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Jesus Traditions |
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Addenda (2)
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Addendum D
Return to Narratives (3)
Caesarea Philippi: Mark 8:29-33
and Parallels
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Matthew
16:15-23 |
Mark 8:29-33 |
Luke 9:20-22 |
15[Jesus] said to
them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon
Peter answered,
“You are the Messiah [or, the Christ],
the Son of the living God.” |
29[Jesus] asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him,
“You are the Messiah [or, the Christ].”
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20He said to them,
“But
who do you say that I am?” Peter answered,
“The Messiah [or the Christ] of
God.”
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| 17And Jesus answered
him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18And
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (ekklêsia),
and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven.”
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| 20Then he sternly
ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that
he was the Messiah. |
30And he sternly
ordered them not to tell anyone.
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21He sternly ordered
and commanded
them not to tell anyone,
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| 21From that time on,
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go
to Jerusalem and undergo great
suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
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31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great
suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed,
and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite
openly. |
22saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great
suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes,
and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
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| 22And Peter took him
aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This
must never happen to you.” |
And Peter took him aside and
began to rebuke him.
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23But he turned and
said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are
a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human
things.”
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33But turning and
looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind
me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine
things but on human things.”
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Return to Narratives
(3)
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Addendum E
Caesarea Philippi: The Messianic Secret
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The pattern of secrecy is evident from these instances:
• Jesus imposes secrecy upon the mentally ill man who
recognizes him as “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:23-25).
• When “unclean spirits” fall down before him and
shout, “You are the Son of God!” he orders them not to make him
known (Mark 3:11-12).
• When Peter acknowledges him as Messiah, Jesus
orders him to tell no one.
• Following the transfiguration experience, when his
unique sonship is revealed to Peter, James and John, he orders them to
tell no one “until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (Mark
9:2-9).
• The same pattern is evident with a number of
healings: silence is imposed upon the leper who was healed (Mark 1:44).
When Jesus raises the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:22-24, 35-43) he
instructs them to tell no one, and similarly with the healing of the deaf
mute man (Mark 7:32-36).
• Curiously, when the demented man with “legion”
proclaims that Jesus is “Son of the Most High God” (Mark 5:7),
Jesus does not silence him, but permits and even encourages him to tell
about his healing—perhaps because Jesus was across the Sea of Galilee in
gentile territory.
• Certain teachings are reserved to the circle of the
Twelve, including the mystery of the kingdom of God (Mark 4:11,
33-34).
• In Mark 9:30-31 Jesus passes through
Galilee, and does not want anyone to know it.
Return to Narratives (3)
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Addendum F
“That Which Is Holy . . . Pearls
Before Swine”
(Matthew 7:6)
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“Do not give what is
holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they
will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” This text has come
down to us without its original frame, and thus its meaning remains obscure.
What was the treasure which Jesus thought was not to be exposed to
unappreciative listeners?
• Some end-of-time teaching?
• Advice for his disciples to be cautious about
disclosing some esoteric teaching?
• His imminent suffering as a ransom for many, as in
Mark 10:45?
• His unique relationship to God, along the
lines of the Q passage in Matthew 11:25-27 || Luke 10:21-22?
Whatever the uncertainties, it seems likely:
• That Jesus would challenge his listeners to
faith, in a way appropriate to their level of readiness; and
• That he would not gratuitously expect an
unreceptive person to respond to some of his “hard teachings,” such as
taking up your cross or going the second mile or avoiding lustful
thoughts.
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Return to
Sayings (3b) |
Addendum G
“Our Father . . . ”
(Matthew 6:9)
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| God as father
was surely an important part of Jesus’ message, but the synoptic gospels
are uneven in their use of the word, Mark using father of God just
4 times; Luke, 17 times; but Matthew using it 45 times.
(Even this number is modest in comparison to the 118 times in the Fourth
Gospel!) The disproportionately large number in Matthew might
suggest the presence of yet another editorial tendency in that gospel;
compare Matthew’s Tendencies (1).
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Return to
Sayings (3b)
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Addendum H
A Note on The Origin of the
Six Contrasts
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If we have assigned most of Matthew 5:17-20
to the author himself, with the exception of the Q material, what are we
to make of the origin of the six contrasts which follow?
Our first impulse may be to hear the dissonance between the
Torah-affirming tone of 5:17-20 and the Torah-relativizing tone of
the six contrasts in 5:21-47, and to conclude that if Matthew is
responsible for the former, then Jesus must be responsible for the
revolutionary outlook of the latter. But
we cannot assume that the answer is quite that simple.
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Analysis of the Six Contrasts.
This is the basic formula introducing each contrast (used in contrasts
2, 5 and 6):
You have heard that it was said . . . . But I say to
you . . . .
We find an expanded form (a) in contrasts 1 and 4, and an abbreviated form (b)
in contrast 3:
(a) You have heard that it was said to those of ancient
times . . . . But I say to you . . . .
(b) It was also said . . . . But I say to you . . .
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The shape of the structure is summarized below:
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The Contrasts |
Formula |
Sources
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1 |
Prohibition of murder <—>
Warning against anger and hate |
You have heard that it was said to those of ancient
times . . . . But I say to you . . . . |
Special Matthew: 5:21-24
Q: 5:25-26 || Luke 12:57-59 |
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2 |
Prohibition of adultery <—>
Warning against lustful thoughts |
You have heard that it was said . . . . But I say to
you . . . . |
Special Matthew: 5:27-28
Mark: Matthew 5:29-30 || Mark 9:43-48 |
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3
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The regulation of divorce <—> The permanence of marriage (equal respect of persons) |
It was also said . . . . But I say to you . . .
. |
Special Matthew: 5:31
Mark: Matthew 5:32 || Mark 10:11-12 |
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4
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Oaths,
as assurance of truth telling
<—>
No
oaths: integrity, as assurance of the truth |
Again, You have heard that it was said to those of
ancient times . . . . But I say to you . . . |
Special Matthew: 5:33-37
(no ||’s) |
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5
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Lex
talionis: equal retaliation as the way of resolving disputes <—> Reconciliation
through creative use of suffering |
You have heard that it was said . . . . But I say to
you . . . . |
Special Matthew:
5:38-39a, 41
Q: 5:39b-40, 42 || Luke 6:29-30 |
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6
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Loving
the neighbor and hating one’s enemy <—> Loving
one’s enemy |
You have heard that it was said . . . . But I say to
you . . . . |
Special Matthew:
5:43, 45
Q: 5:44, 46-47 || Luke 6:27-28, 32-35
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Two points are
evident:
• The formula, You have heard that it was said . . . . But I say to
you . . . , which forms the contrast, is found
exclusively in Matthew; its absence from parallel passages in
Mark and Luke suggests that the formula is editorial, especially since
no contrast is evident in those gospels. The closest we come to “But I say to
you . . . (egô de legô humin)” is in Luke 6:27,
“But I say to you that listen . . .” (alla humin legô tois
akouousin), where however there is no contrast between the old law and
the new.
• Furthermore, the parallels in Mark and Luke are distributed
over various parts of those gospels, and not preserved in a single set of
antithetical sayings.
A glance at these parallel passages will show no signs of a framework of
contrasts.
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| We conclude that it is
the author of Matthew who has provided the framework of the six contrasts, not Mark or Q,
and probably not Matthew’s special sources. Into this framework he has
brought together texts from his sources and supplied the formula. While
much if not most of what we find in Matthew 5:21-47 reflects what
Jesus taught, Matthew has probably sharpened the contrast between the old
Law and the new by the way in which he has incorporated this material into
his framework.
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