Jan Koenig

“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23)                                                                         The priests had been authorized by God to lead and direct the matters of the Jewish temple.  The elders of the Jews were regarded as the authorized leaders of the Jewish community.  These two groups, which clearly had… Read more »

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 18:3) When the disciples questioned Jesus about greatness in the kingdom of heaven, the Greek wording indicates they were not asking who is the greatest but who is the greater.  When posed this way… Read more »

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.(Matthew 16:21) There was no option.  It was absolutely necessary.  He had to do it.  This is what Jesus… Read more »

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16) A creed is a confession of what a person believes, and it may be derived from any number of sources.  Creeds are drawn from public opinion, dreams, science, life experiences, etc.  Everyone has creeds.  When people say, “I don’t believe in creeds,” they… Read more »

I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 15:24) The patriarch Jacob wrestled with a mysterious man, and the wrestling match occurred because Jacob wanted this man’s blessing (Ge 32:22ff).  This man, as implied in the account and as explained by the prophet Hosea (12:3-4), is indeed God.   Jacob… Read more »

“And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23) Echoing the Old Testament, the New Testament sets forth the principle that the Word of God and prayer are central (Acts 6:6; 1 Ti 4:5).  God’s Word is His… Read more »

“They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16) In the account of the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, Jesus invites His apostles to feed a crowd which likely exceeded 15,000 people!  How could the Apostles obtain sufficient food for this mandate?  Interestingly the Apostles would be the ones to distribute… Read more »

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44) When Jesus taught in parables, such a method of teaching was not totally foreign to the Jews of His… Read more »

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. (Matthew 13:24) In last week’s parable Jesus described the Word by which “sons of the kingdom” are created.  This week’s… Read more »

A sower went out to sow. (Matthew 13:3) Through Isaiah God explains the success of His word by comparing it to the success of rain and snow in watering seed upon the earth.  He then promises, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but… Read more »