Reflective Bible Study

A short while after Jesus called Matthew to be a disciple, we discover a set of two miracles that display some unusual characteristics. Neither miracle is really like the other, but without both of these miracles put together, neither one would be as significant.

Let’s read what happened and then look for some things we can learn from this event. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 9, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 18, Matthew tells us that:

¹⁸ While Jesus was saying these things, a leader of the synagogue came to him. He bowed down before Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live again.” ¹⁹ So Jesus and his followers stood up and went with the leader.

²⁰ Then a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came behind Jesus and touched the edge of his coat. ²¹ She was thinking, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned and saw the woman and said, “Be encouraged, dear woman. You are made well because you believed.” And the woman was healed from that moment on.

²³ Jesus continued along with the leader and went into his house. There he saw the funeral musicians and many people crying. ²⁴ Jesus said, “Go away. The girl is not dead, only asleep.” But the people laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been thrown out of the house, Jesus went into the girl’s room and took hold of her hand, and she stood up. ²⁶ The news about this spread all around the area.

In this event and this set of two miracles, we discover among other things, that Jesus was focused on helping each individual exactly how they needed help. It is also interesting in my mind that Matthew really summarizes this event and these two miracles.

In the other gospels that include this event, the synagogue leader who asks for help asks Jesus while His daughter is still sick and not dead yet. The other gospels also draw out the woman’s healing and her desire to remain hidden. In the other gospels, it seems that Jesus stops everything to discover the woman who touched His garment, and it delayed His progress to the synagogue leader’s home to the point that messengers were able to arrive and tell the synagogue leader that his daughter had died.

While Matthew summarizes many things about both these miracles, one thing Matthew does not skip over is Jesus’ reaction to the funeral musicians and those crying. Matthew also does not skip over sharing the woman’s thoughts and her belief that simply touching the edge of Jesus’ clothing would heal her.

Matthew includes the detail of the woman having faith in perhaps the least significant action she could think of. Touching the edge of Jesus’ clothing is pretty insignificant, but she believes that is all she needs to be healed. She may have been embarrassed about her condition, and would rather not have to explain it to a bunch of men why she was needing to be healed.

However, Jesus doesn’t want her faith or her miracle to be lost in the commotion of Him going to help someone else. Jesus stops just long enough to make sure she was healed and to draw attention onto her faith and her story so that we would be able to read and know it from what was recorded. If Jesus had not stopped, this woman’s miracle would have never been known outside of a handful of people.

Matthew also does not summarize or minimize Jesus’ reaction to those who were preparing for a funeral at the synagogue leader’s home. Jesus tells them all in verse 24, “Go away. The girl is not dead, only asleep.” However, those present laughed at Jesus. They knew the girl had died. A doctor had probably already called the time of her death a short while earlier.

However, I wonder if Jesus intentionally set the stage for this event by making sure that He hadn’t arrived before the girl had died. I wonder if Jesus wanted to challenge the faith of everyone present and if He wanted to teach us that death is nothing to be feared. When we read the Bible, we cannot get around the metaphor, both in the gospels and in the other parts of the Bible, that death is compared with a sleep.

In the context of Jesus’ statement here, those who viewed death viewed death as the end of life, with no immediate hope of a resurrection. If those present had believed in an upcoming resurrection, it is likely there wouldn’t be any tears present. It is clear in this event, that the crowd of mourners and funeral musicians did not have faith that Jesus could reverse death. Because they didn’t have faith, I believe this is why Jesus kicked them out of the house.

It is also interesting that if those present believed the girl to be in a much better place now that she had died, then they may have been sad at her death, but they wouldn’t have wished for her to be brought back to life. In this frame of view, Jesus resurrecting anyone, including Himself, would be one of the cruelest things for Him to do.

I don’t believe it is a coincidence that death is referred to as sleep in the Bible. The Bible contains many metaphors that God has written into the details of our physical world to teach us about spiritual truths. I believe sleep teaching us about death is one such truth.

While there are many physical and biological reasons for sleep and how our brains need sleep to function well, the spiritual component of sleep is simply rest from our daily work. If the day represents our life and sleep represents our death, then there is nothing to be afraid of when we ultimately lay down to rest at our life’s end because we know morning is coming. Following our rest in death, morning brings us a resurrection into a new life with God.

Whether we are close to death in this life or whether we have a lot of life left, we can know and trust that with whatever happens, God has placed us alive on this earth for a reason. We can know and trust that when we have accomplished what He has placed us here to accomplish, He will let us rest in peace until morning comes and the trumpet of resurrection sounds.

While we don’t know the rest of this girls story, what we do know is that from that moment forward, her life was a clear gift from God. This girl’s story would be significant and important in God’s eyes, because He had given her a new life, and her new life foreshadows our new lives when we are resurrected at Jesus’ return!

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 place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and in His promise of a new life with God. While our new life with God begins at the moment we choose God, our ultimate new life with God begins at the moment He returns to take us home!

Also, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Don’t take my word, or any pastor, author, speaker, or podcaster’s word for any spiritual truth. Instead, test everything through what the Bible teaches to discover God’s truth for your life with Him.

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!

In response to the disciples asking Jesus about the end times, Jesus shares not just a series of predictions regarding what the world would be like when He returns, but He also shares several parables that focus on this event. The first parable Jesus shares about the end time is our focus for this episode.

This first parable is probably one of Jesus’ most famous parables, and it has some profound ideas when we look a little closer at its details. This parable is known as the parable of the ten virgins or ten bridesmaids.

Let’s read this parable and then unpack some things we can learn from it. This parable is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 25, and we’ll be reading from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Jesus tells the disciples:

¹ “Here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like at that time. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. ² Five of them were foolish. Five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t take any olive oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The groom did not come for a long time. So the bridesmaids all grew tired and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight someone cried out, ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There may not be enough for all of us. Instead, go to those who sell oil. Buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “So they went to buy the oil. But while they were on their way, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding dinner. Then the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later, the other bridesmaids also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. I don’t know you.’

¹³ “So keep watch. You do not know the day or the hour that the groom will come.

While it is never pleasant to think about the door being closed on anyone, or being rejected by God, the clear warning in this parable is that a group of people will lose out on salvation when they had every opportunity to be included. This group of people the parable describes as foolish bridesmaids.

However, when we look at this parable, we should ask, what makes these bridesmaids foolish, and what makes them distinctly different from those who are wise.

The first distinction the parable makes is that the foolish bridesmaids did not take extra oil with them. This distinction sets the stage for everything else that happens afterwards. If the foolish bridesmaids had had enough sense to at least bring some extra oil, there wouldn’t be any distinction between them and the wise bridesmaids for the rest of the parable.

This leads us to the first big thing that we can learn from this parable: Plan for Jesus, who is represented as the groom, to return later than you might expect. We have no idea when He will arrive, but chances are it will be after people are finished with date setting.

The second portion of this parable is where we might be tempted to focus in on. This portion of the parable is when all ten bridesmaids fall asleep waiting for the groom to arrive. But this detail, while relevant to the big theme of the parable, does not tell us much about the differences between the wise and the foolish bridesmaids. Falling asleep does not make a wise bridesmaid foolish.

However, when we transition to the third section of the parable, we discover something interesting. The foolish bridesmaid’s lack of planning ahead has caught up with them. While the wise bridesmaids have addition oil for their lamps, they only have enough oil for themselves, and not enough to share.

This detail is crucial for us to pay attention to, because this is why I repeatedly stress that our relationship with God must be personal. It doesn’t matter how spiritual or close to God someone else is, their relationship will not get you into heaven. The only good they can do is inspire you and help you get your relationship with God stronger. Salvation is personal, and when we look at how this parable ends, salvation is based on being known by God.

But not bringing extra oil isn’t the worst mistake the foolish bridesmaids make. When realizing that they don’t have oil, they leave their post seeking a merchant or someone to sell them oil so they can be equipped for the groom’s arrival.

By leaving their post, the foolish bridesmaids ultimately miss out on the groom’s arrival and are excluded from the wedding celebration.

Some people a lot smarter than me say that the oil in this parable represents the Holy Spirit. I don’t have any reason to doubt that. However, I also caution you, if you are someone who believes this, don’t stop your thinking there. I would expand the oil in this parable to represent any experience, feeling, or thing that you think you need to have in order to have a relationship with God.

If you spiritually wake up and realize that you are not as close to God as you once were, the worst thing you can do is leave your faith, looking for that item, experience, or feeling elsewhere. Instead, the best thing for you to do is return to the basics, open your Bible, and simply read. Remain at your post and focus on growing closer to God through reading His word. I believe that, while this parable doesn’t include anyone in this gray area, everyone present who wants entrance before the door is closed will be welcomed in.

While these foolish bridesmaids might lose out on the status of the position of being a bridesmaid, I still believe they could be included as guests if they had stayed and been present at the door before it closed. If the oil in this parable does exclusively represent the Holy Spirit, then the best Source for this oil would be arriving with the groom, and not having oil would have been an easily solvable problem.

To sum this parable up, leaving your post as a bridesmaid is the worst thing you can do. If you don’t feel as close to God as you may have at some point in your past, don’t look outside your Bible for the solution. Instead, open your Bible and rediscover the God who loved you enough to send His Son to die in your place for your sin. Let God’s story retransform your heart and supply you with the oil you need to be a wise bridesmaid!

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. If you don’t feel close to God right now, the best place to go is to your knees in prayer, and the best thing you can do is open your Bible and rediscover the God who loves you because of who He is, and not because of what you have done or what you can do for Him. We can’t do anything for God. He does everything for us!

As always, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself, because your salvation is based on your personal relationship with God and on God knowing you when He returns. Those left on the outside are those who God doesn’t know, and don’t let that be you. Intentionally grow so close to God through prayer and His word that He cannot help but know you!

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!

As we continue in Matthew’s gospel, we come to an event that is probably the least surprising event to find in Matthew’s gospel, but one that I’m a little surprised Matthew puts as late as he does in his gospel. Perhaps this event came earlier and Matthew wants to minimize its significance, or perhaps Matthew was really one of the last disciples to join the group.

Our passage for this episode focuses in on Matthew describing his call to be a disciple, and in some ways, Matthew really downplays this event for the significance it probably had on his life. This event is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 9, and we will read it from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 9, Matthew tells us:

⁹ When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰ As Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”

Let’s stop reading here because I want to draw our focus on several things that we have just read.

First, Jesus’ actual call for Matthew is very downplayed. The entire event is only one verse long. The first half of the verse sets the stage for Matthew’s invitation, and the second half is Jesus simply giving Matthew the challenge to follow. The verse concludes with Matthew standing up and following Jesus, with no hesitation or question.

Before moving on to what happened that evening, let’s look a little closer at Matthew’s invitation. While it is possible that Matthew was alone in the tax collector booth, this is unlikely. What is more possible is that there were at least one or two guards hired to assist and protect him. Tax collectors were hated people, and their presence reminded the people more than most things that they were not in a country owned by them. It also didn’t help that most tax collectors were corrupt, and it is likely that the corrupt tax collectors moved ahead faster and that they were praised rather than punished.

It is interesting in my mind the timing of when Matthew includes his call in relation to the events in his gospel. Matthew has already included three chapters focused on a powerful sermon, and several miracles. While it’s possible Matthew learned about this from the other disciples who were present for those events, I wonder if Matthew was a part of the crowd listening as Jesus shared this sermon, and that the Holy Spirit had been working on Matthew’s heart for a while.

Being called to be a follower of a Rabbi was a great honor, and Matthew knew that this likely was his only chance. While we don’t know the path that led Matthew to becoming a tax collector, Matthew’s quick response to Jesus’ call indicates that he would rather be doing something else. Matthew might have even studied to become a Rabbi’s disciple but ultimately was not chosen.

The logic behind this idea is because Matthew, more than any other gospel writer, draws our attention onto the prophecies in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled. Someone who studied to become a Rabbi’s disciple would be the most educated in Old Testament prophecy.

Moving to the events of that evening, we discover that Matthew hosts a dinner at his home, and he invites all his tax collector and other “sinners” friends over to meet Jesus. While we read this event and are quick to judge the Pharisees who are subtly judging Jesus’ actions, at this point in Jesus’ ministry, I don’t believe that the Pharisees as a group are as opposed to Jesus as they ultimately will be. In my mind, this group of Pharisees might have simply wanted to know Jesus’ motives for acting differently from every other religious teacher in that era.

However, it is also possible that the Pharisees asked Jesus’ disciples because they wanted more reasons to incriminate Jesus in their own minds. I don’t know if Jesus responded before the disciples had a chance to open their mouths, or if the disciples who were asked did not have an answer.

But the biggest phrase that is fascinating in my mind is Jesus’ opening to His response. In verse 12, Matthew tells us that when Jesus heard the question asked to His disciples about why He eats and socializes with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus replies first by saying: “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick.”

While the rest of Jesus’ response summarizes Jesus’ reasoning, this opening could be seen by some to be an insult to those Jesus spent time with. Jesus’ opening could also be a subtle message to the Pharisees that Jesus’ focus would always be on those who need help, healing, and encouragement.

However, I wonder if Jesus was implying in His opening that the Pharisees who were asking the question were the healthy people in contrast to those who Jesus was eating with. I wouldn’t be surprised to think that this is what the Pharisees heard Jesus say. The Pharisees probably took Jesus’ opening to mean that they were healthy, and they saw Jesus’ message as a compliment.

But Jesus ultimately challenges them on one of God’s messages from the Old Testament, and with the idea that He came to invite sinners and not “good people”.

In the events surrounding Matthew’s invitation, we discover a window into Jesus’ focus for His ministry. Jesus came to help those who were sick, hurting, and who needed help, and Jesus came specifically to invite sinners to return to God. Jesus’ focus for His ministry was not on helping those who did not believe they needed help, on those who believed themselves to already be right with God, or on those who looked down on others.

Jesus lived His life from God’s perspective in His response. Jesus lived showing kindness more than demanding obedience. While obedience is important, kindness and God’s love is more central to God’s character. When we are being representatives for God, we are to above everything else, show God’s love and kindness to those He brings into our lives while we are personally being obedient to Him the best way we know how.

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 model God’s love and His kindness to those who He brings in to your life. Jesus lived a life that was kind, compassionate, and loving to those who society had rejected, and He calls us to do the same. Don’t be surprised that when we live and love like Jesus, that those who are self-righteous will look down on us for who we are associating with, because those who were self-righteous in the first century looked down on Jesus too.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to keep your personal relationship with God strong and growing stronger. A personal connection with God will give you the right motives and love for helping those who God brings into your life, and when we’re connected with God, He will lead us to those who He knows need His love.

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 response to a question several of the disciples have regarding the time of the end and Jesus’ return, Jesus challenges all His followers throughout time by including an interesting parallel. Mixed within this parallel is the topic of date setting and predicting the end of the world, and this seems to be a favorite activity of various groups of people throughout history. However, it’s strange in my mind that a startling percentage of these predictions come from people who should know Jesus’ words at the opening of our passage because many of these end-of-the-world theorists have a Christian background and they are clearly predicting Jesus’ return.

Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, and we’ll be reading it from the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 36, Jesus continues by telling His disciples:

³⁶ No one knows the day or hour. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows. ³⁷ When the Son of Man appears, things will be just as they were when Noah lived. ³⁸ People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day that the flood came and Noah went into the big boat. ³⁹ They didn’t know anything was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man appears.

Let’s pause here for a moment to focus attention onto an interesting piece of information: If Jesus doesn’t know when He will return, it makes no sense to think that a clever, or even an “inspired” human would be able to figure it out. Also along these same lines, it is illogical to believe that God would tell a sinful human His plan before telling His own Son!

However, what if Jesus now knows when the end will be while He didn’t when on earth with his disciples? It is definitely possible that at some point between Jesus’ return to heaven and now, Jesus has asked and received the definitive answer regarding His return and the end of our world. However, Jesus makes no indication of wanting to ask or know specifically when, which leaves us with our illogical problem: If Jesus doesn’t know when He will return, it seems like wasted energy for us to try to figure it out.

Following this statement, Jesus makes an interesting comparison to the time leading up to the flood. Prior to the flood, people were going about their lives as normal, and the end of their world happened without them being prepared. However, in Noah’s world, plenty of signs and warnings were present that should have prompted the people to pay attention. While it might be easy to tune out a preacher carpenter after a number of years of preaching and building, when the boat was finished, and animals started miraculously coming to take their place on the boat, that should have at least turned some heads. The only way those in Noah’s generation missed the boat was because they were ignoring the signs and warnings around them.

The parallel in our world is that we can be easily distracted away from paying attention to the warnings that our world is ending soon. Jesus continues in verse 40 by describing how His return will be both subtle and a surprise:

⁴⁰ Two men will be in the same field, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be together grinding grain, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ⁴² So be on your guard! You don’t know when your Lord will come. ⁴³ Homeowners never know when a thief is coming, and they are always on guard to keep one from breaking in. ⁴⁴ Always be ready! You don’t know when the Son of Man will come.

Let’s pause reading again. Many people believe what we just read relates to a secret rapture, but the context of this passage and verse tell us this is Jesus’ return. However, why then do these verses seem to describe a subtle return while other passages describe a return where there is so much turmoil that the earth feels like it will fall apart?

I believe the answer lies in the focus of these verses, and specifically what Jesus is describing and what He is not.

Nothing in these verses describes what takes place the minute Jesus returns. Instead, all it tells us is what people are caught doing when He appears. This passage basically tells us that the day Jesus returns will start like pretty much any other day. People will be getting up, going to work, and His return will be a surprise.

This passage doesn’t focus on the trauma of the world breaking apart at His arrival, but to the important truth that being ready for His return is an internal thing. Being ready for Jesus is a matter of where our hearts and lives are focused, and on our relationship with God. While our outward lives might not look significantly different, God knows our hearts, our minds, and our focus, and these things play an important role in our salvation.

Jesus challenges us again with the clear statement that we don’t know when He will return. While it doesn’t say that we will never know, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that we won’t know it until it happens. Jesus describes His return like a thief trying to catch a homeowner off guard. While Jesus isn’t going to come secretly to steal His people away, His return will catch everyone who isn’t paying attention to the warnings around them off guard.

While believing in Jesus and trusting in His sacrifice leads to salvation, Jesus finishes our passage by telling us what we should instead focus on. Up to this point, we have seen how it isn’t worth our time or energy to predict or speculate regarding the date or time He will return. Instead, let’s finish our passage and discover what He wants us to focus on instead. Continuing in verse 45, Jesus asks:

⁴⁵ Who are faithful and wise servants? Who are the ones the master will put in charge of giving the other servants their food supplies at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Servants are fortunate if their master comes and finds them doing their job. ⁴⁷ You may be sure that a servant who is always faithful will be put in charge of everything the master owns. ⁴⁸ But suppose one of the servants thinks that the master won’t return until late. ⁴⁹ Suppose that evil servant starts beating the other servants and eats and drinks with people who are drunk. ⁵⁰ If that happens, the master will surely come on a day and at a time when the servant least expects him. ⁵¹ That servant will then be punished and thrown out with the ones who only pretended to serve their master. There they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.

The conclusion to our passage describes in a broad way what we should be focusing on. Those who Jesus calls faithful and wise servants are the ones who are doing their job when the master checks in on them. Faithful and wise servants are responsible regardless of whether the master is present or absent, and regardless of whether the master is only gone for minutes or whether he is gone for millennia. It’s possible that Jesus’ return will be after we have died in this life.

However, we are called to focus on something different. It is not up to us whether we will be alive when Jesus returns, or resurrected when He appears. Instead, God brought us into the world at the time He did because He has a task for us to accomplish. While our role in the world might look different from everyone else’s, the ultimate task God has given each of His servants is to lead people to Jesus. In everything we focus our attention on, we should focus on the ultimate task of a faithful, wise servant, and that task is modeling Jesus’ love for others while leading people to Jesus.

All of God’s wise and faithful servants will be saved when Jesus returns, and this includes both those who are living at the time, and those who have been awaiting resurrection.

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

As I often begin each set of challenges by saying, be sure to seek God first and be sure to focus on the highest calling a faithful and wise servant of God can have, which is leading others to Jesus. When Jesus returns, the only thing that will matter is whether we have given our heart and our lives to Him and the only relationships that will survive are with those who have also placed God first. This is why it’s important we share Jesus with everyone. If we want to see someone in heaven, we need to help them grow a relationship with Jesus!

Also, always be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself, because a personal relationship with Jesus is the only thing that matters when He returns. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even the occasional podcaster can give you some interesting thing to think about, always take what you hear or read and test it with what the Bible says. When we test words and ideas through the Bible’s teaching, we discover God’s truth.

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