Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Pointing Upward: John 8:31-59

Published September 22, 2021 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 8:31-59 (NIV)

³¹To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹“Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

⁴⁸The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

⁴⁹“I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

⁵²At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” ⁵⁹At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Read John 8:31-59 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

There are a lot of strong points in this passage, but one really big idea stood out to me as I read through this passage: Jesus did not come to give glory to Himself, but to point people to the Father (verses 49-50, 54). This is one of the biggest, mind bending ideas that I have seen shared about Jesus in the gospels: Jesus’ character does not strive to honor or bring glory to Himself.

However, there is another being who desperately wants to take Jesus’ place of honor (Isaiah 14:12-15). By the very nature of wanting to take Jesus’ place, Lucifer’s character runs completely contrary to this idea. He wants the glory to point to himself, because he wants to be the greatest.

Lucifer (Satan) wants to replace Jesus Christ. He tried in heaven, which caused him to be thrown out. I don’t doubt that he will try again here on earth. However, one of the easiest distinctions we can use to determine the true Christ from any false “christ” is this character trait. Boiled down to a simple question, we can ask: “Is this individual seeking glory for themselves, or are they uplifting God, Jesus as is written in the Bible, and not taking credit for their kindness?”

God often spreads our spiritual growth among many teachers (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). This is also uncharacteristic of someone who is seeking all the glory. Someone who wants all the glory is going to want to fill all the stages of growth, because they want to be recognized and honored. Another equally telling trait of a true Christ from a false “christ” is whether they are open to allow God to use a different individual to continue helping someone grow spiritually. Someone seeking their own glory is going to be interested in managing (and/or micromanaging) the growth process and this is counter to the character of Christ.

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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Planting Doubt: Matthew 9:9-13

Published September 21, 2021 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 9:9-13 (NCV)

⁹When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰As Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”

Read Matthew 9:9-13 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, immediately after inviting Matthew (also known as Levi) to follow Him, Matthew invites Jesus to his home for a big dinner. It’s uncertain how many disciples Jesus had at this point, but regardless of the size of Jesus’ group, Matthew invited many of his tax collector friends over to eat and to meet Jesus.

When reading Matthew’s gospel, specifically about this event, a subtle detail stands out to me as strange, and maybe even a little underhanded. While the supper was going on, Pharisees saw what was going on and “they asked Jesus’ followers, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” (v. 11)

Perhaps at this point, the Pharisees had been stumped enough by Jesus that they decide to take aim at His disciples instead, or maybe they simply wanted to plant seeds of division among Jesus’ group of followers. Whatever the reason for singling out Jesus’ followers, the motive was almost certainly negative.

Luke’s gospel describes it a little differently. Luke records the Pharisees and teachers of the law “complaining” to Jesus’ followers: “But the Pharisees and the men who taught the law for the Pharisees began to complain to Jesus’ followers, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’” (Luke 5:30)

While Jesus overhears them and responds to their question, when we instead focus on the tactic these men use, we see something that is incredibly effective at sabotaging a movement. If they can get the disciples talking and taking sides over Jesus’ unconventional actions, then their group will be weakened and less effective.

It seems as though Jesus was well aware of this, and before the disciples even have a chance to respond, Jesus speaks up with an answer. The answer Jesus gave both validates the decision each of Jesus’ followers made when choosing to follow Jesus and Jesus’ answer defuses the Pharisee’s subtle attack.

Satan knows he can win if he can simply plant enough seeds of doubt in a person’s mind. Plant the right seeds that question God and undermine His character, and Satan has succeeded in closing that person’s heart away from God. Some of the seeds Satan plants are questions that cannot be answered before we reach heaven, but many of them can.

The remedy for doubt is by testing the challenges themselves. Look at both sides of the challenge and then make a decision. If Satan is attacking God’s loving character, take a look at God’s unloving actions included in the Bible, but instead of stopping there, also look at God’s loving actions. Only after looking at both sides of an issue can we truly be informed enough to make a decision.

Satan wants each of us to doubt God to the point we are unwilling to even claim His promises. If Satan can succeed with his seeds of doubt, we won’t even bother thinking God has something better for us. The best way of answering Satan’s doubt is by bringing the challenge to Jesus. Jesus does have an answer to Satan’s challenges and His answer will validate our faith while also undermining Satan’s challenge.

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Flashback Episode — Blinded By Hostility: Matthew 27:1-10

Published September 20, 2021 in Audio Journal Entries

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On the morning Jesus was crucified, after the religious leaders had condemned Jesus and took Him off to Pilate, Matthew describes in his gospel that Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, regretted what had happened. Perhaps in an attempt to make things right or to undo what he had done, he returns to the chief priests and leaders with the money he had been paid.

Let’s read about what happened in our passage for this episode. This event is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 27, and we will be reading from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, Matthew tells us that:

¹Early in the morning all the chief priests and the leaders of the people decided to execute Jesus. ²They tied him up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

³Then Judas, who had betrayed Jesus, regretted what had happened when he saw that Jesus was condemned. He brought the 30 silver coins back to the chief priests and leaders. ⁴He said, “I’ve sinned by betraying an innocent man.”

They replied, “What do we care? That’s your problem.”

⁵So he threw the money into the temple, went away, and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests took the money and said, “It’s not right to put it into the temple treasury, because it’s blood money.” ⁷So they decided to use it to buy a potter’s field for the burial of strangers. ⁸That’s why that field has been called the Field of Blood ever since. ⁹Then what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true, “They took the 30 silver coins, the price the people of Israel had placed on him, ¹⁰and used the coins to buy a potter’s field, as the Lord had directed me.”

In this passage, we discover that not only were all the details of this event predicted centuries prior to it happening, but that the religious leaders probably didn’t realize they were fulfilling prophecy with their actions. Jeremiah had predicted that the 30 silver coins that were used to pay for the Messiah’s betrayal would be returned, and that these coins would be used to buy a potter’s field.

However, as I read this event, the fulfilled prophecy is not the thing that stands out to me the most. Even the amazing idea that the religious leaders, specifically those people who would have known the scriptures the best, would have let themselves so willingly fulfill prophecies concerning the Messiah, is not the biggest thing to stand out in my mind. Judas Iscariot returning the money, while fascinating in itself, is also not the biggest thing I am amazed by in this passage.

The biggest thing I see in this passage is the response the religious leaders give to Judas when he returned the money. Judas tells these leaders in verse 4, “I’ve sinned by betraying an innocent man.”

Judas Iscariot realized that he had done wrong and when he realized this, he at least attempted to make it right.

However, in contrast, the religious leaders respond by saying, “What do we care? That’s your problem.”

If Judas Iscariot betrayed someone he knew was innocent, then the religious leaders reveal their hostility and prejudice against Jesus through their response that is completely blind to the idea that Jesus is truly innocent. Judas Iscariot knew Jesus’ innocence, and Jesus’ innocence had not changed in any way from the time He was arrested to the point when Judas returned the money. The fact that these leaders don’t care about Jesus’ innocence speaks to the fact that they had already judged Jesus as guilty before actually having a case against Him.

With their response, the religious leaders incriminate themselves even more than Judas Iscariot had, because at least Judas Iscariot had realized what he had done before his life had ended. The religious leaders charged forward into greater guilt because they were 100% responsible for Jesus’ death. Judas Iscariot was merely responsible for the timing of His death, and the Roman government was responsible for the method of death Jesus received.

If one were to take the religious leaders out of the picture, no death would have occurred. Without the religious leaders to pay Judas Iscariot for a betrayal, there would have been no betrayal, and as we will soon discover, Pilate doesn’t discover anything worthy of death in his conversation with Jesus. In this passage, we see just how opposed to God the religious leaders are that they blind themselves to how they break one of the clearest commandments of the Old Testament, which simply says, “Don’t murder”.

On seeing that the religious leaders weren’t going to undo what he had started, Judas throws the money at them before committing suicide. Judas Iscariot was the only disciple to lose his life on the weekend Jesus died, and this was his choice.

However, just like the religious leaders were blinded by prejudice against Jesus, Judas Iscariot was also blind. Judas was blind, or perhaps we should say deaf, to all the warnings Jesus had told the disciples leading up to the cross. Jesus knew He would die that weekend before Judas even had any idea he would be the betrayer. If Judas Iscariot had realized or remembered Jesus’ words and simply delayed the emotional decision to end his life, it’s possible that Judas would have been visited by a resurrected Jesus and received a second invitation to follow, similar to Peter’s experience.

In this entire event, we see the religious leaders recognizing that they are acting outside of God’s will by paying for a betrayal and pressing for a death where it was not deserved. They recognize that the money they used to buy the betrayal is tainted and shouldn’t be given directly to God. They knowingly, or unknowingly fulfill one of the most amazing Old Testament prophecies that described exactly what would happen with the blood money.

In our own lives, when we fail God, it is easy to think that we have no hope for a future. However, Jesus came to replace our hopelessness with the promise of a new life with God in heaven. Jesus took the punishment for our sins even though He was innocent, so that we could receive the reward that He deserved for living a sinless life.

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

As always, be sure to seek God first and place Him first in your life. If you ever mess up and feel like you have failed God, the best response you can make is to humbly go to Him in prayer and ask for forgiveness. God is always willing to forgive a humble and repentant person who asks.

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal connection with God and to grow your relationship with Him. A personal relationship with God leads to life now, and not just eternal life in the future. A personal relationship with God leads to a better life in our current lives in spite of the sin that’s present in today’s world. The best relationship with God we can have will have a foundation of prayer and personal Bible study.

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

Flashback Episode: Year of the Cross – Episode 38: When Judas Iscariot tries to return the money he was paid to betray Jesus, the religious leaders have an interesting response. Discover what happened and what we can learn from one of the darkest passages in the entire Bible.

Breaking the Mold: Mark 8:31-9:1

Published September 17, 2021 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Mark 8:31-9:1 (GNT)

³¹Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.” ³²He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. “Get away from me, Satan,” he said. “Your thoughts don’t come from God but from human nature!”

³⁴Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. “If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. ³⁵For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. ³⁶Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! ³⁷There is nothing you can give to regain your life. ³⁸If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

^9:1And he went on to say, “I tell you, there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.”

Read Mark 8:31-9:1 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Throughout all the gospels, we see Jesus trying to warn His disciples of His upcoming death on the cross. Not only that, He also tried to get them to understand that within three days after His death, He would be back alive with them.

However, it always strikes me as a little odd that the disciples never really ask any follow-up questions to when Jesus tells them this. Perhaps they were confused about it, or maybe they were not ready to believe it to be true. But another reason for their silence could be because of what happened during one of the first times Jesus shared this information plainly with His followers.

Mark tells us that “Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: ‘The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.’ He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. ‘Get away from me, Satan,’ he said. ‘Your thoughts don’t come from God but from human nature!’” (v. 31-33)

Matthew’s gospel includes what Peter said to Jesus. Matthew tells us that Peter rebuked Jesus by saying, “God forbid it, Lord! That must never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22)

All the disciples believed the Messiah would last forever, and they believed Jesus to be the Messiah. Because of these two beliefs, the logical conclusion was that the Messiah could not die. Jesus teaching of His rejection and death didn’t fit with their picture of the Messiah, but instead of reframing their view of the Messiah’s role and ministry, or rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, they simply try to discount Jesus’ clear words to them. Mark includes the statement, “[Jesus] made this [His upcoming death] very clear to them.” (v. 32a)

What Jesus was saying didn’t fit into the mold that culture had created for the Messiah to fit into, and that mold was something that the devil created as a trap for Jesus. While Jesus’ response sounds over the top when He rebukes Peter, Jesus wanted to break free from the mold that first-century society had created for Him. The first place He needed to break it was from His followers.

Two thousand years later, our picture of Jesus looks different. We have 20 centuries of history to look back on and back through when developing our picture of Jesus. However we are just as capable of building a mold of who He is today as His disciples were back then. And just like Jesus broke the mold of the first century, He will break the mold we have for Him in the 21st century.

Jesus doesn’t like being restricted to a box or a role that humanity has created. Instead, He submitted to the role that God the Father had set before Him and He walked with the Holy Spirit through His ministry on earth. While we may not understand everything that God is doing, or everything that He has done, our job is not to understand it. Instead, we are called to follow Jesus’ example and submit to the role that God has set before us, and walk with the Holy Spirit leading us throughout our lives here on earth.

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