Week 35 Matthew
I get my reminder right away that I’m in a whole new situation.
Between Malachi 4 and Matthew 1 there’s a huge blank in the bible where about four centuries-worth of things have happened – language attitudes currency ideas international-relations social-practices empire-building – and I’m just dropped into that new & different environment. (About the only comparable gap I can think of in the bible is the story of Jacob’s family in Egypt. Between Genesis 50:16 and Exodus 1:1 an awful lot of water has gone over the dam.)
So anyway things start appearing in Matthew that are brand-new. They’re “where-did-this-come-from?” kinds of things.
For example baptism. Where did it come from? Matthew starts talking about it as if I know all about it.
Ditto for the appearance of two groups of people: Pharisees & Sadducees. Who were they? Where did they come from?
Ditto for synagogues. What’s a synagogue and what’s its function?
Finishing Malachi and then starting in on Matthew the next day is like living in a cave along the South Saskatchewan River valley in 1622 and then time-travelling to Medicine Hat in 2022. Things are quite a bit different. And no disrespect intended but Matthew isn’t all that helpful in explaining the changes (though I guess there’s no reason he should. They’re not changes for him).
So as I start into the NT this week I get my reminder that utilizing fewer mental resources isn’t my reward for finishing the OT.