Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Facing Disappointment: John 21:1-14

Published August 13, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 21:1-14 (NIV)

¹Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: ²Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Read John 21:1-14 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

When reading the last portion of John’s gospel, and specifically the event where the disciples go out fishing, we can find an interesting picture of how God often shows up to work miracles. The way this event happened probably was not the way the disciples would have wanted it to go, but it was the best way for it to have gone looking back on it.

The event begins in the evening, and several of the disciples decide to join Peter who had just gotten the urge to go fishing. Perhaps Peter has doubts on whether or not Jesus would appear to them or whether Jesus would even accept Him back after his denials just weeks (maybe even days) before. Or Peter may have just been filling time while waiting for Jesus to arrive.

Whatever the reason, the disciples push out into the lake to catch fish – but their night could only be classified as unsuccessful: No fish and no Jesus showing up with them on the lake. It is not a stretch to imagine these disciples were feeling just a little disappointed.

In our own lives, often we face periods of disappointment, and times when things keep turning up empty. These times we may feel as though God has abandoned us or that He is not interested. But this is not the reason for the empty night at all.

When the sun started peaking up over the horizon, the disciples spot a person on the shore, and this person tells them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat after learning that they had caught nothing. While this sounds like a ridiculous request, the disciples obey, and they land the biggest catch they could have imagined.

It often is only after the periods of disappointment that we are truly ready to receive God’s blessing. This is not God making up for lost time with a gift of interest, but a growing experience for all those present.

If the disciples had caught fish during the night, they would have attributed their catch with their own fishing ability, but the only possible conclusion we can reach following this event is that God provided the fish. In a subtle way, Jesus says to these disciples that even if they chose to go back to a life of fishing, they will only be successful if He is with them. In a similar way, regardless of what we choose to do in life, the only way we can truly be successful in the roles we choose is if Jesus/God allows it.

The growth that comes is a growth that teaches us our need to depend on God. We often are tempted to depend on our own ability, but eventually, our abilities will fail us and we will need outside help.

God wants to help us and to bless us, but He doesn’t want His blessings to pull us away from Him. God wants to bless us in extravagant ways, but He doesn’t want His gifts to affect our relationship with Him. Too often, this is only learned after we face times of disappointment that can remind us of our need.

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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Flashback Episode — The Missing Piece: Mark 12:28-34

Published August 12, 2024 in Audio Journal Entries

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As the religious leaders bring Jesus a set of challenges in what appears to be a last attempt to discredit His ministry, we discover in Mark’s gospel, a strange ending to this string of questions. However, it is likely that Mark summarized the conclusion of this event while other gospel writers include more detail.

During the last challenge that Jesus was given, we find the question appear surprisingly simple when compared with the earlier challenges. However, I wonder if this question was leading somewhere, and Jesus ultimately cut this train of questioning short.

After Jesus had been challenged by the Sadducees, a religious leader who heard what Jesus was saying decides to step in with a question of his own. Let’s read about what happened and discover what we can learn from this event.

Our event and passage are found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 12, and for our time together, let’s read it from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 28, Mark tells us that:

²⁸One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. ³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ There is no commandment more important than these.”

³²“You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. ³³To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

In this event, and from looking at all the trick questions Jesus had faced and avoided leading up to this point, it seems like this question was an easy one for Jesus. From looking at the other gospels and how they paint the big picture of Jesus’ life and ministry, I don’t believe this was the first time Jesus had been asked this question.

However, in this brief conversation, Jesus hints at something significant being necessary in order to gain entrance into God’s kingdom. In the summary that the religious leader shares with Jesus, he gives a compliment to Jesus for a well-summarized response. This religious leader also rightly concludes that loving God with all your heart, mind, and strength and loving your neighbor as you love yourself are more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. From this summary, we see that this religious leader believed love and dedication to God and love and kindness to his neighbor are more important than the entire sacrificial system that was set up.

Seeing that this leader had also responded well, Jesus compliments him by telling him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.”

In Jesus’ response to this religious leader, we discover something fascinating. Loving God with all our heart is one piece of the key needed to enter God’s kingdom. Another piece of this key is loving our neighbors as ourselves. However, being “not far from God’s kingdom” implies that you are close but still not in it.

With all the laws being summarized in these two commands related to love, what piece of the key into God’s kingdom is missing in this man’s response, in this idea, or in this man’s life that He still needs to discover?

As I look at what Jesus hints at in this conversation, the only thing I can see missing in this summary is a Savior.

This religious leader had rightly concluded that love is at the heart of God’s law, and loving God and loving others is the filter that we must view God’s law through. However, in this leader’s conclusion, there wasn’t any room for those who had broken the law. While this summary of the law is amazing, no-one alive at that point in time, or at any point in history other than Jesus fully exemplified this understanding of the law 100% of the time.

The punishment for breaking the law is death. We could logically understand then that the punishment for not loving God with all our heart and for not loving our neighbors is death. Everyone fails at this standard, and because of this, the closest we can come to God’s kingdom on our own is about as close as this religious leader, which happens to be close to God’s kingdom, but not actually in it.

Verse 34 records Jesus’ response to this religious leader: “Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, ‘You are not far from God’s kingdom.’”

This religious leader needed a Savior. This leader, like all of us living throughout history, needs a Savior because we all have failed Jesus’ standard of love for God and love for our neighbor. Jesus came to be that Savior. In the context of the pieces of the key needed for entrance into God’s kingdom, the missing piece is Jesus as our Savior. With love for God, love for our neighbor, and Jesus as our Savior, we are able to step into God’s kingdom and into the life He created us to live!

While Jesus doesn’t emphasize the need for a Savior to this religious leader, Jesus’ disciples make it very clear after Jesus was resurrected and returned to heaven that Jesus was the Messiah that the Old Testament prophets told them about. Jesus’ disciples take the message of Jesus and they emphasize that we are to love God with all our hearts and our minds, that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and that we are to place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins!

Without Jesus, our faith is meaningless. With Jesus, our faith leads us into eternity!

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 place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for your sins. Choose to accept the gift Jesus offers you and accept the eternal life He deserved while He paid the debt that we owed.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Discover in the pages of the Bible a God who is deeply in love with you and who is passionate about saving you for eternity. Don’t let anyone get in the way of you discovering this God for yourself and for growing a personal 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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Flashback Episode: Year in Mark – Episode 33: In what appears like an easy question Jesus received, discover in Jesus’ response a missing piece needed for entrance into God’s kingdom, and a piece that we all can discover in our own lives as we realize we have failed God.

Looking for Loopholes: Matthew 23:1-36

Published August 9, 2024 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 23:1-36 (NASB)

¹ Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ² saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; ³ therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. ⁵ But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their *I.e. small cases containing Scripture texts worn on the left arm and forehead for religious purposesphylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. ⁶ They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. 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. ¹¹ But the greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ¹⁴ [*This v not found in early mssWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ ¹⁷ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ ¹⁹ You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? ²⁰ Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

³⁴ “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Read Matthew 23:1-36 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

During Jesus series of warnings and challenges to the religious leaders living in the first century, He takes issue with how they would hold each other to their word. In the middle of these warnings, Jesus shares a concept that sounds incredibly obvious, but with how He describes it, it would seem that the religious leaders had rationalized their way out of believing it personally.

Matthew tells us that Jesus challenges these leaders by saying, “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.” (v. 16-22)

In my mind’s eye, I picture these leaders having placed the emphasis on the inside objects because they were certainly holy, but not on the objects that made them holy, because these objects resided in a place where sin is present. For example, the temple was likely next to a market, so even though it was set apart and sacred, it’s neighbor was common and secular. However, what was inside the temple had only sacred and set apart neighbors, so it was by definition “more holy”.

Over all, this is a weak argument for these leaders to have had, but it is about the only rationale my mind can come up with for them elevating the temple’s gold over the temple, and the offering on the alter over the alter itself. While not stated in the first set of examples, the implication is also that swearing by heaven didn’t mean much, but swearing on God’s throne was serious – which is an equally ridiculous idea when we think about it.

This section of warnings prompts me to believe that these leaders were always looking for loopholes, and in their search for exceptions, they were then able to make more rules to help close these exceptions. In some ways, they would be like some contract lawyers living today, who write contracts and licenses that rival the length of a dictionary in order to cover almost any possible circumstance that could happen.

But what Jesus’ words really share, at least to me, is that we should be less interested in looking for ways out of the agreements we make, and instead be more discerning about what we actually agree to in the first place – and if we have made a poor choice that we cannot get out of, then we should keep our word and see it as a learning experience for moving forward.

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The Choice: John 13:1-30

Published August 8, 2024 in Audio Journal Entries

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As John’s gospel shifts to looking at the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, John shares some amazing details included in a special meal Jesus shares with His followers. This meal was the Passover meal, and from this point forward in history, this meal has been called the Last Supper.

