Matthew 1

[JLG]

6- Matthew speaks about Jesus curing a man with a withered hand:

- Jesus goes into a synagogue

- There is a man with a withered hand

- The scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus if it is lawful to cure on the Sabbath so they can accuse them

- Jesus says: “Stretch out your hand.”

- He does so and his hand is restored

Once again the same account such as Luke and Mark.

 

[JLG]

7- Matthew speaks about Jesus calming down a storm:

- Jesus and his disciples get into a boat

- A great storm arises on the sea

- The boat is being covered by the waves

- Jesus is sleeping

- The disciples wake Jesus up saying:

“Lord, save us, we are about to perish!”

- Jesus asks his disciples about their faith

- Jesus rebukes the winds and the sea and a great calm sets in

- The disciples are filled with fear and are astounded

Once again the same account such as Luke and Mark.

 

[JLG]

8- Matthew speaks about Jesus walking on the sea:

- Evening comes

- The boat is many hundreds of yards away from land, struggling against the waves because the wind is against them

- But in the fourth watch of the night he comes to them, walking on the sea

- The disciples think it is an apparition so they cry out because they are troubled

- Immediately he speaks to them saying:

“take courage! It is I; do not be afraid.”

- Peter asks Jesus to come to him

- Jesus does it

- But he looks at the windstorm and he becomes afraid and starts to sink and asks Jesus for help

- Jesus catches hold of him and says:

“You with little faith, why did you give way to doubt?”

- They get up into the boat and the windstorm abates

- Then the disciples say:

“You really are god’s Son.”

So here we have quite a precise account with many information and especially the event with Peter asking to walk on the sea and sinking because of fear.

 

[JLG]

9- Matthew speaks about Jesus multiplying bread and fish:

- It’s late and the crowd has nothing to eat

- The disciples say they have nothing here except five loaves and two fish

- He instructs the crows to recline on the grass

- Then he takes the five loaves and the two fish, he looks up to heaven and blesses them

- Then he breaks them up and begins giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd

- So they eat and are satisfied and they take up the leftovers, 12 baskets of fragments

- Those who eat are about 5,000 men, as well as women and young children

It is the same account with one additional detail, the Israelites and thus the jews are accustomed to count the men and not women and children so we understand that there are a lot more than only 5,000 people.

 

[JLG]

10- Matthew speaks about Jesus multiplying bread and fish in connection with the 4,000:

- Jesus feels pity for the crowd, because they have already stayed with him for three days and they have nothing to eat

- They have seven loaves of bread and a few small fish

- Jesus instructs the crowd to recline on the ground

- then he takes the seven loaves, gives thanks breaks them, and begins giving them to his disciples who give them to the crowd

- So they eat and are satisfied, and they take up seven large baskets full of leftover fragments

- There are about 4,000 men, as well as women and young children

- Then he sends them away

It is similar to the account of Mark.

 

[Cabrillo]

10- Matthew speaks about Jesus multiplying bread and fish in connection with the 4,000:

- Jesus feels pity for the crowd, because they have already stayed with him for three days and they have nothing to eat

- They have seven loaves of bread and a few small fish

- Jesus instructs the crowd to recline on the ground

- then he takes the seven loaves, gives thanks breaks them, and begins giving them to his disciples who give them to the crowd

- So they eat and are satisfied, and they take up seven large baskets full of leftover fragments

- There are about 4,000 men, as well as women and young children

- Then he sends them away

It is similar to the account of Mark.

I think that it's important to note that it happened near Decapolis. Deep in Gentile territory. It's very easy for me to believe that there were gentiles among the crowd that came out to see what was going on. Wittnessed a few miracles and became circumcised of the heart.

 

[JLG]

Ok here are some information of the geographical names mentionned:

Mark 8:10 speaks about Jesus and his disciples taking the boat and going to DALMANUTHA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmanutha

Dalmanutha or Dalmanoutha (δαλμανουθα) is the unknown destination of Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Gallilee after he fed the four thousand, as recorded in Mark's gospel (Mark 8:10). It is sometimes believed to be in the vicinity of Magdala, the alleged home town of Mary Magdalene, since the parallel passage in Matthew's gospel, Matthew 15:39, refers instead to "Magadan", which has been taken to be a variant form of "Magdala".

In 2013, Ken Dark reported finding a possible location of Dalmanutha in the Ginosar Plain, placing the finding place of the famous 2000-years-old fishing boat right on the stretch of lakeshore belonging to this now ruined ancient town.[1]

That there was ever a town called Dalmanutha is disputed by biblical scholar Joel L. Watts. He maintains that "Dalmanutha" is a cue to Mark's readers regarding the battle around Magdala during the Jewish Revolt.

