Tag Archives: Matthew

The Wonderful Combat, Sermon 6.5c

03 Saturday Sep 2022

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The Devil’s Gift Always Comes at a Cost

The Heathen man says, “If a man be to violate his faith for anything, it is for a kingdom.”[1] Christ has here offered him all kingdoms[2], a very enticing bait: but is there never a hook hidden under it?[3] The woman was fine and brave [not courageous but fine, excellent], and had a cup of gold in her hand: but it was full of abomination, Apoc. 17. 4[4].

So here, for all these fair shows, if you will gain anything by the Devil you must worship him: that is the condition annexed to the grant, it is no absolute gift, the Devil is not so kind as to part from all that for nothing[5]. It is such a gift as the Lawyers call Excambium[6], that is, Exchange: I will give you this, if you will give me that.

But yet one would think it a very large offer, to give so great a liewe[7] for so small a service: it is but a little external reverence, the bowing of the knee; you may (notwithstanding) in heart think what ye list.[8]

Well, we may think there was somewhat in it, that the Devil offered so much for so little, and yet Christ refused it. Indeed, Christ had great reason to refuse it: for he should have been a looser by the bargain. I will stand to it, he had been better to have yielded to either of the two former temptations, than to this: he should full dearly have bought all his kingdom, he had been better to have cast himself down from the pinnacle. For that which the Devil here demands is liewe [precious], is as much worth, as both the glory of God, and the redemption of man[9].

Of his glory, God saith, That he will not give it to another, Is. 42. 8[10]. If to no other, then not to the Devil of all other. And therefore, the Angel would not have a burnt offering offered to him, but to God, Iudg. 13. 16.[11] The Angell would not let John fall down and worship him, but bad him worship God, Reuel. 19. 10[12] for he knew that God was vary jealous of his honor, and stood precisely upon that point. If he would not impart this honor with the angels, much less would he with the Devil: for there are degrees in idolatry, Roman. 1. 23.

It is not so ill to turn the glory of God into the image of a man, as into birds and beasts.

The Whole World is not Worth the Loss

Secondly, if we look into the desire that he had to satisfy his ancient envy, by the destruction of mankind: we must needs commend the Devil’s wit, in making such a bargain. It had been the best penny-worth that ever was bought. For if we mark how Christ rates one only soul, we may see, how he that to gain all the kingdoms of the world, shall loose his own soul Mat. 16. 26. makes but a foolish bargain. Then what rate shall be made of all men’s souls, if one be worth kingdoms[13].

All which had been lost, if Christ had consented to that which the Devil here requires: for then he could not have said, I restored that which I tooke not, Psal. 69. 4.[14] By his death he paid the price for the sins of the whole World.  He should then have had a score of his own to have paid & his death could have been sufficient but for himself only. If hee had fallen down, and worshipped him: he could not have sad, that the Prince of this World had nothing to say against him, John 14. 30.[15]

[1] The one who is not a Christian says, I will be loyal to my God. When if I can get a kingdom, it would be worth it.

[2] This is one of the many printing errors in the text. This must either be, “The Devil offered Christ” or “Christ was offered”.

[3] The image of Satan fishing is interesting. Luther uses

[4]

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

Revelation 17:1–4 (ESV)

[5] The Devil is not generous in his offers: the temptation comes always with a cost. You want the kingdoms, I will get the worship.

[6] This Latin word appears in Black’s Law Dictionary. It means the exchange of property: this for that.

[7] An alternative form of “lief”, something dear, precious, beloved.

[8] The behavior is not very difficult. And you can think whatever you want (ye list) about the other person. Who cares about something so insignificant?

[9] It would have been better for Jesus to have fallen on the first two temptations than to fallen on this ground. The loss would have been

[10] Isaiah 42:8 (ESV)

I am the Lord; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

[11] 15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?”

Judges 13:15–17 (ESV)

[12] 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 19:9–10 (ESV)

[13] The Devil’s logic here is remarkable: He offers all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for a single soul. If he had been successful, he would have made a great bargain. Christ raises this precise from the opposite direction: He says plainly that the loss of your soul would not be worth the entire world.

