Making Disciples: Sermon on the Mount, part 2

Posted on January 17, 2026 by PastorDave

MATTHEW | Lesson 5 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Matthew, chapter 6

Jesus continues His teaching discourse on how to be His disciples … and by application, how to ‘go and make disciples’ by the pattern He is giving them

CONTEXT & MAKING THE CONNECTIONS

1 / Since Matthew 6 is a continuation of this first of five major discourses Jesus delivered to His disciples, we will connect this lesson where the last lesson leaves off. In chapter 5, Jesus ‘discipled’ His disciples by giving them:

[1] the disciple’s spiritual and personal profile (vv 1-11)—which is a profile of Himself

[2] a synopsis of the influence they would have on the world as they bore witness to Him—that is, the influence they would have on the world and the responses they should expect to receive (vv 11-16)

[3] a proclamation of His own authority and mission to ‘fulfill the Law and the Prophets’—both in His actions and teaching (vv 17-20)

[4] and then giving them six representative ‘case law’ examples of how the Law should be interpreted and applied in their character and conduct (vv 21-48).

This is just a brief and summary review of the contents of chapter 5.

2 / From the beginning of this teaching discourse, we have noted that one of Jesus’ emphases is on ‘righteousness.’ While ‘righteousness’ has many, deep, and broad meanings in Scripture—though they all are related to one another—Jesus’s emphasis on ‘righteousness’ here in ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ zeroes in on ‘right conduct for the right reasons from the right motivations of the heart.’ [see vv 6, 10, 20]

3 / He will continue this emphasis on ‘how to practice our righteousness, or righteous acts,’ in ch 6.1 which is closely connected with ch 5.20. ‘How do we practice and live out our righteous character as disciples of Jesus and citizens of His Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven?

ch 5.20: Over-arching warning that our acts of righteous conduct must be in compliance with the ‘heart of the Law’—which is our hearts; and our obedience must be more than just outward performances—they must be from our hearts.

ch 6.1: Specifically, our acts of righteous obedience to the will of God must not be for fame, self-promotion, or personal recognition “before other people in order to be seen by them,” but for an Audience of One, that is “your Father who is in Heaven.”

4  / Then, Jesus will give us three ‘righteous practices’ (doing the right things for the right reasons from the right motivations): charitable contributions, praying, fasting; and then will proceed to our desires for ‘treasures’ or material possessions and our confidence and security we invest in them … followed by a prohibition to be anxious about acquiring them by teaching us to trust in the loving care of our Heavenly Father and His faithfulness to provide for us.

5 / Activities of Daily Living. If you’ve ever taken care of others—whether in your own home or a nursing home—you know that daily functions you help with are often called activities of daily living or ADL for short. These righteous acts Jesus will teach us about may be called our ADL of the Kingdom of Heaven.

I | vv 1-4 | “When you give to the needy…”

1 / We are always tempted to do the good things we are commanded to do [see 5.16] to make ourselves look good, even better than others; in other words, to embellish our image before others and promote ourselves. If that’s what we’re looking for, Jesus tells us we may, in fact, get that. But that is all the ‘reward’ we will receive. The reward we should be seeking in everything we do is to please our Father in Heaven [2 Corinthians 5.9]. Also, let’s make it clear here—as Jesus does: we do nothing to ‘earn’ the favor and grace of God; rather we do everything we do because God has graciously granted His favor and acceptance in Christ!

2 / So when we give our offerings to the Kingdom ministry through the church, or when we help those who are in need with our financial assistance, we must not ‘announce’ it with an outward show to draw attention to our own ‘goodness.’ The hypocrites often did. Jesus refers here to the scribes and Pharisees He has already warned us about in ch 5.20. [This, by the way, will be the sole focus and target of another one of His five major discourses in ch 23…more on this when we get to it…]

3 / “…do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” means that we don’t do our giving for the personal publicity and recognition. It doesn’t mean that all giving should be done in secret or anonymously because there are many instances in Scripture where public contributions to the ministry of the Kingdom of God encourages others to give also. See Acts 2.44-45; 4.32-37; 2 Corinthians 8-9.

4 / NOTE ALSO that in each of these three specific instances of ‘righteous practices,’ Jesus will give us assurance that “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

II | vv 5-15 | “When you pray … Pray then like this…”

1 / Praying in public [Jesus refers here to ostentatious praying—not public, corporate prayers which are commanded as exercises of our corporate church worship] was also a common self-aggrandizing practice by the same hypocrites. They wanted to embellish and pad their own personal reputations for being righteous and holy.

2 / But Jesus instructs us again here about our personal, private prayers: [1] go into your room, the most secret, private, secluded room or corner of their house; [2] shut the door to seclude yourself from the normal traffic and activities going on; [3] and pray to your Father who is in secret…who sees in secret. Again, whether our prayers are private or corporate, we are addressing and appealing to our Audience of One—our Heavenly Father who promises to see and hear us.

3 / Gentiles. In addition to their religious leaders, ‘authorities,’ and self-proclaimed ‘influencers in chief’ whom Jesus calls hypocrites, He also warns against following the pagan Gentiles who prayed to their patron ‘fake gods.’ There were other neighbors in their communities who followed these practices that they knew about. Remember, they were surrounded by communities of Romans or other nationalities who worshiped their gods. Since their ‘gods’ were only imaginary and not real, they would have to ‘impress’ their fake gods with insistent, incessantly repeated words and phrases. Mainly because their ‘gods’ were not pre-disposed to be attentive and gracious toward them to begin with. They had to manipulate their ‘gods’—impress, inform, and persuade their ‘gods’ to give them what they needed. “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him!”

4 / Disciples’ Model Prayer. We know this as ‘The Lord’s Prayer,’ and it is since Jesus gave it to us. But this prayer is given to us more as a template and pattern than a form to be repeated. Though we can repeat it to guide us into more specifics. We do know that Jesus Himself prayed often and much, and most often alone and privately [see Mark 1.35; Luke 11.1-4; et al]. A more representative Lord’s Prayer is recorded in John 17. But here in ‘Making Disciples,’ Jesus teaches us how and what we should pray for by this model: “Pray then like this….” So let’s look at the elements of this model Jesus gives us:

[1] Address: “Our Father in Heaven…” Our praying should be both familial [Father] and corporate [Our Father]. Even in our private, personal, secret prayers, we should be concerned about the needs of our community and body of fellow believers, as we shall see. We can’t be so ‘ruggedly individualistic’ that we exclude our concerns for the others! But Our Father is God in Heaven, and He is Jesus’ Father! So Jesus assures us of His own participation and fellowship with us as we pray. As He comforted Mary Magdalene outside His sepulcher on the morning of His resurrection, God is “my Father and your Father…my God and your God” [John 20.17]. This is Our Father that Jesus references about eighteen times in this discourse.

[2] God-centered petitions. We are calling these ‘theocentric’ because they all ask for God’s glory and will. This is always our first concerns and desires. (1) May your Name be worshiped, reverenced, honored. This is not only God’s Name by which He is called, but also His character and how He is known. (2) May your Kingdom come. We want God’s sovereign rule to be established in people’s hearts and lives all over the world. This is a salvation and missions prayer. It is also a social culture prayer. (3) May your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. We pray that God’s purposes will be advanced, that God will do what He pleases in every earthly event and activity. Of course, when we pray this, we are also praying for the ‘eschaton,’ the end of all things to come. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever” [Revelation 11.15].

[3] Man-centered petitions—both our personal and corporate concerns. (1) Give us this day our daily bread—actually, ‘Give us our bread for tomorrow.’ We prayed for today’s bread yesterday. We are daily dependent on God’s gracious provision. We provide nothing for ourselves apart from God’s gracious Providence. (2) …and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Our ‘debts’ are both financial [defaulted, unpaid], but more so, moral and spiritual [see Luke 11.4]. God’s grace has forgiven us every moral debt we owed Him by our transgressions against His Law…and that through the perfect obedience and righteousness of Christ. And, since God has freely and graciously forgiven us, we must also forgive everyone who is indebted to us by their offences against us [see ch 18.21-35; Mark 11.25; Ephesians 4.32; Colossians 3.13; et al]. Anyone who is unwilling to forgive someone else who has sinned against him/her evidences that they do not know God’s forgiveness of their own sins. (3) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [or, the evil one]. We can’t avoid being tempted [or being tested and tried by adversities], but we can avoid succumbing and falling prey to, or yielding to the solicitations to sin by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, but He was delivered from disobedience in His temptations by His obedience to the Father.

III | vv 16-18 | “When you fast…”

1 / Fasting was another common religious practice among the hypocrites of the scribes and Pharisees, but again, they fasted to be seen by others and to be commended by others for being so ‘holy’ [see Luke 18.9-14]. Jesus teaches us to fast in God’s Presence and for God’s attention, again “…that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

2 / Fasting is not for the purpose of either impressing God to be favorable toward you, nor to ‘coerce’ God to do what you are fasting to receive from Him. Fasting is not a manipulative ‘power play’ with God. “To fast is to deny physical desires in order to devote oneself to prayer, repentance, and petition. To fast is to battle the tendency to satisfy every appetite; it is to sense that no one lives by bread alone. In fasting, the body grows weak and the spirit remembers that no one lives by his own strength. Disciples fast in order to nourish their hunger for God and to diminish their hunger for the world.” ~Daniel M. Doriani

IV | vv 19-24 | “Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven…”

1 / All throughout ch 6 here, we have the ‘struggle lines’ drawn between competing gods in our lives and life’s experiences—or maybe we should say the struggle is between the One True God and the gods we naturally worship in our fallen sinfulness: [1] the ‘god’ of self, fame, and quest for recognition in vv 1-18; and the ‘god’ of Mammon, money, earthly possessions, ‘stuff’ in vv 19-34

2 / Here is another prominent and essential ‘activity of daily living,’ and that is, providing for our financial daily needs. However, when Jesus forbids “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…,” He is not forbidding us to take responsibility for providing for the needs of those who are in our care [see 1 Timothy 5.7-8]. Nor is Jesus condemning making prudent provisions for future needs as we are able to do so. What Jesus is forbidding is making an idol or god out of material possessions or our sole responsibility to make our necessary provisions [see 1 Timothy 6.17-19]. We do this when we place our confidence, trust, and security in how much ‘treasure’ we have laid up for ourselves. Rather, Jesus is commanding us to place our priorities and trust in the Father’s providential foresight and care for us.

3 / Where we place the priorities of our desires, values, confidence, and trust—whether it is money and possessions or in faithful, obedient stewardship of the resources we have—will reveal where our true desires, ambitions, values, and faith lie: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

4 / “The eye is the lamp of the body….” Jesus’ logic continues here when He uses the ‘eye’ illustration. Our ‘eye’ is what we are seeking, looking for, looking at with desire, and wanting more than anything else. If our desires are fixed only on ourselves, ‘looking out for #1’—whether it be our desires to acquire and accumulate or with confidence in ourselves—then we are seeking the true values of life “full of darkness.” The ‘eye’ of our desires and ambitions must be lit by the light of commitment to serving Christ, following Him as faithful disciples, and trusting God to take care of our every need. That is how we “Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven.” “You cannot serve God and money [Mammon].”   

V | vv 25-34 | “Do not be anxious about your life… But seek first the Kingdom of God…”

1 / This passage is a follow-up to the previous teaching. Again, we need to interpret with caveats: Jesus again is not saying we shouldn’t be serious about all the stresses that are involved in providing for our daily needs. The very responsibilities that faithful, obedient discipleship after Jesus will bring with it heavy burdens of concern and stress. But, even in those frequent ‘anxieties,’ we must learn to live by faith in our Heavenly Father’s loving and providential care for us and provisions for us.

2 / The anxiety that Jesus forbids here is that anxiety that labors under the stress of thinking we are solely ‘on our own,’ and that ‘if it is to be, it’s up to me’ only—without trusting God to make good on His promises to take care of us. Like we live our daily lives in a ‘closed universe’ in which God is absent and does not participate.

3 / Jesus supports His prohibition of this kind of anxious worry by illustrating from the lesser to the greater: “Look at the birds of the air…your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? … Consider the lilies of the field [wildflowers that no one cultivates or tends]…If God so clothes the grass of the field…will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”

4 / Then Jesus reinforces these ‘negative arguments’ with positive commands to trust God: “…your Heavenly Father know that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

5 / Added in there in v 27 is a rather humorous [but dead serious] question for our self-examination—like Jesus is chiding us: “C’mon…are you seriously wasting your life by needlessly and uselessly worrying about things you have absolutely no control over? ‘And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?’” There is no amount of straining or exercise of human will power on our part that can either make our body grow or add an hour of life past God’s sovereign allotment. So we should not waste our time or energy stressing about things we can’t control.

6 / When we compare Luke’s parallel account of this same passage, Luke 12.32 records Jesus as putting our anxious fears and worries to rest in the sovereign, loving Providence of our Heavenly Father: “Seek God’s Kingdom by your faithful obedience and discipleship after Christ; lay up all of your treasures in Heaven where they will be safely and securely kept for you—even with the compounding interest of God’s Grace; and ‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom’ when He comes in the fullness of His power and Glory in the Last Day.”

7 / Yes, it is true that “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble,” but everyone of us should strive to live by faith in Christ and follow Him in faithful, obedient discipleship, waiting … longing for that Day when Jesus promises us He will say: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” [Matthew 25.34].     

“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a Kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” [Luke 22.28-30].

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Making Disciples: Sermon on the Mount, part 1

Posted on January 10, 2026 by PastorDave

Matthew, chapter 5

Making Disciples: Sermon on the Mount, part 1

The One who commands His disciples to ‘go and make disciples of all the nations’ will teach them how to BE His disciples and how to MAKE disciples—just as He is making them…

CONTEXT & MAKING THE CONNECTIONS

1 / We have chosen to begin our survey study of Matthew by starting from the ending…because we know that is Matthew’s purpose and writing plan. Matthew knows he will conclude his Gospel account in ch 28.16-20: [1] Jesus gathers His now-eleven disciples [remember: Matthew was one of them]; [2] He declares to them His Kingship over His Kingdom of Heaven with “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me”; [3] then He commands them to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”; [4] and the way they will make their disciples is by “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” [5] In other words, they will go into all the world and make others disciples of Jesus the same way Jesus has made them His disciples.

2 / So now, having introduced us to who Jesus is in chs 1-4 [review lessons 1-3], Matthew’s plan is to lay out for us the “all things Jesus had commanded them to observe” as His disciples. That is why Matthew is careful to point out here in ch 5.1 that “His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying…” This ‘Sermon on the Mount’ was the beginning sermon of Jesus’ Kingdom teachings. Or, as Professor A. B. Bruce [1831-1899] titled his excellent account of Jesus’ teaching ministry, this was the beginning of ‘The Training of the Twelve’ [published in 1871]. So that is how we will approach the next three studies: it is Jesus’ beginning ministry of training His disciples to be His disciples and to make other disciples in the succeeding ages—and here we are…learning again!

3 / Maybe we need to take just a moment to remind ourselves what a ‘disciple’ is… The word ‘disciple’ means ‘learner.’ It is the Greek word mathetes and its verb form ‘make disciples’ is matheteuo which is the word Jesus uses in ch 28.19. The verb is another word for ‘teach,’ except that this teaching is not just purveying information from the teacher to the student. A disciple didn’t enlist him/-herself to the teacher/rabbi or ‘master’ to learn ‘stuff’ to know—it was not just ‘content for the mind.’ Rather, a disciple submitted to the teacher to learn how be like the master—to learn the content of his very spirit and character. That’s why Jesus will say later in His teaching: “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master” [Matthew 10.24-25]. Or, as Luke 6.40 reads: “…but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” So keep this over-arching lesson in mind as we make our way through Matthew 5-7 and, indeed, through all the rest of Matthew: Jesus is training His disciples [and us] who He is and what He is like in spirit and character so we can be like Him! And, since Jesus is like His Father in every way, He will conclude ch 5.48 with His teaching purpose in mind: “You therefore must be perfect [complete, intact, fulfilled], as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

4 / Also, before we get into outlining chs 5-7, let me remind us also that Matthew frames Jesus’ disciple-training teachings around five major discourses:

  • chs 5-7: How are disciple-citizens of the Kingdom to live?
  • ch 10: How are traveling disciples to conduct themselves on their evangelistic journeys?
  • ch 13: What parables did Jesus tell to announce His Kingdom of disciples?
  • chs 18-20: What warnings did Jesus give concerning not hindering disciples from entrance into His Kingdom and concerning forgiveness among His disciples?
  • chs 24-25: How will His Heavenly Kingdom come and our human history end?

5 / So, with that background and context in mind, let’s begin to open chs 5-7. …understanding that all we can do in the lesson time allotted us is to outline each chapter’s content as it pertains to ‘Making Disciples’ and follow the flow of Jesus’ training/teaching from one thought to the next…

I | vv 1-11 | Jesus prescribes the Kingdom disciple’s profile

1 / As we open chapter 5, Matthew gives us a dynamic re-creation of the physical context in which Jesus’ spiritual teaching was given:

  • “Seeing the crowds…”: these are the crowds of ch 4.25. Jesus had been traveling around their regions, teaching in their synagogues and wherever else people gathered to see and hear Him—chiefly because of His miracles He was performing. This was so Messianic[Isaiah 35.3-6], and astounding to behold!
  • “He went up on the mountain...”This was obviously an incline extending from a level plain [see Luke 6.17-19], but the elevation would give Jesus a little more space and access to teach.
  • “…and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him.” Here we get the real purpose and intention of Jesus’ sermon and His mission. He had not come merely to attract crowds of followers, especially followers who just wanted to be spectators, ‘groupies,’ and ‘fans.’ He had come to seek and save the lost and inaugurate the Kingdom of Heaven. He had come to make disciples. So this message was directed to His disciples—though the ‘crowd’ listened and heard His training messages [see ch 7.28].

2 / He begins with what we call the ‘beatitudes,’ or God’s blessing upon these prescribed spiritual virtues. These virtues are a portrait of Christ Himself. Jesus IS every one of these gracious virtues. And so, disciples are called and made by Christ to be like Him!

3  / Jesus trains His disciples, first, by prescribing what kind of person we must be in our innermost character: what we think of God, what we think ourselves, and what we think of others. There are nine pronouncements of ‘blessed are….’ The word means ‘happy / even ‘carefree.’’ But it is not a merely circumstantial happiness because ‘all is well with me and the world.’ It is a happiness that finds its root, cause, and spring in a right relationship with God. And that is what Jesus is describing here: the personal profile of one who is, first, in a right relationship with God by the new birth [John 3.1-8]. These virtues are impossible and unattainable apart from being born again. These virtues are all ‘not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast’ [Ephesians 2.8-10].

4  / The first three virtues are ‘beatitudes of need’: poor in spirit [total, absolute, abject dependence on God]; mourn [over sin]; meek [not self-assertive or seeking self-advancement or promotion]. These three ‘beatitudes of need’ create a ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’ which means ‘doing the right things for the right reasons,’ at least in this context. The next three beatitudes are ‘beatitudes of action’ or how we relate to others: merciful [showing grace and compassion because we have received grace and compassion from God]; pure in heart [because we have only one aim and motivation in life—to be like Christ and to please God]; peacemakers [because we ministers, agents, and representatives of God’s reconciliation—peace with God through Christ]. Jesus knows that the world will not receive Him, and they will not receive us. To the contrary, our very presence in the world will elicit a hostile response from the anti-God culture in which we live and into which Jesus sends us to represent Him. So, we will be persecuted; but we will be ‘blessed’ by God: ‘for theirs IS the Kingdom of Heaven’…which means ‘the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them’ [the second time this expression is used, see also v 3].

 5 / So then, Jesus also prescribes three responses we must give to the culture of ‘the kingdom of this world’ which is ruled by ‘the god of this age, Satan’ when they ‘persecute, revile, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account’ … we must first “rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in Heaven.” They persecuted Christ this same way, and the holy saints and prophets before Him [from Abel on…], and they treated Christ’s disciples with the same hatred, and they will do the same to us. That is the first response…the other two will be in the following section…

II | vv 13-14 | Jesus describes the Kingdom disciple’s influence

1 / When Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth / light of the world…,” He is not telling us we should ‘try to be’ salt and light—He says WE ARE when we live by His spirit and character, when, as Paul says, “Christ lives in me” [Galatians 2.20].

2 / SALT is one of life’s essential elements and was used for multiple purposes: antiseptic, cleansing, preservative to prevent corruption, to retard decay and decomposition. So, when we are like Christ in our character and live like Christ in our conduct, we retard the advancement of the corruption of sin in our communities and culture just by our very presence and being who we are.

3 / LIGHT shines into the darkness around us—into the personal lives of the people around us and radiates into our communities—by the witness of Christ that we ARE and give as we follow Christ and represent Him well and truly. Jesus purposes and promises that HE HIMSELF will shine His light of grace, righteousness, and eternal life into all of those who know us and relate to us! And He will receive all the glory! “…so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven!”

III | vv 17-20 | Jesus proclaims His Kingdom ministry as Law-Giver and Law-Fulfiller

1 / Since Jesus knows that He will incur the wrath of the then-present ruling ‘influencers’ and teachers of their religious community and incite their opposition against Him, He makes this ‘disclaimer’ to clearly establish His authority to teach as He does. He knows their religious leaders will accuse Him to the people of trying to ‘abolish’ their laws [see ch 15.1-9]. No! He hasn’t come “to abolish the Law or the Prophets…but to fulfill them.” There are several angles to view how Christ ‘fulfills’ the Law and the Prophets: [1] He brings to pass by His coming and in His living everything they promised and prophesied; [2] He perfectly obeys every ‘iota and dot / jot and tittle’ that was written before Him in the OT—every legal requirement and commandment God has given mankind to obey [Romans 10.4; 1 Corinthians 1.30; 2 Corinthians 5.20; et. al.]; [3] But here in this context He also emphasizes that as the True Law-Giver, the One to whom “all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given,” He is teaching the Law of God in purity and truth [see ch 22.16]. And so, what He is teaching them is the purest, truest meaning of the will of God as expressed in His Law [Jesus will illustrate this, case by case, illustration by illustration in the next section…]. And so, when He concludes this disciple-making sermon in ch 7.28-29, the people are going to recognize His Divine truthfulness and authority: “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

2 / Jesus puts them on notice that He has now come to speak the Truth for God, from God, as God.

3 / Therefore, since He Himself is the True authoritative Voice of Truth, anyone who “relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven…” This is an across-the-bow warning salvo against ‘the scribes and Pharisees’ who foisted and imposed themselves upon the people as their sole authorities for what they should believe and arbiters of how they should live.

4 / The ‘righteousness’ that Jesus is prescribing is true righteousness: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” The ‘righteousness’ of the scribes [those who wrote and interpreted the Law] and the Pharisees [primary teachers and ‘disciplers’ of the Law] was woefully insufficient and errant—indeed it was damning to those who subscribed to it: [1] it was often self-made; [2] it was hypocritically imposed—they burdened everyone else to live by it, but didn’t require themselves to; [3] but especially, it was superficial—they required only external, minute, detail-oriented compliance, but excluded the heart’s love and joyful obedience to God.  

5 / These next examples of ‘case law’ that Jesus teaches will illustrate the disconnect between outward compliance and the heart’s love and obedience to God…

IV | vv 21-48 | Jesus gives six ‘case law’ examples of how to interpret and live by the Kingdom Law

1 / There are six sets of antitheses here: “You have heard that it was said … But I say to you…” What Jesus will do here is ‘fulfill the Law’ by interpreting it in its fullest meaning, expression, and application. He will also teach His disciples how they should interpret the moral laws of God and apply them to their lifestyles and daily conduct. In every case, Jesus will not just observe our compliance with the external ‘letter of the law,’ but also with the internal ‘spirit of the law’ – loving obedience to the Law-Giver. All of these cases find their origin in the OT laws, and the first four are from the sixth, seventh, and ninth of the Ten Commandments. These examples are exemplary and illustrative, but not exhaustive. “Like case laws in the Pentateuch, they teach disciples how to obey the law in every situation by specifying how to obey it in some situations.” ~Doriani

– 1 | vv 21-26: “You shall not murder…nor shall you harbor, host, entertain, cultivate, or feed in your heart those dispositions of anger, bitterness, or hatred that precede and precipitate murder.” All murder springs from the hatred, contempt, and disdain we have for another human being because we consider them to be worthless: ‘Raca’ and ‘Fool’ are both denigrating epithets and slurs against another human being to deem them to be worthless and not worthy of living—in your estimation. 1 John 3.15: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

– 2 | vv 27-30: “You shall not commit adultery…nor shall you harbor, host, entertain, cultivate, feed, or navigate toward the lusts after another woman that lust that precedes and precipitates adultery.” If you are content with the wife God has given you [Proverbs 5, 6, 7] then you will have no occasion to ‘look at another woman with lustful intent’ or ‘covet your neighbor’s wife’ or any other woman.

– 3 | vv 31-32: “You shall not divorce your wife ‘for any cause,’ but only ‘on the ground of sexual immorality.” This teaching is based on Deuteronomy 24.1; and Jesus gives a fuller commentary on the Deuteronomy passage in Matthew 19.1-9. Both of these commentaries from Jesus are set in the cultural context of their scribes’ [Scriptural ‘law’yers and teachers] so relaxing and amending the Scriptural commandment that they were allowing husbands to ‘put away’ and divorce their wives ‘for any cause’ of the man’s personal grievance, displeasure, or because he had found another woman he ‘wanted to be with.’ Jesus goes back to the creation order and design for marriage in the ch 19 passage and quotes from Genesis 2.24. Then Jesus states: “…but from the beginning it was not so.” The sole grounds for Scriptural divorce Jesus gives for divorce is “except on the ground of sexual immorality,” that is, the adultery He forbids in the previous example.

– 4 | vv 33-37: “You shall not swear falsely or take an oath in witness or testimony that serves as a cover for your dishonesty…but rather live and speak truthfully at all times.” “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’: anything more than this comes from evil.”

– 5 | vv 38-42: “You shall not seek revenge or retaliation for harms you suffer—inflicted upon you by others…but rather extend mercy and grace even when it’s unmerited and undeserved.” Give everyone else the same mercy and grace God has given to you. See Romans 12.15-21.

– 6 | vv 43-48: “You shall not be prejudiced and biased in whom you show the love, mercy, and grace of God…but rather extend God’s exemplary love, mercy, and grace toward everyone.” In this case, God’s law was quoted partially,but then voided and nullified by the scribes’ own arbitrary amendment [see again ch 15.1-9]. Their selfish motivation is obvious: if we can justify legally hating our enemies, and then give ourselves the authority to identify who our ‘neighbors’ are, then we can legally and morally hate whom we choose to hate [see Luke 10.25-37]. The model that Jesus gives is the gracious kindness of “your Father who is in Heaven.”    

“You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”–has come near–is here!

Posted on December 20, 2025 by PastorDave

MATTHEW | Lesson 3 | Matthew, chapters 3-4

Matthew, chapters 3-4

“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”—has come near—is here!

The Kingdom of Heaven/God has come in the person of the King! The Gospel is the proclamation that ‘God rules!’ and the Good News of Jesus Christ and His salvation!

CONTEXT  & MAKING THE CONNECTIONS

1 / We want to cover chapters 3 and 4 of Matthew in this lesson—if only in a summary / outline / talking points fashion. There is so much here that we won’t be able to give much commentary on the rich details of history and theology contained in these narratives. We could spend hours on each of these paragraphs and their significance to our salvation from sin and life in the Kingdom of God.

2 / But, what we most want to do is show how these two chapters are connected with what Matthew has written in the first two chapters…and how they will ‘set the stage’ for what will come after, especially when Jesus begins His teaching ministry in chapter 5 and following throughout the structure, message plan, and ‘logic’ of his Gospel account.

3 / We are keeping in mind here from the beginning that Matthew knows the conclusion of his Gospel account: how Jesus will declare His Kingly/Lordly “authority in Heaven and on earth,” and by that authority commissions and sends His disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

4 / So, Matthew has begun his Gospel narrative by clearly defining precisely who this Jesus is through His genealogy and virgin birth—because we need to know who He is before we can make disciples of Him. Matthew does this by revealing who Jesus is—His identity…and quoting the OT Scriptures repeatedly to give evidences, [or ‘receipts,’ as we say nowadays:] The Christ, The King, Emmanuel, Savior, and we can also add Son of God [ch 3.17].

5 / Then in chapter 2, Matthew chronicles Jesus’ immediate recognition and reception by the ‘nations’ of the Gentiles by the visit of the Magi…contrasted with the malicious and murderous reception He received from Herod and the religious elders of the Jews. These themes will be developed throughout the remainder of the narrative.

6 / Another major theme that is developed in chapters 1 & 2 is how God delivered and preserved ‘the seed of the woman’ from all His enemies who have set themselves to destroy His coming from the beginning of the world … and then personally when He did come by His human-incarnation birth [see again Revelation 12 for a summary synopsis of this opposition to The Christ].

7 / Now in chapters 3-4, Matthew will devote the narrative to the preparation for the public ministry of the King … and how He inaugurated and commenced His public ministry. We’ll pay special attention to the theme of the Gospel that Matthew will focus on: “The Kingdom of Heaven.” This defining phrase is written more than fifty times in Matthew. It is more than just a catch-phrase—it is what the Gospel is [‘the Gospel of the Kingdom,’ v 23], what salvation is, and who Jesus is. We’ll say more about that in our comments on the texts.

8 / We’ll follow these two chapters and tie them together paragraph by paragraph. We’ll divide up this study passage into two distinct ‘acts’ and other ‘scenes’ within the acts:

  • ACT 1: PREPARATION FOR JESUS’ MINISTRY
    • John the Baptist proclaims the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven
    • Jesus is baptized
    • Jesus is tempted in the wilderness and is victorious over the Devil
  • ACT 2: INAUGURATION OF JESUS’ MINISTRY
    • Jesus begins His public ministry in Galilee
    • Jesus calls His first disciples
    • Jesus expands His public ministry into the surrounding regions and demonstrates His Kingdom grace and power.

ACT 1: PREPARATIONS FOR JESUS’ MINISTRY

I | ch 3.1-12 | John the Baptist appears to prophetically announce the arrival of the King

1 / Israel had not had a prophet for 400 years—since Malachi. But Malachi had extensively prophesied Christ’s coming [for example, ch 3.1-5], but he also prophesied from Yahweh “Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet before the great and awesome day of The LORD comes” [Malachi 4.5]. Jesus said that John the Baptist [Baptizer, Dipper] was that Elijah, Matthew 11.14. John the Baptist first appeared in the wilderness of Judea. This was a dry, arid, and sparsely-populated area east of Jerusalem. He came in the likeness of Elijah in his ascetic lifestyle, dress, diet, and message [2 Kings 1.1-8]—calling Israel to repentance, both personal and national.

2 / Isaiah also had specifically prophesied the ministry of John the Baptist. John was also a close relative of Jesus through Mary, Luke 1.5-25, 39-45, 57-80, and his birth also was extraordinary, miraculous, and supernatural.

3 / John the Baptist’s message was simple: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The word Kingdom is more than just a noun—it is a ‘noun of action.’ When the Bible refers to the Kingdom of God / Heaven, it is God’s way of declaring His absolute Lordship and sovereignty over all things, especially His covenant salvation: ‘The rule of God / God rules.’

4 / God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord by announcing His arrival and the Gospel of His salvation of His people, John 1.6-8. The Kingdom of God/Heaven ‘is at hand / come near / here’ in the Person of the God-King Himself! The Kingdom is where the King is!

5 / John’s baptism was a public profession of personal faith in the Gospel of the Christ-King John was proclaiming. By submitting to John’s baptism, the believers were giving testimony to their confession of sins, repentance from them, and commitment to follow the Kingdom way of life.

II | ch 3.13-17 | Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist to commit Himself to His mission and to be publicly confirmed by God’s voice

1 / God had sent John to announce, introduce, present, and publicly confirm The Christ by His baptism [John 1.29-34]. Jesus’ baptism was an identification with the repentant sinners He had come to save. They confessed their sins and repented from them; Jesus was baptized with them to declare that He was their Sin-Bearer and Savior. Also, Jesus’ baptism was His commitment to the Father to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by His own active obedience in keeping all the law’s requirements [Matthew 5.17-18]; and by committing Himself to the death, burial, and resurrection pictured in baptism to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 / God publicly and verbally ‘credntialized’ and gave His Heavenly confirmation to The Christ by sending the ‘anointing’ of the Holy Spirit on Him and by speaking from Heaven “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” God would re-affirm Jesus’ Divine Lordship and Kingly authority at other junctures throughout His ministry. Jesus Himself would steadfastly and consistently do everything He did in His ministry in the power of the Spirit. How much more must we!

III | ch 4.1-11 | Jesus is tempted by the Devil in the wilderness…and proves Himself to be without sin & victorious Sovereign over the Devil—the ‘god of this age’ and Prince of the Kingdom of Darkness

1 / These three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness are so much more than His own personal struggles against sin [Hebrews 2.14-18]; 4.14-16]—Jesus is standing as our Redeeming Substitute in the places of the two most prominent ‘federal heads’ of the human people of God: namely Adam and Israel. You have to see this fulfilled enactment of the two most prominent ‘pre-enactments’ of human failure in the OT: Adam in the Garden of Eden & Israel in the wilderness.

2 / Adam fell into sin and brought sin upon our whole race by yielding and succumbing to the temptations of the serpent who was acting as the mouthpiece of the Serpent-Devil. Israel failed in their wilderness testings when they yielded to all their temptations to reject God’s Kingdom rule over them and rebel against His Sovereign Lordship. They also yielded to the temptations to surrender to the rule of their own will, desires, and lordship over their own lives.

3 / And so, when Jesus submitted Himself to the rule of God and His will in His own life and ministry, He gained the victory over Satan and sin, not only for Himself, but also for us who are in Him by faith in His Gospel of salvation. This victory would be fulfilled to completion in His Gethsemane temptations also and His death on the Cross. That victory would be publicly proclaimed by His resurrection from death!

4 / Jesus’s victory over the Devil and all his temptations would also provide the template, pattern, and power of life for us in our own temptations: supreme love for God, unconditional surrender to God’s rule and will in our lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and obedience to the Word of God.  

