The Gospel of Matthew is probably one of the most read books in the world. The name ‘Matthew’ means ‘gift of God’ and also ‘faithful’ — and certainly this wonderful Gospel is a gift from a faithful God to us! Of course, this Gospel is about Jesus Christ, but what about Him does Matthew focus on? What is distinctive about Matthew? In agreement with Stanley Toussaint (1980:18), the primary purposes of the Gospel according to Matthew are twofold: ‘Matthew has a twofold purpose in writing his Gospel. Primarily he penned this Gospel to prove Jesus is the Messiah, but he also wrote it to explain Gods kingdom program to his readers. One goal directly involves the other. Nevertheless, they are distinct.’ The first purpose is to declare and prove to Jews (and Gentiles), believing and non-believing alike, that Jesus is indeed the Messianic, Jewish, God-man Saviour King. Matthew shows that the King authenticated his Messianic claims in every way by word and deed, fulfilling all prophecies related to the First Advent of the promised Messiah. Regarding the second primary purpose of Matthew — explaining Gods kingdom program to his readers — even today, if you speak to Jews that do not (yet) believe in Jesus Christ, they ask: ‘If Jesus really is the Messiah, where is the Messianic kingdom?’ The answer is that the Jewish generation who lived at the time Jesus walked the shores of Galilee rejected Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and Davidic King, thereby committing the unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:23-32). Individual Jews were (and are still!) called to exercise faith in Jesus Christ – and some clearly did. But since ‘this generation’ of Israel as a collective group rejected the Messiah-King, the promised Messianic kingdom, which cannot be cancelled, was postponed until Christ’s Second Advent. Of course, none of this ‘surprised’ God in any way and so Matthew continues to present God’s kingdom program following the rejection of Jesus by ‘this generation’. The new facet of the kingdom is explained in Matthew 13 through the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The parables of Matthew 13 primarily cover the time from the days of John the Baptist until Christ’s Second Advent but sometimes also look forward to the time when the kingdom will have been established. The kingdom of heaven is seen to exist in terms of the New Covenant in a spiritual sense from the cross of Christ onwards, but it will also be established in a literal sense in terms of the Davidic Covenant when Christ returns. During most of the inter-advent period, Jesus Christ is building his Church. Disciples carry out the Great Commission, preaching the gospel that focuses on the sign of the prophet Jonah which is a thinly veiled reference to Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. The Great Commission will probably continue until about the Tribulation Period. Then during the Tribulation Period, Jewish messengers will again preach the gospel of the kingdom – this time as a witness to all the nations and then the end of the age will come (Matthew 24:14). Then the King returns to establish the Messianic kingdom and to reign from Jerusalem over Israel and all the nations of the earth for 1 000 years. At the end of this millennium, the Messianic kingdom will merge into the eternal order. Matthew presents a reasoned argument to explain to the Jews who had expected the Messiah to only be a conquering king, why the Messianic kingdom was postponed until Christ’s second coming and why Christ suffered, died and was resurrected. After his ascension, Christ Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father’s throne in Heaven, building His Church. The Head of the Church is ruling over His body as High Priest in a spiritual sense during the Church Age in terms of the New Covenant. At Christ’s Second Advent He will establish the promised Messianic kingdom on the earth and also rule in a geopolitical sense in terms of the Davidic Covenant. The structure of Matthew confirms the primary purposes of this Gospel. Both Combrink (1983) and Derickson (2006) view the Gospel of Matthew as an eleven-part chiastic structure, the centre focusing on Matthew 13. See the attached image for the proposed chiastic structure for the Gospel of Matthew (cf. Derickson 2006): As you read the Gospel of the King, may you see not only the tremendous authority and power of the Son of David, but also the Saviour’s gentleness and lowliness of heart as He offers rest in Him to all who labour and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28). May you, via the pages of the Gospel of Matthew, see Christ as he truly is. And remember, the Lord Jesus Christ comes back as the King, so keep on telling the daughter of Zion to BEHOLD THY KING! (Matthew 21:5; cf. 23:39). ------------------------- Sources consulted: Combrink, H.J.B., 1983, ‘The structure of the Gospel of Matthew as narrative’, Tyndale Bulletin 34, 61-90. Constable, T.L., 2014, Notes on Matthew, 2014 edn., viewed 5 December 2014, from soniclight. Derickson, G.W., 2006, ‘Matthew’s chiastic structure and its dispensational implications’, Bibliotheca Sacra 163(652), 423-437. Scholtz, J.J., 2014, ‘The kingdom of heaven and Matthew 10’, In die Skriflig 48(1), Art. #1782, 8 pages. dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v48i1.1782
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 04:00:01 +0000
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