Difficulties

1:1-17 - Do Matthew and Luke’s genealogies contradict each other? (cf. Lk. 3:23-38) 1:12 - Who is Shealtiel’s father? Jeconiah or Neri? (cf. Lk. 3:27) 1:12 - How could Jesus be the Messiah, if God cursed the descendants of King Jehoiachin (Jer. 22:30)? 1:17 - Why does Matthew emphasize 14 generations? 1:20 - Did God commit adultery with Mary? Did God break his own commandment? 1:23 - Did Isaiah really predict a virgin birth? 2:6 - Did Micah predict the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem or not? 2:14-15 - How could Matthew quote Hosea as a “fulfillment” of Jesus, when Hosea was referring to the nation of Israel? 2:18 - Does Matthew quote Jeremiah 31:15 out of context? 2:23 - Why does Matthew say this is from the Old Testament, when the Old Testament NEVER mentions “Nazareth” or “being a Nazarene?” 3:11 - Does this passage support the concept of a second blessing? 4:4-10 - Why does Jesus cite these OT passages? 4:14-16 - Why does Matthew cite Isaiah 9:1-2? 5:1ff - Is this the same as Luke’s account in Luke 6:20-49? 5:1ff - How do we interpret the Sermon on the Mount? 5:31-32 - What does this passage tell us about divorce and remarriage? 5:34 - Are we allowed to make oaths? (cf. Jas. 5:12; Hos. 4:2) 6:1 - Should we show our good works to others or not? 6:6 - Did Jesus abolish corporate prayer meetings? 6:7 - Does this passage preclude persistent prayer? (cf. Luke 11:5-10) 6:15 - Is forgiveness conditional or unconditional? 6:16-18 - Should believers fast? 7:1 - Are we allowed to judge or not? 7:6 - What does it mean to cast pearls before swine? 7:13-14 - Does this verse teach that many people will go to hell and few will go to heaven? 7:19 - Do believers have to bear fruit in order to be saved? 7:21-23 - Does Jesus teach that those who call out to him in the sinner’s prayer will actually go to hell? 8:3 - Jesus breaking the law in touching a leper? 8:5-13 - Does this contradict the account in Luke 7:1-10? 8:21-22 - Wasn’t this insensitive and cruel? 9:13 - Why does Jesus quote Hosea 6:6 10:1-15 - Does the commissioning of the Twelve contradict Mark and Luke’s account (cf. Mk. 6:7-13; Lk. 9:1-6)? 10:5-6 - Was Jesus cruel in not ministering to the Gentiles? (cf. 15:24) 10:13-14 - Isn’t it cruel to not pursue unwilling people? 10:22 - Does this passage deny eternal security? 10:23 - Does this passage support Preterism? 11:14 - Could John the Baptist be a figurative Elijah? 11:14 - Did Jesus believe in reincarnation? 11:25 - Why would God hide his truth? 11:27 - Does this support Calvinism? 12:2 - What is Jesus’ defense for his disciples breaking the Sabbath? 12:32 - Blaspheming the Holy Spirit? 12:32 - Does this passage support the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory? 12:40 - Was Jesus dead three days and three nights or a day and a half? 13:31-32 - Was Jesus wrong in saying that the mustard seed is the smallest seed? 13:44-46 - Do we need to sell everything in order to come to Christ? 13:54-58 - How was Jesus rejected? (cf. Mk. 6:1-5; Lk. 4:16-30) 13:58 - Could Jesus not perform miracles? (cf. Mk. 6:5-6) 14:4 - Why was is “not lawful” for Herod to marry Herodias? 15:22-28 - Was Jesus cruel to this Canaanite woman? 16:18 - Is Jesus giving papal authority to Peter? 16:18 - Did Jesus give papal authority to Peter? 16:19 - What does binding and loosing mean? 16:28 - Did Jesus make a false prediction about his second coming? 18:3 - Are believers supposed to be gullible like children? 18:21-22 - What did Jesus mean by forgiving someone 77 times? 19:3-12 - Is adultery the only reason for divorce? Are other reasons permitted? 21:9 - Why did the crowds shout out Psalm 118:26? 21:12 - When did Jesus cleanse the Temple? 21:18-22 - Does this account of Jesus cursing the fig tree contradict Mark’s account? (Mk. 11:11-15, 19-25) 21:18 - What is the significance of the fig tree? 21:43 - Is Jesus saying that the Jews are permanently out of God’s plan, because they rejected the Messiah? 22:37-39 - Does Jesus misquote Deuteronomy 6:5? 22:41-46 - Is Psalm 110 a prophecy of Jesus? 23:35 - Jesus claims that the last Hebrew martyr was Zechariah the son of Berechiah, but this is the wrong Zechariah. 23:37-39 - Does this passage support Preterism? 24:2 - Why doesn’t Matthew (or Mark) mention the destruction of the Temple in AD 70? 24:13 - Does this verse threaten eternal security? 24:14 - Does this predict the evangelization of the globe (as futurists claim) or the evangelization of the Roman Empire (as preterists claim)? 24:15-16 - Does this refer to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, as Preterist interpreters claim? 24:22 - Is Jesus using hyperbole when he says “no life would have been saved” as Preterists claim? 24:26-27 - Is the lightning symbolic of God’s judgment as Preterists claim? 24:30 - Are the clouds symbolic for God’s judgment (as Preterists claim), or are they literal (as Futurists claim)? Also does the citation of Daniel 7:13 support Preterism? 24:31 - Is the gathering symbolic (as Preterists claim) or literal (as futurists claim)? 24:34 - Did Jesus make a false prediction about his second coming? 25:31-46 - Does this passage teach salvation through good works? 26:26 - Does this statement support the Roman Catholic view of transubstantiation? (cf. Mk. 14:22; Lk. 22:17-20; 1 Cor. 11:24-25) 27:9-10 - Did Matthew misattribute Zechariah 11:12-13 to Jeremiah? 28:5 - Were there two angels or one?