Table of Contents
Preface xi
Part I How the Gospels Came to Be Written: The Liturgical Year of the Synagogue as the Organizing Principle
1 Stating the Problem, Setting the Stage 3
2 Setting Jesus into the Context of History 15
3 The Oral Phase: Entering the Tunnel of Silence 29
4 Discovering the Clue That Organized the Synoptic Gospels 43
5 Matthew's Dependency on Mark 55
Part II From After Passover to Shavuot: Birth to Early Ministry
6 Genealogy and Birth 61
7 Joseph: Myth or History? 81
8 The Magi and Their Gifts: An Original Sermon? 89
9 Herod and Pharaoh; Jesus and Moses 99
10 The Baptism of Jesus: Moses Relived 105
11 Into the Wilderness: Forty Days, Not Forty Years 111
Part III Shavuot and the Sermon On the Mount: Sinai Revisited
12 Jesus' Return to the Symbolic Sinai 121
13 The Lord's Prayer: Taught by Jesus or Composed by the Church? 131
Part IV Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: Miracles and Teaching
14 Jesus' Journey from Shavuot to Rosh Hashanah 145
15 Matthew's Introduction of Jesus as a Miracle Worker 155
16 Matthew's Take on the Work of the Kingdom 161
Part V Yom Kippur: The Challenge of Atonement Theology
17 Introducing Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement 169
18 Demystifying the Unforgivable Sin: Matthew's Story at Yom Kippur 181
19 The Curse of Atonement Theology 191
Part VI From Sukkoth Onward: The New Harvest
20 The Symbols of Sukkoth and the Food That Satisfies Hunger 213
21 The Beheading of John the Baptist 223
22 Loaves and Fishes, Walking on Water: Moses Stones Expanded 233
23 Two Characters, Two Insights 245
Part VII Dedication-Hanukkah and Transfiguration: The Light of God Reinterpreted
24 Dedication: The Return of the Light of God 259
25 The Transfiguration: A Dedication-Hanukkah Story 269
Part VIII Journey Toward Passover: Apocalypse and Judgment
26 Introducing the Journey Section of Matthew's Gospel 279
27 The Heart of the Journey 287
28 Apocalypse Now: The Final Judgment 299
Part IX Passover and Passion: The Climax
29 The Climactic Events of the Passion Narrative 309
30 Probing the Passion Narrative for Interpretive Clues 319
31 The Passion Narrative as Liturgy 331
Part X Matthew's Easter Story: A New Perspective
32 Easter Dawns: Myth or Reality? 345
33 Matthew's Call to Life 359
Bibliography 369
Scripture Index 375
Subject Index 379