Missionary Matthew: Matthew 28: 16-20 as summary of the Gospel.

Robert Smith has ranged widely over the New Testament, authoring a book on the resurrection stories, commentaries on Acts, Hebrews, Matthew, and Revelation, (1) and numerous articles. I hope in this article to pick up some of his ideas and extend them, in a manner that I hope he approves--even when I at times argue against one of his interpretations. I can think of no better way to recognize a friend, a colleague over many years, and an insightful interpreter of the New Testament.

My aim here is to extend and, in part, correct Smith's interpretation of the conclusion of Matthew's Gospel by arguing that the conclusion is the goal toward which the entire text tends, designed to pick up earlier motifs of the Gospel, thus making the entire Gospel a missionary text.

Reading Matthew in the light of 28:16-20 leads one to reflect on the nature of disciple making. Smith discusses this passage at length in his Easter Gospels and more briefly in his Matthew commentary. He introduces his comments on Matt 28:16-20 with the words "A great final scene in Galilee caps Matthew's Gospel and brings it to fitting conclusion." (2) He adds, "But in perfect harmony with his presentation of Jesus in all the preceding pages, Matthew has chosen to close his Gospel not with a visual or pictorial representation of Jesus' assumption of power, and not with sharing bread or touching his body, but with a deceptively simple scene featuring the words of Jesus, the church's one teacher and master (23:8-10)." Thus Smith points us to reading 28:16-20 as the goal to which the Gospel tends and an allusive summary of its fundamental message.

Matthew's Gospel probably dates from around the year 90 C.E., a half generation after the destruction of Jerusalem. As J. Andrew Overman has convincingly argued, both Judaism and Jewish Christianity faced a crisis of identity. (3) Judaism had to redefine its identity with the loss of the Jerusalem temple. The Matthean community was in the process of being excluded by nascent post-70 C.E. Judaism, regarded as outside the pale of Judaism. As a result it "struggled to establish, order, and define [its] beliefs and life." (4) On the one hand the Gospel argues that the Matthean church keeps all that is truly Jewish, the "Law and Prophets" (Matt 5:17-20; 7:12), fulfills Old Testament prophecy, is concerned for justice ([delta][iota][kappa][alpha][iota][omicron][sigma][upsilon][nu][eta] occurs seven times in Matthew (5)), and is concerned for correct living (Matt 25:31-46). Note how Matthew's rejection of false prophets in 7:23 accuses them of breaking the Torah ([alpha][nu][omicron][mu][iota][alpha]). But Matthew also is concerned to give his church a vision: a commission to make disciples that includes a new view of God's people. Matt 28:16-20 is the capstone to that vision. (6)

The setting, 28:16-17

The passage falls into two parts, the appearance of the risen Christ to the disciples in Galilee (28:16-18a), as promised in 28:7, and the instructions of Jesus, which conclude the Gospel (28:18b-20). The language is strongly Matthean throughout, suggesting that the author wrote it. (7) The setting begins with an adversative [delta][epsilon] in v. 16, contrasting the disciples' journey to Galilee as an act of faithful obedience to the attempt of the religious authorities to spread the story of the theft of Jesus' body (28:11-15). The disciples go to the mountain Jesus had commanded, a reminder of three earlier mountains: (1) Matt 5:1-2, the mountain where Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7); (2) Matt 17:1, the high mountain where he was transfigured and his passion prediction (Matt 16:21) was ratified, [alpha][kappa][omicron][upsilon][epsilon][tau][epsilon] [alpha][upsilon][tau][omicron][upsilon] ("listen to him!" 17:5); (3) Matt 24:3, the Mount of Olives, the site of his eschatological discourse (Matthew 24-25). Both his first and his last discourse are spoken when he is seated (a form of the verb [kappa][alpha][theta][eta][mu][alpha][iota], Matt 5:1, 24:3), the posture of the teacher (cf. Matt 23:2, the "scribes and Pharisees took their seat on the seat of Moses;" hence one is to do what they say!). In Matt 7:28-29 the crowds are amazed at his teaching, for he taught "as one who had authority, not like their scribes." The reaction links teaching and authority. These two mountains anticipate the final mountain where Jesus, who claims authority, tells his disciples to "teach them to observe whatever I have commanded" (Matt 28:20)--though Matthew does not describe his posture. (8)

