Search Results

Mary watches Jesus grow up and begin his ministry. After she brings a concern to him, she tells others, “Do whatever he tells you.” Those are wise words for us. What would he tell you about your concerns? [Luke 2:40-52; Matthew 3:13; 4:1; 4:12-13; 4:18-22; John 2:1-12] Previous Mary List Next Session 4: "Do whatever he tells you." Mary watches Jesus grow up and begin his ministry. After she brings a concern to him, she tells others, “Do whatever he tells you.” Those are wise words for us. What would he tell you about your concerns do? [Luke 2:40-52; Matthew 3:13; 4:1; 4:12-13; 4:18-22; John 2:1-12] Cornelis Engebrechtsz (ca. 1462 - 1527). Jesus Says Farewell to Mary . Circa 1515 - circa 1520. Cropped. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jezus_neemt_afscheid_van_Maria_Rijksmuseum_SK-A-1719.jpeg . Tom Faletti July 14, 2025 Luke 2:40-52 Jesus at the age of 12 in the Temple Read Luke 2:40. Luke is describing the child Jesus as he grows up. What do you think Mary is doing during this time? She is feeding him, changing his diaper, teaching him words, nurturing him with tender caresses and kisses, teaching him chores, teaching him the moral law of right and wrong, singing psalms and hymns, praying with him, including him in the many rituals and ceremonies and prayers that made up a Jewish life of faith, cooking, cleaning, talking with him about the people around him and all the things a mother talks to her son about – both consequential and mundane, and the list goes on. She is also watching, pondering and treasuring, praying for him, etc. Look at how verse 52 describes Jesus’s development. What was Mary’s role in his growth in wisdom and grace (or favor) in the eyes of God and people? How can we help the young people around us to grow in wisdom and grace as we watch them grow? Considering the early threats to Jesus’s life, Mary and Joseph might have decided to keep him secluded in Galilee. Yet verse 41 tells us that they went to the capital city Jerusalem every year, presumably taking Jesus with them. Would you have brought Jesus to Jerusalem regularly or tried to keep him far away? What do Mary’s annual trips to Jerusalem tell you about her? What happens to Jesus on the Passover trip when he is 12? As they were journeying back to Galilee, why do you think it took Mary and Joseph a full day to realize that Jesus was missing and not caravan of people heading home? Were they neglectful? Does it tell us something about his maturity and their trust in him? How do you think this could have happened? How do you think Mary feels when she realizes he is not in the caravan with them as they head home? When they return to Jerusalem, they search for him for THREE days – presumably with Mary growing increasingly anxious as they look and look and look without finding him. How do you think she handled her anxiety? Do you ever feel like you are losing track of Jesus in your life? If so, how might Mary’s way of dealing with the missing Jesus be instructive? She retraces her steps, going back to where she last saw him. How might that be useful in your own spiritual life? Sometimes, the best thing to do is, like Mary, to go back to the habits, patterns, and practices that nurtured your relationship with him previously. When they find Jesus, Mary’s question to Jesus is, “Why have you done this to us?” (Luke 2:48), which implies that she thinks he knew he was making them anxious. Do you think he knew he was making them feel so anxious? If so, why do you think Jesus did what he did even though it would cause his parents so much anxiety? Jesus doesn’t answer with an “I’m sorry.” His answer in verse 49 is not comforting at all. What does he say, and what does it suggest about his growing sense of his relationship with Mary and Joseph? How do you think Mary felt about his answer in verse 49? Verse 51 tells us that when they returned to Nazareth, Jesus “was obedient to them.” He didn’t become a bratty or disobedient teenager. Why do you think Jesus, who was God, was obedient to them, who were just humans? How do you think Mary felt about the teenage Jesus? Verse 51 also tells us that Mary “treasured” or “kept” all these things in her heart, echoing verse 19 after the visit of the shepherds to see the baby Jesus. What do you think that meant, as she lived a real life? How do you treasure or keep the things that God has done in your life? Do you also “treasure” the puzzles that you don’t fully understand yet? Would it be good to do that? Explain. Verse 52 has sometimes been interpreted to mean that Jesus grew mentally (in wisdom), physically (in age), spiritually (in the favor of God), and socially (in the favor of other people) – that is, in all the ways that we hope young people will grow over time. How does the idea that Jesus grew in all these human dimensions encourage you? Looking back at Mary’s overall handling of this traumatic incident, what can you learn from her? A footnote: People sometimes wonder if Jesus had bar mitzvah. “Bar mitzvah” means “son of commandment,” i.e., subject to the law. In modern times, it is performed at the age of 13. There is no reference to bar mitzvah in the Bible. People try to make connections to things that happened in the Bible, like Abraham sacrificing Isaac at age 12, but none of them look like the Jewish ceremony of bar mitzvah. No scholarly sources have provided evidence that bar mitzvah existed as a practice in Jesus’s time. The general consensus is that it did not originate as a ceremony until the Middle Ages, at least several hundred years after the time of Jesus. The next time Mary appears in the Bible, Jesus is an adult. Before we look at that passage, let’s read a few verses that tell us what Jesus does when he first starts moving into his public ministry. That will give us the background for the first story in his adult life where Mary is mentioned in the story. For each of the following passages, consider this question: How do you think Mary reacts to these things that Jesus does? What do you think her perspective is? (By way of background: On the one hand, he is around 30 years old (Luke 3:23). On the other hand, he is still her son and has been living with her up to this time.) Matthew 3:13 Jesus goes to his cousin John to be baptized Jesus is going away to see what his cousin John is doing at the Jordan River, so in a sense he is going to see family. However, it is a journey of more than 80 miles – further than the trip to Jerusalem. How do you think Mary feels about what Jesus is doing? Matthew 4:1 Jesus goes out into the desert and is tempted How do you think Mary feels about what Jesus is doing? Matthew 4:12-13 Jesus moves out of Nazareth to Capernaum Capernaum was by the Sea (or Lake) of Galilee, roughly 40 miles away from Nazareth. That means it was a walk of several days. Walking there involved a drop in elevation of more than 1,800 feet (which means a walk back to Nazareth would require a climb of more than 1,800 feet). How do you think Mary feels about Jesus moving to this bigger city, relatively far away? Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus starts calling disciples How do you think Mary feels as she watches Jesus begin to call strangers to himself, teach them, and build a following? What is our role as we watch someone who was previously ‘under” us (or in our charge) begin to spread their wings and move out in more independent directions? (This might be a child who is growing up, a work colleague or mentee, a fellow church member who takes on a new responsibility – for example, as a new Bible Study leader, or other situations.) How should we handle that change, and what should we do if we find the transition hard? Before we look at our next passage, let’s consider two background questions: In John 1:35-51, John tells us that Jesus went to see John the Baptist, who was baptizing people a long way away from Galilee at the Jordan River, and then Jesus returned to Galilee and gathered some disciples. He had not performed any overt miracles yet; it appears that he was just teaching. Why do you think he started with teaching and not with miracles? At this point in his life, Jesus is 30. He is fully God, and he is also fully human. How do you think he feels about his mother Mary? John 2:1-12 The wedding feast at Cana In verse 3, Mary does not make a specific request of Jesus: she just identifies the existence of a problem. Why do you think she approaches it that way? Are there times when a little vagueness or ambiguity, like Mary practices here, is a good idea? Explain. Jesus’s response in verse 4 is literally, “What, to me and to you, woman?” This is a Hebrew expression that was used to suggest indifference to the concern of the other person while leaving the outcome ambiguous. When someone said this, sometimes the request was fulfilled and sometimes it was rejected. Why do you think Jesus initially chooses this ambiguous response? Jesus calls Mary “woman.” The scholars generally think that this was not necessarily rude but that it did show that he was not responding based on his familial connection with her. Some think he is indicating in advance that if he does a “sign” or miracle here, it will be by his own decision in accordance with his Father’s will, not because of some human weakness in giving in to his mother. On the other hand, Jesus often did things only if people asked – healings, for example. So perhaps it was a decision that depended on two factors: first, that it would be done only if he decided it fit with God’s will, but second, only if people cared enough to press him and trusted him enough to obey him. Jesus has not yet done any miracles. Yet Mary sends the servers to him. Why do you think she puts her son on the spot in that way? In verse 5, what does Mary tell the servers? “Do whatever he tells you.” How is Mary’s direction in verse 5 appropriate for us? How can we apply it in our lives? How can you know what Jesus is telling you to do? In verses 7-8, the servers don’t know why they are doing what they have been told to do, but they do it. How might that be a guide for everything we do in our lives? What gets in the way of our doing what Jesus tells us to do? How might we work to overcome our reluctance to obey Jesus? Think about Mary’s approach in bringing her concern to Jesus. How might it be a good model for us in bringing our concerns to Jesus? She did not hesitate to bring the problem to Jesus. She did not try to tell Jesus how to solve the problem but trusted him to handle it in the best way. She encouraged others to trust Jesus for how to deal with the problem they faced. How can you grow in the kind of confidence Mary has, that Jesus can be trusted to deal with your problems? Take a step back and consider this: Mary does not know what is coming next, but she believes in Jesus. Jesus has not shown his power yet. She has not seen his miracles or his resurrection. What she has is faith and the stories she has stored up and treasured for 30 years ago about God’s work in her life. We (or at least most of us) have not been visited by an angel. But we have stories of what God has done in the past in our lives. And we know Jesus’s power and that he has risen from the dead and is still alive today. What we share with Mary is that Jesus is alive and involved in our lives right now. Is there a concern you think it would be good to bring to Jesus, or some matter where you feel called to trust in him that if you bring it to him, he can do something about it? Bring the matter to him now, without feeling like you need to tell him how to solve the problem. What would Jesus tell you about your concern? Hear Mary’s words – “Do whatever he tells you” – whispering in your ears. What do you think Jesus is asking you to do right now? Is it consistent with what the rest of Scripture has already taught you? (That’s a check to make sure you are on a solid path.) If so, can you do what he is telling you to do now? How? Bibliography See Mary - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/mary/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 Mary List Next

Does a high school coach prevent all suffering their players might endure? Why not, and what might that tell us about God? Previous Next Table of Contents God is Like a High School Coach Does a high school coach prevent all suffering their players might endure? Why not, and what might that tell us about God? Tom Faletti (to be continued) 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 Table of Contents 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

Clean and beautiful on the outside, dirty and ungodly on the inside. How can we avoid falling into the trap of focusing on our exterior image? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 23:25-36 Clean and beautiful on the outside, dirty and ungodly on the inside. How can we avoid falling into the trap of focusing on our exterior image? Image by Nadot Yannick, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti August 22, 2025 Matthew 23:25-36 (Part 2 of Matthew 23:13-36) Read Matthew 23:13-36 Jesus denounces the scribes and the Pharisees for their hypocrisy Part 2 Verses 25-26 The Pharisees were very conscious of the ritual or ceremonial purity of their cups and dishes. This was not a concern about cleanliness as we mean it; it was a concern about whether their cookware and dinnerware were “clean” as a matter of ritual purity. The Old Testament and the traditions preserved and developed by the scribes identified many ways that a person or object could become unclean. Some were extrapolated directly from the Law. For example: A utensil was unclean if it came in contact with pork. A man was unclean if he touched a dead body or a Gentile. A woman was unclean during her menstrual period. If you came in contact with anyone or anything that was considered “unclean,” you could become unclean too. The Pharisees were very focused on avoiding anything unclean and drew upon the detailed and nuanced teachings of the scribes, who developed intricate rules for what was and was not unclean. What does Jesus accuse the scribes and Pharisees of, in verses 25-26? How does Jesus describe the “inside” things that he says they are neglecting to pay attention to? What are the actual words he uses in verse 25 to describe the “inside”? Jesus uses 2 terms. The first word can mean plunder or robbery or greed. The second word means self-indulgence in the sense of lacking self-restraint, which could be applied to drinking, sexual conduct, or other matters. With these words, Jesus is clearly not talking about cups and plates – cups can’t be accused of greed or self-indulgence. What do you think Jesus is really saying here? When Jesus tells them to clean the inside of the cup, what do you think he means (not cups and plates, but what)? How might people “clean” this “inside” aspect of their lives? Jesus calls the Pharisees “blind” in verse 26. How might that be an appropriate description of their behavior? How might this metaphor of the “outside” and “inside” apply to our churches today? What are the things on the “inside” that we might be ignoring while we focus on things on the “outside”? Here is an example of failing to focus on what is unclean on the inside: The Catholic