Reflective Bible Study

If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus and you have ever feared what people thought about you as a follower of Jesus, you are not alone.

Many people throughout the past 2,000 years have wondered that – from the first Christians stretching all the way up to us living today. I have also been challenged by this fear of what others might think. If you have struggled with these thoughts, or are currently facing doubts about what others will think, Jesus has something reassuring to tell you in this journal entry’s passage.

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, He decides to send the disciples out in pairs to all the villages in the region. We could call this an outreach training exercise. However, some of the disciples, probably the introverted, reserved ones like me, were a little worried about what might happen to them and what others would think.

I believe this is why Jesus finishes His instructions with the following words in verse 16, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever refuses to accept you refuses to accept me. And whoever refuses to accept me refuses to accept the One who sent me.”

Jesus is basically saying: It’s not about you!

Too often, our fears and insecurities stem from not feeling good about ourselves. However, Jesus wants to step into this area of our lives and tell us that we should not have any worry or concern over what others think of us as followers of Him. If we do our best to be like Jesus, then if there are those who reject us, Jesus tells us they are really rejecting Him, and also the One (God the Father) who sent Him.

In my own life this has taken a huge burden off of my shoulders. Jesus takes the fear that wants to distract us in our relationship with Jesus, and He redirects it onto Himself. This means that I can more fully focus on being like Him, without any worries about what others think of me. What matters most is that I am growing closer to Him each and every day.

Jesus may be telling you the same thing today. If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, your life is not about you. If others reject you, they are really rejecting Jesus and the Father. Don’t injure your relationship with Jesus over something that Jesus has taken away. Our focus is to be on growing our relationship with God, and being like Jesus. If something distracts you away from that goal, then it is not something God wants for you.

During one of the times Jesus was preaching the crowds, He alludes to His upcoming death. However, this idea seems to be lost on the crowd He was speaking to. When Jesus begins talking about a good shepherd and contrasting this person with descriptions of both thieves and robbers, Jesus describes the good shepherd as one who gives His life for His sheep.

Jesus clearly states this first in verse 11 when He says: “I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep.” Jesus then reemphasizes this idea a few verses later by saying, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep.” (v. 14-15)

If that wasn’t enough, Jesus emphasizes this one more time, and in this third time, Jesus also hints at the idea of a future resurrection. “The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so that I may receive it back again. No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.” (v. 17-18)

Here in the third reference to Jesus (a.k.a. the Good Shepherd) giving up His life, we see Jesus describing the life He gave up being returned to Him. This sounds a lot like resurrection in my mind. This could be coincidence that there are three references to giving up His life, and in the third reference we find Jesus referring to receiving His life back again. This echoes what happened on crucifixion weekend, where Jesus gave up His life and on the third day He received His life back when He was resurrected from the tomb.

While Jesus’ teaching about being a good shepherd divides those present in His audience, we can learn that nothing Jesus ever said or did happened by chance. Everything in Jesus’ life followed God’s plan, and Jesus ultimately gave His life up on the cross so that all of God’s people could have the assurance of a new life with Him in heaven.

We can place our hope, faith, trust, and belief in Jesus because He is willing to face death because He loves us so much. Jesus died for you and me, and this is the clearest example of how God feels about you and me.

While reading about Judas Iscariot going to meet with the leaders to discuss betraying Jesus, an idea I had never previously thought of came to mind. Even though Judas was set on turning Jesus in, Judas didn’t believe Jesus would let things get so out of hand that He would face death. Chances are high in my mind that if Judas truly knew what his betrayal would start, he might never have chosen to go through with it like what is described in the gospels.

But the idea that I see in this set of verses that I find amazing is found in the very last phrase: “So he [Judas Iscariot] watched for the best time to turn Jesus in.” (v. 11b)

This phrase sticks out in my mind because with this agreement, Judas has two options. The first option, which he ultimately decided to do, was take the side of the religious leaders and be 100% for Jesus’ arrest – and specifically look for the best time possible to turn Jesus in.

However, the second option is interesting to think about. With this agreement, the religious leaders essentially allow one of Jesus’ disciples to become their unofficial leader. For the next weeks, or maybe even months, it would have been easy for Judas to have led the leaders on an unsuccessful hunt for Jesus. Judas Iscariot could have used this agreement for Jesus’ advantage – forewarning Jesus about the leaders’ plans and making sure the leaders were one or two steps behind.

While we might not think of Judas Iscariot having the freedom of choice after making the agreement to betray Jesus, in this passage, we see hinted at the idea that everyone has the freedom to choose what they will do from that point forward. While Judas chose to betray Jesus, and then he matched his actions up to support his decision, up to the very point Jesus was arrested, Judas had the choice to betray Jesus or lead the mob around the city and countryside while avoiding the one place Judas knew Jesus would be. In our own lives, even when all choices seem bad, we still can be glad because we have the freedom to choose between two or more options — and while we have options, we have the ability to make better decisions.

Have you ever wondered how you can show God love? Since God is not physically present and touchable like a person is, any relationship we have with Him, or affection we show Him, will likely be a little different than it is with our significant other. Or is it really all that different?

Many people believe that in order to show God love, we must love others – including orphans, widows, hospital patients, prison inmates, and, or maybe even especially, those who are the lowest in society and those who cannot help themselves. I am among those who agree with this description – and I stand on the foundation of several prominent parables/teachings that Jesus shares in the gospels.

However, in our passage for this journal entry, Jesus gives us a clear, direct answer to this question, and it might surprise you. While what has been believed is not wrong, it is only a partial truth.

In verse 21, Jesus says, “Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

This must be an easy thing, since just one chapter before, Jesus gave the disciples a new command: “I’m giving you a new commandment: Love each other in the same way that I have loved you. Everyone will know that you are my disciples because of your love for each other.” (John 13:34-35)

But it isn’t that simple. Jesus describes in our first verse (John 14:21) commandments that are plural, and in the prior chapter’s two verses (John 13:34-35), He tells us that is a “new” command. Jesus isn’t replacing any commandments; He is adding to them.

What commandments is He “adding” to? Jesus is most likely referencing the Ten Commandments in these verses, which God spoke to the Israelites from Mount Sinai in Exodus, chapter 20.

There are parallels to how John opens His gospel talking about Jesus being God that could be understood as referring back to Mount Sinai and Jesus as the One who spoke God’s Law; but even if this wasn’t the case, Jesus came as a Representative of the Godhead, and when He says “My commandments”, it is just as true to refer to the Ten Commandments which were spoken from Mount Sinai by the Godhead.

This means that when Jesus talks about obeying His commandments, He must be referring to all eleven – both the original ten as well as the extra “new” commandment He gave to the disciples.

Let’s look back at our original verse, “Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

Jesus clearly states obedience is the way we show our love to Him. He did command that we love others, and that we love people who are in need, but that is only one commandment out of eleven – specifically the bonus one. It’s good to get the bonus answer right, but it doesn’t mean much if the rest of the test answers are wrong.

Jesus says that obedience leads to loving Him, and that loving Him will bring the Father’s love into our lives, and that Jesus will love us too and He will show Himself to us. It seems that all this talk about love hinges on obedience. In our physical relationships, if we love someone and they ask us to do something, do we choose to “obey” (i.e. answer their request) or not? Does how we respond/submit/obey say something about our love for the other person?