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A Warning About Leaven
It is not always easy to recognize false teaching because those who teach error often mix it in with some legitimate truth. That is why we must be well grounded in the doctrines of Scripture, for if our grasp of ...Read More
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Another Request for a Sign
Matthew Henry comments, “It is an instance of the deceitfulness of the heart, to think that we should be influenced by the means and advantages which we do not have, while we slight those which we have.” The Sadducees and ...Read More
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Ministry to the Gentiles
Matthew Henry writes: “Forgetting former experiences leaves us under present doubts.“ We are quick to forget all that God has done for us in the past and grow impatient when He does not act in the manner that we desire ...Read More
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Crumbs from the Table
John Calvin comments, “At no time, certainly, did God shut up his grace among the Jews in such a manner as not to bestow a small taste of them on the Gentiles.” Throughout redemptive history there have been Gentiles who ...Read More
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Pollution’s True Source
The concern with outward acts and not the intent of God’s law manifested these particular Pharisees’ blindness to the ultimate source of impurity. Jesus therefore reminded them that the heart is the true source of corruption, not the hands ...Read More
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Walking on Water
As many commentators have said regarding this passage, Peter’s faith is much like ours, small and incomplete, a mixture of trust and doubt. Nevertheless, God does not wait for us to have perfect faith before He saves us. The ...Read More
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Feeding Five Thousand
Matthew Henry writes about the tremendous leftovers found after the thousands were satisfied: “The provision Christ makes for those who are his is not bare and scanty, but rich and plentiful; an overflowing fullness.” We should not be surprised when ...Read More
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The Death of John
Herod Antipas beheaded John and did not give him a formal trial, thereby breaking the Mosaic code. We see in Matthew 14:9 that Herod did this because he wanted to save face and not look like a fool in ...Read More
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A Prophet without Honor
Western society is blessed to be steeped in the teaching of Scripture and the person and work of Christ. However, we must take care that this blessing of familiarity does not motivate contempt in us for the things of God ...Read More
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Treasures New and Old
The new things taught by Jesus are loyal to the intent and purpose of the Old Testament. As one commentator has said, the old covenant revelation is not abolished, it is “judiciously integrated” into the new. Nevertheless, apart from becoming ...Read More
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A Mixed Body
When people abandon Christ, they prove that they never had faith at all, since those with true faith are preserved by God, never to fall away permanently (1 John 2:19). Still, when we see people leave Jesus, it does ...Read More
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The Pearl of Great Price
John Calvin says we need the teaching of today’s passage because ”we are so captivated by the allurements of the world, that eternal life fades from our view; and in consequence of our carnality, the spiritual graces of God ...Read More
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A Glorious Future
Gloriously, at the time of God’s harvest we who have suffered the onslaught of the Devil and the scorn of the world will shine brightly, just like the Lord Himself (Matt. 13:43). John Calvin comments, “What a remarkable ...Read More
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Teaching in Parables
The Bible does not say that there are secret truths that only certain believers can find in Scripture. Those things that we do not see upon our first reading of a text are not invisible; rather, incomplete knowledge is often ...Read More
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Mustard Seed and Leaven
Matthew Henry reminds us that yeast “works silently and insensibly, yet strongly and irresistibly.” The kingdom of God works in a similar fashion. Though Christians often suffer and the darkness looks overwhelming, the kingdom is growing nonetheless. One day it ...Read More
