Matthew (written)

Wednesday, 29 January 2025

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Matthew 7:3

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“And why you see the chip, the ‘in the eye’ of your brother, and in your eye, a beam not you examine?” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus noted that the standard being used by a person in judgment will be returned against him in judgment, and the measure one uses will be measured back to that person. He now continues with, “And why you see the chip, the ‘in the eye’ of your brother.”

Here, He uses the word karphos, a chip. HELPS Word Studies defines it as “something dry and light; a ‘chip or splinter, of the same material with the beam.’” It is derived from karphó, to dry or wither up. It is a dried piece of wood that has separated from a larger piece.

One can think of the pile of wood left behind as a chainsaw cuts. They are teeny weeny little chips that dry almost immediately as they fly out behind the saw. Someone using a chainsaw might get hundreds of them in their eye during a regular workday. Anyone working around the sawman is bound to get them in their own eyes as well.

Jesus uses such a little thing as an example. Someone might see another person with an itty-bitty chip in his eye and say, “Hey, you have something in your eye.” At the same time, however, Jesus says, “and in your eye, a beam not you examine?”

Jesus uses the word dokos, HELPS Word Studies defines this as, “a large beam (joist) of wood; ‘a beam of timber’ (Abbott-Smith); ‘a log on which planks in the house rest (as in the papyri); joist, rafter, plank (Moffatt); a pole sticking out grotesquely.’”

As for the word translated as “examine,” it is katanoeó. Again, HELPS Word Studies provides clarity to its intended meaning, saying, “‘properly, to think from up to down, to a conclusion; to consider exactly, attentively (decisively); to concentrate by fixing one’s thinking’ ‘to perceive clearly’ (kata, intensive), ‘to understand fully, consider closely.’”

One can see that the word “examine” suits the intent well. The guy is standing there with a plank the size of Montana hanging out of his eye while being upset about a bit of sawdust in the other guy’s eye.

The intended meaning from Jesus is that the person is out judging others without examining himself. He has a major fault in his life such as being addicted to pornography, and yet, he rebukes someone else who notices a beautiful lady walking down the street. He is a total hypocrite.

Life application: People often take things to unintended extremes in relation to the Bible. They may read a passage in the Bible about drinking wine that is negative in its portrayal of the subject matter, such as Proverbs 23:29-35. In reading that, and tearing the intent of the passage out of its proper context, he decides that any drinking of alcohol is wrong and condemns anyone who has a glass of wine.

But the Bible never teaches such a thing. In fact, the exact opposite can be easily discerned from a short study of the subject. Likewise, a person may have been saved from a life of alcohol addiction. When he is freed from it, he immediately goes about condemning everyone who has no problem with drinking.

Someone may have had a problem with pornography. In being cured of it, he decides all women should walk around with baggy plain dresses and wear bonnets. The next thing you know, an entire denomination is walking around doing just that.

But the Bible never speaks of such things. In fact, the beauty of women is particularly noted several times in Scripture, such as with Rebekah, Rachel, etc. An entire book, The Song of Solomon, addresses the beauty of a woman numerous times. Just because one person has a stumbling block in his life, it is inappropriate that he force his new mores upon everyone else.

Be sure that when you hear a sermon or study on such an issue, you check to see if what the instruction taught is correct or not. Otherwise, you may be placing yourself under a bondage that the Bible never imposes on God’s people. Be wise, be discerning, and check what you hear. It is your walk with the Lord. Don’t be intimidated into something that is unbiblical.

Lord God, we are so thankful to You for Your word that guides us as we walk through this world. May we direct our feet according to what it says. When we hear something that is given to instruct us in Your word, may we be responsible enough to check out what we hear before we run with it. Help us in this, O God. Amen.

Tuesday, 28 January 2025

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Matthew 7:2

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“For in what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and in what measure you measure, it will be remeasured to you” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus said to not judge that not you may be judged. Now to continue explaining that, He says, “For in what judgment you judge, you will be judged.”

In other words, and what should be evident from Matthew 7:1 alone, because of how Jesus’ words fit into the rest of Scripture, is that when one judges in a certain manner, that same judgment can be expected to be returned to him. If you pass by people and judge them based on their clothing, it can be expected that the same judgment will be returned to you.

The person who calls the police about people speeding by his house is bound to get ticketed by the police he called for his own driving too fast to get home. He may have only been going 47 in a 40 zone while the people he complained about were going 65, but he is now subject to the same judgment that he expected toward others. If he didn’t call the cops to patrol his road, he never would have received the ticket.

The nagging woman down the road who calls code enforcement over every minor issue will, eventually, have someone call code enforcement on her for her own issues. Examples such as these are the types of things Jesus is referring to.

He was not saying to not make any judgments, period. He is making a point concerning what can be expected by those who go around pointing fingers at others from some supposed position of moral authority that really doesn’t exist except in their own minds. He reconfirms this with another similar example, saying, “and in what measure you measure, it will be remeasured to you.”

The word metron, a measure, is introduced. HELPS Word Studies says it “is the controlling basis by which something is determined as acceptable or unacceptable – preeminently rooting to the Lord Himself as His being is the only ultimate measure of truth.”

When making up one’s own measure instead of using an accepted standard, an equal measure can be expected to return upon the one who has initiated the standard.

This repetition of thought while using a different subject confirms the entire analysis. Jesus is not saying to not judge, period. He is saying that when you do judge in a particular manner, a like judgment is expected to come back to you. Albert Barnes says, “You shall be judged by the same rule which you apply to others.”

A basic example of this measure rule is seen when a person walks down the street and arbitrarily punches someone else in the head. He has set an arbitrary standard of acceptability which stems from his own demented mind.

There are times when the person who is hit will go down for the count. However, some people can take a punch like that and return the same, bringing a measure of pain in return.

If the first person minded his own business and left others alone, he would have been fine. But in measuring out punches during his afternoon walk, he may suddenly be forced to have liquid lunches for the rest of his life.

This type of measurement is exactingly seen in the Lex Talionis provision found in the Law of Moses –

“If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him— ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. ²¹ And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. ²² You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 24:19-22

Life application: Matthew 7 began with, “Not you judge.” As a stand-alone thought, one can easily conclude that based on Jesus’ words, Christians are not to make any judgments at all. And this is exactly how those words are used innumerable times a day by others in an attempt to impose their own perverted sense of morality on others.

But those opening words fit into a context that explains just what Jesus meant. To take what He said out of context is to form a pretext. That is now clearly evident after analyzing the rest of Matthew 7:1 along with Matthew 7:2.

Understanding this, doesn’t it seem reasonable that when you are told by someone that you must observe the Law of Moses you should check the context to make sure that what you are told actually fits into the rest of Scripture?

Many verses concerning the law are pulled out of their greater context and are then used in just this way, forming a pretext with the intent of bringing you into bondage to their perverted ideas of doctrine and theology.

Of all of the concepts found in Paul’s epistles, this is the one that he deals with the most. His words, along with a proper contextual analysis of the rest of Scripture, show that the law is fulfilled and annulled through the work of Jesus. Christians are to accept this, live by grace, and not place themselves under a yoke that they were never intended to carry.

Be on guard! Check the context! Live by God’s glorious grace! Come to Jesus and be free from the law.

“And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. ⁴ You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:3, 4

Lord God, Your word is big and filled with many concepts and precepts, but everything it says must be considered based on the surrounding and the overall context. Help us to consider these things and to not be led astray by people with perverse agendas. May we live by grace in Your presence all our days. Amen.

Monday, 27 January 2025

“Judge not, that you be not judged. Matthew 7:1

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Not you judge, that not you may be judged” (CG).

The previous verse closed out Chapter 6. Now, Chapter 7 opens with one of the top misused verses of all time. Jesus says, “Not you judge.”

Those words alone are what are torn out of their context, shoved in the faces of others, and used as a pretext to claim nobody has the right to ever make a moral decision or render a judgment concerning pretty much any matter someone else doesn’t want to be judged over.

The Greek word is krinó. Essentially, it means to distinguish. From that, its meaning is based on the context of what is being said, such as to decide (whether mentally or judicially), to try, condemn, punish, decree, judge, sue, call into question, etc.

Taking these words out of context and misapplying them as people do essentially means that no person could ever make a decision on anything, ever. However, throughout Scripture judgments are both expected to be made and are openly promoted as necessary. In fact, in verse 7:6, Jesus will instruct His disciples to make necessary judgments.

