The Ministry of Jesus, Part 2: His Authoritative Words

He Taught with Authority

Mt 7:28-29: “the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
Mk 1:27: “And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority!’”

The Gospel according to Jesus

First, statements by the Gospel narrators that Jesus preached the good news of the Kgdm (Mk 1:14-15; Mt 4:23; 9:35; Lk 4:43; 8:1; 16:16).
Second, Jesus’s own self-consciousness that he was specifically commissioned to preach the good news
1. Lk 4:16ff, quoting Isa 61:1: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news [εὐαγγελίσασθαι] to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty [κηρύξαι ἄφεσιν] to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.”
Third, the words/concepts that Jesus used to preach the good news
1. Righteous vs. Sinners
  1. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners [to repentance]” (Mt 9:12-13 / Mk 2:17 / Lk 5:31-32).
  2. “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Lk 18:9).
2. Repentance
  1. “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7).
  2. “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations” (Lk 24:27).
3. Forgiveness
  1. Healing the paralytic: “Son, your sins are forgiven … the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mt 9:1-8 / Mk 2:1-12 / Lk 5:17-26).
  2. “… lest they should turn and be forgiven” (Mk 4:12).
  3. “Forgive us our debts” (Matt. 6:12, 14-15)
  4. “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt” (Matt. 18:27, 32).
  5. “‘Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven’” (Lk 7:47-48).
4. Mercy
  1. “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mk 5:19).
  2. “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Mt 9:13; 12:7).
  3. “Have mercy on us, Son of David” (Mt 9:27; 15:22; 20:30-31).
  4. “And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Mt 18:33; cp. 5:7).
5. Salvation
  1. “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Lk 7:50).
  2. “The devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved” (Lk 8:12).
  3. “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:9-10).
  4. “The one who endures to the end will be saved” (Mk 13:13).
6. Rest
  1. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest … rest for your souls” (Mt 11:28-30).
7. Entering the kingdom
  1. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3).
  2. “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mk 10:23).
  3. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
8. Eternal life
  1. “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16).
  2. “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time … and in the age to come eternal life” (Mk 10:29-30).
  3. “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:46).
  4. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (Jn 3:36), and throughout the Gospel of John.

Mt 5-7: The Sermon on the Mount

Audience: Primarily the disciples, but the crowds are listening in and learning as well.
1. Mt 5:1-2: “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying …”
2. Mt 7:28-29: “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
The Neonomian Interpretation
1. Perfectionistic
  1. Fruit/heart inspection
  2. “If you are truly regenerate …”
  3. The Beatitudes are turned into imperatives
2. Critique:
  1. Destroys assurance
  2. Goes against Matt 11:28-30
The Antinomian Interpretation
1. Reaction against the former
  1. SOM only shows us how far we fall short, convicts us of sin and shows us our need of Christ
  2. Matt 5:20 = imputed righteousness
  3. No positive direction for Christian life
2. Critique:
  1. We have passages where Jesus does wield law in its first use upon those who are confident in their own righteousness, e.g., the Rich Young Ruler (Matt 19:16-22). But the SOM sounds very different.
  2. The SOM has a completely serious tone, addressing Christians on how we should live as members of Christ’s Kgdm
    1. You’re going to be persecuted
    2. Be salt and light
    3. Love your enemies
    4. This is how you should pray
  3. Mt 28:20: “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

