Augustine, Harmony of the Evangelists.2.9-11: Harmonizing the Infancy Narratives

 

Notes:

In this episode, we are looking at Book 2, chapter 9-11where Augustine addresses several points where some readers might see apparent contradictions in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke.

2.9: An explanation of the circumstance that Matthew states that Joseph’s reason for going into Galilee with the child Christ was his fear of Archelaus, who was reigning at that time in Jerusalem in place of his father, while Luke tells us that the reason for his going into Galilee was the fact that their city Nazareth was there.

This brief chapter continues the discussion concerning Archelaus which began in 2.8. Augustine harmonizes Matthew’s account of Joseph’s fear of going into Judea given the reign of Archelaus, the angelic warning, and the decision to go into Galilee (Matthew 2:22) with Luke’s account noting that Mary and Joseph were originally from Nazareth of Galilee.  He suggests that if there had not been fear of Archelaus, they might instead have settled in Jerusalem, where the temple was.

2.10: A statement of the reason why Luke tells us that His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover along with the boy; while Matthew intimates that their dread of Archelaus made them afraid to go there on their return from Egypt.

Augustine must have known of some critics who saw the mention of Archelaus in Matthew as somehow being at odds with Luke’s account on various levels including the mention of the family’s frequent trips to Jerusalem. Augustine notes that none of the Evangelists reveal how long Archelaus reigned. Thus, he  might have had only a short reign. If it was longer, the family might have gone up stealthily, without drawing notice to themselves. If this were the case, it only magnifies their piety and faithfulness, despite these threats. Objections to the harmony of Matthew and Luke are not insuperable.

2.11: An examination of the question as to how it was possible for them to go up, according to Luke’s statement, with Him to Jerusalem to the temple, when the days of the purification of the mother of Christ were accomplished, in order to perform the usual rites, if it is correctly recorded by Matthew, that Herod had already learned from the wise men that the child was born in whose stead, when he sought for Him, he slew so many children.

Augustine here tackles another perceived difficulty. How did the family of Jesus go to the temple in Jerusalem for purification if Herod was threatening his life? Augustine offers several explanations. One is that Herod would have been too busy with other royal affairs to notice their visit. Another is that he might not yet have been aware of the escape of the wise men. Only after this purification rite was done and they escaped to Egypt did it enter Herod’s mind to slay the innocents. Augustine even suggests Herod might have been prompted to perform this evil act after hearing the publicity relating to the words spoken by Simeon and Anna at the infant Christ’s visit to Jerusalem.

Conclusion:

In these three short chapters Augustine suggests various reasonable explanations as to how the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke might be fit together into a unified and harmonious narrative. Armed with such explanations one need not worry about any apparent conflicts in the story but receive them as being in symphony with one another.

JTR

Augustine, Harmony of the Evangelists.2.5: Harmonizing the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke

 

Image: James Tissot, Les rois mages chez Hérode (The Magi in the House of Herod), c. 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum.

In this episode we are looking at Book 2, chapter 5 where Augustine harmonizes the infancy narrative in Matthew 1—2 and that in Luke 1—2.

2.5: A statement of the manner in which Luke’s procedure is proved to be in harmony with Matthew’s in those matters concerning the conception and the infancy of the boyhood of Christ, which are omitted by the one and recorded by the other.

Augustine argues that there is “no contradiction” between the two evangelist in their respective infancy narratives. Luke sets forth in detail what Matthew omitted. Both bear witness “that Mary conceived by the Holy Ghost.” There is “no want of concord between them.”

Matthew and Luke both affirm that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Each is also unique. Only Matthew has the visit of the magi. Only Luke has the manger, the angel announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, the multitude of the heavenly host praising God, etc.

Augustine notes that a deserving inquiry can be raised as to the precise timing of the events in both Matthew and Luke, and how they can be harmonized with one another. He then provides a narrative in which he weaves Matthew chapters 1-2 and Luke 1-2 into one unified account, in this order:

Matthew 1:18: Introduction

Luke 1:5-36: The conception of John and Jesus

Matthew 1:18-25: Announcement to Joseph

Luke 1:57—2:21: Luke’s birth account (shepherds, angels)

Matthew 2:1-12: Matthew’s account of birth (wise men)

Luke 2:22-39: The visit to Jerusalem

Matthew 2:13-23: Flight to Egypt and return to Nazareth

Luke 2:40-52: Family Passover visit to Jerusalem when Jesus is twelve

Conclusion:

Augustine provides his own merging of the two infancy narratives, perhaps in the same way earlier writers like Tatian had attempted to blend the Gospels into one account in his Diatessaron. Augustine is likely drawing on Old Latin translations and his narrative provides several interesting textual variants. For example, the angelic announcement in Luke 2:14 reads “and on earth peace to men of good will [Hominibus bonae voluntatis],” diverging from the traditional text, which would be rendered, “and on earth peace, good will toward men.” So, this chapter is interesting not just for insights into harmonization but also textual issues via the Old Latin version(s) cited.

