A Seven-Session Bible Study for Men

Author John C. Purdy

Editor Curtis A. Miller

Designer Brenda L. Sullivan

Scripture quotations in this publication are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright ©1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the

National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used, by permission.

Every effort has been made to trace copyrights on the materials included in this book. If any copyrighted material has nevertheless been included without permission and due

acknowledgment, proper credit will be inserted in future printings after notice has been received.

©1996 Christian Education Program Area, Congregational Ministries Division, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, KY. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced without the publisher's permission.

Printed in the United States of America.

This book is part of the Men's Bible Study series produced through the Office for Men's Ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Matthew’s Gospel

Table of CONTENT

Introduction to the Men's Bible Study ................................................ 3

Introduction to Matthew's Gospel ....................................................... 5

session one The Birth of the Messiah ........................................................ 8 *Intellectual Alarms *Joseph's Point of View session two The Sermon on the Mount ....................................................... 11 *Ascending Violence session three Conflicts Over the Sabbath ........................................................................................15

*Jesus and the Pharisees session four Teaching in Parables ..................................................................................................18

*Three Parables session five The Sons of Zebedee ...................................................................................................21

*What Is God's Will for Us? session six The End of the Age ......................................................................................................24

*A Church Without Hell session seven Crucifixion and Resurrection .....................................................................................28

*Resuscitation and Resurrection the writer Biography...........................................................................................31

2 M a t t h e w

Matthew’s Gospel CONTENTS

The Reasons for This Study We trust in God the Holy Spirit,

everywhere the giver and renewer of life .. . The same Spirit

who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture.

These words from "A Brief Statement of Faith," adopted officially by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1991, state a primary conviction of Presbyterians. Presbyterians believe that God's Spirit actually speaks to us through the inspired books of the Bible, "the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in the church universal, and God's Word" (Book of Order, PC(USA), G 14.0516) to each of us.

Recent studies, however, have shown that many men know very little of what the Bible says; yet many do express a desire to learn. To help meet that need, this Bible study guide has been prepared at the request and with the cooperation of the National Council of Presbyterian Men of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its president, Dr. Youngil Cho.

The Suggested Pattern of Study Men may use this guide in a variety of weekly

settings: men's breakfasts, lunches in a downtown setting, evening study groups in homes, and many more. The material provides guidance for seven one-hour sessions. To facilitate open discussion it assumes a small group of men, no more than twelve, one or preferably two of whom might be designated as leaders. Each session is a Bible study; there must be a Bible for each man. The Bible, not this study guide, is the textbook.

The men are not required to study outside the group sessions, though suggestions are given for such study. To be enrolled in this study, however, each man is expected to commit himself to make every effort to attend and participate fully in all seven sessions.

The pattern of study is to be open discussion. Agreement by all to follow seven rules will make such study most effective:

1. We will treat no question as stupid. Some men will have more experience in Bible study than others, but each man must feel free to say what he thinks without fear of being ridiculed.

2. We will stick to the Scripture in this study. The men in the group have gathered for Bible study, not to pool their own ideas on other matters, however good those ideas may be. 3. We will regard the leader(s) as "first among equals." Leaders in these studies are guides for group discussion, not authorities to tell the group what the Bible means. But following their study suggestions will facilitate learning. The pastor will serve as a resource for leaders in this study but may or may not be a leader, as determined by each study group. 4. We will remember that we are here to hear God speak. Presbyterians believe that the Spirit, which spoke to the biblical writers, now speaks to us through their words. We do not come simply to learn about the Bible, but with minds and hearts expecting to receive a message from God. 5. We will listen for "the question behind the question." Sometimes a man's gestures and tone of voice may tell us more of what he is feeling than his words do. We will listen with sympathy and concern. 6. We will agree to disagree in love. Open discussion is an adventure full of danger. Men will differ. None of us will know the whole truth or be right all the time. We will respect and love and try to learn from each other even when we think the other person is wrong. 7. We will make every effort to attend and participate faithfully in all seven sessions of this study. Participation will involve making notes and answering questions relating to the study and, from time to time, sharing your answers with others, even when you worry that they are not the "right" answers.

Some Suggestions for the Leaders Those who lead groups in this study should be

especially aware of the preceding seven "rules." Though two leaders are not required, having a team of

leaders often helps to open up the group for freer discussion by all its members. One leader might be responsible for introducing the study at a given session and for summarizing other parts of the study where such summaries are suggested. The other leader might take more responsibility for guiding the discussion, helping to see that each man who wishes has a chance to speak, helping to keep the study centered on the Scripture, and moving the group along to the next subject when one has

Men's BIBLE Study

Matthew 3

Introduction

been dealt with sufficiently. Or the leaders might alternate in their responsibilities or share them equally.

This material is a guide for study within the group. The study material for each session is to be distributed at the time of that session. The study guide for each session is in the form of a worksheet. Each man should have a pencil or a pen. Spaces are provided for each student to make brief notes for his answers to questions on the passages to be studied. A good deal of the time may be spent as the men quietly, individually, decide on and note their own answers to these questions. Some are designed simply to guide the students in looking at key passages. Others are intended to help the students think about what these passages mean to us today. The real basis of this study should be the ideas that come in the times when the men are quietly studying their Bibles and deciding individually on their answers to these questions. When a man has made a note on his sheet concerning his answer to a question, he has had to do some thinking about it. And he is more likely to be willing to tell the group his answer.

There should also be time, of course, for the group to share and compare answers to these questions. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit seems most often to be manifest within a group. God speaks to us authoritatively through Scripture, but often what God says to us in Scripture becomes clearest when voiced by a Christian friend. We learn through each other.

Each session ends with an Afterword, often a story relating to the story that has just been discussed.

Among the many characteristics of a good discussion leader are these: (1) He tries to give everyone who wishes a chance to speak, without pressuring anyone to speak who does not want to. (2) He does not monopolize the discussion himself and tries tactfully to prevent anyone else from doing so unduly. (3) He is a good listener, helping those who speak to feel that they have been heard. (4) He helps to keep the group focused on the Scripture. (5) He tries to watch for signs that show that the group is or is not ready to move on to the next question.

This kind of study can generally be carried on much more effectively with the participants sitting informally in a circle rather than in straight rows with the leader up front. Frequently, especially in a large group, you may want to divide into groups of three or four, or simply let each man compare his answers with those of the man sitting next to him.

Often, more questions have been given than some groups are likely to cover in one hour. If you don't answer them all, don't worry. Pick the ones that seem most interesting and let the rest go.

The questions in this study guide are phrased in various ways and come in different orders, but basically they are intended to help the participants think through three things: (1) What does this passage say? (2) What does it mean? And (3) What does it mean now to you? It is our conviction as Presbyterians that when believers study God's word together in an atmosphere of prayerful expectancy, God will speak to them.

Throughout each study, the leaders will find Scripture quotations. These quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. While this version is used throughout the study, it may prove beneficial for each participant to use the version with which he feels most comfortable.

Testing has shown that the discussion that arises in each study may cause the session to last longer than the intended sixty minutes. Asterisks (*) are placed beside those sections of each lesson that may be omitted or summarized by the leaders for the sake of time. Discussion is at the heart of these studies and should not be sacrificed for the sake of presenting the lesson as shown in the study guide.

In the letter inviting the writers of these studies to attempt this work, Dr. Marvin Simmers, having recognized some difficulties, added, "Remember, we are not alone!" The leaders also may take courage from that assurance.

4 M a t t h e w

Matthew's Gospel What is The Gospel According to Matthew? A

satisfactory answer to that question is the key to successful study, both for the leader and for the learner.

Matthew is one of four books in the New Testament called Gospels. The others are Mark, Luke, and John.

Like the other three Gospels, Matthew is a testimony to Jesus of Nazareth as God's Messiah or Saviour. It is written from faith for faith.

Like the other Gospels, the form of Matthew is something like a biography: It begins with Jesus' birth, takes us through his ministry, and concludes with a lengthy account of his passion and resurrection.

Although the Gospels appear to be biographies of Jesus, they are different from biographies written in the first century in these respects. As one scholar has said:

The Gospel is a community narrative, not an individualistic writing. The material for the story comes from the community tradition, a tradition that is already theologically charged. The story itself is intended for reading (aloud) in community worship and study, not for private, individual reading. Oral traits abound. . . . The narrative is permeated by christology. It is not only christological narrative, but it is christology in narrative form as well. Although it is the story of a historical figure who appears in almost every scene, and although it uses historical (and other) materials, the Gospel's purpose is not biographical but christological. (Especially in the case of Matthew, this means that it also ecclesiological, since there is no christology without a corresponding understanding of discipleship.)1

Gospel Means "Good News" The word gospel means "good news." It will be of

enormous help to leaders of this study to keep that

always in mind. Of any particular text in one of the Gospels, it is always useful to ask: Why is this news? Why is this news good?

For whom was Matthew originally good news? A well-informed guess is that the Gospel of Matthew was written for mostly Jewish-Christian congregations living in and around Antioch of Syria in the last quarter of the first century. Frequent reference is made in the Gospel to the Hebrew Scriptures. Evidently hearers and readers of Matthew were familiar with the Hebrew Bible, especially with the Torah, the Teachings. What we call the New Testament did not then exist. When they heard the Gospel of Matthew read in worship or study, they would hear it as a new story of God's activity—a new teaching—to be considered alongside the Hebrew Scriptures. But it would not be heard merely as the newest or latest event or teaching. It would be received as good news, news about what God had most recently done among them.

The reports in their newspapers—if they had them—were anything but good. In 70 A.D., the armies of Rome sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. Many of the faithful were dispersed into surrounding areas.

These were dark and terrible days for all in Judea and neighboring territories, including Jewish Christians. Good news would be hard to come by in those days.

There are some features of the Gospel According to Matthew that make it different from the three other Gospels: (1) At five different points in the narrative of Jesus' life and work, the author inserts lengthy sections of instruction, in the form of speeches by Jesus. There is the well-known Sermon on the Mount, and the lesser-known sections that include Jesus' missionary instruction to the twelve disciples, a section of parables, teachings about the cost of discipleship, and a section on The End of the Age.

The following diagram shows the placement of these speeches in the structure of the Gospel.

CHS 1– 4

CHS 5– 7

CHS 8– 9

CHS 10

CHS 11–12

CHS 13

CHS CHS 14– 17 18

CHS 19– 20

CHS CHS 23–25 26–28

Birth & Beginnings

Sermon on the Mount

Miracles Mission Discourse

Conflict Parables Continuing Community Conflict Discourse

Conflict Judgment Passion & Discourse Resurrection

1 Eugene Boring, The New Interpreter's Bible, vol. VIII (Nashville: Abingdon

Press, 1995), p. 109.

D U C T I O N duction

Matthew’s Gospel

Matthew 5

INTRO

(2) Much more than the writers of the other three Gospels, the author of Matthew wanted to demonstrate that Jesus was the fulfillment of what was written in the Law and the Prophets—the Hebrew Scriptures.

In this study, you will encounter that special feature of Matthew in nearly every session. In Session 1, the birth of Jesus will be seen as the fulfillment of an oracle by the prophet Isaiah. In Session 2, Jesus will be seen as a radical interpreter of the laws concerning revenge, as set forth in Exodus and Deuteronomy. In Session 3, Jesus cites passages from the Hebrew Scriptures to justify what appears to be breaking of the Sabbath commandment, seen by Matthew as a fulfillment of a verse from Psalm 78. Underlying the passion story would seem to be the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.

The Original Audience It is these special features of the Gospel that make

it likely that it was indeed written as a manual of instruction for Jewish Christians in congregations in Syria. The emphasis on Jesus as Teacher suggests a parallel with Moses, the great teacher and lawgiver of Israel. The careful attention to the Hebrew Scriptures suggests an audience that was largely Jewish. The emphasis in the Gospel on conflict between Jesus and various Jewish groups strongly supports a dating in the last part of the first century, when the church was struggling to define itself in conflict with rabbinic Judaism.

Anti-Semitism and the Gospel One of the issues that students of Matthew need to

confront head-on is that of anti-Semitism. It is likely to arise again and again in-group study, as Christians discuss narratives in which Jesus is in sharp and bitter conflict with fellow Jews. Leaders need to be prepared to deal with the issue. Eugene Boring writes in The New Interpreter's Bible:

Is the Gospel of Matthew anti-Semitic? In view of the use of certain Matthean texts through the centuries in support of racism and anti-Semitic statements and actions . . . this question must be faced honestly, especially by Christians who wish to take Matthew seriously as canonical Scripture. To pose the question in terms of anti-Semitism, however, is anachronistic, for the issue in Matthew is not racial prejudice, but religious conflict. The historical situation from which the Gospel of Matthew emerged was filled with tensions not only between Jews and Gentiles, but also with internal strife among various Jewish groups (of which the Matthean church was one). . . . While it is absurd to accuse Matthew of anti-Semitism—he pictured Jesus and the disciples as Jewish, was himself a Jew, and wrote for a church with a Jewish tradition and membership—lamentably, it is true that the

6 Matthew

sayings and imagery deriving from the conflict of Matthew's church and the Jewish leadership have been used to fuel the fires of anti-Semitism. Just as modern interpreters must be on guard that Matthean texts not be used to encourage anti-Semitism, so also legitimate modern sensitivities about anti-Semitism must not obscure a historical understanding of Matthew's negative and polemical stance toward the formative Judaism of his own time.2

Passages for Study The seven passages for study for this series were

chosen with the special features of the Gospel of Matthew in mind. Specifically:

1. Significant events in the life of Jesus are interspersed with sections of his teachings.

Sessions 1, 3, 5, and 7 deal with narratives; Sessions 2, 4, and 6 are primarily concerned with teachings.

2. Priority has been given to passages that are peculiar to Matthew, such as the Annunciation to Joseph, The Sermon on the Mount, and the parables of the weeds and the wheat and of the sheep and the goats.

3. Where possible, the connection of Jesus with Old Testament texts and teachings has been underscored.

A Strange Gospel! In the process of selecting the seven passages for

study, the author of this series recorded them on a cassette tape recorder and then listened to the resulting "mini Gospel." He recommends the activity to anyone who undertakes this study. The result is remarkable: A Messiah somewhat different than the usual portrait of Jesus emerges. Certainly one of the main purposes of a study of any Gospel is, as the title of a recent book by Marcus Borg says, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. The passages suggested for study are these:

Session 1, Matt. 1:18–25 The Birth of the Messiah

Session 2, Matt. 4:23—5:2, 5:38–48 Sermon on the Mount

Session 3, Matt. 12:1–14 Conflicts Over the Sabbath

Session 4, Matt. 13:1–3, 24–42 Teaching in Parables

Session 5, Matt. 20:17–28 The Sons of Zebedee

Session 6, Matt. 24:1–8; 25:31–46; 26:2 Coming of the Son of Man

Session 7, Matt. 27:27–31; 28:1–10 Crucifixion and Resurrection

2 Boring, p. 101.

Clue to Successful Study The clue to successful study of any book of the Bible is

to keep up front and prominent at all time the peculiar nature of that book. In the case of Matthew, that means that the leader not let the group lose sight of the book as a Gospel. The word Gospel means literally "good news." And at any time in the study of Matthew—but especially when the discussion seems to have drifted off course or into dead ends or into nasty personal conflicts—the leader is justified to intervene and ask: Why is this news? And why is this news good? Or, if it seems appropriate, Why was this good news? The study group needs to be reminded from time to time for whom the Gospel was originally written: It was written primarily for Jewish-Christian congregations, for whom Scripture was the Hebrew Bible. So that the message of Jesus' ministry, teaching, passion, and resurrection put a whole new spin on the meaning of old, familiar texts!

Moreover, this news was not like the news we get in our daily papers—which is mostly about murders, political corruption, wars, traffic deaths, and such—but was good, wholesome, saving, liberating news.

No single study session should end without at some point having this basic question raised and answered: Why is this good news for us? Even when the group is discussing such demanding and difficult teachings as "turning the other cheek" and "giving to everyone who asks of you," that question still applies! This is how the whole and the parts may be kept in fruitful relationship.

This is how the purpose of the writing of the Gospel may be accomplished for us: that we hear and obey Jesus as God's Savior.

Matthew 7

one

The Birth of THE MESSIAH

"The Gospel according to Matthew is a manual of Christian teaching in which Jesus Christ, Lord of the new-yet-old community, the church, is described particularly as the fulfiller and the fulfillment of God's will disclosed in the Old Testament. Jesus is set forth as Israel's royal Messiah . . . in whom God's purpose culminates and by whose words and life his followers, the true Israel . . . , may gain divine forgiveness and fellowship. . . . In short, the special aim of Matthew is to show that Jesus is the legitimate heir to the royal house of David."1

Quest ions for Study & Discuss ion by the Group

Read Matt. 1:18-25. Keeping in mind that "the special aim of Matthew is to show that Jesus is the legitimate heir of the royal house of David," write down some of the various ways in which this birth story fulfills that aim. For example, the announcement of Jesus' special role in history is brought by an angel of God.

What are other ways in which the story signals the advent of an extraordinary leader? Take time in the total group for members to share and discuss their findings.

Spend some time together speculating about the audience for whom the Gospel was first written.

• Who might have cared deeply about these things?

• For whom might it have been important that in some way Jesus was the legitimate heir to the throne of David?

• Why did it matter that his birth fit into oracles from one of the prophets?

• What rumors about Jesus' origins might such a birth story have been written to counteract?

1 The New Oxford Annotated Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 1 NT.

Matt. 1:18-25

8 Matthew

Share with one another in the group any intellectual alarms that this birth story might set off for modern men.

• Is anyone uptight about dreams? angels? fulfillment of words spoken centuries earlier?

married, she told him she was pregnant. He knew he was not the father—but what was he to do? One night he had a dream ..."

This way of reinventing the story helps us explore its human dimensions. We cannot, of course, rewind the tape and enter into the actual mental state of Joseph, but it does help put us in the picture.

• What are we to make of a child who apparently has the genetic inheritance of only one parent?

• Has the matter of the so-called "Virgin Birth" been a problem for anyone?

Don't attempt within the scope of a single study session to "solve" these problems. But do allow them to find expression—if members of the group find that important!

Spend some time looking at the events in Matt. 1:18–25 from Joseph's point of view. See if some members of the group would be willing to attempt a retelling of the story in another setting. For instance, "Once there was this poor woodcutter who was about to be married to the girl next door. But before they were

A theme emerges from the birth narrative that men may wish to discuss in some depth: The legitimacy of authority. There was a time in the Western world when people believed that kings ruled by divine right: God put them on their thrones; they were to be obeyed as God's ministers. Long ago we disposed of that idea. In Western democracies, we believe that the right to rule is derived from us, the people. We elect our rulers; they govern by our consent. So what do we care about the source of Jesus' authority? So long as he meets our expectations of what a good teacher and savior should be, who cares about how he got here?

To bring closure to the discussion session, ask each member in a single sentence to answer the question:

Why is Matt. 1:18–25 good news?

Afterword We trust in Jesus Christ,

fully human, fully God.

—"A Brief Statement of Faith." Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 1990.

"The peasant-rabbi is not born of philosophy or theology; he is the way. Therefore, it is by following him step-by-step in the humility of childhood, in the hidden life of his first thirty years, in his battle against and with the law, against the scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees, in the distance he kept from his family, in his fidelity to the Father, that he is the Liberator. To claim to believe in him without going through a [repentance], upsetting our old chain of values, is simply a farce. Glory is to be found in humiliation."2

2 Jean Sulivan, Morning Light: The Spiritual Journal of Jean Sulivan (New York: Paulist Press, 1988), p. 26. Matthew 9

In te l lec tua l Alarms

Joseph’s Point of View

Question for Study & Discussion by the Group

"The RSV [Revised Standard Version] was burned by fundamentalists in some parts of the United States because it used `young woman' rather than `virgin' in Isa. 7:14—a sign to the book burners that the translators were denying the virginal conception of Jesus! The reading `virgin' was imposed by a decision of the American bishops on the reluctant Catholic translators of the NAB [North American Bible]."3

In the movie Forrest Gump, the title character was named for the Civil War general, Nathan Bedford Forrest. Were you named for anyone famous? For whom, then?

A Name

A name is required. To whom are we indebted and who to us? A name. A name. But what does a name mean? Derivation Do you know the meaning of your given name? uncertain, always uncertain. Someone fathered the last name and mothered the middle and christened the first. I am proud of the name I was given—given to give to a son or a book or a star and at last to a cross or a stone. A name. A name is required. No number describes me as well. I can fill out a name, give it muscles and heart, temper, humor, specifics. I can give it a face, unique mind-prints as whorled as my singular fingers. It compasses me and I it. I shall know when they call me. A name is required.4

3 Raymond Brown, The Birth of the Messiah (New York: Doubleday, 1993), p. 146.

4 Thomas John Carlisle, Invisible Harvest (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), p. 44.

5 "At the Name of Jesus," from The Presbyterian Hymnal (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990), No. 148. Used by permission of Westminster/John Knox Press.

10 Matthew

At the name of Jesus Every knee shall bow, Every tongue confess Him King of glory now; 'Tis the Father's pleasure We should call Him Lord, Who from the beginning Was the mighty Word.5

The Sermon on THE MOUNT

Matthew is built of chunks of narrative about Jesus' life and ministry, interspersed with chunks of Jesus' teachings—set forth as speeches. Chapters 1:1—4:22 tell the story of Jesus' birth and beginnings: how he was born, baptized, tempted; how he called disciples; how he began a ministry of healing and teaching in the territory known as Galilee—removed from the capital city of Jerusalem, the spiritual center of Judaism.

