Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Increasing Faith: Luke 17:1-10

Published February 9, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 17:1-10 (NIV)

¹Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ²It 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. ³So watch yourselves.

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

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

⁶He 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’? ⁸Won’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’? ⁹Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Read Luke 17:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Coming right after Jesus talks about challenges and forgiveness, the disciples make their request. Jesus’ “answer” doesn’t really appear to be about faith at all. He initially gives a statement that a seemingly insignificant amount of faith can cause a massive impact, but then moves the focus onto obedience. Jesus doesn’t say, “Here are three steps to increase your faith,” because faith cannot be broken up into steps and milestones.

Instead growing faith moves through stages based on our obedience. The more obedient we are, the stronger our faith can become, and the more opportunity and responsibility will come our way, leading us further up the stages of faith.

“Mustard-seed-sized-faith” might begin with a declaration—a milestone moment at the beginning—but according to Jesus’ response, for our faith to grow we must be obedient to what Jesus has called us to. Obeying is much more difficult than simply thinking or talking about obeying. Obeying with our actions grows 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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The Godhead in a Spiritual Challenge: Matthew 23:1-36

Published February 8, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 23:1-36 (NASB)

¹ Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ² saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; ³ therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. ⁵ But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their *I.e. small cases containing Scripture texts worn on the left arm and forehead for religious purposesphylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. ⁶ They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. ⁸ But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. ¹¹ But the greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ¹⁴ [*This v not found in early mssWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ ¹⁷ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ ¹⁹ You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? ²⁰ Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

³⁴ “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Read Matthew 23:1-36 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

While we can find Jesus warning the crowds regarding the scribes and Pharisees in three of the four gospels, only Matthew’s gospel really expands on what Jesus disliked about this group of people. Matthew dedicates almost an entire chapter to sharing Jesus’ strong words towards those who claimed to represent God.

Early on in this section full of cautions, Jesus sets up a contrast between the religious leaders, and what He wants from His followers. Jesus describes the scribes and Pharisees to the people by saying, “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” (v. 6-12)

In this section, Jesus describes the hierarchy that the religious leaders had set up to elevate themselves over the rest of the people, and He dismantles it by comparing it to what God truly wants from us.

But in these few verses, we see each member of the Godhead represented.

“But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.” – This section points us towards the Holy Spirit, who will teach and guide us into God’s truth.
“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” – This section points us towards God the Father, who is our Creator and Provider.
“Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.” – This section points us towards Jesus Himself, who is our Leader and our perfect Example.

To wrap up this section, Jesus describes what our response should be when we see others setting up a hierarchy. Instead of focusing on climbing upwards, Jesus says, “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.” (v. 11)

Jesus then shares a broad principle that we should remember, “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” (v. 12)

In these verses, we are challenged to place each member of the Godhead in the appropriate place of our lives, and we are taught that humility is God’s path towards greatness. Jesus lived this truth during His years on earth, and He challenges us to live as He lived – humbly placing God first and walking with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

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Flashback Episode — Doubting a Demon: Luke 4:31-37

Published February 7, 2022 in Audio Journal Entries

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As Jesus’ public ministry was beginning, we read about an interesting miracle where it appeared as though Satan wanted to publicly declare who Jesus was, while Jesus wanted this information to remain hidden. This is interesting because it is the reverse of what we might expect the situation to be. However, when we look at what happened, and what could have happened, we discover why Satan may have wanted to reveal Jesus to the people.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 4, and we will be reading from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 31, Luke tells us that:

³¹Then he [referring to Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. ³²They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

³³In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴“Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

³⁵“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

³⁶All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” ³⁷And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

As our passage concludes, it isn’t surprising that word would spread about Jesus throughout the surrounding area. It was one thing to cast evil spirits out of people, but it is unlikely that any evil spirit would call anyone out as the Holy One of God.

This small detail jumps off the page at me when I read this, because Jesus wants this information to remain secret. However, why might this have been?

In my mind, as I think about this event, one place where there would be “questionably reliable” information would be from a demon. A demon does not have to lie, but a demon is fully capable and willing to lie and deceive. In an interesting move, this demon seeks to proclaim who Jesus is by sharing truthful information, but because this information is from a not-so-reliable source, the validity of the claim then falls into question.

If Satan wanted the people to know who Jesus was, openly declaring Jesus wouldn’t serve his goals of deceiving people away from God – unless Satan already knows he isn’t a trusted source of information, and then he is free to share truth and almost truth with people because it would make those present immediately doubt simply because of its source.

This is one big reason why I see this demon wanting to out Jesus as God’s Holy One, and it is also a great reason for Jesus to command the demon to stay silent.

However, another reason we can uncover when we look at this event is that since this is early in Jesus’ ministry, He doesn’t want to attract the wrong type of people. If Satan can flood Jesus with people who are eagerly awaiting a military-messiah to lead them to victory over Rome, Satan could possibly derail Jesus’ ministry away from helping hurting individuals and onto military, political conquest. If enough people assembled with a military motive, then it would attract the attention of the Roman army, and Jesus’ ministry would be crushed before He could face the cross.

Satan’s entire play in this declaration was one of doubt and distraction, and one that wanted to cause confusion among the people regarding who Jesus was.

However, Jesus commands the demon to stay silent because Jesus knows that nothing coming out of the demon’s mouth is within God’s plan for Jesus’ life and ministry.

