Jesus's Triumphal Entry and Final Discourse with the People

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 12:1) Then six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead whom He raised from the dead, (2) There they made Him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus had left Bethany and went out into the country to steer clear of the Jews who wanted to kill Him.  As the Passover was near, Jesus went back to Bethany to have supper with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.  Lazarus sat with Jesus at the table with others who had been invited, and Martha served.

(3) Then Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.

Mary took a pound of an ointment of spikenard, which was a very costly and fragrant oil, and anointed Jesus's feet with it and then wiped His feet with her hair.  The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.

(4) Then said one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, (5) "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor?"

One of Jesus's disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, saw what Mary did and considered it wasteful.  He asked why the ointment hadn't been instead sold with the proceeds going to the poor.

(6) This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and lifted what was put in it.

It's not that Judas really cared for the poor, but he was actually a thief.  He held the money bag for Jesus and the disciples and often stole from it for himself.  He desired for himself that three hundred pence the ointment could have brought.

(7) Then Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burying."

Jesus told Judas to leave Mary alone.  She had saved that ointment for the purpose of anointing Jesus before His death and burial.  Of course, Mary did not know that Jesus was soon to die, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit she had chosen this time to anoint Jesus with it.

(8) "For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

Jesus went on to say that there would always be poor to be helped, but He Himself would not always be there.  Therefore the time to anoint Him was right then, as there would be soon no more chance to do so.  It's not that Jesus did not believe in giving to the poor; He taught that we should (Matthew 25:35-36, Mark 10:21, Luke 14:13-14).  However, I believe Jesus was teaching a proper order of things.  If two good duties are in competition with each other, then it makes sense to do the one that needs to be done immediately as there may be no chance to do it later.  Additionally, God and Jesus come first in our lives.  It's always right to do the things of God over other things we may perceive as good.  I can't help but think of some of the extreme environmental things like ones that are done to save a toad that harm God's people.  God gave His people dominion over the animals (Genesis 1:26-28).  That does not mean that we should torture and kill animals for no good reason.  However, when it comes to the needs of animals versus the needs of humans, humans come first.

(9) Many people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there, and they came, not for Jesus's sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead.

Many of the Jews knew that Jesus was there and came, not just to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus as he had been raised from the dead.

(10) But the chief priests deliberated that they might put Lazarus to death also, (11) Because on account of him, many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

However, the chief priests discussed how they should also put Lazarus to death; because of what had been done for him, many of the Jews were deserting them and turning to Jesus.

(12) On the next day many people who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, (13) Took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet Him, and cried, "Hosanna! Blessed the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord!"

The next day, many people who had arrived early for the Passover Feast, when they heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took palm tree branches and went out to meet Jesus, crying, "Hosanna!" which was an exclamation of adoration that meant "Oh save!"  Then they quoted Psalm 118:26, "Blessed He who comes in the name of the Lord..."  The palm tree branches signified victory and triumph.

(14) And Jesus, when He had found a young ass, sat on it; as it is written, (15) "Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold your King comes sitting on an ass's colt."

The other gospel writers told us that Jesus directed two of His disciples to go into the village and there they would find the colt of a donkey and they were to bring it back to Jesus.  Jesus sat upon the young donkey, and that fulfilled prophecy from Zechariah 9:9 which said, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."

(16) These things His disciples did not understand at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and they had done these things to Him.

At that time, Jesus's disciples did not understand what Jesus was doing and saying, but after His ascension, they remembered the things said about Him in the Old Testament prophecies and they fully comprehended the fulfillment of that prophecy at that time.  They remembered the things the people had done to and for Him, the taking of palm tree branches and crying "Hosanna," putting Jesus on the donkey's colt, and then as the other gospels told us, laying their clothes and branches under Him and before Him, paving His way into Jerusalem.

(17) The people therefore who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him from the dead, bore record.

The Jews who had gone from Jerusalem to Bethany to comfort Lazarus's sisters, had been there to witness Jesus calling Lazarus out of the grave and raising him from the dead.  Therefore, they were able to bear witness of Jesus to the others in Jerusalem.

(18) For this reason the people also met Him, for they had heard that He had done this miracle.

That is why the people in Jerusalem met Jesus as He was coming into the city, because they had heard about what He had done for Lazarus.

(19) The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "Do you perceive how you prevail nothing? Behold, the world has gone after Him."

However, the Pharisees were greatly dismayed at what they saw, and discussed among themselves how they had so far accomplished nothing to stop the people from believing in Jesus.  In fact, it looked to them like the whole world had gone after Him.

(20) And there were certain Greeks among them who came up to worship at the feast.

There were some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast.  They may have been Jews who had been living in Greece, or perhaps converts to the Jewish religion, or it's even possible they were Gentiles who came to worship in the outer court of the temple that was called the court of the Gentiles.

(21) The same came therefore to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired of Him, saying, "Sir, we want to see Jesus."

Those Greeks went to Philip and asked if they could see Jesus.  The reason they may have gone to Philip is probably answered in the fact that John told us Philip was of Bethsaida in Galilee.  They could have been from the Greeks who dwelt on the borders of Tyre and Sidon, which was not far from Bethsaida.  Perhaps they had had occasion to see or know Philip.  Additionally, as Philip is a Greek given name, some have thought it plausible that Philip's parents may have been from the Jews living in Greece.  They had apparently heard the fame of Jesus and wished to see Him and thought Philip could help.

(22) Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Philip and Andrew told Jesus.

Philip went and told Andrew of the Greeks' request, probably because Andrew was from the same place and may have known of the Greeks, also.  Then they both went and told Jesus.

(23) And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified."

The scripture does not say whether or not the Greeks were with them when they asked Jesus, nor whether or not He directly acknowledged and agreed to their request, but the fact that John mentioned it, must mean Jesus spoke in the presence of them.  He told all within His hearing that the hour had come for Him to be glorified, which of course, we understand to mean His ascension into heaven after His death and resurrection.

(24) "Verily, verily, I say to you, except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit."

Jesus likened His life on earth to a kernel or grain of wheat.  It's just a lonely grain of wheat unless it falls to the ground and dies and then shoots forward with much fruit.  So although Jesus was just one Man, when He died, He would bring forth a huge harvest of Christians.

(25) "He who loves his life shall lose it, and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."

Jesus's point was that whoever loved his temporal life so much that they did everything in their power to preserve it, would ultimately lose it.  The one who hated his temporal life in the world, realizing he was only passing through to true life in Christ, who did nothing to preserve his life, but lived it for God and for heaven, he would have eternal life.

(26) "If any man serves Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there shall also My servant be. If any man serves Me, him My Father will honor."

Perhaps Jesus was saying this for the benefit of the Greeks.  Even though they may not have been Jews who could fully partake of the Passover, if they followed Him, imitating Him, following His Word, then they would also be with Him where He went, to heaven.  His Father God in heaven would honor them, as well.

(27) "Now is My soul troubled and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this cause, I came to this hour."

Jesus admitted He was troubled in His human soul about what was about to happen to Him.  However, could He really ask His Father to save Him from it?  After all, that was His purpose in coming into the world, to suffer and die for our sins, and be resurrected again for the salvation of the world.

(28) "Father, glorify your name." Then came a voice from heaven, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."

Jesus asked His Father to glorify His own name.  A voice came from heaven saying that He had already glorified it, obviously in the life and work of Jesus up to that point, and that He would glorify it again in Jesus's resurrection and ascension.

(29) The people therefore who stood by and heard, said that it thundered; others said, "An angel spoke to Him."

Some of the people who stood by and heard the voice misunderstood it as thunder, as it probably did come forth in thunder.  Others heard the voice and assumed that an angel had spoken to Jesus.  They may have understood it as the word of God, but they may have assumed He spoke through angels.

(30) Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sakes."

Jesus answered the people's confusion and confirmed it was a voice and it had not come in answer to His prayer, at least not chiefly, as it was not necessary, for Jesus knew the mind of His Father and vice versa.  The voice had come for their sakes, that they might know that He was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God.  I can't help but think about what an honor and a privilege it was to the Greeks, Gentiles, to hear all this.  They not only saw Jesus but heard from God confirming just who He was.  What a beautiful picture of how Jesus is for all of us, no matter what our background or religion.

(31) "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

Jesus went on to say that that particular time was the judgment of the world, and that the prince of the world would be cast out.  He said, "Now," because He knew His death was very near.  The original word translated as "judgment" is "krisis."  How similar it is to our "crisis."  And this would certainly be a crisis point in the lives of the people.  It would be a turning point.  On one hand, Jesus will have defeated death and Satan, the prince of the world.  No longer would people have to die in their sins.  However, Satan would still be around for those who would not receive Jesus's gift of salvation.  One of the definitions of "krisis" is "justice."  There would be justice for the world when Jesus saved it from death and Satan was cast out.

(32) "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to Me."

Jesus's meaning was more likely just His death lifting Him out of the earth.  However, He would of course, be lifted up into the heavens in His resurrection and ascension.  If He was killed, which He knew He would be, He would draw all people to Him.  He would have power over death and would save those who came to Him through His drawing.

(33) This He said, signifying what death He would die.

John explained that Jesus was describing what type of death He would die by what He said.  Being lifted up on a cross, He would draw all people to Himself.  We do look up to the cross to be saved, just "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness" (John 3:14), and all who looked up to it were saved from the deadly bites of the fiery serpents, "even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14 cont.) and those who look to Him will be saved.

(34) The people answered Him, "We have heard out of the law that Christ abides forever, and how do You say, 'The Son of man must be lifted up.'? Who is this Son of man?"

The people answered Jesus saying that they knew from the law that Christ abides forever, so how was it that Jesus said the Son of man must be lifted up from the earth, meaning He must die?  They asked Him who was the Son of man.

(35) Then Jesus said to them, "Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have light lest darkness come upon you, for he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going."

Jesus did not answer their question directly, but called Himself the light, the Light of the world, and urged the people to walk with that Light and learn from Him while they had the Light because it would only be with them a little while longer.  Once the Light was extinguished, darkness would come upon them, and they would not see the pits and snares that awaited them and would eventually destroy them.

(36) "While you have Light, believe in the Light, that you may be the children of Light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and hid Himself from them.

Jesus finally urged the people to believe in that Light while they had it, that they might become the children of Light and knowledge.  He then left and hid Himself away from them.

(37) But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they did not believe in Him.

John tells us that even though Jesus had done so many miracles in the presence of these people, they still did not believe in Him.

(38) That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

John went on to say that this fulfilled a prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 53:1, "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"  Who believed Jesus's words and the miracles and works He did by the arm of the Lord?

(39) Therefore they could not believe because Isaiah said again, (40) "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with eyes nor understand with heart, and be converted and I should heal them."

Because they refused to see the truth no matter how many things they had heard and seen, God left them in their blindness and hardness of hearts, and they could not believe Jesus.  Again John quoted prophecy in Isaiah 6:9-10, "And He said, Go, and tell this people, hear you indeed, but understand not; and see you indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."  Because they would not listen to the Lord and see His great works, God would leave them with their hard and stupid hearts, ears, and eyes, and they would not be able to be converted and saved as they could have been if they had only listened and opened their hearts to what they saw.

(41) These things Isaiah said when He saw His glory and spoke of Him.

John explained that Isaiah had spoken those things when he had seen a vision of the Messiah in the temple (Isaiah 6:1-13).

(42) Nevertheless, among the chief rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, (43) For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

However, there were those (it says many, in fact) among the chief rulers who did believe in Jesus, but they would not publicly admit it for fear the Pharisees would put them out of the synagogue.  At first I wondered if that was always a bad thing.  You certainly never reject Jesus if confronted, but do you always broadcast your belief, if by not doing so, you could do more good in the synagogue to open people's eyes to the truth?  However, that objection was put to rest by the next verse that stated those men loved the praise of men more than they loved God's praises.  God knows the truth of one's heart and His Holy Spirit will guide Christ's follower in what he should do.

(44) Jesus cried and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me!"

Verse 36 said that Jesus had left and hid Himself from the people, so either this was said at another time, or as He was, by what follows, still talking about the Light, perhaps He cried out as He left the unbelievers, or perhaps He had even said the words before He actually left.  Jesus cried out that anyone who believed in Him as Jesus the man, was actually believing in the One who sent Him, God Himself, who came down to earth in the human form of Jesus to save the world.

(45) "And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me."

Jesus said more directly that anyone who saw Him was seeing the One who sent Him, God Himself in heaven.  It was perhaps a difficult concept to grasp, but at the very least, they should have faith that He was one with God.

(46) "I am come a light into the world that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."

Jesus explained that He was the Light that came into the world that whoever believed in Him would not stay in their darkness of sin and unbelief.

(47) "And if any man hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world."

Jesus said that if anyone heard Him and did not believe in Him, He was not there to judge them.  They had actually already been judged and condemned; He had come to save them and the entire world from that condemnation.

(48) "He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has one that judges him; the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day."

However, those who do not believe in Jesus and reject Him and will not receive His word, that Word of God spoken by Jesus will be the judgment against him in the great Judgment Day.  That is the truth that the one who rejected Christ will come to know was true all along.  In the end, every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess, everyone will know the truth (Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10-11), and those who rejected Christ will be judged by that truth that they will know themselves.

(49) "For I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father who sent Me gave Me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak."

Jesus did not speak on His own human accord, but God who sent Him told Him what He was to say.  Actually, as Jesus was God come down to the world, He spoke the words of God.  It was God and His very Word that people who rejected Christ were rejecting.

(50) "And I know that His commandment is life everlasting; whatever I speak therefore, just as the Father said to Me, so I speak."

That commandment or commission that God gave Jesus was the path to everlasting life, and everything God had purposed in sending Jesus was for that end, that all be saved.  As Jesus was God, He spoke God's words and was there to fulfill God's purpose in saving all people from their sin and from Satan and his workers of iniquity.

The Biblical commentators that I study tell me that this was the end of Jesus's public ministry.  From this point on, He would spend His time teaching His disciples.  What a beautiful summation Jesus gave to the people.  Jesus cried it out to them!  Believe in Him because He said and did the very works of God; He was the very mind of God.  He was God!  In the end, all would know it, and those who had rejected Him rejected God's gift of salvation and would be judged by what they would know was true. 

Jesus Calls His First Few Disciples

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels: 

(John 1:19) And this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

In verses 6 and 7 in the last post, the evangelist John had told us that John the Baptist had been sent by God to bear witness of Jesus.  He now began to tell about John and just how he bore that witness.

(20) And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."

It seems that at least some of the priests and Levites who came to him must have thought he was the Christ, but John told them freely and truthfully that he was not Christ, the Messiah.

(21) And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you that prophet?" And he answered, "No."

If he wasn't the Christ, they wanted to know just who he was.  They asked if he was Elijah, and he said he was not.  From the accounts in Matthew and Luke we learned that they had also asked if he was the prophet Jeremiah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.  So whichever prophet they were asking John about in this verse, he answered he was not that prophet.

(22) Then they said to him, "Who are you? That we may give an answer to them who sent us. What do you say of yourself?"

Then who was he?  They wanted to know so that they could tell the people who sent them to find out.  They asked what he had to say for himself.

(23) He said, "I am 'the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."

Quoting Isaiah 40:3, John told them he was the one Isaiah spoke of when he spoke about the voice of one crying in the wilderness to make straight the way of the Lord.

(24) And they who were sent were of the Pharisees.

Those who were questioning John were Pharisees who were a very legalistic sect zealous for the traditions of the elders.  They were knowledgeable of the scriptures and were anticipating their coming Messiah.

(25) And they asked him and said to him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not that Christ, nor Elijah, nor that prophet?"

There were baptisms done before John came on the scene, but they were for pagans who had converted to Judaism and ordered by the Sanhedrin.  They never baptized Jews so they wondered by whose authority he was doing it now, if he was not Christ, Elijah, or some other important prophet.

(26) John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know."

John answered that he did indeed baptize with water.  The account in Matthew 3:11 said a good bit more about this.  He baptized with water for repentance of sins, but there was one among them whom they did not yet know who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

(27) "He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's strap I am not worthy to unloose."

John explained that the one among them they did not yet know was the one coming after him who was preferred before him, so great in fact that he was not worthy to even loosen His sandal strap.

(28) These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John was baptizing.

This conversation between John and the Pharisees took place at a place called Bethabara where John was baptizing.  "Bethabara" literally means "house of the ford" or "house of passage," and was thought to be the place where the Israelites passed over the Jordan River under Joshua.  There could be symbology in this that this is where an opening was made for people to pass through to the Gospel of Jesus, and ultimately to be able to pass through to the kingdom of heaven.

(29) The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

The day after John had been conversing with the Pharisees, Jesus came to John and John accurately and prophetically declared Him to be the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, that ultimate Lamb sacrifice that would atone for all sin when He was crucified.

(30) "This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"

John went on to say that Jesus was the one he had been talking about when he said that one would come after him who was preferred above him because He had been there before him in time and was before him as the foremost superior One.

(31) "And I did not know Him, but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore I come baptizing with water."

Although Jesus and John were cousins (Luke 1:36), it appears that John had not known Jesus previous to His baptism and the beginning of His ministry.  John had spent his time in the hill country in solitude and Jesus had been in Nazareth.  John explained that his purpose had been to proclaim Jesus's coming and make Him known to Israel, preparing the way for Jesus.

(32) And John bore record, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it dwelt on Him."

John gave testimony that he had seen the Holy Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove that rested on Jesus.

(33) "And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, 'Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He who baptizes with the Holy Ghost.'"

John again said that he had not known Jesus before His baptism, but God who had sent him to baptize with water had told him that when he saw the Spirit descending from heaven and resting on Jesus, he would know that He was the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

(34) "And I saw and bore record that this is the Son of God."

John had been a witness to the Spirit descending like a dove onto Jesus and remaining there, so he had therefore heard the voice from heaven declaring that Jesus was His beloved Son (Matthew 3:17), so he knew and testified that Jesus was the Son of God.

(35) Again the next day after, John stood and two of his disciples.

The day after John had seen Jesus and had revealed Him as the Son of God, he was standing with two of his disciples.

(36) And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"

When John saw Jesus walking, he directed his disciples to see the Lamb of God.

(37) And the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus.

Upon hearing John's declaration, his two disciples followed Jesus.

(38) Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), "Where do You dwell?"

When Jesus turned and saw the two disciples following Him, He asked them what they were looking for.  They referred to Him as Rabbi which the evangelist John interpreted for his readers telling them it meant Master.  A Master among the Jews was a title for a learned teacher.  The disciples then asked where Jesus dwelt, as if asking where they might go to learn from Him.

