Reflective Bible Study

All throughout the gospels, though we probably could extend this to include all of history, there has been a tension and debate over what God really wants. While many of us would be quick to say that God wants our hearts, it becomes less clear when you ask what that really means and what that looks like.

In the Old Testament times, outside of the Jewish nation, there were cultures sacrificing any and every sort of animal, cultures sacrificing humans, cultures that self-mutilated themselves, which is another way to say they cut themselves or harmed themselves in any number of ways, and cultures that did things that I don’t really feel comfortable repeating or even thinking about. In the Old Testament Jewish nation, there was sacrifice, but a clear boundary was given between what was acceptable sacrifice vs. what was not acceptable. This boundary was found within the writings of Moses, which they called “the law”.

When the New Testament writers were alive, there were fewer culture wars happening, but between the Roman and Greek cultures, there still was a huge gap between what they taught and what the Jewish nation taught. However, still at the heart of both cultures was sacrifice – either to an assortment of gods for the Romans and the Greeks, or to the One God for the Jews.

However, when Jesus steps on the scene, it seemed that He taught something different than all of the previous cultures. Though He was Jewish, the angle He saw the Old Testament writings clashed with the view the religious leaders in the first century had.

In our passage for this episode, we find one such place where Jesus challenged the religious leaders, and this place gives us an answer for what God really wants from us – specifically from Jesus’ perspective, and this helps us frame how Jesus lived His life.

This event is included in three of the four gospels, and I have picked Matthew’s version of it to focus on, because it includes a key phrase that the other two gospel writers missed adding. Our passage for this episode is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 9, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 9, Matthew tells us that:

⁹ When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰ As Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”

Before getting into how Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ challenge, we learn that Jesus had just invited Matthew to be one of His followers. Perhaps as a “thank you” or because it was getting late, Matthew invites Jesus (and a number of his tax collector friends) over for supper.

However, like is very typical in the gospels, the religious leaders are watching, and like legalistic spies, the Pharisees are ready to challenge Jesus at every turn because He intentionally lived His life differently than they did. Inviting a tax collector to be a disciple was a shocking thing for Jesus to do, but it seems as though the Pharisees passed over this detail, perhaps because they didn’t realize the invitation was given, or maybe because they knew that a single person can change. Instead, the Pharisees focused most clearly on why Jesus then chose to hang out with Matthew’s tax collector and sinner friends, since this was very unusual and not something acceptable in their minds.

In a subtle challenge to Jesus, they ask Jesus’ followers a question instead of Jesus. Perhaps this is now late enough in His ministry that the Pharisees have realized Jesus is difficult to trap, or maybe they ask the followers simply because it was the cultural way to do this at the time. Either way, the question they ask is interesting, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (v. 11)

The implied question hidden within their question for Jesus is, “Jesus, if you hang out with the lowest people, you are liable to be tainted by them. And whether it is simply your reputation that is tainted, or your actions and/or attitude, don’t you realize it is better to stand apart and to call others to stand apart with you. Shouldn’t we separate ourselves from those who are actively living in sin?”

But whether the disciples don’t know the answer, or whether Jesus knows what is up and walks over at the perfect time, He has an answer for them: “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.” (v. 12-13)

Now on one hand, Jesus’ response is insulting to Matthew the host, and all of his friends. However, also tucked within Jesus’ response are two very profound ideas.

First, Jesus shares what God wants from us. Quoting from the Old Testament, Jesus shares the idea that God wants kindness more than animal sacrifice. All the symbolism in the world is worthless if the attitude is wrong. First, the attitude must be right, and only then can the symbolism be meaningful as God had intended it to be.

Secondly, Jesus shares a direct mission of His to invite sinners and not “good people”. Perhaps this is because the good people at the time did not need an invitation, but what is more likely the case in all points in history is that the people who self-identify themselves as “good” have chosen to stop their growth journey and have stopped being teachable.

“Good enough” is the enemy of where God wants to take us. God has so many amazing things in His mind for each of us, but if we settle for “good enough”, we stop short of the plan God has for our lives.

