Today’s passage: Matthew 9:9-13

Helpful thoughts:

• Tax collectors would set a number for collection that was higher than what Rome required to pay their own salary.  So, picture a Jew working for Rome taking money from other Jews to give to Rome and make themselves personally wealthy…these men were hated.
• Matthew, the tax collector, hated by many, became a follower of Jesus!
• Religious leaders (The Pharisees) did not approve of Jesus’ company.
• “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” is from Hosea 6.  The imagery of Hosea compares Israel to an adulterous woman.  The Pharisees thought they were righteous, Jesus was telling them otherwise.  They belonged in that crowd just as much as anyone else.

Questions to consider:

1. How many righteous acts did Matthew have to perform before Jesus allowed him to become a follower?
2. How does this dinner party compare with Jesus touching and healing the leper?  What direction was the impact flowing?  Were the sinners making Jesus sinful or was Jesus changing them?
3. Were the Pharisees well?  Were they righteous?  Did they have need of a physician?  What was Jesus telling them?
4. Honestly ask yourself…do you think you are well?  Do you need Jesus or are you already righteous?
5. If we as a church are following Jesus, who should we expect to see joining together with us?  How “righteous” do they have to be before we welcome them in?
6. What is the goal of our relationships with unbelievers?  What do I have to believe about my own life and our God in order for that relationship to be effective?

Today’s passage: Matthew 9:1-8

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus, in forgiving sin, shows us that forgiveness is a more urgent problem than any paralysis we may experience and that His authority goes deeper than physical health.
• The scribes knew that only God can forgive sins.
• Jesus healed the man to authenticate His claim to be “The Son of Man” (Daniel 7) and to show that He has authority to forgive sin.  He was very clearly telling them that He was the Messiah!

Questions to consider:

1. If Jesus knew to tell the paralytic to “Take heart”, do you think He knew what the man’s greater concern was?  Did Jesus know what the paralytic believed and was concerned about?
2. If the scribes knew that only God could grant forgiveness, what didn’t they believe about Jesus?
3. Even though it says the people “glorified God,” did they really understand what they had just seen if they thought God had “given such authority to men”?
4. How do faith-healing prosperity gospel ministries cheapen the true Gospel and Jesus Christ?
5. How might the truths in this passage help us to think rightly during our own times of sickness?

Today’s passage: Matthew 8:28-34

Helpful thoughts:

• In the last few days, we have learned that Jesus has authority over diseases, disciples, natural disasters and now today, demons.
• Everyone in the area was afraid of these two demon-possessed men.  But the demons were afraid of Jesus!
• The demons had fear because of their belief.  We often have fear because of our unbelief.
• The passage says nothing of the people’s concern for the pigs or for the two men.  They wanted to meet Jesus.
• Once they met Him, they wanted Jesus to leave.

Questions to consider:

1. It’s easy to focus on the pigs, the townspeople, or even the demons in this passage. But, who was Jesus serving?  Who was the focus of His attention and help?
2. Why was it right for the demons to fear Jesus?
3. Is there anything or anyone who has power over Jesus?
4. How can believing who Jesus is help you to overcome fear/worry/anxiety?

Today’s passage: Matthew 8:18-27

Helpful thoughts:

• The crowds that were around Jesus seemed to be interested in His authoritative tone and His ability to heal.  With that knowledge, Jesus was ready to get away from them.
• As the people saw their preparations to leave, some requested to come with Him.
• Jesus did not tailor the “pitch” to follow Him in a way that would draw many people.
• Some people suggest that the disciple who requested to bury his father was waiting and hoping for his inheritance, which he would receive once his father passed away.
• In yesterday’s passage, Jesus showed his power over creation in physical diseases/sickness.  Now, in calming the storm, Jesus shows His power over creation in nature.

Questions to consider:

1. Why are temporal physical things/possessions/trends bad ways to try to point people to Jesus?  What will they think they are getting themselves into?  What is a true disciple getting themselves into when they follow Jesus?
2. Is it worth “missing out” on earthly possessions and relationships to follow Jesus?
3. Why wasn’t Jesus worried on the boat during the storm?  What had He come to do?
4. Why was it right for the men on the boat to marvel?  What sort of man is Jesus?

Today’s passage: Matthew 8:1-17

Helpful thoughts:

• We are officially past the “Sermon on the Mount” and today are moving into a series of healings that teach us more about King Jesus.
• The miracles were used to authenticate Jesus’ teaching.  The crowds were astonished that He taught with such authority…but then he did the miracles to back it up.  He spoke with authority because He possessed all authority!
• The Jews were not allowed to touch a leprous person.  It would make them “unclean” and expose them to the disease.  But, when Jesus touches the unclean…they become clean!
• In response to the faith of the Roman centurion, Jesus declares that there are Gentiles who are in the Kingdom of God and Jews who are not.  Jesus was not surprised by this fact of course…but His Jewish audience probably was!
• Matthew again points out Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy from the Old Testament.  This time from Isaiah 53.

Questions to consider:

1. If you were alive in the first century in the Middle East, and had to guess which three people an important Jewish religious leader would give his attention to…would it have been a leper, a Gentile and a woman?
2. What did the Roman centurion have that made him say what he did to Jesus?  By what do we gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven?
3. Why does it make sense that healings would have been more commonplace during the ministry of Jesus and not normal now?  What was the purpose of healing?
4. When Jesus healed these people, how healed were they?  How healed are we when we put our faith in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins?

Today’s passage: Matthew 7:24-29

Helpful thoughts:

• There is a difference between hearing and doing.
• Both the one who builds on the rock and the one who builds on the sand heard the words of Jesus.
• Both of them should also expect to experience rains, floods and wind.
• Hearing and rejecting results in foolishness and destruction (Remember the wide and narrow gates…)
• Hearing and obeying results in life.  A Christian is a person who hears the truth of the Gospel, believes and then follows Jesus.

Questions to consider:

1. Does following Jesus mean that life will be easy?  How is the truth BETTER than an “easy” life?  What is an “easy” life?
2. Remember one of the themes of Matthew’s Gospel is that Jesus is King.  Why did Jesus have authority to speak the way He did?  How is He different than the scribes (and every other teacher)?
3. What was the crowd’s general reaction?  What is even better than being astonished after hearing the teaching of Jesus?

Today’s passage: Matthew 7:15-23

Helpful thoughts:

• Wolves are the natural enemy of sheep and the word “ravenous” could also be translated, “swindler”- a false prophet seeks to find and ravage an unsuspecting sheep.
• The false prophet dresses in “sheep’s clothing”.  They will call themselves Christians, build “churches”, put crosses on the walls and speak the name of Jesus, etc.
• Fruit trees are beautiful and provide shade…but if they don’t produce good fruit they are worthless and cut down.

Questions to consider:

1. Is there such a thing as a harmless false teacher?  What does verse 15 declare them to be?
2. What are some examples that you have seen recently in your life and in the lives of others in our church of good, healthy fruit?  Praise the Lord for it and encourage one another!
3. Is it possible to identify false teachers? How?
4. What will “many” false teachers believe about themselves based on verse 22?  How important is it for us to know, believe and obey the Scriptures?

Today’s passage: Matthew 7:7-14

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus invites us to ask, seek and knock.
  • James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
• Verse 12 -The Golden Rule- is another way to say, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:29 – The 2nd greatest commandment)
• Since God is our Father and we know He will never fail to give us what is best for us, we are free to selflessly love others.
• “Entering” the gate of your choice requires action and results in also choosing a “way”.  If you are not actively pursuing the narrow gate and the narrow way, then you are actively pursuing the wide gate and the way that leads to destruction.
• “Those who find it are few” is a phrase that points to diligence.
  • Jeremiah 29:13 – You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
  • It takes effort and concentration to get to know someone well and grow close to them…a relationship with Jesus is not for the lazy and half-hearted.

Questions to consider:

1. How might a person look at the promises in verses 7-8 think that God has failed?  Do these verses teach us that God will give us whatever we want? Does God withhold what is best for us?
2. If God doesn’t withhold what is best for us, then how might our thinking, attitude or desires need to change?
3. Why is the effort to know and follow Christ totally worth it? (And remember, your salvation is totally provided for in Christ!  You aren’t earning or paying back any of your salvation through your efforts…)

Today’s passage: Matthew 7:1-6

Helpful thoughts:

• The focus of these verses is a self-righteous, judgmental spirit.
• When you have a speck (a splinter or a twig…This is NOT a piece of dust), you definitely know it.  You don’t really need someone else to point it out to you.
  • So, this comparison of a speck and log does not refer to a small sin and a big sin.  It is not like the speck is fighting and the log is murder.  The log is self-righteousness, believing you have arrived and need no correction-that you are superior.
• The dogs and pigs Jesus refers to in verse 6 aren’t the cute kind.  They were scavengers; wild, dirty and often diseased.

Questions to consider:

1. What would it take to literally have a log jammed into your eye and not notice it?  What would that look like spiritually?  How is that possible?
2. Whose sin should we be most concerned with in a spirit of humility?
3. Does verse 1 mean that we are NEVER to point out sin in others, to rebuke them?  What is it saying?
4. How would humility and love change the way we help a brother or sister with the speck that is in their eye?
5. How would the humility required for the previous question help us to respond appropriately to people who act like wild dogs and/or swine when we attempt to reach out and help them?  Should we point the finger and proclaim our superiority or be grieved at their rejection of the truth?