Tag Archives: Gospel of Matthew

Pastor Rick’s Study Notes: Matthew 5:17-20

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Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

PRT Matthew 5:17-20

v. 17 Don’t even consider that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets; I came not to overthrow and dismiss them but to satisfy and fulfill them.

v. 18 For I tell you this very truth: until heaven and earth come to an end, neither the smallest letter nor the tiniest accent point will disappear until all these things will happen.

v. 19 for this reason, anyone breaks even the smallest of these commandments or teaches others to do the same, will be the smallest in the Kingdom of Heaven. But here’s the one who will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven: everyone who does what it says and teaches others to do the same.

v. 20 For I tell you that, unless your right actions and right relationship with God extends beyond the standards of the legal experts and Pharisees, you won’t even enter the doors of heaven.

Study Notes:

v. 17 Don’t even consider that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets; I came not to overthrow and dismiss them but to satisfy and fulfill them.

Jesus is answering an unspoken question here (or perhaps he heard the rumblings of this statement about tearing down the law and prophets – it later became one of the big accusations. He didn’t destroy (he wrote them!) The word is to break down, dissolve, dismiss, abolish. He came to fulfill the prophets and satisfy the law.

This word destroy is a word picture of someone taking down a tabernacle or tent into pieces. He came to fulfill, that is fill to the fullest, the Law and Prophets.

Light plays a huge role in demonstrating the effect of the Kingdom on people, churches, cultures, generations, etc. We are brought into the light, become the light of the world, and are indwelt by the Spirit of Jesus, the Light of the world.

Ephesians 4 “we were in darkness and now we walk as children of light.”

Philippians 2:15 “you shine as lights to the world.”

1 Peter 2 “we are called out of darkness and into His wonderful light.”

Read this in context with v. 15-16 – what we do is in the light, not to show us to the world, but to show Jesus to the world. Matthew says the light is on the stand where everyone in the house can see the light. Luke says the light is on the stand so that everyone who enters into the house can see. He satisfies the reason people grasp for religion and rules. Jesus completes the prophetic.

v. 18 For I tell you this very truth: until heaven and earth come to an end, neither the smallest letter nor the tiniest accent point will disappear until all these things will happen.

The smallest letter of the Hebrew language is the “yod” – no bigger than an apostrophe. The accent point in Greek is the little marking that might distinguish letter and pronunciations. These accents were not widely used in the marketplace since most wrote in Uncial; and after all, it was their language.

Here, the word is not everlasting but sufficient until heaven and earth disappear. At that point, we will as Paul says, “know in full.” Until God brings it all to the culmination, not even an accent point will be canceled.

v. 19 for this reason, anyone breaks even the smallest of these commandments or teaches others to do the same, will be the smallest in the Kingdom of Heaven. But here’s the one who will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven: everyone who does what it says and teaches others to do the same.

Remember that the legal experts and teachers had set the laws in major and minor categories – greater laws and lesser laws with corresponding ramifications. Some says 613, but these are what Moses said to do or not do. The “for all time” laws are the big ten.

The “least” in the kingdom is a word that can mean littlest or smallest; the person who chooses to live contrary to God’s parameters and/or takes others in the same direction chooses a “small” life here, and the “smallest” life in eternity.

It’s choosing to live in the light. Luke adds some insight here; our acts give light to the world and cause the lost to bring glory to God. Our eyes are our light in Jesus’ parables; and we let light in by what we choose to give witness to; or we let “dark” into our eyes by what we feed on.

The big question on everyone’s mind, then, if the Pharisees and the teachers of the law aren’t in, who will be? Nobody wants to be small; so who will be great? Jesus answers: you who do and teach (demonstration, proclamation.) the Pharisees (Matthew 23:3) taught but clearly didn’t do. That’s why he said the next sentence.

v. 20 For I tell you that, unless your right actions and right relationship with God extends beyond the standards of the legal experts and Pharisees, you won’t even enter the doors of heaven.

These are the comments that endeared Jesus to the people and drew the ire of the temple leaders. This would also fly in the face of “common wisdom” that the Pharisees and legal experts were the examples to follow; Jesus says it’s the exact opposite. It’s like the lovers of the law were approaching heaven, but couldn’t see what stopped them (unforgiven sin – they needed a Savior.)

  1. Have you ever been in a place that was completely, utterly, dark? How did it make you feel?
  2. Do you have a favorite Bible verse? What is it? Why is it so meaningful to you?
  3. How do you “let light in” to your life through using the Bible? What practices do you do now? What do you need to begin practicing?
  4. What can you do the avoid places that make your life smaller and darker?
  5. What kinds of “beautiful deeds” do you like doing for others to help them experience the love of the Savior?
  6. How can others help you through prayer and encouragement?

Pastor Rick’s Study Notes: Matthew 2:21-23, Luke 2:39-40, 51-52

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Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

Matthew 2:21-23

Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother, and reentered Israel. When he heard, though, that Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, as king in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But then Joseph was directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee. On arrival, he settled in the village of Nazareth. This move was a fulfillment of the prophetic words, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (The Message)

After this, he got up, took the child and his mother and traveled back to Israel. Also, he heard that Archelaus now ruled in Judea in the place of his father, Herod. He was afraid to go there and, because he was warned in a dream, he turned aside to the region of Galilee. When he arrived, he made his home in the town of Nazareth and, in doing so, fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”(PRT)

  • It became such a badge of honor to be from such a place and be such a Savior that it was how others identified Jesus. Come and see Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
  • When the blind or the lame would call out for healing, they called to Jesus the Nazarene.
  • The demons acknowledged his authority to drive them out as Jesus Christ the Nazarene.
  • When Mary and her friends came to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, the angel assured them that the one they looked for, this Jesus the Nazarene, is not here because He is risen.
  • Peter preaches the first Acts presentation of the Good News of the Kingdom in chapter 2 and declares the this Jesus the Nazarene is the very one who conquered death.
  • Then Peter in chapter 3 reaches down to take the hand of the paralytic and declares “I don’t have a nickel to my name; but what I have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.
  • Paul says that even Jesus identified himself when he had the vision on the Damascus highway – “I am Jesus the Nazarene; the one you are persecuting.” (Acts 22:8)

That Jesus was from such a small, backwater village in a non-descript part of the Israel is as fitting as Jesus as a baby being born in a livestock cave.

He, as the light of the world, entered where least expected and spread throughout the world.

Joseph was warned a third time, this specific to the dangers Herod’s son Archelaus posed to their safety. That’s why Joseph took Mary and Jesus back to his home in Nazareth which was under Antipas’ rule. Interesting that Herod the Great killed off so many of his sons; but some still reign in parts of his kingdom. Archelaus proved his bloodline and refused a godly lifestyle; he was cruel and unpredictable, too.

Luke 2:39-40, 51-52

39-40 When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him. (The Message)

39-40 When they had completed all the law of the Lord required, they returned to Galilee and to their home town of Nazareth; it was there that the child grew up and became strong and filled up with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him. (PRT)

51-52 So he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people. (The Message)

51-52 And Jesus went down from Jerusalem with them and came to Nazareth; he was obedient to them and his mother carefully kept all these things both said and done in her heart. (PRT)

Nazareth is where Jesus grew up, went to synagogue school, learned how to build things, and grew in spirit and the Holy Spirit fully within discovered how to express the Spirit’s fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Some may have difficulties with Jesus growing in wisdom and in the spirit as He is God incarnate. But the “incarnate” – in the flesh – is significant. If Jesus was born with all the wisdom and fully mature, he would not have come in the flesh; he would have come as a superman. He is not. He is God, and He is man.

Pastor Rick’s Study Notes Matthew 2:12-21

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Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

Matthew 2:12-21

12In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

The scholars were warned in a God-given dream. That they were warned may indicate more than one had the same dream. And they wisely withdrew from Judea and took another route. Wycliff translates this as “an answer taken in sleep.” God connected the dots of all the scholars had gathered about Herod, the newborn King, and their own travels; and when they awoke, they had their answer.

13After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further

notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.

After the scholars withdraw by another route, Joseph is visited by an angel. Did Joseph and Mary also know that the scholars were warned in a dream? That would have underpinned what the angel says here. The word angel and the word messenger are the same. The angel comes to give the message God wants Joseph to have. The tone is a commanding one.

The “get up” could also be “now that you’re up” – take the child. Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s what you need to do.

There is an urgency and a checklist here: get up (check), gather the child and mom (check), run away to Egypt (check), make your home there (check), watch for my next message (check).

There is a warning: Herod is unhinged and will kill this child.

This is one of several ways the Enemy attempted to end Jesus’ bloodline (Haman, Babylon, etc.)

