Reflective Bible Study

At the beginning of the week where Jesus is crucified, the idea of Jesus’ death approaching seemed ridiculous. Even Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would ultimately betray Jesus, didn’t think at the beginning of this week that Jesus would be dead in a tomb the following Sabbath.

All the disciples could tell that Jesus’ ministry was pointing towards a specific moment, and how crucifixion week began gives just one more piece of confirming evidence in the disciples’ minds that Jesus was the promised Messiah – even if they believed the Messiah’s role to be different.

The gospel of John describes Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem at the beginning of the week of His death. Let’s read how John describes it from the gospel of John, chapter 12, using the New International Version of the Bible. Beginning in verse 12, John tells us that:

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
    see, your king is coming,
    seated on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

Let’s pause and look at what John has just told us. In his description of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey, John states that the disciples did not catch the significance of this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize more fully all the subtle prophetic words that pointed towards Jesus as God’s Messiah.

But while this symbolism was lost on the disciples until later, another group of people could see the symbolism, and they did not like it. John describes the crowd of people who joined Jesus on His journey into Jerusalem. Picking back up in verse 17, John transitions back into the events of Jesus’ entrance by saying:

¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

While the Pharisees had openly rejected Jesus as being anyone but a sinner who happened to perform some coincidental miracles, the symbolism of Jesus riding a donkey was not lost on them. These religious leaders knew the scriptures better than anyone else alive at that point (excluding Jesus), and they easily saw what He was trying to do. However, they could not rationalize away Jesus’ latest miracle: raising Lazarus from the dead. The crowd that had been present to mourn Lazarus’ death had become a powerful witness to Jesus’ cause.

Word of Lazarus’ resurrection prompted many people to rethink their position and which side of the Jesus-debate they were on. While the Pharisees had the temple and the status quo, Jesus had the ability to bring life, and that was a bigger draw. Verse 19 describes the Pharisees response when they hear that Jesus is approaching Jerusalem on a donkey. John tells us that they said to one another, “This is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

The Pharisees recognized at this point that arguments, logic, and rhetoric were no match for a clearly witnessed resurrection miracle. While they had been able to push many of Jesus’ other miracles aside and rationalize the significance out of them, they could not brush Lazarus’ resurrection away so easily. Jesus’ journey to and entrance into Jerusalem was just confirmation that they were losing the status quo that they had tried to delicately achieve as spiritual leaders who wanted to remain peaceful with the Romans publicly, but who hated the idea of their presence in their country privately.

Had Jesus shown signs of rallying people together against Rome, these leaders might have lessened their opposition of Him, even if they politically could not side with Him. The leaders subtly supported those who wanted to rid their country of the Romans, and if a military leader was successful at this, they would have been the first to proclaim that individual as the Messiah.

The leaders missed out on the Messiah God actually sent because they only looked at that role through the tiny filter of a leader who would liberate them from Rome. They could see Jesus claiming kingship, but they reserved their support for someone who was willing and able to conquer Rome.

Looking at the Pharisees in this passage, tells me that it is way too easy for us to miss seeing Jesus in our own lives when we choose to use a filter for identifying the places He is working.If we only look for clearly spiritual blessings, or financial blessings, or extraordinary events in our lives, using that filter, we are guaranteed to miss how Jesus has led us through other points, like through a tragedy, challenge, or series of disconnected events that we ultimately learned something from.

Sometimes it is impossible to see God in the moment, but we make seeing Him even less likely when we choose to filter our eyes and only look for Him in certain places and circumstances.

John told us that the disciples also missed out on seeing symbolism in this portion of Jesus’ ministry. While they do remember it later and then assemble the pieces of prophecy together, while they were in the moment and in the celebration, they were oblivious to what this celebration meant, and to the death that was about to happen just a few short days later.

The disciples in this passage prompt me to be okay if I don’t see God in everything that is happening in my life. While I should be looking and keeping my eyes open, and while I shouldn’t put a filter onto what I am looking for, it is okay if I don’t see the evidence in the moment for God being present in my circumstances. If we are focused on looking for God, and we are continually drawing close to Him, then the Holy Spirit will help remind us of those times in our past where we may have missed seeing God working, and He will help us reframe the pain from our past into purpose, and the trials we faced into triumphs for God.

