TRANSFORMED ON THE MOUNTAIN: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW* K. C.

Hanson Creighton University

ABSTRACT

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus repeatedly goes "to the mountain." Traditionally, scholars have interpreted these passages solely in terms of their ideas (e.g., Christology and ecclesiology); but the passages also call for a ritual analysis. Following a phenomenological analysis of the importance of mountains in a cross-cultural perspective, a ritual analysis is employed to analyze how the Evangelist portrays Jesus as following a three-stage transformative process of separation, liminality, and aggregation. Beyond this recognizable sequence, the evangelist adds a further dimension by employing catchword associations to call for mimesis of the transformations among the disciples: the transformations are not solely experiences of Jesus in his earthly ministry, but are meant to be replicable experiences within the community on the path of discipleship. The five transformations encompass some of the basics of the spiritual quest and encounter with the divine: testing, catechesis, healing, epiphany, and commissioning. In terms of redaction, the evangelist chose a set of five transformationsa number used repeatedly in this Gospel to highlight the Mosaic connection (the five books of the Torah). This connection is reinforced by the importance of Mt. Sinai and Mt. Pisgah for Moses. The placement of these stories of transformation in the Gospel narrative emphasizes their importance to the evangelist for the understanding of Jesus' ministry and mission. I'm a dweller on the threshold And I'm waiting at the door And I'm standing in the darkness I don't want to wait no more Feel the angel of the present In the mighty crystal fire Lift me up and soothe my darkness Let me travel even higher (from Morrison 1982) I am indebted to several people who are both friends and colleagues for their reading, critique, and help in formulating the issues developed in this paper. Prof. Gwen Miller MacKinnon (St. Joseph's College, University of Alberta) gave invaluable input at every stage of this essay. But the critiques of Kathlyn Breazeale and Ken Stenstrup (both of The Claremont Graduate School), Joanna Satorius and Michael Boddy (both of The School of Theology at Claremont), and Dr. William Yarchin (The Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center, Claremont) were also of immeasurable help. I have also appreciated the editorial hand of Mark McVann who helped me keep the focus. -147-

148

SEMEIA

My connection to both valley and sky are different for being on a mountain. One does not see clouds or stars the same way when they are framed by peaks and valleys. The purity of the air, the smell of the trees, and the sound of the river provide a different ambience than does the city below. Living at 5500 feet above sea level on Mt. Baldy has significantly affected my perspective. An important aspect of social location is geographical location: locus and worldview are intimately connected.
* * * * *

A Hermeneutic of the Mountain Symbol My interest in rehearsing ancient references to mountains and the scholarly discussion of them is to highlight the importance of mountain symbolism in the ancient Near East and provide the backdrop for my analysis of mountains as ritual symbols in Matthew. Throughout the ancient Near East, mountains were locations of ritual performance; the linkage between mountain and ritual is pivotal for understanding Matthew's usage of mountain symbolism in the symbolization of Jesus' story in Matthew.1 Numerous studies have been carried out which have demonstrated the symbolic significance of mountains in ancient Mediterranean and Mesopotamian cultures: Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Ugaritic, Greek, Israelite, Judean, and Samaritan. Most of these works have focused upon questions of terminology, ideological functions, and history of religions. The emphasis here, however, is on the mountain as a focalizing symbol in Matthew's Gospel. By "symbol" I mean:
any object, act, event, quality, or relation which serves as a vehicle for a conceptionthe conception is the symbol's 'meaning'...[symbols] are tangible formulations of notions, abstractions from experience fixed in perceptible forms, concrete embodiments of ideas, attitudes, judgments, longings, or beliefs (Geertz: 91, following Suzanne Langer).

A caveat, however, is in order. As Clifford's study keenly demonstrates (190-92), it is too simplistic to lump all references to sacred mountains in the ancient Near East together without nuance. Furthermore, every sacred mountain is not the "world mountain." Eliade played an important role in articulating the phenomenological significance of mountain symbolism, especially as it relates to "the center." But J. Z. Smith points out that Eliade's homologizing model of the "center" is too broadly drawn to cover all examples of symbolic mountains (see Eliade 19593:12-16; 1959^:36-50). I would argue further that each culture which employs mountain symbolism articulates its own ideology with its unique set of variables: conceptions of the divine, kingship, topography, ritual, purity code, and social structure.

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

I49

Not only does this definition account for the multivalence of symbol, but combines both the cognitive and emotive aspects, or "intellective" and "affective," to use Geertz's distinction (81 n. 70). The mountain in Matthew is a focalizing symbol in that it not only draws the reader's attention, but also concentrates key aspects of what the Evangelist is trying to communicate, what Turner calls "condensation" (1967:28). The mountain setting heightens, so to speak, the import of events which transpire on it. F. R. McCurley sees Matthew's use of the mountain as specifically exemplary of the "cosmic mountain" based upon what Jesus does there (164). T. L. Donaldson suggests that Matthew does not designate a particular mountain so as not to tie the Christian community to a specific location (202; see below). This may be a partial explanation: by not naming the mountain, Matthew allows "mountainness" as such to come to the foreground and function in the manner that Turner calls the "unification of disparate significata" (1967:28). In addition to condensation and unification, Turner identifies a third aspect of ritual symbols which helps to open up the mountain symbol in Matthew: namely, the "polarization of meaning." The two poles are the sensory and the ideological. By "sensory" Turner means the identification between the physical characteristics of a symbol and its meaning. With regard to mountains, this relates especially to height and distance from society. The ideological pole relates to the moral and social order of the culture (1967:28-30). Mountains are cosmological symbols of the divinehuman meeting, as well as the point of creationof community as well as cosmos. Depending upon the era, culture, and text, the cosmological emphasis on the mountain might be one or more of the following: the assembly place of the gods, the connection between heaven and earth, the center/navel of the earth (and thus the locus of creation), the locus of revelation. Donaldson identifies four types of mountains significant for the interpretation of second temple Judean theology: covenant mountain, cosmic mountain, mountain of revelation, and eschatological mountain (82). Although Donaldson's conceptual categories are helpful, my focus here is rather on the power of the mountain symbol when it is employed in a context of rituals of transformation. To use J. Z. Smith's terms, the mountain becomes "locative" in Matthew, where ritual transformation "takes place." If ritual is a "mode of paying attention," and "place directs attention" (Smith: 103), then Matthew's imaginative use of the mountain symbol directs attention to the ritual transformations which transpire on the heights. Some societies identified sacred mountains with the location of their own political-religious center (e.g., Babylon, Delphi, Zion, Gerizim). Oth-

150

SEMEIA

ers pointed to a distant, high mountain associated with divine presence, abode, or theophany (e.g. Sinai, Zaphon, Olympus).2 The Sinai and Zion traditions demonstrate that one society could identify with multiple sacred mountains for different functions, demonstrating the multivalence of symbols. One can readily see why mountains came to have these politico-religious significance. Their height is a multivalent symbol of: reaching up toward the sky (and thus the divine world); prominence and honor symbolized as "above," "high," or "over"; center of attention; distance from daily existence; danger (especially when volcanic); and inaccessibility. Isaiah captured several of these elements in reference to Zion:
It shall happen in the latter days that the mountain of Yahweh's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come and say: "Come, let us go up to Yahweh's mountain, to the house of Jacob's God..." (Isa 2:2-3; all translations are mine unless otherwise noted)

And Exodus vividly captures the elements of purity, danger, and inaccessibility with reference to Sinai:
On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very load horn blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because Yahweh descended upon it in fire; and its smoke went up like kiln-smoke, and the whole mountain shook mightily. (Exod 19:16-18)

It was common in the ancient Near East to construct temples and altars with mountain symbolism (Clements: 1-16). The religious center is thus accorded cosmic significance. That is, the mountain-temple or templemountespecially in the political capitalmanifests a divine sanction, a sacral quality, and thus a relationship to the cosmos which other places do not possess. The symbolic importance of David's bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, for example, can readily be seen: Mt. Zion becomes both the new political capital and the cultic center with divine sanction (2 Sam 6:12-15; see Ps 99:9). Besides natural mountains, the ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the Canaanite temples were constructed as sacred meeting places between humans and the gods, as gateways to the heavens, as divine thrones, and likely also as altars: that is, locations for the enactment of ritual at or upon the axis mundi.
One text which illustrates this is "The Babylonian Creation Epic," in which the Babylonian tower is erected as Marduk's throne (see Speiser: 68-69).
2

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

I5I

Egyptian pyramids also bore this cosmological significance. In the in scriptions found in the pyramids of Mer-ne-Re and Nefer- ka-Re (both Sixth Dynasty, 24th century BCE), an analogy is made between the pri meval hill that emerged from the watery chaos at creation and the build ing of the pyramid:
O Atum-Kheprer, you were on high on the (primeval) hill. ...(So also), O Atum, put your arms around King Nefer-ka-Re, around this construction work, around this pyramid, as the arms of a fai. (adapted from Wilson: 3)

And, indeed, mountains were favored as locations for temples and altars. They take worshipers off farmland and up to divine heights. Before David took the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, it was at Abinadab's house "on the hill" (2 Sam 6:3). The prevalence of this practice in worship is demon strated in Hosea's accusation against the Israelites: "On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills they make offerings..." (Hos 4:13a). In several instances, the terminology of the umbilicus/navel is used with regard to the sacred mountain: Akkadian Dur-an-ki, Greek , Hebrew f* 13 (see e.g., Eliade 1950^:38-47; Terrien: 315-20; McCurley: 139-41). The identification of mountain with navel is itself multivalent: center, birth/creation, connection/disconnection, and gate way. Judges 9:37 makes reference to troops descending from "the navel of the earth"probably so-called because of the central shrine on Mt. Gerizim (see Boling: 178-79). And the significance of calling Jerusalem "the navel of the earth" in the biblical texts is certainly cosmological (Ezek 5:5; 38:12; see Stadelmann: 147-54; McCurley: 162; Levenson: 115-20; contra Sperling: 622-23). While a minor motif in Old Testament literature, the mountain's cosmic symbolism is elaborated in later Judean literature. In Jubilees (ca. 2nd cent. BCE), for example:
And he knew that the garden of Eden was the holy of holies and the dwelling of the LORD. And Mount Sinai (was) in the midst of the desert and Mount Zion (was) in the midst of the navel of the earth. The three of them were cre ated as holy places, one facing the other. (8:19; trans. Wintermute: 73)

In 1 Enoch one finds the connection of the navel of the earth, the cosmic tree, and three holy mountains, all symbols of connection between sky and earth:
And from there I went into the center of the earth and saw a blessed place, shaded with branches which live and bloom from a tree that was cut. And there I saw a holy mountain. And I saw in a second direction, (another) mountain...which was higher than (the former)... In the direction of the west from this one there was (yet) another mountain, smaller than it and not so high... (26:1-4; trans. Isaac: 26)

152

SEMEIA

Levenson's analysis (1985) of the Sinai and Zion traditions as entry points for understanding the Hebrew canon indicates how much ancient Israelite and Judean self-understanding revolved around these two mountains as dynamic symbols of their relationship to God. Mountains in Matthew: A Symbolic Hermeneutic T. L. Donaldson's Jesus on the Mountain: A Study in Matthean Theology (1985) analyzes the six narratives in Matthew in which Jesus goes up a mountain. He notes that "mountain" also appears in sayings material five times (5:14; 17:20; 18:12; 21:21; 24:16), but these have no direct bearing on Matthew's redaction or theology (12). His analysis has two components: analyses of the function of mountains in the Gospel and Matthew's literary and theological use of the mountain motif (13). After an extensive redactional analysis, Donaldson draws conclusions concerning the relation of the mountain motif to Matthean themes. He understands the Temptation (Matthew 4) and Transfiguration (Matthew 17) stories as relating to Jesus' true sonship and the path of obedience. The ecclesiology of the eschatological community is the focus of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew yj), the Feeding (Matthew 15), and the Commissioning (Matthew 28) narratives. "Salvation history" is the focus of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Donaldson: 196). He also concludes that Matthew's mountain symbolism is dependent primarily upon the Judean Zion traditions. But the Evangelist also adapts this imagery for his own purposes:
In Matthean perspective, therefore, it is when Jesus is 'on the mountain' that his significance and the nature of his mission are most clearly seen. Consequently it can be said that mountains in Matthew function not primarily as places of revelation or isolation, but as eschatological sites where Jesus enters into the full authority of his Sonship, where the eschatological community is gathered, and where the age of fulfillment is inaugurated. (197)

*****
For Matthew, there is no thought of a "holy mountain/' a Christian Zion to rival the temple mount, to do for the church what Gerizim did for Samaritanism. Jesus himself, and not any mountain on which he ministered, is for Matthew the Christian replacement for Zion...The mountain in Matthew has significance only because Jesus is there. Matthew uses it in the framework of his christological portrait where it functions as a vehicle by means of which Zion hopes are transferred toand seen as fulfilled inJesus of Nazareth.
(202)

Substantial agreement with Donaldson's conclusions is possible if one stays within the sphere of literature and theology. Rather than limited solely to the realm of ideas or themes (e.g., ecclesiology) and literature (the literary construction of the Gospel), however, the mountain symbol in

