Meeting God in Matthew

Elaine Storkey

Description

Meeting God in Matthew is an accessible introduction to Matthews’s gospel, full of fresh insight from Elaine Storkey, one of our best-loved theologians and Christian communicators, and a brilliant Lent book for 2023.
Whether you are completely new to Matthew's Gospel or have read it many times before, Meeting God in Matthew will help you see the First Gospel with fresh eyes and better understand its essential meaning and purpose.

Elaine Storkey, one of the world's most widely respected theologians and author of Women in a Patriarchal World and Scars Across Humanity, offers an accessible introduction to the main message of Matthew's Gospel. Powerful and absorbing, it is packed full of many compelling observations about the personality and impact of Jesus both in the first century and today.

Meeting God in Matthew explores what the Gospel of Matthew teaches us about the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. An essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the gospel message better. It will leave you with a new appreciation of and enthusiasm for the riches of Matthew's writing, and the desire to return to it over and over again. Its straightforward, enlightening approach also means it is brilliantly helpful for new Christians just beginning on their faith journey.

Each chapter includes discussion questions and reflection, making Meeting God in Matthew a perfect book for Bible study both for individuals and small groups. With a focus on the Passion narrative in Matthew's Gospel, it is also ideal for use as a Lent devotional for 2023.

Simple yet profound, Meeting God in Matthew is an invitation to anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of the Gospel of Matthew and through it to meet the God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.
Contents

Acknowledgements x

Introduction: Matthew, audience and author xi

1 Meeting God in fulfilment of prophecy 1

2 Meeting God in preparation for ministry 23

3 Meeting God in the teaching of the kingdom 46

4 Meeting God on the journey to Jerusalem 70

5 Meeting God in woes and warnings 94

6 Meeting God in Christ’s suffering, death

and resurrection 117

Questions for reflection or group discussion 140

Appendix 1: The structure of Matthew’s Gospel 144

Appendix 2: The literary relationships between

the first three (‘Synoptic’) Gospels, showing the

material they have in common 147

Appendix 3: Source hypotheses 149

Notes 153

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Biblical Studies
• General Epistles
• Biblical Commentary
• Holidays
• Philosophie et théologie
• Devotional
• Jesús de Nazaret
• Devotion
• Jesus
• New Testament
• Jésus de Nazareth

Informations

• Publié par: SPCK
• Date de parution: 17 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780281081967
• Langue: English

Extrait

‘Matthew’s Gospel is a major reason to be thankful that the early Church opted to keep all four Gospels rather than merge them into one “life of Jesus”, which would have hidden the fact that real life and faith can arouse deep and passionate arguments and differences. We each have our own way of seeing. Nevertheless, from those differences we are led to ­deeper levels of understanding about ourselves and the meaning of faith.
I am very grateful that in Meeting God in Matthew , Elaine ­Storkey brings us back to thinking through many of those ­issues afresh, as well as opening up the text of ­Matthew’s ­Gospel in such a clear and relevant way.’
Ronald Clements , Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies, King’s College London
‘With her light touch and self-effacing style, Elaine Storkey leads us gently and winsomely through Matthew’s Gospel to meet with Jesus. Matthew, evangelist and student, recognized Jesus’ central role in Jewish and human history. His Gospel ­begins and ends with the assurance that God is with us. ­Always.
Reaching across the centuries, treading lightly on scholar­ship, Elaine the teacher invites us to meet Jesus the ­Teacher, as interpreted by Matthew the teacher. The Jesus we meet is the one through whom God is always with us. This book is down-to-earth, ­accessible, illuminating. I loved it.’
The Right Reverend Jill Duff , Bishop of Lancaster
‘The field of biblical studies has flooded the market with multiple commentaries. When another appears, I instinctively react with, “Oh no, not another one!”. Let me assure you that this book does not fall into that category.
Elaine Storkey approaches Matthew step by step in a topical manner, and yet, remarkably, allows the text to speak for itself. In this short book you get a comprehensive and scholarly analysis of what Matthew is saying without getting bogged down in the detail. Not shirking the difficult questions, Storkey uses a light touch, allowing Matthew to illuminate issues facing us today.
Whether you are familiar with Matthew or approaching it for the first time, I can’t think of a better book to read on this Gospel. Storkey’s inspirational account of Jesus is a fresh invitation to meet him today.’
Andrew Fellows , former Chair of L’Abri Fellowship and Direc­tor of L’Abri UK, now Director of Apologetics for Christian Heritage and Pastor at Panton Street Church, Cambridge
‘This inspiring and challenging book takes the reader on a deep spiritual journey through the Gospel of Matthew. It contains fascinating historical insights and shows the relevance of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection for today’s world in clear and accessible language.
At the end of each chapter, the helpful questions for ­reflection make it ideal for home group study at any time, but particularly at Lent. (If a five-week Lent course were needed, one based on Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 would work well.)
I am very much looking forward to using it in my own ministry. It will be invaluable as an inspiration for sermon-­writing on Matthew’s Gospel, as well as a gripping book for home group members. It will also be a key resource for anyone with an interest in finding out more about Jesus.’
The Reverend Claire Robertson , Lordsbridge Team Vicar, Diocese of Ely

