February 26 In Matthew 19, the religious leaders tried to set a trap for Jesus by asking Him about divorce. At the time, there were two basic ways of looking at the issue. One way, taught by Rabbi Shammai allowed divorce only in the case of adultery. The other, taught by Rabbi Hillel, allowed divorce…
February 22 Matthew 18 begins with Jesus teaching His disciples from the viewpoint of children. He says that we must all become like children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, meaning we must come to Him on His terms, submitting to His kingship over us and His domain, and trusting Him like a child trusts…
Matthew 17 contains an interesting statement that has been mistranslated and thus misunderstood and misapplied. A man brought his epileptic son to Jesus’ disciples, expecting them to heal him, but they were unable. The disciples were frustrated and asked Jesus why. The boy’s epilepsy was not due to a brain disorder, but rather to his…
February 20 God inspired Peter to speak his confession, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16–17) Jesus praises Peter for his insight, and says He will build His unconquerable church on Peter’s confession. And yet, just seven verses later, Jesus looks at Peter and says, “Get behind me, Satan!” Why…
February 19 In today’s Bible reading from Matthew 15, Jesus gets to the heart of the matter with the Pharisees: the matter of their heart. They weren’t just caught up with the rigid details of the Law of Moses. They were completely ignoring it in favor of their own traditions. This was serious. While pretending…
February 16 After feeding five thousand men, besides women and children, with five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus sent His disciples across the lake, and He went up to pray on the mountain. Some have suggested that sent is too mild a word; other translations use the word compelled, perhaps suggesting that the…
February 15 Matthew 13:11–15 refers to Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah will speak in parables. So what is a parable? The Greek word behind “parable” means “to throw alongside.” As Jesus went about ministering, He often drew word pictures from what He and His disciples encountered. The parables were designed to reveal secrets of the…
February 14 “I’m afraid I’ve committed the unforgivable sin.” This is a common fear among unbelievers. Oftentimes, they’re considering coming to faith in Jesus, but afraid that they’ve passed the point of no return—that they have no hope of salvation. The confusion, though, lies in their misunderstanding of what Jesus called “blasphemy against the Spirit.”…
February 13 Yesterday, we touched on Jesus looking back to Isaiah’s description of the coming Messiah, a prophecy written seven hundred years before His birth. He does the same in today’s Bible reading in Matthew 11:2. John was confused, possibly doubting. His relative, Jesus, had been ministering for some time now, and John had told…
February 12 In Matthew 10, Jesus commissions His apostles. Sending them out in pairs and with His authority, He tells them to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. (vv. 6–8) This moment looks back once again to Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah’s ministry and the “good news” He…