Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Famous Last Words: Luke 1:5-25

Published November 11, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 1:5-25 (NIV)

⁵In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

⁸Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

¹¹Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²²When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

²³When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ²⁴After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Read Luke 1:5-25 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Probably the one thing Zechariah, the priest and father of John the Baptist, is known for the most is questioning the angel that appears to him in the temple while he was preparing to burn incense.

The gospel of Luke shares what happened. Zechariah was chosen by lot to be the one to go in and burn the incense, and an angel appears to him with the promise of an answer to his prayer. But immediately following the angel’s message, Zechariah taints his reputation by asking, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” (v. 18)

Zechariah’s question is self defeating. By asking for more proof, he shows the lack of belief he really has. At this point in his life, he has given up hope for ever having a child, and the angel’s promise seems too unbelievable. Had the angel come ten years earlier, it would have at least been feasible in his mind, but Zechariah has already resigned himself to die childless.

His question of doubt would be the last words he would speak until the birth of his child. In an unexpected turn of events, the angel does give Zechariah a second form of confirmation. He responds by saying, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” (v. 19-20)

Zechariah probably thought the entire 10 months or so between when this happened and when his son was born about the foolishness of his questioning God’s promise. If Zechariah were alive to give us a message, it would likely be something along the lines of, “When God gives you a promise, you should simply believe it.”

However, in Zechariah’s doubt, we also see an amazing picture of God. God gives Zechariah a very tangible sign that the promise would come true – and it is a sign that would stand out to everyone who knew this elderly couple. Zechariah’s doubt opened the door for God to draw more attention to the birth of the man who would prepare the people of Israel for the Messiah’s arrival.

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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Insulting or Encouraging: Mark 15:27-32

Published November 10, 2022 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue looking at the details Mark includes in the crucifixion portion of his gospel, we come to the section of this event that frames who Jesus died with, and the messages Jesus was receiving from those present. While it would be easy to see these verses and the messages Jesus was receiving as simply the mocking of hostile people, what these people were saying has a profound spiritual truth that might have even encouraged Jesus to press forward to His last breath.

Let’s continue reading and discover what the next verses can teach us about Jesus, and about God’s love for us. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 27, Mark tells us that:

²⁷They crucified two rebels with him [referring to Jesus], one on his right and one on his left. ^[28] [And the Scripture came true that says, “They put him with criminals.”] ²⁹Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³²Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Let’s stop reading here. From these verses, it doesn’t seem like anything in the messages Jesus was receiving is positive.

However, let’s look a little closer at what was said. The first “insult” Mark describes coming from people who passed by, and these people said, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” While these people believed or understood Jesus’ statement to refer to the building that was called the temple, John’s gospel tells us Jesus meant His body and He called His body the temple when making that claim.

This means that when these people threw Jesus’ words back at Him, while they intended their reminder to be an insult, they were actually reminding Jesus in the moment of His greatest physical pain, that resurrection was just around the corner!

I doubt anyone present would have realized this subtle encouragement, and I wonder if Jesus had planned early on to make this prediction knowing that at the moment He would need some encouragement from hostile people, He could count on them to remember and repeat this coded message back to Him.

But that isn’t the only insult that has multiple meanings in this passage. The other primary insult Jesus received was from the religious leaders, who Mark describes as saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” Again, similar to how the first “insult” could be reinterpreted to be encouraging, this second insult can also be a great reminder that Jesus could grasp and be encouraged by.

In this second insult, Jesus is reminded why He is on the cross. Jesus faced the cross to save others, not to save Himself.

The only reason Jesus faced the cross was to pay for the sins of those who want to escape the disease of sin and the traps of Satan. Jesus came to redeem sinners and to give those who want to return to God a way to return to God while allowing God’s justness and justice to still be clearly seen. God punishes sin and sinners deserved to be punished. However, someone unworthy of punishment is allowed to step in and take the punishment on themselves, which both allows justice to happen, while also showing love and mercy towards the guilty person. This second insult reminded Jesus why He was on the cross – because He was dying to save all of God’s people throughout history, including you and me!

However, the reason these insults were seen as insults was because of an assumption that those present blinded themselves into believing. This assumption was either something these people had convinced themselves was true, or it was a lie Satan had prompted them to believe in order to give Jesus one big last temptation before His death. The assumption I am referring to is that Jesus did not want to die.

The last big temptation Satan planned for Jesus was the temptation to come down from the cross and to save Himself. This temptation was included in both of the insults that were hurled at Jesus, and the implication is that Jesus needed to do this to prove who He was. This could only be a temptation if it were possible for Jesus to do, and I believe that Jesus was fully capable of leaving the cross if He wanted to.

However, Jesus knew that proving Himself to a skeptic would do no good. If Jesus had abandoned the cross when faced with this last temptation, the religious leaders and skeptics might have believed, or they might have simply come up with another reason they should doubt. One possible doubt would be that the soldiers didn’t do a good enough job driving the spikes into the wood, or that Jesus’ bone structure was uniquely different, allowing the spikes to slip off of Him. A skeptic’s mind can come up with countless reasons to not believe.

