Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Getting Our Feelings Hurt: Luke 9:51-56

Published May 7, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 9:51-56 (NCV)

⁵¹When the time was coming near for Jesus to depart, he was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²He sent some messengers ahead of him, who went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for him. ⁵³But the people there would not welcome him, because he was set on going to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When James and John, followers of Jesus, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?”

⁵⁵But Jesus turned and scolded them. [And Jesus said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to. ⁵⁶The Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of people but to save them.”] Then they went to another town.

Read Luke 9:51-56 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

If we look out at culture and at what is happening in our world today, there are plenty of examples of people who have reacted poorly because their feelings were hurt. I can easily use myself as an example because there have been plenty of times I have reacted – or overreacted – negatively because of hurt feelings.

This may be why, when I read this journal entry’s passage, the response James and John give Jesus jumps out at me: “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?” (Verse 54)

Perhaps this was the first town that had refused Jesus, and James/John didn’t know how to handle a group of people who actively chose to reject the Messiah. Maybe it was pride from being around Jesus, arrogance that they had performed miracles, or simply because they were trying to stick up for Jesus, thinking His feelings were hurt, but whatever the reason, looking at this situation as an outside observer, it is easy to see how these two disciples over reacted.

When our feelings take precedence over our self-control, then it is easy to overreact. Destroying a town of hundreds or thousands of people simply because the gatekeeper or leaders didn’t want to let Jesus and His disciples stay there is way too strong of a response. The town would have had sick people Jesus could have healed, confused people Jesus could have taught, and hurting people Jesus could have loved.

Jesus would have done nothing but positive things for that town, but pride in the town leaders stopped Jesus from entering, and pride in two of the disciples’ hearts caused them to overreact when they heard the news that the town was not interested in letting Jesus stay there.

Pride closes the door for God to work in our lives. Pride takes the focus off of selfless help for others and refocuses it onto selfish help for oneself. The town missed out because of their leaders, but that was the leaders’ choice. When we face situations where we are rejected, it is a chance to practice maturity by not overreacting because of our feelings. Intentionally focusing on helping/giving/serving others without expecting anything in return is the antidote for pride in our lives. Jesus came to help/give/serve and He calls us to be like Him.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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A Secret Response: Luke 12:35-59

Published May 6, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Luke 12:35-59 (NCV)

³⁵ “Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. ³⁶ Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them. ³⁸ Those servants will be blessed when he comes in and finds them still waiting, even if it is midnight or later.

³⁹ “Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to enter his house. ⁴⁰ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him!”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?”

⁴² The Lord said, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? ⁴³ When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. ⁴⁴ I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. ⁴⁵ But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. ⁴⁶ The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.

⁴⁷ “The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! ⁴⁸ But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.

⁴⁹ “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. ⁵¹ Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. ⁵² From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see clouds coming up in the west, you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it happens. ⁵⁵ When you feel the wind begin to blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You know how to understand the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you understand what is happening now?

⁵⁷ “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ If your enemy is taking you to court, try hard to settle it on the way. If you don’t, your enemy might take you to the judge, and the judge might turn you over to the officer, and the officer might throw you into jail. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid everything you owe.”

Read Luke 12:35-59 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

While Jesus was teaching His followers about being ready for His return, and as He was sharing parables and illustrations with them, Peter asks Jesus a question that many of us have likely asked at some point in our lives: “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?” (v. 41)

In this question, we have several possible answers. Jesus could be sharing this story to just this small group of disciples, for their own ears and minds. Or Jesus could be sharing this story to all of His followers regardless of when they lived in history. Jesus even could be sharing this story to everyone who has ever lived at any point in history, regardless of whether they believe in Jesus or not.

But which answer is it? How does Jesus respond?

Luke tells us Jesus replied by saying, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.” (v. 42-46)

While Jesus continues talking after this, it is almost as if His response completely ignores Peter’s question. Jesus first restates that a question has been asked, but He doesn’t really tell us if this parable is limited to a certain group of people or not.

Because of this, I am led to believe that this parable is aimed at everyone, and while it is relevant for everyone, it is only useful if it inspires Jesus’ followers to be responsible and diligent about doing the work He has called us to do. Jesus promises more responsibility for the servants who are faithful with what they have been given, and with more responsibility come more talents and blessings too.

This parable is relevant for everyone because when God’s followers are doing what He has called us to do, the world will be transformed and everyone’s life will be impacted by the love of God.

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Flashback Episode — The Trials and the Triumphs: Luke 9:37-45

Published May 5, 2025 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we continue moving through Luke’s gospel, we find an event that almost directly relates to the event in our last episode, but one that we might not see the connection at first. The details of this passage begin while Jesus is up on the mountain with the three closest disciples, while the nine remaining disciples are facing a dilemma they thought they could handle while Jesus was gone.

Let’s read about what happened, about what these disciples were unable to do, and how Jesus succeeded when these disciples failed. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 9, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 37, Luke tells us that:

³⁷The next day, when they [referring to Jesus, Peter, James, and John] came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

Pausing our reading here, in this passage, while Jesus and His closest disciples were up on the mountain, the remaining disciples were unsuccessfully trying to cast out a demon. Matthew and Mark have the disciples ask Jesus why they could not do it and Jesus responds with a statement challenging their faith and telling them this type of demon can only come out with prayer and possibly fasting.

While this is a good answer and a good reason, it falls a little short when we place this failure against the previous successes that these nine disciples would have had not long before when they were traveling among the towns and villages in Israel. In our last episode, we looked at how the disciples had successfully healed people and cast out demons. However, in this passage, they are now unable to do it.

Why might this have been?

