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The Bible According to Matthew

About This Episode

The apostle Matthew wants you to understand that Jesus is reliving the history of Israel from Genesis to the book of Chronicles. Seth and David talk about why they love the book of Matthew and how the first Gospel helps us make sense of our entire Bible.

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How One Gospel Tells the Whole Story of Israel

Show Notes

David Bowden and Seth Stewart kick off a brand new series on the Spoken Gospel Podcast by diving into the Gospel of Matthew. After years of walking through the Old Testament to show how every corner of Scripture points to Jesus, the hosts are finally turning their attention to the Gospels themselves. But there's a reason they waited: Matthew, more than any other Gospel writer, presumes his readers are steeped in the story of Israel. He stacked his book full of Old Testament allusions, expecting his audience to appreciate how Jesus is the fulfillment of millennia of Israel's history.

A Scribe Trained in the Kingdom

Matthew presents himself as what Jesus describes in his Gospel: a scribe trained in the kingdom who goes into his storehouse and pulls out treasures both old and new. The "storehouse" for a Jewish scribe would be the Torah, the law of Moses. Matthew takes the familiar stories, themes, and characters of the Old Testament and holds them up to new light, revealing that all of them were pointing to Jesus. He's not asking his readers to forget what the Exodus or the Davidic kingdom meant. Those are treasures, gold from Israel's history. But Matthew wants to show that there's something even better beneath the surface: the person all those stories were anticipating.

This approach makes Matthew an ideal guide for Christians who want to learn how to see Jesus throughout the entire Old Testament. He teaches readers the very practice that Spoken Gospel has championed: reading Scripture as one unified narrative that climaxes in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For many people, Matthew becomes training ground for discovering that the Old Testament is not a separate, outdated collection of stories, but the first and longest Gospel we have.

From Genesis to Chronicles: Matthew's Literary Bookends

One of the most stunning features of Matthew's Gospel is how it begins and ends. The very first words are "Biblos Genesis," the Greek title of the Book of Genesis. This phrase also appears in Genesis 2:4 when introducing the creation account and again in Genesis 5:1 when introducing Adam's genealogy. Matthew is signaling that Jesus's arrival is a new creation story and a new genealogy. He's inviting readers to see Jesus as the true seed of Adam and the one who brings about the new heavens and new earth that Israel had always longed for.

The ending of Matthew is equally intentional. The last words of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel closely echo the final proclamation of King Cyrus at the end of 2 Chronicles, the last book of the Hebrew Bible. Cyrus declares that all authority has been given to him and sends Israel back to rebuild the temple. Jesus declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him and sends his disciples to make disciples of all nations. Both end with the promise "I will be with you." Matthew's Gospel, then, stretches from the first words of the Old Testament to the last, demonstrating that everything in between points to Jesus and finds its completion in him.

The Son of Abraham, the Son of David

Matthew opens his genealogy by introducing Jesus as the son of David and the son of Abraham. These are not casual titles. They point to the two major covenants that shaped Israel's identity and hope. God promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation, that they would be as numerous as the stars, and that through them all nations on earth would be blessed. By the end of Abraham's life, none of that had fully happened. Abraham died with few children and no global influence. But Jesus comes to complete what Abraham began. Through his death and resurrection, and through the mission he gives his followers, the family of Abraham now stretches across every nation on earth. The good news of Jesus has blessed people from every tongue and tribe, fulfilling the ancient promise.

The covenant with David was equally significant. God promised David that one of his descendants would always sit on the throne of Israel and establish a kingdom of justice, peace, and rest. The kings who followed David failed repeatedly, and eventually the throne was empty. But Matthew wants readers to know that Jesus is the true King, the son of David who will reign forever. He brings the justice and rest that Israel's kings could never deliver. Together, these two titles frame the entire narrative: Jesus is the one who brings blessing to the world and establishes an everlasting Kingdom.

Jesus as the New Israel

Beyond fulfilling the covenants with Abraham and David, Matthew shows that Jesus is Israel itself. When quoting Hosea's words, "Out of Egypt I called my son," Matthew applies them not to the nation of Israel but to Jesus. In the original context, God was speaking about rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt. Now Matthew sees Jesus reliving that story. But in a striking twist, the Egypt of Jesus's day is actually Israel. Herod, like Pharaoh, is slaughtering infant boys. Jesus must flee from his own homeland as if it were a place of bondage.

This identification matters profoundly. If Jesus is Israel, then his life becomes a recapitulation of the entire national story. Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeds. Where they rebelled in the wilderness, he resists temptation. Where their kings fell into corruption, he rules with perfect justice. Where their prophets warned of judgment, he embodies both the warning and the rescue. Jesus didn't take any shortcuts. He walked through Israel's history beat by beat so that he could beat by beat redeem it. This means that Jesus's faithfulness counts for everyone who trusts in him. His victory becomes theirs.

Mapping Israel's History onto Jesus's Life

Matthew's Gospel can be read as a compressed retelling of Israel's entire narrative, with Jesus living out each major movement. The parallels are striking and intentional. Jesus's earthly father Joseph has dreams, just like Joseph the patriarch who held court in Egypt. Herod kills children like Pharaoh did. Jesus flees to Egypt and returns, just as Moses fled from and returned to Egypt. John the Baptist announces judgment against the religious establishment the way Moses and Aaron pronounced plagues on Pharaoh's house.

Jesus passes through the waters of baptism as Israel passed through the Red Sea. He spends forty days being tempted in the wilderness, paralleling Israel's forty years of testing. He appoints twelve disciples as Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan. He ascends a mountain and delivers the Sermon on the Mount as Moses ascended Sinai and delivered the law. Chapters eight and nine record ten miracles, echoing either the ten plagues or the ten rebellions in the wilderness. The first rebellion after Sinai involved Miriam becoming leprous, and the first miracle Jesus performs is healing a leper. He then commissions his disciples as Moses commissioned Joshua's spies, and chapters eleven and twelve focus heavily on Sabbath rest, just as Joshua's conquest was meant to bring rest from enemies.

The parables of the kingdom in chapter thirteen evoke Solomon, the philosopher king who spoke in riddles and proverbs. The Greek word for parables is the same word used for wisdom literature in the Old Testament. Jesus is the new and better Solomon, establishing a kingdom with perfect wisdom. Later, in chapters twenty-three through twenty-five, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and weeps over Jerusalem just as Jeremiah and the prophets railed against Israel's corrupt leadership before the Babylonian exile. And just as the temple was destroyed by Babylon, Jesus himself is destroyed on the cross. But just as the prophets promised restoration and a rebuilt Jerusalem, Jesus rises from the dead and commissions his followers to build a new temple, not of stones, but of Spirit-filled people across every nation.

Why This Matters: The Good News of a Story

The significance of Matthew's approach goes beyond literary cleverness. Stories shape human beings in ways that isolated facts cannot. God could have delivered the good news through headlines and propositions, but instead he gave us a narrative spanning centuries. The Old Testament tells a story about humanity's exile from God and Israel's repeated failures to return to the garden. Every patriarch, prophet, king, and priest tried to rebuild what was lost, and every one fell short. The question hanging over all of Scripture is whether anyone can lead God's people back home.

Matthew answers with a resounding yes. Jesus is the one who walks the entire road Israel walked and arrives at the destination they could never reach. He brings humanity back into relationship with God, not through human effort but through his faithful obedience, his sacrificial death, and his victorious resurrection. Understanding this narrative transforms how Christians read their Bibles. Two-thirds of Scripture suddenly comes alive as the first and longest Gospel. The Old Testament is not a dusty prelude but a treasure chest filled with jewels that all point to Jesus. Matthew hands readers the key and invites them to discover those treasures for themselves.

Transcript

David: [upbeat music] I think Matthew proves-

Seth: Right

David: ... that the Old Testament is our first and longest gospel.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And his is like the CliffsNotes version.

Seth: Right.

David: It's like, if you wanna see the full story, go read all of Genesis with Jesus in your head-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and you'll see what I'm talking about, and it'll blow your mind.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It's like, that's what we're trying to do here at Spoken Gospel, and that's why I just love Matthew. [upbeat music]

Intro: Welcome to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Spoken Gospel is a ministry that's dedicated to speaking the gospel out of every corner of scripture. In Luke 24, Jesus told his disciples that every part of the Bible was about him. So each week, hosts David and Seth work through a passage of scripture to see how it's all about Jesus and his good news. Let's jump in. [upbeat music]

David: Well, welcome everyone to the Spoken Gospel podcast. We are starting our first podcast on a gospel. [laughs]

Seth: Which is crazy, because for Spoken Gospel as an organization to be in year five of its ministry-

David: Something like that, yep

Seth: ... lifespan-

David: Yep

Seth: ... never have podcasted-

David: A gospel

Seth: ... a gospel.

David: Yeah, but that's our thing. You know, we go to the places where you don't think the gospel is-

Seth: Right

David: ... and we show you the gospel in it.

Seth: Right. But don't go s- too far.

David: Pardon me. No.

Seth: Don't go where the word comes from. [laughs]

David: [laughs] No. That has not necessarily been our intention, but we're very excited to be getting into a gospel now.

Seth: I've been excited for this for a while.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Uh, well, I kinda wanted to wait.

David: You've wanted to wait. Oh, we've talked about this. You've wanted to wait to get into the gospels, and, uh, unpack why 'cause it's really interesting.

Seth: Because the gospels presume you know the Old Testament.

David: Yes.

Seth: And they are-

David: Especially the Torah.

Seth: E- especially the Torah, and especially Matthew.

David: Yes.

Seth: Uh, Matthew as an author loved his Old Testament.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And he stacked his book full of Old Testament stories and allusions, and he is expecting his readers to appreciate the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of millennials of Israel's history.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And it's awesome.

David: It's fascinating.

Seth: And the reason why I wanted to wait was so that I would have studied more of Israel's history-

David: Right

Seth: ... so that I'd be ready to appreciate Matthew for what he's trying to do. It's like, the way that I'm kinda picturing it is, like, okay, Matthew understands the entire Old Testament as a novel without an ending.

David: Mm.

Seth: And he's writing the ending of the novel.

David: Right. And-

Seth: He's writing the last three chapters.

David: Right, and all the themes and all the characters and all the motifs, he's weaving those into the story of Jesus to show you that it's the same story, and it's coming to a poetically, literarily beautiful ending.

Seth: Yes.

David: Yeah. That's cool. Yeah, I, I love Matthew, uh, so much. When people ask me what my favorite gospel is, it's Matthew. Uh, and the r- and it's the same reason. It's because i- it shows how Jesus completes all the different stories of the Old Testament.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And, like, all the famous stories. Like-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... Creation itself. It shows how Jesus completes the genealogy of Genesis 5, which is crazy.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Uh, the Exodus story, all these things, which I know we're gonna talk about. We tried to put that really heavily even in our Spoken Gospel introduction video-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... on Matthew, which was our sixth introduction to ever film. But we, we did it where we basically laid it out where Matthew was, like, a, an Indiana Jones-type archeologist.

Seth: [laughs]

David: And he comes to a treasure chest, and it's full of all the old artifacts from the Old Testament. And he takes them out, dusts them off, and puts them on pedestals under new light to show you the real meaning behind them-

Seth: Isn't that-

David: ... and they're all Jesus.

Seth: Isn't that based off a verse in Matthew?

David: Yes, it is based on a verse in Matthew.

Seth: Uh...

David: It's, it's the scribe trained in the kingdom, goes into his storehouse and pulls out treasures old and new, and that's the, that's the picture, is Jesus in Matthew.

Seth: Mm.

David: Matthew shows Jesus saying, "I would argue that Matthew sees himself as a scribe trained in the kingdom." Which is-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... which is what Jesus says. And he's like, I think this is Matthew's calling card.

Seth: Mm.

David: And he's, he goes into the treasure. What would be a scribe's treasure?

Seth: The law.

David: The law.

Seth: The NIV actually translates scribe as teacher of the law-

David: Yes, exactly right

Seth: ... who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven.

David: Oh yeah, it's a really good translation.

Seth: Yeah, yeah.

David: It's really helpful. So you have this teacher of the law who becomes a disciple, and what does he do? He goes into his treasury of the law, and he pulls out two things: old treasures, right?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: He's not saying, like, "Forget what th- this used to mean."

Seth: Forget the story of David and Goliath.

David: No. Absolutely not. That's a treasure.

Seth: It's a treasure.

David: That's gold. But then he's like, "But there's something else here, and it's what this treasure was pointing to, and it's better than gold."

Seth: Yeah.

David: And it's like that's what Matthew is.

Seth: Mm.

David: Is he is a scribe. Here's how I want you to view Matthew. Matthew w- and here's what I hope this whole podcast series is, is Matthew is gonna open up the Old Testament to you like a treasure chest.

Seth: Mm.

David: And he wants you to crack open the treasure chest and look into the Old Testament, and he just wants to show you jewel after jewel, gold piece after gold piece, treasure after treasure, and all of it is gonna point to Jesus.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And that's so cool.

Seth: Yes. And the fact that he does it from the Old Testament-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... which is a place that most people don't think to look for-

David: Jesus

Seth: ... for Jesus.

