Matthew: Preparation by the King
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MatthewSurvey of the New Testament: The Gospels & ActsWinter 2005 |
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A transition takes place in chapter 16 [1]. The disciples are asked by Jesus who people say he is. Peter responds, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God (16:16).” Jesus acknowledges this, and from here on Jesus begins to show his disciples He is the messiah-king, and what that means.
( Matthew 16:21 NASB ) From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem , and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day
Now that the disciples know who he is and what his purpose is for the kingdom, He reveals more and more of his kingly state, promising in 16:28 that some would live to see him coming in His kingdom. This fulfilled in chapter 17, at the transfiguration when Peter , James and John see Jesus in his glory talking with Moses and Elijah . They had now seen the King in all His glory. The disciples were certain that the kingdom was certainly at hand (although not in the form they had expected). But Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about this until after He is risen from the dead. While the disciples were to see Jesus in His glory, it was not yet time to reveal Himself fully to the people, for he still had to suffer and die.
The disciples ask about Elijah , who was predicted in he Old Testament to precede the coming kingdom. While Jesus explains that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah (17:12-13), more intriguing is that Jesus states that Elijah is also still to come. In this “Second Coming,” Elijah will restore all things. This matches with the concept of the “harvest” with the wheat and the tares, and the sorting of the fish with the great dragnet. But it also means that everything is not going to be restored with the first advent, and that the wheat and the tares are going to coexist for awhile longer in the kingdom.
The disciples ask Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus responds in the fourth of five discourses in the book of Matthew . In this discourse, Jesus reveals that it is not the disciples or the religious leaders who will be the greatest, but those who are as humble as a child. The Father has such concern for children that anyone who causes a child to stumble will be condemned. Jesus illustrates this concern through the parable of the lost sheep, illustrating that God does not desire that any child become lost.
Jesus has just illustrated to the disciples the deep concern that God has for those who are lost and have gone astray. Then Jesus outlines the role that the disciples are to play for those who are caught in sin. Jesus outlines a three-step process in confronting others:
If a fellow believer has sinned, go and tell him, Jesus commands us to go by yourself, in a one on one discussion. There are two thoughts behind this one on one discussion. First, Jesus is telling us to be proactive. It means we take the initiative to deal with the issue. Secondly, Jesus is telling us to keep it private. If we keep the offense private, one on one, then if the person repents and says I'm sorry, the conflict is over.
Jesus states that if the person doesn't respond to the one-on-one, then go back, but this time bring some others with you. It is still not a public matter, however, and if the person repents, then those two or three people can be a witness to the change of heart and the matter is cleaned up.
If the person does not repent after the bringing witnesses, then the matter goes before the church. At that point, if there is no repentance, then Jesus says that the church should treat the offending party like a heathen. But this is the last stage. Long before we get to that stage, we need to be proactive about addressing sin when we see it in one another. We need to be private so that repentance and reconciliation can happen as easily as possible.
Right after Jesus outlines that process of confrontation, Peter asks Jesus a question.
( Matthew 18:21-22 NASB ) Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
It seems Peter isn't really asking a question, but is trying to demonstrate to Jesus that he is a truly forgiving person. The Pharisees taught that you only had to forgive three times. But Jesus response was amazing. It was beyond what Peter expected. Jesus says to forgive not merely three times like the religious leaders, nor merely seven times as suggested by Peter . Rather, Jesus says we are to forgive seventy times seven. Jesus is using this exaggeration to say to Peter and us that, we should forgive without limits, without counting, over and over and over.
To emphasize this teaching, Jesus tells a parable of man who had been forgiven much, but then refused to forgive one who had committed a minor offense. In a reminder of the Sermon on the Mount, it is the merciful who find God's mercy. The more we recognize the depths of our spiritual poverty and the heights of God's grace, the easier it is for us to forgive those around us.
This lesson regarding privilege in the kingdom didn't seem to get through to the disciples, and He again and again must remind them that the greatest in the kingdom is the least on the earth. He shows them first in 19:13-15 that it is the little children who belong to the kingdom of heaven.
In chapter 19:16ff, a rich young man asks Jesus what He must do to obtain eternal life. Jesus responds that He must sell all He has and give it to the poor. This is too difficult for the young man to do, leading to Jesus conclusion that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God .” (19:24)
Peter responds to this by reminding Jesus that the disciples have indeed given up everything to follow Him (19:27). Jesus recognizes this sacrifice and tells them that in the coming kingdom, when Jesus is sitting on the throne, the disciples will sit upon thrones ruling over Israel , and that others who forsake all to follow Him would also gain a great reward. But it will probably surprise us as to who those people will be for “many who are first will be last, and the last shall be first.”
In other words, the people we expect to be the rulers in the kingdom will not be, and the lowly and disadvantaged will be. Humility seems to be the key to becoming great in the coming kingdom.
Jesus illustrates this in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. A landowner hires people to work all day in the field. Later in the day he hires more people to work so as to finish the task, including some hired in the 11 th hour. Yet when it comes time to pay the wages, those who work all day and those who work for just an hour all receive the same wages. This upsets those who had been working all day. But the landowner says he has been fair, for they earned what they had agreed to up front, and it is of no concern as to what he pays the others.
In the kingdom of heaven there will be those who are great in the kingdom who come to enter the kingdom late in the game. In the context of the book of Matthew , this is likely referring to the entrance of the Gentiles into the kingdom. The Jews always saw the kingdom belonging first to them, but Matthew has been building the case that due to the Jews rejection of the Messiah, the Gentiles now will gain an equal share in the coming kingdom.
But this same principle can apply to Christians today. We often are resentful of new people entering the church, gaining privilege and authority at our expense. There is a temptation for those who have been here since the beginning of time to expect that they should have more say and more influence. But that is not how the kingdom operates. Authority and influence belong to the humble, not those who think they deserve it. In the kingdom, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, and so it should be also in our churches.
Being first in the kingdom is not all its cracked up to be. When Jesus says the last shall be first, he is not just referring to a humble attitude, but as we have seen he is referring to those who are willing to give up all in order to follow Him.
Indeed, Jesus himself, who will be the very first in the coming kingdom, must also give up all to be first. Jesus shows this to his disciples in 20:17-19 when He predicts his arrest, death, and also resurrection.
So when the mother of James and John asks Jesus in 20:20ff that He would allow her sons to sit beside Him in the kingdom, He responds, “you do not know what you are asking.” To sit in glory next to Jesus requires the same sort of suffering and sacrifice that Jesus would face. To be great in the kingdom requires that you become a servant of all, just as Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve all through death on a cross (20:27).
This is the new leadership paradigm in Christ 's kingdom. Those who wish to be great are those who serve. Those who expect to be served will be those who are least in the kingdom. This is different than they way the world operates. This is a crucial element to understand regarding leadership in the church. If you wish to be a leader in the church, it begins by being a servant. If you are already a leader in the church, are you expecting others to serve you, or do you expect to be serving others. Within the kingdom, rank does not have its privileges, except the privilege of serving others.
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