Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through the events recorded in the gospels during the week leading up to the cross, we come across a powerful message that is easy to overlook and ignore after closing your Bible. While it is easy to orient your life and focus in alignment of this short teaching and challenge Jesus gives His followers while alone studying, it is more difficult to do so when living with others in community.

While the passage I have listed to cover this week is long, if we were to read it all, we would run out of time before being able to focus on Jesus’ challenge. Because of this, while I don’t like leaving parts of our passage unread, unfortunately most of this week’s passage will be unread on this podcast. I would encourage you to read the whole passage I shared in the intro, from verses 1 through 36, even though we will only spend time focusing on three verses tucked within this passage.

In our passage, while Jesus was transitioning between warning the crowd about being like the scribes and Pharisees to directly calling them out for how they are living without God’s love, Jesus makes a fascinating statement that we can easily miss because of the profound truths in the verses surrounding it. This truth is found in verses 8, 9 and 10 of Matthew, chapter 23. Let’s read this powerful idea using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 8, Jesus tells His followers and those present:

⁸ But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 

While, many of us are familiar with Jesus’ words in these three verses, as I read them in preparation for this podcast episode, something in my frame of mind or simply the Holy Spirit’s prompting lead me to see these three verses and phrases on a different level. Looking at the broader context of Jesus’ message warning His followers to be cautious of the scribes and Pharisees, I suspect that these three roles, rabbi, father, and leader, were roles and names that the Pharisees and scribes liked to be identified as.

However, instead of simply telling His followers to avoid these terms, Jesus shares each one with a reason why, and He ties that reason to a role God should be within our lives.

Jesus starts by telling them not to call each other rabbi, which would be another way to describe a spiritual teacher. I suspect that if Jesus spoke this message today, He would use the term pastor, because it is our modern day equivalent word for a spiritual teacher and leader. I don’t believe Jesus is challenging us to avoid calling people rabbis or pastors because we cannot or should not learn from them. Instead, I believe Jesus wants to draw us to a bigger truth and help us keep our eyes and focus on this bigger truth, specifically on the truth that we as a spiritual community worldwide have “One” who is our true Teacher. In John’s gospel, on their walk to the garden on the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, Jesus promises that after He is gone, the Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth. Because of this promise, I strongly suspect that Jesus intends for us to look to the Holy Spirit as our rabbi, pastor, and teacher.

Next, Jesus tells the disciples to not call one another using the word “father”. Again, this isn’t because we do not have a biological male parent, but because He wants to draw out “One” who is our true Father. Within the Old Testament, in Psalm 139, the writer of the psalm says to God in verse 13, “You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.” I suspect that Jesus wants us to view God the Father in Heaven as our “One” true Father, and as someone who is always there for us when we need Him. I wonder if this is one reason Jesus repeatedly described God in heaven as God the Father. God the Father is the One we look to as our Father because He helped create us in addition to our earthly parents.

Thirdly, Jesus tells His followers to avoid describing each other as “leaders”. I doubt Jesus said these words because He wanted to avoid any type of structure among His followers. When people group together, certain personalities are more leader-like than others. I doubt Jesus would want to erase the leader-like personalities from among His followers. Instead, I suspect that Jesus is more interested in having every one of His followers understand that regardless of the role we have in our spiritual community, we have a member of the Godhead who is our Leader. Since we have focused on the Holy Spirit and on God the Father, I suspect that the role of Leader in the Godhead is placed on Jesus Himself.

As the most visible member of the Godhead, Jesus is the easiest one for us to follow, and about the only thing that breaks through all the differences of opinions, conflicting ideas, and divisions in the body of Christ is the simple truth that we are to “follow Jesus”. In the broad history of Christian tradition, there are valid topics worth debating and there is room for differing opinions, but if we were to simply be like Jesus, love like Jesus, and act like Jesus, our differences of opinions would be minor in comparison to the love we would have for one another.

In these verses, Jesus takes three roles that the Pharisees and scribes probably liked using for each other to elevate themselves above the common crowds, and He tells His followers to only use those terms to describe God. God is our Teacher, our Father, and our Leader, and in a skillful way, Jesus shares these three roles in a way that connects each role with a member of the Godhead.

While we might be tempted to think this truth was only applicable for those in the first century, I believe that since Jesus spoke these words, and since Jesus did not give us a time constraint for this message, this challenge is just as applicable for us living today as it was for those living in the first century. I suspect that Jesus’ model for the role of each member of the Godhead in relation to Jesus’ followers will be the model used in heaven as we live together for eternity. While we live together here on earth, it is very easy for us to get caught up praising one another and developing a hierarchy where everyone fits in rank rather than simply taking Jesus’ words that we are all brothers and sisters with God as our Father, Leader, and Teacher.

I just had a thought. Part of me wonders if this was God’s original plan for the Israelite nation during the book of Judges and prior to them demanding Samuel to anoint a king. I wonder if God originally intended His nation to be a nation of brothers and sisters who continually would look to God to fill these three roles. If this is the case, then it is possible He is looking for this same model within in His church today. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that God’s model for His people is to view themselves as a group of spiritual brothers and sisters who hold God as our true Father, true Leader, and true Teacher.

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. If you haven’t done so, decide today to place God into the role of Father, Teacher, and Leader of your life. When each member of the Godhead fills these roles in our lives, our lives will be aligned with Jesus and with how He instructed His followers to live.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to intentionally grow closer to God and to learn what He is like. While other people can give you ideas to think about, take everything you read, hear, and see and in prayer and study, test it against the truths of the Bible to discover if it aligns with what God has taught 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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As I read the gospels, I am continually amazed at how many different ways the chief priest, leaders, and Pharisees tried to trick and trap Jesus. A quick reading of any of the gospels will surface some group of leaders or Pharisees bringing a trick question to Jesus, and in every case, Jesus has a strong response.

Sometimes the response Jesus gives is an answer they didn’t expect, while other times, Jesus asks a counter question that derails or invalidates the original question.

As we move through Jesus’ last week before His crucifixion, we come to a last ditch effort to invalidate Jesus. After failing numerous times, the Pharisees come up with the perfect solution, or at least it looks like the perfect challenge when they were discussing this amongst their group.

Up to that point, I suspect some of these religious leaders believed Jesus was only saying what the people wanted to hear, which is a hard case to make if you have read any of the several challenging messages Jesus shared with the crowds that followed Him in the gospels.

However, in my mind’s eye, I suspect that some of the Pharisees plotted that a perfect approach to trapping Jesus would involve temporarily teaming up with a group they did not agree with at all – with a group of people they kind of hated, and then asking a question that would force Jesus to pick a side. Along the lines of this challenge, I suspect that these religious leaders believed that if Jesus was pressured in this way, He would have no chance avoiding disaster.

The event we are focusing in on for this podcast episode is found in three of the four gospels. While we could look at this event from any one of the three, let’s look at Matthew’s version of this event. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, and we will read it using the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 15, Matthew sets the stage for us by writing:

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees left that place and made plans to trap Jesus in saying something wrong. ¹⁶ They sent some of their own followers and some people from the group called Herodians. [As a sidenote, the Herodians were those who were loyal to Herod the governor and the Roman government] They said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man and that you teach the truth about God’s way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But knowing that these leaders were trying to trick him, Jesus said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” So the men showed him a coin. ²⁰ Then Jesus asked, “Whose image and name are on the coin?”

²¹ The men answered, “Caesar’s.”

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

²² When the men heard what Jesus said, they were amazed and left him and went away.

In this passage, Jesus effortlessly brushes aside this seemingly impossible challenge while also making a very profound statement.

I’ve lost count to the number of times I have heard this event, but as I was reading it in preparation for this episode, an interesting question entered my mind.

Jesus responded by saying, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.” Reading this prompted me to ask myself the question, “What things are God’s?”

When reading this event, it’s easy to understand paying taxes to Caesar, because there is a coin present, but too often, we are quick to skip over or brush past the other side of Jesus’ response. Do we really think about what Jesus means when He talks about giving God what is God’s?

One easy answer to giving God what is His might be returning tithe to Him. In several places within the Old Testament, God challenges the Israelites on their lack of generosity towards Him. In Malachi, God even goes as far as to say that not giving tithes is the same as robbing Him.

