Matthew by Dennis McCallum (2010)

The gospel of Matthew, written by Matthew the tax collector, begins by examining the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Beginning with Abraham, the genealogies mentioned go through Abraham's descendants to the tribe of Judah, leading to the line of David. The genealogies seem to not line up with Jesus coming from David because of the line of Jeconiah, but after careful examination, it's clear that Jesus came from the line of Heli, Mary's father. An understanding of Jewish law denotes that Jesus would inherit what came from his adoptive father, Joseph, thus settling the apparent contradiction in genealogies. Through the genealogies, we see Jesus as a predicted son of Abraham, Jacob, David and even adopted into the inheritance, fulfilling many Old Testament prophecies concerning him. This genealogy points out God's control and sovereignty over human history to enact His marvelous plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Jesus' birth was a miraculous event that God orchestrated by having him conceived through the virgin Mary. Mary's attitude towards God's plan is one of willingness and personal trust. Jesus' birth was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. Jesus' entrance into the world as God incarnate begins with him in a manger, essentially a feeding trough where he is rejected and excluded. This would be the first instance of many as Jesus' life was a portrayal of humanity's rejection of God. Despite all the suffering, rejection and pain, Jesus' birth signifies God's desire to have people come to know Him personally through the cross.

After Jesus' birth, there are three different types of responses towards what God has done. The first comes from King Herod, who was very cynical and, determined to keep his power, tried to destroy Jesus. The scribes and priests were very apathetic to Jesus' birth. Lastly, the wise men were spiritually interested and wanted to know about Jesus. The attitude of the wise man is the reaction God desires from all people, so they can find the truth and place their faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness. Parallels between Pharoah during Moses' time and Herod when Jesus was born are also explored.

John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus' earthly ministry and challenged the religious mentality of the Pharisees and Sadducees. John the Baptist was paving the way for Jesus to bring about true repentance before God through his work at the cross. Jesus and John the Baptist meet and John baptizes Jesus in order to anoint the King Messiah and his ministry was confirmed by God who parted the heavens to have the Spirit of God ascend onto Jesus. Ultimately, baptism is an outward sign of an inward transformation for people that can only happen when people choose to put their faith in Jesus and ask for forgiveness.

Jesus is confronted by Satan in the wilderness after 40 days in the desert. Satan tries to tempt Jesus to become spiritually autonomous instead of depending on God, twisting scripture to try and trick Jesus and worshiping him instead of doing God's work in God's way. Each time he was tempted, Jesus responded to Satan's accusations with scripture, an important decision within spiritual warfare. This confrontation between Jesus and Satan demonstrates the importance of relying on the truth of scripture and depending on the Holy Spirit's power amidst spiritual warfare.

Jesus travels to the sea of Galilee where he meets Peter and Andrew and calls them to follow him. Later, he calls John and James as well to leave behind what they have and follow them. This is the first introduction of Biblical discipleship, the way in which Jesus would reach others. Through one one one mentoring, Jesus would use this method to equip people to go out and reach others to mentor in the things of God. Discipleship is the method used throughout the New Testament by people like Paul, Timothy, and others. The first step for someone who wants to become effective in discipleship is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ by asking for his forgiveness.

Jesus teaches on the Sermon on the Mount and opposes the view of the Pharisees that real spirituality comes from external conforming to rules and regulations. Instead, Jesus teaches first on the "Beatitudes" or the attitudes that should be cultivated in a relationship with God, all of which go against the self-righteous,self-centered attitude of the world and the Pharisees during Jesus' ministry. Jesus' picture of a blessed life would be exemplified by humility, transparency, kindness, and a yearning for God. These attitudes go directly against the self-righteous mentality of Jesus' culture and our culture today.

Jesus continues to speak on happiness as he opposes the self-righteous Pharisees of his time. He explains to his audience that attitudes of: enduring persecution, being peaceable, and living in a way that is attractive to those who do not know God are what can ultimately lead to a blessed or fulfilling life. When Christians forsake selfish interest and focus on living lives that are centered around loving others and reflecting God's Truth in their words and action, our relationships with one another, and more importantly with God, will be very fulfilling.

Jesus continues to oppose the self-righteous standard set from the Pharisees. Jesus discusses that his purpose was to fulfill the Law and discusses the weighty expectations of the law, including topics like murder, adultery and more. The sermon ends with a call to be perfect as God is perfect, exposing the problem of humans trying to meet God's righteous requirements. Jesus gave his audience two options: obey the law of God and enter into his eternal award or give up the self-sufficient attitude and receive the forgiveness of Jesus for eternal life. Jesus became the law giver and the fulfillment of the law so that we wouldn't have to.

Jesus teaches on the relationship between the Law and understanding what is morally right and wrong. The overarching principles of God's Law are rooted in His character and show where the priority of focus should be in the lives of Christians. This was particularly meaningful because the audience of Jesus included Pharisees that were more focused on following the law versus living out the prioritized principles of God seen through His Law. Through Jesus' teaching, we see that God cares about a lifestyle of sacrificial love, as opposed to selfishly taking from others.

Jesus teaches on what really motivates us in this life. There are two masters that people can serve, God or money. Jesus specifically speaks to living our lives for eternal things, rather than the temporary material things of this world. With a lifestyle of materialism comes heart-level issues between us and God and anxiety. Conversely, Jesus offers instruction to his audience to put God as the first priority to seek after and trust Him entirely, as His values and His guidance will give our lives true meaning and purpose that will carry on to eternity.

Still dealing with the self-righteous Pharisees, Jesus continues to teach on how our interpersonal relationships should look. He says that we should avoid the self-righteous judgment of the Pharisees, who's ultimate judgment is coming. In addition, Jesus tells his audience to perceive a humble view of self in light of seeing sin in others lives, as well as learning boundaries within relationships and extending forgiveness to others. Lastly, Jesus gives insight into seeking after God through prayer and that our lifestyle should be characterized by a commitment to others.

Jesus allows his audience to choose their path: through the narrow gate or the wide path. The narrow path is through asking for forgiveness through Jesus. The broad road is the religious lifestyle that Jesus has been combating through all of his teachings. A major reason for people choosing the broad road is because of listening to false teachers. The second focus of Jesus' teaching is in regards to distinguishing true and false prophets. True prophets have an authentic relationship with God, while false prophets claim to know God only by association, not in reality. Perhaps the biggest difference between true and false followers of Jesus are those who choose to hear his words and put them into practice.

Jesus performs four miracles. He heals a man with leprosy, who would be seen as a total outcast at that time. He sees the faith of a gentile centurion and heals his slave servant and then goes on to heal a woman. All of these people were see as unimportant in society, but not to Jesus. Jesus miraculous power was used to authenticate his claims and demonstrated his love towards those who are deemed as unloved. Jesus wants to express his love to all people through his work on the cross.

Through three separate eye-witness accounts, Jesus demonstrates his authority. He demonstrates his authority in four separate ways: 1)his power over prejudice; 2) his power over nature; 3) his power over Satan and the demons; and 4) his power over sin. In particular, Jesus gives special attention to his authority to forgive sins. Since Jesus was able to forgive the man's sins, he is also able to forgive ours as well. The way to get real forgiveness and restore a relationship with God is through Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells the crowd about the ministry of John the Baptist, and how there is something coming that people hadn't anticipated before. Through what Jesus said, and what John had said earlier, it's clear that there are two separate comings of Christ. The first coming of Christ will include humiliation, persecution and ultimately death on the cross, while the second coming will see Jesus return in majesty to have all bow down to him and to reign forever and destroy his enemies. These two comings of Jesus are known as the "mystery" in Scripture, and were aimed to destroy the work of Satan and his accusations against God through Jesus' work on the cross.

Jesus and his disciples break grain during the Sabbath, infuriating the Pharisees. Jesus goes to discuss the difference between the "religious" mentality of the Pharisees versus what God actually cares about. Jesus argues directly with the Pharisees about their hypocritical religious mentality. For the religious, the focus is following all sorts of external regulations to be seen as righteous before people and seeing this as the way to please God. Jesus came to point out that real righteousness comes from humbly recognizing our inability to meet all the regulations of God's law, but instead to admit our brokenness and ask for forgiveness in faith. God desires to show people compassion rather than needing sacrifices from them.

Jesus tells his disciples a parable of the soils, which focuses on hearing God's message and the varying responses people have toward His message. The four responses in this parable are: 1) to hear the message but not understand it because of distractions and deception from Satan; 2) to hear God's message superficially but then fall away when persecution comes; 3) to hear the word but get distracted from worry and the deceit of money; and 4) to hear and respond humbly to God's message, bearing fruit for Him. All people must respond to God's message concerning Jesus Christ and his forgiveness.

Jesus reveals new information based on the fact that the Messiah would come twice. There are seven parables, each of which show an aspect of the kingdom, with some aspects being expected and some being different. Through the parables, we see that this kingdom age will partially fulfill Old Testament promises, infiltrate the current world system, and that God was willing to give His son up so that people could experience this new age before Jesus comes back to reign as King Messiah.

Jesus performs a miracle by providing food for 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. The food in this event is a metaphor for spiritual provision. Jesus calls on his disciples to deliver the food, exemplifying what Christian ministry or service looks like, as God uses Christians to bring God's power into others lives. God has the ability to use Christians powerfully, but asks that we be responsive to His call. Ultimate provision is found through Jesus Christ.

Jesus comes walking on water in a heavy storm and the disciples are amazed. Jesus challenges Peter's lack of faith that he can provide for them. The doubt of Peter highlights what happens when Christians adopt a horizontal perspective and focus on other things rather than looking to Christ for provision. Often, the horizontal perspective leads to more problems, including anxiety, anger and ingratitude. What Jesus is trying to teach his disciples is to look towards him with a vertical perspective amidst the "waves" or problems that arise in our lives.

The Pharisees dispute with Jesus about why the disciples don't partake in the ceremonial hand washing before eating. The heart of this argument revolves around going through the outward motions without a change of the heart. By partaking in ceremonial washing, the Pharisees were cleaning the outside while not acknowledging their own sin. This issue makes people think they're okay before God when they really are not. The true need is in the heart, which needs a spiritual cleansing through Jesus Christ.

Through his interactions with the Pharisees and his disciples, Jesus brings up three major questions that are worth answering. The first question that comes up is who people think Jesus really is. Peter responds that he is the son of God, and Jesus promises that he will build his church to which nothing will overpower it, not even Satan. The second question concerns the call of discipleship, and if people are willing to follow Jesus' radical call of self-sacrifice. The last question concerns the cost of not following after Jesus, which is the forfeiture of one's own soul as Jesus will ultimately judge people according to their deeds. People must make a clear decision on what they think about Jesus.

Peter, James and John witness Jesus transfigure before them. Elijah and Moses appear with Jesus. This incredible account shows that God wants show Himself at key times and in various ways. This spiritual experience that Peter, James and John had is an instance of God providing such experiences right before He calls for self-sacrifice and a new level of commitment. As Christians we should welcome spiritual experiences, but not idolize them. This account also reveals how the Old Testament prefigured and validated the New Testament, and thus how we can trust Jesus and what he says about needing forgiveness.

Jesus explains the humility needed to enter into the Kingdom of God. He expresses the severity that will fall on those who try to stumble others from entering the Kingdom. We see that Jesus is protective of his flock, as he addresses the practice of church discipline, which ultimately reflects God's love and care. Jesus also shares his forgiving nature as he teaches on the priority of forgiving others while talking with Peter. If we are trying to become more like Jesus, we must prioritize his heart of compassion, forgiveness, and humility. All three of these characteristics were personified with his work on the cross so that people could have a personal relationship with God.

Jesus confronts the Pharisees about the issue of divorce. God's design for human sexuality is within the confines of a heterosexual monogamous relationship between man and woman. When the focus of sexuality is servant love, we understand that sex is highly intimate and thus can be highly damaging, so we want to listen to God's perspective on what will be the most fulfilling. The key to success in sexual relationships is that it is centered around God. When centered on God, sexuality is able to be freeing and highly unifying as both parties are secure in their position in Christ and can look to serve one another out from God's love, rather than needlessly taking from one another. This teaching also surveys people's thoughts about living together before marriage.

The biblical ideal for dating relationships is loving the whole person through agape love. Within the context of dating and ultimately marriage, this type of love is deeply sacrificial and exemplified through action over time, as opposed to a primarily feeling-based, temporary taking type of relationship or marriage. Immature relationships produce co-dependent, romanticized, superficial relating that puts self at the center. What God desires is mature, God-centered relationships where we slowly and humbly try to serve another person and identify ways to push them closer to God. If people are trying to find the right person to marry, they should focus on being a godly type of person.