But even before the demon-possessed man showed up, we discover that the people were already taking notice. Early on in our passage, in verse 32 specifically, Luke tells us that those in the Capernaum synagogue were “amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority”. This was before the demon-possessed man showed up, and the presence of this demon-possessed man only amplified the authority of Jesus’ words.

Everything in this passage teaches us that Jesus, as the Holy One of God, is stronger than Satan and his force of evil angels. If Satan was stronger, than the demon’s command for Jesus to go away would have prompted Jesus to go away. In an ironic twist, the demon is commanded to do what it wanted Jesus to do. Jesus counter-commands the demon to be quiet and to leave the man, which is equivalent to being commanded to go away.

The demon obeyed Jesus, and this detail proves that Jesus is stronger than the devil.

While this all could be a great trick that Satan played to deceive people, the last person Satan would want us to pay attention to would be Jesus. Jesus spent His entire ministry pointing people towards God, Jesus helped everyone who was hurting, and Jesus caused God to receive more praise than He had received in generations. Satan is in it for his own glory, so prompting people to pay attention to someone who is openly giving glory to God is both illogical and counter-intuitive.

Jesus knew the devil’s tricks and He knew why it was not productive to let the demon speak, even if what the demon said was the truth. Jesus came to give glory to God and not to seek glory for Himself, and when we come to Jesus and let Him transform our lives, we will be more interested in giving Jesus and God the glory, and not on accepting any glory for ourselves.

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

Always seek God first and place Him first in your life. Intentionally choose to grow towards Him because the closer we are to Jesus, and the more we are living within His will for our lives, the clearer we will see the devil’s tricks and traps.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn first-hand from God’s Word. While other people can give you great things to think about, always take what you hear, read, and learn and test it against what you see written within the pages of the scripture. The Bible is given as a timeless revelation of God and His character, and through its pages, we can learn the truth about life.

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

Flashback Episode: Year of Miracles – Episode 6: When a demon-possessed man shows up while Jesus is preaching to declare that Jesus is the Holy One that God sent, would that be reliable information for us to pay attention to? Discover why Jesus commands the demon to stay silent before commanding it to leave the man it had possessed.

Learning Wisdom: Matthew 25:1-13

Published February 4, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 25:1-13 (NIrV)

¹“Here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like at that time. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. ²Five of them were foolish. Five were wise. ³The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t take any olive oil with them. ⁴The wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵The groom did not come for a long time. So the bridesmaids all grew tired and fell asleep.

⁶“At midnight someone cried out, ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷“Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready. ⁸The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’

⁹“ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There may not be enough for all of us. Instead, go to those who sell oil. Buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰“So they went to buy the oil. But while they were on their way, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding dinner. Then the door was shut.

¹¹“Later, the other bridesmaids also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

¹²“But he replied, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. I don’t know you.’

¹³“So keep watch. You do not know the day or the hour that the groom will come.

Read Matthew 25:1-13 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, we can learn a lot about what it takes to be known as wise. In this parable, there are some clear differences shared between the wise bridesmaids, and the foolish ones.

This parable opens by describing ten bridesmaids who all want to meet the bridegroom. All ten have the same goal, but then Matthew describes the differences between them. He tells us, “Five of them were foolish. Five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t take any olive oil with them. The wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps.” (v. 2-4)

The first key difference between these two groups of bridesmaids is that the foolish ones didn’t bring along any extra oil in jars. Perhaps the foolish bridesmaids believed the oil was safer left at home, or maybe they assumed that there would be no delaying the wedding party’s arrival. Whatever the reason, these foolish bridesmaids did not bring extra oil.

On the other hand, the wise bridesmaids either anticipated a delay, or they thought that more oil would be good to have. Oil left at home does no one any good. They likely didn’t bring all their oil, but enough to get all the way through the night.

Then all the bridesmaids fell asleep. After being woken up, we are able to see another key difference between the wise and the foolish. Matthew describes the bridesmaids having a frantic conversation while scrambling to get ready for the bridegroom who was almost here. He tells us the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.” (v. 8)

The wise bridesmaids responded by saying, “No, there may not be enough for all of us. Instead, go to those who sell oil. Buy some for yourselves.” (v. 9)

Matthew then describes what the foolish bridesmaids did: “So they [the foolish bridesmaids] went to buy the oil. But while they were on their way, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding dinner. Then the door was shut.” (v. 10)

Preparation and decision separated the wise from the foolish in this parable. The wise bridesmaids prepared by bringing enough oil, and that preparation let them experience the wedding. The foolish bridesmaids’ lack of preparation made for an awkward conversation and a poor decision on the back end.

Following being woken up, the foolish bridesmaids left their post in order to go get oil. This decision cost them the chance of being part of the wedding celebration.

While tradition holds that the oil represents the Holy Spirit, it is possible that in this parable, it could mean simply anything that we feel we need to have or do before coming to God. If the oil really does represent the Holy Spirit, then the only Source of it would be coming with the wedding party, with God the Father (as Father of the Groom), and God the Son (the groom). It is possible that the Father, seeing that the foolish bridesmaids had run out of oil, may have brought out some and given it to them.

But the foolish bridesmaids were nowhere to be found. They had left their post in favor of seeking oil elsewhere, and they missed out on the wedding celebration.

The key two ideas that make us wise in this parable are that we should plan ahead and bring more than is necessary incase Jesus’ return is delayed; and secondly, we should never leave our post thinking there is something more we need to have or do elsewhere. If we leave our post, we guarantee that we will miss out on the reward of being included in the wedding celebration.

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