Reflective Bible Study

For the past several podcast episodes, we’ve been looking at prophecies and connection points between Jesus’ ministry and the Old Testament, and specifically related to Jesus’ path towards the cross. While our focus for this year of podcasting has been on prophecy and Old Testament connections to Jesus’ ministry, there are a surprising number of connection points related to Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, and ultimate crucifixion.

For this episode, we will look back to the first few verses of a psalm to discover foreshadowing of the surprising and unlikely event that would happen when Jesus and the soldiers arrive at the place where Jesus would be crucified.

Our Old Testament passage and psalm is Psalm 109, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, David, the psalm writer, opens by saying:

¹ O God of my praise,
Do not be silent!
² For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
³ They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without cause.
⁴ In return for my love they act as my accusers;
But I am in prayer.
⁵ Thus they have repaid me evil for good
And hatred for my love.

While someone familiar with the gospels could easily see how the opening to this psalm in many ways describes Jesus’ entire ministry and the hostility He faced from all the religious leaders, one detail found at the transition into Jesus time on the cross holds special significance with this psalm. The phrase in this psalm that draws our attention to this is the second phrase in verse 4. Verse 4 has two phrases: “In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.”

With this verse in mind, let’s jump into the gospels and Jesus’ life on the morning He was crucified. After a long journey through the streets of Jerusalem to outside the city walls, Luke, chapter 23, starting in verse 33 describes the scene for us:

³³ When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”

During the opening details of the scene that morning, while the soldiers are nailing Jesus to the cross, and hoisting the cross up for all to see, Jesus’ focus is fixed on prayer and forgiveness. If God the Father were ever to lose control of His emotions and strike a portion of humanity dead, I suspect that the soldiers involved with this crucifixion, and the religious leaders who masterminded it, would be at the top of the list.

Part of me wonders what might have happened if Jesus had not prayed asking God the Father to forgive them. If forgiveness had not been specifically asked for, would these soldiers be held directly responsible by God for Jesus’ death, even though they were just following orders in a chain of command that extended beyond each individual?

Another thought I have while reading this prayer is that Jesus is referring to a greater number of people than what we might realize on first glance. While the context of this passage points to the soldiers and all those who were hostile towards Jesus in that generation being the reason Jesus faced the cross, the bigger picture is that Jesus faced the cross because sin had spread universally through the human race. Because of one man, Adam, choosing his wife over God’s only rule, sin infected the human race. While I have no idea what would have happened if Adam had chosen to reject the offer of fruit, because Adam chose to eat the fruit, sin became normalized throughout humanity. This means that sin affecting our lives is completely outside of our control, and one could say it is the fault of our earliest ancestors.

However, God decided that instead of abandoning us, He would create an escape route through love and forgiveness. This love and forgiveness is exactly in line with God’s character, but there was a small problem that also had to be dealt with relating to God’s character.

Prior to sin entering the human race, one angel decided to accuse God of not being just or fair. While the specific details of this accusation are not fully known, there is a charge against God that He cannot be just, fair, loving, and compassionate at the same time – especially when sin is involved. The loving nature of God would be inclined to forgive and offer grace to the sinner, while the just, fair, and objective nature of God would require that the sinner face judgment.

From the very origins of earth, humanity has been a battleground in the conflict over good versus evil and the ultimate character of God. For most of earth’s history, most outside observers likely would conclude that God was losing this battle.

However, Jesus came to do more than set the record straight. Jesus came to blend God’s character together, allowing for justice and grace. Jesus unified God’s character by being divine and taking the punishment for sin on Himself. This way, the accusation that God is not fair or just is satisfied, because punishment was given for sin. Jesus also solved the accusation that said God could not equally be loving and compassionate because the only reason for Him to face death for someone else is because of love and compassion. 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’ prayer, which was foreshadowed in the psalms of David, paint a picture of God’s love for sinners. Jesus’ prayer for forgiveness extends outwards from the immediate soldiers who actively nailed Him to the cross to the whole human race that had been infected by sin, and this prayer of forgiveness is answerable because Jesus accepted the penalty for all the sins of humanity on Himself.

One man, Adam, caused sin to enter humanity, and one Man, Jesus, paid the penalty for this sin, opening the way for God to extend grace for all who are willing to accept it. This is the great news of the gospel, and it is the great news tucked within the darkest point of human history.

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

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and accept the payment Jesus paid on your behalf for the sins in your life. Choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus as a way to say thank you for everything He has done for you – and especially for the salvation He has provided through His death on the cross.

Also, continue to grow your relationship with God by praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Through prayer and Bible study, discover a God who loves you more than you might realize, and a God who is passionately interested in redeeming you from sin and inviting you into eternity.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or say no to where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Of all the places in the gospels, and of all the places specifically in Luke’s gospel, I am fascinated and intrigued by the passage we will be focusing in on for this episode. In this passage, Luke gives us an illustration Jesus shares without giving any context. Luke is the only gospel to include this event, making it more difficult to determine the context as well.

