Search Results

God’s judgment; indulgence and Penance; the Mother of God; hope as an anchor. (Paragraphs 22-25 of Spes Non Confundit) Previous Next Jubilee Year 2025: Embrace God’s Hope and Extend It to All Session 7: A life anchored in hope, part 2 God’s judgment; indulgence and Penance; the Mother of God; hope as an anchor. (Read paragraphs 22-25) Link to S pes Non Confundit Photo by Tom Faletti, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, November 4, 2024. Tom Faletti November 16, 2024 When you complete this study, please give us feedback using this feedback form . God loves us so much that even God’s judgment is not to be feared for those who seek to follow God. That is the message of the final paragraphs of Spes Non Confundit , where Pope Francis encourages us to live a life anchored in hope. He explains the role of the indulgences that are offered during the Jubilee Year, calls us to receive God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance, and points to Mary as an example of persevering hope. Although we face God’s judgment at the end of our lives, we can approach God with confidence because, even though we may need to be purified before living forever with God, our salvation has been won by Jesus. Our study guide questions will help us explore the criteria Jesus will use in the Last Judgment, the effects of sin and how we might overcome those effects, how Jesus’s mother Mary is a role model, and how the way we live our lives can bring hope to others. We are on a journey where we can make a difference in the lives of others, not just ourselves! Read paragraphs 22-25 in preparation for this session. Paragraph 22 (God’s judgment) 🔗 In paragraph 22, Pope Francis looks squarely at the reality that we will all be judged by God. Read 1 John 4:7-16 According to John, how do we know that God loves us? According to John, how can we abide or live in God’s love? Read Matthew 25:31-46 What are the criteria by which God will judge us at the Last Judgment? How are you currently active in some form of service to others in need, or how might you take a step forward into service? Suggested Activities: Get involved in the work of a soup kitchen or food pantry in your community. Help a crisis pregnancy center as it seeks to provide the most basic needs of newborns in your area: cribs, diapers, baby food, clothes, etc. Talk with a homeless person you encounter on the street. Reach out to a stranger who is new to your neighborhood or parish and welcome them. Practice putting on new eyes that see the people in need who are normally invisible to most of us as we live our busy and distracted lives. Read Wisdom 12:19-22 In paragraph 22, Pope Francis quotes from the Book of Wisdom as evidence of God’s mercy. According to Wisdom 12:19, why is repentance an important step toward hope? What does receiving mercy from God (Wisdom 12:22) mean to you? What does it look like? In the second part of paragraph 22, Pope Francis tells us that we need to be “purified” in order to have “a definitive encounter with the Lord.” What does he mean by “purified”? How does Pope Francis connect this to our prayers for those who have died? Suggested Activity: Pray for those who have died, that God may purify them for eternal life. Paragraph 23 (indulgence and the sacrament of Penance) 🔗 In the multiple parts of paragraph 23, Pope Francis explains the Church’s teaching on indulgence and how it is different from the forgiveness of sins we receive in the sacrament of Penance. Read Psalm 103:2-4, 8, 10-12 What do these verses of Psalm 103 tell us about what happens when we confess our sins? What does this psalm tell us about God’s mercy and what God does with our sins? In the second part of paragraph 23, how does Pope Francis describe the purpose and effects of the sacrament of Penance? The Jubilee Year offers a special indulgence for those who participate fully in its practices. A separate Vatican document issued in May 2024 summarizes the indulgence as follows: “All the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin (cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum , IV ed., norm. 20, § 1), who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins” ( Decree on the Granting of the Indulgence During the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 Called by His Holiness Pope Francis ). This indulgence can be applied to souls in Purgatory if certain requirements are met. In the third part of paragraph 23, what does Pope Francis mean when he says that every sin “leaves its mark,” and what does the Jubilee indulgence do? In the fourth part of paragraph 23, what does Pope Francis say about forgiving others? Why should the experience of receiving forgiveness from God lead us to forgive others? Suggested Activities: Go to confession and confess your sins to God. Where appropriate, reach out to those you have hurt and ask their forgiveness. Forgive someone who has done something wrong to you. Practice seeing others as God sees them and extend to them the grace and forgiveness that God extends to you. Paragraph 24 (the Mother of God) 🔗 Read Luke 2:25-35 What did Simeon say about Jesus? How does he describe Jesus in his prayer? In verses 34-35, Simeon tells Mary that she will suffer, but he says more than that in verses 29-35. How might his words have been an encouragement to her to have hope? Pope Francis presents Mary as the supreme example of hope and notes that the 500th anniversary of her appearance as Our Lady of Guadalupe is near. How have Mary’s appearances throughout history encouraged people who are suffering to have hope? How is Mary an example of hope for you? Suggested Activities: Pray the Magnificat and connect with Mary’s hope and trust in God. Use the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary as a way to contemplate Mary’s hope-filled approach to life; then seek to follow her model of willingness to submit to God’s will. Paragraph 25 (hope as an anchor) 🔗 Read Hebrews 6:17-20 Why do you think Hebrews 6:17-20 calls hope an “anchor” for our souls? Note: People sometimes find Hebrews 6:17-18 confusing. The author of Hebrews points to two things that are immutable (cannot change) because they come straight from the mouth of God: God’s promise to Abraham that he would have a son (Genesis 17:4; 18:10; and 21:22) and God’s oath to Abraham that he would have countless descendants through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 22:16-18). Our hope rests on the fact that God does not lie. In the second part of paragraph 25, Pope Francis explains why he thinks the image of an anchor is so appropriate. What metaphor does he use to show how hope is an anchor? How is hope an anchor for your life? In the third part of paragraph 25, Pope Francis suggests that our hope in God can affect our work “in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation” – in other words, in every facet of our lives, sacred and secular. How can we bring our hope in God into parts of society that are not explicitly “spiritual”? How can we put our hope in God into action to care for the environment and the Earth? In the final part of paragraph 25, Pope Francis says, “May the way we live our lives” encourage others to have hope. What is one thing you can do, in the way you live your life, that might spread hope to others? Suggested Activity: Go through an examination of conscience or examen. Use it to try to detect areas of your life where you need to make adjustments so that your life spreads hope and the love of God to others. Act on your discoveries. Closing questions: Looking back over this entire study of Spes Non Confundit , what do you think God wants you to take from this study and put into practice in your life? How might God want you to make adjustments in how you think , to more fully anchor your life in the hope that comes from God? How might God want you to make adjustments in the things you say , so that your words communicate clearly your hope in God? How might God want you to make changes in the things you do , so that your hope in God leads to actions that benefit the world around you? What is one thing you might do to help extend God’s hope to the poor, the sick, the young, the elderly, migrants, refugees, or prisoners? End this study with a prayer, asking God to empower you to ground your life ever more fully in God’s hope and effectively extend that hope to others in service and love. When you complete this study, please give us feedback using this feedback form . You can also share your thoughts using the Contact Form at the bottom of this page. Bibliography See Jubilee Year 2025 - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/jubilee-2025/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 Jubilee 2025 Contents Next

