Matthew 15:1-28 Are you an obedient person? The Pharisees would have claimed to be obedient people, but Jesus points out they are far from truly obedient to God. Jesus first points out that the Pharisees were not obeying God because they had created their own set of traditions rather than being committed to God’s commands. These man-made instructions allowed them to wiggle out of things like honor...

Matthew 14:13-36 How do you respond to people who interrupt your schedule? Do you respond with kindness and patience; or want them to just go away? Both responses are seen in today’s reading. Jesus had just learned that his relative John had been brutally beheaded and he wanted some alone time. Whether it is because of grief, feeling emotionally drained, or just feeling tired, we can all probably ...

Matthew 13:47-14:12 What do you take for granted? What have you become so desensitized to that you have lost your gratitude and awe over that thing? Could this maybe even include God, his grace, salvation, and the work of Jesus? Familiarity breeds contempt. I do not know if this statement is true in all of life, but it was true of the crowds in Nazareth. They knew Jesus’ family and would have know...

Matthew 13:24-46 What is the kingdom of heaven? It is one of Jesus’ most commonly taught ideas, but it can seem like a vague concept in our minds. At minimum a kingdom involves a territory, a ruler, and the ruled. Christ helps to open up the concept of the kingdom of heaven through five parables: the parable of the weeds, the mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure, and the pearl. When we com...

Matthew 12:46-13:23 How much of the Bible do you understand? Do you find yourself reading and comprehending it, or do you find yourself scratching your head in befuddlement? Either way, know that you are in good company. The Bible is meant to be meditation literature; this means that we are meant to read it over and over again and think deeply about its meaning and application to our lives. Look a...

Matthew 12:22-45 One of the most critical questions everyone must answer is, who do you think Jesus is? CS Lewis said there were only three possible answers to this question if you examine the gospel accounts closely. He is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. Yet often people want to find alternative answers to this question. As Jesus’ ministry continued, there were many different answers to this q...

Matthew 12:1-21 Do you ever find yourself becoming obsessed by seemingly insignificant things and missing the main thing? Something that, when you step back you realize that you have substituted the inferior for the greater. When we do that, we have become like the Pharisees. One of the greatest conflicts between the Pharisees and Jesus concerned Sabbath adherence. The Sabbath was given as a sign ...

Matthew 11:7-30 Throughout the course of our lives, unmet expectations are unavoidable. The dreams we have for our marriage, family, jobs etc. will often fail to come to fruition. Similarly, our expectations for what we want God to do will often not be met. How will we respond when things do not work out how we hoped? Jesus confronts unmet expectations by addressing how his ministry, and that of J...

Matthew 10:24-11:6 What are you afraid of ? What are the things that paralyze you and fill your mind with worry? Jesus addresses fear and worry in Matthew 10. Matthew 9-10 describe the call of all believers to participate in God’s kingdom work. The beginning of chapter 10 describes what the disciples were to do and today’s reading describes how we are to do it. We are to serve God without fear of ...

Matthew 10:1-23 Matthew 9 ended with a call to pray for God to send out people to do his work. Matthew 10 begins by Jesus sending out the disciples to do this very work. Their prayers turn into action. This paradigm is often the way that God works in our lives as well. As we pray for something, our heart will inevitably change, and we will be compelled to take action in the area we have been prayi...

Matthew 9:18-38 What do you do and where do you go when you have run out of options? Where would you go if no doctors could cure your child? Where would you turn if you had an incurable disease? Where would you go if you were blind and nothing could restore your sight? Where would you turn if you encountered someone who was demon possessed? We meet the potential answer to all of these questions in...

Matthew 9:1-17 Who is Jesus? This is the most critical question for every person to answer. Yet it was difficult for those in Jesus’ day to answer, as it is also hard for people in our world today. Jesus did not fit into anyone's preexisting box when he came to Earth. The Pharisees could not make sense of the fact that he claimed to forgive sins, while at the same time he was eating with tax colle...

Matthew 8:18-34 We reveal how valuable something is by what we are willing to relinquish for it. Jesus has multiple people who claim to want to follow him, but he warns them about what that will cost them. If they follow Jesus, they are going to have to give up the comfort of a permanent residence and are even going to have to give up their families. Are they willing to sacrifice these things for ...

Matthew 8:1-17 How often do we just “go through the motions?” We can go to church every Sunday, give money away and back to God, read our Bibles, and be mostly nice to others. These are all good things, but they are also things we can take too much pride in—not one of those things buys us salvation. Being raised in a Christian home with parents who pray over you and take you to church every week i...

Matthew 7:15-29 What are you looking for? Some people are looking for a spouse, a new job, a package to arrive, or for a more stable financial situation. All of us are inevitably looking for something, but are we looking/watching for the right things? Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5- 7) by instructing us to "watch out." We are to externally watch out for those who are propagating lie...

Matthew 6:25-7:14 Worry is a chronic issue in most of our lives. We find ourselves filled with anxiety that does not seem to dissipate and struggle to experience the freedom and life which Christ has made available to us. Beautifully, Jesus gives us a way to live that can overcome worry. Jesus tells us not to feed our worry but to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” In seeking to motiv...

Matthew 6:1-24 What motivates you to live the way you do? Are you motivated by a desire to fit in, for material prosperity, for ease, or for God’s glory? As Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount, he wants us to consider what is motivating our actions and from whom we are seeking to receive praise. Jesus speaks multiple times to the temptation to live to be seen by others. This attitude creeps in...

Matthew 5:27-48Doctors can give you an assessment to determine your heart health. They can examine your history, an EKG result, and a number of other factors to determine your likelihood of having a cardiac event. Jesus in his sermon wants us to examine our heart health, not physically but spiritually. So, what is your spiritual heart health? Jesus first points out that the health of our heart is ...

Matthew 5:1-26 We live in accordance with the kingdom to which we belong. As citizen of America you pay taxes, follow laws, and can vote. So, what does it look like to live aligned with God’s kingdom? Jesus will develop the ethics and character of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven in the Sermon on the Mount (chapter 5-7). He will describe what the blessed life looks like and how we can live with ...

Matthew 4:12-25 At the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus’ public ministry began. The primary message which he communicated was about “the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God.” The way into the kingdom is to repent of our allegiance to alternative kingdoms and embrace him. We are called to leave the darkness and enter the light. We are called to give up self-reliance and acknowledge our need for a sav...