The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
January 26
Matthew 17:10-27
Commentary by Nick Boork
January 26
Matthew 17:10-27
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And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. 14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
22 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful. Peter and His Master Pay Their Taxes 24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” 26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In today's reading I want us to focus in on two things: First, how to turn impossible situations around. Second, what Jesus had to say about paying the temple tax which is exclusive to Matthew's Gospel. So how do you turn impossible situations around? In the case of the father who brought his son to Jesus, this man was desperate. Why? Because his son had epilepsy and he was suffering horribly. Epileptic seizures many times caused his son to nearly die by falling into an open fire or water to drown. The man heard about Jesus and his healing ministry so he brought his son to Jesus disciples for prayer. However, after praying the disciples could not get the boy healed. They recognized there was an evil presence in the boy and they tried to cast it out unsuccessfully. So they brought the boy to Jesus and the Bible says Jesus cast the demon out and the boy was healed miraculously. The disciples asked Jesus how come they couldn't cast the demon out? Jesus said it was because of their unbelief. The epilepsy wasn't just some kind of natural sickness that was afflicting the boy. No, it was a spiritual attack of a demon to destroy his life. According to the Bible this demon caused the epilepsy in this boy and was obviously trying to destroy the boy by causing him to go into a seizure and fall in fire to burn him or in water to drown him. Jesus discerned the source of this boy suffering. It was spiritual, it was in fact a demon.
What does this teach us? That it's vital to discern the source of a person suffering. If a person is suffering because of a spiritual attack from the devil on their body as is revealed in the Scriptures, then it will take a spiritual solution to solve a spiritual problem! You can prescribe to a person all the medicine in the world and give them all the surgery possible to solve the suffering, but if the source is spiritual it will all be in vain. So, Jesus discerning the source of the suffering was an evil spirit released his faith and his authority verbally rebuking the spirit and commanding it to come out of the boy. The Bible says the demon came out and the boy was healed! When the disciples asked Jesus privately how come they couldn't cast out the demon He said it was because of their unbelief. However, Jesus added that this kind of demon only comes out by prayer and fasting. This teaches us that Jesus was living in a close spiritual relationship with his Father God through a life of prayer and fasting that prepared and enabled him to be ready to deal with this demon and bring freedom and healing to the boy.
So according to Jesus, living a life of prayer and fasting is the key to turning impossible situations around and releasing our faith that God will move the mountains out of our way! So, do you have an impossible situation? First, discern the source of the suffering or problem. Not everything is a demon! Sometimes we just need to take responsibility for the bad choices we have made and correct things personally. However, there are times when the devil will attack even Christians through sickness, lack of finances or what seems like mountains of opposition opposing you to do the will of God. When this happens we need to use our God-given authority to defeat the devil. Remember Jesus said in John chapter 10:10 “The thief only comes to kill, to steal and to destroy but I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The thief Jesus is referring to is obviously the evil one, the devil. The Bible says in James 4:7 “Submit yourself to God resist the devil and he will flee from you.” If the devil doesn't leave through common prayer and resisting him in faith then begin to fast and pray. Remember Jesus promise, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can speak to mountains of opposition and they will be removed and nothing will be impossible for you!
