Matius 5:20

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees, ²  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matius 6:18

6:18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Matius 12:32

12:32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. ³  But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, ⁴  either in this age or in the age to come.

Matius 22:12

22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. ⁵ 

Matius 24:43

24:43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief ⁶  was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into.

Matius 26:42

26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, ⁷  “My Father, if this cup ⁸  cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.”

Matius 27:40

27:40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ⁹  If you are God’s Son, come down ¹⁰  from the cross!”

[5:20]  ¹ tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[5:20]  ² sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:32]  ³ tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”

[12:32]  ⁴ tn Grk “it will not be forgiven him.”

[12:32]  sn Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. This passage has troubled many people, who have wondered whether or not they have committed this sin. Three things must be kept in mind: (1) the nature of the sin is to ascribe what is the obvious work of the Holy Spirit (e.g., releasing people from Satan’s power) to Satan himself; (2) it is not simply a momentary doubt or sinful attitude, but is indeed a settled condition which opposes the Spirit’s work, as typified by the religious leaders who opposed Jesus; and (3) a person who is concerned about it has probably never committed this sin, for those who commit it here (i.e., the religious leaders) are not in the least concerned about Jesus’ warning.

[22:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “he was silent.”

[24:43]  ⁶ sn On Jesus pictured as a returning thief, see 1 Thess 5:2, 4; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15.

[26:42]  ⁷ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:42]  ⁸ tn Grk “this”; the referent (the cup) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:40]  ⁹ sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.

[27:40]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy^[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א² B L W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA²⁷ puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.