Cited in sermons
W. D. Davies and Dale Allison
8 sermons · All people cited
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 2
Matthew 27:39–44 records the threefold mockery of Christ on the cross — by passing bystanders, by the chief priests and scribes, and by the robbers crucified alongside him. Each taunt — that he could not save himself, that his kingship was fraudulent, that his claim to divine sonship was false — is shown to be an ironic confirmation of the very things the mockers deny: Christ's identity as temple builder, King of Israel, and Son of God. His refusal to descend from the cross is not weakness but the perfect obedience of the covenant of redemption, the very means by which he saves his people from their sins. The sermon closes with the conversion of the penitent thief as a trophy of sovereign grace and an argument for faith in a willing Savior.
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 4
Matthew 27:47–50 records the final moments before Christ's death on the cross — the mockery of bystanders who misheard his cry of dereliction as a call for Elijah, the offering of sour wine, and his loud, voluntary yielding of his spirit. The sermon examines what the cry of dereliction does and does not teach: it does not indicate a division within the Trinity, a dissolution of the hypostatic union, or patripassianism, but it does express the qualified, temporary withholding of the Father's favour from the Son as he bore the punishment due to his people. Christ's loud cry at the moment of death demonstrates that he laid down his life sovereignly and willingly, not as a victim overcome by suffering but as a priest offering himself as substitute. The only fitting response to this substitutionary sacrifice is not moral self-improvement but worship, gratitude, and faith in the one who was forsaken so that his people would never be forsaken.
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 3
Matthew 27:45–46 records the darkest three hours of history and the lone saying of Christ that Matthew preserves from the cross: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' This sermon works through the cry of dereliction with careful attention to what the text does and does not teach, ruling out any ontological division within the Trinity, any dissolution of the hypostatic union, and any notion that all three persons suffered at Calvary. The forsakenness Christ voiced was real — a qualified withdrawal of the Father's consolatory smile and favour, not an abandonment of love — because Christ stood as the covenant surety of his people, bearing the punishment of loss that sinners deserve. The gospel comfort that follows is decisive: because Christ cried 'Why have you forsaken me?' those united to him by faith will never have to.
The Prologue to the Passion Narrative
Matthew 26:1–5 opens the Passion Narrative with two structurally parallel statements placed side by side: Christ's sovereign prophecy of His own crucifixion and the chief priests' conspiracy to accomplish it. The sermon argues that the word 'delivered up' (paradidōmi) carries far greater theological weight than a simple 'betrayed,' pointing ultimately to the Father as the primary agent who delivered His Son according to the eternal covenant of redemption. The Passover timing is no coincidence but the deliberate fulfillment of Old Testament typology — Christ is the new Moses leading a new exodus — and the only fitting response to such grace is worship, adoration, and the resolve to point children and neighbors to the cross.
The Condemnation of the Religious Leaders, Part 4
Matthew 23:25–28 presents Jesus' sixth and seventh woes against the scribes and Pharisees, condemning their emphasis on outward religious compliance while their hearts remain filled with extortion, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and lawlessness. The cup and the whitewashed tomb function as related analogies: both expose the fatal gap between external religiosity and inward moral corruption, with the tomb analogy adding that such teachers actively defile those who come under their influence. The sermon draws the contrast through the Old Testament's consistent demand for heart religion — from the Shema to the prophets — and presses the application that the only cleansing of the inward cup comes through faith in the blood of Christ. Believers are warned equally against the twin errors of antinomianism and mere externalism, since justification produces progressive sanctification that reforms the outside as well as the inside.
Free Grace Baptist Church - May 29, 2016 AM
Matthew 23:14–22 presents Jesus pronouncing three woes upon the scribes and Pharisees — condemning their exploitation of widows under a pretense of piety, their missionary zeal that produces converts destined for hell, and their casuistic perversion of the oath. Far from being an anomaly in Christ's ministry, these denunciations stand in the prophetic tradition of Isaiah and serve as a direct warning to the contemporary church: religious appearance, evangelistic fervor, and clever theological reasoning are no evidence of saving grace when divorced from a true and plain understanding of God's word and genuine inner righteousness.
The Ambitious Request for Position in the Kingdom
Matthew 20:20–23 records the request of Salome and the sons of Zebedee for privileged positions at Christ's right and left hand in the kingdom — a request that exposes the deep-seated pride and spiritual blindness endemic to even the most devoted disciples. The sermon works through two movements: the ambitious nature of the request (vv. 20–21) and the ominous response of Christ concerning the cup of God's wrath and the baptism of suffering that must precede any crown (vv. 22–23). The cross precedes the crown — not as a grudging concession but as the invariable pattern of Christian discipleship — and the seating in the kingdom belongs to the sovereign appointment of the Father alone, not to those who jockey for it by ambition or tenure.
The First Prediction of the Passion
Matthew 16:21 records Christ's first formal prediction of his passion — his necessary suffering, death, and resurrection in Jerusalem. The word 'must' (Greek dei) expresses not mere probability but the absolute necessity of the atonement, grounded in the immutable decree of God, the covenant of redemption, and the prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures. The sermon traces three observations in verses 21–23: the declaration of the divine plan, its rejection by Peter, and its affirmation by Christ. The application presses the exclusivity of the cross as the sole ground of salvation and calls hearers to look to Christ in faith, trusting not in moral reform but in his perfect obedience, atoning death, and bodily resurrection.