Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

In our last post we learned about the miracle of Jesus walking on the water to His disciples who were in a terrible storm halfway across the Sea of Galilee. We saw how natural elements are subject to Jesus Christ the Son of God. We read how impetuous Peter asked if he could walk on water to the Lord and saw that he was safe as long as his eyes were on Christ. The moment Peter was distracted by the raging waves and fierce winds, he began to sink, but Jesus saved him when he cried out "Lord, save me." Matthew's gospel jumps to the next miracle of Jesus but John's gospel tells us what happened when they landed safely on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. John's gospel fills in a gap of teaching from Jesus that Matthew did not record. After calming the storm and bringing the boat to land, Jesus taught about the bread of life. John 6:47-51  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  48  I am that bread of life.  49  Your fathers...

We have been studying Matthew's account of the birth of Christ and the story of Christmas. We have seen that Jesus was born by a miracle of the Holy Spirit placing the "seed" of God into her womb so that the baby born is the Son of God. We saw that Joseph was told to name this child, Jesus which means Jehovah savior. We saw the account of the wise men who traveled to find the Messiah child so that they could worship Him. We saw how God worked all these things out and how He told the wise men to return home a different way so that Herod would not know where to find baby Jesus. We saw that God warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt with His family. Then, we saw how evil Herod slaughtered baby boys two years old and younger. Matthew made sure to show us how Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ were literally fulfilled by the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Matthew's part of the Christmas story ends with this lesson. Matthew 2:19-20  But when Herod was de...

In our last post we studied a gap between Jesus dismissing the multitude and when He told His disciples to sail to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. What transpired in that gap is not recorded by Matthew but it was recorded in Mark, Luke and John. This gap included Jesus going up into the mountain alone to pray. His disciples followed after and Jesus asked them two questions. First, "Who do the people say that I am?" Second, "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter immediately confessed that Jesus was the Christ of the living God. Jesus told His disciples not to repeat this truth until after He rose from the grave. This was the first time that Jesus foretold His suffering, death and resurrection. Then, Jesus taught His disciples about self denial and taking up the cross daily to follow Him. This brings us to the next miracle of Jesus recorded by Matthew. Matthew, Mark and John record this miracle of Christ, each gospel writer adding unique details as guided by God's ...

Matthew 2:11-12  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.  12  And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.  We may think of the Christmas story in terms of baby Jesus lying in a manger at Bethlehem, however, there is much more substance to the birth of Christ that we must take note of. In our last post, we followed the journey of the three wise men from the vicinity of Babylon all the way to Jerusalem, seeking the Christ child. When they found Jesus and Mary, they worshiped the Christ child. The text says that they "worshiped Him" not Mary. They gave lavish gifts to Jesus and were warned by God to return to Babylon using a different route. Remember, that King Herod had devious, murderous intentions when...