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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 ). 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 1 Thess. List Next

Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess.). Previous 1 Thess. List Next 1 Thessalonians - Bibliography Bibliography of major sources and additional sources used in this study of Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess.). Some of the resources on the author's bookshelf. Tom Faletti January 26, 2025 Major Sources Barclay, William. The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians . The Westminster Press, Revised Edition, 1975. Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997. Collins, Raymond F. “The First Letter to the Thessalonians.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary . Edited by Raymond E. Brown, et al. Prentice Hall, 1990. Cousins, Peter E. “1 Thessalonians.” The International Bible Commentary: With the New International Version . F.F. Bruce, General Editor. Marshall Pickering/Zondervan, 1986. Demarest, Gary W. 1, 2 Thessalonians; 1, 2 Timothy; and Titus . The Communicator’s Commentary (Mastering the New Testament) , Lloyd J. Ogilvie, general editor. Word Books, 1984. Havener, Ivan, OSB. First Thessalonians, Philippians, Philemon, Second Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians . Collegeville Bible Commentary, The Liturgical Press, 1983. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament, Revised Standard Edition, Second Catholic Edition . Ignatius Press, 2010. Interlinear Bible. Bible Hub , https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ . Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott . A Greek-English Lexicon . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940. Internet Archive , Volume I: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0001/mode/2up , Volume II: https://archive.org/details/b31364949_0002/mode/2up . Also at Furman Classics Editions, http://folio2.furman.edu/lsj/ . New American Bible, revised edition (NABRE) . Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2010. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary . Edited by Raymond E. Brown, et al. Prentice Hall, 1990. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version: With the Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible . Eds. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2010. New Revised Standard Version Bible , copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance . Bible Hub , https://biblehub.com/greek/21.htm . Vine, William E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary , 1940, StudyLight.org , https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ved.html . Additional Sources Bandy, Alan S. “Views of the Millennium.” The Gospel Coalition , https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/views-of-the-millennium/ , accessed 2 Dec. 2024. Broussard, Karlo. “Meeting the Rapture Challenge.” Catholic Answers , 14 Sept. 2022, https://www.catholic.com/audio/caf/meeting-the-rapture-challenge . Catechism of the Catholic Church. Second Edition. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 1997. https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/ . Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. “The ‘End Times’: A Study on Eschatology and Millennialism.” Sept. 1989. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod , https://files.lcms.org/file/preview/xpajTThI2GXvV6Z53A1KZfZjWhkR00CS . Francis, Pope. “No Fear: Morning Meditation in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae,” 15 May 2015. L’Osservatore Romano , Weekly ed. in English, n. 21, 22 May 2015. The Vatican , http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/cotidie/2015/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20150515_no-fear.html . Horn, Trent. “‘Should Catholics Believe in “the Rapture’?” Catholic Answers , 4 Aug. 2021, https://www.catholic.com/audio/cot/should-catholics-believe-in-the-rapture . Martin, George. “Paul: Apostle of the Cities.” God’s Word Today , February 1981 (Vol. 3, No. 2), pp. 47-49. “Where does the Rapture fit into UM beliefs?” Produced by Ask The UMC, a ministry of United Methodist Communications. United Methodist Church , 8 Aug. 2019, https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-where-does-the-rapture-fit-into-united-methodists-beliefs . 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 1 Thess. List Next

Mark presents Jesus as the Messiah (the Christ) and the Son of God. Previous Mark List Next Introduction to Mark Mark presents Jesus as the Messiah (the Christ) and the Son of God. Image by Tim Wildsmith, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti March 28, 2024 A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN This study material can be very enriching for personal study and growth. It was originally developed with small-group Bible Study in mind. Therefore, it will occasionally offer instructions that may be useful for small-group study. See https://www.faithexplored.com/leading-a-bible-study for materials on how to lead a small-group Bible Study. Introductions Before you begin a small-group Bible Study, you should take some time to build community, beginning with ensuring that everyone knows everyone else’s name. Here are some questions you could ask everyone in the group to answer: Introductions: What is your name? What is your connection to this church/parish/group? Why is the Bible important to you? Why are you interested in studying it? If the study extends beyond a break, such as a break for the summer, and then reconvenes, you could renew the introductions with questions such as these: Introductions after a summer break: What is your name, and why did you return to this group? (Or if you are new, why did you decide to join us?) What is one insight about faith or life that you gained this summer or were reminded of? Mark This article will provide an introduction to the Gospel of Mark, including what we think we know about its author, when it was written, who the intended audience was, Mark's purposes/goals, etc. For example: A B C (to be continued) Bibliography See Mark - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/mark/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 Mark List Next

The Jubilee Year invites us to encounter Jesus, who is our hope. (Paragraphs 1, 5, and 6 of Spes Non Confundit) Previous Next Jubilee Year 2025: Embrace God’s Hope and Extend It to All Session 2: The Jubilee leads us on a journey of hope The Jubilee Year invites us to encounter Jesus, who is our hope. (Read paragraphs 1, 5, and 6) Link to S pes Non Confundit Photo by Tom Faletti, Rothenburg, Germany, June 26, 2024. Tom Faletti November 16, 2024 In this session, we will see Pope Francis reveal one of his deepest desires: that this Jubilee may help us have a personal encounter with Jesus and an intense experience of God’s love, which will awaken hope in our hearts. We will further explore Pope Francis’s discussion of why Jesus is our hope and then move into the second section of Spes Non Confundit , where he explains the concept of a Jubilee Year, how the Jubilee Year has been celebrated in the past and will be celebrated this year. He will also explore the meaning and value of a pilgrimage. Our study guide questions will help us explore how we have experienced a personal encounter with Jesus and how we can experience the love of God more fully. We will explore our own possible participation in the Jubilee Year, how our faith can be thought of as a pilgrimage or journey of hope, and how the light we shine might communicate the love of God to others. Read paragraphs 1, 5, and 6 in preparation for this session. Paragraph 1 (one more insight: a personal encounter with Jesus) 🔗 Let’s look at one more part of paragraph 1 before we move forward. At the end of paragraph 1, Pope Francis quotes from Paul’s first letter to Timothy and from the Gospel of John – passages of Scripture that refer to Jesus as our hope and as the door to eternal life. Read 1 Timothy 1:1 Why is Christ Jesus our hope? Read John 10:7-10 Some translations say Jesus is the “door” and some say He is the “gate” (they are different possible translations of the same Greek word). How is Jesus a door (or gate) for us? How does Jesus’s role as the door to salvation and abundant life give you hope? Pope Francis connects the role of Jesus as the door of our salvation to the Holy Year of Jubilee, where special doors of grace are opened in Rome. He says: “For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus” (par. 1). What does he mean by a personal encounter with Jesus? How have you experienced a personal encounter with Jesus, and how does it give you hope? Suggested Activity: How well do you know the life and teachings of Jesus? Have you ever read His whole story? If you like to read novels, read one of the Gospels. If you prefer podcasts, listen to an audio reading of a Gospel. (If you think you don’t have time, consider how long it takes to read a novel. You can read or listen to an entire Gospel in 3 hours.) Some suggestions for where to start: the Gospel of Mark (the shortest), the Gospel of Matthew (the most practical), the Gospel of John (the most “spiritual”). (Section 2) A journey of hope In this section, Pope Francis discusses the practice of the Jubilee Year. Paragraph 5 (the Christian life as a journey, and the role of Jubilee Years) 🔗 In paragraph 5, what are some of the examples Pope Francis offers for how God was at work in the Church prior to the first Jubilee in the year 1300? In the second part [1] of paragraph 5, what are some of the benefits of going on a pilgrimage? Have you ever experienced the benefits of a pilgrimage (near or far away)? Explain. The title of this section is “A journey of hope.” How is your faith life like a journey, with many stops and encounters along the way? How do you find hope on your journey of faith? Suggested Activity: If you are unable to take a pilgrimage to Rome, contact your diocesan office and ask how you might take a Jubilee Year pilgrimage to the Jubilee Year site designated by your bishop (which may be your local cathedral). As you avail yourself of this opportunity, allow the love of God to permeate you and purify you from all that is not of Christ. In the third part of paragraph 5, Pope Francis refers to the Eastern (Catholic) Churches, which are a group of churches that are autonomous and have distinct practices from those in the Roman Catholic Church but operate within the worldwide Catholic Church and are in full communion with the Pope. Pope Francis’s mention of “their Orthodox brothers and sisters” refers to the Eastern Orthodox Church, an independent communion of churches that, like the Catholic Church, traces its roots to the apostles but has been separated from the Roman Catholic Church since 1054. He says they have endured violence and instability because many of these churches are located in areas of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa that are currently torn by war. In the third part of paragraph 5, why does Pope Francis invite members of the Eastern Churches to participate in this Jubilee, and why does he especially extend an “embrace” to all those who currently “endure their own Way of the Cross”? How might the Church’s concern for them give them “hope”? Why is it important to extend a hand of friendship to others in Christ’s divided Body? Paragraph 6 (this Jubilee Year) 🔗 In paragraph 6, Pope Francis places this Holy Year in the context of a series of Holy Years that are being celebrated from 2000 to 2033. What are the events that took place in Jesus’s life that make 2000 and 2033 especially important to be celebrated? Pope Francis says that the purpose of the Jubilee Year of 2025 is to “invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ” (par. 6). Unpack this sentence: What does “an intense experience” mean? What is Pope Francis hoping will happen in 2025? What does he mean by people experiencing “the love of God”? What specifically is he hoping they will experience? What is “the sure hope of salvation in Christ”? In what ways can our hope of salvation be “sure”? What does it mean when he says that our hope is to be “awakened”? In what ways might it need to be awakened in a fresh way? Why is it important that we are “inviting” people? Why is it important that we are inviting “everyone”? Re-read the full sentence: “Now the time has come for a new Jubilee, when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ” (par. 6). When have you had this experience of the love of God in the past? What can you do to help extend this invitation to others? In what areas of your life do you need a renewal of this experience? What can you do to enter more fully into the experience of the love of God in your heart? The second part of paragraph 6 describes how the Jubilee Year begins in Rome. What happens there? Note: The third part of paragraph 6 describes what is to happen in every diocese. A Mass is celebrated in each diocese’s cathedral to open the Jubilee Year, and local bishops are designating special pilgrimage sites within their dioceses. Do you think you will participate, or have you participated, in some way in the Jubilee Year in your diocese? Why or why not? What do you hope to experience, or have you experienced, by your participation? At the end of the last part of paragraph 6, Pope Francis expresses his hope for what will happen during this Jubilee Year. How might you participate in shining “the light of Christian hope” as “a message of God’s love addressed to all” (par. 6, part 4), and how might you overcome anything that might hold you back from doing so? Suggested Activities: Invite someone to come to church with you. Share with a friend or neighbor, in a low-key way, how God has made a difference in your life and see where the conversation goes. Closing question: How might you more effectively “bear faithful witness” (par. 6, part 4) to the message of God’s love, to those around you? [1] See A Note About Our Terminology for an explanation of what we mean by a “part” of a paragraph. Bibliography See Jubilee Year 2025 - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/jubilee-2025/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 Jubilee 2025 Contents Next

The world and the Church will face difficult times, marked by lawlessness and apostasy, but in the end the Lord will be victorious. Previous 2 Thess. List Next 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 The world and the Church will face difficult times, marked by lawlessness and apostasy, but in the end the Lord will be victorious. Image by Zac Durant provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti March 10, 2025 2 Thess. 2:1-12 What to expect before the end, including the appearance of the lawless one In verses 1-2, what has upset the Thessalonians? They think they have received information, either through a prophetic word from the Spirit or by a letter supposedly from Paul, saying that the Second Coming is already here or has already begun (see the Introduction ). In verse 1, Paul describes the Second Coming as our “assembling with” the Lord (NABRE) or being “gathered together to him” (NRSV) – it is when we will rejoin him and live with him forever. In verses 3-4, what two things does Paul say must happen before the Second Coming of Christ? There will be an apostasy – a time in which many people renounce the faith – and the lawless one will be revealed. In verses 3-4, how does Paul describe the lawless one (or man of lawlessness, or man of sin)? In verse 4, Paul describes this anti-Christ as seated in the temple of God. This image has been interpreted in a variety of ways ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , fn. to 2 Thess. 