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 10
5.13.26
Welcome back to Matthew. We are in chapter 10, and we have jumped forward in time suddenly. To explain the jump, we need to return to our introduction to the gospel of Matthew. You will remember Matthew is a Jew, writing to Jews who lived in the diaspora, or the dispersion. Even if they did not know the Hebrew language as well as they would like, they knew the Torah, and the Prophets very well. Knowing this, how better to undergird Matthew’s assertion that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, than to use the Torah as the outline for Matthew’s writing? Yes, Matthew is continually making references to the Torah and Prophets as he wrote, but using the Torah as his outline takes this to a whole new level!
Genesis is the book of beginnings. This is where God first begins forming a people for God’s self. This is where we get a good look at God and see God’s power and compassion and justice (also known as God’s righteousness).
In Jesus’ first discourse (ch 5-9), he calls people to a life of righteousness (compassion and justice) greater than that of the scribes and pharisees. And quite bluntly, being more righteous than the scribes and the pharisees is an extremely high bar to exceed. This new righteousness demands not just knowing the right answer to every question, it means living that life. Righteousness must be a matter of the heart, not just the head; righteousness must be who we are, not just what we do.
We then get a picture of God’s righteousness en-fleshed in Jesus. He heals every disease, including skin diseases, paralysis, demon possession, hemorrhaging, and even death. He speaks to the storm, and the winds and waves obey him! Then he gives sight to the blind and voice to those who were mute. If we were paying attention, we can not help but stand beside the disciples and saying, “Who is this, that even the wind and waves obey him?”
Jesus’ second discourse, beginning in 9:36, parallels Exodus. In Exodus, because of God’s great compassion, God calls God’s people out of captivity, and takes them on a journey through the wilderness.
Matthew 9:36 reads, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
This sounds very much like God’s reaction in Exodus:
Exodus 2:23, “The Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out. Their cry for help rose up to God from their slavery. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.”
Jesus responses to seeing “the crowds harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd,” by telling his disciples: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (9:37-38)
And those whom Jesus told to pray, are also the ones whom he choose to be part of the solution.
10:1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.
Twelve disciples, not more, not less. Exactly twelve. Why? Because there were twelve tribes of Israel. Is this replacement theology? Are these 12 disciples replacing the twelve tribes of Israel? Absolutely not!
When Israel left Egypt, the land of their captivity, there were a lot of people other than Israel who left also. When God speaks about the twelve tribes of Israel being called out of Egypt, God is including everyone who left as part of God’s people. Twelve tribes was an inclusive term, not an exclusive term. We know the names of the original twelve sons of Israel, but by the time they were called out of Egypt, only God knew all their names. And each was included in the name, twelve tribes of Israel.
Now we have twelve disciples, (original students), who will soon become the twelve apostles (ones who were sent out). We know the names of the first twelve. Since those first twelve were sent out, the number of God’s people has grown, and only God knows how many there are, and what all their names are. Again, twelve is an inclusive number, not an exclusive number, and each of us who have been called to be part of the children of God are included in that number.
10:2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
Before we continue, Luke and Mark also have a list of the twelve disciples:
Mark’s list looks exactly like Matthew’s list:
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Mark 3:13-19)
Luke’s list looks a bit different: “These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Judas the son of James; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Luke 6:1-4)
Luke’s list includes a person named “Judas, son of James”, while Matthew and Mark list a person named Thaddaeous.
In Israel, at the time of Jesus, there were multiple cultures in the country who did not see eye to eye: Israel and the Romans. It helped to have a Roman or Greek name and a Hebrew name; a business name and a religious name. Thaddaeous and Judas, son of James, are the same person. This is another example of people having both a Greek name and a Hebrew name: This person’s Greek name is Thaddaeous, and his Hebrew name was Judas; We don’t know which James was the father: but we do know both names, Judas and James, were extremely popular names, and listing this Judas’ father’s name helped people differentiate between the two Judas. We see this with the Apostle Paul: Paul was his Greek name, Saul was his Hebrew name; and as we noticed earlier, the disciple Matthew has two names: Matthew is the Greek name, Levi is the Hebrew name. And this one might surprise you: Simon Peter; Simon is from the Hebrew, and Peter is from the Greek.
I used to find this very confusing, so I thought I would pass on what I learned just in case it confused you too.
10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons.
Those who were sent out were given given the same words John the Baptizer and Jesus had used, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ They were given the same power and authority to do the same deeds of power Jesus did, except for commanding storms to be still.
Verse 8 states: “Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons.”
“Cure the sick”: Being a medical doctor is a noble profession. If you are not able to be a medical doctor, you can still work for the health and safety of all people.
“Raise the dead”: Who are the dead in your life? People in hospitals and nursing homes? People who have given up on life, or can think of no reason to continue living? People who have been so beaten up by life they can think of no reason to continue trying? Can you see dead people? Let them know you see them.
“Cleanse those with a skin disease”: ‘skin disease, sometimes referred to as ‘leprosy,’refers to anything that excludes people from society. This command means we are to bring all people into the community of God’s people, and not look for reasons to exclude others.
‘Cast out demons’: Yes, there are forces for evil both in soul and society. We are to actively oppose evil, not just step back and say, “My thoughts and prayers are with you.” Although talking with God is a good starting point, we can’t stop there. We are commanded to step forward with the power of God to combat evil.
“You received without payment; give without payment. 9 Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for laborers deserve their food. “ (10:8-10)
Don’t get hung up on “stuff”. You are free to travel light. You are a servant of the Living God. God will take care of you. Your journey, like Israel’s journey through the wilderness, will be full of problems and opportunities: God did not abandon them. God will not abandon you either. God took care of them. God will take care of you also.
11 Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. (10:11-15)
In all their journeys, the disciple will find shelter in the homes of those who are “worthy.” Worthy means those who listen to the apostle’s words, and accept them. The unworthy do not accept them. Shake off the dust on your feet, and keep walking.
16 “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you, you will not have finished going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (10:16-23)
A few verses ago, all people were sheep needing a shepherd. Suddenly the disciple is confronted with people who do not welcome them, do not accept them, who may even be hostile to them. Suddenly the disciple does not feel like one sheep telling another sheep where to find water and green pasture, but like a sheep surrounded by wolves. They tried to walk away, and brush off the rejection, but it didn’t help. Things have suddenly become very scary.
“Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Be honest about what is happening. Do not stoop to the behaviors of evil people.
24 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! (10:24-25)
Things get much worse. The disciples and teacher not only share the power to do great things, they also share the terror of being rejected, abused and crucified by the world. Jesus has been exactly where you are right now. Jesus was murdered, and buried in the ground. But he did not stay there! And neither will you. The Spirit of God the Father is with you, loving you, caring for you, giving you words to say. Yes, even the closest of family relations will fall apart, but God is still your father, and still claims you, and still cares for you. Endure. God is your salvation. (This is what the name Jesus means!)
(Side note: The word “Ba’al” means Lord or master. Ba’alzebul, also spelled Beelzebul, means “Lord of the high places.’ This was the name of the Canaanite rain god. Israel referred to the Canaanite gods as demons. When Jesus is called Beelzebul, he is being called a Canaanite demon. Sometimes you will see the word Ba’alzebub, or Beelzebub. This is not a variant spelling. It means ‘Lord of the flies’, or ‘Lord of the dung heap.’ It is used when Israel is making fun of the Canaanite god, meaning he is not an exulted lord, but the lord, or master, of excrement.)
If Jesus, the master of the house, is called a Canaanite demon, those of us who belong to his household can expect to be called names also.
When they persecute you in one town, keep walking to the next town. There are lots more towns who need to hear your proclamation of the coming kingdom.
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. (10:26-30)
Don’t be afraid. Don’t let fear stop your proclamation of the coming kingdom. God’s gracious rule, at first covered and hidden, will at last be revealed and known. The kingdom comes in silent ways, in quiet ways, in secret ways, in ways the world does not notice, but it does come, and we get the honor of being heralds of its coming.
Don’t be afraid. You feel very small and insignificant, like a little sparrow. But as small and insignificant as sparrows are, they are not outside God’s knowledge or will. God watches over each sparrow. You are worth more than many sparrows. God is taking care of you also. God even knows how many hairs you have on your head! Sometimes persecution can cause you to be afraid and doubt God is watching over you and caring for you. But God is there for you regardless of what ever might be going on.
10:32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
We have come full circle from verse 17, when Jesus’ disciples were dragged into earthly courts for their testimony about Jesus. Now these same people, both disciples and accusers, are called in to the heavenly courts. Jesus is both prosecutor and defendant. The Father is the judge. Good things are going to happen.
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.
35 For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Yes, being a disciple of Jesus is not the easy road. Living a life of righteousness is not easy. Living justice and compassion can lead to trouble from those who are closest to us, if they do not have the same values as we do. We are called to live righteousness from our hearts, not just our heads, and sometimes that does cause problems, especially from those who believe the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees is as good as it gets. Living Jesus’ righteousness can and will cause problems, and Jesus knows this, but still he invites us to live his righteousness, even though it may bring conflict.
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
On the other hand, the rewards for following Jesus and his righteousness has great rewards.
Lord, we want to live your righteousness every day of our lives, to the glory of your holy name. Amen
Matthew 9
5.6.26
Yesterday, (chapters 5-8), Jesus preached his sermon on the mountain, teaching about living a life of righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus then healed a leper, walked to Capernaum, interacted with a centurion who was convinced Jesus had as much authority over disease as he had over his soldiers, healed the centurion's slave from a distance, then walked to Peter’s house and healed Peter’s mother in law. Since the mother in law ministered to their needs, we can assume Jesus and company ate something. The whole city appeared to have noticed that Jesus was in town and that evening brought everyone who was sick or demon possessed to Jesus to be healed, and Jesus healed everyone of them. Jesus then told his disciples to get in a boat, and go across the lake. As the disciples (and we really have no idea how many at this point) were getting in the boat, two men came and had conversations with Jesus about being his disciples. Jesus then got into the boat, and fell asleep in the stern. Then as the boat was crossing the lake, an extremely nasty storm came up and the disciples were terrified, so woke up Jesus and begged him to save them. Jesus stood up and spoke to the wind and the waves, and told them to be still, and they obeyed him.
When Jesus and company reached the other side of the lake, 2 demon possessed men greeted them. The demons immediately knew who Jesus was and begged to not be sent into “torment before the time”, and pleaded to be sent into a nearby herd of pigs. Jesus allowed this. The pigs did not want to be demon possessed and rushed down the hillside into the lake and were drowned. The pig herders ran into town and told the townspeople what had happened, and the townspeople came out and told Jesus to leave. From Mark’s gospel we learn that while the pig herders were gone, the formerly demon possessed men (or man) begged to go with Jesus, but were told to stay and tell people what God had done for them.
Jesus and company then cross the lake again, arrive in Capernaum (chapter 9, day 2), and were greeted with a paralytic, laying in his bed. (For a fuller story than Matthew chooses to share, read Mark 2:1-12, and Luke 5:17-26).
9:2 And some people were carrying to him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven.” 3 Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” 7 And he stood up and went to his home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings. (9:2-8)
Lets start with questions: my first question is, why wasn’t this person brought to Jesus last evening when everyone else was brought to Jesus? Why did they wait until Jesus came back from his trip across the lake? Did the injury happen last night? Or did someone refuse to bring this person to Jesus because they felt the person deserved their injury, or maybe they though Jesus would refuse to heal this person? Or perhaps the person who was injured believed they deserved their injury, and refused to come the previous evening? And now the person’s friends decided to take matters into their own hands and bring their friend to Jesus whether the paralyzed person agreed or not?
My next question had to do with the phrase, “Take heart, child.” The translations I usually read say, “Take heart, son”. I had never questioned this until I read the current translation. Yes, I looked it up. “Child” is a better translation.
This reminded me, a boy becomes bar mitzvah (son of the covenant) at 13, and technically, a man. When Jesus uses the word “child,” that tells me this was a very young man, probably a young teen. This leads me to think about how young teens are so very good at finding trouble, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and injuring themselves in the process. Teens (14-16) are typically very legalistic, often viewing the world in absolute right/wrong terms. They tend to focus on strict rules, and boundaries. They are also known for disobeying, which can seem contradictory. But they are trying to figure things out. Putting all of this together suggests to me this young man may have been somewhere he probably should not have been: being in the right/wrong mind set, he came up with the idea that he had sinned and his injury was punishment for being where he should not have been, doing something he probably should not have been doing.
Following this mind set, when people suggested he be taken to Jesus last evening, he refused. He believed he had received just punishment for his sin, and asking to be healed would be refusing to live with the justice of God’s decision.
His friends and family were devastated when Jesus got into the boat and left, and promised each other they would not allow this possibility to escape them again, no matter what their friend said. Then sometime the next morning, or afternoon, someone noticed Jesus boat was returning, and the news rushed through the town. This time the paralyzed young man’s friends and family would not listen to his protests and took him to Jesus.
Jesus saw the young man, knew exactly what was going on, and said to him, “Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven.” These are exactly the words the young man needed to hear. He needed forgiveness more than anything else. He would have been happy to remain paralyzed, if that was required of him. Forgiveness was everything.
9:3 Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” We remember that Scribes were experts in the law, and Matthew’s gospel was written for people who knew the law so there was no need to expand on the scribes’ words. Mark’s gospel had a larger audience, so sometimes added details Matthew did not include. Mark writes, (2:6-7) ‘Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Well done scribes! You are absolutely correct. God is the one who forgives sin. (Yes, people can also forgive sins. When people forgive each other, they are extending God’s grace to the other person, so technically, God is the one who forgives them.)
The scribes, and the boy, were very concerned about righteousness. Both were very concerned about honoring God and obeying the law. The scribes however, did not see God at work. They saw Jesus as a person who was dishonoring God, by usurping God’s authority.
In response to the Scribal objections, Jesus responded, ‘“Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” 7 And the man stood up and went to his home.’ (9:4-7)
Both physical healing, and spiritual healing are an act of God. The boy received both. The scribes did not.
According to Matthew, this interaction happened immediately after Jesus got out of the boat. According to Mark, this interaction between Jesus and the scribes and the paralyzed boy happened in a house, soon after Jesus and company reached the shore. We have no idea whose house. I believe both accounts are correct, with each author including details they felt were most important.
After healing the boy, Jesus returned to the lake (sea) and again people came to hear him.
9:13 Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them.
9:14 As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
We remember that Capernaum was near the border between the territories of Philip and Herod Antipas. Customs officials would have set up booths at the border and collected duty on goods in transit. So Matthew (Greek name) aka Levi (Hebrew name) probably collected import and export duties for Herod, not poll taxes (fixed rate tax on each adult, usually used to support the military) or property taxes for the Romans. Whichever he collected, Levi/Matthew was in a despised profession.
Again, Jesus steps over social boundaries to be inclusive. Jesus calls to himself people who are totally lacking the ordinary qualifications for being righteous. This continues when Levi hosted a dinner party and invited Jesus to attend.
9:15 And as Jesus sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Despite being in a despised profession, Matthew does not lack hospitality. He has a dinner party and invites those who like himself are also despised: other tax collectors, and other people who were labeled sinners for whatever reason. He also invited Jesus, and all Jesus’ disciples, and Jesus’ many followers. There was room enough and food enough for anyone who chose to come.
Surprisingly, even the scribes came! And were welcome. However they did not come to eat and enjoy the company. They came to watch Jesus and look for opportunity to condemn him. What they found worthy of their condemnation at Matthew’s dinner party was that Jesus did eat, and did enjoyed the company of the people around him. The scribes believed that since God is holy, God’s people must also be holy: This would mean separating oneself from pollution, including people whom they considered polluted and separated from God. When they looked at Jesus, they saw nothing but impiety, carelessness and danger. He touched lepers; he spoke with gentiles; he took a boat to visit a gentile community; he ate with sinners; he even forgave sinners. He was careless of the dividing line between righteous and unrighteous, between pure and impure. They found his behavior completely unacceptable.
In response, Jesus refers to himself as a physician. He came to rescue and heal sick people. He does not romanticize and say these people are not sick. They are. But he will not build a wall to shut them out, or to isolate or confine them. Instead, true to his name, he heals them.
His behavior is not impurity, or unrighteousness, but mercy. This is the mercy God called for through the prophets: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6 NIV) Sacrifice, in this context, is any action, procedure, tradition, or teaching or pious people which somehow manages to obscure mercy. Mercy is another word for the love that reaches out even to enemies (5:44): “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (9:17) Jesus did not come to confirm the common standards of righteousness; he did not come to support the standard methods of dealing with unrighteousness; he came to announce and en-act a new higher righteousness. He came to summon sinners out of their old life into a new relationship with God.
9:14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
First the scribes, then the Pharisees, and now John’s disciples look at Jesus and say, ‘I don’t get it. ’The Pharisees said, ‘Why do you feast with sinners?’ John’s disciples said, ‘Why do you feast at all?’
Jesus responds with a little parable. ‘Can the wedding attendants mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?’ Jesus’ presence brings a totally new situation, the bursting in of the kingdom of God. Jesus presence brings healing and hope and inclusion, forgives sin and stills storms. Mourning and fasting has no place here. There will come a time when Jesus’ followers will mourn, and perhaps fast, when the bridegroom is taken away by crucifixion. The followers will indeed mourn at this deed of unbelief, misunderstanding, and mule headed ness. That will be the time to fast.
And perhaps these words go beyond the crucifixion and resurrection, to times when the church’s members are too busy claiming their own righteousness and excluding others, or when the presence of Jesus is obscured by ego and littleness of faith. Fasting is definitely appropriate at these times as a sign of sorrow over sins, and a strengthening of prayer that the coming kingdom will be revealed in and among Jesus’ disciples in every age. Religious practices become old, and do not fulfill the needs of the growing church. Things change, even ways of worship change. Fasting is appropriate here also as the church reaches out to the next generations in ways they can accept and understand.
9:18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread through all of that district.
While Jesus is speaking to John’s disciples, still at Matthew’s dinner party, he is interrupted by a leader. In Mark and Luke this leader is named the leader of the synagogue. Matthew doesn’t care what kind of leader, only that this leader kneels in faith, with a cry of anguish and a confession of faith, asks Jesus to touch his daughter’s dead body and bring her back to life. Jesus immediately got up and followed the ruler. While on his way to touch the leader’s daughter, a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years, reached out to touch the tassel on the corner of his prayer shawl, believing a single touch would heal her. Jesus immediately knows his prayer shawl had been touched, and turns to the woman and addresses her as “daughter”, using the same word the ruler had used about his child, and announced that her faith had saved her.
When Jesus got to the ruler’s house, the professional mourners were already there, leading the crowd in mourning. Jesus told them the girl was not dead but sleeping. The people all laughed at Jesus: they know what death is, and they know what to do, and Jesus announcement meant nothing to them. The mourners and mockers model unbelief, just as the woman and the leader modeled faith. The woman had faith and was saved: the mockers were cast out. Jesus entered the house of death, took the girl’s hand, and the girl got up.
These two miracles compliment each other. One person was on the top of the socio economic ladder, and the other was at the bottom. In both cases, touching these people should have lead to uncleanness. Instead, in both cases, Jesus’ touch led to life. The woman showed a simple but profound faith: the little girl could show nothing, being dead. But the little girl showed that Jesus has power not only over sickness and storms, but also over death itself. Throughout the last two chapters (8,9) Matthew has shown Jesus’ amazing authority and the necessity of faith. This narrative includes both themes.
9:27 As Jesus went on from there, (the leader’s house) two blind men followed him, crying loudly, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 When he entered the house, (no idea whose house, maybe he returned to Matthew’s house, or maybe he went to Peter’s house) the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you have faith that I can do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith, let it be done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly ordered them, “See that no one knows of this.” 31 But they went away and spread the news about him through all of that district.
“Son of David”: This is a prominent Messianic title for Jesus, appearing 17 time in the New Testament (Apostolic Writings), signifying he is the promised Heir to King David’s throne. It highlights that Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, direct descendant of King David via Joseph and Mary, and the rightful king of Israel. It is frequently used by people pleading for healing indicating their faith in him and belief he is greater and more powerful than their ailments.
In this interaction, the blind men speak their faith in both the title they give to Jesus, and in their request. Even though blind, they can clearly see who Jesus is, and what he is able to do.
Jesus told them not to tell anyone. Perhaps Jesus wanted people to “see” who he was themselves. By being silent, people could make up their own minds. However, the formerly blind men were unable to stop talking about what had happened to them.
9:32 After they had gone away, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.”
Matthew finishes this section by reporting with extreme brevity that Jesus exercised a demon, so that a mute man spoke. Matthew has now presented at least one example of each kind of miracle named in Jesus’ reply to John the Baptist in 11:5. Jesus’ miracles show his matchless authority. They do not force people to believe, leading to extremely different responses: the crowds marvel at what they see and experience; the leadership evaluate Jesus against old assumptions and standards, and find him unacceptable.
9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
9:35 is almost identical to 4:23, and between these summary verses, Matthew has narrated Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and introduced Jesus’ healing ministry. These two verses proclaim the great themes of Jesus’ ministry: he teaches and proclaims the good new of the coming kingdom, and he heals every disease. Jesus does this because of his great compassion for humanity, because people are harassed and helpless like sheep, and he has come to care for them. This is not a solitary adventure; all his hopes and dreams will not be extinguished on the cross. Jesus has gathered disciples and followers and will share this ministry with them, to Israel, and to the nations. They stand with Jesus at the beginning of a new community: the new heavens and the new earth, where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13) Therefore, the first order of business is not to act, but to pray to the Lord of the Harvest.
Gracious Lord, you do all things well. Your power is far greater than anything we can imagine. And you have called us to work with you! We are honored and excited to see what you will do. Pour our your spirit on all nations; raise up faithful followers to proclaim your greatness; let your will be done on earth, and among us. Bring peace and healing to the nations. Let all nations, including this one, turn from violence and turn to righteousness; bring us to the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwell. We long for you. We thirst for you. Come quickly Lord, and heal us, so that your righteousness will cover this globe, to the glory of your holy name. Amen
Matthew 8:16-34
April 29, 2026
Jesus has just spent several hours sitting on the side of a mountain teaching people. When he came down from the place he was sitting at, he was met by a man with a skin disease. He probably met and healed a bunch of other people too. As he is going into the town of Capernaum, he is met by the commander of the local Roman garrison (centurion) who wants him to heal the commander’s slave. Jesus immediately says he will come and heal the slave, but the commander feels it would be too much of an imposition on Jesus and suggests Jesus just speak the word and the slave would be healed. Jesus spoke: the slave was healed. Jesus continued to his chosen destination, which was Peter’s home, where Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law, and we were given a glimpse into the life of Peter and his family.
It doesn’t take long for the whole town (Capernaum) to learn that Jesus was in town, and that evening (the evening of the day Jesus had preached the Sermon on the Mount, healed a man with a skin disease, interacted with the local centurion, healed his slave with a word, healed Peter’s mother in law with a touch, and hopefully was able to eat dinner) the city was quick to take advantage of the presence of the famous healer.
8:16 That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and cured all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Matthew’s readers would immediately know he was referring to Isaiah 53, a passage which describes a "Suffering Servant" who bears the sins of others, suffering to bring healing and peace with God for the people. Many Jewish scholars, particularly from the 11th century onwards (popularized by Rashi), interpret the servant as the nation of Israel, which has suffered and been persecuted among the nations. However, some ancient Jewish commentators also viewed it as a messianic passage. Matthew obviously saw this as a direct prophecy of Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection, and wanted to make this connection for his readers. (Isaiah 53 is included on the last page for you.)
“And cured all who were sick.” I wonder how many sick people there were in Capernaum that day? Were there people running around town shouting the news to their neighbors? I wonder how far outside town the word of his presence spread? Were there people running to the next town to shout the news? How far into the night did he continue healing people? And when people were healed, did they stick around and watch the next person get healed? Did anyone decide they were tired and wanted to go home? Or was it so exhilarating to be in his presence that they just could not leave, no matter how late it was?
8:18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
By this time, Jesus was exhausted. He could not retreat into Peter’s home for much needed sleep because the crowd would not leave, and Peter’s family needed their rest too, as well as needing their own space. So Jesus looked at his fishermen disciples and said: We need to leave. Get in the boat! We are going to the other side.
As he was saying this, two men come to speak to him ...
8:19 A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Does Jesus sound exhausted to you? He does to me. I have to wonder what side of midnight the scribe made this announcement. Jesus responds to the scribe’s declaration of fidelity by pointing out that he (Jesus) is homeless. Yes, Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum to expand his ministry, and escape the narrow mindedness of Nazareth, and to fulfill prophecy, but there is nothing said about him having a house there. He appears to have enjoyed the hospitality of Peter and Peter’s wife, and Peter’s mother in law, and given how much he enjoyed children, he must have enjoyed the hospitality of Peter and wife’s children also. He may have stayed with his disciples James and John sometimes, and their families. Other times he might have gone down to the lake and slept in one of the boats. He was homeless. If this scribe wanted to follow him, it would include living a life of a homeless traveler. We have to wonder what this scribe decided to do.
We also remember that earlier that day, Jesus had said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20) This feels like another connection Matthew wants us to see, so lets look at what a scribe did.
Scribes were professional, highly literate scholars who meticulously preserved Scripture, acted as legal experts and government officials, and held significant influence in both religious and political life. They were responsible for copying the Old Testament with immense accuracy, counting every letter to ensure precision. Scribes were experts in the Law of Moses, teaching it and applying it to daily life. They functioned as lawyers, drafting legal documents and acting as judges. They served as scribes in royal courts, keeping records and handling correspondence. Scribes were revered experts in Jewish law. For one’s righteousness to exceed that of a scribe sounds impossible.
On the other hand, Matthew has just presented Jesus as the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 53. There is one whose righteousness exceeds that of the scribes.
8:21 Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
The people of Israel and the other countries of the ancient Near East considered it very important to honor those who had died by giving them a proper burial. Because of the warm climate in Palestine it was important to bury people within twenty-four hours after they died. In fact, Jewish law required that a dead person should be buried before sunset (Deut 21:23). To let a loved-one’s body decay above ground where vultures and dogs could eat it was considered a serious dishonor. After the burial, those who handled the body were considered unclean and had to undergo a cleansing ceremony in order to be part of the community again (Num 19:11-20). (https://www.americanbible.org/engage/bible-resources/articles/burial/)
It is late in the evening, definitely after sunset. If this disciple’s father had died that previous day, the son would have made sure he was buried before sunset. If the father was sick, the son would have brought him to Jesus to be healed with all the other sick people in Capernaum Jesus had just finished healing. We can only conclude that this disciple’s father was neither dead, nor sick. What is this disciple asking? Is he saying that he wants to be a disciple, but right now is not a convenient time? Is Jesus’ answer to the scribe making him rethink his commitment? Is homelessness more than he was willing to agree to? He had a home: why would he leave it? He had a father to care for: why would he leave his father to follow some homeless man? This afternoon, the words of Jesus sermon made a huge impact on the man, and then watching all those healings was exciting, and this man wanted more of this, but he could not leave all his obligations to follow a homeless man, never knowing where he was going to sleep that night.
There was nothing wrong with this man staying home and caring for his family. According to the law (Torah) this was the right and God pleasing thing to do. This man was doing the right thing. His was the righteousness of a scribe. However, it did not exceed the righteousness of a scribe.
Jesus’ answer feels harsh: If you want to be my follower, it will cost you everything.
Matthew has just reminded us of the Isaiah 53 passage about the suffering servant. Matthew clearly believes this passage points to Jesus. Jesus has not only left everything, but is also willing to suffer and die to make peace between people and God. These follower’s righteousness do not equal the righteousness of the Suffering Servant. However, we have no reason to suspect these men did not get into the boat with the other disciples.
8:23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
Exactly as Jesus had warned them, followers of Jesus cannot expect smooth sailing, (8:19-20). This lake is famous for sudden violent storms. These men were experienced fishermen. They knew this lake at its worst, or at least they thought they did. Suddenly the lake convulses in a great shaking (Greek: seismos) and these fearless fishermen know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are going to die. The only reasonable response was to rush to Jesus, wake him, and inform him of the situation!
Yes! Jesus was sleeping through this emergency! He had an exhausting day and apparently decided he needed to take care of his body before the next great adventure. Just like any other person, he got tired. Just like any other person, he needed to rest.
The next interaction is not human.
8:26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm.
First, Jesus speaks to his disciples and calms them. Part of this calming includes asking why they are afraid. Please note, the storm is still convulsing. I expect I would be screaming at him to look around and notice what’s going on, and how the worst storm in history was threatening to drown us. Perhaps some of them were screaming this as well. Then Jesus describes them as “You of little faith.” Please notice, he did not say they had no faith. He did not say their faith was failing them. He said they had a little faith, which is probably why they rushed to him with their fears.
Next he stood up, in this boat, in the world’s worst storm, and spoke to the winds and the lake. He stood up. He spoke to them. They immediately obeyed him.
8:27 They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
Two thousand years later, this astonishes me. Yes, in the past 12 hours, approximately, Jesus has taught about righteousness from a hillside, healed a huge bunch of people, he has reached out to a Roman foreigner, he has healed a man from a distance, and he has healed a bunch more people and cast out demons way into the night! Now he stood up in the middle of a storm and told it to be still, and it obeyed him! And this is no ordinary storm: it is a storm so severe that it scared seasoned fishermen. Was this some underwater earthquake that shook the lake like it had never been shaken before? Might this have been the powers of hell trying to stop Jesus before he was able to finish his work? Whatever it was, it did not intimidate Jesus. He knew why he was here; he knew what he was going to do; he knew nothing was going to stand in God’s way. He spoke: the winds and waters obeyed him.
What an amazing display of Jesus’ power! This is also an amazing display of Jesus’ compassionate care for each follower. It is also encouragement for each believer who is overwhelmed by the storms of life. Jesus does not condemn us. Jesus encourages us, and commends the faith we have. Jesus is in this boat with us, and is going to do great things.
What would happen if we spoke to the terrors around us and said, “The one who cast out demons and commanded the wind and the waves to be still, is still in charge!”
It is now morning, and Jesus has come to the other side and invades the Gentle territory. (This story is also told in Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, and Matthew 8:28-34.) Why is he doing this? Couldn’t he stay in his own neighborhood to rest? After the sermon and the healings, is this some big event that must be done before he can continue his ministry in his own country?
8:28 When he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two men possessed by demons came out of the tombs and met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way.
Two demonic guards are there to block his way. They are terrifying individuals. People cannot control them. They make their unclean home in the place of dead people, far from human habitation. … Which is why I suggested the storm was the powers of hell trying to stop Jesus. Hell wants to stop the Jesus invasion. The storm tried, and failed, now it is the guards’ turn to challenge his pathway.
8:29 Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
The demons know who has come. They name Jesus, “Son of God.” They are afraid. They are not even going to pretend to have any control: They want to know what he is going to do to them; they know God is always victorious; they know a time is coming when they will be dealt with for time and eternity, and are afraid that day has already come.
And perhaps, this visit to the land of the gentiles was a foreshadowing of when the gospel of Jesus would reach into all the world, after his death and resurrection. And the demons were objecting that this was too soon. Jesus was invading the world of the gentiles already, and the demons were afraid.
8:30 Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. 31 The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine, and suddenly, the whole herd stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.
The demons wanted human hosts to use for their own purposes. They knew Jesus did not approve of their use of people, but wanted to retain some sort of body, so asked to go into the pigs. Jesus said, “Go.” The demons entered the pigs, and the pigs decided death was preferable to being infested with a demon, and all of them rushed into the water and drowned.
One has to wonder if demons are able to drown. Probably not, as they are unclean spirit creatures, not physical creatures which require oxygen. But what happened to them after they lost their bodies? Were they returned to the abyss never to bother another person again? One can hope.
8:33 The swineherds ran off, and, going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the men possessed by demons. 34 Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their region.
We have to wonder why Matthew ended this story where he did. Was this a reflection on how Jesus goes to the greatest lengths possible to heal people and proclaim the coming kingdom of God, and people frequently send Jesus away? Or maybe the people got scared when they saw Jesus’ power?
Mark’s gospel adds another paragraph to this story:
5:18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. 19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” 20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.
In Mark’s gospel, the man who was previously possessed, begs to go with Jesus. Jesus says no, and sends him back to his family and friends to tell them what God had done for him. Here is the answer to the questions we asked as we started to look at this visit: Jesus is the offspring of Abraham who is going to bring blessings to the whole world; Jesus has come to bring the kingdom of heaven to all people; the good news of God’s presence with us had to be shared with all people. The people is the Gadarenes were unable to accept Jesus when they met him. He was a stranger. He was too powerful. He scared them. However, they knew the man who had been possessed, they knew his life story, and now he could share what God had done for him with them.
And now, having sent out his newest disciple to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus could return to Capernaum and plan what he was going to do next.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity,
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases,
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
9 They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with affliction.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
11 Out of his anguish he shall see;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out himself to death
and was numbered with the transgressors,
yet he bore the sin of many
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Matthew 8:1-15
4.25.26
Jesus has just spent the past few hours on a mountain preaching to a crowd of people spread out on the grass at the base of that mountain, talking about righteousness, and what righteous living looks like. As soon as he gets down from the mountain, he heals a person with a skin disease, then walks to Capernaum to heal a centurion's slave, and then went to Peter’s house to heal Peter’s mother in law. One has to wonder why Matthew chose to highlight these particular miracles. Is there something in these miracles that is meant to teach us about righteousness?
