Eschatology in Matthew

Presented by: D. Lijo

Introduction
Eschatology is a vital issue in the Gospel of Matthew and it is also one of the most multifaceted and debated
aspects of Matthaean theology. The term eschatology derives from the two Greek words eschatos (“end”) and
logos (“word”); it refers, consequently, to discourse that envisions the end of the present order. The Gospel of
Matthew has an extensive reference to the final stage of the Kingdom of God, already present on earth. It deals
with problems regarding the Parousia of the son of man, and the destiny of man and of the whole universe. The
time of the Parousia of the son of man and the nature of the new age raise questions and has no easy answers.
When will Parousia take place? Did not Christ also, under contemporary Jewish influence believed that the
Parousia will take place within the time of his own generation? Will the end events affect men only or the
universe as a whole? These questions need to be probed. In the following pages an attempt had been made to
discuss various models of Eschatology so as to appreciate the distinctive nature of the Eschatology in
Matthew’s Gospel and concludes by identifying its significance for building faith communities in the present
Indian context by way of evaluation.
A. Eschatology Models
1. The Consistent Eschatology Model
This view, developed toward the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, was formulated by
Johannes Weiss and Albert Schweitzer and is accepted by a number of prominent NT scholars including F. C.
Burkitt, B. F. Easton, M. Dibelius, R. Bultmann and R. H. Hiers. Schweitzer exposed the tendency of liberal
scholars to create Jesus in their own image by turning him into a moral teacher who propounded eternal truths.
Schweitzer insisted that the eschatological views of Jesus are to be taken seriously and understood against the
background of early Jewish apocalyptic literature. Ethics and eschatology in the teachings of Jesus and early
Christianity are not superficially related to one another as kernel to husk but both are essential. Jesus was an
apocalyptist with an eschatological timetable. The mission discourse which Jesus gave when he sent out the
Twelve (Matt 10:5–42) contained an explicit prediction of the imminent coming of the Son of Man (Matt
10:23), identical with the dawn of the kingdom of God, and the sufferings which the disciples would experience
(10:34–39); both predictions failed to be fulfilled. Since the tribulations heralding the end which Jesus had
anticipated failed to happen, he resolved to suffer himself in an attempt to force the arrival of the kingdom.
Since the end did not arrive, Jesus is an example of a failed prophet. The whole subsequent history of
Christianity is in fact based on the nonoccurrence of the Parousia and the resulting abandonment of
eschatology. Thus, For Schweitzer the kingdom is altogether future and eschatological. Its only relation to the
present was its imminence. While few scholars accepted Schweitzer’s thesis in all its details, his stress on Jesus
as an eschatological prophet has continued to govern modern conceptions of the historical Jesus.1
2. The Realized Eschatology Model
C. H. Dodd proposed that Jesus taught the essential presence of the kingdom of God. Formulated in
opposition to consistent eschatology with its view of Jesus as a failed prophet, Dodd’s view of the continuing
truth and relevance of the message of Jesus was based on a careful exegesis of the sayings of Jesus in the
Gospels, mainly the parables. Though recognizing that Jesus referred to the kingdom of God in some sayings as
future and in other sayings as present, Dodd thought that Jesus’ stress on the presence of the kingdom was the
most characteristic and unique feature of his teaching. Dodd therefore objected to understanding the kingdom of
God as an apocalyptic concept.2 Thus according to Dodd, Jesus proclaimed the present coming of the eternal
order into history in his own person and mission. The crisis is not future; it is present. The “realized
eschatology” was both the message of Jesus and the heart of the kerygma in the primitive church, in Paul, and in
John. All that the prophets had hoped for in the eschatological kingdom of God is now realized in present
Christian experience.3
3. The Inaugurated Eschatology Model

