Matthew 13 The Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew here seems to have collected several of Jesus’ descriptions of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like, and how the Kingdom grows. It is interesting to note that the tares and the wheat are allowed to grow together. In my experience, this seems to be the reality of […]

Matthew 12 “and in His name the Gentiles shall hope.” (vs. 21) This is the verse I kept coming back to. This picks up a nuance that is not entirely clear in Isaiah’s original (at least in our translations. Isaiah 42.4 actually is translated as “and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.” in […]

Matthew 11 Jesus cites Isaiah as proof of who He is. He tells John, look at my deeds, they match up with what Isaiah said the Messiah would do. I’m not pandering to the elite, or massaging egos here. I’m ministering God’s power to the least of these! Jesus then proceeds to show great esteem […]

Matthew 10 Where do we get this idea that life is supposed to be easy for the follower of our Messiah? Not in this passage. There is nothing here about God blessing us with earthly wealth, possessions, or glory. Jesus says we will be treated harshly. Not might, “will”. They persecuted the Son, they will […]

Matthew 9 You can almost hear the religious leaders whining … “You aren’t doing it right!” Jesus performed miracles, but He claimed to forgive sins. He hung out with the wrong crowd. Sinners instead of the religious elite? How clearly un-messianic. Yet, we see common people drawn to this man. Even a desparate synagouge leader […]

Matthew 8 Reading through Matthew 8, I am once again struck by the indiscriminate way Jesus heals. If you come to Him, you get healed. Period. No questions. No forms to fill out, or HMO approval to obtain. No background check or FBI clearance. No political vetting to insure you don’t have a past, or […]

Matthew 7.13-29 There are two roads. One is wide, easy, and relatively popular. The other is narrow, difficult, and at times seems lonely. Jesus tells us we can tell who is on which road by their fruit. At first, this seems like a straightforward test to apply, but then Jesus surprises us. The Messiah tells […]

Matthew 7.1-6 It is unfortunate, but when most non-Christians think of the Church, and of us as Christians, they probably think of judgmentalism. We don’t do a great job of seeing our own logs, while we claim to be experts at spotting specks of dust in the eyes of others. I would prefer that God […]