March 9 Welcome to the Gospel of Mark. Over the last ten weeks, we’ve looked at the Gospels of John and the Matthew. Each had its own “feel,” concentrating on different things. While John was more theological in nature, looking at the person and work of Jesus, Matthew focused more on Jesus’ parables and the…
March 8 At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus commissions His disciples for ministry: “As you go, make disciples.” For three years, the disciples have learned doctrine and practice from Jesus. They have been His disciples. This now raises the important question: What is a disciple? Back in the day, a disciple was someone who…
March 7 Matthew presents his account of Jesus’ crucifixion in chapter 27. In verse 46, Matthew records Jesus quoting from the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Psalm 22:1, asking God why He has abandoned Him. Hanging on the cross, Jesus now feels the wrath of God being poured out on Him—the God whom Habakkuk tells us cannot…
March 6 After celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus walked with them to the Garden of Gethsemane, an olive grove just outside of Jerusalem where He often went to pray. (Luke 22:39) It’s interesting that He would choose this place to pray, especially this night. The name Gethsemane means “oil press.” Not surprisingly, Matthew…
March 5 In Matthew 25, Jesus makes another reference to eschatology in his Parable of the Virgins. Ten virgins waited for the groom to arrive for a wedding, five of whom had extra oil for their lamps. When the groom arrived, all of them trimmed their lamps, but the five foolish virgins, who didn’t have…
March 2 A favorite topic of conversation for many believers is the End Times. Theologians call this subject: Eschatology. The Bible says quite a bit about it in Daniel, Revelation, and Matthew 24. But comparatively, it’s a very small part of Scripture. Many theologians and preachers make a big deal of eschatology, trying to determine…
March 1 In Matthew 23, Jesus again unloads on the hypocritical Jewish leaders. This time, however, marks His fiercest rebuke in all of the Gospel accounts. For three years, the Lord has been merciful and gracious, offering them chance after chance to repent, take off their religious masks, and get real with God. Not only…
February 28 An expert in the Jewish Law sought to trap Jesus by asking Him which was the greatest commandment. He may have been thinking along the lines of the “Big Ten” recorded in Exodus 20. At this point, however, Jewish Rabbis had added over seven hundred laws of their own in an effort to…
February 27 In two verses, Matthew captures the image of Jesus overturning the moneychangers’ tables, as well as evicting all buyers and sellers from the Temple. The Temple was supposed to be a “house of prayer,” He said, but they had turned it into a “den of thieves.” (Matthew 12:12–13) What a rebuke! So, what…
February 26 In Matthew 20, we see two instances where people expected preferential treatment in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus told a parable in which people were hired to work in a man’s vineyard. He hired five groups of workers in the morning, at nine o’clock, noon, three, and five, promising a day’s wage to…