From the Lectionary for Friday and Saturday of Ordinary Time, Proper 12, July 31-August 1
Matthew 28:1-14, 16-20 (The Message translation)
After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightening blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move. The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed. Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ That’s the message.” The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks.
“Good morning!” He said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, “You’re holding on to me for dear life! Don’t be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I’ll meet them there.” ….Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally. Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
We have reached the end of Matthew’s account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Although written later than was the gospel of Mark (Mark probably between 65-70 CE and Matthew between 85-90 CE), Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. Why? For one thing the author makes it clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish scripture. Jesus is the messiah, the “new Moses.” The Gospel of Matthew is thus a bridge between the Old and New Testaments in that it shows the fulfillment of the Old and the beginning of the New. It is also the Gospel most used by the early church. Of course the author of Matthew used the Gospel of Mark (about 90 percent of the material in Mark’s Gospel is also found in Matthew), just as did the author of the Gospel of Luke, but he also used other sources. He “edits” Mark by adding, omitting, and changing stories in order to emphasize the Jewishness of Jesus and the importance of the Jewish law. This gospel is often called the “the teacher’s gospel” because of the many teachings of Jesus. There are five major speeches by Jesus in Matthew, perhaps to parallel “the five Books of Moses” of the Torah of the Jews. Yet, as Jim has made clear in his reflections over the past several weeks, Jesus also vehemently attacks the Jewish leaders of his time, calling them hypocrites and vipers. So, the author of Matthew presents Jesus as being very Jewish while at the same time very critical of how the Jewish authorities practiced the faith. Whoever it was that wrote this gospel—and no one knows for sure who did—the author wrote what was to become an extremely popular account of the life of Jesus, and included such teachings and sayings as the Sermon on the Mount including the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, and the golden rule. [As a side note regarding the golden rule, there is a funny story about the most revered rabbi of Jesus’ day, the famous Rabbi Hillel: a pagan approached the rabbi and promised him that he would convert to Judaism if Rabbi Hillel could recite the entire Torah while standing on one leg. Hillel tersely replied: “What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah, while the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.” Didn’t Jesus also have something to say about how to treat your neighbor (Mt 7:12) and about loving your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:39)?]
There are several major themes in the Gospel of Matthew. Two upon which I’d like to focus today are discipleship and the abiding presence of God. The gospel reading for today and tomorrow is the final chapter of Matthew, translated in vivid contemporary language by Eugene Peterson in The Message, above. The resurrected Jesus is commissioning his disciples to continue his ministry throughout the world, while at the same time assuring them that he will remain with them forever, “to the end of the age.” From the NRSV: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”) Jesus abides with us, always present, every moment, day to day.
Is this still relevant for us today? Is there hope? What is the possibility? This gospel says a lot about discipleship. Jesus’ first discourse or speech is the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, and the Gospel concludes with the commissioning of his disciples, which of course includes us. Is it realistic to believe that any of us can actually live according to these principles? Probably not, and yet those who seek the Kingdom of God which Jesus describes must persist in doing all we can to live in this manner, aware that we will often miss the mark. I believe that the hope and the possibility resides in Jesus’ promise to remain with us: “I am with you always.” Jesus is with us here and now. He is present in what we do, in the people we meet, and in the situations where we find ourselves daily. This is the abiding presence of God about which Matthew writes. It is that presence onto which we can hold and receive strength in our struggles to right what is wrong in our world today. It is that presence within which we can prayerfully rest when we wear down. It is that presence which allows us to see the possibility of the world Jesus our Christ would recognize as God’s Kingdom.
Bob Donnell
July 31, 2020
Prayer (attributed to St. Francis)
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
