The Book of Matthew

Today, to give a Bible study. And I've decided to start a series of Bible studies. This will not be an indirect Bible study like the others that I do, but just more of a study of certain books of the Bible. And so I'm going to start with the book of Matthew. And so we're going to start doing a Bible study on the book of Matthew.

Now, each gospel writer, as you know, you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, each one of those writers demonstrates their own way of thinking and their own way of describing the life of Jesus first. Because their own personalities focus on different points. It's like, for instance, if some of you had to record the history or the life history of one of your friends, and if you did it, and if your spouse did, the story would have different bits of the story because the different person sees things in a different way. And that's exactly what happens. Matthew looked at from one specific angle. That was his personal background and the way of looking at things. And therefore, he saw the character of Jesus Christ from, let's call it, from his eyes, from his glasses, from his lenses. And therefore, he put certain emphasis on Jesus Christ's teachings, actions, and purpose. And God, in his great wisdom, has used four different writers with different, completely different perspectives, so that we can look at the life of Christ from different angles, and when we add them together, we have a better understanding and perspective of Christ. Now, Matthew is actually named Matthew Levy, was a Levite. He was also a publican. He was a tax collector. So, if you look, for instance, at Matthew chapter 9, Matthew chapter 9 verse 9, and it says, when Jesus, after healing a catalytic, then in verse 9 says, Jesus passed on from there. He saw a man named Matthew. So, he's talking about himself. Jesus saw me, but he really said that's Matthew 9 verse 9. He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. So, he was a tax collector, what they called a publican. So, he's somebody that took in the taxes from the citizens, like, for instance, at the toll gate, or whatever it was, the way people had to pay taxes. So, there was a tax office where they had to pay. And when Christ came to him, he said to Matthew, follow me. And so, Matthew immediately arose and followed Christ. So, Yahweh C. Matthew was a worker for the Roman government.

And as we study and we read a little bit of history, we find out that those tax collectors were not really liked by the people. I mean, normally people don't really like the tax man, you know what I mean? So, they were not really liked because the tax was harsh, and they had different types of taxes. You would call maybe like tolls, you know, different tolls. You'd have your tax per wheel if you had a cart, you had a tax for the left wheel, a tax for the right wheel. If you had more wheels, you'd pay extra. In a way similar to some of the highways, that you've got the toll roads, and if you got extra axles in your vehicle, you pay extra. Or you have like waste stations where they got away and pay accordingly. Also, if you had more animals pulling the cart, you'd pay tax for that. Besides, obviously, property tax, which we call property tax. In those days, they're called land tax. So, tax collectors were deeply disliked by the Jewish community. For one, they felt that the Romans were an invading force, controlling the area, and therefore they were disliked. In a sense, it was like somebody that that could not be saved. Really, somebody really a wicked person, that there was no hope for them. You know, they were really looked as like second-class citizens. Let's look at Matthew's calling as it's described in the book of Luke. So, it's a similar situation. We're going to come back to this very section here in Matthew 9, but I just want to quickly jump to Luke chapter 5.

Luke chapter 5 to look at the same situation from the book of Luke as the writer describes it. And this is in Luke chapter 14. I beg your pardon, Luke chapter 5 verse 27. Luke chapter 27 and 28. Luke 5, 27 and 28.

Luke 5 was 27 and 28. And after these things, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi. So, we saw in the book of Matthew, referred to him as Matthew, so his name was Matthew Levi, or Levi, sitting at a tax office, and he said to him, follow me. And then he inverse with you, so he left all, rose up, and followed him. So, Matthew, being a tax collector, was probably seen by the people as people that were wealthy, they were well-off, they were tax collectors, and he immediately left everything, and he followed. Keep your finger there in Matthew, in Luke chapter 5. I want to jump to Luke 14 and then come back to Luke chapter 5. In Luke 14, Luke 14 verse 26 and 27, he says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, in his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Now, the word haetia means, love less. In other words, it does not mean that you are going to hate people, but in comparison, you're going to love God above more, and so you love less. So, you're going to put God first, and the others, you love less. The Greek word is messio, which basically means love less.

