The story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is one of contrasts.  It is the story of the King who came as a lowly servant, on a donkey rather than a prancing steed, not to conquer nations by force but to conquer hearts by love. Yet this is also a tragic story: though his very […]

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). Jesus has just clearly announced his departure—the exodus that he came to accomplish. He is going to be delivered into the hands of men, suffer, die, and rise again. This was the fixed path of the promised Messiah; he […]

Throughout Luke, we’ve seen glimpses of Jesus’ divinity in his supernatural authority over sickness, demons, nature, and even death; he’s was not just a prophet or a good teacher but Immanuel, God with us. But in the event of his transfiguration, his humanity was peeled back enough for his divine glory to physically shine. As […]

Chapter 9 in Luke’s gospel is profound. After Peter makes the monumental confession that Jesus is “the Christ of God” (Luke 9:20), Jesus responds by saying: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22). Yet […]

The good news, which we marveled at in Ephesians 2:1-10, profoundly alters the way we understand who the people of God truly are. The Ephesians were uncircumcised Gentiles, not circumcised Jews. They were not the physical descendants of Abraham. In fact, they were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, […]

In Paul’s final warning to the Galatians, he reminds them again of the law-relying Judaizers – those who were clinging to a works-based righteousness in order to gain favor before God. Though they were rigorous and zealous law keepers, Paul points out that in reality they were seeking to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ, looking for more […]

Paul boldly and unapologetically preached “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23; 2:2). Yet the Galatian false teachers had been bringing all sorts of accusation against Paul and his ministry, in addition to preaching a subtly different gospel that in fact was no gospel at all (Gal. 1:6-7). As […]

“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). The story of the repentant thief who was crucified alongside of our Lord provides one of the most stunning pictures of sovereign grace, human inability, regeneration, and justification by faith alone in the […]

Paul’s epistle to the Galatians sought to address a major problem facing the early church. Because of false teachers, the church was quickly abandoning the gospel of grace, of justification by faith alone, in favor of a gospel of works and law. However, even in the introduction to his letter, Paul is quick to remind the Galatian churches of the gospel […]

In Zechariah 12:10-13:1, God declares: “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over […]

The story of Naaman, in 2 Kings 5, is a profound illustration of one of the most penetrating questions posed by Jesus: “for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Many “lepers” today are consumed by the soul-destroying […]

Session 2 || Pastor Matt Bedzyk