Author: hillturnfs

I’ve started my annual reading of the gospels with Matthew. I want to share with you a series of letters I sent my cousin Bill in March of 2018 about my study of the book of Matthew that I think will be good background information for my readers.  The word gospel means “good news”.  God wants us to know His salvation plan for man which is contained in the gospels.

MATTHEW:
Writer – The Apostle Matthew, an eyewitness to the life and miracles of Jesus. Matthew was originally a tax collector so he was literate and was skilled at writing. Matthew’s original name was Levi. Matthew means “gift of God”.
When – Matthew was written after the gospel of Mark and may have used the gospel of Mark to assist in writing his gospel. Matthew was written around the time the gospel of Luke was written. Matthew was written some time between 55 AD to 80 AD.
Language – Written in Hebrew.
Audience – Written to and for the Jews to convince them that Jesus was the predicted Messiah.
Where – Palestine.
Type – Synoptic gospel; which means it focused on the life and actions of Jesus and similar to Mark and Luke. Matthew is not a biography nor does it read like a novel.  Matthew focuses on three and a half years of Jesus’ ministry with the primary focus on the last week before crucifixion. Matthew only contains those things God wants us to know about so we understand the spiritual implications.  Matthew stresses Jesus’ exhortations to His followers.
Important points – Matthew was known as the “Jewish gospel” and stresses the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.  Matthew bridges the gap between the Old and New Testaments.  Matthew is well written and focuses on Jesus as a teacher and showcases His teachings.  Matthew highlights the church and  the Great Commission.  Matthew is important to the Jews because it shows the genealogy from Abraham through King David and ultimately, to Jesus.
Why – Matthew was written to preserve eyewitness testimony of Christ’s ministry.

Theological truths:
1. Jesus is the Messiah.
2. Jesus is the new Abraham who establishes a church for all who believe.
3. Jesus is the new Moses who delivers and instructs His people.
4. Jesus is Immanuel, the Son of God who fulfills Old Testament promises.
5. Jesus gave us God’s salvation plan, sixty references to the Old Testament and revealed His future plans for the church and His kingdom.

Matthew gave us five discourses (teachings of Jesus).
1. Sermon on the Mount
2. Ministry of Jesus’ disciples
3. Parables about the kingdom
4. Character of Jesus’ disciples
5. Olivet discourse.

Jesus was crucified for blasphemy and not because he said anything about the temple. A Jewish man under the Law may not claim to be God and live according to the Old Testamant. When Caiaphas the high priest asked Jesus “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed?” and Jesus said “I am”, his fate was sealed. Jesus knew his time had come and it was time to be open about his identity.

Leviticus 24:16 – He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death.

There is confusion about the statement Jesus made on the cross shortly before his death where he said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Critics argue that statement means Jesus wasn’t divine after all or that Jesus somehow had a crisis of faith. Actually, it was just the opposite.  If you look at that statement in the context of ancient Jewish culture you would realize Jesus was quoting the first line from Old Testament Scripture, the book of Psalms, chapter 22. In the Jewish tradition when you quote the first line of a Psalm you invoke the entire Psalm.

Psalm 22 is a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. Jesus was referencing the fulfillment of this Scripture when he was near death. Jesus was actually saying to us that although he appears to be forsaken by God in his suffering and death, in the end, God will hear him and save him. The key to understanding what Jesus said is in the following two verses:

Psalm 22:23-24 – You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard.

We would all profit from reading all of Psalm 22 on a regular basis. In the Psalm Jesus is also predicting that by His death the gentile nations (which is us Christians) will come to worship the one God of Israel. The rapid growth of Christianity is his confirmation.  One last thing I want to mention. Our bodies are the temple of God. When Jesus was on the earth it was before God poured out His Holy Spirit to indwell us. The body of Jesus was the temple of God then. Jesus was sacrificed during the feast of the Passover as required by the Law.  Instead of a lamb without blemish God sacrificed His Son so that our sins might be forgiven and not just covered over.

Remission of our sins required a sinless human blood sacrifice which is why Jesus came. When the Roman soldier thrust his spear into the side of Jesus it pierced his heart and the blood that flowed out from the wound was the precious shed blood of Christ that allowed God to forgive our sins. The Passover sacrifice by Law also had to be in Jerusalem and at the temple of God and since Jesus was God’s temple He met both criteria.

I have one last comment about those who attack the gospels of Christ. Know that Satan is your sponsor so beware. Only in the last 200 years have critics started trying to convince people that the gospels of Christ are really folklore. They have asserted that the gospels were not about historical truth but only sought to portray a story about Jesus that may or may not have actually happened.  Critics say how could the gospels be accurate when there is no description of what Jesus looked like and which doesn’t contain an accurate chronology of his his life.  For the first 1800 years the gospels were accepted as historical biographies.

Keep in mind the gospels are ancient writings similar to the Greco-Roman biographies of that era that chronicled the lives of famous people of that time. In that genre of historical biographies what someone looked like was not important. An exact chronology of their life was not important.  The old historical biographies had three parts – the birth, public life and death of the person written about with the bulk of that history being devoted to the subject’s public career.  The gospels also do that.  God in His wisdom chose the genre historical biography for the gospels because people were accustomed to that. God included in the gospels only what He considered important for us to know about Himself and the salvation for man.

God never says, does or writes anything without a good reason. Therefore, whenever you read a biblical story in the gospels ask yourself, “What is God trying to tell me”? Ask yourself, “What is it I need to know and why”?  It helps if you pray to God before reading gospel Scripture for the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s Word to your mind and spirit. Ask God how to apply what you have learned in your life.  God says to ask and you will receive but the secret is you have to keep asking until you do receive because God’s timeline is His own. 

During the Babylonian captivity the prophet Daniel served the king. Daniel was favored by God to prophesy about the end times. In a vision Daniel saw the Second Advent of Jesus Christ returning to earth to judge the nations and set up His millennium kingdom.

Daniel 7:13-14 – I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

During His ministry Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man as a direct reference to the above prophecy of Daniel.  Jesus was telling His audience not only that He was God but that He would be the one on that Shekinah glory cloud on the last day.  I love the Jewish people and grieve for their loss. They are my brothers and sisters. The Jews knew the coming of Messiah was imminent in the first century but they rejected Jesus because they were expecting their Messiah to crush their Roman oppressors as the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Jewish people did not realize Jesus Christ was coming to the earth twice, the first time as a suffering servant, and the second time as the Messiah they were expecting.

The Jewish people did not realize God’s mercy and saving grace was for all men and not just the chosen people. A careful reading of the Old Testament clearly indicates the first coming of Jesus. It’s just that the human mind cannot comprehend a sovereign God loving His masterpiece of creation so much that He would empty Himself and come to earth to die a horrible death to save us from our sins.  Man simply could not wrap his mind around that fact. I’m not sure any of us could, until after the fact. This is one of the reasons I know the Bible is truth. Man could not have conceived of a triune God and the perfect salvation plan of God. There was no other way to restore fellowship between man and God while at the same time satisfying God’s justice.  It’s too mind boggling for us to even comprehend so I know it’s from God’s mind alone.

As noted earlier, Jesus used parabolic teaching methods using questions and riddles to lead people to the answer to his divine mystery on their own so he wouldn’t have to blab out, “I’m God, here I am!”  The next story from the Synoptic gospels that I’ll touch on is when Jesus was teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem about the Messiah.  Jesus questioned why the Messiah was called the Son of David when Psalm 110 shows David referred to the Messiah as Lord. How can the Messiah be David’s son when he is David’s Lord? The servant is not greater than the master.

The term Son of David is mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament. It came into use as a Jewish tradition after the Law was written. Jesus was pointing out the actual translation of Psalm 110 should be Lord of David when referring to the Messiah. The Bible makes it clear the Messiah is a direct blood descendant of King David while at the same time pre-existent and equal to God.  Since there is only one God, the Messiah is also God and the Son of Man is also the Messiah. By his words Jesus was leading the Jews to the logical truth of his divinity. A triune Godhead is a difficult concept for some to accept but in heaven all will become clear.

The last example from the Synoptic gospels is the story of the rich man who came to Jesus and asked “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life”? Jesus responded “Why do you call me good”? “No one is good but God alone.”  Detractors have seized on this statement by Jesus to assert Jesus is saying he is not good and he is not God. The truth is just the opposite. Jesus is trying to get the man to connect the dots. If Jesus is good and God alone is good then Jesus must be God.

Jesus goes on the tell the young man to inherit heaven he must observe the commandments of God. Jesus added one more commandment to give away all his possessions and follow Jesus. The Jews know the ten commandments were written by the, “finger of God.”  Jesus, by adding another commandment was doing what only God can do. Jesus was telling the Jews he was on a par with God, that he was God. The stories in the Bible fulfill Old Testament prophecy and show who God is while revealing the attributes of God that he wants to reveal to his creation. Praise God!

