Matthew’s Story of Jesus’ Burial and Resurrection (Mt 27,57–28,20), in R. Bieringer, V. Koperski & B. Lataire (eds.), Resurrection in the New Testament. Festschrift J. Lambrecht

MATTHEW’S STORY OF JESUS’ BURIAL AND RESURRECTION(MT 27,57–28,20)

I. THE LARGER CONTEXT

In A.D. 30, Jesus, a prophet from Nazareth, a Galilean village, wasexecuted by the religious-political establishment in Jerusalem, the capi-tal of Judaea. Some 25 years later, Paul reminded the Christian commu-nity of Corinth, in the province of Achaia, of the “gospel” that he hadpassed on to them and that he himself had received as a tradition (prob-ably on the occasion of his joining the movement of Jews who recog-nised Jesus as the Messiah, at around A.D. 35). The kerygmatic confes-sional formula reads (1 Cor 15,3b-5a):

that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

This fourfold enumeration is cast in the form of a narrative schemethat mentions four moments in chronological order: the death, burial,resurrection and appearances of Jesus Christ. This kerygmatic formulaseems to be an extension of the antithetic confession formula in the fol-lowing fashion: “you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death bynailing him to the cross, but God raised him from the dead” (Acts 2,23-24; cf. 3,13-15; 4,10; 5,30; 10,39-40; 13,29-30), or “We believe thatJesus died and rose again” (1 Thess 4,14; Rom 8,34 and others).According to the traditional kerygma, the death and resurrection of Jesuscomprise the core of the Christian message. Even though Jesus’ igno-minious death and his unexpected rising did not correspond to the nor-mal patterns of expectation, they indeed took place in accordance withGod’s will, as expressed in the Scriptures, as indicated in the kerygma(“according to the Scriptures”). Moreover, in the light of the resurrec-tion experience, one can regard Jesus’ ignominious death as a salvificevent: he brings about salvation from the power of sin (“for our sins”).Moreover, as Paul adds, Jesus’ being raised from the dead is a guaranteethat those who have fallen asleep in Christ will in the end be liberatedfrom the power of death (see its further development in 1 Cor 15).

Compared to his death and resurrection, the burial and appearances ofJesus are of subordinate importance. Both factors fill out the original

antithesis of death and resurrection. Jesus’ burial confirms the very real-ity of his death, and his appearances that of his resurrection. And yetthese events are not unimportant in the chronological (and logical)sequence of the four. If Jesus had truly died and was buried, his awak-ening from the power of death (by God) implies almost as a matter offact that he has risen from the grave (cf. the “empty-tomb tradition”)(compare with Mt 27,52-53; Jn 5,28-29 where a close connection is alsomade between “bodily resurrection” and “arise from the grave”)1. Inthat sense, the burial is not only the confirmation of Jesus’ death, but atthe same time the presupposition of his bodily raising from the grave2.Furthermore, the conviction that with Jesus’ death the general “risingfrom the dead” at the end-time proclaimed by the prophets commencesis not the conclusion of a human reflection on the significance of hisdeath, but of a revelation from God: in the “appearances” the risen Lordhimself manifests his new mode of being to his downcast disciples.

The kerygma that Paul cites is formulated so concisely that it requiresinterpretation and clarification. You could not proclaim it on its own.It needs to be filled out with a narrative envelope, just as the skeletalsystem is fleshed out by the body. The one cannot do without the other.The four gospels, written between 70 and 100 A.D. offer examples of this.In their own way, they unfold the kerygma, each emphasising certainaspects, that relate to the horizon of understanding and the life situationof their respective readers. On the other hand, the kerygma that Paulquoted was itself a brief summary (like the latter creeds) of a broader,narrative preaching. It would be misleading to see the evolution of theresurrection faith as a linear development from “kerygma” towardsdeveloped “gospel narratives”. Kerygmatic confessional formulas canonly come into existence within the broader context of faith narrativesand of the theological reflection on the deeds and words, the death andresurrection of the Lord Jesus. In short, the fact that the resurrection nar-ratives only appeared a few decades later in our extent gospel traditiondoes not necessarily mean that they were not already present earlier. The

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1. On this matter, see the thorough study of M. HENGEL, Das Begräbnis Jesu beiPaulus und die leibliche Auferstehung aus dem Grabe, in F. AVEMARIE – H. LICHTEN-BERGER (eds.), Auferstehung – Resurrection (WUNT, 135), Tübingen, 2001, pp. 119-183.

2. This assumes that the corpse of Jesus had not been deposited in a mass grave likethose of other criminals (see G. LÜDEMANN, Die Auferstehung Jesu Christi. Historie,Erfahrung, Theologie, Göttingen, 1994, pp. 63-67; J.D. CROSSAN, The Birth of Christianity,New York, 1998, pp. 541f. 522-555), but in an individual, known grave. In other words, theburial scene of Mk 15,42-47 is not fiction but reflects the core of the factual state of affairs(see W.D. DAVIES – D.C. ALLISON, The Gospel according to Saint Matthew [ICC], Vol. III,Edinburgh, 1997, pp. 647-648; HENGEL, Das Begräbnis Jesu [n. 1], pp. 119-121).

quite early existence of the kerygma of Jesus’ death and resurrection(which is apparent from the quote of Paul A.D. 55) points to the fact thatthe narrative proclamation of the Jesus event must have begun almostimmediately after Jesus’ death. In initio erat narratio: the proclamationnarratives already existed from the beginning!

The “backbone” of the kerygma allows us to distinguish and recog-nise the essential elements of the passion and resurrection narratives:

1 Cor 15 Mk Mt Lk Jn[suffered] 14,1–15,32 26,1–27,44 22,1–23,43 18,1–19,27died 15,33-41 27,45-56 23,44-49 19,28-37was buried 15,42-47 27,57-61 23,50-56a 19,38-42is risen 16,1-8 27,62–28,15 23,56b–24,12 20,1-18appeared [16,9-18] 28,16-20 24,13-49 20,19–21,23[ascended] [16,19] 24,50-53

We discover the four core data of the kerygma in the gospels, eventhough they have necessarily been broadened and given new emphases.To begin with, it is remarkable how an extensive narrative of Jesus’ pas-sion precedes the short description of his death. In its integration into thepassion narrative, the motif of the death is the most strongly developed,both narratively and theologically. Jesus is betrayed, misunderstood,denied, abandoned, arrested, falsely accused, condemned to death, mal-treated, ridiculed, robbed of his human dignity, and finally crucified.The cruelty of Jesus’ death is hereby illustrated, but at the same timealso made acceptable and “interpreted” in the light of the Scriptures.

At the other end of the four gospels, the motif of the ascension isadded by Luke. Mk 16,19 also mentions Jesus’ ascension, but this men-tion does not belong to the original gospel of Mark; it is a part of theinauthentic ending 16,19-20 being added later. Moreover, an appearancenarrative was also lacking in the original gospel (Mk 16,9-18 as wellwas added later by a second hand); one finds (at most) an allusion to it(16,7).

