Reflective Bible Study

We have covered most parts of this passage in previous journal entries, but there is still one piece left: the crowd’s reaction – which has been recorded in both Luke and Matthew.

Matthew tells us broadly that, “When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.” (Matthew 22:33)

We see here Jesus taught things from a completely different perspective than the perspective the other religious teachers taught from – and this new perspective, including the truth it contained, was astonishing to those in the crowds.

But that is not the only reaction. Luke’s reaction verse brings a little more information about how those who brought Jesus the question responded to His answer. Luke says, “Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Luke 20:39-40)

Luke frames the leaders as caught off guard. About the only response they have is a perplexed compliment, as if to say, “We’d never looked at that passage that way before.” While Jesus taught, He seemed to always be trying to shift people’s perspective from an earthly one to a heavenly one.

• Instead of looking at a situation from where we are on earth, look at it from heaven’s perspective.

• Instead of looking at life in the immediate moment, whether that is the current hour, day, week, or year, look instead from the viewpoint of heaven – the viewpoint of eternity.

• Instead of looking at the scriptures as a collection of verses that we can pick and choose from, look at all verses and passages as pieces of an eternal story of how God is moving and interested in this world.

Luke concludes this passage with the comment that from this point on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions. It would seem that at this point, after numerous challenges and questions, and Jesus always being a step ahead with a perfect response, that the religious leaders and teachers would have already picked up on the futility of trying to trap Him. But instead, it takes Jesus perspective shifting the entire foundation of the Sadducee school of thought to wake all the religious leaders up to the idea that He saw life, scripture, and truth from a completely different perspective.

At this point, they give up trying to trap Him and begin the early stages of thinking about killing Him. They realized that they would not be able to discredit Him, so the next best solution would be to get rid of Him by taking His life. However, the irony of that move is that Jesus actually came to give up His life.

In our own lives, are we too caught up in thinking at things from our human perspective?

What would happen if we saw life through God’s heavenly, eternity-filtered perspective?

Would that change our hearts to be more like His?

In Jesus’ trial before Pilate, each of the gospel writers focuses on the event in a slightly different way. In Luke’s gospel, we see Pilate trying to give a judgment that tries to balance his belief in Jesus’ innocence and the crowd’s demands for death.

Luke tells us that Pilate called everyone together and said to them, “You brought me this man. You said he was turning the people against the authorities. I have questioned him in front of you. I have found no basis for your charges against him. Herod hasn’t either. So he sent Jesus back to us. As you can see, Jesus has done nothing that is worthy of death. So I will just have him whipped and let him go.” (v. 14-17)

Luke tells us that Pilate kept trying to convince the crowd, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. “But with loud shouts they kept calling for Jesus to be crucified. The people’s shouts won out. So Pilate decided to give them what they wanted.” (v. 23-24)

Pilate really wanted to release Jesus, but keeping peace in the region, especially with this irrational and angry crowd, was more important than the life of an innocent Man. Pilate bends to the pressure of the people and gives them what they wanted.

I wonder if Pilate ever looked back on this decision with regret. We may never know, but in our own lives, each of us faces the pressure to do what we know isn’t right. Pilate clearly stated that Jesus was innocent of the charges, but even though Pilate tries to distance himself from the crowd’s demands by washing his hands (which Matthew includes in his event), Pilate cannot avoid responsibility for Jesus’ death.

The crowd’s demands won out because Pilate decided to give them what they wanted. In this action, Jesus’ death was not only at the hands of the Jewish leaders and the Jewish people, but also at the hands of the Roman leaders. When Pilate caved in, he symbolically brought Rome (representing all non-Jews) into the group of those responsible for Jesus’ death.

In Pilate’s decision during Jesus’ trial, we can learn a valuable lesson: The only way to truly live a life free from regrets is to always do what we know to be right in the time – regardless of the consequences. Pilate failed to do so in this trial, and this event likely clouded the remainder of his rule in Judea. We don’t have to make the same mistake he did. In our own lives, even when it is difficult, we should choose the option that we know in our hearts is right.

During Jesus’ crucifixion, I am fascinated at the detail Mark shares that Jesus’ clothes were divided up among the soldiers and they threw lots to determine who would get what. Mark specifically tells us: “The soldiers crucified Jesus and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing lots to decide what each soldier would get.” (v. 24)

This stands out in my mind because even 1 year later, Jesus’ clothing would have been incredibly valuable for sentimental reasons, and no later than two centuries later, it would have likely been preserved by the early church.

Now about twenty centuries later, Jesus’ clothing might be the most valuable religious object to exchange hands in a transaction. If one could verify that the garment was really Jesus’, then the dusty old robe would be worth millions – maybe even billions.

But the robe was gambled for and won by a soldier who probably sold it off for next to nothing at the market. In the soldier’s eyes, this garment was nothing more than a robe of a convicted felon, even if this felon was rumored to have risen from the dead just a few days after His death.

This illustration goes to show how value is very subjective to those making deals. What for us living today to be virtually priceless, those who had it in the first century didn’t place much value on it.

The same could be said for our relationship with God and our spiritual growth. If we minimize or don’t value it, it will have almost no impact on our lives. But if we value it, focus on it, nurture it, and want it to grow, then our relationship with God will transform our life – and we will truly become the person God created us to be!

This entry’s passage is just the first piece of a much longer passage where Jesus unpacks some of what will be coming down history’s timeline: Persecution, wars, rumors, famines, earthquakes, and more.

The specific detail that we will focus on in this entry has to do with a short phrase related to the timing. In verse 9, we read “When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.” [Italicized words not in original Greek]

In this verse, Jesus is describing something that will happen before the end. But it gets even a little more interesting when we compare how Luke starts verse 12 when comparing it to the other gospels with this teaching: “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake . . .” (v.12)

Luke’s passage places the persecution Jesus’ followers face before the wars that happen before the end, while Matthew indicates that it happens afterward (Matthew 24:9) and Mark phrases it in a way that could mean at any or every point in time in history (Mark 13:9).

What this tells me is not that the gospel writers are confused by Jesus’ words, but there could easily be more present in Jesus’ predictions. For example:

• Using Mark’s version, we can understand Jesus to be saying there will always be people/nations that are not accepting of the gospel, and at any point, we could be called to give a defense;

• Using Luke’s version, we could look at points in history where the followers of Jesus were persecuted in major ways, and there are plenty of examples of this;

• Using Matthew’s version, we can understand that in the future, there may be one big push to get rid of all of Jesus’ followers.

While the three gospels that include this teaching all are unique, they all give a different credible angle to Jesus’ words, and I believe that even though each is distinct on this point, they are all true predictions.

In these three gospels we have past, present, and future persecution – all happening before and during the end. Persecution does not provide a safe foundation to lean on when determining where we are in history’s timeline. Persecution fulfills a different task – prompting us to ask God how long will He wait to return and giving us the opportunity to be like Jesus and let the Holy Spirit speak through us.

This discussion pushes me to one big conclusion: Don’t be stressed out or worried about where we are in history. Jesus shares things in this passage that let us know we are at the beginning of the end or before the end itself. That means we still have time; we still can share Jesus to others; we can still fulfill Jesus’ great commission. Our primary focus should always be pointed to Jesus and moving forward with the mission He has given to each of us.