What's In a Name?: Reflection on Matt 1:18–25 for Advent and Christmas

Names are important. Modern parents to be spend significant time selecting just the right name for their unborn children. Dozens of “Baby Name” books are available for purchase. Moms and dads can scan through thousands of names to find the perfect one for their son or daughter. Some families carry on longstanding traditions of naming the firstborn after the father; others name a child after a favorite aunt or uncle. Whether they name the child in honor of a beloved relative or after a famous person, they do so in the hope that the child will embody the best qualities of his or her eponymous predecessor.

 In Matthew 1:18–25, we read about the naming of Jesus. Let us ponder this passage to experience its power this year:

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. ²⁰ But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

²³ “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” ²⁴ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, ²⁵ but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

 Our Scripture text recounts the naming of Jesus. In previous verses, Matthew has offered a detailed genealogy that links Jesus to Israel's history. In particular, Jesus is called Son of Abraham, Son of David, and Messiah (Christ). Abraham was the fountainhead of God’s people. The LORD had called Abraham to serve as the father of a new people through whom all peoples would be blessed.[i] The LORD had raised up David to serve as the earthly ruler of God’s kingdom.[ii] To call a person “Messiah” was tantamount to declaring that the era of the fulfillment of God’s promises was at hand. All of these titles would have resonated deeply with the people of Jesus' day. They would have raised expectations and reestablished hope of a new and dramatic work of God.
  Yet our text does not burst forth in a birth announcement complete with trumpet rolls and fireworks. The birth of the Messiah will mark the beginning of the most important life in the history of the eternity. But it is not one marked with fanfare. There will be no headlines in the newspapers. It will not occur in the center of political and religious power in Jerusalem. Instead it will occur under the shadow of scandal. Moreover the familiar names of Jesus and Emmanuel will offer us a glimpse of the essence of Jesus’ life and mission.
A Scandalous Beginning? 

Given Jesus’ pedigree as son of Abraham and son of David, it seems inconceivable that God in his wisdom would send his son to be born under questionable circumstances. At least it does to those schooled in the wisdom of the world. The world values tidiness, symbolism, and appearances. If Jesus were running for political office, his opponent would be running negative ads against him reminding everyone of his possible illegitimate birth. But God does not play by the rules of the powerful and the rich. In fact, God tends to work from the outside and backsides of life to bring about his salvation. If we reexamine Jesus’ ancestors, it is remarkable that his family tree includes four other named women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Urriah [Bathsheba]).[iii] This inclusion of women in a male-dominated genealogy is unusual in its self, but these four women were all involved in unseemly or at least unusual relationships. Tamar tricked her father-in-law Jacob into having sex with her in order to have a son; Rahab was a Canaanite and perhaps a prostitute in Jericho; Ruth was a foreigner, a Moabite; and Bathsheba was involved in an adulterous relationship with David.  Yet, God worked through these women and these unusual circumstances to advance the line of people through whom Jesus would be born.

So it should come as no surprise that Jesus the Messiah was born to a woman who was a virgin. However, Joseph her fiancé was no dolt. He knew how a woman became pregnant. He must have been feeling both betrayed and humiliated. He could have demanded a public accounting for her indiscretion. But our text describes him as “a righteous man.” Joseph was a person who actively lived a life of integrity and wholeness before God. He sought to value and serve God and others above his own rights and prerogatives. Thus, Joseph made the decision to end his engagement to Mary, but to do so in such a way as to not draw attention to Mary’s supposed immorality.

   At this point, God appears to Joseph in a dream. This is not God’s first appearance in the story. The narrator has already informed the reader that Mary is pregnant due to divine action through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Now Joseph learns the truth and when he wakes up he takes Mary for his wife. This remarkable story illustrates the reality that God can work through the messiness of human life and how the faithfulness of God’s people can help God advance his mission.

Two Names
In our culture, Christmas has become a secular holiday. This is epitomized by the tradition of decorating homes with lights. How often today do we see heavily decorated yards filled with images of Winnie the Pooh, Santa Claus, the Grinch, reindeer, and other holiday décor? Yet often in the middle of these displays, one finds a plastic baby Jesus lying in a manger. The baby Jesus becomes an alien add on to the Christmas holiday. He is far separated from the Crucified and Risen Lord of the Church. In the 2006 comedy, Talledega Nights, Will Farrell’s character Ricky Bobby offers grace over meals in which he consistently prays to “Lord Baby Jesus.”[iv] When challenged by his wife to acknowledge that Jesus grew up, he replies, “I like the Christmas Jesus the best.”

