Jesus does not warn only against wholesale rejection of Scripture. He warns against relaxing even the least commandment. The word ‘relax’ is telling. Nobody announces that they are abandoning the Bible. The drift is quieter than that. It happens one small...
The precision of Jesus’ language here is striking. An iota is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, corresponding to the Hebrew yod, the tiniest mark in the Hebrew script. A ‘dot’ refers to the small decorative stroke that distinguishes one...
The word ‘fulfill’ in Matthew 5:17 has generated significant discussion among New Testament scholars, and rightly so, because it carries tremendous theological weight. Blomberg notes that Jesus likely intended the term to do multiple things at once: he...
There is something significant buried in the very first words Jesus speaks in this passage: ‘Do not think.’ He is addressing a conclusion people were already drawing about him and his ministry. His teaching was so different, so authoritative, so unlike...
This week, we have walked through one of the most searching passages in all the Minor Prophets. We have seen priests who maintained every outward form of worship while their hearts were cold and their offerings were contemptible. We have seen God’s response, not...
