Bible Commentaries

Matthew 12:18-21 — Matthew recently selected material that presented Jesus as the Son of God, the Son of David, and God Himself. Now he pointed out again that Jesus’ conduct proved Him to be the prophesied Suffering Servant of the Lord. The citation is from Isaiah 42:1-4. This is the longest Old Testament quotation in the first Gospel. ". . . by inserting this quotation here Matthew helps his readers to put the confrontation in context: it is not of the Messiah’s choosing." [Note: France, The Gospel

Matthew 17:6-8 — This revelation had the same effect on Peter, James, and John that the revelation God gave the Israelites at Sinai did (Exodus 20:18-21; Deuteronomy 4:33; Hebrews 12:18-21) and that the revelation God gave Daniel had on him (cf. Daniel 10:8-12). When people see the glory of God revealed and realize that they are in His presence, they feel terror. The Transfiguration was mainly for the disciples’

Matthew 19:3 — The Pharisees again approached Jesus to trap Him (cf. Matthew 12:2; Matthew 12:14; Matthew 12:38; Matthew 15:1; Matthew 16:1; Matthew 22:15; Matthew 22:34-35). This time they posed a question about divorce. In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus had taught the sanctity of marriage in the context of kingdom righteousness. Here the Pharisees asked

Matthew 21:9 — non-Jerusalemites preceded Jesus and followed Him as He approached Jerusalem. "Apparently the Galilean pilgrims accompanying Jesus and the Jerusalem crowd coming out to greet him formed a procession of praise." [Note: Carson, "Matthew, p. 439.] Undoubtedly word of Jesus’ coming had preceded him, so the people of Jerusalem were anticipating His arrival. Since Jesus was an obedient Jew, He visited Jerusalem for the three required feasts annually. The Synoptic writers gave no hint

Matthew 26:23 — Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 213.] If this was the main course of the meal, the bowl would have contained herbs and a fruit purée that everyone would have been scooping out with bread to eat with the lamb. "Toward midafternoon of Thursday, 14 Nisan, the lambs (one per ’household’-a convenient group of perhaps ten or twelve people) would be brought to the temple court where the priests sacrificed them. The priests took the blood and passed it in basins along a line till it was

Mark 1:14-6 — II. THE SERVANT’S EARLY GALILEAN MINISTRY 1:14-3:6 Mark omitted Jesus’ year of early Judean ministry (Joh_1:15 to Joh_4:42), as did the other Synoptic evangelists. He began his account of Jesus’ ministry of service in Galilee, northern Israel (Mark 1:14 to Mark 6:6 a). Because of increasing

Mark 7:18-19 — The disciples had heard and seen enough to have been able to understand Jesus’ meaning. Their "hardness of heart" is a prominent theme in Mark 6:31 to Mark 8:26 (cf. Mark 6:52; Mark 8:14-21). Mark interpreted the significance of Jesus’ teaching for his Gentile readers. Mark meant that Christians need not observe the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law (cf. Romans 14:14; Galatians 2:11-17; Colossians 2:20-22). This was a freedom

Luke 11:49-51 — The lawyers claimed the greatest wisdom in Israel by declaring that their interpretations of Scripture were the correct ones. However, Jesus cited a greater source of wisdom. The "Wisdom of God" may be a title for Jesus (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 2:3). [Note: Geldenhuys, p. 346.] However it seems unusual for Jesus to refer to Himself this way. Moreover what follows is Old Testament revelation. It could mean "God in His wisdom" making God the source of

John 20:19 — rest. But the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, is associated with grace: first there is faith in the living Christ, then there will be works." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:391, 392.] Apparently the Eleven except Thomas were present (cf. Mark 16:14; John 20:24). How much Thomas missed because he did not meet with the other disciples on the Lord’s Day (cf. Hebrews 10:22-25)! He had to endure a whole week of fear and unbelief unnecessarily. The disciples had gathered in a secure room because

John 3:21 — distinguishing believers who acknowledged Christ openly, like John the Baptist, and secret believers, such as Nicodemus, rather than believers and unbelievers. [Note: Zane C. Hodges, "Coming to the Light-John 3:20-21," Bibliotheca Sacra 135:540 (October-December 1978):314-22.] John 3:19-21 point out the ultimate danger that each reader of this Gospel faces. If one tends to do as Nicodemus did and reject Jesus, it is because he or she does not want to come to the light for moral reasons.

