01 The Bible Project: Matthew 1 - 13

Summary

The video explores the Gospel of Matthew, one of the earliest accounts of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. It highlights Matthew's portrayal of Jesus as the Messiah, a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and the new Moses. The narrative structure, with an introduction and conclusion framing five sections, underscores Jesus' teachings and miracles, demonstrating his role as a divine teacher and the embodiment of God's kingdom on earth. The video invites viewers to delve into the text, noting how Jesus' identity is revealed through Old Testament references and how his followers often come from the overlooked segments of society.

Takeaways

• 📜 Matthew's Gospel is one of the earliest accounts of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, traditionally linked to Matthew the tax collector.
• 🧵 The book is designed as a tapestry, arranging stories and teachings of Jesus to highlight key themes about his identity and mission.
• 🔗 Matthew connects Jesus' story to the Old Testament, presenting him as the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies, such as being born from the line of David and conceived by the Holy Spirit.
• ✝️ Jesus is portrayed as both the Messiah and 'Emmanuel,' meaning 'God With Us,' emphasizing his divine nature and mission.
• 🪶 Jesus is also presented as a new Moses, delivering divine teachings, saving Israel from sin, and establishing a new covenant.
• 📚 Matthew structures his Gospel into five sections, each ending with a block of Jesus' teachings, symbolizing Jesus as the new teacher of the covenant.
• 👑 The first part of the Gospel focuses on Jesus' announcement of God's kingdom and his mission to restore God's reign over the world.
• 🛠️ Jesus heals, confronts spiritual evil, and forms a new community, teaching his followers how to live according to God's kingdom values.
• 🌍 Jesus' kingdom is inclusive, inviting all people, regardless of social or religious standing, to follow him and live under his rule.
• 🤲 The Gospel highlights the tension between Jesus and Israel's religious leaders, showing how many humble, unimportant people accept Jesus, while the prideful and religious elites reject him.

Q & A

Who is traditionally believed to have written the Gospel of Matthew?

The Gospel of Matthew is anonymous, but the earliest reliable tradition links it to Matthew the tax collector, who was one of the 12 apostles appointed by Jesus.

How does the Gospel of Matthew demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah from the line of David?

Matthew demonstrates Jesus as the Messiah from the line of David by opening with a genealogy that highlights Jesus's descent from King David, fulfilling Old Testament messianic expectations.

What is the significance of Jesus being referred to as 'Emmanuel' in the Gospel of Matthew?

The title 'Emmanuel' signifies that Jesus is 'God with us,' indicating his divine nature and the fulfillment of the prophecy that God would dwell with humanity.

How does the Gospel of Matthew present Jesus as a new Moses?

Matthew presents Jesus as a new Moses by drawing parallels such as Jesus's exodus from Egypt, his baptism, his wilderness testing, and his delivery of new teachings from a mountain, mirroring Moses's experiences.

What is the central theme of Jesus's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount as described in Matthew?

The Sermon on the Mount focuses on how to live as a follower of Jesus in God's kingdom, emphasizing values such as humility, righteousness, and love for enemies, which are in contrast to conventional societal norms.

How does the structure of the Gospel of Matthew reflect its purpose of showing Jesus as the fulfillment of the biblical story?

The Gospel of Matthew is structured with an introduction and conclusion framing five sections, each ending with a block of Jesus's teachings, to emphasize his role as the fulfillment of the Old Testament and the Messiah.

What is the significance of the number of stories and their arrangement in the Gospel of Matthew?

Matthew arranges stories in groups of three (Triads) to emphasize Jesus's authority and the impact of his ministry. The arrangement also provides a rhythm to the narrative, highlighting the pattern of Jesus's works and teachings.

How does the Gospel of Matthew use the concept of the kingdom of God?

Matthew uses the concept of the kingdom of God to describe the realm or rule of God over humanity, emphasizing that Jesus's mission is to establish this kingdom by confronting evil and inviting people to follow him.

What is the role of the disciples in the Gospel of Matthew, especially in relation to Jesus's mission?

The disciples in Matthew are portrayed as learners and agents of Jesus's mission, sent out to preach the kingdom of God and perform acts of healing and deliverance, thus extending Jesus's reach and ministry.

How does Matthew depict the response of different groups to Jesus and his message?

Matthew depicts a range of responses to Jesus, from enthusiastic acceptance by the marginalized, to skepticism or rejection by religious leaders, illustrating the tension between Jesus and established religious authority.

What is the purpose of the parables in the Gospel of Matthew, particularly in chapter 13?

The parables in chapter 13 serve as a commentary on the varied responses to Jesus, explaining the dynamics of the kingdom of God, the nature of spiritual growth, and the ultimate triumph of God's kingdom despite opposition.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew is one of the earliest accounts of Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Attributed to Matthew the tax collector, it was compiled from oral teachings and eyewitness accounts passed down by the apostles. The book is structured with an introduction and conclusion framing five sections, each ending with a significant teaching by Jesus. Matthew's aim is to portray Jesus as the Messiah, a continuation of the biblical narrative, and a new Moses. The introduction includes Jesus's genealogy, his birth fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, and events emphasizing his divinity as 'Emmanuel,' God with us. The narrative also establishes Jesus as a new authoritative teacher, paralleling Moses's role, through his baptism, wilderness experience, and mountain teachings.

05:00

🌐 Jesus as the Fulfillment of the Kingdom of God

Matthew's Gospel presents Jesus as the embodiment of God's kingdom on earth, a realm characterized by God's rescue operation and spiritual battle against evil. Jesus's mission is to confront and overcome forces of oppression, disease, and death, restoring God's rule through a community of followers. The Sermon on the Mount, delivered by Jesus on a hillside, outlines the principles of living in God's kingdom, emphasizing a transformative approach to the Old Testament laws. Jesus's teachings call for a radical love for God and neighbor, including enemies. The narrative then shifts to demonstrate the kingdom's practical impact through healings and miracles, showing Jesus's power and grace. Disciples are sent to continue Jesus's work, leading to a second block of teachings that prepare them for the challenges of spreading the kingdom's message.

🔮 Mixed Responses and the Parables of the Kingdom

The Gospel of Matthew explores the varied reactions to Jesus and his message, ranging from enthusiastic acceptance to outright rejection by religious authorities. The mixed responses are highlighted through stories and parables that reflect on the nature of faith and the impact of Jesus's teachings. Jesus's interactions with different groups, including the Pharisees and his own family, reveal the complexity of his mission and the resistance he faces. The parables, such as the sower and the mustard seed, serve as allegories for the kingdom's growth and the diverse reactions to Jesus's message. These teachings underscore the ultimate value of God's kingdom and its unstoppable expansion, despite opposition.

Keywords

💡Gospel according to Matthew

The Gospel according to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is traditionally attributed to the Apostle Matthew, who was a tax collector and one of Jesus' twelve disciples. The video script discusses how this gospel serves as an early account of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and how it is designed to show Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and the Messiah from the line of David.

💡Old Testament

The Old Testament is the first part of the Christian Bible, which contains the sacred scriptures of Judaism. In the context of the video, the Old Testament is used to show how Jesus' life and teachings are connected to and fulfill the prophecies and narratives of the Hebrew Bible, such as his birth in Bethlehem and his role as the Messiah.

💡Messiah

The term 'Messiah' is a Hebrew word meaning 'anointed one' and is used in the video to describe Jesus as the prophesied savior and king from the line of David. The video explains how Matthew's gospel presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies, emphasizing his royal lineage and his role in bringing God's blessings to all nations.

💡Emmanuel

Emmanuel is a name for Jesus meaning 'God with us,' derived from the Gospel of Matthew where it is said that Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit signifies that he is both fully divine and fully human. The video script uses this term to illustrate the unique nature of Jesus, showing that he is not just a human but God incarnate.

💡Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of teachings by Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, which includes the Beatitudes and teachings on the law, love, and discipleship. In the video, it is described as the first major block of Jesus' teachings where he outlines what it means to follow him and live in God's kingdom, emphasizing values such as humility, mercy, and righteousness.

💡Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is a central theme in the Gospel of Matthew and refers to the rule and reign of God over all creation. The video explains that Jesus' mission is to establish this kingdom by confronting evil, healing the sick, and calling people to repentance and discipleship, thus restoring God's rule and reign over the world.

💡Disciples

Disciples are followers of Jesus who are called to learn from him and spread his teachings. The video script describes how Jesus sends out his twelve disciples to do the same works he has been doing, such as teaching, healing, and proclaiming the kingdom of God. This act symbolizes the extension of Jesus' ministry and the beginning of the church.

💡Parables

Parables are simple stories used by Jesus to teach spiritual truths, as mentioned in the video. The script highlights how Jesus uses parables in the Gospel of Matthew to illustrate the nature of the kingdom of God, the diverse responses to his ministry, and the ultimate triumph of God's will despite opposition.

💡Prophetic Fulfillment

Prophetic fulfillment refers to the concept that Jesus' life and actions fulfill the predictions made in the Old Testament. The video script discusses how Matthew's gospel emphasizes this by showing how Jesus' birth, life, and teachings align with and complete the promises and prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures.

💡New Covenant

The New Covenant is a term used in the video to describe the new relationship between God and humanity that Jesus establishes through his death and resurrection. It is contrasted with the Old Covenant, which was established through the law given to Moses. The video explains that Jesus brings a new era of grace and forgiveness, fulfilling the Old Testament's预示 of a new covenant.

💡Israel's Leaders

In the context of the video, Israel's leaders, such as the Pharisees and scribes, represent the religious authorities who are skeptical or opposed to Jesus' teachings and claims. The video script describes their rejection of Jesus and the tension it creates, highlighting the theme of Jesus' conflict with the established religious order of his time.

Highlights

The Gospel according to Matthew is one of the earliest accounts about Jesus of Nazareth.

The book is anonymous but tradition links it to Matthew, one of the 12 apostles.

For 30 to 40 years, the apostles orally taught and passed on their eyewitness accounts about Jesus.

Matthew collected these accounts into a book designed to highlight certain themes about Jesus.

Matthew wants to show Jesus as the continuation and fulfillment of the biblical story about God and Israel.

Jesus is presented as the Messiah from the line of David.

Matthew emphasizes Jesus as a new authoritative teacher like Moses.

Jesus is described as God With Us (Emmanuel) in the book of Matthew.

The book is structured with an introduction, conclusion, and five clear sections.

Chapters one through three set the stage by connecting Jesus's story to the Old Testament.

Jesus's genealogy is highlighted to show his Messianic lineage.

The birth narrative fulfills Old Testament prophecies.

Jesus's conception by the Holy Spirit and name Emmanuel signify his divine nature.

Matthew draws a parallel between Jesus and Moses, showing Jesus as the new Moses.

The center of the book is structured to highlight Jesus as a teacher, paralleling the five books of Moses.

Jesus announces the arrival of God's kingdom, which is about God's rescue operation for the world.

The Sermon on the Mount explores what it means to follow Jesus and live in God's kingdom.

Jesus's teachings transform the hearts of his people to love God and their neighbors.

Matthew shows Jesus bringing the kingdom into reality through healing and saving the broken.

Jesus calls people to follow him and become his disciples to experience his grace.

The twelve disciples are sent out to do what Jesus has been doing, leading to more teachings.

Israel's leaders reject Jesus, fearing the loss of their status if they become his disciples.

Matthew collects stories about diverse responses to Jesus, showing both acceptance and rejection.

Jesus's parables in chapter 13 comment on the varied responses to his message.

The kingdom of God is of ultimate value and will continue to spread despite obstacles.

Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament storyline.

Readers are encouraged to look up Old Testament references to understand Jesus's identity.

The people who accept Jesus and follow him are often those considered unimportant or irreligious.

The tension between Jesus and Israel's leaders is a central theme in the second half of Matthew.

