Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Jesus Met the Standard: Matthew 22:1-14

Published June 5, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)

¹Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ²“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

⁴“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

⁸“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

¹³“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Read Matthew 22:1-14 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Have you ever wondered if God expects us to measure up to a standard?

Or, have you ever thought that Jesus came, met God’s standard, and because of this, we don’t have to think about standards, or how we live anymore?

In Jesus’ parable within this entry’s passage, we find an answer to these questions. The parable here in Matthew shares a similar storyline with another one of Jesus’ parables recorded in Luke 14:7-24. However, since the setting Jesus was in was different when He shared Luke’s version, and because the punch-line conclusion is also different, we will look at Matthew’s version of this parable separately from Luke’s. Also, Matthew’s version includes the character we will be focusing on in this entry.

After the banquet hall is full, the king decides to mingle with the last-minute guests attending, and to His disbelief, He finds one who is not wearing wedding clothes. How disrespectful is that!?

However, what happens when we look deeper at the other details about these attendees.

The original invitees rejected their invitation, so the King sent servants out to gather anyone who wanted to come. These last-minute invitees would not have had time to go home to get changed; some might not have even known where the King was hosting this party.

So the implied conclusion is the King had wedding clothes ready for those who came who did not have any. Not only was the invitation free, so was the attire. The barrier to entry into this feast is really simply just showing up and getting dressed.

But somehow, a guest gets inside who is not wearing wedding clothes. Perhaps he rejected the gift of the clothes, or perhaps he simply thought they were unnecessary and that his current clothes were good enough, but in the end, he is thrown out.

Who is at fault here: the king for throwing out a guest who wouldn’t conform or the guest who rejects the free gift and singles himself out?

Many might point to this parable and say the guest is at fault, but if this is the case, then these people are also admitting God has a standard, and that not everyone’s perspective about God is correct. This guest had the perspective that wedding clothes were not necessary, but with this choice, he also made the choice to be thrown out.

Some people might live with the thought that everyone will be included in the banquet, and it doesn’t matter what someone believes, thinks, or does. In this line of thinking, the King is at fault for being unreasonable: He invites people at the last minute, but then requires something from them. However, this belief clearly misses not only the reality that everything needed to enter the banquet was free and provided, but also that even before the banquet hall filled up, there were a number of people who rejected the invitation and who were also excluded.

In this parable, Jesus teaches us there is a standard, but also that Jesus met the standard, and He gives us the results of His success – free wedding clothes. But we still have the choice whether to accept His gift, or reject it.

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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The One Who Knows You Best: Luke 10:21-24

Published June 4, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 10:21-24 (GNT)

²¹At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit and said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.

²²“My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “How fortunate you are to see the things you see! ²⁴I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.”

Read Luke 10:21-24 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Tucked away in a prayer Jesus shared within the earshot of His disciples is a very powerful and profound statement. While we are quick to focus on the second side of the idea Jesus shared, the first side is really just as powerful – perhaps even a little more.

In verse 22, Luke records Jesus saying, “No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

We tend to focus our understanding of this verse on how Jesus is the only way we can truly know the Father, and while this is completely true, this truth comes as the second half of the big statement. When setting up this statement, Jesus shares how the only One who truly knows Him is God the Father. The disciples had spent lots of time with Him, and of those on earth, they probably knew Him the best, but their knowledge was nothing like the knowledge God the Father in heaven had.

This huge idea extends to everyone alive today and to everyone who has ever lived – and that includes you and me. While your friends, family, and other significant people in your life know you, their knowledge of you is nothing compared to God the Father’s knowledge of you. God even knows you better than you know yourself. This means that He knows your thoughts, your hopes, your dreams, your mistakes, your anger, your passion, and really every other thing you have ever thought, said, done, and/or forgotten.

And even with all this knowledge, God still loves you. We know this because Jesus came to this earth to give His life for people like you and me. While humanity was actively sinning, Jesus came to show us that God still loves us.