When they saw him, the disciples prostrated themselves before Jesus ([pi][rho][omicron][sigma][epsilon][kappa][upsilon][nu][eta][sigma][alpha][nu], 28:17). (9) Their seeing, reported in a participle, correlates with the angel's words at the tomb and the command sent through the women (28:7, 10). (10) Smith stresses the sober reticence of Matthew: he gives no physical description of Jesus, no enthronement scene, no awesome figure as in Rev 1:12-20. (11) This places the stress on Jesus' words, which follow. [PI][rho][omicron][sigma][kappa][upsilon][nu][epsilon][omega] implies falling on one's face to kiss the feet or the hem of the garment; it connotes recognition of the person as divine. (12) The women meeting the resurrected Jesus "grasp his feet and prostrate themselves before him" (28:9); Jesus responds by directing them to tell the disciples to go to Galilee, where they will see him. Matthew's frequent use of the term stresses Jesus as the object of such prostration. The term prepares the reader for Jesus' claim to universal authority in 28:18.

"But some doubted" ([epsilon][delta][iota][sigma][tau][alpha][sigma][alpha][nu], 28:17). This Greek word occurs only twice in the New Testament, both in Matthew (14:31; 28:17). The term can mean either to doubt or to hesitate, that is, "be uncertain about a particular course of action." (13) Both passages describe a disciple's (Peter in 14:31) or vaguely "some disciples" (28:17). Given Overman's interpretation of the situation facing Matthew's church, some at least of the community were hesitant to take any action out of fear of final exclusion from emergent Judaism. Unsure of what to do, these disciples tended to do nothing.

The final command, 28:18-20

The Gospel ends with Jesus speaking to the disciples (18:18b-20). (14) Smith argues that the background for this short speech is the royal decree, as found in Gen 45:9-11 (Joseph to his brothers) and 2 Chr 36:23 (Cyrus to the exiles; cf. Ezra 1:2-4), rejecting the proposal that a royal enthronement ritual underlies Jesus' words. (15) He says that "Both in pattern and content the final words of Matthew's Gospel closely resemble the decree of Cyrus." (16) The Septuagint translation reads, "Thus says the Lord, King of the Persians: 'All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven gave to me and he himself gave me orders to build a house for him in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah. Who among you is a member of his people? His God will be with him and let him go up." The claim to rule over all the kingdoms of the earth favors Smith's proposal; it parallels to some degree Matt 28:18b, without, however, using the term "authority" ([epsilon][xi][omicron][upsilon][sigma][iota][alpha]) or the phrase "in heaven and upon the earth." The second clause of Cyrus' edict and Matt 28:19 have little in common. Whereas Jesus gives a command to the disciples, Cyrus is given an order by God. The third line of Cyrus' proclamation pronounces a blessing, while Jesus states a fact about the future (Smith labels both a promise).

The passage is more widely rooted in past traditions than Smith suggests. The text of Dan 7:14 uses the terms authority, nations, and eternal ([epsilon][xi][omicron][upsilon][sigma][iota][alpha], [tau][alpha][epsilon][theta][nu][eta], [alpha][iota][omega][nu][iota][omicron][??]), the last formed on the stem of "the age," [omicron] [alpha][iota][omega][nu]. D. J. Harrington suggests that Exodus 19-20 and Num 6:22-27 shimmer in the background of Matthew 28, along with Dan 7:14 and 2 Chr 36:13. (17) An extraordinarily complex intertextual background underlies Jesus' words.

"All authority has been given to me in heaven and upon the earth." The term authority first appears in Matt 7:28-29. The crowds are amazed at his teaching because he taught with authority, not like the scribes. Jesus had opposed his interpretation of the Torah to that of the tradition: "You have heard in the ancients ..., but I say to you ..." (Matt 5:21-22; 27-28; 31-32; 33-34; 38-39; 43-44). Such teaching on his own authority amazed people. When he healed the paralytic he did it to show that "the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (9:6), and the crowds were filled with religious awe and "glorified the God who had given such authority to people" (9:8). (18) The temple authorities note the authority and ask who gave it to him (21:23). When he poses a counterquestion about authority which they will not answer, Jesus declines to answer them. He carries on the debate in good rabbinical manner. At the same time 28:18b moves past what is stated earlier in 11:25-27.

