Matthew 13:44: The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field. In the two brief parables in our sermon text, Jesus emphasizes the surpassing value of the kingdom. It is of such value that we must give up everything – abandon all other plans and aspirations and standards of value – to gain the kingdom. But the first parable has another element as well. It’s not just about treasure in a field, a treasure so valuable that... Read more
When He visited His hometown, Jesus didn’t do many acts of power. Matthew tells us He didn’t do much “because of their unbelief.” We Reformed Christians have a hard time taking this seriously. Matthew doesn’t sound truly Reformed. Isn’t God’s grace irresistible? Isn’t God sovereign? Does He have to wait for us to act? Hasn’t Matthew read the Canons of Dordt or the Westminster Confession of Faith? Is Matthew going charismatic on us? (more…) Read more
When Jesus visit Nazareth, the people ask “where did this man get this wisdom, and these powers?” and “where did this man get all these things?” Though not as overt, this is the same question raised earlier by the Pharisees, who charged that Jesus cast out demons through Satan’s power. The people of Nazareth are questioning whether Jesus’ power actually comes from God, or from somewhere else. Read more
According to Davies and Allison, Matthew organizes the incident at Nazareth as a chiasm: A. Jesus comes to his patris and teaches in the synagogue B. People are amazed C. Where did he get these powers? Don’t we know his family? B’. People are scandalized A’. Jesus speaks about His patris and doesn’t do miracles This little narrative shows the movement from amazement to scandal that has characterized Israel ’s reaction to Jesus. Nazareth is a microcosm of Jesus’ “fatherland.” Read more
Matthew quotes Jesus in 13:52 saying that a scribe “discipled by the kingdom” brings out old and new treasures. Davies and Allison note that this has sometimes been taken as a play on the author’s name: “Matthew” puns with the Greek of “disciple” ( matheteutheis ). Davies and Allison dismiss this conclusion because they are not convinced of Matthean authorship. I am, and the notion that Matthew thought of his name as a form of the word “Disciple” is a... Read more
Levine again: “Samuel P. Langley, who was eventually to become Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was the first to cash in on the growing demand for time coordination. In 1867, Langley took over the directorship of a struggling observatory in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and quickly developed its timekeeping capabilities. He then persuaded Western Union to connect the observatory to the city. Soon after, he began literally to sell the time, in the form of observatory time signals, by telegraphic transmission to... Read more
Levine writes, “The Chinese developed an incense clock. This wooden device consisted of a series of connect small same-sized boxes. Each box held a different fragrance of incense. By knowing the time it took for a box to burn its supply, and the order in which the scents burned, observers could recognize the time of day by the smell in the air.” Not quite a “clock,” though, since Levine later notes that the work clock is “derived from Middle Dutch... Read more
Robert Levine ( Geography of Time ) notes that “recent research indicates that farm wives in the 1920’s, who were without electricity, spend significantly less time at housework than did suburban women, with all their modern machinery, in the latter half of the century. One reason for this is that almost every technical advance seems to be accompanied by a rise in expectations. For example, when cheap window glass was introduced in Holland at the end of the seventeenth century... Read more
Why don’t longshoremen or sailors or assembly-line workers sing as they work? Blame it on the clock. Lewis Mumford wrote in the 1950s, “To keep time was once a peculiar attribute of music: it gave industrial value to the workshop song or the tattoo or the chantey of the sailors tugging at a rope.” With the mechanical clock, music’s value in industry evaporated. Coordinated effort isn’t measured by notes and beats but by ticks. (more…) Read more
Thomas writes in his commentary on John that “things were written in the Old Testament because they would be fulfilled by Christ. If we say that Christ acted because the scriptures foretold it, it would follow that the New Testament existed for the sake of the Old Testament and for its fulfillment, although the opposite is true.” The final cause is the first cause. Read more
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