Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through John’s gospel, and what John tells us Jesus did and said during the week leading up to the cross, John takes a brief detour and shares how two prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus’ life and ministry. When we look a little closer, these prophecies are not ones Jesus had much control over, because both of these prophecies focus on how the people would respond to the Messiah God would send. Both these prophecies focus on how the people would ultimately reject Jesus.

However, our passage doesn’t just cover these pessimistic sounding prophecies. It also continues past the pessimism to share an amazing promise and challenge Jesus shared as well.

With that said, let’s read our passage for this episode and discover what we can learn from what John tells us. Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 12, and we will be reading from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 37, John tells us that:

³⁷ Even though he [referring to Jesus] had performed all these miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him, ³⁸ so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true:

“Lord, who believed the message we told?
    To whom did the Lord reveal his power?”

³⁹ And so they were not able to believe, because Isaiah also said,

⁴⁰ “God has blinded their eyes
    and closed their minds,
so that their eyes would not see,
    and their minds would not understand,
    and they would not turn to me, says God,
    for me to heal them.”

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

⁴² Even then, many Jewish authorities believed in Jesus; but because of the Pharisees they did not talk about it openly, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved human approval rather than the approval of God.

Let’s pause reading here for a moment because what John has just said is powerful. John draws our attention to the truth that many Jewish authorities believed in Jesus, but they were secret about it because they didn’t want to lose influence or status. John frames this position as loving human approval more than the approval of God.

This is fascinating to read, because while we might think that being a secret disciple can get us both God’s approval and human approval, because we believe in Jesus while also not being open about it, John frames this idea as placing God in second place.

From this set of verses, we learn that God desires people who will stand up in a public way for their faith. While a secret faith is okay to have temporarily, ultimately a faith that is never publicized is worthless. Faith is the most valuable when it is visible and when it doesn’t step down in fear.

It is interesting to note that from Isaiah’s second prophecy, we might conclude that God purposely blinded the people’s hearts to keep them from turning to Jesus. This is what the prophecy seems to indicate.

However, I wonder if this second prophecy is linked closely to the first one, and that because God’s Spirit was so visibly present in Jesus’ life through the miracles, it had a polarizing effect on the people in the first century. Because of Jesus’ miracles, some people loved Jesus, while others disliked Him greatly.

When we then mix in a series of very challenging things Jesus shares, some even sounding blasphemous, it pushed those who liked the miracles to question whether Jesus was really from God or not.

I don’t believe for a moment that God actively kept those in the first century from opening their hearts to Jesus. Instead, I believe that the way Satan had twisted the culture leading up to that point prompted the way Jesus went about His ministry to close people off. In that culture, there were so many preconceived ideas about who the Messiah would be that anyone coming who didn’t fit the mold could easily be rejected. God, through Jesus, allowed for those in the first century to be blind and their hearts to be closed because Jesus was not interested in stepping into the role of Messiah they had built for Him to take.

It would have been easy for Jesus to gain the approval of the people, but if He had done so, He would have given up more than we could possibly imagine.

Our passage concludes with a challenge Jesus shares. This challenge is one that likely continued the polarizing effect of Jesus’ ministry. Continuing in verse 44, John tells us that:

⁴⁴ Jesus said in a loud voice, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ Whoever sees me sees also him who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. ⁴⁷ If people hear my message and do not obey it, I will not judge them. I came, not to judge the world, but to save it. ⁴⁸ Those who reject me and do not accept my message have one who will judge them. The words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day! ⁴⁹ This is true, because I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has commanded me what I must say and speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his command brings eternal life. What I say, then, is what the Father has told me to say.”

In this final challenge Jesus shares with those in the first century, we see a fascinating truth and a powerful challenge. Just like John includes early in his gospel, framing Jesus’ ministry as one that focused on saving the world instead of judging it, here in this last challenge we see Jesus clearly proclaiming that He did not come to judge, but to save.

Instead of Jesus being the judge, or coming to judge, the words Jesus shares will be the judge. We will be judged on whether we accepted Jesus’ message or not. Jesus frames this as being true because the message He spoke came directly from God. Jesus is not interested in judging people. Jesus instead came to save.

However, Jesus frames the judgment happening on the last day, which in other places in the scripture is the day when Jesus returns. With this framing, we come to a powerful truth: If Jesus’ words will be the judge for people, we can be sure that a just God would protect and preserve Jesus’ words throughout history. This makes the most logical sense.

This is one big reason why I regularly challenge you to keep praying and studying your Bible. Through the Bible, we discover Jesus, and when we have placed our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus, accepting His message, we gain eternal life.

