Matthew 13:53-27

Jesus Is Confirmed As The Son of God, Begins To Establish His New Congregation, Reaches Out To Gentiles, Is Acknowledged As Messiah By His Disciples, and Reveals His Inherent Glory (13:53-17:27).

The advance of the Kingly Rule of Heaven leading up to the final consummation having been made clear by His parables Jesus is now confirmed as the Son of God (Matthew 14:33; Matthew 16:16; Matthew 18:26) and begins to establish a new open community (Matthew 14:13; Matthew 15:32; Matthew 16:18; compare Matthew 12:25; Matthew 12:50; Matthew 5-7; Matthew 9:15). This idea of commencing a new open community was not in itself a novelty among the Jews. The Pharisees had formed their own open community, the Essenes had formed an open community, Qumran had formed a closed community, the disciples of John the Baptist had formed their own open community. The difference was that all of those communities were preparatory, each in its own way awaiting the coming of God's future Kingly Rule. But as we have seen, Jesus was now establishing God's Kingly Rule among men (Matthew 6:10; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 11:12; Matthew 13:38; Matthew 13:41). Those who came to Him therefore entered under God's Kingly Rule.

And as He does so a new vision opens before Him, and His outreach goes out to the Gentiles as well as the Jews (Matthew 15:21; Matthew 15:31; Matthew 16:13). His acceptance of this comes out in His feeding of both Jews and Gentiles with the bread of heaven (Matthew 15:32). It is thus on mixed Jewish and Gentile territory that He is revealed to be the Messiah (Matthew 16:13). The section closes with a clear demonstration of His Sonship and authority over the Temple (Matthew 17:24).

But all this is built on the fact of rejection by His own home town (Matthew 13:53) and by the civil authorities, the ‘powers that be', in Galilee (Matthew 14:1), followed by the continuing hostility of the most religious and respected men of the day, in combination with the teachers from Jerusalem (Matthew 15:1; Matthew 16:1). Those who ‘hear' do not hear, those who ‘see' do not see, and their hearts are hardened. But those who follow Him will both hear and see (Matthew 16:17; compare Matthew 11:25; Matthew 13:7), even though their faith is small (Matthew 14:31 (compare Matthew 6:30); Matthew 17:20). We can thus understand why He found it necessary to move north. The way was not to be easy.

One theme of this section is feeding. The food of the godless authorities is the head of John the Baptist on a platter (Matthew 14:11) while in contrast those who seek Him feed on the bread of Heaven (Matthew 14:13). The Gentiles who seek Him may ‘eat of the children's food' (Matthew 15:27). They too thus eat of the bread of Heaven (Matthew 15:32). The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is false teaching (Matthew 16:5). That is not to be partaken of.

Note how, following the ministry of chapter 10, mention had been made of the imprisonment of John (Matthew 11:2), followed by the approach of the Scribes and Pharisees to ‘attack' Jesus (Matthew 12:1). Now those ideas are repeated and intensified. The imprisoned John is martyred (Matthew 14:1) and the aggressive Pharisees and Scribes are now ‘from Jerusalem' (Matthew 15:1).

Analysis of the Section Matthew 13:53 to Matthew 17:27

a Jesus comes to His home country. A prophet is without honour in His own country (Matthew 13:53).

b He did not many mighty works in His home town because of their unbelief, but because of His mighty works Herod thinks that Jesus is John raised from the dead (Matthew 13:58 to Matthew 14:2).

c Herod arranges for the execution of John and does to him whatever he will (Matthew 14:3).

d Jesus reveals His glory, and that He has brought food from Heaven, by feeding five thousand at one time. Then He is alone in the Mountain (Matthew 14:13).

e Jesus walks on the water in a stiff and contrary wind and Peter is called on to walk the way of faith in the face of the tempest (Matthew 14:22).

f They proclaim Him as the Son of God (Matthew 14:32).

g The Scribes and Pharisees challenge Jesus about ritual washing (Matthew 15:1).

h Jesus shows that the Pharisees are rejected because they have not been planted by the Father and are blind guides (Matthew 15:10).

i The Canaanite woman may, as a Gentile ‘puppy', eat of the children's food (Matthew 15:21).

j The crowds throng to Jesus, and the dumb, the maimed, the lame, and the blind are healed and ‘they glorified the God of Israel' (Matthew 15:29).

i The feeding of four thousand on Gentile territory. They eat of the children's food (Matthew 15:32).

h The Pharisees and Sadducees seek a sign and are refused one, apart from that of Jonah, and are described as evil and adulterous for doing so (Matthew 16:1)

g The disciples are to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:5).

f Jesus is confessed as the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13).

e The Son of Man must suffer, and His disciples are called on to walk the way of suffering (Matthew 16:21).

d Jesus' glory is revealed to His three chosen disciples in the high mountain. Then they see no man but Jesus only (Matthew 17:1).

c Elijah has come but ‘they have done to him whatever they would' and they realise that He means John the Baptist and is referring to what happened to him (Matthew 17:9).

b The disciples fail to heal the paralytic boy because of their unbelief, but faith will move mountains, thus although Jesus will be tried and executed He will be raised from the dead (Matthew 17:14).

a Jesus is not recognised in His own country as the Son and therefore pays the Tribute, but He does it from His Father's treasury (Matthew 17:24).

Note that in ‘a' Jesus is unrecognised for what He is because He is known too well as the son of the carpenter, and in the parallel He is unrecognised even though He is the Son of God. In ‘b' Jesus is unable to heal in His own country because in their unbelief they do not bring their sick, although His mighty works connect Him with the resurrection, and in the parallel the disciples fail to heal because their faith is insufficient, and Jesus reveals His faith by assuring His disciples of His resurrection. In ‘c' Herod does to John the Baptist whatever He wills, and in the parallel John the Baptist is declared by Jesus to be the coming Elijah, to whom men did what they willed. In ‘d' Jesus displays His glory be feeding five thousand and more from five loaves and two fishes, and in the parallel He displays His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. In ‘e' Jesus walks on water in a stiff and contrary wind, and Peter stumbles, and in the parallel Jesus reveals He must walk the way of suffering, as must His disciples, and Peter again stumbles. In ‘f' He is proclaimed to be the Son of God, and in the parallel He is proclaimed by Peter as the Son of the Living God. In ‘g' the Scribes and Pharisees dispute about ritual washing, and in the parallel Jesus warns against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. In ‘h' the Pharisees are declared not to have been planted by His Father, and to be blind guides, and in the parallel the Pharisees and Sadducees are refused the kind of sign that they want and are declared to be evil and spiritually adulterous. In ‘i' the Canaanite woman is allowed to eat of the children's food (that of Israel), and in the parallel the four thousand ‘eat of the children's food'. Centrally in ‘j' the crowds in Gentile areas throng to Jesus; the dumb, the maimed, the lame, and the blind are healed (His Messianic work is done among them) and ‘they glorify the God of Israel'.