Reflective Bible Study

As we continue reading Mark’s gospel, and while we are looking at how Mark leads up to Jesus facing the cross, we come to a parable Mark includes that challenged the religious leaders in a very clear way. However, before thinking that we are off the hook with this parable being given back then, this parable also has a strong challenge for us living today as well.

Let’s read what happened, before unpacking why I believe this parable is just as relevant today as it was in the first century. This parable and our passage are found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 12, and for our time together, we will read it from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 1:

¹ Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip. ² When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. ³ The tenants grabbed the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing. ⁴ Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others. ⁶ The only one left to send was the man’s own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said. ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner’s son. Come on, let’s kill him, and his property will be ours!’ ⁸ So they grabbed the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.

⁹ “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others. ¹⁰ Surely you have read this scripture?

‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless
    turned out to be the most important of all.
¹¹ This was done by the Lord;
    what a wonderful sight it is!’”

¹² The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

In this parable, Jesus gives a strong message against those living in the first century. In this parable, we see messenger after messenger coming to ask for the owner’s share of the harvest, but the tenants outright refuse all requests. The owner lastly sends his own son hoping and believing that the tenants would accept him. However, the tenants believe that killing the owner’s son would then mean that the property would become theirs.

But when we logically summarize this parable, these evil tenants are not thinking rationally. These tenants have a strictly inward focus and they have lost sight of what they were hired to do. While it is possible that the vineyard would become the owner’s sons when the owner passed away, there is no guarantee that this would be the case. The owner could sell the land off and leave money for his son instead.

Part of me also wonders if the tenants believed the owner to have died already and that the son was now the rightful owner. While not accurate at all, it could explain why the tenants decide to kill the son and believe that they would then inherit the land they were actually only hired to manage.

But the thought process these tenants have is not rational or logical. It does not make sense in my mind that killing someone’s child would make them like you or want to keep you around. If jail wasn’t in the picture for someone today who murdered another person, it would be illogical for an employer to keep an employee hired after the employee had killed the employer’s child. Nothing these evil tenants do in this parable makes them worthy of staying hired.

After sharing the parable portion, Jesus attaches this parable to an Old Testament scripture that wasn’t written as a prophecy, but was turned into a prophecy that symbolized Jesus’ ministry. The stone that had been set aside as the corner stone those building Solomon’s temple believed to be worthless. However, when they reexamined their plans, they realized it was the most important stone of all.

In the exact same way, Jesus, who many of those in the first century believed was worthless and a nuisance, turned out to be the most important Person in history. Most of the religious leaders in the first century rejected Jesus and plotted His death. The first century Jews rejected Jesus and they rejected Jesus’ followers after Jesus returned to heaven. The first century Jews rejected the One who is the most important of all like the builders of Solomon’s temple rejected the stone that had been cut as the cornerstone.

When we look at Jesus’ parable, it is easy for us to look back and conclude that this parable represents the Jewish nation over the generations. God had sent prophet after prophet and messenger after messenger to help lead the people back to Him, but these prophets and messengers were killed, abused, and rejected by the Jewish leaders at the time God sent them. Since this parable concludes with the owner sending his own son, it is tempting to conclude that this parable was only for the Jews. However, this would be a mistake.

The big conclusion in this parable and the transition statement Jesus makes emphasizes a more lasting truth. In verse 9, Jesus asks and answers the question: “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others.” This is because the tenants refused to return His portion of the harvest to Him.

In this parable, there is no indication that the next tenants would be any better. All it says is that the current tenants were evil. It is very reasonable in my mind to conclude that another set of tenants, if they turned out to be evil as well would be rejected and a third, forth, or even fifth set of tenants would be chosen. I suspect that this could continue forward until the owner actually found tenants who were both responsible and mature.

While I’d hope the owner of the vineyard ultimately finds tenants that are not evil and tenants who return His portion of the harvest to Him, looking at the history of the Christian church doesn’t paint a great looking picture.

