Many scholars believe that Matthew’s Gospel was originally written to a Jewish audience. After taking a closer look at Matthew 21 and 22, there seems to be some strong evidence, as Matthew carefully recounts Jesus’ discussions with every major religious leader in Jerusalem at that time.
But Religious Leaders Don’t
We’ve been looking at Matthew 21 this week. As we discussed in Tuesday’s post, the first son, who initially defied his father’s request, is the only son that decides to do what is right.
Verse 29 tells us “…he changed his mind and went” (21:29). In the end, the first son did what his father had asked him to do.
A Parable for Religious Leaders We’re in Matthew 21 this week. On Sunday, we started unpacking a heated exchange; Jesus on one side and the chief priests and elders on the other. And of course, this was in the temple courts with plenty of spectators. This exchanged centred around whether or not John the Baptist’s ministry was…
Jesus’ authority is challenged. In Matthew 21, we read an account where Jesus is engaged in a heated conversation with religious leaders. Specifically, the chief priests and elders were challenging His authority. In turn, Jesus challenged them, regarding their approval of John the Baptist’s ministry. Matthew 21:23-27 “Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching,…