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49 results for “Matthew”
Clear searchA forensic reading of Christ's Olivet Discourse
Who Are the Elect of Matthew 24? A forensic reading of Christ's Olivet Discourse "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light... And he shall…
Read article →The gathering of the elect, one taken and one left, and Paul's revealed mystery
Does Matthew 24 Place the Rapture after the Tribulation? The gathering of the elect, one taken and one left, and Paul's revealed mystery Matthew 24 contains the most direct Gospel objection to a…
Read article →What Christ’s promise establishes—and what claims about infallible teaching still need to prove
Does Matthew 16:18 Establish Church Infallibility? Few promises offer Christians greater assurance than these words of Jesus: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail agai…
Read article →Matthew, the Hebrew word almah, and a sign whose meaning reaches beyond Ahaz
Does Isaiah 7:14 Really Prophesy a Virgin Birth? Matthew, the Hebrew word almah, and a sign whose meaning reaches beyond Ahaz Matthew says that the conception of Jesus by the Holy Ghost fulfilled Isaiah's words: "Behold, a virgin shall be…
Read article →The wicked husbandmen, the fruit-bearing nation, and what Jesus said afterwards
…d afterwards Few statements of Jesus appear to support supersessionism more directly than Matthew 21:43: "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." —Matthew 21:43 The language is unmistakably ju…
Read article →What Jesus promised the apostles about Israel's future
…his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." —Matthew 19:28 This is one of the clearest statements Jesus made about the apostles' future role. It is also an awkward text for any theology in which national Israel has permanently disappea…
Read article →A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation
…ish people are abandoned to an unparalleled holocaust. He then appeals to John 5, Daniel, Matthew 24, Romans 8 and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 to reject the system. Some of his criticism is directed particularly towards the language of Tim LaHaye and popular Left Behind…
Read article →A sign of Israel's renewal, not Israel's disappearance
…easts, and identified His immediate mission with "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). When He first sent the Twelve, their commission had the same national focus: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go ra…
Read article →Simon Greenleaf · Legal examination of testimony · 1846
A nineteenth-century legal scholar's examination of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as witnesses, asking how their credibility, consistency, knowledge, conduct, and accounts would fare under principles used to assess evidence in courts of justice.
View recommendation →Unity in Christ and distinction in God's purpose
…aled in relation to a new work of the risen Christ. Jesus said, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). At Pentecost, the Spirit baptised believers into a Spirit-indwelt community which would extend across the nations. Paul describes the equality of Gentiles within this one bod…
Read article →How the Law reaches its goal and appointed end in Christ
…I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." —Matthew 5:17 Fulfilment is not contempt. Christ does not treat the Law and the Prophets as a failed revelation which He must correct. He brings their promises, patterns, demands, and prophet…
Read article →Why the final seven is unfinished, future, and centred upon Israel and Jerusalem
…onditions appropriate to an interval. Jerusalem is left desolate after rejecting Messiah (Matthew 23:37-39); the mystery of Jew and Gentile united in one body is disclosed (Ephesians 3:3-6); and Israel experiences partial hardening "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (…
Read article →Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body
…was not a costume, a container or a body waiting for a divine occupant. Primary passages: Matthew 26:38–39; Luke 2:40, 52; Luke 22:42; Hebrews 2:14–18; Hebrews 5:7–9; Hebrews 10:5–10 --- “A body hast thou prepared me.” Those words from Hebrews 10:5 may be among the first that com…
Read article →The crucifixion in history, Scripture and the Qur'an
…vote substantial attention to Jesus' arrest, condemnation, crucifixion, death and burial (Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 18-19). This should be stated carefully. The four accounts are not four entirely independent modern depositions. Matthew and Luke use Mark and oth…
Read article →Eustathius of Antioch, the human soul of Christ and the pictures created by our words
…ds actually teach the hearer to imagine? Primary passages: John 1:1–3, 14; Luke 2:40, 52; Matthew 26:38–39; Colossians 1:15–17; Philippians 2:5–8; Hebrews 1:1–3; 2:14–18 --- The incarnation is often explained through pictures. God put on humanity as we put on a garment. God enter…
Read article →Why apantēsis does not settle the timing of the rapture
…ntry. Two other New Testament passages are frequently compared with 1 Thessalonians 4. In Matthew 25:6, the cry announces the bridegroom: "go ye out to meet him." In Acts 28:15, Roman believers travel to Appii forum and The three taverns to meet Paul as he approaches Rome. In bot…
Read article →Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy
…regeneration" they would sit upon twelve thrones, "judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). The symbolism joins the Messiah's future rule, the twelve apostles, and the twelve tribes. As examined earlier in this series, the choice of twelve does not suggest that Isra…
Read article →What the Father's love for the Son reveals about God
…isciples are baptised "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). The apostolic blessing names "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost" (2 Corinthians 13:14). At Jesus' baptism, the Son…
Read article →Signs, expectancy, and the event the Church is told to await
…tch the world with open eyes, but we wait for Jesus Christ. References for further review Matthew 24:42-51; 25:1-13 John 21:18-23 Acts 1:6-8 Philippians 3:20-21 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 4:13-18; 5:1-11 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 Titus 2:11-14 James 5:7-9 1 John 2:28-3:3
Read article →Two failures, two responses, and the difference between remorse and repentance
…to the chief priests and asked: “What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?” —Matthew 26:15 They agreed to pay him thirty pieces of silver. From that point forward, Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus. His actions were deliberate. He negotiated the price,…
Read article →Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God
…Son stands in the water, the Spirit descends, and the Father's voice speaks from heaven (Matthew 3:16–17). Jesus later commands baptism: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." —Matthew 28:19 The word name is singular, while Father, Son, and Holy Ghos…
Read article →Spiritual ecstasy, altered states, and discerning what is from God
…then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” —Matthew 7:22–23 The name attached to an experience does not settle its origin. The terrible side of ecstasy Modern presentations of mystical experience often emphasise peace, healing, and ex…
Read article →The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell
…of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” (Matthew 24:15). Jesus did not deny the Antiochene pattern. He treated that pattern as capable of a further and greater fulfilment. Antiochus becomes a precursor rather than the final horizon…
Read article →How the Lord knows His own—and how their lives bear His name
…. They remain together until the harvest, when the Son of man makes the final separation (Matthew 13:24–43). We should not force every detail of the parable into 2 Timothy 2. Yet the same broad realities are present. Good and evil may exist side by side for a time. Human judgemen…
Read article →The near was real. The far is still coming.
…estoration The first coming of Christ provides genuine fulfilment of this expectation. In Matthew 11:2–6, John the Baptist, imprisoned and hearing of Christ’s works, sends the question: “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” Jesus answers by directing attentio…
Read article →Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world
…Isaiah, and insisted that He came not to destroy the law and prophets but to fulfil them (Matthew 5:17; Luke 4:16-21; John 5:39). Calling Jesus a first-century Jewish teacher is therefore necessary—but not sufficient. He did not merely repeat the interpretations around Him. He cl…
Read article →One Messiah, one gospel, and God's continuing purpose for Israel
…m 89:19-37 Jeremiah 31:27-40 Ezekiel 36:16-38; 37:15-28 Zechariah 12:10-14; 13:1; 14:1-21 Matthew 19:28; 21:33-46; 23:37-39 Luke 22:28-30 Acts 1:1-8; 3:19-26 Romans 9-11; 15:8-12 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; 3:1-18 Galatians 3:6-29; 6:15-16 Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:1…
Read article →What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God
…tell His disciples to adopt an admirable policy. He tells them to resemble their Father. Matthew records the same reasoning: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persec…
Read article →Defining the position before testing it
…es not save. John the Baptist denied that physical ancestry could shield the unrepentant (Matthew 3:9). Paul distinguished the children of the flesh from the children of promise (Romans 9:6-8). Every Jewish person, like every Gentile, must believe in Christ. None of these truths…
Read article →Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints
…Acts 14:22). Christ pronounced those persecuted for righteousness blessed, not abandoned (Matthew 5:10–12). Christians may be hated, dispossessed, imprisoned and killed while remaining entirely within the faithfulness of God. Pretribulationism does not teach that the Church must…
Read article →How Christians can think politically without surrendering conscience to a package deal
…the world. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." —Matthew 5:14 That light must illuminate political life rather than take its colour from it. Christians do not ask a party to tell them what is good and then search Scripture for support. The…
Read article →How an openly transmitted text survived copying, criticism, and centuries of examination
A clear introduction to the manuscript evidence, textual variants, and the claim that the Bible was corrupted beyond recovery.
Read article →Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ
…Ephesians 1:4). Jesus can speak of a kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). John 17 itself sometimes anticipates completed results, as in verse 22. The distinction is that Jesus does not merely say the Father prepared glory for Him. He says He had it…
Read article →Circumcision of the heart and the identity of Paul's inward Jew
…in the Argument of Romans 2:1-3:9 and the Identity of the Interlocutor in Romans 2:17-29" Matthew Thiessen, Paul and the Gentile Problem, chapter 2, "The Gentile Identity of the 'So-Called' Jew in Romans"
Read article →Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation
…draws upon magnificent promises: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8); “we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2); and “they shall see his face” (Revelation 22:4). The difficulty begins when this truth is made to carry the whole weight of Christian…
Read article →The covenant son and the sacrifice that points to Christ
…At Christ's baptism the Father says: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). John later describes the measure of God's saving love: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but…
Read article →The question reaches beyond prophecy to the faithfulness of God
…e the covenants, the twelve apostles, the restoration prophecies, Romans 9-11, Galatians, Matthew 21, and the history of Christian interpretation. The conclusion must explain all the evidence: one Saviour, one way of salvation, one new man in Christ, the inclusion of the nations,…
Read article →What God's faithfulness to Israel means for everyone who trusts His promises
…se tribes in the regeneration. After pronouncing judgement upon Israel's blind leaders in Matthew 21, He repeated the promise at the Last Supper. After the resurrection He taught the apostles about the kingdom for forty days. When they asked whether He would now restore the kingd…
Read article →The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels
…ackground, Mark records Jesus coming to His disciples "walking upon the sea" (Mark 6:48). Matthew records the same act and its conclusion: "Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). Walking on water does…
Read article →Sources behind Qur’anic narratives
…thee. So eat and drink and be consoled” (Surah 19:25–26, Pickthall). The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew contains another palm-tree miracle involving Mary and Jesus. During the flight into Egypt, Mary desires the fruit of a high palm. At Jesus’ command the tree bends down, and water is…
Read article →Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ
…nsider fit to possess the world? Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5) The promise draws upon Psalm 37, where evildoers are cut off while those who wait upon the LORD inherit the land. The meek do not seize the earth through violence or consume it…
Read article →Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm?
…that Christians no longer possess the original Injeel. Jesus received one revelation, but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are later human accounts. They may retain fragments of His genuine teaching, but the original book was corrupted, obscured or lost. That answer must do more than…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
…rn does not belong only to John’s Gospel. It runs through Jesus’ words and actions across Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Islam’s Jesus keeps some of Christianity’s titles while being removed from the narrative which gives those titles meaning. He is called Messiah, but His messian…
Read article →The glory philosophy could not contain
…r encounters that glory and tries to fit it back inside his own system? A recent study by Matthew R. Crawford draws attention to a remarkable historical example. (See Note 1.) In the third century, the Platonist philosopher Amelius read—or at least knew—a clear account of the ope…
Read article →Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son
…lds all things (Colossians 1:16–17), yet as the risen man He receives universal dominion (Matthew 28:18). The contradiction disappears when we ask the right question. Is the passage describing who the Son eternally is, or what the incarnate Son becomes, receives or accomplishes a…
Read article →Four popular claims tested in context
…seize upon judgement, law or later divine warfare and ignore the Servant's stated manner. Matthew names the Servant Once again, the Bible supplies an explicit interpretation. After Jesus withdraws from those conspiring to destroy Him and heals the people without seeking public ac…
Read article →The Gospel, Human Perception, and the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit
…ay be more considerate than his neighbour and still need reconciliation with his Creator. Matthew 22:37–40; Romans 3:19–23. This is why the biblical charge of sin cannot mean merely “you are as unpleasant as you could possibly be.” It means that our lives fall short of the glory…
Read article →Governmental restraint, the final ten kings, and the preparation of the temple
…ntation has a concrete setting in Israel, with a physical sanctuary. 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Matthew 24:15–16. Daniel’s seventieth week is the future seven-year period completing the seventy weeks appointed concerning Israel and Jerusalem. In its midst, the ruler associated with the…
Read article →The positive argument of the whole series, brought together
…ces Daniel's abomination before unparalleled Great Tribulation and His manifested coming (Matthew 24:15-31). Paul describes the self-exalting lawless ruler whom Christ destroys at His appearing (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8). Revelation resumes Daniel's measured half-week through forty-…
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