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.
The Worship of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew *
The Gospel of Matthew reports a scene in which Jesus was tested
before his public ministry. After being baptized by John the Baptist
(3,13-17), he was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tested by the
Devil (4,1-10). Having failed with his first two tests, the Devil
brought Jesus to the summit of a very high mountain, showed him
all the kingdoms and their glory, and said, “All these I will give you,
if you will fall down and worship (proskunh,sh|j) me†(NRS, 4,9).
However, Jesus refused the Devil’s offer, saying, “Away with you,
Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship (proskunh,seij) the Lord your God,
and serve only him’†(NRS, 4,10).
Various people, however, appear to have worshiped Jesus (2,2.8.11;
8,2; 9,18; 14,33; 15,25; 20,20; 28,9.17) rather than “the Lord your
God†whom Jesus declared to be the only object of worship in the
Gospel of Matthew. In the Gospel of Matthew, people glorified God
(9,8; 15,31; cf. 5,16), and Jesus also gave thanks to God publicly
(11,25). But the term worship, except for 4,10, is applied only to Jesus.
It is even more interesting that, having declared that only God should
be worshiped, Jesus did not in any way refuse to accept people’s
worship. Is it because proskunei/n indicates only the act of kneeling
down before a benefactor that Jesus accepted proskunei/n of people
without compunction? Or is it possible that with the worship of Jesus
Matthew is revealing his Christology and the socio-political situation
of the Matthean community?
This study attempts to analyze the characteristics of the worship
of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and to explain the Christology
and the socio-political implications of the Matthean community that
the worship of Jesus points to 1. In doing so, I try to expand the
This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea
*
Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2011-332-A00059).
C.H. Talbert recognizes the tension between Jesus’ quote “Worship the
1
Lord your God, and serve only him†and Jesus’ acceptance of worship in the
Gospel of Matthew. C.H. TALBERT, “Imperative and Indicative in Matthean
Soteriologyâ€, Bib 82 (2001) 533. And he comments insightfully on the
passages about the worship of Jesus. C.H. TALBERT, Matthew (Paideia; Grand
BIBLICA 93.2 (2012) 227-241
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