Category: Matthew studies

This parable is about forgiveness 

But let’s first understand a couple of things 

First off what is a parable ?

The definition of the word “parable” is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.

490 times the Bible tells us we should forgive people 

But why is it so important? Why does the Bible tell us to forgive? 

Well if we can’t forgive someone, then we begin to harbor feelings of hate, anger, dislike, and resentment towards the person we can’t forgive. 

Jesus forgave the people who tortured and crucified him , are we any better than Jesus? No, of course not. We are not even 1% as good as he is. So if he can forgive those people who literally killed him we need to forgive people who hurt our feelings.

Now the king forgave the debt of the servant who owed him millions of dollars yet when that same servant went to the man who owed him a few thousand he wouldn’t forgive his debt and sent him to prison until the whole amount was payed off 

This man was a hypocrite he begged the king to let him pay it off instead of selling his wife and children yet when someone owed him money and begged him to for time he denied him and sent him to prison . 

We all do this and not one of yous can tell me otherwise . We expect to be forgiven from our family , friends and especially from God . Yet we won’t forgive the person who called us a bad word or was a jerk to us.

In Matthew 18 verses 32-34 it says 

“Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.”

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If you haven’t caught on God is the king we are the servant he has forgiven and the other servant is the people we can not forgive. 

What anyone says or does to us is grains of sand compared to the things we do to God daily because Since every sin we commit is committed against God, those who are forgiven by Him are forgiven for every sin, every wrong and wicked choice, we ever do over the course of our lifetimes. Nobody will ever sin against us anywhere near to the amount we have sinned against God. 

We break Gods commandments every day and yet when we ask for forgiveness he always forgives us , we break his trust, his heart, his word ,and his law every second of every day of our entire lives yet he will always forgive us, but we can hold a grudge for years and not forgive a person over a small fight with mean words. 

We owe God so much the least we can do is forgive our brothers and sisters for being mean . Even as Jesus was dying on the cross he asked God to forgive the people who crucified him. So again why are we any better than Jesus and won’t forgive people for petty things?

In verses 34 and 35 it says 

“Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.””

Jesus is telling us that is we don’t truly forgive others from our heart not just saying we forgive them but really forgiving them then in the end God will punish us. 

Verse 24 says 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Jesus is telling his disciples if you want to follow him you must give up your own way take up your cross and follow him. Now what does that mean. It meant that they would have to give up the lives they lived  and they ways they lived if they ate with their left hand they needed to stop and do it the way Christ did they needed to give up everything from the way they walked to their family’s and dreams to sacrifice everything they had and their selves  to follow Christ with no regrets and to take up their cross  and to take up their cross now  in the first century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by crucifixion. To carry a cross was to face the most painful and humiliating means of death human beings could develop. So they must be willing to through pain humility and suffering in order to follow Christ . 

Verse 25 says 

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”

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If you hang on to your life in the world you begin to desire worldly things and become to love the world and when you love the world and the life you made in it you loose sight of the blessings God has gave you 

When you desire worldly items you have no interest in the holy items that God can bless you with so you will loose your life to the world . But if you give you your worldly life and devote your self to God and Holy things he can offer than you will find that you have no need or desire for worldly things and your life will be saved from the world . 

Verse 26 says 

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”

When you desire worldly things you become of the world and when you become of the world it’s more likely you will loose your soul to the worldly things the devil wants us to desire 

Let’s say you have everything you could ever want in the world . You have money, cars, jewelry, mansions, and more . You will loose sight of God and the heavenly things he can offer you because you only desire worldly temporary things this is how you lose your soul to the world . Now if you have everything you ever wanted but you loose your relationship with God is it worth it? You may have everything you want but do you have the 1 thing you really need? 

Verse 27 says 

“For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.”

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Jesus is talking about the 2nd coming which is talked about in revelation. 

Then he will come and judge people according to their deeds when he says this it’s a big thing because we can say and confess with our mouths every day that we are Christians and we believe in God and that Jesus died for us, but if we have no good deeds to show  it’s just empty air.

