3/19 and 3/21: Matthew 14-18

 We'll spend Mon and Wed on  Matt,14-18, with a lot of focus on the sections in ch 16 and 18 printed below.  Some of the questions on the final:

Here's the "hell" video below..This will help during the  "Gates of Hell" passage in Matthew 16.  As you have time, keep comparing the Matt. 16 and 18 passages below, and ask questions about what certain items mean ("gates of hell,"  "bind and loose," etc.).  Use some three worlds methods to ask questions of the text.

(Who's Going to Hell? from D Y on Vimeo.)

----(more about Joe Wong --including full routine::Who The Hell Is Joe Wong?_

Matthew 16: 13-20 :When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you, Peter,  the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you, Peter, bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

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  Matthew 18:15-19 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.  But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^[ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
    “Truly I tell you, whatever you  [all of you]  bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you   [all of you]  loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
    “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them

Three reasons why understanding chapters 14-18

can't be fully grasped without realizing "THE RABBI FACTOR":

• -what do "gates of hell" and "on this rock mean"?(see VanDer Laan video)
• -what do "keys of Kingdom of heaven" and  "binding and loosing" mean ? (see below)
• -Jesus revisits the Bread/Economic testation big time in this section (see below)

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Chapters 14-18: This is the section leading up to, and including the 4th of the 5 teaching blocks:, the section we have called "Kingdom Communitas."  Remember how the themes of each teaching block seen to bleed over (forward) into the narrative section that predes it.
(click chart) 



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Note: this teaching block is right at the midpoint of the centerpoint of Matthew's "WITH YOU" inclusio, so this whole section must have a lot to do with God being with us in Jesus

Here are some observations we'll discuss as we look  at the "literary world" flow of this section:












>>>Interesting, not one ,not just two, not just three, but eight references to "BREAD" in this section:

 

Hmmm.  remember what Kraybill and VanDer Laan both said about Jesus revisiting versions of the three temptations throughout his life, and throughout the "targeted theological purpose" of Matthew?  (Below are some RVL mentioned)

• Jesus put God ahead of family ("Who are my brothers and sisters?"  "Whoveer loves father and mother more than me cannot be my disciple."-Matthew 12:46-48...in fact, how many ways can you find in that whole chapter  where Jesus re-encounters versions of one of the testations?
• When people reported Herod wanted to kill him, he was not concerned (Luke 13)
• When people wanted to make him king by force, he walked away  (John 6:15)
• When the crowds were hungry, the disciples  wanted Jesus to feed them.  He refused (Feeding of the Multitude)
• The "get behind me, Satan" comment to Peter when Peter suggested Jesus should bypass the cross (Matthew 18)
• "go ahead and use Your power; the cross is going to hurt" 

It would seem the word "bread" is intentionally meant to hyperlink back to the "bread" tempation.  So some excellent questions in this section woukld relate to this connection.  Remember: the bread temptation Kraybill calls economic, Van Der Lann connects to the Manna bread in wilderness, and Nouwen the temptation to be "relevant",
How do these play out in this section? 
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>>>>Note: Remember how important the KINGDOM us from 4:17-16:21.

Note Jesus shifts his focus away from public Kingdom proclamation in this section, and focuses on prepping his disciples for his death..

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>>>Here in this section we also see the centerpoint of at least three of our literary structures, for example use of the title "Son of God"  Note the use of
 the "Son of Man" begins here..later in Jesus life.  Why? l

>>>Jesus "reluctance" to heal the Cannaanite/Syrophenician/Greek (Read "Gentile") becomes a huge shift.  Did he come "Only for...Israel?

See:

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speaking of hell...(:

Here's some help on the Matthew chapters 16 and 18 discussion:

1)Here is the slideshow summary of the  Vander Lann video we'll show, "Gates of Hell":

 

Here are some more notes on it. 
>>How does it help you interpret the passage?

2)Rob Bell's discussion of the Bible and binding and loosing

should be

read, wrestled and reckoned with; especially since it deals with the rabbinic origin of the phrase.

It's the "YOKE" chapter of "Velvet Elvis"..
 Read it, pages 40-69 here.

Related:

• An Anabaptist response
• An unoffocial study guide to Bell.

>>How does this help you interpret the passage?

3)In light of the above, if you translate "bind and loose" as "forbid and permit"
>>How does this help you interpret the passage? 

4)The strange grammatical tense of the binding/loosing phrase  (literally, "Whatever you bind on earth has already been bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth has already been loosed in heaven"connects us to our diagram of the Kingdom.
It may help us see yet again that Jesus is encouraging his talmidim to actualize/act on/live from the power and worldview of

• the FUTURE .... "age to come" or  Kingdom inheaven,

even while living in

• the PRESENT..... or"this age"  on                      earth

>>How does this help you interpret the passage? 

 

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The closing video from today (Volume 6 : "In the dust of the Rabbi: Becoming a Disciple"/Session 2 - Galilee: When the Rabbi says, "Go") is not online, but here is a study guide someone made. 

Then we apply some "Three Worlds" theory to Matthew 18 and the topic of "Who is great?"

As we study, apply as many literary world symbols as you can

A video on that chapter featuring Keltic Ken: 

Related outtakes: 






Of LITERARY WORLD note:

• -This is the 4th of 5 teaching blocks in a parallelism.  Importance?
• In a chiasm,  this block is  related to the second.  How so?
• -Do you catch any chiasm?  (see below)
• -the "2 or 3" is teh center of the "WITH YOU" inclusio, and "2 or 3"  language hyprelinks to Deuteronomy 17:, 6, 15
• -There is a hyprelinked account in Matthew 16, there only Peter receives power to bind and loose, here all the disciples do
• -The parable hyperlinks to Luke 15, but with a different context/TTP
• Structurally, the last section of chapter 17 is connected
• Two inclusios place this section in the middle of a unit about taxes/rights  and children.  Implications---
• 
  

If you have your computer  Scriblink some diagrams with me:

Of Historical World note:

• What did you learn about a millstone from this video clip?:
  
  
  
  

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Matthew 18 Outline

(by Greg Camp/Laura Roberts):

1 Question #1: Who is Greatest?

2-17 Responses (each are counter proposals):

2-10 Response #1: Children

2-4 Counter Proposal: Accept children

5-9 Threat: If cause scandal

10 Show of force: Angels protect

12-14 Response #2: Sheep

12-14 Counter Proposal: Search for the 1 of 100 who is lost

15-17 Response #3: Brother who sins (counter proposal)

15a Hypothetical situation: If sin

15-17 Answer: Attempt to get brother to be reconciled

17b If fail: Put him out and start over

18-20 Statement: What you bind or loose

21-22 Question #2: How far do we go in forgiveness?

23-35 Response #1: Parable of the forgiving king/unforgiving servant

----------------Read verses 15-17 and then ask yourself:
"What did it mean in their historical world to treat  people like
"tax collectors and sinners?"

Two answers

1)Don't allow them in your bounded set.

2)How did Jesus treat  tax collectors and sinners? In a centered set way. Tony Jones writes: 

but because anyone, including Trucker Frank, can speak freely in this  church, my seminary-trained eyes were opened to find a truth in the Bible that had previously eluded me.”...That truth emerged in a discussion of Matthew 18's "treat the unrepentant brother like a tax collector or sinner.":

"And how did Jesus treat tax collectors and pagans?" Frank asked aloud, pausing, "as of for a punchline he'd been waiting all his life to deliver,"....., "Hewelcomed them!""

-Tony Jones, The New Christians, p.92

More on Trucker Frank here; he can interrupt my sermons anytime..

NOTE: don't forget how bug CHIASMS can get.. see Genesis 6:

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Click links on "literary world" discussion of the passage:

• MATTHEW 17:24-18:35
• “WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER”:LITERARY STRUCTURE AS A KEY TO MEANING IN MATT 17:22–20:19 BY DAVID M C CLISTER
• EXAMINING THE CHIASM OF MATTHEW 17-2

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We might see the whole unit as a chiasm with inclusio.  See below (copied from here):

Jesus foretells His death: Matthew 17:22-23

A. Jesus speaks of giving freely/sacrificing self: Matthew 17:24-27

B. Little children are the essence of the kingdom: Matthew 18:1-7

C. Sacrifice the body for the sake of the kingdom: Matthew 18:8-9

D. Do not despise what God values: Matthew 18:10-14

E. Entreating a brother about sin or offense: Matthew 18:15-17

>>F.Agreement between Heaven and Earth:   Matthew 18:18-20

E. Entreating a brother about sin or offense: Matthew 18:21-35

D. Do not despise what God values: Matthew 19:1-9

C. Sacrifice the body for the sake of the kingdom: Matthew 19:10-12

B. Little children are the essence of the kingdom: Matthew 19:13-15

A. Jesus speaks of giving freely/sacrificing self: Matthew 19:16-20:16

Jesus foretells His death: Matthew 20:17-19

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