The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

 

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

 

The Charter:  Matthew’s Literary Structure, Part Two

 

‘…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…’ (28:20)

 

Christian tradition holds that, after about twelve years in and around Jerusalem, the apostles divided up the world and went out to preach the word about Jesus.  The ‘Church of the East’ held that the Jesus message arrived in India in 52 AD, China in 64 AD, and Japan in 70 AD.  In India, the ‘Mar Thoma’ Christians trace their spiritual lineage back to Thomas (hence their name), and perhaps Bartholomew, who brought with them the Gospel of Matthew.  In the early third century, Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, sent a man named Pantaenus to a region of India, who verified that a Christian community was already there.  He brought back to Alexandria the Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew characters.  (Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men, ch.36).

Alexandria, Egypt was home of the Christian community that now calls itself the Coptic Orthodox Church.  Their tradition holds that Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, was the founder of the church in Upper Egypt.  Yet from Upper Egypt comes a scrap, not of the Gospel of Mark, but of the Gospel of Matthew, called the Magdalen Papyrus, dated as early as 60 AD, though other scholars estimate 150 - 200 AD.

The Gospel of Matthew also found its way to China and Japan.  In Japan, archaeologists peeled back some of the paint on one of the wooden beams of the Koryuji Buddhist Temple, the oldest Buddhist Temple in Kyoto, and found two crosses on it.  Apparently, the building had been rebuilt on the frame of a building used for Christian worship in 670 AD, after it was seriously damaged by fire.  That wooden beam is now preserved in the Tokyo National Museum.  In addition, fragments of the Gospel of Matthew written in Chinese script were found inside the Buddhist Temple.  They are relics testifying to the presence of Christians in Japan before Buddhism arrived on Japanese soil.  In China, we have a stone inscription dating from 638 AD testifying to an already large, established church in the ancient Chinese capital of Xian and influential in the upper levels of the Tang Dynasty.  This stone describes Christian missionaries from Mesopotamia, lists Christian priests, and indicates that there were millions of Chinese Christians by the year 635 AD. 

In addition, in Vietnam, during the Hau Le period in the 16th century, churches, statues, and monuments of Jesus on the cross were unearthed.  They dated back to a governor named Si Nghiep, who died in 226 AD.  Apparently, he was a Christian.  This means that Christian faith was present in Vietnam by the 2nd or 3rd century.  Could Christian missionaries have arrived in India, China, Japan, and Vietnam at these extraordinarily early dates?  Probably. 

What is clear, though, is this:  The Gospel of Matthew played a key role in the formation of the earliest Christian communities in India, China, Japan, and probably Vietnam.  Why?  Because this book commands that we live it, copy it, and hand it on. 

Matthew structures his Gospel in the form of a familiar Hebrew pattern, a chiasm.  In a chiasm, the first section mirrors the last, the second section mirrors the second to last, and so on, until you get to the center.  The center is the turning point or place of emphasis.  It was a literary structure that helped people memorize the material and discern a writer's intention.  If you’re interested, look at Matthew’s arrangement of the material, down below.  I believe that the center of Matthew’s Gospel is the very inconspicuous verse, 13:52, which contains Jesus’ words, ‘Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.’  Wow, isn’t that weird?

But it makes sense.  Matthew was a tax collector, a meticulous scribe who once counted coins for the Roman government taxing Israel.  When he met Jesus, he became a different kind of scribe.  He became a disciple of the kingdom, and as a scribe, he also asks us to become ‘scribes’ for Jesus’ kingdom, too.  That is, we are to copy Jesus’ teaching and pass it on.  In this case, Matthew is referring to his own book, but again, not in a way that excludes the other writings of the New Testament.  And now that almost everyone has their own Bibles already, the text of Matthew is physically in people’s hands, so to speak, but it still needs to be taken off the shelf.

The Kingdom Charter:  We have been given this revolutionary document, which in the first few centuries shaped the greatest missionary movement we’ve ever seen.  May it shape us and spur us on, too!  Here is my attempt to see a chiastic structure in the Gospel of Matthew:

 

A.  Jesus, Israel & the Gentiles, Fulfillment, God With Us (1:1 – 25)

Israel is still in exile, from the Babylonian captivity (1:11, 12, 17)

Gentiles included:  Four Gentile women are included in Jesus’ Jewish genealogy, the line of David (1:1 – 17)

An angel appears, announces fulfillment of what was spoken (1:22)

Immanuel:  the title given to Jesus means ‘God with us’ (1:23)

B.  Jesus Acknowledged as King by a Few (2:1 – 3:17)

Resistance from one ruler:  King Herod (2:1ff.)

Jesus’ title as ‘king’ or ‘Messiah’ occurs (2:2; 2:4; Micah’s messianic prophecy of ‘a ruler from Bethlehem’ in 2:6; ‘star’ is likely from prophecy of Messiah in Num.22 & 24; Gentile magi/kings honor Jesus as king and worship him in 2:11)

Jesus begins to retell Israel’s story (descent to Egypt and return in 2:13 – 23, fulfilling Hos.11:1 and Num.24:8)

Jesus’ baptism (foreshadowing death and resurrection) is God’s declaration of Jesus’ kingship; God speaks at Jesus’ baptism (3:13 – 17)

                C.  Jesus Overcomes the Three Temptations in the Wilderness (4:1 – 11)

                        D.  Jesus Announces the Kingdom and Gathers Disciples (4:12 – 25)

E.  First Major Discourse:  Blessings, the New City on a Hill (5:1 – 7:28)

Eight blessings (5:3 – 12) for openness to heart change (5:21 – 7:14)

Jesus calls his disciples’ community the new city on a hill, the new presence of God (5:13 – 16)

Ends with the wise and foolish builders emphasizing obedience to Jesus’ word; how great is its fall (7:21 – 29)

        F.  Jesus Calls to Israel as the Prophet Like Moses (8:1 – 9:34)

        Jesus shows his authority by performing ten miracles of healing and deliverance (8:1 – 9:34)

        Jesus heals people physically to how they were meant to be (8:1 – 9:34)

        Ninth miracle is the healing of the 2 blind men who call him ‘Son of David’ (9:27 – 31)

        Jesus begins to engage and divide Jewish leadership:  Pharisees, scribes, synagogue official (9:1 – 13, 18 – 26)

                G.  Second Major Discourse:  Jesus Trains the Disciples in Mission to Israel (9:35 – 11:1)

                Jesus sends disciples to Israel in mission, planting households and more disciples (9:35 – 10:42)

                H.  Division in Israel, Jesus Announces Concern for Gentiles (11:2 – 12:45)

                John the Baptist asks for the identity of Jesus; Jesus answers that he is the Messiah, from Isaiah (11:2 – 6)

                Jesus compares Israel unfavorably to Tyre, Sidon, Sodom (11:7 – 24)

                Jesus says he is greater than the Temple, and is Lord of the Sabbath, referring to Isaiah (11:25 – 12:21)

                Jesus does miracles to attest his identity, Beelzebub controversy (12:22 – 37)

                Pharisees demand a sign; Jesus’ sign is believing Gentiles:  Nineveh, Queen of the South (12:38 – 42)

                        I.  Third Major Discourse:  Kingdom Growth as a Household (Mt.12:46 – 13:58)

                        Jesus questioned about his household, tells parables about the cost of reaching others (12:46 – 13:51)

      Jesus forms his own household by his word (‘Therefore every scribe…is like a head of a household…’),

      but is rejected by his human household (13:52 – 58)

                H.’ Division in Israel, Jesus Enacts Mission to Gentiles (14:1 – 17:27)

    John the Baptist is beheaded (14:1 – 12); Jesus answers that he is the Messiah (14:13ff.)

    Jesus multiplies bread to attest his identity, invoking the numbers of King David, 5, 7, 12 (14:13 – 15:39)

                Jesus denounces Temple corruption, referring to Isaiah (15:1 – 20)

                Jesus compares the disciples unfavorably to the Canaanite woman (15:21 – 28)

    Pharisees demand a sign; Jesus offers sign of Jonah, reminds of the bread miracles (16:1 – 12) and speaks of

    death and resurrection:  himself (16:13 – 17:13), the boy (17:14 – 21), himself (17:22 – 23)

                G.’ Fourth Major Discourse:  Jesus Trains the Disciples to Disciple Others (18:1 – 19:2)

                Jesus trains his disciples to honor and shepherd new Christians, and extend forgiveness (18:1 – 33)

        F.’ Jesus Calls to Israel as the Prophet Like Moses and Heir of David (19:3 – 22:46)

        Jesus shows his authority by answering ten questions with ten quotations of the Old Testament (19:3 – 22:46)

        Jesus heals people spiritually, restoring us to the creation order for marriage, wealth, power (19:3 – 20:28)

        Healing of 2 blind men who call him ‘Son of David’ (20:29 – 34) almost verbatim to 9:27 – 31

        ‘Son of David’ title appears in dense repetition (20:29, 21:9, 21:15, 22:41 – 46)

        Jesus engages Israel’s leadership in the Temple; they reject him (21:15 – 22:46)

E.’ Fifth Major Discourse:  Woes, Fall of Jerusalem, the Old City on a Hill (23:1 – 25:46)

Eight woes for lack of heart change (23:1 – 39)

Fall of Jerusalem, the old city on a hill, the old site of the presence of God (24:1 – 51)

Ends with wise and foolish virgins, and the sheep and the goats emphasizing obedience to his disciples’ word (25:1 – 46)

                        D.’  Jesus Prepares His Disciples for His Death (26:1 – 35)

                C.’  Jesus Overcomes Temptation Three Times in the Garden, Peter Fails Temptation Three Times (26:36 – 75)

        B.’  Jesus Presented to the World as King and Rejected (27:1 – 66)

Resistance from all rulers:  the Jewish chief priests and the Roman rulers (27:1ff.)

Jesus’ title as ‘king’ or ‘Christ’ or ‘Son of God’ occurs repeatedly (27:11, 17, 22, 37, 42, 43, 54)

Jesus retells Joseph’s story (betrayed by a brother for silver ‘into Egypt’ in 27:1 – 10) and Israel’s story (in exile and cursed)

Death of Jesus, resurrection of the dead (figure of water baptism); Jesus speaks at his death (27:52 – 53)

A’.  Jesus, Israel & the Gentiles, Fulfillment, God With Us (28:1 – 20)

An angel appears, announces fulfillment of what was spoken, ‘Just as he said’ (28:6) and ‘Behold I have told you’ (28:7)

Jesus is resurrected and given Adamic authority (cf. Dan.7:13 – 14), meaning God has brought a human back from exile (28:6, 18)

Gentiles included:  All are invited and called to Jesus, the heir of David (28:16 – 20)

Immanuel:  Lo, I am with you always (28:20)