Bible Study led by Leila Hirtler

The Bible Study is conducted via email. Anyone wishing to join can contact Leila at lhirtler@yahoo.com

Our current Bible Study is the Gospel of Matthew

Study 2026:

Matthew 6:7-15; Luke 11:2-4

Today we look at the most famous prayer in all of Christendom, “The Lord’s Prayer” also known as the “Our Father.” Hundreds of thousands of books and commentaries have been written about these words, and honestly, I feel intimidated commenting on this. Then after much thought and prayer, I am reminded that hundreds of thousands of theologians have been commenting on every line of the entire bible for thousands of years. I am one more grain of sand saying, I hear God speaking in these words, and this is what I hear.

“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (6:7-8)

We start with an injunction against heaping up empty phrases, and wonder what that means. Perhaps a good place to start in exploring this idea is with the prophet Elijah when he challenged the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel. (1 Kings 18:16-45)

‘“How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.” … Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made.  At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry louder! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”  Then they cried louder, and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.’

It was a custom of the ancient peoples to divide the daylight into twelve “hours” from sunrise to sundown. If the day began at 7:00 AM and ended at 7:00PM, that would work well from our perspective. If the sun rose at 5:00AM and set at 9:00PM, the hours would be longer. Since the prophets of Baal began first, they probably started around sunrise. They screamed and cried, and gashed themselves with swords, trying to catch their god’s attention. This continued until the time of the offering of oblation, probably somewhere between mid afternoon and sunset.

The thing that is most important about the Baal follower’s worship is their need to catch the god’s attention through screaming, crying and cutting themselves. When Elijah made fun of them about noon, he said they were not shouting loud enough. This would indicate they was making a lot of noise. They also limped around their altar, appearing to hope their god would respond if it thought they were injured. With all the screaming and crying and slashing and limping, it was clear they did not believe their god was listening.

We have no idea when Elijah started building his altar. He was all alone, and he built the altar with twelve large stones. He then needed to prepare the wood, and the bull, and pour copious amounts of water over everything to ensure it could not light accidentally. He would have wanted the people to see every detail of what he did so there could be no questions about what would eventually happen. It would be reasonable to believe he started his work mid afternoon after the prophets of Baal had acknowledged defeat, then continued to work until late afternoon, when the sun was still bright enough that everyone could still see everything clearly.

‘And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (1 Kings 18:36-38)

Awesome!

In Jesus words, (Matthew 6:7-8) we hear him saying, Don’t be like the prophets of those fake gods. Don’t go whining and crying and shouting and limping around, hurting yourself, trying to get God’s attention. You do not need to do that! God is already paying attention, already listening.

Instead, look to God as you loving parent (God is genderless, so both mama and dada, the first words a child learns, are equally correct in addressing God.) God already knows your needs even before you do, and has already put things in motion to meet those needs. You are wholly and completely loved. Crawl into God’s arms, snuggle into that love, and then in confidence that you are loved and heard, speak to God.

Your words may look something like this. Make them simple.

Our Father: Mommy, Daddy, the one who made me, the one who loves me, and not just me but every person on this whole planet, the one who also made the trees and mountains, and the dogs and the ducks, and everything else …

Who art in heaven: Who fills all of space, who fills the atmosphere, who is closer than the air I breathe, whose breath is life to all people and all animals …

Hallowed be thy name: You are awesome. You are amazing. Even your name (Mommy, Daddy) is awesome and amazing …

Thy kingdom come, They will be done on earth as in heaven. Let your awesomeness fill all the earth. Do all the good and amazing things you have planned. I can barely wait to see what you will do. I am excited to see what you are doing right now.

Give us this day our daily bread: We tend to worry about all sorts of things: give us those things you know that we need. You know we need food, and clothing, and health, and safety and friends. We get totally consumed with those needs, and then totally consumed with worry about them. You know our needs. We place those needs in your hands, confident that you know us better than we know ourselves, and you will take care of them for us.

Forgive us our trespasses: Sometimes we make bad choices. Sometimes those bad choices hurt ourselves. Sometimes those bad choices hurt the people around us. Sometimes those bad choices hurt the world around us. Mommy/ Daddy, here it is, its broke, you take it, you fix it.

As we forgive those who trespass against us: Sometimes other people make bad choices. Sometimes those bad choices hurt me. Sometimes those bad choices hurt the people around me. Sometimes those bad choices hurt the world around me. Mommy/ Daddy, here it is, its broke, you take it, you fix it.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: Mommy/ Daddy, protect me from things that might hurt me. Protect me from things that scare me. When I have to go in scary places, walk with me and hold my hand. “From goulies and ghosties, and long legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!” (Old Scottish/ Cornish prayer) Help me to make good choices.

You probably noticed that each of these pronouns in this prayer are written in the plural form: Our, us, we. None of us are alone. All of creation is cuddled up in God’s lap and praying for God’s peace and presence and protection in our lives. There are no outsiders. There is no one or no thing outside of God’s care and compassion.

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,  but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (6:14-15)

If we fill our lives and our thoughts and our attitudes with all the wrongs others have done, we will soon find there is no room for anything else. We need to dump all the broken things in our Mommy/ Daddy’s hands and say, “It’s broken. You fix it,”

Immediately after this teaching about prayer, Jesus talks about fasting:

 “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (6:16-18)

One spring, many years ago, I was working at a camp/ retreat center. I had been working very hard, had not had time to do laundry, and one morning discovered that the only clean clothes I had left were a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. This would not have been a problem, but we were in the mountains, and it had snowed to previous night.

I threw all my clothes into a washing machine and went to breakfast, where as you would imagine, everyone teased me about wearing shorts in the snow. As I went about my morning activities, my legs were so cold it was distracting. At first, I thought of how thankful I would be when my clothes got out of the dryer. This led to thoughts about people we could not get out of the cold, who did not have warm clothing, who had no place to go to get out of the cold, who were homeless. I found my thoughts and prayers were filled with homeless people, and the cold I was feeling kept sending my heart back to those who could not escape the cold, who did not have a dryer full of warm clothes waiting for their attention.

Lunch time I was still in my shorts.

“What! Did the washing machines break? Where are your pants?”

“Back in my room, all folded and put away.”

“Why didn’t you change?”

“I’m fasting from warm clothes.”

“What? !!!!”

“Whenever I felt cold this morning, I would think of homeless people who are cold, and can not escape from the cold, and I would pray for them. I’m going to stay in this space with them today. I’m going to remember how cold they are, and be cold with them. And pray for them when my legs remind me of how cold it is today.”

Suddenly after lunch, every counselor in the camp was wearing shorts, in the snow. Our guests were confused about our clothing and asked what was going on. Our answer was, “Today, we are choosing to be intentional about walking with our homeless sisters and brothers. They are cold today. We choose to be cold with them.”

I don’t know how that day affected anyone else. I do know it shaped my awareness of homelessness, and my response to it.

Fasting takes a lot of shapes. It is not just eating less, or skipping a meal. It is intentionally putting ourselves in a place where we can hear God. In prayer we speak to God: in fasting, we put ourselves in a place where we can listen to God speaking to us.

Lord, trouble our hearts with those things that trouble your heart: let us care about righteousness, and justice, rather than selfish pursuits; let us seek to embrace divine perspectives rather than worldly comfort; let us seek to know the heart of God, and let us find. Amen

Matthew 6:1-8

In Matthew chapter 5, we talked about “surpassing righteousness” and how that righteousness was to be seen in one’s interactions with family, neighbor and enemy. In this next chapter, this higher righteousness is defined in relationship to traditional acts of devotion: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.

Matthew 6:1, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Righteous behaviors are between ourselves and God. Other people may or may not notice, but it is none of their business, so we do nothing to make them notice. When we do good things to get the attention of other people, our reward is that other person’s response. Egotism contaminates devotional acts. They are no longer simple direct cries to God from the heart. Instead self grabs center stage, and pushes neighbor and God out of the way. Please note, whatever we do will be noticed by someone, this is just part of life, the problem is in doing these acts of devotion with the intent to get attention from others.

6:2-4, So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

First on the list is almsgiving. This does not include our offerings or our tithe to church. That we will tithe is so expected that it is a non item. Tithe means 10%. Some people give 20%. Some people give this entire amount to their place of worship and don’t think a lot about it. Some people look around and pray about where God wants this money to be given: their place of worship, schools, food pantries, homeless shelters, fire department outreach programs, etc. Some divide the tithe between various recipients. Whatever the amount, and whatever the recipient, it is always a set amount, probably a percentage, taken off the top, given to specific places in love and gratitude to God for who God is and what God has done.

Almsgiving is additional to the tithe. Almsgiving is reaching out with love and compassion to a particular need at a particular time. It may be repeated. It might not. Almsgiving is a matter of the heart: I see a need; I respond to that need.

Some years ago, I was in a small Asian restaurant with a friend. As we ate, we heard one of the employees sobbing loudly from the back of the restaurant. He was telling another employee about his wife’s medical problems, and how he had spent everything they had to pay for doctors and medicine, and now he did not have the money to pay the rent, so they were going to be evicted from their apartment. He said that if he had saved to money for the rent, she would not have been able to get the medicine she needed and would have died. Now, since he had spent the rent money on the medicine, they were not able to pay their rent, and they would be evicted from their apartment, and she would die on the street, because her health was so fragile. He didn’t know what to do.

The man was speaking in an Asian language to his friend. I doubt, in his grief, he even knew there were people in the dining room. If he knew we were present, he also knew none of us knew what he was saying. But there was a lady in the dining room who not only heard his cries, but understood what he was saying. As she listened, her response was a heartfelt, “On my!” Her companion asked what the man had said, and she shared what she had heard. Her companion asked, “Can we help?” To which the woman responded, “Of course!”

