FINDING A TEXT "BREAK" BETWEEN ONE SECTION AND THE NEXT


.......... 25:44 Then they also will answer saying: "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison and did not minister to you/" Then he will answer them saying "Truly I tell you, inasmuch as you did not do these to one of these least ones neither did you do it to me. 46. These will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous will enter life enternal."
26:1 And it came to pass when Jesus ended all these words, He said to his disciples.
2. "You know in two days it is the Passover and the Son of man is going to be delivered up and crucified." 3. Then all the chief priests and the elders of the people were assembled in the court of the high priest who was named Caiaphas. 4. They considered how they might seize Jesus by guile and kill him. 5. But they said “Not at the feast in case there is a disturbance amongst the people.” ....

If you think you have found a phrase that winds up a second last section of Matthew's gospel and his crucifixion section, see if you can find this same phrase again, going backwards towards the beginning of the gospel. To save you time, here is another passage of text where you may find it.


.... 18:32 Then calling him forward, his lord said to him. "Wicked slave. I forave you all your debt because you begged me to do so. 33 Should you not have taken pity on your fellow-slave as I took pity on you?" 34 And being angry his Lord delivered him to the tormentors until he should repay everything owing to him. 35 Thus also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless you forgive each of your brothers from your heart."
19:1 And it came to pass when Jesus ended these words,
he moved from Galilee and came into the borders of Judaea across the Jordan. 2 And many crowds followed hem and he healed them there....


Going Backwards! Here is another passage of text. Can you find the same phrase being repeated to close off one one section of text so another one can begin.

.... 10:42 And whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of cold wate, if only in the name of a disciple, I tell you on no account will they lose a reward.
11:1 And it came to pass when Jesus ended giving charge to his twelve disciples,
he went from there in order to teach in their cities. 2(When) John (the baptist) heard about the works of Christ he sent a message to him through his disciples saying to him "Are you the coming one or may we expect another/" And it came to pass when Jesus finished giving charge to his twelve disciples he moved away from there in order to teach in their cities. ...

Still going backwards! Have another look at the text and see if you can find the "transition phrase" between one gospel section and the next one.

....7:27 And the rain came and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and its fall was a great one.
28 And it came to pass when Jesus finished these words
the crowds were astounded at his teaching 29 for he was teaching them as one having authority and not like their scribes. ...

This leads us back almost to the opening section of Matthew's gospel which is about Jesus as a child. Does Matthew give a clue when this opening, infant section changes to the main body of the gospel? See if you can find a verse that suggests this.

....5:1 And seeing the crowds he went up into the mountain: and when he sat down his disciples approached him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them saying:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven is theirs....

If you think you have found the key statement that divides Matthew's gospel into sections, then you are not alone. Other readers of the gospel would agree. 17

A final little clue about this statement. If Matthew has 'broken' up his text with words along the lines of, "After Jesus had finished all these words.." then how does he finish up the gospel at the very end? The final verse says:
"Teach them to observe everything that I have commanded you. Behold I am with you for all time until the completion of the age"
In other words from now on Jesus will NOT be finishing up all his words because his disciples will continue to teach these and Jesus will be with them.

Let's look at Section A

REMEMBER
Matthew was writing for a community of people with a Jewish heritage.
He wanted to remind them that Jesus also came from Judaism.
Many of the hopes of "Israel" were fulfilled in Jesus.