JTR
Monday, February 27, 2023
Friday, February 24, 2023
The Vision (2.24.23): The Ordinary Means of Grace
Image: With Pastor Paul Wang, one of the lead translators for the new Trinitarian Bible Society Chinese NT at a Thanksgiving Service in Herndon, Virginia (2.23.23).
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday afternoon’s sermon,
“Revivals or the Ordinary Means of Grace?” Look here for the full manuscript for the message.
The Reformed (Biblical) theological tradition, teaches that God
has provided for his people “ordinary means” of grace.
This is taught in our Confession in 14:1. The ordinary means the Lord has provided for the saving of
sinners and then increasing and strengthening them in the faith, as noted in
Confession 4:1 are:
First: The ministry of the Word. That means the reading of the Word,
privately and publicly, and it especially means the preaching and teaching of
the Word (see Romans 10:14, 17; 1 Corinthians 1:21-24; 2 Timothy 4:2).
Second: Alongside the ministry of the Word we
also have the ordinances or sacraments of baptism (the public confession of one’s faith before
men, and the symbolic identification with his life, death, and resurrection by
immersing the whole body in water—in obedience to his command) and the
Lord’s Supper (taking bread and cup in that spiritual meal instituted
by Christ and commanded for perpetual obedience till he comes again) (see
Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Third: To these the confession adds prayer. Paul urged believers to pray without
ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In Acts we have description of the church often
meeting to pray, as when the apostle Peter was imprisoned and they gathered in
the house of Mary the mother of John (Acts 12).
Fourth: And it mentions “other means appointed
by God.” This might include
fasting, meditation on the Word, the assemblies of the saints, but these must
have scriptural warrant (see, e.g., Matthew 6:16-18; Acts 2:42).
May the Lord continue to use these means to draw men to himself
and to increase and strengthen them in “the most holy faith” (Jude 20-21).
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Turretin on the Authoritas Divina Duplex
Nevetheless all authority must not be denied to versions. Here we must carefully distinguish a twofold divine authority: one of things, the other of words. The former relates to the substance of doctrine which constitutes the internal form of the Scriptures. The latter relates to the accident of writing, the external and accidental form. The source has both, being God-inspired (theopneustos) both as to the words and things; but versions have only the first, being expressed in human and not in divine words.
-Francis
Turretin, Institutes, Topic 2, Question 13.XIV
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Gospel titles and artwork in Codex Alexandrinus
I did some browsing yesterday through an online edition of Codex Alexandrinus at the artwork and titles at the end of each Gospel.
Mathew has the urn and concatenated line at the bottom (as in the title to Acts):
Luke also has a framing line at the top and in the left margin with a wider and more intricate criss-cross design. The title is written horizontally rather than vertically (as in Matthew and Mark) and it has three leaf figures:
John's is the simplest, scrunched in at the end of the column. A tight stylized framing with the title written veritcally and a space between each word:
JTR
Monday, February 20, 2023
Revivals or the Ordinary Means of Grace?
Note: Sermon manuscript from last Sunday's afternoon service at CRBC:
Revivals or the Ordinary Means of
Grace?
Jude 20-21
CRBC February 19, 2023
We’re going to take a break today from our Lord’s Day
afternoon series through the Minor Prophets, having finished Haggai, before we
move on, Lord willing, to Zechariah and then complete the series in Malachi.
In this break, as we do from time to time, we want to
consider this sacred meal in which we participate Sunday by Sunday, the taking
of the Lord’s Supper, in obedience to the command of our Lord, who said, “This
do in remembrance of me.”
Ordinary Means of Grace
The Reformed (Biblical) theological tradition, teaches that
God has provided for his people “ordinary means” of grace.
This is taught in our Confession in 14:1. The ordinary means
the Lord has provided for the saving of sinners and then increasing and strengthening
them in the faith, as noted in Confession 4:1 are:
First:
The ministry of the Word. That means
the reading of the Word, privately and publicly, and it especially means the
preaching and teaching of the Word.
Romans
10:14 How then shall they call on
him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.
1
Corinthians 1: 21 For after that in the
wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock,
and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God, and the wisdom of God.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
long suffering and doctrine.
Second: Alongside the ministry
of the Word we also have the ordinances or sacraments of baptism (the public confession of one’s faith before men, and the symbolic
identification with his life, death, and resurrection by immersing the whole
body in water—in obedience to his command) and the Lord’s Supper (taking
bread and cup in that spiritual meal instituted by Christ and commanded for
perpetual obedience till he comes again).
Third: To these the
confession adds prayer. Paul urged believers
to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In Acts we have description of
the church often meeting to pray, as when the apostle Peter was imprisoned and
they gathered in the house of Mary the mother of John (Acts 12).
Fourth: And it mentions
“other means appointed by God.” This might include
fasting, meditation on the Word, the assemblies of the saints, but these must
have scriptural warrant.
So, Jude urges:
Jude 1: 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves
on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Revival
I
saw a tweet yesterday from a RB pastor in California which read, “Tomorrow [the
Lord’s Day] is the weekly day of revival.”
He
was making a sly reference and perhaps even a critique of the current “revival”
that recently began at the Wesleyan and Holiness heritage Asbury Seminary in
Wilmore, Kentucky. It started with a student led chapel service on February 8
and has continued to meet day and night since then. By this time, you may have seen
this on your social media feeds.
It
has attracted attention across the country and similar meetings have sprung up on
various other campuses (most recently at Samford University in Birmingham) and
visitors (like evangelical pilgrims pursuing “spiritual tourism”) have flooded
the school to experience the revival in person.
It
has been been covered by media from the Washington Post to Tucker
Carlson. To the university’s credit they have discouraged live streaming and
tried to manage the media frenzy and attention.
The
Wikipedia article on the “Asbury Revival” has a day-by-day timeline of what is
happening. The university has apparently announced that the revival will end on
February 24 (strange to announce the end of a "revival") and has written letters to the parents of students, some of whom
might have been concerned about how these meetings have affected the things universities
are mostly known for, like academic instruction.
This
is actually the second revival of this type to have happened at Asbury. Another
apparently took place in 1970.
And,
of course, there were great revivals in the past that had a significant impact on our
nation.
The
so-called First Great Awakening began with Jonathan Edwards preaching his
classic sermon (reading from a manuscript in a monotone from behind a pulpit) “Sinners
in the hands of an angry God” in colonial America. It is reported that some who
heard his preaching of God’s wrath were so filled with terror that they feared
the floor beneath might collapse at any moment and deposit them into hell.
Then there was the so-called Second Great Awakening in the nineteenth century that really set the tone for what most still think of as the pattern for a revival—a time of spiritual renewal and enthusiasm. These were the times of the camp meetings and “the saw dust trail.” It sadly resulted in many excesses, the introduction of “new measures,” including the “anxious bench” and altar calls, making extra-ordinary subjective experiences the measure of true faith. When the whirlwind of enthusiasm ended, however, it led to the creation of “burned over districts” which bred cults, like the Mormons. As Paul reminds us in Romans 10:2 there can be zeal for God, “but not according to knowledge.”
What do we make of the Asbury revival and of revivals in general?
Questions
might be raised. The Asbury revival seems driven not so much by the ministry of
the Word in preaching but by singing and swaying to contemporary praise songs.
There
has been the reading of Scripture and giving of testimonies at an “open
microphone.” But what about the injunction in James 3:1: “My brethren, be not
many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.”?
It
seems to be a series of meetings taking place apart from the oversight of any local
church and its elders. Christ did not say, I will build my Christian
university, or my para-church student ministry, or even, I will build my "revival," but I will build my church (Matthew
16:18).
On
the other hand, I think we can point to some things we can see in this as hopeful
and encouraging signs:
First,
it shows us that there are young people, in particular, in this generation who
have been and will continue to be drawn to the cause of Christ. The Lord will
not be without a witness in each generation till he returns in glory. He has
his elect in this generation whose hearts will be strangely warmed by the work
of his Spirit. We should not spurn or attempt to quench that. This is
encouraging in light of the fact that we are nearly constantly told by the
media that the faith is in decline or demographically challenged. They seem to delight in telling us that this is a
generation of “nones” (no faith) and “dones” (tried it but left).
Second,
many of those who might be drawn to spiritual things through this movement, whatever
its weaknesses (and perhaps, upon later reflection, because of its weaknesses)
will be drawn to study the Scriptures in greater depth. They will be drawn to
Biblical doctrine and to faithful churches. There will likely be not a few who
might be drawn eventually to become confessional Reformed Baptists!
What about us?
What
about us? Will we begin a series of Asbury-style revival meetings? Will we make
a pilgrimage to Wilmore or the next big place where “revival” breaks out?
No.
We will continue to meet on the Lord’s day and give attention to the ordinary
means of grace as the Lord has provided. We will commit ourselves to the
ministry of the Word. To baptizing new believers upon the confession of their
faith in Christ. To sitting down at the Lord’s table and receiving the bread and
the cup in obedience to his command. To private and public prayer, and to other
ordinary means.
By these means, we believe the Lord will be faithful to, as Jude put it, build us up in our “most holy faith” (v. 20).
JTR
Friday, February 17, 2023
The Vision (2.17.23): The Coming of the Son of Man
Image: Overcast tower view from roof, Nagytemplom, Debrecen, Hungary, November 2022.
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 24:14-28 (audio not yet posted).
Matthew 24:27 For as the lightening cometh out of
the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the
eagles be gathered together.
Much of the teaching in the Olivet Discourse of
Matthew 24 has to do with things already fulfilled relating to the destruction
of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 (24:2, 15). In these words,
however, the Lord points his disciples toward the future, toward his second
coming (see v. 27).
The Son of man is Christ himself (see Matt 16:13:
“Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”). His coming [parousia]
refers to his second advent.
The emphasis here is on the fact that when he
comes in glory at the end of the ages it will be as sudden and stunning and
glorious as lightening suddenly streaking across the sky from east to west. Paul
spoke of this when he said the day of the Lord will come “as a thief in the
night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
This is where the prognosticators get it wrong.
They cannot figure out when he will come, because it will be like a streak of
lightening, like a thief in the night. We who are in Christ have nothing to
fear, nothing to lose, and all to gain.
What do we make of that last statement in v. 28?
Where there is a carcass, the eagles gather. We think of the eagles as birds of
prey, hunters, majestic symbols of power, but they are also, like vultures,
birds of carrion, meaning they feed on carcasses.
What is Christ saying? This old world is dead and
rotting in sin. And you can see the signs and evidences of its death, like the
eagles circling a carcass. You can smell it. But do not worry. A new world is
coming. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “we shall be changed, in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” (vv. 51-52).
So, we can say with the saints of old, Maranatha!
Come Lord Jesus! (1 Corinthians 16:2).
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Thursday, February 16, 2023
RBF-VA Announcement: Spring 2023 Presbyterion: Pastors' Fraternal, April 14
The Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia will be hosting a Presbyterion (the Eldership) Pastors' Fraternal on Friday, April 14, 2023 at Christ Reformed Baptist Church in Louisa (2997 Courthouse Road, Louisa, VA).
All men serving as Elders in local churches are welcomed to attend.
The meeting will begin at 10:30 am and conclude at c. 2 pm. Lunch will be provided at no cost.
Schedule:
10:30 am Coffee and Fellowship
11:00 am Session One: Short Reviews (15 minutes each) of four sections in Dr. Jim Renihan's new book To the Judicious Reader: An Exposition of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (Founders, 2022).
Jeff Riddle, Christ RBC: Confession ch. 1 on Scripture
Ryan Davidson, Grace Baptist Chapel: Confession ch. 22 on Worship and the Sabbath
Steve Clevenger, Covenant RBC: Confession 26 on Church Officers
Van Loomis, Redeeming Grace BC: Confession chs. 28-29 on Baptism
12:00 nn Lunch
1:00 pm Session Two: Roundtable Discussion and Prayer
2:00 pm Depart for home
WM 268: Turretin on Scripture: Question 12: The Authentic Version (continued)
Topic 2, Question 12 continues Turretin's discussion of The Authentic Version, begun in Q. 11. Listeners beware: Toward the end I mistakenly referred a couple of times to the readings as being from Q 11 not 12.
JTR
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Monday, February 13, 2023
Resource: Audio Version of William O. Einwechter, English Bible Translations: By What Standard?
Glad to see this resource in an audio version. I got this booklet from Chapel Library several years ago and read it with profit. Einwechter also contributed an essay to the Why I Preach from the Received Text anthology.
Enjoy, JTR
Saturday, February 11, 2023
John Thackway on the Divinity, Clarity, and Sufficiency of Scripture
I was able to hear this sermon in person in London last September at the 2022 TBS Text and Translation conference. Pastor Thackway ably proclaims the divinity, clarity, and sufficiency of Scripture.
JTR
Friday, February 10, 2023
The Vision (2.10.23): Consider your ways
Image: CRBC's Ben C. gives a report following the afternoon worship service on a Missions class he just completed through IRBS (2.5.23).
Note: Devotion based on last Sunday afternoon's sermon on Haggai 1 (no audio yet posted).
Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways
(Haggai 1:5).
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways (Haggai
1:7).
Only two chapters in length, Haggai is the second shortest
book in the Old Testament. Only Obadiah is shorter.
We don’t know a great deal about the prophet Haggai. He is
mentioned by name in the OT, outside his own prophetic work, in just two other
places: Ezra 5:1; 6:14. His name means “festal.” Some have suggested he was
born during one of the Jewish feasts. The Roman equivalent of this name is “Festus.”
The name is fitting, because Haggai’s primary prophetic
ministry, alongside his fellow prophet Zechariah, was to urge those who had
returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile to rebuild the temple. He was
a restoration prophet. They had rebuilt their own homes but neglected the LORD’s
house.
Twice in chapter one Haggai urges them, “Consider your ways”
(vv. 5, 7).
In Haggai 1:6 he describes in Solomonic style the futility
and emptiness of a life without worship of the one true God:
Ye have sown much, and bring in little;
Ye eat, but ye have not enough;
Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink;
Ye clothe you, but there is none warm;
And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag
with holes.
The
prophet now speaks to us through the written Word. Have we neglected the things
of God in the pursuit of things that will not satisfy?
Haggai
is in many ways the OT equivalent to Hebrews 12:24-25 in which the apostle
exhorts those who had forsaken the assembling of themselves together in worship,
urging them to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.”
Let us, therefore, consider ourselves and turn in new obedience to
our Lord.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Thursday, February 09, 2023
Tuesday, February 07, 2023
Monday, February 06, 2023
Saturday, February 04, 2023
The Vision (2.3.23): And ye would not!
Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 23:34-39.
“O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which
are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew
23:37).
Christ’s
withering denunciation of the spiritual hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees in
Matthew 23 ends with his prophetic lament over Jerusalem.
He
had earlier spoke of his opponents as “serpents” and a “generation of vipers”
(v. 33). Now, he shifts the metaphor and declares, “how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings….”
Christ
here compares himself to a mother hen who had longed to gather those sinful
inhabitants of Jerusalem under his protective care, shielding them from the
wrath of God which they justly deserve.
No
one, of course, knew Scripture better than Christ, and he is drawing upon an OT
image. It’s there in Psalm 91 which begins:
Psalm
91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty.
And
continues:
Psalm
91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou
trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Christ
appropriating to himself the things of God. Psalm 91 says the one true God
gathers his saints under his wings. Then Christ says to the people of
Jerusalem, How often would I have gathered you under my wings?
What
was their response? “And ye would not!” Some modern translations render it,
“and you were not willing.”
Here,
then, is a great testimony to the folly of those who resist and reject Christ. He
would protect, but they “would not.” May the Lord take away our heart of stone,
and give us a heart of flesh, and make us willing.
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Friday, February 03, 2023
WM 265: Is Matthew 23:14 in the Bible?
