Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: Index of Posts

This series is an ongoing journey through the gospel of Matthew, the kingdom gospel. With rare exceptions, I post a new article every Thursday or Friday evening. When I began this work, I had no idea how much it would grow. Thank you for coming along with me.

Part 1: Anointed One: Is This the Jesus YOU Know? (Matthew 1:1)

Part 2: I Am: How We Make God in Our Image… and How to Know Who He Really Is (Matthew 1:1)

Part 3: Son of Blessing, Son of Kings: Why Jesus Is the Gateway to Life (Matthew 1)

Part 4: The Kingdom at Hand: The Gospel Is Bigger Than You Think (Matthew 1)

Part 5: Name Him Jesus; Call Him Immanuel: The Names of Jesus and the Point of Religion (Matthew 1:18-23)

Part 6: Magi: The Riddle of Reality and the Mystery Men From the East (Matthew 2:1-12)

Part 7: Out of Egypt: When God Calls You to Leave Slavery [Safety] Behind (Matthew 2:13-18)

Part 8: Following the Nazarene: Holiness, Puns, and How To Be a Saint (Matthew 2:19-23)

Part 9: To “Repent” Is to Hope: The Real Meaning of Jesus’ Call to Repentance (Matthew 3:1-2)

Part 10: Make His Paths Straight: Getting Our Hearts Ready For the King (Matthew 3:3)

Part 11: Preparing the Way: Why “Reconcile” Must Be the Chief Cry of Our Hearts (Matthew 3:3)

Part 12: Getting Real About Wrath: An Invitation From a (Justifiably) Angry God (Matthew 3:7-10)

Part 13: Out of the Water: How History Culminates In Jesus’ Baptism (Matthew 3:14-17)

Part 14: “If You Are”: What the Temptation of Jesus Reveals About Our Deadliest Trap (Matthew 4:1-11)

Part 15: What Faith Really Means (AKA Ordinary Trust and That Time Jesus Moved Away from Home) (Matthew 4:15-16)

Part 16: Heaven Is Here: How the Kingdom of God Changes Our Questions & Our Lives (Matthew 4:17)

Part 17: Purpose, Identity, and Why We Don’t Start with the Great Commission (Matthew 4:18-22)

Part 18: The Day When Jesus Heals Everyone (Matthew 4:23-24)

Part 19: Jesus Is Not “Just a Teacher.” But We Should Listen to Him. (Matthew 4:23-24)

Part 20: The Shadow Life of Moses and How We Know We Can Trust the Storyteller (Matthew 5)

THE BEATITUDES

Part 21: Beatitudes: Blessing and Resurrection and Why Jesus Is Better Than the Law (Matthew 5:1-12)

Part 22: Blessed Are the Spiritually Impoverished, for the Kingdom of Heaven Is Theirs (Matthew 5:3)

Part 23: Happy Are the Wrecked, for God Will Draw Near to Them (Matthew 5:4)

Part 24: Blessed Are the Afflicted, for They Will Inherit the Earth (Matthew 5:5)

Part 25: Blessed Are the Starving for Things to Be Made Right (Matthew 5:6)

Part 26: The Hidden Gospel in the Heart of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5)

Part 27: Blessed Are the Merciful, for They Will Obtain Mercy (Matthew 5:7)

Part 28: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart: What It Takes to See God (Matthew 5:8)

Part 29: Blessed Are the Makers of Reconciliation: Peacemaking and the Heart of God (Matthew 5:9)

Part 30: Blessed Are the Persecuted Prophets, Part 1: This Means You (Matthew 5:10-11)

Part 31: Blessed Are the Persecuted Prophets, Part 2: The God Who Respects Our No (Matthew 5:10-11)

Part 32: The Gospel According to Jesus (Matthew 5:3-12)

OUR KINGDOM PURPOSE

Part 33: Christians, Our Culture Needs You (And It’s Not for the Reason You Think) (Matthew 5:13)

Part 34: Christians, You Weren’t Saved Just for Your Own Sake (Matthew 5:14-16)

JESUS, THE LAW, & MORALITY

Part 35: Not to Destroy But to Fulfill: How Jesus Gets the Job Done (Matthew 5:17)

Part 36: God Is Not a Legalist (And Righteousness Isn’t What You Thought It Was) – Part 1 (Matthew 5:19-20)

Part 37: God Is Not a Legalist (And Righteousness Isn’t What You Thought It Was) – Part 2 (Matthew 5:19-20)

Part 38: The Law of the Spirit and How You Can Learn to Live Like God (Matthew 5:19-20)

Part 39: Good-bye, Frustration: How the Spirit Sets Us Free (Matthew 5:19-20)

Part 40: Higher Vision: Why Jesus’s Morality Is Better Than Ours (Matthew 5:19-20)

Part 41: What’s So Bad About Anger and How Jesus Calls Us to Freedom (Matthew 5:21-22)

Part 42: Why Sin is Serious (Matthew 5:21-22)

Part 43: Raca, Respect, and the Agape Love of God – Part 1 (Matthew 5:21-22)

Part 44: Raca, Respect, and the Agape Love of God – Part 2 (Matthew 5:21-22)

Part 45: Raca, Respect, and the Agape Love of God – Part 3 (Matthew 5:21-22)

Part 46: The Way of Reconciliation: How Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment (Matthew 5:23-26)

Part 47: Talking Slant: Jesus on Lust, Love, and Fidelity (Matthew 5:27–30)

Part 48: Recalibrating Our Religion: Jesus on Divorce (Matthew 5:31-32)

Part 49: Everything Sacred: Jesus on Telling the Truth (Matthew 5:33–37)

Part 50: Righteousness Redux: What Is the Point?

Part 51: Justice According to Jesus, Part 1 (Matthew 5:38-42)

Part 52: Justice According to Jesus, Part 2 (Matthew 5:38-42)

Part 53: How to Be Perfect: Loving Our Enemies and Becoming Like God   (Matthew 5:43-48)

Spiritual Disciplines

Part 54: Keeping Secrets and Finding Right Rewards: Jesus on Spiritual Disciplines (Matthew 6:1)

Part 55: The Spiritual Discipline of Giving to the Poor (Matthew 6:2-3)

Part 56: Religion and Relationship: The Call of Jesus to Authentic Faith (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16)

Part 69*: Secret Sorrow and Private Fasting: How Jesus Meets Us in Our Brokenness (Matthew 6:16-18)

(*Listed here out of order because topically it belongs with the larger group of spiritual disciplines–you can read this one before or after the Lord’s Prayer posts.)

The Lord’s Prayer

Part 57: “Your Father Knows”: Why It Matters Who You Pray To (Matthew 6:8)

Part 58: “Pray Like This”: How to Pray the Pattern in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9)

Part 59: How to Find Yourself in the Words “Our Father”  (Matthew 6:9)

Part 60:Honoring the Other: What Holiness Means (Matthew 6:9)

Part 61: Kingdom Come, Part 1: A Brief History of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:10)

Part 62: Kingdom Come, Part 2: Why Do We Pray “Your Kingdom Come”?(Matthew 6:10)

Part 63: The Will of God and the War for Life: How Praying “Your Will Be Done” Is an Act of Warfare (Matthew 6:10)

Part 64: The Power of Embracing Our Need: Meeting God in the Prayer of Daily Dependence (Matthew 6:11)

Part 65: The Centerpiece Prayer: Why “Forgive Us Our Debts” Is the Central Step in the Lord’s Prayer  (Matthew 6:12)

Part 66: “Lead Us Not Into Temptation”: The Prayer You Didn’t Know God Wanted You to Pray (Matthew 6:13)

Part 67: “Deliver Us from the Evil One”: What the Devil Has to Do With It (Matthew 6:13)

Part 68: Praising the King of Heaven: The Controversial Doxology (Matthew 6:13)

*For Part 69, see “Spiritual Disciplines” above.