Jesus cares about our afflictions. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 8:1-17 Jesus cares about our afflictions. Alexandre Bida (1813-1895). The Leper . 1875. Detail. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jesus_heals_the_leper.png . See also https://archive.org/details/christinartstory00egglrich/page/60/mode/2up . Tom Faletti July 30, 2024 Re-read Matthew 7:28-29 Jesus acts with authority Matthew ends the Sermon on the Mount by saying that Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes.” What does it look like when someone teaches with authority? Who has been someone who taught with authority in your life? Matthew has shown Jesus teaching with authority. Now he is going to show Jesus acting with authority. In chapters 8 and 9, we will see 10 miracles in 9 separate incidents, presented in groups of 3, interspersed with brief but pointed dialogues. Matthew 8:1-17 Jesus cures all who come to him Who are the kinds of people Jesus helps here? Who is Jesus for ? The ones Jesus helped here include an outcast leper, a lowly servant, an enemy commander in need, a mother-in-law who probably spent most of her life being overlooked, and then many others who suffered various afflictions. What does this tell you about Jesus and about Matthew’s sense of who Jesus cares about – who God cares about? Who do we care about? Do we care about the same people Jesus cares about? Explain. How are Jesus’s priorities a challenge to our society? Now let’s focus on each of these three stories separately. Matthew 8:1-4 the leper What happens in this passage? Recent translations of the Bible mostly replace “a leper” with “a man with a skin disease,” because the word was used for a variety of skin diseases, not just leprosy. Any persistent skin disease rendered a person unclean, under Old Testament law (Lev. 13-14), both in a hygienic sense (such diseases can be transmitted through touch) and in a religious sense (ritual impurity). Therefore, people with skin diseases were supposed to live in isolation, away from others. What attitudes or character traits does the man with leprosy show? In verse 2, the man said, “You can make me clean.” What is the significance of being made clean? How were lepers treated and what would being made “clean” do for him? What does Jesus do? Why is touching so significant beyond just being an action used in the healing? Jesus’s willingness to touch the man violated Old Testament norms both with regard to health and with regard to religious purity, so it was probably shocking to onlookers. In what way does Jesus’s touching the man communicate not only a willingness to violate social conventions but also a special type of caring? What effect does touching someone have? Why does Jesus tell him to tell no one? Why does Jesus tell him to go to the priests? Note that the purpose of going to the priests is to satisfy the priests; Jesus does not make it his own concern – i.e., he does not say, for example, that going to the priests was necessary in order to receive the healing. Jesus stands above the Law, even as he tells the man to fulfill the Law. What do you discern about Jesus’s/God’s character from this incident? Who are we called to “touch” or care for today in or lives, in order for them to receive God’s healing? How might our choice to “touch” people whom society shuns shock people around us, and should that affect us? What should we do about the fact that if we follow Jesus we will sometimes show care for people that others think we should stay away from? Matthew 8:5-13 the centurion’s slave A centurion was a commander of 100 men in the Roman army. He was a Gentile. The Greek word for the centurion’s “servant” is ambiguous and could mean “son.” John 4:46-54 has a similar but not identical story about a royal official’s son. But if we follow the common understanding that it is the centurion’s servant who is sick, how do you think he felt about this servant cared as a person? The centurion was an officer in a hated army that occupied the land, oppressed the people, and treated with harsh brutality anyone who dared to cross it. Why would Jesus want to help him? Jesus says, “I will come and cure him.” What Jewish cultural expectation would that have been violating? Observant Jews did not enter the homes of Gentiles, because they would becoming ritually unclean from any interaction with any unclean items in the home. Why do you think Jesus makes the offer to “come”? How does the centurion see himself relative to Jesus (verse 8) and relative to other people (verse 9)? What does he ask Jesus to do? Why does the centurion think that a word from Jesus will be enough? Matthew 7 ended with a reference to Jesus’s authority. How does this passage help us understand the authority of Jesus? For what does Jesus praise the centurion? What does he think of the centurion’s faith? How does Jesus turn this event into an indictment of the failure of the people of Israel to believe in Jesus? How can we be more like the centurion? Note: We can’t conjure up faith by our own willpower. Faith is a gift. But we can choose to be open, we can take the time to approach God, and we can welcome God’s presence and lordship in our lives. If we create the conditions for faith by nurturing whatever seed of faith we have, that openness can allow faith to grow. Matthew 8:14-17 Peter’s mother-in-law, and many other people What does Peter’s mother-in-law do when she is healed? How can she be a model for us? What happens that evening? In verse 17, what Old Testament passage does Matthew quote, and what does it mean? What is Matthew trying to suggest to us about Jesus? The quote is from one of the Suffering Servant passages of Isaiah, and the Suffering Servant ultimately makes reparation for the sins of the people, so Matthew sees it as a prophecy about Jesus as the Messiah. Take a step back and consider this: In Matthew 8:2, the leper is confident that Jesus can cure him; he is only unsure if Jesus is willing to cure him (he says, “if you wish”). In Matthew 8:8, the centurion is confident that Jesus can cure his servant, and he has a solution to the question of Jesus’s willingness (“only say the word”). With both of those issues laid to rest, the crowds that follow Jesus come with great expectation. When it comes to asking God for healing for yourself or others, do you get stuck on the question of whether God wishes to heal? Do you get stuck on the question of whether God is able to heal? Or are you able to get past both of those questions? In our time, we know that some people for whom we pray are healed and some are not. How do you approach God when healing is needed? There is power in the passage from Isaiah that Matthew applies to Jesus in verse 17. In what ways do you find it to be true of Jesus that he bears our weaknesses and diseases, and how does that help you to approach him in prayer? The next time you pray, how can you approach the Lord with greater confidence that he bears your afflictions? 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 List Next

