Reflection Excerpts from Strauss

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Chapter 8 Reflection Excerpt
The gospel by Matthew captures the reader’s mind due to the categorical unveiling of events and ideas. The style employed by the author promotes one’s capacity to understand the message due to its authenticity. Unlike other New Testament books, it is fictional and uses simple and relevant information explained by few words (Strauss 264). Matthew’s events flow seamlessly from the genealogy of Jesus, through his birth, to his crucifixion and resurrection. This chapter distinguishes itself as it is the only one that dates back to the origin of the Messiah and describes him entirely as a Jew. Various theological themes are well explained in the chapter, such as the Mosaic law and the kingdom of heaven. Chapter 8 demonstrates the diverse stylistic and contextual strengths of this gospel and the mechanics that it exploits to spread Jesus’s teachings.
The chapter illustrates that Jesus came to the world as a representative of God and as God’s actual presence. Therefore, Christians should view God and Jesus as the same supernatural being since both names refer to one person. Jesus means “God with us,” as documented in Matthew’s gospel. As a result, addressing him is the same as interacting with God (Strauss 298). It is also important to acknowledge that God sacrificed his only son so that he could save his people from transgression. Thus, repentance should remain Christians’ core weapon against perishing.
Despite Jesus coming to redeem the people from their sins, he also came to emphasize some of the laws written in the Old Testament. The chapter brings out interesting learnings that he kept referring to the Mosaic Laws by urging people to follow them so that they may inherit the kingdom of heaven (Strauss 300). Jesus advocated that people should live by following these laws in higher stances since they were decent and righteous. He kept discouraging Israelites from reverting to the wayward and malicious practices embraced by the Pharisees because such transgressions would distance them from the kingdom of heaven. Moreover, it advises the church to follow the laws by faith and trust in Jesus since his presence resides in the church.
One of the unique presentations from the chapter is that Jesus was not afraid to declare himself as the Messiah and protected all the places of worship. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he identifie...