In the gospels, three out of the four traditional data are described as vis-ible events: death, burial and appearances. One datum is not described,namely the resurrection. This event is communicated, revealed andleaves a negative, ambiguous trace in the world, namely the empty tomb.

II. A MATTHEAN SECTION (MT 27,57–28,20)DELINEATION, STRUCTURE AND ORIGIN

As we direct our attention to Matthew’s narrative reworking of thekerygma, it seems appropriate not to limit this to the chapter on the

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resurrection Mt 28. We also need to include the end of chapter 27 inorder to arrive at a complete picture, namely Mt 27,57–28,20. That meansthat the story of Jesus’ burial (27,57-61) and the scene where guards areassigned to the tomb (27,62-66) rather belong, structurally speaking, tothe chapter on the resurrection than to the preceding passion narrative,although there are indeed connections with the preceding context3. First,we offer an overview of the designated section. With each pericope, weshall indicate where Mt runs parallel with the other gospels and wherehe offers a text peculiar to himself (Matthean Sondergut: MtSg).

1. Mt 27,57-61 (= Mk 15,42-47 par.) : the burial of Jesus2. Mt 27,62-66 (MtSg) : the guards at the grave3a. Mt 28,1-8 (= Mk 16,1-8) : the revelation of Jesus’ resurrection

to the women3b. Mt 28,9-10 (MtSg) : appearance of the Risen Lord to the

women4. Mt 28,11-15 (MtSg) : the bribing of the guards5. Mt 28,16-20 (comp. Lk 24,36-43; : appearance of the Risen Lord to the

Jn 20,19-23) Eleven disciples and the mission

If we begin with the broadly accepted hypothesis that Matthew hasmade use of the gospel of Mark in the redaction of his gospel, we mayaccept that Mt has taken from Mk the burial scene (pericope 1) and thescene of the revelation of the resurrection (pericope 3a), and reworkedthem quite considerably. Remarkably, Mt splits the revelation scene ofMk: in addition to the revelation of the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection tothe women by the angel (angelophany) at the empty tomb (text fragment3a), Mt records a brief appearance of the Risen Lord himself to thewomen (christophany) (text fragment 3b). Even more remarkable is thatMt frames the resurrection narrative (pericope 3a-b) by means of twoscenes that tell of the activities of the guard at the grave (pericopes 2 and4), texts that only appear in the gospel of Mt. Both guard scenes distin-guish Matthew’s gospel from the other gospel stories. Both contain theempty-tomb story as an inclusion, which lead some to see the total struc-ture of Mt 27,57–28,20 as a chiasm: A (=1), B (=2), C (=3), B’ (=4), A’

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3. In this connection, see C.H. GIBLIN, Structural and Thematic Correlations in theMatthaean Burial-Resurrection Narrative (Matt. XXVII,57–XXVII,20), in NTS 21 (1975)406-420; J.P. HEIL, The Narrative Structure of Matthew 27:55–28:20, in JBL 110 (1991)419-438; ID., The Death and Resurrection of Jesus. A Narrative-Critical Reading ofMatthew 26–28, Minneapolis, MN, 1991, pp. 91-110; P.H. LAI, Production du sens parla foi. Autorités religieuses contestées/fondées. Analyse structurale de Matthieu 27,57–28,20,in RechScRel 61 (1973) 65-96. See the critique of D. SENIOR, Matthew’s Account of theBurial of Jesus (Mt 27,57-61), in F. VAN SEGBROECK, et al. (eds.), The Four Gospels1992. FS F. Neirynck, Vol. II, Leuven, 1992, pp. 1433-1448.

(=5)4. We can also see the two guard scenes as an addition to, respec-tively, the burial (pericope 1) and the angelophany (pericope 3): peri-copes 1 + 2 and 3 + 45. This redactional technique shows, in any case,that Mt wants to interpret the traditional empty-tomb story of Mk in thelight of these additions. They are of eminent importance for Matthew’sintroduction and interpretation of Jesus’ resurrection and they allow usto surmise something of the audience Mt wanted to reach and of the Sitzim Leben within which his gospel has arisen. Finally, in contrast to Mk,Mt also introduces an appearance of the Risen One to the eleven disci-ples (pericope 5). This appearance narrative sounds very Matthean, andyet is related in terms of form and content to the “apostolic christopha-nies” (official appearances to the group of the Twelve/Eleven that is thebasis of the kerygma) which we encounter again in Lk 24,36-53 and Jn20,19-23. It is thereby not inconceivable that for this purpose Mt hasmade use of a non-Marcan tradition. The question is whether the closingpericope of the gospel of Mt is not in some way separate, by means ofits position and its theme, from the preceding, and thus needs to be readas an independent finale of the entire gospel6, or alternatively whetherthat closing pericope can be integrated completely in the section27,57–28,20.

We have already mentioned that Mt has made use of the gospel ofMk for the redaction of 27,57–28,15. Has Mt also made use of othertraditional material? Indeed, Mt has tied three text fragments into theMk-framework which are entirely dedicated to the motif of the guard atthe grave (27,62-66; [28,2-4]; 28,11-15). When one reads them together,they display a narrative coherence: Jewish leaders request and receivea guard for the grave; an angel comes down and rolls the sealed stoneaway from the grave; the soldiers return to Jerusalem and collaboratewith the Jewish authorities in concealing the actual circumstances. Someare of the opinion that for this purpose Mt had a traditional narrative athis disposal which offered an answer to the Jewish polemic against theChristian faith in Jesus’ resurrection7. Mt 28,15 at least displays one ele-ment of given tradition: the rumour that circulated amongst the Jews upto his time, namely that the disciples had stolen the body. However,whether in response to this Mt was able to make use of an existing story

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4. According to GIBLIN, Structural and Thematic Correlations (n. 3).5. According to SENIOR, Matthew’s Account (n. 3), p. 1447.6. According to SENIOR, Matthew’s Account: “Contrary to the suggestions of Giblin

and Heil, this schema does not include 28,16-20 as an integral part of the burial/resurrec-tion sequence. This scene is a distinct segment all its own”.

7. See, e.g., N. WALTER, Eine vormatthäische Schilderung der Auferstehung Jesu, inNTS 19 (1972-73) 415-429; DAVIES – ALLISON, Matthew III (n. 2), pp. 645-646.

or whether he himself formulated this answer, is difficult to determine8.Whatever traditions Mt may have reworked, in any case, he has suc-ceeded in redacting a well-structured and narrative-dynamic sectionwhich can be read as a meaningful whole. The question nonetheless iswhere does one locate the central point of this textual whole: is christol-ogy the main theme (Jesus is, although he died, risen from the dead), oris it the polemic (against whom and about what?), or is it the mission ofthe disciples? Or does it concern a combination of several themes?Closer examination of the text will furnish more clarity on this issue.

III. JESUS’ RESURRECTION, SUBJECT OF REVELATION

In no single gospel, not even in that of Matthew, is the resurrectionitself narrated9. The event of Jesus’ resurrection indeed basically eludesthe cognitive faculties of humans, located as they are in time and space.Making use of the metaphorical-symbolic language of the Jewish apoc-alyptic tradition (with all its associated hermeneutic problems), we candescribe the resurrection of Jesus as an act of God that definitivelysnatches the human being Jesus, who has died, away from the power ofdeath and inserts him into God’s everlasting world, where He grants himto sit at His right hand (i.e., to share in His divine lordship). This eventsurpasses the boundaries of our spatio-temporal history. Yet it does

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8. I. BROER, Die Urgemeinde und das Grab Jesu (SANT, 31), München, 1972, pp. 60-75, points to many traces of Matthean redaction, but does indeed think that Mt refers backto a tradition. F. Neirynck argues the hypothesis of Matthean redaction, on the sole basisof the Mk-source; see Les femmes au tombeau: étude de la rédaction matthéenne, in NTS15 (1968-69) 168-190; = Evangelica (BETL, 60), Leuven, 1982, pp. 273-296; ID., Noteon Mt 28,9-10, in ETL 71 (1995) 161-165.

9. That only happens in the apocryphal gospel of Peter (dating around 150-200 A.D.),where the boundaries of the mystery are broken through by means of visualising the res-urrection in such a way that it is robbed of its splendour: “(34) Early in the morning,when the Sabbath dawned, there came a crowd from Jerusalem and the country roundabout to see the sepulchre that had been sealed. (35) Now in the night in which the Lord’sday dawned, when the soldiers, two by two in every watch, were keeping guard, thererang out a loud voice in heaven, (36) and they saw the heavens opened and two men comedown from there in a great brightness and draw nigh to the sepulchre. (37) The stonewhich had been laid against the entrance to the sepulchre was opened, and both the youngmen entered in. (38) When now those soldiers saw this, they awakened the centurion andthe elders – for they also were there to assist at the watch. (39) And whilst they wererelating what they had seen, they saw again three men come out from the sepulchre, andtwo of them sustaining the other, and a cross following them, (40) and the heads of thetwo reaching to heaven, but that of him who was led of them by the hand overpassing theheavens. (41) And they heard a voice out of the heavens crying, ‘Thou hast preachedto them that sleep’, (42) and from the cross there was heard the answer, ‘Yea’” (transl.E. HENNECKE – W. SCHNEEMELCHER (eds.), New Testament Apocrypha. Vol 1, London,1963, pp. 185-186).

leave traces behind. In line with the tradition, Mt mentions two of them:the empty tomb and the appearances of the Risen Lord.

The empty grave does not prove the reality of the bodily resurrection.It is a negative, ambiguous sign that refers to it. On the one hand, Jew-ish opponents of the Easter faith do not dispute that the grave wasempty, but they interpret it differently: the disciples have fraudulentlytaken away the body (28,13). In their (initially hesitant) faith, the disci-ples of Jesus see the empty grave, on the other hand, as an eloquent signof his bodily resurrection. This faith conviction is not the result of a con-clusive, human reasoning. It is the fruit of revelation. A person onlyarrives at the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection thanks to a revelation fromGod. But in order to be able to understand this, the disciples werealready “prepared”, on the one hand, on account of their having grownup in the framework of the Judaeo-eschatological expectation of the“resurrection from the dead”, and, on the other, through all that theyhave experienced in the company of the earthly Jesus.

The appearances of the Risen Lord as well are a trace within the his-tory of the event of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. They manifest andreveal that Jesus, who has died and whose body was buried in a certainplace, now bodily lives, albeit in a condition of immortality. One mis-takes the specific characteristic of the appearances when one reducesthem to “visions” that played in the minds and hearts of the disciples, orto “experiences of conversion” on the part of the disciples. In the lightof the Judaeo-apocalyptic horizon of understanding, the appearanceshave the precise function of revealing the bodily and thus the personalidentity of the Jesus who died and was buried, and of manifesting theglory of the Risen One.

The Women First

The resurrection is first revealed to some female disciples (28,1-10),and only afterwards and through their mediation to the Twelve (or, bet-ter, the Eleven), who then must further spread the good news (28,8.16-20). Clearly this is no coincidence, but an ever recurring logic of revela-tion. First there is female receptivity and only afterwards maledissemination. The deepest mysteries are first received, borne and expe-rienced by female disciples. Only afterwards do the male disciplesreceive the task to proclaim those mysteries, to protect, to organise, tospread them to the wider world. Already in the beginning of the gospel,this dynamic of female-male complementarity comes to light. Jesus isfirst received in the womb of Mary before being entrusted to the care of

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Joseph. The mystery of Jesus’ suffering is likewise intuitively felt andexperienced by the female disciples, while it is ignored by the Twelve.In the resurrection chapter, we find the same pattern. The mystery ofJesus’ resurrection is first received and believed by women. But withthat, the resurrection chapter is not yet finished. They receive the com-mand to pass on the mystery to the disciples (Mt 28,7). And only the lat-ter receive the task of promoting the worldwide mission (Mt 28,16-20).

Two-Step Revelation

The revelation to the women happens in two steps: first, there is theencounter with the angel of the Lord, and later with the Risen One him-self. Both steps complement each other and lead the process of revela-tion to a climax. The angelophany liberates the women from their men-tal ambiguity. This is, to be sure, prompted by their love for the Jesuswho died, but it does not result yet in a new dynamism of life. They takea look in the grave (28,1). Their gaze is directed towards the place ofdeath, their hearts attached to the material remains of the Master. Theyare filled with fear (28,5). The angel of the Lord shatters this attitude ofmere passive gazing, of directedness towards the past. He does so byrevealing the mystery of the resurrection. Jesus, the Crucified One,should not be sought in the grave. “For he has been raised (by God), ashe said” (28,5-6). This last phrase, which in Mk 16,7 is related to thecommand to go to Galilee, is linked by Mt to the predictions of the res-urrection (Mt 16,21; 17,23; 20,19). With this, Mt intends to indicate thatthe earthly Jesus confirms the message of the angel. Together with theEaster event, Jesus’ earthly life forms one revelational whole. Thewomen are invited to look into the tomb to ascertain that the body of thedeceased Jesus is no longer present, since he is bodily raised. At thesame time they receive a task: they must pass on to the disciples themessage of the resurrection and its effect, namely the regrouping of thedisciples in Galilee. Its content is literally given by the angel: “He hasbeen raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you (= thedisciples) to Galilee; there you will see him. This is my (= the angel’s)message for you (= the women)” (28,7; compare 26,32). As is custom-ary in Mt, the command is promptly executed (28,8), entirely differentthan in Mark 16,8 where the women dare not say anything to anyone.The heavenly appearance does not only cause fear, which is a normalreaction to revelations. The message of the resurrection is likewise asource “of great joy”, as Matthew adds to Mark’s narrative. Obviously,he does not find the silence of the women in his source at all congenial!

