Encountering the
New Testament
Strategic Church Leadership
Development
Encountering the
New Testament
Why Study the New Testament
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
Why Study the New Testament?
2. More copies of the Bible have been
printed than any other single book in
human history.
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.
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.
Why Study the New Testament?
6. The Bible’s words are God’s words.
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.
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.
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.
Why Study the New Testament?
9. 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 selfexaltation.
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?
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).
Encountering the
New Testament
The Middle East in the Days of Jesus
The Middle East in the days of Jesus
1. The Land of Palestine.
45 miles wide
145 miles long
Galilee
Samaria
Judea
The Middle East in the days of Jesus
2. The History of Palestine.
Babylonians
Persians
Greeks
Maccabeans
Romans
The Middle East in the days of Jesus
2. The History of Palestine.
Babylonians
The Middle East in the days of Jesus
2. The History of Palestine.
Persians
The Middle East in the days of Jesus
2. The History of Palestine.
Greeks
Antiochus IV Epiphanes 175-164
The Middle East in the days of Jesus
2. The History of Palestine.
Revolt of the Maccabees
The Middle East in the days of Jesus
2. The History of Palestine.
Romans
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
In the fullness of time
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” (16:1619).
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.
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.
Matthew
STRUCTURE: Matthew records
five key discourses, each
concluding with the phrase
“when Jesus had ended.”
1. The Sermon on the Mount (5-7)
2. Instruction of the Disciples (10)
3. Parables of the Kingdom (13).
4. Terms of Discipleship (18).
5. The Olivet Discourse (24-25).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Luke
STRUCTURE: Luke can be divided
into four sections.
1. The Introduction of the Son of
Man (1-4).
2. The Ministry of the Son of Man
(4-9).
3. The Rejection of the Son of Man
(9-19).
4. The Crucifixion and Resurrection
of the Son of Man (19-24).
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” (20:3031).
KEY THEME: Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God” (6:69).
KEY PHRASE: Jesus is the “I am.”
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.
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
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
John 1
John 2
John 3
John 4
Jacob's well still stands.
The well is 150 feet deep
John 5
John 6
John 8
John 9
John 10
John 11
John 12
John 13
John 14
John 15
John 16
John 17
John 18
John 19
John 20
John 21
John 21