We Must Be Like The Hypocrites, And The Selfish, Selfish And Self Absorbed

The foundation of the Christian faith is cradled within truth of the virgin birth, life, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As diverse as the world-wide Christian culture is, the truth in the birth and life of Jesus stands without border and language limitations. Just as each individual life story can be adapted to be relevant for a variety of audiences, the birth story of the Messiah was also. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are an example of the well-rounded and diverse narration of the birth story of Jesus—Matthew’s narration spoke to the history of the Jewish people and Luke presented to the citizen of Rome.

To understand how Jesus broke various laws and social rules during His time it is important to understand why it was meaningful for Him to do it in the first place. It seems that most around the King of the Jews had a problem with His actions, words and timing. Yet, He didn’t come to please people, but to save them. The sense of urgency which carried His thoughts trumped any kind of social conduct He was expected to follow. For the Jews who held the law given to Moses at Mount Sinai, it was more than confusing to see the Messiah disregarding many of the laws which governed their lives. What the Jews didn’t comprehend was that Jesus came to crush the cycle of sin, by conquering all humanly limitations for the advancement of the Kingdom. Astonishingly enough they didn’t see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law in the most perfect and ultimate way.

     Matthew next describes Jesus through his passionate and loving ministry. The many stories of his work among the people are evidence of who he was as a person. He was a teacher, preacher, and healer to everyone who knew of God’s righteousness. Jesus had strong faith in his Father, and it was important to him that others did as well. Jesus spoke of the proper way to live life in order to be granted eternal life. Some of the first teachings that Matthew mentions in his gospel are of Jesus’

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

He points out the irony of the Pharisees’ actions. To him, the Pharisees are hypocrites because they say one thing and do another. According to Jesus, the Pharisees have been taking shortcuts because of the power they associate with their lineage. They have a strict understanding of the commandments that they order others to follow, but refuse to obey themselves. Instead of implementing the lessons found in the commandments, they preached the commandments to

In the first charge that Jesus brings against the Pharisees, Jesus discusses all the rules and regulations the Pharisees and scribes set into stone but do not follow themselves. Jesus charges them with overburdening the people and setting up impossible guidelines and regulations. The people of this day and age had so many regulations and rules and it was so much work that it became simply too burdensome a task to even complete or almost impossible. The Pharisees themselves were not even able to completely and perfectly accomplish these tasks which they so harshly required the "lesser" people to follow. These rules and regulations were man made and they did not bring relief, relaxation, or joy to anyone, which is what religion and a relationship with God and Jesus Christ should bring us, instead, the people were full of burden and depression.

The Pharisees were teachers who taught the Jews about the laws of God, although being that they were highly respected by their community, they became arrogant and rigid. They viewed themselves as if they were beyond judgment and didn’t humble themselves, which is why they are quick to judge others, especially Jesus. In Luke 6.6-10 the Pharisees were watching Jesus as he entered the synagogue to see if he would heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. They were waiting to corner Jesus, however since Jesus knew what they were going to say he asked them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to so evil, to save life or to destroy it?” With this the Pharisees couldn’t say anything because if they were to say that it is wrong to do evil on the Sabbath than Jesus would’ve healed the man with a withered hand; if they had said it is better to do good on the Sabbath than Jesus would still be in the right. Either way the Pharisees wouldn’t be able to accuse Jesus of anything seeing he never did anything wrong. See how the Pharisees keep trying to find a way to accuse Jesus of blasphemies and to sentence him to jail? This is all because they are stubborn and quick to judge the actions of others. They were judging hypocritically instead of humbly. Jesus taught the Jews in Matthew 7.1-6 not to judge so that you may also not be judged by others or else

The Pharisees followed the letter of the law but not its intent, which was to honor God and help his people. Christ called them hypocrites and challenged their teachings when preaching to the multitudes, healing the sick on the Sabbath, and clearing the temple of merchants who paid the Pharisees to be able to sell their wares there. With their religious hegemony over the Jewish people threatened, the Pharisees used their influence to manipulate Pontius Pilate into crucifying Jesus. Hope that

Matthew starts with a traditional genealogy to show prominence, connecting Jesus to King David ancestry, then his birth, and adding early life details of Jesus in the first two chapters. Heading through the rest of the Gospel, the ministry of Jesus begins to take prevalence. The accounts of Christ’s teachings center on “dialogues” such as the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7). Next, the assignment and function of the disciples (Matthew 10); followed by a collection of parables visually displaying examination of the church (Matthew 18); an address about insincerity and

“But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 1 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees

In the book of Matthew Jesus is showed to be the new law giver. Jesus first shows us this when he refuses the temptation of Satan. Gundry speaks about how after Jesus’s baptism and overcoming the temptation of Satan, he cites scripture he becomes the model of postbaptismal obedience of the law. (p.199) The Sermon on the mount is a great example of Jesus as a New law giver. He began speaking to the people and teaching them. He speaks about the blessing that God gives to those who follow him. “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is

The book of Matthew, one of the synoptic Gospels found in the New Testament, is distinctive in its many features that are not found anywhere else in the Bible. While each synoptic Gospel endeavoured to retell the life, messages, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all three of them had a different intention and audience in mind when writing their books. With this in mind, the book of Matthew features a distinctive structure, an emphasis on the Kingdom of Heaven, and a prominent focus on the the apostle Peter. The book of Matthew is also highlighted for the titles which the author ascribes to Jesus such as Immanuel, Son of David, and a New Moses. This essay will employ the use of the Scriptures and academic research to prove and explore

The writer is almost always accompanied by an audience. This is because the writer generally utilizes writing as an avenue to expression. An avenue to communicate a message that was once bottled up in his or her mind. Whether we vocalize it or not, we seem to write with the purpose and hope of having what we have written be read. And we must, nonetheless, have an awareness for the particular audience we are writing to. There are indeed differences in how one would construct a formal essay in comparison to how one would construct an informal letter to a friend. The content will vary. The intent and objective will be different depending on who it is written to. Therefore, in an effort to highlight the differences between the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of John, it is fitting for us to closely examine the disparity between their audiences and between their instruction and message. In particular, we will explore the distinction and implications of specific events in both gospels. and in the end, we hope to expose the variation of these two books and uncover what their differences tell us and why their differences matter.

The Book of Matthew, he said, is the most complete account of Jesus’ life on earth and of His message to the world. The professor says that the purpose of the Gospel of Matthew was for the conversion of the Jews. The writer of this book was obviously interested in the establishment and maintenance of the Church, and the coming of Christ. Hence, the presenter was quite adamant about his claim that Matthew is the key book in the bible.

The parable of the Pharisee and tax collector in Luke 18 is a cautionary story that Jesus teaches to a specific crowd of people. In it he deals with humility, righteousness, and justification. The parable describes two different types of people whose occupations are very familiar to any of Jesus’ audience, a Pharisee and a tax collector. The significance of this parable is that it is aimed at a certain type of person, which gives it the ability to be applied outside of Jesus’ immediate context. The type of audience described in this passage has two parts. The first is “those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”, and the second: “and regarded others with contempt” (Luke 18:9).