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

I53

Matthew also functions as the focalizer of a ritual process in which those who cross symbolic boundaries are transformed through imagination and performance. Analyzing the symbolic and ritual dimensions will provide, I hope, a more complex and nuanced approach to the material. Furthermore, it will bring into focus the "affective" aspects of the material, in conjunction with Donaldson's more "intellective" analysis.3 Ritual Process and Matthew's Strategy Every society employs means of creating, maintaining, and celebrating its group identity. If we speak of these cultural performances whether religious or notas "rites," then two basic types can be discerned.4 The first are those performed repeatedly (daily, weekly, annually), which can be labeled "ceremonies." Ceremonies emphasize an already established identity, solidarity, meaning, and allegiance. They focus upon those within the circle of belonging, that is, on members and membership per se (see Neyrey 1991). Examples of ceremonies are: the celebration of the Eucharist (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually depending upon the particular Christian tradition), the Passover meal
3 With regard to two of Donaldson's beginning points, I find myself in disagreement. First, he calls Matthew 15 the "mountain of feeding" (122-35). He sees the healings in 15:29-31 as the introduction to the feeding of the four thousand in 15:32-39. But this completely overlooks the healings on the mountain. Furthermore, it fails to take into account that the Evangelist provides closure of the healing scene with the glorifying of God (v. 31), and opens the next narrative by introducing the disciples into the scene (v. 32). I recognize, however, that this is the least clear handling of closure of the five mountain narratives. Second, Donaldson includes the discourse on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24-25 among the relevant passages (157-69). He is able to show one linguistic connection between this discourse and the commissioning in 28:16-20, the phrase "end of the age" 24:3/728:20. But he dismisses four important indicators which demonstrate that the Evangelist is not identifying this as a "mountain experience" parallel to the other five. (1) In the other five the Evangelist employs a verb of movement (took, ascended, led, went) followed by the prepositional phrase "to a/the mountain" (e? pos or etc opos). In the Olivet discourse there is no movement ("he sat," 24:3), and the preposi tional phrase is "on the mount" (kiri opovs). (2) While Matthew specifically omits any name for the other five mountains, 24:3 identifies this location as the Mount of Olives (povs ). (3) Each of the other five passages culminates in specific re sponses by those present (e.g., "the crowds were astonished at his teaching" 7:28). No response is recounted at the end of the discourse. And (4) the Evangelist does not bother to identify Jesus' aggregation with society in Matt 26:1-3, but immediately pro ceeds to what the chief priests and elders were doing (26:3). These points do not diminish the importance of the Olivet discourse; but they do mean that the Evangelist has not constructed it in parallel fashion to the other five. As noted above, the number five is repeatedly significant in Matthew's overall construc tion of the Gospel, and thus omitting Matthew 24-25 leaves five mountain units. 4 Note that these are heuristic constructs rather than ontological categories, so overlaps frequently occur. For a critique, see Grimes (1990).

154

SEMEIA

(annually), and the Sabbath (weekly). Ceremonies, then, celebrate and reaffirm an already existing status. Related to ceremonies, but quite distinct, are "rituals/7 Rather than affirm a status, rituals change a person's status by taking the subject across social boundaries. Rituals occur as needed rather than according to schedule, and thus, unlike ceremonies, are not usually tied to the calendar. They are "rites of passage," in the phrase of Arnold van Gennep (i960). Examples are: circumcision, baptism, marriage, anointing the sick, bar /bath mitzvah, confirmation, ordination, bishop's consecration. Purification rites also fall in this category (e.g., Christian penance rites, and Jewish purification baths [mikvaoth]). Through these various rituals, participants cross a variety of boundaries: outsider to insider, single to married, life to death, laity to priesthood, priesthood to bishopric, unclean to clean. The following comparative chart, adapted from M. McVann (1991:335), illustrates the relationships between and distinctiveness of rituals and ceremonies:
FIGURE #1: Rite: Ritual and Ceremony
RITES RITUALS VARIABLES CEREMONIES

undetermined unpredictable presenttofuture professionals status transformation

FREQUENCY CALENDAR TEMPORAL FOCUS PRESIDER CENTRAL GOAL

predetermined predictable & planned pasttopresent officials status and role confirmation

We now turn to developing the implications of the left side of this chart. Victor Turner (1967; 1969) has been the one most responsible for building upon the anthropological foundation of ritual studies laid by Arnold van Gennep. These two concluded from their fieldwork that rituals entail three basic steps. Rather than merely stepping from unclean to clean, or outsider to insider, the participants must enter an intermediate stage as well. Step One of the ritual process is constituted by the formal separation of participants from the larger society. For example, children preparing for baptism are separated from all other children. Or an individual formally identified as a postulant for ministry enters seminary. This separation may take place in space, time, or both. Step Two is the "liminal" (margin/boundary/threshold) phase. In this phase the participants are on the margin of society: neither outside nor in-

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

I55

side, but in process. But they are also on the threshold of transformation to a new state and status. It is here that ritual transformation occurs. The change is usually signaled by overt acts: humiliation, cleansing, teaching, healing, testing, cutting of flesh, etc. Turner identifies three aspects of this liminal phase: 1) communication of the sacral; 2) recombinations and inversions of traditional sacral images and symbols; 3) authority between social categories (elders over initiands) and communitas (egalitarian relation) is stressed within and among the initiands in a small-scale ritual replication of the structure of society as a whole (1969:94-165). Step Three is the aggregation of the participants to the larger group. They formally rejoin society or the community, but are reintegrated with a new status. They necessarily function differently now that the ritual has taken place and now that they have a new status: they are clean, knowledgeable, ordained, married, and so forth, and thus empowered to act with a new capacity in the society which they have rejoined at the aggregation. I employ this three-phase model as an interpretive tool to explain the narrative, linguistic, and performative signals which Matthew inscribes into his narrative. The model both clarifies the Evangelist's mode of narrative discourse and connects this mode of discourse with other narratives which draw on the ritual imagination (see Bal 1990). If Driver is correct that to "lose ritual is to lose the way" (4), then to create ritual is to make a way and point a direction. The Evangelist thus cuts a new path by shaping these mountain narratives into ritual drama, and is therefore "ritualizing," creating new ritual forms for the community (see Driver: 30). If mountains in the ancient Near East are often symbolic of where the divine and human meet, then one would expect to see a juncture where the sacred is experienced, boundaries crossed, and life transformed. T. L. Donaldson ties Matthew's mountain narratives to the evangelist's themes, and interprets them propositionally as cognitive expressions of Christology, ecclesiology, and salvation history. The evangelist, however, is not merely interested in passing along data or iterating ideology about Jesus. He wants rather to communicate transformative experiences o/and with Jesus: actually moving disciples through the process of formation as disciples. The evangelist wants his readers to understand that entering into discipleship entails the transformation of life, and that transformation takes place not only cognitively, but concretely in ritual as an emotional and embodied experience. The thread which ties these transformative experiences together is the focalizing, ritual symbol of the mountain. It stands apart from civilization. It is not a temple made with hands, but a meeting place for the divine and the human, whose meaning is created by the community (Smith). What

56

SEMEIA

happens here is not what happens daily in the village or on the farm: it is space apart and time apart. Comparing initiation rituals across cultures, La Fontaine argues:
The effect is to separate members and non-members in terms of distance trav elled. In those rituals, performed within a 'temple' or a 'lodge', the actual space used is minimal. Those of the Mende and Hopi are not confined within a building; their candidates for initiation are taken into the forest away from the village, or down into the sacred chamber underground. Distance and lo cation emphasize the separation of the novices from ordinary life. (84)

The evangelist has signaled these transformations and the connections between them with at least three types of parallels: narrative signals (e.g., departure/separation and return/ aggregation, change in characters), vo cabulary (e.g., "to the mountain"), and motifs (e.g., ascent and wonder ment). A further point should be made concerning Matthew's technique of setting up these mountain ascension narratives. In each case, the Evan gelist leads into the narrative by indicating to the reader Jesus' qualifica tions to make the next ritual move. The initiation-ordeal is immediately preceded by the declaration of God: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am delighted!" (3:17). The instruction in yj and the healing in 15:29-31 are preceded by the notice of the spread of Jesus' honor as a healer and exorcist (4:23-25; 15:21-28). The epiphany in 17:1-8 is preceded by Jesus' declaration that: "the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels..." (16:27). And the commissioning is preceded by Jesus' resur rection (28:1-10). The following chart identifies the three steps of ritual transformation as outlined by van Gennep and Turner. But I have also included two other columns of information indicated by Matthew's linguistic and narrative clues: disciples' mimesis and communal consequences (usually wonder ment and praise). The regular occurrence of these two features also re quires interpretation in the sections below. Moreover, the evangelist each time expands upon Jesus' separation by tying it to his ascent of the mountain.

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

I57

FIGURE #2: Mountains and Ritual Process in Matthew

RITUAL
LITERARY UNITS SEPARATION AND ASCENT [e/sorasj 41a Jesus was led up[anxth] by the Spirit into the Wilderness 48 the devil took [paralambanei[ him to a very high mountain 51 he ascended [aneb] the mountain LIMINALITY TRANSFORMATION 41b to be tempted [peirasthnai\ by the devil

PROCESS
DISCIPLES' MIMESIS 613 do not lead us into temptation [peirasmoti [10 16 25], 18 7 2641 COMMUNAL CONSEQUENCES 411 angels came and ministered [dikonouri\ to him AGGREGATION 412b he withdrew [anechrserii into Galilee and dwelt [katksen] in Capernaum 81 When he descended [katabanto^ from the mountain, great crowds followed [kolouthsarii him 15 32 then Jesus summoned pmskalesamenos] his disciples to himself 179 they were descending [katabainontQ the mountain 1714 and when they came [elthontf to the crowd

41-12

MOUNTAIN OF INITIATIONORDEAL 4 25-81

MOUNTAIN OF INSTRUCTION

4 25 many crowds followed [kolouthsaQ him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea 15 29a Jesus left there [metabas] passing [either along the Sea of Galilee 171a Jesus took [paralambane^ with him Peter, James, and John

52 he opened his mouth, he taught [edidaskeri\ them, saying

519 the one who does them and teaches [didax] them shall be called great in the Kingdom

7 28 the crowds were astonished [exeplssontdi at his teaching

15 29-31

MOUNTAIN OF HEALING

15 29b he ascended [anebS the mountain

15 30 and he healed [etherepeuserii them

101 he gave them authority to heal [therepeueirii every disease and every malady 58 for they shall see [opsonta\ God 17 9b tell no one the vision [horama] until

15 31 the crowd wondered [thaumasah and glonfied [edoxasarii God 176 disciples fell on their faces, greatly awed [ephobthsari[

171-8

MOUNTAIN OF EPIPHANY

171b he led [anapherei\ them to a very high mountain

172 he was transfigured [metamorphth\ before them appeared [psthl to them

2816-20

MOUNTAIN OF COMMISSIONING

2816a Now the eleven disciples went [eporeuthsarii to Galilee

2816b to the mountain

2818 he commissioned [elaJsen] them

28 20 teaching [didaskontes], them to observe all that I commanded [eneteilamn] you

2817 they worshiped [prosekunsaril, but some doubted [edistasarii

The Mountain of Initiation-Ordeal (Matthew 4:1-12) M. McVann has demonstrated the ritual structure of this passage. He argues that Jesus, who had most likely been a disciple of John, is himself transformed into a prophet (1993:14-15,19). Following Jesus' baptism by John at the Jordan (3:13-17), he was "led up" () into the Wilderness by the Spirit, 4:1a. Jesus is thus separated from the community at the river for forty days of fasting. The three tests by "the tester" ( v. 3), "the devil" ( w . 5, 8, 11), or "satan" ( v. 10) culminate in the ascent to "a very high mountain" ( ) in v. 8. Jesus is now alone with his ordeal-master on the mountain to complete his testing.

58

SEMEIA

This ordeal, or ritualized initiation (^, v. lb), tests his spiritual strength, loyalty, and obedience: will he opt for food, or perform spectacular feats, or accept power from an ungodly source?5 The element of testing is further accentuated by specifically playing on Deut 8:2-5 (see also Exod 16:4), part of which is quoted in Matt 4:4. The motifs employed are: forty, leading, wilderness, commandment, humbling, testing (nassotheka), discipline, obedience, hunger, bread:
And you will remember each way which Yahweh your God has led you this forty years in the Wilderness in order to humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. And he humbled you, and let you hunger, and fed you with manna (with which you were not acquainted, nor were your fathers acquainted), in order that he might bring you to know that a person does not live only by bread, but that a person lives by everything that comes out of Yahweh's mouth...Then you will know with your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, Yahweh your God disciplines you.

Note that the ordeal of the flood also lasted forty days (Gen 7:12). More closely connecting the motif of forty with the mountain and fasting, Moses fasted forty days and nights on Sinai when receiving the second set of tablets (Exod 34:28; Deut 9:9-11,18); and Elijah fasted forty days and nights on his trip to "Horeb, the mountain of God" (1 Kgs 19:8). McVann points to the importance of the fast in the ritual process:
The fast is what grinds Jesus down, empties him of his old self, so he can be fashioned anew and endowed with additional powers for his new station in life. Through the ritual fast, the patterns and dependencies of the old identity are eradicated so the new can take root. It is at the end of the fasting in soli tude that the testings begin. (1993:16)

Jesus successfully counters each of his temptations with the quotation of scripture (Deut 8:3b; 6:16a; 6:20a), demonstrating his knowledge of the tradition, his Torah-acumen, and his loyalty to God as well. This type of ordeal of degradation or testing is especially well known in initiation ritu als. In hunter-gatherer societies the adolescents are often required to go into the bush alone and survive the elements, kill an animal, submit to humiliation, or fight an opponent. In the initiation ritual of the Powamu association, Hopi children receive the group's secrets while sitting in cramped space for hours, then receive four severe lashes with a yucca whip (La Fontaine: 89,111). La Fontaine goes on to identify several types of testing: oath-taking, ordeal (privation and pain), harangues, and teas ing/ridicule (186-87). One should add to her list another that is implicit in her discussion: tests of knowledge. In the Jewish tradition of bar mitzvah,
5 For Deuteronomy, see Weinfeld: 388-91; for this type of midrashic technique, see Sanders 1972 and 1991.

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

I59

the initiand must successfully chant from the Torah in Hebrew before the congregation. (Even in technological societies, dissertations have to be written and defended!) If Jesus is to lead his disciples in taking on demonic forces, he himself must first demonstrate his own abilities, survive deprivation, and overcome demonic power. A further element recognizable here is the folkloric triad (see Olrik: 132-33): the three tests are located in three different locations: the wilderness (w. 3-4), the temple pinnacle (w. 5-7), and the mountain (vv 8-10) each with its own associations: food, miracles, and power. This is diagrammed in figure #3 :
Mountain: political power

Temple: miracles

Wilderness: food FIGURE #3: Progressive Temptations in Locus

Thus Matthew not only emphasizes multiplicity in the formulaic three, but movement, intensification, and ascension: as the tests become more difficult, the location changes to a higher plane, culminating on the mountain. This lends added significance to the mountain as ritual symbol of the highest order for Matthew.6 The consequence of Jesus' successful completion of the tests is that angels arrive to minister to him (4:11). This provides divine confirmation of his status elevation. As God announced "This is my beloved son, with whom I am delighted" after the baptism (3:17), here he sends messengers to serve Jesus after his ordeal. The final step of the ritual is taken with Jesus' aggregation into the community: he went to Galilee to settle in Capernaum (v. 12). This leads into his ministry of preaching repentance (vv. 14-17) and the calling of disciples (w. 18-22). This follow-up to Jesus' testing further indicates that the testing is preparatory to proclaiming his message; the temporal orientation is towards the immediate future: a new existence, a new status, a new mission. The Evangelist relates Jesus' ordeal to the life pf the Christian community by reiterating that testing is part of discipleshipeven if the testWe have a Judean analog from the Qumran sectarians. Qumran initiands went through a three-stage process of questioning and examination: upon entrance, again at the end of one year, and finally after a second year, when the initiand would be given full status ( I Q S 6.13-23; see Vermes: 7-8,69-70).
6

SEMEIA

ing is not of identical type (see Luz: 186). In the "Lord's Prayer" the disci ples are taught to pray: "...and do not lead us into testing (), but deliver us from the evil one" (6:13). In 10:16-25 Jesus tells the disciples to expect persecution; but he also assures them that they will be provided with the words to answer the accusers. But successful completion of the ordeal is a necessity: "the one who endures to the end will be delivered" (10:22; see also 18:7). And in 26:41 Jesus warns Peter, James, and John: "Be on guard and pray so that you do not enter into testing ()"7 From the evangelist's connecting the testing of Jesus and the disciples, one may conclude that he knows that testing is a part of the life of discipleship, but a dangerous business. Jesus successfully completed the test ing, but it is an open question how well the disciples will perform. The danger inherent in any ritual is that it will either be done wrong, or that it will not be successfully completed. For an example of failure at a three-fold "test," note Peter's three-fold denial of Jesus in Jerusalem (Mark 14:66-72; Matt 26:69-75; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18,25-27). The Mountain of Instruction (Matthew 4:25-8:1) The evangelist indicates the popularity of Jesus in 4:25 as a transition in which Jesus gathered crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea (the north, east, and south). "And seeing the crowds, he as cended up the mountain; and when he sat down, his disciples gathered to him" (5:1); in ritual terms, he left the general population and gathered his disciples for instruction. Jesus' disciples follow him, receive his teaching, and acknowledge him; all this must happen on the mountain. Like Sinai, this mountain is the place where revelation will proceed from God to the community via a mediator. But whereas the Israelites remained at the base of Sinai waiting to receive the divine message brought down from Moses (Exod 19:10-25), Jesus' followers ascend with him to receive his teaching on the mountainthe place where the divine and human meet. The multivalence of the mountain-symbol is clearly manifested here: it unites the symbol of revelation/instruction (mountain as gateway to the heavens) and the symbol of creation, since a new com munity is created here (mountain as umbilicus or point of creation). Both of these themes are reflected in the Sinai narratives as well (e.g., Exodus 19-24), and these are sources from which Matthew undoubtedly drew heavily. What happens on the mountain is the group's initiation into Jesus' teaching. In terms of composition, the Evangelist provides an overview of
7 We find this same expectation of testing in the Qumran documents: "And you, O sons of his covenant, be strong in God's testingl Until he moves his hand for his trials to come to an end, his mysteries shall strengthen you" (lQM 17.8-9; see also lQS 8.4).

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

l6l

Jesus' message by gathering the many individual Jesus-sayings into this "sermon." But in terms of the story, a single crowd of disciples is initiated into his teaching. Prior to Matthew ^-y, the reader is only given one brief summary of what Jesus is up to: "Repent, because the Kingdom of the Heavens is drawing near!" (4:17). So this "sermon" functions to instruct Jesus' followers in the content of his message. Furthermore, the address is Jesus' first full discourse as a prophet to his disciples. Hearing the message, they know what they are responding to. The fact that this is the broader group of followers, and not only the Twelve, is indicated by the response of the crowd in 7:28, the same crowd (oi ) mentioned in 4:25 and 5:1. They are now all initiands. The response to Jesus' teaching is acclamation: "And when Jesus completed these sayings, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, be cause he taught as one possessing authority, and not as their scribes" (7:28-29). This highlights the distinction between what Jesus does and what the scribes do. While the scribes interpreted the tradition, Jesus pro claimed a distinctive message of the Kingdom. The acclamation also indi cates that the master-teacher has guided the initiands into a new status. The astonishment emphasizes that what has transpired is an ex traordinary and uncommon, indeed, a divine event. Having initiated the crowds into his teaching, Jesus descends () the mountain, and is again followed by the crowds (8:1). He and they reenter society. The revelation is complete, the meeting between the divine and human concluded; they cannot and must not stay in the liminal phase of receiving instruction. They step back across the threshold into daily life, but with a new identity as Jesus' disciples. Thus, on the Mountain of Instruction, Jesus is portrayed as the master who initiates others into discipleship and thus transforms their status. The Mountain of Healing (Matthew 15:29-31) Sickness and brokenness are signs of disorder and chaos. On the mountain of healing, Jesus demonstrates his power over these conditions. He has healed before, but the mountain setting lays greater stress on the significance of Jesus' healing action. "Then Jesus left there [the Phoenician region of Tyre and Sidon], passing along the Sea of Galilee; and he as cended the mountain (z;/3a ei ), sitting down there" (v. 29). Not only does Jesus leave Phoenicia, but the Galilean villages as well. The boundary-crossing that Matthew describes is Jesus taking "the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others" from broken ness to wholeness: he "healed" (kQtpaTTtvatv) them (v. 30). This encom passes the taxonomy of three body zones repeatedly articulated in the Bi ble, as first identified by De Geradon (i960; see Malina: 73-81): hands-feet

l62

SEMEIA

(lame and maimed), heart-eyes (blind), and mouth-ears (mute). Symbolically, then, Jesus addresses the whole human person by healing in each of body-zones in this narrative, also healing conditions which would exclude people from the temple (see Pilch 1986). As J.J. Pilch has demonstrated in numerous articles, what is at stake physically in biblical healing narratives is not the "curing" of "diseases," terms referring to modern medical diagnosis and interventions. Rather, traditional societies are concerned with "healing" of "illness." That is: "When an intervention affects an illness, that activity is called 'healing.'" This "involves the provision of personal and social meaning for the life problems that accompany human health misfortunes"; put succinctly, curing is to disease as healing is to illness (1991:192; see also 1986). This is true in general for traditional societies, and it is especially clear in this text. The sick and those who care for them separate themselves from society to follow Jesus up a mountain and through a ritual of healing. All types of maladies are healed, and those healed cross the boundaries from marginalization to integration; meaninglessness to meaningfulness; chaos to order. Thus, the symbol of the mountain here is not linked to revelation, but creation, specifically the creation of order out of chaos.8
8 For a contemporary description and analysis of healing the blind which demonstrates these points, see Driver: 176-79. Three texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls inform a symbolic interpretation of the Mountain of Healing. The first is from the "Damascus Rule" (CD; otherwise known as the "Zadokite Document"); and the second is from the "Messianic Rule" (iQSa). In them the handicapped are specifically excluded from membership in the community, or, if in the community, from fully participating (see CD 15 and lQsa. 2:5-8 in Vermes:

92; 102).

In contrast to this exclusion, what Jesus does on the Mountain of Healing is transform and include the handicapped: they are no longer marginalized. This issue of marginalization, inclusion, and healing is also pivotal in the "man born blind" story in John, where the healed man's newly gained sight is contrasted to the "blindness" of the Pharisees who refuse to acknowledge Jesus (esp. 9:35-41; see also Mark8:22-26 and
10:46-52).

The third Dead Sea text is from the "Community Rule" (lQS). This includes a list of offenses identified as "the spirit of perversity." After several common items, such as greed and haughtiness, the list concludes: . . and a tongue ofrevilings, blind eyes and dull ears, a stiff neck and a heavy heart in order to walk in all the ways of darkness and guile. (lQS 4.9-11; modified from Vermes: 66-67; m y emphasis) My point is that blindness, deafness, and problems with speaking and walking are all used here as metaphors of social deviance, and specifically resistance against and failure to obeythe community's norms. The three zones are again employed: hands-feet ("walks"), eyes-heart ("blind" and "a heavy heart"), and mouth-ears ("tongue of revilings" and "dull ears"). I am arguing that the Evangelist is interested in both the physical level as a healing-miracle story, and in the symbolic level of transforming the resistant or ignorant to the obedient. Note the Evangelist's use of Isa 9:1-2 in Matt 4:15-16, which employs the metaphors of sitting in darkness and seeing a great

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

163

The "wonder" ( of the crowds, and their "glorifying the God of Israel" (aaav ) again emphasize the extraordinary character of the healing Jesus performs as God's Son (v. 31). A profound and world-encompassing change has occurred on this mountain-top, and those who have experienced it return to the world below wholly renewed and transformed. 9 The mimesis of the disciples, in parallel to the other mountain symbol passages, is further argument that the ritual performance on the mountain is healing, and not principally feeding (pace Donaldson). In Matt 10:1 Jesus "called his twelve disciples to himself, giving them authority over unclean spirits, to exorcise them, and to heal () every disease and every malady." The power which Jesus has demonstrated over all sorts of brokenness, he has now given to the Twelve. The healing, integrating, and inclusiveness that he begins they are to continue. The aggregation is less specific here, compared with the other passages: Jesus moves from deal ing with the sick to addressing his disciples (v. 32), and feeding the crowd. He dismisses the crowdhealed and fedand he and the disci ples depart for the region of Magadan (v. 39).

light for ignorance and revelation. 9 The healing of the people as a function of Judean leadership (being a "shepherd") is connected with the mountain in Ezek 34:1-31, where the prophet is di rected to shame the leadership for taking care of themselves rather than the people (see also Zech 11:15-17). Ezekiel's prophecy does not only reproach the leaders, but speaks of Yahweh taking care of the people's needs (on Ezekiel, see Zimmerli: 203-23; for the translation of "shame" for the Hebrew *, see Hanson, forthcoming): Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Shame on you shepherds...The weak you have not strengthened, the ill you have not healed, the lame you have not bound up, the strayed you have not returned, the lost you have not sought...My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one searching and no one seeking..." "And with good pasturage I will feed them, and on the mountain heights of Is rael shall be their habitation...I myself will shepherd my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down," says the Lord Yahweh. "The lost I will seek and the strayed I will return, and the lame I will bind up, and the weak I will strengthen...! will feed them with justice." "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing...And you are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God," declares the Lord Yahweh. (Ezek 34:2^4,6,14-16,26a, 31) Not only will Yahweh heal, comfort, strengthen, and gather, but, instead of aim lessly wandering on mountains, the people will be blessed on Yahweh's "hill." The symbol of mountain () as the dangerous place where sheep get lost, sick, and in jured is replaced with the hill (22) of Yahweh's blessing. If the Evangelist did not have this prophetic passage in mind in the construction of 15:29-31, he certainly em ployed similar symbols to speak of the transformation on the Mountain of Healing.

164

SEMEIA

The Mountain of Epiphany (Matthew 17:1-8) The particular narrative unit is 17:1-8, but the ritual process has to be seen in 17:1-14. Verses 9-13 narrate the action "while they descended the mountain" (v. 9), and full aggregation is not mentioned until v. 14: "And when they approached the crowd..." Jesus took Peter and James and John, separating them not only from society generally, but also from the other nine disciples, "and led () them to a high mountain by themselves" (v. 1). This highly sig nificant event is reserved for the innermost circle. The scene is reminiscent of Moses taking Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders with him to Sinai: "they had a vision of God, and they ate and drank" (Exod 24:11). What happens on the mountain as a vision/audition experience is a variation on the classic form of an Israelite/Judean "vision report"; Jesus was:
transformed () before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared () to them, talking with him... and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved son with whom I am delighted; listen to him." (17:1-3)

McCurley clearly demonstrates that this account integrates different as pects of Israelite/Judean mountain symbolism (170-77). Many of the nar rative details are analogs of the Sinai narratives in Exodus 24 and 34 (e.g., cloud, audition, transforming glory). The auditory "This is my son" plays on the royal adoption motifs connected with Mt. Zion in Psalm 2: "I have placed my king on Zion, my holy hill" (2:6), and "You are my son; today I have begotten you" (2:7b). And the phrase "beloved son" ( ) appears in the LXX only with regard to Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac on a mountain in Moriah (Gen 22:2, 12,16). McCurley also notes that Mt. Moriah and Mt. Zion are identified with each other in 1 Chron 3:1; thus he identifies the integrative and resymbolization process as diagrammed in Figure #4, what he calls the "Quality of the Transfiguration Mount" (176):
Narrative Details (Exodus 24,34) Mount Sinai "This is my son" (Psalm 2:7) Mount Zion "Beloved son" (Genesis 22) mount in Moriah

(2 Chron 3:1) Mount Moriah in Jerusalem

Mount of Transfiguration FIGURE #4: Integration and Re-symbolization in the Mount of Transfiguration

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

165

Clearly, this passage has a double focus: attention is directed to Jesus' sonship/kingship, and to the manifestation of the holy, whether one calls this epiphany, theophany, or Christophany. That this is a vision is stated explicitly in v. 9 () and further indicated by the term "appeared" in v. 2 (). The reaction of the three disciples was to fall upon their faces, aw estruck (v. 6). This is the appropriate and expected reaction to a theo phany /revelatory experience, e.g.: "This was the visionary likeness of Yahweh's glory. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face..." (Ezek i:28). 10 But more than simply a literary motif, this is the appropriate ritual action and posture. The disciples have been taken further along on their journey of discipleship by being granted this vision in which Jesus' unique status as God's son is revealed to them. Thus, their status as disciples is height ened even as Jesus' exalted status is revealed. One might expect this visionary experience to be unique to the three disciples. But the evangelist indicates that it is much broader in implica tion. In Matt 5:8 the grant of honor to the "pure in heart" is that they shall see God. This is rooted in a long Judean tradition of seeing God in the context of the temple worship: "They go from strength to strength; the God of gods shall be seen in Zion" (Ps 847[8]; see further Hanson, forth coming). Additionally, this vision prepares for the appearance of the res urrected Jesus which the Eleven will have at the Gospel's conclusion when they are commissioned as apostles. The evangelist extends the aggregation into a dialogue on the way down the mountain (w. 9-13). Verse 9 begins with them descending the mountain; but they do not fully aggregate until v. 14 "When they came to a crowd..." Mountain of Commissioning (Matthew 28:16-20) This pericope is the conclusion toward which the whole Gospel builds: here the transformed Jesus in turn transforms his inner circle from an inwardly-directed, tightly knit, fictive kin-group to an outwardlydirected group of teachers and disciplers. It also plays upon the dialectic of presence and absence. Jesus is present with them in the story, and the story ends without Jesus having left. But Jesus' words imply his absence, even while vowing continued presence.11
For further examples of this narrative/ritual motif of falling upon one's face when experiencing a theophany or angelophany, see Gen 17:2; Lev 9:24; Judg 13:20; 1 Kgs 18:39; Ezek 3:23; 9:8; 43:3; 44:4; Dan 8:17; 10:9; Tob 12:16; Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14; Rev 7:11; 11:16. 11 Between this conclusion and the encounter of the risen Jesus and Mary Mag dalene and the other Mary ( w . 9-10), the Evangelist situates the story of the tomb
10

66

SEMEIA

The Eleven depart for Galilee, and go "to the mountain" (v. 16); this separates them from Judea and Jerusalem, and from Galilee itself. Note that the phrase "to which Jesus directed them" modifying "mountain" (v. 16b) acknowledges that it must be a specific location, while maintaining the mountain's anonymity. Important for the evangelist, then, is not the identity of the mountain, but its "mountainness" and the resurrected Je sus' presence to his disciples/apostles. Jesus' commission of the Eleven is introduced with his statement that he has been given "all authority in heaven and on earth" (v. 18; see also 7:29; 9:8; 11:27; 21:23-27; Dan 7:14; John 3:35).12 As in the other mountain passages, the basis for Jesus' action is established: authority ascribed by God (see John 20:21). Jesus had previously commissioned the Twelve to preach, heal, resurrect, cleanse, and exorcise (10:5-15); but this earlier mis sion explicitly excluded gentiles and Samaritans (10:5-6). So, while they had previously been sent out, their mission has now been transformed from an ethnic into a global one. And a further shift is that they are now to teach and baptize (v. 20b). The commissioning, then, changes the status of the Eleven from disciples to apostles, matching the nature of their changed mission. The encounter with Jesus, however, produced a mixed reaction: "they worshiped, but some doubted" (28:17). Each of the earlier examples of "consequence" were unequivocal: ministered, astonished, wondered and glorified, and greatly awed. In this final scene, even some of the Eleven are doubting. Note how Matthew had earlier played upon the "mixture" within the church, for example: the sown seed with various yields (13:3-9), the wheat and weeds (13:24-30), and the mixed catch of fish (13:47-50). The evangelist seems to use this theme one last time to empha size the lack of purity in the church, even among the leadership. As I noted before, one of the dangerous aspects of ritual is that a participant may be unsuccessful in its completion, and the evangelist is alerting the reader to this danger. The missing element in this pericope, when compared to the other mountain ascension passages, is the aggregation: neither Jesus nor the Eleven rejoin society; the scene ends with all of them still on the mounguards, who are paid off by the Judean leadership to spread a concocted story about Jesus' body being stolen (vv. 11-15). With this sequence the Evangelist establishes sev eral things for the audience: loyalty and gender division (the women as the first wit nesses of the resurrection), social geography (the traditio-historical combination of the Jerusalem and Galilean resurrection traditions), external boundaries and conflict (the continuation of conspiracy against Jesus among the Judean leadership), and internal hierarchy (the singling out of the Eleven). 12 The passive construction "has been given" () is the oblique way of refer ring to God's action (see e.g., Matt 10:19; 19:11), the so-called "divine passive."

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

167

tain. This lack of closure provides the Gospel with a sense of openendedness: the success of the Eleven is left unnarrated, Jesus remains standing within the community, and the future is uncertain except for Jesus' vow of continued presence.^ That is, Jesus' status as resurrected Lord to whom all authority has been given is firmly established. What is uncer tain is what will become of the newly commissioned apostles. Thus, the ritual model further illuminates the purpose of the lack of narrative closure.
CONCLUSION

Matthew's sequence of the ritual mountain ascents and descents is not accidental. The mountain passages chart the developmental process of discipleship and formation from initiation to deputation. This sequence of ritual movements up and down mountains takes the disciples from group-maintenance to group-building, from self-in-relationship to the commurtity-within-society. Before they can move outward into the world to preach, teach, and baptize (itself a central ritual of status transfor mation), the disciples must be taught, "healed," and given a glimpse of the divine. The ritual transformations associated with mountains in Mat thew are not "once for all"; they are part of the on-going tradition. Neither are they narrated in great detail, but are suggestive and multivalent. They may be experienced and manifested diversely in the community: but de spite that diversity, they are no less fundamental transformations. And fi nally, Matthew's ritualized mountain symbolism integrates the affective and intellective processes: the symbolization exhibits conceptual and ideological content, but also provides the concrete expression of emotive and experiential realities. A final comment on the disciples' mimesis is in order. The evangelist has not only paralleled Jesus' action with that of the disciples in other parts of the Gospel, but has set up the principle of mimesis. In the context of the disciples' travels, deeds, and subsequent persecution, Jesus de clares: "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his owner. It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the slave like his owner (Matt io:24-25a). Thus for Matthew, Jesus' deeds are paradigmatic for the community; mimesis is fundamental for identity, action, and rela tionship. Ritual becomes the creative medium which mediates mimesis. In order to follow Jesus, the disciples must pass through the dangers of the ritual

3 Note that Mark 16:1-8, John 20:26-29; and 21:20-23 all conclude with the narra tive left open. Of the four canonical gospels, only Luke 24:44-53 provides narrative closure for both Jesus and the disciples.

