Matthew 2:1-12, 16-18
Reader’s Guide: Adult Sunday School Class
Windsor UCC, 1/10, 1/17, 9:30apx
Zoom (please email me for Zoom invite to class)
Resources: Herod the Great | Infancy Narratives (Star, Magi)
Everyone is Welcome!
First Impressions
Read Matthew 2:1-12, 16-18 in whatever Bible you are accustomed to using or read the text online here. Take a moment or two to consider your first thoughts:
- What words, phrases, names, ideas jump out at you?
- What impressions arise within–memories associated with this story from any context?
- What new things (people, places, story events, etc) do you notice that you have not noticed before?
- What most interests you about this story? What would you like to learn more about?
Reading Story
This text is a story. We will first make sure we understand the basic sense of the story. These ideas will guide our discussion of the story:
- Plot: What are the causal links between the events that happen in the story?
- Characters: What characters appear in the story? Which characters seem central to the story, and which marginal to it?
- Setting: What do you notice about the setting of the story? Where do events take place? What do you understand about the sense of time in the story?
- Narrative: What events or stories precede and follow this story? How is this story connected to the Gospel of Matthew’s narrative of the Good News of Jesus Christ?
Next Week
After we discuss the story of Sunday, we will identify themes, characters, ideas we will discuss next week. A second reader’s guide will be sent.
Suppose It Matters 