Matthew Chapter 17
17:1-9. See Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36. Peter, James and John represent the "inner circle" of leadership among
the disciples (cf. Luke 8:51; Matt.26:37) and serve here as ample witnesses according to Mosaic Law. They went
into a high mountain apart, meaning privately, by themselves. Tradition claims this took place at Mount Tabor, but
a more probable location would be Mount Hermon, near Caesarea Phillipi. Jesus was transfigured before them.
The verb (Gr. metamorphoo) indicates a transformation of essential form, proceeding from within. See Romans
12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18, where it is used of the spiritual transformation of the believer's new nature. The
witness of Peter in 2 Peter 1:17,18 verifies the testimony that this was a real experience, not a vision.
17:10-14. The Lord's answer is a quotation from Malachi 4:5,6, where the coming of Elijah is prophesied.
17:15-23. The return down the mountain brought Jesus to His powerless disciples, who were attempting to cure a
lunatic (epileptic). Sore vexed means very ill. How long shall I suffer you? or, " Can I endure you?" As a grain of
mustard seed: This seemingly impossible obstacle of difficulty stands in the way. Since Christ alone is the glorified
Savior, the disciples' ability to work depends totally upon His empowerment.
17:24-27. Jesus, the glorified Son of God, is greater than demons and also the temple itself. The two incidents
following the Transfiguration clearly reassert His supermacy. Tribute money (lit., "two drachmae") is a technical
term for the tax of half a shekel which every Jew over 20 was expected to contribute to the upkeep of the temple.
Prevented, meaning "preceded," that is, to speak first, of strangers: The subjects races were taxed first and most
heavily. The children, the king's own race, were free. Jesus Christ was the Lord and owner of the temple, and
therefore it was not for Him to pay the tax. However, our Lord would not give offense by seeming to be a
lawbreaker. A piece of money (Gr. stater), the silver tetradrachma, was equivalent to the sheckel and therefore the
exact amount of the tax for the two persons.
Matthew Chapter 18
18:1-4. The dispute over who is the greatest was settled by Jesus' emphasis that it was the one who was willing to
forgive the most! Be converted means a "turning" (Gr. strepho) of one's whole life and person toward God. This is
the true biblical picture of conversion. It is far more than mental acknowledgement of the truth or intellectual assent
to certain ideas. To become as little children means to be born again (converted) as a newborn spiritual child,
characterized by faith and humility.
18:5-7. The little child represents a new convert or young believer. To recieve such a fellow believer is to welcome
Christ Himself. Therefore, the basis of true Christian fellowshipis established in Christ Himself. Offenses are viewed
as a reality that must be accepted in the present world, but woe (the prophetic condemnation to death) to the one
who is the source of the offense. A millstone is literally an "ass-stone," or a large grindstone turned by an ass.
18:8-14. The hand, eye, and foot are not the real source of temptation; nor are they the real cause of offending
others. Just as temptation arises from within, so does offending others and being offended. The reference to their
angels (v. 10) supports the idea of individual guardian angels for believers (see Heb.1:14). Salvation is not just a
privilege to be enjoyed by a select few, but it is also to be shared with the lost, so that they too may be saved.
Thus, it is not the Father's will that any of these "little ones" should perish. The immediate context in Matthew
relates "little ones" to believers, but the cross-reference in Luke 15:3-7 clearly refers to lost sheep. Thus we may
conclude that it is not the ultimate wish (or desire) of God that anyone perish. While God permits man to perish in
his unbelief, He does sentence him to such condemnation against his will.
18:15-18.The setting of these verses fits into the context of church discipline. The responsibility of action is
threefold: (1) personal, go and tell him; (2) private, two of three witnesses; and (3) corporate, tell it unto the church.
Tell him his fault means to honestly express the point of offense. This should not be done in vindictive anger, but it
must be done in straightforward honesty. To fail to speak up is to be dishonest and will lead to harboring continued
bitterness. The last phrase of verse 16 is taken from Deuteronomy 19:15. Neglect, better said "refuse," as a
heathen man and a publican: as those who would not be admitted into the church. The obstinate sinner is to be cut
off, at least temporarily, from Christian fellowship. Examples of this are found in 1 Corinthians 5:4,5 and 1 Timothy
1:20.
