Reflective Bible Study

As we begin our special two-part finale for this year of podcasting, first off I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. I hope that in the midst of all the festivities, you are able to remember this as the time Jesus stepping into our world, and that this only matters because of what we have just finished focusing on during this previous year of podcasts. Without the cross, Christmas would lose all meaning, and the cross, which we have just finished focusing in on this past year, would not have happened without Christmas.

Without any further delay, let’s dive into some of the biggest and best insights, at least in my own mind, that we discovered this past year focusing in on the cross. As always, we discovered so much that I had a difficult time narrowing down this list to a manageable length.

We’ll start off by focusing in on what we learned in episode 1. Episode 1 drew our focus onto Jesus receiving a special gift, and the giver being criticized by those present due to the supposed cost of this gift. In this episode, we summarized the following lesson for our lives: While we are called to help others, the truth of this life is that the most generous person who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus will be worse off when this life ends than the person who could have been more generous, but they chose instead to focus on and grow towards Jesus. We might not always feel God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit’s presence, but we know from Jesus’ challenge that this is where we should focus our attention.

Moving forward into episode 2, we focused on Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, and on a peculiar message Jesus shared when He saw Jerusalem and wept. We discovered in this event that: When we depend on God and lean on Him for guidance, He will teach us what to say, and He will bring us His peace. While Jesus wept when realizing that the city He loved would ultimately be destroyed, He still loved the city and the people living within its walls. Even if our own lives cause Jesus pain, He still loves each of us and He wants to help heal our hurts.

Jumping ahead to episode 4, we discovered some amazing lessons related to prayer in the unfortunate end of a fig tree that looked leafy, but was being unfruitful. In this episode, we concluded that: We are called to pray with faith in God; with forgiveness in our hearts; with no doubt that God loves us, that He wants to answer our prayers, or that He wants the best for us; and with the trust that He answers our prayers the moment they leave our mouth. After we pray, we should eagerly look for answers He has given and expect to see them show up in our lives when the time is right.

Episode 5, which has Jesus kicking the commerce out of the temple also taught us a lesson about prayer. We discovered that: Prayer is all about coming before God, and submitting ourselves to His will. While prayer can include requests for help from God, prayer is inherently focused on God and not on ourselves. An exclusively self-focused and self-serving prayer is unlikely to be answered ever.

Moving into Episode 6, we learned a powerful truth from a challenge Jesus received from the chief priests and leaders about where Jesus received His authority. In this episode, we discovered that: Knowledge that is not applied is worthless. It is harder for an arrogant follower of Jesus to be saved than it is for the most sin-filled, evil person who decided to change, come to God, and repent. Anyone who believes they don’t need to repent has just placed themselves in the same group these religious leaders are in, and this group risks losing their salvation. An arrogant pride stopped the religious leaders from discovering and accepting Jesus, and arrogant pride in our own lives and hearts risks our own salvation.

Episode 7 continued this theme in the parable of the evil tenants, which challenged us with the truth that: God gives everyone the freedom to choose Him or not. God is looking for a people who will return His portion of fruit to Him. The challenge for us to remember is to be fruitful towards God, and to return His portion of what He has blessed us with, otherwise God may move to focusing on a different group than the one we are in.

Jumping up to episode 10, where Jesus is challenged regarding marriage and the resurrection by a group of Sadducees, we learned that: God has the perspective that everyone is alive, but that is because He can see all points of history. This doesn’t mean that everyone is conscious at all points in history. Instead, our perspective mirrors the first part of Jesus’ reply: We look forward to the resurrection, when God the Creator and Re-Creator, pull everyone from their respective endpoints in history’s timeline into a brand new timeline called the New Heaven and New Earth.

In this same episode, we also learned that: In the new age without sin, Jesus tells us that there won’t be marriage, but I’m sure that is because it will have been replaced with something even better.

Moving up to Episode 15, we learned from an answer Jesus gives to His closest disciples that: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” From this episode and this promise, we discovered that: This promise is powerful because it reminds us that 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.

Episode 16 draws our attention onto an illustration of wise and faithful servants being rewarded. We discovered that: It’s possible that Jesus’ return will be after we have died in this life. 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. 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 He returns, and those who have been awaiting resurrection.

Jumping forward to Episode 19, we read Jesus’ big conclusion to His end-time teaching which included a sobering parable about sheep and goats. From this illustration, we learned that: When we are called to help others, we are called to help in ways that are not repayable. The motivation of our hearts matter and the reason for our love is crucial. In order to be welcomed into heaven, we must be saved internally, because of our faith in Jesus, and we must display our faith and thanks to God for His gift by helping others in ways that are not easily repaid. This is living out God’s character in the world, and it’s His challenge to each of His followers!

In the next episode, Episode 20, we looked at Judas Iscariot plotting His betrayal with the religious leaders. In this episode, we are reminded that: God and Jesus gave Judas Iscariot every opportunity to change his heart and his life, but he refused. Through the negative of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal, we have Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and we have the amazing news that His death gives us the opportunity for a new life with Him. God is able to turn negatives, even the betrayal of His own Son, into amazing good for His Story of redemption!

To follow up what we discovered in Episode 20, jumping forward to Episode 22, we saw that Jesus washed Judas Iscariot’s feet, and in Episode 23, we saw Judas Iscariot having one last opportunity to reject the role of the betrayer. We saw that: If Judas refused the bread, Satan would not have entered Him, and it is possible this would be the beginning of Judas letting Jesus into His heart. Judas had the choice whether to accept the bread from Jesus, and Judas accepted both the bread and the role of betrayer in one instant. Judas Iscariot was not forced to accept the role of betrayer. God did not predestine him to this role. Jesus did not invite Judas to be a disciple on the condition that three years later, he would betray Him. Judas chose the role of betrayer with his own free will, and simply because God saw this happen, and because it was predicted before the events took place, everything hinged on Judas’ choice to accept the bread.

In a less negative way, we discovered in this powerful episode that: By accepting Jesus into our hearts and lives, we are also accepting the One who sent Jesus, and this is God the Father, and His Holy Spirit.

Let’s wrap up this episode by focusing on the last thing we discovered from Episode 23: Even though God knows us so well that He knows what we will choose, we still have the freedom to choose when the moment comes. When we face temptation, regardless of our past, we can choose a new path moving forward. While our past lives might be full of sinful decisions, Jesus came to take care of our past when we choose to accept Him into our lives, accept the One who sent Him, and to turn away from the sin in our past. Jesus came to give us a new life with God, and God is inviting us to grow with Him for eternity.

Don’t ever let yourself abandon or chicken out of the new life God has called you to live!

At the end of John’s gospel, we find an amazing event that echoes one of the first events that many of the disciples’ experience with Jesus. Following the resurrection, perhaps days or even a week or two later, John shares about an event that a little over half of Jesus’ remaining disciples were included in, and it happened back where Jesus found many of His first disciples.

From looking at the details John describes, both what is said and what is implied, following the crucifixion and resurrection weekend, the disciples all may have stayed in Jerusalem for a week or so. But then after an entire week had passed, we get the impression that some, if not all, of them may have slowly drifted back towards their previous lives and occupations. The previous three years they had spent with Jesus was amazing, but with their hopes of power and fame in an overthrown Roman empire gone with Jesus’ crucifixion, they weren’t sure really what to do. So it appears, according to John, that many of them return home to Galilee, with no clear mission for moving forward.

John’s last chapter, number 21, is entirely devoted to Jesus appearing again to these disciples and renewing their mission and faith in Him. Reading from the New International Version and starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶ He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Let’s stop reading here because I want to draw out an interesting statement John includes in his description of this event. In verse 12, John says that “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord.”

It would seem odd for John to include this phrase because everything up to this point had already suggested, both subtly and obviously, that the stranger in front of them was Jesus. I wonder if Jesus’ physical appearance was noticeably different, but still similar enough with certain defining characteristics, like scars where He was nailed to the cross, and perhaps a similar impression when looking into His eyes. Part of me wonders if all the disciples who missed recognizing Jesus up to this point had simply failed to catch the small hints at who He was, and only after looking Jesus in the eye do they recognize that it is really Him.

This event echoes how Luke’s gospel describes Jesus inviting several of His first disciples after a unique daytime fishing trip that was surprisingly successful. In a similar, but different way, John ends His gospel describing another fishing miracle, but this time, it set the stage for a second invitation to follow Jesus.

On the night Jesus was arrested, all of His followers abandoned Him, and this was likely weighing on each of their minds. Each of Jesus’ disciples had failed Jesus when He would have needed them the most. When the fishermen disciples decide it is time to go fishing again, Jesus sees the opportunity to repeat His earlier miracle to get their attention. While it wasn’t done in exactly the same way, it was similar enough that none of the disciples missed the connection or significance.

Jesus’ repeat miracle is important for us to pay attention to as well. While I am not a fisherman, and most likely you aren’t either, what we see take place in this event is Jesus visibly forgiving many of His closest followers who feel as though they had failed Him. It is like Jesus says through the entire event in John chapter 21 that it is time for a fresh “restart” with Jesus. This restart is significant because it is built on the foundation that had been laid from the disciples earlier time with Jesus, but also it included the history of their failures.

This restart invitation told each of these fishermen that Jesus was willing to have them back if they were willing to come back, and it tells each of us living today that even though we mess up and make mistakes, God is always willing to take us back if/when we are willing to return to Him.

As we come to the end of another year of podcasting through the gospels, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Be sure to continue seeking God first, and treat each day as a new day with God. Know that days in our past have included mistakes and failures, but also know that God is happy to work with us to build a new relationship even when we have failures checkered throughout our past. Past failures do not disqualify us from living for God moving forward. Jesus’ second fishing miracle helps show this truth to each of us.

As we treat each day as a new day with God, be sure to prayerfully study the Bible for yourself to intentionally grow your relationship with Him each day. If each day is treated as a new day, then each day should include time spent with God, and the best way to do this is in prayer and reading from the Bible. God desires a relationship with each of us and while a pastor or podcaster can inspire you with insights from his or her own experience, only by personally having a relationship with God can you grow into the life He created you to live.

And that brings us to the challenge that I always include in one way or another at the end of every set of challenges: Be sure to 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!

One week after Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, He steps out of the tomb victorious over death. Over this past year, we have walked with Jesus through this final week, and we have focused in on what the gospel writers recorded during this time.

To wrap up this year focusing on Jesus facing the cross, I couldn’t simply end with Jesus being dead and in the tomb. Even though the cross and death was Jesus’ mission and goal, He always saw past His death and looked forward to His resurrection. On multiple occasions, recorded in multiple gospels, Jesus tries to forewarn the disciples that He would be put to death, but that He would also rise from the dead on the third day.

However, for all times Jesus predicted crucifixion weekend to His disciples, they still are surprised and caught off guard when it happened. Even on resurrection morning, we discover that an actual resurrection is the last thing on the disciples’ minds. Let’s finish this year by looking at resurrection morning through the eyes of Mark’s gospel.

Our passage is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter 16, and we will read about what happened from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us that:

¹ The day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus’ body. ² Very early on that day, the first day of the week, soon after sunrise, the women were on their way to the tomb. ³ They said to each other, “Who will roll away for us the stone that covers the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴ Then the women looked and saw that the stone had already been rolled away, even though it was very large. ⁵ The women entered the tomb and saw a young man wearing a white robe and sitting on the right side, and they were afraid.

⁶ But the man said, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who has been crucified. He has risen from the dead; he is not here. Look, here is the place they laid him. ⁷ Now go and tell his followers and Peter, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there as he told you before.’”

⁸ The women were confused and shaking with fear, so they left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell anyone about what happened, because they were afraid.

It is at this point in Mark’s gospel where some manuscripts end. However, regardless of whether Mark ends his gospel here, or whether the longer version of Mark’s ending is correct, we can discover from this passage that resurrection was not on anyone’s mind.

The women who go to the tomb early on Resurrection Sunday are discussing among themselves who they will ask to help them roll the stone away. They are oblivious to the fact that there had been an order to seal the tomb and a group of soldiers had been posted to guard the tomb. By the time they arrived, the guards had scattered, the seal on the tomb had been broken, and the large stone had been rolled away.

Since they had brought spices to put on Jesus’ corpse, they enter the tomb only to find a young man wearing a white robe who seems to be more aware of what has happened than anyone else, and when they look over to the place they remember seeing Jesus’ body last, no body was there.

As I read about what happened on resurrection morning, I cannot help but wonder if this friendly young man was the angel who came down, frightened all the soldiers, and tossed the stone aside to make way for Jesus’ triumphant exit from the tomb. While there were likely armies of evil angels guarding the tomb with the Roman soldiers, all it took was one of God’s angels to scatter Satan’s forces of darkness – both human and supernatural forces – and prepare the way for Jesus to emerge from the tomb.

In our own lives, while it might seem as though evil is winning when we look at the world today, know that Jesus has already won. Jesus has conquered not just sin and death, but evil as well. Satan has been judged as guilty and he knows his time is coming. The only thing Satan can work towards now is trying to steal as many people away from God as he possibly can. And this is what he has been doing for the past 2,000 years.

While it may appear as though Satan is winning the world today, God is still in control and just one of God’s angels is enough to push back the forces of darkness. When times are tough in this life, we are challenged to remember what Jesus not only accomplished through His death, but also through His resurrection. Jesus defeated Satan and with eternity as our focus, Satan’s time is coming up fast.

I don’t have any idea how much longer the world will continue before Jesus returns to put a final end to sin, suffering, and Satan’s apparent rule, but I do know that when Jesus does return, Satan will be exposed as the deceiver he has always been.

As we move through each day, each month, and each year, let’s remember what Jesus accomplished for us. Jesus came to this earth as one of us, and He lived the life we couldn’t live, so He could give us the life that we don’t deserve – and that life lasts forever with God.

