The Gospel of Matthew Jesus: The Jewish Messiah

Date: 80-85, give or take a decade Written in Greek Written in Greek Aka- 1) the most Jewish gospel and 2) church’s gospel

Most Jewish gospel 130 passages refer directly or indirectly to the OT 130 passages refer directly or indirectly to the OT

Church’s gospel This is the only gospel to use the word church This is the only gospel to use the word church It is concerned with the church’s organization It is concerned with the church’s organization It is concerned with the communal life and teaching among the believers It is concerned with the communal life and teaching among the believers

Author by traditional attribution Matthew, a tax- collector among the Twelve

Author detectable from contents a Greek-speaker, who knew Aramaic or Hebrew or both was not an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry drew on Mark and a collection of the sayings of the Lord (Q), as well as on other available traditions, oral and written. Probably a Jewish Christian.

Matthew’s community: Ethnicity: mainly Jew ( a few Gentiles) Location: the Antioch region Situation: they are not allowed to enter to the synagogues They are not considered to be Jews anymore- by the Jewish community that did not accept Jesus as the Messiah

Sources in the GMt The majority of the Mk is used in Mt The majority of the Mk is used in Mt Matt reproduces about 80 percent of Mark Q (approx. 235 sayings) Q (approx. 235 sayings) Special M Special M Tale of the Magi Herod’s massacre of Bethlehem’s children Flight into Egypt

The Infancy Narratives Matthew and Luke began their Gospels with writings that have come to be known as the infancy narratives Stories about the birth of Jesus and his early life.

The introduction begins with the genealogy, or family tree, of Jesus, tracing his roots back to Abraham

The genealogy is followed by the story of Mary and Joseph GENEALOGY- CLOSE READING

The Genealogy 1. How is Jesus identified in 1:1- who are the two patriarchs mentioned; and how are they related to Jesus? The Messiah, son of David and of Abraham 2. List the patriarchs mentioned in 1:2-11 and write a brief explanation of how they influence the Jewish history. Kings are considered patriarchs as well. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah- his brothers- Joseph & Benjamin, Boaz, David, Solomon, Rehoboam 3. What happened in 1:12? Why do you think that was included? Deportation to Babylon- oppression, disaster 4. Who is the main descendant of all the patriarchs in 1:16? Joseph 5. a. How many generations are from Abraham to David? b. How many from David to the deportation to Babylon? c. And how many from the deportation to the Messiah? a. _14____, b. _14____, c. _14 ___

The Genealogy What is the purpose of a genealogy? What is the purpose of a genealogy? Why does this genealogy begin with Abraham and explicitly mention David? Why does this genealogy begin with Abraham and explicitly mention David? What is significant about this being Joseph’s family tree? What is significant about this being Joseph’s family tree? Why do you think Matthew included women in his genealogy? Do you recall who was Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba? If so, describe who they are All are gentiles All are gentiles Mixed congregation- Jews and Gentiles Mixed congregation- Jews and Gentiles

Jesus the Jewish Messiah The Jewish identity of Jesus is confirmed by the genealogy provided by Matthew Tracing his family line all the way back to the father of the Jews, Abraham himself The genealogy is structured around several key persons in the history of the nation Israel It traces fathers and sons

A problem A problem arises: it turns out that the genealogy is of Joseph, the husband of Mary For this reason, Matthew is forced to shift from his description of father and son relationships

Question But what would be the point of tracing Jesus’ bloodline back to David and Abraham, when in fact he is not connected to this line? His only link is through Joseph, a man who is not his father. He is trying to show that Jesus has Jewish roots and that he can legitimately claim to be of the line of David as would be necessary for the the Messiah Regardless of the situation, Joseph is Jesus’ father

Fourteen Generations There were 14 generations between Abraham and David 14 between David and the deportation to Babylon and 14 between the deportation to Babylon and the messiah, Jesus

The genealogy demonstrates that the entire course of Israel’s history has proceeded according to divine providence. This history has culminated in Jesus At every fourteenth generation something cataclysmic happens in Israel’s history: Their greatest king, their worst disaster, and now their ultimate salvation

More problems The genealogy is incorrect E.g. Joram is said to be the father of Uzziah Joram was Uzziah’s great- great-grandfather The final sequence contains only thirteen names, even though Matthew claims fourteen. Why? To be able to have his fourteen generations

Is there something significant about the number 14 itself? Two suggestions In ancient Israel, the number 7 was of supreme importance as a symbol of perfection or divinity The ancients divided the week into seven days- believed there were seven planets For some ancient Jews: - There were seven stages in a person’s life and seven parts to the human soul - There were seven classes of angels and seven attributes of God - If seven is a perfect #, then what is 14? TWICE SEVEN Doubly perfect number

Suggestion # 2 Ancient languages used the letters of the alphabet to represent numerals So that one could add up the letters in a name and come up with a numerical value Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ messianic character as a descendant of King David. In Hebrew, David’s name is spelled with three letters – D, V, and D (ancient Hebrew did not use vowels) The D in Hebrew is worth 4 and the V is worth 6, so the numerical value of David’s name is fourteen!