Reflective Bible Study

As we move through the miracles in the gospels, we come to the point in Jesus’ miracles where He makes His way towards Jerusalem leading up to the crucifixion. Early on in this trip, we come to an event that is interesting, because in it, those present are healed without Jesus’ presence and after they begin following Jesus’ instructions.

However, one of those present in the group risks everything because he chooses to deviate from Jesus’ instructions in order to do something he feels is more important than finishing the task Jesus had sent him on.

Let’s read about what happened, and discover some things we can apply in our own life from what took place. Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 17, and we will be reading it from the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 11, Luke tells us that:

¹¹ While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; ¹³ and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ¹⁸ Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

I am always a little surprised in this event. The implication in what is written is that the other nine former lepers were not thankful, but that is unlikely the case. I’m sure that all ten men were overjoyed at the realization that they were healed. While Luke’s gospel condenses this event to help us see the overall picture, I am a little curious how much time passed between the men being sent by Jesus to Jerusalem, and when the one man ultimately arrived back to thank Jesus.

This could have been hours later, or even days. When I look at a map of New Testament Israel, it is likely that these lepers had to travel about 50 miles on foot from where Jesus met them to ultimately reach Jerusalem. This would have then been at least a two-day journey. I suspect that this Samaritan arrived back to thank Jesus maybe a few hours later. Because while the group hurried towards Jerusalem, I’m pretty sure the Samaritan ran back to find Jesus.

We don’t know if the other lepers ever made it back to thank Jesus. It is possible that they did. It is also possible that they didn’t turn back because they were fearful that any deviation from Jesus’ command to go to show themselves to the priests in Jerusalem would result in the leprosy returning. This Samaritan risked losing his healing in order to thank Jesus.

Another unknown in this event is if the Samaritan then went to finish the mission of seeing a priest. We don’t have any indication of this in the scriptures, but part of me thinks that he did because that would be a smart, safe thing to do, not just because Jesus had told him to do so, but also because the priests were the official gatekeepers who declared the diseased people healed and able to return to society.

In this event, we discover that there is never a bad time to pause and give thanks to God for what He has done for us. While driving might come close to a bad time if it causes us to pay less attention to the road, nothing in giving thanks to God says it has to involve closed eyes or even take more than a few words. This event, and specifically Jesus’ response, highlights the importance of giving thanks for what God has done for us.

However, it is also interesting that when we read this event, the Samaritan returns to Jesus, “glorifying God with a loud voice”. In Jesus’ reply, we see where Jesus focused as well, because Jesus asked the question “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

This distinction is significant in my mind. While the former leper thanks Jesus personally, he is much more interested in giving God the glory and credit for the miracle. While Jesus attributes the healing to the man’s faith, from the man’s praise, we see that his faith was in God and in God blessing Jesus’ ministry.

The other nine former lepers may have ultimately been thankful, but they might have simply attributed their thanks to Jesus and not to God. I wonder how many in the first century, like those living today, believe God the Father is unhappy with them, but that Jesus came to stand between us and an angry God. While there is scattered evidence throughout the Bible that a belief could be created from, this belief runs counter to the broader truth that Jesus’ love for us is the same as the Father’s love for us.

In this event, Jesus didn’t come seeking praise for Himself. Instead, Jesus came to give people the opportunity to give glory to God the Father, and to show the world what the Father is really like. If you or I are ever doubtful of what the Father is like, we don’t need to look any further than Jesus and what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross!

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

Always seek God first and give Him thanks when He brings blessings into your life. If there is a coincidence, a bit of luck, or something that simply went your way when it didn’t have to, give God thanks regardless of whether He was involved or not. When in doubt, it is always better to thank God because we don’t always know what He is up to in our lives.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, keep praying and studying the Bible for yourself to discover what God wants to teach you through the pages of His Word. While you can learn many things from many people, filter everything you see, hear, or read through the filter of the Bible to discover whether it is truth or not. If an idea conflicts with the Bible’s teaching, it is not a worthwhile idea from eternity’s perspective.

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

We have arrived at the place in Mark’s gospel where he begins describing the evening of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. During the night before this event, Jesus shares a special meal with the disciples, and during this meal, Jesus shares and does some things that surprise the disciples.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn from this last night Jesus spent with His disciples leading up to His crucifixion. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read it using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 17, Mark tells us that:

¹⁷ When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve disciples. ¹⁸ While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you that one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹ The disciples were upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, do you?”