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The message of the resurrection only comes really alive for someone,when it leads to a personal encounter with the Risen Lord. The christo-phany of 28,9-10 is thus no superfluous doublet of the angelophany, butit forms the culmination of the entire pericope 28,1-10. The message ofthe resurrection of the angel is now confirmed by the appearance of theRisen One himself. He speaks on his own behalf. Instead of the simplepromise (28,7) now comes an explicit command, via the “proclamation”of the women directed towards the disciples, to go to Galilee (28,10).Somewhat later, this command will be carried out (28,16). Jesus meetsthe women and greets them. The reaction of the women is one of(imploring) worship. The phrase “taking hold of his feet” expressesthis; it has nothing to do with wanting to hold on to Jesus (as in Jn 20,17),neither with the emphasis on the reality of Jesus’ risen body. The reas-suring “do not fear” fits entirely in the style of an epiphany (compare17,6-7; 28,16-20). In a notable way, here Jesus calls the disciples “mybrothers”. During his earthly life, Jesus has reserved this title almostexclusively for the true disciple, i.e. the one who fulfils the will of theheavenly Father (12,46-50). During the passion, the disciples fled and sobetrayed their discipleship and severed their fraternal relationship withtheir Master. At his own initiative, Jesus restores this relationship, with-out any prior expression of remorse from their side. Membership of thebrotherhood of the disciples of Jesus is not something that one can estab-lish by one’s own strength. But, by one’s infidelity, one can forfeit it.Only the merciful intervention of the Risen Lord can lead the waveringdisciple back into the community of his brothers. In Galilee, Jesus hadbegun bringing together the twelve tribes. In Galilee, after the nadir ofthe passion and the despondency of the disciples, the Risen Lord willshow himself in his glorified body and they will “see” him. This is a newbeginning of the Jesus community, but now it has a universal scope.

IV. JESUS’ RESURRECTION, LIBERATION

FROM THE DUNGEON OF DEATH

Whoever wants to understand the breadth of Matthew’s story ofJesus’ death and resurrection needs to read it not only in the light ofJesus’ earthly life and mission, but of the experience of suffering and theexpectations of salvation of the Jewish people. The Jahwist paradise nar-rative (Gen 2–3) already sees the lordship of sin and death as the deep-est misery wherein Adam – every human being – ends up being entan-gled through his own fault. Yahweh, the living God, wants to turn to thegood this history of suffering of sinful, death-bound humankind. In the

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election of Abram, the forefather of the old and new People of God,Yahweh shows where his saving will is directed. The promise to all gen-erations made to Abram means “life”, “future hope”, and the conquer-ing of the power of death (Gen 12). God’s Lordship and God’s commu-nity are at the very core of the message of the Old Testament. WhereGod’s will begins to rule, death is ultimately defeated.

This expectation of salvation acquires a very specific interpretation inPalestinian Judaism. In contrast to the Greek understanding of individualimmortality, the idea of the bodily “resurrection from the dead” devel-oped in Palestine, within the framework of the end-time restoration ofthe entire people of God united under the Lordship of God. In this con-text, attention was also paid to the final destiny of the individual person.The prophetic literature of the Old Testament offers the first witnesses ofthis expectation, as is apparent in texts like Ez 37,1-14 (v. 12: “O mypeople, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; Iwill bring you back to the land of Israel”), Isa 26,19 (LXX: “The deadwill rise, and they that are in the tombs will be raised and they that arein the earth will rejoice: for the dew from thee is healing them; but theland of the ungodly will perish”), and Dan 12,2 (“And many of themthat sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life,and some to reproach and everlasting shame”; compare Sir 19,10). Theconcretisation of this end-time expectation is carried out in a number ofJewish texts starting from 200 B.C.10. Continuously through changinghistorical circumstances and conceptions, the model of the bodily resur-rection of the dead from their graves was retained. “In wide Jewish cir-cles, one cannot conceive in any other way the end-time restoration andthe liberation of the People of God, and this means at the same time its

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10. See The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs; 2 Macc 7,9.11.14.22-23; 12,44;Josephus, Bell. 2,163; 3,374 and others; Pseudo-Phocylides 103v.: “for we hope that theremains of the departed will soon come to the light (again)” (OTP 2, 577); OrSib 4,179-184: “But when everything is already dusty ashes, and God puts to sleep the unspeakablefire, even as he kindled it, God himself will again fashion the bones and ashes of men andhe will raise up mortals again as they were before. And then there will be a judgementover which God himself will preside, judging the world again” (OTP 1, 389); Paralipo-mena Jeremiae; 2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch 50,2-4: “For the earth will surely giveback the dead at that time; it receives them now in order to keep them, not changing any-thing in their form. But as it has received them so it will give them back. And as I havedelivered them to it so it will raise them. For then it will be necessary to show those wholive that the dead are living again, and that those who went away have come back. And itwill be that when they have recognised each other, those who know each other at thismoment, then my judgement will be strong, and those things which have been spoken ofbefore will come” (OTP 1, 638); 1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Henoch 51,1-5; 4 Ezra 7,32:“And the earth shall give up those who are asleep in it; and the chambers shall give upthe souls which have been committed to them” (OTP 1, 538).

individual members who continued to believe in a renewed creation (Isa65,17; 66,22; Rev 22,1; compare Rom 8,19-23). This especially appliesto the largest part of Palestinian Judaism in the fraught time between thepersecution of Antiochus IV and the catastrophe of 70 A.D.”11. In thatperiod, the book of Daniel, with chapter 12 as its high point, acquiredcanonical validity. In the same period, the eschatological conceptions ofthe Pharisees gained the upper hand amongst the common people, incontrast to that of the aristocratic Sadducees. Another witness to this isthe discussion of Jesus with the Sadducees about bodily resurrectionfrom the dead (Mk 12,18-27 parr.), where Jesus resolutely opts for thestandpoint of the Pharisees.

This position of Jesus fits entirely with his proclamation of theKingdom of God. His deepest longing is to establish God’s reign,to let His will happen. The establishment of the Lordship of Godincludes the victory over the Reign of Satan in this world. The lattermanifests itself in disease, sin and death. The triumph of the Lordshipof God in Jesus already begins in the rejection of the Tempter in thedesert (Mt 4,10). It takes shape in his healing, exorcisms, and inbringing the dead back to life, in his obedient perseverance amidst thetrials under the cross (27,39-43), where the power of evil and deathseem to gain the upper hand. Finally, the conquest of the lordship ofSatan and death finds its fulfilment in the death and resurrection ofJesus Christ.

