Reflective Bible Study

When reading Matthew’s gospel, we quickly find that when he wrote his gospel, he likes focusing in on Jesus’ teaching and on some key events, and this means that at times Matthew’s gospel speeds through some events, while at other times, a great deal of focus is given to one event.

Almost in contrast to Matthew’s big focus on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which covered three chapters, our passage for this episode speeds through several loosely connected events. Usually we’d find these events split apart, but for the case of our episode and our focus on Matthew’s gospel, I thought it might be neat to pull these events together just like Matthew did.

Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 8, and we will be reading from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 14, Matthew tells us that:

¹⁴ When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. ¹⁵ But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.

Let’s pause briefly here because this is the first “event” in our passage. It is fascinating in my mind that Peter’s mother-in-law focused on serving Jesus before even helping herself to food. In her mind, the best way for her to say “Thank You” to Jesus was to prepare a meal for Him. It’s also interesting that since Peter has a “mother-in-law”, this means that Peter was married, even if we don’t know anything about his wife.

Continuing on to the next event, which starts in verse 16, Matthew continues by telling us:

¹⁶ That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. ¹⁷ This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said,

“He took our sicknesses
    and removed our diseases.”

¹⁸ When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.

This marks the bounds of the second event. The big focus of Matthew’s gospel is describing how Jesus’ healing and casting out demons fulfilled God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah. While Matthew likely wanted to include more details and stories regarding those who were healed, it’s likely that not much time was given to uncovering the stories of those who came to Jesus. Also, Matthew wouldn’t have had enough space available to focus on sharing the stories of all these people.

Matthew’s big focus is letting us know that Jesus fulfilled God’s promise and prophecy regarding the Messiah through His ministry of healing and casting out demons.

As Jesus and the disciples were preparing to leave, Matthew then describes another event that is often looked at separately. Continuing in verse 19, Matthew tells us that:

¹⁹ Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰ But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

²¹ Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.”

This marks the end of another event we usually look at separately. In this event, a couple of individuals wish to dedicate their lives to Jesus and become disciples. When reading what Matthew describes here, we don’t have any idea if the religious teacher is discouraged by Jesus’ words about not having a home, or if he decides to follow the homeless Messiah.

However, when looking at the details of the second individual, who asks to return home to bury his father, we see this person described as a disciple, which subtly indicates that he got in the boat with Jesus and did not return home. While I don’t have any idea which disciple this was, it is an interesting invitation that is worth noting early on in Jesus’ ministry. The big idea I see in this short event is that we should not expect special treatment as disciples of Jesus, and we should be placing God’s purpose and mission ahead of everything else in our lives when we follow God.

Matthew then describes a powerful event that leaves an impression on all the disciples. Continuing in verse 23, Matthew tells us:

²³ Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. ²⁴ Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

²⁶ Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

²⁷ The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

Let’s stop reading here, now that this event is finished. This fourth event is amazing because it demonstrated Jesus’ power over the natural elements.

However, while most people look at this last event and they focus on Jesus’ command of the weather, it is amazing in my mind to see the challenge Jesus gives is a challenge related to trust in God and trust in God’s protection. While the disciples are scared of dying, Jesus is sleeping in the back of the boat. When they wake Him up to help them, Jesus challenges their lack of faith and their fear before simply challenging the weather to change.

Looking at all four of these events together, we see an interesting theme of trust in God, and that God will provide exactly what we need when we need it.

In our first event, Jesus helps Peter’s mother-in-law who then says thank you by serving Jesus. She trusted that she would be fine helping serve Jesus a meal before even getting herself something to eat.

Looking at the second event, everyone who came looking for Jesus’ help had trust in God that Jesus would be able to help them, and Jesus did not disappoint their trust.

Coming to the third event, the two individuals who came to Jesus looking to be disciples had the question of trust pushed back at them. Would they trust Jesus knowing that Jesus had no home, and would they put following Jesus ahead of the societal demands of family? That is a question we all end up facing in varying degrees when we choose to trust and follow Jesus.

And in the fourth event, we see Jesus challenging all the disciples related to trust in God and His protection when they all face the worst literal storm of their lives.

In all these events, we can see and know that trust in God is never a bad choice, and when we choose to trust God, we will never be disappointed. Yes, sometimes trusting God brings storms into our lives, but with our trust in God, He will help us move through the storm and keep us safe until the other side. Even if the storms of this life end in death, God is more than willing to keep us safe until He returns and raises us back to life.

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 intentionally place your trust in Him. Know that trusting in God is never a bad choice and with whatever comes our way, we are better equipped to deal with life’s challenges when God is at our side than when He is not.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Don’t take the word of any pastor, author, speaker, or podcaster for what the Bible says. Study out everything you learn with what the Bible teaches to know firsthand if it is truth or not. God has kept the Bible safe for thousands of years, and if we trust Him to keep us safe for eternity, He is more than capable of keeping His message of salvation safe for a few thousand years of sinful, human 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 fall away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

During the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, we read about a point where Jesus’ three closest disciples have some questions, and they pull Jesus aside to get some answers. To set the stage for this event, and for Jesus’ response, we read about a brief prediction Jesus shares as He and the disciples were leaving the temple.

Our passage is found in several of the gospels, but for our time together in this episode, we will look at Mark’s gospel, chapter 13, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us that:

¹ As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

Pausing our reading briefly here, I wonder if the disciples, and perhaps the unnamed disciple who made the original statement, were bothered by Jesus’ prediction that the temple would be destroyed.

Because this was on their minds as the afternoon passed and evening came, we discover that some of the disciples want a little more information.

Picking back up reading in verse 3, Mark tells us that:

³ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” ⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶ Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹ “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰ The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹ When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

¹⁴ “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁵ The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. ¹⁷ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸ But pray that it may not happen in the winter. ¹⁹ For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. ²⁰ Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹ And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him; ²² for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³ But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.

²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵ and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

²⁸ “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

In this long passage, Jesus shares a broad look at the future of the world. While there are plenty of specific parts we could focus on within Jesus’ response, the part I want to focus in on for the rest of our time together is the last few verses. Jesus concludes this teaching by telling the disciples that they should pay attention to what is happening around them in the world and know that when we hear and see things happening, such as wars and rumors of wars, that we can be reminded that Jesus is coming soon.

While Jesus promises that the current generation of people would not pass away until all these things took place – which is something that is perplexing in itself and something that would take too much time than we have left to dig into – the closing words in Jesus’ message is one of the biggest promises we can find in the entire Bible. Jesus tells these disciples in verse 31 that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

This promise is powerful, because it reminds us that with whatever happens in this life, and whatever Satan tries to throw at us to take our focus off of God, in the end, Jesus’ words and His message will survive. Jesus’ words last forever. Jesus’ words last longer than sin. Jesus’ words bring eternal life.

We are reminded and challenged with the truth that we will be hated and abused by people in this world because we follow Jesus, but those who endure to the end will be saved. We are challenged to endure to the end of our lives or until Jesus returns, and the reward for our endurance is eternity – specifically an eternity in a sinless, perfect, recreated world.

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

Be sure to always place God first and to stay loyal to Him. Choose to endure and ignore those who try to challenge our faith because we know from Jesus’ promise that those who endure to the end find salvation.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God each and every day. While pastors, podcasters, authors, or speakers can give you great ideas to think about, only through personal study can you grow a personal relationship, and a personal relationship with God is one key part of being saved!

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!

Following Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, we discover that He traveled back to Capernaum. On arriving there, Jesus is met by someone who seems to have a normal sounding request, but who Jesus is impressed by His response, and how this response demonstrates an unusual level of faith.

Let’s read what happened and discuss some things we can learn from this event. Our passage and event are found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 8, and we will read from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 5, Matthew tells us that:

⁵ When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman officer met him and begged for help: ⁶ “Sir, my servant is sick in bed at home, unable to move and suffering terribly.”

⁷ “I will go and make him well,” Jesus said.

⁸ “Oh no, sir,” answered the officer. “I do not deserve to have you come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. ⁹ I, too, am a man under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was surprised and said to the people following him, “I tell you, I have never found anyone in Israel with faith like this. ¹¹ I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. ¹² But those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.” ¹³ Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home, and what you believe will be done for you.”

And the officer’s servant was healed that very moment.

In this short event, I find it amazing that Jesus is surprised by this Roman officer’s faith. This officer did not need to actually see a miracle to believe one was going to happen. All this man needed was the promise and the assurance of Jesus to know that the servant would be made well. This is a powerful statement of faith.

While it might be easy to jump onto the idea that the Roman officer simply didn’t want Jesus to come to his home, I don’t think this would have been an issue if the Roman officer believed Jesus needed to be present to work a miracle. Instead, from looking at this man’s faith, I believe he wanted to hear the command from Jesus and to not take up any significant portion of Jesus’ time actually traveling to his home.

However, another fascinating thing in my mind is what Jesus tells those following Him before answering this Roman officer’s request. Verses 10-12 record Jesus telling those following Him: “I tell you, I have never found anyone in Israel with faith like this. I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. But those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.”

In this short statement, Jesus says that many will come from east and west and will be included in God’s kingdom, however those who should be in the Kingdom will instead be thrown out. This short statement is a promise for you and me, and it is a warning as well. In Jesus’ words, I see myself as being included in those who come from the east and west because I am not Jewish, and because I live on the other side of the world compared to where Jesus spoke these words. I believe that I have been invited and adopted into God’s family through what I have read and learned about Jesus and even though I am not an original family member in God’s family, being adopted into His family is just as significant.

I also believe that if you aren’t a part of God’s family, you have been given an invitation to be adopted into His family as well!

However, Jesus shares a warning in this statement as well. In this warning, Jesus challenges those who should be in the kingdom that they will be thrown out. Part of me wonders if this is because they rejected Jesus while trying to uphold their tradition and their picture of God. By trying to hold onto their view of God, they missed out seeing the Messiah God had sent to them.

In this warning, I see a warning for everyone who believes themselves to be a part of God’s family. This is a warning to stay connected to God and open to what He is doing in the world around us. I believe even those who are adopted into His family can be thrown out if we try to hold onto a false picture of God.

However, in this event, I see a challenge for both those who are part of God’s family, and for those who are adopted in. We can call this challenge “The Roman Officer’s Challenge”. This Roman officer displays a faith that we are called to have. This faith says that we will trust God and claim His promises for us without having to directly see His moving in our lives or in the details of our specific request. This means that when we pray, we trust that God will answer our prayers the instant we pray them, and that His answers will appear at the best moment in history for them to appear. Often, the time when we pray and the best time for God to work in a situation are two different times.

I won’t even begin to claim I know the best times for our prayers requests to be answered, but I do know that I don’t have to know this in order to have powerful, effective, and trusting prayers. Instead, in this event, Jesus challenges His followers to have faith like this Roman officer and to believe our prayers have been answered because God loves us, because He listens to us, and because He knows the best way to answer our requests.

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 and to place Him first in your life. When you pray, intentionally pray with trust that even if you never see the answer to your prayer in this life, know that God has answered your prayer in the best way possible from eternity’s perspective.

Also, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. A personal relationship can only be grown best from spending time with each other and spending time with God in prayer and Bible study is the best way to grow a solid foundation for a life with God.

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!

After being challenged by the religious leaders, asking His own question to stump them, and challenging both the leaders and the crowd listening in about what they should pay attention to and focus on, it appears that before Jesus left the temple that day, He decided to take a strategic break to teach the disciples an object lesson.

Both Mark and Luke include this short event, and when we look at what happened and compare it with what Jesus taught, we discover some amazing principles. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will read it from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 41, Mark tells us that:

⁴¹ Jesus sat near the Temple money box and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. ⁴² Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were only worth a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. ⁴⁴ They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had to live on.”

In these four short verses, Jesus attempts to shifts the disciples’ focus. When reading about this shift, I first wonder how affected the disciples were at this. Some of the disciples probably remembered this teaching later and realized it to be profound, while others, probably most notably Judas Iscariot, probably discounted it based on a greedy spirit. Looking at the time frame of events, we know that Mary had already poured the perfume on Jesus at this point, and Judas had challenged the extraordinary nature of this gift. John describes Judas Iscariot as not being truly interested in the poor, but being greedy and generous towards himself with the bag of money he was entrusted to keep.

This short object lesson is powerful when we look closely at it. When we look at what this teaches about giving and generosity, I don’t believe for a moment that God is challenging His followers to give away all their money. If that were the focus of this lesson, Jesus would have told the disciples that they should give like this poor widow.

However, no such command is given.

Instead, this teaching focuses on God’s perspective regarding giving, and it shows us several interesting angles regarding giving from God’s perspective.

First, Jesus describes the widow’s gift as giving all she had to live on, in contrast to the others who “gave only what they did not need”. This first angle teaches us that when giving to God, we should give to God first. Some people describe this as returning God’s tithes as His portion of what He has blessed us with. The term tithe simply means “tenth”, and this is where we get the meaning that a tithe is ten percent of our income, but when we look at this passage, nothing here is described as tithe or offering.

Instead, this widow gave everything she had to God because she trusted that He would supply her with everything she needed. This widow’s gift demonstrates a complete dependence on God and 100% trust in Him.

Mixed within this first angle of giving, we see the widow giving her heart to God with her money and her trust. Including her heart with her gift made the widow’s gift infinitely more valuable than other givers who simply gave money from their excess, which also means that their gifts would not include their hearts. A gift that includes the giver’s heart is always more valuable than a gift without a heart included.

Another angle of giving we can see described here is a percentage based giving. It’s possible that God looks more at what percentage we give of our income or our net worth when He calculates the value of our gift. Jesus describes this widow as giving everything she had, which would be like saying she gave 100%, and this contrasts a much lower percentage in those who gave only what they did not need.

This second angle is perhaps the more popular one, however I don’t think it fits the way God values giving as well as the first angle we focused on.

A third angle of giving flips the second angle around. Instead of focusing on percentages of what is given, the third angle focuses on what we keep in contrast to what we gave. We can see this perspective in Jesus’ framing of the first group of givers. These people give what they don’t need, which means that they keep what they needed to live on first. These givers focus on what they will keep first, and then give from the rest.

To contrast this, the widow doesn’t focus on what she will keep and instead gives everything. She is commended on giving more because she has nothing left after she gave which clearly contrasts the other people who have more than enough to live on after they have finished giving.

From both the second and third angle, we discover that the widow probably would have given more than everyone else even if she had only given one coin. It’s unlikely the other givers were giving more than 50% of their earnings or wealth, and they clearly had more left over after their giving than a single copper coin.

However, if the widow had only given one copper coin, it’s likely she would have failed the first angle of giving. If the widow had kept one coin back, it’s likely that her gift would not have included her heart, and without her heart included, her gift wouldn’t have been as valuable.

From looking at these few short verses and the object lesson Jesus pulls from them, we discover the amazing truth that God doesn’t value the number of coins we give. Instead, God values the percentage of our gift, God values gifts where the giving is enough to affect our lives because we gave first and enough for our hearts to take notice, and God values gifts that are large enough that they include our hearts with them. Giving that includes our hearts makes our gifts valuable in God’s eyes!

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

Always place God first and when giving gifts to Him, be sure to give in a way that includes your heart.

Also, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself. While a pastor, podcaster, or speaker can give you ideas to think about, only through personal prayer and Bible study can you grow a personal relationship – and when giving is involved, only through personal giving can you grow the spirit of generosity that will include your heart.

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