While our current world is hopelessly stained with sin, disease, and death, God plans to redeem His people and recreate our world into the perfection it was at the beginning, prior to the fall. When we accept Jesus, we are promised eternal life and a future within God’s perfectly recreated world!

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, continue seeking God first in your life and choose to place Jesus first. Like I said earlier, be sure to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and accept His message that brings eternal life. Eternal life isn’t found in reading the right Bible translation, or in having the right doctrine. Eternal life is found in the person of Jesus, and when we accept Jesus’ life and sacrifice into our lives.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and move closer to God and Jesus. Through prayer and Bible study, we can discover who God is and what He is like, and we can grow a personal relationship with Him that begins today and extends 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 walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

In our journey through the gospels looking at Jesus’ parables, we come to one of Jesus’ longer parables, one of Jesus’ most famous parables, and the final parable in a set of three parables that Jesus shared emphasizing how God responds to sinners who repent. While this parable is often referred to as the Parable of the Prodigal Son and this son is the focus of the early portion of the parable, from the way Jesus begins this parable, I think He would want us to focus on a different character.

Let’s read what happened in this parable, and discover what God wants us to discover from it that we can apply into our lives and into our relationship with God.

Our passage and parable is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 11, Luke tells us that:

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

Let’s stop reading here for our episode, because the interaction between the younger son and the father is important for us to pay attention to. As I’m looking at the time, it may be best to save the last portion of this parable for our next episode. This is because I want to emphasize how Jesus opens this parable and how it sets the stage for the interaction between the father and his two sons.

Jesus begins the parable by saying, “There was a man who had two sons.” On the surface, this seems somewhat generic or perhaps even irrelevant, but the way this opening is framed is actually the biggest key to unpacking the meaning of this parable. Jesus emphasizes the father who had two sons, and not two brothers who have a father. The whole parable, while we might reference it by one of the two sons, is actually a parable about a loving father who had two very opposite sons.

This detail matters, because when we look at the context of this parable, and how it comes third in a series of parables that seem to emphasize celebrations when sinners return to God, we discover that the most logical character for the father to represent in this parable is God “the Father”. In this parable, God the Father has two opposite sons.

While those of us who are familiar with this parable don’t like the options of the two sons and we might wish for a third choice, the parable leaves us with only two distinct options. However, the parable also leaves us with the freedom of choice, and through the two sons, we discover something amazing about ourselves.

But I’m jumping ahead of myself here. So far, we’ve only read and paid attention to the younger, rebellious son, who insulted his father by demanding his inheritance early, who ran away, who wasted the money he had inherited, and who ultimately returned home humble, and wishing to simply be one of the father’s servants.

The response the father gives this son is nothing short of amazing. The father hears the apology in the son’s opening of his response, before simply ignoring the rest of it. The father throws a celebration for the younger son’s return. This celebration the father throws for his younger son reminds me of the celebration in heaven when a sinner who is a sheep repents and is found, and the celebration that takes place in heaven when a sinner who is a lost coin is found. When the rebellious son returns, God celebrates in heaven.

This detail brings out the amazing truth that God the Father forgives and accepts the rebellious younger son back even though the younger, rebellious son insulted Him in the worst possible way. When we insult God, when we reject Him, and when we run away, we discover that life without God isn’t as great as we might have imagined it to be. However, through this parable, we discover that God doesn’t give up on us and He doesn’t reject us when we genuinely repent and return to Him.

The first portion of this parable demonstrates for us what repentance looks like, and how repentance only is valuable when given with a humble, sorrowful spirit. When God challenges us to repent and return to Him, we should model the younger, rebellious son when we choose to repent and return to God. The younger son’s attitude when he chose to return is the best attitude we can have when repenting and returning to God.

It looks like we’ve run out of time for this episode, so for our next episode, let’s look at the last portion of this parable when the older son discovers how the father responded to his younger brother’s return.

However, as we come to the end of this episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Always intentionally seek God first in your life and if you have rebelled away from God and are looking to return to Him, choose to model the example of the prodigal son in this parable. Don’t focus on how far you have fallen away from God; instead, come before God and ask for forgiveness with a humble, sorrowful attitude, and trust that God accepts you back. God celebrates when sinners return to Him, and He is willing to accept those who humbly return to Him.

Also, be sure to continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day! Through prayer and Bible study, we can grow closer to God and open our hearts to His, and it is through prayer and Bible study that we are able to discover what God wants for each of us. Don’t take my word, or anyone else’s word for it. Discover what God wants to teach you personally through His Word the Bible!

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!