Reflective Bible Study

Hey guys,

I know last week for our flashback episode, I said we’d be taking a break this week and as it turns out next week as well since there are two Mondays left in this year. However, after recording that, I thought I’d pull out the recording gear and record a little Christmas greeting for you since it’s Christmas Eve and all.

As many of us are spending time with friends and family remembering the ultimate gift that God sent into this world, remember that God’s gift to us through Jesus only has value because of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. Also, it is worth remembering that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross only has value in our own lives when we have accepted Jesus into our hearts and let Him lead and guide our lives.

While culture has placed a significant emphasis on gift giving during these last few weeks, whether this is buying gifts for others or even buying gifts for yourself, remember that the gift God gave us through Jesus isn’t a gift we can buy, sell, or even repay. The gift Jesus gave us is His life, and Jesus’ life within our lives leads us to ultimately receive eternal life when Jesus returns.

With all this said, let me again say Merry Christmas and I hope that this Christmas season is a time of joy, love, and a time we can remember what Jesus ultimately gave for us by coming to this earth to redeem each of us!

As we begin our special, annual two-part finale, first off I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. We are well into one of my favorite times of the year, and while it’s likely not the time Jesus actually was born, it is a great time to remember His birth, and what that means for all of His followers living around the world.

This fourth chronological year was a powerful year, and we covered some challenging passages. I know I learned a lot while putting these episodes together, and I hope you learned a lot through what was shared.

As our custom is, let’s begin looking back at some of the biggest insights, at least in my own mind from this past year of episodes. As always, there are way more insights than we can cover in one, or even in two episodes, so this is why we break this finale into two parts while also having to pick and choose.

We began the year looking at Jesus’ birth story, and in our first episode, which focused in on Gabriel the angel’s visit to Mary, we discovered two powerful reminders we can apply into our own lives. The first is that Mary is a perfect example of someone willing to let God use her for His plan. Mary humbly steps into the role of the Messiah’s mother and her example is an example to all of us how a life surrendered to God can be used for His purposes. The second big reminder we can learn is from Gabriel’s message. Gabriel tells Mary that “No word from God will ever fail”. This promise is as true today as it was in the first century when Gabriel spoke it.

Jumping a few episodes forward, we arrive in episode number 3, which focused in on John the Baptist’s message and ministry. Luke describes John’s message, and from this description, we discovered that “Our greatest witness is how we live our lives each day,” and that “We shouldn’t rest on our past ancestry, our past choices, or our past accomplishments. A live of repentance is lived each and every day.”

Episode number 4 focused in on Jesus’ first followers, and how John’s gospel describes how Jesus’ first followers go and invite others to come and see Jesus. When faced with skeptical responses, they simply give an invitation. We can learn from this example that “Jesus did the convincing, we simply need to do the inviting”.

Moving forward into episode 6, from Jesus’ trip to His hometown synagogue, we learned that any “Christian” who does not love someone from another worldview, or even another denomination, is not acting as Christ instructed us to do. Jesus loved Gentiles, and this tells us that God loves both Jews and Gentiles.

Jumping up into episode 9, while reading about Jesus picking the 12 disciples, we see that Jesus spent the night praying before choosing His inner circle, and Jesus specifically chose Judas Iscariot. God knew Judas would betray Jesus, and Jesus choosing Judas Iscariot demonstrates that God is willing to even give betrayers a chance. God loved the betrayer and Jesus was willing to give Judas Iscariot every possible opportunity to place his faith in Him. We also discover how Jesus picked the least likely team of people from the world’s perspective to be His ambassadors for the Christian movement.

A couple episodes later, in episode number 11, we focused on Jesus’ teaching about worry. We learned that “If you cannot change something, it isn’t worth paying a lot of attention to it”. We also asked the question, “Does this desire or goal I have place God’s kingdom first?” This question makes for a great litmus test for if our focus is on the right things. Overall episode 11’s passage taught us that “Trust and faith is the antidote for worry. When worry is present in our lives, we can know we have room for faith and trust to grow.”

Episode 12 focused on Jesus helping a Roman officer. In this episode, we realized that “God’s goal for us is not an easy life in a sinful world. God’s goal for each of His followers is a new life with Him in a sinless new heaven and new earth!”

In the very next episode, episode number 13, we discover a huge truth in the gift a woman gave Jesus, and how Jesus chose to respond. In this episode, we learn that “the sin in our past doesn’t matter as must as our decisions in the present. Forgiveness is available for everyone who turns away from sin.” This episode also taught us that “how we choose to love Jesus demonstrates how forgiven we really are.”

