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Comparing Matthew and Paul

Recently in my No Regrets blog I posted a reflection on the Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. One of my readers commented that she didn’t find this message to be one of good news. In her comments this reader drew several contrasts between the message of the Gospel of Matthew and the writings of Paul. I will list four of her main claims and then respond to them.  I’m taking the trouble to respond to these four claims because I believe, taken together, they represent a dangerous heresy that has the potential to bring confusion and division to the church.

Jews or Gentiles?

Claim

My questioner claimed that Matthew is written for Jews whereas Paul’s message is for Gentiles.

Response

This does contain a kernel of truth. During the first couple of decades after the resurrection, many Jews came to faith in Jesus as Messiah, as one can see from reading the Book of Acts. It’s generally agreed among scholars and students of the Bible that Matthew was written for Jews who either had believed in Jesus or were open to believing in him.  Also, Matthew records that during his earthly ministry of preaching and healing, Jesus had a strong focus on reaching out to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Matthew 10:5-6,,  Matthew 15:24). However, this was a strategic focus for a limited time period.  He wanted to offer Israel an opportunity to hear the good news of the Kingdom and to repent.

However, Matthew’s message is not only for Jews. Although Jesus focussed primarily on Jews during his earthly ministry of preaching and healing, Matthew also presents him as showing God’s mercy and kindness to Gentiles who put their hope in the God of Israel. Here are some examples.

  • Healing of the centurion’s servant  – Matthew 8:5-13
  • Healing of two demonized men in the region of the Gadarenes. This was Gentile territory, as can be seen from the presence of a herd of pigs. Matthew 8:28-34.
  • Healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter – Matthew 15:28

It’s significant that in the accounts of the centurion’s servant and the Canaanite woman’s daughter, Jesus draws attention to the faith of these Gentiles. Clearly, like Paul, Jesus did present salvation as being based on a response of faith to the good news of God’s mercy. Also, when commenting on the centurion’s faith, Jesus specifically states that many (from other nations) will come and join Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the feast at the Kingdom (Matthew 8:10-11).

Also, we shouldn’t overlook the Great Commission which concludes Matthew’s gospel.  In this famous passage, Jesus directs his apostles to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Clearly he understood the gospel to be a message for Gentiles as well as Jews.

As for Paul, it’s worth noting that he also had a strategic focus on presenting the gospel to Jews first, and then to Gentiles. In his preaching tours with Barnabas (Acts 13-14) and Silas (Acts 16-17) it was his regular practice to seek out a synagogue and begin his ministry there.  He clearly maintains this priority in his famous statement about not being ashamed of the gospel. He declares that the gospel of Christ is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentile]” ( Romans 1:16) 

The cross

Claim

My questioner claimed that Matthew contains a pre-cross message whereas Paul’s letters contain a message based on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Response

There is no doubt that Paul’s message centers on the cross of Jesus Christ, and that he presents faith in Jesus’ sacrifice as the key to salvation for both Jews and Gentiles.

It’s also true that the teachings of Jesus recorded in Matthew were spoken before the cross, but they were clearly spoken with the cross in view.

In Matthew 1:21 the angel reveals to Joseph that the child to be born will save his people from their sins. Although he doesn’t specifically mention the cross, it’s clear that he saw Jesus as a redeemer, not just a law-giver.

Matthew links Jesus’ healing ministry to the work of the cross (Matt 8:17) with a reference to Isaiah 53:4-5 which is part of the great passage where Isaiah prophesies that a suffering servant would give his life for his people’s salvation.

In responding to criticism from the Pharisees who ask him for a sign to authenticate his ministry of deliverance and healing, Jesus says the only sign he will give them is the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:39-40). This is a clear reference to the cross and resurrection.

In Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-20 and 26:1-2,  Jesus warns his disciples that he will soon be delivered up to be crucified. Both Jesus and Matthew, his disciple, had the cross clearly in view.

In Matthew 20:28 Jesus says that He came to give his life as a ransom for many. Again this is the message of salvation by His sacrifice on the cross.

But the message of the cross is not only about how we are redeemed and forgiven. It’s also a way of life in which we are to follow. Both Matthew and Paul speak of this.

Just after Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ (Messiah), Jesus begins to speak openly to his disciples about the coming cross. (Matthew 16:21).  He follows this by telling his disciples that they too need to take up their cross and be willing to lose their life for the gospel (Matthew 16:24-26).

For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it

Far from being contrary to the message of Paul, this is completely consistent with what Paul says in Philippians 3:8-11

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Grace or works?

Claim

My questioner claimed that Matthew’s message is one of salvation by obeying the works of the law, in contrast to Paul’s message which she characterized as a message of salvation by grace through faith.