This authority is total, extending throughout heaven and earth, that is, the universe. Matthew observes a literary convention noticed by Adolf Schlatter in Josephus. When the Greek is [omicron][upsilon][rho][alpha][nu][omicron][iota][??], the plural, the term is used in opposition to the earth as the place where God is properly at home. Thus the Lord's Prayer begins [PI][alpha][tau][epsilon][rho] [eta][mu][omega][nu] [omicron] [epsilon][nu] [tau][omicron][iota][??] [omicron][upsilon][rho][alpha][nu][omicron][iota][??] (Matt 6:9). But [omicron][upsilon][rho][alpha][nu][omicron][??] in the singular is the correlative of earth, the two describing the totality of the created universe, as in the third petition: [omega][??] [epsilon][nu] [omicron][upsilon][rho][alpha][nu][omega] [kappa][alpha][iota] [epsilon][pi][iota] [gamma][eta][??] (Matt 6:10). (19) Jesus claims authority over the universe as its lord, the [kappa][omicron][sigma][mu][omicron][kappa][rho][alpha][tau][omega][rho]. While Smith is probably correct that 28:18-20 is not an enthronement ritual, Jesus as the resurrected one claims lordship. It is in one sense enigmatic. The lord of the universe is not presented in glory, as in the pantokrator mosaics in many Byzantine churches or the great tapestry in Coventry Cathedral. He walks up to the disciples here as he does in 17:6-7. As Robert Gundry points out, that is because in each case the disciples are prostrate on the ground. (20)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Therefore, [omicron][upsilon][nu], as you go your way, disciple." (21) The lordship of Jesus is the presupposition for the command in 28:19, [mu][alpha][theta][epsilon][tau][epsilon][upsilon][sigma][alpha][tau][epsilon], an aorist imperative, meaning "disciple!" The imperative is significant, as it makes discipling an urgent matter. Matthew uses a variation of the formula K[alpha][iota] [epsilon][gamma][epsilon][nu][epsilon][tau][omicron] [omicron][tau][epsilon] [epsilon][tau][epsilon][lambda][epsilon][sigma][epsilon][nu] [omicron] 'I[eta][sigma][omicron][upsilon][??] ... [tau][omicron][upsilon][??] [lambda][omicron][gamma][omicron][upsilon][??] to conclude each of the five great sermons in his Gospel. He modifies the summary of the "missionary discourse" in 11:1 by inserting the verb [delta][iota][alpha][tau][alpha][sigma][sigma][omega]: "And it happened when Jesus finished giving orders to the twelve disciples...." (22) It is the only time Matthew uses the verb [delta][iota][alpha][tau][alpha][sigma][sigma][omega], (23) which does not occur in the four formulae that close the other discourses. He uses the verb to describe what Jesus does when he gives orders about proclamation. Thus Matt 11:1 supports the missionary stress here. Matthew 10, the second discourse, is set in the ministry of Jesus before the events of Caesarea Philippi (16:13-28), following Mark (Mark 6:7-13). The six verses of Mark expand into 42 verses in Matthew 10, (24) but in Matthew they actually describe the conditions of the post-Easter mission. Matt 10:17-23, material that is in the little apocalypse of Mark 13, is transposed to a new location here by Matthew. The disciples never do carry out the mission described in Matthew 10. Rather, after the 42 verses of discourse, Matt 11:1 reports that Jesus left. Matthew 10 contains the commands for the discipling in Matt 28:19.

The command "disciple" in Matthew 28 introduces a new stage in the discipling activity. In 10:5-6 Jesus commanded the disciples to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel: "Don't go off into a road of gentiles and don't enter a city of Samaritans." Such limitations no longer are valid. Now they are to disciple the gentiles, [tau][alpha] [epsilon][theta][nu][eta]. The Gospel had also prepared for this new prospect earlier. Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem in Matthew 21-25 is an action of judgment. He enters Jerusalem as its kingly judge, not its deliverer, in 21:1-16. Matthew's fulfillment citation makes this clear (21:5), a conflation of Isa 62:11 and Zech 9:9. Matthew omits one line from Zechariah, the words "vindicating (just) and rescuing (saving) is he" ([delta][iota][kappa][alpha][iota][omicron][??] [kappa][alpha][iota] [sigma][omega][zeta][omega][nu] [alpha][upsilon][tau][omicron][??]). Smith comments that the

omissions stress the word humble (praus, translated "meek" in 5:5 and
"gentle" in 11:29). Matthew is supremely interested in Jesus' connection
with salvation (1:21) and justice (or righteousness, 3:15), but here
concentrates on the meekness of this king. He will not Lord it over
subjects, crushing them as the rulers of the nations do (cf. 11:17-21;
20:25-28). (25)

I appreciate his stress on justice and salvation--and argue that this emphasis in Jesus' ministry in Matthew leads to a rejection of Smith's interpretation here. In Zechariah these words describe the coming of a (messianic) king who rescues the city from oppressors. Matthew's omission of the words "vindicating and saving" prepares for the fact that Jesus does not enter Jerusalem to save but to condemn. He goes directly to the temple and cleanses it (Matt 21:12-16). (26) The term [pi][rho][alpha][upsilon][??] does not really mean "meek;" it is a royal virtue, just as the donkey is King David's royal animal, as 1 Kings 1:38-40 makes clear. Jesus enters as Davidic King--and judge.