However, the key in this parable and in the prophecy Jesus points back to, is how we respond to the messengers God sends our way and what we do with God’s Son Jesus. Will we stay focused on Jesus and pay attention to the messengers God sends? Will we return God a portion of what He has blessed us with? This is what we are challenged to do in this parable, prophecy, and promise.

While the first century religious leaders rejected the owner’s Son Jesus, we don’t have to. While the Jewish people rejected God’s messengers throughout the years leading up to Jesus, we don’t have to reject those messengers or any current messenger God sends our way. The messengers that God sends our way today will all have one set of things in common: The messengers God sends will point people back to what Jesus did on the cross for us, they will amplify what the Bible teaches us about God, they will call us to repent and rededicate our lives to God, and they will remind us to look forward to Jesus’ return.

This is the role of God’s messengers today. God’s messengers lift God up and they don’t seek their own fame or glory. God’s messengers give God the glory. God’s messengers have their focus fixed on living for eternity!

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 pay attention to what He is doing in the world today. When God sends us messengers, pay attention and let the presence of a messenger prompt us to return to God. Even if false messengers come, take the opportunity to open your Bible and rediscover what God teaches us in and through His Word.

This is why I always also challenge you to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Only by praying and studying the Bible for yourself will you discover what the Bible really teaches. When eternity is at stake, the most dangerous thing you can do is assume truth based on what someone else has said or done. Don’t let anyone else filter the Bible for you. Study the Bible in prayer personally and discover what God wants to teach you about Himself in your life today!

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!

In two of the gospels, specifically Matthew and Mark, we discover a miracle that seems similar to one that we have already focused in on, but one that is quite profound when we look at how it is different from the other miracle. The other miracle is the only miracle that all four gospel writers included, and when I say that, you may remember that the miracle I’m referring to is the feeding of the crowd of more than 5,000 that we spent two episodes focusing in on.

However, lesser known is another miracle, where Jesus feeds a crowd larger than 4,000. While some people might think that these two miracles were the same, there is enough evidence and uniqueness in what happens in this episode’s miracle to clearly point to this being a separate event. And as a separate event, this miracle has some profound themes we can learn from.

Our passage for this episode comes from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 15, and we will read it from the New Living Translation of the Bible. Starting in verse 32, Matthew tells us:

³² Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”

³³ The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”

Let’s pause here for a moment because I want to draw out a couple things that we can already see in the verses leading up to the miracle. First off, this miracle is prompted by Jesus’ compassion and the necessity of the situation. Three days with Jesus away from towns in the wilderness is a long time, and from what Jesus describes, many of those who came did not plan for a trip of this length. This detail is powerful, because this means that many in the crowd following Jesus wanted to be near Jesus even more than they wanted to eat. As I say this, I am doubtful of how many self-professed Christians could be described in this way living in the world today.

The other big idea I see in this passage’s introduction is the initial response the disciples give, which is asking where they could get enough food for such a big crowd. All gospel chronology suggests this happened after the previous miracle of food multiplication, so this means that the disciples forgot what Jesus had done in the past, or they doubted His present circumstances for being able to do it again. This detail is also powerful, because it tells us that our present problems will always appear larger than our past victories. Only when we intentionally focus on what Jesus has done for us in the past will we have faith that He wants to help in our current situation.

Now that we remember and have a clear picture in our mind about what Jesus had done in the past, we can continue reading to discover what Jesus does to solve this problem in their present. Continuing in verse 34, Matthew tells us that:

³⁴ Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”

³⁵ So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.

³⁷ They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. ³⁸ There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. ³⁹ Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.

In this passage and the miracle, we see some fascinating unique details that frame God’s blessings and God’s answers to prayer. In the previous miracle where 5,000 plus were fed, the gift of food came from an outside source, specifically a boy offering his lunch to Jesus. That miracle had the prayer being answered from an outside source.

To contrast this, our current miracle describes the food coming from the disciples’ own reserve. This means that sometimes, it is up to us to supply what God needs to bless others. Sometimes God will bring us outside help to help us when blessing others and when answering our prayers, while other times, God will expect us to use what He has already given to us to bless others.

When we pray, we should be open and willing to accept help from wherever God sends it, and we shouldn’t shy away from using our own resources if no outside help comes.

Also, we learn from both miracles that no gift is too small. I believe that Jesus could have multiplied one loaf just as easily as He multiplied seven. When we bring our gifts to Jesus, we should never consider the gifts as too small or too insignificant for Him to use them. Instead, we should bring our gifts and readily offer them to Him. As we easily see in both miracles, Jesus is more than able to multiply a small gift into a large one when we are willing to give Him what we have. We might think that what we have to offer God is insignificant, but no heartfelt gift given to God is insignificant in His eyes.

When comparing these two miracles, we discover that the source of each miracle was total, complete gifts. While both sources of bread and fish likely were larger days, or even hours before, when the gifts are presented to Jesus, we don’t see any hint of food being held back. This means that when we offer God a gift, we should offer God the full, best, complete gift that we have. I doubt either of these miracles would have been as effective if the supplier of the food had held part of the supply back.

In this pair of similar miracles, we discover that God is more than willing to bless us when we pray, when we need help, and/or when He knows we will be better off with the gift than without. God is also more than willing to multiply the small, seemingly insignificant gifts into blessings for a greater number of people than we could even imagine. And God is interested in heartfelt gifts over gifts given with reservation.

All this leads us to the big truth that the greatest gift that we can give God is our hearts. Jesus came to love us and to redeem us from sin, and the least we can return to Him for this amazing gift is our hearts, our minds, and our lives.

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

Always seek God first and place Him first in your life. Praise God and thank Him for everything that He has done for us and be willing to let Him use you for His grand purposes. Step into God’s plan and give Him the greatest gift you can give, which is the gift of your heart!

Also, as always, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Seek to grow closer to Him through the pages of His Word and study the scriptures faithfully and prayerfully to let the Holy Spirit into your heart and mind.

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 drift away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As Mark continues to describe the events during the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, we discover another place where the religious leaders decide to challenge Jesus. However, unlike most other times the religious leaders bring a challenge Jesus’ way, this one ends in a way that these leaders did not expect.

Let’s read about what happened, and then take a few minutes to discover what we can learn from it.

Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 11, and we will read from the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 27, Mark tells us that:

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. And as he was walking through the temple, the chief priests, the nation’s leaders, and the teachers of the Law of Moses came over to him. ²⁸ They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

Let’s pause reading here. Mark has framed this event as happening the day after Jesus clears the temple. In the immediate context of the timeline in Mark, this implies that the religious leaders’ challenge is directed primarily at Jesus’ clearing the temple courtyard.

However, in a broader context, Jesus has spent years teaching, healing, and preaching all around the region. Another angle for this question and challenge relates to Jesus’ broad ministry and who gave Him the authority to leave the life of a carpenter behind and step into the public eye like He did.

A third angle for this question relates to Jesus assembling 12 disciples. This was very abnormal in the first century. While discipleship was normal, most religious leaders who called disciples to follow them only called one or maybe two followers. Then Jesus comes along and He calls 12 of the least qualified people from the religious leaders’ perspective.

The original language might have hints at which of these angles the challenge being brought to Jesus is aimed at, but when looking at what happens and with the answer we know, the answer is the same regardless of the angle we understand the question.

Let’s continue reading and discover how Jesus responded. Continuing in verse 29, after He was asked the question:

²⁹ Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ³⁰ Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”

³¹ They thought it over and said to each other, “We can’t say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe John. ³² On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet. So we can’t say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.”

They were afraid of the crowd ³³ and told Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus replied, “Then I won’t tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”

While I don’t know if these religious leaders talked loudly among themselves so that those present could hear them deliberate between the options, or if one of those in the group shared what was said with the gospel writers at a later date, it is interesting that Jesus gives basically the exact same challenge to back to the religious leaders. In Jesus’ counter question, we find the exact same dilemma being given back to the religious leaders that they gave to Jesus.

This question is a subtle trap because if Jesus answered that God gave Him the authority, they would then demand some type of proof, which would be subjective at best, and it would indicate that these religious leaders discounted or outright ignored all the signs around them already.