The Context of the Sermon on the Mount
1. Matt 1-4
  1. “For he will save his people from their sins”
  2. Jesus as true Israel
2. New Moses on New Mountain (Exodus 19) delivering the law of the New Covenant (“all that I have commanded you”) to the New Israel (12 apostles)
3. The Law in the Hand of Christ
  1. Samuel Bolton: “We are freed from the law, as given by Moses, and are only tied to the obedience of it, as it is given in Christ: and though … we are subject to those commands and that law which Moses gave, yet not as he gave it, but as Christ renews it, and as it comes out of His hand and from His authority …. We look not to Sinai, the hill of bondage, but to Sion, the mountain of grace.”
The Audience of the Sermon on the Mount
1. The audience is those who are followers of Jesus and members of the kingdom
  1. “On my account” (5:11)
  2. Audience is distinct from the crowds who are listening in
  3. Audience is contrasted with “the Gentiles” (5:47; 6:7, 32), i.e., unbelievers, non-disciples
  4. References to communal life in church – “brothers” (5:22-24, 47; 7:3-5)
2. Original audience was the 12 disciples, but Matthew is applying Jesus’ teaching on discipleship to all followers of Christ
  1. “Make disciples … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (28:19)
  2. Later passages pick up on themes in the SOM in a manner clearly intended to provide instruction for the community of Christian disciples (Matt 18-19)
  3. The SOM is a description of the way disciples of Christ ought to live as members of his Kgdm
The Atmosphere of the Sermon on the Mount
1. Matt 4:17, 23: “The gospel of the Kgdm”
2. Atmosphere of grace
3. Jesus begins with the Beatitudes before exhorting us to righteousness
  1. Not conditions but sheer blessings
  2. Matt 5:3, 10: “Blessed are those who … for theirs is the Kgdm of heaven.”
  3. Not: “Be poor, meek, merciful … so that you may earn Kgdm.”
  4. Rather: “Blessed are you disciples, because you already possess it!”
  5. Luke 6:20-21, “Blessed are you who are …, for yours is the Kgdm.”
  6. Matt 6:11: “Blessed are you when others revile you.”
4. God as our Father through Christ: “Your Father” (11x)
  1. Matt 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
  2. Matt 5:45: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
  3. Matt 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
  4. Matt 6:4: “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
  5. Matt 6:6a: “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.
  6. Matt 6:6b: “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
  7. Matt 6:8: “Do not be like [the Gentiles], for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
  8. Matt 6:15: “If you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
  9. Matt 6:18a: “… that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret.
  10. Matt 6:18b: “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
  11. Matt 7:11: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
5. “Sons of God”
  1. Matt 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
  2. Matt 5:44-45: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
6. As those who have need mercy and have received forgiveness
  1. Matt 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
  2. Matt 6:12: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
7. Indeed, there is a kind of First Use
  1. The standard is indeed high!
  2. It is ultimately a description of the perfect character of Christ himself
    1. He is the pure in heart
    2. He did not retaliate against his enemies
    3. He loved his enemies
  3. None of us can do that perfectly
  4. And so we fly to Christ for forgiveness and sanctifying grace
8. SOM holds before us the perfect character of Christ himself as that to which we are called
  1. It calls us to always be hungering and thirsting for righteousness (5:6)

Mt 10: The Mission to Israel

Audience: The 12 disciples only
1. Mt 10:1-7: “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these … 5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
2. Mt 11:1: “When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.”
Overview of this block of teaching
1. It contains specific instructions for this immediate time prior to his resurrection (vv 5-6, 23).
2. But Jesus also looks ahead to the mission as it would be continued after his resurrection.
  1. Verses 17-18: “you will be dragged before governors and kings.”
  2. Reference to “the Spirit of your Father” (v 20) is an allusion to the day of Pentecost.
  3. Thus, Jesus’ teaching in this section is not limited only to “the Mission to Israel.”
3. It also contains durable instructions that apply to the mission of the apostles after the ascension of Christ.
  1. And even beyond the apostles to us who are not apostles today, e.g., “everyone” (v 32), “whoever” (vv 38-39).
4. What is the main point?
  1. That we should not be surprised by persecution but expect it.
  2. And that we need to prepare for it before it comes.
  3. We should be alert to the spiritual forces at work.
  4. Verse 16b-17a: “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men.”
  5. Don’t assume that everyone will like you.
  6. And when they hate you, don’t take it personally. The world has an allergic reaction to Christ, not you.
  7. There are powers of evil at work in the world, working to oppose the kingdom of Christ.
  8. “Be wise as serpents” - It takes wisdom and spiritual discernment to recognize the spiritual battle and prepare for persecution.
5. Verses 18-20: Embrace persecution as an opportunity for witness
  1. Verses 18-20: “You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. ¹⁹ When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. ²⁰For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
  2. Cp. Acts 1-4: As a result of the outpouring of the Spirit, the timid and fearful disciples become bold and fearless.
  3. What made the difference? The resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit.
  4. Opposition and persecution provided them the opportunity to bear witness to the resurrection power of Christ.
6. Verses 21-25: Understand the reason for persecution – it is because of our identification with Christ and his gospel.
  1. Verse 22: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”
  2. Two pictures describing our identification with Christ
    1. Verse 24: “A disciple is not above his teacher.”
    2. Verse 25: The master of the house, and the members of his household.
    3. Our identification with Christ is what provokes hatred. They don’t hate us per se. They hate Christ.
7. Verses 26-31: Be confident in God’s spiritual protection during persecution
  1. We belong to Christ, body and soul, in life and death.
    1. And he will cover us with his spiritual protection.
    2. And so we don’t need to be afraid in the ultimate sense.
  2. This is a powerful passage for showing that we are body and soul, and that the soul can survive the death of the body.
  3. It is also a powerful passage for showing the exhaustive, detailed providential care of the Father for his children. Nothing happens by chance.
    1. We have no promise from Christ of being protected from physical harm.
    2. But we do know that we have ultimate spiritual protection. They can kill our bodies but not our souls. Our souls are safe in his hand.
  4. This passage links back to the teaching of Jesus in the SOM where he reveals the Fatherhood of God.
  5. Verse 31: “Fear not”

Mt 13: The Parables of the Kingdom

Audience: The crowds, but in parables that conceal; explanation of parables given only to disciples in private.
1. Mt 13:1-3: “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying …”
2. Mt 13:10-11: “Then the disciples came and said to him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ 11 And he answered them, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.’”
3. Mt 13:34: “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’ 36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’”
4. Mt 13:53: “And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there.”
Seven parables designed to explain the nature of Kgdm:
1. The parable of the sower and the seed
2. The parable of the weeds
3. The parable of the mustard seed
4. The parable of the leaven
5. The parable of the treasure hidden in a field
6. The parable of the pearl of great value
7. The parable of the net that gathers fish of every kind
Jesus tells us these parables to give us insight into God’s purposes in this present age, the time between the first and the second coming of Jesus.
1. What is the kingdom of God? How can it be something that is both present in the ministry of Jesus and also a future thing that we will enter in the eschaton?
2. Here in Matthew 13, we begin to get our questions answered. Jesus specifically tells these parables to illustrate what the kingdom is like:
  1. Verse 24: He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field ….”
  2. Verse 31: He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field ….”
  3. Verse 33: He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
If we feel it is unclear, that shouldn’t be surprising. It isn’t supposed to be an easy, obvious thing.
1. Jesus refers to it as, “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (v 11). He says that the prophets before Christ’s coming longed to see this but were not able to (vv 16-17).
2. He says the things he is talking about are “things hidden since foundation of world” (v 35). The very fact that he uses parables to explain the kingdom is related to this.
3. Parables both conceal and reveal. “To you [that is, to you disciples] it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them [that is, to the crowds] it has not been given” (v 11). It takes spiritual insight.
The parables of Jesus tell us three things about the nature of the kingdom.
1st, these parables tell us that the Kingdom is spiritual
1. The first thing the kingdom parables tell us is that the kingdom is spiritual and advances through the preaching of the gospel.
2. The parable of the sower and the seed.
  1. The sower sows the seed, and the seed is “the word of the kingdom” (v 19).
  2. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom that has to do with the preaching of the word of the gospel.
3. There is another aspect, though. It isn’t only about the word. It’s also about the heart - people’s response to the gospel. What is the soil? It is the heart of man.
  1. Some soil is hard and rocky, and when the seed falls on it, it cannot even germinate.
  2. Other soil is shallow, and when the seed falls on it, it can germinate, but the lack of depth of soil causes the sprout to wither and die.
  3. Yet other soil is full of thorns, and when the seed germinates, it is choked by the weeds.
  4. Finally, there is the good soil, which allows the word not only to germinate and sprout but to grow and produce fruit. What do these different types of soil stand for in the parable? They stand for the various states of the heart, whether hard or prepared by Spirit.
4. This is clear from the paragraph in between the initial parable and its explanation, verses 10-17.
  1. Jesus says the reason he speaks in parables is because it is fitting, given the sovereignty of God in election and regeneration. Understanding the mysteries of the kingdom is not for everyone. It is only for those to whom it has been “given,” that is, given by God. Only some are elect. Only some have had their hearts prepared by God to receive and understand the mysteries of the kingdom.
  2. Verses 14-15, where Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10. Notice the emphasis on the sovereignty of God, and notice as well the two metaphors used to describe human receptivity to God’s word: ears and eyes. Notice the chiasm: heart, ears, eyes. Some hearts are hardened, some ears are deaf to the truth, some eyes are blind to the light of the gospel.
5. There is a three-step process:
  1. Heart prepared by God to be receptive to the word
  2. The word comes and is received with joy, faith
  3. The word produces spiritual fruit
6. You can’t produce spiritual fruit without first receiving the word. You can’t produce spiritual fruit by simply trying to be a better person, or by being more obedient, or by trying to keep the law. That is moralism and legalism. True spiritual fruit is a result of the word of the gospel coming into your heart. There must be the joy of the gospel of the kingdom, and only then can the good fruit come naturally and spontaneously.
7. But you can’t receive the word unless God changes your heart. If your heart has not been first prepared and softened by God’s Spirit, the coming of the word will be like seed landing on the rocky soil. The word will fall on deaf ears. It will be like water off a duck’s back. It will just bounce off and have no effect.
