Bible Lover's Blog , Matthew, Chapters 17-25 - 3/27/2026

St. Matthew Gospel Study, Part 3, Chapters 17-25

The Transfiguration, Jesus with Moses and Elijah 

This blog post is the third in a series of posts about my study of The Gospel of St. Matthew, after whom I am a namesake. My goal is to finish with a fourth post before Easter, hopefully by Holy Thursday, which isn't but a week and a day away.

I feel truly blessed that I was inspired to embark on this study. While there are many important and significant things that I've learned in my study of Chapters 17-25, in large measure the study has been more reassuring to me than anything else.

Reassuring how, you might ask? It has been reassuring in that it again and again reaffirms the faith I was formed with as a child is the faith I treasure today. Whether as a grade school kid and altar boy at the St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Staten Island, or at Monsignor Farrell High School, none of my study contradicts anything I previously knew or believed. I would say though, to any cradle-Catholic reading this who has NOT gone back as an adult and endeavored to take your faith to a higher level through Bible, Catechism, and reading inspired books specific to our beautiful faith, do it. Every day for me my faith deepens, strengthens, and grows. It's beautiful.

As a child, for the most part Catechism was about the stories and parables. And the stories and parables all had morals; they taught us important lessons by example of how to be good Christians and to live our faith. This deepening, strengthening, and growth takes all that to a different place. I feel more engaged at Mass, and more aware of the presence of God in me and in my life in the most beautiful ways. What follows are MY notes. These are things I found interesting or instructive in understanding this gospel. I do not pretend to be a biblical scholar, and I do not profess to have all the answers. If neither of those, then who am I? I'm just a guy who loves Jesus, the Bible, the Holy Catholic Church, and the Mass, in no specific order, as long as Jesus is always listed first.

One thing I've learned that I didn't ever really understand is how when Jesus foretells of the destruction of the Temple, whereas I'd always thought that referred exclusively to His own human death, that scholars believe it ALSO predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 a.d. To use Johnny Carson's famous, frequently used, and well delivered line: "I did not know that."

Here is the methodology I am using in this study:

Methodology:

I have several main areas of focus for my studies:

1. To record the sequence of events and teachings across chapters, from Jesus’s birth through His death and resurrection. By no means do I intend to list every event, just the ones that I find help me have a sense of the flow and context of Jesus’s life as offered in the Gospel of St. Matthew. When I say main events that occurred, I include miracles.
2. The first appearance of key figures in the story of Jesus. I’m focused on “good guys” here, not the bad guys.
3. I’ll catalog Jesus’s parable teachings, including in which chapter each of the 20 parables is found. It may not be anything extraordinary, but perhaps by doing so I’ll gain insight into the evolution of Jesus’s ministry. I won’t try to re-teach the meanings, those are well done in countless books. For the purpose of this study my interest is the location within Matthew’s gospel.
4. St. Matthew goes to great lengths in his telling of the gospel to point out, either directly or by allusion, the ways that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophesies, especially those of the prophet Isaiah. In preparation for my own reading and study of Isaiah at some point in the future, I’ll identify instances in the Gospel of St. Matthew where he references or alludes to Isaiah. Because the references and inferences to them are numerous, I’m going to include the Psalms, too.
5. I’m interested in instances in which Jesus’s actions institute Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
6. I’ll choose one line from each chapter that speaks directly to me about my faith in Jesus. Wherever Jesus is quoted, I’ll use an italicized red font. I like words of Jesus in red in my Bible, so why not in my notes here on my blog, right?

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Chapter 17 - Jesus's Godliness is Revealed in the Transfiguration

Main Events or Subjects:

• The Transfiguration of Our Lord - Jesus's divinity is shown to Peter, James, and John
• God the Father's voice is heard for the second time in Matthew, the first having been on the occasion of Jesus's Baptism at the end of Chapter 3
• Jesus foretells His death and resurrection a second time ( the first was Matthew 16:22) 
• Jesus heals a boy with epilepsy / a demon
• Jesus makes a coin appear in a fish's mouth

References from the Prophet Isaiah and Psalms:

• In Matthew 17:5, God the Father's words "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" allude to Isaiah 42:1 "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him..."

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

Matthew 17:5 - "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him."

God the Father affirms the divinity of Jesus, and commands us to "Listen to Him." That is a takeaway from Chapter 17 of major significance.

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Chapter 18 - Guardian Angels, the Church's Authority, Forgving in

Parables:

• The Lost Sheep
• The Unforgiving Servant

Main Events or Subjects:

• This chapter almost entirely comprised of Jesus's teaching.  For me His answer to Peter regarding forgiveness stands out. He asks should he forgive a brother who sins against him seven times. Jesus replies: "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven."

