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Gospel
Christ
Tradition
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Interpretation
From ‘Notes on the Formation of the Gospels’,
by John Wijngaards;
published in Background to the Gospels
(Bangalore & Ann Arbor 1981)
and Together in My Name (London
1991).
The final author of ‘Matthew’s’ Gospel was, in all
likelihood, a hellenised Christian scribe in Antioch. Following scholarly
convention, we will simply refer to the Gospel’s author as
‘Matthew’.
When we study this Gospel, we find that much more than Mark Matthew has
shaped ancient traditions into a well thought out presentation. Mark followed
more or less a geographical pattern (Galilee, journeys, Jerusalem). Matthew
devised a theological scheme. For him Christ is first and foremost the Teacher,
the new Moses.
Matthew’s planning can be illustrated by:
The structure around five sermons
Just as Moses had presented the Old Testament law in five books, in the
Pentateuch, so Jesus is made to present his teaching in five major sermons that
form the backbone of the Gospel (see diagram ):
- chapter 5-7 the sermon on the mount (in Galilee)
- chapter 10 the sermon for the Apostles
- chapter 13 the sermon of parables on the Kingdom
- chapter 18 the sermon for community leaders
- chapter 24-25 the sermon on the mount of Olives.
Each of these five sermons ends with the same phrase: ‘And when
Jesus finished these sayings . . . .’ (Mt 7,28; 11,1; 13,53; 19,1;
26,1.) See B.W.BACON, `The "Five Books" of Matthew against the Jews’,
Expositor 15 (1918) pp. 55-66; id., Studies in Matthew, London
1930.
Matthew starts with infancy narratives (chapters 1-2) and concludes
with the passion and resurrection (chapters 26-28). In between, he intersperses
series of events and words of Jesus that establish Jesus as a teacher.
The sermon on the mount
While respecting the traditional texts, Matthew was not afraid of
moulding them into new logical frameworks. Take, for example, the sermon on
the mount. Here Matthew has brought together 35 originally distinct
passages. Some of these he may have found as `clumps’ in oral tradition or
in the written document Quelle, but it was Matthew who re-arranged them
and joined them in new combinations. He shaped it all into a powerful display
of the new morality, the new `law’ required in God’s Kingdom.
To bring out the contrast with the old law even sharper, Matthew created
the setting on the mountain:
Jesus went up on the mountain. When he sat down his disciples came
close. He opened his mouth and taught them with these words: `Blessed are the
poor in spirit . . . ’ (Mt 5,1-3).
We know from Luke that Jesus actually spoke the beatitudes when he
was‘in the plain’, ‘in a low-lying place’ (Lk 6,17;
see 6,20-26). Matthew deliberately made Jesus deliver his sermon on the
mountain to compare him with Moses who had proclaimed the Ten Commandments
on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-20). Jesus’ laws of love complement and
transcend the old Law.
On the question: ‘Did Jesus really preach the sermon on the
mount?’, the answer is simple. He never preached it in the way Matthew
presents it now. What Jesus taught on many different occasions, Matthew moulds
into one coherent lesson. Matthew tells us: ‘This is Jesus’ teaching
on Christian morality’. By editing the text, welding it together and
presenting it as one unit, Matthew interprets the traditions for us. Of course,
he does so under inspiration so that we have a correct, representative picture
of Jesus’ teaching on this point.
For scholarly literature, see: W.D.DAVIES, The Setting of the Sermon
on the Mount, Cambridge 1964; J.BLIGH, The Sermon on the Mount,
Slough 1975; D.A.CARSON, The Sermon on the Mount, Grand Rapids 1978;
H.D.BETZ, Studien zum Bergpredigt, Tübingen 1985.
Editorial cut-and-paste
Similar editorial work by Matthew can be demonstrated for the series of
ten miracles (chapters 8 and 9), for the sermon of parables on the Kingdom
(chapter 13) and for almost every section of Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew was
a real ‘editor’ in the sense that he trimmed the text or enlarged it,
cut or pasted, as he thought best.
Read: J.MOISER, ‘The Structure of Matthew 8-9. A Suggestion’,
Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 76 (1985) pp.
117-118. J.D.KINGSBURY, The Parables of Jesus in Matthew 13, London
1969; D.WENHAM, ‘The Structure of Matthew 13’, New Testament
Studies 25 (1979) pp. 516-522.
John Wijngaards
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