Reflective Bible Study

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.

During Jesus’ ministry, Matthew describes an event where some leaders request that Jesus show them a miraculous sign to prove who He was. While on the surface this seems like a reasonable request, when we look more closely at the details, we can see how this might not have been a trap in the typical sense, but that it was a trap that Satan had prompted behind the scenes.

Matthew tells us that during one of the times that Jesus was preaching to the people, “some experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees said, ‘Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign.’” (v. 38)

Without going into great detail regarding Jesus’ response, the question/request itself is fascinating. On one hand, this request is a perfectly valid one, given that Jesus came to be the Messiah. As one way to clearly demonstrate that He was sent from God, a miracle could clearly support this.

However, there was a sneaky trap hidden in this request as well. The religious leaders and Pharisees may not have set the trap up, but Satan had. This trap has to do with where Jesus was placing His focus.

When Jesus came to earth, His number one focus was doing God’s will, and by doing this, He was also giving glory to God. While Jesus came to show humanity what God is like, Jesus was most interested in accomplishing what God (The Father) had for Him to do. Jesus never performed a miracle to draw the focus onto Himself. Instead, He performed miracles and healings to give glory to God and to push Satan’s kingdom back.

In this request, had Jesus performed some miraculous sign, it would have broken His mission of giving God glory. If Jesus had given these leaders a sign from heaven, He would have taken the focus off of God and placed it onto Himself. While the leaders might not have been aware of the trap, Jesus could see it clearly.

But not only that, the simple act of asking for a miraculous sign in itself is odd when looking back on the event. Jesus performed miracle after miracle and the only criteria that someone needed to witnessing these miracles was being present with Jesus when someone needed help.

By asking for a miraculous sign, these religious leaders and Pharisees tell us that they rejected all of Jesus’ miracles up to that point as tricks or magic. They show their skepticism in this request because there were too many examples of miracles prior to their request to be able to ignore.

These religious leaders fall into a trap that many of us fall into. These people wanted to see a sign personally rather than believe based upon someone else’s word.

However, faith doesn’t come through always witnessing something. Faith is built when we test ideas and find out if they are valid or not. We can only truly build faith in Jesus if we choose to walk with Him and within His plan. The trap these leaders had fallen into was requiring a sign in order to believe – and Jesus’ response tells us that people who demand this may eventually get a sign, but the sign they receive won’t be a blessing to them.