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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Being A Neighbor: Luke 10:25-37

Published June 28, 2023 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Luke 10:25-37 (CEV)

25 An expert in the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?”

26 Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?”

27 The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’”

28 Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.”

29 But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, “Who are my neighbors?”

30 Jesus replied:

As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.

31 A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.

33 A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him 34 and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”

36 Then Jesus asked, “Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?”

37 The teacher answered, “The one who showed pity.”

Jesus said, “Go and do the same!”

Read Luke 10:25-37 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Have you ever been reading a passage and come to a place where you wish it included a little more detail? This passage is one such place for me because as I read it, I noticed an interesting detail that Jesus “forgot” to include. In verse 30 we read the beginning of Jesus’ Good Samaritan story: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho . . .”

The inquisitive part of me asks the question – especially when we continue into this story – with role and race being the distinguishing mark of who helped and who did not, why might Jesus have left out the details regarding the man who was hurt? After all, without a hurt man, there would be no story.

Why would Jesus leave out a question that probably was in the mind of His listeners? Was the man a Jew, a Samaritan (like the one who helped him), a priest, a Roman, a soldier, a Greek, or another “foreigner”? We don’t know for sure, but we could logically assume that those in the audience were primarily Jews, and that they would assume Jesus was referencing “someone like them” (i.e. a Jewish man).

This is a clear assumption, since the text makes no indication of this, but if so, it would lead the Samaritan’s actions to be all that more powerful, because in that culture, Jews and Samaritans hated each other. A Samaritan helping a Jew in need was the furthest stretch of the audience’s imagination, but it illustrates Jesus’ key point: A neighbor is defined as someone who helps another person without regard to who they are, where they are from, or how they are in trouble.

In Jesus’ eyes (and we could also say “God’s eyes”), being a neighbor is an action, not a geographic “role” based on where you happen to live.

Good Samaritans help those who are in need without looking at details such as race, gender, status, or religion. The Good Samaritan was a model for how we are to treat each other, as members of humanity – helping where there is a need.

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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Spiritual Eyesight: Matthew 6:19-24

Published June 27, 2023 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: Matthew 6:19-24 (CEV)

19 Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. 20 Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. 21 Your heart will always be where your treasure is.

22 Your eyes are like a window for your body. When they are good, you have all the light you need. 23 But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. If the light inside you is dark, you surely are in the dark.

24 You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Read Matthew 6:19-24 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

If Jesus had a favorite one of the five senses, what do you think it might be? Would seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, or touching top His list if He were to prioritize them?

In the gospels, we have examples of all of these senses, but when I read the passage we are focusing on in this journal entry, I wonder if the sense of sight may be the most important of the senses in Jesus’ mind. In the middle of our passage, Jesus tells the crowd, “Your eyes are like a window for your body. When they are good, you have all the light you need. But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. If the light inside you is dark, you surely are in the dark.” (v. 22-23)

While there are several levels of truth Jesus is touching on in these two verses, the most obvious one is that our eyesight is incredibly important for seeing and navigating our world.

But Jesus is using the sense of sight as a metaphor for something else. In the last portion of this verse, Jesus hints at light potentially being darkness – and in this case, Jesus may be touching on something spiritual.

If light in these verses has more to do with seeing and discovering spiritual truths, then when we have great eyesight that is focused on the right things, we will have all the light we need. But if we don’t have the right focus, we live in the dark, or even worse than simply living in the dark is when we believe that the darkness we are living in is actually light.

Our eyes adjust to the amount of light in whatever location we are in. Perhaps this too relates to a spiritual truth that our spiritual eyesight gets stronger the more we focus on the right things.

Our eyes are like windows for our bodies. Everything we read, watch, and focus on gets into our minds, and it affects our worldview and our focus. It is up to us to be extra intentional about what we focus our eyes on because what we focus on will shape who we become.

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 — Four Events – One Big Theme: Matthew 14:13-36

Published June 26, 2023 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue moving through Matthew’s gospel, we come to two well-known events that happened within twelve hours or so of each other. One of these events happens to be included in all four gospels, and it is distinct because it is the only miracle other than Jesus’ resurrection, that is included in all four gospels. The other event is another miracle that was less well known, even though it is in three of the four gospels, and Matthew’s gospel includes a unique detail in it that none of the other gospel writers mention.

I debated whether to choose one of these events to focus in on instead of both, but thought that since most often, these two events are looked at separately, it might be beneficial to actually read them together and point out some shared themes that we might not see immediately on the surface.

With that said, let’s read our passage for this episode. It is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 13, Matthew tells us that:

13 When Jesus heard about John, he left in a boat and went to a place where he could be alone. The crowds heard about this and followed him on foot from the cities. 14 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He felt sorry for them and cured their sick people.

15 In the evening the disciples came to him. They said, “No one lives around here, and it’s already late. Send the crowds to the villages to buy food for themselves.”

16 Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 They told him, “All we have here are five loaves of bread and two fish.”

18 Jesus said, “Bring them to me.”

19 Then he ordered the people to sit down on the grass. After he took the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed the food. He broke the loaves apart, gave them to the disciples, and they gave them to the people. 20 All of them ate as much as they wanted. When they picked up the leftover pieces, they filled twelve baskets.

