ARCHIVE The Gospels - Lesson 2: The Gospel According to Matthew

you [Music] you in 1919 King Albert of Belgium was traveling across the United States by train he was something of an authority on locomotives so for a 10-mile stretch he dressed as an engineer and ran the train at the next stop the cheering crowd looked for King Albert but couldn't find him they expected the king to look a certain way and to act in a certain way so they didn't realize that the tall man dressed in a flannel shirt and a railroad cap was actually the king of Belgium from one perspective the Gospel of Matthew tells a similar story it's the story of a king Jesus the king of the Jews but many in his day didn't recognize him because he didn't look the way people expected him to look and he didn't act as they expected him to act he was a different kind of King this is the second lesson in our series the Gospels we've entitled this lesson the Gospel according to Matthew because we'll focus our attention on the first gospel the book of Matthew our study of Matthew's Gospel will divide into three parts first we'll consider the background of Matthew's book second we'll explore its structure and content and third we'll look at some major themes in Matthew's Gospel let's begin with the background of the Gospel according to Matthew a lot of people asked the question why do I need to know all this contextual stuff about the Bible and I just read the Bible and a good English translation and figure out what it means I like to say a text without a context is just a pretext for whatever you want it to mean the problem is that all ancient texts are given in certain kinds of historical literary rhetorical archaeological religious context and those contexts are all different from ours one person once said the past is like a foreign country they do things differently there the past is very different from the present and the greatest page we have against anachronism of reading back into the past all of our modern assumptions is careful contextual study of the Bible it's important to understand background issues such as who the author is and what the historical context is when we're interpreting books of the Bible precisely because when authors write books they they assume that their audience is operating in a shared culture and and they take for granted that their audience is going to know much of the broader context of the statements that they make and so our task in many cases is is to discern who this author is and what his culture is so that we can get some more light from the broader culture and history so that we can fill in some of these assumptions and given realities we'll discuss the background of Matthew's Gospel in three steps first will speak of Matthew as the author of the work second we'll talk about Matthew's original audience and third we'll look at the occasion or circumstances in which Matthew wrote let's turn first to the question of the author of this gospel whenever we study a book or a letter or any other writing it's helpful to know who wrote it after all the more we know about an author in his context the better prepared we are to understand his perspectives and meaning and the same is true when we study the Bible the more we know about biblical authors the better prepared we are to understand the lessons they are teaching us so as we approach the Gospel of Matthew one of the first questions we want to ask is who wrote this book will consider the author of the Gospel according to Matthew in two stages first will affirm the traditional view that this book was written by the Apostle Matthew who was one of jesus' original twelve disciples and second will explore Matthew's personal history let's start with a traditional view that this gospel was written by Matthew I think we can have a lot of confidence that that Matthew the apostle Matthew really is the author of the Gospel of Matthew though some scholars today doubt that for one thing we know that the early church fathers were were very skeptical in fact that's an understatement actually that they were they were absolutely opposed to accepting forgeries as being authentic canonical works as belonging to the inspired collection of scriptures secondly there's absolutely no competing tradition regarding the authorship of Matthew the only tradition we have is that Matthew wrote this book thirdly if the if the early church were going to associate the name of someone with this gospel for anything other than historical reasons just make up a name or just pick one of the Apostles out of a hack to attach to this book they made a poor choice with Matthew the reason is because Matthew was a tax collector he followed a profession that was absolutely despised by the Jewish people and and yet matthew's gospel is a gospel that is written to a Jewish audience trying to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah so we have this this gospel written to Jews to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah and they're going to pick Matthew to be the writer of this gospel that makes no sense at all the only reason they would associate Matthew's name with Matthew with the Gospel of Matthew is if they had good strong reason to believe that Matthew actually wrote it the traditional view that Matthew wrote the first gospel comes from the earliest centuries of the church in every ancient manuscript of his gospel that contains a title the title attributes the book to Matthew and only to Matthew we have no evidence that this gospel ever circulated among the churches without Matthew's name attached to it one of the earliest people to attribute the first gospel to Matthew was happiest of Harappa las' happiest lived from the end of the first century into the second century he represents viewpoints from the earliest period of the church to which we have access the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea who wrote around ad 325 recorded peppiest testimony regarding the authorship of Matthew's Gospel in his ecclesiastical history book 3 chapter 39 section 16 listen to peppiest words Matthew book the logia in an ordered arrangement here we see that early in the second century happiest attributed the gospel to Matthew it's also worth noting that Eusebius quoted a pious in order to corroborate his own view that Matthew wrote the first gospel another early church father Irenaeus of Leones who wrote around ad 180 also attributed the first gospel to Matthew listen to what he wrote and against heresies book 3 chapter 1 section 1 Matthew also issued a written gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the church Tertullian lived a little later from 8155 the 230 he affirmed Matthew's authorship in his work against Marcia book 4 chapter 2 of the Apostles therefore John and Matthew first instill faith into us Luke and Mark renew it afterwards as far as Irenaeus and Tertullian were concerned Matthew wrote this gospel and their conviction was shared by the early church Matthew's authorship of the first gospel was accepted as a certainty it's also important to realize that these early claims of Matthew's authorship are strengthened by Matthew's relative obscurity presumably if a church or someone else had wanted to give credibility to a gospel by attributing it to an apostle of their own choosing they would probably have chosen one of the more prominent apostles but Matthew is rarely mentioned in the Gospels this makes it unlikely that his name was falsely attached to this gospel first of all we have to recognize the importance of eyewitness testimony in the first century eyewitness testimony was very highly regarded and no one claiming eyewitness testimony was taken lightly it's almost if you will a sacred category of saying things about things that happen we also know that in the early second century a fellow named happiest road that the Gospel of Matthew was by the apostle matthew and pappis would have very likely known apostles firsthand because of his life span final reason I would say that we can be confident that the Gospel of Matthew is by the apostle Matthew is it even though Matthew's name is not mentioned in the text of the Gospel of Matthew the fact is that the Gospel of Matthew from our earliest records never circulated without Matthew the Apostles name associated with it as its author and authority of course some modern critical scholars have doubted that the apostle Matthew wrote the first gospel just as they have questioned many other traditional views of biblical authorship but the overall strength of the ancient etta station - Matthew as the author of this gospel together with the complete absence of any ancient challenges give a strong reason to believe that he wrote this book now that we have looked at the traditional view that Matthew wrote this first gospel we should turn to Matthew's personal history scripture tells us a few important facts about Matthew's personal history for instance it mentions that he was both a Jew and a tax collector we'll consider both of these details beginning with the fact that Matthew was a Jew Matthew's Jewish heritage is revealed in a number of ways for one thing he was one of jesus' twelve disciples who were all Jewish for another Matthew had Jewish names the name Matthew is itself a Jewish name derived from the Hebrew Old Testament and his other name Levi which we find in mark chapter 2 verse 14 and Luke chapter 5 verse 28 was the name of one of the tribes of Israel so both names demonstrate that Matthew was Jewish Matthew's Jewish ancestry may also be implied by ancient Christian reports that he wrote in Hebrew Matthew's Jewish heritage is important background for understanding his gospel because it helps us interpret his distinctly Jewish emphasis will study this Jewish character of this gospel in greater detail later in this lesson so for now we'll mention only one example for the sake of illustration in Matthew chapter 15 verse 24 Matthew reported that Jesus made the following claim I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel more than any other gospel Matthew emphasized that Jesus had come particularly to the nation of Israel besides Matthew's Jewish heritage another detail of his life worth noting is that he was a tax collector in the 1st century many Jews and Palestine collected taxes on behalf of the Roman Empire some of these tax collectors collected tariffs on goods that move from one area to another they were private entrepreneurs who paid the rulers for the authority to collect taxes they made their profit by inflating the taxes they collected from the people as a result these tax collectors were seen as extortionists and thieves and this reputation was often justified for this reason Jewish tax collectors were doubly guilty in the eyes of their countrymen first they were the agents of the hated occupying forces of Rome and second they robbed their own people to the sake of personal gain in fact they were considered to be so evil and untrustworthy that early rabbinic writings prohibited them from testifying in a Jewish court moreover lying to tax collectors was approved and even praised as an act of justified rebellion listen to the way Matthew recorded his own call from Jesus in Matthew chapter 9 verses 9 and 10 Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collectors booth follow me he told him and Matthew got up and followed him while Jesus was having dinner at Matthews house many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples that he was very candid in his description of himself and openly admitted that he and other tax collectors were associated with sinners in Jesus day by doing so Matthew put himself Jesus and his written gospel at odds with the Jewish leadership this division is often expressed in Matthew's Gospel for example listen to the way Jesus criticized the Jewish leadership in Matthew chapter 21 verses 31 and 32 I tell you the truth the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you for John came to you to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did and even after you saw this you did not repent and believe him Matthew's willingness to speak openly about his sinful personal history may also be related to another emphasis of his gospel which we'll look at more closely later in this lesson Matthew more than any other gospel writer stressed the fact that Jesus was a humble king who called for humility in his followers by acknowledging his past matthew freely admitted his own need for grace and proclaimed his willingness to follow the king that had called and changed him jesus had transformed him from a sinful servant of Herod into a humble servant of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven in our lives humility should look like we are glad we are satisfied when good things are happening for other people for ourselves as well but when when other people are progressing when other people are some sense finding honor or their works are shown to be fruitful we are glad in that we are thankful to God for that and we want to honor and thank God in the first place we want to live for God's sake above all not simply for our sake so humility is going to be that not looking to my interest being fulfilled but looking in the first place God interests being fulfilled whether that's for somebody else or for me now that we've concluded that the traditional view that Matthew wrote the first gospel is correct and become familiar with a little of his personal history will explore the identity of the original audience for whom Matthew wrote Matthew did not specifically identify his original audience but he did give us a few clues about them as we'll see Matthew appears to have written primarily for Jewish Christians as we mentioned in a prior lesson all the Gospels were written specifically for Christian audiences but several emphases