13:53-58. Jesus then gave His disciples a firsthand opportunity to witness the truth of these parables in action by
teaching at the synagogue in His hometown (Nazareth, not Capernaum). The people were astonished, that is, greatly
amazed or astounded. Carpenter's son refers to the family trade of Joseph, Jesus' legal guardian and earthly
"father," being the husband of Mary. The word carpenter (Gr. tekton) may refer to either a carpenter or a
stonemason. The indication is that Jesus had learned His family's trade. There is no valid reason for understanding
brethren and sisters in any sense but the normal one. They are Jesus' half brothers and sisters, the children
naturally generated by Joseph and Mary after Jesus' virgin birth. Two of them, James and Judas (Jude), wrote New
Testament epistles and played a prominent role in the early church.
Matthew chapter 14
14:1, 2. The occasion of John's death signaled a time for Jesus to retreat, lest He provoke an early death, before the
appointed time. Herod the tetrarch is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, the ruler of Galilee and Perea. His
ignorance of Jesus prior to this time is probably due to his self-indulgent, luxurious life-style that had little contact with
religious figures. His guilty conscience over John's death caused him to think Jesus was John the Baptist risen from
the dead.
14:3-8. John had been arrested because he challenged the legitimacy of Herod's divorce and incestuous
remarriage. Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, a half brother of Antipas. She had been married to her uncle,
Herod Phillip, and had borne him a daughter, Salome. However, she divorced her husband and married Antipas, who
was already married. Herodias was guilty and vindictive woman who wanted John dead, and she devised a plan to
get rid of him. At the king's birthday party, her daughter preformed a provocatively enticing dance which so appealed
to the drunken Herod that he promised with an oath she could have whatever she wanted. She asked for John the
Baptist's head in a charger (a table platter).
14:13-19. The feeding of the five thousand is the Lord's only miracle recorded in each of the four Gospels (Mark
6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13). According to John, Andrew, who had brought Peter to Jesus, now brought a
boy's lunch consisting merely of five loaves, and two fishes (small baked rolls and dried fish, an adequate lunch for a
boy, but hardly crumb for the immense crowd). The simplicity of the story and it's inclusion by all four evangelists
should eliminate any doubt of its historical accuracy.
14:20, 21 Not only is the miracle itself amazing but its result was equally stunning. Twelve baskets full of fragments
remained and above what was eaten. The baskets (Greek kophinoi) were small, carried on the arm, and used as a
satchel. These may have belonged to the disciples, who received a basket full of blessing as a result of their labor to
feed others. Collection of the fragments emphasized the adequacy and immensity of Christ's provision. Besides the
five thousand men a large uncounted group of women and children were fed.
14:22-27 Following the miraculous feeding, which John relates in the discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6:22-59),
the disciples departed across the sea (of Galilee) by rented ship. Jesus dismissed the crowd and went up into a
mountain...to pray. That night, about three miles out in the lake (John 6:19) the disciples encountered great difficulty
from a wind that was contrary. During the fourth watch, three to six A.M., Jesus came to them walking on the sea. The
nearly exhausted disciples, who had been rowing all night, were afraid, thinking He was a spirit (Greek phantasma),
that is, a ghost or apparition. Jesus reassured them, saying, It is I.
14:28-32 Peter answered him in his characteristically impulsive manner. This part of the story is recounted only by
Matthew, who was in the boat and on whom it must have made a deep impression. The incident is not presented as a
parable, but as an actual event involving three miracles. Jesus walks on the water, Peter temporarily does so, and
the wind ceases immediately.
14:33-36. The disciples worshiped him and recognized Him as the Son of God. Their spoken Aramaic of this phrase
was a clear recognition of the deity of Jesus. No mere man deserved their worship and no mere man could do what
He had done. It is no suprise that the people of Genneshem of his garment. This procedure may have been
motivated by reports of the cure of hermorrhage that had previously occurred in this same region (cf.9:20).
Matthew chapter 15
15:1,2a. See Mark 7:1-23. Of Jerusalem: Apparently the central religious leaders came to investigate the ministry
and teaching of Jesus. The tradition of elders: Many Jews of the Lord's time believed that, in addition to the written
law of Moses, there was an oral law given to Moses on Sinai. This oral law, they believed, was passed down from
Moses by word of mouth until it reached the great synagogue or council of elders, which succeeded Ezra after the
return from the Exile. This council seems to have been the source of the many additions to the law of God that have
been found in Judaism, ancient and modern.
15:2b-9. Wash not their hands: The washing consisted of a ritual of pouring a trickle of cold water over the
outstretched hands. The Jews were not concerned so much with cleanliness as with ritual. Why do ye also
transgress? The Lord here shows that additions to the Word of God ultimately contradict it.
15:15-20 Peter, acting on behalf of the others, asks for an explanation of the saying that had given such offense.
Our Lord proceeds to elaborate the teaching for their benefit. Draught (Greek aphendron) means literally "latrine."
They defile: The "they" is emphatic. Evil thoughts are evil schemes. Blasphemes refers not only to blasphemy in the
modern, narrow sense of the word, but also to criticism or libel of others.
15:21-25 The second withdrawal of Jesus followed John's death and further rejection by the religious leadership of
Israel. Thus, Jesus actually left the country and went into parts of Tyre and Sidon, leaving Herod's jurisdiction to
retire to Phoenicia for a time of seclusion. This was interruption by the woman of Canaan (lit., "Canaanitish woman").
Mark 7:26 calls her a Syrophoenician woman. The word translated "coasts" (Greek mere) means "districts." This is
the only known occasion during His ministry that the Lord went outside the boundaries of Palestine. The woman was
a Gentile, and descended from the Canaanites who inhabited Syria and Palestine before the conquest of the latter
by Joshua.
15:26-28 By children the Lord means Jews, and by dogs, Gentiles. His attitude was intended to test the woman's
faith, which was rewarded by a miraculous healing. The term used for dogs (Greek kuharios) means little dogs
(pets), not wild, scavenging beasts. She replied that such dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
She knew what could be hers, even as a Gentile, and thus became an illustration of millions of Gentiles who would
later be blessed by Israel's Messiah. Great is thy faith: Jesus again commends Gentile belief (8:10).
15:29-39. See also Mark 7:31-8:10. The supposition that this is a confused duplicate account of the feeding of the
five thousand must be rejected. Both Matthew and Mark include the accounts of the two events in a way that
indicates they quite clearly knew them to be two separate miracles. The incident evidently took place on the
southeast shore of Galilee, near Gentile Decapolis. Therefore, many Getiles seem to be among His listeners who
glorified the God of Israel. This feeding took place after the crowd had been with Him for three days and were fed
with seven loaves and a few little fishes which were then distributed in a manner similar to the other feeding. This
time seven baskets full remained. These baskets (Gr. spuridas) were much larger than those in 14:20. Each basket
could hold about 50 loaves, and was the kind used to lower Paul down the city wall in Acts 9:25. In 16:9,10 Jesus
refers to both feedings as separate events, even referring to the different numbers and using the different words for
the baskets.
Matthew chapter 16
16:1-12. The unbelieving leaders came seeking a sign from heaven, that is, an outward miraculous manifestation.
Notice that miracles alone never save anyone. They serve only to authenticate and call attention to the message,
which must be believed in order for salvation to be experienced in the soul. Instead of another miracle, Jesus points
them to the signs of the times, eschatologically related to the sky and His second coming. The sign of the prophet
Jonah relates to His resurretion (see 12:38-40; John 2:18-22). This sign gives hope to the believer but is an
indication of judgment for the unbeliever, who will be judged by the risen Christ at His second coming.