18:21,22. All this teaching on forgiveness seemed overwhelming to the disciples, thus prompting Peter's question:
Lord, how oft shall sin against me? Peter wrongly assumes that seven times are ample to forgive anyone. Jesus
responds that seven is not the only insufficient but that one should forgive seventy times seven, in other words,
unlimited forgiveness must characterize the true disciple.
18:23-27. The parable of the unforgiving servant (v v. 23-35) is used by Jesus to reinforce the power and
importance of the principle of forgiveness. A certain king represents God, the soveriegn Father (cf. v. 35), to whom
the debt is owed. The one who owed him is a servant or satrap who had access to the king's money, and
represents the individual sinner. Ten thousand talents was an insurmountable debt equivalent to millions of dollars
in our currency. It represents the debt of sin, which the sinner cannot possibly pay by himself. The command that
he be sold... and payment to be made indicates his being placed in a debtor's prison. In compassion the king
releases him and forgives (cancels) the debt. The picture illustrates God's total forgiveness when dealing with our
sins at the point of salvation. The debt has been paid by Christ and we are set free from it forever!
18:28-35. The contrast in verse 28, where the same servant is unwilling to forgive his fellow servant a debt of a
hundered pence (about 10 dollars), is deliberately presented as a hideous hypothetical situation. As unbelievable
as this action would be, that is how unbelievable it would be for a Christian disciple, who has been forgiven a
lifetime of sin, to be unforgiving of others. Int the story, such an unforgiving servant is called a wicked servant
because no true believer would do such. A truly saved man would never behave like the man in the story, who was
delivered to the tormentors (Gr. basanistes, "torturers" or "jailers"). This is certainly not a reference to purgatory.
One behaving in this manner falls into the condemnation of the lost. True forgiveness "from the heart" of a
regenerate man is one of the signs of genuine salvation and conversion (cf. Eph. 4:32). Saved people are both
forgiven and forgiving. Unforgiving people prove that they have never been born of God.
Matthew Chapter 19
19:1,2. Verse 1 indicates the close of another division of the gospel (see 7:28). With verse 2 it describes very
briefly a journey form Galilee into the district of Judea beyond Jordan (Perea). The journey must have taken
considerable time, and the events of Luke 9:51-18:34 must largely be fitted into that time period.
19:3-6. The Pharises come tempting Him with a difficult question. They want to test His wisdom with one of the most
controversial questions of their day, and Jesus proves far superior to their expectations. Is it lawful: they sought to
challenge His interpretation of Mosaic Law in Dueteronomy 24:1-5, where a " bill of divorcement" was required. The
more strict school of Shammai held that divorce was lawful only upon the wife's shameful conduct; whereas, the
more liberal school of Hillel gave the widest possible allowances for divorce. Have ye not read: Jesus refers them to
God's original purpose in creation, that they should be one flesh. Genesis 2:24 indicates that being one flesh is
one new entity, and is not to be limited to sexual union. The Bible clearly indicates that sexual union does not itself
constitute marrige, which is fundamentally a convenantal agreement between two partners for life (cf. Prov. 2:17;
Mal. 2:14, "wife of thy covenant").
19:7-9. The question Why did Moses then command? reveals the misuse of Dueteronomy 24 by the Jews of Jesus'
day. Moses did not command divorce. He premitted it. God had instituted marrige in the Garden of Eden. He is not
the Author of divorce; man is its originator. However, to protect the Hebrew women form being taken advantage of
by a verbal divorce, Moses commanded that it be done with a writing of divorcement, an official written contract,
permitting remarrige. Some Jews tended to take this as an excuse or license to get divorced whenever they
pleased. Therefore, Jesus gave one exception to the no-divorce intention of God, for fornication (Gr. porneia),
"sexual sins", not to be limited to premarital sex only, but it includes all types of sexual sin, such as
adultery,homosexuality, and bestiality. Among the Jews, only the male could divorce, so Mark 10:12 reverses the
statement for Gentile audience.
Matthew chapter 20
20:1-14 This parable reinforces Jesus' teaching regarding true Christian service and riches. The householder is
Christ Himself, the Master of the vineyard, the field of labor (service to the world through His church). Early in the
morning: The first workers were hired at dawn. A penny (Greek denarion) represents a denarius, or a common
day's wage. Other standing idle in the market place were not lazy but were in the usual place to seek employment.
From this unemployed group, the householder hired additional workers at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. The pay
scale will be whatsoever is right, indicating Christ's justice to His laborers. When even [evening] was come, that is,
at the end of the day, every man was paid the same wage. Therefore, the first hired laborers murmured against the
goodman. However, he reminded them that he had been just in paying them what they bargained for. The
statement I will give unto this last, even as unto thee is Jesus' interpretation of the "last shall be first, and the first
last" (verse 16). There is here, perhaps, a sweeping view of church history, in which those working in the last hour
are promised blessing equal to that of His original disciples. Thus, Jesus warns against jealousy and impurity of
motive in serving Him.
20:17-28 See Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-34. The journey to Jerusalem is now resumed after the stay in Perea. As
the final events of His life draw nearer, the Lord again seeks to enlighten His disciples.
20:20-28. Zebedee's children: The two sons are the apostles James and John (4:21). Grant might better be
translated "command". The request and the indignation of the others that follows show that the disciples are still
thinking in terms of setting up an earthly kingdom, in spite of the clear prediction of suffering and death our Lord
has just made. The cup and the baptism both refer to the Lord's suffering and death. His life (Gr. psuche) could be
translated "His soul". A ransom: This important phrase provides one of the occasions when the doctrine of
substitutionary atonement is mentioned in the synoptic Gospels. It implies a price paid for the deliverance of
captives. His life thus became the cost of our redemption. Many does not necessarily restrict the extent of His
atonement (as contrasted to "all"), but it does indicate that not all would accept His offer of salvation.
20:29-34. See parallel accounts in Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43. Luke places this event on the approach to the
city, whereas Mark and Matthew state as they departed form Jericho (v. 29). In actuality there were two Jerichos.
The Roman city lay about a mile east of Herod's winter headquarters (also called Jericho) where the wealthy
friends of the Herodian family lived, near the palace and the fortress. The healing of the blind man evidently took
place while Jesus was going from one place to the other. Luke's attention would be on the Herodian city where his
next recorded event, the calling of Zaccheus, took place. Two blind men are mentioned by Matthew, while the other
synoptists refer only to the more prominent Bartimeus. Rebuked by the crowd, they cry the louder, thou son of
David, a messianic title, earlier avioded by Jesus in public, but now accepted as He approaches Jerusalem. The
miracle of restoring their sight was total, so that afterward they followed him.
Matthew chapter 21
21:1-9. This event is traditionally known as the triumphal entry, when Jesus officially offers Himself to the nation of
Israel as her long-awaited Messiah. However, in many ways it was far from a triumph, for the day ended in Jesus'
public prediction of His rejection by His own people. (See Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-39; John 12:12-15.) Bethpage
was a village near Bethany, about a mile east of Jerusalem and apparently hidden from it by the summit of the
Mount of Olives, which was the hill on the east of Jerusalem. The quotation in verse 5 is a combination of Isaiah
62:11 and Zechariah 9:9, taken substantially from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old
Testament. Hosanna is the transliteration of a Hebrew term meaning "please save," and occurs in 2 Samuel 14:4
and Psalm 118:25. From the following verse of this psalm the acclamation Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord is taken. Riding on the colt of an ass marked the official entry of Israel's kings. Thus Jesus arrives in the
full declaration of His kingship.
21:12-17. See Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-47. A similar cleansing is recorded at the beginning of Jesus' ministry
(cf. John 2:13-22), indicating His disdain for the corruption of organized religion which lacked purity of life and the
power of God. In light of the seriousness of what He had come to do, Jesus could not tolerate such gross
perversion of the temple, meaning the whole temple area on Mount Moriah including all the precincts and courts.
Money changers: Temple dues could be paid only in sacred coinage, and it was necessary to change one's
money. The selling of doves was for purposes of sacrifice. Thsi exchange became a source of extortion for the
family of the high priest, who personally controlled it. In reality, the atmosphere amounted to a public bazaar. It is
written: In His condemnation, the Lord quotes from the Greek Septuagint version of Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.
Bethany was a village on the eastern shoulder of the Mount of Olives, a little more than a mile east of Jerusalem. It
was the home of His friend Lazarus and Lazarus's sisters.