Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part I (Con’t)

Verse 5: And you have read in the Law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break the law about the Sabbath day. But they are not wrong for doing that.

Here Jesus is referring to the kneading, making and baking of the bread on the Sabbath for the altar of showbread in the holy place.¹ Also, they were able to kill the Passover lamb, sprinkle its blood, wipe its inwards, and burn the fat on the Sabbath.² One of their teachers observed: “The slaughter of the Passover sacrifice, pouring its blood on the altar, pressing out its innards, and offering its fats supersede the Sabbath prohibitions. For it is impossible to perform these before the Sabbath, because the sacrifice has a fixed time, as implied by the Torah which states that the sacrifice must be brought ‘at its appointed time.’³”⁴ Once informed as to the fallacy of their thinking, Jesus now advises them on what His heavenly Father thinks about all this.

Early Church father Jerome gives us his view of how Jesus spoke to these distractors: “You falsely accuse my disciples, Jesus says, for plucking ears of grain while passing through the standing fields. They did this because of their pangs of hunger. But you must violate the Sabbath by immolating victims in the temple, slaughtering bulls and burning holocausts on a heap of firewood and, according to the testimony of the other Gospel, circumcising children on the Sabbath. Thus, while you wish to observe the one law, you dishonor the Sabbath. But God’s commands do not contradict each other.”⁵ This certainly was an example of their gross hypocrisy.

But our Lord used this occasion to offer them insight into exactly what they were witnessing. If they could claim innocence of violating the Sabbath with what they did in the Temple, He wanted them to know that His disciples had every right to do the same because in their service to Him. They too were absolved of any punishment because what He brought to the Jews was greater than the Temple. He represented the very God they claimed to serve with their sacrifices.

Verse 6: I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple.

Early Church Bishop Hilary has this to say about Christ being the new Temple. He writes: “Christ also reminded them of another prophecy so that they might learn that all things that were spoken of previously were accomplished in Him through the law, that the priests in the temple broke the Sabbath without offense, clearly revealing that Jesus Himself was the Temple. In Him salvation was given to the Gentiles through the teaching of the apostles, while the people who were bound by the law wandered about faithlessly, so that He Himself might be greater than the Sabbath. The evangelical faith that lives in Christ transcends the law.”⁶

In other words, with Jesus the Messiah being with God from the beginning to create the world and establish the Sabbath as a day of rest for mankind, He certainly knew what the purpose of the Sabbath was and that included recognizing the One from whom all good blessings flow. Since the wheat and corn in the field were gifts from God, then by partaking of and sharing these gifts was another way for people to give Him thanks and honor the Giver.

Verse 7: The Scriptures say, “I don’t want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.”⁷ You don’t really know what that means. If you understood it, you would not be criticizing those who have done nothing wrong.

These opponents of our Lord were being told by Him in this incident that they were serving God with their heads, not with their hearts. Bishop Hilary has this to add on what occurred here. He says: “The business of our salvation lies not in sacrifice but in mercy. When law is made void, we are saved by the goodness of God. If they had understood the grace of this statement, they would never have condemned the blameless. They would not have condemned the apostles whom they were going to accuse falsely, out of envy, of transgressing the law. When the ancient practice of sacrifices was stopped, the unfamiliarity of mercy became more clearly known. Had this been known, they would not have thought that the Lord of the Sabbath was confined by the law of the Sabbath.”⁸

The great Early Church preacher Chrysostom also points out why mercy for others was more important than the meat they placed on the altar in the Temple. He expounds: “The faithful are more than priests. For the Lord of the temple Himself has come to them. The Truth personally has arrived, not merely the image of the truth. So He could say, ‘I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here!’ Nevertheless, great as the sayings were which they heard, they made no reply, for they were inattentive to the coming salvation of humanity. Then, because it might otherwise seem harsh to His hearers, Jesus quickly drew a veil over His discourse, giving it a undemanding turn, yet even then conveying a sharp admonition: ‘If you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless.’ Do you see once again how His speech is inclined toward leniency, yet showing the priests themselves to be in need of leniency?”⁹

Verse 8: For the Anointed One is Lord over the Sabbath day.

Our Lord has already pointed out what the priest do in the Temple every Sabbath, “On the Sabbath you must give two lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. You must also give a grain offering of sixteen cups of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and a drink offering.”¹⁰ So why aren’t they cited for working on the Sabbath? And then, much to their consternation, Jesus announced that what was going on there in that grain field was much more important than what was going on in the Temple that day. I’m sure the Pharisees would have really had to back down had our Lord quoted to them from Malachi: “The LORD All-Powerful says, ‘I am sending my Messenger to prepare the way for Me. Then suddenly, the Lord you are looking for will come to His temple. Yes, the Messenger you are waiting for, the One who will tell about My agreement, is really coming!’”¹¹

However, the Master chose to repeat the quotes He made before in Chapter 9:13 from the prophets Hosea¹² and Micah.¹³ By studying these Scriptures Jesus tells the Pharisees that they would learn a valuable lesson on the difference between doing something for God out of obligation rather than by their free will. They would have also benefited from what Solomon said: “The LORD hates these two things: punishing the innocent and letting the guilty go free.”¹⁴ It is important to note that the word Jesus uses here for sacrifice refers to the altar sacrifices in the temple. This had become the legal way out of condemnation. Once one was judged and found guilty, they were then ordered to offer the appropriate sacrifice, either from their own resources or those of the Temple. Unfortunately, the penalty for what they did wrong was thereby covered, but it did little to relieve the pain they caused by their actions against the innocent.

For that reason, the sacrificial system had become as hard as granite. It was uncompromising and without pity to the point that the hearts of those bringing the sacrifices were also hardened and unrepentant; they were just going through the motions. But Jesus knew the tremendous saving value of grace and mercy. The Father had sent Him to a wicked, undeserving world simply out of love because the Lord delights in mercy. Even though those altar sacrifices are no longer used or required today, it is so easy to become dogmatic, regimented and perfunctory in using our forms of apologetic sacramental penance by merely requiring those condemned to confess: “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,” and accept that as being sufficient to grant forgiveness and absolution.

But Jesus is teaching that we are to love others with grace and mercy, even as God loved us. However, for some it is a lot easier to keep going through the apologetic formula over and over, thereby throwing the offer of mercy and grace back into the face of the Giver. That’s why employing what Jesus said is far better than relying on the old habitual and ritualistic altar sacrifice under the Law to get someone to really make a change. Furthermore, since the Son of Man was Lord of the Sabbath, He then controls the rules of this special day. Even one of the Jews most venerable teachers saw it this way, by pointing out what God told Joshua to do on the Sabbath when they conquered Jericho.¹⁵ In other words, the One who consecrated the Sabbath also has the authority to override that sanctity when He sees fit.

When I was growing up my father preached against dancing, yet in church people were encouraged to dance in the spirit. I couldn’t figure it out. Since then I’ve learned that it is not the “dancing” itself that was prohibited, but what the dancing was intended to communicate and who it was meant to impress. This is what Jesus was trying to point out about the Sabbath, that it’s not actions that count as much as it is the reason for those actions. This is a lesson we should all be willing to learn.

Verse 9: Jesus went from there to their synagogue.

It certainly appears that our Lord did not want to continue this discussion out in a grain field, so I would not be surprised, since it was the Sabbath, that He said, “Let’s go to the synagogue and talk about this further.” But from what follows, it appears more like there was a divine plan for Him to teach another lesson on how actually doing good has precedence over just saying you are good. Early Church father, Origen, sees it this way: Since Jesus established the new covenant understanding of the Sabbath outdoors, now He want’s to show its clarity indoors.

Verse 10: In the synagogue there suddenly appeared a man with a crippled hand. Some Jews were looking for any reason to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong, so they asked Him, “Would it be right if you healed this man on the Sabbath?”