This role as judge is reinforced throughout the Jesus-in-Jerusalem narrative. The next day he curses the fig tree and it withers at once ([pi][alpha][rho][alpha][chi][rho][eta][mu][alpha], Matt 21:18-19). The interpretation in 21:20-22 makes clear that it condemns lack of faith. After the question about authority posed by the religious leaders (21:23-27) gets no answer from Jesus, he tells three parables. (27) The first is the parable of the two sons who are asked to work in a father's field (21:28-32). The interpretation (v. 32) pronounces judgment in the words "John the Baptist came to you on the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And when you saw that, you did not repent later on and believe him."

The second parable (21:33-46) is a modified version of Mark 12:1-12, the Wicked Tenant Farmers. Matthew modifies the conclusion of the Markan story to make it an accusation against the religious leaders. Matthew 21:40 becomes a question put to them, "When the owner ([kappa][upsilon][rho][iota][omicron][??]) of the vineyard comes, what will he do to them?" The reply: "He will destroy those evil men evilly and let out the vineyard to other [tenant] farmers who will return the fruit in due season" (21:21, unique to Matthew). Jesus responds by first citing Ps 118 (117 LXX):22-23 and then drawing the conclusion: "On account of this I say to you that the royal rule of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation ([epsilon][theta][nu][omicron][??]) producing its fruits." (28) The next verse says that the chief priests and Pharisees recognized that he spoke these parables concerning them. The third parable, "The Great Supper," is a similar condemnation (22:1-14). The rejection culminates in the seven great woes on scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23). Matthew reflects the split between Jewish Christians and non-Christian Jews in this way.

Thus a new understanding of the people to be brought into Christ's assembly emerges. (29) Now the gentiles are the object of mission. This redefinition of the children of Abraham begins already in the genealogy in 1:1-17: Three non-Israelite women are included in Jesus' ancestry, Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. The centurion of Capernaum has faith that cannot be found in Israel (8:10), while the faith of the Canaanite woman breaks the boundaries of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 15:21-28). Matthew sets before his community a vision of discipling activity that will occupy them in the future. The rejection by the Jewish people becomes the occasion for the mission to the gentiles. This gospel must be preached to the entire inhabited world ([omicron][iota][kappa][omicron][upsilon][mu][epsilon][nu][eta]) as a witness to all the gentiles. And then the eschaton will come (Matt 24:14).

Jesus commands them to disciple "by baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son, and of the holy spirit" (Matt 28:19). This is the only New Testament passage to order baptism into three names. Elsewhere baptism is into or in the name of Jesus, just as the one key baptismal creed was "Jesus is Lord." (30) Baptism into the name means into ownership of, into the lordship of. Key passages here are Rom 6:22; 1 Cor 1:13; Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11. The Didache provides the first evidence for Trinitarian baptism after Matthew (7:1); it likely reflects the cultic practice of the Syrian church (Antioch?) and suggests that Matthew uses the liturgical baptismal formulation of his community. (31) It is remarkable that there is no mention of proclamation before baptism, though Matt 24:14 reminds us that not every detail is included here.

"[And] by teaching them to observe all things, as many as I have commanded to you" (Matt 28:20). Throughout his Gospel Matthew shows concern for Christian action, Christian life. The five sermons form a detailed description of that life. Matthew 5-7 describes the individual disciple's life before God, Matthew 10 the conditions for proclamation, 13:1-52 the divided response to proclamation, Matthew 18 community maintenance, and Matthew 24-25 eschatological expectation. Matthew envisages the use of his Gospel as a manual for teaching Christian life. That is important to him; he stresses the realization of the gospel in deeds. In 16:27 he rewrites Mark 8:38 to describe eschatological judgment according to one's deeds. The conclusion to Matthew 25 presents the judgment of the sheep and the goats as based on their deeds. Forgiveness depends on forgiving (6:12, 14-15; 18:23-35). The church is to be a forgiving community of the forgiven. It is to proclaim the good news in the face of the eschaton. Teaching inside the church is integral to its life, and life must conform to teaching, as 23:1-12 makes clear.

