Matthew 14:22-36 - Out for a walk

14:22-36

Having done one miracle, we then see another. Jesus dismissed the crowds after they had been fed and told the disciples to head to the other side of the lake by boat, He himself went up a mountainside to pray.  A storm got up on the lake and Jesus walked out to them.The disciples thought it was a ghost, not expecting a man to walk on water,. Jesus assured them that it was him, and for a time Peter also walked on the water, but then realising what he was doing he began to sink. Jesus reached out and caught him.  May be we can take this as an indication that if we set out to do something for Jesus, and then things start to get difficult He will reach out to us.They were amazed at Jesus, saying “truly you are the Son of God.. They reached the other side, and were met by more crowds.

Matthew 14:1-21 - Feeding time

14:1-12

Herod the tetrarch had had John the Baptist beheaded. However, he felt guilty and knew that he had done wrong, so he thought that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead, and now with miraculous powers. John had called our Herod’s sin. He had taken Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Herodias was as guilty as he was, and she saw and took the opportunity to have John killed. John’s disciples knew thatJohn had been preaching about Jesus, so they told Jesus what had happened.

14:13-21

The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand is contained in all the gospels. Jesus withdrew to a solitary place, after hearing the news of John, but the crowds followed Him. Jesus had compassion on them and healed the sick. Note that while the healings were a sign, they were also done out of compassion for people. The disciples saw a practical problem, how to feed the people, and saw the only solution was to send the crowds away. Jesus saw a different solution. So He got the disciples to organise the people. There was enough for everyone, and twelve baskets of left overs were collected.

Matthew 13:44-58 Still more parables

13:44-46

There are more parables to come. This one shows how determined we should be to find the kingdom. The man in the parable sells all he had to buy the pearl, and was glad that he had.

13:47-52

Jesus returns to the end of days, stressing that there will be a judgement. It can seem that justice is not done, but there will come a time when judgement is done. The angels will separate the good from the bad.

13:53-58

Jesus then moves on and explains that “a  prophet is without honour in his own town”. This worked out in his not doing many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Matthew 13:24-43 - More parables

13:24-30

Jesus then tells them another parable, this time the parable of the weeds. Some might have wondered why God doesn’t just zap all the bad people. This parable explains why.They might have wondered where the bad folk had all come from. The Law was good, how come then that there is so much evil? Jesus explains that the enemy had sown the weeds. Having accepted this the natural reaction was to pull up all the weeds. Jesus’s answer to this suggestion is no, because they might also uproot the good stuff as well. God is concerned with saving as well as judging. But there would come a time of distinction, this would happen at harvest time, then the weeds would be collected and burned, the wheat would be gathered in.

13:31-35

Jesus tells yet another parable, or rather two parables, about the mustard seed and the yeast. The kingdom can seem to be small and inconsequential, but like the mustard seed it grows into the largest of garden plants, and the birds nest in it. Like yeast, it works its effects through everything. Matthew then quotes from Psalm 78:2, showing that in speaking in parables Jesus is fulfilling the Scriptures.

13:36-43

The disciples asked Jesus to explain the parable of the weeds. The key difference between the disciples and the religious leaders is that the disciples were willing to learn from Jesus. The same applies to us. We will not understand everything, but when we don’t we do not decide that God is wrong, but ask Him to instruct us. There will be a final reckoning.

Matthew 13:24-30 - Parable of the weeds

13:24-30

Jesus then tells them another parable, this time the parable of the weeds. Some might have wondered why God doesn’t just zap all the bad people. This parable explains why.They might have wondered where the bad folk had all come from. The Law was good, how come then that there is so much evil? Jesus explains that the enemy had sown the weeds. Having accepted this the natural reaction was to pull up all the weeds. Jesus’s answer to this suggestion is no, because they might also uproot the good stuff as well. God is concerned with saving as well as judging. But there would come a time of distinction, this would happen at harvest time, then the weeds would be collected and burned, the wheat would be gathered in.

Matthew 13:10-23 - Parable of the sower

13:1-9

“The same day”, the same day as the dispute over the Sabbath, the same day as he has been accused of using demonic power. Jesus got into a boat and spoke to the people. Speaking from a boat on the lake would allow his voice to carry better. Despite the Pharisees the people still wanted to hear Jesus. He spoke to them in parables and told them the now famous parable of the sower. The key point for them was “whoever has ears, let them hear”. If God enables us to believe and understand what Jesus says we must make the most of it.

13:10-17

The disciple wondered why he didn't use a more direct form of teaching. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9,10. When Matthew used Isaiah to explain what Jesus was doing he was following the method that Jesus used. The religious leaders would never understand because their hearts had become calloused. He finishes by telling the disciples that they are blessed because they could see and hear. It is a truly blessed thing to be able to understand the words of Jesus. 

13:18,19

Jesus now explains to the disciples what the parable of the sower meant. So in order to have ears that hear and eyes that see we need Jesus, it is not dependent upon our own abilities. So when people hear but do not understand Satan comes and snatches the message away. They discard the message. Note that it was “sown in their hearts”, the message needs to go deeper, it need some response from us.

13:20-23

Some receive the message with joy. So outwardly there seems to be a great response, but in reality there is no depth, the message has not taken root. So when trouble or persecution comes they fade away. The third group are those who do hear the word and it does take root, but gets crowded out by the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. These things choke the word, and so it is unfruitful. All this seems pretty miserable, but then there is the seed that falls on good soil. These are people who hear the message and do understand it. Such people produce abundant fruit. 

We can look at this parable as a tale of what happens to the word, or we have all seen the range of responses that Jesus talks about. Or we can look at it in terms of the nature of the person hearing the word, and making sure that we seek to understand things properly and deeply, not at a shallow level, and that we are wary of things crowding out the word of God.

Matthew 12:33-50 - The heart ofthe matter

12:33-37

The Pharisees were concerned with externals, Jesus cared about the heart of the matter. The Pharisees, along with every other human, were fundamentally sinful, that is our basic problem, and unless that root issue is addressed nothing good can come from us. The mouth reflects the nature of the heart. Today we may be able to hide the matter, to fool some people, but there will come a day of judgement when all will have to give an account, and all will be clear.

12:38-45

The Pharisees demanded a sign, this may seem rather odd, surely Jesus has done enough signs! But they wanted “proof” that He was indeed the one Moses had spoken about. Jesus condemns them, calling them “a wicked and adulterous generation”. He then foretells his resurrection. This generation would be condemned by the men of Nineveh (the people Jonah was sent to). They repented at Jonah’s preaching, but the Pharisees were utterly unresponsive. The Queen of the South would condemn them as well, for she listened to Solomon’s wisdom. The Pharisees were proud of themselves, of how “righteous” they were, but they failed to listen to the Son of God.

Jesus then speaks about the impure Spirit, perhaps he is foretelling the AD70 destruction of Jerusalem. Whatever the case, the Pharisees did not realise what a perilous state they were in.

12:46-50

Jesus’ family were little better, they thought he was mad. Jesus then states that it is  obedience to His Father that is the most important thing.