Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through our year looking at Jesus’ life, we come to an event where Jesus is preaching, and two of the gospel writers emphasize different parts of His message. It is as though Matthew, when writing his gospel, either intentionally summarized Jesus’ teaching at this point, or forgot the full message Jesus shared.

Looking at this possibility, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was either, since I doubt I could remember word-for-word a presentation from even the most dynamic speaker. However, since Luke went around interviewing eye-witnesses for his gospel, we discover that he found someone who remembered this portion of Jesus’ teaching and the full, nuanced message.

Before sharing the two passages, I want to also point out the possibility that Matthew’s gospel could be sharing a different sermon than Luke’s and that Jesus could have spoken two similar but distinctly different messages.

Without any further delay, let’s dive in to these two passages, and emphasize what is similar and what is different about the way each gospel writer frames Jesus’ message. First let’s look at Matthew’s gospel. This passage is found in Matthew, chapter 7, and we will be reading from the New International Version. Starting in verse 1, Jesus tells the crowd:

¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

In the first two verses of this chapter, Matthew shares Jesus’ challenge to us for us to keep from judging others, because how we judge others will be the same way we are judged.

However, part of me wonders if Matthew intentionally summarized this teaching to conserve space or to emphasize Jesus’ call for us to avoid judging people. This question in my mind is because Luke shares more detail in his gospel when appearing to talk about the same big truth. Reading from Luke, chapter 6, starting in verse 37, we discover Jesus said:

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

In these two verses that seem to describe the same truth in Luke’s gospel, we find the focus not on simply avoiding judging others, which is important, but also on giving, forgiving, and being generous. While Matthew focused on sharing the warning, and only the negative side of this truth, Luke includes both possible results from the effect of how we choose to live.

Luke’s gospel does not deny that if we judge others, we too will be judged, but he also says that is the same way with condemning others, forgiving others, and giving to others. Luke tells us Jesus promised that when we condemn others, we will be condemned, when we forgive others, we too will be forgiven, and when we give to others, we will have things given to us.

Both Matthew and Luke include the phrase, “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”, and I wonder how this relates with the idea of Luke’s “good measure”. This shared phrase seems to indicate complete equality and fairness. The standard God uses for us appears to be based on the standard we hold others to. However, all too often, I hear motivational speakers use Luke’s phrase about a good measure as being God’s blessing us more than we deserve, as opposed to equally as much.

Before continuing further down this train of thought, I want to pause and emphasize that I absolutely do believe that God has given us way more than we deserve. However, in the context of this passage and promise, I wonder if this idea is really not what Jesus is teaching in this set of verses, or really in either one of these two gospels.

If the whole point of this specific teaching is about not judging others, as Matthew directs us to think, then there is no need for there to be a “good measure”, since you either judge or you don’t, just like God either judges or He does not.

However, I wonder if Luke’s good measure has to do more with the nature of how we act more so than how God responds. If the measure we use will be measured back to us, then it would be to our benefit to be amazingly generous, giving freely to everyone, because that will be the measure we get in return. If we give “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over”, then this will be the type of measure that is poured into our lap.

It is like if you are baking with flour. If the recipe calls for a certain number of cups of flour, you probably don’t want there to be any bubbles or air pockets in the flour you are measuring. That’s why you might tap the cup on your counter to help the flour settle, you might shake it a little, and you might just give a little extra instead of leveling it off.

I suspect this is how God would want us to live, both when we give to others and when we forgive them too. We should not be looking for loopholes, or ways of short-changing our giving. Just as a recipe would suffer if you cheated flour out of it, your character suffers if you cheat generosity out of it.

Let’s take this idea a step further and apply it to our relationships.

When applying Jesus’ challenge about judging and measuring within our relationships, we can easily see that cheating or short-changing our spouse or our friends will eventually end the relationship. Sometimes the relationship will end quickly, but other times it will end only after a certain amount of time has passed. However, I will be quick to point out that this example is prolonged cheating and short-changing, with nothing redemptive about it. I firmly believe that people can grow and change and that redemption is possible when both individuals are seeking the same goal.

However, when we take Jesus’ challenge a step further, if we judge or condemn our friends or significant others, they won’t remain in our lives for very long in a similar way as if we were to cheat on them. It is just the nature of life that we don’t want to be around those who put us down. Another possible response that is equally as toxic is that the other person in the relationship chooses to return our judgment and condemnation back towards us. A relationship that degrades into judging, cheating, and belittling won’t last long.

However, the reverse is true. If we give and forgive freely in our relationships, the same generosity and good-will will be returned to us. If we assume the best, give multiple chances, and genuinely love those God has brought into our lives, the same attitude will be returned to us – perhaps not from everyone, but it will return from many and our relationships will be solidly positive.

Before ending our podcast episode, let’s take this idea one step further: The truth Jesus teaches can also be extended and applied to our relationship with God: If we judge, He judges; if we condemn, He condemns; if we forgive, He forgives; and if we give generously, He gives generously.

This ultimately brings us to the amazing, profound conclusion that the type of relationship we have with God is fully within our choosing.

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 choose to seek God first and choose to have a great, generous relationship with Him.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn for yourself what God is really like. While pastors, authors, speakers, or even podcasters can share ideas with you, only through personal study can you grow personally closer to God and discover what He is like and just how much He loves and values you.

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!

As we continue moving through events the gospel writers include in Jesus’ life, we arrive at a point in Jesus’ ministry where He is teaching the crowds about prayer. For those of you who are familiar with the gospels, you’ll easily recognize that this topic comes immediately following the opening to Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. After Jesus has shared blessings for various groups of people in the opening portion of His sermon, He shifts the focus of His message first to the big topic of prayer, and what Jesus says might just surprise you.

While Jesus includes a very famous model prayer in our passage, what Jesus says leading up to this prayer are in many ways more important than the prayer itself.

Our passage for this episode, and Jesus’ teaching on the subject of prayer, is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read it using the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 5, Matthew tells us Jesus transitions to talking about prayer by saying:

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray so people will see them. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward. ⁶ When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

Let’s pause reading here because I want to draw our attention onto several specific points. First, the way Jesus describes prayer in this passage is as though prayer is primarily a personal thing; it is something we do with God. Prayer is a two-person event: person 1 is praying, and we could call “Person” 2, God, who is receiving the prayer. God, who we don’t see, sees what we do in secret, and he rewards our personal relationship with Him.

The powerful truth Jesus alludes to in this passage is that our public relationship with God does not matter as much as our private relationship with God. While a public and private relationship are important, Jesus tells us that those who only have a public relationship with God have already received their reward, because their relationship with God is not for God’s benefit, but simply for show.

It is like someone who says they are your friend when other people are around, but who ignores you or doesn’t want to spend time with you when it is just the two of you. That’s not much of a friendship.

Instead, Jesus teaches us that God wants a personal relationship with you – a relationship that is solid on a personal level and that doesn’t feel as though it needs to be displayed in public. This leaves public prayers for addressing simply the group and/or event they are included in, which keeps them relevant as well.

Praying in public or when others are present is something that is beneficial, but only when it is given sincerely, from someone who also has a personal relationship with God in their private life as well.

With this foundation in place, Jesus then shifts the focus slightly in the following verses. Continuing in verse 7, Jesus tells those present:

⁷ “And when you pray, don’t be like those people who don’t know God. They continue saying things that mean nothing, thinking that God will hear them because of their many words. ⁸ Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. ⁹ So when you pray, you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name always be kept holy.
¹⁰ May your kingdom come
and what you want be done,
here on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us the food we need for each day.
¹² Forgive us for our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who sinned against us.
¹³ And do not cause us to be tempted,
but save us from the Evil One.’ [The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen.]

While it would be very easy to focus in on Jesus’ model prayer here, the statements Jesus share leading up to this model prayer are just as powerful, and they are oftentimes lost or forgotten. When setting the stage for this powerful prayer, Jesus makes a clear distinction between people who either pray meaningless words, or who act as though God has no idea what they want or need.

