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Mary’s pregnancy, from Joseph’s perspective: What is God doing? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 1:18-25 Mary’s pregnancy, from Joseph’s perspective: What is God doing? Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 1:18-25 Joseph’s dream and Jesus’s birth Jewish marriage procedures were different than ours. When a couple became “engaged” or “betrothed,” they were married but not yet living together. A man and woman would stay in this stage for up to one year before the formal marriage, not living together but so fully committed that the only way out was divorce. Mary and Joseph were in that stage of their marriage. What does verse 18 tell us? In verse 19, how are Joseph’s character and intentions described? Matthew says Joseph is “righteous” (or, in some translations, “just”). By using this term, Matthew means in part that Joseph follows the Jewish Law faithfully. Under the Law, he had a right to formally accuse Mary of unfaithfulness. She would have been subjected to a test of her virginity, and if she failed the test she would have been stoned to death. Alternatively, he could have said nothing about her pregnancy but divorced her with a public display of his displeasure, which would make her look bad. What do you think of Joseph’s plan to divorce her quietly so as not to expose her to public disgrace? What happens in verse 20? It appears that Joseph was thinking over his options carefully rather than acting quickly and rashly. Even if an angel doesn’t appear to us, how might Joseph’s decision to “sleep on it” before taking action be a good model for us? Has a decision to “sleep on it” every helped you make a good decision? Explain. There is scientific evidence that “sleeping on it” can help us make better decisions (see Grohol ; Calechman ; Miller ). Fr. David Barnes points out that the delay provided by “sleeping on it” can help us avoid acting imprudently out of fear or anxiety. We don’t have to hope for an angel to speak to us; we can pause, sleep on it, and pray on it. “Into our silence, God speaks and assures us of his closeness” (Barnes, p. 56), which might guide us to make good and creative decisions about how to respond to difficult problems. The angel calls Joseph “son of David.” Why? What does that signify? There are interesting parallels between this Joseph and the Joseph in the Old Testament. Both were named Joseph; both had a father named Jacob; both received dreams from God; both were righteous; and both saved their family by going to Egypt. Do you think these parallels are just a coincidence or is Matthew trying to tell us something? How is Jesus described in verse 21? Recall that the name Jesus, or Joshua, means “God saves.” While Jews might have envisioned that name alluding to other kinds of being saved (from invading enemies, etc.), Jews in Jesus’s time also made the connection to salvation from sins. What does the meaning of Jesus’s name – “God saves” – mean for you in your life? In verses 22-23, Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14. What does the Old Testament quote mean as interpreted by Matthew? Note: The Isaiah passage actually says, “a young woman” in Hebrew, although when it was translated into Greek in the Septuagint it was translated as “the virgin.” Looking at the context, some people think it is referring to Isaiah’s wife (see Isaiah 8:3). But in context, the point is not about the woman but about the name the child will be given. The child will be named “Immanuel” – “God is with us” – because if King Ahaz follows God’s direction as given to him by Isaiah, God will be with them and they will avoid being attacked by the armies camped on Ahaz’s doorstep. Early Christians focused on the Greek translation “a virgin” and saw the virgin Mary in it. This is the first of at least 10 “fulfillment citations,” where Matthew says that something that happened in Jesus’s time fulfilled what was said in some portion of the Old Testament. How do you experience Jesus as “Emmanuel” – “God is with us” – in your life? Explain. The Virgin Birth is the doctrine proclaimed by most Christian denominations (and considered a dogma by the Catholic Church) that Jesus was conceived by a supernatural, miraculous act of God without Mary having had intercourse with anyone, and that therefore, while Mary was Jesus’s natural mother, he had no natural father. What is the significance of this teaching for you? How does Joseph respond to this dream and the word he received from the Lord? Joseph’s response to Mary’s pregnancy shows that his “righteousness” involved more than just blindly following the Law. He had an upstanding or “right” relationship with God. He used his mind and will to decide how to deal with his emotions, and he kept his spirit attuned to God so that he could adjust his thinking and actions based on God’s guidance. His righteousness led him to his original plan (a quiet divorce) and his righteousness led him to accept God’s alternate plan. How is Joseph’s way of living as a righteous person a model for you? Joseph responded to his dream by obeying God. In your life, where could you be more responsive to God, like Joseph? When Joseph took Mary as his wife and named him Jesus, he was taking full responsibility to be Jesus’s foster father – stepfather, really. What does this show us about how to embrace God’s plans in our lives? Matthew does not give us any of Mary’s side of the story. (Thank God for the Gospel of Luke, which gives us that perspective.) Matthew only gives us what we read here plus the story of the wise men/magi, which we will look at next time. He must have thought he was giving us all we needed for the narrative and themes he was developing in his Gospel. What do you think he wanted us to take from this story of Jesus’s birth? What do you think it is important to fill in, from Mary’s part of the story as told in Luke, to help give Jesus’s birth and infancy the full and lasting impact it has had for people’s faith? Verse 25 says that Mary and Joseph had no marital relations “until” she had borne a son. The Catholic Church teaches that they also did not have sex after Jesus was born, but instead that Mary remained a virgin all her life. Protestants disagree. What difference does your understanding of Mary’s virginal status makes in your life? How can you live a life that is more devoted to God, with Joseph as a role model? Take a step back and consider this: Joseph was well chosen to be the foster father of Jesus. He showed several character traits that we would do well to imitate. Consider Isaiah 9:2-7; see verse 7: “there shall be endless peace / for the throne of David and his kingdom.” (NRSV) He was dedicated to his faith. He wanted to do what God wants. He believed in thinking before he acted. He was not impetuous. He considered his options before taking action. He was kind. He cared that Mary not be put to shame. He was open to the guidance of God. When you put together in one person all of these characteristics of faithfulness, thoughtfulness, kindness, and sensitivity to God, you have a very impressive package. A person with those characteristics is a person God can work with. Which of these characteristics of Joseph could use more development in your life? What would God like you to do about it? If we are willing to let God keep molding us into the people he wants us to be, he will be able to give us opportunities to make a positive difference in the world around us. And it is a wonderful feeling when we can make those positive differences. The first step is to try to be the kind of person, like Joseph, who is seeking to be all that God wants us to be. It’s a great journey. What’s your next step? 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 Gospel of John shows us Jesus Christ, who is both God and man and Son of the Father. It provides spiritual insights that go beyond what the other Gospels have, so that we can believe and have life. Previous Next John List Introduction to John The Gospel of John shows us Jesus Christ, who is both God and man and Son of the Father. It provides spiritual insights that go beyond what the other Gospels have, so that we can believe and have life. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 Introduction: Background Regarding the Gospel of John (This background information is a synthesis of the scholarship presented in many sources, including the following: Brown, Introduction , pp. 362-376; Brown, The Community , pp. 22-24, 166-182; Bruce, pp. 1-12; Flanagan, pp. 101-104, 119-121; Perkins, pp. 942-950; Sloyan, pp. 8-28; Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , pp. 157-158; Ellis, pp. 1230-1231; and New American Bible, revised edition , New Testament, pp. 142-144.) Why was the Gospel of John written? The Gospel of John tells us why it was written: John wants us to believe and have life: At the end of chapter 20, John says that he could have written many more things about Jesus. “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31, NRSV). Around AD 324, Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea, tried to summarize everything he could find about the origins of the Gospels. In his Ecclesial History , he quotes from a document written by an earlier bishop, Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215), that we no longer have: John tells about events before John the Baptist was arrested that are not in the other Gospels: Clement said that John wrote his Gospel partly because the first 3 Gospels did not tell about the beginning of Jesus’s ministry but only covered the final year of Jesus’s ministry after John the Baptist was arrested (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book III , Chapter 24, pars. 7-8). Eusebius reports: “John accordingly, in his Gospel, records the deeds of Christ which were performed before the Baptist was cast into prison, but the other three evangelists mention the events which happened after that time” (par. 12). John wrote a “spiritual gospel”: Eusebius writes: “But, last of all, John, perceiving that the external facts had been made plain in the Gospel, being urged by his friends, and inspired by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel. This is the account of Clement.” (Eusebius, Book VI , Chapter 14, pars. 6-7) This suggests that John is going beyond the external, physical, material facts and exploring the meaning of what Jesus did He is exploring on a deeper level than the other Gospels, not just providing strictly what Jesus said and did. We might call this the “theological” Gospel, because it focuses on the symbolic nature of Jesus’s life and the metaphors that help us understand the true nature of Jesus. We can see this in the ways John talks about Jesus being the light, the way, the truth, the life, the resurrection, the good shepherd, etc. How important are metaphors like the light, the way, the truth, the life, etc. in understanding who Jesus is? How do you think this Gospel might help you believe in Jesus and have life? Who is the author? We are not sure of the identity of the author of the Gospel of John. None of the Gospel authors put their name on their Gospel. The titles that say they are “according to Matthew,” “according to Mark,” etc., were added early on and are not part of the original documents. There are two puzzles regarding the authorship of the Gospel of John: John’s Gospel never refers to “John,” but it does talk about “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who scholars call the “Beloved Disciple.” Was this Beloved Disciple the same as John the apostle, or someone else? John the apostle and his brother James were the sons of Zebedee. This Gospel never refers to James or John by name, and it only refers to the sons of Zebedee once: in