Proper 21
Preaching
PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
A Narrative Approach
Jesus enters the temple: Matthew 21:12. It would appear that in this action Jesus fulfills the goal of his pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
In cleansing the temple Jesus fulfills scripture: Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11. Fulfillment of scripture is a constant theme in Matthew. In fulfilling scripture, in cleansing the temple, Jesus rejects the ritual religious system of his day. This is not renewal. This is rejection. See also Matthew 9:13; 12:6-7. A new religious order is at hand! Those who work in the temple are cast out. The blind, the lame, and the children, on the other hand, are welcomed to the temple: 21:14-17. The first shall be last and the last first! The children proceed to sing praises to Jesus. "Hosanna to the Son of David," they sing out. Again Jesus lifts up the children, the least, the little ones. See also 11:25; 18:2-6; 19:13-15. There is hope here for children of all ages!
God's messenger has appeared suddenly in the temple, like a reformer's fire and a fuller's soap (Malachi 3:1-4). The blazing son of righteousness has risen, with healing in its wings (2:2; Malachi 4:1-2; 4:16). For one shining moment he looks exactly like the one prefigured by John, cleaning his threshing floor and gathering his wheat (3:12). But those whom others called "wheat" reject him and those called "chaff" recognize him. 1
Matthew 21:18 signals the start of a new day. On this day Jesus encounters a fig tree with no fruit. "May no fruit ever come from you again!" Jesus exclaims. The fig tree withers at once. Jesus' action here may parallel the cleansing of the temple. When proper fruit is not borne, in temple or tree, it needs attention. Jesus is concerned with fruit-bearing. This "fruit" theme will also occur in the succeeding stories in Matthew. It occurs implicitly in the text assigned for this week: Matthew 21:32. John the Baptist called people to repent and bear fruits of repentance: Matthew 3:1-10, 8. On Matthew and the fruit theme, see also 7:16-20; 12:33; 13:8, 23; 21:34, 41, 43.
Controversy between Jesus and the religious leaders has been the constant theme of the third section of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 21:23 inaugurates a series of five controversies between Jesus and the Israelite authorities. The form of these combative controversies is that of question and answer. The authorities question; Jesus answers. All of these controversial dialogues take place in the temple. (The end of the controversies is followed by Jesus' monologue of denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees: Matthew 23.) At the end of the five controversies with the religious leaders they are left speechless: Matthew 22:46. The religious leaders leave Jesus in much the same fashion as Satan left Jesus after unsuccessfully trying to tempt him: 4:11.
Robert Smith reminds us again that we dare not read these controversies as directed at problems in Israel, problems in the past. We ought preach no sermons excoriating Israel and its leaders for the deficiency of their religious life. Smith remains convinced that Matthew tells these stories as an indictment of the church of his day. Our task, therefore, should be to seek to understand how Jesus' words of indictment might also be addressed to us!
Through all these old controversies Matthew defines the source and character of Jesus' authority as a model for the community of disciples. It is often said that Matthew's community was locked in mortal combat with synagogue communities and their leaders, and that Matthew applies to them the criticisms which Jesus had in an earlier generation leveled at priests and Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes.... Matthew takes up words spoken by Jesus against past leaders of God's people and applies those words to a new generation of leaders not outside but inside the church.2
The subject of the first controversy is authority. The chief priests and elders, the highest authorities in the Israelite community, ask Jesus what the source of his authority is. (Jesus will answer this question definitively only in his Great Commission: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been give to me..." Matthew 28:16. See also 11:25-30, 37.) The question of the "authorities" is, of course, a trap. Jesus knows it and puts the question back to the questioners. "Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" We note how Matthew emphasizes by telling this story that the ministry of the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus closely parallel each other. At any rate, Jesus has reversed the trap. Now the "authorities" were boxed in by any answer they would give. So they said that they didn't know the answer to his question. In the face of their inability to answer Jesus also refuses to answer their question about his authority.
"What do you think?" Jesus continues. (See 17:25; 18:12 for other instances of this question in Jesus' ministry.)
Jesus proceeds to tell them a story. Jesus thinks in stories. It's a story of life in the vineyard. In Matthew's Gospel there are three vineyard parables. See Matthew 20:1-16 and 21:33-43. One son says he will not work in the vineyard but later repents and goes to work. The other son says he will work in the vineyard but he fails to live up to his word. These sons would appear to represent two imperfect sets of Israelites in Jesus' day. Religion, Jesus seems to imply, is about doing, not just talking.
As this story comes to a close we note that the John the Baptist theme ties this story to the controversy that has preceded it. John's ministry centered in his offer of a baptism of repentance that would lead to fruitful lives (Matthew 3:1-10). His hearers understood Jesus' parable. They grasped that the son who said he would not go to work in the vineyard but did, was superior to the son who said he would and didn't. "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.' " The tax collectors and sinners, of course, are the last of all, the least of all. But they recognized the authority of John's baptismal ministry. They repented. They bore fruits of repentance. The chief priests and elders, however, did not recognize John's authority! They did not believe. They did not repent.
