Matthew: Creation, Covenant, and the Good News of Jesus the Christ
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Who is this?
Who is this?
America is confused about the God of the Bible. If I were to ask you to tell me about Jesus 30 years ago, the average American would have likely landed somewhere in the Bible, in he manger, or even calling him the Son of God. That is not the case today.
Barna puts out surveys of America’s religiosity every couple of years. Recently, as of 2020-2021, Americans are more agnostic than they have ever been. Roughly 20% of Americans believe in a higher power. Four percent are polytheistic, meaning they believe in multiple gods. With all clatter about atheism in our culture, oddly enough, only six percent claim to be atheistic. On the one hand, Americans have not gone away from the idea of a god, as atheist would like you to believe, but they just do not accept Jesus or the God of the Bible, as their peers did thirty years ago. Barna says only one percent of Americans were agnostic in 1993.
America is confused about Jesus. It was also startling to read that over half, that is that 44% of Americans believe Jesus sinned in his lifetime, nullifying his atonement for your sin.
America is confused about the Holy Spirit. Over half of Americans, that is 52%, believe the Holy Spirit is not God, nor is He a living being, but merely a symbol of God’s power and presence. Essentially America has flat out denied the existence of the Trinity.
Do you know what the real deception is that blinds Americans? 49% of Americans are not fully confident that God exists, yet 56% of them believe Satan exists as a powerful entity.
It does not look much better for the church.
The church is confused about God.Only half of the people surveyed who said they were Christian actually believe God exists, 51%.
The church is confused about Jesus. Of those who say they are consistent Bible readers, only 34% believe Jesus is personally involved in their life.
The church is confused about the Holy Spirit. Barna reveals, of the professing Christians, overall, 38% strongly agreed and 20% agreed somewhat that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity.” Just one-third of Christians disagreed that the Holy Spirit is not a living force (9% disagreed somewhat, 25% disagreed strongly) while 9% were not sure.
If there was every a reason to study the Gospel of Matthew, it is to clear up any confusion about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. To understand one should be to understand the other three. But that is not the case in our generation. We are a confused people in need of clarification. In some ways, we are not the only generation confused about God, particular His Son, Jesus the Christ.
There were many in Jesus’s day, who had no idea, both Jew and Gentile, who was this extraordinary prophet from Bethlehem. In all four gospels, think about how many times people ask, “Who is this?” Daniel Doriani offers a few exmpels,
• A storm threatens to swamp a boat, drowning everyone on board. Jesus stands up, rebukes the wind and the waves, and they stop at once. His disciples see it and ask, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Matt. 8:27 // Mark 4:41).
• He forgives sins and the bystanders ask, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” (Luke 7:49).
• He enters Jerusalem attended by a crowd that lays cloaks and palm branches on the road before him. They call out, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” and the city asks, “Who is this?” (Matt. 21:10).
• At his trial, the high priest of the Jews asks, “Are you the Christ?” The Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, asks, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (Matt. 26:63; 27:11). Doriani, Daniel M. 2008. Matthew V1, p4-5).
Matthew opens his gospel answering the question, “Who is Jesus.” Then he spends the rest of the Gospel explaining in detail who Jesus is. Matthew begins his gospel by identifying Jesus as:
the author of the new creation and fulfilment of both the Davidic and Abrahamic covenant; the Son of David and the Son of Abraham.
Jesus is also the anointed Messiah, the savior of the gentiles, and the virgin born Son of God.
He is born of the Spirit (1:18)
He is Immanuel-God with us (1:23). That was not an ordinary Jewish name by the way. He was called Immanuel because his name revealed his identity. Jesus is God with us.
Answering the question, “Who is Jesus?” might be the most important thing we do in 2024. It was for Matthew. Matthew wrote his gospel in order to preserve written eyewitness testimony about the ministry of Jesus so we the readers could better understand Jesus. (Quarles, Charles L. 2017. “Matthew.” In CSB Study Bible: Notes, pg 1495).
In the Gospel of Matthew we will see that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah of God’s people. Jesus is the new Abraham, the author of a new creation of spiritual people consisting of Jews and Gentiles. Jesus is the new Moses, the ultimate deliverer of his people once and for all. Jesus is the “yes and amen” of all of God’s promises made in the Old Testament, the Immanuel, the virgin born Son of God. Jesus is the kingdom come, and yet is coming. Kingdom is a major theme in Matthew.
