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It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; it’s what comes out of your heart that defiles you. Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 15:1-20 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; it’s what comes out from your heart that defiles you Image by Nick Fewings, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti June 13, 2025 Matthew 15:1-9 The hypocritical Pharisees In verse 15:1 we see the first mention of Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem . Up until now, Jesus has been dealing with local Pharisees and scribes in Galilee. But he has now caught the attention of the religious leaders in the capital city of Jerusalem, and Pharisees and scribes have come north to check him out and ask him why he is doing what he is doing. What is the specific complaint of these Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem? This is not about hygiene. The Pharisees had developed a long list of traditions to reinforce their attempts to be ritually pure, traditions that were passed down from generation to generation “from the elders.” One of those traditions was to perform a ceremonial or ritual washing of the hands before eating. That rule didn’t come from the Old Testament Torah. The priests were commanded to wash their hands before serving at the altar (Exodus 30:17-21), but that did not apply to Jesus’s disciples. What is Jesus’s response? Jesus tells them that their tradition that allowed resources to be devoted to God even at the expense of taking care of one’s parents violates God’s command to honor one’s parents (in the Ten Commandments). His point is that they were putting tradition above God’s Law. Jesus distinguishes the law of God from the traditions of humans. When is it appropriate to break with traditions that have been handed down from the past, and when should they be upheld? In verses 8-9, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13 (Matthew quotes from the Septuagint version). Looking at the passage Jesus quotes from Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9, what is the fundamental problem with the Pharisees’ focus on tradition? Jesus is probably speaking in front of a crowd. His harsh language (“hypocrites”) draws a clear distinction between what is right and wrong; what is man-made and what is divinely inspired. In what ways might we find ourselves putting tradition or established rules ahead of what God has told us is right? In what ways might we be at risk of honoring God with our lips while our hearts are not in sync with God’s heart? Jesus’s response to these Pharisees and scribes is very forceful. When is it appropriate to take a strong stand, even if it offends other people? This exchange between Jesus and the delegation from Jerusalem appears to be a key moment in the events that lead to Jesus’s execution. When Jesus challenges their traditions, he is indirectly challenging the powerful people at the top of the social, religious, and political structure. Matthew 15:10-20 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you but what comes out In this dialogue, Jesus is talking about what “defiles” a person – that is, what makes a person ritually impure or spiritually unclean : what makes them unholy in the sight of God. According to Jesus in verse 11, what defiles a person in the sight of God? How is this view different from what the Pharisees think defiles people? In verses 13-14, Jesus uses two proverbs to describe the Pharisees. What does he say about them? Why is their focus on ritual purity rules misguided? Why can’t what you eat make you impure before God (see verse 17)? In what ways does their focus on external purity make them “blind”? Jesus says that it is what comes out of your mouth that defiles you. In verse 18, he explains why. Where do these things that defile us come from? The heart. In verse 19, what are the specific sins he identifies that come from the heart? Why is it appropriate to say that these things “defile” us? How do they defile us? Would you say that the defilement is already within us before it comes out in sinful actions, or that we are not defiled until we do specific immoral things? Explain. Matthew’s list of the things Jesus names that defile us is shorter than Mark’s list. Matthew sticks to sins that specifically break the Ten Commandments (from the Old Testament). In Mark 7:21-22, Mark includes other vices or sins, such as greed, envy, and arrogance. Which of these sins do you think are especially a problem for people in the Church today? How can you know when you have given in to sin and have become defiled? What can you do when you have given in to sin and become defiled? If you had to summarize this passage in a sentence or two to explain the main point to someone who doesn’t know much about religion, how would you summarize it? In the next story, Matthew shows Jesus putting these words into action and applying this principle to a much bigger issue. Take a step back and consider this: In our day, we don’t think that touching a non-believer, a foreigner, or even a sinner can make us unclean before God. Even so, Christians tend to separate themselves from the world when they can. Sometimes, the reason given for this is that we should not associate ourselves with sin, or that we should not put ourselves in situations where we might be tempted to sin, or that we should build the church or Christian community that God desires and not get mixed up in the aspects of the world that do not reflect God’s desires. However, Jesus did not tell his disciples that they should separate themselves from the world. He told them to avoid sin, but he told them to go out into the world. In his long, final prayer in the Gospel of John, Jesus describes us as being “in the world” (John 17:11) even though we “do not belong to the world” (John 17:14). He then said to the Father, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are not meant to be separate from the world. But we are meant to be separated from sin, so that what comes out of our hearts and into our words and actions come from God. In what ways are you maintaining a presence in the world rather than avoiding it, so that you can be a witness for Christ in your words and actions? What challenges or temptations do you face in trying to live out your faith in the world? What can you do to be faithful to Jesus and avoid the defilement of sin while you live your faith in a messy world? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

Wise men come to see the newborn king – and still do today! Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 2:1-12 Wise men come to see the newborn king – and still do today! Possibly Antonio Vassilacchi ( also called L'Aliense) (1556-1629). Chiesa di San Zaccaria church, Venice, Italy. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 2:1-12 The wise men seek the newborn king, and unintentionally alert King Herod The “wise men,” or “magi” in the Greek, were, according to The New Oxford Annotated Bible , “a class of Parthian (Persian) priests, renowned as astrologers” (fn. to Matthew 2:1-12, p. 1749). That may suggest more certainty than we have; other scholars do not think it is so certain. We mustn’t think of “astrologers” as being like modern-day fortune-tellers. They were scientists, trying to make sense of physical phenomena and how those phenomena might affect humans. There were whole bodies of “knowledge” that had been developed, connecting different nations to different “stars” (actually, planets). Why did the wise men from the East come looking for a baby in Jerusalem? In Matthew’s mind, what is the significance of the fact that these were wise men from the East rather than people from Judea? Note: The star could have been a comet, but it was more likely a juxtaposition of planets (“stars”) that had auspicious meaning according to the wisest understandings of the natural world at that time. There is a reference to a star in the Old Testament: In Numbers 24, Balaam prophesied that “a star shall come out of Jacob, / and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (24:17, NRSV) and “Edom will become a possession” (24:18, NRSV) – i.e., Edom will be taken over and lose its independence. Herod, with an ancestry reaching back to Edom, would have been especially troubled by this. Why do you think these men want to pay homage to a Jewish baby king? Note: Herod the Great was “king” from 37 BC to 4 BC, most of that time as a vassal (a client state) to the Roman Emperor. He was known for his great building projects, including his marvelous renovation and beautification of the Temple in Jerusalem, but he was also known for his ruthless treatment of any rivals; he even had his own wife and several members of his family executed. He was not from Judea. He was from Idumea, south of Israel, part of a non-Jewish Edomite family, and although his people several generations earlier had been forced to become Jews, he was always suspect among strict Jews, both because of his ethnic heritage and because of his profligate lifestyle. Why do you think Herod was frightened or troubled by the news these wise men brought? We sometimes sanitize the Bible of its politics. This is a story with a huge element of politics. Why might “all of Jerusalem,” perhaps including the chief priests, have been frightened or troubled by the news from the wise men? The people of Jerusalem knew that Herod often killed whole groups of people when he thought someone was trying to challenge him. When a tyrant is upset, everyone around him is on edge. Incidentally, Bethlehem was 5 miles south of Jerusalem, so if Jerusalem was stirred up, it also would have stirred up people in Bethlehem. Matthew tells us that Herod immediately thinks this might have something to do with the Messiah. What does this tell you about Herod? Herod is tuned in to Jewish thinking and is very sensitive to any claims that might be made against him. The idea that Jesus might be a king will remain a dangerous concept all the way to the end of Jesus’s life. We see him accused of that in his trial, and it is ultimately what he is charged with when he is executed (see Matt. 27:11,29,37). Note that Herod might have been suspicious of the magi from the beginning if they were Parthians. Before Herod was king, he took the side of Hyrcanus II when Hyrcanus’s nephew Antigonus took the throne from Hyrcanus. The Parthians were on the opposite from Herod in that fight. Herod went to Rome to seek help to gain the restoration of Hyrcanus, but the Roman Senate unexpectedly appointed Herod king, if he could gain control of Judea, which he did. The chief priests and scribes were able to name an Old Testament prophecy that they thought told where the Messiah would be born. What does this tell you about them? The prophecy in verse 6 is taken from Micah 5:1-5a (the verse numbering might be off by one in your Bible, as the Hebrew versions of our Old Testament counted 5:1 as 4:14). What does that prophecy say about Jesus? Bethlehem was David’s hometown and the place where David was anointed as king (1 Sam. 16:1-13). It was also the hometown of Ruth’s mother-in-law and father-in-law and of Boaz, who she ultimately married (he was David’s great-grandfather). In 2 Sam. 5:2, when King Saul died in battle, all the tribes of Israel came to David and said, “The LORD said to you: it is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel” (NRSV). Remember that Matthew set up in chapter 1 the importance of Jesus being the son of David. Matthew is making the connections for us here. Herod also professes to want to pay homage to the child (verse 8). That, we learn, is a lie. However, it raises questions for us. Why should we give homage to this child? What does it mean to “give homage” to Jesus? How can we do it genuinely and well? How does the faith of these Gentile wise men contrast with Herod’s attitude toward Jesus? How does the faith of the wise men prefigure the response to Jesus among Gentiles in Jesus’s own time and in the early church? The wise men were “overwhelmed with joy” (verse 10) when the star stopped and they knew they were near to finding the child they had been looking for. When have you been “overwhelmed with joy” at experiencing Jesus? What can you do to foster that joy? What can we learn from these wise men? They are open to other cultures; they are seekers of truth; they recognize that a future king could be poor – i.e., that poverty is not a defining limitation of a person. Note: In 2:11, Matthew tells us that: “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother” (NRSV). “The house” indicates that when this takes place, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are not in a cave or stable. However, they could have been in the lower quarters of a house where the animals were kept (with “bedrooms”or sleeping quarters for the normal residents upstairs). There is no evidence about how many wise men there were, but since Matthew lists three gifts, the tradition developed that there were three of them. What is