an epilogue (chapter 21) not written by the author of the rest of the book. Many scholars believe that the Beloved Disciple was the apostle John, the son of Zebedee. A smaller number of scholars think it was Lazarus or Thomas. A significant group of scholars think it was another disciple not named in the other Gospels: an eyewitness who was there through it all but was not one of the “Twelve” and only rose to prominence later. The simplest conclusion is that “the one whom Jesus loved” is the apostle John, the son of Zebedee. The Beloved Disciple appears in many places where we might expect John the apostle. He reclines at Jesus’s side at the last Supper (13:21-26). He is treated as a leader (20:1-2). He is at the foot of the cross and took Mary into his house (19:25-27). And he is the disciple who it is suggested would not be martyred as Peter was (21:17-24). These are all things that fit John the Apostle. So concluding that it was John the apostle requires the fewest additional assumptions, even though many scholars prefer the idea that it was an unknown eyewitness. Who wrote the Gospel of John? Was it the eyewitness Beloved Disciple/John the apostle, or was it another person from John’s community drawing on John’s oral accounts? Irenaeus, writing around AD 180, says: “John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia” ( Irenaeus , par. 1). Eusebius, reporting what Clement had written, says that “the apostle John . . . gave in his Gospel an account of the period which had been omitted by the earlier evangelists” (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book III , Chapter 24, par. 11). The belief that John the apostle provided the Gospel of John has a long history, and it is likely that he was the source of the eyewitness testimony (unless the scholars who think the Beloved Disciple was another, anonymous disciple are right). But that may not tell us who actually put pen to papyrus (or parchment). Several other facts complicate the question of who wrote the Gospel of John: Chapter 21 of John’s Gospel is clearly an epilogue added by someone else. Chapter 20 has a clear ending in verses 30-31. Chapter 21 tells several stories, including the story of the conversation about whether Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved would be martyred. It tells us that the story came from the beloved disciple, and “we know that his testimony is true” (21:24). The use of the word “we” indicates that some or all of chapter 21 was added by a group. Scholars talk a lot about the “Johannine community” – the community of which John was a central member in Ephesus. There was another John – John the “presbyter” or “elder” – who was also a highly respected member of the community at Ephesus. Some scholars, going all the way back to the time of Eusebius, have thought that John the Elder wrote the Book of Revelation; some also think he wrote, or at least compiled the final version of, the Gospel of John. All of the Gospels were developed through a process as they transitioned from oral stories to written accounts that compiled those stories. None of the Gospels appeared from out of nowhere. The stories were first told orally. Then, someone wrote them down. It appears that the 4 Gospels have material that was gathered from a variety of sources – probably mostly oral sources, though there also may have been written documents that were partial Gospels or collections of sayings or stories. So even if John the Apostle was the primary source for this material, it might have gone through stages, including possibly more than one written stage, before it arrived at the final version we have. Many scholars today think that the Gospel of John was the work of several people in the Johannine community. They think there was an original “John” who was an eyewitness; that there was an “evangelist” who first wrote a Gospel that built on what the original eyewitness reported; and that a redactor put it into its final form. Some think that there was a version written in Aramaic before the first version in Greek, but others find no evidence for that. We will call the author “John,” but whether it was John the apostle or an unnamed disciple whom Jesus loved doesn’t chang the outcome. What matters is that at its root, it came from an eyewitness, and the result – the Gospel we have today – was inspired by God. Where did the author of the Gospel of John get his material? The original source was an eyewitness. The Gospel shows great familiarity with Palestinian geography (for example, Solomon’s portico in the Temple area; the pavement called Gabbatha where Pilate decided Jesus’s fate; that there were 2 towns called Bethany; the pool of Siloam, which was only rediscovered in 2005; the pool of Bethesda with its 5 porticos, rediscovered in the 1800s; etc.); the details of Jesus’s trial and crucifixion (that 4 soldiers gambled for Jesus’s robe; the blood and water that poured from his side; the weight of the myrrhs and aloes used to anoint his body; etc.), and many other details (that the boy with the loaves and fishes had barley loaves; that they had rowed 3 or 4 miles before Jesus came walking to them on the water; that Judas objected that the perfumed oil used to anoint Jesus’s feet could have been sold for 300 days’ wages; quotes of statements made by Thomas; etc.). This original eyewitness had a unique perspective, separate from the other Gospel authors. Most of the material in the Gospel of John is different from what is in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) – not contradictory (except in one significant place), just different. There is some overlap with Mark, but that could just relate to the fact that different eyewitnesses saw the same events. Some of the material in the Gospel of John appears to come from the reflection of the Johannine community and not necessarily all from the mouth of Jesus while he walked the Earth. That would be consistent with the idea that John’s is a “spiritual gospel” that presents more of an interpretation or analysis of who Jesus is, not just what he did and said. The Johannine community appears to have placed a strong emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit (the Paraclete), so some of the material may not have come directly from Jesus but from later revelations the Johannine community received that they believed were revealed to them by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. So, for example, in John 3:16-21, did Jesus say, “For God so loved the world that he sent his only son,” or is that an explanation by John? The Greek of that time did not use quotation marks, so we don’t know whether it is a quote or an explanation. But maybe it doesn’t matter, because either way, we believe it is part of the inspired Word of God. To what extent does it matter to you whether the Gospel of John was written by John the apostle or another eyewitness? To what extent does it matter to you whether the final version reflects a process of editing and refinement by other writers in the Christian community, or not? Do these questions affect whether the result that we have today is the Word of God? Explain. When was the Gospel written? Most scholars think the Gospel of John was written in the AD 90s, but a small case could be made that it was written before AD 70. John does not offer many textual clues for when it was written. Scholars think Matthew was written after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70 in part because Matthew’s Gospel makes some statements that sound like the author knew that it had happened. John does not give us that kind of clue. There is one spot where John uses a phrase that could indicate that it was written before AD 70. John 5:2 says, “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool....” It would be odd for John to use the word “is” if he knew that the city had been destroyed and the pool was no longer there. However, the Gospel could merely be relating the story as it would have been told orally and handed down for decades, so a single “is” is not much evidence to base a conclusion on. John presents what is called a “high Christology” – a high view of Jesus’s identity as God. Many scholars believe that it took time for the understanding to develop that Jesus was not just the Messiah/Christ but God in the flesh. That argues for a later date. The latest it could have been written was the early 100s. For a while, some scholars argued that John’ Gospel wasn’t written until as late as 150 or later. That idea was shot down when a fragment of papyrus was discovered in Egypt that contains a few verses from chapter 18 of John’s Gospel and that is considered to be dated between 100 and 150. Since it would have taken some time for that copy of the Gospel to have reached Africa, John was probably published no later than the early 100s ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , p. 157; Bruce, pp. 6-7). On a separate note, people sometimes wonder whether the Gospels might have been doctored or rewritten over the centuries by people or factions who had agendas of one kind or another – for example, after the time of Constantine when Christianity became the state religion. The facts don’t support such a theory: We have a papyrus dating from the end of the 2 nd century (the late 100s, only 100 years after the Gospel of John was probably written) that contains most of the first 14 chapters of John’s Gospel and parts of the rest. Another papyrus from the end of the 2nd century contains most of Luke and the first half of John. We also have a papyrus from the early 3 rd century (100 years before Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire) that contains portions of all 4 Gospels and Acts of the Apostles (Bruce, pp. 6-7). The Gospels we have today are not hugely different from what the Church had in the 2 nd and early 3 rd centuries. Where was the Gospel written? There is widespread agreement that the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus. There is a large amount of evidence that John lived in Ephesus for much of his later life, with Jesus’s mother Mary. What do we know about John’s audience and community? Many scholars have written whole books presenting their theories about the Johannine community. These scholars try to read between the lines of John’s Gospel and compare it to what we know or think we might know about what was going on the Church at that time, to extrapolate what we might conclude about John’s community. The most important points are these: Many scholars think that John’s Gospel was written mainly for Jews and Jewish Christians, though not all agree. Although it does not quote the Old Testament as frequently as other Gospels, John’s Gospel would be nearly unintelligible to people who lack an understanding of Jewish traditions and concepts. For example, this is the Gospel with all the “I am” statements that echo God’s name for himself in the Old Testament. Non-Jews would tend to miss the import of those statements. John also focuses on Jesus’s attendance at Jewish feast days in Jerusalem, without bothering to explain them. John’s community appears to have faced intense opposition from Jews who did not believe in Jesus. Those Jews kicked Jewish Christians out of the synagogues. When John speaks negatively of “the Jews,” modern people tend to wonder why, since John was a Jew. He is talking about the leaders of the non-Christian Jews who persecuted Christians. It might be like a White person speaking negatively about “the Whites” who persecuted Black people in the South for 100 years after the Civil War. He doesn’t mean all Jews, just those who rejected Jesus and mistreated Christians. Many scholars think John’s community may have included Samaritans who converted to Christianity. They reach this conclusion