Matthew 22

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Tuesday, July 10: Matthew 22

One of the dimensions of Jewish Messianic expectation in the first century centered on the image of the Great Banquet. Based on Isaiah 25, the Hebrew people anticipated the Messianic age to be characterized by a great wedding feast, a table abundantly covered with the finest foods, plenty of wine, and room for all the righteous to gather. The Messiah would preside over this table and share his bounty with his true followers from the great mountain of Zion. Jesus’ parable in Matthew 22 taps into this vein, speaking of a king’s wedding feast in honor of his son. But when the preparations are finished, the invitees refuse to come to the feast. The king issues an invitation to the streets and a posse of characters assembles, both good and bad, to partake. If the parable ended here, it would suffice as a teaching about the availability of God’s Kingdom to those who have never presumed to be “good”, the common man whose lack of perceived piety cast him as an outsider in his culture.

But the parable continues. The king finds a guest lacking the proper wedding garment. This amounts to a rejection of the king’s gracious provision. In these circumstances, the king would presumably make available the kind of clothing needed for such an occasion. Think of the maitre d supplying the coat for the house dress code. The one who rejects the king’s gracious provision is cast out to darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The religious establishment, threatened as they are by Jesus and his pointed attacks, attempts to corner Jesus, first with politics. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But Jesus will not be so easily be trapped. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Image-bearing creation ultimately belongs to God. Jesus is sent to restore this image, even though this mission is obscured from his opponents.

The Sadducees laughably make a similar attempt to trap Jesus, this time with theology. They contrive an absurd scenario for Jesus to respond to: a man dies, his brother marries his widow then dies…and this cycle is repeated seven times. Whose wife is she in the resurrection? This is an absurd question on multiple levels. First, it sets the gold standard for ridiculously hypothetical religious questions. But even more importantly, the Sadducees deny the resurrection. They’re not interested in any sort of legitimate probing of this question. The whole thing is a smoke screen, intended to trap Jesus with His own words.

Listen to Jesus’ response to such manipulations: “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead but of the living.” (v29-32). Jesus will not be ambushed by these wicked men. Instead, he confronts them once again, sealing His fate with every truthful word.

The Pharisees try their hand, only to be put down also. But their effort does bear some fruit here: it prompts Jesus to give us the concise summation of God’s will for human life in vv37-40:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

These are the words of life.

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Matthew 21

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Monday, July 9: Matthew 21

Matthew 21 is such a rich chapter. We won’t be able to cover everything here, so feel free to weigh in with comments about the sections that we don’t cover here.

Jesus rides into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, riding on a donkey (actually Matthew says Jesus sat on the donkey and her colt — v7). This fulfills the ancient prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, where the prophet foretold of Israel’s victorious, humble king riding triumphantly through the streets of Jerusalem, having defeated Ephraim’s enemies as his rule extends from sea to sea. The prophetic image is certainly a triumphant one and we’re right to see Jesus as fulfilling this expectation. But Jesus also redefines our understanding of true kingship. He rides the donkey, not the war horse. David may have slain his tens of thousands, but Jesus is redeeming the world. Jesus is the meek king, riding humbly toward His impending death even as the masses sing His praises.

Jesus arrives at the temple and immediately drives out those who are buying and selling animals for sacrifice. But this was a common, even necessary practice in the ancient world. When Jesus makes the reference to “den of robbers”, Jewish minds would’ve understood this as an allusion to Jeremiah 7:1-11. In this ancient text, the prophet condemns Judah for her lack of justice: the people have been oppressing the sojourner, the orphan, the widow; innocent blood is constantly shed in Jerusalem; and even more egregiously, false gods proliferate her streets. Listen to God’s condemnation of this:

“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ – only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 7:8-11)

Jesus is making the same sort of accusations against the people in His day. It’s not so much that He’s angry with the guy selling pigeons in the temple courts. (If you read Luke, it’s very likely that Jesus’ parents bought their turtledoves / pigeons from a similar vendor at the time of Jesus’ dedication.) Instead, Jesus is upset with those who have come to worship God, falsely believing that the temple is some sort of guarantee of their spiritual privilege. In Jeremiah’s day, the temple had become part of a false Zion theology, a hideout for the wicked to which they could retreat after committing acts of injustice. Jesus is making the age old point that God desires mercy, not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6); to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). God has already spoken this word: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8).

