The last two answers to the question, ‘Why foreign missions?’ explored Israel’s
involvement with and their mission to the nations. Just how does Israel’s mission to the nations
involve the Church? To begin to answer
this question, the link between Israel and the Church in the New Testament
needs to be made. Matthew's Gospel makes the case for such a link, and one of the ways to discuss Matthew's mission theology is to look at how this Gospel uses several Old Testament texts. Matthew shows how Jesus and the Church pick up the mission of Israel to the nations.
Matthew 1.21: ‘Jesus’
Mt.
1.21 appears to quote Ps. 130.8 loosely to explain the meaning of Jesus’ name
as ‘salvation.’ Ps. 130.8 reads, ‘And he
[‘Yahweh’; Greek: ‘Lord’] will redeem Israel from all his sins [Septuagint: ‘lawlessness’].’ Mt. 1.21 says, ‘…for he will save his people from
their sins’ (my translations). The psalm
speaks of waiting for God’s redemption of Israel, which the text in Matthew is
saying comes through Jesus. By replacing
the psalm’s ‘Israel’ with ‘his people,’ Matthew allows the meaning of the psalm
to include non-Israelites as well. Thus,
when Jesus says that he will build his church (16.18), he has in view something
less than and more than Israel: all who are his people, both Jews and Gentiles.
Matthew 13.31-32: Tree
The
kingdom of heaven—the message of Jesus—opens up a new understanding of who God’s
people are. Ezekiel 31 uses the image of
a great tree to describe the greatness of the kingdom of Assyria. V. 6 speaks of how the birds of the air made
nests in its boughs, animals gave birth to their young in the shade of its
branches, and all nations lived in its shade.
The lesson of Ezek. 31 is for Egypt, and the point is that no nation should
become so haughty as to exceed its position with respect to God's reign. Jesus' parable of the mustard seed (Mt.
13.31-32) echoes this image. The brief
parable depicts the kingdom of heaven as to all appearances the least of all
powers, just as the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. Yet, once grown, it houses the birds of the
air. With Ezek. 31 in its background,
the parable of the mustard seed suggests that the Kingdom of heaven provides a
home for all people on the earth. The
kingdom of heaven replaces the kingdom of Israel, and the citizens of the
kingdom are Jesus’ disciples, made up of Jews and Gentiles.
Matthew
8.11-12 and 22.2-14: Banquet
Jesus
sees the faith that the centurion has in him to heal his servant as a foreshadowing
of people from the east and west coming to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
in the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 8.11-12).
Another reference to this banquet in Matthew again points to the
inclusion of Gentiles (Mt. 22.2-14).
Jesus also uses this banquet image in reference to the Last Supper: the
Last Supper is a foretaste of the great banquet to be eaten on Mt. Zion when
God is King forever, when all nations are invited, and when death is
overcome. The image of a great banquet
at God’s table can be found originally in Isaiah 25.6. (It is used negatively in Ezek. 39.17-20.)
Matthew
12.17-21: Servant
Matthew
identifies Jesus as the Servant in Isaiah (Mt. 12.17-21, quoting Is. 42.1-4;
Mt. 8.17 quoting Is. 53.4). This
identification also recalls Isaiah 49:6: "It is too light a thing that you
should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the
preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my
salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Reflection on the identification of Jesus
with the Servant could well lead to reflection on Jesus' role in bringing light
to the nations.
Throughout
Matthew: ‘Son of Man’
Jesus'
preferred self-designation, 'Son of Man,' derives from Dn. 7.13: one like a son
of man descends on a cloud from heaven to render judgment. All four Gospels attest to Jesus’ use of this
title. As ‘Son of Man,’ Jesus must have
reflected on what his role with respect to the nations, not just Israel, was to
be. Dn. 7.14 says, 'To him was given
dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass
away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.' Thus Daniel 7 is significant for Jesus’
understanding of the kingdom and his self-understanding as ‘Son of Man,’ and it
is also important for him for in regard to his ministry to the Gentiles as
well.
Psalm
2 and Psalm 22
Two psalms
in the OT which that were generally used with reference to Jesus have to do
with the nations. Ps. 2.8 states that the king—understood by the Jews as the Messiah--would
conquer and rule over the nations. Psalm 22 was read by Matthew (and other
New Testament authors) in reference to
Jesus’ suffering and death (cf. Mt. 27.35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 50-52). The psalm concludes by saying that ‘all the
ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all families of the
nations shall worship before you. For
kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.’ Possibly the centurion’s confession that
Jesus was the Son of God (Mt. 27.54) and when Jesus sends his disciples to the
nations (Mt. 28.19), this crucial psalm is once again in view.
Matthew
12.39f; 16.4: Nineveh and the 'South'
Jesus'
identification of his entombment with Jonah’s three days in the large fish (Mat.
12.39f; 16.4) involved further reflection on what followed in Jonah's life: a
mission to the Gentiles (12.41). The
Gentiles of Nineveh accepted Jonah’s message, but Israel was rejecting Jesus’
message. Similarly, the Queen of the
South came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon (Mt. 12.42), but one
greater than Solomon was now present, and Israel was rejecting him. Jesus stated that he was greater than both
Jonah and Solomon, and therefore one must assume that the significance of both
OT figures beyond the borders of Israel was something on which Jesus reflected.
Matthew
28.18-20: the Great Commission
Jesus’
famous great commissioning of the disciples that concludes Matthew’s Gospel
(Mt. 28.18-20) seems to reflect the conclusion of Isaiah: Is. 66:18-20. In the passage from Isaiah, the survivors—the
remnant of Israel or some select group from the remnant—are sent out to the
nations to declare God’s glory and gather in the dispersed people of
Israel. Six regions are named, and they
suggest the distant lands in each direction of the compass beyond Israel. The restored remnant of Israel, along with ‘all
nations and tongues,’ shall go to Jerusalem to see God’s glory. Thus the restoration of Israel includes an
extension of God’s rule over the nations.
Conclusion
Jesus’ self-understanding as savior and king over
all nations can be seen from these texts.
The people of God—Jesus’ disciples, the citizens of the kingdom of
heaven, the church—include people from both the Jews and the Gentiles. The mission of the disciples—Isaiah’s
survivors from Israel’s exile--is a mission to the nations to declare God’s
glory, complete the ingathering of the Jewish dispersion, and include the
Gentiles in Jesus’ salvation. Thus the
Church takes up the mission of Israel to the nations. It is a mission that can be summed up, as Is.
66.18-20 states, as declaring God’s glory to the nations. This is the heart of foreign missions.
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