Money, Possessions, and Living for Heaven

Part 70: Laying Up Treasures in Invisible Places: How to Live Life Jesus’s Way (Matthew 6:19-21)

Part 71: Free and Full of Light: What Jesus Taught about Scarcity, Generosity, and Abundance (Matthew 6:22-23)

Part 72: Money [Can Be] a Good Thing–But It’s a Always Terrible Master (Matthew 6:24)

Part 73: Right Places, Right Times: What Looking at the Birds Teaches Us about Provision (Matthew 6:25-26)

Part 74: Provision, Responsibility, and The Waste of Worry (Matthew 6:27)

Part 75: “Won’t God Do More for You?” How Jesus Confronts Our Low Expectations of God (Matthew 6:28-30)

Part 76: Trust at the Core: Why Jesus Lived in a Different World than We Do (Matthew 6:31-33)

On Seeking, Judging, and Discerning

Part 77: Seeing, Seeking, & Asking Questions: How to Find the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:31-33)

Part 78: Jesus on Judgment: What “Do Not Judge” Does and Does Not Mean (Matthew 7:1)

Part 79: What We Do When We Judge: Jesus on Judgment, Part 2 (Matthew 7:1-2)

Part 80: The Comparison Trap: Jesus on Judgment, Part 3 (Matthew  7:3-5)

Part 81: How to Be a Judgment-Free Zone: Jesus on Judgment, Part 4 (Matthew 7:1-5)

Part 82: Pearls Before Swine: Jesus the Riddler and What He Might Have Meant (Matthew 7:6)

Part 83: To Seek and Keep on Seeking: Jesus’ Call to Continual Exploration (Matthew 7:7)

Part 84: The Prayer that Listens: How to Practice a Lifestyle of Ask, Seek, Knock (Matthew 7:7)

Part 85: You Can Hear from God: Listening Prayer and the Choice to Believe (Matthew 7:7)

Part 86: How to Read the Bible (The Ask, Seek, Knock Approach) (Matthew 7:7)

Part 87: What If We Are Not Entitled? Asking, Seeking, and Knocking in Community (Matthew 7:7)

Part 88: Seeking and Finding: The Reason to Look, Ask, and Knock Is to Find (Matthew 7:8)

Part 89: Is God Good?: The Challenge of Faith in a World at War (Matthew 7:9-11)

Part 90: The Golden Rule and the Glory of Being Good (Matthew 7:12)

Part 91: Enter Through the Narrow Gate: The Hidden Way into the Kingdom (Matthew 7:13-14)

Part 92: Fruit, Sheep, and False Prophets: A Primer on Learning to Discern (Matthew 7:15-20)

On Being in the Kingdom

Part 93: Beyond “Lord, Lord”: Where Reformations Go Wrong and How We Can Enter the Kingdom (Matthew 7:21-23)

Part 94: Beyond Success and Power: Walking by the Spirit and Doing God’s Will (Matthew 7:21-23)

Part 95: Building on Rock: The Law of Christ and the Role of Works in the Christian Life (Part 1) (Matthew 7:24-27)

Part 96: Building on Rock: The Law of Christ and the Role of Works in the Christian Life (Part 2) (Matthew 7:24-27)

Part 97: The Unexpected Way: How We Lost the Gift of Discipleship—And Why We Need to Recover It (Matthew 7:28-29)

Part 98: Proximity vs Purpose: How to Step Out of the Crowd and Truly Follow Jesus (Matthew 7:28-8:1)

Healed, Whole, and His: Encounters with Jesus

Part 99: You Can Make Me Clean: How Jesus Reverses the Curse (Matthew 8:1-4)

Part 100: What God Really Wants: Encountering the Person of God in the Will of God (Matthew 8:1-3)

Part 101: When You Really Need to Change: Jesus and the Way to Personal Transformation (Matthew 8:4)

Part 102: Jesus in Authority: What It Means to Say “Jesus Is Lord” (Matthew 8:5-9)

Part 103: Sons of the Kingdom: Why Faith, Not Ethnicity, Is the Door to the Kingdom of God (Matthew 8:10-12)

Part 104: Great Faith in a Great God: What Makes Our Faith Great Is the “Who” Behind It (Matthew 8:10, 13)

Part 105: She Got Up to Serve: A Story of Healing, Service, and the Family of God (Matthew 8:14-15)

Part 106: Jesus in the Trenches: The Empathic Healer and the Mystery of Suffering (Matthew 8:14-15)

Part 107: The Call to Follow: What We Give Up to Follow Jesus—And What We Gain (Matthew 8:18-22)

Part 108: Asleep in the Boat: Why We Can’t Take Our Cues from Circumstances (Matthew 8:23-27)

Part 109: The Storm-Stiller: Jesus in Cosmic Perspective (and in the Ordinary Stuff in Our Lives) (Matthew 8:26-27)

Part 110: Seeing the Other Side: How the Gadarene Demoniacs Pull Back the Curtain on the Spirit World and Summon Us to Worship Jesus (Matthew 8:28-29)

Part 111: When Jesus Costs Us Our Comfort: Reevaluating Our Priorities in the Light of His Holiness (Matthew 8:30-34)

Part 112: “Whole and His”: What Forgiveness Says about Jesus, the Temple, and the Self-Revelation of Yahweh Incarnate (Matthew 9:1-8)

Part 113: It’s Time to Go Home: The Power of Forgiveness in the Ministry of Jesus (Matthew 9:1-8)

Part 114: Trembling on Holy Ground: Jesus, Forgiveness, and the Fear of the Lord (Matthew 9:4-8)

Part 115: Responsible to God: Trading Masters with Matthew the Tax-Collector (Matthew 9:9)

Part 116: The Hardest Choice: The Freedom and Fear of Following Christ (Matthew 9:9)

Part 117: Ordinary Radicals: Following Jesus When the Call Is to Stay (Matthew 9:9)

Part 118: Jesus at the Table: Why Jesus Ate with Sinners and What It Means for Us (Matthew 9:10-11)

Part 119: “Go and Learn What This Means,” Part 1: Roots, Pharisees, and Why the Old Testament Matters (Matthew 9:10-13)

Part 120: “Go and Learn What This Means,” Part 2: Mercy, Devotion, and the Great Romance (Matthew 9:10-13)

Part 121: What God Desires: Understanding the Heart of God in the Life of Jesus (Matthew 9:12-13)

Part 122: Feeding the Hungry in Your Life: How to Become a Place of Encounter with Jesus (Matthew 9:9-10)

Part 123: Weak and Wounded, Sick and Sore: Why Jesus Says Sinners Are Sick, and What That Means for the Gospel and for Us (Matthew 9:11-12)

Part 124: The Bridegroom Is with Them: The Dynamism of Walking with God (Matthew 9:14-15)

Part 125: The Groom Will Be Taken Away from Them: The Gospel Twist Nobody Saw Coming (Matthew 9:14-15)

Part 126: Contents, Containers, and Covenants: How the Coming of Jesus Changed Everything and Why We Should Care (Matthew 9:16-17)

Part 127: The End of Separation: The Deeper Meaning of Faith and Healing (Matthew 9:18-22)

Part 128: Not Dead But Sleeping: The Creative Power of God’s Word (Matthew 9:23-26)

Part 129: Living in the Public Eye: How Jesus Related to the Masses and Why We Can’t Remain in the Crowd (Matthew 9:23-26)

Part 130: The God Who Cares: Appealing to the Rule and the Mercy of God (Matthew 9:27)

Part 131: “Do You Believe That I Can Do This?”: Faith, Love, and the Endless Possibilities of Knowing God (Matthew 9:28-30)

Part 132: A Strange Note in the Symphony: Jesus’ Secrets and the Summons to Seek (Matthew 9:29-31)

Part 133: Too Many Demons and the Bigger Story of the Bible: Understanding Deliverance in Jesus’ Ministry (Matthew 9:32-33)

Part 134: The Tragedy of the Pharisees: How Good People Become Enemies of God (Matthew 9:33-34)

The Call and the Cost: On Mission with Jesus

Part 135: Sheep Without a Shepherd: Jesus’s Mission and the Rescue of Israel, Part 1 (Matthew 9:35-36)

Part 136: Sheep Without a Shepherd: Jesus’s Mission and the Rescue of Israel, Part 2 (Matthew 9:35-36)

Part 137: Pray the Lord of the Harvest: The Harvest, the Need, and the Need to Be Sent (Matthew 9:36-38)

Part 138: Foundation Stones: The 12 Apostles and the Mission of the Church (Matthew 10:1, 5-8)

Part 139: Called, Commissioned, and Turned Upside Down: Jesus’ Mission and the Redefinition of Power (Matthew 10:5-9)

Part 140: Invisible, Spiritual, Actual, Real: The Kingdom of Heaven Has Come Near (Matthew 10:5-8)

Part 141: Freely You Have Received, Freely Give: Grace, Love, and Following Jesus Beyond Transactional Thinking (Matthew 10:8)

Part 142: The Things We Get for Free: Looking Again at the Gospel of Grace (Matthew 10:8)

Part 143: The Time of Visitation: Dusty Feet, Judgment, and Peace in the Mission of Jesus (Part 1) (Matthew 10:11-15)

Part 144: The Time of Visitation: Dusty Feet, Judgment, and Peace in the Mission of Jesus (Part 2) (Matthew 10:12-15)

Part 145: Sheep, Wolves, Serpents, and Doves: How to Be Shrewd and Innocent in a Hostile World (Matthew 10:16-17)

Part 146: The Spirit of Your Father Will Speak: The Revolutionary Promise of the Spirit (Matthew 10:18-20)

Part 147: Changing Loyalties and the New Family of God (Matthew 10:20-21)

Part 148: It Is Enough: Why Being Like Jesus Is All We Need (Matthew 10:23-25)

Part 149: Hidden Things: Apocalyptic Living and the Revelatory Kingdom of God (Matthew 10:26-27)

Part 150: The Presence of God and the Value of Sparrows: Why We Don’t Need to Be Afraid (Matthew 10:28-31)

Part 151: A Place Where You Belong: Accessing Heaven through Allegiance to Jesus (Matthew 10:32-33)

Part 152: Peace, Betrayal, and the Faithful Love of a Loyal God (Matthew 10:34-36)

Part 153: Rise Up and Follow: Loving Jesus for All He Is Worth (Matthew 10:37-38)

Part 154: Losing to Find: How Surrender to Jesus Helps Us Discover Ourselves (Matthew 10:39)

Part 155: Radical Identification and the Kingdom of God: Finding God in One Other (Matthew 10:40)

Part 156: Receiving One Another: How the Act of Welcome Changes the World (Matthew 10:40)

Part 157: It Matters Who Your Friends Are: Alignment, Allegiance, and Welcoming the Kingdom of God (Matthew 10:40-42)

Part 158: We Are the Little Ones: Persecution, Promise, and the Tender Affection of God (Matthew 10:42)

Refiner’s Fire: The Struggle and Triumph of John the Baptist

Part 159: The Refiner’s Fire: The Struggle and Triumph of John the Baptist (Introduction) (Matthew 11:1-15)