(39) He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He dwelt and stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

Jesus invited the two disciples to come with Him to see where He dwelt, which they did.  The Jewish clock began at dawn, at 6:00 in the morning, so the tenth hour would have been 4:00 in the afternoon.  The disciples wound up spending most of the day with Jesus.

(40) One of the two who heard John and followed Him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

One of the two disciples of John who had followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  This was apparently before Jesus officially called the two brothers to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19).

(41) He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah," which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

It seems the first person Andrew wanted to tell was his brother Simon.  He found him and told him that they had found the Messiah.  Once again, the evangelist John seems to be translating for his readers.  He wrote that the Messiah was the same as the Christ.  The Hebrew word "Messiah" was interpreted in Greek by the word "Christ" and both words mean "Anointed."

(42) And he brought him to Jesus.  And when Jesus beheld him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah; you shall be called Cephas," which is by interpretation, a stone. 

Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus.  When Jesus looked at Simon, he declared his name to be Simon, the son of Jonah, Simon Bar-Jonah as Jesus called him in Matthew 16:17.  However, He told him he would be called Cephas, which was the Hebrew word for "rock" or "stone" as John interpreted it.  The Greek word John used for "stone" was "Petros" or "Peter" as Anglicized.

(43) The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and find Philip and say to him, "Follow Me." 

The day after Peter's introduction to Jesus, as Jesus was going to Galilee he found Philip and told him to follow Him.

(44) Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip was from Bethsaida which was where Andrew and Peter were from.  John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible pointed out that there were three apostles of Jesus called out of Bethsaida, which Jesus later lamented and declared woe upon because it was a wicked place that rejected the word, miracles, and person of Jesus (Matthew 11:21), proving, as he would say, that a man's native place did not honor him, but a man honors his place, and having three apostles of Jesus coming from Bethsaida was no small honor for it.  I just love how God always seems to use flawed people and lowly places!  It gives hope and encouragement to all people from wherever they might hail!

(45) Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Nathanael is probably the same person Bartholomew.  "Bartholomew" means "son of Tolmai," "Bar-Tolmai," like Jesus called Peter Simon Bar-Jonah in Matthew 16:17.  Therefore, it is likely that Bartholomew had another name.  The three previous gospels mention Bartholomew and John does not.  John mentions Nathanael and the other three do not.  Additionally, the three previous gospels name Bartholomew directly following Philip, and John names Nathanael following Philip.  So it does seem reasonable to assume that Nathanael and Bartholomew are two different names for the same person.  In a later passage in the gospel of John, Nathanael is listed among the disciples whom Jesus appeared to after His resurrection.  Although Jesus had many more disciples than just His chosen twelve, the 21st chapter of John does seem to concern only those of His chosen twelve.

After Jesus told Philip to follow Him, Philip went and found Nathanael and told him they had found Jesus of Nazareth about whom Moses and the prophets had foretold.

(46) And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

Nathanael questioned how anything good could come out of Nazareth as it was a wicked place in his mind.  Additionally, he surely knew the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem as prophesied in Micah 5:2, not Nazareth.  The prophesy had stated that Jesus would come out of Bethlehem even though she was little among the thousands of Judah.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but He grew up in Nazareth, a place so miserable that Nathanael could not imagine anything good coming from there.  Once again we have God using the lowliest places to bring forth something magnificent!  Philip only answered Nathanael's doubt by telling him to come and see for himself.

(47) Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of him, "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!"

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, He said of Nathanael in the hearing of Nathanael himself and all who were present that he was indeed an Israelite, not only by birth, but worthy of the name.  He found no deceit or fraud in him; he was what he professed to be, and probably didn't tolerate fraud in anyone else, which might be why Jesus may have been giving him a small zinger because he had doubted that anything good could come from Nazareth.

(48) Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

Nathanael asked Jesus how He knew anything about him.  Jesus answered that even before Philip had summoned him, He had seen him under a fig tree.  Of course, He did not mean that He was bodily present to see Nathanael, and Nathanael obviously realized that:

(49) Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

Realizing that Jesus could not possibly have seen him under the fig tree unless He was the Son of God, he declared him so and also to be the King of Israel.  He called Him Rabbi, which meant Master, and that title belonged to no one else but Christ, as Jesus said in Matthew 23:10.

(50) Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' you believe? You will see greater things than this."

It's as if Jesus said to Nathanael, "You believe I am the Son of God just because I saw you under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet!"  Indeed, Jesus told him he would see much greater things.

(51) And He said to him, "Most assuredly I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

Jesus told Nathanael he would see heaven open up and see angels descending upon Him and ascending back to heaven.  Whereas it would literally happen at His baptism, this was probably meant to be in a spiritual sense.  Through Jesus, the secrets of heaven would be made known to His disciples and it would be evident that He had the full favor of God in heaven and His ministering angels.  With Jesus's sacrifice, there would be an open channel to God and His angels for His believers.  There would certainly be no doubt that Jesus was their promised Messiah! 

The Temptation of Jesus and the Beginning of His Ministry

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(Luke 4:1) And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

After a rather long interlude of reciting Jesus's ancestry all the way back to Adam, Luke 4:1 picks up after Luke 3:22 after Jesus had been baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove.  He then, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River where he had been baptized and was led into the wilderness.

(2) Being forty days tempted by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and when they were ended, He was afterward hungry.

The translation is lacking somewhat.  The correct sense is that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil.  He was not tempted for forty days, but not until the end of it, when He would have been His weakest.  That's the way the devil likes to catch us.  Jesus had fasted those forty days and was afterward quite hungry.

(3) And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to be made bread."

Knowing that God had just professed Jesus to be His Son, the devil tempted Jesus, trying to get Him to distrust God's word.  It was the same old lie from the Garden of Eden, "Did God really say that?"  He told Jesus if God had really told the truth about Jesus being His Son, then Jesus could command a stone be made into bread.  The devil knew Jesus was very hungry and at His weakest because He was so hungry, that perhaps he could make Him distrust God and take matters into His own hands.

(4) And Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written that 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

Jesus answered the devil, quoting scripture, specifically Deuteronomy 8:3, "...man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live."  Man does not have to depend only on actual physical bread for his salvation, especially not when offered by the devil who surely has ulterior motives.  Man is to look to the Lord only for his needs and He will supply them.  It so happens that my memory verse for today fits in perfectly here:  "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:31-33)

(5) And the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

The devil also took Jesus up on a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world all at once.  The account in Matthew made this the third temptation of the devil, and that order makes more sense.  Matthew uses "then" and "again" suggesting the exact order, whereas Luke doesn't suggest a chronological order but just tells of the devil's three different temptations.  Some commentators suggest that that phrase "moment of time" which meant "instant" meant that the devil was able to give Jesus a momentary glimpse of the entire world all at once.  I wonder about that.  Why would the devil have to take Jesus up on a high mountain if he was able to simply produce an apparition of the entire world?  I believe he took Jesus up on the high mountain so that He would have a panoramic view of the world as far as the eye could see, and He could see all directions at one time from that peak.

(6) And the devil said to Him, "All this power will I give you, and the glory of them, for that has been delivered to me and to whomever I will give it. (7) If You, therefore, will worship me, all shall be yours."

The devil said that he would give Jesus all the power over the world and all the glory and riches that came with it if He would worship him.  It's true that Satan is the god of this world, little "g" god, but that power wasn't exactly delivered to him.  It's more like he took it by lying about the true nature of God.  At best, God gives him permission to have limited power over the world.  So yes, by his lies and temptations, he could get someone to the top to rule the world, but "what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

(8) And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.'"

It seems proper that this was the last of the three temptations by the devil at this time as Matthew ordered them, for it seems that Jesus told Satan with disgust and finality to get behind Him, a dismissive "away with you" for proposing such a ridiculous notion.  Jesus quoted scripture, a combination of a paraphrased Deuteronomy 6:13 and the first and second of the Ten Commandments:  "You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him..." (Deuteronomy 6:13)  "Thou shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3)  "You shall not bow down to them or serve them..." (Exodus 20:5)

(9) And he brought Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here, (10) For it is written, 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' (11) And 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.'"

Satan also took Jesus to Jerusalem and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple and told Him if He was the Son of God, He could safely jump.  Then Satan actually quoted scripture, Psalm 91:11, "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways," and Psalm 91:12, "They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone."  This is why it is vitally important to know the word of God because Satan knows it quite well, too, and will seek to use it against us.  Usually, Satan perverts the Word in a small way, using mostly truth so that we may fall for his tricks.  In this case, he left out the part about the Lord's angels keeping us in all our ways.  The Lord protects us and keeps us on the right track.  He's not there to keep us from every foolish thing we on our own decide to do when we veer off His chosen path for us.

(12) And Jesus answering, said to him, "It is said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"

Jesus answered Satan, also with scripture, precisely quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, that we are not to tempt or test the Lord, as in foolishly jumping off a high building to see if He will save us from our own stupidity.

(13) And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a while.

After tempting the Lord Jesus three times, and three times failing, Satan left Jesus for a time.  However, he would rear his ugly head again.  

In retrospect, I may not have admitted how much power Satan may have.  Perhaps he was able to produce an apparition of the entire world in an instant in verse 5.  He may have used some supernatural powers to whisk Jesus into different places.  Otherwise, Jesus would have had to follow Satan all the way up a mountain and into Jerusalem to the pinnacle of the temple.  I just don't think Jesus would have humored Satan for that long to give him that opportunity.  We know from the Old Testament that sorcerers and magicians did have some supernatural powers with their dark arts.  Jesus said in Mark 13:22 that false Christs and prophets would arise showing signs and wonders in order to lead astray the very elect, if it were possible.  So I admit that Satan has some supernatural power, and in this case against Jesus, I believe God used it to teach us how Satan works, and how we should respond.

(14) And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee; and there went out a fame of Him through all the surrounding region.

Jesus returned to Galilee from His time in the wilderness, strong in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Is it possible that it might also mean that after Satan had supernaturally whisked Jesus to the top of a mountain and then left Him there when he was done with his temptations, that the Holy Spirit returned Him to Galilee?  We were told in the account in Matthew that angels came and ministered to Jesus after Satan left Him, so we know He did receive some supernatural aid.  The fame of Jesus spread all around the region, perhaps initially because of John's prophecy, acknowledgement, and baptism of Him, and then because of Jesus's own doctrine and miracles that came when He started His ministry there in Galilee.

(15) And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus taught in the synagogues in Galilee and was praised and glorified by all who heard Him.

(16) And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.

Jesus went to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was to frequent the synagogues, probably especially on the Sabbath, He went into the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.

(17) And there was delivered to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, (18) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are bruised, (19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

Jesus was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  He opened it or perhaps more likely, He unrolled a scroll.  The scripture says that Jesus "found the place."  Whether Jesus was looking for the particular scripture or whether He just happened to open and find it, you can be sure that it was by the providence of God that Jesus read that particular prophecy of Isaiah.  Jesus began reading Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," which of course, referred to Jesus the Son of God Himself, "because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor."  The actual words in Isaiah 61:1 are "because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek."  Whether this was due to a slightly different translation in the time of Jesus, or perhaps the memory of Luke in reciting just what Jesus read, the meaning is the same.  The gospel or "good news" was going to be preached to the poor and meek.  "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted," was a definite purpose of Jesus.  "To preach deliverance to the captives" or as our version of Isaiah says, "to proclaim liberty to the captives," of course means the same thing; Jesus came to proclaim that captives could be set free.  "And recovering of sight to the blind" actually does not appear in our version of Isaiah 61:1.  However, the sentiment is repeated several times in other parts of Isaiah.  So whether it was a part of this synagogue's reading of Isaiah, or whether Jesus skipped from one verse to another, again it makes little difference, as all these things mean the same thing and all refer to Jesus; Isaiah 29:18 states, "And in that day...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness," which means they will see the truth.  "To set at liberty those who are bruised," or as Isaiah 61:1 states, "And the opening of the prison to those who are bound," means essentially the same thing, those bound and broken will be set free.  "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" is written as "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" in Isaiah 61:2, basically the very same thing, Jesus would proclaim that it was now with His arrival, acceptable to the Lord to receive guilty sinners and to offer redemption to all.

(20) And He closed the book and He gave it back to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

Jesus then closed the book or rolled it back up and gave it back to the minister who had handed Him the book.  He sat back down, and all eyes of those in the synagogue were upon Him.  The people knew the passage Jesus had read referred to their anticipated Messiah, and perhaps had heard the fame of Him that He might be the Messiah, but knowing Him as they did as He had grown up among them, probably wondered just what He would say about that passage.

(21) And He began to say to them, "This day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears."

Jesus told the congregation that the scripture He had just read and they had just heard had been fulfilled.  He meant that the Messiah the scripture spoke about had come, and of course, He was the One.

(22) And all bore witness to Him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"

Certainly, all in attendance witnessed Jesus and what He said.  Something inside of them obviously stirred at the words He spoke.  The word "charis" that was translated as "gracious" actually means so much more than merely kind and courteous.  Strong's defines it as "graciousness of manner or act...especially the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life."  Something within them bore witness to the truth He spoke, but they were also confused by Him because they knew His parentage and His upbringing and education, or perhaps, lack of formal education.

(23) And He said to them, "You will surely say to Me this proverb, '"Physician, heal yourself!" Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"

Jesus, knowing their thoughts, told the people that they would probably use the proverbial expression, "Physician, heal yourself," against Him, meaning that if what He insinuated was true, then He should have started with His home and His neighborhood.  He should have done the miracles they had heard of being done in Capernaum there in His own country.

(24) And He said, "Verily, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country."

Jesus told them that the truth was that no prophet was accepted in his own country, or neighborhood.  That is because it was so much harder for the people who had seen the prophet grow up in his meager surroundings among them to believe he could actually be as important as a prophet of God.

(25) "But I tell you a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land."

Jesus went on to share a fact with them, that during the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up and there was no rain for three and a half years, and there was great famine throughout all the land, there were many poor widows in Israel.

(26) "But to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman, a widow."

Jesus told them that Elijah was not sent to any of the poor widows in Israel, but rather to a Gentile widow in Zarephath in Sidon.  His point was that historically God bestowed favors on people in other places apart from His own chosen people.  Therefore, they should not wonder why Jesus would choose to perform miracles in other places than His own hometown, especially since as He had just told them, He would not be accepted as readily in His own neighborhood as He would be elsewhere. 

(27) "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."

Jesus provided another example of God's sovereignty in choosing to whom He desired to show mercy.  During the time of Elisha the prophet, there were many lepers in Israel, but Elisha did not heal any of them, but rather he healed Naaman, a Syrian, not an Israelite.

(28) And all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, (29) And rose up and thrust Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong.

All those in the synagogue who had just been stirred within by Jesus's words, were now enraged by these examples of God preferring to show mercy to Gentiles rather than to His own people, comparing them to the Israelites in the time of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel.  That was too much for them and they threw Jesus out of the synagogue and even led Him to the edge of the hill upon which their city had been built, for the purpose of throwing Him off the cliff.

(30) But He, passing through the midst of them, went His way.

However, Jesus, probably by divine supernatural power, was able to pass right through the midst of the mob and go His own way.

(31) And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.

Jesus left Nazareth and went to Capernaum in Galilee, and there He taught the people on the sabbath days.

(32) And they were astonished at His doctrine, for His word was with power.

The people of Capernaum were amazed at Jesus's doctrine because He spoke the Word with authority, not with indifference as someone just reading text might.

(33) And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean devil, and he cried out with a loud voice.

There in the synagogue where Jesus was teaching was a man who was possessed by a demon.  He cried out with a loud voice.

(34) Saying, "Let us alone; what have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God!"

The demon spirit, speaking through the man, acknowledged Jesus by name and told Him to leave them alone, plural.  I don't necessarily think it means in this case that there were multiple demons possessing this man because he returns to the singular.  I believe the question was, why was Jesus bothering all demon spirits possessing different people; did He come to destroy all demon spirits?  This particular spirit said that he knew who Jesus was, the Holy One of God.

(35) And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Hold your peace, and come out of him." And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him and did not hurt him.

Jesus rebuked the spirit and silenced it and commanded it come out of the man.  With one more act of thrusting the man down in the midst of the people, the demon came out of him and did not hurt him.

(36) And they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!"

The people were truly amazed at this and spoke among themselves.  His word had more power and authority than they had realized when He taught; He was able to command demon spirits and they obeyed Him.

(37) And the fame of Him went out into every place of the country round about.

The fame of Jesus spread even more far and wide into every corner of Galilee and all around it.

(38) And He arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever and they besought Him for her.

Jesus then left the synagogue and went to Simon's house.  This is Simon who was called Peter who would later become a disciple of Jesus.  At this point, Simon was merely showing hospitality to Jesus as he was surely drawn to Jesus's teaching and invited Him to his house.  There Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and those in the house asked Jesus to help her.

(39) And He stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her, and immediately she arose and ministered to them.

Jesus stood over Simon's mother-in-law and rebuked the fever, and with just His word, it left her.  Immediately she rose up and being completely healed, she began to serve those in the house.

(40) Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with diverse diseases brought them to Him and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

This being the Sabbath Day, it wasn't until the sun was setting and Sabbath was over that all those in Capernaum who had any sick people among them, people with various types of illnesses, brought those sick to Jesus.  He laid hands on them and healed every person brought to Him.

(41) And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, "You are Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak for they knew that He was the Christ.

Among the healings Jesus did that evening, there were those who had demons cast out of them.  The demons recognized Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.  However, Jesus silenced them and did not allow them to speak for it was not the time and they were not the proper witnesses.  Jesus was not about vainglory and certainly didn't need demons to publicize that fact.  The Pharisees would surely have loved to connect Him with demons.

(42) And when it was day He departed and went into a desert place, and the people sought Him and came to Him and stopped Him, that He should not depart from them.

When it came daylight, Jesus left the house and went to a deserted place.  However, the people searched after Him, and when they came to Him tried to stop Him from leaving them.

(43) And He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for that is why I am sent."

However, Jesus told the crowd that He had to go and preach the kingdom of God to other cities, not just theirs, because that is why He had been sent.

(44) And He preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Jesus indeed went on preaching in all the synagogues of Galilee. 

In this chapter, we see Jesus beginning His ministry.  He was baptized by John in the last chapter, tempted by the devil to be distracted from His purpose in this chapter, but He began it wholeheartedly.  Jesus was well known and had accomplished much before He ever called the first of His disciples.

John the Baptist Preaches and Baptizes Jesus

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(Luke 3:1) Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate became governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, (2) Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

As Luke sought to write a truly chronological record of Jesus, some time had passed from the end of chapter 2 that found Jesus as a twelve-year-old boy and the beginning of chapter 3.  He went to great lengths to record the leaders of the day.  It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, emperor of Rome, and the third of the Caesars, Julius being the first, then Augustus who was Caesar when Jesus was born, and Tiberius was the third, at this time having been ruler for fifteen years.  It was at that time that Pontius Pilate became governor of Judea.  Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the great, was tetrarch or district ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, two provinces of Syria, bordering Judea.  Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, another province of Syria.  Annas and Caiaphas, Annas's son-in-law, were high priests.  It was at that time that the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

(3) And he came into all the country around Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,

That word of God that came to John obviously filled him with the Holy Spirit and directed him to start his ministry.  He came out of the wilderness into the parts of the country that bordered the Jordan River and began preaching about repentance and baptism for the remission of sins.

(4) As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.'"

John's coming out of the wilderness to preach was prophesied in Isaiah 40:3, "The voice of him crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'"  John was to be about the business of preparing the way for Jesus, preparing hearts to receive Him when He appeared on the scene.

(5) "'Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth. (6) And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Luke continued quoting Isaiah 40:4-5, "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together.'"  In making straight the way of the Lord, every hindrance would be removed, and all people would be able to see the glory of the Lord and His salvation revealed in the form of Jesus Christ on earth.

(7) Then he said to the multitude that came forth to be baptized by him, "O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

A multitude of people came out to see John and to be baptized by him.  According to the account in Matthew it was when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees among the people that he spoke to them, calling them a generation of vipers poisoning the people against God and against one another.  However, this could be the message to all who came to him, as all people are poisonous and poisoned by sin.  By the fact that they came out to him to be baptized was evidence that they had heeded his warning to repent and be baptized and be saved from the wrath to come.

(8) "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."

Fruits worthy of repentance would be those that showed a true and genuine desire to repent of sins before God.  The opposite of that would be a pride in that they descended from Abraham as if that alone was enough to save them.  John told them not to rely on that, as it was nothing special as the Lord could raise up stones as children of Abraham.

(9) "And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore which does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire."

Like when an axe is brought to the root of a tree to begin chopping, so had the time come for repentance; now that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and the gospel was being preached, it was more urgent than ever that sinners come to repentance.  Otherwise, those with no good fruits of true and genuine repentance would be cut down and cast into the fire as in hellfire.  

(10) And the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"

More than just the fruits initially brought that showed a genuine desire to repent, there should be good fruits resulting from a changed heart, which is the meaning of a repentant heart.  The people should lead lives that showed their repentance was genuine.  These were probably the fruits the people were asking about when they asked what they should do to avoid being fruitless and worthy of nothing but being cast into the fire.

(11) He answered and said to them, "He who has two coats, let him impart to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise."

John answered them by telling them to help others less fortunate than they were with all that was in their ability to do.  Basically, they were just to be kind and charitable with whatever they had.

(12) Then publicans also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Master, what shall we do?"

Tax collectors also came to John to be baptized, and they also asked him what they should do.

(13) And he said to them, "Exact no more than what is appointed you."

Note that John didn't tell them to quit their jobs.  As hated as they were, theirs was not a sinful or unlawful profession in and of itself.  However, it seems there were tax collectors who collected more than was required by law in order to pocket some extra for themselves.  John told them not to do that, but to do their work fairly and honestly.

(14) And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, "And what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do violence to no man, nor accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."

Again John's answer was basically to just do their jobs fairly and honestly, and not use their positions to do harm to anyone, either by violence or by false accusations, and to be content with their wages, not seeking to add to them through extortion or other evil means.

(15) And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, (16) John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I comes, the strap of whose shoes I am not worthy to loosen; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."

As the people were expecting their Messiah, men pondered in their hearts whether or not John was the expected Christ.  However, John told the people that while he baptized them with water, there was One coming mightier than he, dispelling their beliefs that he might be the Messiah.  This coming One was so great that John himself was not worthy to even loosen the straps of His sandals, intimating that He would be their long-awaited Messiah.  He added that the coming One would not baptize with mere water, but would baptize with the Holy Spirit to cleanse and purify the heart as with fire.  As water cleaned the outside, fire would purify the inside.

(17) "Whose fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."

John went on to describe the coming One as having a winnowing fan, cleaning His threshing floor, as all the world was His, separating the wheat from the chaff.  The wheat He would gather to Himself, but the chaff would be burned with unquenchable fire.

(18) And many other things in his exhortations he preached to the people.

John preached many other things to the people regarding the Messiah and the good news and salvation He would bring.

(19) But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, (20) Added also this, above all, that he shut up John in prison.

However, John was eventually imprisoned by Herod because he had reproved him for taking his own brother's wife, Herodias, as his own, not to mention all the other evil Herod had done.  Luke called it the most evil of all that Herod had shut John up in prison.

(21) Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, (22) And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased."

Obviously before John was imprisoned, when he had been preaching and baptizing all the people, Jesus came to him also to be baptized.  It seems that while Jesus was being baptized or very immediately afterward, He was praying, a fact not documented in the other accounts in Matthew and Mark, and the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove.  A voice came from heaven saying that Jesus was His beloved Son in Whom He was well pleased.

(23) And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph who was the son of Eli,

The sense of the verse is that Jesus came to be, that is, He began His ministry, what He was sent to do, at about thirty years of age.  Dr. John Lightfoot, theologian and greatest Hebrew scholar in England in the 1600's, said that because of the way it was written in the Hebrew, that Jesus was a full twenty-nine years old, entering His thirtieth year.  His ministry was 3 1/2 years long, so He died at 32 1/2 years of age.  What was more amazing to me was the significance of 3 1/2 years that Dr. Lightfoot showed to be symbolic in the Bible.  The heavens were said to be shut up for 3 1/2 years in Elijah's time (Luke 4:25, James 5:17).  Prophesies in Revelation 11:2-3 speak of 42 months, and 1260 days, both equaling 3 1/2 years.  The prophesies in Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 12:14 speak of time, times, and half a time, which is thought to be a year, two years, and half a year, or 3 1/2 years.  Jesus was thought by the people to be the son of Joseph, who is said here to be the son of Eli.  He was actually the son-in-law of Eli, as Mary was the daughter of Eli, and Joseph, the son of Jacob.  Thus begins the genealogy of Jesus through Mary's line.

(24) Who was of Matthat, who was of Levi, who was of Melchi, who was of Janna, who was of Joseph, 

The genealogy of Jesus continues with Eli being the son of Matthat, who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Janna, who was the son of Joseph.  I will end this post here, as Blogger only allows twenty tags per post, and I feel anyone in Jesus's genealogy is worth a tag, at the very least.  Luke 3 and the genealogy of Jesus will continue in the next post.

Jesus Condemns Vain Traditions of Man and Heals a Gentile

Continuing a study of the Gospels:

(Matthew 15:1) Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, who were of Jerusalem, saying, (2) "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus and His disciples had gone to Gennesaret in Galilee.  According to the same account in Mark, scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem had seen Jesus's disciples eating with unwashed hands, and that is when they came to Him.  They asked Jesus why it was that His disciples transgressed the tradition of the elders, handed down by their ancestors, by not washing their hands before they ate bread.  

(3) But He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"

Jesus turned the question back to the scribes and Pharisees and asked why they transgressed the commandments of God with their traditions of man.

(4) "For God commanded, saying, 'Honor thy father and mother,' and 'He who curses father or mother, let him die the death.'"

Jesus then went on to quote one of the Ten Commandments of the Lord, to honor one's father and mother; and the punishment for breaking that commandment as stated in Exodus 21:17, that whoever cursed his father or mother should be put to death.

(5) "But you say, 'Whoever shall say to his father or mother, "It is a gift by whatever you might have been profited by me."'"

Jesus said that the scribes and Pharisees rather said to their parents that it was a gift to the temple what the parents might have otherwise gotten from them.

(6) "'And honor not his father or his mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition."

Jesus went on to explain that they used that as an excuse not to honor their fathers and mothers, and had thereby nullified the commandment of God by their tradition.  Of course giving to the Lord was good and laudable, but was not intended to be done at the expense of duty to their parents.

(7) "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, (8) 'This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.'"

Jesus called them hypocrites because they pretended to be so religious and holy, but had no qualms about setting aside commandments of God when it suited them.  He then quoted Isaiah in Isaiah 29:13.  What God had said through Isaiah at the time about their forefathers was perfectly applicable at His present time, and a prophetic statement, at that.  The people outwardly worshipped the Lord with their mouths and their words, but their hearts were actually far from Him.  They had no true love for Him, no real faith in Him, and certainly no reverential fear of Him, or else they would not have made a mockery of His commandments.

(9) "'But in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"

Jesus finished quoting Isaiah, saying that the people vainly worshipped the Lord, teaching the people to observe the traditions of the elders as if they were doctrines delivered by God.

(10) And He called the multitude and said to them, "Hear and understand."

Jesus then turned His attention back to the multitude of people with Him, and exhorted them to hear Him and try to fully understand what He was about to tell them.

(11) "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."

Obviously referring to what the scribes and Pharisees had questioned with regard to the disciples eating with unwashed hands, Jesus told the people that it was not what went into the mouth that defiled a man.  Eating with unwashed hands did not defile a man.  Rather it was what came out of the mouth that defiled him.  As Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, "...out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."  What was in a man's heart and came forth in words or deeds was what actually defiled a man, that is, polluted or corrupted him.

(12) Then came His disciples and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying?"

The account in Mark states that Jesus's disciples came to Him after He had dismissed the multitude and had gone into a house.  It was then that the disciples asked Him about this saying, and told Him the Pharisees had been offended by it.  I had to chuckle at this, that Jesus would care about the Pharisees being offended at what He said, but the disciples obviously wanted to understand what He had said and meant that was offensive to the religious leaders.

(13) But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up."

Jesus answered them saying that every plant, or doctrine, that was not planted in the heart by God, would be uprooted, turned on its head, by God's truth in His time.

(14) "Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch."

Jesus told His disciples not to concern themselves with the Pharisees.  Jesus called them blind leaders leading the blind.  If they refused to see the truth, they were spiritually blind, and those who followed them who refused to see and understand the truth were also blind.  And if the blind led the blind, both would fall into every ditch that was in the way.  Blind teachers not only destroy their own souls, but those souls that follow them.

(15) Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain to us this parable."

Peter asked Jesus to better explain the analogies He had just given them.

(16) And Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?"

Jesus was grieved by the fact that His own disciples seemed slow to grasp the spiritual meanings in His parables, because, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, they had been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:11), and yet they still didn't understand.  Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible put forth food for thought:  "Is it not strange to hear the disciples asking for the explanation of such a parable as this! The true knowledge of the spirit of the Gospel is a thing more uncommon than we imagine, among the generality of Christians, and even of the learned."  How truly blessed we are when we are given to understand these mysteries of heaven!  

(17) "Do you not yet understand that whatever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly and is cast out in the draught?"

Jesus rather rhetorically asked if the disciples did not understand that whatever went into the mouth went down to the belly and out into the privy, or some such sort of outhouse or place where such waste was dumped.  It was at this point that John Wesley, in his Notes on the Bible, observed "How fair and candid are the sacred historians? Never concealing or excusing their own blemishes."  It's one of the ways that scripture is validated as true.  Someone making up a story probably wouldn't include so many embarrassing details, but the apostles told it like it truly was!

(18) "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile a man."

Jesus meant the words that came out of a mouth, obviously not spittle or vomit or any such thing that might physically spew out of the mouth.  The words a man spoke came from what he believed in his heart, and that is what truly corrupted a man, not what he ate.

(19) "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."

Jesus went on to name the types of things that proceeded out of the heart.  Evil thoughts precede evil actions, thoughts of hatred and murder, thoughts of sexual immorality, thoughts of covetousness and theft, and thoughts of lies and blasphemies.

(20) "These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

Those things Jesus listed as thoughts that came from the heart, He said were the things that defiled a man.  Eating with unwashed hands did not defile or corrupt a man.

(21) Then Jesus went from there and departed to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

Jesus then went from the land of Gennesaret to the coasts at Tyre and Sidon.

(22) And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."

As Jesus came to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, a woman came from that region to Him.  The point was made that she was a Canaanite woman.  That region including Tyre and Sidon was part of Canaan in ancient times, and she was so called because she was a descendant of the Canaanites.  I believe the point is that she was a Gentile, not a Jew.  Even so, she had heard the fame of Jesus, and that He was the Son of David, the much anticipated Messiah of the Jews.  She obviously had faith in Him as such, as she cried humbly to Him to have mercy on her.  She told Him her daughter had been sorely possessed by a demon, obviously hoping to have Him heal her.

(23) But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries after us."

Jesus did not answer the woman.  It's not that He didn't hear her, or chose to ignore her, but as always, it was to teach his disciples further, and possibly to test the woman's faith.  Whatever His motive, you can be sure it was for the benefit of His disciples and for those witnesses, including all future readers of this text.  Jesus's disciples came to Him and asked that He send the woman away because she cried after them and was obviously bothersome to them.  Why they would say that, after witnessing Jesus's mercy in healing so many, can only be assumed to be because she was a Gentile.

(24) But He answered and said, "I am not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

This statement appears to be made to the woman after the disciples asked Him to send her away.  He told her that He had been sent to the Jews, those lost sheep of the house of Israel.  He was their expected Messiah, and He had come to preach the gospel to them.  We know that the gospel would ultimately be shared with all, but that would be basically after He was rejected by His own.

(25) Then she came and worshipped Him, saying, "Lord, help me."

The woman pressed on.  She came and worshipped Jesus as Lord God, and begged Him to help her.

(26) But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs."

The Lord's salvation was provided for the children of Israel, God's special people.  His answer meant that it was not proper for Him to take Israel's salvation from her, Israel, and give it to the Gentiles, who were viewed as little more than dogs to the Jewish people.  If His words seem harsh and heartless, I believe the purpose was to show Israel what a wonderful gift He had brought to them, His chosen people, and when it was rejected, it was then offered to the "dogs".

(27) And she said, "Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table."

The woman persevered.  She answered that indeed what the Lord said was true.  He had come for the Jews, but even the dogs were able to eat the crumbs from their master's table; obviously what was meant was might there be some crumbs of grace and mercy for her?  

(28) Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith; let it be to you as you will." And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Jesus then answered the woman that she obviously had great faith.  She had persisted through all the obstacles Jesus had set before her.  She sought Him with all her heart and soul and she found Him (Deuteronomy 4:29) receptive to her request.  Besides being a lesson for the Jews, Jesus was perhaps testing the faith of the woman to see how real it was.  Even during the Old Testament times, God welcomed the stranger into Israel if he assimilated and conformed to the beliefs and customs of the Jews.  The woman showed her great faith in Jesus and He granted the desire of her heart, and made her daughter well and whole. 

(29) And Jesus departed from there and came near to the Sea of Galilee, and went up into a mountain and sat down there.

Jesus departed from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and went near the Sea of Galilee where He went up into a mountain and sat down.

(30) And great multitudes came to Him, having with them those who were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus's feet, and He healed them.

Great multitudes of people came to Jesus, bringing all their people who were lame, blind, mute, or maimed in any manner, and laid them at Jesus's feet.  Jesus healed them all.  How good, merciful, and patient was Jesus in that multitudes of people would come to Him and just cast their debilitated members before Him, and He healed them all.

(31) Insomuch as the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb speak, the maimed whole, the lame walk, and the blind see; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Even though it looked as if people just cast their outcasts before Jesus, as if He were a genie who would grant their wishes, God's purpose was fulfilled in that the people marveled over those healings and glorified the God of Israel.

(32) Then Jesus called His disciples and said, "I have compassion on the multitude because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I will not send them away fasting, unless they faint on the way."

Apparently this multitude of people had stayed with Jesus for three days, at which time Jesus called His disciples to Him.  He expressed His compassion for the multitude who had remained with Him all this time, watching His miracles and most likely hearing Him teach.  He said the people had been there all that time with nothing to eat.  They may have had food that they had had on their persons, but Jesus and His disciples had not furnished them with any additional food; and Jesus would not send them away hungry, as they might would faint along their way.

(33) And His disciples said to Him, "Where could we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?"

Having witnessed so recently how Jesus fed the 5000, how is it the disciples would have no idea how to feed the present multitude?  But that is what they asked Him; how could they find the bread to fill the multitude?

(34) And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."

They answered Jesus that they had just seven loaves of bread and a few little fish.

(35) And He commanded the multitude to sit on the ground.

Just as Jesus had done before when He fed the 5000, He instructed this current group to sit down on the ground.

(36) And He took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude.

Jesus took the seven loaves and the fish from the disciples and gave thanks to God for the provision.  He then broke bread, which was the custom of the master of a family to do, and then gave the food to the disciples, who in turn, gave to the multitude of people.

(37) And they all ate and were filled, and they took up of the broken meal that was left seven baskets full.

As before, the entire multitude ate and were filled, and seven full baskets of scraps were taken up afterward, more than they started with, as surely one loaf and a small fish would not have filled a basket.  It is interesting to note that there were seven baskets, seven, that number that represented completeness and perfection.  How completely and perfectly had Jesus fed the multitude!  It could also be said that the disciples had the perfect number of loaves to feed the multitude in the beginning.  Jesus alone is sufficient for all needs and He will provide for us perfectly!

(38) And they who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

This time Jesus had miraculously fed 4000 men, besides women and children.  It is very interesting that Jesus performed almost the exact same miracle twice before His disciples.  Remembering that a thing is established at the mouth of two or three witnesses, I believe this was a lesson for the disciples to have faith in God's provision for all their needs, preparing them to go out into the world, teaching and spreading the gospel.  In Christ, there would be bread enough, and even to spare.

(39) And He sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came to the coasts of Magdala.

Jesus then sent the multitude away fully fed, and He took a ship from where He was near the coast of the Sea of Galilee, and went to the coast of Magdala.  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, explained that Magdala was a few miles north of Tiberias, "in the land of Gennesaret, on the western side of the Sea of Tiberias, and directly east of Cana of Galilee." 

The lessons in this chapter are many.  Much can be learned about the traditions of men which are usually contradictive to the commands of God.  Man's vain worship rituals are not pleasing to God, but He searches the heart.  That is one of the reasons why Jesus healed a Gentile in what may be the first instance of Him healing anyone outside of the Jewish faith.  In her heart, the woman knew her daughter's healing would only come from Jesus and she persistently sought Jesus's help until she found it; "seek and you will find."  Finally, we have recorded the second miraculous feeding of thousands demonstrating His care of His poor and needy followers, and that Christ is all we ever need.  