2:4, p. 382): Some church fathers saw this as referring to a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. I don’t think Paul would have seen it that way. The Temple was still standing in Jerusalem when he wrote this. The Jews had suffered the ignominy of having Antiochus IV sack Jerusalem and set up a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Temple, but to Paul, the Temple in Jerusalem was no longer a focal point of God’s activity. God now resided in his people, not in a building (see next bullet). So Paul is not likely to have had the physical Temple in Jerusalem in mind. Some church fathers believed Paul was talking about the Church. This fits well with Paul’s other letters. To Paul, Christians individually (1 Cor. 3:16-17) and collectively (2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21) were and are the temple of God. Some scholars read the passage more metaphorically, seeing the Antichrist as placing himself symbolically in the place of God, in our hearts, in our nations, in our world. In verses 9-10, how does Paul describe the lawless one? Based on verses 10 and 11, what is the lawless one’s primary tool for doing his evil work? Deceit. In verse 7, Paul says that lawlessness is already at work in the world. What are some ways that you see lawlessness at work in your world? Lawlessness shows up in big ways (murder) and small ways (excessive speeding). It shows up in family abuse and neglect, in the sale of unsafe products by corporations and the failure to give workers their rights to overtime pay, in the “anything goes” attitude that infects many corners of the Internet, in athletes who break the rules in order to win, and the list goes on. If you look behind the surface manifestations of lawlessness, what would you say is the root cause behind the many different kinds of lawlessness in our world? There are many possible answers to this question. It could be the attitude that the law does not apply to me, that I decide what is right and wrong, that I’m more important than anyone else and my welfare and goals matter most. That could be described as selfishness. Another possible answer is that in our world there is an underlying disregard for human life or a dehumanization of others that desensitizes us to the ways we are out of control. The fact that a society allows these things to happen can lead to a resignation to the idea that there is no other way to live. Paul suggests that the lawlessness is not yet at flood level – it is restrained right now. Specifically, in verse 6 he tells the Thessalonians that they know what is restraining lawlessness right now, because he told them. We do not know what he told them and cannot be sure what he has in mind. Scholars disagree among themselves about what the restraining power is (verse 6) and who the one who restrains is (verse 7). Here are some of the explanations they offer (the following points are drawn from NABRE, fn. to 2 Thess. 2:6-7; and Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , “Word Study: Restraining (2 Thess.2:6),” p. 382): Some say the Roman Empire or the Roman emperor is the restraining force because they establish order. They point to Paul’s view of government in Romans 13:1-7 as support for this position. (Others argue against this view, pointing to the rampant abuses perpetrated by the Romans in their dealings with every nation they sought to conquer, control, and exploit, which Paul would have known well.) Some draw on Revelations 12:7-9 and 20:1-3 to suggest that angelic powers such as Michael the Archangel hold Satan back (2 Thess. 2:9). (Verse 7’s statement that the one who restrains the evil will be removed poses a problem for this interpretation.) Some say that God himself is the restrainer: that the Holy Spirit is the restraining power in verse 6 and God the Father is the one who restrains in verse 7. Some say that the preaching of the gospel holds lawlessness back, or that the need to allow time for the spread of the gospel to all nations holds off the end (Mark 13:10). Some argue that “restraining” is the wrong translation of the Greek word and that “seizing” is a more accurate translation. In this view, Paul is saying that an evil prophetic spirit like those seen in the worship of the Greek god Dionysius is seizing people in the Thessalonian Christian community and shaking them out of their wits (verse 2). Paul has warned them about it so that they can avoid it, but they have given in to deceit. But this is just a foretaste of the threat posed by the lawless one in the full power of his deceit. Given the wide range of guesses as to who or what Paul thinks is restraining lawlessness, it is not fruitful to spend too much time speculating about it. But 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord is patient and delays his coming so that all may come to repentance, and Revelation 20:2-3 tells us that we are living in the figurative “one-thousand-year” period between Jesus’s victory over sin and his final return, during which Satan is being restrained. In one way or another, God is restraining evil or allowing it to be restrained. In what ways do you see God restraining evil in our day and giving people time to repent and turn to him? In verse 8, Paul says that the Lord kills the lawless one by the breath of his mouth. This is a reference to Isaiah 11:4. In Isaiah 11:1-9, Isaiah issued a prophecy describing an ideal king from the line of David, the one who would come and set all things right. In verse 4 of that passage, he says that this shoot from the stump of Jesse, on whom the spirit of the Lord rests, would judge the poor with justice and slay the wicked with his breath. When Paul invokes the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 11:4 to say that the Lord slays the lawless one with the breath of his mouth, that prophecy says that the future Son of David will defend the poor and slay the wicked. How is the mistreatment of the poor a manifestation of the lawlessness in the world? How can we stand up for the poor against the lawless powers that mistreat them? In verses 10-12, Paul says that the lawless one, who is aligned with the power of Satan, deceives those who do not believe the truth. How can you know when you are being spiritually deceived? In verse 11, where Paul says God sends upon them a deceiving power or delusion (NABRE/NRSV), this is typical Jewish language of Paul’s time, where everything was attributed to God because nothing can happen unless God allows it. Since God does not tempt anyone to do evil (James 1:13), it is wisest to interpret this passage as talking about God’s permissive will, not his direct action – i.e., that God allows it, not that he causes it. God does not tempt us to do evil, but he does not shield us from being deceived when we have refused to accept the truth. The hinge or linchpin around which this whole passage revolves is verse 8. What does it say the Lord will do? If the Lord will destroy this evil one when he comes in his Second Coming, with what attitude can we approach the future? In verse 8, the Lord gains victory over the lawless one by a simple word – the breath of his mouth. God speaks a word in Genesis 1 and Creation comes into being. Jesus speaks a word in Mark 4:39 and the roaring storm is stilled. There is no battle between God and the lawless one; God merely issue a word and the opposition is gone. What does this ability of God to issue a word say to you in your life? Notice that this passage began by saying that these things must happen before the Second Coming of the Lord. Therefore, he is telling them that “the day of the Lord” is not at hand; it is not almost about to happen. A lot of other things must happen first. What they should worry about is not the timing of the Lord’s return but the risk of being deceived and losing their faith. What are the things in your life today that might pose a risk that you might lose your faith? What can you do about it? What message in this passage is important to you? Take a step back and consider this: Paul is trying to walk a fine line: telling the Thessalonians about the future and the Second Coming of Christ but not having them become overly preoccupied by it. That is probably a wise approach for us as well. Why is a basic understanding of the Second Coming of Christ an important element of our faith? Why is it more important to focus on what is going on in the here-and-now and not get too worked up (as the Thessalonians had) about possible signs of the future “end times”? How can you strike this balance? In particular, what is one thing (or more) that you should hang onto about Christ’s Second Coming and one thing (or more) that you should focus on as more important right now than the timing of the end times? Bibliography See 2 Thessalonians - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/2-thessalonians/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 2 Thess. List Next

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

Compassion compels Jesus and us to proclaim the good news. [Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1-4; 10:5-15] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 9:35-10:15 Compassion compels Jesus and us to proclaim the good news. Image by Daryl Han, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Cropped. Tom Faletti August 9, 2024 Matthew 9:35-38 compassion for sheep without a shepherd; laborers needed for the harvest In 9:35, Jesus’s work is described as having three components. What are the three aspects of Jesus’s work? Teaching, proclaiming the gospel, and healing people. Jesus is now moving from town to town throughout the northern region. How does he feel about the crowds? Jesus is moved with compassion or pity. The Greek word Matthew uses for “compassion” has a root word: a word for the internal organs – a person’s inner parts or bowels. The word implies a deep, emotional concern. In our day, we would use the word “heart.” It is the same word Jesus uses to describe how the father felt when he saw his long-gone prodigal son returning in the distance. He feels the kind of deep compassion you feel in your gut. How does Matthew describe the state of the people in verse 36? He says they are harassed and helpless (Matthew 9:36, NRSV) or “troubled and abandoned” (Matthew 9:36, NABRE), like a sheep without a shepherd. Why does this assessment of the people’s condition bring forth the image of a sheep without a shepherd? How does it feel to be in that condition? What do you think it was about the people that moved Jesus to compassion? Do you think of Jesus as having that kind of deep compassion for you? Explain. In what ways do we or the people in our church or the world at large need the compassion of Jesus today? How does it change things when we recognize God as having this kind of deep compassion for us? Are we called to have this kind of compassion, the kind of compassion Jesus had, for the people around us? If so, what would that look like? The Jewish leaders were supposed to be their shepherds. Why were the people like sheep without a shepherd? Do you ever feel like this? If so, what do you think Jesus would want you to know and what do you think he would want you to do? Recognizing that the people had great needs, Jesus makes a comment about the harvest and laborers. What is the “harvest” Jesus is referring to? Who are the “laborers” in that harvest, and what is their role – i.e., what should they be doing? Why are laborers scarce? What is the role of the harvest master? The obvious next question is, what does this call us to do? We will some on answer to that in the next passage. In chapters 8-9, Matthew has inserted some short discussions (see 8:18-22; 9:9-17; 9:35-38) in a long series of miracles. Each discussion helps us understand what true discipleship is – that is, what it means to follow Jesus. The next thing that happens in Matthew’s narrative is that Jesus sends out the apostles. But Matthew is not just trying to tell a good story. He is trying to prepare, encourage, motivate, and prod the Christian communities for whom he is writing. And that includes us. So: Is there still a “harvest” yet to be harvested today? Is there still a shortage of laborers? Why? What is our role as potential laborers? What is Jesus calling us to do? What is he calling you to do? Introduction to Chapter 10 Chapter 10, like the Sermon on the Mount, is a collection of things Jesus said over a long period of time, probably including things he did not teach the apostles until after his resurrection. For example, 10:18 says, you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings. This was not a description of what they would face on this initial missionary journey, but rather something they would face as they went out into the Roman world after the coming of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 10:1-4 Jesus gives authority to 12 apostles to go forth Notice the diversity of the twelve apostles. What does that tell you about what Jesus is looking for in his disciples? The Greek word for “apostle” means one who is sent forth. Apostles go and speak or act on the authority of the person who sent them; here, they are “sent out” in verse 5. But Verse 2 is the only place in Matthew’s Gospel where the word “apostle” is used, whereas Luke refers to them as apostles on other occasions throughout his Gospel. Even in verse 1 Matthew uses the word “disciples.” Why do you think Matthew uses the word “apostles” only once and repeatedly calls them “disciples” everywhere else in his Gospel? Perhaps he does not want his readers (or us) to think that only a select few are called to proclaim the good news – all disciples can do that. He wants us to connect with them and identify with them rather than setting them apart as something different from us. What “authority” does Jesus give them? Why do you think Matthew uses the word “authority” and not the word “power”? Matthew 10:5-15 Jesus gives instructions to the apostles as they go out to proclaim the good news and heal people Where does Jesus tell the apostles to go? Why focus there? Who are “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”? Note: Jesus will go to the Gentiles and to Samaria later in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus commands the apostles to proclaim the good news (“gospel” means “good news”). What is the specific message they are to proclaim? As they proclaim the good news, what specifically do you think they would be proclaiming? What would they have said after that starting sentence? Who might Jesus be calling you to share his good news with, in your life right now? Jesus commands the apostles to do miraculous works of healing. Why? Why do you think Jesus tells them to bring nothing with them? Verse 10 says, “laborers deserve their food.” If they weren’t bringing any food, how do you think Jesus expected them to eat? What do you think a “worthy” house is, in verse 12? Jesus tells them not to stay in places that do not welcome them or listen to their words, but to leave and shake the dust off their feet as they go? How might that have been intended as a message to the people they were leaving? How might “shaking off the dust” have been an important act for the apostles themselves, in terms of their own psyche as they dealt with rejection? Is there a lesson in here for you, as you try to be a good witness to your faith in Jesus but may encounter varying reactions? What might this say to you? Take a step back and consider this: In the first 9 chapters of his Gospel, Matthew has shown us: where Jesus comes from (Matt. 1-3). the methods Jesus will not use, and, by implication, what methods he will use (Matt. 4). Jesus’s revolutionary teachings on what it means to follow God and how we should interact with each other (Matt. 5-7). the sweeping range of Jesus’s power and authority, the opposition he faces from powerful people, the need for people who are willing to do the work of God, and the costs of choosing to follow him (Matt. 8-9). Then, at the beginning of chapter 10, Jesus empowers his disciples to do what he has done. As you review the first 9 chapters of Matthew and the beginning of chapter 10, what part of this story speaks to you most directly right now with regard to your calling as a disciple of Jesus? What part of Jesus’s good news is God calling you to embrace more fully right now? What action is God inviting to take to put his teachings into action? 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

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

Divorce: What does it mean for two to become one? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 19:1-12 Divorce: What does it mean for two to become one? Image by Engin Akyurt, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 19 Introduction before reading the passage Matthew 19:1 tells us that Jesus now moves into Judea, for the first time in his public ministry in Matthew’s Gospel – a step closer to the most vigorous opposition he faces, in the spiritual and secular power center of Jerusalem. This step sets him on the path to Jerusalem and the Cross. The particular route he is taking involves going out of the way, crossing over to the east side of the Jordan River. Jews often did this to avoid going through Samaria. (Jews detested the Samaritans because the Samaritans were in their mind only semi-Jews, since they did not engage in the Temple worship in Jerusalem.) This route allows him to avoid any distractions caused by the disagreements between Jews and Samaritans, and it puts him back in the territory where John the Baptist preached. Read 19:1-12 Marriage and divorce Notice the contrast in verses 2 and 3. There are 3 kinds of people identified here. What are 3 different reasons people come to Jesus here? Some people follow him. They think he is teaching something valuable. Some people want him to cure them. They think he is doing something valuable. But some people want to catch him in error . They think he is misleading people. What is the Pharisees’ question? The Pharisees are thinking about Deut. 24:1-4, where the Law of Moses appears to allow men to divorce their wives for any reason. Different schools of thought in Jesus’s time interpreted this differently – the Hillel school took the words at face value to produce a policy that made it easy for men to divorce their wives for any reason, while the school of Shammai took a strict approach that only allowed a man to divorce his wife if she committed adultery. What is Jesus’s answer? What is Jesus’s scriptural justification for his answer? Gen. 1:27 and 2:24. Marriage is a human institution in every culture, even where it is not considered a divine institution. Jesus interprets the Old Testament to emphasize that God had an original plan for marriage, from the beginning of human history. What do these passages he quotes from Genesis tell us about the meaning of marriage? What is the point of his referring to what was “from the beginning”? Why is that important? Jesus says that “what God has joined together” (19:6, NRSV and NABRE) must not be separated by humans. How can the statement “what God has joined together” guide our thinking about marriage? Members of my Bible Study group offered answers such as: Marriage involves commitment, cohesiveness, a spiritual bond, being a complete unit, sticking to or clinging to each other, following the original template from before the Fall. The Pharisees move right past his explanation and ask why Moses allowed divorce if God doesn’t actually permit it. What is Jesus’s explanation for why Moses had a more lax standard? Their hard-heartedness. What does hard-heartedness mean? What does it look like? Whose perspective is foremost in mind for the Pharisees: the man (husband), the woman (wife), or the couple together? Whose experience do you think God is concerned about? In ancient times, and not only among the Jews, adultery was considered to be an offense against the husband – an offense against men. (See New Oxford Annotated Bible , footnote to Mark 10:1-16, p. 1810.) In reaching back beyond Moses to the “beginning,” Jesus points to a part of the Old Testament that is not so male-centric. In human terms, the Book of Deuteronomy has the flavor of having been codified by men who were writing to men, for men. What difference does Jesus’s teaching make for women? Notice that all the language is egalitarian – the words are identical for the man and the woman. Marriage, in God’s view, is a union of equality and oneness. Does this surprise you? What do you think of this? Now focus on the statement, “the two shall become one flesh” (19:5, NRSV and NABRE). In the context of Genesis, this is often taken almost as though it is primarily about biology: here’s a man, there’s a woman, the man leaves his family, the woman leaves her family, they get married, they have sex, and that’s how the species propagates. In sex, the oneness is physical and temporary. But Jesus says something more profound when he adds, “So they are no longer two” (Matthew 19:6, NRSV and NABRE). He’s not just talking about sex. In Jesus’s profound “before Moses” vision of what marriage is supposed to be, in marriage a husband and wife are “no longer two.” What does it mean for the two to become one? In what ways are they meant to be one? Members of my Bible Study group offered answers such as: They are of one mind. They exercise joint decision making. They give and take, with a commitment to reconciliation when they get it wrong. They act like what happens to you is as important as what happens to me. They are like conjoined twins in the sense that what I do affects you. William Barclay offers several beautiful thoughts here: being one means not just doing one thing (sex) together, but doing all things together; being completed by your partner; sharing all the circumstances of life; knowing each other well; with consideration thinking more of the other than of oneself (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew Volume 2 , pp. 223-226). People often want to marry for love. In Jesus’s time, most marriages were probably arranged and not decided based on love, yet God wanted the two to become one. Love is an act of the will, not a feeling. Now let’s look at the rule for divorce that he lays down in verse 9. What is the standard he establishes? Note that the Catholic Church has chosen to follow Mark’s version, which does not have the exception for unchastity (Mark 10:1-12). Mark’s Gospel was written earlier, so Matthew’s exception clause is often assumed to have been added later. Also, Luke follows Mark’s absolute standard. Why do you think Jesus lands there as the answer to when divorce is allowed? How does this view honor the idea that marriage is a covenant that is supposed to be a true union? It should be like God’s covenant with us. This is the first of several teachings of Jesus that even his own disciples aren’t sure they can live up to – they think it is a hard teaching. How do you interpret Jesus’s answer in verse 11? One way to think about this is that marriage is not for everyone. Some are called to be married and some are called to be celibate. Does that make sense to you? Another way to think about this is that Jesus may be saying that not everyone will be capable of living up to this teaching. It is a teaching given to Christians. Why would Christians be especially enabled, and especially expected, to live up to this teaching? Believers in God have received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to live out the teachings of Jesus. We are not going to dwell on v. 12, which has challenged scholars throughout the Church’s history. The point of verse 12 may be that, when the disciples say maybe it is better not to get married, Jesus says that some people do choose not to be married – for a variety of reasons. Some men (whether from birth or injury) do not have the sexual equipment to have intercourse and cannot fulfill the Jewish expectation that they get married and have children. Some men were castrated, a practice at that time for some jobs in royal palaces and Greek temples but thankfully not practiced now. And some have chosen to be “eunuchs” – probably meant figuratively for those who have chosen a life of celibacy and not meant to be taken literally. Unfortunately, the early church historian Eusebius tells us that Origen, the early Christian scholar who lived from c. 185 AD to 253 or 254 AD, castrated himself, thinking he was making himself a eunuch for the kingdom of God in accordance with Matthew 19:12. This is not what Jesus was saying. What do you think is most insightful in Jesus’s teaching about divorce? What do you find problematic here, if anything, and how do you think Jesus would respond to your concern? What should we do to promote a healthy view of marriage in our society? Take a step back and consider this: Paul had the great insight that the marriage of a man and a woman was an image of the relationship between God and the church (Eph. 5:25-32). Spouses should love each other and lay down their lives for each other as Jesus loved and laid down his life for the church. The husband and wife are not just two separate beings; they are a unity. That is why I should care as much about what happens to my wife as I care about what happens to me, and vice versa. When we live out that calling, we are acting as people made to reflect the image of God to the world around us. When we live out that calling, we are truly being all that God wants us to be. If you are married, how can you lay down your life for your spouse? How can you make sure that your spouse doesn’t feel like she/he is doing all the laying down of their life while you’re not? How can you show that this is a mutual thing where you are a team, together in all things? The relationship between a husband and wife is far more important than just its effect on each other. It also affects their children. Children are the subject of the next passage. 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 religious authorities want to know who John the Baptist is. John is more interested in identifying who Jesus is. That's the central question for us, too. [John 1:19-28; 1:29-34] Previous Next John List John 1:19-34 The religious authorities want to know who John the Baptist is. John is more interested in identifying who Jesus is. That's the central question for us, too. Giovanni di Paolo (1398–1482). Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God) . Circa 1455-60. Detail. Art Institute of Chicago, Public domain CC0, https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16159/ecce-agnus-dei . Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 Read John 1:19-28 What John the Baptist says about himself This man who was baptizing people in the desert is often called John the Baptist. People sometimes call him John the Baptizer, to avoid any confusion between him and the denominations of Christians known as Baptists that arose many centuries later. Who challenges John the Baptizer? Priests and Levites (verse 19), and then Pharisees (verse 24). Priests offered the sacrifices in the Temple. Levites served in the Temple but not as priests. Pharisees were a religious sect within Judaism that emphasized zealous adherence to the Torah and its purity laws. Who does John say he is not? He says he is not the “Christ or “Messiah.” “Messiah” is the word that Jewish people would have used in their own language to refer to the one whose coming they were awaiting, who they expected would bring them liberation. The Hebrew word “Messiah” means “Anointed One.” The Greek word Christos , from which we get our word “Christ,” is the Greek word for “Anointed One.” He says he is not Elijah. In the Old Testament, Elijah does not die; instead, in 2 Kings 2:1-12, he is described as being taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. And in a prophecy in Malachi 3:23-24, God says he is sending Elijah the prophet before the day of the Lord comes (when the Messiah comes). The scholars in the Jewish tradition interpreted these passages literally and expected Elijah himself to return before the Messiah comes. In Matthew 11:14 and Mark 9:11-13, Jesus indicates that John has played the role that people expected of Elijah. But John knows he is not literally Elijah and says so. He says he is not the prophet. In Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Moses says that God will raise up a prophet like Moses for the people. Again, this was part of Jewish tradition and the Jews of Jesus’s time waited expectantly for this Prophet. Who does John the Baptist say he is? John is quoting Isaiah 40:3. Read Isaiah 40:1-5 . Why do you think John the Baptist sees himself in this description? How is this a fitting description of John the Baptist? In verse 26, what does John say he does? In verse 27, how does John the Baptizer distinguish himself from “the one who is to come,” which is Jesus? How is this a fitting description for Jesus? Read John 1:29-34 What does John testify about Jesus? Notice that in verse 29, John the evangelist says that this happens “on the next day.” John divides his episodes into days. Day one: If John is not the One, what is his role? Day two: Here is the One. How does John describe Jesus? Let’s look at each of the things John says. Notice that John telescopes into one paragraph here what happens over a longer period of time in the Synoptic Gospels. John is trying to get to the spiritual meaning of what was happening. What is the significance of calling Jesus the Lamb of God? This image probably evokes the Passover or “paschal” lamb whose blood saved the Israelites from the death of the firstborns in Egypt before Pharaoh finally let them go (Ex. 12). It may also evoke the Suffering Servant in Isaiah who is led like a lamb to the slaughter (Is. 53:7) and whose life is an offering for sin (Is. 53:10). What is the significance of saying that he takes away the sin of the world (note that the word “sin” is singular – John is referring to the whole state of sinfulness, not just specific sins)? What is the significance of saying that “he existed before me”? What is the significance of saying that the Spirit descended on him like a dove and remains on him? What is the significance of saying that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit? What is the significance of saying he is the Son of God? John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus (Luke 1:36ff), so scholars have puzzled over the fact that in verse 33 he says that he had not known Jesus (he uses a special form of the past tense). If they were relatives as Luke says, why does he say this? There are two main possibilities: John may merely be saying that he had not “known” in the sense that he had not realized previously that Jesus was the Messiah. John may never have spent much time with Jesus. Jesus’s early years were spent in Egypt and his family settled in the north, in Galilee, a multi-day walk from the territory where John’s family lived. They were “relatives,” but not necessarily close cousins. As an adult, at some point John went off and lived in the desert. So it is possible that they never interacted with each other before Jesus showed up to be baptized. In verses 33-34, how does John explain why he is so confident that what he is saying is true, (even though he had not known previously)? Looking over all the ways that John the Baptist describes Jesus, which description is most important to you and your life, and why? (John says: he is the Lamb of God, he takes away the sin of the world, he existed before me, the Spirit is on him, he will baptize with the Spirit, he is the Son of God.) And can you describe a time when that understanding of Jesus especially mattered for you? Take a step back and consider this: Identities are important. Sometimes, it matters a great deal who you are – or are not. The religious authorities want to know who John is (or who he thinks he is). John the Baptist wants his followers, and everyone listening to him, to know who Jesus is. Sometimes we want to know who someone is so that we can put them in the proper box in our mental assessment of who’s who in the world. That can be helpful (“this teenager is one of my students; I need to help him”) or unhelpful (“I’ve never seen this teenager here; he must be up to no good”). John the Baptist not only identifies Jesus; he testifies (verse 34) that Jesus is the Son of God. This role of testifying or bearing witness is sometimes crucial (“this is one of my most diligent students; he’s here to talk with me about his scholarship essay”). If we have experienced that Jesus takes away sins, is filled with the Spirit, or is the Son of God, we can testify to what we have seen, as John the Baptist did. How would you introduce Jesus to someone who does not know him? How would you describe him – what words would you use to identify him – so that others might be motivated to learn more about him? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/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 John List Next

Can we say “Yes” to God, and then actually do the work he asks us to do? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 21:28-32 Can we say “Yes” to God, and then actually do the work he asks us to do? Georg Pencz (ca.1500–d. 1550). The Parable of the Father and His Two Sons in the Vineyard , from the series The Story of Christ . 1534-35. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Public domain, CC0 , https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/432116 . Tom Faletti August 7, 2025 Matthew 21:28-32 The parable of the two sons What does the first son say and then do? What does the second son say and then do? Let’s look at this parable first on the surface level – the ordinary human level. How would you describe the difference between the two sons? Notice how the second son respectfully calls his father “sir” or “lord” ( kyrie in Greek). He is all lip service, no action . Pious words don’t substitute for obedience in doing what God wants. Given that neither son is totally without blame, Jesus’s question is interesting. Which seems to be more important to him: what the sons said or what they did ? Neither son fully reflects what the father hopes his children would be, since the father would have liked his sons to both respond to the initial request and carry it out. We also sometimes don’t want to do what God asks us to do. How does God want us to deal with that? God doesn’t mind if we express how we feel. But he hopes we will do what he asks. God would like you to embrace his goals both in word and in deed. But why do the actions count for more than the words? There are probably times in your life where you have said no to God. Like the first son, you can always change your mind and begin again with a new yes . How might you seek God’s forgiveness for times you have said no and embrace a new yes ? Now let’s look at the metaphorical meaning of the parable. A vineyard is a symbol of Israel. We see this, for example, in Isaiah 5:1-30 and Jeremiah 12:10. If the vineyard is Israel, who do the two sons represent? Jesus does not leave any ambiguity as to which son represents the chief priests and elders. He turns the story directly against them. He says that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before them. What does this mean? This passage relates to the previous one. Jesus asked the Jewish leaders about John the Baptist. The Jewish leaders did not embrace John’s message of repentance, but many of the ordinary people did, including tax collectors and prostitutes. They same pattern reoccurred in people’s reactions to Jesus. The leaders professed to honor God, but they did not respond with the appropriate actions. They were like the son who did not do his father’s will: all lip service, no action. What have the tax collectors and prostitutes done that leads Jesus to praise them? How does their approach to John (and presumably to Jesus) differ from that of the chief priests and elders? The tax collectors and prostitutes Jesus is talking about are those who have amended their lives to follow Jesus, so that they are showing fruit for God. In verse 32, Jesus says to the leaders: “even when you saw” that the tax collectors and prostitutes were responding to the call of God “you did not change your minds.” It is possible that this made them even less inclined to believe, but Jesus says it should have made them more inclined to believe. Why should we be encouraged in our faith when people who are not part of the faith come to faith? What does this parable tell us? How valid do you think the following conclusions are? God cares what we do, not just what we say. In God’s eyes, what we do counts for a lot more than what we say. God is willing to put up with a lot if we come around in the end. He gives us time to turn around and do what he wants. Now think about the father’s feelings toward the son who treated him respectfully but did not do what the father asked. How do you think God feels about people who say they do God’s will but don’t actually follow through with action? In our lives, God’s directions are not always as simple as “God work in my vineyard today” – but sometimes they are. How would you describe the “work in God’s vineyard” that God wants you and me to be doing right now in our lives? Which of the following might be examples of “working in God’s vineyard” today? Living a holy life that follows God’s moral laws. Looking for opportunities to tell others the good news about Jesus that we have received – and then actually telling it. Putting God’s love into action by caring for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the stranger, etc. Standing up for justice and the proper treatment of all the people created by God. There are many Christians who live out their faith in word and deed. There are also some who seem to talk the talk but don’t seem to show much concern for loving those who struggle and seeking their well-being. There are also people who don’t talk the talk of faith at all but try to live by a strong moral code and care for the needy. What do you think God thinks about these groups of people? Is there an area in your life where you might be saying the right things but not doing what your Father wants? What might you do in response to this parable? In this parable, Jesus draws a clear line, challenging the chief priests and elders to choose a side – His side – and stop opposing him. In the next parable, he makes this even more explicit. Take a step back and consider this: The Washington, DC, news station WTOP presented a story by Kyle Cooper about the claim that most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by the second Friday in January. This phenomenon even has a name: Quitter’s Day . But if you consider Jesus’s parable about the two sons, it raises a question: Is the second Friday of January the right time to decide that you are not going to put into action what you said you would do? Or is it just another day when you can turn your lack of action into action? If we have not done something at the first opportunity – whether it is to follow through on a resolution or something else – we can still start now. Start it at the first opportunity: It would be wonderful if we could catch God’s vision for what he is trying to do in our world, embrace the vision, and follow through with steady, consistent action from the beginning. We don’t want to excuse a “No,” even if it eventually becomes a “Yes,” or to excuse a “Yes” that isn’t followed by action. Neither of those is God’s ideal for us; he desires our words and our deeds. But it’s a fact of life that sometimes we don’t follow through. That’s not necessarily the end of the story, however. Often, we still have an opportunity to start now. Start now: Every moment is another moment when we can say “Yes” to God in place of a previous “I will not,” or to follow through on a “Yes” we have not yet delivered on. God is always ready to welcome us into the vineyard, and he always receives us with joy. Is there something that God has been asking you to do, and perhaps you said “No” or perhaps you just haven’t followed through? If so, what can you do now to get to work on it? What can you do to cultivate the attitudes and habits of mind that will help you be the kind of person who, when God says, “Go and do this today,” you say “Yes” and do it? It is a privilege and a gift from God that we are invited to participate in the work of his vineyard, working with him as he transforms us into a fuller image of himself and transforms the world so that it is a fitting place for his kingdom. Let us welcome the opportunities and embrace the work he gives to us! 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

Mary and Joseph follow God’s guidance one step at a time, not knowing what each new step will be but trusting that he will show them what to do. Can we, too, trust God to guide us one step at a time? [Luke 2:25-40; Matthew 2:1-12; 2:13-18; 2:19-23] Previous Mary List Next Session 3: When life gets complicated Mary and Joseph follow God’s guidance one step at a time, not knowing what each new step will be but trusting that he will show them what to do. Can we, too, trust God to guide us one step at a time? [Luke 2:25-40; Matthew 2:1-12; 2:13-18; 2:19-23] Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). The Holy Family Resting - The Flight into Egypt . Original Bronze Sculpture. 1963. Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC. Photo by Tom Faletti, 21 Jan. 2025. Tom Faletti July 13, 2025 Luke 2:25-40 Mary receives a surprise prophecy about herself In verse 25 and verse 26, how is Simeon described? What does Simeon do in verse 28, and what does he say in the verses that follow? How does Simeon describe Jesus in verse 32? Is this an accurate description of what Jesus ends up being? Explain. Simeon’s statement about the Gentiles in verse 32 builds on a statement in Isaiah 42:6 and Isaiah 49:6 that Israel will be a light to the nations (i.e., the Gentile nations). What is significant in Simeon’s interpretation that this claim applies to Jesus? In verse 33, how do Mary and Joseph react? Now Simeon turns his attention to Mary. What does he say to her in verses 34-35? How does the prophetess Anna add to the story? When we make ourselves available to God, as Mary and Joseph did by going to the Temple and as we do when we go to church, we open ourselves up to the possibility for interactions and blessings that we might miss if we weren’t there. How has your participation in your church’s rituals and activities opened the door to blessings for you? Now look at this incident through Mary’s eyes. What happened, from her perspective? What do you think the phrase in verse 35 meant to Mary, when Simeon said, “and you yourself a sword will pierce” (Luke 2:35, NABRE) or “a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35, NRSV)? What do you think this experience with Simeon meant to Mary later, when Jesus was an adult? Are there times when we must accept the pain of a figurative sword that accompanies the blessing of doing God’s will? What can we learn from Mary here? How is Mary a role model for the kind of person we are called to be? How is Mary an example for how to actively live out our faith? Now we are going to read the story of the “wise men.” We usually look at this story from the perspective of the wise men or “magi,” because that is how Luke tells the story. However, we are going to look at it from Mary’s perspective. From Mary’s perspective, the story begins in this way: While she and Joseph and Jesus are staying in a house in Bethlehem (Matthew tells us in verse 10 that they were in a house when the wise men arrive), the Holy Family receives a surprise visit from some well-to-do wise men from far away in the East. Consider Mary’s perspective as you read the story: Matthew 2:1-12 The magi find Jesus We do not know where in the “East” these men came from. We do know this: Matthew does not use a Greek word to describe them. Our word “magi” is a transliteration of the Greek word that Matthew uses, and that word is a Greek transliteration of the plural Persian word magi (the singular is magus ), which referred to a caste of Persian priests of the Zoroastrian religion. Zoroastrian priests were astrologers in the sense that they carefully studied the stars. Priests of that caste were also at times associated with magic, and our word for magic comes from the same root word as magi , but it would be misleading to think of them as magicians or as astrologers. In their time, the movements of the stars were thought to affect the fortunes of people and nations, so at a time of limited knowledge of the natural world, they were trying to be wise observers of nature. We might think of them as the wise or scholarly practical philosopher-scientists of their time, in addition to being priests of their religion. Since we are focusing on Mary in this study, go back and read verse 11 carefully. What happens from Mary’s perspective? What does she observe happening? What do you think she thought when these wealthy, probably well-dressed, knowledgeable men came into the house and prostrated themselves before the baby Jesus? Mary has now seen three very different groups of people approach the baby Jesus: the local, rough, lower-class shepherds; the very old, holy man of God; and the foreign, refined, upper-class magi. How might Mary have reacted to the fact that all these very different people had important things to say about Jesus? Throughout history, Mary has been seen as a saint who is accessible to everyone. How might her experiences as a young mother have shaped her as an accessible and welcoming person? Do you see Mary as the kind of role model who is accessible to people of all social classes, all nationalities, all levels of education and economic status? Explain. What can you learn from Mary here in the story of the wise men? Matthew 2:13-18 The escape to Egypt and massacre of innocent children The wonderment of the magi’s visit doesn’t last long. Soon, an angel appears to Joseph with a dire message. What does the angel tell Joseph? How do you think Mary reacted to this? What is our term, in English, for someone who has to flee their homeland and go to a different country because they are in danger? Our term for people in this situation is “refugee,” which is a specific kind of migrant – see “What is the difference between a refugee and a migrant?” ( USA for UNHCR ). How do you think Mary felt about being a refugee? Note: There were Jewish communities in Egypt, so they might not have been totally alone (just as refugees who come to Western countries in our time often have communities they can connect with), but because of their religious and cultural differences, they would have been seen as outsiders in the broader Egyptian culture. How do you think Mary’s experiences as a refugee shaped her as a person? Looking at this part of Mary’s life, how can we be like Mary? Matthew 2:19-23 They return to Israel Throughout this set of passages, Matthew is making subtle connections between Jesus and the ancient Israelites who were brought out of Egypt by God in the experience we call the Exodus. In verse 15, he quotes Hosea 11:1, where the prophet refers to Israel as God’s son but Matthew sees a new application to God’s Son Jesus. In verse 20, Matthew makes a connection to Moses. An angel tells Joseph that he can return to Israel, “for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” This echoes the experience of Moses. In Exodus 2:15, Moses had fled Egypt because Pharaoh wanted to kill him. In Exodus 4:19, Moses is told that he can return, “for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” How might Mary have seen parallels between Jesus and Moses and between Jesus and the nation of Israel as she journeyed to Egypt and back to Israel? As Mary and her fellow Jews celebrated their faith, they constantly recalled the story of God’s action that brought salvation to the Israelites in the event known as the Exodus where they escaped from Egypt. How might that story have been an encouragement to Mary in her ordeal of escape from and return to Israel? Where do Mary and Joseph settle, and why? Matthew and Luke focus on different stories related to Jesus’s birth and infancy, with Luke presenting Mary’s story while Matthew focuses on Joseph. Luke 1:36-37 indicates that Mary’s hometown was Nazareth. Matthew does not tell us where Joseph lived before Jesus was born; he says only that Joseph’s ancestral home was Bethlehem. When they return from Egypt, they settle in Nazareth, which Luke tells us is Mary’s hometown, whereas custom would have had a bride move into her husband’s home. How do you think Mary felt as she returned to Israel? What would it have been like, raising your child, knowing that powerful people might again someday decide he is a danger and should be killed? Do you think that Mary told Jesus about the dangers, or kept them to herself, and why? When you face ongoing dangers in life, how do you find a balance between ignoring them and obsessing over them? How might Mary be a role model for how to deal with the risks we take in life? Take a step back and consider this: In these passages, Jesus is honored, Mary receives a troubling prophecy, and then Jesus is targeted for execution. What a complicated start to motherhood, for Mary! Mary and Joseph did not realize what an adventure their marriage would be, and they did not have all the answers for what to do. The angel who first visited them did not tell them about Herod, or the magi, or that they would become refugees in order to escape Herod’s murderous plan. They did not need to know those things in the beginning, nor did they need God to spell out solutions in advance. God revealed what they needed to know, when they needed to know it. Notice what this means: Following God was not, for them, just one big leap of faith. It was a series of smaller steps, where they trusted God each time for what they needed to know and do at that moment, in order to get to the next step. The same is true in our lives. We don’t need to know everything about our future. We only need to know what we need to know for the present moment – and then we need to do it, in order to get to the next step. It’s an important lesson: We don’t always need to know what is coming. God sees the whole picture, and that is enough. When in your life have you had to trust God through a series of steps where you did not know where things were going, but God ultimately led you to a good outcome? What are you facing right now, where you would like to know more about what is coming than God has revealed to you, and you just have to trust God and take one step at a time? What are the best things for you to remember as you face times of uncertainty? How might Mary be a role model for you in these times of uncertainty? Bibliography See Mary - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/mary/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Mary List Next