The Restoration of Messianic Hope: The Resurrection of Jesus in the Literary Context of Matthew's Prologue

The New Testament portrays the apostles as placing great emphasis on Jesus' resurrection in their preaching and teaching. This emphasis is often lacking, however, in contemporary preaching and teaching. If Jesus' resurrection is to regain the centrality it held in the apostolic age, its significance must be understood. In this study, Brian Main attempts to understand the significance of Jesus' resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew. Since Jesus' resurrection is the proper conclusion of the story in Matthew, it is necessary to understand what the story is that it concludes. By analyzing the characters, settings, plot, and point of view in Matthew 1:1--4:11, as well as those in the resurrection narrative (28:1-20), Main and his readers come to grasp the expectations that Matthew's audience develops as that story unfolds. As readers understand those expectations, they will gain a better appreciation of what was at stake when Jesus experienced opposition, and therefore of what was restored and guaranteed by his resurrection.