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
worshiped Jesus to mock him (15,16-20). In these two scenes it is
appropriate to render proskunei/n as simply “to bow†(NAU) rather
than “to worship†(KJV).
Although Luke knew the Gospel of Mark, he did not record anyone
worshiping Jesus. The Gospel of Luke reports that the act of the
demon-possessed Gerasene man before Jesus was not “proseku,nhsenâ€
but “prose,pesenâ€, that is, “prostrated†(8,28). The only possible
exception to the Lukan principle that Jesus was not to be worshiped
is in Luke 24,52 where the disciples of Jesus are reported to have
worshiped the resurrected Jesus. However, some important
manuscripts (D, sys) omit the phrase “proskunh,santej auvto,nâ€. If a
short reading is preferred, the pericope should be reconstructed on the
basis of the manuscripts omitting the phrase, although the pericope is
not determined yet and still under debate. The Gospel of Luke shows
that Jesus was faithful to his words at his test, that is, “worship the
Lord your God, and serve only him†(4,8). Furthermore, it is
interesting to compare the Gospel of Matthew with the Gospel of
Luke in terms of their usage of glory and worship. Whereas the Gospel
of Matthew ascribes glory to God and worship to Jesus respectively,
in Luke we find that Jesus “was glorified†(doxazo,menoj, 4,15) and
that God should be worshiped (4,8). Luke does not attempt to describe
the worship of Jesus.
The characteristic of the Matthean worship of Jesus also
becomes apparent in comparison to the Gospel of John, which has
been considered as demonstrating a preeminently high Christology.
In the Gospel of John, except for one occasion (9,38), worship is
applied only to God (4,20.21.22.23.24; 12,20) 3. However, the
Gospel of Matthew reports eight different times where people
worshiped Jesus.
In view of the textual loci of the worship of Jesus, it is evident
that Matthew regards the worship of Jesus as very important.
Matthew begins and ends his Gospel with the worship of Jesus. The
first instance in which Matthew introduces the worship of Jesus is
placed early on in the Gospel. Even before Jesus was of age, he
was worshiped as an infant (2,11). The last scene of the worship of
Jesus is found in the Great Commission at the end of the Gospel
D. Lee argues that the worship of Jesus was at the heart of the Johannine
3
worship. See D. LEE, “In the Spirit of Truth: Worship and Prayer in the Gospel
of John and the Early Fathersâ€, VigChr 58 (2004) 277-297.
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