Bendigo Presbyterian Church Bendigo Presbyterian Church

When Matthew records the plight of the two blind men by the side of the road in Matthew 20:29-34, he completes the theme of ‘the first and the last’ that Jesus has been speaking of in this chapter of this gospel. If James and John were seeking to be ‘first’ in the previous section, then […]

When James and John (through their Mum) approached Jesus in Matthew 20:17-28, they were clearly men who wanted to put themselves first. The did this even though Jesus had been speaking quite a lot about the inverse principle of His Kingdom, that the ‘first will be last and the last first’. Their request, which made […]

Sometimes chapter breaks in the Scriptures aren’t that helpful. The chapter break that divides the end of Matthew 19 to Matthew 20:1-16 is a prime example. In Matthew 19;30, jesus had just spoken about the ‘inverse order’ of his kingdom, that is, the ‘first will be last and the last first’. And then to illustrate […]

The motto of ‘let’s eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die’ is sadly all too common in our society. In fact, such a motto is nothing new, but was around in the prophet Isaiah’s day at least 700 years before Christ! The motto is often held as a philosophy of life, because many […]

The text of John 12:20-36 is a very significant moment in the life of Jesus – especially in relation to his impending death. It happened when some Greeks appeared and sought and audience with him. This was the signal for Jesus that his ‘time had come’…but what did that mean? What did he know? And […]

When the disciples wtached the ‘rich young ruler’ walk away from jesus and miss out on eternal livfe, they were greatly astonished. They hadn’t thought that a rich man like him could ever miss out on salvation. And so in Matthew 19:27-30, they asked Jesus about what would happen to them. What link was there […]