Preface
I just finished writing a daily devotional of the book
of Matthew with an emphasis on expositing the text and bringing some daily
devotional thoughts to the text. It will be a 40-day journey reading the
book of Matthew and the things I wrote within it.
Why do it? Well, first of all, I have loved reading
the Scripture for over 50 years now. I taught the Scriptures on multiple
levels from Sunday messages in a Church, to Bible Studies, to Young Adults'
discipleship formation, to lectures in a college setting. I love the
Scriptures because it is the Word of God delivered to us from God through human
authors, and as Paul reminded Timothy, “it is profitable”.
Matthew was a disciple of Jesus, also called Levi, he was
not like most of the other disciples. Many of the disciples were middle-class, some
commoners, and several were fishermen by trade (which made them middle-class
commoners). We don't know what all of them did, but we do know what
Matthew did - he was a tax collector. We meet him in the Gospels in this
way:
"As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man
called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow
me." And he got up and followed him.
And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners
came and were sitting with him and his disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does
your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no
need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have
come to call not the righteous but sinners" (Matthew 9:9-13).
The other Gospels speak of Matthew as a disciple, and, in
fact, Luke also shares this narrative Matthew had written. Still, Jewish
tax collectors were despised by the Jewish people for being traitors, working
for Rome. That being the case, why did Matthew share this instead? I
believe Matthew details his calling and the subsequent dinner to be transparent
about who he was, and what he was, and the miracle it was that Jesus cared
about people called "sinners", and even called some to follow him.
Matthew is the first Gospel in the order of the New
Testament canon. Why did the Church Fathers choose Matthew to be first,
since Luke's is more expansive, Mark's was probably written first, and John
presents a more eternal, immortal view of Jesus?
Early Church Fathers wrote that Matthew was written in
Hebrew, and then translated into Greek. That is interesting in that
Matthew writes in the language of Israel - a hint as to his purpose. Put
this together and I believe Matthew is a hinge between the Old Testament and
the New. Matthew, repeatedly, writes, "This was to fulfill what
was written in the Prophet _________". Matthew was eager to make
a connection between the Old Testament, in which God promised a Messiah to
come, and the life of Jesus who was the Messiah to fulfill God's promise.
Matthew wants us to see Jesus as the fulfillment of God's
Promise, and not just of the Messiah, but of God's promises that were meant to
usher in God's Kingdom as a reality for His people of faith. Matthew
loves to demonstrate how Jesus fulfilled God's word, over and over again - but
often not in ways that people understood, or liked.
Matthew and Luke were the only two Gospels to give an
account of Jesus' birth. Matthew goes to great lengths to show that Jesus
came as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, and King David. To
Abraham, God had said "I will bless those who bless you and through you,
all the families of the earth will be blessed" (Genesis 12:3).
To King David, God reiterated that the earth would be blessed through one that
would come from David's generations. God had said, "When
your days are fulfilled...I will raise up offspring after you, one of your own
son, and I will establish his Kingdom" (1 Chronicles 17:11).
The people cheered these promises until Jesus began to teach
on what they all mean. His teachings baffled people, and they often
appeared to be upside-down to the common way of thinking. Jesus taught on
the mountain, from a boat, in a synagogue, and out in the open, where crowds
came to listen to the one who spoke like no other teacher they had ever heard. He didn’t soothe itchy ears, he challenged
them to enter into God’s “now” Kingdom and discover a different life.
Matthew was not just a follower, he was a chronicler of
Jesus' words and wisdom. He sought to write it all down because he knew
what it could do to sinners - just like him.
Three years...that's how long Matthew spent with Jesus
physically alongside him. Three years and two thousand plus years later,
we still learn from Matthew's Gospel story.
That's why I wrote this. I wanted to share the story
in pieces. Perhaps I went too slowly for some, and I would guess that I
went too fast for others. I'll let you decide that.
I have a few things I must do before it's released, but hang
in there, I'll let you know... while it will be in digital form, there will be
a printed book also possible to buy.
Peace to You
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