Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Power from God: John 19:1-16

Published August 30, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 19:1-16 (NIrV)

¹Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. ²The soldiers twisted thorns together to make a crown. They put it on Jesus’ head. Then they put a purple robe on him. ³They went up to him again and again. They kept saying, “We honor you, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

⁴Once more Pilate came out. He said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” ⁵Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Then Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. I myself find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a law. That law says he must die. He claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. ⁹He went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus. But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you understand? I have the power to set you free or to nail you to a cross.”

¹¹Jesus answered, “You were given power from heaven. If you weren’t, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹²From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free. But the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is against Caesar!”

¹³When Pilate heard that, he brought Jesus out. Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat. It was at a place called the Stone Walkway. In the Aramaic language it was called Gabbatha. ¹⁴It was about noon on Preparation Day in Passover Week.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Should I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶Finally, Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be nailed to a cross.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.

Read John 19:1-16 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Of all the gospel writers to include Jesus’ trial, John’s perspective on these events is more unique from the other three gospel writers. In John’s gospel, we get to peek into Jesus’ conversation with Pilate that happened behind closed doors, and we also get a glimpse of the actual charge the religious leaders give to Pilate for their demands of death.

Part way through the trial, John tells us that the religious leaders give their real reason for demanding Jesus’ death. After Pilate restates that he found no fault in Jesus, the Jewish leaders replied, “We have a law. That law says he must die. He claimed to be the Son of God.” (v. 7)

When Pilate heard this, John says that he was even more afraid. He brings Jesus back into the palace and asks Him, “Where do you come from?” (v. 9)

But Jesus remains silent, which both confuses and angers Pilate. Pilate continues with another question, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you understand? I have the power to set you free or to nail you to a cross.” (v. 10)

It is then that Jesus gave an answer, and His answer is amazing given the circumstances. Jesus replied, “You were given power from heaven. If you weren’t, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (v. 11)

Jesus reminds Pilate of something that Pilate already knows, but Jesus frames it in a different way. Jesus essentially reminds Pilate that everything he has been given as governor of Judea is because of God. Pilate may believe in the Roman collection of gods, but the same truth is present: Pilate is in the position he is in because he gained favor from a higher authority.

In this response, Jesus acknowledges Pilate’s position, but He frames it as not being number one. Jesus frames the Highest Authority in heaven as giving Pilate the power to decide Jesus’ fate. While Pilate initially claimed to have the power, Jesus reminded him that the power he is referring to is really a gift from God.

But Jesus subtly minimizes Pilate’s role in how He concludes. Jesus tells Pilate that because of the power given to him from Heaven for this event and decision, he will be guilty of sin for this, but “the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (v. 11)

Pilate was one of the few people who really got the picture of who Jesus was, and it scared him. Jesus was different from all the others that he had sentenced to death. It was like Jesus expected it, even though nothing said that He deserved it. Perhaps this is because Jesus kept His focus on what would happen after the cross and after His death – and maybe on even what His death would ultimately accomplish.

Jesus faced death knowing that it meant opening the way for our salvation. Those who judged Jesus as guilty were themselves guilty of sin, but Jesus was willing to look past their actions to what their actions would accomplish. When we ultimately face death, we too can look past it and see the future life Jesus has accomplished for each of us!

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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Friends of God: John 15:1-27

Published August 29, 2024 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue focusing on Jesus’ last big teaching to His remaining disciples on the night of His arrest, we come to a promise Jesus shares that is also framed with a challenge. I suspect that this promise stays true while we are following through with Jesus’ challenge, but that when we give up on Jesus’ challenge, we fail to receive what Jesus promised to us.

With that said, let’s dive into this passage and discover what we can learn in what Jesus shared with His remaining followers. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John records Jesus saying:

¹“I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain joined to me, just as I also remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

⁵“I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain joined to me, and I to you, you will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me. ⁶If you don’t remain joined to me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be done for you. ⁸When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.

⁹“Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that you will have the same joy that I have. I also want your joy to be complete. ¹²Here is my command. Love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit that will last. I also appointed you so that the Father will give you what you ask for. He will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ¹⁷Here is my command. Love one another.

¹⁸“My disciples, does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰Remember what I told you. I said, ‘A slave is not more important than his master.’ If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴I did works among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those works. And still they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’

²⁶“I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me. ²⁷You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.

In this passage, Jesus challenges His disciples with the illustration of a vine and its branches. The challenge for us in this illustration is that as branches, the only way we will have life that allows us to be fruitful is when we stay connected to the vine, and the vine in this illustration is Jesus.

Throughout this passage, we are called to be fruitful for God, to be witnesses for Him, and to let Him give us life. When we are being witnesses for God, being fruitful for Him with the life He has given to each of us, we are bringing glory to God the Father, and fulfilling the mission He has placed us on this earth to fulfill. Tucked within this passage is the powerful life mission that we are called to give glory to God by being fruitful with the things He has blessed us with.

Also within this passage is a powerful promise. In verse 15, Jesus tells us that: “I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father.”

If we are ever tempted to think that God created us to simply be His slaves, Jesus challenges this lie clearly in this verse. If God wanted slaves, He would have created humanity in a very different way – and if this other way allowed us fail the test of sin, God would have responded in a very different way as well. While it is not ideal to think about, slaves are treated differently than friends.

Jesus instead frames the way God sees us as friends. While one way of looking at friendship is two equals who enjoy spending time together, I suspect the friendship we have with God is more like a King being friends with those who He enjoys spending time with. It would also be like the CEO of a company being friends with someone several levels down in the organization.

