“Answers for a study in the Gospel of Matthew” is a weekly post in addition to the regular “apologetics” posts on the weekend where the original questions can be found at the bottom of the study, and then answers appear here mid-week. This gives you time to do your own research, and then check your answers. Keep in mind these will be basic answers with a little depth, but you can go much deeper for discussion if you’d like.

2023 Fall – A Case for the Gospels: A study in Matthew

Matthew chapter 1:18-4:11

BASIC ANSWERS

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

Note: Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for Discussion or Going Deeper questions. If you use these kinds of sources share them with your group.

For the answers below, Scripture passages and quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

1.  Review of Class Topic: Before getting into the Bible study questions, discuss today’s class presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting or asking any questions.

Answers will vary…

Read Matthew chapter 1:18 through 4:11, then answer the following questions:

2.  (Matthew 1:18-2:12) After the genealogy is presented for Jesus’ legal authentication (keep in mind Matthew’s Jewish audience), the narrative moves into the birth of Jesus and some of the circumstances surrounding this event. Keep in mind there is additional information given in the other Gospels, especially Luke.

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” ⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 1:18-2:12 (NIV)

• What does this passage tell us about Joseph and his character (what was his initial reaction, his response to the Angel Gabriel and his final actions)?
  • Joseph was “a just man, and was unwilling to put Mary to shame” because he planned to divorce her quietly until the Angel Gabriel came and spoke to him, and explained everything that was going happen. (Note: The Law stated that she could be stoned to death for such an infraction)
  • Joseph had a choice, and because he appeared to be of good character, he chose to accept this difficult assignment which would of course lead to scorn and gossip throughout their life.
  • Joseph was a man of faith, and he was obedient to God because he “believed” the Angel Gabriel’s testimony and reference to the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy by Isaiah.
  • According to Chuck Swindoll: “Matthew goes out of his way to mention that Joseph didn’t have sexual relations with Mary as her husband ‘until she gave birth’ (1:25). So honorable and righteous was Joseph that he kept Mary sexually pure through the birth of the Messiah.” (Note: Joseph and Mary did have other children as indicated in Scripture, two of which wrote New Testament books, James and Jude).
• Who were the “magi,” why did they come, and what was Herod’s reaction?
  • The Greek word Magos refers to a “wise man and priest” who was an expert in astrology and various other occult arts (but they were not magicians or sorcerers); they were more like philosopher-sages or astrologers who engaged in the interpretation of dreams, sought signs in the heavens, and practiced other such forms of primitive science mixed with folklore.
  • It is possible they had also become familiar with Old Testament messianic prophecies through exposure to Jewish Scriptures like the books of Isaiah and Daniel, which would have been known among Jewish communities spread through Arabia, Persia, and Babylon.
  • They would have to have been wealthy upper echelons of society (maybe served in a royal court) to travel and bring gifts, but there are a few things that we typically think about the Magi that are not true: The Bible does not tell us how many Magi there were (usually depicted as three); The Bible does not say they were kings; The Bible does not say they rode three camels by night; and we don’t know their names.
• Cross-reference by reading in the Old Testament: Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:2-4, Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Numbers 24:16-17. What do these Old Testament prophecies (given hundreds of years before) say to support this passage about Jesus and these events?
  • There are three types of Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament 1) direct and clear, like Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12; 2) direct but veiled, like Genesis 3:15; 3) indirect and veiled, sometimes referred to as two-fold prophecies for then and the future, like parallels or foreshadowings such as the Passover lamb and certain figures like Moses and David.
  • Isaiah 7:14 – the Virgin Birth; Isaiah 9:6-7 – the Messiah would reign on the throne of David; Micah 5:2-4 – the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem; Jeremiah 23:5-6 – the Messiah would be of the line of David; Numbers 24:16-17 – the star and scepter shall come out of Israel.

3.  (Matthew 2:13-23) After being warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi returned to their own country a different way.

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 2:13-23 (NIV)

• What did an angel of the Lord tell Joseph to do and why – what did Herod do?
  • The Angel told Joseph “to take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” So, Joseph did as the Angel said, and they fled to Egypt (the Angel would later have them return to live in Nazareth after this Herod had died because Herod the Great’s son had taken his place).
  • When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him and gone home another route, he became furious (I’m sure possessed by Satan); and ordered that all the male children 2 years and younger be killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding region.
• Cross-reference by reading in the Old Testament: Hosea 11:1, Numbers 24:8 and Jeremiah 31:15. What do these prophecies say and how do they predict this incident?
  • Hosea 11:1 – A prophecy that “the son would be called out of Egypt.”
  • Numbers 24:8 – A prophecy that “God brings him out of Egypt.”
  • Jeremiah 31:15 – A prophecy about how “Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted because her children are no more.”
  • These are all veiled prophecies that are made clear now that they have happened in full.
• Going Deeper: Research the dynasty of the Herod’s – make a graph or chart of who they were and how they were related. You can go even deeper by researching the life of this particular Herod.

4.  (Matthew 3:1-17) In this chapter we meet John the Baptist…

3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

⁴ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:1-17 (NIV)

• Who is John the Baptist and what was the importance of the role he played in Jesus’ life?

Going Deeper: Where else in Scripture can we find information about John the Baptist, and how did he fulfill a role that was prophecized in the Old Testament?

From gotquestion.org

“Although his name implies that he baptized people (which he did), John’s life on earth was more than just baptizing. John’s adult life was characterized by devotion and surrender to Jesus Christ and His kingdom. John’s voice was a “lone voice in the wilderness” (John 1:23) as he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah to a people who desperately needed a Savior. He was the precursor for the modern-day evangelist as he unashamedly shared the good news of Jesus Christ. He was a man filled with faith and a role model to those of us who wish to share our faith with others.
Most everyone, believer and non-believer alike, has heard of John the Baptist. He is one of the most significant and well-known figures in the Bible. While John was known as “the Baptist,” he was in fact the first prophet called by God since Malachi some 400 years earlier. John’s coming was foretold over 700 years previously by another prophet: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken'” (Isaiah 40:3–5). This passage illustrates God’s master plan in action as God selected John to be His special ambassador to proclaim His own coming.
John’s birth was miraculous. He was born of elderly parents who had never been able to have children (Luke 1:7). The angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah, a Levitical priest, that he would have a son—news that Zechariah received with incredulity (verses 8–18). Gabriel said this about John: “He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He . . . will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, . . . to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (verses 15–17). True to the word of the Lord, Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, gave birth to John. At the circumcision ceremony, Zechariah said about his son, “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him” (verse 76).
John was related to Jesus, as their mothers were relatives (Luke 1:36). In fact, when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to Jesus, he also told her about John. When Mary was carrying Jesus in her womb, she visited Elizabeth, and John leapt in his mother’s womb for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice (Luke 1:39-45).
As an adult John lived a rugged life in the mountainous area of Judea, between the city of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. He wore clothes made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, the typical garb of a prophet. His diet was a simple one—locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). John lived a simple life as he focused on the kingdom work set before him.
John the Baptist’s ministry grew in popularity, as recounted in Matthew 3:5–6: “People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.” To be baptized by John was to admit your sin and repent of it—which was, of course, a great way to be prepared for the Savior’s coming. The repentance associated with John’s baptism also kept the self-righteous out of the water, as they did not see themselves as sinners. For the self-righteous, John had stern words, calling them a “brood of vipers” and warning them not to rely on their Jewish lineage for salvation, but to repent and “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:7–10). People of that day simply did not address leaders, religious or otherwise, in this manner for fear of punishment. But John’s faith made him fearless in the face of opposition.
The general opinion of John the Baptist was that he was a prophet of God (Matthew 14:5), and many people may have thought that he was the Messiah. This was not his intent, as he had a clear vision for what he was called to do. In John 3:28 John says, “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.'” John cautioned his disciples that what they had seen and heard from him was just the beginning of the miracle that was to come in the form of Jesus Christ. John was merely a messenger sent by God to proclaim the truth. His message was simple and direct: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2). He knew that, once Jesus appeared on the scene, John’s work would be all but finished. He willingly gave up the spotlight to Jesus, saying, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).
Perhaps there is no greater example of humility than what is seen in both Jesus and John in Matthew 3:13–15. Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by John in the River Jordan. John rightly recognized that the sinless Son of God needed no baptism of repentance and that he was certainly not worthy to baptize his own Savior. But Jesus answered John’s concern by requesting baptism “to fulfill all righteousness,” meaning that He was identifying Himself with sinners for whom He would ultimately sacrifice Himself, thereby securing all righteousness for them (2 Corinthians 5:21). In humility, John obeyed and consented to baptize Jesus (Matthew 3:13–15). As Jesus came up out of the water, “heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (verses 16–17).
Later, King Herod put John the Baptist in prison. Herod had married the former wife of his brother, Philip. John boldly spoke out against this marriage, much to the dislike of Herodias, Herod’s new wife (Luke 3:19–20; Mark 6:17–20). While John was in prison, he heard of all the things Jesus was doing. In what seems to be a moment of doubt, John sent his disciples to Jesus to ask if He truly was the Messiah. Jesus responded by telling the men to tell John what they saw and heard—prophecies were being fulfilled. Jesus never rebuked John; rather, He gave evidence that He was the promised Savior (Matthew 11:2–6; Luke 7:18–23). Jesus then spoke to the crowd about John, saying he was the prophesied messenger who would come before Messiah (Matthew 11:10; Luke 7:27; cf. Malachi 3:1). Jesus also said, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28).
John the Baptist’s ministry, as well as his life, came to an abrupt end at the hand of King Herod. In an act of unspeakable vengeance, Herodias plotted with her daughter to have John killed. Herodias’s daughter danced for Herod and his dinner guests one night, and Herod was so pleased that he said to her, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you” (Mark 6:22). The girl consulted with her mother before she answered that she wanted the head of John the Baptist on a platter (verse 25). Herod had been afraid of John, “knowing him to be a righteous and holy man” (verse 20), and so was loath to kill the prophet, but he had promised to give the dancing girl whatever she asked. Since John was already in prison, it was a simple thing to send the executioner to behead John, which is exactly what happened (Mark 6:27–28). It was a sad and ignoble end to the life of such a faithful man.”

• What did John the Baptist say to the Pharisees and Sadducees, why, and how did they react? Is there a veiled “end times” warning in what John says?
  • John called them a brood of vipers and knew that they would react (as they had done before) piously claiming Abraham as their father, as if that guaranteed them something special, instead of giving glory and allegiance to God.
  • In verse 12 we read: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”” This unquenchable type of fire is referenced throughout the end of the book of Revelation (see Revelation 20) and relates to the time of Jesus’ second coming when He will separate believers from non-believers.
• Where and how do we see evidence of the Trinity in this chapter?
  • In verses 15-16 we see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove; we see Jesus and the voice of the Father saying “this is my Son, whom I love” – all three are present at the same time. The Trinity teaches us that God is one in being, three in persons with specific roles that they play throughout Scripture and in our lives:  ¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

5.  (Matthew 4:1-11) In this section Jesus faces temptation by the devil in the wilderness…

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Matthew 4:1-11 (NASB)

• What three things does Jesus defeat in this encounter with the devil; what does Jesus use to answer the devil, and why?
  • Jesus defeated the original type of lies that Satan used at the Fall. Satan offers covered all of things that we see in our fallen human nature still today, and Jesus gives us hope of defeating these too: 1) Lust of the flesh – Jesus was told to turn the stones into bread as He was hungry after 40 days of fasting; 2) Lust of the eyes and 3) the Pride of life – Jesus was told to throw Himself down and to prove He was the Son; and to look upon all the Kingdoms of the world if He would worship him.
  • Satan was attempting to usurp Jesus’ authority and allegiance to the Father and to the Covenant Promise of God, but Jesus simply used the Word of God against Satan, and he fled.
  • Satan, from the beginning, has wanted to be God – therefore we see throughout Scripture and still today, his attempt to counterfeit everything of God’s.
  • Jesus shows us to use the Word of God and never speak directly to Satan.
• Going Deeper: Are there other places in Scripture we can cite where Satan temps humans in the same way? Near the end of the New Testament, the Apostle John warns believers about these same three things (Read 1 John 2:15-16) – what are they?
  • We find these same three things in Genesis chapter 3 at the Fall: The fruit of the tree looked good, was tempting to eat for satisfaction and Satan said that she would become like God – lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life.
  • We find this warning at the end of the New Testament from John for these same three things:

¹⁵ Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.  1 John 2:15-17 (NASB)

• Discuss: Read Ephesians 6:10-18. How does this section of Matthew and the Ephesians passage encourage us, and what should we do when we feel tempted, or attacked, by the things of this world?

Answers may vary but can include…

• We can take courage that Jesus defeated death and Satan on the cross and through His resurrection, and He will completely destroy them when He returns.
• We can, and should, use Scripture to pray, help us combat spiritual warfare, and to find comfort and peace from God.
• Reading/praying through the Ephesians 6 passage (as well as many other places in Scripture) will help us when we are in those times of trouble.

Please join us each week as we continue our case for the Gospels, and a study in the book of Matthew!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in!  Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

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Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15