Matthew 7:7-12 - ASk, seek, knock

7:7,8

We should “ask, seek and knock”. We are not to be passive. God wants us to ask, seek and knock. We should pray, we should seek answers. Note that Jesus says “for everyone who asks receives”, We will be successful.

7:9-12

Jesus then gives his justification for this. He likens the situation to a father and son. A father would not maltreat a son, neither will God maltreat us. Note the casual words “though you are evil”. God is good and is for us. As well as a teaching on prayer, Jesus also draws a lesson on how we would treat each other.

Matthew 7:1-6 - Get your own house in order

7:1,2

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”This does NOT mean not saying something is right or wrong, but it does mean that we cannot say that someone else is better or worse than others. If we consider someone to be worse than us, then God will use the same criteria against us, and we will not come off well.

7:3-5

We must be most concerned with our own righteousness (or lack of it), we must be more concerned about getting ourselves right, than getting others right. Having a judgemental attitude is often an indicator that we ourselves have problems.

7:6

This is a difficult verse.Dogs is a term that Jews sometimes used to refer to Gentiles, and pigs were unclean animals. Perhaps Jesus is saying be careful about whom we share spiritual truths with, for they will not understand and it will not produce a good reaction. If we look at it in the immediate context then perhaps it is a warning that just telling people what is wrong with them will do no good.

Matthew 6:25-34 - The futility of worrying

6:25-27

Worry is something no one likes doing, yet is also something we are all prone to do. Jesus tells us plainly not to worry. Is worry a sin? I actually think not, for no one wants to worry. Someone might contemplate going out and getting drunk, or being sexually promiscuous, but no one sets out to spend the weekend worrying! Yet worry is a symptom of our sinful condition, our fallen nature. Life is more important than food or clothes. Jesus then points to the animals, they get the food they need, and do not worry like we do. Yet God feeds them, it is not necessary to worry, and nor doessi t do any good.

6:28-34

Then Jesus points to the flowers, they are more beautiful than anything man makes. God does not require us to worry. We are more important to God than flowers or birds. Life is actually very different than the devil would have us believe.God cares for us. It is not that our daily needs don’t matter, but that there is so much more to life. Worry can distract us from what is really important. We should seek first the kingdom of God.

Matthew 6:16-23 Whose reward do you want?

6:16-18

Next of the religious observances is fasting, there were both fasts mandated by the Law and “voluntary” ones, In either case the principle is the same, do it for God, not for your own reputation, So someone fasting was not to make it obvious that they were fasting, and suffering. Instead they were to try and look well. If they did it for show, then they would have received their reward in full, i.e. the praise of men, A far greater reward is available, ie the praise of God. We can apply the same principle to all matters of service, do it for God, not for human praise, we all need to be aware of the danger that Jesus is speaking of. 

6:19-23

This distinction between earthly and heavenly reward applies to all riches. Jesus does not shy away from speaking of heavenly rewards, they are also much more valuable than earthly rewards. They are also much more secure.Earthly rewards can easily waste away. What we do with money is also a key indicator of the state of our hearts. It indicates what we value as truly important. Moreover, when we give money to something we develop a commitment to that thing, it affects our heart.

“The eye is the lamp of the body”. How we look at things affects the soul of our being. If we look with bitterness or envy we will be full of bitterness or envy. If we have a godly outlook our souls will be full of light.

Sermon on Ecclesiastes and Colossians Chapter 1

Sermon on Ecclesiastes and Colossians Chapter 1 https://youtu.be/-Lnb0gdH2m4

Matthew 6:10-15 Prayer

6:10

“Your kingdom come ...” We were once rebels against God. Now we are still rebels, but this time rebels against the world. The Romans persecuted the Christians at various times ultimately because they would not say that Caesar is Lord, only that Christ is Lord. We are looking for the overthrow of the present world system. Of course, this is not a human rebellion, and certainly not a violent one, but we are most surely looking for the world to change, for rulers to be overthrown. We are looking for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. When the world goes down roads that are distinctly ungodly we must object. The sin affirming parts of the “church” are acting in disobedience to this prayer. Moreover, it is the Lord’s prayer that is truly radical, for it looks for the replacement of the whole world order with a new heaven and earth.

6:11

Later Jesus will say “seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”  (Matt 6:33). This pattern is modelled in the prayer, for only after saying “thy kingdom come ...” do we get the prayer for our daily provision. We seek God’s kingdom first. This verse can be taken as saying meet our needs each day. There is value in taking each day as it comes (Matt 6:34), but we should not get too hung up on this. God does sometimes provide several days (or even years) worth at once!

6:12

Next comes forgiveness. If we wanted we could take this as a command and almost treat it as a Law, but I do not believe this is helpful (this is not in anyway to belittle in anyway the seriousness of having an unforgiving heart). Rather we should look at the spirit of this, as Jesus has done with the Law as a whole. Forgiveness is the oil which keeps the church going. A car engine, no matter how good it is, will cease up if there is no oil. Likewise any relationship, any church will cease up if there is no forgiveness. The church is founded on forgiveness. If God had not forgiven us the church would never have started, neither you nor I would be allowed into the kingdom. In the same way we need to forgive each other. Every church leader, every husband or wife, every mother or father, so or daughter, church member will get some things wrong and do some things wrong. If there is no forgiveness then when this happens relationships or churches will break down. There does, of course, also need to be repentance when things go wrong as well.

6:13

We can be very tied up in debates about why would God even think of leading us into temptation. “Temptation” can also be translated as “testing”. Perhaps we should take a more practical approach. We need help, left to our own devices. We will fall into temptation at some point, especially if we become proud or over-confident. We also need to be delivered from the evil one. We do need to fear Satan, but we do need to be aware of him, his plans and his power. And we need to pray for God’s protection. The “for yours is the kingdom ...” is only found in later manuscripts and is probably an addition.

6:14,15

We then get a very stern warning about the consequences of not forgiving others. We can view this legalistically, or we can view it as showing how the kingdom works. It is interesting that this is the aspect of the prayer that Jesus highlights. This may be because the religious leaders focused on proving how “good” they were. In reality, the kingdom works in a very different way. So we are not to be looking for reasons to condemn someone.

Matthew 6:1-9 - True obedience

6:1-4

It is our heart attitudes that really matter, the essential nature of our being. So with obedience it is not just outward form that matters, likewise with the good things that we do, we do them not to be seen so that we can receive praise, but so that they actually help people.\ \all that we do is seen by our father in heaven, this includes both the good and the bad. So when we give to the poor, we do so quietly, not with a big fanfare. Note that Jesus does say we will be rewarded by our Father in Heaven. The reward is knowing that we are doing the Father’s work, working together with Him, pleasing HIm.

6:5-8

Prayer is the same, we can pray in order for others to think we are good, or to be heard by God. So again, we do not make a big show of it. Nor do we think that the extent of our words will make us more likely to be heard. God knows what we need. Simple prayers are sufficient.

6:9

Jesus then gives us what we know as “the Lord’s prayer”. Having told them how not to pray, Jesus now provides positive instruction. This the well known “Lord’s prayer”, though some say it is better to call it the disciples’ prayer. The former is actually better, as disciples Jesus is teaching us how to pray. He is not giving a form of words that must be used at all times, but a pattern for prayer. 

It starts with “Our Father in heaven”. We are praying to our Father, not to some remote deity. We do have a problem with this in that our modern concept of fatherhood does not match that well with the Biblical concept. In the Bible the Father has authority over the son (as was demonstrated in Jesus’ life). We have a relationship with the one who created all things, and sustains all things. When we pray we look beyond the here and now. And His name is to be honoured. Society does not do this, but we pray that it will happen.It is just not that we honour God’s name, but that we look for the time when every knee shall bow. This prayer is a spiritual warfare prayer, as the next verse will make even clearer.

Matthew 5:31-48 - Be perfect

5:31,32

Jesus now talks about divorce, much more will be said about this in Matt 19. Our nature is to immediately look at this in terms of law. Is one allowed to divorce or not, is a divorcee allowed to remarry? The bit about a certificate of divorce comes from Deut 24. There were some who took this as a way of getting rid of their current wife and marry a younger woman, and then claim they were still living in accordance with the Law.  Or if a man fancied a married woman he might somehow arrange for her husband to divorce her. Law cannot change men’s hearts, and sin will always find a way around laws, or even using them as a means of condoning evil behaviour. God knows our hearts and knows what we are doing.

5:33

Now we come to oaths. This does not mean it is a sin to take an oath in court, or some similar situation. Lev 19:12 spoke about not swearing falsely by God’s name, but the point of this was that doing so would dishonour the name of the Lord. Num 30:2 also talks about honouring an oath. But our hearts being what they are, some took this as meaning that if we did not take an oath then lying or not keeping our word was less serious. Jesus is emphatically saying that this is not the case!

