In the book of Matthew, Jesus takes on a rabbinic trapping
to legitimize himself as a spiritual authority to the Jewish peoples. Given that a community was synonymous with a
religious following, it’s both unique and unheard of that Jesus would be
singled out amongst the community at that time to receive special instruction
from John the Baptist. In turn, it
stands a further point of contrast from tradition that Jesus would pick John
the Baptist as his spiritual liege rather than the established Levi priesthood
tied with the accoutrements their tradition dictated.
Off in the miserable Judean wilderness we find a man touched
by divine madness as much as a speeding bus touches an unobservant jay
walker. He dines on “locusts and wild honey”,
wears a “camel hair” suit, and has a direct line of communication with the
Divine[1]. In modern society we would view the rambling,
raving homeless man doing the same routine both as a threat to our pleasant worldview
and as a hallucinating psychotic. But in
the holiest of the Holy, the Temple, the priesthood makes a well respected social
position for a man as well as allows for an active roll in Judean leadership on
par with a lawyer does in today’s political and social circles.
So why give this wild man spiritual authority? He attracts multitudes. Mathew had legions of followers seeking out
this nutcase in 3:5. John in turn seeks
out Jesus lending spiritual authority to Jesus as John takes on the role of
both teacher and then disciple. [2]
We see in chapter 6 Jesus gets to his message of aesthetic lifestyle as a crux
to understanding his teaching. Monastic
traditions of early church communities pick up these principles not in a
Pelagian view trying to build the kingdom of heaven on earth but as a method to
better observe Christ-like living. Vows
of poverty, celibacy, and the less common vow of silence allow an individual to
abstain from earthly temptations which John observes and Jesus decries
explicitly.
Bibliography: Bowens, Lisa M. 2010. "The role of John the Baptist in Matthew's gospel." Word & World 30, no. 3: 311-318. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 6, 2012)
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