Jesus is the good news of the kingdom that has come, and yet is coming. He is the good news that God is restoring all that has been broken by sin-from creation to your relationship with God, now and for all eternity. Jesus will one day rule as king with no opposition.
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
And his kingdom will be just, righteous, peaceful, and will have no end. Jesus is that reality for us now-so his kingdom is to be lived in now, and yet we look forward to its complete fulfillment when he returns. This is the good news:
2 and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”
Matthew Scholar and good friend of mine, Dr. Jonathan Pennington explains regarding the Gospel in Matthew in his book, “Reading the Gospels Wisely,”
“Matthew provides for us a full-orbed and unmistakable definition of “the gospel of/about the kingdom”; it is the message and reality that God’s kingship or reign has now come in Jesus. Jesus teaches about what this “here and yet to be” kingdom is like regarding both the virtue and the character of its disciples and the kind of healing and restoration that it brings.” Jonathan Pennington (Pennington, Jonathan T. 2012. Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)
In studying The Gospel of Matthew, I hope to bring more clarity to who Jesus is and a better understanding of His kingdom. I want us to know Jesus better so as to be better conformed into his image. His kingdom has a set of values and virtues that His disciples should manifest in the character of their lives.
The Road Map to Knowing Jesus in Matthew
The Road Map to Knowing Jesus in Matthew
D.A. Carson provides a helpful map for the book of Matthew. In the first couple of chapters, Matthew offers us a prologue to the book. The prologue introduces themes and motifs of the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter 3-7, we read of the gospel and the kingdom of God. In this section we learn Christ’s character and virtues in the Sermon on the Mount (There will likely be twenty sermons on this section alone.). In Chapter 8-11, the kingdom of God is extended under Jesus’ authority. Chapters 11-13, reveal the rising opposition to Jesus’ teaching and preaching of God’s kingdom, and from 13-19, their is a progressive polarization of the religious Jews and God’s Christ. Towards the end of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus discusses eschatology and the triumph of God’s grace. In the final two chapters, 26-28, Matthew records the passion and resurrection of Jesus, with Jesus giving his disciples the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
With the remaining time, lets get to know Jesus from the beginning in Matthew 1:1.
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
For today, Matthew reveals three truths about Jesus.
Jesus is the author of a new creation.
Jesus is the author of a new creation.
Matthew opens his gospel with the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The phrase “book of genealogy” has been at the pinpoint of some discussion. Some scholars simply take the phrase to mean the family line of ancestry, or that its the title of the gospel. In Matthews gospel, the phrase appears right before he lists the family line of Jesus. So, a simple reading would confirm this is what Matthew is conveying to the reader.
Although this is true, there is however, more to the story.
The noun “biblios” is normally referred to as a roll or a book, something of a lengthy document. It is never used in the New Testament as a brief document, and it refers to shorter works in the LXX on rare occasions. So, this creates problems for those who hold that verse 1 serves merely as a title for the genealogy, birth narrative, or the prologue. When you combine biblios with genesis (the word used for genealogy) , there is more that meets the eye.
The word genesis, may refer to human birth as it does in (Matthew 1:18). The phrase “βίβλος γενέσεως,” however, appears twice in the LXX (Gen 2:4; 5:1). In both instances, the phrase introduces an account of creation- first the creation of the heavens and earth and then the creation of humanity (Quarles, Charles L. 2017.EGGNT Matthew. pg14) Being that Matthew is Jewish and is likely writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, he would’ve been influenced by the LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. If that is the case, Matthew may have used this phrase to nuance or allude to a new creation here as well by looking back at Genesis’ creation account.
So, if Matthew is alluding to a new creation, what point may he be trying to make? Just as Genesis in the Old testament was the begining of a new creation, so in Matthew is Jesus coming into the world the genesis of a new creation. A new creation created by Jesus, or a creation fully restored to be a new creation.
If you read the very last words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, he says,
Matthew 28:20 (ESV)
20 And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew begins his gospel saying, this is the account of the new beginning, the new creation created by Christ. He ends the book with Jesus saying “ I will be with you until the end of the age.” The end of the age is when Jesus restores all things and rules and reigns as King. Matthew begins his gospel with genesis and ends it with the consummation, the end of the age, when everything is restored. Which means, that everything that is taught between these two verses is as important and essential as when God created the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1-2. When God created the heavens and the earth, and mankind, he gave them a place to live and work, and have their being. He gave them commands to follow and told them how to live rightly with him forever.
