Latest Commentaries

Jesus reminds the disciples that they have been granted the keys of heaven to call upon God’s power to work in them as they proclaim His kingdom on earth, and they have the capacity to redeem things on earth for the kingdom in heaven. Jesus promises that His Father will grant them whatever they ask if even two followers ask and agree.

Jesus teaches His disciples a practical way to help and confront a brother who has become ensnared by sin. It seeks to keep his reputation intact while offering him a chance for repentance.

In the context of showing how much these little ones mean to Jesus and His Father, Jesus shares that the very reason He came as the Messiah was to save them. He then tells His disciples the parable of the lost sheep as a depiction of His deep concern for these little ones.

Jesus warns His disciples not to dismiss or mistreat one of these little ones because their angels are always telling the King of Heaven how they were being treated.

Jesus repeats a metaphor from the Sermon on the Mount warning His disciples that it is better for them to lose part of their body now and enter His kingdom, than to keep all of their body now and miss entering His kingdom.

Having taught about greatness in the kingdom, Jesus now teaches about failure. He teaches that becoming a stumbling block to little ones is an immediate disqualifier for the rewards of the kingdom. He compares becoming such a stumbling block to having a heavy weight tied around one’s neck and being hurled into the sea.

The disciples enter the house and ask Jesus about who would be the greatest is in the kingdom of heaven. He holds a child and tells them that they must become like this humble child if they are to enter God’s kingdom.

Tax collectors from the Temple ask Peter whether or not Jesus pays the temple tax prescribed by the Mosaic Law. Peter replies "Yes." When Peter enters his house, Jesus asks him if the king’s sons pay taxes to their Father. Peter replies "No." Jesus then tells His disciple that neither does He owe anything to these collectors, but He will pay it anyway. He then commands Peter to go catch a fish, and to take the coins out of its mouth and use that to pay the tax debt for both of them.

Jesus tells His disciples that He will be handed over, killed, and raised from the dead as He and His disciples gather together in Galilee. His comment deeply troubles the disciples.

The disciples approach Jesus to ask Him about why they were unable to cast the demon out of the man’s son. Jesus tells them that it was because of their unbelief. He then tells them that if they have faith of a mustard seed they would be able to tell mountains to move and they would move.

A desperate father approaches Jesus begging him to heal his son’s lunacy. He said that Jesus’ disciples were unable to help. Jesus scolds the unbelieving and perverted generation and then casts out the demon, curing the boy.

Jesus forbids Peter, James, and John to tell anyone about what they just saw until after the Son of Man has risen from the dead. The disciples seem to think that He meant to not tell anyone until Elijah returns, and so they ask Jesus to explain how Elijah was to come before the Messiah and yet is still to come even though Jesus has arrived and is the Messiah. Jesus explains this to them.

Jesus fulfills the prophesy He told His disciples about a week earlier when He said that some of them would not see death until they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Jesus takes three of His disciples: Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain and is terrifyingly transfigured before them.

Jesus miraculously feeds a multitude of 4,000 Gentile men plus women and children. He then leaves to return to home district across the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus relocates from Tyre to the Decapolis. Crowds of Gentiles come to Him on a remote hillside, bringing this sick and lame to be healed. Jesus heals them and they glorify the God of Israel.

Jesus travels to the Gentile province of Tyre. A Canaanite woman begs Him to heal her daughter. At first Jesus refuses, because He was sent to Israel. But as the woman persists in her great faith, Jesus grants her request.

Peter asks Jesus to explain what He meant when He told the crowd "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Apparently this thought challenged Peter’s assumptions of wickedness and righteousness. Jesus corrects Peter’s wrong assumption by explaining how wickedness is primarily an issue stemming from the heart.

The disciples express a concern to Jesus that He is insulting the Pharisees. Beneath their concern is that these insults will alienate Jesus from the cultural powerbrokers and hinder His mission and/or the disciples’ future status. Jesus responds to their concern with two metaphors and a piece of advice.

Jesus summons the crowd to Him and addresses the Pharisees’ charge against His disciples with a proverb. It teaches that it is the inner harmony from the heart that demonstrates a man’s holiness, rather than external rituals which are for show.

The Pharisees return to attack Jesus with a loaded question. Jesus flips the question on its head and demonstrates through an example and a prophecy how the Pharisees think more of their traditions than they do the law of God or their parents.