If you follow the Revised Common Lectionary, this is the year of Matthew. Matthew’s gospel offers a clear vision of the world as God intends through Jesus. It is also a clear mandate for the Church. While I encourage you to read Matthew in its entirety, here are some highlights to catch glimpses of this new world through Jesus:
Matthew 1-2: Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus that refuses to be neat or respectable. You see, it includes women who are foreigners, sex workers, and more. Jesus is born to a working-class family that soon become refugees as they flee Herod’s murderous plot. The wise men refuse to bow down to Herod’s power.
Matthew 3-4: Jesus is baptized, joining with others who are broken and burdened, entering the waters with them. He is then sent into the wilderness where he is tempted to seize power. (He says no!) Then his public ministry begins as he calls fishermen – ordinary laborers – to follow him.
Matthew 5-7: The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, the meek, those who grieve. Righteousness is defined not by power or coercion but by mercy, reconciliation, and love – even love of enemies. Jesus teaches his disciples (and us!) to pray – emphasizing that God will provide each day, that we are not to be anxious, that we are not to hoard or judge but instead love and live in mutual care for one another.
Matthew 8-10: Jesus’ teachings take on flesh as he heals a leper, a centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, a paralytic, a hemorrhaging woman, and those who cannot hear or see. He eats with sinners, calls a tax collector, and restores people who have been pushed to the margins. He calms a storm for his scared disciples and sends them out to minister – without money or power – to also heal and restore.
Matthew 11-16: Jesus clarifies his mission by naming it plainly: healing, liberation, and good news to the poor. Human need is prioritized over religious rules. His parables lift up small, hidden things that the world overlooks. He feeds hungry crowds (5000!), challenges exclusion, and reminds his followers that being the Messiah means suffering service, not triumph.
Matthew 17-20: Jesus welcomes children and even places one at the center, calling them great in the kingdom of heaven. He warns leaders against harming the vulnerable. He tells a rich young man that true discipleship is not about the love of money. And to the chagrin of all, he tells a parable about workers where economic fairness is not tied to productivity or worthiness.
Matthew 21-25: Jesus enters Jerusalem. He comes on a donkey (not a military parade!). He overturns tables in the temple condemning its exploitation, and he heals those without power inside its walls. He condemns leaders who prey on others and he tells parables that insist on welcome, generosity, and care for the least. He makes it unmistakably clear: when you feed, clothe, welcome, and visit the stranger, you are doing so to him.
Matthew 26-27: Jesus is anointed by an unnamed woman. He is arrested, put on trial by the empire, and executed as a criminal of the state. His embodiment of God’s reign inevitably brings him into direct conflict with the powers of the world.
This could be the end. But there is one more chapter.
Matthew 28: This chapter proclaims that death does not have the final word. God brings life where there was death. The women are entrusted to proclaim the good news. And the Church is formed – not to retreat from the world, but to continue Jesus’ mission of manifesting God’s presence in the world where children are valued, outcasts are accepted, enemies are loved, foreigners are embraced, and all people are treated in love and mercy.
This vision is Matthew’s Gospel. And today, in the midst of everything, in spite of everything, it is still unfolding.
Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee | bishop@lutheransnw.org
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