Bible Studies in the Gospel of Matthew

Bible Studies in the Gospel of Matthew
V

Matthew 4:17: The kingdom of heaven = the kingdom of God = righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17) = overcoming in temptations.

This kingdom begins as a tiny grain of mustard seed, which is smaller than all other seeds.1 In the beginning you need a magnifying glass to be able to see righteousness (God’s kingdom), but later on, or in the end, you need a magnifying glass to discover unrighteousness, and still there is no way of finding it. Matt. 13:31-32.

The kingdom of heaven had come near in a twofold sense of the word. First, it was in Christ who was in their midst and also, the time was near that it could come into them, as soon as the work of Christ was finished and the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost.

Verse 19: “Follow Me.” You can say this to a person who you realize is poor in spirit. The one who really follows Christ becomes a fisher of men. The fourth word2 in verse 20 proves that Christ judged them correctly. We can do the same. When we do not judge correctly, it is because we are not sufficiently spiritual; we are too earth-bound and earthly-minded.

When we let the Spirit lead us, we will meet people who are poor in spirit, just as Jesus met them—maybe four in a row like Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

It is written that Jesus always instructed the people and taught them. He proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom: the kingdom that consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. You have to repent in order to enter this kingdom and repent in order to stay there. It is sin that prevents a person from remaining there.

Verse 24: If we had the same experience as Jesus (namely, that everyone who came to Him was healed) the report of it would spread tremendously, and there would be a terrific uproar. However, it is not improbable that God will do something like that for us when the end of time draws nearer.

In general, people pray in a rather leisurely way for the sick. Some people are healed, essentially because they have faith to be healed; others are not healed. The person who prays for the sick can also have such faith that it affects the sick person. Jesus did not perform many powerful works in his hometown because of their unbelief.

Jesus lived a life of unusual self-sacrifice, but we have more or less come into the habit of living leisurely. 2 Cor. 6:5, 11:27; Luke 2:37; Matt. 17:25. It takes considerably more seriousness and sacrifice if there are to be healings as mentioned in Matthew 4:23 and 24. “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Yet one can also fast in vain when the right motive is lacking.

For you to be able to expect especially great things, you have to make a corresponding effort. There must be a reasonable connection between cause and effect, between effort and gain. With the life that Jesus and the disciples lived as a cause, you can undoubtedly and justly expect such tremendous effects. You can hardly expect these effects by acting like this: a gourmet dinner, an after-dinner nap, being awakened with coffee and cake, going for a walk to have a better appetite for an evening meal, a gourmet supper; and then grab the Bible and songbook to get to the meeting just in time, or too late.