Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Is the Past a Present: Matthew 16:5-12

Published April 8, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 16:5-12 (NCV)

⁵Jesus’ followers went across the lake, but they had forgotten to bring bread. ⁶Jesus said to them, “Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

⁷His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, “He said this because we forgot to bring bread.”

⁸Knowing what they were talking about, Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about not having bread? Your faith is small. ⁹Do you still not understand? Remember the five loaves of bread that fed the five thousand? And remember that you filled many baskets with the leftovers? ¹⁰Or the seven loaves of bread that fed the four thousand and the many baskets you filled then also? ¹¹I was not talking to you about bread. Why don’t you understand that? I am telling you to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” ¹²Then the followers understood that Jesus was not telling them to beware of the yeast used in bread but to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Read Matthew 16:5-12 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Occasionally, I wonder if Jesus ever laughed inside His head about something the disciples did, or perhaps about what sort of individual’s God had directed His way to be followers/disciples. During this particular lake crossing, Jesus saw an opportunity to warn His followers about two groups of people who may more subtly derail their mission in the future.

Jesus shares the metaphor in verse 6, “Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” But the disciples think Jesus is bringing this up because they forgot bread.

Knowing they had completely missed the point Jesus gets their attention again. He asks them, “Why are you talking about not having bread? Your faith is small. Do you still not understand? Remember the five loaves of bread that fed the five thousand? And remember that you filled many baskets with the leftovers? Or the seven loaves of bread that fed the four thousand and the many baskets you filled then also?” (v. 8-10)

The disciples were caught up on their current need and this overshadowed the two food-multiplication related miracles that Jesus had done earlier. Little to no food was no problem for Jesus, but to the disciples, their present problem overshadowed their past triumphs. Baskets and baskets of leftover food were great at that time, but what about now, when all the bread is gone?

This response sheds light on the faith of the disciples, and Jesus helps draw our attention to it. While the present problem says that there is no bread, Jesus points to the many times of blessings that we can lean on from the past. If Jesus had multiplied food in the past, there is no reason food in the present or future couldn’t be multiplied again.

Before Jesus even gets to the meaning of what His original metaphor meant, He draws our attention to how we must remember the past triumphs to help our present faith. When we forget the past, we forget how God has brought us to where we are at; when we forget the past, we are unable to see how He is moving as clearly in the present; when we forget the past, our present problems seem overwhelming.

God has led us in the past. He has brought us through huge challenges. When we remember this, our present problems don’t seem as significant, and our trust in Jesus/God is able to stay firm.

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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Ignoring Rejection: Mark 6:7-13

Published April 7, 2022 in Audio Journal Entries

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After being rejected in His hometown of Nazareth, Mark’s gospel transitions to Jesus sending His disciples out to spread God’s message. Whether this was directly because of the rejection Jesus faced, or because Jesus wanted to teach the disciples a big truth, Mark transitions us to this event, and he specifically includes some of Jesus’ instructions to the disciples as they head out.

Let’s read what Mark tells us and discover some things we can learn from Jesus sending out His disciples. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 7, Mark tells us that Jesus:

⁷[He] called the 12 disciples to him. Then he began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority to drive out evil spirits.

⁸Here is what he told them to do. “Take only a walking stick for your trip. Do not take bread or a bag. Take no money in your belts. ⁹Wear sandals. But do not take extra clothes. ¹⁰When you are invited into a house, stay there until you leave town. ¹¹Some places may not welcome you or listen to you. If they don’t, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet. That will be a witness against the people living there.”

¹²They went out. And they preached that people should turn away from their sins. ¹³They drove out many demons. They poured olive oil on many sick people and healed them.

In this short passage, we discover some amazing ideas. Probably the first amazing thing is that Jesus gives His disciples the authority to drive out evil spirits. While we can learn from the detail of Jesus sending His disciples out in pairs, this strategy is less amazing than the incredible thought that Jesus would give sinful, people the authority to drive out evil spirits.

It is even a little more amazing to think that this passage strongly implies that Judas Iscariot would have been included in this. Judas Iscariot was the disciple who would later let Satan into his life prompting his betrayal of Jesus, and here, earlier in Jesus’ ministry, Judas Iscariot is given the power and authority to drive evil spirits out of other people.

However, in Jesus’ instructions to the disciples, another big idea stands out in my mind. Jesus tells the disciples to basically travel empty-handed. All Jesus tells them they can take are the clothes they are currently wearing, a walking stick, and sandals for their feet. This would be equivalent to what someone might take if they were going for an afternoon walk, but not for a month-long or more trip. While near the end of Jesus’ time on earth, He tells the disciples to pack a little more when they travel from that point forward, I believe this first missionary-like trip emphasizes dependence and acceptance.

Jesus then tells the disciples to stay at one place in town as long as they are welcome, and to silently reject the towns that reject them. While shaking the dust off of their feet would be visible to those who are watching, this action is not disruptive or obnoxious in any way.

Similar to how Jesus had been rejected in Nazareth, Jesus emphasizes that some of the disciples would likely experience rejection in the towns they visited. It’s possible that depending on how many towns Jesus asked the disciples to travel to, all six pairs of disciples faced rejection at least once.

When reading this event and wondering about the territory that was covered in this evangelistic campaign, I am curious if there was no overlap between disciple pairs covering the town. In other words, I am curious if one pair of disciples was rejected at their first or second town, if later on, a different pair of disciples stopped to share at the same town and was met with success. Something I have noticed as I have traveled speaking is that different people respond differently to different people. It is possible that the former tax collector Matthew could have been rejected because of his reputation, but James, who was a fisherman before becoming a disciple, was accepted.

In this passage, we have no indication how long the disciples traveled and we have no indication how many towns Jesus asked them to visit. It is quite likely that Jesus gave these disciples this detail, but that these details are not relevant to the bigger themes that the disciples understood Jesus to be teaching.

However, just like what we saw that was amazing at the opening of our passage, we discover an amazing idea and truth at the close of our passage. At the opening of our passage, we discovered how Jesus gives His disciples the power to drive out evil spirits. At the close of this passage, we discover how their missionary journey was successful. Not only were the disciples able to drive evil spirits out, they preached a message of repentance, and they healed many sick people as well. In the lives of these disciples, in this event we see evidence of the Holy Spirit being with them while Jesus was alive on earth.

When reading the summary of what happened, it is amazing to see what is not said alongside what was said. While about half of the instructions Jesus shares with the disciples relates to responding when a town rejects the disciples, nothing is even indicated that any town rejected any pair of disciples. This either tells me that the instructions Jesus gave regarding this point were not needed, or more likely, that the disciples simply didn’t focus on or dwell on the rejection that they did face. Instead, the disciples focused on the towns and people they were able to help and bless, and this truth is a great point to remember.

While it is easy to remember and focus on the points when people rejected us in our past, remembering our rejection is never positive. Instead, we should remember the times when God has used us in powerful and/or significant ways, and seek to place ourselves in situations where God can work powerfully in us again. God used these disciples to bless the towns that accepted them, and God is more than willing to use us to bless our communities when we let Him lead our lives as well!

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 let His Holy Spirit guide and direct your steps. While it might seem that at times God is silent, during those times, I recommend living your life as a witness for God and to focus on growing your personal relationship with Him.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even a random podcaster can give you ideas to think about, take everything you learn and discover and test it against the truth of the Bible. God has giving us everything we need to strengthen our spiritual lives in the pages of the Bible, and the Bible gives us many warnings about traps our spiritual lives can face. With prayer and study, we can learn from God how to best live for Him in a world that is opposed to God in almost every way imaginable.

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!

Year in Mark – Episode 14: When Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs, He gives them instructions about how to face rejection, but the disciples return without even mentioning anything about that. Discover why this might be and some other big truths in this amazing passage!

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Prayers Not Answered: Matthew 20:20-28

Published April 6, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 20:20-28 (GW)

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her two sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor.

²¹ “What do you want?” he asked her.

She said to him, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

²² Jesus replied, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m going to drink?”

“We can,” they told him.

²³ Jesus said to them, “You will drink my cup. But I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. My Father has already prepared these positions for certain people.”

²⁴ When the other ten apostles heard about this, they were irritated with the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called the apostles and said, “You know that the rulers of nations have absolute power over people and their officials have absolute authority over people. ²⁶ But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. ²⁷ Whoever wants to be most important among you will be your slave. ²⁸ It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

Read Matthew 20:20-28 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

This passage, and its parallel passage (Mark 10:35-45) have an interesting distinction, which leads us into the big idea for this journal entry.

In Matthew’s version, James and John come to Jesus at the prompting of their mother, while in Mark’s version, James and John come and give their request alone. This difference is both significant and minor compared with the actual request.

This difference is significant because in our lives, there are two places that can bait us into failing. The first, relating to Mark’s gospel, is that we seek power and status for ourselves, which builds pride up in our hearts, and this pride leads us towards destruction. The second, relating to Matthew’s gospel, is that other people’s praise and elevating us can grow the seeds of pride in our hearts. We might not intend to ever become prideful, but place us within a high profile position for a period of time, and pride might grow in our lives, also leading us towards destruction.

The difference is actually pretty minor though when compared with the actual request: status and position above others. The request for status, even if it isn’t you asking for status for yourself, sounds an awful lot like Lucifer asking to be exalted in heaven to a position equal with God.

However, this question leads us to the big idea in this passage: We can ask Jesus any question without the fear of condemnation. However, not every question/request we ask of Jesus will be answered how we want it to be.

We could imagine Jesus ridiculing these disciples and/or their mother for asking the request, but instead Jesus probes deeper. He asks follow-up questions, before letting them know that these positions are already reserved.

We can ask Jesus any question, or make any request to Him, but we must always remember that just because we’ve asked, that doesn’t mean that He will answer with the response we want. However, He will respond with the answer that is best for us – with eternity as His perspective.

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Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17

Published April 5, 2022 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 4:12-17 (NIrV)

¹²John had been put in prison. When Jesus heard about this, he returned to Galilee. ¹³Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴In that way, what the prophet Isaiah had said came true. He had said,

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
    Galilee, where Gentiles live!
    Land along the Mediterranean Sea! Territory east of the Jordan River!
¹⁶The people who are now living in darkness
    have seen a great light.
They are now living in a very dark land.
    But a light has shined on them.”

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach. “Turn away from your sins!” he said. “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Read Matthew 4:12-17 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

I am fascinated by number of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime, but not only the prophecies themselves, but also by what a number of these prophecies tell us about Jesus. In this passage, Matthew brings us to pay attention to a prophecy that the other gospel writers chose not to include, but in the words of this prophecy, a phrase jumped off the page at me that tells all of us more about God and His character.

In the middle of Matthew quoting Isaiah’s prophecy, in the middle of verse 15, we read the phrase, “Galilee, where Gentiles live!” Taken by itself, this doesn’t really seem all that significant. Jesus was raised in Nazareth, and started His ministry in the Galilee region.

But let’s look a little closer. This phrase tells us Galilee was “where Gentiles live”. Now I don’t know if the Jews had segregated their nation into only being accepting to Gentiles in certain regions, or if they blocked Gentiles from trade or travel in other parts of the country. This is unlikely.

What is more likely, is that Galilee was one of the more secular parts of the country and that it was inhabited by a greater number of Gentiles than Jews. The demographics may have shown that there were a greater number of Gentiles living in that region, or maybe that there was closer to a 50-50 split of Jews and Gentiles. Or perhaps the numbers still favored the Jews, but this was the area of Israel that contained the highest percentage of Gentiles when compared with the other areas in the country.

I don’t know the demographics, but I do know what this prophecy says about the reputation of Galilee: it was where Gentiles lived.

So what makes this so special?

Jesus, who came as God’s Messiah, chose to center the first parts of His ministry in a place where Gentiles lived. It is as though Jesus is saying that He values Gentiles as much as He values Jews, and that He came for both groups of people. While this didn’t sit well with the popular view of the Messiah at the time, it speaks loudly and clearly to us about where Jesus placed His focus.

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