Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

The Impossible Challenge: Matthew 5:38-48

Published December 30, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 5:38-48 (NCV)

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I tell you, don’t stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also. ⁴⁰If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. ⁴¹If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don’t refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. ⁴⁵If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. ⁴⁶If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. ⁴⁷And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends. ⁴⁸So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Read Matthew 5:38-48 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Of all the challenging words Jesus ever spoke, one of the most challenging in the entire gospels comes at the close of this passage. After talking about loving our enemies and going the extra mile, Matthew quotes Jesus as saying something that sounds completely impossible: “So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (v. 48)

If there is only one thing I know, it is that God is perfect and I am not. While I constantly strive to do my best, there is no way that I can ever reach perfection, because at the very least, my past is far from perfect.

However, what if we are missing something from this idea when pulling this verse and looking at it on its own? On its own, this verse sounds impossible.

But something does stand out in Jesus’ words in this paragraph’s worth of teaching. In the entire paragraph that contains Jesus’ thoughts on this, the only words that are past tense are at the beginning, when Jesus draws His audience’s attention onto something they have heard taught in the past. Aside from that, everything is either present tense or a promise for the future.

This is important for all of us. If the entire context of this statement is the present tense, then we must move past our “past” mistakes and focus on the decisions we make today.

However, while it is great to put the past in the past, another challenge we have in Jesus’ statement here is the question: What does it mean to be perfect in God’s eyes?

To help answer that question, we should draw from another gospel writer’s record of this event. In Luke’s gospel, he includes a similar closing phrase, but with a different, more tangible concept in place of perfection. In Luke’s gospel, we read “Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy.” (Luke 6:36)

One of the most appealing characteristics of God is that He is a merciful God. When we have made mistake after mistake, God is willing to show us mercy and forgive us. What if the mark of perfection in God’s eyes is not knowing it all, seeing it all, or controlling it all? What if the mark of perfection is having a love in our hearts that extends mercy to others?

Jesus’ teaching in this passage centers on the idea that God gives gifts to those who follow Him and those who don’t. God doesn’t selectively bless based on whether an individual is His follower. While following God’s ideal plan for our lives leads to happiness, peace, and contentment, these are simply the results of the steps He has laid out. God extends mercy to everyone, and this mercy gives each person the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they will turn their lives towards Him.

God has called us to be perfect like He is perfect, which is demonstrated by loving others like He loves them, and showing mercy towards both the people we agree with and those we don’t.

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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Flashback Episode — Year in Luke – Finale: Part 2

Published December 29, 2025 in Audio Journal Entries

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In our last episode, we began reviewing our past year’s worth of podcasting by focusing in on insights and profound thoughts we discovered while studying through Luke’s gospel. Our last episode focused us on insights we learned during the first portion of this past year.

For this episode, we turn our attention onto the second half of our year of podcasting in Luke’s gospel, and onto things we learn as Luke leads us through Jesus’ journey towards the cross.

However, before diving into these insights, I always like to take a minute or two to talk about what we will look at next year. As some of you might remember, a little over three years ago, I suggested that we take the next four years and focus each year on one of the gospel records. We began with Matthew two years ago, Mark was last year, and the year we wrapping up with this episode focused on Luke.

I have been amazed and blessed with the time spent in each of these gospels, and we have one gospel left: the gospel of John. Following the grand plan we began a few years ago, let’s take next year and focus on what one of Jesus’ closest disciples can tell us about Jesus’ ministry on earth. I’m not sure what we’ll focus on for the year following John, but we will have plenty of time to figure it out as we move through the last of the four gospels.

However, in order to get to John’s gospel, we need to finish up looking at our insights from Luke’s gospel, and with that said, let’s dive into what we learned over the last half of this year of podcasting.

Let’s begin by looking at some big insights from episode 27, which focused in on Jesus’ message about Jerusalem and some Pharisees warning Jesus about Herod. In this episode, we are reminded that doing evil separates us from God, and that means our present choices outweigh our past decisions for God. Our present choices matter when we are discussing salvation because being saved is a decision that is always made in the present! The only decision that truly matters is a present decision to accept Jesus, repent and move away from doing evil, and accept the gift of salvation.

Before Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and return, Jerusalem is known as the city who killed God’s prophets, Jesus included, but when Jesus ultimately returns, God’s people will get to experience the New Jerusalem, which is the city God built that will ultimately protect His people forever!

Jumping forward to episode 29, when we learned what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus and to count the cost of following Jesus, we were challenged with the truth that if following Jesus does not have much of a commitment, then following Jesus doesn’t have much value. The more committed a relationship is, the more valuable it is – especially when we are talking about a relationship with God!

Jesus is looking for disciples who will follow Him even when their families, their friends, their coworkers, and anyone else in their lives thinks they are crazy.

Moving forward, we reach episode 31 which looked at Jesus’ famous parable of the prodigal son. In this parable and Jesus’ teaching, we discovered that an arrogant pride is the biggest temptation for people who have been in the church for a long period of time and this arrogant pride is what ultimately formed in Lucifer’s heart. An arrogant pride looks down on others while ignoring one’s own faults.

However, more importantly, we learned that this parable focuses on how patient God is as the father of both sons. Let’s remember that while our lives are likely not going to be as extreme as either brother, we are best served by modeling the prodigal son’s return when we fail God than brushing over our faults like the older son did.

Jumping forward to episode 34, we looked at Jesus’ warning about stumbling blocks for our faith, forgiveness, and being God’s servants. In this episode, Jesus challenges us with the truth that the attitude we have towards God says a lot about our character. Nothing we can ever do, say, or give can repay God for everything He has already blessed us with. Instead of living an immature spiritual life looking for immediate blessings and rewards for every act of obedience, determine today to live a spiritually mature life that sees our lives of service as the best way to show gratitude and thanks to a God who has already given us everything!

A few episodes later, Jesus shared an odd parable about an unjust judge. In this episode, which was number 37, we discovered that when it appears as though God is silent and an unjust world has turned against us, never give up hope, never stop praying, and continually trust that God has a bigger perspective than we do. We can trust that God’s perspective extends infinitely farther into the future than sin lasts, because God’s perspective extends into eternity! Faith, hope, trust, and prayer draw our hearts to God, and even when times are bad, we can know and trust that God will always give what is right to His people, and that He will ultimately judge fairly all the unjustness we experienced in our lives in a sin-filled world.

In the next episode, number 38, where Jesus shares about a Pharisee’s prayer versus the prayer of a repentant tax collector, we learned that we should never be confident in our own perfection because we are not perfect. We have sinned, and because of this, we have fallen short of God’s perfection. We should live confident in Jesus’ righteousness instead of our own and 100% aware of our continual need for Jesus to be our Savior.

Skipping forward a few episodes, we come to Jesus’ parable of the evil vineyard workers that we looked at in episode number 41. In this episode, we were impressed with the idea that Jesus tells these leaders that they would ultimately kill the vineyard owner’s son, and by pressing for Jesus’ death, these leaders push Jesus into a role they likely never wanted Him to be in since the vineyard owner in this parable represents God.

A couple episodes later, in episode number 43, we looked at Jesus warning the disciples about the time of the end. In this episode, Jesus shared the powerful truth that when we press forward, determined to endure to the end, we will ultimately gain our lives. When we endure to the end, we gain Jesus’ life, and Jesus’ life is eternal life. Through what Jesus did, when we endure through persecution, we gain eternal life!

Moving forward to episode 46, we looked a little closer at Jesus’ prayer in the garden on the night He was arrested. In this prayer and in this episode, we discovered that Jesus’ prayer to God reflects how we are challenged to pray. When we come before God in prayer, it is worthwhile to bring our requests to Him. However, we also are challenged to frame our requests as being less important or significant than His will.

Jumping forward to episode 48, where Jesus is being tried before Pilate, we learned that if we want to hear God speak and if we want God to show up in our lives in powerful ways, we must be open to receiving the Holy Spirit into our lives. Demanding God will do something for us is an easy way to receive silence and disappointment.

In the next episode, number 49, we come to a powerful truth we learn from the time Luke describes Jesus hanging on the cross. While most people focus in on Jesus’ promise to a criminal, there is much more to Luke’s account than this single detail. In this episode, we are reminded and challenged with the truth that Jesus lived a life of forgiveness. Jesus offers sinners paradise, and Jesus’ spirit belongs to the Father. Forgiveness leads to salvation, and salvation leads us to the Father!

And to wrap up this year of podcasting through Luke’s gospel, I don’t know of a better statement to leave you with than the big concluding thought from this, second-to-last episode: Jesus came to die for each of us, to forgive our sins, to offer us the gift of paradise, and to show us God’s love and His character. While Jesus was misunderstood throughout His entire ministry, including during the first portion of His time on the cross, starting with the words of a criminal, those present for the crucifixion began to realize who exactly Jesus was and the ultimate Messiah He came to be!

As we enter a new year, let’s keep our focus on what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross and the life He offers us as a gift when we give our hearts, our lives, and our belief to Him!

Flashback Episode: Year in Luke – Finale: In the second part of our annual two-part finale, discover some of the biggest insights we discovered during the last half of this past year moving through the gospel of Luke.

Surprising Jesus with Faith: Luke 7:1-10

Published December 26, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 7:1-10 (GNT)

¹When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum. ²A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him; the man was sick and about to die. ³When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant. ⁴They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, “This man really deserves your help. ⁵He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us.”

⁶So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, “Sir, don’t trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house, ⁷neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. ⁸I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

⁹Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!”

¹⁰The messengers went back to the officer’s house and found his servant well.

Read Luke 7:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In Jesus’ entire ministry on earth, one event stands out in His mind as an example of great faith. Jesus even draws our attention to how extraordinary it really was. Our passage actually says the level of faith demonstrated “surprised” Jesus.

In this event, a Roman officer sends a message to Jesus that a servant of his is sick and about to die, and he requests Jesus’ help. Matthew shares that the officer came to Jesus personally, while Luke actually points us to this officer actually sending some of the Jewish elders from the local synagogue with the request to Jesus.

But when Jesus accepts the request and starts towards the officer’s house, another message is sent with a message that Jesus does not need to come personally, but simply delegate the healing to be done like he gives tasks and responsibilities to the officers below him.

“Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!’” (v. 9)

The level of faith this Roman officer demonstrated is extraordinary. He likely had never met Jesus personally, and so he only had rumors and reports about Jesus to go on. But these were enough for him to know that Jesus was capable of healing his servant.

The Roman officer also realized that Jesus’ healing was not His own ability, but something that He only had because God (or the gods) looked favorably on Him. In this way, the Roman officer knew that Jesus wouldn’t need to come personally, but simply speak the command – and that when He did, God would do what Jesus had requested.

This is the basis for the Roman officer’s faith – and Jesus calls it extraordinary. The officer didn’t need Jesus present or in person and he didn’t need to see it personally. All he needed was a message back saying that the servant would be made well.

Our passage concludes by saying in verse 10, “The messengers went back to the officer’s house and found his servant well.” Before the messengers could even make it back to the house, the servant was healed. Extraordinary faith results in extraordinary healing.

This Roman officer is a model for the faith we should have. We haven’t seen Jesus in person – but we do know what He can do from the reports (gospels) that we can read. We are unworthy to have Jesus even pay attention to us – but we know that He loves us even though we don’t deserve it. We don’t need to see to believe – we simply should have faith that what we ask Jesus to do will be done according to God’s will. Just like this Roman officer did, you and I can live a life that shows an extraordinary level of faith that can even surprise Jesus! It starts by believing without needing to see with our own eyes.

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Year of Prophecy – Finale: Part 2

Published December 25, 2025 in Audio Journal Entries

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In our last episode, we began our annual two-part finale looking at insights from this amazing year looking at prophecies and connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry. In our last episode, we made it up to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. In this episode, we’ll begin by looking at the prophecies focusing in on the night Jesus would ultimately be betrayed and arrested, leading up to His death.

However, as is our custom, before diving into looking at these insights, for this last episode of our year, it is nice to take a quick look at where we have been and where we are planning to go. For those of us who have been listening for a few years, you will know that prior to this year looking at prophecy, we spent four incredible years each looking at one of the gospels. Four years ago was Matthew, three years ago was Mark, two years ago was Luke, and last year was John. If you were with us a year ago, you remember that I thought at that time it would be neat to look at prophecies that pointed forward to Jesus, since John’s gospel included several amazing prophecies and our year in John had put prophecy fresh in my mind.

For this next year, I’ve been thinking about the parables and illustrations Jesus shared. Several episodes ago, we focused in on an amazing parable Jesus shared that appeared to be prophetic, and since that point, I’ve had parables and stories of Jesus running through my head, and I think there might just be a year’s worth of podcasts that would be a fun journey to take.

However, before starting in on that journey, let’s dive into the insights we learned during the second half our year as we looked at prophecies pointing towards Jesus’ ministry starting on the night He was betrayed and arrested.

Picking back up where we left off, in episode 25, Jesus stepped into the role of a priest during the Last Supper, and we learned that Jesus as our High Priest came to bridge the gap that sin caused between Heaven and humanity. Through Jesus, we discover just how far God was willing to go to redeem sinners – which could only happen if He loves sinners more than Satan would want us to believe.

In episode 26, we looked at a prophecy about Jesus not losing even one of His true followers. On the night He was betrayed and arrested, even though all of Jesus’ followers scattered, we were reminded that when Jesus faces what some might believe to be the greatest challenge of His earthly ministry, He has His followers still in focus. If any of Jesus’ followers had died during that arrest, it would not have brought glory to God. Instead, the path that brought God glory was Jesus fulfilling His promises, His Word, and Jesus protecting His disciples through the chaos of that weekend.

Jesus is not surprised by the world’s chaos. Jesus knows what will happen and He is actively working to bring about the end of sin and the salvation of His people.

Moving forward, episodes 27 and 28 focused our attention on Judas Iscariot as the betrayer, and the thirty shekels of silver he was paid to betray Jesus. In these episodes, we were reminded that while Judas Iscariot chose to betray Jesus, Jesus walked the path to and through death ultimately opening the way for us to experience a new life with God. Nothing in our present or future with Jesus predetermines that we will fail like Judas Iscariot. Instead, when we ally our lives with Jesus, we ultimately gain eternity that will outlast sin.

In a similarly predicted way, Jesus has promised to return. While His return may feel as though it has been delayed, a delayed trip doesn’t mean the trip has been cancelled. Instead, a delayed trip gives us the opportunity to share Jesus with more people as we look forward to the day He does return and welcomes us home!

In the next episode, which was episode 29, we looked at the disciples scattering when Jesus was arrested. In this episode, we learned that the way out of sin that Jesus made was taking our punishment onto Himself allowing God the option of forgiveness. Anything less than punishment for sin make God not just, and strict punishment against the sinner makes God unloving and unmerciful.

Jesus came to take our punishment, and give God the ability to extend mercy while also remaining just. This truth purifies God’s people, and as we move forward with Him, living our lives in a way that says thank you to Jesus, we become more like Jesus and better able to reflect Jesus’ love in the world around us.

As we move through the prophecies regarding Jesus’ trial, condemnation, and crucifixion, these themes about Jesus taking our punishment are found in almost every single episode. These truths make up some of the most amazing pieces of the gospel message, and for the rest of this finale, we’ll group several episodes together that cover specific points in time during Jesus’ crucifixion weekend.

From episodes 31 and 32, which focused in on the trials Jesus faced before the Jewish leaders and before Pilate, we discovered that when Jesus stayed silent, He assumed our guilt without admitting to anything. The only reason for Jesus to stay silent was because He actively chose to do so. Jesus stayed silent for you and for me, because His goal was making salvation possible for God’s people.

When Jesus faced some of the worst torture ever imagined by the human race, He did not back down, buckle, or cave with the intention of avoiding pain. Jesus spent close to 24 hours in pain and agony that would be unimaginable for someone living today. However, Jesus’ mission was bigger than the pain He faced during that time. Jesus’ mission was focused on eternity.

Moving into episodes 33 through 38, which focused on prophecies Jesus fulfilled while hanging on the cross, we were first reminded about a different pole that was raised many centuries earlier. From the pole that Moses lifted up that contained a serpent, we were challenged with the idea that often times our redemption will come from the place we least likely expect, or from the place we are least likely to look.

By facing death, Jesus defeated Satan’s impossible looking challenge against God’s character by both proving God was willing to punish sin while also extending grace towards those who had sinned. Jesus’ took our sins, our imperfections, and our guilt with Him to the cross, and He offers us His perfect, sinless life in exchange. This is great news worth sharing and celebrating!

Moving into episodes 39 and 40, which looked at Jesus’ burial, we were amazed to discover that in an amazing way, the Passover both looked back in remembrance of God freeing the Children of Israel from Egypt, but it also pointed forward to the Messiah freeing God’s children from the penalty of sin.

Jesus’ death becomes the perfect Passover sacrifice because Jesus’ life and body fulfills the requirements of the Passover sacrifice. Jesus is the only individual to have avoided being stained by sin and Jesus’ bones were not broken after the point of His death allowing Him to be the perfect Passover sacrifice.

While the disciples were hiding for their lives, and while the religious leaders were plotting what to do next, God the Father was validating Jesus’ sacrifice leading into the opening of that year’s Passover celebration.

Moving to episodes 41 through 44, we looked at prophecies which predicted Jesus’ resurrection, including a parable where Jesus predicts His own death. In these episodes, we were reminded that while Satan wants us to minimize, ignore, discount, or distract us away from Jesus, remember that Jesus’ sacrifice defeated Satan while also making the way possible for us to experience salvation.

If the religious leaders wanted to avoid playing into Jesus’ prophetic hand, they would have taken Jesus’ words in a parable He shared to heart, and simply rejected Him rather than plotting for His death.

However, Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s kingdom that these religious leaders rejected and this is one of the biggest themes in the Bible. We have the choice how to respond to Jesus. Jesus challenges us to come humbly to Him, bringing with us the fruit God wants us to have, and letting Him transform us into being the people He created us to be.

Just like David wrote, God the Father would not abandon the Holy One of God or let His body decay. This leads us into focusing on Jesus’ resurrection. After Jesus lay in the tomb over the Sabbath day, marking Him resting following the completion of the work of salvation, Jesus returns to life and into the next phase of His ministry.

Episode 45 focused on Jesus ascending to heaven, and episode 46 looked at Jesus being seated at God’s right hand. In these two episodes, we were encouraged and reminded that Jesus’ ascension into heaven is a promise we can claim when this world seems to be crazy. Jesus’ goal is not to give us a comfortable life in a sinful world. Instead, it is to prepare a place for us to live forever in a sinless, perfectly recreated New Heaven and New Earth. When we ally with Jesus, we are assured of a world that is much better than the one we live in, and a world that will ultimately last forever.

Jesus, our priest, has done everything needed to prepare the way for our salvation, and His sacrifice on our behalf, opens the way for God to forgive our sins while remaining just.

Following Jesus being seated at God’s right hand, episode 47 and 48 focused us on the first thing Jesus does following being honored with this position. The first thing Jesus does is keep His promise to send the Holy Spirit to His followers. In these two episodes, we learned that every prophecy that came to pass was directly because the Holy Spirit prompted a prophet or messenger to write it down, and then also crafted history to move in that specific way.

Jesus stepped into history at the moment prophecy specified, and His life and ministry fulfilled an amazing amount of prophecies. When we let the Holy Spirit lead and guide our focus, we will be led to grow closer to Jesus both today, and every day, moving forward into eternity!

With the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance, Jesus’ followers would be fully equipped to share God’s message of forgiveness with the world.

We are challenged to lean on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance and move forward sharing the great news of God’s law, Jesus’ love, and the forgiveness God wants to give everyone who accepts Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins.

To wrap up this year looking at prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, let’s be reminded of His promise to return, to resurrect all of His people, and to bring us together to be with Him in the New Heaven and New Earth. We looked at this promise in episode 49 and discovered that because Jesus came, lived, died, and was resurrected just like what was predicted and foreshadowed in the Old Testament, we can trust God has a grand conclusion to history planned. In God’s conclusion for history, while it may not be welcome news for some people, He will put an eternal end to sin, while stepping forward with all of His people into eternity.

As we move through each day, each month, and each year, let’s remember what Jesus accomplished for us. Because Jesus gave His life for us, God gives Him a portion with the great. Because Jesus stayed silent when He was accused, He is able to speak up and intercede on behalf of all who have sinned. Because Jesus poured out Himself to death, all of God’s people are able to receive new life.

Year of Prophecy – Finale: In the second part of our annual two-part finale, discover some of the biggest insights we discovered during the last half of this past year moving through the gospels and focusing in on the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

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