Synoptic Gospels Bible Study Lesson 1 Questions

Synoptic Gospels Bible Study Lesson 1 Questions

1.Who is considered the author of the gospel of Matthew? Matthew is the first book of the New Testament and Malachi the last book of the Old testament. Why are the two sections of the Bible called Old and New? Approximately how many years were between the two books?

Ans.The apostle Matthew has always been accredited with the authorship of the first gospel. The Bible is divided into two testaments – the Old and the New "Testament." The word "testament" is an old English word that means, "covenant." The Latin term testamentum was used to translate the Greek and Hebrews words for covenant. The English word was derived from the Latin. Hence the Old and New Covenants became the Old and New Testaments. In the New Testament, the Old Testament writings are called the old covenant. The Bible speaks of different agreements that God made with humanity. The entire flow of biblical history is based upon the covenants that God has made with humankind. In the Bible we find covenants made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. Through the prophet Jeremiah God also promised a new covenant. Jesus Himself is the one who instituted the new covenant.

God has kept His part of the bargain in all of these covenants. It was approximately four hundred years between old testament to new testament.

2. What does the word gospel mean? How many books of the Bible are considered gospels? What does the word synoptic mean? Which of the gospels are considered synoptic and why?
Ans.Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the New Testament books of the Bible referred to as the Gospels. One of the meanings of the word "synoptic" is "taking the same point of view." Since the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke share a great deal of content and present a similar order of events (while John's gospel is quite different in style and content), the first three are called "synoptic." The Synoptic Gospels are the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These Gospels are called synoptic (from the Greek syn- together and opsis appearance) because they can be compared column by column with each other. The three Synoptic Gospels have many parables and accounts in common, as well as a general consensus on the order of events, suggesting a common source for all three.

3.In verse one of Matthew Jesus is referred to the "son of David" and the "son of A braham". What is the importance of these phrases?

Ans.Matthew 1:1 reffers Jesus as son of David and son of Abraham.

Jesus was called the Son of David because He was of the line of David and because He fulfilled the Old Testament prophesy that the promised messiah would be the Son of David. As the adopted son of Joseph, he inherited the promised throne. Jesus is the Son of David who God caused to die for David's sin with Bathsheba, then Jesus was resurrected into Mary to die for the sins of the world.

4.Read the account of Jesus' birth in Matthew chapter 2. Meditate upon this account and share in a paragraph what new insight God gives you.

Ans.Matthew, in the brief details he includes, is, as throughout his gospel, wishing to demonstrate Jesus as the Messiah of Israel and thus fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.

In the account of Jesus’ birth in Matthew chapter two, we have three distinct groups or individuals mentioned besides Mary and Joseph.  First, we encounter the Magi from the east.  There is a lot of mystery surrounding these men, and that may actually lead us to some interesting conclusions about their relationship to Jesus.  All we know for sure is that they come from the east, they were likely Chaldean or Arabian by descent, and that they were aware of what was happening in the birth of Jesus Christ.  The journey they endured took a significant amount of effort and time.  We learn later in chapter 2 that Herod is worried about baby boys at and under the age of two, so their journey brought them to Bethlehem up to two years after Jesus’ birth.

The second group we read about is often overlooked in the story-the scribes and priests.  When Herod hears of the Magi’s visit, he is concerned about the birth of a king and asks the experts in the Law where the Messiah is to be born.  Note two things about their reaction to the question.  First, they know exactly where he is to be born.  Second, they don’t go.

And thirdly, Herod provides a fascinating and tragic story.  Historically, we know this Herod died a suspicious and hated ruler.  By the time of his death he had assassinated at least three of his own sons, several wives, many beloved local tribal and political leaders, and several hundred baby boys in Bethlehem.

Observing Herod, we have our first lesson in encountering Christ.  Herod reacted in fear and hatred.  Ironically, Herod understood the Kingship of Jesus better than most Christians do.  He knew that if this child were to grow to be King, his power and sovereignty were gone.  The birth of Jesus meant he was no longer King.  Likewise, the birth of Jesus means I am no longer the sovereign of my own soul-Jesus, and no one else, is King.

Encountering Jesus means not just coming to terms with my Savior, Redeemer, and Friend, but with my Lord and my King as well.

The priests and scribes reacted with distracted apathy.  They knew exactly where, Herod had given them the when, but they made no attempt to make their way to the Messiah.  Their preoccupation with their religiosity blinded them to THE moment in their nation’s history.  There is nothing wrong with religious ritual, but it is intended to be a means to Christ, and not an end in itself.

Our religious observance should be a tool in the hands of God to help us encounter Jesus Christ.  Once it becomes an end in itself, it becomes a blinding idol.

