Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part II

Verse 3: Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives. The followers came to be alone with Him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to prepare us for Your coming and the end of time?”

Had the verbal traditions of the Rabbis been available in book form in that day, Jesus could have easily picked up the Mishnah or Talmud and begin reading: “In the generation when the son of David [i.e., Messiah] will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, their eyes will fail through sorrow and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be published anew, each new evil coming with haste before the other has ended.”¹ This same document then goes on to say, there would be a seven-year cycle that preceding His coming involving rain, hunger, famine, forsaking of God’s Word, inflation, recession, revival,² return to God’s Word, and sounds from heaven. In a way, this also corresponds with the seven years of tribulation at the end of the Gentile era during which the Jews will finally turn and recognize Jesus as their Messiah.

I’m sure Jesus did not use this as His text because He was the Word straight from God. But to any student in a synagogue, these omens would be well-known. So what Jesus is about to mentioned should not come as a surprise to His listeners. Also, what claims does one have to make in order to be accepted as a Messiah? Israel was the only nation that clung tenaciously with hope to such a promise by God. In their minds, He would be a man divinely ordained of God to establish God’s kingdom in Israel, and then use Israel to spread His rule throughout the world. He would be a king of royal blood; a ruler of a nation, and spiritual leader of the children of Israel. He was to bring about the salvation of Israel with a final triumph over all her enemies.

Needless to say, when the Jews saw this humble, peaceful Jesus from Nazareth in His ministry as a suffering sacrifice, it did not meet their criteria. Nevertheless, Jesus would be all of these things and more! He was ordained by God because He was God. His kingdom was established and today its influence extends to the uttermost parts of the earth. He is a King of royal blood; the eternal King of kings. He did win triumphantly over all the enemies of God’s people: the devil, death, hell, and the grave! There is, therefore, no reason why anyone should not recognize Him as the Messiah. But the real question here is this: was Jesus giving a timeline that would occur during the time of the apostles or in the end days of the church?

One anonymous writer in the early church gives his exposition of this text. He writes: “Here the disciples were asking, ‘When will this be that no stone of the temple stands upon another, as you said?’ With these questions and others, they asked Jesus also to indicate to them the end of the age, which He had not mentioned. They asked questions about the Temple for their own benefit, but those questions concerning the end of the age were asked for our benefit. We never saw the destruction of the temple, nor did they see the end of the age. It was expedient, therefore, that they hear about the signs of the Temple’s destruction and for us to learn and recognize the signs of the world’s consummation. A work’s completion is sweet to every laborer, and the traveler eagerly awaits his arrival at home. The businessman frequently counts the days to year’s end, and the farmer constantly looks forward to harvest time. The merchant examines his purse day and night, and an expecting mother continually thinks of her delivery date. In a similar way, the servants of God eagerly anticipate the consummation of the age, for it is written, ‘Wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’³”⁴

While I agree with the writer that it was good the disciples asked these questions so Jesus was given the opportunity to offer some instructions or point to signs of when this might occur, it is also important to note their question so that the answer given by our Lord can be applied to our understanding. They specifically asked about when the Temple would be torn down and about His return and the end of time.

This early church writer goes on to say: “If you have a certain quantity of valuable property stored away in your house when you come in from the street, you will naturally direct your gaze in the direction of those valuables before you look anywhere else. Likewise, the saints fix their gaze there where their crown has been laid up for them. It is also of some benefit to be able to recognize the end of the age, for when a man is on a journey, the closer he gets to home, the more he begins to celebrate.”⁵

Verses 4-5: Jesus answered, “Be careful! Don’t let anyone fool you. Many people will come and use my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah.’ And they will fool many people.”

The key to understanding this is the word, “Messiah.” Some say, that the church is not waiting for the Messiah’s first coming because He arrived a long time ago. Therefore, this must be applicable to the Jewish nation. As such, it no doubt would apply to their time from Jesus’ day up to this day and beyond, especially during the period of the Tribulation. Furthermore, since the nation of Israel is no longer under Roman rule, the liberation from foreign rule brought by the Messiah would not seem to apply today. But the Church is awaiting the Messiah’s return. The question then becomes, are these two one and the same when our Lord returns for His believers and the Jews finally accept Him as the true Messiah?

We learn from Jewish historian Josephus, that between 44-46 AD “…while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it; and many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not allow them to realize any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews in the time of Cuspius Fadus’s government.”⁶

Let’s look at what the Centurion, who arrested the apostle Paul in the Temple, said to him: “I thought you were the Egyptian who started some trouble against the government not long ago and led four thousand terrorists out to the desert.”⁷ In addition, Simon Magus⁸ became accepted by some as the Messiah. And Irenaeus writes about Magus, “…in order that he himself might seem to be a wonderful being, and applied himself with still greater zeal to the study of the whole magic art, that he might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men. Such was his procedure in the reign of Claudius Cæsar, by whom also he is said to have been honored with a statue, on account of his magical power. This man, then, was glorified by many as if he were a god; and he taught that it was himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son, but descended in Samaria as the Father while he came to other nations in the character of the Holy Spirit. He represented himself, in a word, as being the loftiest of all powers, that is, the Being who is the Father over all, and he allowed himself to be called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him.”⁹

Origen writes, “And after the times of Jesus, Dositheus the Samaritan also wished to persuade the Samaritans, that he was the Christ predicted by Moses; and he appears to have won some over to his views. But it is not absurd, in quoting the extremely wise observation of Gamaliel, the one named in the book of Acts, to show how those persons mentioned above were strangers to the promise, being neither sons of God nor powers of God, whereas Christ Jesus was truly the Son of God.”¹⁰

 And, early church theologian Tertullian writes that Simon Magus, who, in the Acts of the Apostles, earned a merited and just rebuke from the Apostle Peter,¹¹ had the boldness to call himself the Supreme Virtue, that is, the Supreme God; and moreover, to assert that the universe had been originated by his angels; that he had descended in quest of an erring intelligence, which was Wisdom; that, in trying to resemble God, he had not suffered among the Jews, but it was as if he had suffered. After him came Menander and his disciple (likewise a magician), saying the same as Simon. Whatever Simon had affirmed himself to be, this did Menander equally affirm himself to be, asserting that none could possibly have salvation without being baptized in his name.¹²

While today we do not hear frequently about someone in Israel claiming to be the Messiah, we do have those elsewhere who claim they can lead people to God in ways not found in holy Scriptures. They tell people it is not necessary to repent or change their ways because God loves them the way they are. Just follow my rules, they say. However, nowhere in their past do we find a record of their suffering, death, and resurrection which are required to be the true Messiah.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part I

NOTE: Over the past several centuries, many theologians, Bible experts, and prophecy aficionados have tried their best to dissect this chapter in order for it to make sense when applied to the chronological history of the church. One of the first things we must take into consideration is that this chapter does not represent a continuous dialogue by Jesus to His disciples and followers without any interruptions or pauses. This is what Matthew remembers from all that he heard and that which was told to him before he joined the disciples. As in the previous chapter, Matthew assembled all the sayings of Jesus on His confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees. So now in this chapter, he puts together all the sayings of Jesus on the end of the age and Christ’s return. It is, therefore, clear that our Lord spoke of things that would happen during the disciples’ lifetime; things that would occur throughout the ages of the Church; and the things that would be seen at the end of the Christian era. When you see verses such as 8, 14, 25, 34, 36, 42 & 44 you realize that Matthew has collected Christ’s prophetic words on a variety of different occasions and several occurrences. One thing you can count on, though, it all started with His first coming and it will all end with His return, but those who remain faithful no matter in which era they live will survive to live eternally with Him in the New Jerusalem.

Verses 1-2a: As Jesus walked away from the Temple, His followers caught up with Him and began to point out the various buildings in the Temple courts. So He asked them, “Why are you admiring these buildings?”

This departure from the holiest site on Mount Zion signaled the end of Jesus’ public ministry. Never again would He teach in the Temple courts or gather crowds on a mountain side to instruct them on how they should conduct themselves in the kingdom of God. Now it was time to instruct His followers and the twelve disciples who had been with Him over the last three and a half years. But something Jesus said about the Temple being empty caused His disciples to offer Him a reality check by pointing out all the magnificent buildings that made up the Temple compound.¹ In their minds, it was ludicrous to think that one day this area that was always bustling with thousands of worshipers each day would stand abandoned. What they were looking at was the Temple repaired by Herod. According to Jewish chronicler, mathematician, historian, astronomer, and astrologer Rabbi David Gans, Herod’s renovation produced an edifice that was even greater than the original Temple that Solomon built.²

This is in accordance to what we find in the Talmud: “It used to be said: He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building. Of what did he build it? Scholars say: Of yellow and white marble. Some say, of blue, yellow and white marble. Alternate rows of the stones positioned so as to leave a place for cement. He originally intended to cover it with gold, but the Rabbis advised him not to since it was more beautiful as it was, looking like the waves of the sea.”³ No doubt, it was these very stones the disciples pointed at and admired. They were of prodigious size with enormous value.

Jewish historian Josephus also paints a picture of the Temple that stood in his day, which was during the time of Christ: “Now the outward face of the Temple in its front was lacking nothing that was likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. But this Temple appeared to strangers when they were coming to it from a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not golden, they were exceedingly white. On its top it had spikes with sharp points, to prevent any pollution of it by birds sitting upon it. Of its stones, some of them were forty-five cubits [68 feet] in length, five [7 feet] in height, and six [9 feet] wide. Before this Temple stood the altar, fifteen cubits [22 feet] high, and equal both in length and width; each of which dimensions was fifty cubits [75 feet]. The figure it was built in was a square, and it had corners like horns, and the passage up to it was by an indiscernible ascent. It was formed without any iron tool, nor did any such iron tool so much as touch it at any time. There was also a wall of partition, about a cubit [18 inches] in height, made of fine stones, and so as to be grateful to the sight; this encompassed the holy house and the altar, and kept the people that were on the outside away from the priests.”⁴

Early church scholar Cyril of Alexandria points out his understanding of what was taking place here. He writes: “Some disciples were pointing out to Christ the magnificent things in the temple and how it was adorned with the gifts that had been dedicated to God. For they supposed that Jesus would admire with them all there was to see, although being God He has heaven as His throne! He does offer a teaching concerning them, but He had already predicted that according to the times the Temple would utterly fall. The Roman army is being gathered for this very thing, demanding the surrender of Israel itself as all Jerusalem suffers the punishment of the slaying of the Lord. For let me tell you, it came to pass that they suffered these things after the crucifixion of the Savior. But they did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ teachings. They supposed His teachings concerned the end times.”⁵

When Roman General Titus arrived, he was astonished, as he went about destroying the temple, at which time his soldiers plundered it, and took away “the gifts,” with which it is also said to be adorned. These were rich and valuable things which were dedicated to it, and either laid up in it or hung upon the walls and pillars of it, as was usually done in other temples. These may have included the golden lampstand, the golden table, and many golden utensils that Pompey saw, and the spoils which Herod dedicated; and particularly the golden vine, which was a gift of his. By showing all this to Jesus, perhaps the disciples were suggesting that it would be a pity if such a grand edifice should be destroyed; or how unaccountable it was, that a place of so much strength, could so easily be demolished. But Jesus had more bad news for them.

