Agnostic Guide Chapter 19.N01 - Bible Study - Matthew

Matthew

Ch1 1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.

We learned in Genesis that Adam and Eve spread humanity through their sons Cain and Seth with their respective wives who weren't from Adam and Eve. The Adam and Eve family tree isn't the tree for all of humanity because of the mysterious wives. It also isn't the tree for all of humanity because most people were wiped out in the flood anyway.

Noah descended from Seth and all humans were wiped out other than Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives. The Bible doesn't say who the wives were descended from or name them as the beginning of modern humanity so they could trace back to Cain, Seth, or other people. The Jewish Book of Jubilees says Noah's wife can be traced back to Seth just like Noah, so we might assume everyone is descended from Adam and Eve's son Seth if that's a useful assumption. The wives are a complete mystery even though this group of eight people is claimed to have repopulated the earth. You'd think their names would be important to preserve as much as Eve's name.

Abram/Abraham descended from Shem who was one of Noah's three sons. Abraham and his wife Sarai/Sarah were half-siblings from the same father so there's a twist to their family tree. Abraham had a son named Ishmael with his wife's maid Hagar. Ishmael was the father of the Muslims. He had another son named Isaac with Sarah when she was 90. Isaac was the father of the Jews. Abraham took another wife after Sarah passed but those 6 sons apparently don't matter as much as Ishmael and Isaac.

Isaac had two sons with Rebekah named Jacob and Esau. Jacob stole the birthright and blessings from his brother Esau. It's Jacob who's traced through this ancestry and he was a bit of a jerk.

Jacob had children with his two wives and their two maids all in the same household. He was renamed Israel by God. Jacob fathered Judah with his unloved wife Leah. Jacob really loved his other wife Rachel, so it appears the ancestry wasn't traced through the loving relationship.

15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

I skipped a bunch of the ancestry to get to another Jacob as the father of Joseph but look at that. This genealogy doesn't matter at all for Jesus. All of that tracing back up to Adam and Eve has nothing to do with Jesus since Joseph wasn't the sperm donor to impregnate Mary. Why did they bother writing about those connections? Moving on to other matters...

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

Let's start this response from the perspective of God. You want to create a flesh and blood version of yourself to roam around Earth for a bit. People need to believe it is you or your son so arriving in a miraculous way is probably good for proving divinity. Let's say a virgin birth can be proven and believed by the primitive people of the time. Why would you pick an engaged woman and impregnate her in a normal way before her husband has sex with her? God doesn't respect the sanctity of marriage at all with this choice when he could literally pick any woman on the planet.

The Umbrella Academy is a TV series and comic book which had a large number of women become suddenly pregnant at the full term stage. They became pregnant and gave birth all in one day. Now that would have been a real miracle to make a newly pregnant woman give birth before a large number of witnesses and do it all in a single day. You could even choose a completely unattached virgin for this gift of serving as the surrogate mother of God's son.

This story of the virgin birth is more easily explained as Mary had some sort of sexual encounter she didn't want to reveal to Joseph. She told Joseph she was still a virgin despite the contrary evidence of a growing baby bump. Whatever she did might not have been enough to break the normal evidence of her virginity or maybe they didn't check. I'm guessing there wasn't independent verification of Mary's purity for this story. I also don't see how God essentially raping Mary is a wonderful miracle. Then again, I didn't see what was so great about the behavior of Noah, Abram/Abraham, or Jacob/Israel.

Ch5 17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets and says the smallest letter or stroke will all be accomplished. Some people say the controversial parts of the Old Testament's morality are no longer applicable. This says every little bit of it in the "smallest letter or stroke" is still applicable.

21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25 Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

Murder is bad but the thought crime of anger is also bad and liable to the court. Considering someone a fool and calling them a fool makes you "guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." Jesus really condemns people who talk badly of others. It sounds as bad as murder as it is directly compared to murder here.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

Everyone who looks at a woman with lust is committing adultery. You should also chop off any of the bits of you that are causing you to stumble in this adulterous behavior in your mind. Shame on your dirty mind and the eyes which cause your adultery.

31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Jesus sees divorce as adultery in all circumstances except unchasity. Marrying a divorced woman commits adultery. I'm not sure there's a married man on the planet not committing adultery under these last two standards of conduct since lustful thoughts are the threshold. Married women and gay guys on the other hand can have all the lustful thoughts they want since it's only women causing adultery through lustful thoughts.

33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

We should make no oaths at all. Swearing on the Bible in court isn't good. Don't take an oath of office and an oath of office on a Bible is probably worse. You probably shouldn't make any contracts or swear allegiance to anything or anyone because it's all evil. It's an extreme view but it appears to be supported by this section and some Christians follow this practice. Why doesn't everyone? Haven't they read the words of Jesus?

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

This doesn't sound like the American Evangelicals at all who appear to want to take take from everyone to enrich themselves. This is the extreme of giving in to others who are attacking you. A get rich quick scheme would be to borrow everything from the Christians who are instructed "to give to him who asks of you." This is crazy advice. Even if most people followed it then those people will be taken advantage of completely by the few truly evil people in the world. Hmm, are the Evangelicals really the evil people in disguise?

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This bit is finally something nice to say without much criticism. Love everyone and pray for those who persecute you. It's a little telling that the sun rises and rain falls on everyone equally. There are no real rewards for being good or punishment for being evil and this admits the truth. He says you don't get rewards for loving those who love you and loving everyone is perfection. The kindness to evil goes too far in my opinion when you use this passage with the previous ones.

Ch6 14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

If I don't forgive others than our Father will not forgive me. I have to be the better man first and forgive people for my transgressions to be forgiven. I recall this rule conflicts with other forgiveness guidance that we haven't come across yet.

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Yep, there's some Christians are really missing this bit about wealth.

34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This one is fairly good advice as long as it's limited to worry and not advocating to be thoughtless or to not prepare for the future. There's random decent advice thrown in so I won't quote it all. I just mention it to say the person writing this wasn't stupid or wrong about everything. It also doesn't prove divinity or that this is the word of God by including decent guidance for life that any human could figure out.

Ch7 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

This isn't even remotely true. Ask, seek, or knock and your results will vary.

12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

This is flawed if the person reading it likes roughness, rude jokes, and other things that another person doesn't enjoy. It's better to treat people the way they want to be treated instead of how you want to be treated.

15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.

I think this tries to imply that good people do good things. If so, then it says good people can't do bad things and bad people can't do good things. This is not true at all and human character can change for better or worse. Every tree that does not bear good fruit currently doesn't need to be cut down if it's just a bad season for the fruit.

28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

This was just a human talking about human traits. It doesn't sound amazing and it isn't the most sound advice. It makes me think of the movie Life of Brian when Brian gets up and starts spouting whatever good things comes to mind to hide in plain sight as one of the proselytizers in a market. Some people think his words are pretty wise and start following him to find out more.

Ch10 32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Jesus came with a sword and not to bring peace on earth. He came to set people against their own families if they don't love Jesus more than anyone else like some kind of a narcissist. I noticed that the focus is on converting the younger ones and setting them against their elders. This also sounds like the tactics of a cult leader instead of someone who truly loves all of God's people as he claims. Either you really love everyone and want everyone to follow you or you work to drive a wedge between people. Both can't be true.

46 While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus is ignoring his human mother and brothers. This brings up an interesting thought though. Is Mary's DNA supposed to be in Jesus and these are half-brothers since his father is God? Maybe Jesus is completely alien to humanity and doesn't have the DNA of Mary. Either way, Jesus doesn't are about his family here.

Ch15 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Jesus criticizes some Pharisees and scribes for having exceptions to honoring their father or mother in defiance of the word of God for the sake of their tradition. However, Jesus said in Chapter 10:35 that he came to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother.

Ch17 20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 [But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]

You can accomplish anything and move mountains with faith. I haven't seen any demonstrations of this level of power for faith despite these bold claims even if it's not taken literally.

Ch18 8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

Here we are again with the self-mutilation to get rid of your problem parts. This is crazy if it's literal guidance. If it's figurative then what is suggested that we cut off and throw away from ourselves? Personality traits? Friends and family?

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him [w]ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Not once in this entire tale or anywhere else in the Bible is it said that slavery of another person is bad or evil. The heavenly Father is directly equated with a benevolent slave owner who decided to set a slave free instead of selling him along with his wife and children. It doesn't say that selling a slave was wrong and it's a natural part of the story as if this was about selling cattle. Why didn't Jesus ever preach against slavery?

Ch19 3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Remarriage after divorce is adultery unless immorality is involved. Previously he talked about unchasity and divorce from the woman's perspective. It appears a man can divorce and remarry women as many times as he wants as long as the women have never been married. A woman can only ever marry once unless she's a widow. The disciples said it's better to not marry so Jesus admits that's fine for eunuchs.

23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

If money and being rich is so bad then why do churches and some pastors of megachurches have so much wealth? If money is the true measure for worthiness of the kingdom of God then Christians should all be fighting over who is the poorest of the poor but they don't. Wealth isn't a measure of good and evil by itself as this passage suggests.

27 Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

People are supposed to forsake they're houses, family, and farms for Jesus. These are modern cult tactics potentially originated by Jesus if this is the first use of it. That last bit about "first will be last" is covered in strange story about a vineyard owner paying all workers equally regardless of how long they worked.

Ch20 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ 9 When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. 10 When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

It's a strange choice of a parable because it isn't a good example of ethics to pay everyone equally. I'm sure it's supposed to be about the rewards of God's kingdom being equal for all but it's an odd choice of story to say this is fine behavior and worthy example. You can and should do what you want as long as it's lawful to do what you wish with what you have. It's not a great moral example in this story.

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus said whoever wishes to become great shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first shall be your slave. Jesus doesn't preach against slavery and instead condemns some people to it.

Ch21 18 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

This is one of the first jerk moves I remember reading out when I was young. My first thought was that trees were God's creatures and that poor tree did nothing but not have fruit. The true miracle and the nice thing to do would be to make figs appear. No, Jesus made the tree wither instead. This version says it happened instantly and in another chapter we'll read that it withered the next day. Both can't be true so this is another error in the perfect book.

20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

If you have faith then you can wither a fig tree too. You can also cast mountains into the sea. I haven't seen any proof for this power of prayer. It's just not true even if this wasn't meant literally.

23 On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, 24 asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; 26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

I'm astonished at the teachings too but not in a good way. First, I'm astonished at this rule for a brother to take his brother's wife when he dies. Jesus says they are mistaken but not because it's a crazy requirement for a woman to pass from brother to brother until she has children. Apparently they're mistaken because marriages don't survive into death. That should mess with the minds of people who think they're joining their loved ones in the afterlife.

Second, God is the god of the living and not the dead. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean other than a clever way to try say we never die with God. Literally it means that when we die then he's no longer our God. If it really means that then it's an odd statement.

Ch23 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Why are priests in the Catholic Church called Father? Why are there church leaders who are called leader? Jesus said not to call anyone father or leader. The last bit is silly again to humble the people exalting themselves and exalt the people who humble themselves. If that's the known game then all you have to do is humble yourself to be exalted and then the whole attempt to humble everyone fails in a game of false humility. I think I've seen this in action with TV preachers.

Ch24 29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

I'm skipping through the end of times but want to point out Jesus had no clue about the true nature of the stars if he says they will fall from the sky. Well, unless the universe is imploding and everything is being sucked in to where our one star is sitting.

Ch25 29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It's a parable but here goes Jesus again about the slaves. This time it's a wicked lazy slave who is given as an example of the one who does not have along with two other slaves. This one squandered the opportunity when he was given a little money from his master so what he did have was taken away. The slave should be thrown out as worthless. What happened to the loving Jesus trying to lift everyone up? Is this only for slaves or all people? I'm a little confused by the morality of this parable.

Ch27 44 The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

The crucifixion story has this one bit that jumped out at me. The writer had to add insult to injury by having the other crucified people insulting Jesus. I'm sure that's something that comes to mind when you're being crucified yourself. You're just hanging around so why not join in the insults?

45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

We can look at the story of Jesus as the story of a possibly real person who believed what he preached. The superhero son of God narrative may have been added to the life of a real man. Maybe he said everything that's claimed was said and we get his miracles through trickery and storytelling. Prophecies are easy if you write about their fulfillment after they're fulfilled. If Jesus really believed he was the son of God then maybe this moment is when the belief in himself is shaken enough to ask God why he has forsaken him. There were earthquakes and it was seen that saints were resurrected but it's more likely just a story.

Ch28 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

It's funny to think of angels as aliens who came down and messed with people during Bible times. Some strange alien with appearance like lightning and a space suit as white as snow. The guards shook in fear of the alien. The alien brought Jesus back from the dead. The Bible could just as easily tell that story and we have no way to prove or disprove it just from the written word.

16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all separate beings. I remain doubtful. The Father allowed his Son to be sacrificed but if he knew there was a resurrection coming and it was just a momentary death in all of eternity then what's the big sacrifice? Also, why is all authority in heaven and on earth given to Jesus as the son? I thought God was in charge. Does the Holy Spirit get a vote and they run the universe as a committee? This is the end of Matthew but there's so many unanswered questions. Does Jesus disappear right after these last words or does he continue on for a bit? Is this why the story has to be told in four different ways in four different gospels? I'm sure the other stories end just like this one with at least very similar words if this is the true word of God or Jesus who is the real authority according to this last bit.