Dr Paul Allen

The Flight into Egypt by Giotto di Bondone (1304-06, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 17:14–21 “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” ( v. 20 ). Matthew’s gospel depicts the essential part faith plays in the events of Jesus ’ life as well as in His teaching. Joseph believed that Mary’s son was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit , not by an illicit affair ( 1:18–25 ). Christ trusted the Father to sustain Him in His temptation ( 4:1–11 ) and marveled at the faith so often displayed by those outside of God ’s covenant with Israel ( 8:5–13 ; 15:21–28 ). Peter was given the ability to identify Jesus as the Messiah, though His grasp of all that means was initially incomplete ( 16:13–23 ). Faith is the focus of this passage of Matthew. Having come down from the Mount of Transfiguration ( 17:9–13 ), Jesus and His disciples...

The upper part of The Transfiguration (1520) by Raphael, depicting Christ miraculously discoursing with Moses and Elijah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 17:9–13 “I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands” ( v. 12 ). Puritan commentator Matthew Henry remarks that “there is a proneness in good men to expect the crown without the cross.” This is a comment on Matthew 17:1–8 and Peter’s desire to build “tents,” or “tabernacles” (kjv), for Jesus , Moses, and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration ( v. 4 ). Peter is rebuked for his wish indirectly — the Father silences the apostle when He proclaims His Son’s identity ( vv. 5–6 ).  Once more, Peter has missed the whole picture about the Savior. He thinks it is time to celebrate the fullness of the messianic age according to Zechariah 14:16–19 , a vision of the Feast of Booths (or, the Feast of Ta...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Bill Johnson in his book "Hosting the Presence" page 40 says: "He set aside His divinity to live as a man....and was completely dependent on the Holy Spirit .....in so doing became a model for us to follow." Bill is referring to Paul statement of Jesus from Philippians 2:7a "but emptied Himself."  The inference is that we are identical with Jesus and totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit and are able to perform the same miracles as Jesus, because we are the same. However, our nature is different. We're saved not fully sanctified, stained by sin, whereas Christ never sinned. Our natures at this point are different. But did Jesus set aside his divinity? This statement needs clarification, because it could infer he stopped being God. I am sure that is not what Bill means. What does the text say? Jesus continued to not cling to His divine prerogatives. Instead, He emptied Himse...

Matthew 17:14–21 “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (v. 20). Matthew’s gospel depicts the essential part faith plays in the events of Jesus ’ life as well as in His teaching. Joseph believed that Mary’s son was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit , not by an illicit affair (1:18–25). Christ trusted the Father to sustain Him in His temptation (4:1–11) and marveled at the faith so often displayed by those outside of God ’s covenant with Israel (8:5–13; 15:21–28). Peter was given the ability to identify Jesus as the Messiah, though His grasp of all that means was initially incomplete (16:13–23). Faith is the focus of this passage. Having come down from the Mount of Transfiguration (17:9–13), Jesus and His disciples run into a crowd. Apparently, He gets temporarily separated from the Twelve because a distraught father updates Jesus on ...

The upper part of The Transfiguration (1520) by Raphael, depicting Christ miraculously discoursing with Moses and Elijah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 17:9–13 “I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands” (v. 12). Matthew Henry remarks that “there is a proneness in good men to expect the crown without the cross.” This is a comment on Matthew 17:1–8 and Peter ’s desire to build “tents,” or “tabernacles” ( KJV ), for Jesus , Moses, and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (v. 4). Peter is rebuked for his wish indirectly — the Father silences the apostle when He proclaims His Son’s identity (vv. 5–6). Once more, Peter has missed the whole picture about the Savior. He thinks it is time to celebrate the fullness of the messianic age according to Zechariah 14:16–19, a vision of the Feast of Booths (or, the Feast ...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Christ Jesus , who, although He existed in the form of God , did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. - Philippians 2 :6–7 - That phrase, “He emptied Himself,” is chief among the many issues in this passage that have caused a lot of students of Scripture to stumble in the most unfortunate of ways. “Of what did Christ empty Himself?” so many theologians have asked. And unfortunately, the answers to that question almost always indicate Christ emptied some form of His deity—that in some manner He ceased to be fully God in His incarnation. Some believe that Christ emptied Himself of Hisessential equality with God, such that during the incarnation He was a true man but limited His deity to such a degree that He was no more than a man. Others believe that Christ retained His “essential attributes” of deity...

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1880) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads." ( Revelation 22:4 ) This is the last reference in the Bible to the face of the Lord Jesus Christ , and a glorious promise it is, with its assurance that all His servants will finally see Him face to face ! Although they give us no specific description of His physical appearance (the only description of His appearance is in Revelation 1:13-16 ), the gospel writers do frequently mention His face. On the Mount of Transfiguration , Peter, James, and John saw how "his face did shine as the sun" ( Matthew 17:2 ), as He spoke of His forthcoming death. Shortly after this, "he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem " ( Luke 9:51 ) to meet His death. A few days after His entrance into Jerusalem, He was delivered into the hands of wicked men who took delight in desecra...

Frans Floris - The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Gathering and Protecting Mankind - WGA7949 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ( 2 Peter 1:17 ) Most people today consider Jesus Christ to have been a great man, but will not believe He is the unique Son of God . Nevertheless, He is indeed God 's only begotten Son. Before His birth, the angel Gabriel predicted it. "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" ( Luke 1:35 ). John the Baptist identified Him: "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God" ( John 1:34 ). His disciples recognized Him. "Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God" ( John 1:49 ). " Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" ( Matt...

Oil painting of a young John Calvin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 17:14–21 “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” ( v. 20 ). Matthew’s gospel depicts the essential part faith plays in the events of Jesus ’ life as well as in His teaching. Joseph believed that Mary’s son was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit , not by an illicit affair ( 1:18–25 ). Christ trusted the Father to sustain Him in His temptation ( 4:1–11 ) and marveled at the faith so often displayed by those outside of God ’s covenant with Israel ( 8:5–13 ; 15:21–28 ). Peter was given the ability to identify Jesus as the Messiah, though His grasp of all that means was initially incomplete ( 16:13–23 ). Faith is the focus of today’s passage as we resume our exposition of Matthew. Having come down from the Mount of Transfiguration ( 17:9–13 ), Jesus and His disciples run into a crow...

Image via Wikipedia "And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon ." ( Deuteronomy 3:23-25 )   This was the heartfelt prayer of Moses , for he was longing to see the Promised Land that had been his goal for so many years. He knew that God, rebuking his disobedience at Meribah , had said: "Therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them" ( Numbers 20:12 ). Yet he desired greatly to "go over" the Jordan, to see firsthand the "goodly mountain."   The "goodly mountain" most likely was majestic Mount Hermon , the 9,200-foot, snow-capped peak dominating the southern end of the mountain ranges of Lebanon. Go...