5:34-37

People would swear oaths by all sorts of things, and quite possibly arguing about the veracity allowed with each oath! Jesus is pointing out that all this is a load of nonsense. They were completely missing the point. We are meant to tell the truth, our word is meant to be as reliable as it can be. Playing around with the truth, being economical with the truth, or saying things which are technically “true” but are in fact misleading, all these things comes from the devil. God is true and we are meant to be like God in righteousness. The devil is the father of lies, and we are not meant to be like him!

5:38-42

An eye for an eye etc comes from Ex 21:24; Lev 24:20; Deut 19:21. This was given both to ensure that justice was done, and to guard against excessive punishment. In today’s society we are far more likely to err on the other side. Ie many sentences given by courts seem to seriously underplay the seriousness of the crime, and so to devalue the victim. But Jesus is pointing to a better way. This way is not for society in its judicial system, but for individual followers of Christ. Instead of focusing on getting our rights, we are to focus on seeing the kingdom grow.

5:43

“Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.”  The first part comes from Lev 19:18, but the second part does not. In fact, the first part of Lev 19:18 talks about not holding a grudge, a quite different slant than hating your enemy! This is a very human response. We will add bits to the good law, or interpret it in such a way that we end up completely losing the original intention. This is why the Pharisaical approach to the Law was such a disaster. It is our hearts that need changing, and the Law is powerless to do that.

5:44

Jesus tells His disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Now this is an instruction to disciples, it is not an instruction to states. Governments are meant to maintain justice. If you or I forgive someone who has hurt us it is genuine. We have experienced the loss or pain of their action. We are in a position to forgive. If a state is lax in administering justice, then it is prone to neglecting its duties, as we see in the West. We should also note that Jesus’ instruction to forgive our enemies is not new, it is found in the Law! See Ex 23:4,5.

5:45

“that you may be children of God”. As with all of the Sermon on the Mount, we are deeply mistaken if we view this as a set of rules. It is much more about the heart of God, and our being like God in righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24). So the instruction to love our enemies is an instruction to be like God. In particular it is an instruction to be Christlike, for He loved His enemies. And we do well to remember that we were once enemies of God (Rom 5:10). In the Old Testament there are various instructions where God tells the Israelites to remember that they were once slaves (Deut 5:15, 16:12).

5:46,47

We might think we are kind because we are hospitable to our friends. Now it is not wrong to do that, but there is nothing particularly virtuous in doing that. The world does the very same thing. We are to be holy as God is holy. Note also the mention of reward. What is the reward? It is the extension of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom grows by His people loving their enemies.

5:48

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We can take this as an intimidating command, or we can take it as a promise, as an indication of the glory of the gospel. God’s plan for humanity is that we become like Him in righteousness and holiness. All human philosophies and worldly ways of living devalue and demean us. God’s ways place the highest value on us. We have been given the highest possible calling in life, to be like God! Human religions end up levelling things down to what we can handle, which isn’t very much! God seeks to raise us up.

Matthew 5:13-30 - The seriousness of sin

5:13-16

While in one sense we are insignificant, we are actually very important, we are the “salt of the earth”, we both add flavour and are a preservative, we have a vital effect on the earth. However, we must retain our saltiness, we must not become immoral or corrupt, otherwise we will be treated as worthless.

We are also “the light of the world”, we think of Jesus as the light, and so He is, but he also works through His people. We might be counted as insignificant by the world, but God wants to put us on display, we are meant to be visible. God’s people are meant to be a demonstration of the life of God, and so glorify the Lord. Israel was meant to do this, but failed to do so.

5:17-20

This is such an important statement, “do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the prophets, but to fulfil them.” People are way off beam when they think that Jesus somehow does away with the moral demands of the Law. Such people are utterly clueless. Instead our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, they focused on outward appearance, jesus is concerned with the heart.

5:21-30

Jesus now backs this up, we must not simply refrain from physically murdering someone, or actually committing adultery. There must be no anger or lust in our hearts. Jesus has come to change who we actually are. The reason for this is that thoughts harboured in our hearts can lead to evil actions,  and God is concerned with who we actually are..v29 and 30 then make it abundantly clear that we must take sin seriously and deal with it. Sin is a deadly serious business.

