The teaching of Jesus in Matthew chapters 19 to 22
Advent 2021
I have been looking at Matthew’s Gospel since 2015 out of order, which is why I have a link at the bottom of each post, in case anyone wishes to go through it in order. This is the last section which I shall be looking at In Advent 2021 and hopefully completing in Lent 2022.
It has been a long time, in which I have learned a lot and had to contend with difficult passages as well as the easy ones, but it has not been a slog, but a time of Joy. The Bible is above anything else a book of love.
Matthew’s Gospel is a great choice for my autistic brain, as it is divided into five narrative sections each followed by a teaching section before the final narrative of the arrest, trial, execution and resurrection of Jesus.
I am starting in Advent because in Advent we think about a journey, Matthew’s narrative started with a journey from Galilee to Bethlehem for Jesus to be born in the City of David. This passage is of Jesus’ last journey south but it is no travelogue: Though we know that he took a route to the east of the River Jordan, through Gentile territory before crossing over near Jericho and from there up to Jerusalem, there is little about the places he and his disciples passed through. Instead, the story is told in the form of meetings with people along the way.
These are tales of people encountering Jesus, and I hope that through them we will have an encounter with Jesus as well.
Making an ass of myself 