MATTHEW 1 & 2 Week 2 HELPFUL HINT ON INTERPRETATION: COMPARE MULTIPLE TRANSLATIONS. As you tackle the questions below, look up the passage in other translations and compare to the translation you are reading to look for helpful clues or clearer wording. The New King James Version (NKJV) and the New American Standard Version (NASB), are word-for-word translation of the Greek text, and therefore, quite accurate for Bible study. The New International Version (NIV) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) are excellent phrase-to-phrase translations of the Greek and are thus often easier to read. Another excellent phrase-to-phrase Bible, which includes extensive translation notes, is the New English Translation (NET) available online for free at www.bible.org. You can find and compare numerous English translations of any Bible passage at www.biblestudytools.net. READ THE TEXT: MY OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS: CHAPTER 1: Getting you started: Was it a big deal that women were in the genealogies? o Tamar: She sold herself as a prostitute to her father in-law Judah to bring forth Perez and Zerah (Genesis 38). o Rahab: She was a Gentile prostitute, for whom God took extraordinary measures to save from both judgment and her lifestyle of prostitution (Joshua 6:22-23) o Ruth: She was from Moab, a Gentile and until her conversion, out of the covenant of Israel (Ruth 1). o Bathsheba (who is mentioned by implication in Matthew 1:6) was an adulteress, infamous for her sin with David (2 Samuel 11). "Matthew's peculiar way of referring to her, 'Uriah's wife,' may be an Page 1 of 6
attempt to focus on the fact that Uriah was not an Israelite but a Hittite." (Carson) These four women have an important place in the genealogy of Jesus to demonstrate that Jesus identifies with sinners in His genealogy, even as He will in His birth, baptism, life, and His death on the cross. "Jesus is heir of a line in which flows the blood of the harlot, Rahab, and of the rustic Ruth; he is akin to the fallen and to the lowly, and he will show his love even to the poorest and most obscure." (Spurgeon) What s the significance of the statement,..his people (1:21)? Why is Immanuel, God with us so important? It shows how low God bent down to save man; He added the nature of one of His own creatures to His own divine nature, accepting the weaknesses, frailties, and dependency that the creature experiences. It shows what a great miracle it was that God could add a human nature to His own and still remain God. It shows the compatibility between the unfallen human nature and the divine nature; that the two could be joined shows that we are truly made in the image of God. vv.1-17 vv. 18-25 Page 2 of 6
Chapter 2: Getting you started: What s the significance of Bethlehem? o Bethlehem was the ancestral home of David, the great king of Israel and founder of their royal dynasty. However, it was not a large or significant town. "Bethlehem was quite a little town six miles to the south of Jerusalem. In the olden day s it had been called Ephrath or Ephratah." (Barclay) vv. 1-12 vv. 13-22 Page 3 of 6
INTERPRET - WHAT DOES IT MEAN: 1. If you could ask Matthew any question about these chapters, what would you ask him? 2. What ties together these two chapters? In other words, how is God s nature and character at work as the hinge to hold these two chapters together? 3. List out all the characters God used to announce or usher in His Son? What should that announce to the reader? IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES: List at least two principles from Matthew 1 and 2. A principle is simply a fact or command stated or implied in the passage that is relevant to your own life. 1. 2. APPLICATION: How has God taken your greatest place of pain and used it? Page 4 of 6
God s grace is on display in these two chapters. Do you often take time to stop and reflect on the outrageous grace that God has shown you? Why do we take grace for granted? What exactly will you do differently this week to apply these chapters to your life? Page 5 of 6
WORD STUDY: σώζω sozo - Salvation Various forms of the Greek word sozo are found about 200 times in the New Testament (NT) and the term is most often translated save, salvation, savior and deliverance. Sozo is conceptually equivalent to the OT term yasha and is seen in the theological term soteriology, the study of the doctrine of salvation. A thorough word study of sozo reveals that it (like yasha in the OT) describes two kinds of salvation physical deliverance and spiritual deliverance. Again, asking these interpretive questions will help: 1. Who is doing the saving in each usage? (Hint: God or human?) 2. What is being saved in each usage? (Hint: people, nation or spirit?) 3. From what is one being saved in each usage? (Hint: enemy attack, danger, sickness, physical captivity or spiritual dilemma?) 4. To what is one being saved in each usage? (Hint: safety, health, or the forgiveness of sins?) For each of the following key NT usages of sozo, please answer the 4 questions above. Acts 27:20, 31; Matthew 1:21; 8:25; 14:30 Mark 15:30; John 12:27 Hebrews 11:7 Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-9 Titus 1:3-4; 2:10, 13; 3:4, 6 Page 6 of 6