This continues throughout the gospels, Acts, and the epistles. So what is Jesus saying? The verse continues with, “that not you may be judged.”

Jesus is not actually saying, “Not you judge” period. There is a second half to His words and a greater context in which they are spoken. He says, “Not you judge, that not you may be judged.”

There is a standard that is being conveyed to His disciples. It is a standard that is further explained in His coming words. For now, it is evident that He is telling them that when they judge, judgment will return to them. It almost mirrors Newton’s Third Law of Motion, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

When certain things happen in the moral world of judgment, certain other things of a like kind are to be expected. The more judgmental someone is, therefore, the more judgment he will bring on himself. A good word for a person with such an attitude is censoriousness.

The more censorious someone is, the more censored he can expect to be.

Life application: One of the most nauseating things on the planet is when people post the first words of Matthew 7:1 on social media or cite them in some forum or another. Doing this is an immediate attempt to shut others down about some particular issue or another.

More often than not, it is directed toward Christians by non-Christians. The very people who don’t even believe in the Lord, use His words against those who do, but who are unprepared for responding to such citations.

And far too often, Christians then cave in their stand against moral perversion and even outright wickedness. They are unwilling to learn what the Bible is saying, especially in its proper context. If a person is not a part of the solution, he is a part of the problem.

In the case of citing Matthew 7:1, it is a huge problem. Be prepared to respond to people whose agenda is to restrict, silence, or eliminate the moral standards expected of Christians.

Lord God, help us to make right judgments as we live in Your presence. When we judge, we can expect return judgment, so help us to not make decisions or judgments unwisely. Above all, help us to rightly understand Your word in the proper context for the situations in which we find ourselves. Amen.

Sunday, 26 January 2025

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

To read the Matthew 6 translation on YT (Click Here) or on Rumble (Click Here). You can also read it at the end of today’s writing below.

“Therefore, not you shall be disquieted into the tomorrow, for tomorrow – it will be disquieted itself, its evil – sufficient to the day” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus instructed His disciples to seek the kingdom of God first. In doing this, all the other things will then be added. Having told them that, He now finishes Chapter 6, saying, “Therefore, not you shall be disquieted into the tomorrow.”

The meaning of “into the tomorrow” is as most translations render it, “about tomorrow.” The Lord instructs the disciples to not let what is ahead in time, and completely out of one’s grasp, get the best of them.

It is contradictory to calmness to reach into the next day and start agonizing over what may transpire. The only thing that will do is to rile up any chance of mental calm on a day that has nothing to do with the next, except that it happens to be the one before the next occurs. Understanding this, He next says, “for tomorrow – it will be disquieted itself.”

Like any other day that comes to pass, there are to be expected complications, difficulties, sadness, moments of confusion and loss, etc. For those who invest, there may be a morning of 25% profit in the portfolio, but by midday, there may be a 90% loss. Driving to or from work may find a nail in the tire, maybe even one in both directions.

The list is absolutely endless as to what might go wrong on any given day. This is why Jesus finishes with, “its evil – sufficient to the day.”

The word kakia is found only here in the gospels. It is in Acts and the epistles though. It is a strong word signifying evil which includes wickedness, depravity, malignity, etc. It is badness in general. HELPS Word Studies defines it as “the underlying principle of evil (inherent evil) which is present, even if not outwardly expressed.”

It is this that Jesus notes is arketos, sufficient, to the day. It is also a new word indicating being enough. Each day can be expected to have enough evil to fill it that inserting the problems of a day ahead will only lead to a day overflowing with disquietness and anxiety.

And yet, how often do we do our best to insert that which is unknown into the problems we are already facing? Jesus instructs His disciples not to do this. As these words form a general precept, apart from the law itself, they contain truth that we can apply to our own lives in this dispensation. And more, we have the continued words of the Lord through Paul to guide our daily walk –

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6 7

Life application: Jesus divides the acceptable period of taking on life’s challenges into days. This is for obvious reasons. Our lives are divided up into these most basic units based on how God has structured the rotation of the sun. Paul’s words, on the other hand, bring things down to a case-by-case situation.

There is no contradiction in this. Nor would we be wrong to say the same thing about something that will occur later in the afternoon or even something coming in an hour. We have no control over what lies ahead. Planning is something we need to do, but it is something that must consider that things may not work out.

The best thing to do is to allow the future to unfold as it will without the added stress of worrying about how it will do so. We make plans, but the events that follow must be left to the overarching providence of God.

Tractors tires get stuck, shipments of supplies are delayed, rains come, and the house sits idle waiting to be completed. We could not have prevented any of those things. So why be distressed over what may or may not happen? Live with the future planned to whatever degree is necessary, but do so knowing that the Lord may have other plans.

No matter what, He is in control. Our future in His presence is assured because of Jesus. We just have to get through this unknown earthly walk as best as we can in the process, trusting Him with each step as we go.

Lord God, help us to confidently walk in this world, knowing that no matter what happens, we are Yours. Whatever trials we may face, they will be behind us someday. Even death itself cannot keep us from standing before You spotless and pure. Because of Jesus, we have full assurance of reconciliation and peace. Amen.

Matthew 6

6 You beware of your compassionateness, not to do before men to be seen by them. And if otherwise, no reward you have from your Father, the ‘in the heavens.’ ² Therefore, when you do compassionateness, you trumpet not before you just as the hypocrites – they do – in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Amen! I say to you, they obtain their reward. ³ And you doing compassionateness, not it know your left what it does your right, ⁴ that your compassionateness – it may be in secret. And your Father, the ‘seeing in the secret,’ He will reward you in the revealed. ⁵ And when you may pray, not you will be just as the hypocrites, for they love to pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the plazas – having stood – that they may be seen of men. Amen! I say to you, they obtain their reward. ⁶ And you, when you may pray, you enter into your chamber, and having closed your door, you pray to your Father, the ‘in the secret.’ And your Father, the ‘seeing in the secret,’ He will reward you in the revealed. ⁷ And praying, not you shall stammerer-speak just as the ethnicities. For they think that in their verbosity they will be heard. ⁸ Therefore not you resemble them, for your Father, He has known, what you have need before you ask of Him. ⁹ Therefore, thus you – you pray:

“Our Father, the ‘in the heavens,’ it be hallowed – Your name.” ¹⁰ Your kingdom – it come. Your will – it be done as in heaven, even upon the earth. ¹¹ Our necessary bread, You give us today. ¹² And You forgive us our debts as also we, we forgive our debtors. ¹³ And not may You lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil. For Yours, it is, the kingdom, and the power, and the glory to the ages. Amen. ¹⁴ For if you may forgive men their transgressions, also your Father, the Heavenly, He will forgive you. ¹⁵ And if not you may forgive men their transgressions, neither – your Father – He will forgive your transgressions. ¹⁶ And when you may fast, you be not just as the hypocrites, sullen-faces. For they mask their appearance that they may appear fasting to men. Amen! I say to you they obtain their reward. ¹⁷ And you, fasting, you anoint your head, and your face – you wash, ¹⁸ that not you may appear to men fasting, but to your Father, the ‘in the secret,’ and your Father, the ‘seeing in the secret,’ He will reward you in the manifest.

¹⁹ You amass, not – yourselves – treasures upon the earth, where moth and an eating – it evaporates, and where stealers – they tunnel, and they steal. ²⁰ And you, amass – yourselves – treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor an eating – it evaporates, and where stealers – they tunnel not, nor they steal. ²¹ For where your treasure, it is, there also your heart, it will be. ²² The lamp of the body, it is the eye. Therefore, if your eye, it may be unblurred, your whole body – it will be lustrous. ²³ And if your eye, it may be evil, all your body – it will be benighted. Therefore, if the light, in you it is darkness, the darkness – how much! ²⁴ None, he is able, to serve two lords. Or – for he will detest the one and he will love the other. Or – he will enclasp one, and the other he will disesteem. Not you are able to serve God and mammon. ²⁵ Through this, I say to you, not you disquiet your soul – what you may eat and what you may drink, nor your body – what you may don. Not more, it is, the soul, the food and the body, the apparel? ²⁶ You gaze at the birds of the heaven, that not they sow nor they reap, nor they collect into barns. And your Father, the heavenly, He nourishes them. Not more, you – you excel – them? ²⁷ And who from you, disquieting, he can add upon his maturity one forearm? ²⁸ And about apparel, why are you disquieted? Fathom the lilies of the field, how it grows. Not it labors, nor it spins. ²⁹ And I say to you that neither Solomon in all his glory, he was arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ And if the herbage of the field, today being and tomorrow throwing into the furnace, God thus enrobes, not much more you – little-faithed? ³¹ “Therefore, not you shall be disquieted, saying, ‘What we shall eat?’ or ‘What we shall drink?’ or ‘What we shall don?’” ³¹ For all these the Gentiles, it seeks upon. For your Father, the heavenly, He has known that you need all these. ³² For all these the Gentiles, it seeks upon. For your Father, the heavenly, He has known that you need all these. ³³ And you, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these all – it will be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore, not you shall be disquieted into the tomorrow, for tomorrow – it will be disquieted itself, its evil – sufficient to the day.

