Reflective Bible Study

As we continue our journey through Luke’s gospel, we reach a passage where Jesus begins to train the disciples for the time following His return to heaven. However, the disciples are unaware of this detail. All they realize is that Jesus sends them out to the surrounding towns to tell people about Him. In the instructions Jesus gives to His disciples, and the few verses following this mini-commission, we can discover some amazing things.

Our passage for this episode comes from Luke’s gospel, chapter 9, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ Jesus called together the 12 disciples. He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to heal sicknesses. ² Then he sent them out to announce God’s kingdom and to heal those who were sick. ³ He told them, “Don’t take anything for the journey. Do not take a walking stick or a bag. Do not take any bread, money or extra clothes. ⁴ When you are invited into a house, stay there until you leave town. ⁵ Some people may not welcome you. If they don’t, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet. This will be a witness against the people living there.” ⁶ So the 12 disciples left. They went from village to village. They announced the good news and healed people everywhere.

⁷ Now Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything that was going on. He was bewildered, because some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. ⁸ Others were saying that Elijah had appeared. Still others were saying that a prophet of long ago had come back to life. ⁹ But Herod said, “I had John’s head cut off. So who is it that I hear such things about?” And he tried to see Jesus.

¹⁰ The disciples returned. They told Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him. They went off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ But the crowds learned about it and followed Jesus. He welcomed them and spoke to them about God’s kingdom. He also healed those who needed to be healed.

In this short passage, we see Jesus sending out the disciples to announce God’s kingdom and to heal those who were sick. We see Jesus share a similar focus when He began His ministry. When Jesus started preaching shortly after His baptism and trip into the wilderness to be tempted, He began by sharing about God’s Kingdom, which in some places is also called the Kingdom of Heaven. This small detail tells me that if God challenges you and leads you into a ministry sharing about Him, the best place to begin is by sharing about God’s kingdom. This is what John the Baptist did, what Jesus did, and what Jesus tells the disciples to do.

However, it is also significant to point out that Jesus’ disciples also were given the authority to heal people and to cast out demons. The clear point in this short-term missionary trip was to know that God was with them. Specifically we could say that these disciples had the Holy Spirit with them when they went out on their trip to the surrounding countryside.

While Luke’s gospel doesn’t give any summary statement describing if the disciples were successful, Mark’s gospel does fill in the details that the disciples healed people and cast out demons while they were out ministering. Luke’s gospel hints at the disciples’ success because when they return to Jesus and then try to go to off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, the crowds discovered this and came to see Jesus. I suspect that if the disciples weren’t successful, Jesus could have traveled more freely without being recognized as clearly.

While the disciples were out sharing the news about God with the surrounding region, Luke inserts a brief summary about John the Baptist. Part of me wonders if Jesus’ popularity and fame reached Herod during the disciples’ missionary trip, and that this was not long after John was beheaded. Matthew and Mark take some verses to describe what happened, and that Herod would rather have kept John locked up, but that his wife and her daughter plotted together to push Herod to execute John. Luke simply tells us the summary, while also including a brief note that Herod “tried to see Jesus” (in verse 9).

However, with all this said, what could we call the big theme in these verses in Luke?

What is one big thing this passage teaches us that we can apply into our lives today?

As I ask myself these questions, it becomes clear that the big emphasis in this passage is on trusting God and letting Him lead. When Jesus instructs the disciples about this trip, He tells them not to take anything for their journey. Instead, Jesus challenges His disciples to simply go and trust that God will provide.

I don’t know how long Jesus anticipated them to be gone for, but I suspect that it was several weeks at least. From Luke’s description, they disciples had time to travel to multiple villages, be rejected by some, and be welcomed by others.

Also, Jesus challenges the disciples to not force themselves into situations. If they are invited to stay in a town, then stay in one place where they are welcomed. However, if they are rejected by a town, they are challenged to simply leave and shake the dust off of their feet as they go.

One amazing thing to realize in this short missionary trip to the towns and villages in the region is that the disciple’s visit may have been the only invitation or visit these towns received while Jesus was present on earth. There were too many towns for Jesus to visit them all personally, and by sending the disciples out, Jesus was able to multiply what God wanted to do to help Israel. If a town rejected the disciples, as some likely did or else Jesus’ instruction about this would have been unnecessary, we could say this town rejected the messengers God sent to help them.

In our own lives, not only are we called and challenged to trust God and let Him lead in our lives, we should also be willing and grateful for the messengers God sends into our lives. The towns Jesus sent the disciples to had the opportunity to accept or reject the messengers God sent to them. In a similar way, God sends people into our lives to challenge and encourage us. While we might not always recognize those God sends our way, we should be grateful and willing to accept those God brings into our lives.

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 accept those He brings into our lives to challenge or encourage us. While we don’t always know, recognize, or understand who God sends, it is important for us to be willing and open to accepting messengers God sends our way. Otherwise, we might realize too late when we rejected the only messengers (also known as disciples) God sent our way like some of the towns in our passage did.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Through prayer and Bible study, we are able to grow closer to God, and the closer we are to God, the better able we will be to both recognize and accept the people God sends into our lives!

In our last episode, we focused in on a description Jesus pulled from the Old Testament and applied onto His ministry. But we ended up cutting that episode’s New Testament passage short because in the event that we focused in on, Luke used an interesting phrase when describing the initial response those in the Nazareth synagogue had towards Jesus, and that phrase has a connection with a different passage from the Old Testament.

However, before we pick back up with Jesus in the Nazareth synagogue, let’s look at the first two verses in a psalm that get’s connected with Jesus, and one that has descriptive similarities with how Luke described those in the Nazareth synagogue.

This psalm is found in the Old Testament book of Psalms, and it is psalm number 45. Reading from the New American Standard Bible translation, starting in verse 1, the psalmist writes:

¹ My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
² You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.

While we could read more, let’s stop reading here. On the surface, nothing in these first two verses sounds prophetic. However, when the psalmist is describing the King who he is addressing his verses to, he describes the King as having grace poured upon His lips.

With that framing in mind, let’s read about Jesus’ experience in Nazareth. For those who listened in for our last episode, I’ll repeat the opening of the passage to give context, but then we’ll read a few additional verses to the point where we find this idea present.

Jesus’ visit to Nazareth’s synagogue is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 4 and we will begin reading in verse 14:

¹⁴ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This is where we stopped reading in our last episode. However, continuing reading in verse 22:

²² And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

And with this description, we come to the end of anything that could be described as gracious words. After this initial response, Jesus then shifts towards challenging this group of people, and the way Jesus challenges them is received much less graciously.

Continuing reading in verse 23, Luke writes:

²³ And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. ²⁵ But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; ²⁶ and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; ²⁹ and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. ³⁰ But passing through their midst, He went His way.

While it is very tempting to focus on the rejection Jesus faced at the end of this passage, while reading this passage in the context of our year of podcasting, focusing on this rejection here would be a mistake. Instead of looking at Jesus facing rejection, which there will be more than enough time to do later in this year as Jesus makes His way to the cross, since our focus for this year of podcasting is looking at connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus, what can we learn from the description Luke gave regarding Jesus’ message? Prior to Jesus challenging this group of synagogue attendees, Luke described the words Jesus spoke as gracious words, and since this description appears connected to an Old Testament description of God the King, is there any way of describing the final message Jesus shared with these Jews within the framework of grace?

In an amazing way, while the direct challenge Jesus shares with those present that a prophet is not accepted in his hometown is easily prophetic, while not being grace-filled, Jesus’ actions themselves draw attention onto the grace present in this challenge. While the prophecy clearly suggests that He would not be accepted, nor would any prophet in any respective hometown, the simple fact that Jesus traveled to His hometown and spoke to those in His local synagogue strongly suggests that even though Jesus knew He would be rejected when sharing God’s message, He still went.

Jesus offered grace to those who were prophesied to reject Him by being willing to go and share God’s message with them anyway. That lesson is powerful in itself, because it tells each of us that God is willing to reach out to us even after we have rejected Him, and even if He knows that we will reject His offer. God reaches out to us, not because of who we are, but because of who He is. That is powerful.

However, moving forward in Jesus’ message to those in the Nazareth synagogue, Jesus shares two events where God led His prophets to help those who were not of Jewish ancestry. In Elijah’s case, God sent him to bless a widow in a foreign land while he was an outcast in Israel. In Elisha’s case, God sent someone from a foreign land to him for help, and Elisha indirectly helps bring about this foreigner’s healing.

In these two events, it is amazingly obvious in my mind that grace is present. In both these historical accounts, God acted gracious towards the foreigners present, and that is because God loves humanity, in stark contrast to the narrow view that God only loves a specific nationality. Jesus opened His ministry in a way that drew attention to His ministry being one that was for all humanity. While Jesus did come to humanity with a certain ancestry, Jesus made it clear as early as He could that His mission was to bring grace to more than just one subset of humanity. The only subset present in Jesus’ ministry was those who were willing to accept and follow Him, verses those who chose not to. With rare exception, the people who did not follow Jesus were those who intentionally decided to not follow Jesus because of something Jesus said, or because of the social pressure from the religious leaders.

As we continue moving forward in our year looking at prophecies and connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry, expect to see this theme show up again. Jesus came to give grace to both Jew and gentile, and Jesus is willing to extend the grace he offers to you too. Regardless of your past, your nationality, or your failures, Jesus is more interested in offering you grace that extends into your future, and the future Jesus wants to see you in is the one that extends for eternity!