We cannot escape the obvious here. The opponents of Jesus had prearranged this encounter to put Him on the spot. That’s why even Matthew noticed how the man “suddenly appeared.” But our Lord in His foreknowledge was ready for this sham. He knew their intentions and was about to turn if back on them in a way that would force them to acknowledge who He really was. The fact that this happened in the synagogue made it even more important. One Early Church Father tells us that in the Gospel, which the Nazarenes and Ebionites¹⁶ used, this man is said to have been a plasterer, so he might have possibly suffered his misfortune by falling from a ladder while doing his work.¹⁷

In any case, the question here by our Lord’s opponents is whether or not what Jesus would do for this man was “intentional” healing – which would be considered “work”, or was it just an unplanned “consequence” of His touch. We see this concept in the story one venerable Rabbi wrote about taking medication on the Sabbath: “A person who has a sore throat may not gargle with oil. He may, however, drink large amounts of oil, and if he is cured in this manner, it is welcomed.”¹⁸ In other words, there is nothing wrong with drinking a liquid on the Sabbath, and if a person by drinking the oil is somehow cured, then the Sabbath rules were not broken, but by gargling it was considered work.

We also read that this factor was discussed by a group of Rabbis when they were told this story: “A Rabbi suffered from scurvy, he applied this remedy: Take the stones of olives which have not become one third ripe, burn them in fire upon a new grill, and stick them into the inside of the gums on the Sabbath. He did so and was healed. How could this Rabbi do that? — one said: It is different with scurvy, because whereas it starts in the mouth, it ends in the intestines. Other Rabbis added what another Rabbi taught: if one has pains in his throat one may pour medicine into his mouth on the Sabbath?”¹⁹ So even the Rabbis could not agree on what was or was not permitted on the Sabbath to promote healing.

Then Early Church orator Chrysostom gives us his thoughts: “Is it allowed to heal on the Sabbath? Jesus knew their love of wealth. He knew that they were all the more taken up with love of things than persons. And indeed the other Evangelist²⁰ said that Jesus also scrutinized them as He asked this question, that by His very glance He might win them over, but they did not become softened. While in other cases He healed physically by the laying on of His hands, in this case He only speaks and gazes. But nothing more could make them agreeable. Rather, even while the man was being physically healed their spiritual condition was becoming worse. Jesus’ desire was to first heal their bitterness before He healed the man’s withered hand. But even in His various attempts to offer them healing, both by what He said and did, their illness proved all the more incurable.”²¹

How true this is even today to those who are numbed to the truth by unbelief. If they suffer from misbelief, there is the possibility that exposure to the Word can straighten out their thinking. And if they are dealing with disbelief, then showing them the connection between what Jesus said and what He did can bring them around to acceptance. But when they are mired in unbelief, they are committed to closing their heart and mind to anything and everything that does not fit their preconceived notions, no matter what you say or what they see.

But Jesus sees their ploy, so instead of answering their question about healing on the Sabbath directly He poses His own question. Our Lord knew a technique that is now practiced by many counselors and advice givers. It is called: “Leading the person into answering their own question.” This is done to prove whether or not they are seeking advice or validation. Jesus knew the answer to that, so that’s why He took the route that He did in answering them.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part I

NOTE: If the Jewish teachers and Pharisees accepted the things done in the Temple to honor and obey God, how much more should they have been open to receive the things done by Christ for the same reason? If Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, how much more should they have repented at the preaching of the Anointed One? If the queen of Sheba came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, how much more should they have been impressed to hear the wisdom of the Messiah? The judgment day spoken in this chapter are different from those pronounced on cities that rejected Him as the Savior. Those warnings were condemnations on centers of society and commerce which have already been carried out and documented by history. But here Jesus speaks of individuals and their future day of judgment when all flesh will appear before the judgment seat of God. A representation of Christ’s three-fold ministry is also seen here in this chapter. As it relates to the Temple: Christ is our High Priest. As it relates to Jonah: Christ is our Prophet. As it relates to Solomon: Christ is our King. In each case, He declares that greater things can be seen in Him, since the Temple, Jonah and Solomon were all earthly and temporal, while His is spiritual and everlasting.

Verse 1: About that same time of year, Jesus was walking through the fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were with Him, and they were hungry. So they began to pick up seeds of grain and eat them.

There is nothing in this narrative that suggests that Jesus has left the area around Capernaum in Galilee. So the crops being grown there are the ones we find in this story. Based on the agricultural cycle in Israel, this most likely took place sometime between April and June. As to the type of seeds, according to ancient records, they could have been wheat, barley or flax seeds.

One Hebraic scholar however, finds a possible discrepancy in the way the text is written as to how the disciples retrieved the grain, and the way it really happened. He says: “It seems fairly clear that when the original Hebrew account (written by Matthew who knew the customs and even the local differences in interpretation) was translated into Greek, the translator, not knowing these customs, and perhaps trying to make the scene more colorful, added the statement about plucking the wheat, and thus introduced the one and only act of transgression of the Torah recorded in the synoptic Gospels.”¹

By picking up the grain the disciples were abiding by the law: “When you go through another person’s field of grain, you may eat all the grain you can pick up with your hands. But you cannot use a sickle to cut that person’s grain and take it with you.”² That’s why I have incorporated this understanding in the translation of this verse as rendered above. So the Pharisee’s objection to what the disciples were doing was not a violation of the law on how they obtain the seeds, but that it was a violation of the Sabbath.

So they were not breaking any laws as far as Jesus was concerned. Luke adds that once they picked up the grains they began “rubbing them in their hands and eating them.”³ This, of course, was their way of getting rid of the husks so they could chew on the whole grain. I’m sure the Jews surmised that these Jewish followers of Jesus knew what was being taught by the Rabbis by which they declared: “If a person is aware that it is the Sabbath but forgets that certain works are forbidden, each labor is a separate fact, and he is liable for each one separately.”⁴ And among these were: “Reaping, including the picking of fruit from trees.”⁵

Nevertheless, when they confronted Jesus that what His disciples were doing was wrong on the Sabbath. Jesus specifically says that it was because His disciples were hungry. Here Our Lord is referencing that part of verbal tradition that says: “If someone is seized with illness due to extreme hunger he may be fed even with prohibited foods until his appearance is restored when it may be assumed that the danger to his life has passed.”⁶

Another scholar comments about the fact that the disciples were hungry. He says: “The key to understanding this difficult passage and its Synoptic parallels ought to be an analysis of the circumstances in which the incident took place. The text, however, does not provide a clear picture of those details which would be determinative from a legal point of view. The words ‘His disciples were hungry’ — a vital fact — appear only in the version of Matthew; they are absent in Mark and Luke. If Jesus’ disciples indeed profaned the Sabbath, as it might seem at first glance, was it because they were starving? That this was so would seem to be confirmed by verse 3, for the fact that David was hungry — which appears in all three Synoptic accounts as part of Jesus’ argument — is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament version of the episode. If it is added here as an explanation and justification of David’s action, then it presumably also explains and justifies the action of Jesus’ disciples, and this (rather than some other legal argument, or a Christological argument) is apparently the crux of Jesus’ reasoning.”⁷

Early Church father Chrysostom interjects this thought into the passage. He writes: “How could He who foreknew all things be unaware of the consequences of this action, unless it had been His will that the Sabbath law had to be reinterpreted? That was His will indeed, but not in a simple sense. He never broke the law without adequate cause, and always by giving a reasonable justification. His purpose in doing so was to bring the old law to an end, yet not in a defiant manner. There are indeed occasions in which He repeals the old law directly and without any fanfare, as when He anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay, and when He said, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’⁸ He does this to glorify His own Father and to soothe the enmity of the Jews. His appeal is to the necessity of nature in this case, since His disciples were hungry.”⁹

This must not only have irritated the Pharisees because in their eyes it violated the laws of the Sabbath, but it may have also made them wonder why Jesus had not provided the traditional Sabbath delight for His followers. Jewish Rabbis tell us what is meant by “Sabbath delight.” They say: “This refers to our Sages’ statement that a person must prepare a particularly sumptuous dish and a pleasantly flavored beverage for the Sabbath. All of this must be done within the context of a person’s financial status. The more one spends both financially, in expenses undertaken for the Sabbath and in effort, in the preparation of many good foods, the more praiseworthy it is. If, however, this is not within one’s [financial] capacity, even if one merely stews food or the like in honor of the Sabbath, this is considered to be Sabbath delight.”¹⁰

This idea of Sabbath delight, comes from the teachings of the Rabbis. They taught: “He who delights in the Sabbath is granted his heart’s desires, for it is said, Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.¹¹ Now, I do not know what this ‘delight’ refers to; but when it is said, and thou shalt call the Sabbath a delight, you must say that it refers to the delight of the Sabbath.”¹² Someone then asked the Rabbi: “Wherewith does one show his delight therein?” — [He answered]: “With a dish of beets, large fish, and heads of garlic.” Another Rabbi stated: “Even a trifle, if it is prepared in honor of the Sabbath, is a delight. What is the trifle?asked a Rabbi: A pie made of fish-hash.”¹³

While, as far as I know, my family was not Jewish, but this concept must have found its way into our Prussian/British heritage, because our Sunday meals were always the biggest and best of the whole week. This just gave the Pharisees one more reason to criticize this misguided entourage of the prophet from Galilee and the way they conducted themselves.

