Matthew Reflections (2)
The Jesus Matthew Presents
- He’s greater than foreign kings, foreign Queens, Israel’s
prophets, Israel’s kings, Israel’s wise men, Israel’s temple, Israel’s
religious leaders, Israel’s Mediator.
We learn this as Matthew develops his story. Kings come from the East
to worship him, the Queen of the South who exalted Solomon becomes a
witness to Christ’s wisdom and glory since Christ is greater than
Solomon. Matthew’s Christ claims he is David’s Lord as well as his son.
The prophet Elisha’s feeding of a hundred people (2 Kings 4:42-44)
becomes thousands when Christ manifests his kingdom authority (Matthew
14:13-21). A greater than Jonah is present when Christ is present and he
tells us that something greater than the temple is present when it is
present in him.
- He’s revealed to foreign soldiers, foreign visitors, foreign neighbours and the lower class stratum.
There is a blindness in Israel that is a combination of the sin of
the people and the purpose of God (13:11-15) but Christ is revealed to
the humble and the outsiders. A Roman centurion recognises his authority
and a Phoenician woman his outreach. Visitors from the distant East are
guided to him and the rank and file of Israel are given the vision of
God’s kingdom as shown in him. Elitism and arrogance close the eyes of
the heart while child-likeness and vulnerability make it possible to see
and appreciate the Christ (18:2-4; 19:14 and 21:16). It is to
all-too-human disciples that the mysteries of the kingdom are revealed
(13:16-17), it is the pure in heart that see God (5:8) and it’s out of
the mouths of babies that God perfects praise (21:16).
- He recapitulates Israel’s history with God.
Matthew makes the claim that in the person and experience of Jesus
the destiny of Israel is fulfilled. Beyond quoting texts with a
fulfilment designation, Matthew presents Christ as the one in whom the
history of Israel is lived again—only this time, "Israel" gets it right.
To be sure there are contrasts between "Israel" in (as) the person of
Jesus and Israel the nation, but the way their lives run along the same
lines is no accident. And as we’d now expect, Christ’s life is no
slavish retelling of Israel’s history; but in critical people and in
critical events they merge. This isn’t hard to see in Matthew’s
narrative. This special child would be a saviour of his people (like
Moses) and with his appearance deliverance would get underway (Matthew
1:22) despite the opposition of powerful enemies that seek his death. He
flees but is later brought out of Egypt into his own land (Matthew
2:14-15). Like Israel Jesus was declared to be God’s Son and experienced
his own rite of passage through water (Matthew 3:13-17, 1 Corinthians
10:1-2, Exodus 4:22-23). God then brought him into the wilderness where
he was tempted but unlike Israel he refused to tempt God (Matthew 4:7,
Deuteronomy 8:1-5).
The stress in scripture is that the wilderness period was when Israel
tested God but we’re also taught that the wilderness experience was God
putting Israel to the test (Deuteronomy 8:2). Israel failed the test
but the Messiah—who is Israel the servant (note the Isaiah "servant"
texts related to Christ in Matthew)—enters the wilderness, is tested and
stood where Israel had fallen.
And so it goes in Matthew’s narrative. The connection between Jesus and Israel, between Jesus as representing Israel and
its saviour, its history and obligation and its future in the
Messiah—all this is clear and is to be kept in mind. The Messiah’s
suffering and death, his redeeming sinners by giving his life as a
ransom—these things are stressed as the narrative draws to its grand
finale (see Matthew 20:20 and Isaiah 53). His exaltation and
glorification via the resurrection out from the dead is the story of
"Israel" fully told.
The virgin born child of Matthew 1:18-25 turns out to be the virgin’s
child in Isaiah 7—8. He is the one who rescues sinful Israel from the
oppression of darkness by the exercise of his royal authority, which is
an expression of the reign of God (Matthew 4:12-17 with Isaiah
8:19—9:7).
Matthew would have us to think that what we’re seeing in the Christ
is what we should have seen in ancient Israel and didn’t. What we see in
the Christ is what we should expect to see in the "Israel" of which
Christ is the model and image. He fulfils promises made to them, his
suffering is theirs (Matthew 8:16-17), his triumph and exaltation is
theirs (Matthew 19:27-30).
He embodies and brings the gospel to the whole world.
In the genealogy with which he opens the book he connects the Christ
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the central and pre-Sinai figures in
Israel’s history and with whom God made a covenant to bless all nations.
The Christ makes a point of that Abrahamic connection when he meets up
with the centurion in 8:5-13. "Many will come from the east and west and
take their places at the feast with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven." The visit of the Magi from beyond Israel speaks the
same message. The Canaanite woman though provoked by Christ can’t be put
off. From what she has heard of him—and so of the God he represents—she
knows that at least the "overflow" of his goodness will reach her in
her need though she is not "one of the children" (15:21-28).
I don’t doubt that 28:19 embraces Jews as well as other nations but I
still can’t get away from the drift of scripture that the gospel is to
the Jew first and then to the rest of the world. When the Christ
commissions the Jewish apostolate to make disciples of "all nations" (panta ta ethne)
I can’t help but think he is reminding them of the truth that salvation
was to go out from Jerusalem to all the non-Jewish nations. We hear
that in the prophets (compare Micah 4:1-5 with Isaiah 2:1-5 and Luke
24:47). I think in Matthew 28:19 the Jewish righteous remnant—the
"servant" of Isaiah 49:6 (a passage Paul applies to "us" in Acts
13:47)—is being instructed to offer light to the Gentiles.
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.