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.
236 HAK CHOL KIM
reigning over the world, not with military violence but with his
teaching 21. Just like the first scene of the worship of Jesus, the last
scene helped the audience understand the divinity of Jesus in the
context of the rich Jewish and Gentile traditions.
As explained so far, the worship of Jesus in the Gospel of
Matthew plays a decisive role in revealing the identity of Jesus. It
presumably reflects the form and the content of the Matthean
worship of Jesus. The Matthean community proclaimed Jesus as
the King and Messiah, presented him as the “Son of God†and the
“I am†who has all authority in heaven and on earth, and tried to
stress that the proper response to the presence of his divine
epiphany was worship. Thus, it is evident that proskunei/n here was
not simply an act of kneeling down. Rather, it could be considered
as the act of worship toward the divine ruler. In sum, it can be said
that the Matthean community practiced a certain kind of ruler
worship in the worship of Jesus.
III. The Worship of Jesus by the Matthean Community in
Formative Judaism and the Roman Imperial Propaganda
Some studies have demonstrated that the worship of Jesus spread
out quite rapidly in the earliest stages of Christianity 22. It is not difficult
to suppose on the basis of the previous discussion that the worship of
Jesus was important for the Matthean community. It is evident that
such a development of the worship of Jesus had some religious and
socio-political implications for the Matthean community in Roman
Syria around 80-100 A.D.
There have been intense debates regarding the relationship
between the Matthean community and formative Judaism. The
debates have been mainly related to the teachings of Jesus and the
G. THEISSEN, Gospel Writing and Church Politics. A Socio-rhetorical
21
Approach (Hong Kong 2001) 62. Such a ruler would recall the image of a
ruler like Moses, that is, a ruler reigning over the world with the Law. See K.
SPARKS, “Gospel as Conquest: Mosaic Typology in Matthew 28:16-20â€, CBQ
68 (2006) 651-663; P.L. SHULER, “Philo’s Moses and Matthew’s Jesus: A
Comparative Study in Ancient Literatureâ€, Studia Philonica Annual 2 (1990)
86-103.
Cf. studies by J.D.G. Dunn, R. Bauckham, L.W. Hurtado, etc.
22
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