Matthew 21-25

Introduction

Hook

Matthew 23:32–33 ESV

Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Structure

Matthew 16:21 through the end of chapter 25. Focuses on Jesus challenge to the spiritual and physical rulers in Jerusalem. He calls them out, calls them to the carpet, and creates the battle he will win.

This section of Matthew is broken into three parts

Preparing of the Confrontation

Shows the disciples who he is and his power over the enemy

Prepares them for what kind of kingdom they are a part of (suffering)

Confronting the Temple

Enters the temple

Authority questioned

Who’s Son is the Christ? (demonstrates a higher level of authority)

Condemning the Temple

Speech condemning Jerusalem, the Temple, the Priests, and the Teachers.

Rolls after this into the passion narrative.

Themes/Intertextuality

Big idea, the first chapters of Genesis are the introduction because they are meant to frame/be the lenses through which we see the rest of the book. These original stories are patterns that repeat throughout the Bible and show us how each story links together to form one large story. That is part of what Jesus means when he says that the whole bible points to him.

Genesis 3:15 ESV

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel

Genesis 4:7 ESV

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

David V Goliath as a prototypical defeat of the seed of the snake.

1 Samuel 17:43–50 ESV

And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him.

Thinks that characterize snake seed

Power - Physical earthly power

Violence

Deception

Taking something that doesn’t belong

Not about physical lineage, you can become snake seed by giving yourself over to those types of things

Quotations

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Referenceing Solomon

1 Kings 1:38–40 ESV

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon. There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.

Immediately after this Solomon Pursues his brother, kills his brother (who just tried to set himself up as king)

Solomon Goes on to heavily tax his people, grow wise, wealthy, powerful, builds a temple for the Lord for 7 years, but builds his house (immediately beside the temple) and builds it for 14 years. He is doing the things the kings are not supposed to. He is becoming more like the snake over time.

He eventually turns from God to worship the gods of the nations and the foreign women.

Solomon was a son of David, who rode on a donkey, who was made king by a priest of righteousness, but he became seed of the snake through his desire for wealth, power, authority on earth. He becomes the downward spiral tipping point in the genealogy We will see Jesus reject this kind of kingdom (though it was on offer) and build a new kind of kingdom. (Jesus is like David, but succeeds where Solomon fails)

PS 118:19-27 .

Psalm 118:22–27 ESV

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

How do those quotations fit into the way you read this text so far?

Two Seeds

The two kingdoms, systems, and ways of living are often represented in the bible through competing “seeds” or “offsprings.” This picture begins in Gen 3:15 and continues throughout the story of the bible. We see the battle between the seed of the woman, and the seed of the snake.

Seed of the Woman

Who is the Seed of the Woman?

Gen 3-15 we see that there will be perpetual hostility between two corporate family lines, and that it will culminate in an individual seed of the woman who will crush the serpent.

The seed of the Woman is the lineage of God’s promise. The theme of the child of the promise, or the miraculous birth, or the blessing through an offspring continues throughout, but is heaven in the life of Noah, Abraham and His Sons, David. We see that story ultimately culminate in Jesus.

Some of the key ideas are that God often elevat.es and chooses the unlikely and weak to be his promised seed

But Jesus isn’t the only seed of the Woman, the promised seed also includes his brothers. We are part of the family and lineage of promise if we are joined to Christ in faith.

Seed of the Snake

Who or what is the seed of the snake?

The promise of enmity and hostility is developed immediately after gen. 3 in the stories of the brothers.

Abel’s sacrifice is accepted, while Cain’s is rejected.

Cain is consumed by an animal called “sin” that compels him to murder the literal seed of the woman.

Cain becomes the seed of the snake by joining together with it and submitting to its influence. This leads to violence and hostility.

Cain then goes on to found cities that are filled with violence.

Gen 6.

Through some sort of crossing of the boundaries between heaven and earth there are giant warrior kings born. These are definitely seed of the snake, in their genealogies, but also in their actions. They spread violence over the earth through power.

Noah is raised up to build the refuge through the coming judgement on that iteration of the seed of the snake.

Noah’s sons immediately repeat the pattern of hostility.

After Noah get’s drunk his son Ham does something terrible to Noah and likely to his wife.

Noah curses Ham’s son Canaan and blesses Shem.

Again, a person becomes the cursed seed through violence, and power.

The serpent’s influence creeps in to all those who hunger for power and who get it through violence. Through submitting to that influence they become children of the snake. When we see nations at war, when we see the rich exploiting the poor, and when we see individuals getting what they want from others, we should see the influence of that original deceiver.

Seeds in Conflict

A person’s literal parentage doesn’t determine if they are seed of the woman or seed of the snake.

Loyalty to YHWH vs

Submission to the snake (getting power over others)

These two lines are in constant conflict throughout the Bible

David and Goliath show us the “characteristics” of the two types of seed and how they work in the world.

David is small, young, not powerful in an earthly way but faithful to and trusting in YHWH (faith)

Goliath is a descendant of Giants, champion of violence, explicitly powerful. (power)

1 Samuel 17:43–47 ESV

And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

David challenged Goliath and brought him into a battle that seemed impossible for David to win, but ultimately accomplished God’s purposes and elevated David to be a king.

David is God’s instrument for judgement on the enemies of God, the children of the snake who use earthly power to try to destroy the seed of the woman (Israel).

They came to destroy Israel, but were given over to death, and desecration.

Christ Accelerates the Conflict

Jesus taunts the children of the snake of his day into a battle that seems impossible for him, but accomplishes God’s purposes and elevates him to all authority.

Through this, God closes the door on his judgement on Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the Priesthood, and their Rulers. Because of their rejection of Jesus they will be given over to death, desecration, and decreation (no longer God’s people).

False Temple

Jesus enters like the previous son of David who was crowned in opposition to another son’s rule.

Jesus enters the temple and

False Fruit

False Mountain

Priests of the Snake

7 Woes

What is a woe?

Central curse - Neglected justice, mercy, faithfulness

Center of the center - exchanged mercy for violence and power

Children of the snake

Blood of Abel to Zechariah

Destruction and decreation of the temple

Conclusion

Where did Gods temple presence go to meet his people after the temple was destroyed

Sinai pre-render tabernacles on mountain Isaiah vision it will tabernacle over Jerusalem in futur in Christ it tabernacles with us

Who’s son is the Christ? - offspring/seed

Imminence of judgement then, and eternally

What makes a priest into a snake