You have free will. Previous Next Table of Contents You Can Choose You have free will. Tom Faletti You have free will. Every day, all the time, you have the awesome privilege of making choices. For the most part, you can choose what you will do, who you will spend time with, and what you will think about. God has free will. He can do what He chooses to do. One of the ways in which you are made in the image of God is that you have free will. God made you that way. You are like Him in that way. What you do with that awesome freedom may show how much you are living in the image of God. You may choose to do what God would do, or you may choose other things. As you make those choices, you may present to the world an accurate image of God or a warped image of God. The choice is yours. But it isn’t that simple. As St Paul says in Romans 7:19, sometimes I don’t do the good that I want to do…. TO BE CONTINUED If God knows what I am going to do, how can I have free will? TO BE CONTINUED Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Table of Contents Next

Jesus was not abandoned by God, but it might have felt that way when he started praying Psalm 22. The psalm affirms him, and the centurion declared: “Truly this was the Son of God!” Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 27:45-56 Jesus was not abandoned by God, but it might have felt that way when he started praying Psalm 22. The psalm affirms him, and the centurion declared: “Truly this was the Son of God!” The quote coming from the centurion reads (in German), “Truly, this man was the son of God.” Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion . 1536. Cropped. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Public domain, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, https://www.nga.gov/artworks/46168-crucifixion-converted-centurion . Tom Faletti September 22, 2025 Matthew 27:45-56 Jesus dies and some Gentiles recognize him as the son of God Mark tells us that Jesus was crucified at 9:00 a.m. (the third hour) and died at 3:00 p.m. (the ninth hour). Matthew picks up the story at noon. What is the symbolic significance of it growing dark in the middle of the day (verse 45)? What does Jesus cry out in verse 46? What does “forsaken” mean? Forsaken means abandoned; deserted and left entirely on your own. Some bystanders hear “Eli” – which means “my God” and misunderstand him, thinking he is invoking Elijah. Interestingly, the name Elijah means “The Lord is my God” ( The New Oxford Annotated Bible , footnote to Matthew 27:46, p. 1789.) In Jesus’s time, people saw Elijah as a helper who might come to you in a time of need ( The New Oxford Annotated Bible , footnote to Matthew 27:47, p. 1789), so it is easy to see why they might have jumped to the wrong conclusion. How do the bystanders react when they think Jesus is calling for Elijah? There are two different reactions, one in verse 48 and another in verse 49. What are their reactions? Jesus cries out one more time and dies. John tells us that Jesus’s final words were, “It is finished” (John 19:30), while Luke records, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Matthew describes Jesus’s death by saying that he “gave up” or “yielded up’ his spirit (Matt. 27:50. Some translations just say, “breathed his last,” which does not capture as well the sense of the Greek word that he was voluntarily letting go of his life. What does Jesus’s death mean to you? Before we go on to discuss what happened when Jesus died, let’s go back to Jesus’s final prayer, which begins with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (verse 46). In verse 46, Jesus is quoting the first words of Psalm 22, which are denoted as 22:1 in the NRSV and most other Bibles and as Psalm 22:2 in the NABRE. (Explanation: Many of the psalms have a “superscription” – a comment before the psalm begins. These superscriptions were part of the original Hebrew. They were not added by the people who translated the Bible into English the way passage headings. We do not know when these superscriptions were first attached to each psalm, but they were there before the psalms as we know them were finalized. A superscription may indicate who the psalm was written for or by, or what type of psalm it is, or how it should be played, or what it is about. Sometimes, it uses Hebrew words the translators are not familiar with, and some translations leave those unfamiliar words untranslated. In most Bibles, including the NRSV, the superscription is not given a verse number, and the text of the actual psalm begins at verse 1. The NABRE in many cases assigns the superscription to verse 1 and begins the text of the psalm at verse 2. As a result, the verse numbers sometimes don’t agree between Bibles. I will give both sets of verse numbers: the number used by the NRSV and most other Bibles, followed by the number used by the NABRE.) Read Psalm 22 . Notice, as you read, the shifts in the psalmist’s mood. In Psalm 22, the psalmist begins with feelings of abandonment, and then moves to remembrance, to urgent plea, to trust, to anguish, to hope, and finally to confidence in what he and God will do in the future. Considering the psalm as a whole, how would you describe the overall tone of Psalm 22? Would you say the psalmist is primarily feeling forsaken, or something else? How would you describe his overall mood? Although the psalmist starts out feeling abandoned, by the end of the psalm he is declaring that God is with him, that he will fulfill his vows and praise God in the assembly, that the poor will eat and be satisfied, and that God will provide deliverance. These questions about the overall mood of the psalm are important because Jesus would have been able to recite this entire psalm from memory. The psalms were the hymns and prayers of his Jewish faith community throughout his life. Since he would have known the psalm by heart, do you think he would have stopped at verse 1, or would he have kept going, praying through the whole psalm as best he could? What verses in the psalm would have seemed to Jesus to be accurate descriptions of what he was going through? Here are some of the things he would have noticed: Verses 7-8 (8-9 in the NABRE) would have reminded him of the mocking he was enduring. Verses 14-17 (15-18 in the NABRE) describe some of the torture he was experiencing in being crucified, including having his hands and feet pierced. Verse 18 (19 in the NABRE) describes what he would have seen from the cross: the soldiers dividing up his clothing. There is a difference between feeling abandoned and losing hope. Has Jesus lost hope in his Father? Jesus is still praying to his Father, so he has not lost all hope. He has not turned away from God in despair. And as he prayed Psalm 22, his words from that prayer would have been words of hope, not words of despair. You can feel abandoned and still not lose hope in God. Is it OK to feel abandoned at times in our lives? Can you feel abandoned and still not lose hope in God? Explain. There is a difference between feeling abandoned and actually being abandoned. In the psalm, is the psalmist actually forsaken, or does it become clear by the end of the psalm that the psalmist recognizes that God is with him ? Explain. This is an important issue, because some Christians have used Matthew 27:46 to help build a theology that God abandoned Jesus on the cross. That idea is deeply flawed for many reasons, some of which are explored in God Did Not Abandon Jesus on the Cross . Go back to Matthew 27:45-56 and read Matthew 27:43 . Are the chief priests suggesting that Jesus’s God has abandoned Jesus? Are the chief priests right that God has abandoned Jesus? As Jesus quotes Psalm 22, one way to view it is that he is directly refuting the chief priests’ claim that God has abandoned him. He is starting at verse 1, in which the psalmist thinks he is abandoned, and then reciting the rest of the psalm, which walks through some of the evidence that what was happening to Jesus was prophesied in advance and fit into God’s grand scheme for the salvation of the human race, and then reaching the end of the psalm where the psalmist expresses confidence that God has not abandoned him and God has provided the salvation the people needed. That fits perfectly with the fact that Luke and John tell us Jesus went on to say, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46) and “It is finished” (John 19:30). In verse 51, what two things happened when Jesus died? What is the symbolic significance of the curtain in the Temple being torn in two? And what is the significance of it being torn from top to bottom? The curtain or veil was a large, thick curtain that covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the Temple – the place where the presence of God was believed to reside. No person was allowed to go there except, once a year, the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. There are many ways to think about the symbolism here: Temple sacrifices were no longer needed; access to God was no longer restricted; God would no longer reside in the Temple but in human hearts; the Old Covenant, with its reliance on the blood of animal sacrifices, has been replaced by the New Covenant in Jesus’s blood because of his once-for-all sacrifice. The curtain was very tall. No human could tear it from the top down. That the curtain was torn from top to bottom signifies that this is God’s doing – that through Jesus’s death God has removed the barrier between himself and us. What is the symbolic significance of the earthquake? In Joel 2:10, earthquakes happen in the day of the Lord. It shows God is at work. In verses 52-53, what does Matthew tell us happened after Jesus rose from the dead? Do you know any Old Testament prophecies that relate to the idea of people coming back to life? In Ezekiel 37, God shows Ezekiel a valley of dry bones that, at God command, come back to life (37:10) as God opens up graves and bringing people back to the land of Israel (37:12). What is the significance of dead people coming back to life, insofar as it relates to Jesus’s death? How did the centurion and the soldiers under him react (verse 54)? We don’t know if “son” should be capitalized in their statement about Jesus – i.e., whether they declared him to be the Son of God or a son of God – because the Greek only had one case at that time. But either way, what is the significance of Gentiles calling Jesus the son of God after the chief priests mocked his claim to be the son of God? How is the centurion a model for us? It turns out that Jesus wasn’t totally alone all this time. Who was there (verses 55-56)? What does this tell you about the women who followed Jesus? How can we be more like those women – perhaps often unseen, but faithful? What does Jesus’s death tell you about him? How does Jesus’s death affect how you want to live your life? How does Jesus’s death affect how you want to approach your own death? Take a step back and consider this: Although God the Father did not abandon Jesus on the cross because of our sins (see God Did Not Abandon Jesus on the Cross ), humans sometimes experience the feeling of abandonment. Because Jesus expressed that feeling at one point while he was hanging on the cross, we know that we are not alone if we sometimes feel like God has abandoned us. He understands. Have you ever felt abandoned by God? How did you deal with it? (Or how do wish you had dealt with it?) What do you think Jesus says to you in those times? How does Jesus’s victory despite feelings of abandonment affect how you can approach difficult times in your own 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

Jesus doesn’t want to lose anyone – not those who have strayed, and not those who have wronged others. He offers a path that seeks reconciliation and broad agreement before disciplinary action. [Matthew 18:10-14; 18:15-20; 18:19-20] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 18:10-20 Jesus doesn’t want to lose anyone – not those who have strayed, and not those who have wronged others. He offers a path that seeks reconciliation and broad agreement before disciplinary action. Domenico Fetti (c.1589-1623). Das Gleichnis vom verlorenen Schaf [The parable of the lost sheep] . Circa 1619-21. Cropped. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), Dresden, Germany. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parabola_della_pecora_smarrita_-_Fetti.png . Tom Faletti June 29, 2025 Matthew 18:10-14 God seeks out the little ones who stray from his ways In verse 10, Jesus describes the little ones as having angels in heaven. The Jews of Jesus’s time thought that nations and individuals had guardian angels and that angels presented people’s prayers to God. We can see this in the books of Daniel and Tobit. This verse reflects that thinking. Verse 10 seems unrelated to the verses that follow, but maybe it’s not. What does it tell us about the importance of the little ones, and the importance of saving any who are lost, if their angels stand before the face of God and therefore are in the direct presence of God? Most modern Bibles skip verse 11, because it is not in the oldest manuscripts. Some manuscripts insert here: “For the Son of Man has come to save what was lost.” Many scholars see it has having been added by a copyist, who took it from Luke 19:10. As later copyists copied that copy, that addition was preserved, even while the older versions without it were still being copied and handed down. Verse 11 might have been seen as a useful link connecting verse 10 to the parable of the lost sheep. In the parable of the lost sheep, who does the owner of the sheep represent? The 99? The one? What is the meaning of the parable? How does the shepherd feel about those who have been led astray or wander off from his flock? What does he do about it? What does this tell us about the shepherd? He knows when even one of the 100 is missing. And he cares enough to go after those who are missing in order to bring them back. How does he feel about them when they are found and returned? What does this parable tell us about the love of God? This parable indicates that God cares for each one of as an individual. How should that affect the way you live or the way you think about yourself or others? There are significant differences between Matthew’s version of the parable and the version told in Luke’s Gospel (see Luke 15:3-7). In both versions, the sheep owner is joyful; but in Luke that joy is the main point, whereas in Matthew the main point – the point the parable ends with – is different. What is the point made in verse 14? God does not want anyone to perish. This chapter is not primarily about us as individuals; it is about the church. What does it say to us as church? If the church is called to be the Body of Christ, how should the church view someone who strays? If we are to be like God, how should we think about someone who has strayed from the faith or are doing wrong? Should we condemn them, and, if not, how should we think about them? How should we feel when they return? What should we do about it when someone strays from the faith? Matthew 18:15-20 When a church member does wrong; and agreeing in prayer This section begins with a scenario where a “brother” has wronged you. In the context of Jesus’s teaching to his disciples, a “brother” was a fellow disciple of Jesus. Translating this story to our time, who would a “brother” be? In Matthew’s time, and in ours, a “brother” would be a fellow member of the local church community. In our time, what might be some examples of a “brother” sinning against another brother? This could be lying or saying unkind things about another, treating another unkindly, not living up to one’s commitments, not doing one’s share of the work, flirting with another’s spouse, owing money and not paying it back, pushing ahead of others – the list of problems that could arise in a church is endless. Jesus lays out a series of steps for dealing with an offense. Step 1 What is the first approach to dealing with a situation where someone has done you wrong (verse 15)? Why would Jesus want us to start here? What is the value or benefit in approaching the matter in this private way? What happens if we don’t start with this first step? What is the significance of Jesus saying that if you succeed you have “regained” the brother? What was lost and now is re-gained? How is this language of “gaining” the offending brother connected to the previous passage about the “lost” sheep? Step 2 What is Jesus’s second step for dealing with a case where someone has wronged you (verse 16?) Sometimes, what we think is an offense against us is actually a misunderstanding or might even be our own sin. What are some possible examples of that? What is the value in this second step where we bring someone else into the dialogue? Why does Jesus say it is useful “so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses”? What is the “evidence” that is provided if other Christians are willing to support you in confronting the person who has done you wrong? If other members of the Christian community don’t agree with your interpretation of the situation and don’t see the need to confront the person you think has done you wrong, what might that tell you? This might be a sign that you have misunderstood the situation, or that you are as much at fault as the other person, or that you are making too big a deal out of a little offense and should just let it go and leave the situation to God to deal with. What is the goal of this intervention, where others join you in talking with the person who offended you? Is it the same as in verse 15? If so, what attitude should we have? Step 3 What is the third step Jesus offers if a person who has done you wrong does not come around in your first two efforts (verse 17)? Who is the “church” in this verse? The local assembly, i.e., your local church, congregation, or parish. What is the goal of bringing the sinning person to the whole community? Is it the same goal that was sought in verse 15? If so, what attitude should we have? Note that this strategy presumes that the church at large will agree with you. If there is wide disagreement in the church, it doesn’t really work. How do you think we should situations where the church is divided over whether something wrong has been done? Is the goal still the same (to re-gain a “brother”)? If the church is in agreement and the offender still won’t listen, what does Jesus say to do? Why might it be necessary to impose this kind of social discipline on a person when they have refused to listen to the entire church? In light of verses 14 and 15, what do you think the goal of spurning the sinning person is? And therefore, what attitude do you think must accompany this action? It may sound odd to us when Jesus tells his disciples to treat the offending or sinning member of the church like a Gentile or tax collector, given that he spent time with Gentiles and welcomed tax collectors who repented and followed him. But that may be part of the point. Gentiles and tax collectors did not have a place of welcome in the bosom of the Jewish religious community, and a person who has taken a stand against the entire church after having been found guilty of a significant offense does not fit in the bosom of the local church. This language may have sounded perfectly normal among the significant Jewish population in Matthew’s community. At the same time, Jesus would have expected his followers to treat them with the same respect that he treated them. For an extended exploration of how to apply Matthew 18:15-17 to our everyday lives, see How to Deal with Difficult People . Verses 18-20 Verse 18 takes some of the broad authority to bind and loose that was given to Peter in Matthew 16:19, and delegates it to all of the disciples and, by implication, to those who follow in subsequent generations. What does that say to you? In what sense does the Christian community have power to bind and loose in a way that will be honored in heaven? How should the Christian community use this authority? Verses 19-20 are ordinarily thought of as being primarily about prayer. But Matthew has placed those verses here for a reason. In the context of verses 15-18, Jesus could be indicating that it is important to collaborate with fellow believers and not try to deal with the matter alone, when we want to address a situation where we have been wronged. Why is it important to involve others? This connection between verses 15-18 and verses 19-20 also suggests that when we are wronged, our responses need to be immersed in prayer. Why is that so important? Why is important that Christians “agree” with others in prayer, in cases involving church discipline? What does this passage say to you about anything you or your church community should be doing differently? Take a step back and consider this: When we look at the overall sweep of these passages and how they are interconnected, we see some themes: God does not want to lose anyone – not those who have strayed from the church community and not those who have stayed among us but are doing wrong. He wants all of them, together. God asks the church to be involved in addressing the interpersonal conflicts that arise in the local church. God calls us to join together in agreeing on any consequences imposed on those who do wrong, and also to agree in prayer. These observations suggest that God has a mindset we often lack. When someone does wrong to us, we see it as setting up an interpersonal battle that we want to win. When God sees someone doing something that wrongs another member of the church community, he sees it as a moment where the church needs to come together and agree on a way forward. For us, the focus is often on the point of division. For God, the focus is on the route to unity. How can we cultivate God’s focus on unity and agreeing together whenever possible, in situations where it may be more in nature to focus in the hurt and division? 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

Wise men come to see the newborn king – and still do today! Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 2:1-12 Wise men come to see the newborn king – and still do today! Possibly Antonio Vassilacchi ( also called L'Aliense) (1556-1629). Chiesa di San Zaccaria church, Venice, Italy. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 2:1-12 The wise men seek the newborn king, and unintentionally alert King Herod The “wise men,” or “magi” in the Greek, were, according to The New Oxford Annotated Bible , “a class of Parthian (Persian) priests, renowned as astrologers” (fn. to Matthew 2:1-12, p. 1749). That may suggest more certainty than we have; other scholars do not think it is so certain. We mustn’t think of “astrologers” as being like modern-day fortune-tellers. They were scientists, trying to make sense of physical phenomena and how those phenomena might affect humans. There were whole bodies of “knowledge” that had been developed, connecting different nations to different “stars” (actually, planets). Why did the wise men from the East come looking for a baby in Jerusalem? In Matthew’s mind, what is the significance of the fact that these were wise men from the East rather than people from Judea? Note: The star could have been a comet, but it was more likely a juxtaposition of planets (“stars”) that had auspicious meaning according to the wisest understandings of the natural world at that time. There is a reference to a star in the Old Testament: In Numbers 24, Balaam prophesied that “a star shall come out of Jacob, / and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (24:17, NRSV) and “Edom will become a possession” (24:18, NRSV) – i.e., Edom will be taken over and lose its independence. Herod, with an ancestry reaching back to Edom, would have been especially troubled by this. Why do you think these men want to pay homage to a Jewish baby king? Note: Herod the Great was “king” from 37 BC to 4 BC, most of that time as a vassal (a client state) to the Roman Emperor. He was known for his great building projects, including his marvelous renovation and beautification of the Temple in Jerusalem, but he was also known for his ruthless treatment of any rivals; he even had his own wife and several members of his family executed. He was not from Judea. He was from Idumea, south of Israel, part of a non-Jewish Edomite family, and although his people several generations earlier had been forced to become Jews, he was always suspect among strict Jews, both because of his ethnic heritage and because of his profligate lifestyle. Why do you think Herod was frightened or troubled by the news these wise men brought? We sometimes sanitize the Bible of its politics. This is a story with a huge element of politics. Why might “all of Jerusalem,” perhaps including the chief