because of John’s inclusion of the story of the Samaritan woman and the conversion of her town in John 4 and the lack of any negative references to Samaritans in his Gospel (Matthew and Luke each have one or more negative references to Samaritans). The idea would be that John originally gathered converts in Palestine, Samaritan converts joined him, and they all eventually moved to Ephesus because of Jewish opposition in Palestine. If indeed John’s community included Samaritans, that could have precipitated even more Jewish persecution since there was a longstanding hatred of Samaritans in the Jewish community. John’s community may have had a special emphasis on the Holy Spirit. John’s Gospel has much more material on the Holy Spirit than the other Gospels do. John’s community may have had frequent theological disagreements with other Christians and may eventually have had a split inside their own community. Scholars think the Johannine community was critical of what scholars call “crypto-Christians” – Jewish Christians who downplayed their Christian faith in order to remain in the synagogues. They see hints in his Gospel that he may have had disagreements with Christians who did not share his high Christology or who did not place such a high emphasis on the ongoing role of the Holy Spirit. And the New Testament letter 1 John, which might have been written as few as 10 years after the Gospel of John, indicates that the Johannine community eventually faced a serious internal disagreement that led to a painful split in which some Christians in the community left. In what ways do you think the experiences and difficulties the early Church faced might have shaped what the Gospels writers decided to include or not bother to include in their Gospels? Themes in the Gospel of John The Gospel of John is marked by a series of 7 “signs” – wondrous deeds Jesus does that demonstrate his authority – beginning with his turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (2:1-11). The first chapter of John provides a first mention of many themes that will recur later in the Gospel. These themes include: Jesus is the Son of God the Father. Jesus is one with the Father and existed before he was born as a human. Jesus reveals the Father. Some people do not know the Father because they refuse to accept Jesus. Jesus’s followers are children of God. Jesus brings life. Jesus brings light. Jesus brings the truth. Many people and events provide testify that Jesus is who he says he is. John develops additional themes as the Gospel progresses , include these: There is a Third Person of the Triune God, the Spirit, who will be with Jesus’s followers when Jesus returns to heaven. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus will be “lifted up” to bring people to himself. God loves the world and shows his love in Jesus’s sacrifice of himself. Jesus’s disciples are called to follow him, obey him, and love one another. Which of these themes of John’s Gospel intrigue you the most, and why? What do you hope to learn by studying John’s Gospel? What questions do you hope to have answered as you study? If you could ask John one question, what would you ask, and why? How do you think he would respond? Take a step back and consider this: Atheists criticize belief in the Gospels because they have such different perspectives, which they call contradictions. If God inspired them all, how could the authors have such different versions of the story? The differences do not trouble me. In fact, if the Gospels were all perfectly aligned, I would be more skeptical. If every book told the story in exactly the same way, it would make me wonder if some person or group doctored or coordinated all the writings. I can’t imagine that a genuine set of Scriptures could be any other way than our Scriptures are: different in tiny details because of the humanness of the human authors and how they obtained and crafted their material. The only way the accounts could be entirely identical and still genuine is if God turned the original authors into robots taking dictation from him, and that would go directly against what it means to be a human made in the image of God with freedom, a unique personality, unique experiences, and unique ways of telling what we know to be the truth. Not everyone has such confidence in God: to believe that he could work through humans to develop a collection of books and letters that are inspired by him and have sacred and eternal value even though they were written by human authors working with their various perspectives and limitations. But that is why we say God is the author of the sacred Scriptures even as humans were the authors of the various books. God, in his awesomeness, honored human freedom even as he guided the result. What does the fact that God used such different people to produce the 4 Gospels tell you about God’s confidence in working through human beings to achieve his purposes? How can that give you greater confidence that God can work through you? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Herod seeks to kill Jesus, which is why Jesus ends up as a refugee in Egypt, and then in Nazareth. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 2:13-23 Herod seeks to kill Jesus, which is why Jesus ends up as a refugee in Egypt, and then in Nazareth. Image by NEOM, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 2:13-23 Jesus becomes a refugee, avoids a massacre, and ends up in Nazareth Matthew tells this part of the story to help us understand how Jesus could be the Messiah even though he grew up in Nazareth, not in Bethlehem. Why does Joseph take Jesus and Mary to Egypt? When the angel tells Joseph to “flee,” the Greek word for flee is pheuge , which is related to our English words “refuge” and “refugee.” It was common for Jews to hide out in Egypt if they were in trouble or in danger in Judea; there were Jewish communities in a number of Egyptian cities, so they would not have felt totally alone. Still, it was a long way from home. Jesus began his life as a refugee. Fortunately, Joseph and Mary did not have to convince a skeptical government that the family was worthy of asylum status. God was willing to become not only a human, not only a poor person, but a refugee. How does that help us understand the inherent dignity of refugees and the importance of being welcoming to them? The “fulfillment prophecy” that Matthew cites in verse 15 is not actually about Jesus or the Messiah. It was a statement from Hosea 11:1 about the fact that God called his “son,” the people of Israel, out of Egypt, long ago. Matthew repurposes it, perhaps to try to convince Jews that there is a huge amount of evidence in the Hebrew Scriptures pointing to Jesus. Matthew might also be thinking that Jesus’s experience of being brought out of oppression is a foreshadowing of our own experience of being brought out of oppression by Jesus. Matthew’s frequent use of these “fulfillment prophecies” leads some scholars to conclude that Matthew is picking out Old Testament prophecies and then creating stories to fit them. There is no evidence that he is doing that. Rather, it appears that he is organizing the stories he knows about Jesus and then searching the Old Testament to see if it has “prophecies” that might fit with those events. The stories come first; not the prophecies. When the wise men do not return to him, what does Herod do? Bethlehem was not a large town, so scholars think this would have been a slaughter of perhaps 20 or 30 children. While not large in number, all the children killed by Herod would have been deeply mourned by their mothers and fathers. Some scholars think the killing of the innocents is inspired by Pharaoh’s killing of the first-born sons of the Israelites before the exodus from Egypt, but again if Matthew created the story for that purpose he could easily have made the connection explicit and he did not. The “fulfillment prophecy” in verse 18 is from Jeremiah 31:15, where the original verse is about the Israelites being forced into exile by the Babylonians. It is followed by prophecies that the people will return from exile. Ramah was 5 miles north of Jerusalem, so it was 10 miles from Bethlehem. Rachel’s tomb was thought to be in the vicinity of Bethlehem. Matthew puts that all together and sees Jesus. Where do you think God was, as this was happening? God allows humans to do a lot of evil things, without intervening. Why do you think that is? God is guiding us to be people who as fully as possible reflect God’s image. If he intervened every time something bad happened, we would not be able to learn the lessons of our actions and would not grow to spiritual maturity. Also, we might stop trying to be our best selves, figuring that God will make things better if we mess up. Allowing us to do evil is the price that must be paid for giving us the chance to grow and mature and be great: to take on the mind of Jesus, to be the Body of Christ to the world, to live in the power of the Spirit. Jesus escapes from a tyrant by going to Egypt and then returning when the tyrant is gone. How does this connect with Moses’s escape, as an infant, from a pharaoh who was a tyrant in Egypt, and the Israelites’ later escape from a tyrant pharaoh in Egypt? The words “go . . . for those seeking the child’s life are dead” (2:20, NRSV) echo the Lord’s direction to Moses to go back to Egypt because the Pharaoh who wanted to kill him is dead (Exodus 4:19), setting up a possible linkage between Jesus and Moses: Jesus is the new Moses, leading his people out of oppression and giving them a new Law. When Herod dies, why doesn’t Joseph go back to Bethlehem? Joseph is afraid of Herod’s son Archelaus, who is given the southern territory including Jerusalem and Bethlehem by his father. Joseph had good reason to be afraid of Archelaus. Archelaus was so oppressive and hated so much by the Jews that he was eventually deposed from his position by Rome. Recall that Herod’s roots were in Idumea. Archelaus had roots in Idumea and Samaria, so he was even more suspect of not being a real Jew, and he treated the Jews so horribly that this suspicion was confirmed in the people’s minds. For example, Josephus tells us that in one of Archelaus's first official acts, 3,000 Pharisees were killed in response to an uprising protesting his father’s last act of oppression in Jerusalem. Joseph goes north to Galilee, to the town of Nazareth, a place far away from Jerusalem and not under Archelaus’s jurisdiction. Matthew’s final “fulfillment prophecy” in this chapter (verse 23) cannot be found in the Old Testament. Scholars have searched and never found anything that matches. So we don’t know what Matthew had in mind here. The closest thing is a prophecy before Samson is born that Samson will be a “nazirite” (Judges 13:5), but that is not the name of a place. Perhaps Matthew was inviting a connection to the nazirites, which were Israelites, including Samson and Samuel, who consecrated themselves to God, never drank alcohol, and never cut their hair, among other strict practices (Numbers 6). But the connection is flawed, since Jesus didn’t live an ascetic life and refrained from the demonstrations of human strength that Samson excelled at. Other scholars point to a possible word-play as Isaiah 11:1 talks of a “branch” arising from the stump of Jesse, and the Hebrew word for “branch” is netser , which sounds similar to the beginning of the name Nazareth. Since Jesus fulfilled in his own person some prophecies that were addressed to “Israel,” some scholars think this word-play hinting at the branch that arises from Israel is in Matthew’s mind. All of these are nice ideas, but we don’t know what Matthew had in mind; so this suggested quote remains a puzzle. Even if we don’t expect God to communicate