by Darrell | Mar 13, 2026 | Articles
Jesus had a way with words, and no wonder…He is the Word (John 1:1). His parables are perfect illustrations for His listeners to understand spiritual concepts. Here in Matthew 21:33-46, it is titled the parable of the tenants, but it’s more than a story about people renting. Those in this parable are those whom the owner has left his vineyard under the care of. Their job was simple: care for the vineyard as the owner would and at harvest he will send someone to collect it. We might understand this arrangement as share-cropping.
So here is the premise: the owner did his job. He provided everything necessary for success. He was faithful in the arrangement. The tenants, however, were not. I assume that they did in fact plant and harvest, though I can be wrong in that assumption since it is not stated. However, when the owner sends servants, they do not respect his authority and they beat one, killed another and stoned yet another. That’s bad enough, but then the owner sends his son and they killed him. Our sense of justice is peaked by the story – how dare they kill servants and then the son! So, Jesus puts the question to the hearer – What will the owner do when he comes? The answer is obvious – put them to death and find new tenants!
This parable is an illustration. It’s not about a vineyard, but about God and his relationship with those who are supposed to be His people. However, they have not been faithful. They did not keep their end of the covenant, and they will be judged accordingly. The Jews thought they were God’s people and nothing could take that away, but they have not been faithful, and they WERE going to kill the Son, Jesus. They were the tenants, which is why Jesus quotes Psalm 118. They will give false witness and set Jesus up to be killed by the Romans, but they are the ones guilty. They are not going to win. The stone they rejected will crush them! Jesus will be victorious!
We must be covenant keepers. God is faithful to keep His end. In fact, He is so faithful in that covenant that He will forgive us when we breech it, provided we are walking in the light (1 John 1) and repenting when we sin. We do not want to live a life thinking we are in that covenant, only to find out we didn’t take it seriously and are rejected!
by Darrell | Mar 7, 2026 | Articles
Audria and I were discussing takeaways from our daily readings this week and her comment was, “people are fickle.” She’s right. People may have short memories, they get distracted, or they become discouraged. Many times, the result of those things is that their faithfulness diminishes.
In Matthew 21, Jesus enters Jerusalem the way He deserves to — with praise and honor. It’s even more than that, though. “Hosanna!” was more than praise. It was derivative from the Hallel Psalms and meant “Save us” or “Save now”. It was a declaration that He was there to save them.
I cannot pretend to know the minds of those praising Him that day. I don’t know how much they understood, especially considering just a short time later they are calling for His crucifixion. Of course, that WAS the plan of God to save them.
Jesus — God dwelling bodily — deserved every bit of praise and still does. It is no wonder that He often needed to withdraw by Himself to pray. He faced so much opposition and derision from leading Jews. Here was God among them, and they question everything and even claim He does things by the power of Satan.
Let us be those who praise Him continually!
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” (Hebrews 13:15)
“Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. (Psalm 95:2–3)
by Darrell | Feb 27, 2026 | Articles
Matthew 7:14-20 presents us with a story of a desperate father. A father who has watched his child be tormented over and over. He has watched him be harmed over and over. I imagine that there have been times he has held onto his child desperately trying to protect him. Any parent would be desperate to solve this problem. He first brings him to Jesus’ disciples. They were unable to heal him, so he brings him to Jesus.
Stepping back from this specific situation, we can realize that parents everywhere face desperate situations. A friend of mine has a son with stage 4 cancer in young adulthood. I can’t imagine the shock and the pain they went through as they tackled that problem. Knowing them I do know the first place they went for answers — prayer to their heavenly Father! That should be our answer to the darkest hours and the desperate times we can face, as parents or not. Having the right source of comfort can make all the difference, even when things don’t work out the way we would want. Our faith should be placed in the ability and faithfulness of our God and not in our own ability.
