Chapter Two - Quick Notes and Facts

• 
  Note that we only guess at three magi because they bring three gifts. Later tradition has given them names (Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior) and ethnicities (one from Europe, one from Asia and one from Africa.)


• A great deal of ink has been spilled trying to connect the ‘star’ with a known astronomical phenonmenon. It could have been any of a number of events, or none of them, and merely a device in the way the author tells the story.


• The gifts are all symbols which tell us of the child’s significance and fate: gold is a gift fit for a king; franckincense for worship of a god; myrrh was a common extract used in preparing the dead. The song, “We Three Kings” has a verse that explains each one.


• There is no mention of this massacre of children in any other contemporary source.


• It seems, in Matthew’s narrative, that they lived in Bethlehem before the birth and then re-settled in Nazareth when they returned from Egypt.

Chapter Two - Question 5

Who is more important in how this story is told? Mary or Joseph?

Chapter Two - Question 4

There is a theme of disruption in this story (escape from murder, being a refugee). Why do we see the Christ in all this trouble? Wouldn’t it make more sense to gloss over any difficulties and prove that God is always more powerful than any trouble?

Chapter Two - Question 3

The absolutely most important event for the people of Israel was their rescue from slavery in Egypt by the hand of God. Why do you think that the author would want us to know the Jesus, too, was brought from Egypt?

Chapter Two - Question 2

There is a great deal of parallelism between the way this story is told and what we hear of Moses in Exodus. Compare the “massacre of the innocents” in Exodus 1 with this. What are the parallel conclusions that the gospel writer wants to leave us with?

Chapter Two - Question 1

Like chapter 1, the story told here is different from Luke’s Christmas story. Compare this chapter to Luke 2. Any similarities? How do they differ?

Epiphany - and flight

As we mark the Christmas season, we hear from this chapter a great deal. The Feast of the Holy Family, celebrated first, tells of the flight into Egypt. The Feast of the Epiphany tells of the visit of the magi.

Both of these, told together, set up the balance between the Jewish and Gentile themes. Jesus, like the Hebrew people before him, takes refuge in Egypt, and then returns. The magi represent all the nations who come to recognize him.

As you read and reflect on this chapter, see the themes take shape and continue to draw the lines between them and the other chapters you have read.

Chapter One - Quick Notes and Facts

• The geneology in Matthew puts Jesus squarely in the Jewish tradition. It begins with Abraham, the patriarch and first believer in the one God. There are fourteen patriarchs, fourteen kings of Israel (putting Jesus in the line of King David) and fourteen “unknowns.”


• There are also four women mentioned other than Mary. All have something “wrong” with them. They include a deceiver in the name of justice (Tamar in Genesis 38), a prostitute (Rahab in Joshua 2), a foreigner (Ruth), and an adulteress, (Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah in 2 Samuel 11).


• Betrothed couples were allowed in Jewish culture to have sexual relations before the formal wedding. Joseph knew, however, that since he could not be the father of Mary’s child, to denounce her would make her liable to death by stoning, or at least, disgrace.


• Compare the story of Joseph in Genesis to this Joseph. There seems to be a deliberate attempt by the author to evoke the story of the first Joseph. His dreams lead to the story of the Exodus, and the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The dream of the New Testament Joseph also points to salvation. (The baby's name is announced, and is significant, for one thing.)


• The name “Jesus” is really the Hebrew “Joshua.” (Jesus is the Latin equivalent.) It would have been pronounced Y’shua. It means "God saves".

Chapter One - Question 2

Matthew and Luke tell a different story of the angel’s message about Jesus. You might like to read Luke 1 and compare the two stories. How do they differ?

Chapter One - Question 4

On a strictly human level (and he was just a guy), what do you think Joseph’s emotions were?

Chapter One - Question 3

What is Matthew trying to communicate about this baby? Write down all the things that you can that Matthew thinks it is important for us to know.

Chapter One - Question 1

We tend to think of “begats” as pretty boring pieces of literature. However, you might have fun doing a little investigation:

• Compare this list with Luke’s in Luke 3:23 and following. How are they the same? How do they differ?
• Look up the stories of the “wrong” women in Matthew’s list. Why do you think that Matthew took pains to include them?

Now, for the Nativity

When this blog began, I started with chapter three, omitting the Infancy Narrative.

Of course, in the fourth week of Advent, this is a great time to return to chapter one (which we also heard read in church on Sunday.)

Matthew sets up the themes of the gospel in the way that he relates this narrative. We've explored those themes in the last months: the Jewish character of both the gospel and its probable first readers/hearers; the relevance of this Jewish Messiah for all of humanity; the true nature of the Jewish law and its fulfillment.

As you read chapters one and two in these two weeks, keep those themes in mind. "Connect the dots" between what you read in the Infancy Narrative and the ways that those themes are developed in the subsequent chapters of the gospel.

Chapter Twenty Two - Quick Notes and Facts

• Very observant Jews would have refrained from carrying Roman coins, because with the image of the Emperor on them, they were idolatrous and sins against the first commandment. (They sometimes defaced the image of the Emperor on the coin, as well.) When Jesus asks to see a coin, this hyper-observant Jew readily produces a ‘sinful’ one, so Jesus is able to show up the man’s own hypocrisy.


• Sadducees did not believe in life after death. They were actually more in line with ancient Jewish tradition on this matter than the Pharisees. A belief in the afterlife grew slowly in Judaism over the millennia. Before this idea took hold, Jews believed that dead was dead. (For example, see Psalm 6:5 or Psalm 115:17.


• In this passage Jesus quotes God in his appearance to Moses at Sinai. (See Exodus 3.)


• The question about the “greatest commandment” is in the tradition of scholarly disputation. Jesus quotes two passages from the Law, Deuteronomy and Leviticus, to form his reply.


• Jesus’ question about David’s son seems to be less about proving a point about the Messiah than showing his own powers of disputation.

Chapter Twenty Two - Question 4

The “Greatest Commandment” was rooted in the Jewish tradition. Jesus says nothing new here. In our modern context, how seriously do we take this commandment? Do we give it lip service or pay attention to living it?

Chapter Twenty Two - Question 3

The crowds were astonished by Jesus’ teaching on the Resurrection. What does life after death, and the promise of the resurrection of the dead mean to you? How does it factor into your life of faith? (i.e. How much attention do you give to it?)

