The Suffering Son Of David In Matthew's Passion Narrative

By (author) Johnson Nathan C.
Description:
In this book, Nathan C. Johnson offers the first full-scale study of David traditions in the Gospel of Matthew''s story of Jesus''s death. He offers a solution to the tension between Matthew''s assertion that Jesus is the Davidic messiah and his humiliating death. To convince readers of his claim that Jesus was the Davidic messiah, Matthew would have to bridge the gap between messianic status and disgraceful execution. Johnson''s proposed solution to this conundrum is widely overlooked yet refreshingly simple. He shows how Matthew makes his case for Jesus as the Davidic messiah in the passion narrative by alluding to texts in which David, too, suffered. Matthew thereby participates in a common intertextual, Jewish approach to messianism. Indeed, by alluding to suffering David texts, Matthew attempts to turn the tables of the problem of a crucified messiah by portraying Jesus as the Davidic messiah not despite, but because of his suffering.
Table of contents:
1. Introduction: Messianic grammar and Matthew''s suffering Messiah; 2. Matthew''s arrest narrative and Judas'' demise; 3. The Psalms before ''the Psalmist'': setting the Psalms within the life of David in Antiquity; 4. Setting Jesus''s trial narratives within the Davidic Psalms: Matthew without ''the Psalmist''; 5. Setting Jesus''s crucifixion within the Davidic Psalms: constructing a Psalmic Sitz in Leben Jesu; 6. Conclusion: the new David: Matthew''s executed Messiah.
Review quote:
''Anyone with an interest in the Matthaean passion narrative, the title of ''Son of David'' as applied to Jesus or the New Testament use of the Psalms will find much of interest here.'' Dom Anselm Brumwell, The Downside Review
Promotional headline:
Drawing on David texts, Matthew makes the narrative case for an unexpected messiah--one who does not kill but is instead killed by the Romans.