January
January 1 - Matthew 1
Commentary
Matthew opens his gospel with the genealogy (family history) of Jesus through his earthly father, Joseph, and shows Joseph’s side of the Christmas story. While Jesus was not biologically Joseph’s son, he was adopted by Joseph and considered his and Mary’s son. Thus, Matthew traces Jesus’ family through Joseph. Ironically, though Jesus certainly became a part of Joseph’s family, through the work of Jesus, Joseph and the rest of us could become part of God’s family. Family is more than flesh and blood - the best kind of family, in fact, is not flesh and blood, or even a “found” family, it is the family of God.
J. C. Ryle notes three great lessons in this chapter: 1) God always keeps his promises. This lineage shows how through centuries, God was working and ultimately brought the Promised Savior and son of David. 2) Human sinfulness is great. Take a look at these names, many of them were exceedingly evil people despite having godly parents. Pray for your kids! 3) Christ’s love and mercy is even greater than our sin. Jesus chose to enter this sinful mess of a world through a family with a lot of sinful messes. He came humbly, not just as fully man but as a baby, living through every kind of temptation yet never falling to sin, and dying as our sacrifice and substitute on the cross to “save his people from their sins.” Because he rose victorious, sin and death will be conquered and he will reign as King forever.
Discussion and Reflection
1. We can get bored of long genealogies in the Bible, but why should we tire of reading them if God has given them in his Word? Reflect on God’s kindness in showing us how his promises and his people continue from generation to generation in the Bible’s genaologies. God makes promises and ultimately fulfills them through the work of Christ. He will not let us down!
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his perfect plans and wise providence.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s cultivation of humility and worship in your heart.
Thanksgiving: Thank and praise God for sending Jesus as our Savior!
Supplication: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s strengthening of you and your family’s faith and devotion through your reading of the New Testament this year.
January 2 - Matthew 2
Commentary
Matthew again emphasizes Jesus’ connection to the line David, this time by citing Old Testament prophecies about the Davidic king who would be the Christ, the Savior. Matthew writes primarily to Jewish Christians, but he also shows us that Jesus’ message is not merely for the Jews: his message is for those who will respond to it. The wise men, or magi, were not Israelites, but they came to worship the infant Christ. After they learned Herod wanted to kill Jesus, they even went out of their way to avoid running into Herod and risk him learning Jesus’ location.
Contrary to popular depictions, the Bible does not tell us how many wise men came to see Jesus, or state that they were kings. However many men came, they brought three gifts with them, and whatever their status, they brought three gifts that were costly and rare enough to befit a king. While the wise men wanted to worship Christ, Herod wanted to destroy Christ. The wise men got what they wanted, Herod did not. If we want God’s help and ask him for it, we will surely find it, but if we oppose him, we will ultimately find disappointment and ruin. To sum up, this passage shows that Jesus is King – he cannot be defied – and he is king of all – all people are invited to submit to his rule and all people will ultimately be accountable to him.
Discussion and Reflection
1. The wise men came from far away, potentially hundreds of miles, to worship and give gifts to the infant king. Do you go out of your way or outside your comfort zone to worship Christ, or do you simply worship when it’s convenient or when you want something from God?
2. What are practical steps you can take to make worship a bigger part of your life?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for being the Creator and Lord of all and for Jesus being the King.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in prioritizing worship and obedience.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for the great gift of his Son, Jesus, as our Savior and Substitute.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and enlightenment of a lost person you know well and for the passion and boldness to share with that person.
January 3 - Matthew 3
Commentary
John the Baptist was the final prophet before the coming of Jesus, declaring the fulfillment of God’s Messianic promises was at hand after 400 years of prophetic silence. He prepared the way for Christ by calling people to repent of their sins, as prophesied in places like Malachi 3-4, because the kingdom of heaven was soon to come with the public ministry of Jesus. To repent means to turn from your sins and turn to God. Simply being a Jew or even being baptized by John wouldn’t save anyone, the only hope of salvation has always been to renounce our sin and look beyond ourselves to God. By being our substitute and sacrifice, Jesus served as God’s way to forgive our sins and bring us into his family.
John baptized people as a picture of God’s cleansing of them from sin. Why, then, would Christ need to be baptized? He had not sin to repent of, so why would he need to be symbolically washed of sin? Jesus’ baptism served several purposes, primarily 1) because Jesus perfectly obeyed God and set a perfect example for us to follow, 2) to show John’s approval of and passing the torch to Jesus, and 3) to inaugurate Jesus’ ministry with the Holy Spirit coming upon him and the Father declaring his approval.
The baptism of Jesus shows how the Father and the Spirit were actively involved in Jesus’ ministry. Each person of the Trinity worked together in Jesus’ ministry even as they work together today. As you read the New Testament this year, keep an eye out for specific mentions of the Father and the Spirit in the life of Jesus and whenever salvation is discussed.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Repentance means to turn from your sins and turn to God. It is not simply a declaration or a half-hearted apology; it is a change of living that results from forsaking our sin and leaning on God for help. Is there sin you need to repent of today? Does your life show the fruit of repentance?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his justice in punishing sin and his mercy in forgiving sin.
Confession: Ask God’s forgiveness for any sin in your life.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for giving Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins and for giving believers the help of the Holy Spirit.
Supplication: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s emboldening of believers and conviction of the lost in your community.
Going Deeper
This passage has the first of many occurrences of “kingdom of heaven” in Matthew. The Jews of Jesus’ day often said “kingdom of heaven” rather than “kingdom of God” in reverence to God’s name. Matthew continued this custom to avoid needlessly distracting or offending Jewish readers.
January 4 - Matthew 4
Commentary
After the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism, the Spirit led Jesus to be tempted by the devil. Jesus was tempted much in the same way that Adam was tempted, but where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus succeeded. He replied to each temptation with Scripture, reminding himself that what God said was true and that his ways were better than the ways of sin. Jesus is the second Adam, as Paul discusses in Romans 5. As Adam gave in to temptation and brought sin into the world, Jesus resisted sin and paid the price for it on the cross. Through Adam, humanity and the world suffered sin’s effects; through Jesus, sin will be forgiven and the world will be made right.
With his faith firmly intact, Jesus then begins his public ministry. When John is arrested for preaching his message, Jesus goes back to the countryside of Galilee, away from the attention of the religious leaders, and begins to preach. Jesus preaches the same message as John. The gospel proclaimed in the Old Testament is not a brand-new message; it is exactly what the Old Testament points to and prepares us for.
Jesus then calls his first disciples, both sets of fishermen brothers. At the words of Jesus, they all immediately left their livelihoods and families behind and followed Jesus. Jesus begins preaching and healing throughout Galilee, but notice the preaching came first. Jesus’ miracles showed he was who he claimed to be and that his message was true, but without spiritual healing, the physical healing would only be a band-aid patching people up on their way to Hell.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Do you have any parts of Scripture memorized to help you in temptation? What verses could you memorize to help you with whatever has been tempting you most lately?
2. The disciples left behind their families and jobs to follow Jesus. While leaving your family and home may not be what God calls you to do, what in your life is keeping you from focusing fully on God? Do you think these distractions are better for you than God? Consider how you can remove these distractions from your life to more fully focus on God.
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for keeping his Word and fulfilling his promises.
Confession: Ask the Holy Spirit to help you treasure his Word in your heart and resist sin.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for his saving, healing power in Christ.
Supplication: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help for your family to live fully devoted to God.
January 5 - Matthew 5:1-20
Commentary
This is the beginning of Jesus’ most well-known teaching discourse, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gives this sermon after proclaiming that the Jews should repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand (4:17). The sermon details the fruit bearing with repentance (3:8), the outward evidence of a heart inwardly changed by God. Oswald Chambers wisely noted of this great sermon, “If Jesus is a teacher only, then all He can do is to tantalize us by erecting a standard we cannot come anywhere near. But if by being born again from above we know Him first as Savior, we know that He did not come to teach us only. He came to make us what He teaches we should be. The Sermon on the Mount is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His way with us.”
Jesus starts with the “blessed are the” statements known as the Beatitudes. All of them relate to the internal disposition of our hearts rather than external ritual. The Beatitudes give us a model of humility and reliance on and trust in God to follow. Jesus next talks about how his people are to be salt and light – flavor and preservative to a flavorless and decaying world, light to a dark world, hope to a hopeless world. God’s people are to be a beacon, pointing others to God with humility and clarity, all to his praise and glory.
Jesus then declares he has come to fulfill, not destroy, the Law and the Prophets (a shorthand for the entire Old Testament). This is key to understanding Jesus’ teachings, for all of what Jesus teaches is building upon the foundation God already set in the Old Testament. Also key to Jesus’ teaching is that the only way to enter God’s kingdom is to have perfect righteousness, to be in a state of perfect purity before God. We can’t do that on our own, but Jesus came to provide us that righteousness by living a sinless life and dying in our place. To God be the glory!
