1. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
Βίβλος γενέζεως Ἰηζοῦ Χριζηοῦ σἱοῦ Δασὶδ σἱοῦ
Ἀβραάμ.
(Mt 1:1)

2. INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS
• Why did I write “The Gospel according to Matthew”?
• What are Matthew‟s sources?
• What is the big picture of Matthew‟s gospel?
• Remember the genealogy
• Hint: Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ… υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ

3. MATTHEW BASICS
• Author
• Audience
• Place composed
• Language
• Date
• Themes
• Do you remember the three themes?

4. KINGDOM OF GOD/HEAVEN
• Vocab issue: Kingdom of God; Kingdom of Heaven
• Jewish antecedents (antecedents?) to the Kingdom of God
• Is the Kingdom of God the focus of the Hebrew Bible?
• When is the Kingdom of God?
• Does Jesus‟ ministry precede the Kingdom?
• Does Jesus‟ ministry = the Kingdom?
• Some middle position?

5. WHAT‟S WITH THE SERMONS?
• Who is Matthew‟s audience?
• What “thing” is the focus of Matthew‟s gospel?
• So, what kind of person might Matthew make Jesus look like?
• Jesus is INVITING people into the Kingdom of God.

6. KINGDOM AND COVENANT
• Both the Kingdom and the Covenant are invitational.
• Did God force people into the Covenant?
• If the Kingdom and the Covenant are invitational, they
1. ______________
2. ______________..
Remember Genesis 12: 1, 4. What was God‟s invitation?
- - -
And what did Abraham do?
.

7. AS WE GO ALONG IN MATTHEW…
We need to constantly ask ourselves:
WHAT DOES THE KINGDOM OF GOD LOOK
LIKE?
WHY DO PEOPLE ACCEPT OR REJECT THE
INVITATION TO THIS KINGDOM?

8. PARABLES
• Greek parabole
• Hebrew mashal
• Possible meanings?
• A parable is _____________________?
• There are more parables than the things labeled “parables”.
• Descriptions of the Kingdom.

9. THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
• What‟s with the dove?
• Voice from the heavens
• What does the voice say?
• Whose voice is it?
• Why is this important?
• What does this mean for
Jesus life?
• Devotion to K of G
• Moments of realizing
our identity and being
acknowledged are
keys to our lives!

10. LET‟S THINK FOR A MOMENT…
• What are moments in our lives when we realize what we‟re doing with our lives and where
we‟re going?
• “Life”
• Birthdays, anniversaries, making (or not making) sports teams
• School
• Acceptances, non-acceptances, exams, graduations, college
• Professional
• Job offers/turndowns, promotions, raises, firings/layings-off
• Moments of discernment/vocation
• What are the “stamps” (the voices from the heavens, if you will) that seal these moments?
THESE ARE ALL EVENTS AND MARKERS THAT CHANGE OUR LIVES!

11. WHAT COMES IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BAPTISM?
• The temptation of Jesus
• Where are we?
• Things happen in deserts!
• Why is Jesus there in the first place?
• Three temptations from devil
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
• Desert, Deuteronomy, Faithfulness, …  Does this ring a bell?
• Jesus as new ______

12. WHAT IS JESUS ACTUALLY REJECTING?
• ______ = economic power?
• ______ = magical power?
• “______” = political power?
• Is Jesus rejecting popular notions of what
the Messiah would look like?
• Is Jesus saying that his mission is bigger
than these concerns?

13. What, then, is your mission?
MISSIONS
What is Jesus‟ mission? • What drives you? What are your
goals?
• Something to do with the Kingdom of • What satisfies you?
God.
• Money, video
• Something to do with a special
relationship with God. games, sex, food?
• Something to do with inviting people • Do you always want more of
into the Kingdom/into this special these things?
relationship.
 So, are they really
satisfying?
 What, then, would be your
ultimate satisfaction?

14. Discipleship
• What would you expect a follower of Jesus to look like?
• What do our readings in Matthew tell us about what a
follower of Jesus actually looks like?
Why don‟t these pictures match up?

