Matthew 19:16-30
Money, Money, Money Today’s gospel account is one most of us will be familiar with – the tale of the young man who walked away from Jesus because he couldn’t give up his worldly wealth. I have often squirmed in my seat when this tale is recounted – because honestly, I sometimes wonder if I […]
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Matthew 19:1-15
Marriage and divorce The Pharisees yet again come to test Jesus on a hot issue. If you think Christianity is counter cultural now, it was just as revolutionary when Jesus was on the earth in the flesh. Their aim is to trap Jesus in front of the huge crowds following Him. Judaism has a high […]
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Matthew 18: 10-35
Transition from Prison to Freedom “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” C. S. Lewis. My childhood was filled with sad moments. I was weak, often falling sick, even to the point that I almost lost my eye sight, thankfully my eyes healed and I […]
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Matthew 17:14 – 18:9
The story of Jesus healing the boy with a demon is instructional on so many levels. Firstly, the boy’s father comes to Jesus ‘kneeling’ and ‘asking for mercy’ for his son. He is recognising Jesus’ majesty, compassion and power. How do we approach Jesus? Do we acknowledge Him as the supreme authority, healer and lover […]
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Matt 16:21-17:13
Now Jesus has revealed to the disciples who He really is, the gospel turns a corner, as the ‘how’ now starts to get clearer. Don’t forget the gospels aren’t just a history of Jesus leading up to the new covenant coming into play at the resurrection, they were written for churches to use and be […]
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Matthew 16:1-20
Some powerful wordplay These passages are so filled with truth, some days it’s hard to know how to unpack it all. Today’s passage is a feast of truth and blessing. Jesus’ words are full of word plays and humour today that we can easily miss when we read it in English. Pharisees and Sadducees The […]
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Matthew 15:10-39
The big message of today’s reading is that it is what is inside us that matters to God, not the externals. The Pharisees had taken a religion (the Jewish faith) that was born of God’s sheer unmerited grace to Abraham, with it’s law observance coming out of love, trust and obedience in God and made […]
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Matt 14:22-15:9
You of little faith… In most Bibles, this passage seems to be headed “Jesus walks on the water” That in itself is quite a show-stopper. If you think about it though, for Jesus to walk on water wasn’t such a stretch for the disciples to believe – they had already seen Him turn water into […]
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Matt 14:1-21
Bring me what you have In today’s passage Jesus has actually just withdrawn (or tried to) from the public eye for a while, after the brutal murder of His cousin and friend, John the Baptist. Yet even in the midst of His own grief, He still sees the people who have gathered and healed their […]
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