The Description about Jesus as the Fulfilment of Jewish hope in Gospel of Matthew - Essay Example

The about Jesus as the fulfilment of Jewish hope in Gospel of Matthew Introduction: The Gospel of Matthew is one among the four ancient Greek canonical gospels. This book is the first one under the New Testament (which is the main part of the Christian biblical canon and its first part was the Old Testament), and it explores in detail about life, death, ministry and the resurrection of the Jesus of Nazareth, who was the most significant figure in Christianity. The origin of Matthew is believed to be from a Jewish- Christian community residing in Roman Syria, around the end of the first century AD. The Gospel of Matthew is supposedly anonymous and it is a discipline, which was first practiced by the ancient Christian Bishop Papias of Hierapolis, around 100-140 AD. It is observed that originally, the Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew, but later on translated to Greek. In the Gospel of Matthew, the author presents his views as to how Jesus actualized God’s promises to Israel. Here, Matthew pictures Jesus as King and son of David, and Jesus intentionally accepts the title of King. All five sections of this work give a description about God’s activities in addition to the oration by him. This gospel was written for the Jews, which clearly specifies how Jesus satisfies the hopes and expectations of this community. In the gospel, Matthew considered Jesus as a Messiah or the priest who serves the purpose of preaching about God’s laws, powers and His way of life. Jesus shows to the Jews that God fulfils his promises to them and that His ways are in accord with the Jewish laws. The Gospel of Matthew describes how Jesus fulfilled the hopes of the Jews. Literature Review: Matthew’s gospel is the first gospel written in Hebrew language. “It’s the biggest of the Gospel accounts of Jesus life—twice as big as any of the others.”1 “Different views and beliefs did not only divide Jewish-Christian and gentile-Christian communities, but also come to the fore when we compare the Gospels, which were written in a Palestinian context.”2 The genealogy under this was based on the gospel of Matthew. Matthew shows that god has a fixed plan regarding fulfilment of the promise of providing a great Messiah. Matthew introduces his views in this gospel and shows that “while Jesus’ message was first preached exclusively to the Jews, it would ultimately be addressed to the Gentiles (non-Jews), who would give it a welcome reception”.3 Matthew basically introduces as well as emphasizes on the god’s plan in his gospel, and he says that; “all of these things prove that Jesus was the One the Jews had been waiting for.”4 The second chapter of the gospel of Matthew is highly significant and noteworthy due to certain reasons. This part contains two infancy tales, one about Jesus in the New Testament and the other one regarding an event that took place in the Gospel of Luke. “Matthew’s version opens with the Magi seeking to find the newborn “king of the Jews.”5 Matthew’s gospel is mainly concentrated on the Jewish Christians. He brings to the fore, different aspects of ministry of Jesus and how it regarded the texts of the Old Testament. “These include: His attitude toward the Old Testament law, the traditions of the Jewish scribes, His controversies with the official representatives of Judaism and the nature of the church versus Judaism.”6 There were several issues that the Jewish Christians had to face, and they believed that Jesus as their Messiah, would bring a balance between both Judaism and Christianity, thus helping them ultimately. It further helps to proclaim and defend the gospel against the non- Christian Jews. The different miracles of Jesus were illustrated in Matthew 8:3 “This first Miracle in the Gospel of Matthew showed the Jews that Jesus came to make a person clean from sin and in doing so to reunite the cleansed man with the Holy God.”7 “Matthew graphically portrays Jesus as the king and judge of Israel and one who teaches with great power and authority. His gospel would have particular power for Jewish readers.”8 Matthew applied certain principles for his gospel, especially, the rabbinic teaching, that is, the teachings of the rabbi. Therefore, he employs the principle: “For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven’, followed by six applications, six ways in which Jesus’ teaching surpasses that of traditional Judaism.”9 The way people perceive Jesus is based on the belief that Jesus is the son of David. “For at least some Jews in Jesus’ day, ‘Son of David’ was an accepted messianic title (cf. Psalms of Solomon 17:21).”10 “The sign of the Son of Man is best identified as his military standard, since in Jewish eschatological thought the standard and the trumpet are often linked (cf. Isa. 18:3; Jer. 6:1; 51:27).”11 Matthew illustrates that Jesus’ entry in the scenario was during the time when Israel was under the control of Roman Empire since the past 70 years. “The Jews lived and breathed under the shadow of a huge empire, trying to retain their Jewish culture and heritage while under Roman occupation.”12 “Bridging the gap between the Old Testament, a book of promise and the New Testament, a book of fulfilment” is what Matthew tries to achieve.13 “Matthew’s main purpose, therefore, was to prove to Jewish readers that Jesus was, and is, their Messiah.”14 The Gospel of Matthew has so many implications as per the different interpretations of different observers, but the most common aspect is that this gospel mainly points to the Jewish Christians. “The first reported direct speech by human beings is the inquiry of the Gentile magoi from the East as to the birth of a new King of the Jews (2:2).”15 Matthew outlines that there was an influence on the Galilean ministry by the non- Jewish communities and also that news about Jesus spread through Syria and Decapolis due to this. Therefore, the tries to imply that even non-believers heard about Jesus and that they feared him to some extent. Matthew’s perception about Jesus is based on the belief rooted on the Judaism. “According to Matthew, Jesus is sent to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”(10:6).”16 Matthew further illustrates that the prophecies have been completed through the life and deeds of Jesus as they were meant to be. Also, Matthew made efforts to represent Jesus as the one who fulfils the hopes of the Jewish people. “In the New Testament “fulfilment” marks the time when God acts in realizing his promises.”17 “That the First Gospel is in many respects characteristically Jewish it were idle to deny, but it is also characteristically Christian”.18 The author of Gospels of Matthew primarily considered the Jew commoners. He talks here about the Old Testament, where he first observed and made reference to the “lost sheep of Israel.”19 In this gospel he implied that Jesus was the plighted Christ and was created by David through Abraham. “Jesus’ teachings in Matthew present themselves as an interpretation of Judean law that authoritatively reveals its true meaning.”20 In the gospel of Matthew, Judaism is considering in three main levels. The first level or dimension is the Old Testament, the second level is the clash among Jesus after the ruin of Jerusalem temple in the 70 A.D on the maintenance and nature of Judaism, and the origin of a collection of sayings by the modern scholars. The third level emerges from at the end of each interpretation by the scholars. “The focus of the work is on Matthew as a Jewish text- Jewish in its conceptual and rhetorical assumptions, in its sociological setting, and in its theological message.”21 The gospel of Matthew Edited by Daniel J. Harrington, page number: 2 “Matthew opens his Gospel by showing both Jesus’ historic inseparability from the history of Israel and his inseparability from the Gentile mission already implicit in that history.”22 A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew  By Craig S Keener, page no: 73 The issue of Jews was after the 70 C.E, and the hope was how “the heritage of Israel as God’s people be carried on without the Jerusalem temple and without political control of the land of Israel.”23 What are We Hoping For? New Testament Images  By Daniel J. Harrington, page number: 32 And Matthew replied that the leadership of Jesus will transferred to the people around Jesus as their authoritative teacher and god. Through his answer, Matthew meant that Jesus is the interpreter and will fulfil the Jewish hope. Matthew points out the god’s message of salvation. “The time is fulfilled”, this is owing to be fulfilled (fulfilment quotations!)With Jesus’ conception and birth, and john the Baptist, for Matthew, himself belongs to “fulfilled” time.”24 The Gospel of Matthew  By Rudolf Schnackenberg, page number: 41 “Matthew’s gospel contains sharply worded anti-Jewish passages such as 27:25, with its reference to the blood of Christ upon the people and its children.”25 The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew  By Ulrich Luz, page number: 12 “Matthew has just quoted Isaiah to the effect that the Lord God has put his Spirit on Jesus(12:18).”26 Commentary on Matthew (Commentary on the New Testament Book #1)  By Robert H. Gundry, copyrighted material Due to a strong Jewish flavour in the gospel of Matthew, which discussing about the Jews and their authorities,” it forms a fitting ‘bridge’ between Old and New Testaments, a constant reminder to Christians of the ‘rock from which they are hewn.’”27 The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary  By R. T. France, page number: 16 In gospel of Matthew, there are discussing about the teaching of Jesus. “Each discourse is presented as what Jesus said at a particular time in the course of his ministry, and in each case the surrounding narrative portraits a situation to which that particular aspect of teaching is relevant.”28 