Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Released Zion 52:1-12
  God next called His people to prepare to receive the salvation that He would provide for them. They would have to lay hold of it by faith for it to benefit them.52:1 God called Israel to awake and to be strong (in the strengt...
• 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 (...
• III. The manifestation of the King 8:1--11:1
  "Matthew has laid the foundational structure for his argument in chapters one through seven. The genealogy and birth have attested to the legal qualifications of the Messiah as they are stated in the Old Testament. Not only s...
• B. Declarations of the King's presence 9:35-11:1
  The heart of this section contains Jesus' charge to His disciples to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom (ch. 10). Matthew prefaced this charge with a demonstration of the King's power, as he prefaced the Sermon on the Mount...
• 1. Jesus' compassion 9:35-38 (cf. Mark 6:6)
  This section summarizes the previous incidents that deal primarily with healing and prepares for Jesus' charge to His disciples. It is transitional providing a bridge from the condition of the people that chapter 9 revealed t...
• 2. Jesus' commissioning of 12 disciples 10:1-4 (cf. Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1-2)
  10:1 This is Matthew's first reference to Jesus' 12 disciples, though here He implied their previous identity as a group. He "summoned"(Gr. proskaleo) these men as a king commands His subjects. He who had all authority now de...
• The scope of their mission 10:5-8
  Jesus first explained the sphere and nature of the apostles' temporary ministry to Israel.10:5-6 The apostles were to limit their ministry to the Jews living in Galilee. They were not to go north or east into Gentile territor...
• The attitudes of the disciples 10:26-39 (cf. Luke 12:1-12)
  Even though Jesus' disciples would encounter hostile opposition, they should fear God more than their antagonists.10:26-27 The basis for confidence in the face of persecution is an understanding that whatever is presently hid...
• The reward for hospitality 10:40-42
  These verses bring Jesus' teaching to a positive and encouraging conclusion. Jesus had given His disciples severe warnings. Now He gave them great encouragement.10:40 By receiving His disciples those to whom the disciples wou...
• 4. Jesus' continuation of His work 11:1 (cf. Mark 6:12-13; Luke 9:6)
  Here is another of Matthew's formulas that ended a discourse (cf. 7:28-29; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). Matthew had no concern for recording what happened when the Twelve went out having received Jesus' instructions. He passed over th...
• The explanation of the parable of the weeds 13:36-43
  Matthew separated the explanation of this parable from its telling in the text (vv. 24-30). He evidently did this to separate more clearly for the reader the parables Jesus spoke to the multitudes from the parables He told Hi...
• 5. The withdrawal to Tyre and Sidon 15:21-28 (cf. Mark 7:24-30)
  As previously, opposition led Jesus to withdraw to train His disciples (cf. 14:13-33). The response of the woman in this story to Jesus contrasts with that of the Pharisees and scribes in the preceding pericope. She was a Gen...
• 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 ...
• 4. Instructions about the King's personal representatives ch. 18
  Chapter 18 contains the fourth major discourse that Matthew recorded (cf. chs. 5-7; ch. 10; 13:1-53; chs. 24-25), His Discipleship Discourse. This discourse continues Jesus' instruction of His disciples that He began in 17:14...
• 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:...
• 3. Jesus' lamentation over Jerusalem 23:37-39 (cf. Luke 13:34-35)
  This lamentation should help us realize that the judgment Jesus just announced in such strong language was not something that delighted Him. It broke His heart. This is also clear from His personalizing the people in Jerusale...
• 7. The King's judgment of the nations 25:31-46
  Jesus concluded the Olivet Discourse with further revelation about the judgment that will take place at the end of the present age when He returns. He had referred to it often in the discourse, but now He made it a special su...
• 4. The King's final instructions to His disciples 28:16-20 (cf. Mark 16:15-18; 1 Cor. 15:6)
  Whereas the chief priests used bribe money to commission the soldiers to spread lies, the resurrected Jesus used the promise of His power and presence to commission His disciples to spread the gospel.1091This is the final add...
• 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...
• 1. The sending of the Twelve 6:6b-13 (cf. Matt. 9:35-11:1; Luke 9:1-6)
  Jesus continued to minister in Galilee. His ministry to the Twelve was an important part of His ministry. It prepared the disciples for further future service. It also anticipated His ministry through them following His ascen...
• 1. The mission of the Twelve to Israel 9:1-6 (cf. Matt. 9:35-11:1; Mark 6:6b-13)
  This is another "sandwich"or chiastic section in design (cf. 8:40-56). This structural device usually gives unity to the whole section and focuses attention on the central part of it. First, Jesus sent the Twelve on an evange...
• 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...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• St. Matthew 9-28
  Matthew 9-28
• Christ's Charge To His Heralds
  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7. And as ye go, pre...
• The Widened Mission, Its Perils And Defences
  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synago...
• The Pharisees' Sabbath And Christ's
  At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn; and His disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto Him. Behold, Thy disciples do t...