Christ in the Gospel
The King of the Jews in
Matthew
Matthew,
the first Gospel in the New Testament canon, follows carefully the narrative of
Mark. Matthew has high distinctive theology in general and Christology in
particular. Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God whose fate is
the destiny of the Son of Man. Most scholars agree that the defining theme of
Matthew is the Kingdom of God, but preferred the Kingdom of heaven in
compliance with the Jewish refusal to use God’s name. Matthew is characterized
by a Jewish style and material pertinent to Jews.
Mark
mainly interested on miracles and deeds of the Messiah but Matthew has an eye
on Jesus teaching. Many of Jesus famous teaching were found in Matthew without
ignoring his deeds. For Matthew Jesus, the revealer of God’s kingdom of heaven
(4:17; 9:35), a message requiring repentance and obedience to God’s will.
Matthew emphasizes the fulfillment of the Old Testament where he cited
Scriptures directly fifty-seven times. The Matthean Jesus, the Son of God is
Immanuel in the promise to the Church Jesus promises his presence forever
(18:20) and the Great Commandment to spread the good news of the Kingdom.
Matthean
Scholars have taken various approaches to determining the specific shape of his
Christology. The Royal Chrisotlogy is visible and Matthew wants to introduced
his readers, Jews and Non-Jews alike, to the Messiah king. Matthew main title
for Jesus is Messiah; it occurs a number of times (1:1; 2:4; 11:2; 16:16;
27:17, etc.). For the Jews, the term messiah implies a confession that in Jesus
the Old Testament promises of restoration and salvation are coming to pass. The
Messiah fulfills the Old testament in his person and ministry. The Messiah is
the new Moses, he brings the fulfillment of the law and prophets (3:15;
5:17-48, etc.) and he is the suffering and rejected Servant of Yahweh (3:15;
8:17; 13:14-15; 23:37; 27:5-10,etc.) In Matthew, Jesus healing ministry is seen
as a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4.
As
the Messiah, Jesus is described at several crucial junctures in the Gospel of
Matthew as the Son of God. In 3:17, the Father announces publicly his
identification of Jesus as God’s Son; in 4:3, the devil addresses Jesus as
God’s Son; in 11;27, Jesus refers to his special relationship with God as that
of a son to a Father; in 14:33, the men in the boat confess Jesus as God’s Son;
and so on. In the light of the later Christological development, Matthew connects
Jesus ‘divine Sonship to his virginal conception (1:18-25). Jesus is God’s Son
primarily in the sense that he perfectly obeys the will of his father,
especially the will of God that the Messiah must suffer and die.
For
Matthew, to be the Messiah is to be the king of Israel (2:2; 21:5). He is a
unique king because he is God’s Son and reigns through his suffering. Matthew
idea of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus acts as the inaugurator of the kingdom.
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