Salvation in Continuity

Reconsidering Matthew's Soteriology

Mothy Varkey

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781506425061
• eBook ISBN:
  9781506432526
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

It is clear that according to Matthew's Gospel, Jesus came to "save his people from their sins" (1:21), to "give his life as a ransom for many" (20:28), to have his blood "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (26:28). But if salvation as promised in 1:21 is achieved only through Jesus' death, asks Mothy Varkey, are the twenty-five preceding chapters merely preamble? Varkey argues, to the contrary, that the key theme of salvation in the Gospel is presented by Matthew as being in continuity with God's saving acts in the history of the Jewish people. Further, Varkey insists that, as a consequence of this theology of continuity, Jesus' death on the cross represents just one of the many ways in which the Gospel presents God's salvific deeds. The death of Jesus, while unique due to his ontological status as Son of God, should not be distinguished too sharply from his saving acts during his earthly ministry, which took the form of salvific teaching of the Torah, healings, exorcisms, and forgiving of sins. The result is a narrative emphasizing the continuity of salvation throughout Jesus life, reaching into Israel's past, and beyond into the work of the disciples.

4

The Saviour as Teacher and Judge

Matthew’s Initial Depiction of Jesus’s Salvific Roles in Chapters 1–7

Introduction

The Gospel of Matthew offers a theological-contextual understanding of God’s saving initiative in Jesus. In this respect, Matthew’s account of Jesus’s saving is a theological response to the historical and soteriological questions, challenges, and concerns of post-70 ce Judaism. Arguably, this best explains the distinctions and variations in Matthew’s version of the story of Jesus, the various titles and salvific roles that Matthew attributes to Jesus, and how and why he links Jesus’s saving to various other theological themes and issues in the Gospel narrative. How Matthew introduces and unfolds Jesus’s status and his salvific roles reflects how Matthew unpacks his understanding of salvation. This chapter, therefore, seeks to unravel how Matthew theologically and contextually depicts or situates Jesus and his saving roles—teacher and judge—especially in chapters 1–7 but also elsewhere in the Gospel.

Genealogy, Fulfillment Citations, and Typologies: Affirmation of Historical and Soteriological Continuity

Mark begins his Gospel with Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστου (“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ”: 1:1), possibly as a title or as the beginning of a sentence, which then goes on immediately to bring a mixed citation in Isaiah’s name, referring to John the Baptist (1:2–4). But Matthew replaces Mark 1:1 and begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus (1:1–17). Matthew then goes on to introduce two whole chapters of additional elucidations, before coming to John. In his opening words, Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ Δαυὶδ υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ (“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” 1:1), Matthew supplements Mark’s “Jesus Christ” with “Son of David” and “son of Abraham.” Such an evocative beginning not only provides the readers with an opening into the narrative, but also introduces the theological and soteriological presuppositions for understanding the text.

Genealogy

For Matthew, the genealogy (1:1–17) is more than a mere “introduction” to his Gospel. The understanding of the history of Israel and the theological and soteriological premises that Matthew unfolds in the genealogy either identify or foreshadow the major theological themes and soteriological emphases to follow. Scholars have construed the understanding of the history of Israel unfurled in the genealogy (1:1–17) from different vantage points. According to Carter, Matthew views the history of Israel in a “christological” perspective in that the coming of Jesus is “the decisive event,” for it signals “the dawning of the new age.”^[1] In the view of Kennedy, the genealogy is “teleological,” for it “recapitulates” Israel’s history in such a way that it points to the fulfillment Jesus brings and “the climactic and definitive” nature of its fulfillment.^[2] In the same way, Luz also assumes that the genealogy underscores the divine saving plans that lead the history of Israel to Jesus.^[3] This is analogous to the Heilsgeschichte position, particularly Kingsbury’s view, that the genealogy represents a “preparatory” period.^[4]

But the “christological” and “teleological” readings of the genealogy raise some issues (1:1–17). Does the christological and teleological interpretation of the “preparatory” nature of the history of Israel mean that for Matthew the arrival of Jesus marks the beginning of a new “epoch” of salvation? If so, does that mean what God had done and instituted in the past to save his people lacked salvific sufficiency? These are important questions for understanding Matthew’s theological intentions behind beginning his story of Jesus’s saving with the genealogy.

For Matthew, the genealogy (1:1–17) suggests rather an uninterrupted history of God’s saving initiatives in the life of the people of Israel, which began with the calling of Abraham (1:2), and continued up to and including the coming of Jesus the saviour (1:18–25). And all that God instituted and initiated in the past to save his people was salvifically sufficient and efficacious. Further, because God is saving, God’s saving dealings with his people (must) continue in history. This is why Matthew commences his account of the “good news” of salvation with God’s saving interventions in the history of Israel (1:1–17).^[5] Thus as Alkier rightly suggests, the genealogy functions for the reader as an Aufruf zur Erinnerung, summoning the reader to locate Jesus’s saving in continuity with the history of God’s saving initiatives sketched in these opening lines.^[6]

The structure of the genealogy also indicates Matthew’s understanding of salvation in continuity. It is normal to assume that Jesus comes at the “climax” of what is depicted as three groups of “fourteen generations” or as the “culmination” (τελος) of that history which originated with Abraham. But, for Matthew, it does not mean the divine saving initiatives in the history of Israel were mere “preparatory events,” nor are they replaced by Jesus’s saving, as the salvation historians argue. Rather, it means Jesus’s saving affirms and fulfills God’s salvific plans and promises, which thus shows that God still saves his people as he did in the past. As Loader correctly observes, this would have made sense to Matthew’s Jewish audience who would have unreservedly shared “such numerological presuppositions and . . . [interpreted] them theologically as reflecting divine intent” and saving plans for his people.^[7]

By beginning the genealogy with Abraham (1:2), Matthew further reinforces the continuity not only between Jesus and God’s people, but also between Jesus’s saving and God’s saving in the past. In Luke, on the other hand, the point of departure is Adam (3:38). For Matthew, Abraham serves as the initiation of the history of God’s saving because it is with Abraham that God made his foundational covenant (Gen 12:15). Furthermore, in contrast with Luke and 1 Chronicles, the omission of all names prior to Abraham leads to the identification of Jesus as the one who saves Jews—“king of the Jews” (2:2)—which (re)“assures” Matthew’s hearers that Jesus’s saving is continuous with God’s saving dealings with the people of Israel and “caught up” in God’s ever-continuing saving activity for them.

However, Matthew’s introduction of the four women (1:3, 5–6)—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and B...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table Of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations and Style
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Method of Approach
• The Saviour as Teacher and Judge
• The Saviour as Healer and Helper
• The Saviour in Death and Resurrection
• Conclusions
• Bibliography