John 4:20 — He would choose among their tribes where He would dwell among them. The Jews, accepting all the Old Testament as authoritative, saw God doing this later when He commanded David to build the temple in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 7:13; 1 Kings 11:13; 1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 6:6; 2 Chronicles 12:13). The Samaritans, who acknowledged only the authority of the Pentateuch, believed that Mount Gerizim near Shechem was the place that God had appointed. They based this belief on the fact that God had told the

Acts 7:48-50 — would especially appear so to Stephen, when further divine activity was refused out-of-hand by the people in their preference for God’s past revelation and redemption as symbolized in the existence of the temple." [Note: Longenecker, p. 346.] Stephen quoted Isaiah 66:1-2 for support. He referred to Isaiah as "the prophet." As a prophet Isaiah was worthy of as much respect as Moses. Significantly the last part of Isaiah 66:2 says that God esteems those who are humble and contrite

Romans 6:1-14 — 1. Freedom from sin 6:1-14 Paul began his explanation of the believer’s relationship to sin by explaining the implications of our union with Christ (Romans 6:1-14). He had already spoken of this in Romans 5:12-21 regarding justification, but now he showed how that union

Romans 8:28 — particularly prominent (Romans 8:29). Those who love God could be a group of believers who love God more than others. However since Paul described them from the divine side as the elect of God, those who love God must refer to all Christians (cf. 1 John 4:19). This is the only place in Romans where Paul wrote of the believer’s love for God; everywhere else he referred to God’s love for the believer. This verse does not say that God causes all things, period. Nowhere in Scripture do we read

1 Corinthians 13:10 — context, what is perfect (Gr. teleion, mature, whole, complete) probably refers to the whole truth about God. [Note: Barrett, p. 306.] Another possibility is that it is our state when we stand in the Lord’s presence. [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 645; Lowery, "1 Corinthians," p. 536; Thomas R. Edgar, Miraculous Gifts: Are They for Today? pp. 333-34; Keener, p. 109.] When we reach that point in history the Lord will remove (katargeo, cf. 1 Corinthians 13:8) what is partial, the limits

1 Corinthians 13:13 — supremacy of love. It does not carry on the contrast between what is now and what will be later. In contrast to what will pass away-namely, knowledge, tongues, and prophecy-faith, hope, and love will endure (cf. Romans 5:1-5; Galatians 5:5-6; Ephesians 4:2-5; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Hebrews 6:10-12; Hebrews 10:22-24; 1 Peter 1:3-8; 1 Peter 1:21-22). Faith here is not the gift of faith (1 Corinthians 13:2; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:9) but the trust in God that characterizes all His children. Among

1 Corinthians 14:15 — has no control. Sometimes modern Christians who believe they have the gift of tongues wonder if they should speak in tongues in private even though they do not know what they are saying. Some of them claim that doing so edifies them (1 Corinthians 14:4). Let us assume they are speaking some language that they have not studied, which is what the tongues-speakers in the early church were speaking. This, by the way, eliminates most modern tongues-speakers since most modern tongues-speakers simply repeat

1 Corinthians 7:15 — notice that the Christian does not have the option of departing (1 Corinthians 7:10-11). Another view is that Paul meant that separation should be prevented if at all possible since that would disrupt the peace of the marriage union. [Note: Johnson, p. 1240.] However this view presupposes that peace existed between the husband and wife, which seems unlikely since one of them wanted a divorce from the other. When the unbeliever departs, the Christian is no longer under bondage (Gr. douleuo, lit. to be

Ephesians 1:17 — Paul returned to his concept of God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3; cf. Matthew 6:9). He combined with this the idea that all glory belongs to the Father (Ephesians 1:6; Ephesians 1:12; Ephesians 1:14; cf. Acts 7:2; 1 Corinthians 2:8). Paul asked God to give the Ephesians a spirit of wisdom and revelation. The spirit in view probably refers to an attitude rather than to the Holy Spirit, wisdom and revelation being the description of that attitude

Ephesians 5:21 — paragraphs which follow are given as examples of Christian submission, and that the emphasis throughout is on submission." [Note: Stott, p. 215.] He addressed six groups: wives and husbands (Ephesians 5:22-33), children and parents (Ephesians 6:1-4), and slaves and masters (Ephesians 6:5-9). In each of the three pairings, the first partner is responsible to be submissive or obedient (Ephesians 5:22; Ephesians 6:1; Ephesians 6:5). However the second partner is also to show a submissive spirit.