Reflective Bible Study

As we continue into the gospels looking at the parables and illustrations Jesus shared, we come to a pair of illustrations Jesus uses during His famous Sermon on the Mount. While these illustrations aren’t classified as parables in one sense, these are illustrations that teach us something about God and about His plan for us.

Let’s read these two illustrations and discover what Jesus teaches us about God’s plan and ideal for us as His people. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 13, Matthew quotes Jesus teaching the crowd, saying:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

In these four short verses, Jesus challenges all of us with the truth that we affect others. While those in the crowd composed of Jesus’ disciples, Jesus’ followers, and those curious about Jesus, the truth Jesus shares, specifically that we have an effect on others, is true whether we are followers of God or not. Jesus challenges everyone present, and us as well, that we are to live in a way that benefits others.

The first illustration, which focuses on salt, illustrates this idea in a significant way. In that culture, salt was used to preserve food, and to a lesser extent, it was used for flavoring. Nowadays, we use salt more as a seasoning. Regardless of how salt is used, it’s only as good as it’s characteristics. If salt loses the properties that make it useful for preservation or for enhancing flavor, then it is ultimately worthless.

However, while it might look this way on the surface, even if salt loses its saltiness, it still has a use. Salt has a deadening effect on the ground, and because of this, it is useful for roads and other surfaces where one doesn’t want plants to grow. Even though we have pavement and more modern methods of composing roads to travel on, many northern climates have used salt for years as a way of melting ice and keeping roads safe for travel. Salt has many uses, but when it ceases to be salty, then its usefulness becomes limited. In a similar way, we are to be intentional about how we affect others, and we should intentionally affect others in a positive way.

Jesus’ second illustration illustrates how God chooses to use us when we let Him. Jesus tells the crowd in verses 14 through 16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

When we let God lead us and when we let Him transform our lives into the people He created us to be, with Jesus’ character and love shining through us, we become the “light of the world”. Jesus doesn’t say that He is the light of the world, even if He was the brightest light the world has ever known spiritually; Jesus says that we are the light of the world. When we let God use us and transform us, Jesus lets us know that we shouldn’t be surprised when God lifts us up for others to see, and we become lights in the world.

If we are interested in hiding God’s blessings, and keeping what He does in our lives secret, then we shouldn’t be surprised if we aren’t blessed in a significant way. If God gives us an amazing gift, or if God transforms us in an amazing way, when we hide what He has done for us, we are placing the light He has given to us under a bowl. We are hiding Jesus when God desires us to glorify Him.

In contrast, when we celebrate what God has done for us, we should give God the glory and credit for everything that has happened. The only credit we should take is for messing up and giving God an opportunity to bless us when we don’t deserve His blessing.

The last verse gives us the practical application of this truth, even if many people living today might try to dismiss it. In verse 16, Jesus tells us to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

In this challenge, Jesus calls us to show God’s light in us through our good deeds. We may be accused of doing works, or trying to work our way towards salvation, but this is simply an unconverted lie Satan tries to use to derail us. We obey God because we love Him and because we are thankful for what He has done for us. Thanks is best lived through a life of obedience and gratitude.

When people thank us for our good works, this is an opportunity to continually give God the credit, the glory, and the praise for what He has done for us! We can never come close to out-blessing others when compared with how much God has blessed us. While it sounds like a cliché, we should live our lives filled with an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness! Let’s simply remember that the best way we can thank God is by being a blessing to others.

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

As I always begin every set of challenges by saying, continue intentionally seeking God first in your life. If you haven’t thanked Him lately for all He has done for you, do so today. If you are facing a huge challenge or struggle, or if you feel God hasn’t been kind to you, then know that while I don’t understand your situation, God is more than willing to walk with you through the pain and challenges in your life. God may be blessing you with a testimony you can use to help others facing a similar situation. Too often, we believe that struggles and pain are God’s punishments, when God may simply be giving us a gift we can use to help others in a more meaningful way.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. A personal relationship with God is essential for knowing God’s will for your life, and we should grow our relationship with God on the foundation of prayer and Bible study. Never let someone else’s ideas or opinions get between you and your relationship with God.

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

As we continue our journey into John’s gospel, John the author of this gospel turns his attention onto John the Baptist, who was Jesus’ forerunner in ministry. While the other gospel writers include details about John the Baptist, John the author includes some unique details we don’t see in the other gospels.

In my mind’s eye, the passage we will look at happens after Jesus was baptized, tempted in the wilderness, and as He is returning to society. However, I suspect that this passage begins during the time when Jesus was at the end of fasting in the wilderness and actively being tempted by Satan.

Let’s read about what happened. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 1, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 19, John the author tells us about John the Baptist, saying:

¹⁹ This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Pausing our reading briefly, I want to draw our attention onto a couple of details before continuing.

While in other gospels, we read about Jesus saying that John the Baptist fulfilled the role of Elijah who was to come before Him, John the Baptist himself denies that title or role. Only a misquoted, out-of-context verse could make people believe John the Baptist was literally Elijah back from heaven. I have seen people claim that Jesus supported reincarnation because of one misquoted, out-of-context verse, but ironically, the claim is about someone returning who never actually died. Second Kings, chapter 2 tells us the story of Elijah being taken to heaven in a chariot of fire and a whirlwind.

But regardless of all of this, John the Baptist makes no claim about being Elijah, even if others make that claim for him. Instead, John the Baptist focuses on a mission that was foreshadowed by Isaiah. John the Baptist didn’t focus on who he was; he focused on the mission he was sent to accomplish.

John the Baptist’s mission was pointing people to Jesus, and he does so very clearly in this passage.

Let’s continue reading and discover what John the author tells us next. Picking back up in verse 29:

²⁹ The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ³¹ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” ³² John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

In my mind, I suspect that this was when Jesus was coming back from being tempted. It is also possible that after Jesus returned from the wilderness, that he spent a few days listening to John the Baptist’s teaching before John openly declares the truth about Him.

John the Baptist doesn’t proclaim who Jesus is with any unclear language. He declares that Jesus is the Son of God in verse 34 by saying, “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

John the Baptist focused on what happened during Jesus’ baptism for the evidence to firmly proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. It was at Jesus’ baptism when Heaven opened and the Spirit descended onto Jesus. I suspect this was more a sign for John the Baptist’s benefit than for Jesus. I am confident that Jesus had the Holy Spirit before this point, but that Jesus and the Spirit knew that the time wasn’t right before that point.

We can learn a lot from John the Baptist in this event. Not only can we learn that John did not see himself as Elijah or as a prophet, we see through how John described himself that he was focused on mission rather than on role. It’s possible John the Baptist could have known or claimed the roles of Elijah or the Prophet, since other people were likely speculating this. John the Baptist might have known he was fulfilling the role of Elijah, but he also knew that it is better to focus on mission than on roles. If John the Baptist focused on the role of Elijah, the focus would have been placed on himself. By placing the focus on the mission, John the Baptist is clearly directing the attention onto Jesus who would come after him.

Not only that, but we also discover that John the Baptist clearly tells those present who Jesus was in no uncertain terms. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and the only One who is able to redeem us from sin.

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 focus on the mission God has called you to instead of any role or position He may have placed you in. If you are uncertain of what God’s mission for your life is, the best mission to fall back on is simply telling people about Jesus. Choose to proclaim Jesus to those God brings into your life and tell others what Jesus has done for you personally.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and discover more about Jesus and God in your own life. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, filter everything you read, hear, or see through the pages and truth of the Bible to discover how the world’s ideas fit within God’s plan. You may be surprised to discover how much of the worlds ideas are simply not compatible with God’s ideal. When faced with the choice, always lean on God, because His way leads into eternity.

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 avoid where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we begin looking through the gospels for the parables and visual illustrations Jesus used when teaching the crowds, we don’t have to look very far. One of the first visual illustrations Jesus uses can be found in Mark’s gospel very early on in Jesus’ ministry.

In this event, which happens shortly after Jesus invited Matthew to be a disciple, some people come to Jesus with a question. Let’s read what happened from Mark’s gospel, chapter 2, using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 18, Mark tells us that:

¹⁸ John’s disciples [referring to John the Baptist’s disciples] and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples don’t?”

¹⁹ Jesus replied, “Can wedding guests fast while the groom is still with them? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.

²¹ “No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. Otherwise, the new patch will shrink and rip away some of the old cloth, and the tear will become worse. ²² People don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will make the skins burst, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is to be poured into fresh skins.”

In this short event, we see Jesus use two similar visual illustrations and on the surface, these illustrations seem disconnected from the context of what was written before. It is as though Jesus is talking about fasting and then immediately shifts focus to talking about new and old cloth and new and old wineskins.

While preparing for this episode, I wondered if I should leave out this first portion of the passage since it doesn’t seem to relate to the set of parable-illustrations Jesus shared.

