The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew (New Testament Theology) [Paperback]

Ulrich Luz (Author), J. Bradford Robinson (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521435765 | ISBN-13: 978-0521435765 | Publication Date: June 30, 1995

Matthew's Gospel is the most significant Jewish-Christian document of the New Testament. Ulrich Luz both outlines and elucidates the story told in the Gospel, emphasizing its focal points: the Sermon on the Mount, the miracles, the renunciation of possessions, and particularly the theology of judgment by works, an idea that represents both a challenge, in its quest for a church set apart from non-Christians by deeds alone, and a burden, through its traumatic origin in the breach between Matthew's community and the Israelite majority.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With this volume in the New Testament Theology series, Ulrich Luz makes another significant contribution to Matthean studies....Luz's fine study...provides an insightful, informed, and stimulating discussion of Matthew's Gospel. But his approach also raises important questions about how current narrative or audience-oriented work might contribute to `a theology of Matthew,' about what `theology' is for this Gospel, how it is done, and how it might be engaged. For these contributions we are indebted to Professor Luz." Journal of Biblical Literature

"The series has received enthusiastic notices, setting a high standard for clarity and usefulness -- a standard to which these works live up." Pro Ecclesia

"Luz is an excellent guide to the theological messages of Matthew and Luke, and to responsible engagement with that witness today. Pastors, students, and scholars all stand to benefit from this volume." John T. Carroll, Interpretation

"...an excellent guide to reading the canonical text." Sean P. Kealy, C.S.Sp.,The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521435765
• ISBN-13: 978-0521435765
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #444,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy look at the Gospel of Matthew, September 26, 2003

By 

Brian Gamel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew (New Testament Theology) (Paperback)

A much better treatment than this series' respective book on Mark, this book on Matthew succeeds in grasping an essence of Matthew's thought-patterns and setting.

While most books in this series have a very contrived structure - introduction and backgroud, theology of, book and NT, book and today - Luz instead presents Matthew's theology in the context of its plot, realizing the necessity of integrating the story to the theology. As becomes clear, Matthew's focus is on discipleship and what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus (according to him). The grapplings of Jewish Christians with the Gentile mission, of observance to and relevance of the law for their life, and the importance of "works" are all themes elucidated clearly by Luz.

In the end, Luz tackles the problem of relating Matthew's works orientation to Paul's justification by faith in more than an adequate manner, although any such "solution" is always incomplete.

Overall, the book is well written and thought out and clearly followed. The only difficulty with the book was sometimes trying to follow the somewhat awkward wording of the author as it has been translated from German into English. But don't let this dissuade you - this book is worth buying.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Story as theology, August 24, 2007

By 

Bahij Bawarshi (Beirut, Lebanon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew (New Testament Theology) (Paperback)

Ulrich Luz gives full weight to the idea that Matthew wrote his Gospel as a *story* of Jesus, with the purpose of conveying a theological message to its intended readers. The story has a developing plot, inviting us to read it as a whole, not in isolated parts. Luz traces the story and its implications from beginning to end, rather than attempt to organize it systematically by topic. Here are a few glimpses into the study:

Luz does not apply the categories of literary criticism (implied author, narrator, etc.), but his narrative approach accommodates theological statements such as, "The Immanuel motif shows that Matthew's Christology is narrative in character. The presence of God can only be related and testified, not captured in concepts." And, "[I]n the *story* of the man Jesus, God *acts* [author's emphases]."

Reading the Gospel in its entirety uncovers signals, key words and other textual clues that enable Luz to propose, for example, a history of the Matthean community, a hypothetical outline whose "function is to kindle the historical imagination and elicit further outlines." Matthew's story, he tells us, is "inclusive", meaning the experiences of the historical Jesus as narrated in the Gospel mirror and include the experiences of the contemporary community. This applies not only to the narrative as a whole, but also to its particular elements, such as the miracle stories: Luz cites the calming of the storm (8:18-27) as a story that in itself is inclusive. "Its concern is not only the historical Jesus, but at the same time the present 'Lord', who will accompany the community to the end of time."

Although Luz conforms to the sequence of Matthew's story, he does include from time to time a "systematic" section. An excellent example occurs in Chapter 4, where he interpolates a section on the Son of David, the Messiah, as a worker of miracles accepted by the simple people but rejected by the Pharisees. Yet even here, he concludes by pointing out that this serves to advance the story's plot of conflict with Israel.

Among the distinguishing marks of Matthew's theology is the theme of judgment, which makes its first appearance in the Sermon on the Mount, then threads its way through the rest of the narrative. Although it is tempered by God's mercy and generosity, Luz has no inhibitions calling it a judgment of works. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down." To his credit, Luz does not try to harmonize Matthew with Paul. He does not claim that it was a matter of "by works" vs. "by grace alone," yet senses "a profound tension ... perhaps even an abyss" between the writings of these two figures of the New Testament. Other scholars have written of "diversity within the unity" of the NT.

Luz is compelling in his discussions of mission and discipleship, callings that are of the essence of Matthew's community. He also examines the parables ("they ask to be lived, not to be grasped by the intellect"), the Church (in Matthew's understanding, the disciples with whom his community identifies), eschatology, turning to the Gentiles and other topics as they occur in the narrative. The final chapter includes sections on "Matthew and Jesus", "Matthew and Paul", "Matthew and Church History", and "Matthew and Christians Today". The book is thought provoking and worthy of its eminent author, but rather brief. Luz discusses some of the topics in more detail in his excellent collection of papers, Studies In Matthew.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a solid, narrative theology, January 17, 2011

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t.howe - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Theology of the Gospel of Matthew (New Testament Theology) (Paperback)

Luz' produces his theology of Matthew via examination of the "story" of Matthew. His first chapter explains the overall coherency of Matthew focusing on Matthew's use of signals, prophecies, key words, repetition, and inclusions as story-telling technique. He suggests how Matthew used the sources available to him - Mark, Q, and a "sayings source" and he speaks about the Matthean community. Next he identifies the Prologue (1:1-4:22) which sets up who Jesus is by His birth story, then a developing Christology through fulfillment of the scriptures.

chapter 3 does a good job on the Sermon on the Mount and chapter 4 deals with the inclusiveness that Jesus intended but the conflict that Jesus found with Israel. Luz believes that Matthew creates this because it is really his community who is in conflict with Jewish leaders causing Matthew to lose coherency. 12:1-16:20 covers the origin of the discipleship community caused by Israel's rejection of Jesus and the disciples' acceptance of Christ. In chapter 6, Luz sees Matthew describing discipleship life including suffering, self-denial, and new rules.

Chapter 7 focuses on judgment that will go badly for the nation of Israel including its leaders, with whom Luz assumes Matthew is already at conflict. Luz determines Matthew's theology of the Passion Week reemphasizes the rejection of Israel (chapter 8) and adds some final concluding thoughts in chapter 9.

Luz interprets Matthew in light of Matthew's supposed community and its rejection by Jewish leadership, often overstating what is in Matthew's mind (105, 123, 142-144). Luz states that Matthew rejects the Pharisees because the Pharisees had rejected his community without giving any verifiable proof of this happening.

Luz has good theology throughout - on the Sermon on the Mount, on the importance of prayer, discipleship, and when he points out that obedience is the key to understanding Matthew. However, his theology is not up to this standard on many other occasions. His teaching about righteousness of works has Christians at the judgment, foreshadowing his contradictory comparison of Matthew and Paul. He puts Paul's concept of grace at odds with Matthew's depiction of righteousness by works, concluding that the two have a theological "abyss" between them. Yet, immediately following, he offers 5 reasons why they are not really that far apart! So, is there an abyss or are they not really that far apart?

He presents controversial ideas with a sense of certainty without always giving adequate support, such as, "It is highly conceivable that there were many houses churches in Antioch with little contact between them," (147) in order to support his theory that Matthew had little contact with Paul. He is unable to offer any data to support this theory.

I like his thought provoking and well written approach to narrative theology. This is clearly a major strength of the book. It is too bad that he was unable to sufficiently support all of his ideas. The fact that much of his theology is based on his sure understanding of what constituted the Matthean community is unfortunate because he seems to be able to say much about this reconstructed community, one he created based on Matthew's writing. Obviously, this becomes a circular argument. Beyond this though, the book is definitely worth the read. It is a solid theological approach by a serious theologian.