Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Being the Servant: Luke 14:7-24

Published September 23, 2026 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 14:7-24 (GW)

⁷ Then Jesus noticed how the guests always chose the places of honor. So he used this illustration when he spoke to them: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding, don’t take the place of honor. Maybe someone more important than you was invited. ⁹ Then your host would say to you, ‘Give this person your place.’ Embarrassed, you would have to take the place of least honor. ¹⁰ So when you’re invited, take the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move to a more honorable place.’ Then all the other guests will see how you are honored. ¹¹ Those who honor themselves will be humbled, but people who humble themselves will be honored.”

¹² Then he told the man who had invited him, “When you invite people for lunch or dinner, don’t invite only your friends, family, other relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they will return the favor. ¹³ Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the handicapped, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ Then you will be blessed because they don’t have any way to pay you back. You will be paid back when those who have God’s approval come back to life.”

¹⁵ One of those eating with him heard this. So he said to Jesus, “The person who will be at the banquet in the kingdom of God is blessed.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷ When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is ready now.’

¹⁸ “Everyone asked to be excused. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to see it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I bought five pairs of oxen, and I’m on my way to see how well they plow. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I recently got married, and that’s why I can’t come.’

²¹ “The servant went back to report this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry. He told his servant, ‘Run to every street and alley in the city! Bring back the poor, the handicapped, the blind, and the lame.’

²² “The servant said, ‘Sir, what you’ve ordered has been done. But there is still room for more people.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go to the roads and paths! Urge the people to come to my house. I want it to be full. ²⁴ I can guarantee that none of those invited earlier will taste any food at my banquet.’ ”

Read Luke 14:7-24 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

While reading through this passage, a number of things stood out to me. For this journal entry, we will focus on the role of the servant, and discuss who he might represent in this parable.

In my analysis, I can see three possible representatives for the role of the servant.

The first possible representative for the servant’s role is Jesus. He spent a good portion of His ministry showing people what God is like, and inviting them to believe in Him. Jesus invited people to follow Him, and by following Jesus, we are accepting the invitation to the banquet.
The second possible representative for the servant’s role is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is no longer on the earth, but He promised to send the Holy Spirit to as a Comforter and Guide. The Holy Spirit leads individuals into a growing relationship with God – which leads to accepting the invitation to the banquet.
The third possible representative for the servant’s role is us (His followers / His Church). Who better to invite other people than people who are already invited? Jesus tells us that “the person who is greatest among you will be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11) By inviting others to know and experience a relationship with Jesus, we are able to step into the servant’s role and invite others to the banquet.

Some might think that we must now choose one of these possible representatives to fill this role, but I disagree. In my mind, and in my experience, all three are the servant.

First Jesus came and served us, modeling true servant behavior, and opening a way for us to be invited to the banquet. Now, both the Holy Spirit prompting on an individual’s heart, as well as the invitation from a friend can inspire someone to accept Jesus into their lives – which is another way of saying that they are accepting the invitation to the banquet. All three of these representatives play a key role in the inviting process.

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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Irritated at Children: Matthew 21:12-17

Published September 22, 2026 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 21:12-17 (GW)

¹²Jesus went into the temple courtyard and threw out everyone who was buying and selling there. He overturned the moneychangers’ tables and the chairs of those who sold pigeons. ¹³He told them, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you’re turning it into a gathering place for thieves!”

¹⁴Blind and lame people came to him in the temple courtyard, and he healed them.

¹⁵When the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings saw the amazing miracles he performed and the children shouting in the temple courtyard, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were irritated. ¹⁶They said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

Jesus replied, “Yes, I do. Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of little children and infants, you have created praise’?”

¹⁷He left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

Read Matthew 21:12-17 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

When reading about events in Jesus’ life on earth, occasionally I am surprised by some of the details that a gospel writer chose to include. It is this way with Matthew’s version of this event.

In our passage, Jesus has just chased all the moneychangers and merchants out of the temple, and He has sat down to heal, teach, and point people to God. But while He is teaching, the religious leaders show up. Matthew tells us what happened, “When the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings saw the amazing miracles he performed and the children shouting in the temple courtyard, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were irritated. They said to him, ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’” (v. 15-16)

In my mind’s eye, the leaders have approached on the sidelines and are watching what is going on. They see Jesus healing people and performing miracles, and they realize that they cannot challenge Jesus on this – especially because the crowd is benefiting from this. But they also notice the children giving praise to Jesus, and in their minds, this was clearly unacceptable. They know they cannot challenge Jesus’ actions, but they can challenge others who were present.