Verse 2b: “Let me tell you what will happen. They will all be destroyed. Every stone will be thrown down on the ground. Not one stone will be left on top of one another.”

Jesus was on solid ground with His prognostication because it had been prophesied once before: “Other people will make jokes about Israel. I made the Temple holy. It is the place where people honor Me. But I will tear it down. This Temple will be destroyed. Everyone who sees it will be amazed. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will say, ‘This happened because they turned away from the LORD their God.”⁶ Not only that but Daniel saw it in the future: “After the 62 weeks, the Chosen One will be killed. He will be gone. Then the people of the future leader will destroy the city and the holy place. That end will come like a flood. War will continue until the end. God has ordered that place to be completely destroyed.”⁷

And could it not also be that Jesus was talking about the same thing Micah says: “Leaders, because of you, Zion will be destroyed. It will become a plowed field. Jerusalem will become a pile of rocks. Temple Mount will be an empty hill overgrown with bushes.”⁸ Years ago when I visited Jerusalem, one of my European Bible School students, who was born in Bethlehem, was my guide. We climbed to the top of the Temple Mount on the same level as the Islamic Dome of the Rock. While the Dome is ornate and colorful, the area where the Temple once stood was full of weeds and looked totally forsaken. It was hard to imagine that a magnificent Temple once stood there.

Two early church fathers speak about the meaning of no stone being left upon another. Origen writes: “After Christ predicted everything that was about to happen to Jerusalem, He who had preserved the Temple left it, lest it collapsed while He was still in it. The Temple stood safe and secure as long as the Word and the kingdom of God were with the Jews, as did all things Jewish. Subsequently, however, the kingdom of God was taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles, as it is written, ‘The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the nations who produce its fruit.’⁹ Both Jesus and the kingdom of God were then established among the Gentiles. Therefore, neither Jesus nor the kingdom of God is to be found among the Jews, because they were abandoned ‘like a booth in a vineyard, and like a hut in a cucumber field, and like a city besieged,’¹⁰ on account of the crime they committed against Christ.”¹¹

Then, Hilary of Poitiers shares his impression: “The magnificent splendor of the Temple’s design was shown to Christ immediately after He had warned of Jerusalem’s desolation, as though to move Him. Yet He said that everything had to be destroyed and the scattered stones of its entire foundation demolished, for an eternal temple was being consecrated as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. This eternal temple is the man who is made worthy of becoming God’s habitation through knowledge of the Son, confession of the Father, and obedience to the commandments.”¹² If by the destruction of the Temple, God was putting an end to the daily sacrifices and irreverent commercial activities going on there, it was accomplished. From 70 AD to this very day, the sacrifices have never been restarted because no Temple has been rebuilt.

Perhaps bishop Hilary was referencing what Jesus told the woman at the well in Samaria: “Believe me, woman! The time is coming when you will not have to be in Jerusalem or on this mountain to worship the Father . . . But the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”¹³ This is also echoed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians in Corinth: “You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit that you received from God and that lives in you.”¹⁴

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” This line is found in a song written in 1965 by singer Bob Dylan called, “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” These words suggest, there are some things that happen in life that are so obvious that we need only to take a look at it to see what’s really going on.

When we don’t take the time to look, this is a condition of the mind that one writer, named Margaret Heffernan, described as a choice we make when we don’t like what we see. She put it this way: “We choose, sometimes consciously but mostly not, to remain unseeing in situations where ‘we could know, and should know, but don’t know because it makes us feel better not to know’.”¹ I’ve heard this same attitude expressed in the idiom, “turning a blind eye.” For instance: Employees turned a blind eye when they saw their fellow workers stealing objects from their employer because they didn’t want to lose their friendship or cause trouble.

We know how corruptible this is in our everyday world, but some don’t realize how debilitating it can be in our spiritual world. Such as, pastors turning a blind eye to the way some of their parishioners dress when they come into the house of God to worship; praise and worship teams turning a blind eye to some of the lyrics in the songs they sing that do not correspond to Scripture; or parents that turn a blind eye to the language in TV shows their children watch, the lyrics in the music they listen to, and the texting on their cell phones, etc.

For some reason, this is done because we think it will eventually go away, or turn around in the right direction on its own. As singer Dylan said, you don’t need to tune into the weather report to know what way the wind is blowing. Just look outside at the trees or some nearby flag and you’ll see. For Christians, the Bible is our flag and the Holy Spirit is our wind. That’s where we should look to see which way the winds are blowing today. And when we do, let’s not turn a blind eye to reality, but put on the whole armor of God² because we may be in a fight for our religious freedom. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

WHEN WILL WE REALIZE THE TRUTH?

Each time our TV screens fill with scenes of panic and chaos brought on by some horrible incident such as a terrorist attack on innocent people, or senseless murders on the street, quite naturally we begin to hear calls for more laws, elimination of certain constitutional rights, and greater efforts to curb such outrageous deeds brought on because we don’t have enough regulations, too many rights, and not enough good police involvement in our everyday lives. Some even propose that we have more compassion for criminals who commit their crimes out of anger because they’re not being given all the things they feel they should have.