However, when choosing which gospel to use for this episode, I noticed that each of the three gospels that include these parables all lead into the parables talking about the question on fasting. Whether it appears to us as coincidence or not, the gospel writers connected Jesus talking about fasting with His talking about cloth and wineskins, and because of this, we’ll include these first verses for context.

By including these verses, it was fascinating in my mind to see the foreshadowing of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return to heaven so early in the gospels. Verse 20 is the transition verse between fasting and patching cloth, and this verse has Jesus tell those present that “But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.”

Jesus knew early on that He would be leaving His followers and returning to heaven, and immediately after hinting this, we see two similar illustrations.

The first illustration is about patching an old coat. Jesus shares in verse 21, “No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. Otherwise, the new patch will shrink and rip away some of the old cloth, and the tear will become worse.”

The second illustration is similar, but focused on storing wine. Jesus shares in verse 22, “People don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will make the skins burst, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is to be poured into fresh skins.”

When reading these parables, I get the impression that Jesus selected the disciples that He did because He wanted to minimize the hurdle of tradition when trying to teach them about God’s kingdom. Sometimes, our habits and ways of viewing the world are a bigger obstacle to growing closer to God than it is if we begin while we are young.

Some of the religious leaders might have thought it odd for Jesus to have chosen the least religious people possible to start a religious movement, but Jesus knew something they did not – Jesus knew that strongly held preconceived ideas about the Messiah would not benefit the mission Jesus came to accomplish. The more religious the student, the more likely they would have preconceived ideas from what the religious culture taught. Jesus picked some of the least qualified people because they would have the least to unlearn before learning what Jesus wanted to teach them.

Those of us living over 2,000 years later are just as susceptible of falling into the rut that the first century religious culture faced. Those in the first century ultimately missed accepting the Messiah they were looking for because they had let tradition replace their focus on the prophecies. While we might think ourselves superior because we didn’t miss Jesus, we have just as easy of a trap we can fall into, and in our case, it isn’t simply one trap that causes us to miss Jesus. We actually face two traps in our spiritual walk.

Those of us living today must balance between two easy to fall into ditches on our spiritual walk. The first ditch we can fall into is believing we must have an open mind and accept every idea as equally credible. This is spiritual suicide because in spite of what others might say, not all spiritual ideas can coexist with one another. We can and should live peacefully with those who believe differently from us, but that doesn’t mean that we must align our beliefs. We should be open to working with others and keeping communication open, but we shouldn’t automatically surrender our beliefs just because others disagree. The more open-minded an individual is, the less grounded they will be, and they less certain they are about what truth actually is.

The other ditch we can fall into is becoming completely closed-minded and rejecting every idea that runs counter to our established belief system. While very little is truly new in the realm of spirituality and beliefs, when we present a closed-minded attitude towards someone else, we close off communication, and this ultimately will isolate ourselves. The more closed-minded an individual becomes, the more hostile towards others they will be.

The same is true for a culture. The more closed-minded a culture becomes, the more hostile it becomes towards others. The first century religious culture ultimately was hostile towards Jesus because they had become closed-minded towards other beliefs.

Jesus knew His ministry would challenge and change history, and He knew, like He describes in these parables, that trying to transform the old into the new will only result in greater trouble and conflict than it was worth. Instead, as Jesus began His ministry, He illustrates how He is going to start something new, and while this new doesn’t invalidate the old, starting fresh is needed to shed the layers of baggage known as tradition.

Some people think that we are due for a new start in Christianity in order to shed the baggage of tradition that has crept into Christianity over the centuries. On one hand I agree, however, I also add the caution that when we discard tradition, we must be very intentional that we are moving towards the truth that God has taught through His Word. Discarding tradition for error leads nowhere positive. If you choose to discard tradition in your own life, choose to discard tradition in favor of a truth that is clearly visible in God’s Word the Bible!

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

As I always open these challenges by saying in one way or another, be sure to continue to seek God first and place Him first in your life. Intentionally decide today that you will move towards Him and discard any tradition in your life that runs counter to the truth you find in His Word.

How do we know what is in God’s word? The easiest way to learn and know is by praying and studying the Bible for yourself. By personally getting into the Bible, you will learn firsthand what God wants to teach you, and you will grow a personal relationship with God. While other people can have interesting things to say about the Bible, never let someone get in the middle of your relationship with God.

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

As we begin another year looking at the gospels, this year we are focusing in on John’s gospel, and for many people, John’s gospel might be the most powerful of all the gospels in the Bible. I am certain that while we will try to cover as much as we can during the time we have this year, we will barely scratch the surface of what John’s gospel shares about God, about Jesus, and about how much the Godhead loves each of us.

