Jesus’ person (1:1–4:16), Jesus’ proclamation (4:17–16:20) and Jesus’ passion
(16:21–28:20). The first two sections do in fact correspond closely to what I
shall be proposing below, and the “formula” of 4:17 and 16:21 appropriately
marks these two turning points in the narative. But the long section following
16:21 seems to me to include a number of distinct phases of the story, and
contains within it two or possibly three major turning-points which Matthew has
not marked by the same formula, but which represent significant new stages in
the narrative development.
My own approach to the structure of Matthew derives from noting how closely
Matthew has adhered in broad terms to the overall narrative pattern of Mark,
which, after a brief prologue set in the wilderness (1:1–13), presents Jesus’
public ministry in three phases set successively in Galilee, on the journey from
Galilee to Judea, and in Jerusalem. In my commentary on Mark
I have argued
that this represents a conscious structuring of the story within a geographical
framework which owes more to Mark’s systematization than to the actual
movements of Jesus throughout the period after his baptism. The impression
Mark gives is that Jesus did not visit Jerusalem at all until the final week of his
life, but this conflicts with the far more historically plausible account of John
who has Jesus, like any other religiously observant Galilean, making regular
trips between Galilee and Judea particularly in connection with the major
festivals. Moreover, there are elements in Mark’s story of Jesus’ week in
Jerusalem which make it clear that Jesus has in fact been there before.⁷ The
simplified structure of a single progress from north to south is thus best
understood as one devised by Mark for its dramatic effect in drawing attention to
the hostile reception of the Galilean prophet when he ventures into the “foreign”
territory of Judea (see further the next section on Galilee and Jerusalem).
Matthew tells the story in the same way (as indeed does Luke, though with a
vastly expanded “travel narrative” from 9:51 to 19:28). Matthew’s prologue is
more extensive, providing richer material for scripturally-based meditation on
the origin and nature of the Messiah, but from 4:17 onward Jesus’ ministry in
Matthew, as in Mark, is set entirely in and around Galilee until Jesus announces
his intention to travel south to Jerusalem in 16:21. Like Mark, Matthew sets a
substantial body of material, particularly concerned with the reorientation and