Matthew 1 - 9
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MatthewSurvey of the New Testament: The Gospels & ActsWinter 2005 |
Matthew is well chosen to begin the New Testament since it is the best transition from the Old Testament into the New Testament. The book is Jewish in its vocabulary, grammar, and subject manner. Matthew uses Old Testament references, uses genealogies from Abraham. His audience is likely Jewish Christians who were removed from Palestine and had never heard of or seen Jesus but had heard many tales of Him.
Matthew-Levi, the despised tax collector in Galilee, and the apostle of Jesus.
The earliest manuscripts do not contain the title “The Gospel according to Matthew.” Therefore the book is technically anonymous. However, early church tradition has attached this gospel to Matthew dating back to Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis. Papias, who died in AD 130, in regards to this book, stated:
Matthew collected the sayings in the Hebrew style and each interpreted them as best he could [1].
The early church believed that Papias meant that Matthew originally wrote the book in the Hebrew or Aram aic lang uage and then tran s lated into the Greek book we have today. Most modern scholars dou bt that the book was originally written in Hebrew because: 1) when quoting the Old Testament, the author quotes the Septuagint, (the Greek translation of the Old Testament); and 2) the author uses Greek word plays. It is therefore considered more likely that Papias meant that Matthew wrote the book in a Hebrew style and that the reade rs interpreted or passed these on [2].
Internal evidence, while not conclusive, supports the Matthew 's authorship. This gospel refers to money and taxes more frequently than any of the other gospels ( Matthew 17:24, 27, 18:24). Matthew appears more humble in this gospel, frequently referring to himself as “the tax collector.”
The exact date of the book is uncertain. The debate revolves around two questions: 1) Does Matthew copy from Mark or vise versa? 2) Did Matthew know about the destruction of the temple, and so emphasize that in Jesus' Olivet discourse?
Because Matthew contains more unique material, it seems more likely that Matthew used Mark as a source and then supplemented that with his own memoirs. Therefore Matthew would have been written after Mark (which was written in the late 50s, early 60s) [3].
Many scholars believe Matthew 's emphasis on the temple's destruction in the Olivet discourse means that he wrote his gospel after AD 70. However, Matthew writes of the destruction of the temple in the future tense suggesting it was still a future event to him. Furthermore, most of the scholars who look towards a later dating doubt the prophetic nature of the Olivet discourse and look to a later dating to explain away Jesus prediction of the future.
Therefore, the book was probably written in the mid to late 60s.
Matthew structures his book around five narratives. Matthew concludes each of these discourses stating “when Jesus finished these words,” providing us with an important tran s ition marker. The five discourses are:
| 1 | 4:11 |
4:12 | 9:35 |
9:36 | 16:12 |
16:13 | 20:34 |
21:1 | 25:46 |
26:1 | 28:20 |
| Preparation of the King | Proclamation of the King | Protest of the King | Preparation by the King | Presentation of the King | Passion of the King | ||||||
Matthew was written to demonstrate that Jesus was and is the Messiah-King predicted by the Old Testament.
Jesus, the King of the Jews.
Matthew begins the book by establishing Jesus' royal heritage. Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is a descendent of Abraham, establishing that he is ind eed a Jew, and also a descendent of David, and therefore of the David ic kingly lin e. Interesting features of the genealogy:
Matthew presents the birth of the King from the perspective of Joseph, his father. We know very little about Joseph, and he drops out of the story after chapter 2, causing some to speculate that he died while Jesus was growing up. What is clear from the story is that he was a man of integrity, willing to divorce his betrothed quietly when he had the right to have her stoned, and that he was a man of fai th, trusting in and acting on the words of the angel.
The visit of the Wise Men is only mentioned in Matthew, for they establish the case of Jesus as the king. The wise men would have been rulers much like Daniel was. They were astrologers, philosophers, teachers, and politicians. These magi were like foreign diplomats visiting the birth of a new King. Matthew is showing that Jesus, even as a young child was considered a King by lear ned men.
The story of the Wise Men leads to the flight to Egypt by the young family (2:13-15) and to the slaughter of the innocent bab y bo ys of Beth lehem at the han d of King Hero d (2:16-23). Both these incidents are seen by Matthew as fulfillments of ancient prophecy (2:15, 18), thus furthering his case that Jesus is the predicted Messiah-king.
John the Baptist was well respected by the Jews as a prophet. Matthew is showing that the recognition of Jesus as messiah came from reputable people. John himself was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (3:3), as the precursor to the coming of the Messiah.
