Text Talk

Matthew 3:1-3 The fulfillment of prophecy doesn't end in Matthew 2 and didn't actually begin with Jesus. Rather, the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets continues in this week's chapter but takes us back to John, the cousin of Jesus who paved the way for Him. Andrew and Edwin consider John and the amazing prophecy he fulfilled as a voice crying out in the wilderness. Read the wr...

Matthew 2:13-23 Andrew and Edwin break down one of the saddest events in history: Herod's slaughter of the children in Bethlehem. Matthew tells us this fulfills the prophet's declaration that Rachel wept. This opens some thought for study that once again reminds us that Jesus fulfills so much more than just a scattering of sentences throughout the Old Testament, He fulfills all of the Ol...

Matthew 2 Andrew and Edwin continue to look at the prophecies Matthew claims Jesus fills. However, they find one that seems a bit off. In fact, it doesn't seem much like a prophecy at all. It wasn't foretelling the future, but describing the past. Our hosts explain why this is actually even more profound than what we most commonly think about prophecy. Read the written devo that goes alo...

Matthew 2:1-12 Herod was a liar. Andrew and Edwin discuss the difference between Herod as a lying, foolish king versus those wise men we learned about yesterday. Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.     Join the Facebook community and join the conversat...

Matthew 2:1-12 Andrew and Edwin take a look at the "wise" men. Who are they and what makes them so wise? Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.     Join the Facebook community and join the conversation by clicking here. We'd love to meet yo...

Matthew 2:1-12 Matthew's first arguments that Jesus is the Christ had to do with ancestry. He embarks on new evidence by relying on Old Testament prophecy. In this conversation, Andrew and Edwin consider the prophecy about the Messiah's birthplace. Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Em...

Matthew 1:18-25 The genealogy takes a left turn right at the end. It has been leading down to Joseph, but then points out Jesus isn't actually the son of Joseph. Rather, Joseph is the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This has been a legal genealogy, not a biological one. But the key is, when the genealogy points out Jesus is the adoptive son of Joseph and not his biological son, it remin...

Matthew 1:1-6 Matthew handles this genealogy a bit differently than the one he calls to mind toward the beginning of Genesis. Matthew includes some of the mothers. But what a shocking group of mothers: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. He also includes the one who had been the wife of Uriah. These are shocking stories and connections to bring up at the beginning of a book designed to claim the main characte...

Matthew 1:1-2 Matthew's second argument that Jesus is the Messiah/Christ is that He is the son of Abraham. Andrew and Edwin explore how Jesus fulfills the promises of Abraham and how He much follows in the footsteps of Abraham and those promises found in Genesis 12. While it almost never happens, Edwin even waxes a little political in this episode. Read the written devo that goes along with t...

Matthew 1:1-16 The first thing Matthew wants us to know about Jesus is that He is the Christ. His first argument this is true is Jesus is the Son of David. Andrew and Edwin dive into what it means for Jesus to be the son of David. They address His kingship and His inheritance of David's covenant. Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know what yo...

Matthew 1 Andrew and Edwin jump into Season 3 by tackling Matthew's account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They jump in with both feet by kicking of a genealogy. What could be more fun, exciting, and thrilling than that? However, as boring as a genealogy seems to our modern, Western minds, our hosts help us understand why the genealogy is really important. We aren't dealing with a fairy...

Psalm 53 Andrew and Edwin find Jesus in the last verse of Psalm 53. Jesus is the salvation from Zion that the psalmist looks forward to. No matter the context for those Israelites, whether awaiting a temporal deliverance or following one, the ultimate salvation was still in the future. They were still looking for it. However, in our context, we know it has already occurred. This psalm may be the s...

Psalm 53 Andrew and Edwin dig a little deeper into the one majorly, significant difference between Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. The two psalms seem like they are pointing at the same event from different vantage points. They highlight a common understanding of Psalm 53 and then propose an alternative. The alternative is really meaningful for us today. They also dig into Jesus's teaching about fear....

Psalm 53 Andrew and Edwin dig into some historical context for Psalm 53. That is, they dig into a historical context that the surrounding literary context in the psalms points to. Psalm 52 brings up the events of Saul, Doeg, and Ahimelech. Psalm 54 brings up the events involving the Ziphites. Smack in the middle of those historical studies in 1 Samuel is the story of a real fool: Nabal. Our hosts...

Psalm 53 Edwin takes a look back at recent musical history to give us an illustration from Motown records and the Four Tops to help us understand what is going on in this repetitive psalm. It's the same old song, but in a new context, it has a new meaning. In Psalm 14, it was a context of fear and doubt and hoping for deliverance. In Psalm 53, the deliverance has come. The same song has a new...

Psalm 53 This psalm should sound familiar. It is almost identical to Psalm 14. Andrew and Edwin take on critics who make silly claims against the Psalms and inspiration because of this repetition. They also talk about why a psalm would be repeated like this one. Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have...

Psalm 52 Edwin reveals that this psalm has been making him think about Judas all week long. He and Andrew dig into the betrayal of Jesus by Judas and then how our own sins put us right up there with Judas. We have a choice. We can either run headlong into destruction like Judas or we can turn back to Jesus. Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know w...

Psalm 52 As we wrap up this year in the Psalms, we are taken right back to the very first Psalm. David talks about trees. One of them is uprooted, the other is planted in the Lord's house. Andrew and Edwin talk about Saul's beginning as a Psalm 1 tree, but the judgment that came upon him. Then they look at David as that tree planted by streams of water. Read the written devo that goes al...

Psalm 52 Things looked super good for Saul and Doeg. They were riding on what seemed to be a victorious high. Things looked super bad for David. He was on the run. But, there was hope because judgment was coming on those who did evil. Andrew and Edwin talk about the comfort of judgment. They also dig into the fact that we push back against judgment, but need to understand how serious actually is....

Psalm 52 The first major argument David brings against the evil man he is rebuking is about his vicious tongue. In the end, the major point the man needs to know is his tongue isn't really causing the destruction of others, it is causing his own destruction. Andrew and Edwin talk about Doeg and Saul, how their words led them places, and how James makes the same point about horses and their bi...

Psalm 52 This week's psalm opens up with a contrast that describes what the entire psalm is about. Andrew and Edwin dig in to the two options presented. We will either put our trust in God's loyal and steadfast love or in money. Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@C...

Psalm 51 The ending of Psalm 51 is pretty surprising. Andrew and Edwin discuss why this psalm moves from individual penitence to communal. What do we learn about our sin and our penitence from this shift? Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.     Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.     Join th...

Psalm 51 Andrew and Edwin see the connection between Psalm 51 and Psalm 50. In the previous psalm, they were offering the right rituals of sacrifice, but it still wasn't the right sacrifices. Therefore, they were going to be judged. Now we learn what the real sacrifice God wants is, a broken and contrite heart. Then will the animal sacrifices actually matter for David and Israel. While Jesus...

Psalm 51 Andrew and Edwin talk about David's confession. They discuss how this is the Old Testament version of Paul's proclamation, "I am the chief of sinners." We'll let David and Paul duke it out for that slot (though we may ask to have our names added to that tournament). Either way, we learn why Psalm 51 is there. So that we can recognize if a great sinner like David c...

Psalm 51 Yesterday, we were super excited to remind you that Yahweh is a God who forgives. However, some people misunderstand forgiveness. They think it means sin is not that big of a deal. That isn't the case at all. Andrew and Edwin get right back into Psalm 51 today to discuss how big of a deal sin really is. And therefore, how amazing it is that God still forgives it. Read the written dev...