Sermons on Matthew (Page 3)
Matthew
The Question of Divorce
When some Pharisees come to Jesus with a legal question about divorce, Jesus responds by pointing them to the masterpiece of marriage in its perfectly created form. Although we live in a broken world He urges us to preserve marriage by being faithful, forgiving failures and pursuing unity. Matthew 19: 1-12
Distinctives of true disciples of Jesus
The disciples of Jesus were slow learners. But are we any better? We can know the theory of Christian living yet struggle to put it into practice. In today’s passage Jesus exposes several important areas where His disciples have much to learn about what it actually looks like to live in God’s kingdom. Things like how we view ourselves, how we treat “little people”, how we deal with our own sinfulness, and how we help our straying Christian friends. This…
A Mountain Top Experience
At the mount of transfiguration, Jesus’ disciples learn lessons about Jesus’ identity, about the path to glory and about true faith. Matthew 17: 1-23
Some lessons about faith
The question – “What does it mean to have faith” – is crucial to understanding what it means to be a Christian. As the Bible says, the opposite of walking by faith is to walk by sight. Faith by its very nature requires an element of risk. And that’s where the rubber hits the road when a person becomes a Christian. It means being willing to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, for life today and tomorrow, and for eternity. …
Rotten Religion
In this story, the superficial, hypocritical, rotten religion of the Pharisees is on full display. It challenges us to consider whether there are signs of rottenness in our faith and to repent if there is. Matthew 15:1-20
The King’s Identity
In these stories, Matthew weaves a picture of Jesus for us which reminds us of his true identity, and challenges us to view and respond to him rightly. Matthew 13:53-14:36
The Kingdom Parables
These six parables taught by Jesus, address some of the misunderstandings and false expectations about the Kingdom of Heaven. They show that God’s Kingdom, then and now, is a kingdom of Justice, Growth, and Power, more valuable than anything the world can offer. Matthew 13:24-50
Liberty from Legalism
The Sabbath controversy in Matthew 12 reminds us that Jesus gives us freedom from the chains of legalism. Instead of thinking we need to keep the law to appease a cranky God, we remember that we have been set free to joyfully obey our loving God.
Responding Rightly to the Revelation of Jesus
Anyone who has heard of Jesus has made some kind of response to him. In chapter 11 of Matthew’s Gospel we start to see rising opposition to Jesus as some people are looking for the wrong kind of Messiah and some are blatantly unrepentant. Jesus offers forgiveness and true rest to those who respond rightly to him – in repentance and faith. We do well to ask ourselves: “How am I responding to Jesus – for salvation, and daily as…
Excuses for not sharing the gospel
Matthew 9:35 – 10:42
Sometimes we can make excuses for not living out our calling as missionary disciples of Jesus. Several of these excuses are challenged by Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 10. We are reminded that each one of us has a part to play in the mission, that we don’t need to be afraid of what people might say about us or do to us and that we cannot lose more than we will gain in a life spent serving Jesus.
Two blind men, and a few more
There were two groups of blind men before Jesus that day. The physically blind could already see who Jesus was, before he even opened their eyes. But the Pharisees, though they could see, refused to Jesus for who he was. Which one are you? Has Jesus opened your eyes so that you see him for who he is?