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Living the Christian life in the church. [1 Thessalonians 5:12-22; 5:23-28] Previous 1 Thess. Index Next 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 Living the Christian life in the church. Image from Wix. Tom Faletti January 31, 2025 1 Thess. 5:12-22 Relationships and behavior within the church Paul now turns to his expectations for how the Thessalonians should live with each other in the church. In verses 12-13, he describes how the leaders of the local church should act and how the “congregation” (the members of the local church) should treat them. In verse 12, what 3 things does he say the leaders do? They “labor” among you, they have a leadership role over you, and they “admonish” you. Different Christian denominations have different terms for these leaders of the church: priests, ministers, pastors, deacons, elders, etc. In the following questions, the term “priests and ministers” will be used, but please translate that into whatever terms you use in your church. In what ways do our local priests and ministers “labor”? What is the “work” they do? In what ways should we defer to them as our leaders? Do your priests/ministers admonish you? If so, how? If they don’t, should they, and if so, how? How important is it to have people in your life who will “admonish” you? And how should they do it so that it is effective and not just off-putting? In verse 13, what 3 things does Paul ask the members of the church to do in support of the leaders? He asks them to show their leaders “esteem,” love them ( agape ), and be at peace. Why is it important to “esteem” our priests and ministers and to show them “love”? Are there ways you could show them more appreciation for the work they do? Are there ways you could show more appreciation or support for the other church employees, who do so much unsung work? Paul adds that the Thessalonians – the members of the congregation – should be at peace with one another. Why is peace important? Why is being at peace with the other members of your church such an important part of loving the leaders of your church? What do you do to help bring about or maintain peace in your church? In verses 14-15, Paul moves into a longer list of things the members of the church should do with each other. What does he tell them to do? Why is he concerned about people who are idle (he also mentioned them in 4:11)? What would it look like to admonish people who are idle? How might you encourage the fainthearted and help the weak? Why is patience so important? How does it help us deal with the idlers, the fainthearted, and the weak? Verse 15 could be a good rule for life in a variety of circumstances. What does Paul tell them to not do and to do in verse 15? Don’t return evil for evil. Always seek the good for each other and for all. The first half of verse 15 says: Don’t return evil for evil. Why is this an important rule? What might this stop us from doing, and what are the kinds of circumstances where we need to remember this? The second part of verse 15 goes further. The first part only tells us what not to do. The second part tells us what to do instead . Why is seeking the good of “each other” important? And how does it counteract our tendency to focus on ourselves? But Paul goes even further. He tells us to seek the good of “all,” meaning everyone else, too. In order to be the kind of person who always does what is good not only for myself , and not only for just me and you, but also for everyone else , how might we need to change how we think about the situations we are in? How does this approach to interpersonal relationships reflect the way God does things? How does this approach to interpersonal relationships challenge you? In verses 16-18, Paul focuses more on what is going on inside of us – in our inner selves. What does he say? How can we rejoice always? (What have we to rejoice about even when things are going wrong?) How can we pray without ceasing? For a simple way to approach the habit of praying constantly, you might explore the very short book The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, an uneducated 17th century monk who spent most of his time working as a cobbler and in the kitchen of the monastery. It can be bought very inexpensively, but it can also be found online at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library . How can we give thanks in all circumstances? What might we give thanks for when we are experiencing illness, mistreatment, or misfortune? How might this attitude of rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks at all times revolutionize your relationship with God? How might it revolutionize your relationships with the people in your world? In verses 19-22 where Paul talks about prophetic utterances, he is probably talking about the kinds of manifestations of the Spirit that appear to have been common in the early church and are sometimes seen in charismatic communities in our time. What is the balance he is seeking? Paul seeks to allow people to speak freely in response to the movement of the Holy Spirit, but with testing and discernment by others. How might this be a good approach to inspiration in general? 1 Thess. 5:23-28 Paul’s closing prayer and greeting Paul ends with prayer (verses 23-25) and greetings (verses 26-28). In his prayer, what does Paul ask of God? Looking at verse 23, what would it take for you to embrace the goal of being “perfectly” (NABRE) or “entirely” holy? Paul’s hope is that the lives of all God’s people would be entirely without blame or fault, “spirit, soul, and body” – i..e, in all aspects of their being. God is working to perfect us. How do our spirit, soul, and body all play a role in the perfecting process that God wants to work in us? What does Paul add in verse 24, and how is it an encouragement? Do you live as though God is faithful and will accomplish your perfection in Christ? How might that insight transform your life? In verse 25, Paul also asks them to pray for him. Why is that important? What does it tell us about Paul? In verse 26, Paul tells them to greet “all the brothers” with “a holy kiss.” A kiss was a common form of greeting in his time. It was used in Christian communities and very early in the life of the Church it became part of the ritual or liturgy. (The Roman Catholic Church reclaimed it as a formal part of the liturgy after Vatican II.) In light of verse 27, however, there may be more to verse 26 than meets the eye. Paul orders, in unusually strong terms (roughly equivalent to “I charge you under oath”), that the letter be read to “all.” He says this right after he tells them to extend the holy kiss to “all.” We do not know why he felt the need to issue such a stern order to have the letter read to everyone in the Christian community. Scholars speculate that there might have been factions developing and Paul wanted to make sure his words reached everyone. But we don’t need to assume that there were factions in order to make sense of verse 27. Paul wanted to make sure that his letter reached everyone – even the idlers (5:14), even the ones who were not peaceful (5:13) or patient (5:14), even the ones who were not walking as children of the light (5:4-8), even the ones who were not living in sexual holiness (4:3-8). Greet all of them, he says, with a holy kiss, and make sure this letter is read to all of them. Paul wants his letter to reach even those who are not living the holiest of lives. Why is it important that we keep reaching out to all of the people in the church, not just the ones who are consistently living holy lives? How might your church be more welcoming of people who are not (and maybe not anywhere near) perfect? How might you be more welcoming of people who are not living a fully Christian life as you perceive it? Paul ends (5:28) where he began (1:1), with grace: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. How can you grow in being the kind of person who extends God’s grace to everyone? Take a step back and consider this: We need a Christian community. First, we humans are social creatures and need other people. Second, it is difficult to become like Christ without spending time in a community that is dedicated to living like Christ. Third, we cannot abound in love (3:12), encourage each other and build each other up (5:11), support those who are weak or fainthearted (5:14), or do the many other things Christians are called to do, if we are not living in a Christian community. We need to be around people in order to minister to them. Christian communities also offer opportunities to become more like Christ in another way. Spending time with other people opens us to interactions that may have some friction, which become additional opportunities to grow in holiness (5:23) as we try to serve our Lord together. They also give us a place to ask questions and answer questions (3:10; 4:13). We can explore together who God is, what he is trying to accomplish in our world, and how we can participate in God’s work in the world. It is fair to say that we need to be in a Christian community to be all we are intended by God to be. The fact that Paul ends his letter by urging that the holy kiss be extended to everyone and that his letter be read to all tells us how important he thought it was that everyone be supported and included in the community of believers. What is your church or Christian community? How is your Christian community important to you? How does your church enable you to be all you are meant to be? How could your church do more to enable others to grow in Christ, and what part might you play in that effort? How does your church challenge you to grow in Christ, and what might God want you to do in response? What is one practical piece of advice or insight or attitude that Paul offers in this letter, that you can take to heart and pursue within the context of your Christian community? Bibliography See 1 Thessalonians - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/1-thessalonians/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 1 Thess. Index Next

How much do you know about the resurrection of Jesus? What does the Bible say? Take this 5-question quiz and see what you know. Previous Special Materials Next Easter Quiz: The Resurrection of Jesus How much do you know about the resurrection of Jesus? What does the Bible say? Take this 5-question quiz and see what you know. Image by Pisit Hing, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti April 20, 2025 Click the following link to take this 5-question quiz and see what you know about the Resurrection: Easter Quiz: The Resurrection of Jesus 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 Special Materials Next

The world and the Church will face difficult times, marked by lawlessness and apostasy, but in the end the Lord will be victorious. Previous 2 Thess. Index Next 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 The world and the Church will face difficult times, marked by lawlessness and apostasy, but in the end the Lord will be victorious. Image by Zac Durant provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti March 10, 2025 2 Thess. 2:1-12 What to expect before the end, including the appearance of the lawless one In verses 1-2, what has upset the Thessalonians? They think they have received information, either through a prophetic word from the Spirit or by a letter supposedly from Paul, saying that the Second Coming is already here or has already begun (see the Introduction ). In verse 1, Paul describes the Second Coming as our “assembling with” the Lord (NABRE) or being “gathered together to him” (NRSV) – it is when we will rejoin him and live with him forever. In verses 3-4, what two things does Paul say must happen before the Second Coming of Christ? There will be an apostasy – a time in which many people renounce the faith – and the lawless one will be revealed. In verses 3-4, how does Paul describe the lawless one (or man of lawlessness, or man of sin)? In verse 4, Paul describes this anti-Christ as seated in the temple of God. This image has been interpreted in a variety of ways ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , fn. to 2 Thess. 2:4, p. 382): Some church fathers saw this as referring to a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. I don’t think Paul would have seen it that way. The Temple was still standing in Jerusalem when he wrote this. The Jews had suffered the ignominy of having Antiochus IV sack Jerusalem and set up a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Temple, but to Paul, the Temple in Jerusalem was no longer a focal point of God’s activity. God now resided in his people, not in a building (see next bullet). So Paul is not likely to have had the physical Temple in Jerusalem in mind. Some church fathers believed Paul was talking about the Church. This fits well with Paul’s other letters. To Paul, Christians individually (1 Cor. 3:16-17) and collectively (2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21) were and are the temple of God. Some scholars read the passage more metaphorically, seeing the Antichrist as placing himself symbolically in the place of God, in our hearts, in our nations, in our world. In verses 9-10, how does Paul describe the lawless one? Based on verses 10 and 11, what is the lawless one’s primary tool for doing his evil work? Deceit. In verse 7, Paul says that lawlessness is already at work in the world. What are some ways that you see lawlessness at work in your world? Lawlessness shows up in big ways (murder) and small ways (excessive speeding). It shows up in family abuse and neglect, in the sale of unsafe products by corporations and the failure to give workers their rights to overtime pay, in the “anything goes” attitude that infects many corners of the Internet, in athletes who break the rules in order to win, and the list goes on. If you look behind the surface manifestations of lawlessness, what would you say is the root cause behind the many different kinds of lawlessness in our world? There are many possible answers to this question. It could be the attitude that the law does not apply to me, that I decide what is right and wrong, that I’m more important than anyone else and my welfare and goals matter most. That could be described as selfishness. Another possible answer is that in our world there is an underlying disregard for human life or a dehumanization of others that desensitizes us to the ways we are out of control. The fact that a society allows these things to happen can lead to a resignation to the idea that there is no other way to live. Paul suggests that the lawlessness is not yet at flood level – it is restrained right now. Specifically, in verse 6 he tells the Thessalonians that they know what is restraining lawlessness right now, because he told them. We do not know what he told them and cannot be sure what he has in mind. Scholars disagree among themselves about what the restraining power is (verse 6) and who the one who restrains is (verse 7). Here are some of the explanations they offer (the following points are drawn from NABRE, fn. to 2 Thess. 2:6-7; and Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , “Word Study: Restraining (2 Thess.2:6),” p. 382): Some say the Roman Empire or the Roman emperor is the restraining force because they establish order. They point to Paul’s view of government in Romans 13:1-7 as support for this position. (Others argue against this view, pointing to the rampant abuses perpetrated by the Romans in their dealings with every nation they sought to conquer, control, and exploit, which Paul would have known well.) Some draw on Revelations 12:7-9 and 20:1-3 to suggest that angelic powers such as Michael the Archangel hold Satan back (2 Thess. 2:9). (Verse 7’s statement that the one who restrains the evil will be removed poses a problem for this interpretation.) Some say that God himself is the restrainer: that the Holy Spirit is the restraining power in verse 6 and God the Father is the one who restrains in verse 7. Some say that the preaching of the gospel holds lawlessness back, or that the need to allow time for the spread of the gospel to all nations holds off the end (Mark 13:10). Some argue that “restraining” is the wrong translation of the Greek word and that “seizing” is a more accurate translation. In this view, Paul is saying that an evil prophetic spirit like those seen in the worship of the Greek god Dionysius is seizing people in the Thessalonian Christian community and shaking them out of their wits (verse 2). Paul has warned them about it so that they can avoid it, but they have given in to deceit. But this is just a foretaste of the threat posed by the lawless one in the full power of his deceit. Given the wide range of guesses as to who or what Paul thinks is restraining lawlessness, it is not fruitful to spend too much time speculating about it. But 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord is patient and delays his coming so that all may come to repentance, and Revelation 20:2-3 tells us that we are living in the figurative “one-thousand-year” period between Jesus’s victory over sin and his final return, during which Satan is being restrained. In one way or another, God is restraining evil or allowing it to be restrained. In what ways do you see God restraining evil in our day and giving people time to repent and turn to him? In verse 8, Paul says that the Lord kills the lawless one by the breath of his mouth. This is a reference to Isaiah 11:4. In Isaiah 11:1-9, Isaiah issued a prophecy describing an ideal king from the line of David, the one who would come and set all things right. In verse 4 of that passage, he says that this shoot from the stump of Jesse, on whom the spirit of the Lord rests, would judge the poor with justice and slay the wicked with his breath. When Paul invokes the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 11:4 to say that the Lord slays the lawless one with the breath of his mouth, that prophecy says that the future Son of David will defend the poor and slay the wicked. How is the mistreatment of the poor a manifestation of the lawlessness in the world? How can we stand up for the poor against the lawless powers that mistreat them? In verses 10-12, Paul says that the lawless one, who is aligned with the power of Satan, deceives those who do not believe the truth. How can you know when you are being spiritually deceived? In verse 11, where Paul says God sends upon them a deceiving power or delusion (NABRE/NRSV), this is typical Jewish language of Paul’s time, where everything was attributed to God because nothing can happen unless God allows it. Since God does not tempt anyone to do evil (James 1:13), it is wisest to interpret this passage as talking about God’s permissive will, not his direct action – i.e., that God allows it, not that he causes it. God does not tempt us to do evil, but he does not shield us from being deceived when we have refused to accept the truth. The hinge or linchpin around which this whole passage revolves is verse 8. What does it say the Lord will do? If the Lord will destroy this evil one when he comes in his Second Coming, with what attitude can we approach the future? In verse 8, the Lord gains victory over the lawless one by a simple word – the breath of his mouth. God speaks a word in Genesis 1 and Creation comes into being. Jesus speaks a word in Mark 4:39 and the roaring storm is stilled. There is no battle between God and the lawless one; God merely issue a word and the opposition is gone. What does this ability of God to issue a word say to you in your life? Notice that this passage began by saying that these things must happen before the Second Coming of the Lord. Therefore, he is telling them that “the day of the Lord” is not at hand; it is not almost about to happen. A lot of other things must happen first. What they should worry about is not the timing of the Lord’s return but the risk of being deceived and losing their faith. What are the things in your life today that might pose a risk that you might lose your faith? What can you do about it? What message in this passage is important to you? Take a step back and consider this: Paul is trying to walk a fine line: telling the Thessalonians about the future and the Second Coming of Christ but not having them become overly preoccupied by it. That is probably a wise approach for us as well. Why is a basic understanding of the Second Coming of Christ an important element of our faith? Why is it more important to focus on what is going on in the here-and-now and not get too worked up (as the Thessalonians had) about possible signs of the future “end times”? How can you strike this balance? In particular, what is one thing (or more) that you should hang onto about Christ’s Second Coming and one thing (or more) that you should focus on as more important right now than the timing of the end times? Bibliography See 2 Thessalonians - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/2-thessalonians/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 2 Thess. Index Next

The return of Christ and how to be ready. [1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-11] Previous 1 Thess. Index Next 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 The return of Christ and how to be ready. Photo by Matthias Münning on Unsplash . Tom Faletti January 31, 2025 1 Thess. 4:13-18 Christians, dead and living, will join Christ when he returns This passage has been a distraction for many, due to poor theology. Some Christians have woven whole books and movies out of inventive interpretations of Paul’s language and the Book of Revelation. Let’s examine what Paul actually says. Paul uses the term “fallen asleep,” a term the early Christians frequently used by for the dead. In what sense are they only “sleeping”? Looking at verses 13-14, what is the concern that has troubled the Thessalonian community? They are troubled that members of the church have died before Jesus has returned. Why does Paul say they can have hope? In verse 14, what is the connection he makes between Jesus and Christians who die? How does Jesus’s resurrection affect your view of death? When we lose a loved one, grief is natural and to be expected. But how does our faith affect our grief? Paul now turns to a brief discussion of Second Coming of Christ. In verse 15, he says that what he is going to tell us in verses 16-17 is a “word of the Lord.” We do not have this in any of the Gospels. It might have been received as a prophetic utterance in the early church or as a prophetic revelation to Paul himself. What is Paul’s main point in verse 15? Why might it matter to Christians that, when Christ returns, those who have already died will not be left behind? The Nicene Creed, which is accepted by most Christian denominations, professes belief in the Second Coming of Christ when it says, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.” Although the Nicene Creed had not yet bee formulated, this is what Paul is talking about in this passage. In verses 16-17, Paul describes the return or Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 16, what words or sounds signal that the time has come? The Lord gives the command, and then two things happen, or one thing happens that is described in two ways: the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. When that signal is given, what happens first (still in verse 16)? Christians who are dead rise. What Paul says here seems to be consistent with what Jesus says in Matthew 24:31. Let’s look at it: Read Matthew 24:29-31 What elements of Jesus’s words are matched in what Paul says? Jesus will return. Jesus will come in the clouds. A trumpet will sound. Jesus will gather his followers. He will gather the dead as well as the living. He says he will gather them from the four winds and from one end of “the heavens” to the other – this is poetic language, but “the heavens” means not just the people living on the Earth. A trumpet sound could be literal, but it could be symbolic. What does the sounding of a trumpet signal? What kinds of people get heralded by the sound of trumpets? What difference does it make to you that Jesus will return with power and glory? What difference does it make to you that those who have died will rise again – that we will have a resurrection? What difference does it make to you that your loved ones who have gone before you will be part of the resurrection? Return to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 . In verse 16, Paul says that the dead will rise to life. In verse 17, he says that the people who are alive at that time will be “caught up” with the dead who have risen, to meet the Lord in the air. The Greek word for “caught up” is used in other places in the Bible to mean “snatched” or “taken by force” (e.g., Matt. 11:12; 13:19; John 6:15; 10:12, 28, 29; Acts 8:39). When the Scriptures were translated into Latin, this word was translated to a Latin word that begins with the letters rapt . When the Latin was translated into English, it became our word “rapture.” This passage later became one of the primary passages used by people such as Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind series, and Hal Lindsey in The Late Great Planet Earth and other books, to teach a particular theory about the end times in which Christians are “raptured,” or taken to heaven, before the tribulation that everyone else must face. People who subscribe to that theory are described as pre-tribulation pre-millennialists. What Paul teaches does not support the pre-tribulation, pre-millennial view popularized with the modern use of the term “rapture.” That “rapture” teaching is actually not consistent with the Scriptures, which is why it was rejected throughout much of Christian history until the 19th century. Almost all Christians agree on certain truths: Christ will return. The dead will be raised. Christians who are dead and Christians who are still alive will be united with Christ and live with him forever. That’s what Paul says. But Christians don’t get to escape tribulation by being snatched up to God while everyone else is left behind to suffer. The Catholic Church does not accept that claim. The Orthodox Churches do not accept it. The Episcopal, Lutheran, and Methodist Churches to not accept it. Many other Christian churches do not accept it. It goes against established Christian teaching that reaches all the way back to St. Augustine. This new interpretation of the “rapture” did not become a popular belief until isolated groups of Christians proposed it starting in the 19th century. There are at least two key flaws in the pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture theory. First, nothing in Scripture supports the idea that Christians will be protected from tribulation. On the contrary, the Bible tells us over and over again to expect serious suffering. Second, the theory is intertwined with the idea that after Christ comes to take Christians to heaven, there will be a 1000-year gap before the final judgment. Jesus and St. Paul are clear that when Christ comes in his Second Coming, three things will happen immediately: the dead will be raised, those who are still alive will be caught up to Christ, and Christ will carry out the final judgment. There is no 1000-year gap in the middle. Revelation 20:2-3 mentions a 1000-year period known as the “millennium” without explanation as to whether it is symbolic or literal. The mainstream understanding of the millennium is that it is a symbolic “1000” years that began when Jesus ascended into heaven and will end when he returns in glory. During this time, God is restraining evil so that the Word of God can be spread throughout the whole Earth. However, as Jesusa and Paul taught, a time of severe persecution (the “tribulation”) will come before the end, and Christians will not be exempt from that persecution and suffering. See The Rapture? It’s Not a Pre-Millennial Escape from Tribulation for a fuller exploration of how the pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture theory contradicts what Jesus and St. Paul clearly teach. Is it a disappointment or a relief to you that Paul, here in 1 Thessalonians, does not teach what has been popularized in books and movies such as the Left Behind series? Why? In verse 17, Paul says that we will be with the Lord forever. What difference does it make to you that we will be with the Lord forever? In verse 18, Paul tells the Thessalonians to use these teachings to “console” (NABRE) or “encourage” (NRSV) each other. How might these teachings about the end times be consoling or encouraging? How are these teachings a source of consolation or encouragement to you? 1 Thess. 5:1-11 Always live in the light, ready for the Lord As Paul continues to discuss the return of Christ, he refers to “the day of the Lord,” which is a term used in Old Testament prophecies in the books of Daniel, Isaiah, Joel, and other prophets. For the Jews of Jesus’s and Paul’s time, that was when God would bring victory for the Jews. Christians re-interpreted it as the day when Christ would return in power and glory. Considering verses 1-3, what can we know about when Christ will return in his Second Coming? What do you think of Paul’s analogy comparing Jesus’s coming to the coming of a “thief in the night”? (FYI- 2 Peter 3:10 uses the same analogy of a thief.) What does it suggest to you as to how you should be prepared? In verses 4-5, what does Paul say about darkness and light? What does it mean to be “children of light”? In verses 6-7, Paul talks again about people “sleeping,” but this time it is not a metaphor for death. What does the metaphor of “sleeping’ mean this time, and what is Paul calling us to do, to avoid “sleeping” like others do? What does it look like to be the kind of Christian who lives in the light? How can you be a child of the light more fully or consistently? In verse 8, Paul tells us to put on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. He is again talking about the three theological virtues: faith, love, and hope (first mentioned in 1 Thess. 1:3). In this metaphor, they are defensive gear, to protect our head and heart. How do faith, love, and hope protect our head and heart? How do you “put on” faith, love, and hope? In verse 10, Paul uses the word sleep again, but now he is using it as he did in 4:13-18 to refer to death, not as he used it in 5:6-7 regarding lax living. What does he call us to do in verse 10? Since Christ died for us, we are called to respond by living with him, in this life and after we die. How can we live with Christ while we are alive? Paul ends this section by again urging us to encourage each other (verse 11). How can we do that? Paul also urges us to build each other up. What does that mean, and how can we do it? Looking back over 1 Thessalonians 4:13 through 5:11: Which of Paul’s teachings in these passages is most comforting or encouraging to you right now, and why? Which of Paul’s teachings here challenges you to take a new step, and what can you do specifically to respond? Take a step back and consider this: Paul talks about faith, love, and hope twice in this letter. In 1:3, he says the Thessalonians are actively exhibiting all three of these virtues. In 5:8, he urges them to put on the protection of faith, love, and hope. In some ways, faith, love, and hope sum up the whole gospel: if we are actively living our lives in accordance with these three virtues, we will be living the kind of life to which we are called in Christ Jesus. Genuine faith puts God first in all things. Genuine love treats others with the same love God has for us. Genuine hope helps us endure suffering and hold fast to the God who loves us. Which of these virtues would be good for you to focus on this week? Why? We are not alone. God is working to help us respond to these virtues, which he has placed in us. What can you do, or stop doing, to allow the virtues of faith, love, and hope to guide every aspect of your life? Bibliography See 1 Thessalonians - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/1-thessalonians/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 1 Thess. Index Next

Stand firm in what you have been taught and live an orderly life, doing your own work and not minding other people’s business. [2 Thessalonians 2:13-17; 3:1-5; 3:6-15; 3:16-18] Previous 2 Thess. Index Next 2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:18 Stand firm in what you have been taught and live an orderly life, doing your own work and not minding other people’s business. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti March 10, 2025 2 Thess. 2:13-17 How God sees the Thessalonians From God’s perspective, who are the Thessalonians? How does Paul describe them? In verse 13, Paul says that the Thessalonians are the “firstfruits.” Note: Some translations use an alternate translation that instead says, “from the beginning.” The uncertainty arises because at that time, Greek had no spaces between words and the letters in question form either two words meaning “from” and “the beginning” or the single word meaning “firstfruits.” (Similarly, if we did not use spaces, we might not know whether a report was being described as “information” or “in formation.”) “Firstfruits” is probably the better translation for several reasons: The term “firstfruits” is used repeatedly in the Old Testament. Paul had a deep knowledge of Jewish Scriptures. Paul uses the same term in other letters, for example, in Romans 8:23 and 11:16 and in 1 Corinthians 15:19-23 and 16:15. The word captures an important point that Paul makes in those other passages, which we will explore now. Read Leviticus 23:9-21 and Exodus 23:14-19a to understand the concept of the firstfruits. What are the firstfruits? Why might the Lord have wanted the people to offer the first sheaf of wheat that was harvested, the first pieces of fruit plucked from the vines and trees, the lamb born in the past year, etc.? What was the message or purpose hidden in this practice? Jeremiah 2:3 says that Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of the Lord’s harvest. How is it appropriate, then, for Paul to describe the Thessalonians as the firstfruits of salvation? Note: The idea of the “firstfruits” also appears in many other places in the Old Testament, including in Leviticus 2:14; Number 18:13; Deuteronomy 18:4; 26:1-3, 10; Nehemiah 10:36; and Proverbs 3:9-10. Now return to 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17. What is Paul’s point in saying that the Thessalonians are the “firstfruits” for salvation (verse 13)? If they are only the first fruits, that suggests that others are also “fruit.” What does that tell us about people who come after them? The firstfruits in the Old Testament were an offering to God, a choice gift set aside for God at the beginning of the harvest. In what ways are we, too, called to be an offering to God as part of his harvest? In verse 14, what does Paul say they are called for? You have the same calling. What does it mean to you, that you are called to have the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? Given all of this, what does Paul call on them to do in verse 15? We can only “hold fast to the traditions” (verse 15) if we know what those traditions are. Are there things you could do to understand the “traditions” of your faith more fully? Early signs of the Church’s belief in the divinity of Jesus In verse 16, we see a sign that Paul believes in the divinity of Jesus – that Jesus is one with God the Father. Here, he is praying for the Thessalonians. The prayer starts by describing our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father as having given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace. He continues the sentence by saying, may he encourage your hearts and may he strengthen them. He uses the third personal singular he ; he does not say, may they encourage and strengthen your hearts. Again, as in 1 Thessalonians 3:11, Paul gives us an early indication that he sees the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father as one God. See my article When Did Christians First Recognize the Divinity of Jesus? for a more complete exposition of the early Church’s belief in the divinity of Jesus. How does Paul describe Christ/God the Father in verse 16? In what ways have you experienced God’s love and the encouragement that lasts forever? What can you do to more fully embrace God’s love and encouragement? In verse 17, what does Paul ask God to do for the Thessalonians? It is characteristic of Paul that he does not simply ask God to encourage them so that they can feel good. He asks God to strengthen them in every good thing they do and say . Paul wants to see faith in action. What is the good deed or good word that God might be calling you to, right now? What has Paul said in this letter that might encourage you that you can trust in God’s strength to enable you for every good deed and word? 2 Thess. 3:1-5 Paul asks for their prayers and continues to pray for them What does Paul ask them to pray for him? Paul also continues his prayer for them in this passage. Looking through the whole passage from verse 1 through verse 5, what does he name that you think you most need? 2 Thess. 3:6-15 Live an orderly life In verse 6, Paul criticizes those who live a “disorderly” life (NABRE) or live in “idleness” (NRSV). “Disorderly” is the better translation, as the word ( ataktos ) was used by Greek writers such as Herodotus and Thucydides to describe troops that were “not in battle-order,” with Thucydides also using it to mean “undisciplined” or “disorderly” (Liddell and Scott, p. 128). Therefore, we will talk about an “orderly” or “disorderly” life below; but if your translation talks about “idleness,” we are referring to the same word. What does an orderly life look like according to Paul? What are people who are living an orderly life doing , and what are they not doing ? Why did Paul work and earn his own keep when he was with them? In verse 10, Paul says that anyone who is not willing to work should not eat – i.e., should not eat at the community meals Christians were taking in common together. Notice that Paul does not say those who are not working should not eat. He says those who are unwilling to work should not eat. Why is that an important distinction? Why do people sometimes find themselves without work even though they are willing to work? The Catholic Church (and some other Christian bodies) have an understanding of work that includes several elements that build on each other, and all of the components are needed to have a full understanding of work from a Christian perspective: God intends for people to work. He built this feature built into humans from the very beginning. In the Garden of Eden, God gave the Garden to humans to cultivate and take care of (Gen. 2:15). Work is part of our design. We are called to contribute to the common good by working. Some people do this through volunteer work, but most people need to be paid for their work in order to meet their needs. All are called to participate in the work of God’s ongoing creation. It is part of being who we are meant to be. People have a right to productive work with decent wages and fair treatment. This follows from the first principle. Since we have a calling to work, we must have access to productive work to fulfill that calling. And since most people need to work to meet their needs, they have a right to be treated fairly in that work so that their need for work is not abused. (See USCCB’s “ The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers ” and Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church , pars. 288 and 291-293, pp. 127-128, for more on this right). God did not create people to meet the needs of the economy; rather, the economy was made for people. The economy is a necessary structure to benefit the common good . As the U.S. bishops put it, “The economy must serve people, not the other way around” (USCCB, “ The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers ”). Since people have a need and a right to work, governments have an obligation to ensure that their societies provide productive employment to all who need it and that they are treated fairly in their work. (This is also spelled out in the USCCB’s document and in the Compendium .) Since God has made it clear from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden that he wants people to work, the Catholic Church and some other Christian bodies teach that people have a right to productive work, and therefore that governments have an obligation to create the conditions where everyone who seeks employment can find productive work. How does that inform our reading of Paul’s statement? How do we balance the idea that those who are unwilling to work should not share in the church meal with the idea that governments should structure their economies so that everyone who is willing to work can find productive employment that treats them fairly? People who face health issues or other struggles that make it hard for them to find appropriate work or to keep a stable job sometimes feel that Christians are unduly harsh in trying to enforce work requirements against them while failing to follow Jesus’s Second Commandment – to love your neighbor as yourself. How can we balance the desire to promote good order with the demand of Christ to love your neighbor as yourself? What is a loving approach to those who struggle to work and need assistance? Reread verse 11. Paul’s concern goes beyond just that some people are not working. What is it that they are doing, that he is especially concerned about? We can be good workers and still fall into the trap of minding other people’s business. How might that be a danger for some in our day? They are minding other people’s business. How can you find an appropriate balance of encouraging others to do good without “minding other people’s business”? In verses 14-15, Paul sets forth an approach to people who refuse to follow the teachings of Christ and Christian leaders. What is his approach? Paul tells the Thessalonians not to associate with such people, but to treat them as a brother, not an enemy. This instruction to keep away from or not associate with people who do not follow the teachings of Christ is a theme that is common in Paul – besides 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 3:14, we see it in Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:11; and Titus 3:10. Jesus says something similar in Matthew 18:15-17, and we also see it in 2 John 10. Why do you think Paul was so concerned about having the new Christians at Thessalonica avoid those who did not obey Paul’s teachings? Is it possible to disassociate from someone yet still avoid treating them as an enemy and instead actually treat them as a brother? What would that look like? Do you think busybodies are a problem in the church today? Paul is about to pray for the Lord’s peace for the Thessalonians in verse 16. What do you think is the best way to deal with people who are busybodies while maintaining the Lord’s peace? 2 Thess. 3:16-18 Paul adds final greetings and his unique signature What does verse 16 say to you? When you are in need of peace, do you think of God as “the God of peace”? How is that a helpful image? Why is Paul’s final greeting in verse 17 important? Looking over chapter 3, what do you think are the most important things to take with you for dealing with relations between people in the church? Take a step back and consider this: Throughout both of his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul has been praising them for how their faith is made manifest in love and endurance. How important is it for our faith to be manifested by our love and endurance? Can we have true faith if it does not show in these ways? How are they signs of faith? What is the greatest challenge for you in dealing with people in the church right now? How would Paul counsel you to deal with that challenge, and what can you do to put your faith, love, and endurance into action in that part of your life? Bibliography See 2 Thessalonians - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/2-thessalonians/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 2 Thess. Index Next

Are you wearing spiritual clothes fit for life in the kingdom of heaven? Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 22:1-14 Are you wearing spiritual clothes fit for life in the kingdom of heaven? Francisco Goya (1746–1828). La parábola de los convidados a la boda [The parable of the wedding guests] . Circa 1796-97. Oratory (Chapel) of the Santa Cueva (Holy Cave), Cádiz, Spain. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_par%C3%A1bola_de_los_convidados_a_la_boda_por_Goya.jpg . Tom Faletti August 9, 2025 Matthew 22:1-14 The parable of the guests at the wedding feast Read only Matthew 22:1-10 first . Verses 11-14 are an extension of the story with a separate point. What happens in this parable? Note: Luke tells a somewhat different version of this parable (Luke 14:15-24) where it is just a banquet not a wedding feast, and none of the king’s servants are mistreated or killed. Also, Matthew adds an entirely separate addition to the story that we will look at shortly (vv. 11-14). Some scholars suggest that Matthew tailored the story to the particular needs of his community and the particular point he wanted to make here. It is also possible that Jesus told this story more than once and in this instance told it in a way that connected with the point he made in the preceding parable about the wicked tenants. The image of a feast is a common way of thinking about what heaven might be like, and Jesus says that this is a parable about the kingdom of heaven. Why is a banquet of feast a particularly good image of heaven? Note: The Greek word translated “slaves” or “servants” in this parable is doulos . This word generally means “slaves.” It is often translated “servants” because, although slavery in the Roman Empire often was brutal, slaves often had much more freedom than we envision when we think of American, plantation-based, race-based, segregationist slavery. In the Roman Empire, slaves often did the same jobs as free people, side by side with free people. They could receive wages and in some cases were able to buy their own freedom. To avoid giving the wrong impression, a majority of English translations from the King James Bible to the present have used the word “servant.” Who do the different players of the story represent in the kingdom of heaven – who is: the king? the son? the invited guests? the first group of servants/slaves (who are ignored/rebuffed)? the second group of servants/slaves (who are mistreated/killed)? the third group of servants/slaves who go invite people in the streets? the people “bad and good” who are found on the streets and invited? The parable is generally interpreted as referring to these people: God the Father, Jesus the Son of God, the people of Israel (the Jews), the prophets, more prophets and perhaps John the Baptist (and Jesus also might fit here in the sense that he was inviting the people of Israel to enter the kingdom of God), the apostles/early Church, and the Gentiles. The king is excited to have his invited guests come to the wedding banquet. What does this tell us about God? God wants to share his presence and joy with humans. He wants us to be with him. He’s persistent. Why would this particular kind of feast – a marriage feast for the son – be an especially appropriate image of heaven? How do the invited guests react? Notice that some of the invited guests just dismiss the invitation and go about their business, but other invited guests mistreat and kill the servants. Who do the people who kill the servants represent? The Jewish leaders, past and present. How might people in our day be like the ones who ignore the invitation because they are too busy? Is there a danger that even people who are members of the Church might be like these people who are “too busy” to spend time with God? What in your life might sometimes seem so important that you might miss out on joining in the Lord’s banquet celebration? Are there ways that we allow even mundane matters to distract us so that we don’t participate in the joy of spending more time with God? In verse 7, the king destroys the murderers who killed his servants and burns their city. Many scholars think that Matthew is alluding to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and that is one of the reasons they think that the Gospel of Matthew was written after AD 70. Luke does not have this verse, which might be support the idea that Matthew added it to the original story. When the New Testament was written, there was no such thing as quotation marks in writing, so Matthew would not have had any way to signal that he was adding a note of commentary or interpretation. In verse 7, which is not in Luke’s version of the parable, it sounds like Matthew is suggesting that God destroyed Jerusalem because Jesus was killed there. Some people are troubled by that image of God, because it seems to suggest that God is a vengeful god (“you killed my son, so I’m going to kill you”) rather than a loving God. What do you make of this verse? The king still wants guests. He still has a banquet prepared and a banquet is no good without guests, so what does he do? Who do these new guests represent in the kingdom of heaven? In the immediate telling of the parable, they represent tax collectors, prostitutes, and other “sinners” who repent. By the time of Matthew, they also represent the Gentiles, who were a significant part of Matthew’s community. In our time, they represent us. The king then tells the servants/slaves to invite anyone they can find, “bad and good.” Why does God invite even the “bad” to come spend time with him in his banquet? Being there can start a change. God is inviting us to come to him even when we are not perfect, because he wants us to be with him and grow to be like him. How does this inclusion of the bad and the good describe the Church (i.e., Christians as a whole) throughout history and in our day? What does this welcoming of the bad and the good tell us about God? How does this part of the story illustrate the meaning of “grace”? What is the message Jesus is trying to get across to the Jewish leaders? What is the message for us? Now let’s look at the additional section Matthew adds that is not in Luke’s story. It is like an additional parable added on to the earlier parable. Read Matthew 22:11-14 . What happens? People are sometimes uncomfortable with the idea that people who were invited in off the streets could be criticized for not wearing the proper clothes. This would miss the point. Scholars suggest that we might picture it this way: The guests might have been provided wedding robes by the king, or the invitation might have named a specific time that gave them time to go home and put on the proper attire for the wedding banquet. It was the norm at the time for a king to send out invitations in advance to let people know that they were going to be invited to a feast and then send out a second notice when it was time to come. So we shouldn’t take this part of the parable too literally. Instead, we should ask: This is a parable about the kingdom of heaven. What are the proper “garments” to wear in the kingdom of heaven? What should we clothe ourselves with? Read Colossians 3:12-14 . What does Paul tell us to clothe ourselves with? In Colossians 3:12-14, he tells us to put on compassion, kindness, humbleness, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love. In other words, live a life fitting for being at the banquet of the Lord. God is inviting us to put on those garments, which are his garments. In Romans 13:14, Paul tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for our sin-based desires. Returning to Matthew, who does the guest who is not properly dressed stand for? This guest might represent people who respond to God at a surface level but don’t actually let him transform them. They do not show any recognition of the relationship with God (the king) that they have been invited to embrace. How might we be guilty of not fully putting on the metaphorical “garments” that are fitting for living with God now and forever in the kingdom of heaven? Does it make sense to you that God would invite everyone, good and bad, including us, into a relationship with him, but expect us to respond by putting on the proper “attire” for being at his heavenly banquet? Some scholars like the idea that God supplies the proper garments to us – he doesn’t expect us to be holy on our own. How does that image reflect your relationship with God? In Revelation 7:13-15, the ones who are wearing white robes are those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. In 19:6-8, at the wedding feast of the Lamb, his bride, the Church, is wearing a bright clean garment made out of “the righteous deeds of the saints.” Read Matthew 7:21-23 . What would Matthew say is necessary to be clothed properly for the kingdom of heaven? We need to do the will of God. In Matthew 22:14, many translations say, “many are called,” but the verb in that phrase has the same root as the word “invited” in the parable. When Jesus in Matthew 22:14 that “many are invited but few are chosen,” what does that tell us? The invitation to be part of God’s kingdom goes out far and wide, and everyone is given a chance to come to God’s heavenly banquet. But not everyone does their part. Jesus is not saying that God is selectively allowing only a few people into heaven. In the contrary, he is saying that some people don’t choose to do what is necessary to belong there. What do you need to do to be properly “clothed” for God’s great banquet feast in heaven? Take a step back and consider this: Regardless of whether the king provides the wedding robes to the guests or they are given time to get properly dressed before they come, one thing stands out: The man at the end of the story is not properly clothed. When the king points this out, the man is unable to offer any argument or defense. He is not dressed properly to be celebrating with the king at the heavenly banquet. To what extent do we have a choice as to what “garments” we put on as we participate in the kingdom of God? How do we “choose” our garments? How can you, by the choices you make, embrace a life that puts on the love and compassion of Jesus? 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

Prayer in difficult times: Can you learn from Jesus’s example and keep in mind the bigger picture of your life? [Matthew 26:36-46; 26:47-56] Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 26:36-56 Prayer in difficult times: Can you learn from Jesus’s example and keep in mind the bigger picture of your life? Unidentified artist (Flemish, 17th century). The Taking of Christ . Circa 1620. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Public domain, https://collections.mfa.org/download/34311 . Tom Faletti September 17, 2025 Matthew 26:36-46 The agony in the garden of Gethsemane They left the city after singing a hymn (v. 30). In the seder, Psalms 115-118 were sung after the meal. They walked out, across the Kidron Valley, to the Mount of Olives. There, they go to a garden known as the garden of Gethsemane. “Gethsemane” means “oil press,” so perhaps there was an oil press there for gathering oil from the olive trees that grew on the Mount of Olives. Jesus decides to go away from the big group to pray by himself. Who does he ask to come with him? How does Jesus feel? What is Jesus’s first prayer (v. 39)? What is Jesus’s second prayer (v. 42)? How is the second prayer different from the first? The first prayer is more focused on the possibility that “this” might be avoided; the second prayer is more focused on how to deal with it. The first prayer suggests the possibility that Jesus’s desire might conflict with the Father’s will; the second prayer is focused entirely on doing the Father’s will. How can Jesus’s prayer be a model for us when we are facing difficult circumstances? Jesus knows (vv. 45-46) that his betrayal is about to be put into action. How would you describe his state of mind? How do you think God feels about the difficulties you encounter? What is his state of mind as you face difficult circumstances? What does this time in the garden of Gethsemane tell you about your relationship with God? What is Jesus inviting you to do? Matthew 26:47-56 Jesus is arrested, the disciples resist and then desert him Judas’s act of betrayal involved telling the chief priests where they could find Jesus away from the crowds, in order to arrest him without enraging a crowd. How does Judas greet Jesus? How does Jesus greet Judas? What does it tell you about Jesus, that even in the act of being betrayed, he calls Judas “Friend”? In verse 51, how does one of Jesus’s disciples respond? John 18:10 tells us that this disciple was Peter. Considering that Judas came with a crowd armed with swords and clubs, what does this tell you about Peter? How does Jesus respond in verse 52? What does “those who take up the sword die by the sword” mean to you? How might that statement guide you in your life? What does Jesus say about angels in verse 53? In verse 54, Jesus says that the Scriptures say it must happen this way. What does that mean to you? In verse 55, Jesus gets a bit testy with the crowd regarding their method of arresting him. What is he implying about their motives? In verse 56, Jesus repeats that all that is happening is fulfilling the Scriptures. How does it affect your faith, knowing that parts of the Old Testament gave witness to what would happen to Jesus even though the Old Testament authors did not comprehend the fullness of what they were writing? Jesus sees these specific events in his life as part of a bigger picture, the bigger story arc of his life. What can you do to keep in mind the bigger picture of your life when you are facing difficult circumstances? Matthew ends this section by noting that at this point the disciples fled. Jesus has just made it clear that he is not going to resist what is coming. Can you stick with Jesus in your life even in times where God is not going to protect you from suffering or illness or rejection or death? What will you need to do in order to be ready to stick with him, and not run away, when the difficult times come? Take a step back and consider this: It is amazing to think that God guided a variety of prophets over a period of centuries to write down things that had meanings they could not have fully comprehend. Often, they wrote things about their own times that could be seen later as also applying to Jesus. Other times, they wrote things that were directly prophetic in nature, but they had no idea when, how, or through whom those things would come to pass. Yet God honored their unique voices and free will in those books. He did not just turn off their brains, put them in a trance, and dictate words to them. We hear the voices of the authors in the Word of God, even while we hear the Author behind them. God also allows us to make free decisions about what we say and do, and yet when we allow ourselves to be guided by him, he does things that may have implications and impacts we never dreamed of. Where have you seen the hand of God in your own life, guiding you in your present to bring you to your future without dictating your decisions for you? Does this make it easier for you to trust God about your future? Explain. 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 will those who give up earthly goods for Jesus receive? Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 19:27-30 What will those who give up earthly goods for Jesus receive? Image by Emma Shappley, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 19:27-30 The rewards of giving up everything for God Peter observes that the disciples have left everything behind to follow him. What does Jesus say they will have “at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne” (19:28, NRSV)? What does Jesus say that other believers who have left things behind will have in his kingdom? In verse 29, “a hundredfold” is a metaphor rather than a literal accounting term. What is “a hundredfold” describing, metaphorically? A hundredfold might mean an abundance, a richness of life. If they have left behind houses, brothers and sisters, parents and children, property, what do you think it means to say they will have “a hundredfold” in God’s kingdom? Perhaps “brothers and sisters” is metaphorically referring to the fellow believers we will have as spiritual brothers and sisters. It might have a similar meaning for parents and children, but wouldn’t it be awesome to think that I might have some great-great-great-grandparents who might, in heaven, be like parents to me? The property might stand for the abundance and richness of life that we will experience in heaven. Jesus concludes in verse 30: “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (NRSV and NABRE). In what ways does this passage support the conclusion that “the last will be first”? Take a step back and consider this: This incident is part of a series of events in this part of Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus explains what I call Jesus's downside-up/upside-down view of life : the greatest must become like a child (18:1-5), God cares as much about the one stray as the 99 who are safe (18:10-14), the prayers of just two or three people can move heaven (18:19-20), forgiveness is not something we can choose to dole out in limited amounts — we are called to forgive to the utmost (18:21-35), men are to be committed to marriage and not find reasons to divorce their wives (19:1-9), the kingdom of heaven belongs to the children, who are the lowest people on the social ladder (19:13-15), wealth is a potential impediment to receiving God's salvation rather than being a sign of God’s favor (19:16-30), the rewards of the kingdom are available to those who come late to Jesus as well as those who (think they) have followed God’s law from the beginning (20:1-16), those who wish to be first must be the servant of all (20:20-28). Jesus’s perspective is often diametrically opposed to prevailing societal perspectives regarding what is important, or valued, or expected, or right. If you want to see as God sees, you generally need to train yourself to look at things from the bottom, not the top. This can be hard for us. We have to work to see as God sees. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to see differently than the world has trained us to see. What is one aspect of your life where you can challenge yourself to see what it looks like from the bottom up, from Jesus’s downside-up perspective? Why does God choose to take that vantage point? Can you do the same? What difference would it make? 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

While the normal routines of life go on, Jesus knows that one of his disciples is in the process of betraying him. How do you keep going when bad things are happening? [Matthew 26:14-16; 26:17-19; 26:20-25] Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 26:14-25 While the normal routines of life go on, Jesus knows that one of his disciples is in the process of betraying him. How do you keep going when bad things are happening? Unidentified artist. Judas mottar de trettio silverpenningarna [Judas receives the silver pieces] . Circa 1425-1450. Chalk painting, Brönnestad Church, Hässleholm, Sweden. Photo by Lennart Karlsson. CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kalkm%C3%A5lning,_Judas_mottar_de_trettio_silverpenningarna_-_Br%C3%B6nnestads_kyrka,_H%C3%A4ssleholm_-_9017124.jpg . Tom Faletti September 15, 2025 Matthew 26:14-16 Judas betrays Jesus Why do you think Judas offers to betray Jesus? There are three ways that scholars commonly attempt to explain Judas’s betrayal: Judas might have been greedy. The Gospel of John supports this idea in John 12:6, where John says that Judas kept the money for Jesus and his companions and used to steal from it. This explanation is supported by the fact that in Matthew 26:15 Judas asks the chief priests how much money they would give him if he betrayed Jesus to them. Judas might have been disillusioned because Jesus was not showing any evidence that he was going to rise up against the Romans and establish an independent Jewish nation. Judas might have believed deeply in the cause he thought Jesus stood for and felt that Jesus was moving too slowly. He might have thought he was forcing Jesus’s hand in order to speed up the inauguration of the kingdom. What is the significance of 30 pieces of silver? Exodus 21:32 indicates that 30 shekels of silver was the value of a slave in ancient Israel – the amount of compensation that had to be paid if a man’s ox gored another man’s slave. The weights of various coins were not very standardized, but the shekel and the “silver pieces” in Judas’s time were close enough that it is reasonable to hear hints of Exodus 21:32 in Matthew 26:15. A story in Zechariah 11:7-13 about a rejected shepherd suggests that 30 shekels is 30 days’ wages, and the silver pieces Judas accepted may have had the value of 30 days’ wages. However, depending on the coin that was used, it may have been worth four times that much, or 120 days’ wages: a third of a year’s wages, which is comparable to $8,000 to $16,000 today ( The New Oxford Annotated Bible , Matthew 26:14 footnote, p. 1785). Judas is betraying Jesus for less than half of the cost of the ointment the woman used to anoint Jesus in the previous passage (Matt. 26:6-13). Why do you think Judas decided to betray Jesus? Do you think he really wanted to see Jesus killed? Explain. If we put the best face on Judas’s actions, he thought he knew better than Jesus how to bring God’s kingdom into its glory. How do people in our day try to force a greater manifestation of God’s kingdom? How does Judas contrast with the woman who anointed Jesus? How is Judas different than the other disciples? How might you sometimes be at risk of trying to force God’s hand rather than waiting for God’s timing and method of working in our lives? Matthew 26:17-19 Preparation for the Passover meal In this passage, Jesus prepares to celebrate his final Passover meal with his disciples. He has probably eaten the sacrificial Passover lamb in Jerusalem every year since he was a child (Luke 2:41 tells us that his parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover). What do you know about the Jewish celebration of the Passover? What were they commemorating and how did they commemorate it? Passover is the annual Jewish feast celebrating the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. It is also known as the feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Israelites were told to prepare unleavened bread to take on their exodus out of Egypt, because they would not have time for bread to rise as they left. Passover as the night when the Jews put the blood of a lamb on the lintels of their doors so that the angel of death would “pass over” their households when the death of the firstborns convinced Pharaoh to stop standing against God and allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. Passover is celebrated on the 15 th of Nissan (the Jewish month that, based on the lunar cycle, falls during our March/April). The “first day” referred to here is the day of preparation, the 14 th of Nissan. At sundown, the 15 th of Nissan would begin. The Passover meal was eaten on the first night of a week-long celebration of the salvation from slavery that God provided by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. What preparations do Jesus and his disciples make for the Passover meal? It appears that Jesus had spoken with someone in advance about using his house to have the Passover meal. This is one of those little clues that remind us that the Bible gives us only a selected sample of everything Jesus did and said (see John 21:25, which suggests that if all the stories were told, the world could not hold all the books that would be written). Do you suppose there are things in your life that Jesus is also preparing in advance for? If the disciples had not done what Jesus directed them to do, the Passover meal might not have been as orderly: there might have been last-minute scrambling, etc. What does this tell you about the importance of listening for God’s guidance and following his direction? Matthew 26:20-25 Jesus acknowledges that he will be betrayed by an insider What does Jesus say he knows? Why do you think he is saying this, rather than keeping it to himself? How do the disciples feel about the possibility that someone might betray Jesus? Why would they ask, “Surely, not I?” Wouldn’t they know they are not going to betray him? Could they be clueless about just how big the betrayal is that Jesus is talking about, and think that Jesus is referring to some more minor way they might “betray” him due to foolishness or pettiness? Are there ways that we might “betray” Jesus in small ways, not by a dramatic denunciation but by our own mundane sinfulness? How might that be? What title for Jesus do the apostles use in v. 22? What title for Jesus does Judas use in v. 25? “Rabbi” is an Aramaic word meaning “teacher” or “master” that was used as a title of honor for teachers. The Jews of Jesus’s time spoke Aramaic, a language related to Hebrew. Matthew is writing his Gospel in Greek, so he almost always translates into Greek what the people would have said in Aramaic. Everywhere else, he uses the Greek word for teacher where Jews would have said “rabbi.” But not here. Here, Matthew preserves the fact that Judas called Jesus “rabbi.” What does it tell you about their relationship when a person calls someone else “Lord”? Does “Teacher” have the same connotation? Are our teachers seen as our lords? Does the fact that Judas uses the word for teacher, when the disciples usually refer to Jesus as Lord, give us a hint as to Judas’s attitude toward Jesus? Explain. In what ways do you see Jesus as “Lord”? In verse 25, when Judas says, “Surely, not I?”, Jesus replies, “You have said so” rather than a simple “Yes.” Why might Jesus have phrased it this way? Jesus’s choice of words is significant here. If Jesus had said, “Yes,” rather than “You have said so,” it would have suggested that Judas was locked into a path of betrayal and no longer had any choice. By saying to Judas, you have said so, Jesus leaves room for Judas to decide to say otherwise, to change his mind, to retreat from the path he has started down. This shows that Jesus, to the end, loves Judas and is holding out hope that Judas will do the right thing. Note: The fact that Jesus’s death fulfills Scripture does not mean that Judas was forced to betray Jesus. Judas is not a puppet. Jesus ultimately would have died on a Roman cross even if Judas had changed his mind and not helped the Jewish leaders. God did not need Judas to be evil in order to accomplish his work of salvation. In Matthew 26:24, Jesus says, “It would have been better for him if he had not been born.” Some people find this troubling because it seems harsh. However, it is not as harsh as verse 25:41: “Depart from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Jesus does not actually say that Judas is going to hell. Judas’s final judgment remains to be seen. He could still repent. Does God ever give up on the possibility that you, or any other person, might repent and move away from a path of sin or evil? How can you keep an open mind about others’ potential to turn around? Take a step back and consider this: In these passages, we see the normal routines of life going on – the ordinary preparation for an annual celebration – while the wheels are turning that will lead to Jesus’s crucifixion. And Jesus knows what is going on! How do you think Jesus handled the stress and inner turmoil that comes with knowing that bad things are happening? We face this same problem sometimes. Bad things may be happening in our lives, not necessarily life-or-death situations like Jesus is facing, but serious, potentially life-altering circumstances. Perhaps we are waiting for medical test results that could indicate we have a serious illness or disease. Perhaps we are watching an adult child or other loved one struggle with drugs or other serious impairments. Perhaps a business we are deeply involved in is failing. Perhaps a government is trying to find us and deport us even though we have never done anything wrong other than cross a border to find safety from a life-threatening situation. How do you deal with stress when bad things are happening around you or you are waiting for potentially bad news? Where do you turn for help in those difficult times? Do you see Jesus as someone who has gone through that kind of stress and can help you get through it? What could you do to reach out to him and draw strength from him? Jesus appears to have enjoyed spending time with his disciples. Other than going away to spend time in prayer with his Father, we never see him trying to avoid the disciples. Human beings are social creatures. Jesus was God, but he was also human, and as a human, he may have found encouragement in spending time with those he loved. Who around you might be experiencing the stress of living in a bad situation or waiting for potentially bad news? How could you be a help to them? 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

Suffering is coming for Jesus, and he calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 16:21-28 Suffering is coming for Jesus, and he calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. James Tissot. Rétire-toi, Satan [Get Thee Behind Me, Satan] . Between 1886 and 1894. Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_Get_Thee_Behind_Me_Satan_(R%C3%A9tire-toi_Satan)_-_James_Tissot.jpg . Tom Faletti June 17, 2025 Matthew 16:21-23 Jesus predicts his passion for the first time, and Peter objects This the first of 3 predictions of Jesus’s passion (see also 17:22-23 and 20:17-19). What does Jesus say will happen to him, and at whose hands? The elders, the chief priests, and the scribes will cause him great suffering, and he will be killed. What will the ultimate outcome be? On the third day he will be raised. The elders, the chief priests, and the scribes made up the Sanhedrin, the council with political authority over the Jewish people, under the Romans. He says that they will cause him suffering, but he doesn’t say that they will kill him. As we know, the Romans killed him, not the Jews. When Jesus says that the elders, chief priests, and scribes will cause him to suffer, he is describing the Sanhedrin, the political body made up of political, economic, and religious leaders of the Jewish society. Jesus’s passion begins with a political body and ends with the Roman government – political leaders, not the crowds of ordinary people. How does that affect or shape your image of Jesus’s death? Notice that Jesus doesn’t include the Pharisees in the list of those who will cause him suffering. The Pharisees were like a religious or social group within the overall society. Most Pharisees were ordinary people, not members of the political or religious leadership. The political leadership, in particular, tended to be Sadducees, not Pharisees. Why do you think Peter “took him aside” to object rather than saying something in front of the other disciples? What is Peter’s objection? How is what Peter says wrong? There are several different elements in Jesus’s response. First, he says, “Get behind me,” implying that Peter is no longer following him. In what sense is Peter no longer following Jesus when he says this? Peter is trying to lead Jesus instead of following him. “Satan” is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary” or “accuser.” Over time, it came to be used as a name for the devil: for example, when Jesus is tempted in the desert, he calls the devil “Satan” in Matthew 4:10. When Jesus calls Peter “Satan,” he is using a Hebrew word that means “adversary.” In what way has Peter become Jesus’s adversary, like Satan who tempted him in the desert? Jesus’s command to Peter is, “Get behind me, Satan,” not “Get out of my sight!” What is the significance of the fact that Jesus put it this way? He is not telling Peter to leave him, only to stop trying to lead Jesus in the wrong direction. Jesus also calls Peter a stumbling block or obstacle (the Greek word is skandalon ). What does it mean when someone is a stumbling block? This is Peer’s first attempt to “bind” – to say what should or should not happen – and Jesus says, No. You need to let me lead you, not have you lead me. Have you ever unintentionally been a stumbling block to someone else? When you realized it, what did you do about it? Jesus says that Peter is not thinking as God does but as humans do (literally you are not thinking of the things of God but of the things of man). What does this mean? We face real problems and challenges, and we need to think in order to deal with them. How can we think about those things in a way that reflects the thoughts of God and not just human thinking? How can you recognize when your mind is stuck on human things rather thinking about the things of God? Matthew 16:24-28 Everyone is called to carry their cross In verse 24, Jesus says there are 3 things we must do if we want to be followers of Jesus. What are they? What does it mean to “deny” yourself? A useful footnote in the New American Bible, revised edition says that “to deny someone is to disown him (see Mt 10:33; 26:34–35) and to deny oneself is to disown oneself as the center of one’s existence” ( NABRE , Matt. 16:24 fn. ). To deny yourself is to live your life according to the principle articulated by Rick Warren in the first words of his book The Purpose-Driven Life : “It’s not about you” (Warren, p. 1). This doesn’t mean you are not important. It just means that everything about you must be seen in the light of the cross of Christ if you want to reach your full purpose. To deny yourself means to always be asking: What is God trying to do here? Based on the answer to that question, I might need to not do something, because it might get in the way of what God is trying to do here. That doesn’t mean that what I might have wanted to do is inherently wrong or evil, only that it doesn’t fit the circumstances if the goal is to have God’s will be done. What does it mean to “take up your cross”? What is that a metaphor for? Luke adds the word “daily” (Luke 9:23). It’s not a one-time decision; it’s a way of life. What does it mean to “follow” Jesus? We’re not following him from town to town as the disciples were. What does it look like in practical terms to “follow” Jesus in our time? It is easy to say that we are taking up our cross while we keep living mostly for ourselves, so Jesus goes on. What does he say about “saving” and “losing” our lives in verse 25, and what does it mean? Most people don’t face the threat of death for following Jesus. What do you think he means by “losing” our lives? This could mean many things, such as not putting yourself first, not focusing on yourself and what you might get out of a situation, but focusing instead on what God is trying to do or would like to see happen. In what ways might we be trying to “save” our lives rather than “losing” them for Jesus’s sake? Jesus says something very similar in Matthew 10:38-39. Is there something you might be trying to hold on to, that might be keeping you from following Jesus more fully? In verse 27, Jesus tells us that when he returns he will give back to each person according to what they have done. This teaching that that there will be an accounting of people’s lives at the end of time – how is that good news from a good and loving God? Note that Jesus describes his return and the Last Judgment in similar terms, with much more detail, in Matthew 25:31-46. How do you feel about the fact that, when Jesus returns, he will give back to people according to what they have done? How, if at all, does this passage make you want to adjust anything about how you live your life? For many people, denying yourself and taking up your cross is hard. It sometimes gets easier with practice. How can you develop in your ability to do this, so that it becomes more of an instinct and less of a struggle? Some people find themselves in situations where they just keep deny themselves, giving, giving, giving, and people around them continually take advantage of them. Are there times when following Jesus does not mean denying yourself to satisfy people who constantly take advantage of you? How would you discern when that might be the case, and still be true to the point of this teaching? In verse 28, Jesus says that some people will not die until “they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” This cannot be a reference to the coming of Christ at the end of the world. One interpretation is that it refers to the time when Jesus comes back after his resurrection. In what ways is Jesus present in his kingdom now? Anywhere that God’s rule is acknowledged and followed, the kingdom of God is present. The kingdom of God is growing and spreading, and we help to spread it and help it grow by our actions and words. There are other interpretations of verse 28. Some scholars see it as a reference to Jesus’s transfiguration, which happens in the next passage, but there are no angels in the transfiguration story. (There are angels present in the resurrection story). Some scholars argue that there is a difference between the coming of the Son of Man and the coming of the Son of God (Brown, p. 190), and that we are in the era of the kingdom of the Son of Man now, whereas we will see the coming of the kingdom of God when Jesus returns in glory at the end of time. Another interpretation focuses on the fact that Mark phrases this sentence differently. In Mark 9:1, Jesus says that some people will not die until “they see the kingdom of God coming with power,” which could be referring to when the Holy Spirit comes, at Pentecost and in the later life of the Church. Take a step back and consider this: Up until this point, it must have been wonderful being a disciple of Jesus: there had been some modest opposition but Jesus had handled it easily, and Jesus had been doing exciting and powerful things that they got to witness and sometimes participate in. But now, things have suddenly turned darker. Jesus has started saying that he will suffer and be killed. How could the one who had the power to command even the wind and the waves, who could walk on water, who could heal any disease brought before him – how could he possibly encounter any opposition that he couldn’t stop with a simple command? And when Peter challenged what he said, Jesus had responded with the sharpest rebuke they had ever heard from him, followed by a stern teaching they didn’t entirely understand but that didn’t sound fun: that they needed to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. Follow him? They understood that part. But deny themselves and take up their cross? What did that mean? Those of us who were raised in the faith might have had a similar journey. When we are children, most parents and teachers don’t dwell on the “deny yourself and take up your cross” part of the faith. And it might be downplayed to adults who are exploring the faith for the first time, for fear that they will be put off by it. Yet it is central to the Christian faith. How do we deal with the truth that Christianity calls us to self-sacrifice? When you are telling people about what you believe, is the part about denying yourself and taking up your cross part of the story you tell? Why or why not? How important is this teaching to a full and mature understanding of the faith? How can you not only follow this teaching but explain it to others in a way that communicates the beauty and the joy of giving your whole self to Jesus? And is that something you need to work on for yourself? If so, how? 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

Allow Jesus to heal you, open your eyes, loosen your tongue. Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 9:18-34 Allow Jesus to heal you, open your eyes, loosen your tongue. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti August 8, 2024 Before we read our next passage, consider this question: In the next passage, Matthew tells us about more of Jesus’s miracles. In the previous passages, we have seen a progression of miracles that show Jesus’s authority over increasingly daunting challenges that humans face: illnesses, storms, demons, and sin. What is left? I.e.: What is the greatest challenge that every human must ultimately face? What is the greatest thing that Jesus could work a miracle to overcome? Matthew 9:18-26 restoring a dead girl to life, while healing a woman with hemorrhages What two miracles take place in this pair of stories? Let’s look at the synagogue official and his daughter first (verses 18-19 and 23-26): Matthew’s telling of the story of the girl has small differences from Mark’s version of the same story: in Matthew, the girl is already dead and the synagogue official knows she is already dead when he approaches Jesus and ask him to save her. Matthew just calls him a “ruler”; Mark specifies that he is a leader or official in the synagogue (Mark 5:22). The synagogue official asks Jesus to heal his daughter after she is already dead. What does this tell you about his faith? Matthew keeps showing us people who are in positions of leadership but take the position of a faith-filled supplicant, even as other leaders are moving more and more toward opposition to Jesus. You can imagine the tense conversation that might have occurred between this synagogue official and the scribes and Pharisees we saw challenging Jesus in the previous passages. If you were the synagogue official, how would you explain your actions to the scribes and Pharisees who were challenging Jesus? They would have been people of your social class. How would you explain why you were humbling yourself to seek out this controversial man Jesus? What does this political backdrop tell you about the social context in which Jesus conducted his ministry? What does the political backdrop tell you about faith? What does it tell you about following Jesus? We are called to do the