Recap

So far in Mathew, we've read the prologue, and started the first block of Jesus' ministry. The Jews are now living under Roman occupation and are waiting for their future king from the line of David to come, defeat their enemies, and save them. Speaking to that hope, Matthew opens with a genealogy of Jesus, calling him a son of David, and then rooting his birth in Old Testament prophecy and allusions. He's born through the Holy and is literally the son of God. He's given gifts from wise men that match what was given to Solomon's temple. He is God's presence on earth. He is brought out of Egypt as a new Israel.

Then we read through his preparation for ministry. John the Baptist prepared the way for him by encouraging people to live lives of repentance. Jesus came to John to be baptised and when he is heaven opens, the Holy Spirit comes down and God says, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." These two statements linked Jesus as both the future king that is God's son, but also the suffering servant of Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit then sent Jesus into the desert, where he fasted for forty days and nights. Jesus is succeeding where the Israelites before him failed. They gave into the temptation to grumble and complain at God when they were in the wilderness, but Jesus remained faithful. The devil came to Jesus three times, appealing to his need for food, his pride in who he is, and an offer of power. But each time Jesus drew on scripture to rebuke the devil.

Jesus then selected the first of his disciples and then begins his ministry, letting people know the kingdom of God is at hand. And Jesus didn't just tell them. He showed them by healing their sick and casting out demons. 

Matthew 5-6

Surrounded by crowds, Jesus goes up on to a mountain to begin teaching what is commonly known as the sermon on the mount. The fact that he has gone up a mountain is important, because it reminds us of Moses, who also went up a mountain to bring back law and teaching for the Israelites. Jesus has come to be a new Moses, and throughout his sermon, he makes it very clear that he is building on the law and teachings that have come before him.

He opens with what is known as the Beatitudes. These are a series of sayings that are meant to show people that the kingdom of heaven is completely different to the world they know. Society tells people to gather wealth for themselves, but in the kingdom of God, blessed are the poor in spirit.

While society says that you should be proud and fight for what you want, in the kingdom of heaven, it is the meek that inherit the earth. It is those who hunger and thirst for righteousness that will be satisfied, those that spread peace that will be considered children of God.

Jesus ends with perhaps the most counterintuitive statement of all. Blessed are those who are mocked and persecuted. They should rejoice and be glad.

Those that follow Jesus have to be distinctly different from the world. Just like salt is different from the food it's put in. If salt loses the thing that makes it different, it wouldn't be any good to anyone. In the same way, light is completely different from darkness. It's no good hiding a light away. So followers of Jesus should expect to be different from the world around them.

Jesus emphasises for his listeners he has not come to do away with all the things that Moses said. He is here to complete and fulfil them. He follows this with examples where the teachings of Moses don't go far enough.

Jesus points to anger and lust. Moses' teaching says that it is wrong if you murder someone or commit adultery. But Jesus argues that actually it starts long before that, with the intentions of our heart. If we hate someone in our heart, that's as bad as murder. And if we lust after someone in our heart, it's as bad as committing adultery with them.

For too long, the people of God have been focused on the outward following of rules, but Jesus wants to change their hearts. This was an issue that many of the prophets identified. God's people need new hearts. But Jesus doesn't stop there. He draws on Old Testament scriptures about divorce, giving oaths, fighting back, and loving people, and points out that these things don't go far enough.

Next up, Jesus addresses the outworking of the people's faith. He points to the examples of giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting. When you do these things, don't do them in a way so that everyone can see. Don't brag or boast about these things. Because then you're doing them to show off in front of others rather than out of faith in God.

Again, the people of God have become too focused on the outward appearance, when they should be focused on the state of their heart and relationship with God.

In the middle of these examples, Jesus gives an example of how people should pray that has since become known as the Lord’s Prayer. It should be done in private, and shouldn't be filled will lots of empty words. It would be better for a prayer to be short and meaningful than long and empty.

There are lots of book dissecting the Lord’s Prayer, so I'm just going to summarise it here. 1) Praise God. 2) Ask that his will be done, not ours. 3) Ask God to meet your needs that day. 4) Pray for forgiveness for your mistakes and forgive others. 5) Ask that God delivers you from doing any evil. The prayer is to server as a framework. Be clear, be concise, and work through each of these areas.

Jesus moves on to focus on what is important in life. Too many people seek wealth and power for themselves. But this stuff is just temporary. Eventually, wealth and power will fade. You can't take them with you after you die.

Instead, focus on the things of God and building up wealth in heaven. Because it's impossible to chase after both. Even if you're not that bothered about being wealthy, but you're always focused on having enough, stop. God is more than powerful enough to provide for you. The birds don't work endlessly to make sure they have enough, and yet God makes sure they're provided for. And flowers don't have to strive to look good, and yet God has made them beautiful.

You can spend most of your life worrying about having enough, but Jesus says the important thing is to focus on God's kingdom and on his righteousness. If you focus on that, God will sort the rest.

Psalm 89

This psalm is attributed to Ethan the Ezrahite, who was a wise man comparable to Solomon (1 Kings 4:31). It is a mixture of praise, oracle, and lament psalm, but through its core it is a royal psalm. The psalm is focused on the covenant God made with David and his descendants, and how God has seemingly broken that covenant now Jerusalem is broken and there is no king. This is the final psalm of the third book of the psalms (Psalm 73-89).

Psalm 89:1-18 - Praise - The God of the covenant

Psalm 89:19-37 - Oracle - God makes the covenant

Psalm 89:38-51 - Lament - God breaks the covenant

Psalm 89:52 - Closing doxology

The psalmist starts by singing God’s praise. He’s a God of steadfast love who will be faithful to all generations. He made a covenant with David to establish him and his descendants as kings forever,

Then the psalmist really doubles down on the praise. Surrounded by his spiritual beings, God is still the greatest. Who is like him? God crushed Rahab, which is both another name for Egypt and for the Leviathan, the sea dragon of chaos. This is to demonstrate God’s authority over geographic locations and over the forces of chaos and darkness.

All heaven belongs to God, and he leads with righteousness justice, love, and faithfulness. Blessed are those who know God, for they walk in his way, and find strength, favour, and protection in him.

Next up, the psalmist then quotes God as he made that covenant with David. God separated out the Israelites from the other nations and picked David to lead them. He protected David, defeated his enemies, and was faithful and loving to him. David and his descendants will call God ‘father’ and God will lift them up. God promises to establish the throne for David and his descendants forever.

God will punish David’s descendants if they are disobedient, but he will never stop being faithful to them. God will not violate this covenant. David’s descendants will endure forever.

Having established who God is, and the covenant he made with David, the psalmist now brings their complaint. Despite everything that God said, he has rejected his kingdom and people, and renounced his covenant. The walls of Jerusalem have been torn down and all its plunder has been taken off by other nations.

God has supported the king’s enemies in rising up against the kingdom and has weakened the kingdom before them. The king no longer reigns. How long will God allow this to happen? While this might seem like a short punishment to God, his people live short lives.

So the psalmist moves to their request. Show up with your steadfast love, O God, that you promised to David. Remember your people, the people that God himself set apart, who right now are mocked and beaten by the other nations.

And then the psalmist ends this psalm, and the third book of the psalms with the doxology, “Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.”

We’ve seen how this third book of the psalms is largely shaped by the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its people. This psalm brings a conclusion to this. Yes, the people are currently exiled and held captive by foreign nations. But they belong to a God who is loving and faithful and who made a covenant with David that he swore never to break,

And so the people look forward to the time when God will restore them, defeat their enemies, and establish his king once again.