Reflective Bible Study

As we continue focusing on Jesus’ last big teaching to His remaining disciples on the night of His arrest, we come to a promise Jesus shares that is also framed with a challenge. I suspect that this promise stays true while we are following through with Jesus’ challenge, but that when we give up on Jesus’ challenge, we fail to receive what Jesus promised to us.

With that said, let’s dive into this passage and discover what we can learn in what Jesus shared with His remaining followers. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John records Jesus saying:

¹ “I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain joined to me, just as I also remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

⁵ “I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain joined to me, and I to you, you will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me. ⁶ If you don’t remain joined to me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be done for you. ⁸ When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.

⁹ “Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that you will have the same joy that I have. I also want your joy to be complete. ¹² Here is my command. Love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit that will last. I also appointed you so that the Father will give you what you ask for. He will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ¹⁷ Here is my command. Love one another.

¹⁸ “My disciples, does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you. I said, ‘A slave is not more important than his master.’ If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ I did works among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those works. And still they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’

²⁶ “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me. ²⁷ You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.

In this passage, Jesus challenges His disciples with the illustration of a vine and its branches. The challenge for us in this illustration is that as branches, the only way we will have life that allows us to be fruitful is when we stay connected to the vine, and the vine in this illustration is Jesus.

Throughout this passage, we are called to be fruitful for God, to be witnesses for Him, and to let Him give us life. When we are being witnesses for God, being fruitful for Him with the life He has given to each of us, we are bringing glory to God the Father, and fulfilling the mission He has placed us on this earth to fulfill. Tucked within this passage is the powerful life mission that we are called to give glory to God by being fruitful with the things He has blessed us with.

Also within this passage is a powerful promise. In verse 15, Jesus tells us that: “I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father.”

If we are ever tempted to think that God created us to simply be His slaves, Jesus challenges this lie clearly in this verse. If God wanted slaves, He would have created humanity in a very different way – and if this other way allowed us fail the test of sin, God would have responded in a very different way as well. While it is not ideal to think about, slaves are treated differently than friends.

Jesus instead frames the way God sees us as friends. While one way of looking at friendship is two equals who enjoy spending time together, I suspect the friendship we have with God is more like a King being friends with those who He enjoys spending time with. It would also be like the CEO of a company being friends with someone several levels down in the organization.

In these clearly unequal examples of friendship, we discover that we are not equal friends with God, but that He desires us to be His friends, and that He blesses us, promises us, and shares with us like a friend would. Some people might be tempted to take God’s blessings, promises, and truths and run, but that is not the actions of a true friend. A true friend accepts the gifts they have been given and then wants to give back gifts that their friend wants.

If our friendship with God was equal, we could give God back equally to what He has blessed us with. However, our friendship with God is so unequal that the best we can offer is entirely unworthy of God. The best we can offer God is like dirty rags.

But God has given us another choice. In response to everything God has blessed us with, we can give God our hearts. While our hearts might be the worst part of our entire being, the only One capable of cleaning, fixing, mending, and restoring sin-stained hearts is God. Because God is the only one capable of fixing or replacing our hearts, it is the gift He desires the most.

God does not want us living forever with a sin-filled, sin-stained, sin-tainted heart. Instead, God wants us to bring our hearts to Him, and let Him transform our hearts into being like His. When we stay connected to Jesus, like a branch stays connected to the vine, we allow God to work on restoring our hearts, and we are able to be fruitful for God in ways that might even surprise us!

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 stay connected to Him and to Jesus like a branch connected with a vine. In response to everything God has blessed you with, open up your heart to Him and let Him transform your heart into His heart, and let God take your heart and use it for His glory!

Also, as I always challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God each and every day. God loves you personally, and He wants a personal relationship with you starting today, and extending 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 separate yourself away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we keep moving through the parables and illustrations Jesus used when teaching the people, we come to a parable Jesus shares specifically with His disciples. However, this parable is part of a bigger teaching about the importance of being courteous, intentional, forgiving, and having faith. In just a few short verses, Jesus covers all these topics leading up to a parable that summarizes what our attitudes should be when seeing ourselves as disciples, or followers, of Jesus.

Let’s read Jesus’ teaching, then discuss how it is relevant for us today. Our passage and parable are found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 17, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1:

¹ Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ So watch yourselves.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷ “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

In this passage, we discover four big descriptions of what Jesus called His followers to be. But before focusing on these four descriptions, realize that Jesus called His people to be this way, not those who were not His people. Since this message was given to people who already had accepted Jesus’ invitation to follow, we should understand the descriptions we will look at as destination points on the path God leads us on, and not as prerequisites for taking the journey with God.

The standard Jesus sets with these four descriptions is extreme, and it is about as counter-cultural as one could imagine.

Our first big description can be summarized as having a selfless attitude. This is described by Jesus’ opening statement: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.” (verses 1-3a)

Having a selfless attitude means that we are intensely focused on the well-being of others and we don’t press our own agenda. The only “agenda” we have is showing others God’s love and helping them discover the Jesus who gave His life for them. If there is something about us or our message that would cause someone to stumble, then we minimize it, but don’t discount it or ignore it. If there is something that is a big issue in the other person’s life, then we shift the focus away from it. It is better to let God’s Holy Spirit do the convincing regarding big issues than for us to place a stumbling block in someone’s path when they are moving towards God.

Having a selfless attitude means we love others, we pray for them, and we help them discover Jesus. We ultimately let God lead them towards His truth.

The next big description is having unconditional forgiveness. This is where Jesus goes next when He says: “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” (verses 3b-4)

While we are called to forgive others regardless of whether they truly repent, forgiveness is simply not holding them responsible or as payable for the debts they caused us. Forgiving doesn’t mean reconciling them back into our lives, even though some problematic people may be closer connected to us. The unconditional forgiveness Jesus calls His people to live out is nothing more or less than what God does for His people.

We might do our best to avoid sin in our lives, but we stumble, fall, and then come back to God asking for forgiveness. God unconditionally forgives us when we return to Him, and this is the attitude He calls His people to model for the world around them.

The third big description comes after the disciples ask Jesus for help increasing their faith. Jesus doesn’t really answer their direct question, but He does describe what we could call an unwavering faith when He says: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (verse 6)

Jesus calls His people to live lives of unwavering faith in God and in Him. While we might not need to use our faith to move mulberry trees, our lives of faith are no less significant in God’s eyes. When we live lives of unwavering faith, nothing Satan throws our way will stop us from living for God and from having faith in Jesus.

While bad things may happen in our lives, we are not surprised by this because we know this world is filled with sin. God didn’t call us to live easy lives on this earth, but to live lives dedicated to Him. God’s goal for us isn’t a comfortable life in sin, but an eternal life with Him!

The fourth and last big description Jesus gives for His people is the focus of the parable portion of this passage. We could describe this as limitless humility. We discover this through Jesus’ illustration where He tells the disciples: “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (verses 7-10)

While a different parable Jesus shares frames God as the one turning the tables and serving us, this parable does not contradict Jesus’ other illustration. Our parable in this passage focuses on our attitude, not on God’s actions. This parable focuses on our expectations and on our response. After serving God for a lifetime, we should be content still serving Him.

This describes a limitless humility, and living a life of limitless humility neatly summarizes living with a selfless attitude, living with unconditional forgiveness, and living with unwavering faith. When we are God’s people, we reflect His life and His character. God has called us to serve others because He loves and serves us. God never stops serving, and this is the attitude He has called His people to model!

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. If you have decided to be one of God’s people, be sure to focus on incorporating these four descriptions into your life with God and your life living among those in this world. However, also know that to truly model these four descriptions, we need the Holy Spirit’s help. We cannot reflect God’s love and God’s character on our own.

Because of this, I always challenge each of us to continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Prayer and Bible Study are the best ways to build a strong spiritual foundation for our lives and it is the best way to discover who God is and what He is truly like. While cynics like to only focus on the cruel acts of God, studying the Bible for yourself can help you discover God’s reasons for these challenging events.

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

As Jesus finishes up the special meal He has with His disciples on the night He was arrested, John’s gospel includes a powerful teaching Jesus shares with His followers about staying hopeful, and Jesus also promises His disciples a gift He would send them after He has left.

I thought about shortening this passage, or splitting it up into multiple blocks, but I concluded that if I did, we might not be able to finish the year on time. With that said, the next few episodes will contain longer passages than normal, and in each, I won’t be able to draw out as much as I might want to if we had a little more time.

With that said, our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read it from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, John records Jesus’ words to these remaining disciples, saying:

¹ “Don’t be troubled. Believe in God, and believe in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms. If that were not true, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? ³ If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again. Then I will bring you into my presence so that you will be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. So how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you have known me, you will also know my Father. From now on you know him through me and have seen him in me.”

⁸ Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will satisfy us.”

⁹ Jesus replied, “I have been with all of you for a long time. Don’t you know me yet, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I’m telling you doesn’t come from me. The Father, who lives in me, does what he wants. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe me because of the things I do.

¹² “I can guarantee this truth: Those who believe in me will do the things that I am doing. They will do even greater things because I am going to the Father. ¹³ I will do anything you ask the Father in my name so that the Father will be given glory because of the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me to do something, I will do it.

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. ¹⁷ That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you. ²¹ Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “I have told you this while I’m still with you. ²⁶ However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.

²⁷ “I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly. ²⁸ You heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

²⁹ “I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe. ³⁰ The ruler of this world has no power over me. But he’s coming, so I won’t talk with you much longer. ³¹ However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.”

In this passage, several ideas jumped off the page at me. Probably the biggest idea, theme, and promise within this passage is that while Jesus is leaving, He is coming again. Second to this are the powerful ideas that seeing Jesus is equivalent to seeing the Father; when we believe in Jesus, we will do what He does; when we believe in Jesus, He will answer our prayers; and when we love and obey Jesus, He will send us a helper.

A phrase stood out in Jesus’ promise to give us the Holy Spirit. Verse 16 tells us a key detail of this promise: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever.”

While at other points in time I’ve focused on the first phrase, the last phrase in this verse is significant. When God gives us the Helper, who is the Spirit of Truth, we will have that helper forever. When we are given the Holy Spirit, this gift is not temporary; it’s eternal!

I suspect that while we will always have the Holy Spirit while we love and obey Jesus, the way the Holy Spirit is present and working in our lives will likely adapt depending on our situation and our stage of life. This shouldn’t be seen as discouraging. Instead, this demonstrates a powerful type of love that knows each of us is unique, and we all need God in our lives in unique ways.

However, with all this said, Jesus also promises to leave us peace. From the way this section fits within the rest of Jesus’ message, I suspect that the peace Jesus leaves us is connected with the Holy Spirit. In verse 27, Jesus promises us that we will receive His peace, and this peace is unlike what the world gives. With Jesus’ peace, we should not be troubled, cowardly, or fearful.

Peace from the world’s perspective is accepting the rule of those who are more powerful. Peace in this instance does not allow for us to push back at injustice, because when we push back, we will experience resistance and hostility. Jesus does not want His followers to have the world’s form of peace.

Instead, Jesus promises us His peace, and it is a peace that allows us to stand up for God in this world, and a peace that doesn’t make sense to those who do not have it.

The peace Jesus gives His followers comes from knowing that with whatever happens in this world, Jesus has already successfully redeemed us and saved our seats at God’s table in the next world. We have peace because this life in sin is temporary, but our next life is eternal when we have placed our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus!

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first and place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Jesus. When we believe in Jesus, we unlock all the blessings God has promised to give us, though some of these promised blessings are being saved for us when we step into our next life when Jesus returns. Instead of focusing on what God is saving for us, focus on the blessings He gives each of us today, and stand up for Him in our daily lives with the assurance that Jesus has already won the victory!

Also, pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow a personal relationship with God on the best foundation possible – which is on His Word and His promises. The Bible gives us the best picture of God, and through Jesus, we know what God the Father is really like and how much He really 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!

The parable we will be focusing on in our passage for this episode is probably Jesus’ strangest parable. When thinking of parables, this one is very unique and there isn’t another one like it. Our parable is also only found in one of the four gospels, which implies that it stood out as significant to one of the gospel writers, but not to the other three.

This parable also has no real context. From where it sits in Luke’s gospel, there isn’t much of an introduction or conclusion. It is almost as though Luke includes it in his gospel because he feels it needed to be shared, and because he felt that its purpose and teaching was self evident enough. However, this has caused confusion regarding exactly how much this parable was intended to teach us, and whether this is a parable, or a more literal illustration of something that happened.

Many of you by now have figured out that we are talking about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and this parable has divided people more than most others regarding how literal we should understand its details. This is because this parable is set in a place that we cannot fully understand, and it is a lot less relatable than Jesus’ parables about fishing, farming, and other common tasks.

Let’s read this parable now and discover the big truth I believe Luke wants us to know. Our parable and passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 16, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 19, Jesus tells those present,

¹⁹ “Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. ²⁰ A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. ²¹ Even 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. ²³ In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side. ²⁴ So 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. ²⁶ Besides, 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. ²⁸ I 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.’ ”

This is the end of the parable, and the details in this parable have left many to wonder how we should understand it in light of other places in the gospels where Jesus seems to describe death differently. There are also people who believe this parable Jesus shared isn’t as much of a parable, but Jesus taking and flipping the conclusion of a common tale the Pharisees and religious leaders shared where the poor man is tormented while the rich man is taken to a place of comfort.

However, since Luke includes no context for this parable, instead of trying to explain this parable using assumptions and other external sources, it would be better to focus entirely on the contents of this parable, and specifically the conclusion Jesus shared. It is in this conclusion that we discover two important truths, and in my own mind, it is assumption to extend the teaching of this parable past these two key concluding points.

The first truth is found in the final message, given through the character of Abraham in this illustration: “They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

This statement emphasizes the fact that if someone is rejecting truth, they won’t even be convinced about it even if someone rises from the dead. While Lazarus is a named character in this parable, it is interesting that Luke does not include Lazarus’ resurrection in his gospel. Instead, John’s gospel is the only one that includes Lazarus’ actual resurrection event.

I think this may be because Luke knows that this parable is really foreshadowing Jesus’ own death and resurrection, not Lazarus’. Being resurrected is one thing, but accurately predicting one’s own death and resurrection, with a time frame of this all happening within three days is an amazing validation for Jesus’ ministry and teaching. All Jesus did and focused on was predicted through Moses and the prophets, and those who rejected Jesus also rejected the writings of their ancestors and spiritual leaders.

Unless someone is drawn to truth through the Holy Spirit, they won’t be convinced by any evidence, even the amazing evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. When the guards reported Jesus’ resurrection to the religious leaders, they reject the testimony of these guards and bribe them instead to spread a lie. This is the future Jesus predicted at the end of this ominous parable.

The other big truth this parable teaches is that after we die, we cannot change our decisions. This is emphasized by no one being able to cross the gulf between the rich man and Lazarus. But it is also interesting when we look closely at what is said, we don’t see the rich man actually asking for forgiveness or regretting any of his past. All the rich man asks for is brief relief from the pain, and that someone go and warn his brothers.

This also means that in a subtle way, we discover through this parable that after one dies, they likely wouldn’t change their decision even if given the chance. Nothing in the parable hints at the rich man wanting to change his past, and we don’t see any regret from him regarding him choosing to not help Lazarus the beggar. It is worth paying attention to the detail that this is while the rich man is in extreme pain. Even in extreme pain, we don’t see the rich man desire forgiveness or repentance.

In my mind, this is the extent of what this parable teaches. If we want to know what happens after someone has died, there are plenty of other places in the scriptures that describe this. It would be foolish and spiritually unwise to build an entire doctrine on one unique parable of Jesus without support from other, non-parable portions of the scripture.

While many people today use this as their key support passage for the doctrine of eternal torment, of an eternal soul, and of a place of purgatory, and that the rewards one receives happens immediately when one dies, there is enough counter evidence in the scriptures to outweigh this parable’s support on these teachings.

Instead, when reading this parable, we should focus less on the literal description, and more on the themes and lessons this illustration teaches. All Jesus did and focused on was predicted through Moses and the prophets, and those who rejected Jesus also rejected the writings of their ancestors and spiritual leaders. Unless someone is drawn to truth through the Holy Spirit, they won’t be convinced by any evidence, even through evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. Remember that after we die, we cannot change our decisions.

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. Choose today to side with God and to repent and reflect Him to the world around you. Make the decision today because we don’t know when our lives will end. While this sounds like a scare tactic, this isn’t my intention. Since you woke up this morning, there is a good chance you will wake up tomorrow morning too, but there will be a day when you may not wake up the next day. Don’t put off making the decision to choose Jesus. I don’t believe an eternity of torment awaits you if you don’t choose Jesus, but I do believe that after you die, you won’t be able to change your decision as this parable teaches.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. If you are challenged by this parable, or by anything you read in the Bible, take your concerns to God and ask Him to help you understand. It is likely that He will guide you as you study or that He will bring someone into your life who will help you understand. Accept God’s help when He sends 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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!