the significance of the gifts of “gold, frankincense, and myrrh”? Gold is obviously costly, but so were frankincense and myrrh. How might these gifts have been, perhaps unwittingly, symbolically appropriate for Jesus? Gold symbolizes royalty. Jesus is our king. Frankincense symbolizes priesthood, in that priests offer incense as a sacrifice to God. When offered to Jesus, is suggests that Jesus is the Son of God. Also, Jesus is our great high priest, offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Myrrh was used for burial. Jesus’s death saved us. The myrrh symbolizes his humanity and his sacrifice for us. But also, myrrh was used in the tent tabernacle in the desert (before there was a Temple) to anoint the holy things (the tent, the ark of the covenant containing the tablets of the Law – God’s Word given to the Israelites, the sacrifice table, the utensils used in the sacrifices, etc.) and to anoint the priests (Exodus 30:22-33). Jesus is the tabernacle (the holy place that God resides) and he is the ark of the covenant (the Word of God in human flesh), anointed by God to bring us into a close relationship with God (and ultimate to take up residence in us through the Holy Spirit) and to deliver the fullness of God’s Word to us. Note: Some scholars think Matthew is adding details that go beyond the story, perhaps drawing from Psalm 72:10-11 (where the psalmist prays: may the kings of other lands bring gifts to the great future king of Israel) and Isaiah 60:6 (which says that people from Sheba will bring gold and frankincense); however, if Matthew was doing that, he would have called attention to those passages as additional “fulfillment prophecies”, and he does not do that. So it is unlikely that Matthew is making up details here to fit Old Testament passages. In 2:12, the wise men do not return to Herod but go a different way. In order to follow God faithfully, we too are sometimes called to avoid things we might have been involved with previously and “go a different way.” What is something in your life that you might need to avoid in order to follow God, and how will you “go a different way”? Take a step back and consider this: Christians delight in the story of the wise men. We honor their passion to find the new king of a far-off land. But Christians sometimes have attitudes that directly conflict with this praise for the wise men. The wise men studied the signs and evidence in nature that could expand their understanding of God’s activity in the world. Yet Some Christians disparage the work of people in our day who think hard and study carefully all of the evidence they can find in the natural world, in their search for truth (in our day, we call them “scientists”). The Scriptures don’t attack the wise men for following the evidence in the natural world wherever it leads, and neither should we attack those who follow the evidence in the natural world today. We can object when they go beyond the evidence to make claims not supported by evidence, but we need to honestly evaluate the evidence they find before rejecting it. Throughout history, Christians have suggested that God speaks to us in two “books”: the book of the Scriptures and the book of Nature. When you learn from Scripture, you are learning about God. When you learn from science, you are learning about God’s work in the world. We need to be open to the truths that arise from our careful study of nature, because nature is authored by God. Psalm 19:1-4 affirms that God speaks to us through the natural world: “The heavens are telling the glory of God; / and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. / Day to day pours forth speech, / and night to night declares knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2, NRSV). In other words, the natural world tells us about the work of God. When Christians belittle the importance of using our minds to expand scientific understanding – whether it is about diseases or vaccines or changing climate patterns or how stars are developed or how species change over time – they are acting exactly the opposite of how the wise men in today’s Scripture passage acted when they studied the heavens so carefully. If we close our minds to people who seek truth in the natural world that God created, we may miss important truths about God’s creation that would allow us to serve God better and take better care of his creation and his people. How can you be more open to the truths discovered by scientists? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

What do we owe to governments and leaders? What do we owe to God? How can we honor God and obey the laws of our leaders? Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 22:15-22 What do we owe to governments and leaders? What do we owe to God? How can we honor God and obey the laws of our leaders? Jacob Adriaensz Backer (1608-1651). Skattepenningen [The Tribute Money] . 1630s. Cropped. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Tribute_Money_(Jacob_Adriaensz._Backer)_-_Nationalmuseum_-_17634.tif . Tom Faletti August 17, 2025 Matthew 22:15-22 The tax trap Recall that in Matthew 21:23 Jesus is challenged for the first time after his arrival in Jerusalem, when the leaders ask him by what authority he is doing what he is doing. After he establishes that they are not being genuine with him, he tells 3 parables that all drive home the point that the leaders (and everyone else) face a choice: to accept Jesus, because he is indeed from the Father, or to reject him. Now, Matthew turns to a series of additional challenges that are thrown at Jesus. This time, Jesus is approached by Pharisees and Herodians. The Pharisees we have seen before. The Herodians are supporters of Herod, the tetrarch (ruler, but under the Roman emperor) of Galilee (in the north, where Jesus came from) and Perea (the land east of the Jordan River across from Judea and Samaria). These 2 groups made odd bedfellows: The Pharisees were strict followers of every detail of the Law. They hated the taxes they had to pay to Caesar. The Herodians were political collaborators who had received power from Rome and tried not to do anything that would upset Rome, so they supported the paying of the tax. They benefited from the status quo and some Herodians were probably among the tax collectors. That these two groups would join together to ask this question shows how desperate they were to get rid of Jesus. They didn’t even agree about the question they were asking, but both groups recognized that it was political dynamite. What do they ask Jesus? What is the danger for Jesus if he tries to answer the question? If Jesus says no, it is not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, they can have him arrested immediately and turned over to the Romans. If Jesus says yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, he will disappoint the deeply faithful Pharisees and anger the more zealous Jews who oppose Roman oppression. Jesus asks them to show him the coin used to pay the tax – a denarius, which was roughly equivalent to a day’s wage. He then asks a question, which is his frequent tactic for dealing with opposition. What question does Jesus ask? Why does it matter whose image is on the coin? Kings and other rulers always issued coins with their image on it, and the coins they issued were considered to belong to the king. Group 4 Denarius (18 AD – 35 AD) of Tiberius ( Roman emperor (Emperor 14 AD – 37 AD), also sometimes referred to as a Tribute Penny . Obverse: TI[berivs] CAESAR DIVI AVG[vsti] F[ilivs] AVGVSTS (Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus). Reverse: PONTIF[ex] MAXIM[us] (The greatest bridge-builder) - Livia seated holding inverted spear and olive branch. Catalogue: Sear (1964) - 467. Image by DrusMAX, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emperor_Tiberius_Denarius_-_Tribute_Penny.jpg . The denarius in Jesus’s time had the emperor Tiberius’s image and an inscription that read: Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus . Julius Caesar died in 44 BC approximately 40 years before Jesus was born. After a period of uncertainty while they sorted things out, his successor, Augustus (Octavian), ruled as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC to AD 14. Julius Caesar was sometimes treated as a god during his lifetime and was formally deified after his death. Augustus was worshipped as a god during his lifetime and was formally declared to be a god after his death. The denarius asserted Augustus’s divinity. When they acknowledge in verse 21 that Caesar’s image is on the coin, what is Jesus’s response? The best translation of what Jesus says is to “give back” to Caesar the things of Caesar – i.e., it’s already his, it has his name and picture on it, so give it back to him – “and” to God the things of God. What does it mean to give back to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar? Did this answer their question about paying taxes? What does it mean to give back to God the things that belong to God? What are the things that belong to God? Everything. If all things really belong to God, what does this say to us about how we should live our lives? What does this tell you about your salary or other income? Does it really belong to you? It’s not my salary. It’s not my bank account. It’s not my inheritance. It all belongs to God. I am a steward of it on God’s behalf. What does this tell you about tithing? Are you free to do whatever you want with your money as long as you give 10% to God? What would it look like to live the kind of life where we recognize and act on the understanding that everything we have belongs to God? If we took this seriously, would we ever spend anything more than the bare minimum on ourselves? Would we take vacations, by fancy coffees, etc.? Is there room for occasional luxuries in a life that recognizes that everything belongs to God? If we don’t take this seriously, if instead we think it all belongs to us, what’s wrong with that? What do we miss out on? Is there anything you think you should be doing differently, based on what Jesus teaches here? Now, let’s look a bit more at what it means to give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Jesus draws a contrast between Caesar and God. What does Jesus’s answer tell us about emperors, kings, and all authorities? It tells us that they are not gods and are not to be treated as though they were. But more than that, it tells us that they have limited authority. Having governments and leaders with political authority is necessary, but they are limited and finite. Since everything belongs to God, but only some things belong to Caesar, what does Jesus’s answer tell political leaders about what they should do with the taxes they collect? They, too, are answerable to God and must give back to God what is God’s. This means they must use taxes in ways that honor God – for example, by serving the common good. What do you think this story tells us about whether we should pay our taxes even though we may not agree with everything the government does with our taxes? What do we owe to our governments? How can we both honor God and obey the laws of our leaders? Most of the time, we can be citizens of our own country without violating our obligations as citizens of the kingdom of God. If Christians ever reach the difficult conclusion that they can’t in good conscience meet their earthly citizenship responsibilities because of their duty to God, what should they do? There is an additional subtle point that can be seen here. Jesus is telling them to give that which is stamped with Caesar’s image back to Caesar. But we are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), so we are called to give our very selves back to God. What would it look like in your life to give yourself back to God? Take a step back and consider this: Verse 22 tells us that the Pharisees and Herodians went away “amazed.” Were they amazed because he had wiggled out of their clutches by his crafty answer? Were they amazed by the wisdom of his answer? Were they amazed by the depths of the commitment he is asking of us? As we have seen repeatedly in Matthew, Jesus is trying to help us see life in entirely new ways. How is the idea that we should give everything to God a revolutionary idea? Can we apply the same principle to other aspects of our life besides “things”? Does the same principle apply to our time, our work effort, etc.? The implication is that we can live a life that is so united with God that we are living entirely for God. How can we learn to think about everything we do as being part of a life that, even though it might see ordinary, is actually an extraordinary life lived entirely for God? What is your next step in this marvelous journey toward being fully united with Christ? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

The idea that God abandoned or withdrew from Jesus, or hid his face from Jesus, contradicts the Bible and Christian doctrine about the Trinity. God was there to the end and will never abandon humans. Previous Christian Faith Next God Did Not Abandon Jesus on the Cross The idea that God abandoned or withdrew from Jesus, or hid his face from Jesus, contradicts the Bible and Christian doctrine about the Trinity. God was there to the end and will never abandon humans. God the Father supports the cross of Jesus (the Son of God), while the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovers between their heads. Masaccio (1401-1428). Holy Trinity . Circa 1426 to 1428. Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Masaccio_-_Trinity_-_WGA14208.jpg . (This fresco is painted on the wall in a way that gives the impression of a vaulted space.) Tom Faletti September 22, 2025 Did God the Father abandon Jesus, the Son of God, on the cross because of our sins? Did he withdraw from Jesus or hide his face from Jesus? There are some intense views on this subject. Going back to Calvin, some Christians have argued that Jesus was actually abandoned by his Father when he was on the cross. Why do some people think God abandoned Jesus? When Jesus is dying on the cross, he prays, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46) Jesus is quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. More accurately, he is praying Psalm 22. However, some preachers take this statement of verse as the starting point for an argument that Jesus was literally abandoned by God – that he not only experienced what it felt like to be abandoned, but that he actually was abandoned by God. In support of this interpretation, they draw upon a very literal reading of 2 Corinthians 5:21, which says that God “made him [i.e., Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In their view, it was necessary for Jesus to actually be abandoned by God on the cross so that he could take the punishment of sin for us. They then argue, based on Old Testament passages such as Habakkuk 1:13, that God cannot tolerate the presence of evil and therefore that sin cannot stand in the presence of a holy and righteous God. Based on these premises, they conclude that God had to abandon Jesus when Jesus took on our sins for us. The idea that God abandoned Jesus is seriously flawed This notion that God abandoned Jesus is not consistent with Scripture and the nature of God. Here are some of its flaws: It splits the one Triune God. The idea that God the First Person of the Trinity could abandon God the Second Person of the Trinity would seem to split the one God into multiple gods. Proponents of the argument can’t solve this problem by saying that God only abandoned the human part of Christ, because that would split Christ into a God-part and a human-part rather than the fully human, fully divine, undivided single person he is. They also can’t solve the problem by saying that God only temporarily abandoned Jesus. God cannot abandon himself. Jesus was God. He could not abandon himself. It misinterprets Paul. The argument that God abandoned Jesus is based in part on an overly literal misreading of 2 Corinthians 5:21 (“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”, NRSV). In that verse, Paul is saying that Jesus took the place of sinful humanity and at the same time became the sacrificial sin offering that allowed us to take on his righteousness. Both halves of the sentence are metaphors that identify Jesus’s status and our status, not Jesus’s nature or our nature. We are not literally “the righteousness of God,” we merely take on Jesus’s righteousness. Similarly, Jesus was not literally “sin,” he took on the burden of our sin in relation to God and offered himself in sacrifice for us. It misunderstands the nature of Christ’s sacrifice. In the words of Isaiah, he “bore” the sin of many (Isaiah 53:12) and made his life the “offering” for sin (Is. 53:12). The sin itself cannot be the offering for the sin. He was the offering. He was the priest making the offering. He was not the sin. The book of Hebrews makes clear that he was sinless (Heb. 4:15) and that he offered himself without blemish (Heb. 9:14). This further establishes that he was the offering for sin, not the sin itself. It makes an argument supposedly from Habakkuk that Habakkuk rejects. In Habakkuk 1:13, the prophet says to God, “Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, / and you cannot look on wrongdoing” (NRSV). Habakkuk is making this argument to God to try to convince God not to use the evil Babylonians to exact God’s judgment on Judah. It is Habakkuk’s opinion, not a statement from God, that God is too holy to be able to look upon evil. God rejects Habakkuk’s feeble attempt to deter God, as the rest of the book of Habakkuk shows. God is quite capable of working through evil people when necessary, and those evil people through whom he works will also face their own judgment. God never says in Habakkuk that he cannot look upon evil; that is merely a flawed human argument that God ignores. The argument for the abandonment of God is based on a misreading of Habakkuk that is so flawed that it actually turns the message of Habakkuk on its head. It ignores the Bible’s many examples of God directly interacting with sinners. The Bible clearly refutes the idea that God cannot look upon evil. Throughout the Bible, God explicitly looks upon evil and appears in the presence of sinners. For example, he seeks out and meets face to face with Adam and Eve after they have sinned in the Garden of Eden. He allows Satan to come into his presence and speak with him in the book of Job. In the story of the Prodigal Son, where the father stands for God, God welcomes the prodigal son and interacts directly with the unforgiving older son. God is not bound by our legalistic idea that he cannot look upon sin or be in the presence of evil. It ignores the Incarnation. God – God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity – came to Earth and lived 33 years with sinful people. Far from needing to shield his eyes from sinners or avoid being in the presence of sinful humanity, Jesus, who is God, embraced sinners, dined with them, taught them, touched them, spent every moment he could with them, and looked at them with love. God does not have to run away from sin or hide his eyes from it. He is so far superior to our sin that no sin, no matter how great, can force him to turn away or prevent him from entering into our presence. (Our sin may make it hard for us to be in his presence, but that is a different matter.) It totally misunderstands Psalm 22. Psalm 22 does not show God abandoning Jesus; it shows the opposite: that God was present with him to the end. Jesus pointedly rejected their claim by praying Psalm 22. Matthew only records Jesus reciting the first verse of Psalm 22, but Jesus would have known the entire psalm by heart and would have prayed the entire psalm. As he did so, he would have reached the verse that says that God “did not hide his face from me,” but instead that God “heard when I cried to him” (Psalm 22:24, NRSV; Psalm 22:25 in the NABRE). In praying the first verse, Jesus would have been expressing the feeling of abandonment. But as he continued it would have been clear that the entire psalm is about him, not just the first verse. He would have recited the verses describing how he was being mocked. He would have prayed the verses that described explicitly what he was experiencing on the cross; for example, “they have pierced by hands and my feet”(22:16; 22:17 in the NABRE). After praying verse 24, which explicitly says that God did not hide his face from Jesus (showing that the abandonment claim is wrong), he would have continued and reached the part where it says that he will (future tense) offer praise in the assembly and fulfill his vows (22:25/26), that the poor will eat and be satisfied, (22:26/27), and ending with the people proclaiming the deliverance God brought. Psalm 22 is not a psalm of abandonment; it is a psalm of victory in the presence of God. God did not abandon Jesus In conclusion, God never abandoned Jesus. Jesus, as a fully human person, endured the human experience of feeling abandoned by God, as any human being might feel while dying on a cross. But there is a difference between feelings and reality . Jesus was also fully God: God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity. The one Triune God cannot be divided. The Father was with the Son on the cross, for they are always, eternally, One. Our God does not win our salvation by removing himself from the presence of sin but by overcoming it with self-sacrificial love. When Jesus was on the cross, God was on the cross, pouring forth that love for us. God was not absent; he was the central figure in the act of our salvation. God never abandoned Jesus, and he will never abandon you or me or anyone else. Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Christian Faith Next

Adultery, lust, and divorce start in the heart. Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 5:27-32 Adultery, lust, and divorce start in the heart. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti May 2, 2024 Matthew 5:27-30 Adultery and lust What does the Old Testament say in Exodus 20:14 and Deut. 5:18? What is lust? Why would Jesus say a person who lusts has already committed adultery in their heart? Is there a difference between committing adultery “in your heart” and committing physical adultery? What is Jesus prohibiting here? Jesus prohibits not only the action but the intense thoughts that underlie or can lead to the action. While Jesus is telling us to reject the thoughts that can lead to the action, we need to make a distinction between uninvited thoughts and the thoughts we nurture. Thoughts pop into our minds all the time. When uninvited, instinctual desires pop into our mind unbidden, that is not, in itself, a sin. When we intentionally nurture those thoughts and enjoy the fact that they are arousing our sexual passions, that is when we are embracing the lust that Jesus is telling his followers to reject. We cannot help looking at people, and our bodies sometimes react to what we see. But when we allow our eyes to linger so that our desires can be fed, then we have crossed the line. Why does he prohibit even entertaining the thought of adultery? What difference does a thought make? Actions begin with thoughts. Choosing to entertain the thought of lust means imagining that you are relating sexually with someone who is not your spouse. To choose to desire something which would violate the marriage commitment, Jesus says, is already a violation of that commitment to have only your spouse. When we look at another person as someone to have sex with, we are looking at them primarily as a body rather than as a whole person. We are called to treat all people as being made in the image of God, to treat them as people carrying infinite human dignity. In what ways does looking at someone with lust violate this principle of human dignity? In verses 29-30, do you think Jesus is actually recommending that people pluck out an eye or cut off a hand to avoid lust? (Would that actually solve the problem of lust, or could a one-handed person still lust?) What is Jesus’s point? Jesus is not speaking literally here. He is using the traditional Jewish technique of exaggeration or hyperbole to emphasize the importance of what he is saying. He is telling us to take our thought life seriously and not to allow our thoughts to linger in places they do not belong. Jesus clearly takes our inner thought life very seriously. Daniel J. Harrington tries to explain the thinking behind what Jesus is saying in this way: “The salvation of the whole person is of more value than the preservation of any one part that may lead to sin” ( The Gospel According to Matthew , p. 29). Myron S. Augsburger says, “We should understand these statements attitudinally, just as the previous injunction is addressed to our thoughts and attitudes. This means taking literally the basic intent of the passage, rather than physically removing the eye. The loss of one eye or one hand cannot in itself prevent a lustful look or thought. The word-picture is to emphasize deliberate, decisive action in dealing with our propensity to sin” ( Matthew , p. 74). Does our culture take our thought life as seriously as Jesus does? What is the prevailing attitude regarding thinking about things that would be sinful if acted upon? Do you take your thought life as seriously as Jesus does? The word translated “hell” in this passage is literally the Greek word Gehenna , which Jesus also uses in verse 22. Gehenna was the valley of Hinnom, a valley running along the south and southwest side of Jerusalem that had an ugly history. More than 700 years before Christ (in the 700s B.C.), it was a place where children were burned in sacrifice to the god Moloch (see 2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31-33; and Jeremiah 32:35). That location later came to be known as a garbage dump where refuse was burned, leading to its being used as a metaphor for hell. How can we avoid or fight lust and sins that involve our thoughts? It is a well-known principle that you can’t banish a thought by saying you won't think about it The more you try to “not think" it, the more you tend to focus on it. The only ways to get one thought out of your mind is by replacing it with another thought. So in this case, we need to replace the lustful thoughts with thoughts about good things. Barclay also suggests that a life of action helps. He says of the person struggling with sinful thoughts, “[H]e will certainly never defeat the evil things by withdrawing from life and saying, I will not think of these things. He can only do so by plunging into Christian action and Christian thought. He will never do it by trying to save his own life; he can only do it by flinging his life away for others” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 147). A life filled with good actions and good thoughts has less room for lust. Matthew 5:31-32 Divorce Read Deuteronomy 24:1-4. According to Deuteronomy 24:1, for what reasons might a man give his wife a certificate of divorce? There were two great Jewish scholars in the years before Jesus’s time – Hillel and Shammai – who launched two primary “houses” or schools of thought. The school of Hillel believed in marriage but interpreted Deut. 24:1 so loosely that a man could divorce his wife for any reason, while a woman could never divorce her husband without his consent. The school of Shammai was far less lenient about divorce. In contrast, the Greeks and Romans of Jesus’s time had an extremely low regard for marriage and little disapproval of sexual relationships outside of marriage. Having concubines and lovers other than your spouse was a normal part of society. In all of these cultures, obtaining a divorce was simple. In Israel and Rome, a man could have a divorce by simply writing a statement of divorce witnessed by two people. The Greeks didn’t even require a written statement; a man could simply dismiss his wife in the presence of two witnesses, although the woman at least got her dowry back (Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 148-155). How might Deut. 24:1 have been interpreted more permissively or less permissively? What impact would the permissive practices of these cultures have had on the security of women? How does Jesus redefine the law of divorce? How does this transform the thinking about divorce? Note: Matthew allows an exception in 5:32, which is translated in the NRSV as: “except on the ground of unchastity.” Older translations of the New American Bible said, “lewd conduct is a separate case,” but the current NABRE retranslates it in a way that more clearly upholds Catholic Church teaching on divorce: “unless the marriage is unlawful.” The Greek word that is here is porneia , which was used to describe a range of illicit/unlawful sexual activity and might refer to adultery or might refer to other unlawful situations such as incest. Most Protestant denominations interpret it to refer to adultery and allow divorce in cases of adultery. Catholic scholars argue that if Jesus had meant “adultery” rather than other kinds of “unlawful” situations, he would have used the more common word for adultery, which he uses later in the same sentence. In practice, the Catholic Church offers an annulment process for marriages, allowing annulments in situations where the marriage was founded on a misunderstanding of true marriage, and that misunderstanding of true marriage in some cases might be demonstrated in part by an unwillingness of a spouse to be committed to the sexual exclusivity of Christian marriage. We will hear more about marriage in Matthew 19:3-9. The New Testament also includes Ephesians 5:21-33, which sees the marriage covenant between husband and wife as an image of Christ’s covenant with his people, the church. How does Jesus’s new law on divorce change the status of marriage? How does Jesus’s new law on divorce affect the status of women? Where does our society today fit on the scale of possible views of marriage and divorce? How does it compare to the teaching of Jesus on marriage and divorce? What difference does it make how our society views divorce? What can we do to encourage strong marriages? Take a step back and consider this: Although Jesus’s teachings about adultery, lust, and divorce here could be seen as simply a series of “don’ts,” in the broader context of the Sermon on the Mount these teachings might be better seen as calling for a transformation in a married couple’s thoughts and attitudes toward each other. In marriage as Jesus sees it, husbands and wives are committed to each other. They aren’t thinking about having sex with anyone else. They aren’t looking for a way to get out of their marriage commitments. They are committed to finding their fulfillment in each other. What might we say or do to help reclaim the vision of marriage as a union of committed love where the desire to stray is never nurtured because the commitment to mutual fulfillment is paramount? How can we help married couples to keep their eyes on their mutual commitment to love each other, when the marriage is tested and the temptation to “look at another with lust” arises? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

Mary’s pregnancy, from Joseph’s perspective: What is God doing? Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 1:18-25 Mary’s pregnancy, from Joseph’s perspective: What is God doing? Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 1:18-25 Joseph’s dream and Jesus’s birth Jewish marriage procedures were different than ours. When a couple became “engaged” or “betrothed,” they were married but not yet living together. A man and woman would stay in this stage for up to one year before the formal marriage, not living together but so fully committed that the only way out was divorce. Mary and Joseph were in that stage of their marriage. What does verse 18 tell us? In verse 19, how are Joseph’s character and intentions described? Matthew says Joseph is “righteous” (or, in some translations, “just”). By using this term, Matthew means in part that Joseph follows the Jewish Law faithfully. Under the Law, he had a right to formally accuse Mary of unfaithfulness. She would have been subjected to a test of her virginity, and if she failed the test she would have been stoned to death. Alternatively, he could have said nothing about her pregnancy but divorced her with a public display of his displeasure, which would make her look bad. What do you think of Joseph’s plan to divorce her quietly so as not to expose her to public disgrace? What happens in verse 20? It appears that Joseph was thinking over his options carefully rather than acting quickly and rashly. Even if an angel doesn’t appear to us, how might Joseph’s decision to “sleep on it” before taking action be a good model for us? Has a decision to “sleep on it” every helped you make a good decision? Explain. There is scientific evidence that “sleeping on it” can help us make better decisions (see Grohol ; Calechman ; Miller ). Fr. David Barnes points out that the delay provided by “sleeping on it” can help us avoid acting imprudently out of fear or anxiety. We don’t have to hope for an angel to speak to us; we can pause, sleep on it, and pray on it. “Into our silence, God speaks and assures us of his closeness” (Barnes, p. 56), which might guide us to make good and creative decisions about how to respond to difficult problems. The angel calls Joseph “son of David.” Why? What does that signify? There are interesting parallels between this Joseph and the Joseph in the Old Testament. Both were named Joseph; both had a father named Jacob; both received dreams from God; both were righteous; and both saved their family by going to Egypt. Do you think these parallels are just a coincidence or is Matthew trying to tell us something? How is Jesus described in verse 21? Recall that the name Jesus, or Joshua, means “God saves.” While Jews might have envisioned that name alluding to other kinds of being saved (from invading enemies, etc.), Jews in Jesus’s time also made the connection to salvation from sins. What does the meaning of Jesus’s name – “God saves” – mean for you in your life? In verses 22-23, Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14. What does the Old Testament quote mean as interpreted by Matthew? Note: The Isaiah passage actually says, “a young woman” in Hebrew, although when it was translated into Greek in the Septuagint it was translated as “the virgin.” Looking at the context, some people think it is referring to Isaiah’s wife (see Isaiah 8:3). But in context, the point is not about the woman but about the name the child will be given. The child will be named “Immanuel” – “God is with us” – because if King Ahaz follows God’s direction as given to him by Isaiah, God will be with them and they will avoid being attacked by the armies camped on Ahaz’s doorstep. Early Christians focused on the Greek translation “a virgin” and saw the virgin Mary in it. This is the first of at least 10 “fulfillment citations,” where Matthew says that something that happened in Jesus’s time fulfilled what was said in some portion of the Old Testament. How do you experience Jesus as “Emmanuel” – “God is with us” – in your life? Explain. The Virgin Birth is the doctrine proclaimed by most Christian denominations (and considered a dogma by the Catholic Church) that Jesus was conceived by a supernatural, miraculous act of God without Mary having had intercourse with anyone, and that therefore, while Mary was Jesus’s natural mother, he had no natural father. What is the significance of this teaching for you? How does Joseph respond to this dream and the word he received from the Lord? Joseph’s response to Mary’s pregnancy shows that his “righteousness” involved more than just blindly following the Law. He had an upstanding or “right” relationship with God. He used his mind and will to decide how to deal with his emotions, and he kept his spirit attuned to God so that he could adjust his thinking and actions based on God’s guidance. His righteousness led him to his original plan (a quiet divorce) and his righteousness led him to accept God’s alternate plan. How is Joseph’s way of living as a righteous person a model for you? Joseph responded to his dream by obeying God. In your life, where could you be more responsive to God, like Joseph? When Joseph took Mary as his wife and named him Jesus, he was taking full responsibility to be Jesus’s foster father – stepfather, really. What does this show us about how to embrace God’s plans in our lives? Matthew does not give us any of Mary’s side of the story. (Thank God for the Gospel of Luke, which gives us that perspective.) Matthew only gives us what we read here plus the story of the wise men/magi, which we will look at next time. He must have thought he was giving us all we needed for the narrative and themes he was developing in his Gospel. What do you think he wanted us to take from this story of Jesus’s birth? What do you think it is important to fill in, from Mary’s part of the story as told in Luke, to help give Jesus’s birth and infancy the full and lasting impact it has had for people’s faith? Verse 25 says that Mary and Joseph had no marital relations “until” she had borne a son. The Catholic Church teaches that they also did not have sex after Jesus was born, but instead that Mary remained a virgin all her life. Protestants disagree. What difference does your understanding of Mary’s virginal status makes in your life? How can you live a life that is more devoted to God, with Joseph as a role model? Take a step back and consider this: Joseph was well chosen to be the foster father of Jesus. He showed several character traits that we would do well to imitate. Consider Isaiah 9:2-7; see verse 7: “there shall be endless peace / for the throne of David and his kingdom.” (NRSV) He was dedicated to his faith. He wanted to do what God wants. He believed in thinking before he acted. He was not impetuous. He considered his options before taking action. He was kind. He cared that Mary not be put to shame. He was open to the guidance of God. When you put together in one person all of these characteristics of faithfulness, thoughtfulness, kindness, and sensitivity to God, you have a very impressive package. A person with those characteristics is a person God can work with. Which of these characteristics of Joseph could use more development in your life? What would God like you to do about it? If we are willing to let God keep molding us into the people he wants us to be, he will be able to give us opportunities to make a positive difference in the world around us. And it is a wonderful feeling when we can make those positive differences. The first step is to try to be the kind of person, like Joseph, who is seeking to be all that God wants us to be. It’s a great journey. What’s your next step? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

Jesus was not abandoned by God, but it might have felt that way when he started praying Psalm 22. The psalm affirms him, and the centurion declared: “Truly this was the Son of God!” Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 27:45-56 Jesus was not abandoned by God, but it might have felt that way when he started praying Psalm 22. The psalm affirms him, and the centurion declared: “Truly this was the Son of God!” The quote coming from the centurion reads (in German), “Truly, this man was the son of God.” Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion . 1536. Cropped. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Public domain, https://www.nga.gov/artworks/46168-crucifixion-converted-centurion . Tom Faletti September 22, 2025 Matthew 27:45-56 Jesus dies and some Gentiles recognize him as the son of God Mark tells us that Jesus was crucified at 9:00 a.m. (the third hour) and died at 3:00 p.m. (the ninth hour). Matthew picks up the story at noon. What is the symbolic significance of it growing dark in the middle of the day (verse 45)? What does Jesus cry out in verse 46? What does “forsaken” mean? Forsaken means abandoned; deserted and left entirely on your own. Some bystanders hear “Eli” – which means “my God” and misunderstand him, thinking he is invoking Elijah. Interestingly, the name Elijah means “The Lord is my God” ( The New Oxford Annotated Bible , footnote to Matthew 27:46, p. 1789.) In Jesus’s time, people saw Elijah as a helper who might come to you in a time of need ( The New Oxford Annotated Bible , footnote to Matthew 27:47, p. 1789), so it is easy to see why they might have jumped to the wrong conclusion. How do the bystanders react when they think Jesus is calling for Elijah? There are two different reactions, one in verse 48 and another in verse 49. What are their reactions? Jesus cries out one more time and dies. John tells us that Jesus’s final words were, “It is finished” (John 19:30), while Luke records, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Matthew describes Jesus’s death by saying that he “gave up” or “yielded up’ his spirit (Matt. 27:50. Some translations just say, “breathed his last,” which does not capture as well the sense of the Greek word that he was voluntarily letting go of his life. What does Jesus’s death mean to you? Before we go on to discuss what happened when Jesus died, let’s go back to Jesus’s final prayer, which begins with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (verse 46). In verse 46, Jesus is quoting the first words of Psalm 22, which are denoted as 22:1 in the NRSV and most other Bibles and as Psalm 22:2 in the NABRE. (Explanation: Many of the psalms have a “superscription” – a comment before the psalm begins. These superscriptions were part of the original Hebrew. They were not added by the people who translated the Bible into English the way passage headings. We do not know when these superscriptions were first attached to each psalm, but they were there before the psalms as we know them were finalized. A superscription may indicate who the psalm was written for or by, or what type of psalm it is, or how it should be played, or what it is about. Sometimes, it uses Hebrew words the translators are not familiar with, and some translations leave those unfamiliar words untranslated. In most Bibles, including the NRSV, the superscription is not given a verse number, and the text of the actual psalm begins at verse 1. The NABRE in many cases assigns the superscription to verse 1 and begins the text of the psalm at verse 2. As a result, the verse numbers sometimes don’t agree between Bibles. I will give both sets of verse numbers: the number used by the NRSV and most other Bibles, followed by the number used by the NABRE.) Read Psalm 22 . Notice, as you read, the shifts in the psalmist’s mood. In Psalm 22, the psalmist begins with feelings of abandonment, and then moves to remembrance, to urgent plea, to trust, to anguish, to hope, and finally to confidence in what he and God will do in the future. Considering the psalm as a whole, how would you describe the overall tone of Psalm 22? Would you say the psalmist is primarily feeling forsaken, or something else? How would you describe his overall mood? Although the psalmist starts out feeling abandoned, by the end of the psalm he is declaring that God is with him, that he will fulfill his vows and praise God in the assembly, that the poor will eat and be satisfied, and that God will provide deliverance. These questions about the overall mood of the psalm are important because Jesus would have been able to recite this entire psalm from memory. The psalms were the hymns and prayers of his Jewish faith community throughout his life. Since he would have known the psalm by heart, do you think he would have stopped at verse 1, or would he have kept going, praying through the whole psalm as best he could? What verses in the psalm would have seemed to Jesus to be accurate descriptions of what he was going through? Here are some of the things he would have noticed: Verses 7-8 (8-9 in the NABRE) would have reminded him of the mocking he was enduring. Verses 14-17 (15-18 in the NABRE) describe some of the torture he was experiencing in being crucified, including having his hands and feet pierced. Verse 18 (19 in the NABRE) describes what he would have seen from the cross: the soldiers dividing up his clothing. There is a difference between feeling abandoned and losing hope. Has Jesus lost hope in his Father? Jesus is still praying to his Father, so he has not lost all hope. He has not turned away from God in despair. And as he prayed Psalm 22, his words from that prayer would have been words of hope, not words of despair. You can feel abandoned and still not lose hope in God. Is it OK to feel abandoned at times in our lives? Can you feel abandoned and still not lose hope in God? Explain. There is a difference between feeling abandoned and actually being abandoned. In the psalm, is the psalmist actually forsaken, or does it become clear by the end of the psalm that the psalmist recognizes that God is with him ? Explain. This is an important issue, because some Christians have used Matthew 27:46 to help build a theology that God abandoned Jesus on the cross. That idea is deeply flawed for many reasons, some of which are explored in God Did Not Abandon Jesus on the Cross . Go back to Matthew 27:45-56 and read Matthew 27:43 . Are the chief priests suggesting that Jesus’s God has abandoned Jesus? Are the chief priests right that God has abandoned Jesus? As Jesus quotes Psalm 22, one way to view it is that he is directly refuting the chief priests’ claim that God has abandoned him. He is starting at verse 1, in which the psalmist thinks he is abandoned, and then reciting the rest of the psalm, which walks through some of the evidence that what was happening to Jesus was prophesied in advance and fit into God’s grand scheme for the salvation of the human race, and then reaching the end of the psalm where the psalmist expresses confidence that God has not abandoned him and God has provided the salvation the people needed. That fits perfectly with the fact that Luke and John tell us Jesus went on to say, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46) and “It is finished” (John 19:30). In verse 51, what two things happened when Jesus died? What is the symbolic significance of the curtain in the Temple being torn in two? And what is the significance of it being torn from top to bottom? The curtain or veil was a large, thick curtain that covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the Temple – the place where the presence of God was believed to reside. No person was allowed to go there except, once a year, the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. There are many ways to think about the symbolism here: Temple sacrifices were no longer needed; access to God was no longer restricted; God would no longer reside in the Temple but in human hearts; the Old Covenant, with its reliance on the blood of animal sacrifices, has been replaced by the New Covenant in Jesus’s blood because of his once-for-all sacrifice. The curtain was very tall. No human could tear it from the top down. That the curtain was torn from top to bottom signifies that this is God’s doing – that through Jesus’s death God has removed the barrier between himself and us. What is the symbolic significance of the earthquake? In Joel 2:10, earthquakes happen in the day of the Lord. It shows God is at work. In verses 52-53, what does Matthew tell us happened after Jesus rose from the dead? Do you know any Old Testament prophecies that relate to the idea of people coming back to life? In Ezekiel 37, God shows Ezekiel a valley of dry bones that, at God command, come back to life (37:10) as God opens up graves and bringing people back to the land of Israel (37:12). What is the significance of dead people coming back to life, insofar as it relates to Jesus’s death? How did the centurion and the soldiers under him react (verse 54)? We don’t know if “son” should be capitalized in their statement about Jesus – i.e., whether they declared him to be the Son of God or a son of God – because the Greek only had one case at that time. But either way, what is the significance of Gentiles calling Jesus the son of God after the chief priests mocked his claim to be the son of God? How is the centurion a model for us? It turns out that Jesus wasn’t totally alone all this time. Who was there (verses 55-56)? What does this tell you about the women who followed Jesus? How can we be more like those women – perhaps often unseen, but faithful? What does Jesus’s death tell you about him? How does Jesus’s death affect how you want to live your life? How does Jesus’s death affect how you want to approach your own death? Take a step back and consider this: Although God the Father did not abandon Jesus on the cross because of our sins (see God Did Not Abandon Jesus on the Cross ), humans sometimes experience the feeling of abandonment. Because Jesus expressed that feeling at one point while he was hanging on the cross, we know that we are not alone if we sometimes feel like God has abandoned us. He understands. Have you ever felt abandoned by God? How did you deal with it? (Or how do wish you had dealt with it?) What do you think Jesus says to you in those times? How does Jesus’s victory despite feelings of abandonment affect how you can approach difficult times in your own life? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

Jesus chooses a particular place – Galilee – to begin his ministry. Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 4:12-17 Jesus chooses a particular place – Galilee – to begin his ministry. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti March 22, 2024 Matthew 4:12-17 Jesus starts his ministry in Galilee Why does Jesus leave the area around the Jordan River where John had been baptizing? The geography is important here. What region does Jesus begin his ministry in? What city does he move to? What body of water is he near? What is your impression of Galilee? Galilee was not a large place. Roughly 50 miles north-south by 25 miles east-west, its size was around the size of the small state of Rhode Island. The northern part of Galilee was more mountainous and remote; but the southern part, which included Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth, was not the isolated place that many think it was. The sneer against Galilee in John 7:45-52 was not about Galilee being culturally backward, but rather about the alleged lack of evidence that the messiah could come from there, combined with the belief among Pharisees that Galileans were less devoted to following every detail of the law. Even Nathanael's jibe in John 1:46 – “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” – must have reflected mainly a local rivalry since John 21:2 tells us that Nathanael came from Cana, which was less than 5 miles from Nazareth. We have tended to misinterpret these comments to think that Galilee and Nazareth were more remote and insular than they actually were. Nazareth itself was probably a small village, but in a region, Galilee, that was actually a crossroads for international travel. It included two capital cities, Sepphoris and Tiberius, both founded by the local king, Herod Antipas, and many people spoke both Greek and Aramaic (Eric Meyers, Professor of Religion and Archaeology at Duke University, “Galilee,” From Jesus to Christ , Frontline , Apr. 1998, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/galilee.html ). According to the Jewish Roman historian Josephus, it contained 204 villages with a population of 15,000 people or more and was the most fertile part of the Jewish lands with an enormous agricultural output (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 65). According to Josephus, Galilee was full of people who “were ever fond of innovations, and by nature disposed to changes, and delighted in seditions” (as quoted in Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 66). At the same time, they were courageous and “more anxious for honour than for gain” (also p. 66). Galilee was surrounded by Gentile territory to the west, north, and east, and by Samaritans to the south. The original meaning of “Galilee” was “circle”: The term “Galilee of the Gentiles” in Matthew 4:15 comes from Isaiah 9:1 and refers to the fact that Galilee was encircled by Gentile nations. Galilee had been conquered several times over the centuries and repopulated with Gentiles. When Israel regained independence for around 100 years, from the successful revolt under the Maccabees in the 160s BC until they were conquered by the Romans in 63 BC, that region was turned back to Judaism. However, Galilee was not as insular as Judea to the south (Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , pp. 66-67). Many people were bilingual, and the openness of Galileans to different cultures might have made it a good place to grow up for someone who would eventually preach a message intended for all people, not just Jews. Why do you think Jesus leaves his hometown of Nazareth and goes to Capernaum? John the Baptist was arrested by Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas’s capital cities were in Galilee, not far from Nazareth. From a practical perspective, Capernaum might have been safer, with easy escape across the Sea of Galilee if needed. From a ministry perspective, Capernaum was a large commercial town that offered a larger audience and a different pool of people from which to draw his early disciples. Jesus did not just make a quick visit to Capernaum. He “made his home” (4:13 NRSV) or “went to live” (4:13 NABRE) there – the Greek word implies that he took up residence in a house there. Why might he choose to start gathering disciples in a commercial fishing town on the sea, rather than in his hometown? This town was at the north/northwest end of the Sea of Galilee, a large fresh-water lake. Moving here moves Jesus closer to Gentile territory (on the other side of the lake). It also brings him into the commercial area around a very large body of water. The Sea of Galilee was 13 miles long and 8 miles wide, and 680 feet below sea level, which made it a warm area ( The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , pp. 70-71). With Jews on the west and Gentiles on the east, and a high degree of commercial activity, this was a place where people might have been especially open-minded about his mission to all nations. Matthew offers a fulfillment citation from Isaiah 9:1-2. What does that Old Testament quote tell us? This Old Testament quote tells us several things: First, Galilee is mentioned in the Old Testament as a place where God will do something significant. Second, Capernaum in Galilee is in the Old Testament territory of the tribe of Naphtali, so this is part of God’s plan for the salvation of Israel. The Old Testament passage was actually about a prophesied restoration after the fall of the nation of Israel to Assyria in 722 BC. Matthew sees Jesus as fulfilling that prophecy and bringing light to those in darkness. In what way is Jesus’s arrival like the dawning of a light in the darkness? In what ways do you find Jesus to be a light in your life? Matthew provides only a partial quote from Isaiah. The passage contains other well-known messianic prophecies, including, “a child is born to us, a son is given to us”; he will be known as “wonderful Counselor, Mighty God”, etc. (Isaiah 9:6); and he will establish the throne of David in justice and righteousness forever (Isaiah 9:7). Matthew is signaling to at least the Jewish members of his audience, who would know their Hebrew Scriptures and the messianic prophecies, that Jesus is the Messiah. In Matthew 4:17, what did Jesus preach in his early preaching? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (NRSV) or “is at hand” (NABRE). This is exactly, word for word, John’s message. It might have been seen as gutsy to take up the message of someone who had just been arrested by the local king. One might wonder how John’s followers reacted when it appeared that Jesus was claiming John’s mantle by taking his message, given that Jesus was not in John’s inner circle. It didn’t take long, however, for Jesus’s message to develop further than John’s. Do you think Jesus meant the same thing as John by this message of repentance? What does it mean when it says he “proclaimed” or “preached”? What would that have looked like? The Greek word is the word for a herald’s proclamation from a king (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 69), so the word signals a high degree of authority. What does it mean to you when Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven “has come near” or “is at hand” (Matthew 4:17, NRSV and NABRE)? We might think of the kingdom of God as any place where God reigns. The word “kingdom” indicates sovereignty – that the place where God is sovereign, rather than flawed humans, is entering our sphere in a new way. We can now live our lives under his reign. Note that in Matthew, Jesus refers to the “kingdom of heaven,” whereas in the other Gospels it is the “kingdom of God.” Scholars have sometimes tried to find a distinction between the two, with little success. The best explanation is that Matthew is more sensitive to the ways that Jews talked. Jews at that time avoided saying the word “God,” so Matthew uses “heaven.” It is quite possible that Jesus also used the word “heaven” and that the other Gospels, with less concern about this Jewish desire to avoid saying God’s name, might have used “God” to make it more clear precisely what the term means (see Benedict T. Viviano, O.P., “The Gospel According to Matthew,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , p. 639, and H. L. Ellison, “Matthew,” The International Bible Commentary , p. 1123). (The Gospel of Matthew does, however, use the term Kingdom of God four times, in 12:28, 19:24, 21:31, and 21:43.) As we go through the Gospel of Matthew, we want to hang onto this idea that Jesus is describing what the world looks like when God is acknowledged as sovereign and allowed to reign. How can you make space for the kingdom of God to be “at hand” in your life? What is something new you learned today about Jesus, and what difference does it make? Take a step back and consider this: In some ways Galilee might have been the perfect place for the boy Jesus to grow up, to prepare him for his ministry. He would have been raised in a Jewish village in a region that was culturally diverse, where the Jewish language was spoken but also the Greek language that was the common language of a vast empire that dominated a large swath of the Earth. He would have been exposed to different cultures, and those experiences would have prepared him to craft a message that could reach not only Jews but people of diverse backgrounds. God used that breadth of experience effectively. Similarly, God can use the experiences of your past to prepare you for opportunities for ministry in your life now. As you look back on your life, how has God used events from your past as preparation for opportunities you had to serve him later? Are there events from your past that you are still hoping God will use in support of future opportunities for service? Those hopes might be good things to bring to God in prayer. Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

How can we approach someone with a difficult a request in a way that might keep our relationship with them strong? Previous Index Next Philemon 8-25 How can we approach someone with a difficult a request in a way that might keep our relationship with them strong? Philemon reads Paul’s letter. “A Letter to Philemon.” VideoBible.com . Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/vb-philemon/ . Tom Faletti October 5, 2025 Philemon 8-9 Paul urges by way of love, not command In verse 8, Paul says he hopes Philemon will “do what is proper” (NABRE) or “do your duty” (NRSV). What does “proper” mean, and how do you decide what is “proper” or your “duty” and not just something that someone else wants you to do? How does Paul characterize himself in verse 9? Look at verse 19 along with verses 8-9. Why does Paul think he could order Philemon to do what he wants? Why does Paul choose not to issue a command? What do you think of Paul’s approach to Philemon, where he tries to urge and not command? In situations you face or think you might face in your life, where might it be useful to try Paul’s approach of leaving some freedom for the other person to make a choice rather than trying to command them? As a teacher, I found that in many cases I was more likely to achieve my goal if I gave students choices, while making clear what I hoped they would do, rather than simply trying to order them to do what I wanted. Philemon 10-14 Paul makes a case for Onesimus After a long introduction, Paul finally mentions Onesimus in verse 10, though he doesn’t actually make his formal request until verse 17. Paul is making a pun in these verses. “Onesimus” means “Profitable” or “Useful.” Onesimus was supposed to be profitable for his master, but instead he has been useless and unprofitable. But now, Paul says to Philemon, Onesimus is useful both to you and to me. Read verse 10. What does Paul mean when he says that Onesimus is his child and he has become Onesimus’s father? What is the relationship between them that he is referring to? Onesimus has apparently come to faith in Jesus through his involvement with Paul, and Paul has become totally invested in Onesimus like a father and his son. Barclay quotes a Rabbinic saying: “If one teaches the son of his neighbor the law, the Scripture reckons this the same as though he had begotten him” (Barclay, pp. 280-281). In other words, you become like a father or mother to those you teach about God. Is there anyone for whom you feel somewhat like a parent in the faith? How does that affect your feelings toward them? What do you think happened in Onesimus that changed him from useless to useful when he became a Christian? Read Ephesians 2:10 . What does Paul say we are made for? How has your faith made you more “useful” in fulfilling your calling? Why is Paul sending Onesimus back to Philemon (verses 12-14)? Why did Paul want to keep Onesimus with him? What does this passage of Philemon suggest to Christians about the need to face up to the past and deal with the consequences of past actions? Philemon 15-25 Paul makes his request In verses 15-16, Paul sees the providential hand of God in the situation and suggests that maybe there was a purpose in Onesimus having been away (run away?) from Philemon. What does Paul suggest might have been the greater purpose? Note that the idea of providence here is not predestination. God did not force Onesimus to become a believer. Similarly, we can embrace or reject opportunities that might lead to good outcomes. In verse 17, Paul finally makes his explicit “ask.” What does he request? Paul does not explicitly ask Philemon to set Onesimus free (manumission). But he asks Philemon to see Onesimus “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother” (verse 16) and asks Philemon to “accept him as you would me” (verse 17). Do you think Paul is implying that Philemon should set him free? Or is he just asking him to treat Onesimus as a brother in Christ even as he continues to have Onesimus serve him as a slave? What are some ways that Philemon could respond? He could punish Onesimus severely, punish him lightly, accept him but with resentment and not forgiveness, accept him back as a slave but with forgiveness, send him back to Paul to serve Paul, or free him to do whatever he wants. And he could publicly attack Paul, quietly resent and snub Paul, or welcome Paul’s intervention in his life. How should we respond to people who do wrong and then return? What does this passage say to you about forgiveness? How should we respond when people ask us to do something that is outside of the social norm? In verse 18, Paul tries to “sweeten the pot” by offering to pay for any costs, which implies that Onesimus might have done something wrong. What do you think Onesimus might have done before he ran away? How might verse 19 make it harder for Philemon to say no? In verse 20, Paul uses the word “profit” – which has the same root as Onesimus’s name – when he says he hopes to “profit from you in the Lord.” He also asks Philemon to “refresh” his heart – the same word he used earlier to describe how Philemon refreshed others. How important is that phrase “in the Lord” in verse 20? Explain. When have you found that you could be useful to someone else, but only if you let go of something that would have been beneficial to yourself? Paul is pulling out all the stops, making every case he can to save his friend Onesimus. How do verses 21-22 add to the ways he is pressing Philemon? In verse 23, Paul reiterates what he said in verse 9: that he is in prison. How might the fact that he is in prison affect what he says about slavery? Does anything in the final greetings in verses 24-25 surprise you? Epaphras founded the Colossian church (see Col. 1:7). Aristarchus spent a significant amount of time with Paul (see Acts 19:29; 20:4; and 27:2). We see more about Mark, Demas, and Luke in 2 Timothy 4:9-13. How important do you think Paul’s companions were to him? How important is it for you to have “co-workers” with you in the faith? Do you think Paul’s letter is reasonable, or does it go beyond the bounds of propriety? Why? Here are some of the reactions I have seen: On the one hand, the letter feels somewhat manipulative. Paul has appealed to Philemon in ways that would feel like Paul is pressuring him. On the other hand, Paul has not been coercive. He never says, “Do this or else I’ll . . . ,” nor does he say, “God says you should do this.” And his pressure is based on genuine love for both Philemon and Onesimus. Take a step back and consider this: Paul is working hard to raise a difficult topic with someone he wants to maintain a relationship with, in a way that will achieve his goal and not hurt the relationship. We all have been in such situations, where we need to choose our words carefully because we want to gain the support of someone who does not have to do what we want them to do. Paul’s effort might give us some ideas. Looking over the whole letter and the strategies Paul is using to deal with a difficult situation, when have you used similar strategies, and what happened? What can you learn from Paul’s strategies, that you might be able to apply in your own life? People sometimes think they are applying good strategies but do it in a way that is not effective. What might be an example of that, and how can you avoid mistakes like that in dealing with tricky situations? Bibliography See Philemon - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/philemon/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Index Next

