I am sometimes asked if this or that activity is acceptable to do on Sunday. Setting aside the endless arguments about whether Sunday is the Christian Sabbath or not, the substantial concern is whether the person who asks wants to appear faithful or to actually be faithful. To be sure, if we attempt to sketch out a rigid list of do’s and don’t’s for Sundays, we risk falling into the Pharisees’ camp of hypocritical external conformance to rules. God prefers mercy over sacrific

All of Matthew 11 hangs together as an instructive sequence revolving around two key ideas: the hiddenness of God’s ways in the world, on the one hand, and the way that wisdom allows one to apprehend those ways. The question posed by John the Baptist in the beginning of the chapter highlights the hiddenness of God’s ways in the world. He has found it difficult to see how his cousin is fulfilling messianic expectations, at least according to the light he had been given. After

Following on from Jesus’ response to the disciples of John the Baptist, Matthew records Jesus’ defense of John. The thrust of vv7-15 is that John prophesied and prepared according to the light he was given—and he did that well—but those who saw and heard the Lord Jesus were given greater light—and greater responsibility to heed his words and follow him where he leads. These verses unfold in two parts. In vv7-10, Jesus affirms that John is no weak-willed dandy who has suddenl

As Jesus wraps up his speech to the Twelve in preparation for their first short-term mission trip, he summarizes in a paradoxical way the tenor of their engagement with the world. The gospel which they preach will simultaneously cause the exclusion of those who believe it and itself exclude those who reject it. And yet, the gospel will also (ultimately) include everyone who accepts its exclusive claims about the coming of the kingdom and the identity of the Messiah. The resol

Among the most difficult texts of the New Testament to interpret are the words of Jesus that have to do with final judgment and the coming of the Son of Man in glory. Matthew 10:23, along with Matthew 24 and a few other texts in that gospel, have generated many different interpretations. These interpretations are worthy of consideration, but have been presented in this reflection rather than the sermon to keep things from getting bogged down in the details. The focus of this

Matthew concludes the narrative of signs and wonders in chapter 9 with Jesus’ deeply significant comments on harassed sheep and a plentiful harvest. These words connect Jesus’ ministry back to the Old Testament promises of a good shepherd, faithful messenger, and suffering servant who would bring about a decisive change in the fortunes of God’s people. Both at the beginning of his public ministry (Luke 4) and in response to John the Baptist’s concerns about his identity (Matt

Among the signs and wonders that Jesus performed, the healing of the woman with the twelve-year hemorrhage is remarkable. While Matthew streamlines the account compared to Mark and Luke, excising much of the drama found in the complementary accounts, he retains the woman’s rationale for her actions, which will be the subject of this reflection. The main takeaway is that a superstitious view of Jesus and his power to save cannot stand for those who will truly benefit from his

The disciples of John the Baptist occasion an opportunity for Jesus to explain how his advent fundamentally changes the way that God’s people relate to him. There is a paradigm shift with the coming of Jesus, but it doesn’t fundamentally change the message. Rather, it changes our relationship to the message because it changes our relationship to the messenger. So, J.H. Bavinck summarizes Jesus’ response in v15 well when he writes, “[Jesus] wanted these disciples of John to se

The framing of the encounter between Jesus and two demon-possessed men in Matthew 8 is curious. Grammatically, the main verb, translated as “met” but likely with the connotation “opposed,” stands in the middle of the sentence between Jesus’ arrival and the description of the two men. That is to say, even the structure of the sentence seems to set these two parties in opposition. What’s more, Matthew describes this confrontation as one initiated by the demon-possessed men. Whi

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