Matthew's gospel: knowing and doing

There is a constant contrast in Matthew's gospel with the people who know the Scriptures, meet Jesus, listen to His teaching and do nothing about it, with those who believe and obey. What marks out Jesus immediately when He is in the wilderness and, just before this, in His baptism, is His perfect obedience to the Father and His use of the Scriptures to affect His practical actions. He is baptized to 'fulfil all righteousness'(Matt 3:15). When tempted, He used the Scripture to blunt the weapons of the enemy and, through His fasting and refusal to give in to Satan's demands, He showed the practical impact the Word had on His life.

The amazing dynamic of Jesus' healing ministry grew out of His understanding of His role as the Messiah, defined by the prophets, such as Isaiah, quoted in Matt 4:15-16. Jesus knew He had the blessing of God His Father, and this knowledge and anointing of the Holy Spirit fuelled His hands-on ministry. I wonder if sometimes we know so much about who we are in Christ, and we know that we have the Holy Spirit, and yet we allow ourselves to be held back. You don't often see dynamic ministries like Jesus had, and perhaps we should question why not. Jesus is alive today to work through us! The picture Jesus gives of His people being salt and light both speak and convey the impact the people of God should have on those around them, and it is 'your good works' that have this impact and 'give glory' to the Father (Matt 5:16). It's not going to be the theological qualifications of Jesus' followers that have an impact; it's the radical behaviour that results from right understanding of who they follow.

One of Jesus' big criticisms of the people's religion was that they practiced righteousness 'before other people in order to be seen by them' (Matt 6:1). God's glory was not the motive. Jesus said they will have 'no reward'. In a particularly chilling teaching, Jesus says "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty work in your name? And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.'"(Matt 7:21-23) The point is not to simply try to do impressive miracles or good deeds, but to genuinely serve God with our lives and actions, not just heaping up knowledge about what is true without it ever affecting our behaviour. The well-known story of the man who built his house on the rock (Matt 7:24-26) is all about hearing Jesus' words and doing them.

The Pharisees and scribes come across as a sorry group. They know the letter of the law, but when the long-awaited messiah comes, they do not believe in Him. It is the tax collectors and sinners who respond to Jesus in faith (see Matt 9:9-13). They are the ones who recognise the truth and Jesus changes their lives. At the end of Matthew's gospel, the Pharisees remain unchanged.

The parable of the sower (Matt 13) vividly depicts the fact that there are different responses to the Word and not everyone will be changed in a lasting way by it. This doesn't mean the Word is any less powerful as it clearly has the power to multiply fantastically. But those who know the truth and allow the thorns to choke them will end up bearing no fruit.

As the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value illustrate (see Matt 13:44-45), if we really understand the nature of God's kingdom and the salvation Jesus offers, then we won't question how much it costs to pursue it; we will let nothing stop us.

Jesus makes it clear that nothing is impossible for God (Matt 19:26). There are no limits to His kingdom. He feeds 5000, He feeds 4000, He walks on water, He calms the storm, He heals the sick and yet He did not see these things greeted with full faith but constant doubt. The Pharisees demand signs as if these things are not sufficient, but the greatest sign -Jesus' death and resurrection- was something they themselves initiated in the sovereignty of God's plan. Jesus said 'if you have faith and do not doubt... even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen.' (Matt 21:21) Sometimes we need to question whether our knowledge is really being worked out in our lives... in our prayers... in our faith. If not, it's time to do something about it.