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.
192 Wim J.C. Weren
4,18–16,12 16,13-28 (hinge) 17,1–25,46
4,18–11,1 11,2-30 (hinge) 12,1–16,12
Matt 4,18–11,1 opens with the calling of four fishermen (4,18-22)
and closes with the instructions given to the twelve apostles
(9,36–10,42). Although these two passages rather vary in length, a
certain thematic similarity cannot be denied. Central in both cases is
that Jesus assigns particular followers a task that is the continuation of
his own mission.
One of the next structuring phenomena are the summaries in 4,23
and 9,35, that are practically identically worded (similarities in italics):
4,23 Kai; perih'gen ejn o{lh/ th'/ Galilaiva/, didavskwn ejn tai'" sunagwgai'" aujtw'n kai;
khruvsswn to; eujaggevlion th'" basileiva" kai; qerapeuvwn pa'san novson kai;
pasan malakivan ejn tw/' law/'.
'
9,35 Kai; perih'gen oJ jIhsou'" ta;" povlei" pavsa" kai; ta;" kwvma", didavskwn ejn tai'"
sunagwgai'" aujtw'n kai; khruvsswn to; eujaggevlion th'" basileiva" kai;
qerapeuvwn pa'san novson kai; pa'san malakivan.
In each case, an imperfectum iterativum (perihgen) is followed by
'
three participles that shed light on the various facets of Jesus’ ministry:
to teach, to preach, and to heal. An echo of these summaries is heard
in 11,1b: metevbh ejkei'qen tou' didavskein kai; khruvssein ejn tai'"
polesin aujtw'n. In this case, only Jesus’ role as a teacher and preacher
v
is mentioned, and not his role as a healer.
His role as a teacher is concretized in the Sermon on the Mount
(4,24–8,1). Jesus’ lengthy and uninterrupted monologue (5,3–7,27) is
embedded in a narrative framework (4,24–5,2 and 7,28–8,1), in which
a number of elements mentioned in the beginning are repeated at the
end, but then in reverse order:
hkolouvqhsan aujtw'/ o[cloi polloi;
j
a 4,25
ajnevbh eij" to; o[ro"
b 5,1
ejdivdasken
c 5,2
h\n ga;r didavskwn
c’ 7,29
katabavnto" de; aujtou' ajpo; tou' o[rou"
b’ 8,1
hkolouvqhsan aujtw'/ o[cloi polloiv
j
a’ 8,1
The role of Jesus as a healer is elaborated in 8,2–9,34, where he
performs “deeds of power†(dunavmei"), that are referred to in 11,20 as
being “the deeds of the Messiahâ€. That he is someone with authority is
obvious from his words (7,29) as well as his deeds (8,9; 9,6.8).
Jesus’ second sermon, the Missionary Discourse (10,5-42), is
preceded by a narrative introduction (9,36–10,4) and ends in 11,1a
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