John 's message was to ann ounce the coming of the king: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at han d.” This coming king would bring the baptism of the Holy Spirit and will bring judgment against those who reject him (4:12)
As Jesus comes out of the water, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove, and the Father calls out from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”
What a great way to start His public ministry: to be baptized by John the Baptist, a very popular prophet, to have the Spirit of God come upon you and to hear the approval of God. This event serves as the inauguration of Jesus ministry, the kick off point before He goes out and begins to promote His kingdom to the world.
Yet, before Jesus preaches His first sermon, before He performs His first miracle, Jesus must first undergo a time of trial and temptation. It is as if, before He can begin His ministry, Jesus must prepare for his mission. He must undergo temptation so that first he proves himself as King. The temptation of Christ shows the building of His character. It acts as a rite of passage. Jesus is passing into manhood, coming into his own as a King.
In all three of the temptations, Jesus was tempted to take short cuts. Satan is asking him to grab hold of the kingdom without going through the process which God the Father had for him.
Jesus was entitled to all of these things offered in the temptation: comfort, glory, power, authority. As the King, he had authority to act on his own, to rule over all the nations and to receive recognition as Messiah. There will come a time when Jesus is granted this authority, glory and recognition by the Father. But to do so now would be to short-circuit the process God the father has for Him.
Jesus' ministry begins in 4:17 with what is the first transition of the book [7]. John the Baptist has been taken into custody, so Jesus withdraws into Galilee, leaves his hometown of Nazareth and settles in Capernaum. His entire message is summarized in this transitional verse:
(Mat 4:17 NASB ) From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
The kingdom is at hand. Jesus is telling these Jews that the coming kingdom and therefore, the coming King is just about here. Get ready and repent, because the messiah is about to establish the kingdom.
The whole of Jesus early ministry can be summed up in Matthew 4:23 (which is also repeated in 9:35:
Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
His ministry gained great fame throughout Gal ilee and the surrounding terri tories (4:24-25), for here the King was bringing healing and hope to the people. Chapters 5-9 give examples of this ministry. Chapters 5-7 provide details to the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom. Chapters 8-9 provide details to the healing of the sick.
Jesus' proclamation that the kingdom is at hand includes a detailed description of what this kingdom looks like. Matthew has compiled this description into one long discourse in chapters 5 through 7, which we today call the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon describesthe character, commands, the challenges and the choices of the Kingdom.
The other gospels have most of the words or concepts of this sermon spread throughout their pages. Only Matthew presents it as one complete sermon. However, this wouldn't be the only time he preached this sermon. Jesus was an itinerant rabbi. In Matthew, however, the sermon is presented in a very orderly fashion. This is shown by Matthew as the Christ 's platform for His kingdom as He proclaims the coming of the Kingdom.
Jesus begins with what we call the Beatitudes, where he gives a picture of the type of person who will inherit God's kingdom.
| Verses | Blessed are… | For they shall… |
| 3 | Poor in Spirit | Received the kingdom of heaven |
| 4 | Mourners | Be comforted |
| 5 | Humble | Inherit the earth |
| 6 | Hunger & thirst for Righteousness | Be satisfied |
| 7 | Merciful | Receive Mercy |
| 8 | Pure in heart | See God |
| 9 | Peacemakers | Be called sons of God |
| 10 | Persecuted | Receive the kingdom of heaven |
| 11-12 | Insulted | Receive great rewards |
These character qualities create a portrait as a whole. It is not that the merciful receive mercy but the humble inherit the earth. Rather Jesus is painting a big picture view of what a subject in his kingdom is like, and as part of that kingdom they are comforted, satisfied, find mercy, and are find great rewards.
The poor in spirit are those who are spiritually bankrupt. These people have come to the end of their rope spiritually and are struggling. These are the people who will receive the kingdom. Normal ly we would think those in the kingdom are not the ones struggling and fai ling spiritually, but those who seem to have it together spiritually. Jesus is saying it's not the person who diligently gets up early and has an hour long quiet tim e very morning who receives the kingdom. It's the person who is desperately trying to do all the right spiritual exercises, but conti nually finds themselves fai ling.
Those who fai l, but could careless don't receive the kingdom. It is those who fai l and are brokenhearted about their ina bility. It is the mourner who will find comfort.
In our culture today pride has become a virtue. We teach kids to have good self-esteem and to have pride in who they are and what they accomplish. It is the self assured who will inherit the earth. If you want to have authority and influence on the earth, it comes from developing your abilities and having confidence in yourself. But not according to Jesus. It is those who humbly accept and grieve over their fai lures who will inherit the earth.
People who are hungry and thirsty are those who are aware of their lack of food and water. To be hungry and thirsty for righteousness first requires that one acknowledge our lack of righteousness. Secondly, after recognizing how unrighteous we are, there is a great desire to have that righteousness. It is only in that hunger that satisfaction comes. Only when we realize our sinfulness will we be clothed in righteousness.
When we recognize our own need for God's mercy, we become able to extend mercy to others. In contrast, those who believe in their own abilities and their own goodness lack mercy, and are instead judgmental and intolerant.
To be pure means to be consistent. If something is made of pure gold, that means it is gold all the way through, and is not merely gold plated. To be pure in heart, then, means that the character exhibited on the outside is the same character that is on the inside. Hypocrites are merely gold plated. But to see God there must be an integrity to our character. There must be an authenticity and tran s parency.
The peacemaker is the one caught in the middle of conflict. Rather than jo in the conflict, they seek to end it and bring resolution. Peacemakers would rather be reconciled than right. This requires humility, mercy and a purity of heart. Those who are self-confident and caught up in their own righteousness can not be peacemakers, for they are so assured of their rightness that they can not compromise or tolerate those who have fai led to accept or achieve their level of spirituality.
Those who accept their spiritual fai lings and struggle but fai l to achieve righteousness will be put dow n by this world. They will be persecuted and insulted. But Jesus assures those exhibiting this character that they are in good company, for all the prophets were persecuted. Furth ermore, their reward will be in the coming kingdom.
Jesus is in essence stating that those who understand their own depravity and are grieved because of it will be the ones who enter the coming kingdom. It is those who hunger and thirst for a righteousness they do not have who will receive satisfaction. It is the poor in spirit and the persecuted who will inherit the kingdom. Those who believe in their own goodness and are proud of their spiritual accomplishments will fai l to receive the kingdom.
Jesus proclaims as the salt of the earth and the light of the world those who exhibit the characteristics of people described in the Beatitudes [8].
It is the one pure in heart, who is honest with themselves and those around them who are the salt-seasoning of the world. Humble, pure hearts can bring an influence to the world that will change the way the world tastes, just as a pinch of salt can change the taste of an entire plate of food. Those who hunger for righteousness and mercy are called the light of the world, for they will bring light to the entire world, just as a small candle can fill an entire room with light.
If these things don't characterize us, then we are probably not going to be much of a light and won't give much flavor to the world. Jesus says to such people, “what good are you?” Salt that's lost its flavor is tossed out. This is not an excuse not to be an influence in the world, for as Jesus says, you don't put a lamp under a basket. It is a call to become a person who stands out from the world, not because of our moral superiority, but because of our transparency and humility.
It is that uniqueness in our character itself that will serve as the salt and the light.
(Mat 5:17 NASB ) "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
The hallmark of Judaism is the Law. God gave the Law to the Jews through Moses. It called people to a high moral ethic. The Pharisee Jews were proud of their understanding of the Law, for they had studied it extensively and worked diligently to apply the law to every day life.
Jesus affirms the law, sating it will nev er disappear until the end of tim e. Furth ermore, those who ann ul the law or teach people how to get out of the law are the least in the kingdom. No, Jesus is not getting rid of the law, but is fulfilling it. That is, he is going to flesh out the law, literally, showing people what was truly intended by the law.
As discussed in our overview of this term, due to a number of factors, Pharisaical J u d a i s m had begun to elevate the understanding and obedience to the law above the ritualistic temple sacr i f i c es. Through generations of oral tradition, the Pharisees had provided applications of the law to every day life. Soon these oral traditions had become as important as the original law.
This oral tradition made the law Both more difficult and yet easier to keep the law. It was more difficult in the sense that each commandment had exacting criteria. For example, while the law said, “keep the Sabbath holy,” the Pharisees would interpret that and apply that by saying that to keep the Sabbath you could only walk a certain number of steps each day. This added a tremendous burden to the law.
At the same tim e, howe ver, it became humanly possible to keep the law. If one had to do was count your steps, then with effort, one actually could keep the Sabbath. Ob edience had become an objective stan dard which could be kept. As a result, the Pharisees believed that they were blameless when it came to the law. We see Paul, who was a Pharisee, making this same claim in Philippians 3:6.
