Month: July 2021

1The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. 

² As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way; 
³ the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’” 

⁴ John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 

¹² And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Matthew and Luke include all the elements of Mark’s story of John the Baptist, with only minor differences in sequence. What are the story’s main points?

2. Why does Luke begin by listing the rulers of Rome and Judea?

3. Why do Matthew and Luke include John’s denun-ciation of the Pharisees and Sadducess? What does it say about the Jews of that time?

4. What is significant about Luke and Matthew’s inclusion of “fire” in Jesus’ baptism?

5. Why does Luke include more detail about repen-
tance (turn from one’s sins)?

6. Why does Matthew include Jesus’ statement about “fulfilling all righteousness,” [3:15]?

1:1. Matthew begins with Jesus’ genealogy (from Abraham), and his birth and flight to Egypt [1-2].
Luke starts with the story of John the Baptist’s birth, Jesus’ birth, the presentation in the temple and talking with the teachers and Anna’s prophecy of Jesus as the promised king. He then anchors the story in history with the Roman and Judean rulers and the high priests [3:1-2]. Luke also starts his version: The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
1:3. Luke adds: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, [3:5-6] to the Isaiah quote.
1:4. Matthew adds John’s denunciation of the Pharisees and Sadducees: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor;” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham, [3:7-9].
Luke includes John’s denunciation (as in Matthew) and adds conversation between John and the people in the crowd about what they should do to repent: share belongings and food, be honest, don’t misuse power, or extort or accuse others falsely, [3:10-14].

1:7. Matthew adds, His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire, [3:11-12].
Luke also includes Matthew’s version of John’s statement about Jesus, but precedes it with: As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, [3:15]. Luke closes this section with John’s imprisonment by Herod Antipas, [3:19-20].
1:9. Matthew includes John’s objection: John would have prevented him, saying, “I am need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented, [3:14-15].
1:9. Luke’s version of Jesus’ baptism is the same as Mark’s [3:21-22].
Luke lists Jesus’ ancestors following his baptism: Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. He the son (as was thought) of Joseph, son of Heli. . . . son of Nathan, son of David, son of . . . Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of . . . Noah, . . . son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God, [3:23-38].
1:11. Matthew records the voice from Heaven saying “This is my Son the beloved,” [3:17].
1:12. See notes below on Jesus’ temptation.

“Gospel” is the Greek word for “good news.”

God had been telling the Jews, through the prophets, that his “new thing” would be “good news” for more than six hundred years: The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, an release to the prisoners, [Isaiah 61:1– Jesus applied this passage to himself when he read it in the synagogue, [Luke 4:16-21].

God also links “good news” to announcing salvation and peace, and saying, “Your God reigns,” [Isaiah 52:7].

The Apostles and other followers of Jesus used the phrase to tell the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection – and especially what this means for our relationship with God.

So God’s “new thing” is the best possible “good news” because it is the story of how God has made it possible for us to have a living, loving relationship with him.

In the years after Jesus’ resurrection many people were able to share their experiences with him, including his healings and other miracles and his teachings. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and the Apostles and others who knew Jesus personally became fewer and less accessible, some believers began compiling written collections of the stories about Jesus. 

Many scholars believe that Mark’s is the first written Gospel, although a significant group supports the tradition that Matthew wrote first. Scholars also believe that a collection of Jesus’ sayings, called “Q” (“source”) circulated at the same time and that both Matthew and Luke used it along

with Mark in preparing their Gospels. The commonality between Mark and Matthew and Mark and Luke is the basis for the idea that Mark’s is the first written Gospel. More than ninety percent of the information in Mark appears in similar form, although not necessarily in the same order, in Matthew; and more than half the material in Mark is also in Luke. Another indicator of Mark as the source is that whenever Matthew and Luke disagree about the sequence of events in Jesus’ life one of them agrees with the narrative in Mark.

All three Gospels were written before the destruction of the temple in 70, probably between 50 and 65 CE.

21 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.
² Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. ⁷ That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. ⁸ But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

⁹ When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you. ”Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” ²¹ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” ²² Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” ²³ So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

²⁴ This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵ But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What is going on as this story opens? Why do you suppose the disciples went fishing? How well did they do?

2. How does Jesus greet the disciples? Why do you think they didn’t recognize him? What does he tell them to do? What happens when they follow his directions?

3. Who is first to recognize Jesus? Who is first to respond to Jesus’ presence? What does he do? How deep was the
water?

4. What does Jesus do next? How do the disciples respond to his invitation? Why do you think they reacted as they did? How would you have reacted in this situation?

5. What other incidents from Jesus’ ministry does this story remind you of? Why do you think John included this story?

6. What does Jesus do after breakfast? What is significant about Jesus’ questions [see notes]? How does Peter deal with Jesus’ questions? Why do you think he gets upset with the questions? What point is Jesus making about the disciples’ future? 

7. What does Jesus do next? How does Peter react to this turn of events? What is Peter concerned about? How does Jesus respond to Peter?

8. What happened as a result of Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question about the other disciple? How does John deal with this situation?

Get Personal

How has your walk with Christ differed from the experience of others? How have you benefited from the gifts and experiences of others to grow in your own faith?

21:1. Later — Some folks see this chapter as a story “tacked on” to the end of the Gospel, but Jesus is consistent with his presence in the rest of the book and verse 24 makes an important point about John’s future. Readers in John’s culture would not have questioned the chapter.
21:3. I’m going fishing — Jesus had told the disciples he would meet them in Galilee, but since nothing had happened yet it would be natural to return to your former practices.
21:7. Stripped for work — Peter probably had a loincloth on, since Jewish men did not appear completely naked in public.
21:9. Breakfast — the fish and bread are an echo of the lunch Jesus provided for the crowd in John 6.
21:11. 153 large fish — probably just the count, which the fishermen would have made in order to divide the catch among them.
21:15. More than these — this phrase actually has three possible meanings: more than these other men love me; more than you love these other men; or more than you love these things (perhaps the fish and bread or the boat and net – the “stuff”).

21:15-17. Love . . . feed — the key point is that confirmation of our “love” for Jesus is in our actions as his follower. Peter advises other church leaders to care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God, [1 Peter 5:3].
21:18. Where you don’t want to go — Peter was also crucified, according to tradition.
21:19. Follow me — the Greek means “continue following me.”  Jesus told Peter the same thing three years before this incident – when he called Peter to be a disciple – and it’s the same thing he tells us.
21:21. What about him — Peter can’t resist asking Jesus about the other disciple’s future. Jesus’ response makes it clear that Peter’s responsibility does not compare to any other follower’s. Likewise, our task is to “follow” Jesus as he determines and not to worry about the work of another. Paul told the Galatians: We are each responsible for our own conduct,  [6:4-5].