Heads Up

Each of the Gospels shows that after a few months of initial enthusiasm for Jesus and His ministry, opposition began to grow so that at last Jesus was rejected by both the leaders and the people and was crucified. This was a complex period historically, and a variety of factors were at work. In Luke…

Followers of Christ are not to fear the powerful people of this world. The soul matters more than the body and the rulers of this world can take only our lives. If we are going to be afraid of anyone, it should be God, who alone will determine our final destinies. Jesus said it like…

Jesus said, “If you…who are evil, know how to give good gifts…how much more will the heavenly Father give…to those who ask him!”

If God is good, why does He allow suffering? And if He is all-powerful, why does He not put an end to sinful actions and natural catastrophes? If God is all-good and if He created only good things, then where did evil come from? How can evil come from what is perfectly good? Thinking Christians…

The first thing these verses say Matthew 10.17-42 is that we can expect opposition. As far as the disciples were concerned, they could expect that in time they would be “hand[ed] … over to the local councils and flogged … in their synagogues.” This is what happened to Peter and other apostles in Acts 5.40…

Comparing the first three Gospels raises questions sometimes, but sometimes the comparisons are helpful, as is the case here in Matthew. In Mark’s and Luke’s accounts, Jesus’ instructions to the Twelve end with the material Matthew reported in the first half of chapter 8. Instead of stopping at this point, however, as Mark and Luke…