Chuck Larsen

The religious leaders of Jesus day were always at odds with His teachings. He attempted to turn them from their man-made traditions to a new focus on the meaning and purpose of God’s revelation to man. But they held to an external display of righteousness and cared nothing for God’s heart. External appearances can still be a death knoll for a true heart for God. It’s so easy to get caught up in how things look instead of how things truly are in the inward man. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 15:6, “So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.” View full article »

At the end of Matthew 14, many sick and hurting people were brought to Jesus, just to touch His garment. In verses 35 and 36, we read, “And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.” View full article »

In chapter 14, Matthew tells us about Jesus walking on the water in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee. Peter is invited to join him and does so. For about a minute! He takes his eyes off of Jesus and looks around him at the wind and the waves and immediately goes down. View full article »

Verse 12 of Matthew 14 tells what John the Baptist’s disciples did after Herod had him be-headed. It simply says, “And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.” It may be a little simplistic in a way, but just think about it. How did John’s apostles react at the loss of their beloved friend and leader? How simple is this? They took care of their friend’s body, of course, but then they simply “went and told Jesus.” View full article »

In Matthew 13 we read the parables of the kingdom. Jesus describes what heaven will be like by telling stories that his listeners can relate to. He often uses agricultural illustrations because he was speaking to those living in an agricultural economy. Beginning in verses 24-30, we read the parable of the wheat and the tares. The enemy plants weeds amongst the good crop of wheat. The farmer allows them to grow up together until the harvest. The parable teaches us that the kingdom of heaven will be preceded by an age in which good and evil coexist. View full article »

In Matthew Chapter 13 we hear Jesus, the Master Story Teller, tell the story of the sower. It’s a short story. Jesus tells it in just a few verses. He says, “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. “ View full article »

Jesus had performed many miracles during the early years of his ministry and stood condemned for them by the religious leaders. They even attributed his authority as coming from Satan himself. Then in Matthew, Chapter 12, we read this dialogue between the religious leaders and Jesus: “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. But he answered them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. “ View full article »

The religious leaders often accuse Jesus of having a demon that assisted him in the performance of his miracles. They attributed his power to “Beelzebul” which was another name for Satan. Jesus explains the fallacy of the Kingdom of evil fighting against itself and then confronts the religious leaders for their motives and evil intentions. Jesus says that he doesn’t expect anything good to come from the mouths of the religious leaders, because he know what’s in their hearts. In Verse 34 of Chapter 12, Jesus says, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” View full article »