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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What My Father Has Given: John 10:22-42

Published January 10, 2024 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 10:22-42 (GNT)

22 It was winter, and the Festival of the Dedication of the Temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem. 23 Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Porch in the Temple, 24 when the people gathered around him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? Tell us the plain truth: are you the Messiah?”

25 Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you would not believe me. The deeds I do by my Father’s authority speak on my behalf; 26 but you will not believe, for you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father’s care. 30 The Father and I are one.”

31 Then the people again picked up stones to throw at him. 32 Jesus said to them, “I have done many good deeds in your presence which the Father gave me to do; for which one of these do you want to stone me?”

33 They answered, “We do not want to stone you because of any good deeds, but because of your blasphemy! You are only a man, but you are trying to make yourself God!”

34 Jesus answered, “It is written in your own Law that God said, ‘You are gods.’ 35 We know that what the scripture says is true forever; and God called those people gods, the people to whom his message was given. 36 As for me, the Father chose me and sent me into the world. How, then, can you say that I blaspheme because I said that I am the Son of God? 37 Do not believe me, then, if I am not doing the things my Father wants me to do. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, you should at least believe my deeds, in order that you may know once and for all that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father.”

39 Once more they tried to seize Jesus, but he slipped out of their hands.

40 Jesus then went back again across the Jordan River to the place where John had been baptizing, and he stayed there. 41 Many people came to him. “John performed no miracles,” they said, “but everything he said about this man was true.” 42 And many people there believed in him.

Read John 10:22-42 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Have you ever read something multiple times, and perhaps on the fifth time you see something new?

It is this way for me with this passage. I have read it numerous times, but just today, I noticed a phrase that I’ve not seen or paid attention to before.

When Jesus is sharing His first response, before the people respond in anger, He says the following sentence: “What my Father has given me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father’s care.” (v. 29)

This is a summary statement for what Jesus was saying, but when reading it this time, a phrase and idea jumped off the page: “What my Father has given me . . .”

The subject matter is Jesus’ followers, and how they are drawn to Him, and in this statement, Jesus says that God is the One who brings people to Him.

This has two huge implications:

  • First, Jesus didn’t come to earth to draw attention to Himself – He came for other reasons. The miracles, the healing, and the cross was not Jesus saying “Look at Me.” If anything, through these events and miracles Jesus was saying, “Pay attention to what God is doing in your midst.”

    Jesus didn’t come to build a band of spiritual-giant disciples – He came and picked ordinary and somewhat dysfunctional people, and equipped them for service. That means that there is hope for you and I in God’s plan. He doesn’t need people to be perfect before drawing them to Him, He draws people and those who choose to come are then equipped.

  • Secondly, people don’t lead people to Jesus, God does. Yep, you’re off the hook!

    Jesus demonstrated this in His own life because when crowds came, He started preaching about difficult to accept things. In this passage and others, it is almost like Jesus is assessing the group and then pushing the hot-button topics – in this case, He pushes the button of who the Messiah really is and on the identity of the true people of God.

    In our lives today, we should never place the focus on leading people to Jesus. Jesus stated that God does this. Instead, we should have a clear reason why we follow Jesus and put our faith in Him. Jesus called us to love people, not convert them. He does the conversion part – we do the loving part (or at least that was the intent).

Both these ideas have huge implications for us today!

  • God draws people to Jesus. We might be a small part of someone’s testimony, but it will be because of our love – not anything else.

  • God keeps His people safe. Don’t stress out about past mistakes and times when we have messed up and/or said something we regretted. God is bigger than our mistakes.

  • God gives us the role of loving each other. We are not the judge and we are definitely not the prosecuting attorney! We are either the defendant, or a witness standing up in defense for the defendant. Satan is the prosecuting attorney, and when we judge or condemn someone, we are siding with 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!

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Loved By the Father: John 16:16-33

Published January 9, 2024 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 16:16-33 (NIV)

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

17 At 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’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

19 Jesus 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’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 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. 22 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. 23 In 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. 24 Until 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. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now 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!

One of the biggest misconceptions in the whole Bible is that God the Father is a mean Deity, and Jesus came to protect us from His wrath. This is a complete distortion of God’s character and not only is it opposite of what the Bible actually teaches, it also doesn’t make logical sense when we look deeper at the implication of this idea.

The Bible teaches that God is One, and He is unified in love and purpose. The clearest, simplest description of God is simply the word “Love”. All parts of God operate through the filter of love; every member of the Godhead has Love as the foundation of His character.

Believing that Jesus came to protect us from God separates the unity of love in God’s character that the Bible teaches because it essentially says that Jesus stands opposite of God and that they both will debate over our salvation-worthiness. Jesus doesn’t even come close to teaching this. At several places in the gospels, Jesus shares what God the Father thinks of us.

In the last conversation Jesus had with His disciples prior to His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus clearly tells His followers that “The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” (v. 27)

Jesus doesn’t stand opposite of God. He doesn’t need to. They both stand on the side of love towards those who have chosen to love Him.

While this doesn’t answer all the challenges that critics have for God and His actions, it reemphasizes unity in the Godhead. This also emphasizes Jesus’ mission to come for those looking for help and for those needing a Savior.

God the Father loves each of us because we have loved, trusted, and believed in His Son. This is about as simple and clear as it could be, and that means that God is just as trustworthy as Jesus when it comes down to our salvation!

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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Flashback Episode — Speaking with Authority: Mark 1:14-28

Published January 8, 2024 in Audio Journal Entries

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Continuing forward in Mark’s gospel, Mark describes how Jesus starts His ministry off strong by teaching, healing, and calling some people to follow Him. In the next verses we will focus in on, we see both an overview for the message of Jesus’ ministry, and the impact this message has on the people listening.

Our passage is found in Mark, chapter 1, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 14, Mark tells us that:

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee. He preached the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Turn away from your sins and believe the good news!”

Pausing briefly, whenever I read these two verses, I am impressed that Jesus’ message about God’s kingdom being near is both amazing because Jesus Himself said this, and it is amazing because I believe this is a message for every time and every generation since Jesus shared it. With every day that passes, we come one day closer to Jesus returning, and we are called to get ready for Jesus’ return by turning away from our sins and believing the good news.

Looking at this one verse gives us a good overview of Jesus’ message – especially Jesus’ message at the start of His ministry. But our passage isn’t finished yet. Continuing in verse 16, Mark tells us:

16 One day Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. There he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the lake. They were fishermen. 17 “Come and follow me,” Jesus said. “I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 Then Jesus walked a little farther. As he did, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat preparing their nets. 20 Right away he called out to them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men. Then they followed Jesus.

Pausing briefly again, when reading Matthew or Mark’s gospel, we might get the impression that Simon, Andrew, James, and John abandoned everything to follow a complete stranger. While this isn’t too far from the truth, Luke and John describe a little more details around how these first disciples were a little more familiar with Jesus’ message and ministry before Jesus calls them specifically, and Luke specifically includes a miracle that prompts these men to pay attention.

But Mark doesn’t include any of the back-story for these disciples. Instead, Mark emphasizes how these men dropped everything and followed Jesus when they were invited. When God calls us, we might not be called to drop everything and everyone, but it is possible we will be called to leave something we have been focusing energy and attention on. Depending on where we are in life, we might be called to end friendships that aren’t positive, or distance ourselves from toxic people, or we may be challenged to give up something that had been important in our lives before the point God invited us to follow. However, as Mark will share later in his gospel, when we leave something for Jesus because He has called us to, Jesus has much better things in our future and we will be blessed with significantly more than what we have given up. And above all of that, the blessings God gives us are positive things in our lives, and not negatives like the things God has called us to give up.

Continuing our passage, after summarizing Jesus’ early messages and introducing us to the early small group of disciples, Mark then tells us in verse 21 that:

21 Jesus and those with him went to Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue. There he began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching. That’s because he taught them like one who had authority. He did not talk like the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue cried out. He was controlled by an evil spirit. He said, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God!”

25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus firmly. “Come out of him!” 26 The evil spirit shook the man wildly. Then it came out of him with a scream.

27 All the people were amazed. So they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching! And with so much authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits, and they obey him.” 28 News about Jesus spread quickly all over Galilee.

During one of the first Sabbath’s Jesus spoke at the synagogue in Capernaum, we discover that Jesus had a different way of teaching God’s Word. Mark describes Jesus’ method of teaching in verse 22 when he tells us Jesus “taught them like one who had authority. He did not talk like the teachers of the law.”

I’m not sure if you caught that little distinction or not, but Jesus did not talk like the teachers of the law and Jesus taught the people like One who had authority. With these two details present, this prompts me to conclude that prior to this point, the teachers and synagogue leaders all spoke in ways that did not sound authoritative or perhaps even confident. At the very least, the people had not heard an authoritative message in their synagogue for a very long time.

However, what happened after Jesus’ preaching amazed the people helped solidify Jesus’ authority. Whether Satan was trying to derail Jesus or whether God held Satan back until this point, a man controlled by an evil spirit shouts out in the synagogue and oddly enough identifies Jesus as the Holy One of God.

Jesus tells the spirit to be quiet and to leave the man.

If Jesus’ message and words did not sound authoritative to some of those present before this point, they definitely sounded authoritative after seeing the evil spirit leave this man. With just a few words, Jesus’ command is obeyed by evil spirits, even if these commands were obeyed unwillingly.

However, why would Jesus command the evil spirit to be silent, especially if the evil spirit actually was speaking the truth?

I believe there are two reasons. First, while the evil spirit technically was speaking truth, evil spirits have a way of twisting truth and lies and it is never safe or wise to even listen to the arguments of evil spirits. One fraction of a lie in a whole set of truth is just as dangerous as a drop of poison in a cup of clean water. The best way to discern whether a message is worth listening to, or even paying attention to, is whether it is approved or condemned by the clear message of the Bible. The Bible is clear there are some messages that are never okay to entertain, and listening to evil spirits is one of these messages we should always avoid and reject.

The other big reason is that while the evil spirit was technically speaking the truth, the message that the evil spirit shared did not mean the same thing to the people present as it did to Jesus’ understanding of scripture. The people were expecting a military leader messiah to overthrow the Romans, Jesus came as a suffering Messiah to take the sin of the world to the cross. If the people rallied together believing Jesus to be the Messiah they expected Him to be, it had the power to derail the Messiah Jesus came to be, and it would have stopped the cross from happening in the way God had planned for it to happen.

This misunderstanding of the role of the Messiah was one of the biggest challenges Jesus faced in His ministry, and it was something that even His own disciples didn’t fully understand until after the cross and the resurrection. Jesus was tempted and challenged on every angle imaginable, and Jesus pushed back the temptation and avoided the challenges throughout His ministry leading to the cross.

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

As always, intentionally seek God first and place Jesus first in your life. Choose to place your faith, your hope, your belief, and your trust in Jesus and lean on Him for your salvation. Understand that Jesus came to take our sins and our punishment on Himself and He did this to make the way available for us to accept His life and His reward for a perfect life. This is the great news of the gospel message, and it is a gift we are called to accept.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself, to learn and grow closer to God each day. Through prayer and studying the Bible, fall in love with the God who loves you enough to give up Himself for you on the cross, and the God who was willing to take your punishment on Himself to redeem you from the sins and mistakes you made.

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!

Flashback Episode: Year in Mark – Episode 2: As Mark begins telling us about Jesus’ ministry, discover some details Mark uses to lay the foundation of his focus on Jesus’ life in how those who listened to Him reacted to His style of speaking.

The First Sign: John 2:1-12

Published January 5, 2024 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 2:1-12 (NASB)

I wonder if during the first century, following the gospels and Jesus’ earthly ministry, there were rumors and speculating over Jesus as a child. If Jesus had the ability to perform miracles while with His disciples, logic would indicate that He could have performed miracles as a child or a young man.

But this logic is flawed, because prior to this event, Jesus had no reason to perform miracles – and the logic is also flawed in that Jesus did not perform miracles using His divinity – even during His few years of ministry. In His entire ministry, Jesus only used miracles that the Holy Spirit directed and empowered. Prior to His baptism, the Holy Spirit may have been with Jesus, but not in the same capacity as after He descended on Jesus after the baptism in the river.

The logic also denies a clear statement that John states in his gospel record. After the wedding at Cana miracle, John says, “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” (v. 11)

John tells us that this was Jesus’ first miracle, and this tiny detail in itself makes all the details surrounding this unassuming wedding in Cana that much more amazing. Jesus may have impressed the religious leaders in the temple when He was twelve, but that was with His knowledge, insight, and questions and not because of any miracle He did or was capable of doing.

I wonder if John clearly states this was Jesus’ first miracle to help clear up confusion over when Jesus actually began performing miracles. I wonder if John clearly said this to amplify the level of faith that is demonstrated in this event – because if no prior miracles had been performed, both Mary’s faith and the servants’ faith are off the charts when they believe Jesus to be able to solve the problem.

Jesus begins His miracle-worker reputation by solving a problem, and this is one of only a few problem solving miracles Jesus ever performed. Almost all of His miracles had to do with healing and casting out demons, but here at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus solves the problem of drink shortage at a wedding. If Jesus is interested in a problem as minor as this, then He is interested in the problems we face and He is willing to help us if we bring them to Him with our faith.

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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