Highlight For anyone familiar with the Gospels, it can be confusing why some of the stories seem out of order from one another. The answer lies in the difference between ancient and modern biographies. In modern biographies, the lives of people are described in careful chronological order because that’s the “right” thing to do. However, in the first century, that is not how Greco-Roman biographies were organized. Instead, the culture at the time valued putting together stories from someone’s life to help make a point about the kind of person they were. This feels very odd to our modern, western sensibilities but was completely normal at the time. In fact, the three authors of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) would have read the different orderings of each other's Gospels and declared that all three were accurate simply because placing things in chronological order wasn’t a value.  Read More

Highlight In Matthew 8, Jesus uses a term that he will continue to use throughout the Book of Matthew to describe himself: “Son of Man.” Just taken as three words, it seems like a very simple and generic description. This is especially because Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, a far more impressive title. But ‘Son of Man’ is an Old Testament term that can be found primarily in two places. First, God addresses the prophet Ezekial in those terms regularly. Second, there is a Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament Book of Daniel. Daniel 7:13-14 says, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”  Read More

Welcome to Week 2 of the 2023 Be. Become. Do. Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. This is a series all about how we are each invited to embrace a life where we will be with Jesus, become like Jesus and then live our lives doing what Jesus would do In order to better apprentice under Jesus, we are going to spend our reading plan following his ministry by reading an eyewitness account written by one of his disciples: Matthew.  Read More

Highlight Jesus ends his famous Sermon on the Mount with four warnings, each with a paired contrast: two ways, two trees, two claims, and two builders. The theme of these contrasted pairs is to make it abundantly clear that there is no neutral position that someone can hold on Jesus. You either follow him, or you don’t. One of the reasons this is so important can be shown in the response of the people at the end of his sermon: “they were amazed by his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority.” (v28-29) They don’t just mean that Jesus had a lot of confidence. They mean that he is personally claiming authority that no one else claimed. When prophets would teach the things of the Kingdom of God, they would end with “Thus says the Lord,” showing that their authority comes from Him. But Jesus has been saying, “But *I* say to you.” This claim to authority is unique, and the crowds recognized it as a claim to Messianic authority, even if they didn’t fully understand the true purpose of the Messiah. The authority that Jesus has claimed in his teaching is about to be confirmed in the performing of miracles.  Read More

Highlight Verse 1 sets up the first half of the chapter. This is a principle that unites the next three examples that Jesus gives. A Jewish audience would have thought of specific behaviors when Jesus said “acts of righteousness,” and the first three things that would come to mind are almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. These are exactly the next three things that Jesus addresses, and the structure of his teaching is the same for all three. But in the first verse, Jesus tells us the fundamental idea that we must remember - our motivation matters. Doing what is good must be a response to the love and goodness of our Father, not in order to receive the praise of others. The structure is the same - First, a warning not to do the act in order to receive praise from others. Second, a guarantee that if you ignore this warning you’ll get exactly what you are looking for and nothing more. Third, instruction on how to do the same ‘act of righteousness’ in secret. And finally, an assurance that your Heavenly Father will both see you and reward you.  Read More

Highlight The Sermon on the Mount is the first of five great teachings of Jesus recorded for us by Matthew. This is yet another example of the way that Matthew is intentionally connecting Jesus to the Old Testament. This time, it’s a connection between Jesus and the great teacher of Israel’s history: Moses. Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land. Moses was the intermediary between Israel and God, speaking to them about God’s law and how they were to be distinct from the world around them. Moses’ teachings were recorded in five great books, the Torah, which make up the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Matthew builds his account of Jesus’ life around five teachings to draw a connection between Jesus and Moses.  Read More