I have a paper due tomorrow. Well, it's the beginnings of a paper. For this I will have read through the entire book of Matthew at least twice. Silly me, I forgot to put my favorite audio recordings of the Bible in my car when I left on Sunday, so I'll wait to listen to the Gospel.
If you want to join me on this journey through Matthew, I'd love to have you. Otherwise, you can just read about all of my craziness on the blog and I'll try to help you keep up as we go. Spend some time over the next few days reading the book of Matthew. There are 28 chapters and my professor tells us that there are 2071 verses. He says it will take approximately 2 1/2 hours to read the entire Gospel. I did it in 45 minutes yesterday. So, somewhere in between those two numbers if you are going to do this in one sitting.
Time spent today will be in titling each chapter. Then I will combine chapters into larger segments and title those. And do that again. The idea is to begin to comprehend how the book is written and see the larger, overarching themes. There are days I wish I was quite witty so that I could do humorous 2-4 word titles, but I'm afraid they will be mundane and that's ok, too, I guess.
Matthew, Chapter 1 includes the genealogy and the birth of Jesus. My 2-4 word title for the entire chapter will be: How Jesus Got Here.
Chapter 2 includes the visit of the wise men, the escape to Egypt, the massacre of the infants, and the return from Egypt. My chapter title will be: Herod Hated, Jesus Escaped.
Chapter 3 tells us about John the Baptist proclaiming redemption and baptism and Jesus' baptism. That's pretty easy. (oh, I guess it's not ... I'm still thinking ... remember only 2-4 words). John called, Jesus Baptized.
Chapter 4 gives us Jesus' temptation, the beginning of his ministry in Galilee, the first four disciples and finally tells how Jesus traveled curing disease and drew great crowds. I really don't want to give the devil any credit in the title. Jesus overcomes. Jesus begins.
Chapter 5 begins the Sermon on the Mount. There are so many smaller teachings that fill these next few chapters. The Beatitudes, Salt and Light, the Law and the Prophets, Anger, Adultery, Divorce, Oaths, Retaliation, Loving Enemies. Wow! But since He is teaching about righteousness, I'll just call it: Blessings and Righteousness.
Chapter 6 continues the Sermon on the Mount with teachings about almsgiving, The Lord's Prayer, fasting, keep your eye healthy, serving two masters (wealth), and worry. Christ is teaching us how to be holy and how to trust in the Lord only. So, I will call this chapter. Teaching holiness and trust.
Chapter 7 concludes the Sermon on the Mount by speaking about judging others, profaning the holy, Ask, Seek and Knock, the Golden Rule, the narrow gate, a tree and its fruit, self-deception, hearers and doers. It all seems really random ... just teachings that Jesus felt His listeners desperately needed to hear. Love God. Love Others.
If you begin working through the Gospel of Matthew this way and want to share with me, please feel free to email back to me or post it in a comment on the blog. I'd love to have you be a part of this project. It's going to be an incredible time of learning!
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