A Theology of Matthew: Jesus Revealed as Deliverer, King, and Incarnate Creator (Explorations in Biblical Theology Book 11) by Charles L. Quarles

Author:Charles L. Quarles [Quarles, Charles L.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781596386549
Publisher: P&R Publishing
Published: 2013-11-18T05:00:00+00:00

Part 5

The New Creator:

Jesus, Our God

9

Matthew’s Development

of the New Creator Theme:

The Titles of Jesus

ALTHOUGH MATTHEW presents Jesus as Savior, Ruler, and Founder of a new people, Jesus is far greater than even these roles imply. Matthew’s gospel is characterized by a high Christology that worships Jesus as God himself, the Creator who made all that exists.

Although this part of this book is titled “The New Creator,” the title does not function exactly as one might expect based on the titles of previous parts. As the new Moses, Abraham, and David, Jesus is similar to but distinguished from the Old Testament Moses, Abraham, and David. The application of the title New Creator to Jesus, however, is not intended to distinguish him from the Creator described in the Old Testament. On the contrary, Jesus is the agent of original creation, as Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus as Wisdom will show. The title New Creator simply denotes that Jesus, as God with us, is not only the One who made the universe, but also the Author of the miracle of new creation. He is the One who will restore God’s creation and make his people new.

This chapter will explore some of the titles of Jesus that Matthew uses to communicate the deity of Christ. The next chapter will explore other descriptions of Jesus that express his deity. A final chapter will examine the practical ramifications of Jesus’ deity for the life of his disciples.

Son of Man

Matthew’s gospel assigns several titles to Jesus that strongly imply his deity. Jesus’ favorite self-designation is the title Son of Man. Jesus uses this title of himself thirty-one times in Matthew’s gospel. Although scholars hotly debate the meaning of the title, the interpretation of the phrase best supported by the Gospels views Son of Man as a messianic title drawn from Daniel 7:13–14.143 The discussion of Jesus as the new David has shown that Son of Man identifies Jesus as a King of heavenly origin who will reign over a kingdom composed of people of every nation, tribe, and tongue forever. A closer examination of the Son of Man title, however, shows that the Christological implications of Jesus’ use of the title are even greater. The title clearly implies Jesus’ deity.

The vision of Daniel 7:9–14 belongs to the Aramaic portion of this Old Testament book. The text portrays the “one like a son of man” as a heavenly figure.144 Several features of the vision combine to mark this intention of the author’s portrayal. First, the one like a son of man comes “with the clouds of heaven.” The use of the cloud to depict the divine glory in the Pentateuch and the presence of clouds in theophanies such as the vision of Ezekiel 1 (which has a close relationship to Daniel 7) mark the Daniel 7 vision as a theophany as well.145 The image of riding on the clouds or being surrounded by clouds implies that Daniel is describing an appearance of God himself.

Daniel 7:14 highlights the exalted status

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