Incorporated servanthood : a "pragmatic-critical" analysis of the theocentric commitment evoked by Matthew's Gospel

The thesis argued in this study is that Matthew's Gospel generates a communication event in which the author engages with a subset of readers to provoke and sustain a particular kind of theocentric commitment that may be described as "incorporated Servanthood." The aim of the research was to contribute to characterization of the concept of discipleship in the Gospel by asking how committing oneself to God is described within it, and how reading or hearing the Gospel may function to evoke such a response. To address these questions, an analytical method was constructed which drew upon those approaches in linguistics and literary studies that treat written texts as components of communication events between the author and his or her readers. The resulting "pragmatic-critical" method characterises the communicative equilibrium between the author and the subset of readers who process the text compliantly. Applied to the Gospel of Matthew, the method suggested that compliant readers become so by progressively inferring Matthew's claims concerning the state of the world and the nearness of the kingdom of heaven brought about by the coming of Jesus to complete the "Servant program" of the Prophet Isaiah. The Servant program involves bringing forgiveness of sins to the people of God, and then taking his salvation out to the nations. Matthew's claim is that Jesus takes up and fulfils the mandate to complete this program. The method helped to show how compliant readers could be persuaded of the credibility of these claims through the high cost incurred in communicating them and the final vindication of the messenger. It then helped to show how, in constructive empathy with Jesus’ disciples in the narrative, compliant readers may be incorporated into his Servant program for the world. They are prepared for incorporation though Jesus’ teaching, especially in the major speeches of the Gospel. They are called to be served by the Servant and their sins forgiven. Finally, at the end of the Gospel, they are commissioned to serve and teach in the same pattern as the Servant, incorporating further disciples and participating in the task of bringing of salvation to the nations