Matthew

[NUmarcus]

I have gotten so much out or reading postings, studies, and explanations on this site and I thank y'all very much. However, I have never really worked through the Bible in any way. I started with a study on Genesis because it appealed to my background in teaching Physical Geography to undergrads while I was completing grad school the last 2 years. However, I had no idea where to start in the NT until I read some responses to questions I posted in the Romans study that Robert completed some time back. Anyway, I just started reading through the NT, and decided Matthew was as good a place as any to start. So, I have started reading Matthew and will continue until I hit Revelation.

I have made it through Matthew, Chapters 1 to 9 over the last 3 days and I have some questions that I would appreciate some fellowship and input on. Thank you in advance for the outstanding answers that I know are coming!

Question 1:

Matthew 1:1-17 lists all of the generations from Abraham to Jesus. At the conclusion the Lord states:

"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations."

Is this just to present to us HOW perfect the Lord is in working all things for a perfect end? I ask this because the listing, and the final tally is SO EXACT. Further, is there any significance to 14 in this? I have read and heard about the importance of numbers in the scriptures, but I have no idea if that is Biblical or important to understand.

Question 2:

Matthew 1:18-25

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “ Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “ Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “ God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."

Is the angel of the Lord God or is it one of the named angels that one sees at points in the Bible? The Bible is God's perfect word and as such there is a point to every element in it. So, when you see a title or phrase like this, is it key to understand that 'angel of the Lord' would mean one thing and an 'angel' as we read of them in the Bible is listed by name (e.g., Gabriel) is another? Or am I thinking too much into this?

Questions 3 and 4:

Matthew 3:4-12

Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘ We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

First: Why the description of John's appearance? The Lord does not waste words, and I have seen/heard that every piece of scripture is profitable for teaching and reproof. Therefore, is there something key to his description here?

Second: Is the point in bold about Abraham indicating that the Pharisees/Sadducees had replaced faith in the Lord with an idol = Abraham and upon it they had attached some form of holiness or righteousness?

Question 5:

Matthew 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."

Is the Lord saying that without faith in Christ, we are as useless to the needs of men as salt without taste?

Question 6:

Matthew 6:5-15

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

“ Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

‘ Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

‘ Give us this day our daily bread.

‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Is this to be a template or guide as to how we pray? My point? I heard a sermon recently that indicated that these passages are like a template. For example, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name," is like a preamble that we use to get ourselves centered before going into prayer. Meaning, we are approaching a loving BUT holy God and His very name is Holy and we need to remember that before uttering/thinking a single word. The phrases that follow have similar implications according to the sermon I listened to. Is this Biblical or no?

Question 7:

Matthew 9:14-17

Then the disciples of John *came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Is the portions about old versus new cloth/wineskins speaking to our old versus new selves...the old me versus the new me in Christ?


That is what I have so far. I apologize for the length, but unless the mods have an objection...I figured I could make a generic Matthew post and ask questions as I come to them. Thanks again in advance!

[mattfivefour]

Question 1: Bro, I am going to skip question 1 because the answer is a lot more complicated than I have time to address at this moment. Suffice to say, I believe there is more symbolisim than anything in the three lists of 14.

Question 2: Luke 1:26 answers your question: It was the angel Gabriel.

Question 3: The entire point of the description of John was that he was a prophet to Judah, like Elijah was to Israel ... beholding to no man, living apart (separateness being one of the core meanings of holiness and sanctification.) Neither prophet had part or parcel of the earthly kingdoms to which they proclaimed God's message of repentance. John's place of residence thus indicated his separateness from society; just as we are to be pilgrims and strangers in this world, not seeking a permanent abode here, but wandering in God's service, looking only to our home in Heaven. John's dress and his diet proclaimed him to be humble and poor. Locusts were the food of the pooerest people. It and the wild honey also symbolize that he relied totally on God for his sustenance. I believe it was fitting that the setting of the preparation of the Second Covenant was in the wilderness when so was that of the First.

Question 4: The point of the part that you put in boldface type was that the strictest Jewish sects, of which were the priests and the leaders of the Jews, prided themselves on being the blood descendants of Abraham to whom the Promise was made. Because they were his lineal descendants, they believed they were especially blessed and destined to rule the earth. They thus trusted in their birth, not in their obedience to God. Thus their religious acts were to demonstrate their superiority to others, not their true submission to God. Paul refers to this when he says, "They are not all Israel who are of Israel. In other words, God's people are a spiritual people not a physical one. Yes, there were promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which will most certainly and unfailingly be fulfilled in Israel in time to come; but being born a Jew does not exempt one from obeying God and accepting Christ. The point the Pharisees and Sadducees forgot (or never bothered to study) was that the promise to Abraham was that the people of ALL nations would be blessed through his descendants (referring to Messiah), not that those descendants would be superior to other people.

Question 5: Close. To be more accurate, without obedience to Christ we are as useless to the needs of men as salt without taste. As Christ said, "Without me you can do nothing." It is only as we abide in Him—and thus HE in us—that we can do anything of value.

Question 6: Again, to properly answer this would take more time than I now have. (I have actually had it on my mind to write something on this, though I already did a brief exegesis on the Lord's Prayer a couple of years ago (I think it was). Maybe I will start a thread on this in the days to come. The short answer is that, indeed, the Lord's Prayer is a sort of template. It provides the proper manner in which we are to present both ourselves and our requests to God the Father. It is not a prayer to be repeated by rote, nor a strict formula. Most importantly it should be noted that the prayer is short, to the point, and without florid prose or dramatic rhetoric. And it both begins and ends with prayer for God's Kingdom and will, and recognition of just Who He is.

Question 7: It is speaking of the Covenants, first of all. God could not put the wine of salvation into the wineskin of the Law. A derivative of that is that the new wine of faith cannot dwell in the old man of law. Thus the new wine required a New Covenant. Nonetheless, the product of both Covenants was intended to be the same: obedience to God's will. But whereas the Old could not produce that obedience in that it relied on man's effort to complete it, the New can and does produce it because it in no way relies on man's effort, but God's (Christ's) alone.

I hope this helps, brother.

[mattfivefour]

Brother, thanks to Meg who found this for me, here is the article I wrote on the Lord's prayer a couple years ago. It is the expansion, then, of my answer to Question 6:

"Our Father who art in Heaven" ... addresses the One to whom prayer is to be offered and states the ground upon which we can approach Him— He is our Father, Abba, Daddy. Any other approach is presumptuous sin.

"Hallowed be Thy name" ... speaks of the petitioner's desire to see that God's name be kept holy and sanctified, high and lifted up.

"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" ... is not a request for the Kingdom to be restored to Israel but rather a desire of the petitioner to see God's Kingdom established on earth, every knee bowing and worshiping Christ as is done in Heaven. It is a desire to see the fulfillment of time when ALL things are brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and nothing exists which is not in perfect accord with the will of God. That is the greatest desire of my heart. Being with Christ is just part of that great promise of eternal perfection and peace to come.

"Give us this day our daily bread" ... is an acknowledgment that all that we need to sustain us, both physically and spiritually, comes from the hand of God. Yes, we are to work for our food, but it is from God that the bounty comes, not from our own efforts. We can work hard to obtain what we need to live but God can blow on it and make it evaporate. How often have we labored hard and found not enough at the end? That, beloved, is the hand of God touching our lives to bring us into obedience to Him. As He said to those who were more concerned with their own desires than God's: "I have summoned a drought ... on the labor of your hands."

"Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes. Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,' says the LORD. 'You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?' declares the LORD of hosts, 'Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. I called for (summoned) a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.'" —Haggai 1:5-10

"Forgive us our trespasses (sins/debts/offenses) as we forgive them that trespass against us" ... speaks of the law of forgiveness that is operative in God's economy. It is a reminder to us that the lesson of the unjust servant is a key one in God's eyes. Remember the servant owed a debt to the Master that he could not pay. In fact it was a veritable "king's ransom". The amount Jesus said it was—10,000 talents—equaled the total taxes gathered in Galilee for 50 years and King Herod's entire income for a dozen years. There was no way on earth the servant could EVER pay it. Just like us with our debt of sin. The man would have rotted in prison until he died without having even made a dent in what he owed. Yet the Master forgave him all he owed.

In turn, you will recall, the servant spied another man who owed him a small sum (100 denarii, or about 4 to 5 month's wages). He demanded the poor servant pay HIM back, and when he could not, he had the man thrown into prison until he could pay it back.

When the Master found out what the one he had forgiven did, he "moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him." You may also recall that Jesus ended that account by saying: "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:34-35) I do not think that is a warning we would be wise to ignore or try to mitigate in some way.

Jesus had delivered this parable to further illustrate His response to Peter who wondered just how often he had to forgive his brother who sinned against him. Jesus wanted to make clear to His disciples that the people of God should display God's character in their lives. Thus, as they are forgiven, so too they are to forgive. A failure to forgive is a lack of love for one's brother and the apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said that the person who professes Christ but does not love his brother is a liar and shows he does not love God. (1 John 4:20) Indeed, Jesus Himself said "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples: that you have love one for another." One who demands grace for himself but justice for another shows that he does not have the nature of God within him.

Some say that such things smack of legalism, and so they attempt to explain them away in some fashion. These things are not legalism, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, an evidence that we HAVE been changed, that we ARE new creatures in Christ, that the Spirit of God Himself dwells within us. Obedience to God is not legalism. Legalism is following laws and rules in order to gain salvation. Grace is accepting the free gift of God by faith in the complete and all-sufficient once-for-all sacrifice of the pure and spotless Lamb of God on the Cross. Obeying Him—or, at least, where the flesh is weak, desiring to obey Him—is the evidence that you indeed repented and have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Obedience is not legalism.

This particular clause in the Lord's Prayer is asking for the free forgiveness of God for all those things we have done that have offended Him ... on the grounds that we are His, as is evidenced by the fact that we in turn are forgiving—or are willing to forgive—all those who have offended us. How else can we respond to God's great forgiveness of our unpayable sin debt? As Gloria Gaither wrote in her great hymn I Then Shall Live— "So, greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother; the law of love I gladly will obey."

"Lead us not into temptation" ... is similar to David's prayer "Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies." (Psalm 141:4) The Greek translated "temptation" is πειρασμός (pierasmos, pronounced peer-as-MOSS) which means a "trial" of various natures ... either good or bad ... or a test of some kind. This word appears with this meaning only in the NT (and writings based on the NT) except in one ancient papyrus from the first century AD. The physician Dioscerides of Anarzabus used the word in a report describing the use of drugs in various "trials" to see the result of their use on various diseases.

Certainly praying to not be tested or tried is scriptural. Did not Jesus Himself in Gethsemane pray "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42) And in accordance with that example, we must remember that when we pray to be preserved from testing, we must always acknowledge that we want His will above our will.

"But deliver us from evil" ... indeed can speak of the Evil One, as Jack Kinsella claims, for the Greek places the definite article before the noun which speaks not of "any" evil but a specific evil. We know that it is Satan who tempts us and is permitted to do so by God at times in order to bring the dross to the surface in us so that it might be surrendered and removed. Jesus told Peter that Satan sought to "sift" him as wheat is sifted; but rather than say "I will not permit it" He said instead that He prayed Peter's faith would not fail and that when he was turned back to the right path again he should strengthen the others. As we can see in Scripture, this was necessary to break Peter's reliance on himself. (Which, not incidentally, is what God does with us as well.) However, there is nothing wrong with asking that we be protected from such trials unless in God's perfect knowledge he knows that the trial will work a far more exceeding weight of glory, as Paul puts it.

"For thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever and ever" ... speaks of the absolute power of God, his consequent ability to exceedingly abundantly answer all that we can ask or even think (Ephesians 3:20), and that ALL things are done for His glory. (Ephesians 1:14) It rightly places in our minds the fact of WHO God is. We may approach Him in the beginning as "Our Father" but we must remember when all is said and done that He is Almighty God!

"Amen" ... "May it be, just as I have prayed."

Thus the Lord's prayer is a pattern for our prayers. If we bear in mind the concepts in the prayer, our own prayers will be proper: We will approach God in the right frame and with the proper attitude. Some see in the Lord's prayer the ACTS formula: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. It's not a bad formula, although I do not see it in the Lord's prayer.

I also like to pray God's word. In other words, when I am asking for some specific need, I point out to God that I am praying according to something specific in His Word and ask Him to honor that Word.

Yet, when all is said and done, do not concern yourself overmuch with formulas or patterns. That can stifle your communication. Simply remember that the most important matter to keep in mind is that prayer is merely speaking to God, who is—through Christ—your Father. So talk to Him as you would your father. And remember also that prayer is a conversation ... a dialogue, not a monologue. Don't be the only one speaking. Take time to listen for Him to speak.

I pray this helps.

[NUmarcus]

Thank you Meg for pulling that up and thank you Matt for the content that you wrote.

[NUmarcus]

I made it through Matthew 10 this morning and just re-read it to ensure that I capture my questions. The following are my questions for Matthew 10.

Question 1:

Christ sent out the 12 Apostles and one of the things He said to them was:

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 10:5-6)

Is there a reason that the Gentiles were not included at this point and the focus was on Israel? Was it to fulfill a promise/prophecy?

Question 2:

Another set of instructions for these Apostles were laid out as follows:

And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. (Matthew 10:11-15)

How wold the Apostle's know who is worthy? Further, what is the significance or idea behind 'taking back of blessing of peace,' and 'shake the dust off your feet,'? Would this be an example of those who deny Christ are in turn denied by Christ before the Father?

Question 3:

Concerns the following verses:

“ Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

“ Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

“But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10: 16-23)

This is applicable to us today just as much as it was to the 12 Apostles that Christ sent out is it not?

Question 4:

Concerns the following verses:

“ A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! (Matthew 10: 24-25)

I am lost here. It would seem that one part is speaking to the nature of our relationship with Christ. We are not above Christ, and by linkage, God the Father. However, it is enough = it is good to be like Christ? If that is biblical in its correctness, then the following passage referring to Beelzebul (Satan) would seem to indicate that those who are in the world/sin etc. and follow it (called the head of the house via sin...Satan) malign that likeness because they are equally ugly in sin etc. Not sure if that is WAY OFF or close or what have you.

Those are my questions for Matthew 10. Thanks in advance!

[mattfivefour]

Question 1: Short answer? Yes. The long answer? The promise was made first to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob. It was fitting that the promise first be fulfilled among them. But the promise included the fact that through them the nations of the world would be blessed. Thus there would come a time for the good news to be taken to the Gentiles. But not yet. First He had to make the way open. Another point is that both Gentiles and Samaritans were considered outside of God's love. Had Christ sent his disciples to preach among the Samaritans and the Gentiles, the Jews would have rejected the message out of hand. Christ knew their hearts and desired not to put an unnecessary stumbling block in front of them. You will recall that Paul understood this and said that the gospel was for the Jew first and then for the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). Indeed, because they had the Word of God, the Jews were to be first in blessing, but also first in punishment: "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." ( Romans 2:9-10) There was no question that the Gentiles would receive the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ; but not until He fulfilled everything under the Law given to the Jews.

Question 2: The word worthy here, in Greek, is axios and means anybody of merit, clearly referring to those who would be kindly disposed toward them and would take them in. They were to determine that by asking of the inhabitants of the city for such a person. (Matthew 10:11) "Taking back the blessing" has to be in the context of first having blessed the home of the one at whose home you stay. The blessing is specifically a blessing of peace. (Matthew 10:13). You ask this blessing because the head of the home is worthy of such a blessing. But if you have inadvertently asked God to bless the one who has taken you in and then discover he is not worthy but deceitful, dishonest, or derogatory, then remove that blessing of peace from the home and leave at once. Jews of Jesus' day believed that they were defiled by the dust of a pagan country. therefore, to shake the dust off your feet when leaving a house or a city was to indicate you viewed that person, or that community, as impure and unholy as a pagan.

Question 3: Yes. The difference today is that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling IN us, not just with us. But we are still as lambs among wolves. Therefore we are to walk in pureness and holiness, but be close enough to God to heed the warnings He whispers to His children.

Question 4: The meaning of the verse is simply that we cannot expect to be any better regarded by the world—and, indeed, by the religious leaders—than Christ was. REad the entire verse carefully again. You will see to whom the "Beelzebub" refers. Not Satan, but Christ! The leaders of His day suggested that Jesus did what He did by the power of Beelzebub (Luke 11:145-15) which is actually a Greek corruption of the Hebrew Baal Zebub: the Fly God, literally "the Lord of the Flies". This "god" was a god of Ekron. (You can read about King Azahiah of Israel's faith in this "god" in 2 Kings 1:1-17). This "god" was believed to have the power to drive away the pestilential hordes of flies that came at certain seasons. The "god" with this power was also believed by the Jews to be the prince of demons, or Satan. Not only did they accuse Jesus of performing His miracles by the power of Satan, they actually said that Jesus was possessed by him! (Mark 3:22) Thus, the reference in Matthew 10:25 is not to Satan but to Jesus. If the leaders called Jesus by that name, says the Christ to His followers, shall they not also do the same to you? As members of Christ';s household (ie: His family) we also should expect like treatment from the world.

[NUmarcus]

Back for more! Sorry for the length of this post, but I got a lot of questions as usual. I read through Matthew 11 and 12 today and made some notes. Here it goes.

John the Baptist (Matthew 11:7-18):

As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

‘ Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’

Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘ He has a demon!’

• So John was a herald of sorts to pronounce/prepare the coming of the Messiah as prophesied?
  
• The kingdom of heaven suffers violence? Meaning the prophets that came before that were killed by Israel? In these contexts what IS the kingdom of heaven?
  
• Was John actually Elijah from the OT? Further, the phrase that accompanies this is 'who was to come.' Was this referring to an OT prophecy that stated Elijah would be coming in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah?
  
• Passages state 'this generation is like children...' What is the point? Is the meaning that since the Jews were spiritual children or infants even, they were incapable of recognizing what was of the Lord or was the Lord and what was not?

Listing of Cities (Matthew 11:20-24):

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

• Is Christ stating that these peoples, through unbelief and subsequently no repentance, have stored up terrible judgment for themselves in the time to come? Is this a case of the Jews having turned away from the word of God and therefore do not have an intimacy with the Lord's word? Subsequently, they cannot discern that the man before them, Christ, is the Messiah as promised by the Lord?

Matthew 11:25-30

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

“ Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

• Is the first part of this passage a good example of how Christ would pray to or praise God the Father? Subsequently, would this be a good example of how we should pray?

Matthew 12 - Plucking Grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 1-8)

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘ I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

• Christ is that something greater than the temple...correct?
  
• Christ desires compassion??? As in keeping with the new covenant that will be established soon (at that point in time)?

Jesus Heals the Man with the Withered Hand (Matthew 12:9-14):

Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “ Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “ What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

• Is this getting at the type of relationship we are to have with Our Father in Heaven? Meaning, He is accessible anytime...sabbath or not?

Matthew 12:15-21

But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

18 “ Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;

My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

19 “ He will not quarrel, nor cry out;

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20 “ A battered reed He will not break off,

And a smoldering wick He will not put out,

Until He leads justice to victory.

21 “ And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”

• I am having trouble with this passage. Christ ordered those he healed not to make it known who he was in order to fulfill what Isaiah has prophesied. And that prophesy is about Christ is it not? He is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham by the Lord...correct?

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32):

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

“ Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

• Would blasphemy against the Holy Spirit = Rejecting the conviction of the Holy Spirit that Christ is necessary and true?

Good/Bad Fruit (Matthew 12:33-37):

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

• I understand the concept of fruits and what not. My question revolves around the following. If we are in Christ, then our hearts are good and that is what will come out of us...good fruit. Correct? Further, if someone is not in Christ, then their heart is bad. Correct? Therefore, is it even possible for a person in Christ to even deny Christ before others given that their heart is in Christ and they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit? In a similar fashion, is it even possible for a wolf in sheep's clothing to pronounce to be in Christ when they...at their core...are not?

Signs (Matthew 12:38-42):

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “ An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

• Is this saying that the because that generation had forsaken or left the Lord in favor of legalism/man made things that they were not capable of recognizing the things that the Lord was completing in accordance with His will and promise?

Matthew 12:43-45

“ Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

• Is this passage speaking about Israel and the Jews?

[mattfivefour]

Just heading out. Unless someone else wants to answer first, I will answer later this evening.

[Robert]

I have gotten so much out or reading postings, studies, and explanations on this site and I thank y'all very much. However, I have never really worked through the Bible in any way. I started with a study on Genesis because it appealed to my background in teaching Physical Geography to undergrads while I was completing grad school the last 2 years. However, I had no idea where to start in the NT until I read some responses to questions I posted in the Romans study that Robert completed some time back. Anyway, I just started reading through the NT, and decided Matthew was as good a place as any to start. So, I have started reading Matthew and will continue until I hit Revelation.

I have made it through Matthew, Chapters 1 to 9 over the last 3 days and I have some questions that I would appreciate some fellowship and input on. Thank you in advance for the outstanding answers that I know are coming!

Question 1:

Matthew 1:1-17 lists all of the generations from Abraham to Jesus. At the conclusion the Lord states:

"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations."

Is this just to present to us HOW perfect the Lord is in working all things for a perfect end? I ask this because the listing, and the final tally is SO EXACT. Further, is there any significance to 14 in this? I have read and heard about the importance of numbers in the scriptures, but I have no idea if that is Biblical or important to understand.

I'll take this question and some of the others:

In Matthew, he listed the genealogy of Jesus to illustrate that Jesus was not only a descendant of Abraham, but the rightful heir to David's throne according to Jewish law.

[Robert]

Back for more! Sorry for the length of this post, but I got a lot of questions as usual. I read through Matthew 11 and 12 today and made some notes. Here it goes.

John the Baptist (Matthew 11:7-18):

As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

‘ Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’

Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘ He has a demon!’

• So John was a herald of sorts to pronounce/prepare the coming of the Messiah as prophesied?
  
• The kingdom of heaven suffers violence? Meaning the prophets that came before that were killed by Israel? In these contexts what IS the kingdom of heaven?
  
• Was John actually Elijah from the OT? Further, the phrase that accompanies this is 'who was to come.' Was this referring to an OT prophecy that stated Elijah would be coming in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah?
  
• Passages state 'this generation is like children...' What is the point? Is the meaning that since the Jews were spiritual children or infants even, they were incapable of recognizing what was of the Lord or was the Lord and what was not?

I'll answer these as best I can, and leave what I can't or don't have ready for Mattfivefour:

1) Yes; John's purpose was, as scripture said, was to prepare the way of the Lord; this was prophesied in Isaiah:

"A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3 NASB)

And fulfilled in Matthew:

"For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'" (Matthew3:3, NASB)

2) From the greek words originally used: basileia tōn ouranōn biazetai kai biastai harpazousin autēn, which directly translated mean: "kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence, and [the] violent seize it." The word used for "violence", biazetai, means "From bios; to force, i.e. (reflexively) to crowd oneself (into), or (passively) to be seized -- press, suffer violence." And the word for "violent", biastai, means "a forceful, violent man; one who is eager in pursuit." If we couple this verse with Luke 16:16, we get more of an idea of the meaning:

"“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it." (Luke 16:16, NASB, emphasis mine)

3) This one I'm going to leave for Mattfivefour, as I need to look into it further and most likely he'll be back with an answer before I warm up my brain, er, desktop in the morning

4) What Jesus was saying in this passage is that John came and didn't drink or eat with them, and they complained that he didn't. When Jesus came and ate and drank with them, they complained that He did. The Lord's point was that no matter who God sent them, they had something derogatory to say about them, indicating their hardness of heart towards the Messiah.

Listing of Cities (Matthew 11:20-24):

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

• Is Christ stating that these peoples, through unbelief and subsequently no repentance, have stored up terrible judgment for themselves in the time to come? Is this a case of the Jews having turned away from the word of God and therefore do not have an intimacy with the Lord's word? Subsequently, they cannot discern that the man before them, Christ, is the Messiah as promised by the Lord?

1) I believe that in spite of the miracles given them and the preaching done to them, their hardness of heart caused them to disregard Jesus as the Messiah, and by doing so, insulted the spirit of grace, much as the pharisees had done to Jesus when they claimed He cast out demons by Beelzebub. They completely shut out any possibility that Jesus was indeed the prophesied Messiah, and thus closed their hearts to Him.

Matthew 11:25-30

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

“ Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

• Is the first part of this passage a good example of how Christ would pray to or praise God the Father? Subsequently, would this be a good example of how we should pray?

1) I would say so, as anytime we praise the Lord for His will being done and recognizing His plans we are giving Him the praise He richly deserves. I don't think we can go wrong praying scripture to the lord.

Matthew 12 - Plucking Grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 1-8)

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘ I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

• Christ is that something greater than the temple...correct?
  
• Christ desires compassion??? As in keeping with the new covenant that will be established soon (at that point in time)?

1) Yes indeed! The temple was only a shadow of the one in heaven (it like the Ark of the Covenant was made after the pattern shown by the Lord), and even with the temple in heaven, the Lord is greater than anything He created, be it heaven or earth. Jesus is indeed greater than the temple!

2) Yes, Jesus desires compassion. It has always been in God's character to have compassion and not deal out what man truly deserves "off the cuff". And I would say it was very much in keeping not only with the New testament, but with all of God's character.

Jesus Heals the Man with the Withered Hand (Matthew 12:9-14):

Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “ Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “ What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

• Is this getting at the type of relationship we are to have with Our Father in Heaven? Meaning, He is accessible anytime...sabbath or not?

1) Yes it is; through our High Priest Jesus, we have access to God the father 24/7/365. Because the Lord is our mediator, there is no longer any "veil" between us and the Father.

Matthew 12:15-21

But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

18 “ Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;

My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

19 “ He will not quarrel, nor cry out;

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20 “ A battered reed He will not break off,

And a smoldering wick He will not put out,

Until He leads justice to victory.

21 “ And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”

• I am having trouble with this passage. Christ ordered those he healed not to make it known who he was in order to fulfill what Isaiah has prophesied. And that prophesy is about Christ is it not? He is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham by the Lord...correct?

1) Jesus' healing of the ill would have inflamed the pharisees and scribes at that point, and would have singled out those healed, much as they did Bartimaeus when they cast him out of they synagogue and when they plotted against Lazarus after he was resurrected by the Lord. For their sake, as well as the fact that He needed to carry out His ministry, Christ asked them to be silent about what was done for them.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32):

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

“ Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

• Would blasphemy against the Holy Spirit = Rejecting the conviction of the Holy Spirit that Christ is necessary and true?

1) This one I covered in a topic already; I'll give you the link to it:

The "Unforgivable Sin": What to do if you think you have committed it

I don't mean to paste an article link rather than explain it, but I can't do it justice in a limited post and I wanted to answer it completely bro. :)

Good/Bad Fruit (Matthew 12:33-37):

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

• I understand the concept of fruits and what not. My question revolves around the following. If we are in Christ, then our hearts are good and that is what will come out of us...good fruit. Correct? Further, if someone is not in Christ, then their heart is bad. Correct? Therefore, is it even possible for a person in Christ to even deny Christ before others given that their heart is in Christ and they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit? In a similar fashion, is it even possible for a wolf in sheep's clothing to pronounce to be in Christ when they...at their core...are not?

1) While our hearts would reflect our position in Christ, we are all at differing points in our walk, and we all still have the flesh to contend with, as evidenced when Paul had to rebuke Peter in Galatians 2:

"But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" (Galatians 2:14, NASB, emphasis mine)

That said, if someone is truly following the Lord, I don't think they would deny the Lord as Peter had done during His trial after Gethsemane (Peter had not yet been filled the Holy Spirit). But I'm going to let Mattfivefour or someone else weigh in on that one.

Signs (Matthew 12:38-42):

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “ An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

• Is this saying that the because that generation had forsaken or left the Lord in favor of legalism/man made things that they were not capable of recognizing the things that the Lord was completing in accordance with His will and promise?

1) I think this is saying that a people who were looking for nothing but signs were not going to be given the "sparkly awe" that they craved for. They had read of God's miracles in the desert for the Israelites who left Egypt, and they seemed to be expecting more of the same. Such folk seem to want more and more "signs" and its' never enough for them. At some point, one has to trust the Lord on His word, and since that generation was largely just "going through the motions", they expected that they "paid God what they owed Him", and that made their "worship" worthless. In that sense, it did indeed blind them to what the lord was doing in His ministry on earth: the One the ignored was they One they claimed to want to lead them. They were only interested in what the King could give them, not how they could serve Him.

Matthew 12:43-45

“ Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

• Is this passage speaking about Israel and the Jews?

1) Yes I think it is: Israel was known for repeatedly repenting and then sliding back. As a result, they never kept the Spirit of the Lord on them that would drive away these evil spirits that infested the land and people. But I think the application here can be extended to those who only show outside conversion and were never serious about repentance: while they appear "in order', they never had the Holy Spirit to repel the original infestation, and the resultant re-infestation is much worse. Yeah, this would seem to sink OSAS, but keep in mind that those who continually walk away from the Lord demonstrate that maybe they were never serious about Him to begin with, or threw away what they once considered precious. Either way, 1st century Jew or 21st century Westerner, it's a bad situation to be in.

[mattfivefour]

I see Robert has given some good answers, as we would expect. It's late now, so I will weigh in with a little more in the morning.

[NUmarcus]

Getting back on here a bit late, but thank you Robert for some excellent answers. Matt, I am looking forward to your answers as well. To all who have engaged in this Q&A...or will engage, I must say again that your efforts and your inputs are a blessing. I wish I had the strength to read and study 15 hours a day. I wasted 35 years not studying it one iota and now I just want to soak it all up like a sponge.

[Any Minute]

Getting back on here a bit late, but thank you Robert for some excellent answers. Matt, I am looking forward to your answers as well. To all who have engaged in this Q&A...or will engage, I must say again that your efforts and your inputs are a blessing. I wish I had the strength to read and study 15 hours a day. I wasted 35 years not studying it one iota and now I just want to soak it all up like a sponge.

Hi NUmarcus,
I'm glad you started this thread, I've been following with great interest. I'm sure others have also. You've asked some great questions, and even though I thought about taking a shot at a few of your questions, just reading others reply's have brought out things I haven't considered.

Like you, I feel like I wasted much of my life and am now trying to "catch up". I didn't grow up in a Christian household or in the church, though I had exposure and encounters at a young age. I did "profess" to be a Christian most of my life, it has only been in the last 5 or 6 years that God has really done a work in me (maybe because I shifted focus from self to Him, and started engaging in the relationship and reading His word).

Just wanted to say for the thread and to reaching out to your extended family In Christ. When the Word of God get's in you, it's always a good thing and this is another opportunity for us all to maybe learn something.

[IamPJ]

I'm enjoying this thread as well! Thanks for starting it! I love learning more about the scriptures.

[mattfivefour]

OK, I finally have some time here. I see Robert has answered everything: I have little to add.

John the Baptist (Matthew 11:7-18):
As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

‘ Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’

Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘ He has a demon!’

· So John was a herald of sorts to pronounce/prepare the coming of the Messiah as prophesied?
I can’t improve on Robert’s answer.

· The kingdom of heaven suffers violence? Meaning the prophets that came before that were killed by Israel? In these contexts what IS the kingdom of heaven?
Adding to Robert’s good answer— I draw from Vincent: "Christ ... graphically portrays the intense excitement which followed John's ministry; the eager waiting, striving, and struggling of the multitude for the promised king. ... This was proved by the multitudes who followed Christ and thronged the doors where he was, and would have taken him by force (the same word) and made him a king (John 6:15) ... Christ speaks of believers. They seize upon the kingdom and make it their own."

· Was John actually Elijah from the OT? Further, the phrase that accompanies this is 'who was to come.' Was this referring to an OT prophecy that stated Elijah would be coming in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah?

No, John was not Elijah himself but one in the spirit of Elijah … the angel Gabriel who appeared to Mary says this plainly in Luke Luke 1:17. (In fact read from Luke 1:13-17 for a full description of what God says John’s ministry would be.)

The final book of the Old Testament contains the prophecies (Malachi 3:1; 4:5). Jesus confirms they referred to John the Baptist in Matthew 17:10-13 and Mark 9:11-13.

· Passages state 'this generation is like children...' What is the point? Is the meaning that since the Jews were spiritual children or infants even, they were incapable of recognizing what was of the Lord or was the Lord and what was not?

Robert’s answer is on target. It seemed you just couldn’t win with the Jews.

Listing of Cities (Matthew 11:20-24):
Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

· Is Christ stating that these peoples, through unbelief and subsequently no repentance, have stored up terrible judgment for themselves in the time to come? Is this a case of the Jews having turned away from the word of God and therefore do not have an intimacy with the Lord's word? Subsequently, they cannot discern that the man before them, Christ, is the Messiah as promised by the Lord?

Robert’s answer is very good. To add a little: Jesus had wrought great miracles in those cities of Judah— the deaf heard, the blind saw, the lame walked, the possessed were delivered. Sidon, Tyre, and Sodom were in no way given such miraculous demonstrations of God’s presence and power as were those Jewish cities Therefore these Jewish cities who rejected Christ would suffer a worse fate than those pagan cities. This was a terrible and repulsive thought to the Jews who believed they were special above all nations on earth. (They were special, in the sense that God had chosen Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob to bring forth Messiah and bless the world. They just thought it meant they were superior human beings who would rule the world.)

Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

“ Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

· Is the first part of this passage a good example of how Christ would pray to or praise God the Father? Subsequently, would this be a good example of how we should pray?

I cannot add to Robert’s excellent answer.

Matthew 12 - Plucking Grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 1-8)
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘ I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

· Christ is that something greater than the temple...correct?
· Christ desires compassion??? As in keeping with the new covenant that will be established soon (at that point in time)?

Nothing to add to Robert’s answers here. He is spot on the money.

Jesus Heals the Man with the Withered Hand (Matthew 12:9-14):
Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “ Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “ What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

· Is this getting at the type of relationship we are to have with Our Father in Heaven? Meaning, He is accessible anytime...sabbath or not?

Again Robert’s answer is, as I always expect, on the mark. I might add that when you are ready for a deep Bible study, the Andrew Murray study on Hebrews is online in the Bible Q&A section of this forum. I highly recommend it to those who are ready to move on to a VERY “meaty” study of what Christ did for us, what He is doing for us now, and how we should walk that out in our daily lives.

Matthew 12:15-21
But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

18 “ Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;

My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

19 “ He will not quarrel, nor cry out;

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20 “ A battered reed He will not break off,

And a smoldering wick He will not put out,

Until He leads justice to victory.

21 “ And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”

· I am having trouble with this passage. Christ ordered those he healed not to make it known who he was in order to fulfill what Isaiah has prophesied. And that prophesy is about Christ is it not? He is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham by the Lord...correct?

Robert’s answer is, again, good. But I would add this: At this point, Christ was still preaching the Kingdom of God. He was manifesting the works of Messiah (how could He not?) but it was not yet time for Him to be offered as the sacrifice for man’s sin. He was well aware that the Jews would seize Him and attempt to make Him an earthly king over Judea, because that is who they were expecting: a super hero leader who would throw off the yoke of Roman oppression and make the Jews the rulers of the earth. This, of course, would have totally derailed God’s plan as we know it now to be. So it was important, as much as possible, that the word of these miracles not spread too far, too fast. Christ could neither afford to be caught up in a revolt, nor afford to spark one that would bring down the wrath of the Roman Empire on Judea.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32):
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

“ Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
[INDENT]· Would blasphemy against the Holy Spirit = Rejecting the conviction of the Holy Spirit that Christ is necessary and true?

Read Robert’s article— The "Unforgivable Sin": What to do if you think you have committed it. It is one of the best I have read on this topic. It will clearly explain the passage.

Good/Bad Fruit (Matthew 12:33-37):
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

· I understand the concept of fruits and what not. My question revolves around the following. If we are in Christ, then our hearts are good and that is what will come out of us...good fruit. Correct? Further, if someone is not in Christ, then their heart is bad. Correct? Therefore, is it even possible for a person in Christ to even deny Christ before others given that their heart is in Christ and they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit? In a similar fashion, is it even possible for a wolf in sheep's clothing to pronounce to be in Christ when they...at their core...are not?

I’ll just tack a bit more on to what Robert has said. If we are truly Christ’s, then yes, our hearts are good and what will come out of us will be good fruit. But bear in mind that we have both the old nature with which we were born and the new nature which is implanted in us when we were reborn (ie: born again.) In order to kill the old nature we need only to feed the new nature. That new nature will kill the old all by itself. Some without that new nature can imitate it for a while; but, as Jesus said in Matthew 7:18, a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Therefore, “By their fruit you shall know them” (Matthew 7:16-20).

Signs (Matthew 12:38-42):
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “ An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

· Is this saying that the because that generation had forsaken or left the Lord in favor of legalism/man made things that they were not capable of recognizing the things that the Lord was completing in accordance with His will and promise?

Robert’s answer is good. I would only add that, as you can see from the context, the scribes and Pharisees were not satisfied with all of the miracles he was doing: healing the sick, delivering the demon-possessed, etc; they wanted to see some huge sign to prove to them who He was. He said that the only sign they were going to get was the sign of Jonah … which pictured, in type, Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection three days later. In other words, He was saying that the real sign of His Messiahship would be His death and Resurrection.

He then states that the pagans in Nineveh will condemn the religious leaders of Judea in the Judgment because the people of Nineveh had more wisdom than did the Jews: namely, they repented at the preaching of Jonah and Jesus was far, far greater than he, yet they would not heed Him. Then He adds to that by saying the pagan Queen of Sheba would condemn the Jews at the Judgment because she traveled so far to hear Solomon’s wisdom and they could not be bothered to hear Christ’s wisdom offered right in their midst.

Matthew 12:43-45
“ Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

· Is this passage speaking about Israel and the Jews?

Yes. I agree with Robert … with one exception: I fail to see how what he says (and what Christ said) “sinks OSAS”. As Robert himself said, they are “those who only show outside conversion and were never serious about repentance.” Based on that, then they were never saved in the first place.

We should not forget that while this passage speaks about Israel it applies not just to that nation but to individuals. We cannot refuse both Satan and God. There is no middle ground. If we ask God to clean us up but do not want the Holy Spirit to live in us with His influence (dare I say “demands”?) on how we should live, we are much worse off than if we had never been cleansed in the first place. Only God living in us can preserve us from the power of the evil one. And God will not live in us if we do not want to heed Him.

I hope this helps. Robert is a good teacher and a man who loves God and understands His Word. I just wanted to expand a little on a couple of his points.


God bless.

[NUmarcus]

Matt and Robert...thank you for your patience and continued effort in answering the questions I post up.

I read through Matthew 13 several times the last few days and came up with some more questions. Her we go!

Matthew 13


Jesus Teaches in Parables (Matthew 13:1-9):

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

• Quick question on this opening passage. I see the bold phrase above all the time in the NT scriptures that I have been reading. I don't take this to mean a literal...you have ears to listen. Rather, there seems to be a contextual meaning? Therefore, is Christ saying that those who's hearts are NOT hardened to the point of stone...are those with ears to hear?

Purpose of Parables (Matthew 13:10-17):

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “ To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;

You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

For the heart of this people has become dull,

With their ears they scarcely hear,

And they have closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart and return,

And I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

• Christ's ministry is in its infancy at this point...correct? Therefore, he is speaking only to the disciples, correct? 'To them is has not been granted,' refers to whom? Israel? Jews? All peoples then to now who have shut off the work of the Lord in their hearts'?
  
• The passages that Christ speaks to from Isaiah. Would they be yet another reminder from the Lord that the human sin nature is to set itself against the Lord? Granted the application here is specific to the Messiah's prophesied arrival, but it seems to me that it is applicable down through the ages as well. Is this biblical?
  
• The last part of this passage would be Christ making it clear to the disciples just how BLESSED they were since prophets of the Lord had preceded them by many generations...had longed to see what they had in front of them...had faith that Christ would come...but died long before His arrival. Is this correct?

The Sower Explained (Matthew 13:18-23):

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

• This is just for my purposes...laying things out. From the opening of Matthew 13, it is clear that this parable has 4 surfaces or fields. The path; the rocks; the thorns; good soil. Each is indicative of some element in the world that destroys - retards - or accentuates the gospel of Christ in an individual. Is that correct?
  
• Christ speaks to the evil one (satan) in the explanation of the seeds on the path. Now my question on this portion is the following. The reason that the seed (word of God) does not sink in, is because the person's heart is stone. Therefore, the enemy (who is looking for who can he can devour) snatches away that word. Is that correct? Basically, it is the individual's love of sin that has produced the environment in which the enemy is successful in removing the Lord's word from them. Meaning that if there was an opening a seed to enter into a heart, however scarred, the enemy could not arbitrarily block it. Is that correct? It would seem so since satan is not even close to being greater than the Lord.
  
• Rocky Places - this probably gets asked ALL the time and is probably debated ALL the time. Does this individual constitute a saved individual or is Christ indicating that they are not saved? I am not sure, since receiving the word would seem to indicate that this individual is indeed saved. However, I am unsure since the scriptures use specific tenses and tenses matter within contexts. Further, the burning/wilting would seem to indicate someone who folded completely....without FAITH...in the face of trials. That would seem to be someone who never really knew Christ and in turn Christ did not know them.

Edit:

I have to run. My sister just called and I am headed out for a bit. I will pick this back up when I get back in later.

[Robert]

Matt and Robert...thank you for your patience and continued effort in answering the questions I post up.

I read through Matthew 13 several times the last few days and came up with some more questions. Her we go!

Matthew 13


Jesus Teaches in Parables (Matthew 13:1-9):

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

• Quick question on this opening passage. I see the bold phrase above all the time in the NT scriptures that I have been reading. I don't take this to mean a literal...you have ears to listen. Rather, there seems to be a contextual meaning? Therefore, is Christ saying that those who's hearts are NOT hardened to the point of stone...are those with ears to hear?

1) That's exactly what the Lord is saying here, NUmarcus; rebellious pride is the root of sin, and it prevents a person from hearing. Someone whose heart is solid stone is completely hardened and will NOT listen to anyone or anything. It's like a lump of clay that has hardened before the potter could shape it: once hardened, it is in a form that cannot be molded nor worked with. The same is true with the human heart: once hardened, the Lord cannot shape it. And when it is completely hardened, it's done.

That said, a person with a heart that is still soft in some respect is still willing to listen and hear what the Lord has to say.

Purpose of Parables (Matthew 13:10-17):

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “ To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;

You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

For the heart of this people has become dull,

With their ears they scarcely hear,

And they have closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart and return,

And I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

• Christ's ministry is in its infancy at this point...correct? Therefore, he is speaking only to the disciples, correct? 'To them is has not been granted,' refers to whom? Israel? Jews? All peoples then to now who have shut off the work of the Lord in their hearts'?
  
• The passages that Christ speaks to from Isaiah. Would they be yet another reminder from the Lord that the human sin nature is to set itself against the Lord? Granted the application here is specific to the Messiah's prophesied arrival, but it seems to me that it is applicable down through the ages as well. Is this biblical?
  
• The last part of this passage would be Christ making it clear to the disciples just how BLESSED they were since prophets of the Lord had preceded them by many generations...had longed to see what they had in front of them...had faith that Christ would come...but died long before His arrival. Is this correct?

1) Christ is speaking to more than just His disciples, scripture mentions there were a large number of people listening at the Sermon on the Mount:

"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him." (Matthew 5:1, NASB, emphasis mine)

"When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." (Matthew 7:28-29, NASB, emphasis mine)

That said, the reason it was "given to them" is because their hearts were for the Lord and not simply for what God could give them. These men (save Judas Iscariot) had hearts that yearned for the words of God and were soft enough to accept it. Those whose hearts were hardened would not care to even try to find the meaning in the parables and see the point of the stories that Jesus was using to illustrate His teaching. So yes, it initially means the Jews, but it reflects on all those who harden their hearts against Jesus Christ.

2) Yes; Jesus here is quoting Isaiah to further illustrate the fact that those who harden their hearts "close their eyes and ears". In other words: if their "eyes and ears were open", this would indicate that they were willing to see and listen to the lord and repent. This unwillingness to listen is unbelief and a lack of repentance and godly sorrow. Paul reinforces this in his numerous writings in his letters, and I do believe it reflects on all people throughout the ages. Jesus came to the Jews, but the same spiritual illness that afflicted them afflicted all mankind (and still does).

3) Yes, you got it! :)

The Sower Explained (Matthew 13:18-23):

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

• This is just for my purposes...laying things out. From the opening of Matthew 13, it is clear that this parable has 4 surfaces or fields. The path; the rocks; the thorns; good soil. Each is indicative of some element in the world that destroys - retards - or accentuates the gospel of Christ in an individual. Is that correct?
  
• Christ speaks to the evil one (satan) in the explanation of the seeds on the path. Now my question on this portion is the following. The reason that the seed (word of God) does not sink in, is because the person's heart is stone. Therefore, the enemy (who is looking for who can he can devour) snatches away that word. Is that correct? Basically, it is the individual's love of sin that has produced the environment in which the enemy is successful in removing the Lord's word from them. Meaning that if there was an opening a seed to enter into a heart, however scarred, the enemy could not arbitrarily block it. Is that correct? It would seem so since satan is not even close to being greater than the Lord.
  
• Rocky Places - this probably gets asked ALL the time and is probably debated ALL the time. Does this individual constitute a saved individual or is Christ indicating that they are not saved? I am not sure, since receiving the word would seem to indicate that this individual is indeed saved. However, I am unsure since the scriptures use specific tenses and tenses matter within contexts. Further, the burning/wilting would seem to indicate someone who folded completely....without FAITH...in the face of trials. That would seem to be someone who never really knew Christ and in turn Christ did not know them.

1,2 and 3) I think you nailed it accurately here, NUmarcus!

[NUmarcus]

Continuing in Matthew 13 from Saturday.

Tares Among Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30 and Matthew 13:36-43)

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “ The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “ Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

• This appears to be saying a number of things of importance. (1) We will always be amongst children of the evil one as long as we are here; (2) It is a blessing that they will not be 'reaped' until the end of the age as it shows how long suffering the Lord is and how much he desires the 'field' to have more wheat and fewer weeds at the end; (3) It is tough for us to see because we are surrounded by it....but a world without wickedness truly shines in the Lord's radiance. Is this biblical?

Mustard Seed and Yeast(Matthew 13:31-32 and Matthew 13:33)

He presented another parable to them, saying, “ The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

He spoke another parable to them, “ The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

• Are these parables driving at the faith of a follower of Christ? Or more plainly, the measure of faith that we are graced/blessed with to start out are walk with the Lord?

Treasures Old and New (Matthew 13:51-52)

“Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

• I am lost on this one.

I have started reading through Matthew 14 and 15. I will try and get those questions up later today or early tomorrow morning. Have a great Sunday folks!

[mattfivefour]

Continuing in Matthew 13 from Saturday.

Tares Among Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30 and Matthew 13:36-43)

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “ The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “ Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

• This appears to be saying a number of things of importance. (1) We will always be amongst children of the evil one as long as we are here; (2) It is a blessing that they will not be 'reaped' until the end of the age as it shows how long suffering the Lord is and how much he desires the 'field' to have more wheat and fewer weeds at the end; (3) It is tough for us to see because we are surrounded by it....but a world without wickedness truly shines in the Lord's radiance. Is this biblical?

We need to be careful about "seeing" more in a parable than it truly contains. The point of this parable is two-fold: first, that Satan has placed false members among the true members of God's Church; second, that we cannot decide which is which, only Christ can. Thus we are to wait for Him to do the sorting and reaping. I believe it very, very important to note that the reason for us servants to not be the ones trying to pluck out the tares is not that we might miss some and accidentally leave them in the Church but that we might uproot good plants.

Mustard Seed and Yeast(Matthew 13:31-32 and Matthew 13:33)

He presented another parable to them, saying, “ The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

He spoke another parable to them, “ The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

• Are these parables driving at the faith of a follower of Christ? Or more plainly, the measure of faith that we are graced/blessed with to start out our walk with the Lord?

He is teaching that the Kingdom of God which the Jews at that time thought would come with great power and glory in visible triumph upon the earth would actually come very small and quiet. He was teaching them that God's plan was not at all the way man would have done it and thus was quite different from what man expected. We, of course, can see that indeed the Kingdom of God began with Christ walking this earth as an outcast, being crucified, buried and then resurrected. the Church began with a small group of terrified people huddled in a room until the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost. Then, starting with Peter's sermon, the church grew to three thousand and then, mostly hidden during the 10 persecutions of the first 300 years. And even during later history, the true Church lay hidden beneath the folds of the false Church, until it burst forth and is now a great Kingdom of believers. Of course, the tares have flourished too. However, as we saw from the first parable to which you referred above, the time is coming when Christ will send His angels to remove them once and for all.

Treasures Old and New (Matthew 13:51-52)

“Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

• I am lost on this one.

The "scribes" in Jesus' day were the interpreters of Scripture and the teachers of religion. So, Jesus is saying that once such a man (one instructed in the scriptures) becomes a follower of the Kingdom of Heaven—which is what we find in Christ—and thus a follower of Christ, he will bring out of his storehouse of knowledge of Scripture not only the old teachings that point to Christ and God's plan for man but also will be able to bring forth new teaching about it based on his knowledge of God's Word. We see this clearly in Paul's life. He was a Pharisee and the leading student of the leading teacher of the day: Gamaliel. He knew the Torah and the Tenach inside out. But when he got saved he was able to see how all in the Law (indeed, the entire Tenach) pointed to Christ and was then able to create new teaching applying that knowledge to the Church and its members in both doctrine and in application to our lives.

I pray this helps.

[NUmarcus]

Continuing on in Matthew....I have read through Matthew 14. Questions are below.

Death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:1-12)

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, “ This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, “ It is not lawful for you to have her.” Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet.

But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

1. Did the death of John the Baptist fulfill some prophecy or other purpose in relation to the path that Christ was to follow as He fulfilled His time on Earth?
   
2. This passage mentions Herod. Would this be the son of Archelaus, whose own father was also named Herod?

Feeding the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21)

Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” They *said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

1. Christ withdrew by himself...was this just one example of His daily need to be in fellowship/prayer...alone with God the Father?
   
2. Why did Christ tell the disciples to give the crowds food if He already knew there was not enough and he would in turn perform a miracle by feeding that crowd?
   
3. I noticed that Christ blessed the loaves prior to breaking them. Is this an example of giving thanks to the God who provides for us? Meaning, even as Christ was in the process of executing a miracle, the example was one that we should recognize. This act is acknowledging that we are utterly dependent upon God the Father for everything. Is this accurate/biblical?

Jesus Walks on Water (Matthew 14:22-33)

Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “ Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “ You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

1. We again see that Christ is praying by himself. I just found this to be really cool. If there was ever someone who could get by without praying, it would have been Christ. However, He was constantly in prayer and quiet time with the Lord. Amazing to see that present in the scriptures.
   
2. Is there a lesson to be drawn from Peter's experience on the water that we can apply to our walk with Christ, faith and so on? I don't want to read too much into it or add to the Lord's word, but it would seem that there is a down through the ages meaning to Peter stepping out boldly - becoming afraid - his boldness vanishing and the sinking - Christ saved him.