Recap

So far in Mathew, we've read the prologue, including the genealogy of Jesus and his birth. 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.

He roots Jesus in the history of the Jews and Israelites, and as he tells of Jesus' birth, he constantly refers back to the prophets to show that Jesus was what the people were waiting for. Jesus was born to a young Jewish woman named Mary through the Holy Spirit. He is literally the son of God.

He was visited by wise men from afar who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, much like people came from afar bringing gifts when Solomon completed his temple. Jesus is the new place of God's presence on earth.

Herod, the current king in Israel set up by the Romans, is threatened that there might be a new king to replace him so he has all Jewish boys under two killed. Joseph, Mary's husband, flees with his family to Egypt until Herod’s reign was over and then came back and settled in a small town called Nazareth. Much like God brought Israel out of Egypt, Jesus now serves as a new Israel. 

Matthew 3-4

Matthew fast forwards to Jesus as an adult and opens on John the Baptist. He brings a message of repentance, and Matthew associates him with a prophecy found in Isaiah. John the Baptist is the one that is preparing the way for God. In Isaiah 40:3, this person is preparing the way for God to return to his people as king. Here in Matthew, John is preparing the way for Jesus.

As part of his message of repentance, he was baptising people as they confessed their sins, as a simple of the washing away of their wickedness. John also challenges the religious people, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He calls them a brood of vipers, though in the Greek this is the diminutive, little snakes.

If you recall all the way back to Genesis 3, you may remember how the descendants of the serpent would be at war with the descendants of the woman. Matthew is hinting at the idea that these religious leaders have taken up the role of the serpent and are working against God’s will, not towards it.

He accuses of claiming to be true Jews but not living a repentant lifestyle, something we know is important from reading through Chronicles. He warns them that the axe is at the tree and this imagery should be familiar to them. In the pre-exilic prophets, the imagery of God chopping down a tree and allowing a new branch to sprout from it, was used to describe how God would cut off his people by sending them into exile, and eventually allowing a remnant to return (see Isaiah 10:33-34, and Jeremiah 46:22-23).

John is warning these religious folk that God is ready to cut off his people again if they won't repent. Last time, it was the Babylonians who did the job. This time, it would be the Romans. Them being Jews and descendants of Abraham won't be enough to save them.

He declares that the one to come after him will baptise with ‘the Holy Spirit and fire’ (Matthew 3:11). Most assume these come together. Jesus will baptise each person with both the Holy Spirit and fire. This makes sense because we often see fire when the God’s spirit comes. But look at the next verse. The one who will come divides the wheat from the chaff. One will be stored, the other will be burnt.

When the one who will come does his baptising with Holy Spirit and fire, it not a both and. It’s either or. Some will be baptised with the Holy Spirit, while others will be baptised with fire. The fire is the not fun one.

Jesus visits John asking to be baptised. At first, John insists that he is not worthy. He recognises that Jesus is the one he has been preparing the way for. But Jesus insists, and John baptises him.

While Jesus is in the water, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove, and a voice declares, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17). This statement is powerful, because it draws on the imagery we've read through.

First, we read in Chronicles that the king was considered God's son. At the time, God was talking about Solomon, but now Jesus has come to be the proper fulfilment of that. This future king is literally God's son.

But the second part also draws on imagery, though a little more subtle. In Isaiah, we read of a person often described as a suffering servant. This was an individual that would come to suffer and take away the sins of the people. When God introduces this servant, he says this, "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations." (Isaiah 41:2).

This servant will be someone that delights or pleases God, and on whom God's spirit rests. And here is Jesus now, being baptised, with God's spirit resting upon him and God saying he is well pleased with him.

What makes this so powerful is up until this point no Jew had thought to associate the future king with the suffering servant. In the mind of the Jew, these were two different individuals. Yet Jesus came to be both. The future king who would suffer to take away the sins of his people.

From there, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days. In Mark, this short scene was a reference to Jesus declaring spiritual warfare on the forces of evil. In Matthew, it serves to remind us that Jesus is a new and better Israel.

The Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years and they constantly gave into the temptation to complain or turn from God. Jesus was here to show that he wasn't like what had come before. He was going to have his wilderness experience and be faithful to God through it.

The devil comes to Jesus in the desert and tries to persuade him to turn from God. To use his own powers or ask the devil for help. The devil tempts Jesus with food because he's hungry, with pride to show off who he really is, and with power offering Jesus control over all the kingdoms of the earth. But each time Jesus rebukes the devil with scripture. Jesus never waivers and remains faithful to God, and the devil leaves him.

We didn't mention this in Mark, but it's worth noting how in the Old Testament we saw very little reference to Satan as a big bad of the Bible. Often Satan was used as a title for someone fulfilling a role. It was only in 1 Chronicles 21:1 that we get any reference to Satan as a being that was responsible for evil. This was likely because Chronicles was one of the last books of the Old Testament written and the idea had started to develop. By the time we get to the New Testament this idea has been fully fleshed out by Jewish thinkers, and so the New Testament then uses the idea of Satan or the devil as the ultimate opponent to God's kingdom.

So Jesus starts his ministry, and the place he goes to first is the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew draws on a quote from Isaiah 9:1-2, which was Isaiah prophesying that while Zebulun and Naphtali are suffering now, one day they will be given a hope and see goodness once again. This is the ministry of Jesus. He brings light into the darkness.

Then Jesus begins to call his first disciples. He meets Simon Peter and Andrew fishing and tells them to stop what they are doing, for he will make them fishers of men. There was no way for these guys to know what Jesus meant at the time. But the imagery is striking.

We've mentioned before that the sea was often seen as symbolic of chaos and death. Just as these men would draw fish out of the chaos of the sea, Jesus' ministry, which he would include them in, would involve drawing people out of the pit of death and giving them fresh life.

Next, Jesus calls two brothers, James and John. And so Jesus' ministry begins. He goes around teaching people that God's kingdom is at hand. But Jesus doesn't just give them empty words. He demonstrates that the kingdom is at hand by healing people of diseases and setting them free from their demons.

Psalm 88

This psalm is attributed to two groups; the sons of Korah, and Heman the Ezrahite. It falls into the category of lament psalm, but stands alone as the saddest psalm. While other lament psalms include complaints, requests, and declarations of trust in God, this psalm is complaint all the way through.

This only positive thing about the psalm is the fact that the psalmist is bringing their complaint to God directly.

Psalm 88:1-7 - On the edge of death

Psalm 88:8-10 - Lonely and forgotten

Psalm 88:11-18 - God’s wrath and judgement

The psalmist starts by crying out the God of their salvation. They call out to God to hear them. Because their life is hard and they are getting ever closer to the realm of the dead, Sheol.

They are already seen as someone who has died because they are so weak and worthless. They feel so far away from God. God is the one that put them there and they feel God’s wrath heavy upon them.

The psalmist point out that God has caused their friends to shun them. They are so alone out still they call out to God. May God will again be the one that raises the dead to life.

The psalmist asks God if his steadfast love still exists for those who are dead. Does God’s righteousness still hold true in the realm of the dead? They continue to cry out to God and it feels like God continues to ignore them.

Close to death, the psalmist is suffering. They feel helpless and overcome my God’s judgement. Again, God has caused those closest to the psalmist to turn their backs on them.

As I say, there’s little positive about this psalm, and if read on its own, it provides little hope. But the good news is that it isn’t to be read on its own. It’s read alongside many other psalms that show us we can make requests of God and we can still trust in his goodness.

As part of that tapestry, this psalm shows us sometimes it's okay to just sit and feel all our feelings. We don’t have to solve the problems; we don’t have to fix everything and pick ourselves up straight away. Sometimes it’s enough to acknowledge I am hurting and lonely and to that all before God.