Matthew 17 records a stunning picture with a simple, yet important, message. As we come to Matthew 17 I want us to soak in the amazing picture and then consider what the point of the picture is. Notice the first two verses of Matthew 17 as our introduction to our study. We are told that only six days have passed since the events of chapter 16. Six days have passed since he told his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, be killed by the Jewish leaders, and raise from the dead three days later. Peter rebuked Jesus but Jesus explains the following him means denying ourselves and taking up our crosses just as he would. Now Jesus takes only three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, and brings them up on this mountain…

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We have been looking at the end of Ezekiel’s prophecy in which God is proclaiming what he is going to do for his people when the Spirit is poured out. The message began with the need for God himself to come and shepherd us so that we can have peace and rest (Ezekiel 34). Further, God will bring his people into the promised eternal inheritance (Ezekiel 35-36). Not only this, God is going to perform a heart surgery on his people so that they are radically transformed (Ezekiel 36). God will cleanse his people, remove their stubborn hearts and give them soft hearts so that they will be careful to obey his rules. How was God going to cause people to obey him? How was God going to swap stubborn hearts for repentant hearts in his people? The cross of Jesus would be the glorious event in which we see the loving kindness of God on full display. Paul described this as God pouring his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5-11). But there is more than God has in store for his people. In Ezekiel 37 God gives Ezekiel a vision to see what God will do next…

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We are looking at the hard sayings of Jesus that are found in Matthew 16-20. We are at a turning point in Jesus’ life in Matthew’s gospel account as we come to the end of Matthew 16. Look at what Jesus starts telling his disciples in Matthew 16:21.

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16:21 ESV)

Jesus starts telling his disciples about what is going to happen because it is important to understand the meaning of Jesus’ death. For much of the world, people have heard about the death of Jesus and maybe even go to church every once in awhile to commemorate it. But few understand what the death and resurrection of Jesus is supposed to mean to their lives…

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The end of Ezekiel’s prophecy gives pictures of the God’s promise of the Spirit that will radically change his people and radically change the world. In Ezekiel 34 we saw that God has the heart of a shepherd for his people. God himself will come and shepherd his people, healing them and helping them because they were scattered. When Jesus comes he calls himself the good shepherd who knows his sheep. We are also told that Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they people were like sheep without a shepherd. We considered that the writer of Hebrews concludes his book reminding us that Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant so that we can be equipped to do everything that is good. The first picture God presents is that nothing can happen until God himself comes and shepherds his people, establishing a covenant of peace with them (34:25). This will allow God to shower his blessings on the people and make the people be a blessing to the world (34:26). In Ezekiel 35-36 God described a radical inheritance that will take place when the Spirit comes. God proclaimed that when he cleansed his people, the land would be restored to like the garden of Eden (36:33-35). When God cleansed his people, he would also establish his throne and exert his rule over earth just as rules over heaven…

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We are looking at the hard sayings and events in the life of Jesus, many of which are recorded in Matthew 16-20. Matthew 16:13-20 is an extremely controversial portion of scripture. It is a part of God’s word that has been twisted, misused, and misapplied in a number of ways. I am asking you in this lesson to set aside what you might know about this text and heard about this text and been taught about this text. I want you to come to this text with fresh eyes and new hearts to hear what Jesus is going to teach about his kingdom. So prepare your heart for another hard saying of Jesus…

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The end of Ezekiel’s prophecy gives pictures of the God’s promise of the Spirit that will radically change his people and radically change the world. In Ezekiel 34 we saw that God has the heart of a shepherd for his people. God himself will come and shepherd his people, healing them and helping them because they were scattered. When Jesus comes he calls himself the good shepherd who knows his sheep. We are also told that Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they people were like sheep without a shepherd. We considered that the writer of Hebrews concludes his book reminding us that Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant so that we can be equipped to do everything that is good. The first picture God presents is that nothing can happen until God himself comes and shepherds his people, establishing a covenant of peace with them (34:25). This will allow God to shower his blessings on the people and make the people be a blessing to the world (34:26). In Ezekiel 35-36 God will now describe a radical inheritance that will take place when the Spirit comes…

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We are starting a new series within the Gospel of Matthew that we are calling The Hard Sayings of Jesus. Matthew 16-20 contain some of the hardest teachings of Jesus and some events in Jesus’ life that are hard to understand. Before we begin, I want us to think about this idea. Jesus did not teach only simple concepts. Jesus did not keep things easy for his listeners. Jesus definitely did not keep his teachings easy for his disciples. Jesus says things that cause people to leave. Jesus says things that cause people to think that he has a demon (John 7:20; 8:52; 10:20). Jesus says things that even caused disciples to leave him (John 6:66). But Jesus was not afraid to teach the truth, even if the truth was hard to accept. I hope we can prepare our hearts to listen to Jesus and accept his teachings so that we can truly say we are disciples of him…

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