Your attitude determines what is a “win.” Previous Christian Faith Next Look for the Perspective that Allows You to See Joy Your attitude determines what is a “win.” Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti February 21, 2024 A mother called in to the Internet radio station K-Love at 9:55 a.m. EST on January 25, 2023. The DJs were asking listeners to fill in the blank in this sentence: “I am wealthy because . . . (not necessarily wealthy monetarily, but wealthy in some way).” In response, the mother told a story about making dinner. She made a casserole with chicken, broccoli, and rice. When she went to serve it to her 12-year-old son, he said, “I don’t want any broccoli.” So she gave it to him without the broccoli. He went to a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a sauce packet from Chick-fil-A. He poured the sauce on his dinner and ate it. When he was done eating, he said, “That was the best dinner I’ve ever had!” As she told this story on the air, this mother summed it up this way: “Mom for the win! Any time you can make a dinner and your middle-schooler loves it, it’s a win.” Your attitude determines what is a “win” As I listened, I thought about all the ways this mother could have had a different attitude. She could have objected to her son not eating the broccoli. She could have grumbled about his adding the Chick-fil-A sauce to her casserole. Instead, she accepted the situation for what it was and found joy in her son’s joy. Your perspective influences your attitude If she had approached the situation from the perspective that her son’s daily intake of vegetables was deficient, she wouldn’t have been able to call it a “win.” If her perspective had been that she makes good meals and doesn’t need “improvements,” she wouldn’t have been able to call it a “win.” In either of those cases, she wouldn’t have been able to share in her son’s joy. Mom for the win? It all depends on what you focus on, and what you choose to see. St. Paul wrote, “[W]hatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8, NRSV). He also wrote: “Rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:15,NRSV). Sharing in the joy of others is one of the secrets of a joyful Christian life. We are encouraged to find a perspective that allows us to look see joy. Your perspective influences the joy of others American film producer Samuel Goldwyn, founder of MGM, has been quoted as saying, “When someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy.” This mother’s son left the table happy about a good meal but also happy in his mother’s appreciation of his joy. If she had scolded him, there would have been no joy in that house for either of them that night. Our decision to look for joy can make ourselves and everyone around us happier. Whenever you can, share in the joy of others! Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Christian Faith Next

Pilate tried to pretend that Jesus’s death was not his decision. How can we be honest about the role we play in what goes on in our lives? [Matthew 27:11-14; 27:15-26] Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 27:11-26 Pilate tried to pretend that Jesus’s death was not his decision. How can we be honest about the role we play in what goes on in our lives? Pilate washes his hands in front of a bound Jesus. Andrea Schiavone (c. 1510-15 - 1563). Kristus inför Pilatus [Christ before Pilate] . 16 th century. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andrea_Schiavone_-_Christ_before_Pilate_GG_1516.jpg . Tom Faletti September 19, 2025 Matthew 27:11-26 Pilate questions Jesus and sentences him without finding him guilty Pilate was given authority over Judea as a military governor from AD 26 to 36, so he is not new to the position when Jesus shows up in his court in AD 30 (or 33 according to some scholars). His headquarters were in Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast, but he knew it was important to be in Jerusalem during the Passover feast due to the huge crowds that gathered there. He was an unsympathetic person, not well liked, and unnecessarily cruel, which eventually led to his being recalled to Rome. He apparently considered his primary duty to be to keep the lid on the pressure-cooker of Judea, where there were many fervent and sometimes resistant Jews living under Roman occupation. Sadly, his methods often inflamed the population rather than pacifying them. Pilate’s formal title was “prefect,” a military governor. Some translations refer to him as the “procurator,” a generic term indicating that a person has been given power but is subordinate to a higher authority. Pilate had received power from the emperor and was responsible to him for what went on in Judea. In verse 11, what does Pilate ask Jesus? Why would he care about that particular question? Matthew is providing a condensed version of what happened. The Gospel of John provides a much fuller account of the multiple hearings that led to Jesus’s execution. Matthew does not state the formal charges that were brought against Jesus. We see them in Luke 23:2. The charges included that he claimed to be “the Messiah, a king.” Pilate asks about the claim that he is a king because that would be an unacceptable claim in the Roman Empire. He would be much less concerned about whether Jesus claimed to a messiah. He would consider that to be mainly a religious squabble among the Jews unless it was accompanied by acts of insurrection against the Empire. How does Jesus answer in verse 11? When asked if he is a king, Jesus again the same “You say so” that we have seen him use previously. Again, a straight “Yes” would be misleading because he was not claiming to be the king of the Jews in the military sense that Pilate would have understood the term to mean. We often get ourselves into trouble by saying too much or by saying things that people can misinterpret and that we could have said better. What can we learn from Jesus about saying the right things in the right ways at the right times? How does Barabbas come into the story starting in verse 16)? The claim that Pilate had a practice of allowing one prisoner to go free during the feast is not mentioned in sources outside of the Gospels, but it is a prominent element of the story in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John. Verse 18 tells us that Pilate had reached a conclusion as to why Jesus was brought before him. What does he think is going on? If that is what Pilate thought, do you think he should have handled Jesus’s case differently? What happens to Herod’s wife (verse 19)? It looks like God is giving Pilate every opportunity to do the right thing and refuse to do the wrong thing. Does God also give us little signals when we are contemplating doing something wrong, or does he just sit back and watch as we wrestle with sin? What is God’s attitude toward you as you are grappling with temptation? Reread Matthew 27:20-26 . Who do you think these “crowds” were, that were there in Pilate’s court rather than focusing on their Passover celebration? Why do you think they asked for Barabbas to be released rather than Jesus? What does verse 23 tell us about whether Pilate thinks Jesus is innocent or guilty? How does verse 24 further show what Pilate thinks about Jesus? If Pilate thought that Jesus was innocent, why didn’t he release him? We might wonder how concerned Pilate is about justice. Verse 24 offers some insight about his biggest concern here. What does Pilate care about most? Matthew’s is the only Gospel where Pilate washes his hands (verse 24). What is Pilate’s point in doing that? The Jews had a practice of washing one’s hands to show innocence. It arose from an instruction in the Mosaic Law in Deuteronomy 21:1-9, which said that if a corpse was found in the wilderness and no one had any idea who killed the person, the elders of the nearest town were directed to sacrifice a heifer and wash their hands over it as a sign of their innocence, asking God not to hold against the people the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood. Pilate is unlikely to have had any interest in following a Jewish ritual, and the circumstances in Deuteronomy don’t fit Jesus’s situation. However, this gesture by Pilate has come down through the ages as a symbol of professed innocence. Pilate further underscores his innocence by saying to the crowd in verse 24, “See to it yourselves” (27:24), the same thing the chief priests had said to Judas when he repented of betraying innocent blood (27:4). He is saying, “Don’t put the blame on me.” However, who ultimately hands Jesus over to be crucified – the crowd or Pilate? Can a person in power get off the hook or absolve themselves from something by washing their hands of it? When is it appropriate for them to say, “Don’t blame me,” and when is a person in power still morally responsible for what they allow others to do? Verse 25 has a statement that has been misused throughout history to justify discrimination, mistreatment, and oppression of Jews. In Matthew’s telling, the people say, “His blood be on us and on our children.” In Western history, how have Christian churches and individual Christians used this statement as a bogus reason to treat Jews badly? Jews in later generations were falsely called “Christ-killers,” discriminated against, kept from good jobs and neighborhoods, forced into ghettos, evicted from their homes, murdered in vicious pogroms, and ultimately subjected to the Holocaust. Many of these acts were falsely justified on the grounds that a tiny number of their distant ancestors sought Jesus’s execution. Matthew is expressing a view that arises from the contentious and sometimes violent relations between Christians and Jews in his time. The words he places in the mouth of the crowd are not a judgment from God. God’s view is entirely different. Read Ezekiel 18:4 and Ezekiel 18:20 . Does God allow children to be punished for the sins of their parents? No. God says: “For all life is mine: the life of the parent is like the life of the child, both are mine. Only the one who sins shall die!” (Ezekiel 18:4, NABRE) If that isn’t clear enough God adds: “Only the one who sins shall die. The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son” (Ezekiel 18:20, NABRE). Is there any legitimate justification for blaming the entire Jewish people for the acts of the few who were there at the time? Why not? Note that in the end, in verse 26, it is Pilate who hands Jesus over to be crucified, not the Jews generally or even the chief priests specifically. Pilate is the only one with the authority to order the crucifixion. How does that guide your thinking about Pilate’s protestations of innocence? It is Pilate’s Roman soldiers who will crucify Jesus, and they will do so on the orders of a Roman, Pilate. How does that guide your thinking about the ways that Christians have unjust treated Jews throughout the ages? In verse 26, Jesus is scourged. Scourging was an incredibly excruciating form of torture, where a condemned prisoner was whipped with leather straps that had bits of bone and lead embedded in them. This was different than using a regular whip to whip someone as a form of punishment. Instead, it was part of the torture of execution, intended to deliver maximum pain and weaken the prisoner while still keeping him alive to suffer the further intense agony of the crucifixion itself. In verse 26, Jesus is “handed over” to be crucified. Matthew uses the same Greek work for “handed over” in all of the following