Exegesis Of Matthew 13 : 44-50

He is known as the tax collector who turned disciple who writes to Jewish believers to emphasize the legitimacy of Jesus as the long awaited Jewish Messiah. According to Hindson and Elmer Matthew provides some of Jesus most prominent sermons, parables, and miracles, plus a record of important messages. He provides an eyewitness account of such significant events as the transfiguration, the triumph entry, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. He explains the character and nature of the ministry of John the Baptist as the last of the prophets. Matthew originally crafted the Gospel for a group of Christians who were already familiar with the Old Testament. Both church tradition (external evidence) and the contents of the Gospel itself (internal evidence) suggest that this Gospel was originally written for Jewish Christians who were given the responsibility to share its message with the world (Hindson and Elmer pg. 350). Matthew also gives special attention to the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders. He exposes the religious blindness of his fellow countrymen, and he demonstrates Jesus superior understanding of the person of God, the intent of the law, and the proper application of biblical

Matthew is the first of four gospels in the New Testament. Matthew presents his story of Jesus, the demands of Christian discipline, and shares the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There are many questions in Matthew that can not be answered.The book of Matthew is a gospel that contains narrative history, genealogy, parables, sermons, and some prophetic oracles. The gospel of Matthew was originally written for a Jewish audience by a Jewish perspective. This is why Matthew is often referred to as "The Gospel for the Jews". Although Matthew was written for Jews, it does not include very much of the Jewish culture and tradition. Throughout the entire gospel of Matthew, it is very clear that the entire book is mainly incorporated with Jews. The book of Matthew ties in with the Old Testament several times, such as when they refer to Jesus as Messiah or King. The key word used in Matthew is "kingdom" and it is used 28 times. The reason Matthew was written was to reveal that Jesus was the messiah, the long of the Jews, and to conceive the Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed their long awaited messiah. The author of Matthew

In this paper, there will be research on the Gospel of Matthew from Daniel Harrington’s commentary “The Gospel of Matthew”, This paper will explain the teachings of the “6 Antithesis” in chapter 5 verses 21-48, and the main point on “Jesus came not to abolish but to “fulfill” the Law and Prophets (Harrington 90).” This paper will also have Daniel Harrington interpretations of the writing of the gospel of Matthew. I believe that Jesus had a reason for his teachings and how he went forward to preach them to the congregation.

Isaianic prophecy aside it is also clear that Matthew above the other three evangelists presents Jesus as the fulfilment of the law, a new Moses. The structure of the book into five sections is intended to help the Jewish readers identify Jesus as an antecedent of Moses. Jesus is according to some scholars a type of Moses bringing about a new exodus and a new Israel. More explicitly however, Matthew portrays Jesus as the only man to have fulfilled the law in its entirety as well as the messianic fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy through the many formula quotations (3:15; 5:17-48;12:17-21; 13:35; 21:5, 16, 42; 22:44; 23:39; 26:31; 27:9, 35, 46).

     The gospels may differ from one to the next but they still all carry the same basic message and considering that the writers were all speaking to unique and separate audiences. This enabled at that time, many different groups of people to relate to Jesus' universal theme. The people at that time might not have been totally united in religion or politics therefore having a personalized version of the gospel allowed them to understand how God was communicating directing with them.

Parables are stories written in the Bible for truth and life guidance. We have to understand that parables are implied by God to encourage his written word and carry his truths. God’s words can touch a heart of faith despite their external circumstance. The history of parables started with Jesus writing “the sower and the seed” in the book of Matthew. The sower and the seed was the seed is “the word.” The hard ground represents the person who is hardened by sin. Parables date back as far as

Notable in Matthew is its emphasis on Jesus as the promised Messiah and on matters pertaining to the church. Evidence that it probably was written for Jewish Christians may be found which is concerned with representing Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. The deep interest in the disciples is emphasized in Matthew. Matthew gives the fullest account of how Jesus called them, how he instructed them, how they failed him, and

Jesus’ use of parables was to fulfill Old Testament prophecy; Psalm 78:2, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-” (NIV). Additionally, Jesus used parables to teach the truth, basic moral, and spiritual principles using simple down to earth stories to reveal the message of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven was the heartbeat of Jesus teachings; often his parables began with: the kingdom of God is like…. Jesus used parables to teach not of an earthly kingdom of God but of a spiritual kingdom, and those who chose to accept God’s kingdom would inherit eternal life. It is important to remember, that Jesus used parables not to replace to doctrine but to illustrate and confirm doctrine teachings.

The Gospel according to Matthew is the first book in the New Testament, and also serves as a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The gospel tells us of Jesus and his teachings. It is believed that the Gospel originated with Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples, and it circulated anonymously (Harris 149). The message in this gospel was compiled to minister to a Jewish and Jewish-Christian community when tensions between early Christians and postwar Jewish leaders aggravated bitter controversy. The Gospel of Matthew was written as an encouragement to the Greek-speaking Jewish Christians and Gentiles who were, at least partly, Torah observant during the 80s C.E. probably at Antioch in Syria

important and who are wondering how Jesus fits into history of the Jewish people. This problems means that Matthew’s community was largely Jewish Christian and needed to be reassured that being a Christian did not separate then from the Jewish heritage.

A parable is a “simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.” Parables are a form of teaching in Judaism, this is where Jesus made it a point in his ministry to gather common things that could be familiar to everyone and anyone who was wiling to hear him speak, for example bread and sheep. He made sure that the meaning of what was said was very clear in the context of His teachings. Parables in other words are an “earthly form of stories with heavenly meaning”. In Matthew (13: 13) Jesus says “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” This quote can be seen as Jesus’ way of communicating with his disciples, because many of them could not fully comprehend his teachings and what was being spoken. Another reason why He spoke in parables was so that “…unbelievers would be without comprehension”. Only those who were willing to follow Him and allow Him into their hearts, trusting in Him would understand His ways. His main deal was to be able to teach people, and hopefully in teaching them they would learn an d pass down what was taught to others. Just like in our society now and when it comes to books, magazines, etc Jesus used such things as words, pictures, and stories to help everyone learn and understand things in a certain way, because everyone learns differently he took that into consideration.

The parable of the talents is one parable within a series. It is important that while researching the parable of the talents, other parables are analyzed in Matthew as well. Many themes throughout Matthew are interconnected, especially the Kingdom of Heaven. The parable of the ten virgins precedes the parable of the talents. In this story, the wise virgins who bring extra oil for their lamps symbolize preparedness for Jesus’ return. After the parable of the talents, the story of the separation of the goats and

The point of this assignment is to discuss the passage chosen, as well as information regarding the historical/cultural background of the passage and applying it to my life as a human being. It is also important that I apply this information on the passage to the Christian life or church ministry. The passage I have chosen for this assignment is from Matthew chapters 5-7 and is labeled “The Sermon on the Mount”. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest and most prominent of the five discourses of Jesus in Matthew. The whole point of the Sermon on the Mount was to show people who converted to Christianity how to live. It is to show how Christians should live in their actions, words, thoughts, and others ways of life. With that being said, this way of life was preached by Jesus Christ as he “went up on the mountain” to deliver his powerful message. The information for this passage is in, of course, the bible and our textbook “Encountering the New Testament”, as well as many other resources on the web that are related to the bible and passage.

The direct teachings of Jesus give instructions of how to live as Christians and the Parables were used in the Gospel to immediately confront us with a truth and evoke a change. (Fee & Stuart,2003, p. 152). The five major discourses of Matthew’s Gospel are centred around five lengthy Sermons using parables to make a point and call the people to make a change.

Another reason for Jesus teaching in parables is identified as Jesus knowing the best way to capture his audience, make them think deeply about what he has just said and then remember his teaching.