Saturday 22 March 2014

Matthew's and John's Gospels

Matthew's Gospel assumes the reader has a knowledge of and an appreciation for Old Testament writings and customs.

Such readers would not have believed in Jesus unless Jesus had fulfilled the written prophecies and unless His life and doctrine had upheld Moasaic, Jewish customs.

So Matthew draws our attention to these details. Jesus' genealogy is traced back through David to Abraham; Jesus did fulfil prophecy; and Jesus certainly didn't condone an attitude of disregard for the Law. Thus Matthew points-out Jesus' authentic Jewish merits.

John's Gospel assumes the reader has little understanding of such things. No genealogy is needed for John's purpose, except to say that Jesus was the Son of God; John needed to explain that the Passover, for example, was a feast of the Jews; and John mentions many ways in which Jesus' doctrine superseded the Law: such as Jesus' discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well, and Jesus' treatment of the woman taken in adultery. John points-out Jesus' clashes with the prevailing lack of validity among Jewry.

Matthew doesn't mention the idea of a New Covenant inclusive of Gentiles, until the end. Right from the start, John's Gospel, however, shows Jesus' objective as being "the world".

Whose emphasis was right? Both Matthew and John recorded Jesus' life and message truthfully. It's just that they had a different readership and a different strategy. Misunderstanding this has led to some wrong ideas. 

One wrong idea is that the Gospel for the Gentiles was only an after-thought, separate from Christ's offer of the kingdom to Israel. 

It wasn't an after-thought: the Gospel which we Gentiles have come to believe in is the very same message which Jesus offered the Jews - and it's the very program which had been foreseen and foretold by the Prophets and Patriarchs.

Another wrong idea is that Christians - or at least Jews - should still be observing Old Covenant customs. 

It's true that Jesus observed them; it's true that Jesus didn't condone breaking Moses' Law, during His earthly ministry (which was a ministry exclusively to Jews who were still, at that time, under the Old Covenant). But Jesus also brought about a transition of the Old into the New, and spoke of fundamental changes in what would soon be required of true worshipers.

So the overall truth of the Gospel which Jesus announced was from the start a message which would be for all nations, not only for Jews; the Gospel was the fulfilment of the very blessing which had been promised to the Patriarchs, a blessing which was to be for all nations, through the seed, which was Christ. This had been promised before Israel was ever made a nation, before the Law was ever written for them. 

The writings of the Prophets later showed that this salvation would come to both Jews and Gentiles who believed, and the rest would miss out.

Jesus, during His earthly ministry, came to those who were under the Law; He perfectly fulfilled the Law and the Prophets; He brought transition, through the cross, into the New Covenant; and now all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, can inherit what was promised before the Law was ever given, and they can now live the new lifestyle which God ordained for us all alike before the world began. 

Many believers in the early church in Jerusalem continued being zealous for the Law. But the Apostles did not require this of the Gentile believers. And the keeping of such Mosaic, Jewish practices was passing away even for the Jews, as the Epistle to the Hebrews taught (and indeed many such practices did of necessity pass away even among non-believing Jews, after the destruction of the city and temple).

There is no contradiction between Matthew and John. Jesus came offering the same Gospel-lifestyle to the Jews that Gentiles believers also were soon blessed to experience.

Matthew wrote what he had to, in order to remove any unwarranted misconceptions which Jews and prosalytes to Judaism may have had about Jesus, in order to help them believe.

John wrote all that he needed to write, in order to assure his predominantly Gentile readers about their faith in Jesus, as they'd heard it through the Gospel.

Matthew and John had the same objective, the same message, and ultimately the same lifestyle in mind, for all their readers. 

It's the good news about the grace of God through Jesus, to all who believe, without the works of the Law, whether Jew or Gentile.

Jews could be assured that the grace lifestyle of the New Covenant that was theirs through the Gospel, had been inaugurated through One who perfectly obeyed the Law, fulfilled the Prophets and the promises to the Patriarchs. 

Gentiles could be assured that the Gospel in which they were trusting was valid, for it was the message which Jesus had spoken from the start - despite their persecutions from Judaizers and Gentiles alike, clashes which Jesus Christ Himself also had already endured. 

Matthew, John, and Jesus had one and the same message. It is the wonderful message of God's grace through Jesus, for all. It is freedom. It is the Gospel.



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