Church, and other denominations to a lesser extent, for decades ignored scandalous sexual predation by clergy in its parishes. Local parishes sometimes develop an excessive focus on external things that are less important. For example, I have seen church members get stuck in constant carping over the choice of altar furnishings and music. I spent weeks at one church trying to address the enormous unrest that arose when the pastor decreed that church groups would henceforth have to pay to use the parish hall for their meetings, a move that took everyone’s focus off of the purpose of the parish’s ministries. What are the “outside” matters that you personally might be giving too much attention to, and what might be the “inside” matters that you are ignoring that need to be cleaned up? Verses 27-28 In verses 27-28, what does Jesus say about the scribes and Pharisees? This accusation uses an actual practice that was useful as a metaphor. In Jesus’s time, there were not strict laws about where dead bodies could be buried. Tombs could be encountered anywhere, and if you came into contact with something dead, you would be considered “unclean.” Tombs were painted white to mark them clearly so that people would not accidentally stumble into them. The “whitewashing” of tombs was a practical attempt to help people practice their religion. Jesus uses the idea of a whitewashed exterior covering a corrupt interior as a metaphor for what is going on in people’s spiritual lives. Jesus uses a metaphor of a tomb that is painted white on the outside but is rotting on the inside. In verse 28, how does he describe what is happening on the inside of the scribes and Pharisees? How might a person be “beautiful” on the outside but full of hypocrisy and evil on the inside? What are some ways that we show to the world a public exterior that might not match the less godly things going on inside us? A question to consider in the silence of your own heart: What is an area of inward unrighteousness that you could work on so that your inner reality would better match the exterior ways you present yourself? Verses 29-36 In verses 29-30, what does Jesus say their attitude was toward the murder of prophets of the past? According to Jesus, what will they do to the prophets and wise people of their own time? As Matthew writes this, several decades later, who do you think he has in mind? Who are the kinds of people that were scourged, hunted from town to town, killed, and crucified? Matthew is thinking about the Christians who have been persecuted in the early years of the Church. In verse 35, Jesus uses an “A to Z” formulation to summarize the breadth of the murders in the Old Testament, from Abel to Zechariah. Abel is in Genesis. For Zechariah, there are two possibilities. A Zechariah was murdered in 2 Chronicles 24, which was the last book in the Hebrew Bible because they put the books of history after the books of the prophets in their scriptures, but he was the son of Jehoida (2 Chron. 24:20), not the son of Berechiah. Alternatively, Zechariah the prophet is described in Zechariah 1:1 as the son of Berechiah, and his book is the second-to-last book of the prophets. The Bible does not describe him as having been murdered, but later rabbinic tradition said that he was murdered in the Temple (( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , Matthew 25:35 fn., p. 49). Jesus’s point is that from beginning to end, the Jewish scriptures tell of people who claim to be following God killing other people who are following God. Jesus accuses the scribes and Pharisees of following in that long line of rejecting people who are actually following God. In vv. 34-36, what does Jesus say is coming in the years ahead? Who are the people that will experience this suffering? Christians. Matthew, written perhaps 50 years after Jesus spoke these words, can see how Jesus’s prophecy came true as Christians were mistreated by Jewish leaders in the decades after Jesus’s resurrection. Given Jesus’s repeated and frank warning that Christians will suffer persecution, does it make sense that some Christian leaders in our day preach that Christians should expect prosperity and a good life? Explain. Take a step back and consider this: We live in a time where people curate themselves, posting a carefully crafted image of themselves online in social media. A person may be clean and beautiful on the outside, yet evil and violent on the inside, and we would never know it from their social media accounts. Most Christians use social media, and there is nothing wrong with telling others about the good things going on in our lives. But does that lure us into embracing the world’s priorities, which say that the exterior is what really matters? How important is the interior, really? How can we stay engaged with others via social media yet avoid falling into the trap of focusing primarily on our exterior image? What can we do to keep our focus on becoming like Jesus on the inside and letting that guide what we do on the outside? And, perhaps not on social media but in more intimate settings, is there a place for letting people know what is really going on inside of us, on the inside? Consider the song “Inside” by John Fischer ( audio , lyrics ): “Come see / Everything that lies inside of me / ’Cause amidst the mess I’ve made of me / You might see the Lord.” 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

Matthew does not support the idea that a sinner’s prayer is a simple ticket to heaven. In his Gospel, Jesus calls us to much more than that. Previous Christian Faith Articles Next Faith Versus Works: What Does the Gospel of Matthew Say Matthew does not support the idea that a sinner’s prayer is a simple ticket to heaven. In his Gospel, Jesus calls us to much more than that. Image by Brett Jordan, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti September 5, 2025 I have been studying the Gospel of Matthew for 3 years, and I have discovered that the Gospel of Matthew does not support a popular version of “Christianity” that requires only “faith” and not “works” to go to heaven. I would like to unpack these misunderstood words. Jesus doesn’t talk much about “going to heaven,” but he talks a lot about what it means to be part of the kingdom of God. His gospel is much more challenging than just a simple call to faith. It's a call to action – to works. According to the Gospel of Matthew, what does God expect of those who want to enter the kingdom of heaven? There is nothing in the entire Gospel of Matthew that would support the idea that all you need to do to “go to heaven” is to say a few words or a “sinner’s prayer” to signal that you “believe,” and you will be saved. That simplistic and distorted version of Christianity cannot be found in the Gospel of Matthew. Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus describes an entire change of outlook and lifestyle that he expects to see in those who claim to follow him. He expects faith to be put into action. A sinner’s prayer might be a first step, but it is not the ultimate sign of a true believer in Jesus. Here are some of the things Jesus tells his followers to do: In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), Jesus says: Be pure in spirit and pure of heart; be peacemakers, etc., from the Beatitudes; don’t speak angrily to others; don’t commit adultery; love your enemies; be perfect; don’t make a public show of your almsgiving, praying, and fasting; don’t serve money; put you trust in your heavenly Father; don’t judge others; do to others what you would like them to do to you; etc. In Matthew 16:24-28, Jesus says: Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. In Matthew 18:1-5, he says: Humble yourself like a child. In Matthew 22:34-40, he lays down two Great Commandments: to love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. In Matthew 25, he tells us to be responsible and fruitful with what God gives us; and to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, care for those who are sick or in prison, etc. If we aren’t doing these things, Jesus hasn’t given us any reason to think that we will be counted among the ”elect” (Matt. 24:31), enter into his kingdom (Matt. 25:34), and receive eternal life (Matt. 25:46). Faith is demonstrated by our actions Some may ask: Are you preaching that we are saved by our works? Absolutely not! We are saved by faith. But “faith” is not just a bunch of words that come out of our mouth. Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:21 that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who do the Father’s will. James says that even the demons believe that there is one God, but they shudder (James 2:18-19). Claiming to believe in Jesus is easy. Our calling is to not just make the claim but to actually live our lives for him. If we do that, it will show in our actions. If our actions do not back up our alleged faith, our claim that we are followers of Jesus is hollow. Grace is necessary Some may respond: That’s a high bar you are asking us to reach. Actually, it’s a high bar that Jesus is asking us to strive for. He wants nothing less than our whole selves. This forces us to confront a problem: We fall short of Jesus’s high bar. Yes, we do! Even if we try to live our lives according to his teachings, most of us reach a point where we realize that, while we may do many things right, we still fall short and don’t give our lives fully to him. But God doesn’t leave us there. When we fall short, we need to recall what Jesus said about who can be saved. Remember when he said it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? The disciples responded, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus’s answer remains true today and applies to us: “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26, NABRE). That’s what gives us hope – not our pious words, not even our most impressive actions, but God’s grace. We are saved only by the grace of God. The grace of God reaches deep into our sinful souls to heal us. It reaches out to us even when we stray. Jesus showed God’s love by putting it into action – healing, teaching, and feeding people, and giving his life for us on the Cross. He told parables of God’s love. He described God as being like a shepherd who searches for the one stray sheep even when he already has the 99 (Matt. 18:10-14), like an employer who ensures that every worker receives enough to live on even if they don’t find their way to the master’s vineyard until late in the day (Matt. 20:1-16), like a king who invites everyone to his son’s wedding feast (Matt. 22:1-14). Jesus does not offer cheap grace But the grace Jesus offers is not cheap grace. We must never forget that we are being called to line up our will with God’s will and conform our actions with Jesus’s teachings and example – to give and serve, not just mouth the words. We must not think that merely professing a few verses of Scripture will open up an easy door to eternal life with Jesus. That’s not what Jesus teaches in the Gospel of Matthew. He says the road is narrow that leads to life (Matt. 7:13-14). Saying a few magic words doesn’t suddenly open the door for people who have no intention of living the life Jesus calls us to live. Jesus helps us be more than we think we can be But we are not on our own in trying to be like Jesus. He is with us. He has sent his Spirit to empower us and purify us (Matt. 3:16), and his Spirit lives in us and works in and through us (Matt. 10:20). He understands our nature and is not scared off when we fall short. On the contrary, he is right there beside us, continuing to love us and gently calling us to take up his yoke (Matt. 11:29-30) – to truly let him be the Lord and Master of our life. The more we do that – the more we put our faith into action and let him work his character into our lives – the easier it is to enter into his rest (Matt. 11:28-29). In summary, the Gospel of Matthew calls us to embrace the challenge of living fully for Jesus and loving everyone around us in concrete, tangible ways, with the assurance that he will help us be what we are called to be and that he will never give up on us. It’s not a call to faith versus works; it’s a call to faith exemplified by works, a call to believe in Jesus and put that faith into action doing the works of Jesus. Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Christian Faith Articles Next

Actually, you have many purposes! Previous Next Table of Contents You Have a Purpose Actually, you have many purposes! Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti You have a purpose! In fact, you have multiple purposes in many different dimensions of your life. You are part of God’s great plan for the human race, a plan that depends on your active cooperation and creativity. You are made in God’s image, and God is working to reveal that image in you and through you. God is also working in every person around you. Your mission, your calling if you accept it, is to shine forth the image of God fully, in your unique way, and to help others do the same in their unique ways, so that the world may become what God has always intended it to be. You are not an accident. God designed the universe so that it had the capability to produce a person with your unique abilities and interests. He did this with a goal: so that you could freely choose to take on the character of God and let it shine forth in your own unique way. Because of your unique nature and experiences, you have the opportunity to reflect the image of God in your own distinct and special ways. This is one of the many beautiful things about God‘s creation: that each person has the potential to show forth the very image of God in their own unique ways. You are not alone in this potential. It is inherent in every human being. We all are made with a purpose and a unique role to play in bringing the image of God to life in this world. In order to reflect God‘s image accurately, we need to know what God is like. Fortunately, God did not leave us groping in the dark for an understanding of His nature and character. He sent his son Jesus to show us who He is. Jesus became one of us to show us how to live — how to be like Him in our own unique ways. Jesus talked about the kingdom of God — the place where what God desires for humans actually happens. He said the kingdom of God is “near” or “at hand” (Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9). He wants us to embrace God‘s ways and infuse them into every aspect of our natural lives. When we take on the character of God and allow it to transform our lives, we change the world around us so that it is a little bit more like what God intended, so that a little more of the kingdom of God is present. This means that for each and every one of us there is an ever-present invitation from God, telling us all the time: You Can Change Your World! I’m not saying you’re going to change the entire world in one grand act. But every day, multiple times every day, we have opportunities to change our little part of the world. At every moment, we can make our part of the world reflect more fully God’s vision for the world, or we can let it reflect something else. We can choose to show forth the image of God — what He intends