Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Overcoming the Church: Matthew 16:13-20

Published September 8, 2023 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 16:13-20 (NIV)

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Read Matthew 16:13-20 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Of all the things in the gospels to challenge me, a phrase that Matthew includes in his gospel comes near the top of the list. While traveling with His disciples, Jesus asks them who people believe Him to be, and then He more directly asks them who they think He is.

Simon Peter responds with the correct answer when he replies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (v. 16)

But Jesus’ response to Peter contains some baffling truths. Jesus begins by drawing our attention to the only way Peter could have known this response: God the Father revealed it to Him. Jesus then continues building on this theme with a three part phrase that may sound startling. Jesus continues by saying, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (v. 18)

Jesus starts small, and then He expands with each phrase. The name Peter means pebble or stone. Peter was to be a small but also significant part of God’s plan.

Jesus then moves bigger by saying on this rock (or giant stone, or cliff), He will build His church. Jesus is not saying that the church is to be built on Peter, but instead on the response Peter gave that God the Father had revealed to him. This declaration was focused on Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Without directly pointing the focus onto Himself, Jesus takes this declaration and centers it as the cornerstone for His church.

Jesus finishes this statement by saying that the gates of Hades won’t overcome it. This is a tricky phrase to grasp. Gates are set up for protection and as a defense, but overcoming is an offensive maneuver. Perhaps Jesus is saying that whatever Satan releases through the gates of Hades, God’s church will not be stopped. Or maybe Jesus is saying that however strong Satan believes the gates of Hades to be, they will not be able to stand against the forward momentum of God’s church and the declaration that Jesus is God’s Son and the Messiah.

Jesus then clues Peter into His role in the next verse: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (v. 19)

Peter’s small but significant role is to be a like a gatekeeper. However, while this appears on the surface to set Peter up to be exclusive towards others, the truth is exactly the opposite. The religious system of that time was built upon rules and laws that separated God from the people. In the minds of the people, God would only pay attention to us once we had done enough significant things. The religious leaders had locked the gate to reach God from the people.

Jesus symbolically gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven so that Peter can open the gates of truth to let people into heaven. Peter does this in the book of Acts in a famous sermon shortly after Jesus is resurrected, and He does this again later in the book of Acts when He welcomes gentile believers in with another famous sermon. You and I can do the same when we welcome people into God’s family who were not with us before.

God’s family and His church cannot be stopped. God’s church is based on the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son, and that is something that Satan cannot deny. The church moves forward though the Holy Spirit’s power, and nothing Satan throws at it will overcome 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!

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.

When God’s Kingdom Comes: Luke 17:20-37

Published September 7, 2023 in Audio Journal Entries

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: iHeartRadio | RSS

Read the Transcript

While Matthew’s gospel shares a lot more details surrounding Jesus describing what the world would be like leading up to His return, Luke includes some interesting pieces of Jesus’ teaching on this. However, unlike Matthew’s gospel, which frames Jesus teaching about the end after the disciples ask a question, Luke’s gospel seems to frame this around the Pharisees asking Jesus a question, and putting a thought into His mind.

Let’s read what Luke tells us Jesus shared about the coming of God’s kingdom and what Jesus’ followers should expect regarding His return.

Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 17, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 20, Luke tells us that:

²⁰Once the Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom would come. He replied, “The coming of God’s kingdom is not something you can see. ²¹People will not say, ‘Here it is.’ Or, ‘There it is.’ That’s because God’s kingdom is among you.”

Let’s pause briefly here because in the next verse, Luke shifts directions slightly and I don’t want us to miss the big idea Jesus shares in this opening.

There are actually two big ideas in these first two verses. The first big idea is one that I find amazing, especially when I look at the majority of the gospels. This first idea is that this group of Pharisees seems to ask Jesus a genuine question. More often than not, the Pharisees were leading the broader group of religious leaders in planting traps and challenges for Jesus. However, that is not what we discover here.

In the opening verses of our passage, we discover how the Pharisees ask a genuine question and receive a genuine response. This tells me that Jesus treated every situation independently, and Jesus didn’t hold grudges against those who seemed to most openly oppose Him. This also challenges me to be like Jesus and treat every situation independently and to not hold grudges against those who most openly oppose me.

The second big idea is in Jesus’ response. While the kingdom that all those in the first century were looking for was a military kingdom to arise and challenge Rome, Jesus describes the arrival God’s kingdom as not something easily seen. The arrival of God’s kingdom is invisible, and one reason for this is because God’s kingdom is a kingdom unlike what we would often think of as a kingdom.

