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!

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!

As we make our way through the week of the crucifixion, I am amazed at how Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to Him, and the time frame that it would happen. While it’s easy to dismiss this knowledge by saying that Jesus is God and He knows everything, part of me wonders if His knowledge was because of His divinity, or perhaps instead it was because of His study into prophecy or His close relationship with the Father.

Whatever the source of Jesus’ knowledge about His life, it would seem that His timetable took precedence even over the plans of the religious leaders who would hand Him over to death.

Our passage for this episode draws out this contrast, and it shows how Jesus predicted what would happen while the religious leaders plotted a different timeframe for their plan. Matthew points this out in his gospel at the beginning of chapter 26. Starting in verse 1 and reading from the New Century Version, Matthew tells us that:

¹ After Jesus finished saying all these things, he told his followers, ² “You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be crucified.”

³ Then the leading priests and the elders had a meeting at the palace of the high priest, named Caiaphas. ⁴ At the meeting, they planned to set a trap to arrest Jesus and kill him. ⁵ But they said, “We must not do it during the feast, because the people might cause a riot.”

Here in these verses we see a contrast. On one hand, Jesus predicted the exact day of His arrest as the Passover feast day and the method He would be killed as crucifixion – which was a form of death reserved for Roman use.

In contrast, the religious leaders set up a meeting to discuss setting a trap for Jesus, but they all agreed that it would be best to not arrest Him during the feast because the people might cause a riot.

This passage points out two contrasting plans. We have Jesus sharing God’s timetable and His prediction, and we have the religious leaders plotting something different.

While I don’t know what would have happened had Judas Iscariot not chosen to betray Jesus, the religious leaders’ plan changes several verses later when an unlikely ally joins their cause. Jumping down to verse 14, we read:

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve apostles, Judas Iscariot, went to talk to the leading priests. ¹⁵ He said, “What will you pay me for giving Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty silver coins. ¹⁶ After that, Judas watched for the best time to turn Jesus in.

In this unlikely ally, the religious leaders now would follow Judas’ lead. On one hand, this gave Judas an incredible opportunity to help keep Jesus one step ahead of the ultimate traps of the religious leaders, but that wasn’t what was truly in Judas Iscariot’s heart.

Judas chose to betray Jesus after Jesus praises Mary for her sacrificial use of some expensive perfume and it bothered Judas that so much money was spent on Jesus like that. John clues us into Judas Iscariot not being upset because of the perfume itself, but because he was the keeper of the disciples’ money and he would often help himself to it.

The supposed waste of perfume was a stab against Judas’ greed because he only saw it as being something valuable that he could steal a portion of.

When Jesus praised Mary and challenged Judas on this point, Judas made up his mind to betray Jesus. In this event, we see Judas react in a childish and emotional way, because if He cannot get a portion of the value of the perfume, he will take a lesser amount of money in order to teach Jesus a lesson.

Regardless of all the times Jesus predicted His death, His crucifixion, and even the exact time this would happen, Judas still believed that Jesus wouldn’t go through with death. In his mind, Judas was willing to sell Jesus out to teach Jesus a lesson, but that was because Judas believed Jesus would simply outsmart His way out of arrest and death one more time.

When Jesus didn’t and followed the path straight to the cross, Judas realized that he was solely responsible – and the guilt led him to commit suicide.

But in reality, while Judas Iscariot holds some of the responsibility for Jesus’ death, if Judas had not rebelled against Jesus because he got his feelings hurt, something else would have happened to bring about Jesus’ arrest. This is because Jesus didn’t die at the hand of Judas Iscariot, or even at the hand of the religious leaders. Even though Roman soldiers attached Him to the cross, that detail did not kill Jesus either.

Jesus’ death came because He took on the sins of the entire human race – everyone who came before Him and everyone who would come afterwards. This means that Adam’s sin, Noah’s sin, Abraham’s sin, Moses’ sin, the Israelites’ sin, the disciples’ sin, the Crusaders’ sin, and even the sin of the evil dictators throughout history all placed Jesus on that cross. Your sin and my sin are also included.

The cross is much bigger than one person betraying Jesus, or even a group of religious leaders plotting His death. In this passage we discover that God’s plan always plays out regardless of our plans. This is because God has all the information and we do not. It is also because God is all powerful and we are not.

In our own lives, we can take Jesus’ sacrifice and either let it define who we are, or we can ignore it as a sad event from the past. If we ignore it, the only hope we have is in ourselves and in our own ability. However, if we let Jesus’ sacrifice define us, we realize that it was only through Jesus’ death that we are able to gain a new life with God – a life that starts today and extends into eternity.

