Bible Session Monday April 7 - Matthew 4:12-25

Matthew 4:12-17 (student read)

*John the Baptist was put in prison for speaking out against Herod and the evil things he had done.

*Jesus leaves the area and goes to a lake near Zebulun and Naphtali fulfilling yet another prophecy.  So are, we are only halfway through the 4^th chapter of a 28 chapter book, and Jesus’ life has fulfilled 7 Old Testament prophecies.

*Several Bible commentaries I read state that Jesus left the area, because the people’s hearts were hard and they refused to hear the message of salvation. 

? Thoughts on that?

? What was the message Jesus began to preach? Repent the kingdom of heaven is near

? What does that mean?

Matthew 4:18-22 (student read)

*Matthew’s story about Jesus calling his first disciples always seemed so odd to me.  All he did was say, “Come, follow me” and they came?  Was this some sort of Jedi mind trick?  Did Jesus’ presence command and demand an audience, so those guys just heard his voice and followed him?

? Why do you think they left everything immediately to follow Him? 

*Luke 5:1-11 (read out loud) – Luke gives us an account of what lead up to the men going with Jesus.

*John 1:35-42 (read out loud) – John gives us even more back story.

*Sometimes you really can’t get the full picture of a Bible story without reading about it from different perspectives.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the 4 books of the gospel. The four authors are as different as choosing any 4 of you randomly to write an account of what you saw at Skate & Rec Night tonight.  Because of that, each author highlights the aspects he sees most clearly.  Matthew was a tax collector, Mark it seems wrote down the account of Simon Peter (once a fisherman), Luke was a physician, and John was a fisherman.  God inspired these men to write what wrote, but they each wrote as themselves with their personalities, careers, and positioning around Jesus and the events showing up in their individual accounts of the gospel.

? Why do you think God had 4 different accounts of the Gospel written?

Matthew 4:23-25 (student read)

*Jesus teaches, preaches and heals.  People came from all over to be healed.

*Most of us probably remember the catch phrase WWJD – what would Jesus do?

? Based on Matthew 4:23, what would Jesus do if he were here on earth today?
·         Teach in the churches
·         Preach the good news everywhere
·         Heal disease and sickness

Points to Ponder:

How can you be like Jesus?
How can you teach, preach and heal?
Think and pray about it this week.