HELL IS FOR CHRISTIANS MATTHEW 8:5-13
Posted on November 1, 2007
Filed Under Sermons
Now that’s a scary thought. I thought that Hell was for everybody but Christians. Not all that different than Israel’s assessment of herself in Jesus’ day. As the sons of Abraham they were destined for God’s kingdom. They were born for it (do we dare say elect). On the basis of their national covenant status with Yahweh. They had a free ticket to paradise. Such was their self-assessment. Tragically self-assessments are often skewed by our own biases. Israel (nor Evangelicalism for that matter) was no different.
Matthew 8 is a cluster of healing miracles by Jesus following his descent from the mountain after his most famous sermon. He in essence begins to practice what he has been preaching. Two things would appear provocative (or downright insulting) to Jesus’ Jewish audience. One, is who he heals. In this case a leper whom he touches when in all likelihood everyone else was scattering. He who takes our infirmities touches he who is unclean. Secondly, it is the roman officer who is acknowledged for his faith and blessed with his foreshadowed presence in the kingdom of heaven. In retrospect the sons of Abraham (Israel) will be cast into outer darkness. The insiders are expelled and the outsider is received.
Some finer points of the Mosaic Law are at issue here. The healed leper is sent to the priest who now ironically has the responsibility of validating Jesus’ miracle in acknowledging the leper is now clean. Keep in mind it is the religious establishment who will function as Jesus’ primary antagonist. Then it is Jesus who offers to go the the roman officers home. Such an offer would be completely out of character for a law abiding Jew (Take into consideration Peter’s own struggles in Acts 10). Both of these people are unclean (the outcast and the outsider) whom Jesus is readily willing and able to declare “clean” (note chapter 9 starts with a conflict over Jesus “forgiving sins”). All of this makes for potentially antagonistic reading for Matthew’s Jewish readers.
Such is the nature of Christ. He turns everything upside down. This text should send chills up Evangelicalism’s spine. The self-righteous/self-sufficient insider is tossed out to make room for the humble outsider who knows he/she is not worthy to walk a mile in Jesus’s shoes let alone dine at his table. The Son smiles on the faith of the unclean and absorbs their transgressions, “he himself took our infirmities and bore our transgressions.“
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