Welcome to Cam’s Reflective Bible Study Journal

Cam’s Reflective Bible Study Journal is a blog/podcast where Cam, one of Reflective Bible Study's founders, shares things he has discovered from his time studying the Bible (usually from one or more of the four gospels).

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Learning from Andrew: John 1:35-51

Published October 17, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 1:35-51 (CEV)

35 The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. 36 When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God!” 37 John’s two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus.

38 When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, “What do you want?”

They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?” The Hebrew word “Rabbi” means “Teacher.”

39 Jesus replied, “Come and see!” It was already about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day.

40 One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, “We have found the Messiah!” The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same as the Greek word “Christ.”

42 Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, “Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.” This name can be translated as “Peter.”

43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Come with me.”

45 Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46 Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip answered, “Come and see.”

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn’t deceitful.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

49 Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. 51 I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

Read John 1:35-51 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

One of Jesus’ better known disciples was Andrew, and periodically we find him appearing by name in the various gospels. However, in the passage we are focusing in on in this entry, we have the first glimpse of this man who was one of the first disciples. When looking at what this passage tells us about Andrew, we see someone who we can definitely learn from.

The first thing we can see is what is implied at the beginning of this passage. Andrew was one of John the Baptist’s followers. He had paid attention to John’s preaching and knew that John was simply a forerunner for the promised Messiah that would come. It seems to me like Andrew followed because he wanted to learn who the Messiah was. If anyone would proclaim the Messiah, it would be the person God sent to announce Him – and Andrew knew this was John the Baptist’s role.

So when John does announce Jesus to be the Messiah, we can learn something else about Andrew.

The second thing we can learn from Andrew is the first thing He does – which is to leave John the Preacher and follow Jesus the Messiah. For Andrew, following Jesus was an intentional choice, and he and an unnamed disciple (who may have been John, the author of this gospel) chose to follow Jesus before Jesus called them to be disciple-apostles. Each of us must decide to intentionally follow Jesus and this often will happen prior to Jesus calling us to fill the role He created us to live.

The third thing we can learn from Andrew is the first thing He does after finding out where Jesus was staying. In verse 41, we read, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah!’ The Hebrew word ‘Messiah’ means the same as the Greek word ‘Christ.’” Andrew instinctively went and found someone and brought them to Jesus.

So in what we learn from Andrew, we have three stages of discipleship: Choosing to learn the identity of the Messiah is; choosing to follow the Messiah; and choosing to invite others to join the Messiah’s movement. Where are you in these stages?

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!

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Lessons from Two Vineyards: Isaiah 5:1-7

Published October 16, 2025 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue looking at connections between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry, and before moving forward to prophecies focused on the resurrection and beyond, I thought it would be worthwhile to step back and look at a fascinating parable Jesus shared that is connected with a prophecy found in the Old Testament.

However, while pausing our journey through Jesus’ death and resurrection to focus on this parable mght seem a little strange, hinted at in the conclusion of this parable are connections and foreshadowing of the resurrection. Also tucked within this parable was foreshadowing of Jesus’ death.

With this as our foundation, let’s read this Old Testament prophecy-illustration and discover what we can learn from how Jesus takes this idea and incorporates it into His teaching. Our passage and prophecy is found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 5, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, Isaiah writes:

1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.

3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
6 “I will lay it waste;
It will not be pruned or hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant.
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

In this ominous illustration found in Isaiah’s writing, we see God giving His nation every possible advantage, hoping that all the attention and blessings given to them would result in a positive outcome. However, what happened instead was the opposite.

Through what would easily be a very unpopular message, God predicts the rejection of a people who He gave every advantage and blessing.

Moving forward to the New Testament, nearing the weekend He would be crucified, Jesus had the opportunity to share an illustration that also touches on the theme of a vineyard. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 21, starting in verse 33, Matthew records Jesus teaching those present by saying:

33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

Let’s stop reading here and save the rest of this event for our next episode.

I suspect that some of you, when reading Jesus’ parable about the vineyard, will easily see the connection between it and the illustration that Isaiah shared. While there are clear differences, such as the focus of Isaiah’s parable being on the grapes the vineyard produced while Jesus’ parable focused on the evil hired tenants, the gist of both these parables is on how every opportunity and advantage was provided to those involved in this vineyard. Even with everything blessing and advantage being given to the grapes and the tenants, the ultimate result was not positive.

One thing I find amazing about this parable is that with the way Jesus frames the question He ends with, it implicates those who are listening to Him. While we will focus more on this point in our next episode, it is worth pointing out that Jesus asks the question about what the vineyard owner would do, and according to Matthew’s gospel, it is those listening to Jesus who respond that the vineyard owner would deal harshly with them.

It is also amazing to point out the interesting irony that in this illustration, Jesus clearly predicts His own death at the hands of the religious leaders. While this detail is often only briefly touched on, it is amazing in my mind that if the religious leaders wanted to avoid playing into Jesus’ prophetic hand, they would have taken Jesus’ words in this parable to heart, and simply rejected Him rather than plotted for His death.

I suspect that these leaders simply did not care if something Jesus predicted would ultimately come to pass, at least at that time, because they had already written Him off as not fitting their understanding of Messianic prophecies. One could make the case that one reason Jesus died was because the religious leaders were too focused on only one way of understanding the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. An equally valid similar idea is that Jesus died because the religious leaders focused more heavily on prophecies that sounded good, while discounting prophecies that pointed towards a suffering and crucified Messiah.

However, if we take a step back and learn the lessons that the past teaches us, we can avoid making the same mistakes that those in the past made. In the case of the vineyard, we can be better than the bitter grapes that were produced by valuing the blessings God has given to us. While sometimes God’s blessings come through trials, we can know and trust that everything God allows into our lives has a purpose, and that God’s ultimate purpose is saving us for eternity.

Also, in the case of the evil tenants, we can learn from their mistake by returning to God His portion of the things He has blessed us with. While the parable ends before the actual judgment has taken place, if we are left to conclude the parable the way the crowd’s suggestion goes, then the tenants who were given every opportunity ultimately lose everything. These tenants owned nothing to begin with while they thought they could claim everything as their own, and because of this attitude, they ultimately lose more than they had to begin with.

It is the same way with each of us. We have been blessed with more than we deserve through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. We began with nothing, and were given everything. While we have the temptation to discount Jesus’ gift to us, and claim we can earn 100% of salvation on our own, if we go down this road, we will ultimately lose out on everything.

The way out of this trap is to continually acknowledge God’s blessings in our hearts, minds, and lives, and to live with an open hand towards God, allowing Him to loan things to us and being willing to return the things He has loaned when He asks. Living with a gracious, generous, open hand towards God is the way to avoid falling in the trap of the evil tenants, and it is also the way to produce a great harvest of fruit in our lives – a harvest of spiritual fruit that reflects God’s character and love.

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

As I always open these challenges by saying in one way or another, intentionally seek God first, in your life and choose to live in a gracious, generous way towards God for all the ways He has blessed you with.

Continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God, and purposefully orient your life towards growing closer to Him.

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 walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Year of Prophecy – Episode 42: When stepping back to look at a parable Jesus shared and how it is very similar to an illustration found in the writings of Isaiah, discover how two similar, illustrative vineyards can teach us how God wants us to live our lives as followers of Jesus.

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Backwards Baptism: Matthew 3:13-17

Published October 15, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Matthew 3:13-17 (NASB)

When I read the details surrounding Jesus’ baptism, one thing I am amazed by is the reaction John the Baptist gives Jesus when He comes to be baptized.

It is one thing for a pastor or leader to push back on a baptism request because of something they see in the individual or in the request itself, but in John the Baptist’s case, he is presented with a unique problem.

If baptism is simply a public symbol of washing one’s past sins away, then Jesus would have had no reason to go into the water. In this respect, John the Baptist is completely justified in his response, “John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’” (v. 14)

But when we look at Jesus’ response, we see an interesting idea presented. Jesus answered John’s pushback by saying, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (v. 15) In Jesus’ response, it is like He is saying, “Let’s do it this way so I can be an example for others to follow.”

John was justified in his pushback. Of everyone who has ever lived, Jesus was the One person who did not need baptism, but at the opening of His ministry, Jesus chooses to be baptized, and one of the reasons for this is because He came to be our example. Jesus became our ultimate example in baptism even though John was technically correct that Jesus should be baptizing him.

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.

From the Bottom Up: Luke 2:1-20

Published October 14, 2025 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Luke 2:1-20 (NASB)

When I read about Jesus’ birth from the gospels, I am continually amazed at those who were chosen to be included. Not only were Mary and Joseph unknown at the time, but pretty much everyone outside of some key rulers and dignitaries are completely unknown to us today. If it had not been for this extraordinary birth, this young couple would have been unknown as well.

But there is another group of otherwise unknown people that our passage focuses in on: “In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.” (v. 8)

Mary and Joseph were handpicked by God to be humanity’s parents for Jesus, and it would seem that these shepherds were also picked by God for a reason. It seems completely backward to us, but sometimes God reveals His plans from the bottom up.

The role of a shepherd was one of the lowest status roles – and the night time shepherd was the lowest status of the shepherds. But it was to these shepherds that God sent an angel choir to. They were the ones God picked to welcome Jesus into the world. While the wise men would also arrive eventually, their trip was mainly because they saw the star and paid enough attention to check it out. The wise men acted on their suspicion that God was up to something – and they were right – but the shepherds were minding their own business and received a special visit from God’s messengers letting them know what was happening in the town nearby.

This leads me to understand that God sometimes reveals His plans from the bottom up. In our world, we typically think of a top-down leadership communication chain, where the big plans and important pieces of information travel from the management team or board members down through the company. But God acts differently. God started at the bottom, and He created a movement by inviting the most socially outcast people to be among the first to know.

Never think your position will invalidate God choosing you to share a message.

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.