8. So the kingdom is fundamentally a spiritual thing that has to do with the word of the gospel and the response of those who receive the gospel in faith or in unbelief. This would have been a very important point in Jesus’ own time, because the Jews were looking for an earthly, national kingdom.
9. What is the purpose of a seed?
  1. It is to lodge into the soil, germinate, sprout, and become a new plant.
  2. But even that is not the goal. The goal is for the plant to produce good fruit. That is what a seed is all about. That is its reason for existence. It exists in order to produce fruit.
  3. And so it is with the word. If we hear the word, or read the word, or study the word, but the word doesn’t change us, it has not fulfilled its reason for existence. The word must take root in our hearts and become a living thing that grows until it produces the fruits of the Spirit in us.
  4. We must be transformed. We must not remain as we were. The fruit of a changed life is the evidence that the word has indeed taken root and has indeed become a living thing with us.
10. The kingdom is spiritual. It has to do with the gospel and whether the gospel is changing us and causing us to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
2nd, the parables tell us that the Kingdom is presently hidden
1. The second thing we learn from the parables is that the kingdom is presently at work in a gestation period of hidden growth.
2. That is the point of the parable of the leaven. Leaven is a mysterious thing. We would call it yeast. It only takes a little bit of leaven or yeast to make the whole batch of dough rise. It is there, you just can’t see the full effects right away. It takes time. So it is with the kingdom. The kingdom of God is presently at work in this world, like leaven, but during its present phase, prior to the consummation of the kingdom when Christ returns, the action of the kingdom is easy to overlook. And yet in spite of its secret and hidden nature, it is there, working powerfully and permeating all things, until the final effect is finally seen.
3. Because of the hidden nature of the kingdom, there are certain things that don’t fit our expectations, things that frustrate and confuse us. One of those things that frustrates and confuses us is the mixed nature of the kingdom in the present age, the fact that it contains a mixture of genuine converts and false professors.
4. “Then appeared also the weeds” (v 26). It is paradoxical. It may seem that the purpose of the kingdom is being hindered by the appearance of the weeds. Indeed, that is clearly Satan’s purpose. He is the Evil One who planted the weeds precisely in order to deceive, to appear as if they are genuine sons of the kingdom when in reality they are sons of the Evil One and members of his kingdom of darkness. But the appearance of the weeds along with the genuine wheat plants is actually a sign that everything is going as planned. Why would the Devil need to do this unless he was threatened by the growth of the genuine plants of the kingdom? The paradox is that the mixing of the bad among the good shows that the good are indeed there, by God’s design, and that he is at work doing something powerful in this present age.
5. Two of the parables of the kingdom in our text explain this idea: the parable of the mustard tree and the parable of the leaven in vv 31-33.
6. In the parable of the mustard tree, the tree grows to large that even the birds of air came and nested in its branches (v 32). The birds of the air probably symbolize those who are not genuine members of the kingdom, but who nevertheless associate with the kingdom outwardly and take advantage of its temporal blessings. The parable of the leaven shows how the kingdom leavens the entire lump. In Jesus’ day, the kingdom was localized in the land of Israel, and even then only among a tiny band of followers. Now, the gospel has gone to almost the entire world and there are few societies that aren’t influenced by the gospel in some way. It has almost leavened the whole batch of dough.
7. Remember the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel 2, and how Daniel was the only one who could tell him what the dream was and interpret it? He saw a huge statue, with a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, a middle and thigh of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed with clay. Then he saw a stone that had been cut out by no human hand coming down out of heaven, and the stone struck the image, destroyed it, and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan 2:35). The stone is the kingdom that was inaugurated in the person and work of Jesus. Daniel said, “In the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed” (Dan 2:44). This is the kingdom of God. It starts as a stone and become a mountain. It starts as a mustard seed and becomes a huge tree. It starts as a tiny pinch of leaven and leavens the whole lump of dough.
