Matthew: His Mind and His Message

186 Pages·1985·13.496 MB·English

by  Peter F. Ellis

M A T
THE LITURGICAL PRESS
•
••• ••
w
H
T E
his mind and his message
Peter F. Ellis
by
Fordham University
COLLEGEVILLE, MINNESOTA
By the same author
THE MEN. AND THE MESSAGE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
FIRST BOOK OF KINGS - SECOND BOOK OF KINGS
SEVEN PAULINE LETTERS, THE GENIUS OF JOHN
Cover desigll: sixth century mosaic of the evangelist SI. Matthew reproduced from:
The MOllastery 0/ St: Ctltheri1le (II MOl/ill Sillai - The Chl/rch (/lid Forlress 0/ Justi"ia1l
edited by George H. Forsyth and Kurt Weitzmann (University of Michigan Press, Ann
Arbor, Michigan). .
Rear cover lOp Ie/I: mosaic of the Transfiguration in the apse of the church on Mount
Tabor; riglit: Church of the Beatitudes on the traditional site of the Sermon on the
Mount; bOIlOlll le/t: view over the Sea of Galilee past the Chapel of Peter's Primacy
with Church of the Beatitudes in upper right; right: final two verses of St. Matthew's
Gospel from th~ Codex ,S i.n aiticus.· .
:."
4-
Fourtli printing, August 1985
ISBN 0-8146-0832-9 .. ' .
Nihil ob.,",: 'Wllliam 0: Hciat, 9.5.B., S.T.D., C,n_ '/<'PI;''''';': I",prill""",: t Gcor~e H.
Spellz, D.D. . BlIbop of SI. Cloud.
Copyriaht () 1974, Tho Orllcr of SI. BelU:dlcl, Inc., Collelle~IUe, Minnesota. Printed in the United
SCata of America. .. . .
"' All rljhta r_~ld. under United Slam copyri"" law, and the Inl~malional and Pan-Amerk:aa
~_11oaI lKtudlna the rIjIIl 10 reproduce thla book •. OJ parta thereof, in any form, by ralmeo
~ ••O J olhq mcchanlclll fK electronk. ~Ylca.
PREFACE
This book aims to reach the mind of Matthew and ascertain the theologi
cal message he sought to communicate to his Jewish-Christian readers at
the end of the first century A.D.
Reaching the mind of a first century author, culturally conditioned by a
semitic background, has required a careful study of Matthew's communica
tions skills. Our part I "Rabbinic Matthew," as a consequence, deals with
Matthew,'s background, audience, sources, and methodology. Our part II,
"Meticulous Matthew," is a study of how Matthew structured, arranged,
and interpreted his source materials in ord(:.r ~o make his gospel as a whole
reflect his mind and communicate his message. Our part III, "Theological
Matthew," deals with the essentials of his message: namely, his Christology
and his ecclesiology. .
Our approach to Matthew's gospel is the approach to the interpretation
of any properly literary work: that is, by way of composition criticism. It
has been called the vertical, in contrast to the horizontal, approach. It con
sists in the analysis of a work as a whole in order to ascertain thereby the
author's over-all purpose and viewpoint. The horizontal approach, which is
rarely used outside the study of the synoptic gospels, presupposes that the
synoptic gospels for the most part represent nothing more than the editing
of pre-existing documents or oral traditions by different authors and con
sists in a comparison of the differences in editing the materials in order to
ascertain the purposes and viewpoints of the authors.
It has been for the most part because the synoptic gospels were not in the
past cQnsidered to be the proper literary work of individual authors that
the horizontal approach to their interpretation was utilized. In the horizontal
approach, as a consequence, the pre-existing sources have been considered
of vastly greater importance than the minds of the men who edited them.
We believe the horizontal approach would be the proper and adequate ap
proach only if the evangelists were nothing more than editors or compilers
or redactors in the strictest sense of the word.
Recent gospel research, however, has been almost unanimous in recog
p.izing that the synoptic evangelists were individual theologian-authors who
;produced properly literary works. As a result, it has come to be recognized
in recent years that the only adequate approach to an understanding of.
their works is the same approach as that used for the interpretation of any
v
vi MATTHEW: HIS MIND AND HIS MESSAGE
properly literary work, namely, the vertical or composition criticism ap
proach. In passing, we might mention that the unintelligibility of many gos
pel commentaries due in large part to a carry-over from the time when
the evangelists were considered hardly more than inspired editors.
In as much as the synoptic evanglists evince' a much greater respect for
and fidelity to the sources they use than modern authors, the horizontal
approach retains validity and provides help in interpreting their gospels. In
interpreting the mind and message of Matthew, therefore, we have not ig
nored the value of the horizontal approach. But we have consistently con
sidered it secondary and subsidiary to the value of the vertical approach.
Our understanding is that the true key to the interpretation of a gospel is the
purpose of the author and that the author's purpose is revealed primarily
by an analysis of his work as a whole rather than by comparison-with other
gospels utilizing the same or similar source material. This book, as a result,
is properly a study in composition criticism.
Because most readers are already well acquainted with the introductory
questions involved in a study of thc synoptic gospels, wc have not dealt with
this material at the beginning of the book. For those who are not acquainted
with such introductory matters, we have provided in the appendices brief
treatments of the following introductory questions: the historicity of the gos
pels; the formation of the gospels and the meaning of such terms as gospel,
kerygma, and didache; and the synoptic question.
The reader is asked to forgive the frequent repetitions in parts II and
III. The repetitions are for the sake of clarity, and while the reader might
draw the same conclusions as the writer from the material in part II, it has
seemed best to summarize in part I II much that had already been men
tioned in part II.
With regard to bibliography, only author and title have been given in
the footnotes. Full data has been included in a separate section on bibli
ography at the end of the book,
It remains to thank those who have helped me with this book. First, my
students in the Graduate Institute of Religious Education at Fordham Uni
versity, whose enthusiastic response and searching inquiries went a long
way toward making this book the ,kind of book it is. Second, Miss Janet
Grimm who typed the manuscript with care and devotion. Third, Miss
Judith Monahan who has kindly taken in charge all matters dealing with
bibliography. And finally, my professors and confreres, Rev. Louis Hartman
(deceased August 21, 1970) and Rev. William Barry, whose love for the
word of God has inspired in me a similar love and have made the labor of
searching out the mind and message of Matthew not only a labor of love but
a joyful and rewarding venture.
December 8, 1973
CONTENTS
Preface v
Part One
RABBINIC MATTHEW
A CONVERTED RABBI 3
A JEWISH CHRISTIAN AUDIENCE 4
THE DATE OF THE GOSPEL 5
MATTHEW's SOURCES 6
MATTHEW'S METHODOLOGY 8
The structure of the gospel 10
The function of the discourses 13
The function of the narratives 16
The function of the ending pcricopes 17
Concentric-circle presentation 19
Mt 28: 18-20-the key to the gospel 22
The movement of the gospel 24
Part Two
METICULOUS MATTHEW
UNDERSTAN[)(1':G MATTHEW 27
MT I: 1-4:25 PKEPARATION fOR THE SERMUN ON THE MOUNT 28
Mr 5: 1-7:29 TIlE SERMON ON THE MOUNT-THE AUTHORITY
OF J [SUS 'IN \VORD' 31
The original sermon 33
Matthew's audience 34
Matthew's purpose in the Sermon
on the j\,tount 36
The nature and structure of the Sermon
on the Mount 37
The sermon in relation to the gospel
as a whole 38
Matthew's redaeticlTl of l\.lark's text 39
viii MATTlU!W: 111~ MINIJ ANIJ til::' lVII,,,,:,,,,, ..
MT 8:1-9:28 THE MESSIANIC MIRACLES-THE AUTHORITY
OF JESUS 'IN DEED' 40
The function of the narrative . 40
Three miracle stories-8: 1-17 42
Three discipleship stories-8: 18-27 43
Two miracle storics-S:21-9:S 43
Three discipleship stories-9:9-18 44
Four miracle stories-9: IS-34 44
Conclusion of the narrative 45
MT 10:1-42 THE MISSIONARY DISCOURSE 46
Matthew's audience 47
Introduction to the discourse-tO: I-Sa 48
The mission of the Apostles-l0:5b-15 49
The hardships of apostleshi~1 0: 16-25 51
Encouragement: "Do not be
afraid!"-10:26-31 a 51
Conclusion: a warning to Matthew's
readers-l 0: 31 b-42 52
MT 11:1-12:50 THE REJECTION OF PSEUDO-IsR,\EL 53
The function of the narrative 53
Condemnation of pseudo-Israel-II :2-27 55
Jesus' interpretation of the law-II :28-
12:2] 57
Condemnation of pseudo-Israel and designa-
tion of true Israel 58
MT 13: 1-53 THE DISCOURSE ON THE KINGDOM 59
The kingdom and the Jews who neither hear
nor understand-I 3 : 1-35 61
The kingdom and discipleshi~13:36-52 62
MT 13:54-17:27 THE COMMUNITY, PETER, AND DISCIPLESHIP 63
Function of the narrativt 63
Lead-up to, Peter "on the waters"-
13:54-14:33 66
Lead-up to Petrinc primacy-14:34-16:20 66
Lead-up to Peter paying the tax-16:21-
17:27 67
MT 18:1-35 THE DISCOURSE TO THE COMMUNITY 67
Matthew's audience 68
The discourse interpreted as directed
to the community 68
The discourse interpreted as directed
to the authorities 69
MT 19: 1-22:46 TTWE AS OPPOSED TO FALSE DISCIPLESHIP 72
Four questions-19: 1-30 73
True versus pseudo-lsrael-20: 1-22: 14 74
Four qucstions-22: 15-46 74
The purpose of the narrative 74
MT 23: 1-25:46 DISCIPLESHIP AND THE SON OF MAN 77
The audience 79
Structure 79
Warnings and condemnatioIls-23: 1~ 39 80
The apocnlyptic discourse-24: 1-31 82
Seven parousia parables-24: 32-25: 46 91
MT 26: 1-28:20 THE PASSION, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF
THE SON OF MAN 94
Part Three
THEOLOQICAL MATTHEW
MATTHAEAN THEOLOGY 99
MATTHEW'S CHRISTOLOGY 101
Jesus is the Messiah 105
Jesus is the Son of God 108
Jesus is the Son of Man 111
MATTHEW'S ECCLESIOLOOY 113
The Jew's rejection of Jesus 116
Jesus' rejection of pseudo-Israel 117
The Church is the true Israel 119
The leaders of the true Israel 121
THE PRIMACY OF PETER 125
The pre-eminence of Peter 126
Based on Jesus' words 126
Authenticity 127
Absence in Mk 8:27ff 128
The formulation of Mt 16: 17 -19 129
Emphasis on Peter's primacy 132
Matthew's reasons 132
THE ApOSTLE'S WORK IN THE WORLD 135
The mission to "teach" 136
True discipleship 137
The true disciple "docs" 138
x MATTHEW: HIS MIND AND HIS MESSAGE
The true disciple does "aU" 142
Is it necessary to do all? 144
Is it possible to do all? 145
The most radical law 150
Matthew and Paul 154
ApPENDICES
A. The Historicity of the Gospels 156
B. The Making of a Gospel 166
C. The Synoptic Question 172
BIBLIOGRAPHY 175
: HIS MIND
MESSAGE