Verse 2: When the Pharisees saw this. They said to Jesus, “Look! Your followers are doing something that is against the law to do on the Sabbath day.”

The Pharisees obviously saw things differently than Jesus and His disciples. To them this was work, and work was forbidden on the Sabbath. They certainly had plenty of ammunition for their charges. The Jews taught: “There are 39 primary categories of work forbidden on the Sabbath: seeding, plowing, reaping, gathering, threshing, winnowing, sorting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, bleaching it, combing it, dyeing it, spinning it, mounting the warp of the loom, setting two looped wires in preparation for weaving, weaving two threads, unraveling two threads, tying a knot, untying a knot, sewing two stitches, tearing in preparation of sewing two stitches, trapping a deer, slaughtering it, skinning it, salting it & tanning its hide, smoothing the hide, cutting the hide into useful shapes, writing two letters, erasing in order to write two letters, building, demolishing, extinguishing a flame, kindling a fire, completing production of an object, transferring an object from place to place.”¹⁴

Of course, this all goes back to what we find in Exodus.¹⁵ Later, this was elevated to include a penalty: “There are six days for working, but the seventh day will be a very special day of rest for you. You will honor the Lord by resting on that special day. Anyone who works on the seventh day must be killed. On the Sabbath you should not even light a fire in any of the places where you live.”¹⁶ We find a chilling story about this in the book of Numbers: “While the Israelites were in the desert, some of them saw a man gathering firewood on the Sabbath day. The people who saw him gathering the wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel. They kept a close watch on them because they did not know how they should punish him. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘The man must die. All the people must throw stones at him outside the camp.’ So the people took him outside the camp and killed him with stones. They did this just as the Lord commanded Moses.”¹⁷

As a matter of fact, one prophet told the people of Israel how to get rid of their misery, “That will happen when you stop sinning against God’s law about the Sabbath and when you stop doing things to please yourself on that special day. You should call the Sabbath a happy day. You should honor the Lord’s special day by not saying and doing things that you do every other day of the week.”¹⁸ So these were serious charges being made against Jesus and His disciples. In fact, according to verbal tradition Jesus and His disciples were not only violating the Sabbath by picking the grain, but also that they walked far enough away from town to beyond the prescribed limits for a Sabbath walk. As such, according to Exodus 16:29 “they should be punished with lashes.”¹⁹

One early church patriarch gives us this commentary: “For where nothing great or noble happens, the Pharisees remain quiet. But where they see certain people being healed, they are more offended than anyone else. In this way they are the enemies of humanity’s salvation and without understanding of the sacred writings. If the new covenant announced of old by Jeremiah differs from the first covenant, it ought by all means not to make use of old laws but of new ones. But the Pharisees, not willing to comprehend this, lay snares for the holy apostles and say about them to Christ: ‘Look here, we see those you’ve schooled opposing themselves to the stipulations of the law. For where the law commands everyone to rest on the sabbath and to touch no manner of work, your disciples pluck ears of wheat with their hands.’ But tell me, O Pharisee, when you have set the sabbath table for yourself, don’t even you break the bread? Why then do you blame others?”²⁰

So, Matthew in sharing this incident only touches on the surface of the Sabbath restrictions these Pharisees may have brought up, such as: “There is no shoot, and no branch, and no leaf even which it is allowed to be cut or to plucked on that day, nor any fruit which it is lawful to gather.”²¹ Seeing that Jesus purposely walked through the fields of grain on the Sabbath was not a case of Him unknowingly entering a trap set by the opposition, but an act on His part to bait them into asking a question or offering a criticism that they might otherwise have never asked. And when they did, our Lord was ready with an answer. It also allows us to see why Jesus was sent from the Father to remove the impossible task of obeying every letter of the Law in order to work out one’s own salvation.

Verses 3-4: Jesus said to them, “You have read what David did when he and those with him were hungry. David went into God’s tent. He and those with him ate the bread that was offered to God. It was against the law for David or those with him to eat that bread. Only the priests were allowed to eat it.”

This story is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:1-9. As He did so often, Jesus refers to the Scriptures where the Pharisees will find their answer. He points to His most celebrated and revered royal ancestor, king David. Now the tables are turned on these complaining Pharisees. Even king David was able to override the restrictions of eating the showbread²² because of dire hunger. Therefore, since His disciples were hungry, then why should they starve just because it was the Sabbath? Furthermore, even their own scholars stated that the making of the dough for this showbread was done outside the Temple court and then brought in to be baked. So even the work of kneading the dough and baking the bread after transporting it to the Temple was not considered a violation of Sabbath laws.²³

So in looking at the fine line of interpretation here: if this grain grew on the Sabbath, just like the showbread was made on the Sabbath, then eating it should be of no consequences. After all, this is exactly what their own Rabbis had to say.²⁴ What the Pharisees didn’t know was that they were talking to the New High Priest, and His followers who were the first in the priesthood of all believers, therefore they were eligible to eat the showbread.²⁵ But, as we will see, our Lord was not finished with the defense argument for His disciples, because both they and the Pharisees still have plenty to learn about what God thought of the Sabbath which He created.

IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ALL READERS

We have just finished walking through invigorating Chapter 11 of Matthew’s Gospel.  We read where Jesus heard the disturbing news that His relative John the Baptizer had been jailed by king Herod, after some of John’s disciples came to Him with a question.  John sent them to find out if Jesus was the real Messiah.

They followed Jesus for several days, and then He told them to go back and tell John what they had seen and heard.  I’m sure that as soon as John the Baptizer heard their report, he knew that his mission as the forerunner of the Messiah was complete.  Now he could be welcomed as a good and faithful servant into the rest prepared for him. Also, his disciples could now join Andrew who had already become a follower of Jesus.

But not everyone was excited about His ministry.  So Jesus warned those cities that had seen many miracles but yet did not completely surrender to Him as their Savior.  He went so far as to say that wicked cities He had never visited would have a better outcome on Judgment Day than they would.  It’s one thing to die without ever knowing about Jesus or hearing His name, but it’s another thing to go to the grave after hearing who He was and what He came to do, but paying no attention to Him but only to oneself.  He’s the only one who can guarantee eternal life, not we ourselves.

But to those who did believe, Jesus invited them to be joined with Him in the faith so that they no longer needed to carry the heavy load of complying with every rule of Law in order to find salvation, because it was literally impossible.  He promised them an even better salvation if they would only believe in Him and do what He asked them to do.

Now we look forward to an exciting journey through Chapter 12 of Matthew.  We will learn more about what Jesus thought about the Sabbath; about His being identified as the Chosen One spoken of by the prophet Isaiah; how He handled and coped with the false accusations by the Pharisees that He received His miracle powers from Beelzebub, who was the prince of demons; the sign Jesus said would be given to prove that in fact His power came from God the Father, and cited the story of Jonah who was rescued after three days in the belly of the large fish, and how He would be rescued by God after three days from the belly of the earth. And finally, a very dramatic encounter between Jesus, His mother Mary, and His brothers who came to visit Him at His home in Capernaum.  What Jesus said when told of their arrival is very interesting indeed.

I hope to see you all when our study of Chapter 12 begins on Thursday, March 3, 2016.  God bless and reward you for your faithfulness and your love for His Holy Word.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Part V

Verse 28: So come to me all of you who are tired of being forced to carry a heavy burden and I will give you relief.”

