Matthew 21: Is Jesus the Messiah for Jerusalem people?

In Matthew 21 Jesus arrives in Jerusalem from Galilee. He is welcomed by the people of Jerusalem as the Messiah, the son of David:

6-9 The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”

However, the Jewish leaders had another idea as for example: Jesus is a mere human - so it is an absurd that he is so welcomed in Jerusalem, or worse, he got power from Satan when performing miracles. Jesus said to them that they pretended to be doing the will of the Lord using just their mouth:


31-32 “Which of the two sons did what the father asked?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said, “Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and believe him.

In Matthew 21, we see Jesus as the Messiah to the crowd but not to the Jewish leaders. To welcome Jesus is to welcome the kingdom of heaven, while rejecting him is to reject the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 20: great in the kingdom of heaven

The mother of James and John requested Jesus that their sons would be great in the kingdom of heaven. We read:

24-28 When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

The great man in our world demands to be served, but in the kingdom of heaven, the greater a guy is, the more he serves. Jesus himself is the one who serves. He gave away his life in exchange of my life. If my king is the one who serves, how would dare I not to serve? Christ shows to serve and to suffer for the kingdom.

Matthew 19: eternal life and kingdom of heaven

Who has eternal life? Those who belong to the kingdom of heaven, right?! Who is saved in Christian terms? Those who surrender their life to Jesus. Where in the Bible may we put all this together? In Matthew 19, we see all this together.
We read:

16 Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

A man (a rich guy) asks what he has to do to get eternal life, however here, in Matthew 19, is the first occurrence of "eternal life" of Matthew gospel. The enphasis on previous chapters has been on the kingdom of heaven. It is not explained how this guy came up with this question. I would expect much more a question like:

“Teacher, what good thing must I do to enter in the kingdom of heaven?”

However, after Jesus said that the rich guy should sell everything, he left Jesus. We read:

23-24 As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.”
25 The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all?”
26 Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”

Jesus commented that it was difficult for the rich guy to enter God's kingdom, however the question was about "eternal life". We can understand that "eternal life" and "enter in God's kingdom" are close related. Every Christian who is saved, believes they are on the way to eternal life because they trust what the Lord has done to them. In this same chapter, we understand that Jesus thinks of himself as much more important than any other disciples' family. Every Christian surrenders his life to Jesus as in:

28-30 Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields — whatever — because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”

Sadly for the rich guy, he couldn't give up everything to follow Jesus.

Matthew 18: How to enter in the kingdom of heaven?

We don't read so much things like: "accept Jesus" or "when were you converted?" in the gospels and even in the roman catholic church. However, we read in MSG:

2-5 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.


The values of this world are the opposite of the values in the kingdom: the king of this world is the one who is served but the King in the kingdom of heaven is the one who not only serves, but also give his life as food for their servants.  Therefore, to enter in the kingdom is necessary a conversion, a change in priorities. This change is not easy for any human being, but it is the work of the Spirit who makes one person start over like children: everything has to be learned again.

To learn means to recognize errors and improve. A Christian is not someone perfect, but a one who walks with Christ, who learns with Jesus. As he is not perfect, the kingdom of heaven, the church must help him, forgive him and teach him. We read:

15-17 “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.

It is really strange and marvelous that the kingdom of heaven is made of sinners who are constantly repenting.

Matthew 17: This is my Son

 Peter declared that Jesus is the Son of God, but now the Father declares that Jesus is his son. In a private moment with only three disciples: Peter , John and James, Jesus shines and a voice is heard:

5 While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him.”

Who in the Old Testament was called the Son of God? The nation of Israel, but there was not a single person who was called the Son of God. To the first Christians, the statement: "Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God" was very important, so important that the fish was the symbol of the first Christians due to ICTUS ( (Ι) = Iesus (Jesus), (Χ) = Christos (Christ), (Θ) = Theos (God), (Υ) = Yios (Son), (Σ) = Soter (Savior)).

Jesus is the son loved by the Lord in whom the Lord delights. Certainly Jesus was not a spoiled child. Soon after this statement we read:

22-23 As they were regrouping in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him—and three days later he will be raised alive.” The disciples felt scared to death.

Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God knew he was to suffer in the cross, but he also knew he would defeat death.

Matthew 16: Who is Jesus to Peter?

 The Jews were under Roman control. They were expecting the Messiah for a long time. The Messiah would make the will of the Lord - He would destroy the enemies of Israel.
We read:

13 When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?”

16 Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Peter had already seen many miracles and sermons of Jesus. Jesus said that the Spirit revealed that to Peter.

21-22 Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. Peter took him in hand, protesting, “Impossible, Master! That can never be!”

Peter was chocked. He left everything to follow Jesus. He bet on Jesus. Now, Jesus is saying that he will be killed. Peter must stopped listening to Jesus at this moment.

23 But Jesus didn’t swerve. “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.”

Perhaps Jesus was looking to Peter when he said:

24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?

Peter became a leader in the beginning of the church, but the tradition says he was crucified by a roman persecution to Christians. Jesus called me to a life of suffering, self-sacrifice that involves to bless my enemies, to pray for them. Jesus became the center of the Peter's life.

Matthew 15: Word and Love in Jesus

I am attending a Presbyterian church. The Word is well studied and preached. Does our church is also a community where one loves another? In a questionnaire, most members were satisfied with the exposition of the Word, but not so much about how love is expressed in our church. I suppose that there are other churches that are the opposite. 

In chapter 15 we read about how the Word and Love was very important to Jesus.
The pharisees accused Jesus of not being a rigorous teacher: his disciples didn´t wash their hands before meal. This would make them impure before the Lord. Jesus answer was based on the Word. First, he accused the pharisees of breaking the law themselves by creating rules that lead to dishonoring the parents and then, he said that what makes a person impure the Lord are what goes out from the heart. He used the Word to argument it.
Matthew 15 then shows Jesus compassion to a caananite woman who insisted very for Jesus to cure his daughter. In that society, a caananite woman was greatly despised, but Jesus commended her faith.
I read the Bible everyday. I love the Word. Do I love other people? No so much I am afraid. I want to be more like Jesus that loves the Word and other people.