Author: michael

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” ³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁹ They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Matthew 15:1-9)
Here we see that the Pharisees and scribes came to the Lord Jesus and told him that his disciples had violated the traditions of the ancients, because they did not wash their hands before eating. The Pharisees always found fault with the Lord Jesus and his disciples. Jesus told them that they had violated God’s commandments because of their traditions. The Old Testament says, “Honor your father and mother” and also says, “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” But the Pharisees said, “if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it.” The Pharisees abandoned God’s commandments because of their traditions. Jesus quoted the verses of the Old Testament.
¹³ The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. (Isaiah 29:13)
The Pharisees valued traditions, received the human rules they have been taught, but abandoned God’s commandments. They honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from God.

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33)
Here we see that after the Lord Jesus performed miracles and fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes, he asked his disciples to get into a boat and cross to the other side of the sea. After the crowd dispersed, he went up alone to the mountain to pray. We see the importance of prayer. The Lord Jesus left the crowd and went up alone to the mountain to pray, to be alone with the Father. During the fourth watch of the night, that is, from one to three o’clock in the morning, the Lord Jesus was walking on the sea, and the boat was in the sea. When the disciples saw the Lord Jesus walking on the sea, they were afraid and thought it was a ghost. When the Lord Jesus told them that it was Him, Peter asked the Lord Jesus to let him walk across the water to him. Peter was afraid and was sinking because of the strong wind, but the Lord saved him. It was amazing that as soon as the Lord Jesus got into the boat, the wind stopped, and the disciples worshiped Him and said, “You are truly the Son of God!” They worshiped Him because they knew that He was the Son of God. The Lord Jesus walking on the water manifested His divinity. He is the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior. I hope that more people will accept the Lord Jesus as Lord and savior and receive eternal life.
May God bless you and your family! 🙏😊

¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” ¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. ¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:13-21)
Jesus feeding 5,000 people is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. The parallel passage says that many people followed Jesus because they saw the miracles he performed on the sick. Here, it says that when the Lord Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them and healed their sickness. The parallel passage says that the Lord Jesus not only healed the sick, but also preached to them. Here, it says that the 5,000 people do not include women and children. If women and children were included, there would be many more people. In the parallel passage Philip said, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.” Two hundred denarii was equivalent to 200 days’ wages for an average person at that time. The Lord Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes, and the leftovers filled 12 baskets. The parallel passage says that when the people saw the miracles Jesus performed, they said, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world!”
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. (Deuteronomy 18:15)
Here in the Old Testament, Moses has predicted the coming of the prophet, that is the coming of the Lord Jesus.
May God bless you and your family! 🙏😊

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴ Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. ⁵⁵ “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” ⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. (Matthew 13:53-58)
The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth. Here it says that he came to his hometown, which is Nazareth. The Lord Jesus taught in the synagogue, and they were amazed by his wisdom and miraculous powers. But they said, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? They also knew his mother Mary and his brothers and sisters, so took offense at him and did not respect him. The Lord Jesus said: “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” They did not know that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah, and they did not believe in him. Because of their unbelief, the Lord Jesus did not perform many miracles there. Although the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus, people in other villages were waiting for his salvation to come.
May God bless you and your family! 🙏😊

⁴⁷ “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:47-50)
This parable is similar to the parable of the wheat and tares we studied earlier. Here the fish represent people. The Lord Jesus told his disciples to be the fishers of men. The sea represents the world. The net was cast into the sea and gathered all kinds of fish, which means that the gospel will be spread throughout the world. When the net is full, people will draw it to shore. That is, at the end of the age, when the Lord Jesus comes again, he will send angels to separate the righteous from the wicked. What does a righteous person mean? A righteous person is one who practices righteousness, practices God’s righteousness, do God’s will.
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17)
This was the message that the Lord Jesus preached at beginning of his ministry. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Lord Jesus hopes that everyone will repent and turn to him. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God, the kingship of God. If a person is willing to live under the kingship of God, believes and is baptized, he will receive the Holy Spirit, has the presence of the Lord, and has the kingdom of heaven in his heart, when the Lord Jesus comes again, the angels will take him to the kingdom of heaven to be with the Lord, as mentioned in the parable.
⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
Here we can see that the Lord Jesus does not like self-righteous people, people who despise others, He likes humble people. If we see our sins, confess and repent, we will be forgiven by Him, and we will be considered righteous in His eyes.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. (Matthew 13:44)
We see that when the man found the treasure in the field, he hid it instead of took it away. Why? Because the field did not belong to him, it was illegal for him to take away the treasure hidden in the field. However, if he bought the field, all the treasures in the field belonged to him.
From the previous parable study, we know that man represents the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus, and the field represents the world. So what does the treasure represent? Some people think that the treasure represent God or the Lord Jesus, but the treasure is hidden in the field, we can not say that God or the Lord Jesus is hidden in the world. The treasure represents man. Everyone is created by God. In God’s eyes, they are all treasures and precious. So the Lord Jesus was willing to sell everything he had to buy this field. In order to redeem mankind, the Lord Jesus died on the cross. He gave up his life and shed his precious blood. He redeems us from the world with his precious blood.
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, (Exodus 19:5)
This is what God said to the Israelite. If they listen to God and keep God’s covenant, then they are God’s treasured possession.
I tell you, even so there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:10)
Here we see that when one sinner repents, the angels of God will rejoice over him, and heaven will rejoice over him. There are many treasures on earth. Every time the Lord Jesus finds a treasure, he will rejoice, and heaven will also rejoice. The Lord Jesus is willing to find every treasure, and is willing for everyone to turn to him and be born again and saved.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