Abstract

This study attempts to answer three related questions concerning a distinctive role of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel, the One Teacher. How does Matthew feature Jesus as a supreme teacher of God's will? Why does he emphasize Jesus' didactic authority and the five discourses? What influence might this Jesus have on his readers? ;Using redaction criticism and narrative criticism as tools to examine the narration, emplotment, and characterization, we find Matthew present Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God and portray him as a teacher who interprets the law with authority, explains the mystery of the kingdom of heaven in parables, and warns about the final judgment with compassion. He outwits the Pharisees, demands to be the only teacher, and commissions his disciples to carry on his teaching ministry. ;Utilizing pertinent sociological theories, such as sociology of knowledge and group formation, to analyze evidence from a social-historical reading of the Gospel, we discover that Matthew's church was facing four major crises: the hostility from the synagogues, the search for self-identity, the forming of a new community, and the need to reconcile ethnic, theological, and personal differences within the church. ;To understand how Jesus the One Teacher might help address these crises, we study the Teacher of Righteousness of the Qumran community and Epictetus the Stoic with his philosophical school for a "close comparison." The way they are remembered and the way their teaching roles shape the lives of their followers provide a proper historical perspective and useful frames of reference. We find that Jesus the One Teacher might serve four crucial functions: polemic, apologetic, didactic, and pastoral. With his teaching, he helps his readers defend their faith against the Jewish hostility, define their identity as the children of God, learn to bear the fruits of the kingdom, and find strength to fulfill their mission to make disciples of all nations. Jesus' teaching authority and didactic discourses shape the belief system and behavioral patterns of Matthew's church and thereby empower the early Church to survive and thrive