Response

When Jesus healed a paralyzed man (Matthew 9:1-8) , Matthew tells us that when he saw their faith, he told the man that his sins were forgiven. When the Pharisees questioned him, he healed the man and then said that this showed that he had authority on earth to forgive sins. This is clearly a message of grace. The man had done nothing to deserve this but Jesus was responding to the faith shown by this man and his friends.  In the same way, in Matthew 9:10-13, Jesus welcomed sinners to the table and told the Pharisees that he had not come to call the righteous but sinners.

In Matthew 9:22 and 9:29 (as well as many other places) he told people that they were being healed because of their faith. It’s interesting that the Greek word for healed is the very same word for saved. Jesus healed and saved people by grace through faith, and this is clearly demonstrated in the Gospel of Matthew.

It’s also true that throughout the Gospel of Matthew Jesus calls his disciples to a higher standard of righteousness than the Law of Moses. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) he is presented as a sort of new Moses, replacing some of the commands of the law with their true spiritual meaning (You have heard … but I say) . In this way he fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:19-20) and also fulfilled Moses’ prophecy that God would raise up for Israel a prophet like him (Deuteronomy 18:15). But Jesus  was clearly speaking of a righteousness that cannot be attained by human effort. Rather than outward righteousness, it was inward righteousness. For example, his teaching on adultery, anger and forgiveness is only possible with a changed heart. This is why he says a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit (Matthew 7:18) , and Make the tree good and its fruit will be good (Matthew 12:33). Who can make the tree of one’s life good (pure)? Only Jesus. He was always attacking the outward religion of the Pharisees and pointing to the need for transformation of the heart. So if this is properly understood it is completely consistent with Paul’s message of grace.

Paul did very clearly state that we are justified by faith (Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:28, Ephesians 2:8) and emphasized that no-one can be justified by works of the law because no-one can keep the law perfectly by their own efforts . But he also made it very clear that anyone who was truly justified would have a changed character. This is clear from Romans 6:15-18 and many other passages. Paul specifically stated that those who continue in sin will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

Good News

Claim

My questioner claimed that Matthew’s message is not good news for the believer but rather a hard message of judgment. The message of Paul is a message of grace and is therefore good news for the believer, conveying God’s acceptance of the sinner.

Response

Matthew 1:21  Words of the angel to Joseph before Jesus’ birth – “You are to give him the name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins”. This saying is only found in Matthew. He links the meaning of Jesus’ name (Yeshua, meaning Yahweh is salvation) with the purpose of his coming.

Matthew 11:4-6 Jesus’ response to John the Baptist “the poor have good news preached to them”. Clearly Jesus understood his own message to be one of good news for those who were humble enough to receive it.  He also said that those who are not offended with him are blessed.

Matthew 13:44-46  In the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and a Pearl of Great Price, Jesus speaks of the message of the Kingdom as a valuable treasure, something wonderful and greatly to be desired. Sounds like good news to me!

Matthew 18:10-14 In the Parable of the Lost Sheep Jesus makes it clear that it’s not his Father’s will for anyone to perish.

Matthew 19:25-26 when the disciples asked who can be saved (speaking specifically of people who were addicted to their great wealth), Jesus responded “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”. In other words, by the mercy of God even very imperfect people who cannot possibly live up to God’s standards on their own can be saved by the power of God.

Matthew 20:15-16 At the conclusion of the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, Jesus says that the owner of the vineyard (God) is justified in giving the same reward to those who come to the vineyard at the last minute as to those who have worked all day. The point of this parable is that those who repent and turn to God at the last minute (the despised tax collectors and sinners, as well as Gentiles)  will receive the same reward as those who have worked hard to serve the Lord all their lives. This is a message about God’s radical goodness and generosity (which is the underlying meaning of the word grace – it’s about a free, undeserved gift).

Matthew 20:34 gives kindness (compassion) as the motive for Jesus’ action in healing two blind beggars. The same motivation of kindness and compassion (grace) is spoken of in Matthew 9:36 and several other accounts of healing.

Matthew 21:14 Jesus heals the blind and the lame in the Temple. This might not seem like a big deal but in Leviticus 21:18 the blind and the lame were barred from entering the assembly of the Lord because they were disfigured and therefore imperfect. By healing the blind and the lame at the temple Jesus is demonstrating that He makes a way for otherwise unqualified people to draw near and approach God.

Matthew 22:10 in the Parable of the Wedding Feast, the master opens up the invitation to all who are willing to come in, “both bad and good”.  The only one who is rejected is one who has no wedding garment – i.e. the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10) , which only Jesus can give.

Conclusion

There is much more that could be said about all this, but I think I have made my point.

