DECEMBER 30  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-16 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Lord as I come to the last days of another year that You have so graciously provided for us, my thoughts are turned to the wonders of Your Love which You have so graciously bestowed on such an unloveable creature as me. Lord Jesus, I know that aside from those Good Things You have given me and my family over the past year that there would be little to no good at all in my life were it not for Your Forgiveness of my many shortcomings and I would still be lost in my sin — BUT GOD, O the Mystery of God’s Love that has been given without condition or limit and we, the recipients of that UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF GOD, have experienced the Abundant Life.  As I look toward another year I confidently pray, not my will, but Thine be done!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was shown by circumstance to be the Messiah as recorded in the first four chapters of Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus Christ and starting with Chapter 5, Matthew records the Sermon on the Mount with which Jesus started demonstrating through His Life and Teachings that He was the Son of God and the long awaited Messiah. Jesus was first recognized as an extraordinary Teacher after the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the remaining writings of Matthew, Jesus then asked a series of Questions which would focus our attention on a specific topic or Lesson that Jesus used to explain to us “How” to live a life pleasing to “our heavenly Father”. 

The Lessons that Jesus Taught from His Questions were always built around an Example that Jesus Himself had Lived. That Jesus was Teaching Spiritual Lessons from God the Father was evident to everyone that had witnessed the Life that Jesus Lived and the Lessons of God that Jesus was Teaching. 

This Teaching of God and His Kingdom of Heaven “Fact” was best expressed in a conversation Jesus had with “a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He [Nicodemus] came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him.’” (John 3:1-2) 

Jesus went right to the “Point” of His Teachings: “Jesus answered [Nicodemus] and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3) Nicodemus knew that Jesus was Teaching about the things of God and if we study all the Questions Jesus used to introduce each Kingdom Lesson we too will know Jesus is the Greatest Teacher of the Mysteries of God that will ever walk the earth and in our “understanding” (that Jesus was so concerned about) of His Lessons that we also will “know” that Jesus IS the Son of God and was sent to bring Salvation to a lost and dying world. 

Jesus certainly didn’t ask Questions to gain “understanding” from us but rather, 

Jesus asked His Questions to impart “understanding” to us 

that we may know that God “so loved the world” (JOHN 3:16)  

…and that there were no limits to what God would do to impart Kingdom Knowledge to us in order to lead us “Home to be with our Heavenly Father”!!! 

The Gospel of Matthew begins: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ…” (Matthew 1:1) and ends with Jesus summing up His Lessons: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:19-20) 

Jesus never got off Point and Jesus never spoke without Teaching and for certain, after studying the Birth, Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus, we can confidently proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. 

To confirm to yourself the intent of The JESUS Questions, all one needs to do is “understand” that Jesus, the Son of God is asking the Questions directly to you and if you will give Jesus an “honest answer” — you will KNOW as did Nicodemus that Jesus is Teaching us about the Kingdom of God”!!! 

Once you “learn” what Jesus is Teaching, you will possess all the knowledge necessary “to become children of God…born not of…the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13) 

The study of Matthew introduces Jesus Christ as the Son of God and if we learn the Lessons Jesus Taught with His Questions we will be equipped to enter into God’s Labor with Him for the Kingdom’s Sake 

and 

as we stand before God at the Final Judgement we will hear God declare to us “Well done thy good and faithful servant…enter into My Rest!!!”  

DECEMBER 29 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-15 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 29  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-15   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer to JESUS    

JESUS, Your Grace has been sufficient for my every need, You have kept Your promise to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death and to lavish upon us the abundant life!  Lord, I started the year praying that each day You would fill us with Your Spirit and guide us through every situation and You have! Lord Jesus, today I simply lift my voice and my heart to You in Praise - giving You all the Glory - for You alone are Worthy - for You are my Passover that has delivered me from this body of death - Your  Blood is Victorious over the world and all its lusts that rob us of Your Joy and Peace - Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Praise to Your Holy Name JESUS!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was shown to be the Messiah by a series of prophecies that were fulfilled with the events surrounding His “virgin birth” and each one is unique in that each event came about as simple undisputed facts that could not have been controlled or manipulated by someone after the event itself occurred such as the lineage of His parents and subsequently because of His parents lineage Jesus was born in Bethlehem, none of us get to choose our parents or where we are born!  

Then when Jesus began His earthly Ministry He was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist who was the prophetic fulfillment of the forerunner of the Messiah and it was at this occasion that John declared about Jesus: “Behold [JESUS], the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!”. John, the Messiah’s forerunner, had been foretold thousands of years earlier and John’s declaration and message of “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and his claiming that Jesus was the “Lamb of God” are Biblical facts that point to Jesus as being the long awaited Messiah — all of which are historical facts that could not be made up by followers of Jesus after His death! 

These “FACTS” pointing to Jesus being the Messiah could not have been “manufactured as part of some conspiracy” after Jesus was crucified because the Jewish leaders who had Jesus crucified by the Romans simply would have disputed any “made up” events because the Jewish traditions are built entirely on the preservation of their lineage and in addition the Jewish leaders were well versed in the Jewish Holy Scriptures which are filled with the prophecies of the Jewish Messiah and would have corrected any false claims immediately. 

Add to those facts about John the Baptist fulfilling the prophecy of the forerunner of the MESSIAH and the Jewish leaders protecting their Jewish heritage, these same Jewish leaders were the ones that condemned Jesus to death in the first place because of His claim to be the Son of the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, these same Jewish leaders would not have allowed any sect of “blasphemers” to fabricate a story using the Holy Scriptures to put the religious leaders in such a bad light!  Then to add insult to injury, the Jewish leaders had to stand by and let all these “false fables” become The New Testament and become the most printed and most widely read book in the history of the world! 

If Jesus had not existed and had not the “facts” surrounding Him not been true, then those “fabricating blasphemy” would have been punished because history itself proves that the Jewish leaders had the “power” to put someone to death if they were guilty of blasphemy — indeed this claim that He was the Chosen One is the very reason they used to put Jesus Himself to death! The odds are absolutely astronomical that these many facts could be fabricated for one man especially when the facts bring so much “shame” on a group of Jewish leaders that were so “all-powerful” and had dedicated centuries to preserving their heritage and control over the Jewish traditions! 

Matthew, who was a Jew himself and an eyewitness to the life Jesus lived and knew full well the Jewish heritage that had been handed down to him through his Jewish family plus Matthew was a well-educated Jew who was taught the Jewish Holy Scriptures and prophecies of the Coming Messiah making Matthew indeed the best qualified person to recognize that JESUS FULFILLED PROPHECY and was indeed JESUS CHRIST, THE MESSIAH!!!  

Matthew had written his Gospel of Jesus account  C. A.D. 50 and that would have been contemporary with many of the powerful Jewish leaders that had  been responsible for Jesus being executed for “blasphemy” against the Jewish traditions and Holy Scriptures and had Matthew simply fabricated these “facts about the life of Jesus” then Matthew himself would have been stoned to death and his writings would have been utterly destroyed. The simple fact that Matthew’s Gospel still exists is proof that the Gospel is the TRUTH OF GOD and JESUS IS GOD’S SON!!! 

The body of evidence is so great that one must fabricate reasons NOT TO BELIEVE — it is not a lack of FACTS that prevents one from BELIEVING IN JESUS — no, as with all things relating to faith in anything, it is our own “BELIEF” in the “FACTS” that establishes our “FAITH” — even atheists have “faith” but God cannot be “dis-proved”!! 

Hence, everyone is left with the individual responsibility of determining where we will spend our “eternity” — and that final determination will be based on what you “BELIEVE” to be “TRUE” about “JESUS” because the FACT of ETERNITY does not exist outside the FACT OF GOD!  It was God Himself that declared when the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove after Jesus was Baptized in the Jordan, 

“You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11) 

There is no other man in all of history that can show from prophecy  past to prophecy future that He is the Son of God for we know from these God Protected and God Preserved Holy Scriptures that JESUS IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD — the facts prove it, but will you believe it to be true?

DECEMBER 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-14 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-14   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

Jesus, You Lord are the reason that there is HOPE each and every day, for we need Your Forgiveness, Mercy, and Grace on a daily basis! Just as You prayed to the Father for us (1) “Give us this day our daily bread” and (2) “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”,  let us daily take up our cross and follow You and depend on the Father’s will for our daily lives. 

Thank You Lord for Sacrificing Your Perfectly-Lived Sinless Life for our worldly lives so defiled and soiled with our daily iniquities — so we pray the Father, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever!”      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has been introduced by St. Matthew in his Gospel of Jesus Christ in such a manner that Jesus is revealed as the Messiah by 

(Proof #1) <<Matthew 1:1-17>> His genealogy, “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1) that proves Jesus to be “the Son of David” and “the Son of Abraham” thereby fulfilling the minimum requirement for the long awaited and highly anticipated Jewish Messiah who in Jewish eschatology is a future Jewish king from the Davidic line. 

(Proof #2) <<Matthew 1:18-25>> His “virgin birth” as prophetically written over 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah “Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 11:1,Isaiah 7:14, & Numbers 24:7,8a,16-17a) 

(Proof #3) <<Matthew 2:1 - 2:23>> Prophecies fulfilled by Herod about the Messiah’s birth being in Bethlehem - the city of David  (Isaiah 40:3, Jeremiah 31:15, Hosea 11:1, & Micah 5:2)  

(Proof #4) <<Mathew 3:1-17>> The testimony of John the Baptist the “forerunner of the Messiah” who was preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” (Matthew 3:2) John was baptizing in the Jordan all those that went out to him in the wilderness to hear his message of “Repentance” and “were baptized by [John] in the Jordan [after] confessing their sins…” (Matthew 3:6) and when John saw Jesus, John proclaimed Jesus the One that John had been sent by the Holy Spirit to “prepare the way of the Lord” (Matthew 3:3) and John also said when he saw Jesus coming to him in the Jordan, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) and finally 

(Proof #5) <<Matthew 4:1 - Matthew 28:20>> Matthew documents that Jesus by virtue of His Lifestyle, the Lessons and Parables that Jesus taught, and that Jesus with His Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection “proves” that JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, GOD’S ANOINTED, GOD’S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON”!  

Therefore, we end the Gospel of Matthew with enough evidence to prove, in any modern court, that Jesus IS the rightful Heir to His Father’s Kingdom — but just as it was true when Jesus walked the earth, it is TRUE that each of us in our modern world must view the “evidence” through the filter of “FAITH” and provide the final verdict for ourselves and honestly answer the single most important question you will ever be asked: for one day 

YOU WILL STAND  in His Presence 

and Jesus  Himself will ask YOU — 

“But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29)

DECEMBER 27 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-13 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 27  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-13   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS -Daily Prayer   

JESUS we thank You for Your daily Presence in our lives as we see You revealed by Your Holy Word and Your Holy Spirit. Lord I pray that in my life I will know that You are always there and if I fail to recognize Your Presence then may the Holy Spirit give me understanding that it is my own flesh that is blinding me to Your Presence — and that upon the realization that it is the darkness of the world which prevents my eyes from beholding Your Glory in my life that at the realization that it is me and not You, that I will take up my cross and be crucified with You and know that Your Spirit is Resurrected in us and You will illuminate our darkness with YOUR LIGHT! 

Lord, our daily walk is our “now” and our “daily walk now” is the only “time” we can experience GRACE! Only if we decrease and You are allowed to increase can we behold our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah! Forgive me of my daily shortcomings and my failure to see You working in my life — even so, come “now” Lord Jesus!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was first revealed by the Gospel of Matthew as the Messiah by circumstances beyond His control but were obviously circumstances ORCHESTRATED BY GOD as part of God’s Master Plan. 

Up to the point where Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan river, Jesus was validated as the Messiah by many external witnesses and circumstances such as Jesus being born in Bethlehem of Judea, being born the son of Mary (a virgin) who was betrothed to Joseph whose lineage could be traced back to King David. 

Jesus began His public Ministry after being baptized by John the Baptist who was the forerunner of the Messiah as written by the prophets. Jesus demonstrated by the way He lived, especially His Earthly Ministry from His baptism in the Jordan to His baptism on the cross that His Perfect Life and His Sacrificial Death is the greatest “witness” to the TRUTH OF GOD that JESUS IS THE MESSIAH!!!   Everything that Jesus does, He does at the direction of His Heavenly Father and His Message is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. 

The JESUS QUESTIONS themselves reveal His Divinity and witness to Jesus being the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, therefore let us look at one more detail of Matthew’s introduction of Jesus that is also a separate witness to Jesus being the Messiah and what His “Mission” and “Purpose” was in being born in the flesh, at this particular time, in this particular place, to these particular parents. 

Matthew starts his Gospel of Jesus Christ with “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1) and within this “genealogy of Jesus Christ” is further “witness” to God’s Master Plan of Salvation and Jesus being the Messiah sent to earth, taking on earthly flesh to Administer God’s Plan!!! Jewish tradition, from the very beginning, has always placed great importance on the “lineage” or “family line” and the main reason “lineage” was so important to Israel was because one’s “lineage” determined their “tribal inheritance”! 

Inheritance among God’s people is based upon the fact that at God’s directions, each Jewish tribe or “family” had received a particular portion of the “Promised Land” and for a person to inherit land in a particular area assigned to that tribe, the person had to produce “evidence of birth” that he was from that particular tribe. That “evidence” of birth into a “tribe” came through records of the family genealogy. 

The genealogy of Jesus therefore would determine His Inheritance and a close look at the genealogy of Jesus Christ reveals some very important “signs” or “evidence” of miraculous claims by Jesus as they relate to the “Purpose and Life of the Messiah”!!! This genealogy of Jesus revealed that Jesus through His Lineage was born “the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” (Matthew 1:1)  

Now is a good time to revisit the “book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” as listed in Matthew 1:1-17 and ask yourself about your personal lineage and understand the “Importance” of your “Spiritual Lineage” in “inheriting” your “portion of the Promised Land” that has been set aside for you in “the kingdom of heaven”!!! 

