Reflective Bible Study

At one point in the middle of Jesus’ ministry on earth, the gospel of Luke describes an illustration Jesus shared with a group of people that are described as “some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.” (v. 9)

While in this parable, we are given the picture that these people were like the Pharisee Jesus describes, Jesus also gives us a brief description of a tax collector. While I don’t think it was an accident that Jesus used one of the most hated occupations of that time to be the justified person in His parable, this man’s occupation is likely the least relevant part of his presence in this parable.

In Jesus’ parable, the tax collector receives just a single verse to describe how he approached God: “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” (v. 13)

When comparing how the Pharisee prayed with how this tax collector prayed, the tax collector simply has one request, and one word to describe himself. In this prayer, the tax collector asks for mercy and he recognizes himself as a sinner.

This prayer is powerful and praised by Jesus not only because Jesus says in verse 14 that this tax collector went home justified before God, but also because this prayer actually contains a request that only God can answer. Only God can give mercy to sinners, and God is happy to answer this request when the prayer has been given in a humble way.

Everything about this tax collector speaks about his need for God, and his desire for God’s help. The tax collector describes himself like God could describe everyone who has ever lived. At the very core of our relationship with God, we must all realize that we come before God as sinners – which is one way of saying that we are guilty of breaking God’s law.

By starting our relationship with God by recognizing this point, there is nothing we can truly do except ask Him for mercy. While the Pharisee probably would technically admit to being a sinner, he is too interested in making himself worthy of God’s favor based on acting righteously. In contrast, the tax collector realizes the only way He can hope to be accepted by God is if God is willing to show him mercy.

The challenge we all must realize is that nothing we can ever do will outweigh the debt of our life’s sin. The only way any of us can hope to be accepted by God, regardless of how good of a life we have lived, is by asking for His mercy and accepting Jesus into our lives. God has provided us mercy through Jesus’ sacrifice, and while it isn’t stated this clearly in Jesus’ parable, this tax collector was justified because He humbly requested God’s help.

In many ways, this fictional tax collector is the reason Jesus came. When we humbly ask God for help with the sin in our lives, we support Jesus’ mission to earth and the cross. God sent us mercy and help, and all we must do is humbly accept God’s gift through Jesus.

On the night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, He shares a significant last supper with His disciples. While all four gospel writers include this event, like usual, John writes about this event from a different angle than the rest. In John’s gospel record, we see an interesting verse that we might be tempted to skip over.

John tells us that “The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.” (v. 2)

While John does not give Judas Iscariot much mention during this event, from this statement, we can conclude two things. First, Judas Iscariot was there when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Second, we can conclude that Judas Iscariot had already made up his mind to betray Jesus.

It would have been simple for John to say that Judas had left if that were the case, but perhaps I wonder if John sensed something different about Judas during that meal. At the very least, the foot washing Judas experienced might have been the hardest thing he ever faced, knowing beforehand what he was going to do, and believing it to be a secret from everyone else present.

However, even more amazing than the realization that Jesus washed Judas’ feet on the night Judas would betray Him is the sobering warning about Judas being prompted by the devil. It would appear that Judas’ mind was already made up and that this was the night for him to act.

I find this verse sobering because it implies that Judas entertained the devil’s temptation and it was running through his mind during the whole meal. Judas’ decision then becomes a warning for all of us about a simple to understand, but difficult to apply truth about temptations: When we entertain the devil’s temptations in our minds, we trap ourselves into falling for what he has tempted us to do. Only by pushing back the moment we realize a temptation is present are we able to effectively fight and win the battle of self-control.

While reading the passage for this journal entry, a phrase jumped out at me. While I am sure that I’ve read it numerous times before, this particular time, it stood out as distinct.

The phrase is how this passage ends. The last portion of verse 20 says, “But no one arrested him, because the right time for him had not yet come.”

This stood out to me because John, the author of this gospel, is drawing our attention onto something significant: There were God-established times for each of the events in Jesus’ life. There was a time to grow (the younger years), a time to witness/preach/teach, a time to heal, and a time to be arrested (and be crucified).

In Jesus’ life, He had a lot of flexibility in how He ministered because He understood that nothing would happen to Him unless it was included in the God-approved events for His phase of life. Jesus was able to be free from worry because He had complete trust in the Father’s care.

This leads me to think about my life today, and it prompts me to ask myself some challenging questions:

• If God is in control and He had established times for Jesus’ life, does He have established times for my life?

• If so, knowing that everything that happens has passed the “God-allowed” test for this period of life, would that prompt me to live differently – maybe even more trusting and more fearlessly?

God has promised He will not allow anything beyond what we can handle to come our way, however, God may have a bigger idea of what can be handled than we do. Sometimes it feels like He pushes us out of our comfort zone this way – though in some cases, we could also understand this as God waking us up out of our state of laziness.

God didn’t allow Jesus to be arrested until the time was right, and He will never allow us to face anything in our current phase of life that didn’t pass His approved list of events for our lives.

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, as He is visiting Jerusalem for a festival, the gospel of John records a powerful discussion Jesus has with some Jews about Him and His ministry. In this discussion, we find Jesus pushing this crowd, and them missing Jesus’ point on several different points.

While talking about the truth setting people free, the Jews responded that they have never been slaves and that they are Abraham’s children. This statement might speak to their immediate lives, but not to the history of the Jewish nation, where slavery had been present on a number of occasions.

Picking up on this, Jesus tells this crowd a couple verses later: “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.” (v. 37-38)

The crowd responded by saying, “Abraham is our father.” (v. 39a)

Knowing what they were saying, but knowing how untrue they were, Jesus counters their statement by saying, “If you were Abraham’s children, then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father.” (v. 39b-41a)

Becoming more irritated at Jesus, the crowd protested, “We are not illegitimate children. The only Father we have is God himself.” (v. 41b)

Now that Jesus has their focus exactly where He wants it, He tells them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (v. 42-44)

In this challenge, Jesus calls these people out for being unable to hear what He is saying. Jesus attributes this to those present being children of the devil and not children of God the Father like they claimed to be. Jesus also challenges these people in regard to them looking for a way to kill Him. Jesus points out that because they are looking for a way to kill Him, they are more closely aligned with the devil, who is a murderer and a liar.

This conversation draws us to pay attention to an important point: Our actions speak louder than our words, and even though we can claim to follow God like these Jews, if our actions do not reflect God, we might have fallen into the trap these Jews fell into and be children of the devil. Jesus invites us out of sin and into a new life with God, and part of this new life is learning to reflect God accurately in our own lives.