Easter Saturday: Matthew 22.34-40

22.34  Not again!  The first group (v15) return for round two.

22.36  Presumably they debated this themselves, and could not agree; or perhaps they believed that all commandments were equal.  Jesus’ straightforward answer has an innate authority which leaves them speechless.

This “Matthew in Lent” has been very good to do, but hard work keeping up; especially with reading through the Bible in a Year at the same time!  Now, back to simply Kings…

Easter Friday: Matthew 13.1-23

13.3    We need to recover the art of telling simple stories: they capture the imagination.  See v34.

13.11  This seems like favouritism.

13.12  Compare 25.29

13.15  In the second half of this verse it seems as if turning to God is wrong: from a human perspective, this is puzzling.  Perhaps these are (from God’s perspective) those who are not his chosen people, and therefore full clarity is hidden from them by parables.  Acts 13.48 shows a clear statement of predestination.  Stories can be taken on many different levels: perhaps parables are merciful, in that they invite but do not compel belief.

13.17  We too are greatly blessed, to see and hear about the Christ.

13.19  This is a parable about the understanding of parables!  How self-referential is that?  Like a media soap about the media.  And yet, the responses in the parable seem very human reactions.

Easter Thursday: Matthew 6.25-34

6.32    Have people changed in two millennia?

“I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist.”  Optimism and Pessimism are both distortions of reality, to appear either better or worse than it truly is.  “Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!”  That is the true reality, which puts everything else in proper perspective.

Easter Wednesday: Matthew 2.1-12

2.1   Scholars think that “After” may mean a considerable time afterwards; that the star in v7 is announcing the birth; v11 mentions a house not a stable, and a child not a baby; and v16 means that it was up to two years later.  That’s why Epiphany is separate, after Christmas.

2.7   “Secretly”?  But all Jerusalem was disturbed!  Surprising that Herod didn’t send soldiers with them.

“Three wise men,” Tom?  I’m surprised at you, making that assumption!  I like the idea of carrying on this week, to link the story to our story today.  But I’m not sure it isn’t reading too much into Matthew to see him as a subtle theologian making points of principle: is Tom Wright seeing Matthew in Tom’s own image?

Easter Tuesday: Matthew 28.16-20

28.16  This has the feeling of a wrap-up, the conclusion; but it remains an open-ended conclusion, and with none of the textual doubt surrounding Mark’s ending.

28.17  This “some doubted” is amazing, I think: a tribute to the resilience of non-belief!  Was it because He looked different after the Resurrection; or purely because they did not wish to believe?

28.20  God with us: see 1.23

“All authority…on earth has been given to me.”  Jesus is King over all!
“Therefore, go and make disciples, baptising them…”  A different kind of kingdom, and a different way of living.  I think the best example might have been those Christians in the Roman Empire who suffered and died like Christ, but whose courageous lives eventually persuaded even the Emperor towards Christ.  “If Jesus himself is with you, what should you be doing?”

Easter Monday: Matthew 28.11-15

28.11  A guard who let the prisoner escape would normally be executed, but this prisoner was a corpse: the threat was meant to come from the disciples (27.64), not from an angel (v2-4).

28.13  Not very interested in the truth, then?

28.15  Matthew alleges that the official account is a deliberate conspiracy to lie and conceal the truth.

I love Tom turning the tables on the sceptics: that it is they who are adjusting the facts to align with their beliefs.  He also neatly points out how the disciples were not expecting the Resurrection anyway.  Sceptics so often caricature the beliefs of Christians; and if we’re not careful, we meekly accept the caricature.  For example, Dawkins saying that all Christians believe in a nasty vindictive deity, instead of a God of love.  We should be quick to explain what we really believe.

Easter Day: Matthew 28.1-10

28.6    The women arrive at the tomb; then the angel comes down and rolls back the stone; the angel tells them that Jesus has already risen, presumably before they arrived and while the stone still sealed the tomb.  The stone is rolled back so that they can inspect the tomb (6).

28.7    I love the angel’s artless phrase “Now I have told you”, as if he has discharged his commission and feels relieved and satisfied at a task completed.

28.8    “Afraid yet filled with joy” describes perfectly the mix of powerful emotions after an encounter with God.  How often, in these encounters, are people told “Do not be afraid” (v10)?

28.9    They did hold onto him: John 20.17 sounds like a warning not to start, but may instead be a request to desist.  Or perhaps different words to each of the Marys?

Christus Aneste!  Christ is Risen – He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

Holy Week: Holy Saturday: Matthew 27.57-66

I hadn’t thought of that analogy: we live in a “Holy Saturday” era, when we need to keep faith and do what has to be done, and wait for God to act.  Not an excuse for disobedience and inattentiveness, but at least a reason not to get intense or frantic.

Holy Week: Good Friday: Matthew 27.33-56

27.35  I wonder if the marginal reading is a bit like these notes: some copyist’s meditation in the margin.  There would be little reason to delete an OT cross-reference from Matthew’s own pen.

27.43  Even if Jesus didn’t say this, he implied it so strongly that they heard it.

27.44  Even today many people mock God, and with patience He suffers it.

27.51  From top to bottom: heaven’s initiative.  The tombs breaking open is a weird touch: together, all these phenomena seem to be saying that a cataclysmic event has occurred, and the Creation goes into spasm in reaction.

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in him, here on the cross.”  The phrase resonates from Christmas, when prophecies were fulfilled in the birth.  And yet here are prophecies focused on the cross, and the saving death of Christ.  “A God unlike any other.”

Holy Week: Maundy Thursday: Matthew 27.1-32

27.4    They claim not to be responsible, and yet they acknowledge it as blood money (6).  What happened to the command against murder?

27.19  How does Matthew know all this?  Somebody in Pilate’s household must have become a believer and told him: perhaps even Pilate or his wife?

27.24  Disclaiming responsibility, like the chief priests (4).  To be fair, Judas (5) and the people (25) both accept responsibility.

27.28  As in Iraq, nakedness used as humiliation (also v35).

As always, Tom shows us a fresh perspective.  In the train accident, “nobody is to blame.”  At the Crucifixion, everybody is to blame.  Then again, yesterday Peter found that Jesus was dying in his place; and today, Barabbas discovers the same.  In fact, at the Crucifixion, Jesus dies in place of all of us.

Holy Week: Wednesday: Matthew 26.57-75

26.57  It was already evening (v20) and night (31, 34), the time for sleep (40, 43, 45).  An extraordinary time for the council to gather!

26.63  In the face of trumped-up false evidence, it is more dignified to remain silent: the accusers do not want to hear the truth.  And yet, the next question is too crucial and direct to refuse.

26.75  How low must Peter have felt?  That word “bitterly” sums it up.  Tom Wright’s translation: “cried like a baby.”

“Jesus tells the truth, knowing it will condemn him.  Peter tells a lie to save his skin.  The stage is set.  Jesus, the innocent one, will die in place of Peter, the guilty.  And the rest of us, too.”  Genius!

Holy Week: Tuesday: Matthew 26.36-56

26.38  Lamentations 1.12, “Behold and see if there be any sorrow, like unto my sorrow”, Handel’s Messiah no. 30.  Jesus the prophet knew how deeply he was going to suffer, and his heart was breaking.

26.46  Where would they go?  To flee?  No, to greet the betrayer, and to go voluntarily rather than by force (v55).

26.56  There is a commanding presence about Jesus here, deliberately deciding not to resist (v50, 52, 54).  Do the disciples flee because they are afraid of the crowd, or perhaps they are just as afraid of Jesus?

The glory of God is seen not only in the bright light of Transfiguration, but also in the agony of sorrow, bearing the pain of the world.

Holy Week: Monday: Matthew 26.14-35

26.15  Value uncertain: possibly the price of a slave (Exodus 21.32)

26.21  Jesus seems conscious of the irony of fellowship and betrayal.

26.25  Could this be any clearer or straighter?

26.26  “This is my body” is very direct: what does “is” mean here?

26.30  Singing a hymn seems very ordinary, but also poignant.

26.33  Fallible, yet bold: a natural leader, because they all follow him in brave promises (v35) as well as betrayal (v56).

Tom highlights the centrality of the meal: fellowship around the table, and remembering Jesus.

Holy Week: Palm Sunday: Psalm 31.9-16

Whew!  A bit shorter than yesterday!  But so appropriate for Holy Week: v13 for the priests and Judas, v14-16 and v9-10 for Gethsemane, v11-13 for the Trial and Via Dolorosa.

Week 5: Saturday: Matthew 26.14 – 27.66

The entire Holy Week story!  Very powerful, if you read it right through in one sitting.  Tomorrow we’ll hear the whole story dramatised in our worship services, too.

Week 5: Friday: Matthew 26.1-13

26.2    Jesus knew exactly when he would die, a knowledge not granted to many.  Perhaps this is part of the reason for the secret (eg 16.20, 17.9), to hold back the opposition until the time was right (kairos).

26.4    I love that word ‘sly’, implying deft cunning, quiet efficiency.

26.6    Why would a Jew stay with a leper?  Only if he were healed first!

26.13  The generous worship of one person is the thoughtless waste of another (v8).  And, indeed, her story is told.  How can we show extravagant love for our Lord today?

Tom starts v1, “So this is how it finally happened.”  Not words that are literally in the gospel text, but Tom (like Eugene Peterson) interpolates for extra clarity: this is the main event, starting now, the end-game, the finishing straight with the tape in sight.

“…to you in particular.  What’s he going to say?”  Lord, speak now, today!

Week 5: Thursday: Matthew 25

25.37  Neither the righteous nor the wicked (v44) seem to be aware of the significance of their actions before God.

25.46  It is tempting to conclude that they are saved or condemned by their behaviour; but it is equally possible that their actions are simply the outworking of their inward heart-attitude.

I like Tom’s example, of the soldier who did the right thing, not self-consciously but because he had the right motivation, the care of those under his command.  This is why worship is important: it re-focuses us on what really matters.

Week 5: Wednesday: Matthew 25

25.13  Another parable (like 24.42-44) about keeping watch.

25.29  The apparently unfair redistribution highlights the importance of the message – to be faithful in making use of the talents we have been entrusted with.

25.30  Again (compare 24.45-50) the Master doesn’t take the servants to where he has been, but he returns to where the servants are and stays there.  And again (compare 24.51) some are thrown out, to weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The corporate message to Israel is not so obvious to us today (thank you, Tom).  Does Britain have a responsibility towards God?  Does the Church of England, or indeed Christians generally?

And have I found my true calling from God, and am I using my God-given talents to the full?  A question for all of us.

Week 5: Tuesday: Matthew 24

24.32  Even for the end of the world, the commonplace agricultural metaphors keep coming!

24.34  Compare 16.28.  Although that happened in 33 AD; this happened in 70 AD.

24.36  This alone should be enough to silence the speculation about the exact date of Christ’s return: but still we debate it.  It also tells us that the persons of the Trinity do not share everything.

24.40  Partly because of the Noah analogy, we tend to assume that the ones taken are the faithful going to heaven; but it could equally be that the faithful are the ones who remain to enjoy a cleansed Creation (as after the Flood).  Verse 51 implies this too: the faithful remain.

24.42  Here is another lesson for the end-times: “keep watch”, “be ready” (v44), faithful stewardship (v46).

I remember a workplace like that, too!  And how shocked I was, a teenager full of energy and used to conscientious work in school.  What, even when teacher wasn’t around?  Sometimes, yes.  The time allowed was plenty, and it was obvious whether you’d done the work or not.  At work, “don’t go at it so fast: you’ll soon tire, and you’ll show up the rest of us too.”

A good warning, especially to the under-shepherds of God’s flock.

Week 5: Monday: Matthew 24

Yes, we are meant to read the whole chapter today, and the whole chapter again tomorrow!  In his comments, Tom tells us why – it will need chewing over.

24.2    He was indeed a prophet: this had not previously been mentioned, and hard to imagine standing beside the massive foundations.

24.4    The disciples ask for the characteristics, the indications: Jesus’ immediate response is “deception”.  So our priority might be expressed as “stay calm; stay focussed.”

24.15  In Jewish prophetic thought, historical events are not categorised by their position on a time-line, but by their characteristics.  For example, Isaiah’s prophecy to Ahaz in Isaiah 7.14-15 has both an immediate fulfilment in 8.3-4 and an ultimate fulfilment in Matthew 1.23: in the prophecy, the two instances are not distinguished.  Here, the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the end of the world are superimposed.

We are used to Jesus the teacher, the healer, the miracle-worker; but Jesus the prophet sounds strange and fearsome as he goes into “apocalyptic mode” like Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation.

Tom points out amazing truths, which I haven’t noticed before but are obvious the moment he says them: like “The difference between Jesus’ prophecy…and the speculations of his contemporaries was that he had a sense of his own role, his own fate, his own future being somehow bound up with it all.”