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Previous Next Matthew 9:1-17 Who are you willing to befriend? “I say to you: Stand up.” Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin, Germany. Tom Faletti. 24 June 2024. Tom Faletti August 3, 2024 Matthew 9:1-8 a paralyzed man is forgiven of his sins (and healed) Jesus returns home to Capernaum, the city he moved to after he started his public ministry (Matt. 4:13). Matthew leaves out some details we are familiar with from Mark’s version of this story – for example, in Mark’s telling, they let the man down through the roof of the house. What does Jesus see in the men who are carrying the paralyzed man? What does he say first to the man (verse 2)? Why would Jesus focus on the man’s need for forgiveness from his sins? Why do the scribes react so negatively? Mark explains why they think he is blaspheming. They are saying to themselves, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7, NRSV) Unstated but probably also in their minds is that sins are forgiven through sacrifices offered in the Temple. Note that if Jesus were merely human, his claim would indeed be blasphemous, because sin is, at root, an offense against God, and only God can forgive that. Note also that blasphemy is a serious charge. Jesus will ultimately be charged with blasphemy when the religious leaders use it to call for his execution by crucifixion (Matt. 26:65). How does Jesus respond to the scribes in verses 4-5? Some people find Jesus’s statement confusing. The key to understanding it is to picture how easily people could check to see if the statement is accurate. It is easy to say , “Your sins are forgiven,” because no human can verify whether your words have made it happen. But it is hard to claim that a paralyzed person is now able to stand up and walk unless you actually have healing powers, because the evidence will clearly show whether you are telling the truth or lying. For a purely human person, which is easier: to tell someone their sins are forgiven or to tell them they are healed and can now walk? Why? In verse 6, Jesus says that healing the man will help the scribes know that Jesus can forgive sins. Explain how this is so. It is only at this point that Jesus now heals the man. How might this conversation have been important for the man to hear, before he was healed? How do you think the man felt, having his sins forgiven and his body healed? How do you feel when you experience God’s forgiveness? In John 20:22-23, Jesus gives to the apostles the power to forgive sins. How do you see this power flowing through the church today? How do the crowds react to what Jesus has said and done? How is their reaction different from the reaction of the people in the town where the demon-possessed men lived? How does this story ratchet up even further the power and authority Jesus is showing? How does forgiving sins show an even greater authority than stilling a storm or ordering demons to leave a man? What does this story say to you about your own life and your own relationship with Jesus? Go back to verse 2 for a moment. The man was only able to have this encounter with God because some friends brought him to Jesus. How are friends important to our faith? Are there some friends of yours who might need a little help from you to bring them to Jesus so that they can have an experience of God? Introduction to Matthew 9:9-17 : Jesus’s relationship with tax collectors and fasting Having related 3 more miracles, Matthew again takes a break to bring us two more conversations between Jesus and those around him. In both cases, Jesus is trying to give religious leaders a clearer insight into his purpose or mission. In each of these two dialogues, Jesus presents three arguments in response to a challenge. Matthew 9:9-13 going to a party at a tax collector’s house What good thing happens in verse 9? In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27, the tax collector’s name is Levi, and in Mark 2:15 and Luke 5:29 the party takes place at Levi’s house. The fact that in the Gospel of Matthew this man’s name was changed to Matthew suggests that there may be some connection between this Gospel and this man. However, as our Introduction to Matthew explains, this tax collector is probably not the actual author of this Gospel, even though some sayings in this Gospel may have been handed down from him. Tax collectors (also called by their Roman name “publicans”) were responsible for collecting local taxes in Roman provinces and remitting the taxes to Rome. In Israel, they were Jews who were usually despised for two reasons First, they were seen as collaborators with the imperial overlords who oppressed them. Second, they were seen as extortionists. Tax collectors did not receive a salary. To become a tax collector, they had to win an auction where they made the best bid to collect the most taxes for Rome, and they had to deliver on the amount of taxes they promised. The only way they could make money was by collecting more taxes than they had to remit to Rome. They were allowed to use whatever means were necessary to collect the taxes, and since the more they collected the richer they became, the system was highly vulnerable to abuse. Many tax collectors used extortionist methods to enrichment themselves at the expense of their fellow countrymen. As a result, they tended to be wealthy and hated. The term “sinners” is used repeatedly in the Gospels. It includes people in a variety of occupations, including camel drivers, herders, and physicians (who expose themselves to blood and other impurities that might make them ritually unclean) (Benedict T. Viviano, “The Gospel According to Matthew,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , para. 61, p. 649). H. L. Ellison indicates that there is a place in the Talmud where a list of sinners includes gamblers, people who engage in usury, criminals, and tax collectors, among others (H. L. Ellison, “Matthew,” The International Bible Commentary , p. 1131). In both cases, the word appears to focus on people who have made persistent business or vocational choices, not people who have committed individual sins in their private lives. Is Matthew’s decision to follow Jesus a good thing even if he is a tax collector? Are there times when we are skeptical about people who count themselves among the followers of Jesus? How do we deal with that? Why is it significant that Jesus dines at Matthew’s home? What is the Pharisees’ complaint against Jesus in verse 11? The Pharisees were devoted to strict observance of every tiny detail of the Law, with great concern about ritual purity. They would never have entered the home of a tax collector or sinner, much less eaten with them. They think Jesus should have the same view. What are they implying about Jesus? They are implying he is a sinner because he hangs out with sinners. As my Bible Study group member Migna Taveras put it, they are suggesting that “you are who you hang out with.” Matthew has now brought into the light the opposition of both scribes and Pharisees to Jesus. Jesus offers 3 arguments in response to the Pharisees’ concern. First, he uses the analogy of healthy and sick people (verse 12). How does this analogy fit the situation of going to this dinner party? Are we “well” or “sick”? Explain. What might we do when we realize that we and others are a combination of well and sick? Jesus’s second argument (verse 13a) uses a quote from Hosea 6:6 in which God says he desires mercy, not sacrifice. What does that mean? The prophet Hosea, speaking to the northern kingdom of Israel, was trying to call back to God a people who had rejected the Davidic line of kings, set up their own worship practices in place