Matthew: God's Plan for "All Nations"
Introduction to the New Testament Essay 2019
Jesus’ ministry on earth was intensely centred around the concept of the nearness of the kingdom of Heaven. This kingdom has an eschatological aspect in which all nations will inevitably be united under the authority of the One True God (Ps103:19). Jesus taught that He was the prophesied messiah and that those who believed in Him would be saved from God’s righteous judgement. On a mountain in Galilee, at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gave the apostles the commission to make disciples of “all nations, teaching them to observe all things which I commanded you” (Mt28:20). A key theme of the Gospel of Matthew is the expansion of God’s reign into “all nations.” The Lord’s Prayer, as instituted by Christ, expresses a desire for a worldwide praise of God’s name. Beside this, Matthew emphasises the concept of a new Israel – a more universal Israel. Matthew is particularly written to Jews, however this appears alongside universalism and the idea that God has extended His invitation to all because the Jews rejected Him. From the story of the Magi, to the Great Commission, Matthew established and emphasises the duty of the church to reach out to all nations.
The Lord’s Prayer, located in both Matthew and Luke’s Gospel, is widely known amongst Christians to this day (the Matthean text is used more commonly, Mt6:9-13). Though it is recited frequently, its meaning is often left unexplained. The prayer serves as an outline to show disciples how to talk to God, and a major theme is the concept of doing God’s work in all nations. The lines, “hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” are particularly contributory to this notion. The original Greek term for “hallowed” is hagiazo, meaning “to make or treat as holy” (Strong’s #37). It expresses a desire for the world to glorify God and recognise that His name is sacred, not something to merely throw around carelessly. It asks that everyone would come to identify Yahweh as the one true God, deserving of worship and obedience. The line “Your kingdom come” acts as a plea that God’s authority will grow now “in the hearts of individuals as well as in the world as a whole” (Geldenhuys & Bruce, 1980, p910), hence extending God’s rule to all nations. In heaven, God’s rule is wholly and unconditionally recognised and God’s will is enacted (His will being that people be saved, as made clear throughout the Old and New Testaments). Believers therefore pray that the earth would mirror heaven in this way. This is a prayer for evangelism and conversion. The version found in Matthew takes these further steps to emphasise the importance of reaching all nations (as opposed to Luke’s shorter version) and in this sense it can be regarded as a key theme particular to Matthew. Matthew 10 can also establish this theme. In the chapter, Jesus gives His apostles instructions before they go throughout the region and do His Father’s work – which relates to Matthew 9:37-38, just prior, in which Jesus states that, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” He clarifies the need for God’s plan to be extended to all corners of the earth, and then He sends out His apostles, directing and giving them the authority to teach and heal. In this particular scenario, Jesus instructs them not to venture into pagan territory. Though He does not forbid preaching to gentiles, He desires that they focus upon reaching the Jews – God’s chosen people (ie ministries have priorities). The expansion of God’s will to all nations can be said to be a key theme of the Gospel of Matthew by considering passages such as the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus Sends Out the Twelve.
The theme of going out into “all nations” is present all throughout Matthew’s Gospel, even as soon as chapter two. In the passage (Mt2:1-12) is an account of the Magi coming to worship the baby Jesus, not found in any other Gospel. These “wise men,” we are told, came from “the East,” and probably as far as Persia – over 800 miles travel. They are likely to have gotten their information from Balaam’s prophecy and the writings of the prophet Daniel. In this story is a thriving note of universality as it depicts Jesus being acknowledged by Gentiles even before His ministry (Tasker, 1980, p963). Immediately after this account, Jesus escapes King Herod and escapes to Egypt – it is therefore Gentile land that offers the baby Jesus protection (Guthrie, 1970, p23). Matthew frequently emphasises that God calls believers from outside of Israel (Mt3:9, 4:15, 8:10-12, 12:42, 21:31, Walton & Keener, 2016, p1610). Stories such as The Faith of the Centurion, The Faith of a Canaanite Woman and the centurion under the cross who proclaimed, “Surely He was the Son of God!” furthers the idea that Jesus would have the Gospel preached to the whole world (Mt24:14). The theme continues to the final passage of the Gospel – The Great Commission (Mt28:18-20). Though this passage is present in some early manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel, it is most famously located in Matthew. Jesus gives His final command on a mountain in Galilee. This is significant, as from there Jesus might have overlooked all the territories of Galilee, Decapolis, Phoenicia, Samaria, and Gaulanitis (He visited most of these during His ministry). In this sense, He could see into the territories of the Jews, Samaritans, Canaanites, Greeks and Romans. The location alone helps to clarify what Jesus meant when He told the apostles to go out into “all nations.” They are to convert and train disciples from all kinds of people. Jesus tells the apostles to “teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This includes, of course, the command to make disciples. In light of this, the apostles are to train trainers – disciple people who will go on to disciple others. The term “disciple” in this passage is the Greek verb matheteuo, and implies an active process (Strong’s #3100). Jesus effectively commissions a multiplication effect that will stretch out into all nations. The theme of the expansion of believers throughout all the world is a recurrent and key theme of Matthew’s Gospel, from the beginning to end of Jesus’ life on earth.
Matthew’s Gospel emphasises the coming of a new Israel, a universal church, where Jews and Gentiles collaborate (Tasker, 1980, p963). The Greek term ekklesia is used three times in the Gospels, and only in Matthew. The term refers to an assembly/congregation of citizens gathered to discuss state affairs (Strong’s #1577), but is most commonly translated as “church.” If Jesus had desired to be exclusive in His description, He may have rather talked of a “synagogue” of believers, rather than an “ekklesia” of believers. Not every town would have had a synagogue, but all of them would have had an ekklesia. Among other things, Jesus here implies that He desires all peoples to come to faith. The church is therefore made up of both Jews and Gentiles who acknowledge Jesus as Lord. The term “nations” in the Great Commission is translated from the Greek term ethnos (Strong’s #1484), though in the general New Testament, the term is most often translated into “Gentiles.” The phrase “all nations” is as inclusive as you can have (Bock, 2013). In Matthew 21:31-32, it is made clear that this inclusivity extends to peoples such as tax collectors and prostitutes. The new Israel is none other than the old Israel transformed. Jesus states that He was sent to the “lost sheep” of Israel, but He found greater faith in the Gentile centurion (Mt8:10). The Parable of the Wedding Banquet depicts how the Jews rejected Jesus, so salvation was offered to all people. While ethnic Israel has not been rejected, being a part of the new Israel was not a matter of ethnicity, but of belief and fellowship with Christ (other theories regarding new Israel include classical dispensational theology and replacement theology). Jewish apathy gave occasion for the spreading of the good news to the Gentiles. While Matthew appeals to a Jewish audience by quoting familiar scripture, these references include cases of an extension of God’s grace to all nations, such as Isaiah 9:1-2 and Isaiah 42:1-4. In the genealogy of Christ, also, four Gentile women are listed. The Parable of the Tenants indicate that those who receive the Gospel are fruitful, and this can extend to Gentiles, who are described as of greater faith (due to the example set by the centurion and Canaanite woman). In this sense, the author is arguing that Jewish scripture and prophecy reveal God’s plan for people beyond Israel and the Jews. God has used Gentiles in the past and will use them in the future. Matthew’s Gospel stresses that God’s saving plans exceed ethnic Israel and extend to all nations.
The extension of God’s plan to “all nations” can easily be said to be a key theme of the Gospel of Matthew. This is made apparent from beginning to end – from the genealogy of Jesus to the Great Commission. The genealogy demonstrates past Gentile involvement in God’s plan, then the later visit of the Magi tells a story of Persian wisemen who travelled a great distance to worship the Christ child. The Lord’s Prayer expresses a desire for all people to rightfully identify God’s name as holy and authoritative, and in Matthew 10, Jesus send His disciples into the region to do the work of God. Matthew’s Gospel is full of numerous terms, parables and Tanakh references that seem to favour the Gentiles and the idea that God had always intended for a broader Israel of true believers, regardless of ethnicity or circumstance. God’s plan and God’s kingdom is all-encompassing.
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