The Wisdom Journey

The Family Tree of Jesus

Share a comment [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2545807/fan_mail/new] A family tree can feel like a highlight reel, but Matthew refuses to make Jesus’ genealogy respectable. We start with the big picture: John points us to Christ’s eternal, pre-incarnate life, then Matthew and Luke ground that glory in real history. Matthew writes to a Jewish audience, tying Jesus to Abraham and David to establish true Messiah credentials. Luke writes more broadly, tracing Jesus back to Adam to emphasize His full humanity and His connection to every tribe and nation. Then we camp out in Matthew 1 and ask the uncomfortable question: why are women named here at all, especially women with stories people usually whisper about? We talk frankly about how women had few legal rights in the ancient world, and why the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings dignity where the culture withholds it. Matthew highlights Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, and each name says something bold about who God welcomes and how grace works through brokenness, shame, outsider status, and sin that can’t be neatly edited out. That honesty leads straight to the heart of the Christian message: God sees every sin and every sinner, and Jesus comes to save His people from their sins. The genealogy of Jesus Christ becomes an announcement of the grace of God, not a PR campaign. If Jesus is not ashamed to be linked to messy ancestors, He is not ashamed to call believers His spiritual family. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend, and if it encouraged you, leave a review and tell us what part of the genealogy surprised you most. Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask]. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask] Learn more at [https://www.wisdomonline.org] https://www.wisdomonline.org/ [https://www.wisdomonline.org/] Support the show [https://app.easytithe.com/App/Form/d39a9be4-01ce-4f82-a3ae-8b860c3ab89e]

When God Became a Flea

Share a comment [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2545807/fan_mail/new] Darkness isn’t only “out there” in the culture; it shows up in our assumptions, our skepticism, and the ways we explain away Jesus before we ever really look at Him. We return to John 1 and start where the Gospel starts: Jesus Christ as the eternal Word, the Logos, fully God, active in creation, and shining as the Light of the world. From there, we follow John’s blunt assessment of human reaction to that light. Sometimes we simply don’t recognize it, because spiritual blindness keeps the truth at arm’s length. Sometimes we reject it, even when it comes close to home, and that rejection can feel painfully familiar if your faith has cost you relational peace. And sometimes, by grace, we receive Him, which John defines clearly as believing in His name, trusting who Jesus is, not merely knowing facts about Him. That belief changes your status, giving you the right to become a child of God. We also slow down at one of John’s most stunning lines: the Word became flesh and made God known, full of grace and truth. Jesus doesn’t just talk about the Father; He explains the Father and leads the way to Him. A surprisingly unforgettable story about a flea-infested house and “bomb day” makes the Incarnation feel less like a holiday slogan and more like a costly rescue mission. If you’ve ever wondered why Jesus had to come personally, John 1 offers an answer with teeth. Subscribe for more Bible teaching through the Gospels, share this with a friend who needs clarity about Jesus, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask]. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask] Learn more at [https://www.wisdomonline.org] https://www.wisdomonline.org/ [https://www.wisdomonline.org/] Support the show [https://app.easytithe.com/App/Form/d39a9be4-01ce-4f82-a3ae-8b860c3ab89e]

The Beginning of Good News

Share a comment [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2545807/fan_mail/new] The Gospels don’t give us everything we might want about Jesus, but they give us exactly what we need to be convinced. We’re starting a wisdom journey through the New Testament by setting a clear map for where we’re headed, why the word “gospel” really is good news, and how the writers record Spirit-led, eyewitness-rooted accounts meant to lead to belief and life. We also explain why we’re taking a chronological approach through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Reading the events in sequence cuts through confusion, reduces repetition, and helps you experience what it could have felt like to follow Jesus from the first steps of His ministry to the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension. If you’ve ever felt lost when reading the Bible, this simple plan gives you a steady path. Then we open with John’s bold front door in John 1, where Jesus is introduced not as a mere teacher, but as the eternal Word. We walk through what it means that “the Word was with God” and “the Word was God,” why Logos can be understood as God’s explanation made visible, and how John ties Jesus directly to creation itself. If Jesus is the Creator, the rest of the Bible’s claims about sin, salvation, hope, and eternity suddenly carry a different weight, and the question becomes personal: what place does the King of the universe have in my life? If this helped you think more clearly about Jesus and the Gospel of John, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s curious, and leave a review so more people can find the journey. Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask]. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask] Learn more at [https://www.wisdomonline.org] https://www.wisdomonline.org/ [https://www.wisdomonline.org/] Support the show [https://app.easytithe.com/App/Form/d39a9be4-01ce-4f82-a3ae-8b860c3ab89e]

The Silent Years: From Malachi to Matthew

Share a comment [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2545807/fan_mail/new] Four hundred years sit between Malachi and Matthew, and that “blank page” is anything but empty. We walk through the intertestamental period to see how Israel’s world changes while God’s written revelation goes quiet and why that matters when Jesus arrives on the scene. We trace the major headlines that shape the New Testament background: Persia fading, Alexander the Great reshaping the region through Hellenization, and Koine Greek becoming the common language that later carries the New Testament writings. Then Rome takes control, Jerusalem falls under imperial authority, and the land is reorganized into provinces like Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Along the way we talk about Herod the Great’s uneasy reign, his obsession with the title “King of the Jews,” and the Roman governance that will later include figures like Pontius Pilate. We also dig into the religious landscape that explains so many Gospel confrontations. Synagogues become central places of instruction and prayer, and new leaders rise: Pharisees building layers of oral tradition to apply the Law, Sadducees leveraging political power while rejecting the supernatural, scribes acting as legal scholars, and rabbis gathering disciples. None of it is random. We frame these developments as part of God’s providence, preparing the world for “the fullness of time.” Finally, we zoom out to the four Gospels themselves, showing how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each emphasize a different angle while telling one unified story of Jesus the Messiah, the promised King, the suffering Servant, and God in the flesh. If this helped you see Scripture with clearer eyes, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What part of the “silent years” do you want to explore next? Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask]. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask] Learn more at [https://www.wisdomonline.org] https://www.wisdomonline.org/ [https://www.wisdomonline.org/] Support the show [https://app.easytithe.com/App/Form/d39a9be4-01ce-4f82-a3ae-8b860c3ab89e]

Final Prophecies and the Future of the Family

Share a comment [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2545807/fan_mail/new] Everything rises and falls on leadership and Malachi refuses to let Israel dodge that reality. We follow God’s case against a nation whose spiritual guides went corrupt and whose worship turned into a dull routine. What’s striking is where the evidence shows up: not only in public religion, but in private life. Malachi walks straight into the home and exposes covenant unfaithfulness, broken marriage vows, and the chaos that follows when God’s people bind themselves to partners who don’t share faith in the Lord.  We also talk about the human cost that pastors still see today: spouses trying to pursue God alone, raising kids without a godly example at home, carrying a quiet ache that feels like spiritual widowhood. From there, the conversation widens to God’s larger storyline of justice and mercy, including the promised Messenger who prepares the way, how Old Testament prophecy often compresses the first and second comings of Christ, and why God’s unchanging nature is both a warning to hypocrites and a comfort to those who repent.  Then comes one of Malachi’s most direct questions: “Will man rob God?” We unpack tithes and contributions in Israel’s context, why withholding them was like refusing taxes owed to the true King, and how disobedience had real-world consequences. The book closes with judgment, joy for the righteous, a call to obey God’s Word, and the promise of a forerunner like Elijah who points God’s people back to Him and restores families. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves Bible teaching, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway or question. Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask]. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask [https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask] Learn more at [https://www.wisdomonline.org] https://www.wisdomonline.org/ [https://www.wisdomonline.org/] Support the show [https://app.easytithe.com/App/Form/d39a9be4-01ce-4f82-a3ae-8b860c3ab89e]