us to be, what He has designed us to be — or we can miss the opportunity. The choice is ours. The invitation is always fresh. This is the unseen truth about our lives: that the God who created the universe is standing with each of us at all times, always ready to enable us to bring a little bit more of Himself into every situation. And every time we say yes to God and do the things that reflect who God is, we transform another part of the world and become a bit more like Him. God does not force us to accept this invitation. The choice is always ours: Right now, at this very moment, will I be like Jesus, and change a little bit of this world to be more like what God intended it to be, or will I go my own way? That is always a choice. But God’s desire is even greater than that. He is not interested only in transforming us as individuals and transforming our little parts of the world. He wants to change the entire way that human society operates. He wants to transform all of human life so that it reflects His nature. No single person can do that. Fortunately, we are not alone. God calls us to work together to redeem the culture, change social structures where needed, and transform the world. Guided by God’s clear teaching in the Bible, working in and through the community known as the church as well as with other people of good will, we can work to transform the social structures of our society to make them reflect more of the nature and character of God. This, too, is part of our calling, because this, too, is part of God’s desired plan. What an adventure God is offering us! No day need be dull when we accept the invitation He is offering us. In this book, we will explore who God is, what He is trying to do in this world, and how we can cooperate in the transformation He is trying to achieve in us and, through us, in the world. In the course of our explorations, we will have to confront some difficult questions, the foremost of which is: If God is all-loving, why does He allow so much suffering in the world? To answer that question, we will have to put on the mind of Christ in order to understand more fully what God’s purposes are for human beings, individually and as a whole. A second difficult question we will have to confront is this: Deep down, most people know how they should act towards others. Yet time and time again, people put themselves first and mistreat others. Why do people cause so much suffering in the world? Why do we ourselves get it wrong so often? And what does God want us to do about it? Fortunately, there are answers to these questions, if we are willing to search the Scriptures carefully and put on the mind of Christ. As we learn to see as God sees and think as God thinks, we can understand what God is trying to do in the world and in our lives, and find a way to participate fully in God’s work. When we do that, we discover another unseen truth about the world: There is great joy in participating in the work of God. If you are ready to tackle tough questions and embrace your calling to participate in God’s work to change the world, read on! 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 Table of Contents Next

Jesus helps the Samaritan woman sort out some religious questions and come to faith in him. How do we move from know about God to having faith in him? Previous Next John List John 4:1-42 Jesus helps the Samaritan woman sort out some religious questions and come to faith in him. How do we move from know about God to having faith in him? Circle of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). Christ and the Woman of Samaria at the Well . By 1640. Cropped. Private collection. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circle_of_Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_Christ_and_the_Woman_of_Samaria_at_the_Well.jpg . Tom Faletti January 13, 2026 Read John 4:1-42 The Samaritan woman at the well Verses 1-4 The first 3 verses tell us that Jesus left Judea, the region in the south that includes Jerusalem, and returned to Galilee, which is in the north. The most direct way to walk from Judea to Galilee was through Samaria. Jews who were particularly scrupulous about ritual purity might take a much longer route around Samaria to the east along the Jordan River, to avoid having to interact with the Samaritans. But the Jewish Roman historian Josephus tells us that “it was the custom of the Galileans, when they came to the holy city [i.e., Jerusalem] at the festivals, to take their journeys through the country of the Samaritans” (Josephus, Book 20, Chapter 6, par. 1 ). Jesus also traveled through Samaria in Luke 9:52-56 and 17:11-19 as well as here in John. Verse 4 says that it was “necessary” for Jesus to pass through Samaria. Perhaps this was “necessary” in the missionary sense that he needed to go there for this event to happen. When the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 or 721 BC, Assyria did what it did routinely in other lands: it took a large portion of the population captive (the wealthy, leaders, etc.), exiled them to other parts of the Empire, and replaced them with people from other lands. The Israelites who remained eventually intermarried with the foreigners who were placed there. Samaria had been the capital of the Northern Kingdom, and these people became known as the Samaritans. The Jewish people who survived the later destruction of the southern kingdom of Judah were not subjected to such an intermingling. They despised the Samaritans and called them “half-Jews.” Jesus comes to Sychar, possibly the Old Testament city of Shechem, near Mt. Gerizim, where Jacob’s well was traditionally believed to have been. Look at verses 5-10. How is Jesus feeling as the story begins? Jesus asks the woman for a drink. Jewish men who were scrupulous about ritual purity would not have wanted something touched by a Samaritan woman. Why do you think Jesus asks her for a drink? In hindsight, we can see that she was the reason he was there. He was not uncomfortable interacting with a foreign woman or a sinner. He was not exclusionary and did not bind himself to Jewish purity laws. The woman knows how extraordinary it is for a Jewish man to be willing to accept water from a Samaritan woman, and she says so in verse 9. How does Jesus respond in verse 10? Jesus gives her only a little bit of information – almost a teaser – and implies that she should seek more knowledge. He is not forcing anything on her; he is inviting her to ask if she wants to know more. How could we use that approach in cross-cultural or interreligious conversations? What does Jesus mean by “living water” in verse 10? The living water that is a “gift from God” could symbolize many things but is in particular the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift of himself to us. What does the woman think Jesus means by “living water”? Living water would more commonly be associated with flowing water such as from a river, which is better than the stagnant water in a well. Verses 11-15 The woman challenges Jesus: How can you get living water without a bucket? She then makes an interesting shift in the conversation in verse 12, saying, “Are you greater than our father Jacob? She has moved the conversation to a slightly “religious” topic, implying that Jesus can’t be greater than Jacob – the cherished ancestor of the Samaritans. How does Jesus answer in verse 14? John has already implied that Jesus is greater than Jacob back in John 1:51, where Jesus is presented as the ladder by which the angels ascend and descend between heaven and earth as symbolized in a dream Jacob had. How does what Jesus