Key Verse: Matthew 9:11 “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Matthew, as we all know, was one of Jesus’ disciples. In fact, he is the writer of the book we’re now studying. But Matthew was one of the undesirables in Israelite society. He was a Jew, yes, but he was a tax collector for the Romans. In this position, he could demand whatever he thought a person was capable of paying, give the Romans whatever percentage they wanted, and keep the rest for himself.

A tax collector was seen as getting rich from the sorrow and oppression of his own people. To say he was despised was an understatement. He was down there with the prostitutes, drunks and criminals, the down-and-outers. So you would think it a bit of a public relations disaster that Jesus would call a tax collector to be one of His key followers, one of the twelve disciples. Yet that’s exactly what He did. Jesus called this despised person to be one of His men. He goes to his house to have dinner to seal the bargain, and many of Matthew’s friends are there–tax collectors and sinners–eating with Him and His disciples. Of course this was the stuff the teachers of the law and Pharisees loved to see to further emphasize their hatred of this teacher from Galilee. So they asked a question of His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus’ response was, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.”

It’s reminiscent of the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus came to those who recognized their spiritual poverty. Self-righteousness and pride are always the effective blocks in any work of the kingdom of heaven in our lives.

Key Verse: Matthew 7:2 “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged…”

He knows that it’s as natural for humans to judge one another as it is to breathe. And every one of us is guilty. Every one of us is making judgments of others, as hard as it may be sometimes for us to admit it.

Jesus simply reminds us that when we are judging others we are, in a very interesting way, judging ourselves. Or at least He suggests that the intensity, the zeal, the inflexibility of our judgements will somehow be used against us. He is also suggesting that we often judge people for the very things of which we ourselves are guilty. So, in a sense, when we are judging others, we are judging ourselves. May that in itself lends some intensity to our words. He reminds us that relative to other people’s faults, our own faults are much larger, or at least appear to be much larger. Whereas a speck is simply a speck in someone else’s eye, that same speck looks and feels like a plank in our own. And so as we scrupulously attempt to help our brother to improve, not only is our judgment thrown off by the fact that we can’t see clearly due to the imperfection in our own eye, but we are also acting hypocritically if we don’t remove that plank first.

Now it may seem rather strange that in this context Jesus then says, “Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw your pearls to pigs.” It seems like He is making some judgments or encouraging us to make some judgments right there, in calling some people dogs and pigs. I’d like to think that at this point in time, some little stray mutt came walking among the disciples and Jesus just keyed in on that by saying, “Hey, in this area of judging others, discerning. Don’t bare your heart to everyone. Don’t give your treasure to everyone because not everyone can understand or appreciate where you’re coming from or what it is you’re giving them. Be discerning, be wise, be gentle.”

Sometimes, in attempting to show our magnanimity and vulnerability, we merely invite hurt and misunderstanding. So, rather than being torn to pieces, be discerning in whom, and with whom, you share your heart, and save yourself a lot of sorrow.

Key Verse: Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

This beatitude not only sets the tone for Jesus’ “sermon on the mount”, but it’s also the bedrock of Jesus’ ministry. He came to bring men and women into the kingdom. It wasn’t just a case of coming and announcing the kingdom; the hearers of that announcement had to willingly embrace the kingdom. There were requirements, repentances, commitments and obediences which were part and parcel of the meaning of embracing the kingdom. So, when Jesus says, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” He’s telling us that spiritual poverty is the general qualification for entry into the kingdom of heaven.

I think you and I might put it differently. We might say, “Blessed are the successful, the victorious, the pious, the religious and the spiritual giants, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We’d say this because all of us are guilty, to a greater or lesser degree, of the sin of pride. Pride is the antithesis of what Jesus is talking about here. Proud people tend to compare themselves with others and put down either the other person, or themselves. Putting yourself down, by the way, is not virtuous. Sometimes an inferiority complex is an inverted form of pride. We compare ourselves with others positively or negatively and then we compete with others. This can happen in fairly subtle ways. We attempt to rise above the other guy–to put him down if we can’t rise above him–but in some way, to push ourselves ahead.

We also have this longing for unrestrained independence. We don’t want to be dependent on anyone, God included. We try as much as possible to be self-sufficient. Well, poverty of spirit is antithetical to pride. To admit that one is poor in spirit is a humiliating and painful experience. We’re not talking here about putting oneself down, rather we’re talking about seeing oneself in the light of the kingdom of heaven, totally undeserving, totally dirty, totally incapable of entry because our garments are so unworthy. Jesus looks on those who acknowledge their poverty of spirit and says, “You are the ones I am looking for. I didn’t come to call the healthy, I came to call the sick.”

Perhaps the most important lesson of all for us to learn is that, even though we’re made for the kingdom, the kingdom will never be ours until the day we honestly confess to God our unworthiness.

Key Verse: Matthew 4:17 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

After successfully dealing with Satan’s temptations in the the wilderness, Jesus began his ministry. His message was very straight-forward, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

I think we need to be clear about this subject of repentance. Confession of sin is not repentance from sin. Confession demands honesty — in many cases, brutal honesty. And hope lies in that honesty. But the fact is that one can be honest about one’s sinfulness again and again and again. This is a problem that many of us face.

We’re constantly confessing our sin but not repenting. Repentance means turning around and going in the opposite direction. Whereas confession demands honesty, repentance demands  commitment — resolution plus follow-through. Repentance is very difficult and in some cases with those of us who have some kind of weakness, we may find ourselves repenting every day. The truth is, if we actively turn around from a sin before we commit it, then we find ourselves less and less in need of confession. That’s not to suggest we become perfect, but nevertheless it is to suggest that we’ll start growing. Something that’s encouraging about repentance is that as we turn around and go in the opposite direction, the kingdom of heaven comes to meet us.

God is committed to the active repenter, and so we should be encouraged to make that choice, however difficult. By an act of our will, we choose to turn around from our sin. Obviously, from Jesus’ point of view, repentance was and is absolutely vital. There is a relationship between repentance and the coming of the kingdom. A little later on, Jesus will be teaching His disciples to pray and He’ll say, “Thy kingdom come.” Now, a lot of us would rather pray, “thy kingdom go.” When the kingdom comes especially near to us, there is a sense of the holy that will not tolerate sin. So “repent,” Jesus says. If you want the kingdom of heaven to be near, turn around and go in the opposite direction of your sin, and as you do so, be assured the kingdom of heaven will not only be near, it will, in fact, come to meet you.

Key Verse: Matthew 1:20 “…that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew is the only one of the gospel writers who starts his record of the life and ministry of Jesus with a genealogy. Genealogies aren’t fun to read. In fact, they can be downright boring, but Matthew seeks to clearly demonstrate that Jesus Christ was the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. He sees it important that Jesus comes from the line of men who had a special relationship in history with God and His plan. God gave a promise to Abraham, and He gave a promise to David. Jesus Christ, in Matthew’s eyes, is the fulfillment of that promise. But once you get past the genealogies in verses 1 through 17 of chapter one, you get into the meat of Matthew’s high view of Jesus Christ.

The key verse is verse 20. Jesus, although descended from Abraham and David, is unlike them in that there is a supernatural dimension in His life. Literally conceived in the flesh by the supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is set apart from any other human being who has ever lived. So, right off the top, we have the history of a man who not only claims to be the Son of God, who not only rises from the dead and ascends to the Father later on in His life, but is also supernaturally conceived. In every sense of the word, He is the Son of God.

It’s interesting that Matthew follows up this comment on Jesus’ conception by recording the word of the angel in verse 21, “And Jesus’ conception by recording the word of the angel in verse 21, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus’ function, His purpose, is that salvation come to the world. All have sinned, all need salvation. There is only one way for salvation to be achieved, and that’s through the Son of God shedding His blood for the sins of the world. And so, when He says, “this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet,” we see there is an historical continuum. Jesus comes to save people from their sins both now and in the future, in accordance with God’s word to Israel through the prophets in history past.

Key Verse: Revelation 16:5 “Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say; ‘You are just in these judgments, You who are and who were, the Holy One, because You have so judged…”

In this chapter we see the anger of God at sin and the demands of His justice. Seven angels “pour out” the contents of the “seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God” (15:7). The first bowl brings a plague of ulcers upon “the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image” (v.2). The second bowl befouls the sea (v.3) while the third bowl pollutes the fresh water (v.4). The fourth bowl affects the sun so that the earth’s residents are “seared by the intense heat” (v.9), and the fifth bowl plunges “the throne of the beast, and his kingdom” into darkness (v.10). The sixth bowl dries up the Euphrates river and releases three evil spirits who gather “the kings of the whole world…for battle on the great day of God” at the valley of Megiddo (vv.12-16). The final bowl precipitates a great cataclysm culminating in a huge earthquake and violent hail storm (vv.16-21).

All of this comes from God Himself. And the people “curse” Him because of it (vv.9,10). There’s something in human nature that resents superior power, even when it comes from God, who is the ultimate power. We each can choose to submit or rebel.

One of the most significant messages of the book of Revelation is that God will ultimately manifest His holiness and punish all unholiness.  In the context of this chapter, we can clearly see that all this wrath and destruction could have been prevented — but sinful mankind “refused to repent of what they had done” (v.11b). God will go to almost any length to impress on us our need to turn away from sin. But if we refuse, we’ll suffer the consequences.

Key Verse: Revelation 15:4a “Who will not fear You, O Lord, and bring glory to Your name? For You alone are holy.”

In chapters 15 and 16 we read about God’s wrath. This isn’t pleasant reading, and if we’ve thought of God only in terms of His love, these chapters can be disconcerting and even repellent. But we’ve got to understand something — Jesus didn’t come to earth merely to give us a good example, nor was His death at Calvary some sort of morality play. He didn’t come to make us better people. He came to make us new.

Why? Because God the Father is wholly pure, holy, and just. Sin offends Him — so much so that He has decreed that “the wages of sin is death”. All mankind have sinned, and all deserve death in His eyes — His justice demands it. But He is also love. He is not willing that any should perish; He loves the sinner and hates his sin. So what does he do?

God becomes on of us. His Son, Jesus, is born in Bethlehem, is raised in Nazareth, and for three years teaches all who will hear about the Kingdom of Heave. He tells us what God is like, and He tells us to repent of sin. He takes the penalty of our sin upon Himself and dies on the cross. Three days later He rises from the grave and issues in a whole new order of life that transcends seat and enters the eternal. He becomes the “first fruits” of “them who shall also rise”.

He does all this to satisfy His justice so that man can have a second chance. But if we don’t accept His offer, we’ll suffer His anger. And “it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews. 10:31). Revelation makes that very clear.

Key Verse: Revelation 14:3a “And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders.”

John now shifts from a description of the beast and his worshippers (ch.13) to a description of the Lamb and His followers. Consistent with Old Testament expectation, the venue is Mount Zion. Micah, for instance, foresaw the day when God would gather the faithful remnant to Mount Zion and reign over them forever (Mic. 4:6-8). Joel and Isaiah also saw something similar (Joel 2:32; Is. 1:19-12; 40:1-46:13).

Who are these “144,000”? In chapter 7, we saw this number first mentioned and I underlined the importance of the symbolic numbering. the group in this chapter (ch.14) are probably the same people. In both chapters the 144,000 are sealed on their foreheads — in chapter 7, the substance of the seal is not mentioned, but in chapter 14 John tells us that the seal comprises the names of the Father and the Lamb. This seal, of course, is in direct contrast to the name (or number of the name) of the beast which was placed on the right hand or forehead of his worshippers in chapter 13.

The message to the worshippers of the beast is one of dire warning — they “will drink of the wine of God’s fury” and “will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb” (v.10). Usually we think of torment as the exclusive domain of Hell, but here we see the high view God has of our wilful choices and the total anger He has at those who choose to reject His Son. That’s why verse 13 has special meaning and warning: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

Key Verse: Revelation 13:8 “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

Two “beasts” appear in this chapter. It is quite characteristic of apocalyptic visions for animals to symbolize human beings. In this instance, we see (in v.18) that the beast is a man, for he has a “man’s number”.

For many readers, the book of Revelation is dominated by the number “666”. And all kinds of attempts have been made to “calculate the number of the beast” to discover his identity, but I think John wants it to remain an enigma. It is beyond the scope of this brief commentary to review some of the more creditable efforts to unravel the mystery.

The important thing to keep in mind is the expectation of a powerful charismatic leader who will appear on the world stage and dominate it (or “exercise his authority” (v.5) for “forty-two months”). For that period of time he has total control “over every tribe, people, language and nation” (v.7). What is more, he has a side-kick who acts on his behalf with awesome signs and wonders (vv.13-15), so effective and intimidating that he is able to “deceive the inhabitants of the earth” (v.14). Why, he can even make a statue of his boss talk!

He also imposes a strict economic policy on the people of the world — so that only those who “receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead” are able to buy and sell (vv.16,17).

These two beasts have become known as the “Antichrist” and the “False Prophet”.

Key Verse: Revelation 12:11 “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”

In this chapter, we read of a “war in heaven” (vb.7) precipitated by an attempt by Satan to destroy the pre-existent Messiah — the “male cild, who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre” (v.5). One of the unusual aspects of this account is the use of the past tense. John writes of something that has already happened both in the heavenly and earthly realms.

In reading about Satan’s downfall (vv.8,9) one thinks of Jesus’ words in Luke 10:18, when He says to the seventy-two disciples He had sent out two by two, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” This may help us to understand why Satan now operates in the space/time realm of the created universe. It may also help us understand why this world and this age are so utterly evil. But it should also encourage us to know that Satan’s rule will not last forever, “his time is short” (v.12c).

We need to remember that Satan is not God, nor is he a black equivalent. He does not possess godlike attributes. He is not all-present. He is not all-knowing. He is not all-powerful. He is an enemy, but a defeated one. And in the interim, between his present “warring” and his future destruction, we can resist him “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [our] testimony”.

Satan is powerless in the presence of the “Lamb. All those who by faith have placed themselves beneath the atoning blood of Christ are absolutely beyond the limited reach of this “accuser of the brethren”. As the old hymn says, we are “safe in the arms of Jesus”.

Key Verse: Revelation 11:15b “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord an of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever.”

As John’s vision continues, he is given a measuring device and is told to “measure the temple of God and the altar” and to “count the worshippers there” (v.1). He is also told not to measure the “outer court” because it has been given to “the Gentiles” who will “trample on the holy city for 42 months” (v.2). Then the speaker refers to “my two witnesses” (the speaker is not named but I think we can assume it is Jesus ) who will “prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth” (v.3).

John goes on to say that these two witnesses are “two olive trees” and “two lamp stands” who devour their enemies with fire that comes out of their mouths (vv.4,5). Then, in verse 6, he calls them men, and in verses 7-12 we see them killed by a “beast that comes up from the Abyss”, and after three and a half days, they are resurrected and ascend “up to heaven in a cloud”.

The witnesses are not named, so I won’t speculate as to their identity (although some3 commentators build a case for them being Elijah and Moses). The beast is also not named, but we do know that this beast is the first of four referred to in the vision. The other three were the dragon (or Satan, 12:3), the beast with ten horns and seven heads (13:1), and the beast with two horns who spoke like a dragon (13:11). Apart from the variety of description, all these beasts are committed enemies of God. In this chapter, many commentators identify this beast with the Antichrist.

But the key verse (v.15) is the focus of the chapter. The “kingdom of the world”, that is: Satan’s domain, will eventually give way to “the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ”. The Lamb will “begin to reign” (v.17).

Key Verse: Revelation 10:6b, 7 “‘There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the prophets.'”

The key verse is a quote from a “mighty angel” who comes “down from heaven” (v.1). He is of immense size, his body “robed in a cloud”, with a “rainbow above this head”, his face shining “like the sun”, and his legs “like fiery pillars”. He places one foot on the sea and the other on the land, raises his hands to heaven, and shouts with a lion’s roar (vv.2,3).

To this point in Revelation, John has written as thought he were in heaven. Now, however, he is on earth (visions have a way of changing from one scene to another), and he is able to converse with this remarkable angel. Another aspect of the scene, which in the natural world would be incongruous, is perfectly in order in an apocalyptic vision — John, the human being (with human physical dimensions) not only converses with this immense angel, but is also able to take a scroll from the angel’s hand and “eat” it.

The scroll tastes “sweet” but turns John’s stomach “sour” (v.10). Its content has something to do with prophecy — for John is told, after eating it, that he “”must prophesy again about many peoples, nation, languages and kings” (v.11).

Perhaps the key ingredient in the scroll has to do with “the mystery of God [being] accomplished” after the seventh trumpet is blown (v.7). That mystery is very much related to “our Lord and…His Christ” who “will reign for ever and ever” (11.15).