Now let's look at what Jesus had to say to Peter about paying the temple tax. What was this tax? It was a tax to help maintain the Temple and was initiated by Moses. When Jesus asked Peter who do the kings of this world take taxes from their own sons are strangers Peter answered and said strangers. He got the point. Jesus was the Son of God and his father really wasn't requiring him to be paying the taxes to maintain the Temple but Jesus said to Peter let's not offend them and even though we don't have to pay it we will pay it to not cause a problem. Next he told Peter go fishing and the first fish that you catch you'll find a coin in its mouth. Take that money and go pay my tax and yours. What's this teach us? That we as followers of Christ should pay the taxes that are due us and we can expect God to provide. God is concerned about everything in our lives down to the smallest detail. We can trust him to meet all of our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 says “But my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.” Be a good steward of your money and remember God is faithful. You can trust in the goodness of our God.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
22 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful. Peter and His Master Pay Their Taxes 24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” 26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In today's reading I want us to focus in on two things: First, how to turn impossible situations around. Second, what Jesus had to say about paying the temple tax which is exclusive to Matthew's Gospel. So how do you turn impossible situations around? In the case of the father who brought his son to Jesus, this man was desperate. Why? Because his son had epilepsy and he was suffering horribly. Epileptic seizures many times caused his son to nearly die by falling into an open fire or water to drown. The man heard about Jesus and his healing ministry so he brought his son to Jesus disciples for prayer. However, after praying the disciples could not get the boy healed. They recognized there was an evil presence in the boy and they tried to cast it out unsuccessfully. So they brought the boy to Jesus and the Bible says Jesus cast the demon out and the boy was healed miraculously. The disciples asked Jesus how come they couldn't cast the demon out? Jesus said it was because of their unbelief. The epilepsy wasn't just some kind of natural sickness that was afflicting the boy. No, it was a spiritual attack of a demon to destroy his life. According to the Bible this demon caused the epilepsy in this boy and was obviously trying to destroy the boy by causing him to go into a seizure and fall in fire to burn him or in water to drown him. Jesus discerned the source of this boy suffering. It was spiritual, it was in fact a demon.
What does this teach us? That it's vital to discern the source of a person suffering. If a person is suffering because of a spiritual attack from the devil on their body as is revealed in the Scriptures, then it will take a spiritual solution to solve a spiritual problem! You can prescribe to a person all the medicine in the world and give them all the surgery possible to solve the suffering, but if the source is spiritual it will all be in vain. So, Jesus discerning the source of the suffering was an evil spirit released his faith and his authority verbally rebuking the spirit and commanding it to come out of the boy. The Bible says the demon came out and the boy was healed! When the disciples asked Jesus privately how come they couldn't cast out the demon He said it was because of their unbelief. However, Jesus added that this kind of demon only comes out by prayer and fasting. This teaches us that Jesus was living in a close spiritual relationship with his Father God through a life of prayer and fasting that prepared and enabled him to be ready to deal with this demon and bring freedom and healing to the boy.
So according to Jesus, living a life of prayer and fasting is the key to turning impossible situations around and releasing our faith that God will move the mountains out of our way! So, do you have an impossible situation? First, discern the source of the suffering or problem. Not everything is a demon! Sometimes we just need to take responsibility for the bad choices we have made and correct things personally. However, there are times when the devil will attack even Christians through sickness, lack of finances or what seems like mountains of opposition opposing you to do the will of God. When this happens we need to use our God-given authority to defeat the devil. Remember Jesus said in John chapter 10:10 “The thief only comes to kill, to steal and to destroy but I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The thief Jesus is referring to is obviously the evil one, the devil. The Bible says in James 4:7 “Submit yourself to God resist the devil and he will flee from you.” If the devil doesn't leave through common prayer and resisting him in faith then begin to fast and pray. Remember Jesus promise, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can speak to mountains of opposition and they will be removed and nothing will be impossible for you!
Now let's look at what Jesus had to say to Peter about paying the temple tax. What was this tax? It was a tax to help maintain the Temple and was initiated by Moses. When Jesus asked Peter who do the kings of this world take taxes from their own sons are strangers Peter answered and said strangers. He got the point. Jesus was the Son of God and his father really wasn't requiring him to be paying the taxes to maintain the Temple but Jesus said to Peter let's not offend them and even though we don't have to pay it we will pay it to not cause a problem. Next he told Peter go fishing and the first fish that you catch you'll find a coin in its mouth. Take that money and go pay my tax and yours. What's this teach us? That we as followers of Christ should pay the taxes that are due us and we can expect God to provide. God is concerned about everything in our lives down to the smallest detail. We can trust him to meet all of our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 says “But my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.” Be a good steward of your money and remember God is faithful. You can trust in the goodness of our God.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll