Recognizing the Messiah's Message: A Layman's Study of Matthew

By Jeffrey Leath

Hebrews were waiting for the Messiah to come and set them free; free from the bondage of the Roman enemy. But then, announced to a group of shepherds one night, the Messiah arrived, was wrapped in strips of cloth, and took His royal position in a feed trough. This was the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world! He was given authority from His Father. He would show signs of His Messiahship and have a great following because of His miraculous healings; even bringing the dead back to life! But His message was confusing to some. He didnt meet the expectations of the Messiah. He said that we should love our enemies. He said that God was a loving heavenly Father and even referred to Him as Daddy (Abba Father). And then there was His message of relating to God through humility.

Matthews writing helped the early Hebrew Christians recognize Jesus is the Messiah; an important message that encourages one to stand firmly in faith. Recognizing and identifying with the Messiahs message will lead us to call upon our one true Teacher and Savior, Jesus Christ through whom we receive Gods loving grace and mercy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490870779

Jeffrey Leath

Jeffrey Leath is originally from Mooresville, Indiana, and now lives in Bowmansville, Pennsylvania. He has been teaching Sunday school for over thirty years. His study of Scripture incorporates the study of the culture, language, and environment of the writer and the writer’s audience. Designed for personal or small-group Bible study, his work is meant to assist the layperson gain a deeper understanding of Scripture. He and his wife, Reta, have three grown children and attend Pine Grove Church in Bowmansville. Recognizing the Messiah’s Message, A Layman’s Study of Matthew is his second published work.

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Recognizing the Messiah's Message

A Layman's Study of Matthew

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Copyright © 2015 Jeffrey Leath.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-7078-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7079-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7077-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015902961

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/26/2016

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction to Matthew

Chapter 1 The Genealogy

Chapter 2 Flee to Egypt

Chapter 3 Baptism of the Sinless Man

Chapter 4 The Shema

Chapter 5 The Call to Follow

Chapter 6 Introducing the Way of the Kingdom

Chapter 7 Living in Truth

Chapter 8 Alms, Prayers, Fasting, and Worry

Chapter 9 Judging Others

Chapter 10 Authority in Action, Part 1

Chapter 11 Authority in Action, Part 2

Chapter 12 Discipleship

Chapter 13 Accepting Jesus for Who He Is

Chapter 14 My Family

Chapter 15 Teaching the Disciples

Chapter 16 Manna from Heaven

Chapter 17 Tested by the Pharisees

Chapter 18 Beware of the Leaven of the Religious Leaders

Chapter 19 The Transfiguration

Chapter 20 Life in the Church

Chapter 21 Final Words before Jerusalem

Chapter 22 Prelude to Passover

Chapter 23 Judgments on Israel

Chapter 24 What Leaders Teach Versus What Leaders Do

Chapter 25 Final Teachings to the Master's Servants

Chapter 26 Betrayal to Victory

Chapter 27 The Great Commission and the Messiah's Message

Bibliography

To the memory of my grandmother, Edith Taylor, who consistently showed to me Christ's grace and love.

Scriptural passages quoted from the NASB are from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, Spiros Zodhiates, AMG Publishers, 1993

Scriptural passages quoted from J.B. Phillips are from The New Testament in Modern English, Galahad Books, 1958

Scriptural passages quoted from David H. Stern are from Complete Jewish Bible, Jewish new Testament Publications, Inc., 1988

Quotes from John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew, © Kregel Publications, 2005, used by permission

Persecution Today, by Cal Thomas, November 19, 1999, © Tribune Content Agency, used by permission

Quotes from The Message of Matthew by E. Michael Green, © 1988, 2000 by Michael Green, used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA. www.ivpress.com

All Hebrew and Greek text references come from Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words, by James Strong, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001 unless otherwise noted

Preface

Growing up, I studied Matthew from the perspective that the apostle was writing about Jesus as King. The gospel of Mark tells us about the person of Jesus as servant. Luke's gospel writes about Jesus as the perfect human, and John writes of Jesus' deity. These characteristics---King, servant, perfect human, God incarnate---would make up the entire character of our Savior. Today in studying Matthew, I find that Matthew is being led by the Holy Spirit to reveal more than merely Jesus' position as King and Messiah. Matthew is sharing with us the message of the Messiah and His message to the early church is still relevant today. Let's observe some of the message's points.