Episode 14 focused on Jesus telling us why listening to His teachings is important, and how by applying what Jesus teaches in our lives is the best way to understand God’s plan for our lives.

A couple episodes later, in episode number 16, we looked at what happened when Jesus got distracted from going to heal a little girl. In this episode, we discovered in the almost secret miracle a formula that can be described as this: Faith + Jesus = a Miracle. The woman who was healed, was healed because she placed her faith in Jesus. This passage reminds us that Jesus is the best place to place our faith.

Moving forward to episode 19, which focused on Jesus insulting a gentile woman, we discover that “In God’s eyes, His people will not display an ‘us vs. them’ attitude. Instead, God’s people will display an ‘us blessing/helping/loving them’ attitude. This is God’s challenge for all His people!”

Following this episode, we then looked at a misunderstanding Jesus has with His disciples in episode 20. This misunderstanding taught us that “God will not bless us in a way that causes us to lose our salvation, but He will also not curse us when we could have been saved under difference circumstances.”

Jumping forward to episode 22, we focused on a passage that defines how God sees greatness. In this episode, one of the big truths we learned was that “Greatness in God’s eyes has to do with stepping down and welcoming those who are unknown in Jesus’ name.”

In episode 23, we find Jesus traveling through Samaria, and a town refuses to let Him stay the night. In this episode, we discovered that both the Samaritans in that town, and some of the disciples are prejudiced towards one another. We discovered from Jesus’ response that “Prejudice doesn’t help anyone. The Samaritans missed out on Jesus and the disciples were scolded because each group was prejudiced. Jesus modeled the right response when He was rejected. Jesus chose to simply move on to another town.”

Episode 24 continued episode 23’s theme about prejudice when we learned that the Pharisees rejected Jesus because they believed no prophet would ever come from the secular region of Galilee. We learned that we can fall into the same trap when we close our eyes and minds to the possibility that God could use some tragic event, a certain group of people who are different from us, or even a certain style of music for His purposes. We set ourselves up to be challenged when God chooses to use something we believe He would never use.

We’ll finish this first part of our annual two-part finale by focusing on the huge truths we learned in episode 25. In this episode, Jesus is teaching and challenging those in the temple during one of the major Jewish festivals, and we learned that holding onto and applying Jesus’ teachings are what make us His disciples. It is only after we hold onto and apply Jesus’ message that we will then know the truth and be set free. We also learned that sin’s goal is to trap and enslave us while Jesus came to set us free and adopt us into God’s family. We learned that death is reserved for those who disobey Jesus, and that Jesus came to honor God and free His people from the fear of death. Jesus teaches us that all the petty excuses and insults people try to use to discredit will never change who Jesus truly is. Jesus is God who came to earth as a human. Obedience is the way we discover the validity of God’s truth in our lives.

As we come to the end of part 1 of this yearly two-part finale, ending with even more challenges doesn’t make a lot of sense, especially when we have covered so many great challenges and things we’ve learned this past year in the gospels. So instead, I’ll simply remind each of us to:

Seek God first and place Him first in our lives;

To always pray and study the Bible for ourselves to keep our connection with God strong;

And to never stop short of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

At the end of Jesus’ time on earth, He sends the disciples out with a commission to tell the world about Him. Last week, we focused in on one big commission we find in John’s gospel, and this week, while we could focus in on Matthew’s commission, which is the most famous one, let’s instead look at Mark’s version.

In my own mind, Mark’s version of this event might be a little more challenging than the commissions included in the other gospels.

Our passage for this episode can be found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 16, and we will be reading it from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 15:

¹⁵ Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone. ¹⁶ Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who does not believe will be punished. ¹⁷ And those who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force out demons. They will speak in new languages. ¹⁸ They will pick up snakes and drink poison without being hurt. They will touch the sick, and the sick will be healed.”

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven, and he sat at the right side of God. ²⁰ The followers went everywhere in the world and told the Good News to people, and the Lord helped them. The Lord proved that the Good News they told was true by giving them power to work miracles.

This passage ends the book of Mark. I will note that this conclusion is part of the longer conclusion to Mark’s gospel, and many Bibles will include the note that verses 9-20 are not in many of the early manuscripts. In my own mind, I can understand why. Mark’s longer conclusion includes many challenging ideas.

However, the big question is whether this conclusion at the end of Mark was added by others to enhance Mark’s gospel conclusion, or whether it was tried to be erased by many early writers because it was challenging.

I will be the first to say that I don’t know. A case could be made for adding Mark’s conclusion, or for removing it.

From a removing angle, I can understand why many in the early church might not want this commission around. This is primarily because if the miracles that Mark’s gospel included ever stopped, which they did shortly after the first generation of disciples and church leaders, Mark’s gospel record would then imply that God wasn’t as closely connected with His church. I doubt this would be the case, but the longer conclusion of Mark might make a historian wonder about that.

However, when we look at what Mark’s conclusion includes, almost everything it says is validated in the first century church and the first generation of believers. While this is great evidence that God was working powerfully in the first century Christian movement, it is also a prime opportunity for a well meaning scribe, when seeing that Mark’s gospel doesn’t end all that well, to craft his own ending with the details that he knows happened in the first century church.

The first century disciples used Jesus’ name to force out demons and to heal the sick. They spoke new languages. Paul is even recorded as being bit by a very poisonous or venomous snake and not being hurt. All these things are excellent proof that God was with the first century church, but with how everything is neatly consolidated at the end of Mark’s gospel, and when there is a little bit of discrepancy whether Mark included these details in his original version of his gospel record, a case can be made that these things were added later.

Whether a scribe added the longer version of Mark’s gospel at a later date to help give this gospel a stronger conclusion, or whether the early church wanted to remove Mark’s commission record because there weren’t as many clear miracles present after the first generation of believers, I don’t believe that either group or either case was being deceitful or acting against God. I believe both options actually desired to see God’s church glorified more.

However, what are we to do with Mark’s commission now that we live 2000+ years later?

Whether Mark included his commission or not, the rest of the New Testament confirms the challenge that Mark may have written. Regardless of whether he did include it or not, this longer ending to this gospel draws our attention onto how the Holy Spirit was moving in the first century church, and it includes a challenge that makes me think that the Holy Spirit’s presence was intended to be more permanent in the Christian movement moving forward.

I believe the Holy Spirit has been with God’s church from the moment He came and validated Jesus’ ministry while Jesus was here on earth, and also this would include when He visibly came at the beginning of the book of Acts to the early Christians in the upper room during the festival of Pentecost.

However, while I believe that the Holy Spirit has been active and moving in the church ever since the first century, I believe that the Holy Spirit ultimately had to switch to only working behind the scenes after the first few generations. While this isn’t bad when we look at it from one angle, I don’t believe the Holy Spirit intended to become less visible.

When reading Mark’s commission, I get the impression that those in the first century church didn’t expect the Holy Spirit to become any less visible, and this is the impression I get when reading the letters from Paul and Peter as well.

This commission in Mark’s gospel is both exciting and challenging for all of us. If those in the first century lived so close with God that they had the Holy Spirit move in their lives in visible, miraculous ways; and these early church leaders did not believe that they were somehow special or exclusively picked to receive the Holy Spirit; that means that each of us, living 2000+ years later is capable of living lives that are so close to God that the Holy Spirit cannot help but show up in powerful miraculous ways.

I cannot think of a better way to conclude our four, chronological years of moving through the gospels that with this conclusion. The best conclusion we can have is the challenge for a new beginning with God, and with the Holy Spirit, and with stepping out in faith into the life God created you to live.

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

Be sure to always intentionally seek God first and intentionally move towards Him each and every day. Make prayer and Bible study a regular habit, and be so committed towards moving towards God that the Holy Spirit cannot help but impact your life.

Also, as I always say, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself because through the pages of the Bible, we can discover God’s plan, His character, and our future when we choose Him. Don’t let a pastor, author, podcaster, or anyone else get in the way of your personal relationship with God. While other people can give you great things to think about, your relationship with God must be your own.

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

Several weeks ago, we focused one of our podcast episodes on Peter’s great mistake. When reading through the gospels, we see Peter as one of the main disciples, and he is the one who seems to be the disciples’ spokesman, or he may just not have a filter on his mouth – leading him to speak before thinking, which at times is a blessing, while at other times it gets him in trouble.

About a month ago, we looked at Peter denying his connection with Jesus on the night Jesus was arrested and tried. I suspect that following this huge failure, Peter believed he was no longer qualified to be a disciple, and perhaps, because he thought he was no longer worthy of his invitation, he decides to go back to fishing.

However, while Peter and several of the other disciples are unsuccessfully fishing one night shortly after the resurrection, Jesus planned a surprise for these disciples when their fishing trip doesn’t go as planned. As the night was ending and daylight approached, Jesus sees the boat out in the water and He calls out to the disciples. On learning that their fishing had not been successful, He prompts the disciples with an instruction that leads to a catch very similar to a miracle that happened leading up to several of these disciples’ first invitation to follow Him.

After pulling the nets to shore, and after eating breakfast with the disciples, Jesus and Peter have a fascinating conversation that will be the focus of this week’s episode. This conversation is found in John, chapter 21, and we will be reading from the New International Version. Starting in verse 15, John tells us that:

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

Let’s stop reading at this point in the conversation to point our attention onto some interesting details in what was just said. In the original Greek language that this passage was written in, two different words for love are used. In essence, Jesus first asks Peter if he selflessly loves Him, and Peter responds by saying that he loves Jesus like a close friend or family member.

Jesus then asks Peter again if Peter selflessly loves Him, and Peter responds again that he loves Jesus like a close friend or family member.

Jesus then switches terms, asking Peter if he really loved Him like a close friend or family member. John tells us this third question hurt, and Peter responds that Jesus knows the answer and that what He asked is true.

But also in this three question-and-answer progression is a steadily increasing challenge. After Peter responds the first time, Jesus tells Peter to “Feed my lambs”. Since Jesus was not a shepherd in the traditional sense, this request must be symbolic of something.

The most logical group for Jesus to be referring to is the people He has called to Him – starting with the disciples, but also extending out into the early church. Lambs are baby sheep, and therefore, this distinction could represent Jesus asking Peter to focus on helping new or young believers, and this would include both young believers according to age, as well as new believers regardless of their age.

Next, following the second question and answer set, Jesus challenges Peter by saying, “Take care of my sheep.” Using the foundation we have from the first challenge, this group of sheep must have something they need help with. We could apply this challenge to helping other believers who are sick, hurting, and/or those who otherwise need help. While this could be younger or older believers on the spectrum of age, it likely could represent all of us at any given point of our time on planet Earth prior to heaven. This challenge is a challenge to help others who need help.

Following the third question and answer set, Jesus opens His response by challenging Peter to “Feed my sheep.” In a way, this challenge is the same as the first one, because lambs are technically sheep, but I believe it is much broader in scope. In this third challenge, we have a challenge to help every believer grow, regardless of their age, the amount of time they have been a believer, and regardless of their background or past life.

I wonder if the first two challenges take a measure of selfless love, while the third challenge needs a much more relational love. It’s possible that this is why Jesus used the words for love that He did when challenging Peter.

But the conversation Jesus has with Peter isn’t finished with the third challenge. Jesus continues by telling Peter the end of Peter’s story. Reading from verse 18, Jesus continues by saying:

¹⁸ “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

²⁰ Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) ²¹ When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

²² Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” ²³ Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

Peter’s conversation with Jesus concludes with a second invitation to follow Him. This second invitation in many ways is more powerful than the first. This second invitation comes with all the history that came with the first call – and it specifically comes with the idea of unconditional forgiveness. When Jesus asked Peter to again follow Him, this invitation told Peter that Jesus was willing to forgive His past mistakes, rejection, and denial. Jesus forgave Peter for abandoning Him and for rejecting Him while in a different crowd.

Jesus also told Peter to pay more attention to his own commission and his own choice to follow, and not focus on other disciples’ missions or stories. While this started the rumor that John, who was the disciple following behind, would not die, John is quick to correct the rumor that Jesus was talking to Peter about Peter, and not really about himself at all.

The big thing I see in this conversation is a challenge for every one of us who call ourselves Christ-followers. Like Peter, who was among the first followers, we are called to feed God’s lambs, take care of God’s sheep, and feed God’s sheep – which together become a huge challenge that we can only accomplish if we work together with other Christ-followers. This set of missions can only be truly achieved when we have a love for each other and display our love in a selfless way.

Each of us is called to follow Jesus like Peter’s second call. We are called to follow with the understanding that this invitation comes with forgiveness from our past. The invitation is focused on our future with God from that point forward, and it lets the past remain the past. Our past mistakes and sins are covered when we choose to recommit our lives to Jesus. It was this way with Peter and the rest of the disciples, and it is this way for each of us living today.

As we come to the end of the gospels, and the end of another year of podcasts focusing on Jesus’ life, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally put God first in your life. Continue seeking to grow closer to Him and choose daily to follow Jesus. When we choose to live our lives following Jesus, our past mistakes and sins are forgiven and we can be assured of a future life with Jesus in heaven.

Also, continue growing closer to Jesus through praying, reading, and studying your Bible. While podcasts and sermons are great, nothing can replace your own personal study of God’s Word and your own personal connection with Him.

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!