Christology of Matthew - Jesus as the New Moses PDF

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Final submission for NBST520. This paper examines the thesis that Christ is a new Moses....

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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

Christology of Matthew: Jesus as the New Moses

Submitted to Dr. Alvin P. Thompson, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course,

NBST 515 B16 New Testament Orientation 1

by

Joshua David December 11, 2020

Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 Jesus As A New Moses – The Pentateuch.....................................................................................1 Jesus As A New Moses – At Birth.................................................................................................2 Jesus As A New Moses – Indication..............................................................................................3 Jesus As A New Moses – Wilderness Experience........................................................................4 Jesus As A New Moses – The Instructor......................................................................................5 Jesus As A New Moses – The Covenant.......................................................................................6 Jesus As A New Moses – The Pentateuch.....................................................................................8 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8 Bibliography..................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction The Gospels were written as eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus. This results in each of the books’ approach being unique and reflecting the writer’s perception of Jesus and how he wishes to portray Jesus to the audience that he is writing to. The essence of the 4 books remain the same yet the way it is presented varies in each book. Stacy says that the 4 books are alike because they all portray the same Jesus but that they are distinct because Jesus is shown through the perspective of 4 different portraits.1 The Jewishness of Matthew’s gospel is evident from the start. He traces Jesus’s genealogy back to Abraham (Matt. 1:1-17)2, quotes many times from the prophetic passages of the Old Testament (Jer. 31:15, Isa. 40:3-5) and he mentions many Jewish traditions and customs without explaining them (Matt. 3:6, 12:3-5), in contrast to the other Gospels. Thus, it is established that Matthew was writing to the Jews. Matthew does not explicitly write that he is presenting Jesus as a new Moses. However, a close examination of Matthew reveals his presentation of Jesus as a new Moses. The thesis of this paper is that Matthew portrays Jesus as a new Moses. This paper will examine the arrangements and passages that show this portrait of Jesus.

Jesus As A New Moses – The Pentateuch The book of Matthew has 5 major discourses. The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), the Missionary Discourse (Matt. 10), the Parabolic Discourse (Matt 13), the Discourse on the Church (Matt. 18) and the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 23-25) These 5 discourses are considered to be the 1 Robert Wayne Stacy, “The Four Gospels: Matthew and Mark”, lecture at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, September, 2020. 2 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced employ the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

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basis on which Matthew structured his Gospel. Bacon writes that this is an allusion to the books of the Pentateuch which are substantiated by Matthew’s emphasis on Jewish traditions and the Mosaic Law.3 This symbolism of the Pentateuch in the structure of Matthew corroborates with Matthew’s style of connecting the Old Testament to his writings. The Torah contains the laws and commandments God gave Moses as part of the covenant with the people of Israel. By interweaving such a foundational element of Judaism into his writing, Matthew engages his readers with something that they are familiar with.

Jesus As A New Moses – At Birth The situations that welcomed the arrivals of Moses and Jesus were not ideal. Moses was born at a time when the Egyptians had the Israelites enslaved and in bondage (Exo. 1:8-14). Jesus was born in Israel under Roman occupation and oppression.4 Further, both their lives were endangered by tyrannical rulers. The ruler of Egypt at the time of Moses’s birth ordered all male babies to be thrown into the Nile (Exo 1:22) after his initial order to the midwives to destroy the Hebrew male babies was not followed through. At the time of Jesus’s birth, King Herod ordered that all male children under the age of two in Bethlehem and its districts were to be killed fearing he would be replaced by this king whom the Magi had come to visit (Matt. 2:16). In both situations it is seen how the very existence of the Deliverer and his foreshadowing in their infancy were threatened by the rulers of their areas.

3 B.W. Bacon, Studies in Matthew, (New York City, NY: Holt, 1930), xiv. 4 Walter A. Elwell, Encountering Biblical Studies: Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey, 3rd Edition, (Grand Rapids, MI: Lifeway 2019), 29. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com

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Looking past the negative situations into which they were born, one can choose to identify the special circumstances instead.5 The point to be noted is that the deliverers were both delivered by God. Moses was taken out of the water and brought up in the palace (Exodus 2:310) while God warned Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt and away from Herod (Matt. 2:13-15). Jesus As A New Moses – Indication Matthew paints a vivid description of Jesus’s baptism by John the Baptist. John refuses to baptize him and says that it should be Jesus who should baptize John. Jesus, identifying himself with the sinners who he was to die for, again asks John to baptize him ‘to fulfil all righteousness’.6 When Jesus comes out of the water, the Spirit of God descends like a dove and alights on him showing his empowerment to proceed with his mission and to establish that he is the one they were waiting for (Matt. 3:13-17). Scholars may not have reached a consensus as to whether the sign was for the people around Jesus or for John, but they agree that it was indeed a indicative sign. 7 Similarly, God tells Moses of the signs he will do to let the people of Israel know that God had indeed sent Moses to deliver them and lead them out of Egypt. The first of the signs was Moses’s staff turning into a snake and then changing back into his staff when he grabbed it by its tail. The second was his hand becoming leprous when he inserted it into his coat and took it out the first time and its restoration when he put it back in and took it out a second time. The 5 A. Kensky, ‘Moses and Jesus: The Birth of the Savior’, Judaism, 42(1), 1993, 44. https://searchebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0000860634&site=ehostlive&scope=site (Accessed: 10 October 2020). 6 Joseph Benson, “Commentary on the Old and New Testaments” (New York City, NY: Carlton and Phillips, 1854) Matthew 3:13-17. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/ 7 Kilian McDonnell, “Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan.” Theological Studies 56, no. 2 (June 1995), 224. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0000897915&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

