More to think about

We will finish our stroll through Matthew 3 tomorrow, with some of the following questions, and then dip forward into the fourth chapter.

1. What does it mean to bear a winnowing fan by the threshing floor?
2. What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?
3. What does it mean to baptized with fire?
4. What does Jesus' statement in v. 15 tell you about his relationship to John the Baptist and his relationship to the Torah?
5. How does John's reluctance to baptize compare to Peter's reluctance to have his feet washed?
6. Should the people have believed after hearing God's voice from on high? Why didn't they?
7. In the temptation tests of chapter 4, the enemy keeps saying, "If you are the Son of God..." and Jesus dumps the enemy's test by calling on actions
   1. obedient life by God's word
   2. obediently avoiding show and displays of power
   Was Jesus the only person who could fulfill those actions?
8. Who was intended by God to become ruler over the nations? Why was this a test for Jesus?

There is a fair start for tomorrow. We are heading deeper into God's message, the gospel of Matthew.

Questions for this Thursday

We will go into a few questions from last week, viz.

1. How is the intention of the magi, to worship the newborn king (verses 2, 11), different from Herod's similarly stated intention?
2. In v. 13, Herod sets out a plan to destroy the innocent children near Bethlehem, but re-read Rev. 9:1-11, where another king has the name of Destroyer. How did people suffer when that destroyer in Revelation went to work? Was its intention similar to Herod's?

...because we have hardly talked about Herod yet.

Also, we will probably dip into chapter 3 this week, for which a few extra questions might be reasonable:

1. John the Baptist had a diet of locusts and honey. It is a curious menus and a curious symbolism in that the Bible uses honey and locusts in very different ways. What does honey signify in the scriptures, usually? What do locusts usually signify in the scriptures?
2. What does John the Baptist look for in his flock of Israelites?
3. When was the last time God raised up a human being from a stone?
4. What does it mean to the people flocking to the Jordan that the axe is laid to the root of the tree?
5. What does it mean to bear a winnowing fan by the threshing floor?
6. What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?
7. What does it mean to baptized with fire?
8. What does Jesus' statement in v. 15 tell you about his relationship to John the Baptist and his relationship to the Torah?

As you can see, there are some big ideas in this part of Matthew's gospel, and this is just a short list, but we will start here on Thursday morning!

Matthew 2, a few findings

On Thursday past, we spent a lot of time talking about the magi, the Gentile priestly visitors to the newborn Messiah. One question generated a lot of discussion and insights:

1. What is the significance for us in the worship offered by the magi?
   Some of the men offered insights that are profitable to remember:
   1. Len: The magi were a bit like apostles, except that they were called inwards, to Jerusalem.
   2. Scott: The magi were like the first Christians.

It is interesting to consider how the Lord used the astrologer concepts of the magi to draw them to the Messiah. Len suggested that this is similar to Paul's famous speech to the smart Athenians, where he started form their religious activity and led them to the message of Jesus the Messiah. Each man's life is like that -- called from outside to come in toward the center, Jesus.

Matthew, second chapter

Some things pop out of one's reading in chapter two of Matthew's gospel.

1. How is the intention of the magi, to worship the newborn king (verses 2, 11), different from Herod's similarly stated intention?
2. Herod and the entire city were troubled. What kind of trouble was it?
3. How many dreams from God are there in chapters 1 and 2?
4. What is the significance for us in the worship offered by the magi?
5. What relationship exists between the good magi and Father Abraham?
6. In v. 13, Herod sets out a plan to destroy the innocent children near Bethlehem, but re-read Rev. 9:1-11, where another king has the name of Destroyer. How did people suffer when that destroyer in Revelation went to work? Was its intention similar to Herod's?

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, when teaching about Matthew 2, the birth of the Messiah is described in this way: Mary is the burning bush of the definitive revelation of God. So I guess one could say that we have a lot to talk about tomorrow morning. Be ready, and expect the unexpected.

Questions to make a beginning.

There are a zillion questions we could ask of this first chapter in Matthew's gospel, but here are a few that will suffice for now:

1. Was Mary a virgin at the time of conception?


2. Why were Abraham and David specially mentioned in the genealogy?


3. What does Matthew mention the exile to Babylon but not the slavery in Egypt?


4. In the birth of the Messiah,
   
   • the Infinite is in a womb,
     
   • He that contains all things is carried, as unborn, by a woman;
     
   • the Virgin bears, and continues a virgin.
   How did the Spirit frame that Temple?


5. Did Joseph exhibit out of control behaviors in this time period, which many suppose to be a grievous predicament for an unmarried man?


6. Why didn't the angel appear to Joseph in a dream earlier, just as Gabriel had come to Mary before conception?


7. Where in the New Testament is Mary again commended into a new home, as the angel does in v. 20?

Let's begin here on Thursday morning.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

This Thursday we begin the gospel of Matthew, starting with chapter 1, which "is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about."

It is the longest gospel account, and the leadoff hitter in the New Testament. Lots of intense action. Be ready. Be alert. No napping.

Study questions will be ready on Wednesday evening.

Lessons from Nahum, Amos and Obadiah

For the past few months we have been reading and seeking the Lord's message in the prophetic messages of His great prophets Nahum, Amos and Obadiah. These three prophets seems to hold together as a subgroup. Here are some of the conclusions and findings in the matter:

1. From Amos, we see the word "breaches" in a wall. What would be breaches in the Church?
   1. Bob: like protestant denominations;
   2. Joe: pride;
   3. Bob: sins, disobedience, bitterness, hatred;
   4. Len: it reminds me of the prophecy that Jesus would rebuild the temple in three days.

2. How is the prophecy of Amos applicable to our present situation?
   1. Len: We are still obligated to spread the Word.
3. Can you think of a modern day example of violence, one nation to another, similar to the violence that Red Edom did to Israel?
   1. Len: In the decapitation of European Jews by Nazis, the neighboring countries were like Edom, e.g., the Vichy government in France.
   2. Ken: Herod mocking Jesus. In fact, Herod actually was an Edomite!
   3. Bob: taunting someone, which we did as kids but we grew out of it.
   4. Scott: For instance, when you take the side of the "cool" kid at school who bullies the uncool kid.
   5. Ken: the Edom betrayal in the day of Israel's calamity is a good comparison to the beatitudes, especially the first and the last, which show how we should behave instead of doing like Edom did.
4. Why does Obadiah's prophetic message affect our mission as doers of the Word?
   1. TO BE ANSWERED FORTHWITH

Image: UPI/Kevin Dietsch. A Haitian who was badly burned when a gas station exploded following recent earthquake is treated onboard the USS Bataan, off the coast of Haiti, January 23, 2010.

Obadiah, where do we begin?

To begin and end in the same day, we will use the following questions for the study of the prophecy of Obadiah.

1. Where is Edom, in relation to Jerusalem?
2. Who was Esau?
3. According to Amos, what was the violence that Edom did to Israel?
4. Can you think of a modern day example of similar violence, one nation to another?
5. Esau is likened to stubble in v. 18. How and when is stubble made?
6. Why does this prophetic message affect our mission as doers of the Word?

With a cup of coffee and some mental elbow grease, we will tackle this message and develop our muscles to follow the perfect Torah of freedom.
Image: a threshing sledge from Cyprus.

They have threshed Gilead.

We finish Amos, and I think back now to the beginning of his message:

They have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges made of iron.

It is somber.

And Amos' message concludes with another vision from the threshing floor, this time with some consolation:

For lo, I am commanding, and I have shaken among all the nations the house of Israel, as one doth shake with a sieve, and there falleth not a grain to the earth.

Come soon, Lord Jesus.