But Jesus has a response for even this challenge: “Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of little children and infants, you have created praise’?” The religious leaders did not like children being heard in church, but Jesus says God creates praise in their mouths.

This event brings out an interesting idea: The Pharisees and religious leaders focus on “cannot”, while Jesus focuses on “can”.

Focusing on what is not allowed and unacceptable is a defensive way of thinking. It leads to rules that protect people from breaking the rules, and it always is looking for why people cannot, or should not, do a certain thing.

But Jesus counters the religious leader’s position by focusing on helping people know what they could and should do. Instead of looking for reasons why something was unacceptable, He looked for reasons why an action was okay. Jesus answers the question, “How can we allow this?”

Jesus always appears to be one step ahead of the religious leaders – and that is because looking at the world from a “can” perspective places one on an offensive, forward thinking train of thought. The religious leaders, with their “cannot” perspective, were solidly seeing life as a defensive exercise, and instead of looking at possibilities, they were looking for reasons why things shouldn’t be done.

Jesus didn’t clear out the temple because money was unacceptable there. He cleared out the temple for a can – which was allowing people to more clearly see and worship God!

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Flashback Episode — Jesus’ Choice: John 18:1-11

Published September 21, 2026 in Audio Journal Entries

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After John describes Jesus’ teaching and prayer on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, He shifts focus onto Judas coming with the mob to betray Jesus. However, while John includes a detail that most, if not all, of the other gospel writers include, John also includes an amazing detail that is unique to his gospel account of this event. Through these two details, we discover something powerful about Jesus, and how facing the cross was His choice.

Our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. ²Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples.

³The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

⁴Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

⁵“Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) ⁶As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! ⁷Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁸“I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” ⁹He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. ¹¹But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

In this event, while the other three gospel writers include the detail about someone slashing off the ear of the high priest’s slave, John gives both the name of the slave and the name of the disciple who did the slashing. Part of me wonders if following this event, this slave joins the early church, because Luke’s gospel includes the detail about Jesus healing his ear, and John knows this slave’s name.

However, while this last detail is powerful, what John describes happened earlier is even more amazing. Several of the other gospels describe Judas Iscariot taking the lead and greeting Jesus with a kiss to let the mob know which one was Jesus. However, John’s gospel prompts us with the powerful truth that Jesus steps forward willingly to meet the mob.

Not only does Jesus step forward, but He also takes the lead, perhaps even before Judas Iscariot can come forward. Jesus asks the mob directly who they are looking for, and after the mob has responded, Jesus replies that He is the One they were looking for. Verses 5 and 6 describe Jesus’ response and what happened by saying, “‘I am he,’ Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said ‘I am he,’ they all drew back and fell to the ground!”

While Jesus then repeats His question and they reply, I am amazed by John’s detail that one short but powerful declaration from Jesus knocks the entire mob to the ground. While Jesus may have momentarily let His divinity shine through His humanity at that moment, the detail that the mob was knocked off their feet is not as amazing as the conclusion we can draw from this detail.

Through one simple declaration, Jesus knocked the mob off their feet, which one might think would be enough to wake up this mob that arresting Jesus might be futile. However, they are unconvinced, and follow through with their plans for arrest.

While this might appear like a success on the part of the mob, this entire event was clearly within Jesus’ control. If Jesus could knock the mob down with a simple three-word declaration, nothing the mob could do would overpower Jesus if He was unwilling to surrender. The voice that calmed the storm, that cast out demons, and that taught God’s love was able to knock down this band of hired enemies, but it wasn’t enough to break through the mob’s hard hearts.

Jesus was fully capable of stopping the mob, but He chose not to. When seeing that Jesus could but wouldn’t defend Himself, Peter jumps up to defend Jesus. While Peter’s actions may have been prompted in part by Jesus’ earlier challenge to Peter about denying Him, and Peter assuring Jesus that he would be willing to die for Him, I suspect that this defense also prompted Peter to stand out in the minds’ of those in the mob. This is relevant because many of those in the courtyard we will look at in our next episode likely were also in the mob that arrested Jesus.

Peter in this passage displays a similar belief as Judas Iscariot, even though both men were very different. It is likely that both Peter and Judas Iscariot believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and it is also likely that both Peter and Judas Iscariot believed the Messiah would last forever.

Where these two disciples differed the most was Judas likely believed Jesus would not let Himself be arrested, or at least condemned, while Peter understood that Jesus likely would be crucified because of this. Neither one of these disciples understood the resurrection Jesus had repeatedly predicted; and neither one of these disciples believed Jesus would return from the dead to then last forever. Both men did not understand the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah’s sacrifice, because that culture had discounted or ignored all passages suggesting a suffering Messiah.

However, the huge conclusion we find in this event is again shared when Jesus challenges Peter about defending Jesus with violence. Our passage concludes with Jesus’ words in verse 11, “Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

Jesus willingly chose the cross for you and for me, and because of this, we are able to see God’s love for us. Jesus was not forced to face the cross, but He was willing to face suffering, pain, ridicule, and death in order to show us God’s love and just how far God would go to redeem humanity.

Jesus loves each of us more than we can even imagine, and God’s love for us led Jesus to face the worst, most painful, and most humiliating death imaginable. The sin in our lives and our past deserves this death, but Jesus was willing to pay for our debt in order to show us God’s love for us and to give us a way to be saved and redeemed for eternity.

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 the gift Jesus offers to us through the death He chose. Everything in our passage pointed to Jesus willingly choosing to be arrested, and as we move through this event, we’ll see more examples of Jesus humbly following the path towards death when He clearly did not deserve death and could have easily given up.

With that said, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and study, we can grow a personal relationship with God, and through a personal relationship with God, discover for yourself just how much God loves you and me!

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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Flashback Episode: Year in John – Episode 38: When Judas Iscariot comes with a mob to arrest Jesus, discover how with a simple command, Jesus knocks the mob to the ground. However, with this brief detail comes a powerful truth about Jesus, about God’s love, and about Jesus’ choice to face the cross for you and for me!

The Promise in the Warning: Mark 13:14-23

Published September 18, 2026 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Mark 13:14-23 (GW)

¹⁴“When you see the disgusting thing that will cause destruction standing where it should not (let the reader take note), those of you in Judea should flee to the mountains. ¹⁵Those who are on the roof should not come down to get anything out of their houses. ¹⁶Those who are in the field should not turn back to get their coats.

¹⁷“How horrible it will be for the women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days. ¹⁸Pray that it will not be in winter. ¹⁹It will be a time of misery that has not happened from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and will certainly never happen again. ²⁰If the Lord does not reduce that time, no one will be saved. But those days will be reduced because of those whom God has chosen.

²¹“At that time don’t believe anyone who tells you, ‘Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’ ²²False messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will work miraculous signs and do wonderful things to deceive, if possible, those whom God has chosen. ²³Be on your guard! I have told you everything before it happens.

Read Mark 13:14-23 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

If we ever wondered or questioned God’s love for His people, this a portion of our passage for this entry helps us see how God loves us. While this passage is an excerpt from a much larger message to Jesus’ followers about remaining faithful to Him regardless of what comes our way through history, and while the majority of our excerpt is also warning, a phrase is present that shines of God’s love and His protection: “If the Lord does not reduce that time, no one will be saved. But those days will be reduced because of those whom God has chosen.” (v. 20)

This verse shouts of God’s love for us, and that no matter what happens, He is in control.

However, before you begin to question God’s love during this time when followers of His are being killed, one big key to understanding this verse is found in the phrase, “no one will be saved”. This says that there is something bigger at play here than simply one or two individuals. In this phrase, Jesus points forward to the ripple effect that our lives and relationships can have.

This phrase speaks of God ending the persecution before it has ended those who God has chosen, which gives us hope that regardless of what we face and how we might mess up, God will not let His message – His “Good News” – die.

However, slightly under the surface of this verse is another message of hope. For those who are killed, their lives still held a purpose. Some of the greatest testimonies are of those who willingly faced death because of their faith. For those who were killed, they have the promise Jesus gave that people can only kill the body; people cannot kill their whole being. God has the power to reverse bodily death and He has promised to do so for those who have died believing in Jesus.

Jesus promises to reduce the time His people are persecuted because they are His people. The persecution helps create character and resolve, but it was not ever meant to destroy. The persecution that Jesus’ followers face is like a fire that is meant to refine and not consume.

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