In Matthew, Jesus performs miracles, shares parables, and teaches the way of God. The theme of Matthew 's Gospel gives evidence to Jesus as the Messiah, the son of Abraham, the one chosen by God to deliver the people from their sins (Matthew 1:1). Which places special emphasis on Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecies – the prophecy of “the Son of David’ (Matthew 12:23).
Matthew 12:1-8 highlights the Pharisees opposition to Jesus by recounting his argument with them over the fulfilment of the Sabbath. It describes a passage in which the disciples of Jesus plucked grain on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees accused Jesus of failure in keeping the law. The text also presents insights into how Jesus was intent to transform the mindset of His people. His aim was to clarify, the way things should be, when following his commands to practice the Sabbath. This paper examines Jesus’ approach to dealing with human need over law. The passage reveals that Jesus’ condemnation of the disciples ' actions by the Pharisees came not from any lawful decree, but rather from their impure hearts. In essence, the disciples acted
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It can be determined as an act of ministering to others which surpasses the law (v. 12). One of the leading areas of conflict between Jesus and Pharisees was in keeping the Sabbath. In this passage, Jesus is criticized for allowing his followers to pluck and eat grain on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees regarded this as work, which was forbidden. Jesus rejects both their interpretation and motivation. He argues that plucking grain to satisfy immediate hunger does not break the Sabbath, because both King David and the temple priests did so without suffering under God’s reprimand (vv. 3-5). Moreover, true obedience to the law should be motivated by compassion and mercy (v.6). God’s love of mercy, allowing hungry people to pick grain to eat, is greater than God’s desire for sacrifice, following Sabbath
The Gospel of John, the last of the four gospels in the Bible, is a radical departure from the simple style of the synoptic gospels. It is the only one that does not use parables as a way of showing how Jesus taught, and is the only account of several events, including the raising of Lazarus and Jesus turning water into wine. While essentially the gospel is written anonymously, many scholars believe that it was written by the apostle John sometime between the years 85 and 95 CE in Ephesus. The basic story is that of a testimonial of one of the Apostles and his version of Jesus' ministry. It begins by telling of the divine origins of the birth of Jesus, then goes on to prove that He is the Son of God because of the miracles he performs and finally describes Jesus' death and resurrection.
Jesus is not only Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of the oral tradition; he is also Lord of the temple. Kraybill also used several verses in this chapter to prove Jesus irreverence to the civil, social and religious law of the day. Jesus was a rebel to a certain point because he didn’t follow certain rules he didn’t think was serving a purpose. Furthermore, he didn’t see eye to eye with several religious leaders, and was not afraid of challenging them. “The Spirit of the Jesus who violated Sabbath rules, avoided purity rituals, ate with sinners, and purged the temple is Lord of our structures also. He judges them, critiques them, and makes them pliable of the new wine” (Kraybill 2011). This chapter was one of my favorites to read
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
Why would Peter an eyewitness of Jesus Christ act in the same manner like the Pharisees? In the Gospel of Matthew chapter twelve (Mt.12) Jesus challenged the
Matthew In the Bible’s New Testaments, the book of Matthew is of Gospels genre. In the Old Testament, God appointed the people who we know as prophets. They were the ones to describe Jesus life and work. What they wrote, those things did happen during Jesus life on earth.
Matthew characterizes Jesus as the prophesized Messiah that has finally arrived. Every time a significant event, Matthew highlights that these events fulfill a certain specific prophecy. One example is the revelation that the power of the Holy Spirit caused the Virgin Mary to conceive. Matthew 1:22-23 says, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” Later on, Matthew 2:18 quotes a prophecy in Jeremiah that foretold the Herod’s actions, and Matthew again quotes another prophecy in Matthew 2:15 where “the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘out of Egypt I called my son.’” This was when Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had fled to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. Other important details that fulfilled prophecies are Joseph’s lineage of the House of David and Jesus’ childhood in Nazareth (which makes him a Nazarene). (Matt. 2:23) The very end picture that Matthew intends to portray is that Jesus fulfills so many specific prophecies in the Old Testament, that surely, without a doubt, Jesus was the Messiah the Jews were waiting
He tells the people to do what they say but to not view them as examples since they are not practicing what they brutally enforce. He accuses the officials and Pharisees of forcing the people to endure unbearable religious demands despite themselves falsely living lives not aligned with these demands. Moreover, they grant more attention to giving the tenths of spices but neglecting withholding the essential matters of the law that include justice, mercy, and faithfulness. In verse 37 of this chapter, Jesus proclaims how he longed to show them justice, mercy, and faithfulness by protecting them from the evils like a hen does to her newly hatched chicks.
