Wages of Cross-Bearing and Debt of Sin: The Economy of Heaven in Matthew’s Gospel

Description

In comparison to Mark and Luke, the First Gospel contains a striking preponderance of economic language in passages dealing with sin, righteousness, and divine recompense. For instance, sin is described as a debt, and righteous deeds are said to earn wages with God or treasure in heaven. This study analyzes Matthew’s economic language against the backdrop of other early Jewish and Christian literature and examines its import for the narrative as a whole. Careful attention to this neglected aspect of Matthew’s theology demonstrates that some of the Gospel’s central claims about atonement, Jesus’ death and resurrection, and divine recompense emerge from this conceptual matrix. By tracing the narrative development of the economic motif, the author explains how Jesus saves his people from their sins and comes to be enthroned as Son of Man, sheds new light on numerous exegetical puzzles, and clarifies the relationship of ethical rigorism and divine generosity. Introduction 1. Justification for the Study 2. “Atonement” 3. Interpretive Method 4. Distinguishing ah quo, ad quem, and de quo (Or: What is Matthew about?) 1 Heavenly Treasure and Debts in Early Judaism and Christianity 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Heavenly Treasures and Debts before the First Century 1.3 First and Second Century Apocalypses 1.4 Rabbinic literature 1.5 Earliest Christian literature 1.6 Summary 2 Heavenly Treasures and Debts in Matthew 2.1 Debts 2.1.1 “Cancel our Debts for us” (6:9—15) and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (18:23 — 35) 2.1.2 Pay back all you owe (18:34-35; 5:21-26) 2.1.3 Fill up the measure (23:32; 7:1-2) 2.2 Treasures 2.2.1 Key terms (μισθός, ἀποδίδωμι, κληρονομέω) 2.2.2 Treasures “in” the Heavens 2.2.3 Sermon on the Mount 2.2.3.1 Beatitudes (5:3-12) 2.2.3.2 “Antitheses” (5:21-48) and Doing Righteousness (6:1-18) 2.2.2.3 Treasure in Heaven and the Sound Eye (6:19-24) 2.2.3.4 Summary 2.2.3 The Missionary Discourse (10:1-42) 2.2.4 First Passion Prediction (16:13-28) 2.2.5 The Rich Young Man and the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (19:16-20:16) 2.2.6 Parable of the Just and Unjust Servants (24:45-51), the Parable of the Talents (25:14-30) and the Sheep and the Goats (25:31-46) 2.3 Conclusion 3 Filling Up All Righteousness: Salvation from the Debt of Sin 3.1 Introducing Jesus (1:1-3:12) 3.2 Filling Up All Righteousness (3:13-17) 3.3 Conclusion 4 Wages of Cross-Bearing: Eternal Life, Glorious Thrones, and the Ransom-Price for Captive Debtors 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Cross-bearers will be Repaid with Eternal Life (16:21-28) 4.3 The Thrones of the Son of Man and the Apostles (19:1629) 4.4 Contrast with Gentile kings (20:17-28) 4.5 The Ransom-Price for Many 4.5.1 Deliverance from Captivity 4.5.2 The price of release as heavenly treasure 4.6 Excursus: similar early Jewish and Christian references to atoning death 4.7 Conclusion 5 “Behold, Your Savior Comes, His Wage is with Him”: The Passion and Resurrection 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Behold, your king comes with his wage in his hand (21:5) 5.3 The passion and resurrection narrative (26:1-28:20) 5.3.1 The Last Supper 5.3.1.1 Excursus: treasure in heaven and sacrifice 5.3.2 Gethsemane (26:36-56) 5.3.3 Enduring persecution (26:57-27:50) 5.3.4 The death of Jesus and the preliminary repayment of heavenly treasure (27:45-28:20) 5.3.5 The eschatological down payment (27:45-54) 5.3.6 A final note on inference and redaction 5.4 Conclusion Conclusion 1. Summary 2. Debt-Captivity and the Price of Release Revisited 3. Issues for ongoing research 4. Conclusion Bibliography Index of Modern Authors Index of Ancient Sources I. Old Testament II. Other Jewish Sources III. New Testament IV. Early Christian