Happy Monday Saints! Praise God we made it through the final 5th Week of reading the Gospel of Matthew. We find this final week that Jesus is speaking to the disciples in parables about the resurrection and what’s to come in eternity. He warns the chief priests about being hypocrites and teaching his people ways that were not initially from God. Jesus also is brought up with charges in front of Pilate to be crucified as the King of the Jews.
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Here’s my final recap for our Bible Study Week 5 challenge….
Matthew 22:1-46
What did I learn from today’s word?
Jesus spoke to them again in parables when he explained the king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants out to those who were invited to tell them to come, but they refused. Then he said, “Tell them I prepared dinner.” Still nothing and some servants were even killed. The king told his servants everything was ready but those he invited didn’t deserve to come. So he told them to invite anyone they could find, the good and bad. The king noticed a man wasn’t wearing wedding clothes and told his servants to throw him outside into the darkness. Many are invited, but few are chosen.
The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus and their disciples to ask Jesus if they should pay taxes. Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is his and to God what is his.” The Sadducees asked Jesus, “What happens when the resurrection happens at marriage?” Jesus said, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. We will be like the angels in heaven.” God is not the God of the dead, but the living.”
Another expert of the law asked Jesus, “Which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with your soul and with your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is, love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus asked, “Whose Son is he?” They said, “The son of David.” Jesus said, “If David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one dared to ask him any more questions.
Matthew 23:1-39
What did I learn from today’s word?
Jesus warns the crowds against hypocrisy. He told them to be careful of the teachers and Pharisees who sit in Moses seat. He warned them to do everything they told them to do, but not do what they do. Jesus said that they do not practice what they preach. They make everyone feel guilty, but don’t do anything that they preach themselves. They do it for show and their places of honor. Jesus told his disciples not to be called Rabbi and not to call anyone on earth Father or an instructor because God is all of them. He said, “Whoever exalts themselves will be humbled and who humbles themselves will be exalted.”
Jesus also tells the Pharisees to beware of shutting people out of heaven and making them turn out like themselves as blind guides. He tells them to clean the inside of themselves and then the outside also will be clean. They appear to people as righteous, but on the inside they are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. So Jesus will send prophets and teachers to them.
Some of his followers will be killed and crucified and others will be beaten in the churches and pursued. Jesus continued saying that all the righteous blood that’s been shed on earth, will come upon them and this generation. Jesus then tells the people of Jerusalem that they will not see him again until they say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” because they killed the prophets that were sent to them.
Matthew 24:1-51
What did I learn from today’s word?
Jesus discusses the end times with his disciples. They asked Jesus when will it happen. Jesus said, “Many will come to deceive and claim they are the Messiah, but don’t believe them.” “We will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but don’t be alarmed.” “They must happen but the end is still coming.” There will be nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Famines and earthquakes in various places are the beginning of birth pains. We will be persecuted and put to death and hated by nations because of Jesus.
Many will turn away from the faith and hate each other and false prophets will appear. The one who stands firm to the end will be saved. This gospel will be preached in the whole world as a testimony and then the end will come. False prophets will perform great signs to deceive, even the elect. Do not believe people when they say, “Here’s the Messiah!” Everyone will see the coming of Jesus. Jesus said, “He will send his angels with a loud trumpet and gather the elect from one end to the other.” “When you see all these things, you know it’s near.” “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
No one knows the day or hour, not even the angels or Jesus, only God the Father. Keep watching because we don’t know what day God will come. He will come at an hour when we do not expect him. If Jesus comes back unexpected, he will cut the wicked servant into pieces and place him with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth together because of the pain.
Matthew 25:1-46
What did I learn from today’s word?
Jesus tells the disciples the parable of the ten virgins. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish women didn’t take oil for their lamps when they looked for their bridegroom and the other women did. They all fell asleep because it took the groom a long time to come, but he arrived at midnight. When they all awoke, the foolish ones asked the wise ones to borrow some oil, but they replied, “No – they didn’t have enough.” So the wise ones met with the groom and the foolish ones couldn’t get in. So we must keep watch because we don’t know the day or hour Jesus will come.
A man going on a journey, gave three servants different levels of wealth that he entrusted. One he gave five bags of gold. To another two bags. To another one bag. Each servant gained back what was given, except the one who was given one bag, because he decided to bury it. When the master returned, he rewarded both servants who gained more, but he took away the one bag of gold and gave it to the other one with ten bags gained. He said, “Whoever has given more, will have an abundance and whoever does not have will be taken from them and thrown outside into the darkness.”
