Day 287: Matthew 13-15

(The previous post covered the growth in Jesus' fame and that the Pharisees grew worse during each interaction with Jesus. If Jesus continued these interactions after having stated this, it would be Jesus' fault. Jesus needed to come up with a different way to interact with the Pharisees instead of directly through principles.)

Matthew 13
¹ On that day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
² And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.

(So many people gathered to Jesus that He went into a ship while the people stood on the shore to listen. Matthew stated this occurred on the same day as the events that concluded Matthew 12: Jesus realized that every interaction with the Pharisees according to stating principles directly resulted in the Pharisees becoming worse.)

(Jesus began to speak in parables to the people. Verses 3-9: the Parable of the Sower.)

³ And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow;

(Notice, the sower planted seed everywhere...on all types of ground.)

⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them:
⁵ and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth:
⁶ and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
⁷ And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:
⁸ and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

(In this parable, a hundredfold was the maximum amount that could be attained: perfect return.)

⁹ He that hath ears, let him hear.
¹⁰ And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

(The Disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables. The Disciples were students of a Rabbi who spoke directly through principles. However, Jesus suddenly changed His method of teaching: He taught through stories. Imagine their dismay when their teacher did not teach God's Word, but instead told farming stories.)

¹¹ And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

(Jesus explained why: it was so those who were against Jesus would not understand. Notice, it is given to believers to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. People who state we cannot know these mysteries are contradicting Jesus' words.)

¹² For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.
¹³ Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
¹⁴ And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:

(Jesus referenced Isaiah 6:9-10. Jesus told the story to everyone and those who wanted to understand would, it was up to the individual to use their conscious brain.)

¹⁵ For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.

(Those who do not understand do have the ability to understand. Jesus' point was that those who do understand made the intentional choice of using their conscious brain.)

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

(Blessed are those who do understand.)

¹⁷ For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.

(Jesus began interpreting the Parable of the Sower…)

¹⁸ Hear then ye the parable of the sower.
¹⁹ When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.

(Jesus sows the Word of God to everyone. Those who choose not to understand will not retain the Word. This person lacks the mental dimension.)

²⁰ And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it;
²¹ yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.

(Notice, this person received the Word with joy (emotion), however it was not a positive enough emotion to outweigh the negative emotion that comes from tribulation and persecution because of the Word. The enemy will bring tribulation and persecution because of the Word.)

²² And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

(This person got focused on physical issues. Deceitfulness of riches is the mentality "if I only had more money." The fact (right what) that money relieves stress leads to the wrong how/why belief that more money will make us happy.)

²³ And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

(The seed was the Word of God, which is spiritual. The only way for it to be profitable in our lives is to properly relate to it mentally, emotionally, and physically. We ought to think and have a positive emotion. We should not look to the physical for our profitability.)

(Verses 24-30: the Parable of the Tares.)

²⁴ Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field:
²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.

(The kingdom of heaven is now and contains both good and bad: both wheat and tares.)

²⁶ But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
²⁷ And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?
²⁸ And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
²⁹ But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them.
³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.

(The interpretation is below.)

(Verses 31-32: the Parable of the Mustard Seed.)

³¹ Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
³² which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.

(Even the smallest of faith can produce (growth) huge results.)

(Verse 33: the Parable of the Leaven.)

³³ Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

(Remember, there were three levels of profitability in the Parable of the Sower: thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. In most parables, leaven was equated with sin. In this parable, the kingdom of heaven was equated with leaven.)

³⁴ All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them:
³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

(Jesus changed His method of teaching. He taught through stories. Verse 35 referenced Psalm 78:2.)

³⁶ Then he left the multitudes, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

(The Disciples asked Jesus to explain the Parable of the Tares from verses 24-30.)

³⁷ And he answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
³⁸ and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
³⁹ and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.

(The symbolism of each role was revealed.)

⁴⁰ As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world.
⁴¹ The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity,
⁴² and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
⁴³ Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear.

(Jesus explained the Parable of the Tares. The field was the world, not the Church. The world will have both good and evil until the harvest (judgment). The longer wheat and tares grow together, the easier it is to tell the difference between them because wheat continues to grow up, while tares are unable to bear their own weight and bend over.)

⁴⁴ The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

(This was a Salvation parable. The man sold "all that he hath" to get the treasure. Each of us have a different amount to "sell" in order to get the same result: Salvation.)

(Verses 45-46: the Parable of the Goodly Pearls.)

⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
⁴⁶ and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

(Another Salvation parable where a person sold all they had to get the same result.)

(Verses 47-50: the Parable of the Net.)

⁴⁷ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
⁴⁸ which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away.
⁴⁹ So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous,
⁵⁰ and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

(This parable was like the Parable of the Tares. Angels will separate those going to heaven with those going to the lake of fire.)

⁵¹ Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea.

(Jesus asked if the Disciples understood and they answered yes.)

⁵² And he said unto them, Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

(A scribe was a Torah teacher, a Rabbi who taught the Law. A Torah teacher (old) who makes a disciple in the kingdom of heaven (new) has brought forth old and new.)

⁵³ And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
⁵⁴ And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

(Jesus finished the parables and left for His own country (Nazareth). The people immediately saw Jesus' authority and power, like the seed being sown on the ground. How would they respond to this? What kind of ground were they?)

⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?

(The people there thought of Jesus as the son of a carpenter and having Mary as His mother. Basically, these people thought Jesus was born of Mary illegitimately and the carpenter called Jesus his son. These people looked to the physical, which chokes out the Word of God.)

⁵⁶ And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
⁵⁷ And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.

(It looked like they also had a negative emotion (offended) and lack a good thought process (mental). What would be the result?)

⁵⁸ And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

(Despite the fact Jesus wanted to do mighty works, these people were able to make the Word of God of none effect. These people were able to make the seed sown by Jesus not profitable because they lacked faith.)




Matthew 14
¹ At that season Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus,
² and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore do these powers work in him.

(Herod heard of the fame of Jesus and he thought Jesus was the reincarnated John the Baptist. Verses 3-13 were told in flashback.)

³ For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.
⁴ For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

(John was placed in prison because of his beliefs. John the Baptist was a martyr.)

⁵ And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

(Herod feared people who considered John to be a prophet.)

⁶ But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and pleased Herod.
⁷ Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask.
⁸ And she, being put forward by her mother, saith, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.
⁹ And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given;
¹⁰ and he sent and beheaded John in the prison.

(Herod must have had John on his mind because of how he executed John. Herod was sorry (guilt) for what he did to John. Herod had more care towards fulfilling an oath than doing what was right.)

¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
¹² And his disciples came, and took up the corpse, and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.
¹³ Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him on foot from the cities.
¹⁴ And he came forth, and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

(Jesus heard of John's death and left on a ship to get time alone, but many people followed Jesus on foot. Jesus saw the people and had compassion on them and He healed their sick.)

¹⁵ And when even was come, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desert, and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food.

(The multitude could have left and got food.)

¹⁶ But Jesus said unto them, They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat.
¹⁷ And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
¹⁸ And he said, Bring them hither to me.
¹⁹ And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
²⁰ And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
²¹ And they that did eat were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

(Jesus said the people did not need to go away. Five thousand were fed that day with just five loaves and two fish through giving. The Disciples gave the food to Jesus. Jesus gave thanks to God. Jesus gave the food to the Disciples. The Disciples gave the food to the people. Notice, this was supernatural. This miracle involved a lot of natural acts (breaking bread, eating, handing the bread to others, etc. The effect was more natural bread which is the definition of supernatural. This was not an unnatural event, which would have been something like Jesus suddenly making everyone full without having to touch the bread.)

²² And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, till he should send the multitudes away.
²³ And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone.

(Jesus sent the Disciples away. Then, Jesus sent the multitudes away. Finally, Jesus went up to a mountain alone to pray, which was what He was trying to do when He heard about John's death. Jesus facilitated the purpose and progress of others before He went alone to pray.)

²⁴ But the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves; for the wind was contrary.
²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night he came unto them, walking upon the sea.

(Jesus walked on water in response to a need: trying to get to His Disciples. This was supernatural because it still involved a natural act: walking. The fourth watch was between 3 AM and 6 AM.)

²⁶ And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost; and they cried out for fear.
²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

(Was this an example of spiritual warfare? Jesus made a statement where the object of the "healing" was the subject.)

²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters.
²⁹ And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus.

(Peter wanted to walk on water too and he appeared to understand the miracle had to be in response to a need because he asked Jesus to tell him to come to Him. Jesus told him to come. Peter walked on the water, as long as his focus was to come to Jesus.)

³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.
³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

(Here was the proof that these miracles were done in response to a need. Peter was able to walk on water until he started to focus on his physical surroundings and stopped focusing on the reason he was walking: to get to Jesus. When this happened, he immediately began to sink. Jesus immediately grabbed Peter and asked him why he doubted.)

³² And when they were gone up into the boat, the wind ceased.
³³ And they that were in the boat worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

(The Disciples worshipped Jesus as the Son of God. This included Judas.)

³⁴ And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, unto Gennesaret.
³⁵ And when the men of that place knew him, they sent into all that region round about, and brought unto him all that were sick,
³⁶ and they besought him that they might only touch the border of his garment: and as many as touched were made whole.

(Many people were healed by only touching Jesus' hem. Matthew 9:20 showed that this was a confession that Jesus was the Son of God.)




Matthew 15
¹ Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying,
² Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

(Notice, the scribes and Pharisees initiated this confrontation. The scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus why His Disciples "transgress the tradition of the elders" by not washing their hands when they ate.)

³ And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
⁴ For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death.
⁵ But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given to God;

(Jesus asked them about their breaking of a commandment of God by their tradition.)

⁶ he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition.
⁷ Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
⁸ This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me.
⁹ But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.

(Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees were hypocrites (they pointed out other's flaws and justified themselves) and that the tradition of man makes the Word of God "void." Jesus referenced Isaiah 29:13 to indirectly declare the scribes and Pharisees were not believers.)

¹⁰ And he called to him the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
¹¹ Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.

(What goes in our mouths does not defile us but what comes out of the mouth (from the heart) is what defiles us. The heart is the effect of what you actually believe: everything we say and do, everything that comes out of us, is planted in the heart. God desires us to have our say and do to be the same and with integrity.)

¹² Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?

(The Disciples were worried about men.)

¹³ But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up.
¹⁴ Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit.

(Jesus wanted the Disciples to focus on God and His spiritual influence upon their hearts. Jesus did not want the Disciples focused on men, on physical influences.)

¹⁵ And Peter answered and said unto him, Declare unto us the parable.

(Peter wanted an explanation of this parable.)

¹⁶ And he said, Are ye also even yet without understanding?
¹⁷ Perceive ye not, that whatsoever goeth into the mouth passeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
¹⁸ But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man.
¹⁹ For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings:
²⁰ these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man.

(Jesus told him that the things which defiled a man that came out of his mouth were an effect of what was planted in that man's heart. The spiritual is the cause, not the physical influences outside of the person.)

²¹ And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.
²² And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.

(This woman was not a Jew, but she recognized Jesus as the Messiah.)

²³ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
²⁴ But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

(Jesus made a correct statement: He was sent for the lost sheep of Israel. The unstated implication was that He was not sent for people outside of Israel, but He did not state this because it was not factual.)

²⁵ But she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

(She worshipped Him and called Him Lord.)

²⁶ And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.

(Jesus correctly stated it was not a perfect ("meet") situation to take children's bread and give it to dogs. Jesus was also referencing a slang term ("dogs") from Deuteronomy 23:18 for people outside of Israel.)

²⁷ But she said, Yea, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

(She admitted her position as someone outside of Israel and appealed to Jesus through understanding. She still needed "food" from Jesus even though His "food" was meant for the Israelites. She also, for the third time, recognized Jesus as the Messiah.)

²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

(Jesus told the woman "great is thy faith" and He healed her daughter. She demonstrated her faith through understanding and experience with each response she gave to Jesus.)

²⁹ And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there.
³⁰ And there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at this feet; and he healed them:
³¹ insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, and lame walking, and the blind seeing: and they glorified the God of Israel.

(Verses 32-39: another supernatural feeding. This time there were 4000.)

³² And Jesus called unto him his disciples, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat: and I would not send them away fasting, lest haply they faint on the way.
³³ And the disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so many loaves in a desert place as to fill so great a multitude?
³⁴ And Jesus said unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few small fishes.

(Notice, Jesus made the Disciples aware of the need just as the Disciples had made Jesus aware of the need from the previous miraculous feeding. Was Jesus seeing if the Disciples had learned the lesson from the first miraculous feeding? The Disciples didn't and instead presented the need back to Jesus. Again, this miracle was done through giving in response to a need that was presented to Jesus.)

³⁵ And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
³⁶ and he took the seven loaves and the fishes; and he gave thanks and brake, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
³⁷ And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full.
³⁸ And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children.
³⁹ And he sent away the multitudes, and entered into the boat, and came into the borders of Magadan.

(Jesus had to facilitate this second miraculous feeding because His Disciples didn't learn the lesson from the first miraculous feeding. Do you think the Disciples learned the lesson this second time?)

(This post showed Jesus adjusted His teaching method by telling stories. Also, Jesus continued to do spiritual warfare and His fame grew.)

Day 288