(Re: *2 judgments)
At Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, only the Church will be physically resurrected and finally-judged (1 Corinthians 15:21-23, Revelation 20:5; Psalms 50:3-5, cf. Mark 13:27; Matthew 25:19-30; 2 Corinthians 5:10, Luke 12:45-48). The obedient part of the Church (of all times), including those in the Church who had been beheaded by the future Antichrist, will then reign on the earth with Jesus for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29, Psalms 66:3-4, Psalms 72:8-11, Zechariah 14:3-21). Only sometime after the 1,000 years and the subsequent Gog/Magog rebellion (Revelation 20:7-10, Ezekiel chapters 38-39) will the rest of the dead (of all times) be physically resurrected (Revelation 20:5) and finally-judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
--
*Matthew 12:40b / *Mt. 12:40b -
This can be literal, and can give the time-period for something which occurred after Jesus Christ's physical resurrection.
(See also Luke 23:46 below, and sentence 3 of 1 Peter 4:6 below)
--
*Matthew 12:41-42 / *Mt. 12:41 -
This means that the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10), and the men of Nineveh who repented (Jonah 3:8), will criticize the people in the land of Israel who did not repent and accept Jesus Christ when He came to them in person at His first coming (John 1:11).
(See Matthew 11:20 above)
--
*Matthew 12:50 / *Mt. 12:50 -
(*Brother)
God is our Father (John 20:17, Matthew 23:9, Matthew 5:16). And He is our brother, in that Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1,14, John 10:30, John 20:28), and Jesus (with regard to His humanity) is our brother (Matthew 12:50, Matthew 25:40, Hebrews 2:11-18).
--
*Matthew 13:3-8,18-23 / *Mt. 13:3 -
See Luke 8:4 below.
--
*Matthew 13:8 / *Mt. 13:8 -
(Re: Does the use here of the Greek word "epi" mean that the future Antichrist's mark will be put "into" the hand?)
No, for the meanings of "epi" (G1909) do not include "into", just as Matthew 13:4-8 is not referring to someone pushing seeds one by one into the ground, but instead scattering them out with his hand without discrimination to where they "fell" onto (epi) the surface.
By the time that they sprout, scattered seeds which "fell" only "onto" (epi) the ground can have grown a root down into the ground. But that does not mean that when the seeds were scattered, they "fell" "into" the ground.
(See Revelation 13:16 below)
--
*Matthew 13:10-16 / *Mt. 13:10 / *Mt. 13:13 -
This means that Jesus Christ spoke unexplained parables to those who were not His disciples, as a sign (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:22a), a way of showing how those who were not His disciples listened to Him without understanding Him, even when He spoke to them plainly. And Jesus explained some of His parables only to His disciples, as a way of showing that His disciples usually did understand Him when He spoke to them plainly. But not always right away (e.g. Luke 18:31-34, Luke 24:44-48).
~
(Re: Pharisees)
See section 2 of Mark 4:11b below.
--
*Matthew 13:12a / *Mt. 13:12a -
One application of this principle is that the more that Christians know what the Bible says, the more that they can understand it. For it ends up explaining itself when related passages are compared. To arrive at correct doctrine, Christians must compare and combine related passages in different parts of the Bible (Isaiah 28:9-10; 1 Corinthians 2:13).
(See Matthew 4:4 above)
--
*Matthew 13:21 / *Mt. 13:21 -
This shows that Christians can become offended that God would let them go through tribulation, or through persecution for being believers in God's Word the Holy Bible. The parallel verse in Luke 8:13 shows that this becoming offended with God during a time of trial (the original Greek word "peirasmos"/G3986 translated in Luke 8:13 as "temptation" can refer to a "trial": 1 Peter 4:12) can result in Christians falling away from the faith, which will ultimately result in the loss of their salvation (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b).
(See Mark 13:9 below)
--
*Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 / *Mt. 13:24 -
(*Tares)
Regarding the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43), in Matthew 13:38 the good seed are elect people, of whatever nationality, and the tares are nonelect people, of whatever nationality. Nonelect people are the human children of Satan, who cannot ever believe in Jesus Christ (John 8:42-47). Matthew 13:40-42 will not (as is sometimes claimed) occur at Jesus' future, Second Coming, but will occur at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-14), after the future Millennium and subsequent events (Revelation 20:7-10), when non-Christians of all times will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). In Matthew 13:43 the Kingdom of God the Father is after the Great White Throne Judgment, when a New Earth, as in a new surface for the earth, will be created and God the Father will descend from heaven in His literal city of New Jerusalem to live with the Church on the New Earth (Revelation 21:1-3).
~
(Re: Have you imposed on the parable? For Jesus speaks to the "wheat and the tares", nothing else)
Note that it does not impose on the parable to understand its explanation in Matthew 13:40-43 in light of what other Bible verses show: That non-Christians of all times will not be cast into the lake of fire until after the future Millennium and subsequent events (Revelation 20:7-15).
~
(Re: Can the wheat be burned?)
Some of the wheat could be burned, such as any stalks which failed to bear fruit (cf. John 15:2a,6) because they got choked by thorns (cf. Luke 8:7,14), or withered in the sun due to having shallow roots (cf. Luke 8:6,13).
~
(Re: Are the tares the nephilim, because the tares are darnel, bastard wheat, and only the nephilim are called *bastards?)
Note that Adamic, nonelect humans are called bastards in Hebrews 12:8, in the sense that God does not consider nonelect humans to be of His family, but the children of the devil (John 8:42-47, Matthew 13:38-42).
~
(Re: Are the tares cast into the lake of fire with no judgment?)
They will be judged, for Matthew 13:42 is Revelation 20:15, at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
--
*Matthew 13:32 / *Mt. 13:32 -
(Re: Are the *birds evil?)
While birds can sometimes represent something evil (Matthew 13:4,19), there is nothing evil about birds in themselves. For they can represent something good (Isaiah 40:31). And their being in trees can represent how wonderful God's earthly creation is, such as in Psalms 104:10-17. There, reference is found also to the good "bread which strengtheneth man's heart" (Psalms 104:15), similar to how Jesus Christ followed the parable of the tree with the parable of the making of bread (Matthew 13:32-33). These are good things.
--
*Matthew 13:33 / *Mt. 13:33 -
(Re: Is the *leaven corruption?)
Leaven can represent corruption. For Jesus Christ referred to the false doctrine and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which had corrupted how the Jews understood and practiced their religion, as being like leaven (Matthew 16:12, Luke 12:1b). And the apostle Paul referred to malice and wickedness, which can corrupt church congregations, as being like leaven (1 Corinthians 5:8). Paul also referred to the false, Pharisaical doctrine that Christians have to be physically circumcised and keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law in order to be saved (cf. Acts 15:1,5), which doctrine can corrupt church congregations, as being like leaven (Galatians 5:4-14).
But the leaven in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21 cannot represent corruption. For the Kingdom of heaven/God is not like corruption, but is righteousness, peace, and joy in God's Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). The fact that Leviticus 23:16-17 says that the two loaves of the feast of Pentecost had to be leavened suggests that the leaven in Leviticus 23:16-17, Matthew 13:33, and Luke 13:20-21 could represent God's Holy Spirit, who came upon the Church during a feast of Pentecost in the first century AD (Acts 2). The two leavened loaves of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16-17) could have typified how the Holy Spirit would eventually come upon both Jewish and Gentile Christians (Acts 10:45). And in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21 the woman could represent the Church spreading the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17, Acts 19:6). The three measures of meal through which the Holy Spirit is spread (Matthew 13:33) could represent the (roughly) three millennia from the time of the Pentecost in Acts 2 (in the first century AD) until the end of the future Millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6).
Also, the three measures of meal through which God's Holy Spirit is spread (Matthew 13:33) could at the same time represent the three main groups which the Jews divided humanity into at the time of Jesus Christ's first coming: Israelites, Samaritans (Gentiles who had a quasi-Jewish religion), and Gentiles (Matthew 10:5-6). Israelites were the first to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), then Samaritans (Acts 8:14-17), then Gentiles (Acts 10:45-46).
(See also paragraphs 2-3 of Mark 16:16 below)
~
(Re: *Samaritans)
The Samaritans were genetically Gentiles, for they were descendants of the genetically-Gentile people relocated by Assyria into the territory of the former northern kingdom of Israel after its defeat and carrying away into captivity by Assyria in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:24).
At first, these Gentiles who were relocated into the territory of Samaria, and so later called "Samaritans", kept only to their own pagan religions (2 Kings 17:25-26). But then they were instructed, by a captive Israelite priest who was sent back to Samaria from Assyria, on how to worship YHWH God like the Israelites had (2 Kings 17:27-28). The Samaritans later even came to call the Patriarch Jacob their "father" (John 4:12), in a spiritual sense, like how Gentile Christians call Abraham their spiritual "father" (Galatians 3:7-29, Romans 4:1,16). So, religiously, these Gentiles, these "Samaritans", came to be distinguished from other Gentiles (Matthew 10:5) who did not worship YHWH God or consider Jacob to be their spiritual father, just as the Church sometimes distinguished the Gentiles in the Church (e.g. Romans 16:4) from other Gentiles not in the Church (1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Peter 2:12).
But the Samaritans were never considered by the Jews as having become real Jews. Instead, the Samaritans remained "strangers" to Israel (Luke 17:16-18). The Jews had no dealings with them (John 4:9), and reviled them, using their name as an epithet (John 8:48). Jesus Christ told the Samaritans that they did not know what they worshipped (John 4:22), probably because they also kept to their old pagan worship (2 Kings 17:29-41), and even set up their own temple as a rival to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (cf. John 4:20). Still today, it is said that there are a handful of Samaritans who continue to practice the ancient Samaritan religion in Israel, in the "West Bank" city of Nablus (formerly Shechem).
But in the first century AD, many of the Samaritans came into faith in Jesus Christ when He visited them in person (John 4:39-42), and later when the Church preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them (Acts 1:8, Acts 8:5-25), so that churches were established in Samaria (Acts 9:31). For there are no Christians outside of the Church (Ephesians 4:4-5).
The Samaritans should not be confused with the Israelite inhabitants of "Samaria" in the sense of the capital city of the ancient northern kingdom of Israel before its defeat by Assyria in 722 BC, the name of which city (Samaria), like the name of the tribe "Ephraim", could serve as a synecdochic name for the ancient northern kingdom of Israel as a whole (e.g. Hosea 10:5-11, Hosea 5:12-14). The people in the ten tribes of that northern kingdom never returned from their captivity in Assyria (2 Kings 17:23), giving rise to the mistaken idea of "the ten lost tribes".
The Samaritans were not from any of the tribes of Israel, but were genetically Gentiles (2 Kings 17:24). And later, if some of them married people descended from the tribes of Israel, so that their children obtained some Israelite genes to pass down to subsequent Samaritan generations, this never caused the Jews to consider the Samaritans to be of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel.
But when the New Testament Samaritans became Christians (John 4:39-42, Acts 8:5-25), and so got brought into the Church (Acts 9:31), each individual Samaritan could have been grafted spiritually into any one of the twelve tribes of Israel, whether of the old northern kingdom of Israel/Samaria or of the old southern kingdom of Judah; just as when a Gentile became a Christian in Judaea (e.g. Acts 8:27-39), he could have been grafted spiritually into any one of the twelve tribes of Israel. For nothing requires that the tribe of Israel into which a Gentile Christian is grafted (Romans 11:17, cf. Ezekiel 47:21-23) has to match the location of that Gentile at the time of his becoming a Christian.
(See also the "Lost Tribes?" and "Tribes" sections of Romans 11:17 below)
--
*Matthew 13:41 / *Mt. 13:41 -
This only says: "The Son of man shall send forth his angels" at the time of the separation of the wheat and the tares, not that the Son of man's, Jesus Christ's, future, Second coming will occur at the time of Matthew 13:41. For Matthew 13:41 will not occur until after the future Millennium (Revelation 20:7-15), some 1,000 years after Jesus' Second Coming (Revelation 19:7 to 20:15).
(See also Matthew 13:24 above)
--
*Matthew 13:47-50 / *Mt. 13:47 -
This is the same idea as the parable of the wheat and the tares.
(See Matthew 13:24 above)
--
*Matthew 14:1 / *Mt. 14:1 -
A tetrarch (G5076) was the ruler of one-fourth of a province. In this case, the Roman empire's province of "Palestine", established in 6 AD, could have been ruled by the four men (under Tiberius) referred to in Luke 3:1.
Also, Luke 3:1 refers to the fifteenth year of Tiberius's reign as Roman emperor. He reigned from 14 to 37 AD. So Luke 3:1 referred to about 28 AD. And it refers to when Jesus was baptized (Luke 3:21), when he was "about" thirty years old (Luke 3:23). So Jesus was born about 1 AD, just as our calendar says. For "AD" means "Anno Domini", the "Year of our Lord". (There was no year 0.)
Also, because of the very-significant meaning of "AD", as well as "BC" ("Before Christ"), anti-Christians sometimes go out of their way to replace "AD" and "BC", with "CE" and "BCE", which mean the "Common Era" and "Before the Common Era". Here "Common" could be used simply in the sense of how historical dates are usually divided. But, curiously, "Common" could also at the same time be employed as a euphemism for "Unclean", as in "Non-Jewish" (cf. Acts 10:28, Acts 11:9).
--
*Matthew 15:24,26 / *Mt. 15:24 / *Mt. 15:26 -
Here "Israel" means genetic Jews, just as in Matthew 10:6, "Israel" is distinguished from the genetic "Gentiles" in Matthew 10:5.
(See also Mark 7:27 below)
~
(Re: Were the lost sheep the lost tribes?)
No, the lost sheep were the spiritually-lost Jews to whom Jesus Christ Himself was sent during His first coming (Matthew 15:24), and to whom Jesus sent His disciples during His first coming (Matthew 10:6), and to whom the apostle Peter preached in Jerusalem (Acts 2:36).
(See the "Lost Tribes?" section of Romans 11:17 below)
--
*Matthew 16:1 / *Mt. 16:1 -
(Re: *Pharisees and *Sadducees)
The word "Pharisees" (G5330) could be derived from a Hebrew word (parash: H6567) which means "to separate", so that the "Pharisees" were Jews who were "Separatists" in the sense that they considered themselves to be so religious and holy that they were separate from the other Jews. Compare the English "Puritans" of old, or the "ultra-Orthodox" Jews of today. Jesus Christ at His first coming lambasted the Pharisees for being only outwardly ultra-religious, while inwardly they were utterly-corrupt hypocrites (Matthew 23:23-33). The apostle Paul, before his conversion to Christianity, was a Pharisee (Acts 26:5, Philippians 3:5-11). And even after his conversion, he continued to uphold some of the correct doctrine of Pharisaism, such as that there will be a physical resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6).
This resurrection doctrine was a key part of what separated the Pharisees from the Sadducees. For the latter denied that there would ever be any resurrection of the dead (Luke 20:27). Indeed, they denied that humans even have spirits (Acts 23:8, contrast 1 Thessalonians 5:23), or that angels even exist (Acts 23:8, contrast Hebrews 1:7). The Sadducees were more interested in present, physical matters, such as ruling the Jews through the temple priesthood (Acts 5:17, Acts 4:1-3), while the Pharisees were generally not known as rulers (John 7:48). The word "Sadducees" (G4523) could be derived from the name "Sadoc" (G4524), which is derived from the Hebrew name "Zadok" (H6659). Zadok was a high priest of ancient Israel who, during rebellions, remained faithful to King David (1 Kings 1:8), and to his son Solomon (1 Kings 1:43-46; 1 Kings 2:35, cf. Ezekiel 44:15, Ezekiel 48:11).
Both the Pharisees and Sadducees were great enemies of Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:14,24, John 18:3, Matthew 16:21), and of His apostles (Acts 5:17-18). And Saul the Pharisee (who would later become Paul the apostle) was one of the chief persecutors of the early Church (Acts 8:3; 1 Timothy 1:13, Philippians 3:5-11).
--
*Matthew 16:4 / *Mt. 16:4 -
This means that people are not to seek miracles in order to become Christians. Neither are Christians to seek them in order to remain Christians.
Also, Christians should not reject miracles performed by some Christians today. For miracles have always been part of the operation of God's Holy Spirit through some Christians (1 Corinthians 12:8-11).
(See also 1 Corinthians 12:8 below)
--
*Matthew 16:16 / *Mt. 16:16 -
Just as the apostles physically saw Jesus Christ on the earth at His first coming and had faith in Him (Matthew 16:16), so can people on the earth at His future, Second Coming.
(See also section 4 of Ephesians 3:21 below)
--
*Matthew 16:18 / *Mt. 16:18 -
(Re: Means that the Church cannot be overcome by deception?)
See section 2 of 1 Timothy 3:15 below: from paragraph 2 to the end of the "Wolves" paragraphs.
~
(Re: Means that the Church cannot be physically overcome?) / (*Rock) / (*Gates of hell)
Just as Roman emperors and Satan were allowed by God to physically overcome some Christians in the first century AD (e.g. Revelation 2:10), so during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will be allowed by God to physically prevail against Christians (not in hiding) in every nation (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4, Matthew 24:9-13). And there are no Christians outside of the Church (Ephesians 4:4-6).
(See also Daniel 12:7b above)
Matthew 16:18 meant that the literal gates of Hades would not prevail against the "rock" in Matthew 16:18, which is Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 16:16b,18b), the rock/stone on whom the Church/New Covenant Israel is built (Ephesians 2:20, Matthew 16:18b; 1 Peter 2:6), the rock/stone who was rejected and crucified (Romans 9:33, Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:4,8), the same rock/Christ who followed Old Covenant Israel/the church in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4-5, cf. Acts 7:38), and the same rock/Christ revered by New Covenant Israel/the Church (1 Peter 2:4-10).
