Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Our Decisions Determine Our Destiny: Luke 16:19-31

Published April 24, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 16:19-31 (NIrV)

¹⁹“Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. ²⁰A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. ²¹Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.

²²“The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side. ²⁴So the rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’

²⁵“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain. ²⁶Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’

²⁷“The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family. ²⁸I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’

²⁹“Abraham replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.’

³⁰“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.’

³¹“Abraham said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Read Luke 16:19-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Sometimes, when I read about an event or look into the details of a parable, I wonder what the broader context is. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus – the focus of this passage – is one place in the gospels that seem to bring more questions than answers.

For this journal entry, let’s focus not as much on the illustration, but instead focus on what we can gather from the context – and what are some ways we can view this teaching:

The first thing that jumps out at me that relates to the context is that this teaching does not start in typical parable fashion. Most parables begin with “The kingdom of God is like . . .” and then go from there, but not all parables do this. The most well known parable that does not start this way is the parable of the farmer and the four types of soil he spreads seed on (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1–20; Luke 8:4–15), and the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

This tells me that Jesus did share stories that taught truth beyond just looking at God’s kingdom, and this illustration was likely one of those.
The next thing we should look at is what the surrounding passage/teaching sounds and looks like. Are there illustrations/parables before this one, and if so do they start in typical parable fashion? And are there illustrations/parables after this one, and if so, do these ones start any differently?

Looking at the teaching included in the surrounding chapters, we have the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, the prodigal son, the illustration of the unrighteous steward, and then a brief teaching on trust, greed, and the unchanging nature of God’s Law (Luke 15 and the first portion of Luke 16). After this illustration, Jesus teaches on the subject of not being a stumbling stone, on unconditional forgiveness, on increasing faith, and on being humble regarding our role in life (Luke 17:1-10), before the narrative shifts to another healing.

The surrounding verses tell me that while this passage is not tagged as describing God’s Kingdom, neither are any of these half dozen or so teaching topics.
The third thing we should look at is whether this illustration is meant to teach us something about the present world, or if it is meant to teach us something else.

It has been said (or speculated) that Jesus took a famous parable of the religious leaders and flipped the conclusion. This theory says that in the original version of this teaching, the rich man goes to Abraham while the poor man continues to be punished.

While this makes for a good explanation for some of the unique qualities of this illustration (i.e. This is one of the only, if not the only, time Jesus includes a name in a parable), looking from the broader context seems to challenge this thinking. Luke wrote his book as a letter to someone who wasn’t present for any of Jesus’ life, teaching, or miracles. The recipient of the letter could have heard or known the original parable, which might have prompted Luke to include Jesus’ opposite version, but this is speculation – especially if the letter was being sent to someone outside of the region of Israel.

What is less speculative is that Jesus used anything/everything He could to teach truth, and it would not be unlike Him to use a well known, but inaccurate, parable and change it into teaching truth – but nothing in this passage or the context suggest this or that He is teaching about anything beyond the choices we make in our current life being important after our life has ended.

In the broader context of this specific passage, Jesus is teaching us about something bigger than any of the details of any specific parable/illustration: Our lives on earth matter to God, and our choices in this life determine our destiny. Each parable/teaching hints at one or both truths, and Jesus wants to get this truth through to us in as many ways as He can.

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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Recognizing Jesus: Matthew 14:22-36

Published April 23, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 14:22-36 (GW)

²²Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him while he sent the people away. ²³After sending the people away, he went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone.

²⁴The boat, now hundreds of yards from shore, was being thrown around by the waves because it was going against the wind.

²⁵Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and began to scream because they were afraid.

²⁷Immediately, Jesus said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid!”

²⁸Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?”

³²When they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. ³³The men in the boat bowed down in front of Jesus and said, “You are truly the Son of God.”

³⁴They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. ³⁶They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.

Read Matthew 14:22-36 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

When we read about the big events where faith is demonstrated, they can easily overshadow some of the side truths that we can learn from some of the more subtle stories that aren’t as glamorous.

One such place is immediately following Peter’s miraculous, faith walk on the water towards Jesus in the storm. Sure, Peter did have some doubt, and that made for a little tension and suspense, but all was well and the boat made it to shore with both Peter and Jesus alive and well – and on board.

But too often we stop reading there and we miss what happened next. We are tempted to think that because this big event is over, there is nothing special to pay attention to until the next big event. But if we let this temptation win, we miss a big truth that can be learned in the last verses of our passage – after the boat has landed at the shore:

“They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.” (v. 34-36)

There are two big things we can take and learn from this simple, transition-like set of verses.

