This is Week 12 in Our Life of Christ Study

Please look at the "Bible Study" page to see what we did to prepare for this more detailed study.


We have been studying the book of Matthew section by section since the beginning of school - 12 weeks now - and enjoying every minute of it.  

To help us with our observations of the text, together we make up a few questions for each section after we read and I write them down in our notebook.  The next day, for review, I see if my student can answer them.  I'll be posting those questions in the days to come.

A sampling of questions for Matthew 1:1-17  The geneaology of Jesus Christ

1. In these verses, Jesus Christ is called the "Son of" whom?
2. How many men are mentioned in this genealogy from Abraham to David?  (including David)
3. What women are included in this part of the genealogy?  
4. How many men are in the geneaology from David to the Babylonian captivity?  
5. How many men are mentioned after the Babylonian captivity?  And what woman is included?
6. With whom does this genealogy end?  (later we'll compare this to the geneaology in Luke)

The following are other resources, besides the Bible, that we have used to enhance our study.  If one can't figure out the significance to the inspired writing of this genealogy, then these books explain it.  (Bible.org has free resources that would suffice.)


Since Jesus Christ is in the line of Abraham and David, He is qualified (among other reasons) to be the Messiah and fulfill the covenants made to these two men and recorded in the books of Genesis and 2 Samuel.  


Genealogies were carefully recorded and preserved in the Temple.  Anyone could go look Jesus' up, including Matthew.  His claim to be of Davidic descent is never challenged.  This is not why He was rejected.

All the books we use - not all necessary, but nice to have

A great spine for a study on the Life of Christ with a teenager.

A page from The Life of Christ: A Visual Survey

The New King James Nelson Study Bible

The Life of Christ: A Visual Survey

Bible Knowledge Commentary

The New Manners and Customs in the Bible

The Words and Works of Jesus Christ   - for interpretation of parables

The Reign of the Servant Kings - for interpretation of parables

"Getting Started in Studying the Bible" by Tony Garland addresses the money issue when buying Bible study aids.  He states the following:

Some Christians complain about spending money on Bible study aids. I hope you aren't one of them.  I see Christians routinely spend surplus money on electronic gadgets, movies, lattes and on DVDs and music, only to complain they can't shell out $60 bucks for a top-notch commentary that will serve them well all their lives!

Perhaps this may seem like a pretty big list. But you can focus on obtaining these books over time. Often they can be found in used book stores, or as used copies at online booksellers, for considerably less money. All of these are solid and will serve you well all your life.

"Selective Bible reading involves using the right bait when you troll the Scriptures." Howard Hendricks

On these index cards are six 'lures' that you can use with any text, six questions to ask any passage of Scripture from Howard Hendricks' Living by the Book.

I have a copy of these in my Bible. As we are going through the book of Matthew in our study of the Life of Christ, I ask these questions and write them down in our journal. The next day before we read the next section, we review by seeing if we remember the answers. If not, we look them up.

I have it printed on an index card and you can download a copy of it here.

We are on chapter 17 and it is the sixth week of school.

Bible Study is our favorite subject.

Living by the Book by Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks. Moody Press, Chicago, 1991.

Matthew 5:41 and 6:19

"And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two."

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, ..... for where your treasure is , then your heart will be also."

We are going through Matthew much slower than I thought we would. We are stopping to discuss each segment of Jesus' teaching. After we make our observations, we pull out the Bible Knowledge Commentary to help us with understanding.

Life of Christ: His Attributes

As we read a section of the Gospels like Matthew 12 we refer back to this graphic to see if we can find which of His attributes is being revealed. For example:

Love

Righteousness

Justice

Sovereignty

Immutability

Eternality

Veracity

Omniscience

Omnipresence

Omnipotence

v 25: "But Jesus knew their thoughts...", revealed His omniscience.

v32 "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but who ever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." reveals His sovereignty, righteousness, justice, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and immutability.

v 37 "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" reveals his justice and righteousness.

Try it. Pick a verse, any verse. Observe it carefully. Talk about it. Decide which of His attributes are being clearly revealed.

Life Of Christ Notebook

Last year we studied the Old Testament historical narratives. This year we continue chronologically by studying the life of Jesus Christ as told in the Gospels. At first, I was going to go completely chronologically using the book, Life of Christ: A Visual Survey by David L. Dawson, but then decided to just read through each gospel in the order of the New Testament. Dawson's book is still a good resource. After we have been through all four gospels, we will go through His life again using his book. This book comes with a great 15 foot colorful wall chart that shows the life of Christ. The book is worth buying just for that!

No one person's life is more important to study than the life of Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that we will know more about His than any other historical figure's by the time we finished this survey.

We are keeping a notebook of observations while we read. Actually, I am keeping it. My son hates to write. He will read it as a review in the future. I will post excerpts throughout the school year. So keep looking if you are interested!