Reflective Bible Study

Have you ever wondered how you can show God love? Since God is not physically present and touchable like a person is, any relationship we have with Him, or affection we show Him, will likely be a little different than it is with our significant other. Or is it really all that different?

Many people believe that in order to show God love, we must love others – including orphans, widows, hospital patients, prison inmates, and, or maybe even especially, those who are the lowest in society and those who cannot help themselves. I am among those who agree with this description – and I stand on the foundation of several prominent parables/teachings that Jesus shares in the gospels.

However, in our passage for this journal entry, Jesus gives us a clear, direct answer to this question, and it might surprise you. While what has been believed is not wrong, it is only a partial truth.

In verse 21, Jesus says, “Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

This must be an easy thing, since just one chapter before, Jesus gave the disciples a new command: “I’m giving you a new commandment: Love each other in the same way that I have loved you. Everyone will know that you are my disciples because of your love for each other.” (John 13:34-35)

But it isn’t that simple. Jesus describes in our first verse (John 14:21) commandments that are plural, and in the prior chapter’s two verses (John 13:34-35), He tells us that is a “new” command. Jesus isn’t replacing any commandments; He is adding to them.

What commandments is He “adding” to? Jesus is most likely referencing the Ten Commandments in these verses, which God spoke to the Israelites from Mount Sinai in Exodus, chapter 20.

There are parallels to how John opens His gospel talking about Jesus being God that could be understood as referring back to Mount Sinai and Jesus as the One who spoke God’s Law; but even if this wasn’t the case, Jesus came as a Representative of the Godhead, and when He says “My commandments”, it is just as true to refer to the Ten Commandments which were spoken from Mount Sinai by the Godhead.

This means that when Jesus talks about obeying His commandments, He must be referring to all eleven – both the original ten as well as the extra “new” commandment He gave to the disciples.

Let’s look back at our original verse, “Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

Jesus clearly states obedience is the way we show our love to Him. He did command that we love others, and that we love people who are in need, but that is only one commandment out of eleven – specifically the bonus one. It’s good to get the bonus answer right, but it doesn’t mean much if the rest of the test answers are wrong.

Jesus says that obedience leads to loving Him, and that loving Him will bring the Father’s love into our lives, and that Jesus will love us too and He will show Himself to us. It seems that all this talk about love hinges on obedience. In our physical relationships, if we love someone and they ask us to do something, do we choose to “obey” (i.e. answer their request) or not? Does how we respond/submit/obey say something about our love for the other person?

Around the middle of Jesus’ three and a half year ministry, the gospel of John tells us that He went to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. During this festival, Jesus gets into a discussion with some Jews in the temple and John recorded their interesting conversation.

As Jesus debates with these Jewish leaders, we come to a claim Jesus makes that is both amazing and profound. John tells us Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” (v. 51)

On the surface, this statement is amazing and it is a profound promise, but it also makes me wonder, just like the Jews in the temple, what about those who lived before Jesus was alive? Those in the group surrounding Jesus in the temple respond by saying, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets.” (v. 52-53a)

In this response, we have a subtle shift of wording that stood out to me as I read it. On one hand, Jesus tells those present that the people who obey His word will never “see death”. When the group of Jews responds, they respond using the phrase “taste death”.

At first, I wondered if they changed the word that was translated as death since they also changed the word from “see” to “taste”, but a quick look at my Bible concordance, let me know that both words for death are the same. For those unfamiliar with the term Bible concordance, it is a reference book for looking up different places in the Bible where the same words are used. Bible concordances are great tools when trying to let the Bible explain itself.

While in the concordance, I did find that Jesus does use the phrase “taste death” at other times in His ministry, one of which was when He told the disciples that not all of them would “taste death” before He returned. (Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27)

However, while in the concordance, I also came across another phrase that speaks into this discussion – and it actually answers the Jews counter statements to Jesus. Just a few chapters later in John 11, we find the sickness, death, and resurrection of Jesus’ good friend Lazarus. Setting the stage for what happens, Jesus tells the group of disciples in this event, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)

However, Lazarus did die, even if it was only for a few days initially. This makes me think that, similar to how Jesus often interacted with the Jews, He would talk on a different spiritual level than what the Jews were used to debating. Seeing death is clearly different from tasting death, and I wonder if Jesus spoke this way as an attempt to try to redirect the focus of these prominent Jews.

While death in these verses could mean literal death, this original word in this context could also mean eternal death as well. But focusing on death is not what Jesus wanted to do in this portion of this discussion.

Jesus wants to draw our attention to the real truth that when we are obeying God, we never “see death” as the end of our existence. Instead, we know that even if we might die in this life and age, we have a future life waiting for us in God’s kingdom.

As Jesus approached Jerusalem for the final time before being crucified, Luke’s gospel describes how as He approached the city, Jesus wept for it. Part of the reason Jesus cried at this point in His ministry was because He knew what would happen to it in several decades when it would be surrounded and destroyed – with many people still hiding inside.

However, Jesus also cried because of another phrase Luke includes in His gospel record of this event. Luke tells us Jesus began His message to Jerusalem by saying, “If you only knew today what is needed for peace! But now you cannot see it!” (v. 42)

It is interesting in my mind that Jesus would use the word peace in His message to this city. At that time, even while there was political unrest, when compared to other points in history, Jerusalem was experiencing peace because those living there were not trying to rebel against Rome.

However, while the people had one type of peace, I believe Jesus is speaking here on multiple levels. While those living in Jerusalem had peace from military aggression, most people living in the city likely were missing peace in their hearts and lives.

Many of us miss out on this peace as well. Living busy lives 2,000 years later, most of us live in areas that are more peaceful than other parts of the world, but we take this type of peace for granted and instead focus on other things that are less peaceful. For many of us, we unknowingly focus on things that rob us of peace. Think with me for a moment what portions of a typical day include time we could call peaceful. If you have not incorporated times of peace in your schedule, then I’m positive that your life doesn’t have any times where you can stop and experience peace. Peaceful moments don’t demand our attention, and when we focus on the things demanding our time, we miss out on experiencing peace.

When Jesus opened His message for Jerusalem by talking about peace, I believe this is because Jesus is the only one who can bring true peace into a city, a culture, a community, or even into an individual’s life. By focusing on Jesus, we can experience peace because Jesus has done everything for us that is important from an eternal perspective, and all we have left to do is be thankful and help others like God has helped us.

Culture tries to rob our peace by distracting us from spending time with Jesus, but when we push culture’s demands back in order to spend time with God each day, we will experience a peace that few in this world truly understand.

Jesus knows what we need to experience peace, and He offers it to those who follow Him each day.

While reading Matthew 24:26-35 for this journal entry, a verse or phrase didn’t really stand out like with other passages in other journal entries. But what did stand out is a big theme that spans the broad teaching that this passage concludes.

Probably more single space is given to Jesus teaching us about what will happen in the end time than most any other teaching Jesus gave in the gospels. Three of the gospel writers include it, and most give it a very prominent place right before crucifixion week.

It is as though, knowing that the time He can spend with His disciples is growing to a close, Jesus begins to shift the topics that He talks about onto teaching about what to pay attention to after He is gone.

I believe Jesus knew that there would be thousands of years of history after His return to heaven, but instead of saying that directly, He described the condition of the world as it would be during those years. In the conclusion, our passage for this journal entry, He describes how He will return again, and what that would be like.

Using grand language and earth shattering imagery, Jesus wants us to know that His return will be nothing like His first appearance, and He does not want us to be deceived. He wants us to be ready, to see the world events that are happening around us, and to know that God’s kingdom is near. (Luke 21:31)

The big theme that I see listed here is this: God does not want us to be scared or surprised when we see bad things happen in the world. Instead, He wants us to focus on His character, on the truth that He is in control, and on the promise that Jesus is returning.