Chapter 10 in Matthew

Here are some questions to consider for the study of the first mission of the Twelve:

1. Jesus gives them their list of objectives, and then says, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." What is it that they have received in the preceding days with Jesus?
2. Did Jesus ever shake the dust off from his feet after being rejected?
3. Had Jesus, up to this point, been given up to councils or scourged?
4. Does Jesus have good advice that an apostle can follow while being scourged?
5. How can it be that the Holy Spirit can speak through an apostle?
6. This time of trouble seems hard: brother handing over brother and so forth. What evidence in the text is there to show that Jesus was not talking about the next few weeks but about the end of time?
7. In vv. 40-42, Jesus describes the experience of being received and of being given a cup of cold water. In the next few days and week or so of their first mission, would the Twelve present Israelites with the opportunity to receive them and to give them a cold cup of water?
8. What is the meaning of a cup of cold water in time of trouble?

Tomorrow morning with coffee and a prayer, we will dive into the beautiful teaching that the Holy Spirit caused to be sent to us in this gospel. Be ready to think.

Image: Blue Spring, Florida

Sea of Galilee and chapter 9

We have still not finished tackling some of the chapter 8 questions concerning the Sea of Galilee.

8. The scribe and the disciple in vv. 19 - 22 got different lessons from the Messiah -- different but similar, too. How were they similar? How was Jesus using his word like a scalpel to differentiate each individual from other things?
9. Is the Sea of Galilee dangerous? How does it figure into the story of the men crossing in the boat and into the story of the two demon possessed men?
10. How does this sea figure into Jesus' teaching? Does it relate to the previous stories of healing and freedom from possession?

This is OK, because we have some Sea of Galilee information in chapter 9, which we will also discuss tomorrow. Here are some questions to use for reading ahead.

1. In verse 1, we see that Jesus embarked in ship again and came to his own city. How long was He over in the Gadarene side of the Sea of Galilee, five minutes or so?
2. How is the story of the paralytic a model for prayer for us who are not paralytics?
3. Did Jesus challenge the paralytic to get up and follow as a disciple?
4. At the banquet with the IRS men, the Pharisees make an inquiry with the disciples. Why didn't they inquire with Jesus?
5. How is Matthew the tax man connected to the paralytic?
6. Does Barack Obama do his own mending of worn out clothes? How many household chores does he handle each day?
7. What is the relation between the idea of "new wine" and the Bridegroom Jesus?
8. Consider the centurion in chapter 8 and the ruler in chapter 9 -- two very different men, yet there are some similarities in their stories. What similarities can you see?
9. How is the woman cured of hemorrhage connected to the ruler's daughter whom Jesus raises back to life?

There is a lot to learn, and it will be good to gaze carefully into this section of God's message tomorrow morning. Be ready and expect the unexpected.

Follow up questions

Last Thursday, we tackled four question from chapter 8, but we still have a few more to look over, plus a few new ones to follow up on that discussion:

11. How many times in this chapter does Matthew use the verb, to follow?
12. If you follow Jesus for healing, is that the same as following him for obedience, as a disciple?
13. How do you, as an individual, follow Jesus or not follow him?
    1. like the crowds?
    2. like a disciple?
    3. like the two men from the tombs?
    4. like the centurion?
    5. like the swineherds?
    6. like the town's people

Let's tackle these questions tomorrow, gazing into the perfect Torah of freedom, as we work harder and harder at becoming doers of the Word.