JTR

Jots & Tittles 17: "Plus Nothing" LIfe and Teachings of Jesus: A Modern Day Diatessaron?

 

JTR

The Vision (11.4.22): The Cleansing of the Temple

Image: Nearby farmhouse on the hill, North Garden, Virginia, November 2022

Note: Devotion taken from October 23, 2022 sermon on Matthew 21:12-16.

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves (Matthew 21:12).

What applications can we draw from Matthew’s account of Christ’s prophetically symbolic cleansing of the temple when he entered Jerusalem (Matthew 21:12-16)? Here are several things to ponder:

First, we see here the zeal of Christ for pure worship. John notes regarding the first cleansing that when the disciples reflected on this, they remembered that it was written in Psalm 69:9, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (John 2:17).

Second, we are reminded that Christ demonstrated humility in his incarnational ministry but also righteous or justified indignation at sin. We are also reminded that when he comes in glory he will come as a righteous judge (Acts 17:31).

Third, we need to examine our own hearts and see if we have fallen into the sin of those who bought and sold in the temple. Have we tried to use or manipulate religion as a means to our own ends? Have we tried to take advantage of the good will of others? Have we tried to offer what is lame before the Lord and so profaned his table (see Malachi 1:12)? If so, we are called upon to repent, to have tables overturned and wrong ways blocked by Christ (Mark 11:16).

Fourth, have we been like the chief priests and scribes? Have we been “sore displeased” with Christ and the things of Christ? If this is the case then Christ comes again to examine us. He asks, “have ye never read… ?” (Matthew 21:15-16).

Fifth and finally, will we be among those simple ones, spoken of in Psalm 8:2, from whose mouths praise in perfected unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ?

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (7.15.22): The Transfiguration

 

Image: Blueberries, North Garden, Virginia, July 2022

Note: Devotional taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 17:1-13.

And [he] was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light (Matthew 17:2).

The first three Gospels agree in saying that after Peter’s confession and after Christ’s teaching on the suffering servant and the cost of discipleship Jesus went up onto a mountain and was transfigured (cf. Matthew 16—17; Mark 8—9; Luke 9). So, there is a threefold Gospel witness to this event. Certainly, this was a milestone in the life and ministry of Christ. If one thinks, however, of some of the key events in that life, like his birth in Bethlehem, his baptism by John, his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his passion (the cross and resurrection), he may overlook the transfiguration.

When I was preparing the service for today, I looked in the Trinity Hymnal to find a hymn that fit with the text but saw no entry for hymns on the transfiguration (see vii).

Matthew’s description is minimal: “And he was transfigured [metamorpheo] before them” (17:2a). He then adds that Christ’s face literally lit up with glory, “and his face did shine as the sun” (v. 2). What happens if you look directly at the sun? You are blinded. Matthew then says, “his raiment was white as the light.” We get the sense of his clothing becoming translucent. Mark says it was “exceeding white as snow, as no fuller on earth can white them” (Mark 9:3).

This was an unusual event. There is really nothing else like it in the Scriptures. It left a lasting impression on the eyewitnesses (see Peter’s account in 2 Peter 1:16-18). It was a time when the divine nature of the Lord Jesus was clearly revealed to a handful of his disciples. They saw, as it were, the pre-incarnate glory of Christ (2 Cor 8:9).

This came on the heels of Christ’s teaching that the Son of man had to suffer many things, be killed, and be raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21). It was a revelation to the inner core of Christ’s disciples as to the Lord Jesus’s true identity. One person with two natures: true man and true God. Though he would suffer and die as a man, with respect to his human nature, his glory, with respect to his divine nature, would not be diminished.

Just as the Father through his divine voice declared at the commencement of his public ministry, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), so a second stamp of approval is given at the transfiguration as he moves toward the cross, with the added exhortation, “hear ye him” (Matthew 17:5).

