Reflective Bible Study

In our last episode, we began our annual two-part finale looking at some of the big insights and ideas we discovered during the first half of our year focusing on Mark’s gospel. For this episode, let’s pick up where we left off and focus in on the second half of this amazing gospel, looking at themes leading up to Jesus’ time on the cross, and what we can learn from Jesus’ amazing sacrifice and resurrection.

However, as I always take a minute or so to do during our last episode each year, I think it is important to take a brief look at where we’ve been and where we are headed for the coming year. If you’ve been listening for a while, a few years ago, while we were focusing a year of podcasts looking at the miracles of Jesus, I had the idea of taking a set of four years and focusing each year on one of the four gospels.

Well according to that plan, we have just reached the half-way point. Last year we focused on Matthew’s gospel, and the year we are ending in this episode has been entirely focused on Mark. Following this plan then leads next year’s focus to be on Luke’s gospel, and that makes me really excited. Luke included some amazing things in his gospel, and I can’t wait to dive in and discuss them with you!

However, before I jump too far ahead, we still have a bunch of insights to cover from the last half of our year in Mark. So with that said, let’s look back at what we learned during the second half of this year in Mark’s gospel.

Our first part of this finale ended focusing on episode 24. Episode 25 focused in on the disciples being concerned about other people casting out demons using Jesus’ name that weren’t part of their group. In this episode, we were challenged with the truth: Christianity was never meant to be an exclusive club for sinners saved by grace. Christianity is united by people following Jesus Christ and giving Him the glory, the praise, and the credit for everything. Everyone is given the option to choose Jesus or not. It is a choice we are freely given, and one that we all must make.

Moving forward to episode 26, which focused on some challenging themes regarding marriage, we learned that while this passage contains some pretty significant challenges, Jesus did not come to judge people; He came to love, forgive, and redeem everyone who wants to be loved, forgiven, and redeemed.

In the next episode, number 27, Jesus predicts that the trip He and the disciples were taking to Jerusalem would end in His death. In this passage and episode, we discovered that we shouldn’t fear death. Instead, we should be determined to walk along the path God has placed before us and not be concerned if that path ends in death. Whether we live or die following the path God has for our lives, we can look forward to the resurrection that Jesus promised and the resurrection Jesus experienced.

Jumping ahead to episode 30, we looked at Jesus chasing the moneychangers and commerce out of the temple. In this event, we see Jesus push back against a me-focused worship experience. Worship is not about our preferences, our likes or dislikes, or about anything to do with ourselves. Instead, worship is all about God and what He wants. God wants His house on earth described as a house of prayer for all nations. Our worship is not for our own benefit. Instead, when we worship God, we are to focus on bringing Him what He wants, and God is interested in gifts that contain our hearts.

Skipping forward to episode 35, we looked at two short verses that contained a powerful truth that predicted the magnificent temple Jesus and His disciples were leaving would be destroyed. In this episode, we were reminded that the best humanity can create or build is nothing when it comes to what God has in store for us in heaven. Culture wants us to minimize God while glorifying what humanity is capable of building. Jesus challenges His followers to glorify God while being realistic about what humanity is able to accomplish. Natural disasters, terrorism, and other catastrophes can easily destroy in minutes a building that took years to construct. This is why Jesus challenges His followers to not focus on amazing or extravagant buildings. Buildings come and building go, but what matters above everything else is giving glory to the One who created life, and the One who gave His life for each of us!

Moving forward, episodes 36 and 37 focused in on Jesus sharing details surrounding His return. In these episodes we are reminded and challenged that through Jesus and what He accomplished for us on the cross during His first coming, God opened the way for Jesus’ second coming. While Jesus’ first coming is God coming to be near His people, Jesus’ second coming will usher in God’s people leaving earth to be near God. Everything Jesus described leading up to His return is so dramatic that if there is any doubt in your mind regarding Jesus’ return, it is likely a false Jesus coming, rather than the real one. Setting a date for Jesus’ return is pure, 100% speculation.

