Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah and King who fulfills the promises made to Israel. It opens with His royal lineage and birth to show that God’s plan has been unfolding for generations. Through teachings like the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus redefines righteousness as a matter of the heart, not just outward behavior. Parables reveal that the Kingdom of Heaven grows quietly but transforms everything it touches. Matthew highlights the contrast between authentic faith and empty religious performance. Miracles and confrontations with religious leaders show Jesus’ divine authority and the cost of following Him. The book ends with the Great Commission, sending believers to spread this kingdom to all nations.

These are totally not my words…

Matthew 1

Lots of names - almost skipped the chapter, but saw Joseph making good decisions at the bottom so read about his dreams, etc.

Matthew 2

Jesus’ birth. It seems pretty nutty that they encapsulated his birth in 3 scriptures. It is also interesting to me the amount of times prophecy is validated in Matthew - out of Egypt I called my son; that he would be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 3

Locusts are gross and are not to be eaten.
The honor of baptizing Christ…
The voice from heaven.

Matthew 4

Temptation 3X
Jesus’ ministry begins
Can you imagine someone asking you to stop what you are doing, leave everything behind and follow someone? Jesus had 99 aura.
Jesus starts healing folks - why was it so hard to believe that He was the son of God when He was able to do all of these things? Here is where my intellectual hypocrisy really gets going - I know Jesus is lord and I am well aware of many of his rules and instructions for life here on earth and yet I keep getting sideways - would watching a miracle conducted in front of me change this? I doubt it - I am sure I would be right there with the disciples. Like Paul said, “I know what I am supposed to do…”

Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount
There are really a lot of rules on how to do things - all excellent, and all ones I fail at pretty repeatedly.
Are there a lot of them that indicate that how you think is just as important as what you say and do? This makes my failures even more lengthy.

Matthew 6

Love the Lord’s prayer.
I can still be tempted by the allure of this world - stuff collecting is a problem, but not as much as it used to be - Progress!
If the birds are good to go, then I won’t worry too much.

Matthew 7

' “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. '
Matthew 7:1-2 —> Another tough one
'Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces. '
Matthew 7:6 —> Not really sure what this one means
“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.'
Matthew 7:6-8 —> this is a good one too. What about when I am asking for help or to be shown the way to stop sinning and doing things that I know are wrong…and I do not feel help? God’s time is perfect time? I suppose so, but this makes me angsty.

Matthew 8

I dig the story about the centurion for some reason. That dude was willing to take Jesus at his word in the workings of a miracle. Crazy, supernatural power and he needed zero verification and/or reassurance - you said so and thats all there is to it.
More fulfilling prophecy with Peter’s mom.
The storm is another example - I look at the disciple and think, “how could you think anything bad is going to happen? Jesus is in the boat!” Those silly disciples…then I go and do something stupid…wasn’t there something about a plank in one’s eye in the last chapter??
Don’t get why the demons wanted the pigs, but whatever.

Matthew 9

The pharisees really didn’t dig Jesus out there making people’s lives better. He was taking their authority away from them. Who was going to kowtow to them if that kept occurring?
Love the bit about sick people need doctors, not the healthy - but who is healthy??
14Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? ” 15Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests   be sad while the groom is with them? The time   will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. 17And no one puts   new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” — someone explain this concept to me.

Matthew 10

For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20because it isn’t you speaking, but the Spirit   of your Father is speaking through you.  —> I say this to myself when I am talking to students all the time. I like to think that I really cannot screw it up if this is what I am doing/thinking.
' “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven. ' Matthew 10:32-33 —> Is this a literal statement or a metaphor?

Matthew 11

' “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence, and the violent have been seizing it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 'Matthew 11:11-13 —> Kingdom of heaven suffering violence??
' “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”' Matthew 11:28-30 —> This one resonates for me. What we are being asked to do is not that hard, in fact, I cannot seem to think of a single rule/law we are given by Christ that does not make us better people and our lives better.

Matthew 12

'Therefore, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.' Matthew 12:31-32 —> This is the unforgivable sin, yes? Explain please.
'I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”' Matthew 12:36-37 —> Terrifying.
Who is the Queen of the South? 12:42
'While he was still speaking with the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to the one who was speaking to him, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers? ” Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:46-50 —> Was this just an example that our brothers and sisters in Christ are even more important than our earthly family? Thats the way I am reading it.

Matthew 13

'He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. ' Matthew 13:11-13 —> I need clarification and instruction as to what this means.
'He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. ' Matthew 13:11-13 —> I assume this means that he stumbled upon this treasure, but he didn’t own the field, so to get the treasure he had to buy the field? I do not understand exactly what this is trying to say to us.