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

Continue seeking God first in your life and keep your eyes open for evidence of His leading you. When looking for God, don’t put a filter over your eyes in an attempt to force God to fit into your small picture of Him. Instead, look for ways He has led, taught, guided, and protected you through both the high points of life as well as through the low. While God doesn’t like it when we face horrible circumstances, He sometimes allows Satan to bring evil into our life to remind us of our need of Him.

Also, continue to regularly pray and study the Bible for yourself, and focus on growing that personal relationship with God. Through prayer and personal Bible study, you are able to grow closer to God, and the closer you are to God, the more clearly you will be able to see evidence of His leading in your life and its collection of various circumstances.

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 miss out on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As Jesus approaches crucifixion weekend, all four gospels seem to slow down and focus on the details of what was about to happen.

One of the first events these gospels focus in on while preparing us for the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion is a banquet that Jesus attended. Three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and John all record this event, with each one giving us a different set of details. It is worth pointing out that the gospel of Luke has a similar event that he places much earlier in Jesus’ ministry. Some scholars believe this to be another record of this same event. In my mind, while Luke may be describing the same supper event, he instead focuses on Jesus’ teaching at this supper, while the Matthew, Mark, and John focus in on how it foreshadows Jesus’ upcoming death and the gift of perfume that was given.

In John’s record of this supper, we are given more details about the specific people present. The only name that John doesn’t include is the host’s name, that both Matthew and Mark share readily as Simon, the leper, though I imagine that we should really call the host Simon, the former leper who Jesus healed earlier in His ministry.

With all this to set the stage for our event, let’s read what happened. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 12, and let’s use the New International Version of the Bible to read from. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. [sidenote: This is where Matthew and Mark say that this was Simon the Leper inviting and hosting this event.] Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

In this event, John calls out Judas Iscariot as the disciple who would betray Jesus, and draws our attention onto Judas’ objection to Mary’s gift simply because the gift was very valuable from a monetary standpoint. While the other gospel writers simply say that there were those present who were upset and objected to Mary’s gift, John tells us who was specifically upset and why, as well as what was likely motivating Judas’ objection that made His statement not sound as sincere.

While Judas’s objection could be seen as logical and valid, because one year’s worth of income could definitely make a dent in a poor person’s life, in the face of poverty as a large-scale issue, one year’s worth of an average person’s income is not likely to have an effect on such a large-scale issue.

However, regardless of what we would have done if we were present with the disciples choosing sides over whether Mary should have given her gift as a one-time act of anointing or as large sum of money, Jesus’ response sidesteps the entire issue with a truth we might easily miss if we are not careful.

In verse 8, Jesus says, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Mark chapter 14 verse 7 records Jesus’ words a little differently but with the same conclusion by letting us know Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”

While the disciples debated over priorities and how Mary “should” have used the perfume differently than she did, Jesus steps in and redefines the issue entirely. For these disciples, their time with Jesus was limited, while helping the poor would be something that that would always be available to them. It’s worth pointing out here that Jesus does not say that poverty is unsolvable. Instead, Jesus emphasizes in this statement that we should focus on our relationship with Him first, because a relationship with God is more important than anything else, and that includes helping those who are poor.

In other words, if given the exclusive choice of picking between a relationship with God or helping the poor, I believe Jesus would challenge us to pick the relationship with God. However, I also don’t believe that Jesus would have us pick between these two good things. Instead, I believe Jesus wants to teach us about having right priorities.

In the world today, there is a big push towards helping those who are poor and those who are the least in society, and helping them in socially responsible, empowering ways. This push and focus is excellent and it is one of the best ways we can be like Jesus in our world, giving God a positive name. But, if we take Jesus’ words seriously, a deeper truth becomes clear: having a relationship with Jesus is more important than helping those who are in need.

There are many great reasons for helping the poor in our world today, but only one comes with the promise of eternal life with God in the next world. Someone who hates God or who believes this life is all there is is still capable of helping the poor. They may even have selfless motives. However, without the relationship, faith, trust, and belief in Jesus, they only have half of what the Bible says is necessary for entrance into Heaven.

As I have studied the Bible, I see the dual truth that faith and belief in Jesus is what is necessary for salvation, but that this faith and belief must be active and visible to others in our lives. Our faith must mean something and our beliefs must affect our actions.

However, if someone says that faith requires a certain action or a certain set of actions to be true faith then they make that action, or actions, more important than the faith behind it, and their argument becomes indistinguishable from one emphasizing salvation coming through works.

Instead, saying that faith must be visible and it must affect our lives and our decisions in a public way actually enhances the faith behind the action. While each person might display their faith differently, when we maturely look at the motivations behind the actions, we discover a faith that is equally as strong, if not stronger.

However, Jesus did not call us to judge other people regarding their faith. Instead, Jesus calls each of us to focus on growing closer to God and to make Him our highest priority, even higher than the noble act of helping the poor. Having a saving relationship with Jesus is that important!

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, continue to seek God first in your life. Don’t sacrifice your relationship with God because you are too busy helping the poor, or doing other good things. While we are called to help those in need, my challenge for you is to move forward because you are seeking God and because you have a relationship with Him. In other words, seek a relationship with God first, focus on making your relationship with Him personal, and after that, step out and help those He brings into your life.

In order to grow a great relationship with God, be sure to be regularly spending time praying and studying your Bible. Through prayer and reading your Bible, discover just how much God loves you and how valuable you are in His eyes.

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!

All throughout Jesus’ ministry, people of all types and from all backgrounds came from near and far to see Him. However, one man stands apart from the rest, because while he wanted to see Jesus, instead of seeking Jesus out, he waited until Jesus was traveling through the city he lived in, and he figured out the route Jesus was taking through town.

After figuring all these things out, this man ran ahead and climbed up a tree just so he could see the celebrity Preacher who everyone was talking about. The gospel of Luke shares the story of Jesus’ encounter with the man named Zacchaeus, what happened when Jesus came to the tree that Zacchaeus had climbed, and how Jesus surprised this notorious tax collector.

Let’s read what happened, from Luke’s gospel, chapter 19, using the New Century Version. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. ² A man was there named Zacchaeus, who was a very important tax collector, and he was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because he was too short to see above the crowd. ⁴ He ran ahead to a place where Jesus would come, and he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see him. ⁵ When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.”

Let’s pause reading here to draw our attention onto a couple fascinating details in the first part of this event. Luke tells us that Zacchaeus simply wanted to see who Jesus was, and perhaps hear a glimpse of what Jesus was preaching about at that time. While trees are great when one needs to climb above the crowd and see past other people, trees are not great for people who want to hear the entire message of someone who is walking along a road while sharing a message.

All the time Jesus was slowly approaching the tree Zacchaeus had climbed, the anticipation of finally seeing Jesus and even hearing a little portion of Jesus’ teaching built. I suspect that in Zacchaeus’ mind, it would be amazing if Jesus happened to stop, or pause near enough to the tree, so that he could hear just a little more of Jesus’ message.

But while Zacchaeus may have wanted his tree climbing adventure to remain hidden, Jesus was not oblivious to what this tax collector was looking for. In reality, Jesus knew what Zacchaeus wanted and needed even better than Zacchaeus himself did.

Picking back up in verse 6, on hearing Jesus invite Himself to his home, Luke tells us that:

⁶ Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him gladly. ⁷ All the people saw this and began to complain, “Jesus is staying with a sinner!”

I am always surprised when reading this, since this was not the first or last time Jesus would take the time to associate with sinners. However, it is interesting to note that this reaction is not a reaction by the religious elite, but of the crowd in general. The crowd likely had Pharisees, Sadducees, and others in it, but Luke simply describes the complaint coming from the crowd, with no specific spiritual hierarchy present. Even though there was a clear hierarchy present in the first century, Luke doesn’t draw our attention to it in this portion of this event.

However, with that said, the people in the first century are like us today. There are some people we cannot help but look up to, while there are other people we cannot help but look down on. There are people we want to associate with and people who we would rather not associate with.

Jesus’ counter-cultural attitude where He associated with everyone, regardless of their lifestyle or background, would be just as counter-cultural today as it was back then. While tax collectors are not the most likable people in our world today, it was much worse in the first century. I suspect that if this event were to happen today, Zacchaeus could represent any number of marginalized or looked down upon groups.

