Reflective Bible Study

If I were to think about the whole story of the Bible and look closely at its plotline, I would probably conclude the climax of the entire Bible is the moment where Jesus gives His last breath. While the resurrection that happened at the end of that weekend is one of the most exciting and earth-shattering events, the whole salvation plan rests on Jesus laying down His life and dying for humanity. The sacrifice Jesus made for us is way more than we can truly comprehend, and because of this, the crucifixion marks the climax of God’s salvation plan.

Our passage for this week covers the exact moment Jesus gives His last breath. All four gospels include this moment, and each gospel has unique details about this event that the others don’t include. All four gospels also include many details that convey a lot of meaning. While I’d love to cover all the details and nuances in each of the gospels that record the final moments of Jesus’ crucifixion, we don’t have enough time, and I truly don’t believe I know or even realize all the nuances that the gospel writers bring into this part of their record.

But with that said, I will touch on some things I see from one of the gospel writers. The gospel of Mark, gives a good overall picture of the last hours and minutes of Jesus’ death. Using the God’s Word translation, let’s read Mark, chapter 15, starting in verse 33:

³³ At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ At three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

³⁵ When some of the people standing there heard him say that, they said, “Listen! He’s calling Elijah.” ³⁶ Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar. Then he put it on a stick and offered Jesus a drink. The man said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”

Pausing briefly while reading this, we see a picture given of the last minutes Jesus was alive. Darkness had covered the land, and it might have appeared as though darkness had won. Jesus cries out a phrase giving us a clue into what He was thinking and feeling. The darkness and the coldness of death approaching had overshadowed Jesus from feeling God’s presence with Him. This possibly was the only time Jesus ever experienced the feeling of being outside of God’s presence, and this made the final hours on the cross feel like Jesus was truly alone.

However, I am positive that Jesus was not alone, because in the moments when Jesus was hanging on the cross unable to feel God’s presence, it would not be a stretch to think Satan was there casting doubts into His mind. Satan was likely casting doubts about Jesus’ sacrifice not being enough and that it wouldn’t be accepted or appreciated by a single human being. Satan possibly even tormented Jesus into thinking that God tricked Him into dying and that God’s absence meant that God was rejecting Him.

While none of Satan’s lies were even close to being true, I’m sure that Satan used his strongest temptations during the moments when Jesus could not feel God’s presence with Him.

As Jesus was nearing death, He cried out His final prayer and question to God. Perhaps this was because He was becoming delirious because of blood loss, or maybe Satan’s temptations were getting to Him.

Whatever the reason, the Hebrew word for God used here is “Eloi” which also sounds like the name Elijah. This prompts people who were present to think Jesus was calling Elijah to come help Him when that wasn’t the message at all.

Perhaps this cry, and the one that followed it, signaled the end and it drew the crowd of onlookers to pay attention because in the next two verses, we read the climax of the salvation plan. Picking back up in verse 37, we read:

³⁷ Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died. ³⁸ The curtain in the temple was split in two from top to bottom.

³⁹ When the officer who stood facing Jesus saw how he gave up his spirit, he said, “Certainly, this man was the Son of God!”

In these two verses we just finished reading, Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died, and at that exact instant, the curtain in the temple that separated the holy place from the most holy place split in two from top to bottom. It was like an angel dove to earth and ripped the thick, ornate, multiple-layers-thick curtain into two sections like it was a single sheet of paper.

The curtain splitting is symbolic of an accepted sacrifice, and it draws our attention to Jesus’ sacrifice being enough to satisfy and fulfill the whole Jewish sacrificial system. The sacrificial system in Jewish law was set up to foreshadow Jesus’ death, and while it is possible that only Jesus had actually made the connection at the time of His death, thousands of people following the resurrection would learn the symbolism after Jesus helped the disciples understand it.

However, the detail about the curtain splitting in the temple is a side-note that is added. That happened several miles away from the cross. At the moment Jesus gave up His spirit, the reaction of a Roman officer present summed up the conclusion of everyone present. This officer said to those around him, “Certainly, this man was the Son of God!”

From one of the most secular people present at the crucifixion, and likely one of the least likely to believe in Jesus, comes what is probably the most profound statement in the entire Bible. The Roman officer states without any doubt that Jesus was God’s own Son.

This officer’s declaration incriminates all those who pushed for Jesus’ arrest, trial, and death. From Judas, to the chief priests and religious leaders, to Pilate who was responsible even if he didn’t want to take responsibility, and to the guards who were following orders, after the dust had settled from this event, there was no doubt that Jesus was innocent, and that God’s Son had just been crucified.

However, while this is the climax of the salvation plan, we are ending this podcast on a sad note. At the moment this passage ends, it seems like all hope is lost.

But we know what happens next in the story. We know that just days later, the resurrection would happen – but those alive at this point didn’t realize this.

So as we conclude our podcast episode for this week, probably the biggest key that we can all take away is this: Even when it seems like all hope is gone and that evil is winning, know that victory is just around the corner and that Jesus ultimately triumphs. Even if at times it seems like Satan has the upper hand, Satan’s achievements are short lived because Jesus’ death marked God’s ultimate victory over sin.

Instead of leaving us with the typical closing challenges, let me close by simply challenging each of us to intentionally choose Jesus when we face times of hopelessness, and know that God is with us and He loves us when we are going through dark times and dark places in our lives.

While reading Matthew’s gospel not too long ago, I ran across a powerful metaphor that I had never seen before. Thinking this metaphor may have been a typo in the translation I was reading, I cross-checked the verses in question with some other Bible translations. About half or a little over half included the idea that stood out to me, while the others simplified their translations by leaving out one key word.

I don’t fault the translators who dropped this word from their versions, mainly because it makes reading the passage a little smoother and it makes Matthew’s gospel match the other gospels. However, I am really glad for the translators who chose to include this unique detail Matthew included because it sets the stage for a powerful contrast and a powerful metaphor for everyone living throughout history.

To set up the event in our passage and our place in the gospel story, we have arrived at crucifixion morning, and the Jewish leaders have brought Jesus to Pilate to be sentenced to death. All the disciples, except for maybe John, have deserted Jesus and gone off into hiding. At this point in the weekend, Peter had already denied Jesus and all that is left is handing Jesus over to be crucified.

While all four gospels include unique versions of what happened, like I alluded to at the start of this episode, our passage for this episode comes from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, and we will read it using the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 15, Matthew tells us that:

¹⁵ It was the governor’s practice at the Passover Feast to let one prisoner go free. The people could choose the one they wanted. ¹⁶ At that time they had a well-known prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to set free? Jesus Barabbas? Or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” ¹⁸ Pilate knew that the leaders wanted to get their own way. He knew this was why they had handed Jesus over to him.

I want to pause reading here to draw our attention onto this powerful metaphor. Most every time I have read or heard the crucifixion story, the subtle detail that Barabbas was also known as a “Jesus” gets left out.

But when we read the crucifixion event with this detail included, it makes for a powerful metaphor in what Pilate challenged the people present with. In essence, Pilate says, “Choose your Jesus. Do you want Jesus Barabbas, the self-proclaimed messiah who is the military leader you believe the messiah to be, or do you want Jesus, who others call the Messiah or Christ, the one many believe has been sent from God?”

Pilate is no pushover, and he is entirely aware of why the religious leaders handed Jesus Christ over to him for crucifixion.

While this was all happening, Matthew tells us another interesting detail. Continuing in verse 19, we read,

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him a message. It said, “Don’t have anything to do with that man. He is not guilty. I have suffered a great deal in a dream today because of him.”

²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders talked the crowd into asking for Barabbas and having Jesus put to death.

