Reflective Bible Study

Part way through one of Jesus’ most famous sermons, the gospel of Matthew describes Jesus shift his attention to talk about worry, and specifically about how worry is in many ways worthless. Personally, I don’t struggle with worry as much as some others I know, but passages like the one we will be reading in this podcast have challenged me on this subject, and a little life perspective has proven Jesus’ words to be true in my own life.

Let’s read what Jesus has to say about worry. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, and we will be reading from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 25, Jesus continues by telling those present:

²⁵ “So I tell you, don’t worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. ²⁶ Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. ²⁷ You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.

Let’s pause reading here because what Jesus has just said is very profound. The last phrase of verse 25 challenges us to look at the bigger picture that “Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes”. I’m not sure if you have met anyone who stresses over what they eat and what they wear, but I know I’ve met people like this. In this phrase, Jesus draws our attention onto the big idea that life is more than food and clothing.

Intuitively we might know this, but what we eat and what we wear has the tendency to shape how we see ourselves. We have labels for the types of food we eat or don’t eat, such as vegetarian or vegan, and names for fancy diets that we might abide by. Our clothing also has labels designating what company designed and/or manufactured it. Some people really put a lot of thought and emphasis on these labels, but while the food we eat is important, it is not worth worrying about.

I think Jesus is hitting on the point that if something causes you concern, and that something is something you can do something about, then do what you can to change the thing that causes you concern. Jesus clearly states in verse 27, “You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it”. In other words, stop worrying and do something about it.

In contrast, if you cannot do anything about it, don’t focus a lot of attention onto it. Instead, focus on what you can change and improve, and be thankful for what God has blessed you with.

But Jesus isn’t finished talking about worry. He continues in verse 28 by saying:

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. ²⁹ But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. ³⁰ God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you. Don’t have so little faith! ³¹ Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. ³³ Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well. ³⁴ So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

In this passage, Jesus describes exactly what we should place our focus on, and what we should prioritize. Verse 33 opens by directly stating this. Jesus tells us to “Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants.”

This advice might sound a little simplistic, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t the truth. Some of the most profound truths are shared in very simple ways. It would be illogical for us to think that God is not aware of our needs. God knows our bodies need food and clothing. We likely do not need the most expensive food or the most glamorous clothing, but God knows what we do actually need, and He is more than happy to help us with that.

But what if we really want something that God does not appear to be blessing us with?

In my own life, when I have this thought or desire, I have to step back and ask myself, am I really seeing God’s kingdom first with this desire? While I won’t say that I have never answered yes to this question, in almost every instance, the thing I really want likely doesn’t move me or God’s kingdom forward. When I reframe my desire by looking at it from God’s kingdom perspective, I can easily see why God might not want me to have this thing.

However, God’s lack of a “yes” answer to prayer doesn’t mean His answer is always a “no”. Sometimes, God answers with a “wait” response, because He knows the timing isn’t right yet, while other times, His response is a “no, but here is something different but better in the long run”. It is up to me to trust that God knows what He is doing, and I can trust God because I know He wants me, and as many people as possible, with Him in heaven.

God wants me in heaven, He wants you in heaven, and he wants everyone in your circle of friends in heaven as well. God knows the best way to accomplish this, and we should trust Him that He knows what He is doing. Making trust a habit pushes worry out of your life. When worry is present, you may be experiencing a gap in your trust. Jesus challenges us to trust Him and not to worry, because “You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it”. (v. 27)

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

Be sure to seek God’s kingdom first and if you struggle with worry, challenge yourself to trust God more. Another word for trust is “faith”. When we have trust or faith in Jesus and/or God, we know that He is capable and willing to help us with whatever comes our way. With trust and faith in God, we know that even when huge problems come into our life, they are no match for the Creator of the Universe.

As always, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn more about God and about Jesus. I can share with you what I have learned and discovered, and I am happy to do so, but following along on my journey doesn’t mean much if you are not on a personal journey with God as well. Be sure to keep your personal connection with God strong by studying the Bible personally, because God wants to have a relationship with you.

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!

If you have ever wondered about how important forgiveness is, or if you have ever had trouble forgiving someone, in this episode’s passage, we find one of the most bothersome, but strangely practical, warnings about this difficult, challenging subject.

In my own life, for a long time, forgiveness was something I struggled with, and it impacted my family, my friends, my co-workers, and every other area of my life. Forgiveness was something I struggled with because I didn’t really understand it all that well, and also because part of me simply did not want to extend forgiveness to people who, in my mind, clearly didn’t deserve it.

Thankfully, God brought some people into my life who helped me understand what forgiveness is and what it is not, and they helped me see why forgiveness is important.

Let’s read our passage for this episode, before unpacking a little more about what forgiveness is all about. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, and we will read it using the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 14, Jesus continued teaching, saying:

¹⁴ Forgive other people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive the sins of other people, your Father will not forgive your sins.

¹⁶ “When you go without eating, do not look gloomy like those who only pretend to be holy. They make their faces look very sad. They want to show people they are fasting. What I’m about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward. ¹⁷ But when you go without eating, put olive oil on your head. Wash your face. ¹⁸ Then others will not know that you are fasting. Only your Father, who can’t be seen, will know it. Your Father will reward you, because he sees what you do secretly.

While the last portion of our passage doesn’t appear to focus on forgiveness, it is still important for us to pay attention to – and in several ways, it is relevant to our discussion about forgiveness. But before we get to how this relates to forgiveness, let’s focus in on how this passage opens.

Probably the biggest, most ominous comparison in this passage is Jesus warning about forgiveness in the first two verses of this passage. He directly says, “Forgive other people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive the sins of other people, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (v. 14-15)

This elevates the nature of forgiveness into looking dangerously close to a salvation issue. God forgiving our sins is necessary for us to be in heaven, and according to what Jesus says here, He will not forgive us when we choose to not forgive others.

So what is forgiveness?

The simplest way I know of to explain how I understand forgiveness is by using a money metaphor. If I owed you $50,000, we would say that I was in debt to you. If I could not pay the debt and you chose to forgive what was owed, then forgiveness simply means that we canceled the debt. If you refused to forgive the debt, then weeks, months, or even years might go by with my inability to pay the debt. With an open expectation of payment for this debt, we would have a huge strain on our relationship, if there was one to begin with, and the more you internalized that I owed you money, the debt would begin to change you, and eventually it would bleed over into the other areas of your life, even affecting your other relationships.

While I am not suggesting that I don’t pay my debts, I am suggesting that in many ways, forgiveness benefits the debtor more than the one in debt. By having my debt forgiven by you, I would be relieved and thankful, but you would also experience a release from the burden of trying to collect the debt from me.

In this money scenario, perhaps forgiveness might look like I pay a small percentage relative to what I have, while you forgive the rest. However, in every other area of life, forgiveness gets significantly more complicated and challenging. While forgiveness always involves releasing a debt of some type, when we look at non-monetary debts, repayment can never be full restoration.

In the Old Testament, the Jews had the saying, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” but even this concept, which stresses fair treatment and don’t do something to someone if you would not want them to return the favor, falls short of debt repayment. If someone literally poked out your eye, there is no way for them to restore your eye. Using this principle, you could injure them in the same way they injured you, but while that might make you feel satisfied, you both end up in a worse place than when you began.

In non-monetary areas, there is no way for debt repayment to happen, and if we look deeper at both monetary debts and non-monetary debts, there is no way to ever repay what was potentially lost. By not having that chunk of money, using our first example, there were ample investments that you missed out on. Losing out on other investments might not be significant in your mind, but in the non-monetary world, there is no way a parent, whether it is a father or mother, can repay for the time that was lost if they were gone for a while. A parent who has left for months or even years can return and choose to be more engaged and involved, but there is no way they can truly repay for the time that they missed while they were gone.

This is where forgiveness comes in. In many ways, it is like mentally and emotionally wiping the slate clean. It is saying something like, “I will not expect you to give me anything for how you hurt me.” It does not mean that both individuals must reconcile or restore their relationship. It is simply a release of expectation in the heart and mind of the one who feels cheated and/or like someone owes them something.

How does forgiveness and forgiving others relate to the last portion of our passage?

In the second portion of our passage, Jesus talks about doing some things for God in secret. While many people don’t often think this way, what Jesus describes in the second portion of this passage relates to forgiveness because forgiveness is mainly an internal decision. It is a point in time where one decides to cancel the debt they feel they are owed. They might tell the person who wronged them about it later, but that is less necessary.

In this way, forgiving others releases us to feel joy again. When I struggled with forgiveness, I also had anger issues. When someone irritated me, it rubbed on the hurts others had made and prompted me to react to all the pain that had added up in my past instead of to the issue at hand. Forgiveness helped me realize the extent of the past hurts, to release debts that could not be repaid, and to freely move forward with a new-found feeling of joy that I had not had in a long time.

We all are challenged and called to forgive others because God has offered us His forgiveness, and the debt we owe Him is far greater than the debt anyone owes us. While forgiving people who don’t deserve it is challenging from an emotional level, God offers us forgiveness through what Jesus did for us on the cross when we don’t deserve it. Jesus challenges us in this passage to do for others, what God has already done for us!

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. Accept God’s forgiveness for your sins by forgiving those who have hurt you. Choose to learn from the past, and aside from the lessons learned, leave everything from the past in the past, and release those who hurt you from your expectation that they will ever change. If they do, then great, but don’t let their lack of change infect your life moving forward.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue intentionally growing closer to God by praying and studying the Bible for yourself. As you study, look for examples of His love for you and the forgiveness He offers for your sins. Remember that because God has forgiven you when you don’t deserve it, He is more than happy to help you forgive others who don’t deserve it. God loves you too much to want you carrying the baggage of bitterness in your heart moving forward.

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!

Early on in the gospels, during one of Jesus’ sermons to a crowd of followers, He makes a very profound and challenging statement that sounds very much like a universal principle that’s just as true today as it was back in the first century.

Matthew records this sermon and statement, so let’s dive in and read it before unpacking how this is relevant for each of us living today. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will be reading from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, Jesus tells the crowd present:

¹ “Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you. ² So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. ³ When you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your contributions privately. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.

We’ll stop reading here because what Jesus tells us in these four short verses is too powerful and important to miss. The truth Jesus shares here is crucial for us to pay attention to and we can use it to evaluate our motives and our character.

Jesus opens this passage by warning us about where we have placed our motives. He tells us, “Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention.” (v. 1a)

Before looking at Jesus’ reason for why we shouldn’t base our good deeds on public praise, let’s take a look at why it might not be a great idea to begin with. If we focus on doing good actions for external rewards (either praise from others, or maybe even monetary compensation), we immediately set ourselves up for disappointment. Regardless of what action we do, external rewards are not guaranteed. They may be present early on, or they may be present under a certain set of circumstances, but things will always change, and external rewards by definition are based on others.

When the source of the external reward changes, or when the bar is moved, those chasing after external rewards must move too, often to more extreme or unusual activities in order to keep receiving the reward. This makes those who seek external rewards dependant on the giver of the reward, and given enough time for a habit to form, those who seek external rewards lose their freedom as they seek their rewards.

In contrast, internal rewards might not look like rewards at all, but they are more certain than external rewards. Internal rewards are rewards that we give ourselves for achieving, accomplishing, and/or behaving in a certain way. In some ways, internal rewards shape how we think of ourselves, and internal rewards help us enjoy life more.

However, does Jesus give us an internal reward or an external reward in this passage about doing good works?

Jesus tells us that those who seek attention with their actions will not be rewarded by God. In contrast, Jesus says that those who do good works or deeds privately, or we could say secretly, will be rewarded by God.

Does this then mean that God’s rewards are also external rewards? In my mind, this might be the case.

When I read this passage, I see two possible ways we can live doing good works secretly: We can either do good works secretly because we will claim God’s promise that He will reward us. This is the external reward option. Or we can do good works secretly because God recommends we do and our good works are done because we are thankful to God for everything He has done for us. This option is actually an internal reward.

In my own mind, God will honor His promise to reward us regardless of whether we internally or externally do good works for Him. Where things get tricky is how and when we will be rewarded.

When we do good secretly, we are not looking for or expecting a reward, at least in this life. The good deed is its own reward and anything above this is great but not necessary. This is doing good secretly based on being internally rewarded.

In contrast, when we do good secretly, while looking for external rewards, we then set ourselves up for disappointment if God doesn’t reward us with what we want, as quickly as we would like, or as abundantly as we would have hoped it to be.

With external rewards, there are plenty of ways for our expectations and hopes to not be met, and only one way for success. With internal rewards, there are significantly more ways for us to enjoy the rewards we get, and there is very little, if any, downside.

God has called us to live generous, grateful, and gracious lives and when we give secretly, He is more than happy to reward us. However, for our lives to be enjoyable, we shouldn’t live seeking after God’s rewards. Instead, we should live our lives doing good as a way of saying thank You to God for everything He has already done for each of us through Jesus on the cross!

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

As always challenge you to do, seek God first and live your life in a way that says Thank You to God for everything He has already blessed you with. Chances are, you have been blessed in many more ways than you are being challenged with. God works in both the blessings and the challenges, but too often, we focus too heavily on the challenges and not enough on the blessings. Take a moment to thank God for what He has blessed you with recently.