In verse 27, and whoever does not bear his stake, the Greek word is storas, which is a stake, and come after me cannot be my disciple. So, what Christ is saying, yeah, is that we need to be people, that once the calling comes and we see God calling us, we need to be 100% committed and say, yes, God, you're calling me, you're telling me to do this, yes, sir, I will do it.

And I have no doubts, because you love God first. You love God more than all the other things. You put God first. And that's exactly what Matthew did. So, if we go back to Luke chapter 5, where we were a moment ago, Luke chapter 5, and we read verse 28, so we left all, rose up, and followed Christ.

You followed him. You put God first, and he was committed to that. So, Matthew Levi's actions proved his faith, proved his faith. And so, continuing then, reading in verse 29, then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house.

So, Matthew, Matthew Levi, must have been a fairly wealthy person as a tax collector. Let's put it this way. He had a good job. He had a good income. And he had a good house. And therefore, he invited Christ to his house.

And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. So, there were a lot of other, let's call it, fellow workers of Matthew. And Matthew said, well, I've got a new job. I'm leaving this this old job. I'm resigning, and I'm saying goodbye, like a farewell type of thing, and saying goodbye. And they were all there. And in verse 30, and death's tribes and Pharisees complained against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And so, there was this criticism when Matthew had this, like let's call it, this farewell party for him, invited his old co-workers.

But he also invited Christ, and some of the people are with Christ, some of the Pharisees and there, and scribes. And they started complaining to Christ and says, How can you have a meal with these people that are clearly sinners? They tax collectors. Tax collectors always crook, quote-un-quote. That was the perception there. And therefore, how can you be with these people?

And verse 31, and Jesus also said to them, Those who are well have no need of a position, but those who are sick. In other words, those that have no sin don't need somebody to save them. But those that are sinners need somebody to save them. That's translating into more spiritual terms. And verse 32, I have not come to call the righteous. You know, it was the ones that, quote-un-quote, don't see themselves as sinners.

But I've come to call sinners to repentance. So I've come here to call people that are sinners, so that they may become repentant and become different people. They may transfer and may change their lives. What we see here is that Christ was not ashamed to be with other people, nor was Matthew ashamed to bring people together and show, this is going to be who I'm going to follow. He was not ashamed of being a follower of Christ. However, the scribes and Pharisees had a self-righteous attitude showing, oh, we're better than those other people.

So we can see already a little bit about Matthew's attitude. So let's continue with Matthew chapter 9, where we were a little earlier. We start reading Matthew 9 verse 9. And we said, you know, that Matthew was there sitting at the tax office, and Christ came by and said, follow me, and he arose and followed, and continued then reading in verse 10, which is what we saw again in Luke, and in verse 11, and when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

So we can see the same situation. We're talking about the same person. It's Matthew, Levi. That's what it is. And then verse 12, when Jesus heard that, he said to them, those who are well have no need of position, but those who are sick. And now he has a lesson that does not come in the book of Luke, but it's mentioned now in verse 13. It says, but go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

He adds this phrase here in Matthew, which was not in Luke. You see, that's why you have different authors, because one recorded, but in his mind, that sentence didn't register, and maybe he just forgot to write it or didn't remember it. But for Matthew, that was an important sentence, and he included it in there. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. So yeah, it's a very important spiritual lesson for us. God wants us to be merciful people, not critical, not legalistic.

You know, because the Pharisees were being critical, they were criticizing things, but no, he says, no, don't be critical, don't be legalistic. So the question to us is, are we merciful to people, or are we judgmental, condemning others? We may see something that may appear wrong. Are we criticizing?

Or are we saying, no, let's be merciful. Let's show mercy. Let's show kindness. Let's show love in that situation. So thinking about that, let's look at Matthew chapter 19. So a little bit further in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 19. And we're going to read from verse 16. Matthew 19, verse 16. Now be all one kind and say to him, good teacher, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? And Christ said to them, why do you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

You see, so nowhere do we see in Christ's teaching that we must do a way of God's commandments. We've got to keep God's laws. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments of God. But look a little bit further in verse 21.

Or in verse 20, a young man said to him, all these things I've kept, you know, because Christ enumerates some of the commandments. And he says, what else do I lack? Then Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, in other words, to be complete, go and sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.

