Session 2: Matthew 3-4

Matthew Chapters 3 and 4

Discuss: Consider your baptism and/or confirmation. What were your reasons for participating in this/these sacrament(s)? Talk about how old you were and who was present; tell the story.

These two chapters of Matthew include an introduction of John’s work in the wilderness, Jesus’s baptism and testing in the wilderness. It then moves into the beginning of Jesus’s ministry and calling of disciples. Put yourself in Jesus’s shoes, in the wilderness for 40 days. How would you spend your time? What would be the most challenging part of that time?

Read Matthew 3-4.

Reading Questions

1.       John was obviously a respected man of God in the day, with so many followers and the crowds that came to be baptized. He was, from conception, God’s choice. (Verse 3:11) How can we explain why he felt ‘unworthy’ to carry Jesus’s sandals?

2.       At Jesus’s baptism, he says ‘for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness,’ (verse 315). How does this fit your idea of righteousness?

3.       Jesus is tested three times by Satan (verses 4:1-11). Look for similarities between two or all three episodes.

4.       Each of Satan’s three tests target a quality of God in the question. What is being questioned or challenged about God the Father in each one?

5.       Verse 4:17 indicates Jesus’s message at the beginning of his ministry. The word repent in Greek means ‘think differently after’ or ‘change after being with’(1). Why is this the message that Jesus begins with?

6.       Compare verse 4:17 it to verse 3:2. Why is repentance the focus of both men and what does it say about God’s values?

Old Testament Links

1.       In verse 3:17, God’s voice from heaven blends verses from the Old Testament. Read Psalm 2:1-12 and Isaiah 42:1-9. Describe the opposing pictures presented by these verses. What emotions do the passages provoke?

2.       In Verse 3:12, John’s warning echoes Malachi 4:1-5 that the arrogant and evildoers will burn like chaff. Chaff is mentioned as well in Psalm 1:1-6. Discuss the images that these passages use and the emotion that they evoke as well.

3.       Verses 15-16 of Chapter 4 are often sighted as Messianic, coming from Isaiah 9:1-7. The book of Matthew is generally considered a book written for the Jewish audience. Why would Matthew choose to highlight the mission to the Gentiles in a book whose audience was Hebrew?

Application

1. Questions 1 and 2 in the Old Testament links both offer hope for God-followers and despair for evildoers. Why would these passages include both the woe and blessings?

2. In verse 4:19, Jesus calls the first disciples and ‘at once’ (verse 20) they came. The practice of teachers, rabbis, of the time was to let disciples choose them. What do you think the reasoning for Jesus’s choice is? Would you be ready to do as these first disciples did, leaving their nets where they were? Discuss.

(1)    https://biblehub.com/greek/3340.htm