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.
230 HAK CHOL KIM
(28,17). Evidently, the Gospel is framed at the beginning and the
end with the theme of the worship of Jesus. This framework is
coterminous with the inclusio of “Emmanuel†(God with us) as the
identity of Jesus, which encircles the beginning and the end of the
Gospel (1,23; 28,20). In addition, in the same way that Emmanuel
appears in the middle of the Gospel (18,20), so does the worship
of Jesus. The worship of Jesus indicates the attitude of the people
towards Jesus who were involved in Jesus’ various ministries, and
this can be understood as a literary-theological device of Matthew
used to reveal the identity of Jesus.
II. Jesus’ Identity Revealed in the Worship of Jesus
There are eight scenes of the worship of Jesus in the Gospel of
Matthew. Among them, the four scenes classified as “epiphanic
worship†(2,2.8.11; 14,33; 28,9.17) 4 clearly unveil the pivot of
Matthean Christology. The first scene is the story of the Magi who
came from the East and worshiped the infant Jesus (2,1-13). Jesus is
identified in the story as the “king of the Jews†and “Christ/Messiahâ€
(2,2.4). It is highly possible that the firsthand audience of the Gospel
of Matthew, consisting of Jews and Gentiles in the Roman Empire 5,
POWELL, God with Us, 42, defines “epiphanic worship†as “a participa-
4
tion in divine revelation that clarifies and expresses the worshiper’s percep-
tion of the one who is worshipedâ€.
There have been heated debates with regard to the ethnic composition of
5
the Matthean community and to its Gentile missions. D.C. Sim argues that the
Matthean community was hardly involved in the Gentile mission and that there
were few in it. D.C. SIM, “Matthew, Paul and the origin and nature of the gentile
mission: The great commission in Matthew 28:16-20 as an anti-Pauline
traditionâ€, Hervormde Teologiese Studies 64 (2008) 377-392; D.C. SIM, The
Gospel of Matthew and Christian Judaism. The History and Social Setting of
the Matthean Community (Edinburgh 1998). However, there are objections to
his opinion. For example, B. BYRNE, “The Messiah in Whose Name ‘The
Gentiles Will Hope’ (Matt 12:21): Gentile Inclusion as an Essential Element of
Matthew’s Christologyâ€, AusBR 50 (2002) 55-73. Then Sim and Byrne continue
to criticize each other. D.C. SIM, “Matthew and the Gentiles: A Response to
Brendan Byrneâ€, AusBR 50 (2002) 74-79; B. BYRNE, “Brendan Byrne Responds
to David Simâ€, AusBR 50 (2002) 79. There are more balanced opinions. D.
SENIOR, “Between Two Worlds: Gentile and Jewish Christians in Matthew’s
Gospelâ€, CBQ 61 (1999) 1-23; W. CARTER, “Matthew and the Gentiles:
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