Jesus Verse by Verse

an expanded commentary on the Gospel of Matthew

Jesus Verse by Verse...

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10:11 Until you go- Jesus wished to focus upon families and homes, which later developed into the house churches of the later New Testament. His focus is still very much on the family unit as the foundation for His church.
10:15 More tolerable- There will be degrees of reward and punishment at the day of judgment when Jesus returns. All our behaviour in this life will be judged sensitively, nothing will be overlooked and everything will receive an appropriate response.
10:16 Wise as serpents- We are not asked to be naive; but the opposite.
10:23 Gone through the cities of Israel- This may imply there will be persecution of believers and also a strong witness to the Jews in Israel immediately prior to Christ’s return. We should be prepared.
10:25 We should therefore not be surprised to be persecuted; in fact we should expect it, because if this world treated Jesus as they did, they will treat us the same.
10:26 Revealed – at the day of judgment (1 Cor. 3:13). If we will be revealed for who we really are eternally, there’s no point in acting out a false image to our brothers and sisters in this life.
10:27 Proclaim upon the housetops - This is alluding to 1 Sam. 9:15,25, where God speaks “the word of the Kingdom” in Samuel’s ear, and then he speaks that word to Saul on the housetop. The Lord is saying that in essence, we are all in Samuel’s position; we hear the word of this world’s salvation, the word about “the Kingdom” as it was for Saul, and that very fact is in itself the imperative to overcome our natural reservations and share it with those for whom it is intended- even if, as with Saul, we consider them unlikely and unspiritual hearers.
10:28 Gehenna was the rubbish dump outside Jerusalem. The fires were always burning there because new garbage was always being thrown onto it. It became a symbol of complete destruction. Some Bibles translate it [wrongly] as “hell”.
10:40 Peoples’ attitude to us is their attitude to Jesus. This means that we, as baptized into the body of Christ, are Him to this world. Our behaviour should be appropriate to this.