Following Jesus: Focus On The Message – Matthew 9

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Last Updated on May 24, 2024 by Rocklyn Clarke

Description

Welcome to Focus On The Message – the first component of our Following Jesus discipleship program. This web page contains the lessons for:

Matthew 9

Purpose

Follow this link for information about these key aspects of our training: Purpose, Goals, Habits, Ministries, and Assignments.

Matthew 9

This chapter has 6 lessons. You should ideally cover one chapter (with all of its lessons) in a week, but please don’t let a week go by without completing at least one lesson.

Lesson 1: Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Main text and related passages:

Checkout the following:

Topics to explore:

    • How did Jesus “see their faith”?
    • Whose town was Jesus in? Whose house was he in?
    • How many different attitudes towards Jesus are described in this passage? Do you ever find yourself in settings like this?

Additional resources to check out:

Training assignment (do this yourself, and use it to help train someone else):

    • Read the main passage and related passages above.

Lesson 2: The Calling of Matthew

Main text and related passages:

Checkout the following:

Topics to explore:

    • Notice that after calling Matthew, Jesus immediately enters Matthew’s social network.
    • What does “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” mean?
    • Have you won anyone to Christ lately? If so, what steps have you taken to enter their social network?
    • Whose social network have you entered recently?

Additional resources to check out:

Training assignment (do this yourself, and use it to help train someone else):

    • Read the main passage and related passages above.

Lesson 3: Jesus Questioned About Fasting

Main text and related passages:

Checkout the following:

    • Fasting – Matthew 6:1, 16-18
      • In Jesus’ day, food preparation took a lot of time. Fasting potentially freed up some of that time for prayer.
      • Today, food preparation requires much less time, but there are other things that consume our time (entertainment, email/internet, phone, television, radio, etc.). Consider fasting from some of these as well.
      • Be careful not to turn fasting into a quest for human approval.
      • Fasting must be aligned with God’s passion for justice:
    • Tim Mackie – Spiritual Symmetry: Feasting & Fasting – YouTube (00:50:39)
    • Fasting: The Ancient Practices by Scott McKnight
    • Alcohol In The Western World – Scientific American
    • In Jesus’ day grape juice was poured into wineskins made from animal skin in order to ferment. The fermentation process affected the wineskins in such a way that they could not withstand a second round of fermentation. Thus new wine always needed to be poured into new wineskins.
    • By the way, the natural fermentation process will not produce a liquid of more than 16% alcohol. To produce beverages of higher alcoholic content requires distillation, which wasn’t invented until 700 AD – well after the Bible was written. Thus there is no liquor in the Bible – only wine and beer.

Topics to explore:

    • Notice how Jesus describes himself as the bridegroom.
    • What ministry or church traditions are you currently invested in?
    • Are there any traditions in your church/ministry that need to change? Why?
    • What new traditions might accommodate what the Holy Spirit is doing at your church/ministry now?

Additional resources to check out:

Training assignment (do this yourself, and use it to help train someone else):

    • Read the main passage and related passages above.

Lesson 4: A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

Main text and related passages:

Checkout the following:

Topics to explore:

    • This is the context we have so far for Jesus’ ongoing ministry:
      • Jesus is “God with us”. – Matthew 1:18-23
      • Jesus is “saving his people from their sins”. – Matthew 1:18-23
      • Jesus’ message is calling people to repent and align with God’s Kingdom. – Matthew 4:12-17
      • What will it mean to apply this context to what we read in Matthew going forward?
    • This story is structured as a “markan sandwich”. It reflects a structure that Mark uses frequently: A-B-A’. The “A” story is interrupted by the “B” story which helps to explain  or clarify the issues in the “A” story. After the “B” story is resolved, the “A” story continues with the benefit of what was learned from the “B” story.
    • What role does faith play in this story? Which characters are demonstrating faith? How can you tell?
    • Consider the various “characters” in this story (taken from the parallel passages):
      • Jesus
      • Jesus’ disciples
      • The crowd
      • Jairus
      • The Woman
      • Jairus’ visitors
      • Peter, James, and John
      • Mourners
      • Jairus and his wife
      • The 12 year old girl

How do they experience the events in this story?

Additional resources to check out:

Training assignment (do this yourself, and use it to help train someone else):

    • Read the main passage and related passages above.
    • Meditate on this passage and the parallel passages throughout the coming week. Reflect on the story from the perspective of each of the characters. Share what you learn with someone else (e.g. your mentor, your prayer partner, folks from your life group).

 

Lesson 5: Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute

Main text and related passages:

Checkout the following:

Topics to explore:

    • Notice that the two blind men call Jesus “Son of David”. What does this imply about their understanding of who Jesus is?
    • Why does Jesus ask the two blind men if they believe he can do this?

Additional resources to check out:

Training assignment (do this yourself, and use it to help train someone else):

    • Read the main passage and related passages above.

Lesson 6: The Workers Are Few

Main text and related passages:

Checkout the following:

Topics to explore:

    • What does Jesus believe the problem is?
    • What type of solution does Jesus propose?
    • What alternative solutions existed in the society?
      • Saducees
      • Pharisees
      • Zealots, Sicarii
      • Essenes
    • How might the status of “sheep without a shepherd” apply to our communities today?
      • Is this strictly a “religious” problem?
      • Are there any additional types of leadership (beyond religious) that our communities need?
      • What does Jesus’ directive tell us about God feels about the needs in our community?
      • How should believers respond to the needs of our communities?

Additional resources to check out:

Training assignment (do this yourself, and use it to help train someone else):

    • Read the main passage and related passages above.

Last Updated on May 24, 2024 by Rocklyn Clarke

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Acknowledgements

Please join me in acknowledging the key people who contributed to this material!

Advance to Matthew 10

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