Missing Out on Blessings: Luke 19:1-10

Focus Passage: Luke 19:1-10 (NCV)

 1 Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus, who was a very important tax collector, and he was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because he was too short to see above the crowd. 4 He ran ahead to a place where Jesus would come, and he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see him. 5 When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.”

 6 Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to complain, “Jesus is staying with a sinner!”

 8 But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times more.”

 9 Jesus said to him, “Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham. 10 The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”

Read Luke 19:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, He passes through the city of Jericho and invites Himself to the home of one of the most disliked people in the entire city. When I read about what happened when Jesus met Zacchaeus, I wonder who was the most surprised in this entire event.

  • Is Zacchaeus the most surprised because Jesus spotted Him in the tree and invited Himself over?

  • Is the crowd the most surprised that Zacchaeus accepted Jesus’ invitation to Himself?

  • Is the crowd the most surprised that Jesus would associate with someone as hated and distrusted as Zacchaeus?

Luke’s gospel summarizes both the crowd’s and Zacchaeus’ responses by saying: “Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to complain, ‘Jesus is staying with a sinner!’” (v. 6-7)

While Zacchaeus was grateful for the opportunity to meet Jesus even better, the crowd gets caught up over a situation they simply feel is not right. In the minds of those in the crowd, someone (Jesus) they knew was sent from God should only associate with people who clearly are associated with God. When Jesus chose to associate with someone they believed had no care for religious or spiritual matters, it breaks their stereotype and their view of Jesus.

However, in this event, while the crowd was complaining over who Jesus chose to stay with, Zacchaeus was getting ready to have a heart transformation. The crowd could not see this, but Jesus did. The crowd blinded themselves by believing Jesus would only associate with Godly people. The crowd missed out on what may have been the most high-profile life transformation of Jesus’ ministry.

Everyone in that region knew who Zacchaeus was, and it would not be a surprise in my mind if the news about Jesus’ time with Zacchaeus and the life-change that happened spread like wildfire throughout the entire city and surrounding area.

Reading about the crowd challenges me to ask the question: Am I missing out on something God is doing because it happens to be in a place I don’t think it should be and/or because it doesn’t fit into the mold of what I think it should look like? Am I more like the skeptical crowd when I hear about something God has done, or am I open to being transformed through what I see God doing in the world around me?

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Conditional Forgiveness: Matthew 18:15-35

Focus Passage: Matthew 18:15-35 (NCV)

    15 “If your fellow believer sins against you, go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again. 16 But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a person who does not believe in God or like a tax collector.

    18 “I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.

    19 “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”

    21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”

    22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.

    23 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. 25 But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.

    26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.

    28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’

    29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’

    30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

    32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. 33 You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.’ 34 The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.

    35 “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Read Matthew 18:15-35 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

When teaching the disciples the importance of forgiving each other, Peter asks Jesus how many times we should forgive, and the answer Jesus gives surprises the whole group. Jesus then follows up this response with a parable about a servant who was forgiven an impossible-to-repay debt.

However, while it isn’t stated in the terms of this servant’s forgiveness, Jesus’ parable continues by showing how this servant chooses to not extend forgiveness towards a fellow servant who owed a very payable debt. The other servants see what happened and report the details back to the master/king. The parable ends with the original servant’s debt being reinstated and him being locked up until he repay the impossible-to-repay debt – or in other words, this servant would be locked up for the rest of his life.

Jesus finishes the parable with a one-sentence explanation: “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (v. 35)

This parable is probably one of Jesus’ most challenging parables because the implication is clear: If we don’t forgive each other after learning how God has forgiven us, God will cancel the forgiveness He extended towards us and we will be left with an impossible-to-repay debt.

Because of this, we can conclude that while God offers forgiveness freely through Jesus, the forgiveness we are given comes with a condition: we must extend this forgiveness towards each other. Nothing we can do will ever come close to repaying God for His generosity, but we can show God we are grateful for what He has given to us by extending forgiveness towards each other. This will look different for each person and each situation, but at its heart, we are called to forgive like God forgave – which means that we forgive those who may even still be actively hurting us and there is no indication that will ever change.

Jesus entered a world that was hostile to God and His message and He was killed by humanity. When we forgive like God forgave, we must acknowledge that many times we will be called to forgive people who don’t deserve to be forgiven – and we can trust that God will sort out those who truly deserve forgiveness from those whose forgiven status will be cancelled because they lived an unforgiving life.

