Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew

Baylor-Mohr Siebeck Studies In Early Christianity

by Matthias Konradt, Wayne Coppins (Series Editor), Simon Gathercole (Series Editor)

Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew addresses one of the central theological problems of Matthew's Gospel: what are the relationships between Israel and the Church and between the mission to Israel and the mission to the Gentiles? To answer these questions, Matthias Konradt traces the surprising transition from the Israel-centered words and deeds of Jesus (and his disciples) before Easter to the universal mission of Jesus' earliest followers after his resurrection.

Through careful historical and narrative analysis, Konradt rejects the interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew that the Church replaced Israel in God's purposes--that is, the interpretation that because Israel rejected Jesus as Israel's Messiah, the Church replaced Israel in the role of God's chosen people. Konradt instead discovers in Matthew that the Israel- and universally-centered dimensions of God's saving purposes are far more positively connected. Matthew develops a narrative that features Jesus' identity as both the messianic Son of David "and" the universal Son of God. What developed into a mainly Gentile Church should never think of itself as the "new" or "true" Israel; rather, according to Matthew's Gospel, the Church represents an extension of the promises first made to Israel and now inclusive of the Gentiles.

500 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2014

Reviews

[Sanjuro · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be hard to overstate how important this book is for the future of Matthean studies. In solving the problem in Matthew's Gospel of the relationship between Israel and the church - and Israel and Gentiles - Konradt has mostly (though not entirely) eschewed socio-critical approaches taken up by Stanton, Sim, and others and instead offered the most prolific narrative reading of Matthew that I have encountered. The results are entirely convincing and extremely impressive. Konradt's treatment of both Matthew and the secondary literature is sweeping in scope as he leaves no stone unturned. I think the greatest contribution of the book is to see that both "sides" of these debates; between those who think Matthew is prolifically pro-Gentile to the point of being anti-Jewish, and those who think Matthew is entirely Christian-intra-Jewish and relatively ambivalent regarding Gentiles, are largely working with the wrong categories. It should be, after all, telling that trained scholars can come to polar opposite views of Matthew's views regarding Jewish/Gentile attitudes. This can only happen if our categories for thinking about Matthew need to be adjusted, and Konradt offers a new way forward.

There is a particular irony for me regarding my timing in the reading of this book. Just two months ago I postulated to a friend of mine that the (relatively unnoticed) core of Matthew is the two competing forms of leader/followership presented in the book. The disciples are consistently contrasted with the scribes and pharisees, and this contrast defines the entire ethical and missional punch of the text. And here, just a couple of short months later, I read that Konradt has already proposed such a solution. I wish I'd published it first, but I endorse his argument completely.