Bishop Dominic writes
As you will know, I am very keen that parishes that have not already done so should move from a one year cycle of readings at the Sunday Eucharist to the new lectionary that provides a three yearly cycle. I know it can mean more work for the preacher but the advantages are:
- we hear three times more scripture – and not just the same readings year after year.
- we are able to follow one of the gospels – Matthew, Mark or Luke – for a whole year. Readings from John are included for fasts and feasts.
- we are able to see how each evangelist sees the same Jesus differently.
- we are able to see how each gospel was written by a different author for a different purpose, and that helps us to re-apply the gospel message to our world today.
This Advent, we move from readings from Luke’s gospel to readings from Matthew’s gospel. Luke was a Greek and a physician; Matthew was a Jew who wrote his gospel in Greek and it is likely that Matthew’s church was in Antioch (Syria) which was one of the first places to receive Christianity.
Although Matthew is listed as the first gospel, scholars generally agree that he wrote his gospel after Mark. He uses material from Mark’s gospel and from a common source (which we call Q) but he also includes material of his own. He is writing for his own congregation to tell them the good news of Jesus, and he was writing with a particular purpose in mind.
Matthew’s congregation consisted of Jews who had become Christians but he knew that there were not likely to be many more converts like them who were steeped in Jewish theology and ethics. If the church was to grow, it had to change and reach out to the Gentiles. The Jewish converts would have to make allowances to welcome the Gentile converts and Matthew had the task of holding together these two groups. He didn’t want to lose the Jewish converts but he wanted to grow the church. We have the same problem today as we try to please the older members of our churches who are rooted in Anglican liturgy, music and ways and at the same time reach out and attract those for whom such things mean nothing at all.
Matthew is at pains to show that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah and the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophesies. He wanted to affirm the Jewish Christians in their Jewishness and at the same time let them know that if the church was to have a future, it would be because of Gentile converts. Whilst Matthew uses many Jewish references, his gospel is for Jews and Gentiles alike.
Matthew’s gospel is full of riches. It contains five great speeches, and three chapters (the Sermon on the Mount) about how Christians should live their lives. Matthew presents Jesus as a prophetic and ethical teacher as well as a compassionate healer and crucified Messiah. Throughout the gospel there is a conflict between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders and also between Jesus and his own disciples. The gospel, like a good sermon, has a beginning a middle and an end. In the beginning, Jesus is presented to us. The middle concerns his ministry and rejection. The end is his journey to Jerusalem and the passion, death and resurrection.
So, enjoy the good news as presented by Matthew, and prepare to meet the Jesus he presented to his people in Syria all those years ago, for Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
With love and prayers,
+ Dominic