We'll be looking first at the common thought of the time of Jesus. We perceive God as a judging heavenly Father. We may come to Him annually through the High Priest and our lamb sacrifice. The shed blood of the lamb covered our sins until the next Day of Atonement. We kept the Law of Moses, as demonstrated by our religious leaders who were our shepherds. Our strength in keeping the Law was in our ability to perform the works as described in the Torah, as well as written and oral interpretations of laws from our leaders.

Our enemies are those who persecute us. We are persecuted mainly by the laws of the Roman Empire. We've learned to hate our enemies, and we pray for deliverance from them as well as their downfall and demise. We look forward to revenge! So in short, we gain perspective for life from fearing and obeying God's Law and from hating our enemies. We pride ourselves in keeping the Law, as we are God's chosen people. We look for our Messiah to come and set up His kingdom, in which we rule with Him and revenge the persecution of our enemies. Rome, beware!

The Messiah came. But He came humbly, so humbly that his birth was only announced to shepherds. He was born in a barn, not a palace. His bed was a feed trough for farm animals. He talked about a loving heavenly Father who wanted an intimate relationship with us. He talked of forgiveness and instructed us to love and pray for our enemies. Speaking of enemies, His appeal was for us to realize that sin is our greatest enemy.

Instead of religious leaders, whom He criticized, He chose sinners as His closest friends. He talked about faith and not works. He talked about forgiveness of sin resulting in peace with God, instead of annual sacrifice to merely cover our sin. He said the temple would be destroyed, yet be raised in three days! He healed the sick and raised dead persons back to life. He taught with stories that one could understand only if one was spiritually minded.

In all, what was seen was not what was expected from the Messiah. As a result, His message was missed, and He was put to death on a Roman cross as a criminal worthy of capital punishment. Our challenge today, as it was to his audience, is to study Matthew's gospel spiritually. Putting aside our human efforts to draw close to God, we strive to recognize the Messiah's message as one of humility, love, grace, and acceptance of the peace offered by Abba Father, all inspired by the His Spirit in us. We come to Jesus, recognizing, as John states in his gospel, that God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

There is peace to those who seek to recognize and identify with the Messiah's message! I hope this writing meets its intent to enhance your study of Matthew's gospel.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Bruce Williams and the Christian Education Committee at Pine Grove Church for the opportunity to facilitate a Sunday school class that gave cause to this study of Matthew. Thanks to Janice Martin for her time and efforts in proofreading the manuscript for submitting to the publisher.

My daughter, Mallory, is always a source of knowledge of Jewish history and culture from her education in International Jewish Studies (IJS) through the Friends of Israel, formerly partnering at Cairn University. Her input is always valuable, and I enjoy our conversations immensely. My sons, Kyle and Phil, are always on standby to assist when their dad becomes PC-challenged---and even seem to enjoy it when I have to call on their help.

As always, my wife, Reta, constantly encourages me in my Bible study and Sunday school class preparation. I thank the Lord that I have been blessed to be her husband for over thirty-one years.

Introduction to Matthew

Matthew was the son of Alphaeus. James the less (one of the original twelve apostles) may have been his brother. His name means gift of God. It is believed that Capernaum was his birthplace, and tradition holds that he died a martyr in Ethiopia.

As with other writers of the Gospels, Matthew says very little about himself, as his objective was to magnify Jesus. Being one of the original twelve apostles, he was also known as Levi. Some scholars believe this may be because he was from the tribe of Levi, but there is nothing definitive about this. He was best known to us as the tax collector for the Roman government to whom Jesus called to follow Him.

Matthew's gospel brings to light that Jesus is Savior and King; the long-awaited Messiah to the throne of David. In this gospel there are many quotations from the Old Testament. This gives strong evidence that Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience, as they would be the ones to understand these passages and, specifically, the Jews were waiting for their King to bring in the kingdom of God.

The Roman government auctioned off territories to individuals to collect taxes within that territory. These tax collectors were not paid by the government. They were merely to collect the amount of money that they bid for their territory. Any money left over from the tax collection was kept by the tax collector. Thus, the practice was to charge the taxpayers more than they really owed. Tax collectors were notorious for their dishonesty and were therefore never allowed to testify in a court of law.

Jewish tax collectors were despised by the Jews for several reasons. First, there was the collectors' practice of overcharging. Second, remember for whom the tax collectors worked---the hated Romans. Basically, Matthew and others like him were selling out their own people to the enemy.

The four Gospels give us four perspectives, or characteristics, of Jesus. While Matthew writes that Jesus is King, Mark writes that Jesus is servant. Luke, the Greek physician, wrote to Theophilus (to whom he also wrote the Acts of the apostles) that Jesus was the perfect man (human), and John strikes us at the very beginning of his gospel with the deity of Jesus. The objective of this study is that we, too, will see Jesus as King and recognize that He is the Messiah.

