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

The disciples don’t understand the Resurrection at first. Why is it so central to the Christian faith? [John 20:1-9; 20:11-18] Previous Next John List John 20:1-18 The disciples don’t understand the Resurrection at first. Why is it so central to the Christian faith? Titian (1488/1490-1576). Noli me Tangere (Do Not Touch Me). Around 1514. The National Gallery, London, UK. Photo by Tom Faletti, 28 May 2025. Tom Faletti March 27, 2026 Read John 20:1-18 Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and the Beloved Disciple find that the tomb is empty Verses 1-10 The empty tomb Why do you think Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on the first day after the Sabbath rest while it is still dark? Mary finds that the tomb open – the stone has been removed. John does not say whether she saw that there was no body inside; but based on verse 2, what does Mary think has happened? In verse 2, Mary says, “we” don’t know where they have laid him. In the other Gospels, she goes to the tomb with one or more other women. The “we” here suggests that John is simplifying his telling of the story to focus on the key moments he wants to tell us, while recognizing that the story has also been handed down with several women at the tomb. Mary runs and tells Peter and “the discipled whom Jesus loved” (scholars call him the “Beloved Disciple”). The simplest explanation is that he is the apostle John, but many scholars have other views. Some think that the Beloved Disciple was another follower of Jesus, not one of the twelve apostles (see Introduction to John ). And some think that the Gospel writer is inserting an anonymous person as a stand in for his readers – including us – as a challenge to us to have the level of faith that the Beloved Disciple has. We will keep things simple by calling him John in the following questions, but you are free to interpret it along the lines of the other hypotheses. Although Luke mentions only Peter going to the tomb in Luke 24:12, he indicates in Luke 24:24 that, in the full story that was passed on to him, more than one man went to the tomb. It is quite common for different people to tell the same story in different ways, depending on their perspective. And since the Gospels stories were circulating for decades before they were written down, different Gospels writers had access to different tellings of the story. The Gospel of John indicates that it includes eyewitness testimony (19:35; 21:24) from the Beloved Disciple that many not have been as accessible to the writers of the other Gospels. When Peter and John hear what Mary says, they run to the tomb. Why do you think they run? John is faster and gets there first. What does he see, and what does he not do (verses 4-5)? When Peter arrives, what does he do, and what does see (verse 6-7)? What do you think is going through their minds? John’s Gospel is very specific about the appearance of the linen burial cloths (verse 7). Why are these details important? If someone had come to steal away the body, they would not have removed the body wrappings, which would have kept the limbs close to the body and made it easier to carry the body. If they were in the act of stealing the body, they would not have taken the time to roll up the head cloth. Also, some people think that John’s description fits what it would look like if Jesus’s body simply disappeared from within the burial cloths: the cloth around the head would be separate from the strips of cloth that went around the body, and the head cloth would appear folded as it settled in place when there was no longer a head holding it up. Jews had strict rules about not being made unclean by contact with a tomb. Why do you think Peter and John go into the tomb? In verse 8, we are told that John went into the tomb and he “saw and believed” – meaning that he believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. What do you think convinced him at that moment? What makes you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? In verse 9, John’s Gospel tells us that the disciples didn’t yet understand that it was necessary that Jesus rise from the dead. Why do you think they didn’t understand that? John uses the word “scriptures” here, which for him would be the Old Testament, but it isn’t clear that he has any particular passages in mind. Christians later saw resurrection images in various Old Testament passages such as Moses’s lifting up of the serpent to heal the people (Num. 21:9; quoted in John 3:14); the experience of Isaac when his father was preparing to sacrifice him and it was on the third day that he was saved (Gen. 22:4-13); Jonah being saved after 3 days in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2:1); Hosea’s reference to God saving Israel on the third day (Hos. 6:2); Psalm 22, which has descriptions very similar to Jesus’s suffering on the cross; and Psalm 16:10-11, where the psalmist says that God will not abandon his soul to Sheol (the realm of the dead). What do you think are the biggest reasons why people today have trouble believing that Jesus rose from the dead? Verse 9 says that it was necessary that Jesus rise from the dead: that he “had to” or “must.” Why do you think it was so important that Jesus rise from the dead? Why is that so central to the Christian faith? What difference does it make in your life that Jesus rose from the dead – that he is still alive? Verses 11-18 Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene While Peter and John go home, Mary stays at the tomb, weeping. What does she see as she looks in the tomb? Then, in verse 14, she turns around. What does she see, and who does she think it is? In verse 16, Jesus says, “Mary,” and suddenly she knows. Think back to our study of chapter 10 , where Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” and tells us that the sheep follow the shepherd “because they know his voice” (10:4). Mary knew Jesus’s voice. How did she come to know Jesus’s voice? She spent time with him. She paid attention when he was speaking. She nurtured her love for him so that she was attuned to his voice. How can we imitate Mary in knowing Jesus’s voice? In verse 17, Jesus says he has not yet ascended to the Father. We have noted before that, for John, Jesus’s Passion, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension into glory are all part of one great action by which Jesus fulfills the work for which he has been sent (for example, John 2:4; 12:32-33; 13:1). John compresses the resurrection and ascension into one day; he is focused on the spiritual significance of what is happening, not the literal timeline. In what ways do Jesus’s death, resurrection and ascension fit together as one, coordinated event? In verse 17, Jesus tells Mary, “Go to my brothers....” This is the first time Jesus has explicitly called the disciples his “brothers” (he uses the word “brothers” in a similar way right after his resurrection in Matthew 28:10). Jesus has previously called them “friends” in John 15:15, and he has said generically that whoever does the will of his Father is his brother or sister (Matthew 12:50; Mark 3:35), but here he explicitly calls them his brothers. Why is it significant that he calls them his “brothers”? We, too, have become brothers and sisters of Jesus, adopted into his family by faith. What effect might it have on your faith to know that Jesus calls you his brother or sister? Also in verse 17, Jesus calls God “my Father and your Father.” John told us at the beginning of this Gospel (1:12) that Jesus gives to those who accept him the power to become children of God. We have the same Father Jesus has. How is our relationship with the one Father similar to Jesus’s relationship with his Father, and how is our relationship different than his? What questions does this exploration of the early events after the Resurrection raise for you? How does this part of John 20 offer answers to questions that you or others might have about the Resurrection? How can you let the wonder of the Resurrection strengthen your faith? Take a step back and consider this: The disciples lived with Jesus for 3 years, yet they did not understand that he would rise from the dead. We have a better understanding of it because of the many years of reflection that followers of Jesus have devoted to it through the centuries. How is the disciples’ confusion a caution for us to be careful about thinking we understand everything about Jesus? What is the role of devoted followers of Jesus in helping us to understand Jesus better, and how can we stay connected to those who can help us understand our faith better? 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

What are you called to do in the work of God’s vineyard? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 21:33-46 What are you called to do in the work of God’s vineyard? Jan Luyken (1649-1712). Gelijkenis van de pachters van de wijngaard [Parable of the wicked tenants] . 1703. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Public domain (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gelijkenis_van_de_pachters_van_de_wijngaard,_RP-P-OB-45.110.jpg . Tom Faletti August 7, 2025 Matthew 21:33-46 The parable of the tenants who kill the landowner’s son Recall that in the previous passage , Jesus was drawing a contrast between the chief priests and elders, who have failed to respond to the preaching of John and Jesus, and the “tax collectors and prostitutes,” who have come to believe and are therefore entering into the kingdom of God ahead of the chief priests and elders. Jesus tells a second parable that applies to the chief priests and elders. It uses the longstanding image of the Jewish people as God’s vineyard. The image appears especially in Isaiah 5:1-7, a passage the Jewish leaders would have known well. Read Isaiah 5:1-7 . In the Isaiah passage, in the first verses of chapter 5, what did the vineyard owner do? How does this represent God’s love for his chosen people Israel? What has he done for them? What did the vineyard do in response to the owner’s love (see verse 2 and verse 4)? In the Jewish mind, everything that happened was caused by God. They did not make a distinction between what God causes and what God allows . So they saw the destruction of the vineyard – i.e., Israel in Isaiah’s time – as the direct act of God. We, who see a difference between what God causes and what God allows , might see this as a case where God allowed the nations around Israel to attack and destroy Israel (verse 5: “take away its hedge”), rather than that God directly visited ruin upon them. Now return to Matthew 21:33-46 . Who does the landowner represent? Who do the tenants represent? Who do the servants of the landowner in verses 34-36 represent? Who does the owner’s son represent? In Mark 12:8, the tenants kill the son and throw him out of the vineyard. In Matthew, the order is reversed, as they throw him out of the vineyard and kill him. Some scholars see in Matthew’s order a reference to the fact that Jesus was killed outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem (John 19:17, 20; Hebrews 13:12-13). Who are the “other” tenants in verse 41 who the owner will subsequently bring on as his tenants? The usual interpretation of this parable is that the owner is God; the vineyard is Israel (or Jerusalem); the original tenants are the leaders of the people – the chief priests and elders; the servants are the Old Testament prophets, whom the nation of Israel often mistreated and sometimes killed (although Matthew adds that one of them was stoned, which could be a reference to Stephen – see Acts 7:54-60); the son is Jesus; and the new tenants are a new Israel (or the true Israel) composed of people who believe in Jesus. Matthew’s community, a people who received the kingdom, was a collection of Jews and Gentiles. In having so many connections to the story of salvation history, this parable is more like an allegory than most of Jesus’s parables. How does this story portray the chief priests and elders, who will soon ask the Roman authorities to put Jesus to death? What does this story say about the people who are putting their faith in Jesus? What does this parable tell us about God? Notice that the landowner, like God, trusts the workers without standing over them micromanaging every move. He is patient when they rebel. He cares so much about his vineyard that he sends his son. Although he is patient, he does bring judgment ultimately. What does this parable tell us about Jesus? He is not just a prophet; he is God’s son. He will be killed. However, there will be an accounting in the end. Where are we in this story? What does the parable tell us about ourselves? The stone In Matthew 21:42, Jesus ends the parable by pointing to a quote from Psalm 118:22-23 (“the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”). It might also remind the chief priests and elders of the saying in Isaiah 28:16 where God says that he is laying a cornerstone in Zion (Jerusalem) that is a sure foundation for people’s faith. Who is this cornerstone? What happens to the cornerstone? Jesus, the cornerstone, is rejected by the builders – i.e., the leaders of Jerusalem. The quote from the Psalms say that God has done this and it is “marvelous” or “wonderful” in our eyes. How would you explain what is wonderful about Jesus being the cornerstone of our faith and of our relationship with God? When Jesus quotes this passage from the Psalms, how does it answer the question the leaders asked in Matthew 21:23, when they asked by what authority Jesus is doing what he is doing? In verse 43, Jesus speaks judgment upon the leaders. What does he say will happen to them? The passage about the vineyard in Isaiah has similar language. You can read Isaiah 5:11-16 to see that. In verse 43, Jesus says the kingdom will be taken away from them and given to a people who will produce the proper fruit of God’s kingdom. Who are those people, and what is the “fruit” they produce? The early Christians saw this statement by Jesus as being fulfilled when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and scattered the Jewish people. They saw the Church (the Christian people) as the “other tenants,” the people producing fruit. Verse 44 does not appear in many of the early manuscripts, but it is in Luke 20:18 (Luke’s version of this same parable), so it makes sense here. Jesus may be drawing on a couple of Old Testament images: Isaiah 8:14-15 has an image of God as a rock that both Israel and Judah will stumble over, and they will fall and be broken. In Daniel 2:32-35 and 43-45, Daniel interprets a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had, in which a stone that was not made by human hands crushes a statue that represents the powerful nations of the world from the time of Babylon through the time of the Greeks. Verse 44 has been interpreted in many different ways: perhaps the first group is those who humble themselves before God and fall on Jesus in repentance, while the second group is those who resist the saving grace of Jesus. How have you found yourself needing to be “broken” as part of the process of embracing the call of Jesus in your life? In verses 45-46, we see the reaction of the chief priests and Pharisees. This is the first time Matthew has mentioned the Pharisees since Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. The recognize that Jesus’s parable refers to them. What would they like to do, but don’t do, and why? The lines have now been clearly drawn. The political die has been cast. As Jesus foretold before he came to Jerusalem, he is on a clear path to be executed by the leaders of his society. God never forces anyone to do evil. Each person who is opposing Jesus could have chosen a different path. What is Jesus offering to the leaders, as a way to get off of the tragic path they are on? In this story, we are among the “other tenants” who have been given a shot at working in God’s vineyard. What a great privilege that is! What are you doing with your opportunity? How are you working in God’s vineyard? What more could you be doing, to do the work of God? Take a step back and consider this: The range of people circling in and around God’s vineyard is vast. When people encounter Jesus, there are many different ways they might respond: Some are put off by the claims he makes, or the demands he makes, and they reject him without ever embracing him. Some may be living unruly lives when they encountered Jesus, but they see the truth in his calling, decide to follow him, and find themselves being transformed by the relationship they develop with him. Some are raised “in the faith” but do not discover a personal experience of Jesus. They go through the motions of the faith and then fall away or just keep going through the motions without developing a vital relationship with Jesus. These members of our community need a new encounter with Jesus to help them connect with him on an adult level and follow him on a personal level. Some are raised in the church, fall away, and then subsequently have a new encounter that helps them recommit their lives to following Jesus. Some are raised in the faith and develop a personal relationship with Jesus early on that matures into an adult commitment to him without ever falling away. Jesus wants all of them to be part of his team – the people who are working in his vineyard to produce the fruit of the kingdom. Every time the sun goes down, it is a chance to reflect on what we have done today. Every time the sun rises, it is a new day in the vineyard – a new chance to be open to the fruit of God’s Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and to “press on,” as the apostle Paul puts it (Phil. 3:14). Every day, Jesus invites us to take another step. We can ask: What would Jesus like to help you do today in the work of God’s vineyard? What can you do to help someone else stay true to their calling as a worker in God’s vineyard? Let us embrace our calling as tenants in the vineyard of the Lord, in whatever capacity he gives us and in whatever work he calls us to do. Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Jesus tells us to be ready for his return. What are you doing to be ready for that day (whether it is the Second Coming or your death)? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 24:32-44 Jesus tells us to be ready for his return. What are you doing to be ready for that day (whether it is the Second Coming or your death)? Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti September 7, 2025 Matthew 24:32-35 No one knows when Jesus will return, so be ready for whatever God does In verses 32-33, Jesus shifts from apocalyptic language to an image from the garden that most people can identify with and understand. What does he say about fig trees to help us understand that we will know he has come when he comes? Verse 34 is confusing even to scholars. We aren’t sure what Jesus meant when he said that “this generation” will not pass away until “all these things” have taken place. Obviously, the people who lived at the time of Jesus have passed away, but he has not returned. What could it mean? Some people interpret “this generation” to mean “this age” – i.e., this era in human history – but the word is not elsewhere translated in that way. Jesus could be saying that his death and resurrection will occur before that generation dies (similar to what he said in Matthew 16:28). Or he might be referring to the destruction of Jerusalem. However, neither of those events amounts to “all these things,” since Jesus has just discussed his Second Coming; so this is not a sufficient interpretation. It is not uncommon for prophetic and apocalyptic material to have multiple layers, so in different places Jesus could be referring to different events or even multiple events that occur at separate times. However, it would be unwise to argue that none of what Jesus has talked about refers to the Second Coming. Matthew often gathers different sayings of Jesus and presents them together in one place, so perhaps this sentence really belongs with the things Jesus said about the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24:15-22. The Greek word used for “generation” – genea – was also sometimes used by Greeks to mean a family or race (Liddell and Scott), so perhaps Jesus was saying that the Jewish people would not be wiped out before the Second Coming. This would mean that Jesus is using a different meaning for the word here than when he used the same word in Matthew 11:16 and 12:41. That is not an extraordinary thing to do, but some people reject this option for that reason. Although some scholars argue that the whole chapter is mainly about the destruction of the Temple, and others argue that the whole chapter is about the Second Coming, this study takes a more balanced approach that is consistent with the broad mainstream of scholars, including both Catholic scholars such as Harrington (pp. 94-97) and scholars with deep evangelical roots such as H. L. Ellison (1146-1147). In this approach, Matthew 24:4-14 stands as warning to Christians of all time periods, Matthew 24:15-22 is about the destruction of the Temple, and then Jesus makes a shift toward the Second Coming that becomes clear in verses 27-41. Since Matthew is mainly concerned about being ready for the Lord whenever he returns (which is the focus of the next passage) and would not have written an obvious contradiction into his Gospel, the third and fourth explanations above are the most satisfactory: Either Matthew has merged material from various sources and verse 34 is referring to the material in verses 15-22, or “this generation” has a meaning that could still make sense in Matthew’s time, such as that it means “this people” – i.e., the Jewish people. We don’t need to be troubled by the fact that we cannot be sure what verse 34 means. Nothing here is central to our faith, other than the encouragement that Jesus will return and that we should live our lives in a way that is always ready for him. We do not need an exact timeline –in fact, in verse 36 Jesus says that even he doesn’t know the exact timeline. What we do know is that Jesus will be victorious in the end and those who remain watchful and endure will live with him forever. What do you think about Jesus’s confidence that his people will be able to endure through the suffering and that he will come in the end to gather his people to be with him forever? Verse 35 says that Jesus’s words will live on even when the universe is no longer in existence. What does that tell you about Jesus? Does verse 35 make you want to know more of Jesus’s words, since his words will live on forever? If so, why? Would more studying of the Bible help? Matthew 24:36-44 No one knows when Jesus will return, so be ready When Jesus was speaking to them, did he know when the Second Coming will occur? Jesus said he did not know. As the eternal Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God knows everything the First Person of the Trinity knows (see, for example, Matt. 11:27, and also John 3:35). But as a human person, Jesus apparently did not know this in his human knowledge, unless he is exaggerating to emphasis the importance of not focusing on timetables but instead on always being ready. Given that Jesus says that neither he nor the angels know when the Son of Man will come, what do you think you should focus on? In verses 37-39, Jesus gives an illustration from Noah’s time to explain the attitude we should have toward the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus is contrasting Noah’s attitude with the attitude of the people around Noah. What is the point of the story? In verses 40-42, Jesus gives some examples where one person is “taken” and one person is “left.” The Left Behind franchise has popularized the idea of the “rapture” as one possible interpretation of these words, but that interpretation reaches far beyond the text of what Jesus actually says. For an exploration of “rapture” theories, see The Rapture? It’s Not a Pre-Millennial Escape from Tribulation . How does verse 42 explain the point of verses 40-41? Throughout this chapter, Jesus has been speaking metaphorically, so verses 40-41 are probably also metaphorical rather than literal. (The statement applies very well to our own individual deaths.) Obviously, our eternal salvation is not dependent on whether we literally “stay awake” or fall asleep. What is the point Jesus is making? Does this teaching about the Second Coming of Jesus have any relevance in our lives other than if we happen to be alive when the Second Coming occurs? What does Jesus want us to take away from this for our everyday lives? The next analogy Jesus offers involves a homeowner (verses 43-44). What is the point? A homeowner doesn’t know when a thief might be coming. What does that mean a homeowner must do in order to be safe? In verse 44, Jesus tells us to be “ready” (NRSV) or “prepared” (NABRE) for his return, even though we don’t know when he is coming. How can we be ready? How might it be useful to consider these questions in terms of our own death? No one knows when they will die but we all will die someday. What does it look like to live a life that is always ready for the day when we will meet our Maker? What would you do differently if you lived your life with a greater focus on being ready for the day you will meet God face to face? Take a step back and consider this: This passage challenges us – not to spend a lot of time trying to figure out the signs of the Second Coming, but to live a life that is ready for the day when he comes (perhaps in the Second Coming but more likely when we die). My Bible Study group explored the idea that we can get ready for God by living the life now that he has called us to live. This led us to ask: What are the signs that you are living the life God has called you to live? One member pointed out that sometimes she knows God wants her to take a new step to become more like him, because it keeps nagging her. One of the signs that we are living the life Jesus calls us to live is that we are talking with God about the ways he wants to change us and allowing him to make us more like himself. Another member described a time when she had to stop trying to make things go her way and just accept that she was called to a season of serving