22:7–21), so are the Magi, albeit unwittingly, instruments of Herod’s wrath against Jesus ( Matt. Furthermore, as the pagan seer Balaam was Balak’s intended instrument of destruction for Israel ( Num. 22:1–6), so Herod desired to kill the Messiah-deliverer who would bring redemption to Israel ( Matt. 5įor example, just as Balak, King of Moab, tried to hinder Israel’s flight and inheriting of the Promised Land under Moses ( Num. Moreover, Matthew’s theological intentions become clear when we compare the Magi episode with the story of Balaam in Numbers 22–24, where scholars have long noted a number of striking parallels. Once again, Gentiles show extraordinary faith, while Israel exhibits little. So in Matthew 2:1–12, Herod, King of Israel, seeks to kill his nation’s Messiah, while Gentiles traverse the earth to worship Him. In summary, the “subjects of the kingdom” are rejected from the kingdom, but Gentiles are embraced (v. 1–4), while the Gentile centurion has great faith (v. Thus in Matthew 1:5, Gentiles are included in the Messiah’s genealogy while in Matthew 21:43 the kingdom will be “taken away” from Israel and “given to a people who will produce its fruit.” 3 In Matthew 8:1–13 two incidents are contrasted: the Jewish leper has limited faith (v. 2Ĭonsequently, this theme of judgment on Israel and grace for the Gentiles permeates the book. According to scholars, as Israel as a nation rejects its Messiah, so God’s grace moves to the Gentiles, who prove more receptive. To properly appreciate the significance of the Magi incident, it is first necessary to recognize Matthew’s important theme of the shifting of divine favor from Israel, as the nexus of God’s dealings, to the Gentiles. 1 Matthew is therefore unlikely to risk alienating his Jewish readership by endorsing a practice clearly condemned in Jewish holy writ.
Likewise, astrology is condemned in Isaiah 47:13–14, Deuteronomy 18:9–12, and Jeremiah 10:2.įurther, the Gospel of Matthew is by nature an extremely Jewish book, and goes out of its way to appeal to Jewish readers, thus, for example, Matthew’s high veneration of the Law and his appeal to Messianic prophecies. Thus any source of supernatural revelation outside that of the God of Israel is forbidden (See, e.g., Deut. It needs first be noted that the biblical tradition is extremely exclusivist as regards theology and doctrine. Is this reading, however, perhaps guilty of forcing Eastern presuppositions on a text that is strongly Judeo-Christian in ethos? Once again, a balanced, scholarly approach is necessary to reveal the objective meaning and intent of the passage in hand.Īn Exclusivist Gospel. The passage, which tells of the quest of the Magi to find the infant Jesus, has thus been interpreted to mean that the Magi were Persian astrologers who used their occult means to ascertain the “Star of Bethlehem” in order to determine Jesus’ birthplace. Proponents of astrology have long appealed to Matthew 2:1–12 in support of their claims that the Bible supports astrological practice.
0 kommentar(er)
