Week 75: Matthew 1-13
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Monday, February 14 Matthew 1-2 Read & Listen Online Matthew 1 Read & Listen Online Matthew 2 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
1. Study the activities of the “angel of the Lord” recorded in Matthew 1-2. What do these activities of the angel tell us about God and His care for the Gospel and His people?
Tuesday, February 15 Matthew 3-4 Read & Listen Online Matthew 3 Read & Listen Online Matthew 4 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
2. In a recent book, Discourses in Matthew: Jesus Teaches the Church (CPH, 2004), David P. Scaer contends that Matthew wrote his gospel to prepare early Jewish catechumens for Baptism and the Eucharist and that this gospel could serve a similar function in today’s church. What topics would you begin with if you were going to write a catechism for the church? After providing a bit of information regarding Jesus’ early life in chapters 1 and 2, what topics did Matthew introduce in Matthew 3-4? Summarize what Matthew says about these topics as you might express them when you witness to a person being introduced to the Christian faith.
Wednesday, February 16 Matthew 5-7 Read & Listen Online Matthew 5 Read & Listen Online Matthew 6 Read & Listen Online Matthew 7 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
3. Can’t you just hear the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the disciples, and all the other people who came across Jesus asking, “What do we do to live lives in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8)? Jesus sets out to answer this question in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). What ideas did He give for living in keeping with repentance in Matthew 5-6? Then pray for His help to live a life of repentance.
4. Taken by itself, Matthew 7:21 is a difficult passage to understand. Look at these similar passages: Matthew 12:50; Romans 2:13; James 1:22; and 1 John 3:18. What seems to be the message of these passages? Then read Psalm 14:3; 1 John 1:8; and Galatians 3:10-11. According to these passages, who will be saved? Matthew is warning his catechumens, and us, about the “false prophets” (Matthew 7:15) who do not live what they preach. Rather, Jesus wants them to trust in “the rock” (Matthew 7:24). What is that rock? See Matthew 5:17, 4:17; 1:21 and relate these passages to Matthew 7:21.
Thursday, February 17 Matthew 8-9 Read & Listen Online Matthew 8 Read & Listen Online Matthew 9 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
5. Count the miracles of Jesus recorded in Matthew 8-9. Why did Jesus do so many miracles in such a short amount of time? What was His concern? See Matthew 8:10, 26; 9:6, 13, 22, 28-29. If you had been there, as were the newly recruited disciples, heard His Sermon on the Mount and seen all this miracle activity, heard Him say, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,” and then in the next chapter listen to additional instruction, what would you conclude about what Jesus wants in His disciples? Pray for a rich supply of people who will preach and teach the Gospel.
Friday, February 18 Matthew 10-11 Read & Listen Online Matthew 10 Read & Listen Online Matthew 11 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
6. What question did John the Baptist ask Jesus (Matthew 11:2-3)? How is this same question phrased today? How did Jesus answer this question? What Scripture passages help answer this question? How might Christians respond today?
Saturday, February 19 Matthew 12-13 Read & Listen Online Matthew 12 Read & Listen Online Matthew 13 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
7. Look at each of the seven parables in Matthew 13. Where is Jesus in each parable? What does He do for His people in each one? What is the overall message of the parables for us?
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