Because we spent so much time on the first chapter of Matthew's gospel, we are already almost a full class behind the syllabus. Our Tuesday class will be mostly discussion of Matthew 1-14, concentrating particularly on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Please review briefly these chapters before class.For Thursday next week (September 5), please read the remaining chapters of the Gospel of Matthew (Ch. 15-28). Pay special attention to Chapters 21-23, chapters that particularly well show Jesus' challenge to the religion of the scribes and Pharisees. Choose a verse or summarize a passage that seems particularly important to you and do one of the following:
1. Explain why you think this verse/passage is the best/most memorable in the assigned reading.
2. Explain how this verse/passage ties to the theme that Mattthew is a "gospel for those who think they don't need the gospel."
"Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive." Matthew 21:21-22
ReplyDeleteJesus is saying here that if you have faith but do not produce you will die like the fig tree. But if you have faith and pray what you as for will be given to you. So hence can have all the faith in the world but without the gospel you will die, but with the gospel what you ask will be granted to you. Taylor Linn
Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” This verse has a lot of meaning behind it, which makes it a very memorable passage. In a few words Jesus states one of the most difficult to understand ideas in the Bible. The idea is of how so many people believe that they are Christians, but in reality this is not the case. The word Christian has become so twisted in what its true meaning is. People believe all because they go to church on Sunday, they are Christian. People just simply go through the motions, but they do not live as Jesus taught. This passage can be glanced over without a second thought, but it has a lasting impact on those who understand what it means. Many call themselves Christian, but few truly are. -Kelly Longden
ReplyDelete"yet it shall not be so among you but whoever decides to be come great among you, let him be your servant. and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:26-28. Right before this verse, Jesus says that he can not allow entry into heaven, only God has that authority. This passage sticks out to me because it best explains what Jesus is there to do. he is there to do the work of God. He wants people to know that it is God who grants salvation through Jesus, not from him. in other words' getting in good with Jesus does nothing, it is God you must find favor with. -Sean McCracken
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.” Mathew 23:13 I believe that this verse is the most important because it is stating the real meaning of this whole book. Mathew is all about the people who need to hear the good news of Christ and for those that deny the existence of the King. This verse cannot only prove that God disproves of what is wrong with the high priests, but with the way they run the church.
ReplyDelete-Liz Matson
"So those who are last now will someday be first, and those who are first now will someday be last." Matthew 20:16 In the verses before it told the story of workers being hired and paid the same but some working longer. This attitude of worrying about how much work one does more then the other is very true in today's world as well. the payment rather then one coin, is eternal life in heaven,this is what we all strive for, but yet everyone worries about what everyone else is doing. This is God's promise that those who strive to serve God no matter when in life they start they will be save and taken into the Kingdom of God for eternal life.
ReplyDelete-Dylan Mickelson
I think Matthew 22 is important to understanding the gospel of Matthew. In it Jesus tells a parable about a king who throws a wedding banquet. He invites all. Some reject his invitation and react violently toward his messengers. He invites all in and many come to the banquet even those labeled as "bad." One is thrown out though, seemingly not on good terms with the king. Jesus, through Matthew, is saying that his message is for all even though he knows some will reject it. Jesus is there to reach out to even the violent reacting Pharisee(s). There will be those who do not believe they need Jesus' gospel but he is there trying anyway; that is important to understanding the gospel of Matthew. -Zach Kuhlman
ReplyDelete"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves." I believe this passage is the most important passage of the reading because it describes to me Jesus's attitude toward the religion of the time and how he would react towards what his own religion would later become. Christianity is a religion became very corrupt around the time of Martin Luther and if Jesus were able to go to that time and realize what his church had become, he would have reacted in the very same way he reacted in this passage. The reaction Jesus had towards the church of the time suggests to me that Luther breaking away from the church of his time was something Jesus might have not approved but would have accepted. -Thomas Geyer
ReplyDelete"It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a robbers' den." Matthew 21:13 I feel that this statement made by Jesus makes clear his purpose for coming to the earth, and reinforces Matthews emphasis on how the customs of the Jews were not only unimportant, but offensive to God. Jesus is very loving all through the Gospel, but is furious when he visits the temple. The customs of the Religious leaders were unacceptable in the eyes of God, and Jesus made this very clear!
ReplyDeleteMatthew 19:16-17
ReplyDeleteAnd, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
This passage immediately struck me as I read it. I interpreted this portion as a young man asking the exact, or easy way to eternal life. I think we sometimes want to do the least amount possible to still get the big reward at the end. I think that is why after Jesus recites the 10 Commandments he also tells the young man to give his possessions to the poor to show him that following the Commandments is the baseline, you always can do more for others.
Mary Locken
Matthew 22:34-40
ReplyDelete'When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
This passage is pretty much self explanatory dealing with what law(s) are the greatest. Loving God is the greatest thing people could do because God loves everyone as well. Yet even though there are people who do not love God, He still loves you. Loving thy neighbor like thy self is also self explanatory, love and be good to them and they will/should do the same.
Cheryl Hansen
Matthew 16:24-26
ReplyDeleteThen Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?..."
Jesus is talking about picking up a cross. Today I believe the context of the cross is somewhat diminished because we see them everywhere. I don't believe that was the case during Jesus's time. He was talking about dying so that we could live. Dying to oneself seems like the opposite of our culture today, and probably back then as well. So in summation Jesus is calling to unbelievers and believers in this passage to follow Him for everlasting life.
I believe the parable of the ten virgins is the most memorable. It talks about ten virgins waiting very late for the bridegroom. Some were wise and brought extra oil for their lamps, while others were not. When the bridegroom finally came, those who didn't have enough oil for their lamps had to run and buy some, therefore missing the bridegroom.
ReplyDeleteWhile this can be a difficult passage to understand, I believe it is telling us to be on the lookout and be prepared for the coming of Christ. "For not even the angels in heaven know the day or the hour, only the father." If we aren't ready when Jesus comes back, he could say I do not know you.
-Melinda Quade