Contents
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:
- Matthew 9:1-8
- Matthew 9:1-8;Mark 2:3-12;Luke 5:18-26
- Son of Man – Daniel 7
- Son of God – Psalm 2
- Human Authority – Psalm 8
Checkout the following:
- Watch: Son of Man Biblical Theme Video | BibleProject™ (00:05:50)
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:
- Matthew for Everyone, Part 1 (The New Testament for Everyone) by Tom Wright – Amazon.com
- 15. Who Can Forgive Sins [Matthew] – Tim Mackie (The Bible Project) – YouTube
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:
- Watch: Matthew | BibleProject™
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:
- Matthew for Everyone, Part 1 (The New Testament for Everyone) by Tom Wright – Amazon.com
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