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Jesus’s compassion extends to all people; even foreigners. How can we be like Jesus? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 15:29-39 Jesus’s compassion extends to all people; even foreigners. How can we be like Jesus? James Tissot (1836-1902). La multiplication des pains [The Multiplication of the Loaves] . Between 1886 and 1894. Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Miracle_of_the_Loaves_and_Fishes_(La_multiplication_des_pains)_by_James_Tissot.jpg . Tom Faletti June 13, 2025 Matthew 15:29-31 Crowds come to be healed Although some Bibles have a footnote on this passage suggesting that these crowds may be Jews, there is overwhelming evidence that in this scene and the next, where Jesus feeds the 4,000, he is in Gentile territory: Jesus and the disciples were in Gentile territory in the previous passage. To get to this location, Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee and continues on. Mark 7:31 tells us that he went by the Sea of Galilee to the Decapolis, which was Gentile territory southeast of the Sea of Galilee. In the next passage – the feeding of the 4,000 (Matt. 15:32-39) – Matthew uses language that clearly signals that they are in Gentile territory. In the next chapter, he will be in the Gentile region of Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16:13), north of the Sea of Galilee. Matthew doesn’t tell us Jesus is back in Jewish territory again until Matthew 17:22-24. So it is pure supposition to put Jesus back in Jewish territory for this incident. Furthermore, this period of ministry in Gentile territory is central to the entire arc of the narrative of Matthew’s Gospel (see the study Matt. 1:1-17 ). Matthew foreshadows in the early chapters that Jesus is for all people, Jewish and the Gentile, and then shows Jesus teaching and working miracles first in Jewish territory and then in Gentile territory before he goes to Jerusalem, dies, rises back to life, and tells the disciples to take the gospel to all nations. In Matthew 5:1, Jesus went up on a mountain to teach the Jewish crowds in the “Sermon on the Mount” at the beginning of his ministry (Luke placed Jesus on a plain for this sermon). Here, Matthew tells us that Jesus went up on another mountain, this time in Gentile territory. What do you think Matthew is signaling to us by placing Jesus on mountains in these passages? What kinds of people come to Jesus on the mountain? Why do you think they are coming to him and bringing sick people to him? What does Jesus do? Considering Jewish attitudes toward non-Jews (Gentiles) at the time of Jesus, how significant is it that Jesus is healing all the Gentiles who come to him? Why were the crowds amazed, and how did they react? Notice in verse 31 that the people “glorified the God of Israel.” This is the only time Matthew uses the phrase “the God of Israel,” and Mark and John never use it at all (Luke uses it only once). It would be rather redundant to say that Jewish people “glorified the God of Israel” – you would just say they glorified God. But this is exactly what Gentiles would say. Since the God of the Jews was not their God and they did not believe in the God of Israel, if they now wanted to acknowledge that God they would call him “the God of Israel.” Why is it significant that these Gentiles are praising the God of Israel? Jesus has made a significant breakthrough: crowds of Gentiles are honoring the God of the Jews, the one true God. How do you think Jesus felt when he saw Gentiles, who did not believe in the one true God the Jews believed in, now glorifying the God of Israel because of his healings? If scholars are right that one of the reasons Jesus “withdrew” from Jewish territory was to get away from the Jewish crowds and prepare his disciples for what was to come, what lessons do you think his disciples were learning, or were supposed to be learning, from watching what he is doing? Are there times when we need to re-learn that the mercy of God is for everyone? How can we be as willing to minister to foreigners as Jesus was? How might we bring this example of caring for the foreigner into our society and help our society be more caring about foreigners? Matthew 15:32-39 The feeding of the 4,000 Jesus has been healing people, and probably teaching them too (that’s what he did when he sat down on a mountain for the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1). How do you think Jesus feels about this crowd who has bene with him for 3 days? What does Jesus do? How are the details of this story different than the details of the feeding of the 5,000 (Matt. 14:13-21)? Some scholars think the only differences between the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 are the numbers, so they suggest that these are two different tellings of the same story. They have missed key information and jumped to a false conclusion. William Barclay, who was an expert in the Greek language of the New Testament, found nuances that others missed. In this passage, he finds clear evidence that the people fed here are living in a Gentile culture, and that therefore this is a different event than the feeding of the 5,000 in Jewish territory. He writes: “When Jesus fed the five thousand (Matt. 14:15-21; Mark 6:31-44), we read that they sat down on the green grass (Matt. 14:19; Mark 6:39). It was therefore the spring time, for at no other time would the grass be green in that hot land. On this occasion when the crowd are bidden to sit down, they sit on the ground ( epi tēn gēn ) , on the earth; it was by this time high summer and the grass was scorched leaving only the bare earth…. The people and the place are different. The feeding of the four thousand in this passage took place in Decapolis; Decapolis literally means ten cities , and the Decapolis was a loose federation of ten free Greek cities. On this occasion there would be many Gentiles present, perhaps more Gentiles than Jews. It is that fact that explains the curious phrase in Matthew 15:31, ‘They glorified the God of Israel.’ To the Gentile crowds this was a demonstration of the power of the God of Israel. There is another curious little hint of difference. In the feeding of the five thousand the baskets which were used to take up the fragments are called kophinoi ; in the feeding of the four thousand they are called sphurides . The kophinos was a narrow-necked, flask-shaped basket which Jews often carried with them, for a Jew often carried his own food, lest he should be compelled to eat food which had been touched by Gentile hands and which was therefore unclean. The sphuris was much more like a hamper; it could be big enough to carry a man, and it was a kind of basket that a Gentile would use.” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2 , pp. 138-139). Matthew says they “ate and were satisfied” (Matt. 15:37, NABRE) (or “filled,” NRSV). What does that phrase say to you: they ate and were satisfied? Jesus called himself the Bread of Life (John 6:35), and at the Supper he broke bread, gave it to his disciples, and said, “This is my body.” Given the overtones of Eucharist or Holy Communion when Jesus feeds the people with bread, what are the spiritual implications of this story? Going beyond the event itself, what deeper spiritual message does it offer you? This story has a spiritual dimension, but it also has a practical, physical dimension. God does not want anyone to go hungry. God explicitly calls us to feed the hungry (Matt. 25:35; Is. 58:7; Prov. 22:9). What does the fact that in Jesus’s ministry all the people “ate and were filled” say to us about our responsibility for the hungry? Despite Jesus’s teaching and example, millions of people regularly go hungry in our nation and hundreds of millions of people go hungry around the world. As Christians and followers of Jesus, what should we do about it? Jesus had compassion for the crowd of Jews in Matthew 14:14, and he has compassion for this crowd of Gentiles (Matt. 15:32). He cares for everyone. How are we called to have God’s compassion for whoever is in need, regardless of whether they are part of “our” people? What can we do to extend God’s compassion to others? How can we find tangible ways to show care for people who are not of our own race, nationality, ethnic group, class, religion, or church? How might this set of passages about Jesus’s ministry to the Gentiles (15:21-39) be seen as a follow-on to the previous passage (15:10-20) about what is and is not unclean? And what does it say to us? Jesus showed that the Gentiles are not unclean. No one is unclean. No one is excluded from the being fed by the Lord. God is accessible to all and has compassion for everyone. How might this insight be applied to marginalized groups in our society today? What can you do to be like Jesus here? Take a step back and consider this: The feeding of the 5,000 comes near the end of Jesus’s public ministry to the Jews in chapters 5-14. The feeding of the 4,000 comes near the end of this period of time when Jesus has been ministering to the Gentiles. The Last Supper comes at the end of Jesus’s ministry in Jerusalem before his crucifixion and resurrection. How central to our faith is the image of being fed by the Lord? Why? How central to your faith is the idea of feeding at the table of the Lord? Why? 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

Allow Jesus to heal you, open your eyes, loosen your tongue. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 9:18-34 Allow Jesus to heal you, open your eyes, loosen your tongue. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti August 8, 2024 Before we read our next passage, consider this question: In the next passage, Matthew tells us about more of Jesus’s miracles. In the previous passages, we have seen a progression of miracles that show Jesus’s authority over increasingly daunting challenges that humans face: illnesses, storms, demons, and sin. What is left? I.e.: What is the greatest challenge that every human must ultimately face? What is the greatest thing that Jesus could work a miracle to overcome? Matthew 9:18-26 restoring a dead girl to life, while healing a woman with hemorrhages What two miracles take place in this pair of stories? Let’s look at the synagogue official and his daughter first (verses 18-19 and 23-26): Matthew’s telling of the story of the girl has small differences from Mark’s version of the same story: in Matthew, the girl is already dead and the synagogue official knows she is already dead when he approaches Jesus and ask him to save her. Matthew just calls him a “ruler”; Mark specifies that he is a leader or official in the synagogue (Mark 5:22). The synagogue official asks Jesus to heal his daughter after she is already dead. What does this tell you about his faith? Matthew keeps showing us people who are in positions of leadership but take the position of a faith-filled supplicant, even as other leaders are moving more and more toward opposition to Jesus. You can imagine the tense conversation that might have occurred between this synagogue official and the scribes and Pharisees we saw challenging Jesus in the previous passages. If you were the synagogue official, how would you explain your actions to the scribes and Pharisees who were challenging Jesus? They would have been people of your social class. How would you explain why you were humbling yourself to