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 in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life and chose to let Jesus’ sacrifice define you. This means putting your hope, faith, and trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross. Let the powerful news of His death for you impact your heart and your life.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, keep these events fresh in your mind by regularly and prayerfully reading about Jesus’ crucifixion week from the gospel record. When we keep Jesus’ death and resurrection fresh in our minds, it helps reframe our daily lives and challenges into being something not nearly as significant in God’s big picture. Focusing on Jesus helps eliminate worry from our lives and it brings peace into our hearts.

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!

Tucked within the gospel of Luke is a profound challenge Jesus shares with His followers. This message isn’t just for those who lived over 2,000 years ago. However surprising this will sound, the message Jesus shares is just as relevant for us living today as it was back then. But before we get to Jesus’ challenge for us, let’s take a moment and think about how life is for those of us living today.

While I cannot speak for you, I can tell you that in recent years, my life has gotten significantly busier, and now more than ever, I have tons of things on my mind and my to-do list. Maybe you can relate. For many people, it might feel as though life is spinning out of control, and you are just trying to stay afloat.

Not to give you one additional thing to worry about, Jesus steps into the craziness we face in our lives today with a message. This message is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 21 and we will be reading out of the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 34, Luke tells us Jesus said:

³⁴ Don’t spend all of your time thinking about eating or drinking or worrying about life. If you do, the final day will suddenly catch you ³⁵ like a trap. That day will surprise everyone on earth. ³⁶ Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you.

Jesus’ message in this passage might sound like one more thing to add to your to-do list, and if so, perhaps you misunderstood what He was saying.

In this passage, Jesus is actually challenging us to shift our perspective. The perspective Jesus wants us to focus on doesn’t ignore this life; instead it frames the focus of this life. Jesus isn’t callous to our crazy lives, but He does want to give our lives purpose and meaning.

The challenge Jesus gives is simple and profound. Jesus’ challenge for us is to carve out a portion of time when you intentionally will NOT worry about what you will eat, drink, or do with your life. This challenge states that during this portion of time, we must pray and prepare our hearts for His return.

Let’s read the challenge again:

³⁴ Don’t spend all of your time thinking about eating or drinking or worrying about life. If you do, the final day will suddenly catch you ³⁵ like a trap. That day will surprise everyone on earth. ³⁶ Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you.

Tucked in this challenge is a warning as well. The warning says that if we don’t pay attention to the big picture, the final day will catch us off guard like a trap. The final day will surprise everyone on earth.

Implied in this warning is that when Jesus does return, it will surprise everyone because no one will be paying attention or looking for it. While I imagine there will be some people who are paying attention, they will be so few in number that it may simply feel like everyone on earth is surprised.

Also suggested in this statement is the idea that no one will know when the final day will be. If the final day surprises everyone, then that also says that no one will have correctly identified the day beforehand. This is a challenge to those who set dates to focus their energy and study on something else.

While date setting might seem relevant in a person’s mind, it really isn’t. To help illustrate what I mean, let me give you an example from when I was younger and in college.

During the summer between my second and third year, or my third and fourth year (I don’t remember which), one of my closer acquaintances died. While I wasn’t good friends with this girl, I had dated one of her friends, and I had worked on some projects with her over the previous years. Her death came as a surprise to everyone, and while I didn’t research into the cause, when I heard the news the cause was unknown. It was as though she went to sleep and never woke up.

There was no “accident” or event that we could say that her life was cut short by the world when it should have been longer. In some ways, this would be easier to wrestle with. Instead, it is as though her time on earth had come to an end while she was only in college. This girl was a spiritual role model at the college I attended, and had she died during the school year, it would have shook the campus more than it did with her death happening during the summer.

When we bring this event into the challenge Jesus gives all of us to be ready and to avoid setting dates, I can speak confidently that unless something crazy and out of character changed in this college-mate’s life, she was living a life that was ready for Jesus’ return.

The challenge with setting dates is that if we set a date that is far in the future, it tempts us to be lazy with our spiritual lives today, but the reverse is also true. If we set the date of tomorrow, or even at the end of next week, it could shift our decisions as that date draws closer, and that could negatively impact us when Jesus doesn’t return on the date we picked.

However, like I learned in a much more real way, date setting only works when it is 100% accurate – which according to Jesus’ words here in Luke is not possible for us – and in addition to being 100% accurate, we must also be alive to witness the second coming as well. In every other case, date setting is worthless. Since it is not possible for us to know the date Jesus will return, our energy should be spent elsewhere.

But don’t let our energy shift towards worrying about our lives here on earth. Instead, shift that energy towards watching, praying, and preparing for the day when our time on earth will end – either because we have died in this life, or because Jesus has returned to put an end to sin.

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, always seek God first and place Him first in your life. Choose to carve out time each day to focus on Him and not about the craziness and busyness that we all face in our lives today.

Also, as I always challenge you to do in one way or another, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to intentionally grow your relationship with Him on a personal level. When our last day on earth comes, the only thing that will matter is the state of our relationship with God.

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!