The Caldwell Commentaries Podcast

John 7:11-31 In this lesson, we discuss the various debates about Jesus taking place in Jerusalem both before His arrival there and following His appearance in the Temple in the midst of the festival week (the Feast of Tabernacles, which lasted 7 days).  There are five main divisions to this lesson: (1) Arguments about Christ's Character, (2) Astonishment at Christ's Doctrine, (3) Accusations of Christ's Person, (4) Anger Over Christ's Word, and (5) Ambivalence Over Christ's Origin. Find out why it is impossible to conclude that Jesus was just a "good man"!  Also, learn how you can KNOW if what Jesus taught is true!  He gave the answer in John 7:17 and 7:18.  Learn how He pointed out yet another hypocrisy in the Jewish religious leaders concerning their supposed "love" for Moses and the Law!  Learn what particular "work" and what particular claim Christ did and made that made the Jews (rulers) so indignant that they wanted to kill Him.  The Jews could take no more of Christ's claims to Deity, so they sought to lay hands on Him to arrest Him, but they could not.  Why?  The answer is found in John 7:30, ". . . because His hour was not yet come"!  He had six more months of ministry remaining, and nobody could touch Him until it was the divinely appointed time for Him to give His life - willingly!  That time was the Passover.

Matthew 18:10-20 This next two-part study entitled "Preserving Family Unity" is a continuation of the Lord's "Sermon on Being the Children of God" (Lesson #81), which was precipitated by the disciples' argument over which of them would be "the greatest" in the Kingdom.  He taught them about humility in the section we entitled "Servants, Not Celebrities," and He taught them about true servant-greatness in the section, "Stepping Stones, Not Stumbling Blocks".   In this lesson (and #82b), He rebuked His men for their argument with each other about greatness, for in seeking self-promotion, they were actually pushing the others down.  It was a form of "despising" others in the family of God.   Learn from Him what some of the ways in which Christ despise each other (18:10a), and why Christians should NOT despise one another (18:10b-14).    In this study, we discuss "The Parable of the Lost Sheep"!

Matthew 17:14-23; Mark 9:14-32; Luke 9:37-45 With this lesson, we move into "The Private Ministry of Christ" (the final year of His ministry), when He was focused on preparing His disciples for the work they would carry on once He returned to His Father in Heaven.  One of the first principles He taught His men, after He came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, was a principle regarding faith.  Coming down back into "the valley of life," the Lord encountered what we call "A Hellish Situation" (a boy demoniac and the utter failure of the nine Apostles to deliver him).  The Lord taught a valuable lesson on faith - not only must spiritual life initially be received by faith; it must also continually be lived out by faith!  He alone had "A Heavenly Solution".  He delivered the boy and not only cultivated the faith of the boy's father, but corrected the failure of His men!

Matthew 15:29-38; Mark 7:31-37. In this lesson, we learn the Lord's traveling schedule demonstrated that though He came to reveal and present Himself first to Israel, He also came as the Saviour of the world.  His ministry among Gentile people (i.e. Tyre, Sidon, the ten cities of Decapolis) was a "sneak preview" of the extension of His Kingdom to the entire world.  Jesus performed many miracles while in the area of Decapolis (the Gadarene demoniac had spread word in Decapolis about the great thing he did for him), but two specific miracles are recorded and discussed in this lesson.  They are the healing of a deaf man (Mark 7:35) and the feeling of the 4,000+ (8:7-9).

Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30 This is the account of the Lord's deliverance of a demon from a Syrophoenician woman's daughter.  The woman had a desperate request, which she took to the right Source, the Lord Jesus!  He, however, seemed to be against her!  He did not speak a word to her pleading request for His mercy.  His disciples were rude to her.  She did not give up.  She overcame all kinds of obstacles (her nationality, her gender, Satan - who had done his part to attack her precious daughter, and the Lord's seeming apathy), but then Jesus said to her these strange words, "It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs"!  YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS LESSON SO YOU RIGHTLY UNDERSTAND HIS WORDS AND WHAT JESUS WAS DOING WITH THIS WOMAN! Amazingly, the Syrophoenician woman humbly accepted her place in God's providential plan of things (Jew first, then the Gentile).  She was fully accepting of the divine order.  She willingly accepted God's plan and submitted to it.  She put away pride and became an illustration of the millions of Gentiles who have been blessed and saved by the Messiah of Israel.  She became the only woman the Lord Jesus is recorded to have commended for her GREAT FAITH!!  Her daughter was not only delivered, the woman was saved!