and Matthew's Gospel make it particularly well-suited for a Christian audience from a Jewish background for example Matthew quoted the Old Testament more than any other gospel writer he frequently pointed out the ways in which Jesus fulfilled Old Testament expectations and he especially emphasized that Jesus was the Messianic King the Jews had awaited for centuries his emphasis on Jewish issues also appears in Jesus conflicts with unbelieving leaders of the Jews which Matthew describes in more detail than any other Gospel writers did and Matthew also put the greatest focus on Jesus relationship to the Old Testament law especially as its Lord later in this lesson we'll look at some of these embassies in greater detail so at this point we'll simply mention two examples that suggest Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience beginning with Matthews use of the phrase Kingdom of Heaven in a prior lesson we noted that all four Gospels are unified by the theme of the kingdom of God but Matthew rarely used the phrase kingdom of God instead he generally use the phrase Kingdom of Heaven the Gospel of Matthew is the only book in the Bible that uses this terminology and as we have seen both phrases meaning the same thing out of reference for God the Jews often avoided using the divine name or anything close to it so that they would not accidentally take God's name in vain one way that they did this was by replacing the word God with the word heaven and this is precisely what Matthew did when he used the phrase kingdom of heaven when we compare parallel passages in the synoptic Gospels we see that where the other Gospel writers used the term kingdom of God Matthew use the phrase Kingdom of Heaven Matthew uses the phrase Kingdom of Heaven almost the whole time in his gospel for what we in the other Gospels referred to as the kingdom of God I heard just a couple of occasions when he uses the phrase kingdom of God but it's because Matthews a Jewish writer a Jewish believer in Christ and for Jews the name of God was something almost too holy to treat to use so to use the phrase heaven is another way of referring to God we read in another gospel I have sinned against heaven and against earth it means I've sinned against God and the danger is that when we hear the phrase kingdom of heaven we miss hear that and think of what sounds rather is Cyril and Annie make the kingdom of heaven can't see that but in fact he was talking up the kingdom of God the idea that God really now is becoming king of this world through Jesus Christ so the real danger for Christians later to miss hear kingdom of heaven actually Jesus saying God is king is coming king through me listen to Marc's record of a parable of a mustard seed in mark chapter 4 verses 30 and 31 Jesus said what shall we say the kingdom of God is like or what parables how we use to describe it it is like a mustard seed which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground here mark used the normal form of the phrase kingdom of God but listen to Matthews version of the parable in Matthew chapter 13 verse 31 Jesus told them another parable the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field when Matthew recounted the same event he used the term kingdom of heaven where Mark used the term kingdom of God you compare what Matthew calls the king of heaven with other places where Mark and Luke had the very same passage and called the kingdom of God that's one of the definitive ways to see that they have the same reference they refer to the same thing well when you read Matthew overall you'll see that there's a major theme of contrasting God in heaven with Humanity on earth God's Way of doing Kingdom which he calls the king of heaven and humanity's way of ruling and reigning and acting and behaving towards each other which we might call the kingdoms of this world and for Matthew to talk about the kingdom of heaven is a very powerful way for him to feel the difference between merely the things of this world and our Father in heaven who reigns and rules and promises to come again so the point of the kingdom of heaven in Matthew's language is to let us feel and taste the difference between God's reign that is still yet to come and all the reigns and ruling and behavior of this earth there's a contrast between those two realities and Matthew using Kingdom of Heaven helps us feel and taste and hope in that time coming for God's kingdom of heaven many scholars believe that Matthew preserved the way Jesus spoke to Jewish crowds and that mark and the other New Testament writers use the phrase kingdom of God in order to make Jesus meaning more clear to broader audiences but whether or not this is true Matthews use of the phrase Kingdom of Heaven adds weight to the view that his original audience was Jewish another aspect of Matthew's Gospel that points to a Jewish audience is the way Matthew assumed that his audience had substantial knowledge of Jewish customs as just one example in Matthew chapter 15 verses 1 & 2 Matthew recorded this event then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders they don't wash their hands before they ain't mark included the same story in chapter 7 verses 1 to 5 of his gospel but mark added a 3 verse explanation of the Jewish custom of hand washing so that his Roman audience would understand the custom Matthew felt no need to add that sort of explanation for his audience now assuming that Matthew did write for a Jewish audience there's one characteristic of his gospel that seems to be out of place in a few instances Matthew quoted Jesus speaking in Aramaic and then translated those Aramaic words into the language of his audience for example listen to the words of Matthew chapter 27 verse 46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice Eloi Eloi Lama sabachthani which means my God my God why have you forsaken me there are a variety of explanations for why math you might have written in this way even if his audience were primarily Jewish first even though his audience was primarily Jewish it was not exclusively Jewish so he may have included these translations for the non-jews among his readers second Matthews audience may have included people living outside Palestine that did not know Aramaic and third Matthew may simply have copied the information from another source for example the translation from matthew chapter 27 verse 46 also appears in mark chapter 15 verse 34 which matthew may have used as a source in all events the weight of evidence strongly suggests that matthew wrote his gospel primarily for jewish christians in order to strengthen their faith in jesus by addressing many issues that were particularly important to them now that we have investigated the author and audience of the first gospel we're ready to examine the occasion on its composition when we speak of the occasion of a book we have in mind several things that are related to its historical context things like its date of composition its location of composition the location of its intended audience and the purpose for which it was written knowing when where to whom and why a book was written gives us a lot of information about its context it helps us understand its historical setting its grammar and vocabulary its religious and social assumptions and its rhetorical strategies and in turn this information helps us understand and apply the book consider three aspects of the occasion for the writing of Matthew's Gospel first the date of the writing second the location of both the author and audience and third the purpose for which Matthew wrote let's begin with the date of Matthew's Gospel first as the majority of scholars believe Matthew probably use the Gospel of Mark as one of his sources as we'll see in a later lesson it's likely that mark was written around AD 64 if this is correct the earliest date at which Matthew probably wrote was the mid to late 60s second Matthew was an apostle of Jesus this means that he was already an adult by the time he engaged in ministry with Jesus probably by the Year 80 30 so unless Matthew lived an extraordinarily long life the latest date at which he could have written would be around the end of the first century this gives us a fairly wide range in which Matthew might have written but we can narrow down the likely dates within this range by noticing a particular detail in Matthew's writing specifically Matthew frequently referred to the temple as well as to the fantasies who were closely associated with the temple some of these references are largely historical but a few references suggest that both the temple and the Sadducees were still significant factors the time that Matthew wrote since the temple was destroyed in AD 70 these references make the most sense of Matthew wrote before them in light of all the evidence it seems best to conclude that Matthew wrote his gospel in the late 60s perhaps around 80 67 or 68 certainty in this matter is not possible but fortunately while it's helpful to know the approximate time when Matthew wrote the precise dating of his gospel is rarely if ever critical to the interpretation of his teachings now that we've looked at the date of the writing of the gospel let's turn to the question of the geographical location of the author and audience we should start by noting that scholars have debated the location of this gospel so we shouldn't be dogmatic in our conclusions even so there are a number of details worth noting to begin with because Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish Christians it's most likely that he addressed his gospel to a group that lived in an area with a significant Jewish population Palestine is one obvious possibility since this was the traditional homeland of the Jews and since they were concentrated there but parts of Syria also had substantial Jewish populations and Ignatius who was the Bishop of Antioch in Syria is the earliest of the Church Fathers to demonstrate familiarity with Matthew's Gospel for this reason a number of scholars have argued that Matthew wrote to believers in Syrian Antioch and of course we can't rule out the possibility that Matthew had a wider audience in mind writing to Jewish Christians in general throughout the Mediterranean world Palestine Syria or any other area with a significant Jewish population within the Roman Empire would be a fitting destination for a gospel with the strong Jewish character of Matthew during the first century AD the Jewish people would spread around much of the Roman Empire and indeed to the further east as well this goes back a long time ever since the time of the Babylonian exile there have been juste living outside the land of Palestine and they continue to live over there in the Far East as it were that's a Mesopotamia modern Iraq then they come into Syria Damascus and then the Diaspora that's the name for the spreading or the dispersion of the Jewish people but it spreads further west into Asia Minor modern Turkey and as far as Rome the Jewish population there by the river Tiber in Rome I'm not forgetting North Africa as well we read in the Gospels of Simon so really coming from to Jerusalem from North Africa so imagine the whole of the eastern half the Roman Empire and the further east that's why the Jews are living now that we have spoken of both the date and location of Matthew's Gospel we can consider Matthews purpose in writing his gospel broadly speaking Matthew wrote because the true history of who Jesus was and what he had done was critically important but he also had narrower more immediate goals specifically Matthew wrote to Jewish Christians in order to nurture their faith in Jesus as their messianic king at the time that Matthew wrote Jewish converts to Christianity were strongly rejected by Jewish authorities and often by former friends and family members the book of Acts makes it clear that in the Mediterranean world of that day persecution had become a way of life for Jewish Christians as we read in Acts chapter eight verse one great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria because of persecution Jews who follow Jesus as their Messiah certainly face the temptation to return to their former lives and abandon Christianity in response to this temptation Matthew wrote to remind them that Jesus was the true Messiah who had brought the Kingdom of Heaven his gospel it was a story of encouragement a story of comfort but it was also a story of challenge because Jesus had not brought the kingdom in the way many of them had expected and the demands of the kingdom were great in this context Matthew reassured his readers that Jesus had begun to fulfill the Old Testament expectations for the Messianic Kingdom at the same time the Kingdom of Heaven was not yet complete so mad you also wrote to encourage Jewish believers to remain faithful until the king himself returned to make everything right until the time that Jesus destroyed the enemies of his kingdom and welcomed his faithful people into the full experience of his kingdom blessings this is why Matthew so often mentioned the theme of the kingdom of heaven in fact he used the words king and kingdom over 75 times in his gospel the other three gospel writers together used them fewer than 110 times for Matthew the best way to encourage and challenge his Jewish audience was to tell them the story of their messianic king and his kingdom Matthew's Gospel we find a great emphasis on the Kingdom of Heaven Matthew begins his gospel with the lineage of Jesus with the intent of showing that Jesus is the rightful heir the Davidic King this Davidic King is Jesus of Nazareth his audience is original audience was primarily a Jewish audience we believe and this book is to say to the people here's your rightful king he emphasizes the Kingdom of Heaven and it's concrete manifestation as he demonstrates