In the light of the Jewish tradition sketched above, Jesus’ death andresurrection manifest, for Mt, an eschatological event that announces thebeginning of a new aeon, of which the bodily resurrection of the dead inparticular, linked to the leaving of the tomb empty, is an essential part.In the description of Jesus’ death, Mt adds to his Mk-source an impres-sive text which leaves us in no doubt as to his understanding of it (Mt27,51b-53):

and the earth shookand the rocks splitand the tombs broke openand the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.and after Jesus’ resurrection, they came out of the tombs,

and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

This text not only sheds light on how Mt understands the meaning ofJesus’ death and resurrection for our salvation, but also the way in whichhe conceives the “bodily resurrection from the grave” of Jesus as an

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11. Cf. HENGEL, Begräbnis Jesu (n. 1), p. 168.

end-time event12. In agreement with the description of Jesus’ death(27,51b-53), he also reworks Mark’s narrative of the revelation ofJesus’ resurrection from the grave. This is also described as an eschato-logical event. To be sure, the resurrection itself is not narrated, but onlyrevealed by the angel. But the invisible event of the resurrectionbecomes, as it were, palpable and visible for the women who were look-ing on (28,1) in the explicit mention of the cosmic phenomenon of theearthquake and the opening of the grave by the “angel of the Lord”(28,2) whose form radiates the divine glory (28,3; compare 17,2) (theopening of the grave is thus understood as an act of God). The openingof the grave chamber/dungeon of death (28,2), the absence of the bodyin the grave (28,6a “he is not here”), and the bodily resurrection of theLord Jesus (28,7 “he has been raised from the dead”) are, for the Jew-ish-Christian author Mt, inseparably linked. One cannot affirm the latterand negate the former13.

R. Kratz developed the hypothesis that Mt has reworked his Mk-source on the model of the Hellenistic literary genre of the liberationmiracle, of which we find a few examples, among others, in Acts 5,17-25, 12,1-11, and 16,22-34. These stories about a miraculous liberation ofthe apostles from prison display a number of typical, common character-istics. The miracle takes place during the night; a guard is assignedto the prison; the chains fall off; the doors open by themselves or areopened by an angel; an angel of the Lord appears; light pours in, earthand prison quake; the authorities play a role in the imprisonment.

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12. Cf. D. SENIOR, The Death of Jesus and the Resurrection of the Holy Ones (Mt27:51-53), in CBQ 38 (1976) 312-329, referring to Ez 37 as a background for Matthew’sdescription; see also DAVIES – ALLISON, Matthew III (n. 2), p. 628: “We detect even moreinfluence from LXX Zech. 14:4-5, [than from Ezekiel 37]”. Pace R.L. TROXEL, Matt27.51-4 Reconsidered: Its Role in the Passion Narrative, Meaning and Origin, in NTS 48(2002) 30-47, who thinks that Mt drew this scene from 1 Enoch 93,6 “not to infuse Jesus’death with eschatological significance, but to provoke the centurion’s acclamation ofJesus as ‘son of God’ as the climax of the crucifixion narrative” (ibid., p. 30). Even whenone accepts that v. 54 forms the climax of the passage 51-54, this does not exclude aneschatological interpretation of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Mt 27,51-54 should be readtogether with Mt 28,1-10.

13. That the evangelists did not understand the “empty tomb” as a mere metaphori-cal-symbolic language game, but saw it as a real fact, is clear in the light of the Jewish-apocalyptic tradition. The thesis that the empty-grave narrative is a “legend”, created byMk or the early church, can in this light be critically questioned. In this regard, see H. vonCAMPENHAUSEN, Der Ablauf der Osterereignisse und das leere Grab (SHAW.PH 1952/4),Heidelberg, 31966; W.L. CRAIG, The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus, in NTS 31(1985) 39-72; I. DALFERTH, Volles Grab, leerer Glaube? Zum Streit um die Auferweck-ung des Gekreuzigten, in ZTK 95 (1998) 379-409; G. KITTEL, Das leere Grab als Zeichenfür das überwundene Toteneich, in ZTK 96 (1999) 458-479; M. HENGEL, Begräbnis Jesu(n. 1).

A number of these stereotypical elements of a liberation miracle alsoappear in Mt 27,62–28,15. At the initiative of the “high priests and thePharisees”, the grave is carefully “guarded”, sealed and provided with aguard (27,66). At the appearance of the “angel of the Lord”, a strongearthquake occurs (28,2a); the guards shake and fall down as if dead(28,4). The guards report to the high priests that the event happened“during the night” (28,11-13). From these agreements, it appears thatMt understands the resurrection of Jesus from the grave as a liberationfrom the dungeon of death. The raising of Jesus as the conquering ofdeath brings to fulfilment the entire mission of Jesus, and is at the sametime the prototypical fulfilment of the Jewish expectation of the bodily“resurrection from the dead”14.

V. RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES REJECTED AND APPOINTED

Aside from the message of the resurrection, the concluding chapter ofMt also contains a good deal of polemic, in connection indeed to anapologetic leaning in the thought of the evangelist. Where is his apolo-getic directed at this point? At first sight, the reader could suspect thatthe evangelist intends to use the empty tomb as an apologetic argumentin favour of the reality of the resurrection. But upon closer inspection,this is not the case. Both protagonists and antagonists of the resurrectionfaith proceed from the fact that the tomb was empty (28,13). Mt does notpropound an argument in favour of the empty tomb, but rather arguesagainst what to his eyes is the devious interpretation by the Jewishauthorities thereof, namely that the disciples would have intended todeceive others by purloining the body of Jesus from the grave and thenannounce that Jesus is risen. This Jewish version of the facts was appar-ently widespread in Matthew’s time (28,15b). In the two guard scenesthat Mt adds to the Mk-narrative, he refutes the Jewish thesis that thedisciples were deceivers. He simply reverses the argument. It is not thedisciples but the Jewish authorities themselves who are deceivers andmisleaders of the people. They had to bribe the guards who knew betterin order to introduce their version of the facts into the world (28,12-13).Against the claim of the resurrection, the Jewish religious authoritieshave launched a counter-claim in a deceitful way. The entire argumentof Mt aims at disqualifying the religious leaders of the Jewish people(the “high priests and Pharisees”, 27,62; the “high priests and the

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14. R. KRATZ, Auferweckung als Befreiung. Eine Studie zur Passions- und Auferste-hungstheologie des Matthäus (SBS, 65), Stuttgart, 1973.

elders”, 28,11-12) in favour of the disciples of Jesus. The latter areappointed by Jesus as the true religious leaders and teachers of the peo-ple. The actions of the Jewish authorities (the guarding and sealing ofthe grave; the bribing of the guards and the persuading of the governor)are directed towards preventing the Easter message from being pro-claimed to the “People of God” (27,64). The ultimate reason for theexistence of their doctrinal authority over the people consists in pro-claiming to them God’s offer of salvation. This offer of salvation is con-cretised now in the message of the resurrection and of life. By theirdeceitful action, their doctrine leads not to life but to death. That is whythey have forfeited their claims to religious authority over the people ofGod. They have also lost their position as authorised teachers of the peo-ple. Others will take their place (28,16-20).

