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BIBLICAL EXAMPLE OF CONFLICTWHO DOES GOD CALL? THE RIGHTOUS OR THE SINNERS?MATTHEW 9:9-13John Marks SandersCrisis InterventionJanuary 22, 2010
1
Historical Analysis (Old Testament Ties)
When one looks at the synoptic Gospel of Matthew, certain characteristics come to mindthat are specific to this gospel. One may think of certain parables or stories that are unique toMatthew such as the Sermon on the Mount or the Genealogy of Christ. Maybe a reader of thefirst book of the New Testament would be able to read its words and discover its Jewish natureor see that the concept
ekklesia
(“church”) is important to Matthew “because it is unique toMatthew and not found in the other Gospels.”
The style and concepts found within Matthew show that the work was clearly written tothe Jews; this is a factor in its physical place in the cannon of Scripture. It is no accident thatMatthew appears as the first book of the New Testament. Matthew in a way “serves as a hingeupon which the Testaments pivot acting as a gateway to the New Testament with the strongest of closing connections to the Old Testament.”
The Gospel of Matthew has over 90 allusions andquotations of the Old Testament and serves the purpose of being a gospel that “was written by aJew in order to convince the Jews.”
The author has a heart for the Jewish people which is demonstrated in the text whereJesus sends out the twelve on the task of evangelization His instruction is “go no where amongthe Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”(Matt 10:5-8) Yet the Jewish nature and motivation for the gospel is by no means to deter the Gentiles. While allusions to the Messiah, observance of Jewish law, and terms such as kingand kingdom are used strongly in sense of the Jews, the end of the Gospel of Matthew clearly
1
D.A. Carson,
Matthew,
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 31
2
Stuart K. Weber,
Matthew,
Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Holman Reference, 2000), 2
3
William Barclay,
The Gospel of Matthew,
The Daily Study Bible Series Vol 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), 5
2gives focus to Christ and what He came to do and expect of His followers. Matthew teaches thatmany are to come from the east and the west to sit down in the kingdom of God (Matt 8:11).The gospel is to be preached to the whole world (Matt 24:14), and it is the Gospel of Matthew“that gives the marching orders of the Church: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all thenations’”
(Matt 28:19). It is clear that Matthew’s first interest is in the Jews, but that he foreseesthe day when all the nations will be gathered.One of the great objects of the Gospel of Matthew is to demonstrate that all the prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and that, therefore, He must be theMessiah. Matthew explains in “mini-Bible form God’s entire plan of the ages from Genesis toRevelation so to misunderstand the Messiah as presented by Matthew is to misunderstand muchof the plan of God as it unfolds in the New Testament.”
Lexical Analysis
Specific words found in the text of Matthew 9:9-13 speak of the condition of the heart of those that considered themselves righteous and those that were lost in sin. This text affirmsMatthew’s heart as a Jew writing to fellow Jews so that they may be saved.Matthew 9:9-10 has similar words that come from the same root. Both of the verses havethe words “tax office” and “tax collectors” which derive from the same Greek root work
τέλος
which means an end, or a toll. A tax office was just a place of commerce where taxes werecollected “most likely fish”
and was associated and defined by the person in the office whoserved as the tax collector. Literally, the term tax collector means a farmer of taxes and is the
4
William Barclay,
The Gospel of Matthew,
The Daily Study Bible Series Vol 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), 6
5
Stuart K. Weber,
Matthew,
Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Holman Reference, 2000), 2
6
Daniel J. Harrington,
The Gospel of Matthew,
Sacra Pagina Series Vol. 1 (Collegeville: The LiturgicalPress, 1991), 126
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