(Matt Koerber)
Yesterday we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. We read in the Gospel of Matthew about the empty tomb and first appearances of our Risen Lord. While the resurrection brought completion to the earthly ministry of Jesus and fulfilled his promises to the disciples, it is not the end of the story. Next Sunday, we will read from the final sections of the Gospel. In a passage known as the “Great Commission”, Jesus entrusts his mission to the church. Having spent three years investing in his disciples, he now prepares to depart and entrust them with the family business (of disciple making). However, he now has kingly authority and he promises that his Spirit will be with the church as they carry out his mission and make disciples of all nations.
We don’t have additional text to read through in the Gospel of Matthew, but we are not done with our blog posts yet! During this week between the Resurrection and the Great Commission, members of the church are invited to write about lessons they learned from the Gospel of Matthew. We are looking for 3-4 paragraphs, focused on one idea found in the Gospel story. In particular, we want to hear how the Gospel impacted people in personal ways that are specific to their situation. We have several devotions already lined up, but there are still a few spots left. Lindsay and Amy have graciously agreed to edit and post as we go through the week, so if you feel inclined to participate, send me an email: [email protected]. Here is an example of what we are looking for:
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This is the City Reformed Spring Reading Program. I am (still) Matt Koerber and this is my reflection on our readings in the Gospel of Matthew. My experience is a little different from most people because I spent a lot of time preparing to preach sermons for the section of the reading plan assigned to each Sunday. In order to get through the Gospel of Matthew in 9 weeks (+ one Sunday for the Great Commission), I needed to cover larger amounts of material each week than normal. When preaching through the Gospels in past years, I often chose a single pericope. (A pericope1 is the section of Scripture that constitutes a single story. We might also use the word “passage” to describe the same thing. Often our English Bible will have a heading on top of each pericope to help us find things we are looking for. Usually, a pericope will be made up of a couple of paragraphs.) By contrast, our reading program required me to stack several pericopes together. This meant that the sermon text was often longer than normal.2 But more than just length, it means that the preacher was forced to look for a unifying thread that extended between each section. One of the best examples of this was the sermon that Nameun Cho preached on Matthew 18. He covered four pericopes in one sermon! Most often, these four sections would have been treated in four separate sermons. However, when Nameun addressed them together, the unifying theme of reconciliation was clearly visible. I believe that this gave added depth to each individual section.
This leads me to my “lesson learned” from the reading program in Matthew. Prior to starting the series, Josiah and I discussed how we wanted to approach the book. Matthew is very similar to the the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Mark. Together they are often called the “synoptic gospels.”3 While Matthew is the longest of these three Gospels, each section (or pericope) is often far shorter. For example, all three of the synoptics record the story of Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter. This miracle story is intertwined with the healing of a woman who suffered from bleeding for 12 years. In Mark, the story is told in greater detail and stretched for 22 verses (Mark 5:22-43). Luke has a reduced version which is told in 16 verses (Luke 8:41-56). By contrast, Matthew is by far the shortest and least detailed – only 9 verses (Matt 9:18-26). So Matthew (which is the longest of all the Gospels) tells many more stories, but shortens the stories. Furthermore, Matthew has much longer sections of Jesus’ teaching, particularly when compared with Mark.
In conclusion, I learned that the unique contribution of Matthew was found in looking for the connections between the pericopes. This was particularly highlighted when the sermon text addressed a larger section than normal. At times that put at burden on the preacher – and the listeners. But paying attention to the larger context added depth to each individual section. Returning to the example I mentioned earlier – what happened when Nameun addressed four pericopes from Matthew 18 in one sermon? I discovered that the larger theme of reconciliation added texture to the smaller units. For example, the instructions about reconciliation (Matt 18:15-17) are often extracted from their context. They do provide a helpful set of guidelines for how we can seek reconciliation with a brother who sins against us. However, when this is dealt with outside of the larger context, we can miss the spirit of the recommended approach. The verses immediately before these guidelines for reconciliation describe God’s heart for reconciliation (Matt 18:10-14). Like a shepherd who loses a single sheep, he is willing to leave the 99 in the fold and set out to find the one who is lost. And when that sheep is found, there is rejoicing in heaven! If only that same approach could characterize our own attempts at reconciliation.
And the verses which follow the instructions on reconciliation also bring added perspective. The parable of the unforgiving servant powerfully illustrates the necessity to forgive as we have been forgiven (Matt 18:21-35). But the call to seek reconciliation with a brother is actually the immediate context for one of the most powerful promises of Jesus (Matt 18:18-20). Context changes my thoughts on this important promise, “when two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” While this truth can be applied to any gathering of believers, how helpful it is to remember that Jesus gave this promise in the context of the costly work of reconciliation. I find that remembering the promise of Jesus’ sustaining presence is particularly meaningful when two or three people are gathered for the difficult work of relational reconciliation!
- If you want to know more about the word “pericope” and what it means, I found this webpage to be a helpful summary. ↩︎
- Perhaps some members of our congregation are groaning and thinking, “You don’t need to tell me that some of the sermons were longer…” ↩︎
- The term “synoptic” means “with-one-eye” and highlights the way these three gospels share a similar perspective and structure. By contrast, the Gospel of John is structured in a manner far different from the synoptics. ↩︎
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An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.