June 29, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Following His Lead

Following His Lead

Isaiah 52:13-53:6 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ See, my servant will act wisely;
    he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
    his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
    and his form marred beyond human likeness—
¹⁵ so he will sprinkle many nations,
    and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
    and what they have not heard, they will understand.

53 ¹ Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

Who “will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted” (verse 13)?

How did “many” react to the Lord’s servant (verse 14)?

What will kings understand (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the questions “who has believed our message” and “to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed” (verse 1)?

What did the servant not have (verse 2)?

How did “mankind” react to the servant (verse 3)?

What did the servant bear (verse 4)?

What did we consider him (verse 4)?

Where was the “punishment that brought us peace” (verse 5)?

How have “we all” been like sheep (verse 6)?

What did the Lord lay “on him” (verse 6)

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the way Jesus leads us?

Matthew 8:14-22 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

¹⁶ When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.”

¹⁸ When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. ¹⁹ Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

²¹ Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Who was “in bed with a fever” (verse 14)?

What happened when Jesus “touched her hand” (verse 15)?

How did Jesus drive out the spirits (verse 16)?

What did this fulfill (verse 17)?

When did Jesus give “orders to cross to the other side of the lake” (verse 18)?

Who said “teacher, I will follow you wherever you go” (verse 19)?

What did “the Son of Man” not have (verse 20)?

What did “another disciple” say to Jesus (verse 21)?

How did Jesus answer (verse 22)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the way Jesus leads us?

In your opinion, how does reading Isaiah 52:13-53:6 add richness to the stories of healing that Matthew says were done to “fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah” in Matthew 8:14-22?

Acts 19:11-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

¹³ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

¹⁷ When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. ¹⁸ Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. ¹⁹ A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰ In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

What did God do “through Paul” (verse 11)?

What was done with the “handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched” Paul (verse 12)?

Who were some Jews saying “in the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out” over (verse 13)?

Who was Sceva, whose seven sons were doing this (verse 14)?

How did the evil spirit answer them (verse 15)?

What did the “man who had the evil spirit” do (verse 16)?

How did the “Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus” react when they heard about the seven sons of Sceva (verse 17)?

What did “many of those who believed” now do (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that some “brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly” (verse 19)?

What happened to “the word of the Lord” (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the way Jesus leads us?

In your opinion, what does Isaiah 52:13-53:6 help us understand about why the seven sons of Sceva using the name of Jesus was not effective in Acts 19:11-20?

In your opinion, what is the difference between Paul in Acts 19:11-20 and the teacher of the law and the other disciple in Matthew 8:14-22?

Colossians 2:6-15 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

How should those who have “received Christ Jesus as Lord” continue (verse 6)?

What should those who have “received Crist Jesus as Lord” overflow with (verse 7)?

What does “hollow and deceptive philosophy” depend on (verse 8)?

Where does “all the fullness of the Deity” live “in bodily form” (verse 9)?

How are Christians “brought to fullness” (verse 10)?

What is cut off when we are “circumcised by Christ” (verse 11)?

How are Christians raised after being buried with Christ “in baptism” (verse 12)?

What were we (Christians) before “God made you alive with Christ” (verse 13)?

What has God done with the “charge of our legal indebtedness” that He cancelled (verse 14)?

How did Christ triumph over the “powers and authorities” (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the way Jesus leads us?

In your opinion, how do you explain the fact that Isaiah 52:13-53:6 says that the Lord’s servant will be “despised and rejected by mankind” yet Colossians 2:6-15 says in Christ “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”?

In your opinion, how does the healing of the sick and the driving out of demons by Jesus in Matthew 8:14-22 prepare us to accept God making us “alive with Christ” in Colossians 2:6-15?

In your opinion, how does Acts 19:11-20 make clear about what Colossians 2:6-15 is warning us of when it says “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy”?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Isaiah, Matthew, Acts, and Colossians teach us about what the Lord laid on Jesus for us?

In your opinion, how can we “follow” Jesus’s lead today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 26, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Philosophy and Worship

-            The

Philosophy and Worship

Exodus 12:31-39 - New International Version (NIV)

³¹ During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. ³² Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”

³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. ³⁶ The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

Who tells Moses to leave and “worship the Lord as you have requested” (verse 31)?

What are the Israelites to take with them (verse 32)?

In your opinion, why does the Pharaoh ask Moses to bless him (verse 32)?

Why did the Egyptians urge the people to “hurry and leave the country” (verse 33)?

How did the Israelites carry their dough (verse 34)?

What did the Israelites ask the Egyptians for (verse 35)?

Who made the Egyptians “favorably disposed” to the Israelites (verse 36)?

How many Israelite men were there (verse 37)?

In your opinion, who were the “many other people” who left with the Israelites (verse 38)?

What did they use to bake their “loaves of unleavened bread” (verse 39)?

Why was the dough without yeast (verse 39)?

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

Luke 6:17-23 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
²² Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

Who was with Jesus (verse 17)?

Why had they come (verse 18)?

Why did people try to touch Jesus (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus look at the disciples when He said “blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (verse 20)?

What will disciples “who weep now” do (verse 21)?

What will disciples be “when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” (verse 22)?

How should disciples behave when they are hated, excluded and rejected (verse 23)?

How were the prophets treated (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that when the Israelite people left their slavery in Egypt to begin the process of becoming a nation in Exodus 12:31-39 there were “many other people” with them; and that after all the disciples were gathered, in Luke 6:17-23, and Jesus began teaching there were people from Jerusalem and Judea and “the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon” with Him?

Colossians 2:6-15 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

How are the Colossians to “continue to live” (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “rooted and built up in” Jesus (verse 7)?

What does the “hollow and deceptive philosophy” that can take Christians captive depend on (verse 8)?

Where does the “fullness of the Deity” live (verse 9)?

What are Colossian Christians (and Christians today) brought to “in Christ” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the circumcision that is “not performed by human hands” (verse 11)?

What happens to the “whole self ruled by the flesh” in baptism (verses 11 and 12)?

How is the Christian who has been baptized “raised with him” (verse 12)?

What does God do for those who were dead in sins when He makes them “alive with Christ” (verse 13)?

What has God done with our “legal indebtedness” (verse 14)?

Who has God made a “public spectacle” of (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how are Paul’s instructions in Colossians 2:6-15 to “continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” connected to the blessings that Jesus proclaimed in Luke 6:17-23 to the poor, hungry, weeping and hated?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the Israelite people in Exodus 12:31-39 who left in a hurry with the unbaked bread dough about how Christian’s should follow Paul’s command in Colossians 2:6-15 to “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him”?

1 Timothy 6:11-16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

What does Paul tell Timothy, who he calls “man of God”, to pursue (verse 11)?

When was Timothy called to eternal life (verse 12)?

Who gives life to everything (verse 13)?

How long is Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (verse 14)?

What will God “bring about in his own time” (verses 14 and 15)?

Who “lives in unapproachable light” (verses 15 and 16)?

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

In your opinion, how do Paul’s instructions to Timothy to “flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 help us understand how to follow his instruction in Colossians 2:6-11 to “see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world”?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction to Timothy to “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 help us to understand how Jesus’s promise to the poor, hungry, weeping and hated in Luke 6:17-23 is fulfilled?

In your opinion, how are the Israelites leaving Egypt in Exodus 12:31-39 an example for those us when we try to obey Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 to flee and pursue?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, Colossians, and 1 Timothy teach us about leaving slavery and taking hold of eternal life today?

In your opinion, how can we truly leave behind “hollow and deceptive philosophy” and “worship the Lord”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 4, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Generosity and Love

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Generosity and Love

Matthew 26:6-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Where was Jesus (verse 6)?

What did the woman do with the “alabaster jar of very expensive perfume” (verse 7)?

How did the disciples respond (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples say “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor” (verse 9)?

How did Jesus describe what the woman had done for him (verse 10)?

Who does Jesus say the disciples “will always have with you” (verse 11)?

What did Jesus say that the woman was preparing for (verse 12)?

Where will what the woman did be preached (verse 13)?

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

Deuteronomy 15:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ² This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. ³ You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. ⁴ However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, ⁵ if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

⁷ If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”

When should debts be canceled (verse 1)?

Whose loans shall creditors cancel (verse 2)?

Who may a payment be required from (verse 3)?

Why does there “need be no poor people among you” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the Israelites need to “fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today” (verse 5)?

How will God bless Israel (verse 6)?

What should Israelites not be to the “poor among your fellow Israelites” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, how would you feel if you were to “be openhanded and freely lend” to the poor who at the end of every seven years you would be unable to collect from (verse 8)?

What wicked thought is not to be harbored (verse 9)?

What kind of thought is to be avoided while giving “generously” (verse 10)?

 How will the Lord God bless this kind of giving (verse 10)?

What will there always be in the land (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how does your view of the statement that Jesus made that “the poor you will always have with you” in Matthew 26:6-13 change when you see the context that it was originally used in from Deuteronomy 15:1-11?

Colossians 2:6-15 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

Who have the readers of Paul “just received” (verse 6)?

What are the readers to overflow with (verse 7)?

How could the readers be taken captive (verse 8)?

What lives in Christ (verse 9)?

In your opinion, how can the readers be “brought to fullness” in Christ (verse 10)?

What caused the readers “whole self ruled by the flesh” to be put off (verse 11)?

How was the “whole self” buried with Christ (verse 12)?

When did God make the readers “alive with Christ” (verse 13)?

What did Christ do with the “charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us” (verse 14)?

How did Christ triumph over the “powers and authorities” (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how is the instruction to “be openhanded” and the “give generously” that was given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 15:1-11 exceeded by Jesus as He “cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness” by “nailing it to the cross” in Colossians 2:6-15?

In your opinion, how do the actions of the woman in Matthew 26:6-13 as she poured the alabaster jar of very expensive perfume on Jesus show that she had avoided the “hollow and deceptive philosophy” and was “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” as instructed by Paul in Colossians 2:6-15?

1 John 4:7-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Who does John instruct to “love one another” (verse 7)?

Where does love come from (verse 7)?

Who knows God (verse 7)?

How can we know that “whoever does not love does not know God” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, how can we live through the “one and only Son” (verse 9)?

What is love (verse 10)?

Who was sent as “an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (verse 10)?

Why should we “love one another” (verse 11)?

When is God’s love “made complete in us” (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, how does Christ who according to Paul in Colossians 2:6-15 “canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” prove what John says in 1 John 4:7-12 that “this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us”?

In your opinion, how does God in 1 John 4:7-12 demonstrate the instruction to “give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart” that Moses instructed the people of Israel to do in Deuteronomy 15:1-11?

In your opinion, how does the love of the woman to Jesus in Matthew 26:6-13 in giving Jesus the very valuable perfume a foreshadowing of the love Jesus showed as He went “to the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” according to John in 1 John 4:7-12?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Deuteronomy, Colossians and 1 John show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 26:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)