work of God regardless of whether political leaders support us. We should be welcoming to all of them, just as Jesus was. What does this healing of the girl tell us about Jesus? About God? What does this healing of the girl tell us about faith? About ourselves? Among other things, this healing shows that the faith of another person can make a difference in your life, which means that your faith can make a difference in the lives of others. Now let us focus on the story of the woman. As someone who suffers from constant bleeding (hemorrhages), which would make her be considered ritually unclean, she is probably a social outcast. The “tassel” or “fringe” was a knotted string that Jews attached to the four corners of their outer garments in obedience to the Law of Moses (Numbers 15:37–39; Deut. 22:12) to remind them to obey the commandments of the Law. Notice that Jesus wore such a garment. He would have been dressed like any Jew of his time, not in modern robes. What is the significance of the fact that the woman touched the tassel of Jesus’s cloak? In general, it would not have been socially appropriate for a woman to touch a man in that culture. But in addition to that, with an issue of blood she would have been considered unclean. When the woman touched Jesus’s garment, Jesus immediately turned and looked to see who had touched him. If we were reading the story of a Greek god or goddess, then when in verse 22 it says that Jesus turned and saw her, we might fear that the next sentence would be that he blasted her in some way. But Jesus is not that kind of god. How does he respond to her in verse 22? How does Jesus affirm her decision not to be timid in reaching out to him? How might you benefit from being less timid in your faith? To what does Jesus ascribe the woman’s healing? What is the role of faith in living out our live with Jesus? How is this woman a role model for us? How is Jesus in this entire pair of stories a role model for us? The moment the woman touched the fringe of Jesus’s outer garment, she had his total and undivided attention. As people made in the image of God and called to be like Christ to those around us, what does this tell us about how we should be aware of and respond to others? Returning to the story of the girl, what is the crowd’s reaction when Jesus says she is not dead? How are we at risk of being like that crowd? While Matthew has begun this third sets of miracles with a climactic demonstration of Jesus’s power over even death, he is also making another point by telling us when a miracle occurred in response to a person’s faith – here, the synagogue official and the woman with the hemorrhages. The next miracle also emphasizes the faith of the recipient. Matthew 9:27-31 the healing of two blind men What do the two blind men ask for? What does Jesus ask them in response? Why do you suppose Jesus asked this question rather than just granting their request? Does God ask us the same question (“Do you believe that I am able to do this”)? In what way does he pose this question to us? To what does Jesus ascribe their healing? Do you believe that Jesus will help you when you ask him? Jesus’s healing of blind people is metaphorical as well as physical. What is the metaphorical or spiritual point for us? In verse 30, why do you think Jesus told the formerly blind men not to tell anyone what Jesus had done? What did the formerly blind men do? Was Jesus’s request a realistic request? After all, they were previously blind and now they were not blind. What do you think he expected to happen? Matthew 9:31-34 the healing of a person who is mute In this healing, we are told that “the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed” (Matthew 9:33, NRSV). How does the fact that the man spoke relate to the statement about the crowd’s reaction? Just as we might think about the healing of the blind men metaphorically, we might also think about how sometimes our voices are silent, metaphorically, and Jesus heals that. How might it be said of you – at some time in your past, present, or future – that “the one who had been silent spoke”? How do the Pharisees who lack faith react to this healing of a person who was thought to be possessed by a demon? What do they accuse Jesus of? How does the level of faith of the blind men versus the Pharisees illustrate the timeless choice about how to respond to Jesus? What does this set of stories about people’s reactions to Jesus’s miracle-working power say to you about your life? In this chapter 9, Matthew has presented some of the key criticisms of Jesus that will lead to his execution. What things has Jesus been attacked or challenged for? Blasphemy (Matt. 9:3), for claiming to be able to forgive sins. Association with immoral people (Matt. 9:11), for eating with sinners. Inadequate attention to the rituals of the faith (Matt. 9:14), for not having his disciples fast. Being a tool of the devil (Matt. 9:34), an illogical conclusion that did acknowledge the fact that he could drive out demons. Jesus is not someone to be neutral about. As C. S. Lewis said, “You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call him Lord and God” ( Mere Christianity , p. 56). People are beginning to take sides. If you were watching all of this happen, how would you have responded to the Pharisees? Take a step back and consider this: These stories of the woman with the hemorrhage, the synagogue official, the blind men, and the man who could not speak call us to have faith in Jesus. They show us that Jesus does not want us to be timid, blind, or silent. Matthew is telling us: Don’t be afraid to approach Jesus even if the world thinks you are not worthy to do so. Don’t be afraid to approach Jesus even if it goes against what other people of your social class are saying. Don’t be afraid to admit that there are things you just can’t see on your own, but that in Jesus you can see with new eyes. Don’t be afraid to let Jesus loosen your tongue so that you are silent no longer and can speak about what matters in your life. Are there ways you feel unworthy to approach Jesus about your needs? Are there ways you feel pressured to keep your faith private? Are there ways you think maybe you are missing something and need Jesus to open your eyes in a new way? Are there ways you feel like you need Jesus to loosen your tongue so that you can speak edifying words that would benefit others? What would Jesus say to you if you were in front of him right now? How can you reach out in faith and touch the tassel of Jesus’s cloak, and allow him to do a new work in your 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

Responding to difficult questions and dealing with politics. Previous Matthew Index Next Matthew 21:23-27 Responding to difficult questions and dealing with politics. Image by Buddha Elemental 3D, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti August 5, 2025 Matthew 21:23-27 The chief priests and elders challenge Jesus’s authority The locus of opposition to Jesus has been shifting from the Pharisees and scribes to the chief priests and scribes and now to the chief priests and elders. The Pharisees were members of might be thought of as a religious society that was mostly trying to live a devoted life to God. The scribes were the lawyers (or theologians of our day) who knew the details of God’s Law and the Scriptures and might be aligned with the Pharisees or the chief priests. But the elders, which included many of the chief priests, were the power brokers of Jerusalem. The chief priests and elders, together, were a potent force: The chief priests ran the Temple, and the elders made the political decisions that affected the whole city of Jerusalem. Recall that Jesus has entered the city in a very disruptive way, kicked people out of the Temple precincts, healed people in the Temple precincts, and now was back, teaching the people right there on the Temple grounds. What do the chief priests and elders ask Jesus? Why do you think they ask him this question? Not everyone who claims to be from God actually is. Is it reasonable to ask where a person’s authority comes from when they are shaking things up? How can we judge whether someone who is shaking things up is coming from God or not? Notice that Jesus does not answer their question. Is there a lesson for us in choosing when to defend ourselves and when to let a challenge pass without an answer? If Jesus had chosen to answer the question, what would his answer have been? Jesus chooses to counter with a question, to either establish their sincerity or spotlight their spiritual bankruptcy. What question does Jesus ask them (verse 25)? Why is this a hard question for them to answer? What would be the right answer to Jesus’s question? Notice that the right answer to Jesus’s question is also the right answer to the question the leaders asked Jesus: John and Jesus were both operating based on authority given to them by God. How does their inability (or unwillingness) to answer Jesus’s question expose how badly they are out of touch with what the people can see that God is doing? What can we learn from this story for ourselves? My Bible Study group saw many things they could learn from this story. For example: Ask questions. Don’t feel the need to defend yourself or answer every question from others. Jesus often doesn’t dictate answers to people; he lets them reach their own conclusions – perhaps we should too. Instead of getting caught up in verbal battles with others, pay attention to what God is doing. Why does Jesus allow people to think things that are wrong rather than trying to prove to them what is right? Jesus is building hearts and minds, not robotic teleprompters or answering machines. He wants to develop people who can think like God thinks and act like Jesus would. If he forces us to think a certain way, we can never develop hearts and minds that follow him by our own free will. Jesus’s approach to other people, even those who oppose him, always honors the importance of free will. How can we use our free will well? God always hopes that we will use the free will he has given to us to respond to what he has revealed give our lives freely in service to him and others. Take a step back and consider this: Some people would see the chief priests and elders as master politicians: They are very aware of the ways that the people don’t agree with them, and very savvy about how to manage that problem so that they don’t get on the bad side of the people. However, in the process, they have lost a bit of themselves and their integrity. They are playing for power, rather than for working for truth, or justice, or goodness. If they were working for truth, they would make their case and try to show the people why they are wrong. That might appear difficult with so much evidence on the other side; but if they genuinely believed they were right then they would be willing to stand up for their beliefs and make their best case, whether others agreed or not. But that is if they were working for truth, not playing for power. If they were working for justice, or goodness, or any other good motive, they similarly would make the case for what they believe in. Only the coward or the person playing politics would back down when asked a question and not even try to offer an answer. Politics is not inherently bad. Some people are called to the difficult work of trying to manage disagreements in a society or community and find solutions or approaches that address a wide range of concerns and hold the community together even though many people can’t have all they want. But that is when they are doing the hard work of politics, not playing politics for their own benefit. How can a politician do the hard work of politics and still act like a Christian? In a democracy, Christians are called to get involved in politics, at least to the extent of voting and perhaps in other ways, in order to exercise their responsibilities as citizens to promote the good of all. Beyond that, almost everyone is involved in politics in other ways – the politics of the office, the give-and-take and negotiating that goes on in families, and even the managing of different groupings in a church. We are called to be like Jesus in all situations, even in those places. How can we do the work of politics well in our everyday lives? 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