Reflective Bible Study

On the night of Jesus’ arrest, while the remaining eleven disciples are walking with Jesus to the garden just outside of Jerusalem, the gospel of John shares a powerful conversation Jesus had with these closest followers. In this conversation, we can learn a lot about who God really is.

If we think about the timing of this conversation, this is Jesus’ last chance to share with the disciples before His death – and Jesus knows there is a lot that still needs to be shared.

However, as I read this part of John’s gospel, I am drawn to a metaphor Jesus shares part way through the conversation. This metaphor is found at the beginning of John, chapter 15, and we will be reading from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 1, Jesus says:

¹ “I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain joined to me, just as I also remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

⁵ “I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain joined to me, and I to you, you will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me. ⁶ If you don’t remain joined to me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be done for you. ⁸ When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.

We’ll stop reading here because I want to focus in on the metaphor of being a branch on the vine. It would seem that Jesus emphasizes the idea here that what we say doesn’t really matter as much as the fruit we produce. When I read about Jesus describing us producing fruit, I get the picture that He is describing everything our lives produce. This would include our words, our actions, our projects, and even our relationships.

Everything our lives produce should be in harmony with everything else our lives produce. Otherwise our lives wouldn’t make sense. It would be weird to grow an apple that has the skin of an orange.

While God can grow anything and there may be an apple-orange hybrid fruit in heaven, this isn’t where I am going with this thought. Instead, I want to emphasize that our words, which are like the skin of our fruit, should match our actions, projects, and relationships, which are all like the inside parts of our fruit. Our words should match our actions.

Jesus describes God as walking along the vine looking for branches that are not bearing fruit. When He finds such a branch, He cuts it off. While this sounds harsh, this is what happens when someone who says they are a Christian does not live like they are. In our world and culture today, these people live worldly lives but claim to be Christians because they want to avoid hell more than they ultimately love Jesus. It’s my opinion that God is more interested in building relationships with us than simply having us around because we preferred to not spend time in the hot place.

But fruitless branches are not the only ones God the Gardener touches. When God comes by a branch that is bearing fruit, Jesus tells us that He trims those branches as well. Most gardeners will tell you that to get a plant to really start producing fruit, vegetables, or flowers (whichever the case may be for that plant), one must cut off some of the first things that are produced, and perhaps a little more afterwards. The process is known as pruning, and pruning in a spiritual sense is what really prompts fruit to grow in our lives.

However, pruning is the result of God cutting away things from our lives. These things might be friendships, hobbies, jobs, homes, cars, money, or really anything that God knows won’t serve us in the long run. God wants our hearts, and He will prune away the things in our lives that might draw our hearts away from His.

We cannot escape being touched by God the Gardener. Either we choose to be cut off because we are not fruitful, or pruned because we are being fruitful and God wants to see us produce even more fruit.

Jesus also challenges all of His disciples and followers to remain joined to Him. This is the only way we can truly bear fruit. Just like your favorite flower, if you leave it connected to the bush or plant, it will survive longer than if you cut it off to put it in a vase. While flowers in vases look pretty as decorations around the house, after a few days or weeks, most will have begun to wilt and die. This is because they are no longer connected to the plant.

The only way we can truly have life that never ends is to remain connected to the life-giver – and that is Jesus. Remaining joined to Jesus is the only way to have eternal life. If we separate ourselves from Him, we will dry up and die.

Jesus finishes the illustration of the vine by saying that when we are joined and connected to Him, with His words living inside of us, we are free to ask for anything we wish and it will be done for us. The whole context of this illustration is bearing fruit, so in truth, all of Jesus’ answers to our requests will center on us bearing fruit for God. When we bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to God and it shows that we are Jesus’ disciples.

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 remain connected with Him. Understand that God the gardener will touch your life and when He does, let Him prune you because you are being fruitful. Know that the things that God takes out of your life might not make sense now, but when we reach heaven, we will understand more and all our questions will be answered.

Also, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to keep that connection with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit strong. It is through this connection that we are able to bear fruit, bring glory to God, and truly live like disciples of Jesus. Only through this connection can we truly do anything in 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 abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

While Jesus and His disciples were together on the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, the gospel of John shares with us some of Jesus’ last dedicated teaching with His followers. During this last short block of time with His followers, Jesus shares with them where they should place their faith, and He challenges them to keep their faith strong.

Let’s read what Jesus tells the disciples on their last night prior to the crucifixion, and discover some things we can learn about God and where we are to place our faith as followers of Jesus thousands of years later.

Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 14, and we will be reading from the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me. ² There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. ³ After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. ⁴ You know the way to where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t even know where you are going! How can we know the way?”

⁶ “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus answered. “Without me, no one can go to the Father. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known the Father. But from now on, you do know him, and you have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

⁹ Jesus replied:

Philip, I have been with you for a long time. Don’t you know who I am? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. How can you ask me to show you the Father? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am one with the Father and that the Father is one with me? What I say isn’t said on my own. The Father who lives in me does these things.

¹¹ Have faith in me when I say that the Father is one with me and that I am one with the Father. Or else have faith in me simply because of the things I do. ¹² I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father. ¹³ Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask. This way the Son will bring honor to the Father. ¹⁴ I will do whatever you ask me to do.

While Jesus continues sharing for several more chapters, let’s stop reading here because in this first section of verses, Jesus touches on a number of really big ideas.

The first thing Jesus tells the disciples might also be one of the most challenging things for them to grasp: He is going to be leaving them. After spending over three years together, Jesus alludes to His followers that He is going away and leaving them. Jesus isn’t leaving them forever; He is leaving to prepare a place for them, and then He will return.

Jesus then makes a statement that catches at least one of the disciples off guard. Jesus tells them in verse 4, “You know the way to where I am going”.

Thomas, the disciples who gets the reputation for being a doubter even if he is a realist, interrupts Jesus by stating in verse 5, “Lord, we don’t even know where you are going! How can we know the way?”

Jesus uses this opening to reemphasize the idea that faith in Him is the way to heaven. Without Jesus and His sacrifice, “no one can go to the Father”. (v. 6)

In this next portion of Jesus’ teaching, He emphasizes that knowing Him is the same as knowing the Father, and now Philip chimes in with a statement of his own. In verse 8, Philip interrupts Jesus by asking, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need”.

When responding to Philip and continuing sharing with the disciples, Jesus makes a powerful statement that could easily be misunderstood. After Jesus challenges Philip’s belief in the oneness of Jesus and God the Father, He shares a statement of faith.

In verses 11-14, we discover an incredible, open-ended promise that Jesus gives His followers. He tells them, “Have faith in me when I say that the Father is one with me and that I am one with the Father. Or else have faith in me simply because of the things I do. I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father. Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask. This way the Son will bring honor to the Father. I will do whatever you ask me to do.”

I don’t know if you have ever prayed and not received the answer you have wanted, but this open-ended statement appears to promise us both the ability to perform miracles through the Holy Spirit, and to ask for great things of God and receive answers.

While I don’t fully understand why God answers prayers in certain ways or not, this amazing promise appears to hinge on Jesus’ opening statement about having faith in Him. Jesus sets the stage by saying, “Have faith in me when I say that the Father is one with me and that I am one with the Father. Or else have faith in me simply because of the things I do. I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me…” , and with this opening, Jesus then shares the huge open-ended promise.

Three times in this opening, Jesus uses the phrase “faith in me”. We are to have faith that Jesus is one with the Father. We are to have faith in Jesus because of the things he does and has done for us. And, we are to have faith that Jesus will do whatever we are asking.

While I won’t claim to speak for God as to why some prayers appear to be answered while others are not, I will say that in order to fully realize all that God created us to be, we must exercise the three levels of faith in God that this passage describes. We must have faith in who Jesus is, specifically that He is one with God the Father. We must have faith in what He has done for us, especially faith in His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. And we must have faith in His future working in our life and faith that He is faithful in keeping His promises.

Jesus brings honor to God the Father when we ask Him for help, and when our requests match His will, nothing will stand in the way of God answering our prayers!

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 in your life and intentionally focus your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him and His Son Jesus. Don’t be afraid of asking Jesus tough questions or for big requests, but also know that God’s plan is much bigger than our plan. Chances are that He won’t answer a prayer that will not benefit us in the perspective of eternity, because God’s goals is to see us with Him in heaven.

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your relationship with God and to keep your relationship with Him strong.

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 of His arrest, which happened on the day before His crucifixion, Jesus shared a special supper with His followers. This supper has become known throughout the Christian church as “The Last Supper”, and one of the key things that happened during this supper is an event we call communion.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include Jesus eating and sharing bread and wine with His disciples, and each of these gospels includes Jesus attaching a symbol to each part of the communion ceremony. Let’s read from Matthew’s gospel to uncover what happened and what symbolism Jesus attached to the bread and the wine during this supper meal.

