Reflective Bible Study

While the gospel record focuses on Jesus’ life and the lives of those He helped and taught, periodically, a gospel writer will insert a side-note about something else that happened during Jesus’ life that wasn’t entirely connected to Jesus. Our passage for this podcast episode includes one such side-note – or in this case we could call it a “side-story”.

In a number of our episodes during this year of podcasting, we have focused in on the ministry of John the Baptist, and on how his ministry paved the way for Jesus’ ministry. However, John’s ministry was different from Jesus’ ministry, and perhaps because the gospel writers’ knew John’s ministry and Jesus’ ministries were connected, a few of them deviate from Jesus’ story to tell us what ultimately happened to John the Baptist.

Let’s read the passage and find out what happened to John the Baptist. Our passage is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter 9, and we will read it from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 14, Mark tells us that:

¹⁴ King Herod heard about Jesus, because he was now well known. Some people said, “He is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles.”

¹⁵ Others said, “He is Elijah.”

Other people said, “Jesus is a prophet, like the prophets who lived long ago.”

¹⁶ When Herod heard this, he said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has risen from the dead!”

¹⁷ Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison in order to please his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother, but then Herod had married her. ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t, ²⁰ because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a good and holy man. Also, though John’s preaching always bothered him, he enjoyed listening to John.

Let’s pause reading the passage because I want to point out two things I find interesting so far.

The first thing I find interesting about this passage is how Mark weaves John’s story into Jesus’ story through Herod’s statement when He hears about Jesus. Mark doesn’t break from Jesus’ story without giving us a transition to let us know a brief summary of what had prompted John the Baptist to end up in prison, and, as we will soon read, what eventually lead to John’s head being detached from his body.

The other statement that stood out to me in this section of the passage is the last portion of verse 20, where Mark tells us, “. . . though John’s preaching always bothered him [and this is king Herod], he enjoyed listening to John.”

This statement probably stands out for similar reasons as the other one, because it tells me that John’s preaching was intriguing enough to be interesting and enjoyable, but truthful enough to make the region’s leadership uncomfortable. From how Mark frames John the Baptist’s preaching, we can conclude that John was an excellent communicator who knew how to share a message in a way that taught truth while also being engaging to those who were listening.

Let’s continue reading from verse 21 and learn what happened to John the Baptist:

²¹ Then the perfect time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. On Herod’s birthday, he gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and the people eating with him.

So King Herod said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ He promised her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you—up to half of my kingdom.”

²⁴ The girl went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask for?”

Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.”

²⁵ At once the girl went back to the king and said to him, “I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.”

²⁶ Although the king was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent a soldier to bring John’s head. The soldier went and cut off John’s head in the prison ²⁸ and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s followers heard this, they came and got John’s body and put it in a tomb.

While King Herod disliked John, he knew that killing John was not wise politically, because John had a decent level of support still among the Jews living in his region, but Herod’s wife hated John because of John’s stance that their marriage was not acceptable or as the passage puts it in verse 18: “lawful”.

However, the queen found her opening through a somewhat blind, open-ended, blank check that Herod gave to her daughter following a dance. Before continuing further, I won’t claim to know what sort of dance this would have been to have pleased Herod so much that he would be willing to part with half his kingdom, but chances are high that he was drunk and this significantly limited his ability to reason that a promise of this nature was a bad idea.

However, Herodias and her daughter were not drunk, and the queen was very quick and calculated in her response through her girl. As I say this, I can’t help but notice that this passage makes a clear distinction that the girl who danced before Herod was Herodias’ daughter, which probably meant that this was a product of Herodias’ marriage to Herod’s brother Philip. This would make the girl who is not named in this passage Herod’s niece. This detail in part explains her loyalty to her mother that was greater than her loyalty to the king.

However, even with all the nuances within the details of this passage, we cannot help but stumble upon some big truths worth paying attention to in this passage. Through the details we know about the end of John’s life, we can discover and learn both a warning and a promise.

