Reflective Bible Study

Before Jesus steps into the public eye, the gospel writers tell us about His forerunner in ministry: John the Baptist. John’s teaching was powerful and convicting, and he drew a crowd full of people who were looking forward to the day when the Messiah would be revealed.

In Luke’s description of John’s ministry, he draws our attention towards how John’s message convicts the crowd. Luke even tells us that after one of John’s messages, the crowd asked, “What should we do?” (v. 10)

John’s reply is both simple and profound. He responds by saying, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” (v. 11)

John’s message to the crowd is simple: Share with others. It is not a message that says we must share until we become poor ourselves, but instead to not save to the point where we are too far removed from those in need. We are to focus on only having the minimum, and share the rest with others in need.

But this wasn’t detailed enough for some people. Luke continues by telling us that even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked specifically, “Teacher, what should we do?” (v. 12)

John’s response to them is just as simple as with his response to the crowd. He tells them, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.” (v. 13)

In other words, John tells the tax collectors to not abuse their responsibility to the government. While they are still required to collect taxes, they must not collect more than what the real tax amount was. Many of the corrupt tax collectors added to the tax that they required from people, in order to get money from the people in addition to their pay from the government. John says they must stop abusing their role and job status.

Some soldiers also ask John the same question: “What should we do?” John’s reply, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.” (v. 14)

In each of these responses, John emphasizes humility and contentment. Be content with what you have, and share with others. Don’t use your status or position to push others down. Repent of your past sins and make the commitment to live differently in the future.

John’s message wasn’t just for the Jews. He attracted all people, from every imaginable background possible. John’s message wasn’t just for that point in history either. His message to the crowd speaks through Luke’s gospel throughout time to us today. While our world is different today, John’s teaching is still relevant.

Have you ever wondered about whether there is a limit to forgiveness?

This question has easily entered my mind, as it seems as though there is always someone who is trying to test the limits of forgiveness in my life.

It probably doesn’t surprise you, but Jesus’ number 1 disciple, Peter, had this question as well. In response, Jesus gives us a powerful parable metaphor that should serve to guide us in answering this question.

In this parable, Jesus equates forgiveness with money – specifically with a debt that was owed. When we feel as though someone else owes us (whether they owe money, some other debt, or even an apology), they are placed in a debtor’s position – but usually, unless the deal had been arranged on the front end, the other person does not know about this “debt”.

In many ways, all debts can be illustrated with money metaphors, and therefore, all forgiveness can be illustrated using these metaphors as well.

What is amazing to me about the parable Jesus gave is the extent of debt the man was in. One talent was worth 6,000 days wages, so in this parable where the man owed 10,000 talents, this means that the man owed 60,000,000 days of work, which equals a mere 3,654 years of service, or 137+ lifetimes.

If we “conservatively” estimate this number while translating it into today’s dollars, we still find a pretty big number. Imagine someone who works an 8 hour day, and who is paid $5.75/hour (below minimum wage in most places). In this parable, they would owe only $2,760,000,000.

Now there are a few people in today’s world who have $2.76 billion to their name, but chances are that they earned significantly more than this throughout their life, making their debt calculation on a per day basis significantly higher. In this parable, Jesus is describing a debt that was truly impossible for any single individual to repay.

However, this is our debt to God – the huge expanse that sin caused, and it is truly impossible for us to repay this debt. However, even if it were possible for us, God does not demand that we pay this debt!

God simply forgives the debt. He cancelled it. One moment, we’re in an impossible to repay situation; the next, we are free. This is an amazing gift. You and I are worth more to God than billions and billions of dollars!

However, with this amazing gift comes a sobering reality. Jesus tells us that as we have been forgiven, so we are to forgive others. If someone has hurt you or someone you care about, no dollar amount would be able to undo the action, but remember that no amount of money can repay God in the face of sin. This money talk is simply illustrating how serious God views sin.

The only “requirement” this parable seems to imply (though it really isn’t stated on the front end), is that with the debt that has been cancelled against us, we are to cancel the debts that others owe us. The parable concludes with the man who was forgiven, not extending forgiveness to another who owed him only 100 days wages ($4,600 in our example) – which is a very payable debt if given some time – and God undoing His original debt forgiveness.

We have been forgiven, and God’s forgiveness towards us is contingent on us being forgiving towards others. God forgave an impossible to repay debt and He wants us to extend this grace towards those who have hurt us.

While a number of the gospel writers share the idea we will be looking at in this passage, there is not a better example of what they mean then when we look at Matthew’s gospel. After three chapters that contain Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount”, Matthew tells us what the crowd’s response was to Jesus.

“When Jesus finished this speech, the crowds were amazed at his teachings. Unlike their experts in Moses’ teachings, he taught them with authority.” (v. 28-29)

After this sermon, Jesus clearly set Himself as being a unique teacher, but the big thing Matthew tells us the crowd noticed is that Jesus “taught them with authority”. This is contrasted by saying that the experts in Moses’ Teachings did not teach with authority.

The way Matthew and the translators frame this statement is that the supposed “experts” in Jesus day spoke in a way that must not have sounded confident or authoritative. Perhaps the people had been accustomed to hearing sermons that framed Moses’ teaching with the opinions and understanding of other Rabbis. The experts were then experts in drawing opinions together, but they never had a clear understanding of where Moses’ Teachings – this translations way of saying “The Law” – ended and where the opinion of the Rabbis that are begin quoted begin.

Perhaps these experts simply carried on a tradition of simply saying the same thing as those who came before them, and it cheapened what was important to God into being simply empty tradition. If someone simply shares what we should do or not do, and they fail to share why, then an empty tradition is likely to form.

However, Jesus taught differently. He taught as one who had authority; He taught in a way that the people understood; and He taught from His own personal study of the scriptures rather than simply drawing from other Rabbis’ opinions on the scripture. Jesus taught in a way that elevated God’s standards while also giving the people a reason to obey.

When Jesus had finished preaching, the crowd was amazed. Jesus had helped them understand truths they had previously been confused by, and He gave them a clear “why” for obeying God – unlike the supposed experts of the day!

In one of Jesus’ most famous sermons, He takes a few verses to draws our attention onto the concept of prayer. During Jesus’ life on earth, prayer was something that was misunderstood and/or misused.

Jesus begins by saying that we should not be like hypocrites who pray publicly for the praise of others. These people pray in public to look good to others, and as a result of this, their focus is not on pleasing God.

Next, He says we should not pray like those people who really don’t know or understand who God is. If God is truly all-knowing, then using lots of words or repeating ourselves is a pointless thing to do because God already knows what we need. Jesus counters this idea with a simple prayer that He introduces by saying, “So when you pray, you should pray like this …” (v. 9a)

While what follows is famously known as “The Lord’s Prayer”, too often we focus on what Jesus said rather than the principle Jesus was trying to teach. In this model prayer, Jesus focuses us first on recognizing who God is – and specific on His position in the universe. We then recognize our need for His help, and we submit ourselves to Him. We ask for conditional forgiveness based upon how forgiving we are, before finishing off by asking for protection from the evil one. Tradition finished off this prayer by looking again at God’s position in the universe – even though the famous conclusion to Jesus’ model prayer is not in many of the earliest manuscripts.

However, too many people miss that this is a framework for prayer more than it is a sample prayer we must memorize and include in our prayer lives. Jesus’ prayer is perfect in its simplicity, in its focus, and in its humility, but with that said, we still can miss the point if we pray it word-for-word like the godless people and the hypocrites that Jesus warned us about.

Instead, prayer should focus on who God is and how much we need His help. Our focus should be on uplifting God and humbling ourselves. Everything Jesus says in His model prayer focuses on these two points.

When we pray, let’s lift God up while humbling ourselves – and not get these two ideas confused.