Our passage for this episode is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 26, and we will read it using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 26, Matthew describes what happened:

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take and eat it,” he said; “this is my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them. “Drink it, all of you,” he said; ²⁸ “this is my blood, which seals God’s covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

³⁰ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

In these short 5 verses, we have one of the most symbolic and treasured ceremonies throughout the entire Christian Church. While different denominations celebrate communion differently, what is always present is bread and some form of grape juice, and everyone rightly attaches symbolism to each item as they eat or drink it.

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, He describes eating His flesh and drinking His blood when challenging a crowd of supposed followers. While at the time, most people thought He was crazy and cannibalistic for saying this, perhaps He was simply pointing forward to the foundation He lays during this meal.

Verse 26 describes the first symbol, which is attached to the bread: “While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. ‘Take and eat it,’ he said; ‘this is my body.’”

The Passover bread represented Jesus’ body. When reading this, part of me wonders if Jesus isn’t actually describing any new symbolism. I wonder if the Passover bread that was eaten throughout the centuries following the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt was a symbol of the Messiah. If this was the case, then what the people had missed for over a thousand years was a symbol pointing to the Messiah tucked in one of the highest, most significant Jewish feasts in their entire calendar.

When breaking and eating the Passover bread, if we keep in our minds the symbolism that it represents Jesus’ body, then we can associate it with Jesus’ sacrifice and Him giving His body to be put to death. While Passover was celebrated as a reminder of the last plague that struck Egypt, tucked in it is an incredible symbol of God’s love, protection, and redemption of His people.

Verses 27 and 28 draw our attention onto the next symbol: Then [Jesus] took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them. “Drink it, all of you,” he said; “this is my blood, which seals God’s covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

While the bread was symbolic, the cup filled with wine is even more symbolic. The wine represented Jesus’ blood, and while it sounds disturbing to think about drinking blood, a person or animal’s blood represents its life. The Jews were commanded to not drink blood from an animal, or even to eat meat with the animal’s blood still in it.

Perhaps there is symbolism in the command to avoid an animal’s blood as well. Since God views us as being more valuable than animals, if we blend these two ideas together, the idea of eating or drinking an animal’s blood would symbolically imply that we desire to be more animal-like. This is just speculation on my part, but it would be an interesting study to undertake.

But we cannot escape the symbolism pointing Jesus’ blood being symbolic of His life. Jesus’ life and death sealed God’s covenant with His people, and it made a way for God’s justice to allow for the forgiveness of sins. The symbolism in the communion drink is that we are taking in Jesus and desiring to be more Christ-like with every drop that is consumed. Drinking during communion is a way for us to symbolically internalize Jesus’ life and accept His sacrifice on our behalf.

In one of the most significant Jewish festivals, Jesus draws out one of the most significant pair of symbols for the early Church. Maybe the Jews understood the Passover memorial of the final plague in Egypt to be symbolic of the Messiah, but maybe not. Either way, the plague of the angel of death, and the lamb’s blood that saved the Israelites marks an incredible symbol of the effectiveness of God’s Messiah.

None of the previous plagues had worked to change Pharaoh’s heart into letting Israel go. It took the most powerful symbol of the Messiah coming and dying to protect His people that ultimately broke the Pharaoh’s grip on God’s people.

As I say this, I wonder if the plagues’ themselves, and Israel’s exodus is symbolic – representing history, specifically God’s redemption for all His people throughout all of history. If this is the case, at the heart of the exodus event was the blood of the lamb, and at the heart of our salvation story is the blood of Jesus. In both cases, God’s people are protected by the sacrifice and life that was not theirs. We all benefit from the sacrifice that Someone else made and that makes our salvation that much more valuable.

When we celebrate communion, we pick up and remember thousands of years of symbolism in a seemingly simple ritual, but even though we might not think about how deeply the Messianic symbols flow through Communion and the Passover celebration, we still can be blessed knowing that we are carrying on a symbol that Jesus began long ago.

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. The next time you take part in a communion ceremony, remember how everything points to God. Also, remember how the Passover celebration itself foreshadowed Jesus as God’s Messiah.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do in one way or another, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. While pastors and other religious leaders are valuable for giving you ideas to think about and places to start, what matters most is that you are growing a personal relationship with God through the reading and study of His Word.

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

In our journey through Jesus’ life, we now come to the night Jesus was betrayed. However, before Jesus is betrayed and arrested, He shares a special meal with His disciples, and at this meal, Jesus does something profoundly unexpected – He takes the role of the lowest servant.

Let’s read about what happened, about why Jesus did this, and about the reaction that one of His disciples had when this happened. Our passage comes to us from the gospel of John, chapter 13, and we will be reading from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Let’s pause reading here because two details I see already are profound and I don’t want us to miss them.

The first detail is that Satan had already prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus, and looking at the details that we will read in Jesus’ conversation with Peter tells us that Judas was still present. Knowing Judas was present would mean that Jesus washed Judas’ feet even though they both knew that Judas was plotting a betrayal. This act demonstrates an incredible level of love and humility on Jesus’ part, but it would not be enough to break through to Judas’ stubborn, hard heart.

The second detail is that when we read about Jesus knowing that the Father had put all things under His power, the first thing that Jesus does is get up from the meal, take off His outer robe, wrap a towel around His waist, and then proceed to do the lowest role that society had. Washing someone’s feet was the bottom role in that society and Jesus chose to step into this role at the very moment that He knew that God had placed everything under His power.

It is also interesting to note that in this second detail, when John tells us that all things were under Jesus’ power, nothing that happened after this point was without Jesus’ direct consent. While Jesus prays for another way in the garden, His prayer is always in the context of doing God’s will so that humanity can have the opportunity for salvation. Jesus could easily have called off the whole crucifixion event, brought in thousands of angels to defend Himself and all the disciples, or even come down from the cross, but any of these options would abandon humanity to the fate of sin, and that is something that God was unwilling to do. He loves us and He wants to save us for eternity!

While Jesus was moving through the room washing the disciples’ feet, we pick back up in verse 6 when:

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

Quick side-note: This is how we can see that Judas Iscariot was present. Jesus wouldn’t have needed to say that not everyone was clean if Judas Iscariot had already left.

Continuing in verse 12:

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

In this passage, and in Peter’s conversation with Jesus, we see an interesting idea present when we begin to look at what it means to leave sin and have our lives washed by Jesus.

On one extreme, we have Peter’s first remark that the Messiah, God’s Son on earth, would not ever wash His feet. While this is on one level a statement of humility, because Peter knows he is less than Jesus and doesn’t comprehend the idea of Jesus lowering Himself below him, the challenge here is one of pride. Peter doesn’t want to accept that Jesus is taking the role of the lowest servant or slave for him personally, because he feels the roles should be switched.

However, symbolically, we see another idea at work in this first extreme. When someone who has sinned humbly comes to God asking for forgiveness, the first mistake that can be made is thinking that God won’t affect or change their life. This is the trap of Peter’s first extreme. When we come asking God for forgiveness, expect to be touched by God, or as Jesus replied to Peter in verse 8, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” If we want to be adopted into God’s family through forgiveness and accepting His invitation, expect and welcome His desire to wash our lives.

But we also have a second extreme, which Peter immediately moves to when realizing that washing is necessary for being included with Jesus. After realizing his first position isn’t desirable, Peter then swings to the opposite extreme, asking Jesus to wash “not just [his] feet but [his] hands and [his] head as well”.

We can admire Peter for diving all in with his request. Peter is an all-in-or-all-out type of guy. However, in Jesus’ response, we see the opposite extreme being also a place where Jesus doesn’t want or need us to go.

When God has touched and washed our lives, we might think there will be nothing left of our former selves. We might even want this. However, the truth is that just like people aren’t 100% free from sin, no-one is 100% stained by sin. When God wants to wash our lives, He is more interested in cleaning the sin-stained parts, and not on dwelling the parts that are not affected by sin.

This means that when Jesus takes us and washes our lives, don’t be surprised if we have a new focus, a new outlook, a new perspective, but a similar personality, a similar color of hair, and a similar color of skin. God won’t turn us into His clone when we accept Him into our lives, but He will transform us into the people He created us to be. God was interested and involved in your entrance into this world, and because you and I are here, He has a plan and an ideal for our lives.

God wants to wash your life. He wants to clean the sin from it, and He is more than happy to do so. We must come to Him, seek His will, and ask Him to help change us into His ideal for our lives. He promises to bless us when we follow in His footsteps, and He challenges us to be happy in the place where He has placed us.

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

Always seek God first and focus intentionally on Him in your lives each day.

Be sure to regularly pray and study the Bible for yourself to keep your connection with God strong.

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!