Whether used as an individual Bible study or used for studying with a group, the Nelson Impact Bible Study Guide Series will deepen your knowledge and understanding of the Bible, book by book.

Written in an easy-to-read, interesting style, each study guide will help you to experience the true meaning of the messages of the Bible, and in turn, empower you to truly make a difference in the world for Christ.

Key Features Include:

• Timelines
• Fun cultural facts and probing questions
• Plenty of room for taking notes
• Biblical and present-day maps

Other study guides in the series include:

• 1 Corinthians ISBN: 1418506192
• Exodus ISBN: 1418506168
• Genesis ISBN: 1418506087
• Isaiah ISBN: 1418506095
• John ISBN: 1418506109
• Mark ISBN: 1418506184
• Romans ISBN: 1418506117
• Ruth & Esther ISBN: 1418506176

The Kingdom of Heaven

MatthewBy Edward (Les) Middleton

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2006 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4185-0866-1

Contents

Introduction.........................................................11 The Birth of Christ (Matthew 1–2)...........................112 Preparing for Ministry (Matthew 3–4)........................193 The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7).......................274 Early Miracles (Matthew 8–9)................................415 Preparing His Disciples (Matthew 10–12).....................496 Parables and Miracles (Matthew 13–16).......................597 Transfiguration (Matthew 17–20).............................698 Rejection (Matthew 21–23)...................................799 Toward the End Times (Matthew 24–25)........................8910 Death and Triumph (Matthew 26–28)..........................9911 Coming to a Close.................................................113How to Build Your Reference Library..................................115

Chapter One

The Birth Of Christ

Matthew 1–2

Before We Begin ...

What major biblical prophet (or prophets) prophesied the birth of Jesus centuries before it happened?

In what town in Israel did Jesus spend most of His boyhood?

Matthew 1

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

The first sixteen verses of the Gospel of Matthew present the genealogy of Christ by way of David's son Solomon. Thus, this genealogy is somewhat different from the one we are given in the Gospel of Luke, which traces Christ through another son of David, Nathan. Various commentators have written extensively on these two approaches to the ancestry of Jesus. Generally they agree that Luke's genealogy traces Christ through His physical mother, Mary, while Matthew traces Him through His legal father, Joseph.

Perhaps the divine intent for these two genealogies was for them to supplement and reinforce each other. In tandem they prove that Christ was unmistakably qualified as the true inheritor of the throne of David and as the true Jewish Messiah, no matter how his ancestry might be traced.

In 1:16 Matthew also indicates, via a feminine form of the Greek words translated "of whom," that Christ was born "of Mary" and thus that Mary was His physical mother. But this makes it even plainer, in contrast, that Joseph was not His physical father, further reinforcing Matthew's explanation of Christ's divine conception.

As a fascinating side note, Matthew lists four women in Christ's ancestry in addition to Mary, three of whom were not exactly "pristine pure" in moral terms, and one of whom was not born an Israelite.

Please read chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew and respond to the following questions.

Who were the four women included in Jesus' ancestry? What was it about these four that made each of them an unusual choice for that honor?

According to verse 17, how many generations passed between Abraham and David? How many between the captivity in Babylon and Christ Himself? What would therefore be the total?

Note that a Hebrew genealogy did not necessarily have to include all the generations. Can you think of any reason Matthew might have chosen two sets of fourteen ancestors?

In verse 21, what did the angel who appeared to Joseph say that the child who would be born to Mary, to be named Jesus, would do?

What was Joseph's reaction (v. 24)?

Matthew 2 Wise Men from the East

Chapter 2 of Matthew tells the story of the wise men from the East, who followed the star (commonly depicted as above the stable Christ was born in) and came to worship Him. This story is probably so familiar that you could answer the most likely questions about it, so let us focus on some of the other details!

According to the sequence of events here in Matthew, to what city did the wise men first come, asking where the "King of the Jews" had been born?

What famous ruler heard them, was troubled, and asked his own counselors what was going on? What did they tell him?

That ruler then called the wise men in for a secret meeting (v. 7). What did he ask them to do (vv. 7–8)? In an attempt to deceive them, what did he say he wanted to do?

What did the wise men do next (v. 9)?

To where were they led after that? By what means?

What did they do when they found the "young Child" and His mother (v. 11)? What three gifts did they present to Jesus?

What happened next to the wise men? Where did they go, and why?

The Flight into Egypt

As soon as the wise men had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph one more time.

What did the angel tell Joseph and Mary to do this time?

What did Herod do then (v. 16)?

Verses 17–18 tell us of a prophecy from Jeremiah, included in the "allusions" table on the next page. What was the gist of that prophecy—and did it come true?

The Home In Nazareth

The last four verses of chapter 2 tell of the return of Joseph and his family to Israel. What was the name of the king who succeeded Herod as ruler?

In what region of Israel did the family settle? In what city?

Pulling It All Together ...

• The legal father of Jesus Christ, Joseph, was a direct descendant of Abraham through David.

• Matthew does not tell us much about Christ's birth itself, but he makes it clear that Christ was born in Bethlehem.

• The wise men from the East followed a star to Jerusalem, were heard inquiring about someone who had just been born "King of the Jews," and were instructed by Herod to go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, find the one they sought, and tell him of the baby's whereabouts.

• The wise men found Jesus and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But they did not return to Jerusalem to answer Herod's questions; they traveled home by another route.

• Joseph received four separate directions from God. The first told him that it was honorable to make Mary his wife, because the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would save His people from their sins. The second told him to take the baby out of Herod's reach, down into Egypt. The third told him that it was safe to come back to Israel, but the fourth told him to turn aside from Judea into Galilee, where he and his family then settled in Nazareth.

Chapter Two

Preparing for Ministry 2

Matthew 3–4

Before We Begin ...

In chapter 3, John the Baptist had some strong words for certain people who came to see him in the wilderness. Without reading the chapter first, can you remember what he called them?

Can you remember what God said of His Son when Jesus was baptized?

Matthew 3 John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Chapter 3 begins with John the Baptist, surely one of the most fascinating characters in the Bible. The Gospel of Luke tells us more about him and his parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah—and the story of his own birth—so we'll save some of our discussion of John himself for that study guide.

George Frederic Handel must have found John the Baptist fascinating, too, for he used a quotation of Isaiah 40:3 to conclude the very first recitative (i.e., half-sung, half-spoken, mostly unaccompanied introductory lines) in his much-loved Messiah. Matthew included that same quotation from Isaiah in his Gospel; here are the words as...