This has let many people to conclude different things regarding what this illustration is intended to teach and how literal we should understand the scenario. Some people believe the passage we will be reading proves there is consciousness after death, while others say that Jesus isn’t teaching what literally happens after death but instead He draws out a spiritual truth using a unique frame of reference.

There is also a theory that Jesus took a parable the religious leaders had and flipped the ending.

For those familiar with the Bible, you no doubt have already figured out that we will be discussing Jesus’ illustration of the Rich Man and Lazarus. There are many details in this parable that set it apart from Jesus’ other parables, while one big detail shines through that almost all of Jesus’ parables includes.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn from Jesus’ illustration. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 16, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 19, Jesus says:

¹⁹ “Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. ²⁰ A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. ²¹ Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.

²² “The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side.²⁴ So the rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’

²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain. ²⁶ Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family. ²⁸ I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’

²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.’

³⁰ “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.’

³¹ “Abraham said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

With this last message, the illustration ends. Jesus doesn’t appear to give any context for it.

However, I don’t believe this is true. I believe there is context for this illustration and a clear theme that is worth paying attention to. I also believe this is just as much of an illustration as when Jesus taught on the Good Samaritan. While there isn’t the typical opening or anything tying this teaching to God’s kingdom, that also should be significant, because the only kingdom that matters in eternity’s perspective is God’s kingdom, and God’s kingdom is nowhere connected with this dualistic scenario.

I believe the context for this illustration is lost because most people don’t connect the scenario.

Jesus’ teaching in this passage comes immediately after what we focused on in our last episode. Near the end of that passage, we read in verses 14 and 15 of chapter 16: “The Pharisees loved money. They heard all that Jesus said and made fun of him. Jesus said to them, ‘You try to make yourselves look good in the eyes of other people. But God knows your hearts. What people think is worth a lot is hated by God.’”

The reason this context is lost is because between this illustration and that context are two uniquely different challenges, one about the eternal nature of God’s law while the focus of what is being shared changes, and the other about how divorce is seen in God’s eyes.

Many Bible headings will separate these events as well, prompting us to subtly believe Luke included these teachings without a context. However, Luke did not add headings to his gospel. The headings help us locate events, but they shouldn’t be used to separate events.

Jesus shared this illustration to Pharisees who loved money and who were making fun of Jesus. Jesus’ message to these Pharisees speaks volumes when He tells them “You try to make yourselves look good in the eyes of other people. But God knows your hearts.”

Then a few verses later, in our illustration, we discover a rich man who looked great in the eyes of everyone who misses out on being honored in the next life because of his actions and belief in the current life. This rich man in the parable, while not having an immediate context, clearly represents the Pharisees who were making fun of Jesus.

Some people point to the detail that Lazarus is given a name in this illustration, which is different from all other parables Jesus shared, and conclude that this means Jesus’ teaching is more literal than figurative – ignoring all the other very figurative language. I wonder if Jesus is subtly predicting and foreshadowing the resurrection of an actual man named Lazarus.

The Lazarus that was raised from the dead we know very little about. The only detail we really know is that he was Mary and Martha’s brother. Some people believe these two people of the same name are connected, but I am doubtful. If Jesus went to visit Mary and Martha and they told Him that they had a brother who was a beggar with sores all over His body, I suspect Jesus would have helped them and healed their brother. While this is not hinted at anywhere in the gospels, this action would be very consistent with Jesus’ character.

However, if these two men named Lazarus refer to the same man, then Jesus directly predicts Lazarus’ death, and while Jesus’ illustration in our passage for this episode does not have Lazarus being raised from the dead, it does accurately predict the response the religious leaders have when the real Lazarus is raised.

Jesus’ illustration ends with the message in verse 31, “They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

A clear resurrection would not be enough to convince the religious leaders. These Pharisees had twisted their picture of God and their religion far from what God had given through Moses and through His prophets. Lazarus returning to life would not be enough to convince them and Jesus’ return to life only prompts them to bribe the soldiers into lying about what happened. Clearly predicted resurrections are not enough to convince someone stubbornly opposed to God, who ignores the messengers He sends.

However, a big theme is included in this illustration that many of Jesus’ other illustrations also include. This theme says that God loves those who are hurting, and He desires to help them. This theme is clearly present in the Lazarus character of this illustration, who appears to be punished by God but who simply is living a challenging life in a sinful, disease-filled world. God longs to heal this planet, but He is waiting until the time is right so that sin will never reappear in a perfectly recreated eternity!

I will leave you to decide whether this illustration teaches more than this about what happens after death. While it is possible, any truth we gather from this illustration must include the big themes and context we shared here, it must align with God’s character of love, and it must harmonize with the big themes of the entire Bible.

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

As always, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to accept God and the people He brings into your life without needing to be challenged in a big way.

Always, pray and study the Bible for yourself, and filter what you hear, see, and read through the big themes in the Bible to discover God’s truth for your life. Don’t let anyone dictate what you should believe from the Bible. Instead, take their ideas and test them against the truth revealed in the Bible!

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