Introduction
Many have noticed Matthew’s sensitive
contrast between Moses and Jesus. This
is fairly obvious when we get to the Sermon on the Mount where, just like
Moses, he delivers something of a new law to the people. If you read any standard introduction to the
biblical theology themes of Matthew, you will find many such examples of how
Jesus is the New Moses. |
| Jesus on Mount |
The Direct Quotation
Let’s begin with the quotation of Exod 4:19
in Matt 2:20. In Exodus, God tells Moses
to return to Egypt , while in
Matthew, the angel tells Joseph to return to Israel
Exod 4:19 ...for
all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.
Matt 2:20 ...for
those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.
The Greek texts of Exod 4:19 (Septuagint)
and Matt 2:20 are actually as close as they can possibly be, except for the
difference of the use of the second person (“you”) in Exodus, while Matthew
refers in its place “the child,” an unavoidable difference.
So, we have here two very similar stories
of the main character returning to his homeland for the same reason, with
Matthew giving an almost direct quotation of the earlier text. This should give us the interpretive clue
that Matthew is comparing Jesus to Moses.
Listing the Other Parallels
However, there are many more clues. Let’s list them. (I culled the raw data from the New
International Critical Commentary on Matthew, pp. 192-193, for full citation of
the primary sources.)
 |
| Josephus, a 1st cent. Jewish historian |
1. According
to Josephus (whose dates are approximate to Paul’s), the Jews believed that
Amram (Moses’ father) was troubled at the news of the coming birth of
Moses. Also, Josephus says that God
appeared to Amram in a dream and told him not to despair. In telling the story, Josephus lauds Amram for
his piety and noble character. Matthew
says the same things about Joseph: Joseph
was a righteous and noble man, he was troubled at the news of the pregnancy,
and he was told not to be afraid. (See
also Pseudo-Philo, probably first century.)
2. According
to Pseudo-Philo, the Jews believed that an angel appeared to make an announcement
of the coming birth of one by whom “I will save my people.” In the same way, an angel also appeared to
Joseph to foretell the birth of the one who would “save my people from their
sins.”
3. Pharaoh
ordered the death of all the Hebrew boys.
Likewise, King Herod gave similar orders regarding the boys of Bethlehem
4. Josephus
says that the Jews believed that Pharaoh ordered the drowning of the Hebrew
boys because he learned of the birth of a future liberator of Israel
5. Josephus
says that the Jews believed that Pharaoh learned of this future liberator from
sacred scribes (see also the aforementioned Targum). Likewise, Herod learned of the coming Messiah
through the chief priests and scribes.
6. Just
as Moses was forced to leave his home by people who wanted to kill him, Jesus
also was forced to leave his home because people wanted to kill him.
7. Just
as Moses took his wife and sons and went back to Egypt
(Exod 4:20), Joseph took his son and his wife and went back to Israel
8. Finally,
the issue in Matthew 2 is, Who is the real king of the Jews? Obviously, Jesus is, not Herod. But interestingly, according to Josephus,
Philo, and a number of other Rabbinic traditions, the Jews believed that Moses
also was a king.
Concluding Comments
Let me just hasten to say that much of the
Jewish beliefs about Moses are legendary and found outside of the Old or New
Testaments. However, the primary sources
do tell us what first century Jews typically believed about Moses. When reading Matthew’s Gospel, they would not
have overlooked these parallels, even if we moderns don’t get a picture as
fully developed as they did.
Now, this is just raw data. Interpretation of the raw data requires a bit
more work. Minimally, we see that Jesus
is being compared with Moses. Later in
Matthew, we see that Jesus’ word is superior to that of Moses. The theme can be developed much more fully.
The birth narrative in Matthew’s Gospel
clearly sets out to compare Moses to Jesus.
It doesn’t quite tell us who is greater, but it gives us a heads up so
that we can look for other clues later in the story.
After the Passover, the Israelites departed
Egypt and crossed through
the Red Sea .
Many have also compared Christian baptism to the same event. If this comparison is valid we see that
Jesus’ baptism might correspond to the Israelite crossing of the Red Sea . But
Jesus’ venture through the waters was followed by the divine pronouncement of
his sonship, revealing that he is more so God’s Son than Israel ever was;
recall the Matthean quote, “Out of Egypt I have called my Son.”
After the crossing of the Red
Sea , the Children of Israel were tested in the wilderness. Likewise, after Jesus’ water experience, he
too went into the desert to be tested.
The Israelites failed in this time of testing, but Jesus Messiah endured
the testing successfully.
After crossing the Red
Sea , Moses went up to a mountain, received the Covenant and issued
it to the people. In Matthew, after his Jordan
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment