Reflective Bible Study

Before I forget to say it because there is so much else to share, let me wish you a Merry Christmas. As we do at the end of every year to wrap up what we have been focusing in on, we take a couple of episodes to review the year we just finished and look back at some of the biggest and most profound insights during our year of podcasting. This year, we get to look back at the time we spent in Mark’s gospel. While we do this together for these podcasts, I believe the Christmas season is a great time to step back and thank God for everything He has blessed our lives with during our calendar year that is coming to a close.

Whether you are looking forward to the new year because this past one was horrible, or if you are struggling to find something redeemable about the year we are ending, be thankful that God has still given you life and breath and give praise to God even if life has been hard.

As we look back on our year focusing on Mark’s gospel, we’ve learned quite a bit. Starting with our first episode looking at how Mark opened his gospel sharing about Jesus’ baptism, we discovered that when Mark describes Jesus’ baptism, we see an amazing picture that this baptism wasn’t just with water like John’s previous baptisms. Instead, Jesus’ baptism was with both water and with the Holy Spirit at the start of His ministry, and when Jesus received the Holy Spirit at the beginning of His ministry, this sets the stage for Jesus to be able to baptize others with the Spirit.

After Jesus received the Holy Spirit at His baptism, Jesus lets the Holy Spirit take the lead and direct Him where to go from that point forward. When we are letting God’s Holy Spirit lead us, we may be led to places that are not comfortable, and when we are in the places God’s Spirit leads us, we can expect to be tempted.

Jumping ahead to episode number 3, where we looked at Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law, we learned that God wants to help us because that is who God is, not because God wants more servants. If God wanted servants, He could have created millions and billions of perfect servant robots who would have no freedom of choice. God gifted His creation with the gift of choice because love requires the freedom of choice for it to mean anything – and this tells us that God loves us more than we can imagine!

Moving forward to episode number 7, where the religious leaders make the claim that Jesus used Satan’s power to cast out demons, we analyzed this argument and concluded that helping Jesus give glory to God would run counter to Satan’s character. Regardless of whether Jesus received Satan’s power or God’s power, either way dooms Satan’s kingdom. Either Satan fights himself and destroys his own kingdom, or Jesus really is more powerful than Satan is, and Satan’s kingdom is doomed because Jesus’ Source of power cannot be matched.

Jumping forward to episodes 11 and 12, where Jesus calmed the storm before casting a legion of demons into a herd of pigs, we learned the parallel themes that the storms Satan causes are no match for Jesus. The best, scariest storm Satan could muster ended the instant Jesus spoke. When deciding who we should align our lives with, the clear choice is Jesus. He has the power to help us face anything Satan wants to throw our way! Also, one command from Jesus sends an army of evil spirits out of a comfortable home in a man and into a herd of pigs. One command from Jesus will always send Satan away. Any confrontation Jesus has with Satan results in Jesus gaining the victory.

In the very next episode, number 13, we looked at how those in Nazareth rejected Jesus. While discussing what happened, we learned that in our own lives, God can use people to share His wisdom and His truth. While we are never called to accept messengers without first looking at the quality of the message, God has a way of using sinners to help spread His message and His truth. Aside from Jesus, everyone has sinned, and this truth challenges us to look past the messengers God sends our way and to focus on the message calling us to return to and believe in Jesus Christ.

Moving forward to episode 14, Mark drew our attention onto Jesus sending the disciples out in pairs. During this episode, we are challenged to remember the times when God has used us in powerful and/or significant ways, and to seek to place ourselves in situations where God can work powerfully in us again. God used these disciples to bless the towns that accepted them, and God is more than willing to use us to bless our communities when we let Him lead our lives as well!

Jumping ahead to episode 18, we looked at one of the most politically incorrect actions Jesus ever did when He insults a Gentile woman who came asking for His help. In this event, we learned that through Jesus’ resistance to this woman and her request, we see a faith that persists regardless of the obstacles present. This woman is an amazing example for us to model! Love at its core is more about what we do and less about what we say. Jesus challenges us to help other people, even if culture tells us that we should be hostile or mean to them instead. As a follower of Jesus, we are called to display Jesus’ love. While this love should also include being kind with our words, it is much more important for us to be kind in our actions. Jesus was clearly kind with what He did in this event, and this was in spite of culture pushing Him to be cruel or mean.

Moving forward to episode 22, we find Peter making an amazing declaration about who Jesus is just a few verses before Jesus rebukes Peter and calls Peter Satan. In this passage, event, and episode, we discovered together that everything culture told the disciples about the Messiah was focused on overthrowing the Romans and on living forever, while everything Jesus told the disciples about the Messiah was focused on a crucifixion, death, and a resurrection. In the minds of more than just Peter, what Jesus was telling them clashed with culture, with logic, and with everything they had previously believed about the Messiah and His kingdom. You can try to keep your life in this world and lose out on eternity, or you give your life in this world to Jesus in order to gain eternity. If we choose to reject Jesus because culture has a louder megaphone, then we will ultimately forfeit the rewards God has promised His people.

In the following episode, number 23, we focused in on the transfiguration. In this episode, we are reminded that nowhere does Jesus promise His people an easy life free of problems here on this earth. Instead, Jesus tells us that we might add to our problems when we choose Him, but that choosing Him is the only way to survive past the problems of this life and past the sin in this world! Jesus subtly reminds these disciples that He would suffer a lot and be treated shamefully, which are both subtle hints foreshadowing Jesus’ path to the cross, and as followers of Jesus, we shouldn’t be surprised if we are treated like Jesus was treated. However, when we side with Jesus, we get to experience Jesus’ resurrection, and accept the promise and gift of a new life with Him!

As our time for this first part of our two-part finale is coming to an end, let’s finish this episode by looking at what we discovered in episode number 24. In this episode, Mark draws our attention onto Jesus predicting His death and the disciples arguing about who would be the greatest among them. In this episode together, we were challenged with the truth that fear and pride in our lives can stop us from asking the questions God wants us to ask because we are afraid of what others might think of us. Many things can stop us from asking the questions God wants us to ask, but we shouldn’t let fear control our journey with God! In order to be great in God’s eyes, we must welcome, help, and serve those who society believes are last.

When we welcome those who society has rejected, Jesus tells us we are not only welcoming Him too, but we are welcoming God, who looks down at this planet and sees all life as special and significant. Regardless of what culture tells you, in God’s eyes, you matter and regardless of what you might believe about yourself, Jesus came to redeem you from the punishment for your sins.

I can’t think of a better challenge to end this first part of our year-end finale with, so as we wrap up this podcast, remember as we move through Christmas together, welcome those that society has rejected and spread the love of Jesus with the people God brings into your life!

As we begin our special two-part finale for this year of podcasting, first off I want to wish all of you an extra special and merry Christmas. I hope that while you are spending time with friends and family, that you also take some time to remember Jesus and what He stepped into this world to accomplish. Without Jesus, life would have no reason for hope, and we would be lost in our sin.

However, because of Christmas, we are reminded that Jesus did come, and that He came to show us how much God loves each of us. Seeing how God loved people through Jesus is one of the big themes we focused in on this past year of podcasting through the gospels looking at Jesus’ miracles. As always, there is way more than I could cover in one, or even two, finale episodes if I were to try to recap everything, but as always, I’m here to share with you the insights that stood out to me the most.

With that said, let’s dive into some of the biggest and best insights, at least in my own mind, that we discovered this past year focusing in on Jesus’ miracles.

Let’s start off by focusing in on what we learned in episode 1. In our first episode, we looked at God miraculously protecting Jesus when those in the Nazareth synagogue wanted to kill Jesus for offending them. In this episode, we learned that while none of us knows exactly when we will die, we can trust that God will keep us safe through everything that comes our way as we move through fulfilling the mission He has for our lives. Regardless of whether our lives are going well, or whether we are facing hard times, and regardless of whether things are calm or chaotic, we can trust that God is in control and that He is moving history towards the end of sin and the salvation of His people.

Continuing forward, the next two episodes focused in on Jesus turning water into wine. In episode 3, we learned that culture pressures people to live by the philosophy “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die”—which is ultimately a recipe for living hopeless lives. But the symbolic counter-cultural message here is that Jesus flips this idea upside down. When Jesus is involved, what we thought was good wine was served first, but what comes next is infinitely better. While those living without Jesus live hopeless lives believing that times are good then worse, when we live with Jesus, we can face the good and bad times in this life knowing that the best is still to come.

Episodes 4 and 5 focused on Jesus healing an official’s son in Capernaum. In this miracle, we learned that when we pray to God, know that He does not delay answering our prayers. Like the official did, we should trust that God has answered our prayers at the exact moment we pray them. However, we should also move forward with the faith that we might not always see God’s answers to prayers at the moment we pray them, or in the way we expect them to be answered.

Episode 6 was one of the first times we looked at miracles where Jesus cast demons out of people where the demons tried to tell those present who Jesus was. In this episode, we are reminded that Jesus, as the Holy One of God, is stronger than Satan and his force of evil angels. The demon obeyed Jesus, and this detail proves that Jesus is stronger than the devil. We should never listen to Satan because he is an untrustworthy source. Satan can share truth, but because Satan is known for lying, anything we listen to becomes suspect simply because of the source. It is much safer to acknowledge but ignore Satan.

I promise we won’t cover something from every miracle, but in episode 7, where Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, we learned that one of the most appropriate ways of saying “thank you” to Jesus and to God for everything He has done for you and I is through serving Him. Peter’s mother-in-law served Jesus following being healed. In the case of us living over 2,000 years later, we serve God through serving others, and when we serve those who cannot repay us with more than a “thank you”, we are serving as God has called us to serve.

In episode 9, we looked at the miracle of fish that prompted the invitation of some of the first disciples. We discovered that Jesus was willing to trust His message with a bunch of not-so-religious fishermen. These four men were the least qualified men from a religious perspective, but in God’s eyes, they were perfectly qualified because they had willing, teachable hearts. God uses the willing and teachable heart to train and equip an individual for His purposes, and these closest disciples step up to lead the church in powerful ways after the Holy Spirit entered their lives.

Jumping forward to episode 11, we discovered some powerful truths when learning about Jesus healing a man with leprosy. We learned that sometimes bad things happen simply because we live in a sinful world. In contrast, sometimes bad things happen because God chooses to withdraw His protection. When we are living apart from God, it makes logical sense that God is not obligated to protect us from the sin in this world. God’s protection is a gift, and when we realize this, we should be grateful when we are protected, not angry when bad enters our lives.

And in this same episode, we are reminded that when we make mistakes in life, and when we sin, it is easy to think that God no longer loves us. However, God is more than willing to forgive you and me than we are willing to admit. God loves you and I so much that nothing could stop Jesus from coming down to take the punishment for our sins. Jesus forgives us because He wants to forgive us, and because He knows that His forgiveness is a big part of the way we receive eternal life.

Wow, we are running out of time. Let’s jump forward and focus on just two or three more episodes before wrapping up part 1.

In episode 20, when Jesus is interrupted on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter by a woman wanting to be secretly healed of a bleeding condition, Jesus stopped and brings this miracle to the forefront. We learned in this miracle, through this woman’s faith in Jesus that God is looking for a people who are determined, persistent, and won’t back down when their faith is challenged. God is looking for His people, living today, to be persistent, passionate, and determined to live our lives with a faith that will not be shaken by anything that comes our way. We are called to live with a faith that leads us into eternity.

A few episodes later in episode number 23, we discovered when looking at Jesus healing a mute man and receiving pushback from the Pharisees that history has proved repeatedly that when the Bible is filtered through anything else, people are deceived and they give up on God’s truth. Tradition is only as good as it is grounded in scriptures. If a traditional belief or idea counters what the Bible teaches, then we must discard the tradition in favor of the Bible in order to have a clear conscience.

Following tradition is easy, but tradition caused the people who should have recognized Jesus, namely the religious leaders who knew the prophecies and the scriptures the best, to reject Him instead. Tradition threatens us in the same way today when we don’t remain grounded in God’s Word!

The last episode we’ll look at in part 1 of our finale is a truth that we discovered in episode 24, in the miracle by the pool at Bethesda. In this event, it appears as though Jesus may have ignored many sick or ill people while He came to help this one man. We discovered in this episode that some times God chooses not to heal someone instead of healing them. Some people choose to discount God’s love or His existence because of this dilemma, but this dilemma only is unsolvable when we see this life as all there is to live. Instead, God wants as many people as possible in the new heaven and new earth, and He wants sin gone forever, never to reappear. God is more focused on bringing people safely into eternity than on minimizing the destructive nature of sin while it exists.

This concludes our first half of this finale. The closing thought and challenge I’ll leave you as we head into our Christmas celebration together is that God wants to answer our prayers, but He also wants us to give Him gratitude, thanks, and love for being our Provider. When we are grateful to God for everything He has done for us, and when we open our eyes to how He often works, we will begin to see answered prayers, blessings, and evidence for His existence everywhere.

Let’s thank God today and this season for everything He has done for us!

As we begin our last regular episode in our year focusing in on Mark’s gospel, we turn our attention onto the last portion of Mark’s gospel’s longer conclusion. As I shared more fully in our last two episodes, scholars have doubts about whether Mark wrote this conclusion or whether this conclusion was added by a scribe later on because Mark’s gospel didn’t seem to have an ending or its original ending was lost.

