A Commentary on the First Gospel John F. Walvoord Copyright © 1974 by John F. Walvoord Published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel, Inc., P.O. Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501. Kregel Publications provides trusted, biblical publications for Christian growth and service. Your comments and suggestions are valued. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical...

Discourse on John the Baptist, 11:1-15 Having sent forth the twelve with instructions to preach the kingdom of heaven and having given them authority to perform miracles (Mt 10:7-8), Jesus departed alone to teach and preach in the cities of Galilee. During His tour, John the Baptist, earlier announced as being in prison (Mt 4:12), sent two of his disciples to Jesus with the question, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (11:3). Lenski points out that the expressi...

Sermon on the Little Child, 18:1-14 The disciples had gathered in the home which Jesus had established in Capernaum (Mt 17:24; Mk 9:33). The incident that followed is recorded also in Mark 9:33-50 and Luke 9:46-50. As the disciples gathered, the question was raised, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Mt 18:1). According to Mark 9:33, Jesus had raised the question, “What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?” Apparently, they did not answer immediately,...

Discourse on Divorce, 19:1-12 Leaving Capernaum for the last time, Jesus began His journey which was to end in Jerusalem and the cross. The expression “into the coasts of Judaea beyond the Jordan” means the region beyond Judea to the east of the Jordan. By taking this route, Christ avoided Samaria, where He had ministered before, and passed through territory that was new to His public ministry. As He went, crowds following Him from Galilee were joined by others. Morgan points out t...

Triumphal Entry, 21:1-11 The final hours of Jesus’ life on earth drew near, and, in Matthew 21, the cross was less than a week away. In sharp contrast to the shame of the cross is the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, described by all four gospels (cf. Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:29-38; Jn 12:12-19). As Tasker expresses it, “Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time in a manner which showed that He was none other than the Messiah, the Son of David, who was coming to Sion to claim the city as His...

Parable of the Marriage Feast, 22:1-14 As Jesus drew nearer to the cross, His message became more and more directed to the representatives of the Jewish nation. In this chapter, He dealt with the three main groups: the Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees. The Herodians were political activists who supported the rule of Herod. The Pharisees were usually against them, ardently supporting Israel as against Rome. The Sadducees were the liberal theologians, questioning the miraculous, opposed ...

The Certainty of Divine Judgments The subject before us is a very serious one and also a comprehensive one from a doctrinal standpoint. The Scriptures tell us plainly in Hebrews 9:27 that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” This means that every soul anywhere in all the world, past, present, or future—every human being who has ever walked the face of the earth—some day will stand before a holy, omniscient, all-powerful God who will judge according ...

The Longing for World Peace Few subjects have been pondered more in our day than the question, Can we have peace in our time? This topic is being considered not only by Christians but by adherents of every type of religion, every type of belief or unbelief, and every type of political persuasion. It is not limited to the United States, nor to any color or culture. The whole world is seeking peace. All that is needed to have a headline on the front page of our papers is to have some Russia...

Posttribulationism has long been a common doctrine held by the majority of the church. Most premillenarians today, however, hold to the pretribulational translation of the church. As ordinarily defined, posttribulationism is the teaching that the church will be translated after the predicted tribulation, and therefore its adherents believe that the church must pass through this prophesied time of trouble. Posttribulationism is the ordinary view of practically all amillenarians and postmill...