8:1 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, 2 and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (8:1-4)
With all the crowds of people listening to Jesus, why is this man with a skin disease the only person mentioned. One might expect Jesus healed a lot of people after his sermon; he was also known to cast out demons; and to heal all the sick people who came to him. Was there only one person in attendance? This seems hardly likely, especially since he was already well known as a healer (4:23-25), and people would have come for that specific reason. There must be something important about this healing that stood out for Matthew.
In older bible translations, the man is identified as having leprosy. With as often as the word leprosy is used in the bible, we might begin to imagine that leprosy was a huge problem in the Middle East during biblical times. This would be incorrect. The Hebrew word commonly translated as "leprosy" in the Old Testament is tsara‘ath (or tzaraat). It is not the same as modern Hansen’s disease (true leprosy), but rather a general term for various skin conditions, as well as fungal infections on clothing or houses, signaling spiritual ritual impurity, (The BAS Library and Wikipedia).
Leviticus 13:1-59 describes the various tsara’ath and what should be done for each. In most cases, the person is to practice social distancing, and they are excused from all their normal tasks. They are to live away from the rest of the population, and their primary occupation is to spend time with God. They are not abandoned: people are expected to bring them food and whatever else they need, and every week the priest is commanded to visit them to ensure they are cared for and to check for signs of improvement. However, the skin disease might not clear up in a week or two, and the person is separated from his community until it does.
We immediately notice this man is not obeying the law. He is supposed to be staying away from people, spending time with God, until the priest says he can re-enter community. Instead he leaves his home to see and hear Jesus. Since he shows up in this story, he must have heard of Jesus: does he have thoughts about who Jesus is, or is he just curious? We don’t know. However, something in Jesus’ presentation convinces the man that this is indeed God in the flesh, and after the sermon, he throws himself at Jesus’ feet, as one presents oneself to God.
The skin disease, whatever it might have been, was seen by the man, and his community, as an outward manifestation of inner unrighteousness, an inner spiritual impurity. The man takes his unrighteousness and gives it to Jesus, asking to be made clean. He states, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus touches the man and turns the man’s plea into his response, “I am willing, be made clean.” Immediately the man is healed.
Having an impairment is hard; believing that the impairment is caused by something you did that was wrong is worse, especially if you have no idea what you did that was wrong; being shunned by society, and labeled as untouchable because of this impairment is still worse. By touching him, Jesus reached through all of these layers of impairment to welcome this person back into community. Immediately the impairment was gone, and Jesus told the man to go and show himself to the priest, and offer the sacrifice (gift a person gives to God in thanksgiving for being healed) to show everyone that he had indeed been healed, and it was now the community’s responsibility to welcome him back into community.
This man was in a state of unrighteousness. We do not know why this happened. What we do know is that this unrighteous person took his unrighteousness and placed it at the feet of Jesus, and asked to have it removed. Jesus immediately and compassionately removed his unrighteousness, healed him and restored him to community and Torah observance. Jesus took his unrighteousness and made him righteous. Most likely, Matthew wants us to see ourselves in this man, as people who need to take our spiritual impairments and unrighteousness to Jesus for healing, so that Jesus, God in the flesh, God among us, can heal us and give us the righteousness of God.
Having told us the correct response to Jesus’ sermon, Matthew now places Jesus entering the city of Capernaum. We have no idea how far it is from the mountain to Capernaum, but we do know that Capernaum is the major city in the area, and is located on the Sea (Lake) of Galilee (aka, Sea of Tiberius). We also know this is where the disciples Peter, James and John are from, and where Jesus moved to after leaving Nazareth.
There is also a Roman garrison located in Capernaum, as this was the major border town between the territories of Herod Antipas and Philip the Tetrarch, and the garrison would be in charge of monitoring trade and movement along the “highway”, and of course ensuring taxes were paid. The person in charge of this garrison would be a centurion, meaning the officer in charge of 100 men. The centurion had absolute authority over his men, and each was expected to respond with absolute obedience or be killed, along with several of the men who surrounded him and had not kept him in line.
8:5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The Romans first conquered Israel in about 63 BCE. The Romans believed they were a superior race with a superior culture and superior gods, and felt imposing their beliefs and life style on their conquered nations was a kind and generous thing to do. Israel already had a culture and a God, and had no desire to change. At no time did the Romans and Israel agree with each other, or appreciate the other’s presence. The idea that a Roman centurion would stoop to speak to a Jew was incredible; the idea that a centurion would ask something of a Jew was absurd. It couldn’t happen. And yet it did. Somehow, this centurion valued his slave enough to research what medical options were available and decided that Jesus was his best hope. This is not what anyone would expect of a Roman centurion.
Jesus’ response is equally absurd: “I will come and cure him.” No Jew would agree to help a Roman. This help would only be given under threat of death, and even then, dying may be preferable. Yet Jesus immediately offers his presence and help to this Centurion and his slave.
This conversation continues:
8:8 The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.”
The word translated “Lord” here (and in the previous miracle) is not a “confession of faith”. In both cases, it is an appropriate title for a superior officer, or a revered teacher. At the same time, an important Roman centurion addressing a lowly Jew as a superior officer, and expecting that superior officer to not only respond, but be able to respond by healing his slave, beggars the imagination. These words (and the “leper’s” words) sound more like an address to deity than to a human: the heart is saying more than the lips are able to express.
8:10 When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and will take their places at the banquet with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour. (8:5-13)
At the beginning of the gospel of Matthew, we started with the genealogy of Jesus, beginning with Abraham. In Abraham we were reminded of God’s invitation to Abraham (and Sarah) to go to a place which God would show them, and God would make them a great nation and through them bless all the nations of the world. Later in the genealogy, three women leave everything, status, reputation, their gods and their culture, to be part of the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. This centurion, from “the evil Roman empire” stands next to those women, asking to be part of that blessing, that coming kingdom, and shows himself to be a person of righteousness.
Since Jesus and those with him are now in Capernaum, it makes sense to go somewhere to eat and spend the night, and where better to go than Peter’s house? Was Peter’s wife the best cook in Capernaum? Did Peter have a bigger house than anyone else, so could accommodate the crowd following Jesus? Or did Jesus know that Peter’s mother in law was sick and decided the next thing he wanted to do was to go and heal her? Maybe all of these?
8:14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; 15 he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.
We have no idea what Peter’s mother in law was suffering from, but what we do know is that as soon as Jesus entered the house, he saw her, and he reached out to heal her. We also know this: healing was not just in part, but she was immediately fully healed. There was no weakness, no exhaustion, she just jumped to her feet and immediately started taking care of them. What an amazing picture of righteousness!: Jesus touched her and healed her; she immediately responded by reaching out in compassion to others.
Another picture of righteousness that is often missed is that of Peter and his wife. My first question in this picture is, where is the father in law? Did he die, or is he disabled? This leads to my second question: why is she is this house? The cultural expectations were that the eldest son took care of his parents, and the rest of the family. Where is her eldest son? If she has no sons, and if her husband is dead, or disabled and unable to care for her, his brother would be expected to care for her. Where is his brother? If the husband had no brother, her brother would step in to care for her. Where is her brother? Why is she living with her daughter and son in law? Has some sort of tragedy afflicted her so that she has no one to count on, except her daughter and son in law? Peter would have been expected to care for his own parents, and siblings, but in this story we see he has reached out to care for his wife’s parent (s) as well. Since his wife’s mother has no male relatives to take care of her, it would follow that Peter’s wife’s sisters would have no one to look out for them either, meaning that Peter has shouldered responsibility for all of them. Peter and his wife are the center of a huge care network. Peter and his wife are obviously righteous people, caring for this many possibilities.
I want to pause here to examine how these 3 healings, and the additional self imposed obligations illustrate what Jesus was speaking about in his sermon on the mountain. First we have a man who has been separated from his community due to a disease or affliction: he goes searching for Jesus, and by words and actions confesses that Jesus is greater than his disease or affliction. Jesus touches him, heals him, and sends him back to community and a life of obeying the word of God. Next we have an “evil outsider” who does his research and goes searching for Jesus. He also confesses Jesus is greater than the affliction his slave is experiencing. His understanding of Jesus is a step further than the man with the skin problem: Like the man with the skin problem, he knows Jesus is compassionate; he also knows he is unworthy of Jesus’ presence in his life, but chooses to ask for Jesus’s compassion because of his own compassion; and, he knows that Jesus has the power to speak a word and his slave will be healed. In the third story, Jesus goes to find the woman, no words are spoken, he touches her, she is healed and jumps up to serve others. And in her response to Jesus, we see a glimpse of what life looks like for Peter and his wife in loving service to their extended family, and whoever else shows up at their door. Each is a picture of living a life of righteousness. Each picture is unique to that individual. Each picture is an illustration of what Jesus was speaking about in his sermon.
Lord, we also long for your touch, we long to be made whole, we long to be people who live your righteousness in our lives and in our communities. Bless us so that we may be a blessing, and your name be praised, both in us and through us. Amen
Matthew 7:13-28
4.15.2026
This is our sixth week studying the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been teaching about the new righteousness that “exceeds that of the scribes and the pharisees”, an inner righteousness that fills everything a person thinks, and does, not just a righteousness pulled out of the closet and put on for show, to impress others. The only one worth impressing is God, and God looks at a person’s intentions, not the things they do to impress others. Today’s reading is the conclusion of this sermon.
“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (7:13-14)
It is easy to follow the crowd. It is fun to have the crowd cheering for us, and agreeing with us. It feels great to have the boss or supervisor praise us for our work, for being a team player, for being someone the entire team can count on. It feels great to know we are working for an excellent company, and we can support them completely; it’s great to know that our country is the best; our political affiliation is the best; our sports teams are the best. It’s nice to know all the answers.
Yes, sometimes our country, or our political affiliation, might make a poor call, but we can ignore that, because they are as close to perfect as they can get and this tiny insignificant flaw only proves how perfect they really are. Or if our team doesn’t accomplish all we wish from them, we can put the blame on a single individual, and then shame them, and replace them.
This is what the wide road looks like. No hard questions. No acknowledgment of personal wrong doing. No need for repentance. No reason to apologize. No need to change our minds. We are perfect, they are not perfect, so whatever we do to them is completely justified. We deserve the best, because we are the best: they do not, because they are not. We can do and say whatever we want without adverse consequences, because we are the best.
This world view leads to trouble for everyone who buys into it, eventually. Those who believe in this myth are always unprepared for how horribly this world view turns out. Without repentance they will spend the rest of their lives blaming others for their own shortcomings, and never see that they are the ones who caused these problems. The wide, easy road ends in disappointment.
Jesus calls his followers to a new righteousness. Jesus calls his followers to live lives of justice and compassion for all people, including those from different countries, different ethnic backgrounds, different ideas, different beliefs, different doctrines, different politics, different cultures. This deep compassion, and thirst for justice for all people, must be so deeply ingrained we will not allow differences to blind us to the needs of others, or restrain us from living justice and compassion.
This is the narrow road. The world is full of things that attempt to tell us this is the wrong road, and when we are walking on this road, that will work to push us off this road. Walking the narrow road requires attention. It requires intention. It requires dedication. Sometimes it is really hard. It requires repentance, and turning from harmful thoughts and actions. It requires humility and honesty about ourselves and our attitudes and behaviors. Justice and compassion don’t just happen: they require intention.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. (7:15-20)
Because the narrow road is difficult, we look to prophets and teachers to help us in our journey. However, not all prophets and teachers are worthy of our attention. Some of them pretend to be good and helpful, and are actually trying to eat us. We need to know how to recognize good leaders, and differentiate them from bad leaders. We will recognize them by their behaviors, just like we recognize good trees and bad trees by their fruit.
Good fruit is compassion, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Evil fruit is sexual immorality, heavy drinking and drug use, worshiping wealth, power or social statue, selfish ambition, causing dissensions and discord, jealousy, fits of rage, hatred, and things like these. (Galatians 5:19-21)
Good leaders, or good prophets, do not worship wealth, they do not have fits of rage when they don’t get what they want, nor do they start wars. Good leaders are compassionate. Good leaders work for peace. Good leaders are faithful. Good leaders look for ways to be kind and helpful.
Evil leaders, or evil prophets, are not compassionate, gentle, or self controlled. Evil leaders look for ways to cause evil things to happen in the lives of others. Evil leaders think only about themselves, expecting others to serve their own selfish ambitions. Evil leaders cannot be trusted.
We can recognize good prophets by their behaviors: we can recognize evil leaders by their behaviors. God sees more clearly than we do. The evil that oppresses us will be destroyed.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you workers of lawlessness.’(7:21-23)
This calls for wisdom. No matter how important a person may think they are, or want others to think they are; no matter how great they, or the world thinks they are: they will be judged by their compassion and justice. They will be judged by the righteousness that fills their whole person, not their power, not their wealth, not the stuff they owned, not anything else. Those who enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do the will of God.
“Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” (7:24-27)
Jesus ends his sermon giving us two choices: lives that do the will of God and lives that do not do the will of God. Those who do the will of God produce good fruit: compassion, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, and more. These are the righteous who build their lives on the rock, and the storms of life will not destroy them.
Those who do not do the will of God produce evil fruit. It will be obvious to all who experience this fruit. These people are the lawless ones. They are like people who build a house without a foundation, on a flood plane, and the storms of life will sweep through and destroy them.
Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes. (7:28-29)
May God grant us the grace to look to God for guidance in life rather than to those who desire to destroy us. May God open our eyes to the truth, both about ourselves, and about those we look to for guidance. May compassion and justice fill us, so that we may do the the will of God will all our hearts, our minds and our lives. Amen
Matthew 6:19-7:12
Seek God’s Kingdom and Righteousness
4/11/2026
Welcome to our fifth week studying the Sermon on the Mount. Our plan for this week is to finish chapter 6, and hopefully make major inroads into chapter 7.
A bunch of years ago, I spent a semester (about 16 weeks) studying 1 Peter, in Greek. It was grueling. I spent 4-6 hours a day on that course. When it was over, the professor asked, “Did you enjoy the course?” I said, “No.” “Why not?” “I thought, spending 16 weeks, 4-6 hours a day on this little book, I might start to get a handle on it. I thought I might stop feeling like a little pebble skipping across the surface of the ocean! Didn’t happen.” “Maybe what you need to do next then is choose a book of the bible and dedicate a whole year or two to studying it. Maybe then you will find what you are looking for.”
I have spent the past 13 years studying Torah. And every time I sit down to study Torah, it is brand new: I am still that tiny pebble skimming the surface of the ocean. I am having these same feelings about Matthew. We have spent 4 weeks on the Sermon on the Mount, and are still little pebbles, barely skimming the surface. Today it occurred to me, God is so huge, we can never know God entirely. No matter how much we learn of God, we are always still pebbles, skimming the surface of all God wants to share with us.
Or to expand the metaphor slightly, we are minnows swimming in the ocean of God’s love. No matter how big we get, or how much we know, we can never know all of God, there is always much much more. We cannot exceed God’s resources. God is always more than enough.
6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust (or worms) consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust (or worms) consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Treasures in the ancient world typically included finely woven cloth, beautiful garments, maybe a bag of coins, maybe a finely carved box, or a barn full of grain, or a flock of animals. Moths and worms could easily ruin the cloth; rust could attack the coins; thieves could dig into the house, or barn, through the mud brick walls to take what was inside. The answer to these problems is not to hire more guards, or build thicker walls, or make better locks. The answer is to turn away from earthly wealth to the treasures of heaven, where moth and worm and rust do not eat the treasure, and thieves cannot steal the treasure away. (v.19-21)
Jesus challenges his followers to cut the chains that attach their peace, joy, and security to the ebb and flow of the stock market, to the newest and best stuff, the biggest house, the greenest lawn, or having one’s picture on the front cover of a national magazine. If your treasure is in heaven, if your peace comes from the name of God, and your joy is the will of God, then your heart, your life, your joy will rest on a foundation as firm as heaven itself.
But people do not see God as their greatest treasure. Instead they see clothes, or bolts of cloth, or bags of money, or social status as treasures. Which makes our eyes light up and our heart swell? What illumines the road before us? If God is your light, your whole life will be full of light: if you turn from the light of God then the road is darkness. This is not a healthy alternative! If the light that is leading you is actually darkness, then you will stumble and fall, and your whole life will be groping and guessing. (v. 22-23)
Disciples are called to be “light to the world”. What happens when we try to claim both treasures? What happens when we try to keep one eye on each treasure? What happens to our brain when one eye is focused on light and the other eye is focused on darkness?
Loving God and loving wealth, or status, or power, are mutually exclusive. One will be more important, and one will be less important. As one demands more time, the other will get less time. Each wants to be our only master, the center of our life, out greatest treasure. A decision for one is a decision against the other.
Are you noticing these verses look to be a commentary on the first part of the Lord’s prayer?
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. (6:8-9)
They look like a commentary to me … What are we actually honoring as holy? What do we treasure? What do we want to have control of the earth? Whose will do we obey?
Let’s keep this idea of a commentary on the Lord’s Prayer in mind as we look at the next set of verses.
6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (6:25-34)
I think we can clearly see this section is a commentary on the next line of the Lord’s Prayer:
“Give us today our daily bread.” (6:11)
“Daily bread” includes everything we need in life: food, clothing, shelter, a living wage, health care, good friends, safe living conditions. (No, this list is not complete.) And we worry about these things a lot.
What would life be like if we actually believed God cares about these things more than we do, and already has a plan to take care of us? What would life be like if we believed God wants these things for every person, not just a few? What if we noticed God filled this planet with everything we could possibly need, in abundance, and expects us to share with each other this amazing, abundant wealth? For example, there are currently 8.2 billion people on this planet: We are currently producing enough food to feed over 10 billion people. Why are people suffering from hunger? Why are people starving to death? Is it possible God expects us to be part of the solution, and not part of the problem?
How do our attitudes, our conversations, our votes, show we honor God’s will that all people have the food, clothing, shelter, living wage, health care, good friends, safe living conditions, etc., they need? Without stipulation.
6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
If our love for God, and the coming kingdom are our first consideration, we will not feel a need to worry about these things, or feel afraid we will miss out. No one is more generous than God.
7:1 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. (7:2-5)
It makes sense that these words about judging others by our own standards would follow immediately after teaching about not storing up earthly treasures, not trying to serve two masters, and remembering that God loves us and cares for us. If we know we are loved by God, we will not feel we need to search for imperfections in the other to justify not helping them and loving them as God has loved us. This looking for imperfections in others is a far greater flaw in ourselves than anything we can find in the other.
Can we hear in these words:
“And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (6:12)
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.
Jesus wants to grab our attention! Nobody would give holy things to a dog, or throw treasures to pigs. This would only lead to the dogs, or the pigs, burying or trampling the treasures, resulting in the treasures being ruined, and if the animals were hungry and hoped you wanted to feed them, them getting angry. These are not intelligent things to do! In the same way, judging others is not wise, and can lead to terrible consequences. Don’t do it!
“And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.” (6:13)
Instead:
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? 10 Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? 11 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
God is good: all the time. As parents, we give good things to our children! God is far more willing than even the best parent to give good things to God’s children. We can ask for things; we can search for things; we can knock on heaven’s door! When we ask, God gives; when we seek, God lets us find; when we knock, God will open the door and pour out abundant blessings. God will not give us a rock when we ask for bread; God will not give us a snake when we ask for a fish.
Knowing this is what God is like, what kind of people should we be? How do we live God’s righteousness in our everyday lives? How do we live everything in the law and the prophets to the glory of God?
“And please Lord, we not only want you to answer these questions, we want your response in a short simple way we can remember and understand! Yes, summarize all of the law, all of the prophets, and all that you have said in a single statement you can say while standing on one foot.”
And Jesus said, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (7:12)
Lord Jesus, you are amazing and wonderful. We want to love you more. We want to know you better. We want to see you in the world and the people around us, and show our love for you by loving them. Amen.
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)