Week 6 - Matthew 14-16 - Compassion

After John the Baptist confronts Herod the Great's son Herod Antipas, who was the tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, about his adulterous marriage to Herodeous, the wife of his brother Philip the Tetrarch, John is imprisoned, but not killed because of his popularity as a prophet.

That changed however, when the daughter Salome from that first marriage danced at feast and so pleased Herod Antipas that:

. . . he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask . . .

After consulting her mother, she replied:

“Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”

The end of John's ministry was immediate and the reaction of his disciples was natural, but that of Jesus was not.

And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.

Instead of ministering to their grief or enfolding them into his group of disciples Jesus uncharacteristically attempted to withdraw by Himself.

But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 

The Sea of Galilee is small enough that you can see the boat from shore.   They raced around the edge and arrived at the desolate location before Jesus' arrival.

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Once again we are brought back to the word "compassion" (splagchnizomai).  This is a strong physical emotion.  The English equivalent is “pang”.  This was not, however, His Disciples' response.

“. . . send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

What follows is the feeding of the Five Thousand, where Jesus reinforced the pattern of the Sermon on the Mount, with the importance of compassion and generosity, fueled by prayer and the multiplying power of God. 

With that lesson complete, Jesus, again uncharacteristically, sent both the crowd and his disciples away.  He truly wanted to be alone.  The disciples struggled through the night to cross the sea by boat and toward dawn Jesus caught up to them walking on the water.  In Mark 6:45-52, the detail is added that He was intending to walk past them!

And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 

Jesus' desire to be alone, was actually a desire to teach his disciples compassion, by showing them what it was like to be without Him.  He wanted them to feel the same desperation that John's disciples felt when He walked away.  He wanted them to feel what it was like.

The lesson is repeated, when a Gentile woman pleads with Him for the healing of her daughter.  The disciples reaction was again to send her away!  And Jesus said something very uncharacteristic of Him:

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

We have already seen Jesus heal the servant of a Roman Centurion and cast out demons from two men from the Gentile region of Gadarenes, so His compassion did cross that line, but for the moment He wanted to echo their sentiment.  After the disciples felt the coldness of statement, He relents and grants her request for crumbs from the master's table [Yes, this is the namesake for this author's blog!]

Jesus then attempts the lesson again, with Four Thousand hungry people.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat . . . 

 Their response, having seen this miracle once before, is classic:

“Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

 Jesus showed them, again.  He . . . 

. . . took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

Then, after repeatedly demonstrating His power, Jesus asks a question.  

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

In Daniel 7:13-14, a prophecy predicts that a son of man would be an everlasting kingdom.  When asked who they thought it would be, they gave the choices that most people thought.  He asked a second follow-up question to bring them closer to the answer.  

“But who do you say that I am?”

And miraculously the dullest knife in the drawer got it.  Simon, declares:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Here the ministry of Jesus changes.  

Up to this point He was teaching disciples the ramifications of the Sermon on the Mount and teaching them to be forgiving and compassionate.  Now He must prepare for the Sign of Jonah -- His death, three day burial, and His Resurrection.  

To which, the freshly renamed Peter, the rock (petra) on which the church is to be built, responds rashly.

"This shall never happen to you.”

And so the lessons for Peter begins: 

But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! 

Week 5 - Matthew 11-13 - Forgiveness

This week's section (Matthew 11-13) contains more content than a single bog can hold.  However, we will maintain pace to complete the book in the manner it was written.

It begins with a pair of disciples sent from John the Baptist with an important question:

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

John was in prison, and his ministry stopped, except for the visitation of his remaining disciples.  He sent them to Jesus with a question, to which he knew the answer, wanting his disciples to hear and re-align themselves to Christ.

“And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

The answer finished with a tender rebuke spoken as a beatitude.  Many were to be offended (skandalizō) by Jesus’ miracles and the message (Matthew 13:57).  This is a frequent word in this book and is at the center of Peter’s eventual denial (Matthew 26:30-35,69-74).

To the Pharisees, nothing was more offensive than Jesus' application of the Law with mercy.  

In Matthew 12:1-8, Jesus and the disciples took advantage of the law, which permitted personal consumption of a neighbor's grain (Deuteronomy 23:25).  Hunger mercifully overrides the eighth commandment (Exodus 20:15).  

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

However, the Pharisees held that it did not override the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8), which prohibited work on the Sabbath.

Then Jesus repeats for them a second time Hosea 6:6 (Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:17), which instructs us to add mercy to judgement.  And in Matthew 12:9-14, Jesus is merciful to a man on a Sabbath, which infuriates the Pharisees.

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? . . . But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

In Matthew 12:15-21, Jesus is identified as God’s chosen servant with His quiet, but infuriating effective, efforts among the Gentiles.

. . . until he brings justice to victory;

Then in Matthew 12:22-32, the Pharisees again, without denying the miracles, challenge the source of Jesus’ power as He continues to cast out demons.  This is the second time (Matthew 9:33-34) that this blasphemous charge is spoken

 “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

In response to this blaspheme (blasphēmia) of himself and in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:12), He forgives them.  Jesus continues to do this, even on the cross (Luke 23:34).

He warns, however, that similar actions against the Holy Spirit cannot be similarly forgiven.  Instead, such sin must always be punished.  

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Many attempt to comfort the repentant by explaining that if they are repentant, they cannot have possibly committed this sin, because the repentant are always forgiven (1 John 1:9).  They describe this sin as the high-handed ongoing rejection of the Holy Spirit, which would indeed lead the unrepentant to damnation (Matthew 25:31-46).  However, the brevity of the action (“a word”) and the tense of the verb, do not support this.  In fact, in Matthew 12:33-37, explains that every word will be judged and accounted for.  Even the careless ones.

“ . . . I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

So, this shocking statement must be understood within the proclaimed Gospel.  Our Redeemer does not simply erase sin, but rather takes it upon Himself (Matthew 8:17).  So, for the repentant, this grievous sin and all others, is propitiated by the work of Christ on the cross, where He is punished instead.  There is no sin, where the work of Christ on the cross is not sufficient.

What then, is the difference between our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit?  Nothing.  We are taught in WSC #6 that "these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory".  They are only positionally different.  Jesus had relinquished this authority temporally, permitting Him to forgive their sin personally.  The Holy Spirit had not and would not similarly forgive such evil.

In Matthew 13:36, Jesus retires to the house to explain the meaning of the parables and to explain their new assignment.  

Then he left the crowds and went into the house.

In Matthew 13:44-46,51-52, Jesus describes the task of a scribe in the new Kingdom.

“Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

They are to find the treasures both old and new.  When they find them, they are to bring them out for their guests.

Week 4 - Matthew 8-10 - Down from the Mountain

In this section Jesus culls (separates) out to himself twelve disciples, who are willing to go to the Gentiles, who are willing to be persecuted by the Pharisees, and who are willing to walk the Narrow Way.  He does so by walking-the-talk. He plays out the contents of the Sermon On the Mount, while coming down the mountain.

Matthew 9:35-37

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

At the core of the Sermon on the Mount is compassion (Matthew 5:7).

Matthew 9:13

Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus dismissed any piety that is not done for the purpose of others. His purpose was not to bring glory to himself, but rather to heal the bodies and souls of others.

But note too that this fruit bearing is not from oneself.  If compassion is the core of the Sermon on the Mount, then prayer is the foundation (Matthew 6:5-15).

Matthew 9:38

therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

If we try to do this on our own, we will run out of fruit!  We need the bounty of our Eternal Father.  To emphasize this, Jesus sent them out with nothing, so they could experience our Father’s good gifts (Matthew 7:9-11) at each and every house. 

Week 3 - Matthew 5-7 - Sermon on the Mount

This sermon is repeated once on the mount, once on the plain (Luke 6:12-49), and individual teachings are repeated in a variety of other locations.  Jesus did not have the Internet, where things once said, need not be repeated.  He used repetition to teach the truths in a variety of locations to a variety of audiences.

The sermon introduces the Kingdom of God and Jesus explains that its citizenship is not gained after a lifetime of piety, but instantaneously, when an attitude of spiritual poverty is willing to be professed and persecuted (compare "is" and "shall" in Matthew 5:1-10).

Visible piety for the sake of reward is condemned (Matthew 6:1-18), but personal piety without visible fruit is also condemned (Matthew 5:13-16).  In fact, the sternest warnings are to those that call Him "Lord, Lord", who even have the evidence of miracles performed in His Name (Matthew 7:21-23).  If they can’t be recognized, to them will be said the words "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:21-23).

Instead the fulfillment of the Law is required, where the hollow shells of the statutes are filled with justice  (Matthew 5:17-6:18) and our wealth instead of being earthly and temporal, is celestial and permanent (Matthew 6:19-34).  

As we pass through each day, we are asked not to judge (Matthew 7:1-6), but rather enjoy the generosity of our Heavenly Father (Matthew 7:7-11), and practice the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12).

This does not give us care-free days, but rather days in which we care about the right things, as God cares for us. 

This is a narrow way.  Few find it  Those that do are recognized by the fruit they produce (Matthew 7:13-27). They are not wolves, but humble sheep, on this Way of Fruit (karpos hodos).