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- [00:00]
Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. It's day 57. We are making our way through the Gospel of Matthew, arguably one of my favorite gospels. It's up there with John. John's probably my absolute favorite. Matthew's a good number two. Hey, if you have not done the reading for today, go ahead, read Matthew chapters 9 through 12.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
Matthew, chapter 9, 10, 11, and 12. We got four chapters every single day. We're staying real consistent through the Gospel of Matthew. Lucked out, you know what I mean? Matthew an even 28 chapters. And so four chapters a day, seven days, four chapters a day, 28 chapters. How much is cool for theology, y'all? Not math.
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Editor/Producer
Okay.
- [01:10]
Dr. Manny Arango
One of our editors at the studio had to help me out. It's giving me, like, hand signals. So, hey, if you haven't done the reading yet, go do it. For the rest of us that have done the reading, let's dive on in. Okay, like always, I'm going to give you some context clues, some nerdy nuggets. I'm going to give you a timeless truth to run it all out, but let's do context first. So we may actually go back and tweak our Bible reading plan, because here's the deal. Remember how I said yesterday that Matthew has an agenda? Matthew wants to portray Jesus in a certain way, and so Matthew is actually gonna put five blocks of teaching. Not only is Jesus going to teach from a mountain, right, like portraying him as the new Moses, but he's also gonna give five blocks of teaching. And who else is known for five books of teaching? Well, that's Moses. And so Jesus is portrayed as a new Moses. And if anyone wants those five blocks of teaching, I'll give them to you right here. I wish that our Bible reading plan followed these blocks of teaching, like, exactly. And it's something that we may go back and tweak later on. I'm a bit of a perfectionist sometimes, so this is one of those things where I'm like, ah, it's kind of. It bothers me that where the Bible reading plan has breaks is right in between some of the natural breaks that we have in the Gospel of Matthew. That probably happens in a lot of books, to be completely honest. I'M just very aware of it in Matthew's Gospel. So here's the five blocks of teaching, and then I'll show you how to spot those five blocks of teaching, okay. So that you can kind of. I know we're talking about Matthew chapter 9 through 12 today, but I kind of want to give context for how to see the whole book. And so Matthew chapter four through seven is going to be the first block of teaching, okay? And it's going to be an announcement of the kingdom. And then Jesus is going to teach the Sermon on the Mount. It's going to end with this verse. Matthew 7:28, 29 says this. And when Jesus finished key word. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
So that word finished is key. Here's the next block of teaching is going to be Matthew, chapter 8 to 10. And here's Matthew 11:1. Okay, here's the end of that entire block. It says, when Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. The next block of teaching is going to be Matthew 11 to 13. And here's how it's gonna finish. This is Matthew 13:53, 54. And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there and coming to his hometown, he taught in their synagogues. So that they were astonished and said, where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? So you can see already, right? Each block ends with the word finished.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
And when Jesus finished these sayings, when Jesus had finished instructing, and when Jesus had finished these parables, the next block of teaching is gonna be Matthew, chapter 14 to Matthew chapter 20. And here's what we're gonna get, actually. Sorry. Matthew, chapter 14, and Matthew chapter 19. Sorry. And here's what we're gonna get in Matthew, chapter 19, verse 1 and 2. And when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. We're going to get Matthew chapter 20 to 25. And here's how chapter 26 is going to start. When Jesus had finished all these things, he said to his disciples, you know, that after two days, the Passover is coming and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
So we get five blocks of teaching. Matthew 4, 7, Matthew 8, 10, Matthew 11, 13, Matthew 14:19. And then Matthew 20, 25, five solid blocks of teaching. They all end the exact same way with the words finished.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
- [05:16]
Dr. Manny Arango
That announcement that just finished these parables where Jesus had finished these instructions or Jesus had finished his teaching cues you that that block is done. And of course, we have five of them for Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Okay? These mirror the five books of Moses. Why? Because Jesus is a new Moses.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
- [05:39]
Dr. Manny Arango
Most people don't realize that that's happening as they're encountering the Gospel of Matthew. So here's my frustration is that the way that I organized the Bible reading plan is that today we're on Matthew chapter 9 and to 12, which is straddling between two sections or two blocks of teachings that are actually in the book of Matthew.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
- [06:05]
Dr. Manny Arango
So we'll talk a little bit about Matthew chapter 8 to 10, then we'll talk a little bit about Matthew 11:13. And you know, we're gonna do the best that we can do. All right? Okay, so Matthew chapter 8 to 10 is all about a demonstration of the kingdom. So Matthew chapter four to seven was an announcement of the kingdom. And then Jesus began to teach about the culture of the kingdom. What is this kingdom gonna be like? Okay, imagine when a president is campaigning. There's kind of some key issues that that president is going to make central to his campaign. I want you to think about the word gospel. This is originally a political word.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
