THE PASSION
NARRATIVE (Matt 26:1-28:20)
We have on several
occasions spoken or the Gospels as passion narrative with an extended
introduction, implying that the real message of theme of the gospel
message is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
In this final narrative of the Gospel, we encounter the real theme or
purpose and theology of the Gospel, the suffering, death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus, or to put it in other words, the fulfillment of
God's plan of salvation for mankind. In this section we see the heilsgeschichte
of God brought to its climax and fulfillment.
Hagner's Introduction to this section is so cogent that we include parts
of it for easy reference:
"In the
story of the passion and resurrection of Jesus we come to the
climax of the Gospel and by far the longest consecutive narrative
in Matthew. Here the goal of Jesus'
mission is realized. The death of Jesus on the cross
is no surprise, not does it indicate the failure of Jesus'
mission. From the evangelist's point of view, it
is the fulfillment of scripture (26:54, 56), the fixed will
of God, and the deliberate choice of the obedient Son of
God. This, indeed, is the unique time
(kairos) of Jesus (26:18). Therefore,
the tone of the narrative is not one of tragedy or defeat but one
of accomplishment and victory even before we reach the triumph of
the resurrection in chap. 28....
The passion narrative is a literary masterpiece. It
contains gripping drama that cannot but move the reader, yet there
is nothing maudlin here. The crucifixion is snot
described but is referred to in the briefest way. Pervading
the narrative is a deep sense of irony. Though sinful men do
their best to thwart the mission of Jesus, they accomplish the
very purpose for which he came and thus fulfill God's will.
It is this that primarily accounts for the paradoxical tone of the
narrative. But the plot is full of lesser ironies. One
of the twelve betrays Jesus while the other disciples, who had
profusely insisted upon their loyalty to Jesus, abandon their
master in the moment of crisis. The hearings before the
members of the Sanhedrin and before Pilate are at best travesties
of justice that condemn on e who was truly innocent of
death. Yet it is the Roman prefect who knows Jesus'
innocence (27:23-24).... The final and
correct assessment of Jesus, which caps the crucifixion narrative,
comes not from the Jews but from a most unlikely source, a Roman centurion
and his soldiers, who conclude what the reader has been led to
conclude throughout, namely, that "this was truly the Son of
God" (27:54)." |
THE
RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Matt 28 focuses chiefly on the final
aspect of the Gospel Narrative, The Resurrection of Jesus.
However, the narrative does
not describe the actual resurrection of Jesus, only the results of the
resurrection, namely:
| 1. |
the empty
tomb and appearances of Jesus to the two Marys |
| 2. |
the narrative of the bribing of the Roman
soldiers |
| 3. |
the appearance of Jesus before the disciples in Galilee and the giving
of the great commission |
The fact that no-one witnessed the actual
resurrection of Jesus has led some critical scholars, especially during
the first half of the 20th century, to question whether the resurrection
could in fact be considered historical! (For detailed discussion of this
mindset, see Wolfhardt Pannenberg, Jesus God and Man, 1968, and the
other publications of scholars associated with the so called
Pannenberg Circle, which program was devoted to defending the historicity
of the resurrection and the role that history plays in faith, contra to
the Neo Orthodox thinking of Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, et al. The
trend of historical and theological thought o the 19th century had been
that events could only be considered historical if they could be verified
by empirical evidence. Since the pivotal work by Pannenberg, history
has found its way back into faith which is evidenced in the works of
scholars such as I. Howard Marshall, F. F. Bruce, Leon Morris, et al.)
Since belief in the resurrection of Jesus is considered by Christians to
be fundamental and essential to Christian faith (see 1 Cor 15 in which
Paul argues stridently for the reality of the resurrection, especially,
the resurrection of Jesus) the narratives of Matt 28 and the parallel
sections in the other three Gospels is of prime importance to the Gospel
message and narrative.
Hagner is correct in observing in regard to the empty tomb narrative that:
| The resurrection narrative begins
with the empty tomb account.... The narrative presupposes the
resurrection of Jesus rather than giving an account of how or when
it happened. It is fundamentally an announcement of the fact
of the resurrection without an actual resurrection appearance... |
Before engaging the narrative of the empty
tomb itself, we make some passing, yet important observations regarding
the resurrection of Jesus:
| 1. |
Paul in 1 Cor 15:1-4
discusses the resurrection as a vital and essential ingredient of
the gospel message of salvation he preached:
|
1 Now
I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to
you the gospel, which you received, in
which you stand, 2 by which you are saved, if
you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of
first importance what I also received, that Christ
died for our sins in accordance with the
scriptures, 4 that he was
buried, that he was raised on
the third day in accordance with the scriptures... |
|
| 2. |
Jesus appeared after his
resurrection on at least 12 different occasions
| 1. |
To
Mary Magdalene. Jn 20:14; Mk 16:9.
This is possibly the same appearance as recorded in
Matthew 28 to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. |
| 2. |
To
two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Lk 24:13ff; Mk
16:12. |
| 3. |
To
Peter. Lk 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5. |
| 4. |
To
the 10 disciples in the upper room. Jn 20:1-9
(Thomas absent). |
| 5. |
To
the 11 disciples in the upper room. Jn20:26; Lk
24:36; Mk 16:1ff. Thomas present, great commission
given. |
| 6. |
The
disciples at the sea of Tiberias (Galilee). |
| 7. |
To
the 11 disciples on the mountain in Galilee. Matt
28:16-20. The great commission given. |
| 8. |
To
500 brethren at one time. ! Cor 15:7. |
| 9. |
To
James. ! Cor 15:7. |
| 10. |
To
all of the apostles. 1 Cor 15:7. |
| 11. |
At
the Ascension. Lk 24:50f; Acts 1:3f; Mk 16:19. |
| 12. |
To
Paul. 1 Cor 15:8; 1 Cor 9:1; Acts 9:308. |
|
| 3. |
Although rejected by the
Sadducees, the resurrection was a significant aspect of Jewish
eschatology, with a general resurrection expected at the close of
the age. |
Hagner (p. 873) observes:
"the
bodily resurrection of Jesus is the sine qua non of the
Christian faith... This is the decisive miracle of the narrative
that makes the Gospel coherent and compelling. Without the
reality of this miracle we would be left with puzzle upon
puzzle. IN a very important sense too this miracle provides
a test case for whether we have a view of reality that is
compatible with the NT proclamation. That view of reality
must at least be open to the possibility of supernatural events
happening in time and space. If, as with the virgin
birth..., we are in a realm where the historian qua
historian is incapacitated, that does not reduce us to depending
upon blind faith....
None of the alternative explanations of the resurrection of Jesus
- whether a stolen body, a Jesus who only "swooned," or
a mistaken tomb - is adequate to explain the total range of
phenomena that must be explained historically - i.e., that
provides a comprehensive account of what happened - is the reality
of the resurrection of Jesus." |
The Empty Tomb and Resurrection of Jesus (Matt 28;1-10)
Most translations translate the Greek oye
- opse
as a preposition with a genitive noun
would be translated "late." However, with an
"improper" genitive noun such as Sabbatwn
- Sabbaton - Sabbath, it can be translated as in Matt 28:1 as
"after the Sabbath". The term, however, literally means
"evening". Oye - opse
could be an adverb in which case it could be translated "late in the
day or evening."
The RSV translates this " Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of
the first day of the week"
The NRSV translates this "After the sabbath, as the first day of the
week was dawning".
The NIV translates it as "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day
of the week".
The KJV translates it as "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to
dawn toward the first day of the week".
The early Christians understood this to mean "After the Sabbath had
closed and early on the first day of the week..."
It is because of the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday that Sunday became
the holy and special day of worship for Christians. Christians,
because of this, worshipped on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor
16:2), and the day became known as "The Lord's Day" (Rev 1:10).
The two women went to the tomb most likely to mourn the death of Jesus.
As in the previous chapter there was a great earthquake, signifying some
divine intervention, and an angel appeared and rolled back the stone
sealing the mouth of the tomb. It certainly would have been too
heavy for two women to roll it back! the angel's appearance was so
striking that the guards (notice, they were still there) fell down
"as dead" in great fear.
Offering to show them the empty tomb, the angel encouraged the two women
not to be afraid, but to go quickly and tell the disciples that Jesus had
risen from the tomb. they were to tell the disciples to meet Jesus
at Galilee, for Jesus was going before the disciples to Galilee. The
words of the angel to the women are interesting, "He is not here, he
is risen."