David: Yeah. [laughs]

Seth: Matthew teaches us how to do it, and I think part of the reason why I'm excited about it, why I love Matthew, is he teaches us to do the thing that we love doing.

David: Yeah. I would say Matthew is probably wh- where you and I first learned how to do this. When-

Seth: You might be right.

David: I think, like, when we first saw that Jesus' flight to Egypt was him recreating the Exodus story, we were like, "Wait, what?"

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Like, I remember that, like, years and years and years and years ago.

Seth: Yeah, yeah.

David: I think, like, Matthew for me was like training ground for what-

Seth: Mm

David: ... became Spoken Gospel. So I think it's another reason why I just love it.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Is this was, like, where my first love of seeing Jesus in all of scripture really came from.

Seth: Yeah. I have learned to love it freshly-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... in the last probably year or so, as I've become more and more familiar with the writings of Peter Leithart.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Um, if you guys like to read nerdy books, Peter Leithart is a nerdy man who you would enjoy reading-

David: Yes

Seth: ... uh, reading alongside. I've always known-That the Book of Matthew begins with a whole bunch of allusions that compare Jesus and Moses.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And it's like Jesus' life kinda maps onto the story of Moses, right?

David: Right, yep.

Seth: He, he goes into waters, just like Israel crosses the Red Sea, and then He goes up on a mountain and delivers the Sermon on the Mount, the same way that-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... Moses went on a, up on a mountain and delivered-

David: Right

Seth: ... the Ten Commandments. So you're like, "Oh, that's super fascinating." I've always kinda kn- known that. What Peter Leithart does is says, "That it doesn't end-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... when, with the Sermon on the Mount" Jesus repeats, I mean, and he literally beat for beat-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... Israel's thousands of years of history-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... from the Book of Genesis through the major and minor prophets.

David: Right. He does. I mean, I mean, look at, look real quick at the first line and the last line of Matthew.

Seth: Oh, I think I know what you're gonna do.

David: I hope you do.

Seth: [laughs]

David: The first line of Matthew is Genesis.

Seth: The words Biblos Genesis.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yes.

David: Is the... That's the name, the Hebrew name translated into Greek-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... of the Book of Genesis.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So he's literally saying, if you wanted to just roughly translate it into English, it's the Book of Genesis of Jesus Christ-

Seth: Yep

David: ... is the first line of Matthew. Matthew starts with the word genesis, in a sense.

Seth: Yep.

David: And then, and, and-

Seth: Yep. Yep.

David: You were... Yeah.

Seth: It's also Genesis 2:4 when it says, "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created."

David: It is.

Seth: Same word, Biblos Genesis.

David: Yep.

Seth: So he's like, "Okay, the creation story-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... begins with the words Biblos Genesis, so I'm gonna start my new creation story-

David: Yes

Seth: ... of, with Jesus with the s- exact same words."

David: It's so cool.

Seth: And then, even cooler, he says that same word again, and that same word is used in Genesis again right when it starts to introduce the genealogies.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: "This is the written account of Adam's family line," Biblos Genesis-

David: Yes

Seth: ... Adam.

David: Yep.

Seth: And then-

David: And then this is the, this is the account of Jesus's line-

Seth: Yeah, and then-

David: ... of the new creation.

Seth: Yes. So and then what happens right after Biblos Genesis? It's the new creation and a whole new genealogy.

David: Right.

Seth: So fun.

David: It's so cool. So you have the beginning of Matthew starts with the genesis. [laughs]

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Right? And then the last line is the end of the age.

Seth: Oh.

David: Those, that's the last word, the end of the age.

Seth: Yeah.

David: "Surely I am with you even to the end of the age."

Seth: Oh.

David: So Matthew starts in the beginning and ends-

Seth: At the end

David: ... at the end. [laughs]

Seth: Je-

David: It's just this beautiful book.

Seth: Um, you, you... That's so cool.

David: [laughs]

Seth: There's more there.

David: Oh, boy. [laughs]

Seth: So the very last book of the Hebrew Bible is, uh-

David: Chronicles

Seth: ... is Chronicles.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Uh, so that's the way that Matthew would've grown up reading his Bible-

David: Yep

Seth: ... ending in the Book of Chronicles. The last thing recorded in the Book of Chronicles is a proclamation by King Cyrus sending Israel back into Israel to rebuild the temple.

David: Okay.

Seth: And what he says is almost word for word the same thing Jesus says to his disciples.

David: No.

Seth: He s-

David: I literally don't know this.

Seth: You don't know this?

David: No, keep talking.

Seth: So, so-

David: I'm so excited

Seth: ... so he's, this is what Cyrus says-

David: Okay

Seth: ... at the end of the Book of Chronicles, the very end of the Hebrew Bible.

David: Yeah.

Seth: "The Lord, the God of heaven, has given all authority of the kingdoms-

David: Stop

Seth: ... of the earth to me."

David: Stop. [laughs]

Seth: "And he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go."

David: Oh, come on.

Seth: "And may the Lord be with you."

David: Get out. [laughs]

Seth: And so how does Jesus say, how does the b- gospel of Matthew end? By parroting the quotation from Cyrus, all of, in Jesus' mouth, "All authority, true authority, has been given to, heaven on earth to me. Therefore, go, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," and, "I am with you always-"

David: Right

Seth: ... "to the very end of the age."

David: So Matthew literally begins with the first words of Genesis-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and ends with the last words of the Jewish Old Testament.

Seth: That's exactly right.

David: And he's doing that for a purpose, to show you that the life of Jesus-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... from beginning to end fulfills all the scriptures.

Seth: Yep.

David: Like, v- and that is, I mean, let's just stop for a second. Number one, that's literally our whole thing here at Spoken Gospel.

Seth: Right, right. [laughs] Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's just, it's not, no big deal.

David: Like, you know-

Seth: It's our whole thing

David: ... on the road to Emmaus, which is in Luke, you know, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus opens up to his disciples the Old Testament and teaches them all the things concerning himself.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And there's this huge debate, which is, I'm not a fan of it, 'cause I think it's majoring on the minors, but this huge debate of what, did Jesus go through the Old Testament and show them the specific things that he fulfilled, or was he showing them how he fulfilled all things?

Seth: I understand.

David: And so are there are a few things in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled?

Seth: He's like, "There's 12 different times I'm mentioned in the Old Testament."

David: That's right.

Seth: "Here's the 12."

David: Here they are. Or, no, no matter where you turn in the Old Testament, you can get to Jesus.

Seth: Yeah.

David: All roads lead to London.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And I think it's that one.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And I think Matthew's structure proves the point.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It starts in Genesis 1 and-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... ends at the end of Chronicles, showing you that the whole story is about Jesus.

Seth: Yes.

David: Oh.

