Matthew: 1-7

I feel like I got pretty far last night, but when I went back to look at it I had only actually read seven pages. Out of 1140. I suppose that's an acceptable pace.

Matthew 1-2:

Mary got pregnant, Joseph was notably miffed until an angel told him it was cool, Jesus was born, the Magi brought him presents, and then they moved around a bit before settling in Nazareth. Everyone knows that story. I never got the part where just those handful of guys saw a star and said "Hey, our savior must be over there. Let's go!" but I'm sure I'll figure that out later.

Matthew 3:

John the Baptist seems kind of cranky so far. And he likes fire. But he got to baptize Jesus, which I'm sure left him pleased as punch. I had to look up who the Pharisees and Sadducees were--they were factions of Jews, apparently. Based on him calling them a "brood of vipers" (Matt. 3:7), either John was an Essenes or... I don't know. There's some debate about it. I found a good summary of the three factions here.

Matthew 4-7:

Here Jesus hangs out with the devil for a while, and then starts getting some disciples. He tells a few fishermen to quit fishing for fish and follow Him to fish for people (Matt 4:18-19), which amused me. Healing people apparently made him quite popular, at which point he begins preaching.

There are three passages that stuck out to me. The first was Matthew 5:11-12, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Basically I feel like I should put people on notice: When you're mean to Christians, they like it.

The second thing that I really noticed was what seems to be a contradiction. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says His followers cannot be hidden, like you don't light a lamp and then put it under a bowl. "Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Very shortly after, in Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus says to do all your Christiany things in secret! "Be careful not to practice in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." (Matt 6:1) He says specifically to give to the needy, to pray, and to fast in secret. That's certainly new to me.

The third is Matthew 5:17-20, in which Jesus says he's laying down The Law for reals this time, and there's no messing around. He says "Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the lease of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:19) This seems to imply there's a hierarchy once you get to heaven. I thought heaven was supposed to be a perfect place, so either being called "least" has no effect on you because you're already in a state of perpetual bliss, or heaven isn't a perfect place. I'll have to pay more attention to the details of heaven, I suppose.

The rest can be summed up pretty well in a "To Do and To Not Do" list, which I intend to continually update. So here's the things we've learned to do (or not) from Matthew 1-7.

To Do

To Not Do

♥ worship and serve only God (Matt 4:10) ♥ rejoice and be glad when persecuted (Matt 5:11-12) ♥ let your light shine before others (Matt 5:14-16) ♥ settle matters quickly with your adversary (Matt 5:25) ♥ do what it takes to stop sinning (Matt 5:29-30) ♥ give to the one who asks you (Matt 5:32) ♥ love your enemies (Matt 5:44) ♥ pray for those who persecute you (Matt 5:44) ♥ give to the needy in secret (Matt 6:1-4) ♥ pray in secret (Matt 6:5-15) ♥ fast in secret (Matt 6:16-18) ♥ ask for what you need (Matt 7:7) ♥ watch for false prophets (Matt 7:15)

♥ put God to the test (Matt 4:7) ♥ commit adultery (Matt 5:27-30)      ♥ look lustfully at women [people?] (Matt 5:28)      ♥ divorce (Matt 5:31-32) ♥ swear oaths (Matt 5:34) ♥ turn away someone who wants to borrow (Matt 5:42) ♥ store up earthly treasures (Matt 6:19) ♥ worry about your life (Matt 6:25) ♥ worry about what to eat or drink (Matt 6:25) ♥ worry about what to wear (Matt 6:25) ♥ judge others (Matt 7:1) ♥ take the easy (broad) way (Matt 7:13-14)

Color Legend

► A rule I will follow only because God says to. ► A rule I will not follow.
► A rule I would follow without God telling me to. ► A rule I don't think most Christians follow.

♥ Jesus said this one Himself.