This week we discuss the passage where the Jewish religious leaders attempt to entrap Jesus by asking him whether it was consistent with the Law of Moses to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus responds by asking them to show him the coin, and simply by possessing the coin, they demonstrate their hypocrisy. He calls them to be more concerned about giving their lives to God. The Reformers used this text as a basis for their view of the relationship between the church and the state. We use that lens as a way of talking about our ability to hear what Jesus was saying.

This week we discuss the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, which is the third and final parable with which Jesus confronts the Jewish religious leaders for their unwillingness to accept him and his message. This parable is very much influenced by Matthew’s view that the church is composed for both the good and the evil, who will be separated in the final judgment. It is a difficult text, and we discuss some of the problems it raises as well as strategies for preaching.

This week we discuss the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, which seems to be intended by Jesus as an allegory to confront the Jewish religious leaders over their rejection of him. Calvin agrees with this reading, but he also applies it to his own time, and reminds us that all those who would act as God’s “servants” are subject to human weakness. Finally, we discuss that as a possible avenue for preaching.

This week we discuss the question from the Jewish religious leaders about the authority by which Jesus carried out his ministry. We also discuss the Reformers’ approach to this passage, focusing on John the Baptist. Finally, we conclude by discussing the issue of “right” versus “wrong” interpretation.

This week we return to where we started 3 years ago, with the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. We discuss the possibility that Jesus’ original parable was commentary on the economic situation in which one landowner had a large enough vineyard to hire all the laborers in the village. That was an obvious departure from the laws regarding the land in the Torah. We talk about the Reformers’ views on this parable as reflecting the nature of work, faith, and works righteousness. Finally, we discuss how this parable illustrates God’s generosity toward us all.

This week we talk about Jesus’ teaching on unlimited forgiveness as one of the organizing principles for life in Christian community. We discuss the challenges that the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant” poses for our understanding of God. We also learn about how the Church has tended to put conditions on the unlimited forgiveness Jesus advocates. Finally, we look at some options for preaching this difficult text.

This week we discuss what is perhaps one of the most difficult passages, where Matthew likely reports a process for admonishing a brother or sister disciple that had developed in his community. We look at this potentially problematic text through the lens of Matthew’s “Community Discourse” in Chapter 18, where Matthew surrounds this procedure with Jesus’ teachings about humility, care, and forgiveness. As Calvin reminds us, any admonition should be motivated by love. We discuss practical ways of seeking restoration for broken relationships in our contemporary setting.

TThis week we discuss Jesus prediction of his death and resurrection, and his call to his disciples to follow him in a path that leads them to make the “righteousness of the kingdom” the orientation for their lives, just as Jesus did. This is a counter-cultural message, and is difficult to practice, but for Matthew it’s the heart of discipleship.

This week we take an extended look at Matthew’s version of Peter’s confession, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” along with Jesus’ apparent commendation of Peter as the “rock” on which the church would be built. This text has provoked a great deal of discussion in the history of Christianity, because it is a key text for the role of the Popes in the Roman Catholic Church. We look at the way the Reformers dealt with this, including a woodcut that clearly opposes the Catholic tradition by presenting a counter image to the papal seal. We steer away from that approach and take our cue from Ulrich Luz’s commentary on Matthew, exploring ways that we can find unity through the teaching of the apostles.

TThis week we talk about a troubling passage in which Jesus seemingly responds harshly to a Canaanite woman’s request for healing. We discuss it in the context of the ongoing tensions between Jewish and Gentile Christians in the First-Century church, as well as the prejudices against gentiles Jesus’ disciples harbored, as perhaps also did some of the members of Matthew’s community. The result is the recognition that Jesus commends her for her “great faith,” in contrast to the disciples whom he calls “you of little faith”!