Matthew 22:34-40: Narrational Texture and Pattern Analysis

The analysis of the topical progression of νόμος and ἀγάπη demonstrated that these topics are progressively developed throughout the narration up until Matthew 22:34-40 and beyond it (Matt 23). The study provided a cumulative context and concept of νόμος and ἀγάπη, and resulted in important conclusions that have a bearing on understanding Matthew 22:34-40. In the next section, Matthew 22:34- 40 will be studied based on the outcomes of the previous discussions. First, the narrative texture, then the opening, middle and closing of the textual unit and finally the argumentative texture will be analysed.

Different scholars have structured the Gospel of Matthew differently. In this investigation, Warren Carter’s (2000) narrative blocks are generally followed for two reasons. First, Carter amended the weakness of the five discourses structure, which ignores the first part of Jesus’ life (Matt 1-4), and secondly, the divisions follow the storyline and put several episodes in one block, which allows one to see the bigger picture of the narrative. Matthew 22:34-40 is found within the fifth narration block (21:1- 27:66) where Jesus gets into a heated conflict with religious leaders and eventually dies. The block begins with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and ends with his death.

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In this particular block, the conflict begins in the temple with a question and answer dialogue. According to Robbins (1996b:15), “narrational texture reveals some kind of pattern that moves the discourse programmatically forward. Sometimes a pattern emerges when narration and attributed speech alternate with each other. Sometimes a particular type of speech, like a question or a command, occurs so frequently that it establishes a narrational pattern in the discourse.” In the next table, the narrational pattern is displayed.

Text Interrogators Response

Respondent Response with question Response with

statement

21:10 All the city “Who is this?” The crowd Jesus the

prophet from Nazareth of Galilee 21:16 Chief priests

and the scribes

Indignant: “Do you hear what these [children] are saying?

Jesus “Yes, have you never read, ‘out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast brought perfect praise?’” (21:16)

22:23 Chief priests and the scribes

“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Jesus “The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?”

Refused to give direct answer

22:15 Pharisees’ disciples, and Herodian

Testing: “Is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar, or not?”

Jesus “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?

Whose likeness and inscription is this [the coin]?”

Yes. Give what belongs to each kingdom

22:27 Sadducees “in the resurrection, …to which of the seven[husband] will she [the woman] be wife?”

Jesus “Have you not read…?” (22:31-32) No marriage in resurrection! This is ignorance 22:34- 40 Pharisees & Lawyer

Testing: “Which is the great commandment in the law?”

Jesus Loving God,

and loving neighbour as yourself 22:42-

46

Jesus “What do you think of the Christ?”

Pharisees The Son of

David “How is then David,

inspired by the Spirit, call him Lord…? If David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

Pharisees No answer

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The table reveals that there are several questions asked by different groups of people: the entire city, the crowd, the chief priest and scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, the lawyer and Jesus. Every character in the section has a question. The questions, directly or indirectly, are answered except Jesus’ last question. Firstly, the questions are the result of different motivations in that they could be understood as being inquisitive, indignant, mocking, testing, and challenging. While the city’s question arises from the desire to know about the identity of Jesus, that of the chief priests and the scribes is out of indignation. Furthermore, whereas the Sadducees were motivated to mock the doctrine of resurrection and by implication Jesus, the Pharisees’ question arises out of an attempt to test Jesus and trap him in public. However, Jesus’ questions challenge and expose the intent of his opponents and their understanding of scripture.

Secondly, 21:1-22:46 seems to be framed by two questions asked by two different persons. At the triumphal entry of Jesus to Jerusalem the city in 21:10 the crowd asked, “Who is this [Jesus]” and in 22:42- 46 Jesus asks, “What do you think of Christ?” In the first question, the crowd answered that Jesus is a prophet whereas in 22:42-46 Jesus’ rhetorical questions reveals the identity of Jesus as Messiah in that he is the Lord of David. In the middle, the parables of Jesus and the debates over the Law programmatically develop the movement of the narration to evince the victory of Jesus over the religious leaders’ traps and tests, before finally revealing the identity of the Messiah as the Lord.

Thirdly, the questions reveal that the religious leaders are the chief antagonists of the protagonist. In particular, the Pharisees and their agents’ motivation connected to πειράζω (tempting/testing). The word occurs five times and it is used for describing Satan encountering Jesus in the desert in 4:1-3 and the Pharisees’ testing/tempting of Jesus regarding the Law (19:3; 22:18, 35).

