Reflective Bible Study

Often the details surrounding an event are just as interesting as what actually happened.

While reading the passage in Luke that we often call “Mary’s Song”, a phrase near the end of it stood out to me as being interesting. As Mary concludes this song, she finishes off by singing, “He remembered to help his servant Israel forever. This is the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants.” (v. 54-55)

This stands out to me because Mary sees Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise God gave to Abraham, and to the Jewish nation. This is very true. God had promised Abraham that the Messiah would be one of his descendants.

What is fascinating though is not what it said, but what is implied by what is not said. The promise God gave to Abraham was not the first promise God gave regarding sending a Messiah. Immediately following God kicking Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He promises them a Messiah would come to restore the connection they broke when they sinned.

I wonder if many of the Jews had minimized this reference or dismissed it in their minds. The Messiah God promised to Adam and Eve was a Messiah for all of humanity, but the one they liked focusing in on was one that built up the Jewish nation exclusively. The messiah the Jews were waiting for was one who would come and overthrow the Romans and make their nation independent again.

With this in mind, I also wonder if Mary had this idea in her mind during Jesus’ growing up years – and if so, I wonder what she might have thought as He was arrested, tried, and ultimately crucified.

Mary’s song was a high point in her life as Jesus’ mother, and while there would be many more high points coming, she was ultimately going to face the event no parent wants to face – and that event is watching your child die.

But Jesus’ death wasn’t just for the Jewish nation; Jesus died for all humanity, and He made a way for not only Jews to have a restored connection with Jesus, but gentiles as well!

All throughout the Bible, we find examples of people revealing their character through their words and actions – though rarely does it show humanity in a positive light. Sure there are moments of triumph, but many more moments of failure.

In the event we are focusing in on, a woman of questionable reputation comes and anoints Jesus’ feet with perfume. Simon, the Pharisee who was hosting this meal, says to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” (v. 39)

It is unclear in my mind if Simon invited Jesus because he was simply being hospitable, or if he wanted to invite the latest celebrity to help build his own reputation, or if there was another reason behind this meal. Perhaps Simon wanted to see for himself if Jesus was special and everything the rumors about Him claimed to be.

However, in the statement Simon says to himself, we see a glimpse into his character.

Firstly, this response shows us that status mattered to Simon. Those you touched are special to you, and those who you let touch you are even more special. It would seem in that culture that touch played a role in closeness and associating with someone, and Simon’s response tells us that he chose carefully who he associated with.

Next, this tells us that Simon knew about the woman, or at least enough rumors about her had circulated that he had a pretty safe idea the type of lifestyle that she lived. The rumors about her were not simply occasional sin, but a life that was actively lived in sin. Perhaps, Simon had a past with this woman, but there is not anything in this passage that really indicates this. We simply can see that Simon at least knew who this person was – and that he had made up his mind about her.

But most importantly, Simon’s statement tries to discredit Jesus in his mind. In Simon’s response in verse 39, he says, “If this man were a prophet…” Simon had questions about Jesus’ status as a prophet, but surely a prophet, or really anyone sent from God, would not openly associate with those who live their lives far away from God. Therefore, in Simon’s eyes, Jesus must not have been a prophet.

However, Simon – like many of us – don’t fully realize what Jesus’ mission was. Jesus came for sinners, to open a way for salvation, and His mission was to those who were looking for a Savior – and we can only truly realize our need for Jesus when we realize we cannot do life on our own. In this regard the sinful woman was not only forgiven for a greater amount of sin in her past, she was also further ahead on the path to seeing Jesus as God’s Messiah and as her personal Savior.

In between two of the most well known events in the four gospels, we are often tempted to simply skip over a verse that is incredibly relevant for us today. Perhaps we skip over it because the gospel writers don’t focus more on it, or perhaps it is simply because they chose to use it as a transition-style statement to set the stage for the big event that follows. Maybe we simply see it as a part of the transition rather than being important on its own.

However, because I like to draw our attention onto overlooked verses like this one, we’ll ignore the stories on both side and focus in on what this simple verse means. To give a tiny bit of context, the verse we will focus on follows one of Jesus’ big food multiplying, feeding-the-crowd events, and the miraculous event where Peter walks on the water comes after it.

Between these two events, we read, “Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him while he sent the people away. After sending the people away, he went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone.” (v. 22-23)

I include two verses there to give a little more context to this whole transition, but the part I want to focus us on is verse 23 where it says that Jesus “went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone.”

This is important because Jesus valued and prioritized alone time with God. While He may have slept for part of that time, He likely spent the majority of it praying and focusing on God.

This is important because it is often times skipped or ignored because it is not glamorous. But that leads us to the big idea that I see supported in Jesus’ actions: Our public platform is only as solid as our private foundation. Jesus modeled both how to build the private foundation through prayer and how this foundation is the most important key to having a successful public “platform” (i.e. ministry).

In Jesus’ interrogation after the mob has arrested Him the night before His crucifixion, we see an interesting statement Jesus makes when challenged by the high priest.

All through the trial to determine Jesus’ “death-worthiness”, Jesus says nothing. This in itself is interesting, but what follows it amazes me most every time I read this.

The high priest is fed up with the witnesses’ lies not adding up, he is fed up with Jesus’ silence, and he realizes that if he cannot get some momentum in this case soon, it will crash down around him and the whole arrest will fall back on them. So he challenges Jesus in the strongest way he can: “The high priest said to Jesus, ‘I command you by the power of the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’” (v. 63b)

The high priest cannot come up with a stronger command. He challenges Jesus to answer about whether He is the Messiah, the Son of God.

But Jesus’ response is interesting. Jesus begins His response in verse 64 by saying “Those are your words.” By beginning this way, Jesus makes a clear distinction that is not directly denying the implication of the high priest’s challenge, but it tells us that Jesus sees Himself differently. And Jesus was different.

The Jews expected a messiah to come who would free them from the Romans and set up Israel as a kingdom that would exist independently for the rest of history. The implication in the High Priest’s challenge is asking if Jesus was that messiah – and Jesus does not confirm those words.

Instead Jesus continues His response by describing the second coming, when He will return with God the Father: “But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.” (v. 64b)

One of the big things I see in this passage is Jesus confirming that He was sent from God, but that He was a different Messiah than what the Jews were expecting. This also prompts me to wonder if Jesus was bigger than the box the Jews wanted to place Him in, He may also be bigger than the box I may try to place Him in.