Don't Judge Others (Matt. 7:1-6)
As Jesus begins to wind down his sermon, he returns to the theme of hypocrisy that dominated 6:1-18. In this case, he deals with hypocrisy in the way that believers address sin in each other’s lives....
Keep ReadingA Bride for Isaac (Genesis 24:1-67)
Genesis 23:1-25:18 wraps up the life of Abraham by focusing in the land, offspring, and blessing God had promised him. In Genesis 23, Abraham became the legal owner of a small plot of the promised land when he purchased a cave in which to bury Sarah. In Genesis 24, the focus shifts to the promise of offspring....
Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
Having waited decades for the promised child to arrive, Abraham was tested by God to see if he valued God above all other things, even his beloved son. In the climax of the whole Abraham story, he proved that he did by being willing to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice (see Genesis 22)....
The Sacrificial Climb (Genesis 22:1-19)
In between God’s initial promise to Abraham of offspring and Isaac’s actual birth were years of waiting as well as numerous trials. But the greatest test to Abraham’s faith in God’s promise wouldn’t come until after Isaac came on the scene. ...
God Fulfills His Promise (Genesis 21:1-34)
In Genesis 20, Abraham again tried the “Sarah is my sister” ruse out of fear for his life (see Genesis 12:10-20). This time, he tried it with Abimelech, king of Gerar. God intervened to assure that Abimelech didn’t touch Sarah, and for the entire time she was in his palace, the women of Gerar couldn’t get pregnant. After the truth came out, Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, who in turn prayed for the barren women of Gerar to become pregnant. This begs the question: God can do this for Gerar’s women; when will he do it for Sarah?...
When the Faithful Are Faithless (Genesis 20:1-18)
In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that he would give him offspring and make him into a great nation. Since then, many obstacles have threatened to stand in the way of that promise. Some were circumstantial, such as Sarah’s barrenness (11:30) and eventually her age (18:11). Others were moral, like the incidents in Egypt (12:10-20) and the one with Hagar (16:1-16). On the eve of Isaac’s birth, another moral failure from Abraham threatens the fulfillment of God’s promise....
The Righteousness and Justice of God (Genesis 18:16-19:38)
In Genesis 18:1-15, Abraham was met by three visitors: God himself and two angels. After being treated to Abraham’s remarkable hospitality, God told him that his promise to give him and Sarah a son would be fulfilled in a year. In response to Sarah’s skeptical laughter, God reminds her that because he is God, nothing is impossible for him....
Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:1-15)
In Genesis 17, God gave Abram several new details regarding the covenant he had made with him in chapter 15. First, Abram was to be the father of not just one nation but many, so God changed his name to “Abraham” which means “father of a multitude”. Additionally, kings would come from him, this covenant would be an everlasting one that included his descendants, and most importantly, God would be their God in a personal way. God also made it explicitly clear that Abraham’s promised child would be born to his wife Sarah....
God's Covenant With Abraham (Genesis 17:1-27)
God’s plan for Abram has been slowly revealed in stages. First, Abram was promised that he would become a great nation and that his descendants would occupy the land of Canaan (12:1-9). Later, God clarified that this nation would come from Abram’s biological son, not an adopted heir, and he made a covenant with Abram to fulfill his promise (15:1-21). In Genesis 17, God provides a treasure trove of new details about the covenant he’s made with Abram....
Living in the Gap (Genesis 15:1-21)
After his military victory against Chedorlaomer’s armies, Abram was met by two kings: Melchizedek, the king of Salem, and the unnamed king of Sodom. While Melchizedek celebrated Abram’s victory and blessed him, the king of Sodom offered him a business transaction: “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” (Genesis 14:21) Not wanting to be indebted to the king of Sodom, Abram refused to be rewarded by him. ...
Two Kinds of Ambition (Matt. 6:25-34)
In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus addressed our values, the things we treasure. This leads quite naturally to the subject of anxiety, for if our heart is where our treasure is (v. 21), and if our treasure is something on earth that can be lost, then our hearts will always be restless with worry that our treasure might be taken from us....
Keep ReadingTwo Kinds of Treasure (Matt. 6:19-24)
A major theme in the Sermon on the Mount is how different Jesus’ followers are to be from the rest of the world and what role our distinctiveness plays in God’s mission. In 6:1-18, Jesus illustrated the Christian’s distinctiveness in terms of his devotional life. Now he addresses our perspective and values. As citizens of the kingdom, the things we value (vv. 19-24) ...
Keep ReadingDon't Practice Your Righteousness For the Praise of Others (Matt. 6:1-8)
Jesus spent much of Matthew 5 illustrating the principle he stated back in 5:20: that his followers’ righteousness should be an inner one that delights to obey God’s commandments. This theme of inner righteousness carries over into this next section (Matthew 6:1-18) where Jesus contrasts hypocritical and authentic faith. In 6:1, he states a principle and illustrates it...
Keep ReadingThe Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-15)
In his discussion on prayer so far, Jesus has critiqued two methods. In contrast to the Pharisees, Christian prayer should be sincere rather than hypocritical. In contrast to the pagans with their multitude of gods, Christian prayer should be purposeful and direct, knowing full well that we are addressing our Father. To drive home his point, Jesus now gives his listeners a...
Keep ReadingLove Your Enemies (Matt. 5:38-48)
In Matthew 5:20, Jesus said that his followers’ righteousness should exceed that of the Pharisees who were considered by many to be the pinnacle of godliness. For the rest of the chapter, he illustrates the kind of righteousness he’s calling for by contrasting the true meaning of various Old Testament laws with how they were being misapplied by the Pharisees. In these ...
Keep ReadingMarriage, Divorce, and Commitment (Matt. 5:31-37)
The Pharisees thought they had discovered loopholes in several laws of the Old Testament. They won’t murder, but they’ll hate. They won’t commit adultery, but they’ll lust. In this section, Jesus calls them out on their attempts to justify adultery and lying....
Keep ReadingAnger Is Murder (Matt. 5:21-26)
To many in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were the pinnacle of righteousness. It was shocking then to hear Jesus tell his followers that they must have a greater righteousness than them. The Pharisees’ problem though was that their righteousness was often only outward, whereas Jesus’ followers were called to inward righteousness as well. The remainder of chapter 5 (vv. 21...
Keep ReadingLust Is Adultery (Matt. 5:27-30)
Matthew 5:21-48 is made up of six examples of the “greater righteous” that Jesus calls his followers to; a righteousness that is not just external but internal. In this second example, Jesus unpacks the deeper implications of the Old Testament prohibition against adultery....
Keep ReadingSalt and Light (Matthew 5:13-16)
In the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:1-12), Jesus described the characteristics of the Kingdom of Heaven’s citizens. Shockingly, the kind of people God values in his Kingdom are quite different than the kind of people the world values. Jesus now turns to address the role that his followers are to play in a world that deems their lifestyle undesirable and perhaps even dangerous....
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