Reflective Bible Study

To start our special two-part finale of this year focusing on events in Matthew’s gospel, I want to begin by wishing you an extra special, extra Merry Christmas and holiday season. I hope that this year has been a good year, or at the very least, you are looking forward to this year being over and a new one beginning. Every year forward brings us closer and closer to Jesus’ return!

As is our custom, these two finale episodes focus on sharing our biggest and best insights from this past year of podcasting, and we highlight some of the things I learned while putting this year of podcasts together. As is always the case, I’ve had a hard time narrowing down this year’s insights down to being manageable for our finale because this has been a great year with many great insights we could focus on. However, I’ve done what I can, so let’s get started by looking at this year of podcasting in Matthew’s gospel!

Let’s start by focusing in on some of the insights we discovered in episode number 2, which covered the wise men coming to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Baby Jesus. In this episode, we uncovered how ignorant the religious leaders were to the Messiah’s arrival because they simply hand over the location of Jesus’ birth to Herod. This speaks to their ignorance and to their allegiance to Rome over their allegiance to the future Messiah.

We also saw a glimpse of how dedicated Joseph was with following God because the instant the angel warns Joseph to flee with the family to Egypt, Joseph wastes no time getting the family to Egypt. This quality in Jesus’ earthly father saved Jesus’ life.

In the next episode, number 3, we focused in on Jesus’ baptism, and in this episode, we discovered that the baptism event at the beginning of Jesus ministry is one place we see Jesus intentionally setting the stage for a ministry of service and selflessness. In the baptism event, we discover Jesus placing Himself below humanity and foreshadowing His upcoming sacrifices, including the sacrifice He would make on the cross.

Jumping forward to episode 4, we focused on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. In this episode, we learned that self-service is not a characteristic of God and we fall victim to this temptation when we place our own needs ahead of God’s desires for our lives. One big reason Jesus came was to win the hearts and minds of His people, and this is something only the cross can purchase. A secret sacrifice isn’t that valuable of a sacrifice.

Jumping ahead a few episodes, we come to episodes 6 through 13, which all focused in on Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. In episode number 7, we uncovered the truth that just because Jesus lived 100% obedient to the law doesn’t mean that the law was abolished. Obeying a law does not abolish it. We also focused on the truth that entrance into God’s kingdom isn’t about what we have done or what we can do. It’s about what has been done for us.

In episode number 8, we discovered that breaking God’s law condemns us to death, and Jesus offers to take the death we deserve and give us the life He deserved. We shouldn’t continue to sin, but we should resolve to turn away from our sins as a way to say Thank You to Jesus for the gift He purchased for us on the cross!

Episode 9, which includes Jesus’ model prayer and some teachings related to this subject, taught us that looking for praise from someone else affects how we live our lives. Living our lives looking for praise from others leads to hypocrisy, because we elevate others ahead of ourselves, and subtly ahead of God as well. The time we spend with God, even if it feels weird, hollow, or empty at the beginning will grow into more when we resolve to stick with God.

Episode 10 focused on forgiving, being forgiven, and storing up treasure in heaven, and we learned in this part of Jesus’ sermon that there is no guarantee that giving money on earth will earn treasure in heaven. We also learned that the most valuable part of our treasure in heaven is our hearts, because when our hearts are focused on our heavenly treasure, we live for God in more significant ways than if our hearts are focused on the things of this world.

Jumping ahead to episode 13, which concludes Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges us with the truth that our actions matter in God’s eyes! Obedience alone will not bring us salvation. Our salvation is found in a saving relationship that is based on faith, trust, hope, and belief in Jesus mixed with obeying what He asks us to do.

Moving forward to episode 16, which includes Matthew’s invitation to be a disciple and a dinner Matthew hosts that included Jesus and many of Matthew’s tax collector friends, we discovered that Jesus lived His life from God’s perspective in His response. Jesus lived showing kindness more than demanding obedience. While obedience is important, kindness and God’s love is more central to God’s character. When we are being representatives for God, we are to above everything else, show God’s love and kindness to those He brings into our lives while we are personally being obedient to Him the best way we know how.

In episode 18, we focused in on a couple people who Jesus healed. In this event and episode, we were reminded that sometimes bad things happen simply to remind us that our eternity is not in a sinful world. Sometimes when bad things happen, God is reminding us to look forward to a new life with Him in heaven. When we face trials in our lives, Jesus is the best place for us to look to and the best Person for us to lean on!

In the very next episode, number 19, Jesus elevates what it means to be one of His disciples. In this episode, we were challenged with the truth that A secret disciple isn’t a valuable disciple. By losing our own lives, we are able to gain Jesus’ life, and His life in our lives brings us eternal life! When we are kind to those who follow God and when we are kind simply because we are God’s followers, Jesus promises us that God will reward us.

In episode 20, we learned a little bit about what it means to follow Jesus and how following Jesus is easier than we might think at first. If your life is so busy that you feel you are drowning under the weight of your obligations, then Jesus offers you rest. The rest Jesus offers you isn’t just physical rest, but also rest for your soul. Jesus offers us the truth that we don’t have to worry about appeasing an angry God who wants to punish us.

Instead, Jesus came to satisfy the requirements of the law so that God can love us even more. Jesus came representing God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and His love for us shows us how much God loves us. The light load Jesus offers us is a load where He already took the heavy requirements on Himself, and He leaves us with a gift if we are willing to accept it. The gift Jesus offers us is His life in exchange for ours, and His life gives us eternal life while our lives bring Him death.

Moving forward to episode 21, we learned in some challenges Jesus faced regarding how He and His followers kept the Sabbath that: Jesus honored the Sabbath day the way God wanted His people to honor it. Jesus did not come to replace the Sabbath; He came to restore it.

For the religious leaders, the Sabbath was a day of avoiding work and avoiding anything that could even remotely resemble work. The Sabbath had descended into a list of activities to avoid. The Sabbath was not a blessing away from work; it had become a curse and a burden regarding avoiding work or work-like activities.

God is more interested in kindness than in receiving animal sacrifices, which is another way of saying that our kindness and love for others is worth more than a blind, strict obedience to the letter of the law.

Jumping forward to episode 24, which focused on Jesus being rejected in Nazareth, we discovered that Jesus didn’t come to please everyone or to get everyone to like Him. Jesus came to save all of God’s people, and to give humanity a better picture of God and His love for us!

Any message that paints Jesus as unloving towards those who were hurting, or unloving towards those who God loves, is a picture that does not match the Bible’s message about Jesus. With few exceptions, the only times Jesus speaks harshly are when He challenges those who believed they were better than others and who were self-righteously putting others down while trying to raise up their own status in God’s eyes. Jesus came to help those who were hurting and to give humanity hope for a future with God!

This seems like a great place to conclude the first half of our two-part finale.

In place of our usual challenges at the end of each episode, let me challenge you, among all the other great reminders and challenges in this episode to: Remember to place Jesus first; Keep praying and studying your Bible to grow closer to God; and never stop moving forward along the path He has called you to walk with Him!

As we open up our final episode focusing on a passage in Luke’s gospel from our entire year focusing on Luke, I thought it would be awesome to focus in on the resurrection event. However, Luke’s gospel includes an event after the resurrection not found in any other gospel.

Following Jesus’ death, a Sabbath rest, and a Sunday filled with confusion over what had happened to Jesus, Luke describes a short trip two disciples make to a nearby village, and a surprising person who meets them while they are traveling. Let’s read Luke’s gospel and discover what happened.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 13, Luke tells us:

¹³ And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

Pausing briefly at this point, a phrase Luke just included jumped out at me. Luke tells us that these two disciples’ eyes were “prevented from recognizing Him”.

While part of me might be tempted to think that Jesus’ appearance had change so significantly that these disciples simply did not recognize Him, the way Luke frames this verse sounds more like God blinding these disciples for a specific purpose. I wonder if God hadn’t blinded these disciples, if they would not have paid attention to what Jesus wanted to teach them.

Let’s continue reading. Picking back up in verse 17, Luke tells us:

¹⁷ And He [referring to Jesus who they were prevented from recognizing] said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” ¹⁹ And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. ²² But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Let’s pause briefly again. Imagine with me for a moment that these disciples recognized Jesus. Do you think Jesus would have been able to explain the Messiah’s suffering to them if they knew it was Jesus?

In my mind’s eye, I suspect that if these disciples recognized Jesus, they would have been too focused on the simple fact that He was really alive, and they wouldn’t have heard anything He wanted to teach them. It was in the confusion and uncertainty of resurrection day’s events that these disciples were the most receptive to learning from the scriptures.

It is also powerful in my mind that Jesus first asks them what they believed happened, before then teaching them what the scripture predicted needed to happen. Only when the hope and preconceived ideas these disciples had were dashed against the reality of the Messiah’s actual mission could these followers of Jesus actually discover what they had blinded themselves to by following the cultural ideas surrounding Jesus’ first coming.

Before continuing reading the last portion of our passage, the truth these disciples learned from Jesus appearing unrecognized challenges me personally, because there is a growing cultural belief about what Jesus will be returning to do in the world today. If our cultural belief about Jesus’ second coming is not aligned with the Bible, then we, along with millions of others, are setting ourselves up to be disappointed when Jesus’ return isn’t like we expected, or worse, we are setting ourselves up to be deceived if someone comes matching the cultural belief but not the Biblical truth.

This is why it is incredibly important to be personally studying the Bible. While the Christian culture has many things right with it today, plenty of places in this culture could be aligned closer to what the Bible teaches. It is very dangerous to blindly follow culture, because we give up the opportunity to know God personally when we do. This is why I always challenge you to personally study the Bible and to not take my word, or anyone’s word for what the Bible teaches. Personal prayer and study is vital for our personal relationship with God!

However, while these disciples were blinded to recognizing Jesus so they could learn what the scripture taught about Jesus, they didn’t miss the opportunity to discover Jesus when He was ready to reveal Himself to them.

Picking back up in verse 28, Luke tells us:

²⁸ And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. ³² They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³ And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.”

³⁵ They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

In this powerful event, these disciples could have completely missed recognizing Jesus. Had they let Jesus continue walking down the road instead of inviting Him to stay with them, they would have been completely unaware their companion was Jesus.

I also find it fascinating, while also a little humorous that at the moment these disciples are “un-blinded" and could now recognize Jesus, He disappears from their sight – possible causing them to believe they were then blind because their guest was no longer with them.

When God brings people into our lives, it is always for a reason. When God blinds us to recognizing others, it is always for a reason. When God reveals Himself to us, it is always for a reason. As we move into another Christmas and holiday season, let’s remember that God always has a reason, and that while we might not always know or understand His reasons for what He does, we can know and trust that His ultimate goal for all of us is to redeem us from sin and save us for eternity! When history has finally ended, sin will be no more, and all of God’s people will be living together with Him for eternity!

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 to seek God first in your life and choose to let Him lead, direct, and guide your steps moving forward. When God blinds us, it may just be because He wants to teach us something we would otherwise be unable or unwilling to learn. When God reveals Himself to us, it may only be for a brief moment, but it will ultimately renew our faith in Him! Always keep your eyes open to what God is doing in the world around us!

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with Jesus. Don’t blindly take the words of any pastor, author, speaker, blogger, or podcaster without confirming or rejecting what they shared through the lens of God’s Word the Bible. Through the Bible, we can know and trust what God is like, and within the pages of the Bible, we can know just how far God is willing to go to redeem us out of sin!

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 blind yourself into missing where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!