Sean the Baptist

Some good news! It looks like I will be off to SBL in November. My proposal to the Matthew section has been accepted and so I will be presenting one of five papers there. Here is the proposal summary that I submitted:

Re-reading the Great Commission (Matthew 28.16-20) in Imperial Context

There is general agreement that Matthew 28.16-20 forms the climax to Matthew’s gospel, drawing together numerous key Matthean themes and alluding to several earlier passages in the gospel narrative. It is also clear that what Luz calls the “encompassing scope” of this text is shaped by allusions to the Greek Bible and, potentially, the wider contextual environment of the Roman empire.

This paper uses these three contexts (imperial; intertextual and narrative) to address a key contemporary contextual question. To what extent does the so-called “Great Commission” narrative legitimate complicity or active participation in diverse imperial and hegemonic discourses and activities? After a brief review of the way in which postcolonial critics have interpreted this text, I offer a reading, which provides resources for resistance to such imperialist claims.

I argue that recent work on the anti-imperial focus of Matthew’s gospel (Carter et al) is of some assistance in this regard and has particular relevance for our understanding of Jesus’ claim to universal authority in Matt 28.18. However, I also argue that a recognition of the LXX Daniel allusion in this verse invites us to read that claim in the light of the earlier gospel narrative; specifically the Son of man sayings and exousia motif. The command to go and disciple panta ta ethne should not be detached from the claim to universal authority (pasa exousia) that the risen Jesus makes. But such authority is the fulfilment of that which is present in the earthly ministry and future parousi/a of the Son of man. This connection serves to relativise any imperial claims made by Jesus’ followers and remind them that their mission must be characterised by the suffering servanthood of the risen Lord whom they now worship.

This is a development of the paper I gave to our research seminar here at PTE the other week. It will be more obviously exegetically focussed and I need to get down to it over the Easter vacation!