Lesson 4: Resurrection According to Matthew
The key to reading Matthew is to realize that he is “Mark plus.” He includes the entire book of Mark almost word for word. The plus is the addition of teachings and parables that pictures Mark’s worker of mighty acts as a teacher of higher righteousness.
One effect is to alter the focus of the Resurrection. Paul centered on the promise of God making all things right by restoring them to their proper priorities. Mark emphasized healing. Matthew constantly speaks of the Last Judgment when people will be raised for reward or punishment based on whether they lived by Jesus’ teachings. Evil is overcome not by granting a spirit that puts things in their right place or restoring the health of the ill or injured but by destroying evil and that includes evil people. The emphasis is placed on doing, not hearing; performance, not faith; obedience, not grace.
The epitome of Matthew’s perspective is his treatment of the Great Feast that Luke uses to proclaim unconditional grace. Matthew tells the original parable in which God invites the riff raff from the alleys when those who were prepared choose to decline his invitation. However, he adds a supplement that claims, nevertheless, that some are thrown out because they do not wear proper wedding garments. It doesn’t make sense. Nobody from the back streets has proper clothing. It is as if Matthew can’t stand letting it go with grace.
This is a constant in the first gospel. It makes a promise of God’s love but follows it with a qualification. Even his marvelous last parable that claims helping the least important counts for helping Christ himself is followed by a lengthy condemnation of those who fail to do this.
You see this also in the parables that Matthew chooses to add to Mark’s account. The Wicked Tenants, The Unforgiving Servant, The Ten Bridesmaids, The Two Sons are all based on a warning that threatens. And the threat is often pretty gruesome– such as being cut up into little pieces.
This perspective is carried over into his treatment of the church. Peter is granted keys to the kingdom so he can determine who gets in and who stays out. And Matthew’s primary description of the church centers on how to determine when to boot someone out of the church.
On the one hand, you have to admire Matthew for reporting Jesus’ wonderful teachings. On the other, you wish he would have left it at that. The teachings attract our response by challenging truth. There is no need to throw in the threats.
His Easter story is again Mark plus. It begins with the empty tomb that sends the apostles back to Galilee. He then makes an addition that reports some of the dead have already left their graves and walk the streets of Jerusalem, clearly an attempt to link God’s raising of Jesus with his imminent raising of us all. The young man in the tomb is replaced by angels who are doing God’s work on earth. Earthquakes repeatedly shake the world. There is an urgency in living by Jesus’ teachings because The Last Judgment is near.
Mathew overcomes the women’s fear by having Jesus himself appear to repeat the angels’ instructions. Significantly, the women worship the risen Jesus who has been given authority over all. Matthew notes this involves touching his feet apparently to stress that he is not a ghost but an embodied person.
Jesus then meets with “his brothers” in Galilee, just as he promised. Like the women, the eleven worship him. However, Matthew adds that some doubt. This is more mysterious than the telling conveys.
The Risen Christ then delivers the great commission which essentially tells his followers to continue the mission. True to Matthew’s theme, this involves spreading Jesus’ teachings to all nations. And Jesus promises to be with them as they do this.
I am finding separating what Paul and each evangelist says is helpful in laying the groundwork for understanding resurrection. I am not quite sure where this is going to lead, but right now it is bringing clarity to some of my questions.
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