In the temptations, Satan wants to disqualify Jesus as the Messiah while God wants to demonstrate that Jesus is worthy to be the Messiah. We’ll look how how Jesus responds when he’s tempted to believe God is no longer taking care of him. For each of the temptations we’ll answer 3 questions: Why is the […]
Matthew
09 Matthew 3:13-17 The baptism of Jesus
At his baptism, God confirms that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, who will rule on David’s throne forever. We also see what kind of king he is: humble and willing to serve.
08 Matthew 3:1-12 John the Baptist
John the Baptist was the herald who announced the coming of the King. His message had two parts: repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The king is coming. It is time to turn back to God and follow his Messiah.
07 Matthew 2:19-23 A Nazarene
This quotation presents the hardest challenge because no passage in the Old Testament says the Messiah will be called a Nazarene. Instead Matthew is summarizing an idea taught in the prophets. We need both grammar and historical background to understand him.
06 Matthew 2:16-18 Rachel weeping
In this third fulfillment passage, Matthew compares the murder of the young boys in Bethlehem to the Rachel weeping in her tomb for the captives about to be deported to Babylon. In both events, all hope seems lost.
05 Matthew 2:13-15 Out of Egypt
Matthew tells us the life of Jesus “fulfills” something spoken by the prophet Hosea. Yet Hosea is not “predicting” anything; Hosea is looking backward to the Exodus. What is Matthew doing? He’s pointing out the theological connection between Israel as God’s son and the Messiah, God’s son.
04 Matthew 2:1-23 The early life of Jesus
Matthew draws many parallels between the early life of Jesus and the Old Testament to reinforce his main point: Jesus is the Christ, the son of Abraham and son of David, who will fulfill God’s promises.
03 Matthew 1:18-25 Birth of Jesus
You would think that a passage covering the birth of Jesus would be easy “Christmas stuff” we’re all familiar with. Don’t be fooled. Matthew’s account raises some interesting theological questions.
02 Matthew 1:1-17 Genealogy of Jesus
Writers are usually told to start their books with a hook that will immediately engage their readers. Matthew begins his gospel with a list of names. Could anything be more boring? Yet Matthew did start with a bang. This list is relevant to every human being who ever lived.
01 Gospel of Matthew Introduction
Jesus claimed that “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to him (Mt 28:18). If that’s true, and I believe it is, then we benefit by learning all we can about Jesus. Matthew wrote this gospel to tell us who Jesus is and what that means for us.
