Category: <span>Commentary</span>

Matthew 8-10

Matthew’s initial description of Jesus’ Galilean ministry (Matt 4:18-25) set the stage for what readers would come to expect from Jesus through the rest of his Gospel. In Matthew 8-10, the Evangelist recounted Jesus’ mission of healing the sick and training future leaders. In the midst of all of this, Jesus dealt with those who opposed or did not understand His message. Along the way, John the Baptist’s disciples questioned Jesus about why His disciples did not fast like the Pharisees. Jesus replied that new structures were required to understand His new teaching (Matt 9:14-17//Mark 2:18-22//Luke 5:33-39). If someone put new wine into old wineskins, the wine skins would burst when the wine cured. New wine is only preserved in new wineskins, Jesus said. Jesus’ message was the new wine that could not be carried by the structures of the old covenant. Everything that had come before was now to be evaluated in light of Him. Matthew and Jesus cited Scripture as a storyline that pointed to Jesus’ ministry.

(1) In Matt 8:17, Matthew stated that Jesus’ compassion and power to heal fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of a suffering servant. In Isaiah 53, the prophet said that God’s servant was a rejected and despised figure. But the servant took up the sicknesses of God’s people and identified with their pain. Matthew understood Isaiah to be prophesying not only about Jesus’ suffering and death but even the days of Jesus’ life. Jesus’ acts of compassion upon those affected by sin and disease—taking their pain upon Himself—was a precursor to the time when He would defeat sin and death on the cross. Matthew commented, “He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘He himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases’” (Matt 8:16b-17).

(2) In Matt 9:13, Jesus quoted Hos 6:6 to validate His willingness to dine with those thought unclean. In Hosea 6, the prophet confronted Israel because they were spiritually shallow. Israel participated in sacrifice and burnt offerings—but that was it. Israel’s religious practices were not based on a true knowledge of God. Hosea indicted Israel for unfaithfulness to God (vertical unfaithfulness); Jesus condemned the Pharisees for horizontal unfaithfulness to people. Jesus chose His disciples from among the classes that were far out of the reach of the Jewish elite, people like Matthew and his tax-collecting comrades (Matt 9:9-13). When the Pharisees chastised Jesus for associating with sinners, Jesus quoted Hos 6:6, saying, “Those who are well do not need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt 9:12-13). Jesus thus expanded Hosea’s indictment of Israel and condemned the Pharisees for not helping sinners to know of God’s mercy—and expand God’s kingdom.

(3) In Matt 10:35-36, Jesus employed Mic 7:6 to describe the weighty relational demands of discipleship in His kingdom. Micah noted that during the Assyrian invasion of Israel (2 Kings 17), a person could not find a faithful companion even in his own family. Jesus told His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matt 9:37-38). He then commissioned them to scatter and spread throughout Israel the news of the kingdom. Jesus required His disciples to evaluate all human relations in light of the kingdom. Echoing Mic 7:6, Jesus said, “I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Matt 10:35-36). According to Jesus, faithfulness in the kingdom required willingness to lay down one’s life. Jesus said, “Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it” (Matt 10:39).

Commentary Matthew New Testament

Matthew 5-7

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).

Commentary Matthew New Testament

Matthew 3-4

Of the four evangelists, Matthew most emphatically portrayed Jesus as a king (Matt 1:2-17; 13:41; 16:28; 19:28; 25:31-34). Analyzing the literary context of Matthew 3-4 reveals that the arrival of King Jesus was similar to that of human kings. Heralds would announce the arrival of a new king and John the Baptist heralded the arrival of Jesus. At the announcement of a new king, the king’s adversaries would oppose him and seek to secure their own territory. The Devil sought to fortify his hold on humanity by tempting Jesus in the wilderness. But Jesus was a different kind of king. Jesus submitted to the rite of His herald, being baptized by John in the Jordan. And Jesus was victorious over the Devil not by His own might but by the word of God.

In Matthew 3-4, Matthew, the Devil, and Jesus cited the Old Testament. How they employed passages from Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah revealed how they viewed the relationship between Jesus and the narrative of God’s redemptive work.

(1) In Matt 3:3, Matthew identified John the Baptist as the herald that Isaiah predicted would prepare the way of the Lord. Isaiah 40 marks a change of tone for the prophet. Messages of judgement in Isaiah 1-39 are followed by Isaiah’s exclamation, “‘Comfort, comfort My people,’ says your God” (Isa 40:1). The prophet spoke of a voice crying out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert” (Isa 40:3). Isaiah prophesied the time of God’s mercy upon Judah, when the Lord would remember His people and extend grace to the oppressed. John the Baptist was the voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord (Matt 3:1-6//Mark 1:2-6//Luke 3:1-6//John 1:19-23). John did not portray his message as the culmination of God’s program. John was preparing the way for One more powerful than himself, One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, One whose judgment would have eternal consequences (Matt 3:11-12//Mark 1:7-8//Luke 3:15-18//John 1:24-28).

(2) In Matt 3:13-17, Matthew wrote that the Spirit descended upon Jesus, just as the Spirit was expected to guide Israel’s Messiah. The Gospel writers describe Jesus’ baptism as opening His public ministry (Matt 3:13-17//Mark 1:9-11//Luke 3:21-22//John 1:29-34). Just as the Spirit was upon Moses (Num 11:16-30), Saul (1 Sam 10:10), and David (1 Sam 16:13; Ps 2:2; 51:11) to guide them in their ministries of leadership, Isaiah predicted that the Lord would anoint His deliverer with the Spirit of God (Isa 11:2; 42:1, 7; 61:1-2). Matthew noted that when Jesus came out of the Jordan river, the heavens were suddenly opened, and the Spirit descended upon Jesus.

(3) In Matt 4:1-11, Jesus and the Devil quoted Scripture. Just as King Herod jealously sought to destroy Jesus in His infancy in Matthew 2, the Devil was threatened by Jesus’ arrival and wanted to dissuade Jesus from fulfilling His mission. In the wilderness, the Devil tempted Jesus to forgo His messianic mission (Matt 4:1-11//Mark 1:12-13//Luke 4:1-13). But Jesus was operating with divine aid. Matthew recorded that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil (Matt 4:1). There the Devil launched a frontal attack against Jesus, urging Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple and rely upon God to rescue Him. The Devil cited Ps 91:11-12, the psalmist’s confession that the Lord would send angels to protect him so that his foot would not strike a stone. But Jesus responded to each of the Devil’s temptations by citing Scripture from Deuteronomy 6-8, where Moses exhorted Israel to fully embrace the Law and enjoy God’s blessing in Canaan. Jesus relied upon God’s powerful word and was blessed with the strength to endure the Devil’s deceptive attacks.

(4) In Matt 4:16, Matthew stated that Jesus’ ministry in Galilee fulfilled Isa 9:1-2. After announcing the ruin Israel would experience in the exile, Isaiah prophesied a day of hope for those dwelling in what was once Israel, that is, the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah said, “The gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future, He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations” (Isa 9:1). Matthew understood Jesus’ departure for the north to be a direct fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, commenting, “The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadow land of death, light has dawned” (Matt 4:16). The Gentiles of northern Palestine were the first to enjoy the Messiah’s ministry. There Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be His followers (Matt 4:18-22), preached in the synagogues (Matt 4:23), and healed the sick (Matt 4:23-25).

Commentary Matthew New Testament

Matthew 1-2

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.

Commentary Matthew New Testament