priests, have been frightened or troubled by the news from the wise men? The people of Jerusalem knew that Herod often killed whole groups of people when he thought someone was trying to challenge him. When a tyrant is upset, everyone around him is on edge. Incidentally, Bethlehem was 5 miles south of Jerusalem, so if Jerusalem was stirred up, it also would have stirred up people in Bethlehem. Matthew tells us that Herod immediately thinks this might have something to do with the Messiah. What does this tell you about Herod? Herod is tuned in to Jewish thinking and is very sensitive to any claims that might be made against him. The idea that Jesus might be a king will remain a dangerous concept all the way to the end of Jesus’s life. We see him accused of that in his trial, and it is ultimately what he is charged with when he is executed (see Matt. 27:11,29,37). Note that Herod might have been suspicious of the magi from the beginning if they were Parthians. Before Herod was king, he took the side of Hyrcanus II when Hyrcanus’s nephew Antigonus took the throne from Hyrcanus. The Parthians were on the opposite from Herod in that fight. Herod went to Rome to seek help to gain the restoration of Hyrcanus, but the Roman Senate unexpectedly appointed Herod king, if he could gain control of Judea, which he did. The chief priests and scribes were able to name an Old Testament prophecy that they thought told where the Messiah would be born. What does this tell you about them? The prophecy in verse 6 is taken from Micah 5:1-5a (the verse numbering might be off by one in your Bible, as the Hebrew versions of our Old Testament counted 5:1 as 4:14). What does that prophecy say about Jesus? Bethlehem was David’s hometown and the place where David was anointed as king (1 Sam. 16:1-13). It was also the hometown of Ruth’s mother-in-law and father-in-law and of Boaz, who she ultimately married (he was David’s great-grandfather). In 2 Sam. 5:2, when King Saul died in battle, all the tribes of Israel came to David and said, “The LORD said to you: it is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel” (NRSV). Remember that Matthew set up in chapter 1 the importance of Jesus being the son of David. Matthew is making the connections for us here. Herod also professes to want to pay homage to the child (verse 8). That, we learn, is a lie. However, it raises questions for us. Why should we give homage to this child? What does it mean to “give homage” to Jesus? How can we do it genuinely and well? How does the faith of these Gentile wise men contrast with Herod’s attitude toward Jesus? How does the faith of the wise men prefigure the response to Jesus among Gentiles in Jesus’s own time and in the early church? The wise men were “overwhelmed with joy” (verse 10) when the star stopped and they knew they were near to finding the child they had been looking for. When have you been “overwhelmed with joy” at experiencing Jesus? What can you do to foster that joy? What can we learn from these wise men? They are open to other cultures; they are seekers of truth; they recognize that a future king could be poor – i.e., that poverty is not a defining limitation of a person. Note: In 2:11, Matthew tells us that: “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother” (NRSV). “The house” indicates that when this takes place, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are not in a cave or stable. However, they could have been in the lower quarters of a house where the animals were kept (with “bedrooms”or sleeping quarters for the normal residents upstairs). There is no evidence about how many wise men there were, but since Matthew lists three gifts, the tradition developed that there were three of them. What is the significance of the gifts of “gold, frankincense, and myrrh”? Gold is obviously costly, but so were frankincense and myrrh. How might these gifts have been, perhaps unwittingly, symbolically appropriate for Jesus? Gold symbolizes royalty. Jesus is our king. Frankincense symbolizes priesthood, in that priests offer incense as a sacrifice to God. When offered to Jesus, is suggests that Jesus is the Son of God. Also, Jesus is our great high priest, offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Myrrh was used for burial. Jesus’s death saved us. The myrrh symbolizes his humanity and his sacrifice for us. But also, myrrh was used in the tent tabernacle in the desert (before there was a Temple) to anoint the holy things (the tent, the ark of the covenant containing the tablets of the Law – God’s Word given to the Israelites, the sacrifice table, the utensils used in the sacrifices, etc.) and to anoint the priests (Exodus 30:22-33). Jesus is the tabernacle (the holy place that God resides) and he is the ark of the covenant (the Word of God in human flesh), anointed by God to bring us into a close relationship with God (and ultimate to take up residence in us through the Holy Spirit) and to deliver the fullness of God’s Word to us. Note: Some scholars think Matthew is adding details that go beyond the story, perhaps drawing from Psalm 72:10-11 (where the psalmist prays: may the kings of other lands bring gifts to the great future king of Israel) and Isaiah 60:6 (which says that people from Sheba will bring gold and frankincense); however, if Matthew was doing that, he would have called attention to those passages as additional “fulfillment prophecies”, and he does not do that. So it is unlikely that Matthew is making up details here to fit Old Testament passages. In 2:12, the wise men do not return to Herod but go a different way. In order to follow God faithfully, we too are sometimes called to avoid things we might have been involved with previously and “go a different way.” What is something in your life that you might need to avoid in order to follow God, and how will you “go a different way”? Take a step back and consider this: Christians delight in the story of the wise men. We honor their passion to find the new king of a far-off land. But Christians sometimes have attitudes that directly conflict with this praise for the wise men. The wise men studied the signs and evidence in nature that could expand their understanding of God’s activity in the world. Yet Some Christians disparage the work of people in our day who think hard and study carefully all of the evidence they can find in the natural world, in their search for truth (in our day, we call them “scientists”). The Scriptures don’t attack the wise men for following the evidence in the natural world wherever it leads, and neither should we attack those who follow the evidence in the natural world today. We can object when they go beyond the evidence to make claims not supported by evidence, but we need to honestly evaluate the evidence they find before rejecting it. Throughout history, Christians have suggested that God speaks to us in two “books”: the book of the Scriptures and the book of Nature. When you learn from Scripture, you are learning about God. When you learn from science, you are learning about God’s work in the world. We need to be open to the truths that arise from our careful study of nature, because nature is authored by God. Psalm 19:1-4 affirms that God speaks to us through the natural world: “The heavens are telling the glory of God; / and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. / Day to day pours forth speech, / and night to night declares knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2, NRSV). In other words, the natural world tells us about the work of God. When Christians belittle the importance of using our minds to expand scientific understanding – whether it is about diseases or vaccines or changing climate patterns or how stars are developed or how species change over time – they are acting exactly the opposite of how the wise men in today’s Scripture passage acted when they studied the heavens so carefully. If we close our minds to people who seek truth in the natural world that God created, we may miss important truths about God’s creation that would allow us to serve God better and take better care of his creation and his people. How can you be more open to the truths discovered by scientists? 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 helps the Samaritan woman sort out some religious questions and come to faith in him. How do we move from know about God to having faith in him? Previous Next John List John 4:1-42 Jesus helps the Samaritan woman sort out some religious questions and come to faith in him. How do we move from know about God to having faith in him? Circle of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). Christ and the Woman of Samaria at the Well . By 1640. Cropped. Private collection. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circle_of_Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_Christ_and_the_Woman_of_Samaria_at_the_Well.jpg . Tom Faletti January 13, 2026 Read John 4:1-42 The Samaritan woman at the well Verses 1-4 The first 3 verses tell us that Jesus left Judea, the region in the south that includes Jerusalem, and returned to Galilee, which is in the north. The most direct way to walk from Judea to Galilee was through Samaria. Jews who were particularly scrupulous about ritual purity might take a much longer route around Samaria to the east along the Jordan River, to avoid having to interact with the Samaritans. But the Jewish Roman historian Josephus tells us that “it was the custom of the Galileans, when they came to the holy city [i.e., Jerusalem] at the festivals, to take their journeys through the country of the Samaritans” (Josephus, Book 20, Chapter 6, par. 1 ). Jesus also traveled through Samaria in Luke 9:52-56 and 17:11-19 as well as here in John. Verse 4 says that it was “necessary” for Jesus to pass through Samaria. Perhaps this was “necessary” in the missionary sense that he needed to go there for this event to happen. When the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 or 721 BC, Assyria did what it did routinely in other lands: it took a large portion of the population captive (the wealthy, leaders, etc.), exiled them to other parts of the Empire, and replaced them with people from other lands. The Israelites who remained eventually intermarried with the foreigners who were placed there. Samaria had been the capital of the Northern Kingdom, and these people became known as the Samaritans. The Jewish people who survived the later destruction of the southern kingdom of Judah were not subjected to such an intermingling. They despised the Samaritans and called them “half-Jews.” Jesus comes to Sychar, possibly the Old Testament city of Shechem, near Mt. Gerizim, where Jacob’s well was traditionally believed to have been. Look at verses 5-10. How is Jesus feeling as the story begins? Jesus asks the woman for a drink. Jewish men who were scrupulous about ritual purity would not have wanted something touched by a Samaritan woman. Why do you think Jesus asks her for a drink? In hindsight, we can see that she was the reason he was there. He was not uncomfortable interacting with a foreign woman or a sinner. He was not exclusionary and did not bind himself to Jewish purity laws. The woman knows how extraordinary it is for a Jewish man to be willing to accept water from a Samaritan woman, and she says so in verse 9. How does Jesus respond in verse 10? Jesus gives her only a little bit of information – almost a teaser – and implies that she should seek more knowledge. He is not forcing anything on her; he is inviting her to ask if she wants to know more. How could we use that approach in cross-cultural or interreligious conversations? What does Jesus mean by “living water” in verse 10? The living water that is a “gift from God” could symbolize many things but is in particular the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift of himself to us. What does the woman think Jesus means by “living water”? Living water would more commonly be associated with flowing water such as from a river, which is better than the stagnant water in a well. Verses 11-15 The woman challenges Jesus: How can you get living water without a bucket? She then makes an interesting shift in the conversation in verse 12, saying, “Are you greater than our father Jacob? She has moved the conversation to a slightly “religious” topic, implying that Jesus can’t be greater than Jacob – the cherished ancestor of the Samaritans. How does Jesus answer in verse 14? John has already implied that Jesus is greater than Jacob back in John 1:51, where Jesus is presented as the ladder by which the angels ascend and descend between heaven and earth as symbolized in a dream Jacob had. How does what Jesus says in verses 13-14 establish unequivocally that he is greater than Jacob? What do you think Jesus means when he says that when people drink the water he gives, they will “never thirst” (verse 14)? I’m a believer and I get thirsty ever hour. What does Jesus mean? What do you think Jesus means when he says that the water he gives will be “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (verse 14)? Until verse 14, the woman has been confrontational, trying to maintain control of the conversation and not be drawn in. But Jesus keeps saying things that put her off-balance. She finally lets down her guard and shows her vulnerability in verse 15. What does she say? We also need to be honest and admit our need as a step in coming close to the Lord and receiving his living water. Why is admitting our need a necessary part of coming to faith? Verses 16-24 Why do you think Jesus now focuses on the woman’s marital situation? People wonder how Jesus knows about her marital status. Is it just his supernatural knowledge? Some commentators think the fact that she is at the well at noon is significant: women would ordinarily go to get water in the morning, not in the heat of the day. Her presence there might be a signal that she is not entirely welcome with the other women in the town, who would have come to the well in the morning. That does not, however, explain how Jesus knew she had had 5 husbands. This appears to be an example of Jesus showing supernatural knowledge. How does Jesus’s reference to the woman’s husbands turn the conversation into a personal, spiritual discussion with him? Jesus appears to be challenging her in an area of her life where she needs to do some self-examination. How does God do that with us: Guide us to move from intellectual talk about religion to our own spiritual situation and our need to examine ourselves? What is the value of that kind of self-examination – an examination of conscience – and how do you do it? Some scholars see symbolism in the reference to the woman’s husbands. In the Old Testament, wells were meeting places where men found wives: for example, Isaac (Gen. 24), Jacob (Gen. 29), and Moses (Ex. 2). John has already referred to Jesus as being the divine bridegroom for his disciples (John 3:29). How is this event symbolically a time where the Samaritans have the opportunity to receive Jesus as their divine bridegroom? Some scholars also see another connection to the 5 husbands. When the northern kingdom was destroyed, the Assyrians moved people from 5 other nations into the land that became known as Samaria, and those people brought their gods with them (2 Kings 17:24, 29). The acceptance of Jesus symbolically severs the ties to those 5 prior “husbands” that Samaria had once lived with. Up until verse 20, the woman has appeared to be understanding Jesus’s words only on a very literal level. How does verse 20 show that she is now ready for a theological conversation? At the time of Jesus, the Samaritans were monotheists (they believed in one God), and their faith went back to Abraham, just as the Jews’ faith did. The believed only in the Torah – the first 5 books of the Old Testament, which was also true of the Jewish faction known as the Sadducees. The key difference is that the Samaritans believed that God was to be worshiped on Mt. Gerizim in Samaria, not at Jerusalem in Judea. They believed that they were the carriers of the true faith while the Jews had gotten off track when they built the Temple for God in Jerusalem. (A small group of Samaritans still exists today – slightly less than 1,000 people in total – who still practice Samaritanism and worship on Mt. Gerizim.) In verse 20, the woman notes that the Samaritans worship at Mt. Gerizim, while the Jews worship at Jerusalem. This was one of the key disagreements between the two religions. Her implied question is: Who is right? How does Jesus respond in verses 21- 24? In verses 23-24, Jesus says that the time is coming when people will no longer be confined to worshiping God in a particular place. How will God be worshiped (verses 23-24)? What does it mean to worship God in Spirit? What does it mean to worship God in truth? If the place isn’t the central criterion for worship, what is? Worshiping in spirit and truth suggests an interior worship of God, within our own hearts and spirits rather than just in some external location. Why is what is going on in our hearts so important for proper worship? If someone asked you if you worship God in Spirit and truth, and if so, how – how would you respond? Verses 25-26 In verse 25, the woman now turns to another key question: the coming of the Messiah. Both the Samaritans and the Jews believed that a messiah or final prophet would come in the last days. How does Jesus respond? Jesus, says, “I am,” which is a form of the name God gives himself in the Old Testament (Yahweh). The translators write “I am he” to fit standard English grammar conventions, but the word “he” isn’t there in the Greek. Christians believe that when Jesus says, “I am,” he is implicitly stating that he is God. So here, he is not only acknowledging his identity as the Messiah but asserting his divinity. What is the significance of the fact that in John’s Gospel, the first person to whom Jesus identifies himself as the Messiah and the “I am” is a woman . . . and that she is a sinner, a foreigner, and a member of an ethnic group hated by the Jews? Something important happens at this moment. The woman moves from a theological discussion to a person, from knowing about God to knowing God. How important is this step of entering into a relationship with God (not just knowledge about God), and how can we help people take this step? We will continue to look at this passage in the next study of this series, so stay tuned. But first: Take a step back and consider this: On the surface, there was no reason that Jesus “had to” (verse 4) pass through Samaria. It was the normal way to get to Galilee. If my normal route to church was via Main Street, I would not say that last week I “had to” take Main Street. Scholars interpret John’s statement of necessity as an indication that in God’s plan there was a divine necessity: Jesus had a missionary reason to be in Samaria at that particular time. As Jesus says in verse 35, this particular field was “ripe for the harvest.” There are times when God prompts us, through a tug in our heart or an inspiration he impresses upon us, to take a step that opens the door to an opportunity. Sometimes, those nudges push us outside of our normal routines. But: Many times, those divine appointments are right there on the path we would have taken anyway , and the only difference is that this time, God is asking us to be sensitive to how the Holy Spirit wants to use us to make a difference in someone else’s life . God does not force those divine opportunities on us. If we are too distracted by our focus on ourselves and the little challenges of life, and we don’t even sense God’s nudge, life goes on, and we don’t even realize that an opportunity to participate in the work of God was lost. Sometimes, we sense the nudge from God, second-guess ourselves, and miss our chance. But perhaps we can learn from that experience how to be more trusting of God the next time. Sometimes, we seize the opportunity but then botch it by trying to force things to go our way instead of God’s way. Again, those can become opportunities to learn how to be more continuously in tune with the movement of God’s Spirit in us. And sometimes, we respond, allow the Spirit to guide us, and see God do good things through us that we could not have imagined. Those little victories of the spiritual life are transformative and can bring us great joy. What seemed like just a time of living our ordinary lives turns into a graced and awe-inspiring experience of participating in the work of our God, who loves us and is intimately, though often subtly, involved in our lives. To become more aware of those divine opportunities, as Jesus recognized the opportunity in a simple stop by a well, we need to cultivate our relationship with God and nurture our sensitivity to the promptings of his Spirit. How can you grow in your sensitivity to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, so that you can recognize when God is trying to turn an everyday action into a graced moment where he can bless someone through you? May you grow more and more attuned to the Holy Spirit, so that you can let God speak through you when someone is ready to hear a word about God! Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Jesus gathers disciples and followers. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 4:18-25 Jesus gathers disciples and followers. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti March 22, 2024 Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus gathers disciples As we saw in the previous passage, something significant is happening. Jesus went to the wilderness where John was baptizing and then returned home. But now he has moved from his more rural village to a commercial town on the Sea of Galilee. He has taken up John’s message: to repent for the kingdom of heaven is here. But he is not preaching that message out in the desert, far from towns, as John was. Instead, he is preaching it in an important commercial town in his region, and soon he will be going from town to town. Whereas John waited for the people to come away to him, Jesus is taking the message to the people where they live and work. Why is this significant? Who does Jesus call? Fishing is not a job for everyone. It takes a person of a special character to handle the challenges faced by fishers. What do you see in the character of successful fishermen that might be useful for more than just fishing? Barclay suggests these attributes: patience, perseverance, courage, an eye for the right moment, and keeping oneself out of sight – see Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 , p. 73-74). How might these be good attributes for people called to the task of evangelization –called to share a controversial message about God with people who might not yet be interested? What does Jesus say to these fishermen? Why do you think they followed him? John 1:35-42 tells us that their decision to follow Jesus was not as abrupt as it sounds. Andrew had been a follower of John the Baptist and had had a previous encounter with Jesus. Have you had experiences where God prepared you before asking you to do something significant? Explain. What would it have taken for you to follow Jesus? Matthew 4: 23-25 Jesus preaches, heals, and attracts large crowds After gathering a few disciples, what does Jesus do next? Verse 23 tells us that Jesus was both “teaching” and “proclaiming” (sometimes translated as “preaching”). How is teaching different from proclaiming/preaching? How are both valuable? What kind of audiences would Jesus have found in synagogues? Why might that have been a good place to start? Besides teaching and preaching, what else does Jesus do? Why do you think he heals – especially after resisting the temptation to do things for show? What does Jesus’s desire to heal people tell us about him? These activities bring him a great following. Where do the people come from? Are the crowds only from Jewish areas, or also from Gentile areas? What does this tell us about Jesus’s early effect on people? Jesus is attracting the attention of people from both Jewish and Gentile areas around Galilee. Verse 24 says Jesus’s fame spread in Syria , which was Gentile territory to the northwest of Galilee. Verse 25 says that crowds followed him from Galilee itself which was primarily Jewish but with some non-Jewish populations. The Decapolis was the group of largely Gentile Greek cities east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Jerusalem and Judea were Jewish territory to the south. Beyond the Jordan was Jewish territory east of the Jordan River, south of the Decapolis, east of Samaria and running south to the area across the river east of Jerusalem and Judea. Jesus will eventually visit all of these territories. If you were in Galilee at this time, would you have been attracted to Jesus? If so, what would have attracted you? What attracts you about Jesus now in your life? Take a step back and consider this: In 4:24, Matthew tells us of the vast array of diseases and illnesses that Jesus cured. Jesus is easing those kinds of suffering wherever he can. At the same time, Jesus is trying to gather a core group of disciples whom he will put through an extended process of formation to prepare them to be leaders when he is no longer with them. What do you think is going through Jesus’s mind as he heals people? What do you think is going through Jesus’s mind as he gathers disciples? What do you think is going through Jesus’s mind as he hears our prayers asking for healing and relief from various kinds of sufferings today? Other people are praying to Jesus too. What might Jesus be saying to you as you think about what other people are praying to him? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Mary’s pregnancy, from Joseph’s perspective: What is God doing? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 1:18-25 Mary’s pregnancy, from Joseph’s perspective: What is God doing? Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 1:18-25 Joseph’s dream and Jesus’s birth Jewish marriage procedures were different than ours. When a couple became “engaged” or “betrothed,” they were married but not yet living together. A man and woman would stay in this stage for up to one year before the formal marriage, not living together but so fully committed that the only way out was divorce. Mary and Joseph were in that stage of their marriage. What does verse 18 tell us? In verse 19, how are Joseph’s character and intentions described? Matthew says Joseph is “righteous” (or, in some translations, “just”). By using this term, Matthew means in part that Joseph follows the Jewish Law faithfully. Under the Law, he had a right to formally accuse Mary of unfaithfulness. She would have been subjected to a test of her virginity, and if she failed the test she would have been stoned to death. Alternatively, he could have said nothing about her pregnancy but divorced her with a public display of his displeasure, which would make her look bad. What do you think of Joseph’s plan to divorce her quietly so as not to expose her to public disgrace? What happens in verse 20? It appears that Joseph was thinking over his options carefully rather than acting quickly and rashly. Even if an angel doesn’t appear to us, how might Joseph’s decision to “sleep on it” before taking action be a good model for us? Has a decision to “sleep on it” every helped you make a good decision? Explain. There is scientific evidence that “sleeping on it” can help us make better decisions (see Grohol ; Calechman ; Miller ). Fr. David Barnes points out that the delay provided by “sleeping on it” can help us avoid acting imprudently out of fear or anxiety. We don’t have to hope for an angel to speak to us; we can pause, sleep on it, and pray on it. “Into our silence, God speaks and assures us of his closeness” (Barnes, p. 56), which might guide us to make good and creative decisions about how to respond to difficult problems. The angel calls Joseph “son of David.” Why? What does that signify? There are interesting parallels between this Joseph and the Joseph in the Old Testament. Both were named Joseph; both had a father named Jacob; both received dreams from God; both were righteous; and both saved their family by going to Egypt. Do you think these parallels are just a coincidence or is Matthew trying to tell us something? How is Jesus described in verse 21? Recall that the name Jesus, or Joshua, means “God saves.” While Jews might have envisioned that name alluding to other kinds of being saved (from invading enemies, etc.), Jews in Jesus’s time also made the connection to salvation from sins. What does the meaning of Jesus’s name – “God saves” – mean for you in your life? In verses 22-23, Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14. What does the Old Testament quote mean as interpreted by Matthew? Note: The Isaiah passage actually says, “a young woman” in Hebrew, although when it was translated into Greek in the Septuagint it was translated as “the virgin.” Looking at the context, some people think it is referring to Isaiah’s wife (see Isaiah 8:3). But in context, the point is not about the woman but about the name the child will be given. The child will be named “Immanuel” – “God is with us” – because if King Ahaz follows God’s direction as given to him by Isaiah, God will be with them and they will avoid being attacked by the armies camped on Ahaz’s doorstep. Early Christians focused on the Greek translation “a virgin” and saw the virgin Mary in it. This is the first of at least 10 “fulfillment citations,” where Matthew says that something that happened in Jesus’s time fulfilled what was said in some portion of the Old Testament. How do you experience Jesus as “Emmanuel” – “God is with us” – in your life? Explain. The Virgin Birth is the doctrine proclaimed by most Christian denominations (and considered a dogma by the Catholic Church) that Jesus was conceived by a supernatural, miraculous act of God without Mary having had intercourse with anyone, and that therefore, while Mary was Jesus’s natural mother, he had no natural father. What is the significance of this teaching for you? How does Joseph respond to this dream and the word he received from the Lord? Joseph’s response to Mary’s pregnancy shows that his “righteousness” involved more than just blindly following the Law. He had an upstanding or “right” relationship with God. He used his mind and will to decide how to deal with his emotions, and he kept his spirit attuned to God so that he could adjust his thinking and actions based on God’s guidance. His righteousness led him to his original plan (a quiet divorce) and his righteousness led him to accept God’s alternate plan. How is Joseph’s way of living as a righteous person a model for you? Joseph responded to his dream by obeying God. In your life, where could you be more responsive to God, like Joseph? When Joseph took Mary as his wife and named him Jesus, he was taking full responsibility to be Jesus’s foster father – stepfather, really. What does this show us about how to embrace God’s plans in our lives? Matthew does not give us any of Mary’s side of the story. (Thank God for the Gospel of Luke, which gives us that perspective.) Matthew only gives us what we read here plus the story of the wise men/magi, which we will look at next time. He must have thought he was giving us all we needed for the narrative and themes he was developing in his Gospel. What do you think he wanted us to take from this story of Jesus’s birth? What do you think it is important to fill in, from Mary’s part of the story as told in Luke, to help give Jesus’s birth and infancy the full and lasting impact it has had for people’s faith? Verse 25 says that Mary and Joseph had no marital relations “until” she had borne a son. The Catholic Church teaches that they also did not have sex after Jesus was born, but instead that Mary remained a virgin all her life. Protestants disagree. What difference does your understanding of Mary’s virginal status makes in your life? How can you live a life that is more devoted to God, with Joseph as a role model? Take a step back and consider this: Joseph was well chosen to be the foster father of Jesus. He showed several character traits that we would do well to imitate. Consider Isaiah 9:2-7; see verse 7: “there shall be endless peace / for the throne of David and his kingdom.” (NRSV) He was dedicated to his faith. He wanted to do what God wants. He believed in thinking before he acted. He was not impetuous. He considered his options before taking action. He was kind. He cared that Mary not be put to shame. He was open to the guidance of God. When you put together in one person all of these characteristics of faithfulness, thoughtfulness, kindness, and sensitivity to God, you have a very impressive package. A person with those characteristics is a person God can work with. Which of these characteristics of Joseph could use more development in your life? What would God like you to do about it? If we are willing to let God keep molding us into the people he wants us to be, he will be able to give us opportunities to make a positive difference in the world around us. And it is a wonderful feeling when we can make those positive differences. The first step is to try to be the kind of person, like Joseph, who is seeking to be all that God wants us to be. It’s a great journey. What’s your next step? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Welcome a child, be as humble as a child, and don’t lead any “little ones” astray: the starting point for our relationships in the church. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 18:1-9 Welcome a child, be as humble as a child, and don’t lead any “little ones” astray: the starting point for our relationships in the church. Carl Bloch (1834–1890). Jesus Christ with the children / Let the little Children come unto Me / Suffer the Children . Date unknown. Oil on copper. Cropped. Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Let_the_Little_Children_Come_unto_Jesus.jpg . Tom Faletti June 29, 2025 In chapter 18, Matthew again gathers together various sayings and teachings of Jesus. This time, the focus of the teachings is on how to deal with issues that might cause dissension and strife within the Christian community. Jesus tells us how to treat each other and what to do when someone doesn’t treat us right. Matthew 18:1-5 Seeking status versus becoming like a child and welcoming the child What is the disciples’ question to Jesus? What do you think they are thinking about, and how does it show that they don’t understand Jesus’s ways yet? Notice that he doesn’t answer their question. Instead, he calls a child into their midst. What do you think it is about a child that shows what it takes to enter the kingdom of heaven? What does it mean, when Jesus tells us to humble ourselves like a child (verse 4)? In what ways is a child “humble”? Why does Jesus say that those who do this are “the greatest”? Greatest in what way? Why would Jesus say (in verse 5) that when we welcome (NRSV) or receive (NABRE) a child in his name, we welcome or receive him? Fr. Daniel Harrington tells us: “in ancient society the child had no legal rights or standing and was entirely dependent on the parents. . . . Likewise, no one through rank or status has a real claim on God’s kingdom” (Harrington, p. 74). Harrington explains that the Qumran community from whom we have the Dead Sea scrolls seated people at meals according to their rank within the community because “[t]he meals were supposed to mirror what would happen when God’s kingdom comes” (p. 73). This focus on status was apparently not uncommon in the time of Jesus. How does our society give attention to status and elevate some people over others? In what ways do people seek status in our society? How are people asking today a modern-day equivalent of “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” How are we infected by that kind of thinking? What does Jesus say in response? How is a child’s dependence and lack of worldly status a model for us? In the context of the rest of the passage, Jesus is not just talking literally about children. They represent all the people at the bottom of the social ladder. The disciples want to know who is greatest – who has highest rank. Jesus says, those who appear to have the lowest rank, the least claim, the lowest status are the ones who, in the kingdom of God, have the highest status or who are the greatest. If this is the criterion for greatness, what does it say to us about ourselves? What does this tell you about God and about God’s thinking? Jesus identifies himself with the children, the people with the lowest status. This is not the only time Jesus identifies himself with someone else. In Matthew 25, in the story of the sheep and the goats, he identifies himself with the hungry, sick, etc. What does this tell you about Jesus? What does this tell us about the importance of looking out for the vulnerable: children, the poor, people with mental or physical disabilities, and others who have no claim to greatness? Jesus appears to be saying, I will measure you not by whatever status you think you have, but by how you treat the people who don’t have status, the people who are not considered the greatest. Who are the people who lack status in our community and nation, and what must we do differently to respond to this challenge from Jesus? Harrington sums up this verse by saying that Jesus is saying that “He dwells in them in a special way” (p. 74). What is this special relationship between God and the least among us? What does that relationship challenge us to do? How can we welcome those with the lowest social status? This passage starts out talking about status in the kingdom of heaven. But by the end of the chapter, we will realize that Matthew is thinking in part about the church on Earth and the struggles between people within the church. In that context, who are those with low status that your local church should be showing greater concern for? Matthew 18:6-9 Don’t lead the little ones astray In this passage, Jesus refers to “these little ones,” and most people interpret it as not just talking about children. Who are “these little ones”? Harrington suggests that this term describes “a simple and good-hearted member of the community who can be lead astray” (p. 74). The one other place where Jesus uses the term is in Matthew 10:42, where it means a disciple as Jesus praises anyone who gives one of “these little ones” a cup of cold water. The word Jesus uses to describe the offense committed by someone who leads others astray is a word we have seen before: the Greek word is skandalon . When Jesus calls Peter a “stumbling block” or “obstacle” in Matthew 16:23, it is this word. When Jesus says in Matthew 17:27 that they should pay the Temple tax so that they will not give offense (Matt. 17:27), the word for “offense” is the verb form of the same word. Here again it is the verb form of that word. To be a stumbling block, to give offense, to scandalize – these are all situations where one person might trip up another person so that their faith is shaken or they are led into sin. How can one person lead another person to sin? Jesus says that the perpetrator would be better off if some pretty bad things happened to him or her. What are those things he warns us about in verses 6, 8, and 9? What is his point in making these comparisons? In verse 7, Jesus addresses the common rationalization: it’s going to happen anyway. What is his warning? How might we be a stumbling block for others if we are not careful? Take a step back and consider this: Matthew is selecting various teachings of Jesus and arranging them in the order he thinks might have maximum benefit for the Christian community. He could have chosen any story to tell first. It is worth considering why he chose to start with these teachings about how to treat children and the “little ones,” before dealing with what to do when a member of the community sins against you and how often you should forgive people (which are coming next). By starting here, Matthew provides a bigger-picture perspective with which to consider the rest of the teachings in this chapter. If you think of yourself as a big deal, you may be more tempted to get angry when someone does something you don’t like. You may be more tempted to try to exclude them or cut them off. If you think of yourself as a humble child, you might choose a different way to deal with disagreements. In every age, there are people in prominent positions who identify themselves as Christians but aren’t living up to the “high calling” or “upward call” we have in Christ (Phil. 3:14). They may be too focused on power, or on what they can gain from their prominence. They may have a tendency to lord it over other people or act as though they think they are more important than others. We too sometimes get off track. Maybe we get too focused on ourselves and our own desires. Maybe we start treating others as underlings whom we expect to help us accomplish our desires. Maybe we start treating people as means to our ends, rather than as important in themselves. Matthew 18:1-5, can be an antidote to that. How can viewing ourselves as simply a child in the kingdom of God help us maintain the right perspective and not act like we and our agenda are more important than everyone else and their agenda? How can viewing the world through the eyes of a child help prepare you to forgive others when they hurt you? 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 is the way to the Father. When we see him, we see the Father because he and the Father are one. He empowers us to do great things so that God will be glorified. How can you be like Jesus? [John 14:1-11; 14:1-12; 14:12-14; 14:13-14] Previous Next John List John 14:1-14 Jesus is the way to the Father. When we see him, we see the Father because he and the Father are one. He empowers us to do great things so that God will be glorified. How can you be like Jesus? Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti May 17, 2026 Read John 14:1-14 Jesus tells the disciples that he is the way to the Father Verses 1-3 Jesus urges the disciples to maintain their faith as he goes to prepare a place for them The tone is somber as Jesus begins this discourse. Jesus has announced that Judas will betray him and that Peter will deny him. How do you think the disciples are feeling as Jesus begins to speak here? In verse 1, Jesus says to them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” In the second half of verse 1, he tells them how to do that. What does he urge them to do? The Greek verb Jesus uses in the second half of verse 1 can mean to “believe in,” “trust,” or “put your faith in” Jesus ( Liddell and Scott , p. 641). Which of those words best captures your attitude toward Jesus – that you believe in , trust , or put your faith in him – and why? Jesus does not want his disciples to despair when he is crucified, and John does not want the Christians of his time to lose hope when they face persecution. When Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” what does that say to you personally? In verse 2, what does Jesus say about his Father’s house, and what does he say he is going to do? What does Jesus promise in verse 3? What do you think he is referring to when he refers to his “Father’s house” where there will be a “place” for us? In verse 2, Jesus says that his Father’s house has many “dwelling places” or “rooms.” The Greek word means a place to stay or abide. What do you think Jesus means when he says that his Father’s house has many of these places? What do you think it means when Jesus says he is going to prepare a place for us? What preparation is needed? In verse 3, Jesus says that he will come back and take us to himself, so that we will be where he is. What does that mean? Although Jesus’s reference to coming back certainly includes his eschatological return at the end of time, he also comes to us by his Spirit in many ways throughout our lives. How do you experience his “coming” even as you live? How does this promise from Jesus make you feel? How does this promise make you want to respond? What questions do verses 1-3 raise in your mind, and how do you think Jesus would answer those questions? Verses 4-6 I am the way, the truth, and the life In verse 4, Jesus tells them that where he is going, they know the way. Thomas objects. What does Thomas say in verse 5? Do you think Thomas’s objection is valid? Why or why not? How does Jesus answer in verse 6? What does it mean for you when Jesus says he is the “way”? When he says he is the “truth”? When he says he is the “life”? When Jesus says he is the way, that means that I don’t choose the way; he does. When he says he is the truth, that means I don’t choose what truth is; he does. Acts of the Apostles frequently refers to the faith of the early church as “the way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9; 19:23; 22:4; 24:14; 24:22). I am called to follow his way, not make my own way. Similarly, I am called to embrace the truth he has revealed and live the life he offers. Jesus is not just a prophet: he does not just tell us how to get to the Father. He is not just a guide: he does not just show us the way to God . He is the way. In what ways is he the way, and the way to what? How do you experience Jesus being the way and the truth and the life in your life? In John 8:32, Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” How is truth essential to genuine freedom, and how do you experience freedom through the One who said, “I am the truth”? Jesus adds in verse 6 that no one comes to the Father except through him. What does that mean to you? What do you think verse 6 means with regard to people who died before Jesus lived, or who were raised in another faith and never had a chance to know Jesus? How might he provide the way for them? Some people hear Jesus’s statement, “No one comes to the Father except through me,” and wonder whether Christ died for all people or only for those who ultimately live forever with God. The Bible is clear that Christ died for all: In 2 Corinthians 5:14, Paul says that Christ died for all. In 1 John 2:2, John says that Jesus’s propitiation or expiation was not only for our sins but for the sins of the whole world. Hebrews 2:9 says that Christ tasted death for everyone. 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:11; John 1:29; and Isaiah 53:6 provide similar statements indicating that Christ died for all. (In Romans 8:20-23, Paul even suggests that the whole of creation, not just all humans, groan as it awaits redemption.) These passages show that, although not everyone chooses to avail themselves of the offer to come to the Father, Jesus provides the way for everyone. What do people need to do to avail themselves of the “way” to the Father that Christ provides? Verses 7-11 You know me, so you know the Father and you know the way In verse 7, Jesus first makes a conditional statement that is literally, “If you had known me, you would have known the Father,” or “If you have known me, you have known the Father.” Since Jesus has made it possible to know the Father, he adds a declarative statement: “From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” What does this mean? How does verse 7 apply also to us? Philip hears Jesus say that they have seen the Father. He is not convinced that they actually have seen the Father, so in verse 8, he says, “Show us the Father, and it will be enough for us.” What do you think Philip has in mind? What does he hope to see, and how will it be “enough”? In verse 7, Jesus indicates that because they know him, they know the Father. In verse 9, he says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” What does he mean when he says they have “seen” the Father? Jesus elaborates in verse 10: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” What does this mean? In verses 10 and 11, Jesus again points to his works as a sign that the Father is in him. What has led you to believe that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus? What do these verses say to you about your faith? Verses 12-14 You will do greater things; ask anything of me in my name and I will do it Different Bibles divide up the verses in different ways. Verse 12 begins with “Amen, amen (or truly, truly), I say to you,” which might signal a transition a new point, and verse 13 begins with “And,” which might signal that it relates to verse 12. Therefore, we will examine verses 12-14 as a unit. In verse 12, Jesus first says that the people who believe in him will do the works that he does. What works does Jesus do that his followers also do? In the second half of verse 12, Jesus adds that those who believe in him (in Greek he uses the singular pronoun “he”) will do greater works than his works. How can this be? What works have followers of Jesus done, down through the centuries, that are greater than the works Jesus did while he was on the earth? Jesus’s time on earth was limited to a short ministry of only a few years and in only a few places, one place at a time. His followers have been able to spread the word of God, and show the love of God, to people all over the globe, for 2,000 years. In this way, the members of the Body of Christ, working individually and together, have been able to do many things that Jesus, in his one human body in 3 years of public ministry, could not do. Only Jesus could save us, but collectively, we can bring the good news of Jesus, in word and deed, to far more people. What great work might God be calling you to do