Meeting God in Matthew

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And yet the sharp ones among us will have noticed a few ways in which the discipleship so sought after in our own culture is somewhat different from that offered by Jesus. First, it’s rather less demanding. Modern disciples are told, “You’ll need to give something up — family life, perhaps, or your time, but you’ll get to make a pile and keep it.” Jesus says to a would-be disciple. “Go, sell all you have and give it to the poor, and then follow me.” Beyond the debates with the Scribes and Pharisees, then, Jesus had two levels of teaching: one for the crowds who heard his words, and were left to puzzle through the implications for their own lives and calling; and the other, for his chosen disciples — those who knew that they were called, and had already responded. And to them he explained more, he opened up the meanings and took them further. Seen in contemporary context, it’s not much of an offer, you might say. And yet these ordinary regular working men took it, and followed him — the first of millions upon millions of disciples yet to come. Meeting God in Matthew explores what the Gospel of Matthew teaches us about the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. An essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the gospel message better. It will leave you with a new appreciation of and enthusiasm for the riches of Matthew's writing, and the desire to return to it over and over again. Its straightforward, enlightening approach also means it is brilliantly helpful for new Christians just beginning on their faith journey. The juxtaposition of the integrity of Jesus and the waywardness of his forebears may carry the message that, though our ancestry can identify us, it does not define us. Only our relationship with God does that.

When I did experience suffering and loss, my heart would be able to take refuge in knowing what Jesus said about mourning. Mourning can bring us into a deeper understanding of the gospel. The blessedness of God’s comfort (the peace, joy, love, life) does not circumvent mourning. Yet, those who followed Jesus did not learn theology in the normal sense — not even in the normal rabbinic sense. Jesus did not take them into exegetical analyses of minute details of the Law and the Prophets. In fact, unlike most of the other religious leaders, he doesn’t seem to have been that excited about disputing over the law — not that he couldn’t.So, Christian discipleship was thus forged by Christ 2000 years ago. It was forged with 12 people who became a great multitude that no one can number. It was forged not in abstraction, but in time and history, and in a culture. And this is also important; for all of life is enculturated. What Jesus was shaping, then, was a way of following him which was going to lead his own disciples in that day and age into hardship, struggle, fear, bewilderment, and oppression. It would also lead them into new life, joy, blessing, amazement, victory, truth, and power through the Holy Spirit. The reply can obviously be made that the author succeeds in her task as stated in the title. If this is granted then it is at an individualist level; the community aspect, as illustrated by chapter 18 on the Church - (only in this gospel) - with the need for forgiveness and reconciliation, seems to have been omitted. The inclusion of the Gentiles did not seem to feature - inclusion, ah, that is a rather stormy sea to venture out onto. But the teaching never began with the apostles. Before they were apostles, they were disciples, students, learners. And their teacher was Christ. And it is Christ’s teaching that has captured and enthralled centuries of disciples — Christ’s teaching as shared by Peter and Paul and Luke and James and John and the wonderful learner who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews. It is Christ’s teaching passed down through the apostles which must remain as the very bloodstream of the Church today. What is undeniable is that we meet God in Matthew’s Gospel through the Hebrew Scriptures and in Jesus. Its roots are unmistakeably Jewish and its vision is Christian. Who was Matthew?

Yet this assessment is superficial. The significance of Matthew’s account is enormous. Every aspect of his report is carefully weighed and considered; every inclusion has purpose. Matthew knows what he is doing. Meeting God in Matthew explores what the Gospel of Matthew teaches us about the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the gospel message better, it will leave you with a new appreciation of and enthusiasm for the riches of Matthew’s writing, and the desire to return to it over and over again. Its straightforward, enlightening approach also makes it eminently helpful for new Christians just starting out on their faith journey. BUT discipleship involves more than studentship. Christ did not only teach: he mentored. He commented on their lives. He rebuked. He challenged their responses. When they were arguing about status, and which of them would get to sit on his right and left in the Kingdom, he did not hesitate to remind them that this was not what it was about. This was the way of the world, but what his discipleship was about was servanthood. It was about kneeling in the dirt and washing the calloused, infected, and germ-ridden feet of others.

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MATTHEW’s account also offers readers one other incident of momentous significance: the visit of the Magi. The story of the journey of sages from the East falls into the 20 per cent of material found uniquely in Matthew. Though not technically part of the birth narrative — Jesus would have been aged around two —this is seen as belonging to the nativity story. Meeting God in Matthewexplores what the Gospel of Matthew teaches us about the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the gospel message better, it will leave you with a new appreciation of and enthusiasm for the riches of Matthew's writing, and the desire to return to it over and over again. Its straightforward, enlightening approach also makes it eminently helpful for new Christians just starting out on their faith journey. But our sin has marred that image. Evil and death are not just at work out there in the world; they exist inside of me. Through mourning, we linger over the effects of our sin on others, including the Son of God. The resulting sorrow leads to repentance and change.

Let's return to Peter and his sinking feeling. This and similar sayings and incidents unique to this Gospel were simply not mentioned, despite the light that they might be thought to shed on Matthew. One of the opening endorsements wrote that the author trod 'lightly on scholarship'. As an example, Markan priority is mentioned but no attempt is made to show how Matthew used this source. Light is shed on this by the final paragraph where Ralph Wilson (not referenced) is quoted approvingly 'My interest is in the words of Jesus that have come down to us in the New Testament canon' (in the context of 'feeling the need to posit a source for Jesus' sayings').It is to be apprenticed, students, and learners — not to proximate teachers, but to Jesus Christ; to learn from him, in the Gospels and through the teachings of his own apostles. It is to learn of Christ, and through Christ to be brought close to the very heart of God for his creation and his world.