Gospel of Matthew

parables can be explained by the era in which he was a man, in those times most information was spread by word of mouth and folklore. The word Parable is defined as “a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels (Merriam-Webster)”. However, these “stories” should be viewed as the direct word of Jesus. The bible viewed as the word and parable of Jesus Christ, however, written by others to be passed on to his followers. Secondly, Many of Jesus…

The Gospel of Matthew 1. Who was Matthew, and why was he qualified to write a book in the Bible? 1. Matthew was a tax collector who became a disciple of Jesus (Strauss, 2011, p. 5531). It is believed that he wrote the book of Matthew. He was more than qualified to write a book in the Bible because “as a tax collector, Matthew no doubt would have been proficient in both Aramaic and Greek” and would have been highly organized. Furthermore, he was one of Jesus’ twelve thus, he knew Jesus personally…

Matthew 7, in addition to emphasizing Jesus’ strong historical/cultural message on the Mount, makes use of some very poignant and effective literary devices to enhance and emphasize the message. Jesus is the one using these literary devices, as he concludes His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus uses a variety of metaphors, personifications, and parables to illustrate his message to and to teach the crowd in a coherent way that resonates with them. In verse 15, Jesus makes the notable comparison between…

The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited, articulated the Gospel of King Jesus. In the first chapter, McKnight provided three scenarios that supported his argument, namely, that there is a need to answer the question of what is the Gospel. The next chapter distinguished a salvation culture from a Gospel culture. Unfortunately, most of evangelical churches today lean towards a salvation culture. To have a Gospel culture instead of a salvation culture, the true Gospel must be…

Donald B. Kraybill’s book “The Upside-Down Kingdom” reveals the kingdom of God that Jesus talks about in first century Palestine. The main point that Kraybill develops in his book is that the kingdom of God that Jesus teaches during His time on earth appears to be upside down in the sense that He focused on winning by serving and triumphed by losing. His principles were seemingly unorthodox as they disregarded the commonality of that time where the wealthy became wealthier and the poor became…

Pseudonymity is defined as “the practice of creating new works in the name of a famous deceased author”, and this practice was widespread among Jewish writers, with the practice being utilized to portray actual writings of Biblical figures such as Daniel, Enoch, Noah, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Ezra and Moses (Harris, 2014, p. 387). Scholars believe these pseudonymous writings were not intended to deceive others into believing they were the works of the pseudonymous writer, but to perpetuate the…

I would like to discuss certain passages in each chapter that have a significant impact on my life. Matt. 5: 40-45 Jesus talks about loving your enemy, those that hate you, use you, or persecute you. No matter what happens don’t hate those around you, they are children of God just like you are. I like the way he starts off these verses. Usually when someone is taking something from you, you don’t love them for it. Instead, he says if they, “Sue you and take your coat, then give them your…

All scholars are in agreement that Galatians was written by Paul. Though some argue for a very early date, making it of the earliest letters he wrote. Some evidence for this is the lack of any reference to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), however, his reference to taking Titus to Jerusalem with him in Gal. 2:1 means he already returned from his first missionary journey (Acts 13-14), therefore the Council probably already took place. Galatians may date to the late fifties. “Galatia” became a…

Christ has called us to go and make disciples in His name; he wants us to go and share the saving the Gospel of His name so that others may find eternal life. Our job does not just stop at showing others the Gospel, but stretches far beyond sharing and into the realm of discipling new believers in their walk with Christ. It is my philosophy that when discipling a new believer, you will have to develop personal specific plans for the new believers. There are some basic principles to fallow when…

In the Gospel of Mark, believed to be written around 67-73 AD, it shows many connections to Peter and what he preached at the time. In this book, Jesus is focused on more based on his deeds, rather than the words he preached, he is seen as being a vivid person through this Gospel. Mark’s writing were believed to target the audience of non-Jewish and Gentile-Christian groups. One of the central themes located within Mark’s Gospel is that following Jesus was often meant that Christians must suffer…