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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 51
immersed in Matthew,
a generation after Jesus lived.
The Jews living in Northern Israel
and Syria, who believed in Jesus
as their Messiah faced a strong
challenge during the Jewish Roman war.
In AD 66 to 70, most Jews in Southern
Israel moved north safely away
from the fighting around Jerusalem.
But the subsequent destruction of
the Jerusalem temple raised troubling
questions for Jews without the temple.
What was the future of Judaism?
Where would they find their focus and
identity groups led by the Pharisees
argue that they should focus on a
recommitment to the law of Moses as
interpreted in Israel's traditions.
These Pharisees saw the followers of
Jesus as a threat to this renewal,
especially since Jesus offered
new answers to their questions.
So the Pharisees sought to expel Jesus
followers from the synagogues cutting
off their ties to the Jewish community.
The gospel of Matthew was written to
help these followers of Jesus meet
this challenge and remain faithful.
Although later tradition identifies
the author as the Apostle Matthew.
The book never names its author.
Matthew's message is that Jesus really is
the culmination of all that came before.
Hence Matthew highlights various ways
Jesus fulfills and continues the Jewish
story as told in the First Testament.
First, Matthew presents a list of
Jesus ancestors organizing it into
three groups of 14 generations each.
The first group identifies Jesus
as a descendant of Abraham, whose
calling launched Israel's story.
The second group confirms that
Jesus is also the descendant
of David Israel's great king.
The third group of 14 begins
with real's, exile, and Babylon,
highlighting that Jesus has come
to save his people from their sins.
The list can also be viewed as
six groups of seven, presenting
Jesus as beginning the seventh.
Seven.
A special number of
completeness in Judaism.
Matthew is presenting
Jesus as the new beginning.
God's people have been waiting for.
Second, Matthew portrays Jesus as
a new Moses by recording parallels
between the two figures as babies.
They both escaped a pagan king who
was trying to kill Hebrew boys.
In addition, they both lived in Egypt for
a time, brought the people in instruction
from God, and went up a mountain
just before departing Moses by death.
Jesus by ascension, urging
God's people to go into the
land and live under God's reign.
Third, Matthew connects Jesus
to real story by organizing
Jesus life into five books.
This organizational pattern
reflects the Torah, the five books
of Moses in each of these books.
Matthew first describes what Jesus did
and then presents what Jesus taught.
Each teaching section concludes with
some version of the phrase when Jesus
had finished saying these things.
Overall, this combination of action and
teaching reveals the present expression
of God's renewal in our world, which
Matthew calls the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew's five books explore five themes.
The foundations of the Kingdom of Heaven
are built on a deeper righteousness
that leads people to act as true
children of your father in heaven.
The mission of the Kingdom of
Heaven demonstrates the mercy and
compassion of God by bringing people
freedom from disease and oppression.
The mystery of the Kingdom of
Heaven is that it begins in barely
noticeable ways and advances
through suffering and sacrifice.
The family of the Kingdom of Heaven
comprises a new community marked by
forgiveness, love, and restoration.
The destiny of the Kingdom of Heaven
is to bear witness to Jesus despite
persecution until the good news about
him has been proclaimed to all nations.
Matthew's story culminates with Jesus
winning the decisive victory over
God's great enemies sin and death.
In his real story, God's ancient
rescue of his people from Egypt
formed the pattern for all of
God's subsequent acts of salvation.
The Passover meal illustrated this
pattern and Matthew shows Jesus
observing a Passover meal with his
12 disciples and instituting a new
covenant right before his own sacrificial
death and powerful resurrection.
Jesus has brought a new exodus.
A great new rescue of his people.
Jesus the Messiah, has carried
Israel's story to its decisive moment
when the good news of God's kingdom
is announced to the whole world,
The gospel, according to Matthew,
this is a record of the ancestors
of Jesus, the Messiah, a
descendant of David and of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his
brothers, Judah was the father of p
Rez and Zira, whose mother was Tamar.
P Rez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amab.
Amab was the father of naan.
Nashan was the father of Salman.
Salman was the father of
Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz was the father of Oed whose mother
was Ruth Oed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose
mother was Beth Sheba, the widow of Uriah.
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Aja.
Eja was the father of Asa.
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the father of Isaiah.
Isaiah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah was the father of Manasa.
Manasa was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jo Jolla.
Ken and his brothers born at the
time of the exile to Babylon After
the Babylonian exile, Jo Jolla
can, jokin was the father of Chi.
Was the father of Zabel.
Zabel was the father of Abbi.
Abaya was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of aor.
AOR was the father of Zadak.
Zadak was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Elia.
Elia was the father of Zer.
Zer was the father of Mathen.
Mathen was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of
Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus,
who is called the Messiah.
All those listed above include 14
generations from Abraham to David.
14 from David to the Babylonian
exile, and 14 from the
Babylonian exile to the Messiah.
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born.
His mother Mary, was engaged to be
married to Joseph, but before the
marriage took place, while she was
still a virgin, she became pregnant
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph to whom she was engaged was
a righteous man and did not want to
disgrace her publicly, so he decided
to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
Joseph, son of David, the angel said,
do not be afraid to take Mary as
your wife, for the child within her
was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
And she will have a son and you
are to name him Jesus, for He will
save his people from their sins.
All of this occurred to fulfill the
Lord's message through his prophet look.
The virgin will conceive a child.
She will give birth to a son
and they will call him Emmanuel,
which means God is with us.
When Joseph woke up, He did as the
angel of the Lord commanded and took
Mary as his wife, but he did not have
sexual relations with her until her son
was born and Joseph named him Jesus.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem and
Judea during the reign of King Herod.
About that time, some wise men from
Eastern Lands arrived in Jerusalem asking
Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star as it rose, and
we have come to worship him.
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he
heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.
He called a meeting of the leading
priests and teachers of religious
law and asked, where is the Messiah
supposed to be born in Bethlehem?
In Judea?
They said, for this is what the
prophet wrote, and you owe Bethlehem
in the land of Judah or not leased
among the ruling cities of Judah, for
a ruler will come from you Who will
be the shepherd for my people Israel.
Then Herod called for a private
meeting with the wise men, and
he learned from them the time
when the Star first appeared.
Then he told them, go to Bethlehem and
search carefully for the child, and
when you find him, come back and tell
me so that I can go and worship him too.
After this interview, the wise men went
their way and the star they had seen
in the East guided them to Bethlehem.
It went ahead of them and stopped
over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star,
they were filled with joy.
They entered the house and saw the
child with his mother, Mary, and
they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasure
chest and gave him gifts of
gold, frankincense, and mur.
When it was time to leave, they returned
to their own country by another route.
For God had warned them in a
dream not to return to Herod.
After the wise men were gone,
an angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream, get up, flee to
Egypt with the child in his mother.
The angel said, stay there until I tell
you to return because Herod is going
to search for the child to kill him.
That night Joseph left for Egypt with
the child and Mary his mother, and
they stayed there until Herod's death.
This fulfilled what the
Lord had spoken through.
The prophet I called my son out of Egypt.
Hert was furious when he realized
that the wise men had outwitted him.
He sent soldiers to kill all the
boys in and around Bethlehem,
who were two years old and under.
Based on the Wiseman's report of the
Star's first appearance, Herod's brutal
action fulfilled what God had spoken
through the prophet Jeremiah, A cry was
heard in Rayma weeping in great mourning.
Rachel Weeps for her children refusing
to be comforted for they are dead.
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord
appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.
Get up, the angel said, take the
child and his mother back to the
land of Israel because those who were
trying to kill the child are dead.
So Joseph got up and returned to the
land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.
But when he learned that the new
ruler of Judea was Hart's son, ar.
He was afraid to go there.
Then after being warned in a
dream, he left for the region of
Galilee, so the family went and
lived in a town called Nazareth.
This fulfilled what the prophets had said.
He will be called a Nazarene.
In those days, John the Baptist came to
the Judean wilderness and began preaching.
His message was, repent of your
sins and Turn to God for the kingdom
of Heaven is near the prophet.
Isaiah was speaking about John
when he said he is a voice
shouting in the wilderness.
Prepare the way for the Lord's coming.
Clear the road for him.
John's clothes were woven from coarse
camel hair and he wore a leather
belt around his waist for food.
He ate locust and wild honey.
People from Jerusalem and from all of
Judea and all over the Jordan Valley
went out to see and hear John, and
when they confessed their sins, he
baptized them in the Jordan River.
But when he saw many Pharisees
and Sadducees coming to watch him
baptize, he denounced them, you
brood of snakes, he exclaimed.
Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?
Prove by the way you live, that you have
repented of your sins and turned to God.
Don't just say to each other, we're safe.
For we are descendants of Abraham.
That means nothing.
For I tell you, God can create children
of Abraham from these very stones.
Even now, the acts of God's
judgment is poised, ready to
sever the roots of the trees.
Yes.
Every tree that does not produce
good fruit will be chopped
down and thrown into the fire.
I baptized with water.
Those who repent of their
sins and turn to God.
But someone is coming soon who is
greater than I am so much greater
that I'm not worthy even to be
his slave and carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and with fire.
He is ready to separate the chaff from
the wheat with his winnowing fork.
Then he will clean up the threshing area,
gathering the wheat into his barn, but
burning the chaff with never ending fire.
Then Jesus went from Galilee to the
Jordan River to be baptized by John,
but John tried to talk him out of it.
I am the one who needs
to be baptized by you.
He said, so why are you coming to me?
But Jesus said it should be done for.
We must carry out all that God requires.
So John agreed to baptize
him after his baptism.
As Jesus came up out of the water,
the heavens were opened and he
saw the spirit of God descending
like a dove and settling on him.
And a voice from Heaven said, this is my
dearly loved son who brings me great joy.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted there by
the devil for 40 days and 40 nights.
He fasted and became very hungry.
During that time, the devil came and said
to him, if you are the son of God, tell
these stones to become loaves of bread.
But Jesus told him, no.
The scriptures say people do not live
by bread alone, but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
Then the devil took him to the Holy
city, Jerusalem to the highest point of
the temple and said, if you are the son
of God, jump off for the scriptures.
Say he will order his angels to
protect you, and they will hold you
up with their hands so you won't
even hurt your foot on a stone.
Jesus responded.
The scriptures also say, you
must not test the Lord your God.
Next, the devil took him to the peak of
a very high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
I will give it all to you.
He said, if you will
kneel down and worship me.
Get out of here.
Satan.
Jesus told him for the scriptures,
say, you must worship the Lord
your God, and serve only him.
Then the devil went away, and
angels came and took care of Jesus.
When Jesus heard that John
had been arrested, he left
Judea and returned to Galilee.
He went first to Nazareth, then
left there and moved to Capernaum
beside the Sea of Galilee.
In the region of Zebulon and Naftaly,
this fulfilled what God said through
the prophet Isaiah in the land of
Zebulon and of Naftaly beside the
sea, beyond the Jordan River in
Galilee where so many Gentiles live.
The people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in
the land where death casts its
shadow, a light has shined.
From then on, Jesus began to preach,
repent of your sins and turn to God
for the kingdom of heaven is near.
One day, as Jesus was walking
along the shore of the Sea of
Galilee, he saw two brothers.
Simon also called Peter and Andrew
throwing a net into the water
for they fished for a living.
Jesus called out to them, come
follow me and I will show you how
to fish for people, and they left
their nets at once and followed him.
A little father up the shore.
He saw two other brothers, James and
John, sitting in a boat with their
father, Zedi, repairing their nets,
and he called them to come too.
They immediately followed him, leaving
the boat in their father behind.
Jesus traveled throughout the
region of Galilee, teaching in
the synagogues and announcing
the good news about the kingdom.
And he healed every kind of disease and
illness news about him spread as far as
Syria, and people soon began bringing
to him all who were sick and whatever
their sickness or disease, or if they
were demon possessed or epileptic
or paralyzed, he healed them all.
Large crowds followed
him wherever he went.
People from Galilee, the 10 towns,
Jerusalem from all over Judea.
And from east of the Jordan River.
This concludes today's
Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.