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Matthew 27 - The Day They Spit On God!

Matthew 27 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. Commentary There are a lot of verses I could have picked out from this chapter chronicling the last day of Jesus' life. But what stood out to me the most is how they treated Jesus. When you consider that Jesus is God, it is almost unbelievable and shocking the things they did and said to him. We see the remarkable restraint of Jesus. At any time he could have called...

Matthew 26 - The Friend Who Will Never Forsake You!

Click Here to Read or Listen to Matthew 26 Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day 36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” At the core of our Christian theology, which ensures we don't stray from the clear principles of the bible, is the teaching that Jesus is fully God and fully man. We see many instances of Jesus showing He was God. He turned water into wine. He fed 5,000 people with a few loves and fish. He healed a man covered with leprosy. He healed the blind, the mute, and the lame. I believ...

Matthew 25 - God Is Not Opposed To Giving Out Rewards! - Matthew 25

Matthew 25 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day The Parable of the Bags of Gold 14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Commentary Jesus again teaches two parables about what the " Kingdom of God " is like. These parables teach principles, which we can build our lives on. The parables teach us how to live a productive Christian life.  There are two types of judgments when Jesus returns. The first is based on whether you have believed in Jesus or not. Jesus said, " I am the way...

How Can I Be Ready for Jesus' Second Coming? - Matthew 24

Matthew 24 - NIV   Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Commentary Oftentimes we rely on the book of Daniel, or the book of Revelation for our theology on the end times when Jesus will return. In chapter 24, Jesus devotes the whole chapter to teaching the disciples about his second coming. He had already told his disciples three times that he was going to be betrayed, condemned, crucified, and then be raised from the dead in three days. They were understandably worried about what would happen after that.  Jesus gives them and us several principles about His second coming, which will guide us as we anticipate his re...

The Problem of Hypocrisy in the Church! Matthew 23

Verses for the Day 23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Application There weren't many things that Jesus hated, but he hated hypocrisy. While he hated it in anyone, he detested it in the lives of the Jewish leaders. In fact if you read down in chapter 22, Jesus gave seven woes to these hypocritical leaders. He uses phrases like, " You shut the door of heaven's kingdom in people's faces", "you make your converts twice a child of hell as you are", "you blind fools", and "you are like whitewashed tombs". I think you get the point.  I wonder what Jesus would say to leaders in the church...

Why Are Many Called But Few Chosen? - Matthew 22

Matthew 22 - NIV   Enduring Word Commentary Verse For the Day “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22;14 Comment This is the last verse in Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet.  Per usual Jesus started by saying, “ T he kingdom is like ”, meaning this is how things work when God is ruling or reigning.  So he tells the story of a father who throws a wedding banquet for his son.  In Jesus’ day weddings were a huge deal.  One of the most important tasks was to select who was on the invite list.    " A  wedding was (and often is today) the most significant social event of a person’s life. The wedding of a prince would be a spectacular event, and an invitation would normally be prized." - Guzik The wedding list was put together, and the servants delivered the invitations personally to each guest. The important thing was the king wanted his banquet hall full. Initially he must have felt like he put out enough invites to fill the ban...

Matthew 21 - How Can the Christian Faith Be Proven?

Matthew 21 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”  4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:  5 “Say to Daughter Zion,  ‘See, your king comes to you,  gentle and riding on a donkey,  and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ Yesterday I wrote about how Jesus predicted his crucifixion and resurrection, which were either true or untrue. Either Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, or not, but it could not be "marginally true".  One of the other greatest proofs of Jesus being the Messiah and Savior is his fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy....