Wim J.C. Weren, «The Macrostructure of Matthew’s Gospel: A New Proposal», Vol. 87 (2006) 171-200
The weakness of the proposals concerning the macrostructure of Matthew’s
Gospel made by Bacon and Kingsbury is that they depart from rigid caesuras,
whilst a typical characteristic of the composition of this Gospel is the relatively
smooth flow of the story. On the basis of the discovery that the various
topographical data are clustered together by means of three refrains we can
distinguish three patterns in the travels undertaken by Jesus. This rather coarse
structure is further refined with the use of Matera’s and Carter’s distinction
between kernels and satellites. Kernels are better labelled as “hinge texts”. The
following pericopes belong to this category: 4,12-17; 11,2-30; 16,13-28; 21,1-17;
26,1-16. Each of them marks a turning point in the plot and has a double function:
a hinge text is not only fleshed out in the subsequent pericopes but also refers to
the preceding block. It is especially these “hinge texts” that underline the
continuity of Matthew’s narrative and should prevent us from focussing too much
on alleged caesuras.
The Macrostructure of Matthew’s Gospel 185
movement ends in the region of Caesarea Philippi (16,13-28) and is
altered by Jesus himself. As from this passage, we come across a new
refrain that is expressed as follows.
16,21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and
chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
17,22-23 “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they
will kill him, and on the third day he will be raisedâ€.
20,18-19 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed
over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to
death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and
flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raisedâ€.
26,2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of
Man will be handed over to be crucifiedâ€.
In 16,21 this refrain belongs to the narrator’s text; in the three other
cases, the narrator puts the words of the announcement into Jesus’
mouth. The refrain can be recognized by the following fixed elements:
a) Jesus travels purposefully and of his own free will; b) the journey
takes him to Jerusalem (16,21; 20,17.18); c) he will be crucified there,
but God will raise him up on the third day; d) the journey to Jerusalem
is — just as those moves undertaken in 1,1–16,20 — covered by the
ordinance of God (see dei' in 16,21); e) the refrain anticipates the
events related in 26,17–28,15.
At the time the events proclaimed are actually taking place in
Jerusalem, a third and last refrain echoes:
26,32 “But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galileeâ€.
28,7 “… and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see
himâ€.
28,10 “… go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see meâ€.
These sentences are spoken by Jesus (28,32; 28,10) and by an
angel of the Lord (28,7) and contain the following fixed elements: a)
the speaker anticipates the period following the resurrection of Jesus;
b) mention is made of a future reunion between the resurrected Jesus
and his disciples; c) the reunion will take place in Galilee.
In the five concluding verses of Matthew (28,16-20), the raised
expectation is fulfilled on a mountain in Galilee. This location results
in a certain contrast between 28,16-20 and the long section in which
the place of action is Jerusalem. In this case, Galilee is the base of
operation for movement in every direction, the world over. From
Galilee, Jesus sends his disciples to all nations with the promise that
he will remain amongst them until the end of the age. Thus, in 28,16-
20, the book ends with the beginning of a new journey, the starting
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