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Matthew 11:7-30
00:29:57
This week Dr. Tim Gray and Dr. Michael Barber continue their study of the Gospel of Matthew by diving into 11:7-30.
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome to form. Now, I'm Tim Gray, president of the Augustine Institute. And Joining me is Dr. Michael Barber, who's a professor of scripture here at the August Institute as well. And we're going to continue our ongoing Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew. Last time, we left off at the very beginning of Matthew, chapter 11, and we saw that Matthew, chapter 11 begins a new section in Matthew as we talked about before, that Matthew's Gospel moves back and forth between a narrative story on the deeds of Jesus and then a teaching of Jesus in a discourse. And so you go, narrative discourse, narrative discourse. And so we're in a narrative section now. Matthew chapter 11 and Matthew chapter 12 will be stories. And in chapter 11 we're going to see the people not repenting at Jesus word. And then in chapter 12, we're going to see the leadership of Israel rejecting Jesus. And then we'll see that move that Jesus wants make to his teaching in chapter 13, which will be focused primarily, although beginning with the crowds, it will be focused on the 12. And so we'll see a kind of transition in Jesus ministry that happens in chapter 13 in light of key things that happen in chapter 11 and chapter 12. Now, we began chapter 11 with John the Baptist sending his disciples from prison. And he sends his disciples to go inquire of Jesus, are you he who is to come and. Or shall we look for another faith seeking understanding? John knows he can trust in Jesus, but he's not sure if Jesus is the Messiah, given that he's just doing the healing ministry, it would appear, and he would expect the Messiah to do some more political things to shake things up a little bit. And he wants to know, is Jesus really the Messiah? And then Jesus gives him a coded message back that we talked about before, where Dr. Barber talked about Isaiah 35. In Isaiah 61, we're in the coded message of go tell John what you see and hear. The lame being healed, the blind, the deaf, and the good news being proclaimed to the poor. So the answer, of course, is, yes, I am the Messiah. And this is actually fulfilling the expectations of Israel. And that's so important to understand. And now we move into the next section. And as they went away in verse seven of Matthew chapter 11, as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. And he says, what did you go out into the desert, into the wilderness to see a reed shaken in the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft raiment. Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. What then? Did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you. And more than a prophet. Now, before we go any further there, I just want to mention two great images that Jesus gives. He's like, well, what? Why did you go out into the wilderness? You know, what did you go out into the wilderness to see? What are you going to see in the wilderness? Well, you know, a reed shaken in the wind. Or he says as well here, the idea of people in soft clothing, which you'd find people in soft, rich raiment in king's houses. So why did you go out into the desert to search for John? What are you going to see? A prophet. So John's a prophet. And Jesus has to say that because the Pharisees and the leadership of Israel are trying to downplay John as a legitimate prophet. But the other image here, I think that's being evoked is that Herod in his coins had a reed blowing in the wind. He had reeds blowing the wind. Because you can't put people on coins, at least for Jews, because that would be idolatrous. You can't put animals or people. So that kind of starts to limit what you can do. And Herod put a reed blowing because he just moved his capital to Tiberias on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. And so he's kind of showing off his new headquarters and kind of the area there. So Jesus saying, what did you go out in the wilderness to see? In other words, you didn't go out to see a reed blowing in the wind that's on Herod's coins. And you didn't look for people with fine arraignment, because again, you'd find that in Herod's court, because Herod's court would be finely arraigned and dressed richly. So why would you go out in the wilderness? You go out to the wilderness to find a prophet. And I think Jesus is giving these coded cultural language to tell them and refocus them on John as a prophet in the wilderness. And that's reminding us of the voice in the wilderness crying out, prepare the way of the Lord.
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B
Definitely. And then Jesus also highlights here, behold, I send my messenger before your face, which is a quotation not just from Isaiah, but from Malachi. Now, in Malachi, we read about the figure who will come to prepare the way of the Lord, who's going to come and purify Israel. It's really interesting in Jewish sources, various Jewish sources, that passage gets interpreted in all kinds of fantastic ways. So actually, the messenger before you is in Hebrew is malak, and in Greek it's angelos. It's where we get the word angel. Malak. Angelos is angel. So in some Jewish traditions, the figure who comes before the day of the Lord is like a superhuman kind of figure, a supernatural being of some sort. John the Baptist is more than a prophet, Jesus says. And so he's pointing out that John the Baptist is. Is this eschatological messenger that Malachi announced. So if you thought John the Baptist was just, you know, an ordinary man, well, you were missing the point. Because not only is he not just a prophet, he's a prophet. You missed that. He is like the prophet, right? The prophet that is going to come to prepare the way of the Lord that Malachi himself spoke of. And in many Jewish traditions, this gets associated and linked together with Elijah because what happens is Elijah is the one who came in the Old Testament to turn the people away from sin and bring about renewal. So the idea is, before that great day of the Lord when he comes to purify Israel, purify the temple, what's going to happen? God's going to send another Elijah type. And you read about this not just in Malachi, actually, at the end of Malachi, it actually mentions Elijah. You also read about this in the Book of Sirach, where it talks about how Elijah will come to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers.
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A
So that's so important for the Jews, because Elijah doesn't die. He gets taken up in the beginning of Two Kings in the fiery chariot. He's taken up into heaven. And so since he took, you know, he exited through the fiery chariot and didn't die, there's this idea that he could come back.
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B
And then you have. And then he's still up there.
- [06:52]
A
Yeah. And you have these prophets then, who speak the word of God. And of course, Malachi, as you mentioned, it's very important that it's from Malachi, because Malachi is the last of the prophets in the Hebrew canon. Right. He's the last prophet. He's the last message. And there hasn't been a message since Malachi until John the Baptist for several hundred years. And so that's really important. And the last message of Malachi is, you know, I'll send my messenger, and then the new Elijah will come before the great and terrible day of the Lord to call back the children of Israel back to their father and the fathers to their children, and to restore Israel, lest I smite the land with a curse. And so the idea then is the Last thing mentioned by Malachi is the Elijah who is to come and to prepare the way of the Lord. And Jesus is saying he's the Elijah, Right.
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B
In fact, I'll say this explicitly. So Jesus will go on to say, from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. Now, this is a complex passage and it's hard to translate really from the Greek. There are lots of different ways to translate it. But the basic idea is that that period of great tribulation, that period of great suffering is inaugurated with John the Baptist. Why? For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. So what they were looking forward to is realized in the arrival of John the Baptist. In other words, John, John the Baptist represents, in a certain sense, the last of the Old Testament prophets and the messenger, the herald of the coming of the Messiah. And if you are willing to. And by the way, this is such a great line, I just can't resist it. And the prophets and the law prophesied. It's really important to remember it's not just Isaiah, Daniel, it's not just Jeremiah that prophesied. The Torah itself prophesies. So what happens, for example, to Moses is seen as a type of what's going to happen with the Messiah. They all prophesy until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he, John, is Elijah who is to come. And so Jesus says explicitly what you were just talking about. He who has ear, who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now what does that mean? Do you think he has ears to hear? Everybody has ears. Right? So it's a coded message and it's another coded message.
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Exactly. Yep, yep. And those who know the scriptures of Israel get the echo and allusion.
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That's right.
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And those who don't, don't. And so people like Herod, he's not going to understand with that coded message.
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That's right.
- [09:41]
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But people like John the Baptist and people like his disciples and others should know and we should know. And that's why it's so important to understand the Old Testament, to understand Jesus and the New.
- [09:52]
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And it's important that he's highlighting these traditions of eschatological tribulation. Why? Because where's John? He's in prison. So John, be prepared. Right. The time of suffering is at hand. So just because John isn't delivered from prison doesn't mean Jesus isn't who John thought he was. No, this has all been foretold. This is all part of the. But to what shall I compare this Generation. Jesus says, it's like children sitting in a marketplace and calling to their playmates, we played for you. We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not mourn. So the people basically want Jesus to do what they want him to do.