Jesus has just begun his ministry and had started to teach people about God and how to live according to God’s divine will. Opposition of Jesus’ teachings began to come from the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, chief priests and scribes. All of whom have communal status and lived life according to the Law of Moses, the foundation of the religion Judaism. Before the statement that Jesus made
This paper examines the above-mentioned periscope from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew narrates about the scene of Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee, and it seemed as if Jesus was walking beside the lake of Galilee preaching the kingdom of God, he saw fishermen in the lake fishing in their boats. He saw two brothers Simon and Andrew, who were casting the net into the sea to catch some fishes. It seems as if Jesus was familiar with these brothers, as when he [Jesus] was baptised by John the Baptist, Andrew was a disciple of John (John 1:35-41) so Jesus calling them to follow him and leaving their fishing business is kind of weird as in today’s world people would not leave their profession/ business for anyone who is unknown or who is acquainted.
While modern scholars have been unable to authenticate the Gospel of Matthew’s author, traditionalists, dating back to 140 CE have asserted the Gospel of Matthew was written by Levi, a tax collector in Antioch (Harris, 2014). Papias, a second century bishop of Hierapolis, initially stated Levi wrote the Gospel of Matthew in Aramaic. However, modern day scholars have been unable to find any evidence to validate the Gospel of Matthew was originally recorded in Aramaic. Therefore, scholars have concluded, Bishop Papias was likely not referring to the canonized version of the Book of Matthew. Furthermore, after closely examining the book of Matthew, it is apparent the author relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark as a source, which was written between
In the gospels of Mark and John, both showed a vivid portrait of Jesus in their writing. Mark’s gospel describes much more of Jesus' life, miracles, and parables as suffering servant. However, John’s gospel was written to convince people to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Nonetheless, both John and Mark present many of the crucial events of Jesus' life, including his trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.
Jesus is asked by the Pharisees, as to why his disciples do not follow traditional actions such as washing their hands. In his response he states that traditions do not coincide with the word of the Lord, and questions them as to why they do not follow his commandments. Though others may not initially understand a group or individuals challenge to the process, they are free to learn and form an opinion about this
God, centuries before, had given to his people the Law through Moses on Mount Sinai and the Son of God gives the New Law on another mountain. What we know as the Ten Commandments does not exhaust God's thought about the behavior that expects and demands of His people. Jesus Christ according to his own words, did not come to abolish the law of the old testament, but to give it perfect compliance. (Mt 5:17 NAB). The Sermon on the mount leads to the Natural Law and the Law of Moses to its peak of perfection.
Miriam Perlewitz is the author of the book. She was serving as missioner for ten years in the Far East; Miriam Perlewitz receives a M.A. and Ph.D. in biblical languages and literature in 1977 from St. Luis University Divinity School. Since then, she has been Professor of Biblical Studies at the Maryknoll Graduate School of Theology, and has participated in renewal program for missioners and New York archdiocesan programs for adults.
One of the greatest debates that continues to rage on amongst theologians, as well as others, is in regards to the balance between the humanity and the divinity of the person of Jesus Christ (also known as Christology). This debate can be especially challenging in the Scripture passage of Matthew 26:36-46 where the reader finds Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Many of the ancient and medieval theologians worked to explain away apparent humanistic characteristics seen in this section of the text, while more modern theologians seem to be more open to embracing these characteristics. While the ancient and medieval theologians may not have embraced the humanity of Jesus, the translations and backgrounds of the words “cup”, “grieved”, and “agitated”, along with the translation of the passage itself, the humanity of Jesus is not only present in the passage but also a necessity to the salvation of humanity through the sacrifice of Jesus. Simply put, for the salvation through death to be relatable for humanity, Jesus had to also be, at least in part, fully human as well as being fully divine.