Sermon for the 19th of February, 2023 - Sunday before Lent

If you have a favourite Gospel – I expect it is not St. Matthew. I wonder why?

Today I’d like to us to reflect on favourite Gospels, on Matthew, his approach to writing the Gospel and how our first lesson, the story of Moses going up Mount Sinai would have meant so much to Matthew. I’ll end, looking ahead to next week, to briefly consider what our approach might be to Lent.

I wonder if you have a favourite Gospel? If you do, perhaps it is John, with its majestic prologue – “In the beginning was the Word”, its detailed portraits of intriguing people such as Mary and Martha, or the Samaritan woman at the well, or Nicodemus who comes by night to visit Jesus, not wanting to be identified too closely with the radical rabbi from Nazareth, but after the crucifixion has the courage to go with Joseph of Arimathea to Pilate to ask for Jesus’s body.

Or your favourite gospel is Luke, described by St. Paul as “the beloved physician,” with the tender narratives. Such as Mary visiting Elizabeth her cousin who is pregnant with her child to be, John the Baptist who leaps in her womb at the sound of Mary, followed the annunciation. I would be surprised if you had down the pithy Gospel of task focused Mark, or Matthew.

Well, whatever your favourite gospel, today, I would like us to think more about the Gospel of Matthew, who it was written for and why it is different. The Gospel of Matthew was written for a Jewish audience, well versed in the Hebrew Bible and there understanding of the Jewish Law. It is thought to have been written sometime between AD 67 and AD 80, after the Gospel of St. Mark which was written around AD 65.

So it was written at a time of great friction between the established Jewish religion and those Jews who now believed Jesus to be the Son of God, the early Christians. Matthew was aware that in the Old Testament, the word of God was conveyed by the Prophets. Also that to know God better you studied the Scriptures. Psalm 119. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Some see Matthew’s statements in the line of prophetic tradition, echoing the vehemence of the prophets in the Hebrew scriptures. The OT is very important for Matthew. He quotes the Old Testament 65 times, more than twice that of Mark. Matthew’s gospel could perhaps be summed up by this verse: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son...”

Actually this verse is not from Matthew, it is the opening verse from the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is in Matthew’s Gospel we read of Jesus saying: “Let anyone with ears, listen .” For Matthew, the tin-eared religious authorities were not listening, nor after Jesus’s resurrection were the Jewish people, so his Gospel is about setting out very clearly why they should be listening. Jesus is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets. His identity as the Son of God is irrefutable.

As if to prove this, Matthew’s Gospel begins with the family tree of Jesus – forty-two generations of “begetting” to use the language of the King James Version. Jesus has an impeccable lineage, Son of Abraham and Son of David, two of the most significant figures in biblical history.

Perhaps, because we are an impatient generation, the opening verses of Matthew are not read in church very often. It is Matthew who tells us of the visit of the wise men, the tragedy of the Massacre of the Innocents, and the concomitant flight into Egypt so on to today’s Gospel story the mountain Jesus took his three disciples up is thought to be Mount Tabor, which have is on the front cover of our service sheets.

I plan for us to visit the summit of Mount Tabor when we manage to finalise dates and itinerary for our postponed parish pilgrimage – to visit sometime in 2024. You will have been alert to some of the parallels in our Hebrew Bible reading of Moses going up Mount Sinai to receive the Law – the ten commandments.

The parallels are many and show Matthew’s absolute certainty about the divine status of Jesus as the Son of God. The reading begins “After six days …” Moses was on Mount Sinai for six days before receiving the call from God. Like Jesus, Moses took three close companions. Like Moses, Jesus’s face shines in the presence of the God. His clothes became dazzling white. A cloud covers the mountain and Moses and God calls out to Moses.

God calls to Jesus, the same words that were heard at his baptism, clear evidence that Jesus is the Son of God; which the disciples referred to him as when he walked towards them on the water, and Peter, shortly after this would answer to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” The presence of Moses and Elijah is testament to the true identity of Jesus.

The Gospel now turns towards Jerusalem with Jesus preparing his disciples for his death. The reading which ends with Jesus’s statement: “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” You might feel that if ever there was an ending leaving the plot hanging in the balance, compelling us to read on, this is it.

Today’s Gospel points as towards Lent which starts next Wednesday. The Transfiguration is a prefiguring of the resurrection, giving a foretaste of the life of glory, this life that is so changed if we receive the gift of Christ. Lent is an opportunity to be reminded of the richness of this gift.

We have a lot happening in Lent at our churches and I’ll say more in our notices. As we head towards Lent I am reminded of a saying of Canon Mark Oakley:  “Life is not an exercise to be endured. It is a mystery to be unfolded.” St. Matthew, in his writing has, like St. John, helped to unlock the mystery of the Incarnation, and for the countless many, thus helped to unfold the mystery of life.