OVERVIEW:
Christ presents Himself as Israel’s King by fulfilling the signs and wonders prophesied of the Messiah in the Old Testament (chapters 8 and 9); the twelve are “sent forth” to preach the “Gospel of the Kingdom” (chapter 10).
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
There are several overarching errors Christians tend to make that just about insure that their biblical interpretation and application will not be correct. One of the most critical (and often made!) mistakes is thinking that the Bible is a “Christian” book that has primarily to do with us (“us,” as in “Christians”). You say, “How in the world could you say that? Do you mean to tell me that the Bible ISN’T a Christian book and that it DOESN’T primarily have to do with Christians?” Exactly!
The fact is, if we’re ever really going to “get it”, in terms of understanding the Bible, we must face the fact that the Bible is a JEWISH BOOK that has to do with a JEWISH KING, and a KINGDOM that has been promised to JEWS! How very stereotypical of Laodiceans (i.e. believers in the last days – Revelation 3:14-22, whose chief characteristic is that they are “lovers of their own selves” – 2nd Timothy 3:1-2) to think that the Bible is all about us! We tend to get the idea that the theme of the Bible is really all about our salvation (Gentiles) and, “how nice, thoughtful, and unbelievably gracious it will be of God to allow the poor Jews in the last days to have a part in it all!” No, no, no! A thousand times, no! No wonder we get messed up!
The fact is, the Bible is predominantly about a 7000-year period of time in which those of us who comprise His church are merely a 2000-year parenthesis! Now, I must say, it is certainly a glorious parenthesis, a parenthesis that most definitely includes us and benefits us; one that is obviously part of a plan that God ordained before the foundation of the world; but to view the “parenthesis” of the church age as the theme or main subject of the Bible, or to interpret the Old Testament, and even more specifically, the Gospel of Matthew, through “Christian” glasses, is a grave error that will take the most sincere student of the Bible down a zillion rabbit trails, and ultimately down the path to false doctrine!
Always keep in mind that at least 95% of false doctrine is really nothing more than true Bible doctrine being applied to the wrong group of people and/or to the wrong period of time (i.e. dispensation). Thus, our previous day’s comments about the Jew, in a devotional sense, being the “ancient landmark” in the Bible, and how that when that distinction is moved or removed, it causes us to make a doctrinal beeline right into “the fields of the fatherless”. (Proverbs 22:28; 23:10)
Let me reiterate the fact that much of the problem, particularly in Matthew’s Gospel, is that Christians fail to recognize that this Gospel is written to the JEWS, to present Christ, as THEIR Messiah-King, over the kingdom promised to THEM in the Old Testament. Just about every commentator in Christianity will talk about the Jewish nature of this Gospel, but will immediately begin to apply the teaching of Matthew’s Gospel to Christians living in the Church Age! The reality is, the Gospel of Matthew wasn’t written to teach us about the Church Age, so we must be very careful about making application of it to us, at least until the death of the Testator (after Matthew 27). Again, we must keep in the forefront of our thinking that this Gospel is all about the “kingdom of heaven”.
As we have previously talked about, it is a kingdom promised to the Jews, and that is why Matthew’s Gospel is the only Gospel that uses the phrase (33 times). Contrary to what most commentators say, the “kingdom of heaven” is not the same as the “kingdom of God” (a phrase found repeatedly in the other three Gospels), and the two phrases are not used interchangeably in the New Testament! To say that the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom of God” are the same thing, or that the two phrases are used interchangeably in the New Testament, would be as absurd as saying that “God” and “Heaven” are the same thing, and that those two terms are used interchangeably in the Bible. (More will be said about the distinction between the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom of God” in our next day’s Highlights and Insights.)
Be sure, as we make our way through Matthew, that you understand that the things contained in this Gospel have to do specifically with God’s intention to establish a LITERAL kingdom in Israel over which His Son will preside, and over which He will rule the whole world from a LITERAL throne in the LITERAL rebuilt temple in the LITERAL earthly Jerusalem. To apply the vast majority of the teaching found in Matthew to the parenthesis we call the Church Age is not only poor hermeneutics, it is an invitation to false doctrine!
A great case in point in today’s reading is in chapter 8 and verse 12. If we lose sight of the fact that the subject is the “kingdom of heaven”, we might end up believing something as biblically ludicrous and ridiculous as someone who has been born again, winding up in Hell!
A few pithy comments about some of the verses in today’s reading:
- 8:14 – How interesting that the so-called “first Pope” had a wife!
- 8:16 – Notice that nobody in Jesus’ healing line went away “unhealed” because of their “lack of faith”.
- 8:21 – Circle the word “Lord” and “me first” in this verse, and notice that the two concepts represented are actually mutually exclusive! Calling Jesus “Lord,” and yet, telling Him “me first”, however, does characterize the church in the last days! (2nd Timothy 2:1-2)
- 8:26 -27 –The wind and the sea recognize the voice of the One who spoke them into existence, and obey! Oh, that humans would have that kind of discernment.
- 8:29 – Demons make an identification that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day (the Scribes and Pharisees) were never able to make: Jesus is the Son of God!
- 8:32 – The pigs do a “swine dive” off the cliff and commit “sooey–cide”. (Sorry!)
- 8:34 – The people were more freaked out by Jesus in their midst than by those who were demon possessed in their midst!
- 9:2 – There is a great practical lesson in this verse about doing whatever we can to bring the lost to Jesus!
- 9:11 – Hallelujah! Jesus has time for sinful people like me!
- 9:27 – Even blind people could “see” what the Pharisees couldn’t: that Jesus is the promised Messiah!
- 9:35 – The “gospel of the kingdom” is not the same gospel Paul preached or that he identified in 1st Corinthians 15:3-4!
- 9:37-38 – Though we are in a different dispensation, these verses are extremely true!
- 10:1 – To this point, the “twelve” are referred to as “disciples”. As they are “sent forth” in this passage (10:5), they receive the title “apostles” (see 10:2). The word “apostle” means “sent one”. The word “apostle” in Latin is the word “missio” from which we get our word “missionary” to refer to ones who are “sent forth”.
- 10:5-6 – How about these verses to prove the Jewish nature of this gospel?!
- 10:22 – This verse is a doctrinal back-breaker unless you keep it in the context of the “kingdom of heaven”!