Reflective Bible Study

Over the past several episodes, we have been focusing in on Jesus’ last opportunity to share with the disciples before being betrayed and arrested. At this point, Judas Iscariot has likely already gathered the mob and soldiers who would arrest Jesus, and there isn’t much time left for Jesus and the remaining disciples to be together.

As Jesus begins to wrap up what He wants to share with His remaining followers, we come to our passage for this episode. This passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 16, and we will be reading it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 16:

¹⁶ Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

¹⁷ At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹ Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? ²⁰ Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²² So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ²³ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

²⁵ “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

²⁹ Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. ³⁰ Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

³¹ “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³² “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In this conclusion to Jesus’ message to His disciples, we see an interesting miscommunication. Jesus shares that while He has been speaking figuratively, He points forward to a time when He won’t have to use figurative language.

In response, the disciples exclaim that they are happy now that He is speaking clearly and without figures of speech. This response to Jesus’ message is followed up with a statement they likely unanimously make that now, after hearing this, they all believe that He came from God.

Jesus then responds by challenging them on this very point. If they truly all believed and knew what would happen, then they would not have been surprised or scared when the mob arrived to arrest Jesus. And even if they were surprised, they wouldn’t have abandoned Him.

However, in Jesus’ challenge to His disciples, we see a massive idea within His words that is a promise we can take and apply into our own lives. Verse 32 tells us that Jesus told the disciples: “You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.”

This truth is incredibly powerful. Regardless of what our circumstances look like, how we feel, or what Satan tries to tell us to discourage us, when we believe in Jesus, we are never alone. God the Father, and His Holy Spirit are always with us. Even if everyone else has abandoned us, God is still faithful, and His presence matters more than the presence of anyone else.

The reverse is also true. Even when we feel like we have failed God and left Him all alone, He is willing to accept us back when we are ready to come back. All the disciples failed Jesus, and Jesus was willing to accept back all the disciples who were willing to come back. The only disciple who didn’t return was Judas Iscariot, who committed suicide when realizing that He was responsible for Jesus’ death, and his decision could not be undone.

As Jesus wraps up this last message to His followers, He gives all of us a promise. Verse 33 shares this promise, which says: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

When we follow Jesus, He does not promise us a life that is trouble free. Our lives might include more trouble because of our decision to follow Him. However, we are to live each day with the peace God gives us, and this peace is built on the truth that Jesus overcame the world. Jesus overcame sin. Jesus overcame death. Jesus promises to include us in His victory when He returns as King!

This promise is one worth celebrating, especially when we look at how sin-filled the world is today!

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

Always seek God first and let His Holy Spirit influence your life. Trust that God knows the future; that He knows what will happen; and that through Jesus, He defeated Satan and overcame the world. Let God’s peace guide you through life and draw you to Him.

Also, always be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. A personal relationship with God is the best way to experience the peace He offers, and it is the best way to experience Jesus’ victory in your own life while sin is still present in this world.

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!

While reading the gospels, and while seeing how Jesus interacted with various people in many unique circumstances, I am amazed that Jesus is able to deal with each situation uniquely. Perhaps this is simply because the unique events are the ones that are remembered in a sea of regular, or unspectacular, healings. Perhaps it is also true that Jesus reused many of His illustrations and parables, but instead of simply reusing them word-for-word, He would adapt them to the groups He was speaking to.

I am also amazed that Jesus taught directly to what He saw going on around Him, whether it was because He was that observant, or because the Holy Spirit shared the thoughts of the crowd or the thoughts of certain people in the crowd with Him.

With all this in mind, we may be tempted to discount something Jesus says because it appears that it was only for one person in one specific instance. While I won’t speak for every case that the gospels include, there may be some such statements, but even statements that are for specific people in specific circumstances carry a theme, and that theme is something we can use when thinking about what Jesus might say to someone living today.

Our passage for this episode contains one example of a statement and illustration that we might be tempted to think was only for a specific person or group, but it also contains a powerful theme that is timeless. Let’s read what happens from the gospel of Luke, chapter 14, using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 7, Luke tells us:

⁷ Then Jesus noticed how the guests always chose the places of honor. So he used this illustration when he spoke to them: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding, don’t take the place of honor. Maybe someone more important than you was invited. ⁹ Then your host would say to you, ‘Give this person your place.’ Embarrassed, you would have to take the place of least honor. ¹⁰ So when you’re invited, take the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move to a more honorable place.’ Then all the other guests will see how you are honored. ¹¹ Those who honor themselves will be humbled, but people who humble themselves will be honored.”

Let’s pause briefly here because Jesus just spoke into a specific situation, but then He directly shared a big picture principle: “Those who honor themselves will be humbled, but people who humble themselves will be honored.”

Continuing reading in verse 12, Luke goes on to say:

¹² Then he told the man who had invited him, “When you invite people for lunch or dinner, don’t invite only your friends, family, other relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they will return the favor. ¹³ Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the handicapped, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ Then you will be blessed because they don’t have any way to pay you back. You will be paid back when those who have God’s approval come back to life.”

While there are several things I could bring out from this response Jesus gives, I will hold back and simply say that while this statement sounds like a specific instruction for a specific person, it also contains a theme that is much more timeless. The clue to seeing evidence of a theme here is that Jesus pushes the focus forward onto the resurrection of God’s people.

This means that Jesus could speak something similar to almost anyone living at any point prior to the resurrection of God’s people, because the theme in Jesus’ statement would be just as applicable. The powerful theme I see included here is that we are to show grace, kindness, and love towards those who cannot repay us back. While we shouldn’t neglect our friends, family, or other relatives, we should be extra intentional about including those who might not be able to pay us back or return the favor.

Jesus implies here that we will be paid back for our kindness at some point in the future. Our kindness will be repaid either in this life, by the people we chose to help, or in the next life by God who saw this kindness and is happy to repay it with kindness + interest.

Luke then tells us in verse 15 that:

¹⁵ One of those eating with him heard this. So he said to Jesus, “The person who will be at the banquet in God’s kingdom is blessed.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷ When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is ready now.’

¹⁸ “Everyone asked to be excused. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to see it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I bought five pairs of oxen, and I’m on my way to see how well they plow. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I recently got married, and that’s why I can’t come.’

²¹ “The servant went back to report this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry. He told his servant, ‘Run to every street and alley in the city! Bring back the poor, the handicapped, the blind, and the lame.’

²² “The servant said, ‘Sir, what you’ve ordered has been done. But there is still room for more people.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go to the roads and paths! Urge the people to come to my house. I want it to be full. ²⁴ I can guarantee that none of those invited earlier will taste any food at my banquet.’”

What is amazing to me most about this parable is the statement that prompts it, especially when you contrast it with what happens in the parable itself.

Someone sitting near Jesus makes a general statement that those who are included in the banquet in God’s kingdom are really blessed. It is worth noting that Jesus does not deny the man’s statement. Instead, He draws our attention onto a sobering reality that those who are God’s first choice to be included seem to value their invitation the least. The parable ends with the man, who represents God the Father, filling the banquet hall so full of other people that those who had rejected the invitation wouldn’t even be able to fit if they decided to come later – or at the very least, there would be no food left for them.

This illustration comes directly as a response to talking about the banquet in God’s kingdom, so it is not difficult to conclude that the banquet in Jesus’ illustration refers to the banquet in God’s kingdom. What is the most challenging theme for us – or at least for me – to wrap my head around is the idea of someone rejecting this incredible invitation. Was Jesus talking about those in the Jewish nation rejecting the invitation, while Christians are safe because they were “invited” second? Or is this illustration less about nationality and more about the state of our hearts and us choosing to put everything else aside when God calls us home to Him?

I am inclined to believe more along the lines of the second idea, because I can see people living today, even people who call themselves Christians, who seem to have taken their relationship with God for granted. These “convenience Christians” believe in a once saved, then-you-can-never-be-lost-no-matter-what-you-do-or-decide form of being saved, and they are almost indistinguishable from someone who truly doesn’t know God. I picture these people as taking their relationship with God for granted, and taking one’s relationship with God for granted is how someone guarantees that they will miss out on God’s banquet feast.

As we come to the close of another podcast episode, let me leave you with a set of challenges related to this key idea:

Intentionally value your relationship with God today. While I am positive your relationship with Him will be 100 times better in heaven, this shouldn’t be an excuse for us to neglect God today. If we ignore or neglect Him today, we might miss the point when He invites us to His banquet thinking that we still have time left. Instead, take each day and value the time that you spend in prayer and study with Him. This way, you will be in tune with what He is up to in the world around you.

Speaking of taking time each day to spend in prayer and study, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself so that you can learn firsthand from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. While commentaries, pastors, or even the occasional podcaster can prompt ideas, nothing and no one can replace the value of personal, regular time in prayer and Bible study. If you depend on others, you can only learn as much as they have learned – which may be less than what God really wants to teach you.

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 neglect the mission and place 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!

When reading the gospels, it is easy to see that Jesus fulfilled all of prophecy’s requirements for the Messiah God would send when we look back on these events. However, during Jesus’ life, before the gospel writers had neatly pieced everything together, only those who were truly paying attention to what was happening saw the parallels. In many cases, the Pharisees and other religious leaders saw many of the things Jesus did as trying to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament, but they had already written Jesus off because He didn’t fit every characteristic of the Messiah that they had pieced together.

In our passage for this episode, which happens part way through Jesus’ ministry, enough time has passed for the people living in that part of the first century to know Jesus was special, and that He was sent from God. What they didn’t understand was whether He was truly the Messiah God had promised.

So in our passage, the crowd asks Jesus directly. Let’s read what happens and how Jesus responds. Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 10, and we will be reading out of the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 22, John tells us that:

²² It was winter, and the Festival of the Dedication of the Temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem. ²³ Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Porch in the Temple, ²⁴ when the people gathered around him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? Tell us the plain truth: are you the Messiah?”

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you would not believe me. The deeds I do by my Father’s authority speak on my behalf; ²⁶ but you will not believe, for you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me. ²⁹ What my Father has given me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father’s care.

If Jesus had stopped talking at this point, the crowd would have simply been offended that Jesus had just told them they were not part of God’s “family-gift” to Jesus. Jesus’ words up to this point are challenging, because they basically tell those present that their unbelief has already excluded them, and if they had been paying attention, they would already know the answer to their question. In some ways, this echoes the religious leaders demand for a sign – even though no sign could be powerful enough to convince their stubborn hearts.

But Jesus continues, because He wants to push this crowd deeper, and He wants to challenge their thinking. Picking back up in verse 30, Jesus continues by saying,

³⁰ The Father and I are one.”

³¹ Then the people again picked up stones to throw at him. ³² Jesus said to them, “I have done many good deeds in your presence which the Father gave me to do; for which one of these do you want to stone me?”

³³ They answered, “We do not want to stone you because of any good deeds, but because of your blasphemy! You are only a man, but you are trying to make yourself God!”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written in your own Law that God said, ‘You are gods.’ ³⁵ We know that what the scripture says is true forever; and God called those people gods, the people to whom his message was given. ³⁶ As for me, the Father chose me and sent me into the world. How, then, can you say that I blaspheme because I said that I am the Son of God? ³⁷ Do not believe me, then, if I am not doing the things my Father wants me to do. ³⁸ But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, you should at least believe my deeds, in order that you may know once and for all that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father.”

³⁹ Once more they tried to seize Jesus, but he slipped out of their hands.

⁴⁰ Jesus then went back again across the Jordan River to the place where John had been baptizing, and he stayed there. ⁴¹ Many people came to him. “John performed no miracles,” they said, “but everything he said about this man was true.” ⁴² And many people there believed in him.

The way John the apostle concludes this passage is powerful. In some ways, it echoes the conclusion of several previous events in his gospel. This conclusion draws our attention to the comparison between John the Baptist, who the people believed God had sent to point them to the Messiah, and Jesus Himself. When comparing Jesus and John the Baptist, the crowd observed that John the Baptist performed no miracles, but everything he had described to them about the coming Messiah directly described Jesus. It is for this reason John the gospel writer tells us that many more people believed in Jesus.

However, it is interesting to note Jesus’ closing argument as well, because it is powerful and it reveals some important pieces of human nature. Up to this point, the people wanted to grab Jesus and stone Him to death for claiming to be God, and blasphemy of this sort was punishable by death. But Jesus first diffuses their argument by pointing out that the writings of the Old Testament describes a certain group of individuals as gods (and this is gods with a lower case “g”).

Jesus then quickly backs up this statement with something they all can agree on, specifically that what the scripture says is true forever. Jesus then qualifies this argument by describing how the people who received God with a capital “G”, are called gods with a lower case “g”.

Next, Jesus then draws the focus back onto His claim, and specifically the portion of it that simply said that God (capital “G”) had chosen Him and sent Him into the world. Jesus then finishes the counter-argument by stating that it is not blasphemy to claim something that had already been defined in the Old Testament scriptures.

But Jesus then goes on to give these people an escape clause, or an out. If those present believe that Jesus had drifted or gone against what God, with a capital “G”, would have Him do, then they should discount these claims and simply believe in Him based on the miracles and good things He had done.

Earlier in this passage, the people had already validated their idea that the things Jesus had done were good. It was not for any “thing” Jesus had done that they wanted to stone Him for, but simply for the words that He spoke. Here at the end of Jesus’ challenge to them, Jesus tells them that if they still don’t believe in His claims, that they should at least believe in the truth that He was sent by God the Father because of the miracles they had witnessed. Only then would they begin to realize the truth about Him, specifically that there was an undeniable connection between Jesus and God the Father.

But the people were not ready to make that leap of faith towards Jesus, and they tried to grab Jesus to stone Him, but they were unable to. After making His statement and challenge, Jesus left there and went to another place. Jesus wanted to give these people time to think about what He had said.

What Jesus describes in this passage is powerful for all of us. In essence, Jesus says that a person’s reason for believing in Him doesn’t matter. What matters is simply that someone believes in Him. People could believe in Jesus based on His teaching; or based on what John described Jesus to be; or because Jesus was a miracle worker; or because they believed the symbol of the lamb that had been sacrificed pointed forward to Someone taking their place.

For all those living prior to Jesus’ ministry, they only had the symbol of the Lamb, but after Jesus, we now have numerous other reasons to believe. According to what Jesus tells this crowd, it doesn’t matter which reason (or reasons) we choose to believe. What matters is that we put our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him.

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

Continue to seek God first in your life and pick a reason, really any reason, to put your faith in Jesus. Instead of taking the skeptic’s route and looking for ways we should not believe, take the friend’s route and look for ways and things that we can believe in about Jesus. When we look for belief-worthy aspects of Jesus and His character, we are able to find plenty of validation.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn just who Jesus was, and who He is. Jesus is living forever in Heaven, and aside from His body undergoing a restoration at His resurrection, Jesus’ love, character, mission, and heart have not changed from when He was walking around with the disciples in the first century. The description of Jesus in the gospels, and what the early church modeled are the two best examples we have to learn who Jesus is and what He is like.

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!