in this gospel that this term Kingdom of Heaven refers to Christ rule over all people in all spheres it is a question of authority the Pharisees and the Sadducees always ask Jesus by what authority do you do these things the gospel ends with the words jesus said all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth and this kingdom idea is much more than the nationalistic Davidic King that the people had come to expect and to look for this is the statement that Matthew makes that Christ is king over every square inch of creation now that we've studied the background of Matthew's Gospel let's turn to the structure and content of the gospel there is considerable agreement among scholars about some of the features of the structure of the Gospel of Matthew and this agreement is due to the fact that Matthew has given us a very helpful key at five different points he uses a phrase such as when Jesus had finished saying these things to indicate major transitions in the gospel sometimes a statement like this appears as the last sentence of a division and at other times it's the first sentence of a new division but it always indicates a major transition following these structural markers most scholars agree that the Gospel of Matthew divides into seven sections there are five major sections set off by transitional statements in Matthew chapter 7 verse 28 chapter 11 verse 1 chapter 13 verse 53 chapter 19 verse 1 and chapter 26 verse 1 in Matthew also included an introductory narrative and a concluding narrative the gospel begins with a narrative introduction that presents Jesus as the Messianic King in matthew chapter 1 verse 1 through chapter 2 verse 23 the first major division describes the gospel of the kingdom in matthew chapter 3 verse 1 through chapter 7 verse 29 the second major division focuses on the spread of the kingdom in matthew chapter 8 verse 1 through chapter 11 verse 1 the third major division records the signs and parables of the kingdom in Matthew chapter 11 verse 2 through chapter 13 verse 53 the fourth major division of Matthew's account focuses on faith and greatness beginning in chapter 13 verse 54 and continuing through chapter 18 verse 35 the fifth and last major division is about the present opposition to the kingdom and the future victory of the kingdom in Matthew chapter 19 verse 1 through chapter 25 verse 46 finally there is a conclusion that narrates the Kings death and resurrection in Matthew chapter 26 verse 1 through chapter 28 verse 20 each of these sections of Matthew's Gospel furthers the story of Jesus the Messianic King that brought the kingdom of heaven to earth let's take a closer look at each of these sections beginning with the introduction in Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 through chapter 2 verse 23 the introduction to Matthew's Gospel introduces us to Jesus as the messianic King and is made up of two sections a genealogy and an infancy narrative the genealogy is found in matthew chapter 1 verses 1 through 17 technically the first verse is actually an introduction or title in which matthew summarized his main point namely that jesus is the messianic king of Israel [Music] Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 reads as follows a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of David the son of Abraham from the very beginning Matt you placed special emphasis on David the king of Israel and on Abraham the father of the Jewish people following this introductory statement the genealogy itself begins in verse 2 according to matthew chapter 1 verse 17 the genealogy is arranged in three segments each containing 14 generations the first began with god's covenant with Abraham in which Abraham was promised that his descendants would rule the world the second segment begins with King David and with God's promise to fulfill his covenant with Abraham by establishing David's dynasty forever this second segment ends with God's people being exiled from the promised land because of their sin and covenant breaking the third segment of the genealogy runs from the Exile to the birth of Jesus Israel had broken God's covenant and fallen under his covenant curses but God still intended to bless Israel by fulfilling the promises he had made to Abraham and David the past kings of Israel had failed but now the last king of Israel the one who would fulfill Israel's destiny and finally come the list of Jesus ancestors ends in Matthew chapter 1 verse 16 where we read these words Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ in this way matthew proved that jesus had a fully legal claim to David's throne through his father Joseph the Messiah had to be a descendant of David because of prophetic revelation basically because it was predicted so and that goes all the way back to Genesis where the tribe of Judah is is prophesied to prophesied to be the one through whom the kingship would come that prophecy was was of course fulfilled in David King David himself who was the greatest king of Israel every King that followed David was compared to him either favorably or unfavorably then of course we have the Covenant made with David himself when David proposed to Nathan the Prophet to build a house for the Lord to build the temple Nathan came back and said you're not going to build a house for the Lord the Lord is going to build a house for you and by house he meant dynasty it's in second Samuel chapter 7 and that prophecy that God would build a house for him would establish his kingdom forever that his descendant would reign forever on David's throne became the foundation for the Messianic prophecies that followed and so when the prophets then referred back after the collapse especially of the Davidic dynasty the Davidic Kingdom when they referred back and looked forward to the hope that God would restore the glories of the Davidic dynasty it was through the line of David that God would raise up a king and so the king the Messiah had to come through the line of David following Jesus genealogy we find his infancy narrative Jesus infancy narrative runs from Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 for chapter 2 verse 23 this section is fairly brief only 31 verses compared to 116 verses in the Gospel of Luke in this section Matthew's purpose was quite limited each of the five short paragraphs was designed to focus attention on one central fact Jesus the Messiah had been born each paragraph tells a brief story and then explains how that story fulfills the Old Testament expectations for the Messiah one of the most interesting things we learn in Jesus infancy narrative is that he didn't have a human father instead God was his father literally the Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive Jesus even though she was still a virgin now some critics of Christianity have suggested that this is a weakness in Jesus genealogy since he wasn't physically a descendant of Joseph through whom he claimed the throne of David but it's a well-recognized fact that biblical genealogies such as those in first chronicles chapter 1 through 9 often trace ancestries through adoptive parents moreover because Jesus was the son of God he was also fully divine and this meant he was able to keep God's covenant perfectly merely human Kings had never perfectly obeyed God's covenant and therefore they had never been able to inherit the full covenant blessings God had promised to Abraham and David so God sent His perfect son to be king in order to ensure that his covenant would be kept so that his promises of blessing would be fulfilled it's very clear that the Messiah comes through David's lion is human and there's a lot of important truths there but it's also crucial to realize that the Messiah also has to be God has to be divine why is that the case ultimately it's because our problem as human beings before God is that we have sinned against him he must provide the answer he must provide the solution the problem of forgiveness that we want to sometimes speak about is that our sin before God isn't something that he can overlook it's not something that he can say all great curved or you do your best God is a holy God God is righteous and just we cannot simply have him overlook our sin that would be a denial of himself so for him to forgive us he must take the initiative he must provide ultimately the solution to the satisfaction of his own righteous requirements God himself must do it now when you read the Old Testament this comes through over and over again you think if say a Jonah 2:9 salvation is of the Lord it's God himself that must provide is God himself that must provide the solution it's God himself that must forgive so that if there is going to be salvation through the Messiah he must represent us be human yet it also must be the Lord the Lord who comes the Lord who saves the Lord who satisfies his holiness and righteousness and that is why the Messiah must be divined in the introduction to his gospel Matthew presented Jesus as the Messianic King the royal son of David who received all the blessings God had promised to Abraham and the people of Israel in this way Matthew set the stage for the amazing good news that is the subject of the rest of his book following the introduction are the five major literary divisions of the gospel each of these five divisions is composed of two parts a narrative section in which Matthew described what Jesus did followed by a discourse section in which Matthew reported what Jesus said the first major division of Matthew's Gospel tells the story of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven this section extends from Matthew chapter 3 verse 1 through chapter 7 verse 29 the narrative portion begins in Matthew chapter 3 verse 1 and ends in chapter 4 verse 25 here Matthew proclaimed that the Messianic King had come and that he had brought the kingdom of heaven to earth the first section of the narrative is Matthew chapter 3 verses 1 through 12 where John the Baptist announced that God's Messiah would soon come and baptize his faithful people with the Holy Spirit for 400 years the Holy Spirit had been relatively inactive in Israel because of God's judgment against his wayward people but now just as Old Testament prophets had predicted a new day was about to dawn when God's Spirit would be poured out the narrative continues with Jesus baptism in Matthew chapter 3 verses 13 through 17 in this event the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus anointing him for his messianic ministry and the father announced from heaven this is my son applying to Jesus a royal title from Psalm 2 verse 7 the divine voice also alluded to the suffering servant of Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 & 2 by describing Jesus as the one whom I love with him I am well pleased Jesus was the royal Messiah but he would be a different kind of King he would fulfill his calling through suffering in the next story in the narrative found in Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 through 11 Satan challenged Jesus commitment to this role of a royal suffering Messiah three times he tempted Jesus to be a messiah without suffering essentially saying don't be hungry like a man astonish people into believing without pain rule the nation's without suffering but each time Jesus rejected the easy path that would have denied the character of his suffering Messiahship then in matthew chapter 4 verses 12 through 17 Jesus began his public messianic mission by preaching the gospel of the kingdom listen to how Matthew summarized Jesus message in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 from that time on Jesus began to preach repent for the kingdom of heaven is near [Music] according to Matthew the good news that Jesus preached was that the kingdom of heaven was near that through his own ministry Jesus was about to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth and this kingdom was available to all who would repent of their sin and faithfully follow Jesus as king the kingdom of heaven is used in Matthew's Gospel and only in Matthew's Gospel I think synonymously with the kingdom of God I would agree with most scholars who say there is no difference between them the fact that it is described by Jesus as being near or some translations have it at hand indicates that the endtime rule of God has in some sense already come in the person and work of Jesus but there is a sense in which it awaits its completion the technical term is consummation which will come at us which will happen at the second coming of Christ so that Christians and live in a rather to use a technical expression rather dialectical existence they have one foot in God's endtime kingdom but there is another foot that is not yet within God's endtime kingdom and a great deal of the challenge of Christian discipleship is negotiating in terms of life and life decisions and how we think about life what it means that the kingdom of heaven is already here in some sense and what it means on the other hand that it is not yet fully appeared when Jesus went preaching from village to village in the Gospels repent for the kingdom of God is at hand or is it is near he was saying a couple of things he was saying first of all that in him the kingdom of God was present was in their midst and that's something that he showed and demonstrated by his authoritative teaching by casting out demons and taking authority over the demons and also through his healing ministry as well so the first thing Jesus was saying was that the kingdom and the authority of the King is present in me right here in your midst but the other thing that he was saying is that the kingdom is coming the kingdom is not yet here in its fullness but at one time in the future the fullness of God's reign will be visible to everyone so that's what Jesus was talking about when he was