Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Plan and Structure
  Matthew often grouped his material into sections so that three, five, six, or seven events, miracles, sayings, or parables appear together.27Jewish writers typically did this to help their readers remember what they had writt...
• Outline
  I. The introduction of the King 1:1-4:11A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17B. The King's birth 1:18-25C. The King's childhood 2:1-231. The prophecy about Bethlehem 2:1-122. The prophecies about Egypt 2:13-183. The prophecies about...
• 1. Jesus' forerunner 3:1-12 (cf. Mark 1:2-8; Luke 3:3-18)
  It was common when Jesus lived for forerunners to precede important individuals to prepare the way for their arrival. For example, when a king would visit a town in his realm his emissaries would go before him to announce his...
• 1. The setting of Jesus' ministry 4:12-16
  Comparison of John's Gospel and Matthew's shows that Jesus ministered for about a year before John the Baptist's arrest. John had criticized Herod Antipas for having an adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife (...
• The confusion of the King's forerunner 11:2-6 (cf. Luke 7:18-23)
  Even John the Baptist had doubts about whether Jesus was really the promised Messiah."Matthew includes the record of this interrogation for at least two reasons. First, the questioning of Jesus by John, a representative of th...
• V. The reactions of the King 13:54--19:2
  Matthew recorded increasing polarization in this section. Jesus expanded His ministry, but as He did so opposition became even more intense. The Jewish leaders became increasingly hostile. Consequently Jesus spent more time p...
• 1. The opposition of the Nazarenes and Romans 13:54-14:12
  The theme of opposition continues from the Parables about the Kingdom. Jesus' reaction to opposition by Israel's leaders was to withdraw (cf. 10:23). Matthew recorded Him doing this twice in this section. The first instance o...
• The opposition of Herod and his friends 14:1-12 (cf. Mark 6:14-29; Luke 9:7-9)
  14:1-2 "At that time"is again a loose connective not intended to communicate chronological sequence necessarily. Herod Antipas lived primarily at Tiberias on the west shore of Lake Galilee.579Word about Jesus' ministry reache...
• Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 14:13-21 (cf. Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13)
  Matthew's record of this miracle, which all four Gospels contain, stresses Jesus' power to create, His compassion, and the disciples' responsibility to minister to multitudes as Jesus' representatives. It also previews the ki...
• 3. The public ministry at Gennesaret 14:34-36 (cf. Mark 6:53-56)
  This short section summarizes Jesus' public ministry at this stage of His ministry. It shows that even though Jesus was withdrawing from unbelievers (13:54-14:12) and giving special attention to the training of His disciples ...
• 6. The public ministry to Gentiles 15:29-39
  Matthew again recorded a summary of Jesus' general healing ministry (cf. 4:23-25; 9:35-38; 12:15-21; 14:34-36) following opposition (13:54-14:12; 15:1-20) and discipleship training (14:13-33; 15:21-28). Opposition and discipl...
• Jesus' teaching about the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees 16:5-12 (cf. Mark 8:13-26)
  16:5-7 The NIV translation of verse 5 is clearer than that of the NASB. "When they went across the lake"pictures what follows as happening either during the journey, probably by boat, or after it. Jesus was still thinking abo...
• 1. Instruction about the King's person 16:13-17 (cf. Mark 8:27-29; Luke 9:18-20)
  16:13 The district of Caesarea Philippi lay 25 miles north of Galilee. Its inhabitants were mainly Gentiles. Herod Philip II, the tetrarch of the region, had enlarged a smaller town on the site at the foot of Mt. Hermon.619He...
• Revelation about the church 16:18-20
  16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
• The clarification of the kingdom's herald 17:9-13 (cf. Mark 9:9-13; Luke 9:36)
  17:9 This is the last of five times Matthew recorded Jesus telling His disciples to keep silent (cf. 8:4; 9:30; 12:16; 16:20). This time He told them that they could tell others after His resurrection since this is the first ...
• 5. The transition from Galilee to Judea 19:1-2 (cf. Mark 10:1)
  Matthew marked the end of Jesus' discourse on humility (ch. 18) and reported Jesus' departure from Galilee for Judea. This is the first time in Matthew's Gospel that Jesus moved into Judea for ministry. Until now all of Jesus...
• Bibliography
  Abbott-Smith, G. A. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1937.Albright, W. F. and Mann, C. S. Matthew. The Anchor Bible series. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.Alford, Henry. The Greek Testa...
• The varying opinions about Jesus' identity 6:14-16 (cf. Matt. 14:1-3; Luke 9:7-9)
  6:14 Herod Antipas was not really a king. He was the tetrarch who ruled over Galilee and Perea. Mark probably called him a king because that is how the people in his territory spoke of him popularly.150It was natural for Mark...
• 3. The end of John's ministry 3:19-20
  Luke concluded his account of John's ministry before he began to narrate Jesus' ministry. This arrangement of material allowed Luke to continue comparing and contrasting the ministries of the two men.130"John's prophetic call...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• St. Matthew 9-28
  Matthew 9-28
• The Martyrdom Of John
  At that time Herod the tetrurch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2. And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. 3. For Herod had laid...