Category: <span>New Testament</span>

As Jesus headed south from Galilee to Judea, Jerusalem, and the cross, He taught His disciples that the kingdom of God was among them via His presence. Jesus wanted His followers and the crowds to understand how the Old Testament anticipated His arrival.

(1) In Matt 19:4-5, Jesus quoted from Genesis 1-2 to answer the Pharisees’ question about what would constitute grounds for divorce. By noting that God created male and female, and that what God had joined together, man should not separate (Matt 19:4-6), Jesus effectively censured the Pharisees’ quest for easy divorce. But the Pharisees maintained their position, citing Moses’ requirement in Deut 24:1-4 that a man give his spouse a divorce certificate if he wished to send her away (Matt 19:7//Mark 10:4). In the end, Jesus and His opponents differed in that the Pharisees understood Moses’ words to be a commandment while Jesus said that they were a statement of permission. Jesus proclaimed that Moses permitted divorce because of the hardness of the people’s hearts (Matt 19:8//Mark 10:5). The Pharisees consistently viewed themselves as the authority of the kingdom, employing the Mosaic law for their own selfish ends (Matt 5:21-48; 23:1-36). Jesus would have none of it. Now that He had arrived, His interpretation was final and that meant a return to the creation ordinance of one man and one woman for life. Only sexual immorality constituted grounds of divorce (Matt 19:9).

(2) In Matt 19:18-19, Jesus quoted from the Ten Commandments and Lev 19:18 to answer the rich young ruler’s question about how he might gain eternal life. When Jesus blessed the children that were brought to Him (Matt 19:13-15//Mark 10:13-16//Luke 18:15-17), He established humility as virtue of discipleship. Jesus’ discussion with the rich ruler exemplified Jesus’ point. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life (Matt 19:16-22//Mark 10:17-22//Luke 18:18-23) Jesus quoted the commandments that forbade murder, adultery, theft, and deceit, and then told the rich young ruler that he must also honor his parents (Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20) and love his neighbors as himself (Lev 19:18). When the rich young ruler said he had done all of these, Jesus added another: sell all of his possessions, give them to the poor, and then come and follow Jesus. Once the rich young ruler understood the demands of discipleship, he departed with grief because he was unwilling to part with his many possessions.

(3) In Matt 21:5, Matthew stated that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilled Zech 9:9. Zechariah described both the gentle character and demeanor of Israel’s Messiah, and the peace that He would bring upon Judah through military conquest (Zech 9:9-17). In Zech 9:9, the prophet proclaimed, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Jesus entered the city on a colt, in accord with the words of the prophet (Matt 21:5//John 12:15).

(4) In Matt 21:9, Matthew wrote that the crowds shouted phrases from Ps 118:25-26 in praise of Jesus as He entered Jerusalem. The psalmist wrote of God’s power to deliver him from his enemies who had rejected him. The psalmist asked God to send a deliverer to save His people, saying, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD” (Ps 118:26). According to the Gospel writers, the crowds recognized Jesus as the deliverer God had sent to save them (Matt 21:9//Mark 11:9//Luke 19:38//John 12:13).

(5) In Matt 21:13, Jesus quoted Isa 56:7 and Jer 7:11 to confront those buying and selling in the temple during the Passover celebration. In Isaiah 56, the prophet proclaimed that in the days of the Messiah, the Gentiles would align themselves with Israel and join the descendants of Jacob in the temple praying and seeking God. In Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah chastised the people of Judah for their idolatry. The people were robbers, Jeremiah said, so when they entered the temple, it became a den of thieves. Jesus overturned the money tables because the Passover commerce had impeded the celebrants from seeking God in His house (Matt 21:13//Mark 11:17//Luke 19:46).

