Reflective Bible Study

Have you ever wanted to do something, but were scared of the consequences or reaction of others?

If so, you have something in common with a group of people in this post’s passage. In verse 42 and 43 we read: “Even then, many Jewish authorities believed in Jesus; but because of the Pharisees they did not talk about it openly, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue. They loved human approval rather than the approval of God.”

What this says about human nature is important. At every moment, we all are prioritizing people and ideas in our minds. At each point of our day, we are choosing to focus on something/someone/some idea and not on others. These Jewish authorities believed in Jesus, but their belief was second to receiving human praise. Their focus on praise was more important than their focus on Jesus.

Immediately following John’s description of this group of authorities, Jesus addresses a category of people in his next paragraph – however, this category at first sounds different. Jesus speaks a challenge towards those who hear His words, but choose to not obey them.

Is a private, personal belief in Jesus important? Yes!

Is a private, personal belief in Jesus the goal – the end place where God wants to take you and I? Nope.

Jesus knows that belief and faith are best lived out from a strong, private + personal foundation, but in a way that is visible to others. Obedience becomes meaningless when it is subjective to the popular opinion of the culture/crowd or when it is so hidden that our lives look identical to those without it.

Human nature pulls us towards conforming to a crowd. It might be a crowd of people who believe they are mainstream, or a crowd of people who think they are being different and challenging the system. It could be a crowd in a church, or a crowd of a large denomination, or a crowd that make up a major worldview. The crowd could be 10 people or 10 million.

But human nature is deceitful in this conformity. Even if we are caught up in a crowd that is leading us along a positive path – a path of making great decisions and growing closer to Jesus – the temptation is to ignore the personal foundation which the crowd cannot help us with. The personal foundation is where we remain personally connected to Jesus, and while it is the part of our relationship that matters the most, it is still just one part.

The Jewish authorities who believed reflect those of us who may at times feel that we better keep our beliefs hidden, for fear of what others may think. It is belief that is looking for the safe road forward, and for the greatest number of people to like us, but in the end, this safe road erodes our personal foundation as we lose ourselves in the crowd we have chosen.

At every moment, we are prioritizing people and ideas in our minds. The tendency is to model the people/ideas we prioritize and give our focus to. It is then up to us to prioritize Jesus – and visible obedience to Him – that keeps the foundation of our lives strong and secure.

During Jesus’ first big message directed at His closest twelve followers, Jesus shares some interesting ideas. As Jesus’ followers many centuries and generations later, focusing on what Jesus told His first followers has incredible relevance if we want to be as dedicated to Christ as they were after His resurrection.

Matthew, who was present for this big message as one of the twelve, wrote down this message, and included is a really significant statement: “No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master.” (v. 24)

In every area of life, this principle holds true. Teachers are responsible for their students, employers are responsible for their employees, masters are responsible for their servants/slaves, and parents are responsible for their children. The word “greater” in this context doesn’t necessarily mean that they are just responsible for someone else, but that the nature of each role places one person in a more significant position than another.

This principle sounds obvious, but when we place Jesus in the role of teacher and master, things seem to get tricky. While we are quick to point out the obvious truth that no one can be more important or significant than Jesus, when He tells us things that we don’t agree with, too often we discount or ignore Him as though He doesn’t know what He is talking about. We love the places that Jesus makes us feel good about His acceptance, but we shy away from the places He challenges us to obey and live differently.

Jesus follows this principle up with another statement that helps explain this idea further. Jesus continues by saying, “So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master.” (v. 25a)

This statement is the key for this entire concept. If someone called the master a horrible name, those under that master will also get horrible names thrown at them. This simple example emphasizes the point that as “students” and “slaves” of Jesus, there is no way we should think we could be greater than He is. Instead, we should focus on simply becoming like Him.

The role of a disciple was to become like the teacher. By following and living with the teacher, the disciple would learn all the details and nuances of how the teacher lived and incorporate those things into his/her life. Simply modeling Jesus should be enough to satisfy us. While Jesus hinted at His disciples doing even greater works than He did, this shouldn’t be our focus for joining the Christian movement.

Instead, the Christian movement should be filled with students who are simply trying to become more like Jesus, who is our Teacher and our Master – not with people who have a point to prove or a statement to make against someone else. Non-Christ-like actions have no place among those who call themselves Christians, Christ-followers, or disciples. If Jesus loved those who society, religion, and culture have rejected, then we are called to love them as well – regardless of whether they return love towards us. At its core, this is what it means to be like Jesus.

During one of the meals Jesus was invited to with some Pharisees, Luke tells us that the host is surprised (and maybe even a little offended) when Jesus doesn’t ceremonially wash before the meal. In response Jesus challenges several issues that God had with how the Pharisees were living their lives and acting towards others.

However, at this meal were more than just Pharisees. Luke describes another group who were offended with Jesus’ words. “An authority on the law spoke to Jesus. He said, ‘Teacher, when you say things like that, you say bad things about us too.’” (v. 45)

Whether the authority on the law (i.e. a lawyer) expected Jesus to shift His attention onto his group or not, it seems as though this statement extends the invitation to challenge this other group of people present at this meal.

However, while Jesus has a challenge for this group, it is interesting in my mind that simply by speaking up, we see a subtle thing happening in what Jesus was doing. In Jesus’ challenges to the Pharisees, He was convicting those present of the sin in their lives, and He was challenging them all to live to a much higher standard than they were living at that time.

While the challenging statements Jesus made may have sounded mean, they are meant to redirect those present towards God’s ideal rather than simply being insults that have no redeemable characteristics.

In Jesus’ challenge, He opened the door for the Holy Spirit to convict those present of the sin in their lives, and when the lawyer speaks up about how Jesus’ remarks also sound relevant to him, this shows that the Holy Spirit was convicting him of sins that he was holding onto in his heart.

After this meal, Luke tells us that the Pharisees and lawyers set out to trick, trap, and oppose Jesus. Maybe Jesus came on too strong with His words, or maybe the Holy Spirit’s conviction hardened the hearts of these leaders and closed their minds off to the truth about who Jesus came to be.

Reading this event helps remind me that when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we can either choose to reject what the Holy Spirit is showing us (which is what these religious leaders did), or we can choose to reject the sin by repenting and move closer to Jesus. Jesus had intended to help these leaders grow towards God’s ideal, but they instead decided to keep their sin and reject God’s Messiah.

Often, when I am reading a passage in the Bible about a specific event, and then compare it with other gospels that also include it, a word or phrase in one of the gospel accounts jumps out at me. With the transfiguration event on the mountain – something that three of the four gospels include – Luke’s gospel wins with a unique phrase that the other gospel’s don’t include.

In Luke’s gospel, we read that when God the Father comes in the cloud and speaks in verse 35, He says, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen . . .” Some other translations say instead “My chosen One”, while the other two gospels instead say “whom I love”.

Don’t miss this distinction, because it is powerful: God chose Jesus. God chooses people who He loves and He loves people who He chooses.

It is easy for us to picture God the Father having love for Jesus the Son, but too often we stop there and miss the other side of the coin: God chose Jesus. Perhaps we don’t like thinking about this idea from this angle, because it implies that God could have chosen to not choose Jesus, but even on this line of thinking, we see a powerful part of God’s character. God chooses people based on His view of history, not based on our view – and once He has chosen someone, He will not “unchoose” them.

This is easy to grasp when looking at God the Father, and at Jesus the Son, but what about you and me? Are we left to wonder where we stand in God’s eyes?

Nope. Jesus came to show us the Father, and He died to show us how much love the Father has for each of us. This demonstration of God’s love has other implications: God chooses people who He loves and He loves people who He chooses.

If Jesus came and died for you (which is 100% true), then equally true is the idea that God loves you – and if God loves you, then He has chosen you. This could be choosing you to be someone special/significant, to do something subtle/important for Him, or to be an example for others by leaning on Him for strength in your weakness.

God chose Jesus for a task that only He could do. God chooses you and I for tasks that He specifically created us to do.