Matius 5:19

5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others ¹  to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matius 11:11

11:11 “I tell you the truth, ²  among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least ³  in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.

Matius 12:25

12:25 Now when Jesus ⁴  realized what they were thinking, he said to them, ⁵  “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, ⁶  and no town or house divided against itself will stand.

Matius 13:31

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

13:31 He gave ⁷  them another parable: ⁸  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed ⁹  that a man took and sowed in his field.

Matius 13:33

The Parable of the Yeast

13:33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with ¹⁰  three measures ¹¹  of flour until all the dough had risen.” ¹² 

Matius 13:44

Parables on the Kingdom of Heaven

13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.

Matius 13:52

13:52 Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law ¹³  who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.”

Matius 16:28

16:28 I tell you the truth, ¹⁴  there are some standing here who will not ¹⁵  experience ¹⁶  death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” ¹⁷ 

Matius 19:14

19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁸ 

Matius 20:21

20:21 He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, ¹⁹  “Permit ²⁰  these two sons of mine to sit, one at your ²¹  right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

Matius 26:29

26:29 I ²²  tell you, from now on I will not drink of this fruit ²³  of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

[5:19]  ¹ tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).

[11:11]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[11:11]  ³ sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

[12:25]  ⁴ tc The majority of mss read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), which clarifies who is the subject of the sentence. Although the shorter text is attested in far fewer witnesses (̲¹ א B D 892* sy^s,c sa bo), both the pedigree of the mss and the strong internal evidence (viz., scribes were not prone to intentionally delete the name of Jesus) argue for the omission of Jesus’ name. The name has been included in the translation, however, for clarity.

[12:25]  ⁵ sn Jesus here demonstrated the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. He first teaches (vv. 25-28) that if he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. He then teaches (v. 29) about tying up the strong man to prove that he does not need to align himself with the devil because he is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (4:1-11) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 12:31-32).

[12:25]  ⁶ tn Or “is left in ruins.”

[13:31]  ⁷ tn Grk “put before.”

[13:31]  ⁸ tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[13:31]  ⁹ sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.

[13:33]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “hid in.”

[13:33]  ¹¹ sn This measure was a saton, the Greek name for the Hebrew term “seah.” Three of these was a very large quantity of flour, since a saton is a little over 16 pounds (7 kg) of dry measure (or 13.13 liters). So this was over 47 lbs (21 kg) of flour total, enough to feed over a hundred people.

[13:33]  ¹² tn Grk “it was all leavened.”

[13:33]  sn The parable of the yeast and the dough teaches that the kingdom of God will start small but eventually grow to permeate everything. Jesus’ point was not to be deceived by its seemingly small start, the same point made in the parable of the mustard seed, which preceded this one.

[13:52]  ¹³ tn Or “every scribe.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4. It is possible that the term translated “expert in the law” (traditionally, “scribe”) here is a self-description used by the author, Matthew, to represent his role in conveying the traditions about Jesus to his intended audience. See David E. Orton, The Understanding Scribe [JSNTSup].

[16:28]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[16:28]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[16:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[16:28]  ¹⁷ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the Son of Man coming in his kingdom: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Christ’s role in the Church; (5) the destruction of Jerusalem; (6) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to six days later in 17:1 seems to indicate that Matthew had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration would be a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (in vv. 21-23), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

[19:14]  ¹⁸ sn The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.

[20:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “said to him.”

[20:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Say that.”

[20:21]  ²¹ tc A majority of witnesses read σου (sou, “your”) here, perhaps for clarification. At the same time, it is possible that the pronoun dropped out through haplography or was excised because of perceived redundancy (there are two other such pronouns in the verse) by א B. Either way, the translation adds it due to the requirements of English style. NA²⁷ includes σου here.

[26:29]  ²² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:29]  ²³ tn Grk “produce” (“the produce of the vine” is a figurative expression for wine).