Posts with the tag “matthew”

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” If the people of the city of Jerusalem had known scriptur...  Read More

St. Paul speaks to the Thessalonians about their sanctification, that they become holy as God is holy. Many of the Thessalonians were Gentiles and did not grow up with the Old Testament or the Law of ...  Read More

The first lesson in the catechism is the First Commandment, and hopefully all the confirmation students here should have this learned by heart, “You shall have no other Gods.” As you know from the exp...  Read More

Why not be a hypocrite when you fast? Of course, no one wants to be known as a hypocrite, but Jesus doesn’t give instructions about hypocrisy for everything. Matthew speaks about hypocrisy in prayer, ...  Read More

Jesus Christ has given you good work to do, and all by grace. While you did not deserve to do anything but idle without any meaning, He has brought you into his vineyard to work, to do something that ...  Read More

Jesus is made manifest in His Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is the final Epiphany on the final Sunday of the Epiphany season. Peter, James, and John, led to the top of the high mountain, see Je...  Read More

Faith is trust in Jesus, and you should be careful not to hear this passage outside of faith. Outside of faith, the eyes are the ruler. The eyes say, I see everything is good and fine in my life, ther...  Read More

In football, a long pass to the endzone, usually end of the game is called a “hail Mary” or sometimes “throwing up a prayer.” The idea is that of taking one last shot to win, looking more to providenc...  Read More

JESUS comes to John in the wilderness to be baptized by him. John refuses. He has been giving a baptism for repentance of sins. John knows that Jesus has no sins to repent of. John knows that Jesus h...  Read More

Has God forgotten us? The Magi’s visit to the Christ child is great with their expensive gifts, but it means that now Jesus, the true King of the Jews, has come under jealous Herod’s radar. It seems e...  Read More

The problem when we read a great martyrdom account like that of St. Stephen, is that we think we cannot relate, as we have never been persecuted for our faith. Our lives can seem petty and insignifica...  Read More

Rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice! So begins the introit today on the third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete – or, Rejoice! All you blind, rejoice, for you will see! All ...  Read More

Here, in the first week of Advent, our gospel lesson takes place at the beginning of Holy Week....  Read More

“Wake, awake for night is flying!” the watchmen on the heights are crying, “Awake, Jerusalem arise!” Wake, and be watchful, for the bridegroom is coming! Get ready! This is what Jesus’ parable tells y...  Read More

When Jesus, the Son of Man, returns in glory at the end of time there will be a final judgment of all the nations....  Read More

Today we remember all those who have died in Christ and passed from this valley of sorrow into the arms of their savior. ...  Read More

St. Paul tells you in the epistle lesson to “look carefully how you walk,” which is always good advice. It was a fun game when you were a kid to close your eyes and see how far you could get in your h...  Read More

What would you do to help a friend? What lengths would you go to for a loved one if you knew you could help them? In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus is teaching and healing in the city of Capernaum on th...  Read More

Jesus does not want us to love our own God, our chosen people, and in the way we think is right....  Read More

This week we learn that not only good times, but also hard times test our faith. Jesus tells us, “Do not worry.” Do not be anxious for anything....  Read More

As we are given the command, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” the disciples, students, of Christ are expected to become more like God in mercy as they follow Christ. The mercy which Chr...  Read More

Lent comes before Easter. Advent comes before Christmas. In the church calendar this fact is built in – God never gives anyone great fortune without first giving great hardship. We try hard to remove...  Read More

Sometimes when we think of Jesus as our God and Lord, which He is, we put Him into a place so beyond ourselves that it seems hard to relate to Him. When we view Jesus as one who is far beyond us in po...  Read More

Some of the best stories in the Bible involve fasting and ashes. In the book of Esther, before Esther goes to speak to her husband, the king, she fasts, and her cousin Mordecai sits in sackcloth and a...  Read More

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.” One doesn’t have to have been alive very long or very perceptive to recognize that almost nothing in this world lasts. ...  Read More

The people of Israel may have been the most forgetful people ever. Four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, and God sends Moses to deliver them from it. ...  Read More

After six days, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to a high mountain by themselves. Like the six days which led to the culmination of creation, this sixth day leads to the culmination of Jesus’ earth...  Read More

The baptism of Jesus is recounted in three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and in John it is mentioned after already having happened. You can be sure that when an event in Jesus’ life is in a...  Read More

How much did the wise men know? Well, being astrologers, they looked at the stars for signs, but the sign didn’t tell them a whole lot. It’s likely that if they were from Babylon, where God’s people w...  Read More

While you should not consider this a law from God, it is usually best to baptize a child as soon as he is able to come to church. His need is great – despite innocent appearance every child born is co...  Read More

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Why does John the Baptist send his disciples to ask Jesus this question? It is a question of doubt from the very one who was sent to pre...  Read More

Happy New Year! Today begins a new church year. It is the first Sunday of Advent. The world looks at this as the Christmas season, but for the church, that doesn’t start until Christmas day. ...  Read More

Today’s reading from Matthew is often called the parable of the sheep and the goats, but it isn’t really a parable. It is a description of Jesus’ real judgment at the end of time. Jesus reveals this f...  Read More

Our world is full of distrust. We don’t have to look around much to see that trust seems to be at an all time low. Divided, polarized, split – all these terms are constantly used to describe the state...  Read More

All the virgins have come out to see the bridegroom and come in to the house where there will be the last part of the wedding festivities. But they don’t know when he will come. So as the church we ga...  Read More

The Pharisees are unable to undermine Jesus’ authority legitimately and therefore are just going to try to trap him in his words. They want to trip him up in a technicality. They are trying to make hi...  Read More

Several hundred years before the time of Christ, in the land of Persia, the Jews had a great feast because a man had been hanged....  Read More

Although rejected by men, Christ would become the chief cornerstone of the new structure, setting every angle of the building....  Read More

The myth is that when we see that false god is only a man all of his power is taken away. Think of the wizard of Oz, no longer so impressive when we look behind the curtain. Yet what we fear, love, an...  Read More

In fact, these words, written by Matthew at his call, could be thought of as his ordination verses. How often he probably turned them over in his mind, meditating on Christ’s life-giving words through...  Read More