The Way of Discipleship (Gospel of Matthew)

By Marcel Gervais

This is a complete commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law. He also presents Jesus as the model of the Church. He gives us the teaching of the Lord on small communities, on marriage and on leaders. Matthew also teaches us the meaning of the forgiveness of sins for which Jesus laid down his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marcel Gervais
• Release date: Nov 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781927766507

Marcel Gervais

About the Author Archbishop Gervais was born in Elie Manitoba on September 21 1931. He is the ninth of fourteen children. His family came from Manitoba to the Sparta area near St. Thomas Ontario when he was just a teenager. He went to Sparta Continuation School and took his final year at Saint Joseph`s High School in St. Thomas. After high school he went to study for the priesthood at St. Peter’s Seminary in London , Ontario. He was ordained in 1958. He was sent to study in Rome. This was followed by studies at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. He returned to London to teach scripture to the seminarians at St. Peter’s Seminary. In 1974 he was asked by Bishop Emmett Carter to take over as director of the Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education. This Centre had been founded by Bishop Carter to provide a resource for adult education in the spirit of Vatican II. This Centre involved sessions of one or two weeks with many of the best scholars of the time. Students came not only from Canada and the United States but from all over the globe, Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe. By the time Father Gervais became the director Divine Word Centre was already a course dominated by the study of scripture to which he added social justice. This aspect of the course of studies was presented by people from every part of the “third world”; among which were Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez and Cardinal Dery of Ghana. In 1976 the Conference of Ontario Bishops along with the Canadian conference of Religious Women approached Father Gervais to provide a written course of studies in Sacred Scripture for the Church at large, but especially for priests and religious women. This is when Fr. Gervais began to write Journey, a set of forty lessons on the Bible. He was armed with a treasure of information from all the teachers and witnesses to the faith that had lectured at Devine Word. He was assisted by a large number of enthusiastic collaborators: all the people who had made presentations at Divine Word and provided materials and a team of great assistants, also at Divine Word Centre. The work was finished just as Father Gervais was ordained an auxiliary bishop of London (1980). He subsequently was made Bishop of Sault Saint Marie Diocese, and after four years, Archbishop of Ottawa (1989). He retired in 2007, and at the time of this writing, he is enjoying retirement.

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The Way Of Discipleship(Gospel of Matthew)

by Marcel Gervais, Emeritus Archbishop of the diocese of Ottawa, Canada

Nihil Obstat: Michael T. Ryan, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Imprimatur: + John M. Sherlock, Bishop of London

London, March 31, 1980

This content of this book was first published in 1977 as part of the JOURNEY Series By Guided Study Programs in the Catholic Faith and is now being republished in Smashwords by Emmaus Publications, 99 Fifth Avenue, Suite 103, Ottawa,ON, K1S 5P5, Canada ON Smashwords

Cover: "How happy are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs." Matt 5:3

COPYRIGHT © Guided Study Programs In the Catholic Faith, a division of The Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education 1977. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Good News (Matthew 1:1.4:25)

Chapter 2 The justice of the kingdom (Matthew 5:1•7:29)

Chapter 3 Jesus, the Twelve and the Church (Matthew 8:1 - 13:58)

Chapter 4 Peter's leadership (Matthew 14:1 - 17:27)

Chapter 5 The will of the Lord for the Church (Matthew 18:1 - 23:39)

Chapter 6 To the End of Time (Matthew 24:1 28:20)

About The Author

Bibliography

Psalm 1

The first of the Psalms makes a splendid meditation preliminary to the study of Matthew's Gospel since it carries a similar appeal and challenge. This voice from Israel's past, in power and joy, blesses the man who follows the way of God and warns him against those who choose evil. Acceptance of his Creator's law will yield him the lasting vitality of the tree fortunate enough to strike its roots into a life-giving stream. Desertion of God can only mean extinction. The two ultimate choices are proposed by Matthew over and over. Like Moses, another mighty representative of ancient truth, and one who is never far from Matthew's thoughts, the evangelist sets before us life and death and urges us to choose well (Deut 30:15-20).

From earliest times this Gospel has been favoured by Christians. Marked by evident order and clarity particularly in presenting the teaching of Jesus, it was the one most frequently used in presenting the faith. At the heart of the Gospel stands the figure of Jesus, majestic and appealing. Mighty Son of God, he is yet full of compassion. Though holding all authority, he is gentle and merciful. Constantly proclaiming the kingdom of God and patiently explaining its meaning to his disciples, he is the supreme teacher. Poor and humble, dedicated to the will of his Father, he is himself the model for all his followers.

But the central truth Matthew teaches about Christ is greater still: Jesus is he who triumphed over sin and death and who has been given the name which is above every name. He is the Lord. His is the name once reserved for God alone. Jesus is the Lord. From the first page to the last, therefore, Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us. For Matthew, as for all disciples, Jesus is not simply one through whom God was present in a period of time in the past; the Lord Jesus was, is and always will be God-with-us, even to the end of time (1:23; 18:20; 28:20). He is the presence of God in and through his People, the Church, continuing his ministry until heaven and earth are transformed into the perfect kingdom of the Father.

The Father began to reveal his will for mankind in Abraham. In Jesus he completes the work of revealing his will. Jesus, however, not only proclaimed the Father's will, he also accomplished it perfectly. These thoughts are fundamental to Matthew’s understanding of the kingdom of heaven (of God). God, the great King, wants his rule of justice, love and mercy to be established, to be made real on earth. Since Jesus lived the Father's will totally, in him the rule, the reign, the kingdom of God has come upon earth. By his life, his teaching and most especially by his death and resurrection, the kingdom of heaven is made present. The presence of the risen Lord continues on earth in the company of his disciples. That is why in Matthew, the community of disciples, the Church, can be called the kingdom of heaven. It is not because the Church is perfect and all its members virtuous beyond reproach that it can be called the kingdom. The Church is in fact an imperfect community; there are many weeds growing along with the wheat (13:36ff). And yet the Lord Jesus remains with this mixed band of followers, he safeguards them, empowers them with his own authority, sanctifies them with his presence.

He refers to them as "the kingdom of the Son of Man" (13:41). The Church, then, has in her midst the one who will judge the Church on the last day when all will stand before the King to give account of their lives. It is then, after the final purification, that the kingdom of the Father will be fully established. And so, in this Gospel, the references to the kingdom of heaven are most often references to the Church as the beginning and sign on earth of the perfect kingdom of the Father in heaven. Though incomplete and imperfect, the Church can be rightly called the kingdom of heaven, because the Lord has sworn never to abandon his own, and this pledge makes them dear to God.

For Matthew the Church is not a vague collection of individuals who profess the lordship of Jesus. The community of disciples is a clearly identifiable society, with appointed leaders who act with the authority of the Lord. It is the People of God with teachers (prophets) and scholars (scribes, Wise men) as in the past. And, as always, it suffers from false leaders, hypocrites, the wolves in sheep’s clothing. That is why forgiveness is of the very life of the Church. Matthew never allows us to forget that the mercy of God has come on earth.

The Church which the evangelist served and from which he received the traditions he uses in the Gospel must have had many Jewish members, who loved the Old Testament and gloried in its greatness. On almost every page Matthew quotes from the ancient scriptures. Many of the disciples in Matthew’s community were also loyal to the tradition of the Pharisees. They too affect his writing: he is at once severe in condemning the abuses of this group, and quick to point out how Jesus adopted some of their teaching and customs. Also in Matthew's community, it is probable that there were liberated Christians who claimed that the Gospel required no laws, no rules, and certainly nothing from the Old Testament. Matthew gives prominence to our Lord’s words against those who are lawless. Practical man that he is, Matthew knows only too well that even disciples of the Lord Jesus need rules to guide them on the hard road that leads to the Father.

The evangelist has been identified by tradition as Matthew the apostle. There is no way of verifying this. He is very familiar with matters Jewish, and yet he writes in good Greek. As to date it appears that the Gospel was given its final form between 70 and 95

A.D. The author adopts almost all the material found in Mark, and follows Mark’s order for the most part. He uses material from two other sources. The first is one which Saint Luke also employed. The second yielded material found only in Matthew's Gospel.

The Gospel reveals the trained mind of a scribe, a position which is mentioned more than once as existing in the Church (13:52; 23:34). Much of the teaching of Jesus is organized into great sermons on vital themes.* Matthew probably saw himself in the

* Matthew has gathered the teaching of Jesus on the kingdom of heaven into five sermons, each centered on one aspect of the rule of God:

1. The Sermon on the Mount (Chs 5-7), on the justice of the kingdom.

2. The Missionary Sermon (9:35- 11:1), on its task in the world.

3. The Sermon of Parables (Ch 13), on its mystery.

4. The Community Sermon (18:1 -19:1), on relations among its members.

5. The Last Things (Chs 24-25), on its final victory.

In addition, there is a lengthy discourse against false leadership in chapter 23; this is sometimes considered part of the fifth sermon. Following words of Jesus which he alone records: '"Did you understand all these things? They said, Yes. Jesus said to them, Every scholar who has become a pupil in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of the house who produces from his treasury things new and old" '(13:51f). No passage better describes the evangelist. The "new is Jesus, the old is everything which led to his coming. In embracing the new the good disciple does not reject the old; he cherishes both as precious treasures to be brought out and used as needed. Matthew is a scholar who willingly became a pupil of the Church. He writes with the confidence of one who can say Yes, I understand". And what he understands best is that he, and all disciples, are humble servants of the greatest of all mysteries, Jesus the Lord.

Our chapter on Matthew will be confined to what is found only in this Gospel. On occasion, of course, we will have to mention what has already been seen in the chapter on Mark and Luke. Chapter 28: The Way of Discipleship, will take up the first seven chapters, with emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount. Chapter 29: The Way of the Church and her Leaders, will consider a selection of materials from chapter 8 to chapter 23. Chapter 30 will be in two parts. The first part will deal with the remaining chapters of Matthew (24-28); the second part will be a commentary on the decree of the Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, chapter 5, on the New Testament.

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Good News (Matthew 1:1- 4:25)

Matthew introduces Jesus, as does Luke, in a special section, the infancy narrative, which is very different from the rest of the Gospel. It might be compared to a splendid tapestry hanging