Dr Paul Allen

Antonio Ciseri's depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Christ to the people Ecce homo! (Behold the man!). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 28:11 –15 “They took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day” (v. 15). Regarding the resurrection of our Lord , it is ironic that the thing the Sanhedrin tried to prevent with the placing of a guard became the story they made up to hide what really happened. The Pharisees and chief priests had  Pilate seal Jesus ’ tomb so that His disciples would not steal His body and claim that He rose from the dead (Matt. 27:62–66). Yet when Jesus was resurrected (28:1–10), His opponents did not repent; rather, they concocted a tale of theft to deceive Israel (vv. 11–15), preferring to save face instead of admitting the truth. Many enemies of Christianity still say the disciples stole Jesus’ body and fraudulently preached His resurrection, an as...

Close-up picture of mustard seeds (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 13:31–33 “He told them another parable . ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened ’” ( v. 33 ). The parables are usually stories drawn from everyday life. Jesus ’ comparison of the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed and leaven illustrates this fact ( Matt. 13:31–33 ). Men typically worked in agriculture, and women performed domestic chores like the baking of bread in first-century Palestine. In telling parables related to these tasks, Jesus conveys His message in terms that are familiar to ordinary people. Our studies in Matthew have thus far shown that the Messiah ushered in God’s kingdom in a manner that did not meet the expectations of His contemporaries. Instead of an immediate and final entry of God ’s saving presence, there was an inauguration of the kingdom that is followed by a long period of growth before the final consummati...

Matthew (Photo credit: Missional Volunteer ) Matthew 10:26–39 “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” ( v. 28 ). The Son of God ’s incarnation makes Him uniquely able to understand human frailties ( Heb. 2:14–18 ). Jesus has walked “a mile in our shoes,” having chosen to put up with a lower status for a time without casting off any of His divine attributes ( Phil. 2:5–11 ). Thus, Christ anticipates the worries we will have when persecuted for His name’s sake. He allays these fears in Matthew 10 . Many believers, our Lord knows, worry about what they will say if they are brought before an angry court because they are not eloquent speakers. Yet these disciples need not fear; the Father’s Spirit will give them the right words to say ( vv. 19–20 ). Jesus is not teaching that we may neglect the study of His Word, He is promising that the Holy Spirit will show Himself strong in our weaknesses. Chris...

The Exhortation to the Apostles (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 10:1–15 “These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, ‘Go…to the lost sheep of the house of Israel . And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’” ( vv. 5–7 ). Before Matthew gives us the bulk of Christ ’s missionary discourse ( 10:5–42 ), he lists the twelve disciples who follow Jesus during His ministry in Israel. Scripture says little about most of these men, but what we do know explains Matthew’s ordering of their names ( vv. 1–4 ). Peter is listed first because he is the most prominent of the twelve, the first to preach the Gospel after Pentecost ( Acts 2:1–41 ) and the first apostle to see Gentiles converted ( chap. 10 ). Judas’ later betrayal of the Lord earns him the last place in the group ( Matt. 26:14–16 ). These twelve are those to whom Jesus first directs His call to ministry in today’s passage ( 10:5–15 ). This is important because the fact that the disciples are the ones s...

Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish, in the Sea of Galilee, by Raphael (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 8:23–27 “The men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?’” ( v. 27 ). Having explained the cost of discipleship to two would-be followers, Jesus and His disciples set out to cross the Sea of Galilee ( Matt. 8:23 ). Little do the disciples know that this journey will give their teacher an opportunity to show forth His identity in a way they have not yet seen. Because of its geographical location, violent squalls frequently occur on the open water of the Sea of Galilee, especially in the period between May and October. Seasoned fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John ( 4:18–22 ) are certainly familiar with such storms, and so their fear, evident in Matthew 8:24–27 , shows that the turbulence in which they find themselves is unusually fierce. However, despite the storm’s ferocity, Jesus is able to sleep peacefully as the boat tra...