An example of a good deed is when you give whole heartedly to someone in need and expect nothing in return, or when you do what is right by God and not sin and expect no blessings in return. These are good deeds. Now if you do what is wrong in the eyes of God but confess with your mouth that you believe Jesus is our one and only savior , this is not a good deed its an empty word. Jesus says in Matthew Chapter 15 Verse 8 ” These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Jesus is telling us right here that is you confess you believe in him it wont get you anywhere if your heart is far from him and you practice bad deeds.

“On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

First off we need to know who is asking for the temple tax. This temple tax was not the civil tax that the Romans collected each year for the government. The people who were collecting this temple tax was Jews and the reason is because they need to maintain upkeep and service for the temple or tent of the meetings

It tells us that here in Exodus Chapter 30 verses 12-16 

12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. 15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. 16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.”

So this is why they asked Peter if his teacher  who is Jesus was going to pay the temple tax .  

““Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus asks peter a question but what does he mean by this? I’ll break it down as simple as I can . If you own a business would you charge your family and friends entry fees? Or would you charge the people whom you know not of? The answer is pretty simple you wouldn’t charge the people you know but you would charge strangers . 

““They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied. “Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free!” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here is a simple verse Peter answers Jesus saying they tax the people they have conquered and Jesus says “the citizens are free” If we go back to my anecdote  the answer is you would charge the strangers and the friends and family would be free. 

“However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Although there is no reason for Jesus to pay these fees since he is the Son of God ,he still pays this fee because he does not want to offend anyone. At this time and through out all of Jesus’s ministry people was looking for anything he did wrong so they can have something against him so they can arrest him , if he offended them by not paying the temple tax that would give them the perfect reason to arrest him and Jesus couldn’t let this happen he had a path paved for him to fulfill the purpose God had made for him and being arrested would have prevented the other things Jesus needed to do before he was crucified. 

The temple tax was half a Shekel or 2 drachma coins this is why there was 1 shekel in the fish’s mouth. But why was it in the fishes mouth? Now nowhere are we told that Jesus or Peter couldn’t afford it but Jesus shows Peter that once again God will provide for them and that God can provide everything we need. 

There’s a few things that I got from these verses 

 No matter what God is always there he always knows what we need before we even say it and he always blesses us with what we need before we even begin to worry and search for it he shows us this in 2 sections of these verses 

First when Peter walks into the house and before he says anything Jesus begins to talk. But how did Jesus know what to say? 

It’s because God already knew what Peter needed before asking Jesus so before he even needed to ask God gave him his answer 

And second  is when Jesus tells peter to throw a line , catch the fish and open its mouth and their peter found the silver coin to pay for the taxes. 

God shows us that before peter went to look and search and worry how he was gonna pay is Jesus told him where to go and how to do it. No matter what we go through God will provide he knows our problems he knows our worries and he knows our hearts.

no matter what we need to trust that God knows what’s best for us , we need to trust that he knows what we need and what we don’t need because God is all knowing . That means he knows all, he knows the thought we have before we think them.

“But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”

Jesus didn’t say anything to the woman he didn’t say yes it no because at this time he was only preaching and healing to the Jews not the gentiles because if you remember back in Matthew chapter ten verses 5 and 6 it says “Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep.”
‭‭ so since he have his disciples these introductions he didn’t want to ignore or defy his introductions by helping this woman who wasn’t a Jew because at this second he was unsure if her faith

But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!” Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

When Jesus said this he was saying that it isn’t right to take away the spiritual food and physical healings away from the Jews and give it to gentiles

She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”

Here the woman is saying that Jesus is right but even so a gentile is still able to go catch whatever blessings the master (being Jesus) will be able to give

“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.”
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After hearing this Jesus was convinced that she had great faith and was a true believer so Jesus granted her request and healed her daughter

What I got out of this is that Jesus a mission at the time and it was for him and his disciples to only preach and heal the lost sheep of Israel the Israelites and Jews yet this woman asked him to heal her daughter and at first Jesus didn’t say anything because he wasn’t sure of her faith and he didn’t want to defy his instructions he gave to the disciples but after talking with her he seen her faith and healed her daughter

How can we want something from God yet we don’t have faith that he will give us them ? It says in mark 11:24 “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”
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This woman had amazing faith that even tho she wasn’t a Jew Jesus healed her daughter because of her faith . If we can have that kind of faith when we ask God for something and we truly believe that he will give us that gift and have not 1 ounce of doubt then we will bless you .

1When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee,14:1 Greek Herod the tetrarch. Herod Antipas was a son of King Herod and was ruler over Galilee. heard about Jesus, 2he said to his advisers, “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead! That is why he can do such miracles.”

King Herod believed that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead because at this time there was no one who could do theses miracle except for John the Baptist .

Now when John the Baptist was arrested it was because he had told king Herod it was against Gods law for him to marry Herodias because she was Herod’s brother Phillips wife this made Herodias hold a grudge on John so she made Herod arrest him she wanted him dead but with out king Herods approval she couldn’t touch a hair on his head. Now king Herod respected John it says here in Mark chapter 6 verse 20
“for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.”
‭‭so Herod did not want to kill John for 2 reasons 1 he knew it would start a riot because people believed John was a prophet and 2 because even though he didn’t believe what John was saying he like to listen to him and respected him.
So when Herodias’ daughter danced for king Herod he was pleased and in front of everyone he said he would give her anything she wanted , now at this time she didn’t know what she wanted so she asked her mother and her mother told her what to say again king Herod didn’t want to kill John but because he gave his word in front of all these people which included his officials, generals, and hundreds of people he had no choice at all so this is why He had no choice but to behead John

Now all of this happen because Herodias had anger and a grudge towards John her anger took over her mind and spirit and she caused her self her daughter and her husband to comment the sin of murder. She let her anger control her causing her to live in anger her anger made her do bad things she made her husband arrest John and then persuaded her daughter to want Johns head and then for king Herod to give the final word to behead John.

If we let our anger control us we will never be happy with the things we have we can never look at the blessings God gave us and I’m not trying to say that God blessed Herod and his wife so no one assume that’s what I’m saying I’m talking about is the world now if we hold a grudge and anger towards anyone it doesn’t harm that person as much as it harms us . It harms are spirit , our joy, our connection with God, and our vision to see the blessings God gives us . We let our worldly feuds get between our Holy gifts

This this part of the chapter Matthew is telling us how the people of Nazareth (the town which Jesus grew up in) were astonished and  shocked with the wisdom and power he had , they were confused about how and where he got this wisdom and power and knowledge because they knew his entire family they knew his father was a carpenter who had no special abilities so because of this they were confused and refused to believe in him and refuse to believe he is who he says he is (which is the son of God) 

For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.” Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭40‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When Jesus says this he’s telling them about the future in which he is crucified and resurrected in 3 days 

““The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.”

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The people in Nineveh were very sinful and evil people yet when Jonah finally went there and preached and told them to repent they did and changed their ways . Jesus is telling the people that he is much greater than Jonah for he is the son of God and yet they will not repent and change their ways they sinned and refused to listen to Jesus because they refused to believe he was the one and only true Messiah. 

“The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭42‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Queen of Sheba traveled  to see if what she heard about king Solomon’s wisdom was true she went to him with gifts and asked every question he had on her mind and Solomon had no issue answering all of them and she listened to everything he said. Now again Jesus is much greater than Solomon and yet the Pharisees and Israelites refuse to listen to him when he preaches and tells them to repent 

““When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none.”

When a demon leaves a person with out being sent to the pit of hell or the abyss it wanders the world trying to find rest and trying to find a new person to posses but because it’s a demon they will not find any rest 

“Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order.”