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

As I always open by challenging you in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to accept the gift of grace that Jesus offers and choose to live each day being grateful for this gift Jesus made available.

Also, as I always challenge you to do in one way or another, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow personally closer to God each and every day. The Bible has been preserved for thousands of years because it is God’s story of redemption, and it is a story we are invited into.

Don’t let anyone trick you into discounting or leaving God’s story, because 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!

Continuing our journey through Luke’s gospel, brings us to a powerful example of God’s love as Jesus travels to a remote location seemingly to see just one person. However, I wonder if this wasn’t what Jesus had intended even if it was what happened.

In this event, and the miracle of healing Jesus does to help a man trapped by demonic forces, we are able to see just how powerful God is in relation to Satan, and just how much He loves those who are trapped by sin.

Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 8, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 26, Luke tells us that Jesus and His disciples:

²⁶ [They] sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” ²⁹ For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. ³¹ And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

³² A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. ³³ When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴ When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, ³⁵ and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ³⁶ Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. ³⁷ Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Whenever I read this event, I am amazed. From the details Luke describes, Jesus and His disciples sail across the lake, heal this one individual, and then sail away. While Jesus likely wanted to help more people from the region, I don’t think this rejection surprised Him. However, this event teaches us that Jesus was willing to travel to a region for one specific person.

Immediately before this, Luke recorded how Jesus calmed the worst storm the expert fishermen disciples had ever experienced with a simple word. Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat and the disciples were convinced that they all were going to die. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover this was a supernaturally created storm Satan caused to try to stop Jesus from reaching this man.

However, the big idea I want to draw our attention onto in this event is what we see Jesus allow the demons to do. From the details Luke shares about this event, there were hundreds, if not thousands of demons possessing this man. When we look at what Luke describes, the first thing the demons do when they leave the man and enter the pigs is to stampede the pigs off the edge of a cliff.

This brings me to an interesting observation. God allowed the demons to kill the pigs, but these demons did not, or maybe even could not, kill this man. Part of me wonders if God’s protective power was over this man’s life even if he was possessed by more demons than anyone could count. I wonder if Satan had dispatched a whole legion of demons to kill this man and the closest they could get was driving him from society. Satan then sent a massive storm in an attempt to keep Jesus from reaching this man.

However, nothing could stop Jesus from reaching this man. Nothing Satan could do could stop this from happening. While the demons weren’t restricted from killing the pigs, they were powerless to kill this man under God’s protection. It didn’t matter how many demons were present in this man, God’s protection of this man’s life was clearly stronger.

These demons may have been tired of not being successful and so when given the opportunity to leave the man and enter the pigs, they happily accepted because they wanted to succeed killing something and the pigs were the next best choice.

Little did the demons know that this would attract the attention of the town, and that would bring more people to see Jesus.

This whole event is amazing. One command from Jesus sent thousands of demons out of person they desperately wanted to kill. God’s protective hand on this man’s life withstood the attacks and attempts these demons used to try to kill this man. It is likely God also prevented these demons from leaving the region with this man when discovering that the storm the night before didn’t knock Jesus off course.

The biggest theme in this event is that when Jesus wants to heal a life, free a life, or change a heart, the best Satan can muster is no match for a single command from Jesus’ mouth. And from what Jesus did for us on the cross, nothing Satan can muster can steal eternal life away from those God has chosen and called!

God is calling you. Are you going to accept His invitation?

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 trust God. Know that God is infinitely stronger than Satan and nothing Satan can do is able to stop God from achieving His goals. One of God’s goals is eternal life for you and me, and the amazing thing about God is that He defeated Satan so we could have the choice of salvation. God isn’t going to force people into heaven against their will, and Satan is powerless to stop someone from accepting Jesus and turning to God when they choose to make that decision.

Also, pray and study the Bible for yourself and grow a personal relationship with God. God wants a personal relationship with you that begins in this life, because a relationship with God in this life leads to a forever, eternal relationship with Him when Jesus returns! Don’t let anyone, Satan included, trick you out of the life God has freely offered to you and me!

Early on in Jesus’ ministry, He traveled to Nazareth and was given the opportunity to read the scripture to those present. The passage that Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah doesn’t sound prophetic on its surface, but when looking at how Jesus interpreted and applied this passage into His own life and ministry, many people are able to see that this set of verses is very relevant when describing Jesus’ life.

Let’s read what Isaiah wrote, then dive into the event where Jesus references this scripture.

Our Old Testament passage for this episode is found in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 61, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, Isaiah writes:

¹ The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
² To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
³ To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

In this opening to chapter 61, Isaiah looks forward to the Messiah as one that proclaims freedom, victory, and comfort to God’s people. In these verses, we get the impression that what Isaiah is writing about is deliverance for God’s people.

Fast forward to the New Testament, Jesus steps onto the scene, and Luke’s gospel describes Jesus traveling back to Nazareth to spend Sabbath with those He grew up with. Let’s read about what happened, which is found in Luke, chapter 4, and we will begin in verse 14:

¹⁴ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

We’ll stop reading here, and save the last portion of this event for next week, where we discover another subtle prophetic link present, as well as a sudden shift in the attitudes of the people who were listening.

Instead, near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He draws a direct connection to His upcoming ministry, and the exciting and uplifting words of Isaiah. In Jesus’ own words, drawing from a passage the Holy Spirit directed Isaiah to write, He describes the reason why He came.

Jesus came to “preach the gospel to the poor”. When looking at this phrase that was written about Jesus’ ministry, I find it amazing that, as prophesied, Jesus focused on sharing God’s message with the lowest rung of society’s ladder. While I don’t doubt that a good percentage of those listening to Jesus were monetarily poor, I wonder if poor in this context could also mean poor in ways that are more than money. In a spiritual angle to this phrase, I wonder if Jesus came to share, encourage, and uplift those who could be described as being poor in spirit, which is another way of saying that they knew they had fallen away from God and were looking for a way back.

Jesus came to “proclaim release to the captives”. In this phrase, I believe Jesus fulfilled this idea in a spiritual sense more than in a literal or political sense. I also find it interesting that Jesus is described as “proclaiming release”, but not on directly releasing – at least in this phrase. In my mind, this phrase makes the most sense if we understand Jesus to be releasing people who are trapped in sin. Another, similar angle we could use is that Jesus came to proclaim God’s love and forgiveness towards those who felt as though their lives were held captive by sin.

Jesus came to give “sight to the blind”. While this phrase is easily understood in Jesus’ miracle healings, and on giving literal sight to many who were blind, the spiritual angle of Jesus’ words is that He wants to give spiritual sight to those who were spiritually blind. In John 9:39-41, after healing a literally blind man, Jesus briefly talks with some Pharisees present who Jesus suggests were spiritually blind, while they insist that they can see. Jesus came to help those who were willing to spiritually see past their preconceived ideas surrounding what God was doing and open their eyes to the ultimate Messiah that He sent into our world.

Jesus came to “set free those who are oppressed”. In an oddly chiastic, or poetic way, this phrase connects nicely with the phrase about proclaiming release for captives. While earlier, Jesus draws attention to proclaiming freedom, in this phrase, Jesus actually sets free those who are oppressed. In one spiritual understanding of this phrase, Jesus came to set free those who were oppressed by the extensive lists of spiritual rules and regulations that were present during that era. Jesus also spiritually freed those who were carrying the weight of sin and the emotional load of its consequences. Jesus accomplished this by giving His life on the cross.

Jesus came to “proclaim the favorable year of the Lord”. Through Jesus’ life and His ministry, He paid the penalty for sin, and opened the way for humanity to receive God’s favor. While I suspect that on one hand, the year Jesus died could be understood as being the favorable year of the Lord, a case could be made that the year Jesus was born as a baby was that favorable year. Other options include the year the angel spoke to Zechariah breaking centuries of silence which we focused on earlier this year, or even a year that is still to come, which would be most closely connected with Jesus’ return and the end of sin. This phrase spiritually makes sense when understanding that whenever the favorable year of the Lord is, the only reason it is favorable is because of what Jesus did for us.

In this scripture written by Isaiah, and drawn upon by Jesus, we get a beautiful overview of Jesus’ life and ministry, and Jesus’ mission to this world.

Also, in an interesting way, we see in these five phrases, five big phases of Jesus’ ministry throughout history: In the early points in history, God sets the least likely people apart for Him. God proclaims freedom for the Israelites who were living in captivity after having set them apart. When Jesus walked the earth, He gave sight to the blind, and through His death, He set free those who were oppressed. In the last portion of History, Jesus is ready and eager to proclaim the year of God’s favor, and the point in time when sin will be forever sent to the past.

While I have no idea whether this broad understanding of these five phrases is an understanding that fits all the details, even if this angle on this passage misses the mark, I can see Jesus’ ministry to this world and to humanity as being a fulfillment of all these ideas and themes.

Jesus came to preach the great news; Jesus came to proclaim release; Jesus came to give sight to the blind; Jesus came to set free the oppressed; and Jesus came to announce that through Jesus’ sacrifice and His gift, God wants to pour His favor onto you, and He wants to redeem you for eternity.

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

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to accept the gift that He offers to you through what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God through what the Bible teaches us about Jesus.

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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!