of worship in the Temple, and tolerated and often embraced the worship of other gods. The Pharisees, in their response to Jesus, are rejecting the Messiah in the Davidic line who is, like Hosea, trying to bring a wayward people back to God. Jesus echoes Hosea in saying that mercy is the first thing on God’s mind. How can we embrace Jesus’s call for mercy in our lives? Jesus’s third argument (verse 13b) is that he came to call sinners, not the (self-)righteous. We might find it uncomfortable to be counted among either of those groups. Is there a third option besides “sinners” and the “(self-)righteous”? How is Jesus’s statement that he has come to call sinners, not the righteous, a direct appeal to those who complained? How can we embrace more fully the attitude of the Lord who welcomes sinners, comes for the sick, and extends the mercy of God? What is something specific that you can do differently or do more consistently to by like Jesus? Matthew 9:14-17 John’s disciples and fasting Jesus encounters a third complaint, this time from the followers of John the Baptist. What is the complaint in verse 14? What are they implying about Jesus? Jesus offers 3 arguments in response to this question about fasting. First, he notes that people don’t mourn at a wedding (verse 15). What is the meaning of this seeming non-sequitur? Jesus is the bridegroom, and his disciples are the wedding guests. They do not need to fast while he is present. When Jesus refers to himself as a bridegroom, it evokes several Old Testament Scriptures where God is described as a bridegroom, including Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:20; Hosea 2:14-20. When Jesus says that later they “will” fast, is that an order or just a prediction/prophecy? Jesus’s second point is that you don’t sow a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak (verse 16). What is wrong with doing that? What is Jesus’s point? What does the unshrunk cloth stand for, in this analogy? What is the old cloth? What are we? Where do we fit in the analogy Jesus offers? Jesus’s third point is that you don’t put new wine in old wineskins (verse 17). What is wrong with doing that? What is Jesus’s point? What does the new wine stand for, in this analogy? What are the old wineskins? What are we? Where do we fit in the story Jesus tells? How can we welcome the “new wine” in our lives and live as new wineskins? What about the “old wineskins” who live among us? Is there hope for them? What can we do with them? Note: In 9:15, Jesus gives his first hint of his coming death: “The days will come. . . .” These hints will get stronger and more explicit as we continue in Matthew. Take a step back and consider this: In the story of the paralyzed man, the man’s friends bring him to Jesus and the scribes are resistant to Jesus’s authority. In the story of the party at the home of the tax collector, the Pharisees are indignant that Jesus has befriended these obvious sinners. Whenever Jesus is confronted with a person, he begins with the fact they are created by God and loved by God, and therefore worthy of receiving our welcoming and love. He always sees the whole person – not just one thing they have done, or one aspect of who they are. Therefore, when he sees the paralyzed man, he sees someone who needs both healing and forgiveness. When he sees the tax collector, he sees someone who could be an apostle. When he sees the tax collector’s dinner companions, he sees people who are more than what they currently seem to be. And he wants to befriend them all. How can we put on Jesus’s eyes and see the fuller story of every person we meet, rather than rejecting people because parts of their story are objectionable? Who are you willing to befriend? Bibliography Click here for the bibliography . Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! 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Bible Study New Testament Matthew Mark Luke John 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians Other Studies Jubilee Year 2025 Mary, Jesus' Mother Old Testament (I hope to get to the Old Testament, but the New Testament is my first priority.) Why use Faith Explored Bible Studies? Faith Explored Bible Studies provide study materials that equip small groups and individuals so that they can study the Bible confidently and apply it to their lives in practical ways. Each study includes: Thought-provoking questions that challenge us to apply the Word of God to our lives today. Just enough background commentary to guide us through the passages that might be confusing. Challenging reflections that ask us to take Jesus seriously and give our lives fully to Him. Why study the Bible? The Word of God is "living and active" (Hebrew 4:12) When we read the Bible, the word of God comes alive in our hearts. It is not a dead letter from the past, but God’s timeless message for us today. When we study the Bible, God does amazing things in us. He comforts, encourages, teaches, challenges, and empowers us. The Word of God fills us with the love of our Father and Creator, transforms us to live like Jesus, and opens our hearts to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is “a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105) God’s Word shows us the way to live in this world. We face so many challenges in our desire to live lives that honor God. The Word of God shines a light that illuminates the way. It shows us how to deal with the challenges in our lives, how to think like Jesus, and how to be a follower of Jesus in every aspect of our lives. If you want to learn more about what God is saying to us and how to apply God’s Word to our lives today, pick a book of the Bible and dive in! Leading a Small-Group Bible Study We have a variety of tips and techniques for leaders that can help your small-group Bible Study explore the Bible deeply and function well. See our small group leadership training materials here: Leading a Small-Group Bible Study . Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous Next Matthew Bibliography Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of the Gospel of Matthew. 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 . The Saint Andrew Press, 2nd edition, 1958. Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2 . The Saint Andrew Press, 2nd edition, 1958. Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament . New Haven, CT: 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 . A Greek-English Lexicon . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940. Internet Archive , Volume I: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0001/mode/2up , Volume II: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0002/mode/2up . Also at Furman Classics Editions, http://folio2.furman.edu/lsj/ . 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 . Belfast , directed by Kenneth Branagh, TKBC and Northern Ireland Screen, 2021. 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 . Feldman, Robert S. Understanding Psychology , 14th edition. McGraw Hill Education. 2019. “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 . King, Martin Luther, Jr. Strength to Love . Beacon Press, Boston. 1963. Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity . Macmillan Publishing Co. 1952. Macmillan Paperbacks edition, 1960. 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 . “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/ . Poythress, Vern. “The Baptism of Jesus.” The Gospel Coalition , https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-baptism-of-jesus/ . 