Matthew

I love a good night’s sleep. So, I paid attention when a friend said he would ask the Lord to give me sleepless nights until I wrote a post that shows how inmillennialism interprets the following passage: Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.…

Recent posts in our Mediations in Matthew series have looked at Jesus’ accomplishments in his death, burial, and resurrection (Matt 27–28). Through these events, he erected a new Temple (here) and redefined Israel (here). In our last post (here), we said Jesus accomplished the true Exodus.  Paul authorized the comparison…

Our most recent five posts have considered the cessation of supernatural gifts. They are no longer an ongoing, day-to-day reality in the church’s experience. We will now return to our series of Meditations in Matthew. Our last two posts in that series dealt with Matthew 27–28. One (here) showed how Jesus…

“The Synoptic Gospels give more details of the teaching of Jesus on this Tuesday in the Temple and on the Mount of Olives than for any other single day.” Matthew devotes more than four chapters to those details (Matt 21:19–25:46). Our last post (here) discussed the four questions in Matt 22.…

A previous post (here) showed Jesus’s first-last parable (Matt 20:1–15) was about kingdom transfer. The exchange happened at the end of the Mosaic age and the beginning of the messianic age. In Matthew 21, Jesus reinforced that message in five ways—by three symbolic actions (Matt 21:1–22) and two parables (Matt…

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…

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;…

What did Jesus mean when he said, “I will build my church”? In last week’s post (here), we defined the terms “church” and “kingdom” as Jesus used them in Matt 16:18–19. The church (Gk. ekklēsia) comprises all persons in covenant relationship with God during the messianic age. The kingdom is…

Jesus asked his disciples an important question. “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matt 16:13). Peter responded correctly: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” (Matt 16:16 HCSB). Jesus then gave Peter a great revelation: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock…