Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew by Matthias Konradt

Abstract

Reviewed by: Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew by Matthias Konradt Chance Bonar Konradt, Matthias. 2014. Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew. Baylor Mohr Siebeck Studies Early Christianity. Waco: Baylor University Press. Hardcover. ISBN-13: 978-1481301893. Pp. 640. $79.95. The Baylor-Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity series undertook this translation of a monumental synthetic study of ecclesiology in the Gospel of Matthew by notable German scholar Matthias Konradt. The study begins by recognising that centuries of biblical interpretation have begotten anti-semitic or anti-Judaic sentiments among Christian communities; most notably, the text of Matthew has been used and abused because of its popular connotation as the most and least “Jewish” of the Gospels. Due to the complex history of Matthew’s reception concerning Jewish-Christian relations, scholars often search the text for clues as to the nascent activity of the “parting of the ways” between Judaism and Christianity. Within this larger conversation, Konradt’s meticulous ecclesiological study of Matthew is founded in the core “paradox” of the two missions—Jesus’s sending of the twelve to the “lost sheep of Israel” in 10:6 and his famous sending to “make disciples of all nations” in 28:19. Konradt mainly builds his arguments against the common model that attempts to reconcile these two seemingly contradictory verses, namely, “a response to the collective rejection that Jesus experienced in Israel” (2). This commonly guised supersessionist approach to Matthew views the Jewish people in a monolithic fashion and places blame upon all (or almost all of) Israel for the death of Jesus. The consequences of such an approach include Israel losing its role in salvation history, as well as becoming the object of God’s eschatological judgment. In his introduction, Konradt sets out to dismantle this so-called replacement thesis and its supersessionist tendencies by examining the multifaceted intersections between Israel, the ministry of Jesus, the gentiles/nations, and the “church.” Whereas earlier scholarship (e.g., Ulrich Luz) have been quick to assume that any resistance to Jesus and his ministry must represent Israel’s full rejection of Jesus, Konradt is cautious so as to acknowledge the nuance of Matthean statements against Jewish figures, as well as Matthean depictions of non-Jews/gentiles. As Konradt concisely summarises his goal for the project: That task is, namely, to comprehensively analyze Israel’s significance and position in Matthean theology and thereby bring to light the theological conception that lies behind the development from the Israel-oriented, pre-Easter ministry of Jesus and his disciples to the universality of salvation that appears in 28.18–20. (p. 14) [End Page 458] Overall, Konradt has presented a well-researched and formidable study that challenges often-unquestioned theological biases that infiltrate Matthean studies. Each chapter of Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew centres on a specific ecclesiological question (e.g., the focus of Israel in the ministry of Jesus; Israel and the gentiles; Israel and the church) in order to construct a hermeneutic of Matthew that does not fall into supersessionist assumptions. In chapter 2, Konradt focuses on the intersection between the Matthean Jesus and the concept of “Israel,” especially through the image of Jesus as (in his terms) the Davidic-Messianic shepherd of Israel. In his reading of the “son of David” Jesus in Matthew, Konradt finds a reversal of the situation of Psalm 2:7—“rather than Jesus the Son of David being adopted as the Son of God, Jesus the Son of God is adopted as the Son of David [by joining Joseph’s family]” (29). In his introductory critiques of the common, supersessionist approach previously described, he notes that the Davidic shepherd Jesus is contrasted with the poor shepherds of Israel, namely, the contemporary Jewish leaders who do not show healing and compassion. In this chapter, Konradt also notes that even though the Matthean Jesus focuses his ministry primarily on Israel, three instances stand out as examples of pre-Easter concern for gentiles (8:5–13, 28–34; 15:21–28). These instances, in his reading, explicitly recognise that Jesus’s intervention occurs before the kairos, or appointed time...