The Direction of Intention

My God, give me the grace to perform this action with you and through love for you.

In advance, I offer to you all the good that I will do and accept all the difficulty I may meet therein.

St. Ann, Pray for us. St. Francis de Sales, Pray for us

Overview• Brief Overview of the Gospel of

Matthew

• The Passion Account• The Gathering Storm• The Kairos• Gethsemane• Jesus on Trial• The Messiah Condemned• The Dawn of a New Age

The Gospel of Matthew• Composed: 60 – 90 AD• Authorship: • anonymous author • a highly educated Jew• intimately familiar with the technical aspects of Jewish law• disciple Matthew was probably honored within his circle

• Composed for: Jewish-Christian Community around 80

• Major Theme in Matthew: Make a decision: Is he the Messiah or is he not the Messiah!

The Passion Narrative in Matthew

• In Matthew’s Gospel 26:1 – 27:66• Matthew's account absorbs virtually all of Mark's story• Matthew recasts the narrative to highlight his own distinctive

themes. • Jesus fulfills his God-given destiny foreshadowed in the Scriptures• Inaugurates a new age of history charged with resurrection life. • Jesus is the obedient Son of God• Faithful even in the midst of abject suffering• Jesus' trust in God, tested in the savage fury of death itself, is not in vain. • Jesus is the King of the Jews (at birth and in death)

The Gathering Storm• The opening scenes of the passion story set the

mood. Matthew begins with a solemn introduction (26:1-5)• Son of Man will be handed over

to be crucified

• The woman who anoints Jesus feet with oil (26:6-13). • Introduction of Judas• Second prediction of Jesus death

and burial• Judas turns against Jesus

The Kairos• Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word

meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment).• The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos

and kairos.

• The right time for WHAT?• To fully manifest who Jesus is • The OLD order will pass away and the NEW order

will be established.

The Kairos• The (Last)Supper• Meal is not the central theme here but it is the setting• Not the Last Supper – Resurrection revealed

• Third prediction of passion (26:18) My appointed TIME draws near.

• Judas, Peter and the other disciples

Gethsemane• The Kidron Valley, filled

with tombs today as in the time of Jesus

• Psalm 42--"My soul is sorrowful even to death" (26:38).

• "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will." (26:39).

Gethsemane• Disciples sleep is

symbolic of their spiritual weakness• They are not prepared for

the trial about to befall them• The storm of death arrives

when Judas leads a large crowd armed with swords and clubs into the garden to arrest Jesus

The Trial• Matthew portrays this as a formal hearing in which the leaders

listen to testimony against Jesus, interrogate him and finally condemn him.

• Interrupted by peter’s denial • Jesus goes on to prophesy that he will be exalted as the

triumphant Son of Man enthroned at God's right hand• The leaders of the people concluded this man is no messiah but

an impostor and blasphemer worthy of death• They reject the authority of the New Law

• Their hostility spills over into violence and mockery as they spit on Jesus and strike him, taunting his claims to messianic power

The Messiah Condemned

• Now themes of kingship and allegiance come to the fore.

• Pilate questions Jesus on his identity as a king but the mysterious prisoner offers no response to the accusations hurled at him by the leaders. • The Christian reader knows that Jesus is truly a king but

a king unlike any that Pilate could understand.

The Messiah Condemned

• The choice between (Jesus) Barabbas and Jesus called the Messiah

• The choice between Barabbas (son of the father)• The son of this world or Jesus the Messiah

• Three time a choice is given and three times it is rejected by the people• Pilates role is secondary…Jesus is condemned by his own people• A question about the blame for the death of Jesus rests on the

Jews• The furthest thing from Matthew’s understanding…The “Jews” are not to

be blames…but their hardness of heart is. As are we to blame when we harden our heart.

The Dawn of a New Age• The Rejection Continues• A foreigner is pressed upon to carry the cross (not a faithful

Jew)• Jesus is led outside the city of Jerusalem • The executioners fix a placard to the cross: "This is Jesus: the

King of the Jews". • They obviously intend the words to ridicule this messianic pretender as

he is defeated in death.

The Dawn of a New Age• The rejection continues• A foreigner is pressed upon to carry the cross (not a faithful

Jew)• Jesus is led outside the city of Jerusalem • The executioners fix a placard to the cross: "This is Jesus:

the King of the Jews". • They obviously intend the words to ridicule this messianic pretender

as he is defeated in death.

• A stream of passersby mock Jesus' claims to authority over the temple and to taunt him by reminding him that he could apparently save others but not save himself.

• Even the two rebels crucified with him join in the chorus of revulsion.

The Dawn of a New Age

• The Ultimate rejection (or so it seems)• Feeling abandoned even by God, the psalmist

utters a prayer of raw faith: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" It is that honest, unadorned prayer that Matthew places on the lips of Jesus as the sky darkens, God's faithful son encounter death.

• Psalm 22

The Dawn of a New Age• The foretaste of the NEW AGE even as

Jesus’ body is still on the cross• The crucifixion scene transforms into an

explosion of triumph as if God responds to the lingering sound of Jesus' death prayer• The veil of the Temple is torn in half• The earth shakes

The Dawn of a New Age• The rocks split• The tombs are opened• A triumphant procession the saints who had been

trapped in death enter the holy city of Jerusalem.• The Roman soldiers who had kept the death watch

over Jesus are astounded and acclaim Jesus as the true Son of God. (Even the Romans get it !)

The Dawn of a New Age

• Matthew's Gospel anticipates in this triumphant scene the glory of the resurrection.• The was a great earthquake• An angel of the Lord descends upon the rock –

appearance like lightening• The soldiers become like dead men• Foretold that Jesus would walk among them again• the end of a world without hope and the beginning of

a new age of God's Spirit.

Epilogue

• In death there is still division….but the beginnings of HOPE• However, all is not lost…• Wealthy man asks for the body wraps it in clean linen and

places it in HIS new tomb• Mary Magdalen remains facing the tomb.

• The rejection continues with placement of a guard at the tomb