January 30 Welcome to the Gospel of Matthew! Like John, Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples, specifically one of the twelve apostles. Scholars also identify Matthew with the name Levi in Mark 2:14. (Compare with Matthew 10:3) You may have heard critics argue that Isaiah 7:14, the prophecy that Matthew quotes in verse 23, denies…
John 6 Did you know that the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle that occurs in all four Gospels? Jesus feeds five thousand men with only five barley loaves and two fish, which at that time was a poor man’s meal. (Wheat bread was the food of the wealthy.) As the scene…
January 4 We expect that Jesus would minister to God’s covenant people—the Jews. However, we rarely think about Jesus’ ministry outside of the Jewish household of faith. John 4 records Jesus’ outreach to both Samaritans and Gentiles, giving us an early glimpse of the Gospel’s universal reach and God’s ultimate plan. Jesus Ministers to a…
January 3 John 3 is probably one of the most familiar chapters in the Bible. A big reason for this is that John 3:16 is the most familiar verse in the Bible. Unfortunately, most Bible translations don’t render this verse as accurately as they could for today’s readers. This leads to misunderstanding and misapplication of…
January 1 John begins his Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1 (CSB) Right out of the gate, John recalls the first chapter of Genesis, which states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and…
In today’s Bible reading*, we see two witnesses given authority to prophesy/preach against the people’s sins for a period of time. During their allotted time, they are immortal; no one can harm them. At the end of the allotted time, people martyr the witnesses and leave their bodies on the street until the witnesses are resurrected…
