Reflective Bible Study

As we continue looking at the Christmas story, tucked within this event is a unique name given to Jesus. When we look at all the gospels, there is only one time where Jesus is given this name, and in many ways, this name summarizes His entire mission on earth. This name helps to explain Jesus’ teaching, preaching, challenging the religious leaders, and everything we read about His life leading up to and including the cross. Also, it is interesting to realize that this name wasn’t given to Jesus by someone present, but instead by an ancient Jewish prophet.

Matthew’s gospel is the only gospel that tells us about this event and this name, and it is one of the first things Matthew shares after sharing Jesus’ family tree that had been traced back to Abraham.

Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 1, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 18, Matthew tells us:

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, ²⁵ but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

Did you catch the name that was given to Jesus?

In verse 23, Matthew tells us by reminding us of this prophecy: “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’”

One thing I find amazing about this prophecy is where it originated. While the cross-reference notes in my Bible say that this prophecy was given through Isaiah, and it can be found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 14, when we step back a little further and look at this truth, the prophecy did not originate with Isaiah, but with God. In other words, God gave Isaiah the name Immanuel for Jesus.

This is profound because it basically says that God is not interested in remaining distant from us, or letting us die in our rebellion. Through the prophet Isaiah, God draws our attention to a name that summarizes Jesus’ life as simply “God with us”.

The name Immanuel is a filter for Jesus’ life. Using it, we can get the answer for the somewhat rhetorical question about what would God be like if He lived with us. If God stepped off His throne in heaven, and He came to earth, have you ever wondered or speculated about what He would be like?

Prior to Jesus, there was a lot of speculation, but in all of Israelite history, all they could do is look back at the stories of their ancestors, and then draw conclusions. They could look back at what Moses had written about Adam and Eve, about Enoch, about Noah, about Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, or even about Joseph. Unfortunately, even with all the records of these famous men who lived in the first pieces of history, many of the conclusions that the Jewish leaders came to were flawed and over time, the conclusions began painting God in a negative light.

When Jesus came, He came to represent God completely. Like an ambassador sent from heaven, Jesus would live completely in line with the Father’s character, the Father’s will, and Jesus would share the Father’s message with us. When we look at Jesus’ life, we are able to see an accurate representation of the Father.

But the truth behind this name is not simply reserved for those living in first century Judea. When God inspired Isaiah to write the name Immanuel for Jesus, God shared His character with us, and it was through the meaning of this name.

Immanuel means “God with us” as Matthew explains. While there was a point in history where Jesus was walking on earth with the disciples, this is only a small part of the huge truth that God wants to be with us. While Jesus was present on earth, all spiritual power was focused on pointing people to Him, but before He came and after He returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit fills the role of being Immanuel, or in other words “God with us”.

While we live over 2,000 years after this prophecy was given, God’s character has not changed. He still wants to be known as the God who is with us. Jesus repaired the gap that sin caused and it opened us up to the opportunity of having a brand new life with God living inside of us. This is accomplished by surrendering to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, by obeying the truth given in God’s word, and by living a life that is continually filled with prayer.

God wants to live with you and with me, but He will not force it. God values your freedom to choose over his desire to save you. This means that each and every day, we have the freedom to place God first, or let something, or someone, else take precedence. Only when we dedicate our lives to God and continually place Him first will we be living the life He created us to live.

What would your life look like if it was 100% dependant on – and focused on – God?

I cannot answer this question for you, except to say that it would be both challenging and exhilarating; it would mean giving up on some things that you may have enjoyed in the past, but it would also mean that with these other things gone, you would be free to receive so much more.

The promise Matthew reminds us of that God gave through the prophet Isaiah is that God is with us – but it is up to us to accept Him into our lives. God wants to live with us, but He won’t force it. None of Jesus’ disciples were forced to be with Him, and this tells us God values our freedom as well.

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

If you have not chosen to live 100% dependant on, and focused on, God yet, pray for God’s leading, guidance, and courage to make the leap. Start by increasing the amount of time you pray and the length of time you read and study your Bible. These are the best ways of growing closer to God and letting Him into your life.

Also, keep praying and studying the Bible for yourself. While it is easy to find Bible Studies on an assortment of topics, from a variety of theological backgrounds, the challenge to study the Bible for yourself means cutting out the other study materials and simply focusing on you, your Bible, and on the Holy Spirit’s leading.

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

As we continue our journey focusing on the week leading up to the cross, we come to one of the most well known events in Jesus’ entire life, which was the point in time where He rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey.

While all the gospels describe Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey, only Luke’s gospel includes an interesting detail about this event and where Jesus had placed His focus. However, before we get to that, Jesus first needs to get the young donkey to ride on.

Let’s read about what happened from Luke’s gospel, chapter 19, using the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 28, Luke tells us that:

²⁸ After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. ²⁹ As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. ³⁰ “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³² So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. ³³ And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

³⁴ And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” ³⁵ So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.

Pausing briefly, I always find it amazing that Jesus knew exactly what would happen, and that He tells the two disciples exactly what to say when faced with the donkey’s owners who probably thought they were catching two not-so-bright thieves. While we don’t know any of the back story regarding this donkey colt, from how the owners’ responded, we can tell that these owners are willing to trust God with their stuff.

This portion of our event also reassures us that when faced with difficult circumstances surrounding what God has asked us to do, we can trust that He will give us the words to say to bring about His purposes in the world.

Returning to our passage in verse 35,

 ³⁵ So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.

³⁶ As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. ³⁷ When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

³⁸ “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
    Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”

³⁹ But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”

⁴⁰ He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

⁴¹ But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. ⁴² “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. ⁴⁴ They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”

In Luke’s gospel, we discover that during the celebration of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, the Pharisees in the crowd had something to disagree with. Actually, this shouldn’t surprise us at all, except to say that it might be a little surprising to discover that there were Pharisees present in this situation. The fact that Pharisees were present in this event makes me think that Jesus likely had his own dedicated team of critics that followed Him wherever He went. I also wonder if some of these Pharisees were commissioned with the task of seeing where Jesus would be staying, just in case the religious leaders decided on a time to arrest Him.

However, this is not all Luke describes. While the crowd cheers for Jesus’ entrance, and the Pharisees sneer at the crowd glorifying Jesus as a coming King, we see a different response from Jesus Himself. Luke tells us that when the city comes into view, Jesus weeps for it.

There are only two places in the gospels where Jesus is recorded as weeping, and this is one of them. The other is when Lazarus was in the tomb and everyone else was crying about His death. While Jesus weeping over Lazarus’ death is significant in its own way, Jesus does something that turns that crowd’s tears into joy.

However, in this instance, there isn’t anything Jesus can do for the city He loves. Jesus knows that His death is the only way for the city’s survival, but more important than Jesus’ death is that the religious leaders must recognize and acknowledge who Jesus is. Jesus’ hands are tied as He realizes that nothing He can do will save the city of Jerusalem from facing destruction.

God offered salvation to His people through Jesus, but they chose to reject Him and this ultimately led to Jerusalem’s destruction when they rallied against Rome and ultimately failed.

In this event, we can learn that when we depend on God and lean on Him for guidance, He will teach us what to say, and He will bring us His peace. While Jesus wept when realizing that the city He loved would ultimately be destroyed, He still loved the city and the people living within its walls. Even if our own lives cause Jesus pain, He still loves each of us and He wants to help heal our hurts.

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

Be sure to always seek God first, and intentionally depend on Him for help facing the challenges that life brings our way. Know that the only place we can find true, lasting peace is through Jesus.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow closer to Jesus personally. While someone else can give you ideas to think about, never let your relationship with Jesus depend on anyone else. Praying personally and studying the Bible personally help grow your personal relationship with Him.

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

As we start into another year of moving through Jesus’ life, it feels a little strange looking at passages many of us probably have heard or read as recently as last month during the Christmas season. However, while these portions of the gospels seem to be reserved for reading during the month of December, the beginning of Jesus’ story on earth has much more to teach us than simply the fact that He was born.

But before touching on Jesus’ own birth story, the gospel of Luke describes another significant birth, and it is in this event that we can see some powerful insights that are relevant for everyone living today, regardless of the time of year we are in.

