When you read the Gospel of Mathew 12, we see much controversy among the leaders concerning Jesus.
Then we see a Life’s most important question in Mathew 16:13. “What do you
think of Christ?” This is the question we need to ask ourselves. Peter
replied to this question, “You are the
Christ, the son of the living God”. It grasps Christ as the Messiah, the
fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Hebrew prophets. This confession is
great because it exalts Christ as the son of God and lifts him above humanity
and crowns him with deity.
Mathew 21 to 28, we see the Triumph of the King. On the morning of
Palm Sunday it was understood that Jesus was to enter the city. Jesus for the
first time permitted a public recognition and celebration of his rights as
Messiah-King. The end was approaching with awful swiftness and he must offer
himself as Messiah, even if only to be rejected.
Christ’s authority was brought
into question as he went into the temple and ordered the merchants out,
overturning their tables and telling them they had made the house of God a den
of thieves. A bitter controversy followed. “Then
the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words” (Mathew 22:15). He bade farewell to
Jerusalem until he would come again to sit on David’s throne.
Much of Jesus discourse in Mathew 24 and 25 is devoted to Christ’s
second coming. He exhorts us to be ready in the parables of the faithful
servant (Mathew 24: 45-51), the ten
virgins (Mathew 25:1-13) and of the
talents (Mathew 25:14-30).
Although a large number of
disciples believed in Jesus and followed him, the opposition of the religious
leaders was bitter and they determined to put him to death. On the grounds of
blasphemy, and of claiming to be King of the Jews, thus making himself the
enemy of the Roman emperor, Jesus was delivered up by Pilate to be crucified.
After hanging on that cross, the saviour died, not from physical suffering
alone but of a broken heart, for he bore the sins of the whole world. We hear
his triumphant cry, “It is finished”.
He paid the debt of sin and became the world’s redeemer.
The mode of Messiah’s death had
been foreshadowed by various types and symbols in the Old Testament. The brazen
serpent in the wilderness signified that he was to be lifted up; the lamb upon
the temple alter that his blood must be shed.
Jesus was put in Joseph’s tomb,
and on the third day he arose, as he had said. People thought he was dead and
his kingdom had failed. By his resurrection, Christ assured his disciples that the
king still lived and that one day he will come back to establish his kingdom on
earth.
The climax of the book is found
in his great commission. “All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mathew 28:18-20).
Christian faith is no national or
racial religion. It knows no bounds of mountain or sea, but it envelops the
globe. We are called not to run the world with armies and make people submit
under the sword, nor are we called to bribe people and make them submit to get
the numbers. A follower of Christ is called to be an example to the people
around him and teach them and show them how to live a Christ centred life and
pray for their needs so that the Spirit of God will turn them in the path of
living water. May God bless you to be a faithful servant of the most high.