This polemic makes one appreciate something of the Sitz im Leben ofthe Matthean community. To be sure, the paths of the Matthean com-munity and the Jewish synagogue have already diverged (compare theexpressions like “their synagogue” in 4,23; 9,35; 10,17; 12,9, and“their scribes” in 7,29). And yet the Jewish anti-propaganda seems to bestill current and it sows doubt within the Jewish-Christian component ofthe Matthean community. Otherwise, the evangelist would not havegone through all the effort of refuting Jewish “rumours”. Matthew’sredaction of the resurrection narrative likewise shows how difficult itmust have been for Jewish Christians to entirely sever the ties with theirformer leaders. Mt took much trouble to make it clear to his readers thatsince the sending of the Twelve by the Risen Lord, the Jewish authori-ties could no longer lay claim to an authority over the People of God, anauthority legitimised by God.

A structural-narrative analysis demonstrates that this anti-Jewishpolemic to a large extent determines the narrative dynamic of Mt 2815.The underlying structure of this section can be summarised in the fol-lowing diagram:

Sender →→ Object →→ AddresseesGod message of resurrection the Jewish people

life the gentiles↑

Helper →→ Subject ←← Antagoniststhe women the angel of the Lord high priests and Phariseesthe disciples Jesus the guards

the sealed tomb

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15. Following the analysis of P.H. Lai (see n. 3).

In the narrative, six actors/characters are in play, that is to say, thepersons acting in their typical roles. The six actors are placed alongthree axes: the axis of “communication” (sender and addressee), theaxis of “desire” (subject and object), and the axis of “ability” (helperand antagonist). The axis of communication presents the object that thesender wants to share with the addressees: God wants to reveal to theJewish people and to all peoples the resurrection of Jesus and thus letthem share in his eternal life. For that purpose, he entrusts a mission tothe subject: the angel of the Lord, and afterwards to Jesus himself,receive from God the task to reveal the mystery of the resurrection. Onthe axis of desire, the object is the object of longing, that is to say, whatthe subject wants to share with the addressee: the longing of the angeland of the Risen One consists in wanting to impart to the addressee themessage of the resurrection, and thereby divine life itself. On the axis ofability, the subject is opposed by the antagonists, or supported by thehelpers. By means of the guarding and the sealing of the grave, the Jew-ish religious leaders prevent the goal of the angel and of the Risen Onefrom being achieved. But this attempt is thwarted by the superior divinepower of the angel and of Jesus. These two enable the women and thedisciples gradually to develop into helpers. Initially they were not so.The women, after all, held on to the past and were imprisoned by fear.The disciples fled during the passion. But in the course of the narrative,they received the strength to develop themselves into helpers. Each ofthem communicates the message of the resurrection in their own way,the women to the disciples, and the latter to the Jewish people and to thegentiles. Despite the counter-movement instigated by the Jewish author-ities, God’s intention is still realised. The message of the resurrectionarrives at the addressees. God’s ultimate salvific will, to share life that isstronger than death, begins to be realised.

The disqualification of the Jewish authorities and, in direct response,the qualification of the disciples as teachers of the people is in some wayreflected in the indications of time and space within Mt 27,57–28,20. Mtoffers the following time indications:

27,57 When the evening came vs. 27,62 After the day of Preparation

28,1 As the first day vs. 28,1 After the Sabbathof the week was dawning

The evening and the day are more closely determined by verbs thatindicate a beginning. The day of Preparation and the Sabbath, on thecontrary, are controlled by a preposition that indicates their end. TheSabbath is the symbol of the sphere of influence of the Jewish religious

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authorities. This word appears nine times in Mt, of which seven are inthe pericope 12,1-12 which shows a confrontation between the disciplesof Jesus and the Jewish authorities. Jesus defends his disciples by criti-cising the Pharisees and by affirming his authority over the Sabbath. ThePharisees seek to kill Jesus because he does not observe the Sabbath, orbetter, because he does not subject himself to the Jewish authorities.Indirectly, Mt even suggests that the High Priests and Pharisees do notthemselves care about the prescriptions of the Sabbath when it finallycomes down to achieving their goals: after all, they come together in thepalace of Pilate during the Sabbath (27,62).

On the other hand, Mt provides the following place indications:

grave (Judea) vs. Galileecity (Jerusalem) vs. mountain

The grave (and Judea) is the place of death. It is necessary to preventanyone getting in (27,60: the huge stone) and allowing anyone to leavethis place (28,7.10). Galilee is the place agreed upon with the Risen Lordwhich the disciples must head for. The city is the place of lies, fromwhich the anti-message of death is spread (28,11-15). The mountain, onthe contrary, is the place where the Risen Lord encounters his disciplesand where he assigns them the task to proclaim the message of life to allpeoples (28,16-20).

This analysis teaches us that the Christian message of resurrectionwas never proclaimed without opposition. As soon as that message wasentrusted by God to people, a counter-movement arose. It is indeed sur-prising that the opposition comes from an unexpected corner. It is pre-cisely those who due to their mission should have brought the messageof life to the people, who do the contrary. Does not a challenge lie hereto all those who exercise today a teaching ministry towards the people?They need to ask themselves time and again whether they bring the mes-sage of resurrection in its full richness to the people, and not some othermessage that leads people away from God’s gift of life.

VI. THE CHRISTOPHANY TO THE ELEVEN

AND THE MISSION TO THE WHOLE WORLD

The christophany of Mt 28,16-20 forms the climax of the section27,57–28,20. Twice the women were exhorted to announce the appear-ance to the disciples, first by the angel (28,7), afterwards by the RisenLord himself (28,10): the disciples must travel to Galilee, for there theywill “see” the living Lord. In 28,16-17a, it is narrated that the eleven

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disciples comply with this command by leaving for Galilee and that theyindeed “see” him. This narrative introduction links the concluding peri-cope 28,16-20 quite closely with the immediately preceding context. Atthe same time, this pericope forms the formal conclusion to the entireMt-gospel. This applies especially to the direct speech in this pericope.Here the last words of the Risen Lord to the disciples are placed, his lasttestament concerning the future community of disciples, an extremelyimportant text for ecclesiology.

The pericope displays the following structure:

A. NARRATIVE INTRODUCTION (appearance and reaction)

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee,to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them (to go).17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but they doubted.18a And Jesus came

B. TESTAMENT OF THE LORD

Introductory formula: 18a and said to them:

B1 word of authority: 18b “All authority in heaven and on earth hasbeen given to me.

B2 mission commandB2.1 to make disciples: 19a Go therefore and make disciples of all

nations,B2.2 baptism: 19b baptising them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,B2.3 teaching: 20a and teaching them to obey everything that

I have commanded you.B3 promise of support: 20b And remember, I am with you always, to

the end of the age”.

The narrative introduction is quite concise: the appearance is brieflyevoked but not completely described. All attention focuses on the saying(B), that has a three-part construction. There we have the word ofauthority (B1) and the promise of support (B3) surrounding the missioncommand (B2), which forms the core of the pericope. Although Mt28,16-20 clearly bears a Mattean stamp, it is not unthinkable on the basisof the agreements with the other apostolic christophanies (Mk 16,14-20;Lk 24,36-49; Jn 20,19-23) that he is dependent on an appearance tradi-tion that contained the following elements: setting, appearance,response, commissioning and promise of succour16.

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16. Cf. A. DESCAMPS, La structure des récits évangéliques de la résurrection, inBiblica 40 (1959) 726-741; A. GEORGE, Les récits d’apparitions aux Onze à partir de Luc24,36-53, in E. DE SURGY (ed.), La résurrection du Christ et l’exégèse moderne (LectioDivina, 50), Paris 1969, 75-104; DAVIES – ALLISON, Matthew III (n. 2), p. 677.

It is not easy to determine the literary genre of Mt 28,18-20 (B). Thefindings of exegetes diverge into two different directions. Either onesees in Mt 28,18-20 an enthronement hymn. In this case, one initiallyinterprets the text christologically. The decisive moment then is anevent: the enthronement of the Son of Man in divine power (compareDan 7,13-14 LXX). Alternatively, one understands 28,18-20 as a com-munity rule. In this case, the emphasis lies on the mission command andthe text is first of all understood as an ecclesiological pronouncement.However, we ought not to separate the two moments, christology andecclesiology, from each other. Our text maintains a certain middle posi-tion between a christological confession of faith (although we wouldnot call this an enthronement) and community rule (upon which, in ouropinion, the emphasis lies). The church-founding mission commandonly makes sense after the affirmation of the divine and universal powerof the Risen Lord. Christology and ecclesiology, for Mt, belong quiteclosely together, just as in the Old Testament an inextricable bond existsbetween the Lordship of God and the People of God.

Agreements between Mt 28,16-20 and some O.T. commissioning nar-ratives like Deut 31,14-15.23; Josh 1,1-9; 1 Chron 22,1-16 and Jer 1,1-10 make us suspect that Mt sees a parallel between the end of the life ofMoses and that of Jesus: “Just as Moses, at the close of his life, com-missioned Joshua both to go into the land peopled by foreign nations andto observe all the commandments in the Law, and then further promisedhis successor God’s abiding presence, so similarly Jesus: at the end ofhis earthly ministry he told his disciples to go into all the world and toteach the observance of all the commandments of the new Moses, andthen further promised his assisting presence”17.

The Appearance of the Risen Lord to the Disciples (28,16-18a)

During the passion, the disciples were scattered like sheep without ashepherd (26,31.56). Now they are gathered together once again into oneflock by the Risen One. Humans disperse, Jesus unites. Before the com-ing into existence of the church and her mission is the gathering byJesus. The disciples go “to the mountain to which Jesus had directedthem” (v. 16). This statement is surprising because in the precedingcommand (vv. 7.10) there only was mention of Galilee, not of a moun-tain. Probably it is not a traditional motif, but an element in the settingof the scene introduced by Mt. The mountain is the biblical place of therevelation of God and, more specifically in Mt, the place where Jesus the

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17. Cf. DAVIES – ALLISON, Matthew III (n. 2), p. 680.

teacher delivers (while sitting) his authoritative teaching (5,1; 8,1; 24,3;compare 15,29). Perhaps we need to understand verse 16 in a differentway: the disciples go “to the mountain upon which Jesus had giventhem (his) commandments”18. If we read the Greek text thus, then aclear allusion to the Sermon on the Mount is made.

The appearance is not given any independent attention. A circumstan-tial participle (“Having seen him”) indicates the appearance event, fromthe standpoint of the disciples. That such a concise reference would suf-fice for the author demonstrates that he is familiar with an older traditionand that he presupposes the same in his readers. However brief it maybe, for Mt as well as for those who transmitted his tradition the appear-ance was a personal encounter between the Risen Lord and his disciples.The encounter contains a visual and auditive element, in agreement withthe bodily character of the resurrection appearance.

The reaction of the disciples is twofold (v. 17). On the one hand, theyfall down in worship, a fitting response to the epiphany (cf. v. 9). On theother, there is doubt in their hearts. The question, however, is who19 arethe doubters and what is the nature of their doubt. The doubt of the dis-ciples as to the identity of the one who appears seems to be a given inthe appearance tradition. The disciples have not arrived at resurrectionfaith without a struggle. They have had to conquer their initial scepti-cism. But Mt integrates the motif of doubt in his understanding of whatfaith is. He does not say that the doubt ceases, i.e. that the disciples ini-tially doubted and afterwards believed completely. Neither does he saythat some are in doubt and others believe. He suggests rather that all thedisciples believe and doubt at the same time. In this, he refers to theparadox of the faith-experience of the disciple. Faith is no firm acquisi-tion that can no longer be lost. It is a vulnerable reality. The initialenthusiasm of faith can again be affected by later doubts that can alsodilute it into “little faith”. There is but one antidote to this threat: torenew time and again one’s trust in the saving presence of the Lord. Thestory of Peter who walks on the water towards the Lord (Mt 14,22-32) isin this regard very instructive.

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18. Cf. ibid., p. 681: the relative clause oœ êtázato aûto⁄v ö ˆIjsoÕv need not beread as an ellipsis; the relative pronoun oœ can mean “where” (cf. 2,9; 18,20), and theverb tássw can be translated in the intransive as “give commands”.

19. The pronominally used article oï dé in the phrase oï dè êdístasan (“but theydoubted”) can, grammatically speaking, have a partitive meaning (“but some doubted”),point to a continuity (“but they doubted”, meaning to say, all the Eleven), or to anothersubject (“but others doubted”). P.W. VAN DER HORST, Once More: The Translation ofoï dé in Mt. 28.17, in JSNT 27 (1986) 27-30, chooses the first meaning. We opt for thesecond possibility.

Jesus’ “coming to them” (prosérxomai) in v. 18a is still part of thesetting of the scene. Mt uses this verb often, but usually to indicate theapproach of the disciples, the sick and enemies towards Jesus. Apart from28,18 the only instance of Jesus’ “coming” is mentioned in the transfig-uration narrative, likewise a revelation scene, where the disciples fallto the ground and Jesus approaches them to reassure them (17,7). OnlyGod can take away the fear and powerlessness that overcome humanswhen they come to encounter Him. We also find the same gesture of theLord’s approach in Mt 28,9 when he meets the women, although in thatcase, another verb is used (üpantáw).

