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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understanding not only of the Christology of the Gospel of Matthew,
but also concerning the Matthean community that practiced the
worship of Jesus 2.
I. The Worship of Jesus: A Distinguishing Characteristic
of the Gospel of Matthew
The worship of Jesus is a distinguishing characteristic of the
Gospel of Matthew. This becomes evident when the Gospel of
Matthew is compared with the other Synoptic Gospels, i.e., the Gospel
of Mark and the Gospel of Luke. The word proskunei/n is employed
eighteen times in the Synoptic Gospels. Except for two times in the
Gospel of Mark (5,6; 15,19) and three times in the Gospel of Luke
(4,7.8; 24,52), all of the other appearances (thirteen times) belong to
the Gospel of Matthew.
Both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke do not
emphasize the worship of Jesus, and worship is performed only by
suspicious characters in the former Gospel. The first “worshiper†of
Jesus was a demon-possessed Gerasene man in the Gospel of Mark
(5,6). Jesus does not seem to have accepted his worship (5,8-9).
Then the next group of worshipers was the Roman soldiers who
Rapids, MI 2010) 23, 35-36, 186, 189, 311, 312. He, however, does not
elaborate on this theme with regard to the Christology and the socio-political
implications of the Matthean community.
Although there have been hot debates over the Christian worship of
2
Jesus, there are not many studies concentrating on the Gospel of Matthew.
M.A. POWELL, God with Us. A Pastoral Theology of Matthew’s Gospel
(Minneapolis, MN 1995) 28-61; id., “A Typology of Worship in the Gospel
of Matthewâ€, JSNT 57 (1995) 3-17. The research dealing with the early
Christian worship of Jesus can be listed as the following: J.D.G. DUNN, Did
the First Christians Worship Jesus? The New Testament Evidence
(Louisville, KY 2010); R. BAUCKHAM, Jesus and the God of Israel. God
Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine
Identity (Grand Rapids, MI 2008); L.W. HURTADO, Lord Jesus Christ.
Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI 2003); R.T.
FRANCE, “The Worship of Jesus: A Neglected Factor in Christological
Debate?â€, Christ the Lord. Studies Presented to Donald Guthrie (ed. H.H.
ROWDON) (Leicester 1982) 17-36. Although these studies are very useful in
understanding the early Christian worship of Jesus, they do not take a special
look at the Matthean worship of Jesus.
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