But Jesus says you must be more righteous than the Pharisees if you want to get to heaven:
(Mat 5:20 NASB ) "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus then goes onto to show specific examples of how our righteousness must exceed the Pharisees by showing how they may keep the letter of the Law but not the spirit of the Law..
For the rest of chapter 5, Jesus takes six commandments from the law, and follows a pattern of comparing what the Pharisees say about the law with what the law truly intended. Each issue begins, “you have heard it that the ancients were told…,” followed by what Jesus says about that same law.
| Verse | Issue | Ancients were told… | Jesus Says |
| 21-26 | Animosity | Do not murder | Do not be angry |
| 27-30 | Sex | Do not commit adultery | Do not look with lust |
| 31-32 | Unhappy Marriage | Divorce must be formal | No divorce except unfaithfulness |
| 33-37 | Being Believed | Do not break your oath | Do not make an oath at all |
| 38-42 | Being Injured | Eye for eye, tooth for tooth | Turn the other cheek |
| 43-47 | Enemies | Love your neighbor | Love your enemy |
The law says you shall not commit murder. But Jesus says, if you call your brother an “empty-head” you are guilty of murder already. It's fai rly easy to keep that law that says don't murder. Very few people actually violate this law. But Jesus raises the stan dard such that everyone is now guilty of murder, for we have insulted another.
Jesus not only raises the stan dard, but he also raises the punishment. The law says a murderer is guilty “before the court.” Jesus says one who insults his brother is guilty enough to “go to hel l.”
Therefore, reconciliation with others becomes something of eternal significance. If I offend someone, I am going to hel l. That means I had bette r make friends with my enemies quickly, even if that means leaving my sacrifice on the alta r, because I don't want to risk being guilty of having offended or thinking poorly of someone.
The law says you shall not commit adultery. Most people have probably obeyed this commandment as well and are not guilty under the law. But Jesus says, if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you've committed adultery already. Jesus has raised the stan dard such that everyone is now guilty of adultery.
In fact, because looking upon a woman can conde mn you to hel l, the only way for a man to get into heaven is for you to pluck your eye out!
The law says that if you want to divorce your wife, you must give her a certificate of divorce. During the tim e of Moses, when this law was given, if a man wanted to divorce his wife, he would just throw her out of his tent and that was it. This left the woman without any legal protection and without any means of support. But the certificate of divorce provided her with some legal rights and afforded her protection under the law.
But Jesus says that a certificate of divorce is not ade quate to obey the law. In fact, divorce is not permitted at all, except in cases of adultery. Therefore, a divorced person who remarries has committed adultery, for all cases of divorce are prohibited under the law.
This often makes us uncomfortable, for divorce is very common in our society, as it was in Jesus day. If you have been divorced, and if you have been remarried, you are likely rather uncomfortable with Jesus words that you are committing adultery. But you are not alone in your guilt. For Jesus has also just conde mned everyone who lusts and everyone who insults. Jesus is making us all guilty under the law. Jesus is condemning us all to hel l!
The law says that we are to keep our vows. If we swear an oath, we are to tell the truth. Howe ver, Jesus is saying that we be so truthful that we don't have to make oaths in order to be believed. Our “yes” should mean “yes,” and our “no” should mean “no.” In other words, we should tell the truth all the tim e, not just when we swear an oath.
Avoiding perjury is something that most of us would be able to do. But Jesus says, don't just avoid perjury. Al ways tell the truth, for any lying is evil. Jesus has condemned us all, for we have all lied at sometime.
Restitution is one of the hallmarks of the Old Testament law. If someone injures you, you can take them to court and demand restitution for that offense. But Jesus says, we should not require restitution. To truly keep the law, we should not demand justice. To truly be righteous before God, we must be willing to turn the other cheek and to not expect to get repaid when we loan money. Jesus again has raised the bar such that it seems impossible to keep such a requirement. No one can really say they are able to live by such a stan dard.
Finally, the law says that we are to love our neighbor. But Jesus says, even the Gent iles love their friends. To really keep the law, we need to love and bless our enemies. It's easy to keep the law if we just love and bless our friends. But if we really want to keep the law, we must love and bless everyone. This is a nice thing to say, but who of us truly is able to comply with this level of love?
