2. GRACIOUS JESUS
(MATTHEW’S PERSPECTIVE WITH GOSPEL PARALLELS)
1. Presenting the King (Matt 1-4)
2. True Blessedness (Matt 5:1-12)
3. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 1 (Matt 5:13-
48)
4. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 2 (Matt 6)
5. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 3 (Matt 7)
6. Master Strokes (Matt 8)
7. The King Calls (Matt 9)
8. The King Commissions (Matt 10)
9. Signs, Sinners and the
Saviour (Matt 11)
10. Power Games and Names (Matt 12)
11. Hidden Wisdom (Matt 13:1-43)
12. Hidden Treasures (Matt 13:44-14)
13. The Gall and the Glory (Matt 15-17:9)
14. Winning Others Over (Matt 17:10-
18:35)
15. Kingdom Values, Kingdom Wealth
(Matt 20)
16. The King Enters Jerusalem (Matt 21)
17. The Chosen Few (Matt 22)
18. The King’s Glorious Coming (Matt
24:1-44)
19. The Final Countdown (Matt 24:45 –
25:46)
20. The King’s last days (Matt 26)
21. Desertion (Matt 26:36-75)
22. God’s Lamb Sacrificed (Matt 27: 1-50)
23. The King Conquers (Matt 27:51-28)
3. GRACIOUS JESUS
9. SIGNS, SINNERS AND THE SAVIOUR
1. Signs of the Messiah
2. Signs of
Greatness
3. A Wicked Generation
4. Fate of Unrepentant
Towns
5. Foolishness of the
Wise
4. SIGNS OF GREATNESS
BIBLE PASSAGE
7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus
began to speak to the crowd about John:
“What did you go out into the wilderness to
see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what
did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine
clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are
in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out
to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more
than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom
it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead
of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
5. SIGNS OF GREATNESS
BIBLE PASSAGE
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women
there has not risen anyone greater than John
the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From
the days of John the Baptist until now, the
kingdom of heaven has been subjected to
violence, and violent people have been raiding
it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law
prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing
to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
15 Whoever has ears, let them hear. 11
7. THE GREAT
7 As John’s disciples were
leaving, Jesus began to speak
to the crowd about John:
“What did you go out into the
wilderness to see? A reed
swayed by the wind? 8 If not,
what did you go out to see? A
man dressed in fine clothes?
No, those who wear fine
clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9
Then what did you go out to
see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you,
and more than a prophet. 13
For all the Prophets and the
Law prophesied until John. 11
9. THE GREAT
To some he is
Captain Caveman,
to others a
prophet.. Jesus
endows him with
greater
credentials than
all great men of
the past
10. THE GREATER
11 Truly I tell you, among
those born of women there
has not risen anyone
greater than John the
Baptist; 12 From the days
of John the Baptist until
now, the kingdom of
heaven has been subjected
to violence, and violent
people have been raiding it.
13 For all the Prophets and
the Law prophesied until
John. 14 And if you are
willing to accept it, he is the
Elijah who was to come. 11
15. BLAZING TRAILS
The “violence” in vs.
12 can be explained
via the parallel
16 “The Law and the
Prophets were
proclaimed until
John. Since that
time, the good news
of the kingdom of
God is being
preached, and
everyone is forcing
their way into it. Lk
16
16. BLAZING TRAILS
What did John do
differently to
other religious
leaders in his
time? What can
we learn from
this?
17. THE GREATEST
yet whoever is
least in the
kingdom of
heaven is greater
than he. 11b….
15 Whoever has
ears, let them
hear. 11
20. DISCUSSION
1. Why does John deny he is Elijah?
(John 1:21) Does this conflict with
Christ’s affirmation (Matt 11)?
2. What do we learn from Christ’s
hierarchy of greatness?
3. What practical steps can we take to
achieve true greatness?
