Take the Long Way Home

Chap 11-12

Chap 11 begins with a question from John the Baptist’s disciples to Jesus, “Are you the One to come?”. Jesus answers, “Go tell John what you’ve seen and what you hear, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, etc.” This answer doesn’t make sense unless you look at Isaiah 35 which talks about the good news of the new exodus. So Jesus’ answer is basically, Yes I’m the Messiah bringing the good news of the new kingdom. Then Jesus asks a question of the crowd, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing live in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”

There is a king in the history of Israel who was described as a reed shaken in the wind because he was weak, so this could be a reference to this story. But interestingly, the image on the coins of the day, put out by Herod, had a picture of a reed blowing in the wind (he couldn’t put his own image on them because this would seem like idolatry, equating himself with a god like Caesar). So this could be Jesus saying, “Who did you go into the wilderness to see, a king? Dressed in fine kingly clothes? No, you went looking for a prophet. You know you won’t find the kingdom of God with Herod.”

vs 20 cities don’t repent

vs 25 Herod’s court isn’t getting the message, instead the tax collectors, the sinners

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light… What does Jesus mean here? The imagery of the yoke could go back to the farming image of the oxen and the yoke they carry, but there is another level of imagery here. The story of Rehaboam and Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12 is during a civil war in Israel. Solomon had treated the nation badly, over taxed them to carry on his building projects to the point that they were oppressed. Rhehaboam is taking over as king, and Jeroboam comes and says, Your father was burdensome to us so lighten our yoke and we will serve you. Rhehaboam asks his advisors and the old men said, do it, lighten the burden, but the young men said, tell them that as hard as my father was I’ll be even harder! So Israel, the 10 tribes, revolt and the kingdom is split. They split over the heaviness of the yoke put on them by the house of David. So Jesus comes and says that His burden is light, his Kingship will not be oppressive. Jesus is reuniting the 12 tribes, reestablishing the Kingdom - doing what Rheaboam did not do. Jesus choosing 12 apostles is symbolic of the 12 tribes off Israel, but it is deeper - the tribes had been split and never during the physical kingdom of Israel were united again- but Jesus choosing 12 apostles is symbolic of the reuniting of the 12 tribes of Israel, the complete Kingdom.

chap 12 - the Pharisees rebuke Jesus for the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath. He tells the story of David eating the shew bread (notice that the disciples are breaking the Sabbath, but Jesus does not! He observes the law). 1 Samuel 21 - David is running away from Saul, after being falsely accused of treason. David runs to the Tabernacle where the ark of the covenant is. The high priest questions David and he replies to the priest with a half truth (he says the king has “charged” him with a matter. He has been charged with treason, but he lets the priest think he has been charged with a secret mission!). He asks the high priest for bread, but all he has is the show bread. The priest allows David and his men to eat the bread IF he has abstained from sex (the army would abstain during battle to consecrate themselves the mission).

The parallel that Jesus is drawing is between himself and David, his men and David’s. Jesus (like David) is hunted by the leaders of Israel, but he himself (like David) is the true leader of Israel, the true Anointed One of God.

Vs 7 - Jesus quotes the passage, I desire mercy and not sacrifice - Hosea. Yet the Pharisees are trying to sacrifice Jesus, they are not looking for God’s love and mercy!

Vs 9 - Jesus heals on the Sabbath. Psalm 137:5 speaks of a right hand withering. Jeroboam’s, King of Israel who revolted against Rhehaboam, right hand withers when he tries to have the prophet of God arrested. Jesus, as King, heals the withered right hand, this is symbolic of His restoring the kingdom.

Matthew 6

“Father” is mentioned 17 times in the Sermon on the Mount. The overall message is - we are children of the Father, children of God, sons of the King.

In chapter 6 when Jesus teaches us how to pray, he teaches us to address God as our Father (notice he didn’t say *my* father, but *our* father. The Kingdom is the Church collectively. The gospel is not about me as an individual, but the whole church, the whole kingdom. It’s about us!). When we approach God in prayer and worship we don’t approach him alone, sot we must be at peace with our brothers and sisters (back in chap 5) who are approaching him with us. We must love our brothers and sisters and not be angry with them because they belong to the Father also.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (we are told in Exodus what God’s name is and that we are to keep it holy)

Your kingdom come (this is Jesus’ mission), your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (this is how the kingdom comes - by following the will of our Father).

