Mark, maybe passing on Peter’s recollections of Jesus, maybe a very young man at the time of Jesus’ arrest, whose mother hosted a church gathering in Jerusalem, with a very down-to-earth hold on hope …
James, the brother of Jesus, leader of the Jerusalem church, with a very practical kind of hope …
An anonymous writer steeped in Hebrew thinking, writing ‘to the Hebrews’, with a conviction that Jesus had opened up a way of hope for all to follow …
One thing we cannot escape as we draw towards the halfway mark, in looking at the people behind the New Testament and lives that make such a difference, is that the people behind the New Testament who made up the community of the first church were steeped in Jewish ways of thinking and in the Jewish faith.
We must not under-estimate the ‘Jewishness’ of the New Testament. It is the greatest tragedy of Church history that Christian people have neglected this and succumbed at times to the most dreadful form of anti-semitism.
There is a Jewish feel to the Gospel According to St Matthew
A Jewish Christian Community in Antioch, Syria?
Ignatius had the ‘pastoral oversight’ of the church in Antioch and wrote a number of letters which are dated at the beginning of the second Century. They include references to a star appearing at the birth of Jesus and to the response Jesus made to John the Baptist when he was baptised and to a number of sayings of Jesus that are recorded only in Matthew (12:33, 15:13, 19:12). J.C.Fenton in the Pelican Gospel Commentary on St Matthew concludes from that evidence that Matthew’s gospel was already in circulation by the time Ignatius wrote his letters and that Ignatius knew the Gospel. (See, eg J.C.Fenton, the Pelican Gospel Commentary).
Maybe the writer of the Gospel came from the community of believers in Antioch who were the first to get the nick-name ‘Christians’.
Who was he?
Matthew and his Sources
Look at Matthew, Mark and Luke side by side, and a number of things immediately become apparent.
- Practically all of Mark appears also in Matthew and Luke. We shouldn’t be surprised at that as Luke tells us in Luke 1:1-4 that he had used a number of sources. It looks very much as if Mark was one of them.
- Matthew and Luke both follow Mark’s order.
- While Matthew and Mark sometimes differ from Luke and Luke and Mark sometimes differ from Matthew, Matthew and Luke do not differ from Mark when it comes to the order of events.
- A substantial amount of material is common to Matthew and Luke and does not appear in Mark – practically all of that material is made up of sayings of Jesus. Those sayings often appear in different contexts in Matthew and Luke
That has led many to suppose that Matthew’s Gospel makes use of Mark as a basic source and follows its order. In addition Matthew uses a collection of sayings of Jesus that is also used by Luke – this common ‘source’ is often referred to as ‘Q’ from the German word for source, ‘Quelle’. Finally, Matthew has material that is unique to him, that he has acquired from his own source.
Who was the author of Matthew?
Mark tells the story of the call of one of the apostles who is a tax collector in chapter 2:13-17. There the tax-collector apostle is described as ‘Levi’. When the writer of Matthew’s Gospel tells the same story he gives that apostle a different name … ‘Matthew’ – chapter 9 verse 9. Mark includes a ‘Matthew’ in the list of twelve apostles he gives at chapter 3:13-19, but he does not say what ‘Matthew’ is. When the writer of Matthew’s gospel lists the twelve he refers to ‘Matthew’ as a ‘tax-collector’.
That is the basis for the suggestion that Matthew, the tax-collector Apostle, wrote the Gospel that bears his name.
Some have suggested that the quality of the writing, the Jewish thinking of the Gospel, and the feel of the Gospel suggests that the tax-collector is unlikely to have been its author. Maybe he was involved in that Christian community in Antioch and influenced the writing of the Gospel.
Matthew roots the Gospel of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures
Matthew’s gospel opens with what is in effect a summing up of the story of Jesus. At first sight, chapter 1 verses 1-16 is simply a genealogy of Jesus, tracing his lineage through Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Look a little more closely and there’s more to it.
The very first first gives a hint. “An account of the genealogy of jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the Son of Abraham.”
The genealogy will establish Jesus’ identity as Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God. In doing that it will show Jesus’ link with David, the great King of the Kingdom of Israel, and with Abraham the great father figure, or Patriarch of the people of Israel.
Look a little more closely and you will find that the genealogy is divided into three equal parts of fourteen generations.
It begins with Abraham up to David (verses 2-6a), that’s the period up to the establishment of the monarchy. It then continues from David to the time of the deportation and exile to Babylon (verses 6b – 11) – that’s the whole history of the Monarchy. It then finishes with the period from the exile to the time of Jesus (verses 12-16), the post-exilic period when the people of Israel had returned home physically, but were not yet at home in God’s Kingdom.