Discussion and Reflection
1. Look at the qualities Jesus mentions in the Beatitudes. Is your life characterized by these? If not, how can you cultivate these qualities in your life?
2. Do you view your life as an opportunity to point others to God? Why or why not? What can you do this week to better point the people in your life to God?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for lovingly and gloriously saving sinners through Christ.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help to depend on and live for God more and more.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for making and fulfilling his promises to save us through Christ.
Supplication: Pray that your church’s pastors and teachers will preach and teach God’s Word with truthfulness and boldness.
January 6 - Matthew 5:21-48
Commentary
Yesterday, we saw Jesus declare he came to fulfill the law, not do away with it. In our reading today, Jesus both interprets and expands the OT law – something only God himself could do. Jesus teaches that obedience is a matter of our hearts, not just our actions. While feeling tempted is itself not sin, dwelling on or fantasizing about that temptation is sinful. Sin is more than a matter of action, sin is an expression of the disposition of our hearts and minds. When we are tempted, therefore, we need to turn our minds to God and his Word, like Jesus did in his temptation.
Jesus teaches that not only is murder wrong, but also bitterness, looking down on others, and hatred. We cannot be at peace with God unless we have also at least attempted to make peace with those we have sinned against. Adultery is a horrible thing, but it is the external expression of internal lustful desires. We should run from lustful thoughts and any temptations to them. Jesus takes divorce very seriously because marriage is a picture of his own love for us (see Eph. 5). Believers should not “swear by anything” because God’s should be so honest that we never have to qualify that we really do mean what we say. Vengeance and justice ultimately belong to God, we should show others the same mercy he shows us.
When we become believers, Jesus sets us free from the law in the sense that God credits Jesus’ perfect obedience to us because he paid for our sin and disobedience on the cross. However, Jesus also sets us free to the law in the sense that we become servants to God rather than servants to sin. The Holy Spirit, who dwells inside us, helps us resist sin and please God. Finally, Jesus frees us from the law by freeing us to obey the law to God's glory, by the help of the Holy Spirit. This passage shows us that we are remarkably sin-prone creatures – even a look or thought can damn us to Hell! Thanks be to God for sending Jesus, not just to teach us the depth of our sin but to pay for the fullness of our sin by dying on the cross for us!
Discussion and Reflection
1. When you dwell on sinful thoughts, whether lust or bitterness or discontentment or anything else, do you ask for God’s forgiveness, or simply move on as if nothing happened?
2. Is there anything in your life that tempts you to sin regularly? If so, what steps will you take to obey God rather than give in to these temptations? Far better to live in godliness without a cell phone or that crass music than it would be to live in sin with these temptations!
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his perfect goodness and separation from sin and evil.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in turning from sin and removing sources of temptation in your life.
Thanksgiving: Thank and praise God for Jesus’ perfect obedience on our behalf.
Supplication: Pray for your church to humbly live out and lovingly proclaim the gospel faithfully to your community.
January 7 - Matthew 6:1-18
Commentary
Jesus warns against the self-exalting, attention seeking practices of Israel’s religious leaders. We should still give to the needy, pray, and yes, fast, but our purpose in doing so must be to serve and please God, not impress others or feed our egos. As Jesus taught earlier (5:20), even the best of human attempts to perfectly obey God are not sufficient for salvation. We need a perfect sacrifice on our behalf and perfect righteousness to be credited to us – and that is exactly what Jesus provides for us!
The Lord’s Prayer (AKA the Model Prayer or the Disciples’ Prayer) is the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Notice that Jesus never says the exact words of the prayer are what we should pray. Rather, he says we should pray like the prayer he gives as an example. Jesus also says we should not repeat words or be long-winded to sound more spiritual or make ourselves look better than others – our prayers should be honest, worshipful conversation directed to God.
As John Calvin wisely reasoned, "Whoever is convinced that God not only cares for us, but also knows all our wants, wishes, and anxieties before we have stated them will leave out vain repetitions and will pray only as long as needed to exercise his faith.” We pray to express our love of and reliance on God, not to earn his favor with spiritual words or religious acts. The Lord’s Prayer as a whole teaches that your prayers should address God with respect, love, and worship, express your desire for him to be honored everywhere, humbly submit yourself to God’s rule and will, ask God to provide your needs, confess any sin, and ask God to help you live in holiness and overcome temptation.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Do you have difficulty knowing what to say in prayer, or do your prayers feel a bit awkward or unstructured? How does Jesus’ model prayer give guidance to your prayer life?
2. Are prayer, giving, and fasting regular parts of your life? Why or why not? How can you make
these practices a more important part of your regular walk with God?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for being the Creator of all and displaying his glory through his creation.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s revealing of any hidden sin in your heart and for God’s forgiveness.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for hearing our prayers because of the sacrifice and intercession of our High Priest, Jesus.
Supplication: Pray for someone you know is struggling in life to depend on God in prayer.
Going Deeper
Prayer is a vital part of the Christian life, but so too are giving and fasting. These spiritual disciplines, especially fasting, tend to be neglected or less discussed. In giving, we use God’s blessings to us to bless others and trust him for further provision. In fasting, we temporarily deprive ourselves of food to focus on God rather than ourselves and trust him to be our sustainer.
January 8 - Matthew 6:19-34
Commentary
Continuing on a similar note from our reading yesterday, Jesus emphasizes that God is the one who provides for and sustains us. Therefore, we shouldn’t just hoard our money, or time or skills or relationships, for our own means and plans. Nothing will ever be totally secure in this world – money can be stolen, bank accounts can be hacked, and economies are always rising and falling. Instead of trusting in our money, then, we should trust in God. God sustained Jesus in the wilderness without food for forty days (see Matt. 4), he can provide for you whether you have money or not!
Jesus explains that life is about more than our physical necessities. In other words, we shouldn’t live our lives as slaves to worry or the timeclock, but as servants of God. God provides even for the birds and plants, surely he will provide for us! We see God’s fatherly care and provision ultimately expressed on the cross. God cares so much about our needs that he sent his own Son to die as our sacrifice. God let his Son die in our place to provide our salvation, don’t think for a moment that he’ll forget about you or fail to provide for you.
C. S. Lewis brilliantly explained the principle of this passage in Mere Christianity, saying, “The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
Discussion and Reflection
1. Do you see money as a resource to be stored away and protected, or as a blessing to serve your family, others, and God?
2. Do you struggle with anxious thoughts? How do you respond to them? Do you turn to God’s promises when these thoughts arise, or do you go to things other than God for relief?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for sustaining and providing for everything in creation.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s comfort and help turning to God in anxious moments.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for caring about your feelings and burdens.
Supplication: Ask for God’s wisdom in using your money wisely and loving him more than money or possessions.
January 9 - Matthew 7:1-29
Commentary
Jesus’ warnings about judgement in verses 1-6 are often misunderstood. Jesus teaches that we should be careful in how we judge others because we will be judged with the same strictness, by God. If we have truly received God’s mercy, we should in turn be merciful to others. However, life inherently involves using our judgement in matters ranging from whether to trust a stranger in a dark ally to deciding who we will marry to whether dirty, hungry pigs can be trusted with expensive pearls. We should be both wise and merciful in how we judge people, never compromising the truth of God’s Word either on matters of God’s love for sinners or God’s condemnation of sin, and remembering that we will be judged by God himself. Jesus’ teaching on persistence in prayer is also often misunderstood. We don’t pray to bully God into giving us what we want, we pray to draw closer to him and ask for his help. God may not always give us what we ask for, but he will give us what we need, and knowing this fatherly care should motivate us to bring our concerns to the Lord.
Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with warnings and promises. He warns that we should be wary of judging others, that the way to eternal life is narrow and missed by most, that destruction will come to the evil and fruitless, that we should treat others as we would want to be treated, and that salvation does not come merely to those who claim to be on God’s side or to do things on his behalf. Jesus promises that God will provide our needs when we ask – if godless parents know to do this for their children, surely God knows how to do this for us! – and that if we build our lives on his Word, we will be secure. The Old Testament is full of commands to build one’s life upon God’s Word (see Psalm 1). By using similar language, Jesus is thus equating his words with God’s Word. How can he claim this? Because he is God the Son himself!