Levites were the people who served as the priestly staff of the temple. If we can assume that scholars of Matthew are correct and that Matthew was from the tribe of Levi, we can see that Matthew wasn't very true to his Hebrew race and religion. He obviously was quite the opposite of other Levites, as he worked for the Roman government. Thus, his king was Caesar. As oppressed as Jews were in the Roman Empire, Matthew, who was one of their own, oppressed them even more!

To answer a question as to why the Holy Spirit used Matthew to write about Jesus being King, let's begin our study of Matthew by looking at the apostle Paul.

Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. We Gentiles realize that the Jews are a different people in that they act, eat, and worship differently than we do. They all claim a man named Abraham as their father, and they killed a man from Nazareth named Jesus who did miraculous things. They're always complaining about their oppression, and they are looking for some king of theirs to overpower the Roman government.

As Gentiles, we, like Jews, are of a sinful nature. We are separated from Jehovah. Knowing it or not, we need a Savior. Christianity is Jewish. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the laws, but the Law was not given to us. How, then, are we to recognize that Jesus fulfilled the Law? Or asked differently, how are we to understand how the Law was completed? As Gentiles, how are we to understand that we are separated from God and need a Savior? How are we to understand that we can be part of the true Israel of God? Enter the apostle Paul.

We see in Galatians 1:11--24 (NASB) that Paul was advancing in Judaism beyond his contemporaries as he was more zealous for his ancestral traditions. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, born of the tribe of Benjamin. He was highly educated. Paul continued his education past the age of thirteen to become a rabbi. This required education to the age of twenty-one. To note, for this type of education Paul was required to learn that for every passage of Scripture, there were four meanings:

• The literal meaning

• The suggested meaning

• The investigated meaning through the grammar, syntax, and historical references

• The symbolic meaning

Paul had a greater claim to distinction. He was a Pharisee. That is, he was a separated one, separating himself from the ordinary people in order to keep every detail of the Law. It is easy to criticize the Pharisees and to condemn them as misguided, arrogant legalists. However, one thing is clear: they were desperately in earnest. William Barclay states that only one with fanatical intensity of belief would have attempted such a lifestyle.¹ Paul was a man with a passion for the Law, willing to submit his life to the minutest regulation in order to be, as he thought, true to God.

I believe that we needed Paul---specifically Paul---to be our apostle. Even though Saul was using his education against the church, Christ used Paul and his education for the church. When Saul of Tarsus became the apostle Paul, he didn't forget his upbringing. His upbringing, beliefs, and education were used to our benefit. We think of the many gods, worship rituals, and temples in the Gentile world in Paul's time, and we can understand why we Gentiles needed one with the knowledge and beliefs that could bring those outside the Hebrew race to an understanding of the one true God and His plan of salvation to bring us to Him. Because pagan gods were worshipped and idolized, Gentiles were known to refer to Jews as atheists, because Jews had such an exalted conception of God that they made no image of Him,² nor did they even speak His name verbally. The apostle Paul, then, was God's choice to help us understand Scripture and lead us to Him through our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the same way that we must see our need for a Savior, we need to see Jesus as King. How, then, are we to recognize Jesus as King? How, then, are we to recognize Jesus as the Messiah? How are we to understand His royalty? Why is there need for us to perceive Jesus as King? What or where is His kingdom? Who is fit to present to us this gospel that Jesus is King? Enter the apostle Matthew.

Matthew must have seen something in Jesus far greater than anything or anyone he had seen before. We recognize first that Matthew, by his profession, was more devout to Roman rule than to Jewish rule. As a laborer of the Roman government, he adhered to Roman culture. Thus, emperor worship was probably just as important to him as any Jewish custom. If, when seeing Jesus, Matthew perceived Him as a servant or merely a good man, he would have taxed Jesus. But when Jesus said, Follow Me, Matthew left his job and went with Jesus. I believe the only way someone like Matthew would have obeyed would have been if he perceived Jesus to be powerful or certainly worthy of more attention, and this attention was more valuable than his position as tax collector.

Matthew was a selfish man. What other such person would bid for a tax territory to make a living in such a dishonorable manner? It is easy to see that he didn't care much for Jewish tradition or the Law, as he didn't pursue his place as a Levite or as a descendent of Abraham. What would it have taken for him to go with a fellow Jew? I believe that it had to be that Jesus impressed Matthew that He (Jesus) was a King, the King. Matthew used all his perceptions and beliefs, just as Paul did, for our advantage.

