One of the many wonders of a newborn child is wondering who he will be. What is his personality? Will he be more like his father or his mother? What will he look like? What will be his vocation? Who will he marry? How many kids will he have? Who will he grow up to… Read More »
Matthew 2:1–2 records the travel of the wise men from the east to Jerusalem, looking for the King of the Jews, “For we saw his star when it rose.” King Herod interrogated them as to “what time the star had appeared” (Matthew 2:7). After leaving Herod, the star apparently reappeared and “went before them until… Read More »
Matthew 1:18–25 tells how “the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way,” and Joseph’s dream is a significant part of this passage.He had just discovered that Mary was pregnant and made a natural but incorrect conclusion that Mary had become pregnant through another man (Matthew 1:18–19). Joseph was probably heartbroken. Mary seemed to… Read More »
Introduction The point of Matthew 1:18–25 is to tell how “the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way,” that is, in the way described in the rest of the passage. We will come to the highlights of this passage by focusing on its details through the eyes of Joseph. A Rocky Engagement (Matthew… Read More »
The parallel passages described together below are Matthew 24–25, Mark 13:1–37, and Luke 21:5–36. Matthew adds a number of parables to the section that are not recorded in Mark or Luke, and Luke gives a number of details that are not recorded in Matthew or Mark. Matthew 24:1–3; Mark 13:1–4; Luke 21:5–7 The disciples pointed… Read More »
Each gospel records one instance in which Jesus was beaten just before His crucifixion, but it seems that a comparison of these accounts indicates that Jesus was beaten more than once. In trying to sort out the details, it is helpful to remember that a beating by the Romans could vary in intensity, and three… Read More »
As we have seen, Mark is somewhat abbreviated when the Evangelists of the other Gospels give more detail. What follows is an account of all the details given from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) on the record of the Transfiguration. (John does not record the Transfiguration.) Except for a few words here and… Read More »
Mark 9:33–37, 42, Matthew 18:1–5, and Luke 9:46–48 give parallel accounts of Jesus’ use of a child to illustrate His teaching to the disciples. These passages differ, however, in which teaching they choose to report. We see at least four teachings from these passages. Have the faith and humility of a child (Matt 18:3–4). Speaking… Read More »
There are two sets of parallel Synoptic passages in which Mark and Luke speak of a man that Jesus healed while Matthew speaks of two men. In the first, Mark and Luke record that Jesus cast demons out of a man (Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39), and Matthew speaks of Jesus casting demons out of two… Read More »
Ancient manuscripts of Scripture attest to three variants or options for the name to identify where Jesus cast some demons into pigs which then ran into the sea (Matt 8:26; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26). The names given are Gadara, Gerasa, and Gergesa. Interestingly, of six major translations surveyed, none of them are uniform in their… Read More »