seek out this controversial man Jesus? What does this political backdrop tell you about the social context in which Jesus conducted his ministry? What does the political backdrop tell you about faith? What does it tell you about following Jesus? We are called to do the work of God regardless of whether political leaders support us. We should be welcoming to all of them, just as Jesus was. What does this healing of the girl tell us about Jesus? About God? What does this healing of the girl tell us about faith? About ourselves? Among other things, this healing shows that the faith of another person can make a difference in your life, which means that your faith can make a difference in the lives of others. Now let us focus on the story of the woman. As someone who suffers from constant bleeding (hemorrhages), which would make her be considered ritually unclean, she is probably a social outcast. The “tassel” or “fringe” was a knotted string that Jews attached to the four corners of their outer garments in obedience to the Law of Moses (Numbers 15:37–39; Deut. 22:12) to remind them to obey the commandments of the Law. Notice that Jesus wore such a garment. He would have been dressed like any Jew of his time, not in modern robes. What is the significance of the fact that the woman touched the tassel of Jesus’s cloak? In general, it would not have been socially appropriate for a woman to touch a man in that culture. But in addition to that, with an issue of blood she would have been considered unclean. When the woman touched Jesus’s garment, Jesus immediately turned and looked to see who had touched him. If we were reading the story of a Greek god or goddess, then when in verse 22 it says that Jesus turned and saw her, we might fear that the next sentence would be that he blasted her in some way. But Jesus is not that kind of god. How does he respond to her in verse 22? How does Jesus affirm her decision not to be timid in reaching out to him? How might you benefit from being less timid in your faith? To what does Jesus ascribe the woman’s healing? What is the role of faith in living out our live with Jesus? How is this woman a role model for us? How is Jesus in this entire pair of stories a role model for us? The moment the woman touched the fringe of Jesus’s outer garment, she had his total and undivided attention. As people made in the image of God and called to be like Christ to those around us, what does this tell us about how we should be aware of and respond to others? Returning to the story of the girl, what is the crowd’s reaction when Jesus says she is not dead? How are we at risk of being like that crowd? While Matthew has begun this third sets of miracles with a climactic demonstration of Jesus’s power over even death, he is also making another point by telling us when a miracle occurred in response to a person’s faith – here, the synagogue official and the woman with the hemorrhages. The next miracle also emphasizes the faith of the recipient. Matthew 9:27-31 the healing of two blind men What do the two blind men ask for? What does Jesus ask them in response? Why do you suppose Jesus asked this question rather than just granting their request? Does God ask us the same question (“Do you believe that I am able to do this”)? In what way does he pose this question to us? To what does Jesus ascribe their healing? Do you believe that Jesus will help you when you ask him? Jesus’s healing of blind people is metaphorical as well as physical. What is the metaphorical or spiritual point for us? In verse 30, why do you think Jesus told the formerly blind men not to tell anyone what Jesus had done? What did the formerly blind men do? Was Jesus’s request a realistic request? After all, they were previously blind and now they were not blind. What do you think he expected to happen? Matthew 9:31-34 the healing of a person who is mute In this healing, we are told that “the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed” (Matthew 9:33, NRSV). How does the fact that the man spoke relate to the statement about the crowd’s reaction? Just as we might think about the healing of the blind men metaphorically, we might also think about how sometimes our voices are silent, metaphorically, and Jesus heals that. How might it be said of you – at some time in your past, present, or future – that “the one who had been silent spoke”? How do the Pharisees who lack faith react to this healing of a person who was thought to be possessed by a demon? What do they accuse Jesus of? How does the level of faith of the blind men versus the Pharisees illustrate the timeless choice about how to respond to Jesus? What does this set of stories about people’s reactions to Jesus’s miracle-working power say to you about your life? In this chapter 9, Matthew has presented some of the key criticisms of Jesus that will lead to his execution. What things has Jesus been attacked or challenged for? Blasphemy (Matt. 9:3), for claiming to be able to forgive sins. Association with immoral people (Matt. 9:11), for eating with sinners. Inadequate attention to the rituals of the faith (Matt. 9:14), for not having his disciples fast. Being a tool of the devil (Matt. 9:34), an illogical conclusion that did acknowledge the fact that he could drive out demons. Jesus is not someone to be neutral about. As C. S. Lewis said, “You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call him Lord and God” ( Mere Christianity , p. 56). People are beginning to take sides. If you were watching all of this happen, how would you have responded to the Pharisees? Take a step back and consider this: These stories of the woman with the hemorrhage, the synagogue official, the blind men, and the man who could not speak call us to have faith in Jesus. They show us that Jesus does not want us to be timid, blind, or silent. Matthew is telling us: Don’t be afraid to approach Jesus even if the world thinks you are not worthy to do so. Don’t be afraid to approach Jesus even if it goes against what other people of your social class are saying. Don’t be afraid to admit that there are things you just can’t see on your own, but that in Jesus you can see with new eyes. Don’t be afraid to let Jesus loosen your tongue so that you are silent no longer and can speak about what matters in your life. Are there ways you feel unworthy to approach Jesus about your needs? Are there ways you feel pressured to keep your faith private? Are there ways you think maybe you are missing something and need Jesus to open your eyes in a new way? Are there ways you feel like you need Jesus to loosen your tongue so that you can speak edifying words that would benefit others? What would Jesus say to you if you were in front of him right now? How can you reach out in faith and touch the tassel of Jesus’s cloak, and allow him to do a new work in your life? 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 cursing of the fig tree was a prophetic action, where Jesus stands against those who are "all leaf and no fruit." Is our metaphorical fig tree producing fruit or withering? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 21:18-22 The cursing of the fig tree was a prophetic action, where Jesus stands against those who are "all leaf and no fruit." Is our metaphorical fig tree producing fruit or withering? Image by Wyxina Tresse, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti August 5, 2025 Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus curses a fig tree What do you think is going on in this incident? On his first day in Jerusalem, Jesus uses tactics we have seldom seen him use in the past. He is no longer concerned about attracting attention. He has made a dramatic entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, driven money changers and sellers out of the Temple, healed people in the Temple under the indignant noses of the chief priests, and now cursed a fig tree. What is going on? One way to interpret this is that Jesus is doing what many Old Testament prophets did: he is using dramatic public actions to illustrate symbolically what the leaders have ignored when he has merely spoken. These kinds of actions might be thought of as acted-out parables . (Protest movements would call it “street theater.”) Here are some of the things Old Testament prophets did that seem to be similar to Jesus’s actions in these acted-out parables: At the Lord’s direction, Jeremiah called the elders and senior priests together and destroyed a clay jug in their presence, telling them that this is what God would do to their houses and the house of the king if they did not repent (Jer. 19:1-13). Ahijah bought a new garment and tore it into 12 pieces to dramatize the breakup of David’s kingdom (1 Kings 11:29-31). Ezekiel baked bread on dung in the sight of the people and ate it for a year (Ezek. 4:9-17). When the people did not wake up to the calamity they faced, Ezekiel cut off his hair, divided it into three pieces, and then burned one-third, went around the city striking one-third with a sword, and scattered the last third to the wind, symbolizing what would happen to the nation (Ezek. 5:1-12). Isaiah took off his clothes and went naked and barefoot for 3 years to symbolize the coming defeat that would result in the people being led away naked and barefoot into captivity and exile (Is. 20:1-6). Jesus is using prophetic actions , direct actions similar to these, to try to wake up the religious leaders. American Catholic novelist Flannery O’Connor wrote stories that were often considered violent, disturbing, and even grotesque. He explained why: “When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock – to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” (qtd. in Austin Dominic Litke, O.P. “ Reading Flannery O’Connor in our times .”) Many people are bothered by the idea that Jesus might have cursed a poor tree, and they are even more troubled when they see that Mark says it was not the time for figs (Mark 11:13). Scholars have a variety of sometimes contradictory explanations: Some say that in fact figs do grow on fig trees in Israel at the time of year when the Passover occurs, and this tree was deficient. Others say that leaves don’t grow on fig trees until later in the Spring, so this tree had leaves when it should not have had leaves, a sign that it was not flourishing properly and would not produce fruit at the proper time. Others say that fig trees start with a knob that is not a delicious fig but can be eaten, and the tree should have had these knobs by this time of the year. A tree with no “fruit” (i.e., no knobs) at this point in the growing cycle would not produce fruit later in the year. Others point to the fact that the word Mark uses when he says that it was not the “time” for figs is the Greek word kairos , which is usually used in the New Testament to speak of a special kind of time: God’s time, the appointed time. So the tree should have had fruit because it was God’s time for that tree to have fruit for Jesus, but it was not responding to God’s time, just as the Jewish leaders were not responding to the unique moment or “time” they were in, a time when they should have been welcoming Jesus as the Messiah. Since this action of Jesus seems to be a prophetic action or acted-out parable – an action taken to make a broader point – let’s focus on the metaphor and the broader point Jesus is making, not the tree. If Jesus’s action is a