Welcome to Cam’s Reflective Bible Study Journal

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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The Unexpected Prophecy: John 11:45-57

Published March 20, 2026 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 11:45-57 (GNT)

45 Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did, and they believed in him. 46 But some of them returned to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the Pharisees and the chief priests met with the Council and said, “What shall we do? Look at all the miracles this man is performing! 48 If we let him go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Temple and our nation!”

49 One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “What fools you are! 50 Don’t you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?” 51 Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, 52 and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.

53 From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus did not travel openly in Judea, but left and went to a place near the desert, to a town named Ephraim, where he stayed with the disciples.

55 The time for the Passover Festival was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to perform the ritual of purification before the festival. 56 They were looking for Jesus, and as they gathered in the Temple, they asked one another, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” 57 The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must report it, so that they could arrest him.

Read John 11:45-57 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

One of the most amazing statements included in all the gospels comes from an amazingly unlikely source. While this statement is incredibly surprising, I am a little surprised that only John chose to include it in his gospel. This statement is made by one of Jesus’ most notable opponents, and part of me wonders if this opponent actually realized the extra layer of meaning that his statement had.

Following Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead, some of those present for this miracle went and notified the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem about what happened. These leaders then get into a discussion about what they should do because Jesus is becoming too popular. Perhaps not everyone in this council was in agreement and to break the stalemate that may have been present, one of them speaks up.

John describes this by saying, “One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, ‘What fools you are! Don’t you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?’” (v. 49-50)

On the surface, this statement sounds reasonable, and it can easily be understood to be a statement against Jesus. Caiaphas was basically saying that it would be better for Jesus to die than for the whole nation to be wiped out.

But in the way he says these words, Caiaphas allows for a double meaning – and perhaps even one that he was not aware of at the time. John picks up on this, and so that his readers won’t miss the significance of this statement, John immediately explains this significance. “Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.” (v. 51-52)

In this statement is an amazing prediction of Jesus’ ultimate mission to earth. While the religious leaders determined it would be better for them if Jesus was to die, little did they know the enormous truth that they set out to accomplish. Not only would Jesus’ death be better for them, but Jesus’ death would open up salvation to all people. The religious leaders’ vision was much smaller than Jesus’ vision of His mission – but their vision was large enough to help Jesus fulfill what He came to accomplish.

Ultimately this tells me that God can use what I say and what I do in His grand plan. I don’t have to worry about if I mess up because when it happens, God is not surprised. God has an infinite number of ways of fixing or minimizing the mistake; God is capable of weaving all our mistakes into a tapestry that shows us His love and grace; and no matter if I am for God or against Him, everything I do can be used by Him as a part of His great story called history.

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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The Seed and the Soil: Mark 4:1-8, 13-20

Published March 19, 2026 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue moving through the gospels looking at the parables Jesus shared, we come to what might be the most famous parable Jesus ever shared, and while carrying the title of most famous parable, this might also be the most important parable in the entire gospel record. This parable is the only parable that I can think of where both the parable and Jesus’ explanation of the details of this parable are included in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

If you are familiar with the gospels, or if you have been listening to this podcast for some time, I’m pretty sure you have heard this parable. However, just in case you haven’t read the gospels, or you have no clue what I am talking about, or if you need a quick reminder about the details of this parable, let’s read it together.

Let’s read this parable from Mark’s gospel, where it can be found in chapter 4, and let’s use the New International Version of the Bible to read it. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us that:

1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

It is at this point in the passage that the parable ends. Jesus then begins talking about something else that isn’t included in the gospels. Or perhaps, Jesus shared some of the other parables we will be looking at in the upcoming weeks.

If it wasn’t for the disciples coming to Jesus a little later and asking Jesus to explain this parable, we might be just as confused about this parable as we are about some of the others Jesus shared.

Like Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include this parable, they all include Jesus’ explanation. Instead of speculating what the details of this parable represents, as I have heard others who don’t know the gospels do, let’s read Jesus’ explanation of His own parable, because there is no better explanation than Jesus’ when it comes to helping us understand what He taught.

Picking back up in verse 13, Mark tells us:

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

In this explanation, we discover that different people react differently to hearing God’s word. In Jesus’ illustration, there are four possible reactions.

But before really focusing on the reactions, I want to point out Jesus’ own words when He sets this parable up to be a foundation for all of His parables. When the disciples ask Jesus to explain this parable to them, Jesus replied by saying in verse 13, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?”

While I don’t know if the disciples understood the parable before this point, but wanted clarification on some points, or whether they were completely clueless about why a farmer would so indiscriminately scatter seed in places where it wouldn’t grow well, we can thank them for asking for an explanation. While Jesus challenges them on their lack of understanding, He also shares the clear meaning of this parable.

In this parable, the farmer spreads God’s word. People on the path discount, ignore, or forget what was shared. People in the rocky places like what they heard but they don’t know how to apply it, nor do they have a foundation. When external challenges come, like the sun beating down, they give up God’s word and wilt away. People in the thorn bushes let God’s word take root, but they are challenged internally by deceit, worry, desires, and other things. These people let life’s problems strangle their relationship with God.

The last group of seed gets good soil, is able to take root, is not choked out by thorns, and is productive. While it would be easy to focus on why the farmer seemed to waste seed on not-ultimately-productive types of soil, let’s instead focus on the good soil.

Jesus writes about those in the fourth group in verse 20, saying: “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

I’ve read this verse a number of times, but a phrase jumped off the page at me this time. Those in this group “produce a crop”. In the subtle details of this parable, the goal of a seed is to make more seeds and to spread these seeds in order to produce a crop.

Like the parable we looked at in our previous episode, where the goal is being fruitful, we see a connection to this parable because the seed on good soil produces the fruit of a crop, and it does so in an exponential way.

Fruit trees and plants in general always produce more than one fruit or seed. Every plant produces significantly more chances of replicating itself than just once. Every plant is designed to realize that many of the seeds won’t become more plants. In the case of our current parable, the crop that is produced is fruitful, with some of the seeds replicating themselves up to a hundred times.

When we are being fruitful, we shouldn’t worry about how fruitful we are being. Those who are thirty times as productive are as rewarded as the ones who are one hundred times. Our level of fruitfulness isn’t as important as the simple truth that we must be fruitful.

However, in this parable, we get to chose where our seed lands. When God’s word comes into our life, will we choose to have a heart that is hard like a path, is weak like the rocky soil, is distracted and worried like the thorny soil, or will we open our hearts to God’s word, and multiply the message He has given to us by sharing it with others?

This parable lets us choose our response. Let’s choose to open our hearts to God and grow into being spiritually fruitful people!

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

Continue seeking God first and placing Him first in your life. Be sure to intentionally open your heart to God and let Him grow you into being the fruitful person He created you to be.

In order to do this, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. While it is okay to learn and grow from listening to pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters, never let your spiritual growth be filtered by others. Always be personally studying the Bible and testing what you read and hear with the truth included in the Bible’s pages, because while culture changes, the safest place to be anchored is the truth of God’s word.

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!

Year of Parables – Episode 12: Part way through His ministry, Jesus shares a powerful parable that helps us frame every other parable Jesus shares, and Jesus teaches us that only when we truly understand this parable will we be able to understand all His other parables.

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Posing as a God: Mark 5:1-20

Published March 18, 2026 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Mark 5:1-20 (NIV)

1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Read Mark 5:1-20 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In one of the most unique and spectacular healings Jesus ever did, Jesus heals a multiple-demon-possessed man who had been written off by society. In this healing, a phrase stood out to me that I had not paid much attention to. This phrase comes as the demons respond to Jesus’ question.

Mark tells us that Jesus asks the man, “What is your name?” (v. 9a)

This question is simple enough, but the response the man gives is far from ordinary. The man responds to Jesus by saying, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” (v. 9b)

Prior to looking closer at this passage, the man/demon’s response didn’t really stand out to me, but something in this response struck me as I read it this time: the first half of the response uses the word “my”, which is singular, while the second half of the response uses the word “we”, which is plural.

