The
Theological Perspectives of the Gospel of Matthew
In this week's study we
read: "Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For
as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which
you measure will be measured out to you" (Mt 7:1-2).
This word, "judgment," has roots set deep in biblical
thinking. In the Bible Study issues for April 5,
2004 and November 7, 2005, the articles focused on "judgment"
in the context of the First Letter of Peter and the Gospel
of John, respectively. They focused on the role of judgment
made by God in relation to the people.
The words of the gospel
this week focus on improper judgment of human beings regarding one
another. Rather than reviewing again the role of judgment
in the Bible, this article will diverge from discussing some aspect
of the text being studied for the week, and will examine a special
feature of the Gospel of Matthew as a whole. This
weeis article will look at the over all theological perspective
of this gospel.
We begin by noting that
it is best to read the Gospel According to Matthew as a
Jewish response to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70
A.D. The Temple had been central to the experience of the
Jewish people at Jesus time. Its destruction shattered this
source of identity and strength.
Matthew's community still
existed within the frame work of Judaism. But Matthew's
Gospel tried to show how Jewish tradition is best preserved
in a Jewish-Christian context. The Temple had been the center
of Jewish worship and prayer; it was the most holy place in Judaism
because it was in a most special way God's House. For Matthew,
Jesus Christ is now the focus and the presence of God in the world
as God's Son.
To show Jesus's relevance
to the Jewish world and its history, Matthew attempts to
show a continuity between ancient Jewish tradition and the Christian
movement. This comes out very powerfully in the fulfillment
quotations.
Examples are as follows:
"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through
the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a
son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,' which means 'God is with
us'" (1:23); "He (Joseph) stayed there (in Egypt) until
the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophets
might be fulfilled, 'Out of Egypt I called my son'" (2:15);
"He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through
Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: 'Land of Zebulun and land
of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the
Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen'"
(4:13-16); "When it was evening, they brought him many who
were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word
and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah
the prophet: 'He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases'"
(8:16-17); Regarding Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a
donkey, it is written: "This happened so that what had been
spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: 'Say to daughter
Zion: Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden'" (21:4-5); Jesus
said of his arrest: "But all this has come to pass that the
writings of the prophets may be fulfilled" (26:56).
For Matthew, the
all important point is that Jesus' life, from its beginning to its
finish, was in perfect alignment with the OT. And,
in the viewpoint of the Gospel of Matthew, the OT
is in perfect alignment with the life and words of Jesus Christ.
Another important consideration
would be the Torah, the Law expressing the way of God which
the people, by virtue of the Covenant, are committed and obliged
to follow; the People of God are to make this their life.
Having lost the Temple and political control of their nation, the
way of life expressed in the Torah took on even more importance
in Jewish life. Matthew takes great pains to show
that this focus is at the heart of Jesus Christ and his message.
For Matthew, Jesus
is the authority in interpreting theTorah: "Do not
think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have
come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until
heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest
part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken
place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in
the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these
commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven"
(5:17-19).
In teaching the Law, Jesus
deals with the underlying causes of abuse. To prevent murder
and adultery, he teaches, avoid anger and lust. In the Gospel
of Matthew, Jesus takes the law concerning divorce and goes
much deeper into God's original intent: "Have you not read
that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female'
and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what
God has joined together, no human being must separate" (19:4-6).
Matthew uses titles
for Jesus which the Jews of his time would recognize as relating
to their tradition. One would be the term, "Messiah,"
("anointed" in English; "Christos",
in Greek). "Son of David" is another title Matthew
readily uses. The most important of such titles for Matthew
is "Son of God." At the baptism of Jesus, "A
voice came from the heavens, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, with
whom I am well pleased'" (3:17). This matches with Matthew's
pattern of depicting Jesus speaking of God as "my Father."
Other titles Matthew uses are: Servant of God, Shepherd,
Son of Man. All of the above titles have deep roots in Jewish
tradition and paint a picture of Jesus as totally Jewish.
Central to the message of
Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is the kingdom of God.
This kingdom is the power of God made manifest in all creation through
the acceptance of the Lord's way by the people of God. It
is the fulfillment of the rule of David. That fulfillment
is Jesus, and through his ministry the kingdom becomes present:
"If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then
the kingdom of God has come upon you" (12:28).
For Matthew, followers
of Jesus constitute the new People of God. In this vision,
non-Jews were also welcome. Only those who oppose Jesus, as
was the case with the Jewish leaders, were to be excluded.
In the parable of the vineyard, these leaders are represented by
those tenants who kill the prophets and eventually the owner's son
who symbolizes Jesus himself. Jesus concludes this parable
saying: The kingdom of God will be taken away from them (the opposing
Jewish leaders) and given to a nation bearing fruit (the new People
of God).
With the destruction of
the temple in 70 A.D., the Jews saw that Israel was no more.
But the challenge Matthew presents to his Jewish followers
is that, believing in and following Jesus Christ is their best and
surest hope that Israel's tradition will continue.
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