In v15, the children praise Jesus as the “Son of David”, a Messianic title Matthew has used quite a bit in his Gospel. The chief priests and scribes — the pious, self-righteous, spiritual leaders of Israel who proclaim to know God’s Word, yet they continue to oppress the people — object to such language. But Jesus confronts them again on their own terms, using Ps. 8:2 as prooftext for the children’s proclamation. “Don’t you know this verse?”, Jesus says. It’s becoming evident that this sort of combative dialogue is getting Jesus into all kinds of trouble with the religious establishment. But Jesus accepts the title “Son of David” because it’s fitting. Whereas the first son of David (Solomon) created an ornate temple that was destroyed by Babylon, this new Son of David (Jesus) will speak of tearing down the temple and rebuilding it in three days. But He does not rebuild an established structure; instead, He builds His church, a community of persons who possess the humility of spirit necessary to receive the Kingdom in the first place. To these, Jesus truly is “Son of David”, God’s anointed One in the world.

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Matthew 20

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Friday, July 6: Matthew 20

The Kingdom of God challenges our understanding of equity. This seems to be the point of the parable Jesus tells in the first few verses of Matthew 20. A man hires laborers for his vineyard; some work a full day, others a half day, some work only one hour. Yet they all receive the same pay. When those who have worked a full day object, the master replies: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (v13-15).

Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom is God’s possession and He is free to dispense it to the degree of His choosing. “But I’ve been here longer, worked harder, and we both make the same pay!” Sounds an awful lot like the older brother from another of Jesus’ parables. This parable challenges us because we think of pay as getting what we deserve. But these day workers — in Jesus’ day and in our own — rely on this work to feed their families. So the greater injustice here would be to pay these workers less that their families might suffer. There IS a justice thread to this parable…just not in the way modern ears might expect.

In v17-19, Jesus again pulls the curtain back and prepares His disciples for what is going to come: “The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” We have to wonder how much of this the disciples really understood. Judging by their actions, especially in the next story, we might say, “Not a lot.”

The mother of James and John approaches Jesus to ask for a favor: “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Understandably, the other disciples rail at this. (Can you imagine the ribbing they received from the other disciples? “What? You can’t ask Jesus yourself? You have to get your Mom to fight your battles for you?”) And even though the request is a bit presumptuous, there is also deep faith moving behind it. Zebedee’s wife is making a profession of faith in Jesus here, and that shouldn’t be lost on us. Sure, she wants her boys to sit on thrones, but she also believes Jesus will occupy the central position. She believes He’s the Messiah. And this, I believe, is a tremendous example of radical faith for us, especially to her sons, James and John. This kind of belief will cost this family dearly before it’s all said and done.

Jesus gives us something of a mission statement in v28: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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Matthew 19

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Jason

Matthew 19

 

The Kingdom of God is sometimes thought of as some sort of “out there” or “up there” reality. It’s the stuff of heaven, an unclarified vision of eternity to come. But when Jesus teaches on the Kingdom, He addresses the most common, fundamental dimensions of our lives: money, marriage, children, broken relationships, grudges that we hold, etc.

 

In ch19, Jesus continues to teach about the sanctity of the marriage relationship. As the most sacred of human covenants, marriage exists to reveal the character and glory of God. The Bible holds up a Trinitarian understanding of marriage (God, husband, wife) that reveals God’s Triune nature as Father, Son, and Spirit. This is why divorce is spoken of so strongly in Scripture — this kind of rupture is unnatural, like the Son rejecting the Spirit or the Spirit abandoning the Father.

 

Jesus intentionally seeks out the young in order to lay hands on them (to confer a blessing on them) and to pray over them. It’s important to remember that the ancient world was not nearly as “kid-friendly” as our Western culture. Until they were old enough to work the fields and earn their keep, children were a liability in the ancient world. But Jesus has a counter-cultural understanding of children, seeing their helplessness and their vulnerability. Though they are young, they intrinsically understand their dependence upon their parents for life.

 

This contrasts with the next character we meet in the Gospel, the rich young ruler. Jesus speaks to his pious heart, commanding him to embrace the same posture of humility and dependence as the small child. “Sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven,” (v21). The young man hears this and he walks away sorrowful. We’re left with this tragic portrait: young children playing around the feet of Jesus, peaceful in His presence, while the young ruler walks back to the materialistic trappings of the world he has created for himself, incapable of relinquishing his dependence upon these possessions.

