Reflective Bible Study

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. ² He 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. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain 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. ⁶ If 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. ⁷ If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be done for you. ⁸ When 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. ¹⁰ If 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. ¹¹ I have told you this so that you will have the same joy that I have. I also want your joy to be complete. ¹² Here is my command. Love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ You 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. ¹⁷ Here is my command. Love one another.

¹⁸ “My disciples, does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If 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. ²⁰ Remember 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. ²¹ They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ I 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. ²⁵ This 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. ²⁷ You 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!

As we keep moving through the parables and illustrations Jesus used when teaching the people, we come to a parable Jesus shares specifically with His disciples. However, this parable is part of a bigger teaching about the importance of being courteous, intentional, forgiving, and having faith. In just a few short verses, Jesus covers all these topics leading up to a parable that summarizes what our attitudes should be when seeing ourselves as disciples, or followers, of Jesus.

Let’s read Jesus’ teaching, then discuss how it is relevant for us today. Our passage and parable are found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 17, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1:

¹ Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ So watch yourselves.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷ “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

In this passage, we discover four big descriptions of what Jesus called His followers to be. But before focusing on these four descriptions, realize that Jesus called His people to be this way, not those who were not His people. Since this message was given to people who already had accepted Jesus’ invitation to follow, we should understand the descriptions we will look at as destination points on the path God leads us on, and not as prerequisites for taking the journey with God.

The standard Jesus sets with these four descriptions is extreme, and it is about as counter-cultural as one could imagine.

Our first big description can be summarized as having a selfless attitude. This is described by Jesus’ opening statement: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.” (verses 1-3a)

Having a selfless attitude means that we are intensely focused on the well-being of others and we don’t press our own agenda. The only “agenda” we have is showing others God’s love and helping them discover the Jesus who gave His life for them. If there is something about us or our message that would cause someone to stumble, then we minimize it, but don’t discount it or ignore it. If there is something that is a big issue in the other person’s life, then we shift the focus away from it. It is better to let God’s Holy Spirit do the convincing regarding big issues than for us to place a stumbling block in someone’s path when they are moving towards God.

Having a selfless attitude means we love others, we pray for them, and we help them discover Jesus. We ultimately let God lead them towards His truth.

The next big description is having unconditional forgiveness. This is where Jesus goes next when He says: “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” (verses 3b-4)

While we are called to forgive others regardless of whether they truly repent, forgiveness is simply not holding them responsible or as payable for the debts they caused us. Forgiving doesn’t mean reconciling them back into our lives, even though some problematic people may be closer connected to us. The unconditional forgiveness Jesus calls His people to live out is nothing more or less than what God does for His people.

We might do our best to avoid sin in our lives, but we stumble, fall, and then come back to God asking for forgiveness. God unconditionally forgives us when we return to Him, and this is the attitude He calls His people to model for the world around them.

The third big description comes after the disciples ask Jesus for help increasing their faith. Jesus doesn’t really answer their direct question, but He does describe what we could call an unwavering faith when He says: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (verse 6)

Jesus calls His people to live lives of unwavering faith in God and in Him. While we might not need to use our faith to move mulberry trees, our lives of faith are no less significant in God’s eyes. When we live lives of unwavering faith, nothing Satan throws our way will stop us from living for God and from having faith in Jesus.

While bad things may happen in our lives, we are not surprised by this because we know this world is filled with sin. God didn’t call us to live easy lives on this earth, but to live lives dedicated to Him. God’s goal for us isn’t a comfortable life in sin, but an eternal life with Him!

The fourth and last big description Jesus gives for His people is the focus of the parable portion of this passage. We could describe this as limitless humility. We discover this through Jesus’ illustration where He tells the disciples: “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (verses 7-10)

While a different parable Jesus shares frames God as the one turning the tables and serving us, this parable does not contradict Jesus’ other illustration. Our parable in this passage focuses on our attitude, not on God’s actions. This parable focuses on our expectations and on our response. After serving God for a lifetime, we should be content still serving Him.

This describes a limitless humility, and living a life of limitless humility neatly summarizes living with a selfless attitude, living with unconditional forgiveness, and living with unwavering faith. When we are God’s people, we reflect His life and His character. God has called us to serve others because He loves and serves us. God never stops serving, and this is the attitude He has called His people to model!

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. If you have decided to be one of God’s people, be sure to focus on incorporating these four descriptions into your life with God and your life living among those in this world. However, also know that to truly model these four descriptions, we need the Holy Spirit’s help. We cannot reflect God’s love and God’s character on our own.

Because of this, I always challenge each of us to continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Prayer and Bible Study are the best ways to build a strong spiritual foundation for our lives and it is the best way to discover who God is and what He is truly like. While cynics like to only focus on the cruel acts of God, studying the Bible for yourself can help you discover God’s reasons for these challenging events.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!