Jesus’ Midrash: Materialism and God’s Provision
(Deuteronomy 8:3-18, Matthew 6:24-34)
1. "In contradistinction to literal interpretation, subsequently called "peshaṭ" (comp. Geiger’s "Wiss. Zeit. Jüd. Theol." v. 244), the term "midrash" designates an exegesis which, going more deeply than the mere literal sense, attempts to penetrate into the spirit of the Scriptures, to examine the text from all sides, and thereby to derive interpretations which are not immediately obvious. The Talmud (Sanh. 34b) compares this kind of midrashic exposition to a hammer which awakens the slumbering sparks in the rock." [Jewish Encyclopedia]
2. It is my view that many of Jesus’ teachings -- like the Sermon on the Mount, are midrashim of Deuteronomy and sometimes Leviticus. The key to good interpretation is to find the passages Jesus is expositing. Since He spoke for hours and hours, and we only have a few minutes of what He said, getting this larger context makes a big difference.
3. Today’s message begins with what I believe is the source passage for Jesus teachings in Matt. 6:24-34; first we’ll look at the source passage, and then we’ll see what Jesus does with it.
Main Idea: From God’s provision during Israel’s 40 year wilderness wandering experience, the Jews in Moses’ time could learn some valuable lessons, the Jews in Jesus’ time could learn some valuable lessons, and so can Christians of all times.
I. REMEMBER God’s Provision and Warning (Deuteronomy 8:3-18)
A. God provided for Israel for 40 YEARS (3-4)
1. FOOD
Elaborate on the manna and quail
2. CLOTHING
3. Look BACK at the wilderness track record
4. God provides -- man lives by more than bread alone
• Man needs food to live, but God sent bread directly from heaven…
• God spoke the word and provided manna. As food keeps our body going, so studying God’s Word keeps our soul nourished.
• Some people think of rules and regulations as oppressive. Certainly they can be. We live in an age of jumping through hoops.
• You want to talk to someone about your account, and you have navigate through a maze of option. For service, press 1. accounts, press 2. To report a problem, press 3. on it goes.
The Jews did not view God’s law as oppressive, but as a great act of grace and blessing.
But rules also direct us toward a goal.
1. A safe combination is a series of rules. If I want to open the same, I am grateful for the "go right three times past 7" instructions
2. The Jews even celebrate a festival called, "Simchat Torah"
3. commandment, mitzvah, implies an opportunity to do something to please God.
4. In Ephesians 2:8-10, Paul tells us that we are saved freely by God’s grace through faith, but a result of our salvation is that we do good works. Those good works are a fruit of salvation, an opportunity to do something to please God. In a sense, they are like obeying a mitzvah. [source: Sitting At the Feet of Rabbi Jesus]
• Note how God specially values us, as sons. Deuteronomy 8:5, "Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you."
B. Put God FIRST and be blessed (5-9)
C. Temptation: DISPLACING God with material things (10-18)
"A full stomach leads to all kinds of sin." When all of a person’s needs are met, he tends to forget God (Beracot 32a). Quoted from The Torah Revealed by Avrahom Yaakov Finkel.
Note: based on verse 10, the Jewish custom is to pray after meals as well as before.
Verse 18 is one I want you to note; very important when we interpret Jesus words later.
II. APPLYING These Principles to Everyday Life (Matthew 6:24-34)
Remember, Jesus is preaching at least a two hour sermon, and probably a 3 or 4 hour one. In the process, He is expounded a variety of Torah portions, I believe, including our text in Deuteronomy.
Jesus is answering the question: "These laws were given at a time when Israel was fairly united in their walk with God. Now, under Roman Law, with corrupt priest, all sorts of sects and beliefs, and many ungodly and corrupt Jews controlling our nation, how can we apply the lessons of Deuteronomy 8 to our lives today, in Israel in 30 AD?
What we have here are highlights of Jesus’ application of this passage to His day, I believe. And the fact Matthew preserves them suggests an application to us as well.
A. God will PROVIDE for You (25-32) Trust Him
1. FOOD
• Did God allow them to go hungry for a while? Yes, so they would appreciate the blessing when He gave it. They also experienced intense thirst before He gave them water. But, when He called them to the dessert, He provided for them.
• Provision is not the same as comfort.
2. CLOTHING
3. Look AROUND at nature
4. GOD provides-- life is more than food and clothing
Note how God values us. Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
Remember I said earlier that Deuteronomy 8:18 was important in interpreting Jesus’ words? He is not teaching that we do nothing and just trust.
"But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today."
God wants us to take responsibility, to be wise, to apply ourselves. But He also wants us to trust Him for what is beyond our control.
The principle Jesus is operating under is this: Our God is the same God. Situations may change, but God has not left the throne. This is not so much about what we do, but our attitude as we do it. Jesus is demanding an attitude of faith on our part.
This can be a hard lesson to hang on to. But it makes such a big difference when we are going through trials. We are never on our own. It may feel like it, but we have to trust God, even when we do not understand God’s actions -- or lack of them.
B. Put God and His Kingdom first and be blessed (33)
• This implies making serving God our priority
• It means we go through great effort to honor Him
• This is, as we have seen, first of all a heart matter, a surrendered will
• It involves developing good habits and routines: learning, studying, meditating upon and obeying God’s Word; giving God the first part of our week, honoring the Lord from our wealth, making your marriage a high priority, teaching our children God’s Word, participating in church life, practicing integrity of character, spending time in prayer, fellowshipping with the godly…
C. Temptation: Displacing God with MONEY (24)
1. We have three resources: time, energy, and money
2. We need to connect the dots: how we expend one resource affects the others
3. More is not always better…balance is the key
4. Example: If we want lots of expensive things, we have to work more which depletes our time and energy -- God and family usually get the shaft.
5. When we buy our new toys, we want time to enjoy ’em; God and family can get the shaft even more.
6. God likes it when enjoy life’s wholesome pleasures; so it is not a matter of minimal existence, but rather priority!
7. Colossians 3:5, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."
8. Why are these things, in some sense, idolatry? It is not because these sins are as bad as bowing before an image. Solomon, if you think about, committed all these sins, but God was more upset at his idolatry. So how are these sins related to idolatry in the sense Paul implies?
9. Because they displace God as we become absorbed in them. They accomplish inwardly what physical idolatry accomplished outwardly. God cannot be on the throne of our hearts because we have displaced Him.
CONCLUSION
1. God wants us to be responsible, but He wants us to operate trusting Him.
2. He wants us to Prioritize our relationship to Him.
3. Rather than we making a success of our lives and then including Him, He wants our pursuit of Him to be the center of our lives, and then for us to appreciate the way He blesses us.
4. The end results: our lives are about seeking God first and then enjoying His blessings, rather than enjoying His blessings and trying to fit Him in some place or other.
