Matthew 12:6

12:6 I ¹  tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

Matthew 23:19

23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Matthew 20:31

20:31 The ²  crowd scolded ³  them to get them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Lord, have mercy on us, ⁴  Son of David!”

Matthew 13:32

13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ⁵  so that the wild birds ⁶  come and nest in its branches.” ⁷ 

[12:6]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:31]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:31]  ³ tn Or “rebuked.” The crowd’s view was that surely Jesus would not be bothered with someone as unimportant as a blind beggar.

[20:31]  ⁴ tc ‡ The majority of mss (C W ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses) read κύριε (kurie, “Lord”) after ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς (elehson Jhma", “have mercy on us”). But since this is the order of words in v. 30 (though that wording is also disputed), and since the κύριε-first reading enjoys widespread and early support (א B D L Z Θ 085 0281 ˹³ 892 pc lat), the latter was considered original. However, the decision was by no means easy. NA²⁷ has κύριε after ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς here; a majority of that committee felt that since the placement of κύριε in last place was the nonliturgical order it “would have been likely to be altered in transcription to the more familiar sequence” (TCGNT 44).

[13:32]  ³ sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty-five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:32]  ⁴ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:32]  ⁵ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.