Matthew's understanding of the relation between the teaching and ethos of Jesus (and his successors) and the way of the Torah. Anonymous College

The presentation of the way in which Jewish and non-Jewish elements inter-relate within the Gospel of Matthew is a fundamentally significant area of study if the Biblical scholar is to successfully appreciate the aims and values of the Evangelist and gain an understanding of the audience towards which these are directed. This relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish elements becomes manifest through the author's presentation of the relation between the teaching and ethos of Jesus and the way of the Torah, the way of Jewish law; as Tagawa maintains, '...the Law of Moses and accordingly the problem of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies is one of the most important problems for Matthew[1].' And a problem for Matthew translates into a problem for the Biblical critic; how does Matthew present Jesus' relationship to Jewish law? What does this mean for our understanding of the person of Matthew and his sitz in leben? It is these considerations I hope to address throughout this essay; I will examine the presentation of Jesus' relationship with the Torah and the contribution this makes to the overall assortment of pro-Jewish, anti-Jewish, pro-gentile and anti-gentile sentiment throughout Matthew. I will explore what can be...