15. • THE BEGINNING OF JESUS‟ PUBLIC MINISTRY
Calling the disciples
• The Twelve
• “Come, follow me… and I will send you out to fish for people.” (4:19)
• What kind of people?
• Discipleship and family
• What do James and John do?
• Who is Jesus‟ family?
• Jesus and the masses
• Whom is Jesus attracting?
• Apostles, disciples, “the crowd”
• “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”
• The life of a disciple
• Mt 10:5-14

16. More Harrington
Chapter 4
• “Jesus was the prophet of God‟s
kingdom.” (29)
• Mundane context of parables (30)
• Why is Jesus never straightforward about
the Kingdom? (31)
• Prophet v. wisdom teacher (32)
• Debate format as driving parable-telling

17. • The Sermon on the Mount
Important things happen on mountains!
• What else happens on a mountain?
• Why would mountain imagery be
valuable? What does a mountain perch
do for you?
• Again, Jesus as ______.
• Sermon on the Mount (M) v. Sermon on the
Plain (L)
• What‟s in the SotM?
• Beatitudes
• Lord‟s Prayer/Our Father
• Advisements
• The most coherent, compelling vision of the
Kingdom?

18. The Beatitudes
• Overturning expectations of who will be the recipients of a relationship with God.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say
all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the

19. More Matthew 5
• 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
• How does this fit Matthew‟s program?
• Any legal code can prohibit actions, but it cannot prohibit emotions/attitudes.  Why do
these matter to Jesus?
• We cannot be part of the Kingdom if we are at odds with others.
• Right relationship with God, AND…
• RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER PEOPLE!
• The “code” of Matthew 5 speaks about how we need to treat our relationships with other
people.
• Murder, Adultery, Divorce, Oaths, Lex talionis
• So… How do we need to treat our relationships with other people?

20. Matthew 6 and Kingdom Behavior
• dikaiosyne; motivations and hypocrites
• On giving (1-4)
• Left hand/right hand
• On prayer (5-15)
• Privacy
• Lord‟s Prayer
• Forgiveness as key to prayer
• On fasting (16-18)
• Subtlety
• On wealth/ ”treasures” (19-24)
• On earth v. In heaven
• Two masters
• God and money/wealth/mammon
• On worrying (28-34)
• Endless supply of worry
• God‟s providence

21. Matthew 7
• Sermon on the Mount
• On judgment (1-6)
• Lex talionis at work again
• Speck/plank
• “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; the one who seeks, finds; and to the
one who knocks, the door will be opened” (7-8)
• What‟s this saying? (Think about some of the parables…)
• True and false disciples (21-23)
• The two builders (24-27)

22. Jesus on the Kingdom
• Parable of the Sower – 13:1-9, 18-23 ( & Weeds & Mustard Seed)
• Path, rocky places, thorns, good soil
• Jesus explains his own parables?
• Why do some people not follow Jesus?
• Remember the temptations scene
• 13:14-17
• 13:47-49: “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake
and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore.
Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This
is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from
the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.”
• 18:1-5: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?  What does this remind you of?

23. Matthew 22:34-40 – The Greatest Commandment
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of
them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “„Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind.‟ This is the first and greatest commandment. And second is like it: „Love
your neighbor as yourself.‟ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments.”
• Pharisees = owned.
• Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
• Leviticus 19:18:
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love
your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”

24. Jesus and Prayer – Harrington, chapter 6
• How would Jesus have prayed?
• Psalms
• Synagogue (reading/prayer)
• Shema, Shemoneh Esrah, Kadish
• Temple (sacrifice)
• Prayer in the big moments
• Baptism, healings, Twelve selection, Peter‟s confession of messiah (Luke 9:20)
• Lord‟s Prayer
• Matthew more developed
• “Abba”
• How should we pray?  Remember the Beatitudes

25. THE KINGDOM OF GOD
• Like the Covenant, the Kingdom of God
• illustrates ways of living in right relationships with God and with our neighbors.
• Who are these neighbors? (Perhaps unexpectedly…)
• is dynamic and transformative.
• Life in the Kingdom is something different than life outside the Kingdom.
• The Invitation
• Available to everyone.
• Constantly available.
• There may be peaks and valleys in our relationship with God and with the
Kingdom, but
• These invitations are always available; therefore,
We are called to continually respond to God and to the Kingdom!