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Preparing For His Return: Luke 12:35-59

Published March 28, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Luke 12:35-59 (NCV)

 35 “Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. 36 Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. 37 They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them. 38 Those servants will be blessed when he comes in and finds them still waiting, even if it is midnight or later.

    39 “Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to enter his house. 40 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him!”

 41 Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?”

 42 The Lord said, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? 43 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. 45 But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.

    47 “The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! 48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.

    49 “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. 51 Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. 52 From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

 54 Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see clouds coming up in the west, you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it happens. 55 When you feel the wind begin to blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to understand the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you understand what is happening now?

    57 “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 If your enemy is taking you to court, try hard to settle it on the way. If you don’t, your enemy might take you to the judge, and the judge might turn you over to the officer, and the officer might throw you into jail. 59 I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid everything you owe.”

Read Luke 12:35-59 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, while teaching the disciples, Jesus shares a powerful illustration about always being ready for His return. This illustration opens with Jesus telling His disciples, “Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him.” (v. 35-37a)

The servants in this parable are blessed because they are ready when the master arrives because they were watching for him. While the servants don’t know exactly when that night the master would return, they determine that it is better to prepare for his arrival as if it were happening within the next five minutes, while also being conscious that it might be another few hours.

In our own lives, when we look forward to Jesus’ “soon” return, we have the same challenge that the servants in this illustration have. While it would be amazing for Jesus to return tomorrow and end this age in history, it would be foolish to base 100% of our decisions as if this hope were fact.

Equally foolish would be always believing that Jesus’ return will always be months, years, or even decades in the future. Believing that we have plenty of time to prepare – in the future – will guarantee that we will be caught unprepared.

With these two ideas pulling us in opposite directions, we should learn to manage this tension and filter our decisions through both filters. Wisdom in the servant’s case is watching and being ready, but not assuming or guessing the time of the master’s arrival. Wisdom in our case is always being ready for Jesus to come within this hour, but also understanding that we must not do things that would harm us long-term if His return is later than we expected it to be.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Reassured By Jesus: Luke 10:1-20

Published March 26, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Luke 10:1-20 (NCV)

1 After this, the Lord chose seventy-two others and sent them out in pairs ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. 2 He said to them, “There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest. 3 Go now, but listen! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. 4 Don’t carry a purse, a bag, or sandals, and don’t waste time talking with people on the road. 5 Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this house.’ 6 If peace-loving people live there, your blessing of peace will stay with them, but if not, then your blessing will come back to you. 7 Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t move from house to house. 8 If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat what they give you. 9 Heal the sick who live there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 10 But if you go into a town, and the people don’t welcome you, then go into the streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that the kingdom of God is near.’ 12 I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the people of Sodom than for the people of that town.

13 “How terrible for you, Korazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles I did in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon, those people would have changed their lives long ago. They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show they had changed. 14 But on the Judgment Day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No! You will be thrown down to the depths!

16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever refuses to accept you refuses to accept me. And whoever refuses to accept me refuses to accept the One who sent me.”

17 When the seventy-two came back, they were very happy and said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”

18 Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Listen, I have given you power to walk on snakes and scorpions, power that is greater than the enemy has. So nothing will hurt you. 20 But you should not be happy because the spirits obey you but because your names are written in heaven.”

Read Luke 10:1-20 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus and you have ever feared what people thought about you as a follower of Jesus, you are not alone.

Many people throughout the past 2,000 years have wondered that – from the first Christians stretching all the way up to us living today. I have also been challenged by this fear of what others might think. If you have struggled with these thoughts, or are currently facing doubts about what others will think, Jesus has something reassuring to tell you in this journal entry’s passage.

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, He decides to send the disciples out in pairs to all the villages in the region. We could call this an outreach training exercise. However, some of the disciples, probably the introverted, reserved ones like me, were a little worried about what might happen to them and what others would think.

I believe this is why Jesus finishes His instructions with the following words in verse 16, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever refuses to accept you refuses to accept me. And whoever refuses to accept me refuses to accept the One who sent me.”

Jesus is basically saying: It’s not about you!

Too often, our fears and insecurities stem from not feeling good about ourselves. However, Jesus wants to step into this area of our lives and tell us that we should not have any worry or concern over what others think of us as followers of Him. If we do our best to be like Jesus, then if there are those who reject us, Jesus tells us they are really rejecting Him, and also the One (God the Father) who sent Him.

In my own life this has taken a huge burden off of my shoulders. Jesus takes the fear that wants to distract us in our relationship with Jesus, and He redirects it onto Himself. This means that I can more fully focus on being like Him, without any worries about what others think of me. What matters most is that I am growing closer to Him each and every day.

Jesus may be telling you the same thing today. If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, your life is not about you. If others reject you, they are really rejecting Jesus and the Father. Don’t injure your relationship with Jesus over something that Jesus has taken away. Our focus is to be on growing our relationship with God, and being like Jesus. If something distracts you away from that goal, then it is not something God wants for you.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Giving Up His Life: John 10:1-21

Published March 25, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 10:1-21 (CEV)

    1 Jesus said:

   I tell you for certain that only thieves and robbers climb over the fence instead of going in through the gate to the sheep pen. 2-3 But the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and he goes in through it. The sheep know their shepherd’s voice. He calls each of them by name and leads them out.

    4 When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice. 5 The sheep will not follow strangers. They don’t recognize a stranger’s voice, and they run away.

    6 Jesus told the people this story. But they did not understand what he was talking about.

    7 Jesus said:

   I tell you for certain that I am the gate for the sheep. 8 Everyone who came before me was a thief or a robber, and the sheep did not listen to any of them. 9 I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture.

    10 A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. 11 I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. 12 Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don’t own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. 13 Hired workers run away because they don’t care about the sheep.

    14 I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. 15 Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.

    17 The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so that I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.

    19 The people took sides because of what Jesus had told them. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon in him! He is crazy! Why listen to him?”

    21 But others said, “How could anyone with a demon in him say these things? No one like that could give sight to a blind person!”

Read John 10:1-21 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

During one of the times Jesus was preaching the crowds, He alludes to His upcoming death. However, this idea seems to be lost on the crowd He was speaking to. When Jesus begins talking about a good shepherd and contrasting this person with descriptions of both thieves and robbers, Jesus describes the good shepherd as one who gives His life for His sheep.

Jesus clearly states this first in verse 11 when He says: “I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep.” Jesus then reemphasizes this idea a few verses later by saying, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep.” (v. 14-15)

If that wasn’t enough, Jesus emphasizes this one more time, and in this third time, Jesus also hints at the idea of a future resurrection. “The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so that I may receive it back again. No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.” (v. 17-18)

Here in the third reference to Jesus (a.k.a. the Good Shepherd) giving up His life, we see Jesus describing the life He gave up being returned to Him. This sounds a lot like resurrection in my mind. This could be coincidence that there are three references to giving up His life, and in the third reference we find Jesus referring to receiving His life back again. This echoes what happened on crucifixion weekend, where Jesus gave up His life and on the third day He received His life back when He was resurrected from the tomb.

While Jesus’ teaching about being a good shepherd divides those present in His audience, we can learn that nothing Jesus ever said or did happened by chance. Everything in Jesus’ life followed God’s plan, and Jesus ultimately gave His life up on the cross so that all of God’s people could have the assurance of a new life with Him in heaven.

We can place our hope, faith, trust, and belief in Jesus because He is willing to face death because He loves us so much. Jesus died for you and me, and this is the clearest example of how God feels about you and me.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Free To Choose: Mark 14:10-11

Published March 21, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Mark 14:10-11 (NCV)

10 One of the twelve apostles, Judas Iscariot, went to talk to the leading priests to offer to hand Jesus over to them. 11 These priests were pleased about this and promised to pay Judas money. So he watched for the best time to turn Jesus in.

Read Mark 14:10-11 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

While reading about Judas Iscariot going to meet with the leaders to discuss betraying Jesus, an idea I had never previously thought of came to mind. Even though Judas was set on turning Jesus in, Judas didn’t believe Jesus would let things get so out of hand that He would face death. Chances are high in my mind that if Judas truly knew what his betrayal would start, he might never have chosen to go through with it like what is described in the gospels.

But the idea that I see in this set of verses that I find amazing is found in the very last phrase: “So he [Judas Iscariot] watched for the best time to turn Jesus in.” (v. 11b)

This phrase sticks out in my mind because with this agreement, Judas has two options. The first option, which he ultimately decided to do, was take the side of the religious leaders and be 100% for Jesus’ arrest – and specifically look for the best time possible to turn Jesus in.

However, the second option is interesting to think about. With this agreement, the religious leaders essentially allow one of Jesus’ disciples to become their unofficial leader. For the next weeks, or maybe even months, it would have been easy for Judas to have led the leaders on an unsuccessful hunt for Jesus. Judas Iscariot could have used this agreement for Jesus’ advantage – forewarning Jesus about the leaders’ plans and making sure the leaders were one or two steps behind.

While we might not think of Judas Iscariot having the freedom of choice after making the agreement to betray Jesus, in this passage, we see hinted at the idea that everyone has the freedom to choose what they will do from that point forward. While Judas chose to betray Jesus, and then he matched his actions up to support his decision, up to the very point Jesus was arrested, Judas had the choice to betray Jesus or lead the mob around the city and countryside while avoiding the one place Judas knew Jesus would be. In our own lives, even when all choices seem bad, we still can be glad because we have the freedom to choose between two or more options — and while we have options, we have the ability to make better decisions.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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