If you pray in order to let God know what you need, that subtly suggests that you believe God isn’t all knowing. If we believe God is all-knowing, it is only logical to conclude that He knows what we need, want, and will ask for before we even bow our head to pray. While we can and should still ask for things, it is better for us to understand the truth that by asking, we are intentionally submitting to God and His will. When we ask God for something specific, let’s not treat God as though He is learning something new; instead, let’s ask God to step into our lives and our situations in ways that only He can.

Jesus directly says that using more words does not mean you have a more effective prayer. Probably the opposite is true. I shouldn’t have to say this to us here, but this truth about prayer is true in our private prayers, and it is really, really true in our public ones. Keeping our prayers short in public will keep everyone satisfied, and we can say we are following Jesus’ instructions for us.

Chanting repetitive words or phrases fail Jesus’ prayer instructions for His followers. When we say empty, meaningless, or shallow words, they cheapen our prayer. When we repetitively use words or phrases, each subsequent time we say them may get more intense, but do we think God didn’t hear us the first time. God heard our request before the thought even had occurred in our mind – the first time – and he certainly does not need to hear the request multiple times.

However, what about times or places in the Bible where we are challenged to persist in our requests to God. Is repeating our requests ever okay?

In my own mind, I think it is, but only in specific cases or situations. When we are facing something in our lives that we need God’s help with, it is beneficial for us to repeat our request because repeating the request reminds ourselves of something we have given to God, and repeating our requests reminds us that God is still in control. Also, if we are tempted or struggling whether to give our situation over to God, we should repeat our prayer request because repeating our prayers helps us wrap our minds around our need for God’s help.

In our prayers, we remind ourselves that God is in control, and that He knows the best outcome from eternity’s perspective. We tend to limit our focus to our own limited perspective, but God knows all the possible outcomes, and reminding ourselves that He is in control also reminds us that He knows the best path for history to take from this point forward. God looks at the perspective of eternity, and He wants as many people as possible in His kingdom with Him.

When we pray to God, let’s intentionally focus on drawing near to God and opening our hearts and lives to Him. God loves you and me, and through prayer, we can grow a strong, personal relationship with Him that will extend forward into eternity!

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 work towards growing a personal relationship with Him and with Jesus – giving emphasis on growing your personal, private relationship.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to learn more about God and about Jesus and what He is like. While other people have ideas and opinions, the best place to learn about God is through what He has revealed to us in the Bible.

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!

As we continue moving through Jesus’ life, focusing on events that the gospel writers included, we come to an event that is a little less well known, but one that is incredibly powerful when we stop to focus in on it.

Early on in Jesus’ ministry, the gospel of Matthew dedicates a significant amount of space to an event known as the Sermon on the Mount. However, if you were paying attention to our introduction, we aren’t going to be reading from Matthew’s gospel in this episode.

Instead, lesser known is a sermon Jesus shares in Luke’s gospel, which is known as Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. However, this other sermon shares some similarities to Jesus’ famous sermon, and it begins in a similar way before taking a significantly different turn.

Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will be reading from the God’s Word translation of the Bible. Starting in verse 20, Luke tells us that:

²⁰ Jesus looked at his disciples and said,

“Blessed are those who are poor.
    God’s kingdom is theirs.
²¹ Blessed are those who are hungry.
    They will be satisfied.
Blessed are those who are crying.
    They will laugh.
²² Blessed are you when people hate you, avoid you,
    insult you, and slander you
        because you are committed to the Son of Man.
²³             Rejoice then, and be very happy!
                You have a great reward in heaven.
                    That’s the way their ancestors treated the prophets.

²⁴ “But how horrible it will be for those who are rich.
    They have had their comfort.
²⁵ How horrible it will be for those who are well-fed.
    They will be hungry.
How horrible it will be for those who are laughing.
    They will mourn and cry.
²⁶ How horrible it will be for you
    when everyone says nice things about you.
        That’s the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.

In this passage, we have four blessings and four warnings. On the surface, these blessings cover the range of economic, physical, emotional, and social areas of life, but on a deeper level, the “economic” blessing and warning is really a spiritual blessing and warning.

As far as I am aware, humans are the only species on planet earth to have created an economic system, and we are the only species on earth that are described as “spiritual” beings. According to the first two chapters of Genesis, all life has the breath of God, but only humanity has the fingerprints of God after He hand-formed us as a species. This leads me to believe that parts of humanity that are unique to us (such as economics in this case), are an extension of our spiritual nature, since we are the only creatures to have built an economic system.

While it is tempting to gloss over Jesus’ clear message about those who don’t have now will have later, and those who have now will not have later, if I try to simplify this passage down to one broad theme, We likely will miss the direct nature of these blessings and warnings.

Jesus promises encouragement for those who are hurting spiritually, which also includes those who are hurting financially, as well as those who are hurting physically, emotionally, and socially. In these blessings, He wants to remind all of us that when times are bad, He still is in control, and when things are unfair, they will be made right in the end.

In the warnings, Jesus tells us to watch out for being spiritually and financially rich, because this does not last. Wealth is not guaranteed, nor is the true value of that wealth guaranteed either. In this warning, the comfort wealth brings is stated in the present and past tense – signifying that it has an end point. Jesus says in the last phrase of verse 24, “They have had their comfort.”

In the physical warning, Jesus warns those of us who have enough to eat to understand that this situation will not last. I don’t know if this is Jesus talking to individuals or to societies at large, but the clear statement is that those who are well fed should not count on being well fed in the future.

In the emotional warning, Jesus tells us to not expect life to be all high points. Life is a mixture of peaks and valleys, and this is symbolized here as laughter and crying. While I know I would like life to be more laughter than crying, I understand that the sin in this world is responsible for pain, disease, and death. While we are living in this sinful world, God doesn’t want us to get so attached to it that we don’t want the future sinless life and world He has planned for us when this age ends.

And in the last warning, Jesus tells us to be very careful when people begin to say good things about us, because when this happens, we are dangerously close to how the false prophets were treated. In Old Testament Israel, the true prophets tried to warn the people of destruction and punishment, and they were tortured, mocked, thrown in jail, and largely ignored. The false prophets were welcomed, because they said what the leaders and people wanted to hear, even though it was a lie.

Jesus cautions us to be wary when things are going our way, because it is when things are up that we are tempted to lose our focus on Him and on God. When life is good, the temptation is to think that our skill, ability, and well-placed investments were the cause. We discount God’s blessing and think the gift was given by us to us and not from the true Giver Himself.

In this passage, we discover four blessings and four warnings. Jesus wants us to succeed when things are looking up and when things are not going so well. He said these words specifically to the disciples, but with the crowd present. As followers of Jesus, we are to heed these blessings and these warnings as being relevant to our lives today.

The blessings are given for our encouragement, and the warnings are given to protect us from the temptation of pride.

If all of us individually keep this teaching in our minds and let it absorb into our hearts, we will become even more like Jesus, and the more like Jesus we become, the more God will be preparing us for Jesus’ return and the end of sin!

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 let the promises and warnings we focused on in this episode impact how you live your life.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn who Jesus is and what He is really like. Discover through the pages of the Bible a God who passionately wants you redeemed in heaven, but a God who values your freedom of choice over His desire for you to be saved for eternity.

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!

As we continue our journey through Jesus’ life, we come to a long passage that contains a verse that transformed my view of Jesus when I first read it. This view is incredibly counter-cultural and it actually helps us frame several things Jesus does in His ministry that might not make any sense without this perspective.

In our culture today, we like to place people on pedestals and on platforms, and look to them for ideas, inspiration, entertainment, or escape. Our culture today loves to give glory to people who overcome unbelievable odds, it loves to talk about people who have royally messed up, and it loves to vilify the people it stereotypes.

We all in some way, shape, or form do this. When we pay attention to a singer, actor, politician, celebrity, athlete, or someone significant in our life, the focus and attention we give to them is subtly also giving them glory. This idea of giving glory also extends to us giving glory to Jesus, and this draws our attention onto a verse contained in our passage.

However, before we focus in on that verse, I want to point out that giving glory to other people is not a universally bad thing. Giving some glory to others is unavoidable in our world and in today’s culture. Where we tend to fail in this area is by not prioritizing the time, and consequently, the glory that we are giving away. The easy trap we fall into is forgetting to give glory to God personally and directly, by intentionally spending time with Him.

This then brings our attention to the passage we are focusing in on for this episode. However, because this passage is quite long, I am going to pull out a section of it to read, while encouraging you to read the broad passage on your own when you get the chance. Like many of you, I have probably read this broad passage many times, but during one of the times reading it, a verse within it hit me and completely shifted my perception of Jesus.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 5, and we will read it from the New International Version. While I would like to begin in verse 16, for our time together to stay within somewhere close to our normal length, l’ll jump down several verses. With that said, starting instead in verse 31, we read Jesus responding to the religious leaders, saying:

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

³³ “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴ Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. ³⁵ John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

³⁶ “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, ³⁸ nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. ³⁹ You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory from human beings, ⁴² but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Let’s stop reading here. One verse near the end of this challenge Jesus gives to the religious leaders is amazing when we stop to draw attention to it. This verse is verse 41, where Jesus tells the religious leaders, “I do not accept glory from human beings.”

I know I had read this broader passage numerous times before really seeing this verse, but one morning while studying, this verse jumped off the page at me and shifted my perception of Jesus. It’s interesting, because once I saw Jesus through this verse, I find it hard to read any passage about Jesus without using this new perspective.

By including this phrase, Jesus is either being an example of the most sinless human ever to live, or He is being an example of one of the most deluded sociopaths. I’m inclined to think He was the most sinless human, because God gave Him the power to perform miracles, healing thousands of sick people, feeding thousands more, and a little event we call the resurrection helps this thought as well.

Also, sociopaths don’t live selflessly, so Jesus doesn’t really fit that stereotype if we look at this comparison from the other angle.

Since this phrase Jesus said reveals part of His character, I don’t ever see this idea changing. I don’t see Jesus having rejected glory from people while here on earth, but then later changing His mind about this. Instead, I suspect Jesus does the same thing with the glory He is given today that He did while He walked the earth during the first century. Whenever anyone tried to give Jesus glory, He directs the glory to the Father.

If we take this idea one step further, what about Satan? If anyone was more opposite to Jesus, it would be him. Satan wanted more glory pointed towards himself. If God and the angels were not going to do this, humans are the only other candidate he has, which means that Satan will accept glory from humans. It is even possible that Satan desires glory from humanity.

So with this knowledge as one guide, a simple litmus test we can use to determine a genuine Christ-following disciple-leader is simply whether they point the glory to God, or if they accept glory themselves (or perhaps if they seek out more glory that they can accept).

I have not done much research into historical cult movements, but most if not all probably would have failed this simple litmus test. Someone looking in from the outside (and maybe even a rational person looking from within) could rationally say that the leader was interested in drawing people, focus, and glory onto himself or herself and not on forwarding that glory on to God.

This simple litmus test could also be one way of identifying Satan when he comes claiming to be Christ. By His own declaration, Jesus never accepted glory from humans, whereas Satan will likely be the opposite. I very much suspect that a Satan impersonating Jesus, or anyone impersonating Jesus, will fail the test of whether they are in it for their own glory or for God’s.

So where does that leave you and I today? How can we take this information and change our lives?

I cannot speak for you, but when originally reading this phrase and when the flood of ideas poured into my mind, I could not escape the clear revelation of Jesus’ character. Jesus was 100+% focused on helping others and forwarding the glory onto God the Father.

As disciples of Jesus, which is another way of saying that we model or imitate our lives after His, I see pointing all glory and praise upwards to God as a character attribute we all need to incorporate into our own lives, myself included. I must not seek glory for myself, but forward any glory onward and upward to Jesus and the Father. There is the constant pressure from culture to accept glory and praise, therefore, in my mind, since Jesus did not accept it and culture wants us to seek it, rejecting praise and pointing our focus upwards towards God must be something worth striving for in living a Jesus-like life.

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, choose to intentionally place God first in your life and choose to model Jesus and give God the glory.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn more about who Jesus really was and what Jesus ultimately did for you when He died on the cross. Accept the gift Jesus offers and don’t let anyone trick you out of holding onto the promise of salvation!

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 fall away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!