This contrast is clearly shown in how Mark shares the response, but the parallel idea that I thought of when reading this is that it is similar to how we describe God. We use singular pronouns to describe the Godhead, and the whole belief of the Trinity (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit) is a blend of a singular and plural thought.

If we read earlier in Mark, we get a description of what this man was known for. Mark describes the man by saying, “This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.” (v. 3-5)

While nothing really speaks to this man trying to take the place of God or even Jesus, it is clearly evident in Mark’s description that the man was supernaturally strong. Reading this description prompts me to think that he may have been trying to set himself up as the god of the dead – to contrast Jesus being the Savior of the living.

But looking at Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we know that Jesus is also the Savior of the dead and that Jesus’ power extends over both life and death. But before this was clear in the minds of those living in that era, part of me wonders if that singular and plural response the demons gave Jesus was a jab at God’s own nature that is both singular and plural.

In this response, I am reminded that almost anything can try to impersonate Jesus and God. Many things try to take the place of God in our lives, but none of them fit into the place God designed for Himself in our hearts. None of the impersonations can truly bring life and joy into our lives – and none of the impersonations can offer salvation for eternity. Life, joy, and salvation are just a few of the gifts God gives us when we choose to bring Him into our lives.

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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Messengers to His Church: Matthew 10:5-15

Published March 17, 2026 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Matthew 10:5-15 (NIrV)

5 Jesus sent these 12 out with the following orders. “Do not go among the Gentiles,” he said. “Do not enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Instead, go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that have become lost. 7 As you go, preach this message, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal those who are sick. Bring those who are dead back to life. Make those who have skin diseases ‘clean’ again. Drive out demons. You have received freely, so give freely.

9 “Do not get any gold, silver or copper to take with you in your belts. 10 Do not take a bag for the journey. Do not take extra clothes or sandals or walking sticks. A worker should be given what he needs. 11 When you enter a town or village, look for someone who is willing to welcome you. Stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, greet those who live there. 13 If that home welcomes you, give it your blessing of peace. If it does not, don’t bless it. 14 Some people may not welcome you or listen to your words. If they don’t, leave that home or town, and shake the dust off your feet. 15 What I’m about to tell you is true. On judgment day it will be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Read Matthew 10:5-15 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In one of His challenges to the disciples, Matthew records Jesus sharing an interesting description of the spiritual state of the people of Israel. In this description is also a direction for their upcoming task.

Matthew tells us that Jesus commissioned His 12 closest followers somewhere in the middle of His ministry with a mission: “Jesus sent these 12 out with the following orders. ‘Do not go among the Gentiles,’ he said. ‘Do not enter any town of the Samaritans. Instead, go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that have become lost. As you go, preach this message, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”’” (v. 5-7)

This commission from Jesus is amazing in my mind. Jesus describes God’s people “like sheep that have become lost”. (v. 6)

Jesus was describing the Jewish nation with these words, but part of me wonders if Jesus could use the same phrase to describe the Church (i.e. the broad banner of everyone who claims the name of Christ). With the hundreds of different denominations, and a growing number of churches who act like denominations while claiming to exclude themselves from that label, it is not hard to conclude that there is just a little bit of confusion within the umbrella of Christianity. With each group believing themselves to be the closest to the truth, Jesus’ description of Israel may be even more applicable to us today as members of the Christian Movement.

This is why Jesus’ commission to the disciples is amazing in my mind: Jesus sends the disciples to the people of Israel.  This would be like Jesus sending missionaries to His Church. If God sent an evangelist or a messenger to His people living today, would we pay attention? Would God’s people pay attention to a message from Him specifically for us living after the 20th century, or would we ignore His words and simply refer back to our own interpretation of what the Bible says.

God has given us everything we need for salvation through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. God has given us the Bible, and He has kept its message safe throughout history. But what would happen if God realized that His people had become lost, even with salvation being accomplished and the Bible’s message being preserved? Would God send a prophet like He did in the Old Testament or would He send a disciple like He did in the New Testament?

God’s church has not been perfected enough to no longer need His guidance. This will never happen. Instead, God sends messengers, like He sent the disciples, to those in His churches to draw His people back to focusing on 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!

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