others. One of the signs that we are living the life Jesus calls us to live is that we are accepting those times of serving as Jesus would, rather than fighting it. Another member talked about how important it is to keep growing spiritually, and not think we are done growing. One of the signs that we are living the life Jesus calls us live is that we are looking for the next small way that God wants to help us be more like him. What are the signs that you are living the life God has called you to live? What do you need to do to get ready? It is a blessing that we can leave to God the timing of the Second Coming and don’t have to try to figure out obscure signs. We can focus on the interior signs that indicate we are ready for Jesus right now, and not be distracted by a focus on exterior signs of some future event. Matthew has been very clear about what Jesus is telling us to do right now, in the present. Here are some examples: Be pure in spirit and pure of heart; be peacemakers; don’t respond to others with anger, but love even your enemies; love God with your whole heart; love your neighbor as much as you love yourself; and, in the next chapter, use the talents God has given you to serve him, not to serve yourself; feed the hungry; welcome the stranger; take care of the sick; etc. Those are the concerns Jesus asks us to keep our eyes on, not an obscure timetable for his return. What is one thing you can do in the next week to keep your focus more on what Jesus is calling you to do right now, while you wait for his return? 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

What does God want us to see? And once we see the real world as he sees it, how would he like us to respond? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 20:29-34 What does God want us to see? And once we see the real world as he sees it, how would he like us to respond? Artist unknown. Kristus helbreder de to blinde ved Jericho [The Healing of the Two Blind Men at Jericho] . 16th century. Cropped. Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark), Copenhagen, Denmark. Public domain, SMK, https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMSsp689?q=Kristus%20helbreder%20de%20to%20blinde%20ved%20Jericho&page=0 . Tom Faletti July 5, 2025 Matthew 20:29-34 Two blind men call on Jesus as the “Son of David” Matthew now returns to his narrative about Jesus’s walk to Jerusalem. We are now around 15 miles or so from Jerusalem. The city of Jericho was more than 800 feet below sea level, in the Rift Valley that includes the Dead Sea (the Salt Sea). Jerusalem is approximately 2,500 feet above sea level. So, from Jericho, it is climb of more than half a mile in altitude, through canyons and hills, over a 15-mile walk. The road they are walking on is the road that was famous for robbers – the road Jesus talked about in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). Jesus is leaving Jericho, embarking on the climb to Jerusalem, when this incident happens. The story was probably told frequently: it appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mark tells us the name of one of the men: Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46), which suggests that Bartimaeus may have become a well-known member of the church. Matthew has already told us a similar story in 9:27-31. Some scholars suggest that they are the same story told in different ways, but the details of the stories are very different. Who is walking with Jesus? Who starts shouting, and what do they say? What is the reaction of the crowd? When the blind men keep shouting, what does Jesus do? What does he ask them? When the blind men tell Jesus they want to see, what is Jesus’s emotional reaction? What does Jesus do? What do the men’s actions tell us about them? Are they mild-mannered and easily pushed around? Are they easily discouraged? Does their blindness cause them to be ignorant of what is going on in their town? What do these things tell us about them? This is the one chance these men will ever have to be healed of their blindness, and they are not willing to let anything stand in the way of seeking the One who can make a difference in their lives. Are we so committed to seeking out the Lord? What does the example of these men say to us about our own approach to God? The blind men call him “Son of David.” In Matthew’s Gospel, that term is used by people seeking healing – see, for example, 9:27 and 15:22. In the next scene, where Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey, Matthew’s is the only Gospel where that phrase is used by the crowds, who call Jesus the “Son of David.” What does “Son of David” mean? David was the great king of Israel, and the Jews always expected that one day a descendant of David would once again rule them. King Solomon was the immediate son of David, according to the flesh. At the time of Jesus, some people believed that Solomon had powers (verse 7:20 in the apocryphal book of Wisdom, which was written in the voice of Solomon, claimed he had knowledge of nature-based healing methods). Jesus is the “son” of David in the sense that he is a descendant of David, and Christians understand him to be the “Son of David” messianically. The fact that the blind men call Jesus “Lord” and “Son of David” suggests that they recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. Although Jesus previously told evil spirits not to tell that to anyone, Jesus does not tell them to be quiet. Perhaps now that he is so near to his crucifixion it no longer matters. Commentators have always seen this story as about more than a physical healing: it speaks to the issue of spiritual blindness and sight. What do you think this story might suggest about spiritual blindness? Though these men are physically blind, they are closer to the truth than many “seeing” people, who are spiritually blind. How can we avoid spiritual blindness? Jesus doesn’t heal the men immediately. Although their need was probably very obvious, he first asks them what they want and waits for them to give him an answer. Do you think that is true in general in our relationship with God – that God waits for us to ask specifically before he answers? Why? Notice that they don’t say, “We want to see.” They specify what they hope Jesus will do: “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” They are specifically asking Jesus to do something specific. They are not expressing vague hope or a general desire – they are specific. Does this tell us anything about how we should approach God in prayer? What does the fact that Jesus was “moved with compassion” (verse 34) say to you? When Jesus heals the men, what do they do in response? They immediately follow Jesus on the road toward Jerusalem. Thomas Aquinas quotes the early Christian scholar Origen as writing: “We also now sitting by the wayside of the Scriptures, and understanding wherein we are blind, if we ask with desire, He will touch the eyes of our souls, and the gloom of ignorance shall depart from our minds, that in the light of knowledge we may follow Him, who gave us power to see to no other end than that we should follow Him” (Aquinas. “Commentary on Matthew 20” ). In what way might God be calling you to embrace a new ability to see, and follow him? What message do you take from this story for yourself? What does the example of these blind men say to us about how to respond to Jesus? Take a step back and consider this: “Lord, let our eyes be opened” (Matt. 20:34). These blind men wanted their eyes to be opened to see what is going on in the real world. We rightly lay a spiritual gloss on this story as we pray: “Lord, let our eyes be opened to your grace. . . . to your love. . . . to your wisdom.” We would do well to pray that prayer more literally: “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the beauty in your creation that we miss every day.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the beauty in our family members.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the ways our co-workers do wonderful things.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the not-so-random acts of kindness that our neighbors perform.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the beauty in the members of our community who quietly work to address the needs of the people we fail to see.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the suffering of those around us.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the hungry children desperate for food.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the immigrants who want nothing more than a chance to start at the bottom of a new society so they can stop living in constant fear.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the people who are denied health coverage and cannot afford to see a doctor.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the victims of war who fear every airplane that flies overhead, because it might carry the bomb that kills them.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the people who are threatened, doxed, flamed, fired, arrested, silenced, intimidated, or abused for trying to stand up for justice and the truth.” “Lord, let our eyes be opened to see the people you see, whom others do not want us to see.” The blind men asked that their eyes be opened to see, and then they followed Jesus on the road toward his Cross. May that be our prayer too, and may their response be ours as well. What might you already sense that God wants you to “see” – things that you may be missing because you are too busy, or too insulated, or too distracted? What might God want you to “see” that you are not currently focusing on because it makes you too uncomfortable? Once you see, what might God want you to do – the thing that would be your act of following him on the road? 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