Instead, we see in Jesus’ counter question the perfect opportunity out of this challenge. The religious leaders’ fear of the crowd stops them from answering one way, and their fear of being judged by Jesus stops them from answering the other way. While I’m sure the religious leaders’ were not happy giving Jesus a “We don’t know” response, it is the only response that allows them to maintain their dignity in the face of the counter-challenge Jesus gave them.

Jesus could have responded to their challenge by simply saying that he had the same source of authority that John did, but while that would also sidestep the direct challenge while also being accurate, it would have allowed for an intentional misunderstanding and it would subtly misrepresent God. If someone in the crowd didn’t believe John was a prophet, then they would also be justified in believing Jesus wasn’t from God if Jesus had given this response.

From looking at this passage, the religious leaders have a greater fear that the crowd believed John had God’s authority, more than there being actual evidence the crowd actually believed this way. The religious leaders are scared to say the opposite because of something they suspected about the crowd, while nothing in the passage itself would suggest that the crowd present was as heavily weighted towards John being a prophet as they feared.

From Jesus’ perspective, the best way out of the religious leaders’ challenge is prompting the question itself to be withdrawn, and the way to do that is by asking a counter question that cannot be easily answered.

From this event, we discover that Jesus most likely had God as His source of authority. We can confirm this theory by simply looking at all the healing Jesus did, and all the miracles Jesus did over the previous years of His ministry. Without God’s approval and support, Jesus could have done nothing.

It is the same in our own lives. If we don’t have God’s approval or support, anything we try to do or build will simply not last. We might be really good at what we do and with what we build, but if God is not behind it, eternity will come and what we built will be left in the past as a distant memory.

This means that the best plan for moving forward is stepping into God’s will and into His plan for our lives. When we are working alongside God and doing what He wants us to do, then what we build and grow will last for eternity. When our focus is on pointing people to Jesus, then we are doing exactly what the Holy Spirit wants to do and we shouldn’t be surprised if the Holy Spirit enters our lives to help us achieve His goal!

Jesus’ entire ministry gave God the glory and it demonstrated God’s never-ending love for sinners. God loves you and me more than we can imagine, and Jesus came to take the punishment we deserve for breaking God’s law so we can be given the reward He deserved for living a sinless life. This is the gospel message and it is great news for everyone who decides to align their lives with God!

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 align your plans and your will to His. Choose to lean on Jesus for everything you need in life and place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Him and His sacrifice on your behalf. Because of Jesus, we are assured of a new life with God that awaits us when He returns to bring us home to heaven!

While we are waiting for His return, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to purposefully grow closer to Him each day. Through personal prayer and study, we open our hearts to God and we let Him into our lives. When God is in our lives, He will lead and guide us along the path He created us to walk.

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!

After traveling to the region of Tyre and Sidon on the Mediterranean coast, and both ignoring and insulting a woman needing help, Jesus then leaves the area and travels to about the opposite corner of the area where He focused His ministry – an area called the Decapolis. This trip is fascinating on several levels.

Looking at how the gospel writers focus on many of these events, and how they transition between the places Jesus went, it is almost as though Jesus traveled to specific areas just to help one person who needed help. In our last episode, we focused in on a trip Jesus made to Tyre and Sidon and specifically how it may have been a trip to help just one person. In this episode, we look at another miracle that appears to help another single person.

Let’s read what happened before discussing several things we can learn from this event. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 31, Mark tells us:

³¹ Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.

Pausing briefly, to give you a little context of the geography, Tyre and Sidon were far Northwest of Galilee, and the Decapolis region was south east of Galilee. Picking back up in verse 31, we read:

³² There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

³³ After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). ³⁵ At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

³⁶ Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. ³⁷ People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

In our passage, I wonder if you noticed something. In the gospel record, the region of the Decapolis is mentioned only three times. The first time we see this location mentioned, it is part of a transition statement in Matthew’s gospel describing the crowds that followed Jesus. Matthew 4:25 tell us that, “Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.” Other than this passing statement, Matthew doesn’t mention this region again, and the context for this verse doesn’t place Jesus in the Decapolis. Instead, the context describes Jesus traveling through Galilee instead.

