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30 A comfortably-fitting yoke and a light burden is the ideal combination.
Chrēstos, “kind,”³⁸ is of course a personal term not appropriate literally to a
yoke; it is transferred to the metaphor from the person whose service the
yoke symbolizes. Contrast the “heavy, cumbersome burdens” imposed by
the scribes and Pharisees (23:4). The lightness of Jesus’ yoke depends not
only on his personal character as described in v. 29 but also on his new
interpretation of the Torah which, in contrast with the scribal concern for
detailed regulation, enables a person to see beyond the surface level of dos
and donts to the true underlying purpose of God (see the discussion of 5:17–
48 above). A striking example of this difference of approach to law-keeping
will follow immediately in 12:1–14, which will reveal two contrasting ways
of understanding the “rest” which the sabbath was meant to provide.
H. Jesus’ Authority is Challenged (12:1–45)
In 11:25–30 the narrative has reached a high point, not only in the remarkable
christological revelations contained in Jesus’ brief prayer, declaration and
invitation, but also in that we have been reminded that not everyone has shared
in the unresponsiveness which Jesus has castigated in 11:16–24. There will be a
similar “high point” in 12:46–50, before the third main discourse of the gospel
analyzes by means of parables the reasons for the varied response encountered
by Jesus and his message of the kingdom of heaven. But before we reach that
point Matthew continues to set out the narrative basis for that discourse by
further exploring the way people in Galilee (and especially now the leaders of
opinion) have reacted to Jesus’ claims. In ch. 11 we heard about the failure of
people in general to recognize and respond to Jesus as the Messiah; now the
narrative plumbs lower depths, as we hear of those who are not merely
indifferent to Jesus but actively opposed to him. Three areas of controversy stand
out in this chapter: Jesus’ attitude to the sabbath (vv. 1–14), his exorcisms (vv.
22–37), and the basis of his authority as it is challenged in the demand for an
authenticating “sign” (vv. 38–45). At each point we meet people in positions of
religious leadership who confront Jesus and challenge his authority to act as he
has been doing, “the Pharisees” in vv. 2, 14 and 24 and “some of the scribes and
Pharisees” in v. 38. For them Jesus is a law-breaker (vv. 1–14), an agent of Satan
(vv. 24–32) and a self-appointed “teacher” with no proper authorization (vv. 38–
42). As a result already at this relatively early point in the story we hear of a
formulated plan to eliminate Jesus (12:14), even though it will not in fact be in
Galilee and under Pharisaic auspices that Jesus will eventually be executed, but
under the priestly régime of Jerusalem. Matthew will have more to say of
Galilean opposition to Jesus in 13:53–14:2; 15:1–20; 16:1–4, but already by the
end of ch. 12 the main lines have been laid down.
But in this section of the gospel we hear not only of the opposition but also, and
at greater length, of Jesus’ response to it both in overt justification of his mission
(vv. 3–8, 11–12, 25–29, 39–42) and in polemical comment on his opponents and
their attitude (vv. 30–37, 43–45). In the course of this teaching we shall three
times meet the claim, in relation to the recognized authorities of OT Israel,
“something greater/more is here” (vv. 6, 41, 42; cf. the same idea without the
phrase in vv. 3–4, see comments below), a phrase which occurs only here in the
gospel. This is a pointer to the issue of authority which underlies this whole
section and which comes into the open in the demand for a sign in v. 38. Jesus
sets his own status alongside that of the highest authority figures of the OT,
David the king, the priests in the temple, Jonah the prophet and Solomon the
king and wise man, and (implicitly in the case of David but explicitly for the
others) claims that “something greater” has now superseded those recognized
authorities. Here is one of the most striking examples of the typological
character of Matthew’s presentation of Jesus: king, priest, temple, prophet, wise
man all provide models against which Jesus stands as “something greater”¹ It is
the failure of Israel’s current religious leadership to recognize this new and
decisive phase in God’s dealings with his people which makes them more
culpable even than Israel’s old pagan neighbors (vv. 41–42), and leaves them
perilously close to that fundamental rebellion against God which cannot be
forgiven (vv. 31–32).
Set within this story of confrontation is Matthew’s longest formula-quotation
(vv. 17–21), comprising the whole introductory paragraph in Isaiah’s portrait of
the Servant of Yahweh (Isa 42:1–4). In context it serves as a counter-balance to
the harshly polemical tone of much of the chapter. Jesus, even though he must
denounce unbelief when it confronts him, is characterized essentially rather by
gentleness and patient trust in God. His non-confrontational style is illustrated by
his withdrawal in the face of the Pharisaic threat (vv. 15–16). At the same time,
however, Matthew here adds a further strand to his messianic presentation of
Jesus. He has already noted Jesus’ role as Yahweh’s servant in 8:17, and already
the voice from heaven at his baptism has suggestively echoed the opening line of
this long quotation. Now Matthew spells it out, and by continuing the quotation
into v. 4 he points forward to the future triumph of this gentle Messiah, despite
the seriousness of the opposition which he now confronts.
I described 11:25–30 as a christological high point in the gospel, and so it is in
its concentrated presentation of Jesus as the unique Son of God and the
embodiment of divine Wisdom. But here in ch. 12, in the more diffuse form of
the continuing Galilean narrative, further christological reflections come thick
and fast for the reader who is prepared to look below the narrative surface and
try to understand what is at stake in the debate on Jesus’ authority as it unfolds in
confrontation with the Pharisees.
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