Jesus Teaches the Kingdom of Heaven in Parables

 Continuing a study of the Gospels:

(Matthew 13:1) The same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side.

In the last chapter Jesus appears to have gone into a house to continue His teaching.  Although we had not been specifically told that in scripture, the last chapter ended with His mother and brothers standing outside wishing to talk to Him.  This verse confirms that He had indeed been inside a house at that point.  He now left the house, probably spoke to His mother and brothers, and then went and sat by the seaside.  This would have been the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias, as it was sometimes called.  Galilee was the name of that particular region in Israel, and Tiberias was a city on the coast, as was Capernaum, which is where we had been told Jesus had gone (Matthew 9:1).

(2) And great multitudes were gathered to Him, so that He went into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

A great multitude of people gathered around Him, so that He boarded a boat to escape the crowd and so that He could be easily heard when He spoke by all the people who stood on the shore.

(3) And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, a sower went out to sow."

Jesus began to speak in parables to the people.  He began with a parable about a man, a sower, going out to sow.

(4) "And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them."

Jesus continued the parable.  While the man sowed his seeds, some of them fell by the wayside, outside the plowed ground prepared for them, likely onto a hard beaten path.  There the birds came and easily devoured them.

(5) "Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth."

Other seeds fell on stony places that did not have much dirt, and they immediately sprang up, sooner than others because they had little ground covering them.

(6) "And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away."

Those seeds that sprang up in the stony places were scorched by the sun, and withered and died because they had no roots.

(7) "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them."

Still other seeds fell among thorns where the thorns grew and choked out the little plants.

(8) "But others fell on good ground and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold."

Other seeds fell into the good plowed and prepared fertile ground where they brought forth fruit, sometimes as much as a hundred times as much grain as planted.

(9) "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Jesus ended the parable by exhorting those "with ears" to really hear, contemplate, and understand the parable.  Jesus would later explain it.

(10) And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"

His disciples came to Jesus and asked Him why he spoke to the people in parables.

(11) He answered and said to them, "Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."

Jesus began His answer by confirming to them that they had been given the spirit to know and understand at least some of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it had not yet been revealed to those people in the multitude.

(12) "For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he will have more abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."

Jesus said that to those who had knowledge of the mysteries of heaven, more would be given to them; but to those who had none, even what they had would be taken away, which I believe must mean what was perhaps attempted to be given and was not truly accepted by the person, or perhaps only a showy pretense of following Christ, that shallow insincere knowledge would be taken away.  How true this fact is!  I don't believe as some commentators did that this was because the will of the Father was to give to some and not to others.  I believe it is a natural order of things.  When I was a baby Christian, I could read the Bible and only understand superficial things, but as I grew as a Christian, I could read the same passages and be shown more and more.  To this day, the exact same passage studied before will reveal even more mysteries!  To those who do not care to be in closer communion with God, those superficial things will soon disappear because they have no roots, so to speak.

(13) "Therefore I speak to them in parables because seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand."

I believe what Jesus meant by this was that these people had already been given much by His presence and His miracles and teaching thus far, and they did not use or take to heart what had been given them at that point.  They saw Him, they heard Him, and they didn't understand a thing.

(14) "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, 'By hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive.'"

Jesus said that in those people, prophecy was fulfilled, and He quoted Isaiah 6:9.  Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote that the proper meaning of the original Greek word "anapleroo" was actually "again fulfilled."  This prophecy was fulfilled in the Jews in the time of Isaiah, but was at this time being fulfilled again in their posterity.  Jesus Christ was sent to them, they heard Him and saw His miracles, but they would not understand because they preferred the darkness of the world to the light of Jesus Christ.  God would not force them to accept the salvation that was offered.

(15) "'For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.'"

Jesus continued quoting Isaiah 6:10.  The people's hearts had grown fat and foolish.  Their ears were inattentive and half-asleep.  They themselves had stubbornly closed their eyes to the truth of God.  Had they not been so stubborn and wise in their own eyes, they might would have seen and heard the truth of Jesus Christ, understood their sinful condition, and turned to Jesus and be converted and healed by Him.  

(16) "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear."

Jesus told His disciples that they were blessed to understand what they saw and heard.  They and we, are truly blessed to have had Jesus in our lives, much more blessed than our forefathers who had only the law.

(17) "For verily, I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen them; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

In confirmation that they were truly blessed by having Christ in their midst, Jesus told them that many prophets and righteous men before them had more than desired, but actually coveted, to see the time of the Messiah.  Abraham rejoiced to see the day of the Messiah (John 8:56), Jacob longed and waited for God's salvation (Genesis 49:18), and David wrote psalms about the Lord's salvation of Israel.  In Hebrews' chapter on the faith heroes, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab, and many others, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13).

(18) "Therefore hear the parable of the sower."

With the added details of this account from Mark and Luke, we found the disciples asked for the meaning of the parable, and Jesus almost rebuked them for not knowing the meaning of it, and asking how they would then know the meaning of any parable.  He made it sound as if this were one of the simplest parables to understand.  Since it was given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus called upon them to really hear and understand the spiritual meaning of the parable of the sower.  By truly understanding this parable, they would most likely have the foundation that would help them understand more difficult parables.

(19) "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside."

Jesus began to explain the parable of the sower.  This first comparison seems quite apropos for the situation at that moment.  Jesus exhorted His disciples to listen and understand so that they not be as those seeds thrown by the wayside.  He explained that when one heard the word of the kingdom of God and did not understand it, Satan, represented by the birds, came and quickly snatched away what was meant to be sown in the heart.  Because he did not understand, that truth could not take root, and he could easily be dissuaded from the truth.

(20) "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; (21) Yet he has no root in himself and endures only for awhile; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles."

Jesus explained the seed that was sown on stony places.  That was the person who received the word and immediately sprang up with joy.  He endured for awhile, but as soon as things got hot, persecution represented by the sun, because the truth was not deeply rooted in him, he withered away.  

(22) "He also who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, chokes the word, and he becomes unfruitful."

Likewise he who received seed among the thorns was not fruitful; not because of persecution or tribulation, but because he let the sinful pleasures of the world choke out the word.

(23) "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, which bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

Finally, Jesus explained, the good seed that fell into good ground was he who heard the word, understood it, and let it take root within his heart.  This well-rooted seed would produce much fruit, living according to the word and doing good work for the kingdom of heaven.  Note that the good seed doesn't always produce the same amount.  Among fruitful Christians, some are more fruitful than others.  This might be because of where they have been placed with regard to time or station, but all should be aiming to produce as much as possible.

(24) Another parable He put forth to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, (25) But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way."

Jesus began another parable to his disciples.  He likened the kingdom of heaven to a man sowing good seed in his field.  Indeed, the word of God is the best seed!  However, while the caretakers of the field slept, the spiritual sleep that often overtakes Christians who are not diligent, Satan, the enemy, sowed tares, grass resembling wheat but unfruitful weeds, among the good wheat, the Christians.  This is certainly representative of Satan's half-truths that slip into a society and even into churches.  He sows the half-truths, these things that look like wheat or that sound good to the lukewarm sleeping Christians, and then moves on to another target. 

(26) "But when the crop sprouted up and brought forth fruit, the tares also appeared."

Those weeds were not truly known until the crop sprouted and brought forth fruit, and then the tares were discovered as well.

(27) "So the servants of the household came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'"

Those servants who knew that the owner had sown only good seed asked him why there were tares also.  What a perfect example of people who want to reject Christ because of what they see Christians do!  God indeed sowed perfect seed, but so-called Christians planted by the enemy are within the Christian community.  

(28) "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' (29) But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also root up the wheat with them.'"

The owner told them an enemy had planted the tares.  A simple answer to the age-old question about the origin of evil--the enemy, Satan, did it!  The servants asked if they should go out and gather up the tares, but the owner said no, because they might also accidentally root up some wheat with them, or at the very least, trod upon and greatly disturb the good wheat.

(30) "'Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

The owner of the field said to let both grow together until harvest time.  It would be at that time that the owner would instruct all the tares to be bound together and burned, and the wheat to be gathered into his barn.  In this, Christ teaches us that we should expect evil in the world and in the church.  However, it is not for us to try to weed out all the evil.  That is not to say that there aren't to be laws governing a civil society; certainly lawbreakers are to be held accountable in the world.  This parable speaks more to the church, those calling themselves Christians, but who are not.  As only God knows the heart of man, He is to be the ultimate judge at His harvest time at the end of the world.  Attempts for man to gather all the tares would surely injure good Christianity as man is not able to discern the true hearts of men.  Mistakes would be made and discord created among Christians.  Is this not what will happen in the end when the world is forced to accept a doctrine that is anti-Christ?  Is that not what is beginning to happen now in our world?  Mere men are trying to judge the hearts and motives of a person just because of the person they support for president, just because they choose to be patriotic, or because they choose to live by Biblical rules.  God, in due time, will be the one to separate the tares from the wheat and throw them into the fire, and then gather His wheat into His kingdom.

This also explains why good things are allowed to happen to bad people, and why bad things happen to good people.  God lets them grow together in this world.  That's not to say that God doesn't act in this world to achieve His purposes.  He is continually working things for good according to His will (Romans 8:28), but He also sends rain on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45); and we were instructed in that passage to love our enemies, do good to them, bless them, and pray for them.  In our doing that, we are planting seeds, or fertilizing them, seeds that might have been taken with the tares prematurely.  God will do the weeding at His proper harvest time.

(31) Another parable He put forth to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. (32) Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."

Jesus put forth another parable, likening the kingdom of heaven to a man who sowed a tiny mustard seed in his field.  Called the least of seeds because it was so small, yet when it was grown was the greatest among herbs.  That may not be absolute in all cases of herbs, but in relation to its tiny size, it did indeed grow great in their warm climate at that time.  It grew into a tree and was so large as to have birds nesting in it.  The kingdom of heaven on earth began as a small seed, but would grow universally in the world; a small seed planted in the heart of a man can likewise grow great in the soul of the Christian.

(33) Another parable He spoke to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened."

Like the previous parable, this one demonstrated how from a small beginning the kingdom of heaven on earth would grow to ultimate universality.  A woman hid small measures of leaven or yeast into one place, yet it fermented and allowed the dough to be inflated by the gas yeast produces.  

In studying old commentaries on this verse, at first I fell into the trap of believing that it took the woman representing the church to knead the dough to make it grow, as some of the commentators wrote.  I purposely study old commentaries because I know that too many in this modern age follow false doctrines, and I wanted to know what the scholars of old thought about the scriptures.  However, in this case, some actually believed it took the church to make the kingdom of heaven grow.  While I am sure that it does grow with the church, and that that is God's purpose in the church, there is no person necessary for the gospel to grow.  Verse 33 above says nothing about the woman kneading the dough; it states she simply hid it in the meal and eventually the whole was leavened.  I had to look up an article on yeast to see if it could indeed leaven an entire loaf by itself, and indeed it can.  It takes 12 hours or more, but letting the dough just sit and ferment will allow enzymes in the flour and the gas yeast produces to create a sort of slow-motion process of self-kneading.  Again, I don't want to minimize the church and God's purpose in it, but it simply isn't necessary for the gospel to grow.  God and His Holy Spirit in the hearts of men will make it grow just as yeast can "magically" make a lump of dough grow.

(34) All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them, (35) That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

At last we had read that the disciples had come to Jesus to ask about why He taught in parables.  Then we were told of other parables He told, so either He turned from His disciples to continue speaking to the multitude in other parables, or else the previous verses tell us all the other parables Jesus had told the multitude before the disciples came to Him to ask for an explanation.  On this particular occasion, Jesus had only spoken to the multitude in parables; He spoke to them in no other way, fulfilling a prophecy.  Then Jesus paraphrased the prophecy by Asaph in Psalm 78:2, "I will open My mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old."  Although that particular psalm seems to contain only a history of the Jews, the psalmist began by calling it a parable, and that he would utter dark sayings of old, which Jesus here called things that had been kept secret since the foundation of the world.  Underneath the history, since the foundation of the world, there have been truths for all time which were not fully revealed and understood until the Messiah came, died, and rose again.

(36) Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house; and His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."

After He told all these parables, Jesus sent the multitude away, left the boat, and returned to the house from which he had left in verse 1.  His disciples came to Him and asked that He explain the parable of the wheat and tares.  They didn't ask about the parables of the mustard seed or the leaven; perhaps they understood those, but it seems the tares may have been a mystery to them.

(37) He answered and said to them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man."

Jesus began by explaining that the sower of the good seed was He Himself, whom He called the Son of man.  In the same account in Luke, Luke said Jesus further explained that the seed was the word of God.

(38) "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one."

The field where the sower sowed his good seed was the world.  The good seed was the word of God growing into the children of the kingdom of heaven.  The tares were the children of Satan.

(39) "The enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels."

Satan was the enemy who sowed the tares.  The harvest was the end of the world, and the reapers at the harvest were the angels.

(40) "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world."

Jesus said that just as it was with the tares that were gathered and burned at harvest time, so it would be at the end of this world.

(41) "The Son of man will send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity, (42) And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Just as the sower sent out his reapers to gather the tares, the Lord Jesus would send out His angels to gather out of His Gospel church "all things that offend," which is the way the KJV translators translated the original Greek words "pas skandalon."  Indeed "pas" can mean "all things" or "everything," but it also means "everyone."  The meaning of "skandalon" is obvious when you see the word; Jesus's angels will gather out of His church everyone who was a scandal to Him and His gospel, and His church, and by their evil actions offended God and His law, and lay stumbling blocks in the way of the children of God.  Also gathered as tares would be those who "do iniquity," which of course, means "lawlessness" and "wickedness."  They would all be gathered together and cast into a furnace of fire representing hell fire.  

There is much discussion among scholars as to whether or not there is actually a place with eternal fire, or if it was a metaphor for the eternal wrath of God upon the wicked; but you can be sure, there will be "wailing and gnashing of teeth."  Wailing, of course, represents the cries of anguish and despair, and the gnashing of teeth representing inexpressible pain (like that of being burned alive eternally) and tortures of mind.  How awful to think about it!  To those who would say that a loving God would never throw His people into such eternal torment, I would say rather that God separated those who rejected Him from His own, His children that He saved from an eternity without Him.  A perfect and righteous God cannot be in the presence of such wickedness, but He loved His creation, and provided a way for them to be with Him even though they were so sinful.  That was by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and He Himself covered their sins with His precious blood that He sacrificed for their sins, so that God did not see the wickedness, but only that precious atonement for their sins.  Rather than so much a throwing into the fire, I would suggest that it is a throwing down to stay where you are, eternally separated from God and those who followed Him.  Imagine a world only led by Satan, with no love or moral laws; it could only result in eternal destruction, desolation, and hell fire!

(43) "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

"The righteous," not righteous in their own right, but because of the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, will then, after the tares have been taken away, be able to shine forth in the robe of Christ's righteousness in their Father's kingdom.  No longer will they be oppressed or reproached for their beliefs, no longer will they live among immorality and wickedness, no longer will they be afflicted by afflictions and persecutions, but will shine as Christ Himself.  What an awesome thought!  We horrid humans can shine like Christ?!  Only because of what He did for us.  How on earth can such a magnificent and loving act be rejected?  Jesus exhorted those who heard Him, to seriously consider and take to heart what He had told them.

(44) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man has found and hidden, and for the joy of it, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

Jesus gave another illustration of the kingdom of heaven on earth, that glorious gospel of Christ.  He likened it to a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid in his heart, contemplating the glory of it and counting the cost of purchase.  He was overjoyed with it and gave all he had to have that treasure, just as a person overjoyed with salvation for the soul readily renounces his sins, abandons his evil companions, and relinquishes hope of salvation through his own righteousness, giving up all to have salvation in Christ.

(45) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking beautiful pearls; (46) Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

This parable is much like the previous one, except that this man was actively seeking a beautiful pearl, representing a person searching for happiness, truth, and salvation.  When he found it, he was happy to give up all for it.

(47) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered some of every kind; (48) Which, when it was full, they drew to shore and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away."

This parable is more like the one about the wheat and tares.  Just as the wheat and tares grew together, so the net gathered all kinds.  Then when it was full, representing the full end for the world, the sailors drew to shore and sat down and judged the good from the bad, just as God's judgment will do in the end.  The sailors gathered the good into vessels, and cast the bad away, just as God will do in the judgment.

(49) "So shall it be at the end of the world; the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just; (50) And shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Indeed, Jesus said that would be the way it would be at the end of the world.  The angels, represented by the sailors, would come forth and cut the wicked away from the just, and would cast them into the furnace of fire, what we would call hell.  Again Jesus used the term "wailing and gnashing of teeth" to describe how awful it would be for the wicked to be separated from God's children.  Jesus would not have kept talking about a furnace of fire if there weren't such a place.  It's true that it probably isn't what we imagine, a place in the middle of the earth with fire and a devil with a pitchfork, but you can be sure there is a hell of some sort.  If there isn't a continual material fire, you can be sure Jesus meant to teach that this would be a proper representation of the sufferings of the lost.  Jesus would not deceive us or use words only to torment us. He would not talk of hell-fire which had no existence, nor would He hold out frightful images merely to terrify mankind.  Because Jesus spoke of hell, you can be sure there is a hell.  He said that the wicked shall suffer terribly, so you may be sure they will suffer.  If Jesus did not mean to deceive mankind, then there is certainly a hell, and the wicked will be punished.  The lost should certainly take note and be alarmed!

(51) Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."

Indeed, Jesus wanted to make sure His disciples understood the things He had taught them about the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus's question showed His disciples just how important what He had taught them was, and that He would have furthered explained if it was necessary.  They told Him that they had understood.

(52) Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed on the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old."

In this case, the scribe Jesus spoke about was one who had been instructed on the kingdom of heaven, just as His disciples had been instructed and said they understood.  Every Christian teacher or minister of Christ who understood the gospel of the kingdom of heaven was like a householder who stored up all kinds of treasures, new and old, and brought them out as needed.  His treasure was his store of divine truth, out of which he could bring forth the old truths in new ways, with newer illustrations.  The householder in this illustration was not a miser who kept his treasures to himself, but stored up all treasures, old and new, to bring out and use to benefit others.

I will end this post just short of the end of this very long chapter, because it has been so long, and because it neatly ends Jesus's teaching of the kingdom of heaven at that time.  He used many examples to describe the kingdom of heaven to make sure His disciples thoroughly understood it.  Understanding this New Testament teaching would help them better understand the Old Testament teachings and the law.  Likewise, understanding the Old Testament law helped them better understand men's need for the New Testament covenant.  By their knowledge of sin and their conviction of it, they could better understand their need for the Gospel of Christ, their only salvation from sin.