As we look through Matthew's writing that was inspired by the Holy Spirit, there are noteworthy observations before we start our study.

Herod's Fear

One only has to look at the genealogy of Jesus---you will not find Herod in either Matthew's or Luke's genealogy. If any Jew had laid claim to be in the genealogy, Herod would lose his position. It was obvious that Herod was not perceived as the awaited King, as he had no intention of overthrowing the Romans. Herod was descended from Esau (Edomites), who were adversaries of the Jews. Certainly, hearing that the Messiah from the royal line of David was born in Bethlehem would prompt Herod to feel challenged in his position as king.

Fulfilling Scripture

Jesus was devoted to the Torah. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill [or complete, Greek term plerosai]. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17--18 NASB). The Greek word plerosai gives a sense of not only fulfilling the Torah but also establishing the proper meaning of the Torah. David Bivin interprets this passage from Matthew: Never imagine for a moment, Jesus says, that I intend to abrogate the Law by misinterpreting it. My intent is not to weaken or negate the Law, but by properly interpreting God's Written Work I aim to establish it, that is, make it even more lasting. I would never invalidate the Law by removing something from it through misinterpretation. Heaven and earth would sooner disappear than something from the Law. Not the smallest letter in the alphabet, the yod, or even its decorative spur, will ever disappear from the Law.³ Jesus addressed His disciples before the ascension (Luke 24:44--45, NASB), These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Virgin Birth

The virgin birth of Jesus is the foremost doctrinal foundation of His deity. The virgin birth of Christ is not an optional article of faith, but to believe in the virgin birth is critical to the gospel. If Jesus was not virgin-born, He had a human father. If He had a human father, He was not God. As mentioned previously, Jesus Himself stated that He had come to complete the Law and the prophets. God, through His prophet Isaiah, stated, The virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14 NASB). If Jesus was not born of a virgin birth, then He could not complete or fulfill the prophets as He said and would thus be a liar. God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18), and if He was not God, the Bible is false, Jesus Himself was deluded, and we have no adequate Savior from sin.⁴

As we look to Matthew's gospel, let us pray that our minds will be opened to understand the Scriptures. This study will include commentary from a number of sources, which are footnoted. "It would be a pity if ... questions which arise in modern minds were to rob us of the main significance of this marvelous gospel. The Father loves us enough to send His Son, the one who shares both God's nature and ours. He comes to rescue His people from their sins, enemies far more deadly than Rome. If God loves like that, it is good news; gospel, indeed"⁵ (italics mine).

Chapter 1

The Genealogy

The Jewish Old Testament ends with the book of 2 Chronicles, so when Matthew, who is writing to Jews, starts his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, it would seem like a natural beginning for his audience. If Matthew is to relate to his countrymen that Jesus is their long-awaited King, then a royal genealogy must be shown. God spoke to David through Nathan: But my loving-kindness shall not depart from you, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever (2 Samuel 7:15--16).

The genealogy of Jesus Christ that Matthew records shows a royal line of descendants from Abraham through Solomon, as opposed to Luke's genealogy that shows a line of descendants from Solomon's brother, Nathan. Both genealogies show that Jesus was a descendant of King David. What differs is the emphasis each gospel writer makes. Matthew's emphasis, as stated, is on Jesus as King, while Luke's emphasis is on Jesus' humanity.

Matthew's genealogy begins with Abraham and ends with Jesus, while Luke's genealogy begins with Jesus and ends with Adam. Matthew's genealogy is tailored to the royal line and the Hebrew numeric value of David's name which is 14 (Hebrew gematria reveals the numeric sum of David is DWD, numerically 4 + 6 + 4).

In his genealogy, Matthew omits the names of the wicked kings Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah.⁶ One may think this is manipulating the genealogy, but according to the law stated in Deuteronomy 29:18--21, we see that by turning their hearts away from God, the "Lord and His jealousy will burn against such men [italics mine], and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven."

One more item to point out is that Jewish readers of their Scriptures (Old Testament) would note that the words the book of the generation occur thirteen times. So the occurrence in Matthew 1:1 is number fourteen. The Jewish readers, used to the significance of numerical patterns in the Bible, could not help being curious.⁷

Although their names were not erased from the genealogy, the men mentioned from Jeconiah (Matthew 1:11; also known as Jechonias, Jehoiachin, and Coniah) through