Here Jesus gives an invitation to those who are struggling with trying the impossible task of keeping each letter of the Law in order to have a relationship with God that leads to eternal life. Augustine of Hippo explains it this way: “If you wish to reach high, then begin at the lowest level. If you are trying to construct some mighty edifice in height, you will begin with the lowest foundation. This is humility. However great the mass of the building you may wish to design or erect, the taller the building is to be, the deeper you will dig the foundation. The building in the course of its construction rises up high, but he who digs its foundation must first go down very low. So then, you see even a building is low before it is high and the tower is raised only after humiliation.”¹ In other words, before Jesus can lift you higher, you must lower yourself from the pinnacle of haughtiness: “I can do it on my own” to the level of humility: “I can’t do it without Him.”

I like the way another early church father expounded on this invitation by our Lord. He writes: “Draw near to me, so that you may become sharers of the divine nature and partakers of the Holy Spirit. Jesus called everyone, not only the people of Israel. As the Maker and Lord of all, He spoke to the weary Jews who did not have the strength to bear the yoke of the law. He spoke to idolaters heavy laden and oppressed by the devil and weighed down by the multitude of their sins. To Jews He said, ‘Obtain the benefit of My coming to you. Bow down to the truth. Acknowledge your Savior and Lord. I set you free from bondage under the law, bondage in which you endured a great deal of toil and hardship, unable to accomplish it easily and accumulating for yourselves a very great burden of sins’.”²

Verse 29: Join me in my yoke and learn this about me: I am gentle and humble in spirit, and this will give you some peace of mind.

Here our Lord repeats the Old Testament message of hope to those who are weary: “Stop at the crossroads and look; ask about paths others have taken in the past,‘Which one is the right way?’ Take it, and you will find assurance for your souls.”³ And we also hear an echo of the words used by an ancient Jewish scribe: “Draw near to me, you who are unenlightened, and lodge in the house of instruction… Put your neck into the yoke, and let your souls receive instruction; it is to be found close by.”⁴

The Jews clearly understood the use of the term “yoke” to signify submission or repression. In one Jewish apocalyptic work from 300 BC we read: “We hoped to be the head and have become the tail: We have worked endlessly and have no satisfaction in our toil; And we have become targets of the sinners and the unrighteous, And they have laid their yoke heavily upon us.”⁵ It also appears that several Rabbis saw this yoke in similar fashion as our Lord. One of them said: “He that takes upon himself the yoke of the Law, will have the yoke of the kingdom and the yoke of worrying about what will happen⁶ taken away from him; but he that throws off the yoke of the Law, upon him shall be laid the yoke of the kingdom and the yoke of worrying about what will happen.”⁷ However, Jesus saw the yoke He offered as being lighter since He would help carry the load and He has overcome the world.

In that light, perhaps Jesus’ promise of rest for the soul would compensate for the imposition of worrying about what will happen. But this time He offers the right way, because He is the only Way. This yoke that Jesus talks about was also spoken of by one Rabbi: “Rabbi Judah by the authority of Samuel said, ‘One must accept upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven’.”⁸ They then go on to say that this yoke is to recite the first verse of the Shema while standing: “Hear, Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one.”⁹ Jesus was familiar with the yoke the Jews talked about, but He was offering a new one: “Hear, Israel, the Adonai our God and I are One.” We don’t send you off alone without guidance or authority. We are with you because we are yoked together.

But as we can see in Jewish writings, they had to live being yoked together with the commandments that God laid upon them.¹⁰ The reason Jesus wanted those who followed Him to be yoke together with Him was to learn that unlike the commandments, the guidelines and instructions He received from the Father were accompanied by grace and mercy. Being yoked together with the commandments, if you broke one, you shattered the yoke. You then had to be cleansed and forgiven by way of animal sacrifice, and a new yoke was placed on you to tie you together again. But the yoke of Christ came with the assurance that if you sinned, since Christ was already the accepted sacrifice, the Father would forgive you and cleanse you of all wrongdoing.¹¹ The Jews had their own version of what it meant for a teacher to be gentle and humble.¹²

Verse 30: Yes, my yoke that joins us together is comfortable, and that makes the load you carry much lighter.

So often, the last part of this section is separated contextually from the first part and thereby loses some of the impact of what Jesus was saying. He begins by talking about how deeply and intimately He knows His heavenly Father and the Father is intimately acquainted with Him. And the only way anyone can join this union is if Jesus shares with others what the Father has shared with Him. In order to illustrate this, our Lord uses the metaphor of a yoke. A yoke is not a harness, it is an object that ties two things together. So the Master is saying, by my sharing with you the deep truth and understanding of the Father we are therefore yoked together in this understanding.

Then Jesus proceeds to use the idea of a yoke to again employ metaphorical symbols of how being yoked with Him will assist those who come to know what He knows about God. Let me illustrate this by inserting what each metaphor means in this context. “So come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden of fulfilling every letter of the law you have been forced to carry. I will give you relief from its impossible demands. Accept knowing what I know. Learn it from me. See that I will not force it on you like the scribes. And you will be able to get relief from their impossible demands. Yes, learning what I know should be easy for you to do. The responsibility for obeying what I give you is light.” Here our Lord echos God’s message to the faithful through the prophet Isaiah, “When I make a promise, that promise is true. It will happen. And I affirm by my own power that everyone will bow before me and will take an oath to obey me. They will say, ‘Goodness and strength come only from the Lord.’”¹³ Our Lord knew what Solomon meant when he said, “Words cannot fully explain things, but people continue speaking. Words come again and again to our ears, but our ears don’t become full. And our eyes don’t become full of what we see.”¹⁴

His disciples had already heard what the Law said from their youth, and now they were listening to the Messiah teach what they should know about grace and salvation. So Jesus was basically saying, I’m ready to do some personal tutoring because I know the source of this information better than anyone else on earth. When it came to obeying the law in order to get forgiveness and live righteously, it was a burden that even the strongest found hard to carry.

The prophet Micah put it this way, “What must I bring when I come to meet with the Lord? What must I do when I bow down to God above? Should I come to him with burnt offerings and a year-old calf? Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I offer him my first child to pay for my wrongs? Should I sacrifice my very own child for my sins?”¹⁵ Jesus was saying, let me lift that burden for you and give you some rest.

Once the disciples fully understood this, they could say with the Psalmist, “The Lord takes care of those who cannot help themselves. I was like that, but He lifted me up. My soul, relax! The Lord is now caring for you.”¹⁶ The prophet Isaiah knew that this was God’s desire from the start. “God will use a unique way of communicating, and He will use a different vocabulary to speak to these people. In the past He spoke to them and said, ‘Here is a resting place. Let those who are tired come and rest. This is the place of peace.‘”¹⁷ Isaiah goes on to say, “I am the Lord your God. I teach you for your own good. I lead you in the way you should go.”¹⁸ It isn’t that the disciples were not going to be responsible with what they did with the things Jesus revealed to them. But whatever it was, it certainly would be easier than teaching the law and holding everyone responsible for obeying it in every detail.

One early church father gives us his understanding of an easy yoke and a light burden. He writes: “How is it then that Jesus Himself demands a high degree of strictness? He answers, “You have not yet had experience of things that are mine, and for this reason you think this way. But if you would take up my yoke and would believe in those things I give, you would find the greatest difference between the things that are from me and those that are from Moses. From me there is great, patient endurance and kindness. Seeing such a weight of sins—murders and self-love and things more unnameable than these—I am longsuffering and bear with those who do these things, not despising them but waiting for them to repent. If ever they should repent and change their ways, I immediately forgive them, not remembering their former acts. But the law of Moses is not like this. When you sin, it immediately punishes the sinner. It knows no repentance. It promises no remission. When I make demands about the covenant, I am not so much preoccupied with investigating the things that happened. For me, it is enough that a soul choose what is good with a genuine resolution. But the law goes overboard, both adding more punishments to the smaller ones and cursing the transgressors. Therefore my yoke is good on account of forgiveness, and my burden is light because it is not a collection of customs and various observances but decisions of the soul.”¹⁹

Also, they would be able to learn at their own pace, as long as they gave it their full effort to learn and follow what they were being taught. But first they needed to rid themselves of any burdens they were already carrying in order to be yoked together with Christ. The words of the Psalmist would serve them well, “Lord, I don’t feel proud. I don’t see myself as better than others. I am not thinking about doing great things or reaching impossible goals.”²⁰ And that’s the way every aspiring believer should feel today. There is nothing wrong with confessing that you haven’t memorized every verse in the Bible, or that you don’t fully understand what each doctrine taken from the Bible means. But you can pray and study as the Holy Spirit teaches you so that you do understand the message you are about to deliver to others.