Instead of spending mental energy on trying to figure out a date, we should live each day with the expectation that today could be the day, being ready if Jesus comes, while also planning our future lives in case tomorrow happens. We don’t want to assume there will always be a tomorrow, because if we do, Jesus’ return will catch us off guard.

Let’s jump forward again to episode 42, which focused on Jesus’ trial before Pilate. In this episode, we were amazed to discover that Jesus willingly chose to take the place of a rebel, a murderer, and a sinner, and in this event Barabbas, the clearly evil, condemned-to-die person, represents you and me. Barabbas represents every human being who has ever lived who deserves to die for their sins but who gets the opportunity of a new free life because of Jesus!

Following Jesus’ trial before Pilate in episode 42, episode 43 focused on Jesus being beaten by the soldiers. In this episode’s passage, we see the soldiers mocking Jesus by dressing Him up as a king. We also discovered and were challenged with the truth that above any other gift, God wants our hearts. If our hearts are not included in our worship to God, then our worship is no more pleasing to God than the soldiers mock worship was to Jesus.

The following three episodes move through the time Jesus spends on the cross. Episode 44 focused us on the place Jesus was crucified, Golgatha, and we learned that the place Jesus died was connected with the origin of sin and with humanity’s fall. When we place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and His sacrifice, Jesus accepts our sinful lives as being included in His death, and He gives us the assurance of the life He deserved.

Episode 35 focused in on the insults Jesus received while He was on the cross. However, as we looked a little closer at what was said, we discovered 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.

Episode 36 focused in on the darkness that covered the land during the last hours of Jesus’ time on the cross and Jesus then taking His last breath. We were challenged to realize that it is tempting to think God is with us in the good times and that He has abandoned us in the bad times, but if we choose to believe this, we may be believing a lie Satan wants to trick us with. I believe that regardless of the source of the darkness, and regardless of Jesus’ cry out to God about feeling abandoned, that God was 100% focused on this moment in history. Even though Jesus felt like God had left Him, I don’t believe for a moment that God turned His back on Jesus’ sacrifice.

Satan wasn’t strong enough to convince Jesus that His cries to His Father would not be heard. Satan is powerless to stop our prayers from being heard by the Father, and Satan is powerless to stop the Father from being passionately in love with us! Everything worth anything in life hinges on Jesus’ death, and because Jesus died on the cross, we are able to accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus that extends into eternity!

In our year podcasting in Mark’s gospel, we learned many things and were challenged in many ways. However, Jesus’ death didn’t really end Jesus’ story. To wrap up our year-end finale, Mark concludes His gospel by sharing Jesus’ resurrection. In episode 48, which is a great episode to finish our finale looking at, we are reminded and challenged by the truth that even when we fail God, He never gives up on us! If you have felt as though you have failed God, don’t give up on God because He hasn’t given up on you. Instead, return to Him, ask for forgiveness, and restart your walk with God from a place where you are a little older and a little wiser than you were before. With God, we never restart our spiritual journeys at the same place, but every restart is further ahead than the last one as we continue walking through life towards eternity.

Last week, we began our annual two-part finale and we focused in on some of the biggest insights we covered during the first half of our year focusing on John’s gospel. We ran out of time right after looking at John telling us about a crowd in the temple directly asking Jesus whether He was the Messiah or not, before picking up stones to throw at Him.

Before we pick up where we left off, as I always do during this last episode for our year, I like to give you a brief glimpse of where we’re headed for our next year. If you’ve been listening for a while, you may have remembered that four years ago, we began this journey focusing in on the gospels, taking a year to focus on each of these gospels. Before that, we had been focusing on different topics like the week leading up to the cross, and focusing in on Jesus’ miracles.

While I don’t know if it was because of what we focused on a few weeks ago looking at prophecies Jesus fulfilled throughout the crucifixion, or if it was something else, I thought it would be fascinating to take a year and look at prophecies Jesus fulfilled from the Old Testament. A quick search on Google turned up very long lists, in the range of 300 to 400 prophecies, so I know we cannot cover them all in the span of one year of weekly podcasts. However, I also know that there are some major prophecies that Jesus did fulfill, and it would be fascinating to look at as many as we have time for!

However, before diving into the prophecies, we still need to finish this year off by looking at the insights from the second half of this past year.

Picking back up where we left off, episodes 25, 26, and 27 detailed what happened when one of Jesus’ friends Lazarus died. In episode 25, which focused on what we can learn when Jesus heard the news of Lazarus’ illness, we discovered that sin will not conquer or defeat God’s people. Another way of saying this is that God’s people will outlive and outlast both sin and death. If humanity never sinned, Jesus would not have needed to come and face the cross, and Jesus alludes or suggests that the cross was where He would receive glory.

Episode 26 then focused on what happened when Jesus arrived in Bethany. We learned in this episode that Martha’s declaration about Jesus implies a powerful faith in Jesus, and in Jesus’ resurrecting ability, even if Martha has accepted the possible truth that Lazarus won’t live again during their lifetimes, but will be raised up on the last day. We also saw that with Jesus, God is never too late, and regardless of how long we have been in the grave, when Jesus calls to us at the end of time, we will be resurrected just like Lazarus was. When Jesus calls, those who are dead hear His voice and return to life! For God’s people, death is nothing more than a sleep waiting for the end of sin and the final resurrection into a brand new life with God!

While many people don’t include what happened in this event after Lazarus was raised from the dead, episode 27 focused in on the response and reaction of the religious leaders when they learned about this miracle. In this passage, it was amazing to discover that The highest spiritual authority in the Jewish faith, who also happened to be Jesus’ most high-profile opponent, is led by God to give the most powerful prophecy describing Jesus’ mission and purpose for coming to this world. This led us to conclude that Jesus came to this earth to redeem not just one race, one religion, or one ideology. Jesus came to redeem and unite all of God’s people that were scattered throughout the world.

Jumping forward to episode 30, we looked at Jesus speaking in the temple shortly after arriving in the temple after He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. In this episode, we were challenged with the truth that without Jesus’ death, there would be no harvest, because without Jesus’ gift, the only ones able to pay for our sins are ourselves and the payment is death. God loves us more than we possibly could imagine, and because of this, God made a way for us to be redeemed while also keeping His Law in effect.

This also means that the path where Satan loses and God achieves victory is through God paying the punishment for our sins, because this path proves God is both just and loving, and this was demonstrated through Jesus’ death on the cross.

We serve Jesus the best by proclaiming God’s love and inviting all who are willing to come to Jesus and accept the free gift He offers to us. Through Jesus’ death, we can have a new life with God, and because Jesus gave His life for us, we are guaranteed an eternal life with God when we accept Jesus’ life and His sacrifice on our behalf.

A couple episodes later, specifically in episode number 32, we looked at the special meal known as the Last Supper. In this episode, we are reminded that Jesus intentionally loved the people God sent Him into the world to love, and Jesus intentionally loved them all the way to the end. In other words, Jesus faced the cross because He loves you, me, and all of those who God wants to redeem for eternity!

Nothing about that night caught Jesus by surprise, and Jesus was more aware of everything that would happen than even Judas Iscariot was. Jesus willingly chose the cross, and that He chose it because He loves you and He loves me!

Jumping ahead to verse 36, where Jesus promises His followers the gift of the Holy Spirit, we were amazed to discover that the truth about sin, specifically our past sins, is that they only really matters if we do not believe in Jesus. The truth about righteousness, referring to personal integrity and having a Godly character, is found in Jesus standing in heaven as our advocate. And the truth about the judgment is that it is guaranteed to happen because the prince of this world, referring to Satan, stands as condemned because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross!

This makes for a great transition to jump forward to the episodes where Jesus was hanging on the cross. Episodes 42 through 45 focus on the time when Jesus was hanging on the cross.

In episode 43, Jesus has a brief conversation with one of His disciples and Mary, His mother. In this episode and event, we saw the incredible truth that at the darkest part of history, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, He focused on others. While both criminals hanging on crosses with Jesus focused on themselves, and while the soldiers focused on what they could get or win from the death of these three men, Jesus cleanly focused on others till His last breath. Jesus offered forgiveness, and Jesus kept His mind focused on accomplishing the mission that was set before Him.

The cross demonstrates God’s love for us, and everything Jesus does while on the cross helps show this love. Jesus faced the cross for you and for me, and because Jesus faced the cross, paying a debt He did not owe, we can experience a life we don’t deserve when we accept His gift of His perfect life in exchange for ours.

The next episode, number 44, focused on Jesus giving His last breath and giving up His Spirit. In this episode, we were reminded that Jesus’ big reason for facing death included fulfilling scripture, demonstrating to the universe just how much God loves humanity who had fallen into sin and rebellion, and opening the way for salvation of sinners.

God’s solution for sin is to take the punishment for sin on Himself. Through the death of a member of the Godhead who had not sinned, and who did not deserve the punishment, a way is opened for God to still be just, since a penalty was paid for sin, while also being loving and trustworthy, because someone born into sin with no other options is given a second chance.

God’s character is one that takes the punishment for sin on Himself because God loves us. Jesus died for us in order to make the way possible for a sinner to be saved while also allowing God to remain just. Through Jesus’ death, God’s character is proved as just and also loving because He punishes sin while also demonstrating His love for sinners.

As you may have noticed, many of these episodes focusing on Jesus’ death share the theme of God taking our punishment onto Himself.

Episode 45 was a fascinating one. In it, we focused on a few verses where Jesus is still hanging on the cross, but while He has already died. In this episode, we looked at what was significant behind the religious leaders’ asking for the legs of the men hanging on the cross to be broken, and what happened when the soldiers saw that Jesus was already dead. Through the details John brings out in this event, we were amazed to learn that while Satan tried to break one of God’s prophecies and symbolism, Satan could not overturn God’s plan, God’s prophecy, and Jesus’ successful completion of the work of salvation – which required Jesus’ bones to remain whole!

Jesus’ sacrifice was successful, and His sacrifice was accepted. Because of what Jesus did for us, we have the invitation available to us to take Jesus’ death and let it stand in our place. Jesus is our Passover Lamb when we exchange our life for His, and when we look to Jesus as the “Someone Else” who paid for our sins, we are promised eternal life and resurrection just as Jesus was resurrected from the tomb!

I know of no better way to wrap up this year focusing on John’s gospel then to remind you of the big theme we looked at just a few weeks ago. In episode 50, where Jesus has a conversation with Peter, we see the powerful truth that even when Peter failed Jesus, this outspoken disciple was not beyond God’s grace or Jesus’ forgiveness! Even though Peter had let Jesus down at the point when Jesus would have needed Peter the most, at least by the world’s standards, Jesus is more than willing to forgive Peter when given the chance.

At the end of Jesus questions for Peter, Jesus offers Peter a second chance to follow. Jesus knows that Peter’s story wasn’t over, and that Peter’s failure was something that He could use to transform Peter into the evangelist He created Peter to be.

In your life, I don’t know what you have gone through, been through, or how many times you have failed God. However, I do know that like Peter, Jesus is willing to invite you back if you are willing to return to Him. John ends his gospel story with the redemption of the disciple who failed Jesus in the most public way, and before history has come to a close, Jesus wants to redeem you out of wherever you are and into a new life with Him!

As we move forward through each day, each month, and each year, let’s remember that Jesus is willing to forgive us like He forgave Peter, and Jesus is willing to offer us a second chance when we fail Him in our own lives!