Just a tad more on Matthew, Chapter 1: I read the comment from my pastor and looked into this myself.
Matthew saw Jesus as our King. Christ alone has the legal right to sit upon the throne of David due to His paternal lineage. Matthew's writing style is that of a teacher. He tells us what Jesus said rather than what He did. His job as a tax collector enabled him to keep excellent records of Jesus's discourses. He showed us a King, one who was strong enough. to support the building of a church thru His own authoritative teachings and one who was capable of guiding His disciples in teaching new Christians to build their relationships with Him.
Mark presented Jesus as a servant of the people. His writing style is that of a preacher and could be summations of sermons given by Peter. The gospel moves quickly thru to the teachings of Christ, telling us what He did rather than what He said, is the shortest gospel of the four and describes Jesus's teachings in colorful detail. These are also all characteristics of Peter's ministry.
Luke wrote about Jesus and His humanity, seeing the Man who came to seek and to save. His writing style is that of a historian but is written in the vernacular making it easy for the common man to read and understand. He writes of probably every aspect of Jesus's life: His sermons, His lectures, his conversations. Luke respected women and got up close and personal with Mary at the birth of her Son. He is the only one who writes of Anna or tells the story of Mary and Martha with such compassion. Luke speaks of Jesus's attitude toward the poor, racial discrimination, the importance of prayer. Because he was not one of the chosen 12, Luke wrote about them with respect.
John saw Jesus as the Eternal God, more than just a man but as a part of God. His writing style is that of a theologian. He begins his gospel with, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He wrote that Jesus was God from the very beginning in Chapter 1:1. He never called himself by name, just as the disciple that Jesus loved. John writes this gospel to give the church true faith in the Messiah. This gospel is written so that we, as Christians can believe that Jesus Christ is the true Son of God. He gives us the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is an evangelical gospel.
************************************************************************
Matthew began his genealogy with Abraham and is the only one who mentions 4 women who are extremely important to keeping the lineage going.
1. Thamar (Tamar) was the daughter-in-law of Judah who played a harlot because she was not given in marriage to his youngest son as promised. In her role as a harlot, she became pregnant with twins by Judah. She is mentioned in Matthew 1:3, and her story is told in Genesis 38:13-30. She was a very distant grandmother of King David.
2. Rahab was also an ex-harlot and was the great-great-grandmother of King David. She is the one who hid 2 of Joshua's spies in order to save her family when the wall of the city were stormed. She is mentioned both in Matthew 1:5 and Joshua 2:1.
3. Ruth was an ex-pagan and was the great-grandmother of King David. She is written about in Matthew 1:5 and Ruth 1:4. She also has a whole book written about her, probably by Samuel. Ruth was a pagan Moabite who became the daughter-in-law of Naomi. The main message of the book of Ruth is that of active Christian love and how it affects other people. She and Boaz had a son, Obed, who had Jesse, David's father.
4. Bath-Sheba was King David's beloved wife and mother of Solomon. Her story is found in 2 Samuel 11. She heard of a plot of King David's oldest son to overthrow the throne and with the help of the prophet Nathan, warned David. King David immediately appointed Solomon as king as he was the one God had chosen to succeed David on the throne. She was resourceful, energetic and continued to influence David until his death.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
30 minutes for 30 days-day 2
I was totally wiped out with the last study. 90 minutes is a long time and entertained a massive amount of information to digest. How exciting it was to delve into God's Word. I love to read and study and what better book for this perpetual student to study, with contemporary Christian music playing in the background. It's a beautiful day to write about what I've learned.
I'd like to add that I've been thinking about the writing styles of the gospels. 3 were educated men, but John's writing seems to be more refined than the others. Maybe Mary saw to it that, as his appointed mother, he got an education or had the opportunity to study under Mark who was a Levite.
The first chapter of Matthew is the genealogy of Jesus, traced thru His earthly father, Joseph. Matthew is the only one who traces the lineage of Jesus thru Joseph. Luke gives us Christ's genealogy thru Mary's side of the family. Mark and John don't mention His lineage but concentrated on His teaching during His time on earth.
Jesus's lineage was traced all the way back to Abraham in the Old Testament. Then came Isaac, Jacob, many generations of names I've never heard of, Jesse, David, Solomon (the son of David and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, whom David had killed because he desired his wife), more generations of names I've never heard mentioned, Jacob and finally Joseph.
Matthew numbers the time from Abraham to David as 14 generations, from David to the enslavement of the Israelites by Babylonia as 14 generations, then 14 generations of enslavement until the birth of Jesus.
The lineage of Jesus begins with the father of the nation of Israel, Father Abraham, and the major stepping stones in the lineage of Jesus are all 14 generations apart. A generation today is usually considered to be 20 years. In Old Testament times, women married and had children at a much younger as well as a much older age than they do in modern times. That makes it hard to give a number of years to a generation. For the purpose of my non-mathematical brain, I have to give a generation 20 years. I think over the years mentioned, it will even out.