1 D. E. Aune, “Early Christian Eschatology,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6vols. Gen. ed. D.N. Freeman (London: Doubleday, 1992), Vol.2, 597.
2 D. E. Aune, “Early Christian…, 598.
3 George Eldon Ladd, “Consistent or Realized Eschatology in Matthew,” Southwestern Journal of Theology 5 (Oct. 1962): 56.
 One reason why scholars have given such differing accounts of Jesus’ eschatology is that there is a
fundamental tension built into the sources themselves. The Gospels obviously describe Jesus proclaiming a
future eschatological event, and just as clearly they portray him using eschatological language to describe a
present reality. This apparent contradiction can be resolved if one deems only one stream of tradition authentic.
A majority of members of the Jesus Seminar, for instance, consider many of Jesus’ future-eschatological
sayings later accretions, and J. D. Crossan has argued that while the generic “son of man” sayings (e.g., Mk
2:28; Mt 8:20 // Lk 9:58) originated with Jesus, predictions of an apocalyptic Son of Man (e.g., Mk 13:26) did
not. Others, though, have argued for the authenticity of both streams of tradition (though not necessarily each
particular saying), insisting that what the Gospels preserve is not a contradiction but rather a conception of the
eschaton as a dynamic process something already inaugurated, but not yet consummated.4 Thus, J. Jeremias, an
early advocate of this interpretation, modified Dodd’s position by speaking of eschatology “in process of
realization”. A number of scholars (J. Jeremias, O. Cullmann, W. G. Kümmel, G. E. Ladd, N. T. Wright),
reacting to the antithetical alternatives posed by Schweitzer and Dodd, proposed that Jesus held a paradoxical
combination of the kingdom of God as both a present reality and a future expectation. Thus, the positions of
consistent eschatology and realized eschatology can only be maintained by ignoring or minimizing present or
future elements in the eschatological teaching of Jesus.
W. G. Kümmel sought to demonstrate three theses: (a) there is indisputable evidence that in the teaching of
Jesus the kingdom of God is a future reality which will appear imminently; (b) there is also irrefutable evidence
that the kingdom of God is a present reality in and through the words and deeds of Jesus; (c) the eschatological
message of Jesus must be contrasted with the apocalyptic eschatology characteristic of early Judaism, for Jesus’
combination of present and future means that the redemptive function of the eschatological consummation has
already become a present reality in the mission and message of Jesus. 5 For Kümmel, thus “the essential content
of Jesus’ preaching about the Kingdom of God is the news of the divine authority of Jesus, who has appeared on
earth and is awaited in the last days as the one who effects the divine purpose of mercy”. G. E. Ladd shared
Kümmel’s emphasis on the “already but not yet” tension in Jesus’ proclamation, but he stressed that Jesus
conceived of the eschaton not as a temporal process but as a paradox. The present is not the duration between
the beginning of the kingdom’s coming and its completion, but rather is a time in which the eschatological
kingdom has itself invaded history in advance, bringing men in the old age of sin and death the blessings of
God’s rule.6
B. Realized Eschatology in Matthew’s Gospel
In Matthew’s narrative it could be seen that with the coming of Jesus we have arrived at the fulfillment of the
promises of scripture. Matthew sprinkled his narrative with so-called formula quotations (1:23; 2:15, 18; etc.).
These continuously remind readers that Jesus fulfilled the eschatological hopes and messianic expectations of
Judaism.7 In the genealogies with the stress on Abraham and David, both the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants
find their realization in Jesus. The Beatitudes announce the reality of the kingdom in the present (5:3; 10), and
not just something to be expected in the future. John the Baptist’s doubt about whether Jesus was the Messiah,
the one who would bring the kingdom, is answered by Jesus with words pointing to apocalyptic
fulfillment(11:4-5).Jesus identifies John as fulfilling the role of Elijah (11:14;17:12), the one preparing the way
for the promised one(11:13). John is therefore at the pivotal point of the turning from the age of prophecy to the
age of fulfillment. Just as the healings are signs of the presence of the kingdom of God (11:4-5), so too
exorcism of demons point to that same reality (12:28). In the parables discourse Jesus stresses the fulfillment he
brings (13:16-17). Now the kingdom is present in a paradoxical form. Jesus admits when he says to the
disciples: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom” (13:11).One of the mysteries of the
kingdom revealed in the parables discourse of chapter 13 is the surprise that the kingdom arrives without
bringing Judgment upon the wicked. Judgment is delayed. Certainly as the parables of the mustard seed, the
leaven, the hidden treasure and the pearl reveal (13:31-33, 44-46), the kingdom first comes in a small,

4 R.S. Schellenberg, “Eschatology”, in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, (eds.) Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown, and Nicholas Perrin, (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, second edn.,2013), 234-235.
5 D. E. Aune, “Early Christian…, 599.
6 George Eldon Ladd, “Consistent or Realized…, 58.
7 Dale. C. Allison Jr, “Eschatology” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels ,(eds.)Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I. Howard Marshall, (Downers

Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1992), 208.

inconspicuous way, without overwhelming the world (as it eventually will).The great surprise is the fate of the
Messiah, who comes not triumphantly, but humbly, not to ascend the throne of David, but to die (16:24-27).
Jesus accepts Peter’s confession of him as Messiah (16:16), and as he enters Jerusalem as messianic king (see
Matthew’s quotation of Zechariah 9:9) he does not turn away the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David”
(21:9; 21:15-16).8 The disciples of Jesus must also be prepared to suffer, take up their cross and follow after him
(16:24-27). The reality of the kingdom is to be lived out here and now, in this still very imperfect world, in
advance of the time of the parousia of the son of man.9 Also indicative of Matthew’s outlook is the key promise
of the Messiah’s continuous supporting presence (1:23; 18:20; 28:20). This brings to realization a Jewish
eschatological expectation: God would be “with” his people especially in the latter days (Zech 8:23; Jub. 1:17,
26; etc.). So the present is concurrently the age of tribulation and the age of the kingdoms presence—precisely
the view of Jesus.10Matthew 27:51b-53 recounts that Jesus was not the only one to rise from the dead: so did
many saints. Hence the Messiah’s vindication cannot be viewed in isolation. Rather, Jesus’ resurrection
inaugurated the general resurrection. Thus, the emphasis on realized eschatology can be seen in Matthew’s
Gospel.
C. The Role of Apocalytic in Matthew’s Gospel
The Gospel of Matthew breathes apocalyptic, apart from chs. 24-25, where the numbers would certainly be
very large, there are more than twenty-five clear references in the Gospel to the coming judgment, or to the age
to come. From the opening chapter telling of the birth of the Messiah to the closing scene promising his
presence until the close of the age, Matthew keeps the readers’ attention fixed upon the apocalyptic
consequences of discipleship. From the warning message of John the Baptizer in 3:7- 10 to the prefiguring of
the day of resurrection in the crucifixion scene, Mt. 27:51-54, the Gospel is filled with references to judgment
and the final day.11
An apocalyptic expectation can serve the believer as a means of providing hope in a difficult time. For
instance, the vision of hope is clearly present in the treatment of the ‘sheep’ in 25:31-46, in the blessings of the
Beatitudes in 5:3-12, and in the promises to the commissioned ones in 10:29-33. There are also glimpses in
Matthew of awaited vengeance for enemies and evil ones in such passages as the condemnation of the Pharisaic
opponents in 12:30-37 or 23:29-36. But the dominant role which the apocalyptic expectation plays in the
Gospel of Matthew is the role of avoiding punishment for misdeeds and receiving reward for good deeds.
In Matthew’s vision, Jesus, the Son of God, will return at the judgment as the Messiah/Son of Man in
Danielic fashion to judge the world. At that great arraignment two groups will have an edge in entry into the
kingdom. One is, obviously, the faithful followers of Jesus who have been obedient disciples, even through
adversity and persecution. The other is the Gentiles who have given hospitality to the disciples of Jesus on their
mission to the world (10:40-42 and 25:34-36). And the greatest edge for the disciples is that they already know
the criteria of judgment. They have ‘the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven’ (13:11). So they can prepare
themselves. Yet, woe to the disciple who falters! That is the expectation of Matthew for the imminent future.12
D. Future Consummation of kingdom
Even though realized eschatology is apparent in Matthew, the kingdom also waits a future consummation.
The Olivet discourse in Matt 24 (based on Mark 13), is directed to the disciples generally, not to a restricted
group of four as in Mark; and it is more sharply focused on ―when this will be and what will be the sign of
your coming and of the close of the age(24:3). Matthew frequently uses the Son of Man designation in its
apocalyptic sense for Jesus (10:23; 13:37–41; 16:28; 19:28). Matthew is the first author to use the Gk term
Parousia in the technical sense of the second coming of Christ (24:3; 24:27, 37, 39).13 Some scholars, maintain
that Jesus’ future kingdom as an unrealistic hope for modern people, label the kingdom a myth and translate it
into existential language more appropriate for their own academic circles of thought. But their position
presupposes modern contempt for apocalyptic thought rather than a detailed historical argument. Further, the
8 Donald A. Hagner, “Holiness and Ecclesiology: The Church in Matthew” in Built upon the Rock: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew (Michigan: Wm.
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2008):171.
9 Donald A. Hagner, “Holiness and…, 172.
10 Dale. C. Allison Jr, “Eschatology” in Dictionary of Jesus…, 209.
11 O. Lamar Cope, “‘To the Close of the Age’: The Role of Apocalyptic Thought in the Gospel of Matthew” in Apocalyptic in the New Testament:

Essays in Honor of J. Louis Martyn (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989):117.