When Jesus finishes his sermon, the crowds listening are amazed because he taught as if he had authority, unlike the scribes, the teachers of the law. What does this mean? In what he said and how he said it, Jesus spoke with divine authority because he was the Son of God. Jesus interpreted and added to the law (ch.5), he condemned the self-righteousness and hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees (ch.6), and he said people should build their lives upon his Word (ch.7). All these teachings, as well as Jesus’ actions in forgiving sin, performing miracles, and rising from the dead, point us to the reality of the Incarnation. As John said in the opening of his gospel, the Word who was with God in the beginning became flesh and dwelt among us, all for our salvation and God’s glory.
Going Deeper
Jesus’ teaching in this chapter is reminiscent of the covenant blessings and curses at the end of Deuteronomy. If the Israelites obeyed God when they entered the Promised Land, they would be blessed and prosperous, and if they disobeyed, they would be cursed and exiled. If we obey Jesus’ teachings, we will be blessed with joy and grace, but if we do not, believers will be cursed with God’s discipline and unbelievers will be damned to Hell.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Do you tend to judge others with more harshness or humility? Why should we be merciful in how we think about and interact with others?
2. Are you quicker to call out wrongs, or to minimize or not mention them to avoid conflict? Why is
it important to take opportunities to humbly encourage people to turn away from sin?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for being the all-good and all-knowing Judge.
Confession: Ask God to help you see if you are building your life on a relationship with him or the sinking sand of lostness and sin.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for sending Jesus to deliver us from our sin and the Holy Spirit to help us see our sin and need for a Savior.
Supplication: Ask God to open your eyes more to his goodness and love through his Word.
January 10 - Matthew 8:1-34
Commentary
This chapter showcases Jesus’ divine power through his healing of many sick people. In the Old Testament law, impurity was contagious – ritually unclean people would spread uncleanness to anyone they touched. With Jesus, however, he doesn’t catch impurity through touch or proximity; he spreads purity and wholeness. What a powerful picture of Christ’s power over sin and sickness! Many sicknesses, such as leprosy, would have made a person ritually unclean and thus unable to be part of regular society. Further, many sicknesses left people as destitute and disregarded beggars or dependent on family members. By healing these folks, Jesus did even more than heal their infirmity (which even doctors had little hope of doing), he also helped them become readmitted into Israel’s religious and social life as independent, functional persons.
This chapter also shows us Jesus’ authority – he has authority over sickness, certainly, but also over our lives, nature, and demons. Jesus tells two would-be disciples that the call to follow him is a call to leave one’s home and family. Jesus rebukes a storm and stops it so completely that the water calms immediately. He casts out demons from two men who were deeply oppressed and fiercely hostile. Jesus did things that no mere man could do, and the disciples recognize that being face to face with someone of such power would indeed be frightening!
Finally, this chapter shows us Jesus’ love. He cared for the helpless leper when nobody else would dare come near him. He cared for the centurion, who no Jew would’ve cared about, and his servant, who no Roman master would’ve cared about. He cared for the disciples when they were scared to death by the storm. His love and care are the same today as always – when we feel helpless, ignored, disliked, or afraid, we know we have Jesus as our heavenly mediator and that he has already experienced the ultimate scorn misery when he died on the cross on our behalf. He rose victorious over the grave and he will be victorious over everything that brings us down now.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Jesus met physical needs to point to people’s spiritual needs. How can you serve the people in your community while pointing them to Christ?
2. How does salvation help us participate in society in general and God’s people, the Church, in particular?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his sovereign rule and Jesus’ triumph over sickness, death, and Satan.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in loving others as God loves them.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for offering spiritual healing in this life and ultimate newness and life in eternity to all who turn to him in faith.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s strengthening and comforting of a lonely or downtrodden person you know and for opportunities to encourage him or her this week.
Going Deeper
While the centurion would have been looked down on by the Jews around him for being a Gentile and for working for their Roman oppressors, Jesus applauds his faith and says the centurion and other Gentiles with such faith will be around the table in Heaven (v11), many Israelites (“sons of the kingdom) will be in Hell (v12).
The man who wanted to bury his father probably wasn’t referring to his father’s funeral. Usually, a funeral would happen within a day of someone’s passing. Instead, the man was likely referring to his obligation to be sure his father is cared for until his death, or his desire to get his inheritance when his father died. In other words, the man was offering to follow Jesus, but only after the indefinite amount of time between then and his father’s passing. Let all other things fall by the wayside if they must, as long as you follow Christ!
January 11 - Matthew 9:1-38
Commentary
Today’s reading details more of Jesus’ healing miracles. Jesus first forgives the sins of a paralyzed man. To show that he truly has the authority to forgive sins, something only God could do, Jesus miraculously heals the man, something else only God could do. Matthew and his disregarded and deeply sinful friends show that they understand this lesson. Yes, they were sinners in need of a Savior, but they were aware enough of that to come to Jesus in humility. The religious leaders, on the other hand, were so self-righteous that not only would they never come to Jesus themselves, they couldn’t understand why Jesus would ever talk to those dirty sinners. Jesus came to give God’s people his own righteousness, because we can never be righteous by our own merits. Jesus came with something better than a law that could condemn but not save or a man-made religious system; he brought something new and fresh and lasting, which Jesus illustrates by the metaphor of new cloth and new wineskins.
Jesus is then approached by a ruler whose daughter had died. While on the way to help this man, Jesus is interrupted by a woman with a bleeding disorder. She had this issue for years, meaning not only years of misery but of constant ceremonial uncleanness and thus social and religious isolation. She had such confidence that Jesus could help, she believed only touching his clothes would’ve healed her, and she was right. Because she trusted fully in Jesus to help, he indeed helped her. Jesus then goes to the ruler’s house, breaks up the party of mourners, and raises the girl from the dead. Both miracles serve as metaphors for Christ’s redemptive work – he brings us deliverance, purity, restoration to the community of God’s people, and new life.
Jesus next heals two blind men and a demon-possessed man, further showcasing his divine power. The chapter closes with a sort of summary statement – Jesus is going all over the place, preaching and healing, and he tells his disciples to pray for more laborers for the harvest of lost souls. The need for more people to spread the gospel and show God’s love is greater today than ever, and God empowers his people for evangelism today just as always!
Going Deeper
Tax collectors were hated by the Israelites because tax collectors worked directly for the Roman government and made their living by extorting people for money on top of the taxes they owed to Rome. A Jew who became a tax collector was a traitor to his kinsman on top of being an unscrupulous person for extorting extra money from people. Interestingly, Jesus called Simon the Zealot (zealous for the overthrow of the Roman government) as well as the Roman IRS employee Matthew. Christ unifies people who would never be in the same room otherwise!
Discussion and Reflection
1. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Do you consider yourself a laborer in the harvest of lost souls? How can you be more on mission for Christ this week?
2. How has God delivered you from sickness, sin, and/or shame in the past? What parts of your life still need God’s healing touch, and what parts of your life are you holding back from God?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his power over sin and salvation.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in making the living out and sharing of the gospel your greatest priority in life.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for the new life, healing, and family he gives us through Christ.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s strengthening of you and other laborers to spread the gospel within your family and church, your country, and the world.
January 12 - Matthew 10:1-25
Commentary
In today’s passage, Jesus commissions the twelve disciples for a bit of a preaching tour. Matthew does not tell us how each of the disciples were called, but he does list all twelve by name here. Jesus tells them to go two by two throughout Israel to preach and heal. He tells them to preach the same message that he (4:17) and John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2) had preached. Jesus commissions them with the command that they should go out preaching and trust God for their provision (even of a safe place to stay each night!) and they should simply move on from the cities that reject them. The disciples were to spread the news of Jesus as far as they could throughout Israel. If one place wasn’t receptive, they had plenty more places to go.
Jesus warns the disciples that they are on a dangerous mission and it will inevitably come with persecution. This particular mission trip of the disciples seems to have been uneventful in regards to imprisonments and the like, but when the Holy Spirit comes upon the believers at Pentecost and empowers them to start spreading the gospel like wildfire, the disciples find themselves in exactly the position Jesus describes in verses 16 to 23. Believers since Pentecost have had very similar experiences – throughout the history of the church, Christians have often spread the gospel amidst great hostility from individuals, cities, religious groups, or countries. Some places in the world have virtually never been peaceful places for Christians. If we are persecuted for obeying God, we are simply following in the footsteps of our big brother, Jesus, and we know that he suffered the ultimate persecution so that whatever hardship we face in this life, we could be delivered into the next life to dwell forever with him.
Discussion and Reflection
1. What are you doing with the gospel? Have you received it by faith and turned from your sins to Jesus? Judgement will be even greater for those who hear the gospel but reject it! Are you sharing the gospel with those around you? If not, why? Do you think God saved you and taught you the truth so that you could keep it to yourself, or are you afraid of sharing, or is the gospel not on the forefront of your mind enough?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his perfect wisdom in planning and accomplishing salvation.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in boldly sharing your faith rather than being afraid or apathetic.
