Introduction

I am doing something different for my Bible reading plan this year.  Last year, I read the entire Bible for the first time within a year.  Reading the Bible in a year is a great practice that has many benefits, but I decided to spend this year reading through the gospels.  I will read through each of the gospels repeatedly.  My goals in doing this are as follows

• to immerse myself in the teachings, works, and life of Jesus for a year
• to reach new understandings about who Jesus was, what He said, and how he manifested his message
• develop a mental outline of each book

Each week, I will post about that week’s reading along with my top insights and discoveries.  If you have not decided upon a Bible reading plan for 2016, I encourage you to consider reading through the gospels with me this year.

While reading through each book for the first time this year, I am looking for details and insights that I have not previously noticed.  I chose this approach because I have read the rest of the Bible since I last read the gospels, and that often reveals things I had previously missed.  Starting in Matthew, I read two chapters a day and jot down anything new in my journal as I read.

Matthew 2:1-6

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”  When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.   “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:   And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah: because out of you will come a leader who will shepherd My people Israel.””

This section stood out to me in a new way this year.  The Christmas Eve service we went to talked about this passage.  The pastor said the Jews knew all about the Messiah; the chief priests and scribes probably knew this information about the Messiah by heart.  The puzzling thing is that all of Judea was troubled by the information the wise men brought.  Israel had been waiting for the Messiah for 400 years.  They knew about the Messiah, and they wanted Him to come and redeem Israel.  Yet, for some reason, everyone found the news that the Messiah might be in their midst to be disturbing.  No one thought “I might want to go and see if what these men from the east say is true.”  No one responded with joy, or gratefulness, worship, or dancing.  They felt uncomfortable and disturbed.

Matthew 6:9–15 The Lord’s Prayer

““Therefore, you should pray like this: 

Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.] 

“For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.”

The final two sentences of this passage struck me.  When he is done, Jesus reiterates only one part of his prayer, forgiveness.  He makes sure he emphasizes the importance of forgiveness above everything else he just prayed.  He did not explain to them how to think of God as holy; nor did he expound on what our “daily bread” is.  Forgiving someone is difficult, and we do not do it naturally.  Most people suppress the wounds they receive from others and look for ways to retaliate.  That is not forgiveness; it is one-upmanship.  God does not play one-upmanship with us, and we should not play it with each other.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven; refuse to forgive, and you will not be forgiven.  This concept appears later in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt. 18:21-35).

Matthew 7:12

“Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets.”

From the beginning, God’s revelation to mankind taught us how to relate to Him and to each other.  The Law instructs us to love God (Exodus 20:1-2; Deuteronomy 6:4-9), and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus 19:9-18).  The Prophets delivered God’s message of judgement to those in Israel who did not love Him (Jeremiah 2-6) or their neighbors (Hosea 4:1-3).  The Golden Rule stems from the Old Testament command of love your neighbor, and loving your neighbor stems from love your God.  We cannot know how to treat others the way they ought to be treated until we know how God ought to be treated.