Then in the Gospel comes The Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5 - 7 . It contains passages some of us have known since childhood: the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, the admonition to "turn the other cheek" and "go the second mile," and the Golden Rule.

Read Matt. 4:23—5:2; 5:38—48.

Before tackling the content of the Sermon, discuss its context. Why, do you suppose, did the author of the Gospel set the Sermon in the context of Jesus' Galilean ministry?

How were the first hearers of the Gospel to understand the relationships among Jesus, the crowds, and the disciples?

Why wasn't the Sermon set in a synagogue? or in the Temple in Jerusalem? Why on a mountain?

Recall what was said about the Messiah in the birth narrative, 1:18—25. Relate 4:23—5:2; 5:38—48 to your discussion of that earlier passage.

How is the behavior of Jesus in this latter text like that of a royal personage? What is "kingly" about Jesus in this account?

What does the text suggest about the nature of the kingdom that this Messiah proclaims?

two

Matthew 11

Matt. 4:23—5:2; 5:38—48

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

Why are the teachings given to the disciples and not to the crowds?

If Jesus came to save his people from their sins (1:21), why did he withdraw from the people and preach only to the disciples?

Zero in on one of the most familiar—and vexing—passages from the Sermon on the Mount. Read again 5:38–48. Invite members of the group to use their imaginations in describing the culture that these verses reflect.

Why, for instance, would anyone sue for a coat? force someone to go a mile?

If this exercise seems a bit difficult, have someone read aloud the following:

[Matthew 5:38–41 describes] three forms of possibly ascending violence easily experienced by first-century peasants. The right cheek presumes a peer-leveled insult delivered with the back of the right hand, and so contemptuously, or with the palm of the left hand, and so even more contemptuously, since that was the hand reserved for wiping stern realities. Therefore, loss of honor. The mantle or main outer garment could be taken as lost collateral on a small but unpaid loan. To give one's tunic or main inner garment as well meant nakedness save for the loincloth. Therefore, loss of all clothes. Enforced travel meant administrative or military demands. Therefore, loss of time and work, if not worse).1.

How might we recast Jesus' teachings to apply to the culture in which we live?

How do they relate to conventional wisdom expressed in such sayings as: "There is no such thing as a free lunch"; "Never give a sucker an even break"; "Never let anyone walk all over you"; "God helps those who help themselves." How might we express in different words the intention of "turn the other cheek"?

12 Matthew

1 John Dominic Crossan, The Essent ial Jesus (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), p. 164.

How do Jesus' activities signify the nature of that kingdom? Ascending Violence

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

What are the consequences of "translating" Jesus' What would happen to teachings such as 5:38-48 if they teachings into modern idioms? were understood as applying only to disciples of Jesus—

and not to the culture at large?

Is it okay to do that? Is anything lost when we do it?

Can it become a form of evading the force of the teachings? If so, how?

Consider the implications of the Sermon being delivered to the disciples, but not the crowds. It was noted that Matthew was likely written as a manual of instruction for church members.

Is the Sermon intended for church members only?

Have someone read aloud 5:48. Why should we want, and how can we hope, to be "perfect . . . as your heavenly Father is perfect"?

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." Is this how we are to glorify God—to seek to be like the Father?

Allow a few minutes at the end of the session to ask the critical questions for the Gospel:

How was (is) this particular text news?

Matthew 13

And how was (is) this news good?

If there is time, allow each member a chance to respond briefly to one or both questions.

Afterword "The first time I was called a nigger was on the

playground on my first day of school in Bedford, Pennsylvania—in a region some have called God's country, because of an abundance of both nature and churches. There was also an abundance of bigots, and a shortage of blacks; epithets were uncommon. When a little boy of Irish extraction confronted me with `nigger,' I had never before heard the word. If he hadn't bloodied my nose, I'd not have known to cry.

"I kept this, and similar incidents, secret until a pair of bullies stripped me and whipped me with briars, to the usual soundtrack. Then I consulted my elders. My grandmother told me to ignore `poor white trash,' and taught me to keep my face impassive `to deny them satisfaction.' My mother advised me to walk away with dignity. My father said that I should turn the other cheek. Fortunately, my uncle taught me combat skills; I escaped elementary school alive."2

"The words of Jesus are those of a man on the go, filled with the color and odor of the fields, the wind in the trees, the gestures of ordinary people. Is it necessary to have been a peasant to understand, or to become natural again? His words invite us to become joyously present in the instant, like the brook constantly in search of the river, or the river en route to the sea. Look for the Father. Your neighbor is yourself, your unknown self."3

In a written judgment explaining the unanimous decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa to abolish the death penalty, the president of that court said, "Everyone, including the most abominable of human beings, has the right to life and capital punishment is, therefore, unconstitutional."4

"If you had read all the extant Christian texts up to the start of the third century and then tried to guess what images of Jesus believers would emphasize on wall frescoes and sarcophagus carvings, you would be absolutely and totally incorrect. You might, for example, have chosen crucifixion and resurrection or second coming and last judgment scenes. . . . It was not . . . the crucified, risen, returning, or judging Jesus that was numerically emphasized on those earliest Christian images. It was, rather, the healing Jesus that appears again and again in pre-Constantinian art, and he is depicted usually as a handsome younger person rather than as a bearded older one."5

• While writing this series, the author received a letter from a twenty-five-year-old single mother in Uganda. She is handicapped by a paralyzed arm and leg. She asked for help with buying a "lame bicycle," and she asked:

"We lame people, are we really valid in the presence of God? How does God show us (we lame people) that He is merciful to us? What is Christ's promise to us (lame people) for today?"

"All of a sudden, I am getting telephone calls from complete strangers who want money. . . . I am still brooding about the one I received last night. According to the caller, he was an ex-minister who was HIV positive and he had just been released from the hospital and was leaving the next morning for Canada where he would get free medical care. He was a good friend of mutual acquaintance X and he simply needed food and shelter for the night.

"At this point all kinds of questions start running through my mind. . . . As I think this through I suspect I harbor thoughts that a telepanhandling call is like one to a suicide prevention center. That if I can just engage these people in serious conversation they will be rescued.... What they are after is money. If I am not going to give any I ought to tell them.

"Sorry, friend. On the phone, Mother Teresa I'm not."6

2 David Bradley, in The New Yorker (June 26 & July 3, 1995), p. 133.

3 Sulivan, p. 45. 1 4 M a t t h e w

4 "New South African court abolishes death penalty," The New Mexican (No. 158, June 7, 1995), p. 1.

5 Crossan, pp. 18-19. 6 David Steele, "Telepanhandling," Presbyterian Outlook (April 24, 1995),

pp. 12-13.

three Conflicts Over the SABBATH

This session is based on two incidents taken from Matthew's description of Jesus' Galilean ministry. Like Mark—whose narrative structure he followed—the author of Matthew divided his Gospel into a Galilean ministry (4:12—18:35) and the journey to Jerusalem and the subsequent events of the passion and resurrection (19—28).

"A Brief Statement of Faith" provides this summary of the Galilean ministry:

Jesus proclaimed the reign of God; preaching good news to the poor

and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed

and blessing the children, healing the sick

and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the

gospel.

Since we last saw Jesus on the mountain, giving his Sermon, he has been quite busy: healing, teaching, naming an inner circle of twelve disciples, instructing them for missionary work. Included in chapters 8—11 are these familiar stories: stilling the storm at sea, healing the paralytic let down through the roof, healing the Gadarene demoniac.

Read Matt. 12:1-14. In your Bible, underline all the references to the sabbath, to the law, to what is or is not lawful. Be certain that you and other members of the group are familiar with the Fourth Commandment: "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work ... " (Ex. 20:8ff.).

Members may want to share their own childhood memories of "keeping the sabbath." They may have their own views of how the sabbath is to be kept today.

However, these narratives are not about how one ought to keep the sabbath! If your group gets into a discussion of sabbath-keeping, you have wandered down a side road. Discuss in the group what the stories are indeed about. The final verse, 12:14, offers a clue.

Take some time to reflect on the situation of the congregations for whom Matthew was most likely written. It is generally assumed that the Gospel was put

into its present form in the last quarter of the first century. The church was well established; it was no longer merely a tiny sect of Judaism. The Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by Roman armies in 70 A.D. The Sadducees—the ruling party—had lost out. The most influential groups in Judaism were the Pharisees.

What are some phrases that one might use to characterize the first Christian readers of Matthew's Gospel? Take a few minutes to write these down and share them in the group:

According to the narratives in Matt. 12:1-14, what was Jesus' strategy for countering opposition to his ministry?

Do members of the group find Jesus’ choice of scriptural warrants effective? Why? Why not?

Matthew 15

Matt. 12:1--14

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

What other current ethical conflicts in society might be used to explore the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees?

In your group compare and contrast the clash between Jesus and the Pharisees with contemporary clashes between pro-choice and anti-abortion forces.

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

What values are at stake for the opponents in each of these conflicts?

What does Jesus seem to represent to the Pharisees? What do they represent to him?

Look ahead to what might 'be in store for Jesus and his followers. You have completed three out of the seven sessions in this study. You began with the birth of the Messiah. Then you looked at the teachings of the Messiah. In this session you have seen the impact of the Messiah on existing arrangements and values.

How do you think the rest of the Gospel will be developed? What are some things you expect to happen?

Are there valid comparisons to be made between these opponents and the opponents in the clash over abortion rights?

As a way of getting closure on this session, share brief responses to the questions:

How might the original hearers of Matt. 12:1–14 have regarded it as news? as good news?

How do we hear these stories as part of the good news that Jesus is Savior and Lord?

16 Matthew

Jesus and the Pharisees

Afterword Hangup

My how you've changed, Jesus, since we first met you in Sunday School. You've grown and we haven't. That seems to be our hangup.l

"The veins in his forehead bulged so prominently they might have been blue worms that had worked their way under the surface of his skin. His eyes bulged, too, capillaries zigzagging from the pupils in all directions. His face was pulled tight about the jaw, which thrust forward like a snowplow attachment on the grille of a truck. From the flattened 0 of his mouth, the word `murderer' erupted in a regular rhythm, the repetition of the `r's' giving the word the sound of an outboard motor that failed to catch.

She, for her part, paced up and down directly in front of him, saying nothing. Instead, she held high a large cardboard sign, on a stick, showing the cartoonish drawing of a bloody coat hanger over the caption, `Never again.' Like his, her face was taught with fury, her lips pressed together so tightly they folded under and vanished….

"For nearly 20 years these two have been at each other with all the hatred they can unearth. Sometimes the man is a woman, sometimes the woman a man... . Their rage is tireless. . . it rises like a missile seeking only the heat of its counterpart."2

"The muscle groups most commonly involved in emotional manifestations are the muscles most commonly used. The muscles at the back of the neck, which are used more than any other set of skeletal muscles, are such a group. These same neck muscles are common sites of tense emotional manifestation. Eighty-five percent of the patients complaining of a pain in the back of the head, radiating down the neck, have their pain as the result of emotional tightness in these muscles. This tension origin of neck pain was recognized years ago by that wise practical physiologist who first remarked that `So-and-so gives me a pain in the neck.' Such a statement is literally true."3

Sunday

O day most calm, most bright, The fruit of this, the next world's bud, Th' endorsement of supreme delight, Writ by a friend, and with his blood; The couch of time; care's balm and bay: The week were dark, but for thy light:

Thy torch doth show the way.4

1 Thomas John Carlisle, Mistaken Identity (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1973), p. 19.

2 Roger Rosenblatt, "How To End the Abortion War," The New York Times

Magazine (Jan. 19, 1992), p. 26.

3 John A. Schindler, M.D., How to Live 365 Days a Year (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1954), pp. 31-32.

Matthew 17

4 George Herbert, "Sunday," George Herbert: The Complete English Poems, John Tobin, ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 1992), p. 68.

Teaching IN PARABLES

The Sermon on the Mount is the first of five discourses • After Jesus took all the trouble to cast the parable of the in the Gospel According to Matthew. Chapter 10, in weeds and the wheat as an allegory—in which each part which Jesus instructs the disciples in ministry, is the stands for some element of the world—still his disciples second. The third is chapter 13, a collection of parables. didn't get it! It seems clear enough. Why did they have to It is from this third discourse that this session's texts ask what it meant? are taken.

Parables are extended metaphors, in which the nature of one thing is explained by likening it to another. Many of Jesus' parables—and this is true for all of those in this session—are explanations of the kingdom of God. What is the better future that Jesus came to inaugurate? Well, it is like "yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour. . . ." It is like "a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field."

Note how very different from the setting of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' teaching in parables: • What do you make of the Gospel author's explanation of Here, Jesus is in a boat offshore. The audience consists of why Jesus taught in parables? Do you find it convincing? a great crowd, which includes the disciples. Jesus is in his hometown; he is speaking to his own people.

Read Matt. 13:1—3a; 24-42. Members of the group should not be surprised if they are somewhat mystified by what they read. There is a mystery here, which may grow deeper the more you try to solve it!

After sharing any frustrations readers have with the text, discuss these questions:

• Why would Matthew represent Jesus as teaching the crowd about the kingdom only in parables? If you were Jesus' campaign manager, wouldn't you have thought this a poor strategy for promoting a mass movement?

• Think of some of the great leaders of our time, all of

whom had a genius for communicating with crowds: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King Jr. Why then does Matthew represent Jesus as speaking in parables?

four Matt. 13:1—3a; 24—42

18 Matthew

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

Take up again the question with which the session began: Why would one seeking to establish his claim as the Messiah teach in stories open to so many different interpretations?

Discuss these possibilities:

• Jesus was a master storyteller. He knew his parables would stick in the minds of his hearers and would force them to reflection.

• The church in Matthew's day did not want to appear as a political movement; statements about the coming of a new order had to be in "code."

• Original, more simple sayings of Jesus got embroidered by many repetitions in the sermons of many preachers.

• Jesus did not want to lead a popular movement, with slogans and propaganda.

At the end of the session, ask each member of the group to identify which one of the three parables that for him most fits the description of "good news"—for the original hearers and for himself. If there is time, let each man give a brief explanation for his choice.

Afterword John Dominic Crossan believes that the original

version of the parable of the mustard seed may have been something like the following:

The Kingdom of God is mustard a seed small enough

to get lost among others a plant large enough

to shelter birds in its shade.2

"[The missionaries in Korea] emphasized the norms of Christianity as manifested in catechetical books such as the Westminster Catechism. However, these were not easily understood by the people. Therefore, the theological aspects of the message as understood by the missionaries were not always prominent in the minds of Korean Christians. They liked the Bible much better than the doctrinal teachings of Christianity. Here we begin to detect a fundamental split between missionary Christianity and Bible Christianity. Whereas missionary Christianity was limited by a set of rigid doctrines developed in and for the West, the biblical message was in stories and parables that could be easily understood by the common people of Korea."3

Matthew 19

Compare and contrast the three parables in 13:24–33: the weeds and the wheat, the mustard seed, the yeast and the flour.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible gives these one-sentence explanations of each:

"God allows good and evil to exist together until the close of human history."

"The beginnings of God's kingdom are small, but it has an inherent nature that will grow to its intended end, startlingly different in size from its beginning."

"God's rule, like yeast working in a hidden way, will pervade one's life, giving it a new quality."1

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

See if you can't improve on those one-sentence interpretations:

Weeds and Wheat:

Mustard Seed:

Yeast and Flour:

1 The New Oxford Annotated Bible, p. 20 NT. 2 Crossan, p. 51. 3 Kim Yong-Bock, "Korean Christianity as a Messianic Movement of the People,"

Minjung Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1983), p. 85.

Three Parables

"Though we lack any written record of Jesus' life during his teenage years or during his twenties, we gain glimpses of those years through stories he told later on in his life.

He talked about fishing, shepherding, pruning trees, weddings, wages, the weather, landlords, leaven (yeast), taxes, and games he either had played or had seen other children playing in the street. He talked about bountiful and failed crops, the arrival of unexpected guests at night after the family was in bed, inheritances, finding things that had been lost."4

"We pray for the removal of this covering which now conceals all things, as the cloth which covers this table [here Karl Barth indicates a table covered by a cloth]. The table is underneath [he raps on the table]. You hear it. But you do not see it. You have only to remove the cloth to see it. We pray ["thy kingdom come"] in order that the covering which still veils the reality of the Kingdom may be removed, in order that the reality of everything already changed in Jesus Christ may be made visible."5

"A man who had a profound effect upon my career never knew that he did anything out of the ordinary. When I was near the final year at the theological seminary, I was treading water in a sea of possibilities. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I graduated: be a pastor, a teacher, a missionary, or a campus worker. One day the vice-president of the school met me on campus. He asked about my plans for the future. I told him that I couldn't make up my mind. `Don't just drift into something,' he said, `and then say it was the will of God.' Then he walked on by. What to him was a casual remark was to me like a clap of thunder. His words gave me no peace until I got my life into gear and made a clear decision.

"Of such small, ordinary daily works is the life of Christian faithfulness made up. The great issues of our time—peace, hunger, race, nuclear holocaust, liberation—make it difficult for any of us to feel that there is much we can do. We are greatly tempted to drift and daydream. But near at hand, as close as our daily work, is a field in which we may sow small seeds. . . . Of such tiny seeds God can make great shrubs."6

4 James Angell, The Gift Book (Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Publishing House, 1990), pp. 15-16.

5 Karl Barth, Prayer (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1985), p. 59.

20 Matthew

6 John C. Purdy, Parables at Work (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986), pp. 81-82.

T h e S o n s o f Zebedee

Chapters 21—27 constitute Matthew's passion Narrative. As in the other three Gospels, the account of Jesus' suffering and death constitutes the largest section. Between the lengthy passion narrative and the account of the Galilean ministry (4:12—18:35), are two transitional chapters, 19 and 20. They describe the journey of Jesus and his disciples from Galilee to Jerusalem (which was the setting for the eventful final days of Jesus' life on earth.) These two chapters constitute a hinge, upon which the Gospel turns from its account of Messiah as Healer and Teacher to the account of Messiah as the Son of Man, who offers himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Chapter 20:17–19 is the third time in which the passion of the Son of Man is foretold.

Read Matt. 20:17-28. Let your initial reflections and

reactions be focused on the symbolism of "the cup." In the group, let members respond spontaneously and without much comment from others to these questions:

• Imagine that you are gathered around the Lord's Table. If you understand "the cup" to be the Communion chalice, how does that affect your understanding of Matt. 20:17–28?

Imagine yourself in dialogue with the mother of the Zebedee boys. She seems to want for her sons the role of cupbearer to the royal Messiah, sitting at his side and passing him drinks! What do you say to her?

• Imagine yourselves present at Socrates, the trial of the wise man condemned to death by the Athenians for unsettling their city. He takes from his executioners the cup of poison and drinks it—making his death something he willingly embraces. How does that affect our reading and understanding of "the cup that I am about to drink"?

• Imagine yourselves as house slaves in pre-Civil War America. When the master asked for a cup, you were expected to go fetch it. How might you hear Jesus' injunction, "Whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave"?

five Matt. 20:17—28

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

Matthew 21

• Is it to be understood as a general teaching about the virtue of humility—something on the order of "don't blow your own horn”?

In Matt. 20:17—28 the death of the Son of Man seems

to be understood as: (1) the work of Jesus' enemies

(2) something Jesus willingly undertakes

(3) that which serves the divine plan of redemption.

Working individually, let members seek to find in the text justification for each of those three views.

Then share your findings in the total group. See how much weight members assign to each of those "causes" of Jesus' suffering and death.

Jesus told the Twelve, "Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant." How does that translate into a calling for Christians today?

• Does it have a specific reference to church governance, i.e., "Don't actively seek to be an elder, a trustee, or a pastor"?

• Or is it a call to follow the example of Jesus, and to sacrifice one's life—if need be f o r the kingdom, like Martin Luther King Jr., or others who have given their lives for humanity?

End the session by posing these questions:

What is God’s Will For Us?

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

How might this text have been heard as “news” by Christians in the first century? (How did it shed new light on old Scriptures?)

22 Matthew

How might it have sounded to them as good news?

How is this text good news for us?

Afterword Robert K. Greenleaf worked in management training

for AT&T. In a book called Servant Leadership he describes what our society needs: what Greenleaf calls "The Servant Leader." This is one who is chosen to guide a large institution—a corporation, a university, a church—because he or she has shown a capacity for being a servant. Greenleaf insists that "the great leader is seen as servant first, and that simple fact is the key to his greatness." More and more, Greenleaf insists, society mistrusts leaders whose chief interest is their own agenda and authority.

The poet and critic Matthew Arnold called this hymn by Isaac Watts the greatest in the English language:

When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God, All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down; Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my a l l

"Western civilization teaches us to grasp—to own/know/have power. Could it have survived otherwise?. . . Jesus is teaching us to let go. Growth doesn't interest him, nor the upward mobility of individuals, which always accompanies or follows money. His criterion for success is not the same as ours. He recommends descending the social ladder. . . . That's how the hierarchies of power and prestige are subverted."2

"After some time I went into my own country again, and was there about a year in great sorrow and troubles, and walked many nights by myself. Then the priest of Drayton, the town of my birth, whose name was Nathaniel Stephens, came often to me, and I went often to him; and another priest sometimes came with him; and they would give place to me to hear me, and I would ask them questions, and reason with them. And this priest Stephens asked me a question, viz, `why Christ cried out upon the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and why He said, "If it be possible let this cup pass from me; yet not my will, but thine be done."' I told him that at that time the sins of all mankind were upon Him, and their iniquities and transgressions with which He was wounded, which He was to bear, and to be an offering for them as He was man, but died not as He was God; and so, in that He died for all men, and tasted death for every man, He was an offering for the sins of the whole world. This I spake, being at that time in a measure sensitive of Christ's sufferings, and what He went through. And the priest said it was a very good, full answer, and such a one as he had not heard."3

"Jesus made authority in the fellowship dependent upon brotherly service. Genuine spiritual authority is to be found only where the ministry of hearing, helping, bearing, and proclaiming is carried out. Every cult of personality that emphasizes the distinguished qualities, virtues, and talents of another person, even though these be of an altogether spiritual nature, is worldly and has no place in the Christian community; indeed, it poisons the Christian community. The desire we so often hear expressed today for "episcopal figures," "priestly men," "authoritative personalities" springs frequently enough from a spiritually sick need for the admiration of men, for the establishment of visible human authority, because the genuine authority of service appears to be so unimpressive."4

1 "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," The Presbyterian Hymnal (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990), No. 101.

2 Sulivan, pp. 49-50.

3 George Fox, Journal (London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1924), p. 4.

4 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954), p. 108.

Matthew 23

The End of The Age

The fifth long discourse in Matthew is set in the midst of the passion narrative. It consists of chapters 24 and 25. Its theme is "The End of the Age." Jesus tells how it will be when the Son of Man returns in glory to establish God's eternal kingdom.

Most Christians are curious about how everything will finally turn out. The notion that Christ will come again is widely held. According to a poll conducted for U.S. News and World Report, more than 60 percent of Americans believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth. Those who think that such beliefs cut the nerve of responsibility for community and the creation need to remember that in "A Brief Statement of Faith," Presbyterians confess:

In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage

to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as

Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice,

freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the

Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks

and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God's new heaven and

new earth, praying, "Come, Lord Jesus!"

What, in particular, do verses 1-8 of chapter 24 suggest about the state of the world at the time the Gospel was composed?

In other words, what kind of situations press folks to wonder if something will be done to put everything right?

Read Matt. 24:1-8 and 25:31-46, the opening and closing verses of a collection of Jesus' teachings about the end of the present age. Then, as a group, reflect together on these questions:

• If scholars are correct in dating Matthew's Gospel in the final quarter of the first century, why might its first hearers and readers be especially interested in "final outcomes"?

24 Matthew

• Why did the Gospel writer put these chapters on "the end of the age" in the middle of the passion story?

six Matt. 24:1; 25:31—46

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

Don't they more properly belong after the account of the resurrection?

Who is speaking in these verses?

Ask members to read one more time the very familiar parable of the last judgment, in 25:31—46. Then discuss these questions:

• Why should it be no surprise to the hearers of Matthew's Gospel to find the Son of Man represented as a king, sitting on a glorious throne?

Review the five previous sessions to recall images and themes related to king, royalty, kingdom, and kingship.

• Assume that the reference in the parable to "the nations" is to Gentiles, goyim. How can these people be saved without a knowledge of Jesus Christ?

• In two other parables in this chapter, the returning Son of Man is likened to a bridegroom (vs. 1—13) and to the owner of an estate (vs. 14—30). Compare and contrast the image of a king on the throne with that of a groom coming to claim his bride and an owner returning after a long absence to settle up with his servants.

Invite members to share their own favorite images of Christ's return.

A famous theologian once remarked, "A church without a hell isn't worth a damn."

In the parable of the last judgment are explicit references to hell (eternal fire), to the devil, to eternal punishment. What do members of the group make of such notions? Consider soberly that these images are part of a parable, which is itself an extended metaphor, a story, a literary device.

Do the devil and hell really exist, or are they figures of speech? (You won't get agreement on this, but it may provide members with relief to be allowed to say what they believe about these matters!)

Matthew 25

A Church Without Hell

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

In the Lord's Prayer we ask that God "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (The NRSV renders Matt. 6:13 as: "And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.")

Has your discussion illuminated the meaning of that prayer for any in the group?

Close the session with the usual questions:

• How might Jesus' teachings about the end of the age have been heard by the original audience as news? as good news?

• How is it good news for us?

1 Pierre Delattre, Episodes (Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 1993), pp. 135-36.

Afterword "Carol left me. I got very sick. I think I wanted to die.

People from the poor neighborhood I was living in knew I couldn't get out of bed, so they snuck in and stole almost all my stuff. My friends were shunning me. When I got halfway well, I packed a small bag, abandoned the rest, and took a bus, any bus. I ended up in San Luis Potosi, a religious city. Every day I went to the cathedral to pray. The priest and congregation kept incanting the same words like a mantra. Their words seemed to rise up over the candle-lit walls and cascade upon us. I finally translated the words to mean, `The kingdom of heaven is within you.' Remembering the way the women said their rosaries, I went back to my room and, sitting in meditation, brought before my third eye, one by one, the faces of every person I could think of, living or dead. Keeping a regular rhythm so that no one face would be lingered on or quickly passed over to be loved more or less than another, I summoned each face in its most radiant expression, as it might appear while welcoming a loved one back from a long journey. To each face I said, `The kingdom of heaven is within you,' and found myself smiling more and more happily as they lit up in response. Eager to find other faces to love, I went out on the streets. For days I walked, looking into the faces in the passing crowd while saying to myself, `The kingdom of heaven is within you.' The face that literally transformed my in-sight was that of a grouchy, hunched over butcher in a bloody apron, with a slab of meat slung over his shoulder. For an instant, his eyes twinkled, and I saw God peeking out at me. From then on, every face I looked into flashed me this same glance of mirth, revealing the divinity so cunningly stowed away, yet delighted at being found out, relieved that I had finally caught on to the game: good, bad, ugly or beautiful, whatever our mood at the time—their conspiratorial faces said—we all wear the masks of God."1

"A third sermon was based on passages in the book of Matthew, which serve as a basis for [Billy] Graham's belief that the world is moving toward a climactic end. Christ said that when that time approached, there would be twenty-seven premonitory signs—but unfortunately Graham had time that evening for only four of them: widespread use of drugs, growth of violence, obsession with sex, and an increasing disparity between the gluttonous and the starving. Some cataclysm will occur; we will be cleansed by fire. After that will come a time—and it will not be in heaven but on this earth—when there will be a new Jerusalem, and those who have prepared themselves for that day will become the rulers in `the kingdom age.' "2

2 Cyril 0. Houle, Patterns of Learning (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984), p. 90.

26 Matthew

Food Is Heaven

Food is heaven. Food cannot be made alone. Food is to be shared. Food is heaven.

Everyone sees The same stars in the sky. It is natural that Everyone shares the same food.

Food is heaven. When we eat, God comes in and Dwells in us. Food is heaven.

"More than 60 percent of Americans believe Jesus Christ will return to Earth. Of those believers, more than a third think it will be within a few years or decades. The poll of 1,000 adult Americans was conducted for U.S. News and World Report to gauge Americans' belief about millenial and messianic aspects of the Bible. According to the poll: 59 percent believe the world will come to an end or be destroyed and more than a third of that group believe it will happen within a few decades; 60 percent believe there will be a final Judgment Day; 49 percent believe there will be an Antichrist; and 44 percent think there will be a final battle of Armageddon and a Rapture, when true believers will be brought into heaven."5

Oh, Food should be shared By all of us.3

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."4

3 Kim Chi Ha, "Food Is Heaven," An Emerging Theology in World Perspective (Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1984), p. 135.

4 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: MacMillan, 1943), p. 9.

5 As quoted in The Presbyterian Outlook (January 30, 1995), p. 2 Matthew 27

seven Crucifixion & RESURRECTION

Jesus was crucified, suffering the depths of human pain and giving his life for the sins of the world. God raised this Jesus from the dead, vindicating his sinless life, breaking the power of sin and evil, delivering us from death to life eternal.

When the resurrection occurs, the response of those who witnesss it is not so much surprise as it is fear and reverence: They are those who suddenly find themselves in the presence of Majesty.

Quest ions for Study & Discuss ion by the Group Read Matt. 27:27—31 and 28:1—10, remembering that

the purpose of Matthew is to show Jesus as the legitimate heir to the royal house of David. Then discuss these questions:

• Why do the Roman soldiers find it ludicrous that Jesus should be King of the Jews?

• There is another reversal at the scene of the resurrection. The soldiers, who thought they were guarding a tomb, were frightened almost to death by the appearance of an angel! We met an angel at the time of Jesus' birth. What is the angel doing in this scene?

• Why do the women prostrate themselves before the risen Christ and take hold of his feet? Why not a hug, a kiss?

2 8 M a t t h e w

If you or I were scripting the life of Jesus for TV, we would have saved his crucifixion and resurrection as surprises. But they come as no surprise in Matthew. There are three specific and detailed predictions of those events: 16:21—22; 17:22—23; and 20:17—19. The Gospel does not unfold like a movie or a novel, in which tension and suspense build and build and then suddenly there is a dramatic resolution. Rather, the crucifixion and resurrection happen more like the climactic explosion of a theme that was introduced at the beginning of a symphony. They seem to have their place in a Divine plan, as "A Brief Statement of Faith" avows:

Matt. 27:27—31; 28:1—10

• In Matt. 25:31-46, the parable of the great judgment, we are given the picture of the nations brought before the Son of Man. Why in 27:27—31 the reversal of roles?

Within the scheme of the Gospel, what is the function of this scene of mockery, humiliation, and cruelty?

Ask members to suppose they had present a scholar who had spent his life on the study of Matthew. List on newsprint or chalkboard questions that members would like to put to him.

If you feel uncomfortable ending the series with unresolved problems, let the group be reminded that Matthew has given us the Lord's Prayer. Ask for members to suggest how this study has, for them, given new meanings to phrases from that prayer. Conclude by praying it together.

Afterword The Crucifixion

And they take my blameless Jesus, And they drag him to the Governor, To the mighty Roman Governor. Great Pilate seated in his hall, Great Pilate on his judgment seat, Said: In this man I find no fault. I find no fault in him. And Pilate washed his hands. But they cried out, saying: Crucify him!—Crucify him!—Crucify him!— His blood be on our heads. And they beat my loving Jesus, They spit on my precious Jesus; They dressed him up in a purple robe, They put a crown of thorns upon his head, And they pressed it down Oh, they pressed it down And they mocked my sweet King Jesus.2

"The way was narrow right from the beginning, because He had foreknowledge of His fate from the very beginning. What a dreadful weight of suffering to have right from the beginning!

There have been many who have gone dauntlessly, almost jubilantly, into the struggle with the world, hopeful that they would be victorious. It happened otherwise—the course of events took another turn; but even in the moment when defeat seemed most unavoidable, even in that moment there was perhaps a human hope within them that it could still turn into victory, or even a God-fearing hope all could still turn into victory, since with God all things are possible.

2 James Weldon Johnson, God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (New York: Penguin, 1955), pp. 40-41. Matthew 29

Writing as an historian and teacher, Marcus Borg says: "I have no idea if Easter involved anything happening to the corpse of Jesus or an empty tomb. Crucial to this remark is the distinction between resuscitation and resurrection. Resuscitation intrinsically involves something happening to a corpse: A dead person comes back to life, resumes the life that she or he had before, and will die again. Whatever the resurrection of Jesus was, it wasn't that."1

For the purpose of Matthew's Gospel, what does it matter how Jesus was raised?

According to Matthew, the first witnesses to the resurrection were the two Marys. What significance do members of the group attach to that? Does it matter that the believing church is represented by women?

Allow at least fifteen minutes at the end of the session for an evaluation of the series. Do members of the group feel they have gotten their teeth into the Gospel—or have they just been given bites and nibbles?

Questions for Study & Discussion by the Group

1 Marcus Borg, "The Historian, the Christian, and Jesus," Theology Today (April 1995, vol. 52 No. 1).

Resuscitation & Resurrection

But Christ knew His fate from the beginning, knew that it was unavoidable—He willed it Himself; indeed, He walked freely into it! What dreadful knowledge to have from the very beginning! In the early part of His life, when people shouted with joy on meeting Him, He knew that these people would be the ones to shout, 'Crucify!' "3

"As a child I thought I understood that God was lowering himself. In brief, Jesus was pretending to act in a human way; he knew what he was doing, and was putting on a show for us. I saw no objection to all that since he was so powerful. At school one of my classmates, when he was asked what were Jesus' last words on the cross, replied: `I should worry, I should care; on the third day I'll rise again."4

"Speaking of Easter, do we not attach more importance nowadays to the act of dying than to death itself? We are much more concerned with getting over the act of dying than with being victorious over death. Socrates mastered the art of dying; Christ overcome death as . . . the last enemy (1 Corinthians 15.27). (sic) There is a real difference between the two things. The one is within human capacity, the other implies resurrection."6

Easter

Can there be any day but this, Though many suns to shine endeavour? We count three hundred, but we miss: There is but one, and that one ever.5

3 Soren Kierkegaard, For Self Examination: Recommended for the Times (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 1940), pp. 67-68.

4 Sulivan, p. 67.

5 Herbert, p. 37.

6 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (New York: MacMillan, 1953), p. 154.

30 Matthew

What People Are Saying About the Men's Bible Study Series

"I found the study materials and questions among the most refreshing of any Bible study materials I have

ever seen within the Presbyterian Church for men. Thanks so much for doing them... "

Bill Richard Presbyterian Stone Church Ogdensburg, New York

"We would like more of this kind of study." Jim Palmer First Presbyterian Church Bellevue, Washington

"(The) men had been so used to listening to lecture type Sunday School lessons (that) I was afraid that

drawing them into a discussion would be like pulling teeth. The surprise came on that first Sunday morning when all ten men in the class chimed in with their thoughts."

Gene Wylie First Presbyterian Church Vicksburg, Mississippi

"An excellent presentation . . . with good balance between Biblical work and reflection. Questions with

contemporary applications are nicely done."

Dr. Youngil Cho National President (1993—1995) Presbyterian Men

Matthew 31

John C. Purdy, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a freelance writer and an educational consultant. He spent 26 years as an editor of educational resources in the national offices of the United Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In addition to writing numerous articles and study series for youth and adults in various church school curricula, he is the author of three books for the laity: Parables at Work, Returning God's Call, and God with a Human Face, all published by Westminster John Knox Press.

From 1989 to 1995 he wrote a monthly question-and-answer column for Presbyterian Survey magazine.

Born in Korea of missionary parents, Purdy is a graduate of the College of Wooster and Princeton Theological Seminary. He also attended the University of Basel in Switzerland. He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), now honorably retired. Before becoming an editor, he served for 12 years as a pastor in Wisconsin.

The Writer

32 Matthew