But when the young man heard that saying, you went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

In other words, Christ discerned a problem in this individual. You know, it's not saying that everybody must not throw everything away. No, what he says is this individual had a wrong priority in his heart. And Christ, in his wisdom, saw a problem, saw some degree of self-righteousness, but a person that looked at a treasure, physical, rather than at a spiritual treasure, rather than putting God first, he was putting physical things first. And that's why Christ told him that. You see, so walking and following Christ is an act of faith.

And Matthew demonstrated this act of faith by leaving everything and following God. We see many ministers in God's church brethren that had excellent jobs. I mean, six-digit type salaries per year. And when the ministry, the Council of Elders, talked to them through the ministers and discussed them and says, look, we would like to call you to be part of the ministry and go through a ministerial training. And you know what? These people give up excellent jobs, excellent salaries to come and serve God's people with the salary of a minister in the church, which I'm not complaining, but it's not a six-digit salary type of thing. The brethren, now the ministers in the church don't earn a lot of money. And that shows an act of faith, because they have children to raise some of them. They've got to get children through school. They were competent. They had good jobs. And they had to give it up in faith. And that shows they're putting God first. I know some of the men. The companies get back to you and say, no, please don't leave. There's some men working in the church now where companies approached them and said, come and work for us. I'll give you three times the salary. You don't even have to pass any tests. Just because you're doing the salary of job, we're going to give you three times the salary you're earning. And they say, no, thank you. I'll stay working. Yeah. Brethren, that shows a commitment of faith, a commitment of putting God first. So the question is, as we are called, how do we respond? And God looks at our heart, and God looked at Matthew, leave his heart. And these people followed in faith. Now, Matthew, this is how he was called. He had faith. He had trust. And he was a Jew. Matthew, leave, he was a divide. He was a Jew. And therefore, he looked at things from the Jewish perspective. Not all writers were Jews. Others, for instance, wrote, for instance, Luke was a Gentile. And he wrote the book of Luke from a Gentile perspective. But Matthew wrote it from a Jewish perspective. And so, Matthew's way of looking looks at Jesus Christ as the King of that lineage of the son of David, a king.

So, we're going to look at that by starting with Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew chapter 1. Now, Matthew itself was written in the year, about the year 60 AD, which means it was about 30 years or so after Christ had died. So, it was about 30 years after Christ had died. And it was that time when the apostles and others said, well, we really got to put this in writing, because this is history that has happened. And we're going to now record this. So, God inspired this to be written. And Matthew, if you look at the beginning, Matthew says, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David.

So, Yah is referring to the Old Testament, right at the beginning. He's referring that Jesus Christ is of the lineage of David, son of David, which is son of kings, right? Is of that lineage of kings. And as we know, there were prophecies for David to have out of him to come out kings, and out of him there would be the Messiah, the King. There will be out of David.

And we can see that not only the son of David, but he, David himself, was the son of Abraham. So, he puts it right back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then right down to Judah, the kingly line. So, it shows that Christ came from that line, which is the kingly line. So, if we look a little bit further, in verse 21, we see about Jesus' birth, and it says there was an angel there, and the angel came and declared about the birth, and says, yeah, and she will bring forth a son. And so, it's talking this to Joseph, that is Mary's husband, says she'll bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, which means Savior, for he will save his people from the sense.

So, now we have a king of the kingly line, which is to save the people, obviously, initially Israel, but as we know, it will save the whole world. He will save the whole world. Now, this is important, because we read, yeah, he's quoting, in fact, in verse 23, says, Behold a virgin, shall be with child, and be a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated God with us. In other words, this child is God, God with us, this child is God, Jesus, and that's Immanuel, and that was quoting from Isaiah.

But look at the fact that he was from the line of David.

So, let's go back a little bit to Psalm 89. So, you can keep your finger there in Matthew, or the marker in Matthew, because we're going to come back to Matthew. But let's look at Psalm 89.

Psalm 89 is a psalm about this kingly line.

