The Gospel of Matthew: Then and Now

Tuesday, December 8, 2015 

            Biblical scholars W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann write in the standard reference work on Matthew, “Matthew is the most familiar of the gospels, best known for its parables, miracle narratives, and the long Sermon on the Mount.  Recognized by the early church as the most fitting introduction to the New Testament, its special concern is introducing is to announce Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament.  Hence its emphasis on the Law, and ethics based on the traditional theology of the Covenant, and the centrality of the Messianic hope.”

            I am not quite sure what I think about birth, life, death, and resurrection being “foretold” in the Old Testament, particularly as the Messiah.  However, I always emphasized to my students at Temple and elsewhere that these passages had their own historical basis and credibility in the events of their time or in the near future.  These settings must be understood in order to do justice to the text as it was written.  Beyond that, each person must decide for themselves how else these passages may be understood.  Certainly Albright and Mann contend, Jesus “must be understood firmly within the framework of ascertainable Jewish tradition in first-century Palestine.”  Moreover, these two biblical scholars believe that Matthew is a “highly reliable early source for the ministry of Jesus.”  Let’s see what this biblical book tells us about Jesus’ birth.  (We will focus on the genealogy next week when we look at the significance of the four women that are included in it.)

            The gospel of Matthew focuses on Joseph, rather than Mary as we saw last week in Luke.  The repeated focus is on God’s revelation coming through an angel in a dream to him.  When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, Albright and Mann’s translation (Anchor Bible) of what follows is “Joseph, being a man of character, and unwilling to shame her, wished to divorce her secretly.  But as he agonized about this,” an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him what to do: i.e. marry Mary.  Joseph obeyed God’s messenger.  Many of us also agonize about what God’s will is for our lives.  In my mind, this struggle suggests an active relationship between myself and the Divine.  However, sometimes instead I have seen my struggle as one of doubt, but I have come to see that encompassed in what seems like doubt is a yearning for a deeper relationship with the Almighty, for a closeness that is life-giving.  In the case of Joseph, his agony led to the most life-giving of all the decisions of our faith: allowing the young woman to conceive and bear a son, whom many will call Emmanuel, or “God with us.”  Let us think of our times of agonizing over what we should do: What college to attend or which major to pursue?  Whether or not we should start over again in a new job or retire?  In all of these decisions, Emmanuel is with us, too.  May our decisions be life-affirming, rather than denying the splendor of the God who is within us and believes in us.