The Gospel of Matthew Lesson 1

The gathering of the chapel

Sunday School - 9:30AM | Sunday worship- 10:45AM | Wed. Bible study - 6PM

Jun. 04, 2023

Overview and Introduction to Matthew and go through the genealogy with an explanation of why Matthew's genealogy differs from Luke's genealogy.

Matthew Lesson 1 Study Questions

1. Matthew is the most Jewish-centric of the four gospels. The

apostle regularly invoked the writings of the Old Testament

prophets in an effort to illustrate Jesus’s identity as Israel’s

long-awaited Messiah.

2. Matthew’s extensive connections between Jesus and the Old

Testament provide ample prophetic evidence for Jesus’s

ministry but also give contemporary readers a glimpse into

how first-century readers approached the Old Testament

with a Christ-centered mind-set.

3. Matthew wrote his account of Jesus’s ministry to show that

Jesus was and is indeed the King, Israel’s long-awaited

Messiah. He reflected this concern in his opening line, “The

record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of

David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).

4. After enduring four hundred years of prophetic silence, God’s

people must have wondered whether or not He had deserted

them. After centuries of regular communication from God,

the people found themselves without a genuine prophet or

spokesman for God.

5. As we read through the pages of Matthew, not only do we

see Jesus Christ revealed as Israel’s King and Messiah, but

His coming to earth as God in the flesh reminds us of His

deep love for us.

6. The Son of David, the Son of Abraham: In this overview

of explaining the lineage of Jesus, Matthew clearly and

strongly connects him to some of the greatest men in the

history of the Old Testament. Matthew begins his account of

the life of Jesus Christ with the record of the lineage of

Jesus from the patriarch Abraham.

7. The Jewish flavor of the Gospel of Matthew makes for a

logical transition between the Old and New Testaments. For

these reasons, the early church placed it first in order

among the four gospel accounts.

8. the Gospel of Matthew also triumphantly ends with Jesus

commanding His followers to make disciples of all the

nations (Matthew 28:19-20). So, the Gospel of Matthew is

deeply rooted in Judaism, but at the same time is able to

look beyond; it sees the gospel itself as more than a

message for the Jewish people; rather it is a message for

the whole world.

9. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be

the Son of David; in the very first sentence, Matthew

points to Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

10. Tamar... Rahab... Ruth... her who had been the

wife of Uriah: This genealogy is noted for the unusual

presence of four women. Women were rarely mentioned in

ancient genealogies, and the four mentioned here are

worthy of special note as examples of God’s grace. They

show how God can take unlikely people and use them in

great ways.

11. Joseph did not contribute any of the “blood” of Jesus,

but he did contribute his legal standing as a descendant of

the royal line to Jesus. Mary’s line – the blood line of Jesus –

did not go through Solomon, but through a different son of

David, named Nathan.

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