The Bible in a Year

New Testament

1 John 3-Matthew 5
Special 2 Week Christmas Edition
Read this coming week:
Dec 20 Amos 1‐5, Ps 140, 1 Jn 3‐5 Dec 21 Amos 6‐9, Ps 141, 2 Jn, 3 Jn,
Jude Dec 22 Obad, Jonah 1‐4, Ps 142, Rev 1 Dec 23 Mic 1‐3, Ps 143, Rev
2‐3 Dec 24 Mic 4‐7, Ps 144, Rev 4‐6
Dec 25 Nah 1‐3, Ps 145:1‐13, Rev 7‐9 Dec 26 Hab 1‐3, Ps 145:14‐21, Rev
10‐12 Dec 27 Zeph 1‐3, Hag 1‐2, Ps 146, Rev 13‐15 Dec 28 Zech 1‐5, Ps
147, Rev 16‐17 Dec 29 Zech 6‐9, Ps 148, Rev 18‐19 Dec 30 Zech 10‐14,
Ps 149, Rev 20‐21 Dec 31 Mal 1‐4, Ps 150, Rev 22
Jan 1 Gen 1‐2, Ps 1, Matt 1‐2 Jan 2 Gen 3‐4, Ps 2, Matt 3‐4 Jan 3 Gen 5‐6,
Ps 3, Matt 5

Reading Questions
For next week’s readings answer the following:
• I John could also be titled “All You Need Is Love”.
But what is “love”’s definition as John seems to
use it and how might that differ from some of our
cultural definitions today?
• Why do you think we included 2nd and 3rd John in
the Bible? Could we have not left them out?
• Jude is a strong warning against going after false
prophets and false gods. What are the false
prophecies and gods we encounter on a regular
basis?
• Revelation 1 sets the scene for the revelation.
What do you learn about John and this vision that
he receives?
• Choose a church out of the 7 and outline what its
defining characteristics are both good and bad (if
present).
• Okay, here comes the “weird stuff” for the rest of
the book of revelation. What is the significance of
the scroll and the seals? (You may have to look
ahead to Rev. 8 and beyond).
• What are the terrifying pictures in Rev. 7-9?
• Some of Revelation is telling the story of salvation
“in miniature”. Can you see possible allusions to
certain Bible stories in some of the stranger
stories of Revelation?
• Who do the 144,000 stand for?
• Scholars argue about the role of ethnically and
religiously Jewish people in the plan mentioned in
Revelation. What verses would support or not
support the idea that ethnically or religiously
Jewish people are saved on the basis of their
ethnicity or religion?
• Revelation 19-22 gives Christians a picture of the
Resurrection. What do we have to look forward
to?
• Phew --- back to normalcy with Matthew --- Count
the number of people mentioned in Matthew’s
geneaology of Jesus. How many are there? Now
go back and count the ones that sound familiar to
you – how many sounded familiar?
• The first 3 Chapters of Matthew form the
“prequel” to Jesus’ ministry as Genesis formed the
“prequel” to Exodus and the Torah. What
events/things are interesting enough to Matthew
to show up in his introduction to Jesus’ ministry?
That spurious book…
Revelation been a questionable book throughout the
history of the church. Being one of the most difficult
books of the New Testament to interpret, theologians
throughout the ages have wondered about its relevancy
to Christians today.

Even today, the Greek Orthodox church has a rule that

the book of Revelation may be used as content for the
liturgy, but not for the basis of any theological idea.

Of course, the strangeness of Revelation has made it

one of the most popular books of the Bible as well.
People have used the book of Revelation to dream up
movies, books, and wild theologies that don’t
necessarily have anything to do with the rest of
Scripture.

When reading Revelation, it is key to come to the

obscure parts of the text as a student of theology and
history, seeking the meaning of the text both within its
context of early Christianity and its context for us today
(and at the return of Christ).

Usually, approaching the book in such a way as to

understand its more simple meanings and then delving
down into the deeper meanings that do not contradict
the simple meaning is the best way to try to interpret
Revelation.

Matthew’s account
For the next little while, we will be looking into the
Gospel of Matthew and how its text enlightens our
understanding of who Jesus is. Each Gospel account has
its own perspective and feel.

For instance, Matthew is one of the two Gospel accounts

that explicitly mention Jesus’ birth story. However,
unlike Luke (the other Gospel account with a strict
mention of Jesus’ nativity narrative), Matthew focuses
more on Joseph than on Mary.

Matthew’s Gospel is more likely to mention Jesus’ kingly

and royal nature, and how Jesus redefines the Davidic
line of kings. Additionally, Matthew’s Gospel seems to
mention common Jewish themes, but almost seems to
strike these Jewish themes down. It is my opinion (not
widely held, but not widely rejected either) that
Matthew’s Gospel may have been written to combat
Judaizers such as are mentioned in Paul’s letter to the
Galatians.

Merry Christmas to you and

yours! There will be no Bible
study on December 27th, we
will begin again on January 3rd.
Please don’t throw this away. If you’re not going to use it, leave it for
someone else to use.