The lordship of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew and its relevance for the Indonesian churches

Abstract

This dissertation contains the results of the author's investigation of the use of the term kyrios for Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, as compared with its use (in the translated form "Tuhan"= “Lord”） on the part of the members of a congregation of the classic Reformed tradition in Jakarta, Indonesia (The congregation is taken to be representative of traditional Protestant viewpoints among the churches of Indonesia). The author wishes to avoid presuppositions concerning the understanding and use of kyrios in early Christianity, but rather to limit himself to what is literally found in Matthew. He does, however, discuss the background of the term in the Hellenistic World， including its use among Jews as the equivalent for the Hebrew 'adon and the Aramaic mar. The author also provides a brief survey of the use of kyrios in other writings of the New Testament. Throughout this dissertation, the religious pluralism of Indonesia, and especially the predominant influence of Islam, is seen as the key contextual element. In the Introduction, the author puts forth three theses: (1) Even though the term kyrios (and its Hebrew or Aramaic equivalents) had both a secular and a religious usage in the Hellenistic World, for the writer of the Gospel of Matthew, the term is a Christological title so that its meaning is related to what is understood as the divine scheme of things; but Matthew is not so much concerned with the term's metaphysical or ontological meaning， as with its function to provide a way to refer to Jesus' role in manifesting the presence and power of God in this world; because this is the case, kyrios is often linked in Matthew with other titles, such as Messiah/Son of David, Son of Man and Son of God. (2) Even though the term kyrios has a divine connotation for Matthew, his use of it does not show any rejection of Jewish Monotheism; in Matthew, Jesus is not identical with God. Jesus is not another God besides God the Father. (3) The Understanding of most of the members from the Jakarta congregation (chosen for sampling) is more metaphysical-ontological than functional. Their understanding of Jesus as "Lord" is the same as Jesus as “God”. Their understanding has been formed by the traditional dogmas which they have been taught and by Christian cultic practices -prayer and praise made directly to Jesus in the context of public or private worship. Finally, in his Introduction, the author stresses that he is using, as his mythology of research and analysis, what has come to be generally acknowledged as the historical-critical approach. While the author is aware of recent developments often grouped under "literary approaches", he does not propose to make use of these in this dissertation. In Chapter I, the author lays out and exegetes all the passages in Matthew where the term kyrios is to be found. Since it is often used in addressing Jesus, the term is most often found in the vocative case. There are instances where it is simply an honorific address (so the English words or “master” might be used) but it is never used by people who oppose or show enmity toward Jesus. Most of the uses, however, are those where there is some linkage with other divine titles, and in all these Matthew wishes to show that, for his Christian community, the exalted status, the power and authority of Jesus are derived from God. This means that, for those Christians, Jesus is much more than the prophet or teacher he was thought to be by the general Jewish public. In Jesus, the prophecies of the Old Testament have come to fulfilment. During his ministry Jesus wielded what was actually divine authority; and he wields it now; as Christians know by their faith; when he comes again, in supernatural power, all the world will know Jesus' true status and function.

At the same time, Matthew pictures Jesus not only as the Lord of divine power, but also as the Lord who show his compassion and mercy, especially for the “little ones”，i.e. those marginalized in society. In this aspect of his function as Lord, Jesus is put forward as model for discipleship in Matthew’s own community. In Chapter II, the author discusses the background and usage of kyrios in the Graeco-Roman World in the first century C.E. He mentions what has long been known, viz., that, because of the influence of Greek Language and culture kyrios was used for the Hebrew 'adon and for the Aramaic mar. One result of this which had great impact among early Christians was the use of kyrios by Jews to translate the Tetragrammaton's’ YHWH in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures. What is not as well-known is the argument of several scholars, that, in the Judaism of that time, other figures, such as Moses, personified wisdom, or angels, could be referred to with the honorific "Lord", without thereby implying that they are "gods", alongside God, the Creator-Father. The author of the dissertation considers this to be the key to explaining how Matthew and his community could think of and address Jesus as “Lord” without thereby feeling that they had in any way compromised the Jewish conviction of monotheism. In Chapter III, by means of questionnaires, the author makes a survey of the meaning of the confession “Jesus is Lord”, as held by a sampling of members of a Jakarta Protestant congregation. The results, the percentage break-downs of the answers given to each question, sharply portray an understanding of Jesus as Lord that is primarily ontological-metaphysical and that is expressed in language derived from Greek philosophical tradition, the same language that so much determined the formulation of early Christian creeds and dogmatic theology. This understanding can lead its holders, even if unconsciously, in the direction of some kind of ditheism. For the majority of Christians, ditheism is limited by so-called incarnational theology, but this of course leads to the impression that Christians believe God appeared in the world in human form in the person of Jesus. Moving in either direction -ditheism or incarnationalism- has raised strong objections from other religions, especially Islam which is clearly the majority religion in Indonesia. In the closing section of the dissertation, the author draws together his conclusions concerning the understanding and the use of kyrios in the Gospel of Matthew over against the conclusions concerning the understanding and use of the title "Lord (="Tuhan" in Indonesian) among the members of the Jakarta congregation chosen as a sample. With these conclusions, the author maintains that his three theses have been proved: 1) The term kyrios is understood by Matthew as a way of expressing Jesus' function in God's sovereignty and action, not as a term to denote Jesus personal divine nature; 2) that this understanding was not seen a threat to Jewish Monotheism; 3) that Christians in Indonesia' s is true of most Christians everywhere throughout the centuries, understand the term "Lord" to mean that Jesus is divine, as is God the Creator-Father. Finally, the author closes his writing with some personal reflection concerning Christology and Christian worship today, and specifically in Indonesia where the majority of the people are Muslim. The author is convinced that most Indonesian Christians are simply not aware of how their use of “Lord” for Jesus， in the context of Indonesian religious pluralism， can and does cause non- Christians to view Christians as polytheists. The author therefore advises that Indonesian Christians must be taught to value Matthew’s use of “Lord” as figurative language， as a metaphor to express Christian conviction that arose with their experience of Jesus' resurrection that Jesus had and has a particular role in God’s actions for human salvation. Secondly， the author advises that Indonesia Christians should review their practice of directing hymn and prayers directly to Jesus. And, finally, the author advises that Indonesian Christians should more deeply explore the use of other terms for Jesus, such as “prophet", "teacher", "servant" and “shepherd”.