So when. When a king has a gospel, it's almost like the. The promise that they're making. What is your kingdom going to be like? What is the kingdom of Alexander the Great gonna be like? What is the kingdom of Julius Caesar gonna be like? What is the kingdom? Or what is the Gospel of Nero gonna be like? Okay, and so we get an announcement of the kingdom. Hey, the kingdom of God is here. But everybody has different ideas about what that kingdom is actually going to be like. The Jewish understanding of the kingdom was a violent overthrow of the Roman government. So Jesus gives the sermon on the mount as a central cultural defining teaching for what the kingdom of God is actually like. Hey, kingdom of God. It's not a military kingdom. Like, we're not. We're not about to have a coup, you know what I'm saying? Like. Like that's not. That's not what we're doing. And Now Matthew chapter 8 to 10 is demonstrating the kingdom. And so Matthew goes on a tear. There's actually nine stories in this section.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
- [07:45]
Dr. Manny Arango
Jesus heals, a leper, the centurion servant, sick mom, stormy seas, demonized men, paralyzed man, a Dead girl and a sick woman, two blind men and a mute man. Okay, we've got nine stories that all demonstrate what happens when people come into contact with the kingdom.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
What happens when nature comes into contact with the kingdom? What happens when sickness comes into contact with the kingdom? What happens when demons come into contact with the kingdom? What happens when the broken, the marginalized, and those who are on the outskirts of society come into contact with the kingdom. This is going to culminate and chapter 10, where Jesus is going to commission the 12 to go out with authority to do the very things that they've seen him do. They are going to take the kingdom, and they're gonna become agents of this kingdom. Now we get into Matthew, chapter 11, and that next block is Matthew, chapter 11 to 13. And we're gonna get multiple responses to Jesus, kingdom message, or Jesus as Messiah.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
- [08:54]
Dr. Manny Arango
We're gonna get some positive responses. People are like, oh, this is awesome. It's the Messiah. Then we're gonna get a neutral response, okay? We're gonna get a response from John the Baptist that is not positive or negative, but it's definitely a questioning, are you the one, or should we be expecting somebody else? And for our timeless truth, we're gonna dig into that story with John the Baptist. And then last, we're gonna get negative, okay? The Pharisees and the chief priests and the scribes and the leaders, like, Israel's leaders are definitely like, yeah, this guy's got to go. Which. Then we're gonna get parables. Chapter 13 is gonna all be about parables. Parables that demonstrate what the kingdom of God is like. The parables are doing a lot of what the Sermon on the Mount did, but just in a different format.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
The Sermon on the Mount is like a sermon, but the parables are parables. Same ethos, same spirit, same culture. Like a lot of the same substance, but different stylistic writing choice.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
A parable is communicating in parabolic fashion, and a sermon is communicating like a sermon. So. And then that chapter of parables is gonna end, okay, with Matthew, chapter 13, verse 53 says, and when Jesus had finished these parables, and we kind of know that block is over. So our Bible reading plan kind of straddles these two independent blocks, and there are five blocks.
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ARMA Representative
Why?
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Dr. Manny Arango
Because Matthew is trying to portray a very Jewish Jesus. Now, here's where I'll drop a nerdy nugget on you. I'll actually look this up so that I can quote it really well. We're going to see Ezekiel 1:10 says, this their faces looked like this. Each of the four had a face of a human being. On the right side, face of a lion, and on the left side the face of an ox and also had the face of an eagle. Okay, so human lion, ox, eagle. Human lion, ox, eagle. Revelation chapter 4, verse 7 is going to just straight jack this from Ezekiel, bring this back. And Revelation 4:7 says the first living creature was a lion, the second was an ox, the third face like a man, and the fourth was a flying eagle. Okay, so those four beasts are actually a really, really, really good way to begin to wrap your minds around the portraits that the four gospels are painting. Okay, so the Gospel of Matthew portrays Jesus like a lion.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
- [11:37]
Dr. Manny Arango
He's king. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is king and he's the lion of the tribe of Judah. Because Matthew is a Jew writing to a Jewish audience. Okay, so Matthew, the only thing that Matthew's concerned with is that he's the son of David, son of Abraham. He, he's the king, he's the Jewish Messiah. Messiah means anointed one. Okay, and who was anointed in the Old Testament, Kings were anointed in the Old Testament. The Gospel of Mark portrays Jesus as an ox. So one of the key verses for Mark's Gospel is, I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. The moment you think of Mark's Gospel, you should think of that verse that Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. What is an ox? It is a burden bearing beast. That is the ox. The ox is there to serve the farmer, the ox is there to serve others. Okay, so when you see an ox, you see Jesus is able to bear the burden that I'm not able to bear. He's bearing the cross as a servant of humanity. The Gospel of Luke portrays Jesus as human. So in Luke's genealogy, he doesn't trace Jesus back to the son of David, son of Abraham. He goes all the way back to who? The son of Adam.
