TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
294
BOOK OF THE MONTH
THE
: a V ß o
John A. Hubbard, D. D.
The Book of Matthew
T HIS month we begin a brief study of some of the books of the N ew Testament starting to better understand this book in its relation to the other Gospels, we offer the following suggestions: Many books have been written on “The Life of Christ” in which the at tempt is made to arrange in chrono logical order the events recorded in the four Gospels. No doubt this method o f study has proved helpful to many people, but we believe that much is missed if we fail to study the Gospels as setting forth, not a biography, but a “fourfold portrait” of a wonderful Personality. “ The materials for a life of Christ do not exist. Four men, in spired by the Holy Spirit, wrote four books, known as the Gospels, in which they presented the c.ie Personality in His four great characters; but it was no part of their purpose to write a narrative biography” (Dr. C. I. Sco field). We believe that this statement is according to facts. Our Lord lived on earth about thirty-three years, eight een of which are passed over in si lence. This would indicate that a biography was not intended, for if God had wanted us to have one, one Gospel would have sufficed. Hundreds of years before Jesus Christ came into the world, the Old Testament prophets pictured Him in His fourfold character. This picture is perfectly matched by the portrait drawn by the writers of the four Gos pels. For example, consider the pas sages in which the word “Behold” is used by the prophets. In Zechariah 9:9 we read “Behold,, thy King.” The counterpart of this is found in Mat thew. In Isaiah 42^1 it is stated: “Be hold my servant.” The counterpart of
Wè suggest the following outline of Matthew as a means to an under standing of this wonderful book: I. Chapters 1 +o 4, the Period of Preparation. II. Chapters 5 to 7, the King’s Mani festo. III. Chapters 8 and 9, the King’s Credentials. IV. Chapter 10, the King’s Messen gers. V. Chapters 11 and 12, the King Re jected. VI. Chapter 13, Parables of the Mys teries of the Kingdom of Heaven. VII. Chapters 14:1 to 16:20, the Period of Withdrawal. VIII. Chapter 16:21 through Chapter 20, Moving on Toward the Cross. IX. Chapters 21 to 27, the Last Week. X. Chapter 28, the Resurrection. At this point the student is urged to read through the entire book of Mat thew, with thé above outline in mind. He should do the reading, if at all pos sible, at one sitting. The one who would get the most benefit from this study will read the book through sev eral times before attempting a de tailed study. This continuous reading will give one the broad synthetic view of the book for which there is no sub stitute. Taking up the different points of the outline, we offer some “filling in” sug gestions which we trust will be help ful in understanding this Gospel. In connection with the Period of Preparation, we have recorded the genealogy and birth of our Lord (Chap ter 1). If He was not born of a virgin, without a human father, t/en the words of verses 18-25 have no meaning whatsoever. In Chapter 2 we read of the visit of the wise men who were seeking Him who was bom “King of
this is contained in Mark. In Zecha riah 6:12 are the words: “Behold the man.” The counterpart of this is dis covered in Luke. In Isaiah 40:9 the expression is: “Behold your God!” The counterpart of this is certainly set forth in the Gospel by John. We believe then that the object of the Gospel by Matthew is to present Jesus Christ as the King. We are aware of the fact that some Bible teachers take exception to this, but we call at tention to Matthew 21:4, 5 in which we are told that the prophecy of Zecha riah 9:9 was fulfilled at the time of our Lord’s entering into Jerusalem on His so-called "triumphal entry.” Sure ly this indicates that He did come as the King, but was rejected as such by Israel. If Zechariah 9:9 was not ful filled at that time, then we submit that it never will be fulfilled, because when our Lord comes again, it will be not as the Meek One sitting upon an ass, but as the Glorified One on a white horse bearing the name “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” coming to judge the world (Rev. 19:11- 16): The very first verse of Matthew in dicates the Kingly character of our Lord. He is the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. David is mentioned first (although chronologically Abra-’ ham comes first) because Matthew is writing of Him who is the heir to Da vid’s throne—the One in whom the great Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7) is to be fulfilled. Then Matthew tracer the genealogy of Christ back only to Abraham (not to Adam, as in Luke) because he is setting Him before us as the King of the Jews. As such He must be a de scendant of David and Abraham, but there would be no point in going back farther than Abraham, the father of the Jewish race.
with the Gospel of Matthew. In order
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker