Reflective Bible Study

Many times throughout the gospels, Jesus shares something that is simple, profound, and challenging. In this journal entry’s passage, Jesus shares an idea that is all three of these characteristics, and it has layers of meaning hidden within it.

Immediately following the news that some Greeks came to see Him, Jesus shares the following words in verse 24, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” There are multiple ways we can understand this idea, and the context of Jesus’ words allow for multiple meanings.

The first and most basic understanding is the literal one. Only when a grain of wheat has fallen to the ground, and its connection to the stalk has been broken, can it then become a plant of its own, capable of producing many more seeds. As long as the grain stays connected to the original stalk, it remains only as a seed – and its full potential is never realized.

Taking the grain of wheat analogy to the next level of understanding, we can see Jesus foreshadowing His upcoming death, burial, and resurrection/rebirth. Just like a grain of wheat needing to fall to the ground for it to realize its full potential, Jesus can only become the full revelation of God’s amazing love for us by giving up His life for us. The rebirth/resurrection that happened launched the early church movement, powered by the Holy Spirit, and united by the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.

But the hardest analogy for us to handle with the grain of wheat illustration is when we apply it to our own lives. It is only when we give up our life and submit ourselves to God’s will that we will ever be able to realize our full potential. Many people have displayed extraordinary amounts of potential and achieved amazing things in our world today, but if any of them are living outside of God’s plan for their lives, they are stopping short and are only living as one seed when God would have them be seed-makers.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (Verse 24)

Only after Christ died on the cross were we truly able to see how much God loves us, and only after we die to ourselves and let God resurrect us into the life He created us to live will we be able to walk the plan that leads us into the men and women He created us to be – a life that starts now and leads directly into the promised eternal life when Jesus returns!

During one of the times Jesus was teaching the disciples, a large crowd was present and listening in. Within this teaching that focused in on warning the disciples about the dangers of hypocrisy, Jesus tells them something about how God relates to each of us that is powerful, challenging, and incredibly fair.

In the middle of this teaching, Jesus comes out and says that “I can guarantee that the Son of Man will acknowledge in front of God’s angels every person who acknowledges him in front of others. But God’s angels will be told that I don’t know those people who tell others that they don’t know me.” (v. 8-9)

This short two-verse message is incredible to think about. In essence, Jesus basically tells us that He will recognize everyone who publicly acknowledges Him in front of others, while those who keep their faith a secret and don’t share Him with others are at risk of losing out. While Jesus says that He will tell the angels that He doesn’t know the people who say they don’t know Him, there is little difference in openly telling others that you don’t know Jesus and simply not saying that you do.

Jesus’ words in this verse might be challenging for some people to face, but I see this as one of Jesus’ most amazing promises. While this is a warning for those who want to keep their faith a secret and those who don’t want to acknowledge they are followers of Jesus, in the words of this warning Jesus basically gives us the easiest way to be sure we are recognized by Jesus and the easiest way to be known to Him. All we have to do is share Him publicly, and to tell others that we are on God’s/Jesus’ side.

When challenged by those opposed to God, will we let them ridicule us into denying our faith, or will we stand firm even if we don’t know all the answers. Jesus promises us that He will “acknowledge in front of God’s angels every person who acknowledges him in front of others” and we can claim this promise when faced with the decision whether to publicly live for God when faced with opposition.

Leading up to one of the most politically incorrect conversation for Jesus to have with someone, the gospel of Mark sets the stage with an interesting verse that Matthew chose not to include in his gospel. In Mark’s gospel, this event opens up with the statement: “Jesus went from there to a place near Tyre. He entered a house. He did not want anyone to know where he was. But he could not keep it a secret.” (v. 24)

Opening this event in the way he does, Mark subtly suggests that Jesus wanted His presence in the region to remain hidden from everyone – including this woman who He would insult before agreeing to help with her request. While Matthew’s gospel includes more details regarding the conversation that took place, Mark gives us more detail about the back-story and setting for this event. Mark tells us that not only did Jesus want to stay hidden, but that this woman was a Greek, even including where she was born.

However, the key phrase in Marks gospel that jumped off the page when I read it was this: “But he could not keep it a secret.” (v. 24b)

This simple statement speaks volumes about God. Even when Jesus wanted to do something secretly, He could not do so. When God moves, nothing about it remains a secret. While Satan realizes this, he is quick to bring other explanations into our minds, and he does everything he can to rationalize, minimize, or trivialize God’s movements, but that is simply because when God moves, we cannot help but notice that something happened.

While Mark tells us that Jesus could not keep His location a secret from this woman, this also implies that others knew where Jesus was and perhaps other people came to be helped while Jesus was trying to hide in this house. Jesus had a hard time keeping His location a secret during the entire time He was living on earth after His ministry had begun.

But what about today? Is Jesus able to hide now that He has returned to heaven?

In my own mind and experience, the answer depends on the person asking it. While Satan is trying to eliminate Jesus from public discussion, he can do nothing to hide Jesus from those who are looking for Him. Just like Jesus could not stay hidden in a random home on the outskirts of a city He normally would not go near, Jesus cannot stay hidden from those who are actively seeking Him.

This is a promise and a challenge for all of us followers living today: The only way we will find Jesus in the 21st century is if we are proactive in looking for Him. While there will be a point when history ends and Jesus returns in person, if we want to find Jesus before the last day when it will be too late to change our decision, we must be intentional about seeking Him during the days we have left. Satan is doing everything he can to stop this from happening, but he cannot stop someone who wants to find Jesus and accept Him into his/her heart.

In this journal entry’s passage/parable, a subtle but amazing truth about God is shared. While most people simply think of this parable on the surface level of money and/or talents, Jesus gives an amazing hint into God’s character that is often missed.

This truth is found when combining something we know about God with something that is shared in the parable – specifically as the characters are being introduced. In verses 14-15, we read, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities.”

What clued me into thinking there must be something is deeper is the very last phrase in verse 15: “dividing it in proportion to their abilities”. If we understand the man leaving on the trip to represent God, think for a moment about what God knows – which is everything, including the past and the future. While dealing out the money, He already knows that the first two servants will double their investments, while the third one would do nothing with it. This foreknowledge would affect His choice when determining the “abilities” of each of the three servants.

But while He knew that servant #3 would miss the intention of this exercise, what amazes me is that God still gives this servant the chance to prove Him wrong. Even if this third servant was the least promising one of the group, he still is given the chance to invest and grow the master’s money. Even with one bag of silver, this least promising servant could have doubled, tripled, or quadrupled the investment, and while it would have been harder for him, since he had the least ability, I don’t think the percentage difference would have been missed when the master returned.

The truth this tells me about God is simple: Even though God knows the future, He still gives everyone the opportunity to invest with Him, and to multiply the gifts He has given to each of us. Even the least “talented” person is given the chance to invest and grow.