The Word of Authority (28,18b)

The conviction that Jesus, on the basis of the resurrection, shares theauthority of God has been taken over by Mt from the early church. Theearly Christian christological hymns that are preserved in the NTalready testify to this (cf. Eph 1,20-23; Phil 2,6-11; Col 1,15-20; 1 Pet3,18-22). Jesus’ rising from the dead and his elevation to God’s righthand are two sides of one and the same dynamic event (cf. Rom 1,4;8,34, and others). The resurrection terminology expresses the eventfrom its starting point, namely death; the elevation motif looks at theevent from its end point, the world of God. For the early church, theelevation of the Risen Jesus means that he takes part fully in God’sunlimited power of salvation. That is why he is called “Lord” (kúriov).The believer during Old Testament times was already aware thatYHWH as creator of the world is the “Lord of heaven and earth”, ofthe world in its totality. In the resurrection event, God not onlysnatches Jesus away from the power of death, but moreover He raiseshim, that is to say He lets him share in the fullness of His Lordship, inHis kingly authority. That is why the Risen Lord can say: “All author-ity in heaven and on earth has been given to me”. His authority knowsno bounds, for it is the power of God Himself. This word of authorityforms the foundation and the presupposition for the following word.Because Jesus is henceforth “Lord”, clothed with God’s authority, hecan command a task that knows no boundaries in time and space (v.19-20a). Because all power is given to him, the Risen Jesus canpromise support to his disciples until the end of time. No single humanbeing can command such a world-wide mission nor promise such anall-abiding support without grossly overestimating itself. Only thedivine authority of the Risen Lord can legitimise and found somethinglike that.

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The Mission Commanded by the Lord (28,19-20a)

In his own manner, Mt points up the salvific effect of Jesus’ divinelordship. The eleven disciples receive the never-ending task of makingdisciples of all peoples. In this way, the Old Testament prophecies cometo fulfilment. In Abraham “all peoples” would be blessed (Gen 12,3), andto them are the promises of salvation made. These promises now acquirea concrete shape in the mission of the church. The mission to Israel (10,5-6) becomes a mission to the world (28,19). And under “all peoples”,the Jews are not excluded20. God’s life-giving salvation is granted to allpeoples when those who are already disciples make them into disciples.For God’s salvation to take effect in humans, it does not suffice only to“proclaim” (kjrússw) (thus the parallel mission texts of Lk 24,47 andMk 16,15). People, even nations, must be called (compare Mt 4,18-22)and thus be “made into disciples” (ma‡jteúw). To become a discipleimplies a personal and total bonding with the person of Jesus (compare27,57) and realises itself concretely in doing God’s will (12,16-50).

Two participles, namely “baptising” and “teaching”, describe moreaccurately how this “making disciples” is to be worked out. Baptismand instruction are apparently two indispensable elements in order tomake someone a disciple. In this, one sees the communitarian dimensionof becoming a disciple. By means of baptism, one is integrated into thecommunity of the disciples of Jesus and one enters into a process oflearning and tradition. The baptism happens “in the name of the Father,the Son and the Holy Spirit” (v. 19; compare Did 7,1.3). “In the nameof” (eîv tò ∫noma) means something like “so that they would belongto” or “so that they would enter into a relationship with”. The one bap-tised thus becomes the property of the one in whose name he or she isbaptised. Matthew’s “baptism formula” is indeed surprising in compar-ison with the early Christian practise of baptism which happened “in thename of the Lord/Jesus Christ” (Acts 2,38; 8,16; 10,48; 19,5; Rom 6,3;Gal 3,27; Did 9,5), whereby it was distinguished from the baptism ofJohn and from the Jewish baptism of proselytes. To be sure, the “trini-tarian baptism formula” of Mt points to a development in the baptismpractice within his community. But perhaps this has not yet become astrict formula and Mt only intends to say that the one divine name (Ex3,13-15; Prov 18,10; Jubilees 36,7) is shared by the Father with Jesusand the Spirit.

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20. There is a discussion amongst scholars whether the phrase pánta tà ∂‡njincludes the Jews (“all nations”) or rather excludes them (“all Gentiles”). For an overviewof the discussion, see DAVIES – ALLISON, Matthew III (n. 2), p. 684, who rightly understandthe phrase in its inclusive sense.

For Mt, the Lord Jesus is the (only) Teacher of the church. The elevendisciples take part in the teaching authority of the Risen Lord, replacingthe Jewish authorities. They are appointed as authorised teachers. Theymust carry out the nova lex that the Lord has entrusted to them, andindeed in its entirety (“everything that I have commanded you”). Thecontent of that teaching is the will of God as Jesus has interpreted andclarified it, for instance in the Sermon on the Mount, and which he nowconfirms as Kyrios. Whoever observes this new order of life or messianicTorah, can call themselves “disciples”.

The Promise of Abiding Assistance (28,20b)

The farewell word of the Risen Lord ends with a solemn21 promise ofabiding presence. Some texts of the O.T. shed a clarifying light on itsmeaning. With the formula “be with you” YHWH repeatedly assuresHis people or certain individuals that He will protect and support theirlife (compare Gen 26,3.24; 28,15; 31,3, 48,21; Deut 20,1.4; 31,6; Josh1,5.9; Isa 41,10; Mic 6,8). It is about an active, protective and savingpresence of YHWH in the midst of the vicissitudes of history. The sameactive, protective presence is here promised by the Risen Lord, not onlyto the eleven disciples, but to the entire (renewed) people of God, thewhole multitude of disciples. The Kyrios can speak the same languageand offer the same guarantees as YHWH, because he avails himself ofGod’s authority. Between Easter and the Parousia, God’s Lordship isexercised through the lordship of Jesus Christ. The universality of God’sauthority is fittingly evoked by the four-fold “all” (p¢v): all authority,all nations, all that I have commanded you, all days. The horizonbecomes broad. The moment breaks through all boundaries of time andspace. The disciples need not fear the storms of history that will breakover the church, for the Risen Lord will be present with them, not onlynow, but always and in all circumstances, until the eschatological com-pletion of the world. Thus the prophecy of Isaiah is realised, which theangel has employed during the announcement of the birth of Jesus: “Theyshall name him Emmanuel” (Isa 7,14), which means, “God is with us”(1,23). Through the risen Lord, God is constantly with his Church.

The concluding text of the gospel according to Matthew lets us see afew essential aspects of the church community, which is the fruit or thedynamic effect of Jesus’ resurrection. The church is the community of

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21. The indicative particle kaì îdoú (“and see”) and the explicit personal pronounêgÉ (“I”) give to the promise a solemn and emphatic character.

disciples who, despite their failures and flight, are gathered by the livingLord. He is the centre and the foundation of that community. He entrustshis church with a universal mission, unbounded in time and space.Church means mission, or she is no longer church. She has a specifictask in the world: to bring God’s salvation and life, to teach Christ’smessianic way of life. Christians dare to take on this, in human terms,impossible task amidst the storms of time because of the faithful supportof the living Lord in their midst.

Tiensestraat 112 Adelbert DENAUX

B-3000 Leuven

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