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Who can be saved? Your wealth won’t save you, but what will? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 19:23-26 Who can be saved? Your wealth won’t save you, but what will? Image by Jussara Romão, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti February 13, 2024 Matthew 19:23-26 The danger of riches Jesus uses a vivid illustration to make his point about the dangers of wealth. His statement about the camel going through the eye of a needle has led many people to search for answers – particularly because they don’t want to take it literally (and given that fact that Jesus was raised as a Jew in a culture where exaggeration for effect was the norm, he probably was exaggerating in some sense). Some scholars suggest the existence of a small gate into a walled city, separate from the wide, main gate, where a camel could only go through if it was stripped of all it was carrying. This smaller entrance is supposed to have been called the “needle’s eye.” There is no evidence for the existence of such entryways, but the image might be apt anyway. We need to let go of any possessions that would keep us from entering the kingdom of God, and that means we need to let go of everything we cling to, like a camel being relieved of its burdens, before we can go through. However, the disciples don’t envision there being any way through the eye of a needle. The disciples are astonished by what Jesus says about rich people because they think rich people are more likely to get into to heaven than poor people. That was common thinking in their day. Would that be a correct way of thinking? Explain. What is Jesus’s answer to their question, “Then who can be saved?” (19:25, NRSV) Note that Jesus is not saying rich people can’t go to heaven. Zacchaeus was rich (Luke 19:9). Joseph of Arimathea was rich (Matt. 27:57). Nicodemus was rich (John 19:39). Rich people were not required to give up their wealth in the early church (Acts 5:4). What do you think Jesus means by saying that for humans it is impossible? What do you think Jesus means by saying that for God all things are possible? What is he saying about us and wealth? What is your reaction to this passage? What does it say to you about your own wealth or lack of it and how it might affect your salvation? Take a step back and consider this: God is at work in us, in this world. He knows that we need possessions: a frying pan to cook in, clothes to wear, a toilet; etc. And the more advanced our world gets, due to the ingenuity of the human mind – which was created by God and then invited to use its free will to create other things – the more things we come to need: cars or bicycles, cell phones, microwave ovens, etc. The problem is not that things exist; the problem is that they sometimes take over the focus of our lives. Jesus has at least two different purposes in today’s conversation: to push us to re-focus and put our priorities in the right place, and to guide us to a deeper point – that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Only God can do that. Wealthy persons can live a life focused on their many possessions and the next possession they hope to get, or they live a life focused on sharing the love of God with those around them. Poor people can live a life focused on their meager possessions and the next possession they hope to get, or they live a life focused on sharing the love of God with those around them. Whatever a person’s situation, only God can bring them to the kingdom of heaven. Neither having many possessions nor having few possessions gives you a ticket to heaven. Only God can do that. What is one, small change you could make today, to take a bit of your mind off of wealth or “things” so that your mind and heart can focus more on people and God? 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

You’ve probably heard the words “faith, hope, and love” together many times. Take this 6-question quiz to see how much you know about them. Previous All Special Materials Next Quiz on Faith, Hope, and Love You’ve probably heard the words “faith, hope, and love” together many times. Take this 6-question quiz to see how much you know about them. Charity in red with children, Faith in blue, and Hope in green with the anchor. Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669). Faith, Hope, and Charity . Circa 1640. Cropped. The Courtauld Gallery, London, UK. Photo by Tom Faletti, 24 May 2025. Tom Faletti September 29, 2025 Who was the first person to talk about “faith, hope, and love” as a group? (Shakespeare? the Bible?) What do these words mean? And how do they reinforce each other? Take this short, 6-question quiz and learn more about these essential virtues: Quiz on Faith, Hope, and Love Faith, hope, and love are virtues that come to us as gifts from God, if we allow him to infuse them into us. We can increase our understanding of these virtues/character traits by studying what the Bible tells us about them. Of course, we need to go beyond knowledge and also put them into practice. When we do, we can see how they have the power to transform our lives. May God help us be people of faith, hope, and love in every part of our lives. 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 All Special Materials Next

In the beginning, the Word was with God and was God, yet he chose to come and live among us. His life is the light that enlightens us, and the darkness has not overcome it. [John 1:1-5; 1:6-9] Previous Next John List John 1:1-18 In the beginning, the Word was with God and was God, yet he chose to come and live among us. His life is the light that enlightens us, and the darkness has not overcome it. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti October 31, 2025 Welcome! This study is designed for anyone who is willing to approach the Bible with an open heart, including: Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals, and Orthodox. People who are active in their church, who have stepped away from a local church or the Church as a whole, or who have never found a church home. People who are familiar with the Bible and people who are just starting out. Seekers, doubters, agnostics, explorers, and the curious. Everyone is welcome to join us as we explore what the Bible says, what it means, and how we can apply it to our lives today. A NOTE FOR SMALL GROUPS This study material can be very enriching for personal study and growth, and it can be even more powerful and life-changing when it is used by a small group of people who explore God’s Word together. We will occasionally offer instructions, indented like this, that may be useful for a small-group study. Small-group leaders can find leadership training material and practical suggestions at Leading a Small-Group Bible Study . Leaders can see Preparing to Lead a Small-Group Bible Study Meeting for suggestions on how to prepare for a small group Bible Study. I encourage you to begin and end each meeting with a time of prayer, and to go through each passage in detail, often verse by verse. As you do so, try to explore what the passage says, what it means, and how we can apply it in our lives. Personal Introductions If you are studying with a small group, it would be helpful to take some time to build community. Introduce yourselves, make sure everyone has a chance to know everyone else’s name, and get to know each other a bit. Here are some questions you could ask everyone in the group to answer: What is your name and where are you from (or how are you connected to our church or this group? Can you describe some away that the written word or the spoken word is important to you? What is one thing you hope to learn more about as you participate in this study of the Gospel of John? We will provide an introduction that looks at the background of the Gospel of John (who wrote it, etc.) in our third study, after we have explored the first 18 verses and have an idea of what this Gospel sounds like. If you want to explore that introductory material first, you can find it here: Introduction to John . Read John 1:1-18 The Word was with God and was God, created all things, and became human Verse 14 and 15 tell us who John is talking about when he refers to the Word. John doesn’t name him until verse 17, but who is he talking about? Jesus, the One who was God and became flesh, the only Son of the Father, the one John the Baptist pointed to, whom Christians identify as the Second Person of the Trinity. John 1:1-18 is a prologue to the Gospel of John. It sounds very abstract, because John is speaking in cosmic terms, but it is introducing some of the major themes of that we will see again in more detail later in the Gospel. How is this writing different than what you have seen in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke? What is your reaction to this passage? What questions does this passage prompt in you? What questions do you already have after having just read it? Re-read John 1:1-5 In the first verse, what does John tell us about the Word? The Word was already present in the beginning, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Greek word translated as “Word” is logos . John tells us a lot about the Word in this section. Let’s look at what logos meant. Although the Greek word logos did mean “word,” it also meant much more than that. It traditionally was used where we might use the word “reason” or “thought” or “speech.” Then a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus, who lived from around 540 BC to 480 BC, used the word Logos in a way that affected Greek philosophy ever after. He said the Logos was the divine reason or principle that keeps the universe orderly, that sustains and provides order to the world. Hundreds of years later, around the time of Jesus, a Greek-speaking Jewish philosopher named Philo tried to make connections between Greek philosophy and the Jewish worldview derived from the Torah. Philo described the Logos as the intermediary between God and the universe and said that God created the universe through the Logos . (For more on the Greek understanding of Logos , see Barclay, The