(6) In Matt 21:16, Jesus quoted Ps 8:2 to justify those who praised Him in the temple complex, while the Jewish leadership looked on with disgust. The psalmist exalted the Lord’s majesty over all creation and recognized humankind as the chief over all the Lord had made—even to the degree that when infants gaggle they declare God’s praise. When the Jewish leadership told Jesus to make the children in the temple cease praising Him as the Son of David, Jesus cited Ps 8:2 to justify the children’s actions. Jesus argued that if a baby’s unintelligent speech brings glory to God, children volitionally praising Him should be allowed to have their voices heard. If Jesus were not God in the flesh, His actions would have been blasphemous.

(7) In Matt 21:42, Jesus quoted Ps 118:22-23 as a scriptural precedent for the Jews’ rejection of Him. As noted already of Ps 118:25-26 in Matt 21:9//Mark 11:9//Luke 19:38//John 12:13, the Evangelists saw connections between Psalm 118 and Jesus’ ministry. In Ps 118:22-23, the psalmist spoke of a stone being rejected by those more powerful, the builders. But when God delivered the needy, the rejected-one became the cornerstone of God’s work. Jesus concluded the Parable of the Vineyard Owner by quoting from Psalm 118 (Matt 21:33-46//Mark 12:1-12//Luke 20:9-19). Jesus saw in the reversal-of-fortunes theme of Ps 118:22-23 a picture of how the Jews had rejected Him with the result that God had rejected them.

As the Gospel narratives advance, each gives increasing attention to Jesus’ private ministry to His disciples. While Jesus never ignored the crowds and the needs of those around Him, the Evangelists frame the events in such a way as to reveal that as Jesus neared the cross, He was preparing His disciples to carry on the kingdom after His ascension. In Matthew 17-18, Matthew cataloged Jesus’ self-disclosure of glory and suffering, and how the disciples should relate with one another. Jesus urged the disciples to humble themselves just as He was humbling Himself on the way to the cross. Jesus defined the spiritually humble as those who properly esteem the Person and mission of Jesus Christ; those who do not think of the kingdom in fanciful terms or ethereal images; those who speak of Jesus’ suffering and glory in the same sentence; those who understand the privileges and demands of discipleship in a community; and those who view Jesus’ humility on the cross as the model of their humility with one another, their mutual forbearance and forgiveness in light of His.

The Old Testament figures and references cited in Matthew 17-18 underscore the glory of Jesus and His new community in God’s redemptive plan.

(1) At the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8//Mark 9:2-8//Luke 9:28-36), Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with Jesus. In the account of the Transfiguration, two of Israel’s most noteworthy figures were seen in physical presence dialoguing with Jesus. Peter was awestruck and offered to build tabernacles for both Moses and Elijah, and Jesus. That was when the voice from heaven identified Jesus as God’s Son, the One in whom the Father delighted. The heavenly voice commanded Peter, James, and John to listen to Jesus. Though Moses predicted that God would raise up a prophet like him (Deut 18:15; see Acts 3:22-23; 7:37) and many thought that Jesus was Elijah come back to life (Matt 16:14//Mark 8:28//Luke 9:19), Jesus was supreme in comparison to Moses and Elijah.

(2) In Matt 18:16, Jesus commanded His disciples to follow Deut 19:15 so that they would have impartiality when offenses arose among them. At the conclusion of Deuteronomy 19, Moses commanded that Israel maintain justice in court cases by requiring multiple witnesses confirm if a charge was true. Moses’ instruction was intended to circumvent someone who would falsely accuse a member of the community. These witnesses were not only to make sure the offended person was not giving false testimony but also to help win back the offender. “If he [the offender] pays no attention to them [the witnesses accompanying the offended, in accord with Deut 19:15], tell the church,” Jesus said (Matt 18:17). Moses set forth the principle of multiple witnesses as part of the formal judicial procedures for Israel in Canaan. Jesus advanced Moses’ instruction for redemptive purposes in the normal course of church life.

The miracles and messages of Matthew 14-16 are framed on the one side by the beheading of John the Baptist and on the other by Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Messiah. Herod’s execution of John the Baptist (Matt 14:1-13) demonstrated the dangers that might come upon those identified with the kingdom of God. While the threat of Herod was no small matter, Jesus gave most of His attention to His more religious opponents. Jesus employed the Old Testament to confront the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. They understood their historical situation in Israel to be the fulcrum of Scripture’s storyline. Jesus countered that His entrance into the world provided the only valid grid for understanding God’s work of redemption, and how the redeemed should live in God’s kingdom.

(1) In Matt 15:4, Jesus confronted the Pharisees and scribes for circumventing God’s commands that His people honor their parents. When a delegation of Pharisees came from Jerusalem to observe Jesus while He was ministering in Galilee, they became concerned that Jesus’ disciples had set aside the tradition to perform ceremonial washing before a meal. Jesus countered that the Jewish leadership had committed the greater error. While adhering to a tradition about washing, the Pharisees and scribes set aside the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother” (Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16) and the commands against cursing a parent (Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9) by promising to give to the temple resources that should have gone to care for needy parents.

(2) In Matt 15:8-9, Jesus cited Isa 29:13 to confront the Jewish leadership’s hypocrisy. Jesus told the Pharisees and scribes that by elevating their tradition over God’s commands they had revoked God’s word altogether (Matt 15:6). Jesus saw in Isa 29:13, “These people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service—yet their hearts are far from Me,” a description of His opponents. Jesus went on to teach His followers that since murder, greed, lust, selfishness, and pride defile a person, disciples should be concerned more for the state of their hearts than with washing their hands (Matt 15:17-20//Mark 7:18-23).

(3) In Matt 16:4, Jesus cited Jonah’s experience in the whale as a sign of His forthcoming death and resurrection. In Matt 16:1, Matthew noted that the Pharisees and Sadducees tested Jesus, asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. Jesus confronted His opponents saying that an evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but they would only receive the sign of Jonah (Matt 16:4). Jonah ran from God and the sailors on the ship headed for Tarshish threw Jonah into the sea in hopes of sparing their lives (Jon 1:14-16). The Lord sent a fish to rescue Jonah. That great fish spit Jonah onto the shore alive. Alive was what Jesus would be when He came from the tomb. The very sign Jesus’ opponents did not want was the only sign He would give them. Jesus’ opponents were dull to the reality that the Messiah was staring them in the face. Redemptive history had shifted. Faith in Jesus, not lineage in national Israel, was the only means of salvation—as Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (Matt 16:16//Mark 8:29//Luke 9:20//John 6:69).

The Gospel writers portrayed Jesus as the center of attention in the midst of large crowds. Yet, Jesus’ attention—even when surrounded by thousands—was upon those nearest and most committed to Him. The events in Matthew 11-13 provide a panorama of how various groups within the crowds responded to Jesus’ ministry (chs. 11-12) and how Jesus reserved the truth of the kingdom for those who believed His message (ch. 13). Phrases from the Old Testament resound throughout these chapters.

(1) In Matt 11:10, Jesus quoted Mal 3:1 to affirm John as His forerunner—and by implication—His identity as the Messiah. While John heard that Jesus performed acts of messianic benevolence, in accord with expectations established in Isa 35:3-10 and 61:1-3, John was yet in Herod’s prison. When would Jesus come to his aid? So strong was John’s concern that from prison he even sent messengers to ask Jesus if He was in fact the Messiah—or if he and his disciples should expect another (Matt 11:2-6//Luke 7:18-23). Jesus retorted that John’s disciples should tell the Baptist all they observed: the blind regained sight, the lame walked, the diseased were healed, and the poor heard the good news of God’s kingdom. Jesus went on to praise John as second to none amongst humanity, reassuring John that though he was suffering in prison, the kingdom had indeed dawned. John was the messenger Malachi prophesied in Mal 3:1. Though Malachi’s audience enjoyed the privileges of life back in Judah after the exile, they lacked zeal for God. In Mal 2:17-3:6, the prophet called the people to repent and announced the Lord was sending His messenger to prepare God’s people for the day of judgment. By citing Mal 3:1 in Matt 11:10//Luke 7:27 to establish John as God’s forerunner, Jesus implicitly proclaimed that He was the Messiah and that the day of judgement was at hand.