The women left quickly with mixed emotions, fear and great joy. Fear
because remarkable and strange things had happened! Jesus had
risen! An angel had appeared! There was great
earthquake! Any one of these events would cause fear in most
people! But they were filled with great joy! Jesus was not
there! He was alive! He was going to meet the disciples in
Jerusalem!
Shortly after this Jesus met the women and greeted them "Hail"
is how the RSV records this, but the greeting of Jesus was simply cairein
- cheirein - greeting. These were the first words spoken by
the risen Christ, and they were spoke to two women! But why first to
the two women? Because they were there! They cared enough to
be there at the tomb! The women humbly worshipped Jesus, they
"took hold of his feet"! Jesus encouraged them not to be
afraid, but to go and tell his brethren to go to Galilee, for there they
would see Jesus for themselves!
An interesting point is that Jesus continues to call his disciples his
brothers! he has done this on several occasions in Matthew
(12:48-50; 25:40), and continues to do so even though they have denied him
and forsaken him!
Bribing The Soldiers (Matt 28:11-15)
It is natural that the duplicitous Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin would
have to do something to keep the guards at the tomb quiet! As they
had done before, they are wiling to pay a bribe to achieve their
purposes! The tell the guard to go and say that he disciples had
come during the night and stolen the body! The Chief Priests would
take care of any concerns the governor would have that the soldiers had
not adequately guarded the tomb! As a result the story of the
disciples stealing the body of Jesus spread quickly among the Jews.
However, it is surprising that no disciple ever confessed to stealing the
body of Jesus, or knowing of those who did steal the body, even under dire
circumstances, persecution and martyrdom!
The Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20)
This narrative of Jesus meeting his disciples in Galilee is unique to
Matthew.
Matt 28:18-20 is perhaps the key to the whole Gospel
narrative. It concerns making disciples of all nations!
Matthew's community would need to know this, and that Jesus had
commissioned his apostles for this purpose. It now remained the
purpose also of the Matthean community!
The eleven disciples meet Jesus on a mountain in Galilee, just as Jesus
had instructed them through the two women. Traditionally this
mountain has been identified as Mount Tabor, but we have no certain
information on this other than tradition. Mount Tabor is about 13
miles West of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. (Click
here to go to a map depicting Mount Tabor)
When the disciples saw Jesus, "they worshipped him, but
some doubted." That they worshipped him is not
surprising, but what does Matthew mean when he adds "but
some doubted?" The word distazw
- distadzo is found only in Matthew (29:17 and 14:31) and
nowhere else in the NT. In Matt 14:31 it occurs when Peter walks on
the sea and begins to sink. Jesus says to him "O man of little
faith, why did
you doubt?" Distadzo can mean either
"doubt" or "hesitate". Perhaps it would be
better to understand distadzo in Matt 28:17 as doubt that lies
in hesitancy rather than doubt that lies in disbelief. (The
student is encouraged to note the comments by Hagner, pp. 684f on this
interesting point. Hagner observes that distadzo "here amounts
to hesitation, indecision... and perhaps uncertainty.") But one
might ask, why uncertainty or hesitation, rather than joy? We
should remember the trauma experienced by the disciples, as well as the
guilt they felt over abandoning Jesus in his hour of trial. How
would Jesus relate to them now? Matthew
does not develop this point since it does not fit into the theological
scheme of this last and climactic paragraph to his Gospel. To learn
of Jesus reaction one should refer to John 21 where Jesus goes fishing
with the disciples, encourages them, and speaks tenderly to Peter,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?" "Feed my
sheep!"
Matthew's point in his narrative to his Jewish
community of the great commission focuses on Jesus Messianic authority,
and his charge to his disciples to make disciples of all nations.
The commission to the disciples in Matthew is
unique to Matthew in that it focuses on several salient Matthean
emphases:
| 1. |
His Messianic authority |
| 2. |
The charge to "make
disciples" |
| 3. |
The charge to
"go" |
| 4. |
The charge to
"baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit" |
| 5. |
The charge to
"teach them to observe all that I have commanded you" |
First, we comment on
the Messianic authority:
The aorist passive verb edoqh
- edothe (from didwmi
- didomi - to give) is understood as a divine action in which God
is the one who in his divine sovereignty gives Jesus the authority
as the Messiah to function as the king over God's kingdom (one of the
major themes of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is the Messianic king over God's
kingdom). This text does not simply transfer to Jesus divine
authority over the kingdom, but is in fact divine authority over all
existence, both in heaven and on earth! And, furthermore, it
transfers to Jesus "all
authority" over all God's creation
both in heaven and on earth!
