An exposition of The Gospel According to Matthew
by David L. Cooper, Th.M., Ph.D., Litt. D.
Installment three

JOHN THE BAPTIST was about six months older than Jesus. He began his work about six months earlier than Jesus commenced His. From the literature of the ancient synagogue we learn that the Jews in the second quarter of the first century were expecting Messiah's appearance. Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver has proved this position in his excellent work, Messianic Speculations in Israel. Doubtless this expectation was based upon the predictions made by Daniel recorded in chapter nine of his prophecy.

Very unexpectedly John began his ministry by leaving the center of population and going to the wilderness of Judaea. Soon the report spread about that an unusual preacher had appeared and was delivering a most powerful message. The country was stirred from center to circumference. People went out to hear his message which was summed up in these words: "Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The great masses of the people showed intense interest in this message and accepted it without question.

Since John did not explain the kingdom, the appearance of which he was announcing, but assumed on the part of his hearers a knowledge of it, the question arises, What kingdom did he mean? The answer to this question can be found in the Old Testament alone, for it is abundantly evident that John, being sent from God, would only speak of the things foretold in the Old Testament. What kingdom therefore was foretold by the prophets? Some will tell us that there is but one kingdom foretold by them; namely, the glorious kingdom of our Lord which He will establish when He returns in power and glory to reign from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. In other words, the great millennial kingdom. With this understanding of the situation, one would say that John announced to the people that the time had arrived for God to establish the millennial reign of our Lord upon earth. If there were but one kingdom (the millennial reign of Christ) foretold in the Old Testament, then this answer would be correct. Before we can accept this position, however, we must investigate more fully the Old Testament message. To its pages therefore let us now turn.

The church of Jesus Christ was foretold in the Old Testament. For instance, in Deuteronomy 32:21 we have this language: "And I will move them [the Israelites] to jealousy with those that are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation."

In Romans 10:19 Paul quotes this very verse and applies it to the church of Jesus Christ. This position becomes very evident when one reads the Jewish section of Romans--chapters 10-11. Isaiah the prophet also foretold the church of Jesus Christ in chapter 65:1 "I am inquired of by them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name." In Romans 10:20 Paul quotes this very passage and applies it to the church of the present day. There can be no doubt then that Isaiah the prophet saw the church. If one will read Isaiah 65:2-7 he will see that the prophet foretold that Israel would be rejected because of her self-righteousness and her sin, during the time when God is being found by those who were considered no people, the Gentiles. There are many passages in the Old Testament which show that the prophets saw the Christian Dispensation also. For instance, in Psalm 110:1,2 we learn that David saw the first coming of Christ when He would be rejected. After that He saw Him returning to the right hand of the throne of God and remaining there during this Christian Dispensation until God puts the Jews under His feet, at which time the Lord will return and establish His throne in Zion. These passages are sufficient to convince us that the prophets saw the Christian Dispensation and also the church of Jesus Christ.

Though they did see the church and the Christian Dispensation, it is evident that they did not see it so very clearly as we do now, for the Apostle Paul set forth this truth in Ephesians 3:5,6. In speaking of the mystery of Christ he said that it "in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." Paul, in this passage, declared that the mystery concerning the church of Jesus Christ was made known both to the Old Testament prophets and to those of the New; but it was not revealed with the same clarity to the prophets as it has now been revealed to the Holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit. The Apostle Peter also declared that the prophets searched diligently to ascertain what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them "did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them" (I Peter 1:10,11). To them it was revealed that "not unto themselves, but unto you [Christians], did they minister these things which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into" (I Peter 1:12). The prophets, according to Peter, saw this time during which the grace of God would be extended to peoples of earth. What was withheld from them was the "time or what manner of time" when the gospel would be given to the world. In other words, they understood the setup of their own age and also that of the great Millennial Age; but it was not revealed unto them the setup which would exist during the present era. The prophets, therefore, sought diligently to ascertain, if possible, the exact conditions which would obtain at the present time.

In Isaiah 61:1-3 that prophet set before us the entire redemptive career of King Messiah. If one will examine verse 1 he will see that Isaiah foretold the appearance and the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, who would announce the year of Jehovah's favor and the day of vengeance, which follow it. The day of vengeance, as all prophetic students know, is none other than the Tribulation Period. But this time of wrath is to be preceded by the year of Jehovah's favor. If the day of vengeance is a period of seven years, the year of Jehovah's favor, which precedes it, certainly bears a ratio to the seven years of the day of vengeance approximating that which exists between a year and a day. Note, I say a ratio that approximates this relationship. These facts indicate that Isaiah saw this dispensation of God's favor which has drawn out to be more than nineteen hundred years long. As all prophetic students know, the Christian Dispensation will be followed by the Tribulation and it in turn by the great Kingdom Age. The same redemptive career of King Messiah is set forth in Isaiah 42:1-4 and in many other places in the Old Testament. It is clear from a study of these passages that God foretold the Christian Dispensation during which His message of love should go out to all the world, this period during which He is taking out from among the Gentiles a people for His name. It is plain from a study of all these passages that the Christian Dispensation was clearly foretold and the church was likewise prophesied.