Their reasoning is this: that with the right amount of mental conditioning, psychological influence, positive social reinforcement, and more government regulations, society as a whole, and individually, will evolve and progress toward a more perfect, controllable civic union that will eliminate these insane acts of violence.

It is time to face reality. Because of sin, mankind is destined and doomed to be sinful, evil, and influenced by demonic powers. No amount of education or regulation can purge man’s soul of this these forces. The more laws that are put into effect the more man’s sinful nature resists and seeks ways to get around such laws.

The solution to these problems can only be found in the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the cleansing effect of His blood to wash away sin; the transformation of the heart and mind through the work of the Holy Spirit, which causes the old things to pass away and all things to become new. The love of God is what transforms individuals and societies. The Prince of Peace living in men’s hearts will go a long way in curbing such violence. The Bible tells us, where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds even more! – Dr. Robert R Seyda

SUMMARY OF MATTHEW CHAPTER 23

At the end of Chapter 22, Jesus confounded the Pharisees and His other opponents with His question about whether the Messiah was the son of King David. They were left speechless because they had become so spiritually blind that they could not recognize the truth standing right in front them. Then, at the start of Chapter 23, our Lord begins a series of warnings for them because they failed to accept the Son of God as the Savior of mankind who came to establish a new agreement with all those who would believe in Him, and through His resurrection give them everlasting life.

He did so, because even though their teachings were morally and ethically good, they themselves did not practice what they preached. In fact, they paraded around as examples of the godly and virtuous life they exhorted others to emulate. However, it was all for show. While they looked clean on the outside, they were filthy on the inside.

Jesus’ first warned them because by rejecting Him they had shut the door to the kingdom of heaven so their followers would not enter. What made this so hypocritical was that although they themselves refused to enter, they prevented others from doing so because it would expose them for who they really were. But that wasn’t all, Jesus gave a second warning because after blocking the way into the kingdom of God for those who wanted to enter, they went out and made disciples for themselves, turning them into even more sinister and corrupt followers of their way of living and practicing the faith.

Then our Lord issued a third warning them about misleading the people with their interpretations of the Law. While the written word said one thing, their verbal teachings said another. In so doing, they were making the things of man greater than the things of God. In other words, they were putting emphasis on those things that brought glory to them while dismissing those things that brought glory to God.

Our Master continued with a fourth warning because of the consequences of such thinking. They were being hypocritical because they elevated each small thing they did for God as being of great value to help themselves, while at the same time leaving the greater and more valuable things God really wanted them to do untouched that were meant to help others.

This then led our Savior to issued a fifth warning because their false pretenses were contradictory in that they made it look like what they were doing was holy in man’s eyes while what they were really doing constituted the worst behavior in God’s eyes. This then prompted a sixth warning where the Messiah compared them to the shrines built over tombs that were beautiful and ornate, but in reality were simply covering the rotting corpses and bones of the dead. Jesus put it this way: On the outside, you give the appearance of being a righteous person, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

But He wasn’t finished. Our Lord went on to warn them a seventh time because they honored the prophets of the past with their words and berated their ancestors for treating these men of God in such a disrespectful way, even killing them and spilling their blood. They claimed that if they would have been alive back then they would not have treated these prophets so horribly. But in fact, our Master told them that this evil spirit that lived inside their ancestors was living in them.

By this time, the Master was so full of disgust for their hypocrisy and double-standards that He referred to them as poisonous serpents. He predicted that they would do to the messengers He would send out to preach the kingdom of heaven the same thing their forefathers did to the prophets in the past. In other words, they would join the long line of assassins that preyed on God’s messengers from the time of Abel, who was killed next to his altar in the field to the priest Zechariah son of Berekiah who was murdered between the holy place and the altar in the courtyard of the temple.

By this time our Lord’s emotions were so strong that He broke down and cried out: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me.”

With that, Jesus looked straight at the Pharisees, scribes, and other religious leaders who were in attendance and said to them: “Look! God is turning this His house over to you and abandoning it.¹ For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.’²” He then turned and walked away from them and the Temple. He had things to do and things to teach His disciples before He came back to do what God sent Him to do. In fact, He would be the first prophet of the new agreement that they would put to death, just like He said they would. But He would see to it that no one built a shrine over His tomb because it would be empty. His heavenly Father would raise Him from death to live forever with Him in heaven.

God bless all of you who are dedicated to studying His Word as you desire to learn more about the One who came to save us all. We will begin Chapter 24 on Monday, September 12th. Hope to see you then.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Part XIII

Verse 39: Now comes the final edict: “I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’¹”

I am willing to believe there were tears in the Master’s eyes as His heart ached because of their stubbornness and unwillingness to accept God’s only Son who came to be their Savior. It sounds similar to the cry of Jeremiah, “O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness so that you may be saved. How long will your evil schemes lodge within you?”² You would think that after being saved from Egyptian bondage and sustained in the wilderness through the miracles of God, once the children of Israel entered the Promised Land they would be forever faithful and true.

But Nehemiah tells another story. He says, “They were disobedient and rebelled against you and threw your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.”³ In Jewish history, we read about the death of a priest named Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada; who stood above the people and said to them, “Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper?” But instead of being convicted of the wrongs and repenting, it says, “They conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the LORD.”⁴

The prophet Jeremiah also faced the potential of death because of his speaking the truth, as well as another man named Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. who also prophesied in the name of the Lord. He warned Jerusalem and Israel in words exactly like those of Jeremiah. But instead of seeing this as a second call to repentance, we are told that King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and men with him to Egypt, and they arrested Uriah and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and threw his dead body into the burial place of the common people.⁵ You don’t do this to someone just because they are a prophet but in response to what they prophesy.

Rabbi Kahana tells us that Uriah was from a Gibeon city along with ‘Gibeon and Chephirah’,⁶ and that “To set the record straight, Scripture finds it necessary to indicate his lofty pedigree. The Lord told Isaiah: ‘I found some men who could be trusted to serve as witnesses: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah’⁷.”⁸ So is it any surprise that they treated Jesus of Nazareth the way they did? Then Jesus repeats a phrase found in the Apocrypha: “I gathered you together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings: but now, what shall I do to you?”⁹ The idea of God having wings by which He sheltered and protected His children was not a new metaphor. In Ruth, we read, “May the LORD reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”¹⁰

But, even more troubling, was the foretelling of their house being left completely empty until He returns from His heavenly Father. We find this similarly spoken of in a non-canonical book: “I sent you my servants the prophets, whom you have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require of your hands, says the LORD. Thus says the Almighty LORD, Your house is desolate, I will throw you out as the wind does to stubble.”¹¹

Many Jewish writers feel that the term “house” here, and in Jeremiah,¹² is a reference to the Temple, even as late at Rabbi Solomon Ḳimcḥi, a Turkish rabbinical author who lived in Constantinople during the middle of the nineteenth century. Most scholars believe that Jesus is talking about the event that would take place some 40 years later in 70 AD when Roman General Titus would encircle Jerusalem and end the Jewish State until it was reestablished in 1948. But prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple had been made before.

In the Jewish Chronicles we read this chilling warning, “But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from the land that I have given you; and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished, and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this house?’”¹³

We know this happened when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came and razed the city and Temple. According to one author, Jerusalem has been the subject of at least 118 conflicts over the years, beginning with one in 1350 BC between Abdi-Heba, the ruler of Jerusalem, and a people he called the “Habiru” (later “Hebrews”). In his letter to the king of Egypt (one of the Amarna tablets), he asks for help because all of the surrounding areas had been captured by the Hebrews. This corresponds well with the record found in Joshua 10 and frames the beginning of Israel’s control of Jerusalem.

Eric Cline states that the city was completely destroyed at least twice, once by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar¹⁴ and again by the Romans under Titus in AD 70.¹⁵ Isaiah lamented this: “Our holy and beautiful house, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.”¹⁶ So you would think that after all this they would not want to anger God again by putting another one of His prophets to death. But they were so blinded by animosity and pride they could not see the horror that would come.

And this same spirit is alive today among those who feel that humanity has outgrown its need for religion and a childish imaginary God who lives up in the sky and watches over them to make sure they don’t do anything wrong. To them, the Bible is considered an outdated book full of fairy-tales and fictional accounts of how the world was formed and the human race began. And as soon as mankind recognized their aggressive tendencies that brought strife and chaos, they invented an angry god to establish order in society. And this Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, oh yes, he may have been a historical figure in Jewish history, but his disappointed disciples invented all the tales about his miracles and resurrection. If it is still possible, the tears in our Lord’s eyes may still be lingering because such people continue to turn away from Him. But, to those who believe and receive Him as their Lord and Savior, His promise to return is now closer to reality than ever before.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Part XII

Verse 36: “Believe me when I say, all these things will happen to you people who are living now.”

This warning was the result of the corruption of character that involved taking what God desired His created beings to be and turning it into what mankind themselves desired to be, and it is deeply embedded in Jewish literature. In one document we read: “God commands me to proclaim to men. O men, in your image you have a form fashioned by God, why do you vainly stray and walk not in the straight way, always mindful of your immortal Maker?”¹

But the greatest judgment was reserved for those who caused death, especially as the result of jealousy, envy, pride, or hatred. Say the Rabbis: “Because of the crime of bloodshed the Temple was destroyed and the Shekinah glory departed from Israel, as it is written, So you will not pollute the land wherein you live; for spilled blood pollutes the land.”² This was the general consensus among Jews that God’s judgment was revealed most fiercely by allowing the destruction of His Temple. One Rabbi answered his own question on this subject: “Why was the first Sanctuary destroyed? Because of three [evil] things which prevailed there: idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed.”³ Now, it also appears that the generation living today has not learned from history anymore than the generation that lived in Jesus’ day. Turning from God by not recognizing Him as the Creator of all things and the Redeemer of those who are enslaved by sin will result in their own damnation and eternal alienation from the Most High God.

Chrysostom shares this in his sermon on this text: “Mark how well He has forewarned them. Even after He has pointed out their hypocrisy, they claim that they would not have shed the blood of the prophets. Jesus shamed them thoroughly, saying, ‘While you condemn them, you do things worse. These things will not be without punishment.’ He thus implants in them fear beyond words. He reminds them of hell. Then because that was to come, He brought home to them the terrors already beginning. ‘Truly I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.’ He added also unspeakable severity to the vengeance, saying that they would suffer more grievous things than all these. Yet in no way did this cause them to be corrected. But if anyone asks why they will suffer more grievously than all, we would say, Because they have first committed more grievous things than all, and by none of the things that have been done to correct them have they been brought to a sound mind.”⁴

Little did these people know of the coming carnage and horrible conditions that would prevail in Jerusalem during the siege of Roman general Titus just a few years down the road. Had they known, would they have repented and accepted Jesus as the Messiah? With the attitude they expressed here, there is little evidence they would have changed their minds. Rather, they would have sought to kill Him even sooner because this saying would be taken as a curse from a false prophet.

Verse 37: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stoned to death those that God sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me.”

Can you hear the compassion and disappointment in our Lord’s voice? Would their accepting Him have changed His going to the cross? I doubt it, no more than they would have saved a lamb from the altar whose blood was meant for the forgiveness of their sins and the promise of eternal life. This was the Messiah pleading for those who were chosen to receive Him, but they refused. While this particular verse is clearly intended for the Jews in Jesus’ day, it nevertheless contains the principle that will affect everyone who rejects the call to salvation.

Chrysostom shares this in his message on the rejection of Jesus. He says: “The emotive quality [of this plea] is like a woman who is much beloved and forever loved, yet who had despised the one who loved her. Now on the point of her punishment, just as the punishment is about to be inflicted, He pleads for her. The prophets also had similar words when they said, ‘Turn to me, and she did not return.’⁵ Then having called her, Jesus also tells about her bloodstained deeds, she who has been ‘killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her! In this way, Jesus is also pleading His own case. But even with all this, you have turned me aside. Yet I have not withdrawn my great affection toward you. It was my desire often to draw you to myself, but you would not.”⁶

Someday, hopefully, the Jews will realize that no one did more to bring them salvation and insure God’s promise to Abraham than this prophet from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth. No other prophet had as many prophesies about Him in Scripture as He did. No other prophet had as many Scriptural prophecies fulfilled in their lifetime as He did. No other prophet spoke as wisely and clearly of God’s plan for salvation as He did. No other prophet performed as many miracles as He did. No other prophet cried over them as He did. No other prophet claimed to be the Son of God as He did. No other prophet died on a cross to pay the price for their sins as He did. No other prophet rose from the grave to bring eternal life as He did. Yet they found no reason to believe in Him as the Messiah. So, incredibly, they still wait for another Messiah to come.

Then Chrysostom continues: “Jerusalem is defeating itself by its sins. Yet what affection remains. With what warmth is His affection expressed, as a mother for her brood. Everywhere in the prophets is this same image of the wings, both in the song of Moses⁷ and in the Psalms,⁸ indicating His great protection and care. ‘But you would not,’ He says, so ‘behold, your house is forsaken and desolate,’ stripped of the protection which comes from Me. It surely was this same One who had been protecting the city, and holding it together and preserving it, who had found it necessary to chasten His beloved. So now a punishment is appointed, one that brings exceeding dread and implies the entire overthrow of the city.”⁹

Verse 38: “Now your house will be left completely empty.”

Did God not have to go through this once before? Would He now be forced to go through it again? Didn’t He say through Jeremiah: “I have abandoned my house, I have rejected my heritage, I have given my heart’s beloved over to the hands of her foes?”¹⁰ Upon hearing what Jesus was predicting, I wonder if the following words did not come to some listener’s mind who truly believed that Jesus was the Messiah? “Remove not your dwelling from us, O God, lest they attack us, those who hated us without cause.”¹¹

For those of you who may not have access to the works of the Jewish historian Josephus’, here is a small portion that describes the massacre in Jerusalem:

So the Romans being now become masters of the wars, they both placed their ensigns upon the towers, and made joyful acclamations for the victory they had gained, as having found the end of this war much lighter than its beginning; for when they had gotten upon the last was, without any bloodshed, they could hardly believe what they found to be true; but seeing nobody to oppose them, they stood in doubt what such an unusual solitude could mean. But when they went in numbers into the lanes of the city, with their swords drawn, they slew those whom they overtook, without mercy, and set fire to the houses to which the Jews were fled, and burnt every soul in them, and laid waste a great many of the rest; and when they were come to the houses to plunder them, they found in them entire families of dead men, and the upper rooms full of dead corpses, that is of such as died by the famine; they then stood in a horror at this sight and went out without touching anything. But although they had this commiseration for such as were destroyed in that manner, yet had they not the same for those that were still alive, but they ran every one through whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with these men’s blood. And truly so it happened, that though the slayers left off as evening fell, yet did the fire greatly prevail in the night, and as all was burning, came that eighth day of the month Gorpieus [Elul] upon Jerusalem; a city that had been liable to so many miseries during the siege, that, had it always enjoyed as much happiness from its first foundation, it would certainly have been the envy of the world. Nor did it on any other account so much deserve these sore misfortunes, as by producing such a generation of men as were the occasions of this its overthrow.¹²

To those Christians living today who believe that the world will soon start getting better and better until we all live in peace as a Godly world, have dismissed what Jesus said about the last days just before His return to gather His bride for the marriage supper of the Lamb. In fact, He said that when we begin to see the world fall apart into chaos and idolatry, then look up, for our redemption is at hand.¹³

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Part XI

Verses 33-34: “You snakes! You are from a family of poisonous snakes! You cannot hide from God. You will all be judged guilty and end up in torment! So I tell you this: I will send to you preachers and teachers who are wise and know the Scriptures. You will kill some of them. You will hang some of them on crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.”

This was a harsh accusation, but it wasn’t the first time. Both John the Baptizer and Jesus called the Sadducees and Pharisees serpents back in Chapters 3:7 and 12:34. It was intended to define their craftiness and subtleties, their inward poison, and venomous nature; their pious costume on the outside, and insincere pretenses on the inside; their hypocrisy, malice, and wickedness; in which they were like the old serpent, their father the devil, and also their ancestors who murdered the prophets. Therefore, could any good thing be expected from such a viperous generation? Our Master says they will be held accountable for their actions. In one ancient version of Matthew, it reads, “…where can you escape?” In other words, what recourse did they have? What could they use to hide behind? Where could they go so they wouldn’t be discovered? There was only one place for them, and Jesus tells them it is Gehenna, the agonizing place of fire.

This reference to Gehenna as a place of punishment was not new to His Jewish listeners. In their Talmud we read: “Our Rabbis taught: A man who counts out money for a woman from his hand into hers or from her hand into his, in order that he might look at her, will not be free from the judgment of Gehenna even if he is [in other respects] like our Master Moses who received the law at Mount Sinai; and concerning him Scripture said: Hand to hand, he will not be free from evil [which means,] he will not be free from the judgment of Gehenna.” Also, in the Talmud, it says: “Death shall be chosen for the wicked, in order that they may not live in this world and thus sin and fall into Gehenna,”¹ and there are many other references. So they understood the future threat of torment and the everlasting vengeance and wrath of God; the unquenchable fire prepared for the devil and his angels which unrepentant, unbelieving sinners cannot escape. If Jesus ever preached a hellfire and brimstone message, this is it.

During this discourse, it appears that Jesus is taking the actions and hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees, personally. But in these verses, He seems to detach Himself from the present tense and regresses to the past. Here, He speaks with the knowledge of one who was present at the time of Abel’s murder and Zachariah’s assassination. His switch seems almost subconscious as though He did not flinch revealing that although He is the eternal Son of God He feels trapped in His human body only for a season; to a specific time and place. Why the scribes? They were those in charge of keeping the sacred script of all the writings of Moses and the prophets. Therefore, when a legal issue arose they were consulted not only about the commandment or law involved but to the proper rendering of holy writ. As such, it often fell to them to give an interpretation that condemned or acquitted an alleged violator. In many cases, they decided against the defendant based on their own religious or political views rather than the pure Word of Scriptures.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, were a later addition to the Jewish religious hierarchy. They built a bridge between the sacred writings and verbal teachings as well as the customs and wise sayings passed down through the ages by noted rabbis. One problem, though, they took the liberty of turning and twisting these texts to fit their own biases and prejudices. As a result, they were never wrong, it was always the other person. This should help us understand what Jesus was up against in His effort to spread the good news about the kingdom of heaven. But then our Lord looks to the future when those preachers He sends out will get the same treatment. If any of the disciples were listening, and I’m sure they were, the road ahead did not look bright for them. But they knew, that with God’s help they could overcome.

Verse 35: “So you will be guilty of the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth. You will be guilty of the killing of that godly man Abel. And you will be guilty of the killing of Zechariah son of Berachiah. He was killed between the Temple entrance and the altar. You will be guilty of the killing of all the good people who lived in between the time of Abel and the time of Zechariah.”

The guilt Jesus speaks of here is called, “guilt by association.” So when those of old who went before them are judged, they will be included in their number because they possess the same attitude and mindset. Bible scholars are not exactly sure who Zechariah ben Berekiah was, even though the text specifies that he was the one murdered between the Temple and the altar. One explanation involves a passage in Zechariah: “Zechariah son of Berekiah received a message from the LORD. This was in the eighth month of the second year that Darius was king in Persia. (Zechariah was the son of Berekiah, who was the son of Iddo the prophet.)”²

In Ezra, we find him listed as Zechariah the son of Iddo.³ If Zechariah would have been the grandson of Iddo, scholars believe Ezra would not have left out his father Berekiah. They suggest, that a scribe who was copying the Book of Zechariah made this designation because he misidentified him with Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, whom Isaiah mentions,⁴ and somehow in future copies, Jeberechiah became Berechiah. But the time frame chosen by Jesus may give us a better clue. Abel is the first person mentioned in Hebrew scriptures as having been killed, and Zechariah ben Jehoiada is the last one to meet a violent death in this last part of the Old Testament’s historical chronology.⁵ And it is clear from the text that he was stoned to death in the Temple courtyard.

There has been some debate on just who Jesus was talking about when He mention Zechariah son of Berekiah. There are many comments in Jewish documents on just who this may have been. But in a Jewish paraphrase, we find the follow rendering: “See, O Lord, and consider from heaven against whom you have turned in this way. Is it fitting for the daughters of Israel to eat from hunger the fruit of their wombs, the lovely young men whom they used to swaddle in sheets of fine wool? The Attribute of Justice answered, and thus said: Is it fitting to murder in the House of the Sanctuary of the Lord the priest and the prophet, as you murdered Zechariah the son of Iddo, the high priest and faithful prophet, in the House of the Sanctuary of the Lord on the Day of Atonement, because he admonished you not to do that which was evil before the Lord?”⁶

Since Abel was the first one killed in the Old Testament, and this Zechariah the last, it seems appropriate to accept this as the one Jesus was speaking of, since the Old Testament speaks of him being the son of Berekiah, which spelling could easily have been corrupted from Aramaic into Greek.⁷ Jeremiah faced the possibility of being martyred himself.⁸ So the Jews knew this was not something Jesus made up, it was a sordid stain on their history as God’s people. It makes you wonder why He kept loving them so much. It was all because of Abraham. The same can be said today in a country that claims a Christian heritage but lives in such a moral mud pit. It is all because of Jesus. Our Lord is quick to remind them, that should they continue this practice, the same wrath of God will be poured out on them. Then our Lord seems to turn away from those to whom He was speaking and began to look around as He cried out.

Early church scholar Jerome discusses who was being talked about here: “Because we read about so many Zechariahs in Scripture, we need to inquire into the identity of this particular Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. Lest we mistake him for another, the Gospel specifies “whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.” Yet there remains a variety of diverse opinions on this question, each of which ought to be considered. Some say that this Zechariah the son of Berekiah is the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. Although their fathers share the same name, however, they cannot be the same persons because the prophet Zechariah was never said to have been killed between the sanctuary and the altar and especially because the temple had just recently been destroyed in the prophet’s time. Others want us to believe that this Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist, killed because he proclaimed the advent of the Savior on the basis of something he had dreamed. Because this theory doesn’t have the authority of Scripture, however, it can be disproven as easily as it can be proven. Still, others maintain that this is the Zechariah who was killed between the sanctuary and the altar by Joash the king of Judah, as is chronicled in the book of Kings.⁹ But that Zechariah was the son of Jehoida the priest, not Berekiah, as the Scripture relates: ‘Joash did not remember the good which Jehoida, Zechariah’s father, had done for him.’¹⁰”¹¹

So in a sense, Jesus was simply placing the number of prophets and holy men who were killed in what the Jews accepted as their recorded history. I like the way Eric Lyons explains it: “Was Jesus referring to this particular Zechariah when He rebuked the hardhearted Pharisees? It is possible that He was, and there still be no contradiction. In ancient times, people frequently had more than one name. Moses’ father-in-law was known both as Reuel and Jethro.¹² Gideon acquired the name Jerubbaal after destroying an altar of Baal.¹³ King Jotham’s father is called both Azariah and Uzziah.¹⁴ The names are different, but they refer to the same person.¹⁵ The apostle Peter is sometimes called Simon, Simon Peter, and Cephas.¹⁶”¹⁷

“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself.” These words were penned by Arthur Conan Doyle, a Famous British mystery writer, and physician, best known for his mystery detective series Sherlock Holmes.¹ It was spoken of what Holmes saw in a young detective he was mentoring and his progress in becoming a very shrewd and capable investigator. To this first line of our quote, the writer, Doyle, added the following about Sherlock Holmes: “But talent instantly recognizes genius.”

Mediocrity is the quality of an average object or subject. It describes someone or something that is very ordinary, middle-of-the-road, uninspiring, undistinguished, unexceptional, unexciting, unremarkable, lackluster, forgettable, and amateurish. To put it another way, they are not listed among the bad, nor are they the best they can be. So, they have settled for what they are because it requires less work and effort.

Sean Simmons, a regular columnist for Collegiate Times, a student newspaper for Virginia Tech University, posted an article for the November 15, 2010, issue in which he wrote about how mediocrity was plaguing society to the point that it was becoming the norm. He wrote: “Now more than ever, mediocrity is dominant in action, thought, and creation. A mundane loop of mediocrity — that is what we are currently trapped in, and right now it doesn’t look like there is any initiative to get away from it.

Most prominent and important is the lack of creativity. Small actions and appearances of a creative presence show up every now and then, but overall, creativity appears to be gone. This slump in the creative community’s appearance in society is a small part of the whole — a society, our society leaning toward mediocrity, leaning toward that horrible idea of settling. And it is a horrible idea: settling, giving up on one thought or idea for something clearly inferior or something that has already been done — settling is giving up. Settling for boring, unoriginal, repetitive ideas we have already seen. This ties into everything: how we live, how we dress, how we see the world.”

If this is true in the secular world, it is certainly true in the spiritual world. How many Christians just read their Bible instead of studying it so they can become more knowledgeable of God’s Word? How many Christians spend hours and hours improving skills for their career but give God little time to developing their ability as a light of virtue and godliness in a dark world? How many Christians spend more time keeping up with the world than being prepared for the world to come? The last thing any believer should want to be called is a “mediocre Christian.” – Dr. Robert R Seyda

WHAT’S IN A NAME

You can find it in almost any grocery store or supermarket. If you surveyed the shoppers, you would find out that most of them have used it; many of them have it in their kitchen pantries; and most, if not all, have heard of it. Today it is one of the most popular products on the market.

In 1957 when a patent was issued to the inventor of a new cooking spray, a decision had to be made on how to market it. Should it be named after the inventor, like products from Johnson & Johnson? Or would it sell better if they just called it “New Cooking Spray.” After much discussion, they decided to name it “PAM”; PAM cooking spray. Why PAM? Because PAM is an acronym for the inventor’s name: Product of Arthur Meyerhoff. Amazing what you can learn when you discover what the name of something stands for!

The same is true of the word GRACE. It signifies unmerited favor; getting something one does not deserve or can earn. We see GRACE exemplified, when instead of doing away with Adam and Eve after they sinned in the garden, God allowed them to go on living. We see GRACE when God allowed Noah to escape the flood so his family could continue to expand. God’s GRACE was extended to David after his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. Peter was the recipient of God’s GRACE after he denied Jesus three times. The GRACE of God was offered to Paul even though he was responsible for jailing and killing a number of Christians. The list goes on and on. The list of acronyms for GRACE is long, but one that I love is this: God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense.

When you know more about how something came into being, it gives you a greater appreciation for the work that was done to bring it about and how fortunate you are in having it available to you. This is so true of God’s GRACE. It is more than just a word; it is a willful act by God of undeserved love, compassion, and mercy. So every morning, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start each day by thanking God for His GRACE. – Dr. Robert R Seyda