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Editor/Producer
Okay.
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Dr. Manny Arango
Because for Luke, this is not a Jewish story, it's a human story. Because Jesus is a representative of all humanity. He's not just the Jewish Messiah, he is the king of the world. And then John's Gospel, Jesus, eagle. Because Jesus is the most godlike, he's the most transcendent in John's Gospel. If you compare Jesus in John's Gospel as opposed to the other Gospels, he's just kind of transcendent, flying above all of it. The other gospels do a good job of showing his humanity. They also proclaim his divinity. But John does a great job of portraying Jesus throughout the entire gospel as God. There is no scene where Jesus is sweating in the garden of Gethsemane and his sweat turns to drops of blood. None of that in John's gospel because the cross is just a moment of victory for Jesus. Okay, so he's a little superhuman. John's Jesus is a little superhuman. Okay? All that to say that Matthew's the most Jewish of the four gospels that we have. So it makes sense that we would use a very Jewish character like Moses and say that, yeah, Jesus is a new Moses, okay? He teaches with authority. He reinterprets the Torah, He's a giver of the law, he's on a mountain. So on and so on and so on. Fill in all the blanks.
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ARMA Representative
What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just.
- [14:25]
Dr. Manny Arango
The tip of the iceberg?
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ARMA Representative
The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma? I'm so glad you asked. ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we designed to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere could have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community. A community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want more exclusive access to me and the entire armor team, how about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post.
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Dr. Manny Arango
The link in the description of this video.
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ARMA Representative
Let's make this your year to become a Bible nerd.
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Dr. Manny Arango
Our Thomas truth is actually going to come from the life of John the Baptist.
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Editor/Producer
Okay?
- [15:48]
Dr. Manny Arango
John the Baptist, John the Baptist sends messengers to Jesus. And with a question. This is a neutral response. It's not positive, it's not negative, It's a neutral response. Okay, this is in our block of teaching from Matthew chapter 11:13. And John's got a question. Hey, is it you? Or should we expect somebody else? And Jesus quotes from, from Isaiah. He's like, hey, the blinded eyes are open, the poor are preached to you know, he kind of gives his whole jubilee spiel, but he leaves out an important verse. And that verse is the prisoners are set free. Essentially, what Jesus is saying is this, John, I am the Messiah. And that has no bearing on your personal situation. And a lot of times I hear a lot of people who. It's almost like their belief in Jesus is grounded only in their personal testimony of how Jesus has done awesome things in their life. And that's great. Like, that is good. But that can't be the whole reason why I have staked my life on Jesus. Right? There has to be something more than that. Because at the end of the day, Buddhists also have testimonies of how Buddhism has helped them. Muslims also have testimonies about how Islam has helped them. That can't be the end all, be all of why Christianity is true. And so Jesus is saying, hey, John, who I am and your personal experiences are not equal. Just because I'm not letting. Just because I'm not going to rescue you from prison, just because you're going to be beheaded doesn't have anything to do with whether or not I'm the Messiah. And it's a lot like, you know, hey, whether or not God heals me doesn't have any bearing on whether or not he's a healer. Whether or not he provides for me has no bearing on whether or not he's a provider. And sometimes, especially in church, it's almost like the proof that he's a provider is that he's provided for me. And the proof that he's a healer is that he's healed me. And the proof that he's a blank is that he's done that. And the reality is that, no, the proof that he's done that has nothing to do with my personal experience. The truth that he's done that is that the Scriptures are true. And I believe in the Scriptures, and the Scriptures declare that he is that, regardless of whether or not I ever experienced that. And so the caution, the thing that we should learn from John the Baptist is do not place the person of Jesus within the box of my personal experiences with him. Just because he hasn't delivered me does not mean that he's a deliverer. And so for John the Baptist, he's starting to ask some questions about whether or not Jesus is the Messiah. And it's totally based on the fact that John's just in a bad spot. John is wound up in prison and he's gonna die. And his experience with Jesus is now coloring his theology of Jesus or his understanding of Jesus. And we have to be really, really careful that my personal experience has not become a totality of what I believe theologically, that that is a massive, like, pitfall of humans, I think, interacting with God. But of Western Christianity, for sure. I gave a lot of context clues today. I gave nerdy nugget and I gave a Thomas truth. I hope that that's really, really helpful. I'll be here tomorrow to go through Matthew chapter 13 to 16 and we'll be looking at the next block of teaching, this fourth block that Matthew has orchestrated in his gospel that gives us another, another vantage point on the person of Jesus. All right, I'm proud of you. I'm so happy that we're on this journey together. Hey, if you've got a 57 day streak going, let us know in the comments. I want to cheer for you and can't wait for one day. One day we're going to be at 365 days done and man, that's going to be insane. All right, I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses at thebibledepartment. Com. We'll see you back here tomorrow.