What's The Big Picture of The Gospel of Matthew?

Encounter Jesus – Matthew Week 1

What’s the Big Picture of the Gospel of Matthew? Who is Jesus?
Matthew 1-4

NOTE: Due to power outage there is no audio available for this session.

HANDOUT: Week 1 Handout: Matthew Overview

Welcome & Overview of Encounter Jesus

Format – Worship + Pastoral Prayer + Lesson from the Gospels
- Lesson – I talk, feel free to ask questions. I won’t put anyone on the spot.
- Questions – Ask publicly, privately, or submit on an index card
- Everyone should feel comfortable in this Bible Study!
What are we doing?
- Getting up close with Jesus every Wednesday for a year!
- Our strength, power, and example is Jesus of Nazareth, we really need to know Him, and the gospels are always fresh, compelling, convicting, and encouraging.
- I’m passionate about the gospels – every time I read them I get new insights into Jesus, make new connections, see more and more of the incredible depth and beauty of His thinking, speaking, doing, and being, etc.
- I want everyone here excited about Jesus – not just the idea of Jesus, but the amazing reality of Him.
- Ephesians 4: 11-13
- 4 Segments – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Matthew will run until Christmas.
  - Each segment begins with overview of the book in week 1, then looks closely at specific passages that unfold the big ideas of that gospel.
  - We won’t cover every verse of any gospel – that would take years to do it justice.

My Approach to the Gospels – Read them as a book, not a collection of pieces

Often when we study the gospels, we slice them thinly across several, holding up parallel passages or pulling bits and pieces of related material from each.
Not wrong, but it loses a lot of the power of each gospel as a whole book in and of itself. What do I mean?
Matthew was written 25-30 years after the resurrection. He’s been teaching and preaching and telling stories for years at this point.
Gospels are the crowning achievement of multi-decade ministry. They are the best and most compelling presentation of the events and significance of the life of Jesus Christ they can provide.
And they are writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is guiding their selection of which events and stories to share.
Remember John 21:25 – they could have filled libraries with stories about Jesus, but they chose just these stories.
These are the best, highest quality, meticulously crafted books about Jesus possible
- Just as we don’t read great books haphazardly, or one page a day, that shouldn’t be the only way we approach the gospels
- Read them eagerly like a great book – enjoy them, soak them in
- See and appreciate the craftsmanship, pay attention to the structure, because it helps us understand the meaning – parallel structures, repeated phrases, narrator comments – all help us see the major points
- Be interested in the things the evangelists were interested in, not the stuff we tend to get distracted by (what interesting customs, what was the roof made of, what disease did that person have, what audience was he trying to reach, etc).
- Ask yourself why is Matthew telling me about this incident or speech?

What’s the Big Picture of the Gospel of Matthew?

Structure – Why do we care?

Because Matthew didn’t just write stream of consciousness!
Lets us know what’s going on
Helps us see the most important points
Helps us understand what’s actually happening in some of these passages and how they press home a Big Idea, e.g. Feeding the 4000 which is about redefining the people of God
Organized around 5 major teaching speeches by Jesus – each ends with identical Greek that is variously translated as something like “And when Jesus finished saying these things…”
1. Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5-7
2. Jesus coaching the apostles as they go out to teach – Matthew 10
3. Jesus’ response to, and explanation of Israel’s rejection – Matthew 13
4. Teaching the church – Matthew 18
5. The future – Judgment & Salvation – Matthew 24-25
Wrapped by Narrative
1. Intro – Who is Jesus and What is the Kingdom of Heaven – Matthew 1-4
2. Jesus Brings the Kingdom to Israel – Matthew 8-9
3. Israel’s Rejection of Jesus – Matthew 11-12
4. Founding the Church (including Taking the Kingdom to the Gentiles) – Matthew 14-17
5. Lead Up to the Crucifixion – Matthew 19-23
6. Crucifixion and Resurrection – Matthew 26-28
2 Really Big Ideas
1. The End of the Age has Dawned in Christ
  - The end of the Bible’s main story of Creation – Fall – Redemption – New Creation – has begun
  - The inauguration of God’s kingdom, leading to the final consummation at the return
2. The People of God Have Been Redefined – Ethnicity no longer matters, instead the faith response to Jesus determines whether you are “in” or “out”. Critical for those of us who aren’t Jewish!
Supported by Some Other Big Ideas – Look for These Over and Over!
1. Jesus’ Identity – Especially Son of David and Son of God
2. Kingdom of Heaven – Drives how He lived and how we should be living but often aren’t
3. Fulfillment of Old Testament – Crucial to proving the overarching ideas and identity of Jesus. Matthew is also the bridge between the Old Testament and New Testament and this helps us understand how all of the Old Testament points to Jesus.
4. End Times – What’s coming for all of us.
5. Fatherhood of God – So critical and comforting for us.
6. Authority of Jesus – the word authority is all over the place and Jesus had it. Defines our relationship to Him.

Who is Jesus?

Tonight is an unusual format. Normally we’ll dig deep into one or two passages. However, the first 4 chapters of Matthew set the stage uniquely.
Many things in these chapters – Genealogy of Jesus, Birth, Early Childhood, John the Baptist, Baptism of Jesus, Temptation of Jesus.
3 Themes Dominate and tie these stories together, because they are woven throughout
- These aren’t random/interesting stories, they develop crucial themes that every human being needs to understand.
- Identity, Kingdom of Heaven, and Old Testament Fulfillment
- Talking about Identity tonight. The other 2 next week.
- No assigned homework, but you’d benefit from reading Matthew 1-4 this week
Identity is often subtly woven into the text – must pay attention to the details as you read
- Look at all the names and different people attributing them to them
Read 1:1 – Jesus Christ, Son of David
1: 2-16 – Genealogy – Seems boring, right? Not to original Jewish readers! 2 major points.
- 5 women, multiple foreigners, a prostitute, an adulteress, an incestuous relationship – People of God redefined.
- Read 1: 17- The 14 things ._ DAVID, DAVID, DAVID
Read 1: 18 – the birth of Jesus Christ
Read 1: 20-23 – Son of David (Angel), the Lord Saves (Angel), God With Us (Prophet)
Read 2: 1-4 – King of the Jews (Magi), the Christ (Herod)
Read 3:17 – Son of God (God)
Read 4: 3, 6 – If you are the Son of God (Satan). Note, Satan gave up on that in the 3rd temptation.
Jesus hasn’t done anything yet to prove these titles – but many credible sources have already endorsed who He is.
As we encounter Jesus in the rest of the gospel, we’ll see these titles play out over and over, especially Son of God and Son of David

Who is Jesus to You?

This is the most critical question each and every person must answer for themselves.
Matthew clearly has an opinion based on his experiences with Jesus, before and after His resurrection, and he expresses it from 1:1 onward. This is critical!
Is Jesus just some guru? A wise or moral teacher? A rabbi? A radical?
- Clearly, none of these agree with Matthew’s knowledge and testimony. Likewise the testimony of God, the angels, prophets, Jewish history, Herod, and Satan.
The picture Matthew weaves carefully throughout the gospel is of Messiah/Christ/Son of David, Savior, King, Lord, and Son of God, then he sets out to prove it throughout the whole book.
- Matthew 16: 13-18 – the confession of Peter, the rock on which the church is built
I pray that if He is not all those things to you right now, that He will be by the time we finish our studies together this year.