Editor's Notes
Breaking tradition – reed – clothes, actions and words, baptism
Brand ambassador – fine clothes
Trail blazer – prophet – kingdom of God powering itself
Better than Elijah – not only prophecied but encountered personally, wilderness, attire, preaching
Past greatness – prophets
Present greatness – John
Future greatness – apostles and believers
Is he Shaken by the elements? No.. Seasoned by the elements.
Is he a Stage personality? No…Cave personality? Captain caveman
Is he a Prophet? More…
Hi attire, royal connections, wilderness life, etc.
“Malachi 4:5-6 offers an intriguing prophecy: “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” To this day, Jewish Seders include an empty chair at the table in anticipation that Elijah will return to herald the Messiah in fulfillment of Malachi’s word.
According to Malachi 4:6, the reason for Elijah’s return will be to “turn the hearts” of fathers and their children to each other. In other words, the goal would be reconciliation. In the New Testament, Jesus reveals that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy: “All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:13-14). This fulfillment is also mentioned in Mark 1:2-4 and Luke 1:17; 7:27.
Specifically related to Malachi 4:5-6 is Matthew 17:10-13: “His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. . . .’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.””
To be sure, this is one of those verses that scholars debate over and translators agonise over. The problem stems from the word βιάζεται (biazetai) which is usually translated as “suffers violence”. The word “biazetai” means “to use force or violence”. The problem is that Greek verbs have different “voices” – the active, passive and what is called the middle voice (sometimes called the “aorist”). In English we are used to the active and passive voices. So “He will be killed” is a passive form of the verb “kill”. In English, the voice is determined by other parts of speech. In Greek, the voice is determined by the conjugation of the verb, in the same way that the tense in English is conjugated as part of the same word, eg. kill, killed, kills, killing. They’re all one word. So in Greek, you get one word “biazetai” (βιάζεται) and you will need to look at the conjugation to determine the voice, and hence the correct translation.
In this case, βιάζεται is the third person, singular, masculine, middle, indicative form. It is masculine because in the Greek, heaven is “masculine” so the verb associated with it is also masculine. It is the third person, for obvious reasons, when referring to the kingdom of heaven. The real problem comes when we get to the voice – the aorist middle voice. Middle voices are neither active nor passive, and is usually reflexive – acting on itself. In English, you might translate this literally as “the kingdom of heaven is violencing itself” – which is how many translators have translated it, more smoothly albeit. That, however, isn’t the only way of translating this. It is also possible to translate the reflexivity as “the kingdom of heaven is operating forcefully” [Rudolf Otto, “The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man”, pg.78], or as “the kingdom of heaven operates through force” [Reza Aslan, “Zealot”, pg.256]. These two translations are, for me, more sensible in the context of the passage.
The verse (Mt 11:12) says that since John the Baptist, which isn’t very long before Jesus said those words, the kingdom of heaven has been advancing forcefully, or operating forcefully. (I prefer “spreading powerfully” here.) Some have chosen “suffers violence” in the light of John the Baptist’s beheading by Herod Antipas (or Antipater). If so, the “violent men” are bad people who abuse God’s people. Fortunately for us, we have more than just one gospel. This same verse is reproduced for us http://www.tsebi.com/
He followed the spirit of the law and the holy spirit and not the letter of the law. Jesus went to him for baptism to lead the way for all of us in the new sacrament. He challenged world leaders to live holy lives (Herod) and lost his life for it… He operated on near zero funding and resources, other than those nature had to offer..he was ready to lose his following so that Jesus could gain more following, to become small, so that Jesus stands tall,…and many others..
We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus…
This refers to the level of greatness while living. After death, the prophets scale will go up as they too will be covered by Christ’s blood posthumously.
They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No.“ John 1:21
He is literally not the same prophet who returned and was probably too humble to realize he was the subject of Malachi’s prophecy till Jesus confirmed it. Jesus always makes us out to be far greater than we really are.
2. All about christ
3. Seeing him in everything..