80. Gurtner, Torn Veil.
81. Scribes in the ancient world regularly work in temples. See van der Toorn, Scribal Culture.
Conclusion
Review
My argument has been that Matthew is the “discipled scribe” referred to in 13:52, who learns wisdom from his teacher. This wisdom more specifically concerns how the “new” relates to the “old”—or as Jesus puts it, the secrets of the kingdom of heaven (13:11).1 The best way for Matthew to disciple and teach future generations is to tell the story of Jesus, because in this story the new and the old clatter together. He therefore tells shadow stories—stories that echo the previous narrative of Israel. Matthew’s wisdom is thus embedded in his form. His conviction is that the story of Israel is fulfilled in this Solomon-like sage, who taught him how to integrate what is new with the old. The old in fact predicts that the new will come bearing wisdom: someone from Jesse, a new David, a righteous branch, who will have a spirit of wisdom and understanding (Isa. 11:1; 52:13; Jer. 23:5; 2 Chron. 1:10).
We therefore began by exploring how Matthew paints Jesus as the son of David. This son of David is the heir of the throne and the kingdom because he is a wise king, who reunites the north and the south. Yet the people of Matthew’s day were probably tempted to have questions about Jesus’s claim to kingship because of the seeming failure of his mission. Matthew reminds his readers that as David’s path to kingship was filled with conflict, so Jesus himself must endure exile. In addition, if they look to Jesus’s life, Matthew’s readers can see how Jesus is the living embodiment of the law (à la wisdom). He shepherds and heals his people. He is the king that the prophets foretold––the wise suffering servant.
Matthew also styles Jesus as the new Moses. Moses’s prophetic role, mediation, healing, and redeeming acts all revolved around the exodus. Moses, though flawed, was a wise leader who brought his people out of Egypt and to the brink of the promised land. Jesus is like Moses but better. Jesus not only leads his people on the new exodus through his death on the cross, but he also tells them to go into the land, spreading the teaching of Jesus.
Jesus is also the son of Abraham. Abraham was promised that he would have a family who would be a great nation. Abraham wisely believed God and followed God’s will, but he and his children also turned their backs on God and tried to make families in their own power. Jesus rests in the will of his Father and knows that it is precisely in an act of death that Abraham’s family expands.
Finally, Jesus is the new Israel. Because of Israel’s sin, Israel was conquered by foreign armies. But Jesus, as the true Israel, submits himself to the armies of sin and darkness, offering his innocent blood on behalf of the nation. The messiah retraces the footsteps of Israel and brings them home from exile by his sacrifice.
Character Concept/Event
David kingdom
Moses exodus
Abraham family
Israel exile
Though for the purpose of closer examination, I have separated these characters (David, Moses, Abraham, Israel) and concepts/events (kingdom, exodus, family, exile), they interweave in the narrative. When Jesus commands the disciples to go out into the nations, he instructs them as the king, the new Moses, the new Abraham, and the new Israel. In the command he instructs them to go up out of exile and on the new exodus, to build their kingdom and establish their new family. The new exodus has the kingdom as its goal. The return from exile is a new exodus. The new family of God inherits the kingdom.
Therefore, while lines can be drawn, Matthew ties these hopes together under the banner of fulfillment. The life of Jesus is where the new and the old meet––an understanding Matthew has gained through becoming a disciple of his teacher of wisdom. If Matthew is the discipled scribe, who learned the law of the Lord, thereby making him wise (Ps. 19:7), then he defines his activity not only by a positive portrayal but by negative pictures of foolish scribes. Through looking at the antithesis to scribes, we can draw some conclusions about what it means to be a true disciple and scribe.
The Foolish Scribes
Wise teachers instruct by negation and comparison. Light is opposed to darkness, health is contrasted with sickness, and sheep are distinguished from goats. Both Matthew and Jesus teach in this way. They oppose blessings and woes, worthless shepherds with caring shepherds, and positive instruction with negative denouncement. This new and old alternation—explanation by comparison or negation—is pervasive in the wisdom tradition.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:7)
Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me. (Jer. 9:23–35 NIV)
The righteous are like a tree; the wicked are like chaff. (cf. Ps. 1)
The kings of the earth conspire against the Christ, but the wise kiss the Son. (cf. Ps. 2)
It is therefore appropriate to end this examination of Matthew as the discipled scribe with the negative corollary: foolish or unwise scribes.2 If Matthew and the other disciples are an alternative scribal school, they must represent an alternative to something. Matthew does not merely define what it means to be a discipled scribe; he also illustrates the opposite of a trained scribe. This serves as both a warning and clarifying instruction about what it means to be a pupil of the teacher. The false scribes, the non-discipled scribes, the adversaries to Jesus in the Gospel—these are the religious leaders, the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, the “kings” of Israel, and finally Judas is revealed as the ultimate false disciple.3 This conclusion briefly explores the tradition against which Jesus contends.
Matthew 23 is unique to Matthew and bolsters my thesis that Jesus in Matthew is creating an alternate scribal school. Jesus vociferously denounces the actions of the scribes (γραμματέων) and Pharisees: they impose heavy burdens, do their deeds to be seen by others, love the place of honor, and like to be called “Rabbi.” So Jesus turns and says to his disciples, “But you are not to be called rabbi [ῥαββί], . . . and call no man your father, . . . neither be called instructors [καθηγητής]” (Matt. 23:8–10, emphasis added). Readers should be asking what these false scribes teach us about what it means to be students of Jesus.
Three things come to the forefront in Matthew’s presentation of the foolish scribes. (1) They don’t recognize Jesus as their teacher of wisdom, (2) they are unreliable interpreters because they don’t understand the relationship between the new and the old, and (3) they lack righteousness. Put another way, they lack wisdom theologically, practically, and ethically.4 They walk down the path of folly. Psalms 1 and 2 therefore loom large over this section. The introduction to the Psalter contrasts the righteous with the wicked––the wise with the foolish. The wise are those who meditate on the Torah, who follow the messiah. The foolish are those who have no future, who plot in vain, and set themselves up against the messiah. Therefore, Yahweh looks at the kings of the earth and calls them to understanding—to wisdom. The wise gain understanding by learning and listening. The foolish travel their own path.
Theological Folly
Foolish disciples and scribes are at their core contrasted with discipled scribes because they don’t accept Jesus as their messiah and teacher of wisdom, and so lack theological wisdom. If all wisdom is from the Lord (Sir. 1:1), then all folly comes from rejecting him. The foolish scribes claim that Jesus blasphemes (Matt. 9:3), ask him for a sign (12:38), and wonder why Jesus’s disciples break the traditions of the elders (15:1–2). Most importantly, the scribes condemn Jesus to death and mock him on the cross (20:18; 27:41). In Proverbs the author claims that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). “This fear is not the fear that makes us run, but it is the fear that makes us pay attention and listen. Fear of the Lord makes us humble, a wisdom trait.”5 One can almost hear Jesus saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
(Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Sir. 1:14).
In the Sermon, Jesus forms his alternative scribal school through his teaching, but in another sense, he pleads with the scribes of the day to understand who he is. They don’t understand that Jesus is the one of whom the Prophets spoke. Jesus claims this school of scribes has rejected him, and now he must “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matt. 16:21; 20:18). Foolish scribes are essentially those who have rejected the true teacher of wisdom.
Practical Folly
Second, Matthew continually has the false scribes “searching the Scriptures,” but they cannot find life in them for they are impoverished interpreters, lacking practical wisdom. They don’t recognize that all of the Scriptures point to Jesus. If the new is not accepted, then the old will be left in obscurity. We can see this illustrated in Matt. 2. King Herod assembles all the chief priests and scribes of the people (γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ) and inquires where the Christ is to be born (Matt. 2:4). The chief priests and the scribes quote a Jewish text to Herod, and it is the correct text (Mic. 5:2), but they seem to miss the point entirely or reject Jesus as the referent. Matthew demonstrates that because they have missed the new, they understand neither the new nor the old. The old makes sense only in light of the new. They have not interpreted the law rightly because they don’t know to whom it points.
Similarly, Jesus responds to the indignation of the chief priests and the scribes (Matt. 21:15) by saying, “Have you never read in the Scriptures?” (21:42). He goes on to quote a verse from Ps. 118:22. They certainly had read this text, but again they could not understand it because Jesus is the cornerstone. Later Jesus says to them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matt. 22:29). The false scribes are foolish precisely because they do not know the Scriptures, but Jesus creates a new class of scribes who understand his words (13:51). The chief priests and the scribes don’t fulfill their role because they don’t recognize to whom the Scriptures point. Jeremiah speaks prophetically when he condemns the people, saying, “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie” (Jer. 8:8; Ps. 19:7).
Ethical Folly
Finally, the foolish scribes are hypocrites and lack righteousness, and so lack ethical wisdom.6 Throughout Proverbs and other literature, righteousness and wisdom become connected terms.7 The false scribes cannot see the ancient texts’ true interpretation, partially because they lack righteousness. As C. S. Lewis says, “What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”8 Jesus’s new scribal school must learn not only how to interpret but also how to embody the life of their teacher. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20).
Though Jesus says that the scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat (23:2), the disciples should do and observe what they say but not the works they do (23:3). They do the opposite of what Jesus says in the Sermon: they impose heavy burdens, do their deeds in order to be seen, enjoy being called rabbi, and boast in their accomplishments (23:4–12). Therefore, Jesus pronounces woes instead of blessings on the scribes and Pharisees because they are hypocrites (23:13–39). He has rejected this scribal school because they refuse to be tutored by him, to interpret the old in light of him, and to practice the righteousness of the Torah.
Judas as a Foolish Disciple
Maybe the most tragic example of a false disciple is Judas. Matthew devotes more lines to Judas than any of the other Gospel writers. He provides clues in his narrative, displaying Judas as the foolish disciple: in two tragic texts Judas ironically refers to Jesus as rabbi. When Jesus predicts Judas’s betrayal, Judas seals his own fate by asking, “Is it I, Rabbi?” Jesus says to him, “You have said so” (Matt. 26:24–25). Then in a final meeting between Jesus and his betrayer, when Judas comes to the garden, he says, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kisses him (26:49). Twice Matthew has Judas paradoxically call Jesus his rabbi as he plans to betray Jesus. Judas has been following his teacher, but he has not accepted his teaching, nor will he pass on his teaching except through a negative example (Matt. 7:21–23). Judas ends up following the allure of riches rather than listening to his teacher’s instruction. “Wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, or dwell in a body enslaved to sin. . . . The ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death” (Wis. 1:4, 16).
Jesus warned his scribal school of the dangers of money, but Judas did not listen. In the Sermon, Jesus says that if the eye is healthy or generous, then the whole body will be full of light (Matt. 6:22). He follows this with claiming that no one can serve two “masters.” “You cannot serve God and money” (6:24). The disciples are not to be concerned about their life, for life is more than money. They are to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to [them]” (6:33). He tells his disciples to “acquire no gold or silver or copper for [their] belts” (10:9). Later in the Gospel a man comes up to Jesus, calling him “Teacher” and asking him what he “must do to inherit eternal life” (19:16). Jesus tells the man that if he wants to be “whole,” he must sell everything he possesses and give to the poor, and he will have treasure in heaven (19:21 AT). Finally, Jesus calls his disciples to invest their money well, so that when he returns, they may receive a reward (25:27).
But this teaching does not penetrate Judas’s heart. Judas does not follow the teachings of his rabbi.9 He asks the chief priests what they will give him if he delivers Jesus over to them. They pay him thirty pieces of silver (26:15). Matthew brings up this silver four more times to emphasize the negative effect it has on Judas (27:3, 5, 6, 9). Job affirms wisdom cannot be bought with gold or silver (Job 28:15). Though Judas changes his mind, it is too late. He has betrayed his rabbi and goes out and hangs himself. Judas did not listen when Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). The chief priests ironically try to do what is lawful with the silver pieces, saying, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money” (27:6). But like Judas, they are neglecting “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” (23:23). Jesus told them that if they attempt to save their life, they will lose it (16:25). Judas’s fate led him to a field of blood; the disciples are promised that they will “sit on twelve thrones” (19:28). Judas is therefore the antithesis to Matthew. While Judas dies in a field, Matthew will be commissioned on the mountain in Galilee to spread the teaching of Jesus.
To Be a Discipled Scribe
Through these negative portraits, we can draw a few conclusions about what it means to be a discipled scribe. As Brown has argued, part of the purpose of Matthew’s Gospel is to communicate a vision of discipleship.10 The disciples are ultimately to be like their teacher and become teachers themselves who transmit the message of Jesus to future generations; they are to go out, making disciples by teaching and baptizing (Matt. 28:19–20). Byrskog notes that pupils of a teacher in the ANE and in the first century would acknowledge the authority of their teacher and transmit their teachings to future generations.11 Jesus creates an alternate scribal school to pass his wisdom on. The disciples therefore are not merely pupils; they are also future scribes/teachers.12 According to Matthew, to be a discipled scribe is to fear God by recognizing and submitting to the teacher of wisdom (theological), interpret the law rightly (practical), and practice the law (ethical).
Theological Wisdom
The book of Job asks, “Where shall wisdom be found?” (Job 28:12). Matthew learns that the answer is as Ecclesiastes has said: to be wise is to “fear God and keep his commands, for this is the whole duty of [humanity]” (Eccles. 12:13). Fearing God means accepting the one God has attested—the wise messiah—and following him as he fulfills the law. To fear God means first that one has recognized Jesus as the
teacher and embodiment of wisdom (theological). Jesus is God’s final word of wisdom, to which all the Law and the Prophets point. He is the king of wisdom, for wisdom sits by his throne (Wis. 9:4). Wisdom involves divine communication, but this communication must be accepted. “For the LORD gives wisdom” (Prov. 2:6). “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom” (4:7). Jesus thanks God that he has hidden “these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” (Matt. 11:25). The “wise and understanding” in context seems to refer to the scribes and Pharisees (12:2, 14, 24, 38).13 The “little children” (νηπίοις), on the other hand, are the disciples and followers of Jesus.14 Deprivation, oppression, and humiliation characterize the disciples. Ulrich Luz describes the “little children” as the women, the Galileans, the poor people of the land, who have neither the time nor the possibility of going to the school of the “wise.”15 But they become wise as they sit at the feet of the wise one.
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