Reflective Bible Study

One thing we discover about the early portion of the week Jesus was crucified is that similar to much of the earlier part of Jesus’ ministry, we see religious leaders trying to trick and trap Him with what He said and did. However, it appears as though during the week leading up to the cross, the religious leaders intensified their efforts. Perhaps this was because Jesus had chased out the commerce and the money changing that was taking place, and this felt like a direct attack on the priests and their way of doing business as a church.

In my own mind, one of the more tricky challenges these leaders came up with was a trap that related to money, and something that most everyone hated back then. Times haven’t changed much since then in regards to this particular money topic, and most people dislike, but tolerate, this particular subject.

For this episode and our passage, we are talking about taxes, and while most of us probably dislike paying taxes, there was probably a greater dislike of it when Jesus lived.

While several gospels include this event, for this episode, we will be focusing on Luke’s gospel. This event is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 20, and we will be reading from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 20, Luke tells us that the religious leaders:

²⁰ [So they] watched Jesus and sent some spies who acted as if they were sincere. They wanted to trap Jesus in saying something wrong so they could hand him over to the authority and power of the governor. ²¹ So the spies asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is true. You pay no attention to who people are, and you always teach the truth about God’s way. ²² Tell us, is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

Before continuing our passage to see how Jesus responds, it is worth pausing for a moment to analyze this trap. The trap these leaders bring to Jesus is brilliant, because on the surface, there is no easy way for Jesus to win.

If Jesus had sided with the people and with the popular opinion that resented paying taxes, He would have gained popularity among the people, while also putting a target on His head from the government. The trap in this case wasn’t that Rome would kill Jesus, but that they would imprison Him, keeping Him from facing the cross at the appointed time.

While the Roman governor could have executed Jesus on the spot to set an example regarding paying taxes, this sort of death wouldn’t have brought honor to God. God would not come out as a winner if Jesus had pressed against paying taxes as an issue.

On an equally challenging alternate answer, Jesus could have simply stated that paying taxes was the right thing to do, but then He would lose credibility with the people and with the Jews He was trying to reach. While Jesus didn’t do or say anything for the sake of growing a crowd of followers, Jesus did speak for God, and if He were to come out and say that taxes should be paid to Caesar, then it would be like Jesus was telling God’s people to pay allegiance to an empire and religion that was opposed to God.

A response supporting taxes would subtly speak against putting God first – and this challenge would taint Jesus’ influence and God’s character.

With two ways to lose and no good way to win, let’s read how Jesus responds to this trap in an unexpected and brilliant way.

Picking back up in verse 23:

²³ But Jesus, knowing they were trying to trick him, said, ²⁴ “Show me a coin. Whose image and name are on it?”

They said, “Caesar’s.”

²⁵ Jesus said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.”

²⁶ So they were not able to trap Jesus in anything he said in the presence of the people. And being amazed at his answer, they became silent.

We’ll stop reading here because Jesus’ answer is so powerful and profound that I don’t want you to miss it.

First off, Jesus knows who is trying to trick Him and the trap they are trying to use, so instead of bringing the emperor into the discussion personally, He asks them a counter question so that those challenging Jesus would bring the emperor Caesar into the discussion, instead of Him.

While the Jewish people hated the Roman Empire and all it stood for, by shifting the focus away from the Empire as a whole, Jesus sets the stage for a one-to-one comparison. Instead of comparing Rome, which appeared to stand for everything opposed to the Jewish way of life, with God, Jesus shifts the comparison to a person, Caesar, and while most Jews did not like Caesar any more than Rome, Caesar was someone who most Jews had never met – and this detail was able to work in Jesus’ advantage.

The other benefit of Jesus’ counter question is that it brought money into the discussion in a tangible way. With a coin present, Jesus was able to draw the focus onto Caesar being the owner of Rome’s currency, and this allowed for Him to answer the taxation question in a way that really didn’t answer the question.

When Jesus responds by saying to give to Caesar what belonged to him, this challenged even those who supported the taxation, because Jesus’ statement suggests returning all of Caesar’s money to him. This is like a 100% taxation, which no-one but the cruelest dictator who doesn’t understand economics would do.

The first portion of Jesus’ answer caught both those who opposed taxes and those who supported taxes off guard, but Jesus finishes by easing the minds of those who might begin to think that Jesus was placing a human ruler who claimed to be a god above God.

Jesus’ response is perfect because it takes the focus off of self and focuses it on giving. We give earthly respect and honor to the earthly governments we live in, but we give to God what He owns – and He owns our lives. We know this is true because He has loaned us breath, and when our lives are over, our breath returns to Him. Without God’s breath, we are dust blowing in the wind.