As it is written and as it is interpreted by the Pharisees, anyone of us would be able to perfectly keep this law. Personally, I'v e nev er committed murder, adultery, or perjury. I can live with “tooth for tooth” justice. I love my friends. I'm okay with no fault divorce. If I can get into heaven by obeying the law, I can easily earn my way to heaven.
But Jesus tells us that this is not sufficient to get into heaven. If you want to earn your way in, you must nev er insult or think poorly of someone. You can not lust after another person. Di vorce is right out. You must nev er lie. You must love your enemies and allow them to take advantage of you. And then, in case we think we are still able to keep the Law, Jesus oncludes this section by summarizing what the Law requires. We must be perfect !
(Mat 5:48 NASB ) "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
How can one ever hope enter the kingdom of heaven, if I must be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect? If that's the case, we are all guilty. No one can get to heaven. How does that make us feel? Does it cause us to feel poor in spirit? Does it cause us to feel mournful? Does it humble us? Does this cause us to hunger for a righteousness we can't obtain? If that is our reaction, then we have just entered the kingdom of heaven, for it is the poor in spirit who will have the kingdom of heaven.
What Jesus is trying to do is make us fit the characteristics of the beatitudes. He is trying to make them poor in spirit, hungry and thirsty for righteousness. We can not achieve membership into the kingdom by our own righteousness, but through God's mercy, our poverty of spirit, humility and brokenness allow membership into his kingdom.
The Pharisees believed that they could keep the law and thereby earn their way to heaven. Jesus is saying if you want to use the law as a means to get to heaven, then you have to keep not just the letter of the law, but the spirit behind it. The law was never intended to be a means of salvation, and if you want to try to turn it into that, then you have to change not just your external actions, but you have to change your internal heart as well. If you fai l to change your heart, than you will miss heaven and be guilty of going to hel l.
The apostle Pau l made this point in Roman s 3:20:
By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
The Law can't provide salvation. The Law can only demonstrate our need for salvation. The Pharisees, howe ver, had reduced the Law to the point where they thought they could obey it sufficiently to actually earn salvation. Jesus has fulfilled the Law in the sermon on the mount to demonstrate that no one can keep the law. Al l the law can do is conde mn us.
Only when we accept our conde mnation and recognize our sinfulness do we realize the need for a savior. We can not accept Chris t 's aton ement on the cross until we realize that we are sinners. Only when we are poor in spirit and hungry for a righteousness we know we can not achieve will we enter the kingdom of heaven and be satisfied. We can only hope to keep the Law in the fullness that Jesus gives if we first accept Chris t 's salvation and allow him to change our heart and turn us into a new creation.
Too often Chris t i ans are trying to attain to the impossible stan dards of the Sermon on the Mount, and in the process they reinterpret and reduce the words of Jesus to commands which can be obeyed. For example, some Chris t i ans will refuse to take an oath even in a court of law, thinking they are obeying Jesus command in verses 33-37. Jesus is not trying to create a new law here. He is merely revealing the true nature and spirit of the existing Old Testament law. The law can not save us, and attempting to find salvation through obedience will only enslave us.
That is not to say that we should not strive for the things which Jesus has outlined here. Ind eed, these are good and perfect commandments. Without them I would not realize my need for a savior. While I can not find salvation through the Law, I can find it in Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the law, and when I accept Jesus I inherit His righteousness, so that ind eed I have met all the requirements of the Law through Him!
What the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He conde mned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ( Roman s 8:3-4).
Chapter 5 is an elaboration of the first four beatitudes. Chapters 6 & 7 are an elaboration on the next four: merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted. Jesus does this by showing how these characteristics bring rewards in the coming kingdom. Jesus I telling his audience to not look the externals to determine spirituality. True spirituality is within.
There comes a special kind of arrogance when we think we can achieve our salvation through obedience to the law. When we think we have obtained a certain level of righteousness, we become tempted to desire to impress one another. But when we trust in Jesus' righteousness, we have nothing to impress other people with. Therefore we can pray, give, and fast without seeking to impress others.
This is a good test of whether we are trusting in our own righteousness or if we are trusting the righteousness of Chris t. Do we do our good works to be seen by others? How do we feel when we do something good in secret and someone else gets the credit? When we put our hope and fai th in Chris t, we can lear n to enjoy God privately and resist the temptation to impress people.
The Pharisees taught that if you obeyed God, he would cause you to prosper. This is similar to the so-called prosperity gospel that many preach today. Wealth is seen as a sign of God's approval, while poverty is a result of disobedience to God.