A man asked Jesus what he must do to gain eternal life. This reflects the typical religious attitude Jesus had been teaching against. The man ended up walking away saddened, because he wanted to earn righteous standing instead of simply asking for mercy from Jesus. Jesus' conversation with the man highlights the deceitfulness of the human heart and exposes what the man truly wanted, which wasn't forgiveness. Often, people are deceived into thinking they can do enough to be good with God, but in reality all people need to simply ask for God to have mercy on them through Jesus.

Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God through a parable about the laborers. This parable reveals a lot about God's perspective of grace, perhaps the controlling theme of the Bible. Problems often arise when we do not deeply understand God's grace. When Christians deeply understand and live under grace, we understand our lack of worthiness before God, and yet are incredibly grateful that Jesus paid the way for us to have a new standing before Him. Under grace, we are freed up to love and serve others because of the security that comes from being under grace. Grace was revealed through Jesus paying for human sin on the cross so we could have access to this incredibly undeserved relationship with God.

As Jesus is going up to Jerusalem, he teaches his disciples about what true spiritual leadership is in God's sight. Human leadership comes from very little power and is selfishly motivated to try and take love, praise, protection and security from others. In contrast, Jesus perfectly exemplified biblical leadership by choosing to set aside his own praise and glory to sacrificially love others, going to great lengths by dying for humanity on the cross. Two principle lessons come from this teaching of Jesus: 1) we should be willing to follow Jesus' leadership; and 2) we should learn to imitate him in our own leadership roles.

Jesus finally enters Jerusalem, days before he will go to the cross to pay for humanity's sin. The people of Jesus' time were expecting a conquering King Messiah to rule with authority, but Jesus' entrance was marked by humility by riding in on a donkey and weeping for the city that was about to take him to his death. Jesus' predicted death was foretold through a prophecy in Daniel 9. This teaching focuses intently on the prophecy from Daniel 9 concerning the time of Jesus' death. Jesus' life was the culmination of many fulfilled prophecies told in the Old Testament, and gives unique claims to who he is and why people should listen and ask for forgiveness through him.

Jesus enters the temple and drives out those who are insulting the name of God. He then discusses parables with his disciples, which show the attitude and hearts of the Pharisees and religious people that were trying to kill him. The Pharisees were pseudo-spiritual, but were met with silence from Jesus because he understood their hearts were far from God. God's forbearance towards evil people is incredible, but not infinite, and eventually there will be judgment for those who are evil. All people are ultimately accountable to God for their lives, possessions, and use of their gifts; and yet God is willing to allow people to get involved in His work.

Jesus continues to speak in parables, comparing the Kingdom of God to an incredible wedding banquet that the host is ecstatic to invite everyone to. Those who don't want to partake in the banquet because of "busyness" or trivial matters hits at the self-righteous Pharisees Jesus was totally opposed to. The Pharisees, threatened by Jesus, try and trap him through different lines of questioning, but Jesus refuses to submit and continues to distinguish God's servant love versus their man-made self-righteous religion. God's real heart is to get as many people into His great banquet as possible, made possible through Jesus Christ.

Jesus takes one final shot at the Pharisees, and their legalistic mentality associated with religion. The Pharisees practiced false spirituality by living in hypocrisy, bossing and putting others under legalistic standards and being egotistical. Jesus' life emphasizes what real spirituality looks like: a humble, others-centered lifestyle of love that emphasizes Biblical truth and where what is on the outside reflects the internal change of the heart through loving and trusting God. Jesus came to offer eternal life, while the Pharisees merely wanted to look righteous on the outside, but inwardly were far from God. This religious mentality is a big barrier for people to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

While on the Mount of Olive with his disciples, Jesus reveals information regarding the end times. Eschatology, or the study of end times, is important for understanding history, having confidence in God's word, learning what's to come and gives authentication to the Bible's entire message. The details Jesus reveals concerns the nation of Israel, which will be re-gathered as a nation prior to the Great Tribulation when Jesus returns to reign as Messiah. The proper response to understanding predictive prophecy is to learn more about the one it centers around - Jesus Christ.

Jesus continues to speak about the end times, highlighting the abomination of desolation that will occur at the end of human history. The abomination of desolation is something directly related with the Antichrist, known as the Beast, who the entire world will worship during the time of the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist will blaspheme the name of God and will rise up out of a future Roman empire in the future. The world's current overpopulation, hunger and pollution point to the likelihood of the whole world coming together under the leadership of a single individual, like Jesus predicts in the end times. Coupled with a one-world mentality in areas like global economy, entertainment, information technology, and communication, the future of the world is readily getting to the point where Jesus' prediction doesn't seem crazy. In the meantime, there's a real need to ask for Jesus' forgiveness to cover people's sin before the end of human history comes.

Jesus explains to his disciples the signs that are "birth pains" before the end of human history. He describes the presence of false teachers that will come in his name and wars, famines, earthquakes and nations will be against other nations. He warns his disciples that there will be intense persecution against Christians, that many will walk away from the faith and love will grow cold, but that the gospel will be preached to the whole world. From Jesus' words, it's clear that the end of human history will be categorized by events on multiple fronts, including: 1) theological; 2) sociological; 3) ecological; 4) technological; and 5) political. As we await the return of Jesus Christ, the call for Christians is one of anticipation and sobriety as we look forward to being with Jesus forever.

Jesus teaches his disciples through three separate stories what it means to be ready for the coming of the Son of Man. The first, a parable about ten virgins, teaches that there will be many who profess themselves to be Christians, or nominal Christians, that will not be ready for Jesus' return. The second, a parable of the talents, teaches the principle of stewarding the resources God has given us before He returns. The last parable is about the sheep and goats, and shows the urgency of serving Jesus by serving those in real need. In light of what God has given us, Christians are called to consider how their lives reflect stewardship.

While in the home of Simon, a woman sacrifices a vial of perfume and pours it over Jesus' head. While Judas Iscariot and others are furious at the woman for wasting the perfume, Jesus praises the woman's faith. The underlying principle of this story is that the woman was not living for the temporary, but for the eternal. In light of what Jesus did at the cross, the sacrifice of material things doesn't compare with the thrilling commitment to radically following him. Christians are called to adopt Jesus' values over the world's values when we come to faith in him.

On his last night before he went to the cross, Jesus sat down to have communion with his disciples. The purpose of communion is not some sort of religious ritual, but is served as remembrance of Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross for people to have a relationship with God. It is also a proclamation before God of the importance of Jesus' work before he comes back and an opportunity for fellowship of Christians. Communion is one of the two New Testament rituals believers are called to practice at their discretion because of the freedom they have in Jesus Christ.

On the last night of Jesus' life, we get insight into two people very close to him: Judas Iscariot and Peter. Both men experienced immense failure, but the outcomes were entirely different. The difference in outcome was based on the response to failure. Judas encountered worldly remorse, also known as metamelomai. This type of regret is depicted by self-pity, shame that leads to moving away from God and ultimately led to Judas' death. Peter's response was known as metanoia, or godly repentance. This type of response is a change of perspective, where you accept God's forgiveness which leaves no regret. Godly repentance leads us ultimately into closer relationship with God and allowed Peter to be used in incredible ways by God in the early church. These two kinds of sorrow are important to consider for Christians when they encounter failure.

The most important event in human history occurred when Jesus Christ went to the cross. Jesus' crucifixion was the epitome of physical torment, and included being stripped naked and flogging. Not only that, but Jesus endured spiritual torment by taking on God's wrath to pay for humanity's sin. Jesus paid the certificate of death for all humanity in the greatest demonstration of sacrificial love. As Christians, the cross is a constant reminder of God's love for us and something we should thank God for regularly. For those who aren't Christians, making a decision about Jesus' work on the cross is the most important decision to make.

Following his death on the cross, Jesus rises from the dead. There are seven reasons to believe in the validity of the resurrection: 1) the execution of Jesus was recorded by the Romans, Greeks and Jews; 2) the empty tomb, which involved women witnesses and a realistic burial story; 3) expectations; 4) eyewitnesses, including Paul, James and the twelve disciples; 5) explained in advance, through prophecy from the Old Testament; 6) the expansion of Christianity grew from 500 to 1 million people by the end of the first century; and 7) experience. The resurrection is crucial for the basis for Christian's lives and has much evidence supporting it.

Jesus gives his last instructions to his disciples before he leaves to be with the father. Known as the Great Commission, these commands from Jesus are about going outward to make disciples of Christ, and involves teaching others about Jesus' instruction. The basis for this instruction is that all authority belongs to Jesus and that he promises to be with his followers always. This is the natural response for people forgiven by God through Jesus, as His plan involves all people knowing about the forgiveness He offers through Jesus. This practice is largely ignored in the church, but is of central importance to God's plan in human history.