Taxes! What a burden to place on people. Taxed for being alive. Taxed for your initiative, innovation and hard work. Taxes taken from your earnings and invested in institutions, programs and laws that you oppose. Taxed on every purchase. And a jumble of tax laws that few people can decipher. Taxes burden the mind and wear on the soul.

Peter was hit with a tax question. When he came to Jesus with it, before he had the opportunity to bring it up, the Lord already knew what he was going to ask. And Jesus already knew what he was going to do about the tax. But before he resolved the problem, he gave it to Peter by asking him a challenging question. Continue reading →

I find this passage so intriguing that I am going to spend two days with it.

There is no hint in their conversation that Jesus had recently called Peter “Satan,” and no indication that Peter carried any residual shame from that rebuke or that he had any discomfort being with Jesus. Peter had not lost the revelation he received regarding Jesus–in spite of his lapse into the mind-set of human self-interest. He did not lose the spiritual growth he had experienced traveling with Jesus. Rather, he learned a valuable lesson that he would not have learned apart from his error. Continue reading →

There is nothing easy about this statement. A man approached Jesus, fell to his knees before him, and begged the Lord to have mercy on him and his son, who was demon-possessed. He had taken his son first to the disciples of Jesus and they could not help him, so now he goes to Jesus.

Jesus’ response immediately takes us by surprise. Is he exasperated? angry? To whom is he speaking? The disciples that were unable to help the man because of “the littleness” of their faith? The man? The whole crowd? I also wonder if Jesus meant that he had to put up with them or with their nonsense that got in the way of their progress. Continue reading →

This is a strange story and, at first, we might ask whether the gospels need it. What does it teach? What does it prove? But its strangeness is the very reason we should suspect its importance.

In the previous episodes, Jesus had been challenged by his opponents to provide them with a sign from heaven. In effect, they were demanding that he show them his credentials or produce something to identify himself as someone sent by God. A short time later, Jesus asked the disciples what people thought of him. In their minds, who was he? He followed that question by asking them, “But who do you say that I am?” Continue reading →

What did Peter do after Jesus hit him with these harsh words? Did he hang his head in shame and slink away to some dark corner and hide himself? Was there a moment when he assumed he had failed at discipleship and Jesus did not want him tagging along with the rest of them? After all, Jesus called him Satan!

Can you imagine how you would react if Jesus called you Satan and said you were an offense to him? Continue reading →

In Matthew 16, we revisit themes from the beginning of Jesus ministry, perhaps because from this point on, Jesus is looking toward its end (e.g., v. 21). For example, in both chapters 4 and 16

• Jesus’ identity is placed in the spotlight (4:3, “If You are the Son of God” & 16:13-17, “But who do you say that I am?”)
• Jesus is challenged to prove who he is by performing a miracle (4:3 & 16:1)
• Jesus experienced the challenge as a temptation (4:1 & 16:1 where “testing” translates the same Greek word for “tempting”)
• Bread is an important issue (4:3 & 16:5-12).
• Jesus responds to temptation with the command, “Go, Satan” (4:10 & 16:23, where he says, “Go behind Me”).
• Jesus defines the role of his disciples (4:19, “Follow Me” & 16:24, “deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me”) Continue reading →