Jesus fulfills the Old Testament: the Law and the Prophets. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus fulfills the Old Testament: the Law and the Prophets. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti April 26, 2024 Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus came to fulfill the Law What does Jesus say in verse 17? Jesus refers to “the law and the prophets.” The law and the prophets are two of the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. The “law” is the Torah, the first 5 books of the Old Testament. The “prophets” refers to the books of the prophets – Isaiah, etc. The third division of the Hebrew Bible is the “writings” – which includes the Psalms and other books of literature (Proverbs, etc.) that are grouped with the Psalms in the Hebrew Bible. In Matthew, Jesus uses the phrase “the law and the prophets” here and in three other places: Matthew 7:12; 11:13; and 22:40. In 7:12, he says that the “Golden Rule” – do unto others as you would have them do unto you – is the law and the prophets. In 22:40, after talking about the two Great Commandments – love the Lord our God and love your neighbor – he says that all that is written in the law and the prophets hangs on these two commandments. Jesus says he did not come to “abolish” the law and the prophets. What would it mean to “abolish” them? And therefore, what does it mean to not abolish them? What does it mean to “fulfill” the law and the prophets? To “fulfill” means to “complete,” or to bring to completion, or to have reached the point of completion. To “fulfill” the law and the prophets can be explored in two ways: How the law is fulfilled as we follow the moral law first outlined in the Old Testament; and How Jesus , by his life, death, and resurrection, fulfilled the purposes and promises of God presented in the Old Testament. With regard to Jesus, it is useful to note that in Luke 24:44, Jesus said that “everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled” (NRSV). There, he is referring to all three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures. With regard to how the law applies to us, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible comments that the New Covenant Jesus presented “perfects and transforms” the Old Covenant: “While sacrificial laws of the OT expired with the sacrifice of Jesus, the moral Law (Ten Commandments, etc.) was retained and refined” (fn. to 5:17, p. 15). In the next section of Matthew’s Gospel, we see Jesus transforming the teachings of the Old Testament in ways that we still try to follow today. In what ways do we continue to follow the commandments of the Old Testament and embrace the teachings of the prophets? How does our commitment to following the law allow the law to fulfill its intended purpose? In what ways did Jesus fulfill the law and the prophets? Some scholars argue that this teaching in Matthew contradicts what Paul says when he says that we are not justified by doing the works of the law (for example, in Galatians 2:15-16; Romans 3:21-31). How would you respond? Is Jesus saying we are justified by doing the works of the Law? Is Paul saying we don’t have to obey the basic commandments of the Law? Or do these passages of the Bible fit together even though they may be looking at the issue from different perspectives? Some scholars overstate Paul’s rejection of the Law. Paul affirmatively cites the Ten Commandments in Romans 13:8-10 and says they are summed up in the command to love your neighbor, as Jesus said in Matthew. And throughout his letters, Paul expects a high moral standard of the people to whom he is writing. We are not justified by doing the works of the law – we still need salvation through Jesus; but Jesus expects us to follow the Ten Commandments and also other elements of the moral/social law – for example, to care for the poor, treat workers justly, welcome the stranger, etc. In verse 18, Jesus says that not one letter of the law will pass away. The word for “letter” is literally the Greek word iota – their name for the letter “i,” which is the smallest letter in Greek as it is in English. It is important to note that Jesus is not endorsing all the tiny details of the interpretations of the Law that the scribes and Pharisees had piled on top of the actual words of the Old Testament Law. He broke their "laws" frequently and derided them for their excessive devotion to the laws they had made. But he is expressing a deep reverence for the word of God handed down in the Old Testament itself. Jesus’s reference to heaven and earth passing away may be recalling Isaiah’s prophecy of a “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17, NRSV and NABRE). In Matthew 5:18, Jesus says that nothing will “pass” from the law “until all is accomplished.” This could be interpreted as referring to the “eschatological” end of the world (the “end times”), but it makes more sense to understand it as referring to Jesus’s fulfillment of the law and the prophets by his death and resurrection. Jesus has already preached that the kingdom of heaven is near. In what ways are we living, metaphorically or partially, in the “new heavens and new earth” that Isaiah foretold, even as we wait for its complete fulfillment at an end time that is yet to come? In what ways do the law and prophets still apply to us in this interim time we live in? Given that Christians do not accept the obligation to carry out all 613 commandments in the Old Testament – for example, we do not follow the kosher laws, the sacrificial laws, or other ceremonial laws – how do we know which laws Jesus still expects us to follow today? Notice in verse 19 that Jesus does not consign to hell those who break the commandments, but he says they will be called “least” in the kingdom of heaven. What do you think this means? What might “least” look like in heaven? Verse 19 particularly makes a point about teachers. Why are they so important? Jesus ends this passage with a statement that would have been a surprise to his followers. The scribes and Pharisees sought to live at an extreme or maximum level of righteousness. What does Jesus say in verse 20? What do you think Jesus is telling you, in saying that your righteousness must be greater than that of the people who are trying the hardest to be righteousness? For you, what is the good news in this passage? Take a step back and consider this: If the Law was a sentient being, you might picture it eagerly anticipating its “fulfillment.” It was created for a purpose – to prepare the way for Jesus and the salvation of not only the Jewish people but all of humanity. Now, in Jesus, the beginning of that time of fulfillment is at hand. We, too, are on a path to fulfillment. God is working his character into us and reflecting his goodness and love out through us to a world that desperately needs opportunities to see God through us. In the end, our goal is to allow God to work his character fully into us so that we are like Jesus. I can’t be exhibiting God’s character and manifesting God’s love if I am insulting, unfaithful, hateful, etc. – issues that Jesus will take up in the next passage. Those attitudes do not reflect the image of God because God does not have those attitudes. If my ultimate fulfillment is to be like Christ, then those attitudes must go. The moral law set forth in the Old Testament, however, does reflect aspects of God’s character. The Law helps me understand, in some ways, the kind of person God is calling me to be. For you, is the Law a bad guy that prohibits you from doing what you want to do and being what you want to be? Or is it a good thing that reminds you of what you want to do and who you want to be? How does the Law help you to live the life of Christ? How can you embrace more fully this vision: that the Law, which is fulfilled in Christ, is not something to be abolished but rather is a support for your life of faith that can help you reach your ultimate fulfillment in Christ? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List 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. List 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. List Next

Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of the Gospel of Matthew. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew - Bibliography Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of the Gospel of Matthew. Some of the resources on the author's bookshelf. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Major Sources Augsberger, Myron. Matthew . The Communicator’s Commentary (Mastering the New Testament) , Lloyd J. Ogilvie, general editor. Word Books, 1982. Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1. 2nd edition. The Daily Study Bible. The Saint Andrew Press, 1958. Note: All of the volumes in Barclay’s Daily Study Bible series can be viewed online at “William Barclay's Daily Study Bible,” Bible Portal , https://bibleportal.com/commentary/william-barclay . Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2. 2nd edition. The Daily Study Bible. The Saint Andrew Press, 1958. Note: All of the volumes in Barclay’s Daily Study Bible series can be viewed online at “William Barclay's Daily Study Bible,” Bible Portal , https://bibleportal.com/commentary/william-barclay . Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament . Yale University Press, 1997. Ellison, H. L. “Matthew.” The International Bible Commentary: With the New International Version . F.F. Bruce, General Editor. Marshall Pickering/Zondervan, 1986. Harrington, Fr. Daniel J. The Gospel According to Matthew . Collegeville Bible Commentary, The Liturgical Press, 1983. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament, Revised Standard Edition, Second Catholic Edition . Ignatius Press, 2010. Interlinear Bible. Bible Hub , https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ . The International Bible Commentary: With the New International Version . F.F. Bruce, General Editor. Marshall Pickering/Zondervan, 1986. Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott . An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Founded Upon the Seventh Edition of Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899. Perseus Digital Library , Tufts University, https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0058 . For the full Lexicon from 1940 available online, see A Greek-English Lexicon , Furman Classics Editions, http://folio2.furman.edu/lsj/ or A Greek-English Lexicon , Internet Archive , Volume I: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0001/mode/2up and Volume II: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0002/mode/2up . New American Bible, revised edition (NABRE) . Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2010. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary . Edited by Raymond E. Brown, et al. Prentice Hall, 1990. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version: With the Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible . Eds. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2010. New Revised Standard Version Bible , copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance . Bible Hub , https://biblehub.com/greek/21.htm . Vine, William E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary , 1940, StudyLight.org , https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ved.html . Viviano, Benedict T., O.P. “The Gospel According to Matthew.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary . Edited by Raymond E. Brown, et al. Prentice Hall, 1990. Additional Sources Aquinas, Thomas. Catena aurea: commentary on the four Gospels, collected out of the works of the Fathers . Oxford: Parker, 1874, https://archive.org/details/p1catenaaureacom01thomuoft/page/244/mode/2up . Aquinas, Thomas. “Commentary on Matthew 20.” StudyLight.org , “Golden Chain Commentary on the Gospel,” https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/gcc/matthew-20.html . Augustine. “Sermon 272.” Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series, Early Church Texts , https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_sermon_272_eucharist.htm . Barna Group. “1 in 4 Practicing Christians Struggles to Forgive Someone.” Barna Group , 11 Apr. 2019, https://www.barna.com/research/forgiveness-christians/ . Belfast , directed by Kenneth Branagh, TKBC and Northern Ireland Screen, 2021. The British Museum. “Slavery in ancient Rome.” Exhibition: “Nero the man behind the myth,” 2021. The British Museum , https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/nero-man-behind-myth/slavery-ancient-rome . Calechman, Steve. “Sleep to solve a problem.” Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School , May 24, 2021, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/sleep-to-solve-a-problem-202105242463 . Cooper, Kyle. “Have you given up on your New Year’s resolution? Here’s how to get back on track.” WTOP , 12 Jan. 2024, https://wtop.com/health-fitness/2024/01/today-is-the-day-many-of-us-give-up-on-our-new-years-resolutions-but-you-may-be-able-to-get-back-on-track-with-these-tips/ . Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History , Book III. New Advent , https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm . “Faith and the Faithful in the 2024 Election.” Online forum. Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life , Georgetown University, 13 Feb. 2024, https://catholicsocialthought.georgetown.edu/events/faith-and-the-faithful-in-the-2024-election . Feldman, Robert S. Understanding Psychology , 14th edition. McGraw Hill Education, 2019. Fischer, John. “Inside.” YouTube , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avrVLA4uDos . Lyrics at Genius , https://genius.com/John-fischer-inside-lyrics . Fischer, John. “John Wayne and the Sermon on the Mount.” The Catch Ministry , 29 Nov. 2023, https://catchjohnfischer.live/2023/11/29/john-wayne-and-the-sermon-on-the-mount/ . “Food & Nutrition.” World Concern , https://worldconcern.org/food-nutrition . Accessed 25 Aug. 2024. Francis of Assisi. “Letter to the Faithful II” [also known as “Later Admonition and Exhortation To the Brothers and Sisters of Penance (Second Version of the Letter to the Faithful)”]. c. 1220. The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi, Parts I & II . Translated from the Latin Critical Edition by Fr. K. Esser, O.F.M. [Die opuskula des hl. Franziskus von Assisi. Neue textkritische Edition. Editiones Collegii S. Bonaventurae ad Claras aquas, Grottaferrata (Romae) 1976], http://www.liturgies.net/saints/francis/writings.htm . Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” 1915. Poetry Foundation , https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken . Grohol, John M. “Why ‘Sleeping on It’ Helps.” LiveScience , 26 Oct. 2009, https://www.livescience.com/5820-sleeping-helps.html . Innocence Project. “Explore the Numbers: Innocence Project's Impact,” Innocence Project , 2024, https://innocenceproject.org/exonerations-data/ . King, Martin Luther, Jr. Strength to Love . Beacon Press, 1963. Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity . Macmillan Publishing Co., 1952. Macmillan Paperbacks edition, 1960. Litke, Austin Dominic, O.P. “Reading Flannery O’Connor in our times.” Aleteia , 3 July 2020, https://aleteia.org/2020/07/03/reading-flannery-oconnor-in-our-times/ . His citation for the Flannery O’Connor quote is: “The fiction writer and his country.” Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose , Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1970, p. 34. Longenecker, Fr. Dwight. “Fighting the Un-Holy Trinity: The World, the Flesh and the Devil.” Catholic Online , 14 Feb. 2010, https://www.catholic.org/news/national/story.php?id=35421 . The Magnificat Advent Companion , Advent 2023. Meyers, Eric. “Galilee.” From Jesus to Christ . Frontline , Apr. 1998, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/galilee.html . Miller, Jared. “Does ‘Sleeping on it’ Really Work?” WebMD , https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/does-sleeping-on-it-really-work . Mother Teresa: In My Own Words . Compiled by José Luis González-Balado. Liguori, 1996. Mother Teresa: Where There is Love, There is God . Compiled by and edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk. Doubleday, 2010. “Music for the Second Week of Advent.” St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill , https://saintpetersdc.org/pray/advent23/35171-music-for-the-second-week-of-advent , Dec. 2023. O’Toole, Garson. “When One Door Closes Another Opens, But Often We Look So Long Upon the Closed Door That We Do Not See the Open Door.” Quote Investigator , 3 Dec. 2018, https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/12/03/open-door/ . “Palestine in the time of Jesus, 4 B.C. - 30 A.D.: (including the period of Herod, 40 - 4 B.C.).” Library of Congress , https://www.loc.gov/item/2009579463/ . Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church . Libreria Editrice Vaticana (The Vatican). United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005. Poythress, Vern. “The Baptism of Jesus.” The Gospel Coalition , https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-baptism-of-jesus/ . “Quitters Day.” There is a Day for That , https://www.thereisadayforthat.com/holidays/various/quitters-day . Randall, Rebecca. “Which Is Worse: the Guilty Freed or the Innocent Punished?” Christianity Today , 5 Mar. 2021, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/march-web-only/wrongful-convictions-prison-bible-view-split-by-race.html . Shelby, Daniele. “DNA and Wrongful Conviction: Five Facts You Should Know.” Innocence Project , 25 Apr. 2023, https://innocenceproject.org/dna-and-wrongful-conviction-five-facts-you-should-know/ . Silverstein, Shel. “God’s Wheel.” A Light in the Attic . HarperCollins, 1981, p. 152. Warren, Rick. The Purpose-Driven Life . Zondervan, 2002. Welch, John W. and John F Hall. “Chart 6-4: Estimated Distribution of Citizenship in the Roman Empire.” Charting the New Testament , BYU Studies, 2002, https://byustudies.byu.edu/further-study-chart/6-4-estimated-distribution-of-citizenship-in-the-roman-empire/ . Wesley, John. “The Use of Money,” Sermon 50, https://web.archive.org/web/20150402061915/http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-50-The-Use-of-Money . “Which Was the Son of... (Arvo Pärt) - Sofia Vokalensemble.” Sofia Vokalensemble , 23 Oct. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyPmFBpiF7E . “The World, the Flesh, and the Devil.” Ligonier Ministries (founded by Dr. R. C. Sproul), 23 May 2011, https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/world-flesh-and-devil . “The world, the flesh, and the devil.” Wikipedia , 31 March 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_world,_the_flesh,_and_the_devil [presents the views of scholars who wrote centuries ago]. 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 List Next

At FaithExplored.com we want our comment section and forums to be places where there is thoughtful and respectful conversation that helps us explore how to apply God’s Word to our lives today. We want a welcoming environment where the objective is to seek truth, not to score points or win victories. Comment Policy In our comment section and forums, we expect thoughtful and respectful conversation that helps us explore how to apply God’s Word to our lives today. We want a welcoming environment where the objective is to seek truth, not to score points or win victories. To help support these goals, we expect the following from all participants: Keep your comments respectful and kind. The following are never acceptable: profanity, personal attacks, insults, insinuations, degrading comments, self-promotion, baiting, bullying, or any other forms of disrespect. Discuss the specific post or article at hand. Posts that support an off-topic, commercial, or other purpose that does not support the goals of this website are not allowed. Be brief and stay on topic. Proofread what you wrote before you submit it. ("Write not so that you can be understood, but so that you cannot be misunderstood.") Listen to and to respond to each other; don’t just get on your own soapbox. Acknowledge other people’s thoughtful points, even if you reach different conclusions. Posts will be actively moderated to facilitate a thoughtful and respectful conversation. Any comments that do not support these goals may be removed, and posters who disregard these rules may be blocked from further posting.

We explore how to apply the Bible to everyday life, with free Bible studies for individuals and small groups and a positive approach to issues of faith and justice. See our full set of Bible Studies for the Gospel of Matthew Read our Latest Blog Post Take a look at our Jubilee Year 2025 Study Guide Based on the Word of God The Faith Explored website is for everyone who has an open heart: Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals, and Orthodox; people who are active in their church, have stepped away, or have never found a church home; people who are familiar with the Bible and people who are just starting out; seekers, doubters, agnostics, explorers, and the curious. Everyone is welcome here at Faith Explored. We explore what the Bible says and means, how it applies to our everyday lives, how God is calling us to care for each other and extend his love and justice to everyone, and how we can respond more fully to God's invitation to become like him in every part of our lives. Come join us as we explore! Faith Explored Exploring how to apply the Bible to our lives today Applied to Real Life Bible Study Materials Resources for Justice Resources for Growth Our Latest Posts We are continually developing new materials that apply God’s Word to our lives and our world. Here is a sample of our recent articles: Who Was the First to Say Jesus is God? The answer might surprise you. The first person to explicitly call Jesus “God” was someone who is better remembered for his doubt, not for his belief. But he is the first person every quoted calling Jesus “God” – and it happened 1,992 years ago. Tom Faletti Apr 12 We Know the End of Our Story (That’s What Easter Tells Us) One of my students asked me, “Mr. Faletti, how do you stay so calm?” I responded that “I know the end of the story.” “What do you mean?” the students asked. "How do you know the end of the story?" The answer begins with Easter. Tom Faletti Apr 4 Jesus’s Death and the American Experience of Injustice Christians use the Stations of the Cross to explore the meaning of Jesus’s crucifixion and death. Explore how his suffering connects with the suffering of those who face injustice and racism in America today. Then ask yourself, “How can I take up my cross in response?” Tom Faletti Mar 29 Read More Articles Subscribe to Be Notifed of New Posts Bible Study Materials Our Bible Studies provide study materials that equip small groups and individuals to study the Bible confidently and apply it to their lives in practical ways, with thought-provoking questions, background commentary where needed, and challenging reflections. Explore Our Bible Study Materials Justice The Justice section of the website explores God’s repeated call for justice throughout the Old and New Testaments and how we can respond to that call by working for justice in our time. God is not willing to settle for only saving our individual lives; He also wants to transform our societies, businesses, governments, and cultures. This section explores how we can participate in that work. Respond to God's Call for Justice Christian Faith The life of a follower of Christ is an adventure. The Christian Faith section of our website addresses a variety of questions and challenges that arise as we try to live the Christian life. Each article focuses on one aspect of the faith or one component of Christian living, such as joy or forgiveness. The goal is to help us understand how we can put our faith into action in every area of our lives. Grow in the Christian Faith and Life God's Purposes God’s Purposes explores what God is trying to do in our world, why He doesn’t make life easy for us, and how each of us is called to join in God’s work to transform the world in our own unique ways. Consider God’s Purposes for Your Life Images at top of Bible, individual with Bible, and small group provided by Wix. All other images by Tom Faletti.

In the story of “The woman caught in adultery,” Jesus rebuffs those who seek His consent for an execution and rejects capital punishment. Previous Justice Articles Next Jesus Rejects the Death Penalty In the story of “The woman caught in adultery,” Jesus rebuffs those who seek His consent for an execution and rejects capital punishment. Image provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti April 4, 2025 The Bible can help us evaluate the death penalty. It speaks to the value of life in many different places. One extraordinarily relevant passage is the incident in the New Testament that is often called “The woman caught in adultery” (John 8:1-11). Although that heading focuses on the woman, the story is mainly about the death penalty. A group of scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus and ask Him about the fact that the Law of Moses called for the execution by stoning of people convicted of adultery. The men know that Roman law does not allow the Jewish leaders at that time to execute people (John 18:31). In response to their inquiry, Jesus rejects capital punishment. What does it mean to “cast the first stone”? Many modern readers don’t see that Jesus is talking about capital punishment because, when Jesus says, “Let the one who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7b, NABRE), they interpret it primarily as a metaphorical statement about not judging other people. That’s not what the conversation was about. To “cast the first stone” means to initiate an execution. We can see this by going back to the original source in the Law of Moses. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses directs that when someone is to be stoned to death, the witnesses must be the first to raise their hands (Deut. 17:6-7) in the act of execution. Modern governments don’t execute people by stoning. They inject people with a deadly drug, or put them in a gas chamber and fill the chamber with poisonous gas, or line them up in front of a firing squad. If we apply Jesus’s words to our modern context, He is saying: “Let the one who is without sin inject the deadly drug.” “Let the one who is without sin fill the chamber with the poisonous gas.” “Let the one who is without sin pull the trigger of the gun.” When the men who questioned Jesus leave, presumably after realizing that they are not sinless, Jesus asks the woman: “Has no one condemned you?” (John 8:10b) She says, “No one,” and he replies, “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11) – that is, “Neither do I condemn you to death.” In this exchange, Jesus sets the conditions for capital punishment. Only those who are sinless have any right to initiate an execution. We are not sinless. And He, the Sinless One, rejects that option. We must not ignore Jesus’s words. Jesus rejects the death penalty. Why does Jesus reject capital punishment? Why would God tell us not to use the death penalty? It took Christians a long time to figure that out. We know that God loves us and that God loves sinners. We also know that all people are made in the image of God. It took us a long time to put all of that together and understand that every human being carries an infinite dignity given to them by God and that we are called to honor that dignity, even in people who have tarnished it badly. God breathed life into each of us (Gen. 2:7), and only God has a right to take that life away. Jesus took a clear stand for life when he said, "Neither do I condemn you." There are many reasons to reject the death penalty. For Christians, the foremost reason is that our Lord Jesus rejected it. Related material: Catholic Mobilizing Network is a leading voice for ending capital punishment and providing healing and justice for the families of murder victims. Their Executive Director, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, invited me to include a version of this analysis in her article, In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus signals His opposition to the death penalty , which was published by Vatican News on April 4, 2025. I have posted a blog article that highlights how, although the passage headings provided by scholars in our Bibles are often very good at helping us understand the Scriptures, the traditional heading for John 8:1-11 disguises the central meaning of the passage. You can see that post here: Jesus, the Woman Caught in Adultery, and Capital Punishment . 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 Justice Articles Next

How to pray: The Lord’s Prayer shows the way. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 6:9-15 How to pray: The Lord’s Prayer shows the way. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti May 18, 2024 Matthew 6:9-15 The Lord’s Prayer: How to pray This prayer has two parts: 3 petitions focused on God and 3 petitions focused on our needs. How does the prayer known today as “the Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father” begin? What does this first part – "Our Father who art in heaven" – say about the nature and character of God? “Heaven” tell us God is not human, or like a human. “Father” tells us what God is like – what God’s character is, relative to us. Note: Matthew is writing in Greek and here uses the Greek word for “father.” However, if Jesus taught the prayer in Aramaic, he might have used the more intimate Aramaic word “Abba,” which means “Daddy.” “Abba” only appears 3 times in the New Testament – in Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; and Galatians 4:6 – but it casts a new light on our relationship with God that is not taught prior to Jesus. What does this beginning of the prayer say about our relationship to God? . . . and our relationship with each other? This part of the prayer establishes that we are children of God – and therefore that we are brothers and sisters of each other. What does “hallowed be thy name” mean? “Hallowed” establishes that God, by his very nature, is holy. In combination with “heaven” it establishes that God has a supreme degree of holiness, and this indicates a distinction between God and us. Is this just about treating God’s name with respect, or is there more to it? What are some ways we can “hallow” God’s name in our everyday living? Verse 10 has the form of a typical Jewish couplet: two statements that say the same thing in different ways, so that the second amplifies the first (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 211-212). How do “thy kingdom come” and “thy will be done on earth as in heaven” make the same point? How does the second petition in verse 10 – “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – go further than or further explain the first of these petitions? The petitions in verse 10 suggest that wherever God’s will is done, there the kingdom of God is. Anywhere on Earth where the will of God is being done is part of the kingdom. What does this say to you about how you live your life? Barclay suggests that the last 3 petitions in this prayer focus our attention on 3 great human needs that are related to the present, past, and future: bread now, forgiveness for what we have done in the past, and help in future temptation. He also suggests that these petitions point us to God the Father as Creator (bread), God the Son as savior/redeemer (forgiveness), and God the Holy Spirit as source of strength and guidance (in temptation) (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 199). What do you think Jesus meant by “bread”? Is it just about meeting our physical need for food? Is it about all of our material needs? Is it expressing a desire for spiritual food? Is it about the Eucharist? Is it about desire to participate in the heavenly banquet to come? Throughout the ages, people have found benefit in all of these interpretations. What might be the significance in praying for “our” daily bread, not “my” daily bread? The word usually translated “daily” is uncertain. It is used in the New Testament only here and in Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:3), and it only appears once in other Greek literature outside the New Testament. Scholars suggest that it could mean “daily” or “tomorrow’s” or “needful” or “future” (Viviano, par. 39, p. 645). Although in the Lord’s Prayer today many people pray, “Forgive us our trespasses,” the word is better translated as “debts,” which is what we find in both the NRSV, the NABRE, and most other modern translations. The word “debts” is a metaphor for our sins. If we are talking about sin, what does “Forgive us our debts” mean? What does the word “debt” suggest about our sins? What does “as we forgive those . . .” mean? “as” means in the same proportion or to the same degree – with the same measure. So we are asking God to forgive us to the same degree that we forgive others, or using the same measure we use to measure out forgiveness to others. How do verses 14-15 amplify the message of the importance of forgiveness? Why is forgiveness so important? Forgiveness isn’t always easy. How can we move to a place of forgiveness when we have been deeply