Reflective Bible Study

Moving into the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, it seems as though Jesus turns up the pressure with the illustrations He shares. In Jesus’ parable for this episode, Jesus is talking with the religious leaders on one of the early days of the week He would be crucified. As we read this parable and the ones that follow, I don’t think it will be much of a shock that the priests and Pharisees present would have wanted to get Jesus out of the picture. The religious leaders definitely understood Jesus’ parables were shared as a challenge to them.

The short parable we are focusing in on for this episode comes from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 21, and we will read it from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 28, Matthew quotes Jesus saying to the religious leaders:

²⁸ “Tell me what you think about this: A man had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”

The priests and leaders answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. ³² John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to change your ways and believe him.

In this short parable and passage, Jesus emphasizes two very important and profound ideas.

The first of these ideas is that talk is cheap, while action has value. I know if I were given the choice to have someone tell me they would help me versus someone actually helping me with a task, I would choose the help over the promise almost every single time.

It is the same way with God. Through Jesus’ parable and the religious leaders’ response, we know God values someone who obeys Him much more than someone who says they will obey, but then who breaks their word.

Interestingly enough, both sons broke their word, but one broke their verbal agreement by not coming, while the other decided to come after saying that he would not. While the ideal would be for one son to say they would come help in the vineyard, then follow through by actually coming and working in the vineyard, when given the choice, action always beats talk.

It is interesting in my mind that Jesus transitions out of the parable with the question that He does, because by answering this question, the priests and leaders end up incriminating themselves. By answering that the first son obeyed because he followed through and helped in the vineyard, Jesus is then able to point out the truth that this parable has a parallel in John the Baptist’s ministry.

Because of the ministry of John the Baptist, some of the worst sinners in the region changed their lives and returned to God. In contrast, when hearing John’s challenge to the religious leaders, most religious leaders disregarded John’s message and warning. Whether they disregarded John’s message because they didn’t think John was speaking truth, or whether they disregarded John’s message because they simply didn’t like the words, or even if they disregarded John’s message because they didn’t like John, their refusal to accept God’s challenge through John sets up their rejection of Jesus.

In Jesus’ concluding remarks, we discover that any message that gets us to turn towards God and away from sin is a message that is worth paying attention to. Any message that prompts us to turn back to God and away from sin is a message from the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t really matter who or where the message came from, because a message to turn back to God can only come with the Holy Spirit’s prompting.

While Jesus challenges the religious leaders in a direct way with the last verses, Jesus’ message gives us hope because while the religious leaders are being challenged, Jesus is giving assurance to everyone who has turned away from sin and back to God who might doubt that they have been saved. Someone who feels they may have gone too far or done too many bad things might doubt God’s love and saving ability. In Jesus’ message, any person who returns to God, regardless of how bad they feel their past or present is will enter God’s kingdom before someone who lived a life they felt did not need a savior.

God’s kingdom will be populated with more people who realized they needed a Savior after they screwed up their lives here on earth, than it will be filled with people who believed they didn’t need a Savior. Actually, there might not be anyone in heaven who believes they lived so good that they didn’t need Jesus.

We all have screwed up our lives here on this earth to some degree or another. That is the nature of sin and its effect on our lives. However, Jesus came to be the remedy for sin and to take our punishment for sin onto Himself, opening up the way for us to be saved forever. God offers the gift to anyone and everyone who is willing to accept Jesus into their lives and accept the gift God offers.

God is happy to reward all who turn away from sin and back to Him.

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 seeking God first in your life. Choose to let God lead and guide you each and every day and let Him lead you away from the sin in your past. Pay attention to every message challenging you to turn away from sin and back to God because messages like those have the Holy Spirit’s fingerprints present.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow personally closer to God each and every day. As you pray and study, be sure to open your heart to God and let Him come into your life and into your 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 abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we move through John’s gospel, and specifically focusing closely at how John describes the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, I am amazed by an event that John seems to skip over. While describing Jesus’ questioning before Annas in the last passage, following the questioning, John tells us Jesus is then taken to Caiaphas.

However, while the other gospels include a trial in front of Caiaphas, John skips over this event, possibly because he was not present for it, or perhaps because John wanted to emphasize more details about Jesus’ time with Pilate.

This leads us to our passage for this episode, which focuses in on Jesus’ time with Pilate while the Jewish leaders are pressing for Jesus’ death. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 28, John tells us:

²⁸ Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹ So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

³⁰ “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹ Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. ³² This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

³³ Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. ³⁹ But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰ They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

In this passage, I am amazed by a slight twist in perspective. This prompts me to wonder if there were more Jews present than simply the religious leaders. I suspect this was the case, otherwise Pilate’s actions would not make sense.

This perspective twist is found in the last portion of verse 38 and in verse 39. In these verses, John tells us that after questioning Jesus, Pilate “went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews”?’”

This statement does not make logical sense. If Pilate does not find a basis for any charge against Jesus, then Jesus would be unjustly arrested, and He would deserve freedom regardless of any custom present in the region.

However, as soon as Pilate has finished declaring Jesus’ innocence in his eyes, He offers to free Jesus as a prisoner. The only way this makes sense is if Pilate believed that the Jews present were there independent of the religious leaders, and not part of the same group. The religious leaders had brought Jesus to him because they wanted Jesus dead, and because of this, it makes no rational sense that Pilate would ask these same religious leaders if they wanted Jesus freed after declaring Jesus’ innocence.

I suspect that Pilate believed the crowd of Jews present were Jesus’ allies and not hand-picked leaders from the surrounding regions. Since this was Passover weekend, the chief priest and religious leaders in Jerusalem would have a crowd of synagogue leaders present from all over the region, and with the influx of people visiting Jerusalem for this festival, they could easily pull a crowd of anonymous looking Jews who were all opposed to Jesus.

However, in Pilate’s conclusion, He subtly shifts focus from assuming Jesus’ innocence into assuming Jesus’ guilt. From what John describes mixed with what other gospels share about this event, I suspect that Pilate was surprised with the response the crowd of Jews gave him.

This leads us to a powerful truth we can learn from this event. When the crowd shouts back that they don’t want Jesus, but that they instead want Barabbas, they are picking their picture of who the messiah would be over the Messiah God ultimately sent. Barabbas had taken part in an uprising, and he was slated to face the cross that weekend, but Jesus’ arrest and condemnation gave Barabbas a second chance at freedom.

In a powerful, while somewhat ironic way, Jesus takes the punishment of the messiah the Jews chose, and Barabbas represents the worst in humanity. Jesus took the punishment of a criminal onto Himself when He did not deserve it, and since we have all broken God’s law, we are all criminals based on God’s standards. While we all deserve death, Jesus stepped into history to take our place, dying a death He did not deserve, so that we could have the promise and assurance of eternal life, a gift we don’t deserve, because God loves us that much!

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life, and choose to accept the gift Jesus offers to each of us by repenting from sin, which is the spiritual way of saying that we turn away from living sinful lives and place our focus on Jesus. Intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and in His sacrifice to cover your sins, and be sure to say Thank You to God by living each day moving forward for Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to discover what God and Jesus are like. Through the pages of the Bible, discover how much God loves you, and what Jesus was willing to face in order to give you the opportunity of a new life with God. When we prayerfully focus on Jesus, we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, and we intentionally move closer to Jesus and closer to 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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Right before the events leading up to the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Luke’s gospel shares a fascinating parable that shares some similarities with another parable that Jesus shares with His followers during the following week. I thought about grouping these two parables together, but since there are enough details between each event that are different, I figured we could focus on them separately, letting each land where they are written about in the gospels.

Similar to some of our more recent illustrations, a phrase in Jesus’ opening stands out in my mind. Well, in the case of this particular parable, several phrases stand out in my mind.

Let’s read this parable and discover what we can learn from it. Our parable and passage are found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 19, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 11, Luke tells us that:

¹¹ While the people were listening to these things, Jesus told them a story. He was near Jerusalem. The people thought that God’s kingdom was going to appear right away.

Let’s pause here briefly, because in this opening, before the parable even begins to be shared, a key phrase stands out to me.

This phrase is what we just finished reading, where Luke tells us that “the people thought that God’s kingdom was going to appear right away.” This frames everything that follows in this parable. While on one hand, Jesus had previously taught that God’s kingdom had arrived, this is because Jesus was present. God’s kingdom has been present and working in the world throughout history, but it has done so behind the scenes, only periodically coming into the spotlight through prophets, messengers, and specifically through Jesus, the Messiah. From even before Jesus starts sharing the parable, we discover that the parable about to be shared will emphasize a delay before the kingdom of heaven will appear.

Let’s continue reading, starting in verse 12, to discover the parable:

¹² Jesus said, “A man from an important family went to a country far away. He went there to be made king and then return home. ¹³ So he sent for ten of his slaves. He gave them each about three months’ pay. ‘Put this money to work until I come back,’ he said.

