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Encountering the New Testament

Discover the significance of studying the New Testament for church leaders. Explore the historical context, religious groups, and teachings found in this important biblical text.

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Encountering the New Testament

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  1. Encountering the New Testament Strategic Church Leadership Development

  2. Encountering the New Testament Why Study the New Testament

  3. Why Study the New Testament? 1. Many have died to protect this book from hostile authorities and pass it on to us. www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CN500APOSTLES%20FATE.htm

  4. Why Study the New Testament? 2. More copies of the Bible have been printed than any other single book in human history.

  5. Why Study the New Testament? 3. The Old Testament describes God’s ancient “testament” of His creation of the world and of humanity, their fall into sin, and God’s saving work over the centuries to undo sin’s disastrous consequences.

  6. Why Study the New Testament? 5. The New Testament describes the fulfillment of what the Old Testament promises. It is the “testament” of God’s saving work through Jesus Christ.

  7. Why Study the New Testament? 6. The Bible’s words are God’s words.

  8. Why Study the New Testament? 7. In a bewildering world of social change, political complexity, economic flux, and moral confusion, the Word of God is something firm to hold on to—it is absolute Truth.

  9. Why Study the New Testament? 8. The Bible draws us out of our laziness, doubt, and misery—and places us before One who hears, understands, convicts, and heals.

  10. Why Study the New Testament? When God Ran Almighty God, the Great I Am, Immovable Rock, omnipotent, powerful, awesome Lord, Victorious Warrior, commanding King of Kings, Mighty Conqueror. And the only time--the only time I ever saw Him run is when He ran to me, took me in His arms, held my head to His chest, said “My son's come home again," looked at my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, with forgiveness in His voice He said “Son, do you know I still love you?" It caught me by surprise, brought me to my knees when God ran. The day I left home, I knew I had broken His heart. I wondered then if things could ever be the same. Then one night, I remembered His love for me and down that dusty road ahead I could see. And the only time, the only time I ever saw Him run.

  11. Why Study the New Testament? • The Bible teaches us…  to love others (rather than violence),  to tell the truth (rather than deceit),  to esteem sexual purity (rather than self-gratification), and  to serve others (rather than self-exaltation.

  12. Why Study the New Testament? 10. The fact that the New Testament was written during the lifetime of eye-witnesses means that there was not sufficient time for legends and myths to develop. What type of person would lie and then die for a lie, knowing it was a lie, when that lie would not benefit anyone at all?

  13. Why Study the New Testament? The danger we face is one of reading into the Bible what we want to believe, rather than letting God speak to us directly from His Word. “A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions” (Prov. 18:2).

  14. Encountering the New Testament The Middle East in the Days of Jesus

  15. The Middle East in the days of Jesus • The Land of Palestine. 45 miles wide 145 miles long Galilee Samaria Judea

  16. The Middle East in the days of Jesus 2. The History of Palestine. Babylonians Persians Greeks Maccabeans Romans

  17. The Middle East in the days of Jesus 2. The History of Palestine. Babylonians

  18. The Middle East in the days of Jesus 2. The History of Palestine. Persians

  19. The Middle East in the days of Jesus 2. The History of Palestine. Greeks Antiochus IV Epiphanes 175-164

  20. The Middle East in the days of Jesus 2. The History of Palestine. Revolt of the Maccabees

  21. The Middle East in the days of Jesus 2. The History of Palestine. Romans

  22. The Middle East in the days of Jesus 3. Jewish Religion in Jesus’ Day. Unifying Factors: They had been chosen by the one and only God to fulfill a special destiny. The temple and synagogues. They would never again worship idols. The Messiah would defeat the Romans and usher in a time of universal peace.

  23. The Middle East in the days of Jesus Religious Groups: Pharisees About 6,000 members Aramaic for “separated ones” Added oral traditions to Scriptures Believed in God, angels, faith and good works, coming Messiah, and the resurrection. Jesus opposed them for their rigid legalism, hypocrisy, and their unwillingness to accept the kingdom of God as represented in himself.

  24. The Middle East in the days of Jesus Religious Groups: Sadducees A few thousand members Priestly aristocratic families Did not believe in angels, the coming Messiah, the resurrection, or life after death. Made common cause with their political enemies, the Pharisees, in condemning Jesus to death. Jesus opposed them for their false doctrines, and exploitation of worshipers.

  25. The Middle East in the days of Jesus Religious Groups: Essenes About 4,000 members Aramaic for “The Pious” Believed in angels, the coming Messiah, the resurrection, or life after death. Practiced communal living, rigid ascetic principles, celibacy, and frequent ritual washings. They were anti-temple and strongly legalistic in matters of ritual purity. They stayed to themselves at Qumran, just west of the Dead Sea.

  26. The Middle East in the days of Jesus Religious Groups: Zealots A few thousand members Those zealous for the law took matters into their own hands and sought by any means, including violence, to advance the cause of God. Although they considered themselves patriots, many of them were little better than sicarii, or assassins.

  27. The Middle East in the days of Jesus Political Groups: Herodians Not a very large group The party of Herod the Great Joined forces with the Pharisees in seeking to do away with Jesus.

  28. The Middle East in the days of Jesus Ethinic Group: Samaritans Mixed population of nearly 1 million. Forbidden to help rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, they set up their own temple on Mount Gerizim. They considered themselves to be Jews but worshiped in their own distinctive way. They were monotheistic, kept the festivals, were committed to the law, practiced circumcision, and looked for a coming Messiah. They responded to the ministry of Jesus and to that of the early believers after Pentecost. Samaritan priest waves with Torah scroll

  29. The Middle East in the days of Jesus Am ha-Aretz(People of the land) The vast majority of the common people. Religious views were closest to that of the Pharisees, but were despised by the latter as a mob that knew nothing of the law (Jn. 7:49). They were the common people who listened to Jesus with delight (Mk 12:37). They were the lost sheep who were the focus of Jesus ministry.

  30. In the fullness of time

  31. Matthew KEY QUESTION: How do we know Jesus is the Messiah—the Christ? KEY VERSE: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16-19). KEY THEME: Jesus is the culmination of promises delivered by the prophets over a period of a thousand years. KEY PHRASE: “The kingdom of heaven” appears 32 times in Matthew but nowhere else in the NT.

  32. Matthew CONTRIBUTION: Matthew develops the theme of the kingdom because the Jewish reader would wonder why Jesus did not establish the promised kingdom if He was indeed the Messiah. TEACHINGS: Sixty percent of Matthew’s 1,071 verses contain the spoken words of Jesus. PLACE: Matthew was placed first in the canon of NT books because it is a natural bridge between the Testaments.

  33. Matthew • STRUCTURE: Matthew records five key discourses, each concluding with the phrase “when Jesus had ended.” • The Sermon on the Mount (5-7) • Instruction of the Disciples (10) • Parables of the Kingdom (13). • Terms of Discipleship (18). • The Olivet Discourse (24-25).

  34. Mark KEY QUESTION: Why did Jesus come to Earth? KEY VERSE: “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant” (10:43-45). KEY THEME: Jesus is the active, compassionate, and obedient Servant who constantly ministers to the physical and spiritual needs of others. KEY PHRASE:euthus, “immmediately” or “straightway” occurs 42 times.

  35. Mark CONTRIBUTION: Mark uses brisk narrative to depict the diving Servant at work—with more emphasis on action than on words. MIRACLES: Mark records over half of Christ’s 35 miracles. PLACE: Almost 40 percent of this Gospels is devoted to a detailed account of the last eight days of Jesus’ life, climaxing in His resurrection.

  36. Mark STRUCTURE: Mark 1-4 emphasize the words of the Servant. Mark 5-10 emphasize the works of the Servant. Mark 11-16 emphasize the sacrifice of the Servant.

  37. Luke KEY QUESTION: How do we know God cares for us? KEY VERSE: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (19:10). KEY THEME: Jesus is the perfect Son of Man who came “to seek and to save that which was lost. KEY PHRASE: lost sheep, lost coin, lost son—the word “lost” occurs 7 times.

  38. Luke CONTRIBUTION: Luke plus Acts constitute 28 percent of the NT (Luke wrote 2,138 verses; Paul wrote 2,033). STORIES: Luke tells us of Zacharias, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the repentant tax collector, Zaccheus, and the two disciples on the Emmaus road. PLACE: Luke builds the credibility of the Gospel on the platform of historical reliability—and eyewitness accounts.

  39. Luke • STRUCTURE: Luke can be divided into four sections. • The Introduction of the Son of Man (1-4). • The Ministry of the Son of Man (4-9). • The Rejection of the Son of Man (9-19). • The Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Son of Man (19-24).

  40. John KEY QUESTION: What makes Christianity unique from all other religions? KEY VERSE: “These are written that you may believe the Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (20:30-31). KEY THEME: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God” (6:69). KEY PHRASE: Jesus is the “I am.”

  41. John CONTRIBUTION: John uses a highly theological prologue, seven “I am” statements, and seven signs to convince the reader of the deity of Christ. ALLEGORIES: John uses parallelism and allegories of the Good Shepherd and the True Vine to vividly describe Jesus. PLACE: John writes his Gospel for the specific purpose of bringing people to spiritual life through belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

  42. John STRUCTURE: Theological prologue, seven “I am” statements, and seven signs. SEVEN “I AM” STATEMENTS: 1. The bread of life 2. The Light of the world. 3. The Door 4. The Good Shepherd\ 5. The Resurrection and the Life 6. The way, the Truth, and the Life 7. The True Vine

  43. John STRUCTURE: Theological prologue, seven “I am” statements, and seven signs. SEVEN SIGNS: 1. Water into wine 2. Healing the nobleman’s son 3. Healing the paralytic 4. Feeding the multitude 5. Walking on Water 6. Sight to the man born blind 7. Raising of Lazarus

  44. John 1

  45. John 2

  46. John 3

  47. John 4 Jacob's well still stands. The well is 150 feet deep

  48. John 5

  49. John 6

  50. John 8

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