Reflective Bible Study

 ¹ There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader. ² One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him.”

 ³ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God’s kingdom.”

 ⁴ Nicodemus said, “But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?”

 ⁵ But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God’s kingdom. ⁶ Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit. ⁷ Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ‘You must all be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.”

Read John 3:1-8 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

 ⁵ When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman officer met him and begged for help: 
         ⁶ Sir, my servant is sick in bed at home, unable to move and suffering terribly.

          ⁷  I will go and make him well, Jesus said.

          ⁸  Oh no, sir, answered the officer.
         I do not deserve to have you come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. ⁹ I, too, am a man under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one,
         Go! and he goes; and I order that one,
         Come! and he comes; and I order my slave,
         Do this! and he does it.

 ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was surprised and said to the people following him,
         I tell you, I have never found anyone in Israel with faith like this. ¹¹ I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. ¹² But those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

    ¹³ Then Jesus said to the officer,
         Go home, and what you believe will be done for you.

   And the officer’s servant was healed that very moment.

Read Matthew 8:5-13 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

⁷ I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. ⁸ This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

⁹ Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. ¹⁰ If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. ¹¹ Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? ¹² A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Read Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

¹ The people of Israel arrived at the Zin Desert during the first month and set up camp near the town of Kadesh. It was there that Miriam died and was buried.

² The Israelites had no water, so they went to Moses and Aaron ³ and complained, “Moses, we’d be better off if we had died along with the others in front of theLord’s sacred tent. ⁴ You brought us into this desert, and now we and our livestock are going to die! ⁵ Egypt was better than this horrible place. At least there we had grain and figs and grapevines and pomegranates. But now we don’t even have any water.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron went to the entrance to the sacred tent, where they bowed down. The Lord appeared to them in all of his glory ^7-8 and said, “Moses, get your walking stick. Then you and Aaron call the people together and command that rock to give you water. That’s how you will provide water for the people of Israel and their livestock.”

⁹ Moses obeyed and took his stick from the sacred tent. ¹⁰ After he and Aaron had gathered the people around the rock, he said, “Look, you rebellious people, and you will see water flow from this rock!” ¹¹ He raised his stick in the air and struck the rock two times. At once, water gushed from the rock, and the people and their livestock had water to drink.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not respect me. And so, you will not be the ones to lead them into the land I have promised.”

¹³ The Israelites had complained against the Lord, and he had shown them his holy power by giving them water to drink. So they named the place Meribah, which means “Complaining.”

Read Numbers 20:1-13 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!