January 25, 2026
“Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28 ESV). Matthew recorded Jesus’ startling declaration to His followers that some would not “taste death” before seeing His kingdom. Writing primarily to a Jewish audience, the author
January 24, 2026
“Jesus said to them, ‘Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’” (Matthew 16:6 ESV). Matthew recorded that Jesus spoke these words to His disciples after a confrontation with the Pharisees and Sadducees. At first, the disciples misunderstood Him, thinking He was referring to literal bread because they had forgotten to bring
January 25, 2025
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18 ESV). After Simon confessed Jesus as the “Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus blessed him and gave him a new name, calling him, “Peter,” or
January 25, 2023
“From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be
January 25, 2022
WHO IS JESUS TO YOU? Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Jesus often used the Messianic title, “Son of Man,” in referring to Himself. The disciples answered, “Some say John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” Then Jesus asked them the most important
January 24, 2022
THE SIGN OF JONAH The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Jesus asking for a sign to prove His authority. He wondered aloud that they could read the signs in the sky to predict the weather, but were not able to read the signs of the times. In other words, they could tell when it
January 25, 2021
CONFESSOR OR TRANSGRESSOR? Jesus had many hard sayings, but the teaching concerning His suffering, death and resurrection was the hardest for the disciples to receive. Bold Peter even attempted to rebuke Jesus for saying such things. But Jesus put him in his place with, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Poor Peter went from Peter the confessor,
January 24, 2021
THE SIGN OF JONAH The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Jesus asking for a sign. He told them that they could read the signs in the sky to predict weather, but were not able to read the signs of the times. In other words, they could tell when it was going to rain, but
November 24, 2019 | Matthew 16:24 |
Our flesh, our sin nature, constantly desires the easy way, the short cut, it wants its own way. But the way of discipleship, the way of following Jesus begins with a decision to “deny ourselves.” In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus described what it meant to answer the call to come after Him and be one of His disciples. We can answer the call to be a disciple of Jesus.
January 7, 2018 | Matthew 16:24 |
The new year is upon us and with it many of us are setting goals we’d like to accomplish this year. We want to be winners and leaders. We want to achieve greatness in some arena of life. We want self-fulfillment. These are admirable goals, yet the way the world seeks such goals is very different from the way the Lord would have us take. For the Lord teaches us that the way to winning is losing, the way to self-fulfillment is self-denial, the way of greatness is serving. He teaches that in order to become a great leader, you must first learn to be a follower.
The world’s path is very different from the Lord’s. The world’s way may seem to work for a season, but many of us have tried to climb the ladder of success only to find that it was leaning against the wrong building. A man achieves that big promotion, but loses his family in the process. A woman tries to be a super-wife, a super-mom and seek super fulfillment in her career, but all she feels is super-burned-out. A teenager wears the latest fashions, listens to the latest tunes and tries to use all the latest lingo, but still feels alone and unaccepted at school.
Yet, as people of faith, we are not to live as the world lives. We’re supposed to be different. We don’t follow a philosophy, we follow a Person. We don’t follow a system, we follow our Savior. In the book of Matthew, Jesus described what it meant to answer the call to come after Him and be one of His followers. We can answer the call to be a follower of Jesus.