The word for kill is to destroy completely the potential represented in Jesus.

14-15Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: “I called my son out of Egypt.”

While Joseph definitely obeyed here, these words aren’t a part of this verse. Still, he got up (check), got the child and mom together for the trip (check), left right away (under cover of the night),  withdrew (there’s that word again) toward Egypt.

This use of withdrew means to avoid what might be feared, they repositioned themselves elsewhere. They hightailed it out of Bethlehem.

The word for “lived” is the to be verb – they were, for a time, immigrants in Egypt, making their home and living there. Similar to Moses. Fulfilling the prophecy.

Jesus, with Joseph and mom, came up out of Egypt and this fulfilled the prophet Hosea’s promise that God’s son would be called out of Egypt.

Egypt was the place where Jews had sought refuge from war, political oppression, famine and threats. Because of this, communities of Jewish immigrants were found in every Egyptian city. Jesus would be raised in a culture that was both an international and Jewish.

V. 15 is tied to v. 19. News travels slowly and likely Joseph didn’t know when Herod died. But he did, and they packed up and returned.

16-18Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars.) That’s when Jeremiah’s sermon was fulfilled:

A sound was heard in Ramah, weeping and much lament.

Rachel weeping for her children, Rachel refusing all solace,

Her children gone, dead and buried.

And Herod, much to the grief of Jerusalem and certainly Bethlehem, became unhinged and sought to kill Jesus by committing democide. Every baby boy was killed in the region. Tradition has it as 14,000 children. But, Bethlehem wasn’t that large. One would expect dozens in the town; maybe hundreds in the vicinity due to the census. When bloodlust is unleashed by a crazed person, there may have been more. Certainly if it was regional, the murderous act was great as was the grief throughout the land. Were it not for the warnings Joseph had and the spontaneous obedience he showed, Jesus would have been in this mix. One only has to do a search for the Slaughter of the Innocents to see how the Italian masters depicted this in their art.

Rachel descendants, and Rachel from the grave, cry a second time for the loss and grief. The first time was at the Captivity.

That Herod had as his command assassins who were comfortable killing baby boys is horrible.

19-20Later, when Herod died, God’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: “Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead.”

And Joseph and the mom and baby get the promised message. Return. It’s safe. Again, this is a promise to Moses and now to Jesus. Return because those whom you feared are dead.

The chronology is less than two years in Egypt as Herod already had an incurable disease when he ordered the babies killed.

21Joseph obeyed.

Pastor Rick’s Study Notes Matthew 22:34-40

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Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

Matthew 22:34-40

v. 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 

The word means “gagged” as in shut them down completely. Like the muzzle on an ox.

The Pharisees were overjoyed to see the Sadducees put in their place. So, they huddled up to come up with their own question.

vv. 35-36 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

This is someone who lives by the law, interprets the law for others. It’s an honest question that a seeker might have; it’s a trap if he can get Jesus to dismiss part of the code in favor of another.

Interesting factoid about the law and the lawyers: “The scribes declared that there were 248 affirmative precepts, as many as the members of the human body; and 365 negative precepts, as many as the days in the year, the total being 613, the number of letters in the Decalogue” from Robertson/Vincent.

Jesus wasn’t caught in the trap of talking minutiae and getting stuck in siderail issues. Love God with all you have; love others out of the healthy love you have for yourself.

How do you determine a commandment is great? Is it great because of the limitations it brings (I must wear fringes around my robe to be holy) or because of the freedom it brings? Love the Lord; Love others like you esteem yourself. Against such there is no law.

The word for “trap him” may have been simply to “test Jesus” to give him a conundrum that would test his mettle in determining a righteous answer.

v.37-38 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. 

This was written on a little piece of parchment and contained in a tiny square box and worn on the arm as a reminder of the Greatest Commandment. The lawyer was likely wearing this very verse.

v. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

This law was pulled from a chapter on ceremonial rules; but it was given a high place of honor by Jesus as he combined it with the first and greatest. The vertical and the horizontal driven by a passionate love was the positive rule to live by. This has been called the Great Commandment alongside the Great Commission in Mt 28.

v. 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Out of the whole of the revelation of God’s Word, this is the summation. Base on, hung on like two balances to all the compendium of the law. Without these two in clear position, the law is cumbersome. Only Mark shares the Lawyer’s response. He affirms it and leans into Jesus’ teachings.