Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through Matthew’s gospel, we come to another place where Jesus has some challenging words to say to several groups of people. While we might be tempted to think that Jesus’ message is not relevant for us, under the surface of Jesus words is a powerful theme that is relevant for every point in history.

Let’s read what Jesus challenged those in the first century by saying and discover what we can learn that is applicable for our own lives. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, and we will read it using the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 20, Matthew tells us that:

²⁰ Jesus began to speak against the towns where he had done most of his miracles. The people there had not turned away from their sins. So he said, ²¹ “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! Suppose the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon. They would have turned away from their sins long ago. They would have put on clothes for mourning. They would have sat down in ashes. ²² But I tell you this. On judgment day it will be easier for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ²³ And what about you, Capernaum? Will you be lifted to the heavens? No! You will go down to the place of the dead. Suppose the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom. It would still be here today. ²⁴ But I tell you this. On judgment day it will be easier for Sodom than for you.”

Let’s pause reading here because I want to draw our attention onto something that might be easy to ignore or miss. In this section of our passage, Matthew tells us that Jesus speaks these messages against the towns where He had done the most miracles. This means that these towns, even with Jesus healing the sick, preaching, and working powerfully for God, simply ignored what God was doing in their midst. Jesus compares their ignoring attitude as being worse than some of the worst towns in history.

The towns of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom were all judged and condemned by God but Jesus tells these people that if He had been sent to those towns and done what He had done for them in the first century, those towns would have changed. Jesus tells the people living in the first century that it would be easier on judgment day for those who were evil while Jesus wasn’t present in the world than for those who ignored Him while He was here.

However, it is tempting for us to look down on those in the first century and believe we are exempt from Jesus’ warning. If we choose to do this, then we run into the trap of ignoring what God is doing in our world today. The underlying theme in Jesus’ warning is to be aware and to pay attention to what God is doing in your life, in your world, during the time you are alive living in the world, and to acknowledge and accept God into your heart and life.

We run the risk of being judged by God while we judge those in the first century and ignore everything God is doing today. While those in the first century ignored Jesus, we don’t have to make the same mistake they did.

However, Jesus isn’t finished sharing, and like our passage in our last episode, Jesus ends by giving us some encouragement. Continuing in verse 25:

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father. You are Lord of heaven and earth. You have hidden these things from wise and educated people. But you have shown them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father. This is what you wanted to do.

²⁷ “My Father has given all things to me. The Father is the only one who knows the Son. And the only ones who know the Father are the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to make him known.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are tired and are carrying heavy loads. I will give you rest. ²⁹ Become my servants and learn from me. I am gentle and free of pride. You will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ Serving me is easy, and my load is light.”

In this concluding message, Jesus shares an amazing promise that is perhaps more relevant for us living today than it was during the first century when He said it. Jesus’ message for everyone living in today’s world is to come to Him if we are tired and carrying a heavy burden and He will give you rest.

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. While at times it is challenging, Jesus tells us that serving Him is easy, and His load is light.

This promise at the end of Jesus’ message is very welcoming and very inviting, but it also doesn’t take into account all the crazy challenging messages Jesus has shared before about how being a disciple requires dedication and how it costs everything.

How can following Jesus be easy and His load be light when following Jesus costs us everything?

As I have followed Jesus in my own life, I have learned that following Jesus gives us rest and the rest Jesus gives is rest that helps us balance the craziness of our lives. Much of the stress in our lives is fake stress that is self-imposed. This stress comes from worrying about things we cannot change, or even from things that don’t matter. Worrying about what will happen in the next episode of a TV drama or the next installment of a movie franchise only hurts your life. This is fake stress that has real consequences.

If we strip away all the stress and worry in our lives that relates to things we cannot change or affect, instantly our loads are lighter. We can do this without even coming to Jesus.

However, the real blessing that Jesus offers us is 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 does not stand in the way of an angry God. Instead, the Godhead decided together that Jesus would come take the punishment for our sins because every member of the Godhead loves us more than we could imagine. 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. While it is crazy to think that God would give us this choice, this is the amazing news of the gospel message, and the load Jesus promises us when we come 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, intentionally and purposefully seek God first in your life. Choose to accept Jesus into your life if you haven’t already and stop trying to live up to the expectations of a God who loves you. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law because there was no way we could ever do this, and Jesus offers us His perfect life in exchange for our sin-stained lives. We accept Jesus’ gift by living our lives for God, obeying Him as a way of saying thank you for what He has done. Our lives lived as a thank you won’t be perfect, but perfection isn’t our goal. Our goal is saying thank you to God!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and Bible study, discover how much God loves you through what Jesus did for you, and discover how God wants you to live your life as a thank you to Him for everything He has done for us and for everything He has blessed us with.