Elaine Storkey is a philosopher, sociologist and theologian who has held university posts at King’s College London; Stirling; Oxford; Calvin College, USA; and the Open University. A Fellow of Aberystwyth University, high-­table member of Newnham College, Cambridge, and former Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, she has also lectured in Africa, Asia, Canada and Haiti. Her presidency of Tearfund, the aid and development agency, spanned 17 years. A broadcaster and author, she has been a passionate advocate for justice and gender issues for 30 years, implementing many changes for women through 28 years on the General Synod of the Church of England. She presented ‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio 4 for 20 years and continues to broadcast regularly on Sunday Sequence , BBC Radio Ulster. Her writings include The Search for Intimacy (Hodder/Eerdmans, 1994) and The Origins of Difference (Baker, 2002). Her book Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and overcoming violence against women (SPCK, 2015/IVP USA, 2018) won the Christianity Today 2019 Book of the Year Award, Politics and Public Life. Her most recent book is Women in a Patriarchal World (SPCK, 2020).

First published in Great Britain in 2022
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 36 Causton Street London SW1P 4ST www.spck.org.uk
Copyright © Elaine Storkey 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
SPCK does not necessarily endorse the individual views contained in its publications.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version (Anglicized edition), copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘ NIV ’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis © copyright 1960 CS Lewis Pte Ltd. Extract used by permission.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978–0–281–08195–0 eBook ISBN 978–0–281–08196–7
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Typeset by Manila Typesetting Company First printed in Great Britain by Clays Limited Subsequently digitally printed in Great Britain
eBook by Manila Typesetting Company
Produced on paper from sustainable forests

To
David and Carrie Grant, who show so much of God’s redemptive love

Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Matthew, audience and author

1 Meeting God in fulfilment of prophecy
2 Meeting God in preparation for ministry
3 Meeting God in the teaching of the kingdom
4 Meeting God on the journey to Jerusalem
5 Meeting God in woes and warnings
6 Meeting God in Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection

Questions for reflection or group discussion
Appendix 1: The structure of Matthew’s Gospel
Appendix 2: The literary relationships between the first three (‘Synoptic’) Gospels, showing the material they have in common
Appendix 3: Source hypotheses
Notes

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to SPCK for the invitation to write this book and it has given me great pleasure to get into the text of Matthew at the depth necessary to share it with others. But even more I am grateful to so many biblical scholars and colleagues who have provided me with many hours of reading and insights, and some invaluable conversations. This is my own work, but the input from others has been incalculable. It would be unwise to name them in case I inadvertently omitted someone. But my debt to many is reflected and acknowledged in the chapters that follow.
As always, I have relied on the support and encouragement of Alan, whose love for the Gospel according to Matthew is as great as my own. It gives him as much pleasure as it gives me to think that this book might be helpful in drawing other people into Matthew’s text.

Elaine Storkey
Cambridge 2022

Introduction
Matthew – audience and author
The Gospel according to St Matthew has inspired people for centuries, whether as preachers and Bible students or as musicians and artists. It has had a crucial impact on commu­nities and cultures throughout Christian history. When we consider its message, that is not surprising. In both its beginning and ending the same compelling note is sounded: the assurance that God is present in human life in the person of Jesus. In the very first chapter we’re reminded that the name of Jesus is to be ‘Emmanuel, God with us’. In the very last chapter Jesus himself tells his disciples, ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ From start to conclusion, Matthew’s Gospel is centred on Jesus, the Christ, the anointed one of God who, in person or through the Holy Spirit, abides with us.
This Gospel opens the books of the New Testament. That suggests to us straightaway that the earliest Christians saw it as the first account to be written of the life and minis­try of Jesus. And indeed it was quoted more than any other Gospel in the second century. But today, few scholars believe that Matthew’s Gospel came first and people largely agree that this honour is given to Mark’s Gospel, dated around AD 65. The Gospel bearing Matthew’s name is widely regarded to be a work compiled later, sometime between AD 67 and AD 85. This dating is said to make more sense of the incidents recorded, the theological undertones and the language and style of writing. It is also said to reflect what was happening in the Jewish Christian community at that time. Whatever date it is given, however, the high estimation of this Gospel’s significance remains. Matthew’s story of Jesus, his ministry and miracles, his teaching of the kingdom and the demands of Christian discipleship, has left a huge mark on Christian history. His account of Jesus’ death and resurrection continues to resonate across the