Also, be sure to study the Bible for yourself and intentionally grow closer to God and Jesus through what you learn from His Word. The best place to learn what God is like is through the Bible, and while a pastor or podcaster can help, there is nothing like learning, growing, and discovering the Bible for yourself!

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!

If you ever wondered if Jesus said something that seemed to contradict Himself, perhaps in this passage, you may find the answer. Personally, I don’t think there is a contradiction here, but when talking to or watching how the majority of Christians live today, it makes me wonder how they understand Jesus’ words in our passage.

The passage we are focusing on in this episode, is found within the large portion of Matthew’s gospel that contains Jesus famous “Sermon on the Mount”, and the part of the sermon we will be focusing in on comes after the opening “blessings” section which is often called the Beatitudes.

Following the beatitudes, Jesus shares how He wants His followers to live as examples for Him, pointing people towards God the Father. Immediately following this, our passage begins. Our passage for this episode is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, and we will read it from the New International Version. Starting in verse 17, Jesus continues preaching, saying:

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

We’ll stop reading here, even though it is tempting to continue. Following this set of verses, Jesus takes several sections of the law and elevates them exponentially. Jesus tells us in the verses that follow that the intent of the law is to guard our thoughts and our minds from doing evil – and not just giving us the excuse that the law is only relevant for our external actions.

But in the portion of Jesus’ sermon I read, there are a number of things that stand out in my mind as being interesting. The first two verses we read bring out one big thing. In these two verses, which are verses 17 and 18, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

The reason these two verses stand out is the same reason that I opened today’s episode by wondering. If you ask most Christians living today what the role of the law is, they probably would answer towards something in the past. Many would even quote Paul from Romans 6:14 that we are not under the law but under grace. Unfortunately, most Christians stop there, not realizing the point Paul was making was not a license to sin, but that we are not destined to sin.

The paradox I see in Jesus’ words is that it seems as though many believers blend the result of abolishing and fulfilling, essentially making them the same thing, but reading Jesus’ words more closely, it is easy for us to see the difference.

Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the law. Jesus parallels abolishing by using the word disappear, saying that not even the smallest portion of the law will disappear until a certain thing happens. In a potentially confusing way, Jesus actually shares two things – one before the phrase about the law and one after. “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

Jesus gives a clear time for transition, and while some people might think Jesus is using an either/or approach, I see within this verse two parallel conditions that must happen: When heaven and earth disappear, everything will have been accomplished, and before this happens, nothing will change about the significance of God’s law. We can read briefly about this event near the end of Revelation where God will make all things new and “recreate” the heaven and earth – which will ultimately restore it to perfection like He had originally done in the beginning before sin infected humanity in Eden. Jesus’ words tell us that until this happens, not the tiniest portion of the law or prophets will disappear.

Then what does it mean to fulfill? Another word we might use here is “satisfy”, or we could easily say “accomplish” which would echo the parallel idea. To fulfill, satisfy, or accomplish the law means that Jesus came to live under the law’s requirements. As Jesus lived, He walked confidently within all of the law’s requirements which then tells us that He fulfilled them. This does not mean that He erased them, because that would invalidate the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

So then, is the law still the measure of entrance into heaven? Yes.

In verse 20, Jesus tells the people, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” The law still is a measure of entrance into heaven, but it would seem as though it is not the only one.

In verse 19, we read something interesting and challenging for many people living today to accept. Between these two emphases on obeying the law, Jesus shares a short phrase that we might miss if we are not paying attention to it. Jesus says, “Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

There are two groups of teachers who are in the kingdom of heaven – and one group, while being called least, has still entered. This entrance into the kingdom of heaven is based on one thing: being under grace, which is another way of saying that we have accepted Jesus’ gift. The death Jesus faced for breaking the law when He had not done so allows Him to extend His righteous and perfect life to us. All we must do is accept the gift He gives us and we will be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus’ gift to us does not give us a license to sin. Jesus’ gift to us gives freedom from our past sins.

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

As I always open up these challenges by saying, intentionally seek God first in your life. If you have not already done so, accept the gift that Jesus offers to each of us. This one decision is the most important one you can ever make in your life, and it is the only decision you will not regret having made when looking back at your life while living with God for eternity.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself and choose to teach others about everything God has said and done for us. Don’t minimize the law’s relevance, but focus on the law through the lens of God and Jesus’ love for each of us, and share what you learn with those in your life in responsible and productive ways. At the very least, model what you learn in how you live your life so your life can be a witness for others.

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 ignore where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!