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Matthew 18

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Wednesday, July 4: Matthew 18

In Matthew 18, we come to the fourth of Jesus’ teaching discourses in this Gospel. Jesus turns His attention toward a fuller description of the Kingdom of God, beginning with a redefined understanding of greatness. The disciples press in, asking “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” Jesus reaches for a child: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Often times this passage is misunderstood as implying that we must return to some sort of idyllic state of child-like innocence in order to enter the Kingdom. But innocence, once lost, is impossible to recover. Instead, Jesus is pointing to the child’s dependence upon another for his / her sustenance. “Unless you turn…” — repent of all attempts to find life outside of God. Accept the fact that you are dependent upon Him for everything. As we studied in Acts: “In him we live and move and have our being.”

This sort of humility prompts a reflective life. Believers should be aware that their actions could prompt others to sin (v5-9). This conscientiousness is an outworking of love for others, rooted in love for God. Inevitably, some will stumble and fall away. But the example Jesus leaves us is of a loving shepherd willfully pursuing the errant sheep (v12-13). Our love for our brother should prompt us to the same action — and even preventative measures as well.

This leads to Peter’s question about forgiveness and Jesus’ response: Forgiveness should be frequent and extravagant as it is practiced among followers of Christ. Jesus demonstrates this with the dramatic story of the king and his servants, closing with the important words that are meant to linger in our ears: “And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

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Matthew 17

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Tuesday, July 3: Matthew 17

The Transfiguration is intended to increase faith. It’s a foreshadowing of Christ’s glory to come when all is fulfilled — when He fulfills the Law and the Prophets through His supreme act of loving God and loving others. But the disciples struggle with understanding it’s full import. Peter stands amazed, yet he asks to build three tabernacles in an attempt to contain this glory, to soak in it for a while. But that doesn’t seem to be the nature of God’s glory, at least not in Scripture. It’s a fleeting thing, for our sake. We’re capable of witnessing it only in small doses. And so the voice of God drives them to fall prostrate. But when they open their eyes — at the touch of Jesus (v7-8) — the Transfiguring moment has passed.

But I would argue that what was intended to increase their faith will take some time. On their way down the mountain, Jesus tells them not to share the news of this with anyone until His resurrection. But the disciples want to fixate on Elijah — is he coming back? What was that all about? The cat is right there, out of the bag, and they miss it. So a little bit later (v22), he says it again, very clearly: “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on nthe third day.” (v22-23). But Peter gets caught up in a debate about taxes; the disciples fail to heal a young demon-possessed boy. And Jesus sees the chief problem as a matter of faith.

I wonder what He’d say about my faith.

Or lack thereof.

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Matthew 16

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Monday, July 2: Matthew 16

Well, we’ve made it halfway through the year with our reading project. Hope you all are getting as much out of this as I am. I know some have told me they’ve fallen behind, but that’s okay. Reading and discussing this together is such a blessing. Hop in and join us, even if you’re a bit behind.

As the chapter begins, the Pharisees test Jesus for a sign to accompany his work. They’ve asked him this kind of thing before, but Jesus refuses to cater to them. Instead, he refers to them as a “wicked and adulterous generation”. Their evil and corrupt spirits serve as a warning to the disciples. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” The takeaway for us is to always be on guard against these corrupting influences, a la the Proverbs (see Prov. 9:6; 13:20, for example).

But Jesus uses this as an occasion to do a little testing of His own. He asks His disciples the ultimate question: Who do you say that I am? Peter confesses Jesus as “the Son of the Living God” and Jesus confers the following blessing upon him: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

I love the language Jesus uses: the gates of hell will not withstand the advance of God’s Kingdom. Too often, we think in different terms — that the powers of darkness are pressing in against us and it is our task to retreat into our holy huddles, awaiting the day when Jesus returns to lift us out of this nightmarish existence. But Jesus gives us a better image, an image of darkness receding as the power of God’s light advances in the world, step by step reclaiming God’s good creation once more. It’s high time we put the power back in God’s court, recognizing that the gates of hell itself stand little chance against God’s full-on Kingdom assault. This is the promise of Jesus here!

But this moment of glory is short-lived for Peter. Seemingly in the next breath, he is pulling Jesus aside and rebuking Him for all the “death and dying” talk. But Jesus chastises Peter: “Get behind me, Satan!” I challenge you to find a more pointed and haunting statement in all of Scripture. Jesus equates Peter’s earthly-mindedness with Satan himself. But even this statement leads to a deeper teaching, one that deserves to be heard again in our time:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (16:24-26)”

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Matthew 15

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Friday, June 29: Matthew 15

Matthew 15 begins with the Pharisees questioning Jesus yet again. They questioned Jesus about His Sabbath practice in ch12, culminating in an accusation that He operated by the power of Satan rather than God. Of course, this leads to the double-barreled response from Jesus about judgment and the sign of Jonah. You’d think these guys would learn their lesson, but they’re back again, this time questioning Jesus about hand washing.

