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.
238 HAK CHOL KIM
James and John came to Jesus and asked for their honorable seats
(20,20). Although these two forms of petitions are different in terms
of content, all the petitions follow the same pattern: a petitioner came
to Jesus, worshiped him, and then petitioned him. Finally, there may
have been the Lord’s supper as the ritual of the forgiveness of sins
(26,26-29; cf. 1,21; 18,15-35) 27 and baptism as the ritual of initiation
(28,19).
Could the worship of Jesus have been practiced at the Jewish
synagogues in first-century Roman Syria, especially at the
synagogues where the opponents of the Matthean community were
influential? It was probably impossible. Such circumstances are
reflected in the Gospel of Matthew. While the Gospel of Luke records
the occasions when Jesus was glorified in the synagogues (4,15), the
synagogues are never described as places of worship for God or Jesus
in the Gospel of Matthew. The synagogues for Matthew are not
appropriate places for God or Jesus to be worshiped. Rather, they are
the places where hypocrites are praised (6,2) 28. The Matthean
community seceded from the synagogues where the worship of Jesus
was not permitted and called the synagogues “their [the opponents]
synagogues†(Matt 4,23; 9,35; 10,17; 12,9; 13,54; 23,6). Secession
or expulsion from the synagogue itself did not indicate an immediate
break from Judaism. However, secession from the synagogue, which
was central to the local Jewish community, could mean that the
Matthean community acquired a certain amount of liberty from
Jewish religious thoughts and practice. In other words, the spatial
secession from the synagogue must have provided the room for
thoughts freed from Jewish legacy or practice. The Matthean
community gathered together not in the synagogue but in the name
of Jesus and claimed the presence of God among them (18,20; see
Experience: an Exposition of Matthew 17:1-9â€, Int 29 (1975) 68-72 is noteworthy
for studying the subject of the worship of Jesus and healing.
Forgiveness of sins was important for both the Jews and the Gentiles.
27
Whereas Repschinski explains the concept from the perspective of the
Christian Jews, Carter illustrates it from the perspective of the Roman imperial
theology. B. REPSCHINSKI, “‘For He Will Save His People from Their Sins’
(Matthew 1:21): A Christology for Christian Jewsâ€, CBQ (2006) 248-267; W.
CARTER, “‘To Save His People from Their Sins’ (Matt 1:21): Rome’s Empire
and Matthew’s Salvation As Sovereigntyâ€, SBLASP (2000) 379-401.
POWELL, God with Us, 55.
28
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