Reflective Bible Study

On the night Jesus was arrested while He and the disciples were finishing up their last supper together and making their way towards the garden of Gethsemane, John’s gospel shares in detail Jesus’ conversation with the disciples. While reading this event, a set of verses stood out to me in a different way than they had before.

John tells us Jesus told the disciples that “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you.” (v. 18-20)

In this set of verses, three phrases stood out that I’ve never noticed before, and these three phrases together give us two clear promises we can hold on to.

The first two phrases form the first promise, and this promise relates to Jesus’ return. Jesus begins in verse 18 by saying, “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you.” In the context of these two phrases, we have the first phrase emphasizing the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, and the second phrase emphasizing Jesus’ return. Together, these two phrases bring us the promise that Jesus will return, and until that happens, we have God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, teach us, guide us, and keep us company.

The third phrase is the last statement in verse 19, where Jesus states: “You will live because I live.” This phrase stands out in my mind because it shows there was no doubt in Jesus’ mind that there would be resurrection and new life following the cross. It also shows us that our future life depends entirely on what Jesus accomplished on that cross. The promise in this statement is clear: The only reason we have life is because Jesus gave His life for us.

Together, these three statements combine together to create the true reason for every Christian’s hope: Everyone of Jesus’ disciples and followers desires more of the Holy Spirit in our lives; we also look forward to the day Jesus returns; and we recognize that the only reason we have life is because Jesus gave His life for us.

Occasionally while reading an event, a phrase or detail will stand out and give me a clue into what the disciples thought, which reveals a little piece about their character.

The passage for this journal entry has such an insight, but it is most easily seen when looking at both Matthew’s and John’s versions together. In Matthew, we read the following verse: “When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. ‘Why this waste?’ they asked. ‘This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.’” (Matthew 26:8)

Contrasting that with John’s gospel, we read, “But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” (John 12:4-6)

If we blend these two statements, we can see that at least some of the disciples were indignant, while Judas Iscariot perhaps was the one most irritated by this woman’s action. This irritation prompted Judas Iscariot to be the specific disciple who spoke as a representative for the group of those who were indignant.

John draws attention to Judas Iscariot’s motives – that he was a thief, and not really all that interested in the poor – but what is also interesting is that by being indignant – which Matthew attributes to all the disciples (or at least a majority of them), we can get a glimpse of what they all thought about money.

Currently circulating is a rumor/debate regarding whether the disciples were among the affluent, rich class of society, or whether they were the poor. The two occupations that I’ve heard given as examples of rich would be fishermen (at least four of the disciples) and tax collecting (one disciple). This gives us a group of about half of the disciples, and the group includes Matthew, who tells us that the bulk of the disciples were indignant at how much money had just been spent.

While it is possible that the other disciples were only interested in self-gain like Judas Iscariot was, what I see revealed here is something that revealed the money attitudes of other disciples. There are wealthy people who are stingy, but there are many wealthy people who would grasp spending a significant amount of money for something/someone special. Since Mary had the perfume, we can conclude that she had some level of wealth, but the way Matthew records how the disciples respond, they react like individuals who don’t have much money – and for whom a year’s wages was a lot of money.

If the disciples had lived a wealthier lifestyle, then they wouldn’t have been indignant over that amount of money being spent on Jesus.

Jesus responds by saying that it isn’t about money, but about the gift, the symbolism, and the focus – and in this case. In our relationship with Jesus, money should never be the focus. Instead, we should focus on what Jesus did, what He is currently doing, and how much He means to us.

While teaching the disciples and the crowd about where to place their trust and to not worry about the typical things that culture wants us to worry about, Jesus shares a phrase I never had noticed before. Luke includes this in his gospel and he records Jesus telling everyone present: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” (v. 32)

This statement is profound in my mind because it tells us that God the Father is happy to share His kingdom with each of us. While many people have gotten confused at what God wants us to do, say, act, and/or believe, all these things could be classified as worrying, and they are dealt with in this simple statement.

In these words, Jesus wants to draw our attention onto the truth that God is more interested in looking for ways we can be given His kingdom than reasons why we should be excluded. While Satan is happy to bring up reason after reason, sin after sin, and build an impossible to defend case against us being allowed into heaven, God decided to send Jesus to be our replacement. When faced with the impossible to defend charges against us, through what Jesus did on the cross, God simply gets to point Satan in the direction of Jesus, and Satan gets one more reminder of His failure.

While we have all sinned and don’t deserve heaven, Jesus came into the world because God is more interested in looking for ways we can be included in His kingdom than on finding reasons we should be excluded.

While Jesus was teaching the crowd with the illustration of the good shepherd, He touches on an idea that has challenged people throughout history. In this illustration, Jesus tells those present that “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.” (v. 16)

When we look at this verse, we get the picture that Jesus has people who are in God’s family that are not with the group at that point in time. Technically, this includes you and me because we were not alive while Jesus walked the earth, and this literally means that we would have not been a part of God’s family at that point in history.

But since God exists out of time, regardless of when Jesus said these words, I believe God was thinking of everyone who ever lived at any point in the big timeline called history.

A second angle I have heard on this verse is that God has people who are outside of the Christian church that are His. We can see many examples that support Jesus’ words in this verse because anyone living today who has joined a church and accepted Jesus into their hearts supports what Jesus described.

A third angle on this verse focuses on God’s people being united as one group with one Shepherd. This angle says that we must put aside all of our differences and unite as one people. While currently there are more Christian denominations than can be counted well, this third angle suggests we put all the differences aside and simply be one in Christ.

However, part of me wonders if while there is truth to each of these angles, but that Jesus has something else in mind with what He described in this verse. As I read Jesus’ words, the challenge I see for the third angle is that Jesus Himself does the uniting. The only unity that should happen is through hearing Jesus’ voice and coming together. While putting aside our differences and focusing on Jesus are good things to do, our movements must be prompted by Jesus and not by peer or social pressure to conform.

As I read Jesus’ words, I wonder along the lines of the second angle is whether Jesus is describing someone moving between Christian denominations, or if it only means someone placing their trust and belief in Jesus for the first time. Regardless of which way it is, the challenge to this second angle is letting Jesus lead in the person’s life who He is calling. We should not try to rush God. God’s timing and His calling are both much better than we could ever do, and when Jesus has called a person to Him, we should be supportive of this regardless of whether this person comes into 100% of our belief system.

When Jesus says He has sheep in other pastures who He will call together, I believe we should be intentional about being open and willing to accept people who are different, and love them when Jesus brings them our way. While part of love is challenging people regarding sins in their own lives, the much greater part of love includes accepting others without condition and being willing to walk through life together. Jesus left heaven so that He could walk with humanity, and He calls us to walk with those He has called as we prepare for His return.