The New Testament Church

The Challenge of Developing Ecclesiologies

Harrison, Dvorak

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781630877811
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Christian communities today face enormous challenges in the new contexts and teachings that try to redefine what churches should be. Christians look to the New Testament for a pattern for the church, but the New Testament does not present a totally uniform picture of the structure, leadership, and sacraments practiced by first-century congregations. There was a unity of the Christian communities centered on the teaching that Jesus is the Christ, whom God has raised from the dead and has enthroned as Lord, yet not every assembly did exactly the same thing and saw themselves in exactly the same way. Rather, in the New Testament we find a collage of rich theological insights into what it means to be the church. When leaders of today see this diversity, they can look for New Testament ecclesiologies that are most relevant to the social and cultural context in which their community lives. This volume of essays, written with the latest scholarship, highlights the uniqueness of individual ecclesiologies of the various New Testament documents and their core unifying themes.

1

Matthew’s Vision for Jesus’ Community of Disciples

John P. Harrison

Matthew’s Gospel was written towards the end of the first century1 for a community of Diaspora Jewish Christians2 by a Jewish Christian trained in scribal practices.3 This community of believers confessed Jesus as the Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, who is the Son of the living God. Jesus fulfills the promises God made to Abraham to make him the father of a great nation. God fulfilled his promise by forming a people who recognize Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Abraham and David, as the Messiah who has risen from the dead. He is the Messiah whose kingdom and righteousness was anticipated by Israel’s prophets and who is now coming into the world.

In addition to telling the story about God’s actions in, through, and by Jesus, Matthew’s Gospel points towards the author’s vision of what the community of Jesus’ followers ought to look like. The author composed his account when there were various Christian communities (e.g., Petrine and Pauline) and competing theologies (e.g., opponents of Paul) of what a Jesus-follower should believe and practice. By observing which details Matthew emphasizes in the construction of his story,4 one may put together a portrait of certain ecclesiastical challenges he faced and the ecclesiastical vision he hoped his audience would adopt.

In order to provide a general overview of the “historical church of Matthew” or the direction he wanted them to move in, I will address six key questions: (1) Was Matthew’s community primarily composed of Jewish Christians? An answer to this question will help indicate the general ethnic and cultural heritage of Matthew’s immediate audience. (2) Where did Matthew’s community live? If Matthew’s community can be identified with a specific geographical location, any information about that location gives better insight into what social and political realities were faced by the community. (3) What image of the community dominates Matthew’s ecclesiology? Answering this question will provide an overarching perspective of Matthew’s ecclesiastical vision for his readers. (4) What points does Matthew want to stress when he uses the word “church”? No description of Matthew’s ecclesiology would be satisfactory without observing Matthew’s use of “church.” While Matthew does not give a definition for “church,” the word is defined, at least partially, as it is used in conjunction with Jesus’ teaching. Noting what Jesus teaches in the context where the word “church” occurs, it will be shown what Matthew believed is the nature of the church and the authority of its leadership. (5) What activities occurred in the assemblies of Matthew’s churches? Here I am attempting to isolate in Matthew’s Gospel those practices that the author assumed or expected his audience observed when they assembled to worship and receive instruction in their faith. Finally, (6) was Matthew’s church persecuted, and if so by whom and why? If Matthew assumed his audience was experiencing persecution or that they would be, what he was anticipating can provide a better understanding about his vision for the community’s relations to those who were hostile towards it. Answering these six questions will certainly not exhaust what can be said about Matthew’s ecclesiology but it will provide a general portrait of the ethnic, social, and religious characteristics of the communities known by and a concern to the author.

Was Matthew’s Community Primarily Composed of Jewish Christians?

A few notable scholars have argued that the author of Matthew was a Gentile Christian who wrote for Gentile Christians.5 These scholars point out that God’s rejection of Israel, which they argue is espoused in several places (Matt 8:12; 12:21; 21:1—22:14; 28:16–20), is a major theme in Matthew, and it is inconceivable that a Jew would have propagated such an idea as a means of exhorting other Jews towards faithfully following Jesus. Some have claimed that the author is too ignorant of aspects of first-century Judaism for the book to have been written by a Jew.6 Still others have pointed out faulty reasoning used to argue for a Jewish-Christian audience so as to conclude that the best explanation of Matthew’s origin is that he is a Gentile author writing to a Gentile audience.7

However, these protests have failed to persuade the majority of Matthean scholars from the conclusion that Matthew was composed for Jewish Christians.8 Matthew’s particular use of the Old Testament, certain redactions of Mark’s Gospel (e.g., Mark 7:1–23; 10:1–12), accounts of Jesus’ positive statements about Torah and Pharisaic authority (Matt 5:17–18; 23:2), the pejorative use of the term “Gentiles” (Matt 6:7; 18:17), Jesus’ instruction to his disciples to go only to the Jews (Matt 10:5–6), his teaching about the Temple tax (Matt 17:24–27), and the hope that disciples will not have to flee Jerusalem on a Sabbath (Matt 24:20) combine to leave the strong impression that Matthew was written for Jewish Christians who would appreciate and/or relate to these features. They signal the author’s intention to encourage his audience, who still see themselves as the covenant people of Israel’s God, to remain committed to their confession of Jesus as the Messiah and to follow Jesus’ teachings. Matthew understood that Jesus did not teach his disciples to ignore Torah,9 but rather his actions and teachings showed how to interpret it in order to excel in God’s righteousness and be prepared to enter into God’s kingdom.

While the predominately Jewish nature of Matthew’s community appears self-evident, it was nevertheless a community that recognized that non-Jews could be included among Jesus’ disciples and be incorporated into the people of God. God’s promise is that the children of Abraham will bless the nations. Therefore the good news of the coming kingdom of God must be proclaimed to all people. Jesus’ own life shows that there are those who seek Israel’s King from abroad (Matt 2:1) and outside of Israel (Matt 8:10). It is anticipated that those from the east and west will be welcomed to sit around the eschatological table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to feast in the kingdom (Matt 8:11). Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19) shows that Matthew approved of a community that included both Jewish and Gentile believers. Whether or not Matthew’s community was engaged in evangelizing Gentiles as the first Christians in Antioch did (Acts 11:20), the positive description of Gentiles expressing faith in Jesus (e.g., Matt 15:28) reflects the author’s attitude that the community should welcome non-Jews who acknowledge Jesus as God’s promised anointed king.

What is not clear about Matthew’s openness to evangelizing Gentiles is what he believed Gentile converts were obligated to do. The Gospel shows no hint that Torah has been abolished by Jesus, but neither does it indicate that Gentile believers are expected to become Jewish (i.e., submit to circumcision) and obey Torah as Jewish Christians are.10 It seems altogether possible that Matthew’s community was made up of both Jews who kept Torah (as Jesus interpreted it) and Gentiles who practiced Jesus’ teachings, except those that were obviously related to Jewish identity (e.g., Sabbath observance, food purity laws, Temple tax). Unfortunately, interpreters are left to speculate what specific advice Matthew would have given to his community when dealing with the types of conflicts and issues one might expect would arise with...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Abbreviations
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Matthew’s Vision for Jesus’ Community of Disciples
• Chapter 2: Ecclesiology in the Gospel of Mark
• Chapter 3: The Church in Luke-Acts
• Chapter 4: The Church in the Gospel and Epistles of John
• Chapter 5: The Church in Romans and Galatians
• Chapter 6: The Community of the Followers of Jesus in 1 Corinthians
• Chapter 7: Heaven Can’t Wait
• Chapter 8: “In the Churches of Macedonia”
• Chapter 9: Ecclesiology in the Pastoral Epistles
• Chapter 10: Left Behind?
• Chapter 11: The Community of Believers in James
• Chapter 12: Called to Be Holy
• Chapter 13: The Church in the Apocalypse of John