hurt? It is important to acknowledge the hurt, and sometimes we need time to process the hurt. But ultimately, when forgiveness is hard, it comes down to a decision. We can decide to hold on to the hurt or to give it to God and decide as an act of the will to stop holding it against the other person. This does not necessarily mean “forgetting” the offense; for self-preservation we sometimes need to remember what has been done to us. But we can still decide to stop holding it against the other person. Sometimes, when we do this, we find that letting go of it provides a release for ourselves as well, allowing us to put the matter in the past and move forward. In the Lord’s Prayer as we pray it today, we say, “Lead us not into temptation” (verse 13a). There is a lot going on behind the scenes in this verse. First, although we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” the word “temptation” is not the best translation of the word. Modern translations often say “test” or “trial” in verse 13. The Jews of Jesus’s time expected that there would be a time of severe testing before the coming of the Messiah. A common understanding of the petition is that it is asking God to spare us that trial. Second, although the first part literally means “Lead us not,” we know that God does not lead people into temptation – see James 1:13-14. Therefore, it is better to interpret this metaphorically. The Catholic bishops in a couple of countries in Europe have sought and received approval from the Vatican to rephrase this part of the prayer in their liturgies to remove the implication that God might lead us into temptation. They are adopting other wordings that might be translated into English as: “Do not let us fall into temptation” or “Do not abandon us to temptation.” The point is that, while God allows people to be put to the test, we want to ask him to spare us from that trial. Where is God when you are tempted – leading you into the temptation or trying to lead you out of it ? Explain. What is the test or trial you need to ask God to keep you from? In the Lord’s Prayer, we usually pray, “Deliver us from evil.” This acknowledges that evil is real, along with temptation. What is the response to evil that Jesus is calling us to take? In modern translations, the "deliver us" line in verse 6:13 is translated: “rescue us from the evil one” (NRSV) or “deliver us from the evil one” (NABRE), because the Greek word is sometimes used for the devil (for example, Matthew 13:38) – i.e., evil personified, not some abstract notion of evil. What does this add to your understanding of what we are praying here? Compare this prayer to your picture of the heaped-up, empty phrases Jesus rejects in Matthew 6:7. How is this prayer different? How can you capture some of the Lord’s Prayer’s simplicity and directness in your personal prayers to God? For some people, this prayer has become so rote that it has lost some of its power. If we could reclaim this prayer – every petition of it – so that it was a conscious expression of our intimate reliance on God as we face life in the real world, how might that affect our lives? Which of these petitions is speaking must directly to your heart today, and why? What might you consider doing differently because of today’s study? Take a step back and consider this: Barclay writes: “In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to bring the whole of life to the whole of God, and to bring the whole of God to the whole of life” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 199). How does this prayer invite us to make God the center of all that we face in life? How can you use the Lord’s Prayer to help you invite God into “the whole” of your life? What are the short, simple, direct things you need to say to God right now? 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 List Next

Jesus walks with two discouraged disciples and opens the Scriptures to them, and then they recognize him in the breaking of the bread. How can we see Jesus in the Scriptures and the breaking of the bread? Previous Next Luke List Luke 24:13-35 Jesus walks with two discouraged disciples and opens the Scriptures to them, and then they recognize him in the breaking of the bread. How can we see Jesus in the Scriptures and the breaking of the bread? (Michelangelo Merisi da) Caravaggio (1571-1610). The Supper at Emmaus . 1601. Cropped. The National Gallery, London, UK. Photo by Tom Faletti, 28 May 2025. Tom Faletti April 14, 2026 Luke 24:13-35 Jesus walks with two men on the road to Emmaus and breaks bread with them It is Easter Sunday. Angels have told the women at the empty tomb that Jesus is alive, and Peter has verified that the tomb is empty. Now, two disciples are walking 7 miles from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. Verse 18 tells us that one of these disciples is named Cleopas. It is possible that this is the same man as the “Clopas” in John 19:25, but there is no way of knowing. An early tradition in the Church says that Clopas was the brother of Jesus’s adoptive father, Joseph. Verse 14 tells us that the two disciples are talking with each other about all the things that have happened, and verses 19-24 provide the specifics of their conversation. How do you think they feel about what has happened? A man joins them on the road and walks with them, but they do not recognize that it is Jesus (verses 15-16). Why do you think they don’t realize it is him? There are several possibilities. Jesus may have, in some supernatural way, prevented them from recognizing him. They may be sufficiently overcome with grief that they aren’t paying much attention to the details of this man walking with them. And Jesus’s resurrected body may look a bit different than his body previously looked, although it is still his body. What stands out to you in verses 19-24, in their summary of what has happened? Luke often points out the role of women in Jesus’s story. In verse 22, the disciples note that some women have delivered the message, proclaimed by angels, that Jesus is alive. But they clearly don’t believe it. How are the words and contributions of women often ignored or treated as less trustworthy in our day? Based on verse 19, what kind of person do they think Jesus is? In verse 21, they say that they had hoped Jesus would “redeem” Israel. What do you think that means to them? What do you think they had hoped would happen? They were probably envisioning that Jesus would bring political freedom from Roman oppression. But Jesus’s mission was to free all people from sin and death and fill them with his Spirit in order to empower them to live as members of God’s kingdom even in the midst of the political kingdoms of the world. Some scholars think that these disciples have lost faith or have given up on Jesus (verse 21), and that is why they are leaving Jerusalem while his whereabouts are still uncertain. Others think that is an unfair interpretation. If it is true, Jesus does not give up on them but comes after them. And they immediately return to Jerusalem once they recognize him. How might this be symbolic of our experience of repentance and renewed faith after times when we doubt? In verse 25, in most translations Jesus calls them “foolish.” However, the Greek word can mean “without thought” or “lacking in understanding” (Liddell and Scott, p. 145). Jesus is saying they haven’t thought things through the way they should have. What have they missed? How do we sometimes fail to think things through and properly understand what God has taught us? In verse 25, Jesus also says they are “slow of heart.” The Greek word for heart, kardia , was seen as the core of who a person is, the center of a person’s thoughts, will, and emotions. When Jesus says they have been slow of heart, what does he mean? How are we sometimes slow of heart: slow to respond with our whole being to the reality of who Jesus is and what he seeks to do in our lives? In verse 26, Jesus says that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer. That was not the expectation of the Jewish people in Jesus’s time. Christians see passages in the Old Testament that describe a man who suffers and apply them to Jesus (for example, Isaiah 50; Isaiah 53; Psalm 22). (Jews often interpret those passages as applying to the nation of Israel as a whole.) In verse 26, why does Jesus say that it was “necessary” for the Messiah to suffer? In verse 27, how do you think the disciples felt when Jesus opened up their understanding of the many passages in the Old Testament that refer to Jesus? How do you find Jesus in the Scriptures? Around AD 140, a Christian theologian named Marcion argued that the Christian canon (i.e., the Christian Bible) should not include any books from the Old Testament. This was rejected and the early Church excommunicated Marcion when he persisted. Why is the Old Testament so important to Christians? Do you feel like you have a good understanding of the Old Testament passages that refer to Jesus, or is that something you might want to explore further? If you think more is needed, what can you do about it? In verse 28, why do you think Jesus acted like he was going to travel further? In verse 29, the disciples say, “Stay with us.” Why do you think they are so eager to keep this traveler with them? Those words “Stay with us” might be good words for us to say to Jesus. How can we keep inviting Jesus to stay with us by the way we live? What does Jesus do in verse 30? What does it remind you of? What Jesus does here is what Jews would do at the beginning of a meal. However, it is also what Jesus did at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19). Compare Jesus’s actions in verse 30 with his actions at the Last Supper in Luke 22:19, where he also “took . . . said the blessing . . . broke . . . and gave.” Jesus chose to join the disciples at a meal, bless the bread, and break it and share it. In doing so, he linked his first appearance in Luke’s Gospel with the Last Supper. Since he also said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19), what he did at Emmaus is connected to what we call “Holy Communion” or “the Eucharist.” Why do you think Jesus chose to include Eucharistic imagery in his first appearance after his resurrection? Verse 31 tells us that when Jesus blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, it was then that their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Why do you think that was the moment they recognized him? There is a symbolic meaning when Luke says their eyes were opened (verse 31). How does the symbolism of their eyes being opened serve as a good image of what it means to come to faith in Jesus? How are our eyes “opened” when we gather for the breaking of the bread? None of this story would have happened if the disciples had not shown hospitality to a stranger. What does that say to us? At the Last Supper in Luke 22:16-18, Jesus says that he will not eat and drink with his disciples again until the Passover is fulfilled in the kingdom of God (22:16) or until the kingdom of God comes (22:18). How was that fulfilled? What do you think is the turning point or high point in this story: The disciples’ hospitality which brought Jesus to their table? Jesus’s implicit forgiveness of their unbelief? The breaking of the bread? The extended Bible lesson as they walked? Something else? What do you most need to take from this story and apply in your life today? In verse 32, the disciples say, “Were not our hearts burning within us” as he opened the Scriptures to them? What do they mean? How does your heart burn within you when you see new insights from the Scriptures? Jesus’s extended Bible Study with the disciples as they walk shows how important Bible Study is. Does your church put enough emphasis on helping people study the Bible? What more could be done? The disciples return to Jerusalem and receive great news from the apostles and other disciples who are gathered together: Jesus has appeared to Peter. None of the Gospels tell us about this meeting between Jesus and Peter. Why do you think Jesus made a separate appearance to Peter, and what do you think they talked about? Read Luke 22:32-34 , where Jesus says he will pray for Peter. What difference do you think that made? Do you think of Jesus praying for you? Do you think of his sacrifice on the Cross as a prayer offering for you? In what ways is Jesus bringing you before the Father even now? In Luke 22:32, Jesus tells Peter, “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Do you think they talked about that when Jesus appeared to Peter? How do you think Peter went about trying to fulfill that command? Take a step back and consider this: Most Christian denominations see images of both the Word of God and the sacrament of Holy Communion or the Eucharist in this story. The disciples learn from Jesus as he teaches from the Old Testament and then join him in the breaking of the bread. Our worship services include readings from the Bible (with a sermon exploring its implications for our lives) and a celebration of Holy Communion (whether daily, weekly, or quarterly, depending on the denomination). Why are both of those elements (word and sacrament) central to our worship services? How do you recognize Jesus in the Word of God? How do you recognize Jesus in the sacrament of Holy Communion? Bibliography See Luke - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/luke/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, 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 Next Luke List

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

Jesus gathers disciples and followers. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 4:18-25 Jesus gathers disciples and followers. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti March 22, 2024 Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus gathers disciples As we saw in the previous passage, something significant is happening. Jesus went to the wilderness where John was baptizing and then returned home. But now he has moved from his more rural village to a commercial town on the Sea of Galilee. He has taken up John’s message: to repent for the kingdom of heaven is here. But he is not preaching that message out in the desert, far from towns, as John was. Instead, he is preaching it in an important commercial town in his region, and soon he will be going from town to town. Whereas John waited for the people to come away to him, Jesus is taking the message to the people where they live and work. Why is this significant? Who does Jesus call? Fishing is not a job for everyone. It takes a person of a special character to handle the challenges faced by fishers. What do you see in the character of successful fishermen that might be useful for more than just fishing? Barclay suggests these attributes: patience, perseverance, courage, an eye for the right moment, and keeping oneself out of sight – see Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 73-74). How might these be good attributes for people called to the task of evangelization –called to share a controversial message about God with people who might not yet be interested? What does Jesus say to these fishermen? Why do you think they followed him? John 1:35-42 tells us that their decision to follow Jesus was not as abrupt as it sounds. Andrew had been a follower of John the Baptist and had had a previous encounter with Jesus. Have you had experiences where God prepared you before asking you to do something significant? Explain. What would it have taken for you to follow Jesus? Matthew 4: 23-25 Jesus preaches, heals, and attracts large crowds After gathering a few disciples, what does Jesus do next? Verse 23 tells us that Jesus was both “teaching” and “proclaiming” (sometimes translated as “preaching”). How is teaching different from proclaiming/preaching? How are both valuable? What kind of audiences would Jesus have found in synagogues? Why might that have been a good place to start? Besides teaching and preaching, what else does Jesus do? Why do you think he heals – especially after resisting the temptation to do things for show? What does Jesus’s desire to heal people tell us about him? These activities bring him a great following. Where do the people come from? Are the crowds only from Jewish areas, or also from Gentile areas? What does this tell us about Jesus’s early effect on people? Jesus is attracting the attention of people from both Jewish and Gentile areas around Galilee. Verse 24 says Jesus’s fame spread in Syria , which was Gentile territory to the northwest of Galilee. Verse 25 says that crowds followed him from Galilee itself which was primarily Jewish but with some non-Jewish populations. The Decapolis was the group of largely Gentile Greek cities east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Jerusalem and Judea were Jewish territory to the south. Beyond the Jordan was Jewish territory east of the Jordan River, south of the Decapolis, east of Samaria and running south to the area across the river east of Jerusalem and Judea. Jesus will eventually visit all of these territories. If you were in Galilee at this time, would you have been attracted to Jesus? If so, what would have attracted you? What attracts you about Jesus now in your life? Take a step back and consider this: In 4:24, Matthew tells us of the vast array of diseases and illnesses that Jesus cured. Jesus is easing those kinds of suffering wherever he can. At the same time, Jesus is trying to gather a core group of disciples whom he will put through an extended process of formation to prepare them to be leaders when he is no longer with them. What do you think is going through Jesus’s mind as he heals people? What do you think is going through Jesus’s mind as he gathers disciples? What do you think is going through Jesus’s mind as he hears our prayers asking for healing and relief from various kinds of sufferings today? Other people are praying to Jesus too. What might Jesus be saying to you as you think about what other people are praying to him? 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 List Next