In these clearly unequal examples of friendship, we discover that we are not equal friends with God, but that He desires us to be His friends, and that He blesses us, promises us, and shares with us like a friend would. Some people might be tempted to take God’s blessings, promises, and truths and run, but that is not the actions of a true friend. A true friend accepts the gifts they have been given and then wants to give back gifts that their friend wants.

If our friendship with God was equal, we could give God back equally to what He has blessed us with. However, our friendship with God is so unequal that the best we can offer is entirely unworthy of God. The best we can offer God is like dirty rags.

But God has given us another choice. In response to everything God has blessed us with, we can give God our hearts. While our hearts might be the worst part of our entire being, the only One capable of cleaning, fixing, mending, and restoring sin-stained hearts is God. Because God is the only one capable of fixing or replacing our hearts, it is the gift He desires the most.

God does not want us living forever with a sin-filled, sin-stained, sin-tainted heart. Instead, God wants us to bring our hearts to Him, and let Him transform our hearts into being like His. When we stay connected to Jesus, like a branch stays connected to the vine, we allow God to work on restoring our hearts, and we are able to be fruitful for God in ways that might even surprise us!

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, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to stay connected to Him and to Jesus like a branch connected with a vine. In response to everything God has blessed you with, open up your heart to Him and let Him transform your heart into His heart, and let God take your heart and use it for His glory!

Also, as I always challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God each and every day. God loves you personally, and He wants a personal relationship with you starting today, and extending into eternity!

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

Year in John – Episode 35: As Jesus shares with the disciples on the night He was betrayed and arrested, discover a powerful promise Jesus shared that reframes our relationship with God.

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Making God Famous: John 7:1-9

Published August 28, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 7:1-9 (NASB)

Often, when reading though the gospels, I come across a passage I had never really paid much attention to before, but something in it jumps out and shows me something new about Jesus.

As I read this journal entry’s passage, which is one I had often skimmed over before, I found a great reminder of how Jesus was intentionally counter cultural – and this realization is directly related to a faulty assumption that Jesus’ own siblings make about who He is.

In verse 4, in the middle of Jesus’ brothers scolding Him for avoiding the spotlight, they give away their motives: “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”

The first incorrect assumption Jesus’ brothers make is that Jesus is seeking to be known publicly. By this point in Jesus’ ministry, He has been gaining popularity, but His brothers incorrectly assume that fame is the goal. They reveal their motives in this request: they want to ride on Jesus’ momentum and be famous alongside Him as His brothers.

Nowhere in the gospels do I see Jesus seeking fame or attention onto Himself. He is repeatedly tempted to do so, but He never caves into the temptation.

The second incorrect assumption Jesus’ brothers make is that Jesus’ desire is to show Himself to the world. While in one sense, this is Jesus’ purpose in life, the context is completely different. Jesus’ brothers want Jesus to declare Himself as the Savior of the world when He is popular, and in a position of strength. Jesus’ purpose is instead to reveal Himself to the world when He is hated, rejected, and in a position of weakness.

Jesus disciples assume Jesus has pride in His heart. Pride desires attention and people’s focus. Jesus’ brothers want the status and attention, but Jesus isn’t interested. Everything Jesus did while on earth focused on helping the individual person, showing God’s love to those who society had rejected, and to give glory to the Father.

Jesus reveals this contrast in His response to His brothers, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.” (verses 6b-7)

Jesus came to reveal how big the gap is between God and us. He came to show us that even when we are at our best, we are still not able to return to God. Jesus’ life and ministry speaks out against a world that says we can make it on our own. His ministry, from start to finish, reveals how we need God’s help, and how He came to meet that need.

But even with Jesus knowing His key role, He wants the fame to go to the Father. Jesus ministry was designed to make God famous. Everything in His ministry was focused on this one point.

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Looking Past the World’s Response: John 16:16-33

Published August 27, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 16:16-33 (NIV)

¹⁶Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

¹⁷At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? ²⁰Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²²So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ²³In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

²⁵“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

²⁹Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. ³⁰Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

³¹“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³²“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

³³“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Read John 16:16-33 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

During Jesus’ last conversation with His disciples before being arrested and crucified, He shares with them a big picture idea that can help us frame God’s perspective on our world. When trying to help the disciples see past what was about to happen, Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (v. 20-22)

The idea I find very interesting in this is while the world is rejoicing, Jesus’ disciples and followers will be mourning. This tells me that the world had a different goal than Jesus’ or God did – or did it?

While Jesus was in the grave, part of me wonders what was happening in heaven. Was heaven filled with joy over Jesus’ completion of His salvation sacrifice, or was heaven filled with sadness over Jesus’ death on the cross? While the world was rejoicing over Jesus’ death and the disciples were sad, was heaven rejoicing with the world, or shedding tears with the disciples?

I am inclined to believe that both joy and sadness were present in heaven on that Sabbath that Jesus rested in the grave. I think that day was a day with mixed emotions unlike heaven had ever experienced up to that point.

But the perspective Jesus shares here in these words to His disciples is a much bigger, broader perspective then the immediate moment. Jesus tells His followers that the world looks at the immediate moment for its emotions, but they are to give equal or greater weight to the perspective that looks at the ultimate end. This means that whatever comes our way, whether we experience things that cause us joy or events that bring tears, we can find joy when looking at the big, big picture that reminds us that Jesus returns, and when history has ended, Jesus will stand victorious!

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