Ch. 26, Passover

We will continue our consideration of the Lord's exodus that began in Jerusalem on the evening before the Passover began, in ch. 26 of Matthew's gospel. For instance, we can consider some of these questions:

1. Why didn't Jesus or the Twelve own a condo in Jerusalem where they could have supper?
   
2. Jesus knew that his own suffering, death and resurrection would be THE paschal sacrifice, THE escape from Egyptland, THE true Passover of the Lord, so why did he keep the old timey ritual passover meal?
   
3. Why didn't Jesus cite his betrayer by name, Judas Iscariot, but only as "one of you," one of the Twelve?
   
4. Each of the Twelve asked himself, "This betrayer, is it I?" It is an honest question, given the circus stances. What godly property does this show, to have asked this question?
5. 
   Judas was a shameless traitor, eating at the table with the man he had already betrayed. Why does Jesus permit it?
   
6. St. Paul writes that "all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." Is this Passover of the The Lord an example of what Paul described?
   
7. Who is to blame for the evil that Judas wrought, God for allowing Judas to be born or Judas himself?
   
8. Why wasn't Jesus in agony and suffering while at this Passover meal, instead of later, in the garden of Gethsemane?

How many thousands of questions can we ask of the Lord's passion? But we will start today with these few and see if the Lord's wisdom can penetrate our hearts.

Ch. 26, Holy Thursday, Good Friday

Today is Holy Thursday.

It is good that we are digging into Ch. 26 of Matthew's gospel, and we have all of last week's questions to work on, plus a few more:

1. Matthew writes, "When Jesus finished all these words..." and then Jesus points out that in two days will be a celebration, the Passover. How is the last part of "all these words" -- the last judgement of Matthew 25:31-46 -- related to the escape from Egyptland?
   
2. Why do these goombahs have to plot in secrecy?
   
3. Does the high priest Caiaphas fear the Lord more than the people of Jerusalem?
   
4. Jesus is a son of Abraham, a son of David. Who was it in the story of the Exodus that wanted to kill off the sons of Abraham?
   
5. Does the woman with the jar of perfumed oil have a malady of some kind?
   
6. When Moses died, did he have a public burial, with all the rituals, for all to see?
   
7. How would it come about that this woman acquires enduring fame, even though she is nameless?
   
8. Why does the gospel record the surname of Judas the betrayer?
   
9. WHy is it that Matthew even mentions the reproachful fact that Judas the betrayer is one of the Twelve? Is it necessary to the gospel message?
   
10. Oughtn't Jesus to have cut off Judas the betrayer long before this? Why didn't he do so?
    
11. Why could Jusus not have just forced the issue with Judas and turned him from the path of betrayal like He turned Paul on the way to Damascus?
    
12. Whom does the covetous man hate?

There are a lot of things to consider this morning, and it is a good thing that tomorrow is Good Friday.

 

Image: spikenard

Questions for Thursday morning in Matthew 18

We continue our look into the Lord's teaching, as recorded my Matthew in his 18th chapter. A few questions to consider are:

1. Why is it significant to Jesus that a set of angels are able to look upon the face of God the Father? Why does the seeing of God's face by angels inspire you not to despise the little ones?
2. When Jesus speaks about cutting off a hand, he is actually using a figure of speech, to instruct us about something other than a hand. What is he talking about?
3. Jesus says we can gain after bringing a dispute to a brother. Why is it considered a profit? What goes in the profit column?
4. Is it eye-for-eye vengeance if the church executes the punishment, instead of the wronged individual?
5. Are the IRS tax collectors of that day beyond redemption? Can you think of one who was eventually redeemed by the Lord?
6. 70×7 = 490. Does God throw the book at you after #490?

The 18th chapter is also loaded with useful guidance for the man who would be a doer of the Word. Let's dig into it for more wisdom in the morning.

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.

Lord's Prayer

The study guide for the Lord's Prayer in chapter 6 of Matthew can begin in a simple meditation: Read the Lord’s Prayer. Meditate on it and be ready to discuss the following:

1. Our Father who art in heaven
2. Hallowed be your name
3. your kingdom come
4. your will be done on earth as well as heaven
5. Give us this day our daily bread
6. Forgive use our debts as we forgive our debtors
7. And do not subject us to the final test but deliver us from the evil one.

Hebrews 12 questions

We will study a bit of chapter 11 and then dip into chapter 12 this morning. Here are a few questions.

1. From chapter 11, what kind of miracle did the writer keep mentioning in the lives of so many of the old testament saints? There was one kind that was mentioned several times.
2. The cloud of witnesses: does anything about it change with the passage of years?
3. Name the top two witnesses in the cloud of witnesses, in your opinion. Why did you focus on those two?
4. How does the cloud of witnesses affect our conduct at prayer?
5. How does the cloud of witnesses affect our actions as we go about our day?
6. At Sunday Mass, how do our prayers and actions reflect the presence of the cloud of witnesses?
7. If someone works one of the ordinary works of mercy, even evangelization by hospitalization, does that action exist in isolation, unconnected with anyone else?

WHAT!? Those questions only cover verse 1! We might not get very far into chapter 12 this morning. :)

Some thoughts from the men about the center of the heavenly liturgy

Here are some of the findings from this morning's study session:

Why is there a veil in Moses' copy? Did he see a veil up in the mountain?

German: something still to be completed and Moses was not to see it.

Ken: It is similar to the cherubim and fiery sword guarding the way back to the tree of life, Gen. 3:24.

Joe: Paul describes something like this in 1 Cor. 13, "At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror..." etc., which also describes the moment of judgement for a Christian.

When we celebrate the eucharistic sacrifice at Mass, is that a different sacrifice from the sacrifice of the Messiah on the Cross?

German: no, and Fr. Derk describes it as an echo of the moment of the crucifixion.

How can we unite ourselves with Jesus' sacrifice, even though we are each imperfect?

Len: be in the state of grace. Faith in Jesus is primary importance. Then comes duty to support your family.

Bob: prayer and the works of mercy.

In response to the TRUE/FALSE question about the timing of the sins that Jesus died for on the Cross, Jim repeated a phrase, "I make all things new." It is from the Revelation, but famously inserted into the walk to Calvary in the film Passion of the Christ. And it leads to the prayer we recalled today, the prayer over the paschal candle:

Christ yesterday and today
the beginning and the end
Alpha
and Omega.
All time belongs to Him
and all the ages.
To Him be glory and power
through every age forever. Amen.

Jude and James

We read the letter of Jude this past Thursday, with its exhortation concerning faith. Jude asked the church to ignore the scandalous actions of a small group of interfering men, and build on solid rock with actions that show faith, such as the works of mercy.

This is entirely consistent with the Messiah's own message concerning the fig tree, which we studied in Mark's gospel recently. German, Ken, Len, Scott and Joe have a good explanations. Here are Ken, Scott and Len:



On Thursday, May 13, we will start studying the letter of James.

One question for this morning

There is one good question for studying 1 Peter 3:

1. Does Peter write about any of the works of mercy in this chapter?

The corporal works of mercy are as follows:

1. To feed the hungry;
   
2. To give drink to the thirsty;
   
3. To clothe the naked;
   
4. To harbour the harbourless;
   
5. To visit the sick;
   
6. To ransom the captive;
   
7. To bury the dead.

The spiritual works of mercy are:

1. To instruct the ignorant;
   
2. To counsel the doubtful;
   
3. To admonish sinners;
   
4. To bear wrongs patiently;
   
5. To forgive offences willingly;
   
6. To comfort the afflicted;
   
7. To pray for the living and the dead.

Peter and Jesus

We discussed the betrayal event again this morning, especially what Peter's actions mean for us in this day -- his sleeping, his denying Jesus, and later events.

1. Bob: This is the test of Peter, but he did pass the test. He must have thought, "What a coward I was!" But later on, BANG! He became the strong central apostle.
2. Sal: This is the time of building for Peter's character. God builds our character through our mistakes.
3. Joe: The Lord works it in such a manner because he knows that Peter will eventually become the man the Lord wants.
4. German: God is always ready to give us another chance.
5. Deacon Alfonsus Magnus: Peter's path is an example of God's love and mercy... especially mercy.

We discussed the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, and the unusual state of God praying as a human for strength. In this, there were additional comments:

1. German: it was like a man going off to combat, worries but determination.
2. Scott: As men, we want to work and not rely on anybody. But Jesus trusted the Father.

We also talked about Joseph, faithfully working and teaching his son, yet every day trusting his life and the life of his family to God the Father. Good.