The New International Commentary on the New Testament  By R. T. France, page number: 8 “The only major Christological theme in Matthew which provokes direct opposition from the Jewish leaders is discussed in chapter 7.”29 A gospel for a new people: studies in Matthew  By Graham Stanton, page no: 8 When evaluating the term fulfilment, Matthew pointed out that “Jesus’ kingdom is both present and future, now and not yet.”30 Matthew  By David L. Turner, page number: 107 “Matthew shrinks from saying that Jesus could not do any deeds of power, and changes the form of the expression accordingly.”31 The Gospel of Matthew: Chapters 1-10  By William Barclay, page number: 3 “Matthew confirms that Jesus “fulfils the Law” (5:17-20) even as his teachings and practices radicalize and stretch it.”32 Theological Bible Commentary  Edited by David L. Petersen, Gail R. ODay, page number: 294 “An early passage in the Gospel of Matthew portrays Gentile wise men recognizing that the promised deliverer is to be "King of the Jews.”33 Matthew prefers the term fulfil. ““fulfil in this context means “to fill up” in the sense that Yeshua brings to the Torah and the Prophets their completion by providing its full, intended meaning.”34 “Christian interpreters have often attributed to first century Judaism a univocal belief in an eschatological, political, or nationalistic Messiah.”35 “Additionally, much of Jesus’ teaching repeats the kingdom theme.”36 “In terms of Jewish traditions, it begins with an encouragingly strong rejection of anti-Semitic readings based on 27:25, of attributing blame to the “Jewish race or religion” for Jesus’ death, and of claims that Israel is rejected (27–28).”37 Conclusion: The Gospel of Matthew is the work in which it includes the idea mainly the fulfilment of hope of Jews by Jesus. Here the preacher describes about the messages with Jesus, in the context of the arrival of god. In this gospel, also describes the powerful deeds of Jesus, as a sign of the presence of the sovereignty of god. And the concept of anti- Judaism was noted here. And god arrived for the fulfilment of the Jews, by satisfying all the promises offered by god. The Gospel of Matthew has given major importance for the fulfilment of the Old Testament Prophecies to convince that Jesus will fulfil the hopes and expectations that have said in the Old Testament before. Hence in over all terms, the Gospel of Matthew can be said as it addresses even the current desires for healing, fulfilment, forgiveness, peace and community. Bibliography “12 Bible studies in Matthew: the Jewish Messiah,” Bathurst Presbyterian Church 2 (2013): 14-1. Boxel, Piet V. “The poor and the rich: Two opposing Christian communities,” 131 (n.d): 141-130. “Chapter 50: The Gospel of Matthew- Jesus, The Teacher,” 381 (n.d): 391-380. Hughes, Judy. “The Gospel of Matthew: The Basics of Following Jesus,” Adult Bible Study in Simplified English Study Guide 11 (2011): 67-1. Betsworth, Sharon. “The Child and Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew,” 1 (2010): 14-1. Stewart, Don. “Matthew: The Blue Letter Bible Institute,” 8 (1997): 385-1. “Studying the Four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: how they relate to and correspond with each other,” Basic Christian (n.d). Church Educational System, “The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles: COURSE MANUAL (Religion 211–212)” 6 (1978): 535-1. Wansbrough, Henry. “The Gospels of Matthew,” 18 (1998): 77-1. Carson, D. A. “Christological Ambiguities in the Gospel of Matthew,” Christ the Lord. Studies in Christology Presented to Donald Guthrie 104 (1982): 114-97. 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Stanton, Graham. “A gospel for a new people: studies in Matthew,” 8 (1992): 427-1. < http://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=GytxXOIsF-0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Judism+and+the+gospel+of+Matthew+in+US&ots=3stnBPL7SG&sig=4x9QRf042eHlUvxvy_2kO3SBq7I#v=onepage&q=The%20only%20major%20Christological%20theme%20ion%20Matthew%20which%20provokes%20direct%20opposition%20from%20the%20Jewish%20leaders%20is%20discussed%20in%20chapter%20&f=false> Turner, David L. “Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament,” 107 (2008): 827-1. Barclay, William “The Gospel of Matthew: Chapters 1-10” 3 (1975): 465-1. Petersen, David L. and ODay, Gail R. “Theological Bible Commentary,” 294 (2009): 480-1. Brickner, Avi. “The Jewishness of the New Testament,” (2010). < http://www.bethinking.org/bible-jesus/the-jewishness-of-the-new-testament.pdf> Hegg, Tim. “Matthew 5:17-20: Yeshua’s View of the Torah,” 5 (1989): 16-1. Egmond, Richard Van. “The Messianic Son of David in Matthew,” Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 42 (n.d): 71-1. Pennington, Jonathan T. “The Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew,” (n.d): 51-44. Carter, Warren. “The Gospel of Matthew Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture,” (2010). Read More