Reflective Bible Study

In our last episode, we began our annual two-part finale focusing in on insights we discovered during the first half of this year focusing on Matthew’s gospel. We ended off last week’s podcast with Jesus rejected at Nazareth. We’ll pick back up at about this point in Matthew’s gospel and move through the second half of Matthew pulling out insights from this last half of our year of podcasting in Matthew.

However, before diving head on into these insights, I want to give you a brief update and a sneak peak at where we’re headed for next year. As our long-time listeners remember, before this year focused on Matthew’s gospel we spent a couple years looking at some topics. Two years ago, we focused in on the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, and last year, we focused in on Jesus’ miracles. As many of you might remember, at the end of our year focusing on Jesus’ miracles, I had the idea of spending the following four years dedicating each year looking at one of the gospels. We just finished Matthew’s gospel, and next up, we’ll be looking at the gospel of Mark.

But while I’m eager to get started looking at and sharing insights from Mark’s gospel, we still have insights left to cover in this last part of our finale focusing on Matthew. So without any further delay, let’s dive into some of the biggest and best insights we discovered while looking at the second half of our year focusing on Matthew’s gospel.

Jumping into the second half of our year in Matthew, episode 26 focused us on the 24 hours or so that included the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus sending the disciples away so He could pray alone, the disciples fighting for their lives in a sudden storm, Jesus walking on the water to them, and what happened when they arrived back on shore. In all these events, we learned that when we are focused on God, His love and power will be seen in our lives and it will positively affect the lives of those around us. We also learned that within these four events, we can see how God is worthy of our trust, our faith, and our belief, and we can see that we succeed when we place His will ahead of our own. We are blessed when we stay focused on Jesus and on doing God’s will for our lives!

Jumping ahead a couple of weeks, we come to episode number 28, where we looked at Jesus helping a gentile woman in a way that might offend some, and how this event is followed up with Jesus feeding a crowd of over 4,000 people. In this episode, we were challenged with the truth that God will sometimes call us to help people who are not like us, and we should help people who ask for help regardless of what they look like and regardless of what our preconceived ideas and stereotypes are. And, God is willing to help us with what we need, and while sometimes He is waiting for us to ask, and push past a few challenges, other times, He is more than willing to supply what we need without us even needing to open our mouths to pray.

Moving ahead to episode 30, where Peter makes the proclamation that Jesus is God’s Son the Messiah, we discover in what happened that regardless of whether I understand prophecy or how the Bible describes future events, my understanding is only as good as my willingness to be open to what God is continually revealing. If I close my mind to what God wants to teach me, then I will ultimately be like the disciples who missed out on the best warning they had regarding the events of crucifixion weekend. The disciples had every opportunity to know what would happen, but they were caught believing the traditional belief of the Messiah, and a belief that the Messiah could not experience death.

In the next episode, number 31, as Jesus comes down the mountain with three of His disciples after the transfiguration, Matthew’s gospel challenges us with the idea that too often, we have our own motives, agendas, thoughts, and perspectives, and we ultimately miss opportunity after opportunity to come to God with the question He wants us to ask.

Moving up to episode number 33, where Jesus describes who would be the greatest in the kingdom by inviting a child to be near Him, we were reminded with the truth that God has given us enough evidence for His existence and enough evidence to show us His character. It is up to us to open our eyes to the evidence He has given and to have faith that looks past the doubt and into the promises He has given to us about our future with Him!

When Jesus talked about forgiveness and conflict resolution in episode 34, He challenged us with the idea that In order to stay forgiven, we must be forgiving towards each other. Jesus’ death on the cross allows God to extend forgiveness to all of humanity. If we choose to not extend forgiveness towards others, then we forfeit our forgiven status and we bring God’s judgment onto ourselves.

Jumping ahead to episode 40, where Jesus is challenged about paying taxes, in Jesus’ response, we discovered that God is not interested in our breath returning to Him before our mission on this earth is finished. Instead, God has loaned us breath so that we can fulfill the mission and purpose He has placed us on this earth to fulfill. In this challenge Jesus shares, I see Jesus challenging every person who has breath to dedicate their breath, or we could say their spirit, or we could say their lives, to God and to the mission He has placed us on this earth to accomplish!

In the next episode after this one, episode 41, Jesus shares a message to Jerusalem while standing near the city. We learned that God isn’t going to force His protection onto a group of people – especially a group of people who are actively rejecting Him. Jesus loves the Jewish people just as much as He loves the non-Jewish people. Bringing this message into today’s culture, we see that placing the truth of the Bible over the traditions of men is the only way for a church or community to stay united with Christ.

Moving forward, when Jesus was anointed during an evening meal shortly before He was betrayed, which we focused in on in episode 44, we learned that: While the woman likely believed her gift to be anointing Jesus leading up to Him stepping into the role of Messiah and King, specifically into the role of a messiah who would overthrow the Romans and give the Jews back their homeland, Jesus shifts the meaning of this gift to be foreshadowing His burial. When we give gifts to Jesus, I believe He is just as willing to take our gifts and use them for His glory, and I believe that while Jesus can use gifts of money to help where money is needed, Jesus really values the gifts that are more specific than money. The gifts we give Jesus that are non-monetary are ones where He can use and multiply for His glory. Giving God non-monetary gifts helps us grow and stay connected to Him in our lives.

Moving forward, we spent several episodes subtly focusing on how Jesus intentionally chose the cross and that dying did not come as a surprise to Him. Jesus could have avoided the cross in any number of ways, but He didn’t and that is because He loves each of us! Episode 45 taught us that Jesus chose the cross. The cross was not something that God the Father forced onto Jesus. The cross was not something Judas Iscariot surprised Jesus with. Jesus knew the date and location of His death before Judas even knew He would be the betrayer.

Without God, life has no ultimate purpose, no hope, and a doomed future. Jesus chose the cross for you and me, and He willingly faced death knowing that through His death, the way would be opened for us to live with God for eternity.

In episode 46, which contained Jesus’ unfair trial that almost fell apart, we learned that When people reject God in their hearts, societies descend into chaos. When people reject God, we shouldn’t be surprised if God chooses to stay silent. Jesus came to show us God’s love, and while there are those who believe God is unloving or unlovable, Jesus came to challenge their belief by living out how much God loves us. Jesus chose the cross to show us God’s love, and through Jesus we can come to know the God who loves us so much that He gives us Himself, and that He gives Himself up to redeem us from the consequences of breaking His law!

Jumping ahead to episode 49, let’s conclude our year of podcasting with what is likely the biggest truth of the gospel message, and the source our greatest hope for our future: On Resurrection morning, the tomb was empty. Jesus returned to life just like He said He would, and His resurrection is a promise, a gift, and a sign that all of God’s people will be resurrected when Jesus returns to take His people home.

As we continue living our lives every day, every month, and every year, remember what Jesus did for us. Jesus did not lie once during His life on earth, and we can trust His words, His promises, and His predictions about being resurrected when He returns to take us home to be with Him!

As we begin our special two-part finale for our year podcasting through Luke’s gospel, let me first wish you a very merry Christmas to you and your family and friends. I hope that you are able to spend time with people you love and I hope that you are healthy over this entire winter season as well. I know I definitely don’t like being sick, and often, when the temperatures turn cold, I start catching a cold, which is aggravating.

However, as we moved through this year looking at Luke’s gospel, one big theme we saw was that sick people who came to Jesus did not stay sick people. Luke is one gospel which loved to draw our attention onto Jesus healing peoples’ physical and spiritual illnesses.

Luke also includes the most detail about the events of Jesus’ birth, as well as John the Baptist’s birth too. With that said, let’s begin our review of our podcast episodes from this past year and focus in on some of the biggest and most profound insights that we uncovered. For time considerations, I might have to skip over some insights because it is always difficult to pull these lists down to a manageable length.

Starting off our year review, let’s look at what we learned in episode 2, which focused in on Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah to promise this elderly couple a child. In our discussion, we discovered that while Zechariah’s silence likely lasted less than a full year, it served as an amazing symbol for God being silent, before stepping into history in a big way through John the Baptist and through Jesus. Zechariah’s silence also served as a sign for everyone present that God was doing something in their midst. Lastly, this sign of muteness served as a reminder to Zechariah himself that God’s promise to him was real!

Jumping ahead to episode 4, we looked at Jesus’ dedication in the temple as a baby, and were awed by the realization that before Jesus had fully stepped into history, and actually barely after He had even entered this world, Simeon, led by the Holy Spirit, forewarns Mary that Jesus’ life as a Messiah would end in death. Jesus would die before she would.

Moving forward to the next episode, episode number 5, we looked at Jesus staying in Jerusalem when He had turned twelve. In this event, we concluded the truth that it is easier to lose Jesus than it is to find Him! One day without Jesus may ultimately result in three days of searching and worry to find Him again!

Skipping over some great episodes we don’t have time to touch on, we move forward to episode 10, where four friends bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus to heal him. In this episode, we learned that sometimes God will validate a message He sends with a miracle. However, don’t expect this to be God’s default method. In the gospels, this might be the only time Jesus uses a miracle to prove a spiritual point. It’s also worth remembering that if God was specifically punishing this man for a sin in his past, there would have been no way for Jesus to heal him against God’s will!

Moving ahead to episode 12, Jesus warns His followers about judging others and He shared a parable about two homes with different foundations. In this event and episode, we ultimately learned that the only thing that matters from eternity’s perspective is what God thinks and how God judges. Jesus has promised us that we can change the measure God uses to judge through the way we interact with others.

Jumping forward to episode 14, Luke includes an event early in his gospel about Jesus’ feet being anointed at Simon’s home. In this episode and event, and within Jesus’ response to Simon and his guests who looked down on what took place, we discovered that the reason we know context matters is God associates with sinners. Jesus came into this world because God loves sinners. While God doesn’t love the sin, that isn’t going to stop Him from seeking out the sinner.

When God forgives our sin, it is like He erases our debt and all that is left is the essence of who we are that He loves. What we do, what we look like, or what is in our genes is not relevant when discussing God’s love.

Jesus assured this woman that her sins were forgiven, because He wanted her to move forward in a new life with God without the cloud of her past weighing her down. Jesus wants us to know that God has forgiven us because He wants us to begin or continue our lives with Him without the sins of our past weighing us down. God wants to redeem us out of sin and into new, eternal lives, with Him!

Continuing our pattern of looking at even numbered episodes, which is something I just noticed but didn’t plan, we arrive at episode 16, where we looked at Jesus casting out a legion of demons and sending them into a herd of pigs. In this episode, when we looked closely at the details, we discovered that God allowed the demons to kill the pigs, but these demons did not, or maybe even could not, kill this man. I wonder if Satan had dispatched a whole legion of demons to kill this man and the closest they could get was driving him from society.

However, nothing could stop Jesus from reaching this man. Nothing Satan could do could stop this from happening. While the demons weren’t restricted from killing the pigs, they were powerless to kill this man under God’s protection. It didn’t matter how many demons were present in this man, God’s protection of this man’s life was clearly stronger.

When Jesus wants to heal a life, free a life, or change a heart, the best Satan can muster is no match for a single command from Jesus’ mouth. And from what Jesus did for us on the cross, nothing Satan can muster can steal eternal life away from those God has chosen and called!

We finally break from this pattern as we move forward by jumping ahead and stopping at episode 19. In this episode, we focused on Jesus sending out the 72 disciples to the surrounding towns and villages and we learned that Jesus challenges us to not become proud about the words we speak, because we are simply a messenger for Jesus. In the same way, we should not take rejection personally, because those who reject us aren’t rejecting us as much as they are rejecting Jesus and God.

The mission of God’s people at every point in history has been pointing people back to what God and Jesus have done for us, and pointing us to His arrival and return. While it may be exciting to have the Holy Spirit with us, we should be even more excited that when we follow God, our names are written in the Book of Life in heaven. In the big picture, it won’t matter what we have done for God. What will matter is whether our names are among those who God is planning on redeeming from sin and bringing with Him into eternity!

Jumping forward to episode 23, we looked at Jesus teaching us about our eyes being lamps for our bodies while He challenges some religious leaders. In this episode, we learned that God wants a personal relationship with us. Any leader, teacher, guide, or mentor who wants to get in the way of you growing closer to God has more in common with these religious leaders that Jesus speaks out against than people God actually sends into our lives.

In the very next episode, number 24, Jesus continued His teaching turning His attention onto greed and worry. Included in the passage we covered in this episode is the parable about the man who was blessed and chose to build bigger barns. This episode taught us a number of very powerful truths that we can use to wrap up the first part of our year-end finale. In episode 24, we learned that when we give up our possessions and give money to help others, we rob greed of its power. Greed has power in our lives when our focus is placed on what we own. When we shift our focus onto selling, giving, and focusing on helping others, greed is robbed of its power in our lives.

The biggest benefit of living a generous life of service to others is that our hearts will be stored with where our treasure is, and when our treasure is stored in heaven, our hearts will be there as well!

God desires your heart and mine. When we live lives focused on serving God, helping others, and storing our treasure in heaven, God gets our hearts as well – and God is the only one who is able to restore a sin-stained heart. God solved the sin problem through Jesus, and He is willing to solve our personal sin problem when we give our hearts to Him!

To start our special two-part finale of this year focusing on events in Matthew’s gospel, I want to begin by wishing you an extra special, extra Merry Christmas and holiday season. I hope that this year has been a good year, or at the very least, you are looking forward to this year being over and a new one beginning. Every year forward brings us closer and closer to Jesus’ return!

As is our custom, these two finale episodes focus on sharing our biggest and best insights from this past year of podcasting, and we highlight some of the things I learned while putting this year of podcasts together. As is always the case, I’ve had a hard time narrowing down this year’s insights down to being manageable for our finale because this has been a great year with many great insights we could focus on. However, I’ve done what I can, so let’s get started by looking at this year of podcasting in Matthew’s gospel!

Let’s start by focusing in on some of the insights we discovered in episode number 2, which covered the wise men coming to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Baby Jesus. In this episode, we uncovered how ignorant the religious leaders were to the Messiah’s arrival because they simply hand over the location of Jesus’ birth to Herod. This speaks to their ignorance and to their allegiance to Rome over their allegiance to the future Messiah.

We also saw a glimpse of how dedicated Joseph was with following God because the instant the angel warns Joseph to flee with the family to Egypt, Joseph wastes no time getting the family to Egypt. This quality in Jesus’ earthly father saved Jesus’ life.

In the next episode, number 3, we focused in on Jesus’ baptism, and in this episode, we discovered that the baptism event at the beginning of Jesus ministry is one place we see Jesus intentionally setting the stage for a ministry of service and selflessness. In the baptism event, we discover Jesus placing Himself below humanity and foreshadowing His upcoming sacrifices, including the sacrifice He would make on the cross.

Jumping forward to episode 4, we focused on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. In this episode, we learned that self-service is not a characteristic of God and we fall victim to this temptation when we place our own needs ahead of God’s desires for our lives. One big reason Jesus came was to win the hearts and minds of His people, and this is something only the cross can purchase. A secret sacrifice isn’t that valuable of a sacrifice.

Jumping ahead a few episodes, we come to episodes 6 through 13, which all focused in on Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. In episode number 7, we uncovered the truth that just because Jesus lived 100% obedient to the law doesn’t mean that the law was abolished. Obeying a law does not abolish it. We also focused on the truth that entrance into God’s kingdom isn’t about what we have done or what we can do. It’s about what has been done for us.

In episode number 8, we discovered that breaking God’s law condemns us to death, and Jesus offers to take the death we deserve and give us the life He deserved. We shouldn’t continue to sin, but we should resolve to turn away from our sins as a way to say Thank You to Jesus for the gift He purchased for us on the cross!

Episode 9, which includes Jesus’ model prayer and some teachings related to this subject, taught us that looking for praise from someone else affects how we live our lives. Living our lives looking for praise from others leads to hypocrisy, because we elevate others ahead of ourselves, and subtly ahead of God as well. The time we spend with God, even if it feels weird, hollow, or empty at the beginning will grow into more when we resolve to stick with God.

Episode 10 focused on forgiving, being forgiven, and storing up treasure in heaven, and we learned in this part of Jesus’ sermon that there is no guarantee that giving money on earth will earn treasure in heaven. We also learned that the most valuable part of our treasure in heaven is our hearts, because when our hearts are focused on our heavenly treasure, we live for God in more significant ways than if our hearts are focused on the things of this world.

Jumping ahead to episode 13, which concludes Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges us with the truth that our actions matter in God’s eyes! Obedience alone will not bring us salvation. Our salvation is found in a saving relationship that is based on faith, trust, hope, and belief in Jesus mixed with obeying what He asks us to do.

Moving forward to episode 16, which includes Matthew’s invitation to be a disciple and a dinner Matthew hosts that included Jesus and many of Matthew’s tax collector friends, we discovered that Jesus lived His life from God’s perspective in His response. Jesus lived showing kindness more than demanding obedience. While obedience is important, kindness and God’s love is more central to God’s character. When we are being representatives for God, we are to above everything else, show God’s love and kindness to those He brings into our lives while we are personally being obedient to Him the best way we know how.

In episode 18, we focused in on a couple people who Jesus healed. In this event and episode, we were reminded that sometimes bad things happen simply to remind us that our eternity is not in a sinful world. Sometimes when bad things happen, God is reminding us to look forward to a new life with Him in heaven. When we face trials in our lives, Jesus is the best place for us to look to and the best Person for us to lean on!

In the very next episode, number 19, Jesus elevates what it means to be one of His disciples. In this episode, we were challenged with the truth that A secret disciple isn’t a valuable disciple. By losing our own lives, we are able to gain Jesus’ life, and His life in our lives brings us eternal life! When we are kind to those who follow God and when we are kind simply because we are God’s followers, Jesus promises us that God will reward us.

In episode 20, we learned a little bit about what it means to follow Jesus and how following Jesus is easier than we might think at first. If your life is so busy that you feel you are drowning under the weight of your obligations, then Jesus offers you rest. The rest Jesus offers you isn’t just physical rest, but also rest for your soul. Jesus offers us the truth that we don’t have to worry about appeasing an angry God who wants to punish us.

Instead, Jesus came to satisfy the requirements of the law so that God can love us even more. Jesus came representing God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and His love for us shows us how much God loves us. The light load Jesus offers us is a load where He already took the heavy requirements on Himself, and He leaves us with a gift if we are willing to accept it. The gift Jesus offers us is His life in exchange for ours, and His life gives us eternal life while our lives bring Him death.

Moving forward to episode 21, we learned in some challenges Jesus faced regarding how He and His followers kept the Sabbath that: Jesus honored the Sabbath day the way God wanted His people to honor it. Jesus did not come to replace the Sabbath; He came to restore it.

For the religious leaders, the Sabbath was a day of avoiding work and avoiding anything that could even remotely resemble work. The Sabbath had descended into a list of activities to avoid. The Sabbath was not a blessing away from work; it had become a curse and a burden regarding avoiding work or work-like activities.

God is more interested in kindness than in receiving animal sacrifices, which is another way of saying that our kindness and love for others is worth more than a blind, strict obedience to the letter of the law.

Jumping forward to episode 24, which focused on Jesus being rejected in Nazareth, we discovered that Jesus didn’t come to please everyone or to get everyone to like Him. Jesus came to save all of God’s people, and to give humanity a better picture of God and His love for us!

Any message that paints Jesus as unloving towards those who were hurting, or unloving towards those who God loves, is a picture that does not match the Bible’s message about Jesus. With few exceptions, the only times Jesus speaks harshly are when He challenges those who believed they were better than others and who were self-righteously putting others down while trying to raise up their own status in God’s eyes. Jesus came to help those who were hurting and to give humanity hope for a future with God!

This seems like a great place to conclude the first half of our two-part finale.

In place of our usual challenges at the end of each episode, let me challenge you, among all the other great reminders and challenges in this episode to: Remember to place Jesus first; Keep praying and studying your Bible to grow closer to God; and never stop moving forward along the path He has called you to walk with Him!

As we open up our final episode focusing on a passage in Luke’s gospel from our entire year focusing on Luke, I thought it would be awesome to focus in on the resurrection event. However, Luke’s gospel includes an event after the resurrection not found in any other gospel.

Following Jesus’ death, a Sabbath rest, and a Sunday filled with confusion over what had happened to Jesus, Luke describes a short trip two disciples make to a nearby village, and a surprising person who meets them while they are traveling. Let’s read Luke’s gospel and discover what happened.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 13, Luke tells us:

¹³ And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

Pausing briefly at this point, a phrase Luke just included jumped out at me. Luke tells us that these two disciples’ eyes were “prevented from recognizing Him”.

While part of me might be tempted to think that Jesus’ appearance had change so significantly that these disciples simply did not recognize Him, the way Luke frames this verse sounds more like God blinding these disciples for a specific purpose. I wonder if God hadn’t blinded these disciples, if they would not have paid attention to what Jesus wanted to teach them.

Let’s continue reading. Picking back up in verse 17, Luke tells us:

¹⁷ And He [referring to Jesus who they were prevented from recognizing] said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” ¹⁹ And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. ²² But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Let’s pause briefly again. Imagine with me for a moment that these disciples recognized Jesus. Do you think Jesus would have been able to explain the Messiah’s suffering to them if they knew it was Jesus?

In my mind’s eye, I suspect that if these disciples recognized Jesus, they would have been too focused on the simple fact that He was really alive, and they wouldn’t have heard anything He wanted to teach them. It was in the confusion and uncertainty of resurrection day’s events that these disciples were the most receptive to learning from the scriptures.

It is also powerful in my mind that Jesus first asks them what they believed happened, before then teaching them what the scripture predicted needed to happen. Only when the hope and preconceived ideas these disciples had were dashed against the reality of the Messiah’s actual mission could these followers of Jesus actually discover what they had blinded themselves to by following the cultural ideas surrounding Jesus’ first coming.

Before continuing reading the last portion of our passage, the truth these disciples learned from Jesus appearing unrecognized challenges me personally, because there is a growing cultural belief about what Jesus will be returning to do in the world today. If our cultural belief about Jesus’ second coming is not aligned with the Bible, then we, along with millions of others, are setting ourselves up to be disappointed when Jesus’ return isn’t like we expected, or worse, we are setting ourselves up to be deceived if someone comes matching the cultural belief but not the Biblical truth.

This is why it is incredibly important to be personally studying the Bible. While the Christian culture has many things right with it today, plenty of places in this culture could be aligned closer to what the Bible teaches. It is very dangerous to blindly follow culture, because we give up the opportunity to know God personally when we do. This is why I always challenge you to personally study the Bible and to not take my word, or anyone’s word for what the Bible teaches. Personal prayer and study is vital for our personal relationship with God!

However, while these disciples were blinded to recognizing Jesus so they could learn what the scripture taught about Jesus, they didn’t miss the opportunity to discover Jesus when He was ready to reveal Himself to them.

Picking back up in verse 28, Luke tells us:

²⁸ And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. ³² They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³ And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.”

³⁵ They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

In this powerful event, these disciples could have completely missed recognizing Jesus. Had they let Jesus continue walking down the road instead of inviting Him to stay with them, they would have been completely unaware their companion was Jesus.

I also find it fascinating, while also a little humorous that at the moment these disciples are “un-blinded" and could now recognize Jesus, He disappears from their sight – possible causing them to believe they were then blind because their guest was no longer with them.

When God brings people into our lives, it is always for a reason. When God blinds us to recognizing others, it is always for a reason. When God reveals Himself to us, it is always for a reason. As we move into another Christmas and holiday season, let’s remember that God always has a reason, and that while we might not always know or understand His reasons for what He does, we can know and trust that His ultimate goal for all of us is to redeem us from sin and save us for eternity! When history has finally ended, sin will be no more, and all of God’s people will be living together with Him for 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, continue to seek God first in your life and choose to let Him lead, direct, and guide your steps moving forward. When God blinds us, it may just be because He wants to teach us something we would otherwise be unable or unwilling to learn. When God reveals Himself to us, it may only be for a brief moment, but it will ultimately renew our faith in Him! Always keep your eyes open to what God is doing in the world around us!

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with Jesus. Don’t blindly take the words of any pastor, author, speaker, blogger, or podcaster without confirming or rejecting what they shared through the lens of God’s Word the Bible. Through the Bible, we can know and trust what God is like, and within the pages of the Bible, we can know just how far God is willing to go to redeem us out of sin!

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 blind yourself into missing where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!