We said yesterday, that the two chapters – 24 & 25 – are really one continuous passage. Today, we are listening to the conclusion of Jesus’ sermon. And what a sermon it is!

In the last reading, we said that in his critique of the Pharisees and religious leaders, we encountered Jesus the Prophet, echoing the harsh words of the Old Testament prophets.

This is a difficult passage in which to find gentle comfort or encouragement. It is a long, severe denunciation of the religious leaders of the day. But it is in scripture, and we must deal with it. Let us do so as gently – but as truthfully – as we can.

After Jesus’ full-frontal assault on the religious leaders, it is no wonder that there was an immediate response to try to bring him down. Superficially it looks as though Jesus is addressing such matters as paying taxes to Caesar, marriage in heaven, and so on.

The first event in this passage – the cursing of the fig tree – is often misunderstood. Matthew included it as a metaphor for everything that has just happened and that would happen in the next couple of days. (I don’t mean it wasn’t a real event, just that Matthew included it in his Gospel with a particular purpose as a metaphor for larger events.)

So, now at last, it begins! You will notice the change in heading at the top of this reflection: The Messiah Claims His Kingdom on Earth. When we pray: Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying that the work that Jesus commenced on this day of his entry into Jerusalem will be brought to completion.

This passage opens with a shocking moment. After Jesus’ demolition of any kind or prestige or hierarchies of power in his new Kingdom – no first, no last – Jesus calls the Twelve together. They are travelling in a large crowd; we hear about that elsewhere – all the carers and cooks and followers generally. But now Jesus calls aside his special Twelve.

This parable is a direct continuation of the previous chapter. There should be no chapter division here at all. It’s worth going back and re-reading the last couple of verses of the previous chapter as the introduction to this one. Verse 16 of our reading shows this link clearly; Jesus repeats his words from 19:30 to press home his point.

On a superficial reading, this sounds as though Jesus is saying that rich people – whatever that means in a global setting – cannot enter heaven.

I wonder how many dinner tables, synods and anxious, guilt-ridden men and women have puzzled, argued, attacked, wondered, and wept over the first 13 verses of this chapter!

Notice the new title at the top of our page. We have entered the third phase of Matthew’s Behold! Your King is Coming! narrative.

This long reading comprises this one day’s reflection because of a particular significance which we will come to in a moment. But first: a very brief comment on 16:1–12… When Matthew tells us that the Pharisees and Sadducees came together, we know there is mischief afoot. These two groups hated each other with a passion for reasons we won't go into now. To say they ‘came together’ is like saying that Liberal and Labor, or Tory and Green, or Democrat and Republican formed a joint lobby. You know that they are showing a rare united front to defeat a common enemy.

My NIV Bible divides this chapter up into two parts: first, ‘Clean and Unclean’, and second, ‘The Faith of the Canaanite Woman’. This is (perversely) a great help to me. These editorial divisions and labels are so often misleading, that I immediately suspect that this is not what I should be looking for in this chapter at all. So I go looking harder - and I am not disappointed.

Matthew understood irony. Just when he has shown us the wisdom of responding to Jesus as Messiah, he shows us King Herod who responds as all tyrants and bullies do. Not all bullies are secular; some wear ecclesiastical robes. Their methods are similar.

I'm sorry about this very long reading, but there will have to be a few of these if we are to get through this long book within this Lenten season. I’ll keep the reflection as short as I can. Please remember that we are reading a series of reflections on Matthew, not a commentary. There will be much in this passage that we will have to overlook.

Please note the new title heading above. We are no longer Seeking the Messiah; now we are Responding to the Messiah.

In this remarkable passage, we see two completely different sides of Jesus. In vv20–24, there are stern judgements; in vv25–30, there is gentle invitation and compassionate empathy. Please note, I did not say ‘opposite’ sides. I said, ‘different’.

We are reaching the end of this first section of Matthew’s Gospel. Do you recall, back in the Introduction, we identified this first section, Seeking the Messiah, as part of the overall theme of Behold! Your King is Coming! After tomorrow’s reading, we will have completed this section. But today, John the Baptist frames for us the essential question: Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? (v3).

Matthew uses the word ‘all’ in v35. Jesus went about all the cities and villages… But shortly after, he sends the disciples out because of the immensity of the task. So we must assume that ‘all’ was restricted to a particular area of Galilee.

I suspect that Matthew’s intention is for us to read this long passage in one sitting. Of course, you could take any part of it as being worth a longer reflection, but in our limited Lent season, we will just scan the whole valley of 34 verses. I've chosen to see the end of v34 as the end of the passage, rather than the standard chapter end.