Reflective Bible Study

If you ever wondered if Jesus was interested in drawing people to Himself, or if the crowds that came were simply first century fans of a celebrity who could work miracles, Matthew’s gospel shares an invitation Jesus shared that has cut through time in its lovingness and simplicity.

Matthew tells us that following one of Jesus’ prayers, He says, “Come to me, all you who are tired and are carrying heavy loads. I will give you rest. Become my servants and learn from me. I am gentle and free of pride. You will find rest for your souls. Serving me is easy, and my load is light.” (v. 28-30)

Jesus begins by inviting those in the crowd who feel tired and who feel like they are carrying heavy loads. While Jesus is sharing to a first century crowd, I imagine that description could even work in the 21st century as well. There are plenty of people, myself included, who feel worn out and tired. To those of us who feel this way, Jesus’ simple message is “I will give you rest.” (v. 28b)

After giving the description of who in the crowd He is talking to, Jesus continues the invitation by offering the chance to be His servant and to learn from Him. While serving Jesus is not always popular, it is the best way to learn from Him and test His way of life. Many people write off following Jesus’ example because it does not appear to be logical, or because some aspect of it doesn’t make sense. These people stop before actually starting and never take the opportunity to test Jesus’ words for themselves. Jesus wants to teach us, and we often learn best through experience.

Jesus then shares what He is like. Verse 29 contains His words “I am gentle and free of pride.” Jesus is not in the Messiah business to get a lot of followers or to prove something to someone. Instead, Jesus is humbly offering an invitation to whoever is not satisfied with the life they currently have. Jesus offers something that no other way of life can offer: With Jesus, “You will find rest for your souls.” (v. 29b)

Serving Jesus is easy, and the load He gives is light when compared to our other options. Every other system of faith or way of life focuses on what we can do, have done, or are capable of doing in the future. With Jesus, the focus is not on our ability or actions, but on His ability and His actions. Jesus didn’t place the focus onto Himself to show how worthy He was to be a Messiah. Instead, Jesus offered to take the consequences of those He loves onto Himself, and to give these people the freedom and opportunity of a new life with a restored relationship with God.

In probably one of the most redemptive and life-altering conversations following the crucifixion, Jesus invites Peter to follow again. After the three times Peter denied being associated with Jesus, chances are that he believed Jesus to have given up on him. Following the crucifixion, Jesus finds Peter back fishing, along with a number of other disciples.

Jesus meets them on the shore and they share breakfast together. It is after their breakfast that Jesus addresses Peter – which is a conversation that Peter was likely dreading. John tells us that Jesus asks Peter the same question three times, but while the translation into English makes these questions identical, there is an interesting wordplay involved in the Greek.

The first two times Jesus asks Peter the question, Jesus uses the Greek word “agapao” to describe the idea of love. This angle of love the Amplified Bible translation describes as “with total commitment and devotion”. The agapao love is a selfless and committed love towards another. In each case, Peter responds using a different word for love: “phileo”. The Amplified Bible translation describes this love as “with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend”. The phileo love is more like a very close friend love.

I believe these first two questions are important because in them, Jesus pushes Peter to move past where he had been and into a deeper understanding of God.

The third time Jesus asks the question, Jesus echoes Peter’s word for love by asking if Peter “phileo”-loved Him. I’m not sure if this shift breaks Peter’s heart, or if it instead links to another interesting dynamic that happens in this brief conversation.

After Peter’s response to each question, Jesus makes an interesting statement that is unique to each question. After the first question and response, Jesus tells Peter to “Feed my lambs.” (v. 15)

I read this challenge as Jesus telling Peter to help the young, growing Christians – whether these young Christians are children, or whether they are older in age but newer to the faith. Perhaps, Jesus used the word “agapao” to describe that this is the type of love that one would need when helping this group of Christians.

After the second question and response, Jesus tells Peter to “Take care of my sheep.” (v. 16)

In this response, I see Jesus challenging Peter to help those who are hurting, aging, or otherwise needing some form of help. Some other translations describe this idea as “Shepherd my sheep”. Again, I wonder if Jesus used the word “agapao” to describe the type of love one would/should have when shepherding others.

After the third question and response, Jesus begins by telling Peter to “Feed my sheep.” (v. 17)

This third response Jesus gives echoes the first response, but I see it challenging Peter to help otherwise mature Christians grow. Like the other two statements, I wonder if Jesus chose the different Greek word for love (“phileo”) because this type of love would work best for this group of Christians.

Jesus then cryptically describes how Peter will end his life. From how the author places the side-note in the text, it is possible that he wrote it after Peter had died. Jesus then re-invites Peter to follow Him.

In these three challenges, I see challenges for each of us as followers of Jesus. We are to help the young members of our faith grow in their relationship with God/Jesus; we are to help those among us who are hurting and in need of strength and encouragement; and we are to challenge the mature members of our faith to deepen their relationship with God, Jesus, and each other. Each task requires a certain type of love, and in this conversation with Peter, Jesus helps us by describing the type of followers He wants us to be.

Aside from the trip to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old, very little is recorded about His growing up years. With all the fame and popularity Jesus had during His ministry, that represents only three and a half years of His 33-34 years spent on earth. All four gospel writers spend almost all their time focused on the last three and a half years, and because of this, the first 30 years are virtually unknown.

However, Luke’s gospel does share a transition statement that gives a hint at what Jesus was like. Luke tells us that “After Joseph and Mary had done everything that the Law of the Lord commands, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. The child Jesus grew. He became strong and wise, and God blessed him.” (v. 39-40)

While Luke skips over the family’s escape to Egypt when Jesus was a baby, Luke does include the only description of the unknown years that we have. Luke tells us that Jesus became strong, wise, and that God blessed Him.

The evidence of Jesus’ growth can be seen in the next stop Luke makes in his story, which is the family’s trip to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve. At that point, Jesus had grew with enough knowledge and wisdom to impress those in the temple who were present. “Everyone who heard him was surprised at how much he knew and at the answers he gave.” (v. 47)

Luke also shares something similar when describing the transition into adulthood. He finishes the chapter by saying, “Jesus became wise, and he grew strong. God was pleased with him and so were the people.” (v. 52)

The description we have of Jesus’ developing years was one where He focused on personal growth, relational growth, and spiritual growth. Jesus grew His mind, He grew His heart, and He grew His faith. The 30 years of growth laid the foundation for an earth-changing three and a half years of ministry.

These verses tell me that even if God hasn’t placed me in a spotlight, it is important for me to focus on the foundation of my life. Only with a strong foundation placed on Jesus and a relationship with God can I hope to accomplish anything significant for Him. Since Jesus is a role model for us, we would do well to pay attention to the unknown years, and focus on growing in wisdom and strength.

One of the most amazing statements included in all the gospels comes from an amazingly unlikely source. While this statement is incredibly surprising, I am a little surprised that only John chose to include it in his gospel. This statement is made by one of Jesus’ most notable opponents, and part of me wonders if this opponent actually realized the extra layer of meaning that his statement had.

Following Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead, some of those present for this miracle went and notified the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem about what happened. These leaders then get into a discussion about what they should do because Jesus is becoming too popular. Perhaps not everyone in this council was in agreement and to break the stalemate that may have been present, one of them speaks up.

John describes this by saying, “One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, ‘What fools you are! Don’t you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?’” (v. 49-50)

On the surface, this statement sounds reasonable, and it can easily be understood to be a statement against Jesus. Caiaphas was basically saying that it would be better for Jesus to die than for the whole nation to be wiped out.

But in the way he says these words, Caiaphas allows for a double meaning – and perhaps even one that he was not aware of at the time. John picks up on this, and so that his readers won’t miss the significance of this statement, John immediately explains this significance. “Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.” (v. 51-52)

In this statement is an amazing prediction of Jesus’ ultimate mission to earth. While the religious leaders determined it would be better for them if Jesus was to die, little did they know the enormous truth that they set out to accomplish. Not only would Jesus’ death be better for them, but Jesus’ death would open up salvation to all people. The religious leaders’ vision was much smaller than Jesus’ vision of His mission – but their vision was large enough to help Jesus fulfill what He came to accomplish.

Ultimately this tells me that God can use what I say and what I do in His grand plan. I don’t have to worry about if I mess up because when it happens, God is not surprised. God has an infinite number of ways of fixing or minimizing the mistake; God is capable of weaving all our mistakes into a tapestry that shows us His love and grace; and no matter if I am for God or against Him, everything I do can be used by Him as a part of His great story called history.