Trinity Evangelical Church

Covenant History:  Matthew

Sunday, May 3, Anno Domini 2009

Before we get into the book of Matthew itself, we need to take care of a few other matters.

The Intertestamental Period

First, we need to say a few words about the intertestamental period. We are talking about a 400-450 year time frame, from the close of the Old Testament period to the beginning New.

              Malachi                                                                                        Birth of

              450 BC                                                                                        Jesus 4 BC

                 l                                                                                                    l

Malachi is likely the last OT book chronologically and was written roughly 450 years before the birth of Christ. That’s a rather long period of time, and a lot of very important things took place. When the OT closes, we are in the Persian period; when the NT opens we are in the Roman period. How did we get from one to the other? That’s a fascinating study in its own right, but we have time this morning for only a very brief overview.

We have no historical books of the Bible that give us information about this period, although one of the prophetic books, namely Daniel, gives us a prophetic overview of the period.

We also have the account of First and Second Maccabees, which records some inspiring stories of great exploits and extraordinary faithfulness in times of terrible persecution against the Jews.

A (very) Brief Overview the Period

v      Alexander the Great led his rather small army against the mighty Persian Empire and against all odds defeated them in battle after battle until Alexander was the master of the ancient world, and then, having no more worlds to conquer, he died at the ripe old age of 32

v      The Greek conquest would in time lead to the Hellenization of these eastern lands (Greek language, culture, dress, thought forms, etc.)

v      Upon Alexander’s death his empire was divided among his four generals, forming four distinct kingdoms, only two of which are of concern to us:  the Ptolemaic kingdom, centered in Egypt; and the Seleucid kingdom, centered in Syria. These were Greek kingdoms in foreign lands. The boundary between them lay in the land of Israel, which was not so good for the Jews, because these two kingdoms were almost constantly at war with one another and the Jews frequently found themselves right in the middle of it.

v      One of the Seleucid kings we should mention was Antiochus Epiphanes [Illustrious One]. This is what he called himself, at least, but some of his contemporaries, instead of calling him Antiochus Epiphanes, called him Antiochus Epimanes [Mad One]. He instigated a severe persecution against the Jews in an attempt to Hellenize them. He desecrated the temple in Jerusalem by setting up an image of Zeus in the temple and sacrificing a sow (an unclean animal) on the altar. He also forbade the Jews from circumcising their sons, upon pain of death.

v      These things led to a Jewish revolt under the leadership of Judah Maccabee (Hammer), in which the Jews won a stunning victory and gained their independence.

Incidentally, the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah was instituted to commemorate the rededication of the temple. Hanukkah means dedication.

The Maccabean family, also called the Hasmoneans, ruled the newly independent Israel for the next several generations.

v      This period of independence, however, was rather short-lived. It lasted only about 100 years. Subsequent generations of Hasmonean leaders proved to be increasingly corrupt and immoral, and at times pagan. “Internal strife led Jewish leaders to ask the Roman general Pompey to come and restore order. Pompey did so, but he also brought Roman rule, which began in 63 b.c. and lasted into the fourth century a.d.”[1]

v      It was not long afterward that we begin to see the rise of the Herodian dynasty, beginning with Herod the Great, who held various lower governing posts before he was made “king of the Jews” by an act of the Roman Senate in 37 b.c. He and various sons and grandsons held various governing posts in the Roman province of Judea until a.d. 92

v      Growing influence of Jews living in the Diaspora (i.e., Jews who either through forced exiles or voluntary migrations were living outside Israel)

v      It is also during the intertestamental period that we find the development or the maturing of the synagogue system, a vitally important system, especially in the Diaspora

v      The rise of various Jewish sects:  Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots

The Four Gospels

So now, let’s begin to talk about the New Testament. The NT literature, like the literature of the OT can be divided into several categories. We’ll talk more about this later, for now I’ll just point out what I assume you already know, and that is that the NT opens with the four Gospels.

Of these, the first three are often referred to as the synoptic Gospels. Synoptic means seen together, and refers to the fact that Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are very similar to each other in content, narrative arrangement, language and structure; whereas the Gospel of John displays features peculiar to itself.

Each of the Gospels has a somewhat different emphasis in the way in which it presents Christ. This is widely recognized by Biblical scholars. The emphasis in Matthew’s presentation of Christ is such that it is as if God were saying to the people, “Behold Your King.” In Mark, it’s as if God were saying, “Behold My Servant”; in Luke, “Behold the Man”; and in John, “Behold Your God.”

Key Features of Matthew

Now let’s look at Matthew. Obviously we’re not able to go through the entire book. I just want to point out what I think are a few key features.

One of the first things we learn is that Matthew is very interested to show that Jesus fulfills the Messianic prophecies of Scripture. He frequently says things like, “This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet so and so…”

In accord with this, one of his favorite titles for Jesus is “Son of David,” which appears 10 times in the book. The reason this is important is because the Messiah was to come from David’s line.

One of the distinctive features of Matthew’s Gospel is the fact that it doesn’t give us a strictly chronological account of Jesus’ life and teaching. The material is arranged topically, rather than chronologically, with a special emphasis on his words, rather than his works. This is to say that a great deal of space is devoted to Jesus’ discourses. To be sure, we have accounts of his miraculous works, as well, but the emphasis is on his words, his teaching.

There are five major discourses in Matthew:

1^st Discourse       5-7       Life in the Kingdom

2^nd Discourse       10        Commissioning the Twelve to Preach the Kingdom

3^rd Discourse       13         Parables of the Kingdom

4^th Discourse       18-20    More about Life in the Kingdom

5^th Discourse       23-25    Judgment in the Kingdom

You can see from the titles I’ve given to these discourses that Matthew places an emphasis on Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of heaven. In fact, the kingdom of heaven is mentioned about 50 times in Matthew—more than any other Gospel. Let’s look at a few representative examples:

Matthew 4:17

5:1-3, 19-20

6:10, 33

7:21

9:35-10:7 

18:1-4

There are many other passages as well, but this gives you a good representation of the book. We’ll look in more detail in just a moment at some of the parables of the kingdom. But first we need to consider what Jesus means by the kingdom of heaven.

In the first place, it ought to be considered a transnational kingdom, which is to say that it is made of up people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev. 7:9). It is not composed of people from just one ethnic group or background. It’s an international kingdom.

Now, if it’s a kingdom, it must be presided over by a king, namely Jesus. His title “Christ” chiefly signifies this office.

There are likewise subordinate officers in the kingdom, namely, the officers of the church, pastors, elders, and deacons, who are charged with administering the affairs of his kingdom on earth.

There is a tax to maintain the functions of the kingdom. It’s a flat tax at a rate of ten percent, which applies to everyone. It’s not a graduated income tax for the purpose of the redistribution of wealth, as in some unjust societies.

The kingdom has laws that are to be observed by its citizens.

Anyone who wishes may become a citizen of this kingdom by taking an oath of allegiance, swearing fealty to King Jesus. The oath of allegiance is as comprehensive as it is simple:  “Jesus is Lord.”

Parables of the Kingdom

Matthew 13:31-32     Parable of the Mustard Seed

Matthew 13:33          Parable of the Leaven

Matthew 13:47-49     Parable of the Net

Matthew 21:33-45     Parable of the Tenants (cf. 8:10-12)

Something to consider here, in connection with the meaning of the parable of the tenants, is the fact Matthew opens and closes his book with a reference to the place of believing Gentiles in the kingdom of heaven.

(1)   The Magi come from afar to pay homage to the newborn Christ (Matt. 2)

(2)   Jesus commissions the apostles to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28)