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Matthew 16:24–27 (ESV)

This then leads to another consideration: If one man’s soul is worth more than the entire world, what must the world of men’s souls be worth?

[14] More in number than the hairs of my head

are those who hate me without cause;

                                    mighty are those who would destroy me,

those who attack me with lies.

                                    What I did not steal

must I now restore?

Psalm 69:4 (ESV)

How did Christ restore those things which he took not away? In general, by his active and passive obedience. 1. Christ’s doing the will of God in such a manner as he did it, was a greater honour to God than ever had been, or could be done before. 2. Christ’s suffering of the will of God, made a considerable addition to the glory of God, which had been impaired by the sin of man, Heb. 5:8; John 17:4; and 13:31, 3. Christ hath provided for the justification of the sinner by the obedience which he fulfilled, Rom. 5:8. 4. Christ communicates that grace which is necessary for our sanctification also. 5. Christ hath merited for us a present blessedness in this world. 6. Jesus Christ hath procured for us a more full and absolute blessedness in the world to come. IV. Why did Jesus Christ make it his work to restore what he took not away? 1. It was a necessary work, a work which must be done, in order to his being a Saviour. 2. It was a work impossible for any mere creature to do; so that if Christ did not, it could not be done by any person besides him.—Timothy Cruso’s Sermon.

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87, vol. 3 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 189.

[15]

30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

John 14:30–31 (ESV)

Thomas Manton, The Temptation of Christ, Sermon 1.c

17 Thursday Dec 2020

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The prior post on this sermon may be found here.

Here, Manton ends with the practical application:

III. The good of this to us. 

It teacheth us divers things, four I shall instance in.

1. To show us who is our grand enemy, the devil, who sought the misery and destruction of mankind, as Christ did our salvation. (Matt. 13:19 & 39; John 8:44)

2. That all men, none excepted, are subject to temptations. (If Jesus was not exempt form temptation, than neither shall we)

3. It showeth us the manner of conflict, both of Satan’s fight and our Saviour’s defence.

[1.] Of Satan’s fight. It is some advantage not to be ignorant of his enterprises: …He assaulted Christ by the same kind of temptations by which usually he assaults us. The kinds of temptations are reckoned up: 1 John 2:16, ‘The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life.’ …

What then shall we do, knowing that we will be tempted and knowing something of how we will be tempted. The answer comes from the way in which Christ defendanted himself

[2.] The manner of Christ’s defence, and so it instructeth us how to overcome and carry ourselves in temptations. And here are two things whereby we evercome:—

(1.) By scripture….

But not as a talisman which is raised to chase off the Devil. That is evident, because the Devil quoted Scripture as part of his temptation. 

It is good to have the word of God abide in our memories, but chiefly in our hearts, by a sound belief and fervent love to the truth.

The Scripture is effective because it is embedded and is an automatic element of our thinking. It sets out an intellectual habit. This leads to the next element of defense noted by Manton:

(2.) Partly by resolution: 1 Pet. 4:1, ‘Arm yourselves with the same mind,’ viz., that was in Christ. When Satan grew bold and troublesome, Christ rejects him with indignation. Now the conscience of our duty should thus prevail with us to be resolute therein; the double-minded are as it were torn in pieces between God and the devil: James 1:8, ‘A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ Therefore, being in God’s way, we should resolve to be deaf to all temptations.

He ends with encouragement. This sermon could easily be discouraging: The Devil will assault you. He is powerful and intelligent. If it was merely make sure you remember enough Bible and stiffen you spine, this could easily become a matter of discouragement, because then it would make it seem as the power lay wholly with us. Instead, he sets out the example as proof that we will prevail:

4. The hopes of success. God would set Christ before us as a pattern of trust and confidence, that when we address ourselves to serve God, we might not fear the temptations of Satan. We have an example of overcoming the devil in our glorious head and chief. If he pleaded, John 16:33, ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world;’ the same holdeth good here, for the enemies of our salvation are combined. He overcame the devil in our natures, that we might not be discouraged: we fight against the same adversaries in the same cause, and he will give power to us, his weak members, being full of compassion, which certainly is a great comfort to us.

