesn’t give the woman a name, part of me wonders if Jesus was anointed more than one time during His ministry.

Let’s read about what happened and about the parable Jesus shared during this event. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 36, Luke tells us that:

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

As I read this event just now, the parable didn’t stand out to me as much as the unnamed woman’s desire. In Jesus’ description of the woman’s actions, we could understand her motives to be one seeking salvation and forgiveness through her actions, or we could understand her motives as desiring some type of confirmation or affirmation that her past life of sin has been forgiven.

In the simple parable Jesus shared, forgiveness is a primary theme. However, is it possible to tell the woman’s motivation through this event? In my own mind, I think we can, especially if we are simply choosing between a works-based desire for salvation versus simply affirming God’s forgiveness.

The way I see this woman’s actions, everything we see described about her gives the impression she was humbly coming to serve Jesus. While this doesn’t sound significant at first, this is the key identifier for determining this woman’s motives. The motives of someone coming to Jesus with a works-based attitude would be more interested in building Jesus up, defending Him against His accusers, or doing something similar. While none of these actions are bad, they have more vagueness surrounding their motives.

In contrast, everything described about this woman is that she came seeking forgiveness and that she wouldn’t leave until she had received some type of confirmation that she was forgiven. This woman’s offering to Jesus was the best she had and Jesus honored her gift by affirming her forgiveness in God’s eyes.

If this event does not describe Mary anointing Jesus’ feet leading up to His crucifixion, then we know almost nothing about this woman except that she had a negative reputation before this point, that she anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and her tears, and that Jesus tells her that her sins are forgiven.

However, in Jesus’ parable, we see an amazing idea that Jesus touches on afterwards. In Jesus’ parable, two unequal debts are forgiven. While Jesus calls the feelings that each forgiven person felt using the word love, we likely would focus the word more towards the idea of gratitude and thankfulness, which are types of love.

In this parable, Jesus connects the concept of forgiveness and love and this connection is worth paying attention to. Before turning to the woman to directly affirm her forgiveness, Jesus finishes His message to Simon by saying in verse 47, “Her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Jesus tells us that how loving we are to others shows how forgiven we are. When we are only forgiven a little, we only love a little, and when we see ourselves as being forgiven of a lot, then we will love a lot.

The last words Jesus shares are interesting. Jesus tells us that “whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

This is incredibly true, but it is a completely subjective idea that is based entirely on our perception. The truth of our human condition is that even one seemingly insignificant sin in our life is enough to rip our connection with God apart and distance us so far apart from God that it is impossible for us to return. While this sounds extreme, this perspective is the only one we should have when understanding God’s forgiveness.

Our sin is so significant in God’s eyes that Jesus needed to give up His life in order for God to demonstrate both justice and mercy. The littlest, least significant sin, gives us the gift of the death penalty, and through what Jesus did on the cross, we are given our lives back. Jesus’ gift pardons us from receiving the death penalty, and that is how forgiven we truly are.

The more we realize how sin-stained we are, the more we can appreciate what Jesus did for us on the cross and the gift of forgiveness He offers us. The way we show we are forgiven is by loving and forgiving each other.

As we move forward through life together, let’s intentionally be more forgiving towards each other as our way of saying thanks to God for how greatly He has forgiven us.

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, continue to seek God first in your life and take a moment to think about what He has truly forgiven you of. While your past might not be as bad as someone else’s past, I’m willing to bet that if you are anything like me, there are plenty of ways you have messed up and failed God. God has forgiven you because He loves you. Will we recognize how greatly He has forgiven us and reflect His forgiveness to others through our love?

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to keep your personal relationship and connection with God strong. Don’t let anyone get between you and God, and filter everything you study through the lens of what God teaches you through His Word, the Bible.

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 continue moving into John’s gospel, looking at the events John included, our attention is turned onto the first miracle Jesus did. Many things about this event are fascinating, especially the faith involved in this event, but faith isn’t the only big factor that amazes me. In this miracle are several layers of foreshadowing that I suspect many people miss when they read it.

So with that said, let’s read what happened, and discover some amazing things hidden within Jesus’ first miracle. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 2, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ² Jesus and his disciples had been invited too.

³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They’re out of wine.”

⁴ Jesus said to her, “Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.

