Meeting the Light in Matthew

Matthew 24:36-44

Advent 1, November 30, 2025

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“Meeting the Light in Matthew”

When I read a book, I usually start at the first chapter, the first page.  Perhaps I have read the blurb on the back cover, or the inside liner note that gives a short summary.  Seldom do I skip the ending and then go back and read to the now known conclusion.  From our childhood we are predisposed to like stories with a beginning, a middle, and an end (hopefully a happy ending).  So here we are, at the beginning of the Church year: the year of reading the gospel of Matthew.  You would think we would begin at chapter one.  But no.

We get Jesus’ proclamation from Matthew chapter 24.  It is a stark admonishment to be watchful and ready for the coming of Son of Man.  Taken by itself, the images feel apocalyptic.  People live unknowingly until they are swept away in a flood.  Folks are going about household chores when they are interrupted and taken away.  A thief breaks into an home sometime in the night. Where is the good news in these radical changes to everyday lives?  It is only when we take the whole of the gospel in context that we begin to see the light in Matthew.  His telling of what Jesus did and said points towards God’s saving power. 

The gospel of Matthew is one of four accounts of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  There are more stories about Jesus, of course, that didn’t get into the Bible that we know.  However, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were early writings from followers and communities that had experienced Jesus’ earthly ministry and formed around his teachings.  Each of them are slightly different in that they are written from a different point of view, to different original readers, and each contain differing episodes or parables or words. No one gospel records everything that happened: they are not documentaries or histories primarily.  The gospels are told for the purpose of sharing the good news about Jesus as the Christ. 

Matthew’s gospel is the longest.  It is also the first in place in the New Testament canon, although it was not the first written.  The writer was more likely a Jewish Christian than a Christian writing to convince Jews.  He writes from the perspective that although the Jews were the “Chosen People” by God to represent God’s righteous path, that salvation is for all the nations.  Jesus is Messiah, but not just for the children of Israel.  There is in Matthew two strong themes.  One is the call to radical discipleship which undoes our understanding of religion.  The other is the tension between this world and God’s kingdom. 

Matthew takes his time to build the case for Christ.  He draws quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures to show that the man who was born as Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  When you go back to the first chapter, in fact, the gospel starts with a long genealogy.  Jesus’ heritage is traced all the way back to Abraham, and then forward from there through King David to his earthly father Joseph.  The introduction is for the same purpose as a First Nations recitation of clans and ancestors.  This is who he is, this is the people to which he belongs.  This gives him credibility on his earthly side even before he is revealed as the Son of the Most High God.  By the time we get to the words that Jesus speaks in chapter 24, we have journeyed with Matthew through the revelation of how the kingdom is being fulfilled in the changed hearts of those who recognize God’s power working through him.

So now we get both the promise and the threat.  The kingdom of God is breaking in on us.  Whether we are ready or not.  Jesus comes as the Son of Man both now and in the future.  And like the song says, we can hide or decide to meet the light.  Matthew shows us the way by pointing towards Jesus.  But he warns, the Light of the World is not a meek and mild man who asks us to be nice.  We are to be ready for radical discipleship.  We are to face the light of truth in our own lives. 

This gospel is named after the disciple of Jesus who was a tax collector.  It was written some time after Jesus’ death and resurrection, so if it was Matthew that jotted it down, he would have been a very old man.  More likely, the recollections of an early follower or followers were collected and circulated under Matthew’s name.  Scholars think that Mark’s gospel was one source, along with other sayings.  The Greek contains some traces of Semitic influence, and the writer obviously was familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures.  Even if it wasn’t Matthew himself that put the words on papyrus, this gospel, indeed this passage, reflects him.  The tax collector that was called into righteousness from his counting table becomes a passionate follower of the Lord. Because he was awake and watchful, he seizes the moment when the kingdom breaks into his life.  He finds himself snatched away from the day to day routine and thrust into a salvation future, full of promise and tension.  Matthew saw the Light and followed.  And then an account is written to help point others to the Light. 

If all of this sounds a little uncomfortable, remember that Jesus’ warning to be watchful comes with a reward.  Our Lord is coming! Today we can prepare our hearts and our homes in joyful expectation.  That doesn’t mean rushing around and changing the sheets on the bed in the guest room.  It’s more about attitude: being open to the signs of the kingdom around us.  During the time I had for a silent retreat last week, I used the opportunity to read through the whole gospel of Matthew.  28 chapters.  I invite you to spend some time to take out your Bible, sit down with a hot cup of something you like, and curl up with the gospel of Matthew.  There is light for your soul, from the first page to the last.  Along the way you will meet some others that will help point towards the light.  In the next few weeks, we’ll be entering into discussion with them.  John the Baptist.  Mary.  Joseph.  And then Jesus.  But don’t wait for December 25th.  You don’t know the day or the hour that the Son of Man will come.  Best to be ready.  Amen.