But in his presentation of Jesus, Matthew forces us to reflect on his adult life from the beginning. The central focus in our text is the naming of the child because this is no ordinary baby. It is in the naming of Jesus that Matthew forces us to confront the power and potential of Jesus’ life and work.

He will Save his people from their Sins
The Lord reveals to Joseph in the dream two names for the child that capture and epitomize the boy’s life and mission. First, the Lord orders Joseph to name the child “Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua. It literally means, “The Lord saves.” Just as Joshua embodied this name as he led God’s people into the promised land of Canaan. Jesus will inaugurate a new era of salvation. Yet notice that the salvation that Jesus will bring involves salvation from their sins. Since this is the goal, it is profound to observe that Jesus fulfills his name by dying on the cross. Years down the road, on the night on which he was betrayed, Jesus celebrated the Lord’s supper with his disciples saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”[v] In other words, Matthew is announcing from the beginning of his story that the focus of Jesus’ life will be bringing salvation from sins by means of Jesus’ death on a cross.

Who will be the beneficiary of this salvation? Our text says, “his people.” This begs a crucial question for us: Who are his people? Jesus’ ministry will subvert any attempt to define narrowly “his people.” Jesus intentionally breaks down religious and cultural boundaries by healing the sick, interacting with women, and even extending salvation to gentiles. By the end of the Gospel, he sends out his disciples to engage “all nations” with the Gospel message.[vi]

Emmanuel: God is with Us
Matthew adds a footnote to the name, Jesus. He reminds the reader that Jesus’ birth brings to fulfillment an ancient prophecy from Isaiah about a virgin giving birth to a son. Isaiah had foreseen the child being given the name, Emmanuel. Emmanuel means, “God is with us.” Profoundly this second name for Jesus sounds a critical theme for understanding the mission of Jesus. It is more than an affirmation of God’s presence in Jesus during his earthly life. If the name Jesus points to the cross where Jesus saved “his people from their sins”, then Emmanuel affirms the on-going presence of the Resurrected Jesus in the life of his people.

For disciples of Jesus, this is critical. We are not merely persons who admire a life well lived by attempting to emulate Jesus’ life. Instead, Emmanuel is a promise that God will be eternally present with his people through the person of the Risen Jesus. Most profoundly Jesus promises to accompany his people as they spread across the globe to fulfill Jesus’ final command to make disciples of all nations. Matthew’s Gospel ends with this promise: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”[vii]

Conclusion
Jesus fully embodies his names. But what about us? Each of us has been given a name by our parents. But in Christ, God has granted each of us a new names—Christian, child of God, son or daughter of God. Jesus came to deliver us from our sins and to lead us into the world with good news to share. In this season as the world awaits the light of Christ, will we follow him?

---

[i]Genesis 12:3b

[ii]2 Sam 7; Ps 2

[iii]Matt 1:1-17

[iv]Talladega Nights - The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Unrated Widescreen Edition) (Columbia Pictures, 2006)

[v]Matt 26:27-28

[vi]Matt 28:19-20

[vii]Matt 28:20b

The Baptism of Jesus and the Mission of God (Matthew 3:13-17)

 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan river.  This action serves a couple of functions in Matthew’s Gospel.  1) It is a transition point from John’s ministry to Jesus’. If John represented the consummate OT prophet, Jesus’ baptism marks the end of one epoch and the beginning of the new age of salvation that Jesus has come to initiate. 2) It also affirms a continuity between the actions of John and of Jesus.  Both figures serve in the divine mission of bringing salvation.

The baptism scene itself reaches its climax in vv 16-17 when the heavens open and the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus.  At this moment, the voice of God is heard: This is my son, the beloved one, with whom I am well pleased.  God’s speech is an amalgam of two texts: Ps 2:7 and Isa 42:1.  The deployment of these OT texts has several missional implications:

1) Psalm Two is about Yahweh’s anointed king (Messiah).  It is a psalm that celebrates the coronation of Israel’s king and his charge to serve as God’s human representative on earth.  Psalm 2 is audacious is in its claim that God reigns through the person of his chosen king.  2:7 reads “He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’” 

This rule is not merely over Israel but over the nations.  Vv. 10-12 conclude the psalm with an invitation/warning:

Therefore, you kings be wise; be warned you rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.

Kiss his son, or he will be angry and you and your ways will be destroyed, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

First, by God invoking Ps 2 in his blessing of Jesus’ baptism, God is asserting that he is reinaugurating his rule through the person of Jesus who is his Christ, i.e., the anointed human ruler.  Second, the international flavor of Ps 2, that is its insistence that the scope of God’s Christ’s rule is inclusive of the nations, points to the cosmic significance of Jesus.  Jesus’ mission is not limited to the restoration of Israel.  Jesus’ mission will have implications for the global community of nations.

2) Isaiah 42 is the first of the Servant Songs that dominate the second half of the book of Isaiah.  By offering a quotation from 42:1, God is affirming that Jesus is the fulfillment of the servant passages in Isaiah—Jesus is the servant.  42:1 reads:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.

Jesus is God’s spirit filled servant who will usher in the new age of salvation.  Isaiah 42 is powerful because like Ps 2 it likewise has a cosmic scope in its portrayal of God’s plan of salvation.  The servant will be empowered to bring justice to the nations (42:1)…He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth (42:4)…[God] will keep and make [him] to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles (42: 6).

This cosmic scope is rooted in the affirmation of God as creator and sustainer of the cosmos:

This is what God the LORD says—he who created the heavens and stretched out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people and life to those who walk on it.

The Creator has sent his Son, his human respresentative to usher in a new age of salvation that will bring to fruition God’s desire to extend salvation to all of humanity.  Jesus, the Son, is God the Father’s authorized agent of all of this.  His baptism marks the public affirmation of this mission.

If Jesus’ baptism was marked by a sense of the cosmic implications of his coming work, what would it look like for our communities of faith to see our own work as Jesus followers in the same light?

Isn’t it time to recapture mission as the center of our communities?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell

Prayer as Imprint: (re) Learning to Pray the Lord's Prayer (pt. 2)

“There are some people who leave impressions not so lasting as the imprint of an oar upon the water.” Kate Chopin (19^th century writer)

Here is my translation of Matt 6:9-13 –

Our Father, the one who is in heaven;

Let your name be holy.

Let your kingdom come.

Let your will become [reality] on earth as it is in heaven [already].

Give to us today our food for the day.

Forgive us our debts just as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

Don’t lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 

What does this text assume to be true?  What does this prayer suggest about God?  What does this prayer believe to be true about us?

Our Father:

Assumes that prayer is a community activity.  This does not mean that one always has to pray in the company of others (Jesus’ instructions in 6:5-8 suggest both individual and corporate prayers), but it does force the pray-er to reflect on the meaning of “our.”  God is never simply “my father” or “his father” or “her father” or “their father”; God is our father.

Assumes a relational framework.  Many of us are turned away from addressing God as “father” because of our own experiences within our families.  But Jesus’ model is supposed to be read as an invitation to participate in God’s family.  We embody this ethos when we value community and experience authentic relationship with God.

The One who is in heaven

God doesn’t merely relate as “our father”.  God relates as “Our father who is in heaven.”  In other words, this clause distinguishes God as unique among fathers. 

This address is then followed by three petitions addressed directly to God.  All of these are requests for God to usher in fully the promised new reality of an age of salvation.  Yet implicit in each request is a bold and daring shift in the pray-er’s own allegiance.  To pray each petition is to invite God to work in our lives so that each pray-er begins to embody the values of God’s reign that adumbrate the new age that is coming through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.

1) Let your name be holy.

God’s name is holy.  This is a request for the day in which God’s holiness and majesty will be fully and rightfully acknowledged by all creation.  It is a commitment to show God’s name holy in the present through the sort of life that we live.

2) Let your kingdom come.

Jesus came to announce the age of salvation—the kingdom of heaven (4:17).  This is a plea from a pray-er fully aware of the frailty of the present age.  Jesus has ushered in the first fruits of the future, but there is more to come.  It is a prayer for God to consummate his kingdom in its totality.  As this petition is prayer, the pray-er is also committing himself or herself to the values and ethos of the kingdom as taught and lived by Jesus.  Jesus’ followers are to live as people from the future who leave clues for those longing for a better life.

3) Let your will become [reality] on earth as it is in heaven [already].

This request fill outs the previous two.  What does it look like for God’s name to be recognized as holy and for God’s kingdom to come?  God’s will and intentions will be manifest in the totality of his creation.  The ethos of the Kingdom of heaven will be the ethos on earth.  Of course, to pray this line is to commit oneself to living out God’s will in the present in anticipation of God’s decisive action.