The next time the Decapolis is mentioned, we learned that this was where the demoniac went following Jesus healing him. If you remember earlier in our year of miracles, we learned about a special trip Jesus made across the lake to visit this man. On the trip across the lake, a storm freaked the disciples out while Jesus slept. When they arrived on the far side, they met a man who was possessed by a legion of demons, and Jesus cast the demons out into a herd of pigs.

This would likely have happened on the Decapolis side of the lake. Those who were present from the area urged Jesus to leave there, and when the man Jesus healed wanted to go with Jesus, Jesus instead commissioned him to tell others what Jesus had done for him. Mark’s gospel tells us in chapter 5, verse 20 that “the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him”.

The last time we read about Jesus visiting the region of the Decapolis is for this single miracle. Word had spread about Jesus’ miracle working abilities, and those living in the Decapolis wanted to see a miracle. The healed demoniac had spread the news about Jesus throughout the region, and it is likely that many of those present bringing this deaf, mute man wanted to see a miracle because of what they heard from the former demoniac.

However, Jesus knew that this crowd wasn’t keen on praising God. They wanted simply to praise Jesus, give Him glory instead of God, and have bragging rights to their friends that they had seen a Jesus-miracle. Jesus pushes back against the selfish current of this miracle while also desiring to help this man. Because of this, we read that Jesus takes the man aside and away from the crowd before healing him.

After healing the man, Jesus tells them to keep quiet about what happened, but the more He wanted people to stay silent, the more people would talk about it. In a way, I find this funny, because this brings out an interesting aspect of human nature – specifically the part of our nature called rebellion. What better way to rebel against Jesus’ wishes than to tell others about what Jesus had done for them when Jesus wanted them to stay silent.

Was this some elaborate scheme Jesus used to get people talking? Probably not, but it’s hard to say.

If Jesus wanted people to talk about what He was doing, He could have simply said so, but if He did this too often, it might appear like He wanted the people to praise Him rather than pointing the praise to God. However, there were times when Jesus did ask people to share what God had done for them, like what Jesus had told the demoniac to do.

However, it is more likely that Jesus simply didn’t want to draw the attention of crowds because He wanted to be free to travel to see those who God wanted to help. When the crowds were present, it made it difficult for those who really needed help to come to Jesus, and it made it more difficult for Jesus to travel to the places where He could help others. Jesus also knew that His time was limited, and that teaching His disciples was also important.

But those in the crowd who rebelled to share what Jesus was doing in their midst share another key idea regarding our human nature. This other idea is that we are wired to share what we find amazing or noteworthy. Every miracle Jesus did was significant, special, and it was not something that had happened before, and because of this, sharing what Jesus was doing was the most natural thing for people to do.

However, what about your life and mine? Is it easy to share what Jesus has done for you today? Is it easier to stay quiet about Jesus when you are not with friends?

While I don’t know what Jesus has done for you, I know that depending on the social circles you are in, some of them welcome stories about what Jesus has done for you while others do not. Many of us on this podcast right now likely have family or friends who they can share with and family or friends that dislike hearing about Jesus.

I don’t know if God has called you to tell everyone your story or if He has called you to be a silent witness? Whichever way God has called you is between Him and you. However, if you are a silent witness today, know that tomorrow God may call you to speak up. Silent witnesses aren’t silent forever, and the more God has done for you the more He will call you to speak up.

Don’t be afraid of sharing the good news. Be ready and willing to share it with everyone who will listen, because when this life is over, and when history is finished, the only news that will matter is news that centers on Jesus and what He has done for all of His people!

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

Always seek God first and be ready to share your faith with anyone and everyone God opens the door for you to share with. Let God lead and guide you to share with others and let God and Jesus be the center of your story.

Also, always keep praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to Jesus each and every day. A strong relationship with God is built on regular prayer and study, and with this foundation, you will have a strong, solid faith that can weather the storms of this life.

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 fall away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!