This study is part of our series of verse by verse studies of Matthew, the 40th book in the Bible. Taught by our pastor, Simeon Forder, at our Sunday morning service on the 23rd March 2025.

About this book

The gospel of Matthew was aimed primarily at the Jew who was familiar with the Old Testament, quoting it more than any other of the gospels. And in its 28 chapters it presents Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, with Matthew wasting no time, starting with Jesus’ royal lineage back to king David of Israel in the opening chapter. But as well as looking back, it looks forward too, being the only gospel to mention the church by name. And so make no mistake, this is a very necessary book for us to read too.

About this passage

In this chapter we will first read about an encounter between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees — they will accuse Him of breaking their man made laws, while Jesus will point out they have been breaking God’s laws. Jesus then continues in verses 10-20, teaching that our hearts are the heart of the problem, before in verses 21-28 we will read about a gentile woman whose daughter He healed — and there will be a valuable lesson for us there. In verses 29-31, we will yet again see Jesus heal multitudes of people that were sick, while in the final 7 verses we will read about Jesus feeding the four thousand — a similar, but distinct account of a distinct event to the feeding of the five thousand that we read in chapter 14.

Application questions

• Are you showing the love and care toward your parents that you should?
• Are you living out in the week what you sing on a Sunday? What would others say?
• Are you guarding your heart from sin? If Satan wanted to trip you up, how would he do it?
• Are you guarding your children’s hearts as much as you wash their hands?