Matthew 7:21

Judgment of Pretenders

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ ¹  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Matthew 16:3

16:3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ ²  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, ³  but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.

Matthew 18:10

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

18:10 “See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

Matthew 18:18

18:18 “I tell you the truth, ⁴  whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.

Matthew 21:25

21:25 Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from people?” ⁵  They discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’

Matthew 24:29

The Arrival of the Son of Man

24:29 “Immediately ⁶  after the suffering ⁷  of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ⁸ 

¹ sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

² tn Or “red and gloomy” (L&N 14.56).

³ tn Grk “The face of the sky you know how to discern.”

³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁴ tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used here (and in v. 26) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”

⁷ sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.