Yes, you read that right. Hand washing.

Apparently this was a really big deal back in the day. Ceremonial cleanliness was very important in Jewish culture. Still is. But it seems as if the whole thing just exasperates Jesus. Here he is, feeding the hungry, restoring sight to the blind, teaching these shepherd-less people about the nearness of God’s Kingdom for them…and these Pharisees show up with their nitpickiness about His lack of hand washing.

So, in essence, Jesus decides to address them on their own terms. “You want nitpicky? Okay, how about the way you get around God’s command to honor your father and mother?” It seems that it was a common practice to avoid this additional expense by claiming that you’d devoted that portion of your income to the Lord. Jesus sees this for the ruse it really is. “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me!'”

The disciples, in all sincerity, I believe, come to Jesus with an interesting question: “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” (Um, yeah. Pretty sure that was the intent.) Jesus replies with a teaching about what comes out of a man’s heart, not what he takes in through the mouth. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean’,” (v19-20).

Matthew contrasts the attitudes of the Jewish religious leaders with the faith of the Canaanite woman. Jesus seems to be testing her with some of his statements: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” And, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” But she is undeterred. She continues to ask Jesus for help. She’s at the end of her rope, nowhere else to go. Wouldn’t we do the same thing on behalf of our children? Or our dear loved ones? Finally, Jesus turns to her and says, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And with this, Matthew winks to us. This is what faith looks like.

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Matthew 14

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Thursday, June 28: Matthew 14

In Matthew 14, we learn of the fate of John the Baptist. This bold prophet is struck down because of his condemnation of a member of Herod’s family. Philip, Herod’s brother, is involved in some sort of illicit relationship with Herodias. Spurned by John’s denouncement of their union, Herodias and her daughter eventually force Herod’s hand. The prophet is beheaded, his disciples bury his body and bring word to Jesus.

With John’s fate foreshadowing what is to come for Jesus, the Nazarene’s ministry continues. The remainder of the chapter provides two well-worn paths in our remembrance of Jesus: the feeding of the 5,000 and the walking on water episodes. Matthew tells us that Jesus had compassion on the people (v14), healing their sick and meeting their needs. “They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over,” (v20). On the heels of this miracle, Jesus amazes his disciples by walking on water. Note what happens afterward: “And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’ (v32-33)” Doubt – palpable as Peter sank into the water just moments earlier – is now replaced by faith and heartfelt devotion. This is the greatest miracle of all. This is what happens when our hearts find true satisfaction, when we find that which we have instinctively been looking for all along. Nothing else will suffice. Our hearts were made for worship.

It’s also interesting to note that Jesus withdraws from the crowds here at the height of his ministry. We looked at this in our study of Luke, too, but note the way Matthew records this:

  • When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. (v13)
  • After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. (v23).

We cannot ignore the importance of solitary prayer in the life of Jesus. As much as He cares for the crowds, He also strikes a balance, quietly communing with God on a regular basis. In our noise-saturated culture, we would do well to follow this same practice.

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Matthew 13

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Jason

Reading for Wednesday, June 27: Matthew 13

Matthew 13 could be called the chapter of parables. The longest of these parables is the parable of the sower. Not only does Jesus teach this parable publicly, but Matthew records some “behind the scenes” information: an explanation of this specific parable and a defense of Jesus’ parabolic teaching in general. According to Jesus, the parables cannot be understood apart from ears ready to hear (v9, 43). “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them,” (v11). But the aim here isn’t the creation of a secret society. The disciples of Jesus are commissioned with the charge to expand the borders of God’s Kingdom, that even greater numbers might partake in the wonders of His love.

Sadly, some will inevitably reject this message. Some will receive the word with “rocky” hearts; others will have the message thwarted by the enemy and his weeds. Those who receive this message will bear witness to the mustard seed quality of the Kingdom: starting small, in the heart, expanding deeper and wider, until the whole person – even all creation – is taken in by the grandness of God’s love.

What are your thoughts on these parables Jesus delivers in Matthew 13?

The chapter closes on a low note. Jesus returns to Nazareth, only to find scoffers. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” And it says that they took offense at him. As a result, Jesus did not perform any miracles in Nazareth “because of their lack of faith” (v58).

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