The conclusion of the matter is that the good news of God’s grace is clearly presented in both Matthew’s gospel and Paul’s letters. It’s the same gospel although presented differently.

There is no doubt that warnings of judgement are also found both in the Gospel of Matthew and in Paul’s letters. God’s character has not changed. He is full of mercy to those who repent but He will judge those who do not repent and turn to him with their whole hearts.

Jesus offers mercy and grace but also calls us to be holy. The holiness to which he calls us is not attainable without his mercy and grace. He died to set us free from sin so that we could live in a new way and inherit the Kingdom of God. Though the message is framed differently in Matthew’s gospel than in Paul’s letters, because they were two different men writing to different audiences, the core of the message is one and the same.

 

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Jesus and the Law

Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it.  However, his instructions in Matthew 5:21-48 and elsewhere (e.g. his teaching on divorce in Matthew 19:1-12) went beyond the written law in several respects.  He required more of his disciples than the law of Moses asked; he called them to a level of purity of heart which could not be reduced to a list of commandments, but which would produce right behaviour.   Yet at the same time he made their lives simpler in that his teaching and example clearly abolished some parts of the ceremonial law.  Jesus kept the law for the most part but at times he clearly acted and spoke as one who stood above the law.  He not only abolished the Pharisees’ interpretations of the Law; at certain points he sovereignly overturned the stipulations of the actual written Law of Moses.

Jesus violated the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Sabbath commandment in order to heal someone on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17).  He and his disciples also ate grain from a field on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8) which according to the Pharisees was a violation of the law forbidding work on the Sabbath.  Although this act was really only a violation of the Pharisees’ tradition, not the law of Moses, what is significant is the way Jesus defended himself.  He used the example of David who had clearly violated the law and yet Jesus declared that David was innocent, and then declared himself to be Lord of the sabbath.  This can only mean that Jesus was dictating the terms of what was acceptable on the Sabbath and what was not.  In saying this he was stating that he was above the Law of Moses.  Jesus also violated the actual written law of Moses when he touched lepers, even though he was not a member of the Levitical priesthood who were the only ones authorized to declare lepers clean under the Law ( Matthew 8:1-3; see Leviticus 13:3 on leprosy as a form of uncleanness, and Leviticus 5:2-6 on the consequences of touching that which was unclean).  In addition, Jesus clearly taught (Mark 7:14-23) that the dietary restrictions of the law were no longer in force.

In all these cases, Jesus’ words and actions make it clear that He was introducing a new order.   When He died the veil of the temple was torn in two, indicating that the way to the Holy Place was now open, and the Book of Hebrews makes it clear that for believers in Jesus, the Old Covenant is no longer in force.  So when Jesus said he was not abolishing the law but fulfilling it, I take this to mean that he was “fulfilling” it in the sense of completing it, or giving the law its actual, intended, true meaning.   He did also say that not one jot or tittle of the law would pass away until all was accomplished, but I understand this to mean that the whole law remains in effect for those who choose to live under it, as Paul also said.  If  anyone is inclined to live under the law, they must keep the whole law (Galatians 3:10-14).  But if we recognize that our salvation is in Christ then we are no longer under the law of Moses, we are living in a new order of grace in which purity of heart comes by his mercy and leads to right behaviour.

When Jesus spoke of these commandments in Matthew 5:19-20, I believe he was speaking of the commandments he was about to give in the subsequent verses, which take obedience to a whole new level – introducing requirements that clearly are impossible for man but possible only with God.   This was the disciples’ response when he spoke of divorce (Matthew 19:10-11) – they recognized that this requirement was more than they could handle, and Jesus’ response was that the ability to keep this commandment was a gift of grace.

Jesus’ teaching and example takes us beyond the realm of keeping works of the law by our own effort, into a realm of depending totally on God’s grace to purify and transform our hearts, so that we produce good fruit which we would be incapable of producing by ourselves.  This is the law of the Spirit of life which Paul spoke of, it is the law of liberty which James spoke of, and I believe this is also what Jesus meant when he said he had come not to abolish the law but to fulfil it, and then followed it up with teachings that in fact go well beyond the law of Moses.  I believe he was saying that he had come to fulfil the law by taking it beyond itself.  As Paul said in Romans 10:4, Christ is the end of the law  – the word end (Greek telos) meaning both goal and termination.

There is certainly effort involved in walking in this new way, but there is also rest.  The effort we are to expend is not the effort to keep a list of laws, but rather the daily choice to keep on entering his rest, keep on surrendering our will, keep on choosing the path of faith and love, keep on crucifying the flesh (the old nature), keep on following the leading of the Spirit.  If we do this, the righteous requirements of the law are fully met, as Paul said (Romans 8:1-4).

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