To summarize the lineage of Jesus, it began with Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. Approximately 280 years later, we have David, the greatest King of Israel, then his son, Solomon. Approximately 280 years after Solomon's reign, the Israelites were enslaved by Babylonia and remained slaves for another approximation of 280 years. That marked the birth of Jesus. This is an approximate total of 840 years from the creation of the nation of Israel to the birth of the Savior. That doesn't seem to be very long, but it's all I have at this moment. I have to remember that it's also been over 2000 years since the birth of Christ. That gives us over 2,280 years from the creation of a great nation to the birth of the Messiah to present times.
The remaining verses in chapter one, beginning with verse 18, deal with the conception of Jesus. Keep in mind, scholars of the Bible think Mary was only about 14 years old when she became pregnant by the Holy Ghost. She certainly wasn't, at that young age, praying for a child yet. Not much detail is given on her becoming pregnant, only that she was a virgin who became pregnant by the Holy Ghost.
Her pregnancy was discovered while she was engaged to Joseph but not yet married to him. Joseph was a just and kind man, an older man, who did not want to humiliate her publicly. He wanted to send her away privately to have her Baby so no one would know. One can only wonder what he planned to do with the Baby, but he had to make a choice as to whether he wanted to go through with the wedding. I think he was contemplating preserving Mary's reputation as much as he could but really was having second thoughts about marrying an unwed mother. God intervened just in time and sent an angel to him in a dream, telling him to marry this young girl as she was still a virgin and was carrying the Messiah.
This angel gave Joseph some very important information about this Baby, letting him know how important it was to protect Him as He grew into a man. He was also told to name his son Jesus, as He would grow into a man who would save people from their sins.
Jesus being our Savior was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 which says, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Matthew 1:23 says, "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
Joseph woke up and, on the basis of the dream which he took as a message straight from God, obeyed Him and took Mary to be his bride. Because Jesus was prophesied to be born of a virgin, Joseph did not consummate his marriage until after Jesus was born. I had never thought of this prophecy of a "virgin birth" as being so important and as affecting other important people in the life of Christ. Joseph obeyed God in order to make sure the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled, that Jesus was born of a virgin.
I'd like to add that I've been thinking about the writing styles of the gospels. 3 were educated men, but John's writing seems to be more refined than the others. Maybe Mary saw to it that, as his appointed mother, he got an education or had the opportunity to study under Mark who was a Levite.
The first chapter of Matthew is the genealogy of Jesus, traced thru His earthly father, Joseph. Matthew is the only one who traces the lineage of Jesus thru Joseph. Luke gives us Christ's genealogy thru Mary's side of the family. Mark and John don't mention His lineage but concentrated on His teaching during His time on earth.
Jesus's lineage was traced all the way back to Abraham in the Old Testament. Then came Isaac, Jacob, many generations of names I've never heard of, Jesse, David, Solomon (the son of David and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, whom David had killed because he desired his wife), more generations of names I've never heard mentioned, Jacob and finally Joseph.
Matthew numbers the time from Abraham to David as 14 generations, from David to the enslavement of the Israelites by Babylonia as 14 generations, then 14 generations of enslavement until the birth of Jesus.
The lineage of Jesus begins with the father of the nation of Israel, Father Abraham, and the major stepping stones in the lineage of Jesus are all 14 generations apart. A generation today is usually considered to be 20 years. In Old Testament times, women married and had children at a much younger as well as a much older age than they do in modern times. That makes it hard to give a number of years to a generation. For the purpose of my non-mathematical brain, I have to give a generation 20 years. I think over the years mentioned, it will even out.
To summarize the lineage of Jesus, it began with Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. Approximately 280 years later, we have David, the greatest King of Israel, then his son, Solomon. Approximately 280 years after Solomon's reign, the Israelites were enslaved by Babylonia and remained slaves for another approximation of 280 years. That marked the birth of Jesus. This is an approximate total of 840 years from the creation of the nation of Israel to the birth of the Savior. That doesn't seem to be very long, but it's all I have at this moment. I have to remember that it's also been over 2000 years since the birth of Christ. That gives us over 2,280 years from the creation of a great nation to the birth of the Messiah to present times.
The remaining verses in chapter one, beginning with verse 18, deal with the conception of Jesus. Keep in mind, scholars of the Bible think Mary was only about 14 years old when she became pregnant by the Holy Ghost. She certainly wasn't, at that young age, praying for a child yet. Not much detail is given on her becoming pregnant, only that she was a virgin who became pregnant by the Holy Ghost.
Her pregnancy was discovered while she was engaged to Joseph but not yet married to him. Joseph was a just and kind man, an older man, who did not want to humiliate her publicly. He wanted to send her away privately to have her Baby so no one would know. One can only wonder what he planned to do with the Baby, but he had to make a choice as to whether he wanted to go through with the wedding. I think he was contemplating preserving Mary's reputation as much as he could but really was having second thoughts about marrying an unwed mother. God intervened just in time and sent an angel to him in a dream, telling him to marry this young girl as she was still a virgin and was carrying the Messiah.
This angel gave Joseph some very important information about this Baby, letting him know how important it was to protect Him as He grew into a man. He was also told to name his son Jesus, as He would grow into a man who would save people from their sins.
Jesus being our Savior was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 which says, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Matthew 1:23 says, "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
Joseph woke up and, on the basis of the dream which he took as a message straight from God, obeyed Him and took Mary to be his bride. Because Jesus was prophesied to be born of a virgin, Joseph did not consummate his marriage until after Jesus was born. I had never thought of this prophecy of a "virgin birth" as being so important and as affecting other important people in the life of Christ. Joseph obeyed God in order to make sure the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled, that Jesus was born of a virgin.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
30 minutes in Bible study for 30 days-day one
Today I watched Joyce Meyers on TV. She extended a challenge to all her viewers to study, not read, but actually study the Bible for 30 minutes every day for the next 30 days. I am accepting that challenge and have chosen to attempt to compare and contrast the four gospels. My 30 minutes turned into 90 minutes before I knew it. I spent that time getting to know the men who penned the gospels for God so we would have them to read.
I found out a couple of interesting things. Matthew, Mark and Luke all wrote in the 60's AD. John wrote in 85 AD, 25 years later. To me, that implies that John, the beloved disciple, might have been a lot younger than the rest, perhaps an older teenager. Jesus may have chosen him for his youth. It's easy to love a teenager. The tone of his writing seems much more educated than the others. Again, if he started his discipleship as a youth, he would have had more time to garner wisdom from his contemporaries.
All four disciples included in some form, or another, what we call "The Great Commission".
Matthew and Mark worded it almost identically, but Luke and John were more subtle in stating it. All were in red letters in my Bible, indicating that these were the words of the Master.
Matthew and Luke expound on the birth and early years of Jesus's life where Mark and John begin with John the Baptist, Jesus's cousin, who was 6 months older than Jesus. John and Mark focused their content on the teaching of Jesus and the last 3 years of his life. This includes the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension into heaven. However, when discussing the ascension, all four put it in only one verse. None of them expounds on it in great detail.
Matthew traces Jesus's genealogy thru His earthly father, Joseph. Luke traces it thru His mother, Mary. Mark and John don't mention it.
They all focus most of their writing on the last three years of Jesus's life, full of the teaching of the Master. They all have a different background; therefore, they all had different, but educated, writing styles. Matthew was a tax collector which took some education or talent with numbers. Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, who was a Levite. Being a descendant of Levi and the tribe of priests, Mark probably had some religious education. Luke was a physician. There's no question about the amount of education he had to have. John was present at most of the miracles performed by Jesus. He was with Jesus in the Garden and prepared the Passover Feast. Being at the trial of Jesus before the high priest, he naturally attended the crucifixion of Christ. Jesus, himself, entrusted to him the care of His mother, Mary. He witnessed the sepulcher being empty and after the resurrection, John was at the Sea of Galilee for one last time with his Lord. John is the only one who writes about this time after the resurrection. The rest stop with the supper the Lord blessed and then disappeared. John was present in more of the life of Christ than any other. He was, indeed, the beloved disciple, the disciple Jesus loved.
I found out a couple of interesting things. Matthew, Mark and Luke all wrote in the 60's AD. John wrote in 85 AD, 25 years later. To me, that implies that John, the beloved disciple, might have been a lot younger than the rest, perhaps an older teenager. Jesus may have chosen him for his youth. It's easy to love a teenager. The tone of his writing seems much more educated than the others. Again, if he started his discipleship as a youth, he would have had more time to garner wisdom from his contemporaries.
All four disciples included in some form, or another, what we call "The Great Commission".
Matthew and Mark worded it almost identically, but Luke and John were more subtle in stating it. All were in red letters in my Bible, indicating that these were the words of the Master.
Matthew and Luke expound on the birth and early years of Jesus's life where Mark and John begin with John the Baptist, Jesus's cousin, who was 6 months older than Jesus. John and Mark focused their content on the teaching of Jesus and the last 3 years of his life. This includes the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension into heaven. However, when discussing the ascension, all four put it in only one verse. None of them expounds on it in great detail.
Matthew traces Jesus's genealogy thru His earthly father, Joseph. Luke traces it thru His mother, Mary. Mark and John don't mention it.
They all focus most of their writing on the last three years of Jesus's life, full of the teaching of the Master. They all have a different background; therefore, they all had different, but educated, writing styles. Matthew was a tax collector which took some education or talent with numbers. Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, who was a Levite. Being a descendant of Levi and the tribe of priests, Mark probably had some religious education. Luke was a physician. There's no question about the amount of education he had to have. John was present at most of the miracles performed by Jesus. He was with Jesus in the Garden and prepared the Passover Feast. Being at the trial of Jesus before the high priest, he naturally attended the crucifixion of Christ. Jesus, himself, entrusted to him the care of His mother, Mary. He witnessed the sepulcher being empty and after the resurrection, John was at the Sea of Galilee for one last time with his Lord. John is the only one who writes about this time after the resurrection. The rest stop with the supper the Lord blessed and then disappeared. John was present in more of the life of Christ than any other. He was, indeed, the beloved disciple, the disciple Jesus loved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)