NOTES:
I recently finished preaching through Matthew 23 (find complete Matthew sermon series here). This is Matthew’s
record of Christ’s extended and withering discourse or speech against the scribes
and the Pharisees, as he moves closer to the cross.
In the red-letter edition of the AV, other than the first
verse and the first word of the second verse, all other verses are in red (vv. 2b-39).
The other two “Synoptic” Gospels offer much shorter accounts
of this speech. See Mark 12:38-40 and Luke 20:45-47.
In Matthew’s account one of the repeated statements first
appears in 23:13a: “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” This
is, of course, a great prophetic statement by Christ.
In the traditional text there are eight of these prophetic
woes (vv. 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29).
But in the modern critical text there are only seven woes,
because Mathew 23:14 is one of the verses that does not appear in the modern critical
text (Matthew 17:21 and 18:11 are also omitted in the critical text). So, it is
one of the so-called “missing verses” (which M. Everhard, for some bizarre
reason, thinks we traditionalists believe was removed by aliens or some other
kind of conspiracy theory).
Matthew 23:14: What is the issue?
When you look more closely at this verse, you see that it was
obviously a matter of controversy in the transmission of the NT, not only as to
whether it is authentic to Matthew, but also, if authentic, where it should be
located (because in the Majority Text the verse is present, but it appears
after v. 12 and before v. 13).
Compare:
Traditional Text:
Standard versional order: v. 13, v. 14.
KJV
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye
neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and
for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater
damnation.
Scrivener
Matthew 23:13 ουαι υμιν γραμματεις και φαρισαιοι υποκριται οτι
κλειετε την βασιλειαν των ουρανων εμπροσθεν των ανθρωπων υμεις γαρ ουκ
εισερχεσθε ουδε τους εισερχομενους αφιετε εισελθειν
14 ουαι δε υμιν γραμματεις και φαρισαιοι υποκριται οτι κατεσθιετε τας
οικιας των χηρων και προφασει μακρα προσευχομενοι δια τουτο ληψεσθε
περισσοτερον κριμα
Note: While the entire printed TR tradition includes v. 14, the
order with v. 13 varies: 14-13 (Stephanus; Beza); 13-14 (Elzevirs).
The Protestant translation tradition prominently confirms the
13-14 order (Tyndale, Geneva, KG Hungarian, Reina Valera, Dutch Statenvertaling).
Modern Critical Text:
Omits
v. 14
Translations
based on the modern critical text omit v. 14 and skip from v. 13 to v. 15, with
some editions placing v. 14 in the footnotes.
Majority/Byzantine Text:
Includes
v. 14 but in the order v. 14, v. 13.
Berean
Standard Bible Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers.
Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor
will you let in those who wish to enter.
Patriarchal
Text (1904) Matthew 23:13 Οὐαὶ δὲ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι κατεσθίετε τὰς
οἰκίας τῶν χηρῶν καὶ προφάσει μακρὰ προσευχόμενοι· διὰ τοῦτο λήψεσθε περισσότερον
κρῖμα.
14 Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι κλείετε τὴν
βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὑμεῖς γὰρ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε, οὐδὲ τοὺς
εἰσερχομένους ἀφίετε εἰσελθεῖν.
Examining External Evidence
Based
on the NA28 apparatus:
In
support of v. 13 followed by v. 14: Family 13, Old Latin, Clementine Vulgate,
Curetonian Syriac, and some Bohairic mss. Note: This is a minority TR reading
with respect to word order.
In
support of omitting v. 14: Alpeh, B, D, L, Z, Theta, family 1, 33, Old Latin a,
Sinaitic Syriac.
In
support of v. 14 followed by v. 13: K, W, Gamma, Delta, 0102, 0107, and the Majority/Byzantine,
Syriac Peshitta, Syriac Harklean. Pickering says this is 98% of extant mss.
Examining Internal Evidence
The
most plausible explanation for v. 14 to be absent in some manuscripts is the
unintentional error of homoio-arcton (having the same or a similar
beginning). This would then lead to confusion when this error was recognized
and the verse was reintroduced back into the text.
Metzger
in his Textual Commentary, Second Ed., however, makes a different case
for omission, arguing, “That v. 14 is an interpolation derived from the
parallel in Mk 12:40 or LK 20:47 is clear…” (50). He gives this an {A} rating.
Metzger’s
position reflects a bias in modern textual criticism against harmonization of
content or agreement among the Gospels.
The
overwhelming Majority, including many older mss., across a wide geographical
spectrum, retain both verses.
This
leaves only the question of verse order. Printed editions of the TR are divided
but there seems to be a strong consensus among Protestant translations going
back to Tyndale, et al. that the order v. 13, then v. 14 be followed.
In
recently preaching on this text, I can affirm that v. 13 makes logical
(homiletical) sense, given that it provides a broad description of hypocritical
behavior (shutting persons out of the kingdom) that is then followed by more
specific examples of this, beginning with the devouring the houses of widows
and making long prayers. In Mark and Luke, this teaching is followed by the
account of the widow in the temple (but omitted in Matthew).
An Internal Argument Based on Intrinsic Probability
In
preparing to preach this chapter, I also ran across this assessment in R.V.G.
Tasker’s Matthew commentary in the Tyndale NT Commentaries Series (IVP,
1961):
In
the AV eight ‘woes’ follow; but it is almost certain that they should be
reduced to seven, for the ‘woe’ contained in v. 14, which is omitted in RV, is
not found in the most ancient witnesses to the text, and would seem to have
been a later insertion into the text of Matthew from Mark xii.40 and Luke
xx.47. It is intrinsically probable that our evangelist, with his Jewish
fondness for the symbolism of numbers, made a collection of seven (217).
Having
just spent the last two plus years reading and preaching through Matthew, however,
I do not find this argument particularly convincing.
One
may well make an argument for the possibility of John’s interest in the symbolic
meaning of seven (like the Seven I AM sayings and Seven Signs [Miracles] in his
Gospel, and the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 1-2, etc.), but it is
less convincing with Matthew.
There
are indeed seven parables in Matthew 13, but it seems Matthew has less
interesting in structuring his Gospel with seven-fold patterns than in offering
a variety of arrangements. A few examples:
Five
fulfilment citations in Matthew 1-2: 1:22-23; 2:5-6, 15, 17-18, 23.
Five
discourses (as noted by B. W. Bacon): chapters 5-7, 10, 13, 18, 23-25.
Ten
Miracles in Matthew 8-9:
The healing of the leper (8:1-4);
The
healing of the Centurion’s servant (8:5-13);
The
healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and many possessed with devils
(8:14-17);
The
stilling of the storm (8:23-27);
The
healing of the Gergesene demoniacs (8:28-34);
The
healing of the man sick of the palsy (9:1-8);
The
healing of a certain ruler’s daughter (9:18-19, 23-26);
The
healing of the woman with the issue of blood (9:20-22);
The
healing of two blind men (9:27-31);
The
healing of the dumb man (9:32-34).
Six
Parables after the final arrival in Jerusalem broken into two sets of three:
First
three: Two sons (21:28-32; The householder and the ungrateful husbandmen
(21:33-44); The King’s wedding for his Son (22:1-14).
Second
three: Ten Virgins (25:1-13); Talents (25:14-30); Judgement of Nations
(25:31-46).
Four
Controversies in the Temple:
Tribute
to Caesar (22:15-22); Sadducees and Resurrection (22:23-33); Great Commandment
(22:34-40); Psalm 110:1 and David’s Lord (22:41-46).
From
this we see the idea that Matthew shows an “intrinsic probability”
to offer seven “woes” rather than eight seems unlikely. It may,
however, provide a suggestion as to why some scribes might have intentionally sought
to remove one of the eight and reduce the number to seven.
Conclusion:
Based
on overwhelming external evidence, as well as internal evidence, we can affirm
the authenticity of v. 14. We may also affirm with the greater Protestant translation
tradition that its most fitting location in Matthew 23 is following upon v. 13.
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