THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM (Part 9)

The Gospel Of Matthew

Matthew as the Gospel of Jesus the Christ

However, as important as the Church was for Matthew, it is Jesus himself that is at the centre of the Church and of all things. The glory of the Church is that it is the community in which Jesus is present; “For where two or three have met together in my name, I am there among them.” (18: 2c). The highest promise is that Jesus will be with his own to the end of all time, and the greatest privilege to worship him to whom “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (28: 16 - 20). It is not the Church itself, therefore, that is the centre for Matthew, but Jesus. This is all revealed in the Prologue, usually referred to as the birth narratives. Here, Matthew shows forth Jesus under four main motifs - as Messiah, New Moses, Creator, Emmanuel. These four motifs show Jesus as the Lord of the Church. He is the Messiah; he is the one who shows us the demands of God as the New Moses; he is the inaugurator of a new creation; he is the very presence of God-Emmanuel.

• All these are asserted of a man born in manger, who was tempted as we are, who dwelt in Galilee of the Gentiles in contact with the unclean and hope to all the broken people of that despised land. (Read Matthew 4: 23 - 25. )
• It is asserted of one who “took our infirmities and bore our diseases” (8: 17.);
• of one of whom it is written: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the have have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (8: 20)
• It is asserted of one who when asked who he was, replied: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind recover their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the poor are hearing the good news -- and happy is the man who does not find me a stumbling block.” ( 11: 28 - 30)
• Or again, it is asserted of one whose cry has strangely moved the hearts of all those who have heard it: “Come to me, all whose work is hard, whose load is heavy; etc. “ (11: 28 - 30)

The one who offers rest to all men is misunderstood and, finally, rejected. The force of Matthew’s high view of Jesus is clear. The one to whom, at the end of the Gospel, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, so that his Good News has broken national boundaries and is no longer confined to the lost sheep of Israel but destined for all nations, is the one who had nowhere to lay down his head. The humiliated Jesus is Judge, Creator, Messiah, Emmanuel, the living Presence, who is the Lord of the Church.

Comparing with Mark, Matthew is more comprehensive in his presentation of Jesus. He knows the “passionate” Jesus of Mark but has brought other fruits of his ministry into clearer view. It is no accident that for most Christians it is Matthew, not Mark, who is most relevant. The Matthaean Jesus is as gentle as he is majestic, as infinite in succour as in his demand, as dear to Gentile and to Jew. And, above all, the Matthaean Jesus is Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is “God with us”, the creator who redeems.
 

(to be continued)