Week 13 Study Page - Matthew 5-28
Week #13 Study Page
Matthew 5-28
Sunday – Matthew 5-7
Monday - Matthew 8-10
Tuesday – Matthew 11-13
Wednesday – Matthew 14-17
Thursday – Matthew 18-21
Friday – Matthew 22-25
Saturday – Matthew 26-28
Degree of difficulty: 5 out of 10 (Explanation:) Finally, we have arrived at the New Testament. This week's reading is full of the words of Jesus. Matthew records more of Jesus' teaching and speaking than any other gospel account. It may seem like whiplash to move from the Old Testament historical books that are decidedly matter-of-fact and span centuries of time, to this Gospel of Jesus filled with sermons and spanning (for the most part) only three years - the period of Jesus' ministry. I hope that our long-awaited arrival in the New Testament will fill you with renewed energy and attention for your Bible reading. We're reading through the gospel of Matthew in only eight days. You will probably feel like you're going too fast; like the teachings and accounts you're reading deserve more than eight days of attention. You're not wrong about that, but let me point something out to you. More time to reflect may not be the most* helpful tool to understanding Jesus words and actions. consider how much more you'll benefit by knowing the whole testimony of Scripture the next time that you read the words of Jesus. That latter (and i believe, greater) benefit is what we are trying to achieve by reading so quickly and completing the Bible in one year. take a month to read Matthew next time, after you have read Isaiah, Revelation, Nahum, and all the others.
About the Book(s)
Matthew
Date Of Authorship the Date of the Gospel of Matthew is contested. Modern Scholarship filled the 20th century with a science called "source criticism" which examined the parts of the first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke (called the synoptic Gospels)) that are interdependent. Scholars have arrived at a near-consensus that the Gospel of Mark was written first and that its text was available to both Matthew and Luke. Because the probable range for the authorship of Mark is 55-70 AD. the projected range for the authorship of Matthew is frequently (purely as a matter of sub-sequence) been dated to 70-100 AD. However, I side with an excellent case made by D.A. Carson and Doug Moo in "An Introduction to the New Testament" which dates Matthew from 65-70 for the following reasons (among others)
We have little reason to believe that Matthew lived into the final two decades of the first century.
Carson and Moo narrow the ranges of the possible authorship of Mark to 60-66 AD which would allow for Matthew to write his subsequent account before 70 AD.
Matthew writes as if the Temple is still standing. in 70 AD the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. if the temple was already in ruin, we would have trouble accounting for 5:23-24, 12:5-7, 23:16-22, 26:60-61.
Matthew shows a complete independence from Pauline writings and thought, which had thoroughly circulated through the Church in the final few decades of the first century
Author The apostle Matthew wrote Matthew. As one of the twelve, Matthew had a front-row seat to Jesus' teachings and ministry.
Purpose Matthew is full of Old Testament quotations and allusions. This has led some New Testament scholars and myself to believe that one purpose of the Gospel of Matthew is tho teach Christians how to read their Bibles - which at the time would only contain the books of the Old Testament. Matthew explicitly showcases these crucial links between the stories and words of the Old Testament and the person and work of Christ. in Matthew's account of Jesus life there are some apparent themes present throughout:
Jesus is the promised Messiah, Son of David, Son of God, Son of Man, Immanuel, whom the Old Testament was pointing to.
Many Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, sinfully failed to recognize the promised Messiah
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand - dawned in the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
This Kingdom is for Gentiles as well as Jews, provided that they respond in faith, and join the people of God
This Kingdom is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hopes - but its current form is only the foretaste of the fully consumated Kingdom that will arrive when Jesus the Messiah personally returns
NT Wright on Matthew
I am here posting a video of of NT Wright explaining the Gospel of Matthew in ten minutes. I think it is a most helpful tool to orient the reader to what Matthew is depicting. If you're reading the study notes on paper, you'll have to pull up the web-version to get the video: go to www.madisonchurchofchrist.net, click on "Bible Reading," scroll down to week 13 and click the picture or button for the study page. here he explains the value of reading Matthew quickly as we're attempting this week, and explains why it is helpful to read this book durring Lent, just before Easter
As you read Notes
The Structure of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew has a built-in structure that does not leap off the page, but it is there none the less. This structure is built around 5 identical transitional / organizational clauses which are translated in the NIV '11 as "When Jesus finished (saying these things/teaching/instructing)" each of these statements appear at the end of a major block of speech from Jesus that follows a narrative section describing Jesus Ministry. with these organizational structures in mind, the Gospel of Matthew breaks down like this:
1-2 - Introduction, birth narrative
3-7 - Section 1. 3-4 ministry narrative, 5-7 teaching block (Sermon on the Mount) ending with "When Jesus had finished saying these things" in 7:28
8-10 - Section 2. 8-9 ministry narrative, 10 teaching block (Instruction to the apostles) ending with "After Jesus had finished instructing" in 11:1
11-13 - Section 3. 11-12 ministry narrative, 13 teaching block (teaching from the boat and kingdom parables) ending with "When Jesus had finished these parables" in 13:53
14-18 - Section 4. 14-17 ministry narrative, 18 teaching block (instruction to the disciples) ending wtih "when Jesus had finished saying these things" in 19:1
19-25 - Section 5. 19-22 ministry narrative, 23-25 teaching block (Olivet Discourse) ending with "when Jesus had finished saying all these things"
26-28 - Climax / conclusion
Clearly the "ministry narrative" sections in this structure are not void of teaching and instruction, but Matthew clearly marks the largest sections of teaching in his gospel with this organizational phrase and, each time, introduces a new section in his account. As always, the daily breakdown for this week's reading is only a suggestion, meant to even out the daily reading-time. However, if you'd rather follow the actual-textual division of Matthew shown above, i think that would be an even better approach to reading this Gospel.
Geographical Overlay of Matthew
Matthew presents his account of Jesus with a very linear geographical timeline. The birth narrative, baptism, and temptation accounts (chapters 1-4:11) take the reader all over the map, from Nazareth, to Bethlehem, to Egypt, back to Nazareth, and then down to the Jordan river in the region of Judea, out into the Arabian wilderness, finally settling all the way up in Galilee in 4:12. However, this is when Matthew's map-hopping stops. the account of Jesus ministry, (which spanned three years, according to the other Gospels (Matthew is not concerned with keeping time)) takes place entirely in the region of Galilee until Jesus goes to Jerusalem in the final ascent. all of 4:12-18:35 occur in the region of Galilee (see map).
This is strange because the other Gospel accounts depict Jesus going back and forth, between Jerusalem and Galilee a number of times. Matthew thematically reserves Jesus arrival in Jerusalem for the account of his arrival and enthronement as king. For Matthew, Jesus ascent to Jerusalem is the arrival of the Son of David to the throne, and he saves this special depiction for the climactic chapters of his account.
In Matthew's account around chapter 16, Jesus' ministry is at its height, he is incredibly popular, Peter just confessed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, signaling that his disciples have come to grips with who He is, and they are as far north as you can possibly go in Israel (Caesarea Philippi), when Jesus first reveals his destiny to the disciples in 16:21. Try to imagine the drama of that moment. The disciples as far away from Jerusalem as you can get, safe, in the shadow of Mt. Hermon, being told by Jesus that they were going to Judea so that Jesus could suffer.
Matthew 5-7: The Sermon on the Mount
Jesus first major discourse of his ministry in Matthew is the Sermon on the Mount. For the Gospel of Matthew, this section serves as an announcement of intentions or thesis. This sermon begins with a sweeping inversion of worldly values, known as the Beatitudes, where Jesus turns the dynamic of worldly power on its head, in a teaching that should have been a red-flashing-light warning that the victory of the Messiah would not look like the earthly king they expected.
The words of Matthew 5:17-20 are incredibly important to understanding what follows in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is about to radically redefine the moral law of the Old Testament relative to what the first-century Israelites thought that it meant. Jesus teaches that he is not here to discard the law, but to fulfill what it was meant to be all along. He introduces a challenge to His audience; that their righteousness must surpass that of the pharisees to enter the kingdom of heaven, and he'll spend the rest of the sermon explaining how they can do that.
Miracles in Matthew
After the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew records a series of miracles in rapid succession. Miracles are a key part of every gospel account, and play the most prominent role in the Gospel of Mark. Reading the accounts of these miracles in Matthew should conjure up memories of the magical career of Elisha that we read in 2nd Kings. Elisha performs many miracles because the people of Israel needed to be shown who the true God is, and dissuaded from belief in Idols like Baal, Asheroth, and Dagon. So too Jesus miracles are God's instrument of revelation to the people of Israel that the Messiah has arrived.
The crowds in the Gospel of Matthew understand Jesus' miraculous works as a demonstration of authority (see Matthew 7:29, 21:23, and go back to Daniel 7:13-14). this is important because authority is the defining feature of "the Son of Man" in the messianic prophecy of Daniel which we read last week, and which played such an important role in the Jewish expectation of a deliverer . In addition to authority over physical malady, and the demonic realm, even death, Jesus shows that the authority of the Son of Man extends even and especially to the forgiveness of sins (see Matthew 9:1-7). It is important to understand and trace this theme of authority through Daniel and Matthew because of what Jesus tells his disciples at the very end of Matthew's Gospel account: (Matthew 28:16-20)
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
"The Kingdom" in Matthew
The following is excerpted from New Testament Theology, by I. Howrd Marshall (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2004) p. 121-125.
"The teaching of Jesus about the kingdom of heaven focuses on this righteousness (described in the Sermon on the Mount) or divinely willed behavior that its members should demonstrate. This raises the question whether Matthew thinks of of a future kingdom that is entered by those who are qualified to do so, or of a present kingdom in which its members behave in the ways that God commands. For Matthew the kingdom is undeniably future in the sense that people will enter it in the future. At the same time it is powerfully at work or powerfully opposed in the present time, and it grows like a tree or works like leaven; people can be "people of the kingdom" here and now... Probably the decisive evidence is Matthew 23:13, which clearly refers to entry to the kingdom in the present tense. We have to reckon with the present reality and the future hope of the kingdom as a realm which people may be in...
In the light of all this, we can now see that the coming of Jesus constitutes a new age in which the kingdom is at work and the Messiah is present. The leaders of the Jews were the agents of God and the Kingdom belonged to them (Matthew 21:43) in the sense that they had jurisdiction over it. But this jurisdiction will be taken from them and given to another group of people. Matthew speaks as if there is only one kingdom and what takes place is a change in the people to whom it is promised... there are signs in plenty that [Jesus] envisaged this new people as including the Gentiles (Matthew 24:14, 28:19)... consequently the restriction of Jesus' mission and that of the disciples to the Jews can be understood only as a case of priorities and hardly of strategy... For Matthew, Israel finds its future in the church, the people who recognize that the Messiah has come. It is the sole entity that continues into the future. this does not mean that there is no future for Jews in the kingdom or that the church's mission goes solely to the Gentiles. The church or the new Israel consists of believing Jews and Gentiles; the disciples' mission is to all nations, which includes the Jewish nation. As Donald A. Hagner puts it, "The church does not take the place of Israel; rather Israel finds its true identity in the church" (emphasis mine)
Matthew 23:37: The Voice of the Eternal God
My favorite passage in Matthew is 23:37. In the gospel accounts we are accustomed to hearing the voice of the human Jesus. as we read the account of his earthly ministry it can be easy to forget that He is God incarnate, the eternal Son through whom all things were created and are ruled. In Matthew 23:37-39, Jesus looks over the city of Jerusalem and speaks in the voice of God eternal. the God who has looked upon Jerusalem for the ten centuries since it was captured by David and made the home of the Ark of the Covenant. Jesus tells us how he has felt through the events of our last five weeks of Bible reading as the nation of Israel(Judah) faltered, sinned, and fell. He knows what will soon befall the city of Jerusalem (see below), and His heart breaks. Soon, they will not see him again until he returns in glory.
This artist's rendering depicts Jesus standing with his disciples on the Mount of Olives. from this vantage point they would be looking directly at the temple on the eastern wall of the city of Jerusalem.
Matthew 24-25: The Olivet Discourse
Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem as a king by the crowd in chapter 21, but the fervor of the crowd will soon (within the course of a single week) turn against him and result in His crucifixion. I believe that this change in attitude is due to the very harsh and critical actions and teachings of Jesus in 21:12-22:14. These people were willing to welcome the king that they thought might expel the Romans, but not the Messiah who was here to condemn their unfaithfulness and give the Kingdom of God to other peoples.
This narrative section leads to a block of teaching known as the Olivet Discourse; so-named because Matthew 24:3 begins the section like this: "As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him." This teaching is recorded in Matthew, 25-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Jesus' announcement and teaching of the kingdom was 95% focused on the present-life, but in this section of teaching, by request of the disciples, Jesus addresses the future.
To understand what Jesus says here, you must know what happened to Jerusalem in 70 AD. In 66 AD the the Jewish people of Jerusalem rioted and revolted, expelling the Romans. The Roman emperor Titus responded with force and put the city of Jerusalem to siege, that siege ended in on August 30th, 70 AD with the destruction of the city and the temple itself. Jesus seems to clearly be describing those events in portions of the Olivet Discourse. and even invokes the phrase "abomination of Desolation" (24:15) which we recently read in Daniel to refer to this moment in history. Jesus description of this particular historical event would have been the most relevant answer to the precipitating events of this discourse (Matthew 24:1-3). However, Jesus also uses this moment to tell the disciples a greater truth, a day when "the Son of Man comes in His glory," "at an hour when you do not expect him" to judge between the righteous and the damned. It is not easy to parse the Olivet Discourse and seperate what is describing the events of the destruction of the temple in 70 AD from what is describing the return of Christ. However, i'll point you to an article that i've found to be very helpful to my reading of the Olivet Discourse if you would like to do so:
http://www.clr4u.org/writings/essays/when-shall-these-things-be/
Study Questions:
In Matthew 5, Jesus redefines the law. What is the difference between the way the Jews thought of the law previously, and what Jesus was teaching them about it? do you treat God's laws like a pharisee or like the Sermon on the Mount?
In Matthew 8:4, Jesus warns a man whom he has healed to not tell anyone. Why would Jesus ask him to do that?
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus tells the crowd why life with him is better. In what ways is life with Jesus easier and more restful than the way that others live?
In Matthew 14:28-32, Peter briefly walks on the water with Jesus, Why does he falter? What distracted him? what kinds of things distract you from faith in your life?
In Matthew 20:20-28, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus with a request for them? what was wrong with their request? what did Jesus teach his disciples at that moment? how can you live out this teaching?
In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus tells the disciples the parable of the ten virgins. What does it mean / look like for you to be one of the wise girls in this parable? how can you be ready?
Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for your sin. immagine yourself present at that moment, what do you want to tell him?