Sermon text: Matthew 20:20-28
This passage sits at a pivotal point in Matthew’s Gospel—Jesus and his disciples are on the road to Jerusalem, heading toward his arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection. Into that solemn journey walks the mother of James and John, kneeling before Jesus to ask that her sons be seated at his right and left hand in his kingdom.
Category: Matthew
He is Risen!
Sermon text: Matthew 28:1-20
Matthew’s account of the resurrection unfolds in three parts, each building on the last: the truth revealed, the truth concealed, and the truth taken afield.
The truth revealed (verses 1-10) opens with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary arriving at the tomb, followed by a dramatic scene—an earthquake, an angel descending to roll back the stone, the guards collapsing in fear, and the angel’s declaration: “He is not here, for He is risen.” This passage functions as an early apologetic for the resurrection, structured around a standard familiar to a Jewish audience: Deuteronomy 19:15 required the testimony of two or three witnesses to establish any matter as true. Matthew’s account delivers exactly that pattern. The angel serves as the first witness, delivering truthful testimony as God’s messenger. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary serve as a second and third witness—and their credibility is reinforced by Matthew 27:55-61, which places them at the crucifixion, at the burial, and now at the empty tomb, giving them direct, continuous observation of the entire sequence. A fourth witness even appears in verse 9: Jesus himself, alive and greeting the women directly.
Is That Your Final Answer?
Sermon text: Matthew 21:28-32
By this point in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is deep in a series of tense confrontations with Jewish religious leaders. Just before this passage, they had challenged his authority, and he had turned the question back on them regarding John the Baptist’s authority—they refused to answer, so he refused to answer them. Their religious system, built on rigid tradition and personal profit, was actively blinding them to genuine faith, even as they insisted publicly on their own righteousness.