00:07Music
00:08Music
00:28Brothers, welcome to the second lesson on Saint Matthew, and as we have already mentioned, the Gospel of Saint Matthew uses in
00:37the expression is excessive
00:39Kingdom of Heaven, to talk to us about one of the central themes of Jesus' preaching.
00:46Similarly, the author is the only one who uses the term Church in his work, a term that is not used
00:54neither the other synoptic gospels nor the fourth Gospel,
00:58Although we should note that Luke does use the term in the Acts of the Apostles.
01:04Now, brothers, it is important, in order to understand Matthew, to dedicate some time to considering these two fundamental themes in his
01:15construction site.
01:15Let's look first at the one relating to the Kingdom of Heaven.
01:20Kingdom of Heaven
01:21If a Christian or a scholar of the Gospels wanted to highlight a theme that is fundamental in the preaching of
01:31Jesus,
01:32Many will agree that this topic is the Kingdom of God.
01:36We know this because when we studied Saint Mark, we came across the fact that once he conquered
01:45the temptations in the desert
01:47And that John the Baptist was arrested by Herod, the first thing Jesus did was go to Galilee to say
01:55that the Kingdom of God has arrived.
01:57We also know that the theme of the Kingdom is fundamental because of the number of times it appears in the Gospels.
02:07Marcos uses the term thirteen times, the Q source uses it thirteen times,
02:14Matthew uses it twenty-five times, Luke uses it six times, and John uses it twice.
02:23This is the division made by Father John Paul Meyer in his work A Marginal Jew.
02:31The same author comments that Joaquín Jeremías offers this other division.
02:38Mark uses it thirteen times, the Q source nine times, Matthew twenty-seven times, Luke twelve times, and John uses it twice.
02:50occasions.
02:50The distinction here lies in the fact that some authors attribute material to Q and others attribute it to Matthew or
03:00to Lucas.
03:01But what interests us is the exaggerated number with which the Gospel of Matthew uses the term Kingdom of
03:09Heavens.
03:10It should also be clarified, brothers, that the use of the concept can refer to the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, or
03:19Kingdom of my Father.
03:20The important thing is that the word Kingdom is associated with God or some other term that Jesus uses to speak
03:29of his Father.
03:31But that's not all.
03:34We also discovered that the idea of the Kingdom of God or Heaven appears in a wide variety of genres or forms
03:42literary works, such as parables, prayers, beatitudes, miracle stories, eschatological prophecies, among others.
03:53This suggests that for Jesus the idea that God was coming to reign among his people was a theme
04:02fundamental to his teaching.
04:05But many have tried to point out that this idea is not from Jesus, but rather from the early church.
04:13He put this expression in the mouth of Jesus, which, according to these authors, Jesus never used.
04:20But it is striking that if we search the entire Jewish Bible for the expression baseileia, tuteu, we will only find it
04:30only once in the Book of Wisdom, chapter 10, verse 10, which says,
04:57Outside of this text there is nothing similar or equal in the rest of the sacred books of the Jews.
05:05For his part, in the New Testament, Saint Paul uses the expression seven times in his letters to the Pope.
05:13that there is no doubt were written by him.
05:16However, the author uses them in baptismal or parenetic contexts that were received by the traditions accepted by the
05:26apostle.
05:26The Acts of the Apostles also makes a prominent mention of the term, but we cannot overlook the fact that Luke
05:35He sought to connect the era of the church in continuity with the era of Jesus.
05:41On the other hand, the Book of Revelation only mentions the term three times.
05:47Hebrews uses it twice, James once, and the second book of Peter also uses it.
05:55This leads us to conclude that if the expression "kingdom of God" appears on the lips of Jesus, it is not because
06:03not because it was widely used by the church or because it was a common expression in the Judaism of its time, but because
06:12Jesus actually used that concept.
06:16We can say, brothers, that outside of the Synoptic Gospels and the lips of Jesus, this expression does not exist.
06:24The exclusive use of Mateo
06:27If we read the other synoptic gospels, we will realize that the common expression attributed to Jesus is not
06:35It is the one used by Matthew, the one we use with great religious piety, kingdom of heaven.
06:42When we read Mark or Luke, we will realize that they never use the expression that is only found in
06:50Matthew.
06:50Why, brothers? Some dared to say that the kingdom of heaven refers to the eschatological kingdom and the kingdom
07:00from God to the present kingdom.
07:02Others think that the expression "kingdom of heaven" emphasizes a transcendent realm that is beyond
07:12human realities.
07:13However, Matthew himself uses the expression "kingdom of God" alongside "kingdom of heaven" in his
07:22teaching about riches in chapter 19, verses 23-24,
07:29which gives us proof that Matthew knew the expression used by Jesus.
07:36Matthew's use of the name is better understood if we consider that his background was Jewish, and Jews avoided naming names.
07:45God did the best he could.
07:48Thus, the author's usage is rather a periphrasis to avoid using the word God.
07:55Furthermore, the expression kingdom of God appears four times in Matthew, in chapter 12, verse 28, chapter 19,
08:07verse 24, and chapter 21, verses 31 and 43.
08:15Concept of the Kingdom of God
08:18It is important, brothers, to point out that we do not possess a definition of the idea or concept of the kingdom of God, as used by
08:27Jesus,
08:28And if we add to that the extremely widespread use of the term kingdom of heaven, established by Matthew,
08:37It is understood that Christians think the expression means the future heaven that will come after death,
08:46and especially when Jesus returns in his second coming.
08:51However, let us not forget, brothers, that Jesus was a Jew raised as such,
08:58and that their mentality and convictions are nourished by Jewish faith and upbringing.
09:05And for the Jews, there is no eschatological hope that will be fulfilled after death in the
09:14a place that Christians call heaven.
09:16Jewish hopes were focused more on the gathering of all Jews in triumphant Jerusalem,
09:26gathered in the Temple of Jerusalem, enjoying lasting peace,
09:32and seeing their enemies and oppressors defeated.
09:36That was the greatest Jewish expectation and it was what they asked of God in their prayers.
09:59Thanks for watching the video.