The two women quickly wrote out checks and called the waitress to give the checks to the man in distress. Suddenly, every other table in the restaurant called out to the waitress to take cash or checks from them also for the man in distress. The waitress ran to gather up the money, tears streamed down her face, bobbing her head and saying thank you thank you thank you, over and over and over, before running to the back with the gift. Less than a minute later, the man who had been sobbing in grief was now crying in gratitude, bowing to all of us and thanking us over and over and over. The woman who had understood his language responded to his thanks with, “Of course, of course,” or something similar, and returned his bows, as did the other people in the restaurant. There were a lot of tears, and not just from the Asian man and the waitress.

This is almsgiving: seeing a need and responding to that need, with no expectation of reward.

I learned a lot about almsgiving that day. I saw two women who reached out to a sobbing man because their hearts were moved. Those two women were “white bread”: who would have suspected one of them understood that particular Asian language well enough to understand what was being said between sobs? Who knew that the second woman’s question was on the heart of every person in the restaurant? I was as astonished as the waitress and the grieving man to see every table respond with compassion. Nobody knew each other. Nobody was trying to get attention for what they did. They had just come to the same place for lunch, and then suddenly they came together for a moment to help someone in need. It was an amazing experience.

Alms giving does not have to be this big. Usually it is a small event, shared only between the giver and the recipient: the giver notices a need, and quietly, frequently anonymously, helps out. Jesus points out that it is done in secret, so that “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Alms giving is done out of love for God, and no other reason.

6:5-8;  “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The Greek word, hypocrite, was the ordinary word used for an actor, but in the New Testament it is used to refer to a moral or spiritual pretender. A hypocrite is one who pretends to be a moral or spiritual person, but without having the inner reality. Its just an act.

I don’t know anyone who makes a show of praying on street corners. I do know people who pray long prayers. I have known people who prayed so long over a meal that it got cold. It occurred to me that if that person was in a habit of long prayers before the meal, perhaps those gathered should pray before the food was taken from the oven, or from the stove. Or was this overly long prayer actually a show?

I remember back in the early 70s, when it was cool to be a Christian. It was not cool to go to one’s own church, but it was cool to go to other people’s churches to experience worship from a different perspective. Supposedly, one could understand that other congregation completely, and the denomination it represented, by going there once. I remember people wearing crosses like a neon sign: the bigger the cross, the better Christian they were. It didn’t matter that they lied and cursed, and slandered their neighbors, and swore at the neighbor kids, they were “under the blood”, and “judge not that ye be not judged!” Did they wear those huge crosses to ensure everyone knew how righteous they were? Were those big crosses the same as praying on the street corners, to get people’s attention, to impress people with how righteous they were?

I don’t object to long prayers, and wearing crosses. I have been known to do both from time to time. Prayer is a conversation with God, and long conversations are good regardless of which friend I am talking to, so it makes sense that one would desire long conversations with God also. Friends can also have short conversations. Wearing a cross reminds me of who I am and whose I am. When I am stressed, or concerned, I find myself running my finger over my cross. When I am not wearing a cross, I cross myself. When I cross myself, I try to make the crosses small, and unnoticeable, because they are my own private prayer, and nobody else needs to see. Children see. I have had way too many parents chew me out for teaching their children to cross themselves. Ooopps.

Jesus was known to pray all night: long prayers are not a problem, provided one is talking to God, and not showing off to impress people.

Our love for the world’s praise is notorious. It is nice to be praised, to be respected, even to be honored for what we do. Humility is not something we usually value. People probably do not set out to be hypocrites, but they do accept the role assigned to them by society, business, religion, or government, and perform all sorts of acts in the name of duty or tradition. When these acts conflict with the person’s own sense of right, and people accept this split between their moral center and expected external behavior, the person becomes an actor, or a hypocrite. Because of this, we are encouraged to go somewhere private, where we will not be observed, where we will not be distracted, where we will not be tempted to put on a show, and interact with God honestly, from out hearts.

This injunction to go somewhere private to pray is not referring to, or negating, corporate worship, nor is it negating the value of liturgy, or even of long liturgical prayers (like the Bidding Prayer Liturgy). It is negating anything that distracts from worship, or draws attention away from worshiping God and refocuses that attention on a person.

This passage is not a prohibition to living one’s faith. Our faith, our beliefs, our values will show in our lives through our actions, regardless of our conscious intent. Instead of a prohibition, this passage is an encouragement to live our faith honestly. We do not need to put on a show to get people’s attention; we do not need to exaggerate our actions; God is not more pleased with us for being loud and aggressive about our beliefs. As Jesus said in chapter 5, God’s people are lights set on a stand to give light to the whole room. They can’t be ignored. They will be seen. God’s glory will be proclaimed in us and through us, because we belong to the Lord.

I’m sure we can all think of examples we have seen when others have caught our attention by giving alms, praying or fasting to draw attention to themselves. I’m sure we can all think of times we have been guilty of the same behaviors. I have to wonder if frequently these attention seeking behaviors are caused by feelings of separation from God: Does God see? Does God care? Does God know I am sinking into the darkness of despair? Will God’s people reject me if they find out how much I hurt inside? Will God’s people reject me if they find out I don’t feel like God is listening, or that God cares about me?

Jesus responds to these fears immediately: “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (6:8) You have no need to act like the hypocrites, because God is your loving parent, who knows your needs even before you know them, and has already arranged for those needs to be cared for. You are loved. Entirely! Relax in that love, just as a small child who crawls into their parent’s arms for comfort and consolation can relax in their parent’s love.

Let us pray:

Hold us close to your heart Lord. Comfort our fears; wipe our tears; strengthen us with your presence; love us in ways we can understand; hold our hands and let us walk with you. Amen.

Matthew 5:13-48

3.12.26

We started Matthew with a genealogy. The first person named was Abraham (and Sarah) who left their home, their culture, their family, their gods, everything familiar, to be the people of God is a distant place. We remembered men of faith. We were reminded of four women who left everything, their culture, their family, their gods, and everything familiar, to become part of the people of God. This genealogy ends with a man named Joseph who is just and compassionate.

Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebeckah, Jacob, Leah, Rachael, Judah, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Joseph were all examples of righteousness. For them, living in God’s presence, and living as the people of God was of far greater value to them than anything else in their lives.

Suddenly we are transported to the Jordan River where John is calling people to repentance, to prepare for the coming of the kingdom of God. And what does repentance look like? Is it just a bath and a promise? No, it is a life that produces good fruit, but John does not tell us what this fruit looks like, instead we see Jesus come to the Jordan and ask to be baptized. John tried to object. Jesus insisted that he needed to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” (3:15) John consents; Jesus is baptized; and suddenly the heavens are ripped open and the Spirit of God descends into our world, into our lives, and the voice of God which we have not heard since Mt Sinai thunders, “This is my son, my beloved, with whom I am delighted!”

Immediately, the Spirit of God drives Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus fasts and prays for 40 days and 40 nights, and is famished. At this point, when Jesus is at his weakest, the devil appears and demands Jesus prove he is the Son of God. Each of the devil’s suggestions were completely reasonable: care for his own and other people’s needs; get people’s attention by showing God’s care and deliverance; rule the whole world, and run things the way he wanted it run. However, as appealing as these ideas were, doing them now would be obeying the devil, and the ends never justify the means. Jesus would do these things in the future, but not now when the devil told him to do them, instead Jesus mildly quoted scripture back to the devil until the devil fled.

All of this, these first 4 chapters of Matthew, was just the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, where we listen to Jesus describe to us what righteousness actually is.

In our previous study, we talked about those Jesus named “blessed”: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, those who are pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. These people have Jesus’ commendation. Jesus is still speaking to these people. Jesus is still telling them, and us, what righteousness looks like.

5:13-20

Jesus first compares these people to salt.

5:13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

Salt is useful for many things. In the culinary world, it is essential for seasoning, curing and preserving. Outside the kitchen it is used for de-icing roads, manufacturing plastics, in water softening, and cleaning surfaces, in stain removal, and in fire safety. Salt is essential for human health: It is crucial for hydrating cells, aiding digestion, and transmitting brain impulses. Common therapeutic uses include saline rinses for sore throats, sinus irrigation, and Epsom salt baths to soothe sore muscles. We cannot live without salt. The complete lack of salt in our lives leads to severe fatigue, confusion, seizures and death. We need salt!

Salt is a chemical compound, one part sodium, one part chloride: It cannot loose it flavor. However, if salt gets damp, or wet, or is stored in a humid environment, the sodium chloride can dissolve and leach out leaving behind whatever fillers or impurities were in it behind. These fillers or impurities look like salt, but do not taste like salt, because they are not salt. Historically, salt was often harvested with other minerals. If the NaCl washed away, what was left might look like salt, but would not taste like salt. So maybe these are ways “salt” could loose its flavor. However, this is not real salt, it is only an imitation.

The ones Jesus refers to as blessed are like salt. They are essential to life on this planet. They preserve life, they improve the flavor of life, they assist healing, they perform many valued services which make the world a better place, the world would quickly die without them.

At the same time, we are called to act like salt. We are called to actively work to make the world better and healthier and safer because we are in it. If we simply wear the outward appearance of our faith, but do not live our faith in tangible ways of compassion and justice, we are like salt that has lost its saltiness, and are no use to anyone.

Jesus then compares these people whom he has labeled “blessed,” to light.

5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Light is as difficult to hide as a city built on a hill.

Once a person has gone to the trouble of lighting a lamp, they don’t immediately snuff it out, or hide it under a bowl. That would be foolish. A light is lit to illuminate a space, and it is placed where it can give the most light possible for that space.

Jesus refers to his followers as light. And what flashes of light are expected of God’s friends? The fire of John the Baptist? The white heat of the desert monks? The lightening bolts of the zealots? The fire works of healers and miracle workers? No! Jesus defines light as good works! And the good works we do are what gives glory to God in heaven!

Jesus vision for all his followers, for all of the world, is to “give glory to your father in heaven.” When this vision is finally realized, when people have been captured by the love of God, to do the will of God, then the kingdom of God will have come among us in all its spender and glory.

