The Story Behind the Story

Matthew 3: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+3&version=NIV

            To hear what Matthew is saying you have to have a number of Old Testament stories in your ears—the stories of Adam, who first brought the calamity of sin on humanity; Abraham, who vacillates between faith and unfaith; Moses, who brought Israel out of bondage and to their promised land; David, Israel’s greatest king and the benchmark for all other kings; and the exile, where Israel’s unfaithfulness was punished and purified.

            Many of those stories are in the background in Matthew chapter 3. For example, John is cast in the role of Elijah. Now Elijah was a prophet during the reign of Ahab, a good 300 years before Judah was taken to exile. But the seeds of that exile were present in the days of Ahab. For in Ahab’s day, the people of Israel were trying to serve two gods—the Lord and Baal—and Elijah was the one who called them to choose (1 Kings 18). In a similar way, John calls Israel in his day to choose, to repent; either they are God’s people or they’re not.

            There are also echoes of the Moses story here. It is no coincidence that John is located in the wilderness near the Jordan. It’s a reminder that Israel had to spend 40 years in the wilderness because of their rebellion and that, after they had served that time and were ready to do what the Lord had said, they entered the land in a reenactment of the Exodus by crossing the Jordan. Part of  John’s message was, “It’s time to be God’s faithful people again.”

            And, the stories of Adam and Moses are there in the second half of the chapter, as Jesus is tempted in the wilderness.

            Why does this matter? Well, first because it’s the appropriate background to understand the stories of the Gospel. Second, because Matthew is at great pains to demonstrate that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything that God had been up to since the beginning. And third, because of the twofold assurance it gives us—first that God does indeed keep his promises (for us as for Israel), and second that we continue to live in the same story, that we are called by grace to be God’s holy people, His treasured possession, the means by which He extends His gracious rule into the world. Those are important assurances in troubled times: no matter how bad things get (whether it’s COVID-19 or any other garden variety trouble), we live in the confidence that God has kept and will keep His promises. And no matter how bad things get, or maybe, especially when things get bad, the world needs a people who live in hope, who act in love, and who manifest patience and generosity.