Reflective Bible Study

Continuing into the gospel of Matthew, following Jesus’ baptism, we learn that Jesus heads out to the desert for a very specific purpose. While it would make logical sense for Jesus to start rallying disciples immediately after launching His public ministry, this is not what happened. Instead, Jesus heads to the desert because that is where God’s Spirit led Him.

Let’s read what Matthew tells us about what happened. Our passage is found in Matthew, chapter 4, and we will read it from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 1, Matthew tells us:

¹ Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. ² After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. ³ Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.’”

⁵ Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple, ⁶ and said to him, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says,

‘God will give orders to his angels about you;
    they will hold you up with their hands,
    so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’”

⁷ Jesus answered, “But the scripture also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” the Devil said, “if you kneel down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus answered, “Go away, Satan! The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’”

¹¹ Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him.

In our passage, we read about three big temptations Jesus faced while alone in the desert. When we draw our attention onto these temptations, some really big themes begin to surfaces, and while we might not think we are capable of being tempted in the same way as Jesus was, it is very possible we experience these three types of temptations on a daily basis.

The first temptation Jesus faced was turning the stones into bread. At the heart of this temptation is the theme of using our resources for our own benefit. While we aren’t able to turn stones into bread like Jesus could have if He wanted to, I know I constantly face the temptation to use everything I earn for myself, my needs, and my wants. While Jesus needed and wanted bread, and while Jesus had the power to fulfill this need, He intentionally pushes back at this temptation knowing that self-service is not part of God’s character. Self-service is not a characteristic of God and we fall victim to this temptation when we place our own needs ahead of God’s desires for our lives.

The second temptation Jesus faced was jumping from the highest point in the temple. While I don’t know of any prophecies or traditions related to the Messiah appearing in this way, this act would have gotten the chief priests and religious leaders’ attention. The goal of this temptation is a self-focused goal on a social level. This temptation is one where Jesus does something to make the crowds look towards Him in a significant way.

But then we have a question: how is this temptation of getting people to pay attention to Jesus different from Jesus performing miracles and turning heads that way?

In the case of the miracles Jesus did, every miracle was aimed at helping someone else and providing an opportunity to praise God. If Jesus would have jumped from the temple, He probably would have had the protection Satan promised in the scriptures, but the act of jumping would have been a self-serving act because it wouldn’t have been a blessing to anyone else. Drawing the focus onto Himself is not part of God’s character, and when we do things to be looked at highly by others, we fall victim to this temptation.

The third temptation Jesus faced was worshiping Satan for a moment in order to avoid the ministry, mission, and ultimate destiny of Jesus’ life. The essence of this temptation is spiritual. This temptation offered Jesus an empty shortcut to achieve His goal, except that Jesus’ goal wasn’t dominion over every earthly kingdom at the height of its glory. Instead, Jesus’ goal is the hearts and minds of His people, and this is something only the cross can purchase.

While it appears on the surface like this third temptation is more Satan-serving than self-serving, the only reason to even consider this temptation is because of self-focused motives. Sometimes the road God has called us to walk is hard. Self-focused motives would opt for an easier path. Satan offers Jesus an easier path, but the cost of taking this easier path is too high a price to make it worth it. If Jesus had fallen for this temptation, He would have sinned, which would have made the sacrifice on the cross worthless, and it would have left those He came to save as lost in their sins. Jesus pushed back at the self-service-focused nature of this worship-based temptation. Jesus, like God, isn’t interested in self-service. Instead, Jesus came to serve and to give His life to save all of God’s people!

Tucked within these temptations are doubts Satan wanted to cast onto Jesus’ self-identity and onto the greatness of Jesus’ mission. Satan subtly counters God the Father’s clear claim at Jesus’ baptism that Jesus is God’s Son by challenging Jesus on this very point in the first two temptations. Each of these two temptations are framed using the opening, “If you are God’s Son”. Jesus was well aware of God being His Father, and He wasn’t going to let Satan cast doubt into His mind about this.

The last temptation was a subtle attempt to elevate Satan into the Godhead. If Jesus momentarily worshiped Satan, then that would elevate Satan to the status of God and Jesus would have broken the circle of the Godhead. Jesus didn’t fall for Satan’s trap in this temptation, or at any point during His ministry, and everything Jesus did brought glory to God the Father.

In all these temptations, Jesus pushed back at Satan using promises and statements from the scripture. When we face temptation, the best way for us to push Satan away is through challenging Him with God’s promises. God has promised to help us when we need help and when we are living in a way that brings Him glory, nothing will stop us from shining for Jesus!

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. When Satan throws temptations your way, choose to push back with God’s Word and with God’s promises. Choose to lean on God for the strength to fight Satan’s tricks, traps, and temptations.

If you don’t know your Bible like you wish you did, be sure to intentionally, regularly pray and study the Bible for yourself, to learn what the Bible teaches first hand. While it is easy to depend on other people for Bible truth, if we do, we short-change our spiritual growth because we are only growing up to the level of those we are listening to. While this might not be bad, God wants to teach us more and He does this when we open up the Bible in prayer and study it for ourselves.

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 be tempted to leave where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Early on during the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, we read about an interesting and somewhat strange event within the gospels that might not make a lot of sense on the surface. In many ways, this event is one time where Jesus might appear to be irrational.

Both Matthew and Mark include this event, and for our time together, let’s read what happened from Mark’s gospel. Our passage is found in Mark, chapter 11, and we will be reading from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 11, Mark tells us that:

¹² The next day as Jesus was leaving Bethany, he became hungry. ¹³ Seeing a fig tree in leaf from far away, he went to see if it had any figs on it. But he found no figs, only leaves, because it was not the right season for figs. ¹⁴ So Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And Jesus’ followers heard him say this.

Pausing reading here, I am amazed at this event because we have no context for Jesus becoming hungry, and we find Jesus cursing a fig tree because it didn’t have figs while it wasn’t the right season for figs. It’s possible that there was something unique about this tree that meant it should have had figs on it, but nothing in our passage suggests this except that this tree was filled with leaves.

If it weren’t for what happened the following morning, it’s likely that Mark wouldn’t have included this event in his gospel.

Jumping down to verse 20, we continue reading to discover that:

²⁰ The next morning as Jesus was passing by with his followers, they saw the fig tree dry and dead, even to the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered the tree and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed is dry and dead!”

²² Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. ²³ I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. ²⁴ So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you. ²⁵ When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins. [²⁶ But if you don’t forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.]”

When reading about what Jesus tells His disciples the following morning, I’m inclined to believe that this whole event was orchestrated to teach the disciples about the power of faith in God. When the disciples see the withered up fig tree, they initially are amazed at how powerful Jesus is.

But this event didn’t happen to get the disciples to look up to Jesus even more. This event happened to teach the disciples that faith in God without reservations or doubts can accomplish even greater things than this.

In this event, we are challenged and instructed on how to pray. While most people look to one of the two times Jesus officially taught on prayer by giving example prayers, our passage here in Mark might be more powerful to remember.

When we pray, the first and most important thing for us to have is faith in God. Faith is simply trust multiplied exponentially. When we trust God with everything from our past, through our present, and into our future, we have faith in Him. Faith does not mean we must understand what is happening while also having all of our questions answered. On the other hand, faith also does not mean that if we understand or have answers to our questions that our faith is somehow diminished.

Contrary to popular opinion, faith does not need unanswered questions – even if there will always be unanswered questions. What faith needs is for us to remember how God has led us in the past so we are confident moving into the future with Him. Faith is built with and on a foundation of trust in God. In order to have a powerful prayer experience, we must have faith in God.

After telling the disciples that faith in God is key, Jesus also tells them that we should push away all doubts that God won’t do what we are asking Him to do. This is probably the hardest part of prayer for me personally. It is all too easy to let a little bit of doubt in that suggests that what I am praying for is not part of God’s will, or that God knows better than I do regarding whatever request I may have, and when I let doubt in, I unknowingly sabotage my prayers.

In this whole passage, the only things we find that are necessary foundations for answered prayer are faith in God, which we have already talked about, and forgiveness towards others. If we have these two foundations in place, then there should be no room for doubt in our minds. Our passage challenges us against it.

However, why might forgiveness be so important for us in our prayer life? While I cannot answer this for you, I will say that when I have been angry with someone, the anger clouds my mind and my attitude. When my mind is focused on anger, my prayers are not the same. From my own experience, anger affects my prayers and my attitude when coming before God with my requests. About the only help I can expect to receive when praying while angry is help to forgive the person I am angry with.

But with all this said, you might be asking me what about all the times you have prayed, with heartfelt faith in God, while you were not angry or doubtful, but your prayer does not appear to be answered. Aren’t those times reasons for doubt?

I have faced situations like this, and because of this, I would have to answer perhaps. However, I don’t believe that there are any truly unanswered prayers when we pray with faith, forgiveness, and no doubt.

Instead, I believe our prayers are answered the exact moment that they have left our lips. God answers prayer in four ways, and its possible we don’t see His answer because we aren’t expecting the response He gives.

The first possible response is the easy answer of “Yes”. When God answers yes, we understand that He clearly and directly was involved.

However, God can also answer our prayers with the answer of “No”. God’s answer of no might appear to be a rejection of our request, but it might be Him simply telling you that your request is not in your best interests.

While it might be easy to think that “yes” and “no” are the only possible responses, God has two other responses, and in my own life, these other responses are much more common.

The first other response God can give is the response of “Yes, but now isn’t the best time.” We might consider this response as God asking us to wait. Perhaps what we are asking is within God’s will, but we are truly not ready to receive what we are asking for. God’s goal is our salvation and us being with Him in Heaven, and I believe He will not answer a prayer in a way where our salvation is placed in jeopardy. This might be one of the hardest answers to receive, but our faith in God leads us to trust Him even when we don’t understand why at this point in our lives we are being told to wait.

The last response God can give is the response of “No, but here is something better instead”. If we are too focused on receiving only the answers we request, we might be oblivious to all the other blessings God is giving us in place of our original request. Similar to the response of “wait”, I believe God will not directly answer our requests knowing that it will place our salvation in jeopardy. Instead, God wants us with Him in Heaven forever, and that should be our ultimate goal as well.

We are called to pray with faith in God; with forgiveness in our hearts; with certainty that God loves us, that He wants to answer our prayers, and that He wants the best for us; and with the trust that He answers our prayers the moment they leave our mouth. After we pray, we should eagerly look for answers He has given and expect to see them show up in our lives when the time is right.

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

Seek God first and build a faith foundation of trust in Him. Be sure to pray with faith in God, without doubt, and with forgiveness in your heart, expecting to see the answers He promises to give us when we pray.

Also, always be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Grow your personal relationship with Jesus because the closer we are to Him, the more our will will be aligned with His will and when our lives are aligned with God, nothing will stop our prayers from being answered in powerful ways.

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 moving into Matthew’s gospel, we’ll jump out of Jesus’ birth story and back in at His baptism. In Matthew’s gospel, as he shares what happened at Jesus’ baptism, we discover some amazing details. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include Jesus’ baptism, but as you might have guessed, since we are in the Year in Matthew, we’ll be looking at Matthew’s version of this event.

Let’s read what happened using the New American Standard Bible translation. Matthew includes Jesus’ baptism in chapter 3. Starting in verse 13, Matthew tells us that:

¹³ Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

This event is fascinating in my mind because of a number of reasons. Looking at this passage, we could divide it into two parts, and we could creatively call these two parts the part before Jesus’ baptism and the part after His baptism.

In the first part, the part before Jesus’ baptism, we have a short discussion between Jesus and John the Baptist. When Jesus comes to be baptized by John, John rightly concludes that this event should happen in the opposite way. John knows that Jesus has no need of baptism because Jesus has no need of repenting and turning back to God in a visible way. We could frame this a different way by saying that Jesus did not have to die to a past sinful life and be raised up into a new life with God.

I wonder if Jesus’ response to John essentially says that Jesus wants to set an example for all people. In verse 15, Jesus tells John, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” I don’t think Jesus needed to become more righteous than He already was, but I do believe that Jesus wanted to use this event as an official opening to His ministry.

After being baptized, when Jesus comes up out of the water, it is amazing to picture the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove and to hear a voice from heaven from God the Father drawing attention to His Son.

At the start of Jesus’ ministry, we see all three members of the Godhead distinctly represented and celebrating this opening to Jesus’ ministry together. However, we also see something else.

In the act of being baptized, at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, we see a powerful picture of Jesus’ future death and resurrection which would mark the end of His earthly ministry. I wonder if one other reason Jesus wanted to be baptized was to give this subtle foreshadowing that His life was destined to be given up not many years later. While no-one else likely realized this at the time, I’m sure Jesus and the Godhead knew, and for us looking back on this, the connection is clear.

But in the act of being baptized, we see another, more subtle foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry. In the very act of letting someone else submerge you into the water, you are placing your life in their hands. In this way, we see Jesus, at the start of His ministry, place Himself below humanity and Jesus places His life in John’s hands. For the purposes of this big idea, John represents all humanity. Jesus places His life in humanity’s hands.

The baptism event at the beginning of Jesus ministry is one place we see Jesus intentionally setting the stage for a ministry of service and selflessness. In the baptism event, we discover Jesus placing Himself below humanity and foreshadowing His upcoming sacrifice.

While some people might say that this is just a story that has little value for us today, I find it amazing that three of the gospel writers would include this event thinking it wasn’t relevant for those they were sharing it with. Some of those who want to dismiss this event likely feel that it is as unnecessary as John did when he pushed back at Jesus, wanting instead to be baptized by Him.

However, there is a huge lesson we can learn in Jesus’ baptism. Within this event, Jesus sets an example for each of us living today. Not only is this example the obvious example of being baptized as a way of showing our repentance and turning away from sin, but it is an example of how we should live and orient our lives.

The greatest temptation we all face is living our lives for ourselves. This temptation places ourselves ahead of others. Within Jesus’ baptism, and the example He set for us, we see Jesus living for others, placing others first. Jesus lived His life completely dedicated to bringing glory to God through helping those who were hurting. With rare exceptions, Jesus always stopped what He was doing to help someone who needed help, and regardless of the circumstances, if Jesus knew a miracle would bring glory to God, He didn’t hesitate helping where He could so that God would be glorified.

Jesus lived selflessly and He called us to be His representatives here on this earth. We are called to show Jesus’ selfless love to those around us!

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. Choose to model Jesus and live your life in a way that helps others and brings glory to God. If you choose to align yourself with Christ, intentionally represent Christ as accurately as you can!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow personally closer to God each day. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, take what you hear and read and test it against the truth of the Bible. While technology changes with time, the spiritual truths the Bible teaches are timeless, and they will survive past the end of this world.

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!

Early on during the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, John includes in his gospel record an event that the other three gospel writers don’t include. In this event, not only does Jesus look forward to His upcoming death on the cross, but God the Father speaks from Heaven one additional time.

While our passage is a little longer than what we typically cover in our episodes, I’m having a difficult time determining what to cut out. So let’s dive in and start reading what John describes happened one of the days Jesus was in the temple teaching leading up to His crucifixion, and we’ll see how far we get in our time together.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 12, and we will be reading from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 20, John tells us that:

²⁰ There were some Greeks among the people who went up to worship during the feast. ²¹ They came to ask Philip for a favor. Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive glory. ²⁴ What I’m about to tell you is true. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it. But anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it and have eternal life. ²⁶ Anyone who serves me must follow me. And where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

At this point, I must pause briefly, because what Jesus has just said here is incredibly powerful. Jesus challenges all of His followers to love Him more than they love their own lives, and while that is a huge challenge for His followers at every stage of history, Jesus follows it by promising His followers that God the Father will honor those who serve Him and who have placed Jesus ahead of their own lives.

When saying this, Jesus knows that this is challenging, and it might be difficult for us to fathom, but He never asked us to do anything He was unwilling to do. Picking back up in verse 27, Jesus continues by saying:

²⁷ “My soul is troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, keep me from having to go through with this’? No. This is the very reason I have come to this point in my life. ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven. It said, “I have brought glory to my name. I will bring glory to it again.” ²⁹ The crowd there heard the voice. Some said it was thunder. Others said an angel had spoken to Jesus.

³⁰ Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ Now it is time for the world to be judged. Now the prince of this world will be thrown out. ³² And I am going to be lifted up from the earth. When I am, I will bring all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show them how he was going to die.

³⁴ The crowd spoke up. “The Law tells us that the Messiah will remain forever,” they said. “So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light. Do this before darkness catches up with you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in it. Then you can become children of light.” When Jesus had finished speaking, he left and hid from them.

Let’s pause briefly again here, because this brief discussion draws our attention onto the war that the first century culture had in their minds over Jesus. On one hand, Jesus clearly had God’s support and His favor. Otherwise, He could not have performed the miracles He did. However, on the other hand, Jesus kept telling the people that He was going to die, which did not fit with what they understood in the Law and Old Testament that describes the Messiah as lasting forever.

While Jesus could have simply told them that His death wouldn’t last long and that it would end in a resurrection, He instead focused His attention on subtly challenging the people to pay attention to Him and His ministry.

However, part of me wonders if these people were more interested in finding excuses and reasons not to believe in Jesus than to find reasons to believe. Picking back up in verse 37, John tells us that:

³⁷ Jesus had performed so many signs in front of them. But they still would not believe in him. ³⁸ This happened as Isaiah the prophet had said it would. He had said,

“Lord, who has believed what we’ve been saying?
    Who has seen the Lord’s saving power?”

³⁹ For this reason, they could not believe. As Isaiah says in another place,

⁴⁰ “The Lord has blinded their eyes.
    He has closed their minds.
So they can’t see with their eyes.
    They can’t understand with their minds.
    They can’t turn to the Lord. If they could, he would heal them.”

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴² At the same time that Jesus did those signs, many of the Jewish leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not openly admit they believed. They were afraid they would be thrown out of the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved praise from people more than praise from God.

Pausing yet again, I want to point out how powerful this phrase is. John tells us that these “leaders” were more interested in getting praise from people rather than focusing on getting praise from God. Jesus lived His life entirely seeking praise from God. Jesus would not accept praise from people, and I believe this is a challenge Jesus has for His followers as well. We should seek praise from God over praise or fame from this world.

To wrap up our passage, let’s pick back up in verse 44:

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only. They also believe in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who looks at me sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world to be its light. So no one who believes in me will stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “I don’t judge a person who hears my words but does not obey them. I didn’t come to judge the world. I came to save the world. ⁴⁸ But there is a judge for anyone who does not accept me and my words. These words I have spoken will judge them on the last day. ⁴⁹ I did not speak on my own. The Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have said. ⁵⁰ I know that his command leads to eternal life. So everything I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

In this passage, Jesus tells us that His words will be the judge on the last day. This is important for us to pay attention to because Jesus’ words are recorded for us to know. Not only do we have recorded the words Jesus spoke in the first century while He walked on the earth, but there have been times God spoke directly in the Old Testament. In these instances, we can conclude since Jesus is One with God, that the words and messages God spoke in the Old Testament will also be included as part of the words that judge humanity on the last day.

Everything Jesus spoke came from God the Father, and everything Jesus did while here on earth was to bring glory to God the Father. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit love humanity, and that is why Jesus came into this world to give His life for us.

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

Be sure to place God first in your life and to seek His praise. While it might seem crazy to think about, Jesus has challenged each of us to love God more than our own lives. He has called us to follow Him above everything else. Jesus tells us that God the Father will honor those who have placed Jesus ahead of themselves.

Also, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with Jesus further. Never let a speaker, author, pastor, or podcaster stand between you and God. God wants a personal relationship with you, and your relationship begins when you pray and personally study the Bible for yourself.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, or turn away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!