In this next story in Matthew’s gospel we have a collection of the names of the first twelve disciples, listed in pairs. They’re presented in this way because the twelve disciples are about to be sent out by Jesus to do some ministering of their own...

In this letter to the Corinthians, Paul instructs them that their weaknesses are not a disadvantage. Weaknesses are the very place where God demonstrates His great power.

For what does Jesus ask us to pray? Apart from what he taught is in the Lord’s Prayer there aren’t many other directly stated matters. This makes his words of guidance at the end of chapter nine both interesting and unique. In them Jesus directs his...

Matthew puts his next to last miracle of the healing of the blind men, toward the end of chapter nine, in order to show us how faith opens our eyes to see Jesus for who he most fully us. In telling us about the miracles of Jesus he’s giving us every...

If we could read the Gospels through first-century eyes Jesus’s treatment of women would knock us to our knees as he repeatedly welcomed women his contemporaries despised. In view of this it’s really no surprise to learn that the early Christian...

In this episode of Matthew’s gospel Jesus gets questioned about why he’s not fasting like most rabbis do. For those on the outside, it appears that Jesus and his disciples aren’t as spiritually rigorous as other discipleship groups. Jesus answers the...

Grumbling is not a small matter in God’s eyes, for it questions His character. If we hold back from grumbling when facing a trial, it is an opportunity to shine as a light in a dark world where grumbling is the norm. We can fight a grumbling spirit by...

Church leadership is called to shepherd God's flock. They are not to do this under compulsion, but willingly. They are not to do this for personal gain, but eagerly. They are not to do this as authoritarians, but as examples.

Before Matthew became a disciple of Jesus he was a tax man. Not the kind of tax man who would send you a letter saying that you were unfairly penalized by $200. He was the type of guy who would take the opportunity to overtax you and pocket the profit...

In Jesus’s sixth of nine miracles that he performs in chapters eight and nine of Matthew’s gospel, he heals a paralytic to prove that he has the authority of God to forgive sins. As Christians, we believe that forgiveness lies at the heart of the...