(2) In Matt 12:7, Jesus quoted Hos 6:6 to justify His allowance for the disciples to pick and eat grain on the Sabbath. Hosea prophesied before the Lord sent Israel and Judah into exile. The people thought they were safe, and Hosea had to convince them that their hypocrisy and idolatry placed them in danger before the Lord. Hosea told his hearers that the Lord wanted loyalty and faithfulness more than sacrifices offered at the temple; He wanted Israel and Judah to know Him more than He wanted to receive their burnt offerings (Hos 6:6). The Pharisees had been watching Jesus so when He did not rebuke His disciples for harvesting grain and partaking on the Sabbath, they were indignant (Matt 12:1-8//Mark 2:23-28//Luke 6:1-5). Jesus noted that the priests in the temple were exempt from interpretations of the Sabbath that forbade work for the sake of food preparation and consumption. Jesus proclaimed not only that His disciples were free from Sabbath strictures but that He was Lord of the Sabbath. A more shocking statement is hard to imagine.

(3) In Matt 12:18-21, Matthew said that Jesus’ healing ministry in Galilee fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of a Servant who would liberate the afflicted (Isa 42:1-4). Isaiah 40-66 rings of glorious hope for the redeemed people of God. Isaiah announced that God’s Servant would come with blessings and power even though He would suffer for the people (Isa 42:1-4; 49:1-7; 52:13-53:12). In the midst of debating with the Pharisees over His preeminence, Jesus continued to display messianic kindness to the lame and ill—prompting Matthew to record the fulfillment of Isa 42:1-4: “Here is My Servant whom I have chosen, My beloved in whom My soul delights; I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations…He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not put out a smoldering wick, until He has led justice to victory” (Matt 12:18, 20).

(4) In Matt 13:14-15 and 35, Jesus quoted from Isaiah and Psalms to explain why He taught in parables. Isaiah recorded his call experience in Isaiah 6. In the year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord lofty and exalted, and heard the angelic host proclaim, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth” (Isa 6:3). The Lord informed Isaiah that He was sending the prophet to a hard-hearted people; though Isaiah preached, the people would not understand (Isa 6:9-10). Jesus knew what Isaiah experienced. In Matt 13:10, the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables and the Lord answered in Matt 13:14-15 by quoting Isa 6:9-10 (see also John 12:37-40). The point of the parables, Jesus said, was to ensure that those who had not been given understanding would continue to be dull and those who had been awakened, the disciples, would grasp the message of God’s kingdom. In the midst of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13, Jesus quoted Ps 78:2 as an Old Testament follow-up to Isa 6:9-10. In Psalm 78, the psalmist recounted God’s redemptive works for Israel from the exodus to the reign of David. The psalmist introduced his survey of Israel’s history saying, “I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past—things we have heard and known, and that our fathers have passed down to us” (Ps 78:2-3). Jesus cited Ps 78:2 in Matt 13:35 to amplify the power of parables. Jesus’ method of teaching was both a filter and a funnel: parables ensured that the hard-hearted would not enter the kingdom and that the disciples would understand their place in salvation history and the kingdom of God. At the conclusion of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13, Jesus asked His disciples, “Have you understood all these things?” (Matt 13:51). When they answered Jesus’ question affirmatively, Jesus emphasized for them again the reality of the storyline of Scripture, saying, “Every student of Scripture instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who brings out of his storeroom what is new and what is old” (Matt 13:52). Jesus intended His disciples to go on teaching the fulfillment that had arrived in Him (Matt 5:17-19), the kingdom of God in all of its nearness (Matt 4:17).

As the initial chapters of Matthew’s Gospel indicate, Matthew labored to present the kingship of Jesus Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus explained how His disciples should understand the Old Testament in light of His arrival and reign. Jesus argued that since He had come to fulfill the law, His followers should practice perfect, inside-out righteousness and enjoy the Father’s blessing.

Matthew’s comment, “When Jesus had finished this sermon, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes” (Matt 7:28-29), placed Jesus in a different class than Israel’s other teachers. The crowd’s reaction showed the supremacy of Jesus; there had never been one like Him. Jesus had not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill—to show His disciples the true intent of the Old Testament witness and establish the high moral standards that accord with a relationship with the Father.

(1) In Matt 5:21-26, Jesus commanded His disciples to avoid anger the way that Moses had commanded Israel not to murder. Jesus applied the sixth commandment, “Do not murder” (Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17), to the attitudes and thoughts of His followers. Jesus warned the disciples that if they even just cursed their brother, they would be in danger of hell (Matt 5:22).

(2) In Matt 5:27-30, Jesus warned His disciples to flee from immorality and thus avoid breaking the commandment forbidding adultery. Jesus demanded that His disciples apply the seventh commandment, “Do not commit adultery” (Exod 20:14; Deut 5:18), to their eyes and heart inclinations. Extremes were in order. The commitment to follow Christ required that disciples take whatever steps necessary to avoid sexual lust.

(3) In Matt 5:31-32, Jesus cited Deut 24:1 and forbade His disciples from seeking divorce except in cases of immorality. Moses required if an Israelite man wanted to divorce his wife, he had to give her a certificate of divorce to signify that he would never take her back. Jesus later said that Moses made the certificate law as a concession to Israel’s wickedness (Matt 19:7-8//Mark 10:4-5). Jesus demanded that His followers look to the pattern of a man leaving his parents and being united to his wife (Gen 2:24) and persevere in their marital commitment according to God’s will.

(4) In Matt 5:33, Jesus cited Moses’ laws against breaking oaths as a basis for avoiding oaths altogether. In various places, Moses commanded Israel to keep their word. In Leviticus 19, Moses argued that Israel’s behavior, including truthfulness (Lev 19:18), was to reflect God’s holiness. Moses’ broader teaching about oaths in Numbers 30 also demanded that Israel keep their word (Num 30:2). The assorted commands of Deuteronomy 23 included the warning that oaths were to be taken seriously (Deut 23:21-23). Jesus’ teaching in Matt 5:33 closely reflects Moses statement in Deut 23:22. Since words matter, best to avoid swearing oaths entirely.

(5) In Matt 5:38-42, Jesus demanded that His disciples extend mercy rather than take revenge according to the law of Moses. In Exod 21:22-25, Moses commanded that if a man hit another man’s wife, the husband is free to exact judgement upon the offender just as the offender injured his wife. In Lev 24:20, Moses said that if a man permanently injured another man, the offender was to be punished with the same injury he had inflicted on the offended. In Deut 19:21, Moses established the policy that false witnesses were to be punished without mercy. Jesus’ command that His disciples to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, give to the one who wanted to take.

(6) In Matt 5:43-48, Jesus required His followers to love their enemies. In Lev 19:18, Moses commanded Israel to love their neighbors as themselves. Jesus’ followers demonstrated God’s benevolence and perfect righteousness as they showed love to those who opposed them.

(7) In Matt 7:23, Jesus cited Ps 6:8 to warn His disciples that they would be in danger if they did not adhere to the high standards of the kingdom of God. In Psalm 6, the psalmist cried out asking God to deliver him from death and the evildoers who surrounded him. The psalmist and Jesus wanted companions that were characterized by covenant loyalty, those who would share with them in the blessings God promised to the faithful. Therefore, if at the judgement someone addressed Jesus as Lord but had not fulfilled Jesus’ laws in the Sermon on the Mount, that one would hear Jesus say, “Depart from Me, you lawbreakers” (Matt 7:23).

The opening chapters of the Gospel of Matthew portray Scripture as a storyline—a diverse but unified narrative of God’s work in history. Jesus’ genealogy and birth, coupled with the quotations from the Old Testament, show that the drama of the nation of Israel had reached new heights in the One born of a virgin. Matthew 1-2 presents the fulfillment of prophetic hopes established in the Old Testament.

God had been at work in the history of Israel. In the Garden of Eden, the Lord said to the serpent, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen 3:15). The Advent of Jesus thus marks a significant point in the storyline of Scripture, preceded by days of promise, setting the stage for the last days, and the consummation of the kingdom of God among men. Matthew’s reliance upon the Old Testament is further evidence that the Gospel writers did not see the coming of Jesus as an event to be understood in isolation.

(1) In Matt 1:1-17, Matthew marked off Jesus’ genealogy in equal numbers from Abraham to David, from David to the exile, and from the exile to Jesus’ birth. Jesus’ genealogy signaled fulfillment. Matthew presented David as the central figure in Israel’s history, setting up the prominent role David would play in his Gospel (Matt 1:20; 9:27; 12:3, 23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9, 15; 22:42-45). Matthew composed Jesus’ genealogy to signal the fulfillment of God’s work in Israel and to present a new beginning, God’s revelatory and redemptive work in Jesus.

(2) In Matt 1:23, Matthew stated that Jesus’ birth fulfilled Isa 7:14: “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” When the kings of Israel and Syria came against Judah and King Ahaz in order to force Judah to join them in an alliance against the rising Assyrian threat, Ahaz shook with fear. Isaiah told Ahaz to ask for a sign from the Lord that the Lord would deliver Judah, but Ahaz refused (Isa 7:3-11). But the Lord promised deliverance anyway—and in time sent His Son to save His people from their sins.

(3) In Matt 2:6, Matthew noted that Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem fulfilled Micah’s prophecy that from obscure Bethlehem God would raise a mighty deliverer. In Mic 5:2, the prophet reminded his audience of God’s power. Even though the Lord had brought foreign powers against Israel to discipline His people, so mighty was God to deliver that from even tiny Bethlehem the Lord would raise up a deliverer to shepherd His people to victory. The scholars Herod gathered to inquire as to the birthplace of the Messiah had gotten it right. Herod felt threatened when he heard the prophecy that a military shepherd, like David, might arise from Bethlehem. Herod took the word of the Lord seriously and killed the baby boys of Bethlehem to eliminate any possible threat to his reign.

(4) In Matt 2:6, Matthew noted that Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt fulfilled Hos 11:1, which says, “Out of Egypt I called My son.” Hosea indicted Israel and Judah. Even though the Lord had been faithful to them since the time of the exodus, when He called His son, Israel, to worship Him in the wilderness (Exod 4:23), Israel and Judah continued in idolatry. As God had sent Israel to Egypt during a severe famine in Canaan (Genesis 46) and had rescued them from Pharaoh’s oppressive hand (Exodus 4-15), so God sent the baby Jesus and family to Egypt to protect them from Herod. Matthew used Hos 11:1 to portray a new kind of exodus occurring in Jesus.

(5) In Matt 2:18, Matthew wrote that Jeremiah’s description of mourning anticipated families in Bethlehem weeping at the loss of their children. Jeremiah 31 records the prophet’s words of hope, looking to the day when the Lord would restore His people and bring them back from exile. Hope is expressed by those who are suffering loss, and in Jer 31:15, the prophet described Rachel weeping for the loss of her children as they went into exile. The weeping of the families in Bethlehem looks back to Israel’s history and the need for a deliverer who would rescue Israel from sin. Only Jesus’ life-giving death could end the kind of grief Israel experienced at the exile and at the hands of Herod.