The event we are focusing on in this episode can be found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 1, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 5, Luke tells us that:

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

I want to pause briefly because what Luke tells us about Zechariah and Elizabeth is incredibly profound. Luke tells us that this priest and his wife were righteous in God’s eyes, and at least part of the reason for this is that they observed all of God’s commandments and decrees blamelessly. While this doesn’t mean they had never sinned, it does mean they were living right within the path God would have them live.

However, being close with God and right within His will didn’t bring an answer to a specific prayer that they both likely would have had. For years, this couple probably prayed to God asking for a child, asking for Elizabeth to be healed and to be able to conceive, and it appears at this point in their lives that God has said “no” to their request.

But the biggest idea I want to draw our attention to about this couple is that even when it felt like God was saying “no”, both husband and wife remained faithful, obedient, and trusting that God knew best. While they didn’t know that the “no” answer was really a “not yet” response, when God sends an angel to finally answer this prayer, it seems unbelievable.

Picking back up in verse 8, let’s continue and learn what happened when God sent an answer to this prayer:

⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

When receiving this message from an angel, Zechariah’s first response was asking for some sort of sign or guarantee that it would happen. While it is easy for us to be critical of Zechariah’s response and lack of faith, we too can fall into the similar trap of giving up on God when it seems as though our prayers are not answered. Too often, we don’t hold onto God long enough to see the answer to our prayer.

In Zechariah’s case, Gabriel the angel actually gives him a clear sign. We might look at being silent and unable to speak as a punishment for Zechariah’s response, but in reality, this sign was well within the realm of what Zechariah requested. Zechariah wanted some proof that the angel’s promise would come true, and the sign he received would go forward with him until John’s birth.

However, in my own mind, I see this sign being something for more than just Zechariah and Elizabeth. Throughout Jerusalem, the story would spread about the priest who saw an angel and was struck mute. This would shine the spotlight on John’s birth, and give those living in that generation the message that John’s life and ministry would be significant in God’s plan.

Looking at this event from a different angle, when I read about what happened, this event points out that the first person God breaks the silence towards is a priest who has faithfully obeyed Him and who has a prayer that needs to be answered. From between the close of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament, there was about 400 years where God seemed silent.

While during that time, God was not absent in the lives of His people, and during these 400 years of silence, prayers were being answered, during the time between the two Testaments, no messengers or prophets came from God, and as far as I know, no angels visited with messages from God either. This means that the priests would be the first to officially learn that God was opening up communication with His people, and that He was about to step into history in a big way. It’s too bad that most of the priests missed seeing the significance of what was about to happen within the next few decades.

As we come to the close of our first podcast of the new year, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

If it feels like God is silent or ignoring your prayers, don’t give up on Him. Instead, choose to be like Zechariah and Elizabeth and press forward in obedience. While we don’t always know why God answers or doesn’t answer prayers, this shouldn’t stop us from trusting that He knows something we don’t. Perhaps our prayers are like Zechariah and Elizabeth’s prayer and God is waiting for the right time to send us an answer.

Also, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself. Don’t assume that just listening to a podcast or attending church is enough for your relationship with God. God wants to teach us so much more than we could ever learn in a public or podcast setting, and it begins by setting aside time for personal prayer and bible study.

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!

First off, as we begin, happy new year to all of you. After having finished all four years of chronologically moving through Jesus’ life, I have to admit that it is a little weird to be beginning this year not actually looking at something from Jesus’ birth story. However, if your experience was anything like mine, we probably spent plenty of time focusing on Jesus’ birth this past Christmas season.

However, as I’m sure you know, the main reason Jesus’ birth was so special wasn’t just because of God stepping down and becoming human, as hard as that is for us to grasp. The main reason we should pay attention to Jesus’ entrance and time spent in our world is what we will be focusing on during this year of podcasts. This year, we will be focusing on the week leading up to the cross, and what we can learn about Jesus and God from this key piece of time in our world’s history.

To start our year of podcasting through the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, we will turn our attention to John’s gospel, to a special supper that takes place in Jesus’ honor, and what we can learn about what happened. Our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will be reading it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹ Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

In this passage, alongside Mary’s amazing gift of perfume, we discover how this event both predicts what is coming, as well as it setting the stage for Jesus’ crucifixion a little less than a week later.

To set the stage for this final week, the way John concludes this passage is about perfect. John reminds us that a large crowd found out Jesus was there and they came to see Him, and not just Jesus, but Lazarus as well. Because of Jesus’ renewed popularity and because this resurrection miracle was prompting people to believe in Jesus, the chief priests not only focused on looking for a way to kill Jesus, but to kill Lazarus as well. As we move from this point forward, we discover how everything the chief priests do is focused on trying to discredit Jesus, on planning His death, or both.

Also, the stage is set in this passage for Judas to betray Jesus. In this event, we discover that Jesus pushes back at Judas Iscariot over his condescending remarks about Mary’s gift. John tells us Judas did not say this because he was interested in helping the poor, but because he would help himself to the money they had collected for the poor. I don’t know how this wouldn’t have been obvious to the other disciples and to Jesus because they traveled everywhere together, but perhaps Judas thought he was being secretive, but instead, it was something that all the disciples knew, but that Judas simply denied regardless of the evidence.

Regardless of what had led to this point, Jesus’ response to Judas over Mary’s gift challenges Judas and it gives Judas the opportunity to take the challenge personally instead of focusing on what Jesus had just told everyone.

When we look at this passage, Jesus sets the stage for our whole year of podcasting the week leading up to His crucifixion by directly attributing Mary’s gift of perfume for the day He would be buried. Many of those present might have missed this foreshadowing, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t present. In Jesus’ statement, we see Him drawing attention to the idea they didn’t want to accept that He would die. This wasn’t the first time Jesus tried to forewarn the disciples about His upcoming crucifixion, but like many of the other times, the significance of Jesus’ words escaped those present.

With the stage set leading into the week of the cross, and our year of podcasting the events of this week, Jesus also shares a powerful statement that would be wise for us to keep in our minds. Jesus tells His followers in verse 8, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

This phrase is powerful in my mind because it challenges our perspective in a number of ways. The first and most obvious way is that Jesus’ followers will not always have Jesus. This sounds counterintuitive because Jesus promised to be with His followers forever in the great commission, but the truth we must face in Jesus’ words is that we might not always feel or see Jesus’ presence. In a physical sense, Jesus is not always going to be visible in our lives or in our situations.

However, to contrast this, Jesus tells His followers that there will always be those who are poor living among us. Being poor is not a problem that can be solved because being poor is simply standing at a specific place on a scale of income or wealth. While we can look at those at the bottom and desire to help them increase their standard of living, this doesn’t change the definition of being poor as being at the bottom of the wealth spectrum.

However, feeling poor is a different story. Almost everyone feels poor, and that is because most people live right up to the edge of their income, and most people focus on looking at those who have more than they do – which makes most people feel poor even if they are among the richest people in the world.

But the biggest perspective challenge Jesus shares is a challenge to focus on what God has blessed us with and to focus on our relationship with Jesus above everything else. There will always be problems and challenges in our lives similar to how there will always be poor people living in the world. Jesus challenges His followers, you and I included, to focus on our relationship with Him first and then only after we have a strong relationship with Him should we then focus on helping those around us.

Yes we should help other people, but the truth of this life is that the most generous person who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus will be worse off when this life ends than the person who could have been more generous, but they chose instead to focus on and grow towards Jesus. We might not always feel God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit’s presence, but we know from Jesus’ challenge that this is where we should focus our attention.

As we come to the end of our first episode in our year focusing on the cross, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Always prioritize your relationship with God, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit first. Accept Jesus’ challenge that helping others is important, but it should never take the place of our relationship with Him. Even the most generous life lived without Jesus is counted as a loss when we look at what is needed for salvation. Because of this, the challenge for all of us is to place and prioritize Jesus as first in our lives.

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself because this is the best way to grow closer to God each and every day. While an author, speaker, pastor, or podcaster can give you things to think about, they should never replace your personal relationship with Jesus.

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