1. The lineage of Jesus concludes with the account of the divine guidance which led Joseph to marry Mary, claim her child as his, and name him Jesus
2. The new family, as well as the Magi that felt drawn to seek them out, are all forced to flee from Herod - but the infants of Bethlehem do not escape the king's wrath
3. John the Baptist announces that a time of prophetic fulfillment is beginning and baptises all those who wish to begin a new way of living in response to it
4. After enduring temptation in the wilderness, Jesus stops for a while in Capernaum, before beginning a tour of the Galilee region, calling disciples, healing and liberating with the message that God's time is coming
5. Jesus tells the crowds that God's people have a happiness that comes from God, and that they will go beyond the demands of Jewish law in seeking righteousness
6. It is through loving behaviour, humility, generosity, spending time with God in prayer and responding to God's call to action that people become less worried about worldly matters
7. With compelling words, Jesus advises people to let go of their own judgement, and to seek out the ways of God, who is always trustworthy
8. Jesus touches ritually unclean people, bringing healing, and he finds faith - and lack of faith - in unexpected places
9. His teaching and healing brings Jesus into dispute with local religious leaders, as he seems to be spending so much time and energy on 'undesirables' and frequently breaks conventions
10. Jesus sends out his twelve disciples, with words of encouragement and warning, to speak in his name to Israelite people throughout his home region
11. Replying to a question from John the Baptist (in prison), Jesus points to the prophetic parallels of his own and John's ministries; and then laments that so few are responding to the message they bring
12. The religious leaders become increasingly uncomfortable about Jesus's ministry, as he challenges their authority over healing and the Sabbath
13. Jesus teaches the crowds about judgement and growth using many parables, while accepting that many will not grasp what he is saying
14. Trying to find a quiet place, upon hearing of John the Baptist's execution, Jesus ends up surrounded by vast crowds in a isolated place, he ministers to the needy with miraculous food and aid
15. Jesus openly criticises the Pharisees over their teaching about what is clean and unclean in God's sight, and then widens the scope of his own ministry to include more 'unclean' people
16. After warning his disciples to be wary of the Pharisees teaching, Jesus begins to tell them of his death, horrifying faithful Simon (now called Peter)
17. Peter, James and John see Jesus transfigured, but the disciples continue to struggle to understand his teaching and to incorporate it into their own ministry
18. In parables, Jesus teaches his disciples that becoming God's people requires humility, not power, and a desire to forgive wrong rather than seek justice
19. When his interpretation of Jewish law is questioned and tested, Jesus teaches that personal responses which are costly and loving are the Godly way to respond to life's difficulties, and he praises his disciples for their costly choice of following him
20. Through parables and through situations that arise on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus teaches his disciples about God's generosity and explains how God wants to turn hierarchies upside down
21. Jesus arranges an attention grabbing entrance into Jerusalem; then he rearranges the temple interior, openly criticizing the temple authorities and refusing to engage in dialogue on their terms
22. As he responds to their questions, Jesus uses every opportunity to publicly criticise the temple authorities and religious leaders, and their rage grows violent
23. Using many metaphors, Jesus condemns the hipocrisy of the temple leaders and laments the state of affairs in Jerusalem
24. Jesus prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and his own second coming; he warns his disciples to hold on to their faith in the apocalyptic times that are to come
25. Using more parables, Jesus teaches his followers that they should stay prepared for his second coming, that they should be bold and creative while he is gone, and always be caring to those in need
26. His time of teaching complete, Jesus makes preparations for his death, and his distress is reflected by the disciples who fiercely declare their loyalty, but then betray him
27. Judas bitterly regrets his betrayal but the deed cannot be undone, and even though Pilate can find no cause Jesus is condemned by the crowd, crucified and his body carefully sealed in a tomb
28. With earthquake and lightning, Jesus rises from the dead after the Sabbath ends; he is met first by two women called Mary near the tomb, then after a brief reunion with the remaining disciples, he sends them out into the world to make more disciples
This is intense reading, the tension is palpable from the offset. It captures the sense that something long awaited is happening. The huge time jump from chapters 2 to 3 really emphasises that the later story is the emphasis, the nativity is just like the opening sequence of a movie - it sets the scene but doesn't advance the plot much. Condensing chapter 21 really brought home to me why it was that the temple authorities wanted to kill Jesus - I think we see him in full-on scary prophet mode here
I was really impressed with the CEB translation of chapter 12; it's important teaching about healing, Sabbath and the Holy Spirit and this is the first time I've read a translation of it that made perfect sense to me - very grateful for this!
I can remember the first time I read Matthew's Gospel, just before I became a Christian, and how surprised I was by the characters of Jesus and the disciples. At that time Jesus seemed harsh and arrogant to me, and the disciples very dim witted. Today I still find the Jesus of Matthew's Gospel rather arrogant, and his teaching still seems hard, but I now have a lot more sympathy for the disciples. I think it's perhaps because I understand a little better now, how hard it is to follow Jesus
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