Thanksgiving: Thank God that Jesus suffered in our place to atone for our sins.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and enlightenment of a lost person you know well and for the passion and boldness to share with that person.
January 13 - Matthew 10:26-42
Commentary
Jesus continues preparing his disciples for their preaching circuit throughout Israel. He tells the disciples not to fear those who may persecute them, but rather to preach the gospel with boldness, opposition or not, and reserve their fear for God. Those who persecute believers may have power to harm in this life, but God has the power to harm both in this life and the next – and to preserve us throughout this life and bring us into the next life. As the New Bible Commentary says with this in mind, “Disciples should therefore be more afraid of failing him by concealing the truth.” We should be bold in our witnessing both in worshipful obedience to God and out of love for the lost souls we implore to receive Christ as Savior.
None of us reading today are joining the apostles in this preaching circuit Jesus commissions them for in chapter 10, so what does being bold in witnessing look like in day-to-day life? First, it’s prayerful. Pray for the Holy Spirit to embolden you to witness. Second, it’s intentional. We have to actively strive to witness to people, not just hope it will happen eventually. Third, it’s specific. Sharing the gospel is more than just being nice and wholesome, which is a great start, and even goes beyond mentioning that you’re a Christian or inviting people to church, which is a great next step. We need to communicate the gospel itself, to tell people that they are dead in their sins and that Jesus died in our place so that we would be forgiven of our sins and given new life as part of God’s family.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Think of the unbelievers you regularly see in your life – your classmates, coworkers, family members, and so on. Do you feel afraid of how they might react to you sharing your faith? How does the passage we read today relate to how we share our faith?
2. How does what the Bible teaches on heaven and hell impact your desire to share the gospel with the people God has placed around you?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his power over life, death, and all creation.
Confession: Ask for God’s forgiveness of any laziness, apathy, or fear that has kept you from witnessing to those around you.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for the privilege of being part of his work to save others.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s strengthening of persecuted believers around the world and for their persecutors to come to Christ.
January 14 - Matthew 11:1-30
Commentary
John the Baptist was a remarkable man – the greatest man aside from Christ himself (11:11) – and yet even he had doubts. John, imprisoned by Herod for preaching repentance of sin and upsetting Israel’s social and religious scene, sent some his followers to ask Jesus if he really was the Christ, the Savior. Why would John doubt? John knew Jesus was the Christ even before either of them were born (Luke 1:44)! John, like a lot of us, faced hardship and discouragement. The prophets said the Christ would come to bring redemption, healing, and freedom to God’s people, yet John found himself in prison simply for preaching about this Christ.
We now see why Jesus’ warnings about persecution in chapter 10 (see also 5:10-12) are so important. Hardship is an inevitable part of following Jesus. Resisting sin, preaching the gospel to those who don’t want to hear it, and living holy (different, pure, and set apart) lives will never be popular to the lost world. Obeying God will bring hardship (2 Tim. 3:12), but will also bring joy and peace that we will never find ignoring God’s call in our lives. Just look at how miserable Jonah was all that time running from God and still hating the Ninevites even when they repented, or how miserable and nasty the religious leaders were when Jesus challenged their self-righteousness and vanity – we will not find real satisfaction and peace unless we are following God!
The great news, though, is not only that God offers us real joy and peace, but that he offers it as a free gift. Jesus invites everyone who is tired of sin and chaos and working for things only God can provide to come to him and find rest. We don’t have to work our way to salvation because Christ has done that for us, perfectly obeying God’s Word in our place and dying as the sacrifice for our sins.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Have you responded, “Yes!” to Jesus’ invitation for salvation and rest? Are you following God in obedience, or ignoring his salvation and his instruction and living your own way? Christ’s arms are open wide to receive all who come to him, run to him today!
2. Do you feel like you have Christ’s peace in your life and that your salvation is secure in him? If not, consider how much time you spend in God’s Word and prayer, and how much time you spend on other things. You won’t feel at rest in Christ if you’re never seeking him!
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for being the source of all goodness, peace, and joy.
Confession: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in knowing if you are truly saved and living for Christ.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for Jesus’ work on our behalf to bring us salvation and peace.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in growing your love for and time in the Bible and prayer.
January 15 - Matthew 12:1-21
Commentary
Chapter 11 ends with Jesus calling all who are weary to come to him for rest. Chapter 12 starts with a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees about the Sabbath. Jesus’ disciples pluck some grain to eat as they are walking, which the Pharisees, in all their legalistic additions to the law, say is a violation of the command to rest on the Sabbath. Jesus replies by telling the Pharisees that the Old Testament shows it is not a sin to do what is necessary to take care of yourself on the Sabbath – King David and his men even ate the bread of the Presence, reserved only for priests in the law, while running from Saul and in need of food and were not charged with sin. Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 to them, teaching that God does not desire us to work and sacrifice and keep religious rituals if our hearts are not in it. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath – he is greater than even the sacred day of rest commanded in the law because he is the God who commanded it. Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath to show the day is about resting in and honoring God - what better way to do that than to show God’s mercy to someone in need?
Matthew then tells of Jesus healing many, fulfilling what was prophesied in Isaiah 42:1-4. Jesus came to teach God’s Word and invite into God’s family all people, not just Israel. He came in great humility, not with warhorses and soldiers guarding him, but riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey with his ragtag disciples. Jesus came to perfectly keep the law, fulfill the prophets, and provide salvation and rest to God’s people. We have such a great, humble, and loving Savior!
Discussion and Reflection
1. Do you feel a pull to “work for” your salvation, as if your salvation depends on how perfectly you can obey God? You will never feel at rest if you are always working for your salvation, and if you are working for your salvation instead of trusting in Christ’s perfect and finished work, you are disgracing his sacrifice for you.
2. Do you tend to neglect your personal obedience and holiness because your salvation is secure regardless of what you do? If you are so flippant about pleasing the Lord, you may not have any salvation to be secure in after all! Our salvation should lead us to serve and honor God out of deep love and respect for him.
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his power over life, death, and sin.
Confession: Ask God to help you obey him out of love and respect.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for the lasting rest Jesus has purchased for his people with his blood.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and enlightenment of a lost person you know well and for the passion and boldness to share with that person.
January 16 - Matthew 12:22-50
Commentary
This passage shows Jesus facing a great deal of skepticism and outright refusal to believe in him. The everyday folks who witnessed Jesus’ exorcism thought he could perhaps be the promised heir of David, but the Pharisees immediately said Jesus was performing these works by the power of Satan. Jesus wisely asks, if was empowered by Satan, why would he be stopping a demon possession? Jesus was exorcising, healing, and teaching because he was opposing Satan. He describes Satan as being like a strong man who must be bound before his house is robbed – Jesus performs these miracles in part to impede Satan’s work in the hearts of those Jesus is teaching.
Jesus mentions the “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” in this passage. This is one of the most poorly understood and disgracefully misrepresented teachings in the Bible. Pay close attention to the passage and let God’s Word speak for itself. Jesus brings this topic up after the Pharisees see a miracle proving his deity and declare he is empowered by Satan. Looking Jesus in the face and saying he must be working for the devil isn’t something you do accidentally, it’s the fruit (to draw in what Jesus says in v33-37) of a heart that is adamantly opposed to God. The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is not a hidden sleeper phrase that will damn you to Hell irrevocably if you accidentally say it; it is an adamant refusal to believe in Jesus. If you refuse to believe in Jesus to your dying breath, of course you won’t be forgiven!
God invites us to be part of his forever-forgiven family. We don’t have to let our foolish words and deeds condemn us on judgement day, we can turn to Christ and have our sins covered by his perfect obedience. Don’t be like the Pharisees, who refused to trust in Jesus even when they saw his miracles; be like the people of Nineveh who heard God’s warning and repented, be like the Queen of Sheba who knew God gave Solomon great wisdom and came to listen to it. Turn to Jesus in repentance and faith and hold onto him in trust and love until he brings all his family home.
Discussion and Reflection
1. What have you heard about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit before? Have those discussions included much, if any, discussion of this passage and its context? How does the understanding of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit we’ve discussed today give you hope in witnessing to lost people?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for justly punishing sin and mercifully forgiving sinners.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in growing in faith and obedience in your daily life.
Thanksgiving: Thank God that all our sins can be forgiven if we turn to Christ because he already suffered the punishment we deserved on the cross.
Supplication: Pray for the salvation of three lost people you regularly see by name and ask God to give you opportunities to witness to them.
