Simpler Bible

By Simpler BibleReligion & Spirituality Christianity

Simpler Bible episodes

September 17, 2024Ep. 261. John 4 | You've Had Five Husbands
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

Anytime you see the mention of Samaritans, it would do you well to remember that they are the mixed offspring of Jews and (initially) Assyrians. In 2 Kings 17, when Assyria destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel, the people intermarried and served the gods of the nations right alongside the God of Israel. The Samaritans were idolatrous people following in the footsteps of the kings of Israel who had led them astray. They were considered objectionable and unclean to all the Jews. Yet here we have Jesus speaking to a woman at a well and the result is that she and many from her town would come to put faith in Jesus.

The Samaritan people are popular characters throughout the Gospels, and if you can remember their origins, then you will also remember why the Jews were so hateful to them.
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11 min
September 16, 2024Ep. 260. John 3 | You Must Be Born Again
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

"Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?" The Pharisees, including Nicodemus, missed the revelation of the Messiah in the Old Testament. They missed the ways that Jesus was fulfilling the OT. They studied the Scriptures and missed the Savior the Scriptures revealed. And these were the leaders of Israel. It makes me wonder how many "leaders" are missing the truth of the Bible today. If the Jews who were experts in the Law could miss it, then anyone could. Of course, it helps us to remember that the knowledge of the truth of God and his Son comes to us only through the power of the Holy Spirit. So it isn't that the Pharisees didn't know the Scriptures, but that they were spiritually blind to them.

And how fantastic is the comparison Jesus makes of himself to the bronze serpent on the pole from Numbers 21? Almost every Christian knows John 3:16, but very few know the two previous verses or the Old Testament narrative they indicate. But now we know that we can only look to Jesus for life. There is life in no one else. When we look to Jesus, the power of sin is broken in us, just as the venom of the serpents had no more power when those who had been bitten looked to the snake on the bronze pole.
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15 min
September 15, 2024Episodes 253-259 Summary
Welcome to Simpler Bible, your daily path to biblical understanding.
What's in Store: Daily podcasts, YouTube videos, and blog posts – everything you need to make your Bible study a breeze, no matter where you are on your faith journey.
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For more visit http://simplerbible.com/episodes
14 min
September 15, 2024Ep. 259. John 2 | The Wedding at Cana
Welcome to Simpler Bible, your daily path to biblical understanding.
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

I won't go over this chapter in great detail again, but let's consider three small things:

First, Jesus say, "My hour has not come." Then John 12 tells us that the hour has come, revealing to us that the purpose for Christ's coming to the earth was to die and bear the sins of mankind. This doesn't surprise us, but it serves as a good reminder. There are a lot of loud voices in the world trying to reduce the coming of Jesus to moralism. They teach and preach, "Jesus came to show us how to be kind. Jesus came to feed the hungry. Jesus came to heal the sick." While it is true that Jesus was kind, fed the hungry, and healed the sick, none of those were the reason for his coming. Jesus came to die. Jesus came to deal with sin. All the things he did while here, leading up to the cross, were to fulfill the Scripture and show himself to be the Messiah. Jesus was always fully aware of "the hour" he was marching towards.

Second, Jesus talked about his death from the outset of his ministry. In this text, he says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Of course, we have the rest of the story and know that Jesus was talking about his death, but no one else, not even his disciples, understood the statement when he made it.

Third, many people "believed" in Jesus, but he did "not entrust himself to them because he knew all people." We have seen, and will again that it is possible to believe something true about Jesus and still miss him as God. Remember that in John 6, the people followed him because they believed in the miracles he was doing. They saw him feed the multitudes and wanted to make him King, but by the next day, they abandoned him because his teaching was too offensive to them. Even early in the ministry of Jesus, there were people who believed in him that he would not entrust with the truth of who he was.
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12 min
September 14, 2024Ep. 258. John 1 | In the Beginning
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

I am not saying that Genesis 1 and John 1 are directly tied together, but I do think that the author of John 1 is intentional in the language he chose to use. The book of John spends a lot of energy proclaiming Jesus as God. Remember that the idea of God was almost universally accepted in the first century. (I am not aware of any people group who disbelieved in the idea of God, but that doesn't mean they weren't there) Therefore, the book of John is not trying to get the world to believe that God exists, but rather that Jesus is the incarnation of him. Genesis begins with the line "In the beginning" and then describes the creation of life. John starts with the exact words and then shows how Jesus is the creator of life. John also points out that "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." So Jesus is the source of all life, and he is the light, which is the first thing mentioned in the creation account in Genesis. When we drop down to verse fourteen of this opening chapter, we see, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The idea that God would come down and dwell with mankind was revolutionary. Here, the book of John tries to convince the reader of the personal nature of this God. It is like Paul in Acts 17, talking to the people of Athens and telling them, "The God you worship as 'the unknown god', I can tell you who he is." In the book of John, the author introduces the idea of the eternally existing creator God, who came to dwell with man on the earth, and then he unfolds the story of Jesus. It is a beautiful way to teach. John is very different in form from the other three Gospels, which all seem to record more miracles, the genealogy of Jesus, references to the Law of Moses, and the traditions of the Jews. The book of John doesn't seem to be as interested in revealing Jesus as the Messiah as it is in revealing Jesus as God. That is what makes this a great book to start for someone who has just come to faith or for someone who wants to know more about the faith. Also of interest to me in this text is that John the Baptist twice mentions, "I myself did not know him." John the Baptist had been told by God, "The one on whom you see the Spirit descend is the one." John was busy baptizing but, apparently, wasn't sure who the Messiah was going to be until the dove descended on Jesus. Then John the Baptist is bold to proclaim, "I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God." He will later say, "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."
For more visit http://simplerbible.com/episodes
14 min
September 13, 2024Ep. 257. Luke 19 | Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man
Welcome to Simpler Bible, your daily path to biblical understanding.
What's in Store: Daily podcasts, YouTube videos, and blog posts – everything you need to make your Bible study a breeze, no matter where you are on your faith journey.
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

It is funny how we think about the Bible as kids. The story of Zacchaeus was one of my absolute favorites. Back then, I would have never guessed that it was only ten verses long. Of course, as a kid, I paid much more attention to the fact he was a short man, and I always thought the image of him up in the tree was hilarious. But I didn't catch the phrase's significance until I was much older: "he also is a son of Abraham." You remember, of course, the woman in Luke 13 bent in half by a spirit and how Jesus referred to her as a "daughter of Abraham." Or again, in John 8, where Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are not children of Abraham. We know that Paul proclaims in Galatians that only those who are people of faith belong to the line of Abraham, even if you could have traced your family tree back to the father of faith himself. What that simple phrase, "he also is a son of Abraham," tells us about Zacchaeus is that he put his faith in Jesus, and I think that's amazing.

In the next section of our reading today, we see that the Jews "Supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately." This explains why they celebrate and proclaim, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" It wasn't that they put faith in Jesus, though certainly some of them must have, but more so they believed that Jesus was about to establish a physical earthly kingdom. It must have been a shock when, over the next few days, he preached about the Kingdom being taken away from them and given to people who would bear the fruit of it. It must have further been a shock when he was put to death. As the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 53, "Who would consider that he would be cut off from the land of the living?" The people weren't expecting a Savior who would come to die; they were expecting a Savior who would come with a sword. But of course these things were hidden from their eyes so that Christ would be crucified. Jesus says, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." And, "You did not know the time of your visitation."
For more visit http://simplerbible.com/episodes
9 min
September 12, 2024Ep. 256. Luke 18 | The Persistent Widow
Welcome to Simpler Bible, your daily path to biblical understanding.
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

I love the first parable in today's reading, though I must admit I don't think about it as often as I should. The unrighteous judge hears the widow's persistent cries for justice and complies. If that is how an unrighteous judge behaves, how thenshould we expect our righteous God to react? I would point out to you that the issue on the table is "justice." I am not convinced that we can use this text for anything we desire, but neither would I say we shouldn't bring our requests before God. Remember, in Matthew 7, when we looked at "ask, seek, and knock," we found that the context was likely the Holy Spirit and salvation. Here, the context seems to be the justice of God. It immediately reminds me of the place in Revelation 6 where it is written,

"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been."

It is good to know that our God will bring about justice, and it is good for us to cry out for it.
For more visit http://simplerbible.com/episodes
12 min
September 11, 2024Ep. 255. Luke 16-17 | Lazarus and the Rich Man
Welcome to Simpler Bible, your daily path to biblical understanding.
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

I don't know if Lazarus and the Rich Man is a true event that happened or a parable Jesus is telling, but that isn't the point of the text. We certainly don't want to assume that the point is that those who had a hard life here inherit true life, and those who had a great life here inherit judgment. That isn't remotely consistent with the whole of the Bible and sounds more like some twisted view of works-based righteousness rather than righteousness that comes by faith. The point most certainly rests in the last few verses, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." And "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead."

The Law of Moses and the Prophets all speak to the truth of who Jesus is. We have talked baout this often as we have journed through the Bible so far. We see our first references to Jesus in Genesis three, then arguably again in Genesis 7, certainly in Genesis 12 and fourteen. Genesis twenty-two is a parable of Jesus along with Exodus 12, Leviticus 28, Numbers 21, and Joshua 2. We can't forget how abundantly Isaiah and David speak of the coming Savior, along with nearly every other prophet of the Old Testament. Even Jonah's time in the belly of a fish is a picture of Jesus in the grave. If the religious leaders of the day wouldn't believe the Scriptures that pointed to Jesus, neither would they believe when he was raised from the dead.

Every now and again, you will hear people say, "If Jesus would just show up here right now, I'd believe in him." What they miss is that he did show up. He declared himself equal to God. He raised the dead. He healed the sick. Still, the people disbelieved. People will always want another "proof." Remember in John 6 how the people, who were following Jesus because of the miracles he had been doing, said, "What work will you do so that we might believe?"

For the better part of a year, you and I have been on a journey to dig more deeply into the Scriptures and find the riches and beauty of our Jesus. If we don't believe the Scriptures, we won't believe even if we saw him raised from the dead. Remember Jesus' words to Thomas, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
For more visit http://simplerbible.com/episodes
15 min
September 10, 2024Ep. 254. Luke 15 | Lost Sheep, Coin, and Son
Welcome to Simpler Bible, your daily path to biblical understanding.
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

I have always loved this text, and if we are honest with ourselves, we would all admit that the "lost sheep" and the "prodigal son" are two of the most famous "characters" in the Bible. Because of that, we often think we already know everything there is to know about them. Growing up, I often heard of the "lost sheep" as any individual who had not yet come to salvation. Pastors and teachers would talk about the "lost sheep" in our schools and communities. We were trained to know and understand that Jesus cares for those lost sheep and that since we were already part of the ninety-nine, we should be concerned about the lost sheep as well. The lost sheep parable was always shaped for me as 99 believers and one unsaved person. However, the context of Luke 15, the audience Jesus is addressing, and the cultural climate of the so-called "righteous" individuals in the gospels never once crossed my mind.

The "prodigal son," on the other hand, was always pitched to me as a story of two believers; one had remained faithful to God, and one had run far away from God. In youth we would always be encouraged to pray for those "prodigals" who had once been faithful to the Lord but were now far away "squandering" their lives in the world. I will never forget the time I first heard it taught another way. I was invited to a Thursday morning Bible Study with several pastors. I was in my late twenties or maybe just thirty. It was too early for me, so I sat there listening for the majority of the time. But at some point, the conversation turned to the parable of the prodigal. I don't remember everything the pastor said in passing, but the thing that stuck out to me was that the "older brother" was analogous to the Pharisees. I remember disagreeing internally. It would be another seven or eight years before my life would be drastically altered, and I would start paying attention to the whole of the context. Luke 15, in light of the rest of the gospels and not my 1980's and 1990's church culture, made so much more sense. Seeing the narrative of the Jews through the Old Testament and learning a bit about the history of the people, not to mention the repetitive language of Jesus throughout the Gospels, made me change my mind forever.
For more visit http://simplerbible.com/episodes
15 min
September 09, 2024Ep. 253. Luke 2 | The Boy Jesus
Welcome to Simpler Bible, your daily path to biblical understanding.
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Here’s an excerpt from the blog post.

This particular chapter is easy to enjoy. What isn't there to love? Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloths. A company of angels appearing to shepherds. A declaration of the Savior and glory given to his name. Jesus presented at the temple, where we meet righteous, faithful worshippers of God, Simeon, and Anna. Jesus, at twelve years of age, amazed the Jewish teachers in the temple.

These are cool things. The Son of God borrowed a feeding trough of animals for his bed. It wasn't kings that first came to welcome him to the world he came to save, but shepherds. Jesus was born to parents who could afford only a couple of turtledoves or pigeons as an offering to purify their newborn. They were lowly people. And still, he was recognized as the salvation prepared for the Gentiles and the Jews. He was acknowledged, at least by Anna, as the source of redemption, and at 12 years of age, he was likely wiser than the teachers of Israel and the priests who were supposed to be the bridge between the people and God.

Every line of this chapter drips with the beauty and grace of our Savior, who could have come on the clouds with glory and split the sky apart. But he came humble and as a servant. He came as a lowly one to people who were bent low under the weight of sin, and he set them free from their captivity. God in the flesh condescended to walk among the human race and purchase them for himself by the shedding of his own blood.

What a beautiful chapter.
For more visit http://simplerbible.com/episodes
13 min

About Simpler Bible

From the publisher's feed

Simpler Bible is your go-to online daily Bible reading program, where our dedicated pastor, Ryan, guides you through about one Bible chapter each day. Our mission is to make the Bible more accessible…