Last week I stressed that the Gospel According to Mark was designed for Gentile Christians in Rome, and composed by an anonymous author, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Mark’s Gentile Christians in Rome faced and feared persecution and death at the hands of Roman authorities. But they also had to live with discrimination from superior-acting Hebrew-Christians living in Rome.
Matthew written for Hebrew Christians in Antioch:
This week, we look at Matthew. The final version of the Gospel According to Matthew, was most likely written by an anonymous Hebrew-Christian scribe between 80 and 90 CE. He was not an eyewitness to the Jesus events but collected various traditions and sayings by and about Jesus and put them in one long essay. Some scholars say the final edition could even have been written as late as 110. The most probable location for the Matthew community was Antioch, whose ruins today lie close to Antakya, Turkey. The community was strongly Hebrew-Christian.
There were Gentile Christian members in the community, but they were expected to obey Hebrew norms. Some scholars say even circumcision.
The Gospel of Matthew, with its strong Hebrew-Christian orientation, contains five sermons of Jesus (Matthew 5:1-7:29; 10:1-42; 13:1-52; 18:1-35; and 23:1 through 25:46) which, for the authors’ audience symbolized the first five books – Pentateuch — of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These five books, known as the Hebrew Torah, were also called the “Five books of Moses.”
Why Moses?
For centuries, it was widely accepted, both within Hebrew/Jewish and Christian communities, that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch. The European Enlightenment saw a rise in critical biblical studies, leading to the emergence of theories questioning Mosaic authorship.
The majority of scholars today see the biblical Moses as a legendary figure, while retaining the possibility that Moses or a Moses-like figure existed in the 13th century BCE. The Pentateuch, however, was composed and compiled during the 6th-5th century BCE, thus a good 500 years after “Moses.”
Jesus the Great Teacher
In Matthew 5:17-28, Jesus explains his understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures as related to his ministry. He says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) Jesus is the great teacher. Notice how he so often says “you have heard it said of old . . . but I say to you . . .” Like a rabbi, Jesus takes a teaching found in the Scriptures and then intensifies and expands on it.
Genealogy:
For Matthew, Jesus is the great embodiment of all preceding Hebrew history. In two weeks, we will take a careful look at the creative Infancy Narratives in Matthew as well as in Luke. Today, I want to point out that Matthew constructed an infancy narrative that begins with “A genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, son of Abraham.” (Matthew 1:1-17) Matthew’s genealogy features four notable Hebrew women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and “the wife of Uriah” Bathsheba. It includes a number of “fulfillment” passages that relate Jesus to prophetic texts. And it makes allusions to famous Hebrew men of the past.
Note for instance that Jesus, like the Moses figure, was rescued as an infant from a murderous king (Matthew 2:16-18). In Matthew’s creative narration, Jesus’ ministry begins with three temptations in the desert. They correspond to the experiences of Israel in the desert, after the Exodus. Jesus is God’s great liberator.
A question about Peter and the Rock in Matthew 16:16-19:
This brief text – Matthew 16:16 to 19 — has often been cited by Roman Catholic authorities as the scriptural basis for the papacy. Nevertheless, the significance of this uniquely Matthew material has been widely discussed by Catholic and Protestant scholars and challenged on the basis that verses 16–19 are found only in Matthew. Nowhere in the New Testament is Peter described as being supreme over the other apostles. Historians stress that Peter did not establish the Christian community in Rome and that Peter was never a bishop of Rome and certainly not “the first pope.” The Roman Catholic theologians Raymond Brown (1928 – 1998) and John P. Meier (1942 – 2022) were quite emphatic about this in their book Antioch and Rome: New Testament Cradles of Christianity, (Paulist Press 1983).
What draws my attention in Matthew:
As I have been re-reading the Gospel According to Matthew, what stands out for me is Jesus the great teacher, like a great Hebrew rabbi.
I conclude this week’s post with my contemporary reflections on Matthew 5:1-10, where Jesus goes up a hill with his disciples and begins to teach what we have come to know as the “Sermon on the Mount.” It is truly a charter for Christian life today.
The Charter for Christian Life based on the Sermon on the Mount:
1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
How fortunate are those people, who are humble in spirit.
The humble in spirit realize that greatness is achieved through service not domination. Power and control over people have no place in the community of faith. The humble in spirit realize they are not masters of the universe. They understand they cannot survive on their own.
2. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Many people grieve in sorrow today.
There are people in frightening times: war situations, people suffering abuse, job loss, or deportations. Jesus assures all, even if they cannot see it at the moment, that they are not abandoned. The historical Jesus knew abandonment, suffering, and a painful death. He overcame them. He travels with all overwhelmed with sorrow, assuring them that their lives are not meaningless.
3. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
How fortunate are the meek.
Meekness is not weakness. The meek have compassion. They can feel the pain of another. They put an arm around the fearful and the oppressed. They lift oppressive burdens from the shoulders of the abused, the old, the sick, and the impoverished.
4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
How fortunate are those whose greatest desire is to do what genuine Christianity requires.
We are fortunate if we have high ideals, strong values, noble goals, and the motivation to build up what is best in others and in ourselves. But the temptations are strong: to conform, to do what everyone else does, to simply read the news and then not rock the boat.
5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Merciful love is assistance without conditions.
Genuine Christians are not fear mongers who scapegoat Hispanics, feminists, blacks, gays, transgendered, or immigrants.
6. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
How fortunate are the pure of heart.
The pure of heart are honest-hearted. They are not two-faced, with hidden agendas or secret desires to advance themselves by using and abusing other people. The pure of heart honor and search for truth. They do not lie, creating dishonest “facts.”
7. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children, of God.”
How fortunate are those who work for peace.
Those who work for peace do not erect walls. They are bridge builders. They cooperate rather than compete. They struggle to resolve political, social, and religious polarization through tolerance, dialogue, and mutual respect.
8. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
How fortunate are those who suffer persecution because they truly live the Gospel.
There are a lot of phony “Christians” in high places these days, who denigrate and oppress their critics. Matthew’s Jesus speaks of leaders who talk about God’s values but never live God’s values. “Do not do what they say,” Jesus says “for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see.” (Matthew 23:3-5)
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Next week we take a look at Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Luke’s author was a highly educated Gentile Christian who came from a thoroughly Greco-Roman environment. Luke’s Gospel, like Matthew’s, focuses on the life and teachings of Jesus, but Luke emphasizes Jesus’s role as a universal savior for all peoples.
Jack
Dr. John Alonzo Dick – Historical Theologian
Another Voice 