Cover-to-Cover

Matthew 15:1-20   It isn’t unusual for a person who is bound up in religious pride to come against the one who has freedom in Christ. What do we do about the religiously proud? In verse 14, Jesus says, “Let them alone.” In the Amplified version, it says, “ignore” or “forget” them. Don’t pay them any attention. In the Greek, the meaning is, “to send away or bid to depart,...

Matthew 14:22-36   After feeding the multitude, Jesus immediately gets the disciples in a boat and out to sea while He sends the crowds home. After the people disperse, Jesus desired to get alone to pray. We all need those times of isolation and intimacy with God, don’t we? While Jesus is on the mountain, the disciples are in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. The winds were picking...

Matthew 14:1-21   John the Baptist is beheaded. He was a man of faith, a great prophet. He was a bold man who was definitely making a stir among the Jews, preparing them for a new king, a Messiah. Herod captured him, wanting to kill him, but Herod feared the Jews.    John’s message was repentance, preparing people for the Messiah’s kingship over a kingdom. He told Herod he should...

Matthew 13:24-58   In verse 24, Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and tares. In verse 36, we read the meaning of the parable, which is prophetic of the future. There are those who chose to live for God. There are those the enemy has won over, who live for him. At the end of the age, after the Millennium, Christ will separate people, according to the kingdom to...

Matthew 13:1-23   After ministering to a great multitude, Jesus went out of His house and sat by the sea. The multitudes see Him and come to Him, so He gets into a boat, probably to put a bit of distance between Himself and the crowd.    He teaches the parable of the sower, who is the Lord, who sows seed, which is the Word of God, on different types...

Matthew 12:22-50   The Pharisees heard the crowd refer to Jesus as the Son of David, another term for the Messiah. Hearing the people believe in Jesus, the Pharisees say that Jesus could only cast out a demon because He did so with the power of the ruler of the demons.    Jesus did not hear the Pharisees talk, but He knew their thoughts by the Holy Spirit. The Holy...

Matthew 12:1-21   In verse 7, Jesus says, “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.”    They condemned, or “pronounced guilty,” the guiltless, or “those who did nothing wrong.” Jesus’ disciples were gleaning grain from a field on the Sabbath. In Jewish Law, no work was to be done on the Sabbath. According to the Law,...

Matthew 11   John the Baptist was an ordinary man that was anointed by God as a prophet. He was certain that the Messiah would follow him. John was in prison, held captive by an authoritarian, known as a violent leader. If John had concerns about his life, they were reasonable; after all, he was beheaded by Herod. John wanted reassurance that Jesus was that Messiah, the one for whom...

Matthew 10:16-42   Jesus tells the disciples that persecutions would be coming. Would a good God allow Christians to be mistreated, beaten, or even killed? Obviously, God allowed it then, but would He allow that now? Will He allow it in the future?   Let’s remember that the world system has authority on the earth. We are not OF the world, but we are IN the world. As far as...

Matthew 10:1-20   Jesus’ primary mission was the cross and our redemption. Jesus also had the purpose of training disciples to minister underneath His authority and power. After Jesus was resurrected, another purpose of His was to ascend and then give the Holy Spirit. From there, the kingdom would expand and spread around the globe.    As part of their training, Jesus would demonstrate His authority and power. Then we...

Matthew 9:18-38   JESUS AND KINGDOM MINISTRY When Jerry went to Africa, he spoke with a leading African minister in Uganda, and he said, “The people want to see the supernatural. They will come from everywhere for the power of God. We have had many Americans who want to come here to take their pictures with the crowds to draw money from their supporters, but we need pastors.” He said...

Matthew 9:1-17   The friends of the paralytic man wanted to get him to see Jesus so He could be healed. Jesus was in a home that was packed with people. When the friends saw they couldn’t get in the door, they went up to the roof and lowered the man into the home. Roofs were usually made of rods or sticks.    Inside the home were Jewish scribes who...

Matthew 8:18-34   A very great multitude was approaching Jesus, and it seems Jesus wants to pull away from them at this time. Perhaps He and His team needed to rest. Perhaps God wanted Jesus to move on to the next city. Whatever the reason, Jesus commanded His disciples to go to the other side of the sea.    Some wanted to follow Jesus, but the price for following Christ...

Matthew 8:1-17   The word “save” in the Greek is sozo. It means “to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction; to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health. heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole. Sozo includes a physical saving and a spiritual saving, translated “to give new life” and “to cause...

Matthew 7   VERSES 1-5 Jesus continues His Sermon on the Mount to His people, the Jews. Again, Jesus is focusing on the heart of the Jew under the Mosaic Law. The Law was a tutor to lead us to the Savior, helping us to recognize our need for Him. Once the Law was broken, on any point, a man or woman was then guilty of the Law and unqualified...