Matthew, Disciple and Scribe
Page 26
A brief preview of my argument might be helpful. Matthew, through portraying Jesus as the new Abraham, reveals that the people of God are redefined. The new people of God, the church (ἐκκλησία), are those who have faith (πίστις), both Jews and gentiles. Thus, not only those who are ethnically Abraham’s children are Abraham’s progeny; Abraham’s seed are those who have Abraham’s faith and who “do the will of [his] Father in heaven” (Matt. 12:50). This includes Israel, but also more than Israel. The new people of God are those from the east and west who recline at Abraham’s table (8:11) and those who produce fruit consistent with repentance (3:8). But this mission to all nations is not presented in a flat or imprecise manner; there is narrative development.5
In the First Gospel, the mission to the gentiles is spurred on by Israel’s rejection of Jesus; however, not all of Israel rejects Jesus. While the religious leaders and scribes are condemned as false shepherds, the crowd and the disciples are sometimes portrayed in a more positive light. Therefore, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because they will not allow their messiah to gather them under the shadow of his wings (23:37). If Israel does not produce fruit, their tree will be cut down (3:10), their temple will be destroyed (cf. 21:12–13), and their fig tree will be left barren (21:18–22).6 Israel’s hardening thus leads to an expansion of the people of God.7 The expansion is both “new” and “old.” It is “old” because Abraham’s family was always meant to be a blessing to the whole world; here the role of Israel is not downplayed or superseded but fulfilled. Jesus fulfills the role that Israel could never attain and is the light to the nations. The expansion of the family of God is also “new” because Jesus stands at the apocalyptic shift of the ages. His death and resurrection function as the means by which he is installed as the universal Lord of all creation, who then calls all nations to come and be his disciples.
I will trace Matthew’s understanding of the family of God by looking first at the introduction and then the conclusion of the Gospel. The way an author begins a work sets up how readers are to understand the narrative development. In the same way, a conclusion usually brings the threads together that appeared at the start and helps readers grasp the significance and meaning of the body. Therefore, after I have dealt with how Matthew begins and how he concludes, I will examine the development of the family-of-God theme, showing how Abraham is key to understanding Matthew’s presentation of Jesus and his followers. However, before all of this, it is important to establish from the Jewish Scriptures themselves that Abraham should be associated with familial metaphors.
Abraham in the Hebrew Bible
Not only Matthew’s narrative supports viewing Abraham under the lens of family, offspring, or seed. The Jewish Scriptures and other extant Jewish literature also maintain this inclination. Three foundational pillars support the idea that Matthew draws on the key OT descriptions of Abraham and informs his readers about Jesus’s new family by drawing on Abrahamic imagery.
First, when Abraham initially shows up in the Scriptures, the promises are all family related. In Gen. 12:1 Abraham is called to go from his country, kindred, and father’s house. The three descriptions narrow in focus: country is the largest category, kindred is intermediate, and father’s house is the most specific. In the ANE, people and place were linked concepts. Where you were from defined who you were. When Abraham is called to go from his country, it naturally follows that he will leave his kindred and his father’s house. If this is the case, then when Abraham is told to leave these three things and “go to the land” (singular), the implication is that he leaves all those other things behind. Go from “country, kindred, father’s house” to “the land.” The tension is found in the emptiness of the request. He leaves what is known and goes to the unknown. Yahweh asks him to “go” from the familiar to the unfamiliar. The unknown land is not his country and does not contain his people or his father’s house.
Go from
country
kindred
father’s house
To
land
But Yahweh promises to provide a double portion of what he asks Abraham to leave. The family and people he forsakes will be returned in abundance. In Gen. 12:2 Yahweh promises him that if he leaves these things, he will (1) make Abraham into a great nation, (2) bless him, (3) make his name great, and (4) and make him a blessing.
Go from
country
kindred
father’s house
To
land
Promises
great nation
blessings
great name
he will be a blessing
Genesis 17 fills out this promise by saying that Abraham’s offspring will be multiplied greatly (17:2). His name is even changed from Abram to Abraham, because Yahweh makes him “the father of a multitude of nations” (17:4–5). Yahweh says, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you” (17:6). The blessings that Abraham receives reverse what he lost by leaving his own land and family. A key theme is introduced here that Matthew will develop: the leaving of his family leads to double familial blessings.8
God promises Abraham a new family, a new nation, in return for his obedience, but this blessing does not terminate upon just his own people. The purpose of God’s blessing is “so that you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). Verse 3 makes the recipient of the Abrahamic blessings apparent: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Abraham is called from his family and promised that he will be a great nation, but the aim is so that the whole world will be blessed. Already, before the time of Matthew, the rejection of his own family (leaving) leads to another family being established. The universal (all families) will be blessed through the particular (Abraham’s family). The universal dimension emerges from the particular.
Yet there is a condition for the blessings. Those who bless Abraham will be blessed, and those who curse Abraham will be cursed (Gen. 12:3). Since Jesus is the son of Abraham, as Matthew asserts, then those who bless Jesus will be blessed, and those who curse Jesus will be cursed. Those who follow and accept Jesus’s message will be welcomed into the family. Those who do not will be cast out. As in Genesis, it is not based on ethnicity but on God’s favor. Those who plot against Jesus will find only curses in their path. How people respond to them determines whether these blessings will flow freely or be impeded. Therefore, in the first pillar, the central concept is the familial promises God makes with Abraham. The covenant with Abraham is about his future family.
The second pillar demonstrating the prominence of familial themes with Abraham is the flurry of “seed” texts. The fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham, and indeed the entire Abrahamic narrative, revolves around his progeny. In Gen. 15 Abraham questions God’s covenant with him “for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus” (15:2). God takes him outside, shows him the stars, and says, “So shall your offspring be” (15:5). The next chapter in Genesis is about Abraham producing offspring, not through Sarai but through Hagar. Genesis 17 recounts how Yahweh appears to Abraham and says that he will multiply him greatly (17:2). Abraham will be “the father of a multitude of nations” (17:4).9 Abraham is promised that he will be exceedingly fruitful, and kings will come from him. The covenant that God makes with Abraham is also for his offspring (17:7). God promises to give Sarah a son (17:16). Genesis 18 then fulfills this promise when three men come to visit Abraham and promise that she will bear a son (18:10). The promise made to Abraham in Gen. 12 is repeated (18:18), showing that through a child, a son, Abraham will be “a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” Then in Gen. 21 the Lord visits Sarah, who conceives and bears a son, Isaac (Gen. 21:1–3). The entire narrative from Gen. 12 onward concerns Abraham’s lack of, desire for, or attainment of a child. It is the promise of the “seed” that drives the narrative forward.
The third pillar tha
t confirms the familial theme in Abraham’s life comes through later biblical reflections on the significance of Abraham. Consistently, when Abraham’s name appears, he is associated with children. Thus Ps. 105:6 says, “O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!” Also Isa. 41:8 addresses, “You, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend.” Isaiah 51:2 counsels, “Look to Abraham your father and Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.” In this last text, we get a little commentary on the promises to Abraham. What is important for our purposes is that the “blessings” are put in parallel to the children of Abraham. Paul also reflects on the significance of Abraham, saying that the blessing was not only for the circumcised but also for the uncircumcised (Rom. 4:9). Later Paul says that Abraham became the father not only of the circumcised but also of those who walk in the footsteps of faith (Rom. 4:12). Galatians supports this point when Paul says that those of faith are “sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7). A few verses later Paul says that the blessing of Abraham comes to gentiles (3:14), and he mentions the “seed” of Abraham, tying this seed to Christ.10 As later biblical writers reflect on Abraham, their sine qua non for thinking about Abraham can be described through the imagery of family, offspring, seed.
These three points: the covenant made with Abraham, the wide-angle focus on the Abraham narrative, and later biblical commentaries on Abraham support familial, offspring, and seed themes as central. Matthew, as we will see, writes within this tradition and directs his gaze upon the same leitmotif. But now that the apocalyptic messiah has come, Matthew not only follows the OT tradition but also rethinks what the “family of God” means. Matthew rereads the Jewish Scriptures in light of his rabbi’s life, death, and resurrection.
The Introduction to Matthew’s Gospel
One of the best ways to see the role that Abraham plays in Matthew is by looking at both his introduction and his conclusion. The introduction sets the terms for what to look for in the narrative, and the conclusion brings the theme to its climax. While proposals for the structure of Matthew continue to abound, I take the first two chapters as the introduction to the Gospel, and the last three chapters as the conclusion. This division fits the narrative/discourse pattern outlined in the Gospel.11 Though this is not the only way to conceive of the introduction and the conclusion, it does provide a place to begin.12 My focus will be on the true introduction (the genealogy) and the true conclusion (the Great Commission), while using a few other texts in the larger introduction and conclusion to support the points found in the genealogy and Great Commission.
The Genealogy
In the first verse Matthew declares that Jesus is the son of Abraham (1:1). The genealogy is therefore wrapped not only around David’s name, but also around the promises to Abraham. Jesus is the son of Abraham who establishes the new people of God.13 Three points about the genealogy inform how Matthew conceives of the new family of God and Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham. First, Matthew begins with a family tree (a genealogy), demonstrating from the start that he has his eye on the “offspring/family” theme. Second, through Matthew’s list we learn about the nature of the family of Abraham. Third, the use of “the son of Abraham” indicates the family is established by an Isaac-type death.
FAMILY TREE
Matthew and Mark have quite a bit of similar material, but Matthew waits until chapter 3 to take up Mark’s story. He chooses to write his own introduction. As Morna Hooker comments about Matthew’s opening, “If listening to Mark makes us imagine we are in a theatre, then turning to Matthew may well make us feel we are back in school.”14 The first lesson he hands out to his students is a Jewish family tree, which becomes the key to understanding his entire course. Matthew begins his narrative with a list of names that remarkably foreshadows nearly every theme his Gospel is later going to draw out. The messiah is born (present) from the line of David and Abraham (past) and begins his rule and new family (future).
Matthew most likely begins with a genealogy because he draws on a rich tradition of genealogical texts. Genealogies are important in the Tanak (an acronym for the Hebrew Bible’s three main divisions: Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim). Genesis, the first book of the Tanak—the beginning of the beginnings—is structured around ten genealogies. In the well-attested traditional Jewish canonical order, Chronicles is the last book of the Tanak and also begins with nine genealogies.15 The formal similarities between Genesis and Chronicles are hard to miss. Both are virtually the only books in the Hebrew Bible filled with genealogies. Chronicles commences with Adam and rapidly moves through human history until arriving at David. Genesis also begins with Adam but moves quickly until Abraham comes on the scene. Most of the book of Genesis follows Abraham’s descendants. Matthew seems to have detected the “offspring” theme not only in the specific words but also in the specific genre of the bookends of the Jewish canon. The Jewish hopes revolved around a child who was from the family of Israel.
Genealogies served a variety of purposes, yet the most foundational purpose is found in Gen. 3:15, the protevangelium. God promises Eve that she will have a child who will be at war with the serpent but ultimately crush him. The rest of the OT traces the line of this seed through the genealogies. This is why the Hebrew Bible begins and ends with genealogies. These genealogies provide historical information, but they are much more than historical information. They provide a metanarrative perspective on how the promises of God progress. The genealogies give the rise and fall of the seed, focusing on God’s faithfulness to preserve the seed of the woman through many dangers, toils, and snares. When Matthew opens his Gospel with a genealogy, the form recalls all the hopes and dreams of the Israelite nation. After four hundred years of deafening silence, people are wondering what has happened to God’s promises. Matthew breaks the stillness with the opening proclamation that Jesus is the son of David and the son of Abraham.
The hope for resurrection life began with the promises to Abraham when God covenanted with him, telling Abraham that he would give him a new land and a new family. Matthew thus indicates the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham by beginning his Gospel with a family tree. Jesus is identified as the son of Abraham in the title of the genealogy. Matthew points his readers beyond David to God’s covenant with Abraham. Jesus, the son of Abraham, will enjoy God’s blessing, he will be the agent through whom God will bless all nations and families on the earth, and he will be the founder of a great nation. Matthew begins with a family tree that points to the promises made to Abraham.
THE COMPLETED FAMILY
Although it is evident that Abraham’s family is important to Matthew because he (1) begins his Gospel with a genealogy and (2) explicitly mentions that Jesus is the son of Abraham (1:1), we have not examined what exactly we learn about Abraham’s family from this opening. Two related lessons are given about the family of Abraham through Matthew’s genealogy. First, Jesus is the fulfillment of Abraham’s family (Jewish particularism). Second, the family plan was always to include all nations (gentile inclusion).
First, Jesus fulfills the promises made to Abraham’s family. Matthew states that Jesus is “the son of Abraham” (1:1). Matthew believes that Jewish history is unified and fulfilled in the person of Jesus. The arrival of Jesus is the apocalyptic satisfaction of the covenant made with Abraham. Though Abraham had other children, Jesus is his child par excellence (Gal. 3:16). When Jesus is born, he completes the family of Abraham and fulfills the hopes of the Jewish people. Matthew could have traced the genealogy back to Adam, as Luke does, but instead he compiles a markedly Jewish list. The First Gospel, as many have noted, has a distinctively Jewish focus.
Second, Jesus is not only a particular messiah but also one that welcomes all nations to his side. These two things should not be in combat with each other; they come in tandem. The particularity of Jesus as a Jew paves the way for the inclusion of all nations. Universality emerges from par
ticularity as the promise stated in Gen. 12. While it is true that most of this family tree is composed of “Jewish” names, a few persons outside Israel are included. The five women named in the genealogy are usually explained in one of three ways: (1) all are regarded as sinners, (2) all represent a certain irregularity in their unions, and (3) all except Mary are foreigners. Though it is only explicit that Rahab and Ruth are non-Israelites, a good case can also be made for Tamar and Bathsheba. Bathsheba is not actually mentioned by name, but Matthew alludes to her as “the wife of Uriah” (1:6). This could be read in reference to David’s wrongdoing, but more likely Matthew includes her by referring to her husband because it makes her gentile status explicit because Uriah was a Hittite (2 Sam. 11:3, 6).
Tamar is also not explicitly identified as a gentile in the OT, but a tradition in Jewish literature asserts she was a proselyte. Philo (Virt. 220–22) presents Tamar as from Palestinian Syria and a convert to Judaism. Thus, all the evidence taken together—Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites, Ruth a Moabite, and Bathsheba was the wife of a Hittite—anticipates the universal dimension of the family of Abraham. The community of salvation has always been open to non-Jews; now with salvation history turning, the universality is made explicit. Hays is right to also point out that three of these women (Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth) are characterized by their tenacious fidelity.16 Jesus will welcome those who are fiercely loyal to him. The family of Abraham is both old and new.17 Though the other options for the inclusion of women are certainly valid, the gentile inclusion is part of the picture. This inclusion is especially striking since the matriarchs of the faith are left out: Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah.
Careful readers of the OT should not be surprised at the inclusion of gentiles. Abraham was not merely the ancestor of Israel but also the ancestor of a “multitude of nations” (Gen. 17:4–5). Even in his opening verses, Matthew’s eye is focused both on Israel’s past (the old) and on how Israel is still to become God’s chosen vessel to bring salvation to the entire earth (the new). But as Konradt notes, “If Matthew makes a reference to the universality of salvation with the words ‘son of Abraham,’ this need not be set as an exclusive alternative against Abraham’s significance as Israel’s patriarch. Rather, the two aspects can be positively interconnected: precisely as the patriarch of Israel, Abraham is at the same time the bearer of the promise for the nations.”18 Thus Matthew includes Abraham in his opening introduction to point to the fulfillment of God’s promises that he will bless the entire world through the offspring who stands at the end of this lineage. Jesus is the king, the seed promised in Gen. 3:15, the offspring of Abraham, and his family includes all nations.