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 © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous Next Matthew 5:33-37 Integrity means your words line up with your actions. Tom Faletti May 2, 2024 Matthew 5:33-37 Oaths: what are you saying? What did the Old Testament Law say about oaths in Leviticus 19:12? What kind of oaths were prohibited? (See also Deuteronomy 23:21-23.) In Jesus’s time, Jews made oaths and vows frequently and casually. William Barclay says they developed arcane rules for which oaths actually had to be honored and which could be ignored without repercussions (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 157). If you didn’t include God himself in your oath, it didn’t “count.” What does Jesus say about oaths? What are the reasons behind Jesus’s prohibit of these oaths? We do not have control over the heavens, the earth, or even our own bodies, so we have no right to be swearing by them. What do you think about Jesus’s rule, and why? If I leave the heavens, etc., out of my oath is it OK? Or is Jesus making a bigger point? How often do you make promises? How seriously do you take your promises? How do respond when someone says, “Promise me you’ll . . .”? Some people often signal that they are about to say something honest with a phrase such as: “I’m not going to lie to you,” “Frankly,” “To tell the truth,” etc. I sometimes wonder, when such people say other things that are not prefaced by that assurance, whether that means that what they are about to say might not be the truth. How honest are you in your everyday dealings with people? Can others count on what you are saying to be true, or do you have a tendency to shade the truth? Why does Jesus say that anything more than “Yes” or “No” comes from the evil one? Jesus is saying that a truly good person would never need to take an oath because everything he or she says would always be the truth. If a person needs to add an oath to what they are saying, it is a sign that they have already made compromises with untruthfulness that tarnish their honesty. Why do we sometimes want to embellish what we say by adding a promise? What is the purpose of adding a promise? Some reasons might be: to assure, or to impress. What would it look like to live a life where your “Yes” is so solid that no one would ever feel the need to ask you to swear that what you are saying is true? How can we foster a world where the truth is so cherished that people don’t feel the need to make oaths? Take a step back and consider this: Jesus’s words about honesty in speech are not isolated. They appear right after he asked us to squarely confront our thought life to tame lust, and asked us to be true to our marriage commitments no matter what. He is getting at something bigger than just a series of individual character issues or types of sin. He is pointing us toward true integrity. Integrity is the characteristic of a person who is solid through and through – where the inside of the person and the outside of the person match up and demonstrate a consistent morality. When you look at them, what you see on the outside is what they actually are on the inside. What they say is actually true. What they spend their time thinking about is consistent with the ethical principles they profess. What they do is what they say they will do, and what they do is what God has taught them to do. The word “integrity” comes from a Latin word that means whole or complete in the sense of being intact, unbroken, undivided. The person of integrity is undivided. Their whole being is intact. They are one person – the same person inside and out. That is what Jesus is calling us to be. How can you cultivate a character of integrity? How might you consider changing the way you talk and act – the things you say and do – in order to ensure that integrity defines your character? How might you consider changes in your thought life, so that the you on the outside matches the you on the inside and matches what God is calling you to be inside and out? Bibliography Click here for the bibliography . Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous Next Jubilee Year 2025: Embrace God’s Hope and Extend It to All Session 6: A life anchored in hope, part 1 Faith, charity, and hope; life everlasting; death; happiness. (Read paragraphs 18-21) Link to S pes Non Confundit Photo by Tom Faletti, Washington, DC, July 26, 2020. Tom Faletti November 13, 2024 Hope extends beyond the grave! It walks with us through even sin, death, and final judgment, as it accompanies us to our ultimate destination of everlasting life with God. That is the message of Pope Francis’s final section of Spes Non Confundit , which we begin to explore in this session. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we can remain anchored in hope and have confidence in our future. Our study guide questions will help us explore simple ways we can demonstrate our hope as we go through our everyday lives. We will also explore what eternal life is like, the reasons we can have hope of eternal life, and how life is a pilgrimage toward eternal life where death is not the final destination. Read paragraphs 18-21 in preparation for this session. (Section 5) Anchored in hope In this section, Pope Francis explores reasons why we can live a life anchored in hope. Paragraph 18 (hope gives direction and purpose to life) 🔗 Read Romans 15:13 In Romans 15:13, Paul describes God as a “God of hope.” In what ways is God a God of hope? According to Paul, what does God fill us with, that enables us to abound in hope? How does the Holy Spirit play a role in our ability to abound in hope? In paragraph 18 of Spes Non Confundit , Pope Francis says that when we abound in hope, “we may bear credible and attractive witness to the faith and love that dwell in our hearts.” What does this mean? Pope Francis shows a keen awareness that we can serve God in the most mundane parts of our everyday lives. God is present in the so-called “secular” spaces of our lives as well as the “sacred” spaces. What are some specific examples Pope Francis suggests for how we can demonstrate our hope in our ordinary, everyday interactions with others? Pope Francis’s examples show how simple actions can bear witness to our faith and the love of God. What are some simple actions you could adopt or make more habitual in the “secular” spaces of your life that would bear witness to the love of God even if you did not have an opportunity to say a word? Read 1 Peter 3:15 How can the little ways that we live our lives open up opportunities for us to share the reasons why we have hope? How can you let your hope show more clearly to the people around you? Suggested Activities: Pay attention to the little things that some people do that bring life, joy, and hope into their interactions with other people. Then considers ways that you can be a similar vehicle of God’s hope and joy. Make a point of looking up at and smiling at your children and loved ones when they come in the door of your house. Make eye contact and smile when people walk by you at work. Look for the little things you can do that might make other people’s loads a little lighter, and do those things without calling attention to yourself. Start each conversation with something positive rather than something negative. Make saying “thank you” a habit. Paragraph 19 (life everlasting) 🔗 Read John 11:21-27 What does Jesus mean when he says that believers who die will live? What does this teaching mean to you? How does this teaching give you hope or comfort? In paragraph 19, Pope Francis draws on the teachings of the Second Vatican Council as he describes the effect on people when they do not have hope in eternal life. Where have you seen people struggle due to a lack of hope in eternal life? Pope Francis says that we can have hope because we know that in the end we will encounter the Lord of glory. How does knowing that in the end you will see and be with Jesus affect how you live your life? Suggested Activity: Spend some time by yourself, contemplating what it will be like when you have left this world and are present with Jesus. Open your heart to His presence now. See the love in His welcoming face and soak up His love. Talk to Him. Listen to what He says to you. Then carry that awareness of the presence of Jesus back into your everyday life. Paragraph 20 (death, and Jesus’s resurrection) 🔗 Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 In paragraph 20, Pope Francis confronts the fact that, although we have hope of eternal life, we still have to deal with the reality of death. He quotes 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. What does Paul say in that passage? Pope Francis calls attention to four verbs that apply to Jesus: He died , was buried , was raised , and appeared . Why are these verbs so important? In paragraph 20, Pope Francis quotes from one of the prefaces that can be prayed in the Mass of the dead used for funeral Masses, which states that when a person dies, “life is changed, not ended.” What does this mean and how does it offer hope? In the second part of paragraph 20, Pope Francis says that we have “a life capable of transfiguring death’s drama.” What does that mean in practical terms? If life is a pilgrimage toward life everlasting, as Pope Francis says at the end of the second part of paragraph 20, then what role does death play in what is to come? How do you want to live your life now, knowing that your destination is your loving Father and His Son Jesus? The last two parts of paragraph 20 focus on the example of the martyrs. How do they provide insight into the image of life as a pilgrimage? How do they provide support for the hope we have that transcends death? Suggested Activity: Pick a martyr whose story speaks to your heart and learn more about them. Go beyond the obituary facts. Learn about their thinking, their spiritual life, how they related to God during their life, how they communicated the love of God to others as they lived. Try to emulate something you find attractive in the way they lived. Paragraph 21 (happiness) 🔗 In paragraph 21, Pope Francis discusses what life after death is like. What are some of the things we will experience in eternal life? “Happiness” is a term sometimes used to describe what life is like for those who live in full communion with God in heaven. The second part of paragraph 21 tries to describe that happiness. What will the happiness of heaven include? Read Romans 8:38-39 Pope Francis quotes from the apostle Paul as he discusses the love of God that we will ultimately experience. What does Romans 8:38-39 tell us about the love of God? If none of the things that Paul mentions in Romans 8:38-39 can keep us from God’s love, what does that tell us about God? How does this understanding of eternal life give us hope? Since we can have this confidence that we may live forever in eternal happiness and communion with God, how can that free us to do more, rather than less, to help the least among us who struggle so much in our present world? Suggested Activity: Think about people who are facing grave trials in our world today (Romans 8:35 provides examples such as war, persecution, and famine). Place yourself in their shoes and feel their agony. See them as God, who loves them dearly, sees them. Pray for them. Pray that they will experience the love of God in the midst of their trials. Pray that God’s people will work to ease their suffering. Look over the passages we have considered in this session. What especially gives you hope or stands out as especially important from this exploration, and why? Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous Next Matthew 11:1-19 What is the evidence that Jesus is the Messiah? Tom Faletti August 27, 2024 Matthew 11:1-19 Jesus responds to John the Baptist and explains John’s role in God’s plan Notice in verse 1 that Matthew does not tell us what happened when Jesus sent out the apostles. This reinforces the idea that Matthew isn’t focused on writing an event-by-event history; he is focused on explaining how Jesus’s life and teachings are relevant to the Christian community he is writing for. What matters most to Matthew here is not what the apostles did but what his readers might do. Verses 2-6 What is the meaning of John’s question? What does Jesus offer as signs, or what we would call “evidence,” in response to John’s question? All of the signs Jesus offers involve physical healing except the last one. Why does the fact that the good news is being proclaimed to the poor fit in a list of signs, and how is it evidence of who Jesus is? How is this concern for the poor a sign that Jesus is the one sent by God? How is being concerned for the poor evidence that a person may be aligned with or sent by God? What does Jesus’s inclusion of the poor here suggest to us about our own relationship with the poor? Notice that Jesus does not directly answer John’s question. Instead, he provides evidence by naming deeds mostly deeds mentioned in the Old Testament) as things the Messiah would do. John would have been familiar with those Old Testament passages and would have understood the conclusion Jesus is suggesting he reach. Let’s take a look at two of those prophecies: Read Isaiah 35:3-6 . According to Isaiah 35:3-6, what things will happen when the Lord comes to save his people? Read Isaiah 61:1 . According to Isaiah 61:1, what things will happen when the Lord comes to save his people? Jesus also names signs that are not listed in the Old Testament prophecies – signs that perhaps make his presence even more wonderous that what had been predicted. What has he done that goes beyond those Old Testament prophecies? Jesus raised a small number of people from the dead. But for some people, the greatest evidence that Jesus is the Messiah is the fact that he himself rose from the dead. Why is that powerful evidence of who Jesus is? Verse 6 is not meant as a criticism of John the Baptist, but rather as a set-up for what Jesus says in verses 16-19, where he challenges those in his own time who have taken offense at him. What are some of the things Jesus said or did that people took offense at? In our time we also have people who take offense at Jesus. What about Jesus causes people to take offense at him today, in our time? Have the words or deeds of Jesus ever been a stumbling block or problem for your faith? If so, how did you deal with it? Verses 7-15 Jesus shows a bit of wit as he speaks about John’s identity. He is saying that the people knew that John was special, or they wouldn’t have gone out to see him and be baptized by him. Jesus follows this by revealing John’s identity in biblical terms. He quotes Malachi, the last officially recognized prophet, whose book is the last book of the Old Testament (last when the Deuterocanonical books are placed in their proper places). Read Malachi 3:1 . What does Malachi 3:1 say that relates to John the Baptist? Continue on, reading Malachi 3:2-3 . In this description (Malachi 3:2-3) of the messenger preparing the way before the Lord, what reminds you of John, and how? Read Malachi 4:5-6 . In Mathew 11:14, Jesus explicitly connects John to Elijah by invoking Malachi 4:5. What does Malachi 4:5 say? In what sense is John the Baptist like Elijah? In Luke’s Gospel (1:8-20), an angel appeared to John the Baptist’s father Zechariah and told Zechariah that he would have a child. The angel uses language from Malachi 4:6 in describing John. What does this verse say about John the Baptist? Why does John the Baptist get so much attention in the Gospels? Why is John important in the story of God’s plan to save his people? John serves not only as a forerunner to Jesus but also as a link or bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Go back to Matthew and look at Matthew 11:11 . Jesus has now established that John is really important. Why does he then say that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John? Greater in what sense? Is he talking about moral/spiritual greatnesss? About what they could experience that John did not have an opportunity to experience? Or what? This question may be answered in a variety of ways, but most answers revolve around the fact that Christians who lived after John had the opportunity to know the crucified and risen Christ and experience the new life he brings in the kingdom of God, and John did not. Barclay offers this: “But what was it that John lacked? What is it that the Christian has that John could never have? The answer to that is very simple and very fundamental. John had never seen the Cross. And therefore one thing John could never know – the full revelation of the love of God” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2 , p. 7, emphasis in the original). It is our opportunity, blessing, and privilege to have experienced what John did not. We did not merit it. Do not agonize over verse 12. The scholars consider it to be puzzling at best and offer a wide variety of interpretations of it. The “violence” could be the violence suffered by John at the hands of the Roman government, or the sufferings of Christians in Matthew’s day (perhaps as a parenthetical insert by Matthew), or the apocalyptic sufferings to come; but some commentators consider it to be allegorical, referring to the self-discipline that Christians must embrace as followers of Christ. Verses 16-19 Jesus contrasts what was said about John and what was said about Jesus, to show the hypocrisy of those who rejected both John and Jesus. What was the impression of John among those who did not respond to his preaching? What was the impression of Jesus among those who did not respond to his preaching? Are there ways that we can become naysayers, rejecting preachers or teachers who seem too severe but also rejecting those who seem too soft? Scholars disagree about the meaning of verse 19. Luke records the saying differently (Luke 7:35), saying that wisdom is vindicated by her children. That form of the statement might suggest that John and Jesus are the children of wisdom. But Matthew’s version offers a different interpretation that draws on the Old Testament practice of personifying wisdom as a person (see, for example, Proverbs 8-9 and Wisdom 7:22-8:21). In that view, Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom, and his works vindicate his claims. If we follow that interpretation, verse 19 reaffirms the point of verse 2: that Jesus’s works demonstrate that he is “the one,” the very wisdom of God. Would it be fair to say that when someone is claiming to be offering words of wisdom, the deeds or actions that come from following that word of wisdom might be a helpful guide to whether the claim is actually wisdom or nonsense? Explain. How do Jesus’s actions give us reasons to believe his teachings, so that we can be confident that he is providing wisdom from God? If Jesus is the wisdom of God, what might you consider doing, or doing more of, to grow in that wisdom? Take a step back and consider this: In Matthew, 11:4-5, Jesus tells John the Baptist to judge him by his actions. The Christian community today mostly does not do the things that Jesus did: we mostly don’t give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, heal lepers, open the ears of the deaf, or raise the dead. To deal with this problem, people often spiritualize the statement, as though Jesus was talking about spiritual blindness, for example, rather than physical blindness. However, the Christian community, down through the ages, has shown the same concern for people’s physical needs, even though they have mostly not addressed those needs through miraculous signs. For example, Christians, and especially Catholic Christians, have created countless hospitals and other health care institutions to connect people with medical professionals who use the medical truths God has allowed scientists to discover, to bring healing to many people. I can support those good works, and I can support efforts to ensure universal access to health care. Second, Christians have found countless ways to carry out the last sign that Jesus offered to John: to proclaim good news to the poor. Healing can involve meeting both people’s spiritual needs and their physical needs. Similarly, good news can come to the poor both in the spiritual form of the spoken gospel and in the physical form of actions that meet their physical needs. The apostle James tells us: “If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?” (James 2:15-16, NABRE) Why should someone believe our gospel if we do not show an active, effective concern for their pressing physical needs as well as their spiritual needs? World Concern, a Christian nonprofit organization that provides disaster response and community development in many countries around the world, puts it this way: “Food is a basic human need and an essential part of bringing the whole gospel to a village. A mother cannot hear the gospel over the cries of her hungry child” (“Food & Nutrition,” World Concern , https://worldconcern.org/food-nutrition , accessed 25 Aug. 2024). The whole gospel addresses the physical and spiritual needs of God’s children. This is not the first time we have seen Jesus express concern for the poor. Repeatedly throughout Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus emphasizes his particular concern for the poor and suffering of the world. Part of sharing the good news of Christ is showing his concern for the basic needs of others. We are called to present his love to others by being his hands and feet as the Body of Christ in this world. How can you show concern for the whole person as you consider the poor around you? How can you bring the good news of Jesus both in words and in actions that address their basic human needs? What is your church doing to meet the basic needs of the poor? What more might it be able to do, perhaps with a little help from you? What international Christian organizations, like World Concern, might you support to extend, in the name of Christ, God’s helping hand to those struggling to meet their basic needs? Many Christians support the work of Catholic Relief Services and/or World Vision, both of which are large, highly respected relief and development organizations that effectively address the basic needs of millions of people around the world every year. Bibliography Click here for the bibliography . Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous Next Matthew 2:13-23 Herod seeks to kill Jesus, which is why Jesus ends up as a refugee in Egypt, and then in Nazareth. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 2:13-23 Jesus becomes a refugee, avoids a massacre, and ends up in Nazareth Matthew tells this part of the story to help us understand how Jesus could be the Messiah even though he grew up in Nazareth, not in Bethlehem. Why does Joseph take Jesus and Mary to Egypt? When the angel tells Joseph to “flee,” the Greek word for flee is pheuge , which is related to our English words “refuge” and “refugee.” It was common for Jews to hide out in Egypt if they were in trouble or in danger in Judea; there were Jewish communities in a number of Egyptian cities, so they would not have felt totally alone. Still, it was a long way from home. Jesus began his life as a refugee. Fortunately, Joseph and Mary did not have to convince a skeptical government that the family was worthy of asylum status. God was willing to become not only a human, not only a poor person, but a refugee. How does that help us understand the inherent dignity of refugees and the importance of being welcoming to them? The “fulfillment prophecy” that Matthew cites in verse 15 is not actually about Jesus or the Messiah. It was a statement from Hosea 11:1 about the fact that God called his “son,” the people of Israel, out of Egypt, long ago. Matthew repurposes it, perhaps to try to convince Jews that there is a huge amount of evidence in the Hebrew Scriptures pointing to Jesus. Matthew might also be thinking that Jesus’s experience of being brought out of oppression is a foreshadowing of our own experience of being brought out of oppression by Jesus. Matthew’s frequent use of these “fulfillment prophecies” leads some scholars to conclude that Matthew is picking out Old Testament prophecies and then creating stories to fit them. There is no evidence that he is doing that. Rather, it appears that he is organizing the stories he knows about Jesus and then searching the Old Testament to see if it has “prophecies” that might fit with those events. The stories come first; not the prophecies. When the wise men do not return to him, what does Herod do? Bethlehem was not a large town, so scholars think this would have been a slaughter of perhaps 20 or 30 children. While not large in number, all the children killed by Herod would have been deeply mourned by their mothers and fathers. Some scholars think the killing of the innocents is inspired by Pharaoh’s killing of the first-born sons of the Israelites before the exodus from Egypt, but again if Matthew created the story for that purpose he could easily have made the connection explicit and he did not. The “fulfillment prophecy” in verse 18 is from Jeremiah 31:15, where the original verse is about the Israelites being forced into exile by the Babylonians. It is followed by prophecies that the people will return from exile. Ramah was 5 miles north of Jerusalem, so it was 10 miles from Bethlehem. Rachel’s tomb was thought to be in the vicinity of Bethlehem. Matthew puts that all together and sees Jesus. Where do you think God was, as this was happening? God allows humans to do a lot of evil things, without intervening. Why do you think that is? God is guiding us to be people who as fully as possible reflect God’s image. If he intervened every time something bad happened, we would not be able to learn the lessons of our actions and would not grow to spiritual maturity. Also, we might stop trying to be our best selves, figuring that God will make things better if we mess up. Allowing us to do evil is the price that must be paid for giving us the chance to grow and mature and be great: to take on the mind of Jesus, to be the Body of Christ to the world, to live in the power of the Spirit. Jesus escapes from a tyrant by going to Egypt and then returning when the tyrant is gone. How does this connect with Moses’s escape, as an infant, from a pharaoh who was a tyrant in Egypt, and the Israelites’ later escape from a tyrant pharaoh in Egypt? The words “go . . . for those seeking the child’s life are dead” (2:20, NRSV) echo the Lord’s direction to Moses to go back to Egypt because the Pharaoh who wanted to kill him is dead (Exodus 4:19), setting up a possible linkage between Jesus and Moses: Jesus is the new Moses, leading his people out of oppression and giving them a new Law. When Herod dies, why doesn’t Joseph go back to Bethlehem? Joseph is afraid of Herod’s son Archelaus, who is given the southern territory including Jerusalem and Bethlehem by his father. Joseph had good reason to be afraid of Archelaus. Archelaus was so oppressive and hated so much by the Jews that he was eventually deposed from his position by Rome. Recall that Herod’s roots were in Idumea. Archelaus had roots in Idumea and Samaria, so he was even more suspect of not being a real Jew, and he treated the Jews so horribly that this suspicion was confirmed in the people’s minds. For example, Josephus tells us that in one of Archelaus's first official acts, 3,000 Pharisees were killed in response to an uprising protesting his father’s last act of oppression in Jerusalem. Joseph goes north to Galilee, to the town of Nazareth, a place far away from Jerusalem and not under Archelaus’s jurisdiction. Matthew’s final “fulfillment prophecy” in this chapter (verse 23) cannot be found in the Old Testament. Scholars have searched and never found anything that matches. So we don’t know what Matthew had in mind here. The closest thing is a prophecy before Samson is born that Samson will be a “nazirite” (Judges 13:5), but that is not the name of a place. Perhaps Matthew was inviting a connection to the nazirites, which were Israelites, including Samson and Samuel, who consecrated themselves to God, never drank alcohol, and never cut their hair, among other strict practices (Numbers 6). But the connection is flawed, since Jesus didn’t live an ascetic life and refrained from the demonstrations of human strength that Samson excelled at. Other scholars point to a possible word-play as Isaiah 11:1 talks of a “branch” arising from the stump of Jesse, and the Hebrew word for “branch” is netser , which sounds similar to the beginning of the name Nazareth. Since Jesus fulfilled in his own person some prophecies that were addressed to “Israel,” some scholars think this word-play hinting at the branch that arises from Israel is in Matthew’s mind. All of these are nice ideas, but we don’t know what Matthew had in mind; so this suggested quote remains a puzzle. Even if we don’t expect God to communicate to us nowadays through dreams, how is Joseph a role model for seeking guidance from God? When you figure out what God is asking you to do, do it! ; make yourself open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit; trust that God has a way forward for your life; take care of those around you; be aware of what is going on around you in the world, but don’t be paralyzed by it. Joseph settles his family in Nazareth. What do you know about Nazareth as a place to live and work? Joseph might have seen that he could find good work in the area of Nazareth, especially in Sepphoris, 5 miles away. This is explained in Raymond Brown’s one-volume biblical commentary: “Joseph, involved in the building trade, probably settled in in Nazareth, because he could find abundant work in neighboring Sepphoris, which Herod Antipas was rebuilding as his capital at that time” (Benedict T. Viviano, O.P., “The Gospel According to Matthew,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , para. 15, p. 636). Historians say that Sepphoris, though a Jewish city, did not join the Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in 66 A.D., suggesting that it took a more cosmopolitan rather than strictly Jewish approach to life under Roman occupation. How might this choice of a hometown have affected Jesus as he grew up? Although Nazareth was a small town, it was not a backwater. Besides being just 5 miles from Herod Antipas’s capital at Sepphoris, it was nestled in the fabric of trade routes to faraway places. It was only 15 miles away from the major international north-south Roman highway that ran through Israel along the Mediterranean coast from Syria to Egypt. Nazareth was also the crossroads of two smaller highways that served as trade routes, one starting at Ptolemais on the coast (modern-day Acre, Israel) and running southeast to Samaria, and the other running northeast through Nazareth to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, a city founded by Herod Antipas (see “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/ ). As a result, Jesus, as a growing child and as a young man, would have been exposed to other cultures and a bigger world even while living in his Jewish village. This is all we get from Matthew for the “Christmas story” – very little compared to what we have from Luke. What important points about the background, birth, and infancy of Jesus are provided to us by Matthew? Jesus is Son of David, son of Abraham, Son of God due to his virgin birth, Emmanuel (“God with us”), perhaps a new Moses, born in Bethlehem, and raised in Nazareth. His birth story shows how the hand of God protects a little one so that he can grow up and save us, and the first people to recognize that this little one is great is a small group of Gentiles, a bit of foreshadowing that continues to play out as Matthew shows that the gospel is for Gentiles as well as Jews. How do you see the hand of God working subtly but decisively to bring good out of evil in these stories? How do you see the hand of God doing the same thing in your life? Do you think Matthew succeeds in making his point that Jesus fulfills the messianic prophecies even though he grew up in Nazareth, not Bethlehem? Explain. What can you take from this story of the wise men, Herod, Joseph, and Jesus to strengthen your faith or your approach to God? Take a step back and consider this: God could have chosen anywhere in the world for his Son to be born as a human. He could have selected a “chosen people” anywhere. He could have chosen any time in history for his coming. God chose this particular people, whose particular history placed them in this particular place in the world at this particular time. At this particular time, the Roman Empire made it easy to spread a message far and wide. Growing up in Nazareth would place Jesus among people who could both nurture him in the monotheistic culture of Judaism and also expose Him to the rest of the world, and living at a minor crossroads could help him tailor his message to speak to both Jews and Gentiles and prepare the way so that his followers could use their location in the midst of the Roman Empire to take the gospel ultimately “to the ends of the earth.” You also live at a particular time, in a particular place, among a particular people, at a crossroads of particular relationships and opportunities. God desires to work through you to share some piece of his good news with some particular people by your words and actions. How is God calling you to use the embedded realities, relationships, and crossroads of your life to bring his good news to others and make the world more like the kingdom of God that it was meant to be? What is God calling you to do next, where you are? Bibliography Click here for the bibliography . Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous Next Groups That Work for Justice We are not alone. We can work with groups that speak out for justice. Image provided by Wix/Unsplash. Tom Faletti August 1, 2024 Proverbs 31:8-9 calls us to be a voice for the voiceless and to defend the rights of the poor and needy. You do not have to be a silver-tongued expert in order to be an advocate. You can join with organizations that know the issues, the facts, and how to present the concerns of the needy to people in power. Here is a list of organizations that provide advocacy for people whose voices are often not heard in the halls of power. These links may take you to their home page or advocacy page. In general, you can look for words like “Advocacy” or “Campaigns” or “Take Action” (or similar words) in an organization’s menubar, to find out how you might get involved in advocacy efforts on behalf of others. Find a group whose agenda makes sense to you, and join in their efforts to be a voice for the voiceless: Franciscan Action Network . Bread for the World . Catholic Charities USA . Catholic Relief Services . Catholic Climate Covenant . Catholics Mobilizing Network . Justice for Immigrants . NETWORK . U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops . When you act as a voice for those who are not heard, you are showing your solidarity with Jesus, who told us we serve Him when we help the hungry, the stranger, the sick, and others in need. Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous 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 Click here for the bibliography . Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! 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Take a look at our Jubilee Year 2025 Study Guide Based on the Word of God Faith Explored Exploring how to apply God’s Word to our lives today Articles Bible Study Materials Resources for Justice Resources for Growth Faith Explored offers resources for anyone interested in exploring how to apply God’s Word to our lives today. The website was launched by Tom Faletti to bring to a wider audience the study materials he has developed in more than 40 years of small-group Bible Study. Tom has been a committed follower of Jesus since 1976 and a Bible Study leader for nearly 40 years. He also devoted 24 years of his life to working for justice on Capitol Hill and taught high school for 13 years. Faith Explored is his attempt share what he has learned and help others be all that God intends them to be. 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: Tom Faletti Dec 25, 2024 Christmas is About Union with God and Each Other My wife Sonia and I were practicing. As I began to sing the second verse of my part, my voice cracked, I choked up, and I couldn’t go on. Tom Faletti Sep 16, 2024 Treat Your Family the Way You Would Treat a Stranger In family relationships, choose respect rather than harsh words. When I was a teacher, I sometimes saw the verbal boxing matches that go... Tom Faletti Sep 7, 2024 The Good News in James: We Can Participate in God’s Great Concern for the Poor How the Letter of James encourages us to think, act, and pray differently. The Book of James cautions us that the way we treat the poor... Read More Articles 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 Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) , you can comment on our blog posts, post comments in the forums, and post your own questions. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page

Previous Next Matthew 5:6-12 Blessed are those who are focused on what God cares about. Tom Faletti April 20, 2024 Matthew 5:6-12 – For context, re-read Matthew 5:1-12 : The “Sermon on the Mount” In our last study, we looked at the first 3 beatitudes that appear in what has been called Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount.” Today we will look at the remaining beatitudes. Having read the entire list of beatitudes, what do you think is the overall message Jesus is trying to communicate in this discussion about what makes a person “blessed”? Verse 6 What does it mean, to “hunger and thirst for righteousness”? In general in our lives, how is hungering or thirsting for something different from simply wanting it? Barclay says that in the Greek language, the ordinary grammatical structure for the words hunger and thirst connote a desire for some – I hunger for some bread, not the whole loaf; I thirst for some water, not the whole pitcher. But in this sentence spoken by Jesus, the grammatical construction connotes a desire for all of it, for the whole thing – in this case, for total righteousness, for being wholly righteousness (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 96). Do we truly hunger or thirst for righteousness? Or do we tend to just want some righteousness? Is there something we can do to become more like Jesus’s image of a person who hungers for total righteousness? There is