Matthew 20:29 - 21:16
Why Do People See Jesus so Differently?
When you hear people's opinions about Jesus, you hear variety. Many are ok with God, with spirituality, but Jesus? Exclusive. Narrow. Who was Jesus? A myth, revolutionary zealot, a man with a wife and kid who loved the divine feminine, a village philosopher, a corrupter of humanity teaching a slave mentality, a world-denying ascetic, a good pharisaic rabbi?
Matthew is leading us into the final, most crucial part of his Gospel, the end of Jesus' story, and beginning. He draws on many memories written and oral, but his aim is to help us to encounter Jesus. He's writing the past history of a living person. The challenge is not so much getting a set of facts right as helping us actually to meet the living Jesus. Mt takes us into the throngs. Helps us hear questions. Gives us resources to see ourselves and Jesus.