Reading the Gospels in 2026 (11/2): Matthew 14:1-12.

Nov2

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“The king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he commanded it to be done.” Matthew 14:9

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REVIEW – Jesus finished up in Capernaum by telling His disciples three short parables about His kingdom. It was as precious as treasure and as valuable as a fine pearl to those whose hearts were open and seeking. It was also like a net gathering in many true seekers, as well as the charlatans. The end-of-the-age judgment would reveal who the genuine righteous were.

Then Jesus made a disheartening trip to His hometown of Nazareth, only to be rebuffed as “that kid who grew up among us.” Sadly, He could do very few miracles there because of their unbelief.

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Matthew 14:1-2.

“At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus (His miracles) and said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.'”

Why would Herod say this? Why did he now think that Jesus was John the Baptist returned from the dead?

A GUILTY CONSCIENCE, plain and simple.

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Matthew 14:3-5.

Why had Herod arrested the Baptizer? He didn’t like John preaching about his incestuous, adulterous marriage to his sister-in-law.

Herod had stolen Herodius from his brother Philip. And, by the way, she was actually a niece to both of them (daughter of their half-brother Aristobolus). John’s accusations and condemnation constantly irritated the “happy couple.” Herod also feared that John “could” cause a rebellion among the Jews because of his marriage.

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“King” Herod Antipas (one of Herod the Great’s sons) was given by his father the territories of Galilee (west of the Sea of Galilee), and Perea (east of the Jordan River beginning about 30 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, and extending nearly halfway down the eastern side of the Dead Sea.

He had two palaces: one in the north, closer to Galilee, where he probably first heard of John, who had been baptizing there. Herod’s other massive fortress, palace, and citadel was at Machaerus, perched on an impenetrable conical mountain on a cliff overlooking the Dead Sea.

It was probably here, in a deep dungeon carved into the rock summit, that they kept the imprisoned John the Baptist after his arrest.

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“Out of sight, out of mind,” may have been Herod’s idea in arresting John and sending him to Machaerus. His acid accusations were silenced, but he was still alive. Herod even had conversations with John now and then. He feared killing John because the people believed (rightly) that he was a prophet.

But Herodius simmered inside, carrying a huge grudge over John’s accusations.

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Matthew 14:6-11.

Matthew describes briefly what happened to John. (Mark and Luke give the same accounts.) It seems that life in a deep, dank hole was not enough for the wicked, scheming Herodius. She wanted him dead and sought every opportunity to have him killed. Her opportunity came finally at Herod’s birthday bash.

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After a day or so of feasting and drinking by Herod and his guests, Herodius had her beautiful, sexy daughter “dance” before the king. Salome knew what to do and did it well, as seductive eyes and movements mesmerized her stepfather.

Finally, the music stopped, and the limpid Salome slowly moved away from Herod, long fingers traveling along his arm or knee…. She slowly made her way back to her mother’s table and received a wicked smile and nod.

The male guests at Herod’s birthday party went wild, begging for more, but Herodias wisely demurred on her daughter’s behalf.

The guests howled in protest, and finally Herod spoke.

“Whatever you ask me,” he vowed to Salome, “I will give you – up to half my kingdom.”

The crowd roared. Salome conferred with her mother, then announced loudly and clearly, 

“Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”

Herod had turned icy cold, his face as white as a sheet. John the Baptist? The prophet? They wanted him to behead John? And… bring the bloody evidence here as proof?

“The king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to break his word to her. Immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.” (Mark 6:26-28)

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John’s disciples learned of the atrocity, took John’s body and buried it. Then they went to Jesus and told Him what had happened. Matthew 14:13 says, “When Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself.”

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And now Herod had nightmares, thinking John, the holy man he had killed, had returned from the grave in the form of this miracle worker, Jesus.

After that, Herod tried hard to hear Jesus for himself and see some miracle by Him. But even when Pilate sent Jesus to Herod in a 3rd mock trial, Jesus remained absolutely silent and motionless, though Herod dressed Him up as a mock-king and taunted him.

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/30): Matthew 13:53-58.

Oct30

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“He did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” Matthew 13:58.

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REVIEW – Jesus reviewed the meaning of the wheat/weeds parable for His disciples, and then spoke three more short parables to them alone. His kingdom of heaven will be found by those who seek it and truly want it, like the man who found treasure in a field and the merchant who found the best pearl ever. Both sold ALL they had to buy that most valuable thing.