Saturday, 25 January 2025

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“And you, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these all – it will be added to you” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus noted that the heavenly Father knows all the things we need. Therefore, He next says, “And you, seek first the kingdom of God.”

It should be noted that some manuscripts do not include the words tou theou (the God, indicating “of God”). Whether they are original or not, they are to be understood because of the surrounding context of what Jesus is explaining.

To understand what “kingdom” Jesus is speaking of, refer to the comments on Matthew 6:10 where Jesus said, “Your kingdom come.” The term kingdom is used to apply to different things within the dispensations God has set forth in the plan of redemption. What He is speaking of is sufficiently explained in that commentary. Along with seeking the kingdom of God, Jesus next says, “and His righteousness.”

This would correspond to the next words of Jesus in Matthew 6:10, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Seeking God’s righteousness is to seek that His will is done at all times in our lives before Him.

The disciples were instructed on prayer. Jesus then explained the things His prayer detailed. For example, saying, “And do not lead us into temptation,” is explained through Jesus’ examples concerning treasures on earth. If our treasures are in heaven, we will not be led into temptation over earthly things.

As such, what Jesus is now saying is a summary of everything He has explained since the giving of the Lord’s prayer. Praying for the will of God to be done and for the coming of His kingdom was noted in Matthew 6:10. It was then plainly expressed in the closing words, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”

The intervening words since then have not been a lot of new and disconnected thoughts. Rather, they have been helping us understand what it means when the Lord’s Prayer is spoken. Therefore, in seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, Jesus next says, “and these all – it will be added to you.”

Notice how Jesus’ words speak of the plural, these all, and then are summed up in the singular, it. It is an indication that the plural/singular words of the previous verse are probably the correct textual rendering. Jesus is taking plural concepts and then referring to them as a single unit.

Jesus assures His disciples that the things they need will not be kept out of reach when they put God first. Rather, the things they need will find their proper place in their lives.

Life application: Notice how the words of Jesus here actually dispel the notion that having wealth is somehow inappropriate. How often has it been seen that people focus too heavily on certain words while ignoring the greater context.

By telling His disciples to not worry about their lives in regard to food, drink, and clothing, people assume that Jesus is saying that we should not possess such things. This seems bolstered by His words that say, “For after all these, the Gentiles seek.” If the Gentiles seeking them is stated in a negative way, then it must be that Jesus is saying, “Get rid of all your stuff!”

With that, they quit their jobs and join a monastery, or they promise themselves to give away everything they have earned, dying without a penny left in the bank, as if they are only responsible with each week’s paycheck by doing this.

Such an attitude is dispelled throughout the Bible where godly people are seen to have great wealth, such as Job and David. Good men are also noted as saving even for their grandchildren (Proverbs 13:33). But the attitude is also dispelled by Jesus’s word of this verse.

Jesus doesn’t tell them to not have these things. Rather, He is speaking of priorities. Put God first, and God will still give them these things. A person will not be without them, but the possessions will be in the right place in one’s life.

Be sure to take the entire context of what is being said into consideration. Who is speaking, when and where is the person speaking, who is being spoken to, etc. From there, consider the rest of the words as they are presented without over-fixating on a single thought that will then result in a faulty conclusion about the overall presentation. This is the responsible way of looking at all things in Scripture.

Lord God, help us to always put You first in our lives. It is easy to get misdirected with the things of life that crop up and distract us. We know that it is right to seek You, Your kingdom, and Your righteousness first. May we do so, to Your glory. Amen.