Reflective Bible Study

As we continue our journey through Matthew’s gospel, we come to a passage that is often split into two sections, but one that is very fascinating when we look at it as a whole. In the first part of this passage, Peter, the most outspoken disciple, is praised, while in the second part of this passage, Jesus calls Peter out as Satan.

Let’s read about what happened and draw out some things we can learn from what is shared. Like all of our passages for this “Year in Matthew”, our passage for this episode comes from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 16, and we will read it from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 13, Matthew tells us that:

¹³ Jesus went to the territory near the town of Caesarea Philippi, where he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ “Some say John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say Elijah, while others say Jeremiah or some other prophet.”

¹⁵ “What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ “Good for you, Simon son of John!” answered Jesus. “For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

²⁰ Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Pausing briefly, this is where most people stop reading. However, if we continue on, we discover something almost humoring.

Continuing in verse 21, Matthew tells us:

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to say plainly to his disciples, “I must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. I will be put to death, but three days later I will be raised to life.”

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “God forbid it, Lord!” he said. “That must never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned around and said to Peter, “Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don’t come from God, but from human nature.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. ²⁵ For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it. ²⁶ Will you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! There is nothing you can give to regain your life. ²⁷ For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his deeds. ²⁸ I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Son of Man come as King.”

In this passage, we find a ton of things we could focus in on, but to keep things simple, let’s focus on just two big ideas, with one or both of these ideas being things you may not have thought of before.

The first of these ideas is Jesus’ compliment to Peter. While a casual reading of Jesus’ statement might make it seem like Jesus elevates Peter’s status to being a rock that God’s church is built on, there is an interesting twist of words that expands Jesus’ compliment to include Peter, while also being much bigger.

Verse 18 includes Jesus statement: “And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it.” In this statement, Peter is compared with a rock, and then a rock foundation is where Jesus builds His church. While I’ve heard the original Greek language contrasts the idea of Peter being a pebble with the rock foundation being a boulder or a mountain-side, I like the way this translation compares these ideas.

In Jesus’ compliment, He recognizes Peter’s contribution, which is simply proclaiming a truth that Peter could only have learned from God the Father, and this truth makes the rock foundation that God’s church is built on. According to this translation, Peter’s rock contribution, combined with many other small rock contributions make up the huge rock foundation that God’s church is built on. This rock foundation is the truth that Peter proclaimed. Peter responded to Jesus’ question by proclaiming that: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

It is this truth that God’s church is built on, and when Peter makes this proclamation, He is reinforcing God’s church and God’s truth. When we make this proclamation, we are reinforcing God’s truth and God’s church!

The second big idea in this passage is Jesus’ big insult towards Peter. Just a few verses later, Jesus pulls the disciples aside and tries to warn them about what was waiting for them when they reached Jerusalem. Jesus tells them that He would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, be put to death, and then be raised to life three days later. When I read this event, I wonder if Peter completely missed the last words in Jesus’ statement and that He stopped hearing Jesus’ words at the details about Jesus’ upcoming death.

Is Peter’s thinking really that crazy? Most people seem to blindly side with Jesus in judging Peter, but if you were walking around with Someone you firmly believed to be God, and you believed God to be immortal, which is another way of saying that they cannot die, if this Person told you they were going somewhere to die, would that sound crazy to you?

On top of this, the dominant understanding of prophecy was that the Messiah who God would send would last forever, and lasting forever doesn’t really happen when one has died.

I am pretty certain that Peter, and most of the rest of the disciples, either didn’t hear Jesus’ promise that at the end of the three days, He would be raised back to life, or they simply didn’t know what to think of it and perhaps forgot about it until after crucifixion weekend. This is because we don’t find any of the disciples eagerly looking forward to Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday following His death. Instead, the disciples are hiding and likely trying to strategically plan their exit from the city.

However, Jesus understands prophecy, and He understood that death and resurrection were in His future. The big thing I can learn from Peter’s challenge is that regardless of whether I understand prophecy or how the Bible describes future events, my understanding is only as good as my willingness to be open to what God is continually revealing. If I close my mind to what God wants to teach me, then I will ultimately be like the disciples who missed out on the best warning they had regarding the events of crucifixion weekend. The disciples had every opportunity to know what would happen, but they were caught believing the traditional belief of the Messiah, and a belief that the Messiah could not experience death.

I don’t think Peter’s thought was crazy, but the motivation behind it was opposite of God’s plan, and this opposition was what Jesus challenged Peter on. It is crazy to think that God would die for humanity, but this truth is one of the biggest reasons Jesus came!

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 and purposefully seek God first and place your hope, your faith, your trust, and your belief in Jesus and what He accomplished for you. Choose to be open to what God wants to teach you and openly proclaim the truth that Jesus is God’s Messiah and that He is God’s Son!

Also, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through a personal relationship with God, we can learn and know what God wants to teach us and when we are open to God’s teaching, we will avoid the traps that even the disciples fell in when they refused to accept Jesus’ words for the common understanding of prophecy at that point in history.

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

As we continue moving through Jesus’ last big opportunity to share with the disciples on the night of His arrest, we come to Jesus teaching us what the role of the Holy Spirit is, what we can expect the Holy Spirit to do, and why it is better that that Jesus should return to heaven. However, I wonder if much of what Jesus was telling His disciples went over their heads. Either that, or I wonder if they understood a little, but not enough of the details to fully understand the events of that weekend.

Let’s read what Jesus shared with the disciples in this part of His message. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 16, and we will be reading from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 5, Jesus continues by saying:

⁵ Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come. ⁸ When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. ⁹ He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me. ¹⁰ He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore. ¹¹ And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.

Let’s pause briefly here because Jesus has just shared a number of big things. First off, we can understand that the disciples are sad because Jesus is leaving, but Jesus counters their sadness by telling them that if He doesn’t leave, the Helper, otherwise known as the Holy Spirit, will not come.

On the surface this doesn’t make sense, unless we believe that God isn’t going to be redundant. However, when reading this passage, I believe the reason for Jesus telling us that the Helper would not come unless He leaves is tucked within the role of the Holy Spirit that Jesus then shares.

Jesus describes three roles the Holy Spirit has in addition to being called our Helper. The first is that the Holy Spirit will prove to the people of this world that sin is not believing in Jesus, the second is that being right with God comes from Jesus’ return to Heaven and not being seen any more, and the third is that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.

These are three huge theological concepts and it would take too much time to fully unpack each of them. However, let’s briefly look at each.

The first huge concept is that sin is not believing in Jesus. As we read this just now, I could not escape the idea that the sin being described here is the unpardonable sin. Not that this sin isn’t reversible, but that every other sin gets erased if at the time of our last breath, we believe in Jesus. While Jesus says that those who speak out against Him will be forgiven, while those who speak against the Holy Spirit are not, I wonder if that verse connects with this verse to define what sin is truly unpardonable.

At the moment we die, the only thing that matters is our belief in Jesus, and this one decision determines our fate in the judgment. This is an idea I just had. It’s worth studying further, but I thought I’d share it with you as I had it.

The second huge concept is that being right with God comes from Jesus returning to the Father. While this is a huge theological concept, the simplest way for me to understand this personally is that when Jesus came, He came as a representative for God. Jesus was Heaven’s Ambassador to earth. Jesus came to show us God’s love.

Following His death and resurrection, Jesus’ return to Heaven marks a shift in His role. While before this Jesus was representing Heaven, now that He has returned to Heaven, He is representing us. Before Jesus was an Ambassador; now He is an Advocate. If you are worried about God’s judgment, trust that Jesus is in Heaven right now defending you with His sacrifice. When we have placed our faith, hope, belief, and trust in Jesus, His sacrifice erases our sinful past, and Jesus becomes our defense attorney. Jesus standing before the accuser defending us is an amazing, powerful, and profound concept that the Holy Spirit wants us to remember.

The third huge concept is that “judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged”. This verse is translated in an interesting way. Other translations describe a future judgment that is solidified at the moment the ruler of this world was judged. When the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, Jesus describes the event in past tense, which means that when Jesus died, Satan was judged guilty. When the curtain in the temple was torn in two, which we will read about later this year, Jesus tells us Satan is judged as guilty.

The big truth for us to remember living today is that judgment happened against Satan, and He is guilty. God is preparing to return and to carry out this judgment. This means that we have a choice to side with Satan, who has already been judged as guilty, or side with Jesus, who became victorious through His death on the cross. Jesus’ victory was sealed with the resurrection.

All three of these huge theological concepts focus on Jesus, what He has done, and what He is currently doing for each of us.

Jesus continues in verse 12 by saying:

¹² “I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. ¹³ But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. ¹⁴ The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me, because he will take what I have to say and tell it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what I have to say and tell it to you.

When the Holy Spirit came, Jesus promised that He would teach Jesus’ followers the truth about Jesus and about the world. These followers were transformed when the Holy Spirit came into their lives. We would not be believers today if it were not for their life-transformation.

But it would be a mistake to think that the same offer Jesus gave His early followers is reserved only for them. The same offer of the Holy Spirit is available for us today. If we are serious about growing towards God, then we should let the Holy Spirit teach us the truth about Jesus. This truth will match what the Bible teaches, this truth will transform our lives, and this truth will lead us into eternity!

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

As always, be sure to seek God first in your life and ask Him to send His Holy Spirit into your life to teach you the truth about Jesus. Let God show you through His Word who Jesus is and why this historical figure who lived 2000 years ago is worth paying attention to today!

In order to learn this and grow, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Personal prayer and study is the way to grow a personal relationship with God, and the Holy Spirit is more than willing to lead you to the truth about Jesus when you take steps towards God with a desire to learn His truth. Pastors, authors, speakers, and even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, but never let anyone get between you and Jesus.

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

Continuing our journey through Matthew’s gospel brings us to a challenge Jesus receives from a group of Pharisees and Sadducees, and also to a challenge Jesus gives His disciples that they initially misunderstand. Let’s read what Matthew tells us and discover what we can learn from our passage for this episode.

Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 16, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 1, Matthew tells us that:

¹ The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus, wanting to trick him. So they asked him to show them a miracle from God.

² Jesus answered, “At sunset you say we will have good weather, because the sky is red. ³ And in the morning you say that it will be a rainy day, because the sky is dark and red. You see these signs in the sky and know what they mean. In the same way, you see the things that I am doing now, but you don’t know their meaning. ⁴ Evil and sinful people ask for a miracle as a sign, but they will not be given any sign, except the sign of Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.

Let’s pause reading here because I want to draw our attention onto an interesting counter challenge Jesus gives to these religious leaders. First, these leaders come to Jesus asking Him to show them a sign, specifically a miracle from God. On the surface, this doesn’t appear to be a trick or a trap. However, the trap comes in a spiritual form because if Jesus would have performed a miracle for them, it would have taken the focus off of God and placed it upon Himself – which is something Jesus didn’t do. Similar to what Jesus was tempted to do in the wilderness after His baptism, this challenge was to use His divine ability for His own benefit.

Instead of falling to this temptation, Jesus challenges these religious leaders by telling them that there were already signs present that they should open their eyes to. Similar to how the weather gives its own predictions that they had learned to pay attention to, Jesus gave signs throughout His entire ministry that were clearly visible to all who were paying attention.

Jesus challenges the leaders by saying that evil people ask for signs. In my mind, this is because those who demand signs are simply discounting or out-rightly ignoring the signs that are already being given.

Continuing in verse 5, Matthew tells us that:

⁵ Jesus’ followers went across the lake, but they had forgotten to bring bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

⁷ His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, “He said this because we forgot to bring bread.”

⁸ Knowing what they were talking about, Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about not having bread? Your faith is small. ⁹ Do you still not understand? Remember the five loaves of bread that fed the five thousand? And remember that you filled many baskets with the leftovers? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves of bread that fed the four thousand and the many baskets you filled then also? ¹¹ I was not talking to you about bread. Why don’t you understand that? I am telling you to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” ¹² Then the followers understood that Jesus was not telling them to beware of the yeast used in bread but to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

In this trip across the lake, I wonder if Jesus intentionally spoke in a way that caused a misunderstanding. Not much time had passed between the miracles of feeding the two large crowds, and I wonder if some of the disciples had bread on their minds as they were crossing the lake.

While Jesus regularly spoke spiritual truths using literal examples, the disciples seem to always focus on the literal concept before understanding the spiritual truth. In the case of this event, yeast is physically used in bread, so Jesus must be talking about bread, even though the phrase doesn’t really make sense that the disciples should be concerned about bread from the Pharisees and Sadducees.

With this misunderstanding, Jesus actually has the opportunity to emphasize two different truths. The truth Jesus wanted the disciples to understand they eventually figured out, and that truth is found in verse 12, where Matthew tells us: “Then the followers understood that Jesus was not telling them to beware of the yeast used in bread but to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

However, the bonus truth that Jesus could reemphasize because of this misunderstanding is a truth about trust in God. When hearing the conversation turn to not having any bread, Jesus steps in and questions why they even went there. After being present for two extraordinary miracles involving food multiplying in incredible ways, the last thing the disciples should be concerned about is a lack of bread. Using the same ratios as Jesus’ earlier miracles, a crumb in the corner of the boat could have been enough to feed Jesus and all twelve of His disciples till they were full.

With this misunderstanding, Jesus emphasizes the truth that God is more than willing to supply us with what we need, and He is very aware of what we need. Jesus also wants us to be aware of the dangers of placing our trust in the teachings of men. This is because the teaching of men, and you could say of women, changes over time with tradition. However, the spiritual truth God wants to teach us never changes. The big truths and themes of the Bible are just as true as they were when they were written as they are today, regardless of how culture, technology, or humanity has changed.

In our lives, we should ask God to help open our eyes to His truth, to His signs, and to His moving in the world today. Instead of being skeptical of something new, we should bring what we discover to God and let Him help us determine if it is worthy of our time, our energy, or our efforts. God wants the best for us, and when we live for Him, He will guide us along the path He has called us to walk!

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 and place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him. Choose to trust that God will supply all your needs and ask Him to help you walk the path He created you to walk, and for help opening your eyes to see what He wants you to see and focus on.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each day. Through a strong prayer and study life, you will grow a solid foundation and relationship with God that will withstand the storms Satan wants to throw your way.

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 let Satan trick you out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we keep moving through Jesus’ last big message to His disciples on the night He was arrested, we come to an interesting idea that many Christians today either miss or choose to ignore. This idea is one that is both counter-cultural, as well as one that pushes against our human nature, even if we can see on the surface that it is logical.

Let’s dive in and discover what Jesus told His followers after describing and reemphasizing His command to love one another. Our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will be reading from the New American Standard Bible translation. Jumping into Jesus’ teaching in verse 18, He tells the disciples:

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵ But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

Let’s pause briefly here to draw our attention onto a big counter-intuitive idea that we might be tempted to believe. This idea is simply that a side effect of following Jesus and loving others is that other people will love us in return. Jesus never hints at the idea that His followers would be loved or even liked by the world. Jesus tells His followers very clearly that the world would hate His people, but that shouldn’t bother or surprise us because the world hated Jesus first.

Jesus faced the worst death imaginable during that era of history, and He tells us that because He was persecuted, we should expect nothing less than persecution as well.

Why does the world hate Jesus and His followers?

Some people have claimed that the Bible is filled with hate and because of this, all those who follow the Bible are filled with hate, but this in itself doesn’t translate into a reason to hate the Bible, or those who follow it, as a response.

There are plenty of reasons that someone could hate Jesus, the Bible, or His followers. However, the last phrase we read before pausing is fascinating to me. Verse 25 tells us that those who hated Jesus fulfilled the prediction in a very specific way. This verse says that “They hated Me without a cause.”

This verse and phrase gives us two frames of reference for the hate the world will throw our way.

The first is that they hate us because they don’t understand us, nor do they want to understand us. They may have heard or seen someone claiming to be a follower of Jesus who acts in a hateful way, and then conclude that every follower of Jesus is like this. In a similar way, they could have read a verse or story from the Bible that depicts God or His people as unloving and conclude from this that God is hateful and not worthy of love. In this frame of reference, there might be a reason for someone to hate Jesus, or some of His followers, but this hate is based on faulty assumptions. It might feel like hate in this way is justified through logic, but it is not. Hating someone based on what someone else has done is illogical at best.

The other frame of reference is that it is simply easier to follow the crowd and if someone is vocal about their hate for the Christian faith, then it is easy for someone without knowledge or an opinion of it to silently side with the vocal opinion. People who hate Christianity because the culture has placed a target on Christians are guilty of hating Jesus without cause. Open the pages of the Bible and search for a reason to hate Jesus. It is better to hate Jesus with a reason than to simply drift with culture. Drifting is easy, but it will never lead you to anywhere positive.

However, Jesus isn’t finished sharing with the disciples. He wants to emphasize and remind His followers that even if they will be abused and hated like He was, they will never be alone. Picking back up in verse 26, Jesus reminds His followers of the promise He shared earlier. Jesus tells them:

²⁶ “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, ²⁷ and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

^16:1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. ² They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. ³ These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. ⁴ But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Let’s stop reading here. Jesus tells us that His followers will be hated and killed, and He tells us that when this happens, those filled with hate who are doing the abuse will believe they are serving God. They do these things thinking they know God, but the reality is that they do not know God or Jesus. We can see hinted in these verses a warning against anything that tries to come between us and God.

If we let any person, idea, tradition, or logical idea filter our picture or opinion of God and the truth He reveals in the Bible, we are warned in these verses that we might ultimately become the guilty party thinking we offer a service to God when we don’t really know Him. Those who don’t know Jesus and who have not placed their belief in Him are susceptible of believing anything and everything, regardless of whether it is valid.

The solution to this dilemma is one reason why I challenge you every episode to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Through prayer and Bible study, God will lead us personally through the guiding of the Holy Spirit, and He will teach us what He wants us to learn. Learning directly from the Bible is the safest way to know God and to be lead by Him!

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

As always, be sure to seek God first and place Him first in your life. Be sure to place God ahead of the ideas and traditions in the culture you live in, and be sure to stay focused on His command to love others. Don’t worry if people hate you. Don’t be surprised when it happens. Jesus warned us that we will be hated because He was hated, but we can look past the hate and abuse to a world where sin has been destroyed and is gone forever.

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow that personal relationship with God. While a pastor, speaker, author, or podcaster can give you ideas to think about, filter everything through the simple reading of God’s Word, the Bible, and don’t use other people’s ideas to cloud your picture of what the Bible teaches. As a side-note: I designed Reflective Bible Study as a way to study with as little bias as possible, because this is how I wanted to study personally!

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