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third sign was the changing of the water from the Nile into blood when Moses poured it out. (Exo. 3:12a, 4:1-17). These events in the lives of Jesus and Moses portray the theme that the both of them were sent by God to deliver their people with an indication that were indeed deliverers, with Jesus being the saviour of not only Israel, but of all mankind. To the Jewish audience reading Matthew’s Gospel, this indication of Jesus recorded as the heavens opening and the Spirit descending would bring back memories of Moses’s experience at the Burning Bush when God gave a promise to Moses that God was with him.

Jesus As A New Moses – Wilderness Experience Matthew writes that Jesus was taken into the wilderness by the Spirit where he fasted for 40 days. This would ring a bell with the Jewish audience who knew that only Moses and Elijah had also fasted for the same duration. This is documented in Exodus 24:18. Moses went up the mountain to meet the Lord and stayed there for 40 days. Matthew records that the Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights where he was tempted by Satan. While Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations by answering from the Scriptures, he was in fact quoting from Deuteronomy (Matt. 4:4, 4:7, 4:10). Henry writes, “That which Satan aimed at, in all his temptations, was, to bring him to sin against God, and so to render him for ever incapable of being a Sacrifice for the sins of others.”8 Just as Satan tried to destroy God’s perfect sacrifice by tempting Jesus, the Israelites were tempted and fell in to the sin of idol worship and God prepared to wipe away the people only for

8 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible (Complete), Volume 5, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008).

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Moses to intercede on their behalf and keep alive the people from whom God would bring the Messiah.

Jesus As A New Moses – The Instructor The first of the 5 major discourses in the book of Matthew shows Jesus expound the Law to the people of Israel (Matt. 5-7). Moses went up Mount Sinai and received the Torah from God and gave it to the people as seen in Exodus. Jesus also went up a mountain from where he preached the Sermon on the Mount and taught the people the new law. The reader is to observe that Jesus did not come and give a new law that replaced the Torah but rather redefined it to better represent God’s heart for his people. Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt 5:17). Jesus gives the new torah by teaching the people the same Mosaic law on a practical level rather than literal application. While Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:17 warn against murder, Jesus warns against anger. There are 5 further antitheses illustrating Jesus’s alternative interpretation of the Torah.9 Jesus being God’s representation on earth, emphasises his authority for the interpretation of the Torah.10 The interpretation of the Torah was of importance as each sect vied to be considered as the best interpreters of the Law. Jesus surpassed Moses as he was not merely receiving the law from God and handing it to the people of Israel but he himself was the lawgiver. Taken further, Jesus is the supreme revelation of God and therefore there is no separation

9 Francois P. Viljoen, “Jesus’ Teaching on the Torah in the Sermon on the Mount.” Neotestamentica 40, no. 1 (2006): 143. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0001551812&site=ehost-live&scope=site. 10 Francois P. Viljoen, “The Superior Authority of Jesus in Matthew to Interpret the Torah.” In Die Skriflig 50, no. 2 (2016): 4. doi:10.4102/ids.v50i2.2062.

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between his teachings and his person. Morgens Muller writes, “Where in ancient Judaism the Mosaic Law was the foundation of the covenant and representative of God’s salvation of his people, Jesus as the son of God is now being proclaimed as ‘the Torah Incarnate.”11

Jesus As A New Moses – The Covenant The people of Israel were delivered from their bondage and slavery in Egypt and brought out to the wilderness to go to the land promised to them. God established a covenant with the people of Israel through Moses as the mediator (Exod 24:8). The Israelites were identified as the covenant people of God through their obedience to the laws and commands given by God to them through Moses. Knowing full well that man would always fall short in keeping his side of the covenant, God provided a way for the Israelites to resume the covenant if it was broken by their sins by putting in place a system of sacrifices offered by the priests. Israel remained a covenant community through this institution which God had put in place for them. It required blood to be spilt as atonement for the sins of the people. Law writes, ” Even after the Israelites broke the Old Covenant and were being judged with its curses, God continued to deal graciously with them as His covenant people and even promised to make a new covenant with them.”12 God made a promise that he will make a new covenant with his people in Jeremiah 31:31. It is clear that there is a covenant yet to come which will replace the Mosaic covenant under which the people are living. This new covenant came with Jesus. Jesus says in Matthew 26:27-28 that his blood that was going to be shed is the blood of the new covenant which is shed for the remission of sins. 11 Morgens Müller “The Gospel of St. Matthew and the Mosaic Law-A Chapter of a Biblical Theology,” Studia Theologica 46.2 (1992): 114 12 George R. Law, “The Form of the New Covenant in Matthew.” American Theological Inquiry 5, no. 2 (July 15, 2012). https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0001918950&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

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Not only was he the sacrifice that washed away all the sins of humanity, but he is also the high priest mediating between God and mankind. Jesus came to restore man with God and fulfil the sacrifices of the old covenant which was a foreshadowing of Christ’s sacrifice. Allison writes, “Through blood Moses was the mediator of the old covenant. Through blood Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant.”13 Moses mediated a covenant between God and his people, Israel and Jesus mediated a covenant between God and mankind. This demonstrates that both Moses and Jesus are mediators of a covenant, but Jesus surpasses Moses in being the mediator, the sacrifice and the High Priest and establishing a greater covenant.14 The new covenant replaces the community of Israel as God’s covenant people with the community of believers. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to becoming a part of this community. The walls of race, ethnicity and lineage were broken down as mankind was adopted by God as his children.

Jesus As A New Moses – The Commission The book of Matthew ends with Jesus’s commission to his disciples. This brings a convergence of Moses and the new Moses. Deuteronomy 31 shows Moses commissioning Joshua and Israel as he is about to leave them. The instructions given by Moses and Jesus are centred on their respective covenants. Moses asks Joshua to follow the commands given by God and assures him of the presence of the Lord that will be with him (Deut. 31:1-8). Jesus 13 Dale C. Allison, Jr., “The New Moses: A Matthean Typology” (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1993), 258. 14 Richard W. Gray, “A Comparison between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.” The Westminster Theological Journal 4, no. 1 (November 1941): 8. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0001365626&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

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commands his disciples to go into the nations and make disciples and baptize them and teach them to observe all the things that he has taught them. He goes on to promise them that he will be with them till the end. The assurance of his constant presence in both cases is preceded by a call to keep his teachings and teach others about it. Allison writes, "Just as the lawgiver, at the close of his life, commissioned Joshua both to go into a land peopled by foreign nations and to observe all the commandments in the law, and then further promised his successor God's abiding presence, so similarly Jesus: at the end of his earthly ministry, he told his disciples to go into all the world and teach observances of all the commandments uttered by the new Moses; and then he promised his abiding presence."15

Conclusion The constant imagery and parallels Matthew draws from the Old Testament in his writings shows Jesus to be a new Moses. The Jews considered Moses to be the greatest teacher, prophet and lawgiver, which is how Matthew portrays Jesus to be, but Matthew is careful to not leave it at such a conclusion but always ends with Jesus being a better or higher standard of Moses. Thus, this paper concludes that Jesus is presented as a new Moses by Matthew in his Gospel. Bibliography A. Kensky. “Moses and Jesus: The Birth of the Savior.” Judaism, 42.1. (1993.) https://searchebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0000860634&site=ehost-live&scope=site (Accessed: 10 October 2020). Allison Jr., Dale C. The New Moses: A Matthean Typology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1993. Bacon, B.W. Studies in Matthew. New York City, NY: Holt, 1930.

15 Allison, New Moses, 266

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Benson, Joseph. Commentary on the Old and New Testaments. New York City, NY: Carlton and Phillips, 1854. Elwell, Walter A. Encountering Biblical Studies: Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey. 3rd Edition. Peabody, MA: Lifeway, 2019. Gray, Richard W. “A Comparison between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.” The Westminster Theological Journal 4, no. 1 (November 1941): 8. https://search-ebscohostcom.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0001365626&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible (Complete). Vol. 5. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. Law, George R. “The Form of the New Covenant in Matthew.” American Theological Inquiry 5, no. 2 (July 15, 2012.) https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0001918950&site=ehost-live&scope=site. McDonnell, Kilian. “Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan.” Theological Studies 56, no. 2 (June 1995.) https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0000897915&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Müller, Morgens. “The Gospel of St. Matthew and the Mosaic Law-A Chapter of a Biblical Theology.” Studia Theologica 46.2. 1992. Stacy, Robert Wayne. “The Four Gospels: Matthew and Mark” (lecture at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, September, 2020). Viljoen, Francois P. “Jesus’ Teaching on the Torah in the Sermon on the Mount.” Neotestamentica 40, no. 1 (2006): 143. https://search-ebscohostcom.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0001551812&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Viljoen, Francois P. “The Superior Authority of Jesus in Matthew to Interpret the Torah.” In Die Skriflig 50, no. 2 (2016): 4. doi:10.4102/ids.v50i2.2062.

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