Part 160: The Question from Prison (Refiner’s Fire Pt 2) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 161: Finding Our Questions and Questioning Our Doubts (Refiner’s Fire Pt 3) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 162: Doubt and the Nature of Faith (Refiner’s Fire Pt 4) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 163: What John Believed: Old Testament Prophecies and Messianic Expectations (Refiner’s Fire Pt 5) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 164: What John Believed: The Bible’s Great, Sweeping Story of Life and Death, Blessings and Curses (Refiner’s Fire Pt 6) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 165: What John Believed: The Golden Age and the Promises to Abraham (Refiner’s Fire Pt 7) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 166: What John Believed: The Return of the King (Refiner’s Fire Pt 8) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 167: What John Believed: Messiah, Son of David (Refiner’s Fire Pt 9) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 168: What John Believed: The Apocalypse of Daniel (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 10) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 169: What John Believed: Jubilee, Suffering, and Seventy Weeks (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 11) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 170: Looking to the Future Again (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 12)(Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 171: A Voice in the Wilderness (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 13) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 172: The Slow Becoming of John the Baptist (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 14) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 173: The Prophecies Made About You (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 15) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 174: The Messenger of Malachi (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 16) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 175: In the Shadow of the Christ (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 17) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 176: When Everything Goes Sideways (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 18) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 177: Getting the Story Wrong (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 19) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 178: The Mystery of the Servant Songs (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 20) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 179: The Mystery Revealed (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 21) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 180: What Are YOU Looking For? (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 22) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 181: The Forerunner of Our Doubts (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 23) Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 182: Your Doubts, in the Story of God (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 24) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 183: The Summons to Seek (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 25) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 184: Reasons for Belief and Reasons for Doubt (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 26) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 185: The Meaning of It All (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 27) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 186: From Creation to Cross (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 28) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 187: Wrestling in the Dark (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 29) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 188: Seeing the Story from the Other Side (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 30) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 189: The Self-Revelation of the Messiah (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 31) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 190: The Apologetics of Experience (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 32) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 191: The Value and Limits of Spiritual Experience (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 33) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 192: It’s the End of the World Again (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 34) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 193: Wisdom Is Vindicated by Her Children (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 35) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 194: The Answer to Doubt Is Love (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 36) (Matthew 11:1-19)

Part 195: Finally: Keys to Navigating Our Doubts (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 37) (Matthew 11:1-19)

The Time of Our Visitation

Part 196: Dancing to a Different Tune: The Necessity of Using Our Ears (Matthew 11:15-19)

Part 197: Embracing the Day of Visitation: Our Lives in the Context of the King (Matthew 11:20-24)

Part 198: Don’t Miss This: Stewarding the Kingdom Now (Part 1) (Matthew 11:20-24)

Part 199: A Life that Lasts: Stewarding the Kingdom Now (Part 2) (Matthew 11:20-24)

Part 200: The Father’s Good Pleasure: Delighting with God in the Secrets of Heaven (Matthew 11:25-26)

Part 201: An Invitation to Mystery: Jesus and the Revelation of God (Matthew 11:25-27)

Part 202: Come Unto Me, All You Who Are Weary: Jesus Christ and the Great Invitation to Work and to Rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

Part 203: Lord of the Sabbath: The Law, the Sabbath, and the Messianic Mission (Pt 1) (Matthew 12:1-8)

Part 204: Judging David: Lord of the Sabbath, Part 2 (Matthew 12:1-8)

Part 205: Greater than the Temple: How Jesus Challenges Our Pride and Reorders Our Expectations (Lord of the Sabbath Pt 3) (Matthew 12:1-8)

Part 206: Restoring the Heart of Religion (Lord of the Sabbath Pt 4) (Matthew 12:1-2, 7-8)

Post 207: Lord of the Sabbath: Jesus and the One Necessary Conversation (Lord of the Sabbath Pt 5) (Matthew 12:5-8)

Part 208: Human Value, Need, and What Really Offends God: Jesus on Legalism and the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9-14)

Part 209: The Dawn of the New Creation: Jesus, the Sabbath, and the Creative Work of God (Matthew 12:9-10, 13-14)

Part 210: The Surprising Humility of the Hidden God (Jesus the Servant, Pt 1) (Matthew 12:14-21)

Post 211: Eternal Horizons: How Jesus’s Mission Required Him to Trust the Father, and How We Must Do the Same (Jesus the Servant, Pt 2) (Matthew 12:14-21)

Part 212: The Time for Choosing Sides: Jesus and the Clash of Kingdoms (Matthew 12:22–30)

Part 213: The Great Gathering: When Jesus Brings Everyone Home (Matthew 12:30)

Part 214: Blaspheming God and Becoming the Devil: Jesus and the Unpardonable Sin (Matthew 12:30-32)

Part 215: Make the Good Tree Good: Jesus and the Call to Integrity (Matthew 12:33-34)

Part 216: Listen to Your Heart: Finding the Way to Goodness and Grace (Matthew 12:33–37)

Part 217: The Storeroom of Our Hearts: Receiving the Good Gifts of God (Matthew 12:34-35)

Part 218: Jesus and the Sign of Jonah: The Only Sign We’ll Ever Need (Matthew 12:38–42)

Part 219: The Unclean Spirit Returns: Jesus and the Tragedy of a Generation Lost (Matthew 12:43–45)

Part 220: “Who Are My Mother and Brothers?”: Jesus and the Redefining of Family (Matthew 12:46–50)

Part 221: A Sower Went Out to Sow: Jesus in the Field of the World (Matthew 13:1-9, NKJV)

Part 222: The Hidden Kingdom and the Purpose of Parables (Pt 1) (Matthew 13:10-13)

Part 223: The Hidden Kingdom and the Purpose of Parables (Pt 2) (Matthew 13:14-17)

Part 224: Seed and Soil: What Happens When the Word Comes to Our Hearts (Matthew 13:18-23)

Part 225: Now, Not-Yet, and Presently Working: How the Kingdom of God Has Entered Our World (Matthew 13:24-33)

Part 226: Wheat, Weeds, and the End of the Age: What the Parable of the Tares Says About the World Today (Matthew 13:24-43)

Part 227: The Treasure, the Pearl, and the Net: On Value, Judgment, and Giving All for the Kingdom (Matthew 13:44-50)

Part 228: The Storehouse of the Scriptures: How the Kingdom Opens Up the Meaning of the Bible (Matthew 13:51-53)

Part 229: The Danger of Familiarity and Why We Need to Hear the Gospel Again (Matthew 13:54-58)

Part 230: Hope, Tragedy, and Why Our Labor Does Not Need to Be in Vain (Matthew 14:1-13)

Part 231: He Fed Them Hungry: The Wealth and Welcome of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 14:13-21)

Part 232: The Wildness of Encounter: Will, Worship, and Walking on Water with God (Matthew 14:22–33)

Inaugurated Eschatology: It’s the End of the World As We Know It

Part 233: An Eschatological Prelude: Why Healing and Judgment Come from the Same Kingdom (Matthew 14:34-36)

Part 234: Matters of the Heart: The Commands of God and the Traditions of Men (Matthew 15:1-9)

Part 235: What Makes Us Clean: Jesus and the Question of Purity (Matthew 15:10-20)

Part 236: Jesus and the Conquering of Canaan: The Syro-Phoenician Woman and the Floodgates of Grace (Matthew 15:21-31)

Part 237: A World Waiting for Food: How the Feeding of the Four Thousand Foreshadows the Healing of the Nations (Matthew 15:32–39)

Part 238: Signs from Heaven and the Way to Be Saved: Jesus and the Pharisees’ Demand for a Sign (Matthew 16:1–12)

Part 239: Try Me and See: Jesus and the Test of Obedience (Matthew 16:1, 8-9)

Part 240: Jesus in a Land of Monsters: Spiritual Warfare, the Gates of Hell, and the Cosmic Gospel of Christ (Matthew 16:13–20)

Part 241: “Who Do You Say That I Am?”: Jesus’s Question and the Hinge of Our Faith (Matthew 16:22–33)

Part 242: “You Are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”: The Christian Confession and the Rock of the Church (Matthew 16:16–17)

Part 243: You Are Peter: Names, Saints, and Being Ourselves Forever (Matthew 16:17-18)

Part 244: Becoming Who We Are: Identity and Transformation in Christ (Matthew 16:15–18a)

Part 245: The Rock of Revelation: Why Relationship with God Is the Source of All We Know (Matthew 16:17)

Part 246: I Will Build My Church: Jesus, Ekklesia, and the People of God (Matthew 16:18)

Part 247: The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail: The Victory of Christ and the Final Defeat of Death (Matthew 16:18b)