Bible Case

SUMMARY

The continual changes in governing structures that Palestine suffered were felt in many other areas of southern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East. Palestine however, may have been more volatile because of its position near the border of the Roman Empire, its religious distinctiveness-including the expectation that faithfulness to God brings national success and its memory of independent rule in the recent past, to say nothing of suffering under some less than competent administrators. So Jesus lived in an area and in a time of political insecurity. Remembering that will help us understand why his talk about the kingdom of God sounded political and dangerous in the ears of many.

Our survey of groups within Judaism demonstrates that it was a diverse religion in the first century, some scholars even prefer to talk about the Judaisms of the first century. Jews held different views about many things, even as they shared foundational beliefs in God and Gods covenant with them. This review of the political, social and religious environment of the fifth through the first centuries offers a glimpse into the backdrop of the world of Jesus.

The Gospels are not the kind of writings that most people imagine; they are not simple eyewitness accounts of what Jesus said or did. The evangelist draw on written and oral sources for the stories they tell about Jesus. They know that the same story can yield many meanings, so they work to limit those meanings by the ways they shape their accounts of events in Jesus' life.

We have also seen that the Gospel of John is quite different from the Synoptics. This is different from the Synoptics. This is the case, in part, because John relies on a different body of sources. The ways Matthew expands the story found in Mark adds new understandings of Jesus. Matthew established new links between Jesus and the previous acts of God in Israel's history through his fulfillment quotations. He also helps Jewish believers in Christ and live out that faith by remaining observant Jews. For Matthew, membership in the church does not take one out of Judaism; rather, Jesus; teaching helps them know how to live within Judaism as they recognize the new thing God has done in Christ.

Critical Analysis on Reading

The opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount indicate that this message deals with the inner state of mind and heart which is the indispensable absolute of true Christian discipleship. It delineates the outward manifestations of character and conduct of the true believer and genuine disciple. A dispensationalist, Lawlor writes: We do not find basic, fundamental Law here, for law cannot produce the state of blessedness set forth herein (cf. G. Lawlor, The Beatitudes Are for Today,p. 11). Rather, the quality of life herein described is the necessary product of grace alone. As Jesus states the outward