In Matthew 11:25-30, Jesus' prayer of thanksgiving becomes an occassion for teaching something about himself and the Father and for inviting all to find rest in Him. In these lines, He comes out as the Son through whom the Father has dispensed all the good things he intends for His children. Only those who have become children of the Father in their adherence to Jesus can know the Father's will as it is revealed through His Son.

Matthew 11:25-30 can be divided into two sets of verses. The first (vv. 25-27) has been called "The Messianic Shout of Joy" (Jubelruf). It is a Q logion that appears in Luke 10:21-22 with some differences. The parallel in Luke appears as Jesus' joyful response to the rejoicing of the seventy-two who return with a positive experience of their mission. In Matthew, Jesus rejoices right after he expresses woes over the towns which have rejected him. Within this saying is a verse that expresses the intimacy that exists between the Father and the Son (Matt. 11:26-27; Luke 10:22) and sounds like something taken from the Gospel of John.

The second set of verses (vv. 28-30) is from Matthew's store of materials, unique to him. Here, the key words or phrases are "give you rest", "yoke" and "burden" and the verb "learn". In "Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 1", Benedict XVI, working on materials provided by Neusner, concurs with this latter in showing that these verses go with the immediately following controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath and is better understood within the Sabbath theme1. However, he also adds that this second set of verses develop further the Messianic Jubelruf.

1. 1. Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth I, pp. 109-110

Matthew's account of the resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10) can be outlined as follows:

• Setting and witnesses (1)
• The Stone Rolled Away (2-4)
• Proclamation of the Resurrection (5-7)
• The Witnesses Meet Jesus (8-10)

Acts 20:17-38 is Paul's farewell speech to the presbyters (elders) of Ephesus. The discourse proper (18b-35) is prepared for and concluded by narrative elements in 17-18a and 36-38 respectively. The discourse itself can be divided into the following parts:

• 18b-21. The captatio where the speaker invites the interest of the listeners to the speech by appealing to the common memories that bind them to the speaker;
• 22-24. The reason for the departure is given.
• 25-31. The last will and testament of the speaker. This is the heart of the farewell speech.
• 32-35. Final words of commendation.

In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul addresses the problem of division in the community of Corinth. The divisions brought about by a misdirected appreciation of the evangelists who worked among them is related to the way the members of the Corinthian community look at spiritual gifts. In other words, because some Corinthians regard an evangelist as more gifted than another, they associate themselves with this one, thus leading to a situation where Paul can accuse them of creating cliques:

1 Peter 3:15-18 is found in the context of 3:13-18, the beginning of the third part of 1 Peter which is on the topic of Persecution. The previous sections have dealt with the dignity and status of the baptized and its consequences for their daily lives. The author now deals with a matter that he had alluded to in his opening berakah regarding the various trials/temptations that the baptized have to face.

1 Peter 2:20b¹-25 is given as the theological motive for the attitude that baptized house slaves should have towards the suffering they experience as they go about their daily lives. Understood within the context of a family code for Christians^a, in an epistle that takes into consideration the situation of Christians in a world that is hostile to them, these passages can also become an inspiration for any Christian placed in a context where he/she faces the reality of unjust suffering on a daily basis.

1 Peter 2:1-10 closes the first part of the epistle about the Dignity of the Christian Vocation and its Responsibilities. 2:11 starts a new section with the plural noun which breaks the series of participles characterizing 1:3-2:10. 2:10 creates an inclusion with 1:3 based on the mention of "mercy".

1 Peter 1:3-12 is the opening berakah of the epistle. A berakah is a blessing addressed to God . In 1 Peter, it sets the theological motive for the rest of the epistle which has three main parts (Dalton, "First Epistle of Peter" in NJBC) : The Dignity of the Christian Vocation and its Responsibilities (1:3-2:10), The Witness of Christian Life (2:11-3:12), and The Christian and Persecution (3:13-5:11). The sub-section constituted by 1:3-12 is set apart from 1:13 by the word Dio, (dio) "therefore", which begins another sub-section on the vocation to holiness (1:13-2:10).

1 Peter 1:13-25 draws of the consequences of the preceding verses (vv. 3-12) to the life-style of the Christian community. Christians have been given a new birth (v. 3) into a heavenly inheritance (v. 4) through the gospel proclaimed to them (v. 12). For a little while they will be in the midst of diverse tribulations, but they are preserved by God until the moment when Christ is revealed. So now they are exhorted to have their minds prepared with hopes perfectly fixed "on the grace offered" to them until the manifestation of Jesus Christ.

The phrase "you of little faith" appears as just one word in Greek: oligopistos (singular, oligopistov) and oligopistoi (plural, oligopistoi). The word appears in Matthew five times: 6:30, 8:26, 14:31, 16:8. In Mt. 17:20, one finds the cognate "smallness of faith", oligopistis (in context, appearing in the accussative on account of the preceding dia, hence, oligopistian). In Luke 12:28, the word oligopistoi appears in a saying that the Lucan gospel shares with Matthew's. The word then is characteristically Matthaean, appearing not only in sayings but also in narratives.