January 17 - Matthew 13:1-23
Commentary
This is the first parable of Matthew’s gospel. Parables are an iconic part of Jesus’ teaching and many of them are well-known and referenced in popular culture and idioms. A parable is a story about everyday life with a spiritual lesson behind it. James Edwards helpfully illustrates the beauty of Jesus’ parables like this: “Parables are like stained glass windows in a cathedral, dull and lifeless from the outside but brilliant and radiant from within. Or to borrow an analogy from Jesus (Mark 1:17), they are like fishing. There is a hook hidden in the bait. The hook is the word of God, which is personified in Jesus. Parables cannot be understood apart from the one who tells them. Parables are not simply good advice, they are good news; for the life of Jesus is itself a parable, indeed the greatest parable.” Jesus explains that he speaks in parables, essentially, because they differentiate between who knows God and who do not. Those who truly know God, like the disciples, will wonder and ask what the parables mean, while the crowds following Jesus for magic tricks and the Pharisees trying to get Jesus in trouble are not interested in the parables’ meaning.
This first parable is about those who hear God’s Word. As Jesus explains, he is the one sowing (planting) the seed of the gospel and the different soils are different types of people who respond to the gospel. While the seed appears to grow in some places, ultimately it only grows in the good soil and goes on to produce much fruit. If you haven’t noticed it yet, Matthew really emphasizes the picture of people as plants bearing fruit. If you aren’t bearing good fruit – living a godly life and serving God – that means you’re bearing bad fruit and if you’re only producing bad fruit, you’re not part of God’s family. If you are part of God’s family, the Holy Spirit lives inside you and helps you to produce good fruit in your life.
Discussion and Reflection
1. In what ways are you producing good and bad fruit in your life?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for overcoming the sinfulness of human hearts to redeem and use them for his glory.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in being an obedient, loving, and humble servant of God and to put his kingdom first in all parts of your life.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for the healing and victory he will bring to all his people because of Christ’s redemptive work.
Supplication: Ask for the Holy Spirit to help you sow freely, to share the gospel boldly and often, and for God to make that witnessing fruitful in lost hearts.
January 18 - Matthew 13:24-52
Commentary
In our passage today, Jesus tells several parables that teach that God is waiting to destroy
his enemies because even though his enemies get to continue on this earth, people also continually come to know God and turn from his enemies to his children. There is a lot of evil in this world, both from people sinning and from the effects of sin in the natural world in things like natural disasters and disease. Many people complain that God shouldn’t allow such evil to continue, but as Jesus tells us in this passage, because God still waits to bring about the day of judgement, people have the chance in this life to come to know him.
God’s judgement is certainly coming for those who never repent and turn to him. The doctrine of Hell is hard for many Christians to be fully comfortable with – of course we won’t be comfortable with Hell if we know that’s where we deserve to be because of our sin! Yet, the doctrine of Hell is a reassurance that justice will be executed one day. Think about atrocities like the Holocaust. Hitler killed millions of people, and yet only had to suffer and die once for that – and at his own hand, by his own choice. Can dying one time make up for the death of millions? When we sin, we sin against an infinitely sinless God – there is nothing we can do to make up for our sin or work our way to God, and thus Hell is eternal punishment.
God could’ve wiped the slate with us, sent us all to Hell, and started over, but instead, he loved us so much to give up his own Son to live the perfect life we could never life and die the horrific death we deserve to die so that we could have forgiveness and eternal life. God plants the seeds in the heart of his people, he makes them grow, and he will harvest his crops and bring all of us home to heaven one day. Until then, turn to Jesus and keep loving, trusting, worshiping, praying, and evangelizing, all to the glory of God.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Does the doctrine of Hell make you uncomfortable or uneasy? How should the reality of Hell impact our evangelism and the priorities we set in our relationships with others?
2. How can knowing that we deserve Hell lead us to further love and worship God as believers?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for ruling over and controlling all of creation.
Confession: Confess any sin you haven’t talked to God about yet.
Thanksgiving: Thank God that Jesus suffered and died in our place.
Supplication: Ask the Holy Spirit to help you be bold and urgent in sharing the gospel with those around you.
January 19 - Matthew 13:53-14:21
Commentary
Jesus and John the Baptist face similar disdain from the lost in our passage today. The people of Jesus’ hometown wouldn’t listen to him, just treating him as the neighbor’s boy and not taking him seriously. Herod, the governor of Judah, is reminded of when he executed John the Baptist because of a foolish deal he made after his step daughter did a suggestive dance for him and his buddies (yeah, gross).
Being familiar with Jesus is far different from genuinely being saved. The people of Nazareth “knew” Jesus - he played with their kids, worked on handyman projects with his dad around town, went to the synagogue with them, and more, yet their familiarity with Jesus led them to be offended when Jesus preached the truth to them. He was just the neighbor’s kid to the. Herod liked to hear about the Christ from John the Baptist, yet he liked the suggestive dance of his daughter even more. We can become bored of Jesus, too familiar with Jesus, or more in love with sin than him, and thus squander the opportunities we have to love and find joy in God. If our whole lives look more like that of the townsfolk of Nazareth, not taking Jesus’ words seriously, or like Herod, loving sin more than God’s Word, we might find ourselves in trouble on judgement day. Turn from any sin that hinders you and ask for God’s help in loving him most of all today!
Those of us who really do know Jesus will find God’s provision rather than God’s condemnation. Jesus feeding the five thousand is a great picture of this – Jesus produces food for five thousand men (plus the unnumbered women and children joining them) out of nothing and it is more than enough for all of them. I see a lot of Psalm 23 in this miracle story – “he makes me to lie down in green pastures” and “my cups overflows.” As Psalm 23 concludes, for all of us who have turned to Jesus, goodness and mercy will follow us all our lives and we will dwell in God’s heavenly kingdom forever. If you have not yet, repent of your sins and trust in Christ today!
Discussion and Reflection
1. In what ways are you tempted to not take Christ and his Word seriously? Do you struggle to treasure worship at church because its so routine, or to read the Bible when you think you already know it, or avoid sin when you already know you can “get away with it”?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God that one day, even his enemies will bow to him and declare he is the Lord.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in taking Christ and his Word seriously, especially regarding how you love and treat others.
Thanksgiving: Thank God that Christ humbly endured hatred and humiliation to be our Savior.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s strengthening of persecuted believers around the world and for their persecutors to come to Christ.
January 20 - Matthew 14:22-15:20
Commentary
Today’s reading contains Jesus walking on the water, one of the more well-known stories in the gospels. Jesus had withdrawn to pray alone while his disciples went to the other side of the lake. As in chapter 8, there is a mighty storm and the disciples are afraid. This time, Jesus isn’t on the boat, but he comes to rescue them by walking on the water – a miraculous feat (like the pun?) that only God himself could accomplish. Peter exhibits bold faith at first, knowing that Jesus could enable him to walk on the water, but he begins to sink when he takes his eyes off Christ and worries about the wind instead. Jesus is merciful, rescuing Peter from the consequence of his lost focus and wavering faith. Verse 33 shows us the effect of Jesus’ miracle – his disciples proclaim that Jesus truly is the Son of God.
We see another summary paragraph of Jesus’ healing ministry, this time in Gennesaret, which was not too far from Capernaum, where Jesus spent much of his early ministry. Jesus is loving and merciful, happy to heal all who came to him. When you are overwhelmed, never be afraid to cry out like Peter or these sick folks, “Lord, save me!” Our Savior is gentle and lowly in heart, and he gives peace and rest to all who come to him to be saved.
The Family Worship Bible Guide gives an excellent summary of verses 10-20: “The heart of sin is the sin of the heart. The scribes and the Pharisees focused on external sins, especially the rituals they dictated [like the ceremonial washing of hands before eating], but the Lord Jesus said that all the moral evils of mankind proceed out of the heart (v.19). When God works in our hearts, He gives us the ability to see how deeply rooted sin is and how deceitful our hearts are. Our salvation cannot simply be dressing up or cleaning up the outside of our lives. Christ must heal our blindness.”
Discussion and Reflection
1. Why is it important to keep our focus on Christ rather than our problems? How can you practice this in your daily life?
2. How does what the Bible teaches on heaven and hell impact your desire to share the gospel with the people God has placed around you?
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Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for being Lord of all of creation and making even the water to obey him and show his glory.
Confession: Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you keep your focus on your Savior rather than your temptations or hardships.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for sending Jesus to be our perfect Savior and show his mercy to us, despite the abundance of our sin and the weakness.
Supplication: Pray for your church to humbly live out and lovingly proclaim the gospel faithfully to your community.
January 21 - Matthew 15:21-16:12
Commentary
Quite a bit happens in today’s passage. First is one of the more challenging stories in the gospels, this Canaanite woman who begs for Jesus to heal her daughter. A few things to note here: 1) by initially refusing to answer, Jesus intentionally draws her into a deeper conversation, 2) Jesus came first for Israel, who God made a covenant with and gave his Word to, so it was appropriate for Jesus to focus on the Israelites, and 3) she recognizes she does not belong at Jesus’ table, an honest and humble confession of one’s need for a Savior that very few people in the gospels exhibit. She recognizes she has no place in this story, yet she begs for Jesus’ help, even calling him (before the disciples or the rest of the Jews) the Son of David. This is what we need for salvation, too, to recognize that because of our sin, we don’t truly deserve a place in God’s household, and to plea for Christ’s mercy to forgive and help us anyways. She is one of my favorite women of the Bible and a shining example of faith and humility for us all.
Next, we again see a summary of Jesus healing many, with the note that this led people to worship the God of Israel. Again, this is what Jesus’ miracles were intended to do – lead people to turn to God and show his divinity. After this, Jesus feeds another massive crowd with just a couple sack lunches of bread and fish. This story especially gives us déjà vu because the disciples have already forgotten Jesus could do this, worrying about where they could possibly get enough food to care for the crowd as Jesus wanted.
Jesus gave these signs to inquiring crowds and his disciples, but told the religious leaders he would only give them “the sign of Jonah.” This is a callback to 12:38-42, where Jesus foretold that he would be buried for three days as Jonah was in the big fish for three days, and then be raised back to life as Jonah was spit out of the fish. Jesus uses the feeding miracles and the disciples running out of food as an occasion to teach his disciples to be wary of “the leaven of the Pharisees.” Leaven makes bread rise, so just a bit of it can cause a whole batch of dough to rise and expand. Jesus teaches that their influence is like that – letting in this ritualistic self-righteousness into your heart and mind can easily corrupt your walk with God. Trust in Christ’s perfect righteousness alone for salvation!
Discussion and Reflection
1. Without Christ, we really don’t deserve a seat at the table and we really are as low as a person can be. How does this story teach us to be honest about our own sinfulness and unworthiness?
2. We are all forgetful – that’s why Jesus teaches the disciples the lesson again and why the Bible has so many reminders. What do you regularly forget or ignore in your walk with God? How does the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of believers encourage you to be more faithful in this aspect of your life?
Points of Prayer
Today, practice what you’ve been seeing and learning through these points of prayer. How can you pray based on what you read today?
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanksgiving:
Supplication:
January 22 - Matthew 16:13-17:13
Commentary
We find several key moments in the story of the gospels in these verses. Peter, the most prominent apostle, declares that Jesus is the promised Christ (Messiah, Savior) and the Son of God. Jesus notes that God has revealed this to Peter – in our sinfulness and spiritual blindness, we can never come to see who Jesus is without God’s help. Jesus commends Peter’s confession of him as the Christ and gives him the new name (or nickname) of Peter, which means small stone or pebble in Greek. He then says he will build his church upon this rock. This is a bit of wordplay, but the word for “rock” here means a large rock, like a boulder or a cornerstone. Jesus isn’t saying he will build the church upon Peter, but upon what Peter confesses – Jesus is the Christ. The Bible tells us again and again that Jesus is the cornerstone that the church is built upon (Ephesians 2:19-22), and in Matthew 16 we find this same truth.
After Peter’s confession, Jesus tells his disciples that he would suffer, die, and rise again. Peter, loving his master and fearing for his life, said Jesus certainly shouldn’t go through this. Jesus, in contrast to commending Peter’s last words as truth coming from the Father, rebukes Peter and even calls him Satan! Jesus loved Peter enough to tell him he was dead wrong in refusing to want a suffering Savior, the idea is demonic because it is radically opposed to Jesus’ mission. We want a Savior who is like us, and since we don’t want to suffer we tend to recoil at the idea of a suffering Savior. Jesus tells the disciples that he would suffer and that following him means sharing in that suffering. We must deny our sinful desires and pursue the godly, sacrificial example of Jesus.
Finally, we see what is commonly called the Transfiguration – the event where Jesus is shown to be shining bright with the glory of God. Moses, the giver of the Law, and Elijah, the greatest prophet, appeared alongside Jesus. The disciples were amazed and Peter, the only one bold enough to speak, asks if they can all camp out and enjoy a nice conference with these three great preachers. God the Father, speaking from heaven, answers Peter’s well-intended but silly question – Jesus, the Word become flesh, God the Son himself, is the one we should desire and listen to, not sinful men.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Jesus didn’t want to know what all the other people in the world thought of him, he wanted to know what the disciples thought of him. Do you also find yourself more concerned about other people’s view of God than your own? How can you focus on your own walk with the Lord while still sharing his Word with others?
2. Are you tempted to idolize people, even good people like family members or pastors, rather than expect God alone to always do the right thing and never let you down?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God that he is infinitely greater than even the greatest of men.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help to love and look up to Jesus more than anyone, and to faithfully live out his example.
Thanksgiving: Thank God that we can approach him with confidence that he loves and will hear us because of the suffering and resurrection of Christ.
Supplication: Pray for God’s strength and comfort for someone you know who feels alone or downtrodden and ask for God’s help to encourage that person this week.
January 23 - Matthew 17:14-18:6
Commentary
This passage shows the disciples encountering a demon that they cannot cast out of a suffering child. Jesus, of course, can and does cast out the demon and rebukes the disciples for trying to do this in their strength rather than God’s. Jesus tells them that anything is possible for them if they have enough faith. A word of caution is vital here – read this passage, like every passage, alongside the rest of the Bible. Jesus is not saying God is a genie waiting hand and foot on those with enough faith to boss him around for several reasons. First, he says all that is required for moving a mountain is faith like a mustard seed, the smallest seed in ancient Israel: “The ‘amount’ of faith is not important; even the smallest is enough. What matters is the God in whom that faith is placed, who can achieve the proverbially impossible (moving mountains).” Second, Jesus says this in the context of helping a demon-possessed boy. We shouldn’t pray for God to help with our petty, worldly desires, but for help in reaching others for him and glorifying him in our lives. Third, our prayers, even when prayed with the best of intentions, do not come from a perfectly good and all-knowing perspective. We don’t know best, but God does, so in our prayers, we should humbly submit our desires to him, ask for his help, and trust his wisdom and timing.
Jesus again foretells his suffering and his disciples are distressed. Jesus’ death was part of God’s redemptive plans from eternity and was the only way people could be saved, but again the disciples have trouble coming to terms with this. The collectors of the yearly temple tax for Jewish men tracked Jesus and Peter down. Jesus tells Peter that neither the King (Jesus) or his family (the disciples) should have to pay this tax, but Jesus does to avoid controversy. The religious leaders hated Jesus enough as it was, and Jesus showed wisdom by not offending them to the point that they would kill him prematurely. Finally, the disciples ask Jesus who will be the greatest in his kingdom. In response, Jesus shows them a little child and tells the disciples that greatness in his kingdom comes from having faith like a child, a humble, trusting faith from one who knows he needs help, guidance, and protection.
Discussion and Reflection
1. You probably aren’t performing exorcisms, but there are other opportunities you have to serve
the Lord regularly – sharing the gospel with a friend, helping in the nursery at church, or answering a Bible question from a less mature believer. When these opportunities arise, do you take them on thoughtlessly, or do you humbly ask for God’s help? What specific opportunities should you be taking? Ask your church leaders if you can’t think of any.
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his power over sin, Satan, and death.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in growing in faith and obedience in your daily life.
Thanksgiving: Thank God that all our sins can be forgiven if we turn to Christ.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s strengthening of your church’s deacons to lead the way in sacrifically and lovingly serving in your church and community.
January 24 - Matthew 18:7-35
Commentary
This passage is much like 6:29-30, with the same point – whatever is keeping you from following God, get rid of it! Jesus also repeats his warning not to harm any little ones, speaking metaphorically of followers of Jesus, who should have the child-like faith we learned about yesterday. We should not allow any obstacles to our personal walks with God, nor should be an obstacle for others. God loves each of his sheep enough that he will pursue and rescue any of them who stray away.
Jesus’ instructions to pursue a brother for reconciliation is modeled after God’s own seeking out of his wayward people. The reason why people in the church must confront unrepentant sin from fellow brothers and sisters in the church is because God loves us enough to send Jesus to rescue us from our sin and from Hell. In a similar way, we are supposed to pull our fellow believers out of sin. The word translated as “church” is the Greek word “ekklesia,” meaning gathering or assembly. The church is the people of God, assembled by God himself through his work of saving his people. This is one of the key passages on church discipline, the process of leaders of the church confronting those in unrepentant, repeated sin and seeking to restore them to God. Church discipline should be done as privately as possible for the dignity of the offending person, with the goal of lovingly restoring this person rather than tearing him down or belittling him. If this person will not repent, the entire local church may need to be involved, and Christ has given the church the authority to discipline and rebuke believers as needed.
