Reflective Bible Study

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.

In Jesus’ main teaching about who John the Baptist was, the gospel of Luke includes a side-note that is worth paying attention to. This side-note reveals a key aspect of human nature and it is one that is very relevant for us living today.

Luke describes how the people responded by saying, “When the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, they all agreed that God’s teaching was good, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts on the law refused to accept God’s plan for themselves; they did not let John baptize them.” (v. 29-30)

This is incredibly important for us to notice, because even before Jesus arrived in the spotlight, John the Baptist’s ministry was creating a distinct dividing line between the people. The common people, that also happened to include people as horrible as tax collectors, accepted John’s teaching and were baptized. This led them to be open and receptive to Jesus’ ministry a few years later.

On the other hand, the Pharisees and religious experts rejected or ignored John’s ministry, and because of this, they ultimately rejected Jesus’ ministry as well.

This draws our attention to a key insight in human nature: It is easier to validate a decision you have already made than it is to change your mind.

The religious leaders had decided that John’s new teaching was not significant, relevant, or worthy of attention, and because of this, they simply validated their previous decision when Jesus steps onto the scene. Their closed minds and attitude towards John led them to be closed-minded towards Jesus as well.

But being open-minded towards John the Baptist led people towards being open-minded and accepting of Jesus – and this group of people was the ones Jesus specifically came for. This group of sinners realized their need for a Savior, and Jesus stepped into humanity to be their “Messiah” for eternity.

In our lives today, we should be open to the people God brings our way and test their teaching with what the Bible has taught us God is like. Being open, accepting, and loving are things God has called us to do for each other, but we are also called to test all ideas based on the God who loved us enough to die for us. It is easier to validate previous decisions than to change our minds, so we must be intentional and thoughtful about the decisions we make.

One of Jesus’ better known disciples was Andrew, and periodically we find him appearing by name in the various gospels. However, in the passage we are focusing in on in this entry, we have the first glimpse of this man who was one of the first disciples. When looking at what this passage tells us about Andrew, we see someone who we can definitely learn from.

The first thing we can see is what is implied at the beginning of this passage. Andrew was one of John the Baptist’s followers. He had paid attention to John’s preaching and knew that John was simply a forerunner for the promised Messiah that would come. It seems to me like Andrew followed because he wanted to learn who the Messiah was. If anyone would proclaim the Messiah, it would be the person God sent to announce Him – and Andrew knew this was John the Baptist’s role.

So when John does announce Jesus to be the Messiah, we can learn something else about Andrew.

The second thing we can learn from Andrew is the first thing He does – which is to leave John the Preacher and follow Jesus the Messiah. For Andrew, following Jesus was an intentional choice, and he and an unnamed disciple (who may have been John, the author of this gospel) chose to follow Jesus before Jesus called them to be disciple-apostles. Each of us must decide to intentionally follow Jesus and this often will happen prior to Jesus calling us to fill the role He created us to live.

The third thing we can learn from Andrew is the first thing He does after finding out where Jesus was staying. In verse 41, we read, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah!’ The Hebrew word ‘Messiah’ means the same as the Greek word ‘Christ.’” Andrew instinctively went and found someone and brought them to Jesus.

So in what we learn from Andrew, we have three stages of discipleship: Choosing to learn the identity of the Messiah is; choosing to follow the Messiah; and choosing to invite others to join the Messiah’s movement. Where are you in these stages?