Sunday Sermons

As we begin Holy Week, we’ll spend time looking at various New Testament letters to see how the Biblical authors point us to the cross to see the love of God and the work of salvation. 

This week’s passage has some very familiar elements to it as Jesus travels to a different location but performs a similar miracle as recorded in Matthew 14. While many verses at the end of today’s passage are mirror images from that last miraculous feeding, we see here a new audience. This fact stands out as we see Jesus broaden the reach of his power and compassion.  

This week’s passage turns from the stories of Jesus’ miracles temporarily to address the heart of the Pharisees. Jesus has a confrontation with the Pharisees where they are attempting to put him on the defense concerning ritual hand washing. Jesus doesn’t take the bait and uses it as an opportunity to teach on the real problem of what makes us unclean.  

In the text this week, we look at some of the most famous miracles of our Lord. These miracles are familiar to many of us who have walked with Jesus for some time, their familiarity sometimes causes us to overlook what they are saying about the Lord and what it means for us in how we serve him.  

This week’s passage gives us scenes where we get a view of two sets of people who reject those sent by God. The people of Nazareth take offense at Jesus and Herod puts John the Baptist to death at the request of his wife. These stories serve as real life illustrations of how the human heart tends to respond when being confronted with truth.

This week’s passage marks the end of Jesus’ initial series of parables. He switches from agrarian imagery to imagery of economics and business. By doing this, Jesus is teaching his disciples about how they ought to think when it comes to the worth of the kingdom.