Reflective Bible Study

When reading the gospels, sometimes Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John surprise me about the events they chose to include in each of their respective gospels. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke all share many similar stories, John takes a different approach with his gospel, and he shares many unique events that the other gospels for some reason or another, chose not to include.

Of all the events that John includes that the other three gospels excluded, the event I am most surprised about is the resurrection of Lazarus. For some reason, only John’s gospel included it, and I can only speculate that one of the primary reasons the other three gospel writers didn’t include it was because it was such a well known event that it would have been redundant for those in the first century who were well aware of what happened.

However, when reading about Lazarus’ resurrection, an interesting secondary theme appears, and this theme is both subtle and powerful. Let’s read excerpts from John’s gospel and draw out this theme together. Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 11, and we will read it using the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 1, John opens this event by telling us that:

^1-2 A man by the name of Lazarus was sick in the village of Bethany. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha. This was the same Mary who later poured perfume on the Lord’s head and wiped his feet with her hair. ³ The sisters sent a message to the Lord and told him that his good friend Lazarus was sick.

⁴ When Jesus heard this, he said, “His sickness won’t end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.”

The first clue to this secondary theme in this event is that Jesus says that Lazarus’ sickness won’t end in death. Instead, it will bring glory to God and His Son.

I’m sure that when the disciples and messengers heard Jesus’ response, they were relieved, but what happens next is startling. Continuing in verse 5, we read:

⁵ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and brother. ⁶ But he stayed where he was for two more days.

In my mind, the two verses we just read don’t add up. Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, but He stayed where He was for two more days. In my mind, it doesn’t seem like love to stay away from your friends who are hurting – especially since John doesn’t give us a reason why.

After the two-day delay, we pick back up reading in verse 7:

⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “Now we will go back to Judea.”

⁸ “Teacher,” they said, “the people there want to stone you to death! Why do you want to go back?”

When reading this portion of the event, part of me wonders if the disciples thought Jesus wouldn’t go back to Judah to see His friends. After two days with no movement in that direction, the consensus among the disciples may have been that no direct intervention was necessary for Lazarus’ benefit.

But Jesus answers them in the next verses by saying:

⁹ [Jesus answered,] “Aren’t there twelve hours in each day? If you walk during the day, you will have light from the sun, and you won’t stumble. ¹⁰ But if you walk during the night, you will stumble, because you don’t have any light.” ¹¹ Then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, and I am going there to wake him up.”

¹² They replied, “Lord, if he is asleep, he will get better.” ¹³ Jesus really meant that Lazarus was dead, but they thought he was talking only about sleep.

¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead! ¹⁵ I am glad that I wasn’t there, because now you will have a chance to put your faith in me. Let’s go to him.”

¹⁶ Thomas, whose nickname was “Twin,” said to the other disciples, “Come on. Let’s go, so we can die with him.”

I find it interesting that Jesus begins by saying that Lazarus’ sickness won’t end in death, but here just two days later, Jesus now talks about Lazarus sleeping. However, when the disciples don’t catch the metaphor, Jesus has to plainly tell them: “Lazarus is dead!” (v. 14)

Here is the second clue into our secondary theme hidden in this passage. Jesus seems to talk about death on two separate levels – or He has a bigger picture in mind when discussing death. To learn which it is, let’s continue reading, but let’s jump down in the story to Martha’s conversation with Jesus.

Picking back up in verse 20, we read:

²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² Yet even now I know that God will do anything you ask.”

²³ Jesus told her, “Your brother will live again!”

²⁴ Martha answered, “I know that he will be raised to life on the last day, when all the dead are raised.”

²⁵ Jesus then said, “I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. ²⁶ And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord!” she replied. “I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.”

The subtle, but not so subtle, theme that Martha picks up on is that Jesus had promised through the messengers that Lazarus’ sickness wouldn’t end in death, but since her brother had died, Jesus must be talking from an eternal perspective. In her conversation with Jesus, Martha demonstrates amazing faith – and she points us to the biggest picture we can imagine that can only be seen through looking at eternity.

But in this conversation, Jesus still sounds like he is still talking about death on two different levels. First He tells Martha that her brother would live again, but then He starts talking about those who have faith in Him dying but not really “dying”. The fact that Jesus says He is the one who raises the dead back to life, but those who believe in Him will never really die is a contradiction – if we understand Jesus to only be talking about death on one level.

This must then mean that Jesus has two different perspectives or angles on death that He refers to in this passage and conversation. Earlier, Jesus tried describing death like a sleep, but He wasn’t successful using this metaphor with the disciples. Jesus then tells Martha that her brother will live again, but she only understands this statement from the big-picture, future resurrection that God’s people will experience.

In each case, dying is dying, but in the first case, the death is equivalent to a sleep that only Jesus can break. In the second case, the death is final. Martha had her perspective correct when she understood Jesus’ promise that Lazarus would ultimately be alive in heaven with God at the end of time, but she missed the immediate promise of Jesus’ words that Lazarus’ death was simply a sleep that he needed Jesus to wake him from.

Lazarus was dead. He wasn’t in a coma or simply unconscious. The way bodies were prepared for burial in that culture would have killed an unconscious person. After four days in the tomb, everyone was certain that Lazarus was truly dead. No one present had any doubts to the contrary.

We can understand the perspective of those present in this passage when they talk about Jesus on the way to the tomb. The crowd says in verse 37, “He gives sight to the blind. Why couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” and Martha pushes back against the idea of opening the tomb in verse 39 by telling Jesus, “Lord, you know that Lazarus has been dead four days, and there will be a bad smell.”

When we think about death, the secondary theme of this passage is that until the resurrection happens on the last day, everyone who dies with their faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus will simply sleep waiting for Him to awaken them. These people technically will never die because they have a future life waiting for them with God.

But those who have died who have rejected God, Jesus, or chosen to believe in something or someone other than Jesus will die, and they will face a death in the future that does not have a resurrection promised.

While the primary theme of this passage relates to Jesus being the Life-Giver and being someone who is worthy of our faith, the secondary theme of this passage tells us that death in this life is more like a sleep, and that after we take our last breath, the next sound we hear will be Jesus waking us up.

With this said, here are the challenges I will leave you with as we close out this podcast episode:

As I always challenge you to do in one way or another, intentionally choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. Choose to live your life in a way that pleases Him, because when death-sleep comes, it won’t matter whether we stay in the ground until resurrection or whether we immediately go to Heaven. The only thing that will have mattered is how we stood with God at the moment of our last breath.

As always, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn the truth God wants to teach you. While death is a sad subject for many, God wants to draw your attention to the future life He has promised each of us.

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!

While I didn’t plan for it to be this way, this year of podcasting through the gospels has reserved a whole block of challenging passages. The next one on the list happens to be an illustration Jesus shares where people are divided over how much truth it teaches. This illustration is called the Rich Man and Lazarus.

This passage has challenged Christians throughout the centuries over exactly how much truth Jesus is trying to teach. Some people say this illustration is not a true parable because it doesn’t start like one and because none of Jesus’ other parables includes a named individual, while others say that the contents of the teaching sound more parable-like than not, even with a named character.

Some people say this teaching proves there is consciousness after death, while others say that Jesus simply used a common illustration of the day but flipped the ending. This idea suggests that there was a common story told by the religious leaders that ends with the rich man being brought into Abraham’s presence, while the poor beggar ends up in the place of torment.

Personally, I don’t know if any of these angles is accurate. I am doubtful of some of them, but I also believe that most of these angles likely include some aspects of truth.

In my own mind, I see this illustration as a parable Jesus shared, similar perhaps to the illustration of the Good Samaritan. The parable of the Good Samaritan is shared following Jesus being asked a question, and it has a very non-parable-like beginning, similar to this parable.

However, what does Jesus want us to learn from this teaching? Is Jesus making a statement about the nature of death, or is He using an illustration that causes us to simply think about life from the point in time when our lives are over?

To uncover an answer to this, let’s look at the themes we can learn from this event, and while reading this passage, think about some big truths we can learn from what Jesus shares.

Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 16, and we will be reading from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 16, Jesus continued by saying:

¹⁹ “Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. ²⁰ A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. ²¹ Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.

²² “The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side. ²⁴ So the rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’

²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain. ²⁶ Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family. ²⁸ I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’

²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.’

³⁰ “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.’

³¹ “Abraham said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

In this parable, as I read it just now, I can see a number of big themes we can learn. Perhaps the biggest one is that after someone has died, they cannot change their decisions from this life.

This theme is in many ways intuitive, because while we are alive, we cannot change our past. We can change our decisions in the present and plan for different decisions in the future, but once the future is the present and the present turns to past, our decisions are locked in history. This makes each moment of each day significant and this theme challenges us to be conscious of the decisions we are making every moment of each day.

Also while reading this passage, we see the theme that those who are convinced of something, who are unwilling to change their beliefs, are not going to be convinced to change by anyone – even someone who returns from the grave.

While this illustration oddly enough foreshadows the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, not too long after this, we see Lazarus’ resurrection being enough to convince plenty of Jews to put their faith, belief, and trust in Jesus. However, the religious leaders who were set in their ways make plans to not only kill Jesus after this event, but Lazarus as well.

A third theme that I see in this illustration is that those who have had it hard in this life will find rest in the life to come, while those who have had it easy in this life may experience struggles. I don’t know if the time one spends following death is filled with torment or unpleasantness. But I do know that the next conscious thought one has following death will be one of regret when they realize they didn’t choose correctly.

All these themes are important to us. This illustration pushes us to look past our lives and then back at the decisions we chose while we were still alive. Does Jesus teach more about the state of the dead here? That I will leave for you to decide.

However, as we close out this podcast episode, along with the challenges, I will leave you with a question: Since Jesus loved teaching with visual illustrations, and we have many examples of this in His various parables, would it be possible to share the themes we just finished looking at in a visual way without implying consciousness after death? If so, perhaps we can uncover more themes from this illustration. However if the way Jesus shared this parable is the only “visual” way to challenge us to think with the end in mind, similar to what we talked about in the last episode, then perhaps consciousness after death is not a theme we should put much weight on.

To challenge you as we end this podcast episode, be sure to always seek God first in your life. When difficult questions come trying to shake your faith, lean into trusting God, because when our lives are over, only one thing will truly matter, and that is whether we placed our hope, faith, trust, and belief in Jesus Christ to save us for eternity.

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself and grow your personal relationship with God. Coming to the end of your life and missing out on a personal relationship with God is the worst place to be. Don’t fall into the trap that many people will realize only after it is too late. Focus on growing your personal relationship with God today, and every day moving forward into eternity!

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!

Probably one of the most famous illustrations that Jesus ever shared can be found in the passage we are covering in this episode. The parable of the prodigal son is one of the clearest examples of God’s love and His character when faced with rebellious children.

However, while the name suggests that the son who ran away is the main character, when we read this parable with God in mind, it’s possible, perhaps even probable, that a different character in this parable is the real “main” character. In some ways, this parable might be more accurate if its title focused on the character Jesus intended us to focus on.

The prodigal son parable we will be reading is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter fifteen, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 11:

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 

Let’s pause here after the first verse to point our attention to the detail that Jesus opens with. The first character that is identified is the father. He is the “man with two sons”. Let’s continue reading to learn what happens. Continuing from verse 12:

¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

This parable is powerful. In it we see the father in an almost no win situation. The youngest son basically insults him by asking for his inheritance before his father’s death – and with his inheritance, he leaves town which is a visible rejection of their family. For a time, the father is only with the older son.

However, after the younger son returns home, the older son reveals his heart by refusing to go in. When his father asks him why, the older son says that he basically feels as though he has been equivalent to an obedient slave, and nothing more.

In some ways, this parable should be titled “The Parable of the Loving Father”. This title would present a clearer meaning for those interested in seeing the focus.

But this parable’s current title is also significant. By drawing our focus onto the younger son who left but also returned, we place the focus on God’s power and willingness to forgive. Following what would have been the biggest insult a child could ever give to their parents, the father in this story forgives and celebrates the moment he has with his son who had returned.

Neither one of the children understand this. The older son is bitter because in his mind, the younger son should be punished not rewarded. But what the older son misses in his mind is the fact that the younger son has already been punished by the world. The reward the younger son receives is because he returned to his senses and decided to come home. That decision is one of the primary reasons the father wants to celebrate.

The younger son doesn’t understand this celebration either. He has matured enough to realize his offense and knows that he doesn’t even deserve to make eye contact with his father. While he begins his apology for his earlier actions, the father basically ignores what is said. The young man’s posture and attitude has said enough. The father can clearly see that his younger son has learned from his mistakes and that education is worth celebrating.

For each of us, we can learn from the father’s celebration. We can learn that celebrating can and should happen when people make a decision to return to God. When someone has turned or returned to God, either through a profession of faith or through baptism, heaven celebrates – and we can too. Also, when someone has learned a valuable life lesson and has decided to repent from their sin and mistakes, heaven celebrates – and we can too.

With both of these reasons to celebrate, as we close out our episode for this week, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally place God first in your life. If you see someone else make a decision for God, celebrate with them for their decision.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to continue growing your relationship with God. God wants a personal relationship with you, but He is waiting like the Father for us to return to Him. Other people cannot drag you into a relationship with God; it is instead 100% our choice whether we will return to Him and grow a relationship with Him.

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

Throughout the gospels, we read about Jesus sharing some pretty harsh things, and making some very challenging statements. However, if we were to rank Jesus’ difficult statements, in my own mind, one specific passage, specifically one verse in a specific passage, tops the list. If you are looking for a reason to not follow Jesus, look no further than the challenging verse near the beginning of our passage for this episode.

This difficult passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 14, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 25, Luke describes the scene for us:

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Let’s stop reading here because this might be one of the most challenging messages Jesus makes in the entire Bible, and the way Jesus starts is perhaps the most startling.

If we ignore Jesus’ opening message, the rest of the passage sounds challenging, but it isn’t very harsh. Planning, saving, and being strategic with our finances and our resources is simply a smart way to live, and the majority of Jesus’ message is telling us to focus on the end goal when we are making plans to start. One big theme we can see in this entire message is to think with the end in mind.

In the case of the tower, we need to think with the end in mind and focus on what we will need to save in order to finish the project. And in the case of a war, it is only smart to analyze whether we have enough resources to win. In both cases, if we don’t have enough resources, it would be better to either wait or look at our other options.

The same consideration is present when we choose to follow Jesus: We must think with the end in mind. In the case of our faith, thinking with the end in mind seems on the surface to be easy. It is wonderful to think and dream about what heaven will be like. Thinking about heaven and focusing on eternity is one way we can have hope when our lives are falling apart.

But then why would Jesus start out by talking about hating those in our family if we truly want to be His disciples. This sounds needlessly cruel and in many cases, God has brought those people into our lives.

While we could look at this statement and think that Jesus simply said it to get the attention of those present, similar to a speaker today saying something shocking to get the attention of a crowded auditorium, I don’t think this would be a technique Jesus would use if the statement was truly false. If the statement’s only value was shock value, it would mean that Jesus lied to the crowd of people, and I don’t believe Jesus could or would deceive anyone.

However, I believe that the way Luke describes the scene prompts Jesus’ words and His message. Luke opened this passage in verse 25 by saying that “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus”. Another way to say this is that Jesus had become popular among the people. The challenge Jesus faced with a large crowd of followers is that Jesus did not come to start a popularity competition, and He did not want the popularity of the crowd.

Jesus came to give God the glory, to give His life for sinners, and to give us a picture of God’s love for each of us. Jesus pushed back against followers who were not sincere. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the majority of those in the crowd traveling with Jesus that day simply wanted to be near the most popular person in the country, and they enjoyed seeing miracles, and being able to tell their friends about what Jesus did and said.

Instead of giving into the popularity trap, Jesus cuts straight to the core of this crowd of “followers”. Just like Jesus describes in later portions of this passage and in other parts of the scripture, His followers are to think with the end in mind.

This means that we should really take a hard look at whether we are ready to be followers of Jesus, because followers of Jesus are hated by others, ridiculed by many, and killed in plenty of cases. If the choice comes to loving our parents, our siblings, our spouse, or our children over following God and His mission for our lives, we must choose God’s way over family – and even over our own lives.

A recent episode pointed out the truth that nothing anyone can do to us in this life can compare to what God will reward or punish us with after this life has ended. Because of this truth, we should be ready for trials to come from any and every direction. However, because of what Jesus teaches here and in other places in the gospels, we should keep our hope alive by thinking with the end in mind.

We can face more than we believe we are capable of when we keep eternity in focus. When trusting Jesus and looking forward to heaven is our focus, we rightly realize that the challenges we face today are insignificant in the big picture of eternity. If friends or family members choose to reject us because we have committed our lives to Jesus, know that Jesus has promised us a brand new family of believers in the New Heaven and New Earth.

While Jesus speaks challenging words to those of us who call ourselves Christians, His big challenge is to keep the end in mind when we face challenges in our lives today – and to intentionally choose to stay connected with Him each and every day moving forward into eternity!

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

Be sure to always seek God first in your life and to keep Him in focus as you go through each day. Be sure to live your life in a way that gives Him glory and in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Also, be sure to always pray and study the Bible for yourself to keep your connection with Him strong and your relationship with Him personal. A pastor or podcaster can give you great ideas to think about, but never let anyone come between you and Jesus!

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