From
The Rectory
I
don’t promise to shut up about Matthew’s Gospel, but this parish magazine item
is the final instalment of our year long look at this witness to Our Lord as
part of the Diocesan Year of Matthew’s Gospel.
Earlier
in the year we thought about the birth of Jesus and the visit of the Wise Men
or Magi from the East. These ancient magician / philosopher / astronomer /
astrologists are traditionally seen as representatives of the Nations, the
Gentile non-Jews, coming to worship the Christ-child.
Matthew,
and all the Gospels, concentrate on the adult Jesus – on his three years of
public ministry, which it is generally thought he began around the age of 30.
The narrative climaxes with the death and resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem.
But the final scene is back in Galilee of the Gentiles (28:16), where Jesus’
ministry began.
It
seems in various ways Matthew’s ending deliberately echoes his beginning.
Chapter
1 reminds us of the Bible’s book of beginning, Genesis, when God made the
heavens and the earth. “Heaven and earth” are also referred to in the last
chapter (28:18). Jesus is bringing about a fresh start, a new beginning, a New
Creation even.
Satanic
temptation / testing is to be found at the beginning and the end of the Gospel (chapters
4, 6, 16, 19, 22 and 26 use this “tempt / test” word).
One
small specific example is that Matthew is the only New Testament writer to
quote the Prophet Jeremiah by name, in 2:18 and 27:9-10[1].
At
the beginning and the end of the gospel there’s a threat from a King Herod
(although they are not the same person). The birth of Jesus is followed by the
death of the boys in Bethlehem. And, of course, Jesus himself dies. He was born
to die.
After
his birth, Jesus goes into a sort of exile to Egypt and then returns. Jesus’
cross (when he is cut off from the Father’s blessings because of sin, on our
behalf) is an exile. The resurrection is a return.
There
are angels at the birth and at the resurrection. Mary and Joseph were of course
there at the beginning of Jesus’ story. At the cross and the tomb there are
Marys. And Joseph of Arimathea arranges for Jesus’ burial.
The
Wise Men worshiped Jesus (2:2, 8,11). At the end of the gospel, the disciples
worship the risen Christ (28:9, 17). At the start of the gospel,
representatives of the nations came to Christ. Now at the end of the gospel,
Jesus sends his disciples as his representatives to disciple all the nations
(28:19). The Wise Men sought the King of the Jews. Jesus is now shown to be the
King the nations, of heaven and earth, the one who has been given all
authority. Jesus is seeking a new worldwide family of worshipers. Before his
birth, Jesus was revealed to be “Immanuel – God with us” (1:23) and now he
promises to be with his disciples “always, to the very end of the age.”
Why
do I go on about all this? Well, partly just to enjoy the wonderful artistry of
the Bible. But more importantly, clearly it was God’s plan that Jesus was born
to die. The end was in the beginning. And Jesus’ end also offers us a new
beginning – a death to sin and new eternal life with God.
The Revd Canon Marc
Lloyd
[1] I
owe this and some of the other observations here to American Presbyterian The
Revd Dr Peter Lienhart.
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