Bible Study 8:00 AM PST 11/15/2025

Hello All, Below are the study notes for 8:00 AM PST 11/15/2025. I pray you are gathering enthusiasm for Matthew. Please have your Bibles handy. Pray also for the health of all of our brothers and sisters impacted by some malady. Miracles do happen! Please join us, our Zoom Link is below for this Saturday's session at 8:00 AM PST 11/15/2025. Please remember that we bless each other with your presence, and may the Holy Spirit bring you His wisdom and His peace. Join us!!! Pray that Joseph will join us. He and Cindy have been in India attending a wedding. As I understand their schedule, the wedding took place in an ancient church that has its roots in the evangelical work of St. Thomas. What a glorious opportunity! Zoom Link: For Study, Prayer and Fellowship - 8:00 AM PST 11/15/2025: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82968961343?pwd=LzcwVjJKcWVESDRURlhDcXlNV0JUdz09 Meeting ID: 829 6896 1343 Passcode: 77299ere: 11/15/2025 – Prologue – A logical syllogism: “Without virtue, civilization dies. Without religion, virtue dies. Therefore, without religion, civilization dies.” Thus Virtue is necessary for the survival of civilization. And religion is necessary for the survival of virtue. Therefore, religion is necessary for the survival of civilization. I am thankful to Peter Kreeft, PhD, for this syllogism which I have taken from his book, Back to Virtue, San Francisco: Ignatius, 1992. This syllogism builds on only one thing: Jesus and His command, “Repent, …” [Matt. 4:17] We will delve into this today and again in about a month. [Matt. 4:12-17] – Announcing the Kingdom – Matthew tells us there is something important: we need to know about what action He expected the people to take (Repent - the kingdom of heaven is near. This is central to who Jesus was; what He did; and what all the gospels say about Him. How do we grasp this? (Bible Study) Ask your friends what was the first word that Jesus spoke when he began to preach. It is important to understand kingdom of heaven. Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience. The Jews refrained from using the word ‘God’, (YHWH) thus he uses - heaven. “Kingdom of heaven” is used 32 times in his gospel. Mark, Luke and John never use it. Instead, they use the kingdom of God to make more sense. (Textus Receptus, 1516) In the political atmosphere of Jesus’ time, any 1st C. Jew would know that whichever term was used that it meant - revolution. (A fundamental and sudden change in a society’s political power, social structures, or an area of human activity. Radical, often violent.) Jesus and His followers plus most Israelites were not on the same page. Jesus grew up in the ‘shadow’ of kingdom movements. The Romans had conquered His home-land 60 years before He was born. They were the last in a long line of pagan nations to have dominion over the Jews. The Romans installed Herod the Great and then his sons as their puppet monarch. (Israel had four periods of domination {490 years}, the greatest being 110 years, 1020-930 BC, under Saul, David and Soloman. They were dominated by six other empires. {920 years} The Jews bristled under those regimes and their appointed rulers. They longed for a leader to take them into revolt; they wished to be restored to their former glory. But their revolt was potentially different from most because of what they believed about God and their chosen status. God had made promises, read their scripture. He would rescue them and put all things to right. God would become king of Israel, and the entire world. Thus, He would bring peace and justice. No king, but God! The Jews longed for this, prayed for this and prepared to die for this. (Zealots) Now Jesus was declaring God’s kingdom was approaching – fast! If you were idle, get out of the way. God’s kingdom meant danger and hope. Justice and peace were on the way and all people were to get prepared. Repent! A word that is often misunderstood. Do not only assume it means to personally feel sorry for yourself. Better to understand that - it means that what you do - matters – change direction – turn around – go the other way. Jesus believed some of the Jewish people (Zealots) were going the wrong way. They were inclined toward military resistance. Part of Satan’s temptation in the desert was to use His status as Messiah to become a military leader which would sweep Him to power and glory. But this was to fight darkness with darkness. Israel and Jesus were called to bring light into the world. NB: Matthew links Jesus’ early preaching with Isaiah; “… there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress …” [Isa. 9:1] “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” [9:6] Read it all. [9:1-7] Jesus knew that the earthly revolution (fighting and killing) to put an end to (fighting and killing) was nonsense. Doing it in God’s name was blasphemous nonsense. Jesus’ message of repentance was not only about self, but included the error of rushing toward the cliff of violence, as a nation. Go instead toward the light. It is clear – if light-bearers insist on darkness, that is their reward. If peace people insist on war, that is their reward. (Many Israelites were not seeking a peaceful resolution.) If the people chosen to bring forth God’s love insist on hating certain groups, then their hatred will crush them. The judgment will not be arbitrary - folks receive what they ask for. “… a man reaps what he sows, …” [Gal 6:7-9] That message is urgent today. Jesus’ work – death and resurrection – face the same challenges today. Are we working toward God’s kingdom of heaven in the kingdom of the world? Or are we in the way? [Matt. 4:18-25] – Jesus Calls His Disciples – Reality check. The folks that Jesus called were not upper class. Men with small businesses: they worked hard; hoped they would stay healthy, and able to earn enough to care for their families, with a small left over to accumulate. Their lives were hard, but moderately secure. Why did they give that up to follow an itinerant preacher? We see this choice made often today. How many comfortable lifestyles are abandoned to pursue: hope, honesty, integrity, faith, and love? The answer is found only in Jesus and the magnetism of His presence and integrity. We feel the same things His first disciples felt 2,000 years ago. His call comes quietly, barely noticeable, but growing in volume. Often, He calls people suddenly and dramatically as He did Peter, Andrew and Paul. Jesus has a way of getting through and some-how, we become aware of His presence and calling. We know what we are being asked to do. (Call to KG.) At least we know enough to follow Him, though, not necessarily all of what is ahead. “You will be catching people now?” What did that mean? What did Peter and Andrew think? Did they contemplate they would be crucified? Did James (He did not commit until after Jesus’ resurrection.) think he would be put to death by Herod a few years hence? They did not. Did Peter think a huge church would be named in his memory in Rome? Did Andrew think one day he would become the patron saint of Scotland and Russia? They saw neither glory nor pain as a young man walked by them on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. They saw only Him. It was not Jesus only that drew the disciples, nor the hundreds who came. It was His healing. Matthew will tell us more later. What he tells us now is that word went out - that people whose lives were tormented by every malady or disease were being cured by this extraordinary man. This is the only thing that explains the crowds Jesus drew – His display of a remarkable ability to heal. For Jesus the healings were signs of the new thing God was doing through Him. God’s kingdom – God’s sovereign, saving rule – was being released upon Israel, and the world, through Jesus. How could this not bring healing? What does it take for God to reach the people? Thus, Peter and Andrew found themselves not quietly working at their family’s craft along the Sea of Galilee, but among bustling crowds. Jesus was launched and they were a part. What would it take today? What could Jesus’ followers be doing today? – that would send people off with the word that something new was happening and that everyone should come quickly? AMEN! 10/11 Love, hank Hank Hohenstein, OFS Land Steward 161 Osprey Vista Shady Cove, OR 97539 Cell: 541-973-5442 hankhohenstein@gmail.com