Category: Gospel of Matthew
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Jesus at the Table: Why Jesus Ate with Sinners and What It Means for Us
While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:10-11) For the last several weeks we’ve looked at the…
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Ordinary Radicals: Following Jesus When the Call Is to Stay
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9) The last several weeks we’ve been addressing the call of Matthew and all it cost him, but any honest talk of calling…
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The Hardest Choice: The Freedom and Fear of Following Christ
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9) I overheard the conversation between two women. The tone was incensed, the content clearly juicy. One woman spoke of her nephew and…
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Responsible to God: Trading Masters with Matthew the Tax-Collector
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9) In Matthew 9:9, Matthew — the author of this book we’ve been studying — shares the story of his own call in…
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Trembling on Holy Ground: Jesus, Forgiveness, and the Fear of the Lord
But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He told the paralytic, “Get up,…
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It’s Time to Go Home: The Power of Forgiveness in the Ministry of Jesus
So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town. Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, “He’s blaspheming!” But perceiving their…
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“Whole and His”: What Forgiveness Says about Jesus, the Temple, and the Self-Revelation of Yahweh Incarnate
So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town. Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, “He’s blaspheming!” But perceiving their…
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When Jesus Costs Us Our Comfort: Reevaluating Our Priorities in the Light of His Holiness
Now a long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. “If You drive us out,” the demons begged Him, “send us into the herd of pigs.” “Go!” He told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs. And suddenly the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into…
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Seeing the Other Side: How the Gadarene Demoniacs Pull Back the Curtain on the Spirit World and Summon Us to Worship Jesus
Note from Rachel: This is a long one. It’s also written from the perspective of a Westerner who lives in North America, so all the references to “our culture” are to that culture. My apologies to everyone reading who doesn’t share that “we” and “our” … I’m glad you’re reading, and may you find much…
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The Storm-Stiller: Jesus in Cosmic Perspective (and in the Ordinary Stuff in Our Lives)
But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, you of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this?-even the winds and the sea obey Him!” (Matthew 8:26-27) Roughly 3,000 years ago,…