ACT 2: INAUGURATION OF JESUS’ MINISTRY

IV | ch 4.12-17 | Jesus begins His public, preaching ministry by proclaiming the same message John the Baptist proclaimed to announce His arrival

1 / Having been announced, proclaimed, introduced, and presented by John the Baptist; and having been baptized as a public confirmation as the Son of God and commitment to His mission; and having proven His sinless obedience to God by His victories over the Devil’s temptations—Jesus now begins His preaching and teaching ministry.

2 / When Matthew says “…He withdrew into Galilee,” we are to understand that for the first few weeks or maybe months, He had been preaching and ministering in the same regions of the Judean wilderness/desert where John the Baptist had been preaching and where He was baptized in the Jordan.

3 / This comes at the juncture of John’s arrest and martyrdom as described in ch 14.1-12. John the Baptist has fulfilled his ministry God had sent him to do. Jesus returns to Nazareth from Judea; and then leaves Nazareth where He had been brought up and moves His center of ministry a few miles north to ‘Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali—Galilee of the Gentiles.’ Here is another direct ‘OT fulfillment formula’ quotation from Isaiah 9.1-2.

4 / Note again: Jesus has come to make disciples of all the nations. This region is called Galilee of the Gentiles because it is ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.’ If you take a map of the tribal allotments from the days of Joshua and lay it over this region, you’ll see that Zebulun and Naphtali settled in these same regions. This was in the northern kingdom of Israel which was conquered and deported by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Then the Assyrians imported numerous other conquered nationalities to come in and re-settle in these same regions that had been evacuated by the Israelites, see especially 2 Kings 17.24-41. This is also where the Samaritan/Jew rivalry and clash of culture originated. Many of those same foreign Gentile ethnicities still lived in enclaves throughout this region. That’s why it was called Galilee of the Gentiles all the way back to Isaiah’s prophecy and on into Jesus’ day as well. But Matthew’s message is that Jesus had come to call them to repentance also, save them, and incorporate them into the new Israel through faith in the Gospel of the Messiah-Savior! You need to read here the entire prophetic covenant redemptive purpose in Yahweh’s words in Isaiah 9.1-7.

5 / Jesus preached the same message that John the Baptist had preached when he made his Messianic introduction: From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand [has come near, is here]!” Compare chs 3.2 & 4.17.  

V | ch 4.18-22 | Jesus calls His first disciples to begin teaching and training them to carry His Gospel to the nations

1 / So, let’s follow the writing plan Matthew is following here to lead us into the ‘content’ of Jesus’ ministry in ch 5:

  • Jesus has been born;
  • [Jesus grows up in Nazareth];
  • John the Baptist appears to prophetically proclaim His long-awaited and much-hoped-for arrival;
  • Jesus is baptized to publicly credentialize Him for His ministry;
  • Jesus is tempted in the wilderness by the Devil to test and approve Him;
  • and now He will begin to call His disciples to believe in Him, follow Him, be with Him, and learn from Him.

2 / We need to see here that Matthew’s summary account of Jesus’ calling of His first disciples is not a chance encounter [“Oh, look! Some fishermen! I think I’ll call them to follow Me as my disciples!”]. Nor was it Jesus’ first encounter with them. John describes Jesus’ previous encounters [and maybe the first] with these two sets of brothers in John 1.35-42. And there were other encounters also. In their previous encounters, these first disciples had been introduced and acquainted with Jesus and had come to believe He was their promised Messiah. But what Matthew is doing here is combining and ‘compressing’ all of their encounters into one summary narrative to give us another ‘step’ in the flow of how Jesus began His public ministry.

3 / The significant response Matthew emphasizes here is that “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [v 20] … Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him [v 22].”

VI | ch 4.23-25 | Jesus expands His outreach and ministry into the surrounding regions…and shows His Kingdom, saving powers

1 / Jesus’ ministry immediately received widespread fame, recognition, and reception. V 25: And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Check your map of the life of Jesus and His ministry. Many of these regions were heavily populated by Gentiles. He had come to include them in the Kingdom of Heaven, too!

2 / Matthew gives us a three-faceted manifestation of Jesus’ ministry:

[1] teaching in their synagogues;

[2] proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom;

[3] and healing every disease and every affliction among the people: So His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and He healed them. These physical miracles were an ‘physical’ demonstration of the ‘spiritual’ operation of the Kingdom of God—God’s rule.  

3 / ALL of these ministries were prophesied as signs and evidences that the King and His Kingdom had come! Especially Isaiah 32.3-4: Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention. The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly [both physically and spiritually]; and 35.5-6: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and tongue of the mute sing for joy.

4 / And so, as Jesus preached and taught the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven and performed all these miraculous signs, in doing so He was fulfilling the prophesied hopes and promises of the Kingdom of God!

5 / Beginning next, in chapter 5, Matthew will begin giving us accounts of the content of Jesus’ teachings concerning the Kingdom of God, or as he will recount from Jesus’ Great Commission in ch 28.16-20: “…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…”

“The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel!” ~Mark 1.15

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Matthew 2 | Jesus Christ: King of the Jews

Posted on December 13, 2025 by PastorDave

MATTHEW | Lesson 2 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Matthew, chapter 2 | Jesus Christ: King of the Jews

The immediate responses to the birth of Jesus Christ reveal both His purpose for coming and the effect His coming will have on the world into which He came.

INTRODUCTION / CONTEXT / CONNECTIONS

1 / Matthew begins this next chapter in his narrative with the words: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea…” And this will follow up on ch 1.18: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way…” So ch 1 describes His earthly and covenant lineage as the prophetically-promised Messiah and King who would come to bless all the families of the earth. That is the covenant significance of his dual covenant lineage “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” We drew this out in our last lesson.

2 / So now that He has been born in the ways Matthew describes, Matthew will now begin to contrast how King Jesus was received both by Gentiles represented in the Magi and by His nation, the Jews. Then this chapter of the narrative will take us to the beginnings of Jesus’ Messianic ministry…

3 / As we go through chapter 2, there is an icon that will come up over and over: ‘king.’ So let’s watch how Matthew clearly identifies Jesus as the rightful heir to the royal throne, the son of David the king, who was promised to come … and also how the announcement of the coming was received by those who recognized His arrival.

4 / “Matthew 2.1-12 presents a four-fold response to the announcement of the birth of Jesus, King of the Jews [Herod, all Jerusalem, chief priests and scribes, magi]. These responses constitute the prototypes of possible responses to God’s actions through all ages. Matthew’s readers must discern and adopt the best response to Jesus.” ~Daniel M. Doriani / ESV Expository Commentary, page 60.

I | vv 1-12 | The Magi come from the east to worship the ‘King of the Jews’

1 / Matthew is careful to give us a timestamp and dateline for the arrival of the magi: “in the days of Herod the king.” We must note this: because there is already a ‘king’ in Israel—Herod the Great. Herod had been ruling in this position from around 37 BC. He ruled until the time of his death in AD 4, see v 19. Herod had been granted the right to rule Judea by the Roman emperor under the condition that he would keep the Jews under control and in civil submission to their Roman occupation. He is both a tyrant and usurper, and had gained his kingship by force and intrigue. (He was also a master architect, commissioning and overseeing many ambitious projects; but mainly he had beautified and lavishly embellished their beloved temple [see John 2.20]). Herod was bloodthirsty cruel and had ordered the murders of anyone who threatened to oppose or rival him—even several of his own sons and his favorite wife. This will help explain Herod’s murderous attempts to eliminate this new arrival he was now hearing about.

2 / “…behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem” We call them ‘Magi’ because that is the Greek word used to describe them [‘magos’ / ‘magoi’]. These men were the reigning ruler’s advisors, counselors, or ‘wise men.’ All kings and rulers had them, but when you read the Book of Daniel, you’ll see them enter the narrative repeatedly. In fact, Daniel himself became the chief wise man because of the wisdom Yahweh gave him [Daniel 2.27-30; et al].

3 / We also have to believe that these magi were still under the influences that Daniel had left behind from 400-500 years before when he gave the kings of the Babylonians and Persians the wisdom Yahweh revealed to him about Yahweh’s prophetic agenda for the nations of the earth. They were, for the most part, observers of the heavenly bodies, looking for signs of the intents of the gods they worshiped—especially the birth of a great king. In Daniel 2.27, Daniel called them “wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers.” So, they most likely came from the regions of Persia [modern-day Iraq] to make their 800-900 mile pilgrimage.