a promise associated with this hungering. What does it mean when he says that they will be “filled” (5:6 NRSV) or “satisfied” (NABRE)? How can we become filled to the point that we are no longer hungry for righteousness? What does that mean? Luke’s 6:21 says, “Blessed are you who are now hungry, / for you will be satisfied” (NABRE) or “filled” (NRSV). That is a literal hunger. Why would Matthew focus on a spiritual interpretation rather than Luke’s literal experience of hunger? What value is there in Matthew’s version of this beatitude? It is very possible that Jesus said it both ways at different times. What does Matthew’s choice of words suggest about his audience, compared to Luke and his audience? Verse 7 What does it mean to be merciful? How does it feel to receive mercy? What is that experience like? How can I become more merciful? Among many possible answers, consider these: Cut others some slack. Try to walk in their shoes. Does this remind you of any other Bible passages? For example, the Lord’s Prayer; the forgiven servant (who didn’t forgive). What kind of mercy do you particularly hope you will receive, or in what kinds of situations do you most hope you will encounter mercy? Are those situations perhaps the situations where you also need to give mercy? Verse 8 What does it mean to be “pure in heart” (NRSV) or “clean of heart” (NABRE)? Pure has many good connotations. We often focus on purity in our conduct or behavior. There is also the idea of having a pure heart in the way we relate with others. What does that kind of pure heart look like? Purity of heart also can be considered in our relationship with ourselves, in an honesty with ourselves. What does that look like? Among many possible answers, consider these: Being free of mixed motives; not manipulative; doing the right thing regardless of your feelings; without a personal agenda, but rather, having God’s agenda as your only agenda (because then you will be connected to him in an intimate way; you will “see” him). What does the promise mean, that they will “see God”? Do you think this opportunity to “see God” is all in the future, or is there a sense in which the pure in heart experience it partially in their present life? Why is purity necessary in order to see God? In what sense do the pure in heart see God in a way that other, less pure Christians might not? What can I do to become more pure or clean of heart? Verse 9 What is “peace”? “Peace” in Greek is eiréné , but the Jews would have had in mind the Hebrew word shalom , which does not mean the absence of strife but the presence of all that is good (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 103) or a “total well-being” ((Benedict T. Viviano, O.P., “The Gospel According to Matthew,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , para. 24, p. 640). What is a “peacemaker”? What do you have to do to be a peacemaker? Is it possible to be so focused on keeping the peace that you fail to address problems that then grow and break the peace? Is peacemaking sometimes a struggle? If so, how can we stay focused on peace making , and not just avoiding strife? Barclay tells us that the Jewish rabbis said that peacemakers are the people who “establish right relationships between man and man” (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 105) – i.e., who bring people together and resolve conflicts. He contrasts “peace-makers” with “trouble-makers.” In what ways are you a peacemaker? How does a person make peace between people? Are there ways that you would like to be more consistent or effective as a peacemaker? Explain. How can we become better peacemakers? What promise comes to the peacemakers, and what does it mean? They will be called children of God when all is said and done – not necessarily in the heat of the peacemaking struggle. The phrase is literally “sons of God.” They are like God or reflect the lineage of God because they are doing the work of God. In what ways is God a peacemaker, so that being a peacemaker is being like God? Verses 10-12 What kind of persecution is rewarded with this blessing – i.e., according to v. 10, for what are they being persecuted? What do you know of the sufferings of the early martyrs? What persecutions did they suffer, and why? They were executed in many gruesome ways, mainly for not offering the required sacrifice to Caesar. They could not acknowledge Caesar as Lord because for them, only Jesus was Lord. Jesus elaborates on this beatitude in vv. 11-12, shifting from talking about “they” to talking to “you.” In v. 11, when are “you” blessed? Why are you blessed when you are persecuted? Notice that Jesus does not name a promise in this beatitude the way he did in the other beatitudes. The promise is implicit – that you will be counted with the prophets. Why is that a high reward? What do you think are the benefits or rewards that come with being persecuted? Some of the rewards include: the chance to live with God forever, to be counted among the prophets, to know that you were able to stay faithful to the God you love, and to know that you were participating in God’s great work on earth. Translations that use the word “glad” are understating the level of joy Jesus is suggesting here. The Greek word means to exult – nearly the same word Mary uses in her Magnificat when she says, “my soul rejoices .” It comes from two words that mean “much” and “leaping” – i.e. to leap for joy (see, for example, William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 112, and “21. agalliaó,” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance , Bible Hub , https://biblehub.com/greek/21.htm ). What would it take for you to see persecution as a cause for rejoicing? How, if at all, are we persecuted in our time? What can we take from this exploration of the blessings of being persecuted? Looking back at the whole expanse of the beatitudes, what key points do you see? What stands out to you as especially important? What is most important to remember? What beatitude is God calling you to live out more fully? What can you do to become more a beatitude person? Take a step back and consider this: The beatitudes are just the beginning of the story Matthew and Jesus are telling us about kingdom of heaven and what the life of a Christian looks like. What attracts you about a Savior who starts with the Beatitudes as an introduction to life with God? What troubles you about this as his starting point? What do you think Jesus would say to you about what attracts you and what concerns you here? Bibliography Click here for the bibliography . Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! 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Previous Next Introduction to Luke Luke provides an orderly account of the life and teachings of Jesus, explaining the significance of Jesus for all nations. His Gospel places a special emphasis on the lowly, outcast, and marginalized, and God's concern for them. Image by James Coleman, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti March 26, 2024 This article will provide an introduction to the Gospel of Luke, including what we know about its author, when it was written, who the intended audience was, Luke's purposes/goals, etc. Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com . See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Next Join Faith Explored and Join the Conversation! If you are a member of Faith Explored (click here to join) and would like to react to or ask a question about any material here, please post a question in the forum or send an email using the Contact form at the bottom of the page. Use these links to become a member and join the conversation: Become a Member Forum Page Blog Page