Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving further into John’s gospel, John the author turns His attention back onto John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner in ministry. In this short event, John the Baptist says some amazing things about his ministry pointing people to Jesus, and he gives a profound summary statement regarding eternal life that is worth paying attention to.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 3, and we will be reading from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 23, John tells us in his gospel that:

²³ John [the Baptist] was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were going there to be baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put into prison.)

²⁵ Some of John’s followers had an argument with a Jew about religious washing. ²⁶ So they came to John and said, “Teacher, remember the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you spoke about so much? He is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷ John answered, “A man can get only what God gives him. ²⁸ You yourselves heard me say, ‘I am not the Christ, but I am the one sent to prepare the way for him.’ ²⁹ The bride belongs only to the bridegroom. But the friend who helps the bridegroom stands by and listens to him. He is thrilled that he gets to hear the bridegroom’s voice. In the same way, I am really happy. ³⁰ He must become greater, and I must become less important.

³¹ “The One who comes from above is greater than all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and talks about things on the earth. But the One who comes from heaven is greater than all. ³² He tells what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts what he says. ³³ Whoever accepts what he says has proven that God is true. ³⁴ The One whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God gives him the Spirit fully. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given him power over everything. ³⁶ Those who believe in the Son have eternal life, but those who do not obey the Son will never have life. God’s anger stays on them.”

In this passage, as we read it together, a couple of ideas jumped out of these verses at me.

First, the way John the Baptist opens his reply about Jesus taking his followers is amazing. The way John the Baptist frames his ministry in relation to Jesus’ ministry is powerful. John knows that his ministry is entirely preparing people for Jesus, and when Jesus steps into the public eye, John wants people to pay more attention to Jesus than to him. In the first portion of his reply, John says: “A man can get only what God gives him. You yourselves heard me say, ‘I am not the Christ, but I am the one sent to prepare the way for him.’ … He must become greater, and I must become less important.” (verses 27-28, 30)

This is powerful in my mind because it tells me John knew His ministry and influence would shrink as Jesus’ ministry and influence grew. John understood His role as forerunner for Jesus, and he humbly accepts that his time in the spotlight would fade as Jesus becomes more famous. It is also interesting to note that we read about a brief period of time when Jesus and John the Baptist were both baptizing people, and that this happened prior to John the Baptist being thrown into jail.

Part of me wonders if God let John be thrown in jail to symbolize or simply mark the end of John’s ministry in an attempt to help push John’s followers over to Jesus. From how John describes his ministry, John is clear that he is not the Messiah, or the Christ, but that he was sent to point people to the Messiah. Even while not saying it directly in this passage, John focuses attention onto the detail that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, who God had sent into the world.

However, in the second portion of John’s response, another idea jumped off the page at me. In verse 36, John tells all his followers, “Those who believe in the Son have eternal life, but those who do not obey the Son will never have life. God’s anger stays on them.” This is a powerful statement. We discover that belief in Jesus brings eternal life, but lack of obedience forfeits eternal life.

Some might be quick to say that their preferred Bible translation does not say the word “obey”. Instead, their translation says something along the lines of: “he who does not believe the Son shall not see life”.

However, before our discussion dives into a debate about translations, the original Greek word in the first portion of this passage is different from the Greek word that is given later. The first word in our passage that is translated as “believe” has a similar but different meaning than the second word, which our passage translated as “obey”.

The first word, which is translated as “believe”, means “to be persuaded of” or “to place confidence in” which we could say is similar to trust. Trusting Jesus leads to having eternal life!

However, the second word, which our passage translated as “do not obey” has a slightly different meaning. While belief is part of its definition, it means not being persuaded, and there is a strong emphasis on the lack of belief leading to a lack of obedience. In my mind, this idea might be similar to apathy. If we are apathetic towards Jesus, and we don’t let the truth of the gospel affect our lives in visible ways, then we will never have life, much less eternal life.

Apathy towards Jesus is probably the worst thing we can do. If we say we believe Jesus, but we are apathetic towards Him, we will forfeit our salvation. Obeying Jesus does not give us eternal life, because when we obey Jesus, the focus can easily turn off of Jesus and onto how well we are obeying Him. Our salvation is not based on anything we can do or have done. We are only saved because of what Jesus accomplished for us.

When we accept Jesus’ gift and we let Him into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, we begin the process of life transformation, or as some religious people describe it: “sanctification”. When we actively move towards Jesus, we are also moving away from sin and away from disobedience. It is our change in direction that prompts us to be saved because we are trusting and believing in Jesus! We are saved when our focus and the direction of our lives is towards Jesus. We lose our salvation when we are apathetic towards Jesus or we outright reject Him.

John the Baptist understood this amazing truth before Jesus had fully stepped into the public spotlight, and his declaration about Jesus, regardless of how popular or unpopular it is, forms the foundation for Jesus’ ministry, Jesus’ life, and Jesus’ death on behalf of you and me!

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and intentionally place your hope, faith, trust, and belief in Jesus and in what Jesus accomplished for us during His time here on earth. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we are offered a gift we do not deserve and a gift we cannot earn, and it is up to us whether we will accept this gift, even if it is unpopular, or be apathetic towards both the gift and the Gift-Giver.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and discover who Jesus is, who God is, and why this matters to us living over 2,000 years after these events happened. Through the pages of the Bible, discover God’s story and let God’s story define your story as we move forward towards eternity!

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 be apathetic towards where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Earlier on in this year looking at Jesus’ parables, and in our last episode as well, we have looked at an illustration Jesus shares about lighting a lamp and this lamp not being hidden. However, in each of the instances Jesus shares this illustration, the context and key idea is different. The first time we looked at this illustration, the main message was that we should let our light shine. The second time we looked at this illustration, the main message was focused on revealing secrets, and on secrets being exposed.

With this third appearance of our light illustration, Jesus emphasizes yet another truth that is important for us to pay attention to.

With that said let’s read what Jesus taught His followers. Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 11, and we will be reading it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 33, Jesus continues preaching, saying:

³³ “No one lights a lamp and hides it. No one puts it under a bowl. Instead, they put a lamp on its stand. Then those who come in can see the light. ³⁴ Your eye is like a lamp for your body. Suppose your eyes are healthy. Then your whole body also is full of light. But suppose your eyes can’t see well. Then your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ So make sure that the light inside you is not darkness. ³⁶ Suppose your whole body is full of light. And suppose no part of it is dark. Then your body will be full of light. It will be just as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

In this passage, Jesus compares our eyes to our familiar lamps. In many ways, we could describe Jesus’ original parable by saying that no-one opens their eyes with the intention of covering them with a solid object. While I regularly use sun glasses, or other glasses, to protect my eyes, I don’t ever recall placing a solid, opaque, non-see-through object over my eyes. The closest example I can remember would be putting a welder’s mask on prior to working on a welding project. While these masks have become more advanced in recent years, the mask I was using at that time was very opaque, and while I had it on, I could not see a thing until I had started the weld.

Using this as our modern metaphor, it makes no sense to have perfectly working eyes, and to walk around wearing an old welder’s mask that blocks 99.999+% of light from getting through. However, this is what many people do spiritually.

All too often, people living today are too caught up in the busyness of life to pay attention to the important, lasting, eternal question that is the only thing that matters in the end. Too many people are caught up focusing only on the creation when they should also be focusing on the Creator as well. The worst place we can be is thinking we have perfect vision when our eyes don’t work well.

Instead, it would be better to acknowledge that none of us has perfect spiritual vision, but instead we look to God for help improving our spiritual vision, our spiritual outlook on life, and our spiritual perspective on this world. With God’s vision, God’s outlook on life, and God’s perspective, the world will look significantly different than we see it now.

However, this brings us to a verse in our passage that always stands out when I read this. In verse 35, Jesus cautions us to “make sure that the light inside you is not darkness”. On the surface, this statement doesn’t make sense, because in our physical world, darkness is simply the absence of light, not a separate force that is waging war against light.

This statement makes me believe Jesus is speaking not about our physical world, but about our spiritual one. In the spiritual world, both light and darkness exist and these two forces are battling for our lives. One huge thing for us to remember and pay attention to is what Jesus warns us in this verse. Jesus tells us to “make sure that the light inside you is not darkness”. Probably the worst think we possibly could do is think that we have light in us and share this light when it is actually darkness. This represents spreading error and lies as truth.

If we are shining darkness, then we are harming those around us. At the very least, someone shining darkness pulls the moods of everyone they are around down. At the worst, someone shining darkness is spreading lies as though they are truth. This is serious because what we do, say, and believe affects not only our lives, but the lives of those around us.

This verse is a challenge for everyone who shares something to be certain it is truthful and beneficial to those around them. If something is not truthful and beneficial, it is probably not worth sharing. Just like not everything truthful is beneficial, not everything beneficial is the truth. Jesus challenges us to make sure that we are sharing light and not darkness.

However, I will be the first to say that no one alive today is the source of all light. Truth is not something that is decided among a group of people or through a democratic vote. The best we can hope for is a group of people or a vote helping us gain perspective on truth.

The Source of all truth is found in God, simply because God is the one who created the world and He made the rules. All science is bound to the rules that God put in place, and science simply seeks to understand these rules even if they don’t want to acknowledge that these rules had an Author.

The best place to learn about God is in the pages of the Bible. While not everyone believes the Bible is truth or worthy of being read, most of those who are against the Bible have not read it for themselves; they have picked and chosen parts of the Bible they dislike and discredit the whole think on the basis that it doesn’t fit with their ideas or thoughts; and/or they were spiritually abused in some way by someone who believed the Bible, and they got the truth without love. Truth shared without love is abuse, and this “spiritual abuse” is likely the greatest cause of anti-God attitudes in the world today.

How we see the world is affected by our beliefs, just like our eyes are lamps for our bodies. God has called us to come to Him for truth, and to share the light of truth with those around us. When we share truth, it is only beneficial if it is shared with love and in a way that is helpful for those we are sharing it with.

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

As always, be sure to intentionally seek God first and place Him first in your life. Be sure to look to God for light, truth, and love, and trust that He will share with you everything you need to know to be the person that He created you to be.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn firsthand what God is like. While there are things that God does that don’t appear to make sense from our perspective, know that our perspective is very limited when compared with God’s perspective. Distrusting God based on a misunderstanding or even on an outright lie is a bad place to be in. That is why it is always best to pray and study the Bible for yourself to know firsthand what God is really 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 be tricked into leaving where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through the events in John’s gospel, we come to the event surrounding one of the most famous Bible verses in the world. However, while this verse is incredible, the event and discussion that surrounds this verse is just as amazing. The conversation happens at night, and I wonder if some of the disciples had already fallen asleep.

Let’s read about what happened, and about what Jesus shared during this late-night conversation with a Pharisee. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 3, and we will read it from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴ “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. ⁷ So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

⁹ “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? ¹¹ I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. ¹² But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

²² Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.

In this late night conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus shares some amazing things, while always seeming to be one step ahead of Nicodemus’ question. When reading this event, it is as if Nicodemus asks Jesus a question, and Jesus answers what would likely have been Nicodemus’ follow up question.

However, the three big answers Jesus gives us are amazing and profound. Tucked within these big answers is a powerful message that we might be tempted to miss, skip, or ignore. Allow me to share a set of verses or statements pulled from Jesus’ three answers to Nicodemus’ questions. “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. … I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. … As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. … God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” (v. 3, 5, 14-15, 17-18)

In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, there are two clear topics, and both of these topics are initiated by Jesus. The first topic is about being born again. The powerful truth I see in Jesus’ response is that those who have not been born spiritually are unable to see the Kingdom of God. In other gospels, Jesus shares how the Kingdom of God is present among us, and one way to understand Jesus’ words is that the Kingdom of God is present wherever God is actively moving, working, or being present.

With this working definition, we can conclude an obvious but easily overlooked truth that people who are not connected with the Holy Spirit cannot discern how God is working in the world today. Someone connected with the Holy Spirit can look around and see God working everywhere, whereas someone disconnected and uninterested in the Holy Spirit sees random chance, a series of coincidences, or just good or bad fortune.

The second topic of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus is about eternal life and judgment. It is within this second topic that we find our famous set of verses summarizing Jesus’ life and ministry. John, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17 tell us “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

However, the verses immediately before this and immediately after this are in many ways more powerful than these two famous ones. The two verses before verse 16 predict Jesus’ crucifixion and the results of His sacrifice: “as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.” (v. 14-15)

The two verses after verse 17 tell us about the one criteria God’s judgment will be based on when Jesus returns: “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.” (v. 18-19)

Jesus tells Nicodemus, and all of us, that God’s judgment is reserved for those who do not believe in God’s one and only Son, Jesus. The way people reject Jesus is by preferring darkness and evil actions over coming into the light and letting Jesus wash away their sins. In this framing of judgment, those who avoid God’s judgment are able to because they have placed their belief and trust in Jesus, and they have left their sinful lives in the past, while those who are judged are those who preferred sin and darkness over the offer of a Savior.

Jesus did not come into the world to fulfill the role of judge. Instead, Jesus came to this world to fulfill the role of God’s light, and Jesus’ presence separates those who want to seek God, His light, and His forgiveness, from those who reject God, prefer their sinful lives, and willingly choose to refuse the light God offers.

Whether we face judgment is 100% up to us. While it is unpopular to do in the world today, choosing Jesus in this life gives us a free pass to avoid the judgment when the world ends, and choosing Jesus in this life is done by leaving our sin-filled past in the past, and actively growing towards Jesus each and every day!

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 and choose to believe in the Light God sent into the world through Jesus. When we choose to follow and obey Jesus over our sin-filled desires, we are choosing life over judgment and death. We reject Jesus when we choose sin over our Savior. Always choose to obey Jesus when faced with a choice, because choosing Jesus in this life, regardless of the consequences, is never the wrong choice from eternity’s perspective.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to Jesus. Through personal prayer and study, grow a personal relationship with Jesus and lean on Him for the strength to face each day moving forward in this life.

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!

Of the metaphors and illustrations Jesus used during His time preaching and teaching, He seemed to return periodically to the idea of light and that we should not hide the light that we have been given. Several weeks ago, we touched on one of these passages, and in our episode for this week, we turn our attention onto another time Jesus uses this metaphor.

However, unlike the last time we read about Jesus using this metaphor, this time Jesus shares a different conclusion and He emphasizes a different truth that we should learn.

Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 8, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 16, Luke tells us Jesus taught:

¹⁶ “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. ¹⁷ For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸ So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”

In these few verses, while Jesus shares a similar visual picture of not hiding a lamp after lighting it, the truth Jesus concludes with is powerful and unique. Jesus shifts our focus away from shining our light and onto the truth that nothing we think is secret will ultimately remain secret. And like Jesus teaches about in other parts of the gospels, we should be intentional about how we listen, and we should be intentional about what we have been given.

What do secrets, listening well, and being responsible have to do with lighting a lamp? On the surface, it would appear as though these ideas don’t readily align with each other. For example, keeping a secret is more logical in some cases than exposing the secret, while the metaphor of lighting a lamp implies keeping a secret is illogical and fundamentally impossible in the long run.

However, Jesus placed these seemingly opposite ideas together for a reason, so let’s discuss why He may have done this.

First off, what would be the biggest examples of secrets that should remain hidden? While it might be logical to lump activities like theft, moral failures, sexual sins, coveting, lust, lies, and/or other less reputable activities into being secrets that we might believe should remain hidden, there are much fewer actual examples of secrets that shouldn’t be exposed.

A secret about harm being done to someone needs to be exposed, because by exposing it, potential future harm can be avoided. A secret where someone felt hurt or experienced loss needs to be exposed for the same reasons.

Very few types secrets benefit society when they stay hidden. This is simply because secrets separate people. While two people might feel closer when they have a secret that is hidden from everyone else, outside observers will eventually notice that those with secrets will start to pull away from the community. When the members of a community isolate themselves, the community suffers.

In this passage, Jesus doesn’t focus on keeping secrets. The emphasis is on exposing secrets and shining light on them. The clear truth Jesus emphasizes is that we don’t have the choice about whether a secret will stay a secret. All we can do once a secret is present is choose to reveal it on our terms, or let time expose it outside of our terms.

The destiny of secrets is ultimately for them to be revealed, and when we honestly think about it, nothing is truly a secret, especially when we bring God into the picture. It is foolish to think we could keep a secret from God, who knows everything, and sees everything, and who understands our thoughts better than we do. The best-case scenario is that a secret is kept between one or more people and God – except that through Jesus, God has challenged us with the truth that all secrets will be revealed.

We don’t have the choice of whether a secret will ultimately be revealed. The choice we do have for a limited time is exposing the secret on our own terms.

While this would be a great place to finish off our episode, I want to take a few more minutes and share two other ideas regarding secrets.

The first idea is that when discussing secrets, there is a close cousin to a secret we call a surprise. While secrets have a negative reputation, surprises generally have a positive one. However not all secrets are negative and not all surprises are positive. So what is the difference?

In my own mind, we should define a surprise as a secret that is designed to be revealed and as a secret that when it is revealed uplifts all of those present. A surprise party is a good example. While those who the party is for don’t usually know all the details, or perhaps even any of the details, of the party, they get to enjoy the event and after the surprise has been revealed, the secret-surprise is no longer a secret. A surprise party is a temporary secret.

Another example is when a couple learns they are pregnant. There are many weeks that the gender of the child is unknown, and even when they reach the point of learning the gender for themselves, they can choose to keep it a secret from others, or they can choose how they want to share their great news with their friends.

However, the nature of this secret also demonstrates the temporary nature of secrets and surprises because there will be a point that a birth occurs and those in the baby’s life will learn the new arrival’s biological gender.

Secrets pull people apart because they never want to be revealed to others. Surprises can draw people together because of the release that happens when the news is shared.

The other idea that is worth sharing is that it is possible – and perhaps even desirable – to live a life where secrets aren’t even necessary. If we lived our lives knowing that our history would be turned into a biography or a novel, would we change how we lived? If we lived our lives knowing that everything we do, think, and say was being recorded for our family, friends, and community to review, would we choose to live differently?

If we would live differently knowing that others knew something about our lives, then we have the opportunity to change how we live now, and we have the opportunity to avoid a secret from forming or getting worse.

The goal of a life with integrity is that both the public and private areas of life match up, and when we talk about integrity as a characteristic of our character, we see both the public and private areas of our life as something that we are not embarrassed of if they get revealed to others.

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

As I always do, the first challenge is to seek God first and to continue placing Him first in your life. If you have secrets hidden in your life, choose the best way to move forward. Know that eventually, the secret will be exposed, and that makes the opportunity you have right now one where you can expose the secret on your own terms. While I don’t know what your secrets are, know that God does know, and if you are fearful of how to move forward, take your fear to God and let Him lead and guide you with how to move forward.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and Bible study, we can grow our personal relationship with God and we can let Him give us the courage to face our fears and let Him help us step into the plan He has for our lives.

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 hide yourself away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!