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

Always choose to place God first in your life and intentionally seek to do His will each and every day. While times might look dark and events might prompt you to think that evil is winning, Satan’s time is short and God will not abandon His people. God is looking forward to the day when Jesus returns more expectantly than we could even imagine, and He wants as many people with Him in heaven as He can.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, pray and study the Bible for yourself and intentionally grow your personal relationship with God each day. Trust that God is still in control and even if life doesn’t make sense right now, know that from eternity’s perspective, God is moving history towards the end of sin and the salvation of His people!

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!

Following Jesus’ resurrection, the impression I get from the gospels is that things were a little chaotic – at least at first. Out of this confusion over whether Jesus had truly been raised from the dead, we find an amazing event that Luke includes in detail in his gospel record. This event includes two of Jesus’ followers, one who is not named, and another who is only included once in the entire New Testament, at least by this name. Some scholars speculate that the disciple who is named in this event is also the same one that is found in another event that John’s gospel includes, but this is speculation based on the names being very similar.

Our event is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, and we will be reading from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 13, Luke tells us that later on during the day that Jesus was resurrected, two of Jesus’ followers:

¹³ [And behold, two of them] were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. ¹⁷ And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” ¹⁹ And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. ²² But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Let’s pause reading here because I want to point out that I wish Luke could have included the breakdown in detail that Jesus gave to these two followers. While I imagine that most of what Jesus shares is included in the gospels, it would have been incredible to hear Jesus explain His own life and mission using prophecy, first-hand and without holding anything back.

It’s also worth noting that aside from the women who had seen some angels, and Mary Magdalene who John’s gospel tells us stayed behind and thought Jesus was a gardener at first, it seems like these two less famous disciples were the second and third to see a resurrected Jesus. In many ways, the trip these two disciples take with the resurrected Messiah was more profound than Mary’s short conversation.

Continuing our reading in verse 28, Luke tells us that as:

²⁸ [And] they approached the village where they were going, [Jesus] acted as though He were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. ³² They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³ And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.”

Part of me wondered if the unnamed disciple in this passage was one of Jesus’ eleven remaining disciples. However, when we look closely at Luke’s description of what these disciples find after they had raced back to Jerusalem, they find the eleven and a number of other followers with them. This makes it sound like neither one of these two followers was part of Jesus’ eleven remaining closest disciples.

What was a trip that took hours for these men going away from Jerusalem could be measured in minutes as they raced back to the city. But while everything in this event is powerful and profound, one subtle theme stands out in my mind regarding the character of these two followers of Jesus: these two disciples are rewarded the greatest because they displayed hospitality towards a stranger.

If it had not been for Jesus acting like He was going to keep going, and had these disciples not insisted that this stranger come spend the night at their place before continuing on, these two followers would not have known that Jesus was the One who explained the scripture to them. If these two disciples had let Jesus continue on the road without pressing Him to stay with them, they probably would not have made the trip back to Jerusalem that night. Perhaps the next day they would have returned with the good news and explanation that a stranger gave them, but it wouldn’t have been that night.

Also interesting is that these two disciples never once imply or suggest to go back to Jerusalem with their stranger-friend – or at least Luke never implies that this happened. Part of me wonders if these two followers were so amazed at what they were learning from their Companion’s explanation of prophecy,,,,,,, that they simply didn’t think of asking their fellow Traveler to return to Jerusalem,,,,,, and share what He was sharing with them to the other disciples. They may have just thought or concluded that they would bring the news and information to the rest of the disciples on another day.

But regardless of what happened, hospitality towards a stranger led to these two disciples’ eyes being opened, and they, similar to Mary who didn’t recognize Jesus at first, experience the amazement of realizing that they had been talking directly to Jesus.

Living over 2000 years later, I find myself being less hospitable than these two disciples are. It is not that I wouldn’t be hospitable if I could, but culture, life, and travel are significantly different now than it was then, and even picking up a hitch-hiker has fallen out of favor with many people. But I also wonder if the way our culture has shifted has led to many of us, myself included, missing out on God directed meetings because we are too busy, too distracted, and/or too narrowly focused in on the demands of the moment to pay attention to what God wants to share with us.

So as we come to the close of another podcast episode, let’s focus our end-of-this-podcast challenges on this theme and topic:

As I always challenge you to do, be sure to seek God first in your life and be open to following His leading. On the topic of being hospitable towards others, look for people who God brings into your life who need help, need encouragement, or perhaps simply need a friend. As we seek God first, let’s be sure to intentionally be open to God redirecting our path and plans to allow for meetings that He wants us to have. This challenge is really aimed at me because is one of those challenges that is harder for me as a shy introverted guy than it is for someone like my wife who can make a friendship out of thin air.

Also, be sure to prayerfully study the Bible for yourself in order to grow closer to God and build a stronger relationship with Him. With a strong, close relationship with God, we will be more likely to recognize the ways He wants to redirect us and we will be more likely to experience the God-inspired conversations and connections that He wants us to have.

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!