Having provided a general statement of the case, he proceeds to some particulars. 

Use. Of instruction to us:—

1. To reckon upon temptations. As soon as we mind our baptismal covenant, we must expect that Satan will be our professed foe, seeking to terrify or allure us from the banner of our captain, Jesus Christ. 

He then tallies up the types that immediately give way to temptation and return to “Satan’s camp.”

One type do not renounce Christ. Rather, they merely live as if Christ did not matter.

Now these are the devil’s agents, and the more dangerous because they use Christ’s name against his offices, and the form of his religion to destroy the power thereof; 

A second sort give way in a passive manner. They are not set against Christ in any obvious way; Christ simply does not matter to them.  They

tamely yield to the lusts of the flesh, and go ‘like an ox to the slaughter, and a fool to the correction of the stocks,’ Prov. 7:22 ….

A third sort begin well:

But then there is a third sort of men, that begin to be serious, and to mind their recovery by Christ: they have many good motions and convictions of the danger of sin, excellency of Christ, necessity of holiness; they have many purposes to leave sin and enter upon a holy course of life, but ‘the wicked one cometh, and cateheth away that which was sown in his heart,’ Matt. 13:19. He beginneth betimes to oppose the work, before we are confirmed and settled in a course of godliness, as he did set upon Christ presently upon his baptism. Baptism in us implieth avowed dying unto sin and living unto God; now God permitteth temptation to try our resolution. 

A fourth sort may not fall like the first three, but they will not leave the battle without a battle:

There is a fourth sort, of such as have made some progress in religion, even to a degree of eminency: these are not altogether free; for if the devil had confidence to assault the declared Son of God, will he be afraid of a mere mortal man? No; these he assaulteth many times very sorely: pirates venture on the greatest booty. These he seeketh to draw off from Christ, as Pharaoh sought to bring back the Israelites after their escape; or to foil them by some scandalous fall, to do religion a mischief: 2 Sam. 12:14, ‘By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme;’ or at least to vex them and torment them, to make the service of God tedious and uncomfortable to them: Luke 22:31, ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat’—to toss and vex you, as wheat in a sieve. So that no sort of Christians can promise themselves exemption; and God permitteth it, because to whom much is given, of them the more is required.

Second, we need to realize that anything can and will be used to temptation, wealth or poverty. We are tempted by ease and affliction.

Third, 

His end is to dissuade us from good, and persuade us to evil. 

On one hand, he 

Dissuade[s] us from good by representing the impossibility, trouble, and small necessity of it. 

He also tempts us to evil:

He persuadeth us to evil by profit, pleasure, necessity; we cannot live without it in the world. He hideth the hook, and showeth the bait only; he concealeth the hell, the horror, the eternal pains that follow sin, and only telleth you how beneficial, profitable, and delightful the sin will be to you:

This quotation is remarkably similar to a passage in Thomas Brooks

Device (1). To present the bait and hide the hook; to present the golden cup, and hide the poison; to present the sweet, the pleasure, and the profit that may flow in upon the soul by yielding to sin, and by hiding from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committing of sin. By this device he took our first parents: Gen. 3:4, 5, ‘And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’ Your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods! Here is the bait, the sweet, the pleasure, the profit. Oh, but he hides the hook,—the shame, the wrath, and the loss that would certainly follow!

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 1 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 12–13.

And again, Manton returns to a note of encouragement to close the entire sermon:

4. While we are striving against temptations, let us remember our general. We do but follow the Captain of our salvation, who hath vanquished the enemy, and will give us the victory if we keep striving: ‘The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly,’ Rom. 16:2. Not his feet, but ours: we shall be conquerors. Our enemy is vigilant and strong: it is enough for us that our Redeemer is merciful and faithful in succouring the tempted, and able to master the tempter, and defeat all his methods. Christ hath conquered him, both as a lamb and as a lion: Rev. 5:5, 8. The notion of a lamb intimateth his sacrifice, the notion of a lion his victory: in the lamb is merit, in the lion strength; by the one he maketh satisfaction to God, by the other he rescueth sinners out of the paw of the roaring lion, and maintaineth his interest in their hearts. Therefore let us not be discouraged, but closely adhere to him.

Repetitions in the Baptism and Crucifixion

04 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Christology, Matthew, Uncategorized

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the-crucifixion-philippe-de-champaigne

This is just a tentative list of repetitions. While listening to the story on Good Friday, last, I was struck by “If you are the Son of God” in Matthew 27 — because it was precisely the words of Satan in the temptation. Then I thought of the difference in the sky: it was torn open in the baptism; it was closed in the crucifixion.  Anyway, here are some notes to develop to some day:

Baptism Crucifixion
All Jerusalem went out to see him The crowd before Pilate
Pharisees and Sadducees Chief priests and the elders
John hesitates to baptize Jesus Pilate hesitates to kill Jesus
John warns them to repent Let him be crucified
Even now the ax is laid at the root of the tree His blood be on us
The heavens were opened There was darkness over the face of the land [the heavens were closed]
the Spirit of God descended like a dove and coming to rest on him; My God, My God why have you forsaken me
this is my beloved Son the soldier, truly this was the Son of God.
Satan, if you are the Son of God those who passed by, “if you are the Son of God”
Satan tempts Jesus with bread they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall
Satan tempts Jesus at the temple You who would destroy the temple and in three days build it up
All these will I give you [kingship] the soldiers mock Jesus as king

This is King of the Jews
 

Jesus was not a Magician

22 Saturday Aug 2015

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Here is an aspect of the temptation narrative of Jesus which I had not considered nor heard before: Jesus was not a magician (from Keener’s Miracles):

“Granted, Jesus was accused of magic by his detractors (Mark 3:22, probably also in Q Matt 12:24//Luke 11:15). This accusation was not, however, surprising, for it was the easiest charge to bring against wonder workers. In Q’s temptation narrative, Jesus rejects the temptation to transmute stones into bread (Matt 4:3–4//Luke 4:3–4); changing one substance into another, like changing one’s own form, was characteristic of magicians. Luke is eager to absolve early Christians as well as Jesus from the charge, by way of contrast with those who misunderstood or opposed them (Acts 8:9–11; 13:6–8; 19:11–19”

http://ref.ly/o/miracleskeener/1849202?length=610

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit”

19 Friday Jun 2015

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Blessed are the poor in Spirit

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Summary of the Sermon

“[T]hese Beattitudes indicate more clearly than anything else in Scripture the utter and essential difference between the natural man and the Christian….Now there is perhaps no statement that underlies and emphasizes that difference more than this ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit.’ Let me show the contrast. This is something which is not only not admired in the world; it is despised by it….What emphasis the world places on its belief in self-reliance, self-confidence and self-expression!” (35)

MLJ then develops the concept of “poor in spirit” in concrete examples.

First, it is a matter of seeing one’s sinfulness and poverty before God — not as a matter of being better or worse than other human beings.

Second, to be “poor in spirit” is different than the emphasis on “personality” — by this I believe he means the charismatic leader type, the one who is able to gain a great deal of personal attention, attention directed to him (or her). He contrasts this to the truly great leaders of the Church, “You read the old recovers of the activities of God’s greatest workers, the great evangelists and others, and you observe how self-effacing they were. But, today, we are experiencing something that is almost a complete reversal of this. Advertisements and photographs are being put into the foreground.” (37)

He then has this footnote, “I was interested to observe, since stating the above, Bishop Frank Houghton’s tribute in The Christian to the late Miss Amy Carmichael. He points out how one who made such free use of pictures and photographs in all her books never once inserted a photograph of herself.”

Third, to be “poor in spirit” is not a groveling humility, the Uriah Heep, “I’m just a humble man shtick.”

Fourth, nor is it the suppression of one’s actual personality, it is not the crushing of one’s humanity.

What is it then: It is a human being before God:

Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)
15  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.

That then is what it meant by being “poor in spirit.” It means a complete absence of pride, a complete absence of self-assurance and of self-reliance. it means a consciousness that we are nothing in the presence of God. It is nothing, then, that we can produce; it is nothing that we can do in ourselves. It is just this tremendous awareness of our utter nothingness as we come face-to-face with God. That is to be “poor in spirit.” Let me put it as strongly as I can, and I do so on the basis of the teaching of the Bible. It means this, that if we are truly Christian we shall not rely upon our natural birth.” 40-41

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Shepherds Conference 2015, Greg Beale on Hosea 11:1 & Matthew 2:15

06 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in Apologetics, Hosea, Matthew

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Greg Beale
Shepherds Conference 2015
Thursday Noon
Matthew’s Use of Hosea 11:1

Matthew 2:13–15 (ESV)
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

This usage is notoriously difficult; a very debated text.
Why is this such a difficult text?

Three Problems:

The verse in Hosea is a reference to the Exodus, a past historical reference. How can you take a verse which to a past event and turn it into a prophecy?

Second: What Hosea attributes to the nation of Israel, Matthew applies to an individual.

Third: Hosea is quoted at the point where the Holy Family is going into Egypt. How is this a “fulfillment”?

There a variety of possible responses:

Enns: A NT writer reading an alien idea not the OT.
ETS: This is the most troubling case of NT exegesis of OT.
Beagle: A mere mistake by Matthew.
Boring: Matthew’s use is in contrast to Hosea’s meaning … manipulating the evidence in a way that would be unconvincing.
Others: a Quram revelatory insight.
Longnecker: Using a Jewish interpreted which is faulty nor one we can use today. God does not inspire interpretative method — which one we cannot use — but the conclusion (the right doctrine from the wrong text).
Others: Matthew’s interpretation is not to be considered correct by our interpretative study, but it was part of a Jewish interpretative method which modern scholars have no right to condemn today (there is no right method of interpretation.
Others: It is not wrong, but it is so unique that we should not try to use it.

The historical grammatical hermeneutic would not (apparently) support Matthew.

Look at Hosea 11:1 in the context of chapter & book.

How can the historical reference to Exodus be made into a prophecy?
Look at the Hosea 11:10-11

Hosea 11:10–11 (ESV)
10  They shall go after the Lord;
he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west;
11  they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.

Here is an allusion to the unique phraseology:

Look at Numbers 23-22-24

Numbers 23:22–24 (ESV)
22  God brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
23  For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘What has God wrought!’
24  Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”

Num 24:8-9:

Numbers 24:8–9 (ESV)
8  God brings him out of Egypt
and is for him like the horns of the wild ox;
he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries,
and shall break their bones in pieces
and pierce them through with his arrows.
9  He crouched, he lay down like a lion
and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed are those who bless you,
and cursed are those who curse you.”

In Numbers 23: it is the people who are brought up. In Numbers 24, it is the leader who is brought up.

Hosea is seeing how Israel’s history begins with a first exodus, it will conclude with the last exodus. The Numbers’ imagery of out of Egypt & lion.

Typology Hosea is seeing that the first exodus is a type. The type is escalated its second usage. The type foreshadows. They type is retrospective: it can be seen more clearly seen after the event occurs.

The first exodus foreshadows the second exodus. Hosea sees that already.

The overall meaning of Hosesa is that God’s original deliverance is not the final word. Though they will be judged, God will deliver them again. The chapter begins with the first exodus and ends with exodus, again. Throughout Hosea, he refers to both the first and a later exodus.

Hos. 2:15
Hosea 2:15 (ESV)
15  And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
12:13
Hosea 12:9–13 (ESV)
9  I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.
10  I spoke to the prophets;
it was I who multiplied visions,
and through the prophets gave parables.
11  If there is iniquity in Gilead,
they shall surely come to nothing:
in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
their altars also are like stone heaps
on the furrows of the field.
12  Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
there Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he guarded sheep.
13  By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was guarded.
Hosea 7:11 (ESV)
11  Ephraim is like a dove,
silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.

Hosea 7:16 (ESV)
16  They return, but not upward;
they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Hosea 1:11 (ESV)
11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Hosea 9:6 (ESV)
6  For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;
thorns shall be in their tents.

Hosea is immersed in the idea that the first Exodus foreshadowed the second exodus.

Matthew saw this is both the immediate & the broad context of Hosea.

Matthew’s use of Hosea 11:1 is typological. Garrett:

We need look no further than Hosea 11 to understand that Hosea, too, believed that God followed patterns in working with his people. Here the slavery in Egypt is the pattern for a second period of enslavement in an alien land (v. 5), and the exodus from Egypt is the type for a new exodus (vv. 10–11). Thus the application of typological principles to Hos 11:1 is in keeping with the nature of prophecy itself and with Hosea’s own method. Understood in this way, we can regard the wording of Hos 11:1 not as fortuitous but as a work of God. Whether or not Hosea himself understood the ultimate fulfillment of his words, he knew that his words had significance that transcended his own time. We should note, however, that the surprising shift of metaphor from Israel as mother and children to Israel as son gives us further reason to regard this as a deliberate move and not as happy coincidence.

Chapter 11:
Out of Egypt
Back to Egypt
Out of Egypt (Israel will come in the future)

Problem Two: What Hosea attributes to the nation of Israel, Matthew applies to an individual.

Matthew is following Hosea in typology.

Beale the writers were aware that they were writing under inspiration.
Matthew’s use of the passage to an individual may have been sparked by the use of concept in Numbers. In Numbers 23 the people come out of Egypt, but in Numbers 24 it is the king coming out of Egypt.
Matthew’s use is appropriate: what is true of the people is true of the leader. It is also suggested by Hosea:

Hosea 1:10–11 (ESV)
10  Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Isaiah 11:16 (ESV)
16  And there will be a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that remains of his people,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.

They shall appoint for them one leader.

Hosea 1:10, the sons of the living God
Matt 16:16, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
clear allusion

This is a place where Jesus is identified with the “sons of the living God”. What is true of Jesus is true of Israel, Israel of Jesus.

Garrett (on how Genesis is used in Hosea):
In Hosea 6:7, Israel follows the pattern of Adam.
Sometimes there is a positive reference, Hosea 1:7
The individual patriarchs are applied to the nation, the one to the many, the many to the one; whether positive or negative. Matthew is merely doing what Hosea does.

Garrett:

One can always appeal to sensus plenior (Latin, “fuller meaning”), the hermeneutical principal that says that Old Testament writers sometimes wrote better than they knew because the Holy Spirit led them to use vocabulary that had a significance of which the writers themselves were unaware. This aspect of inspiration, while helpful if used carefully, actually fails to resolve the fundamental question of whether Matthew has rightly made use of Hosea. To say that God caused Hosea to frame his words in such a way that Matthew could appropriate them does not tell us anything about whether the text of Hos 11:1 really has anything to do with the Messiah’s return from Egypt.

To put it more pointedly, did Hosea suppose that this verse looked ahead to the Messiah? It is, of course, difficult if not impossible to show that Hosea intended readers to discern from this passage that the Messiah would come out of Egypt. This question, however, is the wrong question to ask of Hos 11:1. The real issue is not, Did Hosea intend this verse to be read messianically? but What did Hosea understand to be the nature of prophecy? In answer to this question, we must assert that Hosea, like all biblical prophets, saw prophecy not so much as the making of specific, individual predictions (which are actually quite rare among the writing prophets), but as the application of the Word of God to historical situations. In doing this the prophets brought to light certain patterns that occur repeatedly in the relationship between God and his people. These patterns or themes have repeated fulfillments or manifestations until the arrival of the final, absolute fulfillment. Thus, for example, the conquest of the land “fulfilled” the promises to the patriarchs but did not fulfill those promises finally or in their ultimate form. The inheritance of the “new earth” is the ultimate conclusion of this prophetic theme. All of the prophets were, to some degree, “like Moses” (Deut 18:5), but the ultimate prophet like Moses can only be the Messiah. Each of the kings of the line of David was a fulfillment of the promise that God would build him a “house” (2 Sam 7), but the Messiah is again the final fulfillment of this theme. Thus prophecy gives us not so much specific predictions but types or patterns by which God works in the world. We need look no further than Hosea 11 to understand that Hosea, too, believed that God followed patterns in working with his people. Here the slavery in Egypt is the pattern for a second period of enslavement in an alien land (v. 5), and the exodus from Egypt is the type for a new exodus (vv. 10–11). Thus the application of typological principles to Hos 11:1 is in keeping with the nature of prophecy itself and with Hosea’s own method. Understood in this way, we can regard the wording of Hos 11:1 not as fortuitous but as a work of God. Whether or not Hosea himself understood the ultimate fulfillment of his words, he knew that his words had significance that transcended his own time. We should note, however, that the surprising shift of metaphor from Israel as mother and children to Israel as son gives us further reason to regard this as a deliberate move and not as happy coincidence.

Problem Three: The quotation is in the wrong place, when they are going down, not coming out.

Some, this is just an anticipation of the return.
But by using Hosea 11:1 in this place Matthew is bringing up the entire Hosea story in chapter 11 (out-in-out).

Note: 5 They shall not return to the land of Egypt, should be read “they shall return to Egypt”.

Conclusion

Matthew is not making it up, but he is rather sensitive to what Hosea was doing in the book and in chapter 11. He was not making up anything in terms of work. Context is King, Queen, Prime Minister. Through grammatical historical exegesis we can see that Matthew is following Hosea’s typological approach. NT writers learned their method from Hosea.

R.T. France on Matthew (see also Jesus in the OT)

Matthew was deliberately composing a chapter .. so that the more fully a reader understood and shared an OT context he could see more; while even the most superficial reader could understand him. [paraphrase]

The “Church” in Matthew

23 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Deuteronomy, Ecclesiology, Mark, Matthew

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The Church in Matthew:

Two aspects of the church must be considered in Matthew. First, Jesus consciously sought to create a new community which centered around him.

The proclamation of Jesus began with a proclamation of God’s kingdom coming:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 (ESV)

Jesus called disciples to follow Jesus:

19 And he said to them, “Follow (deute) me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19 (ESV)

The following of the first disciples is matched by the crowds following Jesus, “And great crowds followed (ekolouthesan) him” (Matthew 4:25).

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus opens with promises which include receiving gifts of the heavenly kingdom based upon one’s relationship to Jesus:

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10–12 (ESV)

Jesus considers himself as one who could potentially abolish but actually has the power to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17).  Jesus claims the power to exercise eschatological judgment (Matthew 7:21-23).  One’s response to the instruction of Jesus will be of the most profound importance (Matthew 7:24-27; 10:5-15, responding to the message conveyed by Jesus’ representatives).

Jesus symbolically arranges a community around himself (commentators find that this constitutes a renewed Israel). Schreiner notes, “Given that Jesus defined the new community in terms of its relationship with him, it is not astonishing that Jesus spoke of the “church” (ekklesia)” (Schreiner, New Testament Theology, 681). The new community, the “church” is mentioned in Matthew 16:18 & 18:15-20).

Second, the church of Jesus would extend beyond merely Israel. This is seen first in the selection of four Gentile women in the (assuming “the wife of Uriah” was also a Hittite) in the introductory genealogy of Jesus.   Jesus is welcomed not by the rulers of Israel but by foreigners (Matthew 2:1-12); and Jesus must escape to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). There is a hint of this in John the Baptist’s comment that “God is able rom these stones to raise up children of Abraham” (Matthew 3:9).  The parable of the vineyard makes the point more clearly (Matthew 20:1-16).

A hint of the scope of the message is found in Matthew 24:9, in that “all nations” will hate Jesus’ disciples.  The angels will gather God’s people from the entire world (Matthew 24:31). The centurion mentioned in Mark 15:39 shows a foreigner recognizing Jesus.

Most importantly, Jesus specifically commissions his disciples to go in all the world, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

 

The Great Commission also draws in the first strand of the church: that it was a community organized around Jesus. The distinguishing marks of those in the church are (1) baptism (an introductory rite) and (2) being taught to observe all that Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). Thus, Jesus organized a church around himself along the same lines as the people of God under the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 27:1).

To Rescue and Restore

01 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Hebrews, Matthew, Uncategorized

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(Here is the short version of an explanation of the Matthew 18 process, prepared for our local congregation):

Church Discipline — To Rescue and Restore

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12–13 (ESV)

Consider this duty: we all must exhort one another continually or we will become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

As long as we live in this world, we will live within gunshot of sin and temptation. To protect us from sin, God has given us one another to encourage and exhort, to rebuke and uphold.

When I sin and I do not immediately see my sin, I need you to remind me of God’s goodness and mercy and to call me to repentance.

Yet, since we can easily rebuke in an unloving manner, our Lord gave us specific instructions on how we should go about exhorting our brother or sister about sin.

Matthew 18 contains the account of those instructions.

In the first section of that chapter, Jesus overturns the idea of “greatness.” It is the one who “humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4). Jesus then pronounces a dreadful warning upon one who causes another to sin (Matt. 18:7-10).

Immediately thereafter, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd who leaves all to rescue it. Note that the shepherd does not go after the straying sheep out of revenge for something it has done to offend him. He goes solely for the sheep’s own welfare.

Following the parable, we enter into the verses on confrontation. We come to them with the ideas of
the need for humility;
the horror of sin; and
the need to rescue the one who has sinned.

In those verses, Jesus doesn’t just teach about the need and process for confrontation, he warns with the gravest severity that we must also forgive our sinning brother (read Matt. 18:34-35 and understand that the warning is given to believers).

Confrontation, then, is the effort to “restore” the brother who has fallen into sin. The motivation is not to right a wrong you’ve suffered – it’s to love your brother. That is why Jesus also instructs us to first take the “log” from our own eye before we seek the speck in the eye of our brother (Matt. 7:3-5).

In the midst of an extended discussion of humility and forgiveness, then, Jesus teaches us the way to love a straying member of the flock.

First stage — personal confrontation. Go to your brother privately and disclose his sin. “If he listens to you, you have won your brother” (Matt. 18:16). Note that this is a matter between two, alone. Almost every instance of “church discipline” begins and ends here.

Second stage — you bring along another to join in the process. The purpose of bringing additional persons into the process is to (1) confirm the truth of the matter; and (2) bring additional help in seeking the repentance of the sinning brother.

In some circumstances, the erring brother will still refuse to repent. Only then do we “tell it to the church” (Matt. 18:17). The purpose of telling the church is not to humiliate or hurt the brother, but to involve more people in encouraging him to repent. Seeking the help of the entire church to bring about repentance is as loving as seeking its help to feed a poor family in the congregation.

You must understand that the goal of church discipline is to bring about reconciliation. Indeed, the entire congregation is asked to be involved only because the erring brother refuses to repent and be reconciled. The church confronts a brother because it seeks to rescue him from sin – just as the shepherd seeks to rescue the lost sheep.

Once having rescued our brother, we seek his restoration. By rescuing and restoring him, we protect his soul and give glory to God by living out our love.

The only time “discipline” occurs in “church discipline” is when a brother refuses to live in love with his brothers and sisters. Only a brother or sister who will not repent and be reconciled will be excluded from the congregation.

For a more detailed discussion of this subject, please see our pamphlet “Church Discipline,” which you can find at http://www.calvarybiblechurch.org/.