The prayer ends with three requests on behalf of the pray-er.  These serve as prayers for persons whose lives involve the mission of God.  Implicit in each request is profound trust in and recognition of God as the source of life, protection, and salvation.  Also each request is also a commitment to embody the very thing that it requested.

Give to us today our food for the day.

This is a simply request for food for the day.  Life starts and stops here.  We begin to embody this value however through becoming generous people.  To receive from God is to give to others.

Forgive us our debts just as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

Forgiveness is the key to community and maintaining genuine and life-changing relationships.  It is vital to read this request for forgiveness from God as a commitment to practice and model forgiveness within the community of faith as well as toward those outside of the community.

Don’t lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

To follow Jesus is to participate actively and fully in God’s mission.  Jesus did not come to create a static or stationary institution.  He came to unleash a movement that would embody the ethos of God’s kingdom and carry its message to the ends of the earth.  To live this way is to live dangerously.  Thus, one must pray a prayer of protection for deliverance from the evil one (the Devil) and from temptation. 

Why do we need to pray this prayer with audacity and faithfulness?  Because God desires to imprint his character on us so that we can leave his fingerprints and handprints in the world to serve as clues for others?

God doesn’t need us to make a “difference in the world” but to make the world different. God imprints us so that we can leave his imprint on others.

Are you the type of woman or man who can pray the Lord’s Prayer?  Or better, do you want to be the type of man or woman who can pray the Lord’s Prayer and embody it?

What would your life look like if you prayed the Lord's Prayer as truly lived it out?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell

Read Part one: Praying Audaciously: (re)Learning to Pray the Lord's Prayer.

Praying Audaciously: (re)Learning to Pray the Lord's Prayer

What does it mean to pray audaciously?

 

“Fortune favors the audacious.”  Erasmus (15th century priest, humanist)

“Audacity has made kings.”  Unknown.

“Every great advancement in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.” John Dewey

"Audacity augments courage; hesitations, fear." Publius Syrus (1st BC Roman author)

"Success is the child of audacity" Benjamin Disraeli (19th British PM)

"In every artist there is a touch of audacity without which no talent is conceivable" Von Goethe (1749-1832)

All of these quotations would fit well into a motivational speech.  When we think of leaders, a spirit of audaciousness and boldness is often found in persons who perform at high levels. 

But audaciousness sounds awkward in the context of prayer, doesn’t it?  But why?  Have we so domesticated prayer that we now miss its raw power as the audacious communication of created beings with their Creator?

Let’s read a prayer that is used so often in worship that too many of us miss its provocative and bold message. Hear anew the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 6:9-13:

Our Father, the one who is in heaven;

Let your name be holy.

Let your kingdom come.

Let your will become [reality] on earth as it is in heaven [already].

Give to us today our food for the day.

Forgive us our debts just as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

Don’t lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  Amen. (my translation into modern English)

I want to suggest that this prayer is not a piece for rote memory and mindless repetition as it is so often reduced in our communities of faith.  Instead this pray is an invitation to a life of audacious petition and conversation with God.

As we think about the Lord’s Prayer there are several burning questions for us to think about:

What kind of person does God imagine me to be by inviting me to say this prayer?

What sort of person do I need to become to pray this prayer?

What does it say about God that He invites us to pray this prayer?

Jesus began his public ministry with the announcement: Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:17).  In other words, the essential core of Jesus’ message is a call to (re)align with the new age of God’s mission to bring recreation and renewal to His Creation.  Jesus offers this prayer as a new prayer for a new day.  Jesus is looking for persons to serve as his disciples.  This prayer points to the ethos of the kingdom that he is inaugurating through his life, death, and resurrection.  This prayer is not about impressing others with eloquent words or babbling on incessantly as though rhetoric and many words could manipulate or force God into action.  Rather this prayer models a bold and direct (even audacious) approach to prayer with God.  Jesus is looking to build a movement that will change the world.  It begins with changed disciples--disciples who have been shaped and molded into disciple makers.

Audacious prayer is needed for followers of Jesus to be shaped into the world changers that God seeks to unleash.

The prayer Jesus gave to his disciples assumes a familial or relational view of God. God is a "father" rather than a despot, Lord, prince, rock, generic god, etc.

The prayer that Jesus gives his followers assumes community. It's our father and not "my" "his" "hers" or "yours." Ponder this deeply.

The prayer Jesus teaches is one that boldly asks for God to act to consummate his Kingdom fully.

The prayer Jesus teaches assumes that its pray-ers desire to live and embody God’s kingdom so that God can manifest His name through them.

The prayer Jesus teaches assumes that God cares about the basic needs of those who seek to live for God’s kingdom. This includes the base line provisions for the day—namely food.

The prayer that Jesus teaches assumes a community where forgiveness is practiced. Note that forgiveness shows up in the prayer itself and is reinforced immediately after the end of the prayer: Matt 6:14 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

The prayer assumes that God desires to guide and protect God’s people from temptation and that God’s people actively resist entering into temptation.

“Audacious prayer, which perseveres unflinchingly and ceases not through fear, is well pleasing unto God,” wrote Luther.

Are we ready to pray audaciously to the God who loves us and steadfastly acts for our greatest good?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell

Following Jesus and Discipleship in Matt 4:18–22

NIV Matthew 4:18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

What does Jesus do in this text?  If his first public action was to proclaim the message of the Kingdom (Matt 4:17), then his second one was to call to himself disciples.  This suggests that to repent involves entering into the community of Jesus’ disciples. 

What is the mark of a disciple?  Here a disciple is clearly marked by one central image: following Jesus.   

Discipleship involves fundamentally the issue of following Jesus into the world on mission and learning to embody his character:

1) Discipleship is initiated by Jesus.  This is a simple but profound truth in this passage.  Jesus calls two sets of brothers to “follow him.”  It is Jesus (and not the brothers) who initiates the relationship.  Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is portrayed on the move.  God through Jesus actively seeks out those who will respond to his invitation.  This has implications for our ministry efforts today. This text suggests that it is God and not we who seek out new disciples for Jesus.Even in the Great Commission when God sends forth his disciples into all the world to make new disciples, Jesus himself promises his presence on the journey.

This is not a argument for predetermined election. It is recognizing that God builds God’s people. We are simply vessels and ambassadors. Note also that the text assumes a human response. The brothers follow Jesus. There is no indication of Jesus compelling them. They respond. The human element remains but it is in response to Jesus invitation.

2) Discipleship involves following Jesus.  Becoming a disciple of Jesus implies an authentic relationship. It is not a matter of giving intellectual assent to a set of propositions; it is a commitment to the person of Jesus. Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, “follow” language is used of those who become disciples (e.g., 9:9, 16:24, et al). This is a personal relationship but it is much more radical than the domesticated version peddled too often in our day. Following Jesus involves an allegiance to Jesus in which the follower turns away from a life of self-centeredness, embraces the cross as the central vocation and chief metaphor of the Christian life, and walks moment by moment in the footsteps of Jesus (Matt 16:24). When the brothers follow Jesus, they commit themselves to the imitation of Jesus as Jesus teaches them to fish for people. Jesus becomes their rabbi and his habits/actions/attitudes becomes theirs.

3) Discipleship involves participation in the mission of Jesus.  Jesus invites Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow him, and he promises to transform them from fishermen to fishers of men and women. In other words, mission is central to the call to discipleship. As far as the Gospel of Matthew is concerned, there is no true discipleship apart from an active participation in the mission of God in the world (Matt 28:16–20).  Mission is the chief purposes of the new community that Jesus is creating. In Matthew’s Gospel, this means “Making disciples.” This is the component that is missed far too often in our modern appropriation of the term “discipleship.” In too many churches, this is a code word for “Christian education” or “accountability groups” or “spiritual formation.” It is one option among many in local communities of faith. Yet, in this text, Jesus links mission with the very call to discipleship. Every follower of Jesus is expected to function missionally in the world.  Mission and evangelism are not to be relegated to a special committee of the Church; mission and evangelism are core commitments of the whole church.

4) Discipleship involves the instantaneous participation in mission. Jesus connects following himself with mission. We just noted this. But it is important to emphasize that there is no time lag. Jesus immediately leads his followers into the world on mission. They learn to “fish for people” by accompanying Jesus as he “fishes for people.” Then Jesus sends them out on their own in (9:35–11:1).

5) Discipleship involves a radical change of allegiance with cost.  Becoming a follower of Jesus is not a risk free proposition – rather it is a bold and daring move that calls for a radical life makeover.  Simon and Andrew leave their nets to follow Jesus; James and John leave nets, a boat, and their father.  These items point to two key areas that are impacted by a commitment to follow Jesus: economics and family.  All of these men leave their means of livelihood, and James and John leave their father.  Jesus is clearly not against employment or family, but he is clearly suggesting that a commitment to his person supersedes economic self-interest and relationships with families.

6) Discipleship involves missional community.  Jesus calls disciples in order to form a new community for the people of God.  There are no solitary Christians. Followers of Christ live and grow in community with others. It is a poignant observation that Jesus’ first invitations to discipleship are extended to brothers. There is never a time when the new community of faith exists around only a single Christ-follower. But this is community with a mission. Jesus' new community exists to announce God's kingdom and embody its values to/for/in the world.

© 2015 Brian D. Russell

Reading Matthew's Gospel Missionally

I am teaching an applied hermeneutics course at Asbury Theological Seminary. It focuses on the text of Matthew’s Gospel. I am working hone a missional approach to Scripture as a key lens for appropriating the message of the text in the West for the 21st century.

When I talk about a missional hermeneutic, one of the key questions that I am asked is this: Is a missional reading or hermeneutic something that we as readers impose on the text?

My short answer is this: A missional reading of the Bible arises out of a close reading of the text itself. The reader however does bring the issue of mission as part of the investigation. This is not a foreign imposition on the text because the Bible itself assumes mission. We have often missed the missional element in Scripture because we have grown up in a Church culture in which mission was not at the center. This was not the case for the recipients of Matthew’s Gospel. The NT (and the OT) assumes mission. If we are to understand truly the Scriptures, we need to locate our own readings within a context of missional engagement with the world.

How can I say that Matthew assumes mission?

Here are some representative texts and comments:

1) The Gospel of Matthew reaches its zenith in Jesus’ commissioning of his disciples to Make Disciples (Matt 28:18-20). Notices that this is not merely a call for certain followers to serve as ambassadors. It is the mission of all followers of Jesus. This was true in the initial call to “follow Jesus and learn to fish for people” (4:19). The book of Matthew is a manual on missional discipleship.

The Great Commission is the no brainer “mission” text, but Matthew from beginning to end is about Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom and call of disciples to follow him into the world announcing the good news.

2) Matthew opens with a genealogy (1:1-17). Part of this genealogy affirms Jesus as “Son of Abraham”. It was to be through Abraham that “all peoples of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3). The possibility of persons outside of Israel being saved is opened up through references to Abraham in the Gospel of Matthew (see Matt 3:9 and 8:11). Moreover, Jesus’ ministry begins in “Galilee of gentiles” (4:15) and Jesus gives the Great Commission from Galilee (28:16­–20).

3) Matthew focuses on the inclusion of outsiders in the scope of Jesus’ mission. This begins with the Magi (2:1-12) and continues on with Jesus’ ministry to those outsiders desperate for the Kingdom (see especially Jesus’ mighty acts in chapters 8-9). Who are the recipients of Jesus’ ministry? Lepers, foreigners, women, Roman centurions, tax collectors. This is a significant demonstration of the expansion of the scope of Israel’s ministry through the person of Jesus the Messiah.

4) Jesus’ ministry begins with his calling of the first disciples (4:18-22) on the heels of his initial proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven (4:17). This is a significant linkage of the core of Jesus’ message and the necessity of calling together a new community. This community is given a missional ethos from its beginning as Jesus calls this new community to follow him into the world on mission. Jesus even models incarnational language by describing the fishermen’s new evangelistic vocation as “fishing for people.”

5) Jesus practices boundary -breaking ministry. After teaching the ethos of the Kingdom for his disciples (Matt 5–7), he then models it in a series of mighty acts in Matt 8:1–9:34. Jesus does not allow uncleanness, foreignness, or sexism to stop the advance of the kingdom.

6) The “missionary discourse” (Matt 9:35-11:1) is Jesus’ empowerment and deployment of his followers to engage in the same sort of ministry that he had modelled for them in Matt 5-9. The Gospel of Matthew serves to teach God’s people how to live as a holy missional community to/for/in the world.

7) Jesus does not call persons to faith faith per se. Instead, Jesus calls people to “follow me”. This is significant. The Christian life is not merely about right thinking; it is about right living as well. But right living cannot be subsumed under the heading of ethics. Instead the ethos of the Christ following movement is centered on mission. When Jesus called persons to follow him, Jesus led them on mission. This is model for the Christ following movement. The Risen Christ continues to lead his people on mission to save the universe (Matt 28:20).

What do you think? What else would you add?

© 2007 with significant revisions in 2009 and 2015.