Jesus does the same thing in the Gospel Matthew. Jesus is God’s kingdom come.
Those who live in God’s kingdom live by His ethics, exhibit His character, value His virtues. Furthermore, as His kingdom grows on earth, so does His light conquer darkness, his word bring truth and righteousness, and his church bring healing and hope. Jesus is using us to create a new creation, so we now live with Jesus, and should reflect his life, ministry, and rule. And yet, we still face opposition from Satan. But we look forward to the day when Jesus returns to fully establish his kingdom; a day when we will live with Jesus in a new life, a new creation, a restored creation, within his kingdom that has no end. It will have no end because heaven and earth will unite.
As we think about the new creation and Jesus’ consummation, Wayne Grudem gives us food for thought when says,
Christians often talk about living with God “in heaven” forever, but in fact the biblical teaching is richer than that: it tells us that there will be new heavens and a new earth—an entirely renewed creation—and we will live with God there. . . . There will also be a new kind of unification of heaven and earth. . . . There will be a joining of heaven and earth in this new creation.1323
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology
Wayne Grudem
This is what Matthew wants us to meditate on as we think about Jesus as the author of a new creation, and his kingdom coming as it unfolds in Matthew. We look forward to that day when all things are made new, and our hope is sure that day will come because Jesus came into the world to create a new begining.
Jesus is the promised King, Son of David.
Jesus is the promised King, Son of David.
The title “Son of David” refers to Jesus as the royal Messiah, the Christ, who was in the line of David. Jesus fulfills the promises God made to David regarding having an eternal offspring, a son, who would never leave the throne.
God made this promise to David at a time when David deeply desired to build God a temple. But God forbid David because he had too much blood on his hands, Instead, God made a covenant with David, saying, 2 Samuel 7:12-16
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
The prophet Isaiah also foretold,
6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.
The Messiah King would be the Son of David whose throne would see no end. Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. The genealogy of Matthew in verses 2-17, shows that Jesus meets the qualification of being in David’s lineage through Jospeh, his earthly father. Jesus not being Jospeh’s physical child by no means disqualifies Jesus from David’s linage for two reasons. First, Jospeh adopts Jesus. In antiquity, in Jewish circles, a child is not made a son by merely procreation, but more by the acknowledgement of the father. The father speaks to affirm the child as his son. That has as much levity than procreation. Secondly, Luke shows Jesus’ genetic lineage comes through Mary.
The theme of Jesus being God’s Messiah, the Son of David, is reiterated nine times in the Gospel of Matthew (v. 20; 2:2; 9:27; 12:3, 23; 15:22; 20:30–31; 21:9, 15). There times when people rightly acknowledge Jesus the Son of David, such as the magi who came to worship him at his brith, but most of the time people were confused about his kingship. The Jewish people, and even his disciples, expected the Son of David to come and establish his rule by political or military might. They were looking for a Davidic Warrior King . But Matthew will show us rather, that Jesus came humbly, born in poverty, and wielded his power to help the poor and oppressed, to mend the physically and spiritually broken. He came to suffer and die as a criminal in order to bring salvation to his people. The people did not realize that God’s plan to keep his promsie to David would have the Son of David rule forever by dying on the cross and resurrecting from the dead. Isaiah prophesied that the branch of David, the Suffering Servant, would bear the iniquities of his people and be restored (Isaiah 53:11-12).
Jesus is King. Jesus is the King who died for his people and rose from the dead to remain King forever. As King, He requires you to submit to His authority and his rightful rule in your life. You cannot be a part of His kingdom if you do not surrender to His Lordship. David Garland wisely says,
To be “in the kingdom” one must do more than simply approve of Jesus’ teaching; one must submit entirely to his authority and person. Can [you] make the next step and accept Jesus as the Son of David and David’s Lord?
David E. Garland
Jesus is King. You notice that Matthew puts the title Son of David before Son of Abraham. He’s not chronologically right. Abraham came before David. Matthew is setting things straight from the beginning. Abraham is not king. Moses is not king. David is not even the king. Jesus is King.
Everyone will surrender to the King. Paul makes it clear,
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
For those who surrender, he invites you to everlasting peace and joy in his new kingdom. For those who reject him, he will cast you out of his kingdom into the outer darkness, where the worm does not die, the fire is never quenched, and God’s wrath remains on you forever. Head Jesus’ words
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus is the creator of a new people, the Son of Abraham.
Jesus is the creator of a new people, the Son of Abraham.
Matthew calls Jesus the Son of Abraham. As you may know, God promised Abraham land, seed, and blessing in Genesis 12:1-3,
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
In Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed? How does God fulfill that promsie when Israel fails to be the light to the nations? How does God bless both Jew and Gentile when Israel was exiled from the land and refused to keep covenant with God? Jesus.
Just as Abraham was the father of national Israel , God’s chosen people, so Jesus is the creator of a new spiritual Israel, the church. Jesus is the means God would bless the nations. Jesus, whose linage goes back to Abraham, a son of Abraham, fulfills the promise God gave Abraham in Genesis 12:3. Paul explains how Jesus would bless the nations as a Son of Abraham in Galatians 3.
The blessing that come to the nations is justifying Gentiles and empowering them with his Spirit. Paul says in Galatians 3:8, that faith would justify the Gentiles. Faith in whom? The Seed of Abraham. Paul explains ,
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
The curse is the threat of punishment to everyone who breaks the law. In verse Gal 3:13, Paul says Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us. Christ is our legal substitute who delivers Gentiles from God’s condemnation.
Jesus is the blessing promised to Abraham for all the families of the earth because his life, death, resurrection, and ascension completely atones for your sin, justifies you before God, and gives you the right to be called sons and daughters, the new Israel.
As the Son of Abraham, Jesus is creating a new people for himself. Dr. Peter Gentry and his colleague Dr. Stephen Wellum, in their work “Kingdom Through Covenant,” point out that
Unlike the first creation, where he first made the place and afterwards the people to live there, in the new creation he is first making the people and afterwards the place where they will live.
Peter J. Gentry; Stephen J. Wellum
The new creation begins with you and I, my brothers and sisters. If Jesus is Lord of your life, Paul describes you are a new creation. 2 Cor 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Jesus creates in you a new heart, a heart that loves God and desires to follow his ways. He fulfills God’s promise in Ezekiel 36:26-27
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Jesus, the Son of Abraham, creates for himself a new Israel who will have new hearts that will gladly learn how to live and flourish under his rule in his new kingdom. Matthew teaches you how to live snd flourish in His new kingdom.
Soon and very soon
Soon and very soon
The world is very confused about God, and so is the church. We do not have the confidence of knowing who is really is in charge. Many mistakenly think the prince of the air has full dominion, even over God. Matthew shows us that is not true at all. Jesus is King. Jesus is making all things new, both his creation and his people. Regarding Jesus’ rule and reign, the Gospel of Matthew agrees whole heartedly with Abraham Kuyper when he loudly proclaims
There’s not a thumb’s breadth of this universe about which Jesus Christ does not say, ‘It is mine.’
Abraham Kuyper
He ruled before the heavens and earth were made, He ruled while he was on earth in human flesh, and he rules now as the resurrected Messiah who sits at the right hand of the Father. His rule and reign have never been in question.
In the glorious and mysterious plan of God, however, we live in a time when his kingdom has come, and yet is coming. First, the King came as a humble child, who grew to be a perfect man, who entered Jerusalem on a donkey to his death on a cross, and his resurrection from the grave. The humble King suffered and died to offer salvation to all people who would receive Him. He ascended into heaven leaving his church empowered with His Spirit, guided buy the Kingly authority of his word, to continue joyfully advancing His kingdom until he returns. When he returns, he will come as a warrior king on a white horse. He will destory all of his enemies with his word. He will restore all of heaven and earth, and we will live with our king.
There is an old chorus written by Andrea Crouch called, “Soon and Very Soon.” In the chorus he sings the anticipation of seeing the King.
Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King……
No more crying there, we are gong to see the king.
No more crying there, we are gong to see the king.
No more crying there, we are going to see the king.
Hallelujah hallelujah
We are going to see the king
No more dying there, We are going to see the king
No more dying there, We are going to see the king
No more dying there, We are going to see the king
Hallelujah hallelujah, We are going to see the king!
In Matthew, we are going to see the King.
The King will show us who he is and what he is about. Get to know Him.
There is coming a day when our faith will be sight, and we will see the King. Do you know Him? Will you recognize Him? For those who are confused by him, in that day they will be cast out of his presence forever in the lake of fire. But for those who know the king, who recognize Him as King…Hallelujah hallelujah, We are going to see the king!