On one level, Jesus could be referring to tithe, which allows us to see the original challenge the Pharisees and Herodians bring as being exclusively focused on money. However, if we stop looking at what is God’s at the topic of tithe, we risk missing out on one of Jesus’ biggest challenges.

When we look at our lives, God has given us so much more than money. It is even true, perhaps even more true, that some of the things He has “given” us are really only things He has let us borrow. If we look at the biggest picture we can imagine, everything in the universe is God’s, from all the galaxies in the universe to all the grains of sand on a beach. Taking this big picture idea to its logical conclusion about ownership of things, anything we think we own that we are not able to keep past our short life span is probably only borrowed.

While reading this event, I am amazed that while Jesus challenges those present to give Caesar the things that are his, they are also challenged to give God the things that are His. Applying this truth into our own lives, we are challenged to give Caesar, or our government, the things that are theirs, and give to God the things that are God’s.

In the big picture of life in this universe, since we are unable to keep our money, our stuff, our relationships, or even our life after our time on this planet is over, all these things we might believe are ours are technically only loaned to us. Because God owns everything, He is the one who really owns all the things we might be tempted to thinks are ours.

While some might argue this point, within the way I see God’s blessings, the biggest thing He has blessed us with is our life. However at this time, life is not a permanent gift. At any moment, a life may return to God as a person gives their last breath. While it is sobering to think about, since we don’t know when our lives will end, this means that we all are living on borrowed time. If God is the one loaning us time, at the heart of Jesus’ challenge to return to God the things that are His, Jesus is really saying that we are to give God the time that is His – and as the cliché saying goes, time is more valuable than money.

We live in a world where the money carries the name of whatever country we live in, so according to Jesus, let the money be the governments’. But Jesus also says that the things that are God’s, which is really everything from the land, to the natural resources, to the life of every man, woman, child, and animal in every place within the entire universe is His, and that we should return our blessings to Him who has loaned us a handful of decades of time.

This is a huge truth with amazing implications. However, with that said, each of us carries with us a responsibility of this truth. This leaves us with a question: How are you returning to God the things that are His? It is only when we give back to God that we can become the person He created us to be.

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. Purposefully choose to give God the things that are His while also working to improve the things within society. Intentionally use the money you have to make the world a better place, and remember that everything we have is ours only because God has blessed us with the ability to have it.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to grow closer to God and to learn who He is and what He is like. Only through prayer and Bible study can we discover just how much God loves us and just how much He values you.

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!

As we continue looking at events within Jesus’ life and ministry, and specifically events Jesus faced during the week leading up to His crucifixion, we discover a challenge Jesus receives that has an unexpected outcome. While Jesus usually had a very intelligent response to challenges that He received, in the event we are focusing on for this episode, Jesus chooses a different style of response – one that the religious leaders had not anticipated.

Let’s read the passage and then uncover some things we can learn from what happened.

Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 21, and we will read it using the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 23, Matthew tells us that:

²³ Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ²⁵ Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”

They thought it over and said to each other, “We can’t say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe John. ²⁶ On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That’s why we can’t say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” ²⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”

I really like reading about this event. When the chief priests and leaders challenge Jesus with an unanswerable question, Jesus responds with an equally unanswerable question.

What is brilliant about the way Jesus responded is that He leaves the outcome in the hands of the chief priests. Jesus knew these religious leaders didn’t believe John the Baptist was a prophet who spoke for God, while Jesus also knew that the crowd did believe John the Baptist was God-sent.

While pondering possible responses Jesus could have given to this question, I wonder if Jesus could have simply answered that He received authority from the same place John the Baptist received it. An answer like this would amplify the belief of the crowd in Him, since this passage describes this crowd as believing that God was behind John the Baptist’s ministry. However, I suspect Jesus did not choose this response because it would also negatively affect Jesus’ status among the leaders who did not believe John the Baptist was special or significant.

A different answer Jesus gave could have been simply the truth that God gave Him this right. However, the outcomes for this type of response would descend into either arguing or debating reasons, or it would result in Jesus being stoned by those claiming He spoke blasphemy. While Jesus did come to die, He came to die on a cross, not by being stoned inside the temple.

In many ways, Jesus’ response is perfect for this occasion. Instead of answering in a simple way, Jesus responded with an equally unanswerable question directed towards the religious leaders. The counter question, which has two easy sounding answers, is a question that these leaders cannot answer without also losing status and favor with those present. Either they give Jesus the upper hand because they did not believe John, or they lose status with the crowd who believed John was a prophet.

