Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Holiness precepts 19:1-18
  "This section . . . consists of a list of twenty-one (3x7) laws. These laws are broken up into smaller units by the sevenfold repetition of the phrase I am the LORD (your God)' (19:3, 4, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18)."225"I am the Lord...
• Message10
  Joshua reveals that God hates sin because He loves people. (This is the message statement.) Of course He also hates sin because it offends His holiness. However in Joshua I believe the emphasis is on God's concern for the Isr...
• 2. Restoring fellowship with Yahweh ch. 14
  God blessed David and his kingdom because David had honored God by seeking to bring the ark into Jerusalem. The Chronicler recorded three instances of divine blessing in this chapter.First, God gave David favor in the eyes of...
• 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...
• A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17 (cf. Luke 3:23-38)
  Matthew began his Gospel with a record of Jesus' genealogy because the Christians claimed that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. To qualify as such He had to be a Jew from the royal line of David (Isa. 9:6-...
• 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 (...
• 3. The King's invitation to the repentant 11:25-30
  This invitation is a sign of Israel's rejection of her King since with it Jesus invited those who had believed in Him to separate themselves from unbelieving Israel and to follow Him. In verses 20-24 Jesus addressed the conde...
• 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 cost and reward of discipleship 16:24-27 (cf. Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-26)
  Jesus proceeded to clarify the way of discipleship. In view of Jesus' death His disciples, as well as He, would have to die to self. However, they could rejoice in the assurance that the kingdom would come eventually. Glory w...
• The seriousness of impeding the progress of a disciple 18:5-14 (cf. Mark 9:37-50; Luke 9:48-50)
  The major sub-theme of this discourse is offenses (Gr. skandalon, stumbling blocks). The humble disciple will be careful not to put a stumbling block in the path of another disciple as that one proceeds toward the kingdom.18:...
• VI. The official presentation and rejection of the King 19:3--25:46
  This section of the Gospel continues Jesus' instruction of His disciples in preparation for their future (19:3-20:34). Then Jesus presented Himself formally to Israel as her King with His triumphal entry (21:1-17). This resul...
• 1. Instruction about marriage 19:3-12 (cf. Mark 10:2-12)
  Matthew evidently included this instruction because the marriage relationships of His disciples were important factors in their effective ministries. Jesus clarified God's will for His disciples that was different from the co...
• 2. Instruction about childlikeness 19:13-15 (cf. Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17)
  Another incident occurred that provided another opportunity for Jesus to emphasize the importance of childlike characteristics in His disciples (cf. ch 18).19:13 It was customary for people to bring their children to rabbis f...
• The encounter with the rich young ruler 19:16-22 (cf. Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23)
  19:16-17 A rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to obtain eternal life.730The text presents him as a rather typical obsessive compulsive personality who probably never knew when to stop working.The term "eternal li...
• The teaching concerning riches 19:23-30 (cf. Mark 10:23-31; Luke 18:24-30)
  19:23-24 "Truly I say to you"or "I tell you the truth"introduces another very important statement (cf. 5:18; et al.). Jesus evidently referred to a literal camel and a literal sewing needle (Gr. rhaphidos) here. His statement...
• 4. Instruction about Jesus' passion 20:17-19 (cf. Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-34)
  There is a theological connection between this section and the former one. The death of Jesus provided the basis for God's gracious dealings with believers in His Son. This connection is clear to Matthew's readers because Mat...
• 5. Instruction about serving 20:20-28 (cf. Mark 10:35-45)
  This pericope shows that the disciples did not understand what Jesus had said (cf. Luke 18:34)."Despite Jesus' repeated predictions of his passion, two disciples and their mother are still thinking about privilege, status, an...
• 6. An illustration of illumination 20:29-34 (cf. Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43)
  Even on the way to give His life a ransom for many Jesus continued to serve, as this pericope shows. Rather than delivering Himself from the fate He foresaw, He mercifully and compassionately delivered others from their affli...
• 3. Jesus' entrance into the temple 21:12-17 (cf. Mark 11:11b, 15-18; Luke 19:45-48)
  Matthew stressed Jesus' cleansing of the temple as the work of David's Son (vv. 9, 15). This activity had great messianic significance.77221:12 The Mosaic Law required that the Jews pay a half-shekel temple tax, which they pa...
• Jesus' question of the Pharisees 22:41-46 (cf. Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44)
  22:41-42 Having received several questions from His critics, Jesus now turned the tables and asked the Pharisees one. He wanted them to explain what the Scriptures taught about Messiah. This would face them and the crowd with...
• The first woe 23:13[-14]
  "But"introduces the transition from the words to the disciples that preceded (vv. 1-12). The scribes and Pharisees had taken the exact opposite position on Jesus' person than the disciples had. Consequently their futures woul...
• 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...
• 2. Jesus' selection of 12 disciples 3:13-19 (cf. Luke 6:12-16)
  Jesus' selection of 12 disciples constituted an important advance in His ministry. These men would be the primary beneficiaries of His training for leadership to carry out His mission. The plot to take His life made the train...
• The encounter with the rich young ruler 10:17-22 (cf. Matt. 19:16-22; Luke 18:18-23)
  10:17 Mark tied this incident into what immediately preceded more closely than the other evangelists did. He wanted his readers to see this young man as expressing exactly the opposite of what Jesus had just taught His discip...
• Jesus' teaching concerning riches 10:23-31 (cf. Matt. 19:23-30; Luke 18:24-30)
  Jesus used the incident just past to teach His disciples about riches. Matthew's account is the fullest.10:23 The case of this unbeliever had important significance for Jesus' believing disciples. Rather than being a preview ...
• The anointing at Bethany 14:3-9 (cf. Matt. 26:6-13; John 12:1-8)
  14:3 For thematic reasons Matthew and Mark both placed this event within the story of the hostility of Jesus' enemies. It is apparently out of chronological order (cf. John 12:1). This rearrangement of the material highlighte...
• The conduct of disciples 6:27-38 (cf. Matt. 5:43-48; 7:1-2)
  Jesus' explanation of the importance of true righteousness was the heart of the Sermon on the Mount as Matthew narrated it (Matt. 5:17-7:12). He reported that Jesus spoke of true righteousness in relation to three things: the...
• The lawyer's question and Jesus' answer 10:25-29
  The incident that Mark recorded in Mark 12:28-34 is quite similar to this one, but the differences in the accounts point to two separate situations. In view of the question at stake it is easy to see how people might have ask...
• The parable of the two servants 12:42-48 (cf. Matt 24:45-51)
  12:42 Jesus answered Peter's question with one of His own. The answer to it gave Peter the answer to his question. Obviously the faithful and sensible steward pictures a disciple. Jesus' question also taught that He would giv...
• 2. Entrance into the kingdom 13:22-30
  Another question led to this teaching. The thematic connection with Jesus' words about the small beginning of the kingdom (vv. 19, 21) should be obvious. As elsewhere, Luke recorded Jesus teaching lessons and using illustrati...
• Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler 18:18-23 (cf. Matt. 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22)
  The rich young ruler with his pride contrasts dramatically with the humble infants in the last pericope.18:18 The young man believed he could do something to earn eternal life, and he wanted to make sure he had not overlooked...
• Jesus' teaching about riches 18:24-30 (cf. Matt. 19:23-30; Mark 10:23-31)
  Jesus continued talking with His disciples about the preceding conversation. However, Luke did not identify the disciples as those to whom Jesus spoke. This gives the impression that what Jesus said has relevance to all peopl...
• The future role of the Twelve 22:28-30
  Jesus balanced the need for humility and service with a promise of future reward. Though the Twelve are in view the implication of reward for other faithful disciples is strong. Jesus evidently repeated this promise in differ...
• 3. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus 3:1-21
  John now presented evidence that Jesus knew people as no others did and that many believed in His name (2:23). This constitutes further witness that He is the Son of God. John summarized several conversations that Jesus had w...
• The kernel of wheat teaching 12:20-26
  12:20 The New Testament writers frequently referred to any Gentiles who came from the Greek-speaking world as Greeks (cf. 7:35; et al.). We do not know where the Gentiles in this incident came from. They could have lived in o...
• The choice of Matthias 1:15-26
  1:15 In view of Peter's leadership gifts, so obvious in the Gospels, it is no surprise that he is the one who took the initiative on this occasion."Undoubtedly, the key disciple in Luke's writings is Peter. He was the represe...
• Peter's exhortation 3:17-26
  3:17-18 If Peter's charges against his hearers were harsh (vv. 13-15), his concession that they acted out of ignorance was tender. Peter undoubtedly hoped that his gentle approach would win a reversal of his hearers' attitude...
• Paul's speech to the dignitaries 26:1-23
  Paul was not on trial here. When he had appealed to Caesar (25:11), he had guaranteed that his next trial would be before the emperor. This was just a hearing designed to acquaint Agrippa with Paul's case so Agrippa could giv...
• 1. God's principles of judgment 2:1-16
  Before showing the guilt of moral and religious people before God (vv. 17-29), Paul set forth the principles by which God will judge everyone (vv. 1-16). By so doing, he warned the self-righteous.2:1-4 "Therefore"seems more l...
• 3. Our present sufferings and future glory 8:18-25
  Paul proceeded to expound on the thought that he introduced at the end of verse 17. This passage gives a very wide perspective of God's great plan of redemption, which is the heart of Paul's theology.2648:18 In the light of e...
• The legitimacy of marriage 7:36-40
  This section concludes Paul's entire teaching on marriage in this chapter. However it contains problems related to the meaning of "virgin"as is clear from the three different interpretations in the NASB, the NIV, and the NEB....
• 3. Walking in love 5:1-6
  In addition to calling his readers to walk in unity (4:1) and holiness (4:17), Paul urged them to walk in love (5:2). He first advocated positive love (vv. 1-2) and then negatively warned to abstain from evil (vv. 3-6).5:1 "T...
• A. The recent gift 4:10-14
  First, Paul thanked his brethren for their recent gift that Epaphroditus had delivered to him (vv. 10-14).4:10 The "But"(Gr. de) that opens this section in the NASB is a bit misleading. It does not imply a contrast with what ...
• 3. Slaves and masters 3:22-4:1 (cf. Eph. 6:5-9)
  3:22 Paul probably made this section longer than the preceding two because he sent this epistle to Colosse with the Epistle to Philemon. Onesimus, Philemon's run-away slave, carried them.166Moreover there may well have been m...
• C. The Danger of Negligence (The First Warning) 2:1-4
  Having just encouraged his readers with a reminder of God's help for the faithful (1:14) the writer next urged his readers to be faithful. He did so to warn them of the possibility of retrogressing spiritually and consequentl...
• The final purging of sin 9:11-28
  The writer now focused on the issue of sacrifice."The argument moves a stage further as the author turns specifically to what Christ has done. The sacrifices of the old covenant were ineffectual. But in strong contrast Christ...
• I. INTRODUCTION 1:1
  The writer identified himself for the original recipients of this epistle and greeted them to introduce himself to his readers.James (lit. Jacob) was probably the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ who evidently became a b...
• 4. Promise 3:20-22
  In the context we note that God addressed well-known verse 20 to Christians."The first thing which a person mustget fixed in his mind when studying the message to the Church in Laodicea is the fact that the Spirit of God is a...
• M. The millennial reign of Christ ch. 20
  John recorded his vision of Jesus Christ's reign on the earth for 1, 000 years to inform his readers of what would take place after He returns to the earth."Few verses in the Bible are more crucial to the interpretation of th...
• 2. The resurrection of tribulation martyrs 20:4-6
  ". . . it is not difficult to see why the early church understood John to be teaching a millennium in Revelation 20. Three arguments support this interpretation: (1) the teaching of two resurrections, (2) the binding of Satan...
• The physical features of the city 21:11-22
  21:11 This city obviously appeared extremely impressive to John. The first and most important characteristic that John noted was its radiant glow. It shone with the splendor of God Himself because He was in it (cf. Exod. 40:3...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• St. Matthew 9-28
  Matthew 9-28
• The Requirements Of The King
  And, behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17. And "He said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but One, that is, God: but if thou wilt e...
• I. A Real Though Imperfect Moral Earnestness.
  We may gather together the earlier part of the conversation, as introductory to the Lord's requirement (Matt. 19:16-20), in which we have the picture of a real though imperfect moral earnestness, and may note how Christ deals...