Matthew: Proclamation of the King
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MatthewSurvey of the New Testament: The Gospels & ActsWinter 2005 |
[Previous: Preparation of the King] [Next: Protest of the King]
Jesus ' ministry begins in 4:17 with what is the first transition of the book [1]. 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 Galilee and the surrounding territories (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 describes the 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. Normally we would think those in the kingdom are not the ones struggling and failing 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 time very morning who receives the kingdom. It's the person who is desperately trying to do all the right spiritual exercises, but continually finds themselves failing.
Those who fail, but could careless don't receive the kingdom. It is those who fail and are brokenhearted about their inability. 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 failures 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 transparency.
The peacemaker is the one caught in the middle of conflict. Rather than join 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 failed to accept or achieve their level of spirituality.
Those who accept their spiritual failings and struggle but fail to achieve righteousness will be put down 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. Furthermore, 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 fail 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.
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 never disappear until the end of time. Furthermore, those who annul 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 Judaism had begun to elevate the understanding and obedience to the law above the ritualistic temple sacrifices. 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 time, however, 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. Obedience had become an objective standard 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 fairly easy to keep that law that says don't murder. Very few people actually violate this law. But Jesus raises the standard such that everyone is now guilty of murder, for we have insulted another.
Jesus not only raises the standard, 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 hell.”
Therefore, reconciliation with others becomes something of eternal significance. If I offend someone, I am going to hell. That means I had better make friends with my enemies quickly, even if that means leaving my sacrifice on the altar, 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 standard such that everyone is now guilty of adultery.
In fact, because looking upon a woman can condemn you to hell, 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 time 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 adequate 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 condemned everyone who lusts and everyone who insults. Jesus is making us all guilty under the law. Jesus is condemning us all to hell!
The law says that we are to keep our vows. If we swear an oath, we are to tell the truth. However, 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 time, 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. Always 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 standard.
Finally, the law says that we are to love our neighbor. But Jesus says, even the Gentiles 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've never 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 never insult or think poorly of someone. You can not lust after another person. Divorce is right out. You must never 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 fail to change your heart, than you will miss heaven and be guilty of going to hell.
The apostle Paul made this point in Romans 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, however, 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. All the law can do is condemn us.
Only when we accept our condemnation and recognize our sinfulness do we realize the need for a savior. We can not accept Christ 's atonement 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 Christ 's salvation and allow him to change our heart and turn us into a new creation.
Too often Christians are trying to attain to the impossible standards 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 Christians 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. Indeed, 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 indeed 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 condemned 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. (Romans 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 Christ . 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 faith in Christ , we can learn 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 manipulators of the common person, for their interpretation of the law could influence down to the detail how people acted and behaved. Even today, spiritual leaders can wield great influence and control over people through their judgment and through spiritual manipulation. This comes from an arrogance that believes we have achieved a certain level of spirituality rather than from the humility that recognizes our inability to have any righteousness apart from Christ .
In chapter 7, Jesus warns us that whatever standard we set for others will become the standard 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 condemnation (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 down 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 condemning, ask people the questions which will lead them to truth rather than drive them away. Furthermore, ask God for help, and he will be faithful.
Jesus then summarizes. Rather than judge people, we should treat people in the manner 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 condemning 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 Christ . 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 faith in them, they will have built their life on a solid foundation. Those who ignores the truth of Christ 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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