Reflective Bible Study

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, He shares a broad series of parables about God’s kingdom, and with these simple illustrations, we can discover some amazing truths about God’s kingdom. These illustrations have a way of actually showing us, regardless of the place we are in history, what God’s kingdom is like.

Both the gospels of Matthew and Luke include two short parables that are often grouped together. While many people will often default to Matthew’s gospel when reading them, let’s look at Luke’s version of these parables, and discover what we can learn about God’s kingdom through these two simple, but also profound illustrations.

We will be reading from the gospel of Luke, chapter 13, using the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 18:

¹⁸ Then Jesus said, “What is God’s kingdom like? What can I compare it with? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed that a man plants in his garden. The seed grows and becomes a tree, and the wild birds build nests in its branches.”

²⁰ Jesus said again, “What can I compare God’s kingdom with? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman took and hid in a large tub of flour until it made all the dough rise.”

We’ll stop reading here because in these two parables are several profound thoughts.

The first idea that jumps out at me when I read this is a similar theme that is present in both parables. This theme says that God’s kingdom is growing or expanding. When we look at the first parable, the mustard seed, which happens to be among the smallest seeds around, grows into a well-sized tree. In the same way, God’s kingdom started very small, and it has been growing and expanding ever since.

In a similar way, the yeast parable describes a woman hiding yeast in a tub of flower. Chances are the yeast, when it was mixed into the flower was completely hidden, but when water was added to make dough, there was no denying that the yeast was present, because the yeast made the dough rise. Just like in the first parable, the tiny amount of yeast needed might seem insignificant when compared with the whole tub of flour, but it had a disproportionate affect on the dough. This is similar to the tiny mustard seed being insignificant, and similar to God’s kingdom appearing insignificant at first, but growing and affecting the world around it.

While the theme of growth is present in both parables, and because of this, we can conclude the theme of growth is a strong theme present in God’s kingdom as well, we can uncover more themes than just this shared one tucked within each parable when looking a little closer.

In the first parable, found in verse 19, Jesus says God’s kingdom “is like a mustard seed that a man plants in his garden. The seed grows and becomes a tree, and the wild birds build nests in its branches.”

Tucked in the mustard tree’s growth is a benefit we can discover. Jesus describes how wild birds will build nests in this tree’s branches. This seems like unnecessary information if Jesus simply wanted to tell those present about the growth nature of God’s kingdom, unless Jesus shares this as a way of describing one purpose for this growth.

In the case of a mustard tree, when it is grown, it exists as a place for wild birds to build their homes and rest. The wild birds are not opposed to the existence of the tree, but instead, they value its presence. In the same way, when God’s kingdom expands and affects the world around it, I believe God meant for this expansion to be beneficial for all those involved. When Christianity comes into an area or a region, it should enhance the lives of those present, it should love those who are present, and it should be something that is so beneficial that those in the area where it exists would hate to see it leave.

With this description, I see the church having failed in many ways. There are plenty of examples of unloving Christians. I am sure you may have met one or two in your life at some point. However, I want to point out that a Christian who is not loving, generous, and genuinely interested in helping those around him or her is not actually a Christian. When Jesus Christ walked this earth, He loved others, He was generous towards those who came to Him, and He was genuinely interested in helping those around Him, and this is who He called His followers to be.

If Jesus’ followers returned to this ideal, we could eventually shake off the hate-filled, and hostile stereotype that we as a whole have been branded with. The stereotype we should aim for is one where we forgive others too many times, love and care for others in over the top ways, and put others ahead of ourselves whenever we can. If we had a stereotype like this, we would be more accurately representing Jesus in the world around us.

But let’s shift over to the other parable. In verse 21, Jesus describes God’s kingdom “like yeast that a woman took and hid in a large tub of flour until it made all the dough rise.” In this description, we see the growth and expansion being internal and hidden. When the dough is first made, it is a small clump, but with the yeast present, the dough as a whole expands. Unlike the mustard tree that grows out of the ground, the yeast affects the entire area it was placed in, which in this case is the flour, water, and other ingredients placed in the dough.

In this second parable, we see God’s kingdom growing inside of each of us and growing in a more hidden way than in the first parable. While we can see the effects of this growth, and other people can see the effects perhaps even more clearly than we can, the growth itself is hidden within us. God’s kingdom in this second parable is hidden in our hearts and lives and it changes and affects our actions and our attitudes. These new actions and attitudes towards our circumstances are evidence that something is growing in our lives, and this something is the “yeast” of God’s kingdom.

Shifting our focus back onto looking at both parables, we can see two more themes and these two themes are connected. In both parables, we see a person intentionally placing the item representing God’s kingdom into the place where it is. In the first parable, a man plants the mustard seed in his garden, and in the second parable, a woman hides the yeast in the flour.

This shared theme says that God’s kingdom is placed intentionally in places where God wants it to grow, and chances are very high that one of the places God has planted a spiritual seed for His kingdom is within your heart. This also means that when we are a part of God’s kingdom, we can know and trust that He has placed us in exactly the place we need to be, and that where we are is where He wants us to be. While we might not know why we are where we are in life, He does and we can trust that He knows best.

The second half of this shared theme is the subtle truth that both seeds and yeast need water to grow. Water helps launch a seeds growth like water activates the yeast in a bowl of flour. Without water, both the yeast and the seed would stay dormant. This means that in our own lives, we must remain connected to the source of water, we might even call this water “the living water” in order to let God’s kingdom grow and expand in our lives. We stay connected to this source of life by intentionally focusing on God and intentionally moving towards God each and every day.

The best ways I know how to move towards God is through prayer and Bible study. With that said, as we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to prioritize Bible study and prayer in your daily routine.

Also, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself. While devotionals, pastors, or podcasts are good places to start, never settle for someone else’s knowledge and relationship when God wants a personal relationship with you. This is why I always recommend that you study the Bible for yourself, and if you need help getting started, I’m happy to help get you on the right track.

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!

Often, when I am reading parts of the gospels that include Jesus teaching people, I am amazed at the simplicity and profoundness of the illustrations He used. On one hand, the illustration is so simple that even a child understands it, but on the other hand, it speaks into a deeper truth that challenges even the most savvy adults.

The short section of teaching that we are focusing in on in this podcast episode is one such place that includes both simple illustrations and difficult challenges – all within a five-verse-long passage.

We’ll be reading from the gospel of Mark, chapter 4, using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 21, Mark tells us that:

²¹ And He [Jesus] was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? ²² For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴ And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. ²⁵ For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

This passage opens with probably the most simple of illustrations. Jesus contrasts the role of a lamp and the illogical locations for it to be used. Not only does a lamp under a basket or under a bed pose a fire hazard, since lamps during that of time-period were lit with fire, but it defeats the purpose of lighting the lamp in the first place. In this introduction to Jesus’ key point, He asks the question why anyone would turn on a light, only to then hide that light from shining.

It is both simple and profound, because if we then take this thought and apply it to ourselves, Jesus is essentially saying that we must not hide ourselves. If God has made us a light, then hiding us away is very illogical. As lights pointing people to Jesus and God, He is more likely to place us on a lamp-stand, and give us a platform to shine from.

But this is where we often stop reading – but as we read further, the passage continues with a pretty significant challenge in the next verse. Verse 22 says, “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.”

One of the things my wife, and probably a number of other people close to me, will tell you is that I like giving surprises. A surprise is something that is hidden for a short period of time, and then suddenly revealed. The purpose of a surprise is to prompt some suspense and tension in anticipation of the big reveal. The purpose of a surprise is not to hide something indefinitely – but instead to draw our attention to the point in time when it is revealed.

Trying to hide something indefinitely is called a secret. A secret, whether it is one kept by a single individual, or one held by a small group of people, is different. The purpose of a secret is to remain hidden – and depending on how important it is to those wanting to keep the secret hidden, they will lie and mislead anyone and everyone from finding out.

But Jesus’ challenge is that secrets are destined to come to light. No matter how hard or how well we try to bury them, they are destined to be revealed at some point in the future.

It is as this point in our conversation where my brain asks an interesting question: Why does Jesus talk about not hiding a lamp or light in the same breath as revealing secrets?

Part of me wonders if this teaching is connected with sharing testimonies. Often times, our testimony about how our relationship with God grew comes from experiencing some form of hurt – not from God, but from something or someone that hurt us. We might have even been the person who hurt ourselves.

When something happens that causes us pain, our natural instinct is to either focus on it and on the pain while pushing others away, or it is to bury the pain and pretend that it doesn’t exist. Both of these options push the pain into hiding.

But what if the pain had a purpose? What if the pain was meant in some way to be a light to others? What if that mistake we made, and the consequences that followed, could be shared as a way of helping others avoid failing in the same way?

Perhaps Jesus is talking in these first two verses of our passage about how we are better suited to be witnesses from our failures in life rather than from the triumphs we accomplish. If so, our secrets may become our greatest testimony following the resolution and consequences that come from revealing the truth.

Moving to the last two verses in our passage, we read, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” (v. 24-25)

Jesus promises that God will return to us the actions and attitude we give others. That means if we keep secrets from others, the world will feel like it is keeping secrets from us. That also means if we are genuine, generous, and grateful, then the world will be genuine, generous, and grateful back to us.

Jesus cautions us to take care of what we pay attention to. The things we focus on will shape who we become, and once we have begun developing habits leading us in one direction, it is more difficult to change course.

Jesus wants each of us to pay attention and be intentional about who we follow – because who we follow has the power to shape who we are and who we become in the future. It is critical for us to be extra selective of the things we let into our lives because our future life depends on it.

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, intentionally seek God first in your life and intentionally focus on Jesus and what He has done for you. Jesus is the only place you can find light that leads to eternal life, and Jesus is the only One worthy of our faith, hope, trust, and belief!

Also, as I regularly challenge you by saying in one way or another, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself – and specifically focus in on the four gospels to learn more of what Jesus is like. Jesus came to show us what God the Father is like and if you have a picture of God the Father that is not the same as your picture of Jesus, then Jesus came to help fix your picture of God. Jesus wants you to know that God the Father loves you and God the Father is a big reason why Jesus faced the cross as a sacrifice for your sins!

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

While Jesus traveled around teaching and preaching, we learn early on that Jesus loved to use illustrations, metaphors, and parables while sharing truth with the crowds. However, part of me wonders if this was unusual for a teacher to do in first century Jewish culture. The reason for this thought is because of a question the disciples ask Jesus about His parables, and because they ask Jesus this question, we are able to see an amazing picture of God within Jesus’ response.

While three of the four gospels describe this event, let’s read it from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 13, using the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 10, immediately following Jesus sharing a parable with the crowd:

¹⁰ His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

¹¹ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. ¹² To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. ¹³ That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don’t really see.
    They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.

¹⁴ This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,

‘When you hear what I say,
    you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
    you will not comprehend.
¹⁵ For the hearts of these people are hardened,
    and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
    so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and let me heal them.’

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.

In Jesus’ reply, we find several interesting ideas. First, Jesus responds that His use of parables is to fulfill prophecies and predictions about His life. The Old Testament writers, specifically the prophet Isaiah, had foreshadowed Jesus coming and teaching people who would not understand His message. Isaiah’s prophecy also tells us why. Isaiah says that the hearts of the people are hardened and that they have closed their eyes.

Many of those living in the first century, including most of the religious leaders, fit this description. Whether they were more politically motivated than spiritually loving, or whether they had simply distorted their view of the Messiah that God would send into a picture that Jesus wouldn’t come close to fitting, we find many of those living in the first century rejecting Jesus.

However, while sharing this almost hopeless look at Isaiah’s prophecy being fulfilled around them, Jesus’ message also includes the remedy. It is worth noting that Isaiah’s description of how the religious leaders in the first century could miss the Messiah is a trap that anyone can fall into following Jesus’ time on earth. Yes, even people living today, thousands of years after the first century can miss Jesus by being closed minded, having hard hearts, and by closing their eyes to Him.

What then is the remedy Jesus shares?

The remedy is found in verse 12, where Jesus tells the disciples: “To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”

In this verse, we find the remedy begins by “listening” to Jesus’ teaching. In the context of this verse, listening means more than simply hearing. Jesus makes this distinction in the following verse where He says, “They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.” (v. 13b)

The challenge for everyone listening to Jesus’ message is to not simply hear it, but to actually apply it. When you “hear” something, you might remember it later if it was interesting in some way, or you could forget it hours, or even days later. In contrast, when you “listen” to something or someone, you have given them your attention and you are truly interested in what they have to say. Listening involves our concentration, and it is the first step in gaining an abundance of knowledge.

The next piece of listening to gain understanding is having our eyes open, and our hearts willing to be drawn to Jesus. When our hearts are hard, the only lasting solution is Jesus. If we listen to Jesus’ teaching with a skeptical mind, unwilling to even try following His recommendations, or even with a critical attitude looking for a way to discredit His message, then we will never truly know Jesus – and His message will not be understood. The religious leaders in the first century fell into this trap.

While many were simply willing to ignore Jesus, most of those who actually listened chose to listen with an agenda. They listened looking for reasons to criticize and discredit Jesus, and focusing on Jesus’ message in this way does not allow your heart to be drawn to Him. Listening in this way actually hardens your heart more.

The contrasting solution is to listen with an open mind and a willing heart. While having a hard heart might make it difficult to want to try Jesus’ way, the only way to fix a heard heart is to move towards Jesus and be open to His fixing, melting, or even replacing your hard heart as the case may be. In my case, I think my heart actually had to be spiritually replaced because of its hardness.

To wrap up Jesus’ solution, we are challenged to expect Jesus’ message to change your life as you focus on Him and His words. Expect to receive more knowledge, understanding, and even love for others as you listen, focus, and apply what Jesus teaches in your life. Expect to understand Jesus’ parables as you read and dwell on each of them and what they teach us about God’s kingdom, and God’s character.

We see this expectation in the last portion of the passage where Jesus tells us that those who see and listen are blessed. He tells those listening that: “blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.” (v. 16-17)

Jesus concludes by drawing our attention to the detail that many of the prophets who came earlier in history would have loved to have lived in the first century, but they didn’t. In the same way, there is part of me who would have loved to have lived in the first century to have met Jesus face to face while He was alive on earth. However, this in itself doesn’t mean that hearing or reading Jesus’ words will increase our knowledge and understanding, even though the prophets from earlier in history believed it would.

Our trust in Jesus and the expectation of more knowledge and understanding comes within His promise that we began with: “To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge.” (v. 12a)

We expect to learn from Jesus because we believe His promise and we listen to and claim His message here as a foundation for everything else we will learn, discover, see, and hear in the Bible. Jesus spoke in parables to make it easy for those who were listening to understand the truth about God, and to make it challenging for those who were simply hearing with closed hearts and minds, and/or with an agenda, to understand His message.

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

Be sure to focus on Jesus first in your life. Be sure to really listen to Him and His message in a way that prompts and challenges you to apply it into your life. While many of Jesus’ teachings don’t seem to make sense if analyzed on the front end, by testing out Jesus’ teachings in our own life with a desire to see a change, God’s way will not disappoint. I truly believe that you will discover a new picture of God.

Also, as you focus on Jesus in your life, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself. While a pastor or podcaster can give you ideas to think about, only through pray and personal Bible study will you get direct access to the Holy Spirit. While I know the Holy Spirit can teach us through other people, we limit our growth if we rely exclusively on others for God’s truth. This is why I always encourage you to personally study the Bible, because in many ways, regular prayer and Bible study is one of the more challenging habits to form and maintain.

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 be tricked into leaving where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

If you ever wished for God or Jesus to give a clear, unquestionable sign that He exists, you may find this passage interesting, or maybe even a little problematic.

While many of us have a tendency to experience doubts living over 2,000 years after Jesus was here on earth, some of us may believe that a sign from God would be nice – if only to assure us that He is still present and interested. According to what our passage for this episode says, those living during Jesus’ life on earth had their doubts and skeptical attitude, and even with Jesus present, they were interested in seeing some type of unquestionable, irrefutable sign from God.

But let’s read how Jesus answers them. Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, and we will read it using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 38, Matthew tells us:

³⁸ Then some experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign.”

³⁹ He responded, “The people of an evil and unfaithful era look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ Just as Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will stand up with you at the time of judgment and will condemn you, because they turned to God and changed the way they thought and acted when Jonah spoke his message. But look, someone greater than Jonah is here! ⁴² The queen from the south will stand up at the time of judgment with you. She will condemn you, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom. But look, someone greater than Solomon is here!

What I find amazing in Jesus’ response is that He responds counter to the “seeing-is-believing” attitude that was present in the minds of these skeptics. From the description present in this passage, Jesus knows that there will always be skeptics, and there will always be people who discount or rationalize their faith away from God. Most of these people never admit that they are simply shifting what they place their faith in, because in their minds, faith is a pointless concept.

But when we look closer at Jesus’ response, He does give these skeptical religious leaders a sign to watch for – but it was far from what they were looking for. There was a point when Jesus’ prediction about Himself came true, and He was in the grave like Jonah was in the fish. Jonah likely never even imagined His rebellion would turn into a Messianic symbol, but Jesus draws upon the key event in Jonah’s life as a symbolic representation of Himself.

Jesus then moves the focus of His response onto two events where faith was present. First, the people of Nineveh had faith in Jonah’s words – perhaps because He stank like fish or maybe because He had God at His back – and the people of Nineveh changed their ways. Interestingly enough, Jonah’s prediction did not come true because the people turned away from sin and towards God. The faith the people of Nineveh had was not based on much evidence, they simply trusted that Jonah’s words were important enough to pay attention to – even though Jonah had no previous track record of successful predictions that we are aware of for them to look back on.

Jesus’ other example is of the queen from the south. She heard rumors about Solomon, and perhaps some of these rumors seemed a little too unbelievable to be true. However, instead of writing off the rumors, she decides to investigate further to see if there was any truth in what she was hearing.

In this way, by traveling a great distance to meet someone she had only heard rumors about shows how she had great faith in those spreading the information. She was so far away that there was likely no way for her to have seen any tangible, irrefutable evidence to support the claim that Solomon was uniquely gifted in wisdom. But that didn’t stop her from making the trip to confirm or deny her curiosity.

Both the people of Nineveh and the queen from the south had enough faith in what they heard that they changed their actions and plans in light of the evidence they had. Those in Nineveh had a prophet who stank like fish, and the queen from the south had rumors, some from potentially reliable sources, but perhaps a number from some questionably reliable sources as well.

The key idea Jesus is making is that no amount of signs and miracles can convert a stubborn heart. Jesus is also sharing a key insight regarding God’s character: God is okay with individuals exercising their free will to refuse believing in Him. He doesn’t like it when people refuse those He has sent, but He is reserved enough to know that belief that is bought through spectacular, miraculous signs is cheap. Someone who follows simply because of the miracles is blessed for following, but if they never grow past the miracles themselves, then they are prime to be swept away when someone else comes who is able to perform even more spectacular signs.

It seems that God gives or allows miraculous signs to happen as a way to point us to pay attention to an individual. It is then up to us, knowing what we know about God and His character, to determine if the miracle-worker has God as his or her Source, or of they have a different spiritual force at their back.

God wants our faith and trust not simply because of miracles or signs, but because of who He is and what He is like.

As we conclude 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. Choose to follow God because of who He is and because of what Jesus showed us He is like. While other people in your circle of friends might not understand your decision, know that when you make a decision to follow God, you are looking at life from eternity’s perspective and have heaven to look forward to.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, purposefully choose to pray and study the Bible for yourself and look for how God has revealed His character in each event you read. The Bible shares more details about God and His character than we might think at first, but in order to see what God is like in the pages of the Bible, we must be intentionally on the lookout for it.

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!