Some observations:
- This section has two more of Matthew's five sermons, perhaps implicitly comparing Jesus to Moses. Matthew 10 has the Mission Sermon and Matthew 13 has the Parable Sermon.
- Matthew has the story of the centurion's faith. Even though Matthew is probably aimed at Jewish believers, this story makes it clear that there are Gentiles who have faith too. Notice, also that Jesus seems to picture the kingdom of God being on a renewed earth.
- In the Mission Sermon, Jesus tells the disciples only to go to Jewish towns on their "Phase 1" mission, while Jesus was on earth. The Gentiles would be "Phase 2."
- These verses indicate that the wine Jesus drank was fermented.
- Interesting that Jesus did most of his miracles in towns about which the Gospels say almost nothing! To be fair, he does go on to condemn Capernaum too.
- In Matthew 11, Jesus seems to compare himself to Wisdom in the book of Sirach.
- Matthew 13:52 is the passage that some think might hint at something about the author of Matthew.
- The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 is scary, because it hints that not everyone in the church is really part of the kingdom. It is similar to something Jesus also said in the Sermon on the Mount.
- Matthew 8:18-22 make it clear that following Jesus requires everything of us. Following Jesus doesn't often come into conflict with our families or other ordinary aspects of living, but in moments of ultimate decision, Jesus is the ultimate priority. That's what it means to be Lord.
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