Our reading for today ends with Jesus telling a parable about forgiveness. We should forgive our brothers and sisters an infinite amount of times – seven symbolizes completeness, so seventy times seven means something like a “super duper perfect” amount of times. The parable explains why – if you are part of God’s redeemed people, God has forgiven you of a great debt of sin. Therefore, you should show this same mercy to others. May we be forgiving as our Father is forgiving and seek to help, love, and forgive our fellow believers!
Discussion and Reflection
1. Are there sources of temptations or obstacles in your life currently? What can you do to minimize these distractions?
2. Do you struggle with forgiveness? While forgiveness does not necessitate putting yourself in a position to be hurt or abused, it does require letting go of your frustration and entrusting the person and situation to God.
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for redeeming and gathering sinners into his people.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in identifying sources of temptation in your life and eliminating them.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for Jesus paying the price for our sins and bringing his people together in the church for his service
Supplication: Pray for your church’s pastors to preach, lead, rebuke, and discipline with truthfulness and boldness and for your church to be receptive to their leading.
January 25 - Matthew 19:1-30
Commentary
In our passage today, Jesus teaches about divorce. Marriage is a fundamental human
relationship, the greatest connection two people can have with each other, and a vital building block of society. From the beginning, God designed sex, romantic love, and family building to happen between one man and one woman in a loving, devoted marriage. There is no other way to pursue these things and please God, anything short of this is sin. The only asterisk God has given us to this relationship is the possibility of divorce. Jesus says the only reason God gave a process for divorce in the Old Testament law is because of human stubbornness and sinfulness, and divorce is only biblical warranted in the case of infidelity. Marriage is a weighty thing, therefore Jesus says some are born as or choose to be eunuchs, men who have been, for lack of better words, castrated and unable to have sex. He doesn’t mean that those who don’t marry have to have a painful surgery, he simply uses this familiar image to express that some people may not marry to focus more on God.
We then see Jesus encourage the children to come to him, again calling back to Jesus’ teaching on having a childlike faith. Jesus is met by a rich young man who desires to enter God’s kingdom. He claims to have obeyed all the ten commandments perfectly, but he really hadn’t. He had broken the first one, to not worship anything but God, because he worshipped his money and possessions. He can’t handle it when Jesus says he should use all his wealth to help others. Jesus explains that its hard for people with great wealth to enter God’s kingdom, and the rich young man showed us why. To trust in God rather than things, and love him most of all, and be willing to deny your own desires and follow Jesus in self-sacrifice is hard! This is especially true with people who feel they are fine on their own from having comfortable lives. Fortunately, God loves us enough to overcome our sinfulness and rebellion, and he will provide us with all our needs, even family.
Discussion and Reflection
1. If you are married, are you honoring God in your marriage? If you aresingle, are you honoring God in your singleness? For all of you, are you seeking your fulfillment in God, or in relationships or sex? Only God can fulfill us and he is the only one our lives and relationships should evolve around!
2. If you have children in your life, do you tell them about Jesus, or do you neglect this responsibility and privilege?
3. Are there things you are “rich” with that distract you from God? Common ones are family, careers, physical healthy, relationships/connections, and possessions.
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for being worth our entire love and devotion as the Creator and Redeemer.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in identifying sources of temptation in your life and eliminating them.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for offering salvation to all who repent and believe.
Supplication: Pray for the salvation of someone you know who lives in reliance on things and possessions rather than God.
January 26 - Matthew 20:1-34
Commentary
This passage teaches a lot about humility. Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers is about salvation. Salvation is promised to all who receive Christ, just as the same wages were promised to everyone who worked the vineyard, regardless of when they were hired and began to work. God alone has the power to forgive, we have no place questioning when and why he saves people, other than to rejoice for new brothers and sisters and be grateful for our own salvation.
This is a hard lesson to learn, and harder for some than others. After Jesus says a third time he would suffer, die, and rise, the mother of James and John asks Jesus if he will give her sons the places of greatest honor in the kingdom. Jesus stresses that they cannot drink the cup he will drink – the cup of God’s righteous wrath against sin. Jesus uses himself as an example of how believers are to seek humility and service to others. If even Jesus served others sacrificially, then we have absolutely no right or warrant to be clamoring among ourselves for places of honor.
At the close of chapter 20, we see the final healing miracle in the gospels. Two blind men cry out to Jesus, calling him both Lord and Son of David. They call him the title of Son of David even before the Palm Sunday crowds do in the next chapter, and unlike those folks, these two blind men follow up their declaration with sincere thankfulness and follow Jesus.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Have you ever resented others for coming to salvation or being blessed in particular ways despite their sinful past? How can you cultivate humility and empathy rather than jealousy when thinking of others?
2. Do you tend to serve others simply for the joy of serving God, or do you find yourself wanting further rewards or recognition?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for displaying his glory through redeeming and empowering weak, sinful people for his service.
Confession: Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in serving others and not seeking your own prestige or praise.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for Christ humbly laying down his life in service to his Father and to us.
Supplication: Pray for the salvation of someone in your life who seems far from God.
January 27 - Matthew 21:1-27
Commentary
Jesus entered Jerusalem on the day we call Palm Sunday. This is the that started Jesus’ last week. It was the week of the Passover, so Israelites (as well as Gentiles who followed Judaism) were coming into Jerusalem from all over Israel and the Roman Empire. Jesus, in fulfillment of the Zechariah 9:9-10, tells his disciples to bring him a young donkey on which he would ride into town. Jesus comes in great humility, obeying his Father and fulfilling the promises of the Scriptures. Jesus is welcomed by a makeshift red carpet and exclamations that the Son of David is coming. The disciples and crowd recognize Jesus is there fulfilling the prophesy of Zechariah, but the town as a whole is stirred up and scandalized.
Jesus then enters the temple, chasing out those who made the court of Gentiles, the only place Gentiles could be in the temple, into a place to price gouge travelers on animal sacrifices to bring to the priests. The impaired and the children in the temple are excited about Jesus, while the religious elites were appalled by Jesus’ bold actions and bold claims. After this, Jesus finds a fig tree with leaves but no fruit to eat. He curses the tree and it withers. Mark’s account of this story (Mark 11) helps us see that Jesus curses the fig tree because, like Israel, the tree had the appearance of being fruitful externally, but inwardly had no fruit. The religious leaders of Israel emphasized what was done externally, but neglected inward love of and reliance on God. Matthew uses this story to again emphasize the importance of faith in our prayer – God will provide for us and enable us to serve him if we ask for his help, even in seemingly impossible circumstances.
Finally, we see the religious leaders confronting Jesus about what authority gives him the right to do and say such incredible things. Jesus answers their question with a question about John the Baptist’s ministry and they are stuck between a rock and a hard place with their possible responses. They didn’t want to learn more about Jesus to obey and worship him, they simply wanted to trick him into saying something scandalous or blasphemous enough that they could have him arrested. Jesus, of course, escapes this trap, but not because he wants to save his life, but because he is waiting for the right time to lay it down to pay for the sins of his people.
Discussion and Reflection
1. We saw Jesus angry at those who used the temple to make money and fill the Gentiles place of worship with animals and he pursued justice by throwing them out of the temple. Is this righteously angry, justice-pursuing Jesus consistent with the depiction of Jesus we see in pop culture? Why is the entire Bible important for helping us see the full character of Jesus?
2. Do you believe Jesus is who he claimed to be? If so, does your life reflect that belief? Are you obedient, worshipful, and evangelistic?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his righteous wrath against evil and for being perfectly good.
Confession: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in knowing if you are truly saved and living for Christ.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for sending Jesus as the ultimate and final sacrifice for our sins.
Supplication: Pray for the lost peoples throughout the world to be reached with the gospel.
January 28 - Matthew 21:28-22:14
Commentary
In today’s reading, Jesus tells two parables condemning Israel, particularly the religious leaders, for failing to believe in Christ. In the first parable, the son who initially refuses to work but eventually does work represents the “sinners” of Israel, the prostitutes, tax collectors, drunks, and so on who did initially live in sin, but turned to God when they heard John the Baptist preaching about Jesus. The second son, who says he will work but never does, represents the scribes and Pharisees, who claimed to follow God but never did in their hearts. The religious leaders did not believe John when he preached about Jesus or Jesus himself.
The second parable has Israel as a vineyard. The master of the vineyard, God, sent servants to gather fruit from the tenants again and again, but every time they killed the servants. The tenants are the Israelites, who never consistently listened to the prophets, and the servants are the prophets, who gave God’s message to Israel. Finally, the master sends his own son because surely they would listen to the son of their master, but the tenants killed the son as well. Jesus asked the religious leaders what they thought the master should do with these tenants, and they reply with a hearty declaration that the tenants should be killed and the vineyard should be given to other tenants who would produce fruit for the vineyard owner. Ironically, the religious leaders are the ones who cry most consistently for the Son’s death!
The third parable is about a wedding feast that none of the invited guests want to go to, despite everything being prepared for them and them being invited. Like in the last parable, the wedding guests kill the servants of the king, and verse 7 describes the king’s wrath burning hot against them. Then, the king sends the servants to invite anyone who will show up. Somone tries to sneak in to the wedding without an invitation and he is thrown out, essentially into Hell.
The truths of these parables play out in the earthly life of Jesus – the religious leaders are rejected by Jesus and the humble, needy people who ask for Jesus’ mercy, the “sinners” and undesirables of Israel, those willing to give up status and power and wealth to follow Jesus, and even Gentiles are the ones who become the sons and daughters of God. The key here is that those who are given the vineyard to work are those who will be fruitful. Salvation doesn’t automatically apply to everyone who’s not a Pharisee or to those who have a hard time, we must individually come to God, asking for forgiveness for our sins and desiring to serve and honor him. If you haven’t done this yet, why delay? Today can be your day of salvation, God is always ready to receive the repentant as new sons and daughters.
Discussion and Reflection
1. Matthew’s gospel has mentioned the importance of being fruitful many times. Are there specific places in your life where you’ve become more fruitful since starting this book?
Points of Prayer
How can you pray based on what you read today?
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanksgiving:
Supplication:
January 29 - Matthew 22:15-45
Commentary
In today’s passage, the Pharisees and Sadducees try, unsuccessfully, to entrap Jesus in several ways. First, the Pharisees ask him about whether the Jews should pay taxes to Rome, lacing the question with insincere flattery. Jesus’ answer is very straightforward – the government makes the money, therefore when the government is asking for some of that money, we should comply, just as we should give to God what belongs to him (our lives, our worship, etc.). If Jesus required the Jews to pay taxes to the godless, oppressive, and greedy government of Rome, there’s not many good excuses we will find to not pay taxes to our government.
The Sadducees ask Jesus a trick question about marriage and heaven. The Sadducees, a smaller sect of the religious elites, did not actually believe in a resurrected life in heaven and thus asked a question intended to show that the idea of heaven is rather silly. Their question comes down to this – if a woman marries multiple times due to the death of her current husband, who will she be married to in heaven? Jesus condemns them with his answer and says that like the angels, humans are not married in heaven. (This is hard for me to swallow, honestly, but when we are in heaven, we will be so joyful and so busy worshipping that we won’t notice!) Jesus also makes clear that there is indeed a resurrection because God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – these men are still alive and worshipping God in heaven.
One of the Pharisees asks Jesus about which is the greatest commandment. This was a common question for great teachers of the day, but Jesus gives an unconventional answer by giving two commandments rather than one and emphasizing that the Law and the Prophets, meaning Old Testament as a whole, are built on the principles of loving God and loving fellow man.
Finally, Jesus asks the Pharisees a question: Is the Christ the Son of David? The Pharisees already know that Jesus has been called the Son of David and did not correct or rebuke those who said it. They also know Jesus is doing and saying things, and being commended, as if he is the Christ. As R. T. France explains, “It is not likely then that these verses are meant to undermine that whole argument. Rather the point is that the Messiah is more than merely a son of David, as is shown by David’s words in Ps. 110:1.” Jesus was a descendant of David by blood, but he also existed eternally before David was born. Jesus is the great heir of the Davidic kingship, yet David bows to and worships Jesus. Jesus truly is the Christ, both the Son of David and the Son of God.
Discussion and Reflection
1. What observations or questions do you have about today’s reading?
2. How can you apply what you’ve read to your daily life?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for glorifying himself through Jesus’ incarnation as fully God and fully man.
Confession: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in learning and growing in the Lord.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for the gifts of marriage and family.
Supplication: Pray for your government and leaders to be good protectors of its people, good stewards of its resources, and promote peace for the gospel to spread.
January 30 - Matthew 23:1-39
Commentary
This chapter is devoted to Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees for their self-righteous, false religion. Jesus says they teach what they are not willing to live out, do their good deeds for the praise of men, lead people away from God rather than to him, prize money over the things of God (even the altar in the temple!), keep up with ceremonial duties but neglect their moral duties, worry over the externals while they are inwardly (spiritually) dead, and, like their fathers before them, hate and persecute God’s prophets (including Jesus). While Jesus spoke harshly against the scribes and Pharisees, his harsh words were still, in a way, kind. They needed such an intense rebuke because the path they were following to get to God was so incredibly wrong. Whether the scribes and Pharisees would heed this warning, Jesus’ speech is a bleak warning to generation after generation through Matthew’s record.
Jesus also laments of the stubbornness of the Israelites in his speech. He seems to suggest that his desires are limited by the Israelites’ refusal to turn to God. However, we must remember that Jesus also said that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14, ESV). Jesus is not lamenting his powerlessness to save but emphasizing the extent of Israel’s sinfulness despite the numerous ways that God preserved and spoke to them. Charles Spurgeon wisely explained, “It is the will of God that saves, it is the will of man that damns. Jerusalem stands and is preserved by the grace and favor of the Most High, but Jerusalem is burnt, and her stones are cast down, through the transgression and iniquity of men who provoked the justice of God.”
It is easy for us to look down on the scribes and Pharisees. We should condemn how they led themselves and others away from God. However, we should also be mindful that we can fall prey to the same attitude ourselves by criticize others while ignoring our own flaws. To quote Spurgeon again, he advised, “Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be.” We should remember that only God’s grace and mercy helps us resist sin and we, like Jesus, should seek the good of the lost in our lives by warning them about their sin and telling them of God’s loving, open arms for the repentant.
Discussion and Reflection
1. When you read the Bible, do you tend to see yourselves only in the “good guys,” or do you also see yourself in figures like the Pharisees? How does the Bible’s honesty about the flaws of both the righteous and the wicked help us think of our own sinfulness?
2. How can we avoid the self-righteous, spiritually unaware “religion” of the Pharisees?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for being infinitely good and holy, yet still loving and saving sinners.
Confession: Ask for God’s forgiveness of any arrogance or self-righteousness in your heart.
Thanksgiving: Thank God that Scripture has both warnings and encouragements.
Supplication: Pray for you and your church family to be humble, loving, and inviting towards the lost in your community.
January 31 - Matthew 24:1-35
Commentary
This passage is known as the Olivet Discourse because it is the discourse (extended teaching) Jesus gave on the Mount of Olives. It is difficult to fully understand and even biblical scholars don’t have a unanimous interpretation of every detail here. However, there are two incredibly important details that shed light on Jesus’ discourse here and its meaning. First, Jesus says only the Father knows the day and hour of the end of the world (v36) and Jesus says “Therefore,” meaning because of everything he just said, we should be “awake,” always ready for the Lord’s return (v42-44). We are given these warnings about the end times so that we will always be ready for the Lord to return, living obediently and joyfully, being good stewards of what God has given us, and sharing the gospel with everyone we can before its too late for them to repent.
Notice the context in which Jesus gave this sermon on the end times – he was answering the disciples’ questions about when the temple would be destroyed. We should view what Jesus says, at least partially, as referring to when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. The temple was destroyed by Rome in response to Jewish rebellion and that destruction certainly would have seemed world-ending to those watching God’s special city being attacked and his temple razed. What Jesus describes in this chapter relates to the time from the destruction of the temple and onwards. The Bible teaches that the time from Jesus’ life onwards is the “last days” and that, as Jesus says here, there are many anti-christs, those who oppose God and his church (1 John 2:18). Many people have outright claimed to be Christ, both before and after Jesus’ lifetime, and many more have opposed the church in a significant way, such as those who started false religions.
Jesus’ warnings in this chapter should help us remember that we are never guaranteed the next moment. We should treasure every breath and every opportunity, using everything God gives us to serve him and make the most out of the lives he has blessed us with.
Discussion and Reflection
1. How does the bleak scene painted in this chapter impact your desire to be right with God personally and evangelize the lost around you?
2. How can you be a better steward of what God has given you (time, money, skills, relationships, etc.) this week?
Points of Prayer
Adoration: Praise God for his inevitable victory over sin and evil.
Confession: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in being a faithful steward of what God has given you.
Thanksgiving: Thank God for being our refuge in every circumstance.
Supplication: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and enlightenment of a lost person you know well and for the passion and boldness to share with that person.
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