Verse by Verse

13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.

20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.

21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

This is the only miracle (except the resurrection) that appears in all four gospels — Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13

heard it (v.13) — John’s death, or that Herod had heard of His ministry (or both)

Herod never saw Jesus until His trial, at which time Jesus refused to speak in his presence.

evening (v.15) — probably around 3:00 p.m. by Jewish reckoning

five loaves and two fish (v.17) — the meal of a boy, discovered by Andrew. The loaves were barley, a poor type of bread. — Psalm 132:15.

baskets (v.20) = small baskets carried on the arm

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus

2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.”

3 For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.

4 Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

5 And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

6 But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.

7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

8 So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”

9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.

10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.

11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 

12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

This account also appears in Mark 6:14-29 and Luke 9:7-9.

Herod (v.1) — Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Peraea — son of Herod the Great

tetrarch (v.1) = ruler of a fourth. Herod the Great’s kingdom had been divided among his sons

prison (v.3) — probably in the castle of Machaerus, on the Dead Sea — John had probably been in prison for about a year.

Herodias (v.3) — daughter of Aristobolus, who was Antipas’ half-brother. She was married to her uncle Philip (with whom she’d had a daughter, Salome). Herodias divorced Philip and married Antipas who was already married to the daughter of Aretus, king of Arabia.

daughter (v.6) — Salome, who was probably around 17 years old.

It was not long [after the events of this chapter] before the wicked ambition of Herodias led Herod to Rome to seek the title of king, given to Agrippa, the brother of Herodias. But in this quest he not only failed to obtain the title he sought but lost his dominions and was banished to Lugdumin in Gaul not far from the Spanish frontier, where he and the wicked Herodias later died in obscurity and dishonor. Salome was married to her uncle Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis and Batanea, but after a brief time was left a widow and disappears from history. Tradition says that she met with an early and hideous death. — Pentecost, pages 229-230.

54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 

56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?”

57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”

58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

His own country (v.54) — Nazareth — This is probably a later visit than the one recorded in Luke 4:16-29 and is His last recorded visit to the town.

brothers (v.55) — half-brothers, sons of Mary and Joseph

James (v.55) — Not the apostle, but a leader in the Acts church and the writer of the New Testament book

Judas (v.55) — the writer of the book of Jude

0ffended (v.57) = lit. “made to stumble”

Rabbinical teaching consisted of the transmission of traditional interpretations, and so the crowd questioned His source of knowledge. They weighed both His words and works. They confessed that such knowledge could not be traced to His father, who would have been expected to teach the law to his son (Deuteronomy 6:7). They would have been aware that none of the others brought up in the same home and under the tutelage of the same father could display such knowledge or do such works. Because Christ had not been taught by an accredited teacher, the crowd discounted His words. In fact, “they took offense at Him” (Mark 6:3). — Pentecost, page 227.

52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.

scribe (v.52) — The scribes originally were chroniclers, and were closely associated with the military movements of the ancient people. But with the advent of Ezra, the scribe filled a new office. He became, as in the case of Ezra himself, a reader and an expounder of the law of God. Ezra is the most conspicuous example of the true scribe, he who stood in the midst of the people and read the words of the law, indicating the meaning of them, not merely by elocutionary perfection, but by comment, annotation, exposition. That was the real office of the scribe. In the days of Jesus they were still the professed exponents of the law; but they then proceeded upon two principle, the first of oral tradition and that secondly of the interpretation of the letter with an almost painful accuracy. These two principles had become the means of obscuring rather than expounding the law.

His disciples were to become in their age the interpreters of the law of God. He said in effect, You are to become the new scribes, the interpreters of the Kingdom, those through whom the age will know the facts concerning the government of the God.— Morgan, pages 176 and 177

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householder (v.52) — In the East, the householder was one in absolute authority, a king, a shepherd, a father. And so the figure employed is that of a despot, apart from the undesirable significance of the term. In this word “householder,” then, there is present the thought of loving yet absolute authority. Christ often used the word, and almost invariably concerning Himself. — Morgan, page 177

treasure (v.52) = treasure laid horizontally — laid up, possessed

brings out (v.52) = flings forth, scatters around — with the idea of prodigality, generosity

new and old (v.52) — fresh and ancient — They were to take what He was revealing to them about the Millennial Kingdom and add it to what was revealed about the Kingdom in the Old Testament.

The whole picture is one of an eastern householder, the master of a house, an authoritative ruler, lavishly scattering out of his wealth the things which are necessary for the supply and government of his household. Those who are gifted with imagination see the picture. It is full of color. No neutral tints are in it. The eastern house-master, house-despot, out of his treasure scattering upon his people, upon the children of his family, the sheep of his flock, the subjects of his kingdom, all that they need. It is the attitude of the real kingship, and real fatherhood, and real shepherdhood. — Morgan, page 178.

It was the message of the Millennial Kingdom that the disciples were to share with Israel. This is the message that they were told to share in Acts 1:8 when the Lord said: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

This is the message that Peter did in fact share at Pentecost in Acts 2:16 when he began his message with: But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel …

This is the message the twelve were still to preach after the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 about which we read: When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me [Paul], they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Galatians 2:9).

The twelve were not preaching about the body of Christ, the church. That message was given to Paul. In the church, there was no circumcision or uncircumcision, no Jew or Gentile. But the 12 apostles were to go only to the circumcised, the Jews, with the message of the Kingdom.

This separation lasted until Acts 28:25-28 when the Jewish leaders in Rome rejected the risen Christ. After that, only the gospel to the uncircumcised was preached.

When they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”’ “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” 

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind,

48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.

49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,

50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

dragnet (v.47) — the largest kind of net, weighed below with corks on top, sweeping perhaps a half mile of water. Because of its large character, the net collects a multitude of different kinds of fish, described in the text as “every kind.” Nets of this size were too large to empty into a boat and had to be drawn to shore. Here the fish were sorted. Those that were bad, or for any reason unusable, were cast back into the sea. — Walvoord, page 106

Although the commentaries state that these events will take place when the Lord returns at the beginning of the Millennium, I think they are a perfect description of what happens at the end of the Millennium as described in Revelation 20:12-15. (I’ll give a few earlier verses as context.)

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison

8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,

46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

In the parable of the merchant looking for fine pearls, Christ revealed that God will get a treasure not only from the nation Israel but from the Gentiles as well. This is inferred from the fact that a pearl comes out of the sea. Frequently in Scripture the sea represents Gentile nations. Once again we see that a treasure from among the Gentiles becomes God’s by purchase. — Pentecost, page 218

If this take is correct, and I think it is, the pearl refers to the Gentile nations that will be blessed through Israel during the Millennial Kingdom. It does not refer to the church because 1) the Church wasn’t revealed until the revelation was given to Paul, and 2) the Church won’t be in the kingdom.

“And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength), indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth’” (Isaiah 49:5-6).

44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

field — In the previous parables, the field is the world

man — In the previous parables, the man is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ

According to Exodus 19:5, God declared to Israel, “If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine.” According to Psalm 135:4, “The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto Himself, and Israel for His peculiar treasure.”

… As we trace the gospel narratives, it is clear that Jesus came with a special purpose of redeeming Israel, although at the same time He reconciled the world unto Himself. It was Jesus, therefore, who sold all that He had in order to buy the treasure, Israel, and to purchase it with His own blood (Philippians 2:7-8; 1 Peter 1:18-19). During the present age, Israel is a hidden entity in the world, only to emerge at the end of the age as a major factor in the prophetic fulfillment leading up to the second coming of Christ. — Walvoord, page 105.

I would agree with Walvoord except with his reference to the present age. This age was hidden when Christ was speaking, so He couldn’t have been referring to it. He could, however, have been speaking of the period on the prophetic timeline between when He spoke and His second coming. For the rest of the time before His death, for the period between Pentecost and Acts 28, and for the still future Tribulation, Israel will be hidden. The parable only goes this far. It doesn’t refer to the time when the treasure will be dug up.

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,

42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

This is the explanation of the parable that the Lord taught in vs. 24-30.

In the Millennial Kingdom, those who believe in Jesus Christ are represented by the wheat in this parable. Those who don’t believe are the tares.

Sin will be punished severely, so those who don’t believe will behave and look very much like believers, just as tares look like wheat.

But at the end of the age, the unbelievers will be separated and thrown into everlasting fire.

Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:7-10).

33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,

35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

three measures (v.33) — a common baking measure — about a gallon and a half

It has been correctly pointed out that it is both important and interesting to interpret any expression or thought in Scripture by the presence thereof in other parts of Scripture, and especially by its first occurrence. Following that principle of investigation, we find that the first occasion upon which the three measures of meal are mentioned in Scripture is as far back as Genesis 18:6. There we have an account of the entertainment of Jehovah by Abraham. In one of the great Theophanies of the Old Testament, Jehovah manifested Himself as an angel. Recognizing Him as supernatural, Abraham hastened to entertain Him. Sarah took three measure of meal and prepared it. Passing on through the Bible I find the figure again in connection with the meal offering. For this there was fixed a minimum and maximum amount. Gideon brought an offering, and Hannah also, and on each occasion three measures of meal are spoken of. In the book of Ezekiel, in connection with the final and perfect offerings, seven times over in one brief instruction the amount of the meal offering is three measures of meal. In the Divine economy the meal offering followed the burnt offering. The burnt offering signifies the devotion of the life to God. The meal offering was the result of cultivation, manufacture, preparation, and, therefore, so far as man was concerned, always signified dedication of his work to God. Remember, too, the meal offering was an offering of hospitality; part was retained by the worshiper and part was at the disposal of the priest. In the meal offering, then, we have a symbol of the perfect communion established between the worshiper and God upon the basis of the worshiper’s service. From the simple rites of home life was taken that which was to be the perpetual symbol of dedication to God in service as the ground of perpetual communion with Him. — Morgan, pages 159-160

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Leaven is in itself corrupt, and is always an agent of corruption. When Sarah prepared the meal for the angel, she mixed no leaven with it. Leaven was distinctly forbidden in the meal offering, and when Paul used the figure of the leaven, whether in reference to the Levitical code, the Jewish custom, or the Master’s use of it, it was always in the sense of evil. “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ: wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). — Morgan, page 160

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The first use of “leaven” in the New Testament, in the actual reading of the books rather than in the chronology of events, is in our text. Later on, as the King came to Caesarea Philippi, and approached the crisis when the period of His propaganda merged into that of His passion, He warned His disciples to “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Mark tells us that He said, “Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod;” while Luke reports Him as saying, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” 

Coming to the letter to the Corinthians, Paul uses the figure in connection with the toleration in the church of an incestuous person, and the lack of discipline which characterized that toleration. Yet again, in the Galatian epistle, in combating the influence of Judaizing teachers, Paul declared, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” These referenced exhaust the use of the figure in the New Testament. Thus in the Old and New alike, leaven is the symbol of that against which the men of faith are to guard. — Morgan page 161

The quote in v.35 is from Psalm 78:2.

Again, the commentaries apply this parable to the current age. I’ve already given my reasons why I don’t agree with this.

There will be sin in the kingdom.  It will be judged (Isaiah 65:20)  as it was with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), but it will be there.

The kingdom will start with all believers, of course, all unbelievers having died off at Armageddon.  However, these believers will have children who can’t inherit salvation — they must believe for themselves.  As is the case now, the majority of people don’t believe.  Thus by the end of the kingdom, Satan is able to amass an army against God “whose number is as the sand of the sea” (Revelation 20:7-8).  That’s how “the whole was leavened”, as the parable says.

The parable features a woman introducing the leaven since she is the one who bears the children who will leaven the kingdom.

31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,

32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

This parable is also found in Mark 4:30-31.

We are not to understand from our Lord’s words that the mustard seed is the most infinitesimal of all seeds in the entire vegetable kingdom, but it is the least of all the seeds of the garden herbs; yet when it is grown it becomes the greatest of all the herbs, towering over all the rest, so that it forms a place of shelter. — Ironside, page 167.

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Some have noted that the mustard seed described as “the least of all seeds” is not actually the smallest seed, and that this is an error in the Scriptures. The answer is twofold. The Greek word translated “smallest” (mikroteron) is actually a comparative and should be translated “smaller,” … The thought is that it is “very small.” Second, Jesus is speaking of the seeds that were ordinarily planted in ancient gardens, hence the remark that botanists know about many seeds that are still smaller is pointless. — Walvoord, pages 101-102.

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The expression, “small as a mustard seed,” had become proverbial, and was used, not only by our Lord, but frequently by the Rabbis, to indicate the smallest amount.

Mustard was in Palestine mixed with, or used as food for pigeons, and presumably would be sought by other birds.

The Kingdom of Heaven, planted in the field of the world as the smallest seed, in the most humble and uncompromising manner, would grow till it far outstripped all other similar plants, and gave shelter to all nations under heaven.

Out of that insignificant seed in one year would grow a plant that became large enough for birds to nest in it. Daniel 4:12 and Ezekiel 31:6 use the figure of a spreading tree in which birds lodge to indicate a great kingdom that can protect many people. — Pentecost, page 217.

My commentaries all saw this as a picture of the world today. Many of them say that a mustard plant the size of a tree would be an abnormal thing and equate it with the professing church of the current age. Birds, they say, always represent evil and, therefore, are the apostasy and evil ones of this age, or those who profess to be Christians but aren’t.

But again, this makes no sense to me. The Lord had been preaching the literal kingdom all through His ministry up to this point. And although the Jews didn’t understand and had rejected Him as the Messiah, they hadn’t yet finally rejected the kingdom because the kingdom wasn’t offered until Pentecost. (Even if, hypothetically, the Jews had accepted Christ as the Messiah, the kingdom still couldn’t have been ushered in until Pentecost because, without Christ’s death and resurrection, there would be no salvation.)

So … I’m forced to decide for myself what this parable means. If it’s referring to the Millennial Kingdom, which I believe all of Christ’s references to the kingdom in Matthew are, then … The Jewish leaders had just rejected Christ. Only a small group of followers (a mustard seed’s worth) were planted on the earth. But someday, in the Millennium, that small group will be a huge nation that covers the earth, large enough for the other nations to take cover under its blessing.

I understand that I’m disagreeing with the widespread consensus here, which makes me wonder why I see this so differently. I think it’s this …

Many (most?) people see this age as the culmination of earthly history — Christ died and rose again and salvation is offered to everyone who believes and so all Scripture must, somehow, be about now.

I don’t agree. I think the culmination of earthly history will be the Millennial Kingdom when Jesus Christ is on the throne in Jerusalem, there will be widespread peace on earth, and all the nations of the world are blessed through Israel. That, and not the situation today, fulfills the promised made to Abraham and David. That provides the literal fulfillment of so very many Old Testament prophecies. That explains Acts 2 and Romans 9-11 and Revelation. And any claim that we’re experiencing God’s ultimate plan for earth today makes God look like a failure.

This current age is, as it is often named, an age of grace. God, before He reigns, is going to judge the world. He is postponing that awful judgment because of His grace. But it’s coming.

I think Satan primarily works by twisting the truth just enough to confuse people. Claiming that this age is the culmination of history sounds good. It makes us feel important. It can be backed up by a lot of Scripture (taken out of context or interpreted incorrectly). And it keeps people from properly understanding God’s Word.