The concluding promise in 28:20 forms a ring composition with 1:22. There Matthew cites Isa 7:14, the first of the great Old Testament fulfillment passages: "You shall call his name Immanuel." Matthew interprets that as M[epsilon][theta]' [eta][mu][omega][nu] [omicron] [theta][epsilon][omicron][??], "With us is God." But Joseph calls him Jesus, not Immanuel, in Matt 1:25 (cf. 1:21). It is surprising that after the citation of Isa 7:14, there is no citation of Isa 9:6 at the birth of Jesus. But the promise of Matt 28:20 explains why: Jesus is "God with us" only as the resurrected Lord of his church. And he is with us "until the goal of the age." The final word of the gospel is an eschatological promise: The church lives in expectation of the end under the presence of the risen Lord of the universe.

Conclusion

The last words of Jesus rest on his authority, which now gives a new task to the church: to make disciples of the nations around them. His gospel is a resource for the church as it does that, a shaper of life.

Harrington comments: "It is possible to view Matt 28:16-20 as a summary of the whole Gospel." (32) It stresses the key themes of the work. Gundry points out that many terms in these verses "come from Matthew's special vocabulary." (33) It is not surprising that Donald Senior uses Matt 28:16-20 to summarize "The Mission Theology of Matthew." (34) He makes the following points, which serve as the summary of this paper:

1. The mission is rooted in the authority of Jesus, the risen Lord.

2. The first--and basic--command the disciples receive is to make disciples.

3. The mission is universal, to all nations.

4. Making disciples includes community formation

5. by teaching all that Christ commanded.

But the final word belongs to Smith:

In perfect harmony with the presentation of Jesus in all the preceding
pages, Matthew has chosen to close his gospel not with a visual or
pictorial representation of Jesus' assumption of power, not with sharing
bread or touching his body, but with a deceptively simple scene
featuring the words of Jesus, the church's one teacher and master. (35)

And that is certainly true, as I hope these words have shown.

1. Robert H. Smith, Easter Gospels: The Resurrection of Jesus according to the Four Evangelists (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1983); Acts, Concordia Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia, 1970); Hebrews, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (1984); Matthew, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (1989); Apocalypse: A Commentary on Revelation in Words and Images (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000), in which he uses Albrecht Durer's woodcuts as an interpretive resource.

2. Smith, Matthew, 335.

3. J. Andrew Overman, Matthew's Gospel and Formative Judaism: The Social World of the Matthean Community (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990); also Church and Community in Crisis: The Gospel According to Matthew, The New Testament in Context (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1996), 19-26.

4. Overman, Matthew's Gospel and Formative Judaism, 72.

5. Matt 3:15; 5:6, 10, 20; 6:1, 33; 21:32. It occurs not at all in Mark, only once in Luke (1:75), and twice in John (16:8, 10). Only Paul uses it more often.

6. See L. Michael White, "Crisis Management and Boundary Maintenance: The Social Location of the Matthean Community," in Social History of the Matthean Community: Cross-Disciplinary Approaches, ed. David L. Balch (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 211-47.

7. Is "eleven disciples" in 28:16 a correction of "the twelve" in 1 Cor 15:5? Most likely not. Jack D. Kingsbury argues persuasively that the language of 28:16-20 strongly suggests that Matthew composed this conclusion in "The Composition and Christology of Matt 28:16-10," JBL 93 (1974): 573-84.

8. There are other mountains in Matthew, e.g. the "high mountain" of 4:8, where Jesus' third temptation takes place, the mountain where he prays (14:23), the mountain in 15:29 where he sat and did miraculous healings, and the Mount of Olives, where he sent two disciples to get the two donkeys for his entry into Jerusalem (21:1) and where he goes after the institution of the Lord's supper (26:30). It is clear from this that highly significant events take place on mountains. Surprisingly, Calvary (Golgotha) is not identified as a mountain.

9. Matthew uses the term thirteen times (2:2, 8, 11; 4:9, 10; 9:18; 14:53; 15:25; 18:26; 20:20; 28:9, 17); Mark, twice (5:6, where the demonic's demon recognizes him, and 15:19, in mocking by the soldiers); Luke, three times (4:7, 8, of the temptation of Jesus, 24:52, by the disciples, after Jesus' ascension); John, seven times in chap. 4 and once in chap. 9, always of worship of God.