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

Matthew 18:18 - "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

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Chapter 19 - Teachings of Jesus, Jesus Blesses the Children

Main Events or Subjects:

• Jesus teaches about divorce.
• Jesus blesses the children: "Let the children come to me and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

Holy Matrimony - Matthew 9:3-12

• Jesus teaches on the indissolubility of marriage, referencing creation and declaring that what God joins, no one should separate, elevating marriage to a sacred covenant

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

Matthew 19:26 - "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

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Chapter 20 - Jesus Teaches, Foretells His Death and Resurrection, Heals Blind Men

Parables:

• Two Workers in a Vineyard 

Main Events or Subjects:

• Jesus foretells his death and resurrection the third time
• The mother of James and John asks Jesus to have her sons seated at his right and left hand in heaven
• Jesus heals two blind men near Jericho

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

Matthew 20:28 - "...even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

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Chapter 21 - Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Palm Sunday Narrative), Cleanses the Temple

We'll celebrate Jesus's entry into Jerusalem this Sunday: Palm Sunday

Parables:

• The Two Sons
• The Wicked Tenants

Main Events or Subjects:

• Jesus makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem
• Jesus cleanses the temple
• Jesus scolded a fruitless fig tree, and it immediately withered

References from the Prophet Isaiah and Psalms:

• Matthew 21:4-5 refers directly to Isaiah 62:11 (partial allusion to Zechariah 9:9) - "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
• Matthew 21:9 is partially quotes Psalm 118:25-26 on Jesus's triumphal entry to Jerusalem: "Hosanna... Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
• Matthew 21:13 refers directly to Isaiah 56:7 (combined with Jeremiah 7:11) - "It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer."
• Matthew 21:16 Jesus directly quotes Psalm 8:2 - "Yes; you have never read, 'out of the mouths of babies and infants you have brought perfect praise'?"
• Matthew 21:42 Jesus directly quotes Psalm 118:22 - "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes."

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

Matthew 21:9 - "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest."

If you are familiar with the Catholic Mass and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, maybe like me you hear this passage and feel a compulsion to kneel. For those of you reading this who might not be familiar with our liturgy, it is after this verse is recited by the congregation that we drop to our knees for the consecration of the host and wine.

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Chapter 22 - Man's Resurrection, The Greatest Commandment

Parables:

• The Wedding Banquet

Main Events or Subjects:

• Jesus answer a question about paying taxes ( again the Pharisees are trying to trick Him ). Jesus says, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
• The greatest commandment

References from the Prophet Isaiah and Psalms:

• Matthew 22:44 Psalm 110:1 is directly quoted by Jesus - "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, till I put your enemies under your feet."

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

Matthew 22:14 - "For many are called, but few are chosen."

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Chapter 23 - Jesus Denounces the Scribes Pharisees

Main Events or Subjects:

• Jesus denounces the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees with the famous seven woes.

An interesting characteristic of Chapter 23 is that the chapter is comprised entirely of the words of our Savior, Jesus. In my "Words of Jesus in red Bible," all the typeface is red. Chapter 24 is almost as red, and Chapter 25, like 23, is all red.

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

Matthew 23:12 - "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

Chapter 24 - Destruction of the Temple, Coming Events

Parables:

• The Faithful and Wise Servant
• The Fig Tree

Main Events or Subjects:

• The destruction of the temple foretold
• Signs of the end of the age
• The coming of the Son of man and the need for watchfulness

References from the Prophet Isaiah and Psalms:

• Matthew 24:29 alludes to Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 - "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven."

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

 

Matthew 24:35 - "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

 

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Chapter 25 - Parables and Teachings About Judgement

Parables:

• The Wise and Foolish Virgins
• The Talents
• The Sheep and the Goats

Main Events or Subjects:

• This chapter is comprised entirely of Jesus's words and teaching
• The judgement of nations

One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:

 

Matthew 25:40 - "Truly, I say to you, as you did to the least of my brethren, you did it to me." 

 

Having gone to school in the '60's and '70's, this verse conjures in me lovely memories of a hymn that was often sung at Mass in those days, Whatsoever You Do, which was written by a Father William Jabusch.

Whatsoever You Do

Whatsoever you do to the least of my people 

That you do unto me. 

When I was hungry, you gave me to eat; 

When I was thirsty you gave me to drink. 

Now enter into the home of my Father. 

Whatsoever you do to the least of my people 

That you do unto me. 

When I was homeless, you opened your door; 

When I was naked, you gave me your coat. 

Now enter into the home of my Father. 

Whatsoever you do to the least of my people 

That you do unto me. 

When I was weary, you helped me find rest; 

When I was anxious, you calmed all my fears. 

Now enter into the home of my Father. 

Whatsoever you do to the least of my people 

That you do unto me.

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