Gospel of John, Volume 1 , pp. 2-14; and Encyclopaedia Britannica .) Even before Philo, the Jews thought that a “word” was much more than a unit of speech: In Jewish thinking, every word has creative power. When God created the universe, all he had to do was speak a word and things came into being. For everyone, once a word went forth, it had an independent existence and force. In the last few hundred years before Christ, a form of Old Testament literature arose that is known as “Wisdom literature.” In Wisdom literature, Wisdom is personified as a living being. Wisdom was present with God at the Creation (Proverbs 8:30). Wisdom is the breath of God (Wisdom 7:25). Wisdom is always actively seeking to guide humans (Proverbs 8:1-9:12 and Wisdom 7:7-10:21). (For more on the Jewish understanding of the word of God and of Wisdom, see Barclay, The Gospel of John, Volume 1 , pp. 2-14.) John brings all of this together at the beginning of his Gospel in a way that offers a truer understanding of the Greek concept of the Logos while remaining consistent with the Jewish Scriptures. John is asserting in verse 1 that the Word existed in the beginning, was with God, and was God. But in verses 14-17, he says that the Word became human and lived as the man Jesus. Why is it significant that he is connecting God and Jesus in this way, and how does it connect with our concept of the Trinity? John is saying that Jesus, who is the only Son of the Father, is the Word who was present with God in the beginning. The Word is distinct from God (he was “with God”), and yet the Word is God, not some lesser being. He is identifying on God but two Persons, a step toward our understanding of the Trinity (which also includes the Holy Spirit). Note: The official Bible of the Jehovah’s Witnesses mistranslates verse 1 to say that the Word was “a god”. The article “a” does not appear in verse 1 in the Greek. In fact, in the Greek, the verse actually says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word,” which makes it even clearer that the Word (i.e., Jesus) is not a lesser god. What else does John tell us about the Word in verses 2-5? * All things were created through him, and nothing was created except through him. * Life came from him. * This life provided light for the human race. * Darkness has not overcome this light. Why is it significant that the Word created the world? Verse 5 mentions darkness. What does the darkness not do? Darkness is not a physical thing – it is merely the absence of light. (Evil is also not a thing: theologians and church fathers have helped us understand that it is best understood as a corruption of a good or an overemphasis on one good that results in a lack or absence or loss or denial of another good – the technical terms is a privation.) What does the darkness stand for, metaphorically? There is not a single correct answer to this question. The spiritual darkness John is envisioning could be an absence of the knowledge of God, a resistance to God’s teachings, opposition to the way of Christ, a state of having embraced what is contrary to God, etc. When we do not embrace the light of Christ, we are turning to the darkness. This reference to darkness brings to mind Isaiah 9:1-7 (8:23-9:6 in the NABRE), which includes verses that are well-known at Advent/Christmas such as, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is. 9:2; 9:1 in the NABRE) and “For unto us a child is born, a son is given . . .” (Is. 9:5; 9:6 in the NABRE). John says that the Word brings life and light to us. How do the images of “light” and “life” capture important elements of the Christian faith? How have you experienced Jesus bringing you life or light? Can you describe a time that has happened? Read John 1:6-9 John the Baptist came to testify to the light In the first 5 verses, John establishes some eternal truths. In verse 6, he moves into the timeline of human history. Look at verse 7. What was John the Baptizer’s purpose? He came to testify, or give testimony, or serve as a witness. What does it mean to testify or be a witness? We use those terms in courts of law. What do they mean? The NABRE says of verse 7: “ Testimony: the testimony theme of John is introduced, which portrays Jesus as if on trial throughout his ministry. All testify to Jesus: John the Baptist, the Samaritan woman, scripture, his works, the crowds, the Spirit, and his disciples” ( NABRE , John 1:7 fn.). John the Baptist is the first of many people and sources that will “testify” to Jesus or serve as witnesses on his behalf. What do you think the purpose of their testimony is? What do they show? Are we also called to testify (bear witness, give testimony) about Jesus? Explain. In verse 9, John says that Jesus was the real light who gives light to every person. What does that mean? What is our relationship to the light and to the darkness? Where do you need the light of God to show in some part of your life right now? (It would be beneficial to bring to God in prayer those areas of your life where you feel the need for God’s light, and ask him to shine his light in your situation and help you let his light shine through you.) (We will continue with verse 10 in the next session .) Take a step back and consider this: Saint Augustine, in his book The Confessions written around AD 397-400, said that in the books of the Greek philosophers he found teachings that he also found in John 1:1-5, “not indeed in the same words, but to the selfsame effect” (Augustine, Book 7 , Chapter 9, par. 13): specifically, that the Word was with God and was God, that all things were created through him, and that he provides light and life to humans. But Augustine went on to say that he did not find in the Greek philosophers what John says in 1:12: that he gave those who believe in him the power to become children of God. Nor did he find what John says in 1:14: that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Augustine also did not find in the Greek philosophers that the Word emptied himself and became obedient unto death (Phil. 2:7-8) and died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6) (Augustine, Book 7 , Chapter 9, par. 14). Augustine expressed appreciation to God that God allowed him to read the books of the Platonists (Greek philosophers in the tradition of Plato), because the Greek teachings about the Word helped prepare him for what he learned when he became a Christian and read John, even though they did not have the whole truth. Christians sometimes think they must disdain everything that is not “Christian.” Augustine would have disagreed, as would many of the early Church fathers. Here, John was clearly building on concepts from the Greek philosophers. Paul quoted a Greek philosopher-poet as he tried to bring the gospel to the people of Athens (Acts 17:28). Partial truths can be found in many places, even if they must be refined. In what ways can we learn from thinkers of the past, or people in our own lives who are not Christian, as we try to understand God’s nature and role in the world? How can you decide when drawing from non-Christian sources is appropriate and when it will lead you to error? 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

We explore how to apply the Bible to our everyday lives today, with Bible Study resources for individual and small group study, including background and questions. Bible Study New Testament Matthew Mark Luke John 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians Philemon Other Studies Hope Jubilee Year 2025 Mary Leading a Study Old Testament (I hope to get to the Old Testament, but the New Testament is my first priority.) Why use Faith Explored Bible Studies? Faith Explored Bible Studies provide study materials that equip individuals and small groups so that they can study the Bible confidently and apply it to their lives in practical ways. Each study includes: Thought-provoking questions that challenge us to apply the Word of God to our lives today. Just enough background and commentary to guide us through the passages that might be confusing. Thoughtful reflections that encourage us to take Jesus seriously and live our lives fully for Him. Our studies are not scholarly tomes filled with dry academic analysis (although we provide analysis), and our studies are not simply devotional (although we provide reflections that encourage faith). What makes Faith Explored different and potentially life-changing is that we offer a wide variety of questions on every passage that lead people to grapple with the text: What does it really say? What does it mean? And how can we apply it in our lives today? Our goal is useful knowledge and spiritual transformation . Why study the Bible? The Word of God is "living and active" (Hebrew 4:12) When we read the Bible, the word of God comes alive in our hearts. It is not a dead letter from the past, but God’s timeless message for us today. When we study the Bible, God does amazing things in us. He comforts, encourages, teaches, challenges, and empowers us. The Word of God fills us with the love of our Father and Creator, transforms us to live like Jesus, and opens our hearts to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is “a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105) God’s Word shows us the way to live in this world. We face so many challenges in our desire to live lives that honor God. The Word of God shines a light that illuminates the way. It shows us how to deal with the challenges in our lives, how to think like Jesus, and how to be a follower of Jesus in every aspect of our lives. If you want to learn more about what God is saying to us and how to apply God’s Word to our lives today, pick a book of the Bible and dive in! Leading a Small-Group Bible Study We have leadership training materials with a variety of tips and techniques for leaders. These materials can help leaders guide a small-group Bible Study in a way that helps the group explore the Bible deeply and function well together. See our small group leadership training materials here: Leading a Small-Group Bible Study . Image at top and Bible Study group image both provided by Wix.

John the Baptist sees from God’s perspective and provides a role model for avoiding jealousy. How can we allow Jesus to increase in our lives? [John 3:22-30; 3:31-36] Previous Next John List John 3:22-36 John the Baptist sees from God’s perspective and provides a role model for avoiding jealousy. How can we allow Jesus to increase in our lives? Image by Susan Q Yin, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti January 13, 2026 Read John 3:22-30 John the Baptist allows Jesus to take preeminence without jealousy John the Evangelist implies in verse 22 that Jesus was baptizing, but he clarifies in chapter 4, verse 2, that it was Jesus’s disciples who were doing the baptizing, not Jesus. The scholars are not sure exactly where Aenon near Salim was, but it was probably either along the Jordan River in the eastern part of Palestine or in Samaria in central Palestine. Verse 25 alludes to disagreements about the importance of following Jewish rites of ritual purification, which Jesus did not require his disciples to follow. Some disciples of John the Baptist make a complaint to John. In verse 26, what are they upset about, and why does this bother them? John does not share their concern. How does he answer in verses 27-30? In verse 27, John is basically saying this: the people who were following me but are now following Jesus don’t belong to us; they were a gift we received from God. In what ways might we adopt John’s attitude in how we think about the people in our lives? How can we also apply John’s attitude to the material possessions we have? In verse 29, John the Baptist makes a comparison where Jesus is a bridegroom and John is the best man or “friend” – the one in Jewish culture who arranges the wedding. In that analogy, who is the bride? Paul expanded on the idea that the Church is the bride of Christ in Ephesians 5:25, where he told husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. Think about the people of the Church – the people who make up the body of Christ because they have chosen to follow Jesus. How would a bride relate to her husband? In what ways are Christians like a bride? How might your relationship with Jesus be strengthened if you gave more attention to the idea that you are the bride or spouse of Christ? Why does John describe himself as full of joy (verse 29) because of what is happening? Verse 30 offers another pithy statement that can help us think about our relationship with Jesus. How can you use the statement “He must increase; I must decrease” as a guide to your life? Where and how might God be calling you to put this statement into action right now? What does John the Baptist’s attitude tell us about jealousy? John humbly accepted Jesus’s preeminence. How can this be a model for you in your life? Read John 3:31-36 It is not clear whether the words in verses 31-36 are the words of John the Baptist or the explanations of John the Evangelist. Either way, he first says that the one who comes from above – i.e., Jesus – is above all. This is partly an explanation for what was said in verse 30 – that “he must increase; I must decrease.” In verses 31-34, the one who is from above is Jesus. Looking at verses 32 and 34, what does Jesus speak about? In verse 31, what does the person who is from the earth speak about? How are they different? Jesus testifies to what he has seen and heard from heaven (verse 32); he speaks the words of God (verse 34); whereas those who are of the earth focus on earthly things. (Some commentators think that the one who is of the earth is a reference to John the Baptist, but in the context of John’s repeated distinction between those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t, both earlier in the passage and in the verses that follow such as verse 36, it probably makes more sense to interpret the reference to the earthly people as those who do not receive what Jesus has taught but choose to live in the darkness.) Verse 34 tells us that God gives the Spirit “without measure” (NRSV) or that he does not “ration” (NABRE) the Spirit. The wording evokes the image of a person measuring out portions for a recipe or in the serving line at a buffet. God gives the Spirit without limit. Verse 34 could be interpreted as saying that Jesus has the fullness of the Spirit. However, considering Jesus’s statement in John 3:6-8 that everyone must born of the Spirit, it is more likely that verse 34 is talking about God’s gift of the Spirit to us. We might put it this way: God does not measure out the Spirit to us in limited amounts; he gives us the fullness of the Spirit. What does this image of God’s unlimited gift of the Spirit say to you? Verse 36 tells us how to respond and also tells us what happens when we do. What does verse 36 say? Faith is not simply the statement of some special words. It is not just the acceptance of certain ideas with our mind or intellect. It is the commitment of our will to put God first. How does that help us understand why John always links belief with obedience? In verse 36, John uses the word “wrath” in a manner similar to the way he used the word “darkness” to describe the experience of those who do not enter into Jesus’s light and life. The term “wrath” is used frequently in the Old Testament to describe the Jewish people’s experience of God’s judgment when they are disobeying him. God is not subject to human emotions such as anger or vindictiveness, but there are consequences when people are separated from God by their own choices. When John talks about the “wrath” of God in verse 36, he is using an Old Testament concept that described the suffering that God’s people endured when they persisted in disobeying God. God does not have human emotions such as anger or vindictiveness, but choosing the darkness comes with its own consequences. In verse 36, John is trying to make the point that the choices that people make, either for or against Jesus, have eternal consequences. What does this verse say to you? In verse 35, John says explicitly for the first time that the Father loves the Son. Moreover, the Father has handed everything over to the Son (which builds on John 1:3 where John said that all things came to be through him). What difference does it make in your life, knowing that Jesus Christ holds all things in his hands? How might that affect your faith in Jesus? Take a step back and consider this: There are 2 ways to respond to the presence of God in our lives. The way of John the Baptist accepts what God is trying to do and does not fight it. This approach trusts that God is working for good in our lives and does not try to dictate what God should do. The way of darkness rejects what God is trying to do and seeks its own way. At some point in our lives, we experience a moment when we are called to make the biggest decision of our lives: Whose way will we follow? Are we going to follow Jesus and live in his light, or are we going to follow our desires and live in the darkness? Even after we have crossed that divide and chosen to follow Jesus, we still face many moments in our lives when we are tempted to take a small step toward the darkness, toward carrying out our own will in opposition to God’s will. What practices have you adopted or could you adopt in your life that would help you reject the temptation to embrace earthly desires, such as jealousy (which John the Baptist faced) or greed or lust or anger, so that you can keep your focus on abiding every moment in the light of Christ? What practices can help you resist when those temptations come? 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

How many times must I forgive someone who does something wrong to me over and over again?  How is God a model for the answer? Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 18:21-35 How many times must I forgive someone who does something wrong to me over and over again? How is God a model for the answer? Lawrence W. Ladd (fl. 1865–1895). Parable of the King and His Servants . Circa 1880. Cropped. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC. Public domain, via Smithsonian American Art Museum, https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/parable-king-and-his-servants-14161 . Tom Faletti June 29, 2025 Matthew 18:21-35 Forgiving others; giving and receiving mercy In this parable, Jesus tells a story that has multiple layers. But it starts with a question from Peter. What does Peter ask Jesus and what is he really a sking? Let’s remember the context for this parable. In the previous passage, Jesus has just said that if your brother sins against you, you should approach your brother about it; and if your brother listens to you, you will have regained a brother. But Peter is thinking ahead. He is saying to himself: Suppose my brother apologizes and admits he was wrong, and I forgive him; but then he goes and does it again. How many times do I have to forgive him? What is Jesus’s initial answer? Jesus says either 77 times or 70-times-7 times, signaling a number larger than one would try to count: an unlimited number of times. Here is why scholars disagree as to whether Jesus said (70 plus 7) times or (70 times 7) times. In English, we have a word for two times (twice) and a word for 3 times (thrice), but we don’t have words beyond that. In Greek, there is a word formation that can be used for any number: five-times, seven-times, ten-times, etc. Peter uses that word formation to ask, Seven-times? Jesus uses the same word formation with seventy (seventy-times) and then follows it with the word seven. So in the Greek, Jesus’s answer is: Not seven-times, but seventy-times seven. Is “seventy-times seven” equivalent to our “seventy-seven” (i.e., seventy and seven, 77)? Or is it equivalent to our seventy times seven (490)? Scholars don’t agree on the answer. But the specific number isn’t the point. The key is that it is a large number. How do you think Jesus wants Peter to interpret Jesus’s answer? Is he saying Peter can count 77 times (or 490 times) and then stop forgiving, or is he saying something else? What is the point of Jesus’s answer? Jesus may be remembering an exchange in Genesis 4:23-24. In Genesis 4:15, God says, “If anyone kills Cain, vengeance will be taken against him sevenfold” or “seven times as much.” In 4:24, Lamech says, “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, / then Lamech [will be avenged] seventy-sevenfold.” The Jews did not have a word for infinity, and seven was seen as a number representing perfection, so seventy-seven might have suggested double-perfection, unlimited perfection – or in this case, unlimited revenge. Jesus turns it on its head, using the concept of seventy-seven for unlimited forgiveness. What does this exchange say to us? What does it say to the church? This interaction between Peter and Jesus follows immediately after the instructions about how to deal with someone in the church who is doing something wrong, and the giving of the binding and loosing power to the church. How are the previous passages and this passage related? Jesus tells a parable to bring his point to life, and he chooses numbers that make it extreme. We miss his extreme exaggeration in the translations. What happens in the first part of the parable? What does the king do, what does the slave request, and how does the king respond? Although many translations say “servant,” Matthew uses the Greek word for a slave ( doulos ), not the word for a servant ( diakonos ). At the time of Christ, perhaps 20% or more of all the people in the Roman Empire were slaves. Slaves in the Roman Empire often performed very high-level jobs with a great deal of responsibility, unlike the situation in the American and European colonial slavery systems. In the second part of the parable, what does the slave do, what does the fellow slave request, and how does the first slave respond? In a parable, the key elements of the story stand for something else of a spiritual nature. Parables often use an everyday human situation as a metaphor for a spiritual truth about God or God’s interaction with people. In this parable, who does the king represent? Jesus tells this parable when Peter asks how many times he must forgive someone. Matthew is trying to use Jesus’s teachings to guide his community in how it should handle conflicts. Considering that context, who does the first slave stand for? In our own lives, who does the first slave stand for? The slave owes 10,000 talents. A talent was worth 6,000 denarii, where a denarius was roughly a day’s wage for a laborer ( The New Oxford Annotated Bible , Matt. 18:24 fn., p. 1773). This means that the value of one talent was the value of nearly 20 years of wages for a common laborer or soldier. If we translate that value to our time, the value of one talent, translated to the wages of low-skilled workers in the United States today, would be somewhere between $275,000 and $600,000 (as of 2025; the range is so wide because different jurisdictions have widely varying minimum wages). But this slave owed 10,000 talents . That is a sum of money comparable to something like $5 billion today. How does the meaning of this story change when you understand that the first slave owed $5 billion in today’s economic terms and was forgiven? What does the forgiveness of such an enormous sum say to us? The second slave owed 100 denarii. A denarius was the standard wage for a day’s work for a common laborer ( The New Oxford Annotated Bible , Matt. 18:28 fn., p. 1773). In terms of the minimum wage scale in the United States in 2025, 100 denarii would be somewhere between $5,800 and $12,000. The second slave owed something like $10,000 in today’s economic terms. When you understand that, you realize that the debt was not trivial, even though it was tiny compared to the first slave’s debt. What does the king expect the first slave to do, when he is owed $10,000? Now remember the context for this parable: Jesus is talking about forgiving others who have hurt us. Even when the offense is big, what is he telling Peter and us to do? According to the parable, why should we forgive others? What happens to the first slave? What do his fellow slaves do, and what does his master do? Recall from our work in Matthew 13:1-23 that there is a difference between a parable and an allegory: “A parable is not an allegory; an allegory is a story in which every possible detail has an inner meaning; but an allegory has to be read and studied : a parable is heard . We must be very careful not to make allegories of the parables, but to remember that they were designed to make one stabbing truth flash out at a man the moment he heard it” (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2 , p. 63). This parable is not a theological exposition on how God judges people. Jesus is describing what an ordinary, human, perhaps cruel and sinful king would do. In that human scenario of a king, the slave might be tortured for two reasons: to get the truth out of him as to where he is hiding the money he claims he does not have; and perhaps to extort payment from family members who would not want their loved one tortured. God doesn’t act like that. But we have to ask: How do you think God deals with people who fail to show mercy, and why? Why might it be impossible to live with God in heaven if you do not forgive others? How is forgiveness a fundamental characteristic of God, making it impossible to be like him and live with him if we lack that characteristic? Are there other Scriptures that echo this teaching that God does not forgive those who do not forgive others? Yes. Consider these passages: Matthew 6:12,14-15 (forgive us our trespasses; if you do not forgive, neither will your Father). Matthew 7:1-2 (with the judgment you make, you will be judged). Mark 11:25 (when you stand praying, forgive, so that your Father may forgive you). Luke 6:37-38 (forgive and you will be forgiven; with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you). James 2:13 (judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy). Read these passages on forgiveness. Why does God care so much about whether we are merciful and forgiving? We are called to be like God, and he is merciful and forgiving. We owe God a big debt that he has chosen to forgive. Yet we are often harsh and unforgiving toward those who sin against us, as the slave is harsh and unforgiving toward those who owe him money. God wants us to be like him. In Matt. 18:35, Jesus tells us to forgive “from the heart.” What do those extra words “from the heart” mean, and why are they important? When have you forgiven someone who has hurt you, when it might have been difficult? How did it happen? What difference did it make? What does this parable suggest about how we should deal with those who sin against us? What is this passage calling you to do differently, or how is it calling you to think in a different way? Now let’s connect this parable to the previous passage about dealing with someone who has done something wrong to us. If we take this parable to heart and apply it to the cases where we have been sinned against, how often would we be likely to take an offender before the entire local Christian community? How would Jesus want us to deal with situations where we think someone has done something wrong to us? Consider again Peter’s original question: How many times must I forgive someone who sins against me? What do you think Jesus’s response is? Take a step back and consider this: Just because a person is a Christian doesn’t mean they find it easy to take Jesus’s teachings about forgiveness to heart. According to a survey of Christians conducted by the Barna Group in 2019, 27% of practicing Christians can identify someone who they don’t want to forgive, and 23% can identify a person they can’t forgive ( Barna Group ). The offenses against them may have been great, so I am not judging them. Yet forgiveness appears to be a fundamental attribute of God that he wants us to embrace. For many people, merely receiving a command from God to forgive does not make it easy to do so. Perhaps we can become more like God in this attribute if we try to think like God and be like God all the time, not just when we hit a point where it is difficult to forgive. It might also help if we can see the invitation to be like God as a great privilege, rather than as an order or a requirement that we must fulfill in order to be forgiven or to get to heaven. God has sent each of us a personal invitation to be like him and to receive his Spirit to empower us so that we can think, speak, and act in ways that are in accord with his character. It is a gift to get to be part of Team Jesus: the people who are invited to live, moment by moment, in the presence of God. How can we embrace that opportunity more fully? How does it feel to be invited to live a life that is always united with God? Is there someone you struggle to forgive? How would Jesus like to help you forgive that person? What is one step you can take to allow God to further transform your mind and heart so that you are more like him in everything you think, say, and do? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Living parables: Incidents in Jesus’s ministry that tell a bigger story, including the feeding of the 5,000. [Matthew 13:54-58; 14:1-12; 14:13-21] Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 13:54-14:21 Living parables: Incidents in Jesus’s ministry that tell a bigger story, including the feeding of the 5,000. The feeding of the multitude. Hagia Sophia, Trabzon, Türkiye. Late 13th century fresco. Photo by Dosseman (Dick Osseman), 6 Sept. 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trabzon_Hagia_Sophia_Feeding_of_the_thousands_93_080.jpg . Tom Faletti June 6, 2025 In chapter 13, Matthew gathered together a broad group of Jesus’s parables. Now, from Matthew 13:54 through chapter 14, Matthew gathers together some of Jesus’s actions that might be thought of as living parables : stories that reveal something bigger than just what happens in the story. Matthew 13:54-58 Rejection in his hometown of Nazareth What does verse 54 tell us that Jesus does? How do the people react? At root, what is the reason Jesus is not accepted in Nazareth? What is beneath their doubt? Is it jealousy? Insistence on upholding the accepted social hierarchy? Something else? Do you think the proverb quoted in verse 57 is true most of the time, or only occasionally? Explain. Verse 58 says Jesus did not do many miracles there. Why? Read Mark 6:5-6 , which provides a bit more detail. Why do you think that some people who were sick were able to be healed by Jesus? Matthew 13:58 says that Jesus did not do many miracles there, but Mark 6:5 says that Jesus was not able to do many miracles. Most scholars believe Mark’s Gospel was written first, and that Matthew drew from Mark. There are a variety of places where it appears that Matthew made edits to Mark’s words as he incorporated them into his Gospel. In this case, perhaps he did not want to imply that Jesus could be limited. Do you think the reason so few miracles were done was because Jesus did not want to heal people who didn’t believe in him, or because their lack of faith did not provide the right conditions for him to act? Explain. How might we be preventing God from acting mightily in our lives due to our lack of faith? How is this reaction of the people of Nazareth a living example of the parable of the sower and the soils? If we take this story as a living parable illustrating a bigger point for the early church and for us, what might that point be? Matthew 14:1-12 The death of John the Baptist Herod the tetrarch was a son of Herod the Great (the one who tried to have Jesus killed as a baby) and inherited one fourth of Herod’s territory – including Galilee. What happened to John the Baptist? Why had John criticized Herod? Why was John the Baptist killed? According to Jewish historian Josephus, Herod had John killed because he was afraid that John had become so popular that he could start a rebellion (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2 , pp. 103-104). Is that plausible? From Herod’s perspective, why was John killed? From Herodias’s perspective, why was John killed? From Salome’s perspective, why was John killed? From the perspective of the early Christians, why was John killed? From Herod’s perspective, the matter is political and personal, and eventually touches on his ego and his social standing. From Herodias’s perspective, the matter is personal and also touches on her legitimacy as Herod’s wife, so it is vindication. From Salome’s perspective, it is something she can do for her mother, and also possibly for power. For the early church, John’s death is a passing of the torch and is also a foreshadowing. John was committed to speaking the truth and died honorably for it. Herod was committed to upholding a foolish vow even though it meant an innocent man would die. Staying true to your word doesn’t make you honorable if it means doing something wrong. How do you know when you should stick with a commitment? Should you ever let a commitment go unfulfilled? If we follow Jesus’s command to not swear by anything (Matt. 5:34-37), we will never be in a position where we have to choose between going back on an oath or doing something evil. Some people think Herod was experiencing guilt for what he had done, and that is why he imagined that Jesus might be John, raised back to life. John the Baptist was Jesus’s cousin. They probably had times together when they were growing up. How might Jesus have reacted to John’s execution? According to John 1:35-42, some of the disciples started out as followers of John. How might they have reacted to John’s death? If this story is a living parable illustrating a bigger point for the early church and for us, what might that point be? Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus feeds 5,000 We use the shorthand phrase that Jesus fed 5,000 people, but verse 21 tells us that it was 5,000 men, plus the woman and children who accompanied them; so it was actually far more than 5,000 people. Why do you think Jesus withdrew to a deserted place? How do you think he felt when the people found him so quickly? When Jesus saw the crowd, he had “compassion” for them. What does this say to you? What happens in this story? What does this story tell us about Jesus? What does this story tell us about the crowds of people? They were focused on wanting to be with Jesus, so focused that they chased after him and didn’t pack their bags first. They may not have always been thinking clearly, but they were orderly and open to God. What does it tell us about the disciples? They were caring and practical, even though they didn’t have a miracle in mind. They didn’t know Jesus would care so much. They were instruments of God’s miraculous work. Put yourself in this story. Where would you have been, and what would you have been thinking about what happened? What do you think God wants us to learn from the fact that there were so many leftovers? What do you think God wants us to learn from the fact that so many people were fed? What does this overall story say to you? Why do you think God doesn’t multiply food all the time? Hundreds of millions of people go hungry every day. Nine million people die from hunger every year, including 3 million children. Why do you think God doesn’t feed them all, as Jesus fed everyone here? Note that although God doesn’t fix everything for us, he always welcomes what we bring to him and seeks to transform it to do more – when they said they had 5 loaves and 2 fish, Jesus said, “Bring them here to me” (Matt. 14:18). This story is so central to story of Jesus that it is the only miracle (other than the Resurrection) that is told in all 4 gospels. Christians of all stripes see this story as far more than just a story about a good thing happening to 5,000+ people. It illustrates much bigger points about God and our relationship with God. If this story is a living parable illustrating a bigger point for the early church and for us, what might that point be? From this story, people often draw lessons about the power of God, God’s provision for us, God’s love for us, how much can be done when we take what little have and hand it over to God to what he wants with it, etc. There are some bigger points here as well: First, this story is an anticipation of the Eucharist (Communion), through which God feeds us spiritually today. The language in Matthew 14:19, where Jesus “looked up to heaven” (perhaps in prayer), “blessed and broke the loaves,” and “gave them to the disciples,” is very similar to the actions he took at the Last Supper when he instituted the Eucharist/Holy Communion (Matthew 26:26). What connections would you make between this miracle and the Eucharist/Holy Communion? Second, it can be interpreted as a foreshadowing of the eternal banquet which we will enjoy with God forever in heaven (see Matt. 8:11; Rev. 19:9). What connections would you make between this miracle and the heavenly banquet God is preparing for us? Take a step back and consider this: The Bible shows that God loves situations where lots of people are fed: We see this in the scenes where Jesus feeds thousands of people (Matt. 15:29-39 as well as Matt. 14:13-21). We see it in Jesus’s imagery of heaven as a place where feasting is the norm (Matt. 8:11; Matt. 26:29; Luke 22:29-30; Matt. 22:1-14). We see it in John’s vision of heaven (Rev. 19:9). We see it in the Old Testament, in God’s provision for the Israelites in the dessert (Ex. 16), in the celebration of the Passover feast (Ex. 12:1-28; Num. 9:1-14; Deut. 16:1-8), and in prophecies of the future (Isaiah 25:6). Clearly, God loves feasts and wants us to associate good eating with him. How can you make every meal a reminder of God’s love and a celebration of God’s provision for us? Bibliography See Matthew - Bibliography at https://www.faithexplored.com/matthew/bibliography . Copyright © 2025, Tom Faletti (Faith Explored, www.faithexplored.com ). This material may be reproduced in whole or in part without alteration, for nonprofit use, provided such reproductions are not sold and include this copyright notice or a similar acknowledgement that includes a reference to Faith Explored and www.faithexplored.com. See www.faithexplored.com for more materials like this. Previous Matthew List Next

Are there any reasons why God would not make the prevention of suffering his highest priority? Previous Next Table of Contents If God Could Stop Suffering, Why Wouldn't He? Are there any reasons why God would not make the prevention of suffering his highest priority? Tom Faletti (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

Two reactions to Jesus: disingenuous skepticism and genuine commitment. Previous Matthew List Next Matthew 12:38-50 Two reactions to Jesus: disingenuous skepticism and genuine commitment. Image provided by Wix. Tom Faletti September 11, 2024 Matthew 12:38-42 The scribes and Pharisees ask for a sign The scribes and Pharisees request a “sign” from Jesus. What do they mean by a “sign”? They are looking for something dramatic. What do you think of their request for a sign. Was that a reasonable request? After he had done so much, it is hard to understand how they possibly could have needed something that they didn’t already have. Compare Matthew 11:2-6 to this passage. What kinds of “signs” has Jesus already done? What does the desire of these scribes and Pharisees to see a “sign” tell you about them? Jesus describes the people of his time as an “evil and adulterous generation.” He is using “adulterous” as a spiritual metaphor. The Old Testament uses that metaphor – see, for example, Jer. 3:6-11 and Hosea 3:1-5. When Jesus uses the metaphor of adultery, what is he saying about the scribes and Pharisees and those who share their skepticism about him? When Jesus says he will be in the earth for 3 days and 3 nights, what is he hinting at as the sign he will give? What is the story of Jonah? To whom was Jonah supposed to be speaking the word of the Lord when he ended up instead in the belly of the whale? What is the “sign of Jonah”? How does Jonah’s story prefigure Jesus? Jonah’s survival after three days in the whale prefigures Jesus’s resurrection. Also, Jonah’s calling to preach to the Gentiles (Ninevah) prefigures Jesus’s ministry to Gentiles, which we already saw in Matthew 8:5-13 and will see again in Matthew 15:21-38. In what way was Jonah’s ministry a sign of love for the Ninevites, and how is that also a prefiguring of Jesus? God loves those who are spiritually distant from him. He cared enough about the Ninevites to send Jonah to them and Jesus cares enough about the scribes and Pharisees to continue to engage them and call them to repentance. That the message conveys both God’s love and his call to repentance is a sign that the message is true. Why will the people of Nineveh condemn Jesus’s generation? The story of Solomon and the queen of Sheba appears in 1 Kings 10:1-13. She comes to Solomon with questions. She wants to find out if he is as wise as he is reputed to be. When she sees him in action, she recognizes his great wisdom and is deeply impressed by him. Why will the queen of Sheba condemn Jesus’s generation? Nineveh and Sheba were Gentile lands, not Jewish territory. Jesus says these non-Jews will judge the Jews of Jesus’s time. How does that add additional nuance and effect to Jesus’s denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees? Sometimes, skeptics in our time seem to have “signs” they want from God before they might be ready to believe. What might be some of those kinds of “signs” skeptics want in our society today? Sometimes even people in the church seem to be skeptical about God’s role in their lives, always wanting more proof that God is really present and at work. What kinds of “signs” do Christians sometimes want from Jesus in our time, before they commit more fully to him? How can you try to gauge whether skepticism is genuine or disingenuous? In what ways does our generation have advantages that might make us particularly worthy of judgment when we do not respond appropriately to Jesus? Luke tells the story slightly differently (Luke 11:29-30). He leaves out the 3 days and 3 nights part and says that Jonah (himself) was a sign to the people of Nineveh and Jesus (himself) is a sign to this generation. If Jesus is the sign, what is he a sign of? How is our generation missing that Jesus is the sign we seek? Matthew 12:43-45 An empty house This passage should not be analyzed primarily as a literal description of literal evil spirits. It is a metaphor. Recall that Matthew brings together related things Jesus said that he might not have said all at the same time. Matthew is telling us about discussing involving evil spirits, so he places these words here. Jesus referred to the scribes and Pharisees as an “evil generation” in verse 39 and he repeats that phrase here. The focus is on the scribes and Pharisees, not on some unidentified evil spirits; the evil spirits are a metaphor. In Luke, shortly after the discussion of Jonah (Luke 11:29-32), Jesus tells a Pharisee, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness” (Luke 11:39 NRSV). That is another metaphor to get to the same point, which is about the things the scribes and Pharisees are focused on. In what ways is the “house” of the Pharisees “empty, swept, and put in order” (Matthew 12:44)? In what ways is the life of the Pharisees “clean” and yet still evil? In what ways are we at risk of “cleaning” our “house” yet leaving it empty and exposed to bad influences instead of filling it with Jesus? Does modern Christianity focus more on sweeping out sins than on what should take the place of those sins? Explain. Matthew 12:46-50 “Who are my mother and brothers?” Matthew has been leading us through a long segment of his Gospel that has focused on opposition to Jesus and the fundamental choice that each person must make. Now he brings it home. Where are Jesus’s family – his mother and brothers – as he has been contending with the Pharisees? Protestants take the word “brothers” literally. The Catholic Church has always maintained that Jesus’s mother Mary was a virgin throughout her life and that “brothers” here is to be interpreted as “relatives”. There is one theory that would make them step-brothers – sons of Joseph from a prior marriage; but there are also arguments for considering them to be his cousins. No one other than Jesus is ever referred to in the Gospels as a child of Mary. Two of the men referred to as “brothers” of Jesus in the Gospels have the same names as the sons of another “Mary” named in Matthew 27:56, whom John 19:25 suggests might be the sister of Jesus’s mother. Catholics also argue that when Jesus was hanging on the cross, he would not have entrusted Mary to John if she had other sons. And in both the Old and New Testaments, “brother” is used for a variety of relationships, figurative and literal, especially because the Hebrew did not have a word for “cousin” ( Ignatius Catholic Study Bible , Matthew 12:46 fn., pp. 29-30). This is not a question that can be resolved in a small-group Bible Study. If different members of the group disagree, it is best to note that the Body of Christ is divided on this question and that we should not let it divide us from learning together from the Word of God. We don’t need to resolve that issue to gain important lessons from what Jesus says here. What question does Jesus ask, and how does he answer the question? According to Jesus, who are his mother and brothers? What do they do that makes them his mother and brother (or sister)? Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven – i.e., whoever does the will of God – is a brother or sister of Jesus. What opportunity does this present to us? What does this tell us about the family of God? What does genuine commitment to Jesus look like in our day? What challenge does this passage present to you? What might God be asking you to do that you are currently not doing? Let’s look back over this entire chapter. There is a progression in the Pharisees’ opposition to Jesus. They move from: watching him with suspicion (12:1-8, where they object to the disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath), to trying to entrap him (12:9-14, where they ask him if a cure at that moment would be permissible), to plotting to kill him (12:14), to impugning his character so that there would be a pretext for eliminating him (12:22-32, when they accuse him of acting by the power of Satan), to demanding a sign to discredit him (12:38), as though he hasn’t already provided a multitude of signs. Looking over the whole chapter, how does Jesus respond to the growing opposition to him? My Bible Study group saw all of the following: confidence, determination, preparedness, explanation, refutation, defiance, warning, and invitation. You may see other things. Take a step back and consider this: St. Francis of Assisi had an interesting perspective on Jesus’s statement on his mother and brothers, and he connected it to Matthew 5:16, where Jesus tells us to let our light shine. Francis said that “we are brothers, when we do the will of His Father, who is in heaven (cf. Mt 12:50); mothers when we bear Him in our heart and body (1 Cor 6:20) by love and by a pure and sincere conscience; we give birth to Him through holy work, which should shine upon others as an example (cf. Mt 5:16)” (Francis of Assisi, “Letter to the Faithful II,” . The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi, Parts I & II , translated from the Latin Critical Edition by Fr. K. Esser, O.F.M., http://www.liturgies.net/saints/francis/writings.htm ). The first part of this quote is a restatement of what Jesus said in Matthew 12:50: we are brothers of Jesus when we do the Father’s will. But in what sense might we also be Jesus’s mother? Francis offers a beautiful, poetic insight: First, like a mother , we bear (i.e., carry) Jesus in our heart and body, like a pregnant woman carries her child, with love and a pure heart. Second, we figuratively give birth to Jesus when we do the “holy work” that shines the light of Christ to others. When we give a tangible embodiment of Christ to others when we let Christ show forth in our actions. Jesus is very clear that it is our doing the will of God that makes us his mother and brothers, and Francis sees us doing that not just as an act of obedience but as an expression of love that gives of ourselves to bring the work of God to life – to give birth to God’s work in our world. How might your perspective and attitude change if you saw your willingness to do the will of God, your willingness to do the work God calls you to, as being an opportunity to give life to God’s work, to give birth to something new by your work? Is there somewhere right now where you need to make a decision to do the will or work of God in some way? In what way might God be calling you to give birth to some new action on that will allow God’s light to shine through 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

Members of Faith Explored can post comments and questions on the Faith Explored blog. Subscribing (free) gives you an email notification when new posts are added. Thank You for Being a Member! We appreciate you! Members can comment on posts and asks questions, which can help you and others grow in their faith. If you have not already subscribed to receive email notifications when we post new articles, please do so. Receiving notice of new material will help you get the most out of our website . Subscribe to receive email notifications of new posts What Would You Like to Do Now? Explore a Bible study to grow in your faith: Matthew Philemon John Hope 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians Mary Read an article on how to apply the Bible to everyday life: Who Was the First to Say Jesus is God? The answer might surprise you. The first person to explicitly call Jesus “God” was someone who is better remembered for his doubt, not for his belief. But he is the first person every quoted calling Jesus “God” – and it happened 1,992 years ago. We Know the End of Our Story (That’s What Easter Tells Us) One of my students asked me, “Mr. Faletti, how do you stay so calm?” I responded that “I know the end of the story.” “What do you mean?” the students asked. "How do you know the end of the story?" The answer begins with Easter. Jesus’s Death and the American Experience of Injustice Christians use the Stations of the Cross to explore the meaning of Jesus’s crucifixion and death. Explore how his suffering connects with the suffering of those who face injustice and racism in America today. Then ask yourself, “How can I take up my cross in response?” March Madness and the Pursuit of Excellence In junior high, I used to shoot 100 free throws a day but could never make more than 57 shots. Elite athletes pour their heart and soul into the pursuit of excellence. What can we learn from them as we pursue our goals? How to Deal with Difficult People When a coworker, teammate, church member, student, or family member is not doing the right thing, what should we do? It is tempting to respond with anger. This expert on human relationships offers a different approach that is more effective in dealing with difficult people. Take a look at what to do – and what not to do. Can an Awe-Inspiring Rocket Launch Bring Glory to God? Last week’s SpaceX rocket launch was awe-inspiring because engineers and scientists spent years using their gifts and talents to achieve an amazing goal. When we use the curiosity, creativity, and intellect that God placed in us at our creation, to do good, it is awesome and can bring glory to God, even if that is not our intention. Image at top  Mateus Campos Felipe, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Oher images provided by Wix.

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Jesus tells us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. How does your celebration of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist/Holy Communion reflect this teaching? [John 6:51-59] Previous Next John List John 6:48-59 Jesus tells us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. How does your celebration of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist/Holy Communion reflect this teaching? Image by Sylvain Brison, provided by Unsplash via Wix. Tom Faletti February 22, 2026 Read John 6:48-59 Jesus calls us to eat his flesh and drink his blood In verse 48, Jesus repeats, “I am the bread of life,” which he said in verse 35. In verse 35, it marks a transition to new material, and it may be a transition in verse 48 also. However, before turning to that new material where he commands us to eat his flesh and drink his blood, Jesus bridges the two sections by summarizing what he said in the previous passage. What does Jesus say in verses 49, 50, and the first half of 51 that he has already said in verses 27-47? Why does he emphasize these things? Why are they so important? Up to this point (through the first half of verse 51), most of Christendom is in general agreement about what Jesu is saying in this chapter. The various denominations within Christianity all see verses 35-47 as an invitation to believe in Jesus, who was sent down from heaven by the Father, and to receive eternal life through him. The major disagreements begin with the second half of verse 51 (John 6:51b) and what follows it. Different Interpretations of John 6:51-59 The Christian churches diverge on how to interpret verses 51-59. Is this passage merely saying in a different way what Jesus said in the previous passage, or is Jesus making a new point about what we call the Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion/the Eucharist? More specifically, is this just another way of calling us to believe in Jesus, or is it calling us to embrace the real, literal presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist/Holy Communion? There is a wide range of views: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that in this passage Jesus is speaking literally and spelling out the nature of the Eucharist/Holy Communion: namely, that what is received in communion in a Catholic Mass is literally the flesh and blood of the risen and glorified Christ, even though they remain under the appearances of bread and wine. Catholics call this “transubstantiation.” The Orthodox Churches teach that the consecrated bread and wine in our Eucharistic celebrations become the body and blood of Christ and that there is a literal transformation of the bread and wine, but they do not try to define in dogma the mystery of that transformation and they do not accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of “transubstantiation.” Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are “truly and substantially present” in the consecrated bread and wine but that it is still bread and wine. Episcopalians believe that Christ’s body and blood become “really present,” without any need for the consecrated elements to stop being bread and wine. Most evangelical churches reject the idea that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ. They see the communion service as purely memorial in nature and interpret John 6:51-59 as figurative or symbolic language that calls us to be united to Christ spiritually by faith. They say Jesus is telling us to feed on him in a spiritual sense and incorporate him spiritually into all we are. They argue that in John 6:63 Jesus signals that he wasn’t speaking of literal flesh and blood. There is also a debate over how this passage relates to other passages in the Bible. To many scholars, there is a clear connection between (1) what Jesus teaches in John 6:51-59, (2) the Last Supper as described in the Synoptic Gospels, (3) what the apostle Paul describes uses similar language in 1 Corinthians 10:16, and (4) what we celebrate in our time as the Eucharist/Holy Communion/Lord’s Supper. Some evangelical scholars deny that John 6 has a connection to the Last Supper, arguing that John’s material should be read as being in chronological order and the Last Supper hasn’t happened when Jesus says these things. Other evangelicals do think these passages are related. For example: In the International Bible Commentary , David J. Ellis says that the connection to the Lord’s Supper is “inescapable” and that “the teaching of the Lord Jesus” in this passage “can only be fully understood in the light of the feast which He inaugurated” – although Ellis says the flesh and blood language is only “metaphorical” (Ellis, p. 1244). In Dr. Lloyd J. Ogilvie’s Communicator’s Commentary Series , Dr. Roger L. Fredrickson argues that although the “primary purpose of these verses is to teach us how to feed on the Son of Man, to take Him into our innermost being by faith,” this teaching is also about “the meaning of the Lord’s Supper.” He suggests that there is “a particular sense in which Christ’s presence is made real among His people when we eat the bread and drink the wine” and that it “goes beyond a remembrance of Christ and His sacrifice” (Fredrickson, p. 138). For those who would like to explore this further, some brief background reading might be useful. In around AD 155, Justin Martyr summarized the thinking in the early church about the practice of the Lord’s Supper (which he called the “Eucharist”) in his First Apology , where he described the Eucharist as “the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus” (Justin, read paragraphs 65-66). Evangelicals, Protestants, and even Catholics who wonder why Catholics don’t consider this a form of cannibalism might find this article helpful: “ Are Catholics Cannibals? ” (Staples). An example of how evangelicals present their disagreement with transubstantiation can be found here: “ What Did Jesus Mean in John 6:54 ”. Notice that this entire debate is over what cannot be seen with our physical eyes. Protestants and Catholics agree that the elements at communion have the appearance of bread and wine and that if you examined them under a microscope with the most advanced scientific instruments, you would see the molecules and cell structures that constitute bread and wine. Evangelicals and Catholics agree that the bread and wine (or grape juice) used in an evangelical church is only bread and wine. The disagreement is over whether the bread and wine used in a Catholic Mass literally becomes the body and blood of the glorified Christ even though it retains the appearance of bread and wine – and whether that transubstantiation is what Jesus meant by what he said in John 6:51-59. What is your experience of communion? Without judging anyone else’s views, what does it mean to you when Jesus says, “The bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (verse 51)? What do you think Jesus is saying in the rest of this passage (verses 52-59), and how does it relate to your celebration of the Eucharist/Holy Communion? In verse 52, the Jewish religious leaders object to what Jesus is saying. Why would this be objectionable to them? It sounds like nonsense or cannibalism to them. Moreover, in a moment, Jesus is going to add that we are called to drink his blood, and the drinking of blood was prohibited under Jewish Law. Jesus knows that they are troubled by his words and that it sounds to them like cannibalism. Yet he doesn’t soften his language. Instead, he restates his point 4 more times, even more intensely and explicitly, in verses 43, 44, 45, and 46. For Protestants: Why do you think Jesus does not rephrase it, if he isn’t actually saying that we are called to eat his flesh and drink his blood? For Catholics: Why do you think Jesus makes such a big point about this? In verse 54, Jesus says that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood have eternal life, and he will raise them up on the last day. In verse 56, Jesus says that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood remain in him, and he remains in them. In verse 57, he says that they will have life because of him. In verse 58, he says they will live forever. Which of these ways that he describes it is the most meaningful to you, and why? Eating and drinking are essential to our physical life. Jesus is essential to our spiritual life. Jesus wants us to be as dependent on him and connected to him as we are to our physical food and drink. How can we live our lives in a manner that is as dependent on Jesus as our bodies are dependent on food and drink? How can your celebration of communion help you to become more fully united with Christ so that you can live a life more fully dedicated to serving him and him alone? John begins the chapter about the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus as the Bread of Life by saying, “The Passover feast was near” (John 6:4). Why would he choose to make a point of that? How does this chapter about Jesus as the Bread of Life connect to the Passover? Jesus made the connection between himself and the unleavened bread of the Passover at the Last Supper, when he said: “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26) and shared the bread with his disciples. The Jewish celebration of Passover remembered that the Israelites were “passed over” when the angel of death saw the blood of lambs on the lintels of their doors. The Jewish celebration of Passover was immediately followed by the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which celebrated the Israelites’ hasty journey out of Egypt. Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for us. John notes in verse 59 that this dialogue took place in the synagogue in Capernaum. What stands out in your mind as you envision Jesus having this discussion in the synagogue with scribes and Pharisees who worship God there? Take a step back and consider this: People on all sides of the transubstantiation debate call attention to two sermons given by Augustine in the early 400s. In what is now known as his Sermon 227, he spoke on Easter morning to newly initiated Christians who had been baptized the night before. Here is how he began that sermon: I had promised those of you who have just been baptized a sermon to explain the sacrament of the Lord’s table, which you can see right now, and which you shared in last night. You ought to know what you have received, what you are about to receive, what you ought to receive every day. That bread which you can see on the altar, sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That cup, or rather what the cup contains, sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ. It was by means of these things that the Lord Christ wished to present us with his body and blood, which he shed for our sake for the forgiveness of sins. If you receive them well, you are yourselves what you receive. You see, the apostle [Paul] says, We, being many, are one loaf, one body (1 Cor 10: 17). That’s how he explained the sacrament of the Lord’s table; one loaf, one body, is what we all are, many though we be. (Augustine, Volume 6, p. 254 ) Augustine says that if you receive the body of Christ well (i.e., worthily), “you are . . . what you receive”; that is, when you receive the body of Christ, you are the body of Christ. Similarly, in his Sermon 272, which he delivered on Pentecost to newly initiated Christians, Augustine says: What you can see on the altar, you also saw last night; but what it was, what it meant, of what great reality it contained the sacrament, you had not yet heard. So what you can see, then, is bread and a cup; that’s what even your eyes tell you; but as for what your faith asks to be instructed about, the bread is the body of Christ, the cup the blood of Christ.... [Somebody might ask,] “How can bread be his body? And the cup, or what the cup contains, how can it be his blood?” The reason these things, brothers and sisters, are called sacraments is that in them one thing is seen, another is to be understood. What can be seen has a bodily appearance, what is to be understood provides spiritual fruit. So if you want to understand the body of Christ, listen to the apostle telling the faithful, You, though, are the body of Christ and its members (1 Cor 12:27). So if it’s you that are the body of Christ and its members, it’s the mystery meaning you that has been placed on the Lord’s table; what you receive is the mystery that means you. It is to what you are that you reply Amen , and by so replying you express your assent. What you hear, you see, is The body of Christ ? and you answer, Amen . So be a member of the body of Christ, in order to make that Amen true. (Augustine, Volume 7, p. 300 ) Augustine sees the consecratedbread on the communion table as the body of Christ and also sees us at the communion table as the body of Christ. This teaching of Augustine is sometimes paraphrased as: Be what you receive; receive what you are; that is: Be the body of Christ that you receive; receive the body of Christ that you are. In both sermons, Augustine goes on to urge his listeners to live in unity with one another. He argues that, as the bread is made from many grains that have become one loaf, and as the wine is made from many grapes that have become one cup, so too we must be one united body. It is a sad irony that the Eucharistic celebration that Augustine saw as a sacrament of unity has become a central point of division among the Christian denominations. How can you embrace the unity of the body of Christ in your celebration of communion? How can we strive for some level of unity with those who do not agree with us about the meaning and application of John 6:51-59? 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