Reflective Bible Study

As Jesus wraps up talking with His disciples on the night He was betrayed and arrested, Jesus repeats His prediction that they all would abandon Him before the night has finished. While many times throughout Jesus’ ministry, He said some challenging things that caused people to leave Him, every time people left Him prior to this night, some people always stuck with Him. However, on the night Jesus was betrayed, He predicts a different outcome, and that outcome is that all of His followers would abandon Him.

Everyone can look in their past back and identify a point when you have felt abandoned or betrayed. If you think that your life up to this point has not faced this type of rejection, then I would be worried, not because you are fooling yourself, but instead, because you are either living alone, apart from everyone, or abandonment and/or betrayal is coming at some point in your future. However, while feeling abandoned or rejected feels horrible, you are definitely not alone in feeling this way.

I’ll be the first to say that I have felt this way in the past, at more points in time than I would have liked, and I imagine in some way, shape, or form, everyone has experienced feelings of abandonment or rejection to some degree or another.

While it is crazy to think about the ideal, popular person being abandoned, this is exactly what Jesus predicts in our passage for this episode. Jesus was the most famous and infamous person alive during that time period, and because He had avoided every trick, trap, and question trying to knock Him off of His mission, I suspect some people believed there was nothing that could happen to Him.

Our passage for this episode happens during the night Jesus is arrested, but it takes place several hours before Jesus is arrested and His remaining disciples scatter. However, in this passage, Jesus forewarns the disciples about what will happen later that night, and He also says something powerful for anyone who has ever felt abandoned or alone.

Let’s read what Jesus tells His followers. Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of John, chapter 16, and we will read it using the New International Version. Starting in verse 25, Jesus tells the remaining disciples who are with Him:

²⁵ “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

²⁹ Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. ³⁰ Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

³¹ “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³² “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In this passage, Jesus promises us three things that are significant to our discussion about feeling abandoned or alone.

The first promise is how Jesus concludes this passage, and this promise has two parts. In the middle of verse 33, Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble.” This tells me that there is no getting away from trouble, and in the context of this discussion, this trouble may include feelings of abandonment and/or rejection. However, Jesus is quick to finish the verse by saying, “Take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The powerful first promise states that even though trouble, abandonment, rejection, hurt, or pain come, Jesus is bigger than these feelings because Jesus has overcome the world that includes all these symptoms of sin.

This leads us to the next promise for us to focus on, which happened to have been shared one verse earlier. In verse 32, Jesus finishes by saying, “You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” With these words, Jesus recognized that even when everyone He thought was a friend, follower, or disciple had run away, He was never truly alone, because God the Father and His Spirit would be with Him. Even while hanging on the cross, even if Jesus didn’t feel God’s presence, He still knew God was there. His dying breath is directed to God when He says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

This second truth is special for you and I too because as followers of Jesus, we too can claim this promise that being alone is never truly alone, because God the Father and His Spirit are with us.

However, what if you are a little unsure about the Father? After all, isn’t God the Father the deity behind all the Old Testament war and punishments? Isn’t the God of the Old Testament a mean God who is always on the lookout for when we mess up and fail? Didn’t Jesus come to convince the Father to love us?

All of these questions are false according to Jesus. In our passage, Jesus tells us what the Father thinks of us, and this truth is found within the third big promise worth focusing on in Jesus’ words. Move back to near the beginning of what we read, in verse 27, Jesus says, “The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” God the Father loves those who love Jesus and believe that Jesus came from God.

If that promise were not enough, one of the most well known Bible verses also clearly states the Father’s love. John 3:16 begins by saying, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” God in this verse must refer to the Father, because He gave His Son, and Jesus declares that He is the Son.

This ultimately means that on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, shortly before all the disciples scatter and Jesus is left alone, Jesus gives us a powerful picture into God the Father’s love for us, and Jesus models the truth for us that when we love and believe in Him, we are never alone.

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 in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life. If you haven’t yet chosen to believe that Jesus came from God, choose to believe this today. Intentionally choose to place God first in your life and place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and what Jesus accomplished for each of us on the cross.

However, don’t choose this only because I said to. Instead, as I also always challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself, keeping your eyes open for ways the Bible points to Jesus. When reading the Bible looking for pictures and descriptions of Jesus, you will be surprised how many times Jesus shows up.

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!

As we continue moving through the gospels looking at the night Jesus is betrayed and arrested, leading up to this betrayal, Jesus spends some time talking with His disciples. After Jesus had eaten the Last Supper with His followers, and right before they leave to go to the garden where Jesus will pray before being betrayed, Jesus challenges His followers with a powerful statement. While some might be quick to discount this statement as being only applicable for those in the first century, if we look at the context for this challenge, I doubt any dedicated follower of Jesus living today would want to give up what Jesus promises within the context of this challenge.

Let’s dive into our passage and uncover what Jesus challenges His followers with. Instead of slowly leading up to this challenge, Jesus actually opens our passage by stating this challenge in very clear, simple terms, before then including the promise in the verses following it.

With that said, let’s read our passage, which comes from the gospel of John, chapter 14, using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 15, John tells us Jesus told His followers:

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. ¹⁷ That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you. ²¹ Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “I have told you this while I’m still with you. ²⁶ However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.

²⁷ “I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly. ²⁸ You heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

²⁹ “I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe.³⁰ The ruler of this world has no power over me. But he’s coming, so I won’t talk with you much longer. ³¹ However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.”

In this passage, Jesus’ first words are the clear, direct, straight-forward challenge: “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” Ten times in these 17 verses, Jesus uses the word “love”, and in all ten instances, the love Jesus is talking about is us loving Him, us loving God the Father, or us receiving love from Jesus, or God the Father.

Three times Jesus connects obedience to Him to be the same as loving Him. Verse 15, which opened our passage by challenging us, says, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” Then if that wasn’t enough, the first part of verse 21 says, “Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me.” And to top it off, in verse 23, Jesus again restates this in the opening to His reply, saying, “Those who love me will do what I say.”

There is no easy way to get around Jesus’ challenge, except for people who want to debate exactly what Jesus’ commands are while working to exclude commands they don’t want or like. The point most people who want to debate Jesus’ commands start from is with the “new” command Jesus gave earlier that evening. Part way during the Last Supper Jesus ate with His followers, He gives them the new command to love one another.

However, this then leaves people to debate whether Jesus’ command to love one another replaces or is added to other commands Jesus taught, and whether the commands Jesus shared are added to or whether they replace what the Old Testament taught. In other words, this debate centers around whether Jesus’ commands are added to or whether they replace the Old Testament Ten Commandments that God spoke from Mount Sinai, and/or whether Jesus’ commands are added to or whether they replace the rest of the Mosaic law.

However, while preparing for this episode, a different question entered my mind. While preparing for this episode, I had the question enter my mind about whether Jesus was the voice that spoke the Ten Commandments while the children of Israel were camped around Mount Sinai.

With this question, hoping someone had answered or tackled this question before so I could look at what they concluded, I did a quick Google search about this, and the results that returned were fascinating. While I can’t speak to what you would get if you searched for this question today, the results I received did anything but answer my question.

Instead of answering my question, Google pulled together the age-old debate of the relevance of the Ten Commandments, and a surprising number of results that focused exclusively on the Sabbath commandment. Looking through the first 5 or so pages of results, and clicking through to several of the links, I found no websites sharing about Jesus’ role in the Ten Commandments, but instead, Christ-followers debating the relevance of either the whole group of the Ten Commandments, or just the fourth commandment.

In my mind, this is sad. Perhaps the debate over the Ten Commandments’ relevance is more important than the question I asked. However, I doubt this to be true.

If you haven’t guessed this about me, I am the sort of person who likes to look at the context and author of what I’m reading in order to understand their frame of mind. In the case of the Ten Commandments, regardless of whether Jesus was the member of the Godhead to speak them or not, the Author of these commandments is God, and the Author of the Ten Commandments should be our focus, not the commandments themselves. In the case of the times God speaks, how we treat God’s words says more about how important God is in our lives and less about the words themselves.

While I could piece together an argument that says since Jesus is the Word, as John opens His Gospel by illustrating, then the words spoken by God in the Old Testament, including the Ten Commandments, would have been spoken by Jesus. There isn’t really much of a question on whether God spoke the commandments, but John’s introduction is one of the few passages where the case could be made for narrowing God’s speech in the Old Testament down to a single member of the Godhead.

However, I suspect that my question really was a bad question. Perhaps a better question for us to ask ourselves is simply: where did Jesus get His commandments?

We don’t have to look far for the answer, because it happens to be found right at the heart of our passage for this episode. In verse 24, Jesus gives us the answer when He says, “A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.”

The question of whether Jesus spoke the Ten Commandments is not relevant when we understand that Jesus received everything He said, taught, preached, and shared from the Father. Regardless of whether you think Jesus’ words replace or overshadow commandments from the Old Testament, recognize that Jesus tells us that what He says comes from the Father – and with this being the case, anytime Jesus references back to Himself, He may be simply speaking on the Father’s behalf. This ultimately means that the Source behind Jesus’ words and commands is God the Father.

Regardless of who spoke the Ten Commandments, or even the commands Jesus shares in the New Testament, we can understand God the Father as the original Author. According to Jesus, we love who we obey. If we love the Father, then we will obey what the Father has commanded. In this case, Jesus is simply an Ambassador, speaking on behalf of the One who sent Him.

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 apply the truth Jesus shared about love into your life, starting today. Know that according to Jesus, we love who we obey.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn what God, the author of life, wants for us and from us. Other people can give you ideas to think about, but other people cannot grow you a personal relationship with Jesus.

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!

All too often, when we . . . actually I should probably say I, since this might just be me.

All too often, when I think of a well-known event, I think of only the gospels that are the most quoted from. Perhaps you are like this too. Many people have a preferred gospel for specific events, and where there are different details included, often we will simply lean towards the most detailed one, or the one that has the wording we like the most.

Unless this is your first or second podcast episode, you know that for the past several episodes, we have been moving through the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. This episode marks the first big event that all four gospels include: the last supper.

One thing that fascinates me about this event is that each gospel writer seems to give some unique detail that the others leave out. Many of the gospel writers share similar details, but each one includes something the other three chose to leave out.

When reading about the Last Supper, most people seem to gravitate to reading either Matthew’s version of this event or John’s. I can understand this as those two gospel writers, when put together, include the most detail surrounding what many Christians today call the communion ceremony.

However, by focusing on only Matthew and John, we ultimately miss out on a detail that only Luke’s gospel includes.

I suspect that since most people see the Last Supper as being like many communion ceremonies, most people likely believe that this supper was a formal, somber, and quiet meal, and following Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, they were all in shock and were quiet for most of the rest of the meal.

But this was not the case. Luke’s gospel includes the detail that an argument breaks out among the disciples during the Last Supper, and Luke also includes Jesus’ response. Our passage is found in Luke, chapter 22, and we will read it using the New Century Version. Starting in verse 14, Luke tells us that:

²⁴ The apostles also began to argue about which one of them was the most important. ²⁵ But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the non-Jewish people rule over them, and those who have authority over others like to be called ‘friends of the people.’ ²⁶ But you must not be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the leader should be like the servant. ²⁷ Who is more important: the one sitting at the table or the one serving? You think the one at the table is more important, but I am like a servant among you.

When reading the context and order of events within Luke’s gospel, we learn that this argument breaks out after the supper itself, and when including the details found in John’s gospel, Luke’s argument would also have happened after the disciples’ feet were washed.

Those familiar with the gospels know that this argument was not the first time the disciples argued about who was the greatest among them. However, unless I’m missing something, this argument would be the last time. After Jesus’ betrayal and arrest that night, all of the disciples scatter, and after they all failed Jesus, they don’t seem very interested in comparing how great they are.

However, within Jesus’ response to the disciples in Luke’s gospel, we find a not so intuitive truth hinted at. While it is easy for us to get swept up in the cultural norm of thinking that the people at the top of the corporate ladder are the most important, and that those sitting at the boardroom table are the most significant, Jesus’ message to these arguing disciples says something different. According to Jesus, it is not those sitting at the table who are the most important; instead, those who are serving others are actually the most important. Within Jesus’ perspective, while decisions are made while sitting at tables, the service that happens independent of the decision-making is more important.

It’s worth pointing out that both the decisions at the table and the service that happens away from the table are important. However, if we understand Jesus’ words, those serving others are the true “friends of the people”.

This also brings out another subtle truth: those who have authority like to have the reputation that they are friends of the people. The implication is that they talk a good talk while they only superficially “help”. This stereotypical leader will do what is convenient for them in whatever moment they are in, and only if it is convenient do they help others. However, after helping someone, those who want to build themselves up talk about what they did and frame it as though it is a big deal. What was likely a 30 second act of kindness is ultimately leveraged into a story that is shared 3 or more years later about how they care – regardless of any caring actions done before or since.

While this sounds negative and perhaps a little cynical, the reason for me sharing this is because Jesus says that His followers are to be different. Instead of focusing on our reputation or what people think of us, Jesus challenges His followers to step down and serve. Instead of trying to look successful, we should serve our way into being successful. However, instead of focusing on looking successful to others, we should strive to be successful in God’s eyes.

For Jesus’ followers, serving others is more important than claiming to serve; stepping down is more important than leading from above. Not only did Jesus serve the disciples by washing their feet, He served all humanity by stepping down from Heaven and taking on the role of a human.

When reading Jesus’ life in the gospel record, we find example after example of Jesus stepping down to help and serve. It is as though Jesus continually was looking for ways He could step down and help. If Jesus had a ladder, He would use it to climb down to help those further down. Jesus stepped down and became a human, He stepped down and became a servant, He stepped down and became a criminal sentenced to death row, and He stepped down into death. The death Jesus stepped down into was not an instant death, but a long painful torturous death that would make most of us feel uneasy if we were to see it live.

Jesus calls us to step down too. For a follower of Jesus, it is not about getting a seat at the table; it’s about serving those lower on the ladder and stepping down to help them.

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, seek God first and intentionally model Jesus in your life by choosing to step down and serve someone else. By stepping down to help others, we are being like Jesus and we are doing what He has called us to do.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. While other people have ideas to think about, only you can grow a personal relationship with Jesus. I would encourage you to take a few minutes before our next podcast episode to read the crucifixion stories found in Matthew chapters 26 & 27, Mark chapters 14 & 15, Luke chapters 22 & 23 and John chapters 13 through 19. Over the next few episodes, we will be focusing on several of the details leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, and while we won’t cover everything in this chronological year of podcasting, it is always worth being reminded of what Jesus faced for us when He faced the cross!

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 what criteria is used for Jesus bringing people into His Kingdom, you don’t have to search the Bible for very long before coming to our passage for this episode. For many Christians living today, despite what the media likes to portray, our passage for this episode has been a banner challenging Christians to love and help others ever since it was written. After we read it together, if you are not already familiar with this passage, I’m sure you will be able to see why.

As we said in the intro, our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, and we will be reading out of the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 31, Matthew writes Jesus’ challenge to His followers, saying:

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

³⁵ For I was hungry
and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty
and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in;
³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me;
I was sick and you took care of Me;
I was in prison and you visited Me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’

⁴⁰ “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ ⁴¹ Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!

⁴² For I was hungry
and you gave Me nothing to eat;
I was thirsty
and you gave Me nothing to drink;
⁴³ I was a stranger
and you didn’t take Me in;
I was naked
and you didn’t clothe Me,
sick and in prison
and you didn’t take care of Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’

⁴⁵ “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’

⁴⁶ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This passage marks the last parable Jesus shares with His disciples before meeting with the disciples to eat the last supper, and as I commented leading up to reading this passage, it is easy to see how it calls followers of Jesus to help others.

However, it is worth paying attention to the detail that this passage doesn’t focus us on just helping others; this passage challenges us to help the “least of these”.

Too often, we think of help as being generous towards others, and this is one aspect of it. Being generous towards others is one aspect that we could understand within Jesus’ praise for those who are welcomed into His kingdom.

However, in this passage, Jesus is calling us to help the lowest of the low in society: The hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger who is sick and in prison. While I don’t think this list is describing a single person, what it is describing is someone who does not have the means to repay you. In many ways, this is a much more specific type of help than we might naturally think.

Someone who is hungry, thirsty, or naked and who has money simply has to stop by grocery or clothing store and their problem is solved. Also, sickness is often helped by doctors who appreciate being paid as well.

However, “the least of these” in Jesus’ words seem to describe a person who is clearly in need of help, but who cannot repay the help they need in any way. Jesus’ challenge in this passage is a call to help those who cannot help you back. It is surprising, at least in my mind, that both groups of people in Jesus’ illustration share a common characteristic:

Both groups of people did not recognize Jesus in those they chose to help or not help.

Before continuing further, I want to point out that I don’t believe Jesus or angels are going to sneak down to earth to let us help them, especially when there are so many real people who need help at the lowest ends of society. Instead, Jesus draws the point that by helping those who cannot help us back, we are representing God well and it is like we are helping Him.

As I say this, it makes sense that when we help others in God’s name, we are helping God because at the very least, we give God a good name and a good reputation. Giving God a good reputation, when most people are inclined to think he is mean, vengeful, and looking for opportunities to punish them, is truly helping Him.

It is also worth mentioning that all throughout the gospels, Jesus modeled this type of love. Jesus loved helping people who could not help themselves, and most, if not all of the healing miracles Jesus did helped in a way that truly could never be repaid. Through Jesus’ example, we can understand that God helps those who cannot help themselves – and Jesus challenges us to follow His example in this passage.

However, what about the reward included within this parable?

In this parable, God promises a reward, but it is only after this final separating. It is worth paying attention to the detail that those who are righteous on the King’s right hand side do not receive their reward early. Instead, those who are separated on the King’s right hand side are promised it. In contrast, those who are wicked on the King’s left hand side do not receive their punishment early either, but they are promised it as well. While some might say this understanding is taking the details of this parable too far, I still find it interesting that this parable has all nations and humanity being rewarded and judged at the same time, as opposed to the time of their death, which is different for everyone.

The parable Jesus shares is a parable we can trust, because Jesus is trustworthy. We can trust what Jesus says. We can also fully know that He has given us the simple choice of which side we want to be on. If we intentionally work into our character and lives the opportunity to help those who are in need who cannot help us back, we are acting like those who Jesus calls blessed by His Father – and we can look forward to receiving the kingdom He has promised us.

Before closing out this podcast episode, I want to point out that I don’t believe helping others is a replacement for developing a relationship with God, or for putting our faith in Jesus. I also don’t believe that one can be saved who is against Jesus but who helps those who are helpless. Instead, I believe that faith in Jesus is how we live, work, and love God in the spiritual area of our lives, and helping the helpless is how we truly show our faith in God in the world around us.

Helping others with no strings attached is the best way we can truly be like Jesus. He came to take our place, and when Jesus died in our place, this was a gift given without any conditions.

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 focus on growing your relationship with Him. While growing your relationship with God, continue helping those who are in need who cannot help themselves. This is one great way we can model Jesus’ life and ministry, as well as following the challenge Jesus shared with us in our passage for this episode.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible, for yourself, because regular prayer and Bible study help you grow your personal relationship with God. While pastors, podcasters, or other people can give you ideas to think about, never let your personal relationship with God depend on someone else. Choose to grow personally closer to God today while also being a blessing to 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!