4 / However, in this case, God had created a supernatural ‘star’ or light to appear in the heavens to announce the birth of the king of the Jews and lead them to where He was so they could worship Him. But before we go any farther, we need to dispel some commonly-believed legendary myths about these magi: [1] They were not kings; [2] Most likely, there weren’t only three of them—possibly a numerous caravan; [3] No where in Scripture are they named Balthasar, Caspar, and Melchior; [4] Gold and frankincense and myrrh were probably not the only gifts they brought to the neighboring King of the Jews, though they were representative and the most prominent gifts they brought to show their homage and adoration of such a spectacularly announced king. [5] AND, the magi weren’t present at Jesus’ birth manger. They saw the star make its appearance roughly two years before they made their pilgrimage to Bethlehem [see v 16]. When these magi found the child, He was in the house where Joseph and Mary had taken up residence in Bethlehem [v 11].

5 / They came to Jerusalem because that is where the star first brought them, and they naturally assumed that if this King of the Jews had been born, they would expect to find him in the capital city.

6 / Before we go any farther, let’s go back into the prophetic Scriptures to see how Yahweh had purposed and foretold that when Messiah comes, He will come to be the Light and Salvation for the Gentile nations also … and not just for the Jews:

  • Genesis 49.10: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
  • Numbers 24.17: I see him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall arise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.
  • Isaiah 42.6: I am The LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.
  • Isaiah 49.6: He says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
  • Isaiah 60.1-3, 6: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the Glory of The LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but The LORD will arise upon you, and His Glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising … A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of The LORD.
  • Psalm 72.8-11: May He have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May desert tribes bow down before Him, and His enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render Him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before Him, all nations serve Him!

7 / And, as we noted in our last lesson, Matthew is crafting his storyline of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the end in view, when Jesus will command His disciples: “All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” Jesus is making disciples of all the nations [Gentiles] even from the time of His birth!

8 / And as we read through Matthew, we will note how he highlights and stresses Christ’s salvation mission to the Gentiles: 1.5-6; 4.15; 8.10-12; 15.21-27; 28.18-20.

9 / Herod the king got wind that these magi had come to Jerusalem and were asking: “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him!” Well, this was threatening news to Herod—he was already ‘king of the Jews’ [see Luke 1.5] and would tolerate no competitors! And now these foreign astrologers, heavenly star-gazers, international political prognosticators, and royal emissaries are coming to pay homage, worship, and seek the favor of another King of the Jews who has just been born![?] “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” He was troubled with jealousy, paranoia, and self-preservation of his own position and power. And since Herod is troubled, all Jerusalem is troubled with him because they know his cruel ruthlessness and murderous determination to hold onto his power.

10 / Herod frantically assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. Of course, in their national and political hopes, they were expecting a Messianic King to come—though not for the spiritual and redemptive purposes prophesied in the Scriptures. But they knew Micah 5.2, and that their Ruler would be born in Bethlehem of Judah. [Bethlehem is about six miles S of Jerusalem.] So, Herod then re-consulted with the magi, told them to please “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” Of course, we know what Herod’s intentions were, but the magi take him at his word and follow the star on to Bethlehem. “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

11 / We’ll just note here the contrasts of these four responses to King Jesus’ arrival in our world: [1] Herod will seek to kill Him; [2] all Jerusalem is uninterested—they don’t want their civil ‘peace’ to be disturbed [except of course of the faithful believing remnant among them; see Luke 2.15-20, 25, 36-38]; [3] the chief priests and scribes don’t care enough to go and seek for themselves about their long-awaited Messiah/King even when He was said to have come; [4] but these Gentile magi rejoice with exceedingly great joy, give Him lavish gifts, and at least recognize His Heavenly Majesty and confess the Glory of the God of Israel.

12 / God warns the magi of Herod’s murderous plot to kill the rival King, so they bypass returning to him; and skirting around Jerusalem, they departed to their own country by another way.

II | vv 13-15 | Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous plot

1 / As soon as the magi depart to return to their own country, an angel of The LORD appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to destroy Him.” This is just the latest—but also a historical climactic—attempt of the Dragon [Satan, the Devil] to destroy the Christ. This ages-long vendetta of the Dragon against the Christ is described for us in a compressed synopsis in Revelation 12, especially vv 1-5. But God has always preserved ‘the seed of the woman’ from beginnings of time so He can fulfill His redemptive covenant promises. And He does so here…

2 / This flight to Egypt seems to have transpired within one day/night’s time. The magi visit, they return home ignoring [and seriously insulting] Herod, and Joseph flees to Egypt before Herod discovers he’s been slighted and insulted. They would have found refuge in numerous enclaves of Jewish immigrants in Egypt. But it’s also the prophetic fulfillment of the pre-enactments that God has performed before. Israel was first saved out of Egypt in the Exodus. At that time, Yahweh called Israel my firstborn son [Exodus 4.22]. Israel is a pre-figure and pre-enactment of the Christ who will come in the fullness of time to fulfill God’s Covenant of redemption. Yahweh renews that covenant picture and promise in Hosea 11.1: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Now, Christ has come as the True Israel, the True Firstborn Son. And so, God providentially sends Christ back to Egypt and then will call and deliver Him out of Egypt to enact the pre-enactment. The Exodus was the prequel; Christ is the Event.

III | vv 16-18 | Herod murders the male children in Bethlehem

1/ There are two observations we need to make here.

[1]The first being: when Herod realized that his scheming plot to murder the newborn King of the Jews in particular, he then issued a sweeping mandate that all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. This is reminiscent of Pharaoh’s similar order to murder all the male Hebrews in Egypt to keep them from multiplying and increasing in ethnic strength. He would just kill them all in that surrounding region, hoping to get the newborn King in the sweep.

[2] The second observation gives us some indication of how much later the magi appeared in Bethlehem and how old Jesus may have been. The magi had reported to Herod that that had begun to notice this extraordinary, supernatural star in the range of two years prior. Then, after observing it and assessing it, they planned their pilgrimage, plus the time their journey took. All of this evolved into a couple of years.

2 / Matthew gives us another OT fulfillment [see before: 1.22; 2.5, 15 (besides all the other inferred OT allusions)]. This fulfillment is from Jeremiah 31.15: Thus says The LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” The mourning in Bethlehem for their slaughtered children is compared to that of the ancient Israelites during the times of their invasions by Assyria in 722 BC and Babylon in 586 BC. Ramah is a city about 5 miles N of Jerusalem and was situated on a major route between Israel and the eastern invading nations. It was also used by both the Assyrians and Babylonians as a staging point during their respective deportations. Not only were thousands of Jewish children massacred in the destructions of Samaria and Jerusalem, but more were killed in the deportation processes. The Jewish inhabitants were inconsolable in their grief of bereavement. Rachel is named here as the representative Jewish mother because she was Jacob’s favorite wife and the mother of Joseph [Ephraim & Manasseh] and Benjamin. And, Rachel is the one who cried to Jacob before she conceived: “Give me children, or I shall die!” [Genesis 30.1]. Now, the children God had given these Jewish mothers are no more—slaughtered. Also, Rachel is closely associated with this region since she was buried near Bethlehem [Genesis 35.16-20].

IV | vv 19-23 | Herod dies, and Joseph returns to the land of Israel—to Nazareth in Galilee

1 / Herod died—’and after that, the judgment’! He went to be judged by the God whose Firstborn Son he had just tried to murder. An angel of The LORD appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” So, we follow their life journey’s itinerary: from Nazareth > to Bethlehem for the census-taking and the birth of Jesus > to Egypt > and now back to Israel.

2 / But Herod’s son, Archelaus, was reigning over the Judea/Bethlehem district; and he was a cruel and violent ruler like his father before him. So, Joseph again considered and prayed over these things, fearing that Archelaus would take up his father’s vendetta against King Jesus. God appeared again in a dream and told him to migrate back to their former hometown, Nazareth.

3 / Again, Matthew quotes the OT covenant prophecies and promises: “…so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that He would be called a Nazarene.” This is not so much a fulfillment of a specific Scripture quotation; rather it is a cumulative fulfillment of the OT’s range and scope of prophecies concerning The Christ. The moniker ‘Nazarene’ is a name for inhabitants of Nazareth. And, since Nazareth is non-descript village and not found in the OT, his being called ‘Nazarene’ could also be a dismissive epithet of scorn and contempt in their contemporary vernacular and ways of thinking—as in, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” [John 1.46. However, prophetically, it is also from the same root [netser] as the word ‘branch’ in Isaiah 11.1. Whichever of these the name ‘Nazarene’ means, Jesus Christ fulfilled all that the OT prophets had said He would be. When you read Isaiah’s Messianic resume’ in Isaiah 53.1-3, He was both the green ‘branch’ that comes from the dry root of Jesse, “like a root out of dry ground” [the broken, vacated Davidic royal succession & His virgin birth] that would revive the Throne of the Kingdom forever and bear life for the world; and be at the same time “despised and rejected by men … and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

“And I heard a loud voice in Heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come…!’” ~Revelation 12.10

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Matthew 1 | Jesus: The Christ, King, Emmanuel, Savior

Posted on December 6, 2025 by PastorDave

Matthew | Lesson 1 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Matthew, chapter 1

Jesus: The Christ, King, Emmanuel, Savior

Who is Jesus Christ? Who did He come from? How did He come here?

INTRODUCTION / CONTEXT

1 / We begin a new Bible study survey course today that will take us through the Gospel of Matthew over the next six months. Of course, this will not be in any way an exhaustive course, but what we hope to do is at least survey every chapter in Matthew with the purpose in mind of understanding and receiving the primary ‘point’ that Matthew wants to get across with his distinctive perspective of his Gospel account and the primary message he wants to communicate about Jesus Christ and His Good News. As always, we will focus on these three main areas of interest: [1] CONTEXT of the passage we are studying; [2] CONNECTIONS with the theme and flow of the whole narrative; [3] CONTENT of the specific message at hand.

2 / So, in order for us to get started, what we need to do is go to the end of the Book and see what grand finale and conclusion Matthew ends with. Then, we can come back to the beginning of the Book and understand it better … and follow that ending theme throughout our survey study.

3 / So, we are all familiar with the ‘Great Commission’ ending of Matthew 28.16-20. We’d do well to fix it in our minds from the get-go:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[1] Who are present at this commissioning? “the eleven disciples”—the ones who had been called, taught, and trained [discipled] by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry described in the Book of Matthew. [Matthew, our Gospel writer, was one of them…]

[2] What did Jesus tell them to do? “make disciples.” He had made them His disciples by His teachings and role-modeling He had committed to them. Now, He’s telling them to go and make disciples just like He had made them disciples.

[3] Who did Jesus tell them to disciple?“all nations.” And, this is one of the most important ‘points’ Matthew will emphasize even from the beginning in chapter 1 as we shall see. Not just Jews or ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel,’ but all nations. See Matthew 24.14—Jesus had been teaching them this world-wide missionary prospect and vision all along.

[4] What authority does Jesus have to give such a mandate?“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” He possesses and exercises all authority in heaven and on earth, and therefore He has unlimited, unfettered, unconditional sovereignty and authority to mandate how the course of human and world history must be conducted.

[5] What promise and assurance of success does Jesus give us?“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” He not only sends us to go in His Name, but He Himself will be here…with us. It’s not only our mission to fulfill; first and foremost, it’s His Mission! He Himself will be completing His Gospel Mission in His own Presence and Person—through us!

4 / Now, what we want to do is begin in chapter 1 and see how Matthew—even from the first words of His Gospel account—begins to shape the narrative and point our hearts and understanding to this commission. As John quotes Jesus in John 20.21: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.’” Matthew 1 begins to tell us how the Father sent the Son. We will answer the three main questions at the head of this study: [1] Who is Jesus Christ? If we are to make disciples of Jesus Christ, then who is He that we are to make disciples of? [2] Who did He come from? [3] How did He come here?

I | 1.1 | The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham

“Who is Jesus Christ?”

1 / Let’s begin with this statement that will answer “Who is Jesus Christ?”…

2 / We note first that Matthew emphasizes that the man Jesus is Jesus Christ.

–Not only is Christ in his first naming, but in v 16, we are told that Jesus was born, who is called Christ. And again in v 17, in the divisions of the generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ… And so there is a deliberate and intentional emphasis that Jesus is the Christ.

–The word Christ is a descriptor: The Christ—it is not Jesus’ ‘last name,’ though it has become that in our calling of His Name. The word Christ means ‘anointed,’ and it points to His Divine authority as God’s anointed. His anointing gives Him Divine identity and the right to all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

–Also, the name Christ is the same as the OT ‘Messiah,’ the promised, coming Redeemer. Jesus Christ fulfills every OT promise, prophecy, pointer, and pre-enactment of the salvation God has promised His people.

3 / Covenant lineage / genealogy. Also, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the covenants God has made with His people. Actually, all the covenants God has made for His people were made with Christ as the NT reiterates over and over[see Romans 15.8; Galatians 3.16]. God has made all His covenant promises with Christ and to Christ. And so, Matthew’s genealogy is a covenant genealogy. Two prominent and core covenants are highlighted: the son of David and the son of Abraham. These two OT covenants promise both the Divinely-anointed eternal King and the Savior of Gentiles, the nations [two of the names in lesson title…].

[1] The son of David [v 1] and ‘David the king’ [v 6a] refers to the covenant promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom [v 12] … “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever [v 16]. Keep this promise in mind here in Matthew 1 when we come to the divisions of the generations; because that earthly, human line of Davidic kings was broken when they were deported to Babylon—they had no earthly king after Jechoniah [Jehoiachin]. The earthly throne was vacated—no earthly king has since sat on David’s throne. Yet, through all these generations of Davidic kings who failed even when they reigned, and especially when the earthly throne had been vacated, Yahweh promised repeatedly: “…you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel” [1 Kings 2.4; 8.25; 9.5; 2 Chronicles 6.16; 7.18]. So when Christ comes as the son of David, Matthew is proclaiming to them and to us that Christ is the promise and fulfillment of the eternal, never-ending, universal King that Yahweh promised to David [see also Luke 1.31-33].

[2] The son of Abraham refers to the covenant promise that Yahweh made to Abraham in Genesis 12.3, specifically “…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ‘All the families of the earth’ includes not only the ethnic descendants of Abraham [Jews], but also Gentiles—indeed “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…” [Revelation 7.9]. These are the nations that Jesus came to save and we are commanded to make disciples of. And, keep this thought in mind because as we go through Jesus Christ’s genealogy, we’re going to find Gentiles already included even in His earthly lineage. We’ll name them here in a minute…

II | 1.2-17 | The earthly lineage of The Christ, the son of David

“Who did Jesus Christ come from?”

Matthew will answer our question “Who did Jesus Christ come from” by giving the genealogical names of Christ’s earthly descendants. They are divided into three groups of fourteen generations [see v 17]:

1 / vv 2-6a: From Abraham to David were fourteen generations

Since Abraham was the ‘father’ of the covenant people of God, Matthew begins with him (see above I, 3/, [2]). There are several distinctive features about Matthew’s genealogy: [1] he names women. Women of course are not fathers or begetters—their husbands are. But four women are named in this genealogy: Tamar, v 4, [daughter-in-law of Judah, Genesis 38]; Rahab, v 5 [wife of Salmon, Joshua 2; Ruth 4.18-22]; Ruth, v 5 [wife of Obed, Ruth 4.18-22]; and Bathsheba, though she is not named, v 6 [wife of Uriah, 2 Samuel 11-12]. [2] Three of these women were involved in sexual sins [Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba]. [3] And three of these women were Gentiles or related to Gentiles [Rahab was a saved prostitute in Jericho in Canaan; Ruth was a Moabitess; Bathsheba was married to Uriah, a Hittite]. So just in these names and bios we can see that Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinners [see v 21] … and that He is the Savior of sinners from among Gentiles—the nations! The ‘church father’ Ignatius is credited with saying: “God uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines.” We see that, not only in these corrupted lives in Jesus’ genealogy, but also in the Davidic line of kings named in the next section … and we might also add, in all of us!

2 / vv 6b-11: From David to the deportation to Babylon were fourteen generations

Next follows a listing of fifteen of the kings of Judah [David is counted twice, both in the preceding generations and in this one]. Not all of the kings of Judah are listed here, but these are representative of them all. All of them—even the best among them—were failed kings in some way. But their failures were a constant reminder that God’s perfect King, son of David, had not yet come to sit on his throne. Jechoniah [Jehoiachin] was the king who was reigning when the Babylonians invaded and destroyed Jerusalem and carried the nation of Judah into captivity [2 Kings 24-25]. When it looked like the family of David had been extinguished and the Davidic lineage had been interrupted, Yahweh had kept the birthline intact! [see also Jeremiah 22.24-30; 23.5-6]

3 / vv 12-16: From the deportation to Babylon to the Christ were fourteen generations   

Even though the earthly Davidic throne was vacated, never to be occupied again until The Christ came to claim it, the Davidic family lineage remained intact. When the remnant returned again to rebuild Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, some of Jechoniah’s descendants were among their leaders—men like Shealtiel and Zerubbabel. They would carry on the royal, Davidic genealogy until “Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” [16].

III | vv 18-25 | “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way…”

“How did Jesus Christ come here?”

Matthew then relates to us how this Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham appeared when He came into our world…

1 / v 18 / When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. In their culture, to be betrothed was so much more binding than merely a proposal and engagement to marry at some future date. Their betrothal was a legally binding covenant they had made in the presence of witnesses, especially their two families. They were considered to be married even though their union had not been sexually consummated. Jesus’ conception was not a human conception—Jesus was physically and humanly conceived in Mary’s womb by the life-giving power of God, the Holy Spirit, when she was a virgin. Luke describes the angelic revelation to Mary of her conception in Luke 1.26-38. This is the unique, once-in-world-history miracle of the virgin conception of our Covenant Redeemer.

2 / v 19 / When Joseph discovered she was pregnant—and knew that the baby was not his—he was devastated. His only conclusion was that Mary had been unfaithful to him and had been with another man. This is the normal, natural, human ‘facts of life.’ Since the betrothal was culturally and legally binding, the only way the betrothal could be annulled was by divorce. They didn’t just ‘break up.’ But Joseph, being a just [righteous, upright] man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly before the representative family elders rather than make a humiliating public ceremony. Not only was Joseph a righteous man, but he truly loved Mary. And, of course, God is sovereignly orchestrating all these events to fulfill His covenant redemptive purposes and promises for our salvation!

3 / v 20 / But Joseph did what we all need to do in all situations: But as he considered these things…—he thought and prayed about his dilemma. As he agonized and prayed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” [Compare this angelic visitation to Joseph with the one to Mary noted above…] NOTE that both Joseph and Mary were not only ‘in the family way’ themselves, but they were both ‘in the family way’ of the tribal family of David—descendants of David.

4 / v 21 / Jesus’ name was given to him by His Heavenly Father through the angel’s message: She will bear a son, and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. The name ‘Jesus’ was a very common name in their culture—as it still is in ours among certain ethnicities. ‘Jesus’ has the name ‘Yahweh’ in it: “Yeshua-Yahweh will save.” It is a common OT name also. The one we are most familiar with is ‘Joshua, the son of Nun,’ the one who led Israel into their Promised Land and inheritance. The OT Joshua is a pre-enactment of the NT Jesus who will lead us—His people—into our eternal rest [Hebrews 4.1-13].

5 / vv 22-23 / Matthew quotes the OT extensively—more than any other of the four Gospel writers. Just here in chapters 1-4, Matthew will quote the OT eight times. We call it ‘the OT fulfillment formula’ because Matthew will use the words ‘it is written’ or give us some note of the OT prophecy the words or event fulfilled. In this case, Matthew says outright: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us)’” quoting from Isaiah 7.14. In the incarnation birth of Jesus Christ, God Himself has come to be with us—not only in His Holy Person and Presence, but even in a human body like ours [John 1.14]!

God has always been with His people from the beginning of time. In truth, that was God’s ultimate and eternal purpose and design in the very creation of the earth! And especially in the OT, God was always with His people to preserve His covenant purposes of bringing The Christ into our world to save His people from their sins and reconcile the whole creation back to Him! In the case of the Isaiah 7 prophecy, the wicked king of Judah, Ahaz [see Matthew 1.9], was threatened by an invasion of two neighboring kings and kingdoms: Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel. They were threatening to destroy the house of David [v 2] [don’t overlook that!]. Yahweh sent Isaiah to Ahaz offering to Ahaz to ask Yahweh for a sign—any sign, however ‘impossible’—that He would save them from their enemies. Ahaz stubbornly pretended to be pious and said, “I will not ask, and I will not put The LORD to the test.” So Isaiah prophesied and told Ahaz that The LORD will give him an ‘impossible’ sign whether he asked for it or not. “Therefore The LORD Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel” [v 14]. God Himself would come and save His Kingdom from all enemies!And before that child reached the age of discernment and responsibility, both of those kings Ahaz so feared will be destroyed by the Assyrians. [This OT ‘virgin’ was a young woman who had not yet borne a child—or perhaps had not been able to conceive a child—but the ultimate fulfillment would be the covenant-promised birth of The Christ, the Savior!] Once God has come to be with us in the incarnated Person of Jesus Christ, He will never leave us—not now in this age [ch 28.20], and until He brings us into His eternal Kingdom and our Eternal Rest! “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God” [Revelation 21.3].

6 / vv 24-25 / Joseph did as he was told to do: “…he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” With Mary, Joseph also offered himself: “Behold, I am the servant of The LORD. let it be to me according to your word” [see Luke 1.38].

So now, we have the four names and identities Matthew will develop over this Gospel account: The Christ, King, Emmanuel, Savior!

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Yahweh our “Rock”–“His Work is Perfect” | Deuteronomy 32-34

Posted on November 29, 2025 by PastorDave

Lesson Notes / Talking Points from another of our recent Sunday School lessons–a very brief survey of some of the most prominent highlights of Deuteronomy…

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The Minister of Reconciliation

Posted on November 27, 2025 by PastorDave

THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 20

These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!

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Deuteronomy 1-4 | REMEMBER…LEST YOU FORGET

Posted on November 26, 2025 by PastorDave

Yahweh renews His covenant with the new generation as He prepares them to enter and live in the Promised Land

Lesson Notes / Talking Points from another of our recent Sunday School lessons–a very brief survey of some of the most prominent highlights of Deuteronomy…

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Deuteronomy 6 | Yahweh’s Covenant of Love

Posted on November 26, 2025 by PastorDave

Lesson Notes / Talking Points from another of our recent Sunday School lessons–a very brief survey of just a few of the most prominent highlights from Deuteronomy…

SS.L7.Deuteronomy 6.Yahweh’s Covenant of LoveDownload
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Pastoral Prayer | Psalm 136 | Thanksgiving to God

Posted on November 24, 2025 by PastorDave

I was asked to deliver our Scripture Reading and Pastoral Prayer during our corporate worship service on 23 November 2025. We cultivate the exercise of ‘praying God’s Word back to Him’ as we have just read it. Our Scripture Reading was Psalm 136. Since this Psalm was written and delivered to the Choirmaster to be read, chanted, or perhaps even sung to a tune long-since lost—and even as a responsive reading with the whole congregation participating—I asked our fellow worshippers to join me as we recited the repeating refrain after each of the twenty-six thanksgiving confessions: “for His steadfast love endures forever.” After our “giving thanks to The LORD, for He is good,” I then offered this Pastoral Prayer as our collective response to God for being so good. For those who have requested a copy of the text of the prayer, I humbly offer it with the prayer that it will contribute to yet more “overflowing in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9.12).

PASTORAL PRAYER | Psalm 136 | Thanksgiving to God

O God,

You are good in every way and all the time.

You are good and goodness in Your very being, Your character, & all Your ways—and all good and goodness comes from You.

You are good to us …

-“You give us life, and breath, and all things.” (Acts 17.25)

-“You richly provide us with everything to enjoy.” (1 Timothy 6.17)

-You have given us Yourself to be our gracious and faithful God…

-You have given us Your one and only Son to be our Redeemer and Savior…

-You have provided for our every physical and spiritual need…

-You have directed the paths and courses of our lives by Your loving purposes and faithful            Providences.

“How shall (we) say ‘Thanks!’ for all the things you have done for (us);

things so undeserved, yet you do to prove Your love for (us)…” ~Andrae Crouch

We confess with our father Jacob: “We are not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love that You have shown to Your servant…” (Genesis 32.10) … but, O God, you have not given us the least of anything! “You did not spare Your own Son, but delivered Him up for us all—how shall you not with Him freely give us all things!” (Romans 8.32) —and in Your rich mercy and lavish grace, “You have blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places … in Christ!” (Ephesians 1.3)

And we are here today to thank You! We “enter Your gates with thanksgiving, and Your courts with praise! We give thanks to You…and bless Your Name!” (Psalm 100.4)

You have commanded us in your Word “None shall appear before Me empty-handed” (Exodus 23.15) because our hands and our lives are full of the blessings of God. And you have also commanded us to worship You … always rejoicing with thanksgiving … ‘with our hearts full of joyfulness and gladness—we and our households—for all that You have blessed us.’ (Deuteronomy 12.7; 28.47)

May our worship today—and every day in the conduct of our lives—be happy days … full of thanksgivings to You! (Ephesians 5.20)

Forgive us of our stingy thanksgivings and our grievous sins of ingratitude … whether it be in our bitter attitudes and words of griping and complaining against Your Providences or the private murmurings of our hearts in our discontentment with You … and Your ways with us.

Give us Grace, O God—even in our most painful experiences / our most disappointing turns of events / our darkest valleys / when our souls are scrambled with confusion and our hearts are breaking with grief and all our ‘why?’ questions…–teach us, O God, to ‘give thanks always for all things, in all circumstances’ (1 Thessalonians 5.18) … as we trust in the goodness of Your heart of love for us, and in the wisdom of Your perfect plan for our lives. 

And now…Pastor Will is coming to deliver your Word for us today. May Your Word to us through him fill our hearts, our mouths, and our lives with Grace, hope, joy, and thanksgivings … “For You are good; Your steadfast love endures forever, and Your faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100.5)

And all this we humbly pray—with thanksgiving—(Philippians 4.6; Colossians 4.2) through the merits of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord … Amen.

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