So, we too are encouraged to listen to Christ, and we are reminded that one day we also will see him “face to face” in his glory (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (5.20.22): Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid

Image: Rembrandt, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 14:21-36.

Matthew 14:21-33 records the miracle of Christ walking on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples were in a ship “in the midst of the sea,” as it was “tossed with waves” and struggling against a contrary wind (v. 24). Then, in the fourth watch of the night (c. 3-6 am), Christ came walking toward them (v. 25).

As he drew near, Christ spoke to the disciples. Notice that he ministered first to them through his words. Paul will later write that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17). He offers three consecutive statements:

First, a command: “Be of good cheer.” It is just one word in Greek, a command from a verb meaning to be confident, be courageous, be cheerful. He said this to the paralytic in Matthew 9:2: “be of good cheer.” We might paraphrase it, perhaps, as, Get-ahold-of-yourselves, or Buck-up!

Second, he makes a declaration: “it is I.” In Greek is it ego eimi, or, “I am.” This echoes Exodus 3:14: “I am that I am.” It also recalls the “I am” sayings of our Lord in John (6:35; 8:12; 10:9, 11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1).

Third, he commands, “Be not afraid.” Christ calls upon the disciples to push away fear as they trust in him. 1 John 4:18 says that “perfect love casteth out fear.” Trust in Christ casts out fear of circumstances, fear of death, fear of failure, fear of man.

Spurgeon said of the disciples in the storm: “How much did their case resemble ours when we are in sore distress! We are tossed about, and can do nothing; the blast is too furious for us to bear up against it, or even to live while driven before it" (Matthew, 200).

It is comforting to know that in such times, Christ says the same to us: “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (5.13.22): Give ye them to eat

 

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 14:13-21.

But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat (Matthew 14:16).

We can focus on three figures in the feeding of the five thousand:

First: It tells us about the person and work of Christ.

It makes us stand in awe at the power and authority of Christ. Who has power over nature to be able to multiple loaves and fishes? Who can do such things but God himself? Christ did these things. Jesus is Lord.

Second: It tells us about the apostles (and beyond them the church today):

What does he say to the apostles?: “give ye them to eat.”

The risen Christ will tell Peter when he recommissions him: “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15); “Feed my sheep” (v. 16); “Feed my sheep” (v. 17).

At the end of this Gospel the risen Christ will say to these apostles in the Great Commission: “Go and teach all nations….” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The commission given to the apostles continues in the church, built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles with Christ being the chief cornerstone: “Give ye them to eat.”

There is significance here in the fact that the disciples had so little, humanly speaking, to offer. Spurgeon: “It is good for us to know how very poor we are, and how far from being able to meet the wants of the people around us.” Truly, our very little goes a long way in Christ’s hands.

This is a reminder that we have but one thing to give the world and that is Christ.

Third: It tells us about the multitude who were fed by Christ:

As Christians we can relate to the apostles, but more foundationally we can relate to the hungry, sick, and bewildered multitude.

We are reminded that Christ did not look upon us with indifference or disdain, but he looked upon us with compassion. He saw us as sheep without a shepherd.

He healed us and he fed us.  V. 20 describes the experience of all those who find faith in Christ: “And they did all eat, and were filled.” Christ is the only one who can fill and satisfy our hungry souls.

The deepest needs of men, our deepest needs, will not be satisfied when the church offers politics, or yoga classes, or financial counseling, but when we offer the only thing that matters and the only thing that satisfies: Christ himself.

So, when Christ says, “give ye them to eat,” let us give them Christ.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4.29.22): Is not this the carpenter's son?

 

Image: Azaleas, North Garden, Virginia, April 2022

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 13:53-58.

Matthew 1:55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Matthew 13:53-58 describes Christ’s return to “his own country” after he finished teaching a series of seven parables (vv. 53-54). A parallel account is recorded in Luke 4:16-32 of Christ’s visit to the synagogue in Nazareth.

Matthew records a series of six questions posed that day (see vv. 54-56). The second of those was, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (v. 55a). The Greek word for carpenter is tektōn, which could mean builder or contractor. This is similar to the question recorded by Luke: “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22). It shows their ignorance of his Christ’s origins (See Matthew 1:18-25).

Sometimes the greatest obstacle to evangelism is not that people do not know anything Jesus, but that they think they know him, though they know him amiss.