God knows us better than we know ourselves and He has chosen to love each of us regardless of our mistakes. The only question that remains is whether we will accept His love and love Him back, or if we choose to reject the gift He has freely offered to us.

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Flashback Episode — Scared of the Big Question: Mark 9:2-13

Published June 3, 2024 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we near the halfway point in our year focusing in on Mark’s gospel, we come to an event that leaves a significant impression on Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. I suspect that Peter, James, and John would remember this trip up the mountain with Jesus for the rest of their lives. It was on this short trip away from the rest of the disciples that Jesus showed them something really special.

Let’s read this passage and discover what happened. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 9, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 2, Mark tells us that:

²After six days Jesus took only Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone.

Jesus’ appearance changed in front of them. ³His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them. ⁴Then Elijah and Moses appeared to them and were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s put up three tents—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶(Peter didn’t know how to respond. He and the others were terrified.)

⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them. A voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

⁸Suddenly, as they looked around, they saw no one with them but Jesus.

Pausing reading our passage for a moment, I feel a little sorry for Peter. Mark tells us that Peter spoke because it felt like the right thing to do but also that he really didn’t know how to respond. Reading this detail prompts me to think that Peter talked when he was nervous or scared, while James and John simply stayed quiet.

Reading this event and the reactions of these three disciples also prompts me to wonder what I would have done. Would I have said something, even though I had no idea what to say, or would I have remained speechless?

Knowing a little about myself, I probably would have remained speechless. I might have also paid close attention to what was being said. It is interesting in my mind that the two men who came to visit Jesus were two people who likely had become great friends with Jesus in heaven. Both Moses and Elijah would have spent hundreds of years in heaven with Jesus prior to Jesus’ coming to earth, and I wonder if they had been allowed to come visit one time to help encourage Jesus that He was on the right path.

This trip would have also been special for Moses, since this might have easily been the first time he set foot in the Promised Land. When we look at the Old Testament, Moses passed the leadership over to Joshua prior to his death and Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land. Instead, he only got to look at it from a distance. On this trip to visit Jesus, Moses would have been able to finally set foot in the land that God had promised Israel over a thousand years earlier.

It is also interesting that Elijah came to visit, and I wonder if Elijah’s presence is what prompted the disciples’ question we see on the trip down the mountain. Continuing in verse 9, Mark tells us:

⁹On their way down the mountain, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen. They were to wait until the Son of Man had come back to life. ¹⁰They kept in mind what he said but argued among themselves what he meant by “come back to life.” ¹¹So they asked him, “Don’t the experts in Moses’ Teachings say that Elijah must come first?”

¹²Jesus said to them, “Elijah is coming first and will put everything in order again. But in what sense was it written that the Son of Man must suffer a lot and be treated shamefully? ¹³Indeed, I can guarantee that Elijah has come. Yet, people treated him as they pleased, as Scripture says about him.”

On this trip down the mountain, two things stood out to me in how Mark described this event. The first of these things is how Jesus tells these disciples to keep what they had seen a secret until after He had come back to life. It would seem that the three closest disciples didn’t fully grasp this simple message because Mark describes them arguing among themselves about what He meant by the phrase “come back to life”.

Remember that Mark describes this event happening after Peter had declared to Jesus and all the disciples his belief that Jesus was God’s Messiah, and also after Peter had openly challenged Jesus about the Messiah’s upcoming death. From this passage and some of the earlier passages we have focused in on, it seems like Peter was more set in his understanding the Messiah from the traditional, cultural view, and that he had a harder time breaking free from the preconceived ideas he had already formed in his mind about the role the Messiah would take. I wonder if some of this arguing was between Peter wondering if Jesus was being symbolic about His death, while James and/or John were seeing Jesus speaking more literally.

The other thing in this trip down the mountain that stood out in my mind is Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question about Elijah. First, Jesus restates the prophecy about Elijah’s coming, but before moving to tell them that Elijah already came, which other gospel writers who include this event allude to referring to John the Baptist, Mark includes a statement about Jesus suffering and being treated shamefully.

From the details in this passage, I suspect Jesus really wanted these closest disciples to ask for more details about His upcoming crucifixion. It would appear that since we don’t have a record of it here, and because the disciples, Peter especially, are shocked and scared when Jesus is arrested and ultimately crucified, that these three disciples missed the perfect opportunity to ask Jesus about what would happen the weekend of His death.

Jesus gives these disciples more openings than they could count to ask Him about what they saw and specifically about Jesus’ repeated warnings about His death and future resurrection. This is likely the same with us. Too often we are scared, timid, or overly cautious when sharing Jesus. While sometimes our fear is warranted, other times our fear is simply false evidence that our minds trick us into believing is very significant and very real.

Nowhere does Jesus promise His people an easy life free of problems here on this earth. Instead, Jesus tells us that we might add to our problems when we choose Him, but that choosing Him is the only way to survive past the problems of this life and past the sin in this world!

Jesus subtly reminds these disciples that He would suffer a lot and be treated shamefully, which are both subtle hints foreshadowing Jesus’ path to the cross, and as followers of Jesus, we shouldn’t be surprised if we are treated like Jesus was treated. However, when we side with Jesus, we get to experience Jesus’ resurrection, and accept the promise and gift of a new life with Him!

As we come to the end of this 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 side with Jesus regardless of what the world and culture thinks. Choose to push past your fear and ask the questions that need to be asked, listen when it is time to listen, and stand up for God when the world challenges your faith!

Also, build your faith on the truth about Jesus. Pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow personally closer to God each and every day, and never let your faith or spirituality be dependent on someone else.

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!

Flashback Episode: Year in Mark – Episode 23: During a special trip up a mountain with Peter, James, and John, Jesus shows them something significant about Himself that He then tells them to keep a secret about. Discover what this amazing event was and what we can learn from Jesus’ trip back down the mountain with these disciples.

Previewing the End: John 1:1-18

Published May 31, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 1:1-18 (GW)

¹In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was already with God in the beginning.

³Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.

⁴He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.

⁵The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.

⁶God sent a man named John to be his messenger. ⁷John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. ⁸John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.

⁹The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹He went to his own people, and his own people didn’t accept him. ¹²However, he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. ¹³These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire to have a child. They were born from God.

¹⁴The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness and truth.

¹⁵(John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’”)

¹⁶Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is. ¹⁷Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. God’s only Son, the one who is closest to the Father’s heart, has made him known.

Read John 1:1-18 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In John’s introduction to his gospel, we learn an interesting truth about God and about Jesus. John opens his gospel using simple terms, but they share a very powerful and profound message.

In the opening verses of this introduction, John tells us: “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was already with God in the beginning. Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him. He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.” (v. 1-4)

John describes the Word as being with God in the beginning, as bringing the world into existence, and as being the source of life in the world.

But John then shares a profound idea that we might miss if we are reading too quickly. This idea sets the stage for all of the gospels, and really for all of history: “The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.” (v. 5)

If the Bible has a theme verse, this would be a strong contender the top spot. While there are great verses about God’s love, this verse speaks not only about His love, but also His power, and it shares the ultimate conclusion: Darkness never overpowers light.

Darkness is the absence of light. It spreads easily and effortlessly when a light goes out. But darkness cannot put a light out. If a light is present anywhere, the light wins over the darkness every single time.

It is this truth that John applies to Jesus and His ministry: the dark spiritual forces of Satan are no match for the light that Jesus is. What Jesus did for us is a light that shines through history and it will never be extinguished, no matter what Satan tries. John draws us to the ultimate conclusion of history in this unassuming verse: No matter what it looks like today, when history ends, Jesus wins.

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