This investigation of your personal “Spiritual Inheritance” can be understood by reading what Jesus told Nicodemus in John Chapter 3 verses 1-21 which includes these two Promises by Jesus that address our “Spiritual Inheritance”:  

(Promise #1) “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3) and 

(Promise #2) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but [inherit] everlasting life.” (John 3:16) 

so by reading the “Promises of God” regarding your “inheritance”, you must ask yourself:

 “Have I received Him and claimed my Godly inheritance and my right to become [a child] of God by believing on the [Name and Person] of Jesus Christ.?” (See John 1:12-13)    

DECEMBER 26 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-12 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-12  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, praise the Name of the Only Begotten Son of the Living God. Lord Jesus, I write the Name “JESUS” and I marvel at both the “Name” and its “Meaning” but it is hard for our minds to actually understand the “fact” that Jesus IS the Son of the Living God! The other fact that is difficult to “wrap our mind around” is that the “Living God” who Loved the world with a Love that cannot be comprehended by mortal man would remain TRUE to HIS DIVINE CHARACTER and provide for our Salvation by “providing  Himself the Lamb”!  

Man who is flesh cannot conceive that the Living God who is SPIRIT would allow His Only Begotten Son to be born of a “virgin”, live a perfect life in the FLESH and then as part of God’s Master Plan for mankind, that the Omnipotent would offer His ONLY BEGOTTEN Son as the Atonement for the sins of the world? Why would a God that has unlimited Power and has absolutely ZERO need of mankind Sacrifice so much of Himself in order that we who have rejected and denied Him have a pathway to FORGIVENESS of our iniquities against God Most High ?!?! Surely, this is the “MYSTERY OF GOD” to be revealed when He RETURNS to “Bring Home” those that have “received” Him! Praise God for His Master Plan!!!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was known as the Messiah by all those that had been blessed by the angel’s declaration that “For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) and they “came with haste” to Bethlehem and saw with their own eyes the Christ Child laying in a manger. Jesus was next revealed as the Messiah to a man named Simeon in Jerusalem for after “eight days [after birth] were completed” it was customary for Jewish families to take the newborn males to the temple for circumcision. 

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, Mary and Joseph brought their Child named Jesus who was born in a manger in Bethlehem to Jerusalem to present Him to the LORD… “and behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” (Luke 2:21-26) Simeon being an official in the temple at Jerusalem and very familiar with the “Consolation of Israel” (which was a common name for the Messiah used by the Jews) and when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to him, Simeon was aware through the Holy Spirit of God that he was holding in his arms the “LORD’s Christ” ! Simeon said when “he took [Jesus] up in his arms and blessed God… ‘LORD, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:27-32) 

John the Baptist was among the few that had been informed by the angel of God or by the Holy Spirit Himself that the Messiah had arrived but had not seen Him — and unlike those that had beheld the Child in Bethlehem or Simeon who had seen the Messiah [Baby JESUS] in Jerusalem, John himself had not yet seen the Messiah even though John had been proclaiming about the Messiah, “but He who is coming after me is mightier than I…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11). John had been proclaiming the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” but John had not actually seen the Messiah in the FLESH — so when Jesus came to John to be baptized by John in the Jordan, it was at this “moment” that John saw the Messiah with his own eyes for the Holy Spirit revealed to John that this Jesus approaching him in the Jordan was the Messiah!!! John felt unworthy and tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized by him (see Matthew 3:14) but that is when 

Jesus publicly revealed Himself and John as prophecy being fulfilled! 

Prior to Jesus being baptized in the Jordan by John, Jesus had been revealed as the Messiah by a host of witnesses and by circumstances beyond His control and without any doubt all His prior circumstances had witnessed to the fact that 

God had a Master Plan and  Jesus IS  the “Anointed One”! 

Now here at the Jordan, prophecy was simultaneously being fulfilled in the sight of many more “eyewitnesses”, by John who was the “forerunner” of the Messiah, and Jesus who IS the Messiah — not by Jesus Himself, but by circumstances and other witnesses that proclaim that they saw the Messiah with their own eyes! But here at the Jordan Jesus begins His Ministry as the Messiah by declaring to John in the presence of those witnesses: “Jesus answered [John] and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” (Matthew 3:15) 

This is a good time for us to consider the great cloud of witnesses before us, that there are eyewitness accounts of thousands of individuals having seen the Messiah with their own eyes, and we ourselves should listen to Jesus and take His advice to “us” for “now” is the time for “us” to be led by the “Spirit” into His Presence and listen when Jesus, Who by the Holy Spirit, encourages us to: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” 

Remember — Today is the day of salvation and only through salvation can we “fulfill all righteousness”!!!  Are you like Simeon looking expectantly to see the Messiah??? Remember Jesus promised “Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened”!!! (Matthew 7:7)