To begin our year in John’s gospel, let’s first look at how John opens his gospel record, because in this introduction, I suspect that we can find some amazing truths about God and about Jesus.

Our passage is found in John, chapter 1, and we will read this introduction from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, John begins by telling us:

¹ In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was already with God in the beginning.

³ Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.

⁴ He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.

⁵ The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.

Pausing our introduction briefly here, I want to draw attention onto how John frames Jesus as the source of all life and light. According to John, Jesus was the key to the creation of this world and Jesus is our Source of life.

While it might be easy to spiritualize this detail away by focusing forward onto what Jesus would do for us through His death on the cross, John’s big point here is that there wouldn’t have been a human race for Jesus to die for if Jesus hadn’t created us.

Reading this introduction to John’s gospel amazes me, because from how John frame’s Jesus’ role in creation, Jesus willfully created the reason He would face the cross. While we might think that God the Father created the world and humanity, and then sent Jesus to clean up the mess sin made, John’s introduction frames Jesus being our Creator and the rest of this gospel frames Jesus as our Redeemer as well. Jesus is the reason every human is alive because Jesus is our Creator.

However, John’s introduction isn’t finished yet. Continuing in verse 6, John tells us that:

⁶ God sent a man named John to be his messenger. ⁷ John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. ⁸ John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.

⁹ The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He went to his own people, and his own people didn’t accept him. ¹² However, he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. ¹³ These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire to have a child. They were born from God.

Pausing again, as I read how John frame’s Jesus’ purpose for coming into the world, John tells us Jesus “gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him.” To clarify this idea, John tells us this isn’t a physical change, such as from a human impulse or husband and wife relations, but a spiritual one. We could conclude that when we believe in Jesus, God adopts us into His spiritual family.

This detail is significant when we read the next portion of John’s introduction, specifically the portion we will end with. Picking back up in verse 14, John continues sharing by saying:

¹⁴ The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness and truth.

¹⁵ (John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’”)

¹⁶ Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is. ¹⁷ Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. God’s only Son, the one who is closest to the Father’s heart, has made him known.

Let’s stop reading here because John has emphasized some big ideas that I don’t want us to miss. In the last portion of verse 14, John tells us that God the Father’s glory, which He shared with Jesus, is a “glory full of kindness and truth”.

John tells us that we receive amazing gifts and blessings because of who Jesus, also known as “the Word”, is and because of who we are to Him. While God blessed the world with His law through Moses, God revealed His kindness and truth through Jesus.

This detail is incredibly important for us to pay attention to. John tells us that God’s glory is full of kindness and truth, and John has already set the stage with an invitation given to all humanity to become adopted into God’s family. If we are to accept this invitation into God’s family, we should also expect that we will be transformed into reflecting God’s glory in the world around us. God’s glory does not judge, put down, or condemn others. God’s glory shines the light of kindness and truth.

I believe the order of these words is important. While some people might think that truth should come before kindness, it is very easy for truth to be shared outside of the context of kindness and for the hearer of the truth to interpret it in an unkind way. This is why I believe John wrote kindness, or grace, first.

Instead of the age-old cliché of loving the sinner while hating the sin, we should love the sinner first, before sharing the truth that God loves the sinner regardless of their sin. Too many sinners have their identity wrapped up in their sins, and hating the sin is seen in their eyes as hating the sinner, regardless of what we might say.

However, God loved us while we were actively sinning against Him, and we can know this to be true because Jesus came to die for us. God put kindness and grace first, before challenging us with the truth that God sees us as more valuable than our actions, our potential, and our sins. God’s glory is filled with kindness and truth, God’s glory is seen in Jesus, and as followers of Jesus, we are called to reflect this glory as well.

Truth shared in an unkind way is more damaging than simply being kind and extending grace. Jesus modeled kindness towards sinners, and He was kind and gracious towards all who understood they were sinners before calling them out of their sin.

Jesus modeled this gracious attitude towards us, because whether we like to admit it or not, we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s ideal. The sooner we realize that we are not any better than anyone else, the sooner Jesus can transform our lives with His glory, kindness, and truth!

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 in your life and choose to reflect God’s glory by being kind to everyone God has brought into your life. Choose to give people the benefit of a doubt and to extend grace even if grace isn’t what we deserve. We give others grace and kindness because God has blessed us with His grace and kindness.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and move closer to God in your life. The best way to learn what God is like is by opening the pages of your Bible and looking at Jesus. Jesus came to show us what God is like, and how much He loves each of us.

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!