Transcripts

The Gospel according to Matthew it's one

of the earliest official accounts about

Jesus of Nazareth his life his death and

his resurrection the book itself is

anonymous but the earliest reliable

tradition links it to Matthew the tax

collector who was one of the 12 apostles

that Jesus appointed and he actually

appears within the book itself for about

30 to 40 years the apostles orally

taught and passed on their eyewitness

accounts about Jesus along with his

teachings that they had all memorized

and Matthew has then collected and

arranged all these into this amazing

tapestry and designed the book to

highlight certain themes about Jesus in

this video we're just going to cover the

first half of the book specifically

Matthew wants to show how Jesus is the

continuation and fulfillment of the

whole biblical story about God and

Israel that Jesus is the Messiah from

the line of David that he is a new

authoritative teacher like Moses and not

only that Jesus is God With Us or in

Hebrew Emmanuel and Matthew designed

this book with an introduction and then

a conclusion and these act like a frame

around five clear sections right here in

the center Each of which concludes with

a long block of Jesus's teaching now

this design is very intentional and it's

amazing just watch how this works

chapters one through three they set the

stage by attaching Jesus's story right

onto the storyline of the Old Testament

scriptures so Matthew opens with the

genealogy about Jesus that highlights

how he is from the Messianic line of the

son of David and he's a son of Abraham

that means he's going to bring God's

blessing to all of the Nations after

that we get the famous story about Jesus

birth and how all of the events

fulfilled the Old Testament prophetic

promises that the nations would come and

honor the Messiah that the Messiah would

be born in Bethlehem but even more than

that Jesus's conception by the Holy

Spirit his name Emmanuel all these work

together to show that Jesus is no mere

human he is God With Us God become I'm

human

so you can see two of Matthew's key

themes right here in the introduction

he's from the line of David he's

Emmanuel but Matthew also wants to show

how Jesus is a new Moses so like Moses

Jesus came up out of Egypt he passed

through the waters of baptism and he

entered into the Wilderness for 40 days

and then Jesus goes up onto a mountain

to deliver his new teaching so through

all of this Matthew is claiming that

Jesus is the promised greater than Moses

figure who's going to deliver Israel

From Slavery he's going to give them new

Divine teaching he's going to save them

from their sins and bring about a new

covenant relationship between God and

his people

this Moses and Jesus parallel also

explains why Matthew has structured the

center of the book the way that he did

these five main parts highlight Jesus as

a teacher and he's created a parallel

Jesus as a teacher parallels the five

books of Moses Jesus is the new

authoritative Covenant teacher who's

going to fulfill the storyline of the

Torah now in the first section chapters

four to seven Jesus steps onto the scene

announcing the arrival of God's kingdom

and this is really key the kingdom is in

essence about God's rescue operation for

his whole world and it's taking place

through King Jesus Jesus has come to

confront evil especially spiritual evil

in its whole Legacy of demon oppression

and disease and death Jesus has come to

restore God's Rule and Reign Over the

whole world by creating a new family of

people who will follow him obey his

teachings and live under his rule so

after Jesus begins healing people and

forming a movement a community he takes

his followers out to a mountain or a

Hillside and he delivers his first big

block of teaching traditionally called

The Sermon on the Mount and here Jesus

explores what it looks like to follow

him and live in God's kingdom and it's

an upside down kingdom where there are

no privileged members so the poor the

nobodies the wealthy the religious

everyone but he is invited and is called

to turn to repent and to follow Jesus

and join his family Jesus says that he's

not here to set aside the commands of

the Torah or the Old Testament rather

he's here to fulfill all of that through

his life through his teachings he's here

to transform the hearts of his people so

that they can truly love God and love

their neighbor including their enemy

after concluding his great teaching on

the kingdom the next section shows Jesus

bringing the kingdom into reality in the

day-to-day lives of people so Matthew's

arranged here nine stories about Jesus

bringing the power of God's kingdom into

the lives of hurting broken people there

are three groups of three stories and

they're all about people who are sick or

have broken bodies or they're in danger

and Jesus heals or saves them by these

acts of Grace and power and then right

in between these Triads we find two

parallel stories about Jesus's call that

people should follow he him Matthew's

making a point here one can only

experience the power of Jesus Grace by

following him and becoming his disciple

now after Matthew has shown the power of

the Kingdom through Jesus Jesus then

extends his reach by sending out the 12

disciples who are going to go do what

he's been doing and this leads to the

second large block of teaching chapter

10. and here Jesus teaches his disciples

how to announce the kingdom and what to

expect once they do many among Israel

are accepting Jesus in his offer of the

Kingdom but Israel's leaders they aren't

they stand to lose a lot if they repent

and become Disciples of Jesus and so

Jesus knows they're going to reject him

and persecute his followers which is

exactly what happens in the next section

chapters 11-13 Matthew has collected a

group of stories about how people are

responding to Jesus in his message and

it's a mixed bag so some stories are

positive people love Jesus and they

think he's the Messiah others are more

neutral like John the Baptist or even

the members of Jesus's own family and

they make it clear that Jesus is not

what they expected and then you have

Israel's leaders they're entirely

negative you have the Pharisees and the

Bible scholars they all reject Jesus

together they think he's a false teacher

he's Leading the People astray they

think he's Blasphemous and these exalted

claims he's making about himself but

Jesus isn't surprised or thrown by all

these diverse responses in fact he

focuses on it in the third block of

teaching chapter 13. here Matthew's

collected together a bunch of Jesus

Parables about the kingdom like about a

farmer throwing seed on four types of

soil or about a mustard seed or a pearl

or buried treasure these parables are

like a commentary on the stories that

you've just read in chapters 11 and 12.

some people are accepting Jesus with

enthusiasm others are rejecting him but

God's kingdom is of ultimate value and

it will not stop spreading despite all

of these obstacles so that's the first

half of the Gospel according to Matthew

now here's a few more things to look for

as you read through these chapters

Matthew's presenting Jesus remember as

the continuation and fulfillment of the

Old Testament storyline so look for how

he weaves in quotations from the Old

Testament scriptures and what you'll

find is that they're placed at strategic

points in the story explaining more

about Jesus and his identity so stop

take time to go look up these references

and read them in their Old Testament

context X and most often you'll discover

really cool interesting connections

lastly pay attention to the types of

people who accept Jesus and follow him

and you'll see that it's most often

people who are unimportant they're

nobodies or they're irreligious and

these are the people who are transformed

by their trust or faith in Jesus and

follow him and it's the religious and

the prideful who are offended by him so

how is this tension between Jesus and

Israel's leaders going to play itself

out that's what the second half of

Matthew is all about