However, even if Mark didn’t write this conclusion to his gospel, we can learn some powerful insights in how the author of this conclusion summarized the last events in Jesus’ life.

In the last half of this conclusion, we turn our attention to the last great commission Jesus gives to the disciples. While many people focus in on Matthew’s version of Jesus’ great commission, the way the author of Mark’s gospel’s longer conclusion frames Jesus’ message is powerful to focus in on.

With that said, let’s read what this author wrote. Our passage for this episode is found at the end of Mark’s gospel, in chapter 16, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 15:

¹⁵ Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone. ¹⁶ Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who does not believe will be punished. ¹⁷ And those who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force out demons. They will speak in new languages. ¹⁸ They will pick up snakes and drink poison without being hurt. They will touch the sick, and the sick will be healed.”

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven, and he sat at the right side of God. ²⁰ The followers went everywhere in the world and told the Good News to people, and the Lord helped them. The Lord proved that the Good News they told was true by giving them power to work miracles.

In this last section of Mark’s longer conclusion, we see a number of signs shared that tell us God was with the earlier disciples. This conclusion draws our attention to the miracles that those who believed would be able to do, such as forcing out demons, speaking in new languages, picking up snakes and drinking poison without being hurt, and healing the sick by simply touching them.

While some of the things in Mark’s conclusion’ list the disciples did while they were with Jesus, this seems like a strangely specific list that draws more heavily on the details we find in the book of Acts. While Jesus could have easily predicted this, it seems a little too detailed when we compare it with Jesus’ commissions to His disciples in the other gospels. This list also doesn’t leave room for other ways that God could confirm the message of the gospel.

Perhaps this is just the translation that we are using, but it seems unlike Jesus to use miracles to prove to people that the message they are receiving is from God. This runs counter to both Jesus refusing to offer people in that generation a miracle that proved He was the Messiah, and this runs counter to Jesus’ warning to not blindly believe messages from people who perform signs and wonders.

If we read the portions describing the signs in this great commission and conclusion using the New American Standard Bible, which is the translation we used in our last episode, it describes these miracles in this way: “These signs will accompany those who have believed” is how the miracles are introduced. Verse 20 concludes this message by saying “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”

While the New American Standard Bible does not use the word prove, it still frames the way these signs were given as being confirmation of the message. I don’t think I ever noticed this before, but while signs could be given to confirm a message, I don’t see this being Jesus’ model.

Instead, all the miracles Jesus did throughout His ministry were used to help people God loves and to cause people to pay attention, but Jesus intended for His ministry to stand on the words and message that He preached. When the disciples traveled around following Jesus’ return to heaven, the miracles they did helped those God loved, and caused people to take note. The disciples’ ministry and the good news they shared was intended to stand on its own.

This is significant for us to pay attention to for two reasons.

First, if God’s messages will always be validated by miracles, then we have centuries and millennia of messages that can easily be doubted. This includes many of the messages God gave through the prophets in the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophets’ messages were rarely if ever confirmed through miracles. If we set miracles up as a test for whether to confirm whether a message is from God or not, then we will have a good percentage of God’s messages throughout history that could then be claimed to not be inspired. God wouldn’t want this.

Secondly, using miracles as a test sets us up to be deceived if a message is false but a miracle confirms it. If Satan wanted to come to deceive, he would have no difficulty doing things that would appear miraculous. Satan could come helping people, teaching positive, humanitarian messages, and perform miracles and millions would be set up to be deceived simply because they used the miracles as their guide and not the previously revealed truth of scripture. Miracles are capable of being done by both good and evil angels, and because of this, they are a poor test for whether we should trust a messenger.

I wonder if this is why my New American Standard Bible footnotes hinted at theological challenges included in this longer ending of Mark’s gospel. Jesus’ teaching doesn’t suggest we should put much spiritual weight on a miracle worker. Instead, when we see miracles, we should take note, but then judge the value of the message this miracle worker is sharing based on the truth that is included in the Bible.

While Mark’s ending is questionable, and while I can understand why some scholars are concerned with what it suggests, the big truth we should hold on to in this conclusion is that God is with His people.

Jesus’ followers spread the great news of the gospel message, and God went with them as they shared Jesus with everyone they met. Jesus’ early followers dedicated their lives to sharing Jesus with people – even going so far as dying for their faith! I wholeheartedly believe that we are called to share Jesus like these first followers of Jesus shared Him, and that when we step out in faith, we will discover God is with us, helping us every step of the way!

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 to seek God first in your life and let Him lead and guide you as you move through life. Choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and in His sacrifice to cover your sins.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to discover firsthand what the Bible teaches. Knowing the Bible is our best defense when discerning truth from error, and when we prayerfully study the Bible, we open our hearts and minds to what God wants to teach us from His 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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

In our last episode, we began focusing on the final official miracle the gospel writers include, and we discovered that in Jesus’ repeated miracle of fish multiplication, each of these disciples received a subtle second chance and a second invitation. However, Peter, in addition to this subtle invitation, gets an extra special chance to talk with Jesus, and the first portion of this conversation will be where we discover God’s greatest miracle that we can be a part of.

While salvation may be the greatest miracle in the history of the world, salvation isn’t something we step into. Jesus did everything necessary for salvation, and then He offers His salvation to us as a gift. The not-often-thought-of-as-a-miracle we will focus in on in this episode is a miracle we can step into.

Let’s start by jumping back into our event and reading Jesus’ conversation with Peter. Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 21, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 15, John tells us that:

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

In this conversation, we discover an amazing truth that comes with our gift of a second chance. Similar to how Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. There is an interesting wordplay involved in this passage with the Greek word that is used for love here, but we won’t focus on that in this episode.

Instead, we’ll look at the response Jesus gives to Peter after each time Peter tells Jesus that he loves Him. In each of Jesus’ three responses, we discover a unique angle on a similar topic. Feeding lambs, taking care of sheep, and feeding sheep are all similar activities, but they are also distinct.

The amazing miracle in this portion of Jesus’ conversation is that with His forgiveness, Jesus trusts us with His people. Let that sink in for a minute. God could have simply forgiven us, but left the care and guidance for His people with the unfallen angels. Alternatively, God could have forgiven us, but done so conditionally, and based on us responding to Him in a certain way.

Both of these alternate ideas is understandable, but this is not Peter’s experience. Instead, Jesus forgives Peter and then challenges him to help take care of his fellow believers, both the young believers, as well as his fellow disciples. While this might be a commission just for Peter, I doubt the early church viewed it that way. Instead, every believer, when they have received forgiveness is entrusted with feeding, taking care of, and helping other believers. God trusts us with His people.

God hasn’t left us without help for this challenge. He has promised us the Holy Spirit, and as His people grew in number, we would have each other looking out for others with us. When everyone is looking out for one another, then we are all seeking each other’s best interests, and we are reflecting God’s character to the world around us.

As I describe this, it seems a little disheartening that I look out at the broad church that carries Jesus’ name and I don’t see this happening. There are plenty of positive examples of Christians looking out for each other, but all too often, we hear or read more about a Christian looking out for themselves, putting another person down, or trying to exert power or influence over another person.

Jesus stepped down into this world to lift other people up, and when we are genuinely reflecting Jesus, we will be stepping down to lift others up as well. God could have left the work of evangelism and helping others to the angels, but instead, He gives us the opportunity to join with Him and be a blessing to those He brings into our lives.

It is also significant to note that Jesus predicted Peter’s big denial. Jesus knew, and He told Peter, how Peter would deny Him three times before the morning came, and this happened exactly as Jesus described, regardless of how much Peter denied the possibility of that even occurring.

In the last portion of this conversation that we read, Jesus gives Peter another prediction about Peter’s life moving forward. Before inviting Peter to follow, Jesus tells him in verse 18, “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” While this doesn’t sound like much of a prediction, John tells us that Jesus’ words describe how Peter would finish his life glorifying God.

Jesus knows our future, and He knows what will bring us safely into eternity. While we might not have as clear of a prediction as Peter that we will reach an age we would consider “old”, the promise we have is that Jesus knows our future and He is passionate about seeing us saved for eternity. We don’t know when our life on earth will end, or even what the circumstances surrounding our end will be, but we know that Jesus knows, and that while He has work for us to do in this world, He will keep us safe to do His work in this world.

God has called us to partner with Him to love and take care of others, and He knows our future. Jesus came to give His life to redeem us and we can trust that He is preparing a place for us to live with Him when His timing is right. Our challenge and our goal is living with and living for Jesus with every breath we are given!

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

Always seek God first in your life and trust that He will guide your steps into the life He wants you to live. Intentionally focus on lifting others up, on looking out for others, and on helping, loving, and serving where you are able to. Live a life that glorifies God by loving and helping sinners.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God. While learning from others is okay to do, never let your relationship with God be dependent on others. God wants a personal relationship with you, and a personal relationship is “personal”. Focus on growing closer to God each and every day.

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!