The first thing that it is very important for us is to be able to recognize Jesus. If the men on the shore had not recognized that it was Jesus who had just landed, then none of those who were in that region would have known to come and be healed.

The second thing that is very important for us is to act on the smallest amount of faith that we have. We are tempted to think that there was only one person in the gospels who was made well by touching Jesus’ clothing, but in this short transition, we learn that dozens or maybe even hundreds of people were healed by simply touching Jesus’ robe. The people didn’t need any more faith than this. They believed that just by touching something that was Jesus’ would be enough to make them well.

And this brings us to a key truth: When we call ourselves Christ-followers or Christians, we are people who are dedicated and bought by Jesus, which makes us His. If these people believed that by simply touching cloth that was Jesus’ would heal them, what would happen if we truly believed that by being Jesus’, we can make a significant and miraculous impact on those who are hurting around us.

When we truly recognize Jesus and act on the small amount of faith like those living in Gennesaret, our world will be transformed.

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Flashback Episode — Our Food and Our Worship: Mark 7:1-23

Published April 22, 2024 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we’ve moved through this year focusing in on Mark’s gospel, we’ve sped through Jesus’ life and through many of the most significant events so far in Jesus’ ministry. In our passage for this event, Jesus is challenged again because of something His disciples don’t do, and in Jesus’ response, we get the picture He was perhaps a little irritated at these religious leaders, but also that Jesus had a higher opinion of God’s law than these religious leaders.

Let’s read this event and see what we can learn. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read it from the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us:

¹Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus. ²They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.

³The Pharisees and many other Jewish people obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way before eating. ⁴None of them will eat anything they buy in the market until it is washed. They also follow a lot of other teachings, such as washing cups, pitchers, and bowls.

⁵The Pharisees and teachers asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?”

Before continuing to discover what Jesus says in response to this, I want to draw our attention onto this question being a spiritual question more than a health question. While the laws given through Moses encompass not only spirituality, but health, legalities, and more, at this point in the Jews history, everything was being given a disproportionate level of spiritual significance.

I will be among the first to say that there is likely spiritual significance in more parts of my life and habits that I even begin to realize. However, with that said, some instructions have less to do with spiritual health directly and more to do with physical health. I don’t know if these disciples did not ever wash their hands, or if these disciples didn’t wash their hands in whatever way was spiritually significant in the minds of these legalistic Jews.

However, Jesus’ answer draws our attention not only on His heart, but also onto a pretty significant spiritual truth as well. Continuing in verse 6:

⁶Jesus replied:

You are nothing but show-offs! The prophet Isaiah was right when he wrote that God had said,

“All of you praise me
    with your words,
but you never really
    think about me.
⁷It is useless for you
    to worship me,
when you teach rules
    made up by humans.”

⁸You disobey God’s commands in order to obey what humans have taught. ⁹You are good at rejecting God’s commands so that you can follow your own teachings! ¹⁰Didn’t Moses command you to respect your father and mother? Didn’t he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? ¹¹But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they own has been offered to God. ¹²You won’t let those people help their parents. ¹³And you ignore God’s commands in order to follow your own teaching. You do a lot of other things that are just as bad.

¹⁴Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. ^15-16The food that you put into your mouth doesn’t make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”

¹⁷After Jesus and his disciples had left the crowd and had gone into the house, they asked him what these sayings meant. ¹⁸He answered, “Don’t you know what I am talking about by now? You surely know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean. ¹⁹It doesn’t go into your heart, but into your stomach, and then out of your body.” By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat.

²⁰Then Jesus said:

What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. ²¹Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, ²²unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. ²³All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.

In this lengthy response to this challenge, Jesus calls out the Pharisees and other religious leaders for placing their own rules above God’s direct instructions. While I’m confident that the religious leaders believed both sets of rules were important, in any place where these rules conflicted, they minimized God’s law in place of their customs. While some of what God has said could be seen as unpopular and potentially illegal in our world today, God didn’t share His laws as optional from an eternal perspective.

However, the biggest portion of Jesus’ response comes in contrasting what makes you fit for worship from what is simply a smart thing to do for your health. However, one phrase in this passage stood out to me as we read it. This phrase is found at the end of verse 19: “By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat.”

Reading this translation makes me think that all foods are equal, but some of the other translations we regularly pull from frame this phrase better in my mind. Both the New American Standard Bible translation and the New International Version emphasize Jesus’ declaration here that all foods are clean. I can understand why these translators may have chosen to frame this idea as being fit to eat, but it might have been better to say that Jesus simply reframes all foods as spiritually clean.

