Thursday, February 13, 2025

Who is this Jesus? -- Kingdom Invasion (Matt 8-10)

Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

Who is this Jesus? That is the question we are asking as we explore the Gospel of Matthew. By meditating on His words and actions as recorded by the apostles, we can come to know the one we call Savior a little bit better.

As Jesus finished His sermon on the mount, the crowds were amazed. Matthew tells us that "great crowds followed him." Matthew then shifts to focus to one particular individual who seems to have connected with Jesus' invitation--a leper. This man has heard this Jesus speak of an upside down Kingdom where the outcast can find hope, and he responds: in worship ("Lord"), prayer ("If you will"), and faith ("you can make me clean"). Through this man's response, the Kingdom begins to come. In power.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Who is this Jesus? -- Kingdom Vision (Matt 5-7)

Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

Who is this Jesus? That is the question we are asking as we explore the Gospel of Matthew. By meditating on His words and actions as recorded by the apostles, we can come to know the one we call Savior a little bit better.

Matthew 5-7 are some of my favorite chapters. This is Jesus' first real meaty sermon. In this one section we have the encouragement of the beatitudes, the challenge to be a light, the heart of the Torah, the exhortation to seek God's Kingdom, the example of the Lord's prayer, the giving of the golden rule, and the parable of the house on the rock. That's quite a bit of material to unpack found in these 3 chapters. Far too much for a single blog post. So we will focus our attention by remembering our question: Who is this Jesus that speaks with such authority?

Friday, January 24, 2025

Who Is This Jesus? -- Kingdom Mission (Matt. 3-4)

Who is this Jesus? That is the question we are asking as we explore the Gospel of Matthew. By meditating on His words and actions as recorded by the apostles, we can come to know the one we call Savior a little bit better.

In the first few chapters of Matthew we saw where Jesus came from--His family history and where he fits in the story of Israel. You know, background. Now, in chapters 3 and 4, we will see Jesus enter the public scene for the first time. Here, we will begin to discover what Jesus came to do.

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Who is this Jesus? -- King, Redeemer, Immanuel (Matt 1-4)

Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

Who is this Jesus? That is the question we are asking as we explore the Gospel of Matthew. By meditating on His words and actions as recorded by the apostles, we can come to know the one we call Savior a little bit better.

The book of Matthew begins with a genealogy. Not exactly the riveting "hook" that they teach you to start with in creative writing class. In fact, the very first line of Matthew introduces the book as "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." What does this tell us about Jesus?