Hak Chol Kim, «The Worship of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew», Vol. 93 (2012) 227-241
The Gospel of Matthew can be characterized by its special emphasis on the worship of Jesus. In the scenes where Jesus is worshiped, Jesus was depicted as the king of the Jews, Christ/Messiah, the «I am» (e0gw/ ei0mi), and the Divine Being holding authority both in heaven and on earth, thus being worthy of worship. Matthew employed both Jewish and Gentile traditions in abundance so that both Jews and Gentiles of the Greco-Roman world might understand the religious and socio-political implications of the worship of Jesus. The worship of Jesus, practiced by the Matthean community, led to the community’s isolation from formative Judaism centered in the synagogues and facilitated the community’s position in relation to Roman imperial propaganda.
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THE WORSHIP OF JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
tradition, the Roman emperor passed on his royal authority to his
successor at the point when he became a god. According to Cotter,
however, “His [Jesus] appearance to his followers is not to pass on
his authority but to use his authority to commission his disciples in
their new project†19.
Nevertheless, some of Cotter’s arguments require corrections.
First, Jesus proclaimed that he had authority related to heaven and
earth even before his resurrection. This aspect becomes clear during
Jesus’ prayer to God in 11,25-27. Jesus called God “Father†and the
“Lord of heaven and earth†(ku,rie tou/ ouvranou/ kai. th/j gh/j) and
praised the Father who handed over (paredo,qh) all things (pa,nta)
to him. Thus, he was already the object of worship in his lifetime.
Second, Jesus granted the authority related to earth and heaven to
the disciples before his resurrection: “Whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven†(16,19; cf. 18,18). Of course, the authority of the
disciples was limited in comparison with that of God and Jesus.
Whereas God and Jesus held all authority both in heaven and on
earth, Jesus granted the authority of binding and loosing on earth,
which would result in a correlative effect in heaven, to the disciples.
While Matthew introduced the authority of the disciples, he subtly
changed the order of heaven and earth to reflect the contrast with
God and Jesus’ authority. Thereby, Matthew hints to the audience
that the authority of the disciples was circumscribed unlike that of
God and Jesus.
While the commission of the resurrected Jesus was directed toward
all nations (28,19), the audience acquainted with the apotheosis
tradition could have been reminded of the popular Mediterranean
commission toward the world by the character who returned from the
dead. The audience of Matthew may have been reminded of the scene
in which Romulus the founder of Rome appeared from death before
Proculus Julius, ordering him to announce the following message:
Romulus has now become a god, and Rome will become the most
glorious and powerful city. In preparation for this, strategies of war
should be developed (Livy, Hist. i. 16; Ovid, Fasti. ii. 499, etc.) 20. At
his commission, however, Jesus distinctively appeared as a ruler
COTTER, “Greco-Roman Apotheosis Traditionsâ€, 150.
19
As for parallels between Romulus, Augustus, and Jesus, see TALBERT,
20
Matthew, 319.
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