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The Gospel of Matthew

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of Matthew (Matt 1, 18, 27–28)
    13 Activities
  2. Lesson Two
    Israel's Story and Mission (Matt 2–4, 11–15)
    15 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Jesus and the Torah (Matt 5–7, 16–17, 23–25)
    18 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    "The Kingdom of God is Like..."
    10 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Author and Audience
    13 Activities
  6. Course Wrap-up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

The Christian moral code is unusually simple—although not necessarily easy. We are called to imitate Jesus. A great example of this can be seen in the Lord’s Prayer and the crisis that Jesus experiences in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

When Jesus finds himself “deeply grieved, even unto death” in Matthew’s Gospel, he doesn’t call on angels to liberate him or play the trump card of his divinity. He simply prays like he taught his disciples to pray earlier in the Gospel. Walking alone in the garden, “He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will’” (Matt 26:39, NIV). Note the parallels with the Lord’s Prayer in the chart below.

The Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6)Gethsemane (Matt 26)
Our Father in heaven …My Father …
… your will be done …Yet not as I will, but as you will.
And lead us not into temptation …… may this cup be taken from me.

Source: Dale C. Allison, Jr. Matthew: A shorter commentary, 2004, p. 480.

  1. The Lord’s Prayer is not always associated with dire circumstances. Read Matthew 6:9-13. Reflect in your workbook on how this prayer could be relevant to difficult situations in your own life.