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Tag Archives: Matthew

What Did The Lord See?

15 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Ron Thomas in Uncategorized

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Matthew, people, tax collector

A favorite way to just pass the time is to sit and observe people; some like to sit on a bench in a mall, walk in the park, or just anywhere where there might be an inviting seat. When we pass time this way, what is it that we see?

When we read Scripture the serious student will note the varied ways in which a particular writer writes. For instance, in Matthew chapters 8 and 9, it is easy to see that Matthew’s theme is the Lord’s authority (note 8:27 and 9:8). But, along with noticing this, many also note that our Lord took an interest in the individual (9:1-8). It is this interest in the individual man that we want to think on for a bit in this article.

In Matthew 9:9-13, there was a tax collector named Matthew who quickly answered the Lord’s call when it came to him. What prompted him to answer so quickly? Perhaps we can answer it as we consider what it is the Lord saw in him

What did the Lord see when he looked at Matthew? Perhaps He saw a man not satisfied with where he was in life. We don’t always know where a person is in their “station in life,” but it’s not really important that we do know. As the Lord extended an invitation to Matthew we ought to do the same toward others. Matthew gave up much in order to follow the Lord. He gave up wealth as a tax collector and he gave up the friends he had in his occupation. The religious restraints that so many try to shed, and presumably Matthew shed his in this occupation, he now willingly placed himself under. He did not place himself under “religious restraints,” but he placed himself under the Lord’s authority. Without regard to a person’s status in society, the Lord extended an invitation to Matthew. Let us offer an invitation to another person to serve the Lord. Just as we consider what Matthew gave up, it might be that another will give up just as much. RT

A Few Thoughts from Matthew 2

05 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Ron Thomas in Uncategorized

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Christmas, Herod, Jesus, Matthew, Micah

Political turmoil was a norm in the days of the Lord; there might have been some stability, but when a political leader like Herod is able to kill who he wants and when he wants to, to say there in NOT turmoil is to be mistaken. Can you imagine living (always) in fear of someone behind you? This is how Herod lived, and when he heard of the Scriptures attesting to a new born king, that was enough to get him into action! R.C. Foster said that Herod died in March of 4 B.C., and if he saw to it that the males were killed at two years of age and younger, we get a time frame in which our Lord was born (D.A. Carson notes that some have attempted to take the years of our Lord’s birth to 2 B.C.). However, with that, we still don’t know exactly when it was – so how in the world can anyone assert that is was December 25th?! It may have been, but not a single one of knows this to be the case.

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If the Lord was 33 years of age when He was crucified, at what year would His passing have been?

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In 2:6 we read that in Bethlehem the Messiah would be born; this is how the religious leaders interpreted the Scripture in their day and this is what they told the king as well. “As shown by the rendering of the Targum Jonathan, the prediction of Micah v.2 was at that time universally understood as pointing to Bethlehem, as the birthplace of the Messiah” (Edersheim, Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 8, p. 206, 1904 edition). The significance of this remark by Edersheim will be seen when we take note how Orthodox Judaism now looks at the passage. This passage does not place the birth of the Messiah in the city (town, village) of Bethlehem, but only from the house of David who, himself, was born in Bethlehem. “… it is from this family that the Messianic king will emerge … Scripture does not mean that the Messiah’s birthplace will be the city of Bethlehem [as Christian writers propose] but that the Messianic king will be a descendent of the House of David which originated in Bethlehem” (Commentary on Micah 5:1, ArtScroll Tanach Series, Volume 2, p. 37).

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