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 Luke’s gospel, two episodes ago, we looked at Jesus sending out the twelve disciples on a short-term evangelistic trip. Then in our last episode, we looked at several of Jesus’ disciples failing to cast one demon out of a child when they had been successful earlier. In this episode, we circle back around and discover Jesus sends the disciples out on another mission trip.

However, while the earlier trip was limited to the small group of twelve disciples, it appears as though this second commission includes a much larger group of people that Jesus sends out. Let’s read what happened, and what Jesus shares to this group of followers as He sends them out.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 10, and we will read from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ After this the Lord chose another seventy-two men and sent them out two by two, to go ahead of him to every town and place where he himself was about to go.

Pausing briefly, it is interesting that in this first verse, Luke tells us that these followers were sent in a similar fashion as John the Baptist, who was sent ahead of Jesus’ arrival. These followers are given specific instructions and in many ways, what Jesus tells these followers next is a message to every single person God has called and adopted into His family. While Jesus has already come, He is coming again, and what Jesus describes here could be just as easily applied to us living and looking forward to His grand return!

Continuing in verse 2, Jesus:

 ² [He] said to them, “There is a large harvest, but few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest. ³ Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. ⁴ Don’t take a purse or a beggar’s bag or shoes; don’t stop to greet anyone on the road. ⁵ Whenever you go into a house, first say, ‘Peace be with this house.’ ⁶ If someone who is peace-loving lives there, let your greeting of peace remain on that person; if not, take back your greeting of peace. ⁷ Stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer you, for workers should be given their pay. Don’t move around from one house to another. ⁸ Whenever you go into a town and are made welcome, eat what is set before you, ⁹ heal the sick in that town, and say to the people there, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near you.’ ¹⁰ But whenever you go into a town and are not welcomed, go out in the streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that the Kingdom of God has come near you!’ ¹² I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to that town!

¹³ “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago sat down, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins! ¹⁴ God will show more mercy on the Judgment Day to Tyre and Sidon than to you. ¹⁵ And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell!”

¹⁶ Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

With those parting words, the 72 followers are commissioned to go to the towns ahead of Jesus.

However, before reading their report back to Jesus about what they experienced, I want to draw our attention onto two big ideas.

First, included in the challenge to the disciples getting ready to head out is a warning for some of the major towns and cities in Jesus’ day that ultimately rejected Jesus’ message. Jesus draws our attention to Judgment Day and how these towns would be shown less mercy on Judgment day than He would to several notoriously evil cities in history. This frames the big context of this message and mission of these followers as preparing the way for Jesus’ arrival. These 72 followers were tasked with challenging towns, cities, and villages Jesus was planning on visiting and preparing the hearts and minds of those present to receive Jesus.

Like earlier, Jesus tells His followers they would be rejected and to simply leave the town, and not take any part of the town with them. These 72 followers were not tasked with forcing people to believe in Jesus. They were simply commissioned to share about Jesus with those who were willing to listen!

The second big idea I see in Jesus’ commission to these disciples is when He tells them in verse 16, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” This is a powerful statement, and I believe this is just as relevant today as it was in the first century. Just like those living in the first century were awaiting Jesus’ arrival leading up to Judgment Day, we too are awaiting Jesus’ return leading up to Judgment Day. This means that this message may be just as relevant to us as followers of Jesus looking forward to the day He returns.

Jesus tells us that those who listen to His message through us are really listening to Him, and those who reject us aren’t really rejecting us. Instead, when we face rejection, we should realize these people are really rejecting Jesus, and not just Jesus, but God as well.

In this simple statement, 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.

This is a powerful truth to remember, and one that hopefully will encourage you as you walk through life with Jesus!

With this said, what do Jesus’ followers report back to Him when they return?

Picking back up in verse 17, Luke tells us that:

¹⁷ The seventy-two men came back in great joy. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!”

¹⁸ Jesus answered them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you. ²⁰ But don’t be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven.”

In this event, we discover that these followers of Jesus are given the same experience that Jesus’ twelve disciples had experienced earlier. These 72 followers are able to cast demons out with Jesus’ name, and heal people. I believe Jesus sent out this second larger group of followers because He wants us to know that amazing miracles and Jesus’ mission are not reserved for only Jesus’ closest followers. Anyone and everyone who follows Jesus can tap into the Holy Spirit’s power as they point people to Jesus.

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. The Old Testament prophets pointed people forward to Jesus’ first coming, and all of God’s messengers from the first century forward to today, point us towards Jesus’ return.

However, while this sounds amazing, Jesus wants to focus our attention back onto a big truth. 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!

