Matthew The Apostle Extract
The Gospel of Matthew, composed between 80 and 90 CE , is the opening book of the New Testament. Despite the original author remaining anonymous, it is widely suggested that the book was written by Matthew the Apostle. The extract is taken from chapter 27 of Matthew’s gospel, which commentates on the Trial of Jesus, led by Pontius Pilate, and the eventual crucifixion of the self-proclaimed Messiah. The extract focuses on the controversial decision made by the Jewish crowd to execute Jesus rather than the Barabbas. This passage is often used to justify anti-Jewish polemic throughout Christianity.
Matthew the Apostle was a well-educated Jewish tax collector who was approached by Jesus and asked to follow him, according to the Gospel of Matthew …show more content…
He expressed these concerns through ‘frequent citations of Jewish scripture, the evocation of Jesus as the new Moses along with other events from Jewish history, and the concern to present Jesus as fulfilling, not destroying, the Law’ . He expresses his desire ‘of an assembly or church in which both Jew and Gentile would flourish together’ , providing they were willing to accept that Jesus was the Messiah. A key factor to consider here is the fact that this gospel originated from within a distinctive Christian communities. This is important because the communities would have been made up of several different religions, including a significant Jewish population. It could be argued that Christianity grew out of these Jewish communities, with a different identity. Therefore the relationship between the two, will always have been intensified to try and separate them, which could lead to uncertainty regarding their …show more content…
This reading brought with it several anti-Jewish connotations such as Christ killers. Matthew reported that the crowd shouted ‘his blood be on us and our children’ (Matt 27:26). This suggests that in Matthews’s eyes, the entire Jewish race can be held accountable for the execution of the messiah. The language used by Matthew displays a clear hostility to Judaism. This extract further pushed the apostle’s case of preaching the pure word of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire. This extract is hugely significant as it is often considered the root justification for anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic polemic amongst Christians. It is used as a means of defining itself against
Matthew the Apostle was a well-educated Jewish tax collector who was approached by Jesus and asked to follow him, according to the Gospel of Matthew …show more content…
He expressed these concerns through ‘frequent citations of Jewish scripture, the evocation of Jesus as the new Moses along with other events from Jewish history, and the concern to present Jesus as fulfilling, not destroying, the Law’ . He expresses his desire ‘of an assembly or church in which both Jew and Gentile would flourish together’ , providing they were willing to accept that Jesus was the Messiah. A key factor to consider here is the fact that this gospel originated from within a distinctive Christian communities. This is important because the communities would have been made up of several different religions, including a significant Jewish population. It could be argued that Christianity grew out of these Jewish communities, with a different identity. Therefore the relationship between the two, will always have been intensified to try and separate them, which could lead to uncertainty regarding their …show more content…
This reading brought with it several anti-Jewish connotations such as Christ killers. Matthew reported that the crowd shouted ‘his blood be on us and our children’ (Matt 27:26). This suggests that in Matthews’s eyes, the entire Jewish race can be held accountable for the execution of the messiah. The language used by Matthew displays a clear hostility to Judaism. This extract further pushed the apostle’s case of preaching the pure word of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire. This extract is hugely significant as it is often considered the root justification for anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic polemic amongst Christians. It is used as a means of defining itself against