12 O. Lamar Cope, “‘To the Close of the Age’: The Role …, 117-118.
13
D. E. Aune, “Early Christian…, 601.
future kingdom is hardly unrelated to the persecuted and oppressed, who nurture hope that God’s justice will
ultimately triumph and vindicate them.
E. Significance of Eschatology in Matthew for the present Indian context
In Matthew’s Gospel there is a tension which belongs to the heart of the Gospel-a tension between realized
and realistic eschatology. The kingdom of God is certainly an eschatological blessing which will finally achieve
the complete transformation of human life in the age to come. The kingdom of God will be God’s final act
fulfilling his redemptive purpose both in salvation and judgment. The kingdom of God is God’s answer to the
present-day question about the goal and destiny of history. But this goal cannot be achieved by human effort,
nor is it produced by powers immanent within history; it will be established by an apocalyptic act of God.
Although evil has not yet been destroyed, it has been defeated. Although the kingdom awaits the coming of
the Son of Man in glory, its blessings of forgiveness, fellowship, life, and deliverance from bondage to evil have
already come to men. This presence and working of the kingdom in Jesus created a new fellowship, the sons of
the kingdom (Matt. 13:38), who later become the Christian church. The church still proclaims the gospel of the
kingdom which Jesus proclaimed (4:23), certainly, it is God’s purpose that the church shall proclaim the gospel
of the kingdom in all the world before the end comes (24: 14).
Thus, the church is the instrument of the kingdom in the world. God has not abandoned history to evil. God is
still at work in the world through his church as it proclaims the gospel of the kingdom and displays to a sinful
and lost world the righteousness and life of the kingdom. The church is the people of the kingdom, enjoying the
life of the kingdom even though it lives in the hostile setting of the old age. The church therefore will always
experience tension and conflict. It can never be entirely at home in this age, for it belongs to the new age. But
until the dawn of the new age at the parousia of Christ, it is the church’s glorious mission to demonstrate the
life and power of the kingdom and invite all men to receive its blessings and enter into its fellowship.14
If the Christian movement was born in the call of John the Baptist and Jesus to ‘repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand’, then the fact that its roots are in an intensely eschatological and apocalyptic framework
cannot be denied. A sense of the nearness, the urgency, of the call of God to life or death is intrinsic to the
message of Jesus. However, the call to respond to God’s gracious invitation, to turn from a self-centered
deception to new life, to know oneself as forgiven and thus to be a forgiver is only one side of the
eschatological coin. Matthew turns the coin over. In his hands the call becomes a warning to be obedient lest
one’s sand built house crumble, to be faithful lest one be cast into the outer darkness, to keep one’s lamp lit lest
one miss the coming of the groom. That is, in Matthew's hands Christian eschatology becomes principally a
warning of doom to come for those who fail.15
Bibliography
Allison Jr, Dale. C. “Eschatology”. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. (eds.)Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight,
and I. Howard Marshall. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1992.
Aune, D. E. “Early Christian Eschatology.” In The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Vol.2, pp.594-609.
Cope, O. Lamar “‘To the Close of the Age’: The Role of Apocalyptic Thought in the Gospel of Matthew” in
Apocalyptic in the New Testament: Essays in Honor of J. Louis Martyn. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1989.
Hagner, Donald A. “Holiness and Ecclesiology: The Church in Matthew” in Built upon the Rock: Studies in the
Gospel of Matthew. Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2008.
Ladd, George Eldon. “Consistent or Realized Eschatology in Matthew,” Southwestern Journal of Theology 5
(Oct. 1962): pp.55-63.
Schellenberg, R.S. “Eschatology”. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. (eds.) Joel B. Green, Jeannine K.
Brown, and Nicholas Perrin. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, second edn., 2013. pp.232-238.

14 George Eldon Ladd, “Consistent or Realized…, 60.

15 O. Lamar Cope, “‘To the Close of the Age’: The Role …, 121-122.