16:13-17 See Mark 8:27-33; Luke 9:19-21. The coasts of Caesarea Philippi: This was a town in the extreme
northeast of Galilee, near the source of the Jordan. Verse 14 shows that public opinion placed our Lord on the
highest human pedestal by identifying Him with one of the national heroes of the past, John the Baptist. Herod
himself was a victim of this particular superstition. (See 14:2.) From 21:15 we know that He was held in high esteem
as a prophet by the people. Thou art the Christ: Simon Peter recognized and acknowledged openly the Lord's deity.
He may have been speaking for all the disciples. Verse 20 suggests that it was a conviction they all now shared.
Peter further used the Greek definite article "the" to designate that Jesus was the Son of the living God.
16:18 The Greek word used for rock (petra) is played against the name Peter (Greek Petros). Some use this
passage to teach that Peter was the foundation stone of the church, that he had a primacy among the apostle, and
that he became Bishop of Rome. The verse will scarcely bear the first of these propositions and certainly none of the
others. Peter may be meant by the rock, but he is not the exclusive foundation. For the twelvefold foundation of the
apostles of the church, see Ephesians 2:20 and Revelation 21:14. This seems borne out by the fact that the same
words are spoken to all the disciples in Matthew 18:18 as are spoken to Simon Peter in 16:19. Therefore, the rock or
foundation of the church is the confession (ultimately, the doctrine) of the apostles, which became normative for the
true church. The word here translated church (Greek ekklesia) means literally "a chosen or called-out assembly."
Thus the use of the word as a technical term for an assembly or group of believers in Christ.was quite natural. It is
not viewed as an external organization, denomination, or hierarchical system. The New Testament church, therefore,
is a local autonomous congregation or assembly of believers, which is a "church" in and of itself. This is the first
occurrence of the word in the New Testament. Since the commission in Matthew 10 sent the apostle only to the
"house of Israel," and no further commission was given until chapter 28, there was no worldwide task for the disciples
until the physical manifestation of the church on the Day of Pentecost.
16:19,20. The Lord promises to Peter and the other apostles the keys of the kingdom. This means that Peter will
have the right to enter the kingdom himself, and preaching the gospel would be the means of opening the kingdom
of heaven. The Book of Acts shows us this process at work. By his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40),
Peter opened the door of the kingdom for the first time. The expressions bind and loose were common in Jewish
legal phraseology, meaning to declare forbidden or to declare allowed. Peter and the other disciples (see 18:18)
were to continue on earth the work of Christ in preaching the gospel and declaring God's will to men, and were
armed with the same authority He Himself possessed.
16:21. Jesus then announces His coming rejection and death at Jerusalem. From that time forth: Now that the
disciples' faith is established enough to bear it, He openly reveals His coming rejection. Thus, from this point onward,
the Lord's ministry seeks to prepare His followers for the suffering that awaited Him and that would so disappoint their
hopes. Elders were the religious leaders. The word probably denotes members of the Sanhedrin. The words killed
and raised again the third day clearly indicate the divine Messiah's awareness of His earthly mission and destiny.
16:22-28. Be it far from thee: The sentence seems to mean literally "Have mercy on yourself," which would signify,
"God forbid!" Peter's instantaneous reaction to our Lord's new teaching shows how foreign to their way of thinking
was this concept of His suffering. Satan: The Lord recognized in Peter's words a repetition of the temptations to
aviod the cross that He had undergone in the wilderness. The word translated offense (Gr. skandalon) means a
"trap" or "snare." Savorest (Gr. phroneo) means, " You don't look at things from God's point of view, but from man's."
It occurs in Romans 8:5 and Philippians 2:5, meaning to adopt and maintain an attitude of mind upon which one's life
and actions are based. Deny himself, that is, refuse his own claims upon himself. Take up: The meaning is "lift up." It
is a stronger word than that used in 10:38, and implies a lifting of the cross on high, so that all may see it. This is the
strongest statement in the New Testament about the disciple's need to crucify himself, by yielding to the claims of
Christ's lordship over him.