metaphor, what do you think the fig tree and its lack of fruit stand for? The fig tree was sometimes used in the Old Testament as a reference to Israel – for example, in Jeremiah 8:12-13 and Hosea 9:10. Israel, as represented by their leaders, is not producing the fruit God expects to find. Mark tells the story of the fig tree in two parts, happening on successive days, with the cleansing of the Temple happening in-between. Since his Gospel was written first, it is possible that his sequencing of the story is closer to the actual timeline of what happened. His narrative establishes a clear connection between the cleansing of the Temple and the cursing of the fig tree. Matthew condenses the fig tree story but still keeps it adjacent to the cleansing of the Temple. When we see the connection, we realize that Jesus’s action is not about this tree’s fruit. The tree sacrificed its life so that the Lord of the Universe could perform a dramatic prophetic action to try to wake up the Jewish leaders. If the fig tree stands for Israel, i.e., the Jewish people, what is Jesus trying to tell the Jewish leaders? The Jewish leaders might be described as all leaf and no fruit. What kind of fruit should the leaders have been showing? How can we avoid being all leaf and no fruit? What should our “fruit” look like? Perhaps the most surprising thing about this passage is that Jesus does not explain his action. He does not talk about the tree or the fruit. He does not talk about the leaders. When he is questioned by the disciples, he makes a separate point that has nothing to do with the leaders, the fruit, or the leaves. Perhaps he concluded that the acted-out parable did not have the desired effect so he decided not to belabor the point, or the disciples didn’t remember his point, or the Gospel writers didn’t think there was value in explaining the point or thought we would grasp the point without it being said. He will make the point again in some of the parables he will tell in the next few days, as he returns to prophetic teaching rather than prophetic acting: Our actions need to conform to what we profess or claim about ourselves. We need fruit, not just leaves. How is the metaphorical fig tree of the Church (God’s people) doing these days? In what ways is it producing fruit or withering? How is your metaphorical fig tree doing? In what ways are you producing fruit or withering? How does Jesus respond in verse 21, when the disciples ask how the tree withered so fast? Rather than warning people that they might be at risk of suffering what the tree suffered, Jesus unexpectedly suggests that the disciples might be able to do the same thing he did if they have faith. In verse 21 and at the end of verse 22, what does he ask his followers to exhibit? What does this passage say to you about your own faith life and prayer life? Do you think Jesus is talking literally about trees and mountains (that if I have enough faith, I could cause a tree to wither or a mountain to move?), or is he speaking metaphorically? What are the “trees” and “mountains” that we might need to talk to God about with undoubting faith? Christians tend to like the mountain metaphor: we see obstacles, call them mountains, and pray that they will be removed. Can the fig tree be a useful metaphor for us as well? What might be some things we could approach God about in prayer, that we would like to see wither away so that God’s will would be done in our lives? How can we build the kind of faith that is not about getting God to do what we want, but rather about living in such union with God that we can ask for the right things and trust him completely that he will work in and through us? Take a step back and consider this: The clearing of the Temple and the cursing of the fig tree can raise many questions in our minds. Let’s not lose sight of the big picture. Jesus is calling us to live lives totally devoted to God, and this dedication should be manifest in our public lives: in the “Temple,” in marketplace, in our workplaces, in our families, everywhere. If the chief priests and scribes had believed in Jesus, he would never have felt the need to cause a fig tree to wither as a metaphor for their lack of faith. But the point was never about the fig tree; the point was that the nation was withering because of the lack of faith of the chief priests and scribes. Perhaps our lack of faith also causes things to “wither” that would flourish if we had faith. When we fail to trust that God has our back, we may be tempted to do inappropriate things that wither our spiritual life rather than giving life. When we fail to believe in and support the people around us, our actions or inaction may wither the life in them and us. When we do the easy thing instead of the right thing, and do it again and again, our connection to God will gradually wither. Every day, we face choices that lead us to cry hosanna to the Son of David or to take actions that contribute to the withering of our life with Christ. How can you recognize and consciously reject actions that cause faith to wither? How can you help your own faith and the faith of the people around you to produce fruit? 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

Faith, charity, and hope; life everlasting; death; happiness. (Paragraphs 18-21 of Spes Non Confundit) Previous Next Jubilee Year 2025: Embrace God’s Hope and Extend It to All Session 6: A life anchored in hope, part 1 Faith, charity, and hope; life everlasting; death; happiness. (Read paragraphs 18-21) Link to S pes Non Confundit Photo by Tom Faletti, Washington, DC, July 26, 2020. Tom Faletti November 13, 2024 When you complete this study, please give us feedback using this feedback form . Hope extends beyond the grave! It walks with us through even sin, death, and final judgment, as it accompanies us to our ultimate destination of everlasting life with God. That is the message of Pope Francis’s final section of Spes Non Confundit , which we begin to explore in this session. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we can remain anchored in hope and have confidence in our future. Our study guide questions will help us explore simple ways we can demonstrate our hope as we go through our everyday lives. We will also explore what eternal life is like, the reasons we can have hope of eternal life, and how life is a pilgrimage toward eternal life where death is not the final destination. Read paragraphs 18-21 in preparation for this session. (Section 5) Anchored in hope In this section, Pope Francis explores reasons why we can live a life anchored in hope. Paragraph 18 (hope gives direction and purpose to life) 🔗 Read Romans 15:13 In Romans 15:13, Paul describes God as a “God of hope.” In what ways is God a God of hope? According to Paul, what does God fill us with, that enables us to abound in hope? How does the Holy Spirit play a role in our ability to abound in hope? In paragraph 18 of Spes Non Confundit , Pope Francis says that when we abound in hope, “we may bear credible and attractive witness to the faith and love that dwell in our hearts.” What does this mean? Pope Francis shows a keen awareness that we can serve God in the most mundane parts of our everyday lives. God is present in the so-called “secular” spaces of our lives as well as the “sacred” spaces. What are some specific examples Pope Francis suggests for how we can demonstrate our hope in our ordinary, everyday interactions with others? Pope Francis’s examples show how simple actions can bear witness to our faith and the love of God. What are some simple actions you could adopt or make more habitual that would bear witness to the love of God even if you did not have an opportunity to say a word? Read 1 Peter 3:15 How can the little ways that we live our lives open up opportunities for us to share the reasons why we have hope? How can you let your hope show more clearly to the people around you? Suggested Activities: Pay attention to the little things that some people do that bring life, joy, and hope into their interactions with other people. Then considers ways that you can be a similar vehicle of God’s hope and joy. Make a point of looking up at and smiling at your children and loved ones when they come in the door of your house. Make eye contact and smile when people walk by you at work. Look for the little things you can do that might make other people’s loads a little lighter, and do those things without calling attention to yourself. Start each conversation with something positive rather than something negative. Make saying “thank you” a habit. Paragraph 19 (life everlasting) 🔗 Read John 11:21-27 What does Jesus mean when he says that believers who die will live? What does this teaching mean to you? How does it give you hope or comfort? Pope Francis says that we can have hope because we know that in the end we will encounter the Lord of glory. How does knowing that in the end you will see and be with Jesus affect how you live your life? Suggested Activity: Spend some time by yourself, contemplating what it will be like when you have left this world and are present with Jesus. Open your heart to His presence now. See the love in His welcoming face and soak up His love. Talk to Him. Listen to what He says to you. Then carry that awareness of the presence of Jesus back into your everyday life. Paragraph 20 (death, and Jesus’s resurrection) 🔗 Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 In paragraph 20, Pope Francis confronts the fact that, although we have hope of eternal life, we still have to deal with the reality of death. He quotes 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. What does Paul say in that passage? Pope Francis calls attention to four verbs that apply to Jesus: He died , was buried , was raised , and appeared . Why are these verbs so important? In paragraph 20, Pope Francis quotes from one of the prefaces that can be prayed in the Mass of the dead used for funeral Masses, which states that when a person dies, “life is changed, not ended.” What does this mean and how does it offer hope? In the second part of paragraph 20, Pope Francis says that we have “a life capable of transfiguring death’s drama.” What does that mean? How does the life we have in God take some of the drama out of death? If life is a pilgrimage toward life everlasting, as Pope Francis says at the end of the second part of paragraph 20, then what role does death play in what is to come? How do you want to live your life now, knowing that in the end you will be with your loving Father and His Son Jesus? The third and fourth parts of paragraph 20 focus on the example of the martyrs. How do they provide insight into the image of life as a pilgrimage? How do they provide support for the hope we have that transcends death? Suggested Activity: Pick a martyr whose story speaks to your heart and learn more about them. Go beyond the obituary facts. Learn about their thinking, their spiritual life, how they related to God during their life, how they communicated the love of God to others as they lived. Try to emulate something you find attractive in the way they lived. Paragraph 21 (happiness) 🔗 In paragraph 21, Pope Francis discusses what life after death is like. Our human understanding of heaven is limited, but God has revealed some things about what heaven will be like. What are some of the things we will experience in eternal life? “Happiness” is a term often used to describe what life is like for those who live in full communion with God in heaven. The second part of paragraph 21 tries to describe that happiness. What will the happiness of heaven include? Read Romans 8:38-39 Pope Francis quotes from the apostle Paul as he discusses the love of God that we will ultimately experience. What does Romans 8:38-39 tell us about the love of God? If none of the things that Paul mentions in Romans 8:38-39 can keep us from God’s love, what does that tell us about God? How does this understanding of eternal life give you hope? How does knowing that we can live forever in full communion with God free us to do more, rather than less, to extend the love of God to the least among us who struggle so much in our present world? Suggested Activity: Think about people who are facing grave trials in our world today (Romans 8:35 provides examples such as war, persecution, and famine). Place yourself in their shoes and feel their agony. See them as God, who loves them dearly, sees them. Pray for them. Pray that they will experience the love of God in the midst of their trials. Pray that God’s people will work to ease their suffering. Closing question: Look over the questions we have considered in this session. What especially gives you hope or stands out as especially important from this week's material, and why? When you complete this study, please give us feedback using this feedback form . You can also share your thoughts using the Contact Form at the bottom of this page. 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

Paul takes the long view, seeing present events in light of eternity, and provides early evidence of the doctrine of the Trinity. [1 Thessalonians 2:17-20; 3:1-8; 3:9-13] Previous 1 Thess. List Next 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13 Paul takes the long view, seeing present events in light of eternity, and provides early evidence of the doctrine of the Trinity. Image by Chuttersnap via Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/white-and-blue-cloudy-sky-TSgwbumanuE . Tom Faletti January 26, 2025 1 Thess. 2:17-20 Paul longs to visit the Thessalonians In this section of the letter, Paul describes what has been happening since he left the Thessalonians and how much he longs to see them again. When have you been separated – as Paul put it, “in person, not in heart” (2:17) – from someone you cared greatly about? How did you feel at the time and how did you feel when you received news about them or were reunited with them? How do you feel when you see signs of progress in the faith of someone whose spiritual welfare you have been concerned about? In verse 18, Paul says that Satan “thwarted” him (NABRE) or “blocked” him (NRSV) when he desired to return to Thessalonica. He does not specifically describe the obstacle. When the things you want to do are blocked, do you tend to interpret it as Satan thwarting you or as other people making choices that get in the way, or both? Explain. In verse 19, Paul describes the Thessalonians as his crown and joy. The word he uses for “crown” is not the word for the crown of royalty but rather for what an athlete receives after having won a race or other competition – for example, a laurel wreath. He uses similar language years later to describe the Philippians (Phil. 4:1). He is not saying he will get a crown for something he did. He is saying that they are the affirmation that his life was not lived in vain. In verse 20, Paul says the Thessalonians are his glory and joy. In verse 19, he says that their faith is an affirmation that his efforts were worthwhile. When your life is over and you come before God, what aspects of your life will you be joyful about or see as an affirmation of how you lived your life? How does thinking about what might matter to you when you come into the presence of the Lord affect how you want to live your life now? Notice how Paul frequently sees a bigger picture. Nothing ever matters to him only for the moment or only for itself. He is always evaluating everything in the light of what it will look like when we are fully in the presence of God. 1 Thess. 3:1-8 Paul sends Timothy, who brings back good news about the Thessalonians In verse 2, the phrase Paul literally says Timothy is a “co-worker of God.” Many translations soften this to co-worker for God, but scholars suggest the best translation may be “God’s co-worker” (see Collins, “1 Thessalonians,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary , par. 26, p. 776, and Cousins, “1 Thessalonians.” The International Bible Commentary , p. 1463). In what ways are you God’s co-worker, working with God to help bring about God’s purposes in your sphere of influence? Paul says that Christians should expect persecution (3:3). Do we live our lives with that expectation? Why or why not? What is Paul’s worst fear regarding the Thessalonians, the thing he most fears might happen as they are persecuted (3:5)? In 2:18, Paul referred to the devil as “Satan,” a word that comes from the Hebrew word for “adversary.” Satan is God’s chief adversary in the spiritual world. In 3:5, Paul uses the word “tempter” – another reference to the devil. In what ways is the devil a “tempter”? How does temptation work in our lives today? What can we do so that our initial openness to the gospel is not in vain? In verses 6-8, what good news does Timothy bring back from his visit to the Thessalonians? Specifically: How do the Thessalonians feel about Paul? How are they handling the persecution? In verse 8, Paul says that “we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord” (1 Thess. 3:8, NRSV). What does he mean? What do you need to do to keep standing firm in the Lord? 1 Thess. 3:9-13 Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonians and prays that he may see them again Why is Paul so full of joy? In verse 10, what is the additional reason he now wants to visit the Thessalonians? Paul says that he would like to “restore whatever is lacking” (1 Thess. 3:10, NRSV) or “remedy the deficiencies” (1 Thess. 3:10, NABRE) in their faith. Many scholars think the meaning is probably that he wants to give them further instruction in the faith, since he may have spent less than a month with them. He might want to address individual gaps in understanding that individual members have, but he is probably thinking about what the community still needs to be taught collectively, as a community. In what areas might you need additional understanding, to be stronger in your faith? What things might be lacking in your local church, and how could you help fill the gaps? Parts of the doctrine of the Trinity are embedded in Paul’s letter In verse 11, Paul prays that he may be able to return to the Thessalonians. There is a significant theological point buried in that prayer. When Paul refers to God the Father and the Lord Jesus, the verb he uses (the word “direct”) is in the third person singular. In English, we sometimes can’t tell the different between the third person singular and the third person plural (“he will direct,” “they will direct”), but the Greek language does a better job of making that distinction. The difference matters here. It’s the difference between saying of two directors of a play, “Sue and Bob direct it” (third person plural) or “Sue and Bob directs it” (third person singular). You would only use the singular if Sue and Bob were in such total union with each other that they always act as one. Otherwise, you would use the plural “are.” Paul uses the third person singular verb . He chooses the verb form that treats God the Father and the Lord Jesus as a unity that acts as one. This was written a mere 20 years after Jesus rose from the dead. We find that Paul already had in his head two key parts of what was eventually worked out fully in our doctrine of the Trinity: the divinity of Jesus (that he was God) and the oneness of the Father and the Son (that the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father were one God, not two gods). In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30), but that was not written down until perhaps 40 or 50 years after Paul wrote this letter. Paul’s language suggests that, from the early days of Christianity, Christians accepted that the Father and the Son were one God. The idea was not the creation of the Council at Nicaea in 325, although that is where some key language explaining it was nailed down. In verse 12, we see another theological development. Paul prays that the Lord Jesus will help the Thessalonians abound in love. That is not a request one would make of a mere human. God is the one who can answer prayer. This indicates that, 20 years after the Resurrection, Paul sees Jesus was as having the power of God. So, to sum up, Paul is implicitly showing that Christians, very early on, believed that Jesus was one with God and was God. See my article When Did Christians First Recognize the Divinity of Jesus? for a more complete exposition of the early Church’s belief in the divinity of Jesus. Some skeptics like to suggest that the doctrine of the Trinity did not take shape until the Council of Nicaea. That is not true. Paul was not concerned with writing formal doctrine, and it took time to work out the language, but the basic idea was there from the beginning: that Jesus was God – not merely a human – and that Jesus was one with the Father. How is the doctrine of the Trinity important to your understanding of the faith? In verses 12-13 what does Paul pray for the Thessalonians? He prays (1) that the Lord may make them abound in love for each other and for all people; and (2) that the Lord may strengthen their hearts so that they will be blameless and holy before God when the Lord returns. In his prayer for the Thessalonians in verse 12, Paul asks that they may abound in love not just for one another but for all. How is your Christian community doing in abounding in love not just for each other but for all people? What could your church do better in order to abound in love for all? What could you do? What does blamelessness look like? What does holiness look like? Why is it important to have our hearts be strengthened in order to be blameless and holy? To what extend are the two parts of this prayer related? Can you actually be blameless and holy if you are not abounding in love for all people? Explain. Compare Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians with your own prayers for those you care about. When you pray for those you love, do you pray that they may abound in love for each other and for all people, and that they may be strengthened in order to be blameless and holy? (Or do you confine your prayers to more mundane concerns?) How might Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians guide your own prayers for those you care about? Take a step back and consider this: We see in this letter that Paul is constantly looking at everything that happens around him from the perspective of what it looks like in the presence of God. The things he hopes will happen now are the things that he believes will have value when we are with God forever. In that sense, Paul is always playing the long game – considering the present in the light of eternity. How might you focus a little less on how things look from your own perspective now, and a little more on how things look from God’s perspective? How would routinely seeing our time in the light of eternity affect how you think and act in everyday life now? 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

What kind of soil can I be, to allow the seed of God’s word to take root and be fruitful in my life? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 13:1-23 What kind of soil can I be, to allow the seed of God’s word to take root and be fruitful in my life? Jean-François Millet (1814-1875). The Sower . ca. 1865. Cropped. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD, https://art.thewalters.org/object/37.905/ . Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal. Tom Faletti June 3, 2025 Preview: In chapter 13, Matthew gathers together some of Jesus’s teachings that are in the form of parables. In chapter 14, Matthew gathers together some of Jesus’s actions that might be thought of as living parables – stories that reveal something bigger than just what happens in the story. Read Matt. 13:1-23 The sower and the seed, and why Jesus speaks in parables Although it is helpful to read the whole passage at once, we will discuss the sower and seed parable first, before discussing verses 10-17 about Jesus’s use of parables more generally. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 The sower, the seed, and the soils Parables are stories in the form of metaphors or similes that use ordinary human experiences to communicate deeper truths about spiritual matters. In v. 19, Jesus says that the parable of the sower and the seed is about the kingdom of heaven, which is everywhere that people follow God’s Word and acknowledge his lordship. In this parable, what is the seed a metaphor for? The seed is “the word of the kingdom” (13:18); so represents the Word of God, the message of good news that Jesus is preaching about the kingdom of God. What are the different soils a metaphor for ? The soils are different types of people with their different responses to the message of Jesus. Or, to personalize it, the soil is the state of your heart as you hear the word of God. Who are the people in whom the seed takes root and produces fruit? Who are the people in whom the seed doesn’t take permanent root? Now let’s look at each type of soil more closely. There are 3 types of soil where the seed does not take lasting root: the path, the rocky ground, and the ground where there are thorns. In each of those cases, what is the reaction of the person who hears the word in that kind of soil? What goes wrong that prevents the word from taking permanent root? The path: They don’t understand the word, so it does not take root in their heart and the evil one snatches it away. The rocky ground: They receive it with joy for a while, but it does not last. Trouble or persecution arises, and they fall away. The thorns: They hear the word, but anxiety about worldly concerns and the desire for wealth choke it off; so the word does not produce fruit. Consider the seed on the path. Verse 19 says the evil one snatches the word from them because they do not understand it. How can the seed be sowed but not understood? How are people in our day vulnerable to hearing the word but not really understanding it, so that it gets snatched away before it can take root and turn into a solid faith? Consider the seed on rocky ground. In verse 20, how do people respond at first? In verse 21, Jesus says that when they encounter troubles or persecution because of the word , they fall away. In the Western world today, Christians may not encounter a lot of direct persecution, but what are some ways that living the faith can cause trouble or become difficult for a person who starts out believing? What does it look like when a person’s faith “withers” (verse 6) because it has no roots. How might we be vulnerable to having our faith wither when living the faith becomes more difficult? How can we build stronger roots for our faith? Consider the seed among thorns. How are people in our day vulnerable to having their faith choked off by worldly concerns and the desire for money? Consider these three risks: that the word of God might be snatched away because we don’t understand it, that it might wither in the face of difficulties, and that it might be choked off by the cares of the world. How are you vulnerable to these risks? Which risk is the greatest danger for you? [If you are studying this passage with a group, break into smaller groups of two or three people and share together.] Now consider the good soil. How does the person in good soil respond to the seed/word? For the people in good soil, what is the result? In our time, what does a person in good soil look like? What can we do to be good soil for God’s Word to take root? Jesus says that the fruitful people produce thirty-, sixty-, even a hundredfold. This means that, even among the people who let the Word of God take root in them, we are not all alike in our output. What do you think affects the fruit produced? Can you produce a lot of “fruit” for God even if your life is difficult and you encounter a lot of troubles? Explain. If the soil is the heart or receptivity of the person, it is not something that is external and just “happens” to us; we have some control over what kind of soil we are. What do we need to do to be the kind of good soil that allows God’s word to take deep and fruitful root in our lives? Matthew 13:10-17 Why Jesus speaks in parables Jesus is asked why he speaks in parables. He describes in vv. 16-17 how his disciples are different than other people. How are they different? What does it mean when Jesus says that the disciples see and hear while others do not? What do they see and hear that others do not? When Jesus says in verse 11 that the disciples have been allowed to know the “mysteries” or “secrets” of the kingdom, he is using a technical term that does not mean something that can never be understood by anyone; rather, it is something that can be understood only by those to whom God has revealed it. God has revealed his divine plan to the disciples through Jesus. For those who do not understand God’s divine plan, it does not make sense. In what ways is Christianity a mystery to those who have not embraced it, even though those who have become part of God’s people understood God’s plans? In what ways is it true that, as Jesus says in verse 12, to those who have some knowledge of God, more will be given? In verse 13, Jesus explains why he speaks in parables. In the typical Jewish thinking of Jesus’s time and in the Old Testament, everything was caused by God – even when people turned away from God and were held responsible for their actions. Following that line of thinking, in Mark 4:11 Jesus says that he speaks in parables “so that” they will not understand – which implies that Jesus’s use of parables is the reason they don’t understand. Matthew says it differently, in a way that make the human responsibility clearer: Jesus speaks in parables because” they hear but do not listen or understand. In verse 13, Jesus says that people hear but do not listen. What is going on when a person hears but doesn’t listen? Whose fault is it that they don’t understand? Does it suggest that they aren’t trying very hard to understand? Matthew then quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10, which can be interpreted either to say that God has prevented the people from understanding or that the people themselves bear some responsibility for not understanding and turning to God. (Matthew quotes the Greek Septuagint translation, which preserves the element of human responsibility more clearly.) What do you see in verse 15 that indicates that the people’s lack of understanding is because of choices on their part? Their hearts are insensitive, they are barely hearing, and they have closed their eyes. What challenge does this present to us? Are there times when we might be at risk of not hearing God because of our own apathetic or halfhearted approach to the Gospel? What do we need to do in order to understand Jesus’s teachings and allow his seeds to bear fruit in our lives? Why might Jesus choose to shift to parables if people aren’t trying very hard to understand him? Perhaps it helps separate out those who want to learn from those who don’t really want to put any effort into his new way of following God. What are some advantages of teaching in parables? Stories are powerful. They capture our imagination. They engage us an motivate us. Illustrations are concrete rather than abstract. They use familiar circumstances to open the door to more abstract points. In Matthew 13:3, Jesus begins the parable by saying, “Behold the sower went out to sow” – not “ a sower went out to sow” (64). He might have been pointing at a specific sower who was at that very moment sowing seed. Parables use familiar, concrete situations from everyday life. Parables make people think. They force listeners to discover truth for themselves. We have to do some work if we want to gain any benefit. Is there a value in that? Parables remain opaque for people who are not willing to be open to the message. William Barclay makes one other point. Parables are especially useful as a speaking technique: “A parable is not an allegory; an allegory is a story in which every possible detail has an inner meaning; but an allegory has to be read and studied : a parable is heard . We must be very careful not to make allegories of the parables, but to remember that they were designed to make one stabbing truth flash out at a man the moment he heard it” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2 , p. 63). We have looked at what this parable means for us from the perspective of our being the one who hears the word. But it can also be looked at from the perspective of the sower, the one who preaches or shares God’s word with others. What lessons are there in this parable for us as we try to share God’s word with others? There are many good answers to this question. One answer is: Don’t be surprised that you will get varying responses when you share the word of God with others. Take courage and don’t be discouraged. Some people will hear and receive the message and produce fruit. You may not know how big the harvest will be – that’s God’s business; but there will be a harvest. Take a step back and consider this: One interpretation of this parable focuses on the fact that only a small proportion of the people who receive the word are actually transformed by it. Just as there are times in the Old Testament where only a remnant survive, Jesus is being very realistic that the Word of God will not be embraced by all. In many areas of our lives, we want to find the pleasant middle ground where we don’t have to work too hard: The house may not be perfectly clean, but it’s clean enough. I didn’t write an A paper, but it was pretty good. I put as much into that event as everyone else did. But does that work with our spiritual life? Is there a middle-ground level of faith, or does trying to settle for a middle ground lead us to situations where the seed withers or is choked off? How can I be part of the remnant or smaller group that gives itself fully to the divine plan for us to be fruitful in this 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

Prayer in difficult times: Can you learn from Jesus’s example and keep in mind the bigger picture of your life? [Matthew 26:36-46; 26:47-56] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 26:36-56 Prayer in difficult times: Can you learn from Jesus’s example and keep in mind the bigger picture of your life? Unidentified artist (Flemish, 17th century). The Taking of Christ . Circa 1620. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Public domain, https://collections.mfa.org/download/34311 . Tom Faletti September 17, 2025 Matthew 26:36-46 The agony in the garden of Gethsemane They left the city after singing a hymn (v. 30). In the seder, Psalms 115-118 were sung after the meal. They walked out, across the Kidron Valley, to the Mount of Olives. There, they go to a garden known as the garden of Gethsemane. “Gethsemane” means “oil press,” so perhaps there was an oil press there for gathering oil from the olive trees that grew on the Mount of Olives. Jesus decides to go away from the big group to pray by himself. Who does he ask to come with him? How does Jesus feel? What is Jesus’s first prayer (v. 39)? What is Jesus’s second prayer (v. 42)? How is the second prayer different from the first? The first prayer is more focused on the possibility that “this” might be avoided; the second prayer is more focused on how to deal with it. The first prayer suggests the possibility that Jesus’s desire might conflict with the Father’s will; the second prayer is focused entirely on doing the Father’s will. How can Jesus’s prayer be a model for us when we are facing difficult circumstances? Jesus knows (vv. 45-46) that his betrayal is about to be put into action. How would you describe his state of mind? How do you think God feels about the difficulties you encounter? What is his state of mind as you face difficult circumstances? What does this time in the garden of Gethsemane tell you about your relationship with God? What is Jesus inviting you to do? Matthew 26:47-56 Jesus is arrested, the disciples resist and then desert him Judas’s act of betrayal involved telling the chief priests where they could find Jesus away from the crowds, in order to arrest him without enraging a crowd. How does Judas greet Jesus? How does Jesus greet Judas? What does it tell you about Jesus, that even in the act of being betrayed, he calls Judas “Friend”? In verse 51, how does one of Jesus’s disciples respond? John 18:10 tells us that this disciple was Peter. Considering that Judas came with a crowd armed with swords and clubs, what does this tell you about Peter? How does Jesus respond in verse 52? What does “those who take up the sword die by the sword” mean to you? How might that statement guide you in your life? What does Jesus say about angels in verse 53? In verse 54, Jesus says that the Scriptures say it must happen this way. What does that mean to you? In verse 55, Jesus gets a bit testy with the crowd regarding their method of arresting him. What is he implying about their motives? In verse 56, Jesus repeats that all that is happening is fulfilling the Scriptures. How does it affect your faith, knowing that parts of the Old Testament gave witness to what would happen to Jesus even though the Old Testament authors did not comprehend the fullness of what they were writing? Jesus sees these specific events in his life as part of a bigger picture, the bigger story arc of his life. What can you do to keep in mind the bigger picture of your life when you are facing difficult circumstances? Matthew ends this section by noting that at this point the disciples fled. Jesus has just made it clear that he is not going to resist what is coming. Can you stick with Jesus in your life even in times where God is not going to protect you from suffering or illness or rejection or death? What will you need to do in order to be ready to stick with him, and not run away, when the difficult times come? Take a step back and consider this: It is amazing to think that God guided a variety of prophets over a period of centuries to write down things that had meanings they could not have fully comprehend. Often, they wrote things about their own times that could be seen later as also applying to Jesus. Other times, they wrote things that were directly prophetic in nature, but they had no idea when, how, or through whom those things would come to pass. Yet God honored their unique voices and free will in those books. He did not just turn off their brains, put them in a trance, and dictate words to them. We hear the voices of the authors in the Word of God, even while we hear the Author behind them. God also allows us to make free decisions about what we say and do, and yet when we allow ourselves to be guided by him, he does things that may have implications and impacts we never dreamed of. Where have you seen the hand of God in your own life, guiding you in your present to bring you to your future without dictating your decisions for you? Does this make it easier for you to trust God about your future? Explain. 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

Why does Jesus tell us to love our enemies? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 5:43-48 Why does Jesus tell us to love our enemies? Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti May 8, 2024 Matthew 5:43-48 Love your enemies This is the last of the 6 antitheses, where Jesus reinterprets and transforms the Jewish teachings in the Law. What does Jesus suggest that his Jewish audience has been taught? They have been taught: love your neighbor and hate your enemy. The Hebrew Bible does not teach that you should hate your enemy. You could imagine his audience nodding along as he says it, because that is what they have been raised to think. But it’s not there in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19:18 says, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (NRSV). Leviticus 19:17 says you shall not hate your kin. That might have been interpreted by some as allowing you to hate your enemy, even if you are not directed to do so. But the Old Testament does not say it; and Jesus not only rejects it, he goes further. What does Jesus teach here? The word for love here is agape , which is the kind of love that goes beyond even one’s love for one’s family and taps into the love that comes from God. This love does what is best for the other person even at cost to oneself. This does not necessarily mean letting others do whatever they want against us. Sometimes, restraining or refusing another person is the best thing for them. But this kind of love is the love that is done solely for the other person’s benefit, not to meet our own desires. What does this kind of love look like in action? According to Jesus in verse 45, who will we be if we do this? What does it mean to be “children of God”? The literal phrase here is “sons of God.” In the Hebrew language, there were relatively few adjectives, and “son of . . .” was often a way to convey an adjective – for example, the Jews might have said someone was a “son of peace” to signify that the person was peaceful. In this case, saying someone is a son of God might convey that they are a “godlike” person (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 175). Jesus is saying that if you love your enemies, you are acting like God would act – you are showing the character of God. How does loving our enemies make us like God? When we love, we reflect the mind and actions of God, because that is how God thinks and acts toward all people. If we love our enemies like God does, people will see the “family” resemblance – like Father, like son or daughter. In verse 44, Jesus tells us not only to love our enemies but to pray for those who persecute us. Why is praying for our enemies part of the package here? In the second part of verse 45, Jesus gives some examples of what God does to show his love even toward his enemies. What does he say God does? What are some ways we can treat our “enemies” – or those who are hard to love – that would be like the way God provides the sun and rain even to people who are evil or unrighteous? What attitude lies behind these ways that God and we show love to others? What attitude toward humans leads to a desire to love them even when they are being difficult? In verse 46-47, how does Jesus describe the more shallow, transactional care for others that is part of normal human nature? In his examples, Jesus refers to tax collectors and Gentiles – the non-favored people of his society. In a subtle way, he is suggesting that, although the Jews looked down on these groups, the “love your neighbor, hate your enemy” attitude of the prevailing Jewish society was no better. How can we adopt more fully an approach of love toward those we don’t agree with that would reflect the mind and actions of God? What would it look like if we were to routinely approach others, in every facet of life, this way? What would it look like: in business dealings? in political discourse? in disagreements within the church? in family squabbles and estrangements? in other areas of your life? Jesus is trying to help us embrace a whole new conception of ourselves, where we become like God and always keep God as our focus. He must increase in us, and our self-centeredness must decrease. Focus now on verse 48. What does it mean to be “perfect”? The Greek word here for perfect is teleios , which comes from the word telos , meaning end, purpose, aim, or goal. This word for “perfect” is not about being flawless in some abstract way. The word is about fulfilling the purpose for which you have been created (Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 176). How does loving our enemy help perfect us to that we can become more fully what God intended us to be? When we choose to love our enemies, we move forward in the transformation by which we take on God’s character and allow every part of our lives – our thoughts, words, and actions – to reflect the image of the God in whose image we were originally created. We could interpret the “be perfect” statement in this way: Jesus calls us to “be [fill in the blank] as your heavenly Father is [that thing].” Be holy as he is holy; be loving as he is loving; be patient as he is patient; etc. Be fully what God intends you to be. How does the call, in verse 48, to be fully what we are intended by God to be, sum up the entire teaching of the 6 “antitheses” from verses 21-47? In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus totally transforms some of the core teachings from the Jewish Law on how to relate to and deal with one another. Where in your life do you need to work on this new way of living? Take a step back and consider this: Why does God want us to love our enemies? The easy answer, based on this passage, is: to become children of God. But let’s push ourselves to think more rigorously. One reason to love our enemies is that Jesus told us to do so, to become children of God. What are some additional reasons why we should love our enemies? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said that we should love our enemies because (1) only love can overcome hate; (2) hate scars the soul; (3) only love can turn an enemy into a friend; and (4) love allows us to experience God’s holiness: (1) “Why should we love our enemies? The first reason is fairly obvious. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” (Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love , Beacon Press, Boston, 1963, p. 47). (2) “Another reason we must love our enemies is that hate scars the soul and distorts the personality. . . . [H]ate brings irreparable damage to its victims. . . . But there is another side which we must never overlook. Hate is just as injurious to the person who hates. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to . . . confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.” (Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love , Beacon Press, Boston, 1963, pp. 47, 48). (3) “A third reason why we should love our enemies is that love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. . . . Love transforms with redemptive power.” (Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love , Beacon Press, Boston, 1963, p. 48 ) . (4) “An even more basic reason why we are commanded to love is expressed in Jesus’ words, ‘Love your enemies . . . that you may be children of your Father which is in heaven .” [ellipses and italics in the original] We are called to this difficult task in order to realize a unique relationship with God. . . . We must love our enemies, because only by loving them can we know God and experience the beauty of his holiness.” (Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love , Beacon Press, Boston, 1963, p. 50 ) . If someone were to ask you, “Why should I love my enemies?”, how would you respond? How can you apply these insights about love to some particular situation in your life? What is something you can do to choose love over hate? 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

A healing, a second warning of suffering to come, an interruption to pay a tax – just a normal day in the life of Jesus . . . and us? [Matthew 17:14-21; 17:22-23; 17:24-27] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 17:14-27 A healing, a second warning of suffering to come, an interruption to pay a tax – just a normal day in the life of Jesus . . . and us? Mattia Preti (1613-1699). Il tributo della moneta [The tribute coin] . circa 1640. Cropped. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mattia_Preti_-_Tribute_Money_-_WGA18400.jpg . Tom Faletti June 19, 2025 Jesus comes down from the mountain where he experienced the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8), only to find that he must deal with regular life in all its complexity. It’s not that different for us: even when we have mountaintop moments, we must return to “real life” in all its ordinariness. Let’s look at the 3 incidents that Matthew tells us about right after the Transfiguration. Matthew 17:14-21 The healing of the boy with epilepsy, and the power of faith and prayer In the previous passage, Peter, James, and John experienced the overwhelming power of God during Jesus’s Transfiguration. How have you experienced the power of God in a special way? What problem does Jesus encounter that the disciples had not been able to solve? In verse 15, Matthew literally says that the boy is “moonstruck”, i.e., struck or affected by the moon. Some translations say the boy is a “lunatic” a word that comes from the word “luna” for “moon.” The symptoms are what we would call epilepsy, and people thought those symptoms were affected by the phases of the moon ( NABRE , Matt. 17:15 fn.). In verse 17, how does Jesus react to the fact that the disciples were unable to heal the boy? When Jesus calls them “faithless and perverse,” it isn’t clear whether he is reproaching unbelievers among the crowd or the disciples. He has previously chided the disciples for having “little” faith (Matthew 6:30), and in verse 20 he says they have “little faith.” He does not say they have no faith. Based on what happens here, does Jesus give up on people with “little faith,” or does he stick with them? He sticks with them and provides the healing that is needed, despite their lack of faith. Jesus sounds frustrated, or even exasperated, in verse 17. Frustration is a human emotion and not necessarily a sin. When would you say being frustrated or exasperated is sinful, and not just human? Jesus’s is ready to move to the next step, but his disciples don’t seem to be as ready as he might have hoped. Do you think God might feel this way about us sometimes? If so, what does this passage tell you about God’s enduring commitment to us even when we fall short? Jesus says, “How much longer must I put up with you.” It won’t be much longer until his death and resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit to empower us. In verse 20, Jesus compares faith to a mustard seed. Many translations say, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” but that is not what he actually said. He says, “If you have faith as a mustard seed.” It isn’t the size of the faith that Jesus is talking about, it is the recognition of the potential that is available to even a person who is very small , if they have faith. How does this encourage people who think they are small in this world? The fact that Jesus calls for faith “ as a mustard seed,” not “ the size of a mustard seed,” is important, because we sometimes think we have to muster up a large faith, and that puts the focus on ourselves when the focus should be on God. The point is to be as open to the working of God as a mustard seed, and to cooperate with the work of God as a mustard seed cooperates with God’s work of creation. What does this say to you? Seeds need darkness as well as light to become what they are meant to be. Does our faith similarly need times of darkness as well as good times? Explain. Jesus is using metaphors here, so he isn’t talking literally about moving mountains. What does moving mountains stand for? Having something come to pass that seems impossible or very hard. Seeds don’t cause their own growth; they have to trust God to provide the conditions for the growth of the seed. Similarly, our faith doesn’t move the mountain; God moves the mountain. We just have to trust him. What does that kind of mustard seed faith look like? How have you experienced answered prayer? How have you seen what seemed like a mountain be moved so that God’s will could be done? Go back to chapter 7 and read Matthew 7:9-10 . Jesus tells us that God wants to give us good things to us, his children. How does that assurance affect your thinking about prayer, faith, and trust? Sometimes, no matter how much faith we have, we do not receive what we ask for in prayer. The mountain we ask God to move does not move. That’s part of real life. What do you do when it seems like your prayers are not answered? Here are some ways to think about this question: 1. We are asked to trust God. God gives us what we need, but not necessarily what we think we want, just as human parents who love their children don’t always give them what they ask for because it might not be what is best for them. 2. God always answers our prayers, but his answer may be “Yes,” “No,” or “Not Yet (i.e., Wait).” Sometimes, he needs to work in our spirit to help us realize that we aren’t asking for the right thing. Sometimes, he may be waiting for us to grow spiritually so that we can handle the blessing we are asking for. One of the challenges of faith is to accept God’s answer. If we try to force it, as though we know best, we may make something happen that God knows is not best for us. Instead, we need to trust him. Matthew 17:21 Verse 21 does not appear in most modern translations of the Bible, because that verse does not appear in the oldest manuscripts. The New Testament was divided into verses before some older manuscripts were found, and those older manuscripts don’t have Matthew 17:21. It might have been added accidentally at some point by a copyist who was recalling Mark 9:29. In the oldest manuscripts, Mark 9:29 reads: “This kind can come out only through prayer.” The words “and fasting” only appear in later manuscripts of Mark and Matthew. In the oldest manuscripts we have, there is no Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:29 does not include the words “and fasting.” Although Matthew 17:21 does not appear to be original to Matthew, Jesus does say in Mark 9:29, “This kind can come out only through prayer.” Why might there be times when prayer is necessary for healing? Matthew 17:22-23 Jesus again foretells his Passion; the disciples respond with grief Matthew 17:22 adds a new piece of information to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:21: it says Jesus will be betrayed. How does the idea that he will be betrayed make Jesus’s suffering and death even sadder? Notice that this time, the disciples are more ready to accept what Jesus is saying about his coming suffering and death. That is why they are so distressed, and perhaps also because someone who appears to be on his side will betray him. Jesus has said twice now that he will be raised. The disciples may not have understood what that meant, but what difference does it make to you that Jesus’s prophecy includes his resurrection and not just suffering and death? Matthew 17:24-27 paying the Temple tax After a long time away in more Gentile areas, Jesus now returns to Capernaum in Galilee. Matthew has several stories about Peter that the other Gospels do not have. This is one of them. This is not the story about the tax paid to the Romans (“give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”). We will see that story in chapter 22. Every male Jew age 20 and older was expected to pay a tax for the upkeep of the Temple, based on a command in Exodus 30:11-16. The tax was two drachmas (equal to a half-shekel). (Some scholars think Matthew is writing about a situation his community faced after AD 70, when the Temple had been destroyed and the Romans ordered that the tax continue to be paid, but for the upkeep of a temple in Rome dedicated to Jupiter.) What does the fact that Peter speaks for Jesus in verse 24 tell us about his role? Peter has clearly become a leader of Jesus’s band of followers, and he would have assumed that Jesus would not refuse to pay the tax that was expected of all adult males. Jesus asks whether the children of a king pay taxes that are owed to a king. (Some translations use the word “subject,” but the Greek word in verses 25 and 26 is actually “sons.”) What is he implying by his use of the word “sons”? Jesus is indicating that he is the son of God. But he uses the plural, “sons,” so he is implying that his disciples are also children of God. In verse 27, Jesus says that he does not want to offend those who expect him to pay the tax. The Greek for “offend” comes from the same root as the word “scandal” in English and the word for stumbling block in Greek. He does not want to scandalize them or be a stumbling block to them. Why is it important not to give scandal if you can avoid it? How might we decide when we may act in freedom and when we do what others expect of us in order to avoid giving scandal? Jesus tells Peter where to find the money to pay the tax, and he thoughtfully adds that Peter will find a stater (a coin equal to 4 drachmas or a full shekel), which is enough to pay the tax for both Peter and himself. What do you think about how Jesus handled this incident? Jesus does not have money, but when he needs something, the whole world is at his disposal (think of the few loaves and fish that led to the feeding of the 5,000). Jesus here shows that he cares about our earthly concerns, not just spiritual matters. What does this say to you the maters you face in your life? Jesus provides for Peter, and he will provide for us. What do you need, that Jesus can provide? Take a step back and consider this: If you think of this set of passages as a day in the life of Jesus, it might not seem all that different from some days in our lives: Suddenly, someone urgently needs you to do something; you know that a serious challenge is looming on the horizon; and then another issue unexpectedly pops up. Many people frequently have days like that; for some, it is just a normal, hectic day. When we have days like that, sometimes we might get exasperated, as Jesus did. But if we are following the model of Jesus, we will keep our cool, keep doing what needs to be done, keep helping those who need help, and keep solving the problems that arise. That’s what Jesus did on this hectic day; and with his help, we can too. When unexpected problems pop up on already busy days, how do you tend to respond? Do you become bossy? Grow anxious? Shut down? Or keep doing what needs to be done? And with what attitude? How might Jesus help you deal with those kinds of days? 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 cares about our afflictions. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 8:1-17 Jesus cares about our afflictions. Alexandre Bida (1813-1895). The Leper . 1875. Detail. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jesus_heals_the_leper.png . See also https://archive.org/details/christinartstory00egglrich/page/60/mode/2up . Tom Faletti July 30, 2024 Re-read Matthew 7:28-29 Jesus acts with authority Matthew ends the Sermon on the Mount by saying that Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes.” What does it look like when someone teaches with authority? Who has been someone who taught with authority in your life? Matthew has shown Jesus teaching with authority. Now he is going to show Jesus acting with authority. In chapters 8 and 9, we will see 10 miracles in 9 separate incidents, presented in groups of 3, interspersed with brief but pointed dialogues. Matthew 8:1-17 Jesus cures all who come to him Who are the kinds of people Jesus helps here? Who is Jesus for ? The ones Jesus helped here include an outcast leper, a lowly servant, an enemy commander in need, a mother-in-law who probably spent most of her life being overlooked, and then many others who suffered various afflictions. What does this tell you about Jesus and about Matthew’s sense of who Jesus cares about – who God cares about? Who do we care about? Do we care about the same people Jesus cares about? Explain. How are Jesus’s priorities a challenge to our society? Now let’s focus on each of these three stories separately. Matthew 8:1-4 the leper What happens in this passage? Recent translations of the Bible mostly replace “a leper” with “a man with a skin disease,” because the word was used for a variety of skin diseases, not just leprosy. Any persistent skin disease rendered a person unclean, under Old Testament law (Lev. 13-14), both in a hygienic sense (such diseases can be transmitted through touch) and in a religious sense (ritual impurity). Therefore, people with skin diseases were supposed to live in isolation, away from others. What attitudes or character traits does the man with leprosy show? In verse 2, the man said, “You can make me clean.” What is the significance of being made clean? How were lepers treated and what would being made “clean” do for him? What does Jesus do? Why is touching so significant beyond just being an action used in the healing? Jesus’s willingness to touch the man violated Old Testament norms both with regard to health and with regard to religious purity, so it was probably shocking to onlookers. In what way does Jesus’s touching the man communicate not only a willingness to violate social conventions but also a special type of caring? What effect does touching someone have? Why does Jesus tell him to tell no one? Why does Jesus tell him to go to the priests? Note that the purpose of going to the priests is to satisfy the priests; Jesus does not make it his own concern – i.e., he does not say, for example, that going to the priests was necessary in order to receive the healing. Jesus stands above the Law, even as he tells the man to fulfill the Law. What do you discern about Jesus’s/God’s character from this incident? Who are we called to “touch” or care for today in or lives, in order for them to receive God’s healing? How might our choice to “touch” people whom society shuns shock people around us, and should that affect us? What should we do about the fact that if we follow Jesus we will sometimes show care for people that others think we should stay away from? Matthew 8:5-13 the centurion’s slave A centurion was a commander of 100 men in the Roman army. He was a Gentile. The Greek word for the centurion’s “servant” is ambiguous and could mean “son.” John 4:46-54 has a similar but not identical story about a royal official’s son. But if we follow the common understanding that it is the centurion’s servant who is sick, how do you think he felt about this servant cared as a person? The centurion was an officer in a hated army that occupied the land, oppressed the people, and treated with harsh brutality anyone who dared to cross it. Why would Jesus want to help him? Jesus says, “I will come and cure him.” What Jewish cultural expectation would that have been violating? Observant Jews did not enter the homes of Gentiles, because they would becoming ritually unclean from any interaction with any unclean items in the home. Why do you think Jesus makes the offer to “come”? How does the centurion see himself relative to Jesus (verse 8) and relative to other people (verse 9)? What does he ask Jesus to do? Why does the centurion think that a word from Jesus will be enough? Matthew 7 ended with a reference to Jesus’s authority. How does this passage help us understand the authority of Jesus? For what does Jesus praise the centurion? What does he think of the centurion’s faith? How does Jesus turn this event into an indictment of the failure of the people of Israel to believe in Jesus? How can we be more like the centurion? Note: We can’t conjure up faith by our own willpower. Faith is a gift. But we can choose to be open, we can take the time to approach God, and we can welcome God’s presence and lordship in our lives. If we create the conditions for faith by nurturing whatever seed of faith we have, that openness can allow faith to grow. Matthew 8:14-17 Peter’s mother-in-law, and many other people What does Peter’s mother-in-law do when she is healed? How can she be a model for us? What happens that evening? In verse 17, what Old Testament passage does Matthew quote, and what does it mean? What is Matthew trying to suggest to us about Jesus? The quote is from one of the Suffering Servant passages of Isaiah, and the Suffering Servant ultimately makes reparation for the sins of the people, so Matthew sees it as a prophecy about Jesus as the Messiah. Take a step back and consider this: In Matthew 8:2, the leper is confident that Jesus can cure him; he is only unsure if Jesus is willing to cure him (he says, “if you wish”). In Matthew 8:8, the centurion is confident that Jesus can cure his servant, and he has a solution to the question of Jesus’s willingness (“only say the word”). With both of those issues laid to rest, the crowds that follow Jesus come with great expectation. When it comes to asking God for healing for yourself or others, do you get stuck on the question of whether God wishes to heal? Do you get stuck on the question of whether God is able to heal? Or are you able to get past both of those questions? In our time, we know that some people for whom we pray are healed and some are not. How do you approach God when healing is needed? There is power in the passage from Isaiah that Matthew applies to Jesus in verse 17. In what ways do you find it to be true of Jesus that he bears our weaknesses and diseases, and how does that help you to approach him in prayer? The next time you pray, how can you approach the Lord with greater confidence that he bears your afflictions? 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 will those who give up earthly goods for Jesus receive? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 19:27-30 What will those who give up earthly goods for Jesus receive? Image by Emma Shappley, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 19:27-30 The rewards of giving up everything for God Peter observes that the disciples have left everything behind to follow him. What does Jesus say they will have “at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne” (19:28, NRSV)? What does Jesus say that other believers who have left things behind will have in his kingdom? In verse 29, “a hundredfold” is a metaphor rather than a literal accounting term. What is “a hundredfold” describing, metaphorically? A hundredfold might mean an abundance, a richness of life. If they have left behind houses, brothers and sisters, parents and children, property, what do you think it means to say they will have “a hundredfold” in God’s kingdom? Perhaps “brothers and sisters” is metaphorically referring to the fellow believers we will have as spiritual brothers and sisters. It might have a similar meaning for parents and children, but wouldn’t it be awesome to think that I might have some great-great-great-grandparents who might, in heaven, be like parents to me? The property might stand for the abundance and richness of life that we will experience in heaven. Jesus concludes in verse 30: “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (NRSV and NABRE). In what ways does this passage support the conclusion that “the last will be first”? Take a step back and consider this: This incident is part of a series of events in this part of Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus explains what I call Jesus's downside-up/upside-down view of life : the greatest must become like a child (18:1-5), God cares as much about the one stray as the 99 who are safe (18:10-14), the prayers of just two or three people can move heaven (18:19-20), forgiveness is not something we can choose to dole out in limited amounts — we are called to forgive to the utmost (18:21-35), men are to be committed to marriage and not find reasons to divorce their wives (19:1-9), the kingdom of heaven belongs to the children, who are the lowest people on the social ladder (19:13-15), wealth is a potential impediment to receiving God's salvation rather than being a sign of God’s favor (19:16-30), the rewards of the kingdom are available to those who come late to Jesus as well as those who (think they) have followed God’s law from the beginning (20:1-16), those who wish to be first must be the servant of all (20:20-28). Jesus’s perspective is often diametrically opposed to prevailing societal perspectives regarding what is important, or valued, or expected, or right. If you want to see as God sees, you generally need to train yourself to look at things from the bottom, not the top. This can be hard for us. We have to work to see as God sees. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to see differently than the world has trained us to see. What is one aspect of your life where you can challenge yourself to see what it looks like from the bottom up, from Jesus’s downside-up perspective? Why does God choose to take that vantage point? Can you do the same? What difference would it make? 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