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 trust Him with whatever the future holds. In the big picture, the only thing worth focusing on is making sure that your name is written in the Book of Life in heaven, and that happens when we accept Jesus into our hearts, minds, and lives and let Him transform us into being ambassadors and representatives for Him.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. The most important relationship we can have is a relationship with God, and because of this, don’t let anyone get stuck between you and God. Jesus wants a personal relationship with you because He loves you more than you can possibly imagine!

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!

A little less than half-way through Matthew’s gospel, we come to a passage where Jesus is again teaching. While Jesus’ message in this portion of Matthew’s gospel isn’t as famous as the long Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ words to those present in our passage for this episode are no less challenging. In some ways, what Jesus challenges us with in this passage is even more challenging than before.

Let’s read what Jesus shared, and discover how we can apply Jesus’ challenges in our own lives. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 10, and we will read from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 24, and jumping into Jesus’ teaching, we read:

²⁴ “No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master. ²⁵ So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, the members of the family will be called even worse names!

Quick note: in the context of this message, Beelzebul would be another name for Satan or the devil. In other words, we shouldn’t be surprised if others call us names or accuse us of being agents of Satan. We should be satisfied simply being and living like Jesus, our Teacher.

Continuing in verse 26:

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of people. Whatever is now covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will be made known. ²⁷ What I am telling you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, and what you have heard in private you must announce from the housetops. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell. ²⁹ For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. ³⁰ As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. ³¹ So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows!

³² “Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my Father in heaven. ³³ But those who reject me publicly, I will reject before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; ³⁶ your worst enemies will be the members of your own family.

³⁷ “Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples. ³⁸ Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. ³⁹ Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it.

⁴⁰ “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹ Whoever welcomes God’s messenger because he is God’s messenger, will share in his reward. And whoever welcomes a good man because he is good, will share in his reward. ⁴² You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of the least of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive a reward.”

Let’s stop reading here. This passage has a bunch of really strong challenges in it. Jesus challenges us to make His messages public and to broadcast what He has shared with us as we have studied. Jesus tells us that we shouldn’t fear people because our souls cannot be touched or hurt by humans. Instead, we should fear God, who has the power to destroy both our body and our soul. Jesus tells us we are valuable in God’s eyes, and while this passage doesn’t directly say how valuable, the biggest reason Jesus came to this earth was to show us how much God values us!

Jesus challenges us with the truth that we must publicly declare that we are allied with Jesus if we want Jesus to acknowledge us before the Father in heaven. If we try to live a life of secret faith, where we are privately disciples of Jesus but publicly against Him or on the fence, then Jesus tells us that He will reject us before the Father. This sounds harsh and challenging, but it also draws our attention to an interesting truth that a secret disciple isn’t a valuable disciple. A disciple of Jesus must at some point declare that they are with Jesus. While the point in time they choose to do this might vary, they cannot stay hidden for their entire lives.

Some people believe that Jesus came to bring peace into the world, but Jesus challenges this idea with His next statement. Jesus tells us that Jesus came to bring division and debate. Because of Jesus, families would be split up and divided. I don’t believe that this is Jesus’ goal for coming into this world, but it is a reality as individuals wrestle in their minds and hearts about who Jesus really is. Some of the family might realize and believe Jesus to be God’s Son, while others believe Him to be an imposter. Jesus knows His coming would cause division, but His coming is too important for God’s people to let the fear of dividing people stop Him.

Jesus challenges us that if we are to be His disciples, we are to love Him over anyone and everyone else. We are to place Jesus first in our lives and to lay our goals and ambitions aside for what God’s goals and ambitions for us are. By losing our own lives, we are able to gain Jesus’ life, and His life in our lives brings us eternal life!

While most of Jesus’ message is bleak and challenging, Jesus finishes with an amazing promise. Those who welcome Jesus’ messengers are really welcoming Jesus, and whoever welcomes Jesus is welcoming God as well. Everyone who welcomes those God has sent will share in God’s rewards. 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.

While Jesus’ arrival in this world causes a huge split between people of every background as we all must make the choice regarding who Jesus is for us, we can know and trust that when we choose Jesus in this life, and when we live for Him, we will be rewarded by God in the next life. While our current life will have challenges and trials because we chose to publicly follow Jesus, we can know and trust that our future lives are safe in God’s hands.

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, be sure you are intentionally seeking God first in your life. Choose to publicly ally yourself with Jesus and let Him lead and guide your life. Live a life filled with God’s love and a life that is focused on helping the least of those in society and those who cannot help you back. Live your faith in a way that honors God, that honors Jesus, and that uplifts humanity. When we show God’s love in the world today, our lives become the greatest witness for our faith.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow a personal relationship with God. Through personal study, God will teach us through His Holy Spirit what we should speak and share with others, and with God’s Holy Spirit, we can live the life God has called us to live.

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

As we continue moving through Luke’s gospel, we find an event that almost directly relates to the event in our last episode, but one that we might not see the connection at first. The details of this passage begin while Jesus is up on the mountain with the three closest disciples, while the nine remaining disciples are facing a dilemma they thought they could handle while Jesus was gone.

Let’s read about what happened, about what these disciples were unable to do, and how Jesus succeeded when these disciples failed. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 9, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 37, Luke tells us that:

³⁷ The next day, when they [referring to Jesus, Peter, James, and John] came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸ A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹ A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴² Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

Pausing our reading here, in this passage, while Jesus and His closest disciples were up on the mountain, the remaining disciples were unsuccessfully trying to cast out a demon. Matthew and Mark have the disciples ask Jesus why they could not do it and Jesus responds with a statement challenging their faith and telling them this type of demon can only come out with prayer and possibly fasting.

While this is a good answer and a good reason, it falls a little short when we place this failure against the previous successes that these nine disciples would have had not long before when they were traveling among the towns and villages in Israel. In our last episode, we looked at how the disciples had successfully healed people and cast out demons. However, in this passage, they are now unable to do it.

Why might this have been?

As I think about the details of this event, I wonder where the hearts of the disciples were while Jesus was on the mountain. If the disciples had pride in their hearts about their past success, their pride or arrogance might have blocked the Holy Spirit from working through them to heal this boy.

Another thought is that the attitudes the disciples had when being presented with this problem did not point to God receiving the glory. If the disciples were interested in taking the glory for this miracle and healing onto themselves, then they were doomed to fail. When Jesus did a miracle and when He chose to heal, in every case, Jesus wanted to either show God’s love, give God the glory, or both. If the disciples weren’t interested in God getting the ultimate glory for this miracle, then their attempts were doomed to fail.

A third thought is that God may have kept the disciples from being successful in their genuine attempts to heal this boy because He wanted them to learn something from the failure. More often than we would like it to be, we are able to learn more from failure than from success. When we fail, we are challenged to try again and we are challenged to learn more than if we simply had succeeded. Success is great, but it doesn’t teach as much as failure can.

Jesus’ message to the disciples that this kind of demon can only come out through prayer, faith, and possibly fasting draws our attention to the importance of having a strong, close, connection with God. Prayer, faith, and fasting are all spiritual disciplines that point us to and connect us with God. Jesus’ message to the disciples might be that they needed a stronger connection with God to succeed with this significant miracle. In our own lives and in the big themes of the Bible, strengthening our relationship with God through prayer and faith is never a bad decision!

However, Jesus has a message He wants the disciples to hear. While the crowd is praising God about this miracle, Luke draws our attention onto a message Jesus wants all 12 of His disciples to hear.

Continuing in the second part of verse 43, Luke tells us:

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵ But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

In the last verses of our passage, Jesus wanted the disciples to know that this successful feeling would not last. During the times of triumph, Jesus wants the disciples to know that this moment will pass. While celebrating successes is a good thing, it is always wise to remember that life is made up of challenges and successes.

At the high points, it is just as vital to realize and remember the low points as it is to remember the high points when we are facing low points in our journey. Jesus challenges the disciples with a message they didn’t like Him reminding them of when they were thinking of celebrating this success.

I am also amazed by how Luke finishes off this passage. Luke describes the disciples being afraid to ask Jesus about this message. While the meaning of Jesus’ prediction was hidden from them, fear stopped these disciples from asking for clarification. If any of the disciples had pushed past the fear to ask, I am certain that crucifixion weekend would have gone completely differently.

Fear can stop us in our tracks if we let it. Jesus desperately wanted the disciples to ask Him about this prediction so He could explain it further, but the disciples were repeatedly closed to the idea that Jesus had anything but success in His future. Jesus ultimately was triumphant, but Jesus’ success only came after His biggest trial – and Jesus’ trial not only challenged Jesus, it challenged all the disciples beyond what the disciples believed.

When we face challenges in our lives, remember the successes in our past. When we face success, remember the challenges of our past and that challenges will come in our future. And above everything else, remember that Jesus is triumphant, and that He will be with us through both the trials and the triumphs of 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, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to remember God in the trials and in the triumphs. Choose also to lean and depend on God, giving Him the glory for everything He has blessed you with. Intentionally thank God for everything He has done for you and through you in your life.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Remember that it is never a bad choice to focus on strengthening your relationship with God. Don’t let culture, the world, or anyone convince you that a personal relationship with God is unnecessary. A personal relationship with God is one of the most important things we can have, and wherever you are on your journey with God, focusing on growing closer to and leaning into God is never a bad choice.

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!