The Caldwell Commentaries Podcast

Matthew 22:34-46; Mark 12:28-37; Luke 20:41-44 The third of a trilogy of "loaded" questions asked of Jesus on Tuesday of the Passion Week came from a lawyer (a "scribe" - Mark 12:28).  It was not a political or doctrinal question, but a theological one; it had to do with the greatest commandment in the Old Testament Law. After supplying the lawyer with the perfect answer, the Lord Jesus asked the...

Matthew 22:23-33; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-40 Following the completely failed attempt by some Pharisees to ensnare Jesus with two politically loaded questions - due to the profound wisdom of His responses, another group of men quickly took over where the Pharisees left off.  This second group consisted of Sadducees, and they also had a "loaded" question which they were sure would put Jesus in a "...

Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26 It was Tuesday of the Lord's Passion Week.  Following His series of three judgment parables (see Lessons 124 and 125), the religious rulers of Israel confronted Jesus with what we are calling three "loaded" questions.  They were "loaded" in that they were purposely and maliciously designed to trap Him into condemning Himself by His responses.  Little...

Matthew 22:1-14 In this lesson, we discuss "The Lord's Answer" to a question that a delegation of religious rulers posed to Him in Matthew 21:23 regarding His authority to present Himself to Israel as her Messiah and to cleanse the Temple of the religious "robbers" who had made it their "den" of iniquity.   Christ's answer challenged His enemies' four-fold rejection: (1) their rejection of John th...

Matthew 21:28-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19 While Jesus knew the religious rulers were insincere in their request to know the truth about His authority, He never failed to give an honest answer.  Furthermore, there were others in the crowd (as well as future readers of the written record of this time) who needed to hear His answer.  So, rather than evading the matter of His authority (to claim Me...

Matthew 21:20-23; Mark 11:20-28; Luke 20:1, 2; 21:37, 38 In this first of two-part lesson entitled "Judgment for Rejection," we discuss the events that occurred on Tuesday of the Lord's last pre-resurrection week on earth.  The day began with "The Disciples' Amazement" over the fact that the fruitless fig tree Jesus cursed the previous day (Monday morning) was already dead and completely withered....

John 12:37-50 With this lesson we conclude our two-part study on John 12:20-50, an important passage of God's Word that contains "The Lord's Last Public Appeal" to the people of Israel of His day.  After this, we find Jesus concentrating almost entirely on teaching His twelve Apostles.  In this first part of this study (Lesson 122), we learned of some "seeking Greeks" who had desired to see Jesus....

John 12:20-36 In this lesson and Lesson 123, we learn of Christ's last public words of testimony regarding Himself and His offer of eternal life.  The three outline divisions for this lesson are entitled, "Visit of Greeks," "Voice of God," and "Vacating of Grace. Interestingly, the desire of the Greeks to see Jesus was prophetic of all that would occur during the 2,000+ years of the Church Age!  U...

Matthew 21:12, 13, 18, 19; Mark 11:12-18; Luke 19:45-48 Early on Monday of the Lord's Passion Week, He engaged in two very uncharacteristic acts:  He cursed a fruitless tree and cleansed a filthy Temple!  Both events symbolically revealed the hypocrisy and spiritual lifelessness of Israel!

In this lesson (Part III of our look at "Prophetic Palm Sunday"), we look at events that transpired as the Lord Jesus rode into Zion on the back of an ass's colt.  Matthew tells us, ". . . all the city was moved".  Everyone was stirred about Jesus and what His entrance signified - at least to them.  Some people were stirred by the boldness of such a public act and Jesus' acceptance of Hosanna's to...

This is Part II of our study on "The King's Triumphant Entry".  We continue to discuss a number of fascinating facts and prophetic fulfillments about one of the greatest days in the Lord's life: Palm Sunday.  If you think you know everything about that special day, you will likely be very surprised to learn something NEW, which is what an in-depth Bible Study like ours is all about!  Get your Bibl...

It was the beginning of "The Passion Week".  Christ was about to fulfill the purpose for His incarnation.  Within the week, He would voluntarily lay down His life for the sins of the world.  Sunday of this important week was one of the most remarkable days in the Lord's life; it is commonly known as "Palm Sunday" or "The Triumphal Entry". Most people are familiar with the basics of Palm Sunday (i....

