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III. The Identity of the Law-Giver

A. Divine Bridegroom

Immediately after Jesus quotes Hosea, Matthew continues with a passage about fasting in which Jesus compares Himself to a bridegroom (see Matthew 9:14-15).

Various prophets described the covenant relationship of God and Israel as a marital bond, with God depicted as a groom wed to Israel, His bride (see Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:20).

Here we see Jesus taking this divine identification and applying it to Himself. But the Old Testament context here adds an interesting wrinkle. Neither Matthew nor Jesus mentions Hosea. But it is interesting that Jesus is living and working in the same area where Hosea prophesied and that He summons an image central to Hosea’s prophecy, just after quoting him on another matter.

Nowhere in the Old Testament is the marital and nuptial dimension of God’s covenant relationship with Israel described in such fine detail as in Hosea (see Hosea 2:14-20). Through Hosea, God promises a new "covenant" to Israel, which will restore the unity of the divided kingdom. Further, He says He will "espouse….forever" Israel as His bride (seeHosea 2:20-23).

Perhaps Matthew wants us to hear Jesus announcing the fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy. Later in his Gospel, Jesus will describe Himself as a bridegroom (see Matthew 25:1-13;John 3:29). Elsewhere in the New Testament, this marital imagery is used to describe the relationship the New Covenant establishes between Christ and the individual believer (see2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7-9) as well as the relationship between Christ and the Church (see Ephesians 5:25).

B. In the Storm-Tossed Ship

The bridegroom is one of several subtle Old Testament allusions that Matthew deploys in this second book to tell his readers that Jesus is much more than another prophet - that in fact He is God Himself come to rescue His people.

Jesus identifies Himself for the first time as "the Son of Man" (see Matthew 8:20). We will look at this image in detail in a future lesson. But it is the title that Jesus uses to describe Himself more than any other in the New Testament. The image is rooted in a vision seen by the prophet Daniel (see Daniel 7:13-14). The blind men address Jesus as "Son of David" (see Matthew 8:27). We’ve already discussed the Messianic significance of this title in earlier lessons and we’ll return to this title again in a future lesson.

Matthew here gives us other little clues, such as Jesus calling the paralytic man His "son" (see Matthew 9:2) and addressing the woman with the hemorrhage as His "daughter" (seeMatthew 9:22). In these cases, Jesus is portrayed as imaging the love of God the Father for His children.

However, one of Matthew’s most artistically drawn Old Testament allusions comes in the story of Jesus calming of the sea-storm (see Matthew 8:23-27). There are significant and inescapable parallels between this story and the story of Jonah’s voyage to Tarshish (seeJonah 1:3). In fact, Matthew’s story follows the exact pattern:

Jesus, like Jonah, boards a boat (see Matthew 8:23; Jonah 1:3). The boat is overwhelmed by a storm on the waters (see Matthew 8:24; Jonah 1:4,11). Like Jonah, Jesus is found sleeping through the storm (see Matthew 8:24; Jonah 1:5) while the other passengers are scared to death (see Matthew 8:24-26; Jonah 1:5).

The disciples in the Gospel and the sailors in the Jonah story each call upon God for help (see Matthew 8:25; Jonah 1:14). And Jesus, like Jonah, is able to calm the waters - Jesus through His words, Jonah through being thrown overboard (see Matthew 8:26; Jonah 1:12,15). Finally, both stories end with the passengers’ amazement at the outcome (seeMatthew 8:27; Jonah 1:16).

Jonah is an important figure in Matthew. Later, Jesus will compare His death and Resurrection to the "sign of Jonah" - being in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights (see Matthew 12:39-41; 16:4).

Jesus, as He will also say, is a greater than Jonah. Already in this account we can see Jesus exercising powers that God alone possesses - power to command the winds and the sea (see Psalm 65:7; 89:8-9; 93:3-4; 107:23-32).

