Mark 1:14-20 tells of the beginning of the ministry of Jesus and the call of the first disciples. The account can also be found in Matthew, but not in Luke. While Matthew associates the beginning of Jesus' ministry with the dawning of the light spoken of in Isaiah 9, Mark points simply to the temporal circumstances of that beginning; it was after John's arrest.

Matthew 23 follows the section on the attempts of the religious leaders of Jerusalem to trap Jesus and this latter's remark about the Messiah (22:15-46). Jesus is the Wisdom of God who has come with the authority of the Son to judge the religious leaders of the Jews. In Matthew 23, Jesus makes explicit the judgment on the scribes and the Pharisees. It concludes with the lament over Jerusalem which in this chapter symbolizes the resistance to God's will seen in the actions of its leaders. Below is an outline of the chapter.

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)

Jesus' teaching on Mammon, Worry-Free Living and the Kingdom are found in the immediate context formed by Matthew 6:19-34 which follows the section on Pious Practices in the Sermon on the Mount. Below is an outline that illustrates how Matthew 6:24-34 appears within the Sermon on the Mount.

The righteousness that Jesus teaches his disciples is that of the children of God. Their obedience to the will of God should not be characterized by legalism but by love. In the following two examples, Jesus underlines generosity and kindness in regard to the talion law and the law about loving one's neighbor.

After the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount opens up with a declaration with the second person plural (You) as the subject: "You are salt ... you are light..." The idea in 5:11-12 is carried over here. Those who suffer persecution for the sake of Jesus are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is recalled by the Church at the beginning of Holy Week. It is reenacted before the beginning of the Mass for Passion Sunday, so called because the Gospel proclamation for that particular day is about the Passion of Jesus. Palm fronds are used in the reenactment where olive branches would not be available. The passage about Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is read at the doorway of the Church and is followed by the priest's entrance and procession towards the altar for the beginning of the Eucharistic celebration. In Year A, the Church reads Matthew 21:1-11 for the reenactment. Matthew's account of Jesus' entrance is not so much a report about what happened two thousand years ago, but a proclamation of the significance of Jesus' final entrance into the city that he loved and often visited (cf. the many times Jesus goes to the Temple in the Gospel of John). Matthew retells the story of Jesus' entrance in order to invite his hearers to see in Jesus the "Son of David" who chooses the way of humility and obedience and so enters his glory as the Christ (see Matthew 28:18-20)

Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is recalled by the Church at the beginning of Holy Week. It is reenacted before the beginning of the Mass for Passion Sunday, so called because the Gospel proclamation for that particular day is about the Passion of Jesus. Palm fronds are used in the reenactment where olive branches would not be available. The passage about Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is read at the doorway of the Church and is followed by the priest's entrance and procession towards the altar for the beginning of the Eucharistic celebration. In Year A, the Church reads Matthew 21:1-11 for the reenactment. Matthew's account of Jesus' entrance is not so much a report about what happened two thousand years ago, but a proclamation of the significance of Jesus' final entrance into the city that he loved and often visited (cf. the many times Jesus goes to the Temple in the Gospel of John). Matthew retells the story of Jesus' entrance in order to invite his hearers to see in Jesus the "Son of David" who chooses the way of humility and obedience and so enters his glory as the Christ (see Matthew 28:18-20)

Introduction

The account of the Passion of Jesus is the oldest layer of the Gospels, understood in its literary form. When Mark incorporated it into his Gospel, he provided other Christian writers with an impartial and descriptive record of Jesus' last days on earth. In writing his Gospel, Matthew rewrites the Passion in a way that fits his "theology" of Jesus. He is "the Christ, Son of God" who submits himself totally to the Father's will and in his person fulfills the prophecies of old. Our discussions will follow the presentation of the liturgical reading of the Passion of Jesus for Palm Sunday, Year A.