Matthew 3: The Kingdom of Heaven is Coming

I hope your Easter was a truly blessed one!  I spent much of the weekend in solitude and with family (in part, because I was sick on Sunday), but it was a very good weekend of reminders of frailty and new life.  I did spend time with Henri Nouwen, one of my favorites especially on Easter.  If you would like to read my Easter mediations click here to go to my personal blog.

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We have just made a huge jump in time in Matthew 3.  Kids have grown up to be adults.  The time for ministry has come.

"John baptizing Christ" by Guido Reni

This is the first mention of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, in Matthew.  He is one unorthodox bloke, to put it mildly.  He must have failed his seminary class on seeker-sensitive preaching:

He saw several Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized by him.  “You brood of vipers!” he said to them.  “Who warned you to escape from the coming wrath?  You better prove your repentance by bearing the right sort of fruit!” (3:7-8)

His first words are what strike me in this chapter:

“Repent!” he was saying.  “The kingdom of heaven is coming!” (3:2)

John’s first words introduce us to what will be a major theme in Matthew, actually the biggest idea Jesus and his followers ever talked about.  What is this kingdom?  It is coming here?  When?  One’s understanding of the Gospels is sadly deficient if one does not come to understand what the “kingdom” is.

What struck you in this chapter?

Matthew 2: As The Prophets Said

Blessed Good Friday!

Today is a truly somber day, yet “good” nonetheless because of what it means and what comes on Sunday.  It is an interesting juxtaposition to be reading about the birth of Christ on the day we remember his death.  Though, I wonder if death didn’t remain in the back of Jesus’ mind everyday of his earthly life.  Praise God for his faithfulness!

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Four times in this chapter we are told that the events of Jesus’ early life are unfolding as the prophets of old foretold:

• Jesus was born in Bethlehem because “that’s what it says in the prophet.” (2:5)
• Joseph took his family to Egypt to flee from the murderous Herod in order to “fulfill what the lord said through the prophet.” (2:15)
• The “murder of the innocents” in Bethlehem was even foretold: “That was when the word that came through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled.” (2:17)
• Joseph took his family to Nazareth to settle once Herod the Great had died because “this was to fulfill what the prophet had spoken.” (2:23)

Scholars opine that each of the gospels was probably written to a specific audience, just like the letters were.  Many experts see much in Matthew to suggest that it was intend for a Jewish audience.  The emphasis on fulfilled Jewish prophecy about the Messiah is a key piece of evidence for a Jewish background.

Regardless of theory, this chapter reminds us that Jesus didn’t come out of nowhere as a self-styled Messiah.  He is the one talked about long ago.  He isn’t “new” as much as he is “very old.”  Jesus was no after-thought.  He is the long-desired one.  And he is here.  Now.  God with us.

What struck you about this chapter?

Matthew 1: God With Us

Today we return to the life of Jesus.  Jesus is the center of our religion and very life, so it is fitting to return to the gospels every quarter.  In fact, that would be a great rhythm for life long after this year.  As a former student of Chris Dahlberg’s likes to say, as we age maybe it becomes second nature to concentrate on the red words.

Matthew starts his gospel very differently from Mark.  Mark got right down to business; from beginning to end of his gospel Jesus was a very active adult.  Matthew, though, spends two chapters just getting Jesus to adulthood and ministry.  There is very little action in Matthew 1 at all.  Mark chose to keep us guessing about Jesus throughout much of his book.  Like his disciples in the gospel, we really had to work to get that Jesus was divine.

Matthew, on the other hand, makes everything very clear right from this first chapter;

“Look: the virgin is pregnant, and will have a son, and they shall give him the name Emmanuel” — which means, in translation, “God with us.” (1:23)

From the beginning we are introduced to Jesus as God Himself, come to be with us once again.  Remember that if a person were reading the Bible page by page, they have just flipped from Malachi, over 400 years of divine silence where God’s presence was much more hidden.  That is no longer the case.  God is with us again, but in a new, strange, embodied way.

And we are introduced to the gospel right off:

She is going to have a son.  You are to give him the name Jesus; he is the one who will save his people from their sins. (1:21)

God has come in the form of Jesus to save us from our greatest oppressor of all: sin.  Already, in the first chapter Matthew has made it clear what kind of Savior this Jesus is too.  We are off to a very straightforward beginning.

What did you notice in this chapter that you had not noticed before?