Cited in sermons
Knox Chamblin
7 sermons · All people cited
The Lord Jesus and the Demoniacs
Matthew 8:28–34 presents Christ's authority over demonic powers as a ground for confident trust in him as the Son of God. The demons' own confession — 'You Son of God' — exposes what the disciples have not yet grasped: that Jesus holds sovereign dominion over every spiritual power, including the devil himself. The exorcism at Gerasa is set within Matthew's sustained demonstration, across chapters 8–9, that the one who teaches with authority also acts with authority. If Christ has conquered death and the devil, every lesser affliction that threatens the people of God lies well within his sovereign reach.
The Cleansing of the Temple, Part 2
Matthew 21:14–17 presents two responses to Christ's messianic presence in the temple: the blind and the lame receive healing, and the religious leaders respond with indignant fury. The healing of the outcasts carries deliberate Davidic overtones, evoking 2 Samuel 5 and the messianic prophecies of Isaiah 35 and 61, so that Christ's identity as the greater Son of David is confirmed by deed as well as by word. The praise of nursing infants, drawn from Psalm 8, presses the question of Christ's deity — the religious leaders understood the implications and hardened rather than repented. The passage calls unbelievers to abandon the side of Christ's despisers and look to Him as the only ground of mercy, and reminds the church that the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king is the heart of the gospel it is commissioned to preach.
The True Son of God
Matthew 14:21–33 culminates not in the stilling of the storm but in the disciples' confession, 'Truly, You are the Son of God' — a declaration that is the goal of Matthew's entire Gospel narrative. The passage demonstrates that Jesus acts with the prerogatives of Yahweh alone: walking on the sea, commanding the wind, and rescuing His people in ways the Old Testament attributes exclusively to God. Running alongside this high Christology are clear lessons on discipleship: Christ prays in solitude, His people are not exempt from trial, and little faith — however weak — is not the same as no faith, for it is the Savior who saves, not the strength of the believer's grip. Hearers are called to be of good cheer and to cast fear aside because the 'I Am' of Exodus and Isaiah is present with them in every storm.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
The feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14:13–21 is not merely a record of physical provision but a visible parable designed to compel a verdict about the identity of Jesus Christ. His compassion toward an interrupting crowd, his sovereign command over the multitudes, and his multiplication of five barley loaves and two fish to satisfy more than five thousand people together demonstrate that he is the greater Moses and the greater Elisha — the Son of God in whom all sufficiency resides. The bread-of-life discourse of John 6 shows that those who received loaves and fish without receiving the Savior had missed the point entirely, and the sermon closes with Peter's confession as the model response: 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'
The Lord of the Sabbath, Part 2
Matthew 12:9–14 presents a second Sabbath conflict in which the Pharisees attempt to trap Jesus with the question of whether it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath, while themselves plotting murder on that same day. The sermon traces Jesus' fourfold response — a rhetorical question, a contrast between sheep and man, a drawn implication, and a commanding word of healing — demonstrating that the Pharisees' opposition is not ultimately about Sabbath details but about the authority of Christ, who is Lord of the Sabbath and therefore Lord over all. The healing of the man with the withered hand confirms Jesus' assertion in verse 8 and points forward to the cross, where the sin that hardens men's hearts against Christ is finally and fully addressed. Hearers are called to rest in Christ alone, who heals not only withered hands but withered souls, and to receive the Sabbath as a gift rather than a burden.
The Compassion of Christ
Matthew 9:35–38 forms a transitional bridge between Christ's authoritative words and deeds in chapters 5–9 and the commissioning of the Twelve in chapter 10. The sermon traces three elements: a summary of Christ's threefold ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing; the compassion Christ feels toward multitudes who are harassed and scattered like sheep without a shepherd — a compassion rooted not primarily in their physical distress but in their doctrinal deprivation; and Christ's instruction to pray the Lord of the harvest to raise up gospel laborers. Sovereign grace does not extinguish compassion for the lost but rather grounds it, and the church's first response to a harvest that is plentiful and laborers that are few is prayer aligned with the God-ward petitions of the Lord's Prayer.
The Dawn of the Messianic Light
Matthew 4:12–17 marks the dawn of Jesus' public ministry in Galilee, a region steeped in centuries of spiritual and political darkness. Drawing on Isaiah 9:1–2, Matthew demonstrates that Christ's settlement in Capernaum was not incidental but theologically purposeful — the fulfillment of God's promise that light would break upon the people sitting in the shadow of death. The sermon expounds the wretched spiritual condition of those in darkness, the messianic identity of Jesus as Isaiah's promised light, and the content of his first proclamation: 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Hearers are pressed to examine whether they have come to the light of Christ or remain in the self-satisfied darkness of moralistic religion.