But Jesus didn’t go to Zacchaeus’ home just because Zacchaeus was hated by those living in Jericho. Jesus invited Himself over because He knew what was in Zacchaeus’ heart, and He wanted to give this tax collector a second chance.

While the crowd was complaining about Jesus’ time spent with a sinner, Luke tells us that Zacchaeus made a bold statement. In verse 8, we read:

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times more.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham. ¹⁰ The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”

Zacchaeus’ response has several interesting angles we can learn from. First, let’s do a little math. Zacchaeus begin’s his response by pledging half of his wealth to the poor. This is a big deal because in an instant, Zacchaeus loses half of his net worth. We could say that with this pledge, Zacchaeus is now at 50% of his former wealth.

Next, Zacchaeus promises to pay back 4 times over anyone who he had ever cheated. The only way for this statement to be possible without Zacchaeus becoming indebted to the entire city of Jericho would be if he had cheated less than twelve and a half percent of his wealth. While it is possible that Zacchaeus cheated to accumulate 10% or so of his net worth, that still leaves almost the entire fortune Zacchaeus had accumulated to business deals and transactions that were fair for all parties.

In Zacchaeus’ response, he challenges those present, and everyone else that he had ever dealt with using the word if. Zacchaeus says that “if” he had cheated anyone, he would pay them back four times more. By saying “if”, Zacchaeus challenges the stereotype that all tax collectors were cheats and extortionists because using the word “if” implies that he had conducted his business differently.

After hearing Zacchaeus respond, Jesus replied by saying in verse 9 that, “Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham.”

We might be tempted to think that Zacchaeus just pledged to buy his way into heaven, but this is not true. While Zacchaeus’ statements and promises regarding a newfound generosity seem to prompt Jesus’ statement of approval and salvation, I believe there is something deeper at work here.

From looking at how Zacchaeus responded, it doesn’t appear as though he would shift how he conducted his tax collecting business. Before Jesus, Zacchaeus pushed away the stereotype of a cheat, and this shouldn’t change afterwards.

Instead, I believe it is the first part of Zacchaeus’ response that brought salvation into his home. When Zacchaeus blanket-pledges to give away half his wealth, this opens the door to another realization. Likely up to that point, Zacchaeus might have been known as a saver, and instead of being generous with the money he earned, he horded it away in case he would ever need it. Zacchaeus had lots of money, but it was at the expense of being generous.

The 180-degree turn in Zacchaeus’ life is that after meeting Jesus, the money seemed to matter less, and instead of building a hedge of protection with a large, nice looking balance sheet, Zacchaeus shifted his foundation onto Jesus. Echoing the truth that we cannot serve both God and money, Zacchaeus makes the leap from serving and saving money to serving God and giving money.

Zacchaeus’ shift towards having faith in God and redirecting the focus of his heart led to Jesus’ statement about Zacchaeus now being saved. Salvation is never bought through anything we can pay or do, but we can receive it when we place our faith, trust, hope, and belief in Jesus – which means that we trust in Jesus regardless of the size of our net worth.

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

Intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. Look to Him first when facing struggles or difficulty, and lean on Him for help with the problems you face.

Also, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn more about Jesus, and to grow closer to Him, because when we have given our hearts to His, money, stuff, and status become less important.

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 let money steal you away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through Jesus’ life, looking at events from His ministry, we come to an event where we are almost embarrassed on behalf of those coming to Jesus in order to ask a question. While most instances where someone comes to Jesus with a question have a noble purpose, such as when someone comes asking for help or healing, or a clearly sinister purpose, like when the Pharisees ask Jesus a question to trap Him, the question we have in our passage for this episode is almost exclusively self-serving.

In our passage for this episode, two of Jesus’ disciples come to Him with a question, or should I say, with a request, and with how Jesus responded, we might almost feel bad for the way this situation turned out, if it were not for how self-serving the question itself was.

However, with this question and how Jesus responded to it, we discover a powerful picture of God and a mirror into our own human nature as well.

Let’s read what happened and then unpack some big ideas we can learn from it. Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter 10, and we will read it using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 35, Mark tells us that:

³⁵ James and John, sons of Zebedee, went to Jesus. They said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do us a favor.”

³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.

³⁷ They said to him, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

³⁸ Jesus said, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m going to drink? Can you be baptized with the baptism that I’m going to receive?”

³⁹ “We can,” they told him.

Jesus told them, “You will drink the cup that I’m going to drink. You will be baptized with the baptism that I’m going to receive. ⁴⁰ But I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. Those positions have already been prepared for certain people.”

While we could read further to discover what happened when the other disciples found out about this request, and how they were not very pleased with James or John, let’s stop reading here because I want to draw our attention onto a couple of profound ideas present in how these disciples understood Jesus’ ministry. We’ll frame these ideas around what the disciples likely believed they were asking and contrast it with what actually happened.

First off, when these two disciples were framing their request, they likely could only see fame and glory in Jesus’ future. In their minds, like most of first century Jewish culture, they believed that after Jesus had overthrown Rome, He would set up His kingdom in its place. With a new kingdom, Jesus would need people close to Him, and the most significant, closest people would be those on the right and left hand sides of Him. These two disciples, sensing that their odds aren’t that great within a group of twelve, decide to pull Jesus aside and request the places of honor directly.

However, when we contrast this request with what actually happened, Jesus likely saw His glory as being something different from what the disciples thought. Jumping ahead in the gospels, when Jesus was praying in the garden on the night He was betrayed, He prayed for a cup to be taken away from Him if it was within God’s will. If the cup Jesus referred to in His prayer that night is the same cup Jesus references in His conversation with these two disciples, Jesus’ glory would ultimately be when He was hanging on the cross and preparing to take His last breath.

While Jesus was on the cross, those on His right and left were criminals, and neither one would have been a member of Jesus’ group of disciples.

In His conversation with these disciples, Jesus also references the concept of baptism. While baptism generally means being dipped or immersed in water, similar to what Jesus did at the beginning of His ministry with John the Baptizer, the context of Jesus’ words would be the literal act of death and resurrection that the symbolic act of baptism actually meant. Baptism represents dying, being buried, and being raised up into a new life. When we are baptized with water, being submerged in the water represents us taking part in Jesus’ death and burial, as well as His resurrection.

I strongly suspect that the disciples making their request did not understand the baptism Jesus was referring to as being a baptism that would take them through death, though it is possible that following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, these disciples then understood Jesus’ words from this earlier conversation.

When making their request, I suspect these disciples only saw fame, status, and position as the outcome of their request. I doubt they had any idea Jesus was actively moving towards the cross as His goal.

However, what about when we look past Jesus’ ministry on earth and to the celebration that God’s people will experience in heaven following Jesus’ return to take us home. When we are all seated for the great wedding feast of the Lamb, wherever Jesus happens to be seated, there will be a position on His right and on His left.

Looking forward at this event, which may be what the disciples have in their minds when making their request, we discover another big idea within Jesus’ response: Jesus tells these disciples that there are some things Jesus does not have authority over.

While it would be easy to skim over or minimize this point, let’s not do that because this is significant. Jesus never focused His ministry on increasing His power or His authority. Jesus appeared to always be content being under the authority of someone else. We could compare this to the centurion Jesus helped who was under the authority of others and who also had people who he had authority over.

After the other disciples find out about James and John’s request, Jesus called the disciples together to tell them that God’s kingdom works differently than human kingdoms. In God’s kingdom, power is displayed through humility and service. Jesus describes God’s kingdom, not as a hierarchy where those on the top are over the others, but as an upside down ladder where the goal is service and sacrifice over self-exaltation.

While Jesus didn’t grant these disciples’ their initial request, we discover that through the discussion Jesus has surrounding their request, Jesus’ followers throughout history have been able to learn a little more about God’s character, His kingdom, and His humility. Jesus came to serve, and Jesus has called us to serve and help others and to show God’s love to those He brings into our lives.

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 to you, continue to intentionally place God first in your life. Also, as we talked about in this episode, intentionally put other people ahead of yourself as well. When focusing on how to balance our lives, look no further than Jesus and model your life after His in this regard.

In order to know what Jesus did and what He is like, be sure to also pray and study the Bible for yourself. Though praying and studying your Bible, discover who Jesus is, what He is like, and just how much He love you. Jesus is the best model we have for what it means to be a servant.

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!