In response to Jesus’ call for his disciples to go over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Matt 8:18), a disciple replied, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Matt 9:21 ESV). On the face of it, this seems like a reasonable request, but at the same time it appears to put the love of God and a love of neighbor, or the two tables of the law, on a collision course. Objectively and in isolation, burying one’s father is a good and necessary consequence of the fifth co

The healing of the centurion’s servant is a remarkable story, the profoundness of which it is likely difficult for us to grasp today. Even more so than the leper who boldly breached custom when he drew near to Jesus to ask for healing, this centurion showed bold faith in his request. To appreciate why Jesus commented on the faith of the centurion, it is helpful to reflect briefly on the character of this Roman soldier. This will also allow us to draw in the additional comment

As the Sermon on the Mount wraps up, Jesus concludes with several related warnings that tie together word and deed. There seems to be an emphasis on the outwardly ordinary words or attention to words which masks an inward contradiction. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, a dazzling display of power without submission to God’s will, and a seemingly sound structure built on either rock or sand. There is a diversity of ways in which people might appear to be kingdom disciples yet there

The title, “The Golden Rule,” is traditionally traced to the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus (A.D. 222-35) who, though not a Christian, was so impressed by the words of Jesus that he had it inscribed in gold on the wall of his chamber.[1] Whether or not this tradition is true, it nonetheless shows the great impact that Jesus’ words has even on those outside of the Christian faith. Even more, since all wisdom is God’s wisdom, it should not be surprising to hear similar words s

Television and podcast host, Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs fame, is known to popularize the phrase “safety third.” “Safety third” contrasts with the often stated, “safety first” heard everywhere from construction sites to amusements parks. Rowe pushes back against the concept of “safety first” because if safety truly was of first importance, houses would never get built, container ships would never get unloaded, and roller coasters would sit empty. In all of life, there is some ri

In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus addresses three outworkings of righteousness, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. For each one, the emphasis lays on uniting act and intention in the direction of glorifying God rather than oneself. Consistent with the first two, the third outworking of righteousness, is a positively good work, a good exercise of righteousness. Indeed, Jesus assumes that his disciples will fast, and so this teaching is not directed at abrogating the practice of fasting b

As Jesus confronts a hypocritical way of praying in Matthew 6, he makes a profound statement about the relationship of kingdom disciples to the King when he begins his model prayer with the words, “Our Father.” To be sure, the concept of God’s fatherhood and the corresponding ideas of adoption and sonship do not originate in Jesus’ teaching. For example, Israel is called God’s firstborn son (Exod 4:22; Hos 11:1), and the Davidic king was designated God’s son (Ps 2:7). Neverth

In the second half of Matthew 5, Jesus lays out the relationship of the children of the kingdom to the law according to his own fulfillment of it. In the first half of Matthew 6, we encounter a further development of what it means to live in the kingdom according to Jesus’ fulfillment of the law, but these words are focused on a few important ways in which righteousness must be practiced perfectly. The first of these practices is giving to the needy, which stands as a concret

More than 2,000 elders gathered in Louisville, KY, for this year’s annual meeting of the Presbyterian Church in America from June 22 to 25. This is an important meeting for our denomination, as we gather to review the work of the past year and prepare for the future. The first two days are taken up with committee meetings and other preparations. The rest of the time is reserved for the business of the assembly. I served on the committee that reviewed the work of the PCA Admin

Among the antithetical sayings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus raises an issue with the marriage vow by quoting the words of Moses from Deut 24:1-4. Broadly speaking, the intent of those verses in Deuteronomy was not to establish divorce as normative but to highlight simultaneously the sanctity of marriage and the effective power of speech via marriage vows. If a man marries a woman but then divorces her, he cannot take her back, “for that is an abomination before

Many squirm at the mention and reality of hell. It is a hard pill to swallow, knowing that there will be a cohort of impenitent individuals who will experience the eternal judgement of God. To shirk such an idea, some would suggest that wrath, judgement, and punishment are found only “in the god of the Old Testament,” while assuming the New Testament presents a God only full of grace and a beloved teacher, Jesus. Yet, we hear of the doctrine of hell from the lips of Jesus mor

Having laid out a provocative sketch of the blessed life in the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus then turns to foundational matters. The inward and outward characteristics of the blessed life correspond to the call for personal integrity and illuminating good works in the lives of those who follow Christ. That the Christian life is more than personal piety is made clear by our Lord when he calls his disciples to let their “light shine before others so that they may s