Word Surprises

Matthew 16:15-19 15 He (Jesus) said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” When Jesus spoke these words to Peter, He was not just only saying that Peter was: Blessed  because his confession came from the Father Himself (verse 17), but also that he was: Identified. When Jesus used Peter's full Hebrew name (Simon Bar-Jonah), He was identifying Simon Peter as a person with a unique Hebrew identity before God and a son of the prom...

Matthew 11:25-12:21 The earlier chapters of Matthew describe how Jesus had seen the brokenness and burden of the Jewish people and how they  "were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd"  ( Matthew 9:36 ). This was because Israel no longer heard from their Great Shepherd.  Israel at the time was oppressed by the Romans who had conquered their land. In turn, the Romans had allowed Herod Antipas to rule the nation and tax them heavily. Finally, there was an oppressive religious hierarchy that dominated the spiritual heart of the nation. This group included the Pharisees and the Sadducees and they demanded strict obedience to the law of God by the people of Israel. They saw themselves as examples of faithfulness but sadly they missed the intent of the Law which was to love God ( Deuteronomy 6:5 ). Jesus saw that the people were weary of trying to comply with the Pharisaical view of the Law and that they had lost heart. In their minds God was afar off and...

Matthew chapter 8:1-34 documents a veritable avalanche of miracles that resulted from Jesus' ministry to the Jewish people.  Matthew 8 lists: the healing of a leper,  the healing of a paralyzed Gentile servant,   the healing of Peter's mother-in-law from a fever, the freeing of two men from demon possession, and continues in chapter 9 with  the forgiving and healing of a paralytic man, the calling of Matthew to follow Jesus, the raising of a girl from the dead, the healing of a women from twelve years of illness, the restoration of sight for two blind, and  the restoration of a mute man's ability to speak again. Then at the end of chapter 9, in verses 35-36, Matthew succinctly characterizes the key aspects of Jesus' ministry, their impact and what motivated Him: 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He...

The Three Temptations of Jesus  are recorded in Matthew 4:1-11 and are well known. However they warrant a closer look because of the subtlety of the temptations and the details hidden in the narrative. The Setting: In  Matthew 3:13-17  the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and the events that followed are described. As Jesus arose from the water the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. Following this a voice spoke from heaven declaring " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased " . ( Matthew 3:13-17 , Mark 1:11-13 ).  What is surprising is that after this wonderful moment the Holy Spirit immediately sends Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil ( Matthew 4:1 ). In obedience Jesus fasts for 40 days and nights and at the end of the fast, as Matthew records in superb understatement, " He was hungry ". It is at this time that Satan appears to take advantage of Jesus' weakened st...