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But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

- Luke 6:31

We tend to see this line used when parents are teaching their children how to interact with others.  While the verse is good for that, what about us as adults?  How are you treating the people you come into contact with?

Just four verses before the above verse, in  Luke 6:27, we see Jesus challenging his disciples to love their enemies and do good to them even though their enemies may hate them.  Jesus continues and instructs the disciples to bless those who curse them and pray for those who hurt them even going to the extreme of giving to anyone who asks.  The famous Golden Rule is found after all of this, “Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”

Jesus’ words and teaching are still true for us today.  How would your enemies describe the way you treat them?

Suggested reading:  Luke 6:27-36

This isn’t quick witted Grissom leading detectives to the culprits but just as CSI investigators lead us to guilty criminals in today’s crime dramas, Josh McDowell follows the trail of evidence and answers challenging questions in his book “The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict.”

During his collegiate days, Josh an agnostic, began writing a paper to disprove the claims of Christianity.  Over the course of this research Josh converted to Christianity based on the evidence he discovered during his research. The material of The New Evidence that Demands A Verdict is a compilation of Josh McDowell’s notes for a lecture series he spoke at called “Christianity: Hoax or History?”

Upon looking at the table of contents, The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict answers such questions as:

• How is the Bible Unique?
• How  did we get the Bible?
• Is the Old and New Testament Historically Reliable?
• Is Jesus who he really says he is?
• How does Christianity stand up when looked through the lens of archaeology?
• As well as many other questions.

I was first introduced to this book back in the early 1990’s.  A high school buddy and I were tasked with defending the Christian faith in a courtroom setting.  The collection of information that Josh has bound within this text provided a great wealth of evidence to the validity of the Christian faith.  This book is for anyone who is exploring the Christian faith or who is desiring to grow in their understanding of overwhelming evidence of the Christian faith.

Have you ever walked into the tail end of a conversation and wonder what started the discussion?  The conversation made sense as you were apart of it, but when you found out the origination of the conversation it provided greater insight into the discussion.  The same is true with the Bible.  The Bible makes sense as you read it, but once you know the origination of the book, one gets greater insight into what it says.  Over the next several weeks, PursuingHim.com will be sharing the skinny or overview of the origination of the books of the New Testament in hopes that this will provide some further insights for studying God’s word.  These articles coincide with our Spring 2009 Lunch Bunch called New Testament Challenge.  We’ll be starting things off with the book of Matthew.

The Book of Matthew

Publication Date: Most sources agree that the Gospel of Matthew was written between 50 – 70 A.D.

Author: While the author of the Good News of Matthew never tells us who they are, church tradition holds that Matthew wrote the text.  Matthew, (also known as Levi) was a tax collector who was an eye witness to Jesus’ life.  We can read about Jesus calling Matthew to “Follow Me,” in Mark 2:14.

Target Audience: The book of Matthew was written with the Jewish community as the primary audience.  Matthew wanted to show the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and how they pointed to Jesus as the anticipated Messiah.  He also wanted to convey the fact that Jesus is the King that the Jewish community was looking for.  We see the wise men ask “Where is the King of the Jews?”  We also see Pilate asking Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?”

Book Outline:

1. Prologue:  the birth of the King (Chapters 1, 2).
2. Narrative:  the preparation of the King (Chapters 3, 4).
3. First discourse:  the law of the Kingdom (Chapters 5-7).
4. Narrative:  the power of the King (Chapters 8, 9).
5. Second discourse:  the proclamation of the Kingdom (10).
6. Narrative:  the rejection of the King (11, 12).
7. Third discourse:  the growth of the Kingdom (13).
8. Narrative:  the mission of the King (14-17).
9. Fourth discourse:  the fellowship of the Kingdom (18).
10. Narrative:  the King goes to Jerusalem (19-23).
11. Fifth discourse:  the consummation of the Kingdom (24, 25).
12. Narrative:  the death and resurrection of the King (26:1-28:15).
13. Epilogue:  the great challenge of the Kingdom (28:16-20).

(The above outline is taken from Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary. (1967). Grand Rapids: Merrill C. Tenney.)

Want to read more? Read the skinny on Mark; a book of the Bible.