Summary Of Metaphors In The Gospel Of Matthew

Decent Essays
The Israelites are a people loved by God as the Chosen People; however, the Canaanites have a conflicted opinion of them. In spite of discriminations between people, the gospel message invites all to join in salvation. Jesus Christ’s mission is revealed that He is sent to extend the audience for God’s Word and to be the Savior to every person without exceptions. Within the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus uses metaphors in order to help the readers comprehend the Word of God better. In the previous passages, John the Baptist becomes beheaded and Jesus Christ calls the Pharisees hypocrites. As Jesus leaves Jerusalem and enters Tyre and Sidon, a woman comes to Jesus asking Him to save her daughter from a demon. Initially Jesus ignores her and the disciples …show more content…
Accordingly, Jesus travels to a Canaanite area and uses metaphors in order to get His point across so that readers may understand the Word of God better. Jesus tests a woman’s faith while simultaneously clarifying His mission of universal salvation. Contrary, Jesus first asserts that He is the Jewish Messiah and He came for only the Israelites (The New American Bible Revised Edition, Matt. 15.24) Jesus calls to mind Old Testament thought to enhance what is already established in order to develop His new message. He is setting up His transition to the new message by testing the woman about the old view of seclusive thinking. To which, the woman recognizes Israel’s privilege for God’s grace, yet still asks that God’s mercy may be given to a gentile. When the Canaanite woman pleads to Jesus to heal her daughter, He tells her that “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” (Matt. 15.25-26). Likewise, the children represent the blessed Israelites who are historically first in the eyes of God and the dogs are compared to the cursed Canaanites. The woman understands this by …show more content…
From the faith account of a Canaanite woman, the Kingdom of God is understood to now be inclusive towards all peoples, Jews or Gentiles. Historically the Israelites are the Chosen People. But because of Jesus, the woman who is thought to be cursed is called to holiness. In a Gentile land, the Jewish Messiah meets a Gentile woman who proves to have greater faith than the Jews which reject Him. Additionally, the Redeemer is willing to give mercy to those who seek it. By reading more passages of the Gospel of Matthew, readers may discover more truths to learn and develop

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Austin Price The Gospel of John is the last of the four gospels in the Bible. It is a different perspective from the simple style of the three synoptic gospels. It is the only gospel that does not use parables as a way of telling us how Jesus taught and is the only account of several events, such as Jesus turning water into wine. The Gospel of John was written anonymously but many theologians believe that it was written by the apostle John sometime around 95 CE in Ephesus.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    I chose to write about Matthew and John because they are the first and last of the Gospels. I am also the most interested in these two books since one is a synoptic Gospel and the other is not. Matthew and John are both Gospels. However, Matthew is a synoptic gospel and John is not. John is different than all the other Gospels and is not considered a synoptic Gospel because it does not contain the birth of Jesus.…

    • 1429 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In conclusion, the gospel of Matthew teaches us many things. Through the quotes provided from the Sermon on the Mount, one can see how this was used to persuade Jewish people to become Christians. The Sermon on the Mount teaches the people how they are exposed to their sin. Man are sinners and by saying we can to salvation through God, he must be exposing us to our sins. It also guides the followers to Jesus.…

    • 1577 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “O the wonderful power of God that I have seen, and the experience that I have had. ” Her unshakeable faith in God to get her through the desperate ordeal alive makes her all the more faithful and confirms to her His power and mercy. In returning to the presence and lifestyle of her own people she appreciates evermore the “tender-hearted and compassionate Christians.” She portrays the misfortune and her journey back to civilization as she knows it as a trial from God, quoting Hebrews 12:6, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every Son whom he…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this text, we get insight into the entire life of Jesus and how he was killed. Matthew believes that every Jewish believer must turn their faith over into Jesus and God, because he believes it to be the only way to salvation. Throughout his life, Jesus tried to convince his followers and other people that he was indeed the true son of God, and that those that placed their faith in him were going to be saved once he came back. In the text, we see that Matthew believed in what Jesus said, and that it is the reason why he wrote this gospel. We get insight into the holy life that Jesus lived, and since it was the true and correct way of living, it was necessary to educate those that did not believe and warn them that they should because at the current moment in time they were wrong.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Gospel of Matthew contains a number of verses that provide a conflicting yet intriguing insight to the status of women and the interactions that Jesus had with them. A consequence of these differing views is the uncertainty readers may have over the role of women and their influence in the rise of Christianity. Professor Rodney Stark’s essay on the role of women promotes the notion that women were major stakeholders in Christianity and acted as a catalyst to the religion’s rapid growth. Despite having references about Christian women with high status, the Gospel of Matthew emphasises more on the importance of their function in the Christian movement. Christianity had become a popular religion among Pagan females as a result of sacred texts…

    • 1607 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which are the generally more solid ones, Jesus sees himself as a detachment of God to the Jews and as an individual from the Jewish individuals. He needed to set them up for what he saw as the drawing closer end of time and God 's inevitable…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    By creating these connections, “the infancy narrative portrays Jesus’ origins as a resonating echo of the ancient origins of the people Israel.” This connection further implied that Jesus was the promised Messiah that will lead the Jewish people to…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jesus said, “The kingdom of the Father is like a woman. She took a little bit of yeast. She hid it in dough and made it into huge loaves of bread.” Question:…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The anointing at Bethany is an event described in each of the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. While there are four differing reports of this event, the information that is constant throughout all accounts describe Jesus in a house, in which a woman approaches him and pours ointment on his body and while those present reproach the woman’s actions, Jesus responds in understanding. In comparing and contrasting the descriptions of the anointing at Bethany, the actions of the woman in all four accounts treat her behavior as a symbol of love and devotion to Jesus. While in Matthew and Mark Jesus is placed in the home of Simon the leper, Luke identifies a setting within a Pharisee’s house and John describes a place where Lazarus…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Portrait Of Jesus Essay

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The stories of Jesus are represented through the four New Testament Gospels: Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. Each Gospel emphasizes on particular principles that represent Jesus differently. Jesus is seen as the suffering Messiah in all four Gospels, but each Evangelist puts in his own intake, hence expanding on the original Markan portrait of Jesus. The writers of the Gospels give their own theological assertions, and understandings, which in effect creates a new portrait of Jesus for each Gospel. The Gospel portraits vary and represent a different and evolving view of Jesus’, stories, and traditions over time.…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How does Christ fulfill the Kingdom of God? In other words: How is Jesus Christ "God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing" (21; see especially, pp. 109–14)? Jesus Christ fulfills the Kingdom of God. My aim in this short paper is to show how Christ fulfills the Kingdom of God.…

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scholars have widely agreed that the Gospel of Luke has a special focus on the concern for the poor. This concern for the poor and marginalized first becomes obvious in the account of Jesus’ birth. In the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-12), it is the Magi, wealthy men from a distant country that come to worship Jesus, while Luke tells readers about shepherds- lowly men working in the fields coming to see the baby Jesus. Also, Luke has women, Elizabeth and Mary who as the focal point of the infancy narrative, while Matthew uses two men, Joseph and Herod the Great. The Gospel shows God being immensely concerned for those who were considered poor, and as a result was marginalized.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Matthew 13: 1-2 Analysis

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When crowds are large, it gets loud and harder to hear, but when Jesus is the speaker, people become silent and it’s effortless to hear, even still they do not listen to the wisdom of God. “Though hearing they do not hear or understand.” Matthew and mark are parables that are common with each other in the Gospels. They talk about Jesus in a large crowds and how people will not listen to Jesus even with silence. God put these parables out for us, so that we could understand his spiritual lessons through his stories in the bible.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Furthermore, he was one of Jesus’ twelve thus, he knew Jesus personally and likely captured numerous personal encounters with Jesus (Strauss, 2011, p. 5549). Specifically the book of Matthew reveals the “skilled literary” artistry and carefully structured design that someone of Matthew’s caliber would have (Strauss, 2011, p. 4664). 2. What is the main theme of the Book of Matthew, and how does it differ from the other Gospels? 1.…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays