Reflective Bible Study

In our last episode, we began our annual two-part finale looking at insights from this amazing year looking at prophecies and connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry. In our last episode, we made it up to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. In this episode, we’ll begin by looking at the prophecies focusing in on the night Jesus would ultimately be betrayed and arrested, leading up to His death.

However, as is our custom, before diving into looking at these insights, for this last episode of our year, it is nice to take a quick look at where we have been and where we are planning to go. For those of us who have been listening for a few years, you will know that prior to this year looking at prophecy, we spent four incredible years each looking at one of the gospels. Four years ago was Matthew, three years ago was Mark, two years ago was Luke, and last year was John. If you were with us a year ago, you remember that I thought at that time it would be neat to look at prophecies that pointed forward to Jesus, since John’s gospel included several amazing prophecies and our year in John had put prophecy fresh in my mind.

For this next year, I’ve been thinking about the parables and illustrations Jesus shared. Several episodes ago, we focused in on an amazing parable Jesus shared that appeared to be prophetic, and since that point, I’ve had parables and stories of Jesus running through my head, and I think there might just be a year’s worth of podcasts that would be a fun journey to take.

However, before starting in on that journey, let’s dive into the insights we learned during the second half our year as we looked at prophecies pointing towards Jesus’ ministry starting on the night He was betrayed and arrested.

Picking back up where we left off, in episode 25, Jesus stepped into the role of a priest during the Last Supper, and we learned that Jesus as our High Priest came to bridge the gap that sin caused between Heaven and humanity. Through Jesus, we discover just how far God was willing to go to redeem sinners – which could only happen if He loves sinners more than Satan would want us to believe.

In episode 26, we looked at a prophecy about Jesus not losing even one of His true followers. On the night He was betrayed and arrested, even though all of Jesus’ followers scattered, we were reminded that when Jesus faces what some might believe to be the greatest challenge of His earthly ministry, He has His followers still in focus. If any of Jesus’ followers had died during that arrest, it would not have brought glory to God. Instead, the path that brought God glory was Jesus fulfilling His promises, His Word, and Jesus protecting His disciples through the chaos of that weekend.

Jesus is not surprised by the world’s chaos. Jesus knows what will happen and He is actively working to bring about the end of sin and the salvation of His people.

Moving forward, episodes 27 and 28 focused our attention on Judas Iscariot as the betrayer, and the thirty shekels of silver he was paid to betray Jesus. In these episodes, we were reminded that while Judas Iscariot chose to betray Jesus, Jesus walked the path to and through death ultimately opening the way for us to experience a new life with God. Nothing in our present or future with Jesus predetermines that we will fail like Judas Iscariot. Instead, when we ally our lives with Jesus, we ultimately gain eternity that will outlast sin.

In a similarly predicted way, Jesus has promised to return. While His return may feel as though it has been delayed, a delayed trip doesn’t mean the trip has been cancelled. Instead, a delayed trip gives us the opportunity to share Jesus with more people as we look forward to the day He does return and welcomes us home!

In the next episode, which was episode 29, we looked at the disciples scattering when Jesus was arrested. In this episode, we learned that the way out of sin that Jesus made was taking our punishment onto Himself allowing God the option of forgiveness. Anything less than punishment for sin make God not just, and strict punishment against the sinner makes God unloving and unmerciful.

Jesus came to take our punishment, and give God the ability to extend mercy while also remaining just. This truth purifies God’s people, and as we move forward with Him, living our lives in a way that says thank you to Jesus, we become more like Jesus and better able to reflect Jesus’ love in the world around us.

As we move through the prophecies regarding Jesus’ trial, condemnation, and crucifixion, these themes about Jesus taking our punishment are found in almost every single episode. These truths make up some of the most amazing pieces of the gospel message, and for the rest of this finale, we’ll group several episodes together that cover specific points in time during Jesus’ crucifixion weekend.