¹⁴ “But those he ruled over hated him. They sent some messengers after him. They were sent to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵ “But he was made king and returned home. Then he sent for the slaves he had given the money to. He wanted to find out what they had earned with it.

¹⁶ “The first one came to him. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned ten times as much.’

¹⁷ “‘You have done well, my good slave!’ his master replied. ‘You have been faithful in a very small matter. So I will put you in charge of ten towns.’

¹⁸ “The second slave came to his master. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned five times as much.’

¹⁹ “His master answered, ‘I will put you in charge of five towns.’

²⁰ “Then another slave came. He said, ‘Sir, here is your money. I have kept it hidden in a piece of cloth. ²¹ I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in. You harvest what you did not plant.’

²² “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you evil slave! So you knew that I am a hard man? You knew that I take out what I did not put in? You knew that I harvest what I did not plant? ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’

²⁴ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his money away from him. Give it to the one who has ten times as much.’

²⁵ “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten times as much!’

²⁶ “He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more. But here is what will happen to anyone who has nothing. Even what they have will be taken away from them. ²⁷ And what about my enemies who did not want me to be king over them? Bring them here! Kill them in front of me!’”

This parable is challenging on many levels, and more levels than we have time to fully cover in our episode. However, in this parable, two details are distinctly different from Matthew’s version of a similar parable, and in our few minutes left, it might be good to focus in on these two distinctly different details.

The first detail that is distinct to this parable is that three months of pay is given to ten slaves. This tells us that this man from an important family was very wealthy. This man had enough reserves to pay ten slaves three months of pay at once. This detail is interesting in my mind because only in this opening do we see ten slaves. For the rest of the parable, except for the end, the focus is on just three of the ten, which makes this parable sound similar to a different parable of Jesus.

However, in this parable Luke includes, every one of the ten slaves is given the exact same amount, and they are given the exact same instruction. They are told to put this money to work until the man returns as king. It is unclear if this money is also to be used to live from, or if the king has a manager who will continue paying the slaves their regular amount, leaving the three months pay as test money to discover how resourceful each of these ten slaves are.

However, only three of the ten actually do anything worthy of mention. Two are rewarded, and one is clearly punished for doing nothing. Aside from these three who are mentioned, we know nothing of the other seven. We can assume that the seven remaining slaves were those who sent the message saying that they did not want this man to become their king, however, that isn’t shared conclusively one way or another.

With the way this parable is worded, some of these remaining seven may have been part of this group of the king’s enemies. But with the way this parable is worded, the king’s enemies might have been other slaves not included in the ten. Also, the king’s enemies might not have been slaves, but simply people who lived in the region who did not like the man destined to become king.

Because there are many options for who the king’s enemies are, with no real clear direction from the passage, let’s conclude that some of the king’s enemies were part of the group who received money, some who lived nearby, and some who were slaves who didn’t receive any money.

What becomes fascinating then is that the king either doesn’t know he has enemies or he chooses some potential enemies because he wants to give them the chance. With enemies among those who received the master-to-be-king’s money, we see the future king being more interested in seeking out quality help, even if he is certain that most of the money will be wasted or squandered.

This detail says a lot about God and about Jesus. God is willing to bless everyone regardless of whether they are His allies or His enemies because He wants to find those who He can trust with true riches and responsibility. When we use and grow what God has blessed us with, we show God that we are being responsible and that we can be trusted with more.

There is no question in this passage whether Jesus will become king. The question we have is whether we will ally with Jesus who becomes king, or be counted among the future King’s enemies.

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 and to intentionally ally yourself with God and with Jesus. Choose to grow and be responsible with the blessings God has given to you so that you can be rewarded with more blessings and more responsibility. God is looking for those He can trust to use His true riches for His glory and His purposes.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow personally closer to God each and every day. While other people can give you ideas to think about, don’t let anyone come between you and your relationship with God. God wants a personal relationship with you without anyone else getting in the way.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, or drift away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through John’s gospel, we are focusing in on the details this gospel includes during the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death. From the start of chapter 13, all the way to the end of chapter 19, John’s gospel records the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death in detail. John takes 7 of the 21 chapters in his gospel to emphasize this single point in time, and looking at exclusively the chapter breaks, we could conclude that one third of John’s gospel focuses on the 24 hours between the special supper Jesus shared with His disciples, to Jesus’ corpse being removed from the cross and buried.

