Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Remember the Past: Matthew 15:32-39

Published February 23, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 15:32-39 (NLT)

³² Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”

³³ The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”

³⁴ Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”

³⁵ So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.

³⁷ They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. ³⁸ There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. ³⁹ Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.

Read Matthew 15:32-39 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In this journal entry, we will be looking at a significant miracle that Jesus performed, but in a slightly different way than how it is usually looked at. Matthew 15:32-39 tells us of the parable where Jesus fed the crowd with seven loaves of bread and some small fish. What is amazing to me is how the disciples respond to Jesus after this event had happened before (Matthew 14:13-21), by saying “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?” (v. 33)

This frames the big thought I had while reading this passage: Too often, our past successes and victories are minimized or forgotten in light of today’s problems.

Jesus previously performed the miracle that was even more miraculous (5 loaves + 2 fish = 5000 men vs. 7 loaves + a few fish = 4000 men), but for some reason, the disciples had minimized the past miracles in light of the present problem.

Do we fall into this trap in our own lives today? Are we forgetting everything that God has brought us through and doubt that he has a plan leading us forward?

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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One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37

Published February 22, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 12:22-37 (CEV)

²²Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. ²³The crowds were so amazed that they asked, “Could Jesus be the Son of David?”

²⁴When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”

²⁵Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them:

Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. ²⁶So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? ²⁷If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. ²⁸But when I force out demons by the power of God’s Spirit, it proves that God’s kingdom has already come to you. ²⁹How can anyone break into a strong man’s house and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.

³⁰If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. ^31-32I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.

³³A good tree produces only good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces. ³⁴You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts. ³⁵Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts. ³⁶I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.

Read Matthew 12:22-37 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Of all the challenging concepts we can look at in Jesus’ teaching, one concept stands out in my mind as probably the most challenging of all. Of all the warnings Jesus ever gave, one seems to top the list of being the most significant. And this concept and warning are included in this passage.

In this passage, Jesus shares something we can never be forgiven for, and this seems very odd or backwards for a God who loves each of us so much that He would come and die for us while we were actively sinning against Him.

But in three verses of our passage, Jesus shares a startling truth about something that we cannot be forgiven for. Jesus says, “If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.” (v. 30-32)

Like I opened by saying, the extreme nature of this warning makes it one that we all should pay attention to. If there is something we can do that we will never be forgiven for, it would be worth us discovering what it is so that we can avoid even coming close to it.

In this passage, we see two clear sides: Those who are on Jesus’ side, gathering in the harvest; and those who are against Him, who are not gathering the harvest – making them part of a group that scatters it.

And immediately after setting the stage Jesus says, “any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven.” The side we are on is not set in stone. We are free to choose to move away from Jesus like we are free to move towards Him. Jesus starts by saying that there is nothing we can do or say that cannot be forgiven. Even the Pilate, the crowd demanding crucifixion, the chief priests, and everyone else involved in Jesus’ death is eligible to be forgiven.

But Mark’s gospel shares with us why Jesus said this: “Jesus said this because the people were saying that he had an evil spirit in him.” (Mark 3:30)

Mark helps us frame Jesus’ statement, and it gives a clear direction for us to understand what Jesus is warning here. Jesus is pointing us to be careful about discounting what God is doing in people’s lives. Sure we can discount Jesus, and many people do, but if we are skeptical of the Holy Spirit and how He is moving in people’s lives, we are unlikely to accept Him moving in our own life. Without the Holy Spirit to draw us to Jesus, we can never be saved.

Any word we say or action we do can be forgiven, but if we place ourselves on the opposite side of the Holy Spirit, we can never be forgiven because we will have ultimately rejected God and His Spirit drawing us to repent. By rejecting the Holy Spirit, we are rejecting the only thing that can draw us to realize our need for God.

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Flashback Episode — An Evening of Miracles: Luke 4:40-41

Published February 21, 2022 in Audio Journal Entries

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After Jesus had finished healing Peter’s mother-in-law, which we looked at in our last episode, Luke’s gospel finishes out this day of miracles by describing what happened after sunset. While Jesus was healing Peter’s mother-in-law and resting that afternoon, something was happening throughout the region because of what Jesus had done that morning. Looking back two episodes ago, Jesus had cast a demon out of a man at a synagogue that morning, and that passage ended by telling us that word spread about Jesus throughout the region. The results of this news spreading all afternoon prompts the miracles found in our passage for this episode.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 4, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 40, Luke tells us that:

⁴⁰At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. ⁴¹Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

This two-verse passage includes plenty of things for us to pay attention to, and in some ways, this passage is a great summary and extension of the previous two miracles. The first of these two miracles was Jesus casting out a demon in the synagogue that morning, and the second was Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law. In this passage, we see Jesus healing more people of all sorts of diseases and Jesus casting out many more demons.

It is interesting in my mind that the same thing that happened in the morning miracle, when Jesus casts out the demon happens again when Jesus is casting the demons out that night. The man who was freed that morning had a demon who declares Jesus to be God’s Son and the demons who are cast out that night make a similar claim. In all these cases, Jesus commanded the demons to be quiet, and as we saw in the event two episodes ago, any claim a demon makes cannot be trusted.

Satan and his evil angels are not required to lie, but they are more than willing to. Hearing Satan declare someone as God’s Son should be enough to get us to take notice, but it shouldn’t be a claim we trust without further investigation.

Also, it is interesting that this is the first recorded mention of Jesus’ miracle-working where more people than the gospels can include came to be healed. If the only miracles prior to this point were the handful we have already looked at then this evening of helping, healing, and casting out demons greatly increased Jesus’ miracle count.

But Jesus didn’t perform miracles to get people to take notice. Instead, Jesus performed miracles that helped people, that gave glory to God, and that advanced God’s kingdom. On the surface, hearing a claim, even an untrustworthy claim, that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah seems to help press this mentality forward. However, as we saw two episodes ago, not only did Satan want to get people to distrust Jesus because of the source of the claim, if that didn’t work, Satan wanted the opposite extreme to happen. The opposite extreme in this case was for the people to forcibly make Jesus into a king and into the messiah they hoped would deliver them from the Romans.

While Jesus came to reveal God’s love towards us as a sinful race of beings, and while Jesus came to give His life in place of ours, Jesus’ mission was much bigger than the first-century Jewish culture recognized. Jesus came for humankind and not just for one race of people.

Our passage marks the beginning of Jesus’ miracle working popularity, and at the heart of these verses, we see God’s love for a sinful race of beings. Nothing in these verses speak to Jesus wanting to build Himself up, and nothing in these verses suggest that Jesus desired fame or popularity. Jesus actively pushed against these things, and we can see this the clearest when He repeatedly silences the demons declaring Him as God’s Son.

In our own lives, we are called to follow Jesus, to believe in Jesus, and to model Jesus. While we won’t have demons declare us to be God’s children, we should intentionally move through each day with the goal of showing a Christ-like love to the world around us. Jesus wasn’t afraid to confront sin, but He also never condemned the sinner.

This passage doesn’t describe Jesus looking down on anyone who was sick or demon-possessed. In place of looking down, Jesus reached down and helped each person that night experience healing and freedom from the chains of their past.

In the same way, we are called to reach down rather than look down. We are called to help where we can and to encourage others that God loves them, that Jesus died for them, and that together we are looking forward to eternal life in a new heaven and new earth – specifically a new heaven and new earth that doesn’t include the stain of sin!

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. Learn to trust, depend, and lean on Him for help facing this life, and keep the hope alive in your hearts that He is preparing a home for us in heaven with Him. Choose to model your lives after Jesus lived, and choose to reach down to help others.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, keep praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn firsthand what God is like through what He has preserved for us through history. The Bible is the record of God’s story in history, and He has kept it safe for thousands of years. If we can trust that God can keep us safe for eternity, we can trust that He is capable of keeping the Bible safe for a few thousand years. Use the Bible to filter what the world wants to claim as truth, and use the Bible as your final word!

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 of Miracles – Episode 8: After word spreads that Jesus can heal people and cast out demons, Jesus faces a crowd of people asking for His help. Discover how Jesus responds, and how His response is an example for how we should respond when people ask us for help.

Ignoring the Critics: Luke 7:18-35

Published February 18, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 7:18-35 (NCV)

¹⁸John’s followers told him about all these things. He called for two of his followers ¹⁹and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we wait for someone else?”

²⁰When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you with this question: ‘Are you the One who is to come, or should we wait for someone else?’”

²¹At that time, Jesus healed many people of their sicknesses, diseases, and evil spirits, and he gave sight to many blind people. ²²Then Jesus answered John’s followers, “Go tell John what you saw and heard here. The blind can see, the crippled can walk, and people with skin diseases are healed. The deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. ²³Those who do not stumble in their faith because of me are blessed!”

²⁴When John’s followers left, Jesus began talking to the people about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed blown by the wind? ²⁵What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, people who have fine clothes and much wealth live in kings’ palaces. ²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, and I tell you, John is more than a prophet. ²⁷This was written about him:

‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare the way for you.’

²⁸I tell you, John is greater than any other person ever born, but even the least important person in the kingdom of God is greater than John.”

²⁹(When the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, they all agreed that God’s teaching was good, because they had been baptized by John. ³⁰But the Pharisees and experts on the law refused to accept God’s plan for themselves; they did not let John baptize them.)

³¹Then Jesus said, “What shall I say about the people of this time? What are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace, calling to one another and saying,

‘We played music for you, but you did not dance;
we sang a sad song, but you did not cry.’

³³John the Baptist came and did not eat bread or drink wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon in him.’ ³⁴The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine, and he is a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵But wisdom is proved to be right by what it does.”

Read Luke 7:18-35 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

At the close of Jesus sharing His thoughts on John the Baptist, He makes an interesting observation that is surprisingly relevant for us living today.

Verses 31-35 share Jesus big idea:

Then Jesus said, “What shall I say about the people of this time? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, calling to one another and saying,

‘We played music for you, but you did not dance;
we sang a sad song, but you did not cry.’

John the Baptist came and did not eat bread or drink wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon in him.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine, and he is a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is proved to be right by what it does.”

In these verses, Jesus basically describes a group of people who are engaged with what is happening around them who are getting no reaction from others who are too busy to pay attention to the world around them. If there is reason to celebrate, these people ignore or discount the celebration and don’t join in; and if there is reason to be sad, these people ignore that as well, and simply go on with their lives.

This is strikingly similar to today. In today’s connected culture, there are people who are giving reasons to celebrate and reasons to cry all the time. It has gotten to the point that many people give up and simply disconnect – which in many ways is not a bad thing.

However, disconnecting from the superficial relationships online is not the same as disconnecting from the real relationships offline, and while offline, we should remain connected with others.

Jesus shares His big point immediately following this that says there will always be people who discount someone based on what they do or don’t do. People discounted John because he lived apart from society, while these same people discounted Jesus because He lived incorporated into society. For some people, there is no happy middle. For some people, they will always find something negative to say.

Jesus didn’t come for those people. He came to help the people who were willing to accept Him. If Jesus lived in such a way that not everyone agreed with His decisions and ministry, who are we to think that our ministries should be relevant and/or agree with everyone? If Jesus couldn’t please everyone, there is no way you or I will be able to.

Instead, like Jesus, we should focus on the people God brings our way, and ignore those who are going to ignore or discount us.

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