Matthew 4:18–22  “Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him” ( v. 22 ). Jesus ’ ministry begins a new phase when He settles in Capernaum ( Matt. 4:13 ) in Galilee , because it is there that the people begin to take notice of Him. In His day, Galilee is a bustling commercial area bordered by Syria and Phoenicia, offering ample opportunities for Jesus to interact with Jews and Gentiles alike. Travelers on trade routes can spread news of His ministry outside of Galilee. Moreover, the leaders in Jerusalem, as we shall see, strongly oppose Jesus, but in Galilee He can minister more freely and not have to be constantly looking out for those who might kill Him before the appointed time. When Christ begins His ministry He delivers virtually the same message as John the Baptist — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” ( v. 17 ) — because both the old covenant and the new speak of the same kingdom. John, the final prophet of the old covenant, pr...

English: Burial of Christ, Nicodemus depicted on the left, Joseph of Arimathea depicted on the right (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 27:57–61 “Joseph took the body…and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away” ( vv. 59–60 ). Mary Magdalene and the other women are not the only ones who show faithfulness to Jesus in His death ( Matt. 27:55–56 ). Today’s passage tells us about Joseph, “a disciple of Jesus,” who is responsible for His burial ( vv. 57–60 ). Joseph is from Arimathea , known in the Old Testament as Ramathaim-zophim , a town twenty-two miles northwest of Jerusalem where the prophet Samuel was born ( 1 Sam. 1:1–20 ). This Arimathean has secretly followed Christ ( John 19:38 ), probably because Joseph’s seat on the Sanhedrin ( Mark 15:43 ) would be in jeopardy if the other council members found him out. Since Joseph sits on the Sanhedrin, we know that not all the religious leaders...

John Chrysostom, Constantinople, early or middle 11th century. Soapstone and highlights of gold. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 25:14–30 “You ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest” ( v. 27 ). Five of the virgins in Matthew 25:1–13 are fools because they believe that the way to eternal life is easier than it really is and do not prepare themselves for the master’s return. Yet as verses 14–30 indicate, the one who thinks the Lord’s way is harsher than it truly is will also be revealed as a fool on the last day. Today’s passage shows what it means to expect the second coming of Christ and ready ourselves for it. Jesus exhorts us to stay awake and be prepared for His return in 24:36–25:13 , but those verses give few specific, practical directives for how to wait and equip ourselves properly. The parable of the talents makes it plain that the waiting and preparation Jesus expects is ethical and ...

St John Chrysostom (c.349—407) Archbishop of Constantinople (398—404) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 20:24–28 “Whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” ( vv. 27–28 ). The other ten disciples cannot believe that James and John would ask to sit at the right hand and left hand of Jesus and become “indignant” toward the two brothers ( Matt. 20:24 ). This feeling is not entirely unbecoming to a follower of Jesus, if the other members of the Twelve are upset because James and John fail to practice the humility Christ has commended in His followers ( 18:1–4 ). It does not seem, however, that their anger is provoked by the failure of James and John to obey Jesus; rather, they are perturbed because the two disciples have been trying to take glory for themselves without sharing it with the others. After all, Jesus gathers the entire group together in today’s passage to...

English: Flag of Israel with the Mediterranean sea in the background, in Rishon LeZion. עברית: דגל ישראל בראשון לציון (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Romans 11:26 promises that  all Israel will be saved . Dispensationalists understand this verse to refer to a national salvation of ethnic Israel after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Non-premillennialists  sometimes imply that such an interpretation is a dispensationalist invention, because it means that God still has a future plan for national Israel. But did you know that many throughout church history, including many in the Reformed tradition have shared that same interpretation? None other than  John Calvin , in his commentary on Romans 11:25-26, noted that “when the Gentiles shall come in, the Jews also shall return from their defection to the obedience of faith.”  Other Reformers, such as  Martin Bucer ,  Peter Martyr , and  Theodore Beza  similarly concluded that t...