Reflective Bible Study

As we continue our journey through the gospels, we come to an event where it appeared as though Jesus didn’t get His miracle 100% right the first time. All too often, I find myself picturing Jesus as succeeding the first time at everything He set out to do, and I imagine that even though Jesus faced struggles, problems, and challenges, my mind’s eye pictures Jesus as easily winning every challenge that came His way.

Jesus was always one step ahead of the trick questions of the religious leaders, He always seems to know the right words to say to help hurting people, and His touch, voice, or simply His presence healed people.

Knowing that Jesus succeeds with the tasks He set out to do then makes the miracle in our passage for this episode a little more fascinating. This is because the miracle in our passage seems to suggest that Jesus didn’t get the healing right the first time, and that He had to redo it in order for it to truly be successful.

Let’s read what happened. Our passage is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter 8, and we’ll be reading it using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 22, Mark tells us that Jesus and His disciples:

²² [They] came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. ²³ Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, “Can you see anything?”

²⁴ The man looked up and said, “Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵ Jesus again placed his hands on the man’s eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus then sent him home with the order, “Don’t go back into the village.”

In this passage, as we were reading it together, a detail jumped off the page at me. In my mind, I find it fascinating that Jesus would take the man outside the village before healing him, and then after healing him, tell him to not go back into the village. I wonder if this is one more example of an event where Jesus wants to avoid receiving praise from people.

However, instead of focusing on this angle of our passage, let’s instead focus on the fascinating detail that Jesus’ first attempt at this miracle was only partially successful. After Jesus’ first attempt, the man responses that He can see movement, but that the people look more like trees than people.

This response is a clue for us that this man probably was not born blind. Instead, it is likely that at some point in his life, his eyesight failed or an accident took his sense of vision. I suspect this because someone who has never seen a person likely could not distinguish as quickly between a visual impression of a person versus simply what could be distinguished from the other senses.

However, regardless of whether this man really was born blind, or if he lost his ability to see at some point after he was born, it is fascinating that Jesus takes him out of the village and away from those who had brought him. Part of me suspects that Jesus could tell that those who had brought the man to Him were less interested in the health or well-being of the man and simply wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle.

If this was the case, Jesus separates the two desires in order to help this man: He desires to restore this man’s sight, but He does not want to satisfy the crowd’s selfish desire to see a miracle since they were unlikely to give God the glory for this miracle. To solve this dilemma, Jesus separated the man from the crowd, and led him out of the village.

At this point in the passage, I wonder whether the blind man had given up hope. If the blind man had given up hope of ever regaining his eyesight, he might have thought Jesus was separating him from the crowd because Jesus wanted to let him know that He might not be successful, or that this man’s blindness was incurable. While any speculation into what this blind man may have been thinking is impossible to verify, it would not surprise me to learn of at least one person coming to Jesus who was uncertain if Jesus could help their specific situation. In other words, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone believed Jesus could help everyone else, but that their own situation was unsolvable.

If this man had given up hope of ever having full eyesight again, he may have agreed to let the crowd bring him to Jesus because he was willing to see if Jesus could at least improve his eyesight a little. If this was what the man was thinking, then it explains what actually happens in this two-step miracle.

After Jesus leads the man away from the village and places His hands on the man’s eyes for the first time, we see the first step of this miracle take place. In other passages, the gospel writers seem to indicate that the level of faith present in an event could dictate how many people were healed. Usually this was the faith of the person who was being healed, but there are recorded cases where a friend or companion’s faith is sufficient.

Since this man was away from the crowd and away from other people who would clearly have enough faith, the faith necessary in this miracle was completely his. If the man’s faith was so small that all he expected was a slight improvement and a partial healing, then that is what would ultimately happen. The man came hoping to have his sight improved, and this ultimately resulted in him getting eyesight that was not perfect, but could at least help him get around without running into things.

However, from the first step of this miracle, the man received more than this. From seeing improvement in his eyesight, the man’s hope and faith in Jesus grew. With his increased level of faith, the second step of this miracle results in a complete restoration of the man’s eyesight.

If the faith necessary for this miracle was based on the faith of the man being healed, then we should not be surprised to learn that this miracle came in two parts. All too often, our faith in God is small at first, and only after we have experienced God working in our lives will our faith grow.

Also, this miracle challenges us with the truth that God will not stop blessing and healing as our level of faith increases. God is not going to give up on us if we don’t get our faith in Him right the first time. God is a God of second chances, and God is okay with us asking for a “do-over”.

Through Jesus’ sacrifice, God gave us the ultimate do-over card that we can use to restart and redirect our life towards Him no matter the number of times we stumble or make mistakes. God is the ultimate Giver, and most definitely a God of second chances.

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 so you don’t need to ask for that “do-over”. When choosing God and following His will for your life, while times in this life may not be easy and while we may stumble, know that we have our future life with God secured.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself so you can learn about who Jesus is and what He did for you and I. Through the pages of the Bible, discover just how much Jesus loves you and what He went through to save you and me!

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

As we continue our first year chronologically looking at events from Jesus’ life and ministry, we come to an event where Jesus heals someone, gives the person He healed a specific instruction, and then finds out later that the man He healed completely disregarded Jesus’ request.

While on the surface this seems almost unbelievable, what we’ll soon discover as we read our passage for this episode is that this is exactly what happened, and one of the most amazing themes in this event is surprisingly relevant for our lives today.

If you have ever felt shy, uneasy, or unsure about sharing Jesus with someone in your life, this passage may gain new significance in your life after we read it together.

Our passage for this episode is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 31, Mark tells us:

³¹ Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. ³² There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

³³ After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). ³⁵ At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

³⁶ Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. ³⁷ People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

In this passage, we find a very counter-cultural idea. Perhaps counter-cultural might not be the best way to describe it, but it is a very counter-cultural-to-our-current-world idea. In this passage, when a group of people eagerly bring a deaf and almost completely mute man to Jesus, the first thing Jesus does is lead the man away from the crowd. Jesus feels love and compassion for this disabled man, but while we might expect Jesus to heal the man because of His compassion for this child of God as soon as he is brought to Jesus, there is something bigger at play in this scene, which prompts Jesus to pull the man aside to heal him apart from the crowd.

As we read this event, I cannot escape a clear counter-cultural idea in Jesus’ actions. When many people in the world today are clamoring for the spotlight, the stage, and for attention from others, Jesus steps off stage, and He takes the man needing help away from the crowd in order to heal him.

While Jesus heals this man with a strange set of actions, I don’t for an instant believed this was the reason Jesus pulled the man aside. Instead, I suspect that Jesus pulls the man aside because He isn’t looking for fame or glory in this event. While healing and helping others was making Jesus famous, Jesus isn’t interested in the fame. By taking the man away from the crowd to heal him, Jesus appears to be actively pushing fame away. Fame and glory are being pushed towards Him, and Jesus understands that the glory for all the miracles and help He was providing should never rest on Him. Jesus wanted all the fame and glory to point upwards towards His Father. Jesus wanted God the Father to receive all the glory.

If you have hesitations in your mind about this angle of looking at this miracle, what Jesus does immediately after healing this man is significant. After healing the deaf and mostly mute man, Jesus tells everyone present to not tell others what happened.

Looking from the perspective of our culture of fame, glory, and status, Jesus’ actions don’t make any sense. If Jesus wanted to draw attention to Himself, as culture pressures us to do, then Jesus should welcome all the publicity He can. Jesus’ miracles prompted people to talk and it was the best free publicity any marketer would dream to get. If Jesus came to this world as a marketer or a PR manager, we would discover He would not stop talking about God the Father and how amazing God is.

I suspect that something about the crowd present for this miracle prompted Jesus to know that they weren’t as interested in glorifying God through Jesus’ miracle. I suspect that Jesus could discern selfish motives in their hearts while also understanding that they wanted Him to receive all the credit for this healing.

Because of this, Jesus heals the man away from the crowd, and then Jesus challenges all those who knew about the miracle to not share it with others.

It is at this point in our passage where things get extra interesting. After Jesus asks the people to be quiet, this small group disobeyed Jesus in order to share what God had done for this formerly disabled man. They went against Jesus’ instructions in order to share what God had done.

In an odd twist of events, what happens in this event is 100% opposite of where most people are today. Too often, when given the opportunity to share Jesus with others, we minimize, ignore, or shy away from the subject. Before ascending to Heaven, Jesus challenged His followers to share the great news about Him with the world. When thinking about the great commission, many of us don’t share Jesus with others. However, when Jesus asks a small group of people to stay silent, they disobey Jesus in order to share what Jesus did.

This group of people disobeyed Jesus to give glory to what God had done through Him. They probably gave all the credit and glory to Jesus, which is what He was trying to avoid, but like the passage says, the more Jesus tried to get the people to stay quiet, the more these people talked about it.

Oddly enough though, Jesus never has told you and I to be quiet about what God has done for us. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we are challenged to share Jesus with the world. As I think about this, I don’t recall any event where Jesus asked His followers to be quiet and not to tell others about Him. In this passage, the instruction was given to people who were not followers of Jesus. The only exception to this that I can think of is Jesus asking Peter and the disciples to stay quiet about Peter’s declaration about Jesus until after Jesus was raised back to life. Since Jesus has now been resurrected, there is no God directed limit regarding if we should share the truth about Jesus!

God did amazing miracles through Jesus, and people could not help but talk about what happened. When God does miracles in our lives today through the Holy Spirit, will we stay silent, selectively share it with only those who already believe in God, or will we tell everyone we meet about what God did for us?

Regardless of what would happen, whether we would lose friends, or whether we would be rejected by people, as followers of Jesus, we have been given the command to go and make disciples, and disciples are not made by people who stay quiet.

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

As I always begin each set of challenges by saying in one way or another, remember to keep God first in your life. Intentionally follow through with the challenge Jesus gives us to follow Him and to invite other people to follow as well.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself and learn who Jesus is through what He taught and what He did. Through the gospels, discover what God is really like and just how much He loves you through what Jesus did for you, both during His ministry as well as on 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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

If you have ever wondered whether Jesus contradicted Himself, the passage we will be focusing on in this episode might be a passage you could find such a contradiction. While I am fully willing to acknowledge that there is likely some significant details or nuances that are lost in the translation, or that this potential contradiction is only visible because of the translation I have chosen for this episode, a simple reading of Jesus’ teaching seems to include a contradiction.

With this in mind, instead of reading a long block of teaching, where Jesus shares with those in Capernaum a much bigger message, let’s focus in on the contradiction itself and see if there isn’t something we can learn from Jesus’ words in this portion of His teaching.

To set the stage for this truth, let’s read the first portion of our passage, which is found in the gospel of John, chapter 6. Using the New Century Version and starting in verse 38, Jesus tells the crowd:

³⁸ I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do. ³⁹ Here is what the One who sent me wants me to do: I must not lose even one whom God gave me, but I must raise them all on the last day. ⁴⁰ Those who see the Son and believe in him have eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”

So far, this seems straightforward. In these three verses, Jesus is simply sharing a portion of His mission to earth. Now let’s jump down a few verses later, still within this broad conversation, and pull out the contrasting part. Jumping back into this passage in verse 47, Jesus tells the same crowd:

⁴⁷ I tell you the truth, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread that gives life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but still they died. ⁵⁰ Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will never die. 

Following verse 50, Jesus goes on to say that He is the bread from Heaven, but instead of reading further, let’s stop so we can look closer at this potential contradiction.

Within this larger teaching to the crowd in Capernaum, Jesus shares the idea that eternal life comes through Him, the “bread that gives life”, and that the life He gives will never result in death. However to contrast that powerful idea, Jesus says that those who have eternal life now will be raised up on the last day.

To some people, the contradiction is invisible, but to others, the dilemma centers around what it means to be given eternal life. Does getting “eternal life” mean that one never dies, or is it a promise that Jesus will raise this person up on the last day?

The contradiction becomes clearer because the first passage seems to support the last day resurrection of those who have eternal life, while the second passage emphasizes that no true believer will actually die, which negates the need for Jesus to raise them up.

To make the contrast even clearer, Jesus begins wrapping up this teaching by sharing a strange metaphor in verse 54: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” And then as a final, concluding point, in verse 58, Jesus’ last words to the crowd are: “I am not like the bread your ancestors ate. They ate that bread and still died. I am the bread that came down from heaven, and whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

The contrast and contradiction in this passage and teaching is clearly present. In this passage, Jesus is clearly giving His believers the promise of living forever, and in this last verse, living forever is contrasted with the death that the Israelites faced in the desert, even though they had bread from heaven, which they called manna, to eat.

Before continuing on, let me say first off that I don’t like contrasts or contradictions like this because they divide people. What often happens is that when we see a discrepancy in something Jesus says, people set up camps on both sides and then debate each other claiming their own chosen side is true while the other side is in error. Those watching from the sidelines may join one camp, but too often they reject both sides and walk away, ultimately missing out on the truth that is present in both sides of the debate. In the case of this passage, the truth present in both sides is simply this: Jesus has promised eternal life to those who believe in Him. The debate around this idea happens to be about the details of when this life is given.

I also don’t like contradictions similar to how we have framed this passage and this complex truth because framing the passage in this way allows skeptics an opening to try to discredit Jesus. Just as those who set up camps on each side of an issue before debating with each other, the skeptical mind takes aim at not just both sides of the debate, but will also work to discredit the One sharing the ideas. When framed as two opposing ideas, we are led to conclude that only one idea can be true, which then makes the other one a lie, and if Jesus lied, then Jesus immediately becomes untrustworthy.

So is there a resolution to this dilemma? Is there a different layer or level that Jesus is trying to teach? Is there a way where these two seemingly contrasting ideas are unified?

As I look further into this passage, I do find a common theme that blends the ideas. This theme, like I alluded to before, is that belief in Jesus brings eternal life. By using this theme as a filter to view both sides of this debate, we see something interesting appear – both in what is said, what is not said, and what is assumed:

Running the first passage through this big theme gives us the detail that eternal life is “given” or “promised”. This ultimately concludes with those having eternal life being raised up on the last day.

However, what about the second passage and those people who have “died”? If we run the second passage through this same theme – that belief in Jesus brings eternal life – we contrast believing in Jesus being the source of eternal life with those who died in the desert. A whole generation of people, minus two individuals, Joshua and Caleb, died outside of the Promised Land – and it was for one reason only: They didn’t trust God and His promise to lead them into the land that He had promised to give them.

The people in the desert died a death of unbelief – and this is different than simply death. Dying the death of unbelief is dying in a more eternal sense because where there is no belief in Jesus, there is no hope of a resurrection. It is the end. This second passage contrasts eternal life with eternal death – the death of unbelief.

In Jesus’ concluding remarks, the eternal life that is promised is promised through Jesus – who is able to do something that the manna could not do, and that is that Jesus is able to restore our spiritual lives from the inside. Heaven’s manna was a gift from God, but it was not able to restore the nation spiritually even if it sustained them physically. God did want the Israelites to learn that He provides, but they missed the spiritually restoring truth tucked within the literal gift of the manna.

Jesus is different because He lived a life that showed us God’s love and His character. Prayerfully focusing on Him does lead to spiritual renewal and eternal life. The more we look at Him, the more we will begin to look to Him, and the more we look to Him, the more our faith in Him will grow.

I have no idea where you are on the spectrum of faith in Jesus, but I do know that God wants your faith to be growing. That happens by focusing on Jesus and not on focusing on supporting one of the two sides of this never-ending debate over the details.

Focusing on Jesus unifies, and regardless of which side is more correct, when Jesus returns, the whole debate will have been wasted time. Instead of wasting time debating this, choose to focus on growing closer to Jesus and following His plan for your life, because that is what matters above everything else!

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 focus on Jesus first. Purposefully orient your life around serving God and seeking to do His will. If you are on the fence about whether you should follow or believe Jesus, let me challenge you to try God’s way out for yourself for a month or two. If after you have tried God’s way out for that amount of time, you are able to decide whether or not it is right for you, and if you decide that it isn’t right for you, at least you will have made an informed decision.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to discover firsthand what it says. While other people can share ideas with you, test everything you read, see, and hear with what you see written in the pages of the Bible. If there is ever a conflict, choose the Bible’s way over the other alternate.

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 our journey through the gospels, we arrive at a passage Jesus shares with His followers that includes both a warning and a promise. However, while we might be tempted to ignore the promise because the warning appears to be scary, only by taking the warning and the promise together do we come to realize a powerful truth about what Jesus is really promising His followers in this passage.

Many studies and statistics point out that one of the worst fears we face as humans is public speaking. Some studies even go as far as suggesting that public speaking is a greater fear than death. For many years following graduating college, I had a fear of public speaking. While I don’t remember if that fear was greater than death or not, the only way I pushed past this fear in my own life was to face it head on.

However, while I am sometimes tempted to think I pushed past this fear on my own, I suspect that I had help facing this fear through what Jesus shared with His followers in our passage for this episode. While I have not faced a situation exactly like Jesus describes, I believe that I still received a similar level of help.

Our passage for this episode is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 10, and for our time together, let’s read it using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 16, Jesus challenges His followers by saying:

¹⁶ “Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves. ¹⁷ Watch out, for there will be those who will arrest you and take you to court, and they will whip you in the synagogues. ¹⁸ For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say. ²⁰ For the words you will speak will not be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

We’ll stop reading at that point because I really don’t want you to miss what Jesus is saying here. When we are faced with someone accusing us over something we believe, we should not worry about what we will say, or even how we will say it. Jesus promises us that when the time comes, God, through the Holy Spirit, will give us the words to say.

Does this cover every single event? Does this cover every single time where we stand up to declare the truth about Jesus and every time someone challenges us regarding our faith?

It may, but the context in this passage is specifically a courtroom-like trial, when the stakes are high and every word counts. It is interesting, because while we may be tempted to see trials like what Jesus describes as things to be avoided, if we look a little deeper at this passage, verse 18 tells us that the reason we are brought to trial is to share the Good News to the rulers and to those who don’t believe.

Looking back at my experience, I have not been placed on trial for what I believe. However, I have stood up in front of groups of people to share what God has taught me while I’ve studied His Word. I look back and see God’s direct hand in the first sermons I shared, because through the feedback I received, I know God was really the source of these messages, and that I simply happened to be the person He used to speak His truth. God even directed the circumstances of one speaking arrangement to prompt me to share something different than I had originally planned, which ultimately was exactly what someone present needed to hear.

While me sharing my experience might sound like bragging to some, I only share how God moved because I want to emphasize that 100% of any success present was because of God. By human standards, those first sermons were genuine failures. The only reason they had any effect was because of God.

I am always amazed at God’s timing, and how circumstances align on both the presenter’s side as well as on the side of those listening in the audience in order to connect God’s message of truth to someone who needs to hear it. It is humbling to realize and recognize when I am a small part of it.

However, with Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit will speak through us, should that erase worry?

For some people, it might. In my own experience, I have a little bit of fear every time I get up to speak, but I push the fear aside with my opening prayer asking God for His help to ultimately share His message. I can confirm what other speakers say that after the first sentence or two, the fear goes away. I can also attest to the truth that the better prepared I am, the easier a message is to share, even when there has never been a time up to this point where my practice giving a sermon matches exactly with the sermon I gave. Every time I’ve spoken, God has directed certain aspects of His message in specific ways to reach specific people who are listening. While I know of some of these times, I suspect that when we all reach heaven, I will learn of significantly more ways than I ever dreamed possible.

However, this leads to a different question: If God, through the Holy Spirit, will give us the words to say, what is the point in practicing, or even preparing anything? Why not get up and let the Holy Spirit adlib a message – sharing only what He prompts you in the moment?

This question and angle of Jesus’ promise is what challenges me the most. I have heard of speakers who get up and share whatever happens to be on their minds that morning, and I have witnessed times that a message appeared to be given this way. Let me tell you that rarely if ever are messages shared like this good. The only exception is one where a significant news event happened and the speaker decides that it is best to redirect his message onto the event that is fresh in everyone’s minds.

However, it is again worth drawing our attention to the context of Jesus’ promise which focuses on more of a trial-like setting. While I believe the Holy Spirit is ready and willing to help in every situation where someone wants to stand up to proclaim the truth about Jesus, I don’t believe that this means that those who have the opportunity to prepare something should not do so. In my own mind, the more prepared I am to share, the easier it will be for me to let the Holy Spirit share in the moment the right words that are needed.

I know first-hand that God uses people in their weakness. God does speak powerfully through people who are not good speakers. I am an example of this – especially when I was first starting out. However, God also challenges us to grow, to move forward, and to step out for Him, which in many cases will include some type of sharing the news of Jesus with others.

Our world today has tried to push God to the sidelines and out of focus. Sometimes this means we will be ridiculed and made fun of, while other times we may be physically hurt. Regardless of what your experience has been, trust that God is in control and that He has a plan for your life that involves you being saved for eternity. With whatever happens in this life, trust that when we stick with God and with Jesus, we will receive eternal life that will outlast this sin-filled world.

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 intentionally keep your connections with God strong and growing.

Always pray and prayerfully study the Bible for yourself in order to build and grow a lasting, strong, and significant relationship with God.

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!