In this way, Jesus’ counter question is perfect, because the leaders ultimately give a non-answer of “We don’t know” which allows Jesus to leave the question they asked Him as unanswered.

Jesus left this challenge unanswered because answering it would close off discussion. If Jesus directly said that His authority came from God, then it would instantly polarize people – but it would also do something else: something Jesus was not willing to do in His whole ministry.

Throughout the gospel record, one theme that surfaces repeatedly is that Jesus always did things that minimized Himself while pointing glory to God. God, through the Holy Spirit, gave Jesus the ability to perform miracles. While this would logically draw attention to Jesus, we discover that Jesus almost always appeared to prefer doing miracles where God would get the glory.

If Jesus stated directly that He received His authority from God, that would deviate from what He had done throughout His ministry prior to this because instead of building God up, He would be using everything God had given Him to build Himself up. It isn’t surprising to say that this is exactly what the chief priests had done. The chief priests and leaders had built themselves up on the position God had entrusted to them. These leaders were using God as a platform for their own motives – and Jesus did everything He could to distance Himself from using God as a platform.

Jesus came to build God up, and that isn’t done by using God as a platform.

However, with that said, what should we learn from this event?

In my mind, while Jesus left the question unanswered in a public way, the question the religious leaders asked Jesus is a question everyone must ultimately take a side on. Each of us must answer the question: Who gave Jesus the authority, power, wisdom, and ability to do what He did?

If Jesus’ authority, power, wisdom, and ability came from Himself, then it is easy to discredit what He said and did as self-motivated. However, if God gave Jesus the authority, power, wisdom, and ability, then we need to see Jesus differently. If God was and is behind Jesus, then it would be wise for us to align with Jesus too, unless we want to align our lives against God, which doesn’t really seem all that wise.

Throughout His entire ministry, Jesus avoided drawing the attention onto Himself at the expense of God receiving glory. If Jesus erred on any side, it was that He gave too much credit to God, while not accepting any praise onto Himself. Jesus took the opposite position the chief priests and leaders took: He came to build God up, not use God to build Himself up like the other leaders at the time were doing.

It is interesting in my mind that if God chose to support anyone, it would be the person who is actively seeking to build Him up. Jesus modeled a life where God was placed 100% first, ahead of anything, everything, anyone, and everyone else. As followers and disciples of Jesus, we are called by Jesus to do the same.

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. If we are going to be like Jesus, then God should come first in our lives – period. Both the glory and the credit should always be directed up to Him.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself, because prayer and Bible study are the best ways to grow a personal relationship with God. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, never let your relationship with God rest on someone else’s relationship. God wants a personal relationship with you, and He doesn’t want anyone else getting in the middle.

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!

As we continue our first chronological year looking at events within Jesus’ life and ministry, we come to events found within the week leading up to the cross. One common trait that all four gospel writers share is that once their narratives of Jesus’ life and ministry reach the week leading up to the cross, each one slows down to include more details and each gospel dedicates a disproportionate amount of space to this final week. This common trait allows us to also slow down and uncover additional insights we might not have otherwise noticed.

While it is easy for us looking back on what happened to look down on the disciples for not understanding what Jesus was trying to teach them leading up to crucifixion weekend, I doubt we would have been much better than the disciples at figuring out Jesus’ goal for His ministry. I suspect that if we think the disciples were slow when we would have understood Jesus if we were in the disciples’ shoes, ask yourself how God is moving in your life right now.

Some of you may have a clear answer for this hypothetical question. However, for most people, it is significantly easier to see how God has moved in your past than recognizing how He is moving in your present. I’m sure all the disciples who made it through crucifixion weekend ultimately realized what Jesus was trying to teach them, but it was only after they passed the events and then looked back on what had happened.

However, while the disciples misunderstood a lot of what Jesus was trying to share with them about crucifixion weekend, the disciples do understand correctly that Jesus’ ministry is coming to a significant point. While our episode’s passage happens early on in crucifixion week while Jesus is teaching in the temple, it gives us a great glimpse of how everyone present could see Jesus’ ministry approaching a climax, but not everyone fully understanding what that climax would be.

Let’s read our passage and then take a few minutes to uncover some amazing details found within Jesus’ teaching. While we have hinted at several of these details in earlier podcasts, our podcast and passage for this episode allow us to look a little more directly at these details and themes.

Our passage comes from the gospel of John, chapter 12, and we will read our passage using the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 23, John tells us that:

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

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

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

Let’s stop reading here. While the next few verses are also interesting, I don’t want us to move forward and miss a key detail that John has just shared.

Oftentimes, when thinking of times when Jesus wrestled with the question of whether to go through with the plan of salvation and death on a cross, we think of Jesus’ time in the garden and the prayer He prayed shortly before being betrayed and arrested. Jesus’ time in the garden is one great example where we see Jesus wrestling with the weight of the crucifixion. However, most people don’t catch that in our passage, through what John recorded for us, that Jesus asks a very similar question early on during crucifixion week. Tucked within verse 27, Jesus asks Himself this question and then promptly answers it: “My soul is troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, keep me from having to go through with this’? No. This is the very reason I have come to this point in my life.”

In this reflective thought, is Jesus thinking about ditching His cross? Absolutely not! Jesus firmly answers His own rhetorical question that the cross is the reason Jesus came to this point in His life. However, this detail is only a clue leading towards an amazing truth that I can see clearly within this passage.

When opening our passage, John quotes Jesus saying that the time has come for the Son of Man – which is a name Jesus frequently used to refer to Himself – to receive glory. Several months ago, while reading earlier in John’s gospel, we read that Jesus chose to not accept glory or praise from humans. For those of you who are wondering the reference for this, this detail is found in John, chapter 5, verse 41. Because of what Jesus shared early on in his ministry, and combined with what Jesus shares in our passage for this episode, we must then conclude that Jesus is referring to receiving glory from somewhere that is not human.

It then comes as no surprise when framed this way that seconds later, a non-human voice speaks from heaven talking about glory. However, while we might expect the voice to give glory to Jesus, that isn’t what happened. Instead, God the Father speaks about bringing glory to His name. Jesus had just called out for God to bring glory to His name, and that is what happened. God the Father describes having done this in the past, and He promises to do it again in the future.

However, while the context of our passage focuses us on Jesus foreshadowing His death, and how He must give up His life like a grain of wheat must die to fulfill its purpose, what if Jesus’ mission was greater than simply the cross? What if Jesus’ mission in this world, while including the cross, was instead focused on bringing glory to the name of God and to God the Father?

If we looked at the gospels through the lens of glory being directed to God, would this lens simplify or confuse the rest of the gospels?

While studying and after having this realization and question, I thought I’d look back at some of the miracles and places where the gospel writers talk about the idea of glory. I’m sure it is no surprise for some of you to learn that many of Jesus’ miracles include phrases that prompt us to suspect that these miracles were done primarily because those healed and those present would praise God.

There are even a few cases where it seems like the only reason a miracle happened was because Jesus knew praise would go to God. In places where praise would not be directed towards God, we discover Jesus pulling away, or changing the scene in some way that would allow Him to help while also allowing God to receive the glory.

It definitely seems as though Jesus taught, healed, and helped for the sole purpose of bringing glory to the Father.

However, in His opening words of our passage, Jesus hints at something different: Jesus opened our passage by saying that the time has come for the Son to receive glory. This statement in many ways began the moment that God the Father spoke from Heaven, which gave confirmation to the current point Jesus was in within His ministry, and this time then clearly moves forward towards the cross, the resurrection, and the return to heaven where Jesus was crowed as King.

I am always amazed and impressed that Jesus did not seek glory from God or from others. Instead, He helped others as a way to bring glory to God. In this way, I believe Jesus served as the perfect example for each of us living today. I believe Jesus calls us to focus on serving God, and when given the opportunity to receive glory, we should do everything we can to make sure the glory points upwards to God as well!

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 intentionally focus on pointing all the glory, praise, and honor to God. Show God you love and value what He has done for you by returning thanks, praise, and worship to Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself and purposefully look for events and miracles where Jesus opened the way for God to receive glory. From Jesus’ example, discover one great way we too can say thank you to 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 deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!