A
study of the Gospel of Matthew
We
continue our study 'According to Matthew'. We have seen how in his
gospel Matthew is creating an account of Jesus as being the
Servant-King, the One chosen of God to rule over a new kingdom whose
priorities turn conventional wisdom upside down and inside out. We
heard a kingdom manifesto proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount. We
have witnessed unique acts of miraculous service at the hands of
Jesus, everything from healing to feedings of crowds and stilling of
storms. We have witnessed how Jesus carries with Him an authority
that we defined by the Greek Word 'exousia';
an authority that expressed itself in freedom of action and through
the love that seemed to ooze out of His life.
In
our last session we were taken up a mountain and witnessed a meeting
with Moses and Elijah and heard for the second time a voice
proclaiming 'This
is my beloved Son, listen to Him!”
And we witnessed how the disciples are struggling to come terms with
such revelations. They are still confused and unsure where all this
is leading, even though Jesus has now begun to teach them quite
plainly that He will travel to Jerusalem, be betrayed by those who
held the keys of earthly power and would meet His death, only to be
raised again to life three days later.
We've
come along a way since Jesus began His public ministry with a baptism
in the River Jordan. But as we've made the journey we get a sense
that the kingdom John the Baptist was preparing people to welcome,
truly has dawned in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ.
The
values of this New Kingdom conflicted with the values that were
already in place. In the kingdom of humankind there was always a
pecking order. Kings knew their places and servants knew theirs. The
two never became confused. Position was everything. Certain people
never even dreamed of having status. Slaves, women and children had
no political rights and were considered as property by the law.
Against
this background you can imagine the disciples wondering what the New
Kingdom may mean for their own lives. They had, after all, left
everything to follow Jesus, and He kept teaching them about the
Kingdom. Their question was, “What would their position in this New
Kingdom turn out to be?” It's all very well having a revolution and
overthrowing society, but when the new came to be, where did that
leave them?
So
we read Matthew 18:1-5
As
stated earlier, children at the time of Jesus had no rights nor
power. The very fact that Jesus called a child to Himself to
illustrate who was important in the New Kingdom was a parable all by
itself without Him having to say a word. A number of times in the
preceding chapters He has invited those who were the movers and
shakers of His day to come to Him and they refused to come near. Now
He calls a child over and the little one stands right with them.
It's
also interesting that the disciples presume that, because they are
disciples, they are automatically, going to be part of the new
Kingdom, and have a significant place within it. When Jesus is in the
picture it never seems safe to assume anything, particularly if its
based on our own feelings of self-worth.
We
are Americans (well some of you are!), we are decent law-abiding
citizens, we take care of our families, we try and be nice to
everybody, we attend church, give to charity, for goodness sake,
today we've even taken time to come and study the Bible. Shouldn't
that count for something in the eyes of God, and at least garnish us
a few brownie points?
The
conversation is turned on it's head. The disciples want to know what
they can do to be a significant entity in the new order of things.
Here is Jesus saying that there was absolutely nothing they could do
to impact their status as a child of God. What they needed to do was
trust in God and so be in a position of total dependence upon God
that mirrored the way a child in their society was completely
dependent on others for everything they needed in life. Nothing
more, nothing less.
In
John's Gospel, chapter 3, a character called Nicodemus, a pharisee
belonging to the ruling body in Israel, the Sanhedrin, respectfully
asks Jesus what can be done to be part of the Kingdom life that he
perceived was taking place through Jesus. Jesus answers Nicodemus
that there was nothing that he could do, except he be 'born again' or
'born from above'. That belonging to the Kingdom was a matter of
trusting in what God could do for him, not what he could do for
himself.
In
a similar way Paul's great epistle to the Romans speaks of the only
way, for anybody, Jew or Greek, to be right with God, was through
faith. Whatever 'works' a person did, whatever position in this world
they thought they occupied, whatever status their background or
breeding or pedigree may confer upon them, their 'works' couldn't
help them. As Martin Luther would later make the dominant theme of
Reformed theology, justification was by faith alone. Only those saved
by grace through faith could ever see the Kingdom.
It's
not about what we can do, it's about what God has done in Jesus
Christ. It's about throwing ourselves into God's arms. I remember
when my children were little, they loved to play those jumping games.
Jumping into your arms. Swinging them around. 'Catch me daddy' …
and, ready or not, they'd make a leap of faith and laughing and
giggling it would be a moment of unabashed joy. If they tried it
these days they would probably put me in hospital... but that's not
where we are going with this!
That last phrase is also significant, because it forms a transition into what comes next. Faith wasn't just about how you trusted God, but also how you offered welcome to others. Just as God welcomes our faith, so we are to extend that invitation to others. We are invited to become the sort of people that others can trust to catch them when they are falling. There is a community aspect to this, an acknowledgment that faith is never purely personal because it also involves acting responsibly towards those around us. When we do that... 'Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. '
One
of the themes often stressed during Communion, is that the communion
table is a place of hospitality. We share a communal meal. We set a
place for all to come, where all are welcome, from the littlest to
the greatest, from the weakest to the strongest. Only God knows
exactly who qualifies to be in each category. The first shall be
last, the humble will be exalted, those who are fallen will be
raised, the cross becomes the place of resurrection... that whole
reversal thing is always going on in the Kingdom.
Our
next verses have been described as some of the most radical and
extreme in the whole of Matthews gospel. We stay with the theme of
'little ones' but move quickly into disturbing images of
self-inflicted amputations. Read 6-10
The words of this section are best interpreted against the background of passages such as 1 Peter 4:17 'For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household of God …' and Matthew 7:4 “How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?”
It's a section about discipline, discipline within the community of faith and self-discipline.
The
early church, by its very nature of being something new, was a church
of new believers who were finding their way. The church of today is
mixture of seasoned saints and those just beginning their spiritual
journeys. For those who have been around for a while, these verses
are a caution. They invite us to be patient with one another, and
particularly patient with the 'little ones', be they literally
children or those who are spiritually children. To act in a way that
is open and forgiving, not intolerant and disapproving. Many a
potential new member of today's churches have been driven out by
thoughtless words and judgmental actions of established church
members.
People
know the difference between being tolerated and welcomed. Church
institutions are notorious for having their unwritten codes of
conduct and expectations in everything from the way folk dress to how
well they understand the pecking order of a particular congregation.
Have you ever considered what a weird experience it is walking into
one of our congregations for the first time? To not know where to
sit, let alone what the expectations are as to what to do? To be
expected to understand that we follow a bulletin and sing hymns we
have never heard before from a blue book, that sometimes we stand and
sit... and if you look real close there's a footnote that tells you
when to do it? That people are going to come around with plates and
want you to put money in them?
Again,
we are back to ideas of hospitality and welcome. But its so much more
than that. It's also about having a lifestyle that backs up our
profession of faith. It's no good acting by one set of rules in
church and then living your life by a different set of rules
everywhere else. Because when you encounter some of those 'little
ones' who are just coming to faith, you are going to demonstrate that
actually 'faith' doesn't mean anything in the real world. And they
will be quick to follow your example. As William Barclay titles this
section in his commentary, it's about “The Terrible
Responsibility.” Terrible, in the sense that we have a 'huge'
responsibility to build the faith of others.
To
underline that depth of responsibility towards those less mature in
the faith than ourselves we have these words: 'If
anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to
stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung
around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 'The large millstone referred to here is, in Greek, a 'mulos onikos'. 'Onos' is the Greek word for 'donkey', 'mulos' for a millstone. The stone referred to is the big grinding stone that needed a donkey to turn it. Jesus is not mincing His words here! In no uncertain terms we are being reminded that we are responsible for the lives of new believers and need to take care that we do nothing to drive them away.
How
do we face up to such a responsibility? We begin with ourselves. In
an age that stresses “If it feels good, do it' the notion of
'self-discipline' is not at the top of our priority list. So it is as
appropriate for our generation, as it would be for any other, that
Jesus gets our attention with images of cutting off limbs and gouging
out eyes. Of course these verses are not intended to be interpreted
literally.
There is a verse in
the N/T book of Galatians 5:24 that tells us:
“Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions
and desires.”
The
Message Bible transliterates that verse;
“Among
those who belong to Jesus Christ, everything connected with getting
our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls
necessities is killed off for good—crucified.”
The
phrase used by past generations for such spiritual discipline was
'self-mortification.' A phrase like that reminds us that following
Jesus was never meant to be easy. It is the most demanding thing we
can ever gear our lives towards. Jesus asks everything of us. Our
most basic confession of faith is three words “Jesus is Lord.”
He informs us that we have this huge responsibility to nurture the
faith of others, to go into all the world and make others His
disciples. He holds us accountable for our personal actions.
Matthew
Henry in his commentary suggests that Christian discipline is both an
inward
and an outward
process. Firstly
he
suggests we have to deal with our wrong thinking. The appetites and
inclinations that lead us astray have to be kept in check and
controlled. In his wonderful 19th century language he writes; “Inward
lust must be mortified, though it be as dear to us as a hand or an
eye... that which we have rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel,
must be abandoned.”
Such ideas take us right back to the sermon on the mount where Jesus
identifies sin as something that begins in the heart of a person.
Secondly,
Matthew Henry suggests that we seek to avoid situations that we know
we have a hard time dealing with. Or as he phrases it: “The
outward occasions of sin must be avoided, though we thereby put as
great a violence upon ourselves as it would be to cut off a hand, or
pluck out an eye.” He
gives the examples of Moses who left all the glory of Pharaoh's
palace in order to be true to his destiny, and Abraham who fled the
idolatry of his native land for a new country where God could be
honored. He concludes
“We must think nothing too dear to part with, for the keeping of a
good conscience.”