(Compare that to those men who wanted to follow Jesus (Matthew 8): Both turned back after one discovered Jesus had “no place to lay His head,” and the other wanted to receive his inheritance first.) No, Jesus’ kingdom (our salvation) has to be more precious than anything else.

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Matthew 13:53-58.

After talking in word-pictures to the crowds and then to His own disciples, Jesus seems to have wanted “some space.” He and the Twelve walked the 20 miles to Jesus’ own hometown of Nazareth.

Once there, He went into the synagogue (so familiar to him since He was a boy) and taught the people from that day’s scripture reading. They were astonished!

Then came the questions and the unbelief.

“Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?”

“Is this not the carpenter’s son?”

“Is not his mother called Mary?”

“Are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”

“Are not all his sisters with us?”

“Where then did this man get all these things?”

And these people, who were only a few minutes earlier “astonished” at Jesus’ teaching, are now “offended” by Him.

How sad this must have made Jesus. Isn’t it our family and close friends that we want most to hear the Gospel and believe unto salvation? The people who knew Jesus the best rejected Him as a charlatan, a kid playing games.

Sadly, the proverb Jesus quoted was true: “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”

And Jesus did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Some of the sick, possessed, lame, blind, and at death’s door … STAYED that way when Jesus left. How sad!

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(LORD, increase our faith! We know that faith comes by reading Your Word, so stir our hearts to delve deep into the truths and depths of our Bible reading, seeking YOU, seeking wisdom, guidance, and help. We DO believe … help our unbelief!)

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/29): Matthew 13:44-52.

Oct29

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Have you understood all these things?” Matthew 13:51

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REVIEW – Jesus told the parable of the weeds sown in a good farmer’s field, then later explained to His disciples that it pictured the end of the age, when the true and false inhabitants of the kingdom would be sorted out. The parable confused the crowds, for how could evil exist in the Messiah’s Kingdom?

In the two parables of growth, the mustard seed and the leaven, Jesus pictured His kingdom beginning small but growing to include the other nations of the world. The disciples “kind of” got the stories, but the crowds were clueless. Jesus said this was because they had closed their minds to the things of God.

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Matthew 13:44-52.

Jesus now tells three short parables to His disciples.

First: The Kingdom of heaven is like TREASURE hidden in a field. A man comes by, discovers the treasure, hurriedly re-buries it, and then buys the field with all the money he can get together… to possess the TREASURE.

Second: The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls who, when he finds a rare PEARL of great value, sells everything he has to buy that one magnificent PEARL.

Third: The kingdom of heaven is like a NET in this parable, thrown into the sea and then gathered back in. It is full of all kinds of fish and stuff. The fishermen sort the good fish from the trash, throwing the latter into the furnace to be burned up… much like how the unbeliever spends eternity.

So, “Do you understand all these things?” Jesus asks His disciples and us.

“Yes,” they answer.

Um, no, I answer.

But I “think” I get the first two. The treasure and pearl picture salvation as something hidden from most people, but so valuable that people who have it revealed to them are willing to give up ALL THEY HAVE to possess it.

Hebrews 2:3 – “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him”.

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The third short parable seems to point to the visible kingdom of heaven, with true believers and those who only claim to be believers. At the end time, at the judgment, God’s ministering angels will separate these two: the righteous to their reward, and the charlatans to the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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Then Jesus tells His disciples that if they truly understand what He’s teaching them, they will be like trained scribes who bring out what is new and what is old from their treasure. They are not to forsake the OLD (Law and Testament), but to understand the NEW teachings by laying them alongside the Old and gaining wisdom.

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This concludes this time of teaching through parables. I bet the disciples wiped their brows and muttered, “whew!” as they headed to Nazareth.

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/28): Matthew 13:24-43.

Oct28

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“.” Matthew

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REVIEW – Jesus began a season of speaking parables to the crowds instead of straight kingdom preaching. His reason? Israel did not WANT to hear, believe, and receive the kingdom of heaven that Jesus was offering. They wanted His physical healings, but weren’t interested in spiritual wholeness. They saw His miracles, but didn’t accept Him as their Messiah.

So, like the seed falling on hard-packed ground in the first parable, eaten by the birds before it could take root, Jesus’ clear preaching was taken away and replaced with parables to “tickle” their ears. Jesus told His disciples this was prophesied in Isaiah 6:9-10 as a judgment on Israel.

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The scary thing is that the Holy Spirit will only strive with people for so long; then a person’s heart will be TOO hardened to turn. (Genesis 6:3) God’s Spirit patiently convicts, warns, and pulls people toward repentance, but God does not let people persist in rebellion forever without consequence.

If you feel a heavy conviction or fear that God has stopped working in your life, the fact that you still care, feel a tug on your heart, or desire truth often shows the Spirit is still active and inviting you to turn to Him. “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

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(In 13:16, Jesus tells His disciples that THEIR eyes “see” and their ears “hear,” so THEY are blessed! “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what YOU see and did not see it, and to hear what YOU hear and did not hear it.” I would say that YOU and I are among those blessed like the disciples.)

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Matthew 13:24-30.

Then Jesus speaks another parable to the crowd, which He later explains to His disciples.

“The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

While his men were sleeping (normal rest, not negligence), the farmer’s enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat (then went away).

All the plants came up and began to form heads of grain. (Wheat heads stand tall pointing towards the sky, while the “darnel” (weed) heads angle downward.)

The workers immediately saw the problem and went to the farmer. “Didn’t you sow good seeds? How then does the field also have weeds?”

“AN ENEMY HAS DONE THIS!”

“Should we go through and pull out the weeds and burn them?”

“No,” said the farmer, “for then the wheat will be rooted up too. Allow both to grow until harvest. Then go through, pull up the weeds first, and burn them. Then gather the wheat into my barn.”

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This parable also made no sense to the crowd, many of whom were farmers. They couldn’t believe that “the enemy” was “in” the kingdom of heaven. No, the Messiah would rule supreme. There would be no enemy in the true Messiah’s kingdom. (This Jesus didn’t know what he was talking about…)

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Matthew 13:31-35.

Then Jesus told two quick parables, again about things familiar to the people, but deceptively hard for them to understand.

First, His kingdom was like a tiny mustard seed. (Mustard seeds in the Middle East are black and about the size of grains of salt, not like the ones we see in our pickle jars.) When these seeds are planted in a garden, they grow very big, seeming like a tree compared to the garden herbs around it. The tree-plant is so large that “birds of the air” come and make nests in its branches.

Okay, the people “kind of” nodded. They’d seen how big the tiny mustard grows, and they’d probably seen how birds come and nest in it. (After all, mustard seed was often mixed with other grains and fed to pigeons!) But how does this “picture” the Messiah’s kingdom?

(Jesus is prophesying that His kingdom will grow from a small beginning and spread far, so Gentiles will be part of it. The term “birds of the air” often spoke of other nations around Israel. They would come into the kingdom and find security and sustenance too.

Nope, these Jews did NOT picture that!

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Second (and similar) is the parable about a portion of leaven that a woman worked into flour.

They’d all seen the result of that in their own kitchens. That bit of leaven caused the whole batch of dough to rise into many loaves of delicious bread.

So, duh, what’s the rest of the story? They are bewildered. And they disperse, scratching their heads. “What does He mean?”

Jesus did NOT mean for the leaven in this parable to represent sin, as it often does in the Bible. Like the other parables, it represents the kingdom of heaven and shows how it will start small and (eventually) spread from … Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria … to the uttermost parts of the world.

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Matthew 13:36-43.

Later, after Jesus left the crowds, He and the disciples went into the house where they were staying.

“Explain to us the parable of the seeds of the field,” they asked. And Jesus did.

“Once again, the farmer (sower) is Jesus, and the field is the world.

But this time, the good seed is “the sons of the kingdom,” while the weeds are “the sons of the evil one.” The enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil.

The harvest is the close of the age; the reapers are angels.

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather all who cause sin and all lawbreakers out of His kingdom and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.”

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“He who has ears, let him hear.”

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/27): Matthew 13:1-23.

Oct27

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Why do You speak to them in parables?” Matthew 13:10

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REVIEW – Jesus confronted His adversaries with harsh teaching. The Pharisees’ hearts had hardened like stone, and now they only wanted to declare Him a fraud, even attributing His miracles to Beelzebul’s power. Jesus exposed the evil in their hearts, and they immediately demanded a sign of His authority. After all, they were the “Israel’s Teachers of the Law!

Jesus gave them the signs they should have known as teachers of the O.T.: the signs of Jonah, Nineveh, and the Queen of Sheba.

Then Jesus told the parable of a person freed of an unclean spirit, only to have seven worse spirits return to occupy him… because, after cleaning out the old, he had failed to fill it with “good.” Idolatry had been cleaned out of Israel in the exile, but now, the temple & worship of the LORD had been twisted by these self-righteous keepers of the law, who put weights of rules on the people that God never intended.

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Matthew 13:1-3.

Later that same day, after confronting the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, Jesus went to the Sea and sat down. (Can’t you almost see him take a deep breath of the cool sea breeze and enjoy a few minutes with his disciples around Him, with only the regular sounds of boatyard business.)

But soon the crowds came again, and pressed in to hear Him or touch Him, so that He had to commandeer one of the boats to put some space between them. Then Jesus sat in the boat (perhaps with an anchor holding it a short way from the shore), while the great crowd stood along the beach. Imagine Jesus’ compassionate heart as he looked at all those expectant faces, each wanting something from Him.

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Matthew 13:4-9.

Jesus then began to tell them the first of many parables of the kingdom of heaven. The parable of the Sower is perhaps the best known. Maybe Jesus was inspired by the hillside behind the standing crowd, light green with new shoots of barley or wheat. Lots of promise, but what would the harvest be?

“A sower went out to sow.

As he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and they sprang up immediately because they had no depth to push through, but when the sun rose they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.

Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. ”

Then Jesus concluded this parable with, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

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Skipping down to Matthew 12:18-23.

Here Jesus tells the meaning of that first parable of His kingdom, which the disciples didn’t even understand.

(The “sower” is the Lord Jesus, see 13:37, and the “seed” is the good Word of God, see Mark 4:14. The soil represents the hearts of those who hear the Word.)

The first hard-packed “path” soil represents those who hear the word of the kingdom but do not understand it (or do not want to). The devil comes along and snatches away even that little bit they heard.

The thin layer of soil atop rocks represents those who hear the “sweet” parts of the message and accept it with joy. But when tribulation or persecution comes (the hot sun, dry wind), they fall away because they have no “root” in the truth.

The thorny, weedy soil represents those who hear the message of the kingdom, but whose lives are so full of the ‘cares of the world’ and the ‘deceitfulness of riches’ that they pay no attention to the things of God. “I’ll look into that another day,” they think, but never do.

The good, fertile soil represents hearts open to the message and ready to receive it. They nurture, feed, and grow good grain, ready for abundant harvests.

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Matthew 13:10-17.

“Yeah, okay, we knew that!” (cough, cough) said the disciples after Jesus explained the parable of the sower and the soil. (NOW they did!)

But they were curious. Jesus had taught the crowds plainly up until then. And He had taught them even more so, privately. So why was He talking in “riddles” now?

Turns out, the parables – those sweet stories we love to tell and illustrate in children’s books – were a JUDGMENT on the people. People, like the first soils who listened to Jesus because it was pleasant and because He healed them, weren’t interested in changed, fruitful lives.

The people “heard” Jesus speak but didn’t want to “hear” His message. These people “saw” His miracles, but didn’t “recognize” Him as their Messiah. And so, even Jesus’ clear preaching would be “taken away” and replaced with parables.

Then Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10,

“You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

and understand with their heart,

and TURN,

and I would heal them.”

Then Jesus turns to His own disciples (and to us who are reading this with love for Him in our hearts) and says,

“Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

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How blessed we are!!

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/26): Matthew 12:38-50.

Oct26

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Matthew 12:38

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REVIEW – Last time, the Pharisees, who were already trying to find a reason to “destroy” Jesus because He showed them up for the pious frauds they were, now claimed that Jesus used the power of Satan (Beelzebul) to free a man who was tormented by demons. Jesus fired back that anyone who attributed the power of the precious Holy Spirit to Satan would not be forgiven here or in the world to come. That sin was the “unforgivable sin.”

“Out of the abundance of the HEART the mouth speaks,” Jesus told them. Good people speak good from the good treasure of their hearts, but evil people can’t help but speak evil from the dark depths of their evil hearts.

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Matthew 12: 38-39.

Brushing off that serious rebuke and warning from Jesus, the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law, demanded that Jesus “show them a sign” to “prove” His authority to speak that way to them.

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.” Jesus fires back, and then continues. ‘NO SIGN will be given except the sign of Jonah.”