Blessed are the poor, the grieving, the meek. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 5:1-5 Blessed are the poor, the grieving, the meek. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti April 20, 2024 Matthew 5:1-2 The setting for the “Sermon on the Mount” Matthew introduces his first compilation of Jesus’s teachings. He ultimately has 5 of these “discourses.” Why does Matthew set this scene on a mountain? We can compare this to Moses presenting the Law on Mount Sinai. Jesus was seated because that is how Jewish teachers taught. Although this says it is addressed to the disciples, Matt. 7:28 tells us that it is being heard by crowds of people. Matthew has compiled teachings that Jesus would not have presented all at once. Therefore, there is not a specific, single crowd envisioned by Matthew. We will see that Matthew frequently gathers together different things that Jesus said or did that might not all have happened in one time or place. He carefully organizes his material to help us understand what Jesus said and did. Matthew 5:3-12 The Sermon on the Mount – who is blessed in the kingdom of heaven? These statements of Jesus are known as the “Beatitudes,” from the Latin word for “blessed.” There are generally considered to be eight beatitudes in Matthew, whereas Luke only has four. Verse 3 What does “blessed” mean? What does “poor in spirit” mean? “Poor in spirit” does not mean spiritually poor. A person who is “poor in spirit” is actually spiritually rich. So what is the opposite of poor in spirit? What does a life look like that is not “poor in spirit”? How can a person become, or try to be, poor in spirit? Is “poor in spirit” different from “poor,” which is how Jesus says it in Luke’s account in Luke 6:20? It is possible that Jesus said it in different ways at different times, since he probably preached the same message many times in different places. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary argues that “the addition of ‘in spirit’ changes the emphasis from social-economic to personal-moral: humility, detachment from wealth, voluntary poverty” (Benedict T. Viviano, O.P., “The Gospel According to Matthew,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , par. 24, p. 640), but some commentators find no significant difference. Barclay tells us that the Greek word here is the word for “absolute and abject poverty” (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 85). He then walks through the development of the phrase “the poor” in the Old Testament, where it shifted from being simply a word for economic poverty to a word for lack of power and influence, to a word for being oppressed and downtrodden, to a word for putting one’s whole trust in God because one has no other resources. The Psalms repeatedly talk about “the poor” as people who trust in and rely on God (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 86). The Bible does not give any sign that God finds value in the life-destroying effects of abject poverty, so perhaps Matthew included the words “in spirit” to make it clear that Jesus was not praising abject poverty in itself but rather the attitude of trust in God that some poor people have because of their lack of anything else to put their trust in. Can a person be wealthy yet poor in spirit? If so, what would it look like? Can a person be educated yet poor in spirit? If so, what would it look like? Can a person be popular or famous and still be poor in spirit? What would it look like? Considering all that we have talked about, what is the attitude or approach to life of a person who is poor in spirit? One might say: People who are poor in spirit exhibit a fundamental dependency on God rather than on anything else, and treat people as all having an equal claim on the resources of the earth rather than focusing on their own right to own their own resources. In Luke, Jesus says, “ yours is the kingdom of God,” but in Matthew the poor in spirit are referred to in the third person (“ theirs is the kingdom of heaven”) (Matthew 5:3, NRSV). What might be the significance of the fact that in Luke the audience is included in the category of the poor? According to this verse, what do people get or have, if they are poor in spirit? What does it mean to have the kingdom of heaven? If you have the kingdom, that means you are where God is and have all that God wishes to give to you. Jesus said that, with his arrival, the kingdom of heaven is now at hand – i.e., right near you. The poor dwell (or will dwell, to the extent that this is a promise going forward rather than an immediate reality) in that place. And we understand from the Lord’s Prayer that where God’s kingdom has come, God’s will is done. So if the poor have that kingdom, they have citizenship in that place where God’s will is done – and is done for them as much as for everyone else, unlike in earthly kingdoms. Verse 4 What do you think this beatitude is envisioning that people are mourning about? People have seen many forms of mourning in this passage: They might be grieving due to their own losses or difficult lives: the death of a loved one, the effects of illness, mistreatment by others, the suffering that accompanies doing what is right. They might be deeply sorrowful for their sins, mourning their own failure to live up to what God has called them to be. They might be mourning the sufferings of others: grieving the injustices and evils that the world tolerates and the poor treatment of the lowly and needy. Is this beatitude only offering comfort when bad things inevitably happen or when we recognize our sinfulness? Or is it also calling us to take proactive action to choose to mourn situations that go beyond our own little world; and, if so, what should we be mourning? Why would the fact that you will be comforted (in the future) make you blessed that you are mourning now? Wouldn’t it be better to not have to be mourning in the first place? What do you think the nature of the “comfort” is? Verse 5 What does it mean, to be “meek”? What does it look like? Barclay says that the Greek word for meek, praus , had several meanings. Aristotle used one of its meanings to talk about the virtue of meekness. According to Barclay, Aristotle defined meekness as the happy medium between excessive anger and excessive angerlessness (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 91). When, if ever, might a meek person be angry and still be meek? Barclay highlights a second meaning in the Greek for the word “meek”: it is used to describe an animal that is domesticated and trained to obey the commands of its master (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 91-92). How is meekness related to being responsive to the leading of God? Barclay also notes a third meaning: the humility that is the opposite of pride and lofty-heartedness (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 92). Humility is sometimes described as living in recognition of one’s true place, with neither too high a view of oneself (puffed up) nor too low a view of oneself (groveling). This does not mean self-abasement, despite the extremes to which some people may take it. As people sometimes say, “God doesn’t make junk”; so we don’t need to debase or dishonor ourselves in order to be meek. Humility means having a right view of ourselves and our place, as God sees us, and acting accordingly. What is true humility? Can I do something to become meek? The Greek word for “earth” is used in the Bible in a variety of ways: for ground, earth, soil, etc.; and also for territory, as in “the land of Israel”; and also for the Earth or the physical realm of our existence, as in “heaven and earth” and “a new heaven and a new earth.” The promise that comes for the