The Kingdom of God
One thing I have learned from the readings
Matthew portrays Jesus’s ministry
as one that focuses on the kingdom. Matthew uses the term kingdom of heaven
thirty two times. He introduces Jesus as the Messiah, which in Greek means
Christos, “The Anointed One”.[1] In
the Jewish tradition God normally anoints kings and priests for a high purpose.[2] The
genealogy of Jesus connects him to Abraham and king David. In the Hebrew bible
genealogies are generally symbols of pride and prestige.[3] Some
scholars believe that Matthew was a Jew writing to his fellow Christian Jews to
legitimize Jesus’s claims that he was the King of Jews.[4] He
quotes extensively from the Old Testament prophets to prove that Jesus
fulfilled all that was spoken about the Messiah who would come to establish the
kingdom of god. He refers to Jesus as the son of David. Prophets of old foretold
that the Messiah would be a direct descendent of David. Davidic theology played
a central role in later hopes regarding the future. The Messiah, “Anointed
One”, a king in the Davidic lineage would establish a new order on the earth.
One thing you have discovered has relevance for the church and the
society today
Most scholars believe Matthew is
the most Jewish of all the four Gospels. He has positive views for the law and
constantly references to the Torah. Some scholars however find an anti-Semitic
strand in Matthew. The theme of Gentile inclusion is subtly woven into the
narrative. [5]The
genealogy of Jesus is unusual, because it is inclusive of women, and it also
features non-Israelite gentile women, some with a suspicious character such as
Rahab, Ruth, Tamar and Bathsheba. Also Pheme Perkins asserts that Matthew’s Sermon
on the Mount contains discourses that contain elements that are directed toward
a Christian audience.[6]
This is relevant for the church because the book of Matthew is one that is
traditionally connected to the church. In fact the book of Matthew is the only
Gospel in which the word “church” (ekklesia) occurs.[7]
Any Christian who interprets the kingdom of God needs to make sense of the
historical framework. It must be consistent with the Jewish hope of the
Messiah, “the Anointed One” and King.
One thing I struggled with
I sensed that Matthew wanted to
closely relate Jesus with Moses. It seems Moses is highly respected among the
Jews since he is traditionally credited with the five books of the Pentateuch.
It seems as if Matthew is trying hard to validate Jesus among the Jews. Perkins
sates that the sermon at the Mount’s five discourses are highly connected to
the figure of Moses giving the law to Israel, just as the law of Moses had five
books, the Gospel of Matthew contains five discourses of Jesus.[8]It
seems as if for Matthew the closer Jesus is to Moses the more legitimate his
ministry is.
One question I would like to ask the Instructor
Matthew seems to be anti-Pharisees,
Sadducees and the scribes. Is he anti Jewish? I find that difficult to
comprehend given that he is generally believed to be a Jew. He seems to be
polemical of the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Scribes. He portrays Jesus as
being always in conflict with the teachers of the law.
[1] Michael D.
Coogan, Marc Z. Brettler, and Carol Newsom, eds., The New Oxford Annotated
Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2010), 1748
[4] Pheme Perkins, Introduction
to the Synoptic Gospels (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub.,
2009), 165.
[5] Pheme Perkins, Introduction
to the Synoptic Gospels (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub.,
2009), 168.
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