Chapters 1 - 2 (Barr, pp. 316-19)

Examine the heading of the gospel in 1:1. Is this the heading of the whole gospel or just of the genealogy which directly follows? If it is the heading of the whole gospel, what clues to the nature of the gospel and Matthew’s view of Jesus does it give?

Read the genealogy in 1:1-18. Jesus’ origin is traced back to Abraham through Joseph. In Luke it is traced back to Adam. (The genealogies differ in other ways as well). Why is Jesus’ ancestry traced through Joseph? (Legal not physical descent?)

The genealogy is broken up into sections: Abraham to David, David to the Babylonian Exile, and the Exile to Messiah. Note that according to Gematria (a rabbinic interpretive technique based on numbers) the name David in Hebrew equals the number 14 ( D+W+D=14) . Why are there 14 generations in the first and second sections, but only thirteen in the last?

What elements break up the repeated pattern by which the genealogy is organized ?

Look up the Hebrew Bible references to the women if you do not recognize them:

Tamar - Gen 38; Rachab - Joshua 2; Ruth - the Book of Ruth, especially Chapter 3 and 4:13-17; and the one of Uriah (Bathsheba) - II Sam 11:1 - 12:25. In what ways is Mary like or unlike the other women? Why would the evangelist include these "shady" women?

What significant theological statements is Matthew making about Jesus through the genealogy?

How many references to the Hebrew Bible can you find in 1:18-2:23, directly in fulfillment quotations or indirectly by means of imagery or allusion? What parallels can you find between Jesus and Moses and Jesus and Israel in the birth story?

Chapters 3-4 (Barr, p. 319)

Compare Mt 3-4 to Mark 1:1-20. Matthew introduces the Pharisees and Sadducees in 3:7-12. How are they characterized? A number of these words and ideas will be echoed again throughout the gospel. After John is arrested in 3:12, Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee, repeating the message of John the Baptist (3:2 = 4:17). Matthew introduces an important fulfillment quotation in 3:14-16 which foreshadows subsequent events (extension of the mission beyond Israel to all the nations in 28:16-20).

Chapters 5-7 - The Sermon on the Mount - Messiah of Word (Barr, 319-22).

Who is the audience of the Sermon? Why on a mountain? (Luke has a sermon on the plain). Using the Gospel Parallels compare the beatitudes in Mt. 5:3-12 to Lk 6:17, 20-23. What do the differences indicate to you? What would you say Matthew’s attitude to the law was based on Mt. 5:17-20? How do you understand the antitheses of 5:21-48 (You have heard it said, but I say to you ...) Some suggested interpretations are as follows: They are a new law which the disciple can obey and follow in all times and places. They are part of an "interim ethic", strict demands which are to be obeyed in the limited time period before the end comes (i.e. capable of fulfillment over a short period of time). They are a goal to strive for and were never intended to be perfectly fulfilled. These antitheses are so radical that they are impossible to fulfill. Instead they shatter the idea of orderly existence in the world, causing people to turn their world upside down.

What impression do you get of the Pharisees in 6:1-21? Note that the subjects considered: alms, prayer, and fasting are forms of Jewish piety independent of the Temple.

The expression, "little-faiths" or "men of little-faith" first appears in 6:30. It also appears in 8:26; 14:31; and 16:8. What impression do you get as you read these passages?

1. The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:28)

2. The Missionary Discourse (10:1-42)

3. The Parable Discourse (13:1-53)

4. The Community Discourse (17:22-18:35)

5. The Apocalyptic Discourse (24:1-25:46)

There are five major discourses or long sermons in Matthew. These are marked off from the narrative by a repeated transitional verse which concludes the discourse and forms a transition to the narrative section that follows (7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; and 26:1). Some interpreters such as B. W. Bacon have compared Matthew to the five books of Moses. Each sermon with associated narrative material is analogous to one of the five books of Moses. These interpreters have seen the five sermons as the key to the gospel’s structure. Other interpreter’s have focused on the plot of the gospel, especially the conflicts between Jesus and the Jewish leaders and Jesus and the disciples. Others have argued that the gospel is structured by a series of overlapping verbal and thematic echoes (some examples are illustrated on the charts in Barr. 10.1 and 10.2). Another technique the evangelist uses to organize material is the repetition of stories with variations. For example there is a chiastic (x) pattern connecting a number of repeated stories:

A Two Blind Men (9:27-31)

B Sign of Jonah (12:38-42)

C Feeding of the 5,000 (14:13-21)

D The Canaanite Woman (15:22-28)

C’ Feeding of the 4,000 (15:32-38)

B’ Sign of Jonah (16:1-4)

A’ Two Blind Men (20: 29-34)

Why might the narrator tell these particular stories twice? Why might they be arranged in this order? What effects might this arrangement and the variations between the repeated stories have upon readers?

Chapters 8-9 - The Miracle Cycles - Messiah of Deed - Barr, pp. 322-23

Take a look at the chart in Barr on p. 322 outlining the three cycles of three miracles each in this section. Barr argues that for Mark miracles are ambiguous because he is combating an understanding of Jesus as a "divine-man" miracle worker like other such Hellenistic figures, an understanding which downplays the necessity of suffering. For Matthew, the miracles fulfill the understanding of Jesus as one who takes infirmities and bears diseases (8:17 citing Isaiah). Note that 9:35 essentially repeats 4:23, forming an inclusio or circle around Jesus as Messiah of Word in 5-7 and as Messiah of Deed in 8-9.

Chapter 10 - the Missionary Discourse - Barr, " Instructing the Leaders of the New Community", pp. 323-24

How does the harvest imagery and the sheep without a shepherd metaphor in 9:35-38 prepare us for the Missionary Discourse? The disciples are told to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In 15:24 the Canaanite woman moves Jesus beyond this limit. Chapter 28 extends the mission to panta ta ethne (to all the nations or to all the gentiles). Who are the "little ones" in 10:42?

Note: Matthew usually uses the expression "Kingdom of heavens" instead of "Kingdom of God", possibly to avoid directly speaking of God. Pious Jews sometimes sought to avoid doing so.

Chapter 12:46-50 and 13:53-58 form a circle around the parables. Who is the audience of the parable discourse? Some interpreters call 13:36 the watershed of the gospel. To whom is Jesus speaking in 13:34? In 13:36ff? Note the formula quotation in 13:35.

Compare and contrast Mt. 13 to Mark 4:1-34.

What is the difference between a parable and an allegory according to Barr?

Do you find a tension between the kingdom as present and future in these parables? What are some examples?

Chapters 14-16

Read Mt. 14:13-16:12. It contains the following episodes:

Feeding of the 5,000 (14: 13-21)

Second Stilling of Storm (14:22-33)

Summary of Healings (14:34-36)

Washing, eating, and defilement (15:1-20)

Canaanite Woman (15: 21-28)

Feeding of the 4,000 (15:29-38)

Second Sign of Jonah Episode (16:1-12)

What key words/motifs connect these passages? How are the disciples characterized? The religious leaders? The Crowds? The Canaanite woman? How would you compare the reactions of various characters( or character groups) to Jesus? From whose point of view are you making the comparisons?

Note shifts in time and place, i.e., spatial and temporal settings? Do any of these settings have symbolic significance? Focusing on the disciples, how would you compare Matthew’s portrait of the disciples to that of Mark?

Matthew focuses on Peter in 16:13-23. Note the play on words in vs. 18, petros means rock in Greek. The word church, ecclesia is found only here and in 18:17 in the gospels. It essentially meant an assembly before it became a technical term in Christianity. This passage has been controversial in the history of interpretation.

According to U. Luz in his book Matthew in History there have been four main interpretations of this passage:

1. Typological Interpretation

Origen: Peter is the type of the true spiritual Christian: " A rock is every disciple . . .who drank of the spiritual rock[Christ], who followed them." Focuses on the individual Christian.

2. Classical Eastern Interpretation:

The rock is the confession or the faith of Peter. Emphasis in fourth century, for example, is on Peter’s confession because its proponents had to defend their church’s confession of faith in Jesus as divine son against other confessions which it saw as false. Focus is on the church’s identity based on the traditional confession.

3. Christological Interpretation in West:

Real rock is not Peter, but Christ. Peter and through him the whole church is built upon Christ alone. Salvation by grace.

"Now this name Peter was given him by the Lord, and that in a figure, that he should signify the Church. For seeing that Christ is the rock (Petra), Peter is the Christian people. For the rock (Petra) is the original name. Therefore is Peter so called from the rock; not the rock from Peter; as Christ is not called Christ from the Christian, but the Christian from Christ (Augustine, Sermo. 26.1, from A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English)"

Augustine did not see this as anti-papal, but Luther did: Christ, not the pope, is the rock.

Allowed Christians to identify with Peter in his confession and in his humanness.

4. The Roman Interpretation

Probably appears for the first time in the third century in order to justify special role for bishop of Rome.. First clear application of Mt. 16:18 being applied to bishop of Rome is that of Stephen who was pope from 254-257 C.E. This interpretation not very important or common until the Counter-reformation. Served as a legitimation of R. Catholic orthodoxy and institutional power at first against Protestants and later against other threats such as secularization.

Matthew 17-18 (Barr p. 326-28), The Characterization of Jesus (18-28)

17:1-23 essentially parallels Mark 9:2-32. Chapter 17:24-27 is the Temple Tax story and refers to Peter, an important character in Matthew.

18:1-19:1. The Community Discourse. Who is the audience for Jesus’ discourse? What laws does Jesus promulgate for the community? Notice the repeated catchwords "child" and "little ones". Who are they? Where have we seen 18:7-9 before? What is the point of the parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew? Jesus presence with the community (18:20) carries forward a theme of the gospel also seen in 1:23 and 28:20. What contribution does the closing parable (18:23-35) make to the understanding of the community put forward in the Community Discourse?

Matthew 19-23

Chapters 19-22, essentially follow the same pattern as Mark with a few additions.

19:1-12. Note the presence of the reference, "except for unchastity" in vs. 9. This reference, absent in the Markan parallel, puts Jesus’ teaching in line with the strict school of Rabbi Shammai.

Chapter 23: 1-36 - The Woes Against the Scribes and Pharisees . Note Matthew counsels obedience to the scribes and Pharisees in 23:2-3. Much of Mt 6 is echoed in Chapter 23. How do the prohibitions in vs. 8-12 against being called rabbi or instructor and of calling anyone father on earth fit into Matthew’s views of Jesus and discipleship? For what types of actions are the scribes and Pharisees condemned in the series of seven woes? According to Barr, why does Matthew contain such harsh condemnations?

Chapter 23:37-39 - The Lament Over Jerusalem (=Lk 13:34-35) - A saying that may help Christians to come to terms with the destruction of Jerusalem.

Many argue that Matthew is the most Jewish of the Gospels.  It traces Jesus' genealogy back to Abraham and David, contains numerous fulfillment quotations from the Hebrew Bible, compares Jesus to Moses, stresses the importance of fulfillment of Torah, has Jesus urge practicing what the scribes and Pharisees teach, etc.  Yet, Chapter 6 and the woes of Chapter 23 and the use of the phrase "your synagogues" or "their synagogues" seems to indicate at least a separation between Christian and other synagogues.  Also, historically Matthew 27:25 has been used to condemn the entire Jewish people as "Christ-killers".  How should these passages be treated by modern interpreters?  Are there ethical obligations for interpreters which arise because the historical context has changed from a situation in which Christians were deviant Jews to one in which Christians are members of a separate religion, far greater in numbers, and have knowledge of the Holocaust ?  For background on Matthew and Judaism and Barr's take on this, see Barr 334-42..

Matthew 24-25. The Apocalyptic Discourse

The Apocalyptic Discourse parallels Mark 13:1-32, but also has a series of parables which Mark lacks ( Faithful and Unfaithful Slaves, The Ten Maidens, the Talents, and the Last Judgement). For those scholars who argue that one can use a mirror technique to reconstruct the historical situation of Matthew’s community, this discourse is full of "clues". See 24: 9-14, 23-28, 36-51 and 25:13. Hint: some scholars see signs of an argument about the delay of the parousia (second coming). Who are the "least of these my brothers [the members of my family in the NSRV] in 25: 40? Some interpreters have suggested the literally poor and destitute. Others argue that the least of these my brothers are Christians. In the latter case, those to whom the Christians go as missionaries are judged in terms of how they receive these missionaries. Compare 5:17-20 and 24: 35. What do you make of this?

Matthew 26-28

Compare Matthew 26:47 - 27:66 to Mark 14:43 - 15:47. What are the major differences? How does Matthew’s portrait of Jesus differ from that of Mark in these passages? How is it similar? Note Barr's discussion on 329-30 and on the characterization of Jesus overall in Matthew on 330-32.

Compare Mt. 28 to Mark 16:1-8. How do the differing endings contribute to the differing portraits of Jesus and the disciples in Mark and Matthew? The Great Commission to go to panta ta ethne in Matthew may refer to the Gentiles or to all nations including Israel. In any case the mission is now clearly extended beyond Israel. What earlier passages foreshadowed this development? In the birth stories the reader learns that Jesus is God with Us. In the Great Commission, Jesus promises to be with the disciples always to the end of the age. Some interpreters argue that the birth stories and the Great Commission set off the time of Jesus as a sacred time of revelation and fulfillment (N. Perrin, for example).  Do you agree or disagree with this analysis?

Portrait of Jesus - Use of Christological Titles and Words and Deeds

Below are some of the titles used in Matthew: