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.
232 HAK CHOL KIM
records of their priests was contained a prediction of how at this very
time the East was to grow powerful and rulers, coming from Judaea,
were to acquire universal empire†(Hist. 5:13, cf. Josephus, J.W.
6.312; Virgil, Ecl. 4; Suetonius, Vesp. 4). Thus, it is probable that the
story of the Matthean Magi combined with both “the tradition of
embassy†and the prophecy introduced by Tacitus so that the audience
was privy to the meaning of the birth of Jesus as the new king who
would fulfill the prophecy.
Consequently, regardless of their ethnic background, the audience
of Matthew could have recognized the birth of a new ruler in the
scene where the infant Jesus is worshiped. The opinion of G.
Theissen is persuasive, affirming the “link between Jewish messianic
expectations and pagan hopes†9. The audience of Matthew came to
hear the proclamation that the newborn baby was the ruler anticipated
by both Jews and Gentiles.
The Gospel of Matthew reports the second scene of the worship of
Jesus (14,22-33) in which Jesus walked on the stormy Sea of Galilee.
Matthew reworks the story of Mark (Mark 6,45-52) and describes how
the disciples were greatly terrified (evtara,cqhsan) like King Herod
when they saw Jesus walking on the stormy sea, and they shouted “It’s
a ghost!†(14,26). Then Jesus identified himself simply: “I am†(evgw,
eimi, 14,27). On the surface, the expression informed the disciples of
v
the fact that it was not a ghost but Jesus himself. Nonetheless, the
audience of Matthew knew that the expression was used for the self-
designation of YHWH in the OT 10. The implication of Jesus’
self-designation was even more amplified with the halting of the wind
(14,32) when Jesus climbed into the boat. Just like the God of the OT
(Job 9,8; Ps 77,19; Isa 42,16), Jesus not only walked on the sea but
also controlled the world of chaos or the demonic powers symbolized
by the stormy sea. It is rare to find in both the Jewish and Greco-Roman
religious traditions that a human being walks on water. Such a deed
was considered to belong to the divine realm and stem from divine
G. THEISSEN, “Vom Davidssohn zum Weltherrscher. Pagane und jüdische
9
Endzeiterwartungen im Spiegel des Matthäusevangeliumsâ€, Das Ende der
Tage und die Gegenwart des Heils. Begegnungen mit dem Neuen Testament
und seiner Umwelt. Festschrift für Heinz-Wolfgang Kuhn zum 65. Geburtstag
(eds. M. BECKER – W. FENSKE) (Leiden 1999) 145-164.
U. LUZ, Matthew 8-20 (Hermeneia; Minneapolis, MN 2001) 320.
10
J.P. HEIL, Jesus Walking on the Sea. Meaning and Gospel Functions of
11
Matt. 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, and John 6:15b-21 (AnBib 87; Rome 1981)
37-56; LUZ, Matthew 8-20, 319-320.
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