Jeshurun,
Have you read "Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes" by John Shelby Spong?
You will not agree with everything he says, but overall it addresses your comment about a "Q" document source.
Doug
Who is the Slave?
by jeshurun 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Doug Mason
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jeshurun
No Doug, I did not. But in one commentary I read (translation):
<< It would be very strange that such an important writing be disappeared without a trace.
The theory is also contrary to the established testimony from Antiquity that the Matthew gospel came into existence before that of Mark >>
Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes can especially be applied on Matthew.
Here another example why the Olivet Discourse appeals on a Jewish audience.
Thinking about the parable of the sheep and the goats (Mt 25:31-46) Timothy Kline wrote:
<< It is also curious that such an important and apparently life-threatening event is
mentioned only in Matthew’s account. Is this due to the audience that the Gospel of
Matthew was written to, namely, the Jews? Why, if this is such an important aspect of the
Truth, is it not discussed in the remaining Gospel accounts? Or even in later letters of
Paul, Peter, or even John? It is difficult to conceive how something so vital is relegated to
a mere 15-verse illustration, yet it will have far-reaching consequences. >>
Kline is surprised how it is possible that the report concerning the separation of the people of the nations at Jesus’ coming in power and great glory (24.30; 25:31-33) - a separation with such far-reaching impact: eternal life or cut off from all life – is presented in only 15 verses.
Actually Kline himself provides the answer: It has to do with the circle of readers to whom the gospel of Matthew originally was addressed: the Jews.
And indeed, the narrative concerning the destination of the nations, is especially for Jewish people something what appeals on their religious background.
Mark for example how Jesus introduces himself when he puts the sheep on his righthand, but the goats on his left:
To the sheep: Come, YOU who have been blessed by my Father
To the goats : Be on YOUR way from me, YOU who have been cursed
On such a moment Jewish people, strongly identifying themselves with their ancestor Abraham and the promises given to him, find themselves on familiar ground!
At his departure from Haran Jehovah blessed that patriarch with the following powerful insurance:
And I will bless those who bless you, and him that calls down evil upon you I shall curse, and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you(Ge 12:3) -
greendawn
There always were two classes of Christian leaders in the church and they are not supposed to appear suddenly near the times of the end and thus can not be a sign that the end is near. The FDS des not appear at that time he was always there and thus the JW leaders can not be a recently appeared FDS.
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Leolaia
Just to address the points raised in the last post, I didn't mention Q and in fact I mentioned the Farrer-Goodacre approach which rejects the Q hypothesis...it doesn't matter since both approaches incorporate Markan priority and recognize Matthew as later than Mark. The main fact is that some 90% of Mark is incorporated into Matthew; there is thus a clear literary relationship between the two books, with either one dependent on other. In the case of the Griesbach hypothesis (in which Matthew preceded Mark and the latter was based on the former), Mark would essentially be little more than a redacted excerpt of Matthew (with just 10% new material). The direction of dependence is clear from internal evidence, as well as the earliest external evidence: Papias does not indicate that Mark was merely excerpted from Matthew, but was an original creation, based on the teaching of Peter, presumably after Peter's death (i.e. after c. AD 64). There is all the unique material in Matthew that was placed onto the Markan narrative frame (i.e. Q and M, in the Q hypothesis), and it was this material that could have been attributed to a Matthew (cf. proto-Matthew approaches, in which an early Matthew was expanded in a second edition through the incorporation of material from Mark).
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jeshurun
It is difficult, even for critical JW and xJW, to see Mt 24:45-47 from another point of view than the WTS has done for decades, impressing her teachings on the minds of many.
Therefore another effort.
As I have tried to prove in this Topic the Church [Christ’s Body] has nothing to do with the Slave of the end-time, because the Slave is not Christian.
He cannot because at the start of the parousia the Church disappears from the earthly scene by being raptured.
Jesus directed his Discourse to the end-time counterparts of his disciples who were at that time not Christians but Messiah professing Jews.
So in the parable there is no Christian oversight in view, but rather Jewish leadership.
It is of interest to note how Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Hebrew Christian Bible teacher, commented on Mt 23:35 – 24:2 (NIV)
35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
<< Israel must call for the Lord to rescue them as a condition for the second coming, based upon Matthew 23:39. Jesus will not come back to the earth until the Jews and the Jewish leaders ask Him to come back. For just as the Jewish leaders led the nation to the rejection of the Messiahship of Jesus, they must some day lead the nation to the acceptance of the Messiahship of Jesus. >>
<< Not only does this passage hold out the certainty of soon judgment, but also the eventual promise of yet to come hope and blessing upon the Jewish nation >>
(Thomas Ice).
<< They would welcome His return with a better Hosanna than that which had greeted His Royal Entry three days before. And this was the 'Farewell' and the parting of Israel's Messiah from Israel and its Temple. Yet a Farewell which promised a coming again; and a parting which implied a welcome in the future from a believing people to a gracious, pardoning King. >>
(Alfred Edersheim)
For that and many other reasons Christ’s eschatological farewell discourse is Jewish directed, and the Slave of 24:45 points to Jewish leadership.
As such they shall revive as Ebed JHWH, the Servant of Jehovah (Is 43:8-12), brought to restoration by the foremost Servant among them, Jesus Christ their Messiah (Is 49:1-6)