John the Baptist was the herald who announced the coming of the King. His message had two parts: repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The king is coming. It is time to turn back to God and follow

This quotation presents the hardest challenge because no passage in the Old Testament says the Messiah will be called a Nazarene. Instead Matthew is summarizing an idea taught in the prophets. We need

In this third fulfillment passage, Matthew compares the murder of the young boys in Bethlehem to the Rachel weeping in her tomb for the captives about to be deported to Babylon. In both events, all ho

Matthew tells us the life of Jesus "fulfills" something spoken by the prophet Hosea. Yet Hosea is not "predicting" anything; Hosea is looking backward to the Exodus. What is Matthew doing? He's poi

Matthew draws many parallels between the early life of Jesus and the Old Testament to reinforce his main point: Jesus is the Christ, the son of Abraham and son of David, who will fulfill God’s promise

You would think that a passage covering the birth of Jesus would be easy "Christmas stuff" we're all familiar with. Don't be fooled. Matthew's account raises some interesting theological questions.

Writers are usually told to start their books with a hook that will immediately engage their readers. Matthew begins his gospel with a list of names. Could anything be more boring? Yet Matthew did st

Jesus claimed that "all authority in heaven and on earth" has been given to him (Mt 28:18). If that's true, and I believe it is, then we benefit by learning all we can about Jesus. Matthew wrote thi

As citizens of God's kingdom, we ought to reflect our holy king. This is what citizenship in the kingdom of God looks like.

The King redeems His people from Egypt. At Mt Sinai, He explains what it means to be His people. At end of Exodus, He is dwelling with them.