Writing for a Jewish Christian audience, Matthew's main concern is to present Jesus as a teacher even greater than Moses. by Marilyn Mellowes
The evangelist who composed the gospel of Matthew was probably a JewishChristian, possibly a scribe. The historical evidence suggests that he wrotebetween 80 and 90 CE and addressed his work to a community in conflict:Jewish Christians who were being pushed out of the larger communities, locatedin northern Galilee or Syria. These communities were led by Pharisees, rabbiswho assumed leadership of the Jewish people in the aftermath of the destructionof Jerusalem.
Matthew is at pains to place his community squarely within its Jewish heritage,and to portray a Jesus whose Jewish identity is beyond doubt. He begins bytracing Jesus' genealogy. To do this, Matthew only needed to show that Jesuswas a descendent of King David. But Matthew takes no chances. He tracesJesus' lineage all the way back to Abraham. In the words of Helmut Koester,"It is very important for Matthew that Jesus is the son of Abraham." In short,Jesus is a Jew.
Matthew grounds his entire work in the traditions of Judaism. Matthew'snarrative includes most of Mark's gospel but is supplemented with sayingsmaterial, another written source known as "M," and possibly other material aswell. But even through the evangelist includes miracle stories, his mainconcern is to present Jesus as a teacher even greater than Moses. Accordingly,Matthew uses his sources to create a somewhat different narrative in whichJesus repeated instructs the people.
In Matthew's gospel, Jesus delivers five major speeches, which parallel thefive great books of Moses known as the Pentateuch. The first and mostimportant of Jesus' speeches is the Sermon on the Mount. One of the intriguingcharacteristics of this address is Jesus' repetition of the words, "you haveheard it said . . . But I say to you." Matthew is giving a newinterpretation to the Law; he is establishing the church as the new Israel.Matthew's concern about the state of the church is reflected in the way hetells the story of Jesus stilling the storm. In Greek, the word "storm"actually means earthquake. According to one interpretation, this story isreally a metaphor: the disciples represent the Christian community, the boatis the church. In the face of upheaval and uncertainty that challenges faithand threatens to undo the church, Jesus gives assurance to the faithful:"Behold, I am with you until the end of days."
Matthew's community subscribed to the Law, but they saw Jesus -- not thePharisees -- as the rightful interpreter of the Law. This conviction tendedto undermine the legitimacy and authority of the Pharisees who criticized thefollowers of Jesus. Now Matthew makes the Pharisees the "hypocrites": "Woe toyou scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like white washed tombswhich on the outside look beautiful but inside they are full of the bones ofthe dead and all kinds of filth." (MATT 23:27)
Matthew's attitude toward the Pharisees is reflected in the way he tells thestory of the death of Jesus. Pontius Pilate is portrayed as a sympatheticfigure, and the blame is squarely placed on the Jewish leaders. But the factthat Jesus is pronounced dead leaves the Pharisees still worried. Jesus hadpredicted that "After three days I will rise again." (MATT 27:63). Theyimagine a scenario in which the followers of Jesus steal his body from the tombin order to vindicate his claims. Pilate suggests that they seal the tomb witha large stone.
Now Matthew refashions the final scene of Mark's story. The women come to thetomb and discover that Jesus is gone. But this time the angel instructs themto tell the disciples that he has risen. Then Jesus himself appears before thewomen and directs them to tell the disciples to meet him in Galilee. Thedisciples go the mountain -- just as Jesus himself had once ascended themountain to deliver the Sermon on the Mount -- and they encounter Jesus. Butsome of them have doubts. Is it really him? Jesus reassures them: "All poweris given unto me in heaven and in earth." And he also instructs them: "Gotherefore and teach all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, ofthe Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Notice that Jesus does not tell the disciples to only go only to "Israel" or tothe "lost sheep of the house of Israel." He tells them to go to "the Nations"-- to all peoples. For the Kingdom which Jesus has promised will embrace bothJew and gentile alike.