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Once the demon realizes it can’t find rest it will try to return to its original host but they will see its house is empty, swept , and in order. This means the person is no longer possessed but saved and is mentally and physically better they repented and changed their ways so now the demon sees this person is no longer corrupt but healed and saved 

“Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”” Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭45‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Now the demon sees the person is saved and brings in 7 more demons who are more wicked than himself to corrupt and condemn the person even worst than when it was just the 1 demon 

When Jesus says that will be the experience of this evil generation he is saying that because this generation is not accepting Jesus as the messiah and savior he is warning them in the result of the end times and due to them not listening to him it will result in their damnation and it will be 7 times as bad 

Jesus is comparing his generation to children playing in the public square and complaining to their friends   Saying 

“‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’ 

For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results”

Jesus is saying here that no matter what anyone including the son of God does non believers will complain back then they was complaining saying because Jesus was a glutton and drunk just because he ate and drank and because he befriended sinners and tax collectors but at the same time they would complain on John the Baptist because he didn’t go to feast and drink and they called him possessed . So no matter who did what the non believers would complain and judge any body who was a prophet or follower of Christ because it wasn’t to their liking or because they would not “play” the part as a prophet or messiah should to their point of view but also everyone has a different perspective so no matter what someone wouldn’t be pleased would complain because no matter what they found Fault in Jesus 

This is a lot like today when something goes wrong people  complain and say we’ll why did God make this happen or God should have done this instead of this or guyshey even complain and fight because they believe God is black, or a woman, or something else  so no matter what back then and even now everyone has a different perspective and will always complain because it’s not how they imagine or want God to be. 

34” Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”

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Before Jesus was born everyone thought that the messiah will bring peace on earth even when he started his ministry he followers believed he will create peace, but here he says he did not come to bring peace but a sword   now the sword he is talking about a machairan  which is Greek for a large knife which is used for cutting and dividing flesh of animals mostly fish . 

35” For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;”“and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’”

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This is now where Jesus is using the  machairan this large knife is known for separating the parts of animals and fish so here Jesus is separating his people by separating those who believe in Christ  and those who do not believe in Christ , he’s saying that a non believing father will turn against his believing son. A believing daughter against a non believing mother and a believing daughter in law against her non believing mother in law there for Jesus did not bring peace but separation in a household when half the family believes and the other half don’t 

37”He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Here Jesus is saying that anyone who puts another person highly above God or Jesus will not be worthy of being his . How can you want to be worthy of Jesus’s love and being his child when you don’t love him above everyone else ? I’m not saying don’t love your child or family member but remember God put you before his son We should show our love by putting Jesus above everyone else. 

38“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭38‬ ‭

Here Jesus is saying that a believer must die to themselves. They must be willing to let go of their own agendas and personal dreams and ways of living and follow him and be Christ like

39“He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

When Jesus says ^ he is saying that when a person finds enjoyment in his life by sinful deeds , denial of God and worldly desires he will find themselves spiritually bankrupt and dead in their sin 

It says here in Matthew 5:10-12

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.. 

this is what Jesus means when he says he who loses his life for my sake will find it because if you die for being a believer of Christ or for preaching the word of god you will find your life in heaven 

Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

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Before Jesus and in the old test image 

The sole fast required by the Law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32).  It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). This was a group time of serious reflection on their sins during the year and their sorrow before God.

There are occasions when special fasts were and should be called by leaders. These times of fasting are usually dictated by circumstance such as:

1. sickness – Psalms 35:13,
2. death – I Samuel 31:13,
3. war or battle – Judges 20:24-28,
4. conviction of sin – Ezra 10:3,
5. realizing lost condition – Jonah 3:5,
6. important decisions –Acts 13:2; 14:23.

Fasting was not meant for joyful and happy occasions that is why Jesus said “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

‭‭Now the Pharisees didn’t fast for those reason they would fast twice a week just to make it clear to man to show how religious they were They would go out of their way to disfigure their faces so that someone would ask what was going on and this would give them the chance to let people know that they were fasting.

Jesus says here in Matthew 6 – 16 

““And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face, Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

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““Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.””

Here Jesus is saying that the way the Pharisees practice Judaism is like old clothing and old wine skins and he is introducing a new way and  the new way of Judaism is  not a patch because a patch can be torn away at the first washing which means if he just adds the new way into the old way it will just be washed away and forgotten but  but instead he is saying his new way is like a new wineskin to pour the new wine in so that the new way of Judaism is preserved which means that the new way of Judaism will last forever. The new way is the right way it’s not how the Pharisees do just for attention and praise but the new way is to give God the glory in what we do wether it’s to fast, pray, or even help someone we must do it for the glory of God not the glory of man