Reflective Bible Study

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!

In the verses we skipped over during our last episode, we discover a powerful event that likely ticked the religious leaders off even more than they already were and an event that prompted them to be even more intentional about looking for an opportunity to arrest and kill Jesus. However, also included in this event is an amazing picture Jesus gives us for His temple, and by extension, we could also include other places that are built for us to worship Him that don’t happen to be the temple in Jerusalem.

Let’s read what happened and discover some things we can learn from this event. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 11, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 15, Mark tells us that:

¹⁵ When they came to Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple courtyard and began to throw out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the moneychangers’ tables and the chairs of those who sold pigeons. ¹⁶ He would not let anyone carry anything across the temple courtyard.

¹⁷ Then he taught them by saying, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a gathering place for thieves.”

¹⁸ When the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings heard him, they looked for a way to kill him. They were afraid of him because he amazed all the crowds with his teaching.

¹⁹ (Every evening Jesus and his disciples would leave the city.)

In this short passage, we see three distinct parts. The first part includes Jesus stopping the commerce from happening in the temple. The second part includes Jesus teaching those present, which also happens to be an explanation for why He stopped commerce in the temple. The third part is the response and reaction the chief priests and religious experts have to what Jesus did.

Prior to this reading, I had not ever noticed one word in this passage related to the chief priests’ response. Mark tells us in verse 18 that “When the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings heard him, they looked for a way to kill him.”

The key word I had not noticed before was the word “heard”. Prior to this, I had always pictured these religious leaders being the most upset with Jesus chasing out the moneychangers and the commerce, but with the way we see Mark frame this event, I get the picture these religious leaders were less upset about Jesus chasing the commerce out of the temple than they were about what Jesus said.

Immediately before this verse, we read in verse 17 that Jesus taught those present saying, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a gathering place for thieves.”

Regardless of the words Jesus used to challenge what He saw taking place in the temple, I suspect that Jesus’ challenge to the religious leaders appeared to be larger than one single idea at one single time. Instead, I get the impression that the chief priests and experts in Moses’ teachings saw Jesus’ challenge as a challenge directly aimed at their authority and their role. While Jesus doesn’t call any specific person out by name, He challenges these leaders that they are letting the temple descend away from God’s ideal and into a gathering place for exactly the wrong type of person.

While anyone and everyone are welcome to come to worship, when we come to worship God, we should bring our hearts along with a repentant attitude. It is unlikely God accepts worship from unrepentant sinners.

So does God dislike money or commerce? I don’t think He does.

Instead, God created society and everything that has been used as money over the years. I think God created commerce as a way of helping humanity understand a little bit more about His nature. Without commerce, we would have a hard time measuring value in a society larger than a couple hundred people.

However, commerce mixed with sin reveals some of the more evil aspects of humanity. When sin enters a transaction, the focus ceases to be how this transaction benefits everyone who is involved and it instead becomes how this transaction can benefit me the most. With sin involved, commerce becomes a me-first activity, and we stop thinking about others.

According to Jesus, this is how the commerce in the temple was described. At the end of Jesus’ statement in verse 17, He used the phrase, “A gathering place for thieves.”

A thief is someone who is thinking only of himself and not of the well-being of the person he is stealing from. A thief rationalizes that he needs whatever is being stolen more than the person who currently owned it. In some extreme cases, a thief simply steals because He wants to or is hired to. Thievery is a self-focused attitude and action, regardless of the rationalization or corruption involved in whatever the scenario is.

By describing the commerce in the temple as thievery, we can see that what was happening in the temple was not benefitting those who came to the temple. This also means that what was happening in the temple was not honoring God. Ultimately, what was happening in the temple stopped people from coming to God rather than aiding them to come into His presence.

In this event, we see Jesus push back against a me-focused worship experience. Worship is not about our preferences, our likes or dislikes, or about anything to do with ourselves. Instead, worship is all about God and what He wants.

Jesus’ big contrast statement here is a quote from the Old Testament that described God’s ideal for His house on earth. God wants His house on earth described as a house of prayer for all nations.

This means that prayer should be a central part of our worship, a key piece of our time focused on God, and anything and everything that pulls us away from prayer and focusing on God must be removed from our worship.

Our worship is not for our own benefit. Instead, when we worship God, we are to focus on bringing Him what He wants, and God is interested in gifts that contain our hearts. Nothing in what was happening at the temple allowed someone to give their heart to God, and because of this, everything that was happening in the temple was a distraction away from what God intended the temple, specifically His house on earth, to be!

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, be sure to intentionally seek God first in your life. When you come to worship God, be sure that you give Him the glory, the honor, the focus, the respect, and the praise He deserves, and with the gifts you bring, include the gift of your heart!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. In the pages of the Bible, discover a God who gives up everything to save and redeem you from sin and discover how we can fall in love with a God who has already fallen in love with 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 outright reject where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

In what some may call the most insensitive event in all the gospels, we come to a passage where it appears as though Jesus ignores someone asking for help, before out rightly insulting her. While this doesn’t sound at all like Jesus, part of me wonders if some of this was meant to be an example for those present and for us today regarding the idea of faith and persistence.

Let’s read what happened, and what we can discover from this event. Our passage and event are found in Matthew, chapter 15, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 21, Matthew tells us that:

²¹ Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A woman from Canaan lived near Tyre and Sidon. She came to him and cried out, “Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon controls my daughter. She is suffering terribly.”

²³ Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him. They begged him, “Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.”

²⁵ Then the woman fell to her knees in front of him. “Lord! Help me!” she said.

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! You will be given what you are asking for.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

This passage amazes me. On one hand, we see Jesus acting the most insensitive He has ever acted, while on the other hand, we don’t really know why Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon in the first place. These two towns were located in far north-west Israel, along the Mediterranean Sea, and they were likely some of the most secular, least Jewish places in the entire region. These towns are on the edges of most Bible maps of the region, and we might easily wonder if these two towns were even a part of Israel or not. The best-case scenario is that they were border towns.

In these towns, there were likely clusters of Jewish people, but being port towns, they were also very likely to be secularized and Roman.

With this in mind, I again wonder why Jesus went up to this region. Nothing else is said about what happened during this visit and both gospel writers who include this event share how Jesus leaves after this miracle to go elsewhere. According to what made it into the gospel record, it’s almost like Jesus made this trip to the region just to insult, though also to ultimately help, this gentile woman.

However, why would Jesus travel a decent distance to get to these two towns just so He could ignore the requests of a gentile woman? It doesn’t make sense, unless we can learn something in Jesus’ actions.

While I won’t begin to think I know all the reasons why Jesus did what He did, in this event, I see an amazing opportunity to demonstrate persistence in faith. I haven’t looked, but this might have been the only time Jesus traveled to this region, so this gentile woman likely knew that this was her only opportunity to get help for her daughter.

By this point in Jesus’ ministry, word had spread that Jesus could simply say the word and it would be done regardless of the distance, so while this took faith, it wasn’t faith without prior evidence.

However, this miracle is one of the only ones where it appears as though Jesus was reluctant to do it. I don’t think Jesus was actually reluctant to help someone in need, but I think He could see in this situation an opportunity to teach us about persistence.

In this situation, from very early on, Jesus knew that this gentile woman had an incredible, persistent faith. However, the only way to demonstrate this type of faith is by giving it resistance to push against it. If Jesus had shouted from a distance when the woman first was heard that her faith had saved her daughter, no one would know how persistent this faith was.

Instead, Jesus ignores and insults this woman to show everyone present that nothing would stop her, distract her, or shake her determination to get Jesus’ help. This gentile woman serves as an example for all of us. Regardless of whether we mess up, fall down, or fail God, the only way we truly fail is if we don’t get back up and press forward. If our faith disappears at the slightest push of resistance, it is worthless and weak.

In contrast, if we keep pushing forward, holding strong to our faith, and persistently pray for God to step in while moving forward in life knowing that He will direct our paths and step in when needed, we cultivate the faith that God is looking for. When we persist in prayer and don’t take “no” for an answer, we demonstrate the persistence this woman demonstrated and this woman ultimately received the answer to her prayer.

While I don’t believe God likes to ignore us, and I don’t believe His desire is to insult us, I believe that the only way to truly test the strength of faith is by giving it resistance. Without pushback, it is impossible to test the strength of faith. Without resistance, it’s impossible to become like the first century church heroes and model Christ to a world needing a Savior.

For too long, the Christian church has pressed for influence through any and every angle they have thought of, except the angle that mattered the most. As follower of Jesus, we should persist in prayer asking for the Holy Spirit to grow our faith in the areas that matter, and help us live like Jesus lived, and love those who are hurting like Jesus loved those who were hurting. Our faith should persist against all obstacles until we ultimately reach heaven.

When we live our faith through prayer and persistence, we overcome every setback and we truly become the people God has called us to be!

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

Always seek God first and live your faith in an intensely persistent way. Intentionally get back up when setbacks come, and always pray and move forward with the confidence that God will answer your prayers and that He will direct your steps forward.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. While other people can give you great things to think about, take everything to God personally as you pray, read, and study 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 walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!