Spurgeon notes that they flavor their questions with “impertinent unbelief.” In addition to their ignorance of the virgin birth, “They hinted that he could not have learned much wisdom in a carpenter’s shop; and as he had not been among the rabbis to obtain a superior education, he could not really know much… He was a mere nobody… They could not listen to the talk of a mere carpenter’s son” (Matthew, 187).

Here is the way the apostle John summed up Christ’s ministry, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). Even in Matthew 13 the shadow of the cross is already starting to fall over the narrative.

Christ came as a prophet without honour (Matthew 13:57). It was not just that he was rejected by the people of Nazareth, but that he was rejected also by us. We too have mixed our questions about Christ with impertinent unbelief. As John put it, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

But here is the good news, God has overcome and overwhelmed our rejection of Christ through his love for his enemies poured out on the cross.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Vision (3.11.22): His mother and his brethren stood without

 

Image: Twelfth century façade of the supposed Tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 12:46-50.

“While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him” (Matthew 12:46).

How astonished Christ’s family members must have been at the great throng, the multitude that had been drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Many have been struck by the descriptions of Christ’s family within the Gospels. On one hand, some of them, especially Mary his mother, understood very early on the special person and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Gabriel’s announcement to her in Luke 1:30-33).

One of the sad things to happen later in church history was the rise of an ungodly and inappropriate emphasis upon Mary among some Christians that continues to this day, so that more attention was to Mary than to the Lord Jesus himself. When that happens, it can rightly be described as Mariolatry.

We should not let that later error overshadow, however, the fact that in the Gospels Mary is generally presented as one of the earliest disciples of the Lord Jesus, even if her full understanding of Christ’s identity came not immediately but, as with other disciples, only through a more gradual process.

Matthew says his brethren were also there. Luke tells us plainly that the Lord Jesus was the “firstborn [prōtotokos]” son of Mary (Luke 2:7). Later in Matthew we have mention of his “brethren” (13:53-56). Were these half-siblings or extended kinsmen? The old Puritan exegete Matthew Poole observed, “For the brethren of Christ and his sisters, here mentioned, the most by them understand his near relations.”

Although some of Christ’s family members (like presumably Mary and James) seem to have become his disciples very early in his ministry, others were slower to reach that conclusion. In fact, in John 7:15 the beloved disciple makes this striking statement: “For neither did his brethren believe in him.”

Even here in Matthew 12 it says the family “stood without” (v. 46, 47). In Mark 3:21 we read, “And when his friends [lit. “those with him”; a KJV translation note offers “kinsmen” as an alternative rendering] heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.” Historians talk about the “criterion of embarrassment.” If it sounds unflattering, it must be true. Surely this is a trustworthy tradition. The apostles were not embarrassed to record the fact that early on his ministry some of Christ’s family members did not believe in him and “stood outside” his inner circle.

What this proves, in fact, is the true humanity of Christ. He came as a true man. He did not come with a halo around his head or floating six inches off the ground. What did Isaiah prophesy of him? See Isaiah 53:2b, “he hath no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” If he had been anything other than a true man, he could not have accomplished what he did for us. Paul says, “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham” (see Hebrews 2:16-17; cf. Hebrews 4:15).

This tells us who Christ was in his incarnation. That he was a true man is made clear by the fact that even his own family members took some time to come to faith in him. But it also tells us ultimately who he is as the Son of God, because once he was raised from the dead, those same family members, some of whom were slow to come to faith in him, were soundly converted.

Notice Luke’s description of the apostles after Christ’s resurrection and ascension in Acts 1, to which he adds in Acts 1:14, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” It was the resurrection that convinced them! It’s been said that the greatest proof of the truth of the resurrection is the fact that those who saw the risen Jesus were forever changed by that experience.

Here is something to consider historically: After the resurrection, there is no record of any family member of the Lord Jesus rejecting his claim to be the Messiah. Believe me, if such persons had existed, they would have been called up by the various Jewish and pagan critics and skeptics. But after the resurrection there are no historical references to the family members of the Lord Jesus NOT believing in him. Just the opposite, there are abundant witnesses to the fact that his family members became faithful disciples of Christ, many even offering up their lives for their faith in him.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The "brethren" of Christ: Siblings or Kinsmen?

 

Image: Traditional site of Mary's house in Ephesus.

Posted this on twitter yesterday and thought I’d repost here (reflecting on Sunday’s sermon on Matt 12:46-50 and the mention of Christ’s mother and brethren “standing without”):

Interesting how many of the early Protestant interpreters see the "brethren" of Jesus as kinsmen rather than siblings. M. Poole on Matt 13:55-56: "For the brethren of Christ and his sisters, here mentioned, the most of them understand his near relations."

M. Poole on "brother" in Mark 6:3: "that is, the kinsman, (as most interpret it,) supposing Mary, the mother of our Lord had no more children: I shall not determine it."

M. Poole on the brethren of Mark 6:3 (cont.): "They say these four were the children of Mary, sister to the mother of our Lord, and the wife of Cleophas [Mark 15:40; 16:1]."

JTR

Note: See also my article, "Who Wrote the Epistle of James?"

The Vision (9.24.21): The Humiliation of Jesus Christ

 

Image: Roses, North Garden, Virginia, September 2021

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon in our afternoon series on the Apostles' Creed.

Philippians 2:8: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

When the godly men of old who compiled the Reformed confessions and catechisms discussed the incarnational ministry of Christ, they generally spoke of it as coming in two “states” or circumstances: his state of humiliation and his state of exaltation.

Consider Spurgeon’s Baptist Catechism:

Q. 26: Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?

A: Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.

Q. 27: Wherein consists Christ’s exaltation?

A: Christ’s exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.

The second of six subsections in the Apostles’ Creed addressing the second person of the Godhead (following, “And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord”), notes six Biblical facts about the incarnation of Christ, all related to his “humiliation” (numbers added):

Who was (1) conceived by the Holy Ghost, (2) born of the Virgin Mary, (3) suffered under Pontius Pilate, was (4) crucified, (5) dead, and (6) buried.

The believer is one who discovers that God had done something for him in the Lord Jesus that he cannot begin to fathom. The second person of the eternal Godhead entered into a state of humiliation for us.

We could not ascend to him; he had to condescend to us.

He entered the womb; he was born; he suffered; he was crucified; he died; he was buried.

Here’s another way Paul put it: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

The believer is one who affirms this truth and stands before it with wonder, admiration, awe, and gratitude.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Augustine, Harmony of the Evangelists.1.6-7: Why didn't Jesus write anything?

 

1.6: Of the four living creatures in the Apocalypse, which have been taken by some in one application, and by others in another, as apt figures of the four evangelists.

Augustine discusses here the so-called “tetramorph,” a development in early Christian literature and art, in which the four Evangelists are depicted as the four living creatures in Revelation 4:6-7 (cf. Ezekiel 1:10).

Most early interpreters suggested the winged man to represent Matthew, the winged lion to represent Mark, the winged ox to represent Luke, and the eagle to represent John.

Augustine, however, reverses the first two by suggesting that Matthew should be the winged lion, given his royal emphasis on Jesus as king, and Mark, as the winged man, since he specifically describes Christ neither as king or priest.

He also mentions that some associated the man to Matthew, the eagle to Mark, and the lion to John.

He suggests the ox is right for Luke given his emphasis on Jesus as priest, and the eagle for John, since “he soars like an eagle” in his high Christology.

1.7 A statement of Augustine’s reason for undertaking this work on the harmony of the evangelists, and an example of the method in which he meets those who allege that Christ wrote nothing Himself, and that His disciples made an unwarranted affirmation in proclaiming Him to be God.

Augustine begins this chapter by describing the Gospels as “chariots” in which Christ is “borne throughout the earth and brings the peoples under His easy yoke, and his light burden.” Calvin will later borrow this image in his Harmony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Augustine also notes the calumnious attacks on the Gospels by those who want to keep men from the faith. Thus, he sets out in particular to show that the Gospels “do  not stand in any antagonism to each other.”

He also addresses the criticism raised by some that Jesus himself wrote nothing, but that we learn of his life and teaching only through the writings of his disciples, who exaggerated their master. Such men say Jesus was the wisest of men, but they deny that he is to be worshipped as God.

Augustine responds by pointing out that some of the most admired pagan philosophers left behind no writings, like Pythagoras and Socrates, but were written about by his disciples. If they accept their records of the philosophers, then why not accept the Gospel accounts of Jesus?

Conclusion:

In his discussion of the tetramorph, Augustine continues to discuss what makes each Gospel distinctive. He also engaged here in apologetics, defending the harmony of the Gospels and their historical reliability, even though they contain nothing written by Jesus himself.

JTR

Book Review: Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, The Life and Teaching of Jesus, Vol. 1:The Beginning of the Gospel

 

I have posted audio versions of my book review of Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, The Life and Teaching of Jesus, Vol. 1: The Beginning of the Gospel (SVP, 2018).

My written review appeared in the Midwestern Journal of Theology, Vol. 20, No. 1 (2021): 121-124. I have posted the pdf to my academia.edu page. You can read it here.

For more on Alfeyev you can visit his personal website where you can find this recent account of his meeting with some Russian Baptist leaders. We pray that Alfeyev and other leaders in the Russian Orthodox church will not restrict the religious freedom of Protestants (including Baptists) in that great nation. You can also listen to a portion of his St. Mathew's Passion here in English.

JTR 

Book Review: David Wenham, Did St. Paul Get Jesus Right? The Gospel According to Paul

 

 

Audio versions of my review of David Wenham, Did St. Paul Get Jesus Right? The Gospel According to Paul (Lion Hudson, 2010): 160 pp.

My written review appeared in the Reformed Baptist Trumpet, Vol. 4, No. 1-2 (2013): 11-13. You can read the pdf here.

JTR

The Vision (3.19.21): Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake

 

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 5:7-12.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:10).

In John 15:20 Christ told his disciples, “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

This truth has been proven over and again throughout church history.

Peter and John were arrested in the temple, beaten, and commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus (Acts 5:40), to which Luke adds that they departed “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (v. 41).

The story continued in the protomartyr Stephen (Acts 7), and in the death of James, the first apostle to lay down his life for Christ (Acts 12:1-2).

It is there in the multiple imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks, and trials of the apostle Paul (cf. 2 Cor 11:21-30).

It continued in those mentioned in Hebrews 10, who were made a “gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions (v. 33) and who “took joyfully” the spoiling of their goods, knowing in themselves that they had “in heaven a better and an enduring substance” (v. 34).

Beyond the time of the apostles, it was there in early men who suffered, including Ignatius of Antioch, who wrote letters to his fellow believers in the churches as he was being carried off to Rome to be fed to the lions. Or, in Polycarp of Smyrna who refused to deny Christ when he was 86 years old and was put to death for his faithfulness.

The more the church was persecuted the more it grew. As Tertullian of Carthage put it, “The blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the church.”

It continued in the sufferings of believers under various Roman emperors, including during the “Great Persecution” under Diocletian when Bibles were burned and ministers put to death.

It continued at the time of the Protestant Reformation when the “Marian martyrs” were burned at the stake for preaching the Gospel.

It was there when men like the Particular Baptist Benjamin Keach was pilloried for teaching believer’s baptism.

And when John Bunyan was put in prison for preaching outside of state sanction, making shoe-laces from his prison cell to support his family, which included a daughter who was bind.

It continued in the persecuted church in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during communism.

And it continues today among brethren all over the world who continue to suffer shame and even death for the name of Christ. In my experiences those who have suffered most for Christ are usually those who desire least to talk of this. They wish instead to speak of Christ.

If you were to visit the grounds of the little hospital in Jibla, Yemen, you’d find the graves of William Koehn (administrator of the hospital) and Dr. Martha Myers (who for over 25 years served there as an obstetrician and surgeon). They were martyred by a fanatical Muslim on December 30, 2002. On Koehn’s grave marker in crude handwritten English and Arabic it says, “God’s tool; loving husband; father to many”; and on Myers’ it simply states in broken English, “She love God” (for a picture of the grave markers, see R. W. Yarbrough’s Clash of Visions, p. 68).

Christ announces the reward for the persecuted: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 10b). In v. 12 he adds an additional promise: “for great is your reward in heaven.”

Skeptics sometimes mock believers for the hope of heaven. They call it “pie in the sky.” Marx called it an opiate for the masses.

But the hope of heaven has proven the very thing through the years that has led ordinary men and women to live in extra-ordinary ways. For many, it has been that which was needed to stiffen the spine and brace the courage when facing persecution and even death for the sake of their Lord.

Men will do much for Christ if they believe this: To die for Christ in this life is to wake with Christ in the life to come.

May we be found faithful in this generation.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (3.12.21): The Sermon on the Mount

 

Image: View of the Mount of the Beatitudes, Israel.

Note: Devotion take from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 5:1-6.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth and taught them… (Matthew 5:1-2).

Most would agree that in the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew chapters 5-7 one finds the heart of the moral and ethical teaching of the Lord Jesus. Augustine of Hippo called it, “A perfect standard of the Christian life.”

The setting for the sermon is given in Matthew 5:1-2.

Notice first, that Christ’s teaching came as he saw the multitudes coming out to him (v. 1a).

Most of these people had been attracted to Christ due to his miraculous healing ministry (see 4:24-25). By turning to teaching, perhaps Christ was saying to them, “What good does it do if a man has a healthy body but a sick, twisted, diseased, and deformed spirit?”

Notice second, that he went up into a mountain. If you were to go to Israel today you would find a site now known as the Mount of the Beatitudes (also known as Mount Eremos) where some believe the sermon was given.

The elevated site of the teaching reflects the elevated doctrine conveyed there. Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the law of God. Christ goes up on a mountain not to receive God’s law but directly to speak it. Here is the true Lawgiver who is greater than Moses.

Notice third, that he taught them from a seated position (“when he was set”).

When we think today about public speaking (teaching or preaching), we assume the speaker is standing. But in Christ’s day authoritative teaching was often done while seated. Christ stood to read the law at the synagogue in Nazareth, and then sat to teach (cf. Luke 4:16-21). In Matthew 23, Christ denounced the scribes and the Pharisees who “sit in Moses’ seat” (v. 2). Christ speaks in this sermon with settled authority.

Notice fourth, he spoke to his disciples (see vv. 1b-2).

The Lord Jesus had just called the four fishermen to become his disciples (4:18-22). Now the multitudes followed him for healing (4:25). No doubt, not all in this crowd were authentic disciples. Many were likely among those who later “went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66). But his true disciples were also there (perhaps including Matthew the tax collector, who was later called; see Matt 9:9).

This teaching is for followers of Christ. It is insider communication. When we read, study, and meditate upon this sermon, we, like those first disciples, are seated at the feet of the Lord Jesus as he opens his mouth to teach us.

Lord, help us to listen.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (3.5.21): The Threefold Ministry of Christ: Teaching, Preaching, Healing

 

Image: Ruins of a first century synagogue in Galilee (Northern Israel), discovered in 2016. Did the Lord Jesus ever teach here?

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 4:23-25.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases among the people (Matthew 4:23).

First, Christ came as a teacher. He came to bring knowledge of God’s will, of God’s law, of God’s Spirit, and knowledge simply of God himself. He taught the woman at the well, “God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Christ was called by the title of “Teacher” throughout his ministry, both by his disciples and his detractors (cf. Matt 8:19; 9:11; 12:38; 17:24; 19:16; 22:16, 24, 36; 23:8; 26:18).

This is a reminder that the Christian faith involves knowledge, the mind and the intellect. Christ will teach that you should love God “with all thy mind” (Matt 22:37; cf. Rom 12:2).

One wag has said that an “open mind” is like an open mouth; if it never clamps down on something of substance it will starve to death.

Geerhardus Vos is reported to have said, “Theology is a means of grace.” God is not only pleased when we think rightly about him, but he also uses our thinking or theologizing about him as a means to prosper us spiritually.

Second, Christ came as a preacher. Matthew says he came “preaching [kerusso] the gospel of the kingdom.” Christ came as a herald of the gospel (the good news) of the kingdom (the rule and reign of God).

Mathew had already described the early preaching ministry of Christ as a call to repentance and an announcement that the kingdom of heaven is at hand (4:17; cf. 3:12).

What gospel did Christ proclaim? His death, burial, resurrection, and resurrection appearances (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-5). He preached the gospel even before he went to the cross (see Matt 16:21)!

Third, Christ came as a healer: He came “healing all manner of diseases sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

The statement is proven out by the Gospel accounts. He healed those with leprosy, with fevers, with withered hands, with paralysis, with blindness, with issues of blood, those unable to speak, those tormented by evil spirits. He even raised men from the dead.

These miracles (and others in which he demonstrated his power over nature itself, by turning water into wine, stilling storms, walking on waves, feeding five thousand, etc.) all show or demonstrate his authority over all things.

This was Christ’s threefold ministry at his first advent, and this ministry continues in the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:27) in this present age. We are called to teach God’s Word (cf. Matt 28:20); to preach the gospel (cf. 2 Tim 4:1-5); and to be agents of his healing (cf. James 5:13-16).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle