Reading the Old Testament in the New: The Gospel of Matthew
Lesson Five:
Riddles of Rejection, Rock of Foundation 
Lesson Objectives:
1. To read Matthew 11-18 with understanding.
2. To understand the Old Testament background to Jesus' teaching in parables.
3. To understand the deep Old Testament context by which Matthew conveys that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah and the Church is the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom.
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Lesson Outline:
I. Review and Overview II. Speaking of Mysteries
a. Rejection and Riddles b. What Has Lain HiddenIII. The Apostles Confess a. Revealing the Divine
b. Walking on the Sea
IV. Upon This Rock I Will Build
a. Son of David
b. The Messiah, the Son of God
c. The Rock of Abraham
d. The Key to the Kingdom
V. Study Questions
I. Review and Overview
With this lesson we move into the third and fourth "books" of Matthew's Gospel.
In Matthew's prologue (see Matthew 1:1-2:23) and first book (see Matthew 3:1-7:29), the evangelist introduced us to the person of Jesus - His birth, ancestry, and early work, climaxing with the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5-7).
In his second book (see Matthew 8:1-10:42), he showed us Jesus' mighty powers and deeds and His choosing of twelve Apostles to preach to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" that "the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (see Matthew 10:6-7).
In the third book we see the rejection of Jesus by Israel (see Matthew 11:1-13:58), and in the fourth (see Matthew 14:1-18:35), the founding of a new people of God, the Church.
As we have seen in our earlier lessons, Matthew's story in these two "books" is built on an Old Testament sub-structure that provides.
II. Speaking of Mysteries
a. Rejection and Riddles
The narrative section of the third book describes the growing controversy over Jesus' preaching among the Jewish religious establishment - the Pharisees and scribes - who finally accuse Him of being possessed by the Devil (see Matthew 12:24).
At this point Jesus begins to speak in "parables" (see Matthew 13:3).
A parable is comparison that uses everyday images and stories to illustrate deeper truths.
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, parabole translates mashal, a Hebrew word used to describe proverbs (see 1 Samuel 10:12; 1 Kings 4:32), riddles (see Psalm 49:4; Sirach 47:15, and allegories (see Ezekiel 17:2; 24:3).
All these Old Testament types of mashals are important for studying and understanding the structure and style of the individual parables told by Jesus.
But we're interested here in why Jesus has begun to speak in parables. It's a question that's also on the Apostles' minds (see Matthew 13:10).
Again, the Old Testament provides the context for Jesus' answer (see Matthew 13:13-15):
This is why I speak to them in parables, because "they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand." Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
"You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and be converted,
and I heal them."
Isaiah wasn't foretelling the future in the passage Jesus quotes (see Isaiah 6:9-10). He was talking about his own contemporaries - the people that God had called him to preach to in the 8th century, after the death of King Uzziah (see Isaiah 6:1; 2 Chronicles 26).
Jesus knows this. He doesn't treat the passage from Isaiah as a prophecy that has gone unfulfilled for eight centuries. He is finding parallels between Isaiah's contemporaries and his own. In the Pharisees' rejection of Jesus' preaching, history was repeating itself.
Jesus also wants to evoke God's earlier punishment of Israel for its hardness of heart.
In the verses immediately following those that Jesus quotes, God tells Isaiah that his faithless generation will be punished with exile and captivity - their cities laid to waste and made desolate, their populations carried off to far distant lands (see Isaiah 6:11-12).
Jesus will later say directly that the kingdom is being "taken away" from Israel and given to the Gentiles and Jews who believe (see Matthew 21:43). Interestingly, this is the precise message in the other places where Isaiah 6:9-10 is quoted in the New Testament (see John 12:20; Acts 28:26-27).
b. What Has Lain Hidden
Speaking in parables, Jesus is pronouncing judgment on those who refuse to hear Him, to recognize in His words and deeds, the Messiah promised by the prophets.
And we see in the Old Testament several occasions where prophets speak parables against rulers who have done wrong and remain blind to their need for repentance (see Judges 9:7-15; 2 Samuel 12:1-6).
However, if parables are used to cast judgment on unbelievers, they are also given for the benefit of the faithful. This is the message of Matthew's second explanation of why Jesus speaks in parables (see Matthew 13:34-35):
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation (of the world)."
The "prophet" Matthew quotes is actually Psalm 78. Again, the Old Testament context offers rich ground for meditation and interpretation.
Psalm 78 is a long, didactic history of Israel that itself is something of a parable. It is quoted (see John 6:31) and alluded to throughout the New Testament (for a few of the examples, compare 1 Corinthians 10:4 and Psalm 78:15-16; Matthew 15:8 and Psalm 78:36-37; Revelation 2:17 and Psalm 78:24; Acts 7:21 and Psalm 78:37; Psalm 78:70 and Romans 1:1; John 21:16 and Psalm 78:71-72).
The line that Jesus quotes comes at the start of the Psalm. The Psalmist promises that he will be explaining "mysteries from of old" - that is, declaring "to the generations to come the glorious deeds of the Lord and His strength (see Psalm 78:1-4).
Isn't this what Jesus says He is doing in His parables - revealing "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" - God's salvific plan (see Matthew 13:11)?
And is it a coincidence that Psalm 78 ends by describing the ascendancy of King David to "shepherd Jacob, His people, and Israel, His inheritance" (see Psalm 78:68-72)? As we've mentioned, one of the underlying themes - if not the predominant one - in Matthew's Gospel is the fulfillment of God's promises to David in the life and work of Jesus.
III. The Apostles Confess
a. Revealing the Divine
Israel's increasing opposition to Jesus dominates Matthew's third book, climaxing with His rejection by His hometown of Nazareth (see Matthew 13:54-58).
In his fourth book, Matthew returns to depicting Jesus' mighty, god-like deeds. He miraculously feeds a crowd of 5,000 (see Matthew 14:13-21) and another crowd of 4,000 (see Matthew 15:32-39). He performs miraculous healings (see Matthew 14:34-36; 15:29-31; 17:14-21), walks on water (see Matthew 14:22-33), and is transfigured in glory (see Matthew 17:1-13).
In the midst of these miracles, the Pharisees and Sadducees still demand that He show them "a sign from heaven" (see Matthew 16:1-4).
But only those with faith can recognize Him. And one of the subplots in this fourth book is the growing faith and awareness among the Apostles that Jesus is the Son of God.
We will look at two illustrations of this - the story of His walking on the water and the story of Peter's confession of faith.
b. Walking on the Sea
The story of Jesus walking on the water is a dramatic one (see Matthew 14:22-33).
He sends the Apostles across the lake in the boat while He dismisses the crowds. Then He goes up to the mountain by Himself to pray.
He apparently remains in prayer for most of the night. All the while the Apostles are struggling and fearful as their boat is being tossed about in the waves.
How do we know this? Because the Romans divided the 12 hours between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. into four "watches." Matthew tells us that Jesus didn't walk out to the boat until the "fourth watch" (see Matthew 14:25) - sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. That suggests that the turmoil in the boat went on for many hours before Jesus began walking toward the Apostles on the sea.
But the full meaning of the story depends on our understanding Matthew's use of the Old Testament substructure.
Remember that Israel was "born" in a dramatic rescue at sea - the night crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh's army (see Exodus 14:10-15:21).
God's powers over the waters are extolled throughout the Old Testament as a sign of His omnipotence over all creation and that He alone "can save from any danger" (see Wisdom 14:3-4; Psalm 77:14-20; Isaiah 43:16-17; 51:9-10).
Typical of the Old Testament's treatment is Psalm 107, which has many echoes of the story we're reading from Matthew (see Psalm 107:23-32):
They saw the works of the Lord, the wonders of God in the deep.
He spoke and roused a storm wind; it tossed the waves on high...
their hearts trembled at the danger.
They reeled, staggered like drunkards; their skill was of no avail.
In their distress they cried to the Lord, who brought them out of their peril,
Hushed the storm to a murmur; the waves of the sea were stilled.
They rejoiced that the sea grew calm,
that God brought them to the harbor they longed for.
Let them thank the Lord for such kindness, such wondrous deeds for mere mortals.
In the Old Testament, God alone has the power to walk on water. "He alone...treads upon the crests of the sea," we read in the Book of Job (see Job 9:8; Habakkuk 3:15).
Treading upon the sea, Jesus is being depicted as having all the powers and prerogatives of God. That He rescues the Apostles from the sea is a further reflection of His divine powers (see Psalm 77:20-21).
And He assures the Apostles with the words: "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid." The phrase "do not be afraid" appears often in Jewish and Christian stories of divine revelation (see Matthew 17:7; 28:5; Revelation 1:17). But we want to pay particular attention to the phrase, "it is I."
Ego eimi, the Greek words translated as "it is I," literally mean "I am." This is the same phrase that God used to reveal Himself to Moses (see Exodus 3:14) and in the Old Testament is a sign of divine identity and authority (see Isaiah 41:4,10,14; 43:1-13).
With his careful use of Old Testament references, Matthew is showing us the divine identity of Jesus (compare John 4:26; 8:24,28).
This is further reinforced by Peter's response - "Lord, if it is You...." - requesting a miraculous sign.
Peter is asking for a share in Jesus' powers and Jesus makes a one-word response, "Come." We may have here an allusion to Job, where God challenges Job: "Have you entered into the sources of the sea or walked about in the depths of the abyss" (see Job 38:16).
In the Greek translation, we see remarkable similarities in the language of these two passages. In the Greek, the word "entered" is the same as the word that Jesus and Peter use for "come." The word "walked about" is the same as that used to describe Peter's walking on the waters. And the word "sea" has already been used in describing Jesus walking on the sea (see Matthew 14:24).
Peter's cry of salvation as he begins to sink also evokes an Old Testament context (see Psalm 69:2-3,15; 18:17; 144:7) as does Jesus' still of the winds (see Psalm 107:29-30).
An interesting footnote: though others have called Him "Lord," up until now the Apostles have not referred to Jesus as "Lord" except on one other occasion - in begging Him to save them from the raging seas (see Matthew 8:23-27). And the appeal, "Lord, save Me" appears in only one other place in the New Testament - in Matthew's earlier sea-rescue narrative.
The story ends with the Apostles' confession of faith: "Truly, You are the Son of God" (see Matthew 14:33).
While others have called Him "Son of God" (see Matthew 2:15; 3:17; 4:3,6; 8:29), this marks the Apostles' first recognition of Jesus as the revealer of the Father.
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