Chapter Eighteen: The King’s Judgments (Matthew 21:1–22:14)
Rebellion against His Person ()
“The Jews require a sign” (). To ask for a sign was evidence of unbelief: They wanted Him to prove that He was the Messiah. We wonder what further proof could have been given! Had they searched their own Scriptures, and sincerely examined His life, they would have concluded, “This is the Son of God!” But for Jesus to have given them a sign would have been wrong. He would have catered to their unbelief and allowed them to set the standards for faith. No matter what miracle He performed, it would not have pleased them.
Jesus gave three responses to their challenge.
He reviewed their history (vv. ). The Prophet Jonah was a Jew sent to the Gentiles, and the Queen of Sheba was a Gentile who came to visit Solomon, a Jew (). Because of the bitterness between the Jews and the Gentiles, this reference to the Gentiles must have irritated the Pharisees. But we have noted other occasions when either Jesus or Matthew mentioned the Gentiles.
Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh because he had experienced (in the great fish) “death,” burial, and resurrection. The only sign Jesus would give to His nation was death, burial, and resurrection. The messages in the first seven chapters of Acts center on the resurrection of Christ, not on His death on the cross. The Jews of that day believed that He had died, for this was the chief topic of conversation (). But they did not believe that He was alive (). In Acts 2–7, the Holy Spirit gave to the nation of Israel abundant witness that Jesus was alive. This was the only sign they needed.
Jesus is greater than Jonah in many ways. He is greater in His person, for Jonah was a mere man. He was greater in His obedience, for Jonah disobeyed God and was chastened. Jesus actually died, while Jonah’s “grave” was in the belly of the great fish. Jesus arose from the dead under His own power. Jonah ministered only to one city, while Jesus gave His life for the whole world. Certainly Jesus was greater in His love, for Jonah did not love the people of Nineveh—he wanted them to die. Jonah’s message saved Nineveh from judgment; he was a messenger of the wrath of God. Jesus’ message was that of grace and salvation. When we trust Christ, we are not only saved from judgment, but we receive eternal, abundant life.
Jesus is also greater than Solomon in His wisdom, wealth, and works. The Queen of Sheba was amazed at what she saw in Solomon’s kingdom; but what we have in the kingdom of God through Christ far surpasses Solomon’s glories. To sit at Christ’s table and hear His words, and to share His blessings, is much more satisfying than to visit and admire the most spectacular kingdom, even that of Solomon.
The main lesson behind this history lesson is this: The citizens of Nineveh will witness against the rulers of Israel, for they repented at Jonah’s preaching. The Queen of Sheba will also witness against them. She traveled a long distance to hear Solomon’s wisdom, yet the Jewish leaders rejected the wisdom of Christ who was in their very midst! The greater the opportunity, the greater the judgment. It is a tragic feature in the history of Israel that the nation rejected their deliverers the first time, but accepted them the second time. This was true with Joseph, Moses, David, the prophets (), and Jesus Christ.
He revealed their hearts (vv. ). We must connect these verses with . Satan’s “house” is the body of the person who is possessed by the demon. It appears that the demons are restless and seek bodies in which to reside (). When the demon left, this man’s life was changed for the better; but his life was still empty. When the demon returned, he brought others with him; and the man’s life ended in tragedy.
The primary application is to the nation of Israel, especially that generation present when Jesus ministered on earth. The nation had been purged of the demon of idolatry which had plagued them in the Old Testament. But reformation was not enough. Reformation could cleanse, but it could not fill. The nation should have received the Saviour and been filled with spiritual life. Instead, the people rejected Him and the end was destruction.
There is a personal application. It is not enough to clean house; we must also invite in the right tenant. The Pharisees were proud of their “clean houses,” but their hearts were empty! Mere religion, or reformation, will not save. There must be regeneration, the receiving of Christ into the heart (see ). We cannot be neutral about Jesus Christ.
He rejected their honor (vv. ). Even our Lord’s earthly family did not fully understand Him or His ministry (). Some of His friends thought He was mad (). But Jesus did not want the honor that comes from people. While He was not disrespectful toward His physical family, He did emphasize the family of God.
Note His use of the word “whosoever” (). This paralleled His beautiful invitation in where He encouraged all to trust Him. If the nation would not receive Him, at least individuals within the nation—and among the Gentiles—could trust Him. But what will happen to the promised kingdom?
Matthew 13
This chapter records the events of a crisis day in the ministry of Jesus Christ. He knew that the growing opposition of the religious leaders would lead to His crucifixion. This fact He had to explain to His disciples. But their logical question would be, “What will happen to the kingdom about which we have been preaching?” That question is answered in this series of parables. So, He first explained the truth concerning the kingdom, and then later explained to them the facts about the Cross.
Our Lord’s use of parables puzzled the disciples. He had used some parables in His teaching already, but on that day He gave a series of seven interrelated parables, then added an eighth. The word parable means “to cast alongside.” It is a story, or comparison, that is put alongside something else to help make the lesson clear. But these are not ordinary parables; Jesus called them “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (). In the New Testament, a “mystery” is a spiritual truth understood only by divine revelation. It is a “sacred secret” known only to those “on the inside” who learn from the Lord and obey Him.
In this series of parables, Jesus explained the course of the Gospel in the world. If Israel had received Him as King, the blessings would have flowed out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. But the nation rejected Him, and God had to institute a new program on earth. During this present age, “the kingdom of heaven” is a mixture of true and false, good and bad, as pictured in these parables. It is “Christendom,” professing allegiance to the King, and yet containing much that is contrary to the principles of the King.
Why did Jesus teach in parables? Two reasons were given: because of the sluggishness of the people (); and because it was prophesied in (). Jesus did not teach in parables to confuse or condemn the people. Rather, He sought to excite their interest and arouse their curiosity. These parables would give light to those with trusting, searching hearts. But they would bring darkness to the unconcerned and unrepentant.
The seven parables describe for us the spiritual course of “the kingdom of heaven” in this present age. In them we see three stages of spiritual development.
The Beginning of the Kingdom (, )
The Parable of the Sower does not begin with “The kingdom of heaven is like” because it describes how the kingdom begins. It begins with the preaching of the Word, the planting of the seed in the hearts of people. When we say, “Let me plant this thought in your mind,” we express the idea of this parable. The seed is God’s Word; the various soils represent different kinds of hearts; and the varied results show the different responses to the Word of God. Jesus explained this parable so there is no doubt of its meaning.
Why compare God’s Word to seed? Because the Word is “living and powerful” (, SCO). Unlike the words of men, the Word of God has life in it; and that life can be imparted to those who will believe. The truth of God must take root in the heart, be cultivated, and permitted to bear fruit. It is shocking to realize that three fourths of the seed did not bear fruit. Jesus did not describe an age of great harvest, but one in which the Word would be rejected. He was not impressed with the “great multitudes” that followed Him, for He knew that most of the people would not receive His Word within and bear fruit.
Fruit is the test of true salvation (). This would include holiness (), Christian character (), good works (), winning others to Christ (), sharing what we have (), and praising God (). If a plant is to bear fruit, it must be rooted in soil and exposed to sunshine.
In the parable, the sun represents persecution that comes because of the Word. Persecution helps believers grow. But the sunshine will kill a plant with no roots. This explains why some “believers” do not last: Their faith was weak, their understanding was meager, and their decision was not sincere. It is possible to “believe” and yet not be saved (). Unless there is fruit in the life, there is not saving faith in the heart.
Nineteen times in Matthew 13 we find the word “hear.” The Parable of the Sower is found in the first three Gospels, and in each one, the closing admonition is different. It is important that we hear God’s Word, because “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (). Jesus said, “Who hath ears to hear” (), “Take heed what you hear!” (), and “Take heed how you hear!” ()
Satan opposes the kingdom by trying to snatch the Word from hearts (, ). But when that fails, he has other ways of attacking God’s work. These three parables reveal that Satan is primarily an imitator: He plants false Christians, he encourages a false growth, and he introduces false doctrine.
The tares—false Christians (vv. , ). Satan cannot uproot the plants (true Christians), so he plants counterfeit Christians in their midst. In this parable, the good seed is not the Word of God. It represents people converted through trusting the Word. The field is not human hearts; the field is the world. Christ is sowing true believers in various places that they might bear fruit (). But, wherever Christ sows a true Christian, Satan comes and sows a counterfeit.
We must beware of Satan’s counterfeits. He has counterfeit Christians () who believe a counterfeit Gospel (). He encourages a counterfeit righteousness (), and even has a counterfeit church (). At the end of the age, he will produce a counterfeit Christ ().
We must also stay awake to make sure that Satan’s ministers do not get into the true fellowship and do damage (2 Peter 2; ). It is when God’s people go to sleep that Satan works. Our task is not to pull up the false, but to plant the true. (This does not refer to discipline within the local church.) We are not detectives but evangelists! We must oppose Satan and expose his lies. But we must also sow the Word of God and bear fruit in the place where He has planted us.
What will happen to the tares? God will gather them together and burn them. It is interesting to see that some of this “bundling” is already going on as various religious groups merge and strive for union. Spiritual unity among true Christians is one thing, but religious uniformity among mere professing Christians is quite another. It is difficult to tell the false from the true today; but at the end of the age, the angels will separate them.
The mustard seed—false growth (vv. ). In the East, the mustard seed symbolizes something small and insignificant. It produces a large plant, but not a “tree” in the strictest sense. However, the plant is large enough for birds to sit in the branches.
Since Jesus did not explain this parable, we must use what He did explain in the other parables to find its meaning. The birds in the Parable of the Sower represented Satan (). Passages like and indicate that a tree is a symbol of a world power. These facts suggest that the parable teaches an abnormal growth of the kingdom of heaven, one that makes it possible for Satan to work in it. Certainly “Christendom” has become a worldwide power with a complex organization of many branches. What started in a humble manner today boasts of material possessions and political influences.
Some make this parable teach the worldwide success of the Gospel. But that would contradict what Jesus taught in the first parable. If anything, the New Testament teaches a growing decline in the ministry of the Gospel as the end of the age draws near.
The leaven—false doctrine (v. ). The mustard seed illustrates the false outward expansion of the kingdom, while the leaven illustrates the inward development of false doctrine and false living. Throughout the Bible, leaven is a symbol of evil. It had to be removed from the Jewish homes during Passover (; ). It was excluded from the sacrifices (), with the exception of the loaves used at the Feast of Pentecost (). But there the loaves symbolized Jews and Gentiles in the church, and there is sin in the church.
Jesus used leaven to picture hypocrisy (), false teaching (), and worldly compromise (). Paul used leaven to picture carnality in the church () as well as false doctrine (). Sin is like leaven (yeast): It quietly grows, it corrupts, and it “puffs up” (; ; ). It would seem that making the growth of the leaven a picture of the spread of the Gospel throughout the world would violate the meaning of this important symbol. It would also contradict the other parables.
Satan has worked hard to introduce false doctrine and false living into the ministry of the Word of God. From the very early days of the church, true believers have battled false doctrine and hypocrisy. How sad it is that some churches and schools that were once true to the Word have turned from the truth to fables. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” is sound counsel ().
The kingdom of heaven began with the sowing of the Word of God in the hearts of men. Much of the seed did not bear fruit; but some was fruitful. Satan opposed the work of God by sowing counterfeit Christians, by encouraging a false growth, and by introducing false doctrine. It would seem that Satan is winning! But the test is at the end of the age, not during the age.
At the close of this age, God will have three peoples: the Jews (the hidden treasure), the church (the pearl), and the saved Gentile nations who will enter into the kingdom (the dragnet).
The hidden treasure (v. ). The common interpretation of this parable is that the sinner finds Christ and gives up all that he possesses to gain Him and be saved. But this interpretation presents several problems. To begin with, Jesus Christ is not a hidden treasure. He is perhaps the best known Person of history. In the second place, the sinner cannot “find Christ” for he is blind and stubborn (). It is the Saviour who finds the lost sinner (). And no sinner could ever purchase salvation! Please note that the man in the parable did not purchase the treasure; he purchased the whole field. “The field is the world” (). Must the lost sinner purchase the world to gain Christ? Does he hide Him again?
Once again, Old Testament symbolism assists us in our interpretation. The treasure is the nation of Israel (; ). That nation was placed in the world to bring glory to God, but it failed. It became a nation hidden, a treasure not being invested to produce dividends for God. Jesus Christ gave His all to purchase the whole world in order to save the nation (). On the cross, Jesus died for the whole world; but in a special way, He died for Israel (). The nation suffered judgment and seeming destruction, but in God’s sight it is “hidden” and will be revealed again in glory.
There is, then, a future for Israel. Politically, the nation was reborn on May 14, 1948. But the nation is far from what it ought to be spiritually. God sees Israel as His treasure, and one day He will establish her in her glorious kingdom.
The pearl of great price (vv. ). A well-known Gospel song perpetuates the interpretation that this pearl is Jesus Christ and His salvation. But the same objections apply to this interpretation as applied to the previous parable. The sinner does not find Christ; Christ finds the sinner. No sinner is able to pay for salvation, even though he sells all that he has.
The pearl represents the church. The Bible makes a distinction between Jews, Gentiles, and the church (). Today, the church, the body of Christ, is composed of believing Jews and Gentiles (). Unlike most other gems, the pearl is a unity—it cannot be carved like a diamond or emerald. The church is a unity (), even though the professing church on earth is divided. Like a pearl, the church is the product of suffering. Christ died for the church () and His suffering on the cross made possible her birth.
A pearl grows gradually, and the church grows gradually as the Spirit convicts and converts sinners. No one can see the making of the pearl, for it is hidden in the shell of the oyster under the waters. No one can see the growth of His church in the world. The church is among the nations today (waters in the Bible represent nations, ; ; ) and one day will be revealed in its beauty.
So, in spite of Satan’s subtle working in this world, Christ is forming His church. He sold all that He had to purchase His church, and nothing Satan can do will cause Him to fail. There is but one church, a pearl of great price, though there are many local churches. Not everyone who is a member of a local church belongs to the one church, the body of Christ. It is only through repentance and faith in Christ that we become a part of His church. Of course, all true believers ought to identify with a local assembly where they can worship and serve.
The net (vv. ). The preaching of the Gospel in the world does not convert the world. It is like a huge dragnet that gathers all kinds of fish, some good and some bad. The professing church today has in it both true and false believers (the Parable of the Tares) and good and bad. At the end of the age, God will separate the true believers from the false and the good from the bad. When Jesus Christ returns to earth, to fight the battle of Armageddon (), He will separate believers and unbelievers already on the earth. These are living people who are not a part of the church (which was already in heaven) or Israel. These Gentiles will be dealt with in righteousness: The saved will enter into the kingdom, but the unsaved will be cast into the furnace of fire. The same idea is found in the “sheep and goats” parable ().
Twice in this series of parables Jesus used the phrase “the end of the world” (, ). He was not referring to the end of this “Church Age,” because the truth about the church was not shared with the disciples until later (). The “age” He referred to is the Jewish age at the close of the great Tribulation described in and Revelation 6–19. We must be careful not to “read into” these passages in Matthew the truths later given through Paul and the other apostles.
When Jesus had completed this series of parables, He asked His disciples if they understood them, and they confidently replied, “Yes, Lord.” Understanding involves responsibility. To explain this, the Lord added a final parable () to remind them of their responsibilities.
They must be scribes who discover the truth. The scribes began as a noble group under the leadership of Ezra. Their purpose was to preserve the Law, study it, and apply its truths to daily life. Over the years, their noble cause degenerated into a routine task of preserving traditions and man-made interpretations, and adding burdens to the lives of the people (). They were so wrapped up in the past that they ignored the present! Instead of sharing living truth from God’s Word, they merchandised dead doctrines and “embalmed” traditions that could not help the people.
As believers, we do not search after truth, because we have truth in God’s Son () and God’s Word (). We are taught by the Spirit of Truth () who is truth (). We search into truth that we might discover more truth. We are scribes—students—who sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words. One joy of the Christian life is the privilege of learning God’s truth from God’s Word. But we must not stop there.
They must be disciples who do the truth. “Therefore every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven” is a more accurate translation of . The scribe emphasizes learning, but the disciple emphasizes living. Disciples are doers of the Word (), and they learn by doing.
It is difficult to keep our lives balanced. We often emphasize learning at the expense of living. Or, we may get so busy serving God that we do not take time to listen to His Word. Every scribe must be a disciple, and every disciple must be a scribe.
They must be stewards who dispense the truth. The scribes preserved the Law but did not invest it in the lives of the people. The treasure of the Law was encrusted by man’s traditions. The seed was not planted so it could bear fruit. The “spiritual gold and silver” was not put to work so it could produce dividends. As Christians we should be conservative but not preservative.
The steward guards the treasure, but he also dispenses it as it is needed. He dispenses both the old and the new. New principles and insights are based on old truths. The new cannot contradict the old because the old comes out of the new (). The new without the old is mere novelty and will not last. But the old does no good unless it is given new applications in life today. We need both.
When Jesus finished these parables, He went across the sea in a storm and delivered the demoniacs in the country of the Gadarenes. Matthew recorded this in . It was then that Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth, and this event Matthew recorded in .
Two things amazed the people of Nazareth: the Lord’s words and His works. However, they did not trust in Him, and this limited His ministry. What caused the people to doubt Him? They were too familiar with Him in a human way, for He had grown up in their midst. It was a case of knowing Him after the flesh (see ) and not having the spiritual discernment that God gives to those who will yield to Him (). These people walked by sight and not by faith.
But, if His own friends and family did not trust Him, what hope was there that the nation would believe on Him? Early in His ministry, Jesus had preached at Nazareth () and had been rejected; and now He was rejected again. This was His final visit to Nazareth; those villagers had no more opportunities. Jesus would be known as “Jesus of Nazareth,” and His followers would be called “Nazarenes,” but Nazareth would not receive Him. Matthew chose this event as a fitting close to the section “Rebellion against the King.”
Matthew 14
Chapters 14–20 I have called “The Retirement of the King.” During the period of time recorded by Matthew in these chapters, Jesus often withdrew from the crowds and spent time alone with His disciples (see ; , ; ; ). There were several reasons for these withdrawals: the growing hostility of His enemies, the need for physical rest, and the need to prepare His disciples for His future death on the cross. Unfortunately, the disciples were often caught up in the excitement generated by the crowds that wanted to make Jesus their King (see ).
However, we must not think that these withdrawals, or periods of retirement from the crowds, were periods of inactivity. Often the crowds followed Jesus and He was unable to remain alone. He would unselfishly minister to their needs in spite of His own need for rest and solitude. In Matthew 14–20, we will see these three groups of people: Christ’s enemies, the needy multitudes, and the disciples. As the story reaches its climax, it appears that the enemies have won; but this is not true. In the closing chapter, Matthew describes the risen King commissioning His disciples to go into all the world and share the Good News with the multitudes!
We see these same three groups of people in this chapter and our Lord’s responses to them.
The Herod family looms large in the four Gospels and the Book of Acts, and it is easy to confuse the various rulers.
Herod the Great founded the dynasty and ruled from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. He was not a true Jew by birth, but was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau. “He was … a heathen in practice, and a monster in character” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary). He had nine wives (some say ten), and he thought nothing of slaying his own sons or wives if they got in the way of his plans. It was he who had the infants slain in Bethlehem ().
Herod Antipas, the Herod of this chapter, was a son of Herod the Great. His title was “tetrarch,” which means “ruler over the fourth part of the kingdom.” He ruled from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39, and his rule was deceptive and selfish. He loved luxury and was very ambitious to become a great ruler.
Herod Agrippa is the Herod who imprisoned Peter and killed James (Acts 12). He was a grandson of Herod the Great.
Herod Agrippa II was the Herod who tried Paul (). He was a son of Agrippa I.
All of the Herods had Edomite blood in them, and, like their ancestor Esau, they were hostile to the Jews (). They practiced the Jewish religion when it helped fulfill their plans for gaining more power and wealth.
Herod Antipas was guilty of gross sin: He had eloped with Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip I, divorcing his own wife and sending her back to her father, the king of Petra (; ). Herod listened to the voice of temptation and plunged himself into terrible sin.
But there were other voices that God sent to warn Herod.
The voice of the prophet (vv. ). Boldly, John the Baptist warned Herod and called him to repent. John knew that the sin of a ruler would only pollute the land and make it easier for others to sin, and that God would judge the sinners (). We must commend John for his courage in naming sin and denouncing it. Israel was God’s covenant nation, and the sins of the rulers (even though they were unbelievers) would bring the chastening of God.
Instead of listening to God’s servant and obeying God’s Word, Herod arrested John and imprisoned him. John was put in the fortress of Machaerus, located about four miles east of the Dead Sea. It stood 3,500 feet above sea level on a rocky ridge that was accessible from only one side.
It was Herodias, Herod’s wife, who held the grudge against John (see , NASB); and she influenced her husband. She plotted to have her teenage daughter perform a lascivious dance at Herod’s birthday feast. Herodias knew that her husband would succumb to her daughter’s charms and make some rash promise to her. She also knew that Herod would want to “save face” before his friends and officials. The plot worked, and John the Baptist was slain.
The voice of conscience (vv. ). When Herod heard of the marvelous works of Jesus, he was sure that John had been raised from the dead. His conscience was troubling him, and neither his wife nor his friends could console him. The voice of conscience is a powerful voice, and it can be the voice of God to those who will listen.
Instead of heeding his conscience, Herod determined to kill Jesus just as he had killed John. Some Pharisees (probably in on the plot) warned Jesus that Herod wanted to kill Him (). But Jesus was not disturbed by the report. The word “fox” in is feminine. Jesus said, “Go, tell that vixen.” Was He perhaps referring to Herodias, the real power behind the throne?
The voice of Jesus (). When he finally did meet Jesus, Herod found that the Son of God was silent to him! Herod had silenced the voice of God! “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” ().
The voice of history. Herod should have known that he could not get away with his sin. History records that Herod lost prestige and power. His armies were defeated by the Arabs, and his appeals to be made a king (urged by his wife) were refused by Emperor Caligula. Herod was banished to Gaul (France) and then Spain, where he died.
Herod is remembered as a weak ruler whose only concern was his own pleasure and position. He did not serve the people, he served himself. He has the dubious honor of being the man who killed the greatest prophet ever sent to proclaim God’s Word.
What was our Lord’s response to the news of John’s murder? Caution: He quietly withdrew from that area and went to a “lonely place.” He lived according to a divine timetable (see ; , ; ; , ; ; ), and He did not want to deliberately provoke trouble with Herod. Because Herod’s agents were all around, the Lord had to exercise wisdom and caution.
Certainly Jesus was deeply moved when He heard that John had been killed. The Jewish nation permitted John to be slain because they did nothing to assist him. But these same leaders would ask for Jesus to be slain! Jesus would never permit the Jewish rulers to forget the witness of John (). Because they rejected John’s witness, they rejected their own Messiah and King.
Jesus and His disciples desperately needed rest (); yet the needs of the multitudes touched His heart. The word translated “moved with compassion” literally means “to have one’s inner being (viscera) stirred.” It is stronger than sympathy. The word is used twelve times in the Gospels, and eight of these references are to Jesus Christ.
Jesus was “moved with compassion” when He saw the needy multitudes (). They were like sheep that had been lacerated from brutal fleecing—torn, exhausted, and wandering. Twice He was “moved with compassion” when He beheld the hungry multitudes without food (; ). The two blind men () and the leper () also stirred His compassion, as did the sorrow of the widow at Nain ().
Jesus used this word in three of His parables. The king had compassion on his bankrupt servant and forgave him his debt; and we ought to forgive one another (). The Samaritan had compassion on the Jewish victim and cared for him in love (). The father had compassion on his wayward son and ran and greeted him when he came home (). If our Heavenly Father has such compassion toward us, should we not have compassion toward others?
The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is recorded in all four Gospels (; ; ; ). It was definitely a miracle. Those who teach that Jesus only encouraged the people to bring out their own hidden lunches have ignored the clear statements of God’s Word. definitely calls the event a “sign” or “miracle.” Would the crowd have wanted to crown Jesus King simply because He tricked them into sharing their lunches? () Not likely!
It takes little imagination to picture the embarrassing plight of the disciples. Here were more than 5,000 hungry people and they had nothing to feed them! Certainly the disciples knew that Jesus was powerful enough to meet the need, yet they did not turn to Him for help. Instead, they took inventory of their own food supply (a lad had five barley loaves and two fish) and their limited treasury. When they considered the time (evening) and the place (a desolate place), they came to the conclusion that nothing could be done to solve the problem. Their counsel to the Lord was: “Send them away!”
How like many of God’s people today. For some reason, it is never the right time or place for God to work. Jesus watched His frustrated disciples as they tried to solve the problem, but “He Himself knew what He was intending to do” (,NASB). He wanted to teach them a lesson in faith and surrender. Note the steps we must take in solving life’s problems.
Start with what you have. Andrew found a lad who had a small lunch, and he brought the lad to Jesus. Was the boy willing to give up his lunch? Yes, he was! God begins where we are and uses what we have.
Give what you have to Jesus. Jesus took the simple lunch, blessed it, and shared it. The miracle of multiplication was in His hands! “Little is much if God is in it.” Jesus broke the bread and gave the pieces to the disciples, and they, in turn, fed the multitudes.
Obey what He commands. The disciples had the people sit down as Jesus ordered. They took the broken pieces and distributed them, and discovered that there was plenty for everybody. As His servants, we are “distributors,” not “manufacturers.” If we give what we have to Him, He will bless it and give it back to us for use in feeding others.
Conserve the results. There were twelve baskets filled with pieces of bread and fish after the people had eaten all they wanted. But these pieces were carefully collected so that nothing was wasted (; ). I wonder how many of the pieces the lad took back home with him? Imagine his mother’s amazement when the boy told her the story!
The Apostle John recorded a sermon on “the Bread of life” that Jesus gave the next day in the synagogue in Capernaum (). The people were willing to receive the physical bread, but they would not receive the living Bread—the Son of God come down from heaven. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 was actually a sermon in action. Jesus is the Bread of Life, and only He can satisfy the spiritual hunger in man’s heart. The tragedy is, men waste their time and money on “that which is not bread” (). People today are making the same mistake.
Jesus still has compassion on the hungry multitudes, and He still says to His church: “Give them something to eat.” How easy it is for us to send people away, to make excuses, to plead a lack of resources. Jesus asks that we give Him all that we have and let Him use it as He sees fit. A hungry world is feeding on empty substitutes while we deprive them of the Bread of Life. When we give Christ what we have, we never lose. We always end up with more blessing than when we started.
The Disciples: Care and Concern ()
John recorded the reason why Jesus was in such a hurry to dismiss the crowd and send the disciples back in the boat: The crowd wanted to make Jesus King (). The Lord knew that their motives were not spiritual and that their purposes were out of God’s will. If the disciples had stayed, they would certainly have fallen in with the plans of the crowd; for as yet, the disciples did not fully understand Christ’s plans. They were guilty of arguing over “who was the greatest,” and a popular uprising would have suited them perfectly.
This experience of the disciples in the storm can be an encouragement to us when we go through the storms of life. When we find ourselves in the storm, we can rest on several assurances.
“He brought me here.” The storm came because they were in the will of God and not (like Jonah) out of the will of God. Did Jesus know that the storm was coming? Certainly! Did He deliberately direct them into the storm? Yes! They were safer in the storm in God’s will than on land with the crowds out of God’s will. We must never judge our security on the basis of circumstances alone.
As we read our Bibles, we discover that there are two kinds of storms: storms of correction, when God disciplines us; and storms of perfection, when God helps us to grow. Jonah was in a storm because he disobeyed God and had to be corrected. The disciples were in a storm because they obeyed Christ and had to be perfected. Jesus had tested them in a storm before, when He was in the boat with them (). But now He tested them by being out of the boat.
Many Christians have the mistaken idea that obedience to God’s will produces “smooth sailing.” But this is not true. “In the world you shall have tribulation,” Jesus promised (). When we find ourselves in the storm because we have obeyed the Lord, we must remember that He brought us here and He can care for us.
“He is praying for me.” This entire scene is a dramatic picture of the church and the Lord today. God’s people are on the sea, in the midst of a storm. Yet Jesus Christ is in heaven “making intercession for us” (). He saw the disciples and knew their plight (), just as He sees us and knows our needs. He feels the burdens that we feel and knows what we are going through (). Jesus was praying for His disciples, that their faith would not fail.
If you knew that Jesus Christ was in the next room, praying for you, would it not give you new courage to endure the storm and do His will? Of course it would. He is not in the next room, but He is in heaven interceding for you. He sees your need, He knows your fears, and He is in control of the situation.
“He will come to me.” Often we feel like Jesus has deserted us when we are going through the hard times of life. In the Psalms, David complained that God seemed far away and unconcerned. Yet he knew that God would ultimately rescue him. Even the great Apostle Paul got into a situation so difficult he felt “burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (, NASB).
Jesus always comes to us in the storms of life. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (, NASB). He may not come at the time we think He should come, because He knows when we need Him the most. He waited until the ship was as far from land as possible, so that all human hope was gone. He was testing the disciples’ faith, and this meant removing every human prop.
Why did Jesus walk on the water? To show His disciples that the very thing they feared (the sea) was only a staircase for Him to come to them. Often we fear the difficult experiences of life (such as surgery or bereavement), only to discover that these experiences bring Jesus Christ closer to us.
Why did they not recognize Jesus? Because they were not looking for Him. Had they been waiting by faith, they would have known Him immediately. Instead, they jumped to the false conclusion that the appearance was that of a ghost. Fear and faith cannot live in the same heart, for fear always blinds the eyes to the presence of the Lord.
“He will help me grow.” This was the whole purpose of the storm, to help the disciples grow in their faith. After all, Jesus would one day leave them, and they would face many storms in their ministries. They had to learn to trust Him even though He was not present with them, and even though it looked as though He did not care.
Now our center of interest shifts to Peter. Before we criticize Peter for sinking, let’s honor him for his magnificent demonstration of faith. He dared to be different. Anybody can sit in the boat and watch. But it takes a person of real faith to leave the boat and walk on the water.
What caused Peter to sink? His faith began to waver because he took his eyes off the Lord and began to look at the circumstances around him. “Why did you doubt?” Jesus asked him (). This word translated doubt carries the meaning of “standing uncertainly at two ways.” Peter started out with great faith but ended up with little faith because he saw two ways instead of one.
We must give Peter credit for knowing that he was sinking and for crying out to the Lord for help. He cried out when he was “beginning to sink” and not when he was drowning. Perhaps this incident came to Peter’s mind years later when he wrote in his first epistle: “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers” ().
This experience was difficult for Peter, but it helped him to grow in his knowledge of himself and of the Lord. The storms of life are not easy, but they are necessary. They teach us to trust Jesus Christ alone and to obey His Word no matter what the circumstances may be. It has well been said, “Faith is not believing in spite of evidence, but obeying in spite of consequence.”
“He will see me through.” If Jesus says, “Come,” then that word is going to accomplish its intended purpose. Since He is the “author and finisher of our faith” (), whatever He starts, He completes. We may fail along the way, but in the end, God will succeed. Jesus and Peter walked on the water together and went to the ship.
Peter’s experience turned out to be a blessing to the other disciples as well as to himself. When they saw the power of Jesus Christ, in conquering and calming the storm, they could only fall down and worship Him. When Jesus calmed the first storm (), the disciples said, “What manner of Man is this?” But now their clear testimony was, “Thou art the Son of God!”
The disciples had helped to feed 5,000 people, and then God permitted them to go through a storm. In the Book of Acts, they won 5,000 people (), and then the storm of persecution began. No doubt Peter and the disciples recalled their storm experience with the Lord and took courage.
This miracle magnifies the kingship of Jesus Christ. In fact, when Matthew wrote Peter’s request, “Bid me to come,” he used a Greek word that means “the command of a king.” Peter knew that Jesus Christ was King over all nature, including the wind and the waves. His word is law and the elements must obey.
The ship landed at Gennesaret, near Capernaum and Bethsaida; and there Jesus healed many people. Did these people know that He had come through a storm to meet their needs? Do we remember that He endured the storm of judgment to save our souls? () He endured the storm for us that we might never face the judgment of God. We ought to imitate the disciples, bow at His feet, and acknowledge that He is King of kings and Lord of lords!
Matthew 15
As in the previous chapter, we see the Lord in conflict with His enemies (), teaching His own disciples (), and ministering to the needy multitudes (). This is the pattern during this period of withdrawal.
Our Lord’s great concerns are truth and love. He taught the Jewish leaders the truth and exposed their hypocrisy, and He showed the Gentile crowds love as He met their needs. By studying these two concerns, we can understand the message of this chapter.
Truth: He Rejected Jewish Tradition ()
This dramatic event involved three requests and three replies.
The scribes and Pharisees (vv. ). The fact that the scribes and Pharisees united in this attack, and came all the way from Jerusalem to speak to Jesus, indicates the seriousness of their purpose. It is likely that this committee represented the leaders of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.
Their accusation about “washing hands” had nothing to do with cleanliness. They were referring to the ceremonial washings of the rigidly orthodox Jews (see ). It was bad enough that Jesus and His disciples mingled with outcasts, but they did not even seek to be purified! Of course, in making this accusation, these religious leaders were forcing Jesus to deal with the very foundation of their religious faith. If Jesus rejected the sacred traditions of the nation, then He was a heretic!
Where did these traditions come from? They were handed down from the teachers of previous generations. These traditions were originally the “oral law” which (said the rabbis) Moses gave to the elders, and they passed down to the nation. This oral law was finally written down and became the Mishnah. Unfortunately, the Mishnah became more important and more authoritative than the original Law of Moses.
Our Lord’s reply to their charge began with an accusation (). It was they who were breaking God’s Law by practicing their traditions! He then proceeded with an illustration (), their practice of “Corban” (see ). The Hebrew word Corban means “a gift.” If a Jew wanted to escape some financial responsibilities, he would declare his goods to be “Corban—a gift to God.” This meant he was free from other obligations, such as caring for his parents. But in so doing, the person was losing the power of God’s Word in his life, and thus hurting his character and missing God’s blessing.
Jesus concluded His reply with an application (), quoting . Jesus made it clear that obedience to tradition made a person disobedient to the Word of God; and this proved the tradition to be false. taught a man to “honor” father and mother. But the “Corban” rule would make a person dishonor his parents, and, at the same time, disobey God.
Tradition is something external, while God’s truth is internal, in the heart. People obey tradition to please men and gain status (), but we obey the Word to please God. Tradition deals with ritual, while God’s truth deals with reality. Tradition brings empty words to the lips, but truth penetrates the heart and changes the life. Actually, tradition robs a person of the power of the Word of God.
Unfortunately, there are many “evangelical traditions” in churches today, man-made teachings that are often considered as authoritative as the Word of God—even though they contradict His Word. By obeying these traditions, Christians rob themselves of the power of God’s Word.
God wants us to give Him our hearts, and not just our lip service. We believe in the heart (), love from the heart (), sing from the heart (), obey from the heart (; ), and give from the heart (). No wonder David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God!” ()
Jesus declared boldly to the multitudes that sin comes from the heart, not from the diet. It is what comes out of the mouth that defiles us, not what goes in.
The disciples (vv. ). The disciples were astounded by what Jesus taught about foods. After all, they had been raised good Jews (see for Peter’s testimony). They knew the difference between the “clean” and “unclean” foods (Lev. 11).
But the disciples had another concern: This teaching had offended the Pharisees and was certain to create serious problems. But Jesus was not worried about the Pharisees. Neither they nor their teachings had been planted by God, and therefore would not last. While there are isolated groups that seek to maintain the traditions, for the most part, phariseeism is gone. However, the spirit of phariseeism (tradition, legalism, hypocrisy, externals) is still with us, what Jesus called “the leaven of the Pharisees” ().
Jesus also pointed out that the Pharisees were blind and could only lead their converts into the ditch. In , He called them “blind guides”—quite a graphic description. Why be afraid of rootless plants that are dying, or blind guides who cannot see where they are going?
Peter (vv. ). Peter was not content until he had an explanation of the saying about foods. Patiently our Lord explained the lesson again. The meaning seems obvious to us, but it was astonishingly new to orthodox Jews. Whatever enters the mouth eventually goes into the stomach and comes out in human waste. Food never touches the heart. But what comes out of the mouth begins in the heart, and these things defile a person. Of course, actions are included with words; often actions speak louder than words.
The Lord had to repeat this lesson on foods to Peter a few years later when He was going to call him to preach to the Gentiles (Acts 10). Paul repeated it in . He also dealt with it in Romans 14–15.
Compassion: He Responded to Gentile Needs ()
Not only did Jesus teach that no foods were unclean, but He practiced His teaching by going into Gentile territory. He left Israel and withdrew again, this time into the area of Tyre and Sidon. The Gentiles were “unclean” as far as the Jews were concerned. In fact, Jews referred to the Gentiles as “dogs.” That Jesus would minister to Gentiles was no surprise (), though at that time, the emphasis was on ministering to Israel ().
The demonized (vv. ). Jesus was trying to remain hidden (), but somehow this Canaanite woman heard where He was and came to Him with her need. Keep in mind that our Lord responded to this woman as He did, not to destroy her faith, but to develop it. Her own replies showed that she was growing in faith and unwilling to let Him go without getting an answer. Godly Samuel Rutherford stated this principle perfectly: “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge loving-kindness out of all the roughest strokes of God.”
When she approached Him as “Son of David,” she was definitely putting herself on Jewish ground; and this she could not do, because she was a Gentile. Of course, this title did reveal her faith in Him as the Messiah of God, for “Son of David” was a name for the Messiah (). Since she came to Him on Jewish terms, He was silent. Of course, He knew her heart, and even His silence encouraged her to continue asking.
Impatient with her persistent following and crying out, the disciples said, “Send her away!” We are not sure whether they meant, “Give her what she wants and get rid of her” or just “Get rid of her!” In either case, they were not showing much compassion for either her or her demonized daughter. Our Lord’s reply in indicates that they probably wanted Him to answer her request.
We cannot but admire the patience and persistence of this Gentile mother. “Lord, help me!” was her next plea; and this time she avoided any messianic titles. She came as a sinner needing help, and she offered no argument. In His reply, Jesus did not call her a “dog” the way the Pharisees would have addressed a Gentile. The Greek word means “a little pet dog” and not the filthy curs that ran the streets and ate the garbage. “The children” referred, of course, to the people of Israel.
Jesus was not playing games with the woman, nor was He trying to make the situation more difficult. He was drawing out of her a growing response of faith. She immediately seized on His illustration about the children’s bread, which was exactly what He wanted her to do. We may paraphrase her reply: “It is true that we Gentiles do not sit at the table as children and eat the bread. But even the pet dogs under the table can eat some of the crumbs!” What a tremendous testimony of faith!
It was this faith that Jesus acknowledged, and immediately He healed her daughter. It is worth noting that both of the persons in the Gospel of Matthew who had “great faith” were Gentiles: this Canaanite woman and the Roman centurion (). In both cases, Jesus healed the one in need from a distance. Spiritually speaking, the Gentiles were “afar off” until Calvary, when Jesus Christ died for both Jews and Gentiles and made reconciliation possible ().
This woman’s faith was great because she persisted in asking and trusting when everything seemed against her. Certainly her race was against her: She was a Gentile. Her sex was against her, for most Jewish rabbis paid little attention to women. It seemed that the disciples were against her, and Christ’s words might have led her to believe that even He was against her. All of these obstacles only made her persist in asking.
The sick and handicapped (vv. ). Jesus departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon and went to the region of the Decapolis. The Decapolis included ten cities that were in a league and were authorized by the Romans to mint their own coins, run their own courts, and have their own armies. This was predominantly Gentile territory.
Jesus healed there a man who was deaf and dumb (). Even though the Lord cautioned the man to be silent, he and his friends spread the account of the miracle abroad. This apparently caused a great crowd to gather—including people who were lame, blind, dumb, and crippled (maimed). Jesus healed these people, and the Gentiles “glorified the God of Israel.”
We cannot help but marvel at the contrast between these Gentiles and the Jewish leaders who knew the Old Testament Scriptures. The Gentiles glorified Israel’s God, but the Jewish leaders said that Jesus was in league with Satan (). Our Lord’s miracles did not cause the Jewish cities to repent (), yet the Gentiles believed in Him. The very miracles that He performed should have convinced the Jews that He was the Messiah (; ; ). Jesus marveled at the faith of a Gentile soldier and a Gentile mother. Yet He was amazed at the unbelief of His own people ().
The hungry (vv. ). Critics have accused the Gospel writers of deliberately falsifying the records in order to prove that Jesus performed more miracles. They claim that the feeding of the 4,000 was merely an adaptation of the previous miracle of feeding 5,000. A careful examination of the records shows that this accusation is false and that the critics are wrong. This chart shows the differences between the two events.
Feeding 5,000
Feeding 4,000
Primarily Jews
Primarily Gentiles
Galilee, near Bethsaida
The Decapolis
5 loaves, 2 fish
7 loaves, “a few fish”
12 baskets over
7 baskets over
Crowd with Him 1 day
Crowd with Him 3 days
Spring of year (green grass)
Summer season
Tried to make Him King
No popular response
Since the crowd of 4,000 had been with Him three days, they had used up their own supplies of food. Our Lord’s compassionate heart would not permit Him to send them on their way hungry, lest they faint along the way. The first motive for this miracle was simply the meeting of human needs. The people had already seen His miracles and glorified God, so the miracle was not for the purpose of preaching a sermon or authenticating His ministry.
However, this miracle did have a special purpose for His disciples. We are amazed that they had forgotten the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. (Read carefully .) The Twelve were perplexed when they should have been saying, “Jesus is able to multiply loaves and fish, so we have no need to worry!” Of course, it may be that they thought He would not perform that kind of a miracle in Gentile territory. Or, perhaps the fact that the previous crowd had tried to make Him King would cause Jesus to avoid repeating the miracle.
As in the feeding of the 5,000, this miracle took place in His hands. As Jesus broke the bread and gave it to His disciples, the bread multiplied. Everybody ate and everybody was satisfied. Again, Jesus ordered the fragments to be collected so that nothing be wasted. The ability to perform miracles does not grant the authority to waste God’s gifts.
The word translated baskets in means “a large hamper.” It is the same kind of basket that was used to lower Paul over the Damascus wall (). The word for basket in means “a wicker basket,” the kind a person carried with food or other goods in it. The fact that these two different words are used is further proof that the two miracles are different.
Jesus did not preach a sermon to this crowd on “the bread of life” as He did to the Jews in Capernaum, following the feeding of the 5,000 (). The facts about the Old Testament manna and the “bread of God” would have been foreign to these Gentiles. Jesus always adapted His teaching to the needs and the understanding of the people to whom He ministered.
Before leaving Matthew 15, let’s review several spiritual lessons that it contains for us.
(1) The enemies of truth are often religious people who live according to man’s traditions. Satan often uses “religion” to blind the minds of sinners to the simple truths of God’s Word.
(2) We must beware of any religious system that gives us an excuse to sin and disobey God’s Word.
(3) We must also beware of worship that comes from the lips only, and not from the heart.
(4) If we major on the inner man, the outer man will be what God wants it to be. True holiness comes from within.
(5) It is difficult to break free from tradition. There is something in us that wants to hold to the past and make no changes. Even Peter had to learn his lesson twice!
(6) We dare not limit Christ to any one nation or people. The Gospel came “to the Jew first” (), but today is for all men in all nations. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” ().
Matthew 16
The events recorded in Matthew 16 form a dramatic turning point in our Lord’s ministry. For the first time, He mentioned the church () and openly spoke about His death on the cross (). He began to prepare the disciples for His arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection. But, as we shall see, they were slow to learn their lessons.
The theme of faith runs through the events in this chapter. In these events, we see four different levels of faith and how they relate to Christ.
Their desire to silence Jesus had caused the two opposing religious parties to unite in one common effort. They were waiting for Him when He returned to Galilee. The Pharisees, of course, were the traditionalists of their day, while the Sadducees were quite liberal (see ). They united to issue a challenge to Jesus: “Show us a sign from heaven and we will believe You are the Christ.”
The word translated sign means much more than simply a miracle or a demonstration of power. It means “a wonder by which one may recognize a person or confirm who he is.”
This was the fourth time the religious leaders had asked for a sign (; ; ). Later, they did it again (). But miracles do not convince people of sin or give a desire for salvation (; ; ). Miracles will give confirmation where there is faith, but not where there is willful unbelief.
Why did our Lord talk about the weather? To reveal to His enemies their own dishonesty and stubborn blindness. They could examine the evidence in God’s world and draw valid conclusions, but they would not examine the evidence He had presented. His enemies would not believe, and therefore they could not believe (). The Pharisees and Sadducees did not lack evidence; they lacked honesty and humility.
Their demand for a sign revealed the sad condition of their hearts: they were evil and adulterous. He did not accuse them of being guilty of physical adultery, but of spiritual adultery (Isa. 57; ). These men were worshiping a false god of their own manufacture, and this was spiritual adultery. Had they been worshiping the true God, they would have recognized His Son when He came.
Jesus had mentioned the sign of Jonah before (see ). This was the sign of death, burial, and resurrection. Our Lord’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection were actually a sign to Israel that He was their Messiah. It was this sign that Peter preached about at Pentecost ().
records the Lord’s third departure from Galilee. He departed before to avoid Herod () and to avoid the Pharisees (). It was certainly an act of judgment.
Little Faith—Misunderstanding Christ ()
The disciples had but one loaf of bread with them (). We are not told what happened to the many baskets of leftover food that resulted from His feeding the 4,000 just a short time before. Perhaps they gave it away. Jesus used this embarrassing event as an occasion to teach an important spiritual truth: Beware of the false teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The disciples misunderstood Him; they thought He was talking about material bread. Often in the ministry of Jesus, people misconstrued His words by interpreting them literally rather than spiritually. Nicodemus thought that Jesus was talking about an actual physical birth (), and the Samaritan woman thought He was referring to material water from the well (). The Jewish crowd in the synagogue thought Jesus was speaking about eating actual flesh and blood () when He was describing a spiritual experience ().
As we noted in our study of Matthew 13, leaven was to the Jews a symbol of evil. Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees had infected the religious beliefs of Israel with false doctrine. The Pharisees were legalists who taught that only obedience to the Law and the traditions would please God and usher in His kingdom for Israel. The Sadducees were liberal in their thinking and denied that there would be such a kingdom on earth. They even denied the truth of the resurrection and the existence of angels.
Why would the Lord’s mention of leaven cause the disciples to discuss their lack of bread? Possibly they were planning to purchase bread on the other side of the sea, and they thought Jesus was cautioning them not to buy unclean bread which Jews could not eat. If they had remembered how Jesus had multiplied bread on two occasions, they certainly would not have worried. Their “little faith” kept them from understanding His teaching and depending on His power to meet their needs.
“Little faith” was one of our Lord’s favorite names for His disciples (; ; ). Of course, “little faith” is better than no faith. The disciples had many lessons to learn before they would graduate to “great faith.”
Saving Faith—Confessing Christ ()
Jesus took His disciples to Gentile territory, in the region of Caesarea Philippi. They were about 120 miles from Jerusalem in the northern part of Palestine. The region was strongly identified with various religions: It had been a center for Baal worship; the Greek god Pan had shrines there; and Herod the Great had built a temple there to honor Augustus Caesar. It was in the midst of this pagan superstition that Peter confessed Jesus as the Son of God. And it was probably within sight of Caesar’s temple that Jesus announced a surprise: He would not yet establish His kingdom, but He would build His church.
If anyone else asked, “Whom do men say that I am?” we would think him either mad or arrogant. But in the case of Jesus, a right confession of who He is is basic to salvation (; ; ). His person and His work go together and must never be separated. It is amazing to see how confused the public was about Jesus (). Perhaps, like Herod, the people thought Jesus was John raised from the dead.
It had been prophesied that Elijah would come again (), and some thought that this prediction was fulfilled in Christ. However, Jesus did not minister as did Elijah; it was John the Baptist who came “in the spirit and power of Elias” (). Jeremiah was the weeping prophet whose tender heart was broken at the sight of the decay of the nation. Certainly this attitude was seen in Jesus, the Man of sorrows.
One thing is clear: We can never make a true decision about Jesus Christ by taking a poll of the people. (But some people do get their “spiritual knowledge” this way!) The important thing is not what others say, but what do you and I personally say? The decisions of the crowd (wrong or right) can never substitute for personal decisions.
Peter had the correct response: “Thou art the Christ [the Messiah], the Son of the living God!” This confession was Peter’s response to the revelation God the Father had given him. Jesus Himself explained this experience in . This revelation was not the result of Peter’s own investigation. It came as the gracious act of God. God had hidden these things from the proud Pharisees and Sadducees and revealed them to “babes,” the humble disciples.
It should be noted that there had been other confessions of faith prior to this one. Nathanael had confessed Christ as the Son of God (), and the disciples had declared Him God’s Son after He stilled the storm (). Peter had given a confession of faith when the crowds left Jesus after His sermon on the Bread of Life (). In fact, when Andrew had brought his brother Simon to Jesus, it was on the basis of this belief ().
How, then, did this confession differ from those that preceded it? To begin with, Jesus explicitly asked for this confession. It was not an emotional response from people who had seen a miracle, but the studied and sincere statement of a man who had been taught by God.
Also, Jesus accepted this confession and built on it to teach them new truth. It must have rejoiced His heart to hear Peter’s words. The Lord knew that Peter could now be led into new steps of deeper truth and service. All of our Lord’s ministry to His disciples had prepared the way for this experience. Let’s look at these great words and concepts individually.
Rock. These Jewish men, steeped in Old Testament Scripture, recognized the rock as a symbol of God. “He is the Rock, His work is perfect” (). “The Lord is my Rock, and my Fortress” (). “For who is God save the Lord? Or who is a rock save our God?” ()
But let’s investigate the Greek words that the Holy Spirit led Matthew to use. “Thou art petros [a stone], and upon this rock [petra—a large rock] I will build My church.” Jesus had given Simon the new name of Peter () which means “a stone.” The Aramaic form is Cephas, which also means “a stone.” Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and confesses Him as the Son and God and Saviour, is a “living stone” (, NASB).
Jesus Christ is the foundation rock on which the church is built. The Old Testament prophets said so (; ). Jesus Himself said this (), and so did Peter and the other Apostles (). Paul also stated that the foundation for the church is Jesus Christ (). This foundation was laid by the Apostles and prophets as they preached Christ to the lost (; ; ).
In other words, when the evidence is examined, the total teaching of Scripture is that the church, God’s temple (), is built on Jesus Christ—not on Peter. How could God build His church on a fallible man like Peter? Later, the same Peter who confessed Christ became an adversary and entertained Satan’s thoughts (). “But that was before Peter was filled with the Spirit,” some argue. Then consider Peter’s doctrinal blunders recorded in Galatians 2, blunders that had to be dealt with by Paul. This event occurred after Peter was filled with the Spirit.
Church.This is the first occurrence of this important word in the New Testament. It is the Greek word ekklesia (ek-klay-SEE-uh) from which we get our English word “ecclesiastical,” referring to things that pertain to the church. The literal meaning is “a called-out assembly.” The word is used 114 times in the New Testament and in 90 of these references, a local church (assembly) is in view. However, in this first use of ekklesia, it seems likely that Jesus had the whole church in mind. He was not just building a local assembly, but a universal church composed of all who make the same confession of faith that Peter made.
The word ekklesia was not new to the disciples. This word was applied to the popular assembly of Greek citizens that helped to govern a city or district (, , ). Also, the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) used ekklesia to describe the congregation of Israel when it was gathered for religious activity (; ). However, this does not mean that the Old Testament congregation of Israel was a “church” in the same sense as the churches of the New Testament. Rather, Jesus was introducing something new to His disciples.
Jesus spoke about “My church” in contrast to these other assemblies. This was to be something new and different, for in His church, Jesus Christ would unite believing Jews and Gentiles and form a new temple, a new body (Eph. 2:11–3:12). In His church, natural distinctions would be unimportant (). Jesus Christ would be the Builder of this church, the Head of this church (; ).
Each believer in this church is a “living stone” (). Believers would meet in local congregations, or assemblies, to worship Christ and to serve Him; but they would also belong to a universal church, a temple being built by Christ. There is a oneness to the people of God () that ought to be revealed to the world by love and unity ().
Gates of hell. A better translation would be “gates of hades.” Hell is the final destiny of all unsaved people after the judgment of the Great White Throne (). Hades is simply “the realm of the dead.” It holds the spirits of the unsaved dead and releases them at the resurrection (; where “hell” ought to read “hades”). According to Jesus, hades is down (), and it is a prison to which He holds the keys ().
On the basis of , some people believe that all the dead went to hades prior to the death and resurrection of Christ—believers to a paradise portion and unbelievers to a punishment portion. We are certain that believers today, when they die, go immediately into the presence of Christ (; ).
“Gates” represent, in the Bible, authority and power. The city gate was to a Jew what city hall is to people in the Western world. Important business was transacted at the city gate (; ; ). “The gates of hades” then would symbolize the organized power of death and Satan. By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ would conquer death, so that death would not be able to hold any of His people. Christ would “storm the gates” and deliver the captives! This declaration certainly is verified by ; ; and other Scriptures.
Keys of the kingdom. A key is a badge of authority (, ; ). “The kingdom of heaven” is not heaven, for no man on earth carries the keys to heaven! (All of the jokes about “St. Peter at the gate” stem from this misunderstanding. They are both unbiblical and in bad taste.) We use keys to open doors. Peter was given the privilege of opening “the door of faith” to the Jews at Pentecost (Acts 2), to the Samaritans (), and to the Gentiles (Acts 10). But the other Apostles shared this authority (), and Paul had the privilege of “opening the door of faith” to the Gentiles outside of Palestine ().
Nowhere in this passage, or in the rest of the New Testament, are we told that Peter or his successors had any special position or privilege in the church. Certainly Peter in his two epistles claimed to be nothing more than an Apostle (), an elder (), and a servant of Jesus Christ ().
Binding and loosing. This was a very familiar phrase to the Jews, for their rabbis often spoke of “binding and loosing,” that is, forbidding or permitting. Our Lord’s statement in referred to Peter. But His statement later in included all of the Apostles. As the representatives of their Lord, they would exercise authority according to His Word.
The Greek verbs in are most important. The Expanded Translation by Dr. Kenneth S. Wuest reads: “And whatever you bind on earth [forbid to be done], shall have been already bound … in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth [permit to be done], shall have already been loosed in heaven.” Jesus did not say that God would obey what they did on earth, but that they should do on earth whatever God had already willed. The church does not get man’s will done in heaven; it obeys God’s will on earth.
The Apostles were not to share this truth about Jesus being the Son of God with other people until after His resurrection and ascension. Then the “sign of Jonah” would be completed, the Spirit would be given, and the message could be proclaimed. The nation in general, and certainly the religious leaders in particular, were not yet ready for this message. Read Peter’s sermon at Pentecost and see how he proclaimed Jesus as the Christ (Acts 2).
Serving Faith—Following Christ ()
Having declared His person, Jesus now declared His work; for the two must go together. He would go to Jerusalem, suffer and die, and be raised from the dead. This was His first clear statement of His death, though He had hinted at this before (; ; ; ; ). “And He was stating the matter plainly” (, NASB).
Peter’s response to this shocking statement certainly represented the feelings of the rest of the disciples: “Pity Thyself, Lord! This shall never happen to Thee!” Jesus turned His back on Peter and said, “Get behind Me, adversary! You are a stumbling block to Me!” (literal translation) Peter the “stone” who had just been blessed () became Peter the stumbling block who was not a blessing to Jesus!
What was Peter’s mistake? He was thinking like a man, for most men want to escape suffering and death. He did not have God’s mind in the matter. Where do we find the mind of God? In the Word of God. Until Peter was filled with the Spirit, he had a tendency to argue with God’s Word. Peter had enough faith to confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but he did not have the faith to believe that it was right for Jesus to suffer and die. Of course, Satan agreed with Peter’s words, for he used the same approach to tempt Jesus in the wilderness ().
Today the cross is an accepted symbol of love and sacrifice. But in that day the cross was a horrible means of capital punishment. The Romans would not mention the cross in polite society. In fact, no Roman citizen could be crucified; this terrible death was reserved for their enemies. Jesus had not yet specifically stated that He would be crucified (He did this in ). But His words that follow emphasize the cross.
He presented to the disciples two approaches to life:
deny yourself
live for yourself
take up your cross
ignore the cross
follow Christ
follow the world
lose your life for His sake
save your life for your own sake
forsake the world
gain the world
keep your soul
lose your soul
share His reward and glory
lose His reward and glory
To deny self does not mean to deny things. It means to give yourself wholly to Christ and share in His shame and death. Paul described this in and , as well as in . To take up a cross does not mean to carry burdens or have problems. (I once met a lady who told me her asthma was the cross she had to bear!) To take up the cross means to identify with Christ in His rejection, shame, suffering, and death.
But suffering always leads to glory. This is why Jesus ended this short sermon with a reference to His glorious kingdom (). This statement would be fulfilled within a week on the Mount of Transfiguration, described in the next chapter.
Matthew 17
The chapter begins with a glorious scene on a mountaintop, and ends with Peter catching a fish in order to pay his taxes. What a contrast! Yet, Jesus Christ the King is the theme of the entire chapter. The three events in this chapter give us three pictures of the King.
Matthew and Mark state that the Transfiguration took place “six days later,” while Luke says “some eight days after” (). There is no contradiction; Luke’s statement is the Jewish equivalent of “about a week later.” During that week, the disciples must have pondered and discussed what Jesus meant by His death and resurrection. No doubt they were also wondering what would happen to the Old Testament promises about the kingdom. If Jesus were going to build a church, what would happen to the promised kingdom?
The text does not name the place where this miracle took place. It was probably on Mount Hermon, which is close to Caesarea Philippi.
The Transfiguration revealed four aspects of the glory of Jesus Christ the King.
The glory of His person. As far as the record is concerned, this is the only time Jesus revealed His glory in this way while He was on the earth. The word translated transfigured gives us our English word “metamorphosis.” A metamorphosis is a change on the outside that comes from the inside. When a caterpillar builds a cocoon and later emerges as a butterfly, it is due to the process of metamorphosis. Our Lord’s glory was not reflected but radiated from within. There was a change on the outside that came from within as He allowed His essential glory to shine forth ().
Certainly this event would strengthen the faith of the disciples, particularly Peter who had so recently confessed Jesus to be the Son of God. Had Peter made his confession after the Transfiguration, it would not have been so meaningful. Peter believed, confessed his faith, and then received assurance (see ; ).
Many years later, John recalled this event as the Spirit guided him to write: “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (). In his Gospel, John emphasized the deity of Christ and the glory of His person (; ; ; ; ; ).
Jesus Christ laid aside His glory when He came to earth (). Because of His finished work on the cross, He has received back His glory and now shares it with us (, ). However, we do not have to wait for heaven to share in this “transfiguration glory.” When we surrender ourselves to God, He will “transfigure” our minds (). As we yield to the Spirit of God, He changes (transfigures) us “from glory to glory” (). As we look into the Word of God, we see the Son of God and are transfigured by the Spirit of God into the glory of God.
The glory of His kingdom. At the close of His sermon about cross-bearing, Jesus promised that some of the disciples would see “the Son of man coming in His kingdom” (). He selected Peter, James, and John as witnesses to this event. These three friends and business partners () had been with Jesus in the home of Jairus (), and they would go with Him into the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion (see ).
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan has pointed out that these three occasions all had to do with death. Jesus was teaching these three men that He was victor over death (He raised Jairus’ daughter) and surrendered to death (in the Garden). The Transfiguration taught them that He was glorified in death.
The presence of Moses and Elijah was significant. Moses represented the Law and Elijah the prophets. All of the Law and Prophets point to Christ and are fulfilled in Christ (; ). Not one word of the Old Testament Scriptures will be unfulfilled. The promised kingdom would be established (, ). Just as the three disciples saw Jesus glorified on earth, so God’s people would see Him in His glorious kingdom on earth (Rev. 19:11–20:6).
Peter caught this message and never forgot it. “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty … And so we have the prophetic word made more sure” (see ). The experience Peter had on the mount only fortified his faith in the Old Testament prophecies. The important thing is not seeing wonderful sights, but hearing God’s Word. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” ().
All who are born again belong to the kingdom of God (). This is a spiritual kingdom that is separate from the material things of this world (). But one day, when Jesus returns to this earth, there will be a glorious kingdom for 1,000 years () with Jesus Christ reigning as King. Those who have trusted Him shall reign on the earth with Him ().
The glory of His cross. The disciples had to learn that suffering and glory go together. Peter had opposed His going to Jerusalem to die, so Jesus had to teach him that, apart from His suffering and death, there could be no glory. Peter certainly learned the lesson, for in his first epistle he repeatedly emphasized “suffering and glory” (, ; 4:12–5:11).
Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus about His “exodus” that He would accomplish at Jerusalem (). His suffering and death would not be an accident, but an accomplishment. Peter used the word exodus in describing his own impending death (). For the believer, death is not a one-way street into oblivion. It is an exodus—a release—from the bondage of this life into the glorious liberty of the life in heaven.
Because Jesus died and paid the price, we have been redeemed—purchased and set free. The two Emmaus disciples had hoped that Jesus would set the nation free from Roman bondage (). What He died to accomplish was not political freedom, but spiritual freedom: freedom from the world system (); freedom from a vain and empty life (); and freedom from iniquity (). Our redemption in Christ is final and permanent.
The glory of His submission. Peter could not understand why the Son of God would submit to evil men and willingly suffer. The Transfiguration was God’s way of teaching Peter that Jesus is glorified when we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. The world’s philosophy is “Save yourself!” but the Christian’s philosophy is “Yield yourself to God!” As He stood there in glory, Jesus proved to the three disciples that surrender always leads to glory. First the suffering, then the glory; first the cross, then the crown.
Each of the three disciples would have a need for this important truth. James would be the first of the disciples to die (). John would be the last of the disciples to die, but he would go through severe persecution on the Isle of Patmos (). Peter would experience many occasions of suffering and would, in the end, give his life for Christ (; ).
Peter opposed the cross when Jesus first mentioned His death (). In the Garden, he used his sword to defend Jesus (). In fact, even on the Mount of Transfiguration Peter tried to tell Jesus what to do. He wanted to build three booths for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah so that all of them could remain there and enjoy the glory! But the Father interrupted Peter and gave other directions: “Hear Him!” The Father will not permit His beloved Son to be put on the same level as Moses and Elijah. “Jesus only” () is God’s pattern.
As Jesus and His three disciples came down from the mountaintop, He cautioned them not to reveal what they had seen, not even to the other nine disciples. But the three men were still perplexed. They had been taught that Elijah would come first to prepare for the establishing of the kingdom. Was the presence of Elijah on the mountain the fulfillment of this prophecy? ()
Jesus gave a twofold answer to their question. Yes, Elijah would come as promised. But spiritually speaking, Elijah already came in the person of John the Baptist (see ; ). The nation permitted John to be killed, and would ask for Jesus to be slain. Yet God’s program would be fulfilled in spite of the deeds of sinful leaders.
When will Elijah come to restore all things? Some people believe that Elijah will be one of the “two witnesses” whose ministry is described in Revelation 11. Others believe that the prophecy was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist so that there will be no future coming of Elijah.
We move from the mountain of glory to the valley of need. The sudden appearance of Jesus and the three disciples startled the multitudes (). The distraught father had brought his demonized son to the nine disciples, begging them to deliver him; but they could not. The scribes had noticed their failure and were using it as a reason for argument. And while the disciples were defending themselves, and the scribes were accusing them, the demon was all but killing the helpless boy.
When we compare the Gospel accounts of this dramatic scene, we discover that this only son was indeed in great trouble and danger. Matthew recorded that the boy was an epileptic (lunatic), very ill, and suicidal, falling into the fire and the water. Mark described him as a mute, who often fell to the ground foaming at the mouth and grinding his teeth. After this display, the boy would go into a kind of rigor mortis. Dr. Luke said that the boy was an only son and that he would scream as he went into these convulsions. While some of these symptoms can have natural causes, this boy was at the mercy of a demon. The disciples had been helpless to do anything. No wonder the father rushed to Jesus’ feet.
Our Lord’s first response was one of sorrow. As He beheld the embarrassed disciples, the arguing scribes, and the needy father and son, He groaned inwardly and said, “How long shall I be with you, and put up with you?” (, NASB) Their unbelief and spiritual perversity were a burden to Him. What must our Lord feel as He looks at powerless believers today?
Jesus delivered the boy and commanded the spirit never to return to him (). The demon tried “one last throw” (as Spurgeon put it) so that the crowd thought the boy was dead (). But Jesus raised the lad up and gave him to his father, while the crowds marveled and gave glory to God ().
The nine disciples should have been able to cast out the demon. Jesus had given them this power and authority (, ). But somehow, they had lost their power! When they asked Jesus the cause of their shameful failure, He told them: their lack of faith (), their lack of prayer (), and their lack of discipline (Matt. 17:21, though this verse is not found in many manuscripts).
The nine were perhaps jealous because they had not been called to go to the mountaintop with Jesus. During the Lord’s absence, they began to grow self-indulgent. They neglected prayer; their faith weakened. Then, when the crisis came, they were unprepared. Like Samson, they went out to battle without realizing that their power was gone (). From their example, we see the importance of staying spiritually healthy.
“Faith as a grain of mustard seed” suggests not only size (God will honor even a little faith), but also life and growth. Faith like a mustard seed is living faith that is nurtured and caused to grow. Faith must be cultivated so that it grows and does even greater exploits for God (; ). Had the nine disciples been praying, disciplining themselves, and meditating on the Word, they would have been able to cast out the demon and rescue the boy.
This entire scene illustrates what Jesus will do when He leaves the glory of heaven to come to this earth. He will defeat Satan and bind him for 1,000 years ().
For a second time, Jesus mentioned His death and resurrection. The disciples were deeply grieved and were afraid to ask Him about it. In fact, His disciples did not believe the reports of His resurrection because they had forgotten His promises (). But the enemy remembered what He said () and acted accordingly ().
What a paradox: a King too poverty-stricken to pay the annual temple tax of only a half-shekel! The unique characteristics of this miracle are worth noting.
It is recorded only by Matthew. Matthew, a former tax collector, wrote the Gospel of the King, and this miracle affirms our Lord’s kingship. The kings of the earth do not take tribute from their own sons. Jesus affirmed Himself to be free from this tribute because He was the Son of the King, the Son of God. Yet, as the Son of God, He was too poor to pay even a half-shekel; and His disciples were as poor as He was. He exercised His kingship over nature to provide what was needed.
God gave Adam and Eve dominion over nature, and this included the fish in the sea (; ). Man lost this dominion because of sin, so Peter was not able to command the fish and find the money. Jesus Christ exercised dominion over not only the fish, but also over the animals () and the birds (, ). What Adam lost because of his disobedience, Jesus Christ regained through His obedience ().
While today believers do not have complete dominion over nature, one day we shall reign with Christ and exercise dominion with Him. Meanwhile, God cares for His own and makes sure that all of nature is working for those who trust and obey.
It is the only miracle He performed to meet His own needs. Satan had tempted Christ to use His divine powers for Himself (), but He had refused. However, in this case, He did not use His power selfishly, for others were involved in this miracle. “Lest we cause them to stumble,” was our Lord’s explanation for the miracle. He did not want the people to be offended because He, being a Jew, did not support the temple ministry. While Jesus did not hesitate to break the man-made traditions of the Pharisees, He was careful to obey the Law of God.
As Christians, we must never use our freedom in Christ to hurt or destroy others. Technically, Jesus did not have to pay the tax; but for practical reasons, He paid it. He also included Peter so that their testimony would not be hurt.
It is the only miracle using money. Since Matthew had been a tax collector, we would expect him to be interested in this miracle. This tax had its origin in the days of Moses (). The original tax money was used to make the silver sockets on which the tabernacle poles were erected (). Subsequent taxes were used to support the ministry of the tabernacle and then the temple. The money was to be a reminder to the Jews that they had been redeemed from Egyptian slavery. We have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ ().
It is the only miracle using one fish. Jesus had multiplied the fish for Peter (), and He would repeat that miracle (). But in this case, He used only one fish. When we consider the complexity of this miracle, it amazes us. First, someone had to lose a coin in the water. Then, a fish had to take that coin in its mouth and retain it. That same fish then had to bite on Peter’s hook—with an impediment in its mouth—and be caught. You cannot explain all of this in a natural way. It is too complex for an accident, and too difficult for human management.
It was performed for Peter. How the other disciples paid their taxes, we are not told. This was one of many miracles that Jesus performed for Peter. He healed Peter’s mother-in-law (), helped Peter to catch fish (), enabled him to walk on the water (), healed Malchus’ ear (), and delivered Peter from prison (). No wonder Peter wrote, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” ().
Jesus knew Peter’s need and was able to meet that need. Peter thought he had the problem solved when he entered the house. But before he could tell Jesus what to do, Jesus told him what to do! God the Father had interrupted Peter on the mountain (), and now God the Son interrupted him in the house. If only we would let Jesus give the directions, we would see Him meet our needs for His glory.
It is the only miracle which does not have the results recorded. We would expect another verse that would read: “And Peter went to the sea, cast in a hook, and drew up a fish; and when he had opened its mouth, he found there a coin, and used it to pay the temple tax for himself and for Jesus.” But is not there. Then, how do we know that the miracle took place? Because Jesus said it would! “There hath not failed one word of all His good promise” ().
We must commend Peter for his faith. The people at the seashore were accustomed to seeing Peter with a net in his hand, not a hook and line. But Peter had faith in God’s Word, and God honored that faith. If we trust the King, He will meet our needs as we obey His Word.
Matthew 18
Why do some of God’s children have such a difficult time getting along with each other? A poem I heard states the problem perfectly:
To live above, with saints we love
Will certainly be glory.
To live below, with saints we know—
Well, that’s another story!
With so much division and dissension among professing Christians these days, we desperately need what Matthew 18 has to teach. Jesus rebuked His disciples for their pride and desire for worldly greatness, and He taught them the three essentials for unity and harmony among God’s people.
Someone has accurately defined humility as “that grace that, when you know you have it, you’ve lost it!” It has well been said, “True humility is not thinking meanly of oneself; it is simply not thinking of oneself at all.”
The need for humility (v. ). “Which one of us is the greatest?” was a repeated topic of discussion among the disciples, for we find it mentioned often in the Gospel records. Recent events would have aggravated the problem, particularly with reference to Peter. After all, Peter had walked on the water, had been on the mountaintop with the Lord, and had even had his taxes paid by means of a miracle.