That is, Matthew 16:18 was prophesying of when the literal gates of Hades would not prevail against Jesus Christ (Psalms 107:16), when, after His physical resurrection, He went down and liberated the souls of the dead Old Testament believers from Hades (1 Peter 4:6; 1 Peter 3:18c-19, Ephesians 4:8-9, Hebrews 11:13-16, Hebrews 12:22-24).
(See 1 Peter 4:6 below)
~
In Matthew 16:18, both "rock" and "it" are feminine in the original Greek.
~
(Re: Can literal gates prevail?)
Yes, in the sense of prevailing defensively against an attack. Indeed, gates are defensive structures.
But the literal gates of Hades failed to prevail defensively against the Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection:
[Psalms 107:16]
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
1 Peter 3:18 ¶For Christ [was] . . . quickened [resurrected] by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison . . .
[1 Peter 4:6]
~
(Re: Does the original Greek word translated as "prevail" mean to "overpower", not to defend?)
In Matthew 16:18 the original Greek word (katischuo: G2729) translated as "prevail" is derived from two words (kata: G2596; and ischuo: G2480). "Kata" can mean "against" (Matthew 12:30), and "ischuo" can mean "be of strength" (Hebrews 9:17). So "katischuo" can simply refer to something having "strength against" something else, such as an attack. So gates that have strength to withstand an attack can be said to "prevail"/"katischuo" against that attack. But the gates of Hades did not prevail against Jesus Christ's, the "Rock's", attack against them (Psalms 107:16; 1 Corinthians 10:4b, Matthew 16:18b).
Indeed, that is why...
(See 1 Peter 4:6 below)
~
(Re: Psalms 107:16 is in the past tense)
Isaiah 53:5-10 uses the past tense even though it was referring to Jesus Christ's (at that time) future crucifixion for our sins.
Similarly...
(See Psalms 107:1 above)
~
(Re: How could the gates of Hades keep spirits confined?)
The gates of Hades can be spiritual themselves, and so can be able to contain spirits, whether of some fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4) or of some dead humans (Luke 16:23), within Hades.
Similarly...
(See Revelation 20:1 below. Also, see Ecclesiastes 11:5 above)
~
(Re: Does the English word "church" mean the "Lord's house", which is wrong because the corporate body of all Christians together is not the Lord's house?) / (*Ekklesia)
Note that the corporate body of all Christians together is the Lord's house (Ephesians 2:20-22), just as the corporate body of all Christians together is the "church" (Colossians 1:18). The word "church" in the Bible (e.g. Matthew 16:18) is a translation of the original Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577), which was used by Greek-speakers in ancient times to refer to any "assembly" of people, whether Christians or not. For example, Acts 7:38 uses the same Greek word to refer to Old Covenant Israel at the time of the book of Exodus as "the church in the wilderness". Similarly, the Greek word "ekklesia" was used in the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) to translate the Hebrew word "qahal" (H6951), which was used to refer to the "assembly" of Old Covenant Israel (e.g. Exodus 12:6). Acts 19:32,39,41 similarly uses the Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577) to refer to an "assembly" of non-Christian Gentiles. Also, Hebrews 2:12 uses the same Greek word when it quotes Psalms 22:22 as foretelling the "church" of Jesus Christ, which consists of only those, whether Jews or Gentiles, who have been sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ and His New Covenant sacrifice on the Cross for our sins (Psalms 22, Hebrews 2:10-12, Matthew 26:28, Romans 3:25-26).
It is this same, New Covenant "church" which is referred to by Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:18 as being "my" church, built upon Himself (Ephesians 2:20), the Christ and rock of Matthew 16:16b,18b, the rock/stone who was...
(See "rejected" under section 2 of Matthew 16:18 above)
~
(Re: When Jesus spoke Matthew 16:18, was He making up a new word for the "church"?)
When the apostle Matthew (Matthew 10:2-3) wrote down in Greek what Jesus Christ had spoken, possibly in Aramaic or Hebrew, regarding the "church" in Matthew 16:18, the apostle Matthew was not making up a new word. For Matthew used the Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577) which was...
(See "used by" in the section above)
~
(Re: Is the English word "church" pagan?)
Note that even the original Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577), used to refer to Jesus Christ's "church" in Matthew 16:18, could be used to refer to an assembly of pagans (Acts 19:32,39,41), just as even the Hebrew word "qahal" (H6951), also used to refer to Jesus' Church, in Psalms 22:22 (see Hebrews 2:12), could be used to refer to a "company" of pagans (e.g. Ezekiel 32:22-23, Ezekiel 27:27,34, Ezekiel 26:7). But this does not make the ekklesia/qahal/church of Jesus Christ pagan.
~
(Re: Is the corporate body of Christ an *institution?)
The corporate body of Jesus Christ, the Church (Colossians 1:18), has existed as an institution from its beginning. For from its beginning it was founded and organized by God for a religious purpose (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 4:11-13). And an organization founded for a religious purpose is an "institution" (Oxford English Dictionary).
--
*Matthew 16:19 / *Mt. 16:19 -
Here the principle does not apply only to the apostle Peter, but to the entire Church which Jesus Christ would build upon Himself the rock (Matthew 16:18-19, Ephesians 2:20). For the same principle is repeated later in Matthew 18:18, where it is addressing plural people (see the original Greek), and where it can apply to everyone in the Church, just as its context principles apply to everyone in the Church (Matthew 18:17-20).
In Matthew 16:19, in the original Greek, the "thee" and the two "thou" verbs are singular, while in the original Greek of Matthew 18:18 the "you" and the two "ye" verbs are plural.
--
*Matthew 16:27 / *Mt. 16:27 -
This does not require that the final judgment of every person will occur immediately at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming. All it requires is that every person will be finally-judged by Jesus sometime subsequent to His Second Coming.
(See the "2 judgments" paragraph of Matthew 12:36 above)
-
Next entry / Prior / Table of Contents
Nov 29, 2018
At Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, only the Church will be physically resurrected and finally-judged (1 Corinthians 15:21-23, Revelation 20:5; Psalms 50:3-5, cf. Mark 13:27; Matthew 25:19-30; 2 Corinthians 5:10, Luke 12:45-48). The obedient part of the Church (of all times), including those in the Church who had been beheaded by the future Antichrist, will then reign on the earth with Jesus for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29, Psalms 66:3-4, Psalms 72:8-11, Zechariah 14:3-21). Only sometime after the 1,000 years and the subsequent Gog/Magog rebellion (Revelation 20:7-10, Ezekiel chapters 38-39) will the rest of the dead (of all times) be physically resurrected (Revelation 20:5) and finally-judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
--
*Matthew 12:40b / *Mt. 12:40b -
This can be literal, and can give the time-period for something which occurred after Jesus Christ's physical resurrection.
(See also Luke 23:46 below, and sentence 3 of 1 Peter 4:6 below)
--
*Matthew 12:41-42 / *Mt. 12:41 -
This means that the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10), and the men of Nineveh who repented (Jonah 3:8), will criticize the people in the land of Israel who did not repent and accept Jesus Christ when He came to them in person at His first coming (John 1:11).
(See Matthew 11:20 above)
--
*Matthew 12:50 / *Mt. 12:50 -
(*Brother)
God is our Father (John 20:17, Matthew 23:9, Matthew 5:16). And He is our brother, in that Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1,14, John 10:30, John 20:28), and Jesus (with regard to His humanity) is our brother (Matthew 12:50, Matthew 25:40, Hebrews 2:11-18).
--
*Matthew 13:3-8,18-23 / *Mt. 13:3 -
See Luke 8:4 below.
--
*Matthew 13:8 / *Mt. 13:8 -
(Re: Does the use here of the Greek word "epi" mean that the future Antichrist's mark will be put "into" the hand?)
No, for the meanings of "epi" (G1909) do not include "into", just as Matthew 13:4-8 is not referring to someone pushing seeds one by one into the ground, but instead scattering them out with his hand without discrimination to where they "fell" onto (epi) the surface.
By the time that they sprout, scattered seeds which "fell" only "onto" (epi) the ground can have grown a root down into the ground. But that does not mean that when the seeds were scattered, they "fell" "into" the ground.
(See Revelation 13:16 below)
--
*Matthew 13:10-16 / *Mt. 13:10 / *Mt. 13:13 -
This means that Jesus Christ spoke unexplained parables to those who were not His disciples, as a sign (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:22a), a way of showing how those who were not His disciples listened to Him without understanding Him, even when He spoke to them plainly. And Jesus explained some of His parables only to His disciples, as a way of showing that His disciples usually did understand Him when He spoke to them plainly. But not always right away (e.g. Luke 18:31-34, Luke 24:44-48).
~
(Re: Pharisees)
See section 2 of Mark 4:11b below.
--
*Matthew 13:12a / *Mt. 13:12a -
One application of this principle is that the more that Christians know what the Bible says, the more that they can understand it. For it ends up explaining itself when related passages are compared. To arrive at correct doctrine, Christians must compare and combine related passages in different parts of the Bible (Isaiah 28:9-10; 1 Corinthians 2:13).
(See Matthew 4:4 above)
--
*Matthew 13:21 / *Mt. 13:21 -
This shows that Christians can become offended that God would let them go through tribulation, or through persecution for being believers in God's Word the Holy Bible. The parallel verse in Luke 8:13 shows that this becoming offended with God during a time of trial (the original Greek word "peirasmos"/G3986 translated in Luke 8:13 as "temptation" can refer to a "trial": 1 Peter 4:12) can result in Christians falling away from the faith, which will ultimately result in the loss of their salvation (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b).
(See Mark 13:9 below)
--
*Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 / *Mt. 13:24 -
(*Tares)
Regarding the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43), in Matthew 13:38 the good seed are elect people, of whatever nationality, and the tares are nonelect people, of whatever nationality. Nonelect people are the human children of Satan, who cannot ever believe in Jesus Christ (John 8:42-47). Matthew 13:40-42 will not (as is sometimes claimed) occur at Jesus' future, Second Coming, but will occur at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-14), after the future Millennium and subsequent events (Revelation 20:7-10), when non-Christians of all times will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). In Matthew 13:43 the Kingdom of God the Father is after the Great White Throne Judgment, when a New Earth, as in a new surface for the earth, will be created and God the Father will descend from heaven in His literal city of New Jerusalem to live with the Church on the New Earth (Revelation 21:1-3).
~
(Re: Have you imposed on the parable? For Jesus speaks to the "wheat and the tares", nothing else)
Note that it does not impose on the parable to understand its explanation in Matthew 13:40-43 in light of what other Bible verses show: That non-Christians of all times will not be cast into the lake of fire until after the future Millennium and subsequent events (Revelation 20:7-15).
~
(Re: Can the wheat be burned?)
Some of the wheat could be burned, such as any stalks which failed to bear fruit (cf. John 15:2a,6) because they got choked by thorns (cf. Luke 8:7,14), or withered in the sun due to having shallow roots (cf. Luke 8:6,13).
~
(Re: Are the tares the nephilim, because the tares are darnel, bastard wheat, and only the nephilim are called *bastards?)
Note that Adamic, nonelect humans are called bastards in Hebrews 12:8, in the sense that God does not consider nonelect humans to be of His family, but the children of the devil (John 8:42-47, Matthew 13:38-42).
~
(Re: Are the tares cast into the lake of fire with no judgment?)
They will be judged, for Matthew 13:42 is Revelation 20:15, at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
--
*Matthew 13:32 / *Mt. 13:32 -
(Re: Are the *birds evil?)
While birds can sometimes represent something evil (Matthew 13:4,19), there is nothing evil about birds in themselves. For they can represent something good (Isaiah 40:31). And their being in trees can represent how wonderful God's earthly creation is, such as in Psalms 104:10-17. There, reference is found also to the good "bread which strengtheneth man's heart" (Psalms 104:15), similar to how Jesus Christ followed the parable of the tree with the parable of the making of bread (Matthew 13:32-33). These are good things.
