Gospel of Matthew. Chapter 7. — Oleg Stenyaev Archpriest

Judge not, lest ye be judged, for with the same judgment ye judge, so shall ye be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not feel the plank in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother: “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” but behold, there is a beam in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see how to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Do not give holy things to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Is there a man among you who, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? And when he asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.

So, in everything, whatever you want people to do to you, do so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter ye at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go therein; because narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find it.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.

Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Heavenly Father. Many will say to Me on that day: “Lord! God! Have we not prophesied in Your name? and was it not in Your name that they cast out demons? and didn’t they do many miracles in Your name?” And then I will declare to them: “I never knew you; Depart from me, you workers of iniquity."

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain fell, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, because it was founded on rock.

But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain fell, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and he fell, and his fall was great.

And when Jesus finished these words, the people marveled at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes and Pharisees.

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Origin

The first gospel is traditionally attributed to Matthew Levi, the publican whom Jesus called to be one of His twelve disciples (Matthew 9:9-13: 10:3). Almost nothing is known about him except his name and profession. After listing the apostles in the book of Acts (Acts 1:13), he disappears from church history and is found only in a few probably legendary references. Nowhere in the first Gospel is he specifically named as its author, but early church writers who debated the authorship of this Gospel attributed it to Matthew. Eusenius (ca. 325 AD) quotes Papias (ca. 100 AD) as saying that Matthew composed in Aramaic the oracles of the Lord, which were translated into Greek by everyone, who was able. Irenaeus said a century and a half before Eusenius that "Matthew also spoke the written Gospel among the Jews in their dialect, and Peter and Paul preached in Rome and laid the foundations of the Church." Several conclusions can be drawn from these early statements about the origins of the first Gospel. First, Matthew's authorship was undeniable. Since Matthew was a relatively obscure member of the apostolic group, there is no reason to make him the author of the forgery. Any swindler who would seek fame for his counterfeit work would seek its publication under the name of a more famous apostle. Secondly, the general agreement of the early writers is consistent with the known character of Matthew. As a publican, he had to be literate and accustomed to keeping records in connection with his profession. Thirdly, the tradition that the Gospel was originally written in Aramaic does not exclude the possibility that the author later published it in Greek, and that this second edition quickly superseded the first. Time and place

It is unknown when exactly this Gospel was written. It could hardly have been written before the first dispersion of the Jerusalem Christians (Acts 8:4), because the local church in Jerusalem hardly needed a written Gospel, since the apostles were present in person and could answer all questions and teach authoritative teaching. It is also unlikely that it was written after 70 AD, because the prophecy about the fall of Jerusalem does not say that the city had already fallen (Matt. 24:1-28). The above testimony of Irenaeus places him during the reign of Nero, when "Peter and Paul were in Rome." If this tradition is correct, then the Gospel may have been written by Matthew originally for non-Palestinian Aramaic-speaking Christian converts who did not have access to the apostles and therefore could only gain knowledge about Jesus from the written text. The testimony of Papias has often been rejected because no trace of the Aramaic original remains, and the language of the Gospel bears no sign of a Greek translation. The heterogeneous translations mentioned by Papias could hardly give a good Greek text of the existing Gospel. But on the other hand, it is possible that, seeing the demand for written information about Jesus, the author produced a Greek edition for the pagan churches, perhaps especially for Antioch. Since the Greek churches quickly surpassed the Aramaic ones in number and influence, the Aramaic original may have disappeared at an early date. Conflicting opinions have been expressed regarding the language in which this Gospel was originally written. But one way or another, the existing Greek text is very early and should be considered an original rather than a translation from Aramaic. The Gospel of Matthew fits perfectly into a church that was still closely associated with Judaism, although it was becoming more and more independent from it. It breathes an atmosphere of messianism, but at the same time has a word “to the whole world.” It preserves the essence of the Abrahamic covenant, which emphasized God's benefits to Abraham and his descendants as the chosen people, and also added: “In you all families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). The place of writing may have been Antioch. The quotations of the Gospels in the early writings of the church fathers, such as those of Papias and Ignatius, are most consistent with the text of Matthew and show that this first Gospel was probably the favorite in the Syriac-Hebrew church. Moreover, the church of Antioch was the first to have a significant number of pagan believers who spoke Aramaic and Greek. Although there is no irrefutable evidence that this Gospel was written in Antioch, there is also no more suitable place for this. Therefore, it could have been composed between 50 and 70 AD. and was spread by those who labored in the Antiochian church and carried the Gospel from it to others. Content

The theme of Matthew's Gospel is expressed in its first sentence: “The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Phraseology resembles the book of Genesis, which is divided into parts, each of which begins with the words “This is the origin ...” or “This is the life ...” (Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9, etc.). Each time this expression appears, it marks a stage in the development of the messianic promise. Links in the history of God's people run through the book of Genesis, and one is found in the book of Ruth 4:18, where the messianic line ends with David. Matthew picks up the genealogical line at this point and shows its fulfillment in the person of Jesus. The structure of the Gospel of Matthew revolves around two patterns, which can be seen in repeated phrases throughout the book. The first outline is biographical and is very similar to the format of the biography of Jesus in Mark and Luke. It has two starting points: the first in Matthew 4:17: “From that time Jesus began to preach and say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and the second in Matthew 16:21: “From that time Jesus began to reveal to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again.” The first passage points to the beginning of Jesus' preaching, which brought Him into prominence before the people. The second passage marks the beginning of the decline of His popularity and points to the culmination of His ministry on the cross. The fact that these two central turning points in His life are marked so clearly in the Gospel indicates the author's avowed purpose in presenting two sides of the biography of Jesus and showing that he has a single view of His life as a whole. The Gospel is not just a collection of isolated sayings and random, fragmentary stories, but it is organized for the purpose of showing how the Messiah fulfilled what he came into the world to do. Another structure of Ev. from Matthew is unique to him. While the above diagram is a biographical interpretation of the life of Jesus, the second is a thematic interpretation. The text is divided into five parts, each of which is grouped around one dominant theme and ends with the phrase “When Jesus finished...”. Together with an introduction and a concluding account of Christ's suffering, the text is organized into seven sections, leading the reader ultimately to the consequences of Jesus' messianic claims. The sharp contrast between the reaction of the priests in response to the message of the guard at the tomb and the reaction of the disciples in response to the resurrection of the Lord awakens the reader to make a choice for himself: whether to accept the position of the Jewish leaders who rejected Jesus and did not accept His statements under any conditions, or to become disciples of Christ himself. //img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/1/aharon53.3/0_1187_76a8b854_XL Mount Tabor, where the transfiguration of Christ is believed to have taken place. Plan

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW: THE GOSPEL OF THE MESSIAH

I. Fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah Coming 1:1-4:11 II. Proclamation of the Principles of the Messiah Opening Address 4:12-7:29 Call to Entry (7:13,14) III. The manifestation of the power and authority of the Messiah Miracles 8:1-11:1 Call to follow (10:34-39) IV. Explaining the Messiah's Plan Proverbs 11:2-13:53 A Call to Acceptance (11:28) A Call to Understanding (13:51) V. Declaring the Purpose of the Messiah Crisis of the Cross 13:54-19:2 A Call to Witness (6:13:15 ) VI. Presentation of the Messiah's Problems Confrontations with Opponents 19:3-26:2 Call to Repentance (23:37-39) VII. The Completion of the Messiah's Sufferings Death and Resurrection 26:3-28:10 VIII. Conclusion Rumors and Reality 28:11-20 Call to Action (28:16-20) The first section introduces the reader of the Gospel to the origins of the Messiah. His lineage, descending from Abraham, the first recipient of God's promise, and from David, God's chosen ancestor of the royal line of Judah, is revealed in the first verse and demonstrated in the following. Then follows the description of the virgin birth and conception, together with the baptism and temptation, which prepared Him for His ministry among the people. In this passage, which consists of three and a half chapters, the phrase “That which was spoken of the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled,” or a similar expression, is repeated no less than five times. Thus, the coming of Jesus is presented as the fulfillment of God's purpose, revealed in the Old Testament, and partially fulfilled in the process of history that preceded His coming. The second section opens with the appearance of Jesus in Galilee after the imprisonment of John the Baptist. It is devoted mainly to the proclamation of the spiritual and ethical principles of the kingdom of the Messiah. Jesus called people to repentance and faith in Him, and when He announced to them the kingdom in which He is Lord, He tried to indicate what it would be like and how one could enter it. Matthew alone uses the expression “Kingdom of Heaven” thirty-three times. He speaks of the “kingdom of God” five times (6:33; 12:28; 19:24; 21:31; 21:43). Other weather forecasters often use the latter expression where Matthew uses the Kingdom of Heaven.” While Jesus certainly stated that His kingdom would someday come to reality (8:11, 13:4-43), he also made it clear that it already existed in the present time spiritually (4:17; 12:28). The Sermon on the Mount expresses the spiritual principles of the kingdom. Matthew conveys it in great detail. It defines Jesus' position on the law, for He says that He "came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it" (5:17). He demanded a righteousness that was superior to the righteousness of Jewish legality because it was internal and not external; spontaneous, not legal; measured by a person, not a code. Its highest standard was God Himself: “Be ye therefore perfect. How perfect is your Father in heaven” (5:48). Here He broke the law when He said: “You have heard what was said to the ancients... but I say to you...” (5:21,22). He did not abolish the law, but went beyond it by His holiness alone. The measure of righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount is not conformity to human ideals, but in knowing Christ, hearing His sayings and doing them (7:23,24). The full significance of the person and ministry of Christ was yet to be realized, but the necessity of placing Him at the center of all His teaching and all faith is here expressed unmistakably. In order for these principles to penetrate the thinking of potential believers, some evidence of the power of Jesus was needed. The third section of Matthew's Gospel (8:1-11:1) first lists various miracles that show Jesus having power over disease (leprosy 8:1-4; sickness 8:5-13; fever 8:14-17; paralysis 9:2-8; bleeding 9:20-22; blindness 9:27-31; demons 8:28-34, 9:32-34; forces of nature 8:23-27 and death 9:18,23-26 ). The commission of the Twelve, which is given in the 10th chapter. Matthew can be considered a transfer of authority from Jesus to these men and an assurance from Jesus as they went out to serve. The preaching of the Messiah was not only the proclamation of a new ideal, but had to be a manifestation of a new power - a concept that, according to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, was realized later in the life of the Church: “The apostles testified with great power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; and great grace came upon them all” (Acts 4:33). Such miraculous actions performed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself or His disciples were not random or aimless displays of power. Jesus wanted to teach the people and introduce a plan for his people, not to stun or surprise the people. Beginning with the fourth section of the Gospel of Matthew (11:2-13:53), parables appear prominently. Not all of them are included in this section of the Gospel, but most of them are collected in the 13th chapter. Images from everyday life depict the character and plan of the kingdom of heaven, especially with references to the future. Jesus said that parables are intended to reveal and conceal the truth, for when the disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables when speaking to the people, He answered: Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. (Matthew 13:11) Jesus wanted His instructions to be simple for those who were ready for them and difficult to understand for those who resisted God. This list contains eight parables: 1. The Sower and the Ground 13:1-23 2. The Wheat and Tares 13:24-30, 36-43 3. The Mustard Seed 13:31,32 4. The Leaven 13:33 5. About the treasure 13:44 6. About the pearl 13:45,46 7. About the net 13:47-50 8. About the owner 13:51,52 The list is divided at verse 36, where it says that Jesus went away from the crowd and he entered the house, so that four parables were intended for the people, and the other four for His disciples. So, the first four represent the kingdom of heaven to the people. His origin from the sowing of the Word of God, its reception by different hearers, the contrast between the true and false response in the wheat and the tares, the amazing growth of the kingdom from a tiny beginning to a huge tree, the mighty powers of the kingdom in comparison with the leaven - all these are factors that He wanted to reveal to the people. for knowledge. The last four parables deal with the interiority of the kingdom: the cost of its construction, the double fate of those affected by it, and the mixture of new and old elements in its teaching. All the parables indicate that Jesus did not think of Himself simply as a Jewish reformer, but as the ruler of the earth and a person of global importance. The eleventh and twelfth chapters, which precede the parables, contain additional discourses relating to the nature and importance of His mission. The doubt of John the Baptist (11:2-19), the rejection of Jesus by the Galilean cities (11:20-24), His Lordship over the Sabbath (12:1-14), and His power over demons (12:22-37) are all helps to understand His ministry as a supernatural Person who came to earth with an extraordinary task. The crisis of this mission is described in the following part of the Gospel of Matthew (13:54-19:2): the rejection of Jesus by his own (13:54-58), the threat of Herod expressed in the execution of John the Baptist (14:1-12), the lack of understanding of the disciples ( 15:1-16; 16:5-12) indicating the tension that caused Jesus' speech about the inevitability of the suffering of the cross, as well as the appearance of Himself in the transfiguration (16:21-17:8). From this point in the narrative, the cross increasingly appears before Jesus and becomes the immediate goal of His earthly ministry. The proclamation of a messianic appointment caused conflict. 19:3-26:3 describes the Messiah's difficulties, and His encounters with adversaries appear in certain events, such as the dispute with the Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees (22:15-40). The denunciations in chapter 23 and the prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem in chapters 24 and 25 stem from this encounter. Every conflict leads to a crisis, and in the life of the Messiah this crisis was the cross. Matthew 26:3-28:10 describes His suffering, His death, and His resurrection. Matthew emphasized the messianic nature of His death by highlighting its connection with prophecy. Four times Jesus specifically referred to the Old Testament as a harbinger of the events of His suffering (26:31,54,56; 27:9) and in the answer to Caiaphas' questions He calls Himself the Son of Man (26:64), which is in Daniel 7:13,14 refers to a heavenly being. The conclusion sums up the entire Gospel, anchoring its teaching by illustrating two attitudes toward Jesus: rejection through unbelief or worship through acceptance. Each part contains a call to the disciples from the lips of Jesus, which the author obviously wants to make a call to the reader as well. At the end of the instructive part containing the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls the disciples to take the first step along the path leading to life (Matt. 7:13,14). Once He has proven His authority and power to them, He commissions them to bear witness and calls them to take up the cross and follow Him (10:34-41). In the part where He explains His teaching, there is a double appeal: one to the people to come to Him and find peace (11:28), and second to the disciples to ask whether they understood His words (13:51). He wanted His statements to evoke responses of the will and mind. The prediction of the cross at the great turning point of His life prompted the confession: “Who do you say that I am?” (16:15). His rejection by Jerusalem prompted Him to call that rebellious city to repentance (23:37-39). At the close of history, the Great Commission says, “Go ye therefore...” which is the final call of the gospel as a whole. In this way, each section is practically applicable to the reader as he progresses through the book. The most important points

The Gospel of Matthew was written to show how Jesus of Nazareth expanded and explained the revelation that began in the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. Although it is very Jewish in character, it was also written for the Gentiles, since the final Commission calls for disciples to make disciples of all nations (28:19). If it was originally composed for the benefit of the church of Antioch, where Gentile converts were first gathered in large numbers, the reason for its character is simply explained. Matthew was trying to show these converts a knowledge of the ministry of Jesus in the light of the Old Testament which their Jewish friends believed and from which they themselves received instruction. Some cases are found only in Matthew. Vision of Joseph (1:20-24), visit of the Magi (2:1-12), flight into Egypt (2:13-15), massacre of the infants (2:16), dream of Pilate's wife (27:19), death of Judas (27:3-10), the resurrection of the saints by crucifixion (27:52), bribing the guards (28:12-15), and the commission to baptize (28:19,20) are not found in any of the other Gospels. Of the parables, only the pen of Matthew includes the following: tares (13:24-30, 36-43), hidden treasure (13:44), pearl (13:45,46), net (13:47), unmerciful servant (18 :23-35), workers in the vineyard (20:1-16), two sons (21:28-32), marriage of the king's son (22:1-13), ten virgins (25:1-13) and talents ( 25:14-30). Only three miracles are unique to Matthew: two blind men (9:27-31), a dumb man possessed by demons (9:32,33) and a coin in the mouth of a fish (17:24-27). Matthew uses miracles more to prove the messianic power of Jesus than to advance the narrative, although he repeats many of the miracles found in Mark and Luke. The Gospel of Matthew emphasizes teaching. It contains the greatest concentration of teaching material of all the Gospels (chapters 5, 6 and 7), and there are other long passages (chapters 10, 13, 18, 23-25) that present the teachings of Jesus. These teachings make up approximately three-fifths of the entire Gospel. It can be seen that Matthew wanted to emphasize the content of Jesus' teaching in connection with His person and law, so that the whole meaning of the coming of the Messiah would become clear. Personalities

Matthew devotes less attention to individuals in his narrative than the other Synoptic Gospels do, nor does he introduce many whose names are not found in the other Gospels. Joseph (1:18-25), Herod the Great (2:1-16) and the mother of James and John (20:20,21) take up more space than Mark and Luke, but both Mark and Luke use more characteristic sketches, than Matthew. Special Features 1. The Gospel of Matthew is a Gospel of speech.

Each section contains a long speech, as can be seen from the table below.
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2. The Gospel of Matthew is the Gospel of the Church.

Only in the Gospel of Matthew does the word “church” appear (16:18; 18:17). In both passages Christ spoke, showing that He had a certain vision of the church as an advancing society. The very fact that these words of Christ were included in the Gospel of Matthew perhaps indicates that it was written for a young, struggling church in need of encouragement and discipline. 3. The Gospel of Matthew is the Gospel of the King.

The Gospel of Matthew not only emphasizes the doctrine of the kingdom, but the kingship of Christ shines through the entire gospel. The genealogy in the first chapter follows the royal line of Judah. Herod's anxiety was caused by the birth of Jesus as a political rival. The entry into Jerusalem emphasized His coming as a king sitting peacefully on a colt (21:5,7). In an eschatological discourse, He predicts that He will “sit on the throne of His glory” (25:31). The inscription on the cross, by order of Pilate, read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (27:37).