Reflective Bible Study

In one of the most famous parts of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we find one of the most amazing promises that Jesus shared during His earthly ministry. Within this section of the message, many people have found both encouragement as well as reason for doubt.

This section begins with Jesus saying, “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.” (v. 7-8)

The self-help movement within Christianity sprang up around these two verses because in them, Jesus shares a repeatable process and principle. I think these two verses are also incredibly popular because they work without Jesus as well. When looking at these two verses, there is very little here that points to Jesus.

But Jesus hasn’t finished sharing on this topic. He continues by saying, “Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.” (v. 9-11)

With this explanation, Jesus brings faith into the discussion, while He also brings in a framework for understanding how God answers prayer. In these three verses explaining this concept, Jesus helps us understand the answers we may receive that are not what we would have wanted. All the “No’s”, “Wait’s”, and substitution answers may feel like God is ignoring our requests, but this famous set of five verses holds the key to how God answers prayer.

The key to understanding how God answers our asking, seeking, and knocking has to do with what our request is, and the best possible response. While Jesus rhetorically asks whether a parent would give a bad gift to a child when he/she asks for something they need, the same could be said in reverse. What parent would give their child something that will harm them if the child asked for it? If you knew a gift would injure your child, would you still give them the gift?

God, being the perfect parent, knows what the best response to every request we ask, every goal we seek, and every door we knock on. While it might feel like He is rejecting or ignoring our requests, these responses may be Him telling us that the timing isn’t right, that we need to grow more, or that what we are asking for will ultimately harm us in the long run. Faith comes into play regarding whether we are willing to accept His answer to our request.

And this promise isn’t reserved for just Christians. God loves everyone He created, and He “is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.” (v. 11b)

So while we are called to ask, to seek, and to knock, we are also called to trust God the Father’s guidance and His direction. He will open doors that will help us; He will help us find the best things for our situation, and He is happy to give us things that truly will bless us. He loves us, and He cares for our eternal future above all else.

During one of Jesus’ conversations with the crowds that followed Him, John tells us that Jesus said some perplexing things. In this conversation, I believe Jesus hints at something important, and something that is very challenging.

Jesus opens up this passage restating an idea He has previously shares. John tells us that “Once more Jesus said to them, ‘I am going away. You will look for me, and you will die in your sin. You can’t come where I am going.’” (v. 21)

The phrase that really stands out in my mind in this larger statement is when Jesus tells them, “You will look for me, and you will die in your sin.” (v. 21)

On the surface, this sounds backward. After all, shouldn’t we be looking for Jesus?

Perhaps Jesus knew He might be misunderstood, so a few verses later, He restates this idea using a slight shift in wording. John records Jesus’ restating this as “I told you that you would die in your sins. This will happen if you don’t believe that I am he. If you don’t believe, you will certainly die in your sins.” (v. 24)

When comparing these two statements, we begin to see that seeking Jesus does not always mean we will end up placing our faith in Him. Not everyone who seeks Jesus will believe He is the Messiah. There will be those who seek and find Jesus, but who ultimately choose to reject Him. These people will die in their sins.

However, there will be those who put their faith in Jesus and believe He is the one who God sent for us. Those of us who believe in Jesus and believe Him to be our Messiah do not die in our sins. Instead, we have Jesus’ promise of heaven and eternal life.

I believe that Jesus should be where our belief is focused, and that belief in Jesus is the only way to have eternal life. But I also believe that not everyone will be saved, and that not everyone will choose Jesus when they have found Him. Looking for Jesus is important, but believing in Him is the only way to find salvation for eternity!

While reading about the birth of Jesus, a phrase stood out to me that I never noticed before. I don’t know how many times I have read this, but I guess God keeps showing me new things when I open up the Bible to read with His guidance.

In the second half of verse 21, we read the angel telling Joseph, “For He [Jesus] will save His people from their sins.”

This is the big overall mission of Jesus’ life as told to Jesus’ earthly father, but something interesting that I never saw until now is the phrase “His people” in this statement: “for He will save His people from their sins.”

The angel could have said Jesus would save all of humanity from their sins, but he doesn’t. The angel could have said Jesus would save all of “God’s people” from their sins, but he doesn’t. Instead, the angel tells Joseph that Jesus will save all of Jesus’ people from their sins.

So who exactly are “Jesus’ people”?

When reading this, and seeing what could have been vs. what is, I am lead to believe that saying “Jesus’ people” means all of those people who have put their faith and hope in Jesus, as their “sacrificial lamb” to pay the price for their sins. Those living before the cross had the symbol of the crucifixion and of Jesus through the sacrifice/death of a lamb, and all of us living after the cross have the crucifixion event as an even clearer picture of this truth.

By accepting the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice, we align ourselves with Him and become one of His people. This can be summed up with the phrase “trust and obey”: We trust in His sacrifice, and we show that we love and accept Him by obeying what He has told us to do.

In the angel’s message, we see Jesus creating a new group of people: His people – and this group of people would overlap but also be distinct from all groups of people before it.

Leading up to the week of Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus gives two of His followers a very strange sounding set of instructions. While technically “borrowing”, Jesus asks them to go and take a colt from the town they were passing, without asking permission, and if someone questions them, they should simply tell them that “The Master” needs it.

Here’s how Mark describes Jesus’ instructions. Jesus tells these two disciples, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will quickly find a colt tied, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. If anyone asks you why you are doing this, tell him its Master needs the colt, and he will send it at once.” (v. 2-3)

Mark then goes on to describe how these two disciples follow Jesus’ instructions and find everything Jesus said exactly as He described – including being questioned by some people about them taking the colt. Mark tells us that this colt was not alone, and that “some people were standing there and asked, ‘What are you doing? Why are you untying that colt?’ The followers answered the way Jesus told them to answer, and the people let them take the colt.” (v. 5-6)

Perhaps those present were not the owners of the colt or even hired hands. They may have been shop owners discussing whose colt this was. Or it could have been the new servant who didn’t know many of the other servants. Whatever the case, a longstanding servant, or even a servant who had served the owner for a while would be able to identify other servants, and that these two disciples were not servants of the colt’s owner.

What I find amazing in this event is that these disciples are able to follow Jesus’ instructions perfectly, and that Jesus knew exactly what needed to be said for them to be able to borrow the colt for His grand entrance into Jerusalem. The disciples could have tried to talk Jesus out of His plan, or they could have second guessed Him that His suggested response was weak, but they don’t. These two followers simply move forward with the task and instructions given.

This also tells me that sometimes, I will only understand what Jesus wants me to do in my own life by actually stepping forward and doing it. Sometimes, the explanation and reason for an action or habit are only truly understood after having lived it. Too often, people try to rationalize and second guess Jesus when they should really test His words with actions.