Matthew 20:17-24

Let This Mind be in You
Book of the Bible
Matthew
Speaker
Tony Ferguson
Sermon Date

Jesus communicates in great detail His betrayal, His condemnation, being handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked, insulted, spit upon, scourged and crucified... and James and John's minds are occupied with trying to secure a corner office in the kingdom of God. When we are consumed with selfish ambition, jockeying for position, and making a name for ourselves, It's a clear indication that we are either all together oblivious of, or have temporarily lost sight of, the sufferings of Christ.

When we understand what it is that He went through for our salvation, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves, or promote ourselves, or make a name for ourselves. We want to with one voice glorify Him!
 

Description of the book of Matthew

As you come to the New Testament the first three books you encounter (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are referred to as the "synoptic" gospels. They are called the "synoptic" gospels because for the most part, they have a "similar view" of the life and ministry of Jesus. Though they account for much of the same narrative regarding the life and ministry of Jesus, they are not identical, nor are they intended to be. They assemble the accounts in different contexts, and contain different amounts of detail, but they are all important. God always seeks to establish a matter on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses, so having these 3 synoptic gospels about the life an ministry of the Son of God is in no way redundant.

Matthew’s gospel communicates to us the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus in the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. From His lineage, to His birth, to His miraculous ministry, to His teachings, to His crucifixion, Matthew will time and time again point out that these things happened “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet…”.