May 3, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Chosen People

Chosen People

Genesis 17:9-14 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. ¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Who was to keep God’s covenant (verse 9)?

What is the covenant they are to keep (verse 10)?

Who is the covenant between (verse 11)?

What instruction is given for those “bought with your money” (verse 12)?

How long is the covenant to last (verse 13)?

What will happen to the uncircumcised male (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage help us understand about Jews and Gentiles?

Matthew 15:21-28 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Where did Jesus withdraw to (verse 21)?

Who cried out “Lord, Son of David” (verse 22)?

Who was “demon-possessed and suffering terribly” (verse 22)?

How did Jesus respond (verse 23)?

What did the disciples urge Jesus to do (verse 23)?

How did Jesus answer them (verse 24)?

What did the woman tell Jesus when she knelt before Him (verse 25)?

What did Jesus reply to the woman (verse 26)?

In your opinion, why can the woman accept the comparison to dogs (verse 27)?

What does Jesus recognize about the woman’s faith (verse 28)?

What happened to the daughter (verse 28)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage help us understand about Jews and Gentiles?

In your opinion, how does Genesis 17:9-14 help us understand the rejection of the woman by the disciples in Matthew 15:21-28?

Ephesians 2:11-22 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— ¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

What were the Gentiles by birth called “by those who call themselves “the circumcision”” (verse 11)?

What were the Gentiles “without” (verse 12)?

How have those “who once were far away” been brough near (verse 13)?

What have the two groups been made into (verse 14)?

How was “the law with its commands and regulations” set aside (verse 15)?

How were the two groups reconciled “to God” (verse 16)?

What was preached “to you who were far away” and “to those who were near” (verse 17)?

Who do both groups have access to (verse 18)?

What have the foreigners and strangers become (verse 19)?

Who is the “chief cornerstone” (verse 20)?

What does the “whole building” rise to become (verse 21)?

Where does God live “by his Spirit” (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage help us understand about Jews and Gentiles?

In your opinion, how does what is revealed in Ephesians 2:11-22 change the covenant made in Genesis 17:9-14?

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s interaction with the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 help prepare for the revelations of Ephesians 2:11-22?

1 Peter 2:4-10 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

⁸ and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Who has chosen “the living Stone” (verse 4)?

What are those like “living stones” being built into (verse 5)?

Who will “never be put to shame” (verse 6)?

What is the Stone “to those who do not believe” (verses 7 and 8)?

Why do people stumble (verse 8)?

What are the “chosen people” to declare (verse 9)?

Who are the ones who once “were not a people” (verse 10)

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage help us understand about Jews and Gentiles?

In your opinion, how does Peter’s statement in 1 Peter 2:1-10 (10) “once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God” apply to the descendants of Abraham who are part of the covenant of Genesis 17:9-14?

In your opinion, what does the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 help us understand about the “spiritual sacrificies” that 1 Peter 2:1-10 (5) says we are to offer?

In your opinion, what do 1 Peter 2:1-10 and Ephesians 2:11-22 help us understand about the building being built on the cornerstone of Christ?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, Matthew, Ephesians and 1 Peter teach us about Jews and Gentiles in God’s eyes?

In your opinion, how can the chosen faithfully declare God’s praises today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 26, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Out of Our Mouths

Out of Our Mouths

Malachi 2:1-9 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. ² If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

³ “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. ⁴ And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁵ “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. ⁶ True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

⁷ “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. ⁸ But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁹ “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

Who is the warning for (verse 1)?

What will happen if they don’t “resolve to honor” the name of the Lord (verse 2)?

Who will be rebuked because of them (verse 3)?

Why has the Lord sent “this warning” (verse 4)?

How did Levi react to the Lord (verse 5)?

What was in Levi’s mouth (verse 6)?

Why should “the lips of a priest” preserve knowledge (verse 7)?

What have the priests Malachi is speaking to violated (verse 8)?

Why has the Lord caused them to be “despised and humiliated before all the people” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what is important to God?

Matthew 15:10-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Who did Jesus tell to “listen and understand” (verse 10)?

What defiles someone (verse 11)?

Who was offended (verse 12)?

Which plants will be “pulled up by the roots” (verse 13)?

Why were the disciples to “leave” the Pharisees (verse 14)?

What did Peter want Jesus to do (verse 15)?

Who said, “are you still so dull” (verse 16)?

Where do the things that defile someone come from (verse 18)?

Where do “evil thoughts” come from (verse 19)?

What does not defile someone (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what is important to God?

In your opinion, how is the choice to not revere the Lord in Malachi 2:1-9 related to the defilement Jesus talks about in Matthew 15:10-20?

Hebrews 9:11-15 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

What did Christ come as the “high priest” of (verse 11)?

What was the tabernacle He went through “not a part of” (verse 11)?

How did He enter “the Most Holy Place” (verse 12)?

What does “the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean” do (verse 13)?

What will “cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death” (verse 14)?

What may we do when our consciences are cleansed (verse 14)?

Why is Christ “the mediator of a new covenant” (verse 15)?

Why did Christ die “as a ransom” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what is important to God?

In your opinion, how might Levi, as discussed in Malachi 2:1-9, be an example for those cleansed by the blood of Christ as described in Hebrews 9:11-15?

In your opinion, what hope do those who Jesus says are defiled in Matthew 15:10-20 find in Hebrews 9:11-15?

Titus 2:11-14 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

What does the “grace of God” offer to all people (verse 11)?

What does God’s grace teach us to say “No” to (verse 12)?

How does God’s grace teach us to live (verse 12)?

What is the “blessed hope” we wait for (verse 13)?

What did Jesus give Himself to do (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what is important to God?

In your opinion, how is Levi’s response to the covenant God gave him in Malachi 2:1-9 an example for the people who Titus 2:11-14 says are redeemed and “eager to do what is good”?

In your opinion, how do each of us, who recognize ourselves when Jesus says in Matthew 15:10-20 that the things that come from our mouths defile us, find hope in Titus 2:11-14?

In your opinion, how is the way we receive the “grace of God” Titus 2:11-14 proclaims described in Hebrews 9:11-15?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Malachi, Matthew, Hebrews and Titus teach us about the difference between being the blind leading the blind and living as people who have been ransomed?

In your opinion, how do we live and serve doing what’s important to God today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 19, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Active Love

Active Love

Isaiah 29:11-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” ¹² Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

¹³ The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
¹⁴ Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
¹⁵ Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us? Who will know?”
¹⁶ You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
    “You know nothing”?

¹⁷ In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
    and the fertile field seem like a forest?
¹⁸ In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
    and out of gloom and darkness
    the eyes of the blind will see.
¹⁹ Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

What does the person ask to read the scroll say (verse 11)?

What does the person who cannot read who is asked to read the scroll say (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why do people whose “hearts are far from me” come near to the Lord with their mouths and honor Him with their lips (verse 13)?

How will the Lord “astound these people” (verse 14)?

Who will have “woe” (verse 15)?

How do the people “turn things” (verse 16)?

What will the deaf hear (verse 18)?

Who will rejoice (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between words and actions?

Matthew 15:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’”

Where did the “Pharisees and teachers of the law” come from (verse 1)?

What did they accuse the disciples of not doing in “the tradition of the elders” (verse 2)?

What did Jesus suggest the Pharisees and teachers of the law broke “for the sake of your tradition” (verse 3)?

Who said “honor your father and mother” (verse 4)?

Who said that if something is “devoted to God” that it can’t be used to “’honor their father or mother’ with it” (verses 5 and 6)?

Why do they “nullify the word of God” (verse 6)?

Who did Jesus say was right about the “hypocrites” (verse 7)?

Where are the people’s hearts (verse 8)?

What are “their teachings” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between words and actions?

In your opinion, how does the prophecy in Isaiah 29:11-19 help Jesus expose a problem in Matthew 15:1-9?

Romans 14:10-19 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. ¹⁴ I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. ¹⁵ If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸ because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

¹⁹ Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Where will we “all stand” (verse 10)?

What will “every tongue” do (verse 11)?

Who will “each of us” give an account of ourselves to (verse 12)?

What should each of us make up our minds not to do (verse 13)?

What was Paul convinced of (verse 14)?

Who is something unclean for (verse 14)?

What shouldn’t we let our “eating” (or other activities) do (verse 15)?

What shouldn’t be spoken of as evil (verse 16)?

What is the kingdom of God “a matter . . . of” (verse 17)?

Who is “pleasing to God and receives human approval” (verse 18)?

What should we “make every effort to do” (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between words and actions?

In your opinion, how do both Isaiah 29:11-19 and Romans 14:10-19 reveal problems with adhering to human rules only?

In your opinion, how do both Matthew 15:1-9 and Romans 14:10-19 help us identify heart problems?

2 John 1:4-9 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. ⁵ And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. ⁶ And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

⁷ I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. ⁹ Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 

What has given John “great joy” (verse 4)?

When did we get the command to “love one another” (verse 5)?

What is love (verse 6)?

Who “is the deceiver and the antichrist” (verse 7)?

How will those who “watch out” be rewarded (verse 8)?

Who “has both the Father and the Son” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between words and actions?

In your opinion, what solution does 2 John 1:4-9 provide for those whose “hearts are far from” the Lord as in Isaiah 29:11-19?

In your opinion, how does 2 John 1:4-9 help us understand why those in Matthew 15:1-9 who declared their possessions were “devoted to God” actually did not have God in their lives?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion of eating in Romans 14:10-19 help us understand the what John means by walking “in obedience to his commands” in 2 John 1:4-9?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Matthew, Romans and 2 John teach us about looking at the ways we treat and think of others?

In your opinion, how can we walk in love today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)