3/19-3/25 Matthew’s Gospel Lent Reading Plan

Introduction

As the journey as apprentices of Christ continues, this week we will conclude our reading and studying of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount then proceed further into Matthew’s Gospel. If you continue using this devotional by April 15th, we will finish reading the entire Gospel According to Matthew. If you did not begin reading it during the past few weeks, you are encouraged to watch a brief video on Youtube about the Gospels before you begin:

The Gospel by the Bible Project:

 

*If you do not have a Bible, consider downloading the YouVersion Bible App for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play for your smartphone or tablet. You can also use www.BibleGateway.com to look up and read various translations of Bible verses online for free.

3/12-3/18 Matthew’s Gospel Lent Reading Plan

Introduction

Our journey with Jesus in the Gospel According to Matthew for this week is a continuation of reading and studying portions of the Sermon on the Mount as we seek to live what Christ teaches us. If you continue using this Living Faith Devotional by April 15th we will finish reading all of Matthew’s Gospel. If you did not begin reading it during the past few weeks, you may want to watch a brief video on Youtube that is an overview about the Gospels before you begin:

The Gospel by the Bible Project:

 

*If you do not have a Bible, consider downloading the YouVersion Bible App for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play for your smartphone or tablet. You can also use www.BibleGateway.com to look up and read various translations of Bible verses online for free.

3/5-3/11 Matthew’s Gospel Lent Reading Plan

Introduction

This week we will continue our journey as apprentices of Christ by reading and studying more verses from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as we seek to live them. If you continue using this Living Faith Devotional, formerly called “Your Faith Journey,” by April 15th we will finish reading the entire Gospel According to Matthew. Matthew’s Gospel is one of four gospels within the New Testament of the Bible that shares an account of the life, teachings, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. If you did not begin reading it during the past few weeks, you are encouraged to watch a brief video on Youtube that was created by the Bible Project which is about the Gospels before you begin:

The Gospel by the Bible Project:

 

*If you do not have a Bible, consider downloading the YouVersion Bible App for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play for your smartphone or tablet. You can also use www.BibleGateway.com to look up and read various translations of Bible verses online for free.

2/19-2/25 Matthew’s Gospel Lent Reading Plan

Introduction

Lent is a season of forty days beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday, which is the day before Easter. The United Methodist Book of Worship reminds us that, “Historically, Lent began as a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by converts and then became a time of penance by all Christians” (page 320). You are encouraged to set this season apart. Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai with the Lord (Exodus 34), and Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness as the Spirit of God guided him (Luke 4). What will you leave behind or give up during these 40 days to be with the Lord? What faith practices/spiritual disciplines/holy habits will you utilize during this season to be shaped and formed more and more into the likeness of Christ?

 

In regards to this Living Faith Devotional, formerly called “Your Faith Journey,” you will be guided to read the entire Gospel According to Matthew during this season, beginning on Sunday, February 19th, then concluding on April 15th. Matthew’s Gospel is one of four gospels within the New Testament of the Bible. Before you begin the Matthew reading plan for Lent, you are encouraged to watch a brief video on Youtube that was created by the Bible Project which is about the Gospels:

Introduction for the Week

Welcome to the final two books of the Minor Prophets section of the Old Testament of The Bible. This week we will conclude our journey through The Book of the Twelve by reading portions of Zechariah and all of Malachi. The daily devotionals for this week begin on Sunday, which will be our practice during Lent as well. In regards to our focus after the Minor Prophets, this Your Faith Journey devotional will guide us to read, study, and to be formed as disciples of Christ through the Gospel According to Matthew during the Lenten season.

 

The prophetic ministry of Zechariah took place during the same time as the prophet Haggai. “The prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem” (Ezra 5:1 NRSV). Then in response to God’s message through the prophets the governor and priest “set out to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem” with the assistance of the people (Ezra 5:2 NRSV). Their ministries were after the collapse of the Babylonian Empire when the exiles of the Kingdom of Judah were living under the reign and rule of the Persian Emperor. Through Zechariah the Lord shared a message for the people of God to return to the Lord (Zechariah 1:3). Biblical scholars believe that the prophetic book of Zechariah is composed of two distinct written works with chapters 1-8 as the work of the prophet which may have been circulated with the written prophecies of Haggai, while chapters 9-14 were either written by the prophet’s disciples or by editors of the book at a later point in history. As you read and study it you will find that the book reminds readers and hearers of it that all the people of the earth should turn to God to worship him, while submitting to the Lord as our one true King (Zechariah 14:9).

Sunday (2/5)

Zephaniah and Haggai are the focus of our reading and studying as part of the Your Faith Journey devotional this week. The two books are part of the Minor Prophets section of the Old Testament of The Bible, which is also referred to as “The Book of the Twelve.” According to the Overview of the prophetic book of Zephaniah in The New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary, “Zephaniah functions as the southern counterpart to Amos in the Book of the Twelve, with the bulk of the message pronouncing judgment against Judah (instead of Israel) and the nations…Like Amos, Zephaniah’s oracles against the nations essentially end with judgment against God’s own people. Zephaniah concludes with a series of promises, both for the world at large and for Zion…which depicts the Lord, not a Davidic monarch, as king of the restored Zion.”

 

The prophetic ministry of Haggai takes place after the collapse of the Babylonian Empire when the exiles of the Kingdom of Judah are living under the reign and rule of the Persian Emperor. The Temple of the Lord that had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. continued laying in ruins for decades. The prophets’ message on behalf of God in 520 B.C. was to the governor of Judah and the priest of the Israelites serving in Jerusalem. The time had come for God’s house, the Temple, to be rebuilt so that God could “take pleasure in it and be honored” (Haggai 1:8 NRSV). Haggai’s message includes the promise of God’s blessings for his people once again (Haggai 2:19).

Sunday (1/29)

This week we will read Nahum and Habakkuk from the Minor Prophets section of the Old Testament of The Bible. The prophet “Nahum presents a message of devastation. Ninevah/Assyria is the primary object of God’s wrath in” this brief biblical book of “poetic pieces joined together by editorial transitions” (Overview portion of the book of Nahum in The New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary). According to the Introduction portion of the book bearing his name in the NIV Study Bible, “Nahum…uttered this oracle between 663 and 612 B.C…This would place him during the reign of Josiah and make him a contemporary of Zephaniah and the young Jeremiah.”

 

“Among the prophetic writings, Habakkuk is somewhat unique in that it includes no oracle addressed to Israel. In contains, rather, a dialogue between the prophet and God” (Introduction portion of Habakkuk in the NIV Study Bible). In verse 6 of the first chapter the prophet predicts the Babylonians invasion. “Habakkuk, like Jeremiah, probably lived to see the initial fulfillment of his prophecy when Jerusalem was attacked by the Babylonians in 597” B.C. (Introduction portion of Habakkuk in the NIV Study Bible).

Sunday (1/22)

As we continue reading and studying the books of the Minor Prophets section of the Old Testament of the Bible, this week we will read portions of Jonah and Micah. According to biblical scholar Tim Mackie in the Bible Project Overview: Jonah video, “Jonah is unique among the prophets of the Old Testament because they are typically collections of God’s words spoken through the prophet, but this book doesn’t actually focus on the words of the prophet. It is a story about a prophet.” The only other time Jonah is included in the Old Testament is during the reign of King Jeroboam II of the Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 14:23-25). Jeroboam II was yet another king who led God’s people away from the will of the Lord to do evil. “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD…which he had caused Israel to commit” (2 Kings 14:24 NIV). According to the NIV Study Bible, “this book is a narrative account of a single prophetic mission. Its treatment of that mission is thus similar to the accounts of the ministries of Elijah and Elisha found in 1 & 2 Kings, and to certain narrative sections of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.” In the Bible Project overview video, Tim Mackie explains that the literary style of this book is satire, with a rebellious Jewish prophet, pagan sailors repenting, the king of Assyria humbling himself before the God of the Israelite, as well as animals of the capital city of Assyria being “covered with sackcloth” as an act of repentance (Johan 3:8 NIV). The book reveals that Jonah was very upset with God’s mercy and compassion that he offered the Assyrians, the sworn enemy of the Kingdom of Israel.

 

The New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary published by Abingdon Press states in the overview of the book of Micah, “rich in imagery, metaphors, and intricate wordplays, the book of Micah presents itself as a word addressed to the people of Israel and Judah in the latter half of the eight century BCE during the reign of Jotham (742-735 BCE), Ahaz (735-715 BCE), and Hezekiah (715-685 BCE)…Together with Amos, Isaiah, and Hosea, Micah was one of the four great prophets of the eight century BCE…His name means ‘who is like the Lord.’” The overview in the NIB goes on to explain that “Micah makes clear that Israel’s God will not tolerate injustice rooted in and flowing from apostasy, idolatry, hypocrisy, the disregard for the Torah, and a break in the covenant relationship…yet the final word of the book as a whole offers a word of universal compassion (7:18-20).