One of the characteristic features in Matthew’s Gospel is his emphasis of the title ‘Son of David’ in Jesus’ healings. However, there is sparse reference to the expectation of a ‘healing messiah’ in Jewish literature. Recent study has attempted to understand this issue within Jewish traditions by focusing on the shepherding motif in Ezekiel 34 (Matt 9:36; 10:6; 15:24). While this result seems convincing for some scholars, another issue may arise relating to Jesus’ healing ministry: Why does Matthew quote explicitly (Matt 8:17; 12:18-21) from Isaiah (Isa 53:4; 42:1-4), but only alludes to Ezekiel 34? This thesis will seek to demonstrate that the phenomenon of ‘healing messiah’ is a product of Matthew’s reflection upon early Jewish traditions rooted in the Old Testament as well as upon the received Christian traditions, and that the varying aspects of the depiction of Jesus in healings suggested in recent studies are, to some extent, dependent upon their methodological approaches. Through the employment of appropriate methods, a more comprehensive picture of Jesus as the healer will emerge in this thesis. The Matthean presentation of the ‘healing Son of David’ is traced to Jewish messianic expectations, which understand the establishment of justice as a function of a Davidic kingship (Isa 11:4-5; Jer 35:5; Ezek 34:16; Ps 72:1-3; cf. Pss. Sol. 17). For Matthew, the Davidic theme provides a framework to elaborate healing aspects of Jesus (as ‘servant’ and ‘shepherd’) and to emphasize the nature of his kingship, in which healings belong to a category of care for the marginalized. This depiction of Jesus contributes to the understanding of christology of Matthew’s Gospel, and also serves as a critique towards the traditional Jewish expectation of a militant Davidic messiah (cf. Pss. Sol. 17-18) as well as towards the Roman imperial rule.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:577606 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Yoshizawa, Tadashi |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=196205 |
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