Matthew tells us that after his temptations in the desert, “when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee” (Matthew 4:12). It was time...

As “Master of the Way,” Jesus teaches us above all how to love. The greatest temptation against love, however, is love itself. Once people have begun to love...

The devil couldn’t convince Jesus to make the goal of his mission something people accepted. So he tempted him to make the means for achieving it something t...

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus’s temptations in the desert follow immediately upon his baptism in the Jordan. That is logical. Jesus has just heard the Father's v...

My cousin Louis had a drinking buddy—a non-believer—who used to comment on how religious Louis was. “Why do you keep saying I'm so religious?” my cousin aske...

Matthew reports that those who converted in response to the preaching of John the Baptizer “were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” ...

Acceptance of Jesus and his Gospel, like everything else that is human, is a live and growing thing. And like all live things, it begins small. Christian con...

Matthew (3:1) announces the call to conversion, “In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent (metanoieite), for ...

After presenting the mission of Jesus and the conflict it causes, Matthew takes up the call to conversion. What does it really mean to “accept Jesus”? We hea...

News flash: Loser Takes All Matthew began his Gospel by telling us the mission of Jesus was to do five things. As “Son of David” he offers us fulfillment. As...

News flash: There Is No Discount Jesus Whatever we think of Matthew’s Gospel, we have to admit he doesn’t sugarcoat the truth. In his second chapter he tells...

News flash: Jesus Calls Us To Give Up Hope! Matthew tells us Mary and Joseph were required to believe Jesus was the Savior of the world while they themselves...

News flash: Jesus Is Bad News! As soon as Matthew finishes presenting the mission of Jesus, he tells us it arouses conflict, opposition. Jesus is not good new...

News flash: Bishops Say Church Promoted Atheism! The Magi followed a star and found Christ. But many who grew up following Christian beliefs and practices ha...

News Flash: The Jews’ King Is Everybody’s King! Matthew reports (2:1-12) that “wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has ...

News flash: Jesus Is Still On Earth! Matthew didn’t write about a Jesus who is no longer around. The titles he gave in his first chapter describe Jesus’s mis...

Friday December 8, 2017 News flash: Jesus is an ongoing Savior! Instead of saying we are saved, it is better to say we are being saved. Salvation does not re...

Thursday December 7, 2017 News flash: Baptism is Reincarnation We might miss the mystery Matthew reports when he quotes the angel as saying that Mary “will b...

Wednesday December 6, 2017 News Flash! Jesus calls us to be God. (This is abbreviated from Why Jesus?, chapter four: “Jesus is Fullness of Life.” Available i...

Matthew begins his reporting on the Good News by giving us the family tree of Jesus. What does that tell us? Jesus existed from all eternity; but as the Seco...