Jesus meant two things by “the sign of Jonah.”

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Matthew 12:40-42.

First, and obvious, Jesus compared Jonah’s 3 days inside the “great fish” to the 3 days He would be in the tomb before His resurrection. This was future, however, and meant nothing to the religious leaders at the time. (After Jesus arose, they spent a lot of time bribing and lying to cover it up.)

The teachers of the law would have known the second “sign” of Jonah very well.

Jonah was one of their prophets. His story is in four chapters in the book named after him. Yes, he disobeyed God and ran from the mission to preach to Nineveh (the capital city of their dreaded enemies), got tossed out of a boat, and was swallowed by that fish.

THEN, after being coughed up, he did what God called him to do in the first place: he went to Nineveh, preached to them, and… lo, and behold, the whole city repented in sackcloth and ashes!

Jesus said that the repenting people of Nineveh would rise up to judge these current “religious” leaders of the people on the day of judgment for their rejecting one greater than the prophet – their own Messiah.

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To drive the point home, so these teachers of Old Testament law would understand, Jesus said they would be judged against the Queen of Sheba too. She traveled long and hard on a sincere quest into the truth of Solomon’s wisdom. THESE Pharisees had Jesus right there, so much greater than Solomon, and yet they rejected, scorned, and even plotted to kill Him.

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Matthew 12:43-45.

Then Jesus tells a parable that is difficult to understand at first glance. But He was still talking to the religious leaders who had demanded a sign so they would believe.

In this story, there is a “person,” an “unclean spirit,” a “house,” an “unnamed housecleaner,” and “seven other more evil spirits.”

The story tells of Israel’s past and the many false idols they came to worship and even set up in the temple. God punished them with an exile to Babylon and the destruction of their magnificent temple.

This was the sweeping out of the “unclean spirit” among God’s people. In His mercy, the people returned and rebuilt the Temple, having learned their lesson about idols. And yet, a greater evil now inhabited the Temple: sacrifices, religious services, and teaching; the proud, self-sufficient Teachers of the Law, who bound the people with their minute rules more than the idols had.

The “last state” with the religious leaders sinning and binding the people in more and more rules, and keeping them away from their Messiah, was worse than the first condition.

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The religious leaders probably “got” what Jesus was saying, if the crowds did not. They simmered and plotted His destruction … instead of recognizing their error and turning to Him.

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Matthew 12:46-50.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the crowd, Jesus’ earthly family stood asking to speak to Him. His mother, Mary, and his brothers (two or more of James, Joseph, Simon & Jude). Someone called out to Jesus to alert Him.

Now you might think He would turn and signal a path for His mom and brothers, and hug Mary when she came near. But no. He announced what seems to us like rudeness.

“Who is my mothers, and who are my brothers?”

And gesturing towards His disciples, added, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whosoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus did not put down His earthly family; after all, THEY needed Him as their Savior as well. In His mission and destination on the cross, those who believed in Him as the saving Messiah were “doing the will of His Father in heaven.”

(Mary would do just that, and at least two of His 1/2 brothers did as well: James and Jude).


Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/23): Matthew 12:22-37

Oct23

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” Matthew 12:32

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REVIEW – Jesus was confronted again by the uber-religious Pharisees, this time on Sabbath Law. Oh, the things they did NOT know!

Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, who originally “rested” after six days of creation and set the seventh day (Sabbath) apart for rest for His people, is confronted for eating a few kernels of grain to assuage hunger, and for healing a poor, crippled man on the “day of rest.”

This day was created by God out of mercy for mankind, not for a DAY OF DIABOLICAL, pride-building, gut-twisting fear of offense. Sheesh!

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Matthew 12:22-23.

A man in the grips of Satanic beings who prevented him from seeing or speaking was brought to Jesus.

(Stop for a minute and imagine this man’s life. Tormented in body and soul; unable to control wild movements that caused him terrible pain (cutting, falling into fire), unable to tell anyone about it or even ask for help, constantly in a deep darkness of body and spirit.)

Truly a picture of Hell.

But “someone” brought him to Jesus, and Jesus healed Him! WOW!

“Can this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?” the amazed watchers asked.

YES!!

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Matthew 12:24-30.

“NO!” cried those sour Pharisees.

WHAT??

Then they gave their shocking explanation for the Son of God’s loving goodness toward this man. “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons, that this man casts out demons.”

This is the pit of despicable (and stupid) utterances. Giving credit to Satan for what God has done through His Son via the Holy Spirit? I would not have been surprised if the earth had opened and swallowed them whole.

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Jesus knew their thoughts, of course, and reasoned aloud, for the people’s sake (I believe).

“1) Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”

“2) If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?”

“3) If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons and daughters cast them out. Therefore they will be your judges.”

“4) But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” And finally,

“5) How can someone enter a strongman’s house and plunder his goods, UNLESS He first binds the strong man?”

This is so reasonable; it’s hard to believe why the people might have been tempted to believe the Pharisees’ rash statement. These “teachers of the law” did it out of jealousy, of course. Jesus was taking away their importance, making them seem stupid in the eyes of the people, who had stood in so much awe of them.

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Matthew 12:30-32.

Jesus then drew the line in the sand. “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

And the ‘coup de gras.’ (The final, deadly cut.)

“Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will NOT be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will NOT be forgiven, either in this age or the age to come.”

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good …. or make the tree bad and its fruit bad. You WILL know a tree by its FRUIT.

Then Jesus turns to the dark-hearted Pharisees,

“You nest of snakes! How can you speak GOOD, when you are EVIL? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The GOOD person out of his GOOD treasure brings forth GOOD, and the EVIL person out of his EVIL treasure brings forth EVIL.”

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for EVERY CARELESS WORD they speak, for by your WORDS you will be justified … and by your WORDS you will be condemned.’

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(NOTE: These may be the harshest words Jesus has ever spoken to anyone. He has taken the pronouncement of the Pharisees that His power comes from Satan, and condemned them to hell for it. They looked like “good” trees, but the fruit of their mouths/hearts betrayed them. Those words came straight from a heart full of evil. Their words were UNFORGIVABLE, then and in the age to come.)

(Can we commit the ‘unforgivable sin’ today? Are you terrified that you might have? I’ll venture to say that if you are afraid you did, you probably did not. Your fear and remorse are signs of repentance. If so, you can go to God, confess what you believe was that sin, and God promises – for Christ’s sake – to forgive you.)

(These Pharisees did NOT repent. They hardened their hearts and sought all the more to destroy/kill the Son of God. In fact… they did kill Him, and then lied to cover it up.)

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/22): Matthew 12:1-21.

Oct22

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” Matthew 12:7b.

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REVIEW – After denouncing the local cities Jesus had been ministering in for not being receptive to Him or His message, Jesus turned from fiery judgment to a gentle and lowly offer. “Take MY yoke upon you and learn from Me. MY yoke is easy, and MY burden is light. You will find REST for your souls.”

The “rest” Jesus speaks about here points to a permanent condition in God’s grace, apart from the constant striving to do good works.

And this seems to lead directly into today’s reading and two incidents that happened on the Sabbath, the Day of REST.

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Matthew 12:1-2.

As Jesus walked away from the town with His disciples (who had returned from their missionary outreach), they passed through some grain fields. The disciples were hungry, and as they walked, they plucked heads of grain to eat.

(In Deuteronomy 23:25, God permits satisfying immediate hunger this way. However, harvesting grain for profit on the Sabbath was forbidden.

It seems the Pharisees, “the teachers of the law,” didn’t know the difference! “Look,” they said to Jesus, “your disciples are doing what is NOT LAWFUL to do on the Sabbath.”

Sheesh! Talk about showing their ignorance!

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Matthew 12:3-5.

Jesus catches them in this error by presenting two scenarios, showing that using holy things to satisfy man’s hunger (and not PROFIT) was okay with God.

1) Before David was king, he and his men were running for their lives from the crazy King Saul; they arrived at the Tabernacle and requested of the priest that they might eat the “shewbread” that was weekly set before the LORD in the Holy Place.

This was meant only for the ministering priests, but Ahimelech, the priest, was on David’s side and, after learning that he and his men were ceremonially clean, got the bread for them to eat. (He later lost his life for that when Saul heard about it and massacred all the priests in the area.) (1 Samuel 21-22)

Sabbath laws were not meant to restrict acts of necessity or mercy. They were to benefit man and glorify God.

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2) Jesus also cites the priests in the temple who continue to carry out their duties on the Sabbath, which in other circumstances, “could” be seen as work.

Jesus adds, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here,” speaking of Himself.

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“And if you had known what it means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.'”

Jesus had used the “quote” before in Matt. 9:6, when the Pharisees were condemning Him for eating with tax collectors and “sinners.”

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Samuel used a similar version to King Saul when he had disobeyed God: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

Hosea 6:6: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

And Micah 6:6-8: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?? — He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.“

Hearts, not hands, are what God is interested in. Attitudes, not performance.

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Matthew 12:9-14.

Jesus walks on and then enters their synagogue. Then, almost to drive his point home, He heals a man with a withered hand. There. Inside the synagogue. In front of their shocked, angry faces.

“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath? He asked them.

Will you not help your sheep if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath? Of which is more valuable? A human, made in the image of God, or your animal that you keep for your own profit?

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The healed man left the synagogue with Jesus, rejoicing at his restored hand. Meanwhile, these biased, envy-filled Pharisees “went out and conspired against Him, how to DESTROY Him.”

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Matthew 12:18-21.

Jesus was well aware of their evil machinations and withdrew from there. However, many followed Him for what He could do for them.

And Jesus healed them ALL, confirming the prophecy about the Messiah in Isaiah 42:1-5.

Matthew says this proved that Israel’s chosen Messiah did not come with political agendas, military campaigns, and great fanfare. He would not try to stir up a revolution.

Instead, he came with gentleness and meekness. He would restore and rekindle those the “world” thought were useless. He would show tenderness and compassion to the lowest, the weak, and the lost.

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/21): Matthew 11:20-28.

Oct21

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

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REVIEW – Yesterday we saw a message from John the Baptist (in prison) reach Jesus and Jesus’ unusual answer. The fiery “voice in the wilderness” had proclaimed a Messiah of fire and cleansing. But from what John could learn from his deep dungeon, Jesus was a Messiah of compassion, tenderness, healing, and hope. Israel was corrupt and sinful; where was the judgment?

Jesus sent a message through John’s disciples, in the only form the Baptist would fully understand. Jesus sent him ‘scripture in action.’ He showed John that His healing of the sick and disabled, cleansing of lepers, freeing the demon-possessed, even raising the dead, and preaching good news, did in fact fulfill the first part of Isaiah’s prophecies of the Messiah. (from Isaiah 29 and 35). In the second coming, there would be fire, judgment, and wrath.

Once John heard that report, he KNEW Jesus was indeed the Messiah of Israel.

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Matthew 11:20-24.

(Remember that while the disciples were on their missionary trip, Jesus was also “teaching and preaching” in the cities of Galilee.)

Despite the extraordinary exclamations about his healings, the people did NOT follow Him as Messiah. People then (like today) wanted what they could GET from God and weren’t interested in what they could GIVE.

Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, all cities around the Lake where Jesus centered His ministry, came under judgment for refusing to repent and follow Him. (Later, when Jesus spoke directly to His “home townies”, He would include Nazareth in the condemnation.)

Then that chilling judgment. It would be worse for these (the cities that had experienced Jesus in person and rejected Him) than for Tyre and Sidon, and Sodom. (Ezekiel 26-28 and Genesis 23:3-5)

Wow, I think I might have shaken in my boots to hear that judgment! But then again, except for God’s grace, I probably would have dismissed Jesus’ words and walked away too.

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Matthew 11:25-27.

After their earlier degrading taunts and name-calling of Jesus, and his vivid judgment on their cities, Jesus saw fit to warn them further, via a spoken-aloud prayer to His Father.

“I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the “wise and understanding” and revealed them to “little children”; yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. “

A sure slap in the face for those stuck-up know-it-alls, who had called Jesus a “glutton and drunkard.” (The very Son of God!!)

The precious news of salvation and redemption, of God’s great love that led Him to send Jesus to die, the grace and mercy He showed us through Jesus… these pearls and treasure boxes of gold… were to be revealed only to those with child-like, faith-filled hearts.

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Matthew 11:28-30.

Then this familiar and precious passage:


“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

This beginning echoes the Beatitudes (Blessed are the poor in spirit (the humble), the ones who mourn (about their sin), the meek (not proud), the merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers…).

Jesus isn’t calling people who are simply tired of working and need a vacation in the Bahamas. He is calling those with a heart’s longing for Spiritual rest and peace with God to come to Him.

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your SOULS.”

Not only will Jesus help you, support you, and share your “journey” in this life; He will also save you from endless, fruitless efforts to “save” yourself by trying to keep the works of the law (which no one can do).

Resting in Jesus means faith in the very means of His Salvation (His death on your behalf and His resurrection, which shows God’s acceptance of His work).

Come to Him, believe in Him, trust Him! “For (His) yoke is easy and (HIS) burden is light.”

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/20): Matthew 11:1-19.

Oct20

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Matthew 11:3.

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REVIEW – Jesus had sent off His twelve disciples/apostles to learn how to bring the gospel to the Jews in cities and towns. Jesus also empowered them with “signs and wonders” to prove the truth of their message.

He ALSO gave them many things to expect. Just as He Himself was sometimes rejected, or even after a healing, ignored, THEY would experience the same. And more. Eventually, they would follow their master into harsher persecution, arrest, trials, and even martyrdom. They were to be prepared and steady in their commitment. The END would make it all good.

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Matthew 11:1-3.

As His disciples went out, Jesus continued teaching and preaching in the towns of Galilee.

(Imagine this ministry spreading everywhere! People heard of healings, cleansings, and other miracles from all directions. The dead were even being raised. It was a miraculous time. Glory be! Surely the Messiah had come! The news spread far and wide.)

Deep in the dungeon of Herod Antipas’ fortress in Perea (across the Jordan), even John the Baptist heard. He wasn’t sure he was hearing it right. All this compassion and helping people… John hadn’t pictured Jesus that way!

(“I baptize you with water for repentance, but HE will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and FIRE.“ John had preached. “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 with unquenchable fire!”) Matthew 3:11-12.

So John sent some of his faithful disciples (who brought him food and news in prison) to ask Jesus what was going on.

They said, “Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” How frustrating it must have been for John, confined, hearing second- and third-hand news without seeing for himself.

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Matthew 11:4-6.

Jesus did not say, “Sure, Cuz, it’s me. That fire-and-brimstone stuff comes later. Stay cool!”

No, Jesus showed and told the messengers from John JUST WHAT the Messiah was prophesied to do at His first coming. Jesus healed the blind, made the lame walk, cleansed lepers, made the deaf hear, raised the dead, and preached the “good news” to the poor.

And John recognized the passages in Isaiah as soon as his own disciples brought back the news.

Isaiah 29:18-19, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exalt the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 35:4-6, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”

This describes the Messiah’s first coming. Each of those passages goes on to describe the second coming as well, when evil will be defeated, and the King will rule in justice and holiness.

John had missed that, but when he heard Jesus’ answer, he remembered and realized, YES!! Jesus WAS the Messiah of Israel, the one He’d prepared the way for.

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Matthew 11:7-17.

As John’s messengers left, Jesus turned to the crowd.

“What did you expect to see out in the wilderness?” Jesus asked. “A reed shaken by the wind? A man dressed in soft clothes? NO. But a prophet. MORE than a prophet. John was God’s messenger sent before Me to prepare the way before Me.”

“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

John was greater than the Old Testament prophets because he actually SAW with his eyes and personally participated in the fulfillment of what the others only prophesied.

“Yet… the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

All believers after the cross are greater still, because they participate in the full understanding and experience of Christ’s actual atoning work (which John only foresaw).

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Matthew 11:12-19.

This next part is a little confusing, but Jesus is probably confirming what He said earlier: entering the kingdom is difficult. “The violent take it by force.” He says, “Everyone forces his way into it.” Meaning the way is truly narrow and hard to travel.

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Then Jesus says a strange thing. “If you are willing to accept it, John IS Elijah who is to come.” WHOA!

Of course the people KNEW that the prophet of old HAD NOT DIED. Elijah was taken up alive in a chariot of fire. But hadn’t John the Baptist, himself, denied that he was Elijah? What did Jesus mean?

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Yes, John ‘had come’ “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), but if they had believed, John would have been ‘the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecies’….

Interested? Check out Mark 9:11-13 and Revelation 11:3-6, in light of your knowledge of the Old Testament.

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Then Jesus compares Himself with John and says people like neither example!

John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said: “He has a demon.”

On the other hand, Jesus came eating and drinking, and they called Him “A glutton and drunkard, and friend of tax collectors and sinners.”

Sheesh!

Thank goodness, Jesus came to please only His Father and do His will… not what fickle people thought He should be and do! Where would we be then??

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