Matthew 21:31 Cross References - AUV

³¹ Which of these two sons did what his father wanted?” They answered, “The first one.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes [will] enter the kingdom of God ahead of you.

¹⁸ For it is true when I say, not one little letter or even a portion of a letter will be removed from the law of Moses until everything is accomplished [that is required by them]. [When that happens, then] heaven and earth will pass away [i.e., be destroyed. See II Peter 3:12].

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners [i.e., in prominent view of everyone] in order to be seen [and praised] by people.

²¹ “Not every person who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but [only] that person who does what my Father in heaven requires.

⁹ As Jesus moved on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth [i.e., collecting taxes]. He said to him, “Become my follower.” And he got up and followed Him.

⁵⁰ “For whoever will do what my Father in heaven desires, is my brother and sister and mother.”

³ and said, “Truly I tell you, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven unless you turn [your life around] and become like little children [i.e., having child-like humility].

¹⁶ So, the [person who seems to be] last will be first [i.e., in importance and blessings], but the [person who seems to be] first will [end up] being last.”

²⁹ And when all the people, together with the tax collectors, heard this they praised God for being so just, and were immersed with the immersion [preached] by John.

³⁷ And when a sinful woman from the town learned that He was having dinner at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of liquid perfume, ³⁸ and stood behind Jesus, at His feet, crying. She began wetting His feet with her tears and wiping them dry with the hair of her head. Then she kissed His feet and poured the perfume on them. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who touched him and what kind of a woman she was --- a sinner.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Simon [See verse 43], I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Teacher, [go ahead and] say it.” ⁴¹ [Jesus then gave this parable]: A certain moneylender had two men who owed him money; one owed him five hundred coins [Note: The total amount was 500 days of a farm laborer’s pay, or about $35,000 in 1994], and the other man [owed him] fifty coins [Note: About $3,500 in 1994]. ⁴² When these two men did not have [the money] to repay him, the moneylender canceled [the debts of] both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one who had the largest debt canceled, I suppose.” Jesus said to him, “You are right.” ⁴⁴ Then Jesus turned to the woman [who had just poured the perfume on Him] and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house and you did not give me any water for [washing] my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss [of greeting], but from the time I came in [to your house] she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not pour [aromatic] oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ For this reason, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. [Note: This suggests that her forgiveness was the result of her loving, but the point Jesus makes better fits the idea that her forgiveness produced love]. But the person who is forgiven of little [i.e., of only a few sins], loves [only] a little bit.” ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ And those who were reclining at the [dinner] table with Him began saying among themselves, “Who is this person who can even forgive sins?” ⁵⁰ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you [i.e., from condemnation]. Go [away] in peace.”

¹ Now the tax collectors and worldly people were all gathering around Jesus to listen to Him. ² And the Pharisees and experts in the law of Moses both complained, saying, “This man welcomes worldly people and [even] eats with them.”

¹⁰ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels [i.e., in heaven ?] over one sinful person who repents.”

⁹ Then Jesus said to him, “Salvation has come to this house today, since he too [i.e., Zacchaeus] is a descendant of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of man came to search for and save those who were lost.”

²² The gentleman replied to him, ‘I will judge you [based] on what you [yourself] have [just] said, you evil slave. [Since] you knew that I am a hard man to deal with, picking up [and keeping] something I had not laid down, and harvesting a crop I had not planted,

³⁰ Now God made allowance for the times when people were still uninformed [about His complete will], but now [in the Gospel age] He requires all people everywhere to repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives].

¹⁹ Now we [all] know that everything the law says applies to those who are under [obligation to obey] that law, [Note: Here “the law” appears to refer to the Old Testament Scriptures generally, since Psalms and Isaiah are quoted. See verses 10-18]. This is so that the mouth of every objector may be stopped [i.e., from making excuses for his sin], and thereby bring the entire world under God’s judgment [i.e., both Jews and Gentiles].

²⁰ Now the law of Moses was introduced [into the world] in order to cause sin to increase [i.e., it defined many things to be wrong that were previously not regarded as sin]. But with the increase of sin, God’s unearned favor increased all the more.

³⁰ What shall we say then? [Simply this]: That the Gentiles, who did not attempt to become right with God [by how they lived] were made right with God, and this was the result of their faith [in Christ]. ³¹ But the Israelites, who were attempting to become right with God by [conformity to] the law of Moses, never achieved [this righteousness] by that law. ³² Why? Because they did not [attempt to do it] by faith [in Him], but by trying to fulfill all the requirements [of the law]. So, they stumbled over “the stumbling stone,” [i.e., the Jews refused to become obedient to Christ. See I Pet. 2:6-8]. ³³ Even as it is written [Ex. 28:16], “Look, I am placing a stone in the city of Zion that people will stumble over and a rock on which they will trip and fall. But the person who believes in Him will not be put to shame [i.e., he will never have unforgiven sin brought up against him].”

¹³ [even] though I had previously spoken against Christ, and persecuted [Christians] and acted outrageously. However, I obtained mercy because I acted out of ignorance, not believing [in Christ]. ¹⁴ [But] the unearned favor of our Lord was given to me in great abundance, producing faith and love which are [found] in [the fellowship of] Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This saying is trustworthy and deserves to be fully accepted: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them all. ¹⁶ However, even though I was the worst, I obtained mercy so that the patience of Jesus Christ could be shown toward the worst [of sinners] as an example for those people who would later believe in Him in order to [receive] never ending life.

⁹ The Lord is not slow about keeping His promise, like some people are, but is [simply] being patient with you, since He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but He wants everyone to repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives].