Matthew, Hebrews, John

This section will explore the Gospels of Matthew and John, as well as the Epistle of Hebrews.

Matthew.jpgrical Context and Connections:
While many attribute the authorship of the Gospel of Matthew to a contemporary of Jesus (specifically Matthew the tax collector), scholars agree that the author of the text is unknown and that the name Matthew was connected to the text after it was origionally written. Matthew draws on stories from Mark (600 of the 678 verses), excluding some sections while adding others. The gospel of Matthew focuses on describing the events of Jesus' life, with a focus given to birth stories and the teaching style of Jesus (Borg, 213).

Written in a time of conflict, imediately following the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, this text presents the events of Jesus' life and execution in a hostile way. Matthew's views during the time of authorship impact the presentation of the events taking place historically.

Important Names:

 * Abraham & Sarah - ancestors
 * Isaiah & Jeremiah - Prophets


 * Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and "the wife of Uriah" - known as foreigners who has sexual liasons with Israelites. They pave the way to the birth of Jesus.


 * Rabbi Hillel - Jesus' elder contemporary. Offers impossible teachings to foster both good deeds and humility.


 * Pontius Pilate - infamous among Jews and Romans alike for his brutality and capricious rulership, is expressly cleared of responsibility for Jesus' death
 * Pilate's wife is granted the gift of prophecy, warning her husband to "have nothing to do with this innocent man"
 * Joseph of Arimathea - the man who burries Jesus after crucifixion


 * Judas Iscariot - wrote the most recent Gospel. Created a public stir. About the secret teachings he taught his disciples. A betrayer of Jesus.


 * King Melchizdek of Salem - The priest of the most high God
 * Esau - an immoral and godless person, sold his birthright for a single meal.

Structure/Events of Gospel:
Matthew is written in style simmilar to Greco-Roman Biographies (Ehrman, 78). The structure of Matthew serves to make numerous connections between Jesus and Moses. From his persecution at birth to the parallels between the Sermon on the Mount and Mt. Sinai, connections can be made between the two figures. "Jesus is a new Moses leading a new exodus from a new pharaoh into a new way of life" (Borg, 214).
 * Fivefold Structure
 * Identifies Jesus as the Messiah
 * Emphasizes Jesus' Jewish Heritage
 * Specific Geneology presented
 * Significance of 14
 * Birth
 * Divine Plan
 * The Holy Spirit (Ehrman, 81)
 * Fulfillment Citation: Jesus Fulfilling Scripture (Ehrman 81)
 * Persecution (Connection to Moses)
 * Reflection of "the five books of Pentateuch, the Torah, and the traditional division of Psalms" (Borg, 214).
 * Teachings and Miracles
 * The Law
 * Topics: Anger, Adultry, Divorce, Oaths, Retaliation, Enemies, Almsgiving, Prayer, Fasting, Treasures, The Sound Eye, Serving Two Masters, Worry, Judging Others, Profaning the Holy, Golden Rule, Self-deception, Forgiveness
 * Parables: The Narrow Gate, A Tree and Its Fruit, Sower, Weeds Among the Wheat, The Mustard Seed, Yeast, Lost Sheep, Two Sons, Wedding Banquet, Ten Bridesmaids, The Talents
 * Miracles
 * Healing
 * Stills the Storm
 * Exorcism
 * Walking on Water
 * Resurrection
 * Jesus Predicts His Fate
 * Final Days
 * Jesus as a Jew & Jewish Persecution
 * Important to consider context in which Matthew was composed
 * "Nowhere in the Gospel does Jesus condemn Jews for being Jews" (Ehrman, 90).
 * "Over the centuries, [Matthew] has been used for all kinds of malicious acts of anti-Semitism" (Ehrman, 90).
 * Betrayal of Jesus
 * Passover
 * Prayer in Gethsemane
 * Capture and Trial of Jesus
 * Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
 * Resurrection of Jesus

Key Concepts:

 * Sermon on the Mount
 * Purpose of the LawParables.jpg
 * Beatitudes
 * Golden Rule
 * Lord's Prayer
 * Jesus' teachings
 * Parables
 * Requirement to fulfill the law & his interpretations
 * Jesus and Moses
 * Parallels between actions
 * The name Matthew
 * Name assigned to the Gospel in the 2nd Century making it unlikely that the author is Matthew the tax collector, contemporary of Jesus.
 * The "Blood Curse"
 * "Notion that 'the Jews' were responsible for the death of Jesus" (Borg, 216).  Important to consider historical context of these claims.

Hebrews


 Author: Only God knows (but actually) 

''' Dating: The gospel of Hebrews or serman of Hebrews was written approximately during the 80’s And 90’s of the common era. '''

 Audience: Gentiles 

 Structure and Events 


 * 1)  God Has Spoken By His Son 


 * 1)  It was made clear that The Son is a separate entity than God Himself 
 * 2)  The Son is said to be superior to all of the angels. 
 * 3)  Since he is the Son, you should pay more attention to him than any of the other prophets that came before him. 
 * 4)  Comparison Of Moses and Jesus 


 * 1)  Jesus is better than Moses 
 * 2)  “Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses just as the building of a house has more honor than the house itself” Hebrew 3.3 
 * 3)  The Rest that God Promised 


 * 1)  On the seventh day of the world’s creation God rested 
 * 2)  He, however, said that no one that was disobedient towards Him would know His rest. 
 * 3)  Though, if you are still obedient and hear God, then you will know God’s rest. 
 * 4) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Jesus the Great High Priest 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Made Jesus closer to the people, but still far enough that there was a clear distinction of his superiority. 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Jesus is the mediator between God and God’s people 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> It was said that Jesus was not a pure descendant from the line of the high priests, but he was actually a descendant from the “order of Melchisedek”; granting Jesus the honorable title. 
 * 4) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Falling Away 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> You must drink milk!!!! because if not you become more corrupt like an adult than a babe. 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Once you fall, there is no way for you to rise again. 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Certainty of God’s Promise 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The promise that if we keep steadfast and true to God, he will save us from our sin. 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> God proved this by giving his Son, the great high priest. 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The Priestly Order of Melchizedek 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Story of Abraham and his connect to the order 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> He was great!!  “See how great he is!” Hebrews 7.4 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Description of another priest. 
 * 4) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Mediator of a Better Covenant 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Main point of having Jesus as High Priest is because we then have a liaison between the kingdom of heaven and earth. 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The Earthly And The Heavenly Sanctuaries 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Description of the Temple and it’s different layers 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">' Two layers '
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">' First one can be access by anyone of the priests '
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">' Second level can only be accessed by the high priest '
 * 4) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">' Jesus is the perfect High Priest. '
 * 5) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Usually when the high priest comes into the Holy Place, they sacrifice blood that is not their own 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> When Jesus died for the sins of the world, he did so in a way that wouldn’t need repetition. 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Christ’s Sacrifice Once For All 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Jesus is pretty much saying that all the sacrifices involving the blood of goats and bulls isn’t cutting it for all the sin that the people of God have been doing. 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> That is why he sacrificed himself for ALL the sin 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> A Call to Persevere 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Be sure to be good so that Jesus will like you and want to save you. (pretty much sums it up) 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The Meaning Of Faith 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Examples of the Abel, Enoch, and Noah 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The Faith of Abraham 
 * 4) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The Faith of Moses 
 * 5) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes 
 * 6) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> The Example of Jesus 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Looking at Jesus as the role model, to which live our lives 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> God disciplines us through suffering so that we are worthy of saving 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Theme of Hope 
 * 4) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Warning Against Rejecting God’s Grace 


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Moral of the story = Don’t be like Esau, the godless man. 
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Serve well-pleasing to God 

 
 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">' Be the best Christian that you can be! '
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Benediction 
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> Final Exhortation and Greetings 

John
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