Matthew 13 verses 47-58, Chapter 14 followed by Notes on the Resurrection of Christ
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Net
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered
fish of every kind.
48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers
but threw away the bad.
49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from
the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
New and Old Treasures
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”
52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of
heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what
is old.”
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming
to his hometown 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 not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers
James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor
except in his hometown and in his own household.”
58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Matthew 14
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his
servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these
miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of
Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not
lawful for you to have her.”
5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held
him to be a prophet.
6 But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the
company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever
she might ask.
8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a
platter.”
9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to
be given.
10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter
and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.
12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by
himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and
healed their sick.
15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate
place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy
food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”
17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.”
18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.”
19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and
the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and
gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken
pieces left over.
21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other
side, while he dismissed the crowds.
23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to
pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long
way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is
a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the
water.”
29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to
Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord,
save me.”
31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of
little faith, why did you doubt?”
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret
34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region
and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the
fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Would you please make the following notes available for people to access
through the church app/website?
4 Proofs of the Resurrection- by Lee Strobel, author of “The
Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the
Resurrection”
1. JESUS WAS DEAD Did Jesus die on the cross? Was he dead?
- Virtually every scholar on planet Earth concedes that Jesus was dead after
crucifixion.
- We have no record of anyone, anywhere, ever surviving a full Roman
crucifixion.
- Even the Journal of the American Medical Association published a peer
reviewed scientific medical study of the evidence for the death of Jesus and said,
“Clearly the weight of the evidence indicates that Jesus was dead even before
the wound was inflicted.”
- Even the atheist New Testament scholar Gerd Lüdeman says, “Historically it’s
indisputable that Jesus was dead.” So, Jesus was dead.
2. EARLY ACCOUNTS FOR THE RESURRECTION The second category of
evidence is the early accounts we have for the resurrection. In other words, I
used to think is an atheist that the resurrection was a legend and that took a long
time to develop in the ancient world. What I learned is that we have preserved for
us a creed of the earliest Christian Church. A creed that is an eyewitness-based
report of the resurrection of Jesus. Now this creed has been dated back by
scholars to within months of the death of Jesus — within months. That is
historical gold. So, we’ve got a news flash from ancient history on the
resurrection.
3. THE EMPTY TOMB The best evidence for the empty tomb is even the
opponents of Jesus implicitly admitted the tomb was empty. When the disciples
began proclaiming that Jesus had risen what the opponent said was, “The
disciples stole the body.” They’re conceding that the tomb was empty, they’re just
trying to explain how it got empty. So, everybody’s conceding that the tomb was
empty. How it got empty is the real issue, and that goes to the fourth category of
evidence, which is eyewitnesses.
4. THERE WERE EYEWITNESSES For most of what we know about ancient
history, it comes from one or maybe two sources of information and yet for the
conviction of the disciples that they encountered the resurrected Jesus, we have
no fewer than 9 ancient sources inside and outside the New Testament
confirming and corroborating the conviction of the disciples that they encountered
the risen Christ. That is an avalanche of a historical data. So, you put all that
together and you have a really good case for Easter.
https://youtu.be/FT4Cj-Pi4m0
5. “There are actually 110 facts about the life teachings, miracles, death, and
resurrection of Jesus from ancient sources outside the Bible documented by the
historian Dr. Gary Habermass in his book, “The Verdict of History.” Lee Strobel
Ancient sources that confirm the conviction of the disciples
that they really did see the risen Jesus.
1. The Creed that is quoted by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7. “In 1
Corinthians 15:3-7, the Apostle Paul quotes an early Christian creed, which is
believed to have been formulated within a few years of Jesus' death and
resurrection. This creed includes key elements of the Christian faith, such as
Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances.”
2. The Apostle Paul- Paul states that he saw the risen Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:8,
and goes on to state that both he and the apostles preached that Christ was
crucified and raised from the dead in 1 Corinthians 15:10-17. He also states that
he got to know some of the disciples Peter, James and John for instance, and
subsequently heard their accounts for himself.
3. The Book of Acts- Even atheist scholars will admit the Book of Acts contains the
summaries of teachings of the early church. “The resurrection is a central theme
in the book of Acts, with seven out of ten recorded sermons focusing on it, and
the resurrection of Jesus is implied in the remaining sermons. This highlights its
significance in the early Christian message.”
4. Peter testifying in Acts 2:22-24 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of
Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and
signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this
Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you
crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for
him to be held by it.”
The people didn’t deny it: Acts 2:37-38 “Now when they heard this they were
cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what
shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
5. The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all contain the account of
the death and resurrection of Jesus, and list 9 separate times that Jesus
appeared before witnesses. He talked with them, ate with them, and allowed
them to touch him.
6. Clement of Rome (martyred in 100 AD) - Clement was ordained by Peter
himself and he wrote a letter “First Epistle of Clement” where he “mentions the
resurrection of Jesus, highlighting it as a proof of a future resurrection and
emphasizing Jesus Christ as the first-fruits of this resurrection.”
7. Polycarp (AD 69 – 155) - was discipled by the apostle John, and John
appointed him to be bishop at the church at Smyrna. Polycarp wrote a letter in
which he mentions the resurrection no fewer than five times. In the letter, he
stated that the apostles got their confidence from the resurrection of Jesus
because they knew that he returned from the dead.
The Sequence of Christ’s Post-Resurrection Appearances-
Where Exactly Did Jesus Appear, and to Whom?
Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18)
The other Mary, Salome, Joanna, and at least one other woman (Matthew
28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10)
Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5)
Cleopas and another disciple on road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35)
The eleven disciples minus Thomas (Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–25)
The eleven disciples (John 20:26–29)
Seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1–23)
Disciples at a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16–17)
James (1 Corinthians 15:7)
Disciples, possibly in Jerusalem before He led them to the Mt. of Olives,
gave the Great Commission, and ascended into heaven (Luke
24:49–53; Acts 1:3–11)
The Apostle Paul stated, “Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by
one born out of due time.” This appearance occurred while Paul (then
called Saul) was traveling to Damascus on a mission to persecute
Christians (Acts 9:1–9; 1 Corinthians 15:8).
In most instances, Jesus did more than just appear before
people.
- Christ’s words in John 20:17 seem to imply that Mary Magdalene clung to
Him, indicating that He could be touched.
- The other women worshiped Him and held Him by the feet (Matthew 28:9).
- He broke bread in front of Cleopas and an unnamed follower (Luke 24:30).
- He showed His scars in His hands, feet, and side and then ate fish and a
honeycomb before the gathering of disciples without Thomas (Luke
24:40–43; John 20:20).
- Later, with Thomas present, Jesus invited Thomas to touch His hands and
His side (John 20:26–27).
- At the Sea of Tiberias, He performed a miracle, allowing the disciples to
catch 153 large fish (John 20:6–11).
- He also cooked and ate some food (John 20:9, 15).
- Paul claimed that Jesus had appeared to over 500 people at one time (1
Corinthians 15:6). This may be an additional appearance, or it may be the
same event as the one on the hillside in Galilee (Matthew 28:16–17).
The report in 1 Corinthians 15 is probably the earliest extant writing about the
Resurrection appearances, penned around AD 55. Paul claimed that he was
writing what he had received.
1 Corinthians 15:3-19
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on
to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the
Scriptures said.
5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.
6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of
whom are still alive, though some have died.
7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.
9 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an
apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.
10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on
me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other
apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the
same message you have already believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some
of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?
13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised
either.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your
faith is useless.
15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God
raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of
the dead.
16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still
guilty of your sins.
18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!
19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than
anyone in the world.
