THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
INTRODUCTION
There is no reason to doubt that this Gospel was written by Matthew. It presents the narrative of our Lord’s life from the standpoint of the pious Jew; and the evident design of the writer is to show how completely and continually our Lord fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures. No other Gospel contains so many quotations from the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. In it the predominant aspect of our Lord’s character and work is the Messianic. He was great David’s Greater Son. The keyword of the book is “Behold your King.” As King, His line is traced through the kingly race. As King, He proclaims the kingdom of heaven. As King, He promulgates the laws, describes the subjects, and announces the rewards of the Kingdom. When describing His own action at the last, when He sits on His throne and all nations are gathered before Him, He speaks of Himself as King, Mat_25:40. It was on His avowal of kingship that He was condemned to die. From every viewpoint this Gospel is one of the most precious documents in the world.
By F.B.Meyer
{e-Sword Note: The following material was presented at the end of Matthew in the printed edition}
Find the outline of our Bible study on The Gospel of Matthew at the link below.
OUTLINE OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
The King of the House of David
II. PROCLAIMING THE KINGDOM, Matthew 4:12 to Matthew 16:12
4. Sending Forth of the Twelve, Matthew 9:36 to Matthew 12:42
NB !Note:
The Judean ministry of Jesus, which lasted almost one year, is not discussed by Matthew. This one year period is covered in John 1;1 to the end of John 4: and fits between Mat_4:11 and Mat_4:12. Matthew takes us from the temptation directly to the Galilean ministry.
Today we will look at the following question in the outline.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,
33. What warnings were given them?
Persecution Will Come
The answer to question 33. What warnings were given them?
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
Comments by F.B.Meyer
on
MISSIONARIES SENT OUT
The answer to question 33. What warnings were given them?
STEADFAST UNDER PERSECUTION
The way of the servants and heralds of Christ will never be easy. From the first, it has been lined with jagged flints. On the one hand, they are assailed by the rulers and potentates of this world; and on the other, by the members of their own homes. See Act_4:25. But all these experiences are permitted in order to secure an entrance for their message into the most unlikely places, 2Ti_4:17. The fact of the disciples being driven from city to city brought the gospel within the reach of a much wider audience than if they had remained in peace in one center. See Act_11:19.
But when we are persecuted for the Lord’s sake, the Father bends over us with tender pity and helpfulness, Joh_12:26. And we are supplied, from the Eternal Light and Love, with a wisdom of speech and an unfailing patience of love that cannot be gainsaid.
Believer’s Bible commentary
Book by William MacDonald
C. The Mission to Israel (10:5-33)
10:16 In this section Jesus counsels the twelve concerning their behavior in the face of persecution. They would be like sheep in the midst of wolves, surrounded by vicious men bent on destroying them. They should be wise as serpents, avoiding giving needless offense or being tricked into compromising situations. And they should be harmless as doves, protected by the armor of a righteous character and faith unfeigned.
10:17 They should be on guard against unbelieving Jews who would hale them into criminal courts and flog them in their synagogues. The attack against them would be both civil and religious.
10:18 They would be dragged before governors and kings for Christ’s sake. But God’s cause would triumph over man’s evil. “Man has his wickedness but God has His way.” In their hour of seeming defeat the disciples would have the incomparable privilege of testifying before rulers and Gentiles. God would be working all things together for good. Christianity has suffered much from civil authorities, yet “no doctrine was ever so helpful to those appointed to govern.”
10:19, 20 They need not rehearse what they would say when on trial. When the time came, the Spirit of God would give them divine wisdom to answer in such a way as to glorify Christ and utterly confuse and frustrate their accusers. Two extremes should be avoided in interpreting verse 19. The first is the naive assumption that a Christian never needs to prepare a message in advance. The second is the view that the verse has no relevance for us today. It is proper and desirable for a preacher to prayerfully wait before God for the appropriate word for a specific occasion. But it is also true that in crises, all believers can claim God’s promise to give them wisdom to speak with divine intuition. They become mouthpieces for the Spirit of their Father.
