Matthew 6:34

6:34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. ¹ 

Matthew 13:32

13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ²  so that the wild birds ³  come and nest in its branches.” ⁴ 

Matthew 16:18

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ⁵  will not overpower it.

Matthew 18:13

18:13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, ⁶  he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

Matthew 28:2

28:2 Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord ⁷  descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it.

---

¹ tn Grk “Sufficient for the day is its evil.”

² sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty-five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

³ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

⁴ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

⁵ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14). Some translations render this by its modern equivalent, “hell”; others see it as a reference to the power of death.

⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁷ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.