The angel tells Joseph that his beloved Mary is pregnant not by another man as he has supposed, but by the Holy Spirit of God (Matthew 1:20). Matthew lines their situation up with Isaiah’s prophecy, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,” (1:23/Isaiah 7:14). Joseph has two things to do: accept MaryContinue reading “Aaahh, Joseph!”
Category Archives: Matthew
A Sandcastle Faith
There will be storms for the disciple. When Jesus speaks of them in Matthew 7:24ff, it is a when rather than an if type of statement that He makes. This shouldn’t surprise us, the Scripture promises believers will have their share of difficulties and hardships (Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12, etc.). They are part of the tapestry of our faith. Continue reading “A Sandcastle Faith”
Fishing for Taxes
The account of Jesus paying the temple tax is a brief story tucked away in the last part of a chapter (Matthew 17). Furthermore, it is greatly overshadowed by the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus and the healing story in the first part of that chapter. When we finally do zoom in on theContinue reading “Fishing for Taxes”
Forward By Backward
The Torah (law) came through Moses. The call to return to the law came through the prophets. Men such as Elijah called Israel away from their idols and back to God (see 1 Kings 18). It’s no coincidence that after John appeared on the scene, Jesus identified him as the Elijah who was to come and restore all things (Matthew 17;Continue reading “Forward By Backward”
When Jesus Sang
It’s one of those “orphan” verses in the Bible. You know, the kind that sit by themselves, alone, isolated—usually because what comes before or after grabs our attention. In fact, it might be one of those verses that someone unfamiliar with the Bible would notice before a regular Bible reader because regular readers tend to read inContinue reading “When Jesus Sang”
Speaking The Truth In A White Lie World
“You have my word on it.” Does that mean anything today? Hopefully, it does. We’d like to think it means that you meant what you said, you can be trusted, others can count on you. The sad truth though is that we live in a world where the truth isn’t always the truth. We live in aContinue reading “Speaking The Truth In A White Lie World”
You Are The Treasure That I Seek
Jesus has been discussing seeking God through giving, praying, and fasting in Matthew 6:1-18. He’s instructed His disciples to “do not” in regard to certain practices of the Pharisees (v. 2,5,16). In 6:19ff, He takes up another “do not,”—do not seek earthly treasure. Once again, the Pharisees are the entry point of the discussion. They were lovers of moneyContinue reading “You Are The Treasure That I Seek”
Winning The Day
It’s hard to read through the Sermon on the Mount without being struck by Jesus’ emphasis on living life in the same manner as it is given by God—one day at a time. To this point He spoke about praying for daily bread (“Give us this day our daily bread” – Matthew 6:12). It’s easyContinue reading “Winning The Day”
What Happened In The Wilderness
It’s easy to think of Jesus resisting temptation in quantitative terms—He was able to do more than we could. We could have resisted up to a point, but Jesus resisted all of the way. There’s truth to this of course, but it’s not the whole truth and consequently if we treat it like the whole truth itContinue reading “What Happened In The Wilderness”
What Bible Study Should Be
The Sadducees were sold on first five books of Scripture and found no resurrection there. What they did find was the levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). In Matthew 22:23-33 their argument to Jesus pits potential circumstances created through application of this law with the resurrection (as they understood it). Their conclusion was that the resurrection was not possible—GodContinue reading “What Bible Study Should Be”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 