As I think about the details of this event, I wonder where the hearts of the disciples were while Jesus was on the mountain. If the disciples had pride in their hearts about their past success, their pride or arrogance might have blocked the Holy Spirit from working through them to heal this boy.

Another thought is that the attitudes the disciples had when being presented with this problem did not point to God receiving the glory. If the disciples were interested in taking the glory for this miracle and healing onto themselves, then they were doomed to fail. When Jesus did a miracle and when He chose to heal, in every case, Jesus wanted to either show God’s love, give God the glory, or both. If the disciples weren’t interested in God getting the ultimate glory for this miracle, then their attempts were doomed to fail.

A third thought is that God may have kept the disciples from being successful in their genuine attempts to heal this boy because He wanted them to learn something from the failure. More often than we would like it to be, we are able to learn more from failure than from success. When we fail, we are challenged to try again and we are challenged to learn more than if we simply had succeeded. Success is great, but it doesn’t teach as much as failure can.

Jesus’ message to the disciples that this kind of demon can only come out through prayer, faith, and possibly fasting draws our attention to the importance of having a strong, close, connection with God. Prayer, faith, and fasting are all spiritual disciplines that point us to and connect us with God. Jesus’ message to the disciples might be that they needed a stronger connection with God to succeed with this significant miracle. In our own lives and in the big themes of the Bible, strengthening our relationship with God through prayer and faith is never a bad decision!

However, Jesus has a message He wants the disciples to hear. While the crowd is praising God about this miracle, Luke draws our attention onto a message Jesus wants all 12 of His disciples to hear.

Continuing in the second part of verse 43, Luke tells us:

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴“Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

In the last verses of our passage, Jesus wanted the disciples to know that this successful feeling would not last. During the times of triumph, Jesus wants the disciples to know that this moment will pass. While celebrating successes is a good thing, it is always wise to remember that life is made up of challenges and successes.

At the high points, it is just as vital to realize and remember the low points as it is to remember the high points when we are facing low points in our journey. Jesus challenges the disciples with a message they didn’t like Him reminding them of when they were thinking of celebrating this success.

I am also amazed by how Luke finishes off this passage. Luke describes the disciples being afraid to ask Jesus about this message. While the meaning of Jesus’ prediction was hidden from them, fear stopped these disciples from asking for clarification. If any of the disciples had pushed past the fear to ask, I am certain that crucifixion weekend would have gone completely differently.

Fear can stop us in our tracks if we let it. Jesus desperately wanted the disciples to ask Him about this prediction so He could explain it further, but the disciples were repeatedly closed to the idea that Jesus had anything but success in His future. Jesus ultimately was triumphant, but Jesus’ success only came after His biggest trial – and Jesus’ trial not only challenged Jesus, it challenged all the disciples beyond what the disciples believed.

When we face challenges in our lives, remember the successes in our past. When we face success, remember the challenges of our past and that challenges will come in our future. And above everything else, remember that Jesus is triumphant, and that He will be with us through both the trials and the triumphs of life!

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to remember God in the trials and in the triumphs. Choose also to lean and depend on God, giving Him the glory for everything He has blessed you with. Intentionally thank God for everything He has done for you and through you in your life.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Remember that it is never a bad choice to focus on strengthening your relationship with God. Don’t let culture, the world, or anyone convince you that a personal relationship with God is unnecessary. A personal relationship with God is one of the most important things we can have, and wherever you are on your journey with God, focusing on growing closer to and leaning into God is never a bad choice.

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

Flashback Episode: Year in Luke – Episode 18: After the disciples had successfully healed and cast out demons, they face a situation where they were suddenly unsuccessful. Discover why this may have been and what Jesus wants His followers to learn following trials and triumphs.

Living Because of Jesus: John 14:15-31

Published May 2, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 14:15-31 (GW)

¹⁵“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. ¹⁶I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. ¹⁷That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

¹⁸“I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you. ²¹Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

²²Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. ²⁴A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.

²⁵“I have told you this while I’m still with you. ²⁶However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.

²⁷“I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly. ²⁸You heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

²⁹“I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe. ³⁰The ruler of this world has no power over me. But he’s coming, so I won’t talk with you much longer. ³¹However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.”

Read John 14:15-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

On the night Jesus was arrested while He and the disciples were finishing up their last supper together and making their way towards the garden of Gethsemane, John’s gospel shares in detail Jesus’ conversation with the disciples. While reading this event, a set of verses stood out to me in a different way than they had before.

John tells us Jesus told the disciples that “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you.” (v. 18-20)

In this set of verses, three phrases stood out that I’ve never noticed before, and these three phrases together give us two clear promises we can hold on to.

The first two phrases form the first promise, and this promise relates to Jesus’ return. Jesus begins in verse 18 by saying, “I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you.” In the context of these two phrases, we have the first phrase emphasizing the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, and the second phrase emphasizing Jesus’ return. Together, these two phrases bring us the promise that Jesus will return, and until that happens, we have God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, teach us, guide us, and keep us company.

The third phrase is the last statement in verse 19, where Jesus states: “You will live because I live.” This phrase stands out in my mind because it shows there was no doubt in Jesus’ mind that there would be resurrection and new life following the cross. It also shows us that our future life depends entirely on what Jesus accomplished on that cross. The promise in this statement is clear: The only reason we have life is because Jesus gave His life for us.

Together, these three statements combine together to create the true reason for every Christian’s hope: Everyone of Jesus’ disciples and followers desires more of the Holy Spirit in our lives; we also look forward to the day Jesus returns; and we recognize that the only reason we have life is because Jesus gave His life for us.

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