Outline of the Gospel of Matthew - Part 2
The Bible Treasury, New Series
Volume 13 (1920)
There was literally another
reason lying on the surface that required
certain names to drop out, The Spirit of God was
pleased to give, in each of the three divisions
of the Messiah's genealogy, fourteen generations,
as from Abraham down to David, from David to the
captivity, and from the captivity to Christ.
Now, it is evident, that if there were in fact more
links in each chain of generation than these
fourteen, all above that number must be omitted. Then, as
we have just seen, the omission is not
haphazard but made of special moral force. Thus, if
there was a necessity because the Spirit of God
limited Himself to a certain number of generations,
there was also a divine reason, as there always
is in the word of God, for the choice of the names
which had to be omitted.
However this may be, we have in
this chapter, besides the genealogical line,
the person of the long-expected son of David; we
have Him introduced precisely, officially, and
fully as the Messiah; we have His deeper glory, not
merely that which He took but who He was and is.
He might be styled, as indeed He was,
“the
son of David, the son of Abraham,” but He
was He
is, He could not but be, Jehovah-Emmanuel.
How all-important this was for a Jew to believe
and confess, one need hardly stop to expound: it is
enough to mention it by the way. Evidently Jewish
unbelief, even where there was an
acknowledgment of the Messiah, turned upon this, that the Jew
looked upon the Messiah purely according to what
He deigns to become as the great King. They
saw not any deeper glory than His Messianic
throne, not more than an offshoot, though no
doubt one of extraordinary vigour, from the root
of David. Here, at the very starting-point, the
Holy Ghost points out the divine and eternal glory
of Him who deigns to come as the Messiah.
Surely, too, if Jehovah condescended to be
Messiah, and in order to this to be born of the
Virgin, there must be some most worthy aims
infinitely deeper than the intention, however great, to
sit upon the throne of David. Evidently, therefore,
the simple perception of the glory of His
person overturns all conclusions of Jewish unbelief,
shews us that He whose glory was so bright
must have a work commensurate with that glory;
that He whose personal dignity was beyond all
time and even thought, who thus stoops to
enter the ranks of Israel as Son of David, must
have had some ends in coming, and, above all,
to die, suitable to such glory. All this, it is
plain, was of the deepest possible moment for
Israel to apprehend. It was precisely what the
believing Israelite did learn; even as it was just the
rock of offence on which unbelieving Israel fell
and was dashed to pieces. The next chapter shows us
another characteristic fact in reference ‘to this
Gospel; for if the aim of the first chapter was to give
us proofs of the true glory and character of the
Messiah, in contrast with mere Jewish limitation and
unbelief about Him, the second chapter shows us
what reception Messiah would find, in contrast
with the wise men from the East, from Jerusalem,
from the king and the people, and in the land
of Israel. If His descent be as sure as the
royal son of David, if His glory be above all human
lineage, what was the place that He found, in
fact, in His land and people? Indefeasible was
His title: what were the circumstances that met Him
when He was found at length in Israel? The
answer is, from the very first He was the
rejected Messiah. He was rejected, and most
emphatically, by those whose responsibility it was most
of all to receive Him. It was not the ignorant;
it was not those that were besotted in gross
habits; it was Jerusalem —it was the scribes and
Pharisees. The people, too, were all moved at the very
thought of Messiah’s birth. What brought out the unbelief of
Israel so distressingly was this—God would
have a due testimony to such a Messiah; and
if the Jews were unready, He would gather
from the very ends of the earth some hearts to
welcome Jesus— Jesus-Jehovah, the Messiah of
Israel. Hence it is that Gentiles are seen
coming forth from the East, led by the star which
had a voice for their hearts. There had ever
rested traditionally among Oriental nations, though
not confined to them, the general bearing of
Balaam’s prophecy, that a star should arise, a star
connected with Jacob. I doubt not that God was
pleased in His goodness to give a seal to
that prophecy, after a literal sort, not to
speak of its true symbolic force. In His condescending
love, He would lead hearts that were prepared
of Him to desire the Messiah, and come from the
ends of the earth * to welcome Him. And so it was,
They saw the star; they set forth to seek the
Messiah’s kingdom. It was not that the star moved
along the way; it roused them and set them
going. They recognised the phenomenon as
looking for the star of Jacob; they instinctively, I
may say, certainly by the good hand of God,
connected the two together. From their distant
home they made for Jerusalem; for even the
universal expectation of men at the time pointed to
that city. But when they reached it, where were
faithful souls awaiting the Messiah?- They
found active minds— not a few that could tell them
clearly where the Messiah was to be born: for this
God made them dependent upon His word.
When they came to Jerusalem, it was not
any longer an outward sign to guide. They learnt
the scriptures as to it. They learnt from those
that cared neither for it nor for Him it concerned,
but who, nevertheless, knew the letter more or
less. On the road to Bethlehem, to their exceeding
joy, the star reappears, confirming what they
had received, till it rested over where the
young child was, And there, in the presence of
the father and the mother, they, Easterns
though they were, and accustomed to no small
homage, proved how truly they were guided of
God; for neither father nor mother received the
smallest part of their worship: all was reserved for
Jesus—all poured out at the feet of the infant
Messiah. Oh, what a withering refutation of the
foolish men of the West! Oh, what a lesson, even
from these dark Gentiles, to
self-complacent Christendom in East or West! Spite of what
men might look down upon in these proud
days, their hearts in their simplicity were true,
It was but for Jesus they came, it was on Jesus
that their worship was spent; and so, spite of the
parents being there, spite of what nature
would prompt them to do, in sharing, at least,
something of the worship on the father and mother with
the Babe, they produced their treasures and
worshipped the young child ‘alone. This is the more remarkable,
because in the Gospel of Luke we have another
scene, where we see that same Jesus, truly an
infant of days, in the hands of an aged one with
far more divine intelligence than these Eastern
sages could boast. Now we know what would have been
the prompting of affection and of godly
desires in the presence of a babe; but the aged Simeon
never pretends to bless Him. Nothing would have
been more simple and natural, had not that
Babe differed from all others, had He not been
what He was, and had Simeon not known who He
was. But he did know it. He saw in Him
the salvation of God; and so, though He could
rejoice in God and bless God, though he could
in another sense bless the parents, he never
presumes so to bless the Babe. It was indeed the blessing
that he had got from that Babe which enabled
him to bless both God and his parents; but
he blesses not the Babe even when he blesses
the parents. It was God Himself, even the Son of
the Highest, that was there, and his soul
bowed before God. We have here, then, the Easterns
worshipping the Babe, not the parents; and
in the other case we have the blessed man of God
blessing the parents, but not the Babe: a most
striking token of the remarkable
difference which the
Holy Ghost had in view when inditing these
histories of the Lord Jesus. Further, to these Easterns
intimation is given of God, and they returned
another way, thus defeating the design of the
treacherous heart and cruel head of the Edomite king,
notwithstanding the slaughter of the innocents. Next comes a remarkable prophecy
of Christ, of which we must say a word—the
prophecy of Hosea. Our Lord is carried outside the
reach of the storm into Egypt. Such indeed was the
history of His life; it was continual pain,
one course of suffering and shame, There was
no mere heroism in the Lord Jesus, but the very
reverse. Nevertheless, it was God shrouding
His majesty; it was God in the person of man, in
the Child that takes the lowliest place in the
haughty world, Therefore, we find no more a
cloud that covers Him, no pillar of fire that
shields Him. Apparently the most exposed, He bows before
the storm, retires, carried by His parents
into the ancient furnace of affliction for His
people. Thus even from the very first our Lord
Jesus, as a babe, tastes the hate of the
world—what it is to be thoroughly humbled, even as a
child. The prophecy, therefore, was
accomplished, and in its deepest meaning, It was not
merely Israel that God called out, but His Son
out of Egypt; Here was the true Israel; Jesus
was the genuine stock before God, He goes
through, in His own person, Israel’s history. He
goes into Egypt and is called out of it. Returning, in due time, to the
land of Israel at the death of him that reigned
after Herod the Great, His parents are
instructed, as we are told, and turn aside into the parts of
Galilee. This is another important truth; for
thus was to be fulfilled the word, not of one
prophet, but of all— “That it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called
a Nazarene.” It was the name of man’s scorn;
for Nazareth was the most despised place in
that despised land of Galilee. Such in the
providence of God,, was the place for Jesus. This
gave an accomplishment to the general voice of the
prophets, who declared Him despised and
rejected of men. So He was. It was true even of the
place in which He lived, “that it might be
fulfilled which “spoken by the prophets, He shall
be called a Nazarene,” We enter now upon the
announcement of John the Baptist. The Spirit of God
carries us over a long interval, and the voice of
John is heard proclaiming, “Repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Here we have
an expression which must not be passed
over—all-important as it is for the understanding of
the Gospel of Matthew. John the Baptist preached
the nearness of this kingdom, in the
wilderness of Judea. It was clearly gathered from the
Old Testament prophecy, particularly from
Daniel, that the God of heaven would set up a kingdom; and more than this, that the Son of man was
the person to administer the kingdom,
“And
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a
kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away; and his
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Such
was the kingdom of heaven. It was not a mere
kingdom of the earth, neither was it in heaven,
but it was heaven governing the earth for ever.