Seth: I love that.

David: So cool.

Seth: I think Matthew also wants to make a n- narrower point, too.

David: Okay.

Seth: I think he wants to prove that Jesus is the fulfillment of all scripture.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And one of the ways he does that within the book, which is kinda fun... Let me prove your point-

David: Yeah, yeah

Seth: ... and then I'll give you a new point. Matthew uses, like, this stock phrase, uh, five different times throughout his gospel, and it goes something like, "After Jesus taught these things-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... the disciples reacted this way. The false teachers a- or the Pharisees acted this way."

David: Okay.

Seth: Like, whatever.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so a summary statement to cap off a section of his, of his gospel.

David: Yeah.

Seth: He does it five times.

David: Okay. Oh.

Seth: Why? Because there's five books in the Jewish Old Testament prove... And what is Jesus doing? He's teaching. He's torah-ing. He's teaching.

David: Right, there's five book, the five books of Moses, so I know.

Seth: The five books of Moses.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Seth: The five books of the Torah. Jesus teaches five different times because his ministry is fulfilling-The history of Moses

David: Okay.

Seth: So I th-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... so your point is made.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Your point is made. Jesus is a fulfillment of all scripture.

David: But you also said there's a narrower point.

Seth: I think Jesus is not only fulfilling all scripture, but he's fulfilling the history and the narrative of Israel as a nation.

David: Absolutely.

Seth: So I think this is most... It's, like, meta proven by the fact that Biblos Canaseos, Matthew 1:1-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... and Matthew 28:19-20 is the same words, the la- of 2 Chronicles, uh, 30, uh, 36:23.

David: Yeah.

Seth: That, you got that. But you also have something more specific in, uh, Matthew, the very beginning of Matthew-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... in the fact that Matthew quotes the Book of Hosea-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and calls Jesus Israel.

David: Oh, right.

Seth: He says, "Out of Egypt I called my son"-

David: My son

Seth: ... as a reference to God calling Israel out of Egypt.

David: Right.

Seth: And now he's saying Jesus is Israel-

David: Right

Seth: ... and he's calling him out of Egypt. What's interesting about that and about Matthew's retelling of the story is that now that... Anyway, we'll get to this.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Seth: He's calling Jesus out of Egypt, but Egypt is actually Israel.

David: Right.

Seth: Herod has become a new Pharaoh-

David: Right

Seth: ... who's killing babies-

David: Right

Seth: ... just like Pharaoh did in Egypt, and God is calling him out of this Israel, now Egypt-

David: Right

Seth: ... into a safe space.

David: The point is that Jesus is-

Seth: Is Israel

David: ... Israel-

Seth: And he's-

David: And he's going to walk through their story-

Seth: Yes

David: ... but prevail where Israel failed.

Seth: Yes. And he's-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... his story begins the same place Israel's story began-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... in the belly of Egypt, in the be- like-

David: Right

Seth: ... under the threat of-

David: He didn't take any shortcuts

Seth: ... a genocidal, an infanticidal king.

David: Right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Jesus didn't take any shortcuts. He, he went beat for beat through Israel's story so he could beat for beat redeem her.

Seth: Yeah. [gentle music]

David: Let's, let's ask two questions. One, why is it good news that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament scriptures?

Seth: [sighs]

David: Two, why is it good news that Jesus is Israel?

Seth: Mm.

David: Let's just talk about those two things.

Seth: Okay.

David: Okay, so why is it good news? And this is, like, the meta question of why we exist at Spoken Gospel.

Seth: [sighs]

David: But why is it good news that Matthew has shown us that Jesus fulfills the entire corpus of the Old Testament? It's literarily cool.

Seth: It, literarily cool. It's a, it's like, it's a book full of Easter eggs.

David: Right.

Seth: It's like, kinda like-

David: Right

Seth: ... runway, I'm excited about it. Right.

David: Right. It's like those, uh, Screen Rant videos. It's like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... 100 things you missed in the Old Testament. [laughs]

Seth: Yeah. It's like, there's so much.

David: [laughs] Yeah, but there's, there's actually theological life-giving gospel to the fact-

Seth: Right

David: ... that Matthew shows us that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament.

Seth: My mind keeps blending those two things.

David: Okay.

Seth: But why is it good news that Jesus is the fulfillment of all scripture? It's because he's a fulfillment of the narrative of Israel.

David: Yeah, talk about that.

Seth: So Israel is just shorthand for God's people.

David: Right.

Seth: God's people started in a garden. They were exiled from that garden. Over the course of Israel's history, they had many ways to try to recreate the garden.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Noah tried to recreate the garden.

David: Right.

Seth: Uh, the judges tried to recreate the garden.

David: Yep.

Seth: Moses tried to recreate the garden. Joshua tried to recreate the garden. David-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... Solomon-

David: Right

Seth: ... uh, the kings after them, the prophets try to call Israel away from their idolatry to do what? To build the temple again and be something like the Garden of Eden-

David: Right

Seth: ... to, to end the exile that began those thousands of years earlier.

David: Yes. The big question of the people of Israel is how are they gonna get back to the garden with God?

Seth: How can we be with God again?

David: Yeah.

Seth: How can we w- be in a relationship with God again?

David: Yeah, and at the end of Chronicles, the question's still unanswered.

Seth: Right. There's hope at the end of Chronicles-

David: There's hope that the, the answer will come

Seth: ... that, hey, go back and build the temple. Well, that's the end of the... The hope of the end of Chronicles is go, Israel, go-

David: Yep

Seth: ... and rebuild the temple.

David: Yep, and maybe that's where you'll be with God again.

Seth: Right, and what's fascinating is Jesus picks up on that.

David: Yes.

Seth: I am that new temple.

David: Right.

Seth: So go and make a temple of all the world.

David: Yes.

Seth: And baptizing them. Make a temple of all the world, just like Cyrus said.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Go and rebuild the temple. It's happening. It's in me.

David: Yeah.

Seth: So, like, the reason why it's good news is that the people of God as Israel is actually just the story of humanity in a sense.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, humanity is bound up in the fate of Israel in the sense that we are all in exile outside of the garden-

David: Right

Seth: ... looking for a way to get back in to be in relationship with God again.

David: Yes.

Seth: And Israel has a really vivid national geopolitical thousands of years long drama that's t- told through their history, which is really just a microcosm of all people's alienation from God-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and their desire to be in a garden with God, recreating the world, working alongside of him, and Jesus fulfills that narrative for us.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Right? Like, that's, that's why it's good news that Jesus is the fulfillment of all scripture, 'cause he fixes the problem page one of the Bible tells us happens.

David: Yeah. [laughs]

Seth: We can't build in the garden with God. We can't build the world that God wants us to build.

David: Yeah.

Seth: But now we can in Jesus.

David: Yeah. I mean, that's very good news.

Seth: Right.

David: The, that's literally the good news.

Seth: That's the good news, yeah.

David: Yeah. I think the only other thing, and I, I, I think I would've said the exact same thing, the only thing I'm thinking of is trying to take one step back to the meta question, 'cause there's also something behind this, which is why do we have a huge book of stories spanning centuries that then Jesus fulfills in an enfleshed story that gets told as a story?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Like, why do we have books and letters and stories and narrative?

Seth: Yeah.

David: God could have told us the good news other ways, right? Like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... typically good news doesn't have to be narrative.

Seth: It could be headlines.

David: It could be, it could be headlines and facts.

Seth: Yeah.

David: But we have a narrative, and the Old Testament is a beautiful narrative, and then Matthew tells a beautiful ending to that narrative. Um, and I just think that's amazing. I think that in itself is good news that... I think for me, like, growing up in the church-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... I was always told all the axioms of the faith.

Seth: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

David: Jesus died for your sins.

Seth: Yeah.

David: But that in itself is a fact.

Seth: Right.

David: But it doesn't mean anything until it has a story.You know, so like take for example, and this is a little off topic-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... but it proves my point is like take for example, don't have sex outside of marriage.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Is like a fact-

Seth: Right

David: ... and a good command but it is kind of pointless to me without the story of why not.

Seth: Yeah.

David: 'Cause God said so. I'm still not living into a narrative that-

Seth: Right

David: ... 'cause the world's telling me a narrative-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... that if I have sex outside of marriage, I'll be fulfilled and, uh, like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... uh, self-actualize and all these things.

Seth: Yeah, the world, yeah, yeah yeah.

David: But God has a better story, and he says, "Actually, I want you to covenant with one person, uh, as a picture of my covenant with you.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And then I want you to bear children to populate the world as my image-bearers-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... because I want to live with you in the world-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and cover it with my glory.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So be a part of that-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and image my covenant and produce image-bearers-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... so that we can live in the world together."

Seth: Yep.

David: That's what my marriage and my children-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and my commitment and fidelity stand for.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It's better than a command. It's a story.

Seth: It's a story. I've never thought about the fact that there's not, our culture doesn't have a list of Ten Commandments to obey the culture.

David: No.

Seth: It, you know, it's like have as much sex as you want.

David: Right.

Seth: They don't ever, no one ever says that out loud. [laughs]

David: Right. No, they just have stories.

Seth: They have sto-

David: Yep

Seth: ... I just, I haven't thought about that.

David: Yeah.

Seth: How most commands, most things we intuit as good or wrong-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... are actually communicated through stories-

David: Right

Seth: ... that we just hear over and over again.

David: Yeah, and so I just think like that's good news to me-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... because I, I think God built our brains to like stories.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Why would he do that? Because he had the best story to tell us, because he wanted-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... to be worshiped through a story.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Right?

Seth: Right.

David: And so he, he paired the creation of beings who get the most meaning from stories with the greatest story ever told-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... so that he would get the most glory.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And so like I just think that's why I love Matthew so much is he helps me hear the story better.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So I think that's why it's good news that Jesus fulfills all of scripture is it's not Jesus died for your sins, it's let me tell you the story that Jesus fulfills.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And now I can see Jesus as the fulfillment of a story and not just a bunch of unconnected theological truths about who he was and what he did.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It goes back to what you're saying, it's like we're all trapped in Egypt and enslaved under oppressive systems, and Jesus is gonna free us, is a better way of saying Jesus died for your sins.

Seth: Yeah, yeah.

David: Or he's calling you to a new life.

Seth: Yeah, it's like-

David: That's not wrong. Paul says it that way.

Seth: No, it's not wrong. It's not wrong at all. But like what's Paul doing? He's summarizing-

David: A story

Seth: ... a story that people, most of his audience would've been very familiar with.

David: Right.

Seth: And if they weren't familiar with it, what was all the original churches doing?

David: Right.

Seth: The only scripture they had was one letter from Paul maybe, and-

David: And the whole Old Testament

Seth: ... and the whole Old Testament.

David: Right.

Seth: Right, yeah.

David: And I think that's what we need to remember too is when Paul writes to Timothy and says, "All scripture is God-breathed," he's not not including the New Testament, but he has in his target the Old Testament. He's saying-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... "This is what you use to teach your church."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And I just think Matthew helps people on our side of the cross see the beauty of the Old Testament.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: 'Cause I just love the Old Testament.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And it's, it was Jesus' Bible, guys. Like- [laughs]

Seth: Yeah. [laughs]

David: ... it was Jesus' Bible. It was the church's Bible, the first century church's Bible.

Seth: It is kind of an odd thought to think, like if you went to, like I went to church on Sunday.

David: Yep.

Seth: I had Genesis through Chronicles and maybe part of, and Ephesians.

David: Yeah, and Ephesians.

Seth: I'm like-

David: That's your Bible

Seth: ... that's my Bi... I was like-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and maybe if I'm lucky, I've also got Colossians.

David: Right.

Seth: You know, I'm like-

David: Right

Seth: ... I've got-

David: 'Cause they were in circulation in the same area

Seth: ... or m- and maybe m- and maybe John or Matthew.

David: Right, right, right.

Seth: I've got one gospel-

David: Yep

Seth: ... one letter, and all of the-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... Old Testament.

David: And I'm so glad we have the full canon of the Bible, guys.

Seth: Oh, I'm so glad. But like-

David: We're not saying that

Seth: ... imagine the different type of, the way I would be formed by the scriptures would be just so different.

David: Yeah. It, it would require you to engage your Old Testament-

Seth: Right

David: ... in really unique, powerful ways.

Seth: I think, I mean, most of my childhood was in the New Testament.

David: Right, same.

Seth: Not, not wrongly.

David: Not wrong. There's nothing wrong with that.

Seth: Not wrongly at all, but I'm like in God's control of space and time-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... it's like he wanted his people for a period of time to have more Old Testament than New Testament.

David: Sure.

Seth: And to that point, we still have more Old Testament than New Testament.

David: Right.

Seth: [laughs] We like-

David: Which is the, which is another reason why I love Matthew is, is like I think for so many people when they start to see how to read the Old Testament-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... as Matthew wants them to see it, which is a story that's all about Jesus, they get like two-thirds of their Bible back.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Is they've been, they've only been using 27-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and there's 66 that they can use, and it's just like, man. So I like to call the Old Testament our first and longest gospel.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: I think Matthew proves-

Seth: Right

David: ... that the Old Testament is our first and longest gospel.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And his is like the CliffsNotes version. It's like-

Seth: Right

David: ... if you wanna see the full story, go read all of Genesis with Jesus in your head-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and you'll see what I'm talking about, and it'll blow your mind.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It's like that's what we're trying to do here at Spoken Gospel, and that's why I just love Matthew. Now, let's narrow the focus more.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So we talked about Jesus fulfill- Matthew shows how Jesus fulfills all of scripture, then how he is the new Israel.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: But then also he opens the book by saying h- this is the genealogy, this is the genesis of Jesus Christ, the son of David-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... the son of Abraham.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: There are two really specific things he's trying to get us to do here.

Seth: Yeah.

David: To see Jesus as the fulfillment of the kingdom of Israel-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... which is what, kind of what you're getting at there, but specifically the son of David. Jesus is the king that Israel has longed for and needed, so like all the fulfillment of the promises made to David-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... which is a huge idea.

Seth: Yeah, so worth, well, I mean, just in your mind think the books of 1 Samuel-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... through Chronicles.

David: Right.

Seth: That's the kingdom.

David: That's the kingdom.

Seth: That's the kingdom.

David: And Jesus is gonna fulfill all of that.

Seth: And then the son of Abraham-

David: Right

Seth: ... that's Genesis through, uh, Judges, or Ruth actually.

David: Right.

Seth: Or I guess Ruth you-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... anyway.

David: And that is, yeah, and that was Jesus came, so let's talk about those two covenants real quick.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So Jesus came to Ab- or God came to Abraham, [laughs] and he said to Abraham, "I'm going to make you a great nation."And you're gonna have more children than you can count

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: And they are going to be a blessing to every nation

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: And Jesus is the fulfillment of that because at the end of Abraham's life, he did not have a bunch of kids.

Seth: Right.

David: Right [laughs]? And he was not a blessing to every nation.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He-

Seth: And Abraham even knew himself that the promise of the land and everything that he was g- it was going to be in the future.

David: That's right.

Seth: He knew that he was just the first of... the first person in li- in a long line of-

David: In a long genealogy

Seth: ... in a long genealogy, yeah.

David: And Jesus comes and finishes that genealogy, and what's he do? He shows us a new way to make image-bearers of God-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... by preaching them the good news. It's how-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... th- the Book of Matthew ends-

Seth: Right

David: ... so that there's a bunch of Jesus followers that-

Seth: A bunch of sons of Abraham

David: ... a bunch of sons of Abraham that fill the world, go into all nations and bless them, and now it's happened.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Like, the good message of Jesus is now embedded in every culture around the world, and all nations are blessed.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Like, the promise God made to Abraham is now fulfilled in Jesus all around the world.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So Matthew's gonna show us how that's possible. Then you have the promise made to David.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And the promise made to David was that there would always be a king sitting on Israel's throne that, and that king would be a son of David.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And-

Seth: And he would provide, uniquely, justice and rest-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... for his people.

David: That's right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Re- yeah. Rest on every side, peace from war, absolute harmony, you know?

Seth: Yeah.

David: No domestic or, uh, international, uh, well, dip- diplomacy-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... issues, but then inside, perfect justice, equity.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: The poor are never wronged.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: The, the rich never got that way through, you know, misdeeds.

Seth: Mm-hmm. Right.

David: E- everything's right, and it's like, m- don't you wanna live in that kind of a kingdom? Like, don't you wanna be in a family that blesses the whole world-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and in a country that's perfect and at peace?

Seth: Yeah.

David: That's what Israel was hoping for throughout the whole Old Testament.

Seth: That's what it would've looked like to be in the garden-

David: That's right

Seth: ... as a community of people, millions strong.

David: That's right, and now Jesus is making it happen. And that's, like-

Seth: That is so good

David: ... the rifle focus of Matthew.

Seth: Yeah, so good. [gentle music] So can I just go through a little bit of the Book of Matthew and show you, David-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... but also you, audience, how closely Matthew is following the story of the people of God and mapping it onto Jesus's life.

David: I mean, do I just get to close my eyes and just kind of receive?

Seth: I mean, I could just talk at you for a long time-

David: I mean-

Seth: ... but I-

David: ... this sounds exciting to me

Seth: ... I would love for you to respond as well-

David: I'll try

Seth: ... if, if you feel-

David: I mean, I just kinda-

Seth: ... feel led

David: ... I just kinda wanna be a podcast listener right now [laughs] listen to you.

Seth: So we've already mentioned Matthew begins with some of the first words of the Book of Genesis.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: "This is the Book of Genesis." And then we have Jesus introduced, as you said, as a son of Abraham. And so what's the first family after the Genesis narratives? It's the family of Abraham.

David: Right.

Seth: And it's Abraham's story from Genesis 12 to Genesis 26, leading up to who? Joseph the Dreamer.

David: Mm.

Seth: And Jesus's father is also named Joseph-

David: And he has dreams

Seth: ... who also has several dreams.

David: [laughs]

Seth: Also like Joseph, he receives visitors from foreign nations, just as Joseph held court and provided food for the nations during the famine in Egypt.

David: Right.

Seth: Um, then who are we introduced to? Herod killing children, just as Pharaoh killed children after Joseph was in power in Egypt and 400 years passed. Then what happens? Jesus flees from this Israel turned Egypt, just as Moses fled from Egypt during the reign of this infanticidal pharaoh.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Then Jesus returns to Israel as Moses returns to Egypt, and John announces judgment against the Pharisees the same way Moses and Aaron announced the ten plagues against Egypt.

David: Wait, wait, hold on. So Je- Jesus leaves E- leaves Egypt just like Moses-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and the people of Israel left Egypt.

Seth: Jesus returns-

David: Comes back to Israel

Seth: ... to Israel/Egypt, yes, because in, in Matthew's mind-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... Israel's become Egypt.

David: Oh, okay.

Seth: Right.

David: Yep.

Seth: And then John the Baptist starts announcing judgment against who? The religious establishment of Israel because they've turned corrupt-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... and that parallels, uh, Exodus 7 through 12 as Moses and Aaron bring judgment against the gods of Egypt and the religious establishment of Pharaoh.

David: Whoa, okay, so I've not, I've not thought of that one before.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Th- so you're saying, like, the woes that John the Baptist declares against, like, the Pharisees-

Seth: The brood of vipers, yeah

David: ... who come out to see him is a parallel to the plagues-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... of Egypt.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Whoa.

Seth: And the-

David: Okay

Seth: ... judgment Aaron and-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... Moses pronounce against Egypt.

David: Okay, that makes sense.

Seth: Um-

David: Keep going.

Seth: Then Jesus passes through the waters of baptism, just as Israel passes through the waters of the Red Sea.

David: Yep.

Seth: Then following 40 days in the wilderness and Israel's 40 years in the wilderness.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And then Exodus 18.

David: And also we're told-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... that Israel's time in the wilderness was a time of testing.

Seth: Yep.

David: And Jesus went-

Seth: Israel's tempted in Exodus-

David: Went to the-

Seth: ... 17 to 19

David: ... and then Jesus went into the wilderness to be tested, tempted-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... by Satan.

Seth: Maybe that's actually the better parallel here because the 40 might not track perfectly, but Jesus goes to be tempted-

David: Right

Seth: ... in Exodus 17 to 19. We're told Israel goes into the wilderness to be tempted.

David: Tempt- tempted, and they fail in th- their, their test.

Seth: And that's why there's 40 years.

David: Right.

Seth: Uh, Jesus succeeds in that moment.

David: Yeah, so he, he only has to spend a short time in the wilderness.

Seth: But after both of their testings, what happened?

David: Um.

Seth: Jesus appoints his disciples, and then after the testing that they failed in Exodus 17 to 19, or in the middle of that, Moses appoints 70 elders-

David: Mm

Seth: ... to rule his people. And then they go to the Mountain of Sinai, and they're given the law.

David: And, oh, and Jesus-

Seth: And-

David: ... goes to the mountain and does the Sermon on the Mount-

Seth: I think-

David: ... giving his-

Seth: Fulfill-

David: ... fulfillment of the law.

Seth: That's ex- that's exactly right.

David: Yeah, okay.

Seth: And that happens for seven chapters, or not seven chapters, but up to chapters-

David: Up to chapter seven

Seth: ... seven-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... he gives the law.

David: Okay.

Seth: So already I'm like-

David: Seven chapters in Matthew, and we've gotten through Mount Sinai-

Seth: Yes, and like-

David: ... in Exodus

Seth: ... very specifically-

David: Yeah

Seth: Mapping major moments throughout Israel's history.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Then-

David: Okay

Seth: ... this is one of my favorites.

David: Oh, boy.

Seth: So chapters 8 and 9 of the Book of Matthew.

David: It's, like, healings, right?

Seth: 10 miracles.

David: 10 miracles, okay.

Seth: Why do you think there might be 10 miracles?

David: Uh, okay, hold on. Uh, 10 miracles. I- goodness, I have [laughs] no idea.

Seth: Two potential options.

David: Okay, okay.

Seth: There were 10 plagues in Egypt.

David: Sure.

Seth: So 10 reversals for the 10 plagues of judgment.

David: Interesting.

Seth: Also, there are 10 rebellions for Israel in the wilderness.

David: Are there really?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Ah.

Seth: There's two before Mount Sinai, I believe, and then eight in the 40 years following with, like, Korah and, like, all those folks. And what's really interesting is the first rebellion after Mount Sinai-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... is with Miriam.

David: Okay.

Seth: And she becomes leprous.

David: Right.

Seth: The first miracle Jesus does is-

David: Is he heals-

Seth: ... heal a leper

David: ... a leper. Get out.

Seth: Yeah, so.

David: That's too cool.

Seth: And in a lot of those 10 rebellions, you had miraculous signs like quail falling from sky, manna, or the-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... the ground opens up. So you could just have, like, rebellion preceded miracles often in-

David: Right

Seth: ... the, the Exodus story. And so Jesus is-

David: The miracle worker

Seth: ... doing the miracles again.

David: Yeah.

Seth: It could also be that God's just showing mercy-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... in a way that Israel couldn't receive. Jesus comes to give mercy only-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... not judgments and mercy.

David: Right.

Seth: Um-

David: He does the miracle, and there's mercy.

Seth: Yes.

David: Instead of here's a miracle and then judgment and-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... yeah.

Seth: He brings healing where there was once judgment.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And what's really fascinating about this whole section is there's only one Old Testament allusion.

David: Oh, okay.

Seth: Uh, the, the spec-

David: I mean, usually Matthew loves, "This happened to fulfill the word that came"

Seth: Right

David: ... yeah.

Seth: So there's one specific Old Testam- and there's allusion. That's, in fact, 10 th- there in the wilderness.

David: Oh, yeah, there's allusions, yeah.

Seth: But one explicit quote-

David: You're right

Seth: ... is from Isaiah 53:17-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... which talks about by the stripes.

David: By His stripes, we are healed.

Seth: By His stripes, we are healed. So we have Jesus's healing ministry being connected to Isaiah's understanding that the stripes inflicted on Israel during their exile would end. So their-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... time in the wilderness of exile-

David: Right

Seth: ... would end when the Messiah comes and heals their wounds.

David: Mm.

Seth: He's placing Jesus as the, this wilderness healer that Isaiah prophesied.

David: Yeah, that makes sense. And so, I think what you're saying there with the explicit Isaiah reference is kind of going back to, uh, Jesus as Israel-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... 'cause Isaiah's talking about, "All right, Israel, you're gonna go into exile by the hand of Babylon-

Seth: Yep

David: ... and you're gonna get stripes. You're gonna get wounds. You're gonna get beaten."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: "But by those stripes, I'm gonna heal you."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: How is that possible? Well, it's in Jesus-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... is that He's the one who's bringing healing.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... so He's the one who's fulfilling this promise, but then later on in the story, He'll get the stripes.

Seth: He'll get the stripes.

David: Okay.

Seth: And what's also interesting is in Matthew 11-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... John the Baptist will ask Jesus if He's the Messiah they are to expect.

David: Oh, right, yeah.

Seth: And then he responds with another quotation from the Book of Isaiah.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And he says, "Well, the lepers are healed, the deaf hear-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... the blind see."

David: The poor have good news preached to them.

Seth: The poor have good news preached to them. And do you know how the very beginning of Isaiah 35 begins?

David: I, I... Off the top of my head, I do not.

Seth: "The desert and the parched land will be glad. The wilderness will rejoice and blossom."

David: Mm.

Seth: Jesus is reversing the wilderness judgments.

David: Oh.

Seth: If, if the, the 10 miracles are supposed to map onto the 10 rebellions-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... of Israel in the wilderness, well, now that wilderness is being parched. Water is falling on the rebellious wilderness of Israel.

David: Yeah, He's turning the wilderness into a garden.

Seth: He's turning the wilderness into a garden.

David: Okay, that's crazy.

Seth: Um, and then, and we can probably stop here, but then He commissions his 12 disciples in chapter 10-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... just as Moses prepares and sends 12 people-

David: Into the land of Canaan

Seth: ... into the, into the land of Canaan. And then just as there is Sabbath rest through Joshua's conquest, chapters 11 and 12 are primarily concerned about the Sabbath.

David: That's right.

Seth: There are, uh-

David: That's where Jesus' famous words that He's gentle and lowly.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Come to Him, and He'll give you rest.

Seth: The word Sabbath is used 10 times in the Book of Matthew.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Uh, eight of them are in chapter 12.

David: It's all concentrated-

Seth: All concentrated in this one section

David: ... that mapped onto the moment where they're going into the land.

Seth: And-

David: Why? For rest

Seth: ... for Joshua gave rest to the enemies.

David: Oh, come on.

Seth: And what, what do the 12 do? They cast out demons. They do another, like, conquest moment.

David: Yeah.

Seth: They are, they are pushing back the darkness in Israel just as Joshua pushed back the darkness in Canaan.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And then he provided rest, and then Jesus has a whole point, a whole, like, time of his ministry was all about rest.

David: Yeah.

Seth: I could go on. [laughs]

David: And we will.

Seth: And we will. I mean, this one's my favorite, and the next section is all the parables-

David: Right

Seth: ... of the kingdom. Parables of the kingdom.

David: Of the kingdom.

Seth: And-

David: The kingdom of heaven is like... 'Cause if you were following along, and you went-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... "Okay, we just finished Joshua. Now it's time for the Davidic Empire and the founding of the nation-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... of Israel, the kingdom. Let's talk about the kingdom." So he just starts saying-

Seth: And-

David: ... "The kingdom of heaven is like..." I did not know that one.

Seth: And do you remember which king in Israel's history who's known for his riddles and his parables and his wise sayings?

David: Solomon?

Seth: Yeah, Solomon's this philosopher king who speaks in riddles and has all this intense wisdom about the kingdom, and he writes the wisdom literature of the book. And what is a parable but a type of wisdom literature?

David: Right.

Seth: And actually, the term parables in Matthew is the same Greek word that talks about wisdom literature in the Old Testament.

David: So he's the new and better Solomon too.

Seth: He's the new and better Solomon. He's the new and better philosopher king ruling Israel.

David: He wa- so where Solomon was gifted with all the wisdom of God to lead his people and that, and he was a son of David who should've sat on the throne forever-

Seth: Right

David: ... to perfectly lead his people with equity. Where he failed, Jesus succeeds.

Seth: Yes.

David: So-

Seth: And he comes to establish a new kingdom

David: ... that's too cool. And we could keep going.

Seth: I really don't want you to stop.

David: [laughs] This is really... I'm actually learning a lot right now.

Seth: [laughs]

David: [laughs] This is crazy. Well, okay.

Seth: I mean, should we- I mean, I could keep going.

David: I mean-

Seth: And this could be the whole podcast, and you just get excited.

David: And then we'll go through 'em bit by bit.

Seth: Bit, bit by bit.

David: Do you really have more?

Seth: I do have more. I'd have to look in a book rather than my notes-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... but I could keep going.

David: I mean, I think the point is made, if we wanna just make the point, is Matthew's clearly doing something beautiful with walking through the story of Israel and showing Jesus in every corner of it.

Seth: Yeah. I think... I mean, I could go chapter-by-chapter.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Um, uh-

David: And we will

Seth: ... and we will. I think maybe the only other thing you should keep in mind is that the way the story of Israel ends is when Judah goes into exile in Babylon.

David: Right. Yeah, the story ends with exile.

Seth: And during that time, people like Jeremiah, Isaiah, the major and minor prophets that-

David: Ezekiel

Seth: ... that are in your Old Testament are railing against the leadership of Israel.

David: Right.

Seth: And the corruption of temple worship, the priesthood-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... the kings of Israel. And in, uh, Matthew chapter 23 to 25, it's primarily concerned with Jesus rebuking the Pharisees.

David: Mm.

Seth: And even... And this is when he goes into the temple, turns over the things in the temple.

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: This is when he's, when he critiques Israel's religious establishment.

David: He's being the new prophet.

Seth: Jer- he's being the new Jeremiah. He even weeps-

David: Yes

Seth: ... like Jeremiah.

David: Over, yeah

Seth: Like, like over Jerusalem.

David: Mm.

Seth: So, like-

David: Right

Seth: ... but Matthew's has patterned Jesus's life after the story of Israel.

David: Right. And I mean, just to say it, then what happens? After the, all the warnings of the prophets, the temple is destroyed by Babylon.

Seth: And Jesus is destroyed in the process.

David: And Jesus is the temple that is destroyed-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... on the cross. But what's the promise at the end of the story while they're in exile, while Jesus is in the tomb?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: The hope is that they will come back to a new Jerusalem restored and rebuilt.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And in Jesus's resurrection and commission, we see that completed.

Seth: Right.

David: Good grief.

Seth: And a new temple is built, not with stones in Israel, but in the hearts of believers all over the world.

David: All nations are blessed.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Man, I don't know if people will hear this as sincerity. I did not know a lot of that, actually.

Seth: [laughs]

David: This has been awesome.

Seth: [laughs]

David: I cannot wait to go through all of this. So i- th- that'll be kind of the strategy, to kinda go-

Seth: I-

David: ... through those literary movements?

Seth: I'm thinking so.

David: Yeah.

Seth: It's like Matthew 1 to 4, the formation of Israel-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... as, like, a nation into Mount Sinai. We can talk about the law. The Sermon on the Mount-

David: Right

Seth: ... is a great place to just camp out for a while.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And then we-

David: I think that'll be a good strategy for us to, like, go through, not necessarily chapter-by-chapter in Matthew, but movement by movement that he's mapping us onto the Old Testament story.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Okay. I'm so game for that. I cannot wait for this.

Seth: [laughs]

David: I am, like, beaming with excitement right now. Uh, okay. Thank you, guys, so much for listening. We cannot wait to walk through Matthew with you. We will see you next week.

Outro: Thank you for listening to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Spoken Gospel creates short films, devotionals, and podcasts like this one. Everything we make is free because of generous supporters like you. To see our resources, visit spokengospel.com or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for listening. See you next week. [upbeat music]

Related Resources

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How One Gospel Tells the Whole Story of Israel

Show Notes

A Scribe Trained in the Kingdom

From Genesis to Chronicles: Matthew's Literary Bookends

The Son of Abraham, the Son of David

Jesus as the New Israel

Mapping Israel's History onto Jesus's Life

Why This Matters: The Good News of a Story

Related Resources

Introduction to Matthew

View our devotional on Matthew 1:1-17

Ready to study a different book?

Listen to the The Bible According to Matthew podcast

Listen to the Matthew 1: Why Genealogies are Awesome podcast

Listen to the Matthew 1: Why a Virgin Birth? podcast

Listen to the Matthew 2: King Joseph, and Wise Kings from the East podcast

Listen to the Matthew 2: Out of Egypt I Called Jesus podcast