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A
Yeah, I just love this saying. And he goes, for John came neither eating or drinking. And they said, he has a demon. And the Son of Man came eating and drinking. And they say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard. He can't win for me, a friend of tax collectors. So Jesus is saying, look, God sent you two different styles here. You got John the Baptist coming in austerity and penance in the wilderness. And people think, well, the guy's mad, he's crazy, he's a nutcase. And then Jesus comes, very, you know, deliberate. But he's eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. He's socializing, and he's not wearing a hair shirt, a camel shirt. He's not eating locusts and grasshoppers. And they say, oh, look it. And so Jesus says, you can't have it both ways. You're like these children in the marketplace. We'll sing you a dersh. No, you don't want to sing a dersh. We'll sing you a happy tune. But I don't want a happy tune. Well, what will make you happy? And Jesus is saying, wisdom is justified by her deeds. And wisdom has given an austere prophet and a joyful prophet, and they wouldn't receive either. And that will be to their condemnation for not receiving. And this gets us to the heart of chapter 11, and that is that the people are not responding to the voice in the wilderness. Who's supposed to prepare them, John the Baptist or to Jesus? They're not repenting at either the message of John the Baptist or Jesus. They're not changing their lives. And that's the whole point of the Word of God.
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B
I would say some are. And I do think that it's important to highlight the fact that there is a clear distinction in the Gospel of John, at least through many of the narratives, between the leaders and the crowds. Right? Jesus makes clear in Matthew 23 that the blind lead the blind, and so they both fall into the ditch. So the problem is the leaders are blind and they are going to lead the people astray. But we are going to see. For example, in Matthew 21, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. He got these crowds following Jerusalem, following Jesus. They all cheer hosanna to the Son of David. And then the people in the city are saying, who's this? Right? Then later on, the crowds will cry out and say, we don't want Jesus. We want Barabbas, crucify him. It's probably not the same crowd, right? It's probably. There are different groups of people.
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There are people responding. But, you know, and then what we'll see here, Matthew, is going to highlight Jesus spends a lot of time with the people in Galilee and he has a lot of expectations for them.
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That's right.
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To whom much is given, much is expected. And so Jesus will say here in verse, what is that? 2020. My eyesight is hard to see. Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done. Remember, chapters eight and nine were his mighty deeds where most of his mighty works have been done because they did not repent. Jesus doesn't want us to simply cheer for him. He doesn't want us to simply say we like him, to befriend him on Facebook. He wants us to repent. That's the bottom line. Because repentance means a change of life. And so then he goes on and says, woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and in ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capharnaum, will you be exalted to heaven. You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on that day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. So the towns, the people in general, not that there's not individuals, but the general towns are not repenting at the word of Jesus. And then the next chapter we're going to see this is also true with the leadership class, with the leaders of Israel and anything else you want to say about that before we get to the next session, which is my favorite.
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B
We'Re going to find out. The reason there is so much unrepentance is because I think of the leaders, right? So, you know, the people go the way of their leaders. Right. Is a very important theme in scripture. And so we're going to see one more thing about this passage is that Jesus explains it's going to be, let's Just highlight this. It's going to be more tolerable. I mean, Sodom, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, would have remained to this day if the people in Sodom had seen what Jesus is doing. That's some indictment, and it's worth just thinking about it for a moment.
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A
And by the way, I'm always struck by this. When I go to Israel, I love pilgrimages, and the Augusta Institute loves to do pilgrimages to the Holy Land with our faculty. And if you go to those cities to this day, to Bethsaida, to Chorazin, and what you find in all those cities is that they haven't been rebuilt. That, you know, after the time of Jesus, there was earthquakes and destructions, but they were never rebuilt. There's not cities there to this day. And so the curse that Jesus has, the woe to them, that curse lasted because, you know, after a couple generations there, those towns were never, never rebuilt in Israel, which is really interesting.
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Yeah.
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Because it's prime real estate.
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It is prime real estate. It's right next to the Sea of Galilee. It's beautiful.
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But there's no towns right around that area.
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All right, so we go on and we read. At that time, Jesus declares, now, this is a prayer of Jesus. So do you want to know what it looks like for the Son to talk to the Father? Well, pay attention. Here we go. At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father. Notice that the first thing Jesus does in prayer is he thanks the Father. That's just important to dwell on for a second, because so often when we go to prayer, what we do is we run through the litany of our wants. God, give me this. God, give me that. Bless this, bless that. Amen. That's not the model Jesus gives us. He begins by thanking the Father. I thank you, Father. Lord of Heaven and earth. This is that major theme. Heaven and earth are these two realms that are coming together in Christ, that you have hidden these things from the wise in understanding and revealed them to little children. So the truth about who the Son of Man is is not something that you can access just by study. It's not something that you can just figure out if you're clever enough. It's only something that you can come to know through a revelation. Jesus is going to underscore this at Caesarea or in the region of Caesarea, Philippi, when he's talking to Peter after his confession of faith. But suffice it to say, Jesus says, you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to children. Now this is going to come on full display later on in the narrative. When Jesus enters Jerusalem and he comes into the city, the people are cheering hosanna to the Son of David. Jesus goes into the temple and he heals the blind and the lame. And we read the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things and the children crying out in the temple. The children, it's the same word that is in the Greek in Matthew 11 here for what Jesus says when he explains, you've revealed them to little children. So in Matthew's narrative we see the truth is revealed to little children and the so called wise and understanding the temple authorities, they're actually the blind ones. Jesus heals the blind and the lame and reveals they're the ones that see because of him. And those who think they see, fail to see. So there's a sharp contrast there. So Jesus reveals to the little children and this is important for all of us. There's a practical lesson here. Do you want to know the truth about who God is? Then you have to be small, you have to be humble. We always recognize God always raises up the small. He always raises up the least. The insignificant ones. It's David versus Goliath. David is the one who wins. Jesus speaks to Mary or the Lord sends the angel. I should say Gabriel. Yeah, the angel sends the angel. Gabriel comes to Mary at Nazareth. She believes when Zechariah, the priest in the temple, fails to believe, God always raises up the the weak in order to shame the proud. If you think you're not weak, then God can't use you anymore. Likewise, if God's calling you, it's not.
- [19:52]
A
Much of a compliment. Exactly. I know that in my own life I'm a testimony of God using the weak. And I love this next passage, Michael. And you know he's going to say, no one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except through the Father. This intimacy between Jesus and the Father. And we need, we need the Father to understand the Son and the Son to understand the Father. And it's such a powerful teaching. But then he gives what I think is a really powerful teaching that I want to really dive deeply into. He says, come to me. So now Jesus moves from his, in a sense from almost from his prayer to an invitation of us to join his prayer. And this invitation, this summons, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And of course, rest is a very deep and important biblical term. You know, the rest on the Sabbath, the Lord's day and this idea of, we're made for this rest. But then he goes on and says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Now, just on the surface, those words are so inviting and so kind and meek and gentle. And it's just something that, you know, it's just Jesus is making a deeply personal appeal to follow. And this comes, you know, after the rejection he just experienced of the cities where he's been working and toiling, not repenting, right? And he prays to the Father, and he gives thanks and glory to the Father, because the Father will reveal the truth to those whom the Father chooses to reveal. And so Jesus offers that up to the Father. But then he makes his heart's desire made known to the Father and to you and I, as he makes this appeal, look, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus desires to give us rest. And this refers back to a key point in Israel's story. You know, earlier, Dr. Barber mentioned this civil war that happened in Israel, division of the tribes of Israel and the breakup of the kingdom. And you ended up with a battle between the north and the south, the kingdom of Judah in the south, and the kingdom of Israel in the north. And you had the 10 tribes against two tribes. Well, Jesus is referring to a pivotal moment that is going to be the hinge for that civil war. And that comes in first Kings, chapter 12. So I want to take us to 1 Kings, chapter 12 and look at that passage, because that idea, that metaphor, that image of yoke and labor is something we find in that key passage. And it's going to be very important. And before we dive into 1 Kings, chapter 12, I want to give you the Reader's Digest version of the setting for that. But I want to mention that you find this throughout the Bible, the idea of a yoke. And a yoke means to take on somebody's kingship. So, for example, Jeremiah is the prophet. He's told to wear a wooden yoke and walk around Jerusalem saying, we are going to have to submit because Babylon is going to conquer us. And you better get used to the idea of wearing a yoke, because you're going to wear Babylon's yoke because you've been unfaithful to me and my yoke. I'm going to give you Babylon's yoke and see how you like that. And so no yoke. Yep. No joke. And Jesus. So the idea for Jeremiah, then, is that a yoke is taking on someone's kingship. Well, that's important