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}
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.
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
Today we will look at the following questions in the outline.
15. What is the true motive for right living?
The Sermon on the Mount
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
The Beatitudes
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
The answer to question 15 is contained in all verses of Mat_5:38-48
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Love Your Enemies
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Comments by F.B.Meyer
on
BROTHERLY RELATIONSHIP
In mentioning the second mile, our Lord refers to a well-known Eastern custom of forwarding messages by relays of forced labor. We leave our homes on a given morning, anticipating no evil. Suddenly and unexpectedly there are sounds of horses’ hoofs and a great demand is thrust upon us. We are sent off in a direction we never contemplated and are compelled to go one mile. It is the second that tests character; and your actions with respect to it will determine whether you have entered into the spirit of Christ and are willing to serve others for love’s sake and at cost of peril and inconvenience to yourself. Love to one’s neighbor appears in many passages in the Old Testament. See Exo_23:4-5. But we have to love enemies and resemble God’s sun and rain, Mat_5:45. You say that it is impossible! Remember those sweet old words: “I taught Ephraim to go,” Hos_11:1-4. Ask your Heavenly Father to teach you to love. Remember Gal_5:22. Dare to believe that He will perfect what concerneth you.
Believer’s Bible commentary
Book by William MacDonald
H. Going the Second Mile (5:38-42)
5:38 The law said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Exo_21:24; Lev_24:20; Deu_19:21). This was both a command to punish and a limitation on punishment—the penalty must not exceed the crime. However, according to the OT, authority for punishment was vested in the government, not in the individual.
5:39-41 Jesus went beyond the law to a higher righteousness by abolishing retaliation altogether. He showed His disciples that, whereas revenge was once legally permissible, now non-resistance was graciously possible. Jesus instructed His followers to offer no resistance to an evil person. If they were slapped on one cheek by someone, they were to turn the other to him also. If they were sued for their tunic (an inner garment), they were to surrender their cloak (an outer garment used for covering at night) as well. If an official compelled them to carry his baggage for one mile, they were to voluntarily carry it two miles.
5:42 Jesus’ last command in this paragraph seems the most impractical to us today. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. Our obsession with material goods and possessions makes us recoil at the thought of giving away what we have acquired. However, if we were willing to concentrate on the treasures of heaven and be content with only necessary food and clothing, we would accept these words more literally and willingly. Jesus’ statement presupposes that the person who asks for help has a genuine need. Since it is impossible to know whether the need is legitimate in all cases, it is better (as someone said), “to help a score of fraudulent beggars than to risk turning away one man in real need.”
Humanly speaking, such behavior as the Lord calls for here is impossible. Only as a person is controlled by the Holy Spirit can he live a self-sacrificing life. Only as the Savior is allowed to live His life in the believer can insult (v. 39), injustice (v. 40), and inconvenience (v. 41) be repaid with love. This is “the gospel of the second mile.”
I. Love Your Enemies (5:43-48)
5:43 Our Lord’s final example of the higher righteousness demanded in His kingdom concerns the treatment of one’s enemies, a topic which grows naturally out of the previous paragraph. The law had taught the Israelites to love their neighbor (Lev_19:18). Although they were never explicitly commanded to hate their enemy, this spirit underlay much of their indoctrination. This attitude was a summary of the OT’s outlook toward those who persecuted God’s people (see Psa_139:21-22). It was a righteous hostility directed against the enemies of God.
5:44-47 But now Jesus announces that we are to love our enemies and to pray for those who … persecute us. The fact that love is commanded shows that it is a matter of the will and not primarily of the emotions. It is not the same as natural affection because it is not natural to love those who hate and harm you. It is a supernatural grace and can be manifested only by those who have divine life.
There is no reward if we love those who love us; Jesus says that even unconverted tax collectors do that! That type of love requires no divine power. Neither is there any virtue in greeting our brethren only, i.e., our relatives and friends. The unsaved can do that; there is nothing distinctively Christian about it. If our standards are no higher than the world’s, it is certain that we will never make an impact on the world.
Jesus said that His followers should return good for evil so that they might be sons of their Father in heaven. He was not saying that this was the way to become sons of God; rather, it is how we show that we are God’s children. Since God shows no partiality to either the evil or the good (in that both benefit from sun and rain), so we should deal graciously and fairly with all.
5:48 Jesus closes this section with the admonition: Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. The word perfect must be understood in the light of the context. It does not mean sinless or flawless. The previous verses explain that to be perfect means to love those who hate us, to pray for those who persecute us, and to show kindness to both friend and foe. Perfection here is that spiritual maturity which enables a Christian to imitate God in dispensing blessing to everybody without partiality.
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.
Listen to Pastor Jeff Arthur a sermons at
On MeWe ;
Join our group at MeWe Friends in Jesus
We also have a Page on Creation Ministries International. Called Young Earth Creationists
On Facebook;
Join our closed group at : Quo Vadis Christian Community Group to read and partake in the Bible study to learn to know Jesus Christ. To know Him is to Love Him.
We also have a open Page at Quo Vadis Christian Community you might want to know more about.
Please ad yourself to our Messenger group to receive notification and chat to other members of the group.
You may however wish to disable notification and look at post when you have the time.
Join our messenger group at Friends in Jesus.
If you want a Bible please contact: Please let me have a Bible.
You may also want to join Creation Ministries International.
Find more Study topics at Quo Vadis Australia