In previous blogs we have documented the evidence that proves the gospels of Christ were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We have looked at the proof the gospel writers thought Jesus was God even though they may not have come out and said so openly. We identified the actions in each of the Synoptic gospels that prove Jesus also said he was God, but in a Jewish way.  Satan has for centuries propagated the lies that the gospels were anonymous, that the gospels don’t say Jesus is God and that Jesus himself never claimed to be God. Now you know the truth. If the uninformed bring up these false allegations to you please set them straight, but with gentleness.

Jesus not only acted like God in the gospels he said said he was God. Let’s look at three stories from the Synoptic gospels that shed more light on the divinity of Jesus. The first story I want to mention is the paralytic man who was lowered down to Jesus from a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching. When Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic man and his friends he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”  Scribes sitting around Jesus accused him of blasphemy because “only God” can forgive sin. Jesus told the scribes that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Having said that, Jesus healed the paralytic in their presence and sent him home to prove to all present that the Son of God has authority to forgive sins.  Jesus was telling everyone he was God but leaving it to them to figure out what he said.

The Son of Man was the favorite moniker of Jesus. Why is that? God never does anything on a whim. God always has a purpose for any action he takes. For understanding we need to refer back to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. In chapter seven, verses 13 & 14 Daniel prophesied about a divine being coming to earth riding the Shekinah glory cloud of God and looking like a son of man (i.e. he looked like a human being). This person looked like a man but was also the equal to God. He was both man and God.  To the Jewish mind someone saying they are the Son of Man is making direct reference to the book of Daniel and they are, in effect, saying they are the Messiah and God but in an indirect, Jewish way. Jesus used this title often to remind the Jews that while he is a man, he is also God.  Christians will recognize this prophecy as the second coming of Christ at the end of the great tribulation referenced in the book of Revelation.

The third miracle from the gospels that identified Jesus as God to the Jews was the Transfiguration of Jesus which appeared in all three of the Synoptic gospels. This account took place on a high mountain in the presence of Peter, James and John. The appearance of Jesus changed to show him in his heavenly glory.  Appearing with Jesus was Moses and Elijah who represented the Law and the Prophets. In the Old Testament God (Yahweh) had appeared to both men by their request and spoke to them. God did not allow either one of them to see his face.  Elijah is still alive in heaven but Moses was long since dead when he met with Jesus in the spirit. Jesus was conversing with them so it was obvious they knew each other already. It would be obvious to any Jew that God was now honoring their request to see his face, his human face.

To any Jew Jesus was saying I am the God who in times past spoke with my servants Moses and Elijah. This amazing miracle is contained in all four gospels and declares to all that Jesus is God come to earth in the flesh.  

You must understand the times in which Jesus lived. A person couldn’t claim to be God without being stoned to death for blasphemy. Instead, Jesus taught in parables, spoke in riddles and often referred to Old Testament Scriptures in his sermons. The goal of Jesus was to fulfill Bible prophecies concerning the Messiah and let the people make up their own mind who he was. The fact the Synoptic gospels do not declare Jesus is God perfectly reflects first century Jewish culture and actually corroborates their authenticity in my mind.

Jesus came into this world with a ministry that was choreographed for three and a half years from his baptism to his crucifixion. Jesus had to reveal his identity as God slowly so as to have time to fulfill prophecy and teach about the kingdom of God. Notice in each of the gospels Jesus performed some miracles and then told the recipient not to tell anyone. This was because the time to reveal himself as God had not yet come. It was only toward the end of his ministry that Jesus openly admitted to the Jewish leaders and the Romans that he was God. Predictably, Jesus was sentenced to die for the blasphemy of claiming to be God. Jesus came so that he could die on the cross for our sins and that is why with his last breath Jesus said “It is finished”.

Detractors have long voiced the opinion the, “Synoptic gospels” of Matthew, Mark and Luke do not claim that Jesus is God nor does Jesus himself say he is God. They say only in the gospel of John does Jesus say he is God and act like God. Are we then to believe Jesus is God on the testimony of one man? This attempt to obscure the gospel message of a divine Christ is more of Satan’s lies.  It’s true the writers of the Synoptic gospels do not come out and say Jesus is God. Jesus does not go around beating his chest declaring, “I am God”. Nevertheless, in each gospel Jesus does declare he is God, but in a Jewish way and in the context that any Jew living in the first century would immediately recognize based on Old Testament descriptions of God (Yahweh). In the Old Testament God was portrayed as the creator of the universe and the God who could still the wind and calm the raging sea. God could and did part the Red Sea.

Let’s look at three miracles of Jesus from the gospels that effectively told the Jews that Jesus was declaring himself to be the God of the Old Testament. The first miracle was when Jesus and his disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was sleeping and there arose a great storm of wind and high waves that threatened to swamp the boat.  The disciples were afraid and awakened Jesus. Jesus rebuked the wind and it ceased. Jesus calmed the sea with a word. To the Jewish mind this immediately told the disciples that Jesus was claiming to be the divine God of the Old Testament who stilled the wind and calmed the sea. This account is in all three of the Synoptic gospels.

The second miracle that confirmed to the Jews that Jesus was claiming to be God was the account of Jesus walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a bad storm. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the water coming toward them. As Jesus came near the boat he told his disciples, “take heart, I AM; do not be afraid.”  As Jesus stepped into the boat the wind immediately stilled. Not only does the wind obey Jesus a second time like in the Old Testament, Jesus openly declared he was God in the flesh. All Jews know from the story of Moses that God spoke from the burning bush on Mount Sanai and declared his name to be, “I AM”. The Jews immediately understood Jesus was saying he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This story is in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John.

Since the four gospels of Christ were written Satan has attempted to lead mankind away from the saving grace of God. Failing that, Satan has tried to convince man that the authorship of the gospels is in question. For 2000 years critics have tried to discredit the Bible and failed.  The evidence is rock solid that the gospels of Matthew and John were written by the Apostles John and Matthew.  

The authorship of the gospel of Luke is the best documented gospel because in it the writer identifies himself as Luke, a Gentile physician and disciple of the Apostle Paul. Luke makes clear he did not know Jesus personally but is truthfully reporting eyewitness testimony of the Apostle Paul and his investigation into the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Early church fathers like Origen, Irenaeus and Tertullian all confirmed Luke penned the gospel of Luke in Greek to the Gentiles after Mark and Matthew were written but sometime before the death of Paul in Rome making it prior to 66 AD.

The Apostle John wrote the gospel bearing his name last and had read the other gospels before he wrote his gospel. The Apostle John was illiterate so he dictated his gospel. The Apostle John was an eyewitness to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and, as the beloved disciple of Jesus, was part of his inner circle and witness to things not widely known by the other gospel writers. The Apostle John attempted to fill in the information missing from the other gospels and to stress the divinity of Jesus. Early church fathers from all over the world such as Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement and Tertullian all wrote confirming the Apostle John wrote his gospel. There has never been any disputing who authored the four gospels of Christ, only the order in which they were written. The gospel of John was written last according to historical records.

Satan is responsible for a widespread myth accepted by much of academia that the four gospels of Christ, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, were anonymous manuscripts for a couple of hundred years before the church got around to naming them for the sake of validity. That is not true. Historical data reveals there were no anonymous gospels.  There are numerous old gospel manuscripts, some dating back to the second century, and all of them are attributed to either Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Gospel manuscripts were copied over and over and used to preach the gospel of Christ in churches. Anonymous manuscripts would have been worthless for this purpose and, if there were any, would have caused numerous errors when copied and that was not found to be the case.

Most of the noted church fathers of the second and third century either knew the Apostles themselves or those who did. Papias, Martyr, Irenaeus and Clement all wrote that the gospel of Matthew bears his name and was written by the Apostle Matthew based on reliable sources, usually first or secondhand knowledge.  The consensus was that Matthew was written in Hebrew for the Jewish Christians to preserve a written record of the teachings of Jesus from an eyewitness for posterity . Matthew was written while Peter and Paul were still in Rome, which had to be before 66 AD. Matthew was thought to be the second gospel written.

The gospel of Mark was thought to be the first gospel written, by a well known Jew from Jerusalem named John Mark. Mark was a disciple, follower, interpreter and translator for the Apostle Peter, who was illiterate. Peter preached the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles in Rome and Mark wrote down all he said.  The Christians in Rome convinced Mark to make a written record of the teachings of Peter on the life of Jesus while an eyewitness yet lived. This was corroborated in the writings of early church fathers like Papias, Irenaeus and Clement and based primarily on first and secondhand knowledge. Mark did not know Jesus personally. The gospel of Mark was written in Greek and sometime prior to 66 AD.