²⁰ Jesus answered, “It will be one of you twelve, one who dips his bread in the dish with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will; but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

²² While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.”

²³ Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. ²⁴ Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, my blood which seals God’s covenant. ²⁵ I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Pausing our reading here, it is interesting in my mind that Mark really abbreviates this special meal Jesus shares with the disciples. While Mark’s gospel is known in part for summarizing events and moving at a faster pace, what we can discover from Mark’s summary are big, important details that we should pay attention to.

At this supper, Jesus openly declares that one of the disciples would betray Jesus, and this visibly upsets all the disciples. Jesus also uses this as another opportunity to share about His upcoming death, and Jesus tied this death to the scriptures predicting this.

Mark describes how Jesus would identify the betrayer, but we are left to simply wonder if this actually happened. Mark describes Jesus telling the group that He would dip the bread at the same time as the betrayer, but nowhere do we read in Mark’s gospel that this happened, that Judas Iscariot was identified, and we don’t even know when Judas Iscariot leaves to assemble the mob, soldiers, and people to arrest Jesus.

In Mark’s gospel, he also shares a brief, four-verse summary of the last supper and the details of Jesus breaking bread and sharing it with the disciples, passing a cup around, and giving a symbolic meaning to both the communion bread and communion wine.

However, what Mark shares next is powerful. After the group of remaining disciples leave with Jesus for the Mount of Olives, continuing in verse 27:

²⁷ Jesus said to them, “All of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep will all be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

²⁹ Peter answered, “I will never leave you, even though all the rest do!”

³⁰ Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the rooster crows two times tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.”

³¹ Peter answered even more strongly, “I will never say that, even if I have to die with you!”

And all the other disciples said the same thing.

In this last portion of this passage, I am amazed that Jesus clearly restates His imminent death, and that He will be raised back to life. He tells the disciples that after He has been raised to life, He will return to Galilee ahead of them.

However, it really appears as though Peter missed Jesus’ statement about resurrection, that he ignored yet another prediction of Jesus’ upcoming death, and he devoted his focus onto Jesus saying that all the disciples would leave Him.

Peter, being as outspoken as he is described in all the gospels, boldly makes the claim that he would die with Jesus and that he would never deny Him. However, Jesus counter challenges Peter with the prediction that before a rooster had crowed two times that very night, Peter would openly say three times that he didn’t know Jesus.

Mark also adds that Peter wasn’t the only one to make this promise to Jesus. All 10 remaining disciples make this promise to Jesus as well.

The amazing part of Jesus challenge is that, while all 11 disciples promise Jesus they would stick with Him to the end, only Peter is challenged and warned about openly denying Jesus. I go back and forth in my mind if this challenge is a positive one or not.

While Jesus does challenge Peter in this way, simply receiving this challenge implies that Peter will be in a place where people would recognize he is a follower of Jesus. This means that Peter will not have abandoned Jesus as significantly as the other disciples will. It is implied that the other disciples go into hiding – avoiding everyone – while Peter will be in a place where he could be recognized and singled out.

The challenge Jesus gives Peter does sound negative. After all, who wants to be told they will deny the person they looked up to and were friends with for over 3 straight years. The disciples’ response to Jesus telling them they will scatter is where our focus is drawn to in this passage, because it is what the disciples focused in on.

However, I believe Jesus told the disciples this not because He wanted them to obey His prediction, but because He wanted them to look past their upcoming failure to His upcoming triumph. While this weekend marked the triumph of sin and sinners, Sunday would open a new week, marking the triumph of Jesus and the ultimate defeat of sin.

It is in the resurrection Jesus’ disciples missed seeing predicted that Jesus wanted them to focus in on. With less than 24 hours before His death, Jesus wanted the disciples to look past their failure and His death and onto the resurrection.

In a similar way, while we are able to look back and see the crucifixion and resurrection clearly, when we face struggles, trials, and challenges in our lives today, let’s remember to look past our failures and these challenges, and forward to our future resurrection and recreation when Jesus returns to end this age in history and take us home!

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 and place Him first in your life. When facing failures in our present or past, choose to forgive yourself and move forward, focusing on what Jesus accomplished and what He has promised each of us when we accept the gift of His life and death on our behalf.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and open your heart to God, to Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit. Through prayer and Bible study, discover firsthand what God wants to teach you through the pages of His Word and discover how we can claim the promise and hope for a future, eternal life with 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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Not long after the Sabbath miracle we focused on in our last episode, we come to another miracle that Jesus did on the Sabbath. While the last miracle happened while Jesus was at the local synagogue, the miracle we are looking at in this episode likely happened after Jesus had been at the synagogue, and during lunch. Jesus had been invited to eat at the home of a prominent religious leader, and everything about this event suggests that this invitation was a setup.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn from this miracle. Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 14, and we will be reading it from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ On a day of rest—a holy day [most translations simply say “On the Sabbath”] Jesus went to eat at the home of a prominent Pharisee. The guests were watching Jesus very closely.

² A man whose body was swollen with fluid was there. ³ Jesus reacted by asking the Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings, “Is it right to heal on the day of rest—a holy day, or not?” ⁴ But they didn’t say a thing.

So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. ⁵ Jesus asked them, “If your son or your ox falls into a well on a day of rest—a holy day, wouldn’t you pull him out immediately?” ⁶ They couldn’t argue with him about this.

In how Luke describes the details in this passage, we see plenty of signs that this event is a setup. From the moment Luke tells us at the end of verse 1 that, “The guests were watching Jesus very closely,” we can conclude that they intended to challenge Him about something. We read this detail even before we are introduced to the detail that a man was there who was ill.

However, this miracle is unique. In no other miracle that I can think of does Jesus ask the religious leaders a question. This question is almost like Jesus is asking for permission or approval for helping this man. While everyone is looking intently at Jesus and what He will do in the presence of someone who needs help on the Sabbath, Jesus catches them off guard by asking them the question they had already determined the answer to. Verse 3 tells us this question. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in Moses’ teaching whether it was right to heal on the Sabbath or not.

This question is interesting on many levels, because with an answer, Jesus could open a dialog about how He interpreted the Sabbath commandment about rest before healing the man. Instead, Jesus is met with silence as a response. I don’t think these religious leaders were caught off guard with Jesus’ question; instead, it is more likely they had passed judgment on the idea of healing being acceptable while not having an actual scripture to back up this specific belief.

However, the silence was enough of a consent that Jesus healed the man and told him to go home.

While those present likely were preparing to debate Jesus with what was considered work and acceptable behavior on this day of rest, Jesus cuts their breath short by asking them another question, this time a partially rhetorical question. When those present were preparing their case against Jesus’ actions, Jesus speaks first, and in verse 5, He asks the obvious question about if we would help our child or an animal if he, she, or it fell into a well on the Sabbath. Only a heartless person would say no to helping their child because it was a holy day.

Luke concludes by telling us that those present couldn’t argue with Jesus over this detail, and while these religious leaders probably still disliked Jesus, they didn’t have much of a case to call Jesus’ form of healing as “work”.

In this event, we discover a group of people who believed a certain way without scripture to back their belief up. While some beliefs are fine to hold onto in places where the scripture is silent, any belief about God, about Jesus, or about eternity should be grounded in the themes and truths of the Bible. Any belief about God that the Bible speaks in opposition to is a belief that should be discarded in favor of the truth.

This also means that when we are faced with the challenge of whether to follow tradition or Bible truth, we should always follow Bible truth, because traditions change faster than generations do, and what was once a novel idea one day can become a tradition the next, even if there is no scriptural foundation present. If we pick tradition over Bible truth, we will ultimately stand speechless in front of Jesus when He challenges us regarding what we thought was true.

When resolving some tricky passages or beliefs, we would be better served looking closer at the scripture that speak against our position to understand them better. While it is easy to discount, explain away, or simply ignore passages that speak against our chosen belief, whenever we discount any portion of the Bible, we run the risk of missing truth that God wants to teach us. We can learn more from the passages we might disagree with more than the ones we agree with.

By giving greater weight to the passages we are tempted to walk away from, we can minimize the chance that Jesus will catch us speechless when He asks a question that we should have an easy answer to. By giving greater weight to the passages we are tempted to walk away from, we can avoid the trap of believing tradition over Bible truth.

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

Always be intentional about seeking God first in your life. Ask Him to lead you into His truth and ask Him to give you the strength, endurance, and open-mindedness to learn what He wants to teach you through His Word.

Then, make regular prayer and Bible study a habit for yourself. Ask God to show you want He wants you to learn and ask Him to help you understand His truth. The Bible is the best spiritual teacher we have, because when we open its pages with a prayerful, humble attitude, expecting to learn from God, the Holy Spirit will come teach us, and challenge us with its words. This has been my experience, and it is why I share insights with you every week! I believe God wants you to have a great study relationship with Him when you open the pages of the Bible to study His Word!

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 ignore where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Leading up to the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, Mark’s gospel pulls two events together and connects them. However, it is likely that these two events did not happen as closely as Mark and Matthew describe them. Instead, while these two events happened within a week of each other, these two gospel writers connect the two events because together, these events give context for what will take place during the following weekend.

Reading this passage, which could be broken apart into three different parts, gives us an amazing insight into how God’s timing for events supersedes our timing and our planning. Let’s read about what happened, and discover what Mark teaches us about the events leading up to Jesus’ betrayal.

Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read from the New International Version. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us:

¹ Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ² “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

Pausing our reading here, these two verses make up the first part in this passage. Basically, Mark tells us that the chief priests and other religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him, but they decided to wait until after the festival because they feared the people would riot.

However, Mark then jumps back to an event that happened a few days earlier. If what we just read happened on a Wednesday, then the event being described likely could have happened the Thursday, Friday, or Sabbath of the week before. We can conclude this because John’s gospel gives a clear timetable for the event Mark is about to describe.

Continuing in verse 3, Mark then tells us:

³ While he [referring to Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶ “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

This marks the end of the second part of our passage. While Mark doesn’t say who prompted the condescending remarks towards the woman and her gift, the context of what happens next gives us a clear clue that Judas Iscariot was among those who were leading the belittling remarks towards this woman. John’s gospel also validates this by telling us it was clearly Judas Iscariot, and John tells us that he challenged this use of the money, not because he cared for the poor, but because he wanted a larger moneybag that he could more easily help himself to.

However, Jesus clearly foreshadows this event as preparing His body for burial. The two events in that culture where people were anointed were when they were set apart or dedicated as a ruler or king, and when they were a corpse and were being buried. The first anointing is a symbolic and spiritual action, while the second anointing was primarily for very practical reasons, otherwise known as masking the smell of decaying flesh.

While the woman anointing Jesus with the perfume likely could sense Jesus nearing the culmination of His ministry, everything in that culture pointed to the Messiah stepping into the role of king. She likely gave Jesus this type of gift because she wanted to be the first to anoint Him as king.

However, Jesus validates the gift she gives, but then attributes the symbolism onto the other reason for anointing. Instead of anointing Jesus who would become king, Jesus tells everyone present that this anointing was preparing Him for His burial.

We could add this statement as one more example of Jesus foreshadowing His upcoming death, and the disciples, Judas Iscariot especially, missing the obvious conclusion to Jesus’ clear statement.

The third part of this passage shifts back to the timing of the first event, just days before the Passover celebration. Continuing in verse 10, Mark tells us:

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

In these two concluding verses, we discover that while the chief priests and religious leaders decided to wait until after the festival, Judas Iscariot’s decision changes their plans. While Judas Iscariot may have plotted and planned how to respond to Jesus’ rebuking him because of his response regarding the woman’s gift, it took several days for Judas to conclude that betraying Jesus was the way to get back at Him.

Judas Iscariot ignored, forgot, or was blinded into discounting all the foreshadowing Jesus had shared regarding His upcoming death, His upcoming betrayal, and His upcoming resurrection. Prior to this weekend, even before Judas Iscariot knew he would be the betrayer, Jesus had warned the disciples about the events of this weekend.

Everything in this passage leads me to believe human timing for Jesus’ death should have happened after this weekend festival. However, God’s timing for this event clearly dictated the time Jesus would die, and all the details and human plans are rewritten during the 48 hours or so leading up to the cross to make humanity’s planning and timing match God’s plan. The religious leaders had decided to wait until after the Passover; however, Judas Iscariot’s offer of betrayal changes their plans to match the timing God had planned from the beginning of our world.

In our own lives, it is always good for us to remember that while we can plan and move towards goals in our own lives, it is always best to leave room in our plans and expectations for God to step in and redirect our lives to match His plan for each of us. When God steps in and changes our plans, we can choose to be upset, or we can be grateful that God is bringing us into alignment with His will. When faced with that choice, I always recommend being grateful because when God redirects our lives, it reminds us that He cares about us and that He wants the best for us from eternity’s perspective!

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 leave room for Him to step in and change your plans and your goals to match His will for your life. Invite God to come into your heart and let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you into matching your goals and plans to His will for you!

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. While other people can have ideas and great things to think about, filter everything you learn from other through the truth of the Bible! Through prayer and Bible study, discover how God opens our hearts to Him and His will and decide to invite Him into your heart!

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!