Reflective Bible Study

Picking up where we left off in our last episode, our passage and episode for this week gives us a foundation for why our last episode’s prophecy about Jesus spending a season in Egypt would ultimately happen. However, like many of the prophecies we have covered so far, as well as many other prophecies we will look at as we move though this podcasting year, this prophecy seems out of place in the context of the broader passage where the prophecy is found.

In this passage of Jeremiah, the Old Testament book where our prophecy is found, we discover a surprisingly dark prophecy within an otherwise positive and happy portion of scripture. However, when we take a few minutes to focus on this paradox, we discover a powerful truth that can be applied into our own lives living over 2,000 years later.

Our passage and prophecy are found in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 10, Jeremiah writes:

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare in the coastlands afar off,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
¹² “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—
Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the flock and the herd;
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they will never languish again.
¹³ “Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together,
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.
¹⁴ “I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”

Let’s stop reading here. Those of us who are familiar with Jesus’ birth story will recognize the event this prophecy refers to. However, it is amazing that both before and after this prophecy is given, Jeremiah focuses on sharing a positive message about Israel’s redemption from exile, and the promised abundance God has in store for His people.

However, the event that is prophesied is nothing short of tragic. Without the angel warning Joseph in a dream to escape to Egypt, which we looked at in our last episode, Jesus’ life wouldn’t have lasted long. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 2, starting in verse 16, we read:

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”

In this passage, Matthew’s gospel draws our attention onto how Herod’s savage and hostile action was actually a fulfillment of prophecy. This event was also Satan’s first swift attempt to end Jesus’ life before the plan of salvation could be realized. If the plan of salvation simply needed Jesus to die, then having Him die when only weeks or months old would have been easier from one perspective.

However, the contrasting point of view to this idea is that Jesus would not have then ultimately chosen His death. If Jesus had died as an innocent baby, then while salvation would become an option for all who repent and return to God, we likely wouldn’t have any idea the depth of God’s love for us. The same is true for many, if not all of the other times Satan attempted to kill Jesus prior to the cross. Every attempt on Jesus’ life would not bring glory to God or keep God’s name pure.

Three times come to mind where Satan tried to end Jesus’ life prior to the cross. The time we are focusing in on in this episode when Jesus was a Baby is the first one. If Herod had succeeded, then God would be to blame for not keeping His child safe. God would appear weak because Satan would have easily succeeded at his goal.

The second time is when Jesus is teaching in the Nazareth synagogue and He challenges them with ideas they were not open to accepting. In response to Jesus’ challenge about God valuing gentiles, those in the Nazareth synagogue attempt to push Jesus towards and off of a nearby cliff. However, Jesus miraculously is delivered from this event, and in some divine way the Bible doesn’t describe in detail, Jesus walks through the crowd and away from the town.

If those in the Nazareth synagogue succeeded at throwing Jesus off of the cliff, Jesus’ death would have been 100% the fault of the localized Nazareth synagogue, and a murder that would be emotionally driven and justified by claiming that Jesus spoke hearsay.

Allowing Jesus to reach the cross allows for the stage to be set for all major groups of humanity to reject Jesus, from Judas Iscariot, the disciple and a representative of Christianity, to the Roman secular culture, who carried out the execution. Jesus’ death on the cross could only have happened if Jew, Gentile, and Christian were all united in rejecting Jesus, and as we will discover later this year, that is exactly what happened. If those in the Nazareth synagogue succeeded, Jesus’ rejection and death would not have been because all groups of humanity had rejected Him, and even the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem could have sided with Jesus by denouncing the Nazareth synagogue as being rogue.

The third time Satan attempted to end Jesus’ life before the cross was while Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat while the disciples were crossing the lake. A sudden, likely supernaturally strong storm caught the disciples off guard, and if Jesus hadn’t have spoken the word to calm the storm, or if the disciples had not gone to wake Jesus up, it is possible that storm could have ended Jesus’ life. However, if that had happened, those in the first century would have concluded that God killed Jesus and His followers, because it was not a death that humanity had directly caused, and God would be implicated in Jesus’ death. At the very least, God would be implicated by allowing the storm that ultimately took the life of His Son in this hypothetical scenario. In this third event, Jesus would not have chosen death, and like the other two possible deaths, while salvation would technically have opened up for humanity, we would not have as clear of a picture of God’s love for us.

Within the framework for this prophecy in Jeremiah, we see a strangely realistic scenario. While God is actively seeking to restore and unify His people while also preparing them for eternity, Satan is actively working to cause difficulty, pain, and even death to all who are even remotely associated with Jesus. In the first century, simply being born within the vicinity of Jesus was a death sentence, as our prophecy and reading of Jesus’ escape to Egypt reveals.

In a similar, but hopefully not too similar, way, allying our lives with Jesus in this life may bring hostility and trials that would not otherwise come. However, allying ourselves with Jesus is the only way to ultimately receive the reward He promises us – specifically the reward that He made available through His trip to earth and His death on the cross.

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 accept Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Understand that allying your life with Jesus may bring Satan’s hostility into your life, but on the other side of his hostility, is a reward that cannot be matched. Choose to lean on Jesus for strength to face Satan’s trials today, so that eternity is guaranteed.

To keep your connection with God strong, always pray and study the Bible for yourself, and grow that personal relationship with God. Through prayer and Bible study, discover a God who loves you more than you can imagine, and a God who was willing to do whatever He could to redeem you from sin.

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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue in Luke’s gospel, we arrive at a passage describing a miracle that seems spontaneous on the surface, but one that I believe Jesus may have planned earlier. In our last episode, we discovered that Jesus spent a Sabbath afternoon in Simon’s home and that Jesus had healed Simon’s mother-in-law. If Luke’s ordering of events at this point in his gospel is chronological rather than categorical, then it would mean Simon, who was also known as Peter, would have been aware of Jesus’ miracle working ability and Simon’s extended family would have already benefitted from Jesus’ power to heal before the significant event that happens in this passage.

However, some scholars believe this event in Luke happened before Jesus’ visit to Simon’s home, and when we read what happened, it may become clear why.

Our passage for this event is found in Luke, chapter 5, and we will read from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that

¹ One day while Jesus was standing beside Lake Galilee, many people were pressing all around him to hear the word of God. ² Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ Jesus got into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, and asked him to push off a little from the land. Then Jesus sat down and continued to teach the people from the boat.

⁴ When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and put your nets in the water to catch some fish.”

⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.” ⁶ When the fishermen did as Jesus told them, they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. ⁷ They called to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they were almost sinking.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!” ⁹ He and the other fishermen were amazed at the many fish they caught, as were ¹⁰ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.” ¹¹ When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.

From this event, I can understand some scholars believing this happened before Jesus’ trip to Simon Peter’s home when Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law. From Simon Peter’s response to Jesus’ miracle, he seems surprised that Jesus’ word could direct the fish into their nets. If Simon had known Jesus’ word to be powerful enough to silence and banish demons and to heal the sick, it seems only logical that Jesus could direct fish into a net.

However, I can also see Luke’s description of this event happening in chronological order. The reason I think this is because I believe Jesus knew Simon Peter’s heart better than anyone else. Simon Peter likely needed some convincing beyond simply seeing something miraculous one time to get him to drop everything to follow Jesus. Because of this, I wonder if Jesus subtly began working on Simon Peter before Simon even realized it. This may have begun on the Sabbath in the synagogue when Jesus healed the demon-possessed man. For Jesus to go to Simon’s home that afternoon, it would only be logical that Simon, or members of Simon’s family were present at that synagogue meeting.

It is even possible they sought Jesus out to invite Him to come with them because they knew Simon’s mother-in-law was sick. If Simon Peter wasn’t present at the synagogue that day, I’m confident he would have been present when Jesus healed his mother-in-law and all the people that evening.

What we read about in our last podcast episode appears to lead directly into this event. If Luke’s order of events is accurate, than this means that Simon Peter knew Jesus and was happy to help Jesus by letting Jesus preach from his boat.

However, Simon Peter was not expecting a miracle that impacted him directly. Leading up to this miracle, we see Simon being content helping others, including Jesus, and being supportive of Jesus helping others, but when Jesus shifts the focus onto helping Simon personally, Simon got uncomfortable.

Like many people living today, Simon had no problem helping other people. However, he had a personality and character that did not like receiving help personally. Simon was more than happy to partner with others, but teaming up is different than accepting miraculous help with no strings attached.

Simon represents someone who is happy being self-sufficient and accepting gifts from others is difficult for someone who is happy and content being self-sufficient.

However, Simon also is willing to test Jesus’ words personally, and this makes him one of the most significant disciples Jesus ever invited. When Jesus told Simon to cast his nets in the water to catch some fish, Simon knew this was the worst time of day to fish, but he responded in verse 5 saying, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.”

Simon’s response to Jesus emphasized that the best his team could do was nothing. The team of fisherman that night caught nothing. However, Simon responds that he personally would test Jesus’ words regardless of what the others chose to do. The situation quickly turns into something Simon needs all the help he can get to pull in all the fish that got caught in their net.

Simon Peter recognizes that his life is full of sin and that he is unworthy of Jesus’ help. However, Simon needs to realize the state of his life in order to accept Jesus’ invitation. In the same way, when we are deciding whether to come to Jesus or not, we must understand that a self-sufficient attitude is not as useful to God as an attitude that will test Jesus’ promises and try Jesus’ instructions personally, regardless of whether what Jesus’ asks us to do makes sense on the front-end or not.

Going fishing in the day made no sense whatsoever, but after these fishermen, specifically Simon, tested Jesus’ challenge personally, they realized that Jesus’ way works, even if it doesn’t make sense.

The challenge in this passage for all of Jesus’ followers throughout history is to recognize that God’s way is the best way and be willing to follow Jesus even if it doesn’t make sense at first. We are called to test God’s promises and prove them to be true in our own lives. A self-sufficient skeptic will never come to faith in Jesus because they will have too many reasons to assume Jesus’ way won’t work rather than trying it out personally to realize that it does work.

Like Simon Peter, let’s realize that we are sinners and understand that we need Jesus to help us be the people God created us to be!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always begin by challenging you, intentionally and purposefully seek God first in your life. Choose to let God lead in your decisions each and every day and test His promises to determine the truth of His word.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Choose to test God’s word in your own life rather than simply taking someone else’s word for it. When eternity is at stake, God’s truth is worth testing for yourself.

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 walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!