Reflective Bible Study

Of all the portions of the gospels that we might call boring, topping the list for most people would be the two genealogies of Jesus. Both Matthew and Luke include a record of Jesus’ ancestry, and while many of us might gloss over Jesus’ family tree, if we push ourselves to look for interesting details, we are able to find them – even in these boring lists of names.

For instance, if we push ourselves while reading Matthew’s version of Jesus’ genealogy, we might be surprised when we see a number of Old Testament women show up. Matthew includes Tamar, who was Judah’s wife (v. 3); Rahab, who was the wife of Salmon and who may have possibly even been the same Rahab who helped the spies in Jericho (v. 5a); Ruth was the wife of Boaz (v. 5b); Bathsheba was originally Uriah’s wife but then became David’s wife after Uriah’s death (v. 6); and last but far from least, Mary was Joseph’s wife and the mother of Jesus.

The interesting thing about these women comes when we ask ourselves the question: Why did Matthew include these women in a type of list that was usually limited to males?

Some of these women were born Jewish, while others left their own people and joined the nation of Israel. Each of these women lived in different time periods, and each woman came from a different background and a different social class. But with all this uniqueness, is there something that unifies all these women’s stories?

When I stop and think about it, one big unifying factor is that each of these women (except for Mary) was not in their first relationship:

• Judah and Tamar’s story is far from ideal – or even within the realm of God’s original plan (Genesis 38).

• If the Rahab that is included in this list is the same Rahab that helped the spies, then she becomes the only person (plus some members of her family) who was spared from Jericho when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. She was a prostitute, and also would have had a less than ideal past. (Joshua 6:22-25)

• Ruth, who was Boaz’s wife, did not start with that as her first marriage. She was first married to one of Naomi’s sons while Naomi was living outside of Israel, and she was the only daughter-in-law who returned with Naomi when she came back. Her marriage to Boaz was a second marriage, and her story is one that emphasizes the woman pursuing the man. (The short book of Ruth includes her story.)

• Bathsheba started out as Uriah’s wife, that is, until David took a liking to her. This was one of the biggest failures in David’s entire life, and one that God called him out on. (2 Samuel 11)

• Mary, Jesus’ mother, had the opposite issue. Everything appeared as though she became pregnant because she was unfaithful to Joseph, and while Joseph understood after the visit from an angel, the situation still didn’t look good to those who were close to this young couple.

All these women, and the men they are connected with, had less than ideal circumstances. They all had had relationships with men prior to their relationships with the men that they were connected with (except Mary), and for some reason, Matthew chose to include them in his genealogy for Jesus.

However, even more amazing is this: God took these four women with non-ideal pasts, and He draws them into His story, and into key places within Jesus’ family tree. This tells us that God redeems sinners, and that even with our failures, He still has a place for us in His story!

While all the gospel writers focus their writing on Jesus’ life, each gospel writer helps set the stage for Jesus by first sharing about Jesus’ cousin and forerunner in ministry, John the Baptist. If there was ever a person who had a clear-cut vision for His life, it was John. The prophet Isaiah predicted John’s coming, and in the prophecy, John even knows what the mission for his life will be and where he should center his ministry.

Isaiah talks about John being “a voice shouting in the wilderness” with a mission that prepares “the way for the Lord’s coming!” (v. 3)

To fulfill these prophecies, Mark tells us a brief overview of John the Baptist’s ministry. “This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.” (v. 4-5)

According to Mark, baptism was an outward sign of repentance — which simply means that these people made a commitment to turn away from sinning. Mark also tells us that baptism was a visible message that these people gave that said they were turning to God and asking for forgiveness from their past sins.

In the sign of baptism, we see a past, present, and future picture of someone’s commitment. Someone being baptized is asking for forgiveness from past sins, they experience a present sign of humility towards God and symbolically taking part in burying their past life, and they make a commitment to live differently in the future.

Perhaps it was because John’s teaching and method was novel, or maybe it was the people of Israel’s longing to see the Messiah arrive, but our passage tells us that John’s ministry was effective, and “All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John.” (v. 5a)

John’s teaching was effective too. When the crowds heard his message, they were convicted of their sins, and “when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.” (v. 5b)

Baptism is a sign that symbolizes a turning point in life. Baptism is submitting to God and asking for forgiveness from our past sins, and requesting help while making a commitment to live differently in the future.

Out of all the challenging things Jesus told the crowds while He preached during His life on earth, I cannot think of a passage that is more sobering in how it depicts the final judgment. At the beginning of this passage, which is Jesus’ closing words in His famous “Sermon on the Mount”, He shares a very sad truth.

Jesus starts out by saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants.” (v. 21)

We might think Jesus will then tell us what God the Father really wants – but He doesn’t. Instead, Jesus tells us some things that these people will claim to be things that God wants: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?’” (v. 22)

While prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles are all positive things, Jesus is telling us in this verse that these are not at the heart of what God the Father wants from us. Instead, in His farewell to this group of people who don’t get access to the kingdom, Jesus hints at what God really wants: “Then I will tell them publicly, ‘I’ve never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.’” (v. 23)

The two things that define this group is that they are evil, and that Jesus doesn’t know them. While everyone alive has sinned, by calling a group of people evil, Jesus is drawing our attention onto their actions and the focus of their lives. These people are moving in a direction that is counter to God’s will. They might think they are moving towards God, but the god they have chosen is not God the Father – or even His Son Jesus.

By saying that He has never known them, Jesus draws our attention to the absence of a personal relationship. If these people joined a religion that claims the name of Jesus or Christ, they would have joined a religion for only social reasons – and perhaps “fire insurance”. But they stop their faith at simply showing up to church on occasion; they think that attendance equals a relationship.

Having a relationship with Jesus is so much more than a two hour event one day a week. Jesus wants to be so much closer to us than just some guy who is also at a place that we are at occasionally (i.e. church). Jesus wants to walk with us through all seven days of our week; He wants to help us with the challenges we face each day; and He wants to lead us into being more like Him – and more like the person God originally created us to be. When we are reflecting Jesus, we truly can say we know Jesus and that He knows us!

In all the things Jesus talked about, none was probably more close to His heart than when He talked about prayer. While He left heaven and became human to be closer to us, prayer served as His main connection back to the Father in heaven.

This means that when Jesus turns the focus of His teaching onto the subject of prayer, He wants us to pay extra close attention to a few things. When Jesus was walking the earth in the first century, there were two types of people who prayed, and Jesus makes a clear distinction about what type we should be: “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray so people will see them. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward. When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.” (v. 5-6)

In Jesus’ teaching, the hypocrites are those who pray for the attention of people rather than the praise of God. Jesus all but says that God ignores these prayers. Jesus tells us that whatever praise they receive from those who witness their prayer will be their only reward.

However, Jesus contrasts these hypocrites with what we might simply call the “secret-prayers” – those people who keep their prayers to God between them and God. While I doubt these people would never pray in public, they would only do so if asked or if the situation called them to do so. The number of public prayers would be minimal when compared to the number of private prayers in the lives of these individuals.

It is this second type of person who God wants us to be. This type of person intentionally places focus on their personal relationship with God when no one is watching and builds the foundation of their life on that relationship with God. What we do when no one is watching determines what we will ultimately be when the spotlight shines on us.

God tells us that those who do things for human approval only receive human approval as their reward. Instead, God rewards what we do for Him in secret. When we focus on Him over what others think, we will be rewarded by the only One who can give us the “reward” of a lifetime – i.e. the reward of eternal life!