Jesus rejects this, stating that the desire for wealth will actually interfere in your ability to serve God. Instead of seeking wealth to demonstrate God's favor on you, we need to seek the treasures of heaven and wholeheartedly seek to follow Him. If we seek to be merciful, to be peacemakers, and to be pure in heart, we will gain the treasures of heaven, making earthly treasures a foolish pursuit.
Nonetheless, even if we are not pursuing riches, sometimes just making ends meet can be a struggle. Jesus assures us that if we are trusting Him and seeking after the kingdom, God will make sure that all our needs are met. We do not need to be burdened with worry and anxiety. If we seek Him first, all these things we need will be added to us.
Those who believe they can achieve their own righteousness will become judgment and controlling. The Pharisees had certainly become powerful mani pulators of the common person, for their interpretation of the law could influence dow n to the detail how people acted and behaved. Eve n today, spiritual leaders can wield great influence and control over people through their judgment and through spiritual mani pulation. This comes from an arrogance that believes we have achieved a certain level of spirituality rather than from the humility that recognizes our ina bility to have any righteousness apart from Chris t.
In chapter 7, Jesus warns us that whatever stan dard we set for others will become the stan dard by which god judges us. It is hypocritical to require people to hold people to a requirement that we ourselves are unable to obtain. Rather, we should, as it say a in verse 12, treat people the same way we would want to be treated.
This is not to say that we can not ever hold people accountable for sin. Indeed, scripture requires us to confront a fellow believer who is caught in sin. But doing so must be done with the utmost humility and with a spirit of restoration rather than conde mnation (Galatians 6:1-5).
Too often our confrontation with others is done without grace and without humility. Instead of gently reasoning and appealing to people we try to ram things dow n their throat. Often the people in a place where they are ready to receive the truth from us. We must be careful to not “throw pearls before swine.” This is not suggesting that there are certain classes of people who are not worthy of the gospel, but a recognition that we must be careful not to force truth on people if they are not ready to receive it. Instead we must lead people along a process and give them what they can receive.
One of the best ways to do this is to ask questions rather than preach at people. That is why Jesus tells us in verse 7 to ask. We shouldn't impose on people, but instead to ask questions. Instead of judging and conde mning, ask people the questions which will lead them to truth rather than drive them away. Furthermore, ask God for help, and he will be fai thful.
Jesus then summarizes. Rather than judge people, we should treat people in the mann er in which we would want to be treated.
Entrance into the kingdom, then, is a choice. Jesus uses three illustrations of this choice:
The choice is not always obvious. Many go through life just following the crowd, not realizing there even is the choice. They only see the wide gate and they follow through it to their destruction. But the choice to accept the Messiah is a narrow gate that few find. But those who do find life.
Many who are guiding us to truth are actually leading us astray. Jesus is clearly conde mning the Pharisees who would lead people to believe they can achieve their own salvation through obedience to the oral traditions. But even today there are those who preach a different gospel than salvation through Chris t. How can one tell the true teacher from the false one? By their fruit.
If one hears Jesus words and bases their life upon them, putting their fai th in them, they will have built their life on a solid foundation. Those who ignores the truth of Chris t are basing their life on a foundation built upon sand.
Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with a troubling passage, which states that not everyone who thinks he is going to enter coming kingdom will.
(Mat 7:22-23 NASB ) "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' {23} "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Jesus says that there are going to be some surprised people at the coming of the kingdom. People who thought they had it together, who thought because of their religious activity that they were members of the kingdom. But Jesus warns us not to be deceived. It is those who do the will of the Father, the poor in spirit, and the pure in heart who will enter the kingdom.
This is a theme that continues throughout Matthew. Jesus gives warnings to people that they may not make it into the coming kingdom just because of their status in the current regime. In 8:11-12, after the Roman centurion shows his faith that Jesus could heal his daughter, Jesus states that people from all over will be in the kingdom, and that some Jews will not. In chapter 19 we learn that it is the little children who will enter the kingdom (19:14), but that it is very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (19:24).
In a most disturbing passage to the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus says that the tax collectors and prostitutes will see the kingdom before they do (21:31), and that the kingdom will be taken from them and given to another nation (21:43).
The coming messianic kingdom will be exclusive, and those who are relying on their heritage or religion to gain entry will be surprised. But the poor in spirit and pure in heart will have a place in the kingdom which is at hand.
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