Luke 19:11-27 Instead of looking for a Messiah/Deliverer Who was a political answer to their physical bondage to Rome, the people of Israel would have been looking for a spiritual answer to their bondage to sin.  The Lord knew the people were expecting Him to march into Jerusalem (He was on His way to celebrate His final Passover there) and use His miraculous powers to defeat the Romans and take o...

Luke 19:1-10 On His way to offer His life a ransom for many, the ever-Selfless Lord Jesus (the Good Shepherd), continually took the time to demonstrate His concern and compassion to those in need of His mercy and grace.  In the previous lesson (117), He extended His helping hand to a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, who He met and healed outside the city of Jericho.  In this lesson, He extended His...

Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43 The Lord Jesus and His men were on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  They were with a large group of Passover pilgrim when they reached Jericho, some 12 miles northeast of the Holy City.  Christ was only a matter of days away from His betrayal, arrest, suffering, shame, and crucifixion, yet He was always focused on those who needed Hi...

Selfishness always results in dissension and division, which is exactly what happened when the other ten Apostles heard about the proud and self-ambitious request of the two "sons of thunder," James and John.  All Twelve were in dire need of some instruction on humility and servanthood!  Thus, Christ took them aside to teach them about true greatness as God sees it, not as the world sees it.  He t...

Matthew 20:17-28; Mark 10:32-45; Luke 18:31-34 This is the first of a two-part study entitled, "Crosses and Cups Before Crowns".  The disciples were growing very apprehensive because the shadow of the up-coming cross was beginning to fall on their Master, and a nameless dread was taking hold of their hearts.  That apprehension was verified when the Lord again announced, in specific detail, His soo...

Matthew 20:1-16 For all Caldwell Commentary study books go to scripturetruth.com   or  mazon.com In this lesson of our on-going chronological study of Christ's life, we look at the Lord's 34th sequentially recorded parable, "The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard". First, we discuss the parable itself and then we look at the interpretation. There is a lot said in this study about rewards, mot...

Matthew 19:23-30; Mark 10:23-26; Luke 18:24-27 In the previous lesson (113), we learned about "A Rich Poor Man" in the account of the rich young lawyer who departed from Christ very poor (tragically so, for he swapped eternal life for "mammon").  Following that episode, the Lord turned to His disciples and elaborated on the danger of trusting in riches.  He also elaborated on the spiritual rewards...

Matthew 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23 This is the account of Christ's conversation with a rich young ruler who wanted to learn what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Unfortunately, the young man was not willing to do what the Lord requested of him to gain all the blessings and riches that accompany salvation.  The reason is that he served another "master" named "mammon" - money.  He wa...

Luke 18:10-17 In this second half of the Lord's teaching on the characteristics of those who enter God's Kingdom, particularly with regard to prayer, we will discuss His famous "Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican".  Prayer is much more than just the words of our mouths; it is the desire of our hearts! Also discussed is the Lord's use of small, precious children, who He called to Himself, too...

Matthew 19:1-15; Mark 10:1-16; Luke 18:1-17 The verses for this study primarily come from Luke chapter 18, where we find three examples of people whose characteristics represent those who enter God's Kingdom.  The first two examples were given by Jesus by way of parables.  The two parables were used to teach His men (and us) about the kind of praying true believers exhibit.  In the first parable,...

Luke 17:11-37 Learn about something called "The Gratitude Quotient".  The Lord withdrew to Ephraim, 15 miles north of Jerusalem to avoid the Sanhedrin Council, now determined to kill Him (it wasn't yet His time).  On His way, He was met by ten lepers, and He cleansed all ten.  However, only one former leper RETURNED to thank Him!  This is the subject of the first part of this lesson entitled "Two...

John 11:17-54 In the first part of this two-part look at the raising of Lazarus from the dead (Lesson 109), we found nothing but death and despair, from the human perspective.  Lazarus was dead, the disciples could only think of Jesus' death at the hands of the Pharisees, and Thomas (Didymas) spoke about all of them dying!  When this lesson opens, Martha and Mary are only thinking of death, for th...

John 11:1-16 This is the first in a two-part study on a spectacular miracle - the raising of a four-day dead man named Lazarus (brother of Martha and Mary of Bethany).  This miracle took place within weeks of the cross.  It was a climactic testimony of Christ's Deity given - the mightiest work He performed apart from His Resurrection (infinitely greater, for He arose in a new glorified body; Lazar...