Pausing again in our reading, we see two events happening simultaneously. First Pilate gives the challenge, before taking a brief break to look at the message from his wife. While Pilate is reading the message, the chief priests and elders spread the message through their crowd of supporters to ask for Barabbas, the self-proclaimed, human, military “messiah”.

Continuing in verse 21, Pilate returns to his seat and restates the question:

²¹ “Which of the two do you want me to set free?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

²² “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³ “Why? What wrong has he done?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴ Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere. Instead, the crowd was starting to get angry. So he took water and washed his hands in front of them. “I am not guilty of this man’s death,” he said. “You are accountable for that!”

²⁵ All the people answered, “Put the blame for his death on us and our children!”

²⁶ Pilate let Barabbas go free. But he had Jesus whipped. Then he handed him over to be nailed to a cross.

In this passage, the religious leaders chose their Jesus, and they chose the Jesus who didn’t present a challenge to their way of life. These leaders and elders walked a thin line of support, choosing to support the government to keep the peace, but secretly supporting military initiatives that might allow for them to break free from Roman occupation.

Jesus, who was called the Christ, clearly was not Someone who fit into the first-century religious leaders’ mold for a military leader to overthrow the Romans, but Jesus-Barabbas appeared to fit their mold.

While Pilate claims innocence over Jesus’ death, what the people answer is just as powerful as our metaphor about picking between two Jesus’. The crowd answers in unison: “Put the blame for his death on us and our children!”

The people shouting were Jewish leaders of all ranks and backgrounds. However, they represent all Jews and Gentiles when they say these words. Their words represent everyone in history who has ever sinned. For everyone who has sinned since the beginning of time, we all have the blame for Jesus’ death on our hands. While the leaders appear to speak for themselves and their families taking on the blame, we all are responsible as well.

But an interesting double meaning is present in the more literal translation of the crowd’s words. In this verse of Matthew, but instead reading from the New American Standard Bible translation, the crowd responds by saying, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”

Within the Bible, the concept of blood is not only literal, but also metaphorical. In the Bible, blood is a metaphor for life, and when the crowd said this, while they were taking the blame for Jesus’ death, they were also, unknowingly, requesting Jesus’ life to cover theirs. It is only through the metaphor of Jesus’ blood and sacrifice covering our sins that we can ever hope to achieve salvation.

We cannot save ourselves. But Jesus’ perfect life, sacrifice, and blood make it possible for us to experience salvation when we put on His life instead of ours. In a subtle way, the crowd demanding for Jesus’ crucifixion shares one of the most powerful metaphors in the whole Bible regarding how humanity can experience salvation.

So from this passage, we discover that we must choose the right Jesus. Will we choose a Jesus who is self-made, focused on self-exaltation, and who tries to push his own way? Or will we choose a Jesus who is selfless, who focused on building others up, and who died even though He was not guilty to open up the way for us to be saved? Just like the Jewish leaders faced the question, we also face the question as well.

We all share the blame for Jesus’ death because we have all sinned. But even with that stated, Jesus is willing to cover us with His blood – which is a symbol of His perfect life – when we place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him.

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

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally place Jesus Christ first in your life. While I’m sure most of us listening to this podcast have chosen Jesus Christ over Jesus Barabbas, the challenge I want to begin with is to look at your motivation for this choice. Are you motivated by what you can get, build, do, or achieve? Another way of asking this is if your decisions are based on building yourself up? If so, you may be subtly choosing Jesus Barabbas over Jesus Christ. If this is the case, let the challenge for this episode be to shift your motivation over to being more Christ-like – which is selfless and based on helping build others up. Jesus gave up everything for you and I – and He has called us to focus on being like Him.

Also, as I always challenge you in one way or another, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself, and work on building up that personal relationship with God. While group relationships with God are important, so are personal relationships. If you have let either your personal relationship with God get crowded out through busyness, or if you have neglected joining with others in a bigger group relationship with God, let this episode also be a challenge to focus more intentionally on the area that is struggling the most.

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!

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 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!