Alfred Edersheim writes of Matthew 23, in The Life And Times of Jesus the Messiah that these words Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and scribes was the Farewell and the parting of Israel Messiah from Israel and it's Temple.
I think he has it right.
We are seeing in the life and death of Jesus through the days of the early Christians a transition from an old covenant to a new covenant.
Jesus has said farewell and departed from Israel and it's Temple.
Yet, he writes a promise of a coming again, and the picture of a people restored. But the condition is a belief in Jesus, the condition is a believing people.
And that is the Salvation that Jesus death on the cross , dying for the sin of all, ushers in.
That work was not complete until Jesus crucifixion and resurrection and return to Heaven to sit on the right hand of God the Father.
Israel becomes the Church.
A very smart person once said---"be careful of that which you write---people
tend to believe that which is WRITTEN" In this sentence>>>>
" Yet, he writes a promise of a coming again, and the
picture of a people restored. But the condition is a belief
in Jesus, the condition is a believing people."
an intellectually honest person would replace the second word
"he" ----with either "matthew" or "the writer of the book
of matthew" A careless reader would EASILY imagine that
the person "JESUS" wrote or expressed these ideas.
Interestingly enough----the book of matthew was written in Greek.
I wonder what the word "CHURCH" is in greek. "the church"---
usually refers to the catholic church and its FORMAL HIERARCHY ---
and its dictate on Doctrine. Words are very imporant which is why
real lawyers use them carefully. Whole legal arguements center around
WORDS
Sscholars seem to believe that the book of matthew was written---
something like the year 90 AD by an unknown author.
Matthew itself is a hebrew name
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