In the end, for
Matthew, because he does not provide any type of report on the activity of the
disciples themselves in relation to Jesus’ instructions, what is important is
that Jesus went out teaching and preaching and presumably doing all of those
things that He had instructed His disciples to do. Does this mean that
Matthew was unconcerned with the activity of the disciples? Clearly, that
is not the case. In all of this, one must not forget that Matthew and His
audience (like Mark and Luke) are viewing the story of Jesus through
Resurrection-colored goggles as a community that recognized and worshiped Jesus
as the incarnate Creator God.
What this serves to
communicate, keeping in mind the context that has been created through the way
that the story is being told and the covenantal context in which the life of
Jesus unfolds and in which His teaching is presented, is that it is ultimately the
activity of the covenant God that is of paramount importance to those who were
telling the Jesus story. Even in Abraham’s case, it was the God of
Abraham that was to be recognized through Abraham’s life and actions---not necessarily
Abraham himself.
It was the Creator God
that was to be revealed through Israel---they were not to be made into a great
nation (as promised to Abraham) simply to be blessed by their God and to no
greater end or purpose than simply being a great nation. Being a blessing
and exemplifying divine blessing, as these disciples were being called to do
and be, is meaningless if it does not derive glory for the Creator and work
towards accomplishing His purposes or restoration and redemption for humanity
and the creation. Foundationally, it would be the Creator God at work,
through Abraham. It would be the Creator God at work, in and through the
Christ; and it would be the Creator God at work, through the Christ’s
disciples, when they carried out (and continue to carry out) His
instructions.
With much foundation
laid, it is now possible to clinch the argument that Abraham and the Creator God’s
covenant with him are in view as Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John (to an extent)
tell the stories of Jesus’ calling of His disciples, that Jesus Himself is
relying upon a broad-based Abrahamic covenant-shaped worldview to inform the
response to His words and deeds, and that this is functional for rounding out a
proper perspective on the narrative.
Not only that, but it
should become clear, when adopting a wide angle view of what is going on if
this is indeed the case, that one of the points being made is that a disciple
of Jesus, then and now, is called to be for the world what Abraham (and
ultimately his descendants) were called to be for the world. Abraham and
his descendants were to be the means and the mediators by and through which the
Creator God enacted His plan to redeem and restore the world. In essence,
it could be said that the disciples were called to be a fresh set of Abrahams.
It bears repeating
here then, that all disciples of Jesus---those that join Him in the way that He
is marking out for the enactment of the Creator God’s kingdom in and for this
world---are called to be Abrahams. Has this review and analysis been
sufficient to make that point? Most likely. However, there is one
final portion of Matthew’s narrative that can be included in this presentation
to tie together all that has been seen to this point in the building of this
case.
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