Bible Commentary / New Testament
Matthew
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the authoritative teacher greater than Moses, the suffering Son of Man, and the risen Lord who possesses all authority and sends His disciples to the nations. The book is deeply shaped by fulfillment language, kingdom language, and d…
Literary units
Matthew 1:1 - Matthew 1:17
The genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
Matthew opens with a deliberately arranged genealogy that names Jesus as Messiah, son of David, and son of Abraham. The list ties him to covenant promise, royal succession, and the long shadow of the exile, while verse 17 makes clear that…
Matthew 1:18 - Matthew 1:25
The birth of Jesus the Messiah
Matthew explains the surprising pregnancy mentioned after the genealogy: Mary conceives before living with Joseph, yet the child is from the Holy Spirit. Joseph plans a quiet divorce, but an angel tells him to receive Mary, name the child…
Matthew 2:1 - Matthew 2:12
The visit of the magi
Matthew recounts eastern magi arriving in Jerusalem to ask for the one "born king of the Jews," and their question immediately exposes opposed responses: Herod is shaken, Jerusalem shares his unrest, and the scribes can identify Bethlehem…
Matthew 2:13 - Matthew 2:18
The flight to Egypt and massacre
Matthew recounts Joseph’s immediate response to the dream warning, Jesus’ preservation through flight to Egypt, and Herod’s retaliatory killing of Bethlehem’s young boys. The scene sets the vulnerable child over against a paranoid ruler, w…
Matthew 2:19 - Matthew 2:23
Return to Nazareth
Matthew closes the infancy narrative with a tightly guided sequence: after Herod's death, Joseph is told in a dream to leave Egypt, warned again because Archelaus rules Judea, and so settles the family in Nazareth of Galilee. The scene tie…
Matthew 3:1 - Matthew 3:12
John the Baptist prepares the way
Matthew presents John the Baptist as the promised voice in the wilderness, announcing that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. His baptism accompanies confession of sins and calls for repentance proven by fruit, not by appeal to Abrahami…
Matthew 3:13 - Matthew 3:17
The baptism of Jesus
Jesus comes to the Jordan specifically to receive John's baptism, despite John's protest that the roles should be reversed. Jesus answers that this must happen now because it is fitting for them to fulfill all righteousness. Once he is bap…
Matthew 4:1 - Matthew 4:11
The temptation of Jesus
After the baptismal declaration, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for testing by the devil. Across three appeals tied to hunger, temple protection, and rule over the kingdoms, the tempter presses Jesus to prove sonship by seizing…
Matthew 4:12 - Matthew 4:17
Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee
After John's imprisonment, Jesus goes into Galilee and settles in Capernaum. Matthew treats that move as the realization of Isaiah's promise that light would dawn in Zebulun, Naphtali, and Galilee of the Gentiles. The scene ends with Jesus…
Matthew 4:18 - Matthew 4:22
Calling of the first disciples
After announcing the nearness of the kingdom, Jesus calls two pairs of brothers from their fishing work by the Sea of Galilee. His summons is direct and personal: they are to follow him, and he will refit their vocation toward gathering pe…
Matthew 4:23 - Matthew 4:25
Jesus heals many
Matthew closes this opening scene with a panoramic report of Jesus' activity across Galilee: he teaches in the synagogues, proclaims the good news of the kingdom, and heals every sort of affliction. The result is immediate public spread. N…
Matthew 5:1 - Matthew 7:29
Seeing the crowds; the sermon on the mount begins
Jesus ascends the mountain, sits, and teaches his disciples with striking authority. He begins by naming as blessed the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted, then calls his follower…
Matthew 6:1 - Matthew 6:34
Teaching about the lord's prayer and priorities (end of sermon)
Jesus moves from outward acts of righteousness to the inward loyalties that govern them. In giving, prayer, and fasting, the repeated contrast is between hypocrites who want public notice and the Father who sees in secret. The Lord's Praye…
Matthew 7:1 - Matthew 7:29
Concluding material of Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:1-29 closes the Sermon on the Mount with a tightening sequence of commands and warnings. Jesus forbids hypocritical judgment, yet still requires discernment; he urges persistent prayer by appealing to the Father's goodness; he co…
Matthew 8:1 - Matthew 8:4
Crowds and the healing of a leper
As Jesus comes down from the mountain with crowds still following, Matthew moves from authoritative teaching to an act that displays that authority. A leper kneels before him, confident that Jesus can cleanse him but leaving the matter to…
Matthew 8:5 - Matthew 8:17
The centurion's servant and many healings
Matthew links the centurion's servant, Peter's mother-in-law, and the evening healings to display Jesus' authority in action. The centurion trusts that Jesus can heal by command alone, and Jesus answers by praising that faith, warning that…
Matthew 8:18 - Matthew 8:22
Following Jesus and cost of discipleship
As Jesus orders the crossing away from the crowd, Matthew places two conversations that expose what following him actually costs. A scribe offers unlimited loyalty, and Jesus answers with the stark image of the Son of Man having nowhere to…
Matthew 8:23 - Matthew 8:27
Jesus calms the storm
Jesus enters the boat and the disciples follow, only to be caught in a violent storm that threatens to swamp them while he sleeps. When they wake him with the plea, "Lord, save us," Jesus first exposes their fear as little faith, then rebu…
Matthew 8:28 - Matthew 9:8
Gerasene demoniacs healed
Matthew places side by side two displays of Jesus’ authority. In Gentile territory the demons name him the Son of God, fear the coming time of torment, and leave at his command, while the town responds by asking him to depart. Back in his…
Matthew 9:9 - Matthew 9:17
Calling of Matthew; eating with sinners
Matthew presents Jesus calling a tax collector with sovereign simplicity, then defending table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners as the fitting expression of his mission. The unit moves from a concrete act of discipleship to two c…
Matthew 9:18 - Matthew 9:34
Healing and teaching ministry continues
Matthew arranges these miracle reports to show Jesus meeting desperate appeals with effective authority over bleeding, blindness, demonic bondage, and death. Faith is named in key scenes, but so are contrary responses: mourners laugh, crow…
Matthew 9:35 - Matthew 10:42
Twelve appointed and instructions to the Twelve
This unit moves from Jesus' own kingdom ministry to the commissioning of the Twelve as his authorized representatives. Matthew frames the mission in Jesus' compassion for Israel's leaderless condition, then records a restricted initial mis…
Matthew 11:1 - Matthew 12:50
Jesus withdraws; parables of the kingdom begin
This large transitional unit records mounting responses to Jesus as his kingdom ministry advances and opposition hardens. John asks about Jesus' identity, Jesus affirms both John's role and his own messianic works, and he rebukes an unrepe…
Matthew 13:1 - Matthew 13:23
Rejection at Nazareth and further teaching
After the rejection and blasphemy disputes of Matthew 11-12, Jesus turns to parables before the crowd. The parable of the sower explains why the same kingdom message produces sharply different results: some hearing is snatched away, some p…
Matthew 13:24 - Matthew 13:52
Parables of the kingdom (series)
This cluster of kingdom parables explains why God's reign can be real even while the world still looks mixed, hidden, and unimpressive. The weeds and dragnet place righteous and wicked together for now, with separation reserved for the end…
Matthew 13:53 - Matthew 15:20
Rejection at Nazareth; further miracles and controversies
Matthew arranges these scenes as a chain of responses to Jesus. Nazareth stumbles over the carpenter's son and remains unbelieving. Herod hears of Jesus through the echo of the prophet he killed. In the wilderness Jesus feeds the crowd; on…
Matthew 15:21 - Matthew 16:28
Feeding of the four thousand and Peter's confession
The sequence begins in the region of Tyre and Sidon, where a Canaanite woman persists in calling Jesus 'Lord, Son of David' and receives the mercy she seeks, even though Jesus states the priority of his mission to Israel. It then moves thr…
Matthew 17:1 - Matthew 17:27
The Transfiguration and teaching on Elijah
After Peter's confession and Jesus' first passion prediction, Matthew 17 sets revealed glory beside persistent misunderstanding. On the mountain, Jesus is unveiled before Peter, James, and John; Moses and Elijah appear, yet the Father's vo…
Matthew 18:1 - Matthew 18:35
Teaching on greatest in kingdom and temptation to sin
Matthew 18 answers the disciples' question about greatness by putting a child in the middle and overturning their scale of status. Jesus says entry into the kingdom requires a turn toward childlike lowliness, then traces what that lowlines…
Matthew 19:1 - Matthew 20:16
Teachings about divorce, children, and riches
This unit moves from Jesus' departure toward Judea into a cluster of kingdom tests and corrections concerning marriage, children, wealth, reward, and status. Jesus answers Pharisaic divorce casuistry by appealing to creation, not concessio…
Matthew 20:17 - Matthew 20:34
Jesus foretells his death a third time; request of James and John
As Jesus goes up to Jerusalem, he tells the Twelve that the Son of Man will be condemned, handed to the Gentiles, mocked, flogged, crucified, and raised on the third day. The Zebedee family's request for the seats at his right and left sho…
Matthew 21:1 - Matthew 21:11
Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
Matthew depicts Jesus' entry into Jerusalem as a deliberately staged royal sign. Jesus secures the donkey and colt, Matthew frames the action with Scripture, and the crowd greets him with Psalm 118 language and the title "Son of David." Ye…
Matthew 21:12 - Matthew 21:46
Cleansing of the temple and disputes with leaders
In Jerusalem Jesus acts with authority over the temple: he drives out buying and selling, cites Scripture against its corruption, heals the blind and lame there, and receives the children's Davidic praise. The withered fig tree, the disput…
Matthew 22:1 - Matthew 23:39
Parables and controversies in Jerusalem
This unit brings the Jerusalem confrontation to its breaking point. In the wedding banquet parable, the invited guests refuse the king, abuse his servants, and are judged; even the guest inside the hall is expelled if he comes without what…
Matthew 24:1 - Matthew 25:46
Teaching on end times and signs of the age
Prompted by Jesus' prediction that the temple will be torn down, the discourse answers the disciples' layered question about 'these things,' his coming, and the end of the age. Jesus distinguishes early upheavals from the end, warns repeat…
Matthew 26:1 - Matthew 26:16
Plot to kill Jesus; anointing at Bethany; Judas conspires
Matthew opens the passion narrative by linking Jesus’ explicit prediction of crucifixion at Passover with three human responses to him: the leaders’ covert plot, a woman’s costly anointing at Bethany, and Judas’s bargain to hand him over.…
Matthew 26:17 - Matthew 26:56
The Last Supper; Jesus prays in Gethsemane
Matthew depicts Jesus moving toward his appointed death with full awareness, while everyone around him fractures into betrayal, bravado, sleep, flight, and violence. At the meal he interprets his death as covenant blood poured out for many…
Matthew 26:57 - Matthew 26:75
Jesus before the council; Peter's denial
Matthew narrates Jesus' night hearing before Caiaphas alongside Peter's threefold denial. The council is shown actively seeking testimony to justify a death sentence, yet their case only hardens when Jesus, after strategic silence, openly…
Matthew 27:1 - Matthew 27:56
Jesus before Pilate and the crucifixion
Matthew recounts Jesus' delivery from the chief priests and elders to Pilate, Judas's confession and death, the release of Barabbas, the soldiers' royal mockery, the crucifixion, and the signs attending Jesus' death. Throughout the scene,…
Matthew 27:57 - Matthew 27:66
The burial of Jesus and guard at the tomb
Matthew recounts Jesus' burial in Joseph of Arimathea's new rock-hewn tomb, with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary watching the place. He then adds the chief priests' and Pharisees' request for a guard, the sealing of the stone, and the of…
Matthew 28:1 - Matthew 28:10
The resurrection and instructions to the women
Matthew recounts the women's return to the tomb, the angel's announcement that the crucified Jesus has been raised, and Jesus' own appearance to them. In direct contrast to the sealed stone and posted guard of 27:62-66, the scene shows God…
Matthew 28:16 - Matthew 28:20
The Great Commission
The risen Jesus meets the eleven on the appointed mountain in Galilee. They worship him, though some still waver. Jesus then grounds the commission in his universal authority: they are to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them int…