Effectively, the gospel begins with a very concise summary of the whole history of the Jewish people and their expectation of a Messiah.
Look even more carefully and there are some surprises, not least the inclusion of four women, Tamar, Rahab (a prostitute), Ruth (a Moabitess and non-Jew) and of course Mary.
The genealogy of David provided in 1 Chronicles 2:11ff makes no mention of Ruth. The Old Testament story Matthew tells has something different about it. It is as if Jesus fulfils that strand of dissent in the Hebrew Scriptures that refuses to see racial purity as the marker that counts for the people of God.
What’s the Purpose of this Gospel?
There’s a clue to the purpose of the Gospel in the final verses of chapter 28. Although, supposed by some to be a later addition to the Gospel, they point towards something that is at the very heart of the whole Gospel.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’* Matthew 28:16-20
If the task Jesus gave to the eleven was to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus had commanded them … they would need a handbook to help them undertake that task.
A Handbook of Hope for would- be Disciples
Look carefully at Matthew’s Gospel and it quickly becomes apparent that it provides just such a handbook.
Here in Matthew’s gospel you will find the teaching of Jesus brought together into five major sections.
Each carries a marker at the very end:
5-7 The Sermon on the Mount finishes with the words, ‘Now when Jesus had finished saying these things …’ 7:28
10 The Commission to the Twelve finishes with the words, ‘Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples …’ 11:1
13 The Parables of the Kingdom finishes with the words, “When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place…” 13:53
18 What it means to be the Church finishes with the words, “When Jesus had finished sayint these things …” 19:1
23-25 The Rule of God to the End finishes with the words, “When Jesus had finished saying all these things …” 26:1
The Sermon on the Mount finishes with three choices, effectively three parables. The final block of teaching also finishes with three parables in chapter 25, the middle block of teaching contains a series of parables of the Kingdom. If you are looking for parables in Mathew look there!
If you are looking for teaching of Jesus, the kind of teaching you don’t associate with John, look in one of those passages!
A New Torah for the People of God
Is this another way that the Gospel of Matthew links Jesus with the Hebrew Scriptures. For Jewish people the Torah is all important, not just as ‘the Law’ but because it maps out the Way of Life the People of God are called to follow.
It is as if Jesus is a new Moses, offering a new Torah, which when taken together offers the people of God a Way of Life to follow.
If the task of the apostles is to teach people all that Jesus commanded, then Matthew provides his readers with a handbook of discipleship that does precisely that.
The Presence of God
… touches earth wherever people hear Christ’s word and act on it
The Sermon on the Mount doesn’t fininsh with a nice little children’s story about a couple of builders in the rain!
Matthew’s readers, steeped as they would have been in the Hebrew Scriptures would have recognised allusions to the founder of the temple. The Book of Proverbs contrasts the wise and the foolish; the parable contrasts the wise and the foolish. Whereas the Book of Proverbs speaks of the wise woman, the parable speaks of the Wise Man. Proverbs was linked with Solomon who was considered the Wise Man of the Old Testament. He it was who built a house for the Lord on the rock in Jerusalem. The Wise man who built his house on the rock immediately sets the reader thinking of the temple.
The temple is where the presence of God touches earth and is grounded in the down-to-earth world. But now Jesus is making a big claim. Wherever people, ie those who become disciples and follow all that he ahs commanded, hear his words and act on them, that’s where God’s presence will be felt – for they will be like the Wise man who built a house on the rock – they will be like the temple, the place of God’s presence!
Memorable Teaching
It has within it a wonderful symmetry, drawing on a device used in Hebrew poetry. There is a structure to the five blocks of teaching that is symmetrical – it can be described as a ‘chiasmus’ and represented with lettering – A – B – C – B – A
Chapters 5-7 give a glimpse of what it’s like under the rule of God. That’s balanced at the end with 23-25 that gives a similar glimpse. The first begins with the ‘Blessings’ of the beatitudes, the last begins with the ‘woes’. The first ends with a challenging parable about listening to Jesus’ words and acting on what you hear thus releasing the presence of God into the world – the parable of the Wise Builder who built his house on the rock. And the last finishes with the parable of the sheep and the goats, ‘in as much as you do it to the least of these my brothers and sisters you do it to me.’
The second block of teaching is Jesus’ commissioning of the twelve and the fourth balances it with teaching on what it means to belong to the community of Jesus, the church.
The central block, in a sense the pinnacle of the teaching is a set of parables giving a glimpse of what Matthew is careful to describe as ‘the kingdom of heaven’. Jewish people revered the name of God and often used other words than God’s name to describe him. Whereas, the other gospel writers have Jesus speak of ‘the kingdom of God’, Matthew tends to have Jesus speak of ‘the kingdom of heaven’ – it means the same thing!
Heaven is not the place you go to after death. It is rather the God-dimension in all of life, this side of dying as well as the other – it is supremely the God-dimension where God rules!
Matthew – a Handbook of Hope for would-be Disciples
He was the One they had all been waiting for. You could tell that simply by looking at his family tree. And as for what happened when he was born, you could simply tell he really was the One. Not that he had an easy time of it! A refugee before he was a year old, it was tough. Very tough. He knew exactly what it was like to be tempted – he felt pretty exposed. Vulnerable is the best word to describe it. But he was someone of vision who knew where he was going … and who he needed to help him.
He wasn’t going to go it alone. He had a task to do and he needed people around him to take him seriously and be willing to give their all in following him. The message he had to share was clear – it turned so many things people had always taken for granted on their head. Yet it caught the imagination. The non-stop pursuit of happiness, prosperity and victory at all costs? Not a bit of it: blessings come the way of those who are mourn and are comforted, those who make peace and work at it, those who have a real hunger and thirst for justice. It’s not just about loving God and loving your neighbour, important though that is. It’s about loving your enemy too. It’s about bringing healing into people’s lives.
The task of bringing that message and that healing into the world was precisely the task he wanted to share. It amounted to nothing less than bringing the rule of God into the world. And it began wherever he was present: and he would be present wherever two or three met together in his name, and wherever people were willing to help hurting people.
Mind you, it took him to a very cruel death on the cross. But on the third day he rose again from the dead. And now the task is for all of us to share. A message for a perplexed world and healing for a hurting world. And as we share all that we are not alone: for He, this living Jesus, will be with us always to the end of the age.
Our task is to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded us.”
This is a guide to everything Jesus has commanded us:
Living under God’s Rule – The Sermon on the Mount (5-7)
5:1-16 give a glimpse of what it’s like living under God’s rule
This is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets (5:17-20)
- Love your neighbour – 5:21-47. Keep at it until you come to the point at which you can say ‘it is finished’, it is ‘perfected’ 5:48
- Love God – 6:1 – 7:11
In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. 7:12
Choose the narrow gate and choose to be like the good tree for everyone who hears these words of Jesus and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock – that’s to say, they will be the place where God’s presence touches earth!
Taking God’s Rule into the World – The Commissioning of the Twelve (10)
- Proclaim the Good news and bring healing into a hurting world (10:5-15)
- Stand your ground for God will be with you and the Spirit guide you (10:16-25)
- Do not be afraid – God cares for you no matter what the cost (10:26-39)
To welcome the followers of Jesus is to welcome Jesus – and to share a cup of water with someone in need is what it’s all about!
What’s this rule of God like? – Parables of the Kingdom (13)
- … it’s like a sower who went out to sow (13:1-9 and 18-23)
- … it’s like someone who sowed good seed in the ground but an enemy sowed weeds as well (13:24-30 and 34-43)
- … it’s like a mustard seed, that grows to a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches (13:31-32)
- … it’s like yeast that woman took (13:33)
- … it’s like a treasure hidden in a field (13:44)
- … it’s like a merchant in search of pearls (13:45-46)
- … it’s like a net thrown into the sea catching fish of all kinds (13:47-50)
Taking God’s rule into the church – what it means to be the church (18)
- Change and become like little children in humility and service (18:1-5)
- Don’t put temptation or stumbling blocks in the way of others (18:6-9)
- Do not despise even the littlest of ones – remember the lost sheep! (18:10-14)
- Follow a code of good practice in discipline (18:15-20)
- Know that Christ is present even where two or three gather together (‘synagogue’) in his name (18:20)
- Forgive one another – 70 times seven times and more! (18:21-22)
- Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant! (18:23-35
Living under God’s rule to the end – (23-25)
- Woe to those whose religion is empty. (23:1-36) Of the seven woes the middle ones goes to the heart of what Jesus calls ‘the weightier matters of the law’: ‘justice and mercy and faith’ (23-24)
- Looking to the end (23:37 – 24:51)
- Choices to make (25) – the wise and foolish bridesmaids (25:1-13), the good and trustworthy slaves with the five and two talents (25:14-30) and the sheep and the goats: “Truly, just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters you did it to me.
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