Jesus Teaches

Collect for the Friday after Ash Wednesday Collect

Support us, O Lord, with your gracious favor through the fast we have begun; that as we observe it by bodily self-denial, so we may fulfill it with inner sincerity of heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus Teaches, the Discourses of Matthew 

One of the first things I do when I open a book is look at the Table of Contents.  It really helps me to “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the material I am reading when I know how it will be presented.  It helps to know how the ideas will be organized and the general structure of the argument or story.  While many of our Bibles have paragraphs or section headings, and some study Bibles have outlines in the introductory material at the beginning of each book, most of us struggle to read and understand our sacred scripture without the benefits that a Table of Contents would provide.  As we begin our study of the Gospel of Matthew it will be helpful if we keep our eyes out for one of Matthew’s key phrases.

“Now when Jesus had finished saying these things…”  This phrase or a slight variation occurs five times in Matthew.  And each time that it happens it marks the end of one of Matthews five blocks or units of Jesus’ teachings, what we call the “discourses.”  Matthew is a teacher and he wants us to remember the things that Jesus taught so he has organized them into these five blocks or discourses to help us keep track of what Jesus is saying.  

As we read the story of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel the five discourses come like breaks in the “action.”  The narrative is proceeding, the plot is progressing, and then the action slows or stops while Jesus teaches.  At the end of the teaching the Narrator, Matthew, resumes the story, picking up the action by saying, “Now when Jesus had finished saying these things…” (7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1).

In a Table of Contents the five discourses might be labeled in this way:

5:1 -   7:27               The Sermon on the Mount

10:4 - 10:42            Discourse on Mission and Discipleship

13:1 - 13:52             Parabolic Discourse (A collection of Parables)

18:1 - 18:35             Discourse on Life in the Community

24:1 – 25:46           Discourse on Leadership and the Coming Kingdom

As we make our way through the season of Lent, allowing Matthew’s Gospel to shape and form us on our journey, it might be helpful to refer back to this outline so that we have some sense as to where our next steps will take us.  

Written by The Rev. Andrew Jones

Rector

St. Andrew’s Church, Madison