The Gospel According to Matthew THE REAL TRUTH by JACOB GEORGE (best classic books .txt) 📖

“Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee” (27:56). Jesus is buried by Joseph of Arimathea and a guard is set over the tomb. On the first day of the week, three days after the crucifixion, Mary Magdalene and Mary go to visit Jesus’s tomb in order to anoint his body with oils and spices according to Jewish custom, but they find the tomb empty. Astonished, they see an angel who tells them that Jesus has been resurrected from the dead and that he can be found in Galilee. The women leave the tomb both happy and afraid. Suddenly, Jesus greets them and asks them to tell his disciples to meet him in Galilee. After the women leave, the guards tell the city’s chief

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priests what has happened, and the priests bribe the guards to report that Jesus’s body was stolen while they were sleeping. In Galilee, Jesus commissions his disciples to teach and baptize nonbelievers as they travel throughout the world.

 

Gospel of Matthew Figures

 

Jesus

 

Claim to fame: Son of God. Born of a virgin.Also known as: Emmanuel, Son of Man, the Messiah, King of the JewsLikes: Long walks in the desert, fishing, road trips, debate clubDislikes: Hypocrites.

Simon Peter

 

Claim to fame: Jesus's right-hand man. More than any of the other gospel writers, Matthew really digs Peter. We almost wonder if he drew little hearts around Peter's name while he was writing.

Judas Iscariot

 

Claim to infamy: Betrays Jesus And alternate title for the New Testament could be Everyone Hates Judas. We know, he's a creep. He hands his friend, teacher, and messiah over to be arrested and executed.

The Other Disciples

 

Claim to fame: Jesus's band mates and traveling buddies A side from Peter and Judas (boo, Judas!), there are lots of other guys hanging around Jesus and making it their mission in life to follow his footsteps.

 

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The Jewish Religious Leaders

 

Claim to fame: Out to destroy Jesus If Jesus is Optimus Prime, these guys are the Decepticons. They're the big baddies in the story. And they aren't exactly fans of Jesus

Joseph

 

Claim to fame: Adopted dad of Jesus. Stands by his woman while she's pregnant. Matthew's Gospel is Joseph's time to shine. Even though his story only runs through the first two chapters of the book,

Mary

 

Claim to fame: Gives birth to Jesus and keeps her virginity, to boot The lady is the mother of God. Literally. It's not every day that a woman can be a mother and a virgin (at least not at the same time).

King Herod

 

Claim to fame: Tries to kill baby Jesus. Fails. (Huzzah!) Jealousy, thy name is Herod. This guy is so insecure, even the birth of a baby makes him freak out

Pontius Pilate

 

Claim to fame: Has the power to pardon Jesus. Like Herod, also fails.Even though Pilate is actually the one who sentences Jesus to die, he tends to get off pretty light in all the gospel accounts.

 

 

Application to present day context

 

Practical Application

 

The Gospel of Matthew is an excellent introduction to the core teachings of Christianity. The logical outline style makes it easy to locate discussions of various topics. Matthew is especially useful for understanding how the life of Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

Matthew’s intended audience was his fellow Jews, many of whom—especially the Pharisees and Sadducees—stubbornly refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah. In spite of centuries of reading and studying the Old Testament, their eyes were blinded to the truth of who Jesus was. Jesus rebuked them for their hard hearts and their refusal to recognize the One they had supposedly been waiting for (John 5:38-40). They wanted a Messiah on their own terms, one who would fulfill their own desires and do what they wanted Him to do. How often do we seek God on our own terms? Don’t we reject Him by ascribing to Him only those attributes we find acceptable, the ones that make us feel good—His love, mercy, grace—while rejecting those we find objectionable—His wrath, justice, and holy anger? We dare not make the mistake of the Pharisees, creating God in our own image and then expecting Him to live up to our standards. Such a god is nothing more than an idol. The Bible gives us more than enough information about the true nature and identity of God and Jesus Christ to warrant our worship and our obedience.

 

Most of the church today perceives itself to be not only God's people today, but the only people God ever had or ever will have. So they read the Bible passages and see the present-day church as being the total focus of all scripture. While we in the present church do hold a very special place, we are not the sole focus of all scripture or even all of that portion of scripture commonly referred to as the New Testament.

 

 

 

 

 

Application to present day context

 

Jesus Christ sent the twelve to preach only to Israel in Matthew 10:5-7, "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." The disciples were specifically told to go only to the people of Israel, and they were not preaching anything about the death, burial, and resurrection.

 

In Matthew 15:21-28, Jesus Christ was approached by a Canaanite woman, a Gentile, whose daughter was vexed with a devil. When she called for him, Christ did not answer, and the disciples wanted to send her away. Christ then said in verse 24: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Some may think that this verse means that Jesus Christ was rebuking His disciples, and implying that He was sent to all mankind. However, the Greek word translated "but" here means "except" as opposed to "only". So when you remove the double negative here, you see that Jesus Christ is saying He is sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. This is confirmed by other English translations. The NASV translates this sentence as, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And the NIV translates it as, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

 

This explains His references to Jews as children and to Gentiles as dogs. "But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master's table" (Matthew 15:26-27). Once she had humbled herself to the level of a dog, He finally granted her request, but He had made His point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Application to present day context

 

Many Christians may feel that Jesus Christ would not take on human flesh and come to earth except to speak to all of mankind, not just to Israel. However, we must not put what we "feel" above what Jesus Christ actually said, "... I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel ...". Besides, this is consistent with the Old Testament prophecies, as we have seen. Here, as in all cases, we should take God at His Word. We will look at other related passages as we continue.

 

Present condition of the kingdom

 

In the Olivet prophecy, Jesus predicted certain signs and apocalyptic events. But some of Jesus’ teachings and parables explain that the kingdom does not come in a dramatic way. The seed grows quietly (Mark 4:26-29); the kingdom starts as small as a mustard seed (verses 30-32) and is hidden like yeast (Matthew 13:33). These parables suggest that the kingdom is a reality before it comes in a powerful and dramatic way. In addition to being a future reality, it has reality right now.

 

Let’s look at some verses that indicate the kingdom is already functioning. After casting out demons, Jesus said, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God [and he did], then the kingdom of heaven has come to you” (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20). The kingdom is here, he said, and the proof is in the exorcisms. The power of God is invading the domain of evil, expelling the powers of evil.

 

This proof continues in the church today, because the church is doing even greater works than Jesus did (John 14:12). We can also say, “If we cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is working here.” The kingdom of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is continuing to demonstrate its power over the kingdom of Satan – and that power is shown not just in expelling evil spirits, but in many other activities that undo what the devil has done.

 

 

 

Application to present day context

 

The kingdom of heaven has been coming with violence,” Jesus said (Matt. 11:12, my translation)—and forceful people are laying hold of it (present tense). Even in the first century, people were laying hold of the kingdom, which implies that it existed back then. A parallel verse, Luke, also uses present-tense verbs: “everyone is forcing his way into it.” For now, we don’t need to decide who the forceful people are or why they use force—what is important here is that these verses talk about the kingdom as a present reality.

 

Luke 16:16 replaces the first part of the verse with “the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached.” This variation suggests that the kingdom’s coming, at least in Luke’s view, is roughly equivalent to its proclamation. The kingdom is—it already exists—and it is advancing by being preached. “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God,” Jesus said (Matt. 21:31), and they do it by believing the gospel (verse 32).

 

In summary, sin has consequences in this age and in the next. Jesus has taken care of the ultimate penalty, but he does not change the fact that sin causes pain in our lives. Adultery, theft, and deceit have unpleasant results in this age. He does not magically change the results – he helps us avoid the negative consequences by working in us to change 1) the behavior and 2) the desires that lead to bad behavior and bad results. He helps us stop beating our head against the wall. This transformation doesn’t happen instantly, so we always need to trust in the grace he has promised. We are assured that he helps us in the present age as well as the future judgment.

 

Good behavior, and right ways of thinking, have consequences in this age and in the next. Eternal life with the triune God will be good primarily because of the relationships of love that will be in eternity – honesty and kindness will prevail. That sort of behavior has good results – not just in the future, but in the present age as well. So God invites us into this way of life. The kingdom is not just a future reality – people are even now entering God’s kingdom by responding to what he offers. He offers not an artificial world in which our enjoyment has no connection with the way we treat other people, but a world or kingdom in which joy is the natural result of love, of treating others the way we wish to be treated.

 

Application to present day context

 

The gospel of Matthew was written to present Jesus as the King of the Jews. Bible prophecy buffs need to keep in mind these truths when handling the Word of God as it applies to prophecy and their understanding thereof. In the Gospel of Matthew, which was addressed to the Jews, Jesus is seen warning them in chapter 24 that “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of coming of the Son of Man”. While meditating on this verse, it occurred to me