-
Mind and Heart
If you read the theological writings of the saints throughout church history, you will find that their tremendous intellectual content also contains doxology. These men and women loved Christ with their minds and hearts. Ask the Lord to help you ...Read More
-
Ministry in Galilee
Today’s passage is a powerful example of God’s grace. Those who sit in darkness get to see the light, not those who think they are in the light already. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, not the ...Read More
-
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
-
Mocked and Beaten
The Christian faith is derided in many circles, and many professing believers throughout history have been tempted to play down the offense of the gospel or work hard to show the world that Christians are not as “uncool” as they ...Read More
-
More than a Prophet
John Calvin says the new covenant minister’s preaching is greater than John the Baptist’s because “it holds out Christ as having rendered complete and eternal satisfaction by his one sacrifice, as the conqueror of death and the Lord ...Read More
-
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
-
Neo-Orthodoxy
We do well to remember that true faith is not merely an assent to propositions. It is also a living and active trust in the Lord Jesus. Yet we must never separate these two things, for we cannot truly assent ...Read More
-
No Questions Asked
The disciples do not hesitate when Jesus calls them. Immediately, they leave all behind to follow Him. John Chrysostom comments, “Christ seeks this kind of obedience from us, such that we delay not even for a moment, though something absolutely ...Read More
-
One with His People
In His baptism, our Lord confirmed His willingness to identify with the plight of His people, a willingness first displayed when He became incarnate (see also Heb. 2:14–18). We who live under the new covenant experience the awesome ...Read More
-
Parables of the Kingdom
John Calvin comments on today’s passage, reminding us that the lack of clarity in the parables is not due to the parables themselves. The problem is really the hearts of sinful people. “The word of God, in its own ...Read More
-
Perfectly Perfect
To say God is the most perfect being is not simply to take an attribute like human goodness, for example, and assume that His goodness is exactly like ours, only developed to its highest degree. While human goodness and divine ...Read More
-
Persecution and Reward
Matthew Henry writes: “There is no evil so black and horrid, which, at one time or other, has not been said falsely against Christ’s disciples and followers.” Rejoice and be glad if you are being slandered for obeying Jesus ...Read More
-
Persecutors of the Prophets
Matthew Henry says it is easy for us to assume that we would be unlike the scribes and Pharisees and follow Jesus willingly. Yet even centuries later, he writes, “Christ in his Spirit, in his word, in his ministers, is ...Read More
-
Peter, the Rock
When we study Scripture, we should be careful not to let the excesses of opposing positions unduly influence our own applications of the text. All the teachings of those with whom we disagree may not necessarily be wrong, and we ...Read More
-
Pharisaic Hypocrisy
As we have seen, many Pharisees had an inflated view of their own goodness and were unaware of their own need for mercy (Luke 18:9–14). Yet the truly pious, “being conscious of their own weakness…kindly forgive the ...Read More