However, Mark’s gospel is attributing a meaning to Jesus message that I don’t see. Perhaps the original language has a better connection, but Jesus is focused more on spiritual cleanness and fitness for worship and how our food doesn’t change our status or our fitness in God’s eyes. I don’t see Jesus telling us that all foods are now permissible to eat, because history, logic, and any reasonable dietician will tell you that different foods have different health benefits. Some foods are simply better than others, and some types of food should be avoided.

Jesus’ message is that our food doesn’t affect God’s response to our worship. Jesus does not hint or state that all things that go into our mouths are equal from a health perspective.

Instead, Jesus emphasizes that what comes out of our mouths comes from our hearts, and what comes out of our mouths makes us unclean. The things that come out of our mouths reveal our hearts. We could also say that the things we share on social media reveal our hearts as well. In today’s era, our “voice” extends to both what we say and what we write and share. What we choose to communicate to others reveals our heart.

God doesn’t view our online lives and our offline lives as different. God sees everything we do and Jesus tells us here that what we do is an extension of our hearts.

After leaving the crowd and entering the house with the disciples, Jesus reemphasizes the truth that our hearts affect how fit we are to worship God. This also strongly suggests that our worship to God might not be accepted based on the state of our heart.

While it is true that our food affects our health, and our health will ultimately affect our life, which includes our ability to worship, our food does not affect the spiritual state of our heart or God’s love for each of us when we come to Him in worship.

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 intentionally seeking God first in your life. Don’t let this passage be a license to ignore what you put into your mouth, but let it be a challenge to be extra aware of what comes out of your mouth, and to be extra aware of what you communicate to others, whether this communication uses your vocal cords, your pen, or even your computer, tablet, or phone. What you say and share with others reveals the state of your heart, and the state of your heart reveals how fit you are to worship God.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself. I don’t know of any better way to help clean and restore your heart than through heartfelt prayer, and studying God’s truth in the pages of the Bible. These spiritual habits have given men and women a solid spiritual foundation for centuries, these spiritual habits can strengthen our spiritual lives, and these spiritual habits have the power clean our hearts as well. Don’t simply assume the Bible says something because you heard it from a friend or read it on the internet. Choose to study it out for yourself because if for no other reason than your eternity depends on it!

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

Flashback Episode: Year in Mark – Episode 17: When challenged by some religious leaders about His disciples’ lack of an action, discover How Jesus viewed our food in relation to our spiritual cleanliness. Discover what our food can and cannot do, and what Jesus tells us is important when we come to God to worship.

Join the discussion on the original episode's page: Click Here.

A New Name: John 1:35-51

Published April 19, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 1:35-51 (CEV)

³⁵The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. ³⁶When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷John’s two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus.

³⁸When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, “What do you want?”

They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?” The Hebrew word “Rabbi” means “Teacher.”

³⁹Jesus replied, “Come and see!” It was already about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day.

⁴⁰One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, “We have found the Messiah!” The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same as the Greek word “Christ.”

⁴²Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, “Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.” This name can be translated as “Peter.”

^43-44The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Come with me.”

⁴⁵Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

⁴⁶Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip answered, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn’t deceitful.”

⁴⁸“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

⁴⁹Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. ⁵¹I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

Read John 1:35-51 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

One of the most intriguing things Jesus did in His ministry was giving one of His disciples a new name – and it seems as though Simon, son of John, was the only disciple Jesus “renamed” – though we might simply say Jesus gave him a nickname. This disciple is more famously known as the name Jesus gave him, Peter, and many times both names are used together to form “Simon Peter”.

Not only is giving Simon a new name an interesting thing to do, Jesus does this almost immediately after meeting him. Verse 42 of our passage describes this: “Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, ‘Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.’ This name can be translated as ‘Peter.’”

Simon Peter was one of Jesus’ first disciples, and while there would be another disciple named Simon in the core group of twelve, this other Simon almost certainly would not have been a follower of Jesus at that time.

So why might Jesus give Simon Peter the new name – immediately after meeting Him?

In my mind, this is because Jesus saw the potential in this Simon, and the name Cephas (i.e. Peter) was a much better name for him knowing what he would become in the future.

While Simon Peter was the only disciples we know of that Jesus gave a new name to, we can take this detail of this event and apply it to our own lives.

Jesus does not see us simply where we are today; He sees us through the eyes of what we will become in the future. If our current name doesn’t fit us, He will give us a new name when He returns – and the name He gives us will fit us perfectly!

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