2019

The timing of this week’s post on Matthew 21 is fitting. This passage describes events that occurred on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in the week of Jesus’s crucifixion. The anniversary of this (Palm) Sunday will occur on April 14, 2019. So, this post is about events that happened almost exactly 1,989…

In Matthew 20:1–15, Jesus told about a group of workers. Some worked all day, others only one hour. Yet their employer paid them the same. The Lord placed this story inside bookend statements. Before the parable, he said, “many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be…

  One of our readers said, “As I read through your blog … I was struck to ask you one single question—so what?” We began our response in our last post (here). Our prophetic model—inmillennialism—makes a difference in five categories: Vision, Apologetics, Legacy, Understanding, and Experience. That post addressed the…

A few days ago a reader sent me an interesting message. He said, “As I read through your blog … I was struck to ask you one single question—so what? So what if what you say about Jesus in Matt 24 is real, what does it mean for us?” Other…

Matthew’s gospel emphasizes the kingdom of heaven. “The central emphasis of the book is found in what is designated (uniquely in the Gospels) as … ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; cf. 26:13).” To understand the gospel, we must understand the kingdom. In Matthew 19, Jesus uses four…

The long-awaited kingdom of heaven was coming. The disciples had heard John the Baptist announce its approach (Matt 3:1–2). They had listened when Jesus confirmed this message as he preached the gospel of the kingdom (Matt 4:17, 23; 9:35). Jesus had taught them the ethics of the new age in…

The transfiguration (Matt 17:1–9) provides subtle confirmations of inmillennialism. As a vision (Matt 17:9), it showed the passing away of the Mosaic age. The law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) would disappear. The messianic age (Jesus) would take their place. Peter linked this transition to Christ’s parousia (2 Pet 1:16–18). Inmillennialism’s…

Many scriptural passages make our need for a better prophetic model obvious. They are like boulders in our interpretive paths. Our last post (here) discussed one of them (i.e., Matt 16:27–28).  Other passages are more subtle. Their obstacles lie below the surface. We must excavate to see how they show…

One atheist used Matthew 16:27–28 to explain his rejection of Christianity. Speaking to the South London Branch of the National Secular Society in 1927, Bertrand Russell said, I do not believe that one can grant either the superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels;…

We have defined two terms Jesus used in Matt 16:17–19 in previous posts. Jesus used “my church” to mean the congregation that comprises those in covenant with God during the messianic age. Scripture speaks of local churches as “the church” by synecdoché, each one representing the whole. The “kingdom of heaven” refers…