Jesus finishes off this second idea by saying that God’s kingdom was already among them. This is powerful because when these religious leaders were looking for a kingdom to arrive, Jesus tells them they missed the kingdom’s arrival and that it was already here. This tells me that God’s kingdom is anywhere that God is present. This means that when Jesus walked the earth, God’s kingdom was present. This also means that anywhere the Holy Spirit is present, God’s kingdom is also present.

When we let the Holy Spirit into our lives, we enter God’s kingdom, and we ally ourselves with it! God gave Jesus’ followers the Holy Spirit, and while the Holy Spirit works in different ways through God’s people at different points in time, allowing the Holy Spirit into our lives is never the wrong choice.

However, our passage isn’t finished yet. With the question of the coming of God’s kingdom on Jesus’ mind, we continue reading in verse 22:

²²Then Jesus spoke to his disciples. “The time is coming,” he said, “when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you won’t see it. ²³People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ Or, ‘Here he is!’ Don’t go running off after them. ²⁴When the Son of Man comes, he will be like the lightning. It flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. ²⁵But first the Son of Man must suffer many things. He will not be accepted by the people of today.

²⁶“Remember how it was in the days of Noah. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ²⁷People were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking. They were buying and selling. They were planting and building. ²⁹But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven. And all the people were destroyed.

³⁰“It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is shown to the world. ³¹Suppose someone is on the housetop on that day. And suppose what they own is inside the house. They should not go down to get what they own. No one in the field should go back for anything either. ³²Remember Lot’s wife! ³³Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it. Whoever loses their life will keep it. ³⁴I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed. One person will be taken and the other left. ^35-36Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other left.”

³⁷“Where, Lord?” his disciples asked.

He replied, “The vultures will gather where there is a dead body.”

In Jesus’ big message to the disciples about His return, we see a huge theme present. When Jesus returns, it will be sudden and visible to everyone like the lightning. Jesus’ return will be quick, because those who woke up that morning thinking they were going to experience a normal day discover this day would be anything but normal. And Jesus’ return should prompt us to leave anything and everything of this world behind.

Anything less global than a world-shattering event is likely not Jesus’ second coming.

While the disciples want to know where Jesus’ return will take place, the only answer Jesus gives them is that His return will be wherever vultures gather when there is a dead body. While many people could understand this response in different ways, I understand Jesus’ words to basically mean that this will be world-wide, or specifically wherever there are people living in the world.

Right now, there are people living in almost every place on the planet. Some places are more crowded than others, but every continent has people living on it, including Antarctica which is home to various groups of scientists and researchers.

While vultures don’t live in all parts of the world, I don’t think that the idea of vultures is as significant as we might think at first. While vultures were the primary predatory bird in that culture and region, I suspect Jesus would have used any predatory bird or animal if He’d been sharing in a different part of the planet.

The last big idea I want to share from Jesus’ message isn’t a very positive one, but it is significant. Jesus’ return will mark the point when God’s people are taken while others are left. Jesus’ last words indicate that what is left following His return will be dead bodies, indicating that this world wide conclusion likely won’t leave anyone alive left on this planet. Those taken with Jesus will be taken to heaven, and those left will be vulture food.

While this sounds bleak, it is significant for us to pay attention to because any return that is any less earth-shattering than what Jesus describes here is more likely an impostor than Jesus. If we see, hear, or believe anyone’s claim that Jesus has shown up and His return doesn’t end the world, then whoever showed up wasn’t the Jesus of the gospels.

Jesus came to bring glory to God the first time He came, and the second time Jesus comes it will be to gather God’s people to come home with Him to heaven. Jesus’ second coming will be a much shorter visit than His first, because as He tells His disciples in John’s gospel as they are traveling to the garden on the night of His arrest, Jesus is making homes, rooms, or mansions for us in heaven. Our ultimate home is going to be with God, and we get to experience the home He has prepared for us when He returns to bring us home!

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 seeking God first in your life and choose to ally your life with Him and His kingdom. Accept Jesus’ sacrifice as payment for your sins and accept the Holy Spirit into your heart, your mind, and your life. Also, continue looking forward to the day Jesus returns and takes us home to be with Him!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and personal study, discover a God who loves you with all of His heart and a God who is willing to cross the universe to redeem you!

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!

Year in Luke – Episode 36: When some Pharisees ask Jesus about the coming of God’s kingdom, discover what we can learn about when God’s kingdom arrives, and about Jesus’ second coming as well!

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Disobeying Jesus to Praise God: Luke 17:11-19

Published September 6, 2023 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 17:11-19 (NASB)

Have you ever been given a set of instructions to do a task you have struggled with for a while, and became excited when the task that was formerly difficult becomes easy?

Perhaps this has happened when trying to understand some other language (or programming language), or perhaps even when trying to get a simple crochet stitch figured out.

Well, in this passage, it appears as though a similar event occurs, though with some key differences.

In our passage, we read about ten lepers, and these men had little to no hope of ever being healed – until Jesus shows up in history. Leprosy at the time was not known or understood all that well as a disease – except to say that it was highly contagious and incurable. Our passage finds these ten men seeking Jesus out to be healed.

Other places in the gospels, Jesus uses touch to heal, but in this case, He sends them somewhere.

It is worth noting that all ten believe Jesus, and leave to go see the priest. What is really interesting in my mind about what Jesus tells them to do is that it is something they would have needed to do after being healed. Only an on duty priest could declare someone who previously had leprosy as clean, and all ten believed. Since Jesus told them to go, they will go – immediately, and without deviating from the mission since they all believed Jesus could/would heal them.

As they were heading to see the priest, they all realize they were healed. The mission was working. Jesus’ words were coming true. Here’s where we see a dilemma: continue on and finish the mission, making the healing permanent, or stop the mission and risk the leprosy returning. This is likely the question running through the minds of all ten men.

For nine, there was no question, because the answer was so obvious: finish the mission. But one man has a different thought: thank the healer. He knows that Jesus prompted the healing, even though Jesus never said anything to indicate that a miraculous healing would happen.

This one man intentionally breaks from the mission – risking the leprosy returning – because he wants God, and Jesus specifically, to be the first One to be thanked for his healing.

This brings us to our key point for this passage: Never forget to thank God and Jesus for the things that He has blessed you with, the things He has saved you from, and the things that He has promised for your future. Thank Jesus first when His blessings come into your life.

God’s blessings are not based on you being 100% obedient. Instead, what matters most is that you are intentionally growing closer to Him each and every day.

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.

Hope for Our Future: Luke 7:11-17

Published September 5, 2023 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 7:11-17 (NIrV)

¹¹Some time later, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. ¹²He approached the town gate. Just then, a dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother. She was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. So he said, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴Then he went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶The people were all filled with wonder and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” ¹⁷This news about Jesus spread all through Judea and the whole country.

Read Luke 7:11-17 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Part of me wonders why Jesus performed certain miracles. In several places, we read that Jesus healed people based on the level of faith present, and there are some places that indicate that the lack of faith actually stopped Jesus from healing. But not everywhere that Jesus worked had faith. It may surprise you, but the event this passage covers is one such event – there is no mention of faith before or after the young man’s resurrection here in the gospel of Luke.

If no faith was present, why would Jesus step outside of the norm to resurrect this only child?

There are two clues in this passage that tell us why Jesus may have done this.

The first is that Jesus felt sorry for her. This was the only son of this mother. No father is mentioned, so it is possible that the mother was a widow. The only family she had may have been this son who had just died, and Jesus knows that her boy was very special to her. This may be one reason why Jesus resurrected this young man.

The other reason is found in the crowd’s reaction following the miracle. We read that “the people were all filled with wonder and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has come to help his people.’” (v. 16)

The crowd gave praise and glory to God. While Jesus was the instigator of this miracle, those present knew that only God’s power could have done what had just happened, and this leads them to give God the praise. In other places, Jesus appears to avoid performing miracles because He knows that those wanting the miracle simply want to put more focus and emphasis onto Him and His ability. Jesus avoided scenarios like this.

In this event, we read that the praise went to the only valid place for it to go: the praise went to God and God alone. For this reason, Jesus resurrects this young man, and in this miracle that Luke includes, we see how God both loves those who are hurting, and He reaches down to help in practical ways.

While not everyone who has died will be resurrected before Jesus returns, those who have fallen asleep with their hope, faith, and trust in Jesus are promised a future resurrection and a new “eternal life” with God in heaven. Jesus’ resurrection that day proves that this is possible, and it is one reason we can trust Him with our future life in heaven.

Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.