We cannot overlook the wider context of Jonah, which fits so well with the themes of the other Old Testament allusions that Matthew employs in this second book. Jonah was sent to Ninevah, a Gentile territory - indeed, one of Israel’s enemies. Ninevah repented at the preaching of Jonah (see Matthew 12:41). But the Israelites of Jesus’ generation - as we see with emerging clarity in this second book - remain unmoved at the "greater than Jonah" in their midst.

C. The Shepherd King

The narrative section of Matthew’s second book ends with Matthew evoking one of the most profound Old Testament images, that of the Shepherd of Israel.

Matthew has already signaled, using an Old Testament citation, that Jesus is has come to "shepherd My people Israel" (see Matthew 2:6; 2 Samuel 2:5).

But in the final verses of Chapter 9, as Jesus prepares to call and commission His twelve Apostles, Matthew uses this image to make a subtle, yet all-important identification of Jesus.

He gives us a quick resume of what Jesus has been doing - going from town to town, teaching in the synagogues, "proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom," and curing "every" disease and sickness (see Matthew 9:35). It is a natural transition to the discourse that will follow (see Matthew 10). What we see Jesus doing is what He is going to be telling His Apostles to do.

And what is Jesus doing? Matthew says Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for the people because they are "troubled and abandoned - like sheep without a shepherd"

This phrase, "sheep without a shepherd" originates in the Bible in a prayer that Moses prayed before anointing Joshua. Moses wanted to ensure that in his absence there would be a leader - "that the Lord’s community may not be like sheep without a shepherd" (seeNumbers 27:17; 2 Chronicles 18:16; Judith 11:19).

But in the context of Jesus’ healings and teachings, more than anything else Matthew appears to be evoking the famous prophesy against the shepherds in Ezekiel 34.

Through the prophet, God castigates the false shepherds of Israel for failing to tend the people. He faults them for not strengthening the weak or healing the sick or bringing back the strayed and the lost. Instead, God says, the false shepherds "lorded it over [the people] harshly and brutally" (see Ezekiel 34:4).

As a result, the prophecy continued, the people were "scattered for lack of a shepherd…over the whole earth, with no one to look after them" (see Ezekiel 34:6).

But God Himself promises to come against the shepherds and to save His sheep: "I Myself will look after and tend my sheep….I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the foreign lands; I will bring them back to their own country…The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal" (see Ezekiel 34:11,13,16).

Of course, this sounds a lot like what Jesus has been doing. But if you finish Ezekiel’s vision, you discover that God promises to appoint one shepherd over all of Israel - "My servant David." With this new shepherd, this Messiah in the line of David, God vows to make "a covenant of peace" with a restored Israel (see Ezekiel 34:23-25,30.)

This new covenant is to be made when a new Shepherd comes. This new Shepherd is none other than the Lord Himself, but He is also a new David.

These are all themes that Matthew has already announced through his use of Old Testament imagery and echoes. And here he is showing us that Jesus is the divine Shepherd, gathering the lost flock of Israel into a new Kingdom over which He will rule as the Davidic King.

These images continue as Jesus calls His twelve Apostles - a symbol of the restoration of the twelve tribes of Israel that Jesus has come to inaugurate (see Matthew 10:1-4).

He sends them out "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" to continuing His work of shepherding - proclaiming the Kingdom, curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and driving out demons (see Matthew 10:6-8).

This commission, too, is to be a microcosmic sign of the restored Israel that Matthew - through his skillful use of Old Testament imagery in this second book - has helped prepare his readers for.

But this restoration is not to be one based on blood or family lines, but on belief in Jesus and the Gospel. He makes this clear in telling the Apostles to shake the dust from their feet of any house or town that will not receive them (see Matthew 10:14).

That’s what the Pharisees did whenever they were too close to Samaritan towns or Gentile cities. Now, Jesus has turned that gesture into a sign of judgment on those Israelites who reject His Gospel.

Continue to Section 4