says in verses 13-14 establish unequivocally that he is greater than Jacob? What do you think Jesus means when he says that when people drink the water he gives, they will “never thirst” (verse 14)? I’m a believer and I get thirsty ever hour. What does Jesus mean? What do you think Jesus means when he says that the water he gives will be “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (verse 14)? Until verse 14, the woman has been confrontational, trying to maintain control of the conversation and not be drawn in. But Jesus keeps saying things that put her off-balance. She finally lets down her guard and shows her vulnerability in verse 15. What does she say? We also need to be honest and admit our need as a step in coming close to the Lord and receiving his living water. Why is admitting our need a necessary part of coming to faith? Verses 16-24 Why do you think Jesus now focuses on the woman’s marital situation? People wonder how Jesus knows about her marital status. Is it just his supernatural knowledge? Some commentators think the fact that she is at the well at noon is significant: women would ordinarily go to get water in the morning, not in the heat of the day. Her presence there might be a signal that she is not entirely welcome with the other women in the town, who would have come to the well in the morning. That does not, however, explain how Jesus knew she had had 5 husbands. This appears to be an example of Jesus showing supernatural knowledge. How does Jesus’s reference to the woman’s husbands turn the conversation into a personal, spiritual discussion with him? Jesus appears to be challenging her in an area of her life where she needs to do some self-examination. How does God do that with us: Guide us to move from intellectual talk about religion to our own spiritual situation and our need to examine ourselves? What is the value of that kind of self-examination – an examination of conscience – and how do you do it? Some scholars see symbolism in the reference to the woman’s husbands. In the Old Testament, wells were meeting places where men found wives: for example, Isaac (Gen. 24), Jacob (Gen. 29), and Moses (Ex. 2). John has already referred to Jesus as being the divine bridegroom for his disciples (John 3:29). How is this event symbolically a time where the Samaritans have the opportunity to receive Jesus as their divine bridegroom? Some scholars also see another connection to the 5 husbands. When the northern kingdom was destroyed, the Assyrians moved people from 5 other nations into the land that became known as Samaria, and those people brought their gods with them (2 Kings 17:24, 29). The acceptance of Jesus symbolically severs the ties to those 5 prior “husbands” that Samaria had once lived with. Up until verse 20, the woman has appeared to be understanding Jesus’s words only on a very literal level. How does verse 20 show that she is now ready for a theological conversation? At the time of Jesus, the Samaritans were monotheists (they believed in one God), and their faith went back to Abraham, just as the Jews’ faith did. The believed only in the Torah – the first 5 books of the Old Testament, which was also true of the Jewish faction known as the Sadducees. The key difference is that the Samaritans believed that God was to be worshiped on Mt. Gerizim in Samaria, not at Jerusalem in Judea. They believed that they were the carriers of the true faith while the Jews had gotten off track when they built the Temple for God in Jerusalem. (A small group of Samaritans still exists today – slightly less than 1,000 people in total – who still practice Samaritanism and worship on Mt. Gerizim.) In verse 20, the woman notes that the Samaritans worship at Mt. Gerizim, while the Jews worship at Jerusalem. This was one of the key disagreements between the two religions. Her implied question is: Who is right? How does Jesus respond in verses 21- 24? In verses 23-24, Jesus says that the time is coming when people will no longer be confined to worshiping God in a particular place. How will God be worshiped (verses 23-24)? What does it mean to worship God in Spirit? What does it mean to worship God in truth? If the place isn’t the central criterion for worship, what is? Worshiping in spirit and truth suggests an interior worship of God, within our own hearts and spirits rather than just in some external location. Why is what is going on in our hearts so important for proper worship? If someone asked you if you worship God in Spirit and truth, and if so, how – how would you respond? Verses 25-26 In verse 25, the woman now turns to another key question: the coming of the Messiah. Both the Samaritans and the Jews believed that a messiah or final prophet would come in the last days. How does Jesus respond? Jesus, says, “I am,” which is a form of the name God gives himself in the Old Testament (Yahweh). The translators write “I am he” to fit standard English grammar conventions, but the word “he” isn’t there in the Greek. Christians believe that when Jesus says, “I am,” he is implicitly stating that he is God. So here, he is not only acknowledging his identity as the Messiah but asserting his divinity. What is the significance of the fact that in John’s Gospel, the first person to whom Jesus identifies himself as the Messiah and the “I am” is a woman . . . and that she is a sinner, a foreigner, and a member of an ethnic group hated by the Jews? Something important happens at this moment. The woman moves from a theological discussion to a person, from knowing about God to knowing God. How important is this step of entering into a relationship with God (not just knowledge about God), and how can we help people take this step? We will continue to look at this passage in the next study of this series, so stay tuned. But first: Take a step back and consider this: On the surface, there was no reason that Jesus “had to” (verse 4) pass through Samaria. It was the normal way to get to Galilee. If my normal route to church was via Main Street, I would not say that last week I “had to” take Main Street. Scholars interpret John’s statement of necessity as an indication that in God’s plan there was a divine necessity: Jesus had a missionary reason to be in Samaria at that particular time. As Jesus says in verse 35, this particular field was “ripe for the harvest.” There are times when God prompts us, through a tug in our heart or an inspiration he impresses upon us, to take a step that opens the door to an opportunity. Sometimes, those nudges push us outside of our normal routines. But: Many times, those divine appointments are right there on the path we would have taken anyway , and the only difference is that this time, God is asking us to be sensitive to how the Holy Spirit wants to use us to make a difference in someone else’s life . God does not force those divine opportunities on us. If we are too distracted by our focus on ourselves and the little challenges of life, and we don’t even sense God’s nudge, life goes on, and we don’t even realize that an opportunity to participate in the work of God was lost. Sometimes, we sense the nudge from God, second-guess ourselves, and miss our chance. But perhaps we can learn from that experience how to be more trusting of God the next time. Sometimes, we seize the opportunity but then botch it by trying to force things to go our way instead of God’s way. Again, those can become opportunities to learn how to be more continuously in tune with the movement of God’s Spirit in us. And sometimes, we respond, allow the Spirit to guide us, and see God do good things through us that we could not have imagined. Those little victories of the spiritual life are transformative and can bring us great joy. What seemed like just a time of living our ordinary lives turns into a graced and awe-inspiring experience of participating in the work of our God, who loves us and is intimately, though often subtly, involved in our lives. To become more aware of those divine opportunities, as Jesus recognized the opportunity in a simple stop by a well, we need to cultivate our relationship with God and nurture our sensitivity to the promptings of his Spirit. How can you grow in your sensitivity to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, so that you can recognize when God is trying to turn an everyday action into a graced moment where he can bless someone through you? May you grow more and more attuned to the Holy Spirit, so that you can let God speak through you when someone is ready to hear a word about God! Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/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 John List Next