to us nowadays through dreams, how is Joseph a role model for seeking guidance from God? When you figure out what God is asking you to do, do it! ; make yourself open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit; trust that God has a way forward for your life; take care of those around you; be aware of what is going on around you in the world, but don’t be paralyzed by it. Joseph settles his family in Nazareth. What do you know about Nazareth as a place to live and work? Joseph might have seen that he could find good work in the area of Nazareth, especially in Sepphoris, 5 miles away. This is explained in Raymond Brown’s one-volume biblical commentary: “Joseph, involved in the building trade, probably settled in in Nazareth, because he could find abundant work in neighboring Sepphoris, which Herod Antipas was rebuilding as his capital at that time” (Benedict T. Viviano, O.P., “The Gospel According to Matthew,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , par. 15, p. 636). Historians say that Sepphoris, though a Jewish city, did not join the Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in 66 A.D., suggesting that it took a more cosmopolitan rather than strictly Jewish approach to life under Roman occupation. How might this choice of a hometown have affected Jesus as he grew up? Although Nazareth was a small town, it was not a backwater. Besides being just 5 miles from Herod Antipas’s capital at Sepphoris, it was nestled in the fabric of trade routes to faraway places. It was only 15 miles away from the major international north-south Roman highway that ran through Israel along the Mediterranean coast from Syria to Egypt. Nazareth was also the crossroads of two smaller highways that served as trade routes, one starting at Ptolemais on the coast (modern-day Acre, Israel) and running southeast to Samaria, and the other running northeast through Nazareth to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, a city founded by Herod Antipas (see “Palestine in the time of Jesus, 4 B.C. - 30 A.D.: (including the period of Herod, 40 - 4 B.C.),” Library of Congress , https://www.loc.gov/item/2009579463/ ). As a result, Jesus, as a growing child and as a young man, would have been exposed to other cultures and a bigger world even while living in his Jewish village. This is all we get from Matthew for the “Christmas story” – very little compared to what we have from Luke. What important points about the background, birth, and infancy of Jesus are provided to us by Matthew? Jesus is Son of David, son of Abraham, Son of God due to his virgin birth, Emmanuel (“God with us”), perhaps a new Moses, born in Bethlehem, and raised in Nazareth. His birth story shows how the hand of God protects a little one so that he can grow up and save us, and the first people to recognize that this little one is great is a small group of Gentiles, a bit of foreshadowing that continues to play out as Matthew shows that the gospel is for Gentiles as well as Jews. How do you see the hand of God working subtly but decisively to bring good out of evil in these stories? How do you see the hand of God doing the same thing in your life? Do you think Matthew succeeds in making his point that Jesus fulfills the messianic prophecies even though he grew up in Nazareth, not Bethlehem? Explain. What can you take from this story of the wise men, Herod, Joseph, and Jesus to strengthen your faith or your approach to God? Take a step back and consider this: God could have chosen anywhere in the world for his Son to be born as a human. He could have selected a “chosen people” anywhere. He could have chosen any time in history for his coming. God chose this particular people, whose particular history placed them in this particular place in the world at this particular time. At this particular time, the Roman Empire made it easy to spread a message far and wide. Growing up in Nazareth would place Jesus among people who could both nurture him in the monotheistic culture of Judaism and also expose Him to the rest of the world, and living at a minor crossroads could help him tailor his message to speak to both Jews and Gentiles and prepare the way so that his followers could use their location in the midst of the Roman Empire to take the gospel ultimately “to the ends of the earth.” You also live at a particular time, in a particular place, among a particular people, at a crossroads of particular relationships and opportunities. God desires to work through you to share some piece of his good news with some particular people by your words and actions. How is God calling you to use the embedded realities, relationships, and crossroads of your life to bring his good news to others and make the world more like the kingdom of God that it was meant to be? What is God calling you to do next, where you are? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Jesus had a clear awareness of his overall mission and when was the right moment for specific actions, and he did not let any temptations get in the way. How can you cultivate your sense of God’s timing and avoid temptations that might keep you from your mission? Previous Next John List John 7:1-13 Jesus had a clear awareness of his overall mission and when was the right moment for specific actions, and he did not let any temptations get in the way. How can you cultivate your sense of God’s timing and avoid temptations that might keep you from your mission? Ron Almog from Israel (ישראל). “Sukkot” (a booth set up for the feast of Sukkot). CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sukkot-9_(1447847411).jpg . Tom Faletti February 22, 2026 John 7-8 Chapters 7 and 8 have a series of separate incidents rather than a single theme. Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Some of the things he says and does have direct connections to that feast, while other incidents don’t have a such a direct connection (though John might have included them here simply because they happened while Jesus was on this trip). The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths or Sukkot in Hebrew, is the most joyous of the Jewish feasts. It was a 7-day festival held in Jerusalem each fall that celebrated the ingathering of the fall harvest and commemorated how God provided for the needs of the Israelites in the desert after they escaped from Egypt. (Since the Jewish holidays follow a lunar calendar, Sukkot can begin as early as late September or as late as mid-October on our calendar.) Leviticus 23:33-43 and Deuteronomy 16:13-17 directed the Jews to construct small shelters or “booths” that were like tents or tabernacles and live in them during the festival, and to make offerings and sacrifices to God. A tabernacle is a tent. The Israelites lived in tents in the desert. Living in tabernacles or booths during the feast would help them recall how God had provided for their ancestors in the desert. Two of the ceremonies held during this feast have direct connections to things Jesus says in these chapters: First, each morning the priests would draw water from the pool of Siloam and pour it out in the Temple as an offering to God. In John 7:37-39, Jesus says that he provides “rivers of living water” for anyone who thirsts. Second, during this festival, giant candelabras were set up in the women’s court of the Temple that flamed brightly for all to see. In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , fn. to 7:2, p. 175). The water recalled the miracles of water in the desert and the lights recalled the pillar of fire by which God led the Israelites by night as they lived in tents in the desert (Flanagan, p. 36). Jesus’s conflict with the religious leaders in Jerusalem reaches a peak at the end of chapter 8. Read John 7:1-13 The feast of Tabernacles or Booths – will Jesus go to Jerusalem for it? John begins in 7:1 by reminding us that there are Jewish leaders in Jerusalem who want to kill Jesus (we saw that in John 5:18). His “brothers” urge him to go to Jerusalem anyway. (See Mary, Session 5: Jesus’s family for a detailed exploration of what the Gospels might mean when they refer to Jesus’s “brothers.”) John tells us that his brothers do not believe in him (verse 5). Why do they say he should go to the feast? The brothers of Jesus do not become believers until later, but we find then in the Upper Room after Jesus dies, rises, and ascends to heaven (Acts 1:14). What is Jesus’s response in verses 6-7? When Jesus says, “My time has not yet come,” the word he uses for “time” is kairos , a word that has the connotation of the right time, the opportune time, the moment when God is prepared to do something special. Why is Jesus so attuned to those kairos moments? Many Christians have learned that there are special kairos moments in our lives when God wants to do something special in or through us. If we aren’t attuned to God, we can miss opportunities to do his work or receive his grace. How can we become more aware of those kairos moments so that we don’t miss them? In the Gospels, Jesus almost never immediately does what anyone tells him to do, even if he does it later. Why do you think that is? In verse 7, Jesus says, “The world . . . hates me, because I testify . . . that its works are evil.” What do you think he mean by saying that the world’s works are evil? How do you see that resistance to Jesus in the society around you? Notice that in verse 7 it is his testifying that elicits the hatred. Why is it that speaking up puts us at risk of opposition, and what should we do about it? Jesus is basically saying that he needs to stay true to the mission his Father has given him, even though it may cause some people to oppose him. How can that sense of mission guide you as a follower of Jesus in your relationships with the people around you? John tells us in verse 11 that the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem are looking for Jesus. Why do you think they are looking for him? Verse 12 tells us that the crowds are divided about Jesus. What are the different views they have of him? Why do you think the people in the crowds react in such different ways? Why do people react to Jesus in such different ways in our time? Verse 13 is one of the verses that shows us that when John uses the term “the Jews,” he means specifically the religious leaders, not the people as a whole. We can see that because the crowds of people eat the feast were Jewish, but Johns says that the people don’t speak openly because they are afraid of “the Jews.” They aren’t afraid of themselves; they are afraid of the Jewish leaders, and that is what John means by “the Jews.” Why do you think that the everyday people in the crowds might be afraid of the Jewish leaders? John may have included the point he makes in verse 13 because some people in his own time were afraid of the leaders of the Jewish synagogues, where many Jewish Christians still worshipped. Are there times when you hesitate to speak freely about what you believe because you are concerned about how people in power (religious or secular) might react? Jesus sometimes chose his words and actions carefully, to avoid triggering an arrest before the right time. It takes wisdom and discernment to know what to do when we encounter opposition. What guidance do you think Jesus would give you about what to do when people in authority don’t like what you are saying or doing? Take a step back and consider this: John’s Gospel does not have an account of Jesus being tempted by Satan. The highly respected Scripture scholar Raymond E. Brown noticed a similarity between the challenges Jesus faces in John’s Gospel from people who are not convinced that he comes from God and the temptations Jesus faces when he resists Satan in the desert in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels (Perkins, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , par. 105, p. 964): In John 6:14-15, after Jesus feeds the 5,000, the people want to make him king. This parallels the temptation in which Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he will bow down to Satan (Matt. 4:8-9). In John 6:31-34, the people ask Jesus what he can offer that compares to the miracles of manna in the desert and then ask him to give them bread every day. This calls to mind the temptation in which Satan tells Jesus to turn the stones of the desert into bread (Matt. 4:3). And in John 7:4, Jesus’s brothers tell him that he should go to Jerusalem and do works publicly that would manifest him to the world. This is reminiscent of the temptation in which Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and encourages him to throw himself off and show who he is by letting the angels catch him (Matt. 4:5-6). There is no way to know whether John was intentionally making these connections, or the Holy Spirit was guiding him to unconsciously describe what happened to Jesus in ways that would allow us to make these connections, or the connections can be made simply because most temptations fall into these three categories (the temptations of power, comfort, and fame). Regardless, John has now made it clear that Jesus was encouraged in a variety of ways to do things that would not have aligned him with his Father’s will and the mission he came to Earth to achieve. We face temptations every day. Those temptations can come from (1) people who are impressed with us and want us to do great things (for them), (2) people who aren’t impressed with us and are pushing us to prove ourselves (to them), and (3) even our own family when their priorities or values are different than ours. Jesus kept his eyes on what his Father wanted him to do. Are you more likely to find yourself being asked to do things that are not in line with God will for you (1) by people who are impressed by you, (2) by people who are skeptical of you, or (3) by family or friends who just don’t have the same priorities as you? What can you do to keep your eyes on what God wants you to do? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Jesus asks us to take a towel and wash each other’s feet. He modeled it first and then told us to do the same. Where is the towel that is waiting for you? [John 13:1-15; 13:16-20] Previous Next John List John 13:1-20 Jesus asks us to take a towel and wash each other’s feet. He modeled it first and then told us to do the same. Where is the towel that is waiting for you? Jacopo Tintoretto (1519–1594). Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples . Circa 1575-80. The National Gallery, London, UK. Photo by Tom Faletti, 28 May 2025. Tom Faletti May 15, 2026 Read John 13:1-20 Jesus washes the feet of the disciples John’s Gospel makes a major shift here. John has talked about Jesus’s “signs” repeatedly in chapters 1 through 12. John will not use the word “sign” again, except in his concluding comment in John 20:30, where he says that “Jesus did many other signs [that] are not written in this book.” We are now entering into the section of John’s Gospel that some scholars call “The Book of Glory.” In 13:1, John says that “Jesus knew that his hour had come” to depart from this world and go to the Father. John has referred to Jesus’s hour more than half a dozen times so far. What is Jesus’s “hour”? Jesus’s “hour” is the time of his suffering and death (his “Passion”), and sometimes, as in this verse, it also includes his resurrection and ascension, since John here refers to Jesus returning to the Father. Verse 1 tells us that it is just before the feast of the Passover. John does not give us the Last Supper account that the other Gospels give us, with the meal in which Jesus took the bread and the cup of wine and said, “This is my body.... This is my blood.” He has already dealt with that topic in chapter 6 in his Bread of Life discourse with the command to eat his flesh and drink his blood. John focuses mostly on the meaning of what Jesus taught . The other Gospels already told the story of what Jesus did at the last Supper, so he may not have felt the need to fully repeat that. What does the second half of verse 1 tell us? Take the second half of verse 1 and insert your name: “Having loved his own in the world, including [insert your name], he loved [insert your name] to the end.” Having loved you, he loves you to the end. What does this say to you? Verse 2 says that the devil had put it into Judas’s heart to hand over Jesus. At that time, the heart was considered the source of thoughts and feelings. What do you do when a temptation to do wrong enters your heart or mind? It is interesting that John brings up Judas in verse 2, right after what he says in verse 1 and right before what he says in verse 3. He says that the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus (literally, to hand over or deliver up Jesus). How does the fact that Judas is there relate to verse 1? How does Judas’s presence relate to the washing of the feet? We will explore the meaning of what Jesus does later. Let’s focus first on what he actually does , and how Peter reacts. In verses 4 and 5, what does Jesus do? When Jesus takes off his outer garment and takes a towel, he is assuming the posture and role of a slave. Many Greeks and Romans had slaves. The master of a house would direct his slave to wash the feet of an important guest. What is Jesus signaling by taking the role of a slave? In verse 3, John provides context for Jesus’s act of washing the disciples’ feet. John says that Jesus is aware of 3 things. What are they? Jesus is aware that (1) the Father has put everything into his hands, meaning that he has power over all things; (2) he came from God; and (3) he is going to return to God. How does the fact that Jesus knows he has been given power over all things provide context for Jesus’s act of washing their feet? In verses 6-8, how does Simon Peter respond when Jesus comes to him to wash his feet? Why do you think Peter did not want Jesus to do this? Are there times when you feel like you don’t want to ask God to do something for you? What does this story tell you about that hesitation? In verse 7, Jesus tells Peter that he doesn’t understand now but he will understand later. What is it that you think Peter will understand later? In verse 8, Jesus says, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part (or share or inheritance) with me.” What do you think this means? The fact that Jesus gives Peter such a serious and cautionary response tells us that this action is about far more than washing the muck of the street off the feet of the disciples. This is a living parable that Jesus is portraying in their midst. What is he demonstrating for us? We know we are called to serve Jesus. But how might we also be called to let Jesus serve us? How does what Jesus is doing here relate to the sacrifice he is about to make in giving his life for them and us? What does Peter’s response in verse 9 tell you about his desire to be with Jesus? Peter wants to be “all in” with Jesus – to be fully devoted to him. He doesn’t understand the point of what Jesus is doing, but he knows he wants to share fully in whatever Jesus is doing. How can we emulate Peter or take a lesson from his desire to give himself so fully to Jesus? What might God be calling you to do right now that would be a step toward giving yourself more fully to Jesus? In verse 10, Jesus tells Peter that those who have bathed only need their feet washed. This is literally true, but it also has a symbolic meaning. The word for “bathed” is also used in the New Testament for our being cleansed of our sins and sometimes suggests the image of baptism. If we have been washed clean in baptism, how might we still need our “feet” washed? Jesus and John note (in verses 10-11) that there is one of them who is not “clean”: Judas, who will betray him by handing him over to the authorities. In verses 12-17, how does Jesus explain what he has just done? What stands out to you as particularly important in his explanation, and why? Jesus says that if he washed their feet, they also ought to wash each other’s feet. How does this apply to us? Although in many places Jesus calls us to care for the needy strangers we encounter, that is not what he is saying here. This is about washing the feet of the people we spend our time with regularly, which might be family members, fellow church members, or others we regularly spend time with. And in the 21 st century, most people don’t need their feet washed when they come in from the street. In what ways are we called to “wash” each other’s feet? In verse 17, Jesus says that if you understand what he is saying, “blessed are you” if you do it. What is the “blessing” in figuratively “washing” each other’s feet? Is there someone who needs you to act like a servant to them right now? What is their need, and how would you go about addressing it? Return for a moment to Jesus ‘s metaphor that those who have already bathed only need their feet washed. One possible explanation of this is that our sins are forgiven when we are baptized, but we continue to need cleansing by God because we still sin sometimes after we are baptized. How can we avail ourselves of the continual cleansing that Jesus offers? We can’t cleanse other people of their sins. But how can we be a vehicle that helps people receive cleansing from their sins? In verse 18, Jesus again addresses the fact that there is one person among them who will betray him. In verse 19, he says that he is telling them this in advance so that when he is betrayed and goes to his death they will understand that he is “I AM” – that is, God in their midst. In verse 20, Jesus makes a statement that seems out of place but is connected to verse 16, where he refers to a messenger and the one who sent him. What does verse 20 mean? Who are the people Jesus sends, whom we are called to receive? What can you take with you from this story of the washing of the disciples’ feet? How can you apply it to your everyday life? Take a step back and consider this: Throughout history, some Christians have fallen prey to the temptation to take high positions and have others serve them, and some church leaders have expected to be treated with deference and special privileges. Some people in the pews have wanted to be served rather than to serve. If the crucifixion itself is not sufficient evidence that those attitudes have missed the point, this action by Jesus is a stark corrective. When we refer to the minor burdens of everyday life as “bearing our cross,” we make the phrase almost trite. Similarly, when the main people claiming to be servants put the word “leader” after the word “servant” – as in “servant leader” – it sends a confusing message about what serving is all about. Who are the “servant servants”: the ones who serve by washing the dishes, by teaching the youngest children in Sunday school, by providing the food that mysteriously appears at church functions, by cleaning up afterwards? Those people are following Jesus’s example of service. This story suggests that the challenge we have received from Jesus is this: “Take up your towel and follow me.” Where might there be a towel waiting for you pick it up and use it, because no one else will? How can we be like Jesus in his willingness to do the dirtiest, most mundane tasks as people gather together? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

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

The healing love of God is for Gentiles, too Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 15:21-28 The healing love of God is for Gentiles, too. Pieter Lastman (1583-1633). Christus en de vrouw uit Kanaän [Christ and the woman of Canaan] . 1617. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christus_en_de_vrouw_uit_Kana%C3%A4n_Rijksmuseum_SK-A-1533.jpeg . Tom Faletti June 13, 2025 Matthew 15:21-28 The healing of the Canaanite woman Jesus now moves clearly into Gentile territory. Tyre and Sidon are coastal cities northwest of Galilee, outside of Jewish territory. Who comes to Jesus, and what does she ask? Mark tells us more specifically that this woman is a Greek(-speaking) Syrian Phoenician woman. Matthew calls her a Canaanite, which is an anachronistic term he takes from the Old Testament. Centuries earlier, the Israelites had battled the Canaanites when they took over the Promised Land. In Genesis’s table of the origins of the nations, Canaan is the father of Sidon (Gen. 10:15). The Pharisees of Jesus’s time would have had nothing to do with this woman for multiple reasons: she was a woman, a foreigner, and a Gentile, and therefore unclean. Jesus, however, allows her to engage him. In verse 22, what words does she use to describe Jesus? What does her uses of these terms tell you about her faith? How does Jesus react, initially? He says nothing. Why do you think Jesus at first does not respond to her, but waits until she persists and the disciple ask him to send her away? How does Jesus respond to the disciples and her in verse 24? The woman’s reply is very simple: “Lord, help me” (Matt. 15:25). How is that a good example for us? I will explain Jesus’s troubling statements in verses 24 and 26 in a moment, but first, given that the woman gets what she wants in the end, do you think Jesus may be testing her in some way? Jesus appears to be prejudiced here, but that's a misunderstanding. What is really going on? Jesus’s dismissive and seemingly racist comments to the Syrophoenician/Canaanite woman – “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24) and “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matt. 15:26) – have troubled many people. Jesus sounds callous and prejudiced. But that interpretation does not fit with the rest of what we know about Jesus, so there must be more to the story. And there is! Here are 5 big points that can help us accurately interpret what Jesus says here: First, Jesus has already shown that he cares about Gentiles and is willing to heal them: In Matthew 8:28-34, Jesus goes to the Gentile territory of Gadara and heals the men who were possessed by demons. In Matthew 8:5-13, he heals a Gentile centurion’s servant. Matthew has been hinting to us from the very first chapter that Jesus’s gospel is for all people. He started by identifying the Gentile women in Jesus’s genealogy (see the study Matt. 1:1-17 ). Although when Jesus sent the apostles out on their first preaching mission he told them to stay in Jewish territory and not preach to the Samaritans (Matt. 10:5-6), that was only a first step. Matthew’s whole Gospel is driving toward its final verses where Jesus says the gospel must be preached to all nations (Matt. 28:19-20). In the passage right before this one, Jesus demolishes the idea that something outside of you can defile you. That’s how Jews felt about Gentiles, that they were a source of defilement. Second, this appears to be another case where Jesus quotes a claim others are making before showing how it is wrong. We have seen this in several places: In Matthew 5:21, Matthew 5:27, Matthew 5:31, Matthew 5:33, Matthew 5:38, and Matthew 5:43, Jesus begins a teaching by starting with, “You have heard that it was said . . .” or similar words, and then reframes the issue. In Matthew 11:7, he quotes people’s erroneous thinking about John the Baptist before providing a true understanding of John’s role. In Matthew 15:5, he quotes the Pharisees’ flimsy excuse for not taking care of their parents, before calling out their hypocrisy. This appears to be another case where Jesus is quoting the erroneous thinking of the people of his time. In fact, it is quite possible that the disciples said these things to Jesus when they were asking him to send the woman away. Third, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon for a reason – perhaps with the specific intention of having an interaction such as this one. Matthew tells us that Jesus “withdrew” to the region of Tyre and Sidon, but he doesn’t say why. In Matthew’s Gospel, nothing happens without a reason. Some scholars think that Jesus just wanted to get away from the crowds so that he could focus on training his disciples and preparing them for his crucifixion. But there were out-of-the way Jewish places he could have gone to. Or he could have gone to Bethsaida, the Gentile city his disciples were supposed to meet him in when he walked on the water (see Matt. 14:22 and Mark 6:45). Going to the Tyre and Sidon allows him to show by his actions that his point in the previous passage that nothing external can defile you apply to the Gentiles. Fourth, when he said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matt. 15:26), the word isn’t actually “dogs.” The Jews routinely called Gentiles “dogs.” Dogs were despised at this time: mostly unclean, stray scavengers, not domesticated pets. But Jesus doesn’t actually use the word “dog.” The word he uses is the word for a little dog, a house dog, or a puppy. So he is twisting the standard quote of his day as he prepares to demolish the ungodly attitude behind it. Finally, Jesus is following the typical style of verbal jousting that was common for the men of his time, which was to make an argument and then see if the other person can make a better argument. Jesus honors this woman by treating her as an equal and worthy of such an argument. When you put all these points together, it becomes clear that Jesus is quoting the prejudices of his day to in order to demolish them, not because he believes them. How does the woman react in verse 26? Jesus loves the woman’s response. Why? How is her response an act of faith? How does Jesus respond to her in verse 28? This is the only person of whom Jesus says that they have “great” faith. What does this woman teach us about faith? What did this event show about Jesus’s relationship to the Gentiles? Can we talk back to God? If so, how? Does it matter that she talked back to him while still being respectful? . . . and that it was based in faith? What do you think this woman thought about Jesus? What do you think she thought he felt about her? She must have sensed that he really cared about her, even though his words didn’t sound like it. We, too, can embrace the fact that God really cares about us, even though some of the things he allows to happen might make it seem like he doesn’t. Jesus didn’t even make her bring her daughter to him. He just healed the daughter from a distance. That also happened in the healing of the centurion’s servant. Both requesters were Gentiles. Why do you think he did the healing at a distance in both cases? What does the fact that he never sent her away tell us? What can we learn from that, with regard to our own relationship with Jesus? Take a step back and consider this: Unless you are a Jew by heritage, this is a really important story. Jesus shows that his good news is for you, not just for Jews. Are we as welcoming? Are there any groups in your society that are not welcome in your church community? How do you think Jesus would respond? How can you help make all people welcome in the church? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Jesus chooses a particular place – Galilee – to begin his ministry. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 4:12-17 Jesus chooses a particular place – Galilee – to begin his ministry. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti March 22, 2024 Matthew 4:12-17 Jesus starts his ministry in Galilee Why does Jesus leave the area around the Jordan River where John had been baptizing? The geography is important here. What region does Jesus begin his ministry in? What city does he move to? What body of water is he near? What is your impression of Galilee? Galilee was not a large place. Roughly 50 miles north-south by 25 miles east-west, its size was around the size of the small state of Rhode Island. The northern part of Galilee was more mountainous and remote; but the southern part, which included Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth, was not the isolated place that many think it was. The sneer against Galilee in John 7:45-52 was not about Galilee being culturally backward, but rather about the alleged lack of evidence that the messiah could come from there, combined with the belief among Pharisees that Galileans were less devoted to following every detail of the law. Even Nathanael's jibe in John 1:46 – “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” – must have reflected mainly a local rivalry since John 21:2 tells us that Nathanael came from Cana, which was less than 5 miles from Nazareth. We have tended to misinterpret these comments to think that Galilee and Nazareth were more remote and insular than they actually were. Nazareth itself was probably a small village, but in a region, Galilee, that was actually a crossroads for international travel. It included two capital cities, Sepphoris and Tiberius, both founded by the local king, Herod Antipas, and many people spoke both Greek and Aramaic (Eric Meyers, Professor of Religion and Archaeology at Duke University, “Galilee,” From Jesus to Christ , Frontline , Apr. 1998, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/galilee.html ). According to the Jewish Roman historian Josephus, it contained 204 villages with a population of 15,000 people or more and was the most fertile part of the Jewish lands with an enormous agricultural output (William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 65). According to Josephus, Galilee was full of people who “were ever fond of innovations, and by nature disposed to changes, and delighted in seditions” (as quoted in Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 66). At the same time, they were courageous and “more anxious for honour than for gain” (also p. 66). Galilee was surrounded by Gentile territory to the west, north, and east, and by Samaritans to the south. The original meaning of “Galilee” was “circle”: The term “Galilee of the Gentiles” in Matthew 4:15 comes from Isaiah 9:1 and refers to the fact that Galilee was encircled by Gentile nations. Galilee had been conquered several times over the centuries and repopulated with Gentiles. When Israel regained independence for around 100 years, from the successful revolt under the Maccabees in the 160s BC until they were conquered by the Romans in 63 BC, that region was turned back to Judaism. However, Galilee was not as insular as Judea to the south (Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , pp. 66-67). Many people were bilingual, and the openness of Galileans to different cultures might have made it a good place to grow up for someone who would eventually preach a message intended for all people, not just Jews. Why do you think Jesus leaves his hometown of Nazareth and goes to Capernaum? John the Baptist was arrested by Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas’s capital cities were in Galilee, not far from Nazareth. From a practical perspective, Capernaum might have been safer, with easy escape across the Sea of Galilee if needed. From a ministry perspective, Capernaum was a large commercial town that offered a larger audience and a different pool of people from which to draw his early disciples. Jesus did not just make a quick visit to Capernaum. He “made his home” (4:13 NRSV) or “went to live” (4:13 NABRE) there – the Greek word implies that he took up residence in a house there. Why might he choose to start gathering disciples in a commercial fishing town on the sea, rather