So, let's look at Psalm 89. We're going to start in verse 20. Psalm 89 verse 20. He said, I have found my servant David with my holy oil, I have anointed him. So, David was anointed. Psalm 89 verse 20. With whom my hand shall be established. Also, my arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I'll beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him.

Verse 24. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be within, and in my name his own shall be exalted. Verse 25. Also, I'll set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers. You shall cry to me, you are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Verse 27. Also, I'll make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My mercy I'll keep for him forever, and my covenant shall stand firm within. In verse 29, he is seet. Also, I will make to endure forever, and his throne as the dice of heaven. Now, yes, this is where when you read things, you can read it two different ways. His seed represents, basically, David's children, and they will rule forever. But his seed also represents Jesus Christ, that will be out of the seed of David, and he says, I will make, I will make to endure forever. Christ, that king, will live forever, and he will be king of kings forever, and his throne as the dice of heaven. In other words, Christ's throne as the king of kings will be as the dice of heaven. Will never. Once Christ comes back to earth to rule, it will be eternal. And so, we see Matthew painting the picture of a son of David, of the kingly line, and Christ being that king, which they were expecting that Messiah, Christ being that one. And so, Matthew then starts describing messages about the king. For instance, Matthew chapter 5 through 7, we have the Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount is basically Christ talking as a king. For instance, Matthew 13, look at it a bit further, Matthew 13, we've got parables about the kingdom.

And so, here is the king talking about the kingdom. Well, let's just show you a few points here in Matthew 13. Just show you this, for instance, in verse 3, then he, Christ, spoke many things to them in parables. And the eyes, behold, the sower went out to sow, and some seed fell by the wayside, some on stony places, some amongst thorns, some on good ground. That is in verses 4 through 9.

And you can see that that parable explained a little later in verse 36 of the same book says, When Jesus sent a multitude away, and went into the house, and his disciples came to him, and said, Explain to us the parable of the tears of the field.

And he answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the son of man, which is Christ. And then he shows about the field is the world, the good seals are the sons of the kingdom. And then he says, But the tears of the sons of the wicked one. And then he goes on and explains.

And then look at in verse 43. He says, Then the righteous will shine forth as the son in the kingdom of the father. So young are parables talking about the kingdom of God. In other words, the government of that king. Let's look at a few other parables also young in chapter 13.

Look at it, verse 11. And he answered and said to them, because they were asking, why speaking parables? He said, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but not to them. So he's talking, giving them lessons about the kingdom. So he is the king. Matthew is describing a king. As we mentioned in the sermon on the mount, he was talking as the king. And yeah, in Matthew 13 is giving parables about the kingdom. Look at another example. For instance, in verse 19, he's talking about a year of parable of the soul. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, so he's giving parables about the kingdom.

Look at verse 24 and another parable he put forth to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven.

So he's talking about the kingdom. Look a little bit further in verse 31. Then another parable he put forth to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Yes, I apologize. I lost your chapter. Chapter 13, Matthew 13, Matthew 13, 31. And another parable he put forth to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Look at verse 33. Another parable he spoke to them, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and he had in three measures of mutilate. All was leaven. It spreads to the old world. Look at verse 44. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, even in a field. Look at verse 45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant. Look at verse 47. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet. Look at verse 52. And then he said to them, therefore, every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder. He's talking about the kingdom and he is the king talking about the kingdom. And so Matthew, when he writes the book of Matthew, he's looking at as a Jew, looking for the Messiah, which is going to be the king that is going to bring the kingdom of God to earth. And Christ, in his first discourse, which is Matthew 5 through 7, is like the introductory speech of the king, of the president, of the nation. He gives like the initial speech. That's Matthew 5 through 7. And there he goes and he talks about the kingdom in parables.

The reason being that those people do not understand it, but some of us will understand because the parables were deliberately that way to hide it from some people, but to show to people that we're being called for them to understand about the kingdom of God.

So, therefore, it's important for us to understand that Matthew was a Jew. So I'm repeating just to kind of make it clear. Matthew was a Jew. He wanted to emphasize Christ as the king. So the book of Matthew is looking at from the point of view that Christ is the king. Christ is the promised Messiah. And we can see, we saw a few points that we show at the beginning of the book. He's showing the lineage.

Then, further on, we can see Christ giving a discourse as the new king taking position and giving his first speech, introductory speech. Let's call it that. And then we see him giving descriptions about the kingdom by using parables, one after another describing the kingdom.

So let's now take a simple sketch of the book of Matthew. You can actually sketch the book of Matthew in two different ways. One way of sketching the book of Matthew is what we'd call it biographical. It was first talks about the birth of Christ, then talks about the job he did and the message he gave, and then finally talks about the suffering of the Messiah. So it's like a biographical flow. So from chapter one through to chapter four verse 16. So let's look there from chapter one through chapter four verse 16. It's a little bit of a biography of the the birth and the preparation of the Messiah. So from chapter one, the beginning of chapter one, through to chapter four verse 16. That is that biography, that kind of beginning part of Christ's birth, growth, and maturing and being trained to be the Messiah. Then from verse 17, you look at verse 18, from that time, it's like a drawing line the way he wrote. From that time, it was as if he's drawing a line in his historical record, and he says, Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So from that time onwards, and that means from verse 17 of chapter four through to chapter 16 verse 20, we have Christ's teaching about repentance because the kingdom of God is at hand. So from verse 17 through to through to 16 verse 20. So let's now go to 16 verse 20.

Through 16 verse 20.

It says, then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. So he concludes that section, and then in verse 21 says, from that time, he has again that line drawing in verse 21 from that time. That is in 16 verse 21. Now, from there to the end of the book, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, priests, and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day.

So you see three sections in the biography of the book of Matthew. A first section, his birth, and the prophecies related to his birth, showing that he's the son of David, and the preparation of Christ as a Messiah. Then let's call it part two of that biographical narrative from Matthew 4, 17 to 16, 20, is Christ's teaching about repentance. And really, that's what Christ was teaching. We've got to repent, we've got to change, we've got to become new people, and how? Follow my example. And then from 16 to 21 till the end, is Christ telling them that he must suffer, that he must die. In other words, he is the suffering Messiah, not the reigning Messiah. You see, because there are prophecies about the suffering Messiah, that's the first coming, and the reigning Messiah, that's the second coming. So he's explaining to them that his coming was to suffer, as it says, many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day. And so from there onwards, in the book of Matthew, is the description of that, let's call it, biographical narrative.

So that helps us when we read the book of Matthew to see that story flow in three chunks from, let's call it, a biography, a biography of Jesus Christ. That's what it is.

That is one major outline of the book of Matthew. As I stated, there were two major outlines of the book of Matthew. The other outline of the book of Matthew, you know, is looking at from a different perspective or from a different way of looking at things, is the outline basic on topics or groups of material or lessons that Christ gave. In other words, five big lectures, let's just call it that, or five speeches, or five discourses that Christ gave. The first discourse or speech or teaching in a section in Matthew is from Matthew 5 to 728. In other words, it's the sermon on a mount.

That is his first, let's call it, his first big speech, which is first set of teachings as the king. So from Matthew 5, verse 1, so if you look at Matthew 5, verse 1, he says, and seen the multitudes, he went up to a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them. So he started a speech, put it this way, a teaching session, a training session, a training program, young, that starts from verse 3. And if you have a red letter Bible, this all is in red, and it's a very simple, until Matthew 7, verse 27. And he says in verse 28, and so it was when Jesus had ended these signs that the people were astonished at his teaching. So he sees a block of teaching from Matthew 5 through to basically the end of Matthew 7, which is commonly known the Sermon on the Mount, but let's now give it a slightly different title. It's his first discourse out of five discourses in the book of Matthew. In other words, what he taught, and this is the first big sermon of Christ. And there's so much meat in the sermon from Matthew 5 to the end of Matthew 7, 5, 6, and 7. These three chapters just got a lot of teaching about Christ. And if you just lost through it, it's got about the Beatitudes, tells us about the salt of the earth and the light of the earth. He teaches about the law, says, I do not come into a way of the law. And then he gives examples about murder, about adultery, and things like that. And the force gives examples and love your enemies. Then in chapter 6 he says, do good. Then he gives the model prayer. Then he tells us how to fast. It tells us that we are to be the lamp, lamp of the body. It's our eyes, how we see things. And then he tells us not to worry, to seek the kingdom of God first at the end of chapter 6. And in chapter 7 tells us things like, judge not. You know, don't condemn others, don't be over-critical. Sure, we got a discern right from wrong. And he gives these sort of lessons there. And then he concludes this with authority, because they saw him as somebody having authority. The second outline, second major outline or discourse or speech that he gave starts in chapter 8.

Chapter 8.

And it runs through Matthew 11 verse 1, which says, Now it came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his twelve disciples. So this was the instruction he gave in that section of speech from Matthew 8 to at the end of Matthew 10. So we can see Matthew 11. That's when he finished doing that. The next speech goes or session starts from Matthew 11 itself. And it goes through till the end of chapter 13. You can see them in verse 53. Matthew 13 53 says, When it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables, he finished these sayings, finished these parables. So that is like the third discourse. Then it goes on with another discourse all the way till Matthew 19. Matthew 19 1. But it says, When it came to pass when Jesus had finished these sayings, so there's another discourse there that he gave. Run about in the middle there. Finish these sayings. And then the last one ends, starts from obviously from Matthew 19 and ends in Matthew 26. Matthew 26 verse 1. It says, When it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings, so we can see that they are clearly delineated by saying when Christ finished these sayings and then when Christ finished these sayings. So they clearly delineate. They are five sections. So my intention is to go through each one of these five in different Bible studies, covering them in different Bible studies.

Now, these, as I mentioned, there are two basic ways of looking at Matthew. One is the biography, the biographical. And I said there are three sections, which is his birth and preparation, his teaching about repentance, and that he is going to suffer. But there's also the topical outline, which is the various themes of topics he addressed in five speeches. Whichever way you look at it, Christ always gets back to one thing, is how you live must be the same way as how you speak.

In other words, your heart and what you do that comes out of your heart must be the same thing than what you teach and speak and preach. In other words, you must not be a hypocrite.

You must do what you say you're supposed to do. You mustn't be a hypocrite. And therefore, we have to be like Christ. And you can see in Matthew, for instance, in Matthew 23, when he talks on his first set of speech where he spoke to the Pharisees and the scribes, he really takes them to the cleaners about they being hypocrites, because that kind of gets down to the crux of the lesson that you can't be outside, be pure, snow white, but inside being like dead man's bones. You've got to be the same. And so we need to ask God to help us to look at ourselves and to help us to change that we can become like Christ was and is. He's the same inside as he is outside. In other words, he said and taught one thing and he lived by the same thing. There was no difference. So we can see, therefore, that kind of reviewing again what I said is that Matthew talks about Christ as a king, talks about the kingdom of God. In fact, he talks or mentions the kingdom of God as the kingdom of heaven 33 times and five times mentions as the kingdom of God. Although in other episodes or the other gospels, let's probably call them that, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, using the same parables or analogies instead of referring to them as the kingdom of heaven refers to them as the kingdom of God. So basically what it means is the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God. It basically means it comes from God. It does not mean that it will be raining and we will be raining in heaven, we'll be raining on earth, but it's the kingdom that the authority comes from heaven which is from God the Father and it's raining on earth. It's the kingdom of heaven but raining on earth when Christ comes back. Also, there are two basic reasons why Matthew looks at it or refers to it as the kingdom of heaven. Generally speaking, the Jewish community is very careful about using the word God. As you know, they quite often, many of the Jews don't even like to write the word God in full and things like that. They're very careful in using the word God and therefore Matthew is showing respect towards them instead of showing a sign the kingdom of God is said the kingdom of heaven instead of using the word God all those many times. So that's one reason because he was writing the book of Matthew was writing to the Jews. Another reason being that he was or he had been a Roman employee and he worked for the kingdom of earth. It was a Roman empire and he was bringing an analogy that yes as a Roman citizen he's a king of is a member of a a government or a kingdom which is earthly but as Christians we are not of an earthly kingdom we are a heavenly kingdom because our kingdom comes from the father. So that's another reason why Matthew emphasized that. Something else that Matthew emphasized quite clearly about Christ is that that authority came from God. If you look at Matthew chapter 3 verse 16, Matthew chapter 3 verse 16, it says about Christ when he had been baptized Jesus came up immediately from the water and be all the heavens were open to him and he saw the Spirit of God is standing like a dove and enlightening upon him so he received the Spirit of God which is the power of God and therefore is the power from heaven so he received the authority from the father himself to speak and therefore Matthew understood that Christ had the authority from God. As a king, Christ gave and did everything as a king to serve the people.