The warning comes from Herod’s perspective. This warning is a warning to be cautious about the words that we speak and the promises we make. We may back ourselves into a corner if we are not careful, which results in us pushing ourselves to do something we really didn’t want to do.

However, the promise we can learn in this passage comes from John’s perspective. The promise we discover is that regardless of what happens to my body in this life, God has promised full protection for my future life with Him. While nothing can happen in my present life that He has not allowed, I can understand that whatever happens to me in the present life is insignificant when compared to the future life He has promised me.

With this warning and promise stated, and as we have 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. Remember the warning and the promise that we can learn from Herod and from John. Purposefully be cautious of the words you say and the promises you make, and remember that with whatever happens to you in this life, God has promised protection in your future life as a follower of Jesus.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do in one way or another, make prayer and personal Bible study a regular habit. Always pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn what being a follower of Jesus really means. Through studying the Bible, discover who Jesus is and why following Him is important! You won’t get a better answer or reason to follow Jesus than what is found when looking at His life within the Bible and the four gospels.

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!

Part of me wonders about the faith component that many of the gospel writers attach to the healing miracles Jesus performed. Some miracles seem to place faith needing to be present from those Jesus healed. Other miracles happen seemingly from the faith of some friends of the person needing healing. Still other miracles seem to avoid listing anything about faith, but they simply happen because Jesus wants them to happen.

Looking at all the gospels, and all the different times Jesus healed people, we get a very broad picture of the ways that Jesus healed and the circumstances surrounding the healing. About the only common denominator is Jesus, but even He isn’t the common denominator because we read about Him sending His followers out in pairs and they are able to perform miracles and healing too.

However, in our passage for this episode, there is a subtle clue about what the common denominator is in all these Biblical miracles, and when we understand this common denominator, it will help us understand God’s character better.

Let’s read the passage and uncover it. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 9, and we will it read from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 27, Matthew tells us:

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ²⁸ When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” ²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.

³² As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. ³³ After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” ³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

While this passage contained two very different miracles, several things we just read caught my attention.

First off, when looking at these two miracles we see almost two completely different sets of ingredients. The first miracle, which was the healing of the two blind men, Jesus ties the miracle to the blind men’s faith in Him. The blind men had followed Jesus requesting healing, and we don’t know how far they traveled with Him crying out for Jesus to heal them. These blind men seeking healing demonstrate a significant amount of faith in Jesus because their persistence was evidence of their faith, and it directly lead to their eyesight being restored.

If we only look at this first miracle, we might conclude that the people being healed must have faith in Jesus – but when we look at the second miracle, we know almost nothing about the man being healed. However, there are some clues to indicate what ingredients were present.

In the second miracle, if we look closely, we read that the mute, demon-possessed man “was brought to [Jesus]” (v. 32) The man could see just fine, and He probably could have navigated his way to find Jesus on His own, but perhaps the demon-possession would not allow him to move that way. Maybe the man wanted healing, maybe the man had faith in Jesus, maybe the man asked some friends to take him to see Jesus, but with all these “maybe” statements, we are assuming more than the passage directly tells us.

Assuming from the opposite direction, perhaps the man was skeptical, perhaps he didn’t have any faith, perhaps the demon-possession was so strong that the friends had to restrain and drag the man to Jesus. None of this set of statements are included in the passage either, so thinking them would also be assuming something is present in this event that the passage does not directly tell us.

In this second miracle, our passage shares three facts about this man being healed: the man’s disability, which was muteness; the root cause of this muteness, which was demon-possession; and that the man “was brought” to Jesus, which meant that he did not come on his own. We know nothing else from this passage about the setup for this miracle. However, even with the seemingly lack of details, we still have a clue regarding faith: Someone had to have faith in Jesus to have brought the man to see Him. Whether the demon-possessed man had faith but needed help traveling, or the individuals who brought the man to Jesus had faith, faith was demonstrated by at least one person in the act of this man being brought to Jesus for healing.

The blind men demonstrate they had faith because they searched for and found Jesus and then they wouldn’t leave Him alone until they were healed. On the other hand, the mute man may have had faith that lead Him to seek help finding Jesus, or perhaps it was the faith of his friends, family, or neighbors that prompted His encounter with Jesus.

Faith is an ingredient in these two miracles, with it being clearly visible in the first miracle, and hinted at in the second miracle.

Secondly, it would be bad to skip over another obvious similarity between these two miracles – which is simply that both miracles were connected to Jesus’ ministry. Jesus was there for both of these miracles and He is connected to all of God’s miracles – whether He was present in person, or whether He was asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit to help in a specific situation.

I should emphasize that I said God’s miracles in the previous statement. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are not the only spiritual force behind miracles. Following the second miracle, we see a clear dividing line present in the reaction to what Jesus was doing.

The passage concludes in verses 33 and 34 by saying, “the crowds were amazed, and were saying, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.’ ³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, ‘He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.’”

This brings us to the clear test we can use to determine the source of the miracle: If the miracle leads us to strengthen our faith in God, Jesus, and/or the work of the Holy Spirit, then the miracle was from God. If the miracle leads us to place our faith in anything else, then there is a different spiritual force working behind the miracle.

With how this passage concludes, I can see why Jesus never performed miracles specifically for the Pharisees or Jewish leaders. The religious leaders openly stated their belief that the source of Jesus’ miracles was from the ruler of demons.

I suppose in looking at Jesus’ ministry, and at His miracles, one could choose to conclude either way. It is technically possible that Jesus could have used either spiritual force for many, but not all, of His healing miracles. However, to understand which force Jesus actually did use, each of us must personally read the gospel record to see Jesus’ character revealed – and then following this, we must make up our mind regarding who Jesus is for us.

If Jesus actively pointed people towards God in His ministry, then God is behind His ministry. However, if Jesus drew people away from God, as the Pharisees claimed, then God would not be supportive of Jesus’ ministry, leaving Jesus to be dependent on the other source. Only by reading the gospels for yourself can you know, for yourself, how to answer this dilemma.

The Pharisees saw Jesus as an impostor, while the crowd believed Him to be someone sent by God into the world.

With this said, 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 telling you, intentionally seek God first in your life. If you have not studied Jesus’ life or decided for yourself who He really is, choose to do so this coming week! Reading the gospels from beginning to end doesn’t take much time, and reading them like four letters from start to finish helps you see a clearer picture of what He was really like. Almost no one reads the gospels as one long letter or message, but those who do will second my claim that reading a whole gospel letter in one sitting paints a powerful picture of Jesus.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue to pray and to read the gospels for yourself instead of taking my word or someone else’s word for it. When eternity is at stake, what are a few hours of reading to discover for yourself the truth about the Jewish Carpenter named Jesus who ultimately divided history and humanity.

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!

Of all the events in the gospels, one event rises to the top when we look for miraculous events where Jesus displays an amazing level of trust. If you have ever wondered if Jesus lived out His faith, the passage we are focusing in on in this episode is a perfect example – and one that left a deep impression on all of Jesus’ disciples for the rest of their lives.

In the event we are focusing on in this episode, Jesus has just finished preaching, and He and the disciples decide to cross over the lake. This lake crossing is included in three of the four gospels, because something significant happens during it. Let’s read about this event from the gospel of Mark, chapter four, using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 35, Mark tells us:

³⁵ That evening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side.”

³⁶ Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus along in a boat just as he was. Other boats were with him.

³⁷ A violent windstorm came up. The waves were breaking into the boat so that it was quickly filling up. ³⁸ But he was sleeping on a cushion in the back of the boat.