than in his hometown? This town was at the north/northwest end of the Sea of Galilee, a large fresh-water lake. Moving here moves Jesus closer to Gentile territory (on the other side of the lake). It also brings him into the commercial area around a very large body of water. The Sea of Galilee was 13 miles long and 8 miles wide, and 680 feet below sea level, which made it a warm area ( The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , pp. 70-71). With Jews on the west and Gentiles on the east, and a high degree of commercial activity, this was a place where people might have been especially open-minded about his mission to all nations. Matthew offers a fulfillment citation from Isaiah 9:1-2. What does that Old Testament quote tell us? This Old Testament quote tells us several things: First, Galilee is mentioned in the Old Testament as a place where God will do something significant. Second, Capernaum in Galilee is in the Old Testament territory of the tribe of Naphtali, so this is part of God’s plan for the salvation of Israel. The Old Testament passage was actually about a prophesied restoration after the fall of the nation of Israel to Assyria in 722 BC. Matthew sees Jesus as fulfilling that prophecy and bringing light to those in darkness. In what way is Jesus’s arrival like the dawning of a light in the darkness? In what ways do you find Jesus to be a light in your life? Matthew provides only a partial quote from Isaiah. The passage contains other well-known messianic prophecies, including, “a child is born to us, a son is given to us”; he will be known as “wonderful Counselor, Mighty God”, etc. (Isaiah 9:6); and he will establish the throne of David in justice and righteousness forever (Isaiah 9:7). Matthew is signaling to at least the Jewish members of his audience, who would know their Hebrew Scriptures and the messianic prophecies, that Jesus is the Messiah. In Matthew 4:17, what did Jesus preach in his early preaching? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (NRSV) or “is at hand” (NABRE). This is exactly, word for word, John’s message. It might have been seen as gutsy to take up the message of someone who had just been arrested by the local king. One might wonder how John’s followers reacted when it appeared that Jesus was claiming John’s mantle by taking his message, given that Jesus was not in John’s inner circle. It didn’t take long, however, for Jesus’s message to develop further than John’s. Do you think Jesus meant the same thing as John by this message of repentance? What does it mean when it says he “proclaimed” or “preached”? What would that have looked like? The Greek word is the word for a herald’s proclamation from a king (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 69), so the word signals a high degree of authority. What does it mean to you when Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven “has come near” or “is at hand” (Matthew 4:17, NRSV and NABRE)? We might think of the kingdom of God as any place where God reigns. The word “kingdom” indicates sovereignty – that the place where God is sovereign, rather than flawed humans, is entering our sphere in a new way. We can now live our lives under his reign. Note that in Matthew, Jesus refers to the “kingdom of heaven,” whereas in the other Gospels it is the “kingdom of God.” Scholars have sometimes tried to find a distinction between the two, with little success. The best explanation is that Matthew is more sensitive to the ways that Jews talked. Jews at that time avoided saying the word “God,” so Matthew uses “heaven.” It is quite possible that Jesus also used the word “heaven” and that the other Gospels, with less concern about this Jewish desire to avoid saying God’s name, might have used “God” to make it more clear precisely what the term means (see Benedict T. Viviano, O.P., “The Gospel According to Matthew,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , p. 639, and H. L. Ellison, “Matthew,” The International Bible Commentary , p. 1123). (The Gospel of Matthew does, however, use the term Kingdom of God four times, in 12:28, 19:24, 21:31, and 21:43.) As we go through the Gospel of Matthew, we want to hang onto this idea that Jesus is describing what the world looks like when God is acknowledged as sovereign and allowed to reign. How can you make space for the kingdom of God to be “at hand” in your life? What is something new you learned today about Jesus, and what difference does it make? Take a step back and consider this: In some ways Galilee might have been the perfect place for the boy Jesus to grow up, to prepare him for his ministry. He would have been raised in a Jewish village in a region that was culturally diverse, where the Jewish language was spoken but also the Greek language that was the common language of a vast empire that dominated a large swath of the Earth. He would have been exposed to different cultures, and those experiences would have prepared him to craft a message that could reach not only Jews but people of diverse backgrounds. God used that breadth of experience effectively. Similarly, God can use the experiences of your past to prepare you for opportunities for ministry in your life now. As you look back on your life, how has God used events from your past as preparation for opportunities you had to serve him later? Are there events from your past that you are still hoping God will use in support of future opportunities for service? Those hopes might be good things to bring to God in prayer. 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

Peace and war; welcoming children; prisoners. (Paragraphs 7-10 of Spes Non Confundit) Previous Next Jubilee Year 2025: Embrace God’s Hope and Extend It to All Session 3: Where signs of hope are needed today, part 1 Peace and war; welcoming children; prisoners. (Read paragraphs 7-10) Link to S pes Non Confundit This ancient tree looks hollowed out and dead on the bottom (left), but it is still producing new leaves in its upper branches (right). Photo by Tom Faletti, On the grounds of the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye. October 26, 2023. Tom Faletti November 16, 2024 Everywhere we look in our world, hope is desperately needed. People everywhere are suffering. No one seems more aware of the magnitude of the suffering than Pope Francis. The whole world is his flock, and he calls on us to care as he cares. In the third section of Spes Non Confundit , Pope Francis discusses the many areas of people’s lives where greater hope is needed and what we can do about it. We will explore these areas over the next three sessions, starting with the difficult issues of war, the need to build a society where people want to welcome children into the world, and how to treat people in prison with dignity and respect. Our study guide questions will help us explore ways that leaders can work for peace in our world, but also ways we can be peacemakers in our own lives. We will also explore ways to encourage young people to be open to starting families, and ways that our justice system could do more to honor the human dignity of all people. It is our calling and privilege to bring God’s hope to all people, even in the most challenging circumstances. Read paragraphs 7-10 in preparation for this session. (Section 3) Signs of hope In paragraphs 7 through 15, Pope Francis discusses 8 areas of social life where hope is especially needed in our time. Where he provides scriptural references, we will explore them. Where he does not, we will look at Scripture passages that clearly speak to the concerns he raises. Paragraph 7 (signs of the times) 🔗 Pope Francis uses the term “signs of the times.” To read the signs of the times means to examine what is going on in the real world around us. Pope Francis recalls that the Second Vatican Council document Guadium et Spes (“Joy and Hope”) reminds the Church to interpret those “signs” in the light of the Gospel. That is what we will do in the next few sessions. Why is it important to use the Gospel in interpreting what is happening in our world today? Pope Francis does not want us to recognize only the challenges we face but also “the immense good present in our world” and “the yearning of human hearts” (par. 7). Why is it valuable to start by seeing the good and the desire for good, as we consider areas where people are suffering? Paragraph 8 (peace and war) 🔗 Pope Francis says the first sign of hope is the desire for peace amidst war. He finds it baffling, or perhaps shocking, that world leaders have not done more to resolve the many regional wars that are causing so much death and destruction around the world. He offers the Beatitudes as the starting point for discerning how to address the immense suffering caused by so many wars. Read Matthew 5:9 Who does Jesus call “blessed” in Matthew 5:9? What is a “peacemaker”? Jesus doesn’t bless those who “wish for” peace but those who are peace makers . What steps are required to be the kind of person who helps make peace? What is the vision of hope that God would want us to have as we respond to the wars that plague our world? What does Pope Francis want world leaders to do , in order to try to secure a lasting peace? Pope Francis mentions diplomacy. What is the role of diplomats and diplomacy in working for a lasting peace? Why are they important? In what ways can we encourage our leaders and diplomats to be peacemakers? Our leaders are not the only ones who need to be peacemakers. Pope Francis says, “The need for peace challenges us all.” We need to be peacemakers in our own lives – in our families, in our relationships, in our political conversations, in our workplaces, in our social media posts, in our parishes, etc. What are some concrete steps you can take to be a peacemaker in some area of your life where peacemaking may not always be your first impulse? It is hard to be a peacemaker if you do not have peace in your heart. How can you cultivate an inner peace at the core of your being? Suggested Activity: Explore the work of Pax Christi USA , a membership organization of Catholics working to promote peace and nonviolence and resist war, violence, domination, and racism. You can check to see if there is a local chapter of Pax Christi USA near you. Pax Christi USA is a member of Pax Christi International , a global Catholic peace movement. Paragraph 9 (welcoming children) 🔗 Why might Pope Francis be concerned that many young adults don’t want children? In the first part of paragraph 9, what are the societal issues Pope Francis identifies as reasons why people are less open to parenthood in our time? Read Psalm 127:3 In what ways are children a “gift” or “heritage” we receive from God? How is having children a result of hope? How does it also lead to additional hope? Pope Francis calls for a “social covenant” – i.e., public policies – that will help young adults embrace bringing children into the world. How might we do this in a way that is “inclusive and not ideological” and avoids making young adults feel pressured to have children? Paragraph 10 (prisoners) 🔗 In paragraph 10, Pope Francis asks us to think about people in prisons. What does he ask governments to do with regard to prisoners? In the second part of paragraph 10, Pope Francis quotes from Leviticus 25:10 and Isaiah 61:1-2 as a basis for proposing programs that would reintegrate prisoners into the community. Why might this be a worthwhile goal? What might be the positive effect of developing well-planned programs to do this? Pope Francis calls on Christians to demand dignified conditions for prisoners and respect for their human rights. Why do prisoners have a right to be treated with dignity despite their crimes? What is it about our faith that demands that they be treated with dignity? Suggested Activities: Find a Catholic prison ministry (through your diocese or online) that has a pen pal program for writing letters to a prisoner, and consider becoming a pen pal. Do some research about the treatment of prisoners in your local prisons and jails. If you find that they are being subjected to degrading or inhumane treatment or unsafe living conditions, contact a public official to express your concern. Throughout the Bible, people of God are unfairly imprisoned; for example, Joseph (Genesis 39); Jeremiah (Jer. 37-38); Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego (Dan. 3); Daniel (Dan. 6); John the Baptist (Luke 3); Peter and other apostles (Acts 5); and Paul and Silas (Acts 16). Toward the end of the second part of paragraph 10, Pope Francis reminds us of the Church’s opposition to the death penalty, which is discussed in paragraph 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church . You can read a statement of the Church’s position on capital punishment at “ New Revision of Number 2267 ” ( The Vatican , 1 Aug. 2018). Why does Pope Francis say that the death penalty “eliminates all hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation” (par. 10)? Why does the Roman Catholic Church oppose capital punishment? How is it "at odds with Christian faith" (par. 10)? Read John 8:1-11 In the story usually called “The Woman Caught in Adultery,” scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus and seek his approval to execute a woman. They want Him to join them in condemning her to death. He refuses. How is His response – “Neither do I condemn you” – a rejection of the death penalty? Why would God want us to preserve the life even of criminals? What can we do to help our society respect every human life, including the lives of prisoners? How can the way we treat prisoners become a sign of hope in our society? Suggested Activity: Explore the work of Catholic Mobilizing Network , an organization that uses education, advocacy, and prayer in its efforts to end the death penalty, promote responses that provide justice and support human dignity for both those who have been harmed and those who have caused harm, and foster approaches such as restorative justice that promote healing. Closing questions: In these paragraphs, Pope Francis explores problems where we might be tempted to think, “That’s just the way the world is.” He invites us instead to envision a different world that is guided by respect for the value and dignity of every human being. What are the commonalities in these problems: war, the hesitation to have children, and the harshness of prisons? How are the similar at a root level? What are the commonalities in the alternatives: peacemaking, welcoming children, and granting freedom to prisoners? How are they similar at a root level? What are the values or mindsets we are called to have, that would help us take the approach of hope as we confront these issues? 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

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

What is God trying to do in our world today, and are we missing the signs of what is needed and what he is doing? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 16:1-12 What is God trying to do in our world today, and are we missing the signs of what is needed and what he is doing? Sculpture by Sargis Babayan. Jonah the Prophet . Armenia. CC BY-SA 3.0 , uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Sargis Babayan, 24 Jan. 2011, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jonah_the_Prophet.jpg . Tom Faletti June 15, 2025 Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees and Sadducees demand a sign Who challenges Jesus here? This is the first time the Sadducees have had anything to do with Jesus. We see them joining with the Pharisees to challenge him. This is a significant development because the Pharisees and the Sadducees were diametrically opposed on many issues: The Pharisees accepted the whole Old Testament, believed in angels and an afterlife, and followed the minutiae of ritual rules and traditions added over the centuries, while the Sadducees accepted only the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament), did not believe in angels or an afterlife, and did not follow the extra ritual rules the Pharisees cared so much about. Also, the Sadducees were the wealthy class of political collaborators, while most Pharisees avoided politics as long as they could continue their customs. But here they are united by their opposition to Jesus. What do you think the Pharisees and Sadducees are looking for when they ask for “a sign from heaven”? A sign from heaven might be a voice from the skies or some other supernatural occurrence from above. Jesus’s initial response in verses 2-3 does not appear in many of the early manuscripts, but it is considered part of the canon of inspired Scripture. It is a clever reply because they are asking him for a sign from the skies (heaven) and he says they know how to interpret the natural signs in the skies but not the signs of the times. Many people are familiar with the saying Jesus quotes in verses 2-3. We know it as an old sailors’ adage: “Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in morning, sailors take warning.” Jesus is saying they know how to interpret the appearance of the sky to judge weather conditions, but they don’t know how to interpret “the signs of the times.” What do you think he means by “the signs of the times”? The signs of the times are the things going on in the world at any particular moment in history, where God is working or where his influence is needed. The signs the Pharisees and Sadducees are missing are miracles and teachings of Jesus that are the signs that he has been sent from the Father and that the kingdom of God is at hand. During the Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the bishops urged the Church to interpret “the signs of the times” in the light of the Gospel. Pope Francis was fond of using this phrase to call attention to the issues of the 21st century where Christians need to put Gospel values into action (for more on the signs of the times that Pope Francis thought were significant, see the Faith Explored study “Where signs of hope are needed today” ). What do you think the signs of the times are today in our nation or world – the things happening in our society or world where God is working or where God’s perspective is needed? And what are the gospel values that need to be brought to bear in those areas? In verse 4, Jesus refers again to “the sign of Jonah.” He used this term in 12:39-41. What is the sign of Jonah? In the story of Jonah, Jonah was in the belly of the whale for 3 days and lived. The “sign of Jonah” may be that Jesus will be in the tomb for 3 days and then rise back to life. That will be a sign for those who doubt Jesus. But considering that Jesus has just been addressing the issue of the Gentiles, the “sign of Jonah” may also be that God cared so much about the Gentiles in Ninevites that he sent Jonah to preach to them and call them to repentance; and God cares equally about the Gentiles in Jesus’s time. The demand for a sign raises a philosophical issue. If God wants people to freely believe in him and accept his authority in their lives, would the kind of sign from heaven that the Pharisees and Sadducees want support or undermine that goal of free acceptance? More generally, why doesn’t God do dramatic things in our lives all the time, to show us that he is real? Matthew 16:5-12 Warnings about the Pharisees and Sadducees What is Jesus’s warning to the disciples in verse 6? What do the disciples think he is talking about? What is he actually talking about? What is the “leaven” or “yeast” of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Jesus is talking about the false teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees – their misunderstandings about who Jesus is and about what kind of life God is calling them to live. Jesus had used leaven as a positive analogy in Matthew 13:33 (the kingdom grows like a batch of leavened dough), but now he uses it as a negative thing. What is it the negative connotation of what leaven or yeast does that he is pointing to here? Yeast corrupts what it comes in contact with. In what ways are the disciples thinking too literally and missing the symbolism in the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000? What is the symbolism he thinks they are missing? The modern-day equivalent of the teaching of the Pharisees might be excessive legalism, while the modern day-equivalent of the teaching of the Sadducees might be materialism and the pursuit of power without regard for the spiritual. How can you distinguish good teaching from corrupting teaching today? Take a step back and consider this: Although the Pharisees and Sadducees ask for a sign and Jesus refuses to give them one when they demand it, they have already had multiple signs – including the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000. The Pharisees and Sadducees are missing what is right in front of their faces. The disciples are also missing what is right in front of them. They think Jesus is chiding them for not bringing bread with them (verse 7) even though he has just recently shown that he can provide all the bread they will ever need. They are too focused on the literal and physical, and they are missing the spiritual dimension. In what ways might we, like disciples, miss the point of what Jesus is teaching, by focusing on literal, physical interpretations when Jesus is speaking at a spiritual level? How might we be missing what God is doing or trying to do in our time because we are focused too much on our immediate physical needs and not focused enough on what God is trying to do spiritually in our world? 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

That's one of our goals. Previous Next Table of Contents To Have the Mind of Christ That's one of our goals. Tom Faletti March 6, 2024 Some people think of religion as being like the relationship between a master and a slave: God orders and I obey. This attracts some people and repels others. They are both missing something central to our faith. People from both perspectives are missing something because they think that the Christian faith asks us to turn off our minds and just “believe.” That’s not the faith of the gospel. St. Paul says, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5-11, NRSV). How can I think of my mind as something to turn off, if I am urged to have the same mind as Christ. I have to think carefully in order to think like Christ. Paul also says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, NRSV). What does God want to transform? Our minds. Why? So that we can discern well. If our minds are not valued by God, if He just wants us to turn off our minds and “have faith,” why would Paul say this? Ephesians says that we are to use our gifts to build up the body of Christ “until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13, NRSV). Our goal is to reach the full stature of Christ. Did Jesus turn off his brain? No! He used it very carefully and wisely, throughout His ministry. Jesus said to his disciples, “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father” (John 15:15, NRSV). How could we possibly make use of all the wisdom and knowledge that Jesus has received from the Father if we do not spend time thinking, but instead assume that we can “believe” and be done? So the point is that we are called to think. We are called to use these magnificent brains that we have received from God. We are called to put on the MIND – not just the heart or soul or will – of Jesus. So let’s get to work! TO BE CONTINUED Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Table of Contents Next