Reading the Gospels Together The Storyline of Matthew’s Gospel – Part 12 Matthew begins to follow Mark who at this point goes on to denounce the religious leaders for their false religious behavior, but soon launches into what will become a fifth discourse of Jesus offered to the crowds and eventually to his disciples. In the process Matthew omits Mark’s story about the widow who gave her all. That woman we might remember was a chief witness for Mark of what it means to follow Jesus – to give our whole self to him. Most of the beginning of this fifth discourse is material that Matthew shares with Luke. In the Sermon on the Mount Matthew had offered his readers the Beatitude of Jesus. Here he offers his readers a series of harsh woes against the religious leaders. They are hypocrites whose piety is only on the surface. We may remember that false piety was a dominant point for Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount too. Matthew’s section of woes ends with Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem whose children God so desired to gather under his wings but could not. Matthew now returns to pick up Mark’s narrative regarding the destruction of the Temple and follows Mark quite closely. Matthew’s discourse has now moved to a second topic which is the final judgment by God and the end of the age. Matthew extends Mark’s narrative regarding the destruction of Jerusalem by adding four teachings of Jesus. The first Matthew shares with Luke and is a story of Jesus about who is faithful. Will the slave the master puts in charge of the household take good care of his master’s household and his fellow slaves, or will he act in selfish ways? If he acts selfishly, the master will “cut him to pieces” and cast him out. The parable is aimed squarely at the religious leaders and most likely at those Jewish leaders in Matthew’s own community who have rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Matthew moves on to tell the parable of the ten bridesmaids. Five are alert and waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. Five are foolish and are not prepared. It is interesting that Matthew tells his readers that the bridegroom has been delayed and that is why the five foolish bridesmaids are caught off guard. Were those in Matthew’s community who once thought Jesus was the Messiah and have grown impatient at the delay in the return of Christ in glory and fallen away, letting their lights go out? The third teaching Matthew provides is another parable he shares with Luke. The parable is about the man who is going on a journey and entrusts his property to the care of his slaves – very similar to the first story we have just looked at. Each slave is given his share of the property. What will he do with it? Two slaves make a profit for their master. The third hides the property and produces nothing. Again the problem is that the return of the owner is delayed. And in the end the two who are faithful are rewarded upon his return and the one who is not faithful is cast out. Were those within Matthew’s community who were not faithful with what they have been given and because the return of Christ has been delayed become lazy? Finally, Matthew concludes this discourse with one of the most powerful pictures of judgment in the Bible. Only Matthew tells us about this judgment scene. Everyone is brought before the throne of God and there they are separated from one another. The basis of the separation is determined by how Jesus has been treated. Those who are welcomed into the eternal kingdom are those who have seen Jesus in those who are in need and offered them what they needed. Those who are cast out into the darkness are those who have not seen Jesus in the least of these and have not helped them. One of the most interesting features of this story is that neither the ones who helped nor the ones who didn’t realize at the time that it is Jesus who is coming to them. Both are surprised to find that out. As in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is dealing with the deep reality of the ethics and piety of those who follow Jesus. Is their piety only skin deep and are their ethical convictions driven only by what is expedient or has their piety and ethical behavior penetrated to the very depth of their being? Again it is likely that Matthew has his own community of first readers in mind as well as those who are his opponents. Those of us who are readers so much later need to hear though that true faith penetrates to the depth of our very being too. It’s not about what we believe as much as how what we believe activates how we act. We have come to the last of Matthew’s discourses that interrupt the flow of Mark’s gospel. It’s time to ask why Matthew has done what he has done. Is there anything in common amidst these discourses? One thing we might say is that Matthew seems in each one of them to be addressing his own community and its needs as he is addressing the situation at the time of Jesus. Each of the discourses is not telling stories of the activity of Jesus but of what Jesus means to the community. The first discourse, the Sermon on the Mount, lays the groundwork for all the rest. What does it mean to follow Jesus? The concern is for a deep sense of piety and an openhanded behavior on the part of those who follow Jesus. Their righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees who Matthew sees as only living on the surface and being hypocrites. The second discourse is on the challenge and the harshness of living as a witness for Jesus in a world that is not always welcoming. The third discourse consists of a number of parables of the kingdom which point out that not all are receptive of Jesus. There are weeds in the wheat. The fourth discourse is directed at the church and the need for forgiveness and restoration among those who follow Jesus. And the last discourse directs itself to the end of the age and the final consummation of the kingdom. The last discourse is most like the first, the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew has interrupted Mark’s storyline to insert these discourses with a purpose. They are messages to the community of God in all ages. They function as the Law did in the OT. They are God’s instruction for living. We noticed at the very beginning that Matthew has told the story of the birth of Jesus coloring it with the story of the birth of Moses. Perhaps the reason Matthew has chosen five discourses is to mimic the books of Moses in the OT which are also five. In a very subtle way Matthew has portrayed Jesus as the new Moses – the new lawgiver who is superior to Moses. Again there are hints in the way in which Matthew has told this story that he is concerned about his own community in its struggle against Judaism that is finding its way without the Temple and not believing in Jesus as the Messiah. Matthew’s Jewish Christian community is not inferior to this new and emerging community of Jews. And the discourses are Matthew’s way of confronting this growing tension.