Chapter Twenty Two - Question 2

The parable of the wedding feast parallels the one of the tenants in the vineyard in the last chapter. What do you think of the tone of this parable? How did Matthew’s listeners hear it? How should we?

Chapter Twenty Two - Question 1

This chapter is one of disputation and debate. What is Jesus’ stance toward the religious leadership? What is he trying to call them to? How do they resist?

Chapter Twenty One - Quick Notes and Facts

• Hebrew poetry uses parallelism, which is common in an oral tradition, since the imagery has a better chance of sticking in your consciousness. The quotation from the ‘prophet’ here uses that technique. Strangely, Matthew, coming from a Jewish background, doesn’t recognize that the same thing is being said twice. So, he gives us the odd image of Jesus riding both the ass and the colt, sort of like a circus trick.


• This particular quotation is really a pastiche of two passages, one from Isaiah 62 and the other from Zechariah 9.


• The Temple in Jesus’ time had three courtyards - one for men, one for women and one for Gentiles. The Temple authorities got a ‘cut’ from the merchants, who set up shop in the Court of the Gentiles. However, it made it impossible for non-Jews to worship there. This is what Jesus objected to.


• The story of the cursing of the fig tree makes more sense in its original place in Mark. (Here it just looks like Jesus had a tantrum.) Read Mark 11:12-25 and see how this story is a commentary on what is happening at the Temple.

Chapter Twenty One - Question 5

Jesus quotes Psalm 118 in this section. (The stone which the builders rejected....) Read all of Psalm 118, which we sing every Easter. Does the mood and feel of this psalm lend texture or perspective to this parable?

Chapter Twenty One - Question 4

What point is Jesus trying to make in the parable of the tenants in the vineyard? What significance do you think it had for the people of Matthew’s time? What significance does it have for us?

Chapter Twenty One - Question 3

What is the point that Jesus is trying to make in the parable of the two sons? What point can we take away from it?

Chapter Twenty One - Question 2

Jesus’ anger is featured (at a heightened pitch, even) in the accounts of the cleansing of the Temple and the cursing of the fig tree. How does this anger strike you? Does it square with your image of Jesus, or challenge your image of him?

Chapter Twenty One - Question 1

The entry into Jerusalem (commemorated every year on Passion - Palm - Sunday) has intimations of the coming disaster. How do you see it played out in Matthew’s account?

Chapter Twenty - Quick Notes and Facts

• The theme of blindness and the dense disciples is taken from Mark. You can compare this section to chapters 8 to 10 in Mark’s gospel.

Chapter Twenty - Question 5

What is the reaction of the healed men? What is the message of the gospel writer to us?

Chapter Twenty - Question 4

Compare the reaction of the disciples to Jesus’ prediction of the Passion and the blind men. Who recognizes whom and what does that mean for the disciples and for us?

Chapter Twenty - Question 3

Jesus talks about having to ‘drink of the cup’ in his rebuke to the brothers. What is he referring to? What would this symbolism have meant to the early church? What does it mean to us?

Chapter Twenty - Question 2

The mother of James and John asks for something quite natural - a good place for her sons. (“It is not what you know, it is who you know....”) Jesus tries to make a point. What implications do his point have for our accommodation to the prevailing culture?

Chapter Twenty - Question 1

A contract for wages is a legal agreement. What is Jesus saying about our ‘contract’ with God? How does it strike you? Who do you side with in this dispute?

Chapter Nineteen - Quick Notes and Facts

• In the Mosaic law, divorce is permitted. In ancient Judaism, only the husband could initiate a divorce. Women had no way to contest a divorce. Unless her family of birth took her back, she would have no support. Husbands controlled the children; a divorced woman had no access to them.


• The ‘Matthean exception’ is unique to this account of Jesus’ teaching on divorce. The Greek word is porneia, from which we get the word pornography. But scholars don’t know from the context exactly what the word means here.
  
  It means "uncleanness", but is the meaning "unlawful degrees of relationship", or "adultery" or some other sort of perverse behavior? Much ink has been spilled, but we don't know what the original author of the gospel intended in using this word. (Remember that porneia is a Greek word, while Jesus spoke in Aramaic. So, the specific meaning could easily have been lost in translation.)


• The inclusion of a teaching on celibacy here is very much outside the mainstream of Jewish thought. (The first command in the Scriptures is to “be fruitful and multiply” so the expectation was that everyone would eventually marry.) However, there were Jewish sects, like the Essenes, who practiced sexual continence. Also, in the ancient world, castration was a common practice, especially of slaves. Jews found this completely abhorrent, but Jesus’ contemporaries would have undoubtedly have met or seen eunuchs.

Chapter Nineteen - Question 5

Is the advice given to the Rich Young Man intended for anyone else? (Like us?)

Chapter Nineteen - Question 4

Do you see exaggeration and hyperbole in this chapter? If so, what is an exaggerated point and what should we take as a literal guide for living?

Chapter Nineteen - Question 3

Twice in this chapter Jesus mentions the renunciation of marriage and family. Why does this have a place in the Kingdom?

Chapter Nineteen - Question 2

Look at the question of divorce from the perspective of 'what is just?' Does this change how you view this text?

Chapter Nineteen - Question 1

What are your reactions in reading the teaching on marriage and divorce?

Chapter Eighteen - Quick Notes and Facts

• Gehenna was the Jerusalem garbage dump, and fires burned there almost continuously to get rid of the refuse. No one chose to live there, since it had been the site of Canaanite human sacrifices (usually of young children.) That reluctance to live there continued into the twentieth century. However, in modern Jerusalem, it is now a residential neighborhood.


• Observant Jews tried to avoid all conversation with Gentiles and public sinners like tax collectors. They would certainly avoid touching them and never eat with them.


• The number seven is one signifying completion, not a quota. Jesus’ multiplication of that number is a kind of hyperbole, and a reflection of God’s endless mercy.


• Being sold into slavery was a very common way to settle debts.

Chapter Eighteen - Question 3

What are the implications for disciples of Jesus’ teaching on temptation, sin and forgiveness?

Chapter Eighteen - Question 2

Read through this chapter and note all the times that Jesus uses exaggeration to make his point. What were the reasons for this? What do you think the effects are?