Hagner adds this
significant thought (which is also the major premise of Wolfhardt
Pannenberg's theological program) that the resurrection validates and
vindicates all the words and deeds of Jesus' ministry!
Make disciples of all
nations:
The controlling
imperative of the great commission is the simple charge "make
disciples". Maqhteusate
- matheteusate - "make disciples" is the only verb in the
imperative mood in the commission! The commission charges the
disciples to "make disciples"! This is not surprising in
the context of Matthew's Gospel since this is what we learned form the
limited commission! What do disciples of Jesus do? They make
disciples!
The remainder of the words of the great commission explain how
disciples are to be made, and of
whom disciples are to
be made!
The imperative "make disciples" is surrounded by three
participles; "go," "baptizing," and
"teaching." Participles have no mood such as indicative
mood, subjunctive mood, or imperatival mood, but they pick up or take on
the mood of the dominant verb controlling the statement. In this
case the dominant verb, "make disciples" is a verb in the
imperatival mood, hence, the three participles become imperatival
participles! They are also considered to be "modal"
participles which explain how
the imperatival verb is to be carried out!
In order to
"make disciples" the Apostles are to "go"!
Remember, the word apostle implies one sent or commissioned to go
in behalf of the sender! In the context of both the 11
disciple/apostles and Matthew's community of disciples, they are to
go! The tendency for a Jew would be to remain in Jerusalem or
wherever they were in their community. But to carry our their
messianic ministry of making disciples, they are to go! As an
participle this should not be translated "as you go" or
"wherever you go", but should be understood in the imperatival
mood, "you must go"!
This would be important to both the Apostles, and especially to Matthew's
community who were now living in a Gentile world. They were to leave
the "comfort" of their own circle and go!
But where were they to
go to? Jesus has
already qualified this! They were to make disciples of all
nations! The
expression ta eqnh
- ta ethne means either "the nations," or in the context
of Judaism, "the Gentiles." Neither the Apostles nor
Mathew's community were to limit their messianic ministry only to the Jews
("the lost
sheep of the house of Israel"
Matt 10:6) as in the
limited commission. Because of this we know this commission as the
Great Commission, for it was for all, the Jews and the
Gentiles!
For Matthew's community this would have significant meaning, as it does
today to the Christians who often are satisfied to wait for people
"like themselves" to come to church to be converted to become
"like us"!
But how does one make
disciples? A
disciple is a learner, one who has been instructed
by a teacher and who follows
the teacher. The process of making disciples hinges around who the
disciple is to follow! In the Christian case disciples are disciples
of the Messiah, or Jesus. People need to be taught about Jesus and how
to follow him.
An uninstructed or taught person cannot be a disciple! We do not
become disciples on our own terms. This we have learned from the
Gospel of Matthew. Discipleship is a radical decision to leave self
and follow Jesus. The Sermon on the mount explained what kind of
person a disciple should be. The Limited Commission explained what
disciples do. The Kingdom Parables taught how to understand the life
of a disciple in the kingdom. The Discourse on the Christian
Community taught how Christians relate to one another in a Christian
community. The Apocalyptic Discourse explained the central focus of
the Messianic kingdom, it was not Jerusalem, but the Messiah. The
man who tried to enter the marriage banquet without wedding garments was
cast out indicating that one does not gate crash the kingdom on one's own
terms. Potential disciples
need to be taught these principles about following Jesus and the kingdom
of God.
Baptizing them!
Disciples become
disciples of Jesus by being united with him. In the Christian
community one is united to Jesus by being baptized into Jesus (see Rom
6:1-9; Gal 3:25-29. Students
are encouraged at this point to click here to go to a detailed study on
Christian baptism.)
It is obvious that before being baptized the potential disciple must be
told to
believe in Jesus,
and how to believe in Jesus. We see this in Acts 16 :25-33 in the
case of the Philippian Jailor who first had to be taught and then was
baptized.
Potential disciples must also be taught to turn from their past life of
sin to the new life in Christ. In Christian circles we call this
repentance.
In Acts 2:28, when the Jews present on the Day of Pentecost believed that
the one they had crucified was both Lord and Master, the Messiah, they
were told first to repent and then be baptized. It is only when one
truly believes in Jesus, and trusts in what God is doing through Jesus,
that one is ready to completely surrender to Jesus and turn away from the
world and sin and turn to God and Jesus. This complete surrender in
the Christian faith is called repentance. The turning to Jesus is
completed when one is united with Jesus. This in the Christian faith
occurs in baptism when one is baptized into Christ."
Baptism in the New Testament is depicted as a burial and a going down into
water and coming up out of water (see Rom 6:1-9 and Acts 8:38 and
39). thus New Testament baptism is by immersion, is based on faith
in Jesus, and is accompanied by repentance. It is a believers
baptism, implying that one must be able to believe and repent for
oneself. Infant "baptism" by "sprinkling" is a
late church appendage or development, and is not what is taught or
practiced in the New Testament.
The disciples are to be baptized
in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
There is some discussion on "baptized
in
the name of". Eis
- eis can be translated or understood in a number of ways depending
on context and syntax! The Arndt and Gingrich
Greek-English Lexicon devotes a little over 4 pages of text to eis!
It can denote direction, cause, purpose, reference, and several other
nuances. Its most common meanings include into, in, among.
In the case of Matt 28:19 it is translated in all the major translations,
namely, the RSV, the NRSV, the NIV, the NASB, the KJV, as "in
the name of." Hagner suggests that in keeping with Hebrew
/Aramaic tendencies it could mean "fundamentally determined
by". We should note, furthermore, that :in the name of" is
a Hebraism for "in the person of" or "as though the person
of someone" was speaking.
In the case of "baptizing them in the name of" we should
understand this as "baptizing them fundamentally determined by"
or "baptizing them as though the father, son, and Holy Spirit"
were baptizing the disciples. The one baptizing is acting for and in
behalf of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A resultant meaning
would be "baptizing them by the authority or will and instruction of
the Father, son, and Holy Spirit."
Perhaps one should remember that Jesus began his commission with a statement
concerning
authority!
Disciples, once baptized into
the fellowship of Christ and the Christian community need to be taught!
Fundamentally, they need to be taught what the life of a disciple is all
about,; the character of the disciple, the ministry of the disciple, the
meaning of kingdom membership, how to live as disciples in a Christian
community, and where to fix their hope! Sound familiar! There
are certain fundamentals of the Christina faith that new disciples need to
be taught. this teaching is an on going process that never
ends! There are always new challenges to discipleship.
Primarily, disciples need to be taught the primary lesson of discipleship
in Matthew's Gospel; discipleship
is a radical life!
Disciples are different!
The expression "all that i have commanded you" in the context of
Matthew's Gospel refers to the lessons of discipleship learned form Jesus
through the Gospel message.
"I am with you
always, to the close of the age" implies
an ongoing mission, especially one that reaches beyond the recent tragedy
in the lives of Matthew's community, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem,
or the trauma of Jesus' disciples experience in the crucifixion of
Jesus. Through whatever lies ahead, the disciples are promised the
ongoing presence of Jesus.
The expression "the
close of the age"
takes us back to Matt 24:3 and the final expression of that narrative in
Matt 24:14, "then the end will come."
The point Jesus was making was that before the close of the age or the
end, there would be the need for the preaching of the gospel. Jesus
precise words were, "And this gospel of the
kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all
nations; and
then the end will come."
In commissioning his disciples and sending them out as Apostles to make
disciples of all nations, Jesus promised always to be with them. The
Apostles would not be alone as they preached; Jesus would be with them in
power and spirit. His presence would be real.
Summary of the Great
Commission and the Gospel Narrative:
Note Hagner's concluding remarks to this narrative and to the Gospel as a
whole:
| The risen Jesus is central to the
existence and proclamation of the church. There would be no
gospel if there had been no resurrection.... It is the risen
Jesus, to whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given,
who here commissions his disciples and in effect the church of
every period of history. They are to go everywhere with the
message of good news in the name of the authority of Jesus.... The
risen, enthroned Jesus promises to be with them in their
fulfillment of it, not intermittently but always. |
|