Reflective Bible Study

During the supper Jesus shared with His disciples on the night of His arrest, He shares with them a profound idea that might sound obvious on the surface, but it has a slight twist that makes it unique. At this “Last Supper”, Jesus gives the disciples a new command.

John tells us that while they were together after Judas Iscariot had left, Jesus told them, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (v. 34-35)

On the surface, this sounds like Jesus simply is restating the “Love your neighbor as yourself” commandment He had shared earlier in His ministry as one of the top two commandments of the law. But loving one another is different from loving your neighbor.

Loving your neighbor could be understood as loving those who live near you, loving the strangers you pass by on the street, or even loving that annoying person who works near you at the office. In essence, these are people who you only casually know at best, and you unlikely would be friends with them if it were not for the geographical connection.

Loving one another is the opposite side of this coin. In this statement, Jesus commands His followers to love those they are close to, like those who are part of their family, friends, and church group. In some ways this is easier, but the challenge here is that the closer you get to know someone, the less of a mask they are able to put up, and the more you really get to know who they are. If you find something that you don’t like about them, is your response going to be breaking the friendship, or is it one that displays love and/or forgiveness? The answer is very dependent on the situation, but when in doubt, we should err on the side of showing love even if the relationship needs to end.

But in this command is also the command to love those who call themselves followers. This might be the hardest challenge of all. When we look at the broad group of people who identify themselves as “Christians”, there is very little that we could call united. There are “Christians” who hold to almost every possible belief and ideology that exists today. Sadly, the one thing that was suppose to unify us apart from a belief in Jesus is our love – for each other and for others – and this is more than simply tolerating those who believe differently than us.

Jesus’ single command for His church was to be known as the most loving place anyone could go – and while being loving does not mean ignoring the truth or discounting sin, it does mean caring for the individual in spite of the sin and helping lift them into a better place than they were before. It also means forgiving even if the other person doesn’t deserve it. With a love like this, we can accurately represent Jesus in our world today.

Of the several things that stood out in this passage, the one I will focus on in this post is what isn’t said in any of the gospels, and something that makes me wonder a little bit, because it would be a question that Lazarus would have been asked dozens, if not hundreds of times: “What was death like?”

What surprises me is that any significant answer to this question would have spread like wildfire and probably would have reached Luke, who I’m a little surprised doesn’t even reference this event in his gospel at all. Matthew was there, so why isn’t this event in his gospel either?

Even broader than this single passage is the lack of information from anyone who Jesus raised from the dead sharing what death was like. Our modern culture would have us think it is like flying into the light and entering heaven, but if this is the case, being resurrected at any time would be one of the cruelest things for Jesus to do.

I’m inclined to distrust culture, because rarely do we ever get things “right”. Instead, what if death was simply a pause button on life, and those who were raised had nothing to share about death because they didn’t experience anything? Would being resurrected be as cruel then?

Following Jesus’ resurrection, John records in his gospel an interesting event that I am a little surprised the other gospel writers don’t include. In this event, we find a group of Jesus disciples back by the Sea of Galilee headed out to go fishing. John describes what happened at the start of the last chapter of his gospel.

“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (v. 1-3)

This event, with just a couple more individuals added to it, begins to look like an earlier event that another gospel writer records early on in Jesus’ ministry. Perhaps catching nothing was something that happened regularly, so it may not have been as abnormal, but I also wonder if the disciples were pestering each other saying they must have gotten out of practice having not fished for a few years.

John continues by saying, “Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.” (v. 4)

I wonder if it was because of the distance that made the disciples unable to recognize Jesus, or perhaps He was dressed differently. John had already shared that this was the third time Jesus had appeared to them, so at the very least, some of them would have seen Him before.

In this event, Jesus then calls out to them in the boat, asking “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” (v. 5a)

Probably with a bit of discouragement in their voices, they answer “No.” (v. 5b)

At this point in the event, we begin to see the biggest parallel to an earlier event. Jesus then responds to the disciples by saying, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” (v. 6a)

With this statement, Jesus echoes an earlier direction that led into a miracle leading up to the first fishermen disciples being called. Luke describes this earlier event as Jesus heading out to fish with these disciples after they have had an unsuccessful night of fishing. While discouraged, these first followers obey and they have one of the best catches of their career. (Luke 5)

Here at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we find a similar event, and when the disciples obeyed Jesus, “they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” (v. 6b)

This event echoes how the first group of fishermen disciples were called. I wonder if this after-resurrection event was a new call for these followers to reset their relationship with Jesus and start fresh with Him. After they all had abandoned Him in the garden, I wonder if Jesus intentionally repeats this earlier miracle to give them a new call and invitation to restart their journey again with Him. When we choose to come to Jesus after failing, He is willing to forgive and start fresh with us!

In one of the most famous parts of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we find one of the most amazing promises that Jesus shared during His earthly ministry. Within this section of the message, many people have found both encouragement as well as reason for doubt.

This section begins with Jesus saying, “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.” (v. 7-8)

The self-help movement within Christianity sprang up around these two verses because in them, Jesus shares a repeatable process and principle. I think these two verses are also incredibly popular because they work without Jesus as well. When looking at these two verses, there is very little here that points to Jesus.

But Jesus hasn’t finished sharing on this topic. He continues by saying, “Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.” (v. 9-11)

With this explanation, Jesus brings faith into the discussion, while He also brings in a framework for understanding how God answers prayer. In these three verses explaining this concept, Jesus helps us understand the answers we may receive that are not what we would have wanted. All the “No’s”, “Wait’s”, and substitution answers may feel like God is ignoring our requests, but this famous set of five verses holds the key to how God answers prayer.

The key to understanding how God answers our asking, seeking, and knocking has to do with what our request is, and the best possible response. While Jesus rhetorically asks whether a parent would give a bad gift to a child when he/she asks for something they need, the same could be said in reverse. What parent would give their child something that will harm them if the child asked for it? If you knew a gift would injure your child, would you still give them the gift?

God, being the perfect parent, knows what the best response to every request we ask, every goal we seek, and every door we knock on. While it might feel like He is rejecting or ignoring our requests, these responses may be Him telling us that the timing isn’t right, that we need to grow more, or that what we are asking for will ultimately harm us in the long run. Faith comes into play regarding whether we are willing to accept His answer to our request.

And this promise isn’t reserved for just Christians. God loves everyone He created, and He “is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.” (v. 11b)

So while we are called to ask, to seek, and to knock, we are also called to trust God the Father’s guidance and His direction. He will open doors that will help us; He will help us find the best things for our situation, and He is happy to give us things that truly will bless us. He loves us, and He cares for our eternal future above all else.