You are browsing the Written Journal Entries

The Network Market Goal: Luke 14:7-24

Published January 3, 2024 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Luke 14:7-24 (GW)

7 Then Jesus noticed how the guests always chose the places of honor. So he used this illustration when he spoke to them: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding, don’t take the place of honor. Maybe someone more important than you was invited. 9 Then your host would say to you, ‘Give this person your place.’ Embarrassed, you would have to take the place of least honor. 10 So when you’re invited, take the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move to a more honorable place.’ Then all the other guests will see how you are honored. 11 Those who honor themselves will be humbled, but people who humble themselves will be honored.”

12 Then he told the man who had invited him, “When you invite people for lunch or dinner, don’t invite only your friends, family, other relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they will return the favor. 13 Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the handicapped, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then you will be blessed because they don’t have any way to pay you back. You will be paid back when those who have God’s approval come back to life.”

15 One of those eating with him heard this. So he said to Jesus, “The person who will be at the banquet in God’s kingdom is blessed.”

16 Jesus said to him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. 17 When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is ready now.’

18 “Everyone asked to be excused. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to see it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I bought five pairs of oxen, and I’m on my way to see how well they plow. Please excuse me.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I recently got married, and that’s why I can’t come.’

21 “The servant went back to report this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry. He told his servant, ‘Run to every street and alley in the city! Bring back the poor, the handicapped, the blind, and the lame.’

22 “The servant said, ‘Sir, what you’ve ordered has been done. But there is still room for more people.’

23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go to the roads and paths! Urge the people to come to my house. I want it to be full. 24 I can guarantee that none of those invited earlier will taste any food at my banquet.’”

Read Luke 14:7-24 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Have you ever been turned away from an event before?

Perhaps you arrived late and the doors were closed, perhaps you did not have a ticket or invitation, or maybe you were too far back in line and the room was already full by the time you arrived.

Whatever the case for being turned away is, it does not feel good – which makes me wonder why God, represented by the Master/Host in this parable, wants such a full banquet hall that “none of those invited earlier will taste any food at my banquet.” (v. 24)

It would appear as though simply turning people away because they rejected is not enough. It seems like He wants it so full that even if one of the earlier invitees reconsiders and shows up late, there wouldn’t be any room – even the “standing only” space would be all filled up.

This doesn’t seem like a loving, inclusive, and forgiving God – but then why would Jesus have spoken it? Why would God/Jesus be this bluntly exclusive to those who originally rejected the invitation?

I don’t know.

One reason for this might be because God had a different idea in mind for these original invitees. There is no way of knowing this within the decisions and details in the parable itself, but I wonder if the invitation itself asked the person being invited to also bring their friends.

If this were the case, the original invitees would have been responsible for filling up the banquet hall with their friends (and their friends of friends) and the Master would have had a full banquet hall without needing to bypass the original invitees. Because the original invitees reject the invitation, the Master goes around them to get to the people He wants to include.

If God gets irritated, this might be a place where we could see it. It seems as though the Master (i.e. God) is irritated because those He originally invited rejected the invitation and we see this in His desire to see the banquet hall so full that these people are excluded.

This brings me to our big idea: God wants us to be inclusive towards others and Him. We are to be matchmakers – connecting our friends to our God and Savior. It is not His intention that we keep our relationship with Him to ourselves.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.

Asymmetric Trust: John 2:13-25

Published January 2, 2024 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 2:13-25 (NIrV)

13 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courtyard he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So Jesus made a whip out of ropes. He chased all the sheep and cattle from the temple courtyard. He scattered the coins of the people exchanging money. And he turned over their tables. 16 He told those who were selling doves, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered what had been written. It says, “My great love for your house will destroy me.”

18 Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do this?”

19 Jesus answered them, “When you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again in three days.”

20 They replied, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple. Are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But the temple Jesus had spoken about was his body. 22 His disciples later remembered what he had said. That was after he had been raised from the dead. Then they believed the Scripture. They also believed the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Meanwhile, he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. Many people saw the signs he was doing. And they believed in his name. 24 But Jesus did not fully trust them. He knew what people are like. 25 He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. He already knew why people do what they do.

Read John 2:13-25 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

At Jesus’ first Passover feast following His baptism, John includes an interesting summary of what happened following Jesus’ infamous temple cleansing and challenge from the Jewish leaders. In this summary, we can see a clearer picture of Jesus’ character, and we can see better what Jesus is like.

To wrap up this chapter, John shares that while Jesus was in Jerusalem during this Passover Feast, many people saw what Jesus was doing and they believed in Him. But John tells us that “Jesus did not fully trust them. He knew what people are like. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. He already knew why people do what they do.” (v. 24-25)

If someone was looking for a reason to distrust Jesus, this might be it. After all, why fully trust someone who isn’t willing to fully trust you?