If Jesus had abandoned the cross when faced with this temptation, any belief in Jesus would be worthless, because Jesus gave up when times were too tough. Satan’s big claim against God was that God’s law was impossible to keep and impractical for life. Jesus came to demonstrate God’s love and to live a life that fulfilled all of God’s laws, showing us how God’s way is the best way!

Jesus’ chose not to save Himself so that He could save every person who wants to have a new life with God. Jesus used these insults that were thrown His way as subtle encouragements to remind Him why He was on the cross, which was to save sinners, and that the cross would end with resurrection on the third day!

Jesus used the biggest insults His enemies had and He had masterfully planned for them to be a source of encouragement in His darkest, most pain-filled hours leading up to His last breath.

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 accept Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Choose to let Jesus’ death pay for the price of your sins and accept the new life that Jesus offers to each of us because of what He faced. Jesus faced the cross for you and me, and His sacrifice only benefits us when we accept His death on our behalf by placing our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Choose to pray and study the Bible to discover a God who is passionately in love with you and a God who would stop at nothing to show His love for you because He wants to redeem you from the life of sin you are living in. God loves sinners, and Jesus came to redeem sinners who want to love God in return.

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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Year in Mark – Episode 45: While Jesus was hanging on the cross, Mark describes two primary insults that He received from people who were present. However, what if those insults weren’t actually insults. What if God had planned for them to be two significant encouraging messages for His Son at the point when Jesus needed encouragement the most!

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Confirming Our Faith: Luke 18:31-34

Published November 9, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 18:31-34 (NIV)

³¹ Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. ³² He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. ³³ On the third day he will rise again.”

³⁴ The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

Read Luke 18:31-34 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In today’s journal entry, we’ll be looking at just one of the many verses where Jesus directly tells His disciples that He will be arrested, sentenced, abused, killed, and then be raised from the dead. It seems shocking that the disciples don’t understand any of this, especially when it seems so clear to us looking back on this event.

Which leads me to the one idea I want to focus on in this passage: Jesus does not want us to be surprised by the future. He wants to share with us what will happen, both as a way of confirming our faith in Him, and so that we won’t be scared when what He has predicted will come to pass.

The Bible, including the gospels, are filled with prophecy and foreshadowing about what the future will hold. Too many people seem to forget this, or they rationalize away these prophecies saying that they have already been fulfilled.

I will agree that many Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled already in the timeline of history, but this doesn’t diminish the remaining prophecies. Instead, it enhances them, and our faith in the entire message of the Bible. Prophecy is given primarily to strengthen the faith of those within the church, and only secondarily to impress those outside of the church.

Prophecy is much less impressing to a secular person than our actions and attitudes towards them and each other. It is completely possible for us to have an accurate understanding of prophecy, and repel everyone we meet when we share it. Our best witness is the personal witness of our lives and how we treat each other, and only after this are we able to share faith building truth – such as what we find in this passage.

Jesus didn’t share this message with the broader crowd, but with His close followers. It is unclear all the different reasons, but one reason He did this was to strengthen their faith in Him after it was shattered during the fact.

Jesus does not want the future to scare us, because He has seen it, knows what will happen, and will be with us all the way through it.

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Hearing with Ears: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Published November 8, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (NIV)

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

¹⁸“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ²²The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Read Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

One of the oddest and potentially most humorous things I believe Jesus could say comes at the close of one of His most famous parables. After finishing sharing the parable of the farmer scattering seed, Jesus makes the final remark, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (v. 9)

On one hand, this statement pushes those present to pay attention, but on the other hand, not all ears are equal. Some people can hear better, while other people are completely deaf. In this statement, is Jesus actually discriminating against those who might be deaf or hard of hearing, or is this a statement Jesus says to cause a big “group” healing so that everyone within listening distance would then have their hearing restored to 100% for the remainder of His message?

This statement is odd in my mind because if Jesus wanted the people to pay attention, He simply could have said, “Pay attention. This is important.” If this was a statement of healing, it would truly be unique because every other healing Jesus did was on a personal level. Also, none of the gospel writers include a statement following this that would/could prompt the thought that this prompted a miracle.

The way this statement sounds is humorous in my mind – and that may be why Jesus said it. It sticks out because everyone has ears, and because you and I have ears, we should hear what Jesus wants to tell us. But like I alluded to before, what about those who may have been deaf who were present?

If this event was like many of the others Jesus experienced, Jesus healed first and taught second. If someone arrived late and Jesus had already started teaching, He would pause what He was saying to heal the individual. Because of this, I would be surprised if any people were left in the crowd who were deaf. There may have been some people who used to be deaf, or who happened to have been deaf that morning prior to coming to see Jesus, and if that was the case, this parable would be among the first things they would hear following their healing.

Reading Jesus’ statement pushes me to a deeper truth that Jesus helped before He taught. Jesus met people’s needs before sharing deeper about God. This challenges me to be more intentional about meeting people where they are and helping them on a personal level before trying to teach or challenge their spiritual growth.

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