Lesson 5: The Gospel According to Matthew
If you only read Mark, you would think that the Gospel is primarily about God purifying his creation. That’s good news for people who unjustly suffer. However, from this perspective, it is easy to think God is a judge whose goal is to separate good from bad in order to cast out and destroy evil. There is also the danger that Christians believe they participate in the salvation of creation by identifying and exorcising evil. As we can see all around us, this too often leads to self-righteousness and demonizing others. We saw that in the past when Christians went after witches. We see that now when seditionists violently storm the government and stop to thank God for allowing them to stop traitors. And focusing on judgment makes us all a little uneasy as we wonder if we might be part of the evil to be destroyed.
If you follow up by reading Matthew, you find a warmer Gospel. He follows Mark’s outline almost word for word. However, he includes many more teachings that picture God as a merciful Father and the Christian life as much more caring. Salvation still involves healing a corrupted creation, but threat becomes promise.
In Matthew, God’s goal is to save every part of his creation. As a good shepherd, he searches for every last one of his lost sheep. He cares for fragile flowers and birds. He provides rain and sun for even the evil people. He provides enough for all. There is much more love, much more grace than Mark.
Matthew very emphatically says we are not to judge. We are to leave weeds to grow with wheat rather than trying to separate sheep from goats. It is not our role to decide who is in and who is out. And we certainly should not be anxious about ourselves because God will take care of us.
The Sermon on the Mount is quite explicit about how we are to overcome evil. We are to be salt and light, setting examples that attract. We are to forgive as many as 70 times 7 times. We are to love our enemies, refusing to retaliate when they strike out against us. We are to use our talents to care for the least of our brothers and sisters. In other words, like God, we are to overcome evil with good.
Matthew also emphasizes Jesus’ opening up God’s Kingdom to outsiders. He begins with a genealogy that goes back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, but he immediately includes wise men from the east greeting the Christ child. Jesus is presented as the promised Messiah who captures the spirit of the Torah law better than the established religious authorities. There is still a proclamation that the first shall be last and the last first, but now it is more a promise to the last than a threat to the first.
I’m a bit surprised that this approach is working for me. Hoping to get some idea about what a gospel community might be in our multicultural society, I decided to take a look at the versions of the Gospel proclaimed by Paul and the four evangelists one at a time. Like so many of you, I wanted to get beyond the loud shouting taking place about racism, human sexuality, climate change, wearing masks, freedom of expression, and that sort of thing. Mark certainly reminded me that a healthy society demands overcoming evil. However, Matthew assured me this must begin with attitude. Change of heart precedes change of mind. Our decisions and actions are to be based on love when reasoning falls short.
Of course, looking at Luke next week will take us even further into the role of love and kindness and mercy.
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