saying the kingdom of God is near so by calling people to repent because the kingdom of God was near he was calling them to submit to the king that by their submission by their obedience by literally following the king they were then being incorporated are reincorporated into the Covenant people of God so it's that sort of submission to the king that is signified by repentance in Matthew chapter 4 verses 18 through 22 Jesus called his disciples the picture is one of the Messianic King recruiting the leaders of his kingdom following this in Matthew chapter 4 verses 23 through 25 Matthew gave a preview of the next two sections of the gospel he announced that Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching and healing the crowds Matthew chapters 5 to 7 illustrate Jesus teaching 12 chapters 8 & 9 illustrate is healing now that we've looked at Matthew's narrative on the gospel of the kingdom let's turn to the accompanying discourse that appears in Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 through chapter 7 verse 29 this discourse is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount in this teaching Jesus described the righteous lines of Kingdom citizens he explicitly mentioned a kingdom seven times and the entire sermon revolves around this theme time after time Jesus stressed that the challenges of righteousness were far greater than the leaders of Judaism had imagined he also stressed that the heavenly father of the citizens of the kingdom was closer and more ready to bless than they ever imagined it's the combination of these twin thoughts that gives the sermon its distinctive character consider just one example from the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaching on adultery Jesus taught that the law of God demanded more than a surface reading might indicate and more than the Jewish teachers commonly taught [Music] listen to what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 verses 27 and 28 you have heard that it was said do not commit adultery but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart when Jesus referred to what was said he was talking about common interpretations of Scripture among the Jewish rabbis of his day some rabbis taught that the Old Testament Commandments prohibited adultery but they failed to address the more fundamental issue of a human heart but Jesus pointed out something that was true even in the days of the Old Testament God is not just interested in controlling outward behavior he wants obedience to begin in the heart I think sometimes we can have a perspective on the Old Testament verse of the New Testament where we think and the Old Testament God required these external signs he wanted people to be circumcised he wanted sacrifice he wanted them to observe special days and that was sort of an external religious expression and then in the New Testament this is now as a religion of the heart God wants our hearts he wants our affections but that won't work I don't think when one begins to look closely at the material in the Old Testament especially in the prophets that the Prophet Joel for example says rend your hearts not your garments which is a direct statement against an external religion where God didn't just want their external forms of expression to him but he wanted their hearts he wanted he wanted what was internal to them what made them who they were now you see this as well for example in Psalm 103 but bless the Lord O my soul all of it is within me bless His Holy Name I mean here the psalmist is calling on the people of God to bless him to worship the Lord with with everything that makes them who they are and so the sort of idea that the affections are something that's in the New Testament and heartfelt religions not in the Old Testament doesn't doesn't do justice to the full orbed reality of God's covenant involvement with his people in the Old Testament Jesus emphasis on heartfelt obedience led him to describe the citizens of the kingdom as meek in chapter 5 verse 5 as those who hunger and thirst for righteousness in chapter 5 verse 6 and as pure in heart in chapter 5 verse 8 now of course Jesus knew that his followers would not be completely changed into these kinds of citizens until the Kingdom of Heaven had come in all its fullness but he still exhorted them to be righteous before them listen to what he said in Matthew chapter 5 verse 48 be perfect therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect in one sense this command is impossible to fulfill no one can be as perfect as God is but that shouldn't lead us to despair on the contrary Jesus also gave us a gracious encouraging promise throughout his sermon he assured his faithful followers that the kingdom already belongs to us for instance in the Beatitudes found in Matthew chapter 5 verses 3 through 10 we find eight blessings the six in the middle promised that the blessings will be received on that future day when the kingdom of heaven comes in all its fullness but the first and the last blessings are different Jesus said his people already have these blessings of the kingdom listen to the way Jesus stated these blessings in Matthew chapter 5 verses 3 and 10 blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven the truly great challenge of following Jesus is matched by the equally great promise that God's kingdom power is already transforming us into righteous citizens of his kingdom in the first major division of his gospel Matthew emphasized the gospel of the kingdom by drawing attention to the purpose and message of Jesus ministry Jesus was the Messianic King that brought the Kingdom of Heaven to the people of God he taught them about the life transforming power of that kingdom and he promised them that if they were faithful they would inherit the great blessings of the kingdom when it came in all of its fullness the second major division of Matthew's Gospel deals with the spread of the kingdom it extends from Matthew chapter 8 verse 1 through chapter 11 verse 1 the narrative dealing with the spread of the kingdom runs from Matthew chapter 8 verse 1 through Chapter 9 verse 38 it consists of stories about Jesus miracles and the reactions that different people had to his miracles this narrative section divides into 11 segments involving Jesus and a leper in chapter 8 verses 1 through 4 a Centurions servant in chapter 8 verses 5 through 13 Peters mother-in-law in chapter 8 verses 14 through 17 a storm in chapter 8 verses 18 through 27 to domani Acts in chapter 8 verses 28 through 34 a paralytic in chapter 9 verses 1 through 8 tax collectors and sinners in chapter 9 verses 9 through 17 a girl and a woman in chapter 9 verses 18 through 26 two blind men in chapter nine verse 27 to 31 and another demoniac in chapter 9 verses 32 through 34 then the section ends with a depiction of Jesus compassion in chapter 9 verses 35 through 38 time will only permit us to make a few observations about these events in Jesus life he exercised his kingdom power over sickness by healing a leper in chapter 8 verses one through four a Centurions servant in chapter eight verses 5 through 13 and Peters mother-in-law in chapter 8 verses 14 through 17 a paralytic in chapter 9 verses 1 through 8 a hemorrhaging woman in chapter 9 verses 20 through 22 and two blind men in chapter 9 verses 27 through 31 he also brought a dead girl back to life in Matthew chapter 9 verses 18 through 26 proving that he even had power and authority over death itself Jesus demonstrated his control over nature by calming the storm in Matthew chapter 8 verses 23 through 27 beyond this Jesus demonstrated his power over the kingdom of Satan by driving demons out of two men who lived among the tombs in Matthew chapter 8 verses 28 through 34 and out of a man who couldn't speak in chapter 9 verses 32 through 34 [Music] the call of Matthew as a disciple introduces a larger segment in dealing with Jesus association with tax collectors and sinners in chapter 9 verses 9 through 17 Jesus called Matthew to leave his life as a tax collector and to begin a new life this change was nothing short of a miracle the transformation of tax collectors and sinners was so astonishing that Matthew immediately moved to Jesus feasting with tax collectors and sinners so much that he had to explain the reason for their joy in addition to focusing on Jesus power Matthew also called attention to the crowd's reaction to Jesus power simply put they were amazed we see this in places like Matthew chapter 8 verses 27 and 34 and chapter 9 verses 8 26 31 and 33 and their amazement most commonly led them to oppose Jesus some opposed Jesus simply by disbelieving others especially the Jewish leaders criticized him openly some feared Jesus as in matthew chapter 8 verse 34 others were horrified and shocked as in matthew chapter 9 verse 3 occasionally the opposition to Jesus seems to have been well intentioned as in Chapter 9 verse 14 though it was still wrong and sometimes people opposed Jesus because they willfully rejected what they knew to be true as in matthew chapter 9 verse 34 sadly opposition to jesus became more and more prominent as Jesus ministry continued probably one of the greatest puzzles when you look at the New Testament is how the people could reject Christ when they saw with their own eyes the miracles of the people were amazed the scripture says over and over and what he did when we consider that question how could they do that I think we need to look like Matthew 22 29 jesus said to the Pharisees you're an Arab because you do not know the scripture or the power of God now he in that context specifically addressed the Sadducees but I think the same could be said of Pharisees the teachers of the law they had taught the people in era the expectations for the Messiah who was to come had been shaped by incorrect teaching I think there's a great lesson for us there today people who mishandled the Word of God and incorrectly teach the people set up false expectations on the part of people and I think it's exactly what happened in first century in Israel they had expected a messiah to come and it was a nationalistic triumphalism you might say and Jesus came even though he did things they had never seen and would never see again they ended up rejected him because the attacks of the leaders upon Christ always sought to discredit his miracles they went to put him in a league with Satan as the means of doing these things and this eventually sad to say the decades the generations of incorrect teaching the attacks of those in positions of authority religious authority eventually turned the hearts of many of the people away from Christ in spite of the miracles that they saw Matthieu closed this narrative section on Jesus powerful miracles in chapter 9 verses 35 through 38 by describing Jesus compassion to the crowds listen to this account in Matthew chapter 9 verses 36 through 38 when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd then he said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field Jesus understood that one reason his people did not receive him as king was that they had been mistreated and poorly taught by many of their leaders but he also knew that his miracles were softening their hearts and inclining them to follow him so he instructed his disciples to pray that God would raise up evangelists and righteous leaders men who would bring the lost into God's heavenly kingdom on earth and teach them how to be its righteous citizens having explored Matthew's narrative on the spread of the kingdom let's turn to the corresponding discourse in Matthew chapter 10 verse 1 through chapter 11 verse 1 this discourse focuses on the disciples as emissaries or representatives of the king in this section jesus answered the challenge that he had posed at the end of the preceding narrative after commanding his followers to pray for God to raise up evangelists and leaders Jesus extended his personal Kingdom ministry by empowering twelve disciples for ministry and commanding them to announce the presence of the kingdom in word and deed just as he himself had done as we read in Matthew chapter 10 verses 7 & 8 Jesus commissioned them with these words as you go preach this message the kingdom of heaven is near heal the sick raise the dead cleanse those who have leprosy drive out demons Jesus gave His disciples many warnings before he sent them out life would not be easy when they followed Jesus example the world would not be kind to them they would suffer they would be mocked arrested and killed but Jesus also promised that their ministry would be blessed by their heavenly Father and that eventually the life of the kingdom would be theirs listen to how Jesus reassured his disciples in Matthew chapter 10 verse 39 whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it Jesus disciples were abandoning their prior lives for the sake of Jesus teaching and healing ministry but Jesus assured them that they would find true Kingdom life in the company of King Jesus himself in this second major division of the gospel we've seen that Matthew described the spread of the kingdom especially in terms of Jesus works of power and Jesus instructions to his disciples and this provides a good model for our own ministry in the modern church as we rely on Jesus power and serve Him as faithful disciples Jesus will build his kingdom through us as well and reward us with heavenly blessings the third major division of Matthew's Gospel continues the display of the king and his kingdom through both signs and parables and is found in matthew chapter 11 verse 2 through chapter 13 verse 53 Matthew's narrative focuses on the signs Jesus performed and reactions to his signs and extends from Matthew chapter 11 verse 2 to chapter 12 verse 50 these sides demonstrated that the king and his kingdom were present and corrected false expectations of what the kingdom would look like as a result the criticism that had already taken root began to grow and spread this series of episodes divides into five segments in chapter 11 verses two through nineteen Jesus assured John the Baptist that his signs proved that he was the Messiah who fulfilled Old Testament prophecies and Jesus called for the crowds to respond to his signs with repentance in Chapter 11 verses 20 to 30 Jesus addressed the cities where he had performed miracles and he warned the unrepentant and offered rest to those who would come to him as he put it in Matthew chapter 11 verse 30 for my yoke is easy and my burden is light in chapter 12 verses 1 through 21 Matthew begins several episodes that focused explicitly on the reactions of the Pharisees to Jesus signs first he reported how Jesus disputed with the Pharisees about God's purposes for the Sabbath and demonstrated his authority by healing a man on the Sabbath Jesus taught that the Sabbath is for healing and saving lives in chapter 12 verses 22 through 37 the Pharisees accused Jesus of using the power of Beelzebub even as the crowds were astonished by his miracles rather than receiving him as the Messiah the teachers of the law believed he was possessed by the devil in chapter 12 verses 38 through 50 the Pharisees hypocritically demanded another side but Jesus warned that they would only receive a sign of Jonah and what was the sign much like Jonah's exit from a huge fish after three days led to the repentance of the Gentiles in Nineveh Jesus future resurrection after three days in the earth would lead to the repentance of many more Gentiles to demonstrate how God would receive anyone from any nationality who repented Jesus even went so far as to say that his natural Jewish mother and brothers were not his family rather as he put it in Matthew chapter 12 verses 49 and 50 here are my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother now that we've looked at Matthews narrative of the signs that Jesus performed let's turn to his discourse on Jesus Kingdom parables in Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 53 Matthew's account reports Jesus well known parables in five seconds the parable of the sower in chapter 13 verses 1 through 23 the parable of the weeds in chapter 13 verses 24 through 30 the mustard seed and the yeast in chapter 13 verses 31 through 43 the hidden treasure and pearl in chapter 13 verses 44 through 46 and the parable of the net in chapter 13 verses 47 through 53 these parables were designed to correct misunderstandings that explain the kingdom of God in some of the parables such as the parables of the mustard seed in chapter 13 verses 31 and 32 the yeast in verse 33 the treasure in verse 44 and the pearl in verses 45 and 46 Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven was of supreme value and was soft at all costs it might look insignificant at first one day it would be seen in all of its glory but Jesus also told other parables that focused on Israel's failure to embrace King Jesus at his kingdom and the parable of the sower and it's explanation in matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 23 jesus made it clear that there were many obstacles to believe and that most people would reject the kingdom this idea is reinforced by the parable of the weeds in verses 24 through 30 and 36 through 43 and the parable of the net in verses 47 through 51 jesus taught that many would refuse to embrace the kingdom and would be destroyed in the end these parables were clear warnings to those who opposed Jesus they provided an opportunity for unbelievers to repent and to become faithful followers of the one true king Christ has come he has fulfilled the prophecies he has brought his kingdom to pass yet it still awaits its culmination we as Christians we enter into that Kingdom but we need to constantly be re-evaluating in terms of our priorities repenting of not following him as we ought making sure that we are faithfully seeking to live out our lives in conformity to his will agreeing with him in terms of his values but the kingdom is all about so there's a constant need for repentance confession coming to him as our prophet as well as priest as well as King the one that we then seek to follow and you know serve in such a way where we carry out his purposes for in this world well Mayo Coulee building we ought to encourage Christians to pursue and long for the coming of God's kingdom first in the personal dimension that the authority of the kingdom of heaven is our power in life it motivates us to submit to God and live a god-centered life so that the authority of God manifested in our lives would become the goal of our spiritual lives second we need to learn the concept of the kingdom of heaven in view of redemptive history as we learn how it begins uncovers and completes his redemptive plan then we will see that the teachings of the kingdom of heaven unify the old and new Testament they help us to see the grand blueprint of our redeeming God and easily grasp his comprehensive purpose third the Kingdom of Heaven creates a right biblical worldview and helps us to see that all things belong to God his kingdom will come to completion and he will judge and wipe out all the evil powers on earth because God Himself is the absolute king so we no longer live just for ourselves we want to care for our neighbors society and the well-being of this world we ought to pay attention to the things either near or far from us we ought to enter into the society and transform all aspects accordingly as our duty the fourth major division of Matthews account focuses on faith and greatness beginning in chapter 13 verse 54 and continuing through chapter 18 verse 35 this division reveals what it means to be a faithful disciple of Jesus who reaches greatness in his kingdom the narrative portion of the section runs from chapter 13 verse 54 through chapter 17 verse 27 and includes 13 episodes that report in different ways in which all but one woman resisted putting their full faith in Jesus the first two episodes focus on two times when faith in Jesus was entirely rejected first when Jesus came to his hometown in Nazareth in chapter 13 verses 54 to 58 his former neighbors did not dispute his ability to do miracles but they still took offence and rejected him in chapter 13 verse 58 we read that the people of Nazareth did not receive many miracles because they lacked faith next chapter 14 verses 1 through 12 is about Herod and the death of John the Baptist Herod deserved the judgment of God for what he did to John but more than this verse 1 explains that Herod did not dispute the reports of Jesus miracles instead his advisers believed that Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead to trouble Herod the next three episodes focus on Jesus disciples and how they needed to grow in faith Matthew chapter 14 verses 13 through 21 is the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 Jesus told the disciples to feed the crowd that followed him but in verse 15 his disciples doubted and complained that he had too little food so Jesus proved his power by multiplying their food and feeding 5,000 with plenty to spare in chapter 14 verses 22 through 36 Jesus walked on water at first Peter showed confidence in Jesus by stepping out of the boat but Peter doubted when he saw the danger and began to sink into the sea after rescuing him Jesus commented in verse 31 you of little faith why did you doubt chapter 15 verses 1 through 20 reports a conflict between Jesus and some Pharisees Peter asked Jesus for an explanation of something simple that Jesus had said so in verse 16 jesus replied disapprovingly are you still so dull in chapter 15 verses 21 through 28 we have the only time in these episodes when someone firmly believed in Jesus a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter unlike others she begged Jesus to help her and in verse 28 Jesus responded approvingly saying woman you have great faith Matthew then returned to the weak faith of Jesus disciples in chapter 15 verses 29 through 39 he wrote about the feeding of the four thousand in verse 33 the disciples asked where they could find enough food even though they had seen Jesus feed five thousand earlier in chapter 16 verses one through twelve Jesus debated with the Pharisees and Sadducees at one point he turned to his disciples and warned them of the yeast of the Pharisees and they thought he was angry because they had not brought bread with them but Jesus reminded them up at times when he had made bread for thousands and in verse eight he called his disciples you of little faith following this we find two closely related episodes on the one hand Peters well-known confession of faith in chapter 16 verses 13 through 20 in chapter 16 verse 16 Peter declared of Jesus you are the Christ the Son of the Living God and Jesus praised and blessed Peter for his faith but on the other hand in chapter 16 verses 21 through 27 Jesus rebuked Peter just as strongly [Music] Jesus began to tell the disciples that he was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die when Peter objected jesus replied harshly in verse 23 get behind me Satan Jesus explained that Peter was thinking like men and not like God following this rebuke we come to Jesus Transfiguration in chapter 17 verses 1 through 13 when the disciples saw Jesus in his glory they wanted to build a shrine at the place but in verse 12 Jesus reminded them that his true glory would be seen only after he died and was resurrected in chapter 17 verses 14 through 23 we read the young demoniac Jesus disciples had tried but failed to cast out the demon after doing it himself Jesus said in verse 20 you have two little faith finally in chapter 17 verses 24 through 27 collectors came to Jesus disciples and asked if Jesus paid the temple tax Peter replied quickly and probably out of fear that Jesus did pay but later Peter came to Jesus for the money and Jesus provided by performing a miracle and explained that Peter had no reason to be concerned Matthew mentioned those who rejected Jesus and the believing Canaanite woman but his main focus was on the need for his disciples to grow in their faith in Him once again Matthew followed his narratives with Jesus discourse in chapter 18 verses 1 through 35 this discourse focuses on true greatness and the family of God's kingdom greatness that comes from humble service among the brothers and sisters of God's kingdom in the last segment of the previous chapter Jesus spoke of his followers as sons of God the king this identification led Matthew to begin this portion of his gospel with a key question as we read in Matthew chapter 18 verse 1 who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven jesus answered this question by mixing instructions with illustrations and parables in four main parts first in chapter 18 verses 2 through 4 Jesus exhorted his disciples to live in humility as little children in the face of increasing opposition from his enemies Jesus taught his disciples how to live in the kingdom of heaven as children of God he knew that the future consummation of the kingdom had not yet arrived and he knew that struggles against enemies and sin would be a part of life for God's children and in verses 5 through 14 he taught them to care for the weak like their heavenly father cared for his lost sheep listen to Jesus words in Matthew chapter 18 verses 10 and 14 see that you do not look down on one of these little ones your father in heaven is not willing that anybody's little ones should be lost Jesus built on this idea in Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 through 20 where he demanded that his followers deal with each other as members of the family of God even when sin disrupted their relationships and in verses 21 through 35 he insisted that they forgive the sinning brother the same way their Heavenly Father had forgiven them God's glory continues to increase in our own day because God continues to do many mighty works and to grow his kingdom on earth but just as in Jesus day this often means that resistance to God is increasing as well thankfully God gives us many precious gifts to help us in our struggles with hardships and temptations among these gifts are endurance and peace and even his immediate presence with us and one of the most special gifts is our relationship to God as our Father God cares for us and protects us and he understands and sympathizes with our weakness he also gives us a family of human beings that can minister to us and love us the church our brothers and sisters in the family of God the theme of the fifth major division of Matthew's Gospel is the present opposition to the Kingdom of Heaven and its future victory this narrative extends from chapter 19 verse 1 through chapter 22 verse 46 and shows how Jesus faced great opposition at this point in his life these chapters divided into three main sections based on Jesus Movement in chapter 19 verse 1 / chapter 20 verse 16 Jesus faced opposition in Judea there he dealt with Pharisees in the question of divorce he also dealt with opposition that grew out of misunderstandings of riches and power earlier in the gospel Matthew had noted the beginning stage of the tensions between Jesus and the Jewish leaders in this section he reported that full hostility had developed for instance the Pharisees sometimes asked questions designed to trap Jesus as in Matthew chapter 19 verses 3 through 9 chapter 21 verses 16 and 23 in chapter 22 verses 15 through 40 as just one example listen to Matthew's report in Matthew chapter 22 verse 15 then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his word at the same time Jesus sometimes challenged the Jewess leaders we see this in the parables of the two sons the tenant farmers and the wedding banquet in chapter 21 verse 28 - chapter 22 verse 15 but the conflict wasn't always limited to verbal exchanges sometimes it was more direct and forceful as when Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers and drove them out of the temple in matthew chapter 21 verses 12 through 16 especially fighting were his words in the seven cursing woes of chapter 23 verses 13 through 35 listen to how Jesus rebuked them in Matthew chapter 23 verse 15 woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees you hypocrites you'd travel over land and sea to win a single convert and when he becomes one you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are of course Jesus and the Jewish leaders were not the only characters in these chapters the hostility of the Jewish leaders was aggravated by the way the crowd still honored Jesus on occasions such as the triumphal entry in chapter 21 verses 1 to 11 throughout this section Jesus encouraged his disciples to put this confrontation into perspective in Matthew chapter 19 verses 27 through 30 he promised that one day they would sit with him in glory but in chapter 20 verses 17 through 19 he also warned them that those glorious days would only come after his own suffering death moreover Jesus insisted that his disciples would reach glory only after a life of humble suffering Jesus drove home this point three different times in Matthew chapter 19 verse 30 jesus said many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first then in Matthew chapter 20 verse 16 he said the last will be first and the first will be last and he repeated this in Matthew chapter 20 verses 26 through 28 saying whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many Jesus kingdom looked strange his followers would suffer and the king of Israel himself would be killed by the people of Israel apparent defeat would come before victory the next segment of intensifying opposition involves Jesus going to Jerusalem in chapter 20 verse 17 through verse 34 Jesus made it clear that he was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die the only faced opposition from the mother of two disciples who sought Authority for her sons in the kingdom then Jesus was welcomed by the crowds in Jerusalem as he fulfilled Old Testament prophecy in his triumphal entry in the next segment in chapter 21 verse 12 through chapter 22 verse 46 Jesus faced opposition as he moved in and out of Jerusalem and a temple he drove out money changers told parables that warned about God's coming judgment moreover Jesus and the religious leaders disputed theologically over taxes to Caesar the resurrection of the Dead the greatest commandment and the question of whose son the Messiah was but Jesus dealt with his opponent so well that we read these words in Matthew chapter 22 verse 46 no one could say a word had replied and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions having surveyed Matthews narrative on the intensifying opposition to the kingdom of heaven we should now look at the discourse that accompanies it this section extends from Matthew chapter 23 verse 1 through chapter 25 verse 46 in this discourse Jesus described a future victory of the kingdom of heaven this section begins with announcements of seven woes against Jesus opponents in Matthew chapter 23 verses 1 through 38 [Music] this discourse focuses especially on the Pharisees their false teachings their abuse of God's people and their hypocrisy near the end of the discourse Jesus summed up his feelings about Jerusalem in this way in Matthew chapter 23 verses 37 and 38 Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you how often I've longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings you are not willing look your house is left to you desolate the next section of Jesus discourse is often called the Olivet discourse and it appears in Matthew chapter 24 verse 1 through chapter 25 verse 46 it's often called the Olivet discourse because Jesus spoke these words to his disciples on the Mount of Olives the Olivet discourse can be divided into three primary sections in chapter 24 verses 4 through 28 Jesus described the birth pangs of this strange age in which the Kingdom of Heaven had come to earth but had not yet been manifested in the fullness of its glory and power in chapter 24 verses 29 through 31 he spoke of the fullness of a kingdom foretelling the day when the son of man would come on the clouds and the kingdom of heaven would arrive and all its power and glory then in chapter 24 verse 32 through chapter 25 verse 46 Jesus exhorted his people to watch carefully for the coming day of glory because no one knows when it will be as far as when Jesus is going to return he was very intentional to make sure that we didn't try to pinpoint that in some point in time any more than we should he said no one knows the day or the hour of his return even he and his human nature didn't know the time of his return so for us to then speculate and think we can narrow it down is just disobeying Jesus but that's not to say we shouldn't anticipate look forward to and even look for signs that his return is near the main purpose of teaching on the second coming of Christ in the New Testament is primarily to sober us to give us encouragement to give us hope to lead us to holy living an expectant return of Christ and so even though we don't know the exact time we should be ready at any moment for him to return so that we can greet him eagerly and joyfully we should have full confidence that he will be returning we should have full confidence that he is coming again and he will culminate all that he has begun we should also be faithful we should not be sort of looking as a Acts chapter 1 as Jesus departed and they looked up into the sky and the angel says what are you looking up in the sky for you should be about the business of taking the gospel to the nation's he will come back but we should be busy carrying out the Great Commission we should be busy in the service of our king by taking to the nation's the announcement that the king has come he is coming again repent and believes the gospel we should be disciple inter into that Kingdom who profess faith in Jesus Christ growing them up so they live to the glory of God or conform to him we should be living for God's glory in every aspect of our lives with our constant looking to his coming and saying with the church in every age come Lord Jesus in this fifth major division of his gospel Matthew reported that the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus and even planned to kill him but Jesus made it clear that all the planning in the world couldn't stop the future triumph of the kingdom and history proves that he was right the Jewish leaders did kill him but his kingdom has continued to grow throughout the ages and one day history will prove the last part right to Jesus will come again with power and great glory to bring his kingdom in all its fullness and the reward his faithful people with the kingdom's ultimate blessings the narrative conclusion to Matthew's Gospel runs from Matthew chapter 26 verse 1 through chapter 28 verse 20 here Matthew describes the culmination of Jesus ministry as the Messianic King in his arrest crucifixion and resurrection as we explore the conclusion to Matthew's Gospel will focus on three themes that involve Matthews Kingdom focus the themes of conflict discipleship and victory let's turn first to the theme of conflict the kingdom that Jesus actually brought was very different from the kingdom that the Jews expected the Messiah to bring and this brought them into direct conflict with Jesus and his kingdom as we have seen this conflict intensifies throughout Matthew's Gospel but it culminates in the narrative conclusion for example we see it in the Jews plot against Jesus in chapter 26 verses 3 and 4 in their engineering of his arrest and trial in chapter 26 verses 14 through 16 verse 47 and verses 57 through 68 and in their crying out for his crucifixion in chapter 27 verses 20 to 25 and it comes to a head when the Jews themselves accept responsibility for Jesus crucifixion listen to Matthews report in Matthew chapter 27 verse 25 all the people answered let his blood be on us and on our children then while Jesus suffered on the cross the Jews mocked him ridiculing his claim to be the messianic king of Israel as we read in Matthew chapter 27 verses 41 and 42 the chief priests the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him he saved others they said but he can't save himself he's the king of Israel ironically the Jews opposed Jesus on the grounds that he was an offense to God and an impostor to the throne while in reality they were rejecting the only King that had the power to save them besides the theme of conflict the theme of discipleship also highlights the kingdom emphasis of Matthew's conclusion in particular Matthew emphasized how difficult it was to follow a suffering Messiah he stressed this by reporting the failures of Jesus disciples at the crucial moment of Jesus ministry Judas betrayed him in Matthew chapter 26 verses 14 through 16 and verses 47 through 50 and he committed suicide over this failure in chapter 27 verses 3 through 10 Peter James and John failed to keep wot's with him in Gethsemane in chapter 26 verses 36 through 46 and Peter repeatedly denied that he even knew Jesus in chapter 26 verses 69 through 75 finally all Jesus disciples deserted him in chapter 26 verse 56 the fact is that following Jesus can be very difficult we believe in a messianic King that suffered and who has called us to suffer as well if we are faithful to him the likelihood is that we will experience hardship and suffering - and that we will be tempted to fall away the kingdom of heaven has not yet come in all of its fullness and because of this there are many aspects of the Christian life that are not yet as they should be having considered the themes of conflict and discipleship were ready to turn to the theme of the victory of the kingdom the theme of victory appears clearly in Jesus resurrection which was the proof that the Messianic King had conquered all the enemies of his people even death itself and we also see the theme of victory in Jesus last words before his ascension Jesus final words recorded in Matthew's Gospel are found in matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20 and they're usually called the great commission they are the lord's final instructions to his disciples commissioning phone to ministry in his absence and it's noteworthy that these instructions begin with Christ boldly claiming all Kingdom Authority listen to Jesus Proclamation and Matthew chapter 28 verse 18 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me now Jesus is the only one who can claim all Dominion all power with legitimacy and by the way his power is not destructive because it is power and loves power motivated by love power moderated by love see if you have love alone you have a nice sentiment but maybe you are viewer you are helpless because you cannot do don't have power to change any if you have power along without love you destroy you kill you hate it's the divine genius that brings love and power together God so loved the world that He sent His Son he is the only one that can legitimately claim all power because he is the only one that walked this planet or the never sinned never lied never deceived he is also the only one who after he was killed dead buried came back so if the reason world is the inauguration of a new era of human history is bringing hope to the nation's and and so the kingdom of God is at work in a very powerful ways and that's where world evangelization and disciple nations then is based on this what I call the great foundation you don't have a Great Commission without the great foundation and then he captured with a great promise and I will be with you to the very end of the ages so Jesus the Lord Jesus the king is the ruler who has all power and so we go the disciple we teach we proclaim his rule in his power all authority belong to the king who conquered the Jews rejected him the Romans crucified Him and they all mocked him but the grave could not hold him and the resurrection was a great victory of the messianic King through him the kingdom of heaven had come to earth and that is the good news of the gospel according to matthew now that we've explored the background of the Gospel according to Matthew as well as its structure and content we're ready to consider some major themes that Matthew emphasized in this section of our lesson we'll turn our attention to two prominent themes that Matthew emphasized throughout his gospel the Old Testament heritage of Jesus kingdom and gospel and the people of God for whom Jesus was bringing the kingdom let's start with Matthew's emphasis on the Old Testament heritage of Jesus Kingdom and gospel Matthew's Gospel is actually a fascinating account of how significant it is that the Old Testament anticipated a coming of Jesus Christ Jesus is Jesus Jesus comes onto the scene and he is Israel incarnate he goes down to Egypt he is forced out into the wilderness where he's tempted he goes onto a mountain and he begins to deliver the law again all of these images of the new Moses or Israel incarnate find their their source and they're scoped back in the Old Testament because when Israel was called when Israel was elected by God her election that was never just a privilege to be enjoyed it was it was a responsibility to be performed to be a blessing to the nation's and yet because of Israel's long and rather dramatic history of sin she could never be for herself or for the nations what she was called to be so here you have Jesus as the Son of God as as Israel incarnate who shows up onto the scene and he is for Israel what Israel couldn't be for herself or or for the nation and I think it gives us a more textured a deeper reading on how the Old Testament anticipates Jesus rather than finding him in a verse here or there it's the whole history of Israel it's the whole election of Israel it's a whole failure of Israel that anticipates the coming of Jesus and Matthew picks up on that especially in his first five or six chapters above all else the story of the Bible is about God binding himself to his people with unbreakable cords of love it's the story of his faithfulness in keeping his promise to be with them and blessing this is why Matthew told his generation of God's people that they could still trust the ancient promises and that they could still believe that God was working in their own day in the person of Jesus and it's why Matthew felt so confident continually drawing on the Old Testament in order to support the claims and Ministry of the Messianic King Jesus Christ will briefly survey five ways that Matthew demonstrates the Old Testament heritage of Jesus kingdom and gospel Matthew's Old Testament quotations and allusions his emphasis on the Kingdom of Heaven his description of Jesus as the Messianic King Jesus conflict with unbelieving Jewish leaders and Jesus humility and gentleness let's begin with Matthew's Old Testament quotations and illusions Matthew quoted the Old Testament far more often than any other gospel writer scholars debate the exact number of times Matthew quoted the Old Testament but certainly he did so at least 40 times and he alluded to it many other times one strategy Matthew commonly used employed the phrase in order that it might be fulfilled Matthieu use this phrase to make explicit connections between the Old Testament and events in Jesus life for example listen to what Matthew wrote in Matthew chapter 8 verse 17 this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah he took up our infirmities and carried our diseases immediately before this Old Testament quotation Matthew had reported many of Jesus healings but he didn't just want his readers to see Jesus as a healer rather he wanted them to know that jesus healed people in fulfillment of Old Testament promises but what was important from Matthew's point of view and I would say should be from our point of view is that in the in Jesus was the manifestation of the coming kingdom of God that people had been longing for had been waiting for so he weren't necessarily looking for a messiah to fulfill a pinpoint prediction on a historical map but they were longing for freedom for release for restoration for salvation and the Old Testament taught them that when the kingdom of God came it would be announced by a particular person the Messiah and that at that announcement God's reign would begin and all the restoration and salvation and the blessings that the Old Testament promised would begin to come into fruition and so the Apostles in general and Matthew in particular didn't simply sit with a chart on their lap waiting to see who fulfilled all of these predictions but they saw a person in whose works and in whose teaching and whose character and everything about him manifested the kingdom of God in fact the kingdom of God was in Jesus not just announced by him and he brought that Kingdom and so out of that experience of the power and the teaching and the working of Jesus the Apostles Matthew included went back to their Old Testaments to to see how Jesus had been anticipated by the Old Testament and when they read their Old Testaments from the standpoint of experiencing Jesus they found that the Old Testament Scriptures had in fact witnessed to him and him specifically so as we read the Old Testament we don't just read it with a jeweler's magnifying glass on our eye but we read it looking for an encounter with Christ Himself who is the who's the chief subject of the Gospels as he comes as the witness and his embodiment of the kingdom of God the second way Matthew's emphasis on Jesus Old Testament heritage can be seen is in his emphasis on the Kingdom of Heaven in the Old Testament God had promised that he would bless his people and that his blessing would come through a royal son of David Matthew announced that God kingdom blessing in Jesus was the fulfillment of those ancient promises and in Matthew's Gospel Jesus himself commonly reminds people of this fact he regularly teaches that God is faithful to his Old Testament Kingdom promises this is how Jesus was able to present his kingdom as good news even though it entailed suffering and even though he didn't do everything the Old Testament prophecies Jesus insisted that his people trust God's Word in the Old Testament enough to believe that Jesus would eventually return to finish everything he had started that he would eventually return to fulfill everything that God had promised in this confidence in the Old Testament picture of the kingdom of heaven is the basis on which Jesus regularly called his followers to submit to and trust the Old Testament it is the basis on which he instructed them to love and serve one another as fellow citizens of God's kingdom the knowledge that the god of heaven and earth is in control of all history as faithful to his promises should motivate his people in every age including ours to trust that his promises in Christ are still good they should inspire us to believe that one day God really will make everything new and right and they should give us strength and endurance as we wait patiently for God to bring his kingdom in all its fullness a third way Matthew emphasized the Old Testament heritage of Jesus kingdom and gospel was by insisting that Jesus was the expected messianic King we mentioned this idea earlier in this lesson when we discussed the genealogy of Jesus it's also seen in the fact that Matthew called Jesus son of David more frequently than all the other Gospel writers combined Matthew also used many other royal titles for Jesus including King of the Jews king of Israel your king and simply King moreover some of the verses in which Matthew uses royal titles for Jesus don't appear in any thought of [Music] for example in Matthew chapter 2 verse 2 Matthew reported this question from the wise man where is the one who has been born King of the Jews no other gospel includes this verse or this great an emphasis on Jesus messianic kingship the fourth emphasis on the Old Testament heritage of Jesus kingdom and gospel that we will mention is Jesus conflict with unbelieving Jewish leaders Matthew's early readers might have been tempted to think that Jesus conflict with many of the leaders in Israel proved that Jesus wasn't the Messiah to make sure they didn't get this impression Matthew made it clear that God was keeping his promises through Jesus despite the faithlessness of the Jewish leaders time after time Jesus rejected the teachings of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law he corrected their views on fasting in Matthew chapter 9 verses 14 through 17 on the Sabbath in chapter 12 verses 1 through 13 and on hand-washing in chapter 15 verses 1 through 20 and most of the Sermon on the Mount and especially chapter 5 verses 17 through 48 contrast the Jewish view of the law of God with Jesus fulfillment of that law well sometimes people have wondered when Jesus said the words you have heard that were said but I say to you in the Sermon on the Mount to be Jesus actually contradicting what was said in the Old Testament but I think what's the most obvious way of reading that is that Jesus was refuting some of the ways in which the Old Testament law though God did say had been interpreted by various scribes and teachers down the ages and what Jesus is doing is in setting himself up as the one who is rightly able to interpret God's law and to take what was written in God's law and apply it to his hearers in that day when Jesus speaks in the Sermon on the Mount using this phrase you have heard it said but I say to you he was not saying that the Old Testament law is now being nullified in fact he says quite the opposite very explicitly that I have come to fulfill the law but what Jesus is doing is he's using a well-known rabbinic technique that teachers of the law would use to talk about their own teaching Authority you've heard different people in the tradition say these things about the teachings of the law but I say to you and that comes with a present Authority with an additional authority and so Jesus is establishing his teaching authority with this well-known teaching technique not to discount the Old Testament law but to say something very important theologically and khrysta logically that it's important to interpret the Old Testament law in relation to me and to my teaching of the law you know Jesus was not contradicting the Old Testament but one of the themes we see in the Gospel of Matthew is that Jesus is the new Moses and that he is superior to Moses so we have the Old Testament Testament revelation given through Moses which is the authoritative Word of God but Jesus stands as the sovereign interpreter of the law so much of what we see in the Sermon on the Mount represents an accurate interpretation of what Moses meant so Jesus does not abolish the command do not murder he simply explains to us that murder begins in the heart with anger remember how that section begins Jesus says I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it which I think means to rightly interpret the law but I think what Jesus is arguing there is he actually fulfills the true intention of the law the law must be interpreted in light of Jesus Christ's coming and his death and resurrection and his ministry and but when we understand it in that way Jesus does not abolish the Old Testament law but he propels it Jesus really did fulfill the Old Testaments messianic expectations but many Jews rejected him because their own expectations were not fully in line with the Old Testament and their misunderstandings are a caution to everyone who tries to follow Jesus they warn us that it's easy to let our own ideas of what God's work looks like cloud our vision they warned us not to place artificial limits on what God can do but to let him define our hopes and expectations the fifth way Matthew's emphasis on Jesus Old Testament heritage is evident is in his description of Jesus humility and gentleness [Music] the Jews of Jesus day correctly understood that according to the Old Testament God would send his mighty warrior to deliver his people but Matthew stressed that the mighty deliverance of God was rooted in his gentle compassion for his people and he made this point by drawing on the Old Testament for instance in Matthew chapter 11 verse 29 Jesus invited the heavily burdened with these words take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls here Jesus quoted Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 16 to prove that the Messiah would provide rest for his people similarly in Matthew chapter 12 verses 15 to 21 matthew reported jesus compassionate healing ministry and quoted isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 through 4 to explain what Jesus was doing listen to the description of jesus in matthew chapter 12 verses 19 and 20 he will not quarrel or cry out no one will hear his voice in the streets a bruised Reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out Jesus was not the harsh militaristic King many Jews were looking for to lead them in battle against Rome instead he was gentle and compassionate in keeping with the Old Testament Matthew portrayed Jesus as the conquering king and the authoritative teacher of God's people at the same time Matthew stress that Jesus was the humble compassionate King the call to follow Jesus in our own lives and ministries challenges us to speak the truth with the same kind of compassion that Jesus modeled Matthew stressed the Old Testament heritage of Jesus kingdom and gospel in many different ways at the same time he made it clear that Jesus fulfilled all the ancient expectations in a way that transcended average expectations but the good news the gospel was that he did fulfill them the kingdom the law and especially the king himself were all fulfilled as Jesus brought the kingdom of heaven to earth having looked at the Old Testament heritage of Jesus kingdom and gospel were ready to consider the theme of the people of God in the Gospel of Matthew just as in the rest of the Bible the people of God are the ones that belong to God the ones that he keeps as a prized possession and the special nation that he rules over as king and they're not just in relationship directly with God they're also in a close relationship with everyone else that belongs to him we'll explore the theme of the people of God in three parts first we'll see that Matthew identifies the people of God as the church second we'll see that he also calls them the family of God and third will consider the calling the people of God have received from Jesus let's begin with the idea that the church is the people of God in the Old Testament Israel was God's people but in the New Testament God's people are most commonly called the church our modern term for church translates the Greek word ecclesia in have you in the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Old Testament ecclesia is a translation of the Hebrew word kaha which the Hebrew Old Testament typically used to refer to the Assembly or congregation of the people of Israel this shift in vocabulary from the Assembly of Israel to the Christian Church demonstrates that both Jesus and Matthew saw the Christian Church as the continuation of the Assembly of Israel consider the use of the Hebrew word kaha or assembly in the Old Testament the people of Israel are identified as the Assembly in Leviticus chapter 16 verse 33 Numbers chapter 16 verse 47 Judges chapter 20 verse 2 and Psalm 22 verse 22 in fact the Assembly of God's