1-3-5-Bridges and Structures

Jesus life had 5 steps: Infancy, Year of Preparation. Year of Popularity, Year of Passion, and Resurrected Life.  But do you know where to find them in your Bible?  This is made easy by using the system of "Bridges" which we will learn in this lesson.

Bridges

Introduction

Matthew 1 is the Introduction to the five steps of Jesus' life.  It tells the events that happened before his birth.  Underline the word "king" in Matthew 1:6 with Red in your Bible.

First Bridge

Matthew 2:1 is the first verse of the story of Jesus' Infancy, which teaches us of the Birth of Jesus' Infancy, which teaches us the Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.  It is the first bridge because it takes us from the Introduction in Matthew 1 to the Infancy in Matthew 2.  Write in your Bible the word "Infancy" above Matthew 2:1.  Now underline it in red.

Second Bridge

Write carefully in your Bible, above Matthew 3:1, the word "Preparation," and underline it with red as you did with the first bridge.  In ancient times a king had a messenger who went before him in order to prepare the people for his arrival.  John the Baptist was the Messenger for Jesus the King during the Year of Preparation.

Third Bridge

Write the word "Popularity" over Matthew 4:12 in your Bible and underline it in red.  The bridge took place by Jesus moving from Nazareth (where he had lived up to now) to Capernaum.

Fourth Bridge

Write the word "Passion" in your Bible above Matthew 14:1, and underline it in red.  Throughout this year, it became more and more evident that the crowds didn't want the Kingdom of Love and Peace that Jesus offered them.  The Year of passion which started with the death of John the Baptist and finished with Jesus' being crowned as King-but with a crown of mockery.

Fifth Bridge

Write the title "Resurrected Life" above Matthew 28:1 to mark the beginning of the last step.  It is the Great Commission that the risen Christ gave to his disciples - to take the gospel to all nations.

Matthew's Theme.

Matthew's main theme is the Kingdom of Heaven and that the first step in Jesus' life is His Infancy.  Jesus, the promised king was to sit on the throne of his ancestor, King David and therefore He would be born in the town of Bethlehem, which was the city of King David.  In the same year as He was born, His messenger John the Baptist was born, and for that reason His birth also corresponds to the step of Infancy.  We learned that Matthew relates nothing about Jesus' youth.  We find that during His childhood and youth, Jesus lived nearly 30 years in the town of Nazareth where He worked as a carpenter.

The second step related by Matthew is the Year of Preparation, which was the last year that He lived in the town of Nazareth.  Although He lived in the province (state) of Galilee, the main area of His ministry was in the south, by the side of the river Jordan, where He accompanied John the Baptist in the provinces of Judea and Perea.  During the Year of Preparation large multitudes came to listen to John the Baptist preaching the message of the kingdom of Heaven.  However, Jesus was relatively unknown during the year of Preparation.

After living nearly thirty years in the town of Nazareth, Jesus was thrown out by His neighbors.  Thus, at the start of the Year of Popularity, Jesus went to live in the sea-side city of Capernaum by the side of the Sea of Galilee, also in the province of Galilee.  At the start of the same Year of Popularity, His trips south to the river Jordan, and instead multitudes came to listen to Him in Capernaum.  Because of this, the Year of Popularity is also named Ministry in Galilee.  his message was the same as the one John had preached the year before, that is to say, the message of Kingdom of Heaven.

The Year of Passion started with two important events, the death of John the Baptist by King Herod and the feeding of the 5000.  The year finished with Jesus death in the city of Jerusalem.  Therefore, we have two deaths in the same year, Namely John the Baptist and Jesus.  It is therefore called the Year of Passion.  Around about the middle of the year, Jesus had to leave the provinces of Judea and Perea.  Jesus had spent only one year of His ministry in the south in the provinces of Judea and Perea, that is to say, the Year of Preparation and the year of Passion.