or to be a part of? What do verses 13 and 14 say? There are two conditions attached to what Jesus says in verses 13-14. First, he says that whatever you ask, you must ask “in my name.” What do you think Jesus means when he says we must ask in his name? Is he just giving us a formula, some special words to say at the end our prayer in order to get what we want, or does it have a deeper meaning? What does it mean, to ask in his name? People sometimes turn these words into a formula, but Jesus did not encourage formulas in praying; he modeled praying for what would glorify the Father (see, for example, John 12:28; 17:1-5). Therefore, to ask in Jesus’s name would be to ask only what Jesus would ask, to ask only for what would glorify the Father. Consider some other uses of the phrase “in the name of”: Stop in the name of the law; I speak to you in the name of the king; the document was signed in the name of the mayor. “In the name of” has a connotation of acting consistent with the character and authority of the person who has the real power. If we desire to pray in Jesus’s name, how can we be sure that what we are asking for is consistent with his character and will? How do you discern what the will of God is, so that your prayers are truly being made in Jesus’s name? The second condition Jesus attaches to this statement is in verse 13, where Jesus says that he does what we ask “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” This suggests that in order for Jesus to do what we ask in his name, it must be something that will glorify God. How can we focus our prayers on what glorifies God? Verses 13 and 14 have a direct connection to verse 12. In verse 12, Jesus says that his followers will do greater works than he. In verses 13-14, he says that whatever we ask in his name, he will do. The only reason we can do “greater” works than Jesus did while he was on earth is because he has the power and works through us when we ask for and do things that are consistent with his name and that will bring glory to God. How can we pray in a way that (1) recognizes that God is the source of all power but (2) also recognizes that God wants to do great things through us? How might you adjust how you pray to better reflect what Jesus says here? Take a step back and consider this: In John 1:18, John says, “No one has ever seen God, [but] God the only Son . . . has made him known.” In John 14:9, Jesus says that whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father. The apostle Paul spent a lot of time reflecting on the relationship between the Father and the Son. In Colossians 1:15, Paul says that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” In other words, if you want to know what God looks like, look at what Jesus looks like. Of course, Paul is not talking about Jesus’s physical appearance as a human, although I imagine that Jesus might have had a winsome smile, a joyful laugh, and sometimes a twinkle in his eye as he told his parables. Paul presumably had in mind more fundamental attributes that Jesus manifested, such as his loving heart, his wisdom, his self-sacrificing nature, the peace he exuded to those who were fearful, and so on. Take a moment to picture Jesus, the real Jesus. In what ways do you think he was the image of the invisible God? We were made in the image of God. Although our reflection of God’s image is not perfect, his goal is to restore us to his image. Paul says that we, “gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image” (2 Cor. 3:18, NABRE). What can you do to allow God to transform you into his image, so that when people see you, they see a visible image of the invisible God? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

Everyone can participate: Sharing and living the good news. [Matthew 28:11-15; 28:16-20] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 28:11-20 Everyone can participate: Sharing and living the good news. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti May 31, 2024 Matthew 28:11-15 The guards’ dilemma As we discussed in Matthew 27:57-66, it is not clear whether the guards were Roman guards or Jewish guards. If they were Roman guards, it is hard to understand why they would have gone to talk with the Jewish chief priests. If they were Jewish guards, some observers wonder why they would have been concerned that the governor Pilate might cause them trouble; but one can understand their desire to avoid looking like they were derelict in their duty. On balance, it seems more likely that the guards were Jews, but we do not know. In verse 28:11, Matthew says the guards told the chief priests “everything that happened” or “all that had happened” (NRSV and NABRE, respectively). What in particular do you think the guards said? What plan do the chief priests and elders come up with to address what happened? Why would the guards need to be paid a large sum of money to say this? The chief priests might have been seen as guardians of the Torah or Old Testament Law, but now they have constructed a lie, in direct violation of the Torah, to avoid confronting a new truth that confirms the truths Jesus spoke that they already rejected. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible describes the story concocted in verse 15 as: “A desperate fabrication by the Jerusalem leaders. Their bribe of the Roman soldiers illustrates how willful blindness hardens the heart to resist uncomfortable truths, even in the face of evidence” ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , fn. to 28:15, p. 60). Why is it that people sometimes sacrifice the truth to maintain the status quo? In what ways might we be at risk of resisting uncomfortable truths? Consciously or unconsciously, people sometimes choose to ignore evidence that disagrees with what they think. This can happen in matters of spiritual belief, religious observance, political analysis, business practices, social expectations, and family relations. How might we be at risk of resisting uncomfortable truths in these areas of our lives? How important is it to you to know the truth, to believe what is true, and to speak “the whole truth and nothing but the truth” regardless of the consequences? Matthew 28:16-20 The Great Commission Where do the disciples go? In Matthew, mountains are places where important things happen – for example, the Sermon on the Mount. We do not know what mountain this is. It could have been the mountain upon which Jesus was transfigured (Matthew 17:1-8). The rest of what happens in this passage occurs after they “saw” him. Why is seeing important for believing? In what ways does seeing the Lord in action give us strength to do what we are called to do? What do you think it means when Matthew says they worshipped him but some doubted? This could be an oblique reference to Thomas’s doubting before he saw the Lord (John 20:24-29) or others doubting the resurrection. If so, “some doubted” might be a parenthetical comment, not a statement of what happened after “they worshipped him.” The point is that worship was not the automatic or immediate reaction of everyone. Harrington suggests, “Their doubts (v. 17) may involve the possibility of having such an experience at all or the propriety of worshiping Jesus” (Harrington, The Gospel According to Matthew , p. 113). Matthew does not tell about any ascension of Jesus into heaven. Perhaps he thought that was implicit. Or perhaps he thought that how Jesus returned to the Father in heaven was of little importance compared to the importance of the material he is ending with – that Jesus’s followers were directed to spread the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20, often called “the Great Commission”). Go back and re-read the first part of Matthew 28:7 and 28:10. Back at the tomb, what is the first thing the women were asked to do? Why was their task of sharing important, even though they are not among the “eleven” here? Some people have big roles that draw a lot of attention. Some people have smaller or less visible roles where they pass along the word of God in a quiet, unobtrusive way or perform other necessary but often unnoticed tasks. God uses different people in different ways. All of the roles are important. What are some ways that you might be being called or used by God in behind-the-scenes ways to help spread the good news of Jesus? How might you honor those who do the behind-the-scenes work that help make the more public and visible work of God possible? Sometimes a simple, quiet word of appreciate goes a long way. In verse 18, Jesus says that “all authority” (NRSV) or “all power” (NABRE) has been given to him. What does this mean? As he walked the earth, the fully God but fully human Jesus was restricted in space and time, and as a human exercised only limited power on earth. Having risen from the dead, he has been given, by the Father, all power and authority in heaven as well as on earth. “All authority” means that he can do whatever he chooses to do, and no other power can stop him. Notice that the Great Commission (verse 19) begins with “therefore,” meaning that it follows from Jesus’s statement about his authority in verse 18. Why does the Great Commission flow from Jesus’s authority? Do we live our daily lives as though this is true, that all authority or power has been given to Jesus? Explain. In verses 19-20, what does Jesus tell the disciples to do? What is the significance of baptizing people? What is the role of baptism in our faith? When Jesus tells them to teach people to obey everything he commanded, what do you think is included in the “everything”? Where would you look for the content of what should be taught? Matthew has been making it clear throughout his Gospel that the message of Jesus is for all people of all nations, so this ending is not surprise. As early as chapter 2 (vv. 1-12), Jesus is worshipped by Gentiles (the wise men/Magi). In Matthew 4:24-25, we see Jesus’s message reaching beyond the Jews to people in Gentile territory. In Matthew 8:5-13 he heals the servant of a (Gentile) centurion. In chapter 15, Jesus is teaching and healing Gentiles more broadly. So these final verses are the culmination of a message Matthew has been stressing throughout his Gospel. How important is the universality of the gospel to the Christian faith? How central to the faith is the idea that the gospel is meant for everyone? Different faith traditions think about the Great Commission in different ways. Some consider it to be particularly a charge for the original disciples. Some see it as a mandate for the Church as a whole, but with different people called to different tasks and not all people called to evangelize. Some consider it a command directed toward all Christians. What role do you think you are called to play in spreading the good news and making disciples? Do you think we, the Church as a whole, are doing enough to bring the gospel to “all nations”? Explain. Verse 19 is probably the clearest statement of belief in the Trinity found in the New Testament. This Gospel was probably written in the 80s (AD), which shows that even as early as then Christians recognized that God needed to be described in terms of three Persons. Some skeptics like to claim that the idea of the Trinity was created in the 300s under Constantine. This is simply not true. Although some of the final doctrinal language was worked out then, Matthew 28:19 shows that the concept of the Trinity had already been around for more than 200 years before the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 codified the doctrinal language we use to describe the Trinity. How does talking about God in terms of all three Persons of the Trinity help us to get to know God better? Do you find yourself relating more to one of the Persons of the Trinity than another – for example, do you focus more on God as Father, or relate more to Jesus than you do to the Holy Spirit? What value might there be in trying to relate to God in all three Persons of the Trinity? In verse 20, Matthew ends his Gospel with an assuring statement. What does Jesus say? Considering how daunting it might seem to spread the good news to the entire world, how is this statement comforting? How might Jesus’s assurance that he is with us always be an encouragement that spurs us on to greater efforts? Where in your life right now do you need to hear these words: “I am with you always,” even to the end of time? If you had 30 seconds