February 9 When God created the heavens and the earth, He set in motion all of the systems that seemingly run on their own, the “invisible gears” of the universe like natural laws (gravity, thermodynamics, etc.), weather patterns, and beyond. Four times in Matthew 9, however, we see Jesus once again demonstrating His power over…
February 8 Matthew begins this chapter with two stories. Here, Jesus ministers to outcasts, again demonstrating His universal influence and ultimate plan to reach all types of people. Jewish Law prohibited anyone from touching lepers, lest they themselves become unclean. Leprosy generally refers to any number of skin diseases, including leprosy specifically. To protect the…
February 7 Matthew 7:1-2, CSB, marks one of Jesus’ most frequently quoted statements of all time. Unfortunately, many quote it for the wrong reasons. Probably the number one wrong reason is using it as a “permission slip” to openly live in sin. Another form of this argument rewords Jesus’ statement like this: “Only God can…
February 6 In Matthew 6, Jesus provides a stark contrast between the attitudes of the Jewish leaders and His own. He speaks of giving, praying, and fasting on one hand, then possessions and anxiety about provisions on the other. But, if we boil down the entire chapter, we immediately see the division: self-centeredness and God-centeredness. In…
February 5 We begin three days of looking at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In today’s readings, we see key teachings on believers being salt and light, divorce, honesty, going the second mile, and loving our enemies. If we’re honest, a lot of what Jesus says is uncomfortable, especially when He drills down on the…
February 2 Are you ready to have some of your preconceptions about God blown away? Matthew tells us, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1, CSB) 1.) Jesus was led into temptation. The writer of the book of Hebrews knew what he was…
February 1 Water baptism was part of the conversion of an adult Gentile to the Jewish faith, along with circumcision, a commitment to following the Jewish Law, and offering a sacrifice. John the Baptizer stood in the Jordan River, inviting his audience to be baptized. “People came from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity…
January 31 Christmas cards and Christmas pageants are not the best resources for understanding the Bible. A case in point is the birth narrative of Jesus. Luke tells us that shepherds visited Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus in a manger. Matthew tells us that the Magi followed a star to a house where Joseph,…
Welcome to the Gospel of Matthew! Like John, Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples, specifically one of the twelve apostles. Scholars also identify Matthew with the name Levi in Mark 2:14. (Compare with Matthew 10:3) You may have heard critics argue that Isaiah 7:14, the prophecy that Matthew quotes in verse 23, denies the Virgin…
January 29 In the final chapter of John, we read about the disciples’ encounter with Jesus in Galilee. Jesus had told them to meet Him there. (Matthew 28:10) As the story unfolds, the disciples are on the Sea of Tiberius (another name for the Sea of Galilee). Peter and the others have been fishing all…