Scripture Guide

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 (Guide B)

Author

William Rowley

Keywords (14)

Scripture (4)

Updated

Nov 8, 2023

Preaching Commentary

Intro

These are incredibly rich texts. This guide recommends taking a detour through salvation history to put them in their right context. This helps your congregation expand their understanding of the gospel and ends with a call to discipleship. This guide is deeply influenced by N. T. Wright’s work on the nature of the kingdom, though pretty holistically. I had difficulty pinpointing precisely which parts of his work most influenced this.

Context

What Is the Gospel of the Kingdom?

The context of these passages is critical because there is a term that Jesus and Matthew assume that we understand – but which we might well be puzzled by. What is the “Kingdom of Heaven”?

In…

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Author

William Rowley

William Rowley (MA, Talbot School of Theology; PhD, University of Rochester) is a freelance editor and administrative assistant for The Pastor's Workshop. He is involved in leadership at his local church and is an occasional lay preacher. His theological background is equal parts evangelical and anglican.

He is broadly interested in matters at the intersection of faith and reason. He has a Master's degree from Talbot School of Theology and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Rochester. His specializations in philosophy are epistemology (the theory of knowledge), early modern philosophy, and philosophy of religion/philosophical theology. He dabbles in ethics. William was privileged to teach philosophy, writing, and logic to undergraduates for six years in the Rochester area.

William now works for the Pastor’s Workshop on a freelance basis. He assists with customer service, marketing, design, curation, planning, and editing content. He sometimes creates content for the site, primarily in his areas of theological interest, which include Ancient Near Eastern history, culture, and Old Testament interpretation, New Testament interpretation, literary and poetic analysis of scripture, and philosophical perspectives on the Bible and theology. His ministry passions are fostering a love and reverence for scripture and increasing space within churches for the life of the mind.

William also is available as a freelance editor and writer. As an editor, he has worked on long and short-form, from blog posts to full-length published books. As an author, he has experience and expertise to work on theological, philosophical, and literary topics. Contact him through LinkedIn.

Outside of his professional life, William lives in the New Haven area in Connecticut, with his wife and two dogs.