68

SEMEIA

process. Ritual, as Victor Turner has demonstrated, has the power and potential both to preserve and to transform the community. WORKS CONSULTED
Bal, Mieke 1990 "Experiencing Murder: Ritualistic Interpretation of Ancient Texts." Pp. 3-20 in Victor Turner and the Construction of Cultural Criticism: Between Lit erature and Anthropology. Ed. K. M. Ashley. Bloomington: Indiana Uni versity Press.

Boling, Robert G. *975 Judges. AB 6A. Garden City: Doubleday. Butterworth, E. A. S. 1970 The Tree at the Navel of the Earth. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Clements, R. E. 1965 God and Temple. Philadelphia: Fortress. Clifford, Richard J. 1972 The Cosmic Mountain in Canaan and the Old Testament. HSM Cambridge: Harvard University Press. De Geradon, Bernard i960 "L'homme a l'image de Dieu." Nouvelle Revue Theologique 80:683-95. Donaldson, Terence L. 1985 Jesus on the Mountain. A Study in Matthean Theology. JSNTSup 8. Sheffield: JSOT Press. Driver, Tom F. 1991 The Magic of Ritual Our Need for Liberating Rites that Transform Our Lives and Our Communities. San Francisco: Harper. Eliade, Mircea 1959a Cosmos and History. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Trans. W. R. Trask. New York: Harper & Row. 1959b The Sacred and the Profane. The Nature of Religion. Trans. W. R. Trask. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. 1985 Symbolism, the Sacred and the Arts. Ed. D. Apostolos-Cappadona. New York: Crossroad. Geertz, Clifford 1973 The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. van Gennep, Arnold i960 Rites of Passage. Trans. M. B. Vizedom and G. L. Caffee. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul [orig. pub. 1909]. Grimes, Ronald 1990 "Victor Turner's Definition, Theory, and Sense of Ritual." Pp. 141-46 in Victor Turner and the Construction of Cultural Criticism: Between Literature and Anthropology. Ed. K. M. Ashley. Bloomington: Indiana University

HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

169

Hanson, K. C. 1995 "'How Honorable!' 'How Shameful!' A Cultural Analysis of Matthew's Makarisms and Reproaches." Semeia 68:83-114. Isaac, E., trans. 1983 "1 (Ethiopie Apocalypse of) Enoch." Pp. 5-89 vsxThe Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 1: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments. Ed. J. H. Charlesworth. Garden City: Doubleday. La Fontaine, Jean 1985 Initiation. New York: Viking Penguin. Levenson, Jon D. 1985 Sinai and Zion. An Entry into the Jewish Bible. New Voices in Biblical Studies. San Francisco: Harper & Row. Luz, Ulrich 1989 Matthew 1-7. Trans. W. C. Linss. Continental Commentaries. Minneapolis: Augsburg. McVann, Mark 1991 "Rituals of Status-Transformation in Luke-Acts: The Case of Jesus the Prophet." Pp. 333-60 in The Social World of Luke-Acts. Models for Interpretation. Ed. J. H. Neyrey. Peabody: Hendrickson. 1993 "One of the Prophets: Matthew's Testing Narrative as a Rite of Passage."
BTB 23:14-20.

McCurley, Foster R. 1983 Ancient Myths and Biblical Faith. Scriptural Transformations. Philadelphia: Fortress. Malina, Bruce J. 1993 The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. Rev. ed. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox. Morrison, Van 1982 "Dweller on the Threshold." On Beautiful Vision. Essential Music (BMI). Neyrey, Jerome H. 1991 "Ceremonies in Luke-Acts: The Case of Meals and Table Fellowship." Pp. 361-87 in The Social World of Luke-Acts. Models for Interpretation. Ed. J. H. Neyrey. Peabody: Hendrickson. Olrik, Axel 1965 "Epic Laws of Folk Narrative." Pp. 129-41 in The Study of Folklore. Ed. A. Dundes. Trans. J. P. Steager. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall [orig. art. pub. 1909].

Pilch, John J. 1986 "The Health Care System in Matthew." BTB 16:102-6. 1991 "Sickness and Healing in Luke-Acts." Pp. 181-209 in The Social World of Luke-Acts. Models for Interpretation. Ed. J. H. Neyrey. Peabody: Hendrickson.

170

SEMEIA

Sanders, James A. 1972 Torah and Canon. Philadelphia: Fortress. 1991 "The Integrity of Biblical Pluralism." Pp. 154-69 in "Not In Heaven": Co herence and Complexity in Biblical Narrative. Indiana Studies in Biblical Lit erature. Ed. J. P. Rosenblatt and J. C. Sitterson, Jr. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Smith, Jonathan Z. 1987 To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual. Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Speiser, . . 1969 "Akkadian Myths and Epics." Pp. 60-119 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. Ed. J. B. Pritchard. Princeton: Prin ceton University Press. Sperling, S. David 1976 "Navel of the Earth." Pp. 621-23 in Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume. Ed. K. Crim. Nashville: Abingdon. Stadelmann, Luis I. J. 1970 The Hebrew Conception of the World. AnBib 39. Rome: Biblical Institute. Terrien, Samuel 1970 "The Omphalos Myth and Hebrew Religion." VT 20:315-38. Turner, Victor 1967 The Forest of Symbols: Aspects ofNdembu Ritual. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 1969 The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Vermes, Geza 1987 The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. 3rd ed. Sheffield: JSOT. Weinfeld, Moshe 1991 Deuteronomy 1-11. AB 5. New York: Doubleday. Wilson, John ., trans. 1969 "Egyptian Myths, Tales, and Mortuary Texts." Pp. 3-36 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. Ed. J. A. Pritchard. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Wintermute, O. S., trans. 1985 "Jubilees." Pp. 35-142 in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2: Expan sions of the "Old Testament" and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Litera ture, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works. Ed. J. H. Charlesworth. Garden City: Doubleday. Zimmerli, Walther 1983 Ezekiel 2. A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 25-48. Trans. J. D. Martin. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress.

^ s
Copyright and Use: As an ATLAS user, you may print, download, or send articles for individual use according to fair use as defined by U.S. and international copyright law and as otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the copyright holder(s)' express written permission. Any use, decompiling, reproduction, or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a violation of copyright law. This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission from the copyright holder(s). The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journal typically is the journal owner, who also may own the copyright in each article. However, for certain articles, the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article. Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. For information regarding the copyright holder(s), please refer to the copyright information in the journal, if available, or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s). About ATLAS: The ATLA Serials (ATLAS) collection contains electronic versions of previously published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission. The ATLAS collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American Theological Library Association.