Questions on the book of Matthew

[PikeTipper]

I'm almost finished with the book of Matthew and I have a few questions. If someone could help me out I would appreciate it.

Who are the Pharisees?

Why is Jesus referred to as the Son of David? Is this because he is a decendent of David?

Thanks for any responses!

[Chuck7]

The Pharisees are a strong religious group of the Jews . The 'big shots.'
They acted like they had it all together. Appeared to keep all the Mosaic Laws etc. But were found by the Lord to be hypocrites who layed spiritual burdens on others . Serious church politics.

Yes ,Jesus is called the Son of David because He was born in Bethlehem like David was. ,also as you stated He is from the same lineage as David.
Chuck

[Goose 11]

PikeTipper,

Who are the Pharisees?
Why is Jesus referred to as the Son of David? Is this because he is a decendent of David?

1. The Pharisees were a sect of the Jewish leadership. They were the most educated and were considered by the people as the most spiritual, Matthew 5:20. They were the larger sect of Jewish scholors. The smaller group was the Saducees, they made up the "other" part of the Sanhedrin. Kinda like the Democrats and the Republicans in our congress. The Sanhedrin had made most of the decisions for the nation of Judah since the Kings had become so corrupt and literally crazy around this same time. Saul of Tarsus, the guy who became the Apostle Paul, was a Pharisee,(Acts 23:6) before his conversion to Christianity. The Pharisees were very strict and claimed to follow the law perfectly. Yet Jesus pointed out a number of times how they had fallen short. They became threatened by the huge folling Jesus had and they decided to find a way to kill Him. Eventually they got it done, but of course the Lord rose from the dead! Throughout the New Testament the Pharisees are the "bad guys" so to speak. Because they had the trust of the people but lead them in a way that was not consistant with the truth of God.

2. Yes, Jesus is a decendent of King David. Check out Matthew 1:6, here we find King David in the geneology of Christ. This is a very important point because it was prophesied about in the Old Testament. (Acts 2:25-36 is quoting Psalms 16:8-11)
Hope that helps.
Trae

Edit: Good answer Chuck, I didn't see your answer until I had finished mine.

[Chuck7]

Nice answer Goose
Chuck

[PikeTipper]

Thanks a lot guys, that's kinda what I thought but wanted to make sure. So the Pharisees were supposed to be the guys with all of the answers but got put into place by a carpenter. Since they didn't believe he was the Messiah I can see why they wanted to get rid of him. I do have a few more questions if you guys don't mind.

If pigs were an unclean animal why did they have heards of them? Mark 5:14 Was there another use for them?

Also how common was it for the average Joe back then to have actually read the Old Testament books? Would the Pharisees have been shocked at how well versed Jesus was or did most people have a decent knowledge of the scripture?

[Chuck7]

If pigs were an unclean animal why did they have heards of them? Mark 5:14 Was there another use for them?

Also how common was it for the average Joe back then to have actually read the Old Testament books? Would the Pharisees have been shocked at how well versed Jesus was or did most people have a decent knowledge of the scripture?

I am not an expert brother but I wil try to help you the best I can.
Since Jesus was not accepted by the Jews He did most of His miracles around ' Galilee of the gentiles.' It is my guess tha tin that story that farmer was a gentile. Fact, 87% of the Lord's miracles were done around Galilee.

Next question.....Yes, they were shocked.I think it mentions that in one of the last daily Bible studies of the book of John. :They ask how He came to know all these things haven't been learned." However; it's hard to understand how a man can be so unteachable as these Pharisees.
Chuck

[PikeTipper]

Makes sense, thank you very much Chuck!

[Chuck7]

Your welcome

[mr-pirk]

Hello Pike Tipper
It looks like you are asking very good questions and getting very good answers.

One point "Also how common was it for the average Joe back then to have actually read the Old Testament books?". Not very common at all. Mostly folks relied on oral not written tellings of events back then.
It is sad to say but you would be very surprised at the hugh number of church going folks that have never read the whole bible in todays world.

One more point. When you read about the horrors that have been done in the name of God durring the medievil times a person should bear in mind that most folks of those times couldn't read and even of those who could, most couldn't afford the commentary books and thier own copy of the Bible.
This is one area that some folks use to bash Christians, they say "if God is so good then why were these things done in his name by the church".
Folks back then had to rely on men to tell them what the bible said. Till the time of the Guttenburg<sp> bible most folks didn't have access to scripture.

This was a very powerful tool the Pharisees used and also later churchs.

Thanks
Mr-Pirk