39. The Ten Minas 19:11–27
Sand 7:24–27 6:47–49
3. Unshrunk (New) Cloth on an Old Garment 9:16 2:21 5:36 4. New Wine in Old Wineskins 9:17 2:22 5:37–38 5. The Sower 13:3–23 4:2–20 8:4–15 6. The Weeds 13:24–30 7. The Mustard Seed 13:31–32 4:30–32 13:18–19 8. The Leaven 13:33 13:20–21 9. The Hidden Treasure 13:44 10. The Pearl of Great Value 13:45–46 11. The Net 13:47–50 12. The Lost Sheep 18:12–14 15:3–7 13. The Unforgiving Servant 18:23–35 14. The Laborers in the Vineyard 20:1–16 15. The Two Sons 21:28–32 16. The Wicked Tenants 21:33–45 12:1–12 20:9–19 17. The Wedding Feast 22:2–14
18. The Fig Tree 24:32–44 13:28– 32 21:29–33
19. The Wise and Foolish Virgins 25:1–13 20. The Talents 25:14–30 21. The Growing Seed 4:26–29
22. The Master on a Journey 13:33– 37 23. The Moneylender and Two Debtors 7:41–43 24. The Good Samaritan 10:30–37 25. A Friend in Need 11:5–13 26. The Rich Fool 12:16–21 27. The Watchful Servants 12:35–40 28. The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant 12:42–48 29. The Barren Fig Tree 13:6–9 30. The Great Banquet 14:16–24 31. Building a Tower and a King Making War 14:25–35 32. The Lost Coin 15:8–10 33. The Lost Son 15:11–32 34. The Dishonest Manager 16:1–13 35. The Rich Man and Lazarus 16:19–31 36. Unworthy Servants 17:7–10 37. The Persistent Widow 18:1–8 38. The Pharisee and the Tax Collector 18:9–14 39. The Ten Minas 19:11–27
©1997 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:17 many . . . longed to see. Cf. John 8:56 and 1 Pet. 1:9–12.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:19 word of the kingdom. The message of how to enter God's kingdom, the sphere of salvation, i.e., the gospel (cf. "message of reconciliation" in 2 Cor. 5:19). evil one. Satan. Cf. 1 John 5:19. The gospel never penetrates these souls, so it disappears from the surface of their understanding—seen as the enemy snatching it away.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:20 rocky ground. Some people make an emotional, superficial commitment to salvation in Christ, but it is not real. They remain interested only until there is a sacrificial price to pay, and then abandon Christ. See note on 1 John 2:19.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:22 what was sown among thorns. These people make superficial commitments without a true repentance. They can't break with the love of money and the world (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15–17; see notes on Matt. 19:16–21).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:23 good soil. As there were three soils with no fruit, thus no salvation, there are three kinds of good soil with fruit. Not all believers are equally fruitful, but all are fruitful (cf. 7:16; John 15:8).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:25 weeds. Probably darnel, a type of weed that can hardly be distinguished from wheat until the head matures. In an agricultural setting, sowing darnel in someone else's wheat field was a way for enemies to destroy someone's livelihood catastrophically. It pictures Satan's efforts to deceive the church by mingling his children with God's, in some cases making it impossible for believers to discern the true from the false. The parable is explained in vv. 36–43.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:32 a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. Palestinian mustard plants are large shrubs, sometimes up to 15 feet high—certainly large enough for birds to lodge in. This is undoubtedly a reference to several OT passages, including Ezek. 17:23; 31:6; Dan. 4:21— passages which prophesied the inclusion of Gentiles in the kingdom.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:33 The kingdom of heaven is like leaven. Here the kingdom is pictured as yeast, multiplying quietly and permeating all that it contacts. The lesson is the same as the parable of the mustard seed. Some interpreters suggest that since leaven is nearly always a symbol of evil in Scripture (see note on Mark 8:15), it must carry that connotation here as well. They make the leaven some evil influence inside the kingdom. But that twists Jesus actual words and violates the context, in which Jesus is repeatedly describing that kingdom itself as the pervading influence.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:34 he said nothing to them without a parable. For the rest of his Galilean ministry all Jesus' public teaching consisted only of parables.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:35 spoken by the prophet. The "prophet" in this case was the psalmist. See Ps. 78:2.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:37 The one who sows. The true sower of salvation seed is the Lord himself. He alone can give the power in the heart to transform. He is the One who saves sinners, even through the preaching and witnessing of believers (Rom. 10:14).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:43 shine like the sun. Cf. Dan. 12:3. Believers already shine in that they possess the Spirit of Christ and the glorious message of the gospel (Matt. 5:16; 2 Cor. 4:3–7). We will shine even more in the glory of Christ's kingdom and eternal heaven (Rom. 8:16–23; Phil. 3:20–21; Rev. 19:7– 9).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:44–46 These two parables have identical meanings. Both picture salvation as something hidden from most people (see note on v. 11), but so valuable that people who have it revealed to them are willing to give up all they have to possess it.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:47 net. Some fishing was done with a large weighted net dragged along the bottom of the lake. When pulled in, it contained an assortment that had to be separated. In a similar way the visible kingdom, the sphere of those who claim to be believers, is full of both good and bad and will be sorted in the judgment.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:49 angels. They serve God in judgment (cf. v. 41; 2 Thess. 1:7–10).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:52 brings out of his treasure what is new and . . . old. The disciples were not to spurn the old for the sake of the new. Rather, the new insights they gleaned from Jesus' parables were to be understood in light of the old truths, and vice versa.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:54 his hometown. I.e., Nazareth.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:55 his brothers. See note on 12:46. The fact that Joseph does not actually appear in any of these accounts suggests that he was no longer living.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:57 A prophet . . . without honor . . . in his hometown. This is an ancient proverb paralleling the modern saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt." They knew Jesus too well as a boy and a young man from their own town—and they concluded that he was nothing special. Verse 58 gives the sad result (cf. Mark 6:4).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 13:58 he did not do many mighty works there. See note on Mark 6:5.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:1–12 The record of the murder of John the Baptist is also in Mark 6:14–29; cf. Luke 9:7–9.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:1 Herod. See note on 2:22. This was Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee. tetrarch. One of four rulers of a divided region. After the death of Herod the Great, Palestine had been divided among his sons. Elsewhere, Matthew refers to Herod as "king" (14:9), because that was the title by which he was known among the Galileans.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:3 Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, another son of Herod the Great; so when she married Philip, she was marrying her own father's brother. What precipitated the arrest of John the Baptist was that Herod Antipas (another of Herodias's uncles) talked Herodias into leaving her husband (his brother) in order to marry him (Mark 6:17)—thus compounding the incest, as well as violating Lev. 18:16. John was outraged that a ruler in Israel would commit such a sin openly, so he rebuked Herod severely (Matt. 14:4). For this, he was imprisoned and later killed (Mark 6:14–29).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:6 the daughter of Herodias. Salome, daughter of
Herodias and Philip. According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, she married yet another son (her own father's brother and her mother's uncle) of Herod the Great, thus further tangling the web of incest in that family.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:8 Prompted by her mother. See note on v. 6.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:9 because of his oaths. A promise made with a certain oath was considered sacred and inviolable (see note on 5:34)—especially when made by a ruling monarch. Herod was widely known for his duplicity, so it was not honesty that he was concerned about, but rather the appearance of things. He did not want to be embarrassed in front of his dinner guests.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:12 buried it. In a cave (Mark 6:29).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:13 crowds . . . followed him on foot. They traveled great distances over land to reach the secluded spot where he had come by boat.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:14 had compassion. See note on 9:36.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:16 give them something to eat. Jesus knew they did not have enough food to feed the crowd. He wanted the disciples to state it plainly so the record would be clear that a miracle by his power occurred (vv. 17–18). See 16:9–10.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:24 beaten by the waves. See notes on 8:24–27.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:25 fourth watch. 3:00–6:00 A.M.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:33 you are the Son of God. Cf. 27:43, 54.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:34 Gennesaret. A town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 14:36 the fringe of his garment. See note on 9:20.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:2 tradition of the elders. This was a body of extrabiblical law that had existed only in oral form and only since the time of the Babylonian captivity. Later it was committed to writing in the Mishna near the end of the second century. The law of Moses contained no commandment about washing one's hands before eating—except for priests, who were required to
wash before eating holy offerings (Lev. 22:6–7).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:3 break. The nature of this sin is identified in vv. 4–6 as dishonoring one's parents in a cleverly devised way. The commandments of God were clear (quoted from Ex. 20:12; 21:17; Deut. 5:16); but to circumvent them, some people claimed they could not financially assist their parents because they had dedicated a certain sum of money to God, who was greater than their parents. The rabbis had approved this exception to the commandments of Moses and thus in effect nullified God's law (Matt. 15:6).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:6 your tradition . . . made void the word of God. See note on Mark 7:13.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:8–9 Quoted from Isa. 29:13.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:11 what comes out of the mouth . . . defiles a person. People might defile themselves ceremonially (under the Old Covenant) by eating something unclean, but they would defile themselves morally by saying something sinful (cf. James 3:6). Here Jesus clearly distinguished between the law's ceremonial requirements and its inviolable moral standard. Ceremonial defilement could be dealt with through ceremonial means. But moral defilement corrupts a person's soul.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:14 Let them alone. This severe judgment is a form of God's wrath. It signifies abandonment by God and is described as "giving them over" in Rom. 1:18–32 (see notes there). Cf. Hos. 4:17.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:15 the parable. I.e., v. 11. The "parable" is not at all hard to understand, but it was hard for even the disciples to accept. Years later, Peter still found it hard to accept that all foods are clean (Acts 10:14).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:22 Son of David. See note on 1:1.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:24 lost sheep of the house of Israel. See note on 10:6.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:26 the children's bread. The lost sheep of the house of Israel must be fed before the "little dogs" (see note on 10:5). Christ employed a word here that speaks of a family pet. His words with this woman are not to be understood as harsh or unfeeling. In fact, he was tenderly drawing from her an expression of her faith in 15:27.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:29 walked beside the Sea of Galilee. He actually traveled north from Tyre to Sidon and then cut a wide path around the eastern shore of Galilee to Decapolis (Mark 7:31), a primarily Gentile region. He may have taken this route to avoid the territory ruled by Herod Antipas (cf. Matt. 14:1–2). The events that follow must have occurred in Decapolis (see note on 4:25).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:33 Where are we to get enough bread . . . ? No wonder our Lord called them men of little faith (8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20), when they asked a question like that in the light of the recent feeding of the 5,000 (14:13–21).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:34 See note on 14:16. Again the Lord had them confess for the record how little food they had in comparison to the size of the crowd. This made clear that the feeding was miraculous evidence of his deity.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 15:38 four thousand. Christ ended his ministry in Galilee with the feeding of the 5,000 (14:13–21). Here, he ended his ministry in the Gentile regions by feeding the 4,000. He later would end his Jerusalem ministry with a meal in the upper room with his disciples.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:1 a sign from heaven. See note on 12:38. This time Jesus rebuked them for being so concerned with heavenly signs that they could not even interpret the signs of the times all around them. Then he referred them to the same sign he gave them before, the sign of the prophet Jonah (16:4; cf. 12:39).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:2–3 As primitive as their method of predicting the weather was, their ability to discern spiritual matters was worse. They had the long-promised and long-awaited Messiah in their midst and refused to acknowledge him.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:6 the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. When Jesus warned of this dangerous influence, the disciples thought he was talking about bread. Again, he reminded them of the fact that the Lord provided plenty of bread, so they didn't need the bread the Pharisees were offering. How soon they forgot the miracles. See note on 13:33.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:12 the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Here the leaven of the Pharisees is their "teaching." In Luke 12:1 it is their
"hypocrisy." The two things are inextricably linked. The most sinister influence of the Jewish leaders was a pragmatic doctrine that made room for hypocrisy. They were too concerned with externals and ceremonies and the way things appeared, and not concerned enough with matters of the heart. Jesus rebuked them for their hypocrisy again and again. See note on Matt. 23:25.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:13 Caesarea Philippi. A district about 25 miles north of Galilee, at the base of Mount Hermon. This was different from the city of Caesarea built by Herod the Great on the Mediterranean coast.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:16 the living God. An OT name for Jehovah (e.g., Deut. 5:26; Josh. 3:10; 1 Sam. 17:26, 36; 2 Kings 19:4, 16; Ps. 42:2; 84:2; Dan. 6:26; Hos. 1:10) as contrasted with the dead, dumb idols (Jer. 10:8; 18:15; 1 Cor. 12:2).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:17 flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. Christ's messianic claims had always been subtle allusions to OT prophecies, combined with miraculous works that substantiated those claims. Never before had he explicitly taught Peter and the apostles the fullness of his identity. God the Father had opened Peter's eyes to the full significance of those claims and revealed to him who Jesus really was. In other words, God had opened Peter's heart to this deeper knowledge of Christ by faith. Peter was not merely expressing an academic opinion about the identity of Christ; this was a confession of Peter's personal faith, made possible by a divinely regenerated heart.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:18 on this rock. The word for "Peter," Petros, means a small stone (John 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with petra, which means a foundation boulder (cf. Matt. 7:24–25). Since the NT makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Acts 4:11–12; 1 Cor. 3:11) and the head (Eph. 5:23) of the church, it is a mistake to think that here he is giving either of those roles to Peter. There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church (Eph. 2:20), but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter. So Jesus' words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone. Peter himself explains the imagery in his first epistle: the church is built of "living stones" (1 Pet. 2:5) who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ himself is the "cornerstone" (1 Pet. 2:6–7). church. Matthew is the only Gospel
where this term is found (see also Matt. 18:17). Christ called it "my church," emphasizing that he alone is its Architect, Builder, Owner, and Lord. The Greek word for church means "called out ones." While God had since the beginning of redemptive history been gathering the redeemed by grace, the unique church he promised to build began at Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit, by whom the Lord baptized believers into his body—which is the church (see notes on Acts 2:1–4; 1 Cor. 12:12–13). the gates of hell. Hades is the place of punishment for the spirits of dead unbelievers. The point of entry for such is death. This, then, is a Jewish phrase referring to death. Even death, the ultimate weapon of Satan (cf. Heb. 2:14–15), has no power to stop the church. The blood of martyrs, in fact, has sped the growth of the church in size and spiritual power.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:19 the keys of the kingdom of heaven. These represent authority, and here Christ gives Peter (and by extension all other believers) authority to declare what was bound or loosed in heaven. This echoed the promise of John 20:23, where Christ gave the disciples authority to forgive or retain the sins of people. All this must be understood in the context of Matt. 18:15–17, where Christ laid out specific instructions for dealing with sin in the church (see note on 18:15). The sum of it all means that any duly constituted body of believers, acting in accord with God's word, has the authority to declare if someone is forgiven or unforgiven. The church's authority is not to determine these things, but to declare the judgment of heaven based on the principles of the word. When they make such judgments on the basis of God's word, they can be sure heaven is in accord. In other words, whatever they "bind" or "loose" on earth is already "bound" or "loosed" in heaven. When the church says the unrepentant person is bound in sin, the church is saying what God says about that person. When the church acknowledges that a repentant person has been loosed from that sin, God agrees.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:20 tell no one. See notes on 8:4 and 12:16.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:21 From that time. This marks the beginning of a new emphasis in Matthew's account. He turns his attention from Jesus' public ministry to his private instructions for the disciples, which took on a new, somber tone. The disciples had confessed their faith in him as Messiah. From then on, he began to prepare them for his death. See note on 20:19.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:23 Get behind me, Satan! The harshness of this rebuke contrasts sharply with Christ's words of commendation in vv. 17–19. Jesus
suggested that Peter was being a mouthpiece for Satan. Jesus' death was part of God's sovereign plan (Acts 2:23; 4:27–28). "It was the will of the Lord to crush him" (Isa. 53:10). Christ had come with the express purpose of dying as an atonement for sin (John 12:27). And those who would thwart his mission were doing Satan's work.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:24 take up his cross. See note on 10:38.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:26 gains. At the judgment when he faces the disastrous hell of remorse and suffering for his lost soul, with what will he buy it back from perdition? Nothing.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:27 is going to come . . . will repay. There is coming a time of rewards in the future for believers (1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:8–10; Rev. 22:12). Here, however, the Lord was concerned with the reward of the ungodly —final and eternal judgment (Rom. 2:5–11; 2 Thess. 1:6–10).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 16:28 some standing. In all three of the synoptic Gospels, this promise is made immediately prior to the transfiguration (Mark 9:1–8; Luke 9:27–36). Furthermore the word for "kingdom" can be translated "royal splendor." Therefore, it seems most natural to interpret this promise as a reference to the transfiguration, which "some" of the disciples—Peter, James, and John— would witness only six days later (see note on Matt. 17:1).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:1 after six days. The precise reference to the amount of time elapsed is unusual for Matthew. It seems he is carefully drawing the connection between Jesus' promise in 16:28 and the event that immediately follows. Mark agrees on the figure of six days (Mark 9:2), but Luke, probably counting the day of Peter's confession and the day of Christ's transfiguration separately at the start and end of this time period, says it was "about eight days" (Luke 9:28). Peter and James, and John. These three, in the inner circle closest to Christ (see note on Matt. 10:2), are often seen alone together with Jesus (26:37; Mark 5:37; 13:3).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:2 transfigured. Christ underwent a dramatic change in appearance, so the disciples could behold him in his glory.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:3 Moses and Elijah. Representing the law and the prophets respectively, both of which had foretold Christ's death, and that is what Luke says the three of them were discussing (Luke 9:31).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:4 three tents. This is undoubtedly a reference to the booths that were used to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Israelites dwelt in booths for seven days (Lev. 23:34–42). Peter was expressing a wish to stay in that place.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:5 listen to him. Peter erred in placing Moses and Elijah on the same level as Christ. Christ was the very one to whom Elijah and Moses had pointed. The voice of the Father (v. 5) interrupted while Peter "was still speaking." The words were the same as those spoken from heaven at Christ's baptism (3:17).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:6 fell on their faces. A common response to the realization that the Holy God of the universe is present. Cf. Isa. 6:5; Ezek. 1:28; Rev. 1:17.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:9 Tell no one the vision. See notes on 8:4 and 12:16.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:10 why . . . Elijah must come? Because it was so prophesied by Mal. 4:5–6. See note on Matt. 11:14.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:12 Elijah has already come. See note on 11:14. The Jewish leaders had failed to recognize John the Baptist (though the disciples did, 17:13). John came in the spirit and power of Elijah—and the Jewish leaders had killed him. The Messiah was going to "suffer" similarly.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:17 faithless and twisted generation. Verse 20 indicates that the Lord was referring to the disciples and their weak faith (see note on 15:33).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:19 Why could we not cast it out? When Christ sent the disciples out (10:6–8), he explicitly commissioned them to do these kinds of miracles. Less than a year later, they failed where they had once succeeded. Christ's explanation for their failure was that their faith was deficient (17:20). The deficiency did not consist in a lack of confidence; they were surprised that they could not cast out this demon. The problem probably lay in a failure to make God—rather than their own gifts—the object of their confidence (see note on v. 20).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:20 faith like a grain of mustard seed. True faith, by Christ's definition, always involves surrender to the will of God. What he was
teaching here is nothing like positive-thinking psychology. He was saying that both the source and the object of all genuine faith—even the weak, mustard-seed variety—is God. And "nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). See also note on Matt. 21:21. nothing will be impossible. Here, Christ assumes the qualifying thought that is explicitly added by 1 John 5:14: what we ask for must be "according to his will."
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:21 See esv footnote. This verse is not found in the best manuscripts.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:22 about to be delivered. By Judas Iscariot. See notes on 26:47, 50.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 17:24 the two-drachma tax. A half-shekel tax (equivalent to about two days' wages) collected annually from every male over 20, for the upkeep of the temple (Ex. 30:13–14; 2 Chron. 24:9). As kings did not tax their own sons, technically, Jesus, as God's son, was exempt from the tax (Matt. 17:26). But to avoid offense, he paid on behalf of himself and Peter (v. 27). Cf. Rom. 13:1–7; Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13–17.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:1–35 This is the fourth of five discourses around which Matthew frames his narrative (see Introduction: Historical and Theological Themes). This section's theme is the childlikeness of the believer.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:3 become like children. This is how Jesus characterized conversion. Like the Beatitudes, it pictures faith as the simple, helpless, trusting dependence of those who have no resources of their own. Like children, they have no achievements and no accomplishments to offer or commend themselves with.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:5 Whoever receives. See note on 10:41. one such child. This speaks not of literal children, but children in the sense described in 18:3–4 (those who have humbled themselves like children), i.e., true believers (v. 6). See notes on 10:42 and 19:14.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:6 millstone. A stone used for grinding grain. Lit., "the millstone of an ass"—a stone so large it took a donkey to turn it.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:7 Woe to the world. It is expected that those in the world will cause Christians to be offended, stumble, and sin, and they will be
judged for it. But it should not be that fellow believers lead others into sin, directly or indirectly. One would be better off dead. Cf. Rom. 14:13, 19, 21; 15:2; 1 Cor. 8:13.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:8–9 cut it off . . . throw it away. See note on 5:29.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:10 do not despise. I.e., spurn or belittle another believer by treating him or her unkindly or indifferently. their angels. This does not suggest that each believer has a personal guardian angel. Rather, the pronoun is collective and refers to the fact that believers are served by angels in general. These angels are pictured "continually" watching the face of God so as to hear his command to them to help a believer when needed. It is extremely serious to treat any fellow believer with contempt since God and the holy angels are so concerned for their well-being.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:14 perish. The word here can (and does in this context) refer to spiritual devastation rather than utter eternal destruction. This does not suggest that God's children ever could perish in the ultimate sense (cf. John 10:28).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:15 The prescription for church discipline in vv. 15–17 must be read in light of the parable of the lost sheep in vv. 12–14. The goal of this process is restoration. If successful, "you have gained your brother." Step one is to "tell him his fault" privately.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:16 if he does not listen. I.e., if he remains impenitent, follow step two: "take one or two others along with you," to fulfill the principle of Deut. 19:15.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:17 tell it to the church. If he still refuses to repent, step three requires that the matter be reported to the whole assembly (v. 17)—so that all may lovingly pursue the sinning brother's reconciliation. But failing that, step four means that the offender must be excommunicated, regarded by the church as "a Gentile and a tax collector" (see note on 5:46). The idea is not merely to punish the offender, or to shun him completely, but to remove him as a detrimental influence from the fellowship of the church, and henceforth to regard him as an evangelistic prospect rather than as a brother. Ultimately, the sin for which he is excommunicated is a hard-hearted impenitence.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:18 bind on earth . . . bound in heaven. See note on
16:19.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:19 if two of you agree on earth. This promise applies to the issue of discipline discussed in vv. 15–17. The "two of you" spoken of here harks back to the two or three witnesses involved in step two of the discipline process (see note on v. 15).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:20 two or three. Jewish tradition requires at least 10 men (a minyan) to constitute a synagogue or even hold public prayer. Here, Christ promised to be present in the midst of an even smaller flock—"two or three witnesses" gathered in his name for the purpose of discipline (see note on v. 15).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:21 As many as seven times? Peter thought he was being magnanimous. The rabbis, citing several verses from Amos (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13) taught that since God forgave Israel's enemies only three times, it was presumptuous and unnecessary to forgive anyone more than three times.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:22 seventy times seven. Innumerable times. See note on Luke 17:4.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:23 servants. Due to the large amounts of money involved, it is likely these "servants" would have been provincial governors who owed the king the money from taxation.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:24 ten thousand talents. This represents an incomprehensible amount of money. The talent was the largest denomination of currency, and "ten thousand" in common parlance signified an infinite number.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:25 ordered him to be sold. A way to recover some of this loss was for the king to sell the family members into slavery.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:27 forgave him. Picturing the generous, compassionate forgiveness of God to a pleading sinner who owes him an unpayable debt. Cf. Col. 2:14.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:28 a hundred denarii. About three months' wages. This was not a negligible amount by normal standards, but it was a pittance in comparison to what the servant had been forgiven.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:29 Have patience . . . I will pay you. Cf. v. 26. The forgiven man heard the same pleading he had given before his master, but was utterly without compassion (v. 30).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:31 fellow servants . . . distressed. A lack of forgiveness is offensive to fellow believers. Most of all it offends God, who chastens his unforgiving children severely (vv. 32–34). See notes on v. 34; cf. 6:15.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 18:34 anger his master. Because he is holy and just, God is always angry at sin, including the sins of his children (cf. Heb. 12:5–11). jailers. Not executioners. This pictures severe discipline, not final condemnation. all his debt. The original debt was unpayable and the man was still without resources. So it seems unlikely that the servant was saddled once again with the same debt he had already been forgiven. Rather, what he now owed his master would be exacted in chastening by his master until he was willing to forgive others.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:1 the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Perea was the name of the region just east of the Jordan River. It was not technically part of Judea, but the territory ruled by Herod the Great had included both regions, and it was commonly referred to this way. Christ's ministry in Perea lasted only a few months. It was from here that he would make his final journey to Jerusalem just prior to the Passion Week (20:17–19).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:3 Is it lawful. A hotly debated difference of opinion existed between the rabbis Shammai and Hillel (both near-contemporaries of Christ). The Shammaites interpreted the law rigidly, and permitted a man to divorce his wife only if she was guilty of sexual immorality. for any cause? The Hillelites took a wholly pragmatic approach, and permitted a man to divorce his wife indiscriminately.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:4 Quoted from Gen. 1:27 and 5:2.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:5 Quoted from Gen. 2:24 (see note there.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:7 Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce . . . ? The Pharisees misrepresented Deut. 24:1–4. It was not a "command" for divorce, but a limitation on remarriage in the event of a divorce. While recognizing the legitimacy of divorce when a man "has found some indecency" (Deut. 24:1) in his wife (sexual sin, by Jesus' interpretation in
Matt. 19:9), Moses did not "command" divorce. See note on Deut. 24:1–4.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:8 Because of your hardness of heart. The phrase underscores the truth that divorce is only a last-resort response to hard-hearted sexual immorality (v. 9). Moses allowed you to divorce. The stress is certainly on the word "allowed." Thus Jesus clearly sides with the Shammai school of interpretation (see note on v. 3).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:9 immorality. This is a term that encompasses all sorts of sexual sins. Both here and in 5:32, Jesus includes this "exception clause," clearly permitting the innocent party in such a divorce to remarry without incurring the stigma of one who "commits adultery." See notes on 5:31–32.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:10 it is better not to marry. The disciples correctly understood the binding nature of marriage, and that Jesus was setting a very high standard, permitting divorce only in the most extreme of circumstances.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:12 Let the one who is able . . . receive it. Since all cannot handle it (v. 11), Christ is not enjoining celibacy here. Rather, he makes it entirely a matter of personal choice—except for those who are physically unable to marry, either through natural causes or because of the violence of other men. Still others may find there are pragmatic reasons not to marry for the good of the kingdom (see notes on 1 Cor. 7:7–9). But in no way did Christ suggest that celibacy is superior to marriage (cf. Gen. 2:18; 1 Tim. 4:3).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:14 to such. These children were too young to have exercised personal faith. See Luke 18:15, where Luke refers to them as "infants." Therefore, it is all the more significant that Christ used them as an illustration of those who make up "the kingdom of heaven" (cf. Matt. 18:1–4). Mark 10:16 also says he "blessed them." God often shows a special mercy to those who because of age or mental deficiency are incapable of either faith or willful unbelief (cf. Jonah 4:11). They are called "innocent" in Jer. 19:4. This does not mean they are free from the inherited guilt and moral corruption of Adam's sin (see notes on Rom. 5:12–19), but rather that they are not culpable in the same sense as those whose sins are premeditated and deliberate. Jesus' words here suggest that God's mercy is graciously extended to infants so that those who die are sovereignly regenerated and granted entrance into the kingdom—not because they are deserving of heaven, but because God in his grace chooses to redeem them. See notes on 2 Sam. 12:23 and Mark 10:14.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:16 Teacher. This is not necessarily a recognition of Christ's deity. The young man simply meant that Christ was righteous and a teacher from God who apparently had eternal life and might know how he could get it.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:17 Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. Jesus was not disclaiming his own deity, but rather teaching the young man that all but God are sinners. This young man's most serious spiritual defect was his reluctance to confess his own utter spiritual bankruptcy. See note on 5:3; cf. Luke 18:11. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. This, of course, is law, not gospel. Before showing him the way to life, Jesus wanted to impress on the young man both the high standard required by God and the absolute futility of seeking salvation by his own merit. This should have elicited a response about the impossibility of keeping the law perfectly (like the disciples' response in Matt. 19:25), but instead the young man confidently declared that he qualified for heaven under those terms.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:18–19 These are five of the six commandments that make up the second table of the Ten Commandments—all dealing with human relationships (cf. Ex. 20:12–16; Deut. 5:16–20). See note on Matt. 22:40. Christ omitted the tenth commandment, which deals with covetousness, and added Lev. 19:18, the summation of the second half of the Decalogue. Cf. Rom. 13:1–10.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:20 I have kept. The self-righteous young man would not admit to his own sin. See note on 9:13.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:21 go, sell what you possess and give to the poor. Again, Jesus was not setting forth terms for salvation, but rather exposing the young man's true heart. His refusal to obey here revealed two things: 1) he was not blameless as far as the law was concerned, because he was guilty of loving himself and his possessions more than his neighbors (cf. v. 19); and 2) he lacked true faith, which involves a willingness to surrender all at Christ's bidding (16:24). Jesus was not teaching salvation by philanthropy; but he was demanding that this young man give him first place. The young man failed the test (19:22). come, follow me. This was the answer to the young man's question in v. 16. It was a call to faith. It is likely that the young man never even heard or contemplated it, though, because his own love of his possessions was such a stumbling block that he had already rejected Jesus' claim to lordship over his life. Thus he walked away in unbelief.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:24 camel . . . eye of a needle. I.e., it is impossible. Jesus was underscoring the impossibility of anyone's being saved by merit. Since wealth was deemed proof of God's approval, and those who had it could give more alms, it was commonly thought that rich people were the most likely candidates for heaven (see note on Mark 10:25). Jesus destroyed that notion, and along with it, the notion that anyone can merit enough divine favor to gain entrance into heaven. See note on Matt. 19:25.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:25 Who then can be saved? This was the right question to ask; it showed that they got Jesus' message (see note on v. 17). Salvation is possible only through divine grace (v. 26). See notes on Rom. 3:9–20; Gal. 3:10–13; Phil. 3:4–9.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:27 we have left everything and followed you. Peter points out that they had already done what Christ demanded of the rich young ruler (v. 21). They had embarked on the life of faith with Christ. Notice that Jesus did not rebuke Peter for his expectation of reward (cf. Rev. 22:12).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:28 new world. Lit., "the regeneration." But here the term does not carry its normal theological meaning of personal regeneration (cf. Titus 3:5). Instead, Jesus was speaking of "the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago" (Acts 3:21). This is a reference to the earthly kingdom described in Rev. 20:1–15, when believers will sit with Christ on his throne (Rev. 3:21). judging. Governing. Cf. 1 Cor. 6:2–3.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 19:30 first . . . last . . . first. This statement means that everyone ends up the same, a truth that is explained by the parable that follows (see note on 20:16).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:1 hire laborers. This was typical during harvest. Day laborers stood in the marketplace from dawn, hoping to be hired for the day's work. The workday began at 6:00 A.M. and went to 6:00 P.M.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:2 a denarius a day. A fair wage for a full day's labor (see note on 22:19).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:3 third hour. 9:00 A.M. They were standing idle because no one had hired them (v. 7).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:4 whatever is right. So eager to work, these men did not even negotiate a specific wage.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:6 eleventh hour. I.e., 5:00 P.M. Desperate for work, they had waited nearly "all day." They would take whatever they could get.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:8 last . . . to the first. This is the clue that opens the parable (see note on v. 16).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:13 I am doing you no wrong. Everyone received a full day's wage, to their shock (vv. 9–11). The man was acting graciously to those whom he overpaid. This was no slight against those whom he paid a full wage for a full day's work. That was precisely what they agreed to in the beginning. But it was his privilege to extend the same generosity to all (v. 15; cf. Rom. 9:15).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:16 last will be first . . . first last. In other words, everyone finishes in a dead heat. No matter how long each of the workers worked, they each received a full day's wage. Similarly, the thief on the cross will enjoy the full blessings of heaven alongside those who have labored their whole lives for Christ. Such is the grace of God (see note on 19:30).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:17 going up to Jerusalem. Thus began his final journey to the cross.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:19 flogged and crucified. This was the third time Jesus told the disciples of his death (see note on 16:21; cf. 17:22–23)—plus three of the disciples had overheard Jesus discussing his death with Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration (Luke 9:31). This time, however, he added more details.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:20 mother of the sons of Zebedee. Mark 10:35 says James and John themselves raised the question of Matt. 20:21. There is no contradiction. It is possible either that the three of them asked together, or perhaps even more likely that they had discussed it among themselves beforehand, and each posed the question to Jesus privately.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:21 Say . . . these two sons of mine. Probably playing off the words of Jesus in 19:28, James and John had enlisted their mother to convey their proud, self-seeking request to Jesus. This was a recurring matter among the disciples (cf. 18:1, 4; 23:11; Mark 9:34; Luke 9:46; 22:24, 26), right up to the table at the Last Supper.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:22 You do not know what you are asking. The greatest glory goes to those who suffer the most for Christ. the cup that I am to drink? The cup of God's wrath (see notes on 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; John 18:11).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:23 You will drink my cup. James was beheaded (Acts 12:2) and John tortured and exiled to Patmos (Rev. 1:9) for the sake of Christ. for whom it has been prepared. God alone has chosen.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:24 were indignant. Jealous displeasure, no doubt. They all would have petitioned Jesus for the exalted, favored positions, given the opportunity. See note on v. 21.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:25–28 In this rich text, the Lord was teaching the disciples that the style of greatness and leadership for believers is different. The Gentile leaders dominate in dictatorial fashion, using carnal power and authority. Believers are to do the opposite—they lead by being servants and giving themselves away for others, as Jesus did.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:28 to give his life as a ransom for many. The word translated "for" means "in the place of," underscoring the substitutionary nature of Christ's sacrifice. A "ransom" is a price paid to redeem a slave or a prisoner. Redemption does not involve a price paid to Satan. Rather, the ransom is offered to God—to satisfy his justice and wrath against sin. The price paid was Christ's own life—as a blood atonement (cf. Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22). This, then, is the meaning of the cross: Christ subjected himself to the divine punishment against sin on our behalf (cf. Isa. 53:4–5; see note on 2 Cor. 5:21). Suffering the brunt of
divine wrath in the place of sinners was the "cup" he spoke of having to drink (Matt. 20:22).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:29 went out of Jericho. See note on v. 30.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 20:30 two blind men. Mark 10:46 and Luke 18:35 mention only one blind man, and Luke says this encounter took place as Christ was approaching Jericho rather than when he was leaving (Matt. 20:29). The difficulties are fairly simple to reconcile: there were two blind men, but Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46) was the spokesman of the two and was, therefore, the sole focus of both Luke's and Mark's accounts (see note on Matt. 8:28). It is also a fact that there were two Jerichos—one the mound of the ancient city (the ruins of which may still be seen today), and the other, the inhabited city of Jericho, close by. Jesus may have been going out of old Jericho and entering new Jericho. Or it may also be that the events are telescoped for us, so that Christ first encountered the blind men on his way into the city, but the healing took place as he was departing. Son of David. See note on 1:1.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:1 Bethphage. A small town near Bethany, on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. It is mentioned nowhere else in Scripture except in connection with Christ's triumphal entry (Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:3 If anyone says anything to you. Mark recorded that this was in fact exactly what happened (Mark 11:5–6). Having just arrived in Bethphage (Matt. 21:1), Jesus would have had no opportunity to make arrangements for the use of these animals. Yet he knew precisely the location of the animals and the disposition of the owners. Such detailed foreknowledge reveals his divine omniscience.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:5 a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. An exact quotation from Zech. 9:9 (cf. Isa. 62:11). The precise fulfillment of this messianic prophecy would not have escaped the Jewish multitudes, who responded with titles and accolades fit only for the Messiah (see note on Matt. 21:9).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:7 the donkey and the colt. Matthew is the only Gospel writer who mentions the mare donkey. But all mention the young age of the donkey (John 12:14), or state that no man had ever sat on him (Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30). The mare was brought along, possibly to induce the colt to cooperate. he
sat. I.e., on the clothes. Christ rode on the young colt (Mark 11:7).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:8 spread their cloaks on the road. Spreading one's garments on the street was an ancient act of homage reserved for high royalty (cf. 2 Kings 9:13), suggesting that they recognized his claim to be King of the Jews.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:9 Hosanna. This transliterates the Hebrew expression which is translated "Save now" in Ps. 118:25. Blessed is he. This is an exact quotation from Matt. 21:26 of the same psalm. This, along with the messianic title "Son of David," make it clear that the crowd was acknowledging Christ's messianic claim (see note on Matt. 1:1). The date of this entry was Monday, 10 Nisan, A.D. 30, exactly 483 years after the decree of Artaxerxes mentioned in Dan. 9:24–26 (see note there.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:12 drove out. This was the second time Jesus had cleansed the temple. John 2:14–16 describes a similar incident at the beginning of Christ's public ministry. There are distinct differences in the two incidents. In the first cleansing, temple officials confronted Christ immediately afterward (see note on Matt. 21:23; cf. John 2:18); none of the accounts of this second cleansing mention any such confrontation. Instead, the synoptics all describe how Jesus addressed all present (Matt. 21:13) and even made the incident an occasion for public teaching (Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46–47). who sold and bought. He regarded both merchants and customers guilty of desecrating the temple. Items being bought and sold included "pigeons" and other animals for sacrifice (cf. John 2:14). money-changers. Currency-exchange agents, present in droves, were needed because Roman coins and other forms of currency were deemed unacceptable for temple offerings. Evidently, both merchants and money-changers were charging such excessive rates that the temple marketplace took on the atmosphere of a thieves' den (Matt. 21:13). This kind of commerce took place in the court of the Gentiles, a large area covering several acres on the temple mount.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:13 It is written. Jesus conflates two OT prophecies, Isa. 56:7 ("my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples") and Jer. 7:11 ("Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?").
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:15 children. Lit., "boys." The crowd in Jerusalem for
the Passover would have included a large number of 12-year-olds, who were there to celebrate their first Passover, just as Jesus himself had done.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:16 Yes; have you never read. Jesus' reply to the "indignant" chief priests and scribes amounted to an inescapable assertion of his deity. In quoting from Ps. 8:2, he was claiming the right to receive worship as God.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:19 at once. This is a relative term; the tree may have died at once, but Mark 11:14, 20 (see notes there) suggests that the withering was not visible until the following day. Jesus' cursing of the tree was a purposeful divine object lesson, not an impetuous act of frustration. The fig tree is often employed in Scripture as a symbol of Israel (Hos. 9:10; Joel 1:7)—and the barren fig tree often symbolizes divine judgment on Israel because of her spiritual fruitlessness (see note on Matt. 3:8) despite an abundance of spiritual advantages (Jer. 8:13; Joel 1:12). Jesus' act therefore illustrates God's judgment against earthly Israel for shameful fruitlessness, exemplified in the rejection of their Messiah. One of Christ's parables taught a similar lesson (Luke 13:6–9).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:21 if you have faith and do not doubt. This presupposes that the thing requested is actually God's will (see note on 17:20)— for only God-given faith is so doubt-free (cf. Mark 9:24). it will happen. A miracle on such a cosmic scale was precisely what the scribes and Pharisees wanted Christ to do, but he always declined (see note on Matt. 12:38). Here, he was speaking figuratively about the immeasurable power of God, unleashed in the lives of those with true faith.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:23 these things. I.e., both his public teaching and miracles. They may have also had in mind his act of cleansing the temple on the day before (see note on v. 12). who gave you this authority? They were forced to acknowledge that he had some source of indisputable authority. His miracles were too obvious and too numerous to be fraudulent. Even his teaching was with such force and clarity that it was obvious to all that there was authority in his words (see note on 7:29).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? Jesus caught the Jewish leaders in their own trap. They had no doubt hoped that he would answer by asserting that his authority came directly from God (as he had many times before—cf. John 5:19–23; 10:18). They then accused him of
blasphemy and used the charge as an excuse to kill him—as they had also attempted to do before (John 5:18; 10:31–33). Here, however, he asked a question that placed them in an impossible dilemma, because John was widely revered by the people. They could not affirm John's ministry without condemning themselves. And if they denied John's legitimacy, they feared the response of the people (Matt. 21:26). In effect, Jesus exposed their own lack of any authority to examine him. See note on Luke 20:5.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:31 Which of the two did the will of his father? Jesus forced them to testify against themselves. The point of the parable was that doing is more important than saying (cf. 7:21–27; James 1:22). They had to acknowledge this, yet in doing so they condemned themselves. The idea that repentant tax collectors and harlots would enter the kingdom before outwardly religious hypocrites was a recurring theme in his ministry (see note on Matt. 5:20), and this infuriated the Jewish leaders.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:32 the way of righteousness. I.e., the repentance and faith that results in the imputation of God's righteousness (see note on Rom. 3:21). tax collectors and the prostitutes. See notes on Matt. 5:46; 9:9; Mark 2:15. The pariahs of Jewish society, most publicly despised by the chief priests and elders, had found salvation while the self-righteous leaders had not. Cf. Rom. 10:3.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:33 a vineyard . . . a winepress. See Isa. 5:2. Jesus was clearly alluding to this OT passage, which would have been familiar to the Jewish leaders. The "vineyard" is a common symbol for the Jewish nation in Scripture. Here the landowner, representing God, developed the vineyard with great care, then leased it to "tenants," representing the Jewish leaders.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:34 his servants. I.e., the OT prophets.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:35 beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Matthew often blends and simplifies details (see notes on v. 19; 8:28; 20:30). From Mark's account we learn that in Jesus' telling of this story, three different slaves came individually. The tenants "beat" the first one, "struck" the second, and "killed" the third (Mark 12:2–5). This corresponds to the Jewish rulers' treatment of many of the OT prophets (1 Kings 22:24; 2 Chron. 24:20–21; 36:15–16; Neh. 9:26; Jer. 2:30).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:37 my son. This person represents the Lord Jesus Christ, whom they killed (vv. 38–39) and thereby incurred divine judgment (v. 41).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:41 let out the vineyard to other tenants. Again the Jewish leaders pronounced their own judgment (see note on v. 31). Their verdict against the evil tenants was also Christ's judgment against them (v. 43). The kingdom and all the spiritual advantages given to Israel would now be given to "other tenants," symbolizing the church (v. 43), which consists primarily of Gentiles (cf. Rom. 11:11).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:42 The stone . . . rejected. This refers to his crucifixion; and the restoration of "the cornerstone" anticipates his resurrection. the cornerstone. To the superficial eye, this quotation from Ps. 118:22–23 is irrelevant to the parable that precedes it. But it is taken from a messianic psalm. Jesus cited it to suggest that the son who was killed and thrown out of the vineyard was also "the cornerstone" in God's redemptive plan.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:43 a people producing its fruit. The church. See note on v. 41. Peter spoke of the church as "a holy nation" (1 Pet. 2:9).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:44 this stone. Christ is "a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over" to unbelievers (Isa. 8:14; 1 Pet. 2:8). And the prophet Daniel pictured him as a great stone "cut from a mountain by no human hand," which falls on the kingdoms of the world and crushes them (Dan. 2:44–45). Whether a ceramic vessel "falls on" a rock, or the rock "falls" on the vessel, the result is the same. The saying suggests that both enmity and apathy are wrong responses to Christ, and those guilty of either are in danger of judgment.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 21:45 they perceived that he was speaking about them. By evoking so much familiar messianic imagery (vv. 42–44), Christ made his meaning inescapable to the chief priests and Pharisees.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:2 a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Jesus told a similar, but different, parable in Luke 14:16–23. Here, the banquet was a wedding feast for the king's own son, making the apathy (Matt. 22:5) and rejection (v. 6) of those invited much more of a personal slight against the king. Also, here they actually mistreated and killed the king's messengers—an unthinkable affront to the king's goodness.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:4 Again he sent other servants. This illustrates God's patience and forbearance with those who deliberately spurn him. He continues to extend the invitation even after his goodness has been ignored or rebuffed.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:7 The king was angry. His vast patience finally exhausted, he judges them. burned their city. The judgment Jesus described anticipated the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Even the massive stone temple was destroyed by fire and reduced to rubble in that conflagration. See notes on 23:36; 24:2; Luke 19:43.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:9 invite to the wedding feast as many as you find. This illustrates the free offer of the gospel, which is extended to all indiscriminately (cf. Rev. 22:17).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:11 wedding garment. All without exception were invited to the banquet, so this man is not to be viewed as a common partycrasher. In fact, all the guests were rounded up hastily from "the roads" and therefore none could be expected to come with proper attire. That means the wedding garments were supplied by the king himself. So this man's lack of a proper garment indicates he had purposely rejected the king's own gracious provision. His affront to the king was actually a greater insult than those who refused to come at all, because he committed his impertinence in the very presence of the king. The imagery seems to represent those who identify with the kingdom externally, profess to be Christians, belong to the church in a visible sense—yet spurn the garment of righteousness Christ offers (cf. Isa. 61:10) by seeking to establish a righteousness of their own (cf. Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:8, 9). Ashamed to admit their own spiritual poverty (see note on Matt. 5:3), they refuse the better garment the King graciously offers—and thus they are guilty of a horrible sin against his goodness.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:12 he was speechless. I.e., he had no excuse.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:13 outer darkness. This would describe the darkness farthest from the light, i.e., outer darkness. weeping and gnashing of teeth. This speaks of inconsolable grief and unremitting torment. Jesus commonly used the phrases in this verse to describe hell (cf. 13:42, 50; 24:51).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:14 many are called, but few are chosen. The call spoken of here is sometimes referred to as the "general call" (or the "external"
call)—a summons to repentance and faith that is inherent in the gospel message. This call extends to all who hear the gospel. "Many" hear it; "few" respond (see the many-few comparison in 7:13–14). Those who respond are the "chosen," the elect. In the Pauline writings, the word "call" usually refers to God's irresistible calling extended to the elect alone (Rom. 8:30)—known as the "effectual call" (or the "internal" call). The effectual call is the supernatural drawing of God that Jesus speaks of in John 6:44. Here a general call is in view, and this call extends to all who hear the gospel—this call is the great "whoever will" of the gospel (cf. Rev. 22:17). Here, then, is the proper balance between human responsibility and divine sovereignty: the "called" who reject the invitation do so willingly, and therefore their exclusion from the kingdom is perfectly just. The "chosen" enter the kingdom only because of the grace of God in choosing and drawing them.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:16 Herodians. A party of the Jews who supported the Roman-backed Herodian dynasty. The Herodians were not a religious party, like the Pharisees, but a political party, probably consisting largely of Sadducees (including the rulers of the temple). By contrast, the Pharisees hated Roman rule and the Herodian influence. The fact that these groups would conspire together to entrap Jesus reveals how seriously both groups viewed him as a threat. Herod himself wanted Jesus dead (Luke 13:31), and the Pharisees were already plotting to kill him as well (John 11:53). So they joined efforts to seek their common goal.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:17 Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? At issue was an annual fee of one denarius (see note on v. 19) per person. Such taxes were part of the heavy taxation Rome assessed. Since these funds were used to finance the occupying armies, all Roman taxes were hated by the people. But the poll tax was the most hated of all because it suggested that Rome owned even the people, while they viewed themselves and their nation as possessions of God. It was therefore significant that they questioned Christ about the poll tax in particular. If he answered no to their question, the Herodians would charge him with treason against Rome. If he said yes, the Pharisees would accuse him of disloyalty to the Jewish nation, and he would lose the support of the crowds.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:19 denarius. See note on Mark 12:16. A silver coin, the value of a day's wage for a Roman soldier. The coins were minted under the emperor's authority since only he could issue gold or silver coins. The "denarius" of Jesus' day was minted by Tiberius. One side bore an image of his face; the other featured an engraving of him sitting on his throne in priestly
robes. The Jews considered such images idolatry, forbidden by the second commandment (Ex. 20:4), which made this tax and these coins doubly offensive.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:21 Caesar's . . . God's. Caesar's image is stamped on the coin; God's image is stamped on the person (Gen. 1:26–27). The Christian must "render" obedience to Caesar in Caesar's realm (Rom. 13:1–7; 1 Pet. 2:13– 17), but "the things that are God's" are things that do not belong to Caesar and should be given only to God. Christ thus acknowledged Caesar's right to assess and collect taxes, and he made it the duty of Christians to pay them. But he did not suggest (as some suppose) that Caesar had sole or ultimate authority in the social or political realms. Ultimately, all things are God's (Rom. 11:36; 2 Cor. 5:18; Rev. 4:11)—including the realm in which Caesar or any other earthly ruler exercises authority.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:23 no resurrection. See note on 3:7.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:24 his brother must marry the widow. This refers to the law of levirate marriage, found in Deut. 25:5–10 (see note there. This was a provision to ensure that family lines were kept intact and widows were cared for.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:30 like angels in heaven. The Sadducees did not believe in angels (see note on 3:7)—so here Jesus was exposing another of their false beliefs. Angels are deathless creatures who do not propagate and therefore have no need for marriage. "In the resurrection," the saints will have those same characteristics.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:32 not God of the dead. Jesus' argument (taken from the Pentateuch, because the Sadducees recognized only Moses' authority—see note on 3:7) was based on the emphatic present tense "I am" of Ex. 3:6. This subtle but effective argument utterly silenced the Sadducees (Matt. 22:34). See note on Mark 12:26.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:35 a lawyer. A scribe whose specialty was interpreting the law. See notes on 2:4; Luke 10:25.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:36 See note on Mark 12:28.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:37 heart . . . soul . . . mind. Mark 12:30 adds "strength." The quote is from Deut. 6:5, part of the shema (Hebrew for "hear"—Deut. 6:4). That verse says "heart . . . soul . . . strength." Some LXX
manuscripts added "mind." The use of the various terms is not meant to delineate distinct human faculties, but to underscore the completeness of the kind of love that is called for.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:39 love your neighbor as yourself. This is a quotation from Lev. 19:18. Contrary to some contemporary interpretations, it is not a mandate for self-love. Rather, it contains in different words the very same idea as the Golden Rule (see note on Matt. 7:12). It prompts believers to measure their love for others by what they wish for themselves.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:40 the Law and the Prophets. I.e., the whole OT. Thus Jesus subsumes man's whole moral duty under two categories: love for God, and love for one's neighbors. These same two categories differentiate the first four commandments of the Decalogue from the final six.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:42 What do you think . . . ? A phrase often used by Christ to introduce a question designed to test someone (v. 17; 17:25; 18:12; 21:28; 26:66). Here, the Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, and scribes had all put him to the test. He also had a test for them. The son of David. See note on 1:1. "Son of David" was the most common messianic title in the usage of Jesus' day. Their answer reflected their conviction that the Messiah would be no more than a man, and Jesus' reply was another assertion of his deity. See note on 22:45.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:43 in the Spirit. I.e., under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (cf. Mark 12:36).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:44 Quoted from Ps. 110:1.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 22:45 David calls him Lord. David would not have addressed a merely human descendant as "Lord." Here Jesus was not disputing whether "Son of David" was an appropriate title for the Messiah; after all, the title is based on what is revealed about the Messiah in the OT (Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5) and it is used as a messianic title in Matt. 1:1 (see note there. But Jesus was pointing out that the title "son of David" did not begin to sum up all that is true about the Messiah who is also "Son of God" (Luke 22:70). The inescapable implication is that Jesus was declaring his deity.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:2 Moses' seat. The expression is equivalent to a university's "chair of philosophy." To "sit on Moses' seat" was to have the highest authority to instruct people in the law. The expression here may be
translated, "[They] have seated themselves in Moses' seat"—stressing the fact that this was an imaginary authority they claimed for themselves. There was a legitimate sense in which the priests and Levites had authority to decide matters of the law (Deut. 17:9), but the scribes and Pharisees had gone beyond any legitimate authority and were adding human tradition to the word of God (Matt. 15:3–9). For that Jesus condemned them (23:8–36).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:3 observe . . . do not practice. I.e., insofar as it accords with the word of God. The Pharisees were prone to bind "heavy burdens" (v. 4) of extrabiblical traditions and put them on others' shoulders. Jesus explicitly condemned that sort of legalism.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:5 phylacteries. Leather boxes containing a parchment on which is written in four columns (Ex. 13:1–10, 11–16; Deut. 6:4–9; 11:13– 21). These are worn by men during prayer—one on the middle of the forehead and one on the left arm just above the elbow. The use of phylacteries was based on an overly literal interpretation of passages like Ex. 13:9–10 and Deut. 6:8. Evidently the Pharisees would broaden the leather straps by which the phylacteries were bound to their arms and foreheads, in order to make the phylacteries more prominent. their fringes. Jesus himself wore them (see note on Matt. 9:20), so it was not the tassels themselves that he condemned, only the mentality that would lengthen the tassels to make it appear that one was especially spiritual.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:8–10 rabbi . . . father . . . instructor. Here Jesus condemns pride and pretense, not titles per se. Paul repeatedly speaks of "instructors" in the church, and even refers to himself as the Corinthians' "father" (1 Cor. 4:15). Obviously, this does not forbid the showing of respect, either (cf. 1 Thess. 5:11–12; 1 Tim. 5:1). Christ is merely forbidding the use of such names as spiritual titles, or in an ostentatious sense that accords undue spiritual authority to a human being, as if he were the source of truth rather than God.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:13 nor allow. The Pharisees, having shunned God's righteousness, were seeking to establish a righteousness of their own (Rom. 10:3)—and teaching others to do so as well. Their legalism and selfrighteousness effectively obscured the narrow gate by which the kingdom must be entered (see notes on Matt. 7:13–14).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:14 This verse does not appear in the earliest available manuscripts of Matthew, but does appear in Mark. See notes on Mark 12:40.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:15 proselyte. A Gentile convert to Judaism. See Acts 6:5. a child of hell. I.e., someone whose eternal destination is hell.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:16 it is nothing . This was an arbitrary distinction the Pharisees had made, which gave them a sanctimonious justification for lying with impunity. If someone swore "by the temple" (or the altar, v. 18; or heaven, v. 22), his oath was not considered binding, but if he swore "by the gold of the temple," he could not break his word without being subject to the penalties of Jewish law. Our Lord makes it clear that swearing by those things is tantamount to swearing by God himself. See note on 5:34.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:23 tithe mint and dill and cumin. Garden herbs, not really the kind of farm produce that the tithe was designed to cover (Lev. 27:30). But the Pharisees fastidiously weighed out a tenth of every herb, perhaps even counting individual dill seeds. Jesus' point, however, was not to condemn their observance of the law's fine points. The problem was that they "neglected the weightier matters" of justice and mercy and faith—the moral principles underlying all the laws. They were satisfied with their focus on the incidentals and externals but willfully resisted the spiritual meaning of the law. He told them they should have concentrated on those larger issues "without neglecting the others."
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:24 straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Some Pharisees would strain their beverages through a fine cloth to make sure they did not inadvertently swallow a gnat—the smallest of unclean animals (Lev. 11:23). The camel was the largest of all the unclean animals (Lev. 11:4).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:25 you clean the outside. The Pharisees' focus on external issues lay at the heart of their error. Who would want to drink from a cup that had been washed on the outside but was still filthy inside? Yet the Pharisees lived their lives as if external appearance were more important than internal reality. That was the very essence of their hypocrisy, and Jesus rebuked them for it repeatedly (see notes on 5:20; 16:12).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:27 whitewashed tombs. Tombs were regularly whitewashed to make them stand out. Accidentally touching or stepping on a
grave caused ceremonial uncleanness (Num. 19:16). A freshly whitewashed tomb would be brilliantly white and clean-looking—and sometimes spectacularly ornate. But the inside was full of defilement and decay. Contrast Jesus' words here and in Luke 11:44.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:30 we would not have taken part. A ridiculous claim to self-righteousness when they were already plotting the murder of the Messiah (cf. John 11:47–53).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:34 prophets and wise men and scribes. I.e., the disciples, as well as the prophets, evangelists, and pastors who followed them (cf. Eph. 4:11).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:35 Abel . . . Zechariah. The first and last OT martyrs, respectively. son of Barachiah. (Zech. 1:1). The OT does not record how he died. However, the death of another Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, is recorded in 2 Chron. 24:20–21. He was stoned in the court of the temple, exactly as Jesus describes here. All the best manuscripts of Matthew contain the phrase "Zechariah, son of Barachiah" (though it does not appear in Luke 11:51). Some have suggested that the Zechariah in 2 Chron. 24 was actually a grandson of Jehoiada, and that his father's name was also Barachiah. But there is no difficulty if we simply take Jesus' words at face value and accept his infallible testimony that Zechariah the prophet was martyred between the temple and the altar, in a way very similar to how the earlier Zechariah was killed.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:36 this generation. Historically, this was the generation that experienced the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple in A.D. 70. Jesus' lament over Jerusalem and his removal of the blessing of God from the temple (vv. 37–38) strongly suggest that the sacking of Jerusalem in
A.D. 70 was the judgment he was speaking about. See notes on 22:7; 24:2; Luke 19:43.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:37 would I . . . you would not! God is utterly sovereign and therefore fully capable of bringing to pass whatever he desires (cf. Isa. 46:10)—including the salvation of whomever he chooses (Eph. 1:4–5). Yet, he sometimes expresses a wish for that which he does not sovereignly bring to pass (cf. Gen. 6:6; Deut. 5:29; Ps. 81:13; Isa. 48:18). Such expressions in no way suggest a limitation on the sovereignty of God or imply any actual change in him (Num. 23:19). But these statements do reveal essential aspects of the divine
character: he is full of compassion, sincerely good to all, desirous of good, not evil—and therefore not delighting in the destruction of the wicked (Ezek. 18:32; 33:11). While affirming God's sovereignty, one must understand his pleas for the repentance of the reprobate as well-meant appeals—and his goodness toward the wicked as a genuine mercy designed to provoke them to repentance (Rom. 2:4). The emotion displayed by Christ here (and in all similar passages, such as Luke 19:41) is obviously a deep, sincere passion. All Christ's feelings must be in perfect harmony with the divine will (cf. John 8:29)—and therefore these lamentations should not be thought of as mere exhibitions of his humanity.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:38 your house is left to you desolate. A few days earlier, Christ had referred to the temple as his Father's "house" (21:13). But the blessing and glory of God were being removed from Israel (see 1 Sam. 4:21). When Christ "left the temple" (Matt. 24:1), the glory of God went with him. Ezekiel 11:23 described Ezekiel's vision of the departure of the Shekinah glory in his day. The glory left the temple and stood on the Mount of Olives (see notes on Matt. 24:3; Luke 19:29), exactly the same route Christ followed here (cf. Matt. 24:3).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 23:39 you will not see me. Christ's public teaching ministry was over. He withdrew from national Israel until the time yet future when they will recognize him as Messiah (Rom. 11:23–26). Then Christ quoted from Ps. 118:26.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:1–25:46 This is the last of the five discourses Matthew features (see Introduction: Historical and Theological Themes). It is known as the Olivet Discourse, and it contains some of the most important prophetic material in all of Scripture.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:1 the buildings of the temple. This temple was begun by Herod the Great in 20 B.C. (see note on 2:1) and was still under construction when the Romans destroyed it in A.D. 70 (see note on 24:2). At the time of Jesus' ministry, the temple was one of the most impressive structures in the world, made of massive blocks of stone bedecked with gold ornamentation. Some of the stones in the temple complex measured 40x12x12 feet and were expertly quarried to fit perfectly against one another. The temple buildings were made of gleaming white marble, and the whole eastern wall of the large main structure was covered with gold plates that reflected the morning sun, making a spectacle that was visible for miles. The entire temple mount had been enlarged by
Herod's engineers, by means of large retaining walls and vaulted chambers on the south side and southeast corner. By this means the large courtyard area atop the temple mount was effectively doubled. The whole temple complex was magnificent by any standard. The disciples' conversation here may have been prompted by Jesus' words in 23:38. They were undoubtedly wondering how a site so spectacular could be left "desolate."
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:2 one stone upon another. These words were literally fulfilled in A.D. 70. Titus, the Roman general, built large wooden scaffolds around the walls of the temple buildings, piled them high with wood and other flammable items, and set them ablaze. The heat from the fires was so intense that the stones crumbled. The rubble was then sifted to retrieve the melted gold, and the remaining ruins were "thrown down" into the Kidron Valley. See notes on 22:7 and Luke 19:43.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:3 Mount of Olives. The hill directly opposite the temple, across the Kidron Valley to the east (see note on Luke 19:29). This spot affords the best panoramic view of Jerusalem. At the base of this mountain is Gethsemane (see note on Matt. 26:36). what will be the sign of your coming . . . ? Luke 19:11 records that the disciples still "supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately." The destruction of the temple (Matt. 24:2) did not fit the eschatological scheme they envisioned, so they asked for clarification. Jesus addressed their questions in reverse order, describing the prophetic sign of his coming (actually a series of signs) in vv. 4–35 and then addressing their question about the timing of these events beginning in v. 36. When they asked about his coming (Greek, parousia; lit., "presence"), they did not envision a second coming in the far-off future. They were speaking of his coming in triumph as Messiah, an event that they no doubt anticipated would occur presently. Even if they were conscious of his approaching death, which he had plainly prophesied to them on repeated occasions (see note on 20:19), they could not have anticipated his ascension to heaven and the long intervening church age. However, when Jesus used the term parousia in his discourse, he used it in the technical sense as a reference to his second coming.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:6 the end is not yet. False prophets, as well as wars and rumors of wars, characterize the whole of the present age, but will escalate toward the end (cf. 2 Tim. 3:13).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:8 birth pains. Famines, earthquakes, and conflicts have
always characterized life in a fallen world; but by calling these things "the beginning" of labor pains, he indicated that things will get notably and remarkably worse at the end of the era as these unique tribulations signal the soon arrival of Messiah to judge sinful humanity and set up his millennial kingdom. Cf. 1 Thess. 5:3; Rev. 6:1–17; 8:1–9:21; 16:1–21; see note on Matt. 24:14.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:9 deliver you. See note on 10:17.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:10 many will fall away. Lit., "cause to stumble"— suggesting professing believers who fall away—and even turn against "one another" in shocking acts of spiritual treachery. Those who fall away in such a manner give evidence that they never were true believers at all (see note on v. 13).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:13 endures to the end . . . be saved. Cf. 10:22. The ones who persevere are the same ones who are saved—not the ones whose love grows cold (24:12). This does not suggest that our perseverance secures our salvation. Scripture everywhere teaches precisely the opposite: God, as part of his saving work, secures our perseverance. True believers "are being guarded through faith for a salvation" (1 Pet. 1:5). The guarantee of our perseverance is built into the New Covenant promise. God says: "I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me" (Jer. 32:40). Those who do fall away from Christ give conclusive proof that they were never truly believers to begin with (1 John 2:19). To say that God secures our perseverance is not to say that we are passive in the process, however. He keeps us "through faith" (1 Pet. 1:5)—our faith. Scripture sometimes calls us to hold fast to our faith (Heb. 10:23; Rev. 3:11) or warns us against falling away (Heb. 10:26–29). Such admonitions do not negate the many promises that true believers will persevere (John 10:28–29; Rom. 8:38–39; 1 Cor. 1:8–9; Phil. 1:6). Rather, the warnings and pleas are among the means God uses to secure our perseverance in the faith. Notice that the warnings and the promises often appear side by side. For example, when Jude urges believers, "keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 21), he immediately points them to God, "who is able to keep you from stumbling" (Jude 24).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:14 proclaimed throughout the whole world. Despite all the tribulations that would come—the deception of false teachers, the wars, persecutions, natural disasters, defections from Christ, and all the obstacles to
the spread of the gospel—the message ultimately penetrates every part of the globe. God is never without a witness, and he will proclaim the gospel from heaven itself if necessary (cf. Rev. 14:6). then the end will come. "The end" refers to the final, excruciating birth pangs (see note on Matt. 24:8). This is how Christ characterizes the time of Great Tribulation described in the verses that follow.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:15 abomination of desolation. See notes on Dan. 9:27 and 11:31. This phrase originally referred to the desecration of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria in the second century B.C. Antiochus invaded Jerusalem in 168 B.C., made the altar into a shrine to Zeus, and even sacrificed pigs on it. However, Jesus clearly was looking toward a yet-future "abomination of desolation." Some suggest that this prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Titus invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the temple (see note on Matt. 24:2). However, the apostle Paul saw a still-future fulfillment (2 Thess. 2:3–4), as did John (Rev. 13:14–15)—when the Antichrist sets up an image in the temple during the future tribulation. Christ's words here therefore look beyond the events of A.D. 70 to a time of even greater global cataclysm that will immediately precede his coming (cf. Matt. 24:29–31).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:16 the mountains. Probably a reference to the region southeast of Jerusalem, particularly the Dead Sea area, where there are many caves and places of refuge. David hid from Saul in this area (1 Sam. 23:29). This would also include the hills of Moab and Edom.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:21 great tribulation. The words "such as has not been" and "never will be"—along with the description that follows—identify this as the yet-future time in which God's wrath shall be poured out upon the earth (see note on Rev. 7:14). Jesus' descriptions of the cataclysms that follow closely resemble the outpouring of divine wrath described in the bowl judgments of Rev. 16 and his subsequent appearing in Rev. 19 (see note on Matt. 24:30).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:22 those days had not been cut short. If the afflictions of this time were to continue, "no human being would be saved," i.e., no one would survive. But "for the sake of the elect" (so that redeemed people do not suffer more than they can bear) the time is "cut short"—i.e., held short of total destruction. Both Dan. 7:25 and Rev. 12:14 (see notes there) suggest that the actual length of time the beast will be permitted to terrorize the world is fixed at three and a half years.
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:24 to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. This clearly implies that such deception is not possible (John 10:4–5).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:26 do not believe it. No one should consider the claims of self-styled messiahs because all of them are false. When Christ returns, no one will miss it (vv. 27–28).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:28 there the vultures will gather. The location of a carcass is visible from great distances because of the circling carrion birds overhead (cf. Job 39:27–30). Similarly, Christ's return will be clearly evident to all near and far. The same point is made by the lightning in Matt. 24:27. The vulture-dead body imagery here also speaks of the judgment that will accompany his return (Rev. 19:21).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:29 the sun will be darkened. Such phenomena are a common feature of day of the Lord prophecy (see Isa. 13:9–10; Ezek. 32:7–8; Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15; Amos 8:9). The ultimate fulfillment of these prophecies takes place during the time of the beast's reign (Rev. 6:12–13; 8:12).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:30 the sign of the Son of Man. I.e., the Son of Man himself is the sign. The events described here precisely parallel the description in Dan. 7:13 and Rev. 19:11–21. all the tribes of the earth will mourn. I.e., over their own rebellion. Israel in particular will mourn over their rejection of the Messiah (cf. Zech. 12:10–12).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:31 from one end of heaven to the other. All the "elect" from heaven and earth are gathered and assembled before Christ. This is the culmination of world history, ushering in the millennial reign of Christ (cf. Rev. 20:4).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:32 From the fig tree learn its lesson. When the fig branch "puts out its leaves," only a short time remains until summer. Likewise, when the final labor pains begin (see note on v. 14), Christ's return "is near, at the very gates" (v. 33).
MATTHEW—NOTE ON 24:34 this generation. This cannot refer to the generation living at that time of Christ, for "all these things"—the abomination of desolation (v. 15), the persecutions and judgments (vv. 17–22), the false prophets (vv. 23–26), the signs in the heavens (vv. 27–29), Christ's final return (v. 30), and the gathering of the elect (v. 31)—did not "take place" in their lifetime. It