Learning from Meticulous Matthew
The A cycle explores Matthew’s Gospel. The first section of the Gospel
establishes what God has commissioned Jesus to do. The section we
begin this Sunday indicates how Jesus carries out his mission to
manifest God’s saving presence. (My commentaries on Matthew’s Gospel
depend heavily on MATTHEW AND THE MARGINS by Warren Carter.)
l) “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested he withdrew to
Galilee.” This sentence has been understood as Jesus courageously
taking up the mission of John.. It clearly signals a change of direction
in Jesus’ life. This change involved a geographical move but also a new
phase in the life of Jesus. Matthew in this passage moves us rapidly
through Jesus beginning to proclaim his theme, calling followers,
teaching, proclaiming and healing. The lives of Jesus and John were
closely intertwined. There was friendship but also foreshadowing.
Later in the Gospel in chapter l4 when Jesus hears about the horrible
death of John, Matthew tells us,“…he withdrew into a deserted place
by himself.” Jesus could see images of his own life in the life of John.
Our lives too are intertwined with those of others. One point for
our consideration this Sunday is to examine our lives in terms of
changes of direction.
2) “From that time on Jesus began to proclaim this theme: Reform
your lives! The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Here Matthew edits
Mark’s Gospel to put the exact same words on the lips of Jesus that had
been on the lips of John. But though the words are the same the
understanding of John is different from that of Jesus. Both call for
reform of lives. The necessity of “doing” the will of God will be
developed in a special way in Matthew’s Gospel. John thought that the
coming of the kingdom of heaven would bring judgement, that sinners
would be condemned and perish. Instead in Jesus the coming of the
kingdom would mean something different. Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel will
be portrayed as the wisdom teacher and compassionate healer.
3) “He said to them, Come after me and I will make your fishers of
men. They immediately abandoned their nets and became his followers.”
Jesus distinguishes himself from the teachers of his day by taking the
positive initiative to call disciples. The crisp format of the call
narrative reminds us of the Old Testament call narratives when a prophet
or king was swept into Yahweh’s service. Here as in Mark (unlike Luke
and John) the disciples response is motivated only be Jesus’ invitation,
an element that emphasizes his mysterious power, his extraordinary
attractiveness and magnetism. Here we also have the important theme of
discipleship being developed. To be a disciple is to be with Jesus and