meek is that they will inherit the earth. What does it mean, that the meek shall inherit “the earth”? Psalm 37:11 says the meek shall inherit the land. That would have been understood as meaning the land of Israel. As Christians, perhaps we understand this as meaning that, for us, the meek shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. That is our true land. Take a step back and consider this: The poor, the meek, and those who are mourning are not the people at the top of the social ladder, and poverty, mourning, and meekness are not likely to move people to the top of the heap in society. But Jesus is beginning to develop a thread of teaching here that will continue throughout Matthew’s Gospel, telling us that God views things very differently than the typical society does. In Jesus’s downside-up view of the world, those who are seen as at the bottom from the world’s perspective are prominent in God’s perspective. Matthew will show us that a lot of Jesus’s teachings build on Old Testament themes. But here, Jesus has broken totally new ground. Nowhere in the Old Testament are we told that the poor are blessed. The people who help the poor are blessed, and God hears the cries of the poor, but never does the Old Testament suggest that there is any blessedness associated with being poor. Jesus is asking us to think differently. When you see a poor person, does your mind say, “The kingdom of heaven is theirs”? Do you think of those who are humble rather than grasping as being the ones who will inherit the earth? How might you treat the poor and the meek differently if you keep firmly in mind that Jesus declares them blessed and says that the earth and the kingdom of heaven belong to them? 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

Paul brought the gospel of Christ to the people of Thessalonica despite opposition. Previous 1 Thess. List Next Introduction to 1 Thessalonians Paul brought the gospel of Christ to the people of Thessalonica despite opposition. Image by Katie Moum, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti January 26, 2025 Introduction A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN This study material can be very enriching either for small-group Bible Study or for personal study and growth. We will occasionally offer instructions that would be useful for a small-group study. Introductions for a Small-Group Bible Study If you are studying as a group, it is important to build community, beginning with ensuring that everyone knows everyone else’s name. If you are either (a) starting a new year, or (b) have several new members, begin with introductions. One way to do this would be to ask everyone in the group to answer these questions: Share with the group: • Your name. • Your connection to the church or parish or this group. • Why you are interested in studying the Bible with other people. Thessalonica Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is probably the oldest surviving piece of Christian writing (although some scholars think Paul’s Letter to the Galatians came first). Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians to a group of Christians he had converted to Christ in the city known today as Thessaloniki [pronounced with the last two syllables sounding like KNEE-key]. In the English-speaking world, this city has traditionally been called Thessalonica, with the accent usually placed on the fourth syllable: thess-uh-luh-NIGH-kuh (although some people put the accent on the third syllable: thess-uh-LAHN-ih-kuh). Paul preached the gospel of Christ in Thessalonica and made some converts – some were Jews but far more were Gentiles (i.e., not Jews). This stirred up a lot of opposition from the Jews. He wrote this letter around AD 50, which is around 20 years after Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. Soon after, he wrote a second letter to the Thessalonians that is also in the New Testament. Thessalonica was an important city. It was founded in 316 BC by a political leader who named it after his wife, who was a half-sister of Alexander the Great. When Rome conquered Macedonia in 146 BC, this city was made the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, and it was still the capital when Paul arrived there nearly 200 years later. Besides being an important political and military center, it was also a major commercial city. It had a harbor on the Aegean/Mediterranean Sea and was on the Via Egnatia or Egnatian Way, the major road the Romans built from the west coast of Greece all the way to Byzantium (Constantinople or Istanbul) to help them conquer and control all the nations that bordered the north coasts of the Mediterranean. That road was a central trade route. Paul’s Backstory Acts of the Apostles gives us some of the backstory of Paul’s visit to Thessalonica. Acts was probably written around 30 years after Paul first preached in Thessalonica (or 12 years if, as a minority of scholars believe, Acts was written immediately after the last event it describes). We are going to look at that backstory to give us some insight into who Paul is and how he became connected to the church in Thessalonica. We will do that in two parts: first , by summarizing the background we have about Paul before the journey that took him to Thessalonica, and second , by reading the portions of Acts of the Apostles that describe Paul’s journey. Paul’s background: Paul was not originally a follower of Jesus. He was born in Tarsus, a port city on a river that had access to the Mediterranean Sea. Tarsus was a major commercial center and the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. Paul, originally known by his Hebrew name Saul, was a devout Jew. He was partly raised in Jerusalem, where he was taught by the great Jewish rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) (a grandson of Hillel). He could speak and write Greek as well as Aramaic (George Martin, “Paul: Apostle of the Cities,” God’s Word Today , February 1981 (Vol. 3, No. 2), p.47). After Jesus rose from the dead and the first Christians began to spread the message of Christ, Saul persecuted Christians, whom he thought were spreading heresy. He had a conversion experience, became a Christian, and took the name Paul. He immediately started preaching about Jesus, disrupting things everywhere he went, until the Christians sent him back to his hometown of Tarsus. Paul’s preaching journeys: When Gentiles turned to the Lord in Antioch, a town in ancient Syria that is now part of Turkey (Türkiye), Barnabas went and got Paul from Tarsus and brought him to Antioch to help teach the new Christians. After a year or more there, the church at Antioch commissioned Barnabas and Paul to go on a missionary journey – the first of three missionary journeys that Paul eventually took. In each town they went to, Barnabas and Paul went to the local Jewish synagogue and preached to the Jews about Jesus, who was a Jew. In each town, the Jews rejected them, and each time, they then preached to the Gentiles of the town. Take a look at a map of Barnabas and Paul’s journey (check the table of contents of your Bible for a map section, look for a map in the pages of Acts of the Apostles, or look on online). The map might be called Paul’s first missionary journey or Paul’s first journey. See how Barnabas and Paul traveled from Antioch to the island of Cyprus and then north into Asia Minor. They then went to a different Antioch, which is called Pisidian Antioch to distinguish it from the Antioch in Syria, and then to Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. In some towns, they encountered such violent threats and attacks that they were forced to leave or be killed. Acts of the Apostles tells us that in the town of Lystra, the Jews stoned Paul, and then dragged his body out of town, thinking he was dead. However, after being surrounded by the disciples, he got up and went back into town before moving on (Acts 14:20). Paul and Barnabas then returned to the cities where they had made disciples, appointed elders to lead each church, and returned to Antioch. At this point, a major controversy erupted. Jewish Christians from Judea (the province that included Jerusalem) began to teach that Gentile believers in Jesus had to submit to the Jewish practice of circumcision in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas totally disagreed, and they decided to bring the question to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. The gathering there came to be known as the Council of Jerusalem. The church leaders listened to the conflicting views and concluded that the Holy Spirit was leading them to welcome Gentiles as Christians without requiring them to be circumcised (Acts 15:22-30). This ratified Paul and Barnabas’s ministry to the Gentiles. What do you think Paul thought about the opposition he was facing as he preached to the Gentiles? How do you decide when criticism is to be heeded and when you need to stand your ground? What is the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding the Church? How can we be more open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and not just break into party factions? Paul’s Journey to Thessalonica and Beyond Now we are going to read parts of Acts of the Apostles to explore what happened to Paul on his second missionary journey, which ultimately led him to Thessalonica. Acts 15:36-16:5 Paul and Barnabas separate, and Paul journeys with Silas and Timothy What happens as Paul and Barnabas plan for a second missionary journey? What two companions does Paul now have traveling with him? We will see in 1 Thessalonians that when Paul writes the letter to the Thessalonians, he says the letter is from Paul, Timothy, and Silas. (The letter calls him Silvanus, the Latin form of the Greek name Silas.) Paul has just gained the approval of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for his view that Gentile Christians don’t have to circumcised. Why do you think he has Timothy circumcised anyway? Jewish teaching at least back to around the time of Paul and possibly to the time of Ezra hundreds of years earlier held that Jewish identity is passed through the mother (matrilineal descent.) However, many Jews may not have been willing to associate with Timothy because he had a non-Jewish father and was not circumcised. Many Jews considered circumcision to be a necessary requirement for being a Jew. Paul never said that Jewish Christians should not be circumcised; he only argued that circumcision should not be required of Gentile Christians as a matter of salvation. Circumcision would not have been a repudiation of Timothy’s Christian faith but merely an affirmation of his status as a Jew. It would open doors for him to interact more easily with Jews, which would give him opportunities to preach about Jesus. (However, some people might have accused Paul of being inconsistent if they did not think the issue through carefully or did not see the distinction Paul saw.) When you are trying to move forward on something you think God wants you to do, how do you decide when to stand on principle and when to acquiesce to what might make other people more open to what you are trying to accomplish? Acts 16:6-10 Paul is called by the Holy Spirit to preach in Macedonia What happens? Look at a map of Paul’s second journey to understand what is going on here. Paul has only preached in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey/Türkiye). Macedonia is in Europe. It is the northern part of what is now known as Greece. Paul is being called to cross into Europe and preach the gospel there. If you were Paul, how would you feel about being called across the sea to a far-off land through a dream? When have you felt a calling from God to do something that took you outside your comfort zone? What happened? Acts 16:11-24 Paul and Silas make converts in Philippi and are flogged for it What good things happen in Philippi? What bad things happen to Paul and Silas in Philippi? What suffering do they endure? How do you think Paul is feeling about his missionary journey at this point, considering that he had a vision of being called to come to Macedonia and now is being beaten badly? Acts 17:1-10 Paul and Silas establish a church in Thessalonica in the face of opposition What do Paul and Silas do in Thessalonica? What trouble do they encounter? Is the persecution directed only at Paul and Silas, or also at the new believers who lived in that city? What can we learn from Paul’s persistence in the face of persecution? Acts 17:10-15 Paul and Silas in Beroea What happens to Paul and Silas in Beroea? Who stirs up trouble for them in Beroea? We have now seen that the Christians in Thessalonica have endured persecution, and the Jews of Thessalonica have been so zealous in their opposition to Gentiles embracing the faith Paul preaches that they have even traveled to other towns to try to stop it. What do you think Paul is thinking at this point? How do you think Paul feels about the suffering of the people he has led to become Christians in these towns? How concerned do you think he is? Do you think he feels responsible for their suffering? We are told in Acts 17:15 that Paul next goes south to Athens. The First Letter to the Thessalonians tells us that Paul is so concerned about the Thessalonians that when Timothy connects with him in Athens, he sends Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out how they are doing (1 Thess. 3:1-2). Paul, meanwhile, moves on to Corinth. When Timothy brings good news about the Thessalonians to Paul in Corinth (1 Thess. 3:6), Paul writes his first letter to them there. In that letter, we will see that he is very concerned about the Thessalonians. Now we are ready to dive into the First Letter to the Thessalonians, which we will do in the next session. Based on what we have read in Acts of the Apostles, what do you think of Paul? What kind of person does Paul seem to be? From what you see here, why do you think God might have chosen Paul to do this missionary work? Why would God have guided Paul to come to Macedonia, knowing that Paul would suffer so much? How do Paul’s experiences resonate with some part of your life? What can you learn from him? Take a step back and consider this: We have finished the entire first session of our study of 1 Thessalonians without looking at a single word of that letter. Why? Because backstories are sometimes very important. Where a person is from matters. The things that have happened to them that led them to where they are now can have a huge effect on what they do now. Paul’s backstory is important to understanding the letters he wrote to the Thessalonians. In a particular way, places matter. We might have a better understanding of Paul if we know that he grew up in a cosmopolitan city; that Thessalonica and his hometown are both capitals of Roman provinces; that even though he appears at first to be a narrow-minded, over-zealous Jew, he has lived in Gentile places and appreciates people who are not Jewish. How have the places where you lived shaped you? How has where you grew up or spent time affected your outlook on the world, your openness to other people who are different from you, your ways of thinking? How has God used the places you have lived and the experiences you have had, as steppingstones to later opportunities to serve him? Bibliography See 1 Thessalonians - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/1-thessalonians/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). 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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

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

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Mary anoints the feet of Jesus, while the chief priests seek to kill Jesus and Lazarus. How can we show our devotion to Jesus? And what is Jesus saying about the poor being always with us? [John 12:1-8; 12:9-11] Previous Next John List John 12:1-11 Mary anoints the feet of Jesus, while the chief priests seek to kill Jesus and Lazarus. How can we show our devotion to Jesus? And what is Jesus saying about the poor being always with us? Polidoro da Lanciano (1515-1565). Anointing of Christ in Bethany . 1530s. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (Vienna Museum of Art History, also known as the Museum of Fine Arts), Vienna, Austria. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polidoro_Lanzani_-_Salbung_Christi_in_Bethanien_GG_51.jpg . Tom Faletti April 20, 2026 Read John 12:1-8 Mary anoints the feet of Jesus Each of the 4 Gospels has a story about a woman anointing Jesus. There were probably two separate incidents that happened at two very different points in Jesus’s ministry. Luke describes an anointing by a penitent woman in Galilee early in Jesus’s ministry , while Mark, Matthew, and John describe an anointing in Bethany in the week before Jesus was killed . Besides the timing, here are other details that lead to the conclusion that they were separate incidents: Incident #1 : Luke 7:36-38: In Galilee , at the house of a Pharisee named Simon , a sinful woman anoints Jesus’s feet . The Pharisee is indignant because Jesus is allowing a sinful woman to touch him. Jesus tells a parable about forgiveness, chides the host for his lack of hospitality, and uses the anointing to speak about the woman’s love and Jesus’s forgiveness . Incident #2 : Mark 14:3-9: In Bethany , at the house of Simon the leper , a woman anoints Jesus’s head . Some onlookers are indignant and argue that the money could have been spent on the poor . Jesus defends the woman and links the anointing to his burial . Matthew 26:6-13: In Bethany , at the house of Simon the leper , a woman anoints Jesus’s head . The disciples are indignant and argue that the money could have been spent on the poor . Jesus defends the woman and links the anointing to his burial . John 12:1-11: In Bethany , at an unspecified house, “they” give a dinner at which Martha serves and Lazarus sits at table. Mary anoints Jesus’s feet . Judas asks why the money wasn’t spent on the poor . Jesus defends the woman and links the anointing to his burial . John’s story has almost nothing in common with Luke’s, except that the woman anoints Jesus’s feet and dries them with her hair. (That the host was named Simon in 3 of the 4 accounts does not tell us much, because Simon was a very common name for men at that time.) John’s version has many similarities to the accounts in Mark and Matthew; for example, the anointing happens in Bethany and Jesus says she is preparing him for his burial. On the surface, there seem to be two significant differences, regarding whose house they were at and whether she anointed his head or his feet. Although these could be the kinds of minor details that become hazy as people tell a story over and over again for decades, scholars have offered explanations that could dissolve the seeming discrepancies: The house of Simon might also have been Martha’s house, because Simon might have been related to Martha and Lazarus. In particular, Simon might have been their brother or their father, or he might have been Martha’s husband, so the Gospel writers may just have been using different ways of referring to the same house. The woman may have anointed both Jesus’s head and his feet. There are reasons why Mark and Matthew might have focused on the head while John focuses on the feet. We will explore those reasons below. In verse 2, what is Martha doing? The fact that Martha is serving here fits with the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, where Martha also serves. How important is it that we have people like Martha, who serve? How might we find ways to acknowledge the “Marthas” among us, who make everything go more smoothly because they serve? In verse 3, what does Mary do? In Matthew and Mark, the woman anoints Jesus’s head . In Matthew, Jesus speaks repeatedly of the “kingdom of heaven,” tells us parables that feature kings, and describes himself as a king in judgment at the end of time. John does not use the metaphor of Jesus as a king: that word shows up only a few times in his Gospel, at places where other people call Jesus the king of Israel. John also is the one who shows Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Why might John want us to know that Mary anointed the feet of Jesus? Are there ways that we can, metaphorically, anoint the feet of Jesus? How can we show him our devotion as Mary does? In the Temple, oil and perfume were often included in the rituals when people made sacrifices and offerings to God. How are our acts of devotion to God like those offerings in the Temple? In Mark and Matthew, Jesus says the memory of what the woman did will be proclaimed throughout the world. John does not include that quote, but he says something that is not included in the other two Gospels: he says that the house was filled with the fragrance of the aromatic oil she used (John 12:3). This is the kind of detail that an eyewitness might have remembered. Some scholars have suggested that the fragrance filling the house might be a symbolic evocation of Jesus’s statement that the memory of the woman’s action would spread throughout the world ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , fn. to 12:3, p. 185). In verse 3, John says that the fragrance of Mary’s aromatic oil spread throughout the house. If we picture this as a metaphor, how might our devotion to God spread like a fragrance to those around us? In verses 4-5, what objection does Judas make? Judas says that the oil could have been sold for 300 denarii – the equivalent of 300 days’ wages, or more than a year’s wages for a soldier or laborer – and the money given to the poor. What is John’s reaction in verse 6? People sometimes want to give Judas the benefit of the doubt and suggest that John is biased against him. However, even if John misunderstood what Judas was doing with the money in the money bag (the common purse), we would still be left with the fact that Judas was willing to betray Jesus for a much smaller sum of money: 30 pieces of silver. In Luke 16:10, Jesus says that the one who is faithful with little is faithful with much, and the one who is unrighteous in small matters is also unrighteous in larger matters. How might that apply to Judas? Jesus’s comment in verse 7 would be hard to understand if we did not have his similar comment in Mark 14:8 and Matthew 26:12. In those other passages, he says that Mary’s anointing is an anticipation of the need to anoint his body for burial. In verse 8, Jesus makes two points in response to Judas’s comment about the poor. First, he says, “You always have the poor with you.” This statement is in the present tense (‘you have”), not the future tense (you will have). Jesus is making a statement about his time, not making a prediction or declaration about the future. Why is this an important distinction? When Jesus says, “You always have the poor with you,” he is echoing Deuteronomy 15:11, which said that the land of Israel would never stop having needy people. The next words in that verse are: “So open your hand to the poor and needy.” When we look at the whole verse and recognize that our world, so far, has always had poor people in the land, does that mean we don’t need to care about poverty, or is it a call to action? John gives us a shorter version of what Jesus says here about the poor. In Mark 14:7, Jesus adds: “Whenever you want, you can always do good to them.” This shows that Jesus is not telling us we don’t need to be concerned about poverty. What is he calling us to do? If there are always poor people around, and we can help them whenever we want to, how often would God want us to help them? God wants us to help the poor when (whenever?) we can, and generously. Jesus’s second statement in John 12:8 is: “You don’t always have me.” He is saying that this extravagant act of devotion should not be criticized because he won’t always be here. How is Mary’s one-time act of love toward Jesus different from our ongoing acts of love toward those around us who are in need? Mary made a unique, financially expensive gesture that showed extravagant love to Jesus. We (hopefully) make regular, smaller acts of ordinary love to those in need around us. But because Jesus has told us that what we do to the poor, we do to him, those smaller gestures also show love to Jesus. How can we be extravagant in our giving both to God and to the needy? Read John 12:9-11 Lazarus also becomes a target Why does Jesus’s presence at a private dinner party with Lazarus draw a crowd of spectators (verse 9)? Why do the chief priests decide that they also must kill Lazarus? When we decide we must do one thing wrong to reach our goals, we often find that we need to do more wrong things to actually obtain what we seek. That’s the way sin works: one sin often leads to another. Where have you seen that happen? People in power, like these chief priests, are vulnerable to the same slippery slope. If they decide that the end justifies the means (that a good goal allows them to commit an evil act that is designed to reach that goal), they often find themselves embracing more and more evil actions that also seem to be “necessary” to reach their elusive goal. Where have you seen people in power fall prey to that predicament? What would God say about the option of doing something sinful to achieve something good? Verse 10 indicates that “many of the Jews” were coming to believe in Jesus. Here, “Jews” may mean the people of Jerusalem and Judea generally, and not specifically members of the religious leadership; but we do know that at least one leader, Nicodemus, does come to believe in Jesus before his crucifixion. Take a step back and consider this: John has given us a clear contrast between Mary, with her devotion to Jesus (John 12:1-8), and the members of the Sanhedrin, with their murderous plots (John 11:45-57; 12:9-11). Their story surrounds her story like a dark collar of dense fabric might allow a brilliant gem to stand out and sparkle all the more. Mary gives up something of value to honor Jesus; the members of the Sanhedrin seek to take something of value (Jesus’s life) to protect their own position. What can we learn from this comparison? Where might God be calling you to make a choice for him in your life right now? 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