write totally 26 pages journal with reflections on New Testament, each book need one page reflection. you don’t need to write reflection for Matthew. and you can find texts online with English Standard Version of the Bible (ESV) See alsowww.BibleGateway.comI attach the file that can tell you how to work on this journal.
directions_for_new_testament_journals_spring_2019.docx
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Directions for New Testament Journals
1. Read and reflect on passages from each and every book of the entire New Testament (all 27 books).
2. Journals are to contain your own handwritten reflections on the New Testament.
3. Each reflection is to have the month, date and year above it.
4. Each reflection is to have the book, chapter and verse or verses.
5. Your journal will contain mostly your reflections, with a minimum of scriptural quotations.
6. If your blank journal is 8 ½” x 11,” then write one of your reflection minimum for each book, but write
as many pages as you wish.
7. If your blank journal is smaller than 8 ½” x 11,” then write two pages minimum for each book.
8. Students must enter their reflections of each New Testament book in the same order we find them in the
New Testament, e.g., Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s Epistle (Letter) to the
Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, etc.
9. Books such as Philemon, Jude, and 2nd and 3rd John may be less than one page.
10. Your notes from class time are not your journal.
Questions to help you reflect on the New Testament
The commentary sections in Called by the Gospel will help answer questions such as:
• What did the passage mean to the early Christians? The expository footnotes in the ESV Bible or the
Lutheran Study Bible will be helpful here.
• Why was it important to them?
• Why is it important to Christians today?
Personal observations
• How will I be applying it to my life?
• Write what I saw: the truth, idea, or principle that became clear
• Write what I heard: what God said to me as I meditated on the text
• Write what I thought and felt: how the text engaged my mind and emotions
• How I responded in prayer: what I said back to God
• Write what I am still trying to understand: questions about the passage
Example of good journal entries
January 24th, 2012
Matthew 1:1-17 The genealogies of Jesus. I never noticed the presence of women in Jesus’
genealogy (vv. 3, 5, 6). Each woman has a sexual scandal in her past. Why are they mixed in
here?
Matthew 1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.” Some may say that
Matthew’s Gospel is a long, beautiful extended poem about Christ, but it reads as history.
January 29th, 2012
Matthew 3 Jesus’ baptism. Done “to fulfill all righteousness.” What does that mean? (Ask in
class!)
Matthew 7:1-20 “Do not judge” in context clearly means that we should in fact judge, after we
can “see clearly” (v. 5). The text has the word, “then” we can be aware of “dogs,” “pigs” and
“false prophets” (vv.6, 15). The word used here is “recognize” (v. 16).
“Lord, may I always not prejudge people, discern dogs, pigs and false prophets only when I can
‘see clearly.’”
Three examples of bad journal entries
January 17, 2012
Song of Solomon 1:4 “We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.”
To me this whole book reads like a love poem.
Isaiah 1:17 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”
My thought here is that God is gracious and forgiving.
These passages are from the Old Testament. Our class subject is the New Testament.
September 23, 2013
Matthew 5:1-14 “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat
down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them,
saying:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.5 “Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.6 Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.7 Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall receive mercy.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God.9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of
God.10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute
you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who
were before you.13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how
shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be
thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.14 You are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
This is a nice passage. I like it.
September 26, 1013
Mark 9:2-13 “After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and
led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before
them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could
bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were
talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good that we are here.
Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for
Elijah.’ 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud
overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved
Son; listen to him.’ “
This passage is a total mystery to me. I can’t understand why it is in the Bible.
Too much biblical quotation, not enough reflection
January 12, 2011
Matthew 1:1-15 This passage is a mystery.
Matthew 5:1-17 “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the
age.”
I wonder what this is all about.
Mark 12:29-30 “Jesus answered, ‘The most important commandment is, ‘Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength.’”
Why is this so important?
These are not really reflections. They are only questions.
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