Flashback Episode — Year 3 Finale: Part 2

Last week, we began our annual two-part finale by focusing on insights from the first half of our third year chronologically podcasting through events within Jesus life and ministry.

Before picking back up where we left off last week, let me give you a sneak peek at what is coming up for our podcasts in the next year or two. As you know if you have been listening for more than a few episodes, the past three years have been focused on moving chronologically through Jesus’ life, using the framework and timeline found within the Walking with Jesus Reflective Bible Study package.

However, instead of slowly moving through four years worth of material, and taking 4 long years to make it through Jesus’ life, I thought it would make sense and be more beneficial to spend four years moving through Jesus’ life with each year leading up to Jesus’ time on the cross.

Looking at our four-year plan, we have just finished our third year moving through the gospels in this way, and next year, we will wrap up this journey moving through Jesus’ life. The exciting part about next year is that the whole year will be focused on looking at events and details that these previous three years did not contain. While there are way more details for us to focus on than even four years would have time for, moving through the gospels in this way has been powerful, at least for me.

Looking past the fourth chronological year, I thought it would be neat to focus an entire year looking extra closely at Jesus’ crucifixion week. All four of the gospels devote a significant amount of space and detail to this portion of Jesus’ life, and I’m sure we would learn a lot moving through the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion together.

Thinking this far in advance is all very preliminary, and I have a whole year ahead of podcasting to think and plan for this. However, before that can happen, we need to pick back up where we left off last week and continue looking at insights from this past year of moving through the gospels together. Last week, we focused in on the first half of our episodes, and now let’s pick back up looking at insights, starting with episode 27.

In episode 27, we learned in an event focusing on Jesus visiting a Pharisee’s home that Jesus reserved His harshest words for those who kept others from seeing God’s love. Jesus’ challenge to all spiritual leaders, and really everyone who has been given a leadership role, is that they are given this role to help others. The religious leaders in the first century chose to bully and intimidate the people they were supposed to help.

Moving forward and into episode 28, when some people come to Jesus with a question about why some people died the way they did, we learned that a person’s death does not determine how good or bad their life was, but while a person is alive, repentance and turning towards God is crucial.

Jumping ahead to episode 32, where the religious leaders begin actively plotting for Jesus’ death, John taught us that regardless of whether someone, or a group of people, has aligned themselves for or against God, God is still able to use them for His purposes.

Episode 33, which looked at a parable Jesus spoke to some people who were self-righteous, taught us that while self-sufficiency might win points for us with culture, living a self-sufficient spiritual life leads to destruction, and in episode 34, we learned that focusing on someone else’s spiritual walk over our own will never lead us anywhere positive.

Jumping up to episode 37, which focused on the early part of crucifixion week and Jesus cursing a fig tree, we learned that when we live a life that is continually growing towards God, trusting Him with everything, and forgiving others without condition, we are being fruitful at the highest level possible, because these characteristics reflect God’s love towards us.

Episode 39 includes another one of those big, challenging insights as well. When looking at a question Jesus is asked about which commandment is the greatest, we learned that love is only as valuable as it is visible and helpful to others. Love that is hidden does not have any value in the big picture.

Moving ahead to episode 41, we looked at Jesus’ challenging parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids. In this parable and episode, we discovered that it is wise for us to plan for a time when we will fall asleep spiritually. Spiritually falling asleep is inevitable. But what ultimately matters is our planning on the front end, and the choices we make after we have been woken up. Never leave your post, because only when you are living for Jesus will He give you the Holy Spirit and let your life shine for others to see.

In episode 43, as we read about Jesus’ “new command to love each other”, we learned that the true test of whether we are Jesus’ disciples is if we will be loving towards others who call themselves followers of Jesus, but who look, live, believe, and/or act differently than we do. If we love like Jesus loved, we will look past our differences and towards how Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross unites us.

Episode 44 taught us in Jesus’ words to His followers on the night of His arrest that the more openly we live for Jesus, the more opposition from the world we will face – and that when opposition comes into our lives, we are not alone because God has promised to give us His Holy Spirit. Also in episode 44, Jesus taught us that if the world opposed Him for living within God’s plan for His life, it will oppose us for living God’s plan for our lives as well.

In episode 45, while Jesus is praying in Gethsemane, we learn that when we face temptation, the best place for us to surrender is into doing God’s will. While this is easier to say than it is to do, our prayers should always be prefaced with God’s will being done.

Episodes 46 and 47 both drew our attention onto the shaky foundation that the religious leaders built their case against Jesus on, and on how Satan was likely behind the mock worship that the Roman soldiers gave as they were torturing Him prior to the cross. But in both these cases, we learned that Jesus chose the time He came into this world, and He chose to face the worst abuse imaginable to help us see how much He loves each of us.

This last insight is the perfect one for us to end this third chronological year of podcasting through Jesus’ life by focusing on. As we have come to the end of another episode, and the end of another year podcasting about Jesus’ life, here are some challenges for you to remember as we remember Christmas and look forward to a new year:

Seek God first and foremost as we balance the spiritual and the commercial demands of this season. Remember that without Christmas, there would be no Easter, and without Easter, Christmas would be worthless. Choose to take some time this coming year to focus on what God truly gave when giving His Son into the world, and let the amazingness of God’s love fill your heart this season as well as this coming year.

Also, be sure to always continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself, so that you are intentionally growing closer to God and strengthening your relationship with Him each and every day.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!