The fact that Jesus had been sharing with the disciples the truth about His coming suffering and death did not affect them. They were thinking only of themselves and what position they would have in His kingdom. So absorbed were the disciples in this matter that they actually argued with each other! ()
The selfishness and disunity of God’s people is a scandal to the Christian faith. What causes these problems? Pride—thinking ourselves more important than we really are. It was pride that led man into sin at the beginning (). When Christians are living for themselves and not for others, then there is bound to be conflict and division ().
The example of humility (vv. , ). The disciples waited breathlessly for Jesus to name the greatest man among them. But He bypassed them completely and called a little child into their midst. This child was the example of true greatness.
True humility means knowing yourself, accepting yourself, and being yourself—your best self—to the glory of God. It means avoiding two extremes: thinking less of yourself than you ought to (as did Moses when God called him, ), or thinking more of yourself than you ought to (). The truly humble person does not deny the gifts God has given him, but uses them to the glory of God.
An unspoiled child has the characteristics that make for humility: trust (), dependence, the desire to make others happy, an absence of boasting or selfish desire to be greater than others. By nature, all of us are rebels who want to be celebrities instead of servants. It takes a great deal of teaching for us to learn the lessons of humility.
The disciples wanted to know who was greatest in the kingdom. But Jesus warned them that, apart from humility, they could not even enter the kingdom! They had to be converted—turned around in their thinking—or they would never make it.
It seems that Jesus is, in these verses, blending two concepts: the human child as an example of humility, and the child of God no matter what his age might be. As Christians, we must not only accept the little children for Jesus’ sake; but we must also receive all of God’s children and seek to minister to them (). It is a serious matter to cause a child to sin or to lead him astray. It is equally as serious to cause another believer to stumble because of our poor example (; ). True humility thinks of others, not of self.
Jesus explained that we can have four different attitudes toward the children and, consequently, toward true humility. We can seek to become like the children () in true humility, as to the Lord. Or, we can only receive them () because Jesus told us to. If we are not careful, we will cause them to stumble (), and even end up despising them ().
It is a dangerous thing to look down on the children, because God values them highly. When we welcome a child (or a Christian believer), we welcome Christ (). The Father cares for them and the angels watch over them (). Like the good shepherd, God seeks the lost and saves them; and we must not cause them to perish. If the shepherd goes after an adult sheep, how much more important is it that he protect the lambs!
In these days of child neglect and child abuse, we need to take Christ’s warning seriously. It is better to drown with a heavy millstone around one’s neck, than to abuse a child and face the judgment of God ().
The cost of humility (vv. ). The truly humble person helps to build up others, not to tear them down. He is a stepping-stone, not a stumbling block. Therefore, anything that makes me stumble must be removed from my life, for if it is not, I cause others to stumble. Jesus had uttered similar words in the Sermon on the Mount (). Paul used the eye, hand, and foot to illustrate the mutual dependence of members of the body of Christ ().
Humility begins with self-examination, and it continues with self-denial. Jesus was not suggesting that we maim our bodies, for harming our physical bodies can never change the spiritual condition of our hearts. Rather, He was instructing us to perform “spiritual surgery” on ourselves, removing anything that causes us to stumble or that causes others to stumble. The humble person lives for Jesus first and others next—he puts himself last. He is happy to deprive himself even of good things, if it will make others happy. Perhaps the best commentary on this is .
We don’t always practice humility. There are times when, deliberately or unconsciously, we offend others and hurt them. Even the Old Testament Law recognized “sins of ignorance” (), and David prayed to be delivered from “secret faults” (), meaning “faults that are even hidden from my own eyes.” What should we do when another Christian has sinned against us or caused us to stumble? Our Lord gave several instructions.
Keep the matter private. Approach the person who sinned and speak with him alone. It is possible that he does not even realize what he has done. Or, even if he did it deliberately, your own attitude of submission and love will help him to repent and apologize. Above all else, go to him with the idea of winning your brother, not winning an argument. It is possible to win the argument and lose your brother.
We must have a spirit of meekness and gentleness when we seek to restore a brother or sister (). We must not go about condemning the offender, or spreading gossip. We must lovingly seek to help him in the same way we would want him to help us if the situation were reversed. The word restore in is a Greek medical word that means “to set a broken bone.” Think of the patience and tenderness that requires!
Ask for help from others. If the offender refuses to make things right, then we may feel free to share the burden with one or two dependable believers. We should share the facts as we see them and ask the brethren for their prayerful counsel. After all, it may be that we are wrong. If the brethren feel the cause is right, then together we can go to the offender and try once again to win him. Not only can these men assist in prayer and persuasion, but they can be witnesses to the church of the truth of the conversation (; ).
When sin is not dealt with honestly, it always spreads. What was once a matter between two people has now grown to involve four or five people. No wonder Jesus and Paul both compared sin to leaven (yeast), because leaven spreads.
Ask the church for help. Remember, our goal is not the winning of a case but the winning of a brother. The word gained in is used in to refer to winning the lost; but it is also important to win the saved. This is our Lord’s second mention of the church (see ), and here it has the meaning of a local assembly of believers. Our Lord’s disciples were raised in the Jewish synagogue, so they were familiar with congregational discipline.
What started as a private problem between two people is now out in the open for the whole church to see. Church discipline is a neglected ministry these days, yet it is taught here and in the epistles (see 1 Cor. 5; ; ; ). Just as children in the home need discipline, so God’s children in the church need discipline. If by the time the matter comes to the whole church, the offender has not yet changed his mind and repented, then he must be disciplined. He cannot be treated as a spiritual brother, for he has forfeited that position. He can only be treated as one outside the church, not hated, but not held in close fellowship.
Keep the local church spiritual (vv. ). It is important that the local assembly be at its best spiritually before it seeks to discipline a member. When a church disciplines a member, it is actually examining itself and disciplining itself. This is why our Lord added these words about authority, prayer, and fellowship. We cannot discipline others if we ourselves are not disciplined. Whatever we loose (permit) in the assembly must first have been permitted by God (see the comments on Matt. 16:19).
The church must be under the authority of God’s Word. Church discipline does not refer to a group of Christian policemen throwing their weight around. Rather, it means God exercising His authority in and through a local body, to restore one of His erring children.
Not only must there be the authority of the Word, but there must also be prayer (). The word agree in the Greek gives us our English word “symphony.” The church must agree in prayer as it seeks to discipline the erring member. It is through prayer and the Word that we ascertain the will of the Father in the matter.
Finally, there must be fellowship (). The local church must be a worshiping community, recognizing the presence of the Lord in their midst. The Holy Spirit of God can convict both the offender and the church, and He can even judge sin in the midst (Acts 5).
There is a desperate need for honesty in the church today. “Speaking the truth in love” is God’s standard (). If we practice love without truth, it is hypocrisy. But if we try to have truth without love, it may be brutality. Jesus always taught the truth in love. If the truth hurts, it is because “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” ().
But keep in mind that humility must come before honesty. A proud Christian cannot speak the truth in love. He will use a brother’s faults as a weapon to fight with and not as a tool to build with. The result will be only greater disharmony and disagreement.
The first internal problem of the New Testament church was dishonesty (Acts 5). Ananias and Sapphira tried to make the church members believe that they were more spiritual than they really were. They lied to themselves in thinking they could get away with the masquerade; they lied to their fellow Christians and the church leaders; and they tried to lie to the Holy Spirit. The result was judgment and death. God may not kill every hypocrite in the church today, but hypocrisy certainly helps to kill the church.
The second internal problem (Acts 6) had to do with people being neglected. The members and leaders faced this problem with truth and love, and the result was blessing. It takes both truth and love, and both must be used with humility.
When we start living in an atmosphere of humility and honesty, we must take some risks and expect some dangers. Unless humility and honesty result in forgiveness, relationships cannot be mended and strengthened. Peter recognized the risks involved and asked Jesus how he should handle them in the future.
But Peter made some serious mistakes. To begin with, he lacked humility himself. He was sure his brother would sin against him, but not he against his brother! Peter’s second mistake was in asking for limits and measures. Where there is love, there can be no limits or dimensions (). Peter thought he was showing great faith and love when he offered to forgive at least seven times. After all, the rabbis taught that three times was sufficient.
Our Lord’s reply, “Until seventy times seven” (490 times) must have startled Peter. Who could keep count for that many offenses? But that was exactly the point Jesus was making: Love “keeps no record of wrongs” (, NIV). By the time we have forgiven a brother that many times, we are in the habit of forgiving.
But Jesus was not advising careless or shallow forgiveness. Christian love is not blind (). The forgiveness Christ requires is on the basis of the instructions He gave in . If a brother is guilty of a repeated sin, no doubt he would find strength and power to conquer that sin through the encouragement of his loving and forgiving brethren. If we condemn a brother, we bring out the worst in him. But if we create an atmosphere of love and forgiveness, we can help God bring out the best in him.
The parable illustrates the power of forgiveness. It is important to note that this parable is not about salvation, for salvation is wholly of grace and is unconditionally given. To make God’s forgiveness a temporary thing is to violate the very truth of Scripture (; ; ). The parable deals with forgiveness between brothers, not between lost sinners and God. The emphasis in this chapter is on brother forgiving brother (, ).
The main character in this parable went through three stages in his experience of forgiveness.
He was a debtor (vv. ). This man had been stealing funds from the king and, when the books were audited, his crime was discovered. The total tax levy in Palestine was about 800 talents a year, so you can see how dishonest this man was. In terms of today’s buying power, this was probably equivalent to over $10 million.
But this man actually thought he could get out of the debt. He told the king that, given enough time, he could pay it back. We detect two sins here: pride and a lack of sincere repentance. The man was not ashamed because he stole the money; he was ashamed because he got caught. And he actually thought he was big enough to earn the money to repay the king’s account. In the economy of that day, a man would have had to work twenty years to earn one talent.
His case was hopeless, except for one thing: The king was a man of compassion. He assumed the loss and forgave the servant. This meant that the man was free and that he and his family would not be thrown into a debtor’s prison. The servant did not deserve this forgiveness; it was purely an act of love and mercy on the part of the master.
He was a creditor (vv. ). The servant left the presence of the king and went and found a fellow servant who owed him 100 pence. The average worker earned one penny a day, so this debt was insignificant compared to what the servant had owed the king. Instead of sharing with his friend the joy of his own release, the servant mistreated his friend and demanded that he pay the debt. The debtor used the same approach as the servant: “Have patience with me and I will pay you all of it!” But the unjust servant was unwilling to grant to others what he wanted others to grant to him.
Perhaps he had the legal right to throw the man in prison, but he did not have the moral right. He had been forgiven himself—should he not forgive his fellow servant? He and his family had been spared the shame and suffering of prison. Should he not spare his friend?
He became a prisoner (vv. ). The king originally delivered him from prison, but the servant put himself back in. The servant exercised justice and cast his friend into prison. “So you want to live by justice?” asked the king. “Then you shall have justice! Throw the wicked servant in prison and torment him! I will do to him as he has done to others.” (There is no suggestion that the entire family was sentenced. After all, it was the father who abused the other servant and ignored the king’s kindness.)
The world’s worst prison is the prison of an unforgiving heart. If we refuse to forgive others, then we are only imprisoning ourselves and causing our own torment. Some of the most miserable people I have met in my ministry have been people who would not forgive others. They lived only to imagine ways to punish these people who had wronged them. But they were really only punishing themselves.
What was wrong with this man? The same thing that is wrong with many professing Christians: They have received forgiveness, but they have not really experienced forgiveness deep in their hearts. Therefore, they are unable to share forgiveness with those who have wronged them. If we live only according to justice, always seeking to get what is ours, we will put ourselves into prison. But if we live according to forgiveness, sharing with others what God has shared with us, then we will enjoy freedom and joy. Peter asked for a just measuring rod; Jesus told him to practice forgiveness and forget the measuring rod.
Our Lord’s warning is serious. He did not say that God saves only those who forgive others. The theme of this parable is forgiveness between brothers, not salvation for lost sinners. Jesus warned us that God cannot forgive us if we do not have humble and repentant hearts. We reveal the true condition of our hearts by the way we treat others. When our hearts are humble and repentant, we will gladly forgive our brothers. But where there is pride and a desire for revenge, there can be no true repentance; and this means God cannot forgive.
In other words, it is not enough to receive God’s forgiveness, or even the forgiveness of others. We must experience that forgiveness in our hearts so that it humbles us and makes us gentle and forgiving toward others. The servant in the parable did not have a deep experience of forgiveness and humility. He was simply glad to be “off the hook.” He had never really repented.
“And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (). “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you” ().
The King’s “retirement” from the crowds was about to come to an end. But the attacks of the enemy would grow more intense, culminating in His arrest and crucifixion. The religious leaders had already tried to ensnare Him with questions about the Sabbath and signs, and they had failed. They tried again, this time with a most controversial issue—divorce.
This subject is both important and controversial today. The divorce rate continues to climb (at this writing, one divorce for every 1.8 marriages), and divorce has invaded even the homes of Christian leaders. Someone has commented that couples “are married for better or for worse, but not for long.” We need to examine again what Jesus taught about this subject. He explained four different laws relating to marriage and divorce.
Instead of going back to Deuteronomy, Jesus went back to Genesis. What God did when He established the first marriage teaches us positively what He had in mind for a man and a woman. If we build a marriage after God’s ideal pattern, we will not have to worry about divorce laws.
The reasons for marriage. The only thing that was not “good” about Creation was the fact that the man was alone (). The woman was created to meet this need. Adam could not find fellowship with the animals. He needed a companion who was equal to him and with whom he could find fulfillment. God’s answer to this need was Eve.
Marriage makes possible the continuation of the race. “Be fruitful, and multiply” was God’s mandate to the first married couple (). From the beginning it was God’s command that sex be practiced in the commitment of marriage. Outside of marriage, sex becomes a destructive force; but within the loving commitment of marriage, sex can be creative and constructive.
Marriage is one way to avoid sexual sins (). Of course, a man should not marry simply to legalize lust! If he is lustful outside of marriage, he will no doubt be lustful after he is married. He should not think that getting married will solve all of his personal problems with lust. But marriage is God’s appointed way for a man and a woman to share the physical joys of sex.
Paul used marriage as an illustration of the intimate relationship between Christ and the church (). Just as Eve was taken from the side of Adam (), so the church was born from the suffering and death of Christ on the cross. Christ loves His church, nourishes it with His Word, cleanses it, and cares for it. Christ’s relationship to His church is the example for all husbands to follow.
The characteristics of marriage. By going back to the original Edenic Law, Jesus reminded His listeners of the true characteristics of marriage. If we remember these characteristics, we will better know how to build a happy and enduring marriage.
It is a divinely appointed union. God established marriage, and therefore only God can control its character and laws. No court of law can change what God has established.
It is a physical union. The man and woman become “one flesh.” While it is important that a husband and wife be of one mind and heart, the basic union in marriage is physical. If a man and woman became “one spirit” in marriage, then death would not dissolve the marriage; for the spirit never dies. Even if a man and woman disagree, are “incompatible,” and cannot get along, they are still married; for the union is a physical one.
It is a permanent union. God’s original design was that one man and one woman spend one life together. God’s original Law knows nothing of “trial marriages.” God’s Law requires that the husband and wife enter into marriage without reservations.
It is a union between one man and one woman. God did not create two men and one woman, two women and one man, two men, or two women. “Group marriages,” “gay marriages,” and other variations are contrary to the will of God, no matter what some psychologists and jurists may say.
While Jesus did not refer to the seventh commandment in this discussion, He did quote it in the Sermon on the Mount (). Let’s examine what He said.
Jesus and the New Testament writers affirm the authority of “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (). While the word fornication seems to cover many kinds of sexual sins (see ; ; ), adultery involves only married people. When a married person has intercourse with someone other than his or her mate, that is adultery. God has declared that it is wrong and it is sin. There are numerous warnings in the New Testament against sexual sins, including adultery (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).
This commandment affirms the sanctity of sex. God created it, God protects it, and God punishes when His law is violated. Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament for us to heed. (The Sabbath commandment was given only to Israel and does not apply to the church today.) We must not think that because we are “under grace” we can flaunt God’s Law and get away with it. “Fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (, NASB).
However, Jesus went much deeper in His discussion of adultery. He showed that this can be a sin of the heart as well as a sin of the body. It is not enough simply to control the body; we must also control the inner thoughts and desires. To look at a woman for the purpose of lusting after her is to commit adultery in the heart. This does not mean that we cannot admire a beautiful person or picture; for it is possible to do that and not sin. It is when we look with the intention of satisfying lustful desires, that we commit adultery in the heart.
A sanctified sex life begins with the inner desires. Jesus singled out the eye and the hand, because seeing and feeling are usually the first steps toward sexual sin. Of course, He did not command us to perform physical surgery, since He was clearly dealing with the inner desires. He commanded us to deal drastically with sin, to remove from our lives anything that would pamper our wrong desires. We must “hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
Jesus did not alter the original Edenic Law of marriage, nor did He annul the seventh commandment. What He taught was based solidly on God’s creation and God’s moral law.
Like many people who “argue religion,” these Pharisees were not interested in discovering truth. They were interested only in defending themselves and what they believed. This was why they asked about the Jewish law of divorce recorded in .
I suggest you read this important passage in the New American Standard Bible to distinguish the tenses of the verbs. This translation makes it clear that Moses gave only one commandment: The divorced wife could not return to her first husband if she was put away by a second husband. Moses did not command divorce; he permitted it. He commanded that the husband give his ex-wife a legal bill of divorcement. But the wife could not return to her first husband after being remarried and divorced.
What a wise law this was. To begin with, the husband would think twice before hastily putting away his wife, since he could not get her back again. Furthermore, it would have taken time to find a scribe (not everyone could write legal documents), and during that time the two estranged people might have been reconciled. The Pharisees were interpreting Moses’ Law as though it were a commandment. Jesus made it clear that Moses was only giving permission for divorce.
But what did Moses mean by some uncleanness in her? The Hebrew means “some matter of nakedness,” but this need not refer to sexual sin. That phrase is the equivalent of “some shameful thing” (see ; , ). It is the interpretation of this phrase that divided the two schools of Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai, famous first-century Jewish scholars. Hillel took a very lax view and said that the husband could divorce his wife for almost any reason, while Shammai took the stricter view and said Moses was speaking only about sexual sin. No matter which side Jesus took, He would surely offend somebody.
There were several laws of marriage given to the Jews, and we must examine them in order to get some perspective. For example, if a man married a woman and discovered that she was not a virgin, he could expose her sin and have her stoned (). Of course, he had to have proof; and if he did not, he was fined and had to live with the woman all of his life. This law was as much a protection to the woman as to the man.
If a man suspected his wife of unfaithfulness, he followed the procedure outhned in . We cannot follow that procedure today (which certainly included elements of divine judgment) since there is no priesthood or tabernacle.
Remember that the Law of Moses demanded the death penalty for those who committed adultery (; ). Our Lord’s enemies appealed to this law when they tried to trap Him (). While we have no record in the Old Testament that anyone was stoned for committing adultery, this was the divine law. The experience of Joseph () indicates that the Jews used divorce rather than stoning in dealing with an adulterous wife.
Why did God command that the adulterer or adulteress be stoned to death? Certainly as an example to warn the people, for adultery undermines the very fabric of society and the home. There must be commitment in marriage, and faithfulness to each other and to God, if there is to be stability in society and in the church. God had to preserve Israel because the promised Saviour would come through that nation. God opposed divorce in Israel because it weakened the nation and threatened the birth of the Messiah (see ).
But there was another reason for capital punishment: This left the other party free to marry again. Death breaks the marriage bond, since marriage is a physical union (). It was important that families be continued in Israel that they might protect their inheritance (Num. 36).
We must note one final fact before leaving this section: The divorce that Moses permitted in Deuteronomy 24 actually severed the original marriage relationship. God permitted the woman to marry again, and her second marriage was not considered adulterous. The second man she married was called a “husband” and not an adulterer. This explains how the woman of Samaria could have had five husbands, and yet be living with a man not her husband (). Apparently all five of those marriages had been legal and scriptural.
This means that scriptural divorce does sever the marriage relationship. Man cannot break this relationship by his laws, but God can break it. The same God who gives the laws that join people together can also give laws to put them asunder. God can do it, but man cannot.
Finally, Jesus made it clear that this Mosaic Law of divorce was a concession on God’s part. God’s original law of marriage left no room for divorce, but that law was laid down before man had sinned. Rather than have two people living together in constant conflict, with one or both of them seeking fulfillment elsewhere and thus commit sin, God permitted divorce. This divorce included the right to remarriage. The Pharisees did not ask about remarriage, for this was no problem. They accepted the fact that the parties would seek other mates, and this was allowed by Moses.
Our Lord’s Law of Marriage (; )
When Jesus said “And I say unto you,” He was claiming to be God; for only God can establish or alter the laws of marriage. He declared that marriage was a permanent union that could only be broken by sexual sin. The word fornication in the New Testament covers many kinds of sexual sins. The definition of fornication as “sexual sin between two unmarried persons” would not apply here, for Jesus was talking about married persons. Are we to believe that the 23,000 men who committed fornication under the enticement of Baalam (Num. 25) were all unmarried men? Was the admonition of , sent only to single church members?
Marriage is a permanent physical union that can be broken only by a physical cause: death or sexual sin. (I would take it that homosexuality and bestiality would qualify.) Man cannot break the union, but God can. Under the Old Testament Law, the sinner was stoned to death. But the church today does not bear the sword (). Were adultery and fornication more serious under the Law than the same sins are today? Of course not! If anything, such sins are even worse today in the light of the full revelation of God’s grace and holiness that we now have in Jesus Christ.
The conclusion seems to be that divorce in the New Testament is the equivalent of death in the Old Testament: It permitted the innocent party freedom to remarry.
Notice that our Lord’s new law of marriage and divorce was based on the three previous laws. From the Edenic Law He took the principle that marriage was a physical union that could only be broken by a physical cause, and that only God could permit the breaking of the union. From the seventh commandment He took the principle that sexual sin did indeed break the marriage union. From the Mosaic Law of divorce He took the principle that God could ordain divorce and effectively break the marriage union, and that the freed party could remarry and not be guilty of adultery.
Our Lord’s teaching is that there is only one scriptural basis for divorce, and that is sexual sin (fornication). If two people are divorced on any other basis, and marry other mates, they are committing adultery.
Jesus did not teach that the offended mate had to get a divorce. Certainly there can be forgiveness, patient healing, and a restoration of the broken relationship. This would be the Christian approach to the problem. But, sad to say, because of the hardness of our hearts, it is sometimes impossible to heal the wounds and save the marriage. Divorce is the final option, not the first option.
Happy marriages are not accidents. They are the result of commitment, love, mutual understanding, sacrifice, and hard work. If a husband and wife are fulfilling their marriage vows, they will enjoy a growing relationship that will satisfy them and keep them true to each other. Except for the possibility of sudden temptation, no husband or wife would think of a relationship with another person, so long as their relationship at home is growing and satisfying. And the pure love of a husband or wife is a great protection against even sudden temptation.
The disciples’ response to Christ’s teaching showed that they disagreed with Him. “If there is no way to get out of a bad marriage, then you are better off staying single!” was their argument. Jesus did not want them to consider divorce as an “out” because then they would not have a serious attitude toward marriage.
In , Jesus made it clear that each man (and woman) must consider God’s will concerning marriage. Some people should not get married because of physical or emotional problems from birth. Others should not get married because of their responsibilities in society; they have been “made eunuchs by man.” An only child who must care for aged parents might be an example of this category. Some, like the Apostle Paul, stay single that they might better serve the Lord ().
It is fitting that our Lord’s teaching about marriage should be followed by His blessing of the children for children are the happy heritage of those who are married. Jesus did not look on the children as a curse or a burden. “Two shall become one flesh” is fulfilled in the birth of children, and the love of the parents is deepened and matured as it is shared with others in the home.
The parents brought the children to Jesus that He might bless them. There is no thought here of baptism or even of salvation. Children who have not reached the age of accountability () are surely covered by the death of Christ (). Children are born sinners (); but if they die before they are accountable, they are regenerated and taken to heaven (; ).
The children were certainly privileged to have Jesus take them in His arms and pray for them. Our practice of baby dedication today seeks to follow this example. How happy those children are whose parents are married in the will of God, and who are seeking to obey God, and who bring them to Jesus for His blessing.
Matthew 19:16–20:34
We cannot follow the King without paying a price. After all, He went to the cross for us! Have we the right to escape sacrifice and suffering? In this section, our Lord explains the rightful demands that He makes on those who want to trust Him and be His disciples.
We Must Love Christ Supremely ()
Each of the first three Gospels records this event. When we combine the facts, we learn that this man was rich, young, and a ruler—probably the ruler of a synagogue. We can certainly commend this young man for coming publicly to Christ and asking about external matters. He seemed to have no ulterior motive and was willing to listen and learn. Sadly, he made the wrong decision.
The event seems to develop around several important questions.
“What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (vv. ) The man was obviously sincere, though his approach to salvation was centered on works and not faith. But this was to be expected among the Jews of that day. However, in spite of his position in society, his morality, and his religion, he felt a definite need for something more.
But our Lord’s reply did not focus on salvation. He forced the young man to think seriously about the word good that he had used in addressing Jesus. “Only God is good,” Jesus said. “Do you believe that I am good and therefore that I am God?” If Jesus is only one of many religious teachers in history, then His words carry no more weight than the pronouncements of any other religious leader. But if Jesus is good, then He is God, and we had better heed what He says.
Why did Jesus bring up the commandments? Did He actually teach that people receive eternal life by obeying God’s Law? If anyone could keep the commandments, he certainly would enter into life. But no one can keep God’s Law perfectly. “Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin” (). Jesus did not introduce the Law to show the young man how to be saved, but to show him that he needed to be saved. The Law is a mirror that reveals what we are ().
“Which commandments?” (vv. ) Was the young man being evasive? I don’t think so. But he was making a mistake, for one part of God’s Law cannot be separated from another part. To classify God’s laws into “lesser” and “greater” is to miss the whole purpose of the Law. “For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (). The Law represents the authority of God, and to disobey what we may think is a minor law is still to rebel against His authority.
Of course, the young man thought only of external obedience. He forgot about the attitudes of the heart. Jesus had taught in the Sermon on the Mount that hatred was the moral equivalent of murder, and that lust was the equivalent of adultery. We rejoice that this young man had such good manners and morals. But we regret that he did not see his sin, repent, and trust Christ.
The one commandment that especially applied to him, Jesus did not quote: “Thou shalt not covet” (). The young man should have pondered all of the commandments and not just the ones that Jesus quoted. Was he looking for easy discipleship? Was he being dishonest with himself? I believe that his testimony was sincere, as far as he knew. But he did not permit the light of the Word to penetrate deeply enough. Jesus felt a sudden love for this young man (), so He continued to try to help him.
“What lack I yet?” (vv. ) Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that a sinner is saved by selling his goods and giving the money away. Jesus never told Nicodemus to do this, or any other sinner whose story is recorded in the Gospels. Jesus knew that this man was covetous; he loved material wealth. By asking him to sell his goods, Jesus was forcing him to examine his own heart and determine his priorities. With all of his commendable qualities, the young man still did not truly love God with all of his heart. Possessions were his god. He was unable to obey the command, “Go and sell … come and follow.”
The young man went away grieved, but he could have gone away in great joy and peace. We cannot love and serve two masters (). We can be sure that, apart from Christ, even the material possessions of life give no lasting joy or pleasure. It is good to have the things money can buy provided we do not lose the things that money cannot buy. Unless this rich ruler eventually turned to Christ, he died without salvation, one of the “richest” men in the cemetery.
“Who then can be saved?” (vv. ) The Jewish people of that day believed that riches were an evidence of God’s blessing. They based this on the promises God gave the Jewish nation at the beginning of their history. It is true that God did promise material blessing if they obeyed, and material loss if they disobeyed (see Deut. 26–28). But in the infancy of the race, the only way God could teach them was through rewards and punishments. We teach young children in the same manner.
However, the highest kind of obedience is not based on a desire for reward or the fear of punishment. It is motivated by love. In His life and His teaching, Jesus tried to show the people that the inner spiritual blessings are far more important than the material gains. God sees the heart, and God wants to build character. Salvation is the gift of God in response to man’s faith. Material riches are not a guarantee that God is pleased with a man.
The disciples, being good Jews, were amazed at the Lord’s statement about riches. Their question reflected their theology: “If a rich man cannot be saved, what hope is there for the rest of us?” Of course, Jesus did not say that the possessing of wealth kept a man from the kingdom. Some manuscripts of read, “How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.” This is certainly the import of our Lord’s teaching. Abraham was a very wealthy man, yet he was a man of great faith. It is good to possess wealth if wealth does not possess you.
We cannot follow the King and live for worldly wealth. We cannot serve God and money. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (). Jesus Christ demands of all who will follow Him that they love Him supremely.
We Must Obey Him Unreservedly (Matt. 19:27–20:16)
Peter was quick to see the contrast between the wealthy ruler and poor disciples. “We have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?” Jesus gave them a marvelous promise of rewards in this life and in the next. They would even share thrones when He established His kingdom. Whatever good things they had forsaken for His sake would be returned to them a hundredfold. In other words, they were not making sacrifices—they were making investments. But not all of the dividends would be received in this life.
However, Jesus detected in Peter’s question the possibility of a wrong motive for service. This was why He added the warning that some who were first in their own eyes would be last in the judgment, and some who were last would end up first. This truth was amplified in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
This parable has nothing to do with salvation. The penny (a day’s wages in that time) does not represent salvation, for nobody works for his salvation. Nor is the parable talking about rewards, for we are not all going to receive the same reward. “And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor” ().
The parable is emphasizing a right attitude in service. It is important to note that there were actually two kinds of workers hired that day: those who wanted a contract and agreed to work for a penny a day, and those who had no contract and agreed to take whatever the owner thought was right. The first laborers that he hired insisted on a contract.
This explains why the householder paid the workers as he did: He wanted those who were hired first (who insisted on a contract) to see how much he paid the workers who were hired later. It was one way the owner could show those workers how really generous he was.
Put yourself in the place of those workers who were hired first but paid last. They each expected to get a penny, because that was what they agreed to accept. But imagine their surprise when they saw the laborers who were hired last each receiving a penny! This meant their own wages should have been twelve pennies each!
But the 3 o’clock workers also received a penny—for only three hours of work. The men last in line quickly recalculated their wages: four pennies for the day’s work. When the men hired at noon also were paid a penny, this cut the salary of the contract workers considerably, for now they would earn only two pennies.
But the owner gave them one penny each. Of course, they complained! But they had no argument, because they had agreed to work for a penny. They received what they asked for. Had they trusted the goodness of the owner, they would have received far more. But they insisted on a contract.
The lesson for Christ’s disciples is obvious. We should not serve Him because we want to receive an expected reward, and we should not insist on knowing what we will get. God is infinitely generous and gracious and will always give us better than we deserve.
Now we can understand the perils that were hidden in Peter’s question in . For one thing, we must not “suppose” () that we will get something more if we really do not deserve it. It is possible to do the Father’s work and yet not do His will from the heart (). If we serve Him only for the benefits (temporal and eternal), then we will miss the best blessings He has for us. We must trust Him unreservedly and believe that He will always give what is best.
There is the danger of pride. “What shall we have?” asked Peter. This parable warned him, “How do you know you will have anything?” Beware of overconfidence when it comes to the rewards God will give, for those first in their own eyes (and in the eyes of others) may end up last! Likewise, do not get discouraged; for those who consider themselves “unprofitable servants” may end up first.
Beware of the danger of watching other workers and measuring yourself by them. “Judge nothing before the time,” Paul warns in . We see the worker and the work, but God sees the heart.
Finally, we must beware of criticizing God and feeling that we have been left out. Had the early morning workers trusted the owner and not asked for an agreement, the owner would have given them much more. He was generous, but they would not trust him. They did not rejoice that others received more; instead, they were jealous and complained. The goodness of the owner did not lead them to repentance (). It revealed the true character of their hearts: They were selfish! Whenever we find a complaining servant, we know he has not fully yielded to the master’s will.
We Must Glorify Him Completely ()
For the third time, Jesus announced His arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection (see ; ). In the previous announcements, He had not specified how He would die. But now He clearly mentioned the cross. He also clearly mentioned His resurrection, but the message did not penetrate the disciples’ hearts.
In contrast to this announcement of suffering and death, we have the request of James and John and their mother, Salome. Jesus spoke about a cross, but they were interested in a crown. They wanted reserved seats on special thrones! We get the impression that the mother, Salome, was the real inspiration behind this request, and that she was interested in promoting her sons.
Before we criticize what they did, let’s notice some commendable features in this event. For one thing, they did believe in prayer, and they dared to believe the promise Jesus had given about sitting on thrones (). The word “regeneration” in that verse means “new birth,” and refers to the new world over which Jesus and His followers will reign when He returns to earth. It must have taken faith on their part to believe He would establish these thrones, because He had just told them that He was going to die.
But there were several things wrong with their request. To begin with, it was born in ignorance. “Ye know not what ye ask,” Jesus replied. Little did Salome realize that the path to the throne is a difficult one. James was the first of the disciples to be martyred, and John had to endure hard days on the Isle of Patmos. These three believers wanted their will, not God’s will, and they wanted it their way.
Another factor was their lack of heavenly direction. They were thinking like the world: James and John wanted to “lord it over” the other disciples the way the unsaved Gentile rulers lorded it over their subjects. Their request was fleshly (sensual), because they were selfishly asking for glory for themselves, not for the Lord. No doubt they felt relieved that they had gotten to Jesus with this request before Peter did!
Finally, the request was not only of the world and the flesh, but it was of the devil. It was motivated by pride. Satan had sought a throne () and had been cast down. Satan had offered Jesus a throne and had been refused (). Satan magnifies the end (a throne) but not the means to that end. Jesus warned Salome and her sons that the special thrones were available to those who were worthy of them. There are no shortcuts in the kingdom of God.
The result of this request was “indignation” on the part of the other disciples—probably because they had not thought of it first! The wisdom from above always leads to peace; the wisdom of this world leads to war (James 3:13–4:3). Selfishness will only result in dissension and division.
This disagreement gave Jesus the opportunity to teach a practical lesson on leadership. In His kingdom, we must not follow the examples of the world. Our example is Jesus, not some corporation president or wealthy celebrity. Jesus came as a servant; therefore, we should serve one another. He came to give His life; therefore, we should give our lives in service to Him and others.
The word minister in means “a servant.” Our English word “deacon” comes from it. The word servant in means “a slave.” Not every servant was a slave, but every slave was a servant. It is sad to note in the church today that we have many celebrities, but very few servants. There are many who want to “exercise authority” (), but few who want to take the towel and basin and wash feet.
The key to greatness is not found in position or power, but in character. We get a throne by paying with our lives, not by praying with our lips. We must identify with Jesus Christ in His service and suffering, for even He could not reach the throne except by way of the cross. The best commentary on this is .
To improve our praying we must improve our serving. If we are serving Him and others, then we will not be praying selfishly. If we honestly can say, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth,” then He will say to us, “Speak, servant, for thy Lord heareth.” If our prayers do not make us better servants, then there is something wrong with them.
Do our prayers make us easier to live with? The two disciples prayed selfishly and threw the fellowship into an uproar! Do our prayers make us more like Jesus Christ? Do our prayers cost us anything? Prayer in the will of God does not mean escape; it means involvement. If our prayers do not bring us nearer to the cross, they are out of God’s will.
Salome learned her lesson. When Jesus was crucified, she was standing near the cross (, “his mother’s sister”) and sharing in His sorrow and pain. She did not see two thrones on either side of her Lord—she saw two thieves on two crosses. And she heard Jesus give her son, John, to His mother Mary. Salome’s selfishness was rebuked, and she meekly accepted it.
The closing event of Matthew 20 is the healing of Bartimaeus and his friend, both of whom were blind (see ). Here Jesus put into practice what He had just taught the disciples. He became a servant to two rejected blind beggars. The crowds around Jesus tried to silence the two men. After all, what claim did they have on the great Teacher? But Jesus had compassion on them and healed them. He was the servant even of beggars.
This chapter contains some hard things for us to receive and practice. If we love the things of this world, we cannot love God supremely. If we are not yielded completely to His will, we cannot obey Him unreservedly. If we seek glory for ourselves, or if we compare ourselves with other believers, then we cannot glorify Him.
We cannot acknowledge Jesus as our King unless we love Him supremely, obey Him unreservedly, and glorify Him completely. But if we do these things, we will share in His life and joy, and one day reign with Him!
Matthew 21:1–22:14
We now enter the fourth major section of Matthew’s Gospel, “The Rejection of the King.” In this section (Matt. 21:1–22:14), the Lord Jesus revealed the sins of Israel and explained why the religious leaders rejected Him and His message.
Since it was Passover, there were probably about 2 million people in and around Jerusalem. This was the only time in His ministry that Jesus actually planned and promoted a public demonstration. Up to this time, He had cautioned people not to tell who He was, and He had deliberately avoided public scenes.
Why did Jesus plan this demonstration? For one thing, He was obeying the Word and fulfilling the prophecy recorded in . This prophecy could apply only to Jesus Christ, for He is the only One with credentials that prove He is Israel’s King. We usually do not associate the lowly donkey with kingship, but this was the royal animal of Jewish monarchs (). There were actually two animals involved, the mother and the colt (foal). Jesus sat on the colt with the mother walking beside.
By comparing Matthew’s quotation with the original prophecy in Zechariah, we discover some interesting facts. Zechariah’s prophecy opens with, “Rejoice greatly” but Matthew omitted this phrase. When Jesus approached the city, He wept! How could He (or the people) rejoice when judgment was coming?
Mathew also omitted “He is just, and having salvation.” Our Lord’s coming to Jerusalem was an act of mercy and grace, not an act of justice or judgment. He did have salvation for them, but they refused to accept it (). The next time Israel sees the King, He will ride in great power and glory ().
This colt had never been ridden (), yet he meekly bore his burden. The presence of the mother helped, of course. But keep in mind that his rider was the King who has “dominion over … all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field” (). The fact that Jesus rode this beast and kept him in control is another evidence of His kingship.
There was a second reason for this public presentation: It forced the Jewish leaders to act. When they saw the spontaneous demonstration of the people, they concluded that Jesus had to be destroyed (see ). The prophetic Scriptures required that the Lamb of God be crucified on Passover. This demonstration of Christ’s popularity incited the rulers to act.
The people acclaimed Jesus as their King both by their words and their deeds. They shouted Hosanna which means, “Save now!” They were quoting from , and this psalm is definitely messianic in character. Later that week, Jesus Himself would refer to this psalm and apply it to Himself (; ).
Keep in mind that this Passover crowd was composed of at least three groups: the Jews who lived in Jerusalem, the crowd from Galilee, and the people who saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead (). Sharing the news of this miracle undoubtedly helped to draw such a large crowd. The people wanted to see this miracle-worker for themselves.
But the Jews still did not recognize Jesus as their King. What caused Israel’s spiritual blindness? For one thing, their religious leaders had robbed them of the truth of their own Word and had substituted man-made traditions (). The leaders were not interested in truth; they were concerned only with protecting their own interests (). “We have no king but Caesar!” was their confession of willful blindness. Even our Lord’s miracles did not convince them. And the longer they resisted the truth, the blinder they became ().
Jesus performed two acts of judgment: He cleansed the temple, and He cursed a fig tree. Both acts were contrary to His usual manner of ministry, for He did not come to earth to judge, but to save (). Both of these acts revealed the hypocrisy of Israel: The temple was a den of thieves, and the nation (symbolized by the fig tree) was without fruit. Inward corruption and outward fruitlessness were evidences of their hypocrisy.
Cleansing the temple (vv. ). Jesus had opened His ministry with a similar act (). Now, three years later, the temple was defiled again by the “religious business” of the leaders. They had turned the court of the Gentiles into a place where foreign Jews could exchange money and purchase sacrifices. What had begun as a service and convenience for visitors from other lands soon turned into a lucrative business. The dealers charged exorbitant prices and no one could compete with them or oppose them. Historians tell us that Annas, the former high priest, was the manager of this enterprise, assisted by his sons.
The purpose of the court of the Gentiles in the temple was to give the “outcasts” an opportunity to enter the temple and learn from Israel about the true God. But the presence of this “religious market” turned many sensitive Gentiles away from the witness of Israel. The court of the Gentiles was used for mercenary business, not missionary business.
When Jesus called the temple “My house,” He was affirming that He is God. When He called it “My house of prayer,” He was quoting . The entire 56th chapter of Isaiah denounces the unfaithful leaders of Israel. The phrase “den of robbers” comes from and is part of a long sermon that Jeremiah delivered in the gate of the temple, rebuking the people for the same sins that Jesus saw and judged in His day.
Why did Jesus call the temple “a den of thieves”? Because the place where thieves hide is called a den. The religious leaders, and some of the people, were using the temple and the Jewish religion to cover up their sins.
What does God want in His house? God wants prayer among His people (), for true prayer is an evidence of our dependence on God and our faith in His Word. He also wants people being helped (). The needy should feel welcome and should find the kind of help they need. There should be power in God’s house, the power of God working to change people. Praise is another feature of God’s house (). Here Jesus quoted from .
Cursing the tree (vv. ). That Jesus would curse a tree may surprise us. The same power that killed the tree could also have given it new life and fruit. Jesus certainly would not hold a tree morally responsible for being fruitless.
When we consider the time and place of this event, we understand it better. Jesus was near Jerusalem in the last week of His public ministry to His people. The fig tree symbolized the nation of Israel (; , ; ). Just as this tree had leaves but no fruit, so Israel had a show of religion but no practical experience of faith resulting in godly living. Jesus was not angry at the tree. Rather, He used this tree to teach several lessons to His disciples.
God wants to produce fruit in the lives of His people. Fruit is the product of life. The presence of leaves usually indicates the presence of fruit, but this was not the case. In the Parable of the Fig Tree (), the gardener was given more time to care for the tree; but now the time was up. This tree was taking up space and doing no good.
While we can make a personal application of this event, the main interpretation has to do with Israel. The time of judgment had come. The sentence was pronounced by the Judge, but it would not be executed for about forty years. Then Rome would come and destroy the city and temple and scatter the people.
Jesus used this event to teach His disciples a practical lesson about faith and prayer. The temple was supposed to be a “house of prayer,” and the nation was to be a believing people. But both of these essentials were missing. We too must beware of the peril of fruitlessness.