Reflective Bible Study

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!

To start our special two-part finale of this year focusing on events in Matthew’s gospel, I want to begin by wishing you an extra special, extra Merry Christmas and holiday season. I hope that this year has been a good year, or at the very least, you are looking forward to this year being over and a new one beginning. Every year forward brings us closer and closer to Jesus’ return!

As is our custom, these two finale episodes focus on sharing our biggest and best insights from this past year of podcasting, and we highlight some of the things I learned while putting this year of podcasts together. As is always the case, I’ve had a hard time narrowing down this year’s insights down to being manageable for our finale because this has been a great year with many great insights we could focus on. However, I’ve done what I can, so let’s get started by looking at this year of podcasting in Matthew’s gospel!

Let’s start by focusing in on some of the insights we discovered in episode number 2, which covered the wise men coming to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Baby Jesus. In this episode, we uncovered how ignorant the religious leaders were to the Messiah’s arrival because they simply hand over the location of Jesus’ birth to Herod. This speaks to their ignorance and to their allegiance to Rome over their allegiance to the future Messiah.

We also saw a glimpse of how dedicated Joseph was with following God because the instant the angel warns Joseph to flee with the family to Egypt, Joseph wastes no time getting the family to Egypt. This quality in Jesus’ earthly father saved Jesus’ life.

In the next episode, number 3, we focused in on Jesus’ baptism, and in this episode, we discovered that the baptism event at the beginning of Jesus ministry is one place we see Jesus intentionally setting the stage for a ministry of service and selflessness. In the baptism event, we discover Jesus placing Himself below humanity and foreshadowing His upcoming sacrifices, including the sacrifice He would make on the cross.

Jumping forward to episode 4, we focused on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. In this episode, we learned that self-service is not a characteristic of God and we fall victim to this temptation when we place our own needs ahead of God’s desires for our lives. One big reason Jesus came was to win the hearts and minds of His people, and this is something only the cross can purchase. A secret sacrifice isn’t that valuable of a sacrifice.

Jumping ahead a few episodes, we come to episodes 6 through 13, which all focused in on Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. In episode number 7, we uncovered the truth that just because Jesus lived 100% obedient to the law doesn’t mean that the law was abolished. Obeying a law does not abolish it. We also focused on the truth that entrance into God’s kingdom isn’t about what we have done or what we can do. It’s about what has been done for us.

In episode number 8, we discovered that breaking God’s law condemns us to death, and Jesus offers to take the death we deserve and give us the life He deserved. We shouldn’t continue to sin, but we should resolve to turn away from our sins as a way to say Thank You to Jesus for the gift He purchased for us on the cross!

Episode 9, which includes Jesus’ model prayer and some teachings related to this subject, taught us that looking for praise from someone else affects how we live our lives. Living our lives looking for praise from others leads to hypocrisy, because we elevate others ahead of ourselves, and subtly ahead of God as well. The time we spend with God, even if it feels weird, hollow, or empty at the beginning will grow into more when we resolve to stick with God.

Episode 10 focused on forgiving, being forgiven, and storing up treasure in heaven, and we learned in this part of Jesus’ sermon that there is no guarantee that giving money on earth will earn treasure in heaven. We also learned that the most valuable part of our treasure in heaven is our hearts, because when our hearts are focused on our heavenly treasure, we live for God in more significant ways than if our hearts are focused on the things of this world.

Jumping ahead to episode 13, which concludes Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges us with the truth that our actions matter in God’s eyes! Obedience alone will not bring us salvation. Our salvation is found in a saving relationship that is based on faith, trust, hope, and belief in Jesus mixed with obeying what He asks us to do.

Moving forward to episode 16, which includes Matthew’s invitation to be a disciple and a dinner Matthew hosts that included Jesus and many of Matthew’s tax collector friends, we discovered that Jesus lived His life from God’s perspective in His response. Jesus lived showing kindness more than demanding obedience. While obedience is important, kindness and God’s love is more central to God’s character. When we are being representatives for God, we are to above everything else, show God’s love and kindness to those He brings into our lives while we are personally being obedient to Him the best way we know how.

In episode 18, we focused in on a couple people who Jesus healed. In this event and episode, we were reminded that sometimes bad things happen simply to remind us that our eternity is not in a sinful world. Sometimes when bad things happen, God is reminding us to look forward to a new life with Him in heaven. When we face trials in our lives, Jesus is the best place for us to look to and the best Person for us to lean on!

In the very next episode, number 19, Jesus elevates what it means to be one of His disciples. In this episode, we were challenged with the truth that A secret disciple isn’t a valuable disciple. By losing our own lives, we are able to gain Jesus’ life, and His life in our lives brings us eternal life! When we are kind to those who follow God and when we are kind simply because we are God’s followers, Jesus promises us that God will reward us.

In episode 20, we learned a little bit about what it means to follow Jesus and how following Jesus is easier than we might think at first. If your life is so busy that you feel you are drowning under the weight of your obligations, then Jesus offers you rest. The rest Jesus offers you isn’t just physical rest, but also rest for your soul. Jesus offers us the truth that we don’t have to worry about appeasing an angry God who wants to punish us.

Instead, Jesus came to satisfy the requirements of the law so that God can love us even more. Jesus came representing God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and His love for us shows us how much God loves us. The light load Jesus offers us is a load where He already took the heavy requirements on Himself, and He leaves us with a gift if we are willing to accept it. The gift Jesus offers us is His life in exchange for ours, and His life gives us eternal life while our lives bring Him death.

Moving forward to episode 21, we learned in some challenges Jesus faced regarding how He and His followers kept the Sabbath that: Jesus honored the Sabbath day the way God wanted His people to honor it. Jesus did not come to replace the Sabbath; He came to restore it.

For the religious leaders, the Sabbath was a day of avoiding work and avoiding anything that could even remotely resemble work. The Sabbath had descended into a list of activities to avoid. The Sabbath was not a blessing away from work; it had become a curse and a burden regarding avoiding work or work-like activities.

God is more interested in kindness than in receiving animal sacrifices, which is another way of saying that our kindness and love for others is worth more than a blind, strict obedience to the letter of the law.

Jumping forward to episode 24, which focused on Jesus being rejected in Nazareth, we discovered that Jesus didn’t come to please everyone or to get everyone to like Him. Jesus came to save all of God’s people, and to give humanity a better picture of God and His love for us!

Any message that paints Jesus as unloving towards those who were hurting, or unloving towards those who God loves, is a picture that does not match the Bible’s message about Jesus. With few exceptions, the only times Jesus speaks harshly are when He challenges those who believed they were better than others and who were self-righteously putting others down while trying to raise up their own status in God’s eyes. Jesus came to help those who were hurting and to give humanity hope for a future with God!

This seems like a great place to conclude the first half of our two-part finale.

In place of our usual challenges at the end of each episode, let me challenge you, among all the other great reminders and challenges in this episode to: Remember to place Jesus first; Keep praying and studying your Bible to grow closer to God; and never stop moving forward along the path He has called you to walk with Him!