Fourthly, the debate over the Law is framed by the narrator as a question and answer. Such narrative texture and patterns can also be discerned in the entire Gospel of Matthew where the issue of the Law is discussed after the first declaration of Jesus in 5:17-20. Since the table above contains interrogations after 21:1, the rest will be demonstrated in the next table. Questions therein trigger a discussion or a conflict to move the story forward.

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Texts Interrogation Response

Interrogator Question Respondent The response Actual

response 11:3 John the

Baptist disciples

“Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

Jesus

12:1- 14

Pharisees [Accusation: “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath”] Not question

Jesus Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry…? (12:3-4) Have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the 145Sabbath and are guiltless?

They are guiltless before God

Pharisees Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? (12:10

Jesus What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?

Yes, it is. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath 15:1- 20

Pharisees “Why do your

disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? (15:2)

Jesus “Why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Your tradition is human

fabrication

Disciple of Jesus

“Do you know that the Pharisees were

offended when they heard this saying?” (15:12)

Jesus “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (15:14)

The Pharisees are not of God and are ignorant leaders

Disciples Request: “Explain the parable to us”

Jesus “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so pass on?”

It is the evil that comes out of the heart that defiles.

19:3- 12

Pharisees Testing: “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” (19:3)

Jesus “Have you not read…?” (19:4-6)

No. God made them one

Pharisees Testing: “Why then did Moses command one to give a

certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” (19:7)

Jesus It is because of

hardness of your heart

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Based on Carter’s structure, 11:3 (the discourse on John the Baptist, Jesus, the Law and the prophets), and 12:1-4 (debate over the Sabbath) are within the second narrative block. Matt15:1-20 (debate over purity or washing hands) stands within the third narrative block and 19:3 (debate over the Law of marriage) in the fourth narrative block. The table shows that the discussion of the Law is narrated in the interrogative narrational texture. Putting together the entire occurrence of the narrational questions on the discussion of the Law, a distinct pattern emerges. Firstly, the debates are designed either to accuse Jesus or to test Jesus. Secondly, the act of the disciples, and the act and the speech of Jesus trigger questions in the mind of the debaters. Thirdly, the debate is based on Scripture. Fourthly, in many cases Jesus first replies with counter-questions on the understanding of his opponents, but most of the time he does not wait to receive answers from them, instead, he continues to make his point. His questions focus mostly on how they read the Scripture or interpret a particular text in Scripture. Fifthly, Jesus’ answers depict that Jesus knows and understands the Law better than his opponents but his opponents are either ill-informed or ignorant.

Jack Dean Kingsbury (1995:194) observed that the character groups that influenced the plot of Matthew next to Jesus, the protagonist, are the Jewish leaders. The leaders of the Jews comprise Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, the chief priests, and the elders. The chief priests and the elders are related to Jerusalem and the temple while the Scribes and the Pharisees are linked mainly to the synagogue (Kingsbury, 1995:180).

Characters in a story are either “flat” or “round.” While the former are easily recognizable and built around a single idea the latter are not (Forster, 1954:103-5-18).The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes are flat characters in the story as their characters are overtly portrayed. The Gospel of Matthew begins drawing the Pharisees and Sadducees with the appearance of John the Baptist (3:7) and continues with this progressively until the last chapter. Here only the summary of the depiction of the Pharisees’ and the Scribes’ interaction with Jesus is provided: they are evil, think evil, and speak evil (2:4-6; 9:3-4; 12:34; 22:18); they are an adulterous generation (12:39; 16:4) and deceptive (22:15). They test Jesus (4:1, 3; 16:1; 19:3; 22:18, 35), blaspheme the Spirit (9:32-34; 12:22-24), and mock Jesus and call him an imposter (27:41-43; 27:63). Although they claim to be experts in the Scripture, they are ignorant (9:13). They are hypocrites being inwardly full of lawlessness (23:28).

Hence, the narrational texture reveals a pattern that the topic of the Law is discussed within a conflict atmosphere and in the form of questions and answers. The topic of the Law is the basis for the enmity

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between Jesus and the religious leaders. The religious leaders are practical examples of enemies and persecutors. The context of the Law is conflict; Matthew 22:34-40 seems to be at the peak of the progression of the conflict on the topic in that it concludes the whole debate in the entire Gospel although Jesus again mentions the Law in 23:23 which is almost a recapitulation of what he debated in the previous sections.