7 - The imminence of the end in Matthew

Summary

The previous three chapters have detailed Matthew's end-time expectations, and this chapter will address the issue of the timing of these events. As noted in chapter 1, apocalyptic-eschatological schemes which accept the doctrine of the two ages almost without exception hold that the expected end events will occur in the imminent future. Since Matthew shows himself to be fully conversant with the other aspects of this perspective, we should expect that he too held fast to the imminence of the end. Yet any such suggestion would be firmly disputed by the majority of Matthean scholars. It was shown in the Introduction that a fundamental shift in scholarly opinion had occurred on the issue of Matthew's temporal end expectation. The earlier position of Streeter (and others) that Matthew's gospel strongly affirmed the impending arrival of the Son of Man had been displaced by the view of the early redaction critics which held that Matthew focuses more upon actions in the interim than upon the time of the end. While Streeter's position still has its proponents today, the view of Trilling, Strecker and Marguerat is still the more favoured hypothesis. The question of when Matthew expected the parousia is not just an academic question. It is an extremely important issue, since it directly affects our interpretation of the function of all the eschatological material which we have thus far surveyed. It will be argued in this chapter that the older view of the evangelist's temporal end expectations is the correct one and that the later alternative hypothesis fails to take into account the role of this theme in Matthew's overall apocalyptic-eschatological scheme.