Chapter Eighteen - Question 1

Jesus makes some radical statements about ‘citizenship’ in the kingdom. Pair this section with the one right before it in chapter 17. What is Jesus trying to say about God’s vision for us?

Chapter Seventeen - Quick Notes and Facts

• Elijah left the earth in a fiery chariot, according to 2 Kings 2:11, rather than just dying. In legend, Elijah is supposed to come back again before the Messiah returns. For this reason, a place is always set for Elijah a Passover seders, in hope that the Messiah is to come quickly.


• Both Moses and Elijah received revelations from God on holy mountains.


• Matthew's accounts of the predictions of Jesus' Passion are met with grief. In Mark, the original account, it seems that the disciples never quite ‘get' what Jesus is trying to tell them.

Chapter Seventeen - Question 3

Look at the scene where Jesus cures the boy the disciples could not. What went wrong with their approach?

Chapter Seventeen - Question 4

See if you can spot the political sarcasm in the story of the temple tax. What point is Jesus trying to make about their ‘status' in the Kingdom?

Chapter Seventeen - Question 2

What are the parallels and differences between the account of the Transfiguration and the appearances of the Risen Lord?

Chapter Seventeen - Question 1

Put yourself into the scene of the Transfiguration. What would you have seen, heard, felt, thought?

Chapter Sixteen - Quick Notes and Facts

• "Adultery" is a motif used often to describe the faithlessness of the people and their attraction to other gods. At various points, when the people stray from the God of Israel, God's reaction is like a spurned spouse. (See Exodus 32.)


• Yeast was seen as a corrupting agent. While it was handy to make bread rise, it is still bacteria (although they didn't know it) and a yeast starter that went bad was a green, moldy mess. During the Passover, Jews eat nothing with yeast. This is to remember the unleavened bread of the Exodus, but also is a sign of a pure people, uncorrupted by foreign elements.


• Elijah and Jeremiah were both important prophets. Elijah was expected to return to earth, since in tradition he didn't die, but left the earth in a fiery chariot.


• The ‘commission to Peter' in verse 18 is the primary foundation for the organization of the Catholic church. This verse, in Latin, (Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portæ inferi non prævalebunt adversus eam) is inscribed in the dome of St. Peter's basilica in the Vatican.

Chapter Sixteen - Question 3

Jesus gives Peter a particular status in his commission to him, ...on this rock I will build my church.

What significance does this have for the church? For you?

Chapter Sixteen - Question 2

The next section is borrowed from Mark and is the central piece of Mark's gospel. As you read it ask yourself:

• What does Peter's confession of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God mean to him? What does it mean to you?


• Jesus answers that to follow him means to follow him to the cross. How does this strike the disciples? How does it strike you?


• What do you think ...those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it means to us as 21st century Americans?

Chapter Sixteen - Question 1

What is Jesus' approach to "signs and wonders?" How do you think that miracles fit into his ministry? (Did he work miracles to prove anything?)

Chapter Fifteen - Quick Notes and Facts

• The Pharisees (or at least not all of the Pharisees) were not explicit enemies of Jesus.  However, they were obviously critical of his approach.  Much of their arguing sounds very hostile to us.  However, in the cultural context, disputation is the way that teaching on the Law was refined.  (Even in modern yeshivas, it sounds like a huge fight is going on, but that is just the way that learning takes place.)


• In the Law, there are strict dietary laws and rituals about eating.  (That is why the washing is mentioned.)  Various foods are not kosher and can never by eaten, such as pork and shellfish.  Also, there are rules such as the prohibition of eating milk and meat in the same meal.


• The Canaanites were the original inhabitants of Palestine.  (We also know them as the Phoencians and Palestine is a Latin name for the "Land of the Phoenicians".)  Abraham was called by God to leave his ancestral land (modern Iraq) and settle in the land of Canaan.  The Hebrews returned to Canaan when they escaped slavery in Egypt.  Even though this was the Promised Land, the original population didn't disappear and continued to live right next to the Jews.


• The feeding miracle is such an important story that it reappears.  A repetition like this is called a "doublet."

Chapter Fifteen - Question 4

How is the feeding miracle connected to the healing as well?

Chapter Fifteen - Question 3

Jesus climbs another mountain, only this time he doesn't teach, but heals.  What is the connection between this story and the Sermon on the Mount?

Chapter Fifteen - Question 2

The incident with the Canaanite woman is important on several levels.

• What would the significance of this story be to Gentile members in Matthew's community?
• What does this story tell us about the role of women and Jesus' relationship to them?

Chapter Fifteen - Question 1

Jesus argues with the Pharisees about the Law.  What point is he trying to make?

Chapter Fourteen - Quick Notes and Facts

• Herod had married his brother's wife, and John preached against this, saying that it was indecent. The daughter, Salome, has gone down in history as a seductress, but that is tradition and not straight out of this passage. Also, in legend, her performance is sometimes called the ‘dance of the seven veils.'
  
  
• The feeding miracle is recorded (although the timing and the details differ) in all four of the gospels. It is one of the most enduring and remembered stories.
  
  
• In the early Christian church, loaves obviously had a connection to the Eucharist. Fish were a common symbol for Christ, since (icthys) the word for ‘fish' in Greek is an acronym that stands for ‘Jesus Christ, son of God, Savior.'

Chapter Fourteen - Question 6

The chapter closes with another round of healing. What is essential to any healing, according to the gospel? How does this bear itself out in those who encounter Jesus?

Chapter Fourteen - Question 5

Have you ever felt like Peter - ready to take a risk and then be in way over your head? What is Jesus' answer to this?

Chapter Fourteen - Question 4

Jesus' command over the waters is demonstrated again. What is the symbolic value of this story?

Chapter Fourteen - Question 3

Jesus goes off to pray. What does his retreat from people to do this show to us?

Chapter Fourteen - Question 2

Look at the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. First, what is Jesus' simplest solution to the problem? Second, what is the writer of the gospel trying to explicitly remind us of?

Chapter Fourteen - Question 1

Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist come back to life. Why would this have put a chill in his bones?

Chapter Thirteen - Quick Notes and Facts

• The numbers in the parable of the sower are exaggerations.  The estimate of a good yield in those days was about ten-fold.


• Mustard seeds are indeed small, and the bushes lush, but not quite the ‘greatest of all.'  Exaggeration was one way to keep interest when telling the story.


• The brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned by name here are a conundrum for Catholic tradition.  Catholic doctrine teaches that Mary remained a virgin always, and so never had other children.  The explanations for this are that 1) "brother and sister" meant more than siblings, but also cousins or 2) Joseph had children from a first marriage, and then was widowed before marrying Mary.  (This is represented in many medieval and Renaissance paintings which show Joseph as an old man.)

Chapter Thirteen - Question 4

Jesus spent his ministry inviting people into God's Reign.  What attraction does it have for you?  Is it precious enough, like the pearl of great price, to risk the rest of what you possess?

Chapter Thirteen - Question 3

People in the synagogue in Nazareth don't seem all that impressed with Jesus?  What holds them back?

Chapter Thirteen - Question 2

Why do you think that Jesus spoke in parables?

Chapter Thirteen - Question 1

The parables in this chapter all tell us of aspects of the Kingdom of God. Read through them and note for each

• What is the Kingdom of God like? What aspect is being presented?
• How can we recognize the Kingdom?
• How can we explain or deal with those who ‘get it wrong' or who don't get it at all?

Chapter Twelve - Quick Notes and Facts

• In the Jewish law, it was strictly prohibited to do any kind of work on the Sabbath. Picking grain definitely fell into that category. However to relieve suffering is permitted, and anything to save a life is commanded.


• The bread of the Presence was special bread placed each week in the sanctuary of the Temple.


• "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a paraphrase of Hosea 6:6. Hosea was a prophet from the north who preached in eighth century before Jesus. The prophetic tradition often critiqued the Jerusalem Temple, accusing the worshipers of not obeying the true spirit of the Law, but resorting to expensive sacrifices thinking that this would appease God.


• Jesus worshiped at the Temple, but he criticized the hypocrisy of some who also worshiped there. The prophets did, as well.


• Jonah preached (reluctantly) to pagans, who listened to his word about God. The "Queen of the South" was the Queen of Sheba, who came to be one of Solomon's wives.

Chapter Twelve - Question 6

Once again the chapter ends with a ‘bottom line' statement about discipleship. What is the criterion for discipleship that Jesus is looking for? What does it mean for us?

Chapter Twelve - Question 5

Why does Jesus invoke the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-10) and the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1-13) in contrast to the people ‘in this generation?' What is Jesus looking for instead?

Chapter Twelve - Question 4

What does Jesus mean about ‘blasphemy against the Holy Spirit'?

Chapter Twelve - Question 3

The Pharisees accuse Jesus of exorcizing demons because he himself is using demonic power. Why do you think that they made this accusation? What is Jesus' answer to their charges?

Chapter Twelve - Question 2

What is the connection between Jesus' work of healing and the quote from Isaiah? How does one illuminate the other?

Chapter Twelve - Question 1

Jesus says that he is "lord of the Sabbath" and greater than the Temple. What does he mean by this, and why does what he says and how he acts so anger the Pharisees?

Chapter Eleven - Quick Notes and Facts

• The message that Jesus sends to John includes elements of the hallmarks of the Messianic age. This is what they would expect to see if the Messiah was truly at work.


• Chorazin and Bethsaida are Jewish towns. Tyre and Sidon are Gentile towns - but not only Gentile towns, they are relatively close to Antioch, where this gospel was probably written.


• ‘Hades' was the Greek term for the place of the dead. Jews originally didn't have a well-developed sense of the afterlife and borrowed from other cultures over the centuries. At the time of Jesus, there was no consensus. Some thought there was no afterlife, others that there was a place where the dead lived, and others that there was a paradise where one met God. Jesus taught in line with the third idea. He seems to be using ‘Hades' here as a synonym for what we would term "hell" (although in the pagan world it was not necessarily a place of torment.)


• A yoke upon an ox enabled one to control the animal. It also enabled one to give the animal something to drag.

Chapter Eleven - Question 6

Once again, the chapter ends with some message about discipleship. How is it phrased here? What does discipleship mean from this passage, and how does it fit into what we have seen up until now in this gospel?

Chapter Eleven - Question 5

"No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." What does this mean for us? For our images and knowledge of God? For what we believe Jesus to be?

Chapter Eleven - Question 5

According to verse 25 and following, who hears Jesus' message? What inhibits the rest from listening?

Chapter Eleven - Question 4

Jesus is pretty judgmental of the cities that he mentions. What has provoked this in him?

Chapter Eleven - Question 3

What is Jesus' critique of those who have judged both him and John?

Chapter Eleven - Question 2

What does Jesus say about John the Baptist? What is his importance?

Chapter Eleven - Question 1

What do you think John's emotions and motives were in sending this message to Jesus?

Chapter Ten - Quick Notes and Facts

• ‘Peter' is a nickname. In Greek, it would be Petros, but in Aramaic, the language which they spoke, it was Cephas. This is what Paul calls him in his letters. The word means ‘rock.'


• Samaritans were Semites and had a common ancestry with the Jews. However, they only accepted the five books of Moses as Scripture, and they worshipped in their own country and not in Jerusalem. Jews and Samaritans seem to have despised each other.


• The emphasis on Jesus as the Jewish messiah, sent to the Jews, comes through strongly in this chapter.


• Sodom and Gomorrah were ancient cities destroyed with ‘fire and brimstone.' They may have been the victims of a volcanic eruption. (See Genesis 19)


• The advice about what kind of persecution they might expect and how to deal with it is probably a reflection of the church at the time that Matthew wrote, and not necessarily when Jesus was alive.

Chapter Ten - Question Five

Bottom line, what does Jesus expect of disciples?

Chapter Ten - Question Four

Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace." This is not a license for Christian warfare, but it is a clear statement that his message will cause trouble. What kind of trouble does it (or should it ) cause in our world?

Chapter Ten - Question Three

In Matthew's community, they may have experienced ostracism and persecution by other members of the synagogue. Although Jesus was a Jewish messiah, and this community was made up of Jews, what do you think were the results of this rejection?

Chapter Ten - Question Two

Martyrdom was a reality for the first three centuries of the church. (Although it was not constant at all times and all places.) What fruits can persecution yield? (What good can come from this?)

Chapter Ten - Question One

Jesus gives many specific directions to the disciples. Generalizing from these, how should disciples go out into our world?

Chapter Nine - Your own questions, thoughts, reflections

Please feel free to post in the comments any of your own questions, thoughts and reflections not covered in any of the other posts.

Chapter Ten will be posted next Monday, September 20.

Chapter Nine - Notes and Quick Facts

• In Jewish tradition, to claim to have God under one's power was blasphemy and punishable by death.
• Tax collectors were universally hated first because they collaborated with the Romans, and second because they could collect whatever they wanted, as long as they gave the Romans their share.
• Pharisees kept a strict distance from anyone who was unclean under the Law. This was especially true of table fellowship. Although Jesus shared many beliefs of the Pharisees, he definitely departed from them on this count.
• Any kind of blood discharge made one unclean. This included menstruation and the effects of illness. The woman with the hemorrhage would have been unable to touch anyone for years.
• After the cure of the blind men, we hear of the ‘Messianic Secret.' This is a device that Matthew inherits from Mark. Jesus repeatedly tells people to keep his work a secret, but with no great success.
• ‘Demon' was a label given to a variety of illnesses. Even to have a headache was thought to be the result of an occupying demon.

Chapter Nine - Question Six

"The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few." What does this saying mean to us in our own contemporary situation?

Chapter Nine - Question Five

The blind men call Jesus ‘Son of David.' What do they "see?"

Chapter Nine - Question Four

What boundaries is Jesus stepping over in the cure of the woman and the raising of the little girl?

Chapter Nine - Question Three

What is Jesus trying to tell the disciples of John in these two short parables? (Verses 14-17)

Chapter Nine - Question Two

Why does Jesus associate with such questionable folks? If he was walking our modern streets, who would he be seen with? Why does he do this? How would it be received by our society?

Chapter Nine - Question One

Jesus forgives the paralytic's sins, and then when challenged, he cures the man. What message is he trying to convey in his actions?

Living the Beatitudes

The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount as a whole (chapters five through seven) are all about living in the Kingdom while living in the 'real world.' How do we do this? How do we live with 'Beatitude values' and not with the values of the culture around us?

Another Way to Pray With the Scriptures: Ignatian Meditation

St. Ignatius of Loyola was the author of the Spiritual Exercises. He was a man of strong emotions and colorful imagination. Through many experiences, he realized that his God-given imagination was a path to prayer. He devised this method to enable those making the Exercises to pray through the Gospels and to draw closer to the Lord.

How to use this method:

• Find a quiet place and establish a sense of inner peace and tranquility. Put away all worries, concerns, aimless thoughts, etc.
• Pray. Ask God to be present during this time, to reveal His Word to you in a powerful way, and to remove any remaining distractions that would hinder you from fully meditating on the Scriptures.
• Select a passage of Scripture – Typically a passage from the Gospels works best. However, any Scripture passage may be chosen.
• Composition of the Place – Slowly read the passage several times with the following questions in mind so that you may experience God's Word through all of your senses.
  

  Sight–‘See the persons with the sight of the imagination, meditating and contemplating in particular the details about them.' What do you see? How tall are the people? What are the people wearing? What do they look like? What is the landscape like? Are there buildings? What do the buildings look like? What time of day is it?

  Hearing–‘Hear with the hearing what they are, or might be, talking about and reflecting oneself' What do you hear? If Jesus is in the passage, what does His voice sound like? Who is speaking? What do the character's voices sound like? Are there background noises?
  

  Smell–‘Smell the infinite fragrance and sweetness of the Divinity' What do you smell? Are there fragrances? Are there animals? If so, can you smell them? Is there food cooking? What does the countryside smell like? Are there any smells that you do not recognize?

  Taste–‘Taste the infinite fragrance and sweetness of the Divinity' What do you taste? Are you eating? If so, what does the food taste like? Is there a smell so pungent you can taste it? What does the water taste like?

  Touch–‘Embrace and kiss the places where such persons put their feet and sit.' What do you feel? What are the different textures you feel? What do the people feel like? Their clothes? Their skin? What does the ground feel like? What do the buildings feel like?

• Colloquy – Remain in the passage through your five senses and have a conversation with Jesus.
• Ask Jesus some questions. Ask any question you wish (this is a time of prayer – in prayer we can be completely honest with God), but here are some questions if you can't think of any:

  Jesus, what are you saying to me?
  What are you asking me to do?
  What does this story mean for my life personally?
  How can I follow You more closely based on my meditations?

• The Lord's Prayer – When you have completed the Colloquy, conclude with The Lord's Prayer.
• Journal your experience –It is often a good idea to take notes of what the experience was like and how you were drawn into prayer.

Tips for Ignatian Meditation

• Go back to those points in prayer that provoked the strongest reaction in order to experience the desire for intimacy with God more deeply.
• Study the geography and historical context of the passage so that you may more fully engage the senses.
• Don't just be a passive observer; interact with your surroundings in the story.
• Pick a place in the story – Are you the main character? An observer? A companion to someone in the story?

Going Online All the Time

We left open the possibility of continuing to meet after the four Mondays in August had concluded, but shifting to Wednesdays. However, most people could not make Wednesdays, so we are going to do it all online.

In the meantime, I got deluged with all the stuff that goes with launching the beginning of the year, so got a little behind posting here. My apologies.

Here is the plan:

a) I'll post the reflection questions one topic at a time. Feel free to begin a discussion on them via the comments.

b) The sidebar/explanation snippets will be another post. If you have specific questions about aspects of the chapter, just comment there, and they will be answered/discussed.

I have facilitated a number of courses at Notre Dame online, and I find that the discussion gets pretty lively. So, this might be a way to go, without the limitations of our schedules interfering.

What do we know of the world in which Matthew was written?

We know some things for sure about the context of the Gospels. (For example, just by reading Matthew, one can discern the concern for Jewish tradition.) On other points, scholars make educated guesses, drawing from their knowledge of the ancient world, on internal evidence in the Gospel, and on other aspects of archeology, anthropology and sociology.

So, from all of that, what have scholars concluded about Matthew's world?

Most place the composition of the Gospel in Antioch in Syria. Antioch was the third most populous city in the Roman Empire. It was close to Palestine, just to the north, and we know it had a sizeable Jewish population. During the first century, about half of all Jews lived outside of Palestine, in the Diaspora, or 'dispersion.' This accelerated after the Jewish war against Rome, which resulted in the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

We also know that Peter preached in Antioch. He may have been based there for quite some time, possibly much longer than the time that he preached in Rome.

The issues that faced this church:

• The incorporation of the Gentiles in the Christian community. Faith in Jesus as the Messiah was first preached to Jews. They would have known what the Messiah was to be, and would have understood Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law. Yet, Christianity also began to attract Gentile believers. Whether these new believers had to become Jews was an enormous issue for the early church. It threatened to split it altogether. See Acts 15 for more on how it began to be resolved. Matthew's community, while predominantly Jewish, also had to begin to make sense of 'outsiders' accepting Christ.


• The relationship of the believers in Jesus to other members of the Jewish community. There was certainly no one way to be a Jew in the first century, any more than there is one kind of Judaism today. The believers in Jesus were initially one faction in a diverse people. However, this became more complicated with the destruction of the Temple. Up to that point, the Temple was a unifying element for all factions, including the followers of Jesus. Without the Temple, Judaism had to redefine itself. At the same time, Christians were determining their own identity.
  
  We tend to think of "Jews" and "Christians". However, during this era, it is more accurate to think of different sects of Jews, among which was one who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. This was true in the two generations after Jesus' resurrection.
  
  With the loss of the Temple, two things happened. First, Pharisaic Judaism, which had not been as tied to the Temple, was the best equipped to deal with the aftermath. The form of Judaism that survived into the modern era was basically Pharisaism. This included an emphasis on the holiness of keeping all the points of Torah, a religious life centered in the home and synagogue, and a strong emphasis on community identity within a Gentile world. Second, Christianity began to be defined as a separate sect. The Acts of the Apostles records that Antioch was the first place where believers in Jesus were called "Christians". (Acts 11:26) This was initially a disparaging term. However, the community began to adopt the name as its own.
  
  
• Living in the Roman Empire, while pointed at the Kingdom of Heaven. Keep in mind that Jesus had been crucified as a revolutionary against the Roman Empire. And Matthew's Gospel was written in the wake of a Jewish war against the Empire. The Empire wasn't going anywhere. It continued to be the most powerful and extensive Empire in that part of the world for the next few centuries.
  
  Jews were familiar with the need to define oneself against the culture of the Greco-Roman world. The temptation to assimilation had been present for a millennium - in Egypt, in Canaan, and after the Syrian invasion (in which the tribes were not 'lost' as much as disaffiliated from Hebrew life and connections). During the Babylonian exile when it was possible to return, many Jews did not, and a Jewish community remained vibrant in what is now Iraq until the 1970's. The Greek invasion, under Alexander the Great posed another threat. Not only was there a strong cultural influence (and during the New Testament era, three centuries later, the Greek language and Greek culture was still dominant), but there were attempts to extinguish Jewish practice and belief. 1 and 2 Maccabees recount this era, and the revolt that preserved the Jewish nation and its identity.
  
  Jews knew that to preserve their identity, they needed to live in proximity to each other, to keep the Sabbath, to keep the dietary rules, to limit intermarriage. They knew that their ideals were in conflict with the surrounding culture. For example, Jewish sexual morals were very different in an era of licentiousness. They didn't countenance public nudity in an time when the major social venue was the baths. They didn't permit abortion and infanticide, which were not only common, but expected.
  
  For the Jews in Matthew's community, living as a member of the Kingdom was an extension of all this. They saw their belief in Jesus as an extension of what Torah and the Prophets had taught.
  
  The Gentiles joining this community had a very different experience. They had lived fully in the Greco-Roman world. They were brought into a community with very different values, with different goals, and with a different world view. They were discovering, in the time that this Gospel was being written, what that meant. How was one to live in this world, while aimed at Heaven? One can see the ways that this is worked out throughout the Gospel, but the Sermon on the Mount sets up the questions and the answers.
  


• Waiting for the Lord to return The earliest Christian communities believed that Christ would return shortly. During this period, the urgency was to proclaim Christ as widely as possible before the end of time. They were not interested in more of a social footprint, which one sees much later in Church history.
  


• The death of the apostolic generation. The community had the impetus to record the Gospel in writing as the apostolic generation began to leave the scene. In addition, they had to deal with issues of transition in leadership. The role of the bishop, the successors to the apostles, began to develop. Episcopos meant 'overseer' and eventually was used solely for those who headed the church. A concern for the order of the church and the role of the apostle/bishop is evident in the Gospel. (Especially in chapter 16.)
  

Chapters Seven and Eight

You can find the reading guide for chapter seven here and the guide for chapter eight here.

Monday, August 30, is the final Monday on which we'll meet.

We will switch to a Wednesday schedule, which I'll post after we finalize it on Monday.

Online Prayer Resources

A comment asked for an 'audio' example of Lectio Divina. I think that is beyond my tech capabilities this week.

I did a search, and ended up with what I know anyway! These two are sites I have recommended over and over and they are still among the best out there.

Sacred Space is a nice guided meditation using your computer. Some of the questions it asks following the reading are typical of Lectio.

Pray As You Go has excellent production values. It has the added advantage of being downloadable to your Ipod or MP3 player.

Both of these are more rooted in Ignatian meditation. (More on that next week!) But, they are not bad examples of ways to meditate on the Scriptures.

I think that the key with Lectio is to remember the four steps: Read; Meditate; Converse with God; Be with God. In a sense, the doing of it teaches you how to do it. You might feel your way 'in the dark' for a bit, but if you trust that God wants to converse with you, the relationship cannot fail to develop.

Book Club Tonight - August 23

Come, even if you have not read it all!

Besides chapters five and six, we'll talk a bit about what we know of Matthew's community.

Chapters Five and Six - Beginning the Sermon on the Mount

According to Matthew, after Jesus' time in the desert, he began to preach repentance, to call disciples, and then to gather crowds.

In chapters five and six, we hear a large collection of Jesus' sayings given us together as the Sermon on the Mount. For two millennia, the message preached here has been the standard against which Christian behavior and attitudes are measured.

Read them through this week and re-discover them.

The guide to chapter five is here.

The guide to chapter six is here.

Thunder

One member of our discussion commented that she usually thought things like a voice from the sky or a vision as recounted in the Gospels as more natural events, with a supernatural interpretation.

Actually, you can find some evidence for that in the text itself. (I misspoke and said I thought this occurred in one of the accounts of Jesus' baptism, but it is later on in John's gospel.)

This scene is just before Jesus is betrayed:

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name."

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again."

The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

John 12:26-29

Jesus' Baptism via Zefferelli

We were speaking on Monday of different depictions of Jesus' baptism and Zefferelli's version from Jesus of Nazareth came up.

Thank goodness for Youtube! Here is the link. (It won't let me embed.)

You'll notice that they use Matthew's words, This is my Beloved Son...., but put the words in John the Baptist's mouth.

If you've not seen this film (all six hours of it), you can rent it, or evidently watch it in pieces on Youtube. As you watch, take note that Zefferelli, like most makers of biopics about Jesus, mushes together accounts from the gospels. Also, as in this case, there are often enough interpretations put into the film that you won't find in the text.

The Historical Jesus

Luke Timothy Johnson published a worthwhile article entitled The Jesus Controversy, in the August 2, 2010 issue of America Magazine. He writes about the two trends in Jesus scholarship. One group tries to show that we can ascertain to a large degree the historical details of Jesus' life and ministry. The other group tends to the side that we really can't know much at all about the historical Jesus.

In response to both camps, Johnson writes:

History is a limited way of knowing reality. Dependent on the fragmentary bits of what was observed, recorded, saved and transmitted from the past, recognizing that all human witness is biased and cautious about speculating beyond available evidence, responsible historians know they deal only in probabilities, not certainties. Theirs is a descriptive art rather than a prescriptive science. And in the case of Jesus and the Gospels, the critical problems facing all historical reconstruction are extreme, warning investigators against pushing against the limits. Thus, historians can assert with greater or lesser probability certain facts about Jesus (his death by crucifixion) or certain patterns of his ministry (speaking in parables) or even certain incidents (his baptism by John). But historians cannot on the basis of those probable conclusions offer an alternative narrative or interpretation from those found in the Gospels.

****

But I emphasize that the real point of historical knowledge is not the dismantling of the Gospels but a fuller engagement with the Gospel narrative. One of the perhaps surprising results of the best historical study of first-century Palestine, I point out, is that the incidental information provided by the Gospels concerning Jesus’ political and cultural context and religious environment tends to confirm rather than disprove the information about those matters in the Gospels.

More important, I try to show how encountering Jesus as a literary character in each of the canonical Gospels makes possible a more profound, satisfying and ultimately more “historical” knowledge of the human Jesus than that offered by scholarly reconstructions. Once readers recognize and begin to appreciate the diverse portraits of Jesus found in the Gospels, not as the poor offerings of historical sources but as the rich witness of faith, they begin to sense that the human Jesus is a far richer and elusive reality than either superficial belief or superficial historical scholarship would suggest. Such literary appreciation of the Gospels also leads to the insight that despite their divergent perspectives and themes, they converge impressively precisely on the historical issue that is of the most vital importance concerning the human Jesus, namely his character. What sort of person was Jesus? Each Gospel witnesses to the truth that Jesus as a human being was defined first by his radical obedience to God and second by his utter self-giving to others. This Jesus of the Gospels is the same Jesus found in the letters of Paul and Peter and in the Letter to the Hebrews. It is the historic Christ who shaped the identity of Christian discipleship through the ages and generated prophetic reform in every age of the church.

Most of all, I try to remind my audience that the entire quest for the historical Jesus is a massive deflection of Christian awareness from its proper focus: learning the living Jesus—the resurrected and exalted Lord present to believers through the power of the Holy Spirit—in the common life and common practices of the church.

****

Jesus is best learned not as a result of an individual’s scholarly quest that is published in a book, but as a continuing process of personal transformation within a community of disciples. Jesus is learned through the faithful reading of the Scriptures, true, but he is learned as well through the sacraments (above all the Eucharist), the lives of saints (dead and living) and the strangers with whom the exalted Lord especially associates himself.

Lectio divina - Sacred Reading in Different Shapes and Forms

At the session on Monday, we explored Lectio Divina - "sacred reading." This way of prayer was developed in the monasteries of Europe over 1300 years ago. In a much more slow-paced age, it encouraged meditative reading of the Scriptures (or other spiritual books) in a manner that leads to prayer.

We live in a different time, but the slowness of lectio is probably more important for us. It enables us to dig down deeper into the text and to see what is to be found there. It is very different from our usual habits of skimming in a hyperlinked world.

Speaking of hyperlinks, you can find a full description of lectio here.

In brief, it has four simple steps.

• Lectio - Reading the text slowly. Discover what words or phrases 'stick out' or make an impact upon you.
• Meditatio - Meditation. Turning that word or phrase over and over, seeing where it leads you in your train of thought. What connections does it make to your life, your concerns, your joys, hopes, sorrows?
• Oratio - Prayer. Let your meditation lead you to a conversation with the Lord.
• Contemplatio - Contemplation. Just rest in the presence of God and enjoy God's being with you.

Chapters Three and Four - Open Thread

I will try to summarize what we talk about tonight and include that in the comments. In the meantime, feel free to add your own comments, questions, observations about these chapters.

Book Club Tonight - August 16

Tonight, we'll begin to look at the text of Matthew, chapters three and four. Even if you just have time to read the chapters (they are short), you should come! If you have a bit more time, look over the reading guide and note your impressions and questions.

We'll also do a little exploration of how to read the Gospel reflectively using an ancient technique, lectio divina.

I hope to see you there!

When Did They Start Calling Matthew "Matthew"?

The question was asked last night about when they began calling the Gospel of Matthew, "Matthew" since most scholars agree it was not written by the apostle by that name.

We spoke of the "Q" source, a collection of sayings of Jesus. Writing around 130 A.D., Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, tells us that the Apostle Matthew put together the discourses or 'sayings' of Jesus. This book was written in Aramaic, the common language spoken by first century Jews in Palestine, and by Jesus himself. Perhaps this was what modern scholars later called "Q". That is a guess, and it no longer exists by itself, as far as we know. St. Irenaeus (about 180 A.D.) reports the same tradition.