Jesus responds to this challenge by telling those present to give Caesar what was his, specifically the Roman currency present throughout the empire, and to give God what is His, which is our life, our focus, and our allegiance.

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

Always seek God first and place Him first in your life. Be sure to live within the structure of the world He has placed you in while staying allied and obedient to Him.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow your relationship with God even further. When you determine to focus on learning from God personally, you will be amazed at what He will teach you through His word.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, give up on, or chicken out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As Jesus continues His famous Sermon on the Mount that we find in Matthew’s gospel, He comes to one of the most challenging parts of His message. In our passage for this episode, Jesus elevates what we might believe the standard of the law is to be significantly higher.

In essence, Jesus takes God’s law and Moses’ law and reframes these two laws to be a much higher standard than what we might believe, and if someone believes they have fulfilled the law as written, it would be a great stretch to believe they have fulfilled the law as Jesus describes it in this passage.

Let’s read what Jesus describes, and unpack the big truth it teaches. The portion of Jesus’ sermon we will focus on is found in Matthew, chapter 5, and we will read it from the New International Version. Starting in verse 21, Jesus continued preaching, saying:

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵ “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

In this passage, Jesus takes what we might consider to be the standard of the law, and He elevates it. Where we might think of committing murder or cursing someone as being subject to being judged, Jesus tells us that being angry with someone, or calling someone a fool is actually much closer to the line of breaking the law.

Jesus challenges us that we should be right with others first before we will be right with God. He challenges us in this way when He tells those present to leave their gift at the altar and go reconcile a relationship before offering our gifts to God. In this way, our relationships with one another become a reflection of our relationship with God.

We are also challenged to get along with others and to live uprightly. If we have a disagreement with someone, we should work to make things right, and we should do this before the issue becomes an issue in the court system. When a matter comes before a court, we give up control to a third party, and this third party might find us guilty when we believe we are innocent.

Jesus tells us that the standard for adultery isn’t the act of adultery, but the thoughts and the lust that precedes the action. Jesus doesn’t minimize the sin in the act of adultery; He challenges us with the truth that lustful thoughts are equally bad.

In one of the more challenging parts of Jesus’ message, He challenges us with the idea that it is better to physically cut a part of our body away than to let that part of our body sin and cost us our salvation. While some people don’t think Jesus meant what He says here, I wonder if we truly took this teaching to heart whether we would be so lenient towards sin. Jesus challenges us to purge sin from our lives, because sin in our lives has the power to cause us to lose our salvation!

Also in this passage, Jesus elevates the status of marriage to being a life-long, through-thick-and-thin commitment. Jesus describes in this message that adultery is the only spiritually valid reason for divorce. While I don’t know if Jesus would exclude other abuses for being valid reasons for divorce, I know at least in my own mind, I would consider any form of abuse as grounds for divorce. I also know and recommend that avoiding marriage is better if there is any doubt about a potential spouse in a person’s mind. Another place in the gospels describes Jesus telling His followers that it is better that they don’t marry if they cannot accept Jesus’ teaching on marriage.

The last challenge in this portion of Jesus’ sermon elevates the significance of our word vs. making oaths. In an interesting comparison, Jesus challenges us to keep our word, regardless of how it was said. When we live to the standard we speak, then there is no reason to swear oaths, or to make vows. We should live to the standard of our words and our agreements, and not distinguish between promises that can be broken vs. promises that must be kept.

This entire section of teaching is very challenging because it elevates the law to a much higher standard than simply the letter of the law, and this makes God’s law virtually impossible to keep 100%. However, if you remember in our last episode, where we focused on a statement Jesus makes right before this, you’ll remember that Jesus tells those present that He came to fulfill the law. We break the law Jesus describes in this passage, but He came so that we can have salvation when we turn away from our sin.

Breaking the law condemns us to death, and Jesus offers to take the death we deserve and give us the life He deserved. We shouldn’t continue to sin, but we should resolve to turn away from our sins as a way to say Thank You to Jesus for the gift He purchased for us 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 and place Him first in your life. Accept Jesus and the gift He offers to us and resolve to thank Jesus for His gift by turning away from sin.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters can give you things to think about, take what you learn and filter it through what God teaches you through His Word. God is interested in a personal relationship with you and personal prayer and study is how to grow a personal relationship with God.

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

During the week that leads up to the cross, the gospel of Matthew shares a powerful, challenging parable that is just as applicable for our lives today as it was for those living in the first century. In this parable, we discover two key details that are worth paying attention to, and both these details are necessary for our salvation. While modern Christian culture focuses a lot of attention on one of these details, we find out that only having one detail in place may actually be worse than having neither detail.

Let’s read this parable and unpack some big themes we can learn from it. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, and we will be reading from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Matthew tells us that:

¹ Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

⁴ “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

It is at this point in the parable where Jesus could have stopped. When thinking about salvation, the great news for each of us is that all we need to do is accept God’s invitation and we are all set. When those who the king originally invited rejected his invitation, the way opened for anyone and everyone, regardless of their past, to be invited. Jesus describes the wedding hall being filled with both good and bad people.

But Jesus didn’t stop the parable here. After the wedding hall was filled with guests, Matthew continues Jesus’ parable in verse 11:

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

What begins as an amazing parable about inclusiveness and being invited ends with someone being thrown out. Jesus’ concluding words are also challenging to think about: “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

All too often, we’d rather focus entirely on the first portion of the parable: the portion focused on inviting the many, and we don’t like thinking about the disturbing way Jesus ended this message.

However, let’s look at the details of this scene, with what is said and what is not said to discover something amazing about God, who is represented in this parable as the king.

Early on in the parable, when those who were originally invited reject their invitation, the king has a problem. The king has a feast ready, and no guests to eat and celebrate with him. They had already killed and prepared the food and if too much time passes, the food will spoil and the banquet feast would be a failure.

Since everything is ready, those the servants find in the streets and alleys don’t have time to go home and change to get ready for a banquet. If they did, they risk missing out because the food would have spoiled, or there would be no food left, or there wouldn’t be any space left. The invitation the servants share is one focused on simply coming because you have been invited.

However, this sounds great on the surface, but after inviting everyone they could find and when the wedding hall is full, the king arrives and throws someone out who wasn’t wearing wedding clothes. This sounds like a double-standard – except when we look at the unwritten implication that the wedding hall was full of people wearing wedding clothes.

Those who accepted the invitation didn’t have time to get changed into wedding clothes, and since the invitation was given to people of every background, some of those who were invited likely didn’t even own wedding clothes because they were too poor.

The only way this parable makes sense is if between the first and second portions, we conclude that when these last minute guests arrive, they are offered wedding clothes to change into. If everyone was offered wedding clothing in addition to the invitation, then the king has every right to challenge someone who is present but who isn’t wearing the second gift that was freely offered.

The person not wearing wedding clothes, because they chose to reject the king’s second gift, is thrown out of the banquet. This means that two things are important when we focus on what is needed for salvation.

The first is simple: We must accept the invitation that God freely offers to us. This invitation is made possible because Jesus died on the cross for sinful humanity, and because those who were first invited rejected their invitation. Accepting the invitation is as simple as praying a prayer to ask Jesus into your heart.

The second is a little more difficult: We must accept the gift of wedding clothes that God has offered to us. Clothing in this context symbolizes our character and our actions. We must be willing to remove our sinful character, habits, and lifestyle, and replace it with God’s perfect character, habits, and lifestyle. This sounds impossible to do, but it’s only impossible when we forget one tiny detail: God is the one giving this free gift.

Perfecting our lives on our own is impossible, but letting God change our lives and being willing to let Him change us makes the impossible become possible. Accepting God’s gift of clothing means that we choose to focus daily on growing closer to God and that we focus on becoming more like Him. When we focus on God and on Jesus, the Holy Spirit will begin changing our lives and our priorities, and we will be transformed by God into who He wants us to be. When the Holy Spirit transforms us, we will be fully clothed in wedding garments fit for the king’s wedding!

The only people who lose in this parable are those who reject God’s invitation, and those who reject the gift of wedding clothes that the king offered. The challenge for each of us is to accept these gifts in preparation for the wedding feast when Jesus returns to bring His people home.

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

Always intentionally seek God first and be willing to accept His invitation and His gifts. God wants His people to be clothed in His character and to model His love to the world around us. God’s love was demonstrated best through Jesus, who pushed back at those who wanted to get between people and God, and who loved sinners enough to die on a cross to take their place. That is the love God modeled for us, and the love He calls us to model for others.

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself, in order to grow personally closer to God. Don’t take my word at face value for anything the Bible teaches. Instead, study it out for yourself because when you study the Bible for yourself, you will grow personally closer to God – and you will have the Holy Spirit as your teacher. The Holy Spirit is a way better teacher than me.

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

As we continue looking at Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, we come to a set of three messages that progressively get more challenging. While we are more familiar with the first two messages in this set, the third one is very powerful and very challenging, especially in the New Testament Christian era as it has tried to separate itself from its Jewish roots.

Let’s continue reading Jesus’ message and be reminded of these three messages. Our passage is from Matthew, chapter 13, and we will read from the New International Version. Starting in verse 13, Jesus continues His sermon saying:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Let’s pause reading here briefly, because we have just finished the first two messages. Most people stop reading here and they separate the next message from these first two. However, I believe these ideas are connected if for no other reason that that Jesus shared them in this sequence.

In building up the sequence of messages, Jesus first tells us that we are to be salt in the earth. Salt in moderation seasons a dish nicely, and salt in abundance preserves what it is with. There is a middle area where there is too much salt for seasoning, but not enough for preservation, but I don’t think Jesus is emphasizing salt in this great of a detail. Instead, Jesus is first challenging us to affect the world around us, even if this effect is subtle and not clearly seen. If we stop affecting the world around us, then we will cease to be useful for what God has called us into the world for.

Next, Jesus describes His people as a light of the world. This is more challenging because while salt can be hidden and effective, light ceases to be useful if it is hidden. This means that the more we share and represent God, the greater our light will be and the more visible God may choose to make us. Jesus describes our light as our good deeds, but not us doing good seeking glory for ourselves. Jesus challenges us to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (v. 16)

Immediately following this, Jesus moves into the third message, which is perhaps the most challenging. Continuing in verse 17, Jesus tells the crowd:

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Some people might say that when Jesus died on the cross and when He was resurrected, this marked the completion referenced in this third message. They view the phrase that everything is accomplished means that everything needed for salvation through Jesus is accomplished, and because of this, now the Law is no longer relevant.

However, Jesus challenges this idea in at least three ways. First Jesus directly says that He did not “to abolish the Law or the Prophets”. Abolishing in this context means doing away with. Jesus didn’t come to do away with the Law. Instead, Jesus tells us He came to fulfill the law. Fulfilling is different. In a strange twist, Jesus came to live 100% obedient to the law because He knew we couldn’t. Just because Jesus lived 100% obedient to the law doesn’t mean that the law isn’t valid. This would be like saying that because my neighbor obeyed the speed limit on the road near our homes means that I can now break it.

Obeying a law does not abolish it.

The second way Jesus challenges this idea is by giving a time for when the law will be modified. Jesus tells those present “until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law”. When Jesus continues by saying until everything is accomplished, the context is that everything will be accomplished when heaven and earth disappear. This makes the Law and the Prophets just as relevant today as they were prior to the cross.

The third challenge to this idea is when Jesus emphasizes that the highest positions in the kingdom of heaven will go to those who practice and teach the commands of the Law and the Prophets. There will be those who are welcomed into the kingdom who have not done this, but that is because entrance into God’s kingdom isn’t about what we have done or what we can do. It’s about what has been done for us.

A bonus fourth challenge comes in Jesus’ final statement on this point. Jesus tells those present “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law appeared to be the most righteous people in society at that time. While there was hypocrisy rampant in that spiritual culture, the bar was set even higher than a Pharisee who lived what he preached. Jesus sets the bar for entrance into God’s kingdom in an impossible to get position. This is the power of the Law. The Law stops us from gaining entrance into God’s kingdom, and it is what protects God’s future kingdom from the presence of sin.

Everything in this third challenge regarding Jesus fulfilling God’s law amplifies the relevance of the Law for Christians, and nothing Jesus says here suggests that the Law is any less relevant than it was prior to His arrival on earth. Instead, Jesus’ arrival marked the entrance of God making a way for us to experience God’s kingdom when we failed to live up to God’s standard.

Does Jesus’ death and resurrection make God’s standard no longer relevant? Some might think so, but others believe that this act validates God’s justice while also revealing His love.

All three of these messages challenge us as believers and Christians to be witnesses for Jesus. We are to be salt, we are to be light, and we are to be obedient champions of God’s law, holding up the law while also sharing that the law is the reason Jesus came to this planet!

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 and place Him first in your life. Understand that Jesus came to earth not because God sent Him here to die, but because Jesus came to show us how much God loves us when we deserved death. Jesus did not deserve death, and nothing in Jesus’ life warranted facing the cross. Jesus chose this path to show us how much God loves us and just how valuable we are in His eyes!

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow each and every day. Choose to spend time praying and studying to grow personally closer to God and to fall in love with Him like He has fallen in love with you. Discover in the pages of the Bible, a God who gives up everything for 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!