Matthew 28:16-20 - The Key Passage to Understand Matthew's Gospel
Backgrounder on the gospel of Matthew
The gospel of Matthew is composed of twenty-eight chapters. It is one of the
synoptic gospels, together with the gospels of Mark and Luke. Synoptic gospels mean
that these gospels have a common source and tradition from which they
obtained their text and content. This is why when we examine the
three gospels in more detail, we will discover that there are passages
in one gospel that are also found in the other two gospels, but are
given a different presentation and placed within different contexts.
The key passage to understanding the gospel of
Matthew
The key passage to understanding the gospel of Matthew can be found
in the last chapter and passage of the gospel: Matthew 28:16-20. This
is the Ascension scene where Jesus calls His apostles and gives His
missionary mandate. He says, "All authority in heaven and earth has
been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit." It is from this key passage that bible scholars say
that the christological and ecclesiological affirmations of the gospel
are expressed. By christological, we mean anything to do with the
study of the nature and person of Christ. And by ecclesiological, we
mean anything to do with the study of the nature and mission of the
Catholic Church. Christological and ecclesiological may appear as big
theology terms but when we simplify their meaning, it really just means
something to do with Jesus [christological] or something to do with
the Church [ecclesiological].
The christological affirmation of the gospel of
Matthew
If we look at the temptation of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, we see
the Evil One tempting Jesus to receive all the power and authority of
the kingdoms of the earth - which the Evil One promises to give if Jesus
would worship him. Knowing this as indeed diabolical, Jesus said No.
It was the faithfulness of Jesus to His mission and because of His
obedience to the will of God, that eventually, upon His victory and
defeat of sin and death in His Resurrection, on the mountain of the
Ascension, He now expresses how the Father has given Him authority
over all. The Evil One tempted Him with earthly authority, but Jesus
obeyed God's will, underwent His passion and death on the Cross, and
received the authority that is rightfully His: a divine authority both on
heaven and on earth. The christological affirmation therefore that can be
obtained from this key passage of Matthew 28:16-20 is that Jesus is the
glorious Son of Man on whom the Father has turned over all power and authority
throughout all creation. So the christological affirmation the
gospel wants to convey to its readers is simply that Jesus Christ is
the Messiah, the Savior of mankind, who has authority over all on
earth and in the heavens.
The ecclesiological affirmation of the gospel
of Matthew
The ecclesiological affirmation of the gospel of Matthew simply means
that the Church was commissioned by Jesus to go out into the whole world
and evangelize peoples with the message of the Gospel - baptizing all
in the name of the Blessed Trinity. For Matthew, he wants to convey to
the readers of his gospel that the Church is basically a community of
disciples, making disciples. This means that the concept and value of
service goes before power and authority within the Church. This truth
is well expressed in Matthew chapter 18 which speaks in terms of a
brotherhood, and also in Matthew 24:45-51, which speaks of servants in
charge of fellow servants. Thus, when the Church is given her commission
to preach and teach the nations of the Good News, she is to do so in the
spirit of service and brotherhood. And the authority by which members of
the Church evangelize, flows not only from the hierarchical structure
of the Church but primarily from the Spirit of authority and power which
Jesus was given by the Father, and which He gave also to us, His brothers
and sisters, as a community of disciples entrusted to make more disciples.
A servant-Church following the servant-Christ
Another way of seeing the christological affirmation and the ecclesiological
affirmation in the gospel of Matthew is in terms of Christ's teaching as
regards service. Although Jesus was given all authority by the Father, He
remains a servant-Christ. He proved this teaching of His by example in
the total self-giving of His life on the Cross for the salvation of all
people. Also, He proved this to all by His example of saying NO to the Evil
One. It was very clear to Jesus that He is to serve God and His will, and
be obedient to the Father even if it means dying on the Cross. From this
servant-Christ identity, the vocation and mission of Jesus flows also
into our servant-Church identity and our vocation and mission as His
disciples - who by our baptism, commit ourselves to follow Jesus.
So, just as Jesus said NO to the Evil One and shunned earthly security
and power, so are we called to say NO to the Evil One and his temptations
to us of earthly security and power. Just as Jesus performed His
public ministry in a spirit of service and charity, we too are called
to evangelize all peoples in that same spirit of service and charity
that Jesus gave us as an example. So, what we are called to do is
to follow the servant-Christ as the servant-Church. Like servant-Christ,
like servant-Church.
Dennis-Emmanuel Cabrera
March 14, 2005
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