I am going to use the phrase “spiritual endurance” to describe how the Magi encountered Christ.  They had no political, military, religious, or social investment or expectation in the birth of the Messiah.  They did not journey in order to find their next political savior.  They endured their long and arduous journey to do nothing but worship.  They did not ask a thing, demand a thing, and they did not leave with a thing.  They endured the journey to do nothing but present gifts to a baby-to worship the King.

5.Read 1 Cor 2:7-8 and Hebrews 1:1-3 and relate them in a paragraph to the birth account of Jesus in chapter 2 of Matthew.

Ans.1 Cor 2:7-8 Gods word is a mystery, we donot & cannot fathom everything God made. He also is telling us in verse 8 that if the people knew all of Gods mystery they'd know automatically whom Jesus was & would not have crucified him.

Hebrews 1:1-3 God spake to his ancient people at sundry times, through successive generations, and in divers manners, as he thought proper; sometimes by personal directions, sometimes by dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by Divine influences on the minds of the prophets. The gospel revelation is excellent above the former; in that it is a revelation which God has made by his Son. In beholding the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we behold the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Father, John 14:7; the fulness of the Godhead dwells, not typically, or in a figure, but really, in him. When, on the fall of man, the world was breaking to pieces under the wrath and curse of God, the Son of God, undertaking the work of redemption, sustained it by his almighty power and goodness. From the glory of the person and office of Christ, we proceed to the glory of his grace. The glory of His person and nature, gave to his sufferings such merit as was a full satisfaction to the honour of God, who suffered an infinite injury and affront by the sins of men. We never can be thankful enough that God has in so many ways, and with such increasing clearness, spoken to us fallen sinners concerning salvation. That he should by himself cleanse us from our sins is a wonder of love beyond our utmost powers of admiration, gratitude, and praise.

6. What do you consider to be the theme and theme verse of Matthew? Explain the following terms and their relationships. King, kingdom, and subjects of kingdom. Which of these are sometimes referred to as servants?

Ans.Matthew's design is to present Jesus as the King of the Jew's, the long-awaited Messiah. Through a carefully selected series of Old Testament quotations, Matthew documents Jesus Christ's claim to be Messiah. His genealogy, baptism, messages, and miracles all point to the same inescapable conclusion: Christ is King. Even in His death, seeming defeat is turned to victory by the Resurrection, and the message again echoes forth: the King of the Jews lives.

Matthew presents Jesus as Israel's promised messianic King (Matt. 1:23; 2:2,6; 3:17; 4:15-17; 21:5,9; 22:44,45; 26:64; 27:11,27-37). The phrase "the kingdom of heaven" appears thirty-two times in Matthew but nowhere else in the New Testament. To show that Jesus fulfills the qualifications for the Messiah, Matthew uses more Old Testament quotations and allusions than any other book (almost 130). Often used in this gospel is the revealing phrase "that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled," which appears nine times in Matthew and not once in the other Gospels. Jesus is the climax of the prophets (Matt. 12:39,40; 13:13-15,35; 17:5-13), "the Son of man" (Matt. 24:30ff.), the "servant" of the Lord (Matt. 12:17-21) and the "son of David" (the Davidic reference occurs nine times in Matthew, but only six times in all of the other Gospels).

Jesus the King - A Jewish tax collector named Matthew writes to a Jewish audience to convince them that the King of Jews has come. By quoting repeatedly from the Old Testament, Matthew validates Christ's claims that He is, in fact, the prophesied Messiah (the Anointed One) of Israel. Everything about this King is unique: His miraculous birth and obscure yet carefully prophesied birthplace, His flight into Egypt, His announcement by John, His battle with Satan in the wilderness, all support the only possible conclusion - Jesus is the culmination of promises delivered by the prophets over a period of a thousand years. Thus God's redemptive plan is alive and well, even after four hundred years of prophetic silence.

 Matthew 16:16-19 and 28:18-20 - "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it  unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:16-19).

7.What is the relationship between a King and his subjects? Who establishes the rules?

Ans.A kingdom, as we all know, is a defined area containing a subject people, ruled by a lord or king, who defines the laws of the land and blesses all who faithfully serve him.

    The Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven as Matthew likes to call it) is similar to an earthly kingdom. God as a king and lord rules over his people, subject to his commands, and blesses them out of his gracious mercy. As we experience the Kingdom today, and as we will experience it in the age to come, we are actually entering into a promise made long ago - "I will be your God and you will be my people", Lev.26:3-13. Matthew wrote to the Jews to present Jesus as King of the Jews. The account is in Matthew 1:1-17.
     It begins by showing Jesus was a legal heir to the throne of David, by virtue of his lineage. This fact is immediately set forth in verse one, which states Jesus was the "son of David, the son of Abraham." His kinship to David the King of Israel is mentioned before that of Abraham, the father of Israel. King establishes all rules.

The kingdom of heaven is like. As in many of the parables of Jesus, this phrase does not mean that the kingdom of God is like any one element in the parable, but it is like the parable taken as a whole. In this parable, the kingdom of heaven is not like the king; it is like the parable in its entirety with all the things that happen in it.

In the parables of Jesus a king often stands for God. But if the king in this parable stands for God, the parable raises some disturbing questions about God's forgiveness, as will be seen below. The characters in the parables of Jesus are often morally questionable. Therefore one must look for the truth of a parable in the impact of the story as a whole, not in the moral quality of the individual characters in the story.

A king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. The reference may be to the custom of a gentile king who demanded an accounting from high officials to whom he had given the responsibility of collecting taxes from provinces within the kingdom.

8.Both Jesus and John the baptist preached, repent the kingdom of God is near. What does the word repent mean? Is this still a requirement? Both John and Jesus said one should bear fruit of repentance. What does fruit of repentance look like? True repentance is a GODLY SORROW" THAT LEADS TO REPENTANCE which involves a 'change of mind' or 'change of will or a permanent change of character and conduct. The word in the New Testament usually translated “repent” is the Greek word “metanoeo”.  It means “to change your mind; reconsider; or, to think differently.”  Granted, if a person changes his mind (repents) toward certain sins in his life, he may become very sorrowful and may even stop committing those sins, but this would be a result of repenting, not repentance itself.

When God tells an unsaved man to repent, He means for that man to change his mind about how to reach God and accept His way of salvation. When man sins, and then refuses the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to repent of it, this sin is the sin of blasphemy, thus making it unforgivable. Biblical repentance will sprout an eagerness for righteousness according to the revealed will of God.

John the Baptist preached about fruits of repentance prior to the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
Jesus himself spoke about fruits throughout his ministry. When a believer has received the new life which Christ promised, there will always be fruits of it. first fruit of repentance, which is humility and second fruit of repentance is urgency The way this fruit should continue to show up in our life is: we have come to the point of repentance and a realization of the seriousness of our sin; we experience the joy and relief of God’s forgiveness as we come to Him; we recognize that the cost of our forgiveness was Jesus’ death on the cross; understanding that our sin cost Jesus’ His life, we walk the journey of faith with the constant desire to become more like Him and to rid ourselves of the remaining sin in our lives. Not someday, but as soon as possible - because we recognize the urgency of the matter. The third fruit of repentance, which is change. Genuine repentance is that it leads to a changed life. A final fruit of repentance is dependance. Recognizing in our repentance that we have fallen short, we admit our sin and, as we just noted, pursue a changed life.

9.Read the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22. In a paragraph, relate this parable to the general teaching of Matthew. Give your interpretation of the parable.

Ans.The parable of the wedding Feast was told to many of the Jews who were plotting to kill Jesus. His purpose was to show them that they were without excuse for their rejection of Christ, and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, just as the parable of the evil husbandmen .

In the parable, a "certain king" who made a great supper in celebration of the marriage of his son, and invited many to come. He sent out servants to extend the invitation, but they were rejected. He then sent out more servants, and these were also rejected with lame excuses, and some of the invitees even went so far as to beat and kill the man's servants. This angered the king, and he sent forth his armies to destroy the ungrateful and evil invitees. He then sent out more servants, telling them to go out into the highways, and bid as many as they found to come to the wedding feast. The wedding hall was filled with guests, "both good and bad". During the feast the king went out about his guests and found a man who was not wearing his wedding garment, and questioned him about it. The man was speechless and without excuse, and the king ordered that this disobedient man be cast out of the wedding hall, and bound. At the end of the parable, Jesus gives the warning: "For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14)

The parable of the Great Supper heaps even greater condemnation upon the Jews who were soon to crucify their Messiah, because it details the rejection of a wedding feast by the King's servants, which is a gift given totally gratis, whereas in the parable of the evil husbandmen, their rejection of their master came after he asked of them some fruits of his vineyard, which He had provided for them, with the expectation that they would work in it. Since the parable of the wedding feast follows the other parable, it serves to amplify and make even more clear the great crime of the Jews, and indeed, all those who reject the God-man Jesus Christ. In the parable, the King is God, and the Son is Jesus Christ. The marriage is an allusion to the joy that is possible for those who are the bride of Christ, that is, the church. All those who love Christ, and live in the light of His commandments are joined to Him, in His body, as a bride and bridegroom are joined in marriage. The servants are the holy prophets, who proclaimed the coming of Christ by their words and deeds. The second set of servants also represents the prophets. God sent many prophets to His people, and from Moses to Zachariah, through john the Baptizer, their message was not heard and obeyed, and some of the prophets were even persecuted and killed. Our Lord in another place confirms this and accuses the Jews: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! {38} Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. " (Mat 23:37-38)

The one who "went to his farm" denotes those who are turned towards a life of pleasure and carnality - in this case the field represents the flesh, that is, the body. Many fools choose the pleasures of the flesh above the invitation of God to become holy.

The one who went to his merchandise represents sins of acquisitiveness, and worldliness. Certainly, many who call themselves Christians, and yet keep their pocketbooks tightly closed, and give not their tithe to God, are guilty of this sin! The parable of the Wedding Feast not only condemns the Jews who would reject Christ, but is also prophecies the coming on of the Gentiles. Highways lead away from the city, the heavenly Jerusalem. Unclean things were kept outside the city walls, and the Gentiles were also considered unclean. Highways twist and turn, and lead to many places, and this signifies the many and varied errors of the Gentiles, who knew not the true God. The kings servants brought good and bad into the festal hall, and the church has always been filled with good and bad. In the last day, the good will be distinguished from the bad, as tares from the wheat (which the Lord also spoke of in a parable). The good will be known by how much they became like Christ - how much they lived in the light of the gospel. The King passing among his guests represents the last judgment. We are admitted to the feast, that is baptized and brought into the church, at no cost, but we are given a "wedding garment" and charged to keep it clean. We sing in the baptism service: "As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Our Lord is good and pure, and we must desire to become like Him, and learn of Him, that is, to "put on Christ". This is what constitutes the wearing of a wedding garment. It is a life of repentance, and desire, and acceptance of God's mercy. At the last judgment, we will be examined - have we lived in the light we have been given? If we have not struggled to keep clean the wedding garment we have been given, all of our ingratitude and false way of living will be manifestly exposed, and there will be no opportunity for excuses. The angels will be Gods' servants in the last judgement: Our Lord's saying was partly directed towards the Jews, who were overly confident of their special position before God. They did not understand the meaning of this rebuke. God calls all, but chooses few, because few answer the call.

10. (A)Can there be a kingdom with the king or subjects missing? (B)In a kingdom who rules? (C)Who obeys the rules? (D)Who decides the rewards and punishments? (E)What does the word subjects suggest? (F)How does this all relate to the foreknowledge & fore-ordination of God, freedom He granted man, His faithfulness, and His desired fellowship? (G)What was the status of the relationship of the people of Malachi and God? (H) What about during the days of Jesus earthly ministry? (I) How about today?

No there cant be a kingdom  with no king or subjects missing.King rules the kingdom and people obey the rules .King decides the rewards and punishments. The word subject means authority. Malachi looks forward to God's coming. Malachi prophesies the coming of that "messenger" who will prepare the way for God--that is, John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for Jesus. There is a sense in which the attitude of the people depicted in Malachi is a mirror of our present secular world, for people today also want to measure God by the standards of human justice--if they do not want to do away with God entirely. Yet Malachi hits even closer to home than this. He not only describes the secular world of our age, but also the secular church of which we are often all too unfortunate examples.Old Testament verses as these state very clearly that God intends to set the Lord Jesus Christ up as King over the earth. There have been many kings to rise and fall throughout history, but God has in mind a PERFECT King for His promised Kingdom.

Coming to the New Testament we find that God still has this Kingdom very much in mind. Since this Kingdom wasn't established at the First Coming of Christ, it must be established at the Second Coming. God knew that the Jews would reject His Son; so He predetermined that Christ's shed Blood on Calvary would serve as an atonement for the sin of the world. This was God's plan all along--to come into the world and pay for the sins of all men (Jhn. 1:29; Rev. 13:8). So the First Coming was one of suffering and shame, but the Second Coming will be one of glory, honor, and praise (1 Pet. 1:10-12). The first time Jesus received a crown of thorns, but when He comes again He will have MANY crowns (Rev. 19:12). He was the "lamb of God" when He came the first time, but He will be the "lion of the tribe of Judah" the second time (Rev. 5:5). The First Coming gave Jesus Christ to the world, but the Second Coming will give the world to Jesus Christ! Just as David was chosen to be the king of Israel many years before he actually received the kingdom (1 Sam. 16), the Lord Jesus Christ has been chosen to take over the kingdoms of this world and rule as God's "KING OF KINGS" (Rev. 11:15; 19:16).