From episodes 31 and 32, which focused in on the trials Jesus faced before the Jewish leaders and before Pilate, we discovered that when Jesus stayed silent, He assumed our guilt without admitting to anything. The only reason for Jesus to stay silent was because He actively chose to do so. Jesus stayed silent for you and for me, because His goal was making salvation possible for God’s people.

When Jesus faced some of the worst torture ever imagined by the human race, He did not back down, buckle, or cave with the intention of avoiding pain. Jesus spent close to 24 hours in pain and agony that would be unimaginable for someone living today. However, Jesus’ mission was bigger than the pain He faced during that time. Jesus’ mission was focused on eternity.

Moving into episodes 33 through 38, which focused on prophecies Jesus fulfilled while hanging on the cross, we were first reminded about a different pole that was raised many centuries earlier. From the pole that Moses lifted up that contained a serpent, we were challenged with the idea that often times our redemption will come from the place we least likely expect, or from the place we are least likely to look.

By facing death, Jesus defeated Satan’s impossible looking challenge against God’s character by both proving God was willing to punish sin while also extending grace towards those who had sinned. Jesus’ took our sins, our imperfections, and our guilt with Him to the cross, and He offers us His perfect, sinless life in exchange. This is great news worth sharing and celebrating!

Moving into episodes 39 and 40, which looked at Jesus’ burial, we were amazed to discover that in an amazing way, the Passover both looked back in remembrance of God freeing the Children of Israel from Egypt, but it also pointed forward to the Messiah freeing God’s children from the penalty of sin.

Jesus’ death becomes the perfect Passover sacrifice because Jesus’ life and body fulfills the requirements of the Passover sacrifice. Jesus is the only individual to have avoided being stained by sin and Jesus’ bones were not broken after the point of His death allowing Him to be the perfect Passover sacrifice.

While the disciples were hiding for their lives, and while the religious leaders were plotting what to do next, God the Father was validating Jesus’ sacrifice leading into the opening of that year’s Passover celebration.

Moving to episodes 41 through 44, we looked at prophecies which predicted Jesus’ resurrection, including a parable where Jesus predicts His own death. In these episodes, we were reminded that while Satan wants us to minimize, ignore, discount, or distract us away from Jesus, remember that Jesus’ sacrifice defeated Satan while also making the way possible for us to experience salvation.

If the religious leaders wanted to avoid playing into Jesus’ prophetic hand, they would have taken Jesus’ words in a parable He shared to heart, and simply rejected Him rather than plotting for His death.

However, Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s kingdom that these religious leaders rejected and this is one of the biggest themes in the Bible. We have the choice how to respond to Jesus. Jesus challenges us to come humbly to Him, bringing with us the fruit God wants us to have, and letting Him transform us into being the people He created us to be.

Just like David wrote, God the Father would not abandon the Holy One of God or let His body decay. This leads us into focusing on Jesus’ resurrection. After Jesus lay in the tomb over the Sabbath day, marking Him resting following the completion of the work of salvation, Jesus returns to life and into the next phase of His ministry.

Episode 45 focused on Jesus ascending to heaven, and episode 46 looked at Jesus being seated at God’s right hand. In these two episodes, we were encouraged and reminded that Jesus’ ascension into heaven is a promise we can claim when this world seems to be crazy. Jesus’ goal is not to give us a comfortable life in a sinful world. Instead, it is to prepare a place for us to live forever in a sinless, perfectly recreated New Heaven and New Earth. When we ally with Jesus, we are assured of a world that is much better than the one we live in, and a world that will ultimately last forever.

Jesus, our priest, has done everything needed to prepare the way for our salvation, and His sacrifice on our behalf, opens the way for God to forgive our sins while remaining just.

Following Jesus being seated at God’s right hand, episode 47 and 48 focused us on the first thing Jesus does following being honored with this position. The first thing Jesus does is keep His promise to send the Holy Spirit to His followers. In these two episodes, we learned that every prophecy that came to pass was directly because the Holy Spirit prompted a prophet or messenger to write it down, and then also crafted history to move in that specific way.

Jesus stepped into history at the moment prophecy specified, and His life and ministry fulfilled an amazing amount of prophecies. When we let the Holy Spirit lead and guide our focus, we will be led to grow closer to Jesus both today, and every day, moving forward into eternity!

With the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance, Jesus’ followers would be fully equipped to share God’s message of forgiveness with the world.

We are challenged to lean on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance and move forward sharing the great news of God’s law, Jesus’ love, and the forgiveness God wants to give everyone who accepts Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins.

To wrap up this year looking at prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, let’s be reminded of His promise to return, to resurrect all of His people, and to bring us together to be with Him in the New Heaven and New Earth. We looked at this promise in episode 49 and discovered that because Jesus came, lived, died, and was resurrected just like what was predicted and foreshadowed in the Old Testament, we can trust God has a grand conclusion to history planned. In God’s conclusion for history, while it may not be welcome news for some people, He will put an eternal end to sin, while stepping forward with all of His people into eternity.

As we move through each day, each month, and each year, let’s remember what Jesus accomplished for us. Because Jesus gave His life for us, God gives Him a portion with the great. Because Jesus stayed silent when He was accused, He is able to speak up and intercede on behalf of all who have sinned. Because Jesus poured out Himself to death, all of God’s people are able to receive new life.

As we begin our special two-part finale for our year podcasting through Luke’s gospel, let me first wish you a very merry Christmas to you and your family and friends. I hope that you are able to spend time with people you love and I hope that you are healthy over this entire winter season as well. I know I definitely don’t like being sick, and often, when the temperatures turn cold, I start catching a cold, which is aggravating.

However, as we moved through this year looking at Luke’s gospel, one big theme we saw was that sick people who came to Jesus did not stay sick people. Luke is one gospel which loved to draw our attention onto Jesus healing peoples’ physical and spiritual illnesses.

Luke also includes the most detail about the events of Jesus’ birth, as well as John the Baptist’s birth too. With that said, let’s begin our review of our podcast episodes from this past year and focus in on some of the biggest and most profound insights that we uncovered. For time considerations, I might have to skip over some insights because it is always difficult to pull these lists down to a manageable length.

Starting off our year review, let’s look at what we learned in episode 2, which focused in on Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah to promise this elderly couple a child. In our discussion, we discovered that while Zechariah’s silence likely lasted less than a full year, it served as an amazing symbol for God being silent, before stepping into history in a big way through John the Baptist and through Jesus. Zechariah’s silence also served as a sign for everyone present that God was doing something in their midst. Lastly, this sign of muteness served as a reminder to Zechariah himself that God’s promise to him was real!

Jumping ahead to episode 4, we looked at Jesus’ dedication in the temple as a baby, and were awed by the realization that before Jesus had fully stepped into history, and actually barely after He had even entered this world, Simeon, led by the Holy Spirit, forewarns Mary that Jesus’ life as a Messiah would end in death. Jesus would die before she would.

Moving forward to the next episode, episode number 5, we looked at Jesus staying in Jerusalem when He had turned twelve. In this event, we concluded the truth that it is easier to lose Jesus than it is to find Him! One day without Jesus may ultimately result in three days of searching and worry to find Him again!

Skipping over some great episodes we don’t have time to touch on, we move forward to episode 10, where four friends bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus to heal him. In this episode, we learned that sometimes God will validate a message He sends with a miracle. However, don’t expect this to be God’s default method. In the gospels, this might be the only time Jesus uses a miracle to prove a spiritual point. It’s also worth remembering that if God was specifically punishing this man for a sin in his past, there would have been no way for Jesus to heal him against God’s will!

Moving ahead to episode 12, Jesus warns His followers about judging others and He shared a parable about two homes with different foundations. In this event and episode, we ultimately learned that the only thing that matters from eternity’s perspective is what God thinks and how God judges. Jesus has promised us that we can change the measure God uses to judge through the way we interact with others.

Jumping forward to episode 14, Luke includes an event early in his gospel about Jesus’ feet being anointed at Simon’s home. In this episode and event, and within Jesus’ response to Simon and his guests who looked down on what took place, we discovered that the reason we know context matters is God associates with sinners. Jesus came into this world because God loves sinners. While God doesn’t love the sin, that isn’t going to stop Him from seeking out the sinner.

When God forgives our sin, it is like He erases our debt and all that is left is the essence of who we are that He loves. What we do, what we look like, or what is in our genes is not relevant when discussing God’s love.

Jesus assured this woman that her sins were forgiven, because He wanted her to move forward in a new life with God without the cloud of her past weighing her down. Jesus wants us to know that God has forgiven us because He wants us to begin or continue our lives with Him without the sins of our past weighing us down. God wants to redeem us out of sin and into new, eternal lives, with Him!

Continuing our pattern of looking at even numbered episodes, which is something I just noticed but didn’t plan, we arrive at episode 16, where we looked at Jesus casting out a legion of demons and sending them into a herd of pigs. In this episode, when we looked closely at the details, we discovered that God allowed the demons to kill the pigs, but these demons did not, or maybe even could not, kill this man. I wonder if Satan had dispatched a whole legion of demons to kill this man and the closest they could get was driving him from society.

However, nothing could stop Jesus from reaching this man. Nothing Satan could do could stop this from happening. While the demons weren’t restricted from killing the pigs, they were powerless to kill this man under God’s protection. It didn’t matter how many demons were present in this man, God’s protection of this man’s life was clearly stronger.

When Jesus wants to heal a life, free a life, or change a heart, the best Satan can muster is no match for a single command from Jesus’ mouth. And from what Jesus did for us on the cross, nothing Satan can muster can steal eternal life away from those God has chosen and called!

We finally break from this pattern as we move forward by jumping ahead and stopping at episode 19. In this episode, we focused on Jesus sending out the 72 disciples to the surrounding towns and villages and we learned that Jesus challenges us to not become proud about the words we speak, because we are simply a messenger for Jesus. In the same way, we should not take rejection personally, because those who reject us aren’t rejecting us as much as they are rejecting Jesus and God.

The mission of God’s people at every point in history has been pointing people back to what God and Jesus have done for us, and pointing us to His arrival and return. While it may be exciting to have the Holy Spirit with us, we should be even more excited that when we follow God, our names are written in the Book of Life in heaven. In the big picture, it won’t matter what we have done for God. What will matter is whether our names are among those who God is planning on redeeming from sin and bringing with Him into eternity!

Jumping forward to episode 23, we looked at Jesus teaching us about our eyes being lamps for our bodies while He challenges some religious leaders. In this episode, we learned that God wants a personal relationship with us. Any leader, teacher, guide, or mentor who wants to get in the way of you growing closer to God has more in common with these religious leaders that Jesus speaks out against than people God actually sends into our lives.

In the very next episode, number 24, Jesus continued His teaching turning His attention onto greed and worry. Included in the passage we covered in this episode is the parable about the man who was blessed and chose to build bigger barns. This episode taught us a number of very powerful truths that we can use to wrap up the first part of our year-end finale. In episode 24, we learned that when we give up our possessions and give money to help others, we rob greed of its power. Greed has power in our lives when our focus is placed on what we own. When we shift our focus onto selling, giving, and focusing on helping others, greed is robbed of its power in our lives.

The biggest benefit of living a generous life of service to others is that our hearts will be stored with where our treasure is, and when our treasure is stored in heaven, our hearts will be there as well!

God desires your heart and mine. When we live lives focused on serving God, helping others, and storing our treasure in heaven, God gets our hearts as well – and God is the only one who is able to restore a sin-stained heart. God solved the sin problem through Jesus, and He is willing to solve our personal sin problem when we give our hearts to Him!