Abstract
The triadic name given in the baptism command of Matthew 28:19b has often been considered awkward in its context and perhaps anachronistic in light of later Christian Trinitarian doctrine. This article argues that Matthew 28:19b is rather a fitting climactic conclusion to a narrative-theological motif throughout Matthew’s Gospel where triadic or at least dyadic language is employed within revelatory contexts that affirm Jesus’ divine sonship and messianic mission: either in small apocalypses or within apocalyptic discourse. This argument finds its crux in the baptism of Jesus itself (3:13–17) which is presented as an apocalypse in which the heavenly fatherly voice reveals the identity of the Son and anoints him with his Spirit, with the stated goal of “fulfilling all righteousness.” The revelation is presented by Matthew so that it is directed to the public within the narrative and implicitly to the reader disciple. The baptism revelation is then closely associated both with the lengthy citation of Isaiah 42:1–4 in Matthew 12:18–21, another triadic text, and with the visionary transfiguration account (17:1–8). Other passages are analyzed in order to trace the pattern throughout the Gospel. In the resurrection narrative (28:1–20) it is demonstrated that the resurrected Jesus is portrayed as a now heavenly, yet still embodied, revealer who is worshipped such that the Great Commission passage (28:16–20) is presented as a divine revelation. Within this “ultimate apocalypse” the risen Jesus commands his followers to make disciples of the nations by teaching and baptizing in the triadic name. The baptism command, in light of the triadic motif throughout the Gospel has the rhetorical effect of inviting Matthew’s reader-listener disciples to identify with Jesus in his own triadic baptism such that they too have an affirmed filial relationship with God and receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit to continue and extend Jesus’ messianic mission into the world under his universal authority and with his promised presence.
Highlights
Critical scholarship’s response to Jesus’ command to make disciples by baptizing in the triadic name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Matthew 28:19b often begins with a caveat that the triadic expression should not be taken in a later “trinitarian” sense
The triadic expression is not really a “bolt from the blue,” or a seemingly foreign insertion into its narrative context, neither is it a formula nor dogmatic assertion. It is a fitting narrative-theological conclusion to the series of revelations and apocalyptic discourse in Matthew’s Gospel that affirm Jesus as the beloved Son in whom God his Father is fully present and through whom the Spirit of God brings the kingdom of God to bear in the world
This pattern finds its determinative point in Jesus’ baptism itself (Matt 3:13–17), an apocalyptic event in which the divine, fatherly voice from the heavens affirms the sonship of Jesus and anoints him with his Spirit
Summary
Critical scholarship’s response to Jesus’ command to make disciples by baptizing in the triadic name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Matthew 28:19b often begins with a caveat that the triadic expression should not be taken in a later “trinitarian” sense. The Petrine confession (16:13–17) and the transfiguration (17:1–8) contribute to the pattern of divine Fatherly affirmations of Jesus’ identity and mission while the release of “the spirit” in Matthew 27:50 after the cry of dereliction implies the reversal of the baptismal revelation Each of these passages link “Jesus” or “son” with “Father” and sometimes “Spirit,” (i.e. triadic or dyadic) and narrate or refer to revelation that affirms or authorizes the filial identity of Jesus and his Spirit empowered mission, often explicating or anticipating the inclusion of Jesus’ disciples in a derivative filial identity and in the same messianic mission. I will reflect briefly on the implications of these conclusions with regard to the origins of the expression and its nature as a “Trinitarian” concept
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