However, during this meal, John draws our attention onto several powerful ideas, the first of which is found in the first few verses of our passage. With that said, let’s begin reading our passage for this episode.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 13, and we will read it from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹It was almost time for the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that it was time for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. He had always loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them all the way to the end.

²Jesus and his followers were at the evening meal. The devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to turn against Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had given him power over everything and that he had come from God and was going back to God. ⁴So during the meal Jesus stood up and took off his outer clothing. Taking a towel, he wrapped it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

While most of those who have been Christians for any significant length of time know what happens next, I want to pause here to draw out two huge truths that are found in these first few verses of our passage.

The first truth is that Jesus intentionally loved the people God sent Him into the world to love, and Jesus intentionally loved them all the way to the end. In other words, Jesus faced the cross because He loves you, me, and all of those who God wants to redeem for eternity!

Following sharing about Jesus’ love, John then tells us in verse 3 that at this meal: “Jesus knew that the Father had given him power over everything and that he had come from God and was going back to God.”

Everything that happens in Jesus’ life and ministry following this point is 100% within Jesus’ control, and that means clearly that Jesus chose the cross. God the Father did not force Jesus onto the cross. Jesus chose the cross willingly.

Immediately after sharing that Jesus had been given power over everything, the first thing Jesus does is step into the lowest role in that society and move around the room washing the disciples’ feet. While the next part of our passage focuses on Jesus washing Peter’s feet, it is also amazing to realize that, since this was early on in the evening, Jesus would have washed Judas Iscariot’s feet as well.

Let’s continue reading. As Jesus was washing each of His disciples’ feet, in verse 6 we read:

⁶Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later.”

⁸Peter said, “No, you will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.”

⁹Simon Peter answered, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but wash my hands and my head, too!”

¹⁰Jesus said, “After a person has had a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And you men are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹Jesus knew who would turn against him, and that is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again. He asked, “Do you understand what I have just done for you? ¹³You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that is what I am. ¹⁴If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵I did this as an example so that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, a servant is not greater than his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

¹⁸“I am not talking about all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is to bring about what the Scripture said: ‘The man who ate at my table has turned against me.’ ¹⁹I am telling you this now before it happens so that when it happens, you will believe that I am he. ²⁰I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send also accepts me. And whoever accepts me also accepts the One who sent me.”

²¹After Jesus said this, he was very troubled. He said openly, “I tell you the truth, one of you will turn against me.”

²²The followers all looked at each other, because they did not know whom Jesus was talking about. ²³One of the followers sitting next to Jesus was the follower Jesus loved. ²⁴Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus whom he was talking about.

²⁵That follower leaned closer to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “I will dip this bread into the dish. The man I give it to is the man who will turn against me.” So Jesus took a piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. ²⁷As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered him. Jesus said to him, “The thing that you will do—do it quickly.” ²⁸No one at the table understood why Jesus said this to Judas. ²⁹Since he was the one who kept the money box, some of the followers thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast or to give something to the poor.

³⁰Judas took the bread Jesus gave him and immediately went out. It was night.

In this passage, I was tempted to stop several times, but I resisted, because I wanted to help draw our attention onto the entire context of Jesus’ message. All too often, when reading or hearing this passage, we only hear a small section and not the whole passage in context.

While John’s gospel doesn’t focus in on Jesus sharing the wine or the bread and the symbolism that Jesus gives to each, John’s gospel does focus on the teaching Jesus shares, and on the detail that Jesus fully knew who would betray Him.

This passage contains a bunch of powerful spiritual truths and ideas, and unfortunately there isn’t enough time left to cover them all.

However, one big truth worth paying attention to is that nothing about that night caught Jesus by surprise and Jesus was more aware of everything that would happen than even Judas Iscariot was.

This idea becomes the foundation for the biggest truth this passage emphasized, and this truth is simply that Jesus willingly chose the cross, and that He chose it because He loves you and He loves me!

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 to seek God first in your life and choose to accept Jesus’ gift of His sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus chose the cross for you and for me. Let’s not take Jesus’ sacrifice for granted or belittle it through the way we live or act.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to grow closer to Jesus each and every day. As we grow closer to Jesus through prayer and study, discover how much Jesus loves you personally, and how much Jesus was willing to face so that you could be forgiven of your sin! Jesus faced death for you and me, and this is something that was entirely His 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 abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Year in John – Episode 32: As John shares about special supper Jesus had with His disciples on the night He was betrayed and arrested, discover in the details how this event frames Jesus’ personal choice to face the cross, and how His choice opens up the way for our choice about whether we will choose God or not!

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.