--
*Matthew 13:33 / *Mt. 13:33 -
(Re: Is the *leaven corruption?)
Leaven can represent corruption. For Jesus Christ referred to the false doctrine and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which had corrupted how the Jews understood and practiced their religion, as being like leaven (Matthew 16:12, Luke 12:1b). And the apostle Paul referred to malice and wickedness, which can corrupt church congregations, as being like leaven (1 Corinthians 5:8). Paul also referred to the false, Pharisaical doctrine that Christians have to be physically circumcised and keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law in order to be saved (cf. Acts 15:1,5), which doctrine can corrupt church congregations, as being like leaven (Galatians 5:4-14).
But the leaven in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21 cannot represent corruption. For the Kingdom of heaven/God is not like corruption, but is righteousness, peace, and joy in God's Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). The fact that Leviticus 23:16-17 says that the two loaves of the feast of Pentecost had to be leavened suggests that the leaven in Leviticus 23:16-17, Matthew 13:33, and Luke 13:20-21 could represent God's Holy Spirit, who came upon the Church during a feast of Pentecost in the first century AD (Acts 2). The two leavened loaves of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16-17) could have typified how the Holy Spirit would eventually come upon both Jewish and Gentile Christians (Acts 10:45). And in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21 the woman could represent the Church spreading the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17, Acts 19:6). The three measures of meal through which the Holy Spirit is spread (Matthew 13:33) could represent the (roughly) three millennia from the time of the Pentecost in Acts 2 (in the first century AD) until the end of the future Millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6).
Also, the three measures of meal through which God's Holy Spirit is spread (Matthew 13:33) could at the same time represent the three main groups which the Jews divided humanity into at the time of Jesus Christ's first coming: Israelites, Samaritans (Gentiles who had a quasi-Jewish religion), and Gentiles (Matthew 10:5-6). Israelites were the first to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), then Samaritans (Acts 8:14-17), then Gentiles (Acts 10:45-46).
(See also paragraphs 2-3 of Mark 16:16 below)
~
(Re: *Samaritans)
The Samaritans were genetically Gentiles, for they were descendants of the genetically-Gentile people relocated by Assyria into the territory of the former northern kingdom of Israel after its defeat and carrying away into captivity by Assyria in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:24).
At first, these Gentiles who were relocated into the territory of Samaria, and so later called "Samaritans", kept only to their own pagan religions (2 Kings 17:25-26). But then they were instructed, by a captive Israelite priest who was sent back to Samaria from Assyria, on how to worship YHWH God like the Israelites had (2 Kings 17:27-28). The Samaritans later even came to call the Patriarch Jacob their "father" (John 4:12), in a spiritual sense, like how Gentile Christians call Abraham their spiritual "father" (Galatians 3:7-29, Romans 4:1,16). So, religiously, these Gentiles, these "Samaritans", came to be distinguished from other Gentiles (Matthew 10:5) who did not worship YHWH God or consider Jacob to be their spiritual father, just as the Church sometimes distinguished the Gentiles in the Church (e.g. Romans 16:4) from other Gentiles not in the Church (1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Peter 2:12).
But the Samaritans were never considered by the Jews as having become real Jews. Instead, the Samaritans remained "strangers" to Israel (Luke 17:16-18). The Jews had no dealings with them (John 4:9), and reviled them, using their name as an epithet (John 8:48). Jesus Christ told the Samaritans that they did not know what they worshipped (John 4:22), probably because they also kept to their old pagan worship (2 Kings 17:29-41), and even set up their own temple as a rival to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (cf. John 4:20). Still today, it is said that there are a handful of Samaritans who continue to practice the ancient Samaritan religion in Israel, in the "West Bank" city of Nablus (formerly Shechem).
But in the first century AD, many of the Samaritans came into faith in Jesus Christ when He visited them in person (John 4:39-42), and later when the Church preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them (Acts 1:8, Acts 8:5-25), so that churches were established in Samaria (Acts 9:31). For there are no Christians outside of the Church (Ephesians 4:4-5).
The Samaritans should not be confused with the Israelite inhabitants of "Samaria" in the sense of the capital city of the ancient northern kingdom of Israel before its defeat by Assyria in 722 BC, the name of which city (Samaria), like the name of the tribe "Ephraim", could serve as a synecdochic name for the ancient northern kingdom of Israel as a whole (e.g. Hosea 10:5-11, Hosea 5:12-14). The people in the ten tribes of that northern kingdom never returned from their captivity in Assyria (2 Kings 17:23), giving rise to the mistaken idea of "the ten lost tribes".
The Samaritans were not from any of the tribes of Israel, but were genetically Gentiles (2 Kings 17:24). And later, if some of them married people descended from the tribes of Israel, so that their children obtained some Israelite genes to pass down to subsequent Samaritan generations, this never caused the Jews to consider the Samaritans to be of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel.
But when the New Testament Samaritans became Christians (John 4:39-42, Acts 8:5-25), and so got brought into the Church (Acts 9:31), each individual Samaritan could have been grafted spiritually into any one of the twelve tribes of Israel, whether of the old northern kingdom of Israel/Samaria or of the old southern kingdom of Judah; just as when a Gentile became a Christian in Judaea (e.g. Acts 8:27-39), he could have been grafted spiritually into any one of the twelve tribes of Israel. For nothing requires that the tribe of Israel into which a Gentile Christian is grafted (Romans 11:17, cf. Ezekiel 47:21-23) has to match the location of that Gentile at the time of his becoming a Christian.
(See also the "Lost Tribes?" and "Tribes" sections of Romans 11:17 below)
--
*Matthew 13:41 / *Mt. 13:41 -
This only says: "The Son of man shall send forth his angels" at the time of the separation of the wheat and the tares, not that the Son of man's, Jesus Christ's, future, Second coming will occur at the time of Matthew 13:41. For Matthew 13:41 will not occur until after the future Millennium (Revelation 20:7-15), some 1,000 years after Jesus' Second Coming (Revelation 19:7 to 20:15).
(See also Matthew 13:24 above)
--
*Matthew 13:47-50 / *Mt. 13:47 -
This is the same idea as the parable of the wheat and the tares.
(See Matthew 13:24 above)
--
*Matthew 14:1 / *Mt. 14:1 -
A tetrarch (G5076) was the ruler of one-fourth of a province. In this case, the Roman empire's province of "Palestine", established in 6 AD, could have been ruled by the four men (under Tiberius) referred to in Luke 3:1.
Also, Luke 3:1 refers to the fifteenth year of Tiberius's reign as Roman emperor. He reigned from 14 to 37 AD. So Luke 3:1 referred to about 28 AD. And it refers to when Jesus was baptized (Luke 3:21), when he was "about" thirty years old (Luke 3:23). So Jesus was born about 1 AD, just as our calendar says. For "AD" means "Anno Domini", the "Year of our Lord". (There was no year 0.)
Also, because of the very-significant meaning of "AD", as well as "BC" ("Before Christ"), anti-Christians sometimes go out of their way to replace "AD" and "BC", with "CE" and "BCE", which mean the "Common Era" and "Before the Common Era". Here "Common" could be used simply in the sense of how historical dates are usually divided. But, curiously, "Common" could also at the same time be employed as a euphemism for "Unclean", as in "Non-Jewish" (cf. Acts 10:28, Acts 11:9).
--
*Matthew 15:24,26 / *Mt. 15:24 / *Mt. 15:26 -
Here "Israel" means genetic Jews, just as in Matthew 10:6, "Israel" is distinguished from the genetic "Gentiles" in Matthew 10:5.
(See also Mark 7:27 below)
~
(Re: Were the lost sheep the lost tribes?)
No, the lost sheep were the spiritually-lost Jews to whom Jesus Christ Himself was sent during His first coming (Matthew 15:24), and to whom Jesus sent His disciples during His first coming (Matthew 10:6), and to whom the apostle Peter preached in Jerusalem (Acts 2:36).
(See the "Lost Tribes?" section of Romans 11:17 below)
--
*Matthew 16:1 / *Mt. 16:1 -
(Re: *Pharisees and *Sadducees)
The word "Pharisees" (G5330) could be derived from a Hebrew word (parash: H6567) which means "to separate", so that the "Pharisees" were Jews who were "Separatists" in the sense that they considered themselves to be so religious and holy that they were separate from the other Jews. Compare the English "Puritans" of old, or the "ultra-Orthodox" Jews of today. Jesus Christ at His first coming lambasted the Pharisees for being only outwardly ultra-religious, while inwardly they were utterly-corrupt hypocrites (Matthew 23:23-33). The apostle Paul, before his conversion to Christianity, was a Pharisee (Acts 26:5, Philippians 3:5-11). And even after his conversion, he continued to uphold some of the correct doctrine of Pharisaism, such as that there will be a physical resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6).
This resurrection doctrine was a key part of what separated the Pharisees from the Sadducees. For the latter denied that there would ever be any resurrection of the dead (Luke 20:27). Indeed, they denied that humans even have spirits (Acts 23:8, contrast 1 Thessalonians 5:23), or that angels even exist (Acts 23:8, contrast Hebrews 1:7). The Sadducees were more interested in present, physical matters, such as ruling the Jews through the temple priesthood (Acts 5:17, Acts 4:1-3), while the Pharisees were generally not known as rulers (John 7:48). The word "Sadducees" (G4523) could be derived from the name "Sadoc" (G4524), which is derived from the Hebrew name "Zadok" (H6659). Zadok was a high priest of ancient Israel who, during rebellions, remained faithful to King David (1 Kings 1:8), and to his son Solomon (1 Kings 1:43-46; 1 Kings 2:35, cf. Ezekiel 44:15, Ezekiel 48:11).
Both the Pharisees and Sadducees were great enemies of Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:14,24, John 18:3, Matthew 16:21), and of His apostles (Acts 5:17-18). And Saul the Pharisee (who would later become Paul the apostle) was one of the chief persecutors of the early Church (Acts 8:3; 1 Timothy 1:13, Philippians 3:5-11).
--
*Matthew 16:4 / *Mt. 16:4 -
This means that people are not to seek miracles in order to become Christians. Neither are Christians to seek them in order to remain Christians.
Also, Christians should not reject miracles performed by some Christians today. For miracles have always been part of the operation of God's Holy Spirit through some Christians (1 Corinthians 12:8-11).
(See also 1 Corinthians 12:8 below)
--
*Matthew 16:16 / *Mt. 16:16 -
Just as the apostles physically saw Jesus Christ on the earth at His first coming and had faith in Him (Matthew 16:16), so can people on the earth at His future, Second Coming.
(See also section 4 of Ephesians 3:21 below)
--
*Matthew 16:18 / *Mt. 16:18 -
(Re: Means that the Church cannot be overcome by deception?)
See section 2 of 1 Timothy 3:15 below: from paragraph 2 to the end of the "Wolves" paragraphs.
~
(Re: Means that the Church cannot be physically overcome?) / (*Rock) / (*Gates of hell)
Just as Roman emperors and Satan were allowed by God to physically overcome some Christians in the first century AD (e.g. Revelation 2:10), so during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will be allowed by God to physically prevail against Christians (not in hiding) in every nation (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4, Matthew 24:9-13). And there are no Christians outside of the Church (Ephesians 4:4-6).
(See also Daniel 12:7b above)
Matthew 16:18 meant that the literal gates of Hades would not prevail against the "rock" in Matthew 16:18, which is Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 16:16b,18b), the rock/stone on whom the Church/New Covenant Israel is built (Ephesians 2:20, Matthew 16:18b; 1 Peter 2:6), the rock/stone who was rejected and crucified (Romans 9:33, Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:4,8), the same rock/Christ who followed Old Covenant Israel/the church in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4-5, cf. Acts 7:38), and the same rock/Christ revered by New Covenant Israel/the Church (1 Peter 2:4-10).
That is, Matthew 16:18 was prophesying of when the literal gates of Hades would not prevail against Jesus Christ (Psalms 107:16), when, after His physical resurrection, He went down and liberated the souls of the dead Old Testament believers from Hades (1 Peter 4:6; 1 Peter 3:18c-19, Ephesians 4:8-9, Hebrews 11:13-16, Hebrews 12:22-24).
(See 1 Peter 4:6 below)
~
In Matthew 16:18, both "rock" and "it" are feminine in the original Greek.
~
(Re: Can literal gates prevail?)
Yes, in the sense of prevailing defensively against an attack. Indeed, gates are defensive structures.
But the literal gates of Hades failed to prevail defensively against the Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection:
[Psalms 107:16]
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
1 Peter 3:18 ¶For Christ [was] . . . quickened [resurrected] by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison . . .
[1 Peter 4:6]
~
(Re: Does the original Greek word translated as "prevail" mean to "overpower", not to defend?)
In Matthew 16:18 the original Greek word (katischuo: G2729) translated as "prevail" is derived from two words (kata: G2596; and ischuo: G2480). "Kata" can mean "against" (Matthew 12:30), and "ischuo" can mean "be of strength" (Hebrews 9:17). So "katischuo" can simply refer to something having "strength against" something else, such as an attack. So gates that have strength to withstand an attack can be said to "prevail"/"katischuo" against that attack. But the gates of Hades did not prevail against Jesus Christ's, the "Rock's", attack against them (Psalms 107:16; 1 Corinthians 10:4b, Matthew 16:18b).
Indeed, that is why...
(See 1 Peter 4:6 below)
~
(Re: Psalms 107:16 is in the past tense)
Isaiah 53:5-10 uses the past tense even though it was referring to Jesus Christ's (at that time) future crucifixion for our sins.
Similarly...
(See Psalms 107:1 above)
~
(Re: How could the gates of Hades keep spirits confined?)
The gates of Hades can be spiritual themselves, and so can be able to contain spirits, whether of some fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4) or of some dead humans (Luke 16:23), within Hades.
Similarly...
(See Revelation 20:1 below. Also, see Ecclesiastes 11:5 above)
~
(Re: Does the English word "church" mean the "Lord's house", which is wrong because the corporate body of all Christians together is not the Lord's house?) / (*Ekklesia)
Note that the corporate body of all Christians together is the Lord's house (Ephesians 2:20-22), just as the corporate body of all Christians together is the "church" (Colossians 1:18). The word "church" in the Bible (e.g. Matthew 16:18) is a translation of the original Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577), which was used by Greek-speakers in ancient times to refer to any "assembly" of people, whether Christians or not. For example, Acts 7:38 uses the same Greek word to refer to Old Covenant Israel at the time of the book of Exodus as "the church in the wilderness". Similarly, the Greek word "ekklesia" was used in the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) to translate the Hebrew word "qahal" (H6951), which was used to refer to the "assembly" of Old Covenant Israel (e.g. Exodus 12:6). Acts 19:32,39,41 similarly uses the Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577) to refer to an "assembly" of non-Christian Gentiles. Also, Hebrews 2:12 uses the same Greek word when it quotes Psalms 22:22 as foretelling the "church" of Jesus Christ, which consists of only those, whether Jews or Gentiles, who have been sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ and His New Covenant sacrifice on the Cross for our sins (Psalms 22, Hebrews 2:10-12, Matthew 26:28, Romans 3:25-26).
It is this same, New Covenant "church" which is referred to by Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:18 as being "my" church, built upon Himself (Ephesians 2:20), the Christ and rock of Matthew 16:16b,18b, the rock/stone who was...
(See "rejected" under section 2 of Matthew 16:18 above)
~
(Re: When Jesus spoke Matthew 16:18, was He making up a new word for the "church"?)
When the apostle Matthew (Matthew 10:2-3) wrote down in Greek what Jesus Christ had spoken, possibly in Aramaic or Hebrew, regarding the "church" in Matthew 16:18, the apostle Matthew was not making up a new word. For Matthew used the Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577) which was...
(See "used by" in the section above)
~
(Re: Is the English word "church" pagan?)
Note that even the original Greek word "ekklesia" (G1577), used to refer to Jesus Christ's "church" in Matthew 16:18, could be used to refer to an assembly of pagans (Acts 19:32,39,41), just as even the Hebrew word "qahal" (H6951), also used to refer to Jesus' Church, in Psalms 22:22 (see Hebrews 2:12), could be used to refer to a "company" of pagans (e.g. Ezekiel 32:22-23, Ezekiel 27:27,34, Ezekiel 26:7). But this does not make the ekklesia/qahal/church of Jesus Christ pagan.
~
(Re: Is the corporate body of Christ an *institution?)
The corporate body of Jesus Christ, the Church (Colossians 1:18), has existed as an institution from its beginning. For from its beginning it was founded and organized by God for a religious purpose (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 4:11-13). And an organization founded for a religious purpose is an "institution" (Oxford English Dictionary).
--
*Matthew 16:19 / *Mt. 16:19 -
Here the principle does not apply only to the apostle Peter, but to the entire Church which Jesus Christ would build upon Himself the rock (Matthew 16:18-19, Ephesians 2:20). For the same principle is repeated later in Matthew 18:18, where it is addressing plural people (see the original Greek), and where it can apply to everyone in the Church, just as its context principles apply to everyone in the Church (Matthew 18:17-20).
In Matthew 16:19, in the original Greek, the "thee" and the two "thou" verbs are singular, while in the original Greek of Matthew 18:18 the "you" and the two "ye" verbs are plural.
--
*Matthew 16:27 / *Mt. 16:27 -
This does not require that the final judgment of every person will occur immediately at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming. All it requires is that every person will be finally-judged by Jesus sometime subsequent to His Second Coming.
(See the "2 judgments" paragraph of Matthew 12:36 above)
-
Next entry / Prior / Table of Contents
Nov 29, 2018