Matthew 5:1-12 Beatitudes

5:1

We now come to what is possibly the most famous part of Matthew’s gospel, the sermon on the Mount. Some present it as being in some way against the Law, this is absolute nonsense. If Jesus corrects anything it is the teaching of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. Actually most of the  teachings, such as loving our enemies, can be found in the Old Testament.

It is a mistake to treat this as a list of ethical rules, rather it is a description of what the “new creation” is like, what God is transforming us to, what attitudes and heart we should have.

5:2-12

The sermon starts with the be attitudes, and these are quite different from what we might expect, “blessed” could be translated “happy” or “fortunate", “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, The Christian recognises their poor spiritual state, that we do not match up to God’s standards.  One might think that we are in a mess, but the kingdom of heaven was created for the poor in spirit, for those who recognise their need of God.

Mourning is not a happy state to be in, but a painful one.But we are assured that we will be comforted.

The world tells us that it is the forceful and strong that get what they want, that “rule the roost”, but Jesus tells us that it is those who trust in the Lord who will inherit the earth, see Ps 37:11.

Hungering for righteousness may seem to be a futile state, but Jesus tells us that we will be filled, justice and righteousness are coming.

Being merciful can be seen to be weak, but we all need mercy, and it is the merciful who will receive mercy.

The worldly wise are cunning and no above telling the odd useful lie, but it is the pure in heart who will see God.

The strong and violent can be seen to be the ones who will prosper, but it is the peacemakers who will be called “children of God”.

Being insulted, persecuted and falsely accused is not pleasant, but those who honour Christe despite all this, will receive a great reward in heaven.

Matthew 4:12-25 - the Ministry of Jesus

4:12-17

Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, and he then withdrew to Galilee, he went and lived in Capernaum, this was by the lake in the area of zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew draws attention to Isaiah 9:1,2. Jesus began to preach and His message was the same as the one John had preached “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near”.The rule of heaven is near, this is what Jesus brings.

4:18-22

Jesus then calls his first disciples, starting with Peter (Simon) and his brother Andrew. They were fishermen. Jesus said “Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people. They responded immediately. Note that Jesus does not tell then where He is going, but focuses on the effect that following Him will have.

Jesus then calls James and John , they too immediately followed Jesus.

4;23-25

We then read of Jesus’ ministry. He went throughout Galilee, proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, taught in the synagogues, and healed many people. His healing powers attracted many people, the sick and the demon possessed

Matthew 4:1-11 - the testing of Jesus

4:1-3

Having been baptised for us, Jesus now resists temptation on our behalf. Adam and Eve had failed, as had Israel when they should first of all have entered the Promised Land. The word sometimes translated as “temptation” is actually more accurately translated as testing.. Remember that Abraham was also tested. Jesus’ testing happened after his baptism, and he was “led by the Spirit, so it was not a mistake. It is commonly noted that Jesus responded to each test with the word of God (the quotes all come from deuteronomy), and the tests all question Jesus’ relationship with God. Adam and Eve and the Israelites failed the test, Jesus passed the test. After a “high” it is quite normal for us to be “tested”. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and has fasted for forty days and nights. We then get what must be a gross understatement “He was hungry”. In the first test Jesus was urged to turn stones into bread “if He was indeed the Son of God”. 

4:4

Jesus responds by quoting Deut 8:3, man shall not live in bread alone. It is not that our practical physical needs are not important at all, but that they are not as essential as we sometimes think, the word of God is essential.

4:5-7

Next the devil took Him to the highest point of the temple and this time the devil quoted scripture from Psalm 91:11,12. Jesus, however, had a better understanding of Scripture than the devil, and quoted Deut 6:16. He did not need to put God to the test, He was absolutely confident in God’s care for Him, and had no need to prove it. God would intervene if necessary.

4:8-11

The last temptation comes and Satan reveals his hand, he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour, and offered to give them to Jesus if Jesus would bow down to him. Whether Satan could actually have done this is doubtful. Note also that God was ultimately going to give Jesus all power and authority in heaven and on earth. So Jesus had no need to go the devil’s way. Moreover the temptation was “you are going to get this anyway, why not go an easier way?”. Jesus again quotes from Deuteronomy, this time 6:13, we must worship God alone and serve only Him. Good basic principles can guard us from much trouble.

Matthew 3:13-16 - Jesus baptised

3:13-16

Various sinners came to be baptised,but now Jesus comes to be baptised. Initially John tries to deter Him, for he knows who Jesus is, and that he, John, is unrighteous, whereas Jesus is fully righteous. It is interesting that in his answer, Jesus says it is to “fulfil all righteousness”, John then agrees to the baptism. Jesus lived and died on our behalf, he lived the life we could not live, and died the death we deserved. As soon as “he went up out of the water” heaven opened and God the father spoke, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased”, this is affirmation that Jesus is indeed His Son and is doing God’s will.

Matthew 3:1-12 - John the Baptist

3:1-12

All four gospels tell of John the Baptist preparing the way. Indeed in Matthew the summary of John’s message is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”. These words are identical to those used to summarise Jesus’ teaching (Matt 4:17). John is part of the ministry of Christ. John may well have had connections to the Essene community, and interest in him persisted for many years, see Acts 19. John saw himself as preparing the way for Jesus, and fulfilling Isaiah 40:3. Repentance prepares the way for receiving Jesus. His dress and lifestyle were somewhat like Elijah. When people repented they were baptised by John. There are two unique features here. One is that John did the baptising, rather than the person baptising themself, and the other is that Israelites, rather than proselytes, were required to be baptised, everyone needed to repent and be baptised.

John did not aim for popularity, calling the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers”.Their refusal to recognise their own sinfulness was a perpetual problem. Ethnicity was not a guarantee of being part of God’s kingdom. A fundamental change was coming (4:10) John brought some change, repentance, Jesus would bring an even greater change , baptism with the Spirit. (4:11).

Matthew 2:17-23 - The return to Israel

2:17,18

Matthew then quotes from Jer 31:15,  Ramah was located about fifteen miles north of Jerusalem. Rachel is used to represent Israel. The killing of the infants resulted in much weeping..

2:19,20

Joseph had been warned in  a dream to flee, now he is told to bring the child back to Israel. In this whole story dreams have played an important role. So we see how God responds to danger, there is a time to flee, and a time to return.

2:21-23

Joseph is presented as an obedient man, he always responded positively to the angelic messages. He receives a further warning, this time to go to Galilee and lived in Nazareth, this too is seemed as fulfilling God’s plan.

Matthew 2:13-18 - Murder of the innocents

2:13-15

Having appeared to the Magi, the angel also appeared to Joseph as well, warning him and telling him to escape to Egypt with his family. Matthew seems to be trying to draw a parallel between Moses and Jesus. Israel saw Moses as the founder of the nation, the one through whom the Lord worked, in the same way Jesus is the founder of the new people of God, and is the one through whom God executes His plans. So Joseph and Mary left for Egypt in the night. Matthew quotes Hos 11:1. Israel was called out of Egypt, Jesus was also called out of Egypt. Herod died in 4BC. This is why the birth of Jesus is out at 5 or 6 BC. I t was not possible for him  to have been born in 0 BC.

2:16

Herod was an insecure and violent man. His action of killing  the infants was entirely in character. The number killed was probably about 30, based on the population of Bethlehem.Dictators tend to be insecure, and their insecurity results in more violence.

2:17,18

Matthew then quotes from Jer 31:15,  Ramah was located about fifteen miles north of Jerusalem. Rachel is used to represent Israel. The killing of the infants resulted in much weeping.

Matthew 2:1-12 - Magi

2:1-12

Matthew is the only gospel to record the visit of the Magi. They came from the East, following a star. Various attempts have been made to identify an astronomical event explaining the star. These include the conjunction of two planets, a comet, a nova, but none have been entirely successful.  \the key theological points are that Gentiles came to worship Christ. Herod was king, but he was an Edomite, probably part of the reason why he was “disturbed”. Both he and the religious leaders felt threatened by the coming of a king. God disrupts man’s plans, and when God appears it becomes apparent that He is in charge, not us. It also says that all Jerusalem was also disturbed. Men in general don’t like God being in charge. Herod knew the Old Testament foretold of a Messiah and so he asked the religious leaders where the Messiah was to be born, they replied that it was in Bethlehem in Judea, as foretold by Micah (5;2,4). It is interesting that they knew the facts, but did not believe. Herod sought to use the Magi to find out where the king actually was, saying he wanted to worship him, as we know he actually had very different plans. The magi found Jesus and worshipped him, and gave their gifts.  However, they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and so took another route home.

Matthew 1:18-25 - Virgin birth

1:18-23

Matthew's account gives things largely from Joseph's perspective, whereas Luke gives things more from Mary’s perspective. This may well reflect the information sources that they used. Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and this was a much more binding commitment than engagement is in our culture, it had legal significance. On learning that Mary was pregnant Joseph drew the obvious conclusion. He wanted to obey the Law, and to spare Mary undue embarrassment, so he was going to divorce her quietly. Note that the people of the day were not unduly gullible. However, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph to assure him that Mary’s pregnancy was the work of the Holy Spirit. The angel also told him to name the child Jesus, and that he would “save His people from their sins”. Any understanding of the gospel that does not give full weight to our sinfulness is fatally flawed. Matthew quotes from Is 7:14. Matthew then gives his first quotation from the Old Testament, saying that these things happened to fulfill this saying. This first one is rather controversial, so we will look at it in some depth. First, we need to have a general look at what “fulfillment” of prophecy means. We tend to take it in the sense that a specific prediction was made, and that Jesus was the fulfillment of this. However, prophecy and prediction are not the same. Many, probably most, prophecies in the Old Testament had both a fairly immediate fulfillment, and then a later complete fulfillment. The initial fulfillment would be partial, but demonstrated the veracity and reality of the prophecy, in particular the reality of the thing it was pointing forward to (which was usually God’s plan of salvation in Christ).  The prophecy would show the sort of things that would happen, or what the Messiah would be like.

Here Matthew cites Is 7:14. The controversy arises over the fact that the original Hebrew version can mean “young woman”, not necessarily “virgin”. While the word can mean young woman, most of its uses apply to virgins. However, the partial/complete fulfillment concept is very relevant here. The immediate fulfillment referred to children that Isaiah would father, and this would not be a virgin birth! Moreover, the aspect of the verse that Matthew is focusing on is the “Immanuel” part and the salvation aspects. He is not using this as “proof” of the virgin birth.

Let me now say some general things about the virgin birth.

I want to say first of all that I absolutely believe in the virgin birth, and I have no problems whatsoever in doing so. In this short post I want to briefly explain why.

The virgin birth makes perfect sense to me, in fact I think it is a theological necessity. You and I are fully human, and that is it. Jesus is both fully human and fully God. So He is unique, and therefore it is not surprising at all that His conception (actually it is His conception, not the birth, that was unique!) was different from ours. Indeed, I think it is essential that Mary was a virgin, and it makes perfect sense to me.

Then people say that “virgin births don’t happen, so how could it happen”. This is the weakest argument against the virgin birth, and the silliest. It was a miracle, and miracles are by definition highly unusual events.Then we need to remind ourselves who God is. He is the creator of all things. He created everything on earth, He created the solar system, He created the galaxy, He created all the billions of galaxies (100 billion is apparently the latest estimate). Now if God can create all that I am sure that a virgin birth is well within His capabilities.

There is one argument that does seem, at least superficially, to have some substance to it. That argument is that apart from Matthew and Luke, there is no direct reference to the virgin birth in the New Testament preaching. They preached about the resurrection all the time, but not the virgin birth. So the argument goes that the virgin birth was just a piece of mythology added on later. However, a little thought shows that there is a perfectly rational explanation for this. Suppose you are Peter preaching on the first Pentecost and you start proclaiming that Jesus was born of a virgin, then someone in the crowd shouts out “don’t be ridiculous, you don’t get virgin births. Prove it!”. What is Peter going to do? There is no proof or evidence that he can offer. But now suppose someone in the crowd shout out “don’t be ridiculous, people aren’t raised from the dead. Prove it!” The situation is now quite different. First, Peter could say “if Jesus is dead, then show us the body! Oh, you can’t can you, the only tomb you have is an empty one!”. Then he can point to the five hundred plus people who saw the risen Christ. He, and all the apostles, could present clear evidence for the resurrection. And, contrary to the arguments of some sceptics, the gospel is evidence supported. So there is a perfectly good explanation of why they preached the resurrection all the time, but not the virgin birth. Moreover, it is the death and resurrection of Jesus that have an immediate impact on our lives, the virgin birth makes perfect sense, but is not in the same category.

1:24,25

The angel of the Lord had appeared to Joseph in a dream. Joseph woke up and did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do.  So he took Mary to be his wife. We can imagine the difficulties this might have caused, as no doubt neighbours would have talked and gossiped. Joseph, however, had no sexual relations with Mary until after the birth of Jesus. Matthew is stressing the reality of the virgin birth. As noted earlier, the quote from Isaiah is not used as “proof” of the virgin birth. However, Matthew and Luke both state quite clearly that it was a virgin birth.

Matthew 1:1-17 - Genealogy

1:1-17

Matthew dives right in with the genealogy of Jesus. There are some differences to the one found in Luke. He starts off by stating that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of David and the son of Abraham. Jesus is the fulfilment of all the Old Testament promises.  God had promised David that he would always have a descendant on the throne, Jesus is the fulfilment of that promise. He also goes right back to Abraham. Luke takes his ancestry back to Adam.

We find it rather strange that the gospel should begin with a genealogy, but to the Jews it was important, and Matthew was aimed at a Jewish audience. In the Old Testament we often find that when someone is introduced, their father is mentioned. Several women are mentioned.

Critics are keen to point out that there are differences between the genealogies in Matthew and Luke. Yes there are, but that is because they were not intending to give the complete genealogy in “register of births and deaths” sense. They were highlighting a point. Luke starts with Joseph and works back to Adam, and then to God. Matthew starts with Abraham and works forward to Joseph. 

Matthew also begins by declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David, and the Son of Abraham. That Jesus is the fulfilment of all the promises in the Old Testament is a key theme in Matthew.

Matthew - Introduction

Matthew is the first gospel that appears in the New Testament. It is very comprehensive, giving a pretty full account of the birth of Jesus (Luke giving somewhat more information), and covering, of course, the cross and resurrection. It includes the Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps its main feature is that one of its aims is to demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, and it was possibly aimed at Jewish Christians. It was probably written by Matthew the apostle. T is one of the synoptic gospels, some believe it used Mark as source material, along with the supposed source Q (a collection of Jesus’ sayings, though its existence has not been proved. Date for the gospel range from  the 650s and 60s to the 70s, though no one really knows. The gospel was written in Greek, and includes numerous references to the Old Testament, commensurate with his purpose.There are various ways of looking at Matthew, but many take five main discourses of Jesus as the framework. So we have:

Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7)

Commissioning of the apostles (chapter 10)

Kingdom parables (chapter 13)

Kingdom life (chapter 18)

The olivet discourse (chapters 24,25)

While writing these notes I am reading the following commentary:

TNTC commentary on Matthew - Rt T France, IVP (2015)

Esther 9 & 10 - Remembering

9:20

Mordecai saw this as a great time for rejoicing in how God has saved them.  Haman had sought to destroy the Jews, but had failed utterly. The people were to remember what God had done for them. One of the great dangers is that we forget what God has done for us. Remembering what He has done is vital for having a right relationship with Him. Esther cooperated with Mordecai in establishing this as a key time of celebration.

10:1-3

King Xerxes also remembered and honoured Mordecau, his acts were written in the official records, he was held in high esteem.

Esther Chapter 9 - Tables turned

9:1-4

In response to Esther’s request the king’s edict was carried out. On the day when the enemies of the Jews had hoped to attack them, it was they who became the victims. They were attacked by the Jews. The nobles, satraps and governors helped the Jews. Mordecai also became more powerful.

9:5-19

Many people were killed by the Jews. Now we might have an element of revulsion about this, but the key point is that Satan’s plan was turned completely around.  It is dangerous to attack Israel, for God will act on their behalf. At times He will judge them, as he did with Assyria and Babylon, but God always wants to bring them back to himself. The king reported the news to Esther and invited her to make another request; she asked for the Jews in Susa to be allowed to repeat their actions. This request was granted. There is emphasis on the fact that the Jews did not lay their hands on the plunder. After the killing they had a day of feasting and joy.

Esther 8 - Freedom for the Jews

8:1-17

Haman’s plans and work were completely undone and reversed, just as one day Satan’s plans will all be undone.The king gave Haman’s estate to Esther. Mordecai was also honoured. Esther’s prime concern was for the well being of the Jews, and this too was granted. So the Jews were allowed to protect themselves against anyone who might try to attack them. 

The edict was sent throughout the land and there was great rejoicing among the Jews. “And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them,

Esther 7 - Haman gets his just deserts

7:1-10

So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet. During the banquet the king asked Esther what her request was. She asked for her people to be spared, talking about the edict to kill all the Jews. The king wanted to know who had issued such an edict. Esther revealed that it was Haman. The king was angry and Haman was afraid, knowing where all this was going to lead, he pleaded with Esther for mercy. This just made the king even angrier. So Haman ended up being impaled on the gallows he had set up for Mordecai, so Haman was killed.