It’s odd to think of Jesus bringing division and judgment and not peace. But consider this: Jesus is consumed by the fire of judgment on the cross in order to bring his people true and lasting peace. But you have to “read the signs” correctly…
Today is a study day. You will spend time in each passage making 1-2 general observations and meditating on the passage. The goal of meditating on the passage is to grow in your love of Christ and to realize His presence in your life…
To say that the crowds are disturbed is an understatement. But Jesus carries on and insists that He will be ashamed of anyone who is ashamed of Him and the words He’s just spoken. “Well, don’t sugarcoat it, Jesus,” we say. And He doesn’t mean to…
Perseverance doesn’t mean that you follow Christ without ever faltering in your faith. It means that your pilgrimage through this life takes you through “many…
. It’s not a question of whether or not we are gritty enough to follow Christ. That’s not the true measure of Christian faith. Ray Ortlund once said, “If you ever think, ‘I’m really not good at following Jesus, I’m not good at believing in Jesus, I don’t have the knack for it. If you ever feel like quitting…
The next parable concerns a king who goes to war without determining beforehand whether his army can match his enemies. What kind of king goes to war with only ten thousand when he’s fighting an army of twenty thousand?…
The owner’s words echo God’s own from Exodus 33:19 and Isaiah 64:8. I’ll offer an American paraphrase of the verses: “Am I not allowed to do what want with my clay? I am the potter after all!…
This is what I find most hopeful about this passage, and about the gospel. Some of Jesus’ earliest followers after the resurrection were Pharisees. How amazing is that? The very people that Matthew so often pits in opposition to the Kingdom of Heaven become some of its first citizens after the Resurrection…
Matthew is the only gospel writer to tell us this agrarian tale about this eccentric vineyard owner (aren’t they all?) and his employees. I think this is because it was significant to him, and to the original Jewish Christian communities in which he pastored. I like to imagine that he recounted this parable…