This splendor and glory is not something new. It is not achieved by throwing out the previous ways God has spoken to us. For some, there is a huge disconnect between the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the New Testament (Apostolic Writings). Jesus does not support this disconnect. Jesus says:

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)

“The law and the prophets” refers to the Hebrew scriptures as a whole, “the singular but complex revelation of the mind and will of God, a treasury of learning and lore, wisdom and commitment,” (Smith, p.89). Jesus was accused by some of his enemies as a destroyer, as trying to break down the law and destroy the temple, (5:17, 24:2, 26:61, 27:40). Additionally, there are some who suggest that since Jesus was the fulfillment of the law, that it ceased to have any value, its usefulness had ended, and it could therefore be thrown out. Jesus says no, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished,” (5:17-18).

Jesus is the bringer of the promised new world, and it is a world marked indelibly with the new and greater righteousness. He did not come to break or shatter the law, but to affirm it’s original intent, and carry it before him in his life, in his teachings, in his death and resurrection. Already, in his confrontation with the devil, Jesus shows his loyalty to the scriptures, announcing that the word of God is his bread.

In every age, the authority of God’s word (the law) suffers both quiet erosion and noisy assaults, pessimists, and those who view human history and see no place for God’s word in it. Jesus separates himself from those who would erase, or diminish God’s word, or bemoan its decline. He declares that rather than diminishing God’s word, not the smallest bit will disappear, and all of the law in its complete totality will be accomplished. God’s people are invited to live the law/ God’s word in their lives, in their actions, and their interactions, even as Jesus did, does, and will continue to do.

Jesus states, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (5:20) Jesus does not say the Pharisees don’t know the law, or understand the law. Jesus credits the Pharisees with righteous. However, he demands his followers exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. From here to the end of the chapter, Jesus points out the meaning of righteousness that exceeds or is more than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

5:21-48

Each of the next six paragraphs begin with the formula, You heard it said … But I say to you.

Some of the pronouncements intensify the law, some of the pronouncements involve cancellation and replacement, some could go either way. Jesus is showing what it means not to cancel, but to fulfill the law. He is offering concrete examples of the higher righteousness. He is spelling out how people think and behave. It is important to see that the higher righteousness cannot exist by itself, but is a mark of the coming kingdom. The coming kingdom and righteousness are inseparable.

5:21-26: ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’

Jesus finds no fault with these words, but will not rest on the surface meaning. He penetrates to the feeling behind them and condemns insignificant infractions that an ordinary court would ignore: being angry, insults, calling a person a fool. These behaviors all lead to judgment, the council and the hell of fire. Each of these draw attention to, and puts pressure on our ordinary way of thinking. All of these thoughts divide people from each other. Each is the opposite of kindred spirit, fellowship, reconciliation and righteousness.

For example, if one is offering a sacrifice, and remembers they have wronged someone, they should leave the sacrifice and go and be reconciled with that other person. It might be inconvenient and impractical to stop. The sacrifice could be ruined by the time the person got back. The event could become chaotic, and messy. However, nothing is more urgent than the call to peace between brothers and sisters.

According to the Mishnah (Yoma 8:9), for transgressions between two people, the Day of Atonement will have no effect if a person has not first appeased that other person.

Or, if a person is being hauled off to court at the insistence of the accuser, earthly wisdom would remind us of the stupidity of self pride which locks one out of reconciliation and into prison.

God’s children should seek peace and reconciliation and so fulfill the will of God, who forbids blood shed and the destruction of life.

5:27-30: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

Every society has rules regarding sex. Adultery means breaking into someone else’s marriage, and is condemned in the ten commandments.

Jesus again presses beyond the letter of the law and sharpens the command. The tenancy in society is to place guilt upon the woman. Jesus changes this and addresses men: 28 “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” He follows with two more unthinkable actions: Pluck out your eye, or cut off your hand if that’s what it takes to keep your coveting eye or seizing hand from someone’s wife and so injuring her and her husband, and also ruining your own life with God.

Talk of marital relations continue and Jesus rejects the traditional arrangement and allows divorce only for unchastity. Sounds like another opportunity to practice reconciliation and peace.

5:33-37: “ Do not swear at all,”

Talk is cheap. People tend to exaggerate, make false statements, and resort to promises and oaths to convince others that their words are sincere. Jesus does not introduce a set of new, or simpler, of stricter oaths. He just says, do not swear at all; let your “yes” mean yes, and your “no” mean no.

5:38-42; 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, …”

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was actually a very enlightened principle: the punishment should fit the crime, and vengeance must be controlled. Jesus does not call for greater control of retribution, instead he calls for greater compassion, unbalanced forgiveness, and irrepressible sharing.

5:43-48: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

Humans tend to believe that those who are like them, or in their particular circle are worthy of love, and believe it is permissible to hate and exclude those who are in any way different, or not in their particular circle. This is standard operating procedure. Jesus is not blind. He sees where this behavior leads. He also sees that some people really are evil and cruel and sadistic enemies. But he still says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Why love? So that you may be the daughters and sons of your father who is in heaven. Here is the first reason for loving, so that you can be like God, reflect the essential being of God, and display kinship with God. Like parent, like child. God would have us stamped with the divine image, just as human parents would have children who carry on their highest values.

We are called to be holy, merciful, perfect, just as our father in heaven is holy, merciful, perfect. This is how our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

Matthew 3:13-4:25

2.25.26

We have been introduced to John the Baptizer. We found him in the wilderness, calling people to repentance, announcing that the kingdom of heaven was near, and baptizing the repentant in the Jordan River. John demanded people show their allegiance to God through righteous living, and proclaimed that the Mighty One who brought in the coming kingdom of heaven would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Then, as John’s call to repent and live righteousness permeated the country, Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth, travels south to where John is baptizing, and asks to be baptized as well. To a casual observer, this carpenter from Nazareth is nobody. He is merely one more poor peasant looking for something greater than the current political situation. John however, recognizes him immediately, knows he has no need of repentance, and asks instead to be baptized by him. “But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”” (3:15).

Jesus did not come to John to repent. He had no need. However, John’s baptism wasn’t just about repentance, it was a declaration of intent to live a life of righteousness before God.

Volumes have been written on the “Seven Last Words of Christ.” Not so much on first words, but first words are equally important, showing what the person’s focus in ministry, and in life are, to help us understand what is coming next. Jesus’ first words, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness,” tell us that Jesus’ focus is on righteousness, on living faithfully before God. By watching Jesus, we will know what righteousness looks like as the way of life. In Jesus, the kingdom of heaven has come to dwell among us, and we will recognize the appearing of the promised kingdom in the person of Jesus.

“And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and coming on him.” (3:16)

What an amazing thing this is! The all too solid boundary between heaven and earth is suddenly ripped open! How often we have looked at the sky and wondered where God is; how often we have prayed and felt our prayers hit the sky and bounced off, and did not reach the throne of God; how often we have felt that God is far away, and we are alone with our problems and pain; how often have evil ones attacked us and we felt alone and helpless before them?

When Jesus identifies himself as a human in need to baptism, and proclaims he will fulfill all righteousness, as a human, as one of us, the heavens are ripped open, and God descends to be among us, not as judge, not as fire, not as a farmer with axe in hand threatening the roots of the tree, or even as wind blowing the chaff away, but as a gentle dove. The God we once perceived as far away has come near: The God we once perceived as angry and vengeful comes to be among us, gentle as a dove. The ancient longing of humanity for the presence of God, “O that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would quake at your presence!” (Is. 64:1) is starting to be realized.

 ‘And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am delighted.”’ (3:17)

The heavens break open, and we hear the voice of God. We expect a voice that terrifies the hearer, like the voice of God terrified the people of Israel when they came to Mt Sinai, after they left Egypt (Exodus 20:18-19). Instead we hear a warm and inviting voice naming Jesus “My son”, “My beloved”, “My delight.”

And what is this righteousness Jesus has come to fulfill? Is it perfect obedience to God’s will? Is it observing God’s commandments perfectly? Was it a joyful submission to John’s call to baptism? Or is it being God’s tool which God uses to lay hands on a broken world and bring healing? Might it be all of the above, and much more? We will watch and see.

In a few short words, Matthew has shown us a solid connection between righteousness and baptism, between being daughters and sons of God and doing the will of God. In hearing God claim Jesus as son and beloved in his baptism, we hear God pronouncing the same words over us; “daughter”, “son”, “beloved”, “delight”, and we are called to follow Jesus in lives of righteousness.

“This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am delighted.”’ (3:17) is an amazing announcement, echoing two great passages: Psalm 2, which was composed to encourage both king and people in a moment of crisis, quotes a phrase used on the day of the king’s coronation: “You are my son, today I have begotten you.” (Ps. 2:7). The coronation formula, used here as a promise, is rooted in Nathan’s word to David. In it, God pledges to preserve David and the Davidic kings forever: “I shall be his father, and he shall be my son” (2 Sam. 7:14). With the exile and humiliation of Judah’s royal house, the psalm is not thrown out, but comes to be understood as a promise about a future king who will be raised up by God to restore the lost fortunes of God’s people (Ps. 89:19-37; Is. 9:1-7; 11:1-9).

Additionally, the voice also echos the first of the four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah (42:1-4). This song begins, “Behold my servant (or son) whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased (delighted).” The Servant Song portrays the nation (or maybe a prophet, or some other individual), not as a powerful sovereign, but as a magnificent servant, marked not by might, but by meekness, with a passion for justice, and a concern for enlightening the nations, rather than for crushing them. The servant is mocked, despised and afflicted, yet remains trusting, uncomplaining and obedient (Is. 42:1-43:21).

Mixing the Royal Psalm with the Servant Song, certainly feels odd, but Matthew believes both are true of Jesus, and will bring them together in the life and words of Jesus, as we continue through his writing.

4:1, Suddenly the scene shifts from the gentle waters of the Jordan to the harsh wilderness of the desert, from milling crowds to lonely solitude, from conversation with John to dialogue with Satan, from awesome presentation as God’s son, to pitiless testing (4:1-11). The gentle dove that settled on him when the heavenly voice spoke to him now drives him into the wilderness when he will fast forty days and nights, and be tempted by Satan. God said to Jesus, “You are my son”: Satan says, prove it!

