Tag: Matthew

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Matthew 27-28

Matthew 27

This chapter starts with the chief priests and elders deciding that Jesus should be put to death and sent him off to Pilate. Judas hears of this, tries to return the silver, explaining that he betrayed an innocent man, and hung himself.

Jesus is questioned by Pilate. The only response he gives is when Pilate asks him if he is King of the Jews and Jesus replies “That’s what you say.” Pilate clearly wanted to release Jesus, knowing that Jesus was in front of him simply because of jealousy by the priests. Apparently it was the custom during this time of year to release a prisoner to the crowd, whomever they chose. He told the crowd to pick between Jesus Barabbas or Jesus himself. The elders and priests convince the crowd to ask for Barabbas and demand that Jesus be crucified. Clearly Pilate doesn’t want to do this, but this happens according to the text (27:24-26; CEB Study Bible, p. 60 NT).

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Matthew 26

Matthew 26: Just a quick little note, there’s a lot going on in this chapter. The text is just bouncing around from topic to topic.

This chapter starts with Jesus telling his followers that it was just a matter of time before he would die. The text then tells us that Jesus’ opponents were plotting to capture and kill him. We then see a woman pour expensive perfume on Jesus and his followers admonishing her because they thought the perfume could be sold and given to the poor and needy (honestly, this is what I would’ve done). Jesus tells them to back down, making it clear that what she is doing is actually preparing his body for burial. We then see reference to Judas approaching the chief priests asking what they would give him for betraying Jesus.

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Matthew 25

Matthew 25: This chapter starts with the parable of the 10 bridesmaids. They went out looking for the groom, each with a lamp. Only 5 brought extra oil. The 5 foolish ones (those that didn’t bring oil) ran out of oil, had to go buy more (because the other 5 wouldn’t share), and missed their chance to enter with the groom. The bridesmaids represent the people and the groom represents God. The notion here is that people need to remain faithful so they are always prepared. This means that people need to always follow Jesus’ teachings.

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Matthew 23-24

Matthew 23: Jesus tells the people to trust what the legal experts and Pharisees tell them, but don’t do what they do. He recognizes that they know what they are talking about, but their actions don’t reflect what they say. He then condemns the legal experts and Pharisees for all of their actions, calling them hypocrites. This chapter has a lot of examples of all of the bad things they’ve done.

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Matthew 21-22

Matthew 21: There’s a lot going on in this chapter and I’m struggling to unpack it. We first see a story about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey and a colt. This apparently fulfills what was foretold in Zechariah. I sent off an email to Father Greg asking if the NT writers had access to the OT scrolls. I just wonder if since this was written AFTER Jesus’s death, did the authors add things like this to strengthen his story. For example, here’s what the notes say for this part of the text:

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Isaiah 28-30; Matthew 19-20

Isaiah 28: The Lord is a refuge and protection. Isaiah condemns the leaders of Ephraim and Judah for their drunkard actions and lack of trust in God. They have instead put their faith into others for their protection. According to Isaiah, God specifically says “One who trusts will not panic” (p. 1004 NRSV).  

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Isaiah 22-24; Matthew 17-18

Isaiah 22: Warnings to Jerusalem and its leaders. The warnings stem from how the leaders behaved during wartime. They apparently stopped focusing on God and spent more time focusing on their defenses. At least this is according to the notes in the CEB study bible (p. 1124 OT).

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Isaiah 19-21; Matthew 15-16

Isaiah 19: Threats concerning Egypt. So God strikes down Egypt because of what the people there are doing. We then see at the end of this chapter that the people turn (back?) to God and worship him again. As in, if you hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible, then you believe that the Egyptians followed God out of fear.

Again, strange way to view things. Doesn’t make any sense to me. It seems limiting.

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Isaiah 16-18; Matthew 13-14

NOTE: From this point forward I will see a one sentence description of the overall message for that particular chapter. This is from the NRSV Access Bible. I like it.

Isaiah 16: More lamentations concerning Moab. This is pretty much a continuation of Isaiah 15. It’s still more about the destruction of Moab at the hands of God.

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Isaiah 10-12; Matthew 11-12

Isaiah 10: The overall message in this chapter is that Assyria will not escape God’s judgment. As I read this chapter and this book overall I can’t help but think of the book by Rob Bell, What is the Bible. He argues, convincingly, that the Bible is pretty much a metaphor and guide, not to be taken literally. I need to reread what he says about the amount of violence of the Bible. Because these chapters are all about God wanting to destroy entire groups of people. Yikes.

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