As a missionary in Europe and Asia, what Isaiah said became my mission statement, “I will not cry out or shout or try to make myself heard. I will not be hard on those who come to learn, not even the most vulnerable. I will not push away those who find it difficult to study. I will treat everyone fairly and evenly. I will not grow weak or give up until I have given everyone an opportunity to learn. So people in faraway places will be glad I came to teach.”²¹ I found that understanding God’s Word through prayer, study, asking, seeking and knocking brought what Solomon said to fruition, “Wisdom will lead you to a life of joy and peace. Wisdom is like a life-giving tree to those who hold on to her; she is a blessing to those who keep her close.”²² I’m sure Jesus had every hope that His disciples would accept this challenge and find out what a joy it was to share with others what He had shared with them.

I recently saw an advertisement where the question was asked: Do you belong to the one true church? It explained that this particular denomination was by Biblical standards the authentic church that teaches the true doctrine of Christ. They based this on the saying of Jesus to Peter: “Upon this rock I will build my church.” In other words, it would be His church, the church of Jesus.

Unfortunately their reasoning is somewhat flawed because they were basing their claim on the English version of what Jesus really said in Aramaic. For instance, in the Orthodox Jewish Bible, that is translated from the original Hebrew, Matthew 16:18 reads: “And I also say to you that you are Shimon Kefa [small rock] and upon this TSUR [large rock] I will build my Kehillah [congregation], my Chavurah [fellowship].” The English word “church” was never uttered in Jesus’s day.

In the Complete Jewish Bible it reads: “on this rock I will build my Community.” And in the oldest known English version of Matthew in Hebrew renders it: “I will build upon you my house of prayer.” When Matthew’s Gospel was eventually translated out of Hebrew into Greek, the term that was chosen to represent this Hebrew word for congregation, fellowship, and community was ekklēsia which means “a gathering or assembly.”

Then when Martin Luther translated the Bible out of Greek into German, before the English Bible appeared, he rendered it: “will ich meine Gemeinde bauen,” meaning, “I will build my community or assembly.” Even Young’s Literal English Translation says: “Upon this rock I will build my assembly.” It wasn’t until the English translation by Wycliffe was printed that the word “church” was used for this term.

But the word “church” can have several meanings. If someone asks, “Where’s your church?” they usually mean it’s physical location or address. When they inquire, “What church do you go to?” they want to know the name of your church. And when they want to know, “What church do you belong to,” they are wanting to know the name of your denomination.

The thing is, Jesus never gave His community of believers a name. He simply meant, all those who would be His followers. All names of denominations and churches today have come from what people have composed to either identify it by the name of its founder, or their form of ecclesiastical government, or even doctrine, etc. And for any of them to claim, “We’re the real church Jesus was talking about!” might not really know what they’re talking about.

All those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior become part of the body of Christ, which is the bride of Christ. This crosses all denominational lines. So the next time someone asks you what church you belong to, try telling them that you belong to the body of Christ, and that you gather together with others at _______ (and then give them the name and location of the building where you assemble). Their response might be very interesting, and will give you an opportunity to explain. – Dr. Robert R. Seyda

Here’s a shocker! Did you know that the months of September, October, November and December are misplaced in our calendar? In fact they are two months off from where they should be. How did this happen? Well, we can blame it on the Romans.

You see, some 700 years before the birth of Christ the Roman calendar only consisted of ten months. It began in March, named after Mars the Roman god of war, to coincide with the vernal equinox when the sun was over the equator on its way back to the northern hemisphere. It ended in December after the winter solstice when the sun reached its lowest point on the horizon to the south. The Romans didn’t bother to name the months in between because it was winter when nothing was planted or harvested.

Then what happen? Well, King Numa Pompilius decided that the two unnamed months between December and March needed names so that the calendar would align with the seasons. So for the first month he chose the name “Januarius” after Janus, the god of beginnings, and for the second month he selected the name “Februarius,” after the festival called “Februa” because of “februum” a device used in ritual purification rites.

April, which some believe meant “to open” because it represented the opening buds and flowers, was the second month in the old calendar. But as a result of added these two new months it became the fourth month. May was named after “Maia” after the earth goddess of growing plants, and went from being the third month to fifth month. And June was named after “Juno” the queen of gods and the patroness of marriage and weddings, and was pushed out of fourth place into sixth.

But they weren’t through. They decided to rename the next two months. So they took the month of “Quintilis” meaning fifth, and rename it July after Julius Caesar, and followed that by renaming the month of “Sextillia” meaning sixth, and rename it August after Augustus Caesar. So this then created a twelve month calendar. But instead of adding the two new months at the end of the year, they put them at the beginning, and this then pushed September – December into ninth through twelfth places.

Yes, I know. Just when you thought everything made sense, now you are looking whose names do not match their place in the calendar. As William Shakespeare so famously wrote for Juliet to say: “What’s in a name?” She answered her own question this way: “Would that which we call a rose by any other name smell as sweet?”¹ So here’s our problem. In Latin “septem” means “seven,” and yet September is now the ninth month. “Octo” means “eight,” but October is the tenth month. “Novem” means nine, but November is the eleventh month; and “decem” means ten, but December ends up being month number twelve.

We might use the same question Juliet to asked and formulate it this way for those who call themselves a “Christian”: “What’s in a name? Would any other person be called a Christian who acts and talks like you?” And like the misnamed months in the calendar, I wonder if in God’s list of virtues and ethics we someone like you be out of place? I guess one way to start is by looking at the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 and give yourself a test. I don’t think any of us want people calling us a bad name, but when you call yourself a Christian, are you right or wrong?

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Part IV (Con’t)

An early church writer named Epiphanius. who was acclaimed as the author of a Latin text titled “Interpretation of the Gospels,” points out that in the text where Jesus refers to the people gladly receiving His message like “children,” is not referring to them in terms of age but in reference to their understanding of what is right and wrong.¹ It shows how much more open-mindedness there was among ordinary people than the highly educated scribes and Pharisees. Today, for some reason, pastors and ministers get excited when they talk about some sophisticated, refined person turning to the Gospel and receiving the Word as true and a revelation of God, but respond to the news of an average individual converting as being ho-hum. Jesus focused on those whose hearts and minds were open regardless of their status in society, whether they be like Nicodemus or the woman at the well in Samaria and so should we.

The disciples probably did not fully comprehend how blessed and favored they were to have the very Son of God as their teacher. But our Lord expresses joy that not everyone could look inside God’s mind and interpret everything they saw based on their limited understanding. “Yes, Father, I am so grateful that it was Your idea to do so.’” Here our Lord does something similar to what He did at Lazarus’ grave, where after instructing those around Him as to why He came, He looked up to heaven and prayed before calling Lazarus from the tomb.²

Daniel also faced those who did not understand the God he served, and he too said: “He knows hidden secrets that are hard to understand. Light lives with Him, so He knows what is in the dark and secret places. God of my ancestors, I thank you and praise you. You gave me wisdom and power. You told us what we asked for.”³ Isaiah had another way of describing these know-it-alls: “Look at those people! They say good is bad and bad is good. They think light is dark and dark is light. They think sour is sweet and sweet is sour. They think they are so smart. They think they are very intelligent.”⁴

But Jesus was also thankful that His Father was gracious enough to give insight to His disciples, whom He likened to little children when it came to understanding spiritual things. But most of all, our Lord was so grateful that His Father decided to do this on His own, not because His Son had to beg Him for it. This shows the generous and gracious mind of our Father in Heaven. I’m sure that for every blessing that He has given us as a result of our asking, the blessings He has bestowed on us without asking are probably a dozen-to-one more.

This reliance on God to always do the right thing was intrinsic in the Jewish mind, and reflected in their prayers. For instance, we read in one prayer: “I know that Your decrees, though hard to bear, are meant for good and not evil.”⁵ And it was important that God approve of what they said or did. In another prayer it goes: “Help us as we spend this month in reverence to You and in the love of our fellowman, and do so in order that our way may be pleasing in Your sight.”⁶ So when the followers heard Jesus express Himself this way, they understood that this was a legitimate part of how dedicated people prayed.

One early church scholar puts it this way: “Jesus does not say why it was so pleasing to Him but only gives thanks to the Father, because it was so pleasing to Him. So also we should never discuss God’s designs, what He did in His works or why He did so. But in whatever way God so wished to arrange His own creation, let our thanksgiving be sufficient as evidence in regard to the very nature of God. God does nothing without reason and justice. He did not created us that we should examine Him but for His own honor. God does not want us to be a judge of His actions but a servant of His commands. It is characteristic of a good master to foresee everything that concerns the benefit of the servant. Moreover, it is characteristic of a good servant to work faithfully and not to discuss the master’s intentions.”⁷

So it is when we examine, study and attempt to explain why God wrote what He did in His Word. It is not our lot to look at all the reasons why God did what He did, unless He Himself gives the explanation. He sees from eternity past to eternity future and we see only yesterday and wonder about tomorrow. Rather, we should accept what He did as something being done by the best, and something no human could ever duplicate in the same fashion. So we should marvel at God’s deeds, not mumble about them.

Verse 27: My Father has shared everything with me. No one has a deeper understanding of the Son—only the Father can fathom the Son. And no one has a deep understanding of the Father—only the Son can fathom the Father. And the only people who will really get to know the Father are those the Son chooses to tell.

After His heart-felt prayer, Jesus looks back at His disciples and explains. This was more than sharing a family recipe, this was the revelation of hidden truths; things that God had never announced before in such a manner. Jesus was trying to tell His disciples that His Father had wanted these things known, but decided to deliver them through His Son. This was not like the prophets to whom God spoke and then went out and told what had been revealed to them, this was the Father’s only Son who was with Him before the beginning of the world. Jews always believed that constant communion with God was a sure way to understand more of His secrets. It is amazing that they did not listen to His Son.

Early church father Jerome capsulizes it this way: “The Father entrusts. The Son receives.”⁸ To this we might add, “and the Son then gives.” And what is it that the Father confers and the Son passes on to us? It is personal access to the Father through the Son given to those who were formerly rebellious but now have come to know the Father by way of the Son. Is Jesus then the door to the Father? Yes, because we cannot get to the Father except through Him. In our modern times we can look at it this way: when you use your computer to go online to a specific application, you must have a password. Without that password you cannot get in. In the same way, “Jesus” is our password in order to get access to the Father. After all, that’s what Jesus said: “Ask the Father in my name.”⁹

But there was also an accompanying blessing in getting to understand God’s message, and that was the peace of mind and tranquility of the soul it brought to the believer through redeeming grace. To the Jews this was illustrated by the dove that Noah released from the ark after the rain stopped, who could find no rest of its feet and so it kept returning. But once it found something to stand on above the flood waters, it never returned. So it is that many have tried to find rest in God the Father but could not achieve the peace they sought until they met His Son, then they received peace that was almost too good to believe.¹⁰

So the soul searches for some blessed assurance so it can relax and find peace. One Jewish writer put it this way: “Originally man was on a high intellectual level with God. Subsequently, after the sin, he was comparable to a blind person. In spite of this drastic demotion, God took pity on them, accepting their repentance, and dressing them, relieving them of their nakedness and the anxiety it brought.”¹¹ In other words, all that was lost in the Garden of Eden was restored in the Garden of Gethsemane when our Lord prayed, “Father, not my will but Your will be done.”¹²

Early church father, Chrysostom, says that to those who were not familiar with the relationship between the Father in heaven and His Son Jesus here on earth, may not see the connection. But in Chrysostom’s mind, “In this Jesus is quietly signifying His great privilege of knowing the Father and being of the same substance with Him, He being the only One who knows the Father so intimately. Note the timing and context in which Jesus said this. It was just after He had worked miracles and the disciples of John the Baptizer had received proof of His might by His works. He then thanks the Father that ‘that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes.‘”¹³

For another early church father, he feels that it is important that we understand what is being said here. He writes: “Jesus added this in order to show that His nature is indescribable and inconceivable, like the Father’s. For only the divine nature of the Trinity comprehends itself. Only the Father knows His own Son, the fruit of His own substance. Only the divine Son recognizes the One by whom He has been begotten. Only the Holy Spirit knows the deep things of God, the thought of the Father and the Son.”¹⁴ No wonder then why Jesus was so insistent that His disciples comprehend what He is saying so that once He is gone they can take comfort in having the Holy Spirit lead and guide them.

Now this brings up the question: why are there so many today trying to get to God without going through His Son? Why do they attempt to understand the deeper things of the Father without studying and assimilating the truths revealed by His Son? Why do they go to the Father for help and guidance, for healing and strength using some other name than the name of Jesus His Son? Once they understand this truth, it will also help them realize why their prayers and requests are not being answered.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Part IV

But there is also an interesting concept to consider about what Jesus said concerning Korazin. We find it in the story of the Greek god Asklepios who was the son of the Greek god Apollo by way of a human mother, a Trikkaian princess named Koronis. Therefore, because of his divine and human parents he was considered both god and man in one. Apollo had trained his son in the art of medicine. Asklepios became so skilled at the art of healing that he began to raise the dead to life. In his statues Asklepios is depicted as a kindly, bearded man holding a staff with a serpent entwined at the bottom. Today, this staff with the serpent is the universal symbol for medical doctors.

However, Asklepios’ raising the dead did not go well with another mythological god named Hades. He considered this a crime against nature so he went and complained to Zeus, the supreme ruler of the Olympian gods. Hades was the King of the Underworld, the god of death and the dead. He presided over funeral rites and defended the right of the dead for proper burial. Hades was also the god of the hidden wealth of the earth. So if you wanted to become wealthy, you must earn his favor.

Hades was also influential among the Greek gods as well. So when he went to Zeus and complained that with Asklepios resurrecting people from death, he felt threatened and might be put out of business, Zeus responded to Hades’ request by killing Asklepios with a thunderbolt. But Asklepios’ father Apollo was so grieved by this action that he went to Zeus and asked permission to have his son placed among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus, which means “the serpent holder.” His wish was granted.

We have no evidence that Jesus was a reader of Greek literature, but He knew what aspects of Greek mythology had bled over into Jewish thought. As the omniscient Son of God He was aware of all that men were thinking and what they were influenced by. Perhaps this is why when the scribes and Pharisees doubted Jesus’ authority to forgive sins, He would perform a miracle of healing to show that God was also involved in curing man’s diseases. Jesus knew about the influence of Greek mythology and how it had affected the world up to His day. Could it be that Jesus was making a subtle hint at the constellation of Ophiuchus when he said to the people of Capernaum, “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.”

However, our Master may have had another thought in mind expressed in the Song of Moses: “Their vines and fields will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. Their grapes are like bitter poison. Their wine is like the poison of deadly snakes. ‘The Lord says, ‘I am saving that punishment. I have it locked up in my storehouse! I will punish them for the bad things they did. But I am saving that punishment for when they slip and do bad things. Their time of trouble is near. Their punishment will come quickly.’”¹

We can see the impending fall of Korazin illustrated in a sermon by Reverend Jonathan Edwards who was widely acknowledged to be one of America’s original and important philosophical theologians and one of America’s greatest intellectuals. He is most remembered and well-known for the sermon he preached on Wednesday evening, July 8, 1741, at the Congregational Church in Enfield, Connecticut entitled, “Their Foot Shall Slide in Due Time.” But it became better known as, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

In his opening remarks, Edwards said that this text here in Matthew, “…seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.”

1. That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed Psalm 73:18, “Surely You set them on slippery ground; You cast them down into destruction.”

2. It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:19, “How suddenly are they destroyed!”

3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.

4. That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God’s appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot will slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.

So great was the impact of this sermon, that it resulted in what is called the “First Great Awakening” in the churches in America. However, I’m afraid that such preaching today would be considered politically incorrect. Nevertheless, that’s what it took to turn Nineveh to God, and brought on the Reformation in Europe and the Revival in the United States, so it will take the same emphasis on how people are on a slippery slope when they keep ignoring Jesus as the Savior of the world.

It is interesting that our Lord singles out Capernaum, which by now was His home town. Could it be that Jesus was using the words in Isaiah to foretell their punishment: “You thought to yourself, ‘I will scale the heavens, I will raise my throne above God’s stars. I will sit on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north. I will rise past the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’ Instead you are brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost depths of the pit,”² when He said: “But I tell you, it will be worse for you in the day of judgment than for Sodom.’”

The spiritual lesson here is more important than the physical. Jesus seems to be saying that those cities who felt themselves exalted because of their morality and religiosity would fare far worse in the judgment than those plagued with disreputable conduct by reason of their rejection of the truth and acknowledging Him as the true Messiah.

Verses 25-26: It was at this point that Jesus looked up and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from those who consider themselves so sophisticated and educated, but You have shown them to people who are like children.”

When Jesus uses the phrase “hidden”, he is talking about the ability to comprehend with the help of the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus was a very wise scholar and considered one of the top intellectuals on the Sanhedrin court. Among the pious Jews, there was a long-held belief that they had intrinsic knowledge about all things divine. In fact, one Jewish writer wrote: “That which is accessible to us through immersing ourselves in the study of Torah will suffice to grant us the degree of understanding that is appropriate for each one of us for his respective level of intelligence and piety. Generally speaking, God does not legislate laws that are beyond the grasp any human being to understand, although they may not be fully understood by most of us.”³

In responding to this prayer by Jesus, one Jewish skeptic stated: “Now, did Jesus have to say, ‘I thank you”? If he was God, what sort of thanks must he give? Everything that is hidden from all the world is known to him, yet he says, ‘I thank you to God.’”⁴ What this critic missed is that although Jesus was God, He was God’s Son. So there is nothing wrong with a divine Son thanking His heavenly Father. So we see why when Nicodemus came to Jesus he could not understand Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom of God without having his mind transformed through the power of faith and the Spirit of God, and neither could this polemic writer.

But another Rabbi admits: “There is no one in the world, nor has there ever been, who can understand His wisdom or stand and argue against Him. He is hidden, concealed, transcendent, beyond, beyond.”⁵ One reason for this was attributed by a well-known Rabbi to the destruction of the Temple. He said: “Since the Temple was destroyed, prophecy has been taken from prophets and given to fools and children.”⁶ Another Jewish writer put it this way: “The degree of prophetic insights granted to the prophets prior to the destruction of the first Temple was comparable to ‘a large window.’ After the destruction of the Temple the degree of prophetic insight granted by God to those who were granted it at all, was similar to what can be seen through a very small window.”⁷

When we look at the spiritual darkness and confusion that people live in around our world today, while there are plenty of churches for them to drive by; and there are many religious programs on their TV’s and other media resources, their ignorance of God and the need for salvation cannot be blamed on the lack of such things. But what does seem to be missing in many of these churches and programs, is preaching and teaching based on what God’s Word says, not on what man says. There is a Judgment Day coming when all who have ever lived and are still alive will stand before the throne of the Almighty and give an account of their words and deeds. Will you be able to say: “As for me and my house, we served the Lord.”⁸

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Part III

Verses 20-21: Then Jesus began to admonish the cities where He did most of His miracles, because the people in these cities did not change their lives and stop sinning. Jesus said, “It will be bad for you Chorazin!¹ It will be bad for you Bethsaida! I did many miracles in you. If these same miracles had happened in Tyre and Sidon,² the people there would have changed their lives a long time ago. They would have worn sackcloth and put ashes on themselves to show that they were sorry for their sins.”

While these words of our Lord are directed toward these cities, they were an indirect warning to everyone in the cities where His mission group had gone. Jesus’ reference to Chorazin raises a question as to exactly what place He meant. This name does not appear anywhere else in Scripture, except where our Lord’s words are repeated in Luke 10:13, nor does Josephus the Jewish historian list it in his writings.

The meaning of this name depends on whether Chorazin is a Greek or Hebrew word. The Jewish Bible renders it as “Korazin”, and the Aramaic Version has “Khorzain.” Most scholars believe that it is an area, rather than a city. Dr. John Lightfoot suggests that it may be a reference to Cana, while early church father Origen reads it as “the region of Zin.” But most feel that it was located north of Capernaum and may be at the foothills of the Mount of Transfiguration. Regardless of its exact location, the warning is where the real emphasis lies. Chorazin and Bethsaida were not known as wicked places, as were Tyre and Sidon with their pagan rituals and debauchery.

Sackcloth and ashes were also used as a public sign of repentance and humility before God. When Jonah declared to the people of Nineveh that God was going to destroy them for their wickedness, everyone from the king on down responded with repentance, fasting, and sackcloth and ashes. They even put sackcloth on their animals.³ One method of teaching missionaries to introduce repentance to the people they evangelized was called the “ABC’s of Repentance”: A– Acknowledge your sin; B – Be repentant; C – Confess your sins to the Lord; and D – Don’t sin again.

Early church theologian Jerome had this to say about why our Lord included cities that are not recorded in Scripture as part of His ministry. He writes: “Our Savior laments Chorazin and Bethsaida, cities of Galilee, because after such great miracles and acts of goodness they did not repent. Even Tyre and Sidon, cities that surrendered to idolatry and other vices, are preferred to them. Tyre and Sidon are preferred for the reason that although they trampled down the law, still Chorazin and Bethsaida, after they transgressed natural and written law, cared little for the miracles that were performed among them. If we ask where it is written that our Lord performed miracles in Chorazin and Bethsaida, we read above: “And he went around to all the towns and villages, curing every infirmity” and the rest. Thus among the other towns and villages it must be judged that the Lord performed miracles in Chorazin and Bethsaida as well.”⁴

Verses 22-24: But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be worse for you than for Tyre and Sidon. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No! You will be thrown down to the place of death. I did many miracles in you. If these same miracles had happened in Sodom, the people there would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today.

Now our Lord turns His attention away from the doubters in the crowd to the doubting citizens in the various cities that were graced by His presence. He echoes the words in the song by Asaph, “But my people did not listen to me. Israel did not obey me. So I let them go their own stubborn way and do whatever they wanted. If my people would listen to me and would live the way I want, then I would defeat their enemies.”⁵ But the longer our Lord speaks, the more it sounds like what the prophet Isaiah expressed, “I raised my children and helped them grow up, but they have turned against me. A bull knows its master, and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it. But Israel does not know me. My people do not understand.”⁶

But a condemnation of one city because their attitude toward God was compared to that of a more sinful city is found in God’s word to Jerusalem through Ezekiel. He said: “Your sister Sodom and her daughters were proud. They had too much to eat and too much time on their hands, and they did not help poor, helpless people. Sodom and her daughters became too proud and began to do terrible things in front of me. So I punished them! And Samaria did only half as many bad things as you did. You did many more terrible things than Samaria! You have done so many more terrible things than your sisters have done. Sodom and Samaria seem good compared to you. So you must bear your shame. You have made your sisters look good compared to you. You have done terrible things, so you should be ashamed.”⁷

Here Jesus definitely confirms the belief in a day of judgment for disobedience in rejecting God’s Word. Such judgment was already carried out on Sodom and Gomorrah which now lie buried in the mud at the bottom of the Dead Sea. Tyre and Sidon were on the list for judgment. Therefore the people in Korazin (Chorazin), Bethsaida and Capernaum could already see what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and what would be happening to Tyre and Sidon and estimate their own destruction were it to be even worse. Prophetically speaking, these judgments were not to be confused with the judgment at the end of time since all of these cities are already gone and only their ruins still remain.

The confusion may come from erroneously taking the term “Judgment Day” to only mean one such day in the future. History shows us that many people and nations have already faced days of judgment because of their sins and rejection of Christ and God’s Word. We must consider whether Christ was giving credence here to a particular dogma, or simply using this illustration to make a point, much like a parable. True, He wanted to impress upon the populace of the cities of Korazin (Chorazin), Bethsaida and Capernaum of the mistake and sin they were committing. Their rejection of repentance would stand as a witness against them, making them ripe for judgment. They had made the Son of God welcome but then turned their backs on His appeal.

It sounds as though Jesus was reliving the experience of the prophet Ezekiel, after God commissioned him to speak what He gave him to say, “I am not sending you to many different countries where people speak languages you cannot understand. If you went to those people and spoke to them, they would listen to you. But you will not have to learn those hard languages. No, I am sending you to the family of Israel. Only, these people have hard heads—they are very stubborn! And the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they don’t want to listen to me.”⁸ Had the people of these cities really understood what Jesus said and did among them, they would have followed the example of Job, “And I am ashamed of myself. I am so sorry. As I sit in the dust and ashes, I promise to change my heart and my life.”⁹

Now we must ask ourselves, will this same type of variance in judgment and penalties be applied to people committing the same sin? In other words, if there are different types or levels of rejection of the truth, will there subsequently be different types or levels of punishment? The common charge against all of these cities was their rebellion against God. But Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum had witnessed the coming of a Savior. They had seen the miracles that He performed but still refused to repent. The people of Sodom never saw such miracles. If this be so of a metropolis, how much more for those on this side of the cross if they reject so great a salvation!

Too many are worried only over the sin of Sodom, but not the sin of Capernaum. God will hold us accountable on the basis of what we know about the truth. Jesus hinted at this when He said, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” The only thing needed to make this an acceptable option, is not a clearly stated doctrine, but based on the myriad of Scriptures that declare that God is a just God. We find an interesting chapter on the city of Tyre and Sidon in Isaiah.¹⁰ But Jesus does not leave out His hometown of Capernaum.

A similar prophecy was made against Edom because they thought they were invulnerable due to the fact they made their homes high up on the mountainside in the caves, but God said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Even though you fly high like the eagle and put your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there.’”¹¹ But Capernaum was along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, so there must have been another reason. Perhaps Jesus used heaven as a metaphor for fame and fortune, and employed the word death figuratively as a symbol for it becoming a ghost town.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Part III

Verses 16-17: So what can I say about these kind of people today? What are they really like? The people today are like children playing in the marketplace. One group of children yell at the other group, “We played flute music for you, but you did not dance; we sang a funeral song, but you did not mourn.”

Like in any culture, there are games that children play to express fantasies and make believe stories. Oft times they are children’s versions of adult games and activities. In this case, it appears that the one game came from a festival or wedding, and the other from a funeral or burial. But the point here is that some of the children did not want to play the game. So the kids who were pantomiming did not like it that their friends were so uncooperative.

But Jesus is using this to illustrate the attitude of many who did not take John the Baptizer seriously. God had set forth a plan of redemption and salvation, and the very people He wanted to reveal it to did not respond in a serious and meaningful way. Rabbi Johanan learned this from Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai, “What is meant by, ‘If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he screams or laughs, nothing is accomplished?’¹ Rabbi Papa commented: That’s why men say, ‘You can weep or laugh for the person who does not know their future. But mourn for him who doesn’t know the difference between good and bad’.”²

So Jesus tapped into an already existing understanding of how people in the past had failed to abide by God’s will because they did not take His plan seriously. But none of this prevented the Messiah from coming when the time for His arrival came. And by the same token, nothing that has been done since His ascension back into heaven; no amount of doubt, skepticism, or unbelief will prevent His appearance in the skies to call those who have died in the faith from their resting place, and transform those still alive so they call all meet Him and each other in the air.

And as we look down the road of Revelation, there will be nothing that the Antichrist or the Beast or the Serpent can do in the future that will stop Him from coming to earth a second time to set up the Kingdom of God for a thousand years. So don’t let your heart be troubled, keep on believing, and you will see it happen as sure as there is a God who can make it happen. Then Jesus offers an example of applied theology:

Verses 18-19: Now in John the Baptizer’s case, when he showed up they did not see him eating or drinking wine like other people. Yet people keep saying: “He has a demon inside him.” However, the Son of Man came eating and drinking and people are saying: “Look at Him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine. He’s a friend of tax collectors and other sinners.” But the truth will be vindicated by the actual outcome.

Now our Lord turns philosopher. He wants the people to see how their actions and words exemplify their warped mentality. He uses an illustration of one group of children being disappointed because what they do does not have the intended effect. Could it be that our Lord was paraphrasing the story in Isaiah where the prophet uses a children’s nursery rhyme?³ In Hebrew it goes like this: Tzav la-tzav, tzav la-tzav, kav la-kav, kav la-kav, z‘eir sham, z‘eir sham. Then the Master points to the people and more or less says, that’s what you are doing to John the Baptizer and myself. In other words, you people had a preconceived idea of what both of us should be, but it hasn’t turned out that way and so you are upset.

This may also be true about many believers who even to this day do not want to admit that Jesus drank wine. Here we have our Lord’s own words that He did in fact consume wine. What type of wine is another debate. As far as John the Baptizer was concerned, he was following the advice God gave to the prophet Jeremiah, “And you are not to go into any house where there is celebrating to sit with them, eating and drinking.”⁴ And John the Baptizer also suffered the same scorn that many other prophets encountered, “The prophet is a fool. This man with God’s Spirit is crazy.”⁵

But the lament of the prophet Jeremiah would fit well with what Jesus was feeling at this moment, “My dear Jerusalem, what can I say about you? Who can I compare you to? Who can I say you are like? How can I comfort you, city of Zion? Have you been injured so severely that there is no remedy for your wounds?”⁶ But in the end, the fact, not the fiction, would prove that both He and John the Baptizer were in fact genuine prophets sent from God to awaken Israel to the Kingdom of God and salvation through grace.

One question any interested Christian would ask at this point may be: “What did John the Baptizer’s abstinence from meals served at festival with wine, and Jesus’ apparent acceptance of this as part of being who He was, have to do with the people’s acceptance of John the Baptizer as the forerunner of the Messiah, and Jesus as the Anointed One?” Our Lord is making the point that even though John the Baptizer was a self-disciplined, self-controlled individual who never stuffed his belly with more food than was needed and stay completely away from wine, they still found fault with him, even accusing him of being controlled by demonic forces. Meanwhile, the Son of Man ate normal meals with family and friends and drank the table wine that went with it, yet they accused him of getting drunk and hanging out with sinners. It is an early case of: “You’re cursed if you do and cursed if you don’t!”

The Jews had their own way of judging if a person drank properly. It is in a story about one Rabbi named Huna visiting the home of another Rabbi. After he arrived, the house staff asked: “Sir, would you please recline on the couch. After he reclined, they offered him a goblet, which he accepted at the first invitation and drank it in two swallows without pausing once.” The Rabbi he was visiting then asked him: ‘What is the reason that you call yourself Rabbi Huna?’ He replied: ‘That is my name.’ His host then asked: ‘What is the reason that when you were told to recline on the couch you did?’ He answered: ‘Couches are always reserved for distinguished visitors while others sit on ordinary stools. Also, do whatever your host tells you, do.’ His host Rabbi then asked: ‘What is the reason that when a goblet was offered you accepted it at the first invitation?’ He replied: ‘One may show reluctance to an ordinary man, but one must not show reluctance to a great man.” He was then asked: “Why did you drink it in two swallows?’ — He said to his host: ‘Because it was taught: He who drinks his goblet in one swallow is a swiller; in two swallows, shows good breeding; in three swallows, is highclassed.”⁷

Just watching Jesus would have told them He was neither a glutton nor a winebibber. But they chose to believe what they wanted to believe regardless of the evidence. There is no reason to believe our Lord would have failed the test of good manners as taught by one Rabbi: “A man should not begin to eat leek or onion from the top side, but from the leaves; and if he did eat so, he is a glutton.”⁸ Since neither of these two scenarios were true, their attitude was what got in the way of accepting what they were actually seeing and hearing. Jesus had one clear message that would be expressed today as: “The proof is in the pudding.”

When I lived and worked in Asia there were many guests who came from the United States on missionary trips to see the work. Often when I took them to a Chinese, Japanese or Filipino restaurant, they would look at the food and wondered it they would like it or not. I used this same maxim by telling them, “The proof of whether you’ll like it, is not in the looks but in the taste.” Perhaps the words of the Psalmist came to our Lord’s mind at this point: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”⁹

How true this is of living for God through Christ in the Spirit. Many worldly people listen to believers and find nothing exciting in praying and reading the Bible each morning, going to church several times a week, staying away from sinful activities because they want to keep their bodies, hearts and minds clean for the One who sit on the throne of their lives. But all of us know that it tastes so good that it takes away all the desire for the things of this world. The pleasure they give only lasts for a moment, but the joy of the Lord lasts forever and ever.