The Gospel of Matthew

All four gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John- take a slightly different look at Jesus' life. All four are written quite differently as well. Matthew is a very structured and well thought out account which uses chiastic structures extensively to enhance and focus the message of the book.

Matthew can be divided up into 10 sections which I have written about here.

Jesus' Birth

Jesus' Death and Resurrection

The Accounts of Jesus' Birth, Death and Resurrection

Christmas and Easter: The two biggest dates in the Christian calendar. If people only go to church twice a year- Christmas and Easter are the occasions. The birth of Christ, and His death and resurrection are the fundamental events of the gospels.

Most of us have heard about these events again and again- perhaps we have even become too familiar with these events for our own good and so we loose some of the significance of them.

Recently I have studied the gospel of Matthew and have looked at Matthew's account of Jesus' birth, death and resurrection- the Christmas and Easter stories. The result for me has been a discovery of how the author strucutured his accounts of these events, and subsequently a significantly deeper understanding of the message Matthew was trying to convey to those first readers so many centuries ago.
 
This paper covers the structure and hence, the focus, of the Christmas and Easter stories as told by Matthew in his gospel.

The Christmas Story Revisited

Matthew 1:1 - 4:11

Only Matthew and Luke record in any detail, the birth of Jesus. These two accounts have their own differences as well. A question that must be asked is "why did Matthew include the events around Jesus' birth?". Following from that are questions such as: "What is the point that Matthew is trying to bring out in these events?". And again- "what do each of these event mean when they stand alone" but also "what do these event mean when viewed as a whole?".

The events or stories recorded can be broken up into the following sections or individual stories.
· The genealogy of Jesus
· The birth of Jesus
· The Magi looking for the King of the Jews
· The angels : Escape to Egypt
· The massacre in Bethlehem
· The angels: Come back to Israel
· John the Baptist pointing the way to the messiah
· The baptism of Jesus
· The temptation of Jesus

On the surface, Matthew's account of Jesus' birth is cronologically structured. The events follow a basic sequence of time, with the genealogy of Jesus providing an introduction. If we look at theses accounts in terms of their content though, there is a very different structure.

When we look at the first secition: Jesus' genealogy- we see that it is focused on Jesus as the Son of Davd and the Son of Abraham. This idea of who Jesus is the son of, comes up in the last section to- as Satan's temptation of Jesus are based on the premise- "If you are the son of God?". We have here two sections that when looked at side by side, reveal Jesus as the son of Abraham and David- but also the son of God.

When we look at the second section, we have Jesus born to Joseph and Mary. He is their son, and is named Jesus. Later on, in the second last section, we have Jesus being baptised and the voice of God saying- "This is my son". Again there is a parallel between Jesus the son of Joseph and Mary, but also the son of God. We have in a way, his natural birth and then his "spiritual birth".

The pattern continues, as when we look at the third section we have the Magi asking "where is the new king?". And matching this, we have in the third last section John the Batist saying "Look out- there's a king coming!". The Magi of course are looking at the kingship from an earthly viewpoint, whereas John is talking about the heavenly king- the messiah.

Then we have the angels coming on the seen saaying: "Get up and go!". Soon after the angels are back on the scene, saying the opposite: "Get up and come back".

And in the middle of all these sections: there is the killing of the children in Bethlehem. How strange!

It is of interest to note that Matthew is the only gospel that records this event as well. Why did Matthew include it in his account? And why did he put in in the middle of his account of Jesus' birth? It is of interest to note that Matthew is the only gospel that records this event as well. Why did Matthew include it in his account? And why did he put in in the middle of his account of Jesus' birth?

To summarise the structure then:

A: The genealogy of Jesus: "Jesus the son of..."
    B: The birth of Jesus
        C: The Magi looking for the King of the Jews: "Where is the king?"
            D: The angels : Escape to Egypt- "Get up and go..."
                X: The massacre in Bethlehem
            D': The angels: Come back to Israel- "Get up and come back..."
        C': John the Baptist pointing the way to the messiah: "Here is the messiah!"
    B': The baptism of Jesus
A': The temptation of Jesus: "If you are the son of God..."

Such a strucutral pattern is known as a "chiasmus" or a "chiastic" strucutre. Such a strucutural form is extensively used throughout the the bible- from Genesis and the books of the old testament, through to the gospels and the letters of the New Testament- many passages and books are structured in a similar way.

There are some immediate observations that can be made about both what is being said by Matthew as well as how it is being said:
· The first half of the account focuses on the "earthly" side of Jesus' nature. (Son of David; Son of Abraham; the Gentile Magi looking for the king; Joseph and Mary- Jesus' parents
· The second half of the account focuses on the divine nature of Jesus. (Son of God; the messiah coming; the Son of God again.)
· The massacre of children in Bethlehem is unique to Matthew
· There is an abundance of refrains along the lines of "this happened to fulfill what was said in the prophets...."

So what is the point of all this then? Also back to the questions earlier- "what is the author trying to say by including these event in his gospel?".

Now that we understand "how" the author is saying what he's saying- there are two major points that the author is trying to bring out.

The first point the author is making is- "who do you think Jesus is? He is the son of God, but is also very human too." All of the sections leading up to the "X" are concentrating on Jesus as a man. Then, all the sections following the "X", focus on Jesus as the son of God. The age old question of is Jesus both man and God is answered loud and clear rigth from the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew.