⁷ Jesus told the servers, “Fill the jars with water.” The servers filled the jars to the brim. ⁸ Jesus said to them, “Pour some, and take it to the person in charge.” The servers did as they were told.

⁹ The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now.”

¹¹ Cana in Galilee was the place where Jesus began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this, Jesus, his mother, brothers, and disciples went to the city of Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.

Every time I read this event, I am amazed that the disciples and the servants were the only ones who knew a miracle took place. In other words, Jesus’ mother, who made the request didn’t know what happened, and the host and groom both didn’t know what happened. To the majority of the guests, this event appeared to temporarily run out of wine, but then more wine showed up. There was a problem, and the problem was resolved.

This miracle is prompted because the servants had enough faith to obey Jesus’ ridiculous sounding request to serve the host water. The servants’ faith in Jesus, not knowing who Jesus even was, opened the door for this miracle!

We could also look at the disciples and the servants and picture them as the least important people at this event. Since this was a wedding Jesus’ mother was involved in, it was likely that it was a wedding of one of Jesus’ family members. In this event, we have no idea who the bride or groom was, but they were connected in some way with Jesus’ family. This would make the only people present who were not family members Jesus’ disciples and the servants. Those outside of the family saw the miracle, while those within the family remained somewhat oblivious.

This is interesting to note, because often times we don’t see God working in our hearts or our lives, but other people do. Other people are likely to see a greater change in our lives when we come to God or begin moving towards Him than we do. This isn’t bad, it is just something we should be aware of.

Another thing that stood out to me while reading this event is that the water pots were used for purification rituals. Since John chose to include this detail, I suspect he believed it to be significant for us to know. Part of me wonders if this detail helps draw our attention onto Jesus’ gift purifying us as believers and followers of Him. When Jesus gave Himself for us, His life purifies ours and we are able to stand before God because of what Jesus accomplished for us.

This detail leads us into two amazing layers of foreshadowing I believe this miracle and event includes.

The first layer of foreshadowing is looking forward to what would happen at another significant meal Jesus and His disciples ate together. On the night Jesus was arrested leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus ate what Christians around the world call the Last Supper on Passover weekend. During this Passover meal, Jesus takes bread and wine and connects these things symbolically with His body and His blood.

Jesus’ blood, represented by the wine, represents Jesus’ life. Drawing this connection back to our event for this episode, we see that Jesus supplies His life to solve a problem we are unable to solve. The wine in this event had run out, which symbolically represents that we had done everything we knew to do without being able to solve our big problem (in this context, our biggest problem is sin). To step in with a solution, Jesus provides wine, which represents His life, and it is a wine that is better than either the host or groom had experienced before. Jesus’ life defeated sin, solving the biggest problem we face, and when we accept Jesus’ life in exchange for ours, we get to experience eternal life when we deserved eternal death because of our sin.

The second layer of foreshadowing looks towards the great “wedding” feast we will experience following Jesus’ return. After Jesus returns, we will get to enjoy the wedding supper between Jesus and His bride, which represents His church.

Whenever I see a wedding event in the Bible, I look to see if there is any connection with the wedding feast that all God’s people will experience when Jesus returns to bring us home. In this miracle, I see a profound connection. The only way this future wedding will happen is because of Jesus supplying the wine, which represents His life, for His bride. Without Jesus’ life, there would be no future wedding. The amazing, subtle foreshadowing in this first miracle is that Jesus supplies His life in order for His people to be able to experience the wedding God has been looking forward to since the beginning of time.

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection solved the sin problem. Jesus supplied His life in exchange for ours. It is now up to us to accept Jesus’ gift and His invitation to substitute His life for ours.

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 accept the gift He offers to you through Jesus’ life and sacrifice. Jesus supplied what we need to solve the sin problem in our own lives, and it is up to us to lean on Jesus’ life for strength to overcome sin in this life. We do this best by focusing on Jesus and intentionally growing towards Him.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and mature towards God. Through prayer and Bible study, discover just how much God loves us through what Jesus did for all of us. Discover how sin is something we never asked for personally, but it is something God was willing to solve for us because He loves us more than we might realize!

