The Pharisees were hypocrites and the Lord spared nothing in giving them a scathing rebuke in this chapter. A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something he’s not; someone who pretends to be virtuous and pious. The Lord saw through their outward show and cut them to their heart...
The Pharisees were the bane of Jesus’ ministry. So, right before his crucifixion, he warned his disciples about them and preached them under a terrible conviction. In this first part of his sermon, the Lord dealt with the fact that the Pharisees had exalted themselves and he commanded his disciples...
After the Pharisees tried and failed three times to get Jesus to say something they could use against him, they gave up. So, Jesus turned the tables on them and asked them a question about Ps 110:1 that they could not answer. Even if they knew the answer, they would...
In a prior lesson, we saw that the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ authority for clearing out the Temple in Matt 21. In response to their question, he trapped them by asking a question regarding John’s baptism that they refused to answer for fear of incrimination. While he had their audience he...
This is a parable of the kingdom of heaven dealing with things at the end 2. certain king – God a. marriage for his son – Rev 12:7-9; Matt 25:1-13 3. servants – Rev 11:18; Rev 7:3 to call them a. bidden – invited – this was the Jews (Rom...
This parable illustrates the transfer of the kingdom of God from Israel to the Gentiles. Notice in verse 43 that the parable is about the kingdom of God (the spiritual kingdom which we enter by the new birth) and not the kingdom of heaven (the earthly, physical kingdom over which...
When Jesus entered the temple after he had cleansed it, he was challenged by the chief priests and elders on his authority to cast some of them out of the temple. He responded with a question concerning the origin of John’s baptism. They refused to answer him because they didn’t...
There are three things that we need to study in this lesson concerning the fig tree that Jesus cursed on his way to the temple. We need to reconcile this passage with Mk 11:11-19, we need to study the typology of the fig tree and we need to apply the...
Below is a table showing the timeline of events from the time Jesus showed up in Bethany until his resurrection. We will refer to this chart from time to time as we continue our study in Matthew. Keep in mind that as you look at each day, the Jewish day...
What you are studying today is what has been commonly called the triumphal entry. This is the place where Jesus rides a colt into Jerusalem amidst the cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David.” The Jews who were praising him were ready to make him their king. As such,...
