Gospel of Matthew, Part 1

We are reading the Gospel of Matthew over at the Goodreads Catholic Thought book club in preparation for the Year A in the Mass readings.  This will begin a series of my thoughts and comments that I contributed.  First, you can get an introduction the Matthew’s Gospel at the United States Conference of Bishops website under Books of the Bible.  Here for the Gospel of Matthew.  

Comment #1:

There was a discussion on the genealogy in Matthew, and Madeleine noticed the four women Matthew includes.  Madeliene called them the “shady ladies.”

My Reply:

I've seen that too Madeleine. That seems to be standard reading of Matthew's genealogy. The "shady ladies" as you call them (LOL!) may suggest something about the Virgin birth. They are in contrast to the Blessed Mother, who is eternally pure, but in sympathy with them as well given the suspicions surrounding Christ's conception.

My Comment #2:

The book club read Pope BXVI's Infancy Narratives and I just went through the comments and didn't find much of a discussion on the genealogies. But we also read Scott Hahn's Joy to the World and we did discuss the genealogies there. If you want to see what was said, here's the link.

Comment #3:

I’ve wanted to contribute more to the discussion on the early chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, but unfortunately I’ve been busy all week.  But something must be said about the Sermon on the Mount.  It’s one of my favorite parts in the entire New Testament.

It probably wouldn’t hurt to describe the structure of the Sermon.  I see it as divided into six parts.

A. The introductory stage directions (5:1-2)

B. The Beatitudes (5:3-12)

C. The Similes (5:13-16)

D. The Teachings (5:17-7:23)

E. The Conclusion (7:24-27)

F. The concluding stage directions (7:28-29)

When I look at it in this summary way, I’m surprised to find that the Beatitudes are only nine lines.  For some reason it feels like a lot more.

That introductory stage direction (as I call it) has Jesus sitting.  I never really noticed that.  In my imagining of the scene I had Jesus standing.  Perhaps I got it from the movie, Jesus of Nazareth, where He is standing while delivering the sermon.  You can see it here.

Before Jesus gets to His teachings, which are the bulk of the sermon, he provides two similes to describe His followers.  Actually in the NAB translation they are not similes, they are metaphors.  He doesn’t say, “You are like salt.”  Nor “You are like light.”  Those are similes.  He says “You are salt” and “You are light.”  Those are metaphors. I especially like the “You are the light of the world” metaphor.  If you are a perfect follower of Christ, you just shine.

Then the teachings.  I count twenty-two teachings across the three chapters.  I think it’s worth listing them.

1. Teaching about the Old Testament law.

2. Teaching about anger.

3. Teaching about adultery.

4. Teaching about divorce.

5. Teaching about oaths.

6. Teaching about retaliation.

7. Teaching about your enemies.

8. Teaching about almsgiving.

9. Teaching about prayer.

10. Teaching about forgiveness.

11. Teaching about fasting.

12. Teaching about heaven.

13. Teaching about the eye as entry point of light.

14. Teaching about God and money.

15. Teaching about dependence on God.

16. Teaching about judging.

17. Teaching about the holy,

18. Teaching about prayers being answered.

19. Teaching about the golden rule.

20. Teaching about the narrow gate of heaven.

21. Teaching about false prophets.

22. Teaching about true discipleship.

If the beatitudes outline the ideal attributes of a follower of Christ, the teachings seem to show what one has to do to achieve those ideals.  And Jesus wraps it all up in a concluding section with “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (7:24).  It is wisdom to follow Christ, because following Christ is what leads to heaven.

Kerstin’s Reply:

What I noticed reading it this time around, is how quickly in the Gospel of Matthew we get to these teachings. It is in the 5th chapter out of 28. No need for a big preamble, let's get to it!

My Reply to Kerstin:

Yes, Matthew simplifies the narrative. Now here's the controversy on which Gospel came first, Mark or Matthew. Of the stories that are in both Mark and Matthew, Mark has more detail and are longer. If Mark came first, which is what modern scholars believe, Matthew compressed Mark's stories. If Matthew came first, which is the original Church position, then Mark expanded on Matthew's stories. Which is more likely, to expand on stories or to contract stories? For me, if Christ was the son of God, why would I eliminate any detail from a story? I would keep everything. So to me, it seems much more likely that Matthew came first.

When we did the Gospel of Mark two years ago, we got into a little argument over this. Maybe my position is more clear now. But to be up front, most scholars believe Mark came first.

Comment #4:

Christine posted this article on Matthew's Gospel by Edward Sri from the St. Paul Center in a different thread. It should be discussed here. It's very insightful. 

I don't think I ever realized this, but Sri makes a profound point toward the end. Let me quote it.

So when we look upon Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, we must remember we are encountering the face of God. Indeed, the story in Matthew’s Gospel is the story of the God who is with us in his Son, Jesus Christ. At the start of the Gospel, Jesus is introduced as “Emmanuel.” And the kingdom that Jesus is establishing throughout the Gospel of Matthew is all about bringing people back into union with God—not just the faithful Jews of his day but also the sinners, the outcasts, the suffering, and even the gentiles, the non-Jewish people from all the other nations. God will be with his people again through Christ’s kingdom that is breaking down the barriers, going out to the peripheries, calling people to repentance, and reconciling all humanity to the Father.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that we’ll see this theme again at the very close of Matthew’s Gospel. After his death and Resurrection, Jesus commissions the apostles to go make disciples of all nations and he promises, “I am with you always, even to the close of the age” (Matt 28:20). So from beginning to end, the theme of Emmanuel—the theme of God with us—radiates through Matthew’s Gospel in the kingdom Jesus is building.

So God with us at the beginning of the Gospel is still God with us at the end of the Gospel and Matthew projects God with us for eternity. The Gospel is nicely framed that way.

Here's an interesting question. In chapter one, Matthew writes, " “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” (Matt 1:23). But he's not named Emmanuel. He's named Jesus, which means "God Saves." I would have to look it up in Pope BXVI's Infancy Narrative or Scott Hahn's Joy to the World, but I'm at a loss to explain how they can be the same thing. I bet it's mentioned in both books, but I can't remember.

Jesús Replied:

Benedict XVI explains the question on "Emmanuel" (Is 7,14), in chapter 2.4 (Conception and birth of Jesus according to Matthew) of Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. On his point of view, basically 2 possibilities: it is an "on-hold word", an unfulfilled prophecy so far, because a historical correspondence cannot be found. Or it is a promise fulfilled in Christ. Christ always is the Emmanuel, the"God with us".

My Reply to Jesús:

Thanks Jesús. I would say the latter of the two options makes the most sense.