Give us this day our daily bread

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors

And lead us not into temptation (in Greek, temptation here means tribulation, the testing. The Jews believed that there would be a tribulation, a time of testing, before the restoration of the kingdom)

And deliver us from evil (or from the evil one, as it reads in Greek)

Jesus says, “don’t worry”. This is a hallmark of Christian living. As a child of God, a child of the Father, you should live your life with a deep seated sense that this is true. That God is truly our father and he will take care of us. You trust God, trust his plan.

Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom and the other things we need will be taken care of. To be the people of God, we must look first to his kingdom (his church), trusting in God, who is our Father.

Matthew 5

Jesus’ giving of the Sermon on the Mount is the giving of a new law. The law of the New Covenant. We are called to be salt and light to the world. Jesus is taking on the role and mission of Israel. Israel was called to be a light and blessing to the nations. God’s promise to Abraham was that the nations would be blessed through him.

Jesus calls us to be a light and blessing to the nations. The beatitudes are a blueprint for how to be light and salt to the world. How we can bless others by our behavior - others receive the blessing of God through us.

Matthew ends his gospel with the Great Commission - go out and tell the nations what I’ve taught you. The mission of Christians is to go out and be light to the world - to live out the beatitudes. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words.” This is a great example of how we are to teach with our lives, not just our words.

Jesus expounds and intensifies the Old Testament law. The OT law says, “Don’t kill”, Jesus says, “don’t even be angry”. As Christians we are to be at peace with each other; we are to resolve our problems before we worship.

When it comes to divorce, we are not to do it! If we resolve our problems without anger and resentment (without holding grudges), and we don’t look lustfully at others, then divorce wouldn’t be much of an issue! If we, as Christians, would live this - not holding grudges, working out our anger issues, living purely, not looking at others as sexual objects, then our marriages would look different than the world’s. Not only would our marriages last, they would be happy! We would be light!

This isn’t about how to jump through hoops to get to heaven when we die, but how to live now. Getting to heaven is important, but Jesus is telling us how to also have happiness on earth.

How did the early Christians convert Rome? The Christians stood out because of the way they lived. During times of plague, only Christians would minister to the afflicted. They stayed when the rest of the populace deserted the cities to avoid the sickness. Mother Theresa is a modern day example of this - she ministered to the forgotten, the throw aways. Not so they will convert, but because she was living the beatitudes. She was salt and light through her actions. Christianity is not just a creed to believe in, but a way of life to be practiced.

When Jesus says, “turn the other cheek”and “if someone forces you to go one mile, go two”, he was speaking to the daily lives of the Jews living in a Roman dominated country. Jesus is telling them to “go the extra mile”! This is loving our enemies in a very tangible way! Why? Why love your enemies? What happens when the Israelites buck Roman rule? How does this hamper the mission of the Israelites to be a light? A blessing to the nations? You can’t bring a blessing to people you hate. Are the Romans unjust and cruel? Yes! But Jesus says, “remember your vocation. You are to teach them the truth about God. How can you witness to them if you hate and resist them? For them to be receptive of our mission, they must be loved and forgiven.”

Jesus embodies this mission. When Jesus is struck, beaten, etc. He doesn’t resist. But also notice that he is not totally silent, he is not a doormat that anyone can walk on. When he is struck, he says, “what have I done?” But he doesn’t strike back. When Jesus is stripped of his clothes, he doesn’t retaliate. When he is forced to carry his cross, he does so. Jesus lives out his own words. He doesn’t ask us to do something he isn’t willing to do.

Matthew 8-9  (once again, the ideas expressed here are those of Dr. Tim Gray)

There are 5 major speeches, given by Jesus, in Matthew. Chap 4-7 is the 1^st speech (the Sermon on the Mount). The second speech comes in chap 10, chap 13 is 3^rd, 18 is the 4^th, then finally chap 23-25 is the 5th. The Pentateuch is the 1^st five books of Bible, the giving of the law. Jesus gives us 5 speeches or discourses in Matthews gospel to parallel the giving of the law. He is presenting the new law, the Christian law. In the OT the way of life for a Jew is given in the torah/pentateuch. Matthew has Jesus giving a new way of life, a new law for the Christian. Also emphasizing Jesus as the new Moses.

In chapters 8-9 Jesus heals 10 people, the theme of this section of Matthew is Jesus’s authority. Chap 7 ends with the crowds being amazed by Jesus’ teaching because he spoke as one with authority, not as the scribes.

Story of Leper (Mt 8:1-4) - Jesus called Lord. His will is emphasized here. The leper says, if you will it, and Jesus answers, I will it. Then Jesus reaches out his hand to touch the leper, ignoring the Jewish prohibition to NOT touch someone unclean (Lev 13-14, 22:4-7). In the OT when an unclean person touches a clean person the clean person becomes unclean, with Jesus a clean person touches the unclean person and the unclean person becomes clean. So with Jesus the unclean becomes clean! Notice that Jesus never approaches someone and simply says, be healed; he always gives them a word that is symbolic. Here he says be clean.

Story of Centurian’s servant (Mt 8:5-13) - Jesus again called Lord. Centurian understood that Jesus had authority - all Jesus had to do was speak and his will would be carried out. The Centurian compares this to the authority that he has as a Centurian, all he has to do is give orders and they are carried out.

Peter’s mother in law (8:14-15, 16-17) shows authority and power over sickness

disciples in boat (8:23-27) - (Jesus is asleep in the boat even with the waves and the storm. Here we see Jesus living out the law he gives in the sermon on the mount. He says don’t be anxious, and He is not anxious! We see His trust in the Father. He tells those who don’t trust God in chap 6 that they are men of little faith, He says the same thing to his disciples here - He is awakened by the disciples, who are in a panic, and says, Oh you men of little faith! He does it again later in chap 14, Peter walks on t he water, but when he falls Jesus says, Oh man of little faith. In chap 16 Jesus says this again to his disciples. 4 times Jesus says this) After Jesus calms the storm the disciples are amazed saying, what kind of man is this that the wind and sea obey him? Answer - a man with authority!

Casts out demons (8:28-34)- the demons obey Him!

Story of the paralytic (Mt 9: 1-8) - (notice that the first thing Jesus takes note of is faith! vs 2) The scribes accuse Jesus of blasphemy when he forgives the sins of the paralytic, but Jesus says, what is easier to say, your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk? Of course it’s easier to say, your sins are forgiven because there is no way to prove if it’s happened or not! Then Jesus says “so you will know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins he says, rise and walk”. The phrase “so that you may know” is found in Exodus (chap 7:17, 8:18 9:14, 11:7). Moses says this to Pharaoh, now Jesus is saying it to the Pharisees. This is another parallel between Jesus and Moses, the Pharisees are parallel to Pharaoh because they saw all the signs but did not believe!

The son of man is mentioned in Daniel ,chap 7 - in Daniels vision after the four beasts rule over Israel, one like the son of man comes with all power and authority and his kingdom will never end. Jesus is calling himself the son of man! In Daniels vision the son of man has power and authority in heaven, but Jesus says, so you will know that the son of man has authority on earth.

After Jesus says this he heals the man and the crowds are afraid and amazed “that God had given such authority to men“. Why does Matthew use the plural here? Jesus says son of man, but Matthew says the crowds are amazed because God had given this authority to men. Matthew is emphasizing the authority given later to the apostles. In chapters 8-9 we see the kind of authority that Jesus has, so in chap 10 when Jesus gives His authority to his disciples we know what kind of authority they had - the authority to forgive sins! The King has come to re establish His Kingdom and he has given it authority. The one who is sent has the authority of the one who sent him. The Father sent Jesus, and Jesus had the Father’s authority. Jesus sends the twelve, and they have His authority. When a priest today absolves us of our sins, he does so because of this same pattern. In chap 10 Jesus tells the disciples that whoever hears them, hears Him. They speak with His authority. That’s the good news of the Kingdom, that Jesus has given authority on earth to forgive sins!

I have had nothing but problems with my cable since switching from satellite!  For some unknown reason, the tv attatched to my DVR decided that we didn’t get EWTN for a couple of weeks, so I missed a couple of Gospel of Matthew shows!  (insert here whatever smilie looks really pissed off!).  But for now, it’s working again.  So, apologies if this sounds like I’m missing some information, I probably am!  As always, most of the info here is not my own personal musing, but the opinion of dr. Tim Gray

Matthew chap 4-5

Jesus is, in a sense, the “New Isreal”.  Jesus takes on himself the mission that God had given to Isreal.  He fasted for 40 days in the wilderness (paralell to Isreal wandering in the desert for 40 years).  He was tempted three times (this somehow paralells the tests given to Isreal).  But Jesus succeeds where Isreal failed.

Matthew refers to the “Kingdom of Heaven”, where Luke and Mark refer to the “Kingdom of God”.  Why?  Gray suggests that this is because Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience and they would avoid saying the name of God in any form out of respect.  Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God are same thing.  Heaven is simply a substitution for God.  So, Jesus is not talking purely about heaven, or getting to heaven, but how to bring about the Kingdom of God now.

Gray provides some background to the idea of the Kingdom of God by going back to the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 13).  The Kingdom is divided, and Isreal (10 tribes) outnumber Judah (2 tribes).  Abijah, King of Judah, calls out to Jereboam, King of Isreal, “do you think you are a match for the kindgom of the Lord commanded by the sons of David, simply because you are a huge multitude?”.  The Kingdom that was ruled by the descendents of David was the “true” Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Lord (literally, in Hebrew, the Kingdom of Yahweh).  The Davidic Kingdom = the Kingdom of Yahweh.  Back in 1 Chronicles 29 when David hands over his kingdom to Solomon it is described as his annointing as the “Lord’s prince” (the prince of Yahweh), and that Solomon “sat on the throne of the Lord” (the throne of Yahweh).  The Kingdom belongs to God, David and his descendents sit on God’s throne in God’s Kingdom. 

So when Jesus announces “the Kingdom of Heaven/God is at hand” 1st century Jews would hear that David’s descendent was coming back to reign.  500 years had passed since the last king sat on the throne of David, the throne of Yaweh, and Jesus is announcing “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”  You can see why Rome wouldn’t like it, but the Jewish people would love it!

Another catch phrase of Matthew is that of the “gospel of the kingdom”.  According to Matthew the “good news” IS the Kingdom.  Isaiah 52 is a beautiful prophecy about the coming Kingdom of God, that God will again rule over his people.  This is what Jesus is announcing.

So what does a King do?  A king administers law to his kingdom.  Jesus, as king, gives the new laws for the new kingdom (Matt 5 - the sermon on the mount - the beatitudes).

Moses fasted on a mountain for forty days and then came down with the law.  Jesus is the “new Moses”; he fasts for forty days and then preaches the beatitudes - the new law.  These beatitudes are blessings - this paralells the giving of the law in the OT.  Following the law brings blessings, disobeying the law brings curses (Dt 28).  Matthew begins Jesus’ ministry with the blessings (Mat 5,6) and ends it with curses (Mat 23).  This follows the form of a covenant - a new covenant.  

How do these blessings relate to the people of God?  They/we are called to be the light of the world (we are to show the world how the people of the Kingdom live).  John calls Jesus the light of the world.  Jesus calls us the light of the world.  We take up the mission of God.  Jesus embodies the mission of Isreal, he embodies the beatitudes.  We, too, are called to embody this.

Isreal was supposed to be a light to the nations (Is 49), but they failed.  Jesus takes on this mission and we are supposed to take it on also (and can only accomplish it through Jesus!). 

I’ve been watching a show on EWTN called The Gospel of Matthew, which is a Bible study of the Book of Matthew (duh), and it has been very interesting, very different than what I’d “seen” there before (in Matthew, not EWTN).  I started watching the series towards the end and they have recently started it over.  I’ll try to blog this in order (assuming that they repeat the entire series - please God!).  Because I’m new to Catholic theology I don’t know if the ideas presented here are “the norm” or if this guy, Dr. Tim Gray (?), is presenting new or unusual ideas - either way they are “new” to me and quite fascinating.

The Gospel of Matthew - The King and His Kingdom

  Matthew’s gospel was the first written (and the most copied).  It was used as the first Christian “catechism”.  The four gospels that we have in our New Testaments were universally accepted as inspired, they were never (that I have seen) questioned, as many of the other books were.  At the heart of Matthew’s story is the message of who Jesus is and what his kingdom is all about.

Matthew begins his gospel with a geneology of Jesus.  Why?  His purpose is to show Jesus’s kingly descent - that he comes from the line of David.  Why is this significant?  Obviously, to considered the Messiah he must come from the line of David, to claim any kind of Kingship this must be proven.  Not just that he comes from the tribe of Judah, but that he has a direct line to David.  Easy enough, right?  Not necessarily.  According to Dr. Gray no one, at this time in history, could (knowingly) trace their line to David because the line had been cut with Isreal’s defeat at the hands of the Babylonians. The King (Zedekiah) was blinded and all his sons were lined up and killed (so the royal line could not continue).  But Matthew connects Jesus with this line, through Jechoniah (Zedekiah’s nephew, who was King before him, and who was taken prisoner by Nebuchandnezzer - this gets so confusing to me!) and his son’s (who are not mentioned in the Old Testament at all).  Basically the line of David, is a “secret” line, not known to the Jews at large, and so not known to their various captors.  This is why (one reason at least) that Herod doesn’t know whom to kill when the Magi show up announcing they want to see the King of Isreal. 

Also important in this geneology is the number of descendents mentioned: the geneology is divided into 3 parts with fourteen members in each part.  14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David to exile, 14 generations from exile to Jesus.  Why is this significant?  Numbers play a symbolic role in Judaism (not sure if that’s still the case, but apparentely it was back then); each letter in the alphabet has a certain numerical value - the value of the name David = 14.  David symbolizes kingship.  The number 3 is symbolic of absoluteness, excellence, completeness?  (The angels in heaven sing, Holy, Holy, Holy)  3 sets of 14 says Jesus is the King, par excellence.  There is also the significance of the number 7 (it symbolizes perfection, I think - I have heard differing ideas for Jewish numerology so I’m never sure which source is accurate or if I’m mixing things up!), there are 6 sets of 7.  6 = number of man (man created on 6th day), this can mean so many different things; people can make these numbers do all kinds of gymnastics, so I’ll just leave it here and let your imaginations go wild. 

In Isaiah 7, Ahaz in King.  He is afraid of being conquered by the armies beseiging Jerusalem so he sends for Isaiah who tells him not to worry and tells him to ask for a sign from God.  The sign God gives is that “the virgin shall be with child and bear a son and shall call him Immanuel (which means God with us).”  This sign is concerned with the preservation of Judah in the midst of distress, but also with the promise God gave to David (2 Sam 7:15-17) that his throne would stand forever.  The coming of Immanuel, as the ideal king (Is 9 - counselor, mighty God,  prince of peace, etc) fulfills this promise.  As Christians we see the ultimate fulfillment of this in the birth of Jesus.  We see in Is 11 a further description of the rule of Immanuel, and we are told that he will come from a shoot from the trunk of Jesse.  The family tree is cut down, but from the stump comes this descendent.  When the angel comes to Joseph to tell him not to divorce Mary the announcement harkens back to, and brings to mind, these prophecies.  

Okay, back to Herod for a minute… Because it’s just part of the story that I’ve heard repeated so many times for so many years, I never stopped to think about why he would “freak out” and kill so many babies.  Why was he afraid of the Magi’s word?  Above I touched on why he wouldn’t know who to kill - everyone thinks the line of David has disappeared, but why not just dismiss the Magi?  Why assume that their tidings of a King would have anything to do with him?  Are not the Romans in power?  Did they not put him on the throne?  What is he afraid of?  Bear with me while I set this up - it’s a round about way of answering the question, but it’s interesting, I promise…

In the book of Numbers (chap 22-24) we are told a story of the emerging Isrealite nation and how they are perceived by their neighbors.  The Moabite King, who is afraid of being conquered by Isreal, sends to the East for an “oracle” named Balaam, and asks him to curse Isreal.  Instead of cursing Isreal, Balaam blesses Isreal and curses her neighbors.  One of these “oracles”, found in Num 24:15-19 is a prophecy about Isreal - I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near:  A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Isreal, that shall smite the brows of Moab, and the skulls of all the Shuthites, till Edom is dispossessed, and no fugitive is left in Seir.  Isreal shall do valiantly, and Jacob shall overcome his foes.  Herod is made King of Isreal by the Romans, but he is not a Jew, he is an Edomite!  So you can see how he might get a little nervous when wise men come from the East announcing that they are there to see the King of Isreal because they have seen his star! 

Jesus is bringing a climax to the story of Isreal.  Their history looks chaotic - slow start, exhile in Egypt, kingdom for a while, then exhile again…  But Matthew’s geneology shows that there is order and purpose - 6 sets of 7, with Jesus beginning a new set of 7.  Jesus is the beginning of a new chapter, not the end of the story!