Sunday 28th February, 9am sermon by Rev Dr. Andrew Menzies
Questions for discussion
- What parts of your Christian journey to you find ‘backwards’ or ‘upside-down’ compared to western culture? Discuss.
- This message explained the repeat of Israel’s life, now though Jesus. Why did Matthew repeat this pattern? What was his aim?
1. Like Israel, Jesus was called with special status outlined in the genealogy
i. Showing that Jesus was an authentic king
ii. Jesus was an authentic Jew
iii. Jesus came for all humanity.
2. Like Israel, Jesus was led into Egypt
3. Like Israel, Jesus was led out of Egypt and into the wilderness
4. Like Israel, Jesus was led through the waters (of baptism)
5. Like Israel was given the law through Moses, Jesus now outlines the way to follow God though the beatitudes.
- Dallas Willard in The Divine Conspiracy says,
“Our commitment to Jesus can stand on no other foundation than a recognition that he is the one who knows the truth about our lives and our universe. It is not possible to trust Jesus, or anyone else, in matters where we do not believe him to be competent. We cannot pray for this help and rely on his collaboration in dealing with real-life matters we suspect might defeat his knowledge or abilities. And can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart? If he were divine, would he be dumb? Or uninformed? Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what we take him to be in all other respects and not be the best-informed and most intelligent person of all, the smartest person who ever lived?”
Any thoughts, reactions or reflections?
- How do you reflect on the first beatitude (Matt 5:3) and what does it mean in your daily life?