Matthew 3:7

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ¹  and Sadducees ²  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Matthew 9:13

9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ³  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ⁴  not be afraid of those who kill the body ⁵  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ⁶ 

Matthew 10:41

10:41 Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever ⁷  receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

Matthew 13:17

13:17 For I tell you the truth, ⁸  many prophets and righteous people longed to see ⁹  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Matthew 21:15

21:15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹⁰  saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, ¹¹  “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant

Matthew 25:34

25:34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 26:26

The Lord’s Supper

26:26 While ¹²  they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.”

Matthew 26:31

The Prediction of Peter’s Denial

26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “This night you will all fall away because of me, for it is written:

‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ¹³ 

Matthew 26:45

26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

¹ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

² sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

³ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁶ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

⁷ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

⁷ tn Grk “And whoever.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁹ tn Grk “truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.”

¹⁰ sn This is what past prophets and righteous people had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.

¹¹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

¹² tn Grk “crying out in the temple [courts] and saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁵ sn A quotation from Zech 13:7.