They did not bear fruit. Once again in Matthew's story the first are last and the last, first: 19:30; 20:16; 21:16.
A note is in order here about repentance. We remember that John the Baptist opened his ministry with a call to repentance: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2).
The ministry of Jesus began with this self-same call to repentance: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 4:17). It is not surprising, therefore, that Jesus' challenging word to the chief priests and elders is a call to repentance.
Homiletical Directions
It will be important that we set the temple context in our homiletical work with this week's text. We need also constantly to remind ourselves that Matthew may well intend that the words of Jesus in these controversies be addressed to an early Christian community. This means that they may be addressed to us as well. Let us not use the controversy stories of this week and following weeks to give a critique of a religion of old. We need to keep focused on ways these controversy stories are addressed to us.
We have discussed several themes above that can be the center of our preaching. Fruit bearing is one. Matthew's repeated theme of the last, first and first, last is another. We will discuss just one other possibility. Set the stories appointed for this week in their temple context. Tell them in such a way that all who hear will hear for themselves Jesus' invitation to the kingdom. "I invite you tax collectors. I invite you prostitutes.
I invite sinners of every stripe to repent and believe. I love sinners. I love you. I invite you to repent." We might make reference here to the centrality of the call to repentance in both the preaching of John the Baptist and the preaching of Jesus. The stories of the beginning of the ministry of John and Jesus with their call to repentance can be briefly told as a reminder of the centrality of repentance.
The invitation has been issued. We have heard it with our own ears. We have seen it with our own eyes. Note that Jesus' critique of those who did not repent is a critique that they did not see: v. 32. Seeing is not yet believing! Seeing is to lead to repentance. We have seen Jesus. We have seen him in the waters of our baptism. We have seen him portrayed to us in the Word of God. We have seen and experienced his presence in the supper.
We have seen. Have we also believed? Have we also repented? Have we also borne in our lives the fruits of repentance? Jesus says to us today through this story:
"Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and sinners may well precede you into the kingdom. When these sinners heard the word of the coming kingdom through John's preaching they repented; they believed. They had said no! to God in their lives.
But they were turned around by the authority and power of John's testimony to the kingdom. Today I call upon you who have seen John's ministry, I call upon you who have seen my ministry, who have heard my invitation, to turn around. I call upon you who have said no! to say yes! I call on you who have seen me to repent. I call upon you who have seen me to bear the fruits of repentance." Amen.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 247.
2. Ibid., p. 250.
In cleansing the temple Jesus fulfills scripture: Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11. Fulfillment of scripture is a constant theme in Matthew. In fulfilling scripture, in cleansing the temple, Jesus rejects the ritual religious system of his day. This is not renewal. This is rejection. See also Matthew 9:13; 12:6-7. A new religious order is at hand! Those who work in the temple are cast out. The blind, the lame, and the children, on the other hand, are welcomed to the temple: 21:14-17. The first shall be last and the last first! The children proceed to sing praises to Jesus. "Hosanna to the Son of David," they sing out. Again Jesus lifts up the children, the least, the little ones. See also 11:25; 18:2-6; 19:13-15. There is hope here for children of all ages!
God's messenger has appeared suddenly in the temple, like a reformer's fire and a fuller's soap (Malachi 3:1-4). The blazing son of righteousness has risen, with healing in its wings (2:2; Malachi 4:1-2; 4:16). For one shining moment he looks exactly like the one prefigured by John, cleaning his threshing floor and gathering his wheat (3:12). But those whom others called "wheat" reject him and those called "chaff" recognize him. 1
Matthew 21:18 signals the start of a new day. On this day Jesus encounters a fig tree with no fruit. "May no fruit ever come from you again!" Jesus exclaims. The fig tree withers at once. Jesus' action here may parallel the cleansing of the temple. When proper fruit is not borne, in temple or tree, it needs attention. Jesus is concerned with fruit-bearing. This "fruit" theme will also occur in the succeeding stories in Matthew. It occurs implicitly in the text assigned for this week: Matthew 21:32. John the Baptist called people to repent and bear fruits of repentance: Matthew 3:1-10, 8. On Matthew and the fruit theme, see also 7:16-20; 12:33; 13:8, 23; 21:34, 41, 43.
Controversy between Jesus and the religious leaders has been the constant theme of the third section of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 21:23 inaugurates a series of five controversies between Jesus and the Israelite authorities. The form of these combative controversies is that of question and answer. The authorities question; Jesus answers. All of these controversial dialogues take place in the temple. (The end of the controversies is followed by Jesus' monologue of denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees: Matthew 23.) At the end of the five controversies with the religious leaders they are left speechless: Matthew 22:46. The religious leaders leave Jesus in much the same fashion as Satan left Jesus after unsuccessfully trying to tempt him: 4:11.
Robert Smith reminds us again that we dare not read these controversies as directed at problems in Israel, problems in the past. We ought preach no sermons excoriating Israel and its leaders for the deficiency of their religious life. Smith remains convinced that Matthew tells these stories as an indictment of the church of his day. Our task, therefore, should be to seek to understand how Jesus' words of indictment might also be addressed to us!
Through all these old controversies Matthew defines the source and character of Jesus' authority as a model for the community of disciples. It is often said that Matthew's community was locked in mortal combat with synagogue communities and their leaders, and that Matthew applies to them the criticisms which Jesus had in an earlier generation leveled at priests and Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes.... Matthew takes up words spoken by Jesus against past leaders of God's people and applies those words to a new generation of leaders not outside but inside the church.2
The subject of the first controversy is authority. The chief priests and elders, the highest authorities in the Israelite community, ask Jesus what the source of his authority is. (Jesus will answer this question definitively only in his Great Commission: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been give to me..." Matthew 28:16. See also 11:25-30, 37.) The question of the "authorities" is, of course, a trap. Jesus knows it and puts the question back to the questioners. "Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" We note how Matthew emphasizes by telling this story that the ministry of the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus closely parallel each other. At any rate, Jesus has reversed the trap. Now the "authorities" were boxed in by any answer they would give. So they said that they didn't know the answer to his question. In the face of their inability to answer Jesus also refuses to answer their question about his authority.
"What do you think?" Jesus continues. (See 17:25; 18:12 for other instances of this question in Jesus' ministry.)
Jesus proceeds to tell them a story. Jesus thinks in stories. It's a story of life in the vineyard. In Matthew's Gospel there are three vineyard parables. See Matthew 20:1-16 and 21:33-43. One son says he will not work in the vineyard but later repents and goes to work. The other son says he will work in the vineyard but he fails to live up to his word. These sons would appear to represent two imperfect sets of Israelites in Jesus' day. Religion, Jesus seems to imply, is about doing, not just talking.
As this story comes to a close we note that the John the Baptist theme ties this story to the controversy that has preceded it. John's ministry centered in his offer of a baptism of repentance that would lead to fruitful lives (Matthew 3:1-10). His hearers understood Jesus' parable. They grasped that the son who said he would not go to work in the vineyard but did, was superior to the son who said he would and didn't. "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.' " The tax collectors and sinners, of course, are the last of all, the least of all. But they recognized the authority of John's baptismal ministry. They repented. They bore fruits of repentance. The chief priests and elders, however, did not recognize John's authority! They did not believe. They did not repent.
They did not bear fruit. Once again in Matthew's story the first are last and the last, first: 19:30; 20:16; 21:16.
A note is in order here about repentance. We remember that John the Baptist opened his ministry with a call to repentance: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2).
The ministry of Jesus began with this self-same call to repentance: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 4:17). It is not surprising, therefore, that Jesus' challenging word to the chief priests and elders is a call to repentance.
Homiletical Directions
It will be important that we set the temple context in our homiletical work with this week's text. We need also constantly to remind ourselves that Matthew may well intend that the words of Jesus in these controversies be addressed to an early Christian community. This means that they may be addressed to us as well. Let us not use the controversy stories of this week and following weeks to give a critique of a religion of old. We need to keep focused on ways these controversy stories are addressed to us.
We have discussed several themes above that can be the center of our preaching. Fruit bearing is one. Matthew's repeated theme of the last, first and first, last is another. We will discuss just one other possibility. Set the stories appointed for this week in their temple context. Tell them in such a way that all who hear will hear for themselves Jesus' invitation to the kingdom. "I invite you tax collectors. I invite you prostitutes.
I invite sinners of every stripe to repent and believe. I love sinners. I love you. I invite you to repent." We might make reference here to the centrality of the call to repentance in both the preaching of John the Baptist and the preaching of Jesus. The stories of the beginning of the ministry of John and Jesus with their call to repentance can be briefly told as a reminder of the centrality of repentance.
The invitation has been issued. We have heard it with our own ears. We have seen it with our own eyes. Note that Jesus' critique of those who did not repent is a critique that they did not see: v. 32. Seeing is not yet believing! Seeing is to lead to repentance. We have seen Jesus. We have seen him in the waters of our baptism. We have seen him portrayed to us in the Word of God. We have seen and experienced his presence in the supper.
We have seen. Have we also believed? Have we also repented? Have we also borne in our lives the fruits of repentance? Jesus says to us today through this story:
"Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and sinners may well precede you into the kingdom. When these sinners heard the word of the coming kingdom through John's preaching they repented; they believed. They had said no! to God in their lives.
But they were turned around by the authority and power of John's testimony to the kingdom. Today I call upon you who have seen John's ministry, I call upon you who have seen my ministry, who have heard my invitation, to turn around. I call upon you who have said no! to say yes! I call on you who have seen me to repent. I call upon you who have seen me to bear the fruits of repentance." Amen.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 247.
2. Ibid., p. 250.