people was so important in the Old Testament that it was one of the names the Prophet Joel used to identify Israel when he foretold that God's people would be restored in the last days in Joel chapter 2 verse 16 he proclaimed gather the people consecrate the Assembly in the Hebrew original of this verse the word translated assembly is kaha but in the Greek translation of a Septuagint the word is ecclesia the word commonly translated Church in the New Testament Matthew used the same language when he reported these words from Jesus in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18 I will build my church here Jesus echo Joel's prophecy when he said that he would build his church meaning his kaha or his messianic assembly of the last days Jesus does say Amen his gospel that he will build his church I think a good starting point is remembering that the word for church in the Greek New Testament ekklesia is really the greek term used to convey the old testament idea of the Assembly of God's people to call so that the New Testament church is in continuity with the Old Testament assembly the assembly of God's people we've already seen that the events of Matthew chapter 16 took place at a time of growing resistance to Jesus claimed to be the Messiah King and this resistance is one of the reasons Jesus encouraged his disciples with a reference to the Assembly of Israel he wanted them to have confidence in his plan to build his messianic Assembly or church Jesus words also made it clear that the church belonged to him that didn't belong to Peter it didn't belong to Israel it wasn't a democratic institution owned by its members it was the Messiah's Church appoint Matthew had already made in the introduction to his gospel when he reported the Angels words to Joseph listen to Matthews record in chapter 1 verse 21 you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins in this verse before Jesus was even born the angel assured Joseph that the child in Mary's womb was the Messiah to whom the entire people of God belong he was their king and they were his people and so we're not just followers of Jesus individually but we are the embodiment of this new creation that Jesus has brought in by his resurrection from the dead and by his giving of the Spirit to us as his new temple so that we are the presence of the kingdom of God in a church where people can find mercy and forgiveness and they can provide they can find provision when they lack and they can find companionship when they're lonely so the church really is a foretaste of the new heavens and earth which will one day be visible throughout the whole creation when God's people are under pressure the events of life threatened to drag them down when the darkness hanging around them can almost be felt Jesus says I will build my church I will build my Messianic Assembly he assures us that he is our king that he has our best interests in mind and that he will certainly rescue and bless us in the end it may not happen in this life but it will happen of that we can be certain in addition to describing the people of God as the church Matthew also identified them as the family of God the Gospel of Matthew uses familial language like father son and brother over 150 times to describe the relationship of God's people to himself and to each other the only other gospel writer to use familial language so frequently was John but when John used it he was typically talking about the relationship between Jesus and his Heavenly Father in contrast when Matthew used it he was talking about the relationship between God and his people he was talking about the family of God and primarily Matthew used this vocabulary to emphasize the care and protection that God chose for his children for example in Matthew chapter 6 verse 4 Jesus spoke of God's care for his people in this way your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you and he used the same language again in verse 6 and yet again in verse 18 his point was that God was concerned with his children and intent on encouraging and providing for them and when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray he prefaced his instructions in Matthew chapter 6 verse 8 by telling them your father knows what you need before you ask him we can be confident that God will bless us and that he will hear our prayers because we know that he is our loving father my teaching areas spiritual formation and one of the things I say about the Lord's Prayer is that we start prayer by the recognition that at any given moment there could be millions of other people who are praying at the same time one of the reasons we call God God is that God can take each one of those prayers and can deal with them as if they were the only one that was you know vying for his attention in that moment but that that brings us that that brings us into a holy fellowship part of that kingdom of heaven personnel and then right after that of course is the word father so that no matter who I am or where I am in that prayer I'm moving toward God as Abba moving toward God his father and if a person in in Poland is calling God father and I'm calling God father in the United States then that means we're brothers and sisters if we have the same father then we're members of the same family so I think Matthew gets at this in a in a powerful way with the concept of the kingdom of heaven which he uses over and over again but it's the life of prayer that draws us into the realization that in the moment that I'm praying I'm praying with other people who are saying the same thing that I am but when they're saying what I'm saying it means we're family there is nothing more encouraging than to think about the fact that God has adopted us into his family it's a great thing to be forgiven but as J I Packer says in his book knowing God it is also a great thing to be justified but it is an even greater thing to be adopted into gods family to have God as our Father really is that pinnacle of God's work in our lives we're not just forgiven by the judge we're adopted into gods family and he's our Father and we're his children and so then we are co-heirs with Christ everything that's coming to Jesus which is all things it becomes ours that's our inheritance as well there was a time when we were just children of Wrath when our inheritance was the wrath of God and rather than wrath we now are co-heirs with Christ we are partakers of the divine nature and we are actually called brothers with Christ because we have sonship in him we've traded in our filthy rags of unrighteousness for Christ's righteousness but in that we then become children of God invited into his family and that is the greatest blessing we could ever imagine in Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 through 34 Jesus used two different examples to assure God's children of his care he talked about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field pointing out that God cares for the needs of the smallest members of his creation and his point was that if God cares even for these small things then he will certainly care far more for his people our Heavenly Father will provide even better food clothing and protection for us Jesus also emphasized God's fatherly care and protection when he warned his disciples of the great difficulties of ministry for instance in chapter 10 verses 19 and 20 Jesus told them that they would be arrested but he also told them that the father's spirit would be with them and he reminded them that when their lives were in danger because of their ministry their father would protect them listen to Jesus encouraging words in Matthew chapter 10 verses 29 through 31 are not two sparrows sold for a penny yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father so don't be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows for many believers life is very difficult in Christian many parts of the world are under persecution and the great joy of their life is that they're part of the body and they can identify themselves as the people of God the scripture tells us that God is our Father we have a tremendous privilege as Romans chapter 8 tells us of being able to call upon God as Abba we also have the fact that God is constantly caring for us and we also see that God gives the members of his family a love and so for the believer the the heart of his life is this encouragement that comes through Christ because God is now our Father having considered the people of God as both the church and the family of God we're ready to consider the calling of the people of God the people of God are greatly privileged to be his church and his family but our calling as his people also includes hardship danger and suffering Jesus himself is our suffering messianic King and as we follow him we suffer too [Music] for instance in Matthew chapter 10 verses 34 through 36 Jesus said that our calling is characterized by strife listen to what he said there do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth I did not come to bring peace but a sword for I have come to turn a man against his father a daughter against her mother a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a man's enemies will be the members of his own household and in Matthew chapter 16 verses 2425 he put it this way if anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for me will find it jesus knew that his people would be rejected just like he was rejected for our King suffering is the path to glory and the same is true for us on the cross people made salt that he was losing a battle and even in the grave they thought that he was counted out but they forgot about the third day morning Jesus said that you tear this body down in three days I rise again and so when we think about how the church has been ostracized criticized maligned on every corner we do understand that this same church that Jesus put forth into action is the same church that is working today look how much it has sustained and how much it has gone through yet it is still there and let me go to the step father the gospel of Jesus Christ the word that became flesh you they couldn't kill him then they can't kill him now so we are part of we are the church is his church and he will not allow anything not even the very gates of Hell to prevail and stop his mission this church has a mission and it is to go into all the world to bring and make disciples of those that alone and what a joy that is and you and I can have a great security and have a really resurrected moment even now knowing that the church will be sustained jesus promises to end the suffering of his people to give us rest from our hardship to establish peace for us and to bless us immeasurably but not yet until he returns to make all things new our calling is to follow in the footsteps of our suffering King Jesus told us that he came in order that we might have life and have it more abundantly but you know in this life after we come to know the Lord Jesus Christ we still experience suffering pain illness we still die we still have frustrations and ambitions we still experience irritations and for that matter griefs you know a part of what we need to recognize here is that evidently a part of what it means to receive this abundant life is to have Christ in the midst of these things we will come to know things on our Christian life we would not know if we were never irritated or frustrated we would never know if we do not speak areum's grief as well as exhilaration and joy I think there's something more here that's really important jesus said I came that you might have life and that you might have life that is abundant but you know we are yearning for something the part of what it means to be in Christ is to yearn for the fullness that he's going to bring there's a day coming when Christ is coming for his church there's a day coming when Christ's will will reign over all things in a way that is visible to all there's coming a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father there's coming a day when every eye will be dry and every tear we wiped away a part of what it means right now for us to have the abundant life in Christ is for us to rest in Christ experiencing all the joys and travails that come into a life in this fallen world while yearning for that which we know is coming the abundant life means trusting Christ until he comes in this study of the Gospel according to Matthew we've explored its background in terms of its authorship original audience and occasion we've surveyed its structure and content and we've considered the major themes of its Old Testament heritage and its emphasis on the people of God Matthews gospel proclaims the good news that the Old Testament promises of the kingdom of heaven have been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus the Messianic King and the good news is that Jesus established and continues to build his kingdom for us and through us but this good news is not always easy as we have seen Matthew described our calling to follow the suffering messianic King in radical terms but he also described the blessings of the Heavenly Father in radical terms blessings that enable us to follow our King faithfully and to persevere through our own suffering until the kingdom of heaven comes to earth in its full glory [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Thirdmill

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Keywords: seminary, Theology Matters, Bible, For the World, Study, Biblical Education, Richard Pratt, Education, Free, gospel, Theology, Ministry, Third Mill, Truth, Reformed, God, Mission, gospels, Scripture, Jesus, Lord, Salvation, Word, Teacher, Holy Spirit, New Testament, Third Millennium, Matthew

Id: zQS3tQuEZxg

Length: 143min 37sec (8617 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 19 2017