Jesus uses an interesting comparison in this passage with a mustard seed. It’s small; small enough that if one was by itself along your path, you probably wouldn’t even notice it. It does, however, have great potential. It can grow into a tree that you would notice, that could give shade to you and refuge for the birds. It would be significant. Jesus tells them that if they had faith like the grain of a mustard seed, nothing would be impossible for them. Faith that is not placed in themselves, but in God and in His power. We need genuine faith in the one power that changes everything!
From desperation to coming face to face with Jesus…this father found what he was looking for. Jesus healed his son. No more stress of watching to see what happens next. No more holding on tightly to keep him safe. This is the kind of change that Jesus brings to our lives. If we will have faith in Him, trust Him, and follow Him, He will change our lives. We will look back and see such a stark difference that we wonder how we ever lived that way. Follow Jesus, walk in the light, find salvation in Him. That is His invitation.
by Darrell | Jan 30, 2026 | Articles
In Matthew 10:1-15, from our reading this past week, Jesus sends out His apostles to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He gave them power to heal, raise the dead, cleanse leapers, and cast out demons. These powers are mighty and amazing, but given with purpose. They needed to prove that what they were proclaiming was from God and not just something made up. The text doesn’t tell us how they reacted to being sent out. I don’t know if they were nervous, afraid, doubtful, etc. We all feel at least some amount of nervousness when we approach someone to tell them about God. We wonder about the best approach to use, whether we will have the answers for their questions or whether they will react kindly or with malice. Jesus even warns them that there will be some who are “worthy” and those who are not. If someone wouldn’t listen, they are told to shake off the dust from their feet — a judgment upon them as well as a relief of feeling guilty about a person’s response. In fact, Jesus states that it would be “more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town” that would not listen to the truth.
Embedded in this account from Matthew 10 is something else we need to see: dependence and trust. They are told to take no bag, 2 tunics or staff or sandals. In other words, nothing extra. They needed to trust God and the power of His word upon the hearts of the hearers. “The laborer deserves his food.” If an honest heart hears their words and heeds them, that person sees the value in what is being proclaimed and will provide for them. This is the will of God – that those who preach the good news should be supported by those who heed and appreciate the words they speak from God.
My takeaway from this reading was trust. Trust the word. Trust God. Do the work. Good considerations for us today as we take on another week of service to the Lord.
by Darrell | Jan 22, 2026 | Articles
The word of God can challenge us in ways that make us uncomfortable. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus declares that He has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Then, He begins saying phrases like verse 21-22, “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” He begins challenging the accepted interpretations of the time and correcting them with God’s intention.
The Jews during the time of Jesus had many Rabbis from the past couple centuries that taught and wrote down their thoughts and those thoughts had been revered in such a way that they were treated much like inspired scripture. Others accepted it simply because it was what had been taught by these honored Rabbis. Jesus begins teaching in a way the people had not heard – with authority. He didn’t quote a Rabbi. He didn’t reference them or even necessarily agree with them. He taught truth. He challenged the accepted teaching of the day. “But I say to you…” was Jesus saying that you have been taught something but it’s incomplete or wrong. Let me tell you the truth.
Before we give the Jews a lot of grief for this, let’s remember how easy this trap is. For them, there had been a call many years before to come back to God and be faithful. That call was heeded and out of it came many teachers whose desire was to follow God’s laws faithfully. However, they were men and they made some mistakes along the way. Mistakes that became the accepted interpretation. This is what Jesus is correcting. When we think of how that happened, can you see how easy that trap is? We say we want to follow God’s will completely and faithfully, and that is a righteous goal! The Bible must always be the authority and not uninspired men.
There will always be those who twist the scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:19), but let’s not be one of them! As Peter goes on to say, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Growth from diligence. Growth from truth. Growth from seeking God’s will.
We have had many wonderful teachers in the Lord’s kingdom. There are men I value very highly for their knowledge and ability to expound on the word of God, but they are men. They are uninspired. They can make mistakes. The moment we take the word of men before the word of God, we fall into the same trap those Jews in the days of Jesus did. We miss the true intention of God’s communication to us. We focus on the wrong things. Let’s listen to God through His word – even when it’s uncomfortable and challenging.
