How Is Jesus Characterized in the Book of the New Testament in the Bible - Research Paper Example

Instruction: Task: Characterization of Jesus Christ in the Book of Matthew. The book of Mathew begins with an introduction of Jesus genealogy, a rather boring way to start a story. Matthew goes on to relate that Jesus did not have an earthly father. From the genealogy given it is very deliberate that Jesus fits into Israel, and His story began a long time ago and that He is related to those who were at the most central moments of that history. By highlighting persons like Abraham and David, Matthew draws attention to the promises of God, promises that faithful Jews were yearning to see fulfilled, hence Mathew’s frequent use of the phrase so that the scriptures might be fulfilled. In Matthew Jesus asks his hearers to outdo the Pharisees at righteousness, that is, at faithful obedience to Torah. In the sermon on the mountain (chapter 10), Matthew has Jesus radically sharpen meaning that he truly obeys the law of God (6:33). In doing so, Matthew insists that it is Jesus, not the Pharisees, who is an authoritative interpreter of the law. Identification with wisdom is done in chapter 13. It is clearly demonstrated that there is connection between Jesus who preaches the Sermon on the Mount and the Wisdom that comes to be with those who are prepared to follow the way of righteousness, however, few there might be, “ Where two or three are gathered in my name I am there among them.” The characteristic of wisdom is also depicted in the use of multitudes of parables; and didn’t speak without a parable. It seems obvious from Jesus’ teaching that he is pacing himself. Usually, he seemed to try to avoid argument by posing propositions as riddles or in ambiguous wording so detractors will have a hard time pinning him down accusations (Kennedy 36). But at other times, he speaks directly, as is to confront his detractors, even by reading their negative thoughts and disclosing his power to do so (Matthew: 4). Jesus is depicted as a skilled oral communicator; this skill is shown in the sermon on the mountain (Matthew 5-7). From the moment Jesus sat down and began to teach, the crowd fell silent, spellbound and fascinated by His words. As a skilled communicator, Jesus stated his theme early and clearly: “unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will automatically enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5: 20 NKJV). He illustrated his theme amply and superbly, peppering his sermon with common illustrations and examples with which every listener would immediately identify. Jesus is characterized as being wise. In Matthew, he gives a story of the tax collector. The Pharisee in Jesus story pompously prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like this tax collector. I fast twofold a week; I present tithes of all that I possess” but the tax collector recognizing his sins he simply stood in the corner and asked for forgiveness saying he was not worth. Jesus asks the congregation “who in this story do you think was welcomed into heaven?” this question leaves the listeners with a direct answer and a moral lesson. He is also depicted as being humble, this because he reaches out for the marginalized, while also being the one to establish God’s eschatological reign on earth. Jesus is also depicted as being courageous, this is shown from the example where he walks on water and also saves Peter from sinking. Jesus is also characterized as being caring from the story of feeding the four thousand people. This miracle was done on the other side of the lake from the first one, where most of the inhabitants were Gentiles. And Mathew specifies in his account that this time there were 4,000, plus women and children. This also shows that Jesus was generous. A great crowd that was attracted to Jesus and experienced his miracles no doubt made up the central part of early members of the church, which extended quickly after Pentecost. Jesus is also depicted as being compassionate (Matthew 8: 28-34). As Jesus and His disciples visit Gergesenes on the eastern shore of the lake of Galilee. There, Jesus his companions met two men possessed by “fierce devils” who lived in a cave. Jesus cast out the demons, who asked consent to go into a herd of swine leapt off a cliff into the lake, and drowned. The public in the city who came out to meet him were more irritated than overwhelmed. It was the economic outcome of losing the swine, and not the personal salvation or the healing of mental disease or demon possession that mattered most to the Gergesenes and their feelings led them to reject Jesus and his miraculous works (Gundry 67). Jesus’ character of love of children is also illustrated when disciples tried to prevent children from going to Him he told them to let the children to go to him because the Kingdom of Heaven belonged to them. Jesus is also depicted as having the power to heal. A certain ruler told Jesus that his daughter had died, but if he were to lay his hand on her she would revive. Jesus and his disciples joined the man to his home, on his way the character of healing is shown where Heals a woman diseased with an issue of blood for twelve years, she touched the hem of Jesus’ robe, believing that act would heal her and she and healed. Jesus is depicted as being cooperative and collaborative in Matthew 4:18-22 where he chooses the twelve disciples; Jesus saw the brothers Simon and Andrew, and said,” follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Next he called brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus is also depicted as a good leader since He led the twelve disciples well and taught them on how to serve people. Jesus was intelligent since he dealt with Pharisees and the teachers of the law, in his sermon on the mount, this perception helped give a clearer view of these false teachers by acquainting ourselves with their known behavior. It is not clear what role the Pharisees and the scribes play. Matthew starts his book with john’s disagreement with these religious leaders (Matthew 3) and ends his book with Jesus’ strong reproach of these same Pharisees and teachers of the Law (Matthew 23). This people play such an important role in Jesus’ ministry that Matthew introduces his readers to this group of religious leaders in the inauguration of John’s ministry (Burdette 45). Jesus is characterized as being a comforter, we have his assurance. Jesus promises that peace, joy, contentment, and rest for our souls will come to us who are genuinely broken over our sins, for he will comfort us. Jesus promised that we shall be comfortable (Matthew 5:4 NKJV). In Matthew 12:20 the book does not say that Jesus heals the “bruised reed” or “smoldering wick” but it merely records he will not destroy them. At the moment Jesus is portrayed as ignoring the plight of these marginalized individuals rather than remedying them. While this could be seen to display some compassion, it is a portrait that is inconsistent both with the Jesus’ healing ministry and particularly with his healing everyone of healing everyone who followed him. Jesus is also portrayed as a king. The connections between the ideal kingship and Matthew’s presentation of Jesus are unmistakable. Jesus is frequently characterized as a king in Matthew. The emphasis on Jesus’ loyal status begins in Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1:17) and birth narrative (Matthew 2:2). It continues through Jesus baptism in 3:17 in which he is anointed with God’s spirit and called God’s son an identification that is repeated in17:5 and augmented with the servant title in 12:18 Works cited Bertolini, D. M. (2005). The fifth gospel: an interpretive geographical study of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Burdette, D. Min. Biblical Preaching and Teaching. Vol. 3. Xulon Press, 2010 Gundry, R. H. (2011). Commentary on Matthew. Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group. Scholz, Daniel J. Introducing the New Testament: Jesus in the Gospels and Acts. Winona, MN: Saint Marys Press, 2009. Print. Read More