So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

³⁹ Then he got up, ordered the wind to stop, and said to the sea, “Be still, absolutely still!” The wind stopped blowing, and the sea became very calm.

⁴⁰ He asked them, “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith yet?”

⁴¹ They were overcome with fear and asked each other, “Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Every time I read this event, I am amazed at Jesus. The boat they were in was not big, nor was it all that stable, and Jesus is able to sleep through a storm that the expert-fishermen-disciples believe they will die in. During the worst storm these disciples had ever experienced, Jesus is at the back of the boat, sleeping – even though the fierce wind was blowing on Him, and wave after wave of water was splashing over the side of the boat onto Him.

Not only does this tell you Jesus could at times be a deep, deep sleeper, it tells us something else that is amazing about Jesus’ faith in God.

Jesus had complete trust in God and His protection for His life. Jesus knew the prophecies, and He knew the path that God had placed in front of Him to walk down. This path led to death on the cross. Jesus knew that until facing the arrest in Jerusalem on that future Passover weekend, His life was protected – which means that regardless of what happened, His life was secure.

This complete faith in God allowed Him to sleep while everyone who was with Him was in a panic.

The storm got so bad, and the disciples began to realize that Jesus wasn’t waking up to help, so they make their way to the back of the boat to wake Him up saying, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to die?” (v. 38b)

The disciples probably expected Jesus to help them pitch water out of the boat or give them some reassurance that they would survive this storm, but instead, Jesus does something they did not expect: He addresses the storm itself.

What at first was a desperate cry for help from Jesus because they were scared of the storm became a fear of Jesus after they realized that even the weather obeyed Him. Without even breaking a syllable, following commanding the storm to cease, Jesus turned to His disciples with the questions, “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith yet?”

Some translations choose not to call the disciples cowards but translate Jesus’ first question as simply “Why are you afraid?” Perhaps His question was aimed at their new fear in what Jesus just did, or perhaps it was aimed the disciples fear of the storm.

In either case, we learn something amazing about God. In the storms that life brings our way, they have had to pass through God’s filter of protection. This means that any- and every-thing that happens has been passed through a God-filter. God doesn’t filter all bad things from happening, because it is when we face challenges that our faith, trust, and character grow, but He does filter the senseless and meaningless bad from occurring.

In other words, if something happens to us in this life, God has an idea for how we can turn the pain into a stepping stone. Perhaps it is something that opens up a connection with someone God wants to reach, or maybe it gives us a shared experience that we can use when talking with someone God loves who has drifted away, or even maybe it is something that is intended to knock us out of our rut of complacency. If we become too comfortable and cease fulfilling our mission, God seems to send us things in order to wake us up.

I don’t claim to have all the answers for why bad things happen to us, except to say that we live in a world full of free choice and evil actions. What we see happening around us doesn’t always make sense, because we are only seeing it from half a perspective.

The event we just read teaches us about how God works through the storms of life. God didn’t keep the storm from happening to Jesus and the disciples, but He protected them all through it. Perhaps the disciples waited longer than they should have to ask Jesus for help, but they ultimately realized they needed Him. When the disciples finally asked for help, Jesus helps in a way that they were not expecting.

However, the big truths I see displayed in Jesus actions are a complete trust in God’s protection, and an extraordinary example of the power of faith.

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. When storms happen in our lives, keep your faith and trust in God’s protection, and turn to Him first for help leading you through it. Sometimes God will silence the storm, whereas other times He will walk with you through it.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do in one way or another, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn how God always protects His people through the trials and challenges they face. In the events of the Bible, sometimes God protects us from the bad that could happen, sometimes God walks with us through it, and sometimes God uses it to wake us up from our spiritual sleep. From the events of the Bible, discover that everything happening today, regardless of its level of good or evil, has a purpose and plan from God’s perspective, even if we cannot see it from our perspective. Trust that God knows what He is doing and that He wants to use whatever happens for His glory in order to save as many people as He can for eternity!

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!

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!