Reflective Bible Study

As we continue our journey through Luke’s gospel, we come to a set of events that don’t seem to be related on the surface, but two events that share a similar theme with each other. The first event has to do with Jesus sharing a parable in response to a question He is asked about the deaths some people faced. The second event is a healing Jesus does on the Sabbath.

Let’s read these two events, discover what we can learn from each, and uncover the big, shared theme that both of these events include.

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

¹ Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Let’s pause reading here. This marks the end of the first event and the end of Jesus’ illustration. This event and illustration were given in response to Jesus being asked about the deaths of a group of Galileans. Jesus’ reply answers the question behind the question they were really asking. While those present were telling Jesus about what had happened, Jesus counters their thoughts that God had allowed this type of death because He was punishing them.

The big challenging truth in Jesus’ response is that everyone is equally worthy of death because of their sin. Sin in our lives makes us worthy of death because we have broken God’s law. However, death in this life is different from eternal death.

To contrast the death that is in this life, Jesus challenges those present with the truth that repenting is the way to avoid perishing, which is Jesus’ preferred term that He uses for eternal death. John, chapter 3, verse 16, which is one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible contrasts perishing with eternal life: Repenting leads away from perishing and towards eternal life.

The parable Jesus shares is amazing as well. This parable focuses our attention onto what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In this parable, the expected activity of the fig tree is bearing fruit. On one hand, bearing fruit is part of what the fig tree was designed to do, but beyond this, the goal of the fruit of any fruit tree itself is to create more fruit trees. In the fruit of a fig tree, or any fruit tree for that matter, are seeds that will ultimately grow into more trees if given the chance.

This parable does not have an ending, and in my mind, this is because we are living in the year of the parable where the tree is being cared for and God is eagerly awaiting us to bear fruit.

Not bearing fruit is the way to ultimately be cut down and removed from the vineyard.

However, while it is easy to stop reading here and disconnect what comes next as being a completely separate event, the event we just finished reading shares a big theme with the event Luke includes next. Continuing in verse 10, Luke tells us:

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Before touching on the big shared theme of these two events, a detail I don’t believe I’ve ever noticed before stood out to me while reading it this time. When the religious leaders react against Jesus’ healing this woman, they assume this woman came to the synagogue that day to be healed by Jesus. However, nothing like this is even implied.

This woman had spent the last 18 years being disabled. While it is possible she traveled to see Jesus and was visiting the synagogue that day, nothing in this passage suggests this or anything other than that this woman simply had come to worship God in spite of her disability. The implication of the synagogue leader is that anyone who was sick should intentionally avoid Jesus at all costs on the Sabbath day.

However impractical this implication is, especially since Jesus traveled around and actively sought out people who He could heal, what the synagogue leader shared suggests that those who are sick or disabled shouldn’t accept Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath. Another subtle implication is that those who are sick or disabled should avoid going to the synagogue on the Sabbath, or perhaps they should actively avoid going to any synagogue where Jesus might be.

The reaction the synagogue leader gives in response to Jesus healing is against the people who were in the synagogue. If the synagogue leader was mad at Jesus, I find it a little humorous that this frustration is directed towards those who simply came to worship God together.

However, this isn’t humorous at all, because this is often what happens. Instead of taking our frustrations out on those who frustrate us, we usually take our frustrations out on those closest to us who simply get to be around us when we are frustrated. This synagogue leader was frustrated with Jesus, and those who came to his synagogue that day were targeted because of this frustration.

In these two events, there is a huge shared theme. This theme says that God loves sinners and He wants to free them. In the first event, Jesus calls sinners to repent because it will free them from the sin that is holding their lives back. In the second event, Jesus frees someone who Satan had physically trapped in a disability. God loves sinners and He wants to free us.

Another big, bonus, shared theme is that the state of someone’s life or death does not reflect their relationship with God. Someone could be far away from God and be appearing to succeed, while someone else could die a tragic death and ultimately be saved because of the final state of their heart. While God can directly punish people for sin in their lives, I don’t believe this happens as often as some might think. Instead, I believe that sin naturally brings consequences and destruction, and that the longer a person sins, the more consequences they bring upon themselves because of their own choices.

God isn’t interested in seeing us perish because of sin. God wants us to repent, which means to turn away from sin in our lives and back to Him, and ultimately outlast the presence of sin in the universe. God wants each of us to experience a new, eternal life with Him!

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 repent and turn to Him if you have felt like your life is turning away. Choose to rededicate your life to God and let Him lead and guide you forward. Trust in and lean on Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins and accept the gift Jesus offers of a new life with God!

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Choose to pray and study the Bible personally to grow a personal relationship with God and one that isn’t based on the opinions of others. While other people have opinions and ideas, filter what you read, hear, and see through the themes of the Bible to discover what God’s truth truly is!

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 turn away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue forward in our year looking at events where Jesus’ life is connected with passages in the Old Testament and places where Jesus’ ministry fulfills prophecy, we come to the start of a set of passages that describe Jesus being confronted in the garden on the night He was betrayed.

However, we’ll save the prophecies specifically about betrayal for our next couple of episodes.

For this episode, let’s turn our attention onto a Psalm that includes a couple of verses that could be applied to Jesus’ experience in the garden. The Psalm we will be looking at is Psalm, number 40, and let’s read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, the psalmist writes:

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

⁴ How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

⁶ Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You know.
¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

¹¹ You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
¹² For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make haste, O Lord, to help me.
¹⁴ Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
¹⁶ Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
¹⁷ Since I am afflicted and needy,
Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

While there are many different angles we can understand this psalm, and several pieces of it that we could focus our attention on, the specific verse that caught my eye prompting me to include it for our time together is verse 14, where the psalmist writes:

“Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.”

On the surface, this verse could apply to just about anyone who feels as though others are interested in doing them harm. This was true for King David in the Old Testament as it was true for Jesus, and as it is true for many people living today.

However, let’s move to the New Testament and look at a fascinating detail that John includes in his gospel within the time that Jesus was being betrayed leading up to His arrest. This detail is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and let’s begin reading in verse 1:

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. ² Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. ³ Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴ So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” ⁵ They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. ⁶ So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” ⁹ to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.” ¹⁰ Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus. ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”

In this passage John shares during Jesus’ betrayal, John includes an interesting detail that describes Jesus meeting His accusers directly, even though by doing this, Jesus would be risking direct harm.

The way John describes this event is fascinating in my mind. When the solders came with lanterns, torches, and weapons, Jesus steps forward to great them. Jesus asks them who they are looking for and they say Jesus, the Nazarene. Perhaps these accusers had not seen Jesus at night, so they were a little uncertain exactly who was greeting them, but I would have imagined that at least some of them should have recognized Jesus by His voice.

However, the way Jesus answers is powerful. Instead of misdirecting focus, or sending those present in a different direction, Jesus fully accepts the challenge that was coming towards Him. While Jesus could have done something similar to Elisha, who prayed for his adversaries to become blind before leading them to a place where they would not have intended to go, Jesus could have easily done something to have avoided being arrested. In case you are wondering where the event with Elisha is, this event can be found in 2 Kings, chapter 6.

John describes Jesus facing His accusers head on, and whether those coming to arrest Him were surprised by Jesus’ straight answer, or whether something supernatural happened when Jesus spoke the words “I am He”, all those coming to arrest Him fell back to the ground.

In a strangely predictive way, when the crowd drew back and fell to the ground, as John’s gospel describes, they appear to also fulfill the potentially prophetic words of the psalmist we looked at from the Old Testament, which describe people seeking to destroy life being turned back and dishonored.

We can learn and know from this fulfilled prophecy that Jesus met the challenge of the cross willingly, without hesitation, and fully knowing what would happen. Avoiding the cross was not something Jesus even hinted at doing.

Before closing this episode, I want to draw attention to one additional fulfilled prophecy in Jesus’ arrest. Jesus fulfills His own prophecy that is found a chapter earlier in John. While Jesus was praying to the Father, He prayed that He would not lose any of those who the Father had given to Him, except for the one who had to be lost. The one Jesus refers to in that prayer is Judas Iscariot the betrayer. To fulfill this prayer, John writes Jesus’ words asking those who have come to arrest Him that they let all the others go.

This small detail is powerful, because 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 that weekend held.

With everything chaotic that is happening in the world around us, let’s remember that Jesus is not surprised by the world’s chaos. Instead, we can trust that Jesus knows what will happen and that He is actively working to bring about the end of sin and the salvation of His people.

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 place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him. When life gets crazy, lean on Jesus for strength and guidance to navigate life’s challenges.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. Through prayer and Bible study, discover who God is, what He is like, and what He wants to invite you into when Jesus returns to bring His people home!

And until that day 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!