Reading and interpreting Matthew from the beginning

At the dawn of Year A in the Revised Common Lectionary, the Gospel lessons return to Matthew. (1) Unfortunately, the manner in which the lectionary orders the forty-eight to fifty Matthean texts in Year A can prove to be a major interpretive challenge for people seeking to teach and preach those texts. Matthew was written to be read and interpreted accumulatively and in sequential order. Readers are expected to begin at the beginning and build up an ever-increasing interpretive framework as they progress through the narrative. The lectionary, however, refuses to follow its sequential ordering, so that from December to May it is virtually impossible to find, let alone follow, a coherent narrative and interpretive thread.

Consider, for example, the Matthean texts for the Sundays in Advent. On the first Sunday of Advent the lesson is Matthew 24:36-44, part of a scene that in Matthew's narrative takes place on Tuesday of Holy Week at the culmination of Jesus' public ministry. While this text may be entirely appropriate for introducing the season of Advent, it is entirely inappropriate to begin interpreting Matthew at this point in the narrative. Starting to interpret Matthew at 24:36 would be akin to starting to read a John Grisham novel at chapter 24 or to watch a DVD at the 85-minute mark. Such narratives are not constructed to be read, watched, or interpreted in such ways. On the Second Sunday of Advent the lectionary rewinds to Matthew 3:1-12, at which time Jesus is an adult but has not yet begun his ministry. On the Third Sunday of Advent we are suddenly propelled to 11:2-11, by which time Jesus has already carried out a third of his ministry. Then, on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the lectionary whisks us back to the time immediately following Jesus' conception. In the course of a few weeks, the lectionary has taken us backward from the threshold of Jesus' passion to the threshold of his birth. In so doing, the lectionary hinders any attempt to establish and use Matthew's own narrative constructions as an interpretive framework for understanding Matthew.

This problem does not get any easier in the months of January through the middle of May, as there are only six Matthean texts appearing over the course of the nineteen Sundays spanning the Day of Epiphany to the Day of Pentecost, and these six texts range from Matthew 3 to Matthew 28. Hence, those who wish to preach and teach the Matthean texts of Year A need to resist the habit of letting the lectionary construct a framework for interpreting Matthew. Instead, to teach and preach Matthew faithfully one should begin at Matthew's intended beginning and build the proper interpretive framework that Matthew's own narrative provides.

To aid such an interpretive construction project, in this article I present ways in which Matthew's opening two chapters introduce themes, characters, and perspectives that are foundational for interpretation as one progresses through the narrative.

While Matthew's story begins at 1:1, the lectionary completely ignores the first seventeen verses of the narrative. This may be understandable in that these verses contain Jesus' lengthy genealogy, which congregants might find boring when read in public worship on a Sunday morning (not to mention the fact that someone would have to pronounce all those ancient names), but the narrative is using Jesus' genealogy to provide invaluable theological impressions and information that will guide interpretation for subsequent texts in Matthew. In the ancient world, genealogies were very important vehicles by which a character is rooted in a particular heritage and so legitimated by their ties within that heritage. (2) The Greek word in 1:1 that almost all English versions translate as "genealogy" is actually the Greek word genesis and, given its use here and again in 1:18, better rendered as "origin." From the very beginning of the story we are to understand that Jesus' origin is within the core history of God's dealings with God's chosen people, Israel. As the story progresses we will be shown how Jesus recapitulates, fulfills, and culminates this relational history and heritage. This Gospel is not a story about how the church came to replace Israel as God's people. Rather, from the start we are being told how God's promises to Israel are now being realized in Jesus' person and mission.

The opening line also discloses that Jesus' identity includes being messiah, son of David and son of Abraham. (3) As the narrative unfolds we see how the promises God gave to David and Abraham are realized in Jesus. He is the king, God's anointed son (recalling Ps 2:7) who will rule over the house of Israel forever (recalling 2 Sam 7:12-16). Thus from the start we are to view Jesus in royal terms and categories. As Abraham's son he is also the one through whom all the nations of the earth will receive God's blessing (recalling Gen 12:1-3). This important theme will be played out in the ways particular Gentiles will be blessed by Jesus' ministry and will find its culmination in 28:18-20, where Jesus commissions his disciples to make disciples of all nations. (4)