Matthew 14

This chapter is all about poor John missing his head, feeding lots of people, miracles on water, and lots of healing.
If there was any doubt to the disciples that Jesus was the Son of God, one would imagine that this chapter cinched it.

Matthew 15

'He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? For God said: Honor your father and your mother; , and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,” he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.”'
Matthew 15:3-9
—> I need this above to be put in Oestreich language, one that I can understand.

'“Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”'
Matthew 15:17,19-20
—> more Oestreich language

More fish and loaves

Matthew 16

Sign of Jonah?
I feel bad for the disciples - there are a lot of times when I do not understand what Jesus is talking about. There were around him, granted, but they still had lots of people attempting to influence them to believe that their teaching were the most important and that Jesus was a heretic.

' “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am? ” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, , because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah. '
Matthew 16:15-20
—> This is confusing. ‘because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you…’ How was it not flesh and blood that revealed? SP had been there with Jesus through the boat and not enough food. Seems pretty flesh and blood to me.

‘Get behind me Satan!” Peter was trying to protect Jesus, which was nice of him I suppose, particularly in light of the fact that he did not have the full picture in place. It is also an extraordinary example of Jesus’ heroic nature. To know the hell that was coming and to be willing to move forward.

'For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done. '
Matthew 16:27
—> this is scary. I feel like I have done so many things wrong that I am going to have a rough go of it when I stand before Him.

Matthew 17

Okay, maybe I am dumb, but why is Elijah such a big deal? Why is he going to put all things right??
Mustard seeds
Why the fishing for coins??

Matthew 18

Discuss the metaphor for the child or being child-like.
Removing body parts - take anything in your life that causes you to sin, you better get rid of it straight away.
The sheep thing tells me that God is more interested in those that haven’t come to Christ yet.
Here are the rules for rebuking people.
The story about the dude who owed money = you better forgive people like God does or bad things are heading your way

Matthew 19

Jesus would not be able to deal with how things are going now when it comes to sexuality.
Eunuchs? sigh.
Children - I think I understand this, but lets talk about it anyway.
The young man stuff>heaven
How to be last?

Matthew 20

Does the bit with the denarius mean that even if you come to Christ in your last moments, you are the same as someone who has been a Christ follower their whole lives?
I can imagine that when the disciples heard Jesus talking about dying it tripped them out.
Wouldn’t being in heaven and having spent time with Jesus be enough for you? Still compete.

Matthew 21

Why a donkey? Humble, I get it. More prophecy.
I love that Jesus demonstrated anger.
Metaphor with the fruit tree - again?
Why wouldn’t Jesus tell them by what authority He did things?

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go work in the vineyard today.’  

29 “He answered, ‘I don’t want to,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered, but he didn’t go. 31Which of the two did his father’s will? ”

They said, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness,   and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.

This one makes no sense at all to me. Which one was it then and why did Jesus not answer them?
OK - the bit about the servants being sent to the field and killed, then his son killed, and when the owner came out there and Jesus said that prostitutes would be in heaven first…I do not understand this one at all. This was about the Pharisees?

Matthew 22

The entire story about the wedding - first he can’t get anyone to come and then some people do but the dude didn’t have the right clothes so he was tossed out - explain!
This chapter reminds me of math word problems.
We need to go through these and talk about them.

Matthew 23

Hypocrisy vs. authentic faith
Dangers of religious showmanship
Legalism to crush others
Neglecting weightier things
Bling leadership
Inner corruption with outer cleanliness
Responsibility doesn’t go down with influence - it goes up
Grief beneath the rage. Jesus wants to be a mother hen with judgement flowing from love, not cruelty

Matthew 24

'Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. ' Matthew 24:46

Matthew 25

What is the metaphor for the oil? Readiness.
You better do some stuff with the talent you have been given dude, or there will be troubles for you my not-so-faithful servant.
You better treat people like Jesus did, or there will be issues

Matthew 26

Things go as Jesus has warned them all along
Betrayal
First communion - the prayer that says it all
3x Peter, 3x
You can’t stay awake, but neither can I bc I sin all the time.
Slapping Jesus was pretty awful.
See Peter?

Matthew 27

Its really sad about Judas - did he really ever have a chance or was it pre-ordained that this would happen?
Barabas>Jesus??? Insanity
Pilate, washing your hands is not going to be enough.
The 2 guys next to him - the humility of the one what knew he was getting what he deserved…

Matthew 28

Resurrection
The Great Commission