God’s Mission in Matthew

God’s Mission in MatthewMatthew’s gospel is the most Jewish of the Gospel accounts.

God’s Mission in MatthewMatthew’s gospel is the most Jewish of the Gospel accounts.

Matthew wrote it to convince Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

God’s Mission in MatthewJesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'" The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, " 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

God’s Mission in MatthewEarly in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.“

Matthew 21:12-22 (NIV)

God’s Mission in MatthewSeveral Questions

God’s Mission in MatthewSeveral Questions

Why does Jesus drive these people out of the temple?

God’s Mission in MatthewSeveral Questions

Why does Jesus drive these people out of the temple?

Why does he curse a fig tree?

God’s Mission in MatthewSeveral Questions

Why does Jesus drive these people out of the temple?

Why does he curse a fig tree?

Does this passage teach that we can get whatever we want if we just have faith and pray hard enough?

God’s Mission in MatthewJesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'" The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, " 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

God’s Mission in MatthewThe Temple

God’s Mission in MatthewThe Temple

The temple was the place where the presence of the Lord could be found on earth.

God’s Mission in MatthewThe Temple

The temple was the place where the presence of the Lord could be found on earth.

Because of this it was the center of sacrifice. The sacrifices proscribed in the Torah took place here.

God’s Mission in MatthewThe Temple

The temple was the place where the presence of the Lord could be found on earth.

Because of this it was the center of sacrifice. The sacrifices proscribed in the Torah took place here.

The Jews viewed the temple as their special inheritance from God. It was also a center of their political aspirations.

God’s Mission in MatthewJesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'" The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, " 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

God’s Mission in MatthewDo not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

God’s Mission in Matthew " 'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.‘

Jeremiah 7:4-15 (NIV)

God’s Mission in MatthewThe Temple

Jesus clears the temple and for a brief period of time shuts it down.

God’s Mission in MatthewThe Temple

Jesus clears the temple and for a brief period of time shuts it down.

Thus he seems to be pointing to a time when the temple would cease to exist.

God’s Mission in MatthewThe Temple

Jesus clears the temple and for a brief period of time shuts it down.

Thus he seems to be pointing to a time when the temple would cease to exist.

If the temple ceased to exist, how could the Jews worship God?

God’s Mission in MatthewEarly in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

God’s Mission in MatthewFig Trees

God’s Mission in MatthewFig Trees

The Old Testament treated the abundance of fig trees as a sign of God’s pleasure, (2 Kings 18:21, Numbers 20:5)

God’s Mission in MatthewFig Trees

The Old Testament treated the abundance of fig trees as a sign of God’s pleasure, (2 Kings 18:21, Numbers 20:5)

the destruction of these plants indicated divine judgment ( Psalm 105:33, Jeremiah 29:17, Hosea 2:12, 14, Amos 4:9)

God’s Mission in MatthewFig Trees

The Old Testament treated the abundance of fig trees as a sign of God’s pleasure, (2 Kings 18:21, Numbers 20:5)

the destruction of these plants indicated divine judgment ( Psalm 105:33, Jeremiah 29:17, Hosea 2:12, 14, Amos 4:9)

Thus cursing a fig tree indicated that God’s judgment was coming.

God’s Mission in MatthewEarly in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

God’s Mission in MatthewEarly in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

God’s Mission in MatthewEarly in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to a mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

God’s Mission in MatthewEarly in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

God’s Mission in MatthewJesus probably refers to the Temple Mount here.

God’s Mission in MatthewJesus probably refers to the Temple Mount here.

Such a destruction of the Temple Mount would have shocked the Jews.

God’s Mission in MatthewJesus probably refers to the Temple Mount here.

Such a destruction of the Temple Mount would have shocked the Jews.

The only way a Jew could accept such a conclusion was if the Temple was no longer necessary.

God’s Mission in MatthewThe law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

God’s Mission in MatthewTherefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' “ First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:1-10 (NIV)

God’s Mission in MatthewSeveral Questions

Why does Jesus drive these people out of the temple?

Why does he curse a fig tree?

Does this passage teach that we can get whatever we want if we just have faith and pray hard enough?

God’s Mission in MatthewSo what does this have to do with us?

God’s Mission in MatthewSo what does this have to do with us?

Eucharist = Thanksgiving

God’s Mission in Matthew