The King and His Bride

 

Psalm 45: 6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
    The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7     you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8     your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9     daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
    at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

This psalm is subtitled as a love song. It begins as a song of blessing and praise to the king, describing his great power and influence in the world.  The paragraph above is followed by a call to the princess to find her place in the king's palace by leaving behind her father in this world and taking her place at the side of the king, enjoying the prominence of being his bride and mother of his children.  That this psalm is Messianic becomes obvious, especially as we find the above section quoted in Hebrews 1, describing the unique place of this King as being God, while also being anointed by God.  This King is none other than Christ and the bride by his side, the Church, the princess waiting to become queen.

Unfruitful Speech

 

Matthew 12: 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

As we have seen in the past few chapters, the overwhelming atmosphere around Jesus' ministry has been one of opposition.  In that context, we see that this statement is set against those who opposed Him. When he and his disciples legally gleaned the fields on the Sabbath, the Pharisees said: “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”  When He healed on the Sabbath "the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him." When Jesus healed a man from demons, they said: “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”  Every act of Jesus was met by criticism and plotting to get rid oof him. Their evil hearts were revealed by their evil speech. So are ours. 

Real Rest

 

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We saw yesterday in chapter 10 that Jesus told his disciples about all the opposition and persecution they could expect, but then ended the chapter with the rewards of righteousness.  In this chapter Matthew tells about John the Baptist, who had been rejected by the status quo and ended up in prison, then worse. Then we find Jesus commenting on how He was being rejected and opposed for different reasons than John, but the end result was the same, listing all the cities (and thereby the areas around them) which had rejected the gospel already. It is after all this that Jesus says it will be worth it all to follow Him, because they would no longer be striving to be righteous on their own, like the religious elite, but truly enter His rest. 

Rewards of the Righteous

 

Matthew 10:40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

In the past two chapters we have seen account after account of Christ's miraculous power, concluded by his call for harvesters to go out. Matthew begins with the calling and commissioning of the twelve to go out and be those harvesters. Jesus promises them opposition and persecution. resistance and rejections. Yet, they are to continue on fearlessly, sharing everything He has shown and told them in their time together. Finally, He shares the promises above for those who sharing the good news and those who receive them.  Most importantly, they will receive the presence of God He described in the Sermon on the Mount. It will be worth it all. 

More than a Hint

 

Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

After spending chapter 8 on a series of miracles, Matthew begins by giving another one, which Jesus uses to connect His authority with His salvation.  It is at this point that Matthew historically enters the scene. Matthew then gives another series of miracle accounts: restoring a girl to life, healing two blind men, and driving out demons.  After witnessing all of that, the disciples are given the challenge above. Though there were crowd of people, Jesus had compassion on them; they were more than numbers.  When he makes this final statement, He is more than giving a hint; he is charging them with a call to do something about it. He does the same with us today. 

Targeted Audience

 Matthew 8:1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

After the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew turns to a running list of miracles performed by Jesus. This first one shows the power of Christ to heal.  What is interesting to note is that Jesus tells him to tell no on, but instead go to the priest "as a proof for them."  Jesus did not have to show this man His authority; he already believed in His power; the priests were His target audience. Throughout the rest of the chapter, He chooses a variety of audiences: a Roman centurion, Peter's neighbors, His small collection of disciples, and the wicked territory of Gadara. In each of these, the recipients of the healing were not the intended target, but those connected to them - especially those not present when the miracles took place. We know that because Matthew was not even disciple yet; he was not on that ship, but it impacted him greatly. 

Rise Up and Redeem!

Psalm 44

23 Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
    Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
    our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
    Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! 

Thus concludes this psalm by the Sons of Korah. The psalm begins with a statement that the people have heard the stories of God's great deliverance passed down through the generations. They then offer praise to God as their King and Savior. After an interlude introduced by the word Selah, the tone of the psalm takes a sharp turn into an agonizing plea: they cannot understand why they now are facing defeat after defeat at the hands of their enemies. They believe they have been faithful to God, not turning to worship idols, yet they are falling in bondage to their enemies, climaxing in the well-known verse quoted elsewhere: 22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. It is this setting which prompts them to ask this series of three "Why" questions, and to claim the ultimate reason God would answer: Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! They are appealing to God's faithfulness to His character when all else fails.