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
so that both Jews and Gentiles could easily recognize who Jesus
was. The worship of Jesus appears to have been formed with certain
elements and had a considerable influence on the formation of the
religious symbolic world of the community. As long as the
Matthean community practiced the worship of Jesus, it could not
avoid secession from Jewish synagogues and most probably
became an ideological opponent to the Roman imperial cult, that
is, the contemporary royal ritual.
Yonsei University Hak Chol KIM
Seoul, Korea
SUMMARY
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†(evgw, eivmi),
and the Divine Being holding authority both in heaven and on earth, thus
being worthy of worship. Matthew employed both Jewish and Gentile tra-
ditions 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 cen-
tered in the synagogues and facilitated the community’s position in relation
to Roman imperial propaganda.
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