Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Which Servant Are You: Luke 19:11-27

Published June 15, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 19:11-27 (NIrV)

¹¹ While the people were listening to these things, Jesus told them a story. He was near Jerusalem. The people thought that God’s kingdom was going to appear right away.

¹² Jesus said, “A man from an important family went to a country far away. He went there to be made king and then return home. ¹³ So he sent for ten of his servants. He gave them each about three months’ pay. ‘Put this money to work until I come back,’ he said.

¹⁴ “But those he ruled over hated him. They sent some messengers after him. They were sent to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵ “But he was made king and returned home. Then he sent for the servants he had given the money to. He wanted to find out what they had earned with it.

¹⁶ “The first one came to him. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned ten times as much.’

¹⁷ “ ‘You have done well, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘You have been faithful in a very small matter. So I will put you in charge of ten towns.’

¹⁸ “The second servant came to his master. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned five times as much.’

¹⁹ “His master answered, ‘I will put you in charge of five towns.’

²⁰ “Then another servant came. He said, ‘Sir, here is your money. I have kept it hidden in a piece of cloth. ²¹ I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in. You harvest what you did not plant.’

²² “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you evil servant! So you knew that I am a hard man? You knew that I take out what I did not put in? You knew that I harvest what I did not plant? ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’

²⁴ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his money away from him. Give it to the one who has ten times as much.’

²⁵ “ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten times as much!’

²⁶ “He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more. But here is what will happen to anyone who has nothing. Even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ And what about my enemies who did not want me to be king over them? Bring them here! Kill them in front of me!’ ”

Read Luke 19:11-27 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

While there are plenty of things we could focus in on in this parable, let’s focus in on the ten servants. In Matthew’s similar parable, there are only three servants, but this parable has enough unique details in it that makes me think Jesus shared this similar parable to a different group of people. In our discussion of the ten servants, our big idea will surface.

First off, we have ten servants, and some people who are “enemies” of the “important man”. For the purposes of our discussion, we’ll include these two groups of people together, though there are not any details to keep them from being two distinct groups.

The first and second servants see this as an opportunity to show their leadership ability. The first servant is especially resourceful, turning three months of pay into thirty months of pay – and presumably not using any of it to live off of. The second servant is still resourceful, but his accomplishment is turning the three months of pay into fifteen months – and also presumably not using any of it to live off of.

These first two servants are exceptionally resourceful, and because they freely bring the money back to the important man (now king), we can rightfully assume that they are not included in the group of enemies.

The third servant’s defining quality is fear. Fear of the important man, fear of making a mistake, fear of even trying something. He does seem to realize that this is a test, but he doesn’t conclude that he is being tested on the results. The important man says that he wants these servants to put the money to “work” (v. 13), but this servant seems to scared and/or timid to do anything with the money other than hide it. At the new king’s return, we see that his fear to move forward cost him the opportunity to be positively noticed. Instead he is chastised and the money taken and given to servant #1.

The third servant also freely brings the money back, so we can assume that while he isn’t very bright or resourceful, he is not among the enemies of the new king.

The last seven servants are not mentioned, which implies that they either squandered the money, didn’t bring anything back, and/or they are all enemies of the new king. These enemy-servants are the least bright of all. When the important man left, there was no question or doubt that he would be made king. These enemies seem to think that this detail is up for debate, and that they can change this course in history – but they are mistaken.

This arrogance cost them their lives, which leads us to our big idea for this passage: Jesus has left each of us with resources and opportunity while He is “being crowned King”. This detail is not up for debate and won’t be changed. When He returns, would it be better to have been resourceful, or an enemy?

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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Questioning the Questioners: Matthew 21:23-27

Published June 14, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 21:23-27 (CEV)

²³Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ²⁵Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”

They thought it over and said to each other, “We can’t say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe John. ²⁶On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That’s why we can’t say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” ²⁷So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”

Read Matthew 21:23-27 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

On one of Jesus’ trips to the temple, He is challenged with a question about where He got His authority. This question is significant, because at this later stage of His ministry, Jesus cannot afford to slip up in a way that would make Him lose credibility.