It is possible that this collection by an eyewitness, as well as the Gospel of Mark, were used to fashion both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. If that is so, then the tradition that one source was collected by Matthew could have been the origin of calling the Gospel by that name.

As I said, we don't have a copy of "Q". However, we didn't have copies of most of the Gnostic gospels either, until a cache of them was found in Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. (A discovery similar to that of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.) It could be that this Aramaic text is buried someplace dry just waiting for our discovery of it. But, that is nothing that should keep you up nights.

Chapters Three and Four, But Where are One and Two?

Matthew and Luke each include an infancy narrative in their Gospels. In these chapters, they set the stage and begin to sketch the themes that they will later develop in the Gospel.

We'll read chapters one and two - but at the end. By the time we get there, the deeper meaning of these chapters will be much more obvious to you - and more enriching to explore.

So, we'll reflect for next week on chapters three and four. (Get the downloads to print out, if you would like.)

How should you read the chapter?

• Read the chapter through, slowly. Don't skim.


• Note your impressions, your questions, what appeals to you, what perplexes you.


• Read the explanatory notes on the guide, and the commentary, if you have it available.


• Spend some time with the questions on the guide.


• Come with your reflections and questions to the session on Monday, August 16. Or post your comments and questions here. Questions will be answered as best as possible!

The commentary we are using is from the Collegeville series. This volume is by Sr. Barbara Reid, OP of Catholic Theological Union. You can buy the commentary at the rectory for $7.00, or directly from Amazon. See the sidebar to the right on this page for the link.

How Do We Know How The Gospels Were Written?

A tremendous amount of historical, linguistic, literary, archeological and anthropological research has taken place in the last 150 years which has greatly expanded our understanding of the ancient world and the context in which the Gospels were written.

For example, we know more about the literature of the ancient world and have compared other surviving texts to what we find in the Bible. We know more about the languages and how they were used. We know more about the historical context in which they lived.

Using these tools, we can examine the Scriptural texts and see how they were constructed. We shouldn't be afraid to do this. If our discovery is not what we expected, it need not destroy our faith in the witness of the text. In fact, it may enhance it.

On Page Six of the handout is a copy of one page of a study text, called a Gospel parallel. If you examine it, you will see the following:

• Matthew depends on Mark's text, but doesn't use all of it.


• He omits Mark's emphasis on "don't tell." This is a very important motif in Mark, but not as important in the way Matthew tells the story.


• Matthew includes a reference to the Hebrew Scriptures, which neither Mark nor Luke have. Matthew makes such a point of connecting Jesus to the tradition that most scholars agree he was probably writing for a Jewish Christian community.


• You can see that in the next section, Luke continues to follow Mark, but Matthew has rearranged the order of the narrative. Mark and Luke set this scene very early in Jesus' ministry. Matthew has moved it to after the Sermon on the Mount.

This is just one small example of how scholars analyze the text to find clues as to how the evangelists composed them.

If you would like to explore more about how the church views these scholarly developments and uses them, you can access On the Historical Truth of the Gospels (1964) here and On the Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (1994) here.

Intro Session

By clicking on the link, you can find the handout for the introductory session. In that session, we covered What Is a Gospel?, and How were the Gospels Written?.

Please read through the entire handout, but here are some explanatory comments I included in the session for Page Four:

We can unpack this statement from Fr. Harrington by beginning at the end.

...from Jesus.... What did the disciples hear? Did they hear him correctly? Did they hear him completely? We trust that the Holy Spirit has guided the church to the truth. But, we also know, from within the texts themselves, that the disciples often did not understand Jesus at all. For example, in the scene of the Transfiguration, in Mark 9, the disciples raise the question among the themselves - What did 'rising from the dead' mean?

So, we are listening to witnesses, not recordings. Our faith tells us that these witnesses are reliable, but not every witness to every event remembers every detail with absolute accuracy, even when they communicate to us the basic events.

...a complex process...

The disciples took the message and memories of events and brought them to the communities they evangelized. Some events and memories were more applicable than others to the people they dealt with. For example, if it was a Gentile community, Jesus' outreach beyond Israel would have been important. If it was a predominantly female community, Jesus' interactions with women would have been important.

Then, as the first witnesses began to die, the community itself told and retold the stories in the next generation. For example, if the community was undergoing persecution, how they told the story would have been different than if they were relatively free from danger.

As we read the Gospels, we began to see the shape of the communities through the filters of what came down to us from each place. We can tell what was more important to them from what they tell of Jesus and his teachings.

...of tradition...

Tradition means 'handing on'. We are not getting second best. We're getting the Gospels handed on from people who took them to heart, held them dear and made them their own. They hand on to us the most precious thing they had. Consider a gold ring. One would be much like another. But a gold band, even if it is not worth much to an online gold buyer, would be priceless if it were your great-grandmother's wedding ring. What it meant to her and to your family is being passed down along with the object. When we receive the Gospels, we receive something that people were willing to die for - and did.

The Gospels are portraits

Here we have two Presidential portraits. JFK's looks melancholy and sad. In fact, if you didn't know what he looked like, you would have trouble seeing his face. It seems almost unfinished, like an interrupted Presidency. Compare that to him with Marilyn Monroe. That tells us something completely different.

LBJ looks powerful and in control. He got more legislation through Congress than almost anyone except FDR: the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare. Then, there is the day he showed his scar from gall bladder surgery at a press conference. It made him look a bit of a buffoon.

All of these are 'true' pictures, but none of them tell the whole story. Where is JFK's wit and style? Where is Vietnam?

A Gospel portrait is true, but like all true portraits, it can't be absolutely complete.

The El Greco painting is of Veronica. According to the story, she came forth from the crowd, as Jesus carried his cross, and wiped his face. His face then appeared on her head scarf. This is a legend - it doesn't appear in Scripture - but it tells us something important. Her name, Veronica, means "true image". The image of Christ is seen as much in her, reaching out to someone in desperate need, as it is on the cloth. In the same way, the true portrait of Christ alive is seen in the Church.

Getting Going

The Matthew Book Club will meet for four weeks in August, beginning tonight, Monday, August 9 at 7:00 PM.

After the introductory meetings, you will have the opportunity to join a small group and continue reading Matthew.

Or, you can join online and download the chapter-by-chapter reading guides.

Or, you can do a combination of both.

After tonight, the first guides and the opening session will be posted online.