Reflective Bible Study

In these two passages on the same event, we find two of the most quoted phrases/promises Jesus ever said – but too many times, they are shared out of context, and because they are shared out of context, we lose some of the power behind them.

• “Everything is possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23b)
• “. . . if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

Between these two verses, as well as a few others, a whole “self-help” movement has been launched within Christianity. I will be the first to say that this prompts mixed feelings in my own mind.

The very positive side of these phrases is that they empower individuals towards acting – and ideally acting in a way that can improve lives – both their lives and the lives of those they are around. Phrases such as these help individuals push forward and take on huge, “God-sized” dreams. There is power in believing you are capable of greatness, and belief is necessary for positive change.

However, when we only look at the secular application of these phrases (i.e. out of context), we miss out on some interesting spiritual truths. A father is bringing his son to Jesus for healing. While the father has doubts on whether Jesus can heal his son, he has enough faith/belief to try – to bring his son to Jesus. The first key to maximizing these phrases is that we are to be leading people to Jesus.

The second key is what Jesus tells His disciples when they ask Him why they couldn’t cast out the demon. After all, they had cast other demons out of people, so what was different about this situation? In Jesus’ response in Mark 9:29, we see prayer being another necessary key: “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Sometimes, we face circumstances that are not solvable by us, through quick wit, cleaver thinking, or anything else we can come up with. In these situations, the direction we must turn is to God, through prayer.

Through these two neglected keys, we can tap into the full power of these promises. However, while the out-of-context versions of these promises often lead people to focusing on themselves or others, the in-context versions of these promises prompt us to lead people to Jesus, lean on Jesus for our support, and look to Jesus for our guidance. This isn’t a “wait for Jesus to move before we start” idea, but instead, it is a challenge for us to get started and see where Jesus leads!

In a short, unique event that only Matthew’s gospel includes, we catch one of Jesus’ closest followers telling a lie to try and protect Jesus. When caught off guard with a question Peter wasn’t expecting, Peter’s immediate reaction is to give the response he believed those asking the question would want to hear, regardless of whether it was the truth or not.

Matthew tells us, “When Jesus and his followers came to Capernaum, the men who collected the Temple tax came to Peter. They asked, ‘Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?’” (v. 24)

In that time period, every Jew was expected to pay a small fee to help with the upkeep of the temple, so the question that these tax collectors make of Peter regarding Jesus is a fair one since Jesus is Jewish.

But instead of countering the question with another question, or simply deferring to asking Jesus personally, Peter answers with the response he believes they wanted to hear. Peter responded by saying, “Yes, Jesus pays the tax.” (v. 25)

Peter lied because he thought that this would protect Jesus and His reputation, but instead, it made him look foolish. However, what I find encouraging about this event is that instead of chastising or punishing Peter, Jesus simply offers him a way to redeem himself. While Jesus would have answered differently, He chooses to support the implications Peter made with his lie even if paying the tax wasn’t truly a requirement from God.

After explaining to Peter and the others how God has adopted us into His family, Jesus gives Peter instructions for how to acquire enough to pay the temple tax for both him and Jesus. This makes me wonder if Peter had avoided paying the tax himself in prior years.

This short, four verse event helps us see that God isn’t mad when we make mistakes or when we mess up. This event gives us hope that God will make a way forward for us after our mistakes, and a way that will redeem us from the foolish and/or incorrect things that we say without thinking.

During one of the times Jesus was teaching His followers, He shifts His attention onto the time of His return when the disciples ask Him when the end will come. After Jesus describes what the world would be like leading up to His return, He tells the disciples something that may have even shocked them, and it is something that could easily shock us as well if we truly understand its implications.

After sharing His description of the end time, Jesus tells His followers, “No one knows the day or the time. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows.” (v. 32)

Let this idea sink in for a moment. The angels and Jesus Himself don’t know when the second coming will be, and if Jesus is speaking truth here, it would be incredibly arrogant for someone (a human) to think they have figured out a code or secret that the Holy Spirit inspired into the pages of the Bible. If only the Father knows, then the Holy Spirit would be speculating if He inspired clues on the specific date and time of Jesus’ return.

Some people might point to the “present tense” nature of Jesus’ words. In theory, Jesus and some angels could know this information now while they didn’t know it back then. However, this is also complete speculation, because nothing I’ve read in the scripture implies that this information will be shared before the Father announces it and pulls heaven together for the trip to earth at the end of time.

Jesus’ key point for us to remember comes in the next five verses: “So watch out and be ready! You don’t know when the time will come. It is like what happens when a man goes away for a while and places his servants in charge of everything. He tells each of them what to do, and he orders the guard to keep alert. So be alert! You don’t know when the master of the house will come back. It could be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or in the morning. But if he comes suddenly, don’t let him find you asleep. I tell everyone just what I have told you. Be alert!” (v. 33-37)

Jesus’ return will be a surprise to almost everyone. About the only people who won’t be surprised will be the ones who are alert and living as though He could come back today. This does not mean that they know this, but that they are prepared for Him to come back at every moment in their lives.

If Jesus comes suddenly, we should not let Him catch us asleep or away from what He has called us to. Jesus calls us to “Be alert” and this means that we should be alert at every moment. While the passage doesn’t say that Jesus will return suddenly, the flip side of this idea is that our lives may end suddenly.

If our lives end before Jesus has returned, then will our last breaths be ones where we are “alert” and moving forward on the mission He has for our lives, or will they be breaths that sound like snoring as we are fast asleep?

The big idea I see in Jesus’ words is that we should live as though He is returning today, while also balancing the likelihood that He might not come this year. Jesus only has to return once, and since no one knows when that will be, we must embrace and manage the tension that comes with living like He will arrive today (which would be nice), with the wisdom that directs our daily decisions in a way that is smart if He were to delay another year or more. No one in the universe knows the day or the time of Jesus’ return. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows.

Tucked away in this passage is a verse that jumped off the page at me, mainly because it can have two very different implications, depending on how one looks at it, and these two differing ways of looking at it have wildly different outcomes.

Here’s the verse: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me.” (v. 28)

Jesus promises to give His followers (sheep) eternal life, and that they will never die.

There are two key concepts in this passage that warrant our attention: “eternal life” and “death”. These two concepts are contrasted in this passage, which leads us to two different ways of thinking:

1. The first way we can look at death contrasted with eternal life is that the second our earthly life ends, our heavenly life begins. “Death” then is not really an end, but instead the beginning to eternal life. With this view, we take death to mean the end of our physical lives, and since Jesus promised that His followers would never “die”, eternal life in heaven must then begin immediately at the end of our physical lives for Jesus’ words to be truth.

   I, like millions of Christians, see great peace, joy, and happiness with this belief. This belief virtually eliminates the fear of death, leaving one to only be concerned about the “dying” pain, and there is comfort believing that our loved ones are looking down and smiling – at least when we are living how they would have wanted us to live.

2. However there is a second way we can look at death contrasted with eternal life. This way defines death as completely ceasing to exist – even from our memory, and perhaps even from God’s memory. Those who define death this way see it as the natural contrast to eternal life. Jesus promised His followers that God would never forget them, and that they have a future in heaven – at the “resurrection of life”. Physical death in this view is seen as a peaceful sleep/rest that awaits them on the last day.

   Unlike most Christians, many of whom believe that this second way of belief is an attack on Christianity, I see it as being even more loving and more God-like. God promises rest for those who have served Him faithfully in life, and death as a sleep provides that rest. From heaven’s perspective, I doubt much rest or peace would happen if all the grand-parents, great-grandparents, and earlier ancestors are glued to “Earth”-vision, watching their descendants struggle through life.

In this verse are two possible views, and either way you lean on this idea, we are assured that as followers of Jesus, no one can snatch us away from Jesus and eternal life is our reward! — John 5:24-29, 6:40.