10. The term is often not discussed in commentaries. But see F. D. Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary, Vol. 2: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990), 1091.

11. Smith, Easter Gospels, 77.

12. See BDAG, s.v. [pi][rho][omicron][sigma][kappa][upsilon][nu][epsilon][omega], for multiple citations. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3d ed., rev. and ed. Frederick William Danker (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2000).

13. BDAG, s.v. In 28:17 Danker opts for the translation "hesitate."

14. Matthew calls them "disciples," not "apostles," though he knows the latter term (10:2). One ought not therefore use this passage to describe something given uniquely to apostles or males.

15. Smith, Easter Gospels, 77-78; Matthew, 336.

16. Smith, Easter Gospels, 78.

17. Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, Sacra Pagina 1 (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, Michael Glazier, 1991), 415-16.

18. I have intentionally not capitalized the phrase "son of man" because of the conclusion Matthew gives this story. Where Mark has the bystanders say in amazement "We've never seen anything like this," Matthew turns it into an authority statement about people (plural!).

19. Adolf Schlatter, Die Theologie des Judentums nach dem Bericht des Josephus (Gutersloh: C. Bertelsmann Verlag, 1932), 8.

20. Robert H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church Under Persecution, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1994), 594. Gundry gives valuable statistics about Matthean terminology throughout his commentary.

21. The NRSV translation, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations," is deceptive. It turns the participle, [pi][omicron][rho][epsilon][upsilon][theta][epsilon][nu][tau][epsilon][??] into a second imperative. The main verb of the sentence is the imperative "disciple." The stress falls uniquely on it syntactically.

22. The same formula, with some variation, concludes each of the five great sermons in Matthew. See 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1.

23. The verb never appears in Mark or John and occurs five times in Luke.

24. Luke has two sending narratives, the sending of the twelve in Luke 9:1-6, very shortly before Caesarea Philippi (Luke 9:18-22), and the sending of the seventy (Luke 10:1-16) after Caesarea Philippi. Some sayings of Jesus in Matthew 10 occur in one or the other of Luke's narratives.

25. Smith, Matthew, 243.

26. Matthew's Jerusalem chronology changes Mark, who has Jesus cleanse the temple on the day after the entry

27. He adds two parables to the one in Mark 12:1-12, and modifies that one drastically.

28. Jesus uses the same term that he uses in Matt 28:19. Such negative judgments occur earlier in the Gospel also. See 8:10-12; 11:16-24; 12:38-42; 15:7-8.

29. Recall that Matthew is the only Gospel to use the term [epsilon][kappa][kappa][lambda][eta][sigma][iota][alpha] (Matt 16:18 and 18:17).

30. See Lars Hartman, "Into the Name of Jesus": Baptism in the Early Church, Studies of the New Testament and Its World (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1997), 37-50; W. F. Flemington, The New Testament Doctrine of Baptism (London: SPCK, 1953), 52-84.

31. Didache 8:2 gives the seven-petition Lord's Prayer in almost identical form to Matt 6:9-13. Luke has only five petitions in Luke 11:2-4. This supports the suggestion that Matthew follows the liturgical forms in use in the Syrian church also in the baptismal formula. See Klaus Wengst, Didache (Apostellehre), Barnabasbrief, zweiter Klemensbrief, Schrift an Diognet, eingeleitet, herausgegeben, ubertragen und erlautert (Schriften des Urchristentums, zweiter Teil. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1984), 23, 26. I discussed New Testament baptism at length in "Christianity's Boundary-Making Bath: The New Testament Meaning of Baptism, the Sacrament of Unity," in Grace Upon Grace 1994-1996: Living Bread, Living Water, Living Word (Institute of Liturgical Studies, Occasional Papers # 9. Valparaiso: Institute of Liturgical Studies, 2002), 99-116.

32. Harrington, Gospel of Matthew, 416.

33. Gundry, Matthew, 595 about v. 19a; but the evaluation applies to much of the conclusion.

34. Donald Senior, "The Mission Theology of Matthew," in Donald Senior and Carroll Stuhlmueller, The Biblical Foundations for Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1983), 251-52.

35. Smith, Matthew, 335.

Edgar Krentz

Christ Seminary-Seminex Professor Emeritus of New Testament Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago