Matthew’s gospel – second lecture

1. Matthew’s gospel – second lecture 1. Jewish-Christian gospels: Ebionites, Nazareans, Hebrews 2. Matthew: The five discourses 3. Parables of the kingdom

2. Gospels of Ebionites, Nazareans, Hebrews • Greek-speaking, but perhaps originally Aramaic-speaking, Jewish Christians active from at least the early 2nd cent. CE through the 4th and 5th cent. • Now known mainly through the writings of their opponents, particularly Epiphanius in the 4th cent. (but also Jerome and Eusebius) so there’s a lot of doubt about what they really were, what they believed. • We can consider this group here because some are said to have used a version of the Gospel of Matthew. • In fact, some link an original Matthew (in Hebrew or Aramaic) with these gospels. • Ebionites were vegetarian (and thus believed Jesus didn’t eat the Passover lamb). • According to Epiphanius, they believe that John the Baptist ate pancakes (enkris) rather than locusts (akris). • And that Jesus abolished sacrifice. • All of these groups seem to have had an “adoptionist” Christology – that Jesus was “adopted” as God’s son at the time of the baptism by John.

3. Ebionites, etc. continued • The church in Jerusalem was always remarked for its poverty. • They may have been a remnant of the Jerusalem church that survived after the destruction of the city. • They were said to have rejected the doctrines of Paul and, possibly, the virgin birth of Jesus. • What’s most tantalizing is the name, which seems to come from Aramaic for “the poor ones” (“Ebyonim”) • Perhaps linked – or represent a confusion with – the “Nazareans”; sometimes appearing in same phrase in writings of opponents. • Disappearance of these groups seems a result of the cultural divide in first two centuries. • And of the destruction of Jerusalem, Temple?

4. More on Ebionites/Nazareans • Ebionites were not part of Matthew’s community. • But an analogous community within Palestine, descended from the Jerusalem community. • Jerusalem church was presided over by James the Just, Jesus’ brother, who was killed in 62, by the high priest. • Then lived east of the Jordan. • Finally outnumbered, overwhelmed by Gentile Christianity, which constitutes our only knowledge of them.

5. What Matthew adds to the portrait of Jesus he found in Mark. • First, how can we define, summarize the Jesus portrayed in Mark? • Teaches, yes, but between active works that define the kingdom. • Something of a wonder-worker? • Matthew’s Jesus? • Predominantly a teacher, a rabbi. • See the added amount of teaching material in Matthew: all of Q, plus 7 parables, 14 separate teachings.

6. Matthew’s organization of the teaching material • Into five discourses: • “Sermon on the Mount,” Chapters 5 to 7. • "Missionary discourse", ch. 10. • Parables of the kingdom, ch. 13. • Teaching about church (actually rather miscellaneous teaching), ch. 18. • Anathemas and discipleship, chs. 23, 24-25.

7. The “Sermon on the Mount” • The mountain setting may be chosen to suggest authority (Luke puts the discourse “on the plain”). • Not really a sermon, but a group of sayings. • The “beatitudes” from Q: four sayings: the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, those who are reviled. • Luke’s version: 6:20-22. • Matthew’s discourse expands this to nine. • Adding sayings on meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, those “persecuted for righteousness.” • And changes the focus of those directed toward “poor,” “hunger,” “mourning.” • The effect of the additions in Matthew?

8. “Sermon” continued: other themes: • Refinement of teachings from Law: • Murder > not even anger; • Adultery > not looking with lust; • Divorce > no divorce (“except for unchastity” added in Matthew); • Swearing falsely > no swearing at all; • “Eye for an eye” > no resistance at all. • Love your neighbor > love your enemy! • Interiority of righteousness: • Hide your almsgiving. • Pray in secret. • Fast secretly. • Avoidance of anxiety: set kingdom first

9. “Lord’s prayer” and Kaddish • The Aramaic Kaddish and the Lord's Prayer: • Kaddish, now the Jewish prayer at death, was a simple benediction of God. • Kaddish: “Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world which He hath created according to his will.” • Lord’s prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed [sanctified] be your name.” • Kaddish: “May He establish his kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, ever speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen.” • Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

10. “Do unto others”: • “In everything do unto others as you would have them do unto you; for this is the Law and the prophets” (7:12). • Rabbi Hillel: “Do not do unto others what you would not have them do to you.” • Both this teaching and the Lord’s Prayer indicate the rabbinic nature of these teachings in Matt. • Also the use of “Abba” to refer to God – “an invocation in which reverence and intimacy are mingled” (Geza Vermes, a Jewish NT scholar). • Dead sea scrolls (Qumran) also address God as Abba/Father. • A close relationship between these teachings of Jesus and the Judaism of his time.

11. “Missionary discourse”: ch. 10 • Coordinates with passages in Mark (6:8-11) and Luke (6: 12-16, 9: 2-5) • But Matt. 10: 17-25 is almost entirely unique -- • Suggesting the time when Matthew was written and the tensions and hostilities of that time. • Persecution in synagogues, “before governors and kings.” • Betrayal within families. • “Hated by all” because of his name. • Reflective of time late in the first century. • As we saw, there’s a kind of dual time scheme – Jesus speaks over the decades to Matthew’s community.

12. Parables of the kingdom • The reason for speaking in parables explicitly fulfills prophecy: 13: 14-16. • Parable of the weeds growing in grain – its meaning? 13: 36-43. • Parable of hidden treasure and the pearl of great value. • Parable of the net. • Any connections among them? • Judgment?