The second point the author is making is that Jesus is on the loose. The leaders of the day tried to kill him from the word go- but by the hand of God he escaped, and is now on the loose. Matthew is saying: "Look out: Jesus- the son of man, the son of God- is on the loose. They tried to kill him- but he's out there!".

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The Easter Story Revisited
Matthew 26:1 - 28:16

Below is a summary of the events the Matthew records in Jesus' last days in Jersusalem.

· Jesus' predicts his death and the Chief Priests plotting to kill Jesus
· The annointing of Jesus
· Judas agrees to betray Jesus
· The last supper
· Jesus praying in the garden
· Jesus' arrest
· Trial 1: Jesus the King of the Jews
· Peter
· The decision to kill Jesus
· Judas
· Trial 2: Jesus the Son of God
· The release of Barabbus
· The mocking of Jesus
· Jesus' death
· Joseph of Arimathea gets Jesus' body back
· Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus
· Jesus' resurrection and the Chief Priests plotting to cover up the resurrection

Once again, Matthew's account is a basic chronology of the events surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection. But Matthew's account differs from the accounts in the other gospels (which in turn differ from each other). So the question must be asked: why did Matthew chose to depict events (suc as Judas' return) that the other gospels don't record. And why does he structure his account differently from the other gospel writers? For example, the two trials of Jesus are separated by the stories about Peter and Judas.

So again, we arrive at the same fundamental question: What is the main point that Matthew is trying to convey in his account of Jesus' death and resurrection. And again, this account is not structured like a student's essay- so there is not an introduction, body and conclusion that we can use to directly to determine the author's objective. Nor is there a neat summary at the end, with a set of review questions and answers, as is found in test books.

It's no surprise to find that is structured in the same manner as the opening account of Jesus' birth. As an aside- the chiastic form of writing is used extensively throughout the whole of Matthew's gospel.

A: Jesus' predicts his death and the Chief Priests plotting to kill Jesus
    B: The annointing of Jesus
        C: Judas agrees to betray Jesus
            D: The last supper
                E: Jesus praying in the garden
                    F: Jesus' arrest
                        G: Trial 1: Jesus the King of the Jews
                            H: Peter
                                X: The decision to kill Jesus
                            H': Judas
                        G': Trial 2: Jesus the Son of God
                    F': The release of Barabbus
                E': The mocking of Jesus
            D': Jesus' death
        C': Joseph of Arimathea gets Jesus' body back
    B': Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus
A': Jesus' resurrection and the Chief Priests plotting to cover up the resurrection

Again- some quick obaervations about Matthew's account:
· Matthew is the only gospel writer to include the account of Judas trying to return the money to the Jewish leaders and recognising what he had done
· Although Joseph of Arimathea was on the ruling Jewish council- this fact is not recorded by Matthew (although it is recorded in other gospels)
· Matthew closes his account with details of how teh Jewish leaders are plotting to cover up the resurrection.

When we look at the pairs individually, we find that each half of the pair adds meaning to the other. This is where we discover that "how" Matthew has written his account, enhances "what" is being said.

To look then at each of the individual pairs:

A/ A'
Three times Matthew records Jesus as predicting He will die and rise again- and that His death will be at the hands of men. Significantly, the fourth prediction is only a prediction of his death. It is this prediction which is the start of this account, and of course- the missing prediction (that Jesus will rise) is found reflected at the other end of the poem.

B/ B'
Jesus has perfume poured over him and Jesus refers directly to his burial. Then in B', Jesus is buried and we see the fulfillment of the earlier reference to His burial.

C/ C'
In C, Judas goes to the Jewish leaders and asks "how muc for Jesus' body?". Then in C', we have Joseph- a rich man, not in need of any money- asking for Jesus' body back.

D/ D'
In the Last supper, Jesus refers to his death and talks about the new covenant established through his body and blood. Then in D' we have Jesus' death, fulfilling what is foretold in the Last Supper.

E/ E'
Jesus prays- "may this be taken away from me yet not as I will, but as you will". Then there is the mocking of Jesus where people say- "why don't you save yourself?". Their questions are answered when looking at the matching story.

F/ F'
Jesus is arrested in the garden, and does not resist arrest. Then in F', we have the possbility of His release. Again, the two events side by side play off each other.

G/ G'
The two trials refer rigth back to the beginning of Matthew. One trial asks if he is king of the Jews and the other is he is the son of God.

H/ H'
Perhpas the most interested pair of events is the juxtaposition of Peter and Judas. Two disciples, who both failed, but both recognised what they had done. Perhaps Matthew is emphasising that all do fall short, but that there is also hope for all. Perhaps he is also distancing Judas from the actions of the Jewish leaders and showing the Chief Priests and Elders of the People up as completely evil.

X
Right in the middle is the decision of the chief priests and elders of the people to kill Jesus. Unambiguosly, Matthew directs the focus on who was responsible for Jesus' death. This also of course matches up with the 'X' in the opening account of Jesus' birth where all the children in Bethlehem are killed except for Jesus.

The depth of Matthew's message about Jesus' death and resurrection is shouted out in this last chiastic account.

The message of all this: "They tried to kill Jesus from the beginning and they got Him in the end." But... "They plotted to kill Him, and now they are plotting to cover up Hs resurrection. Jesus died, and is now risen- just as He predicted. Jesus is still on the loose!"

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Last modified on Wednesday, July 01, 1998