In contrast, those who recognize they are sinners are more likely willing to learn, grow, and be helped. Those who know they are sinners are able to understand they need help, and Jesus is more than willing to step in to help and invite them into the restoration plan God put in place to help them.

It is the same way for each of us today. Good enough is the enemy of God’s great plan for each of us, and it is up to us to be willing to be taught, helped, and led forward in our lives and our understanding of God and His plan for each of us.

With that said, as we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, continue intentionally seeking God first in your life and choose to recognize your reality as someone who needs God’s help. While it is not pleasant to think of yourself as a sinner, only when understanding that you have sinned and have failed God will you be able to fully understand and appreciate what Jesus did for you on the cross. Someone who believes Jesus died for others when they didn’t need His sacrifice for them will ultimately miss out on salvation, believing they were good enough when they ultimately were not.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue to pray and study your Bible – specifically the gospels in this case – for yourself to learn more of how much God and Jesus love you. Discover in the pages of the Bible a God who was willing to give everything for you because He loves you that much! Never let anyone get in the way of you discovering this God for yourself, and never think of yourself as not needing’ Jesus sacrifice. Jesus faced the cross for you because He loves you more than pain and death!

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 settle for simply “good enough” when God wants to lead you towards the great life He created you to live with Him!

If you have ever wondered how Jesus preached, you may be surprised to learn that the gospel writers tell us. Both Mark and Luke share an event that includes a phrase and a healing that demonstrate Jesus’ uniqueness and how He communicated differently from the other religious leaders at that time.

Perhaps this event stands out in my mind because I am a speaker who is constantly looking to develop and grow his skills, and in my mind, there is no better person to learn from than Jesus. While I cannot be identical to Jesus in this regard, there definitely are things in this passage worth paying attention to with regard to communicating effectively.

However, whether you are a speaker or not, or whether you have a message you want to share or not, let’s dive into this passage and discover some things that made Jesus’ teaching and preaching different from the other teachers and preachers in the first century. Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter 1, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 21, Mark tells us that:

²¹ They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. ²² The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. ²³ Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, ²⁴ “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁵ “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” ²⁶ The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

²⁷ The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”

Let’s stop reading there. Did you see what I saw that made Jesus’ teaching different?

It’s found in verse 22, where it says, “He [Jesus] taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”

Even before the plot thickens with the demon-possessed man, the people recognized that Jesus was different. While I don’t know this for certain, I imagine the teachers of the law in this synagogue used a few verses from the scripture, before using other rabbi’s explanations to build their message. In this way, they are simply repeating those who came before them.

However, Jesus likely shared a portion of scripture before sharing a truth about God, God’s love, a parable-story, or some other deeper thought. I imagine Jesus sharing scripture as a way to describe God, rather than sharing scripture before sharing what others think about that scripture.

Also, the verse says Jesus spoke with authority, which I might be tempted to think simply means that He spoke confidently, but then we have the demon-possessed man showing up which shifts the focus of this event.

It appears that this healing happened to back up what the people were already thinking: specifically that Jesus spoke with authority. Not only did Jesus sound different when speaking, He communicated so powerfully that demons obeyed Him.

This leads us into the next verse, verse 28, which says, “News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.”

I’m sure if you saw a miracle like this, you would spread the word as well!

Skipping down a few verses to verse 32, which happened that evening, let’s continue:

³² That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. ³³ The whole town gathered at the door, ³⁴ and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

This event focuses in on Jesus’ power to heal the sick and demon-possessed. In the verses we skipped over, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law who had a fever, and these two healings prompt a steady stream of people bringing their sick relatives to Jesus to heal.

Of note is that word spread that afternoon about Jesus, but the people waited until after sunset to bring their friends, family, and relatives who needed help. Jesus didn’t shy away from healing on the Sabbath, since He healed the demon-possessed man in the morning at the synagogue, and Peter’s mother-in-law in the afternoon, but the people waited. It wouldn’t always be this way, but in these early months of Jesus’ ministry, the people wanted Jesus’ help in a way that would not upset the legalistic culture of the Pharisees and religious leaders.

Also, it is amazing that the first demon – with a crowd of witnesses present – would validate the claim that Jesus was God’s “Holy One”. It is one thing to discount the disciples’ belief, and the belief of the crowd, but when Satan’s angels make that claim, it is worth taking note.

Part of me wonders why Jesus would stop the evil spirits from speaking following this event, but I have a few thoughts about why this might be.

First off, Satan is a master liar, so everything that he or his angel’s say is suspect. He doesn’t have to lie, but he can easily choose to do so. This fact immediately makes whatever he says irrelevant, because whether it is the truth or a lie, it cannot be trusted.

Secondly, Jesus is interested in the focus and glory of these healings to go to God. He did not heal or cast out demons to get recognition for Himself; He was continually pointing people upward to God. While the demons were stating the truth, they were trying to take the focus away from God and place it onto Jesus.

Thirdly, the people had a popular belief about who the Messiah would be and what His role would take. However, this was not an accurate picture of the type of Messiah Jesus came to be. With a large enough crowd too early in Jesus’ ministry, the people’s preconceived ideas could derail what Jesus wanted to do in favor of them pushing for their belief in who they thought He should be. If this happened, Jesus would have been the cause of a massive uprising, and the Romans would have sent a portion of their army to quickly squash what was happening.

Jesus needed time to help people understand He was not like any of the other self-claimed messiahs that had come before, and that His view of the Messiah role was much broader than the Jewish stereotype.

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. Regardless of what evidence you use to support your belief in Jesus, keep Him as first and most significant in your life. Your future self will thank you when looking back on what happened from the lens of eternity.

Also, as I always and regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to learn more about who Jesus is and what He is like. The gospels are the best place to learn about Jesus’ character, and the rest of the Bible draws our attention onto who Jesus really is and how God has directed history to focus on 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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As I have read from the gospel of Matthew, it seems as though Matthew, while he was a tax collector, may have had a childhood goal of being a Rabbi or religious expert. When reading his gospel, time and time again, he draws our attention to how an act or event in Jesus’ life fulfills one or more prophecies.

Reading this gospel helps draw our attention onto just how many prophecies about the Messiah there were, and Matthew helps us discover prophecies that we might not have thought of as being prophetic of the Messiah’s ministry.

Perhaps you have noticed this in Matthew, but if not, a couple of episodes ago, we focused in on some of Matthew’s prophecies surrounding Jesus’ birth, and in this episode, Matthew brings out another prophecy that is fulfilled when Jesus begins His ministry.

Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 13, Matthew tells us that:

¹³ Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ In that way, what the prophet Isaiah had said came true. He had said,

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
    Galilee, where Gentiles live!
    Land along the Mediterranean Sea! Territory east of the Jordan River!
¹⁶ The people who are now living in darkness
    have seen a great light.
They are now living in a very dark land.
    But a light has shined on them.”

In these few short verses, Matthew brings our attention to where Jesus would begin His ministry, and he shows us specifically how this act was in direct fulfillment of prophecy. Whether Jesus chose this location because of the prophecy, or because God directed Him there because it was the home of a number of His first disciples, we don’t really know for sure, but regardless of the reason, this act sheds light on the focus of Jesus’ ministry.

Capernaum was a fishing hub on the Sea of Galilee and while it was part of Israel, it held a greater number of Gentiles in it than many other parts of the country. This is interesting, because while we might think Jesus began or centered His ministry in an area where there was a high percentage of Jews, this is not the case, because even the prophecy states that Galilee was the part of Israel where Gentiles lived. Gentile is simply a broad term for anyone who is not Jewish.

This was likely one of the first counter-messianic things that Jesus did in His ministry that didn’t line up with the traditional view of the coming Messiah. The popular thought among the Jews at that time was that the Messiah would come, rally the Jews together, throw off Roman oppression, and reestablish the nation of Israel as a permanent country that would never again be overtaken.

If Jesus would have been this type of Messiah, then centering the beginning of His ministry in an area that doesn’t have as many Jews in it does not make sense. For this military-messiah model to work, Jesus should have centered His ministry in the southern portions of Israel, where there was a greater concentration of Jews – as well as Jerusalem and all the Jewish leaders.

However, Jesus came as a Messiah for humanity, not just as a Messiah for only the Jews. It seems as though Jesus intentionally chose Capernaum because of its higher concentration of Gentiles. Perhaps there were more Gentiles in the city than Jews, or maybe it was a 50-50 split at the time Jesus was there. In the little research I did, I could not find an answer to this question.

However, what I do find interesting about this event is that by choosing Capernaum, Jesus is intentionally saying that He has come to reach not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles. In this act, it is like Jesus is saying publicly that He values both the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus valued the Jews because Capernaum was located in Israel and Jesus valued the Gentiles because Capernaum may have been one of the more Gentile-filled areas of the nation.

After Jesus moved and began His ministry, what did He do first?

Our passage continues and concludes with a summary verse that described how Jesus began His ministry. In verse 17, we read, “From that time on Jesus began to preach. ‘Turn away from your sins!’ he said. ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

Jesus’ first big message echoes John the Baptizer’s ministry. Repent and pay attention, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.

This last verse points out something very interesting and important in my mind: In order to come to Jesus, we must turn away from our sins and recognize that He wants to “come near” to us. Moving towards Jesus will never move you towards sin, and moving towards sin will never move you towards Jesus.

In our own lives, God wants to be close to each of us, and He wants to have a growing, personal relationship with us because He sees each of us as special in His eyes. However, He also cannot stand sin, and because of this, He will prompt us to get rid of the sin in our lives so that He can move closer. If we are stubborn and don’t give up sin, then unfortunately for us, He does not move as close. By choosing a sin over a closer relationship with God, we are placing God in second or third place, and making that sin a “god” in our lives – which breaks the first of the Ten Commandments.

God loves us and He forgives us, but His forgiveness is when we have repented and turned away from our sin. I am unaware of a place where the Bible says that God forgives those who are actively sinning. God has chosen to delay punishment, and He chose to come into a world full of sinners to let us know how much He loves each of us, but in order for our relationship with Him to grow, we must be moving away from sin and into a closer relationship with Him.

With that said, as we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you to do, intentionally place God first in your life and choose to move towards Him and away from sin. Moving towards God is never the wrong choice from the perspective of eternity and while it might be a challenge to do in your life today, looking back on your decision from heaven will remind you that it was the best decision you could make.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do in one way or another, continue praying, reading, and studying the Bible personally so you are able to get a clearer picture of God. While other people would want you to adopt their opinions about God, choose to base your opinion about God on what the Bible teaches and on what the Bible reveals to us about Him. While the Bible has challenging passages, the more we study out passages we don’t understand, the better able we will be to understand what God is really like.

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!

As I read the gospels, and the different events in Jesus’ life, one theme that runs through many different stories is how Jesus took a different perspective on life than the people living within the first century, and His attitude was different. However, if you have ever wondered if Jesus got angry, you need to look no further than our passage for this episode. While Jesus was often kind while also confident, we rarely ever get a glimpse of Him losing His temper so to speak. Usually, Jesus is the calm collected one – that is until this passage comes around.

In our passage for this episode, Jesus enters the temple in Jerusalem and He sees it turned into a marketplace. Let’s read about what happen. Our passage can be found in the gospel of John, chapter 2, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 13, John tells us that:

¹³ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courtyard he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So Jesus made a whip out of ropes. He chased all the sheep and cattle from the temple courtyard. He scattered the coins of the people exchanging money. And he turned over their tables. ¹⁶ He told those who were selling doves, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered what had been written. It says, “My great love for your house will destroy me.”

¹⁸ Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “When you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple. Are you going to raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But the temple Jesus had spoken about was his body. ²² His disciples later remembered what he had said. That was after he had been raised from the dead. Then they believed the Scripture. They also believed the words that Jesus had spoken.

We’ll pause reading at this point because I want to draw our attention to something. So far in this passage, we see Jesus getting angry, a prophecy being fulfilled, a demand, an intentional misunderstanding, a prediction of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and confirmation of a future point of where individuals believe in the scriptures and in the words of Jesus.

When Jesus became upset and He chased the moneychangers away, whether He planned for it in the moment or not, He was fulfilling a prophecy about His love for His Father’s house.

When the Jewish leaders demanded a sign to prove Jesus’ authority, it is amazing that Jesus actually responded to them with an answer. In most other places in the gospels that are similar to this, Jesus sidesteps the issue or turns the tables around. Perhaps He answers because He is extra emotional at the moment, or perhaps He is simply being a little respectful of the religious authority.

Either way, Jesus purposely responds in a way that creates a misunderstanding among the leaders and Him, and in a way that will be understood more fully later. Had Jesus said that He meant His body, the Jewish leaders probably would have happily taken Him up on the challenge right there. If Jesus wanted to prove His authority by dying, they would be happy to help – as they were probably just as irritated at Jesus as He was at the scene in the temple.

However, Jesus predicts His death and resurrection in these verses, and it is only after the events happen several years later that those present understood the message Jesus was communicating. John writing these words many years or decades after the resurrection draws our attention to how Jesus’ statement is fulfilled, and how this prediction prompted many people to believe in the following years.

In the last part of this passage, I was surprised to find another place where it says that Jesus didn’t trust people. In John 5, we read a similar idea that Jesus pushes back at the Pharisees who dislike the miracle He performed on the Sabbath, and here in our passage for this episode within John, chapter 2, we see another place where John gives us a clue into Jesus’ attitude and focus. Picking up reading in verse 23, John continues by saying, “Meanwhile, he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. Many people saw the signs he was doing. And they believed in his name. But Jesus did not fully trust them. He knew what people are like. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. He already knew why people do what they do.”

In this transition set of verses within John’s gospel, he shares a little bit more about Jesus, and how Jesus interacted with others. John shares that Jesus did not fully trust others, because He knew what people were like in their hearts. Perhaps this guarded living was noticeable to others, or maybe it was only visible to the closest disciples, or maybe Jesus simply shared it with John. Whatever the case, this information is significant because we can better understand who Jesus was when we have it.

If Jesus began to trust people as they trusted Him, then there would be the strong temptation for Jesus to be caught up in the popular, military Messiah belief that was believed at the time. If Jesus was as trusting towards others as they were to Him, He may have been swept up and carried forward on the path that people believed He should take instead of the one He knew God had planned for Him instead.

Instead, Jesus was extra intentional about where He placed His focus, and that included being more guarded towards people since almost no one living in the first century understood the full extent of His mission. Even though Jesus predicts His death and resurrection, and as He shares more clearly and plainly as He gets closer to the cross, it is really only after the events actually happen that the disciples actually understand what was predicted would happen. Before this, Jesus must remain guarded because the popular beliefs about Him were too entrenched in people’s minds.

Also included in this event is another demonstration of Jesus shifting focus. The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to do something to prove Himself, or another way of saying this would be to draw attention to Himself, but Jesus was more interested in pointing the attention elsewhere. When the leaders demand a sign, Jesus draws their attention to the temple, and while He figuratively means His body, the words He used also directed focus onto God’s house.

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 align your life and your will with God’s plan. Like Jesus did, intentionally keep your focus on God’s plan and avoid being swept up with what the world would rather we focus in on.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn who Jesus really is instead of taking someone else’s word for it. While pastors, authors, speakers, or even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, choose to take everything you read, see, and hear and test it against the truth God has revealed in the Bible. Use the big themes of the Bible as a guide for your life and as a test for whether today’s ideas are worth paying attention to.

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!