BEMA Episode Link: 84: Matthew — Mumzer
Episode Length: 32:12
Published Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2018 01:00:00 -0700
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings look at the record of Matthew, attempting to understand his unique agenda as he presents the life and ministry of his Rabbi Jesus.

Discussion Video for BEMA 84

Didache — Wikipedia

Mamzer — Wikipedia

Transcript for BEMA 84

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

  • We do not want to harmonize the gospels. Each gospel writer is communicating a unique message to a unique audience.
  • We want to make sure we are asking the right questions of the Text.
    • Who is the author? Who is the audience?
    • We are not spending time discussing WHEN the specific gospel was written.
  • Author: Jewish author to a jewish audience. Marty does, however, believe that Matthew was written first and that it was also written in Hebrew which is contrary to most opinions.
    • Marty does not dispute a Q source.
    • Didache may be referenced by scripture.
    • No need to look farther than the genealogy in Matthew ch. 1 to understand Matthew’s audience or agenda.
  • The Geneology
    • 14, 14, and 14? Great things to discover with those numbers but this episode’s focus will be on other treasures.
    • No eastern reader would have trouble skipping a generation to make 14, 14, and 14 work. One of the generations would have had to have been skipped in order to do that. A grandfather or great-grandfather. Not recalling who, though, at the moment.
    • Better Jewish questions:
      • Some argue that Matthew was trying to prove that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. The Text even says that.
      • If this is the face, why then is Jesus’ genealogy so terrible? Genealogies are meant to show off one’s pedigree, but Jesus’ does exactly the opposite.
      • Jewish genealogies are paternal and do not include women, especially women with some of the most “embarrassing” stories for the Israelite people.
      • Is there a reason to include any of these women in his genealogy?
      • What are the women known for?
      • Matthew includes these women intentionally.
  • Mamzar (Mumzer): referring to illegitimate children, this is a word that we get from Torah.
    • Mumzer is the outsider and it is Matthew’s agenda.
    • Matthew was a mumzer as a tax collector who effectively sold his soul to Rome.
    • Jesus invites Matthew to follow him without hesitation regardless.
    • Matthew’s gospel articulates that “there are no outsiders.”
    • We find Jesus essentially saying, “Those who are in are actually out and those that are out are actually in.”
  • Why is Matthew the focus of Session 3?
    • Partly because Marty believes that it’s the most chronological.
    • However, it’s mostly because Marty finds that the agenda of Matthew is the message that we, mostly Americans, need to hear.
  • What does “Kingdom of Heaven” mean?
    • “Heaven” is often used as a euphemism for “God”. God resides in Heaven. In order to respect God’s name, Jews would instead use where he resides, that is Heaven, instead of his name. This is why we only see in Matthew’s gospel, with one exception, the use of Kingdom of Heaven instead of Kingdom of God.
  • The Insider-Outsider Pattern
    • If we spend our time harmonizing the gospels, we would miss this pattern that appears in Matthew’s gospel.
    • Insider: not in. Outsider: in. Insider: not in. Outsider: in.
    • Let’s try to find this pattern and write it down as we go through Matthew together.

Edit | Previous | Next