But this may actually be a bad comparison, because if I were to ask you if you fully trusted you, could you say that you did. Do you know what you would do if pressed to your limit? In some ways, Jesus knowing what is in our hearts and what make us untrustworthy actually helps the case for us fully trusting in Him.

A “not-fully-trusting-others” Jesus, however bad this may sound, can actually be an incredible statement about who God is and what He is really like. Satan would want us to read this and believe that because Jesus didn’t fully trust us, we shouldn’t fully trust in Him – but what Satan doesn’t want us to realize is that Jesus still came knowing we were untrustworthy!

God loved us so much that even while we were untrustworthy, Jesus came to make a way for us to be saved. After being betrayed and crucified, Jesus still loves us. Knowing that we would kill His Son and after it had happened, God still loves us. It is amazing when I look at these words and realize that when reading that Jesus didn’t fully trust people, it actually helps us realize how much more loving He is to have come in the first place! Jesus came and died for some untrustworthy people and this truth gives hope for you and for me!

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.

Seeing with Cloudy Eyes: Matthew 9:27-34

Published December 29, 2023 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Matthew 9:27-34 (NASB)

When we look out at the world today, there are about as many perspectives as there are people alive. Some of these perspectives are similar with one another on certain topics, while other perspectives may be polar opposite. Another way to describe the perspective we have on life is by describing it as a worldview.

Depending on one’s worldview will determine how they interpret an event that happens. One example of this from within the gospels is shared in Matthew’s record of Jesus’ life. Matthew describes one of Jesus’ miracle-healings and he then shares what the crowd’s response was to this miracle. “As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.’ But the Pharisees were saying, ‘He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.’” (v. 32-34)

The crowds were amazed by what they were seeing Jesus do. They search their memories and what they had been told about Israel’s history, and they were not coming up with any true comparison. This in itself made Jesus special, significant, and worthy of their attention.

But the Pharisees saw Jesus’ miracles differently. They told themselves that Jesus “casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” (v. 34)

These two groups of people saw the same set of actions and they had two completely opposite responses.

But what is interesting in this passage is that the Pharisees actually acknowledge the miracles Jesus was doing. They just attribute the source of these miracles to be Satan rather than God. They call these miracles tricks that were meant to deceive the people, and by doing so, they try to minimize who Jesus was.

In this passage are the two extremes people can take regarding Jesus. Either Jesus was God’s Son and He gained His power from God, or Jesus was the greatest imposter or trickster ever to walk the face of the earth. When we read the gospel record, there is no room left for middle ground.

Was Jesus a great teacher? Absolutely – if you believe that He was God’s Son. If Jesus was the trickster, then everything He taught would be up for debate, and none of it should be trusted.

When we look at Jesus’ ministry, there isn’t room for Him to simply be a teacher and healer and not anything else. The only way people can have this belief is if they have never actually read the gospels themselves personally. Society has picked and chosen certain teachings of Jesus and elevated them in an attempt to make Jesus a teacher/preacher, but then it has pushed the rest of His ministry aside in hopes that people won’t look deeper at His life.

But every one of us must make a decision in our own lives: Was Jesus simply a man who came to deceive people and trick a generation of people in the first century, or was Jesus God’s own Son who came to show us what God is like – and who came to give His life for us? This is something everyone will be expected to answer when history comes to a close.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.

Equal Opportunity Includer: Mark 9:33-37

Published December 27, 2023 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Mark 9:33-37 (NIV)

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Read Mark 9:33-37 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Have you ever wanted to welcome God into your life, or serve Him with how you live?

In this passage about humility, we find an interesting metaphor for how we can welcome God: We welcome God by welcoming children, and not just any children, but specifically “little children”.

I’m not sure exactly how old of a child Jesus selected, but in my imagination, this child might have been in the age range that they want to know “why” about everything. At this age, the child is an empty cup that wants to be filled with all knowledge of the world around them, and they finally have the language and intellectual development to want to learn more. The child is like a black hole for information; they are always taking in more and more while never being fully satisfied.

However, it is in this phase of development where parents might become the most annoyed, which is why my imagination places Jesus choosing a “little” child in that phase of development and makes the statement: If you welcome the least appealing child, whether they be an “ugly” child, or an annoying one, you are welcoming Jesus – and not only Jesus, but also God as well.

In this dialog, Jesus is stressing the point that how we treat others, interact with them, and/or welcome them into our lives is equivalent to us treating God that way. By welcoming little children into our lives, homes, and situations, we are welcoming God in as well. God is honored when we honor others.

God values everyone, He welcomes everyone, and Jesus died to open salvation up for everyone. God is an equal opportunity includer, and he wants each of us to be includers as well.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.