Matthew 5-7 (2 weeks)



John 12:1-8 Mary anoints Jesus

While the stories are similar, there are significant differences between this story and the anointing stories in Mark 14:3-11 and Matthew 26:6-15.

Throughout the book of John, Jesus shows constant foreknowledge and control over this death. In this instance, see 12;3, 7-8.

How was Jesus anointed at the beginning of his ministry?

v. 1 When?

Where?

v. 2 With whom?

v. 3 What was Mary's action?

v. 4 Who criticized?

v. 5 What was the criticism?

v. 6 What was the motivation for the criticism?

v. 7 What was Jesus' response

v. 8 "For the poor you always have with you;"

What are different ways this can be read? Possibilities:

a. Acceptance of the fact that there will always be poor

b. Accusation – the true accusation

c. Irony

v. 9 Why did "much people" come to Bethany?

v. 10 Who did "the Jews" wish to put to death?

v. 11 Why? who were "the Jews" that went away? What does "went away" mean?

Matthew 21-23

Major themes in Matthew:

1. Christ is the King

2. The Jews are rejecting their King; Gentiles will be/are invited to the Kingdom

3. Doing the will of God in all things (LOVE) is the primary requirement for membership in the Kingdom

Structure of Matthew:

I. The presentation of the King: Matt 1-4

II. The Law of the Kingdom (Sermon on the Mount): Matt 5-7

III. Power and Proclamation of the Kingdom: Matt 8-11

IV. Conflict, withdrawal and establishment of the Kingdom: Matt 12-16

V. Nature of the Kingdom: Matt 17-20

VI. Rejection and Triumph of the King: Matt 21-28 (This is where we are today. Matthew 21-23 is part of a section that provides narrative mixed with much dialogue. Jesus is entering Jerusalem.)

21:1-22 Triumphal entry:

v. 10 The key question: who is this?

Christ came to Jerusalem from the east and then from the Mount of Olives. Significance?

Zech. 9: 9-10

9 ¶ Rejoice greatly, O adaughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy bKing cometh unto thee: he is cjust, and having salvation; lowly, and driding upon an eass, and upon a fcolt the foal of an ass.

10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the ahorse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the bheathen [nations]: and his cdominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Zech 14:4

¶ And his afeet shall bstand in that day upon the cmount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east . . . .

Matt. 24: 27

  27 For as the alightning cometh out of the beast, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Matt. 2: 2

  2 Saying, aWhere is he that is born bKing of the Jews? for we have seen his cstar in the east, and are come to dworship him.

v. 5 Zech 9:9 except "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion" from Zech 9:9 has been changed

to "tell ye the daughter of Sion" from Isaiah 62:11. Why?

v. 6-11 Note: the heir of David who was to be anointed rode a donkey to his coronation: 1 Kings 1:32-40.

Since Solomon's time no king had ridden on a donkey that we know of. The Messianic king would be meek and humble and would ride a donkey, i.e., He would be a King of salvation and peace (Zech 9:10).

v. 9-11 Note: the multitude is separate from the city at first.

What does the multitude say?

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." (Psalm 118:26 – this is a royal psalm recited on the annual enthronement of the King. Also see Matt. 2:3)

What do they think of Christ? See v. 11

What is the city's response? v. 9

v. 12-16 Christ shuts down the temple rituals.

The money-changers and the benches of those selling doves. The business carried on in the forecourt was connected to the sacrificial offerings and the Temple tax. At Passover time, every Jew had to pay a half shekel as Temple tax. The money-changers were here because those flooding in for the feast brought with them currency from many different countries (cf. John 12:20; Acts 2:5 ff). The merchants sold what was needed for the sacrifices: animals, wine, oil, salt, etc. The poor, who had no means to sacrifice a larger animal, were allowed to sacrifice a pair of doves for their purification (cf. Lev 5:7; 12:8; Luke 2:24).

Another view of the temple during this time period:

"The temple stood as a sign of the need for victims; every day, it offered public and private sacrifice for the good of society. It was the supreme religious and political institution in Judea at the time of Jesus.

"It overshadowed Jerusalem and dominated life in the city. Eighty percent of employment in Jerusalem depended on the temple, not only on its day to day ritual needs but also on the periodic pilgrim festivals and the ongoing building project which it constituted. Nine thousand priests and Levites worked there, although not at the same time, operating what was in fact a giant abbatoir. The twice-daily official sacrifices on the vast ever-burning altar consumed thousands of animals and forests of wood. There were cattle pens on the north side and sometimes the water of the Kidron stream where the blood was flushed became so thick that it was sold to farmers as fertilizer. Over it all hung a pall of smoke from burning flesh, and when the great pilgrim festivals, like Passover, were in full swing the priests stood in blood sacrificing the victims of private offerings. Jews were expected to make the pilgrimage to the temple three times a year, twice in the spring – at Passover and Pentecost – and once in the fall, at Succoth. Therefore Jerusalem thrived on what today would be called the convention business. This combination of smoke, blood, and business, whose priests were in league with Roman power to preserve their office and their landed interests, was the historical reality of the sacred for the Gospel of Mark." (The Gospel and the Sacred, Robert G. Hamerton-Kelly, 1994).

Some possibilities as to why Jesus would shut down the temple ritual:

1) Typifies the end of the sacrifice of animals?

Alma 34: 13-15

  13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a astop to the shedding of bblood; then shall the claw of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.

  14 And behold, this is the whole ameaning of the blaw, every whit cpointing to that great and last dsacrifice; and that great and last esacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, finfinite and eternal.

  15 And thus he shall bring asalvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

2) The temple ritual had been corrupted. See Jer. 7:8-14 below

What was the original context of the following prophecy? (Lehi/Nephi left Jerusalem about 600 BC; Jeremiah lived there when Nebuchadneezzar II of Babylon besieged the city about 588 BC)

How does the Jeremiah prophecy apply to the time of Christ?:

|KJ |NRSV |

|Jer. 7: 8-14 | |

|  8 ¶ Behold, ye atrust in blying words, that cannot profit. |8Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. 9Will you|

|  9 Will ye steal, amurder, and commit adultery, and swear |steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to |

|falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and bwalk after other gods |Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10and then|

|whom ye know not; |come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my |

|  10 And come and astand before me in this house, which is called|name, and say, "We are safe!"--only to go on doing all these |

|by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these |abominations? 11Has this house, which is called by my name, |

|abominations? |become a den of robbers in your sight? You know, I too am |

|  11 Is this ahouse, which is called by my name, become a bden of|watching, says the LORD. 12Go now to my place that was in Shiloh,|

|crobbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the |where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for|

|LORD. |the wickedness of my people Israel. 13And now, because you have |

|  12 But go ye now unto my place which was in aShiloh, where I |done all these things, says the LORD, and when I spoke to you |

|set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the |persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did |

|wickedness of my people Israel. |not answer, 14therefore I will do to the house that is called by |

|  13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the |my name, in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you |

|LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye |and to your ancestors, just what I did to Shiloh.  |

|heard not; and I called you, but ye aanswered not; | |

|  14 Therefore will I do unto this ahouse, which is called by my | |

|name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you | |

|and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. | |

v. 13: "mine house shall be called a house of prayer"

Isa. 56: 7

  7 Even them will I bring to my holy amountain, and make them joyful in my bhouse of cprayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be daccepted upon mine altar; for mine ehouse shall be called an house of prayer for fall gpeople.

Is the cleansing of the temple an act of spontaneous anger, or is it a prophetic sign/demonstration? (see Matt. 23:38, 24:2) As Jesus "acts out" his teaching, remember that this is similar to what Jeremiah (the quoted prophet) would also do: In his various exhortations, Jeremiah made extensive use of performance art, using props or demonstrations to illustrate points and engage the public. He walked around wearing a wooden yoke about his neck. He served wine to a family with a vow of temperance. He bought his family estate in Anathoth while in prison and while the Babylonians were occupying it.

v. 14: And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

What was/is the focus of the temple?

v. 15 – 16 Do you hear what these children are saying?

"out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise"

Jesus answers them by quoting Psalm 8:3 from the Septuagint, or the Greek translation translated between 3rd and 1st century B.C. The word translated “perfected” means “completed,” but it connotes restoration, putting something back as it was. How have the crowds “perfected praise?"

Two versions of this verse are:

|KJ |NIV |

|Ps. 8: 2 | 2 From the lips of children and infants |

|  2 Out of the mouth of ababes and sucklings hast thou ordained |you have ordained praise |

|strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the |  because of your enemies, |

|enemy and the avenger. |to silence the foe and the avenger. |

21:18-20 Withering of the fig tree – another prophetic sign. What does the fig tree

represent? (cf Micah 7:1, Hosea 9:16, Matt 3:10; 21:41, 43; Luke 13:6-9) Who was an unfruitful tree?

v. 20: Jesus repeats his assurance from Matt 17:20, Matt 18:19

v. 21 this mountain: Mount of Olives

the sea: Dead Sea

Christ's authority questioned (by chief priests and elders) -> Three parables against the leaders and the people

The Question of Christ's Authority 21:23-27

v. 23 the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him: an official delegation from the Sanhedrin (see Matt 2:4; 26:3).

"By what authority are you doing these things?" ... "And who gave you this authority?" The question the religious leaders asked was relevant both to the cleansing of the Temple (vv. 12-14; "are you doing") and to His teaching in the Temple ("while he was teaching"). The double form of the question is typically Jewish (cf. Mark 12:14; 13:4; Acts 4:7). The two questions are interrelated but not identical. The first questions the quality of Jesus' authority: is it that of a scribe, or a prophet, or is it something else again? The second question concerns the source of Jesus' authority. Several sources tell us that the authority to instruct on one's own account could only be given to a rabbi by the laying on of hands. The deputation's question was especially suitable as the starting-point for a lawsuit against Him.

24. Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question. It was a typical rabbinic practice to

pose a counterquestion, the reply to which would bring everyone closer to the answer. The answer is implicit in the question Jesus poses here. His authority rested on what had happened to him when he was baptized by John (Matt 3:15-17).

v. 25 John's baptism--where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?" 'Heaven' is

a periphrasis [substitute] for the name of God, which it was better not to speak aloud.

v. 27 they answered Jesus, "We cannot tell." When the leaders refused to answer His question,

Jesus turn refused to answer them. Yet he had answered them implicitly by the nature of his question.

First parable

 v. 28-32 Two sons of the vineyard (see Isaiah 5:1-7)

What does the first son represent?

The second?

Why no son who immediately does the Father's will?

By letting the delegates of the Sanhedrin answer this question for themselves, they express a judgment on themselves (see v. 41).

the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Why?

and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. (NIV: even after

you saw this, you did not repent and believe him)

Second parable

v. 33-45 Wicked husbandmen (parables against the leaders)

Vineyard:

Winepress:

Husbandmen:

Servants: see Amos 3:7; Zech 1:6; Jer 7:25; 25:4, 35:15)

Beat/killed/stoned: see 2 Chron 24:21; Matt 23:37

Son:

v. 38 "This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance". If we kill the heir the

vineyard will become 'ownerless property' which anyone could appropriate, the first comer having the greatest right.

v 42 Have you never read in the Scriptures:

Ps. 118: 22-23

  22 The astone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the bcorner.

  23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

Eph. 2: 20 And are built upon the foundation of the aapostles and bprophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief ccorner stone;

v. 43 How does this fit Matthew's theme? Relate to the prophetic action/sign of the fig tree?

v. 44 this stone: the winepress, hewn out of solid rock and consisting of at least two vats or

tubs

v. 45 The Pharisees knew he was talking about them.

v. 46 What does the multitude understand/misunderstand?

The song of the vineyard:

Isa. 5: 1-7

  1 aNow will I sing bto my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his cvineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard din a very fruitful hill:

  2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

  3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

  4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth awild grapes?

  5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my avineyard: I will btake away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the cwall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

  6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

  7 For the avineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for bjudgment, but behold oppression [bloodshed]; for righteousness, but behold ca cry.

Also:

Ps. 80: 8 Thou hast brought a avine out of bEgypt: thou hast ccast out the heathen, and planted it.

Jeremiah 2: 21 Yet I had planted thee a noble avine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

Third Parable

v. 22:1-14 Wedding banquet (parables against leaders and people

see Rev. 19:7-9; D&C 27:5-14; D&C 58:6-11

v. 5 Made light of it!

Who was bidden first to the wedding?

Last?

(See Rev. 19-7-9; Gal. 3:27; Alma 5:14)

v. 7. This was a time when a king could have a town destroyed, usually by fire, for the

least annoyance.

What event would have seemed like the fulfillment of this verse? The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.

v. 12 wedding garment: a clean, washed garment (see Is. 61:10, Rev. 3:4, 5,18; 19:8, 1

Nephi 12:11, Alma 5:21-22,24,27, Alma 7:25, D&C 109:76 and many others)

v. 14 Concludes parables 2 and 3

22:15-40 Pharisees and Sadducees try to outwit Christ verbally.

The dialogues of Chapter 22 took place on the Thursday of the Passover Week.

1. Lawful to give Caesar tribute? (why is this question dangerous?)

2. Marriage in the resurrection? (Jesus did not say the angels were sexless)

3. The greatest commandment? (there were 613 commandments, ranked from lesser to

greater, or lightest to heaviest; the greatest commandment would be he heaviest: carry the most weight)

Christ's response:

v. 41-46 Wins the verbal jousting with "How can the Messiah be both David's son and Lord?"

Why couldn't the Pharisees answer this?

v. 16 went with Herodians (supported the dynasty of Herod/politically opposed to the

Pharisees/ but . . . all are being united against Jesus, the scapegoat. (To learn about the Herodians, see the Bible Dictionary, page 701)

Chapter 23, especially vs. 5-7, 13, 14, 23 Sweeping condemnation and pronouncement of woe (catastrophe) on Scribes and Pharisees

v. 1 To whom is Christ speaking?

v. 2 About whom?

v. 4 How does this differ from Christ?

Are we ever guilty of this in the church?

Matt. 11: 28-30

  28 ¶ aCome unto me, all ye that blabour and are heavy laden, and I will give you crest.

  29 Take my ayoke upon you, and blearn of me; for I am cmeek and dlowly in eheart: and ye shall find frest unto your souls.

   30 For my yoke is aeasy, and my burden is light.

Things condemned:

• Desire for the first places

• Desire for the praise of men

• Discrepancy between outer appearance and inner reality

• Abuse of authority

• Pride that causes others to stumble and be shut out from the Kingdom of God

To whom do these things apply?

What do the "scribes and Pharisees" represent?

Though after the destruction of the Temple in 70, the Jews no longer proselyted, there is evidence that they were actively proselyting at the time of Christ. What might verse 15 condemn? Do we ever do anything like that?

23:29-39: Christ moves on to a blanket condemnation of Jerusalem: "the blind" have followed the blind leaders (23:16, 24) into the ditch (Matt: 15:14)

v. 33 "this generation damned in hell"

v. 35 "righteous blood" Abel to Zacharias?

The concluding woe (verses 29-36) is the longest of the seven. What does Jesus condemn in it and why does he keep it for last and make it longest? What does it mean to say that they witness themselves that they are descended from prophet-killers (verse 31)? How is that relevant to Jesus’ situation? Explain what verse 32 means. What does Jesus mean when he says that the blood of the righteous from Abel to Zechariah will come on them (verse 35)? (In the Hebrew Bible, the first victim of murder mentioned was Abel and Zechariah—2 Chronicles 24:20-22—was the last. We no longer arrange the books in the order that was used at Jesus’ time.) When would early Christians have thought this prophecy had been fulfilled? (Consider verse 36.)

v. 38 "house?"

v. 39 What does this refer to?

Who said these words at Christ's first coming? (see Matt 21:9)

v. 27 You are like whitewashed tombs: In the month of Adar, the month before the Passover,

graves were whitewashed so that pilgrims would not defile themselves accidentally (Num 19:16, 18; cf. Luke 11:44).

Jesus' Lament Over Jerusalem 23:37-39

37. While Jesus is announcing the judgment, He is also moved with compassion, as appears from His words 'how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings'.

May we share Jesus', and God’s, broken heart for a lost humanity.

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