When Jesus returns, he will sit on his throne and will separate the sheep from the goats. His sheep will be on the right and the goats on his left. He will reward the believers who took care of the hungry, thirsty, clothed the stranger, imprisoned and reward them as if they did it to him. He will say to the ones on the left, “Depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil” because they didn’t take care of his people. They will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
Matthew 26:1-75
What did I learn from today’s word?
Jesus tells the disciples that he will be handed over to be crucified in two days. Jesus was anointed by a woman with her alabaster jar of expensive perfume. She poured it on his head and the disciples asked why she was wasting it. But Jesus said that she was preparing for his burial. He said that she could always replace it, but he couldn’t be replaced.
Judas betrays Jesus by accepting payment to hand him over to the chief priests. Jesus has the last supper with his disciples during the Passover and tells them that the bread symbolized his body and the wine his blood. He promised that he wouldn’t drink again from the cup until he returned in God’s kingdom. Peter tells Jesus he wouldn’t deny him, but Jesus said he would before the rooster crowed three times.
When Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, his disciples fell asleep. Jesus became angry asking why they couldn’t keep watch for an hour! Jesus was upset about having to die, but told God through prayer, that his will had to be done. Jesus would soon be arrested with Judas leading the charge and identified Jesus with a kiss.
Caiaphas, the high priest, accused Jesus of blasphemy after Jesus claimed he was the Messiah. They were so upset and felt that he was worthy to die. Soon after, Peter denies Jesus three times as was predicted, after various people claimed he was one of Jesus’s disciples.
Matthew 27:1-66
What did I learn from today’s word?
Judas hangs himself afer feeling the sin of betraying Jesus. They used the thirty pieces of silver to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded in scripture. Jesus stood before Pilate and the people demanded to crucify him. Pilate asked who they wanted to save between Jesus and Barabbas and they chose to free Barabbas. Pilate washed his hands of innocent blood and said, “It’s their responsibility.” The soldiers mocked Jesus by putting a scarlet robe on him, making a crown of thorns, spitting and beating him and saying, “Hail King of the Jews.”
They forced Cypene (Simon) to carry the cross. As Jesus was being crucified they placed, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews” above his head. Two rebels were being crucified on both sides of Jesus and cursed him at first. People kept telling Jesus to save himself, but he refused. About 3pm that afternoon, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When he cried out again, he gave up his spirit. Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two, the earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died was raised to life and went to the Holy City and appeared to many people. When the centurion who was guarding Jesus saw this, he said, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
A rich man named, Arimathea (Joseph) who became a disciple, asked for Jesus body and buried him in his tomb. The next day the chief priests believed his body would be stolen within three days, so he asked Pilate to send a guard to secure it by putting a seal on the stone.
Matthew 28:1-20
What did I learn from today’s word?
Jesus rose after the Sabbath on the first day of the week (Sunday). Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look and an angel of the Lord rolled back the stone and sat on it. The guards were so afraid, they became like dead men. The angels said, “Jesus has risen, just as he said.” They said, “He went into Galilee and they would see him there.” Jesus appeared to the ladies as they were leaving and told them to tell the others to meet him in Galilee. The guards told the chief priests what happened and they paid them to say the disciples stole his body while they were asleep, so they wouldn’t get into trouble.
When the disciples saw Jesus they worshipped him, but some doubted. Jesus said he has authority in heaven and earth. He wanted them to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He asked them to teach us to obey everything that he has commanded. Jesus says he’s with us always, even to the end of the age.
Tell us your thoughts about our final Week 5 in the comments below! We would love to hear from you 🙂
I will be releasing our next Gospel of Mark bible reading challenge soon! Stay tuned..
God loves you and so do I,
Wanda
Related materials
- Following Jesus 101: Gospel of Matthew – Bible Study Challenge – Intro & FREE Stuff
- Following Jesus 101: Matthew – Bible Study Challenge – Week 1 Recap
- Following Jesus 101: Matthew – Bible Study Challenge – Week 2 Recap
- Following Jesus 101: Matthew – Bible Study Challenge – Week 3 Recap
- Following Jesus 101: Matthew – Bible Study Challenge – Week 4 Recap
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