And he shows that in for instance, yeah, in Matthew chapter 3 verse 15. But Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so for thus is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. So Christ as a king he fulfilled all righteousness. He did what was right. He was a king of justice. And that's what God is. From God, God is a God of justice and he is a king to fulfill all justice. And look at some examples of how Christ fulfilled all justice. Look at Matthew 5 verse 6. Just look some examples here. Matthew 5 verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. So Christ was preaching about righteousness. Look at verse 10 also of Matthew 5 verse 10. He says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Look at the same chapter in verse 20. He says, for I say unto you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. So Christ a king came to fulfill all righteousness. He preached about righteousness and that is key about his message. Look at verse chapter 6 verse 33. He says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. In other words, God's righteousness. Look at Matthew 21 verse 32. Matthew 21 verse 32.

Then John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but tax collectors and all its believing. And when you saw it, you did not afterwards relent and believe him. In other words, John the Baptist came as preaching righteousness. Christ came as preaching righteousness, and Christ therefore is a king of righteousness, to be just. Look at Matthew chapter 9. Another example there. Matthew chapter 9 verse 13.

But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I do not come to call the righteous, but thinnest to repentance. So he's preaching righteousness, preaching for us to be just, to be acceptable to God. In other words, to be repentant and therefore have an eternal outcome of that repentance. The Pharisees, however, they were self-righteousness, which is, had a temporary outcome. Yes, they had their reward, but that's it. What Christ is coming to teach us is true righteousness, which involves repentance, which has an eternal outcome.

Look at Matthew chapter 13. Another example. Matthew chapter 13 verse 17.

But it's for sure I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and do not hear it. So he's pointing to righteous men. And look at verse 43 of the same chapter. Verse 43. He says, Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. He wears ears to hear letting the earth. So Christ came to preach about righteousness, to preach about the right way.

And look how he criticized the Pharisees. Look at Matthew 23. Look at Matthew 23.

Matthew 23 verse 23. Wilt to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and annas and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, which is basically being righteous, being doing what's right, righteousness and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done. Sure, you should have not left the other undone, you know. In other words, yes, you should have paid tithe, you should have tithed, you should have done that, but you should consider not neglecting the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faith. That is first. That is absolutely key. You must not let that go. And look at another example here. In verse 26, blind Pharisees first cleans the inside of the cup and dish, that outside may be clean also. So he was saying, you mustn't be hypocrite, you must be clean inside. Look at chapter 25, verse 37. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? Or when did you see this?

And then he says, whenever you did it to the least of my brethren, you did it to me. So that's the righteousness that Christ is looking at. Look at verse 46. And this shall go into everlasting punishment. The punishment will be forever, but the righteous will have an eternal life. The others obviously will not have eternal life.

So Christ, looking again at Matthew, he wrote the book by looking at it as a Jew, that he is the Messiah, that he came as a king, and as a king he represented the Father, he represented righteousness, which is the kingdom of God. He came with authority. Look at Matthew chapter 7, Matthew chapter 7 verse 29. Matthew chapter 7 verse 29. This is at the end, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. And he says, let's read in verse 28, and when Jesus had entered these signs, all the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In other words, he had authority. He wasn't saying, well, this historian says that, and that old writer says that. He didn't quote any of those. He only quoted one authority, was the Father. Otherwise, what he said, that's what it was.

This is the way, walk in it. He wasn't quoting other historians or atheists. This is it, and I get it from the Father. He spoke with authority, and he had that authority from the Father. And then his perfect character exemplified that authority.

And immediately after he's speaking with authority, which was the Sermon on the Mount, what did we do? What did Christ do? Look at chapter 8. Look at chapter 8. The first thing he does is he heals the leper. So not only does he speak to authority, did he exercise his authority. Now a leper, they didn't even want it. They didn't even want to touch it. They wanted to keep a distance away from lepers. Now Christ went and touched the leper. And not only did the leper say, well, if you want, I'll be healed. Christ says, yes, I want. And he was healed. He had the authority. Then he went and healed a Centurion servant. He healed a Gentile. That is in verse 5 of chapter 8 and 5 to 9. So it shows he had authority because the Centurion said, I'm a man under authority. You don't have to come here. You don't have to come and see my my servant. And Christ says, great fife, your servant is healed. He spoke with the authority. Not only spoke of authority, he acted with that authority. And then a little lighter in verse 14, he healed Peter's mother-in-law. So he says, and then he went into Peter's house and he saw Peter's wife, mother laying sick with fever. So he touched her and the fever left and she was healed. So he had the power. He had authority. So the kingdom of God, as it's revealed here through the book of Matthew, it shows Christ as the king, Christ as the authority, Christ points to the kingdom, points to that perfect kingdom of God, which is the family of God.

And after, now look at this, he healed Peter's mother-in-law. And then after that, look at in verse 16. That is Matthew chapter 8. When evening had come, they brought to him many who were demon possessed and he cast out spirits with the word and he healed all who were sick. That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet. Now, this is a very interesting scripture for the Jews because it says he himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. That is like a little knife in the Jews because the Jews did not believe Christ was a Messiah. Why? Because they were expecting a king to roll there and then and Christ was not the king that came to roll there and then. Yes, he'll come to roll in the future, but that first coming was the servant suffering Messiah. And he quotes here, he himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases and our sicknesses. Where does that come from? That comes from Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is the prophecy of the suffering Messiah. Let's look at that because that is a clincher to the Jews. Look at Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53.

This is a prophecy of Christ's life, first coming. Who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form of commonliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He's despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we heed as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. I'm reading in Isaiah 53. Finished reading verse 3. Now reading verse 4. Surely he has borne our griefs or our sicknesses and carried our sorrows or pain. That's what was quoted in Matthew. The Jews, when they read this, they say, oh well, you know, I don't know what this represents, you know, whatever. But they don't put it to Christ. But you and I can clearly see this is pointing to Christ. Look at it. Yet we esteem him stricken, smitten by God. In other words, when they saw Christ on the cross, they said, ha ha, why don't you save yourself? If you believe that God can do everything, why don't you come out of that cross and therefore they said, well, God is smiting you and a fleet. But he was wounded, you know, was pierced by the, through his heart. He was wounded for our transgressions and he was bruised, you know, he was hurt for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. We're all like sheep gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Yes, Christ is carrying our sins and he forgives us when we repent. He forgives us when we repent. So we can see, yeah, that Matthew wrote with the Jewish mind. He showed them that he is of that lineage, but he also showed them that Christ had to suffer, not to be the king first. First he had to suffer and that is the stumbling block of the Jews was then and still today is the stumbling block of the Jewish people. They cannot perceive that these scriptures apply to Christ and what they say, they say, oh well, the New Testament is translated. Oh well, say this is incorrect, because they can't see the meaning of these scriptures that applies to Christ and is a stumbling block to the Jewish community. But when Christ comes back and they will see the one who they pierced, then they'll recognize that they had made a mistake and they'll repent. Reverend, I gave you just a brief overview of how the book of Matthew written by a Jew is specifically written from a Jewish angle. There's another book which is also written very much from a Jewish angle. Do you know which book it is? The book of Hebrews. Book of Hebrews written from a Jewish angle. It's very interesting to keep that in mind. So I just wanted to give you this brief introduction that the book of Matthew has basically two story flows. One is biographical and one is by topics.

It's looking at it also from a Jewish point of view because it was written by a Jew and points that Christ is the king. And then in future Bible studies I intend to go through some of these topics, some of these discourses, rather than go through the whole book, but just take some of these discourses. And I encourage you to now, with this perspective, read the book of Matthew and study it and look at it from that light because I intend to go in future Bible studies to go through those five discourses of the book of Matthew.