Forgiveness means we don’t hold a grudge and we don’t seek or expect the other person to pay back the debt we feel they owe. Forgiveness does not mean we blindly stay in a place where are being abused or hurt. Reconciliation is where we bridge and heal broken relationships, and while this concept is closely related to forgiveness, nothing in Jesus’ parable or teaching says that we must always reconcile a broken relationship when we forgive the person who hurt us.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Answering a Different Question: Mark 12:28-34

Focus Passage: Mark 12:28-34 (NIrV)

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”

29 Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ — (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5) 31 And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ — (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”

32 “You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. 33 To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.”

   From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Read Mark 12:28-34 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

If you have ever wondered if God has a priority list for how we should live our lives, you are not alone. All throughout history, and especially during the first century, there have been groups of people who have created prioritized lists to answer the question about what we should and should not do.

Jesus steps into this discussion when asked for His thoughts regarding what God’s priority list for us is. A Pharisee (teacher of the law) asks Him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?” (End of verse 28)

Instead of sidestepping the question, or asking a question in response, Jesus decides this is a good opportunity to teach about God’s priorities. Perhaps this is because the Pharisee was genuinely asking because he wanted to learn, or maybe Jesus simply used this as an opening/opportunity to teach another piece of God’s truth to those present.

Jesus first begins by pointing out that we must place God first in our lives. This is the first and greatest commandment, but Jesus knows that His audience, or at least this Pharisee, already has a pretty good handle on this one. Jesus must say it because it is the truthful answer to the question, but the problem with the answer is that the question is bad.

By asking what the “most important” thing is – in any situation – one opens the door to allowing every other responsibility to be neglected in favor of focusing on the one “most important” thing. The danger here is that the most important command is not where Jesus’ audience had their greatest challenges. The greatest challenge for His audience was with the second most important command.

So after Jesus answers the direct question, He then answers the question that should have been asked in the first place, “What are the most important commandments?” While the Pharisee was only interested in one commandment, Jesus gives him two: The top commandment, and the one he needed to hear: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Middle of verse 31)

While the command to love God is clearly defined by four areas, loving our neighbor is really only defined by one area: how we love ourselves. This does not say we are to love our neighbor more or less than we love ourselves, but “as” we love ourselves. It is a statement of almost universal individual equality.

Some groups or governments have wanted to universally promote the idea of equality, but this is the opposite of what is present here. Externally imposed equality means there must be someone in power making the decision, and then the rest of the people. Individual equality means that each person views themselves as being no more valuable than anyone else, and no less valuable.

But we are sin-tainted, selfish people – which mean that some of us really love ourselves, while others really hate ourselves. This second commandment is second because we need a dedication and commitment to God first to give us a right perspective on how valuable we are. After all, Jesus came to give His life for each of us.

Loving your neighbor as you love yourself pushes us to think about others as we think about us. If we want something, someone else probably does as well, and what would happen if we helped them achieve it as we achieve it. This doesn’t pull wisdom out of help, but it allows and encourages wisdom to be a part of our help – because as a helper, we are responsible for giving help in appropriate ways.

Loving our neighbor sets a pretty high standard for a selfish heart, but it is a step towards being more like Jesus.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Obeying His Messengers: Matthew 21:28-32

Focus Passage: Matthew 21:28-32 (NCV)

28 “Tell me what you think about this: A man had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ 29 The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”

The priests and leaders answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. 32 John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to change your ways and believe him.

Read Matthew 21:28-32 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In a brief conversation Jesus has with a group of Pharisees, the gospel of Matthew describes Jesus sharing a parable about a father who asks His two sons to help in the family’s vineyard. One son said he would help but then chose not to go, while the other son said he wouldn’t help, but then chose to go and help.

The key question Jesus asks these Pharisees is which of these sons actually obeyed their father: The one who said they’d help or the one who showed up to help?

At the close of this discussion, Jesus shares a statement that is surprisingly relevant for us today. Matthew tells us that Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to change your ways and believe him.” (v. 31-32)

One amazing thing I see in this set of verses is that God sends messengers to help people turn their lives around, and while the religious leaders did not openly oppose John the Baptist, they also didn’t give John’s message any thought. Jesus directly says that “John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him.” (v. 32a)

Because tax collectors and prostitutes believed in John’s message and changed their lives and their focus, Jesus tells the religious leaders that those who were the worst sinners but who have changed their ways will gain entrance into heaven – ahead of those who supposedly lived close to God.

This should be a challenging message for people who call themselves followers of Jesus. When God sends us messengers to help us live better and grow closer to God, we would be wise to obey the instructions God’s messenger gives. Otherwise, we might end up in the same position these religious leaders ended up in when they rejected John’s message for themselves and ultimately missed out on seeing Jesus as God’s Messiah.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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