to tell someone the core of the gospel, what would you include in your short testimony or witness or summary of what the Christian faith is all about? If someone asked you why they should care about Jesus – what difference does it make – how would you respond? Conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel Look back through the entire Gospel of Matthew before answering these two questions: What do you think Matthew wants his readers to do in response to his account of the life and teachings of Jesus? Please don’t stop at something simple like, “He wants us to believe.” Yes, of course he does. But what would that look like? What does he want us to do or how does he want us to live our lives as our response to Jesus? What is your favorite story, quote, or teaching from Matthew’s Gospel, or what part of this Gospel strikes you as most important or most meaningful, and why? [If you are studying together in a small group, ask everyone to respond to at least one of these questions and perhaps both, starting with the first questions and then moving to the second question after everyone who wants to share on the first question has done so.] Take a step back and consider this: Matthew’s Gospel is a call to “go” and “do” – to help those in need, to share the good news, to live a transformed life. Matthew is not content with words; he wants to us to put our faith into action. That is the core of his Gospel. Matthew hopes his Gospel will help us understand at least 5 things: First, Jesus seeks to transform our thinking in response to his downside-up view of the world, to see things from the perspective of those at the bottom of the social scale. Second, Jesus calls us to make changes in how we live our everyday lives, in order to be all that God intends us to be and not just avoid breaking the rules of the Law. Third, Jesus expects us to help those most in need and recognize that when we minister to them, we are ministering to him. Fourth, Jesus calls his followers to share with others what he has taught them and help people become part of the kingdom of heaven. Fifth, this message is meant for all people in all nations, not just an exclusive group or those we like or get along with easily. The good news is for everyone. The kingdom of heaven is open to everyone who responds. This is a visionary life we have been called to, and we have been given the privilege of receiving Jesus’s invitation to live it fully, with him. We can’t do everything, everywhere, all at once. As you end this study of the Gospel of Matthew, what is one thing you might consider doing differently starting right now – perhaps, focusing on one change you can make in how you think, how you live, who you help, how you share, and who you welcome in the life you have in Christ? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Jesus links 3 things that we sometimes treat as separate: loving Jesus, keeping his commandments, and having the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. How can we welcome his presence within us to help us to love him more and keep his commandments more readily? [John 14:15-21; 14:22-24] Previous Next John List John 14:15-24 Jesus links 3 things that we sometimes treat as separate: loving Jesus, keeping his commandments, and having the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. How can we welcome his presence within us to help us love him more and keep his commandments more readily? Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). Untitled (the Holy Spirit presented as a dove). Circa 1660. Stained glass. In the apse of Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. Photo by Dnalor 01, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rom,_Vatikan,_Basilika_St._Peter,_Die_Taube_des_Heiligen_Geistes_(Cathedra_Petri,_Bernini).jpg . Tom Faletti May 22, 2026 Read John 14:15-24 If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will send you the Spirit of truth In verse 15, Jesus says that if we love him, we will keep his commandments. What does it mean to keep his commandments? Why does he connect loving him and keeping his commandments? What is the connection between love and following or obeying his teachings? Jesus hopes we will keep his commandments consistently, but he knows we are not perfect. That’s why he died. 1 John 1:8-10 says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and make God out to be a liar. So how can we interpret verse 15 in light of our tendency to sin? Does the fact that we sin mean we don’t love Jesus, or that we don’t yet love him enough , or what? The fact that we are not perfect doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. What is Jesus asking us to do here? What can we do to get better at responding to what Jesus says here? The word in verse 16 that is translated Advocate or Comforter or Helper or Counselor is the Greek word Paraklētos . (Our word Paraclete comes from the Latin translation of the word). No single English word captures the meaning of this word. It was used as a legal term for a lawyer or defense attorney, but it literally means one who is called alongside to help – from para meaning “alongside” and kletos meaning “called” – so it can mean an advocate, a counselor, or a comforter. How is the Holy Spirit an advocate? A counselor? A comforter? How have you experienced the Holy Spirit acting as an advocate, a counselor, or a comforter in your life? Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “another” advocate because Jesus is the first advocate, as John indicates in 1 John 2:1. In verse 16 Jesus says the Holy Spirit will be with you always. What does that mean to you? In verse 17, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “spirit of truth.” Why is truth so important in the Holy Spirit’s role as our Advocate, Counselor, and Comforter? In Greek, nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. The Greek word for “spirit” is neuter, so John uses the neuter pronoun “it” when referring to the Spirit in verse 17. We often use the pronoun “he” because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7; Phil. 1:19; Gal. 4:6) and because using a personal pronoun underscores that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not a thing. In verse 17, Jesus says the world cannot accept the Holy Spirit because it neither sees nor knows the Holy Spirit. Why is this the case? What is needed in order to see, know, and receive the Holy Spirit? Jesus adds in verse 17 that the Holy Spirit dwells with you and will be in you. Ever since he imparted the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his resurrection, the Holy Spirit has been given to all believers, so the Holy Spirit dwells in us. How do you experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life? For verse 18, the NRSV provides the most literal translation of Jesus’s words: “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” This is not referring to his return at the end of time, but rather to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in those who believe in Jesus. Jesus is saying that if the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you, then Jesus is with you. How is that so? God is a Trinity of Persons, but he is one God. So if the Holy Spirit is in us, Jesus is in us in spirit, even though not in body. In John 14:23, Jesus says that if you love Jesus and keep his word, the Father and Jesus will come to you and make their dwelling with you. Putting it all together, if you are a follower of Jesus, then all 3 Persons of the Trinity dwell in you. Therefore, you are, very much, not an orphan. Do you ever have times when you feel like God has abandoned you or like you are an orphan? If so, how can developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit who lives within you help deal with that feeling? In verse 20, Jesus indicates that after his death and resurrection, the disciples will come to understand not only that Jesus is in the Father but also that the disciples are in Jesus. In other words, we share a taste of the relationship between Jesus and the Father as we live in Jesus and he lives in us. How is our communion with Jesus a limited but real reflection of the communion among the Persons of the Trinity? In verse 21, Jesus returns to the point he made in verse 15: This relationship we have with God, this indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is based on love. According to verse 21, how do you know if you love Jesus? This love is not just a one-way street, where we are called to love God. We are also loved by the Father (verse 21). How have you experienced the love of God in your life? Does being loved make you want to love God all the more? At the end of verse 21, Jesus adds that he will reveal himself to those who love him. What do you think that means? How have you experienced Jesus revealing himself to you? In verse 22, John refers to a Judas who is not the Iscariot. Jesus had more than one disciple named Judas, and this is not the one who betrayed him. This Judas is confused. He is expecting Jesus to do what most Jews of that time thought the Messiah would do: reveal himself in a dramatic, public confrontation with the Roman Empire that would free the Jewish people from domination. He is shocked that Jesus is saying he will only reveal himself to the disciples. What does Jesus say in verse 23? In verse 23, Jesus links together these 3 points: loving Jesus, keeping his commandments, and having God dwell with us? Why do you think those three points are so deeply connected with each other? In verse 17, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will dwell within us. In verse 23, Jesus says that he and the Father will abide with us. How does it feel to know that all three Persons of the Trinity dwell in you? We may not be perfect, but what does verse 23 say to us about how to live our lives? What does it look like when people truly love Jesus, make a concerted effort to keep his word, and allow God to dwell in us? How does God’s indwelling help us to keep his word? How can you respond more fully to Jesus’s gift of the Holy Spirit? Take a step back and consider this: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German minister who stood up against the Nazi dictatorship during World War II as the Third Reich worked to subvert Christianity and force churches to support its evil work. He ultimately sacrificed his life because of his commitment to his faith. (See Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Discipleship, Responsibility, Transformation for more about his remarkable life and teachings.) While he was training pastors to resist the Nazi regime and stay true to the gospel, he wrote a book published in the United States under the title The Cost of Discipleship in which he challenged everyone in God’s Church to embrace “costly grace,” not “cheap grace” (Bonhoeffer, pp. 45ff). Cheap grace is the belief that, because Jesus died for our sins, it doesn’t matter whether we obey his commandments or not: we can receive God’s grace and the gift of his Spirit, and live with God forever, without having ever lived according to Jesus’s teachings. Costly grace calls us to die to ourselves and live for Christ: to follow his commandments, live according to his example, and submit to the leadership of the Spirit of God who dwells within us. In John 14, Jesus is clearly calling us to a life of costly grace, as we follow the One who gave up his life to give us life, and as we embrace his mission. In what aspects of your life are you tempted to settle for “cheap grace” and not fully follow the commandments and teachings of Jesus? In what ways does your church or the Christian culture around you settle for a low level of conversion rather than transformed lives lived fully for Jesus? We can’t be all that God wants us to be on our own strength. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit helps us to be what we are called to be. The Spirit works to transform us and shape us so that we become people who do Jesus’s will joyfully. How can you allow the Holy Spirit to transform you and increase your love for Jesus, so that you can become the kind of person who follows all that Jesus taught? Bibliography See John - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/john/bibliography . Copyright © 2026, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous John List Next

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