It would appear that in John the
Baptist's preaching it, we have
no ground for supposing that
either he believed at this time,
or that any other men till
afterwards were led into the
understanding of the form which
it was to assume through
Christ's rejection and going on
high as now. This our Lord
divulged more particularly in
chap. xiii. of this Gospel. I
understand, then, by this
expression, what might be
gathered justly from Old
Testament prophecies;
and that John, at’ this time, had no other
thought but that the kingdom was about to be
introduced according to expectations thus formed.
They had long looked for the time when the
earth should no longer be left to itself, but heaven
should be the governing power; when the Son of man
should control the earth; when the power of hell
should be banished ‘from the world; when the earth
should be put into association with the
heavens, and the heavens, of course, therefore be changed,
so as to govern the earth directly through the Son
of man, who should be also King of restored Israel.
This, substantially, I think, was in the mind of the
Baptist. But then, he proclaims
repentance; not here in view of deeper things, as in the
Gospel of Luke, but as a spiritual preparation
for Messiah and the kingdom of heaven. That is, he
calls man to ones his own ruin in view of the
introduction of that kingdom. Accordingly,
his own life was the witness of what he felt
morally of Israel’s then state. He retires into the
wilderness, and applies to himself the ancient words of
Isaiah—“The voice of one crying in the
wilderness.” The reality was coming: as for him, he was
merely one to announce the advent of the King.
All Jerusalem was moved, and multitudes were
baptized by him in Jordan, This gives occasion
to his stern sentence upon their condition in
the sight of God. But among the crowd of those who
came to him was Jesus. Strange sight! He,
even He, Emmanuel, Jehovah, if He took
the place of Messiah, would take that place
in lowliness on the earth. For all things were out
of course; and He must prove by His whole life, as
we shall find by-and-by He did, what the
condition of His people was. But, indeed, it is
but another step of the same infinite grace, and
more than that, of the same moral judgment on
Israel; but along with it the added and most
sweet feature— His association with all in
Israel who felt and owned their condition in the
sight of God. It is what no saint can afford
lightly to pass over; it is what, if a saint recognise
not, he will understand the Scripture most imperfectly;
nay, I believe he must grievously misunderstand
the ways of God. But Jesus looked at those
who came to the waters of Jordan, and saw their
hearts touched, if ever so little, with a sense
of their state before God; and His heart was truly
with them. It is not now taking the people out
of Israel, and bringing them into a position
with Himself—that we shall find by and by; but it
is the Saviour identifying Himself with the
godly-feeling remnant. Wherever there was the least
action of the Holy Spirit of God in grace in the
hearts of Israel, He joined Himself. John was
astonished; John the Baptist himself would have
refused, but, “‘ Thus,” said the Saviour, “it becometh
us ’—including, as I apprehend, John with
Himself. “Thus it becometh
us to fulfil all
righteousness.” It is not here a question of
law; it was too late for this—ever a ruinous thing
for the sinner. It was a question of another sort
of righteousness. It might be the feeblest
recognition of God and man; it might be but a remnant
of Israelites; but, at least, they owned the
truth about themselves; and Jesus was with them
in owning the ruin fully, and felt it all. No
need was in Himself —not a particle; but it is
precisely when the heart is thus perfectly free,
and infinitely above ruin, that it can most of all
descend and take up what is of God in the hearts
of any. So Jesus ever did, and did it thus
publicly, joining Himself with whatever was
excellent on the earth. He was baptized in Jordan—an act
most inexplicable for those who then or now
might hold to His glory without entering into His
heart of grace. To what painful feelings it
might give rise! Had He anything to confess? Without
a single flaw of His own He bent down to
confess what was in others; He owned in all its
extent, in its reality as none else did, the state of
Israel, before God and man; He joined Himself with
those who felt it. But at once, as the answer to
any and every unholy misapprehension that
could be formed, heaven is opened and a twofold
testimony is rendered to Jesus. The Father’s
voice pronounces the Son’s relationship, and His
own complacency. while the Holy Ghost anoints Him
as man. Thus, in His full personality, God’s
answer is given to alt who might otherwise have
slighted either Himself or His baptism, The Lord Jesus thence goes forth
into another scene—the wilderness—to be
tempted of the devil; and this, mark, now that
He is thus publicly owned by the Father, and the
Holy Ghost had descended on Him. It is indeed,
I might say, when souls are thus blessed that
Satan’s temptations are apt to come, Grace
provokes the enemy. Only in a measure, of
course, can we thus speak of any other than
Jesus; but of Him, who was full of grace and truth,
in whom, too the fulness of the Godhead
dwelt—even so, of Him it was fully true. The
principle, at least, applies in every case. He was
led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tried
of the devil. The Holy Spirit
has given the temptation to us
in ‘Matthew, according to the
order in which it occurred. But
here, as elsewhere, the aim is
dispensational, not historical,
as far as intention ones, though really so in point
of fact; and I apprehend, specially with this
in view, that it is only at the last temptation our
Lord says, “Get thee hence, Satan.” We shall see
by and by why this disappears in the Gospel of
Luke. There is thus the lesson of wisdom and
patience even before the enemy; the excellent,
matchless grace of patience in trial; for what
more likely to exclude it than the apprehension that it
was Satan all the while? But yet our Saviour was
so perfect in it, that He never uttered the word
“Satan” until the
last daring, shameless effort to
tempt Him to tender to the evil
one the very worship of God Himself. Not till then does our
Lord say, “Get thee hence, Satan.”