On
a lighter note some of us may have come from homes where in order to
nurture our faith as children we were taught bedtime prayers. For
example: 'Now
I lay me down to sleep, I pray dear Lord my soul to keep, May angels
guard me through the night, And keep me safe 'til morning light.
Amen. '
If
you had ever wondered where the idea that little children have
special guardian angels watching over them comes from, it is from
verse 10 here in Matthew. When speaking about the exalted place
'little ones' have in God's affections, here is Jesus saying:
“For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of
my Father in heaven.”
Their personal angels are constantly in touch with the Almighty.
There appears to be a special place in God's heart for the little
ones.
What follows are
three illustrations of how a childlike faith may be nurtured. We are
given three examples.
- Caring for the lost.
- Treating each other as brothers and sisters.
- Being forgiving servants.
Firstly,
caring for the lost and the parable of the wandering sheep. Verses 11
-114
“What
do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders
away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look
for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you,
he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that
did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not
willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Shepherds did not have the best
reputation at the time of Jesus. When people told jokes about
shepherds they were usually derogatory. Rather like the way West
Virginians tell jokes about people from Kentucky (Because the rest of
the country makes redneck jokes about West Virginia). So this tale is
along the lines of a joke. 'Did you hear the one about Shepherd who
leaves 99 sheep in a field? And then he goes off and spends the whole
night looking for just one of them. The he finds her and he comes
home with a big smile on his face saying 'I found my sheep, I found
my sheep. I'm so happy! Ha! What do you make of that!”
You can picture his listeners thinking,
“Well. That's a good one Jesus. Those shepherds, huh!” Then Jesus
turns the tale right around. “You know how crazy those shepherds
are about their sheep? Well that's how crazy God is about all those
who are lost and in danger of perishing!”
William Barclay takes a more pastoral
approach to the parable and draws out the pictures of God's concern
that flow through this story.
He notes that the love of God is an
individual love. God wasn't happy until every last soul is bought
home. It's patient and seeking love. People, like
sheep, can be stupid. They easily wander off the right road. But God
seeks them out. The love of God is a rejoicing love. Whenever
we turn to God the result is not a rebuke but a welcome. Finally the
love of God is a protecting love. We are the sheep of His
pasture and He is our Good Shepherd. Psalm 23, 'The Lord is my
Shepherd' immediately springs to mind in this context.
The intent of the parable to both
remind the listener that they are cared for, and encourage them to
offer care towards others. To seek out those who are lost. To rescue
from peril those who are perishing, even if they are a minority of
one! There is something childlike and naive to the shepherds tale. It
extols the virtue of caring as being a hallmark of a Kingdom
lifestyle. Another attribute of childlike faith has to do with
treating each other as brothers and sisters, and it is with that in
mind that the next verses are best interpreted.
Read verses 15 through 19.
Some
commentaries suggest this passage is about church authority and
discipline, and that it paved the way for the practice of
excommunicating people from church communities who didn't tow the
line. To myself such an interpretation removes this section from the
context of this whole section which is strongly pastoral in nature.
The issue is not about control, but how lost sheep can be restored.
It's not about closing doors to folk who stray from the path, but
rather keeping as many doors as possible open wide for them to
return.
Eugene
Petersen in the Message Bible captures this sense so well in his
transliteration of this section.
"If
a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between
the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't
listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of
witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't
listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll
have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for
repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.”
When
Jesus tells them at the end of the story to
'treat
them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.' they
would no doubt be bearing in mind the way He treated pagans and
tax-collectors. He didn't cast them out. He called them to follow
Him. Now if Jesus had said, “Treat them like ta whitewashed tomb
brained Pharisee or dead in the letter of the law Sadducee, that
would be a different matter! But He doesn't. The emphasis is on
seeing them as the lost sheep the shepherd will go great lengths to
bring home.
The
final section about 'whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven'
is not easy to interpret. It seems to be connected to the idea in the
sermon on the mount where Jesus told the disciples that when they
said 'yes' they should mean 'yes' and when they said 'no' they should
mean 'no'. It's about being single-minded about what needs to be
done, and in this context would be about agreeing with others what
action was needed to help a person through a time when they were
kicking against their faith.
This
comes out in the next lines, “if
two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be
done for them by my Father in heaven.” I've
heard people quote that verse completely out of context and suggest
that it means that whatever they pray for, as long as its something
another brother or sister in the faith totally agrees upon, then God
was duty bound to answer such a prayer. That interpretation can only
lead to huge disappointment. The whole context of the passage is
about restoring lost ones to their faith.
Again
I think Eugene Petersen hits it right on the mark as he
transliterates these verses as meaning: When
two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer
of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three
of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be
there." I
do however love the promise in the traditional words “For
where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Only
in Christianity can 2 or 3 be counted as a crowd! It reminds us that
faith is never about numbers, but about the presence of God. His
presence is the only numeric value that really counts for anything.
But obsessed with numbers we tend to be. And the disciples were no
different. Particularly as they mulled over all this talk of
forgiveness and restoration, they struggled with the idea of how many
times they needed to forgive somebody, before they punched them in
the nose or did something even worse. At least that's what seems to
be on Peters mind.
Read
verses 21 through 35.
Then
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I
forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven
times.
“Therefore,
the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts
with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten
thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to
pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all
that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell
on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and
I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on
him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But
when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who
owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke
him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow
servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and
I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and
had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
When
the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went
and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the
master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I
canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t
you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In
anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until
he should pay back all he owed.
“This
is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive
your brother or sister from your heart.”
Seven
times seemed like a good number to Peter. He thought he was being
generous. Rabbinical teaching suggested three times was quite
sufficient. So he's doubled that and added one for good measure. But
Jesus replies seventy times, or in some translations “70 x 7”...
which didn't mean Peter could keep on counting till he got to 490 and
then take revenge, but meant Peter had be infinite with his
forgiveness. Why? Because God is infinitely patient and forgiving
towards us. And to illustrate that fact Jesus tells this story about
an unforgiving servant.
The
amounts in the story are maybe not as clear to us as they were to the
original hearers. The servant who finds forgiveness owes a debt that
is completely out of this world. Call it millions of dollars if you
like. The one the forgiven servant won't forgive owes only a small
amount... lets say a few hundred dollars. That is what so outrages
the other servants. They know this guy has been let off of a debt
that was huge and un-payable. But then he goes and demands blood for
a comparatively meager amount.
It's
a story about forgiveness. Whenever we say the Lord's prayer we use
that phrase, 'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”Here
it is in an expanded form. Why should we forgive our debtors? Because
God, in Christ, has forgiveness us for all our debts, all our
trespasses, all our sins, sins that we are totally incapable of
atoning for by own efforts.
Our
chapter began with a question about 'Who was the greatest?' and Jesus
placing a little child in the midst of His disciples, explaining to
them that unless they had the child-like faith and trust of a little
one, then they hadn't a hope of being part of the Kingdom of God, let
alone of having a significant position within it.
Jesus
moves on from there to talk about how God was not concerned with the
way they jostled for position and tried to better themselves. God was
watching to see how they cared for each other, how they expressed
hospitality and welcome to others and how willing they were to change
their ways in order to make the Kingdom accessible to others. Along
with that came what William Barclay called “The Terrible
Responsibility”. Those who were mature in their faith had a
responsibility to nurture the faith of those who were just starting
out on their journey. To put no stumbling blocks in their way.
Discipleship was not an easy option, but demanded a disciplined
approach.
But
lest we get too fearful of such a commitment we are gently reminded
that 'little ones' have guardian angels. So having the faith of a
'little one' meant trusting somebody was watching out for you!
We
are then given three examples of how the faith of a little one may
express itself. A shepherd searching for a lost sheep reminds us that
we need to care
for the lost. A passage about forgiving our brothers and sisters
reminds to always keep the door of grace open wide. A story about an
unforgiving servant reminds us that as servants we are entirely
dependent on God. So we should treat others in a similar fashion to
the way God has dealt with us. Namely... with love, forgiveness and
tenderness.
That's what it takes
to be great in the Kingdom! There's a wonderful passage in one of the
later letters in the New Testament, that shows how the disciples took
this message to heart. The letter is traditionally attributed to St
Paul. Verses 7 to 12 of 1 Thessalonians speak of how he and his
co-workers conducted their mission in Thessaloniki.
“We
were like young children among you. Just
as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you.
Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not
only the gospel of God but our lives as well. …. For you know
that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own
children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy
of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory.”
'Greatness'
was the opening theme of our chapter. Greatness is the opposite of
smallness. This chapter challenges our tiny world, with all its
limitations and misunderstandings, it's petty squabbles and
prejudices, and invites us to expand such confining boundaries and
instead be Kingdom people, 'little ones' of faith.
Next
time, chapter 19, we will hear what Jesus had to say about marriage
and divorce, witness Him again using a child as an illustration of
faith and hear some startling words to a rich young ruler about his
possessions.
Over
the next few chapters we see how many of the themes we have already
been introduced to are repeated and expanded. The final narrative
will be the account of His final days on earth and the new beginning
of the Resurrection. But all that is a little way down the line.
I
know.... you can't wait.
But
be patient.
All
will be revealed!
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.