10:21 Jesus forewarned His disciples that they would have to face treachery and betrayal. Brother would accuse brother. Father would betray his child. Children would become informers against their parents, resulting in the execution of the parents.
J. C. Macaulay put it well:
We are in good company in enduring the world’s hatred. … The servant may not expect better treatment at the hands of the enemy than the Lord Himself received. If the world had nothing better than a cross for Jesus, it will not have a royal carriage for His followers: if only thorns for Him, there will not be garlands for us. … Only let us see that the world’s hatred of us is really “for Christ’s sake,” and not on account of anything hateful in us and unworthy of the gracious Lord whom we represent.
10:22, 23 The disciples would be hated by all—not by all without exception, but by all cultures, nationalities, classes, etc., of men. “But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Taken by itself, this could seem to imply that salvation can be earned by steadfast endurance. We know it cannot mean this because throughout the Scriptures salvation is presented as a free gift of God’s grace through faith (Eph_2:8-9). Neither can the verse mean that those who remain faithful to Christ will be saved from physical death; the previous verse predicts the death of some faithful disciples. The simplest explanation is that endurance is the hallmark of the genuinely saved. Those who endure to the end in times of persecution show by their perseverance that they are true believers. This same statement is found in Mat_24:13 where it refers to a faithful remnant of Jews during the Tribulation who refuse to compromise their loyalty to the Lord Jesus. Their endurance manifests them as genuine disciples.
In Bible passages dealing with the future, the Spirit of God often shifts from the immediate future to the distant future. A prophecy may have a partial and immediate significance and also a complete and more distant fulfillment. For instance, the two Advents of Christ may be merged in a single passage without explanation (Isa_52:14-15; Mic_5:2-4). In verses 22 and 23 the Lord Jesus makes this kind of prophetic transition. He warns the twelve disciples of the sufferings they will undergo for His sake, then He seems to see them as a type of His devoted Jewish followers during the Great Tribulation. He leaps forward from the trials of the first Christians to those of believers prior to His Second Advent.
The first part of verse 23 could refer to the twelve disciples: But “when they persecute you in this city, flee to another . . .” They were not obligated to remain under the tyranny of their enemies if there was an honorable way to escape. “It is not wrong to escape from danger—only from duty.”
The latter part of verse 23 carries us forward to the days preceding Christ’s coming to reign: “… you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” This could not refer to the mission of the twelve because the Son of Man had already come. Some Bible teachers understand this as a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. However, it is difficult to see how this holocaust can be spoken of as “the coming of the Son of Man.” It seems far more plausible to find here a reference to His Second Coming. During the Great Tribulation, Christ’s faithful Jewish brethren will go forth with the gospel of the kingdom. They will be persecuted and pursued. Before they can reach all the cities of Israel, the Lord Jesus will return to judge His foes and set up His kingdom. There might seem to be a contradiction between verse 23 and Mat_24:14. Here it is stated that not all the cities of Israel will be reached before the Son of Man comes. There it says that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world before His Second Advent. However, there is no contradiction. The gospel will be preached in all nations though not necessarily to every individual. But this message will meet stiff resistance, and the messengers will be severely persecuted and hindered in Israel. Thus, not all the cities of Israel will be reached.
10:24, 25 The disciples of the Lord would often have occasion to wonder why they should have to endure ill treatment. If Jesus was the Messiah, why were His followers suffering instead of reigning? In verses 24 and 25, He anticipates their perplexity and answers it by reminding them of their relationship to Him. They were the disciples; He was their Teacher. They were servants; He was their Master. They were members of the household; He was the Master of the house. Discipleship means following the Teacher, not being superior to Him. The servant should not expect to be treated better than his Master. If men call the worthy Master of the house “Beelzebub” (“lord of flies,” an Ekronite god whose name was used by Jews for Satan), they will hurl even greater insults at the members of His household. Discipleship involves sharing the Master’s rejection.
WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM.
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Expectations Of Disciples P1
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