Transcript for Messianic Checkpoint: The Gospel of Matthew (with Jeff Cavins) - 2023

Well, it's good to be with you again and the story continues.

Right. It was a long enough for people to say, how many profits are there? And I think that, you know, an all fairness, people can get a little bit confused during that time. And it is a lot. And it might be good just to remind all of our friends that one time through the Bible is not enough one time through as like an introduction. And then Hey, you got your rest of your life to work it out, and that's what you've done, that's what I'm doing, and it's been years and decades for me, and I never get tired of it, but the more you do it, the easier the story gets, the, and I don't know if it gets easier to live, but it's easier to understand the more you do it.

Well, it's kind of a reprieve now because we are taking a look at one of the Messianic checkpoints, which is the Gospel of Matthew. And it kind of, you know, when we go into this, people are like, oh, okay, all right. Now, yeah, I know where we're at. I know what's going on here. So we want to take a look at this at this Gospel. And, you know, I get that question all the time. What's your favorite book of the Bible? And I always have to divide it up into the old testament and the new testament and when we come to the new testament I always say it's the gospel of Matthew I love I would probably say the same thing yeah yeah I love it and you know it's written to Jewish people and so Written to Jewish people means that Matthew is going to use some words and some phrases and some ideas that the Jewish people will get, but other people might not get it, you know, unless they have somebody to explain a little bit of this to them, but it is just filled with so many good things and we'll talk about a few of those today.

Sure. Well, I think that more than the other three gospels, again, this is one of the synoptic gospels. That's Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John is not a synoptic gospel. The synoptic gospels really mean that they seem to come from a common source, the common stories, and so forth. I think that Matthew, even more than the other gospels, is dependent upon you knowing the Old Testament. So, as our friends read through with you, through the Old, through the New Testament, I think on this particular Gospel, they're gonna... get a lot of things out of it as far as wait a minute. I think we we visited that in the Old Testament, you know, in some ways, and we can talk about a couple of those here today. But starting off at the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, you have one of the most well-read portions of Scripture, which is called a genealogy. And it's so funny because we've come to the New Testament and everyone's so excited and all of a sudden it's, oh, Jacob, he got so deep. And they're into that. And in the Hebrew, that is actually a tool. It's a literary tool. called a to-led don't, which means really the generations of him. And when Matthew is using this at the very beginning, he's trying to show you something. And he's trying to show you something that is dependent upon the Old Testament, and he's trying to show you that there is something new that is about to begin, that is a fulfillment of everything we've been through so far this year. And so when you read the genealogy, the two things that are unusual is number one, there are four women mentioned, and those four women that are mentioned are all women who have sort of a question, you know, about their life. You have Ray Hab and Tamar and Bathsheba, and you have women who kind of bring up the eyebrows a little bit of stuff. Hmm, why would he bring, why would he bring up women in the genealogy? And the answer to that is that Matthew saying, I'm about to unload something on you here that is going to be, well, different. And I want to show you that your whole history has been riddled with different stories, you know, and of course he's going to say that a virgin shall conceive and give birth and they're like, say what? And that he wants them to remember your background was a little bit different. The second thing is that the genealogies, Matthew tells us, are really reduced to three sets of 14 generations. And the number seven for the Jewish community is a number of covenant. It is a number of fulfillment. It is very important. Chava in Hebrew. And so when Matthew gives this genealogy, he says, from Abraham to David is 14 generations, David to the Babylonian deportation, which all of our friends know about now. Everyone should know exactly. exactly 14 generations in from the Babylonian captivity to Joseph and Mary 14 generations. Now pause for a second and you realize that is that is six sets of seven and then suddenly Jesus is brought under the scene and that is the beginning of the seventh seven and that is the completion, the fulfillment of everything that we've been reading in the car in the backyard on the beach in airplanes. We've come to the fulfillment now and that is Jesus Christ and and that's that's basically the introduction.

Right, exactly. And that sets the table for us as we start off by establishing that this Jesus is the Son of David related to David related to Abraham and goes all the way back. And that's very Jewish to put a genealogy right at the beginning there. So I would encourage people in the future. Don't just gloss over that. about it. Look at the history and the story of Jesus Christ. And I would remind you that on your Bible timeline chart, if you have one, there's a red line all the way through that chart. And that red line is taken from here. This is where we get a lot of that information.

One of the points that I get excited about with Matthew's gospel is that, and we'll share a little bit of that right now is that it gives our listeners, our friends, an opportunity to see how Jesus teaches and how it's so important to know the Old Testament when it comes to understanding the teachings of Jesus. And we get this right away after the genealogies and chapters three and four of Matthew. And it starts off where you have in chapter three in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And then it goes on for four, five and six versus four, five and six. And it tells us what he wore, what John wore, and what he ate. And I look at that like, okay, was that really necessary? I mean, really? I want to know what he thought and what he did, but what did he do? Yeah, right. Matthew's doing is he is drawing your attention. to John the Baptist and linking him to someone in the Old Testament. And this is one of the keys to reading the gospel is you have to read and listen for things that are being fulfilled and in Jesus' life what he did, where he went, what he said, how he taught, it is all linked to the Old Testament. And I love this type of history. And, you know, Pope Benedict was really big on this in his multi-volume set on Jesus of Nazareth where he talks about this type of history where Jesus is fulfilling everything in the old. And so when you come and I'll use this as an example, Matthew 3 and 4. Matthew 3 and 4 should remind people of something in the Old Testament that Jesus is fulfilling. So in chapter 3, you have John the Baptist coming on the scene and he shows up at the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea and he's dressed like someone. Now who is that someone? Elijah, right? It's Elijah. He's dressed like Elijah, so we have to as Bible students ask ourselves the question constantly. All right, ask yourself a question. He's looking like Elijah. Where was Elijah? Let's go back and look at Elijah. And all of a sudden, you realize the last place we see Elijah was way back in second Kings chapter two. And it was right here. This is where the last place we saw Elijah was at the Jordan River, and John, exactly. John comes running in there, dressed like Elijah. I love that. And so then, it leads to verse 13, where Jesus is going to come down there himself and submit himself to baptism. And John says, wait a minute, I should be baptized by you, and Jesus said, no. This is necessary. We have to fulfill all righteousness, which means in Hebrew, literally, that I have to complete the story. I have to immerse myself in everything in the Old Testament. So that's in chapter three. And then in chapter four, right after Jesus, is baptized. He comes up out of the water and then in chapter four, he goes off into the wilderness for 40 days where he is tempted three major times. Now the student of scripture needs to ask themselves the question, is this ever happened before? in the Old Testament.

Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, we just asked people to pause for a moment right now. Does this ring a bell? It should ring a bell. It rings a bell because it did happen in the Old Testament. Israel went into bondage for 400 years. They came out of bondage, went through the water of the Red Sea, went out into the wilderness for 40 years, and tried the Lord three major times, and they failed. They failed to fail, they failed. And what does Jesus do? He's fulfilling all righteousness. He comes up out of the waters of baptism, goes into the wilderness for 40 days. He's tried and he's the faithful son. He's showing us how to live. And I love this. And we see this kind of history over and over in the gospel of Matthew. So as people are listening with you and reading with you, I would encourage them. Don't listen lightly. Think. Think as they're hearing this because they're going to see it over. and over.

right right well they you move on in the gospel and one of the great one of the greatest portions of scripture in the entire Bible that people absolutely love is the sermon on the mount and you and I have along with many of our friends have been there it's chapters five through seven and it is it is some people say the greatest concentration of Jesus teaching and and what he came to do in the entire Bible and it is it's amazing

And you can think of the sermon on the Mount as being the Jesus fulfillment of Moses going up on Mount Sinai and receiving the law. This is the new law of the kingdom. And a lot of people, it's kind of funny because people will say, oh, thank God we're in the New Testament. You know, this is so much easier than the Old Testament. And that was really, really hard. And they actually have it completely upside down. This is harder because what the Sermon on the Mount is going to reveal to us is that the law is not merely external, but it is internal, and that you couldn't commit adultery in the Old Testament. Now, you don't even think about it. and it's internalized. And it's harder than you think to follow every aspect and you can only do it by the power of the Holy Spirit and this intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. And this is gonna call people to a whole new level of living, the sermon on the Mount. And in chapter six of the sermon on the Mount, it's beautiful because you started off in Genesis talking about The problems with Adam and Eve and looking at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that it was beautiful and it tasted good and it made one wise. And we always wonder, well, what is the solution to this? How do I battle the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life? And the answer is right here in chapter six, where Jesus gives us three forms of piety that are, that word piety kind of sounds funny, doesn't it's like people like, so pious, so pious.

But it's really weapons. It's weapons. It gives you for the lust of the eyes. He gives you what? I'm giving. If you're having a problem with lust of the eyes, divest yourself of those things that are attaching to you, I'm giving. I'm giving. The lust of the flesh, whatever form that might come in, it's fasting. It's fasting. You're dealing with that lust of the flesh by fasting and then the pride of life. How do we deal with the pride of life? Prayer humble ourselves. We need God's help and that's just a little picture right there just from the sermon on the Mount of the type of thing that people are going to receive.

And it takes work. You know, you got to roll up your sleeves and you got to follow him, pick up your cross and follow him, but he hasn't. He hasn't just left you alone. He has given you these powerful weapons. And later, at the end of the New Testament with first John, John, he kind of bookends the Bible by mentioning these three things again and says, these aren't of God. You know, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that. And Hebrew, they'd say, that ain't God. You know, that's not God. That isn't God, but God has given us some way of dealing with these. And, you know, being a book or a gospel that has written to the Jewish people, it would be incomplete. if Matthew didn't write about the papacy. If he didn't write about that position in the Old Testament that worked with the King, that ran the kingdom, and in Matthew 16, that's exactly what we have. We have the introduction to the papacy, and that goes all the way till today, and it is a gift from God, to make sure that we're cared for, that we receive the Eucharist, and that the church holds together as a family, as a unit.

No, no, no, it's good.

I learned it's good news. It's really good. When you and I go to Israel, every time we go to Cessaria, Philippi, way up in the north by Lebanon and Syria. And when I used to give trips as a Protestant, They didn't go up there. And when we started going up there as Catholic, as a Catholic, the guides would say, why are you taking a whole day to go all the way up there? I mean, can't you just talk about it? And I said, no, you don't get it. This is important. It's important for Catholics to know the place that Jesus gave the first Prime Minister, the first Papa, which was Saint Peter. And I love that. I'll just read this real quick, because it's so good. Jesus said, who did they say the Son of Man is? And they said, well, Jeremiah, Elijah, one of the pronged the Baptist, one of the prophets. No, no, no. He says, but who do you say that I am? And you know, he says, who do you say? Who do you say? They give them these guesses. And they get it wrong. He says, well, who do you say I am? That's what I was trying to say. and Peter steps up to the plate and says, you are Christ, the Son of the living God, and then Jesus at that point does something that you know, as well as I do, Father, blew away the rest of the disciples. He pulls out the keys. Gives him to Peter and says, Blessed are you, Simon, Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father, who is in heaven, and I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock, I'll build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. What you bound, bind in heaven will be bind on earth will be bound in heaven, what you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And so the question is, well, what was Jesus doing there in Matthew 16? Well, he was establishing Peter as the prime minister, as the first Pope who is really tasked with leading the church when the king ascends. And the key there in the punnis purposeful is the keys. Whoever has the keys is the prime minister, period. That is, that's in a Catholic Bible, that's in a Protestant Bible, that's in all of the Bibles. In the reason is because it's so important to know that Jesus didn't just establish His kingdom and walk away and say, hey, hope you guys can make it work. He put leadership in place, and that has been such a gift all throughout the years, because even if we've had poor leadership throughout all these centuries, the faith hasn't changed. And that's the work of the Holy Spirit through the papacy. So that is really, really important.

One of the most powerful moments I've ever had in my entire life was a year before Pope John Paul, the second, passed away. And I was invited to meet with him and my family and his library, his private library. And I wouldn't normally talk about that. In fact, Pope Benedict told me not to be a name troper. But I remember going in there and we'd melt down the whole family, melt down in front of Pope John Paul II. And I looked up, and there were keys on the collar of his, of his garments. And I got so choked up. I looked at, I thought, oh my, I have come to the seat of Peter. And it was an amazing moment. I put a fork in me. You know, this was an amazing moment to have that's the closest I can come to Peter, you know, and the history of the church. And so the Pope is such a gift to us. And I'm very, very grateful for all of the Pope's who have served so well in loving us and loving Christ and making sure that we are fed and taking care of. And you are an extension of that yourself, Father, and you've done a great job.

Well, I do think that again, we've talked about it several times, but reading the Bible and listening to the Bible not just as a curiosity seeker, but as a disciple. And in the gospels, we see the language used over and over that they followed Jesus And after the Gospels, we see in the book of Acts that we only see one time where they use the word follow Jesus, but now it changes to walking with him. And he is inside of you and he's empowering you. And so I would encourage people to listen to the Gospel with both of those in mind that I am. I'm learning to follow him, but I also am aware that now I'm walking with him because he has given me the responsibility to carry out his wishes, his will. And you will see that laid out in the gospel, that great bracelet, what would Jesus do? Well, you're going to be soaked in it now. And so what Jesus would do, that's what the type of things that we do. And we want to come to know his voice. You know, I would encourage people, especially those who are married to, uh, to get a hold of chapter 19 that talks about marriage. It's a very powerful, uh, teaching on marriage. And then in chapter 24, it is, it is the, the end time scenario where for that chapter, Matthew's going to talk about the end of an age, in the beginning of a new age, which is the end of the old covenant, the beginning of the new, and all of the gospel writers have one of these. Mark has chapter 13, Luke has chapter 21, Matthew's chapter 24, and John has an entire book called the Book of Revelation, and they all for talk about the end is coming, which is 2000 years ago, but I think it has also something to do about the future as well and how we are to live. And so that is really, really important. And perhaps in our kind of our closing thoughts, one of the great hearts of Scripture is the great commission at the very end. And this is one of the parts of Matthew's Gospel that speaks to me so clearly where Jesus came to them and he said, look, after all of this, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. go there for and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you always to the close of the age. So you ask me, you know, the question of a launching point. Well, I think that one of the launching points is as you listen to chapters one through four and the rest of the gospel, listen carefully because at the end he's going to ask you to teach other people to observe all of this. And so you don't want to get to the end and say, oh, I wasn't really paying attention there. Maybe you had to go back. So as you're listening, listening carefully. Yeah, rewind.

And the last launching point, I would say, is that everything you hear in this gospel and every way of living, every way of learning, every way of speaking, thinking is what the world is looking for. What you are going to listen to is what the world is searching for. And as the great rabbi in Jesus' day, he hello once said, if not you, who, if not now when? And this is our time. This is where on the stage now, and the baton that we just got, we got through with watching Olympic games. The baton is in your hands now. And it's your leg. It's your time to run.

You're doing a great job, Father, and here all the time from people saying that it's changing their life. The Word of God is changing their life. They love how you're teaching them. And I'll tell you this as a concluding remark. The other day, I had to call the police really because somebody had broken into our garage and and I had to call the police just to get a report and I was talking to the officer and he we got around to what do I do and I'm a Bible teacher and I do podcast and I said one of our podcasts did very well I said Bible any year and he goes father Mike Schmidt. I said yeah, he says listen to he's pointing the car. You're talking to someone and that person may have just five minutes ago listen to the scripture right when we were when we were teaching it's just it's amazing