Matthew 15:29 speaks about the sea of Galilee and Matthew 15:39 speaks about Jesus and his disciples taking the boat and going to MAGADAN

https://bibleatlas.org/magadan.htm

MAGADAN

mag'-a-dan, ma-ga'-dan (Magadan; the reading of the Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Magdala (the King James Version), but Magdala is unsupported): This name appears only in Matthew 15:39. In the parallel passage, Mark 8:10, its place is taken by Dalmanutha. From these two passages it is reasonable to infer that "the borders of Magadan" and "the parts of Dalmanutha" were contiguous. We may perhaps gather from the narrative that they lay on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. After the feeding of the 4,000, Jesus and His disciples came to these parts. Thence they departed to "the other side" (Mark 8:13), arriving at Bethsaida. This is generally believed to have been Bethsaida Julias, Northeast of the sea, whence He set out on His visit to Caesarea Philippi. In this case we might look for Dalmanutha and Magadan somewhere South of the Plain of Gennesaret, at the foot of the western hills. Stanley (SP, 383) quotes Schwarz to the effect that a cave in the face of these precipitous slopes bears the name of Teliman or Talmanutha. If this is true, it points to a site for Dalmanutha near `Ain el-Fuliyeh. Magadan might then be represented by el-Mejdel, a village at the Southwest corner of the Plain of Gennesaret. It is commonly identified with Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene, but without any evidence. The name suggests that this was the site of an old Hebrew mighdal, "tower" or "fortress." The village with its ruins is now the property of the German Roman Catholics. The land in the plain has been purchased by a colony of Jews, and is once more being brought under cultivation.

The identification with Magdala is made more probable by the frequent interchange of "l" for "n", e.g. Nathan (Hebrew), Nethel (Aramaic).

W. Ewing

MAG'DALA, now el Mejdel on the w. shore of the sea of Tiberias, now a little village. Matt. 15:39.

Strong's Greek

G3093: Magadan

Magadan, an unidentified place near the Sea of Galilee

 

[JLG]

11- Matthew speaks about Jesus curing the slave of an army officer :

- The army officer comes to Jesus

- His servant is paralyzed and is suffering terribly

- He tells Jesus not to come to his house because he is not worthy

- But he asks Jesus to say the word to cure his slave

- Jesus is amazed at him and says to the crowd :

« I tell you the truth, with no one in Israel have I found so great a faith. But I tell you that many from east and west will come and recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens; whereas the sons of the Kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.”

- And Jesus says to the army officer:

“Go. Just as you have shown faith, so let it come to pass for you.”

- And the servant is healed in that hour.

That’s really interesting:

- When we listen to Luke, the army officer sends people to come to Jesus

- When we listen to Matthew, the army officer comes personally to Jesus

- But in both cases, the army officer asks Jesus not to come to his house because he is not worthy

- And in both cases Jesus’ judgment is like a hammer, there is no possible discussion, but the words used by Matthew seems like a nuclear bomb for the Jews. And incredibly amazing for the Roman army officer!

 

[JLG]

12- Matthew speaks about Jesus curing Jairus’ daughter and the woman who touches him:

- While Jesus is teaching, a certain ruler does obeisance to him, saying:

“By now my daughter must be dead, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will come to life.”

Once again, Matthew takes a different approach:

- Jairus says his daughter must be dead

- He knows that Jesus can resurrect her

- Thus we have another demonstration that the Jewish religious leaders know everything about Jesus, they know who he is and what he can do but they deliberately reject him because they choose their authority and power, they don’t care about the truth, they only think about their own interests, they are a fraud and they are guilty of misleading deliberately the people. Thus we understand why the sin against the holy spirit can’t be forgiven! NO WAY! AND IT IS STILL THE SAME TODAY, NOTHING HAS CHANGED!

- Then Jesus gets up and, with his disciples, follows him.

- A woman suffering fro 12 years from a flow of blood approaches from behind and touches the fringe of his outer garment

- Jesus turns around and, noticing her, says:

“Take courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well!”

- And from that hour the woman is made well

Once again, Matthew gets straight away to the point, he doesn’t say anything about Jesus asking who has touched him.

- So he gets into the ruler’s house, there are flute players and the crowd is making a commotion

- He says:

“Leave the place, for the little girl did not die but is sleeping.”

- And the people begin to laugh at him scornfully

- Jesus goes into the room and takes hold of the girl’s hand and the little girl gets up

 

[JLG]

17- Matthew speaks about Jesus curing a Greek woman’s daughter:

- A Phoenician woman comes and cries out:

“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is cruelly demon possessed.”

- But he does not say a word in answer to her

- So his disciples come and begin to urge him:

“Send her away, because she keeps crying out after us.”

- He answers:

“I was not sent to anyone except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

- But the woman comes and does obeisance to him, saying:

“Lord, help me!”

- In answer he says:

“It is not right to take the bread of the children and throw it to the little dogsz.”

- She says:

“Yes, Lord, but really the little dogs do eat of the crumbs falling from the table of their masters.”

- Then Jesus replies to her:

“O woman, great is your faith; let it happen to you as you wish.”

- And her daughter is healed from that hour on.

It is the same account just like Mark.

 

[JLG]

18- Matthew speaks about Jesus curing a possessed child:

- A man approaches Jesus, kneels down to him, and says:

“Lord, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and is ill. He falls often into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your discipoles, but they could not cure him.”

- In reply Jesus says:

“O faithless and twisted generation, how long must I continue with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”

- Then Jesus rebukes the demon, and it comes out of him, and the boy is cured from that hour

- Then the disciples come to Jesus privately and say:

“Why could we not expel it?”

- He says to them:

“Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard grain, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

 

[JLG]

19- Matthew speaks about Jesus expelling a speechless demon:

- People bring him a speechless man possessed of a demon-possessed

- After the demon has been expelled, the speechless man speaks

- The crowds are amazed and say:

“Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.”

But the Pharisees are saying:

“It is by the ruler of the demons that he expels the demons.”

Matthew stops here and doesn’t speak about Jesus teaching the crowds and answering the Pharisees.

 

[JLG]

22- Matthew speaks about Jesus curing two blind men:

- They are going out of Jericho

- Two blind men sitting beside the road heard that Jesus is passing by and cry out:

“Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

- But the crowd rebukes them, telling them to be silent; yet they cry all the louder, saying:

“Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

- So Jesus stops, calls them, and says:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

- They say to him:

“Lord, let our eyes be opened”

- Moved by pity, Jesus touches their eyes, and immediately they recover their sight, and they follow him

Here we get a slight difference with the account of Luke and mark because Matthew speaks about two blind men otherwise it is the same.

 

[JLG]

23- Matthew speaks about Jesus curing Two blind men:

- two blind men follow Jesus, shouting out:

“Have mercy on us, Son of David”

After he has gone into the house, the blind men come to him, and Jesus asks them:

-Do you have faith that I can do this?”

- They answer him:”Yes, Lord” Then he touches their eyes, saying:

“According to your faith let it happen to you”

- And their eyes receive sight

- Moreover, Jesus sternly warns them, saying:

“See that nobody gets to know it”

- But after going outside, they make it public about him in all that region

 

[JLG]

27- Matthew speaks about Jesus telling Simon to fish a fish with a silver coin in its mouth:

-After arriving in Capernaum, the men collecting the two drachmas tax approach Peter and say:

- Does your teacher not pay the two drachmas tax?”

He says: “yes”

- However, when he enters the house, Jesus peaks to him first and says:

“what do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive duties or head tax? From their sons or from the strangers?”

- When he says: “From the strangers,”

- Jesus says to him:

“Really, then, the sons are tax-free. But that we do not cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a fishhook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a silver coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you”

 

[JLG]

28- Matthew speaks about Jesus drying a fig tree:

- Jesus is returning to the city early in the morning and he feels hungry

- He catches sight of a fig tree by the road and goes to it , but he finds nothing on it except leaves and he says to it:

“Let no fruit come from you ever again”

- And the fig tree withers instantly

- When the disciples see this, they are amazed and say:

“How is it that the fig tree withered instantly?

- In answer Jesus says to them:

“Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what I did to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” it will happen. And all the things you ask in prayer, having faith, you will receive”

 

[JLG]

29- Matthew speaks about Peter cutting the ear of the slave of the high priest but he doesn’t say anything about Jesus putting back the ear in its place:

- One of those with Jesus reaches out his hand and draws his sword and strikes the slave of the high priest, taking off his ear

- Then Jesus says to him:

“Return your sword to its place, for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father to supply me at this moment more than 12 legions of angels?

- In that case, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must take place this way?”

 

[JLG]

1- Chapter 4: Jesus begins to teach in the synagogues and cure people “and the report about him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all those who were suffering with various diseases and torments, those who were demon-possessed and epileptic and paralyzed, and he cured them. Consequently, large crowds followed him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from the other side of the Jordan.” That’s a good summary of Jesus’ action! It was a crazy rhythm!

 

[JLG]

2- Chapter 8: Jesus cures a leper and immediately his leprosy is cleansed away.” Then in Capernaum he cures an army officer’s servant. And everybody has heard about Jesus’ action because this army officer tells Jesus he doesn’t need to come to his house because he” is not worthy so he tells him “just say the word and my servant will be healed.” THERE IS NO BETTER TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS AND EVERYBODY WITHOUT EXCEPTION KNOWS WHO HE IS SO THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE!

Jesus’ answer is clear like crystal:

“I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, WITH NO ONE IN ISRAEL HAVE I FOUND SO GREAT A FAITH”

So both God and Jesus think the same about the Israelites and the Jews!

 

[JLG]

3- Then Jesus cures Peter’s mother-in-law and the fever leaves her and she gets up and begins ministering to him. “But after it became evening, people brought him many demon-possessed ones; and he expelled the spirits with a word, and he cured all who were suffering” and Jesus is more than busy and this all the time!