Reflective Bible Study

In what was probably the longest night Peter experienced as a follower of Jesus, the night Jesus was arrested was likely also the most stress-filled. While Peter was one of Jesus’ closest followers, and one of the disciples that had been with Jesus the longest, the events of that night were almost overwhelming.

Earlier in the evening, at supper, Jesus had told Peter that before the night was out, he would deny Him three times. A rooster crowing would be the sign that the night had ended.

Then after they had walked to the garden, Jesus had asked Peter and the others to stay awake and pray, which they were too tired to do. Jesus even had told Peter that He was praying for him specifically, which may have given Peter some encouragement, but it may have also made Peter wonder.

However, when the mob arrived, Peter was ready to defend Jesus to the death – especially knowing Jesus could resurrect the dead – but his first act of defensive was a counter attack that Jesus reprimanded him for. Jesus even healed the man Peter had injured.

And then Jesus let Himself be arrested. The Messiah of the world had let Himself be taken by His enemies who wanted to end His life. But that wasn’t in the Messiah’s future. The Messiah was destined to live forever, and He couldn’t live forever if He was dead.

But Jesus had been talking to them about His death, not His eternal life. Many times up to this point, Jesus had shared with them about His upcoming death. Would Jesus allow Himself to be killed?

The whole evening and night had been a roller-coaster of highs and lows, and Peter was left with lots to think about.

These details set the stage for what happens in the passage we are focusing in on for this episode. We will be reading from the gospel of Luke, chapter 22, using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 54, Luke tells us that:

⁵⁴ Having arrested Him [referring to Jesus], they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. ⁵⁵ After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them.

A quick side-note here would be that Peter was likely thinking about all the things we had just discussed, while also wanting to be close enough to learn firsthand what Jesus’ fate would be. He wanted to be near Jesus if Jesus chose to escape, but not so near that he would be targeted and condemned to death with Him.

Picking back up reading in verse 56:

⁵⁶ And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” ⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” ⁵⁸ A little later, another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” ⁵⁹ After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹ The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” ⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly.

In this passage, whether Peter was taken off guard, or whether he was lost in thought and didn’t realize his words in the context of Jesus’ prediction, three separate times, Peter denied Jesus. Perhaps these were unintentional times, or maybe each denial was Peter telling himself something like, “Well, I’ll deny Jesus this time, but certainly not three times.”

However, not only did Jesus’ prediction come true, Luke tells us that through some set of circumstances, at the time the roster crowd, there was a break in the crowd that allowed Jesus and Peter to make eye contact. It was in this moment that Jesus’ prediction returned to Peter’s memory, and the realization that he had let Jesus down broke Peter’s heart.

Perhaps this is because Peter had talked up a good talk, and had denied the possibility of even coming close to denying Jesus when Jesus had made the prediction immediately, but whatever the case, Peter realized that Jesus knew him even better then he knew himself.

It is the same with us today.

While we know ourselves pretty well, it is amazing to think that God knows us even better. What is even more amazing is that knowing who we are and what we would do, God still was willing to bring us into the world. Regardless of the mistakes we would make, and/or the times we would reject God, He is still willing to give us life and the chance to choose Him.

And probably the most amazing reality in all of this is that knowing everything we would do and all the ways we would make mistakes, Jesus still came and died for us. Jesus died for you and me, and this is because He loves us, and wants us to have the opportunity to choose eternal life with Him.

With this idea in mind, as we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open these challenges by saying in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life. Wherever you are in life at this point, if you haven’t chosen to place your trust, faith, hope, and belief in Jesus, choose to do so now. Regardless of where you are in your life right now, or what you have done in the past, choosing Jesus is the only way to secure your future.

Also, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn firsthand what Jesus is like. While we can take another person’s word for it, nothing can replace a personal relationship with God. God wants a personal relationship with you, and for a relationship with God to be personal, it can’t be filtered through a middleman like a priest, a pastor, or even a podcaster.

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!

On the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, at the point when the mob is confronting Jesus, we discover an amazing detail tucked within John’s gospel that shows us Jesus really does choose to face the cross. While skeptics might argue that the verse John includes is irrelevant, for those of us who like to see the nuances each gospel writer includes, this verse is fascinating.

Let’s read this event now and discover what John includes in this event that is significant for us to pay attention to. Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 18, and we will be reading it from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 3, John tells us that:

³ The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

⁴ Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

⁵ “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) ⁶ As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! ⁷ Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁸ “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” ⁹ He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

¹⁰ Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. ¹¹ But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

We’ll stop reading here. While John’s gospel gives the individual Peter attacked a name, Luke’s gospel describes how Jesus restored the slave’s ear on the spot. While this miracle and healing should have been enough to challenge the soldiers coming to arrest Jesus on their motives, while reading this passage just now, a different verse jumped out at me than the one I had originally planned to focus on.

The verse that stood out to me while we were reading the passage was the first verse. The opening verse tells us that, “the leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards…”

This detail stands out in my mind because this means that Jesus’ arrest was at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles. The temple guards would have been Jewish for them to guard the innermost parts of the temple effectively, which was places where gentiles were not allowed to go, and Roman soldiers were not Jewish, making them gentile by definition. When we look at the details of the crucifixion, Jesus died at the hand of humanity, and not at the hand of one group of people.

While it might be easy to blame the Jews for their rejection of God’s Messiah, that is only half of the details. Rome was active and present during Jesus’ arrest, Rome was present when the Jewish leaders had finished with their condemnation because Rome stood as a gatekeeper for the death penalty, and Roman soldiers were active in the crucifixion.

Not only were the Jews and Romans to blame, but Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, was also present for Jesus’ arrest. The arrest could not have happened if it wasn’t for Judas’ betrayal, which brings a third group of people that could be blamed as well – specifically Jesus’ own disciples.

While you and I did not bring soldiers to arrest Jesus, our actions and our choices can be described by the actions or lack of actions we see among the disciples present. We could actively betray Jesus through how we act, we could lash out emotionally and/or violently against those who appear to be against us, we could be fearful and hide in the shadows, or we could run away and not stand by Jesus.

The death of Jesus was because of a disciple’s betrayal mixed with the hate and violence of sinful humanity. However, even though Jesus was crucified at the hands of Christians, Jews, and gentiles, Jesus chose to die.

Verses 4-6 describe Jesus fully having the power to avoid arrest. John tells us that:

Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

⁵ “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) ⁶ As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground!”

This detail is something that we shouldn’t let slip by us unnoticed. When Jesus said, “I am He”, the logical response would have been to rush Him and overpower Him, but the opposite happened.

When Jesus spoke the word’s “I am He”, I wonder if a sliver of His divinity slipped out, whether it was through His appearance or simply His voice, and it knocked the soldiers back and to the ground. “I am” is one of the names given to God, and, at least in our English translations, this wordplay is clearly visible.

If three simple words could knock an angry mob of soldiers down, no one present could have even touched Jesus if He had not let them.

After Jesus had the mob’s attention, He restates the question, and then follows up with the request or command to let the disciples go. I’m not sure if the soldiers were already circling the whole group of disciples to arrest them all, or if that was on their minds, but Jesus simply short-circuits the idea of a group arrest with this direction.

Even after Peter gets violent in His defense of Jesus, we see Jesus responding in a calm way, and indicating that this entire event is a part of God’s plan. Our passage finishes off with Jesus’ rhetorical question in verse 11: “Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

Everything in this passage draws our attention onto two huge truths. The first is that Jesus died at the hands of everyone in humanity. He was betrayed by one of His followers, and He was arrested, tried, and crucified by both Jews and gentiles working together.

The second big truth is that Jesus chose to die. While He could have avoided the cross, avoiding pain, suffering, and death was not a part of the Godhead’s plan. Jesus revealed just enough of His divinity that should have woken up everyone present to His divine nature and that they were arresting God, but they were already too set on arresting Jesus.

Jesus used this opportunity for one purpose: to follow through with the one death that leads to life. Jesus chose the cross and to die a sinner’s death so that we can accept the gift of His life and not die the death we deserve. While sinners killed Jesus, Jesus chose to die for those who God desires to save!

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

Remember and accept the gift that Jesus gave to each of us through His death. Realize that all of us are partially responsible for His crucifixion. If it weren’t for His desire to rescue us from sin, Jesus wouldn’t have faced the cross!

Also, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself, and intentionally grow your relationship with God. Choose to take time each and every day to walk with, remember, and thank Jesus for what He has done for all of us! Without Jesus, our lives would be hopeless.

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

On the night Jesus was arrested, as He and the eleven remaining disciples were arriving at the garden, Jesus shares a powerful prayer to God the Father related to His live and mission. The prayer Jesus shares doesn’t just focus on Himself, it also focuses on the lives and mission for all of His followers living at that point in history, as well as throughout all of history following the first century.

I debated whether to pull an excerpt out of this prayer to focus on, but could not settle on one. Instead, for this week’s episode, let me simply read you the prayer in its entirety, then close out with some things to think about and challenges about how to apply what Jesus shared in this prayer in your life today.

John’s gospel is the only one to include this prayer, and it is found in chapter 17. Reading from the Contemporary English Version and starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ After Jesus had finished speaking to his disciples, he looked up toward heaven and prayed:

Father, the time has come for you to bring glory to your Son, in order that he may bring glory to you. ² And you gave him power over all people, so that he would give eternal life to everyone you give him. ³ Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. ⁴ I have brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you gave me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, give me back the glory that I had with you before the world was created.

⁶ You have given me some followers from this world, and I have shown them what you are like. They were yours, but you gave them to me, and they have obeyed you. ⁷ They know that you gave me everything I have. ⁸ I told my followers what you told me, and they accepted it. They know that I came from you, and they believe that you are the one who sent me. ⁹ I am praying for them, but not for those who belong to this world. My followers belong to you, and I am praying for them. ¹⁰ All that I have is yours, and all that you have is mine, and they will bring glory to me.

¹¹ Holy Father, I am no longer in the world. I am coming to you, but my followers are still in the world. So keep them safe by the power of the name that you have given me. Then they will be one with each other, just as you and I are one. ¹² While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost, except the one who had to be lost. This happened so that what the Scriptures say would come true.

¹³ I am on my way to you. But I say these things while I am still in the world, so that my followers will have the same complete joy that I do. ¹⁴ I have told them your message. But the people of this world hate them, because they don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t.

¹⁵ Father, I don’t ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They don’t belong to this world, and neither do I. ¹⁷ Your word is the truth. So let this truth make them completely yours. ¹⁸ I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me. ¹⁹ I have given myself completely for their sake, so that they may belong completely to the truth.

²⁰ I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. ²¹ I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

²² I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. ²³ I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.

²⁴ Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. ²⁵ Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. ²⁶ I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.

In this prayer, Jesus defines what it means to have eternal life, and He contrasts His followers with those living in the world. But Jesus also doesn’t just limit His followers to the eleven disciples present at that moment. Instead, Jesus extends the definition of disciple and follower to include everyone who believes in Him following the events of that weekend.

I am amazed that Jesus prays for us to remain in the world, but to be protected. How powerful would our lives be if we truly lived with the assurance that Jesus is protecting us? This prayer of protection might not mean that every bad thing will be blocked, but perhaps that any bad thing that reaches us has been filtered and permitted because it can be a key part of our testimony that can help others – that is, if we let it.

Jesus concludes this prayer by saying that love will be the defining attribute of His true followers – and that is because God is love, and Jesus is also love.

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, continue growing closer to God and to Jesus in your life. Invite God to live in you and love others through you. Accept the reality that He has placed us in the world and sent us to the world, but remember and trust His promise to protect us from the evil one. Ask for His help to live boldly for Him.

Also, while living for Jesus, don’t let your spiritual foundation weaken. Intentionally choose to strengthen it by prayerfully studying the Bible for yourself. The Holy Spirit uses the words of the Bible to strengthen and renew our minds and hearts, and through the Bible, we are continually reminded of God and His love for each of us.

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

On Jesus’ last night with His disciples prior to being betrayed, arrested, and crucified the following day, John’s gospel shares a long conversation Jesus has with His followers, and in this conversation, Jesus teaches them about many things, like having faith, hope, and belief in Him, and He reminds them that He will be leaving them soon.

While I wonder if Jesus wanted to teach them more plainly about His upcoming death, because they hadn’t understood or received His warnings along those lines very well, part of me wonders if Jesus shifted focus onto simply talking about His leaving them which is something they would understand easier than His crucifixion.

However, even telling the disciples that He would be leaving them soon filled their hearts with sadness. This portion of what Jesus shared is the focus of our passage for this episode, and in our passage, Jesus tries to explain why it is better for them if He leaves.

Let’s read what Jesus shared with the disciples that night. Our passage is found in John, chapter 16, and we will be reading from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 5, Jesus continued by saying:

⁵ Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come. ⁸ When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. ⁹ He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me. ¹⁰ He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore. ¹¹ And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.

¹² “I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. ¹³ But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. ¹⁴ The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me, because he will take what I have to say and tell it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what I have to say and tell it to you.

We’ll stop reading here because in these few verses, there are some really big takeaway points – probably more than we are able to cover in this podcast episode. However, there are two big points I want to draw our attention to in the time we have left together.

The first big point is when Jesus describes how it is better for His followers that He leaves. I’m sure the disciples were shocked to hear Jesus say this and many of them might not have believed Him in that moment. But what Jesus says is profound. If Jesus didn’t leave, then the Holy Spirit, also known as the Helper, would not come. In contrast, if Jesus does leave, then the Holy Spirit will come.

On first glance, we might think that the Holy Spirit wasn’t present ever during Jesus’ life and ministry, but that is not the case. The most notable time that the Holy Spirit is mentioned is when Jesus was baptized. Also, I believe Jesus depended entirely on both the Father and the Holy Spirit while He was present on earth. If the Holy Spirit hadn’t been with Jesus, I doubt He could have healed people or performed miracles.

However, hinted at in this passage is one role of the Holy Spirit, and this role is to bring glory to Jesus. Other roles the Holy Spirit has that are shared in this passage are that: “He will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. He will prove to them that sin is not believing in [Jesus]. He will prove to them that being right with God comes from [Jesus’] going to the Father and not being seen anymore. And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.” (v. 8-11)

In many ways, the Holy Spirit’s task-list looks impossible – especially when we look at our culture and the world today. However, the Holy Spirit’s role is only impossible when Jesus is present on earth.

The way I picture the Holy Spirit working, is that while Jesus was present on earth, Jesus had 100% of the Holy Spirit’s focus and power. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus glory and drew people to Him in first-century Judea. This is why we see Jesus performing miracles, and every time Jesus’ disciples are with Jesus, we never see them perform any miracles, because this would distract the focus off of Jesus.

However, when Jesus sent the disciples in pairs, we do learn that they had the Holy Spirit’s support. They healed people, cast out demons, and gave glory to both Jesus and God the Father. When Jesus was not present, the Holy Spirit focused on giving glory to Jesus through the next best thing – Jesus’ followers.

While Jesus’ message might not make sense that it’s better that He return to heaven, when we see the exponential growth of Christianity following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, we can see how the Holy Spirit and followers of Christ are able to impact the world in a much bigger, better, and more personal way than a single person could. The Holy Spirit’s role is only impossible when Jesus is present on earth, because His focus is 100% on Jesus while Jesus is physically present, and while Jesus is physically present, He is only in one place at one time. When Jesus launched the Christian movement, the Holy Spirit was freed to work though all of Jesus’ disciples and followers when Jesus returned to heaven. With Jesus in heaven, the Holy Spirit could exponentially grow the movement Jesus began into a worldwide community – which He has been doing ever since.

I will be the first to say that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian, a Christ follower, or even a disciple, believer, or any of the dozen or more terms common in the world today is actually a true follower of Christ. While the Holy Spirit knows our hearts and He knows who the true followers are from the imposters, He is willing to use anything and everything, anyone and everyone He can to lead people to Jesus. This might mean that people will come to Jesus through some very unconventional, round-about, and unusual ways. The path people take to find Jesus is less important than the simple fact that they found Him.

The second big point I want to bring out in this passage is that Jesus describes how time is against Him. He tells His followers in verse 12 and the first part of verse 13, “I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth.”

This detail is important for us to remember: Jesus shared everything He could with the disciples, and the disciples included everything they could in their ministry. The gospel writers included everything that space allowed them to include as well. However, the Holy Spirit isn’t finished teaching us the truth about God and about Jesus. He may never be done throughout eternity.

I draw our attention to this detail for one big reason: Don’t be afraid of someone sharing what they claim to be “new truth”. It is possible they are correct. However, be cautious in every case because new truth will never contradict, change, or distract from “old truth”. In the context of this discussion, I am calling “old truth” the foundation that is found in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. Also, “new truth” will never minimize, distract from, or belittle Jesus’ role in history.

History is His Story – specifically Jesus’ story, and it is a story of redemption. Any and every new truth the Holy Spirit will lead us into will have the Jesus of the gospels at its foundation. The Holy Spirit’s role is to bring glory to Jesus!

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

Always seek God first and intentionally focus on Him. Don’t be scared of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit exists to draw you into a saving relationship with Jesus!

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to keep your connection with God strong. It is when we are personally connected with Him that He is able us use to bless others.

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