Baptism and temptation really belong together: Two of the three temptations begin where baptism ended: If you are the son of God. The temptations speak hard words to baptism: Has heaven really opened? Did God actually speak? Has the Spirit really descended? Has the new age of the new sovereign really started? How do we know? Aren’t we still in the old state, harassed by demons? Isn’t human history still stuck in the old well worn grooves? If there has been a crack in the tough shell of the old world, where is it? What exactly are the signs of God breaking into our lives and into our world, making all things new?

“How are kingdoms built? Caesar Augustus and his successors founded the Roman Empire and held it together by means that seem to correspond to the devil’s three temptations: (1) by providing bread and circuses for the masses, (2) by outsmarting rivals on the inside and crushing hostile enemies on the outside through political intrigue and the power of the legions, and (3) by galvanizing the patriotism and religious fervor of the diverse people in a single cult devoted to the goddess Roma and the genius of the divine emperor.” (Smith, p. 61).

Rome dominated the Mediterranean world. Rome prided itself in extending the blessings of peace, justice, and a good administration to citizens and subjects alike. However, Rome had an insatiable hunger for power, glory and wealth, and crossed land and sea to gobble up weaker nations and devour their resources. They gutted political institutions, imposed foreign culture, and shamelessly exploited resources by theft and ruthless taxation.

How do we read these temptations? Did Jesus turn his back on being a benevolent dictator? Did Jesus step away from influencing others through fame and fortune? Do the temptations deal with public issues of economics and politics? Or do the temptations deal with personal issues of trust, commitment and style? All of these address human hopes and human plans for dealing with the evils of this world. What direction should Jesus go? Do the ends justify the means?

“Son of God” has royal overtones, so it is easy to see its bearer will bless God’s people through powerful means. However it also involves establishing righteousness through selfless service. In fact, the one who is “Son of God”, God’s presence on earth in flesh, will obviously collide with the rulers of this world who have their own ways of ruling their kingdoms. This confrontation begins here in the temptation narrative, but will be played out in Jesus’ real life situations until the end of Matthew’s narrative.

Matthew does not tell us exactly what these temptations mean, leaving us to wrestle with their meaning in our own lives. What we do know is that Jesus wrestled with Satan and conquered every temptation. Lets look a them a little bit more closely.

First, Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights. This fasting indicated total reliance on God. What an amazing thing! God’s own son, the beloved, the one on whom the Spirit of God descended, experienced hunger pains!

Then the tempter comes and tried to drive a wedge between Jesus and God, tried to draw Jesus away from holy dependence on God. The tempter seizes on the word from God, proclaimed at Jesus’ baptism, “Son of God”. The tempter encourages Jesus to command stones to become bread, to direct his power to meet his own needs. But Jesus is certain that life is more than food, and speaking not only for himself, but for all humanity, proclaims that the human shall not live by bread alone, or by anything else that is visible, or edible, or attractive, or collectible, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

In his answer, Jesus does not attempt to display any cleverness, or originality, but simply quotes scripture (Torah) in childlike simplicity. Jesus applies to himself directions from the first chapter of Deuteronomy on how God’s people were instructed to stand up to temptation.

For the second temptation, the scene changes to the holy city, on the pinnacle of the temple. A great basilica called the Royal Stoa ran the length of the southern edge of the temple platform. Some peak on the roof of the southeast corner of the basilica, high above the temple court, which itself was elevated by the great retaining wall, which in turn was located on a hill, has often been referred to as the pinnacle (Smith, p.65.). No longer in the solitude of the wilderness, but in the holy city, in the heart of the temple, the devil presses Jesus for a display of power. In the first temptation, Jesus responded to the devil by quoting scripture: in response, in this temptation the devil quotes scripture to Jesus as justification for his demands, and turns the conversation into a debate about scripture and faith. ‘You say you have faith in God? Prove it! You trust God, don’t you? Surely God will not allow you to strike your foot on a stone! If you refuse, it means you don’t trust God’

Jesus refuses to test God, or attempt to manipulate God. He demands no proofs of God’s care and again quotes Deuteronomy (6:16), “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

For the third temptation, the scene shifts again, this time to the top of a very high mountain, where Jesus could see all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. He was invited to become king over the whole vast expanse without suffering. In Psalm 2, the anointed one was promised world domination, the nations as his inheritance and the ends of the earth as his possession. The devil boasts, “All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.” The devil appears to be offering Jesus exactly what the Psalm promised him.

However, whatever causes the people of God to turn from the path of trust, obedience, and service to God is satanic and idolatrous. This temptation cannot be followed, even though it appears to fulfill the Messianic promise of Psalm 2. Jesus immediately banishes Satan with the words, “Be gone Satan! You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve! (Deuteronomy 6:13).

Jesus is the only human in this interaction; the devil fails to trap Jesus and has to leave. Surrounding Jesus, and every child of God, are the everlasting arms. At the beginning of this narrative, the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness, and at the end of the narrative angels come and minister to him.

However, there are questions that need to be asked: Has Jesus renounced food? No. Has he renounced using his power? Again, no. He will use his power to feed thousands of people, twice. He did not throw himself off the temple, but he did walk on water. Jesus works by the Spirit of God, doing what honors God, and refusing to perform miracles on demand in order to attain popularity. The temptation narrative reveals the mind of Jesus. It is a prologue to his ministry which tells us about how Jesus thinks and will react: He can use words, he can use silence, he can use both power and weakness, he will act in total disregard for self, and in total harmony with the will of God. Jesus, moved by the Holy Spirit and supported by God’s angels, will respond to the devil’s attack on humanity by pressing back against Satan and his evil empire, sweeping the world clean of demons, freeing people to live lives of faith and righteousness.

4:12ff After this, John the Baptizer was arrested, and Jesus returned to Galilee. Since Jesus came from Galilee, one might think Jesus was running away to the security of home, as if fighting with Satan, and the imprisonment of his cousin John had somehow frightened him. One would be incorrect in this assumption.

Almost immediately, Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth, and settled in Capernaum, by the sea (actually a very large lake), in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. The areas belonging to the original tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali were the first chunks of ancient Israel to be swallowed up by Tiglath-Pilesar III and renamed Assyrian provinces (732 BCE), 10 years before the rest of Israel was subjugated. Isaiah said the first territories to feel God’s wrath would also be the first to enjoy salvation at the birth of Messiah (Is. 9:1-7). Although they sat in the darkness of subjugation, light would dawn on them; the Light of the whole world would come to them also.

Throughout these opening chapters, Matthew has traced prophecies about geography, and has showed how Jesus fulfilled them. It is like the ancient prophets had a map of Jesus’ travels hundreds of years before he was born, and Matthew is calling attention to this. Jesus’ movements are not random. All of these movements lie deep in the mind of God, and Jesus is following the path of fulfillment of God’s purpose. Jesus is completely in tune with the will of God.

Since Jesus chose to begin his ministry in Galilee, lets get a little bit more acquainted with this area. Galilee was not an isolated settlement of purely Jewish settlers. Nor was Galilee a backwater area of uneducated, or simple farmer folk who had no idea about the rest of the world, and didn’t care about it either. Galilee sat at the crossroad of international trade routes, and was always open to Damascus and Syria to the north, Egypt to the south, Phoenicia to the northwest and the Mediterranean to the west. Jewish and pagan communities lived side by side. Jesus choose to begin his ministry here specifically because it was the cross roads of the nations.

Jesus began his ministry exactly where John had left off, even using John’s exact words, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus does not have a brand new word from God. The call to repent is the beginning of the good news of the kingdom. Jesus in his splendid entirety is the approach of God, the light of God, and revelation of God. In Jesus, something new is already here. In Jesus, the promised kingdom has already come.

4:18-22, The first recorded action of Jesus after he arrives in Capernaum is to walk by the lake. As he walks, he sees 2 brothers out fishing, Peter and his brother Andrew. Jesus calls them to follow him, and they leave everything to follow. A bit later, the scene is repeated when Jesus sees two more brothers, James and John working with their father. The invitation is repeated, as is the response: the brothers leave everything to follow Jesus.

Jesus’ invitation is strange, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” We think of Jesus as a rabbi, but rabbis do not go out looking for people. They expect people with the appropriate background and credentials to come to them. Instead, Jesus took the initiative, and went to them. Nor does Jesus invite them to master Torah, or learn Biblical scholarship, or even meditate on biblical texts. Instead he just invites them to follow him.

Jesus calls them to fish for people. What a strange thought. When a person casts a net or a line for a fish, they draw the fish out of life giving water, into death. Fishing seems more a metaphor for judgment and condemnation, where the fish are dragged from their hiding places to face judgment, and death. Fishing sounds much like John’s metaphors about God being a farmer with an axe at the root of a dead tree, or God being a farmer who separates the straw and sets it aside to be burned.

Does fishing for people meant dragging them from their hiding places and setting them before the judge at the end of life? Or might fishing mean teaching people, drawing them from ignorance to wisdom, from the worship of things that harm them to the God who loves them? Is fishing actually drawing people out of darkness into God’s marvelous light? In each case, there is a radical change of environment, and a complete break from the former way of life.

Immediately, and without hesitation or lengthy conversations, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, the brothers leave everything and follow. (Were they “hooked”?)

4:23-25, Jesus then walked through Galilee, “teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease, and every infirmity among the people.”

Jesus does not walk aimlessly, but steps forward, deliberately, teaching, preaching and healing. He heals every disease and every infirmity. He teaches in the synagogues. He preaches the gospel of the kingdom. The kingdom is near, at the very gates. Its power is present in Jesus, blessing and healing, but also disturbing the old order, shaking its foundations, reordering all of life.

In these opening chapters, Matthew presents Jesus as God’s own movement into the world, God’s own interfering presence, God’s counter attack against Satan and all things evil, and twisted. Jesus’ arrival on the scene is the beginning of the coming kingdom, and is filled with awesome and terrible possibilities. God has ripped open the heavens and broken into our world with strength and power to make all things new: Are we ready to be changed?

Matthew 3

2.12.26

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’ ”

4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

The first four chapters of Matthew stand as an introduction with the purpose of identifying who Jesus is, filling in his background, describing his connections, and setting the stage for his public ministry. The time between the end of chapter two and the beginning of chapter three is about thirty years, but the time does not seem to matter, and the readers move easily over the gap.

Matthew’s meditation on the names of Jesus, Son of Abraham, son of David, Jesus, Emmanuel, culminates in this chapter with a heavenly voice that names him “my beloved son”, a name that is questioned by the evil one in chapter 4.

John the Baptizer bursts into the scene unannounced. When we first see him, he is preaching, and people are responding by confessing their sins. John’s first words are “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” These words could serve as a summary of everything John says. Between “repent” and the confession of sins, Matthew examines John’s credentials, and his effect on his audience. Matthew focuses more attention on John’s proclamation, and less on Baptism, nothing on forgiveness, and everything on repentance.

Perhaps Matthew’s audience was finding security before God in the rite of baptism, and somehow lost the connection of baptism to the call to repentance from the deadly power of sin, and the demand to respond with righteous living. In contrast, Matthew describes baptism as confirming repentance, and energizing people to walk the way of righteousness (21:32, 28:18-20).

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him.” (21:31-32)

As we just read in 21:31-32, John’s words are very much a call to rethink and reorder one’s life: baptism confirms repentance, and energizes people to walk the way of righteousness. Without repentance, and the commitment to righteous, baptism becomes little more than a bath. While baptism is much more than this, these were the concepts that John wanted to impress on his hearers, as he prepared the people to meet their God.

2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Repent: change your mind; change the way you think; change the way you act; implying a feeling of regret and sorrow; turn away from sin and toward God.

Kingdom of heaven: literally, “the kingdom of the heavens”. The phrase occurs no where else in the New Testament, but is used 33 times in Matthew. It means the “Kingdom of God,” but avoids saying the name of God out of reverence and respect, although the phrase “Kingdom of God” is used 4 times (12:28, 19:24, 21:31, 43). This phrase can also be written as “thy kingdom” (6:10, 13, 20:21), “The kingdom of their (my) Father” (13:43, 26:29), or as just “kingdom” (6:33, 25:34).

“To say that this kingdom or sovereign rule is “of heaven” or “of God” is not to locate it in the heavens above but to assert that it has its source in heaven or in God, that it comes as a gift from above, and that it is something wholly different from earthly kingdoms and sovereignties. Secular empires rest uneasily on the bones of slaughtered enemies and are sustained by violence and threat of violence (cf4:1-11; 22:41-45; 26:52-53). The kingdom of heaven proclaimed by John (3:2) and Jesus (4:17) and the disciples(10:7) surpasses earthly imagining and earthly deserving. … more than any other New Testament writer, Matthew stresses the vital connection between the kingdom and righteousness (cf 6:10, 33).” (Smith, Robert H. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, p.48.)

The long awaited kingdom is finally at hand. John knows that he is standing at the edge of that coming kingdom, or perhaps at the gate, and like a trumpet must sound the call for all to prepare.

John is certain of the coming kingdom. He demands God’s own people repent. He summons insiders to radical change (not outsiders). He especially demands religious authorities stop thinking they know best about what God demands, and instead calls them to stop resisting God. John shouts that repentance is not an option, but a requirement: the price of salvation is unconditional surrender to God.

John is a prophet in a long line of prophets. He not only speaks prophetically, he fulfills prophecy. The prophet Isaiah envisioned a road through the desert, designed by God, to bring the captives home from Babylon. Isaiah heard a voice crying out in the wilderness, inviting people to prepare the way of the Lord, and make his path straight. Matthew interprets John as not just one more prophet in the long line of prophets, but as the fulfillment of this cry at the end of the ages, as the herald of the coming kingdom.

4 “Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” (3:4)

Now Matthew turns to what John wore and what he ate. Why would this be important? In 2 Kings 1:7, 8, we read: ‘He (the king) said to them, “What sort of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?”  They answered him, “A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”’

To anyone who saw John, they would remember how the king recognized the prophet Elijah: He was a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist. The people would not only recognize the physical description of Elijah, they would remember he didn’t die, but was taken up in a chariot of fire, pulled by horses of fire. If he didn’t die, that would mean he was still alive and could return some day, maybe even now. John’s clothing indicated a self identification with the prophet Elijah, and the people recognized this immediately. By wearing these clothes, John signaled that he was not just a prophet, but he was the expected prophet and these were the expected times.

Locusts and wild honey: food provided by the grace of God with no human intervention. It might also indicate he was a holy man who renounced meat and wine (Luke 1:15). 5 -- The Baptizer’s cry calls to the hearts of all who hear him, and they flock to him from Jerusalem, Judea, and all the regions around the Jordan. The regions around the Jordan may refer to the area across the Jordan, on the east side of the river; this could also refer to the wilderness area east and southeast of Jerusalem; or it could refer to the Jordan plain that stretched from the Dead Sea to the Sea of Galilee; or all of the above. These regions were ruled by Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great (the Herod who attempted to kill the infant Jesus); Antipas hated John, and later killed him. Obviously, not everyone who heard his proclamation chose to repent.

6 – John lives with God in the wilderness, in a place of incredible beauty, in a place of brutal possibilities. The wilderness is devoid of life giving necessities; it is filled with hungry creatures, poisonous snakes, thorns and long expanses of nothing; the weather is extreme; it is not an easy place to live. The wilderness is also where Israel became a nation, where they became the people of God.

John’s voice moves them to confess their sin. Sin is not some small infraction of ancient rituals, or community rules, or forgetting a task. The crowd began to realize they had broken their covenant with God, they had broken faith with God, they had broken the ties that bound them to God. The people confessed their sin, and then they sign their repentance by submitted to being baptized in the river, to wash away their sin. The penitent does not wash themselves. John administers the water, and so earns the nickname, “Baptist”, or “Baptizer”. John’s goal, with word and baptism, is to call the people back to God, back to living a life of righteousness, to prepare for the day of the Lord’s appearing.

7 – “Many Pharisees and Sadducees also came.” So, who are these people? The Pharisees and the Sadducees were 2 of the 4 primary groups in Judaism during the second temple period, the other two groups were the Essenes and the Zealots.

The Pharisees were in influential group of legal experts and lay teachers known for strict adherence to the Torah, and the oral traditions. They were often common people, scribes, and synagogue leaders. They focused on personal piety and ritual purity. They believed in the resurrection of the dead, angels, and the afterlife. Later they formed the basis for Rabbinic Judaism.

The Sadducees were a wealthy, aristocratic, politically powerful group, closely associated with the temple in Jerusalem, and the high priesthood. They were conservative leaders who controlled the Sanhedrin, they rejected the oral law and afterlife beliefs of the Pharisees, accepting only the written Torah. They also rejected the existance of angels or demons, and the immortality of the soul, believing this life is all there is. They played a major role in the trial of Jesus, they worked closely with the Romans to maintain peace and their own status, and faded from history following the destruction of the temple in 70 CE.

The Essenes were s devout, mystical group, known for their strict adherence to purity laws, ascetic lifestyle and communal living. They are often associated with the Qumran community and the Dead Sea Scrolls. They often wore white linen, shared belongings, and in some communities, practiced celibacy. They separated themselves from mainstream society, living in small communities, typically in the Judean wilderness. They focused on studying the Torah, anticipated the imminent Messianic era, and considered themselves “Sons of Light.” Daily ritual baths were a central practice.

The Zealots were a religious movement dedicated to overthrowing the Romans through armed revolt. They were formed by Judas the Galilean around 6CE following the Roman census. They were extremely “Zealous” for the Torah, believing in an absolute theocracy, and viewed Roman taxation and pagan influence as blasphemy. Their rebellion is credited with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70CE by Rome. They were active until the fall of Masada in 73CE.

So why did the Pharisees and Sadducees go out into the wilderness to see John? Were they there with the rest of the people to repent? Did they come just to see what was happening? Were they sent by the Romans to ensure there was no rebellion fermenting? We don’t know. John was certain he knew: he called them poisonous snakes.

Lets look at desert vipers a bit more closely. The Saharan horned viper is a venomous snake from the deserts of Africa and the Middle East. It is a nocturnal ambush predator that buries itself in the sand. Its venom causes severe swelling and tissue damage, but is rarely fatal to humans if they receive immediate medical care. John says these respected religious leaders were no more than a brood of snakes, because instead of caring for, nurturing and guiding the people, they were stinging and poisoning the people in their care.

This paragraph lifts up a tension between baptism and the fruit of repentance. No tension should exist here. Repentance is not casual, nor undertaken on a whim. John’s demands are deeply personal, and moral, and touch the foundation of ones relationship with God and neighbor. John calls for a radical reorientation of life. If it is real, it will naturally produce fruit. Fruit is not works done to impress God or neighbors, it can not be forced, threats will not result in fruit, neither will pleading or coercion produce fruit. There is no way to force fruit from a dead tree, and fruit is an infallible sign of a healthy tree. (7:16-20; 12:33; 13:8; 21:19, 34, 41, 43; James 3:12, 17-18.)

9 – “We have Abraham as our father”: The religious leaders claim privilege: we have the right stuff, we are the people of God, we are doing the right things, we are above reproach, take your criticisms to outsiders, to pagans, to those who are not chosen and perfect in God’s sight. People frequently believe they are better than others due to color, or gender, or wealth, or place of birth, or social class, or citizenship, of religious affiliation, or even on certificate of baptism. John said these religious leaders were no different than any other person who depended on their own righteousness, and not on God. They also needed to repent.

“God is able to raise up from these stones children to Abraham.” In Hebrew and Aramaic, the words for sons and stones are nearly identical. Perhaps John is continuing to comment on the environment of the desert, snakes, dead trees, stones and using these objects as lessons for his hearers. Maybe John is thinking of how Abraham and Sarah were so old, they could be considered almost dead, but God had brought life out of them, and Issac was born; a living child out of dead flesh. Only God can create life, and was doing it here among people the world considered of no more worth than the rocks in the desert: the poor, harlots, outcasts, tax collectors, and gentiles were responding with faith and obedience while the religious leaders stood around debating what was happening, doubting, and condemning what they saw.

10 – John emphases the urgency of his proclamation: God is farmer, and stands next to the unfruitful tree with axe in hand, sharp edge against the roots, ready to chop it down, then chop it into kindling. The religious leaders believed wrath was against the heathen, against the Romans, against those outside God’s chosen people, or even against thieves and harlots and tax collectors. John did not say that. Instead he said, ‘Every tree that does not bear good fruit is worthless.’

John now compares his own work with that of the Coming one.

11-- John says his baptism is water for repentance. The whole point of his baptism is to prepare the people for the One Coming after him. This One will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And how are we to see these two forces? Are these two positive forces working together for the final cleansing and refining of God’s people? (Zech 13:9; Mal 3:2-3). Are these two negative forces, the wind and fire of God’s wrath, blowing the chaff away and burning it? (Is 29:6; 30:27-28; Ez 1:4). Or should we see them as alternatives set before each person, either be renewed by the creative Holy Spirit, or turn from God and at God’s returning, experience God as a consuming fire? (Joel 2:28-32).

The last option seems to fit with Matthew’s gospel. Fire in this gospel is not associated with the Pentecostal outpouring, but in each case is a symbol of judgment. (3:10, 12; 5:22; 7:19; 13:40,42, 50; 18:8-9; 25:41). And baptism of the Holy Spirit never suggests a wind that blows chaff away. Additionally, at the end of this gospel, the Holy Spirit is associated with the Father and the Son in the work of gathering God’s people into the family of God.

13 – John had just spoken about an axe threatening the roots of dead trees, now he uses another farm image, that of a wheat harvest. John speaks about the end of harvest, when the stocks are cut, and the heads have been beaten, or cut to release them from the stock. The stocks have been bundled and laid aside to be use for fuel. Now the farmer grabs the winnowing fork and tosses the heads of grain into the wind. The wind catches the light chaff and deposits it a few feet away, while the heavier grain falls back on the ground where the farmer can gather it into his granary. This is John’s picture of the fate of those who repent, and those who refuse to repent.

We have been talking for 5 pages, and have only worked through the first 13 verses of chapter 3. I do not expect the next 4 verses to be short, and they lead very naturally into the next chapter, so I am going to leave them for next week.

2.9.2026

Matthew 1:18-25, 2:1

Matthew 1:18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25)

We are immediately introduced to two extraordinary people. First, we meet a young woman, who is engaged to be married. We have some expectations here. We expect her to be giddy in love, and think about her soon to be husband a lot. We expect her to be preparing for her wedding day. We expect her family, and his, to be preparing the house where they will live. We expect both families to be planning for this couple to have a long, happy, fruitful life ahead of them, and are working to prepare for this. We do not expect her to be pregnant. Women at this time, in this culture, did not get pregnant before they got married. She did. And this is not her soon to be husband’s child: God caused this child.

In the gospel of Luke, we meet a bright, vivacious young lady, who is deeply spiritual, who is well versed in the Tanakh (Old Testament), who is visited by an angel, and who responds in immediate and complete obedience to God’s will, and sings in spectacular poetry about God’s coming kingdom breaking down tyranny, and favoring the oppressed. She is our hero from the moment we meet her. Luke is writing to a gentile audience and wants to make a good first impression to ensure his audience will immediately know she is a woman of integrity, and worth, who loves God and obeys God’s will, and we should pattern our response to God after her response. She is not like the women in Greek and Roman mythology they have heard about, but is fresh and admirable, she loves God, and looks forward to God’s coming kingdom of justice and mercy for all.

Matthew does not present Mary in this way. He doesn’t have to. As his readers read through the list of patriarchs, and remembered their deeds of faith, they could not help but remember the matriarchs at the same time. They would remember the matriarchs courage and faithfulness, their own unique relationships with God, and their determination to live out that relationship in an often difficult world. When Matthew included four gentile women in the genealogy, he emphasized their love of God, and their willingness to give up everything to be part of God’s people, much like the matriarchs did. In doing this, Matthew has gently reminded them/us what a woman of God looks like, and so when we meet Mary, we already know who she is and what she is like. We already know she is a woman of faith and integrity, and strength, who loves and obeys God, even when the circumstances of life are problematic and scary. Matthew does not need to say more than he had already said, because we already know all of this.

The next person we meet is the soon to be husband, Joseph. He has been presented with a problem: his bride to be is pregnant. He is not the father. Joseph ponders this, and in this pondering we see his true character: he is just, and he is compassionate; he can not marry her, he will not allow her to be put to shame. When he has come to an uneasy resolution to this problem, an angel of God comes to speak to him: Joseph’s immediate response is obedience to God’s word. Throughout the Tanakh, God’s people are called to be just, and compassionate, and walk humbly before God. Joseph is a man of God; justice and compassion, and listening to God’s word is how he responds to life; this is how he lives; this is who he is. Like Mary, Joseph is a person of faith and integrity, and strength, who loves and obeys God, even when the circumstances of life are problematic and scary.

The third person we meet is an angel. True to its nature, it greets Joseph with the words “Fear Not.” We have 365 instances in the bible where an angel interacts with a human, or group of humans, and greets them with the words, “fear not.” The angel then follows with instructions about what the human(s) should do instead of fearing, in this case, Joseph was instructed to marry Mary, and name the child Jesus. In naming the child, Joseph was claiming the child as his own, and taking responsibility for his care, including his education; reading and writing; learning a trade to support himself, and his family; and his spiritual development. Additionally, since Joseph claimed the child, the child would be given Joseph’s lineage. Joseph was instructed to name the child “Jesus” (Yeshua, or Yehoshua, meaning God, the One who makes covenants and keeps them, is salvation). The angel then reminds Joseph of a time in Israel’s history when everything seemed hopeless, and God sent a child named Emmanuel (God with us) to encourage the people that God was still with them. That promise of God’s presence did not end when that child died. That promise has continued throughout time, and comes to greatest fruition in this One whose name is “God is salvation.”

The time gap between chapter 1 and chapter 2 is between 1 and 2 ½ years. Luke’s gospel fills this space with stories of Mary traveling to visit her cousin Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph’s travel to Bethlehem to pay taxes, sleeping in someone’s animal area to give birth, angels, shepherds, Jesus’ circumcision, Mary’s purification, the words of Simeon, and the witness of the prophet Anna. (Luke 1:39-2:38) Luke is a gentile convert, speaking to a largely gentile audience. He presents a social gospel where God is on the side of the poor, disadvantaged and marginalized to the point that God becomes poor, disadvantaged and marginalized, and emphasizes that the kingdom of God has come for these people, more than for the rich and powerful.

Matthew’s audience has studied the Torah and Tanakh (Old Testament), and already know God’s commands regarding caring for the poor, disadvantaged and marginalized. Compassion and justice are their way of living. Instead, Matthew wants to show Jesus is the promised Messiah, son of Abraham and son of David, and fulfillment of scriptures. Teaching about, and living a life of justice and compassion showed that Jesus was a good Jew: Matthew wanted to prove to his readers that he was much more than a good Jew, he was the promised Messiah.

Matthew 2:1-15

Matthew doesn’t talk about shepherds. He talks about visitors from the East. We have no idea how many visitors came, we just know what gifts were brought. We do know these people were astronomers, people who read the sky, and they noticed a strange conjunction that told them a king had been born in Judea. Then there was a comet which led the way to Judea, confirming what they already knew. They didn’t know the king was to be born in Bethlehem, so logically, they went to congratulate the king in Jerusalem, the capital city. Except the king had not been blessed with a child recently, and was terrified that this newborn king would attempt to steal his throne, and Immediately decided to kill the baby as soon as the visitors told him about the child.

Mary and Joseph, of course, have no idea what’s going on. The words in Luke talk about the child being swaddled and laid in a manger after birth. By the time the eastern visitors reach Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary and the child are living in a house. Was work so good this family was able to buy, borrow, or rent a house to live in? Or were they still living in the house belonging to family members who took them in just before Mary gave birth? Whatever the answer, Mary, Joseph and child were able to receive these guests in a house. Life has calmed down for this little family. Living in a house, instead of a stable, is definitely a step up.

Things rarely stay calm for long. The king in Jerusalem was Herod the Great. His father was an Edomite, and his mother was a Jew. Herod was appointed king by the Romans because he came from a good family, meaning a wealthy family, and he was part Jewish. The Romans thought he would be accepted by this frequently contentious population of Judea because of his Jewish mother. Herod had some excellent characteristics: he built many fortresses, aqueducts, theaters, and other public buildings. He rebuilt the temple, which the Babylonians had destroyed about 400 years earlier. He generally raised the prosperity of the area. He was well respected by the Romans, and he was close friends with some of the great names of that time period, Mark Anthony, and Octavian, (who rewarded his fidelity with massive land grants), and other famous people, including the emperor, who invited him to visit them in Italy, and who came on state visits to Jerusalem. It should have worked! And, for a while, it did. However, as Herod grew older, his mental and physical health deteriorated. He had a cruel streak in his character that showed itself more and more often as he got older, and his mental instability was fed by intrigue and deception in his own family. He murdered his second wife, and 2 of her sons, and her brother, and her parents.

Only a few months before the guests from the east came to visit, he murdered his eldest son and heir. The joke around Jerusalem, (actually started by the emperor!) was that it was better to be a pig than Herod’s son, … because Jews don’t eat pork. When Herod heard of the birth of a new king, he was filled with rage and determined to murder this usurper to his throne. He sent his solders to kill every boy baby 2 years and younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area, because that was when the eastern visitors said the star (constellation/ comet/ nova) had first appeared, and this is where the ancient prophets said the Messiah would be born.

“‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,

for from you shall come a ruler

    who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ” (Matthew 2:6, Micah 5:2)

(Recorded by Chinese and possibly Korean observers, a comet or nova occurred in 5BCE and 4BCE. Chinese records noted an apparent lack of movement of the “star” possibly caused by being in a “temporary geosynchronous” orbit. It was described as “hanging over” a place, which sounds a lot like “When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was.” Matthew 2:9. This object was seen for over 70 days. The scarcity of records during this time period makes these events especially significant. This phenomena is a leading astrological explanation for the “Star of Bethlehem.”

webspace.science.uu.nl ui.adsabs.harvard.edu)

Part of the blessing to Abraham was that all the world would be blessed through him. Here we see “wise men” from the East come to pay homage to the new born Messiah. (2:10-11) Abraham’s blessing is happening: Wise people from outside of Israel were coming to worship Israel’s Messiah. We have no idea how long these astronomers stayed to worship, but before they left, an angel warned them in a dream not to return to Herod, (2:12). Just like Joseph, they obeyed the word of God, and went home another way. Joseph had a dream where an angel spoke to him, and now the Eastern visitors experienced the same thing; Joseph immediately obeyed the word of God given to him by an angel, the visitors did the same thing; obedience to God was life giving, first for Mary, and now for the entire family.

After the Eastern visitors left, an angel came to Joseph in a dream, a second time, and told him to get up, take Mary, and the child, and flee, because Herod wanted to destroy the child. Joseph got up immediately, and took Mary and Jesus south to Egypt, where they would be safe. Our Christmas cards show us pictures of Joseph leading a donkey, which is carrying Mary and her newborn baby, through a serene blue countryside, lit by a huge star. It’s pretty, but deceptive. Given Herod’s command, based on the Eastern visitors’ observation of when the star first appeared, Jesus is probably 1-2 years old. Mary and Joseph were desperately poor when they became betrothed, then left their home, and all their support system to move to a different town. Although extremely valuable, carpenters were only slightly higher on the socio economic scale than shepherds, so it would be highly unlikely they would be able to acquire a house, and a donkey, in the 1-2 years they had lived in Bethlehem. If they had a donkey, it would carry Joseph’s tools, Mary’s kneading bowl with their breakfast rising inside, and their sleeping toddler. When Mary and Joseph walked the 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, they had to watch our for bandits along the way, so would have had to choose their route carefully.

With Mary very near her time to give birth, she could not have walked very far each day, so the journey very likely took 10 days or more. They would not have been able to carry enough food for 10 days with them, so would have had to stop and buy food, or forage along the way. Now after living about 1-2 years in Bethlehem, they were traveling again. Since Jesus is probably about between 1 and 2, we might wonder if Mary was pregnant again? Again, they had to be very careful about their route because of the risk of bandits and soldiers. If the soldiers saw them leaving that night, the soldiers would know this was the child they were sent to kill, and all their lives would have been in danger. I wonder how many miles they walked that night? How many days were they out of Bethlehem before they dared walk during daylight? I suspect the gold the astrologers gave Jesus came in very handy to purchase food and water, and places to stay as they fled, and later as they lived in Egypt.

I expect many of us mourn for all those children the soldiers killed the next morning, and wonder why an angel didn’t warn their parents too. I feel certain the same angel who warned Joseph to gather up his small family and flee, also warned every other family in Bethlehem to rise, gather their families and flee. They didn’t. Maybe they thought it was a weird dream and ignored it. Maybe they thought there would be time to gather up everything in the morning. There wasn’t.

In comparison, an angel has now spoken to Joseph in a dream twice, and each time Joseph obeyed immediately, and each time, someone’s life was saved, first Mary’s, and then Jesus’. This reminds us of the patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob, whose story is told in Genesis, who had dreams and saved his family. Apparently, listening to God, and saving one’s family is a family characteristic. Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

    wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

(2:17-18, quoted from Jeremiah 31:15 )

Rachel was Jacob’s favorite wife. She was completely obsessed about having children, but much to her grief, was only able to have two children. She died in childbirth giving birth to her second son Benjamin, (Genesis 35:16-20) and was buried near Bethlehem. In 722BCE, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, then rounded up the entire population of the Northern Kingdom and herded them to the area of Ramah, Gilead, on the East side of the Jordan. Here the Assyrians slaughtered half of the people, led one quarter of the people across the desert to slavery in Assyria, then let the remaining quarter of the population go free, and repopulated the area with people from other subjected nations. Rachel’s son Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh were a major part of the northern kingdom: Frequently the Northern kingdom was referred to as Ephraim: Now her descendants are dead, and she is devastated. (Victor H Matthews, Don C. Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East, “The Annals of Sargon II” p.127- 129. Also, lectures from Dr. Victor Gold, PLTS, Sept 1994.) Apparently, since her children from the northern kingdom were dead, Rachel adopted the southern kingdom also, because she is now seen weeping for the murdered children of Bethlehem.

We do not know how long the family lived in Egypt, but we do know Herod the Great died before Passover, in Jericho, most likely in 4BCE. In Egypt, Joseph received a third dream from the angle of the Lord: When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. (2:19-21).

The angel of the Lord is involved in everything that happens to this family. Joseph listens, and obeys. Joseph is the ultimate follower of God: he is not only just and compassionate, he listens, he obeys, he protects the child and his mother. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.” (2:22-23)

After Herod’s death, the area Herod ruled was divided among his three remaining sons. Archelaus, who was every bit as cruel and ruthless as his father, and could be expected to know that a child had escaped from his father a year or two earlier, got Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. He reigned from 4BCE to 6CE, when Rome exiled him to Gaul for his violence. Rome appointed Pontius Pilot as his successor. Antipas got Galilee and Perea. This is the one famous for executing John the Baptizer. Philip got the northern areas, like Golan. (drivethruhistory.com) Again, an angel warned Joseph away from trouble. Joseph and family decided to return to the town they had grown up in, and become engaged in, and had built their home in. I expect it was nice to finally be going home after all the adventures of the past couple years. (Luke 1:26)

23 ‘There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.” ‘(2:23) No, there is no where in the Tanahk (Old Testament) that says the Messiah will be a Nazarene. The word “Nazarene” might be confused with the word “Nazarite”, a term meaning “separated” or “consecrated”, which refers to people who took a vow to abstain from wine, and products of the grape, and dead bodies, and from cutting their hair, as a sign of dedication to God. Jesus was not a Nazarite.

In order to get a better handle on what Matthew is saying, we need to know that the word “Nazareth” means “branch”, “shoot”, or “sprout”. Nazareth and the surrounding hills was an area famous for it’s vineyards. This connects directly with the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 11:1;

“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”

Jesus was from Nazareth, therefore he was a Nazarine: a shoot or a branch. Since he was from the lineage of David, son of Jesse, he was a shoot from the tree of Jesse, even though that tree had been cut down back in 595BCE. He was the branch growing out of the roots of that tree that had been destroyed, but which still had life in its stump, and its roots. Even though King David had been dead for over 1,000 years, and his lineage had appeared to die out over 600 years earlier, God does not forget promises, and this promise was fulfilled in a person who grew up in a little town called branch. More than anyone else in the Apostolic Writings (New Testament), maybe more than anyone in the entire bible, Matthew loves puns and word plays. We will see a lot of these. If something does not appear to add up, look a little deeper. Matthew is an amazing story teller, and an amazing writer. His words are vivid, and well thought out. And even after 2000 years, his witness is fresh and compelling. We are in for an amazing journey!

Jan 28: Matthew 1:1-17

Study Material for this passage:

Matthew 1:1-17

1.28.26

Matthew was one of the original disciples Jesus called. His Greek name is Matthew: His Hebrew name is Levi: he was a tax collector. His calling is recorded in Matthew 9:9–13, Mark 2:13–17, and Luke 5:27–28. As a tax collector, he had to be very intelligent, and highly trained, and the pay was good. However, his friends and neighbors would label him a traitor to his own people, spurn him, and even despise him. This is not a job a smart, young man would take, if he had a choice. As we read his writing, we see he pays attention to details, and that words matter to him. Additionally, given the clarity of what he wrote, we have to believe he wrote things down as they were happening. Why would he do this? Did he already know that the world would need his view point and witness to the Messiah? The gospel of Matthew was written about 70-90CE. This is 40-60 years after the resurrection. In order to share this clearly what happened all those years ago, he had to have something to assist his memory. One of those helps was the gospel of Mark. However, there is material that is not in the gospel of Mark: some of that material Matthew shares with Luke (this material is referred to as “Q”), and some of that material is purely Matthew.

Matthew’s audience is primarily Jewish people who lived outside of Israel, referred to as the “diaspora”. These were Jews who left Israel for various reasons, such as wars, or deportations, and stayed in that other land. These people are still very much Jewish, they loved their homeland, they cared about what is happening in Israel, however, after being away for an extended period of time, they are not as fluent in the language or customs, and some explanations are in order. These people still believed in the God who spoke to Abraham, and are looking for the promised Messiah, who is the promised son of David. These people continue to know the Torah and the rest of the Tanakh (Old Testament). Matthew wants these people to know the longed for Messiah has come, and to introduce them to their Messiah in terms they can understand. Most likely, these people have heard of Jesus, and believe he is their Messiah, and Matthew wants to support and encourage their belief with his writing.

Matthew 1:1-17:

I’m betting most of us just skip over these verses. There are a lot of names, most of which we don’t recognize. However, Matthew felt this list was important, so let's look at it a bit more closely. Matthew begins his gospel with the words: “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” (1:1) This is Matthew’s topic sentence. I don’t know if Matthew is referring to the entire gospel, or just these 17 verses. Maybe both. “1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4 and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David, and David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” (Matthew 1:2-6, NRSV)

The first person named is Abraham, the one who was called from Ur of the Chaldeans to leave his country, his family, his father’s house, to go to a land which God would show him. God made a covenant with Abraham, and promised to make of him a great nation, to bless him, and to make him a blessing to all the families of the earth, (Genesis 11:31-25:19).  Abraham was the father of the Jewish people. This is the beginning of Israel’s identity. By starting his genealogy with Abraham, Matthew was emphasizing Jesus was a Jew, a descendant of Abraham, someone whom God had blessed and whom God would use to bless all the people of the earth.

The second person listed is Isaac, the child of promise. And since Isaac was the child of promise, all of his descendants are children of promise as well. We remember Isaac as someone who got along with his neighbors; We remember Isaac as someone who dug a lot of wells; Most of all, we remember Isaac as someone who trusted God and his father so much, he allowed himself to be bound and placed on an altar to be sacrificed. He was a young man: his father was 100 years older than he was. If he had wanted to escape, it would have been easy, but he trusted God and his father so much, even being bound and placed on an altar did not change the love and trust he felt for them. And then, God told Abraham not to harm him, and sent a ram in his place. (Genesis 25:19-28:9, 35:27-29).

The third person on the list was Jacob, the twin of Esau; Jacob was the man who stole his brother’s birthright, and his blessing, and then ran for his life and went to live with his Uncle Laban. While working for Laban, Jacob married 2 sisters, and with the help of his wives 2 maids, fathered 12 sons. We remember that Jacob made a lot of poor decisions, which caused him a lot of grief, but God never gave up on him. God continued to love him, and care for him regardless of circumstances, (25:19-34, 27:1-37:36).

Next on the list is Judah, Jacob and Leah’s 4 th son. When thinking about Jacob’s sons, our minds leap to the story of when the brothers sold Joseph into slavery. That story is not what this list of names wants us to remember. Instead, we are reminded of the years after Joseph was sold, when Judah left the family unit, married, had 3 sons, found a wife for his eldest son, that son died, so Judah gave the woman (Tamar) to his second son, who also died, and then Judah decided the deaths were Tamar’s fault and sent her back to her parents, effectively throwing her out of the family.

Let's look at Tamar for a few minutes. She was probably married at a young age. Her husband would have been several years older than she was. We have no idea how long they were married, but they had no children. Then he died. She was given to the second son. No children this time either, but this was by the second son’s choice. He died. Given what comes next, Tamar was part of the family long enough to learn about God’s promise to Abraham, decided that Abraham’s God was her God, and yes, she very much wanted to be part of these blessings, and she wanted her children to be part of these blessings also. When her second husband died, and she was sent back to her parents, she could have married someone else. Very likely, her parents tried to find another husband for her. However, she had a choice, and she chose to not be married to someone outside Judah’s household, because she wanted to be part of the blessing. When she saw that the third son was old enough and she had not been given to him in marriage, she had to find another way to be a part of the blessing. By this time, Judah’s wife had also died, and he was very open to having sex with some random woman on the side of the road. However, this random woman was Tamar, who became pregnant with twins. Judah was outraged that “his property” had sex with someone without his permission, but she was able to prove the children were his, and her eldest son is the one listed as Judah’s heir.  (Genesis 38:1-30).  

Tamar is very important. Women are not usually included in genealogies. She made sure she was included. Abraham was promised “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3) Tamar was a Canaanite. She is the first person we see outside of Abraham’s descendants who claimed Abraham’s God as her own God, of her own free will, and claimed God’s blessings for herself and her children.

Tamar’s son Perez is listed as Judah’s heir. Perez, Hezron, Aram, Aminadab, Nahshon, Salmon: this is a list of names we know little or nothing about. What we do know is that Judah/ Perez/ Hezron are all listed as family members who accompanied Jacob when he took his family to Egypt. We also know that between Hezron and Salmon is the whole history of the Exodus, and the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. “And Salmon (became) the father of Boaz by Rahab”: We have another woman in Jesus’ genealogy. This story is shared with us in Joshua 2: Joshua sent two spies to check out Jericho and area before Israel attacked. (You remember the story of Joshua and the people walking around the walls of Jericho, and blowing trumpets.) The spies went into Jericho and a “harlot” named Rahab hid them on the roof under some straw she was drying. 

The king came and asked her if she had seen the men, and she said yes, and suggested the king send soldiers to look for them outside the walls. He did. After the king and soldiers left, she talked with the spies, let them down outside the wall in a basket from her window, and instructed them where and how long to hide, and asked them to save her life and the lives of her family.  English translations say Rahab was a “prostitute/ harlot.” The word used is “zonah”and it has more than one meaning: “The ancient Jewish Targum (an ancient Aramaic translation or paraphrase of the Hebrew Bible) renders the Hebrew word for harlot “zanah” by an alternative expression meaning “innkeeper” and the two were considered rather openly synonymous in those days.” (encyclopedia.adventist.org,https://dafaleph.com/home/2016/6/1/a-guide-to-the-term-zonah)

Chapter Seventeen

1 Based on the Oral Tradition, we learned that the term “zonah” used by the Torah refers to one who is not a native born Jewess, a Jewish woman who engaged in relations with a man she was forbidden to marry, violating a prohibition that is universally applicable, or a woman who engaged in relations with a challal even though she is permitted to marry him. (Also https://outorah.org/p/87478/) (“challal” is a person, typically a priest, whose status has been “invalidated” due to forbidden relationships, baring them from priestly duties. Shulchanaruchharav.com)

As we look at Rahab, she is obviously someone who is respected: the king asks her for advice, and does what he is told; her family trusts and depends on her. Yes, she admits strange men into her house. According to archaeological evidence, there was only one inn in the area that became Israel. This inn existed in Jericho. An inn would only be used by rich travelers, because poor people would sleep on the ground in the village square, or with family. It would make sense for the king to ask the innkeeper if she had seen the strangers. It is doubtful a king would go looking for a prostitute, to ask her a question, and then follow her directions. This would suggest Rahab was an innkeeper, and probably as rich as her guests. Her status is also shown in the statement that she lived in the wall, as only one who has great status and wealth would be trusted to live in a section of the wall and keep it in good repair. What is very interesting about Rahab is that she already knew who the spies were, and already worshiped their God. We are not expecting this. And then, according to Matthew, she married Salmon, whom we presume is one of the two spies Joshua sent to check out the city, but we have no way of knowing for certain. We do know she was a Canaanite.

We know that Israel was not allowed to marry Canaanites. We also know Israelites were not allowed to marry prostitutes. But here we have a woman who risked her life to shelter Israel, and left her city and her culture to become one of the people of God, and became an ancestor of King David, and therefore an ancestor of Jesus. Salmon and Rahab were the parents of Boaz, (Matthew 1:5). We know Boaz from the book of Ruth. Ruth was another foreigner: this time a Moabite. She was also a widow. You might want to reread that book. Boaz was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David the shepherd boy who grew up to be king of Israel. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon, (Matthew 1:6-11).

We start this section remembering that God’s chosen king raped the wife of another man, then had that man killed to cover up his deed. David was not perfect. But David repented, and then took care of the woman he had violated. Apparently he was able to repair what started out as a very nasty relationship, as we are told that he and Bathsheba had 4 sons, and Solomon was #4, (1 Chronicles 3:5). Bathsheba was a Hittite, another foreigner.  The king after David was his son Soloman, who is known for his great wisdom, and having 1000 wives. Solomon’s son Rehoboam ruled after him, and caused the kingdom to divide due to his arrogance and inability to listen to his people. We have the stories of each of these kings in 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. Some of the kings were good, some were bad, none of them were perfect. There were some kings that Matthew left out of this genealogy! Perhaps Matthew thought these kings were so bad they should be erased from history?

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, andSalathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, who bore Jesus, who is called the Messiah. We don’t know much about most of these people. They were descendants of the people who returned to the land after the Babylonian exile. They were no longer kings. They were regular people who had to earn their living in normal ways, like farming, or being shepherds, or maybe building things. By the time of Joseph, David had been dead for about 1000 years, and Abraham had been dead for about 2000 years. Somehow, even after all this time, the promises to Abraham and David were still remembered, and the people still hoped their Messiah would come. 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, who bore Jesus, who is called the Messiah.” Matthew gives us the legal lineage. 

Joseph can trace his lineage all the way back to Abraham, the one with whom God made a covenant, the one who established Israel’s identity, the one who received the promise. Joseph’s lineage goes through King David who received the royal Messianic hope of the everlasting covenant. Joseph’s lineage goes through Solomon, and every king of David’s line. When Joseph married Mary, Mary became Jacob’s daughter legally. When Joseph named her son, her son became his son legally. This is the legal genealogy of Jesus, the promised Messiah. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations. (Matthew 1:17).

To explain this sentence we need to look at Hebrew numerology. First, the number 14 is made up of 2 numbers, 10+4, these are represented by the letters Yod (10) and Dalet (4). Yod and Dalet spell yad, which means hand, and refers to the hand of God, and God’s active role in history and redemption. Fourteen is the number of divine action and profound blessing, pointing to God’s powerful hand at work throughout Israel’s history, making covenants, and keeping them, making promises, and keeping them, redeeming people from bondage, and making new beginnings.

The first readers/ listeners of the Gospel of Matthew would have known all these things, and much more. Knowing Jesus’ genealogy would have been important to them, to assure them that Jesus really was a descendant of Abraham, and a descendant of David, because if he was not a descendant of both these people, he could not be the promised Messiah. Now that Jesus’ credentials were established, Matthew’s readers could take the time to listen to what he had to say, and watch to see what kind of person he was. We are invited to join those who listen and watch, to hear and see who this Jesus really is.

Homework:

A: What is going on in your life right now?

B: Where do you see God at work?

C: Choose a person in this list and put yourself in their place: What do you see? How do

you feel? Where do you see God?

D: How do you see God doing the same thing in your life right now?

Repeat with different people/ one a day, like vitamins.

Let us pray:

Lord God, you have called your servants

to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,

by paths as yet untrodden,

through perils unknown.

Give us faith to go out with good courage,

not knowing where we go,

but only that your hand is leading us

and your love supporting us;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(LBW)