We Hrd Dr Davis Tell Us of the Unique Nature of Matt's Gospel, but I Would
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12-14-75. Matt & Messiah. We come now to the 3d surlday in Advent and the 2d in our qr's series in the study of Matt. ~-ii4;.~ we hrd Dr Davis tell us of the unique nature of Matt's gospel, but I would like to make an introd+ic+jon ~ We have in Matt the most wmdely-read gos~pl in the earl Church, the acct which had the greatest infl in determining men's ideas of Xr. I'm sure you all :(now that the earliest Xr documents that were widely available were the ltrs of Paul explaining the meaning of the Xr event, and that it was another decade before the biogrs, the stories of the Er event itself became available. Mark's was first, and Matt used his gosppl as a primary sourse. Matt's gosnel itself is built like a medieval cathedral, and the author himself has been called the architect among the gospel writers. His work is like a massive building representing the work of a long period of time and many workers, but so well harmonized and unified and shaped that it gives the impression of a living whole. And within the building, so diverse were the people who felt the appeal of J, and so sharp the eye of the writer, that we find ma~y different kinds of personalities, all sorts and conditions of the human race--shepherds, magi from the east, centur• ions in the Roman army, fishermen, tax collectors, farmers, vinedressers, blind beggars, generaus women, scribes and Pharisees, priests & levites, young children and very old people. There is in this cast of characters a repr from every social class and every type in the moral order from the good to the bad. But the figure who stands above all the rest, who captures our imaginat and our attn, is Jesus of Nazareth, the Xr of God, the Messiah of the Hebrs who fulfills all the prophecies and who also fulfills all the needs of the human soul. In this book he is seen as teacher of di• vine truth that is so far beyond the ethical teachings of mankind that any doubts about its divine inspirat must be put aside; he is seen as the healer of diseases and lord of the elements; he is also seen as a person with so radiant a life that all who looked upon him and heard him were at• tracted to him and folwd him gladly. ~nd it is the tragedy of the book that while the conunon people heard him and folwd him, the relig ldrs rejected as dangerous, as a blasphemer who would wreck the ancient faith and bring down upon the nation the wrath of the Roman overlords. And in their blindness they had him crudified. This is the essence of Matt's book and the meaning of the Advent--God was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace & glory, as God acted in divine love to reconcile man to himself. No one can wal~ into the might building that is Matt's gos~pl with• out being moved to awe and wonder and praise, and then being led to worship Jesus the Xr in sptrit and in truth. For today we have 3 references to Matt's use of OT prophecies to show that J fulfilled the ancient dream of the Messiah. The first one is in Matt 4: 12-16. This comes immed after the tem• ptation of J, when he withdr into Galilee where Matt sees a striking fulfillmt of the two prophe• cies in Isa 9:1,2. The first of these is that according to the prophet those people who lived in the very region that J now entered wbuld be the ones to whom the light would be given, and the second is that those who sat in darkness for so long a time have now received the light. The sym• bol of darkness well fits the moral de~radat & confusion of society in J day. It means people did not know which way to turn to escape their hopemessness, that there was no guide or path to follow, that all were gfoping for something. The symbol of light, which we meet here for the firs time in N~, is intended to tell us the essential nature of the minist&!Y of J. His mission was to be a sourse of light and hope and guidance to a people who had for so long aacted any purpose in life; it was to bring beauty and meaning into the dull lives, just as a shaft of sunlight on a gray day can renew our hope and brighten the colors of the earth. So here is the first P-Vidence from the OT that J was the answer to the prophetic vision--the retreat into the region of Galilae, the light which came into the lives of men. The second instance is in Matt 12: 14-21. This comes after the healing of the man w/wither hand,& J felt the opposit arise so he w/dr, but not from the corrnnon people, who fold him in great numbers and he healed them and swore them to secrecy. This is the beginning of a new phase in the mission-file no longer goes to the synagog to read & discuss scripture, but to the open places & the lake shore where the people are. Forced out of the relig centers he began open-air ministry. ~o Matt, this is not a defeat or a retreat, but a fulflmt of prophect, again from Isa, 42:1-4, the suffering servant. Quotmng the entire passage is characteristic of hatt who wants to link up the OT prophecy withe J of history. And this the second evid from OT that J was the answer to the Messianic hope. He is the chosen servant in whom God is pleased; he shall procl justice to gentil he will not fight back when attacked, he will not force himsalf upon anyone who will not hear, and the non-Jews will have hope in his name. So J w/dr from the synagogs and moved among the people, and Matt saw it as a sign from heaven that this was the man we are all waiting for, He is not a distant and uncaring spi±tt, he came into the world in the flesh, and the seal of God's approval was upon him. This too is the gospel of the messiah and of the advent. The third istance is in Matt 21•1-5. This one is nearing the end of that earthly min• istry and still the events were foretold long before. It is the story of the triumphal entry into Jerus from the Mt of Olives a Sagbath day journey fro~ Jer~s, for here, according to tr~dit, the messiah would appear. Bethphage means the house of unripe figs, probl an estate on the hill. Here he sent 2 students to ask about his mount into the city--probl J had already made arrangemts, per• haps with one who was a folwr waether openly or secretly--the Lora has need of this means J, as this was the normal title for J as head of the Xr community. Only Matt mentions the two animals, colt and foal, and this was the fulfillmt of Zech's vision and Isa 62. The Isa ref is the first part of Matt's citation--Say to the daughter of ·zion, behold your salvation comes; the Zech (9:9(.) --rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion. Shout alout, 0 daughter of Jerusalem. Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a coat the foal of an ass. Heee again Matt shows how J fulfills OT aspirations. In the triumphal entry he rides upon a donkey to dramatize the spiritual rather than the military or material nature of his domain, but with it all, here comes salvation into Jerus, lo, your kg is coming triumphant & victorious, yet lowly and humble. This, then is Matt's view of the Messiah. He brings light into moral and spiritual darkness. He is gentle rather than forceful, and he has God's approval, the chosen servant of God. He brings salvation to the hill of Zion in Jerus, a king who comes riding upon a donkey because he is humble and his reign is in the hearts of men. He is enunanuel, god with us, and this is what Chrti.stmas means to us. 12-28-75. J's Dilemma & Decision. Those of us in our generat often like to think that the younger generat practices lax morality while we are the upholders of an absolute ethic that admits of no bending or compromising. It is the younger ones who like to think of terms of situational ethics, of allowing circumstances to determine morality, of tolerating more permissiveness. And yet it is our generat which is willing to turn in padded expense accts, keep some secrets from the tax people take part in white-collar crime. Archie Bunker can forbid any talk about sex in his house, but he can borrow the company's electric drill and put a few nails in his pockets to take home. On TV this week I've seen an adv for cars--if you don't take the_ savings on a new car the tax-man will get it--, and there are ads in the paper urging people to beat the tax by buying now.