But while the Pharisees question was a trap, Jesus responds with an equally trapping counter question. Mathew tells us that Jesus responded by saying, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?” (v. 24-25a)

In my mind, Jesus responds without even missing a breath. He promises to answer them if they answer a question for Him. It is as though Jesus had been waiting for them to ask this question, and Jesus may have been surprised that it had taken this long.

The question Jesus gives is almost identical, but it is about someone else – John the Baptist – and it is focused in on the same issue: authority.

The Pharisees discuss their possible responses and realize that they are trapped by their unbelief and by the crowd’s opinion. By asking a counter question, Jesus successfully avoided answering a question that would have either damaged His reputation, or prematurely ended His ministry.

We can learn from Jesus that sometimes countering a challenging question with a different question is the best response we can give. While Jesus could have answered with a direct statement, or even with an indirect one, neither option would have been the best response in this case. Sometimes, the right question shared at the right time is the best response we can give.

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Flashback Episode — Unanswered Prayers: John 5:1-15

Published June 13, 2022 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue in the gospels looking at Jesus’ miracles, we now jump over into John’s gospel, and a miracle that only John chose to include. In this miracle, we discover something amazing about Jesus, about God, and we discover one possible reason why we may not see God’s help in our lives in a more visible way. In this unassuming but powerful passage, we can discover a clue to why we might not see many answered prayers in our lives.

Let’s read this miracle and focus in on what we can learn from what John tells us happened. Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 5, and we will be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ²By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades. ³Within these lay a large number of the sick—blind, lame, and paralyzed. [It is here that some translations add the last phrase of verse 3 and verse 4, which tells us that they were: —waiting for the moving of the water, ⁴because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had].

After setting the stage in these first four verses, verse 5 begins sharing the details of our miracle:

⁵One man was there who had been sick for 38 years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷“Sir,” the sick man answered, “I don’t have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

⁸“Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk!” ^9aInstantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Let’s stop reading here to focus on what we can learn from what has just happened. While we don’t know how many people were sick around the pool that day, from a simple reading of this event, we see Jesus enter this place where there was a high concentration of sick people, He heals one man, and then He leaves. We might even conclude that Jesus left every other sick person present without healing them since John doesn’t tell us Jesus healed anyone else.

When reading this event, and concluding that Jesus likely left everyone else in their sick, diseased, or disabled state, we don’t see a very “Christ-like” character. We expect Jesus and God to be loving, and isn’t the most loving thing Jesus could do in this situation was heal everyone present? Healing everyone is loving, but healing everyone does not show us an accurate picture of God.

While we don’t like to think about it, there are some times when God chooses not to heal someone instead of healing them. We cannot know all the answers to why this is, but we can trust that when we are able to see the big picture from God’s perspective, we will understand. Some people choose to discount God’s love or His existence because of this dilemma, but this dilemma only is unsolvable when we see this life as all there is to live.

As soon as we frame our world today as infected with sin, and God’s ultimate goal as saving as many people as possible from this sin while also clearly exposing sin for what it truly is so it will never reappear throughout eternity, we can begin to see why sin might be allowed to persist a little longer. God’s ultimate goal and long-term plan is to end this world that includes pain, disease, death, and sin in order to recreate it as perfect and sinless where it will be this way throughout eternity – and God wants to fill this newly recreated world with His redeemed people. If God ends history too soon, then sin may reappear later, which would be bad. Also, if God ends history too soon, then He may lose one or more people who could have been in heaven with Him. God wants as many people as possible in the new heaven and new earth, and He wants sin gone forever, never to reappear.

However, while this answers why God may not always answer our prayers, this event hints at another reason we never actually see answers to our prayers. This hint comes in the additional details setting the stage for this event, and from the formerly disabled man’s reply. In this event, we learned that periodically, and perhaps even somewhat randomly, an angel would stir the waters of this pool and the first sick person into this pool would be healed.

With how John describes this event, we can conclude that everyone at this pool was focused on getting in the water when it had been stirred. The focus of their hope was not on Jesus but on being healed by the pool. Only the man who had given up hope of ever reaching the pool experienced a visit from Jesus who came to heal him. This detail helps explain why Jesus didn’t heal everyone at this pool, and this detail also tells us why we might not see as many answers to our prayers as we would like.

If we choose to pray as a last resort, or if we choose to pray and then look for resolution for our prayers from sources other than God, we shouldn’t be surprised when we don’t see God answer our prayers. If we constantly look for help from places other than God, it’s only logical that we won’t see God helping much in our lives. However, if we pray and we know that God oftentimes works behind the scenes through the lives of other people and through what we might call coincidences, then we are able to see His hand moving in many more places than we first are able to realize. This is why it is easier to look back on our lives and see how God has lead us in the past than it is to recognize how He is leading us in the present.

God wants to answer our prayers, but He also wants us to give Him gratitude, thanks, and love for being our Provider. When we are grateful to God for everything He has done for us, and when we open our eyes to how He often works, we will begin to see answered prayers, blessings, and evidence for His existence everywhere.

While there’s more we could talk about in this event, let’s wait until our next episode to focus in on it. Until then, as we come to the end of this podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Always seek God first and decide today to live a life that is grateful towards God for everything that He is doing. If you struggle with how God could let evil persist in the world today, take this question to Him and let Him lead you to an answer. While I’ve shared some of what I’ve learned in this episode, I’m sure there is more to this answer than what we would have time to cover.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to personally grow closer to God each and every day. The closer you grow towards God, the more His character will rub off on your life and the better you will be at reflecting His love to the world around you. When we are reflecting God’s love in our world, we are living the best lives we can live in spite of the pain, sin, hurt, and hate that rages around us.

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 24: When Jesus heals one man in a place full of sick people, discover what this event teaches us about God, and why we might experience unanswered prayers.

A Circumstantial Miracle: John 4:46-54

Published June 10, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 4:46-54 (NCV)

⁴⁶Jesus went again to visit Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officers lived in the city of Capernaum, and his son was sick. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, because his son was almost dead. ⁴⁸Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.”

⁴⁹The officer said, “Sir, come before my child dies.”

⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”

The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. ⁵¹On the way the man’s servants came and met him and told him, “Your son is alive.”

⁵²The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”

They answered, “Yesterday at one o’clock the fever left him.”

⁵³The father knew that one o’clock was the exact time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and all the people who lived in his house believed in Jesus.

⁵⁴That was the second miracle Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Read John 4:46-54 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In our passage for today, we have a great example of what it is like for someone experiencing an event when compared with someone looking at the evidence from the outside. To a skeptical eye, this miracle Jesus does could be rationalized away using the term “circumstantial evidence” – which is another way of saying, “there could be a connection, but there is no way to definitively prove it.”

Jesus prophesied that the official’s son will live by responding, “Go. Your son will live,” While this appears to be a literal statement, Jesus could be symbolically talking of a future life in heaven, or even simply that a doctor present will successfully break the fever.

However, this is looking from a skeptical third party set of eyes. Those within the heart of the situation saw things differently, starting with the official himself: “The father knew that one o’clock was the exact time that Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live.’ So the man and all the people who lived in his house believed in Jesus.” (v. 53)

It is almost certain that this official had hired the best doctors in the area to come and help heal his son, and none of them would have been successful. This is strongly implied in the father’s words when he begs Jesus to “come before my child dies.” (v. 49)

Jesus was this official’s last hope, and experiencing a miracle for him was significantly different than hearing about the miracle as a person in the crowd. This official and everyone living in his home believed in Jesus.

Whether one chooses to rationalize a circumstantial miracle away or not, we can see from those closest to the event that they clearly saw the miracle present in this event – and they tag Jesus as the Source behind this healing.

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