8. This helps us understand what God is doing now in the world. It has been nearly 2000 years since the first coming of Christ. Why the long delay? What is God doing? Why is the history of the world going on for so long? Well, Jesus’ parables of the kingdom make the answer clear. The leaven has nearly leavened the entire lump of dough, but it has more work to do. The mustard plant has probably reached its full size, but there are still elect people in this world and even among those yet to be born, who have not yet heard the word of the kingdom.
3rd, that the Kingdom will one day be revealed
1. The third thing we learn about the kingdom is that, though it is presently hidden, that hiddenness is only temporary, and one day it will be revealed in perfect splendor. The kingdom in its current state is like a cocoon. The cocoon may seem somewhat ugly and unattractive right now, but one day a beautiful butterfly will emerge after the gestation period is complete. So too the completed kingdom will emerge in glory at the end of the age. There will be a separating judgment in which Christ will separate out all that are not his elect and gather the tree wheat into his barn.
2. The day of judgment is a big theme in the teaching of Jesus. He speaks of it as the time when God sends out the angels to gather the elect and to separate out the non-elect. The day of judgment is an enormous sorting process.
3. John the Baptist said of Jesus the Messiah: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire” (Matt 3:12).
4. Both John likened the day of judgment to the process whereby farmers would separate the wheat from the chaff. They would harvest all the wheat, let the stalks dry out in the sun, and then they would beat the stalks and use the wind to separate. Using winnowing forks, they would lift the dry stalks into the air, and the wind would carry off the chaff, letting the precious grains of wheat fall to the ground. The non-elect are the chaff that will be thrown into a fiery furnace to be burned up. The elect are the precious wheat that God will gather into his barn.
5. Jesus uses a different metaphor to make the same point. Instead of chaff, he speaks of weeds. He puts it this way, “Let both [the wheat and the weeds] grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned up, but gather the wheat into my barn’” (v 30).
6. Jesus says that the current time is not the day of judgment. It is the time of the planting and growing. But at the end of the age, there will be a separating and a sorting process. The wicked will be separated out from the good and carried off to judgment. But the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of God. They will be gathered into the barn. They will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom.
7. The point is that the time of hiddenness and confusion, with the wheat and the weeds lying side-by-side, will be over, and the final, glorious state of the kingdom will be revealed. This is what God has been aiming at throughout this long time of delay. The preaching of the gospel is going out into the world, and the responses vary. Some do not respond at all, for they are the rocky soil. Some seemingly respond with joy, but their profession of faith is not genuine and they eventually fall away. Some seem on the outside to be genuine wheat, but in actuality they are counterfeit, they are imitation wheat, look-alike wheat, weeds that actually have no real fruit. But in the midst of all this, there is the true wheat, the true sons of the kingdom, the word truly at work and bearing genuine fruit. And one day, at the day of judgment, the weeds will be removed and taken out to be burned up, but the genuine people of God, the people of the kingdom, will emerge from the cocoon of history and the eternal kingdom of God that was at work like leaven will be unveiled in splendor and perfect purity.
8. This equips us to know how we should deal with the visible church when it is not as pure as we would like. Why does God allow the visible church to be mixed with truth and error, good members and bad, good pastors and bad pastors, true doctrine and false doctrine and all sorts of errors in between? The parables of the kingdom give us some insight, especially the parable of the wheat and the weeds. The weeds look like the genuine wheat, but they are weeds. And although our temptation is to want to uproot the weeds now and to seek absolute purity in the church, Jesus says to let the weeds grow with the wheat, and to let him sort things out at the end. Our job is to be faithful to Christ in our corner of the visible church and not to fret too much about all the unhealthy things going on in the broader world of Christendom. This in no way means that we should be perfectly happy with false teaching and false professions of faith in the visible church. After all, Jesus said, “An enemy has done this” (v 28), referring to the planting of the weeds that look so much like wheat. When the visible church is corrupted by false teaching and false converts, it is not the work of God. It is the work of the enemy. And we should lament it. But at the same time, we have to be careful to avoid a premature perfectionism as if we can ever get a perfectly pure church. That will only occur at the second coming, when the Son of Man comes and removes all the weeds out of his kingdom. In the meantime, we are faithful to preach the gospel, and leave the rest to God. Is it confusing? Yes, but God knows those who are his.