The earliest Christian documents – Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians – show an early understanding that Jesus is God, and the Gospels say it explicitly. Previous Christian Faith Articles Next When Did Christians First Recognize the Divinity of Jesus? The earliest Christian documents – Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians – show an early understanding that Jesus is God, and the Gospels say it explicitly. Stained glass presentation of the Holy Trinity in the church of St. Peter & St. Paul in Brockdish, United Kingdom. The artist is unknown. CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons . Tom Faletti March 15, 2025 2025 is a banner year for Christians, but few realize it. Exactly 1,700 years ago in AD 325, several hundred bishops gathered in the city of Nicaea (located in the present-day Turkish city of Iznik, approximately 90 miles southeast of Istanbul). There, they worked out the formal language describing many elements of the doctrine of the Trinity, including the words Christians use to explain that Jesus is God. Some skeptics claim that the early Christians did not see Jesus as God. At the extreme, conspiracy theorists who want Jesus to be seen as just a man argue that the divinity of Jesus wasn’t accepted until it was promulgated at that First Council of Nicaea, almost 300 years after Jesus died and rose from the dead. (A famous novel and movie from early in the 21st century made such a claim.) The skeptics are ignoring crucial evidence from the Bible itself. The belief in the divinity of Jesus first shows up in the first two documents that were later included in the Bible: Paul’s first and second letters to the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians was written in AD 50, just 20 years after Jesus’s death and resurrection and 275 years before the Council of Nicaea. 2 Thessalonians followed a few months later. Both indicate that the apostle Paul believed in the divinity of Jesus. Paul treats the Lord Jesus and God the Father as a unity and prays to Jesus as he would to God It would be easy to miss these earliest expressions of belief in the divinity of Jesus. To us they are subtle. Paul wasn’t trying to write a book of doctrine. But a careful examination of what he wrote in Greek reveals clear indications of Paul’s belief in the divinity of Jesus, and his belief that Jesus and the Father are one. In 1 Thessalonians 3:11, Paul prays that God the Father and the Lord Jesus will direct his path back to the Thessalonians for another visit (his first visit was cut short by persecution). The verb he uses for “direct” is a third person singular verb – the verb you use when the noun is a singular noun. In other words, he speaks of God the Father and the Lord Jesus as a single entity, not as two entities. What do I mean by that? Let me explain by offering an analogy. Suppose I say that “John is directing traffic.” The word “is” is a third person singular verb, which goes with the third-person singular noun “John.” If I say that “John and Paul are directing traffic,” the word “are” is a third person plural verb that goes with the third person plural subject “John and Paul.” In ordinary circumstances, I would never say, “John and Paul is directing traffic.” That would be bad grammar. The word “is” requires a singular noun. There is only one reason why I would use “is” in that sentence: if “John and Paul” is a singular entity rather than a plural group of entities – for example, if “John and Paul” is the name of a security service. In that case, “John and Paul” is a singular entity, not a pair of separate entities, and I could correctly say that “John and Paul is directing traffic.” In 1 Thessalonians 3:11, Paul uses a verb that treats God the Father and the Lord Jesus as a single entity, using the third person singular verb . You can’t see this in the English, because English often does not have different words for singular and plural verbs; but it is clear in the Greek. Paul chooses the verb form that treats God the Father and the Lord Jesus as a unity that acts as one. (See 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13 for my full Bible Study on this portion of Paul’s letter.) In the next verse (1 Thess. 3:12), Paul prays that the Lord Jesus will help the Thessalonians abound in love. This is another subtle sign of his belief in the divinity of Jesus. Paul would not pray to a mere human; God is the one who can answer prayer. But he directs his prayer to Jesus. This indicates that, 20 years after the Resurrection, Paul sees Jesus as having the power of God. Contrary to the confusion of the skeptics, the Christians of Jesus’s time believed that Jesus is God and that he is one with the Father. He was not just a man elevated to divinity centuries later by the Council of Nicaea. Paul again places Jesus on a par with the Father in his second letter A few months later, Paul writes a second letter to the Thessalonians. He again chooses a verb that identifies God the Father and the Lord Jesus as one, as I explain in my Bible Study on 2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:18 . Here is the story. In 2 Thessalonians 2:16, Paul is praying for the Thessalonians. He begins the prayer by describing our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father as having given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace. He continues the sentence by saying, may he encourage your hearts and may he strengthen them. He uses the third personal singular he ; He does not say, may they encourage and strengthen your hearts. Again, as in 1 Thessalonians 3:11, Paul indicates by his grammar that he sees the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father as one God, which means that he believes in the divinity of Jesus. Other passages in the Bible assert Jesus’s divinity Paul also signals Jesus’s divinity a few years later in his letter to the Philippians (2:6-11). But Paul’s letters are not the only places we see signs of the early belief in the divinity of Jesus. In the Gospel of Mark, written less than 20 years later, Jesus embraces the claim that He is the Messiah and the Son of God and adds that He will come in judgment from the right hand of God (Mark 14:62-64). His opponents see it as a clear claim of divinity, which is why they call for His execution. The Gospel of John, which was written before AD 100, repeatedly affirms Jesus’s divinity. Here are some examples: The first chapter refers to Jesus as “the Word” (John 1:14-15) and says, “In the beginning . . . the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus says, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). Jesus uses the phrase “I am” frequently, but in one instance, He uses it in a way that clearly asserts divinity. In John 8:56-59, He says, “Before Abraham existed, I am.” “I am” is the core of the name of God in the Old Testament (YHWH, or Yahweh). His opponents clearly understand that He is claiming divinity and pick up stones to kill him for blaspheming. When Thomas encounters the risen Jesus, he calls Jesus “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). The skeptics think church leaders waited 300 years to declare Jesus divine. It is true that throughout history, some people, both within and outside of the Church, have questioned the belief that Jesus is divine. But the belief itself – that Jesus is divine as well as human – was not a novel idea decided out of nowhere in 325. It is actually in the Bible. The Council of Nicaea gave us common words to explain Jesus’s divinity The Nicene Creed affirms that there is one God in three Persons, that the Lord Jesus Christ is “God from God,” and that the Son of God is “consubstantial with the Father,” meaning that He is “of the same substance” as God and did not start out as a human. The Council of Nicaea was important because it agreed on formal, doctrinal language to express these truths of the Christian faith. But Paul signaled that Jesus is divine 275 years earlier in his choice of verbs and pronouns in his first and second letters to the Thessalonians. NOTE: There is much more in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. Although my Bible Studies pause occasionally to explain doctrinal issues like this, the main focus of my Bible Studies is to help us explore how we can apply the practical wisdom of the Scriptures to our everyday lives. Check out my full set of Bible Studies and see where God leads you. Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Christian Faith Articles Next

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

Subscribe to Faith Explored to be informed when new posts are added that can help you apply the Bible to your everyday life. Subscribing is free. Become a Subscriber! To subscribe, fill out the form below. Subscribers receive email notifications when we post new articles! (And it's free.) If you subscribe, Faith Explored can help you keep growing in your faith . Image at top by Mateus Campos Felipe, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Oher images provided by Wix.

God teaches us through faith and science. Previous Christian Faith Articles Next God Reveals Himself in Scripture and in the Natural World, through Faith and Science God teaches us through faith and science. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti March 18, 2024 I saw a meme that said, “I don’t follow the Science. I follow Jesus.” This statement deserves further thought. I am a follower of Jesus. I believe He is God (John 1:1). He is the Author of life (Acts 3:15). All of the created world was created through Him (John 1:3; Col. 1:16). God reveals Himself through creation (Rom. 1:20). God reveals Himself in Scripture and in the natural world The heavens and the earth – i.e., all of the natural world – tell the glory of God and proclaim His handiwork (Psalm 19:1). In other words, God reveals Himself and His truths both through Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16) and through the natural world He created (Prov. 30:24-28). Since God is always true (John 3:33), He cannot reveal truth to us in one part of revelation and lie to us in another. All of God’s revelation is true – both that which is found in Scripture and that which is found in the natural world He gave us. Therefore, we can find truths revealed by God in Scripture, and we can find truths revealed by God in the natural world He authored. Science The word “science” refers to a well-developed set of processes people use to understand truths about the natural world. Although scientists wouldn’t say it this way because they are looking for natural evidence, since God is the author of all creation, when they find things that are true in the natural world, they are finding truths that God has revealed to us in the natural world. God teaches us through faith and science. The word “science” is also used to describe the body of truths that humans have discovered as they use the processes of science to explore the natural world. We see “science” in every part of our lives. Scientists used the processes of science to understand the nature of penicillin and its healing properties. As a result, we have a body of scientific knowledge about antibiotics. Scientists used the processes of science to understand the nature of fuels, providing us with the scientific knowledge to provide power to our tractors, our automobiles, and our power plants. Scientists used the processes of science to understand how to improve the yields of plants and animals, leading to the science of agronomy that helps us feed the world. Observing God’s orderly universe All of this is possible because God created an orderly universe with laws that govern that universe, and because He allowed people to discover the truths about the natural world that are hidden in that orderly world. (Even the seemingly disorderly parts of the natural world contain truths that humans can and do discover about the natural world.) The Scriptures speak approvingly of attitudes and actions that are Bible-era precursors of modern science. The Book of Proverbs applauds those who carefully observe the natural world in order to apply it to their own situations (Prov. 6:6-11; 30:24-28). Jesus calls attention to those who observe signs from nature to predict the weather and suggests that we should have a similar attitude in reading spiritual signs (Matthew 16:2-3; Luke 12:54-56). Jesus also tells a parable in which he speaks well of a gardener who seeks to experiment with the soil in order to increase the likelihood of a good harvest (Luke 13:6-9). These passages reflect God’s approval of our use of the processes of science – observing, experimenting, drawing conclusions, etc. Using all of God’s tools to understand truth God has given humans the ability to search out the truths of the natural world through science, just as He has enabled us to search out the truths of the spiritual world through Bible Study. To say, “I follow Jesus but I don’t follow the science,” would be like saying, “I follow Jesus but I don’t follow Bible Study.” They are both just tools – methods of learning. Science is a method used to understand what God reveals through the natural world. Bible Study is a method used to understand what God reveals through Scripture. One and the same God reveals Himself in both places – in Scripture and in the natural world, through Bible Study and through science. Thank God that He has chosen to reveal Himself in both places and has given us these tools – Bible Study and science – to make sense of His truths in both places. God teaches us through faith and science. Blessed is the person who listens to all of God’s revelation, wherever He chooses to reveal it. Copyright © 2024, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Christian Faith Articles Next

Does a loving mother prevent all suffering her children might endure? Why not, and what might that tell us about God? Previous Next Table of Contents God is Like the Most Loving Mother Does a loving mother prevent all suffering her children might endure? Why not, and what might that tell us about God? Tom Faletti (to be continued) 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 Table of Contents Next