We shall dwell a little more
upon the three temptations, if the Lord will,
as to their intrinsic moral import, when we come to
the consideration of Luke. I content myself now
with giving what appears to me the true reason
why the Spirit of God here adheres to the order
of the facts, It ‘is well, however, to remark,
that the departure ‘from such an order is precisely
what indicates the |consummate hand of God, and for
a simple reason. To one who knew the facts in a
human way, nothing would be more natural
than to put them down just as they occurred. To
depart from the historical order, more
particularly when one had previously given them that
order, is what never would have been thought
of, unless there were some mighty preponderant
reason in the mind of him who did so. But this
is no uncommon thing. There are cases where an
author necessarily departs from the mere order in
which the facts took place. Supposing you are
describing a certain character; you put
together striking traits from the whole course of his
life; you do not restrain yourself to the bare
dates at which they occurred. If you were only
chronicling the events of a year, you keep to the order
in which they happened; but whenever you rise
to the higher task of bringing out moral
features, you may be frequently obliged to abandon
the consecutive order of events as they
occurred. |
It is precisely this reason that
accounts for the change in Luke; who, as we shall
find when we come to look at his Gospel more
carefully, is especially the moralist. That is
to say, Luke characteristically looks upon
things in their springs as well as effects. It is not
his province to regard the person of Christ peculiarly,
i.e, His divine glory; neither does he occupy
himself with the testimony or service of Jesus
here below, of which we all know Mark is the
exponent. Neither is it true, that the reason why
Matthew occasionally gives the order of time, is
because such is always his rule. On the contrary, there
is no one of the Gospel writers who departs from
that order, when his subject demands it,
more freely than he, as I hope to prove to the
satisfaction of those open to conviction, before we
close. If this be so, assuredly there must be some key
to these phenomena, some reason sufficient to
explain why sometimes Matthew adheres to the
order of events, why he departs from it
elsewhere. I believe the real state of the
facts to be this:— first of all, God has been
pleased, by one of the Evangelists (Mark), to give us
the exact historical order of our Lord’s eventful
ministry. This alone would have been very
insufficient to set forth Christ. Hence, besides
that order, which is the most elementary, however
important in its own place, other presentations
of His life were due, according to various spiritual
grounds, as divine wisdom saw fit, and as even we
are capable of appreciating in our measure.
Accordingly, I think it was owing to special
considerations of this sort that Matthew was led
to reserve for us the great lesson, that our Lord
had passed through the entire temptation—not only
the forty days, but even that which crowned them
at the close; and that only when an open blow
was struck at the divine glory did His soul at
once resent it with the words, “Get thee
hence, Satan.” Luke, on the contrary, inasmuch as he,
for perfectly good and divinely given reason,
changes the order, necessarily omits these words.
Of course, I do not deny that similar words
appear in your common English Bibles (in Luke iv, 8);
but no scholar needs to be informed that all such
words are left out of the third Gospel by the best
authorities, followed by almost every critic of note save
the testy Matthaei, though scarce one of them seems
to have understood the true reason why.
Nevertheless, they are omitted by Catholics, Lutherans,
and Calvinists; by High Church, and Low Church;
by Evangelicals Tractarians, and Rationalists.
It does not matter who they are, or what their
system of thought may be: all those who go upon the
ground of external testimony alone are obliged to
leave out the words in Luke. Besides, there is the
clearest and the strongest evidence internally
for the omission of these words in Luke, contrary to
the prejudices of the copyists, which thus
furnishes a very cogent illustration of the action of
the Holy Spirit in inspiration. The ground of
omitting the words lies in the fact, that the last
temptation occupies the second place in Luke. If the
words be retained, Satan seems to hold his ground,
and renew the temptation after the Lord had
told him to retire. Again, it is evident that, as
the text stands in the received Greek text and our
common English Bible, “Get thee behind me,
Satan,” is another mistake. In Matt. iv. 10, it is
rightly, “Get thee hence.” Remember, I am not
imputing a shade of error to the word of God. The
mistake spoken of lies only in blundering scribes,
critics, or translators, who have failed in doing justice
to that particular place. “Get thee hence, Satan,”
was the real language of the Lord to Satan,
and is so given in closing the literally last
temptation by Matthew.
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