Mt 18: Discipleship in Community

Audience: The disciples only
1. Mt 18:1: “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’”
2. Mt 19:1: “Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.”
1st, Discipleship in community means receiving those whom Christ receives (Mt 18:1-14)
1. The phrase “one of these little ones” ties this whole section together.
2. It occurs before (v 6) and after (vv 10, 14) the verses about stumbling blocks.
3. Verses 5 and 10 state the main point:
  1. Verse 5: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.”
  2. Verse 10: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.”
4. To paraphrase, “Don’t despise your fellow Christians but receive them.”
  1. Why? Because we too are sinners saved by the grace of God.
  2. Fellow disciples are “the little ones who believe in Jesus.”
  3. They are little ones because they have humbled themselves like little children and have entered the gate of the kingdom by admitting their sin and receiving God’s forgiveness and grace.
5. The discussion was initiated by the disciples, who had asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom?” (v 1).
  1. Jesus responds by putting a little child in the midst of them.
  2. The Greek word for “little child” means it was under 7 years old.
  3. Then he said (v 3): “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
  4. Becoming a disciple of Jesus starts with being humbled, with admitting our sinfulness, and recognizing the depth of our need of God’s grace.
6. If we are humble, if we know our need, then we will also receive our fellow disciples.
  1. Humility is the starting point.
  2. Humility is the prerequisite for receiving those whom Christ receives.
  3. This is the first thing we must do as disciples in community—receive, accept, and embrace all whom Christ receives, accepts, and embraces.
7. All too often Christians have a judgmental spirit toward other Christians with whom they disagree, treating them as second-class citizens, as inferior to us.
  1. Verses 7-9: Jesus knows that stumbling blocks will occur in the church.
  2. But he says, “Woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!”
  3. How we treat fellow disciples of Jesus is a fundamentally important matter.
8. What right do we have to refuse to receive those whom Christ receives?
  1. They are the little ones who believe in Jesus!
  2. Christ has received them and is for them!
  3. Their angels in heaven always see the face of the Father!
2nd, Discipleship in community means being accountable to Christ’s church (Mt 18:15-20)
1. Jesus gives a three-stage procedure for church discipline.
2. First stage: Going to the person in private, showing them their offence, and seeking their repentance and restoration.
  1. Key: “between you and him alone.” In other words, it is private.
  2. At this stage, we are to treat the sinning person as a brother.
  3. Paul said the same thing: “Do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thess 3:15).
3. Second stage: A repeat of the first stage but now in the presence of two or three other disciples.
  1. This is in keeping with the requirement of the Old Testament command, “Only on the evidence of two … or three witnesses shall a charge be established” (Deut 19:15).
  2. Bringing along two or three others to serve as independent witnesses that the person is still refusing to repent.
  3. I believe this is the stage where the elders should get involved.
  4. The theme of binding and loosing (v 18) goes back to the passage about the keys of the kingdom (16:19).
  5. Jesus gave the keys to Peter and the apostles.
  6. Today, the elders of the church have the keys of the kingdom.
  7. This is interpretation is reinforced by looking at verses 19-20.
  8. These verses are often taken out of context, as if it was referring to an impromptu prayer meeting.
  9. But Jesus is still talking about church discipline.
  10. Same language of “on earth” and “in heaven.”
  11. The two or three who agree on earth in verse 19 are the same two or three witnesses in verse 16.
  12. Therefore, the “two or three” are elders gathered as a court to conduct the church discipline.
  13. “In my name,” that is, under Christ’s authority.
4. Third stage: If after all these efforts the person still refuses to repent, then the whole church is to be informed and the offender is to be excommunicated and treated as a non-Christian.
  1. Church discipline makes us nervous.
  2. It is sadly the case that church discipline has been known to go awry.
  3. There have been cases of abuse of authority, where church discipline is misused as a way of getting rid of people they don’t like.
  4. But in spite of our fears, we must be obedient to the teaching of Jesus.
  5. Church discipline is important because it …
    1. Vindicates the honor of Christ
    2. Maintains the purity of His Church
    3. Seeks to reclaim and restore the erring brother.
  6. Jesus makes that very clear in our text.
  7. The good shepherd goes in search of the sheep that went astray (v 12).
  8. The goal is to reclaim: “You have gained your brother” (v 15).
  9. Excommunication is the last resort.
  10. The person has hardened their heart and “refuses to listen even to the church” (v 17).
  11. Many of the abuses we fear would be avoided if the church would strictly follow the three-stage process that Jesus lays out here.
  12. When doing church discipline, the church must never skip the first step of approaching the person pastorally out of brotherly concern and seeking to reclaim them.
  13. Discipleship in community means being accountable to Christ’s church.
  14. But ultimately that means being accountable to Christ himself.
  15. Because the church represents the authority of Christ himself.
  16. Verse 18: “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
  17. The decisions of the church “on earth” have the authority of Christ “in heaven” behind them.
  18. Discipleship in community means being accountable to Christ by being accountable to his church.
3rd, Discipleship in community means forgiving even as Christ has forgiven us (Mt 18:21-35)
1. This is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.
2. The key element of the parable is comparing the two debts.
  1. Your brother’s debt against you is only 100 denarii.
  2. One denarius is a day’s wages for a day laborer.
  3. By contrast, your debt was astronomically high: 10,000 talents.
  4. One talent = 6,000 denarii
  5. 10,000 talents = 60 million denarii
  6. It would take you thousands of lifetimes to pay.
  7. The debt of our sins against God is so much greater!
3. Verse 27: “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
  1. You pled for mercy. Your master had compassion on you and forgave you, cancelled the entire debt.
  2. He showed you unimaginable grace!
  3. This is the grace of the gospel: full and free forgiveness of all our sins, of an enormous debt that we would never be able to pay.
4. Verses 32-33: “Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’”
  1. Discipleship in community means living out the implications of grace.
  2. Vertical grace necessitates horizontal grace.

Mt 24-25: The Eschatological (Olivet) Discourse

Audience: The disciples only
1. Mt 24:1-2: “Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’”
2. Mt 26:1: “When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming …’”
Main approaches to this text
1. Dispensational – Rapture, then Great Tribulation
2. Postmillennial Preterism
3. Amillennial
Important to integrate the rest of the NT’s teaching
1. Paul’s teaching in 1-2 Thessalonians
2. Book of Revelation
I want to focus on Postmillennial Preterism
1. Verse 14: All the nations of the Roman Empire.
2. Verses 15-22: Romans’ pagan sacrifices.
3. Verse 16: Christians fled to Pella.
4. Verse 29: Sun, moon, stars (cp. Isa 13:10).
5. Verse 31: “Angels” = messengers preaching gospel and gathering elect.
6. The key: Verse 34: “This generation” (cp. Matt 23:36).
7. “The ‘great tribulation’ spoken of by Jesus is not something in our future. It occurred when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in AD 70” (Mathison, Postmillennialism, 115).
8. This is how they get around the apparent teaching of Jesus that conditions would get worse before he returns, not better.
  1. Verse 9: Persecution
  2. Verse 10: Many will fall away
  3. Verse 11: False prophets
  4. Verse 12: Lawlessness
  5. Verse 13: Necessity of “enduring to the end”
AD 70 is surely in view to a degree
1. The disciples asked about it.
2. Luke interprets it that way (Lk 21:20, 24).
3. But AD 70 cannot be allowed to take over and become the dominating point.
4. The disciples thought destruction of temple would be the end of the age. But Jesus corrects that.
5. Things that don’t fit AD 70
  1. Verse 16: Christians fled before Romans offered sacrifice.
  2. Verse 21: “Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been … no, and never will be.”
  3. Verses 27, 30: Christ’s return will be unmistakable and public.
  4. Preterist view is laughable: “The destruction of Jerusalem will be the sign that the Son of Man is in heaven” (Mathison, Postmillennialism, 114).
6. How explain the difficult parts?
  1. “Immediately after” (v 29): Prophetic perspective.
  2. “All these things” (vv 33-34).
Jesus’ point: The present age is mixed, but Christ will return at the end of the age.
1. “Tribulation” (vv 9, 21, 29) until the end.
  1. Difficulties for the world at large – wars, famine, societal upheaval
  2. Difficulties for the church – false teachers, apostasy, persecution
2. But also gospel witness until the end.
  1. Christ building his church.
  2. Jesus has ascended and is reigning in the midst of his enemies (Psalm 110:2).
  3. Tribulation does not mean defeat.
The Preterist interpretation
1. “This generation” – 5x in Matt
2. E.g., Matt 22:36: “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”
Non-Preterist interpretation
1. This paragraph is dischronologized, going back to time before the parousia (vv 29-31).
2. “All these things” does not include parousia (cp. v 33).
3. But refers to the tribulation that characterizes the entire inter-advental period.
4. D. A. Carson: “All that v 34 demands is that the distress of vv 4-28, including Jerusalem’s fall, happens within the lifetime of the generation then living. This does not mean that the distress must end within that time.”
Major change of topic in v 36: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows.”
1. Problem: does this undermine the deity of Christ?
  1. No, refers to his humanity.
  2. As man, he is subject to the Father.
2. Spiritual nearness not chronological nearness.
  1. Christ’s coming is near because of our ignorance of the day and hour
  2. As result, we must be spiritually alert and ready.
3. Vv 42-44: “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming ….”
Verses 37-44: As it was in the days of Noah: Believers vs. unbelievers
1. Vv 38-39: Unbelievers going about their lives completely unaware of the coming flood.
2. Vv 40-41: “One will be taken, the other left.”
  1. Does not refer to the rapture (secret coming of Christ 7 years prior to the parousia).
  2. In reaction, some have suggested that “taken” means “taken in judgment,” with the one “left” being the believer.
  3. Could be, but our issue with Disp rapture is not the idea of rapture per se
  4. But the timing and Israel-Church distinction.
  5. Concept of rapture itself is biblical. 1 Thess 4:16-17: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
  6. In keeping with the Noahic flood context, probably the one “left” is the unbeliever.
  7. “… the flood came and swept them all away.”
  8. Also, “taken” probably synonymous with the “gathering” of God’s elect (v 31).
Matt 25:1-13: The wise vs. foolish virgins.
1. The ten virgins are akin to bridesmaids in the cultural context of ancient Jewish weddings.
  1. The bridegroom would come at an unexpected hour, often at night, to fetch the bride.
  2. The bridesmaids would accompany the bride and wait for the bridegroom’s arrival.
  3. They were expected to carry lamps or torches to light the way as part of a festive procession to the wedding banquet.
2. The parable emphasizes the importance of preparedness.
  1. The five wise virgins brought extra oil for their lamps, while the five foolish virgins did not.
  2. We should not allegorize the “extra oil,” e.g., good works.
  3. When the bridegroom arrived unexpectedly, the wise virgins were ready and were able to join the wedding banquet, but the foolish virgins were left out because they had to go buy more oil.
3. The parable is a lesson about spiritual readiness.
  1. The virgins represent believers, and the bridegroom represents Christ.
4. The wedding banquet symbolizes the Kingdom of Heaven, and the delay of the bridegroom reflects the unknown time of Christ’s return.
First, the combination of delay and imminence.
1. 24:48: “My master is delayed.”
2. 25:5: “The bridegroom was delayed.”
3. 24:14: “This gospel … will be proclaimed throughout the whole world … and then the end will come.”
Second, the point is not being on high alert but being prepared for Christ’s return.
1. Jesus explains what it means to be “awake” in vv 45-51.
2. It means not assuming that your master’s absence means you are free to do your own will, disregarding your master’s will.
3. It means not being in a state of spiritual unawareness and unthinking security.
Third, what does it mean to be prepared?
1. Being “awake” (vv 42-43) becomes being “ready” (v 44).
2. Jesus explains in 25:1-13.
3. It means knowing your Master – personal relationship with Christ (25:11-12).
4. “your Lord” (24:42); cp. “my Lord” (Phil 3:8).
5. That is the meaning of having extra oil on hand.
6. It takes time. Can’t just borrow it from someone else. You must do the work: Prayer and discipleship.