A STU
DY OF THE HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS
Book 6
Lesson 37, Teaching in Parables
(about seed), Matt. 13:1-35;
Mark 4:26-29
Lesson 38, A Parable About
Treasures, Matt. 13:44-54
Lesson 39, Jesus in Galilee,
Encounters Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 15:1-20; Mark
7:1-23; John 7:1
Lesson 40, The Daughter of a
Phoenician Woman Healed,
Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30
Lesson 41, A Speech Impediment
Healed; 4,000 Fed, Matt. 15:29-38; Mark 7:31-8:9
Lesson 42, Meeting an
“Adulterous Generation” Seeking a Sign, Matt.
15:39-16:12; Mark 8:10-26
Lesson 43, “I Will Build My
Church,” Matt. 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21
Lesson 44, Jesus’ Prophecy of
His Suffering, Matt. 16:21-28;
Mark 8:31-39; Luke 9:22-27
Lesson 37, Teaching in
Parables (about seed), Matt. 13:1-35; Mark 4:26-29
1.
What does the word parable mean?
2.
Where was Jesus when he began teaching these
parables?
3.
Give three elements of this parable.
________________________, __________, ________________
4.
What would the sower represent? What does the seed
represent?
5.
What happened to the seed sown by the wayside? What
does this teach?
6.
What happened to the seed that fell on rocky
ground? What does this represent?
7.
What happened to the seed that fell among thorns?
What does this represent?
8.
What happened to the seed that fell on good soil?
What does this represent?
9.
Why did Jesus choose to speak in parables?
10.
What does “hearing” and “not hearing” mean?
11.
What prophecy was fulfilled in this?
12.
What was the second parable about seed that Jesus
gave?
13.
Who does the man who slept represent? Who was his
enemy?
14.
What is a tare? How is it different from good seed?
15.
Who do the servants represent and what was their
wish?
16.
What were they told to do? Why do you think this
was said?
17.
Jesus said, “the field is the world” (verse
38). What do you think the world here means?
18.
What does the explanation Jesus gave tell us about
the future of the wicked?
19.
Describe what the text says about the size of the
mustard seed and its growth.
20.
How does a mustard seed describe the Kingdom of
Heaven?
21.
What prophesy did Jesus fulfill mentioned in verse
35?
Lesson 39, Jesus in Galilee,
Encounters Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 15:1-20; Mark
7:1-23; John 7:1
1.
What question did the Scribes and Pharisees ask
Jesus?
2.
What was the reason the Scribes and Pharisees
believed about washing hands?
3.
On what Old Testament law was this based? If not on
some law what was their basis for hand washing prior to
eating?
4.
Why do you think they would not enter the market
place without bathing first?
5.
What prophecy did Jesus say they fulfilled?
6.
What makes worship vain? Does it still do that?
7.
What example did Jesus use from the law of Moses to
show them they were making the word of God void? Please
elaborate on this.
8.
Based on verse 14, it is normally possible to
understand the word of God?
9.
What does Jesus say here that actually defiles a
person?
10.
What did the disciples say to Jesus about what he
had just told the Scribes and Pharisees? What answer did
he give?
11.
What does he mean by, “Let them alone?”
12.
Why does John tell us Jesus would go to Galilee and
not to Jerusalem?
1.
Why walk not thy disciples according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled
hands? These Pharisees coming from Jerusalem could
find nothing wherein Jesus or his disciples transgressed
the law, so they eagerly grasped this transgression of the
tradition as affording ground for an accusation. FG
But these customary washings were distinct from the
ceremonial ablutions; in the former, water was poured
upon the hands; in the latter the hands were plunged in water. When, therefore, some
of the Pharisees remarked that our Lord’s disciples ate
with ‘unwashen hands,’ it is not to be
understood literally that they did not at all wash their
hands, but that they did not wash them ceremonially according to their own
practice. And this was expected of them only as the
disciples of a religious teacher; for those refinements
were not practiced by the class of people from which the
disciples were chiefly drawn.” CGNT
2.
[Except they wash their hands] pugmh, the hand to the wrist – Unless they
wash the hand up to the wrist, eat not. Several
translations are given of this word; that above is from
Dr. Lightfoot, who quotes a tradition from the rabbins,
stating that the hands were to be thus washed. This sort
of washing was, and still continues to be, an act of
religion in the eastern countries. It is particularly
commanded in the Koran, Surat v. ver. 7, “O believers,
when ye wish to pray, wash your faces, and your hands up
to the elbows - and your feet up to the ankles.” Which
custom it is likely Mohammed borrowed from the Jews. The
Jewish doctrine is this: “If a man neglect the washing,
he shall be eradicated from this world.” But instead of pugmh, the fist or hand,
the Codex Bezae has puknh,
frequently: and several of the Itala have words of the
same signification. Bathing is an indispensable
prerequisite to the first meal of the day among the
Hindoos; and washing the hands and the feet is equally so
before the evening meal. ACC
3.
The tradition of the elders] The word paradosiv, tradition,
has occupied a most distinguished place, both in the
Jewish and Christian Church. Man is ever fond of mending
the work of his Maker; and hence he has been led to put
his finishing hand even to Divine revelation! This
supplementary matter has been called paradosiv, from paradidomai, to deliver
from hand to hand-to transmit; and hence the Latin term,
tradition, from trado, to deliver, especially from one to
another; -to hand down. Among the Jews TRADITION signifies
what is also called the oral law, which they distinguish
from the written law: this last contains the Mosaic
precepts, as found in the Pentateuch: the former, the
traditions of the elders, i.e. traditions, or doctrines,
that had been successively handed down from Moses through
every generation, but not committed to writing. The Jews
feign that, when GOD gave Moses the written law, he gave
him also the oral law, which is the interpretation of the
former. This law, Moses at first delivered to Aaron then
to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar; and, after these to the
seventy-two elders, who were six of the most eminent men
chosen out of each of the twelve tribes. These
seventy-two, with Moses and Aaron, delivered it again to
all the heads of the people, and afterwards to the
congregation at large. They say also that, before Moses
died, he delivered this oral law, or system of traditions,
to JOSHUA, and Joshua to the ELDERS which succeeded
him-THEY to the Prophets, and the PROPHETS to each other,
till it came to JEREMIAH, who delivered it to BARUCH his
scribe, who repeated it to EZRA, who delivered it to the
men of the great synagogue, the last of whom was SIMON the
Just. By Simon the Just it was delivered to ANTIGONUS of
Socho; by him to JOSE the son of Jochanan; by him to JOSE,
the son of Joezer; by him to NATHAN the Arbelite, and
Joshua the son of Perachiah; and by them to JUDAH the son
of Tabbai, and Simeon, the son of Shatah; and by them to
SHEMAIAH and ABTALION; and by them to HILLEL; and by
Hillel to SIMEON his son, the same who took Christ in his
arms when brought to the temple to be presented to the
Lord: by SIMEON it was delivered to GAMALIEL his son, the
preceptor of St. Paul, who delivered it to SIMEON his son,
and he to Rab. JUDAH HAKKODESH his son, who compiled and
digested it into the book which is called the MISHNA; to
explain which the two Talmuds, called the Jerusalem and
Babylyonish Talmuds, were compiled, which are also called
the Gemera or complement, because by these the oral law or
Mishnah is fully explained. The Jerusalem Talmud was
completed about A. D. 300; and the Babylonish Talmud about
the beginning of the sixth century. This Talmud was
printed at Amsterdam in 12 vols. folio. These contain the
whole of the traditions of the elders, and have so
explained, or rather frittered away, the words of God,
that our Lord might well say, Ye have made the word of God
of no effect by your traditions. In what estimation these
are held by the Jews, the following examples will prove:
“The words of the scribes are lovely beyond the words of
the law: for the words of the law are weighty and light,
but the words of the scribes are all weighty.” ACC
4.
And when they come from the market-place, except
they bathe themselves, they eat not. Various types of
uncleanness are specified in the Mosaic law. Traditions
extended the idea of uncleanness so as to hold the man as
probably unclean who had been in the marketplace, where he
might have touched an unclean person, and to hold certain
cups, pots, and brazen vessels as ceremonially unclean
when neither the laws of Moses nor the laws of hygiene
declared them to be so. Since the law of Moses ordered the
unclean to dip himself in a bath for his cleansing, the
tradition of the elders required a like dipping in these
cases of uncleanness which they had invented. When we
remember that bathing was a daily practice among the
Pharisees, we are less surprised at this observance. As to
the theory that the tradition of the elders was derived
from Moses, Jesus here flatly contradicts it. There is no
trustworthy evidence to show that it is of higher
antiquity than the time of the return from the Babylonian
captivity. FG
5.
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as
it is written. Isa 29:13. Jesus does not deny their
charge, but justifies his disciples by attacking the whole
traditional system, basing his attack upon a pointed
prophecy which condemns it. FG
6.
The Greek word for “vain” is mathn. It is defined as,
“in vain, to no purpose, fruitlessly.” – ER. The
worship of God must have the right object – God (Matt.
4:10), the right disposition and guidelines (John 4:24).
Jesus accused these Pharisees of not having their hearts
right, saying, “their heart is far from me (God).” He
accused them of leaving the word of God for their
traditions. This, he said, constitutes worship that is
futile and has no purpose. God cannot be worshipped
accidentally. There must be purpose.
7.
But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or
his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been
profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God.
Leaving for a moment the main question concerning
uncleanness and washing, Jesus makes good his indictment
against their tradition by giving an example of the
mischievous way in which it set aside God’s
commandments. The law required the honoring of parents,
and for any one to cast off his parents in their old age,
thus subjecting them to beggary or starvation, was to do
more than to speak evil of them. Such conduct was
practically to curse them, and to incur the death penalty
for so doing. But at this point the Pharisees interfered
with their tradition, which taught that a son could say of
that part of his estate by which his parents might be
profited, It is a gift; that is, a gift to God, and by
thus dedicating that part to God, he would free himself
from his obligation to his parents. FG
8.
And he called to him the multitude again, and
said unto them. Having been accused by the scribes and
Pharisees of a breach of their tradition, Jesus points out
to them generally the iniquity of tradition, for it lay
within their power as leaders to remedy the whole system
of things. Having done this, he turns to the multitude and
answers before them as to the offense with which he is
specifically charged. Thus he gives to the leaders general
principles, and to the common people the single instance.
FG – [Jesus would never tell anyone to do what is not
possible. As he said, “hear and understand” he shows
clearly that his teaching are understandable and expect
all men to do so. (See John 7:17; 8:32).]
9.
These uncleannesses worked no spiritual defilement,
but were merely typical of such; for the food in no way
touched or affected the mind or soul, the fountains of
spiritual life, but only the corporeal organs, which have
no moral susceptibility. The Pharisees had erred in
confusing legal and spiritual defilement, and had added
error to error by multiplying the causes of defilement in
their tradition. FG
That which cometh out of the man. His words; the
expression of his thoughts and feelings; his conduct, as
the expression of in- ward malice, anger, covetousness,
lust, etc.
Defileth the man. Is really polluted, or offensive in the
sight of God. They render the soul corrupt and abominable
in the sight of God. AB
10.
Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended,
when they heard this saying? The entire speech
offended them. He charged them with hypocrisy. He showed
that their tradition, which they reverenced as a
revelation from God, led them into sin, and he disturbed
their self-complacency by showing that the ceremonial
cleanness, which was founded on tradition, and in which
they prided themselves, was worthless in comparison with
the moral cleanness required by God’s law, which they
had ignored. It grieved the disciples to see Jesus offend
these reverend gentlemen from Jerusalem. Like many modern
disciples their respect for men counteracted their zeal
for truth. FG
11.
[Let them alone] afete autouv, give them
up, or leave them. These words have been sadly
misunderstood. Some have quoted them to prove that blind
and deceitful teachers should not be pointed out to the
people, nor the people warned against them; and that men
should abide in the communion of a corrupt Church, because
that Church had once been the Church of God, and in it
they had been brought up; and to prove this they bring
Scripture, for, in our present translation, the words are
rendered, let them alone: but the whole connection of the
place evidently proves that our blessed Lord meant, give
them up, have no kind of religious connection with them,
and the strong reason for which he immediately adds,
because they are blind leaders. This passage does not at
all mean that blind leaders should not be pointed out to
the people, that they may avoid being deceived by them;
for this our Lord does frequently, and warns his
disciples, and the people in general, against all such
false teachers as the scribes and Pharisees were; and
though he bids men do that they heard those say, while
they sat in the chair of Moses, yet he certainly meant no
more than that they should be observant of the moral law
when read to them out of the sacred book: yet neither does
he tell them to do all these false teachers said; for he
testifies in Matt. 15:6, that they had put such false
glosses on the law, that, if followed, would endanger the
salvation of their souls. ACC
12.
And from thence he arose, and went away into the
borders of Tyre and Sidon. The journey here is
indicated in marked terms because it differs from any
previously recorded, for it was the first time that Jesus
ever entered a foreign or heathen country. Some
commentators contend from the use of the word
“borders” that Jesus did not cross over the boundary,
but the point is not well taken, for Mark 7:31 shows that
the journey led through Sidon. For the location of these
cities. . . . Jesus withdrew to escape the opposition of
his enemies and the mistaken movements of his friends. As
he was not on a missionary tour, it was perfectly proper
for him to enter heathen territory. FG
Lesson 40, The Daughter of a
Phoenician Woman Healed, Matt. 15:21-31; Mark 7:24-30
1.
After his encounter with the Scribes and Pharisees,
where did Jesus go?
2.
A woman comes to Jesus with a request. What did she
request of Jesus?
3.
Where was this lady from? Check both Matt. 15:22
and Mark 7:25-26.
4.
What does the fact that she called Jesus “the son
of David” indicate about her?
5.
How did Jesus first respond to her and how did he
explain himself?
6.
What did the disciples urge Jesus to do?
7.
Who were the “lost sheep of the house of
Israel?”
8.
Explain what he meant in Matt. 15:26.
9.
How did she take what he said to her?
10.
What kind of faith did the lady have?
11.
Where did Jesus go next and what did he do there?
(Matt. 15:29-30).
12.
Who came to him there?
13.
Those who came to him saw the ___________ _______________,
the ______________ ________________,
and ______________ _____________________,
and the ____________
_________________ _____________: and they
_________________ the God of Israel.
2.
A Canaanitish woman, whose daughter had an
unclean spirit, had in some way learned of Jesus’ power
to heal, and very earnestly besought him to heal her
daughter. GA
3.
We are not told how she learned of his power, but
from Mark 3:8 we learn that his fame had reached Tyre and
Sidon long before this, and some from these cities were
part of the multitudes that followed him in Galilee. Mark
tells us that this woman was “a Greek, a Syrophoenician
by race.” (Mark 7:26.) She was a descendant of the
Canaanites, who were original inhabitants of that section.
(Josh. 5:1; Judges 1:3033.) She was living under Greek
government, and in the Syrophoenician country. GA
[Mark 7:26] - The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by
race. The Macedonian conquest had diffused Greek
civilization throughout western Asia till the word Greek
among the Jews had become synonymous with Gentile. The
term Canaanite was narrower and indicated an inhabitant of
Canaan--that is, a non-Jewish inhabitant of Palestine. The
term Syrophoenician was narrower still. It meant a Syrian
in Phoenicia, and distinguished the Phoenicians from the
other Syrians. Phoenicia was a narrow strip near the
northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea. It was some
twenty-eight miles long with an average width of about one
mile. Canaan means "lowland"; Phoenicia means
"palmland." The Canaanites founded Sidon (Ge
10:19), and the Phoenicians were their descendants. HG
4.
Her calling Jesus the “Son of David” indicates
she knew something of the Jewish expectation of a Messiah;
her perfect reserve and respect, throughout the whole
interview, showed she understood the Jewish feelings for
her people. GA
5.
Answered not a Word. —- The suggestion of
the disciples that Jesus send her away because “she
crieth after us” strongly implies two things: 1. That
they were then traveling on their way, and the wo man was
following after them, earnestly repeating her cry for
mercy; 2. that the disciples knew Jesus was seeking
retirement and should dismiss her, lest her cries defeat
his purpose by attracting more to him. Jesus’ not
deigning to answer a word was a severe test on her faith,
but God has often tested the faith of those most worthy of
blessings. His silence also taught his disciples that
rewards generally await those who make persistent efforts.
6.
Send
her away; for she crieth after us. The woman by her
loud entreaties was drawing to Jesus the very attention
which he sought to avoid. The disciples therefore
counseled him to grant her request for his own sake--not
for mercy or compassion, but merely to be rid of her.
Lesson
41, A Speech Impediment Healed and 4,000 Fed, Matt.
15:32-39; Mark 7:31-8:9
1.
To what place did Jesus go next?
2.
Where did Jesus go as he crossed the Sea of
Galilee?
3.
As Jesus came near the Sea of Galilee, near the
border of Decapolis, who was brought to Jesus for healing?
4.
How did Jesus heal this man?
5.
What does Ephphatha mean? How was the word used?
6.
What instructions did he give the man he healed?
7.
What reaction did the people around him have?
8.
Fill in the missing words: “And they were
_________________ __________________ astonished, saying, He
hath done all things well; he maketh even the
_____________ to ___________________, and the
_______________ to ____________________. (Mark 7:37).
9.
How did Jesus show his compassion on the people?
10.
How many loaves and fishes did he have this time?
11.
How many people did he feed?
12.
What shows they had more than enough?
Lesson 42, Meeting an
“Adulterous Generation” Seeking a Sign, Matt.
15:39-16:12; Mark 8:10-26
1.
What did the Pharisees and Sadducees ask of Jesus?
2.
How did he answer them?
3.
What did Jesus say would identify an “evil and
adulterous” generation?
4.
Did Jesus refuse to give them what they asked for?
If not what kind of sign did he promise them?
5.
What had the disciples forgotten to take with them
after they crossed to the other side of the Sea?
6.
(Fill in the missing word) - Jesus said, “Take
heed and beware of the ____________________ of the
Pharisees and Sadducees. What did he mean by this? (Matt.
16:12).
7.
What miracle did Jesus remind his disciples of?
What application did he intend for this to make?
8.
What was Jesus asked to do to a blind man? (Mark
8:22).
9.
Describe how Jesus restored his sight and how the
blind man first saw.
10.
Describe how the man’s vision returned to normal.
11.
Where did Jesus send the man?
1.
And the Pharisees came forth, and began to
question with him seeking of him a sign from heaven.
They rejected his miracles as signs of his Messiahship,
the Pharisees holding that such signs could be wrought by
Beelzebub. See Mark 3:22; Matt. 12:24; Luke 11:15. They
therefore asked a sign from heaven such as only God could
give, and such as he had accorded to Moses, Joshua,
Samuel, and Elijah, or such as Joel foretold (Joel 2:31).
[Trying him.] Testing the strength of his miraculous
power. FG
2.
There
shall no sign be given unto this generation--literally,
“If there shall be given to this generation a sign”; a
Jewish way of expressing a solemn and peremptory
determination to the contrary (compare Heb. 4:5; Psa
95:11, Margin). “A generation incapable of appreciating
such demonstrations shall not be gratified with them.”
In Matt. 16:4 He added, “but the sign of the prophet
Jonas.” JFB
No sign be given. That is, no such sign as they asked--to
wit, a sign from heaven. He said a sign should be given,
the same as was furnished by Jonas, Matt. 16:1. But this
was not what they asked, nor would it be given because
they asked it. AB
3.
[Wicked and adulterous generation] The Jewish people
are represented in the Sacred Writings as married to the
Most High; but, like a disloyal wife, forsaking their true
husband, and uniting themselves to Satan and sin. Seeketh
after a sign, shmeion
epizhtei, seeketh sign upon sign, or, still another
sign. Our blessed Lord had already wrought miracles
sufficient to demonstrate both his Divine mission and his
divinity; only one was farther necessary to take away the
scandal of his cross and death, to fulfill the Scriptures,
and to establish the Christian religion; and that was, his
resurrection from the dead, which, he here states, was
typified in the case of Jonah. ACC
4.
See help on number 2 above. The greatest of
all “signs” is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead.
5.
This is the one miracle that all the writers
record. (See Matt. 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14.)
It is well to study what each writer says, for neither
writer gives all the details. The multitude had rushed out
to this place without giving any thought to the matter of
food for the day; they were so carried away with the
excitement of the hour that they gave no thought to their
own needs. As it drew toward the close of the day, the
matter of food became of interest. Putting together what
all the writers say, the conversation between Jesus and
his disciples must have been about as follows: Jesus said
to Philip, “Whence are we to buy bread, that these may
eat?” Philip answered, “Two hundred shillings’ worth
of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may
take a little.” He answered, “Give ye them to eat.”
The other disciples said, “Shall we go and buy two
hundred shillings’ worth of bread, and give them to
eat?” (The way this definite amount of money was
mentioned shows rather clearly that this was the amount of
money Jesus and the disciples had on hand at the time, but
that amount of money would not buy enough bread that each
one might have a little,) GA
Lesson 43, “I Will Build My
Church,” Matt. 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21
1.
What was Jesus doing when he asked his disciples
who the multitudes said he was? (Luke 9:18).
2.
What question did Jesus put before his disciples?
Where was he when this took place?
3.
What answers did he get in return? (Think of
reasons why people may have thought of Jesus as they did.)
4.
What does the term “Christ” mean?
5.
From what source was Peter’s correct answer
revealed?
6.
When would the apostles have heard from heaven that
Jesus was truly the Christ, the son of God?
7.
What did he promise to build?
8.
On what was he to build it? (Does this mean Peter
was to be the foundation of the church?) (Read 1 Cor.
3:10-11).
9.
What authority did he give his apostles?
10.
What do you think is the import of the fact that
Jesus “charged” his disciples to not tell anyone he
was the Christ?
11.
When was this promise fulfilled?
12.
Does the singular word “church” indicate the
purpose of Jesus for his people? If so, how?