As the apostles were writing the New Testament, God was bringing the Mosaic age to a close. He was also establishing the messianic-age kingdom of God.
Matthew’s gospel emphasizes this age change. John and Jesus had announced the kingdom of God was at hand (Matt 3:2; 4:17). Jesus had taught the new kingdom ethic to his disciples (Matt 5–7). He had said God would cast the unbelieving Jews out of the kingdom. Believing Gentiles would “come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 8:11).
These age-change statements provide the context for Matthew 9. Here, Jesus continues to draw attention to the age transition that was underway. This post will discuss four ways he does so.
Through Miracles
Jesus’s miracles point to the change of ages. They do so by filling a typological role. God had sent Moses to deliver Israel from physical bondage. Moses knew the people would question his authority. “And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee” (Exod 4:1).
God responded by giving Moses the power to perform miracles. His rod became a serpent, then a rod again. The Lord made Moses’s hand leprous, then whole (Exod 4:2–8). God said, “if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land” (Exod 4:9).
The miracles Moses performed in Egypt produced death. His first, turning water into blood, caused fish to die (Exod 7:14–25). The last miracle Moses performed produced the death of the firstborn in every house in Egypt (Exod 12:29–30).
These miracles played key roles in Israel’s deliverance. They validated Moses’s role as the deliverer. Afterward, he led them through the 40-year transition period. Then, they entered the promised kingdom land.
Consider Jesus’s miracles as antitypes to those of Moses. His first miracle turned water into wine (John 2:1–11). In his last miracle, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38–44).
The typological inversion is striking. Moses represented the law that brings death (e.g., Rom 7:5). His miracles reflect this. Jesus brings life and joy in the kingdom. His miracles correspond to this.
Moses’s miracles confirmed he was God’s deliverer. He would lead Israel from bondage to freedom. In like manner, Jesus’s miracles showed he was the Deliverer of God’s people from spiritual bondage. He would lead his people into their promised kingdom. He said, “if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matt 12:28).
The miracles in Matthew 9 (and elsewhere) show various truths about the new age. Jesus healed a paralytic and forgave his sins (Matt 9:1–8). In the messianic age, Jesus, as the God-Man has the power to do both.
In Matt 9:18–26, Jesus raised a girl from death. This miracle shows our King has absolute power over death itself. We doubt not that he will raise us, too, at the end of the messianic age (cp. 1 Cor 15:24–26).
Jesus healed a woman’s discharge of blood (Matt 9:20–22). The blind saw and the dumb spoke at his command (Matt 9:27–34). In the kingdom age, we seek physical healing from him (James 5:14–15). We also make use of the means he provides (cf. 1 Tim 5:23).
Through Matthew’s Call
Matthew uses his own apostolic call to show the change to the new age. Jesus’s kingdom is one of mercy (Matt 9:9–13).
Jesus associated with the outcasts of society. Publicans and sinners often dined with him. His interactions with unsavory characters offended the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were more interested in religious rituals than suffering humanity. They feared contact with these sinners would make them unclean. If that happened, they could not take part in the Temple sacrifices. And, the sacrifices were at the heart of Mosaic-age life.
Matthew was one outcast with whom Jesus associated. He was a despised publican. He needed something the Mosaic age could not provide.
Jesus taught another outcast—a Samaritan woman—about the superiority of the messianic age over the Mosaic age. She, too, was a vile sinner. But, in the new age, God would have mercy on her. Mercy would triumph over ritual (John 4:6–26). The ineffectual sacrifices of the Mosaic age would give way to the one Sacrifice that takes away sin (Heb 10:11–18). Jesus’s sacrificial death would bring the mercy of the messianic age.
We sinners rejoice that in the kingdom, God “will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matt 9:13).
Through a Question About Fasting
The disciples of John asked Jesus a question about fasting (Matt 9:14–17). Jesus’s response is puzzling. How does fasting relate to patching a garment or putting wine in bottles? The context of age transition helps us solve the puzzle.
Jesus as a bridegroom would remain with his disciples a while longer. The time for his marriage had not yet arrived. His disciples would not fast while he was with them. But Jesus would go away at God’s appointed time. Then the disciples would fast.
Jesus promised to come again in his generation (Matt 16:27–28; 24:34). This event would complete the transition to the new age. Craig L. Blomberg makes an important point.
Jesus reinforces the point of the parable of the bridegroom with two further illustrations of the incompatibility of the old and new ages. One cannot put an unshrunk patch on an already-shrunk garment; for when it is washed, the patch will shrink, pulling at the garment and tearing it further. Nor can wine that has not yet fermented—bubbling, expanding, and emitting gas—be put into old, brittle containers, or they will explode. One needs new containers that are more flexible. So too the new age Jesus inaugurates brings new practices appropriate to the changed circumstances, most notably in this context the joy of celebration rather than the sorrow of fasting.1
In Jesus’s absence, certain things must bring the age change. Jesus described them in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24–25). This would be a time of fasting. The Lord’s return and the Temple’s fall would complete the transition to the new age (Matt 24:1–3). The Mosaic-age garments and wineskins would disappear. Their messianic-age counterparts would remain. The joy of the new age would temper the fasting of the transition period.
Through Instruction About Prayer
“The gospel of the kingdom” draws attention to the profound role of prayer (Matt 9:35–38). In the messianic age, it functions in a way it never did in the Mosaic age.2
Inmillennialism draws attention to the prophecies about the kingdom of God. It is the time of Christ’s parousia (presence) with his churches. Christ will now defeat all his enemies (Psa 110:1). The kingdom will “become a great mountain, and [fill] the whole earth” (Dan 2:35). It “shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan 2:44).3
God said he would, “in the last days” of the Mosaic age, establish “the mountain of the LORD’S house . . . in the top of the mountains.” He would exalt it “above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isa 2:2).
But God will use means to fulfill these optimistic promises. Jesus’s commission to his disciples shows how God intends to bring them to pass.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. (Matt 28:18–20, NKJV; emphasis added )
The promises of gospel conquest are sure. Nothing can break them. But, God will fulfill them through his ministers. And, he will send his ministers through the prayers of his people. Jesus said “unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matt 9:37–38).
Isaiah described the Messiah’s kingdom. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isa 9:7). Our prayers play a vital role in this increase.
Let us dedicate ourselves to prayer. God will hear us when we pray as Jesus taught us. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10).
The messianic age is here. Now is the time to pray for kingdom labourers.
Conclusion
The Mosaic age to messianic age transition affects every part of Matthew 9. Jesus’s miracles show his superiority to Moses. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
Matthew’s call shows that in the messianic age God “will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matt 9:13).
Jesus takes advantage of a question about fasting. He uses it to show “the incompatibility of the old and new ages.”4
The Lord provides an incentive for messianic-age prayer. We are to pray for God to “send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matt 9:28).
Inmillennialism provides a framework that emphasizes this age transition. It also shows the optimistic glory of the messianic age.
Footnotes
- Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1992), 158–59. Emphasis added. Blomberg is not an inmillennialist.
- The image in this post is Wheat Field 1 by Francois from Strasbourg, France. This file (here) is licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0
- For other discussions of kingdom optimism, click the Optimism tag button below this post.
- Blomberg, “Matthew,” 158.
4 comments
Refreshing. Sometimes I think I am alone on a small island watching the “big ships” go by. Thank you for your commitment to the scriptures despite the “pressure” to conform to modern day interpretations.
Hal Ballew
Your comment is one of the best compliments you could have given. Thank you!
Your blog, “In his last miracle, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38–44).”
He had more miracles after raising Lazarus (I.e., healing Bartimeaus and another of blindness, cursed the fig tree, healing the servants ear, raising himself from the dead, the haul of fish, his ascension, Acts 3:16, Acts 4:10, etc.).
Thank you for the feedback! It was much needed.
I am having difficulty locating my sources for the statement about Jesus’s last miracle. You are obviously correct about the miracles after Lazarus, so I will need to make some changes to what I said.
I think this is an example of me forgetting over time my original point. At this point, I suspect it was something like the following. John said Jesus did many miracles. He selected certain ones that we might believe Jesus is the Christ. I base this point on his words here:
Of the ones he selected for this purpose, the first was turning water into wine (Jn 2:1–11). The last was the raising of Lazarus from the grave (Jn 11:1–44). So, my point in the blog is true only in John’s customized list.
The current blog post—and possibly other posts—does not reflect this thinking, so I will need to fix it. Again, thank you for pointing this inaccuracy out to me. You are a faithful brother and your “quibbles” are often right on point.