Reflective Bible Study

While reading from Mark’s gospel about Jesus inviting and blessing the children who were brought to Him, a verse stood out to me in a way I had never noticed before. In this event, Mark tells us that “Jesus put his arms around the children and blessed them by placing his hands on them.” (v. 16)

Mark is the only gospel that describes Jesus putting His arms around the children. In Mark’s gospel, the picture I get is that Jesus gives these children a hug (if they were old enough to walk), and if a baby happened to be among those who were brought to Jesus, Jesus didn’t shy away from holding the child.

When I read this last verse in Mark, I get the impression that Jesus first showed how He enjoyed being around the children who were brought (people don’t voluntarily hug those they don’t want to be around), and only afterwards does He place His hands on the child/children to give them His blessing.

I believe the order is important. Jesus is most interested in building a relationship with us – where we are in life right now – and only after a relationship is formed does He inspire change from within us.

While human nature tries to get us focused in on requiring visible change on the front end as evidence that we are moving in the right direction, Jesus knows that only after coming to Him will we be able to change the inside – and internal change will ultimately become external change as well.

Jesus’ invitation for everyone, regardless of age, is to come to Him and receive His love.

One thing that always amazes me about Jesus is how He is able to avoid the traps and tricks of the Pharisees and other religious leaders. Time and time again Jesus sidesteps their logic and shares an even greater truth.

This passage doesn’t have a clear “Pharisee Trap” present, but Jesus does take the perspective of those present and redefines it. Like most interesting dialogs, some people bring Jesus a statement or question and wait to hear His response. Luke 13 begins by saying, “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” (verse 1)

These people may have wanted to simply inform Jesus about something bad that had just happened, or perhaps they were warning Him to consider moving His ministry to a different location, but in either case, they were asking for Jesus to give a response to this information. Like Jesus usually did, instead of responding directly to the surface statement, He responds to the underlying concept and perspective.

The subtle trick that is present here is not seen in the statement, but instead in Jesus’ response.

One thing those present were trying to pin Jesus into saying is that how one dies is more important than how they lived. The thought among those present seemed to be that one’s type of death, especially if they were killed while worshiping, would overshadow any wrong they had done during their lives.

The other big thing that those present were trying to get Jesus to say was that the type of death that someone experienced was directly a result of the type of life they had lived. It stood to reason that those who died early, especially if it was an “accident” like a tower falling, must have been hiding worse sins that only God knew about and that He determined it good to punish them for it.

These are the two sides to this seemingly innocent piece of news – and Jesus sees right into the preconceived ideas and into the trap. So Jesus takes the opportunity to shift the perspective of each side of the trick. Continuing in verse 2, we read, “Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’” (verses 2-5)

First Jesus steps in and brings the implications to the surface. Is how one dies a revelation of how they lived? Does the type or time of death matter?

Then Jesus gives us the big truth: How one chooses to live from this point forward determines their ultimate destiny. Unless repenting, which means turning away from sin and towards God, is a part of your path forward, you will face the same fate. The amount/level of sin in our lives is not as important as the one we put our faith, hope, and trust in to deal with the sin that has stained our past.

As I read through the gospels and specifically about the miracles Jesus did, I am surprised at the places where Jesus heals someone while also knowing that it would bother others. One such example is when Jesus healed the man who was swollen with fluid while visiting a Pharisee’s home. In this event, we see plenty of evidence that the whole situation was set up to catch Jesus doing something that these religious men could use as evidence to claim Jesus worked on the Sabbath.

The question that comes to my mind when I read events like this why would Jesus knowingly place Himself in situations like this knowing that it is a trap. Perhaps Jesus didn’t know this situation was a trap when He arrived, but since He was so connected with the Holy Spirit and the Father in everything He did and said, I would be very surprised if Jesus simply walked unknowingly into this trap.

In contrast, if Jesus knew everything about this trap beforehand, and He chose to walk into it, the only two reasons for this that I can see are (1) healing someone who needed help and (2) pushing these religious leaders past their legalistic view of Sabbath observance.

We can see both reasons being present in this passage, and this teaches us that God has called us to love and help others regardless of the day of the week we are in, and while His Sabbath day is holy and special, it should never be an excuse to not help someone in need!

In Jesus’ prayer on the night He was arrested, He prays for His followers. The followers Jesus prays for are not just the small group of disciples, but all of His followers who live throughout history. A big theme of Jesus prayer is connection and unity. Just like Jesus is one with the Father, He wants to unite His followers into being one with both Him as well as God.

We can see this theme clearly throughout a number of the sections in Jesus’ prayer, but as Jesus begins to wrap His prayer up, we see a picture of oneness that is a little unique from some of the others. In His prayer to the Father, Jesus says, “I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.” (v. 22-23)

It is amazing to me that Jesus tells us that He honored His followers in the same way the Father has honored Him. Some translations say glory instead of honor. This idea is powerful because it reveals how God’s nature is to step down. When we give someone or something glory, we lift it up, and by doing so, we place it above us. While it might not technically be worth more than we are to someone else, honoring something or someone is more in the eye of the one giving the glory or doing the honoring.

As an example, if I give honor to a friend for something they accomplished, I am lifting them above me (or perhaps up beside me if it is something I had also accomplished). Honor and glory lift others up. My friend in this example might not feel as though he is worthy of the honor because he might be focused on someone or something else who is even better than he is. This means that honor is in the eye of the one giving honor – and Jesus says He has honored His followers like God had honored Him.

God the Father lifted up Jesus, and Jesus lifted up His followers, and we are called to continue the cycle of honor by returning it to God. We complete our connection and unity with God by giving honor to Him for everything He has done for us through the Father, through Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit. When we close this circle by returning honor to God, we become one with Him and this oneness becomes a witness to those living around us that God loves us.

While God’s love doesn’t always mean that we are protected from bad events, it does mean that we have Someone who is willing and happy to walk through life with us as we continue to live, learn, and grow towards being the person God created us to be.