Jesus as the Fulfillment of Jewish Hope in the Gospel of Matthew - Essay Example

? Jesus as the Fulfillment of Jewish Hope in the Gospel of Matthew JESUS AS THE FULFILLMENT OF JEWISH HOPE IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW It is imperative to stress from the outset that the movement of Jesus in early Christianity was originally Judaist in nature1. Jesus as a peasant was Jewish, and all his earliest disciples and other followers were Jewish. These Jews continued to view the Torah as the response of the human race to the covenant made by God to his people. Although Paul was a Jewish Pharisee and made an exception by not needing the gentiles to obey some particular aspects of the Torah like food laws and initiation by circumcision to join, he was still a Jew and was not against Jesus’ followers obeying the Torah2. In addition, he expected, in some respects that the gentiles would adhere to some aspects of the Torah beyond the laws that were formed for status or social distinction. Therefore, any portrayal in the 1st century of Jesus, obviously, would reflect Jesus as a Jew as was the case. However, it is the Gospel of Matthew, among all the other Gospels, that stresses the Jewish origins of Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is evident that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the scriptures of the Jews in more than a dozen citations of fulfillment. Matthew starts by presenting Him as David’s son and an anointed king. Jesus, in the Gospel of Matthew, is presented as the new coming of Moses, for example, in the birth narrative. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew alludes to the continued theme contending that Jesus was the prophet whom the Jews had been expecting like Moses, and this is addressed in Matthew chapters 5 to 73. Here, Jesus continues to affirm the validity of the Torah to his followers. He exemplifies that his intention is not to abolish Moses’ law or the earlier prophets but that he had arrived to fulfill them. He also claims that not an iota will pass from the Torah until it is accomplished in its totality. Jesus also teaches that anyone who relaxes these laws, even the least of them, and causes other men to do so will be the least in heaven and vice versa. He finishes by stating that unless the righteousness of his followers exceeds the Pharisees and scribes, they will not see heaven. The followers of Jesus, therefore, were required to obey the Torah in a manner that was better than the Pharisees were. The Pharisees had a reputation, both in the Gospels and outside it for following the Torah carefully in their everyday life beyond what was practiced by other Jews4. This comes through as a key to the elucidation of the following material that Jesus quotes Moses’ law and interprets the law in a manner, which affirms in the strongest terms the laws’ original intent as Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew comprehended it. These do not seek to replace Moses’ law but, instead, present a radicalization of why God gave the laws in the view of Matthew. Some of those in the community that Matthew wrote the Gospel for, as well as Matthew himself, evidently went on placing importance on adhering to the Jewish law and continue being Jewish in this manner5. The Gospel of Matthew was written around the year 80-85 CE, which was about twenty years following the death of the apostle6. It is, therefore, clear that another person and it wrote this Gospel is likely that this person was trained in the law of the Jews as Matthew was. As with the rest of the Gospels, Matthew possesses a unique perspective since it interprets Jesus’ life for a specific audience. Matthew’s first readers constituted of Jews and Christian converts, who previously gentiles were living in Antioch. The first Christians were converts from Judaism, although when the church began to accept gentiles, conflicts abounded. For instance, they had to decide whether the later converts would be required to convert to Judaism first on being accepted into the Christian faith7. The argument was as to whether they would have to observe traditional customs of the Jews and follow the Law of Moses. The argument also led to a larger question of the Mosaic laws validity for the converts with the inclusion of Jews. Matthew is attempting to bridge this divide by showing the manner in which God used Jesus to fulfill his promise to the Israelites8. In Matthew, the parallels between the Old Testament and the new Christian Testaments were evident. For instance, Matthew’s structure is very similar to that of the Bible’s first five books, the Pentateuch. Every one of these sections in the Gospel is a narrative of the activities of Jesus and a sermon given by him. Therefore, the audience of the Gospel of Matthew would have known that the Gospel sought to depict him as the new day Moses bearing a new Torah. Matthew also has several allusions to Hebrew Scriptures, showing that the Gospel was evidently meant for Jews to show the manner in which Jesus had fulfilled the hopes of the Jews, as well as their expectations. For example, one frequently reads that something was meant to fulfill the words of the prophet9. Matthew concerns himself with showing that Jesus was the Messiah whom they have anticipated for many centuries and that he was fulfilling the promises of the prophet. Jesus as the Messiah had not come to abolish the Law of the Jews but, instead, to fulfill it. The Jewish Law, according to Matthew, was special; he attempts to show the fulfillment of the Law’s true meaning. In this Gospel, Jesus is projected as a Rabbi, and he is engaged frequently in instructions, debates, and discussions more akin to a rabbi. Jesus describes the ministry as sent to the House of Israel’s lost sheep. Jesus also sends his apostle to the House of Israel’s lost sheep10. However, Matthew still sees everyone as being welcome to the real of God. Matthew ends with Jesus sending the apostles to make apostles of every nation. There is an overarching message in the Gospel of Matthew that with the arrival of Jesus, so has the reign of God so long awaited arrived. Jesus carries out deeds that are powerful as signs of God’s reign11. Individual passages in the Gospel of Matthew focus on specific ways in which Jesus fulfills the promises made by God through the Israelites and on to the world. Therefore, the Gospel of Matthew may also address the wider world’s modern hungers for community, peace, forgiveness, healing, and, most of all, fulfillment. Teachings are also meant to play a vital role in Matthew. The Gospel consists of an early collection on the teachings of Jesus. Therefore, the division of this Gospel into 5 parts has each section being representative of a major teaching that Jesus was proclaiming about his reign. Jesus views God’s reign as being manifest in the Jewish community, which is now the new Israel12. The reader gets to learn the vocational role of Christians as a sign of God’s presence and reign on earth through hope in his coming back, having faith in the power of prayer, recognition of Jesus in outcasts and the poor, and forgiveness among the Christian community. The Gospel of Matthew was done for a setting, which was mainly Jewish and is reflective of controversies that the Church faced in trying to resolve and settle their relationships to Judaist roots and the observance of their laws13. The Gospel also has some controversies that were being experienced by the Jewish-Christians at the time. However, this is now, and it is essential that this does not lead to one developing Anti-Semitic leanings when studying the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew sees Jesus being engaged in numerous discussions of a polemic nature with his opponents like the Pharisees, as well as the scribes. However, these people were not representative of the true Judaist because they overly attributed self-sufficiency to the Mosaic Law despite the fact that no Jew could claim to possess it. The real Jesus who was meant to come, as fulfillment would never be like the Pharisees by reducing the Mosaic Law to mere observances that made them righteous in the eyes of God. References Keener, Craig. (2009). A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Publ. Garland, David. (2011). Reading Matthew : a literary and theological commentary. Macon : Smyth & Helwys Pub. Menninger, Richard. (2009). Israel and the Church in the Gospel of Matthew. New York: American University Studies. Sim, David. (2008). The Gospel of Matthew and Christian Judaism: the history and social setting of the Matthean community. Edinburgh: T & T Clark. Stanton, Graham. (2010). A gospel for a new people : studies in Matthew. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press. Read More