21 About five thousand men had eaten. (This number does not include the women and children who had eaten.)

A quick side-note that I’ll include here is that this is where most people will break these two events. However, since we’re looking at both together, let’s continue reading. Jumping back in at verse 22, we read that:

22 Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him while he sent the people away. 23 After sending the people away, he went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone.

24 The boat, now hundreds of yards from shore, was being thrown around by the waves because it was going against the wind.

25 Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and began to scream because they were afraid.

27 Immediately, Jesus said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid!”

28 Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”

29 Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?”

32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. 33 The men in the boat bowed down in front of Jesus and said, “You are truly the Son of God.”

34 They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. 35 The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. 36 They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.

In this long passage, we have four main events, even if we’re tempted to only see two. The first event is the feeding of the five thousand, which happens to be the famous miracle that all four gospel writers include. The second event is Jesus praying on the mountain while the disciples are struggling in the boat. The third event is Jesus coming to the disciples on the water and Peter’s big water-walking adventure. The fourth and last event is Jesus healing those who were sick in Gennesaret.

Every single one of these events have big themes that we can learn from them. However, when we put them all together, one theme stands above the rest. This theme says that: When we are focused on God, His love and power will be seen in our lives and the lives of those around us.

If we don’t include Jesus’ prayer on the mountain event, we have another big theme that trusting Jesus in our lives is never misplaced trust. Those who needed food in the wilderness, those who were sick in Gennesaret, and Peter as he was sinking in the water all needed Jesus, and they all trusted that Jesus could help them in the exact way they needed.

However, this second theme doesn’t match our primary theme in significance or importance. In all four of the events within our passage, we see the clear example of focus being placed on God. In the miracle of the feeding the large crowd, Jesus pushes the focus of the disciples onto what God can do when they are being tempted to believe that they cannot be a blessing.

After this miracle, when other gospels share how this crowd wanted to force Jesus to become their King, Jesus sends the disciples alone across the lake while He goes up the mountain to pray. In this second event, Jesus focuses more on God and His will than on what the crowd wanted Him to be or become. Jesus intentionally focused on God when everyone else wanted the focus to be placed on Him.

When Jesus comes down the mountain and walks to the struggling disciples on the water, Peter jumps out of the boat on Jesus’ command, but then he becomes scared and his focus leaves Jesus. At that moment, Peter starts sinking and he cries out to Jesus and God to save Him. When Peter’s focus left God, he began to sink prompting him to remember his need for Jesus.

In the fourth event, after the boat lands at Gennesaret, the people there spread the news this is where Jesus and the disciples had docked, and everyone brought those who needed help to Jesus. At Gennesaret, the people trusted in God and they placed their faith in Jesus that He could heal their friends and family. The focus of these miracles was on God and the power He had blessed Jesus with.

Within these four events, we can see how God is worthy of our trust, our faith, and our belief, and we can see that we succeed when we place His will ahead of our own. We are blessed when we stay focused on Jesus and on doing God’s will for our lives!

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, be sure to intentionally seek God first in your life and always place His will ahead of our own. Stay focused on Jesus and be sure to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus, because like our secondary theme tells us, hope, faith, and trust placed in Jesus is never misplaced hope, faith, and trust.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and know God better. Use your prayer and study time to grow a close, personal relationship with God and open your heart to what He wants to teach you. Discover in your personal time with God a God who loves you enough to let His Son die to redeem you from 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 abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Flashback Episode: Year in Matthew – Episode 26: While most people split this passage up into sections, discover a big theme that applies to all four events in our passage, and a secondary theme that is just as powerful!

Testimony from Two Johns: John 1:19-34

Published June 23, 2023 in Written Journal Entries
Focus Passage: John 1:19-34 (NASB)

In the opening statements to John’s gospel, He shares about Jesus’ forerunner in ministry, John the Baptist. While John the author-disciple does not share about Jesus’ baptism, He does share John the Baptist’s declaration about who Jesus was.

Immediately following Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. This really wasn’t the best time for John to point people towards Jesus’ significance – even though everyone present would have noticed the uniqueness of this baptism.

However, following the temptations, we read in John the disciple-author’s gospel that at some point later, probably a couple months later, or maybe even on Jesus’ return from the wilderness, Jesus swings by the river where John the Baptist is preaching. On seeing Jesus returning to see him, John the Baptist breaks away from what he is preaching about to declare, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” (v. 29-31)

If that wasn’t enough confirmation, John continues by saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’” (v. 32-33)

Then John concludes with his big key statement: “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (v. 34)

Aside from the angel visiting Joseph and Mary, and some elderly individuals in the temple when Jesus was dedicated, this is the first public declaration about who Jesus is. John the Baptist makes the very bold claim that Jesus “is the Son of God” and that this was entirely based on John’s call to ministry through baptism. It was in John’s ministry that he would learn who Jesus was.

While they were cousins, from what we read in this gospel, John does not weigh in on their relationship. The only thing he uses to base his claim on is what happened at Jesus’ baptism. This gives John the experience and boldness to say, “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (v. 34)

John the Baptist was one of the first people to point people to Jesus, but like John the Baptist (and John the author-disciple), each of us can be like these two Johns and point people to Jesus as the Son of God.

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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