Reflective Bible Study

As we continue in Luke’s gospel, we come to a part of Luke’s writing where he shares several of Jesus’ big teaching points. It is quite likely Jesus shared these truths at multiple times in His ministry, and some of what Luke assembled for our passage in this episode may share the same themes as other teaching in other gospels but what Luke describes may have been shared at different points in Jesus’ ministry.

However, before thinking that Jesus’ message is reserved for only those who walked the earth during the first century, realize that what Jesus shares here may be one of the most relevant messages our world needs to hear today.

With that said, let’s dive in to our passage. Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read from the God’s Word Translation. Starting in verse 37, Luke tells us Jesus taught the crowds saying:

³⁷ “Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and you will receive. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your pocket. The standards you use for others will be applied to you.”

³⁹ Jesus also gave them this illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t both fall into the same pit? ⁴⁰ A student is no better than his teacher. But everyone who is well-trained will be like his teacher.

⁴¹ “Why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer’s eye and not notice the wooden beam in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to another believer, ‘Friend, let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer’s eye.

Let’s pause reading here for a moment, because two things Jesus has shared jumped out at me. Actually we probably could stop reading here, because in these few verses we could have several full length sermons about, however, for our time together, I want to draw our attention onto two big things.

Our passage opened with the words, “Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive.” The essence of this message Jesus shares is that “the standards you use for others will be applied to you”.

This is significant for us to pay attention to, because if we are quick to judge, quick to belittle, or quick to condemn someone else, then we shouldn’t be surprised when we are judged, belittled, and condemned quickly. In contrast, if we forgive others without condition, love those who don’t deserve love, and give everyone in our lives the benefit of a doubt, then we can expect to receive forgiveness, love, and be given the benefit of a doubt ourselves.

Some of you might be thinking that you’ve tried this and it hasn’t worked. Know that if we act this way towards others and we don’t receive the same measure in return, trust that God will use the measure we used when He comes to judge. In the big picture, the only thing that matters from eternity’s perspective is what God thinks and how God judges. Jesus has promised us that we can change the measure God uses to judge through the way we interact with others.

The other big idea in this first section of our passage is closely connected to the first. When Jesus starts talking about looking at a speck of sawdust in another believer’s eye while having a wooden beam in your own eye, this challenges us with the truth that we should be significantly more focused on the issues in our own lives than we are with the issues in other peoples’ lives.

Most people judge what they see others doing while they want to be judged by their intentions, but this is a double standard. If we judge others by their actions, we will be judged by our actions regardless of our intentions, whether we like it or not. Our energy is best spent looking at the weak areas of our own lives because the only person that can remove the symbolic wooden beam from your eye is you, after you have acknowledged its presence.

With God’s help, we can remove the wooden beam from our own lives and then live a life that blesses others.

Continuing reading, Jesus shares another powerful set of ideas. Jumping back in at verse 43, Luke tells us Jesus continued, saying:

⁴³ “A good tree doesn’t produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree doesn’t produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is known by its fruit. You don’t pick figs from thorny plants or grapes from a thornbush. ⁴⁵ Good people do the good that is in them. But evil people do the evil that is in them. The things people say come from inside them.

Pausing briefly again, this truth we just read is so powerful. Even when we want others to look at our intentions, the only standard that we can be fairly measured against is our actions. Jesus tells us that good things are done by good people, while evil people do evil things. The words that come from someone’s mouth, or you could say that the words that a person writes, whether with a pen or on a computer, whether offline or online, the words come from inside them.

Many people have become professionals at looking one way in public but they act a different way in private. This means that how someone acts in private is a better indicator of what is in their heart. While it is harder to see someone’s private life than their public one, know that people can only live dual lives for so long. Eventually, one life will win out, and eventually the public life will affect the private life, or the private life will spill into the public life.

Let’s finish our passage and look at one of Jesus’ most famous illustrations. Continuing in verse 46, Jesus asks the question:

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me Lord but don’t do what I tell you?

⁴⁷ “I will show you what everyone who comes to me, hears what I say, and obeys it is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a person who dug down to bedrock to lay the foundation of his home. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house. But the house couldn’t be washed away because it had a good foundation. ⁴⁹ The person who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it is like someone who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The floodwaters pushed against it, and that house quickly collapsed and was destroyed.”

In this conclusion, I am always amazed by the contrast present. The contrast in Luke’s version of the two homes is not two houses that are built in different locations, but simply two houses that are built next to each other but with each having a different foundation.

The only difference between these houses is the foundation, and the only difference between the people each home represents is obedience. Jesus describes the first group as “everyone who comes to me, hears what I say, and obeys it”. This first group has a solid foundation that survives a flood.

Jesus describes the second group as a “person who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it”. Both groups hear Jesus’ words; the only difference is obedience. Obeying Jesus leads to a flood-proof foundation for our lives!

Nowhere in this passage are we promised safety from floods. Instead, we are challenged with the big truth of how to structure our lives so that the floods of life don’t sweep us away.

Before wrapping up this episode, I want to point us back to the irony in Jesus’ question leading into this illustration. In verse 46, Jesus asks His followers “Why do you call me Lord but don’t do what I tell you?”

This challenge is just as applicable today as it was when Jesus first spoke these words. If we are going to call Jesus the Lord of our lives, then we should obey His teaching. While there is way more involved than simply a checklist of things to do or don’t do, the most important thing for us to do is to study what Jesus taught and to apply the instructions Jesus gave into our lives.

Christians who ignore Jesus’ teachings are imposters. They risk having their spiritual homes swept away when the floods Jesus spoke of come. Don’t simply listen to Jesus. Apply the truth He teaches into your life and build a solid foundation of obedience that will weather life’s storms!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue seeking God first in your life and choose to accept and apply Jesus’ teaching into your life. While many things Jesus shares are challenging, applying Jesus’ teachings are the only way to lay a flood-proof foundation for our lives.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself, and discover through the pages of God’s Word the truths Jesus wants us to focus in on. Discover for yourself what Jesus teaches and don’t let someone else dictate to you what you should believe about Jesus.

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 get flooded out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Picking back up where we left off of in our last episode, we continue looking at a set of prophecies that focus on John the Baptist stepping into history as Jesus’ forerunner in ministry. In our last episode, we looked at a prophecy in Isaiah that John used to frame his ministry. And in this episode, we’ll look at a prophecy that other people, specifically Jesus, frame John to be.

However, before looking at Jesus’ words about John, let’s first read the Old Testament prophecy that will be the foundation for this topic. This prophecy and our passage is found in the book of Malachi, chapter 4, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, Malachi writes:

¹ “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” ² “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. ³ You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

⁴ “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

⁵ “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ⁶ He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Similar to how the prophecy in our last episode can be interpreted in a broader context than simply looking at Jesus’ first coming, I can easily see how this prophecy in Malachi could have multiple ways it could be fulfilled.

Personally, if I imagine the time when history is over and eternity has begun, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn how this prophecy had several times when it was fulfilled, because at its essence, this prophecy draws our focus onto God sending an Elijah-like prophet into the world prior to doing anything big in the world. Jesus arriving into this world to bring about salvation is huge, and it is worth sending someone ahead of Him to prepare the way. Jesus returning to the earth at the end of time is another time that I could see warranting an Elijah-like prophet to warn people what would be coming soon.

However, while there are several ways this prophecy could be understood, when we look at how Jesus frames John’s life, we get an interesting picture.

In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 11, starting in verse 11, Matthew writes Jesus’ words, saying:

¹¹ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. ¹³ For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In this declaration to Jesus’ disciples after John’s disciples had left to deliver a message from Jesus to John, Jesus draws attention onto John being Elijah.

However, in the crazy world we live in where people like to cherry-pick passages out of the Bible to support their claims, I have read non-Christians use this verse to support the idea of reincarnation, specifically that Jesus made the claim that John was actually a reincarnated Elijah.

The only way this claim makes sense is if someone is vastly ignorant of the Old Testament Elijah and the New Testament teachings of Jesus. In the Old Testament, Elijah did not die. Instead, he was carried to heaven in a whirlwind and a fiery chariot. If you are interested in looking this event up, it can be found in 2 Kings, chapter 2, verses 1 through 14.

In order to be reincarnated, one must have at least physically died, or at least that is how I understand it. Since Elijah did not physically die, that presents a problem for this claim of reincarnation.

Moving forward into the New Testament, to the passage we looked at in our last episode, John himself does not claim to be Elijah. In John 1:19-23, we read John the Baptist’s own words where John the gospel writer tells us:

¹⁹ This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Both the Old and New Testaments challenge this example as supporting the idea of reincarnation, and John the Baptist would be the one most clearly informed about whether he was actually Elijah or not.

Instead, Luke frames John the Baptist’s life and ministry a little differently, and in a way that is less likely to be misunderstood. In Luke, chapter 1, starting in verse 8, prior to John even having been born, Luke tells us:

⁸ Now it happened that while he [referring to Zacharias, who would become John the Baptist’s father] was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, ⁹ according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. ¹¹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹² Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. ¹⁴ You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

In Malachi’s prophecy, which is found at the very end of the Old Testament, we discover a powerful prediction about God sending a forerunner ahead of Jesus stepping into the world. This forerunner would fulfill the spiritual role that Elijah filled, and he would help prepare those who would listen to the truth that God’s Messiah had entered the world. In this way, John filled Elijah’s spiritual shoes, or you could say Elijah’s mission, while technically not being Elijah himself.

Just like our prophecy in our last episode has relevance for people living outside of the first century, this prophecy is equally as powerful. Looking at Malachi’s words promising a messenger coming prior to God’s Day of Judgment, we can step into this Elijah-like role when we help others turn to, or perhaps turn back to, God.

God has promised to send messengers prior to Him stepping into the world in a big way, and we can collectively step into this role when we help each other turn towards God while also turning away from sin.

When we lead people to Jesus, not only are we increasing the number of people who will be saved, we are also living our lives in the spirit and power of Elijah as we look forward to the day Jesus will return and the day when sin will be wiped into the past.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to move forward in your life in the spirit and power of Elijah, focusing your heart and life on God while also leading others to Jesus.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to keep your connection with God strong, and to keep your relationship with Him personal. While other people can have good things to think about, don’t let your relationship with God be dependent on anyone else. Don’t let anyone squeeze their way between you and God. God wants a personal relationship with you and Jesus came to make that relationship possible.

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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!