Reflective Bible Study

While teaching the disciples about conflict resolution, forgiveness, and the power of prayer, Jesus shares a profound verse that many people may simply skip over for no other reason than it is hard to understand or believe. In Matthew’s gospel, during this teaching, he records Jesus telling the disciples: “I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.” (v. 18)

On the surface, it appears as though God takes a back seat and simply lets us on earth decide what is allowable and what is not. But this seems a little too subjective of a thing for God to do. If God doesn’t change, and His law doesn’t change, then it would be odd to think He would simply swipe away part of His law if enough of humanity wanted to get rid of it.

Imagine if enough people said the command to not murder was dated and determined to remove it. Would God simply comply and ignore the command to not murder that is includes in His law?

On the surface, this appears to be the case, but what if this is a challenge for all of God’s followers regarding something different. What if, instead of God taking a back seat to humanity with regard to any regulation that has been given, this promise was given to those in the church who are closest to God, those who are most humble, and those who are quick to defer to God and His way? If God promises to allow and prohibit based on what those who are actively leaning on Him decide in cases where there is uncertainty about a specific rule, then this promise begins to make sense.

For example, there are no laws or regulations in God’s word regarding the using of electricity, automobiles, or even the Internet. In cases such as these, is the best approach to permit anything that God has not clearly prohibited, or is it better to prohibit anything that God has not specifically allowed?

Most people would conclude that it depends on a case-by-case scenario, but then we must also ask the question about who decides each case – and in situations like these, it makes the most sense for God to leave the deciding up to those who are closest to Him to determine what things to permit and what things to prohibit.

So while some people might see this as God deferring His law to humanity’s ever-changing whims, perhaps this is simply God/Jesus telling His followers that if something hasn’t been clearly directed one way or another, that God will let us decide for ourselves – and He will support whichever way we decide.

As Jesus was spending the last hours together with His disciples before being arrested on the night before His crucifixion, He shares a powerful message with the disciples that contains an incredible promise. After sharing with the disciples that He will be leaving to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house, Jesus tells the disciples, “After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together.” (v. 3)

While the disciples did not want Jesus to leave them, and while there were likely plenty of other people who wanted Jesus to stay on earth, we might be caught believing or wondering if Jesus should have left when He did. Later on in the conversation with the disciples that night, Jesus emphasizes that only if He leaves will the Holy Spirit be able to come to the disciples, and because of that reason, it was good that He left.

But here in the promise contained in this verse, we have an equally valid reason for Jesus leaving. We can clearly see the promise if we ask ourselves a simple question: “Would I rather be with Jesus here on earth, or be with Jesus in heaven?”

While we technically don’t have to choose or wait until heaven to begin our lives with God, I imagine that most people, when given the choice, would rather be with Jesus in heaven, where there is no sin, death, or decay. Even though our current earth is filled with pain, suffering, disease, and death, while we would want Jesus to be present with us through this, would you prefer Jesus to be present now and not later in heaven? Heaven would not be the same without Jesus present.

The question is rhetorical and it doesn’t stand on a solid foundation and it could easily be falsified if put up for debate, however this is because all members of the Godhead are one. Jesus is able to be here with us because He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In this way, Jesus can be in multiple places at once.

When Jesus promised to return to heaven to prepare a place for us before promising to return here to bring us home with Him, this promise doesn’t include the message that we will be abandoned during the time He is away. It simply states that He wants to get Heaven ready for us, which might be similar to a family cleaning their home before guests arrive.

Jesus has given us the promise that He will return and bring us home to be with Him. We don’t know when that will be, but we do know that because Jesus promised it, He will fulfill His promise. When we have placed our faith, hope, trust, and belief on Jesus and His promises, we can know that He will return and bring us home to Him.

With this in mind, let’s look forward to, and prepare for, the day when He will return to take us home!

One thing I have always found interesting about the dialog in this passage is that it seems as though Jesus is interested in ticking the religious leaders off. The passage opens by pointing out that Jesus is addressing the Jews who believed in Him, and it ends with them picking up stones to throw at Him.

However, one response they give Jesus stands out in my mind. In verse 33, they respond by saying, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

While Jesus is clearly referring to being trapped in a sinful lifestyle, reading the response these leaders give Jesus makes me think they have truly fallen out of touch with their nation’s history. There were hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, many back-to-back decades of slavery during the period of the judges when the people left worshiping God, and then a little event called the exile where the Assyrians and the Babylonians almost completely emptied the nation of Israel & Judah taking the people away to be slaves.

Interestingly enough, when Moses reminds the nation of Israel about the Ten Commandments before handing the leadership over to Joshua, he shifts the reason behind the Sabbath commandment to one that focused on Israel’s history (instead of focusing on humanity’s origin). When God shared the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, He gives the following reason for blessing the seventh day in verse 11: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

However, when Moses reminds the nation of Israel about the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, he instead gives this reason in verse 15: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

What Moses did here is fascinating, and putting his words next to the response the Jewish leaders give Jesus shows just how far they had forgotten their heritage. By saying that they had never been slaves to anyone, they are also choosing to ignore Moses, who told them to remember their former slavery in Egypt. The generation Moses told was mostly born while wandering the desert, so technically, they wouldn’t have known the life of slavery like their parents had.

This leads into the big idea I see in this passage: Don’t forget where you came from, or the struggles you faced while making it to where you are right now. It is easier to see how God has moved in the past bringing you to where you are right now. Looking for God in the present is possible, but He is harder to see as clearly.

Following Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, the gospel of John tells us that Jesus shares why He did this. While one semi-obvious reason was to give the disciples a picture into how God’s character includes humility, John tells us that Jesus shares another reason.

In John’s gospel, as Jesus sits down after finishing washing the disciples’ feet, He first asks the group a question: “Do you understand what I have done for you?” but without even giving the disciples a chance to respond, Jesus continues by saying, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (v. 12-15)

John tells us in his gospel that Jesus modeled humility because He wants us to model humility. While the idea of washing someone’s feet is awkward, I doubt the level of awkwardness hasn’t changed much in the 2,000 years since Jesus told His followers to continue to do this.

But what I do know is that there are few ways we could more visibly show our humility towards another person than by washing their feet. When washing another person’s feet, a level of humility must be present in both people involved. Some people are self-conscious about their feet, and it takes a certain level of humility to let someone else touch their feet. Other people don’t mind having other people touch their feet, but they feel awkward about washing the feet of someone else. These people have the opportunity to display humility by actually bending down to wash the feet of someone else.

The foot washing example and instruction is something we all would benefit from incorporating into our spiritual lives. When we display the level of humility and submission that foot washing takes, it draws us together in ways that can be difficult to describe. Foot washing helps us remember Jesus, it helps us stay humble, and it helps us be united as a group of believers. Foot washing helps us be the people God wants us to be.