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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As Jesus neared the end of His famous sermon on the mount, we find another parable-illustration that Jesus uses to help us understand a key point He wanted to emphasize for the crowd. While the crowd was used to following their religious leaders, at the big high point of Jesus’ sermon, we discover a warning that is just as important for us to remember as it was for those living in the first century.

Let’s read Jesus’ words as recorded in Matthew’s gospel. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, and we will read from the God’s Word Translation. Starting in verse 15, Matthew quotes Jesus saying:

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep, but in their hearts they are vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by what they produce.

“People don’t pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they? ¹⁷ In the same way every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire. ²⁰ So you will know them by what they produce.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?’ ²³ Then I will tell them publicly, ‘I’ve never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.’

²⁴ “Therefore, everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person who built a house on rock. ²⁵ Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not collapse, because its foundation was on rock.

²⁶ “Everyone who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it will be like a foolish person who built a house on sand. ²⁷ Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and struck that house. It collapsed, and the result was a total disaster.”

²⁸ When Jesus finished this speech, the crowds were amazed at his teachings. ²⁹ Unlike their experts in Moses’ Teachings, he taught them with authority.

Every time I read this passage and this event, I am amazed at the strong words Jesus used in the conclusion of this message. The illustrations Jesus uses in this passage all center around a very unpopular idea: obedience. We are warned on the front end by Jesus to pay attention to how obedient someone is and to judge their words based on their level of obedience to God’s Word.

Throughout the Bible, the idea of a prophet is simply someone who receives a message from God and then shares it with others. The Bible includes prophets who were both men and women. There is no distinction in God’s eyes when it comes to giving messages to males or females. God looks at other characteristics when deciding whether to give someone a message.

However, the Bible also warns of false prophets. These people claim to speak messages from God, but God never gave them a message to share. These people speak from their own assumptions, and they taint God’s reputation because they misrepresent Him. Obedience in one’s own life is a huge factor in whether we are accurately reflecting God.

After getting all of us agreeing on the truth that we should not expect bad trees to produce good fruit or good trees to produce bad fruit, Jesus then shifts the focus onto the fruit that we produce. If you want to know someone’s heart, look at their actions, look at where they spend their money, and look at how they treat other people. Our hearts reveal our nature through our actions.

In emphasizing His point, Jesus stresses that a lack of obedience will get people kicked out of the kingdom of heaven. The sobering truth in the center of Jesus’ conclusion is that no quantity of good deeds in the world will outweigh disobedience. Jesus calls those who are disobedient, “evil doers”. A disobedient heart is what led to Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven, and it would be crazy for God to bring disobedience into His new heaven and new earth.

However, the big parable in Jesus’ conclusion focuses in on two builders. Note the only distinction Jesus shares that separates these two people. Verse 24 quotes Jesus saying that “everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person”. Verse 26 contrasts this by quoting Jesus saying that “everyone who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it will be like a foolish person”.

Both the wise and the foolish individuals hear Jesus. What makes one wise is whether they obey Jesus or not. Not only is Jesus teaching and warning us about paying attention to others, Jesus is warning us about being intentional about the choices we make in our own lives.

Nowhere in this teaching do we find obedience hinted at as being the source of our salvation. Our salvation is found through faith in Jesus and trusting in His life covering our sins. The only thing obedience gains us is wisdom in this life.

However, the real teaching Jesus emphasizes in our passage is that disobedience in this life has the power to forfeit our salvation. Nothing Satan can do can steal us away from Jesus, but if we choose a life of disobedience, we are effectively choosing sin over Jesus, which not only cheapens the sacrifice He made on our behalf, we choose Satan over Christ.

Instead, Jesus challenges those in the first century, as well as us living today, to be intentional about obeying, not because we believe we can obey our way into being saved. Instead, we are challenged to obey as a way of saying thank You to God for sending Jesus, and thank You to Jesus for coming to pay the price for our sins.

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, continue to intentionally seek God first and place Him first in your life. Intentionally obey God as a way of saying thank You to Him for what Jesus has done for us.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God each and every day. While a pastor, author, speaker, blogger, or podcaster can give you ideas to think about, never base your spiritual foundation on the ideas of others. Instead, always build your spiritual foundation on the truth found in the Bible which you learn and validate through personal Bible study.

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 let Satan trick you into walking away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!