Smoodock's Blog

So far in our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we have found that Matthew has divided his narrative of Jesus’ public ministry into five book-like sections that answer to Moses’ writing the five books of the Law. Jesus is the Prophet, whom Moses predicted would come (Deuteronomy 18:15-18). In the first book (chapters 4 through 7), Matthew tells us that Jesus preached to large crowds (Matthew 4:23-25), culminating with the “Sermon on the Mount” in which they were told that the Kingdom of Heaven is quite unlike the kingdoms of this world. In the Kingdom of Heaven, folks look out for one another, forgive one another (even enemies), and don’t judge one another.

In his second book (chapters 8 through 10), Jesus demonstrates what the power of God’s Presence means to the believer. In fact, only the believer is able to experience that power in his life. In sending out the Twelve to do as he had been doing, vis-à-vis imaging him (cp. Genesis 1:27), he told them what to do and what to expect. As they preached the Gospel, some folks would receive them, while others would not, but those who do receive them would experience the power of the Presence of God, vis-à-vis his Kingdom.

We have now come to Matthew’s third book in his Gospel narrative (chapters 11 through 13). This is the central book and it indicates a kind of reversal in Jesus’ behavior. It isn’t an actual reversal, because Jesus wasn’t surprised over reaction to his preaching. It is simply the next step in bringing mankind back to the Father, which is the reversing the judgment of Eden (Genesis 3).

As Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, some folks received the Gospel with joy, while others, like John the Baptist and Jesus physical family, who, although they initially received him, weren’t so enthusiastic, as time went on. They began to wonder, if Jesus truly was the Messiah, because, simply put, he was not the Messiah they expected. Were they wrong, or was Jesus wrong? Finally, a third group completely rejected Jesus as their Messiah. By and large, these folks were the Jewish authorities and the Jewish nobility. Materialistically, they stood to lose a lot, if Jesus was the real deal. Therefore, they accused him of being nothing more than a charlatan, a false teacher, who had to be delt with as soon as possible, because he perverted the minds of the people.

Consequently, at this point in Matthew’s Gospel narrative, Jesus began to withdraw from the public view, and he taught his disciples privately (Matthew 13:36). While he was still disposed to preaching to the public and large crowds, instead of preaching clearly, as he had been doing, he spoke in parables, and hid the Kingdom of God behind the veil of parabolic speech, which most didn’t understand, but the stories were of a type that would be remembered.

Matthew demonstrates that the Kingdom or the Presence of God in the believer comes at a cost. Man does not get to say what is good and what is evil (cp. Genesis 2:17). Once man begins to distrust God and leans upon his own understanding (Genesis 3:5-6), he moves away from God and seeks independence for himself. This is where the Jewish authorities were, and they stood to lose their authority over the people, if they accepted Jesus as the Messiah. They wouldn’t allow that to happen.

Some folks, like Jesus natural family and John the Baptist had a vision of what the Messiah should be like. However, when Jesus didn’t fit the bill, they began to wonder. Good people need to let go of their preconceived ideas of the truth (traditional knowledge of good and evil). Even folks who want to serve God can come to wrong conclusions, by depending too much on their own understanding or what respected teacher have told them. They simply must let go of religious traditions and allow Jesus to tell them what good is and what evil is, because only God gets to define the truth. Man gets to submit to the truth that God defines for him, and thereby he is able to image his Creator (Genesis 1:27).