When therefore John declared to the people that the kingdom of heaven had come, there was but one conclusion to which those who knew the Scripture could come; namely, that he was talking about the spiritual phase of the kingdom of God which is known in the New Testament as the church of Jesus Christ consisting of all the regenerated, saved people. It is true that Israel did not understand the message of the Baptist. They thought that he was talking about the great glorious Kingdom when Messiah would reign in Jerusalem, over the entire world. In other words, they were looking for Messiah to set up a political, material kingdom then. That they were thus looking for it is evident from a casual reading of the gospel records.

But why did they not understand the Prophets? The answer is that they were blinded by a theory. They thought that the Messiah abides forever: "The multitude therefore answered him [Jesus], We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?" (John 12:34). Even the Apostles, shared the erroneous idea of the populace regarding the Messiah and His death. Six months prior to the crucifixion Jesus revealed for the first time to the Apostles that He would be crucified at Jerusalem. Peter immediately attempted to take the situation in hand and declared to the Lord Jesus that He should not be crucified. Although the Lord on a number of occasions during the last six months of His life foretold His crucifixion, the Apostles, blinded by a human theory, refused to believe that He would be killed. When He was laid in the tomb their hopes in Him were interred with Him. Only by the resurrection from the dead were they begotten again to a living hope.

In view of all the facts one comes to the conclusion that the kingdom of heaven, the approach of which John announced, is the spiritual phase of the kingdom now known as the church of Jesus Christ. Let us remember that Matthew alone uses the expression, "kingdom of heaven." Mark and Luke in recording the same discourses, uses the expression, "kingdom of God," where Matthew has "kingdom of heaven." The kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven is the reign of heaven now upon earth during this Christian Dispensation. This age will be followed by the seven years of the Tribulation Period. At the close of that time the Lord Jesus will come in glory and power and establish the great glorious kingdom throughout the world and will reign upon earth for a thousand years.

John announced that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Jesus proclaimed the same message. He instructed the Twelve when they went out on the limited commission (Matt., chap. 10) to make the same announcement. Since the people misunderstood the nature of the kingdom, the Lord Jesus gave the seven "parables of the kingdom" as referred to in Matthew, chapter 13. A study of this passage shows that He was talking about Christendom. It began with the sower sowing the seed, according to the parable of the sower. In these parables our Lord traced the course of Christian history through the dispensation to the consummation of the age when the dragnet will be drawn in and there will be a separation between the good and the bad which are caught in this dragnet of the kingdom of heaven. Hence in Matthew, chapter 13, Jesus has explained thoroughly what John and He and the Twelve meant by the expression "kingdom of heaven"--the spiritual phase of the reign of God upon the earth during the present time which is known as the church of Jesus Christ.

The people had developed a self-righteousness and were delinquent in their moral and spiritual lives. John therefore called upon them to repent--to change their minds sincerely before God and to turn to Him.

In Matthew 3:3 the Evangelist states that John was the one foretold by Isaiah the prophet (Isa. 40:3). An examination of this prophecy in its original setting shows that it primarily refers to Elijah who will be the forerunner of Christ at His second coming. But this passage is an application of the "law of double reference," John being seen as the herald of His first coming, whereas Elijah is the forerunner of His second coming. According to verses 4 and 5 John lived a very simple, plain life.

From verses 5 and 6 we see that the great bulk of the people of Israel went out and confessed their sins and were baptized of John in the Jordan. Thus there was a mighty revival which swept the nation.

The leaders--Pharisees and Sadducees--were very critical, in fact were hostile. They came down for the simple purpose of criticizing. Knowing this, John addressed them thus: "Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruit, worthy of repentance: 9 and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (vss. 8-10).

In order to enforce this lesson, he used the illustration of a tree that was barren and declared that the ax was lying at the root. He then added, "Every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Continuing his exhortation to the Pharisees, he declared that he was baptizing the people in water unto repentance but that there was One coming after him who was mightier than he and who would baptize them in the Holy Spirit and in fire. John had a mixed audience who, he declared, would be baptized in the Holy Spirit and in fire--a part would be baptized in the Holy Spirit and the other in fire. By this bold imagery he asserted that the nation would be divided into the saved and the lost. The saved would be baptized in the Holy Spirit whereas the lost would be baptized in the lake of fire.

He concluded his direct message to the Pharisees and the Sadducees by comparing the situation to the threshing floor upon which the grain is placed. Then it is threshed. Finally the grain is separated from the chaff. The grain is to be stored in garners whereas the chaff and straw are to be burned. From the drift of thought it is clear that John was speaking of the ultimate separation of the saved from the lost and the destinies which await both classes.

One day Jesus made His appearance upon the scene, having come from Nazareth to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Instinctively the Baptist drew back when Jesus asked to be baptized and asserted that he himself needed to be baptized by Jesus. In reply the Lord urged him saying, "Suffer it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." What did Jesus mean by saying that it was necessary for them to fulfill all righteousness? The baptism of John was clearly from heaven. It was an ordinance authorized by God himself. Concerning all the ordinances of God the Psalmist David in Psalm 19:9 declared: "The ordinances of Jehovah are true, and righteous altogether." All the ordinances and ceremonies commanded by the Lord are a part of God's great redemptive scheme, the core and center of which is righteousness. Because of its being a part of God's plan to make men righteous, Jesus, speaking in terms of the quotation just given, asserted that it became Him and John to fulfill all righteousness to fulfill everything which God requires.

After John baptized Jesus, He came up out of the water and the heavens were opened. From the majestic glory there descended the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. A voice was heard declaring, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (3:17).

Here we see the three persons of the Holy Trinity: God the Father in heaven, God the Son on earth, being baptized, and God the Holy Spirit descending upon the Son as a dove. Matthew assumed a belief in the Trinity on the part of his readers. All of the Old Testament prophets were Trinitarians. The Jews held to the same position until the second century, when they changed their theology. At that time they became Unitarians, which position they hold at the present day. They must therefore be taught from the Old Testament--especially the five Books of Moses--the doctrine of the Trinity, in order to prepare them for the message of Jesus in the New Testament.

In Matthew 4:1-11 we have an account of the temptation, by the devil, of Jesus, the King of the Jews. This account is parallel with that which appears in Luke 4:1-12. Mark's account is very short (Mark 1:12,13). The latter declares that the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The other Evangelists say that He was led. There is perfect agreement between the three.

Jesus first fasted forty days and was later tempted by the devil. The number forty seems to be symbolic of testing or tempting. Even during this period Jesus was being tempted as we learn from Mark's record.

The devil is a personal, sinister, powerful being. In fact, he was the first creature brought into existence by the Almighty. He summed up wisdom, power, strength, beauty, and glory. Finally, on account of his beauty and position, he revolted against God. In his rebellion he brought about the fall of one-third of the angels. He is the inveterate enemy of God and man. He actually, really, and literally came to Jesus to subject him to temptation. The temptations of our Lord were objective and not subjective as some would have us believe.

When Jesus was hungry, Satan tried to get Him to violate the fundamental principles of the truth by commanding stones to become bread. He put material sustenance ahead of everything else. If Jesus had yielded to the temptation, He would have been taking the same position. Thus in reply our Lord quoted from Deuteronomy, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Man has a spirit with its needs. Food for it is primary, foremost, whereas food for the body is simply secondary. Our Lord fought Satan away by taking His stand upon the Word of God. That is the only way to meet the devil.

Then Satan took Him to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem and insisted that He jump from it to the valley beneath, because the Lord had promised in Psalm 91 that the angels would be given charge concerning Him. Satan selected that part of Psalm 91 which applies to the Lord Jesus alone. If Christ had yielded to this temptation, He would have been putting God to the test. Therefore the Lord again replied, using the Scriptures and saying, "Thou shall not make trial of the Lord thy God." This second time Satan failed in his purpose. But he tried the third time by taking Jesus into an exceeding high mountain and showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Then he promised to give all of these to Jesus if He would fall down and worship him. In other words Satan offered to Jesus the short cut. The Lord came into the world to do the will of God. It took Him three and one-half years of toilsome, weary labor which culminated with His crucifixion upon the cross and the battle with Satan when He descended to Hades. Satan realized that Jesus had come to snatch the world out of his power and he knew that the Lord Jesus would be victorious; therefore he offered Christ all for which He had come upon the condition that He would fall down and worship him--which would have been a short-cut. For Jesus to have done as Satan desired would have been disloyalty to God. He spurned the offer. Then again He took up the Word of God and said, "Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Thus in the three rounds that our Lord had with Satan, He won each and was a victorious conqueror. Satan left Him for a season "and behold, angels came and ministered unto him" (4:11).

John the Baptist was finally thrown into prison by Herod. When the Lord heard of that, He left Judaea, where He had been laboring for something like six months and went into the remoter regions of Galilee; there He engaged in the most active of His labors. According to the records He spent probably eighteen months making three different tours of the country.

His leaving Judaea and going into Galilee was in fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 9:1,2.

When the Lord reached Galilee He began to deliver the same message that John had spoken: "Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Of course He meant the very same thing that John did.

According to verses 18-22 Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and called four of His early disciples who were engaged in their regular occupation of fishing. They immediately left everything and followed Him. To some this record seems strange; but, when we read John's account of the early life of our Lord, we see that these very disciples had already become followers of Jesus when John the Baptist pointed Him out as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world (John 1). For some reason they had left Jesus when He tarried in Judaea ministering and had re-turned to their homes; but, when Jesus went to Galilee, He called them, and immediately they followed Him. They remained His faithful servants until death.

In Matthew 4:23-25 we have a resume of our Lord's life and ministry in Galilee. He went about in the synagogues "preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people." A vast host followed after Him. He encountered much demonism and cast out the evil spirits from those possessed. His fame therefore went throughout the entire country which was electrified by the reports of this marvelous Teacher and Miracle-Worker.