This year I have the privilege of teaching a Bible class at school. I am teaching New Testament Survey to 18 9th graders. We are off to a great start. Most of our crew has a pretty good foundation of Bible knowledge. My desire this semester is to help them cultivate a desire to study the Bible and to find out more about what it means to become more like Christ. The first class period we spent some time getting to know each other and talking about the course. The second class period, each student was responsible for giving a brief summary of 2 Old Testament books. Tomorrow we will jump into the New Testament talking about Matthew 1-7. The students are required to read the text before class and journal. Their journal is supposed to be written from the perspective of “The 13th Disciple”. I’m curious to see what direction they have gone with that.
Today after school I spent some time at the pool rereading Matthew 1-7 and reviewing my seminary notebooks. It is fun to reread the book and find new things. I have put together my notes for class tomorrow and am going to paste them below. I am looking forward to hearing what all the students have pulled from this passage.
New Testament Survey-Fall 2007
Megan Strange
17 Aug 2007
Matthew Lesson 1: Matthew 1-7
OT Review
-God’s chosen people, the Jews in Israel, rejected Him
-Prophets promised that a Messiah was coming to deliver the people
-Matthew links the OT to the NT
-41 times Matthew refers to the OT
-37 times preceded with “that it might be fulfilled”
Matthew Facts
-Many scholars say that it was written prior to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. They point to the strong theme of evangelism to support that claim.
-Matthew was the 2nd largest of the gospels
-Matthew shared more teaching about the kingdom than the other gospels
-Matthew uses “Emmanuel” as a title of Christ that no one else uses
-Focus of Matthew was 1. Jesus as fulfillment of the promise-evangelistic
2. Discipleship/Edification
-For 400 years, nothing new was added to the Bible. Empires and people groups rose and fell and Israel was dominated by Greece and Rome.
-Matthew opens a whole new section of the Bible-The New Testament
-Matthew narrates the story of Jesus’ life on Earth.
-He quotes the OT more frequently than any other author.
-Matthew 1. Author of the first gospel
2. Left his work as a tax collector to follow Jesus
3. also called Levi
3 Questions to ask of any Bible Passage:
1. What does it say?
2. What does it mean?
3. What does it mean for me? (practical application)
Matthew 1-7
The prologue (Matthew 1:1-2:23)
Genealogy of Jesus, his birth, the visit of the Magi, the escape to Egypt, the massacre at Bethlehem, and the return to Nazareth.
The gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 3:1-7:29)
The narrative, ministry of John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus, Jesus’ early Galilean ministry, the first discourse (Sermon on the Mount), the kingdom of heaven, the Law and the Prophets, demand for perfection, warnings against hypocrisy, traditional manifestations of Jewish piety, two ways, two trees, two claims, and two builders.
1:1-18 Genealogy of Jesus shows Jewish ancestry and fulfillment of promise to David (2 Samuel 7:12-13)
1:18-2:23 Joseph’s reaction v. Herod’s
immediate obedience v fearful, selfish obedience
1:21 “savior from sin” Jesus/Joshua “The Lord saves”
2:15-23 Jesus left Egypt and then returns to Nazareth
3 John the Baptist’s message
-repent for the kingdom is near
-produce fruit befitting repentance (live the life)
Baptism of Jesus
4 The temptation of Jesus
What is the longest you have gone without eating?
-Deut 8:3
-Psalm 91:11-12
-Deut 6:16
-Deut 6:13
Why does it matter that Jesus was tempted?
-Hebrews 4:14-16
Calling of the first disciples
-Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John
v. 20-“at once” v. 22 “immediately”
5:1-16 The Beatitudes (How a Christian Shall Live)
5:17-48 Law…what does it mean?
OT Law v NT Law
old covenant v new covenant
5:20 We will never be righteous enough/we can’t do it right
children of God our Father
6:1-18 Audience of One
future reward v present reward
condemns hypocrisy
6:9-13 The Lord’s Prayer
6:24 Two masters
6:19-34 heavenly treasure v earthly treasure/don’t worry
6:33 Seek first
7:1-12 Don’t judge/ask, seek, knock
7:12 Golden rule
7:13-27 Christianity is hard (counter cultural)
be aware of false teachers
Christians should bear fruit by nature because…
1. We are children of God
2. Righteous in our heart
Review
Matthew 1-4 Presentation of the King
Matthew 5-7 Description of those in the kingdom
Homework
Read and Journal Matthew 8-10