However, I’m jumping ahead a little. While we are most of the way through the details John includes, we are still early on in the details of what happened. In our last episode, we looked at Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus, and for this episode, we begin with Jesus’ arrest and what happened the rest of that night.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 12, John tells us:

¹² So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, ¹³ and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.

¹⁵ Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.

Let’s pause reading briefly here. When reading this, I am amazed that Peter and one other disciple, after running away to avoid being arrested, followed behind the mob and were ultimately brought into the courtyard of the high priest. I suspect that this was because both disciples wanted to know what would happen to Jesus.

This means that three of Jesus’ disciples were near Jesus during this night. While our passage doesn’t mention him by name, since Judas Iscariot brought the mob, and since Judas Iscariot wanted to see Jesus escape, we can be confident that he was there. Matthew’s gospel describes Judas committing suicide when realizing that Jesus was condemned, and Judas died before Jesus did. With this information, we can conclude that Judas Iscariot was present during the trial of Jesus.

The other person this passage does not name specifically is a disciple who was known to the high priest and this disciple let Peter in. While logic might suggest that this unnamed disciple could have been Judas Iscariot, it would be unlike John to not name Judas. More than any other gospel, John shares names of people involved, and the only disciple never to be named directly is John himself. This gives weight to John being the author of this gospel, and this is why tradition describes John as the disciple who let Peter into the courtyard. I don’t know much about John’s life prior to being a disciple of Jesus, but something in John’s past made him known and recognized by those living with the high priest.

The only named disciple in this passage is Peter, and ironically enough, if Peter had not followed Jesus or been let into the courtyard, Jesus’ prediction would not have happened. In the part of our passage we just finished reading, Peter denied Jesus one time, and before John tells us about Peter’s other denials, he shifts focus to describe the pretrial questioning that took place.

Continuing in verse 19, John tells us that:

¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.” ²² When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” ²⁴ So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Pausing our reading again, from the way John described this part of Jesus questioning, I am a little intrigued about how John frames this portion of the night.

While the first part of this passage describes Jesus being brought first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest, in verse 19, during the time Jesus was with Annas, John describes the high priest questioning Jesus: “The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.” This is also reemphasized in verse 22, when an officer standing near Jesus struck Him and said, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”

From the way this event is described, we can reach one of two conclusions. The first conclusion we could reach, which is more likely to be the case, is that Annas was the former high priest, and many people still saw him in this role, even if he wasn’t officially the one who held the title. With this logic, he was still considered the high priest because of his past, even though there was a new high priest serving in that role.

The second conclusion we could reach, which is less likely but interesting to consider, is that Caiaphas questioned Jesus while he was with Annas, and this questioning was to discover information that would ultimately be used to condemn Jesus. Because this wasn’t the official trial, Caiaphas would have been a significant questioner, but this happened outside of Caiaphas’ courtroom because they wanted a clear charge to bring against Jesus before they went into court where Caiaphas would sit as judge.

While the first conclusion is more likely, it is fascinating to look at the second conclusion, because it holds a strong parallel. In Jesus’ trial, the prosecuting attorney, and the judge condemning Jesus were the high priest. In our defense trial against the challenges of Satan and the sin in our lives, our Judge and defense lawyer is Jesus. Jesus was tried in a very similar way that He defends us, and with the Judge and best Attorney on our side, nothing Satan can bring our way can break through Jesus’ defense.

However, when the questioning doesn’t amount to much, they move to the official trial. Before moving to focus on the trial, John transitions back to the courtyard to tell us about Peter. Continuing in verse 25, John tells us:

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” ²⁷ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

At the conclusion of our passage, we find Peter’s big regret. While Peter had promised Jesus he would never deny Him, we find Jesus’ prediction happen exactly like Jesus described.

However, while this was Peter’s big failure, and one that he would likely never forget, Peter’s story is far from over. Instead, through Peter’s story, we discover a powerful truth that Jesus came to redeem us, and that even when we fail Jesus, He never gives up on or fails us.

But this is jumping ahead in the story. Jesus is our Redeemer, and in a future episode, we will focus on how Peter is personally redeemed from this monumental failure.

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life, and choose to let Jesus be your Judge, your Defense Attorney, and especially your Redeemer.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to intentionally and purposefully grow closer to God each and every day. Through a personal relationship with God that is built on prayer and Bible study, discover who God is, what He is like, and the redemption and future He has promised for all of His people!

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!