to understand what happens here in First Kings, chapter 12. Because Solomon has just passed away. He was the son of David, and now his son Rehoboam succeeds him, and he's poised to be king. But there's a great pushback and rebellion. And as all of Israel gathers in Shechem to make Rehoboam the new king, they all gather, and the 10 tribes and that have suffered especially from Solomon, they choose somebody, a man named Jeroboam. And I know that Rehoboam and Jeroboam sound a lot alike. And this becomes a great point of contention and confusion for readers. But just think about Rehoboam is the son of Solomon. Jeroboam will be the leader of the ten tribes. And Jeroboam sends a petition of the ten tribes to Rehoboam, and they are going to make a request of Rehoboam and to lighten the yoke and the burden, because Solomon had put a heavy yoke upon the people, and they want a lighter yoke. And so let's look at the wording here, because Rehoboam in verse one goes to Shechem, all of Israel gathers, and Jeroboam comes, and Jeroboam is going to be sent. And he says, your father, this is towards the end of verse three. Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, therefore, lighten the hand, the hard service of your father, and the heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you. And he said to them, go away for three days and then come again to me. And so the people went away. And then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon, his father, while he was yet alive, saying, how do you advise me to answer this people? And they're going to tell him, yeah, serve this people. Give them kind, meek words, and serve them for a day, and they will serve you for their lives. And then what happens next is that he asks his drinking buddies, the young guys he grew up with, and they say, oh, tell them you're going to give it to them far harder, and that you're a tougher dude than your dad. And so that appeals to his ego and pride. And Rehoboam gathers back three days later, and he tells Jeroboam and all the. All the tribes of Israel, and he says, you know, look, here's how I'M going to answer this people who said, lighten the yoke. This is verse nine. Lighten the look that your father put on us. And I'm sorry, a little bit literally, he says to them, thus you shall speak to this people. I'm sorry, I'm going back. I need to jump down at the end. So he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men. And he said in verse 14, My Father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions. And so the king did not listen to the people. And then it goes on. But here's the point I want to make. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the son of David, says, I'm going to make a harder yoke. He's oppressive, just as Solomon was oppressive to the people. And they rebel. And it leads to a division of the people of God, and the people of God have a split, a schism. Now, the point that Jesus is making then, at the end of chapter 11, up in Galilee, up in Capharnaum, is he saying, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light. In other words, Jesus is saying that he is not going to be like Rehoboam or even Solomon. He is going to be a meek king. He is going to be a meek son of David. His kingship will not be burdensome. He comes as a king who wants to serve his people and love his people and not to be served and oppressive. And so it is an entirely different kind of kingship that Jesus offers.
- [27:15]
B
And where is he? He's in Galilee. Galilee is the northern kingdom, right? So what Jesus is doing is demonstrating in the place where the tribes broke away that he is the wise king. Unlike Rehoboam, who was a foolish king, Jesus is the wise king who's going to bring about, through his wisdom, right which is justified by our deeds. He is going to bring about the restoration of all God's people who were formerly disenfranchised, who were formerly separated from the Davidic kingdom. They will now be restored.
- [27:54]
A
It's such a beautiful thing. And again, you know, the words of Jesus have such meaning right on the surface that are meant for us. And yet there is a deeper layer when we can dive down and understand the story of Israel and how the story of Jesus is constantly intersecting with the story of Israel and bringing that story to a new moment, bringing it, taking the wounded story of Israel, the wound that came from Rehoboam, who was a son of David, who was a tyrant who gave the people a heavy yoke. And now Jesus is the new son of David, who is going to restore Israel by lightening their yoke and lightening their burden and giving the people rest. It's such an incredible story. And when you see these connections, I hope your faith is inspired like mine is. I hope your faith is deepened and strengthened as mine is. Every time I go through these stories, it just thrills me and it just deepens my faith. And you know, that's the purpose and that's the point of these stories. And so keep reading the Scriptures with us. Next time we're going to dive into chapter 12. We're going to see these stories really coming to fruition in chapter 12 in a deep way. And I want to just again give a shout out and thanks to everyone who has joined during this month as we're doing our campaign to add people to our mission circle, our support team, which we depend on so much here at the Augustus. So many of you have joined and I'm so deeply grateful that you have become mission partners with us. Thank you for your support. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for your prayers for our mission. You know, it's amazing how the formed platform is growing. We're getting to more and more parishes every week and it's really extraordinary what's happened over the last few months and six months. Our growth in formd has been amazing. We're reaching more and more parishes. So I'm grateful. Your support for our ministry helps us reach more and more people for Christ and you are mission partners with us. I'm grateful and I look forward to our next Bible study. Make sure next week you join Michael and I for our next Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew. May the Lord bless and keep you. Thank you so much.