If Matthew chapters 1 and 2 are an encapsulation and re-enactment of the drama of the Old Testament, Matthew 3 begins where the Old Testament left off. John the Baptist is the promised Elijah who would warn the people before the “great and terrible day of the LORD.” (Malachi 4:5) The elements of Malachi 4 […]
Matthew 2:7-12, 19-23 The people of God arise from faith in the promises of God. God’s promises are certain. They are also tenuous, thin, fragile, and delicate. Like a thread connecting two things, the connection is a thin as it is real. As God’s promises are, so also are His People. The whole of Matthew […]
Chesterton says that most philosophies create virtue through moderation of passions. A person attempts to manage his personality by neither becoming too angry or too joyful. This calm demeanor is seen as a virtue. Christianity, Chesterton argues creates virtue through a conflict between two passions. Exodus 34:5-9 we find these blazing opposites within the person […]
Hopelessness is sticky. It is a deadend, a trap, a pit of quicksand. Hunger bears the impulse to eat. Thirst, bears the impulse to drink. Hopelessness has no such advantage. When we despair, the presence of hope makes us feel only more hopeless. We are confronted by what seems like another impossibility. The only thing […]
bikkurim, first fruits, counting of the omer, resurrection
From the Feast of Fruits, Israel began to counting the fifty days until Shavuot. When the last night of the countdown came, the faithful in Israel would spend the night studying the Torah and praying- they were trying to set right the day when Moses came down from the mountain with the stone tablets of […]
Why would a baby be a threat to a king? Why would far off kings come to pay homage to a baby? What is it that Matthew seeks to tell us about Jesus in the opening chapters of his Gospel? We can put together a few pieces from Matthew 2:1-12 to get a better view. […]
Pentecost PromisesLev. 23:15-21 Takes place on the day the Law was brought down from Mt. Sinai Commemorates the giving of God’s Law Christ sends His Spirit to write His Law on the hearts of His People (Jer 31:33-34, 2Cor 3:3-11) Occurs during the barley harvest The Scroll of Ruth is read in the Temple […]
Commemorating Future Events If I were to tell you “in this day, twelve hundred years from today, a very important man will be born. I think we should declare a holiday in his honor.” How would you respond? You would probably think I was nuts. God, however, can do this sort of thing. That is […]
Two or three times in as many years, I have had conversations about Jesus’ parable in Mark 12 of the vine growers. The argument posited to me ran like this, “Doesn’t this parable prove that in Messiah, God was taking His Kingdom from Israel and giving it to the gentiles? Look at what Jesus says, […]
