Mar 9, 2017 | Blog
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah – “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.”
Today’s lesson has fittingly been acknowledged as pivotal and climactic in Matthew’s narrative of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. The stories to this point have repeatedly pressed the issue of faith and discipleship as the many stories of Jesus’ teaching and healing have led these disciples and ourselves to expect some things about this one called the Son of Man.
And now these stories are focused in Jesus’ intensely direct and personal question and in Peter’s response. “But who do you say that I am?” There is no escape and this is no time for evasion. Peter speaks for the disciples, for Matthew’s gospel and the community to which it is first addressed, and certainly for us, announcing that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God (16:15-16). Jesus confirms this “confession” by Peter as a mark of God’s blessing and as the “rock” upon which he will build his church (16:17-18).
Jesus Predicts His Death (Matthew 16:21-28)
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (verses 21-22).
This passage moves from a focus upon Jesus and his vocation to his demands for disciples. Jesus has just congratulated Peter for his recognition that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Moreover, Jesus’ language has intimated authority: Peter the Rock provides the church’s foundation, he receives the keys to the realm of heaven and his earthly authority carries heavenly significance. But now Jesus begins a process of reinterpreting what being the Messiah really means — and what following that Messiah entails for the disciples. If Peter cannot bear the revelation of Jesus’ coming suffering (16:22), how will he respond when the focus shifts to disciples whose fate mimics that of Jesus?
BIBLE STUDY OUTLINE MONDAY, MARCH 12 – MARCH 19, 2017
Jesus’ Last Ministry in Galilee (chapters 17:22-18:35)
Prediction of Jesus’ Death (17:22-23)
Temple Tax (17:24-27)
Discourse on Life in the kingdom (chapter 18)
Jesus’ Ministry in Judea and Pera (chapter 19)
Teaching concerning Divorce (19:1-12)
Teaching concerning Little Children (19:13-15)
The Rich Young Man (19:16-30)
Mar 9, 2017 | Blog
That Which Defiles: “Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them” (verses 1-2; 16-20).
This passage focuses on the main idea that spiritual uncleanness is in the heart, the will, the mind, or whatever term is used for the spiritual nature of the person. It does not come from eating without washing the hands. The keeping of external regulations was to have directed the faithful to focus on inner spirituality, but it did not do this. And so external ritual replaced inner spiritual reality! Jesus took this opportunity to teach that truth—at the expense of the teachers’ reputation. As far as He was concerned, they had failed in their task because they misunderstood the Scripture, and so they were useless as guides. They would be rooted out and destroyed.
The of the Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-28)
“Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.”
This story in Matthew 15 is very troubling. A Canaanite woman cries out to Jesus to heal her daughter. By the end of the story, her daughter has been healed — but between the crying and the healing, Jesus says some “un-Jesus like” things. But Matthew doesn’t clean up this story. Matthew dares to give us a very human Jesus and he paints a specific picture of this woman. She is a Canaanite woman. She is not one of Jesus’ people.
She won’t give up. “Lord, help me,” she begs. Jesus says: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But the Canaanite woman is feisty and stubborn. The life of her daughter is at stake. She picks up his words and throws them right back: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” When Jesus hears this, he says, “Woman, great is your faith!” Surely there’s enough for me and my daughter. That’s what Jesus finally heard and came to believe. “For saying that, you may go — the demon has left your daughter.”
Mar 7, 2017 | Blog
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand (Matt 14:13-21): “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (verses 13-14).
Stories of Jesus feeding huge crowds with only a little were an important part of the earliest traditions of Jesus’ followers. Matthew’s Gospel includes two near-duplicate stories (see also Matthew 15:32-39), which are close parallels of two in Mark (6:32-44 and 8:1-10). Luke (9:10-17) and John (6:1-13) also include the “feeding of the five thousand” or a parallel.
Feeding a Crowd: The narrative of the feeding of the crowds in the wilderness is notably straightforward. Jesus was moved by compassion for the crowds and healed them. Late in the day, the disciples assessed the situation (in the wilderness there is nothing for the hungry crowds to eat) and perhaps they, too, were moved by compassion when they suggested the crowds be sent to nearby towns where they could buy food. Jesus had another idea: feed them right here with what we have. Taking the five loaves and two fish the disciples had on hand, Jesus blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. The disciples fed the crowds, numbering five thousand men, plus women and children. Everyone had enough to eat, and they gathered up the leftovers. The story does not tell us how the hungry crowd is fed in the wilderness; only that no one leaves hungry. And so the story invites us to use our imaginations.
Bread: Blessed, Broken & Given: Multiple feeding stories in the gospels should not surprise us. They echo a common theme in Israel’s scriptures. As bread and fish feed the hungry crowd in the wilderness (translated “a deserted place” in Matthew), manna in the wilderness provided daily sustenance for the Israelites.
Jesus Walks on the Water (Matt 14:22-36)
From this setting, we already see Jesus as a man of prayer (v. 23). Rather than sticking around to reap the political benefits of his miracle, Jesus retires to prayer. (Mt 14:23).
If the disciples were still struggling against the winds at the fourth watch of the night—the Romans divided the night into four instead of the Jewish three watches—the disciples must have been exhausted. Probably accustomed to awakening around 6:00 a.m., they instead found themselves still trying to cross the lake between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. We may criticize the disciples for accepting the popular notion of ghosts, but the biggest offense here is that they still underestimate Jesus’ power. It has not occurred to them that he could know their plight, walk on water to come to them or catch up to them in a storm! To their credit, however, the fear issue seems to be solved once they recognize that their teacher is with them. They knew him well enough to know that if he was there, he would bring them through their storm.
Although the proposal that Peter walk on water is first Peter’s idea (v. 28), Jesus’ response indicates that he approves of it (v. 29). Peter is gently reproved not for presumptuously stepping from the boat but for presumptuously doubting in the very presence of Jesus (v. 31; compare 6:30; 8:26; 16:8; 17:20. Disciples were expected to imitate their masters, and Jesus is training disciples who will not simply regurgitate his teachings but will have the faith to demonstrate his authority in practice as well.
Mar 7, 2017 | Blog
As stated last week, a parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus relied heavily on parables; now let’s look at the meaning of two parables from Matthew 13.
The Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3-9) – Jesus explains this parable in verses 18:23. Let’s look at the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the evil one comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. “The seed falling on rocky ground – this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But since they have no root, when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears the word and understands it, and then produces a harvest, yielding 100, 60 or 30 times what was sown.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl (Matt 13:44-45) – God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidently found by a trespasser. The finder is filled with joy – what a find! Then proceeds to sell everything he/she owns to raise money and buy that field. Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, the finder immediately sells everything and buys it.
These two parables teach the same truth. The kingdom is of such great value that one should be willing to give up all he/she has in order to gain it. Jesus did not imply that one can purchase the kingdom with money or goods.
John the Baptist Beheaded – A Prophet Martyred: The parallels between the missions of John and Jesus have been building toward the climax of this paragraph. John has introduced Jesus, proclaiming the same message that Jesus would (3:2; 4:17).
The murder of John the Baptist is also in (Mark 6:14-29; Luke 9:7-9). “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,” (Matt 14:1), “Herod Antipas,” identified as Herod the tetrarch in the Gospels, was the son of Herod the Great and brother of Archelaus (2:22). Of the Herods, Antipas figures most prominently in the Gospels since he ruled over the regions where both John the Baptist and Jesus conducted most of their ministries, Perea and Galilee. Antipas is remembered primarily for his imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. Antipas had married his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias. Though Antipas respected and feared John, nevertheless he had John beheaded as the result of a plot by Herodias.
John had been arrested because he challenged the legitimacy of Herod’s divorce and incestuous remarriage. “Herodias” was the daughter of Aristobulus, a half-brother of Antipas. She had been married to her uncle, Herod “Philip,” and had borne him a daughter, Salome. However, she divorced her husband and married Antipas, who was already married.
Herodias was a guilty and vindictive woman who wanted John dead, and she devised a plan to get rid of him. At the king’s birthday party, her daughter performed a provocatively enticing dance which so appealed to the drunken Herod that he “promised with an oath” she could have whatever she wanted. She asked for “John the Baptist’s head in a charger” (a table platter).
John the Baptist paid the ultimate price!
Mar 2, 2017 | Blog
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath: “At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests… For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (verses 1-4 & 8).
Stretch Out Your Hand: “Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus” (verses 9-13).
Jesus and Beelzebul: “Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons” (verses 22-24).
The Parables – Mathew Chapter 13
A Parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. Parables come from the Greek word parabole, which means “placing beside”—and thus a comparison or an illustration. Jesus’ parables were stories that were “cast alongside” a truth in order to illustrate that truth. His parables were teaching aids and can be thought of as extended analogies or inspired comparisons. A common description of a parable is that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
For a time in his ministry, Jesus relied heavily on parables. Its common use in the New Testament is for illustrative stories that Jesus drew from nature and human life. The Synoptic Gospels contain about 30 of these stories. John’s Gospel contains no parables but uses other figures of speech.
Jesus speaks in parables because of the spiritual dullness of the people: “This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving” (verses 13-14).
BIBLE STUDY OUTLINE Monday, March 6 – March 12, 2017
More on the Parables ( 13)
Herod’s Reaction to Jesus’ Ministry (14:1–12)
Jesus’ Withdrawals from Galilee (14:13—17:20):
To the Eastern Shore of the Sea of Galilee (14:13—15:20)
To Phoenicia (15:21–28)
To the Decapolis (15:29—16:12)
To Caesarea Philippi (16:13—17:20)