places: In Matthew 11:27, Jesus says that the Father has handed over all things to him. In Matthew 20:18, Jesus says that he will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, who will condemn him to death. In Matthew 26:2, Jesus says that he will be handed over to be crucified. In Matthew 27:2, Jesus is handed over from the chief priests to Pilate. In Matthew 27:18, Matthew tells us that Pilate knew the chief priests handed Jesus over to him out of jealously. In Matthew 27:26, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. Interestingly, not in Matthew but in John, when Jesus died, he bowed his head and handed over his spirit (John 19:30). To the end, Jesus was in control of his destiny. Do you ever feel like your life is a series of instances where you are “handed over” to some experience or another? In John 10:17-18, Jesus says that he has the power to lay down his life and the power to take it up again. In Matthew 26:53, Jesus declares that he could summon legions of angels to intervene if that was what the Father wanted to happen. What does the fact that he allowed this to happen, when he could have stopped it, tell you about him? How might Jesus’s example give you a sense of perspective as you deal with difficult situations in your life that are not of your own choosing? Take a step back and consider this: The Roman Empire is often praised for the Pax Romana , a period of supposed peace and prosperity the reigned under Roman rule from roughly 27 BC to AD 180. There may have been relative peace on the Italian peninsula during this time, but to people of other ethnic groups it was a period of oppression that was so extensive that any attempt to fight for freedom was quickly and brutally crushed. Moreover, people did try to fight for freedom, leading to massacres such as Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. And even during periods of relative “peace” such as the years in which Jesus lived, Roman crucifixions lined the roads of the Empire as vicious warnings not to disrupt the peace of Roman oppression. How can we hold historians to account, and challenge ourselves as well, to tell an accurate history that includes the experiences of the oppressed and does not present the views of the victors as the only way to understand what happened? How do you think God would want you to tell your own nation’s history? Christ died on the cross for all people, not just the people who were most powerful. Does your nation’s history tell the stories of people who were oppressed or held back as honestly as God would tell their stories? Whose story might need to be more fully told if seen through God’s eyes? Why does it matter whether Christians tell the whole history of a people? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next

Make the choice to follow Christ and do not be afraid of the consequences. [Matthew 10:16-25; 10:26-33; 10:34-39; 10:40-42] Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 10:16-42 Make the choice to follow Christ and do not be afraid of the consequences. Image by Redd F, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Cropped. Tom Faletti August 10, 2024 Matthew 10:16-25 The persecution that will come As Jesus’s followers go out to preach the good news, what problems will they face? What are the risks they will face? What are the reassurances Jesus offers? How is the reassurance Jesus offers based on a relationship? In verses 17, 18, and 21, who will oppose them or cause them trouble? Jesus mentions religious leaders, governmental authorities, and family members. As you try to be transparent and open about your faith, is there anyone who is likely to oppose you or cause you trouble? If so, what might you do about it? Have you experienced any situations like what is described in verse 20, where you did now have a plan for what you would say about your faith, but the Spirit spoke through you? How can you live a life that is so open to the movement and guidance of the Holy Spirit that that kind of guidance “in the moment” is possible? Where are you tempted to hold back in boldly following Jesus? What does this passage say to you? Based on what Jesus says in these verses, would you say martyrdom should be sought, avoided where possible, or avoided at all costs? In verse 23b, Jesus says that the Son of Man will come before they have proclaimed the good news in all of the towns of Israel. Matthew might have understood this to be true in the sense that the beginning of the coming of the Son of Man was inaugurated when Jesus died and rose from the dead. Or he might have seen the coming of the Son of Man as having occurred when Jerusalem was destroyed and Israel was shattered by the Romans in AD 70. We will explore the coming of the Son of Man when Jesus talks more about it in Matthew 24. In verse 24, Jesus says the disciple is not above the teacher. The word disciple means a learner or student. How do you maintain your role as a lifelong learner under Jesus? What are some ways that we, as disciples, are called to be “like” our teacher Jesus? Matthew 10:26-33 Do not fear What does Jesus emphasize repeatedly in verses 26, 28, 31 of this passage? Why might fear be a natural response? There might be pain, suffering, rejection, and even death in following Jesus. Why, then, does Jesus tell us not to fear? What is Jesus saying about us and God in the sparrow analogy in verses 29-31? We are greatly valued by God. We are intensely and surprisingly important to him. He never stops watching us, with love. What fears do you face? What does this word from Jesus about not being afraid say to you in your particular circumstances? In verses 32-33, Jesus contrasts those who acknowledge him before others and those who deny him before others. William Barclay suggests (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , pp. 403-404) that there are three ways we can deny Jesus: by our words , by our silence , and by our actions . What does it look like to deny Jesus by our words? . . . by our silence? . . . by our actions? What does it look like to acknowledge Jesus before other people by our words, our silence, and our actions? Where in your life do you need to be a clearer witness to Jesus right now, and how might it affect your words, your times of silence, or your actions? Matthew 10:34-39 The choice What are the some of the things Jesus says will be part of being called by him? What does Jesus mean in verses 34-36 when he says he has come to bring a sword? When Jesus says he has not come to bring peace, but a sword (verse 34), he explains what he means in verses 35-36. He is not talking about military might or violent uprising. He is not saying that he wields a sword, nor is he saying that the sword should be wielded by his disciples. On the contrary, the sword is wielded by those who oppose Jesus and his disciples. Jesus is lamenting the fact that his coming produces such opposition that some will die by the sword. The quote in verses 35-36 comes from Micah 7:6, where the prophet describes with great sorrow how the society around him has degenerated to the point where those who are faithful to God cannot trust the people around them, but instead must look to God and wait for God to provide salvation (Micah 7:7). What does the conundrum in verse 39 about finding your life/losing your life mean? What does it mean to “take up your cross and follow me”? How might a person today have to give up the life they have today in order to find the life they are called to by in Christ? What do you think of Jesus’s blunt honesty in this passage? Do we need more of this kind of honesty in the message of Christianity in our day? Or can we avoid this tough message and still be saved? Most people don’t face this choice in stark, life-or-death terms the way the martyrs did. They do face smaller life decisions that change the direction of their lives and even smaller choices every day about how to live their lives. How do these smaller choices both reflect and determine where we stand with Jesus? What is the cost or sacrifice that comes with following Jesus? What is the reward or benefit? A cross is an instrument of death. How is taking up a cross an apt metaphor for the choice we face? What is the cross you are called to take up right now in order to follow Jesus? Matthew 10:40-42 You are representatives of Jesus What is this passage saying? This passage implies that we are representatives of Jesus. What responsibilities come with being a representative of Jesus? This passage implies that our fellow Christians, even the lowest, are representatives of Jesus. What does that fact call us to do? In verse 42, Jesus talks about giving a cup of cold water to “these little ones.” Scholars debate whether the “little ones” refers to the apostles/disciples or to the uneducated and needy members of the community. But it can also be taken more literally. Who are the “little ones” in this world who need a cup of water? How can we, directly or through organizations or governments, help people who need access to safe, clean drinking water? Benedict T. Viviano comments, “It has been observed that if God will reward one who gives a cup of cold water to a disciple, how much more will he reward one who installs an entire city water system” (Viviano, par. 72, p. 652). Many nonprofit organizations, often operating from a religious orientation, help people in less developed countries build wells or implement water purification programs, so that children and other community members will have safe drinking water. Some people living along the southern border of the United States try to serve Jesus in the “least among us” by providing water to migrants who might die of thirst or heatstroke as they search for a safe place to call home. There are many ways to give a cup of cold water to “little ones” in need. If you were to be evaluated (like in school or on a job performance evaluation) on how you are doing as a representative of Jesus, where would you receive high marks and where would it be said that you could make improvements? How might you respond to this passage in terms of how you relate to other people? Take a step back and consider this: William Barclay wrote, “The Christian may have to sacrifice his personal ambitions, the ease and the comfort that he might have enjoyed, the career that he might have achieved; he may have to lay aside his dreams, to realize that shining things of which he caught a glimpse are not for him. He will certainly have to sacrifice his will, for no Christian can ever again do what he likes; he must do what Christ likes. In Christianity there is always some cross, for Christianity is the religion of the Cross” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 408). There are many ways that following Christ may require a sacrifice of the will. It generally doesn’t mean, “I want to be an entrepreneur/lawyer/realtor/artist (etc.) but God wants me to be a missionary in a far-off land.” More commonly it means, “I want to be an entrepreneur/lawyer/realtor/artist (etc.) but because I follow Christ there are certain things I will not do, even if the world tells me it is necessary for success.” In our work, we stay true to God, speak honestly and openly about our faith when the opportunity arises, and trust God, without fear, that if following Christ closes some doors, God has other doors for us. Sacrificing our will generally doesn’t mean we live in absolute penury with only the clothes on our back. It means we choose to live simply so that we have resources left to put at God’s disposal. We put Christ in charge of our budget, recognizing that all we have comes from God and that sacrificing our own luxury may help meet others’ basic necessities. In other words, when our desires and Christ’s will do not line up, we let go of our will so that Christ’s will can have its way. In exchange, we are given the opportunity to participate, from the platform we have as an entrepreneur/lawyer/realtor/artist (etc.), in the greatest mission we could imagine. And when we have made that fundamental decision and have lived it for a while and allowed it to seep deeply into the fabric of our life, the ambitions and luxuries that run counter to the mission of Christ sometimes seem less attractive. That doesn’t mean we won’t face new temptations as situations arise. But they will less commonly be decisions about the major direction of our lives. They will more commonly be: “Can I set aside the thing I am working on right now, because the person in front of me needs me to do something for them.” Those smaller sacrifices of the will are always before us and will continue until we meet the Lord face to face in the life to come. Do you agree with Barclay that Christianity requires a sacrifice of the will to do what Christ desires? Explain. What are the kinds of sacrifices that God is asking you to make right now for the sake of his kingdom? What do you need to do (or keep doing) right now to stay true to the decision you have made to be a follower of Christ? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew Index Next