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Cam’s Reflective Bible Study Journal is a blog/podcast where Cam, one of Reflective Bible Study's founders, shares things he has discovered from his time studying the Bible (usually from one or more of the four gospels).

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Surprising Jesus with Faith: Luke 7:1-10

Published December 26, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Luke 7:1-10 (GNT)

1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum. 2 A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him; the man was sick and about to die. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant. 4 They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, “This man really deserves your help. 5 He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us.”

6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, “Sir, don’t trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house, 7 neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 8 I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

9 Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!”

10 The messengers went back to the officer’s house and found his servant well.

Read Luke 7:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In Jesus’ entire ministry on earth, one event stands out in His mind as an example of great faith. Jesus even draws our attention to how extraordinary it really was. Our passage actually says the level of faith demonstrated “surprised” Jesus.

In this event, a Roman officer sends a message to Jesus that a servant of his is sick and about to die, and he requests Jesus’ help. Matthew shares that the officer came to Jesus personally, while Luke actually points us to this officer actually sending some of the Jewish elders from the local synagogue with the request to Jesus.

But when Jesus accepts the request and starts towards the officer’s house, another message is sent with a message that Jesus does not need to come personally, but simply delegate the healing to be done like he gives tasks and responsibilities to the officers below him.

“Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!’” (v. 9)

The level of faith this Roman officer demonstrated is extraordinary. He likely had never met Jesus personally, and so he only had rumors and reports about Jesus to go on. But these were enough for him to know that Jesus was capable of healing his servant.

The Roman officer also realized that Jesus’ healing was not His own ability, but something that He only had because God (or the gods) looked favorably on Him. In this way, the Roman officer knew that Jesus wouldn’t need to come personally, but simply speak the command – and that when He did, God would do what Jesus had requested.

This is the basis for the Roman officer’s faith – and Jesus calls it extraordinary. The officer didn’t need Jesus present or in person and he didn’t need to see it personally. All he needed was a message back saying that the servant would be made well.

Our passage concludes by saying in verse 10, “The messengers went back to the officer’s house and found his servant well.” Before the messengers could even make it back to the house, the servant was healed. Extraordinary faith results in extraordinary healing.

This Roman officer is a model for the faith we should have. We haven’t seen Jesus in person – but we do know what He can do from the reports (gospels) that we can read. We are unworthy to have Jesus even pay attention to us – but we know that He loves us even though we don’t deserve it. We don’t need to see to believe – we simply should have faith that what we ask Jesus to do will be done according to God’s will. Just like this Roman officer did, you and I can live a life that shows an extraordinary level of faith that can even surprise Jesus! It starts by believing without needing to see with our own eyes.

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

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Year of Prophecy – Finale: Part 2

Published December 25, 2025 in Audio Journal Entries

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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.

Year of Prophecy – Finale: In the second part of our annual two-part finale, discover some of the biggest insights we discovered during the last half of this past year moving through the gospels and focusing in on the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Spirit and Truth: John 4:1-45

Published December 24, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 4:1-45 (HCSB)

1 When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went again to Galilee. 4 He had to travel through Samaria, 5 so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.

9 “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”

11 “Sir,” said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”

13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”

15 “Sir,” the woman said to Him, “give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

16 “Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.”

17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.

“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

26 “I am He,” Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”

27 Just then His disciples arrived, and they were amazed that He was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do You want?” or “Why are You talking with her?”

28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to Him.

31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought Him something to eat?”

34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 Therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what He said. 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

43 After two days He left there for Galilee. 44 Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him because they had seen everything He did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.

Read John 4:1-45 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

One of the most profound conversations in Jesus’ life and ministry is shared in John’s gospel, and it is a conversation Jesus has with a Samaritan woman. While Jews and Samaritans disliked each other, Jesus chose to cross the national and gender divide by first traveling through Samaria, then by striking up a conversation with this woman.

It is in this conversation that I find something both profound and perplexing. During the conversation, the woman shifts the topic away from herself and onto something that she had wondered about: “‘Sir,’ the woman replied, ‘I see that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.’” (v. 19-20)

Basically, this woman is asking if the place where we choose to worship is important. She is asking if the “where” is as important as the “who”.

Jesus response is fascinating. He tells her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (v. 21-24)

In Jesus’ response we see something interesting. Jesus minimizes the “where” in her question, but He elevates the “how”. This makes the “who” and the “how” of worship the most important factors in Jesus’ eyes.

The “who” is God. God wants us to worship Him. While the context is Jesus talking about worship directed towards the Father, I believe that worship that elevates any member of the Godhead is appropriate.

The “how” is where things get trickier. The description Jesus gives is “spirit and truth” and He gives this description twice for emphasis. Jesus compares the spirit side of worship to God being spirit, so there must be not only a spiritual side to our worship, but something that draws our attention away from our “physical” selves. Not only this, the only way we truly can bring spirit into our worship is with the Holy Spirit living and moving within us. This one side to worship that God wants from His followers elevates “true” worship past what most worship services supply on a given weekend.

However, the “truth” side of this challenge is where things get really challenging. It seems that everyone has their own flavor of what “truth” is. In this postmodern society, truth – in a spiritual sense – is becoming viewed at a more relative and less absolute. But one thing that most people can agree on is that worship should be aimed at pleasing the one we are worshiping. If we are choosing to worship God, then our worship should conform to what He views as truth.

God wants worshipers who have the Holy Spirit and His truth in their hearts – and when this is the case, it doesn’t matter where they are when they turn to Him!

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

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.

Leading People to Jesus: John 6:1-15

Published December 23, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 6:1-15 (NASB)

In one of the most famous events in all four gospels, Jesus turns what is a hopelessly small meal for a small boy into a lunch that was able to feed over five thousand people. However, while all four gospels include this event, only the gospel of John gives details about where the food came from – and how the food ultimately reached Jesus.

After Jesus has challenged the disciples to get food, we read about an unlikely turn of events. “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?’” (v. 8-9)

What stands out to me in this event is the appearance of Andrew. This lesser known disciple was the brother of the famous disciple Simon Peter, the one who was looked to as a leader of the group of disciples, and the one who always seemed to either say something that was out of line or something that was incredibly profound.

Aside from Peter, James, and John, who were Jesus’ closest disciples, most of the other disciples don’t show up much by name in the gospels. There are Thomas, Matthew, Philip, and Andrew who occasionally appear, and there is Judas Iscariot who was the one to betray Jesus.

However, John tells us in his gospel that this was Andrew who brought the boy with his lunch to offer it to Jesus. This event in some ways echoes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, where Andrew chooses to follow Jesus, and then he goes to get his brother and share with him the news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Andrew is the model disciple who is always seen bringing people to Jesus. While he wasn’t one of the most famous in the group of twelve, he may have been the most persuasive.

In our own lives, we might not be the most famous followers of Jesus, but we still can share what we know with others and we can still help others by simply bringing them to Jesus.

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

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.