The theme of proper proskynēsis
toward Jesus, initiated by the magi, recurs twice more in Matthew’s Gospel.
According to Matthew, on the day of the resurrection, when Jesus meets his
disciples, the latter “came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him (και προσεκυνησαν αυτω)” (Matt 28:9). And finally, the
theme returns in the subsequent, climactic passages at the very end of Matthew’s
gospel that describes Jesus’ final meeting with his disciples on a mountain in
Galilee, the mountain where Jesus had given his Sermon on the Mount:
Now the eleven disciples went to
Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had appointed them [i.e., to service in
the kingdom of heaven]. When they saw him, they worshipped him (και ιδοντες αυτον προσεκυνησαν); but some doubted. And Jesus
came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me (‘Εδοθη μοι πασα εξουσια εν ουρανω και επι γης). Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:16=20; Aland, Synopsis of the Four
Gospels #364)
This ending of Matthew’s Gospel is
unique to Matthew, as Mark’s Gospel ends with the episode of the women at the
tomb (Mark 16:1-8; Aland, Synopsis of the Four Gospels #352) and the
ending of Luke’s Gospel, with its mention of Jesus’ ascension with the
beginning of Luke’s second writing. The Acts of the Apostles, which repeats the
episode of Jesus’ farewell to the disciples and ascension in more detail (Acts
1:1-11).
Hence the ending of Matthew’s
Gospel is unique and reflects the main pre-occupation of the gospel: the
depiction of Jesus’ kingdom of heaven as a non-political alternative to the
earthly kingdoms of Romans and Parthians. Although their relations were
peaceful in the Augustan era, tensions between them in the Flavian era are
again on the rise. It is against this background that Jesus statement, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (‘Εδοθη μοι πασα εξουσια και επι γης),” acquires special significance. It contrasts sharply with
assertions such as that made by Nero, according to Dio Cassius, at Tiridates’
coronation in Rome: “King of Armenia I now declare thee, that both thou and
they may be understand that I have power to take away kingdoms and to bestow
them” (Dio Cassius, Roman History, Epitome of Book 63[62].5.3-4). As we
have seen, Matthew does not set Jesus’ kingdom of heaven in opposition to
either Roman or Parthian kingdoms, but pictures Jesus’ kingdom as a non-earthly
kingdom. This ending of the gospel portrays Jesus as the king of an alternative
kingdom, something which seems to be recognized by the pagan philosopher Mara
bar Serapion, who lived in Syria around the turn of the first century CE, and
referred to Jesus as the “wise king” of the Jews who laid down his new laws. IT
is this king for whom the disciples, at their final meeting with Jesus, perform
their proskynēsis, although, interestingly, Matthew adds that some still
doubted and refrained them from prostrating themselves before Jesus: “When they
saw him, they worshipped him (και ιδοντες αυτον προσεκυνησαν); but some doubted” (Matt 28:17).
Those who do perform their proskynēsis before him, however, follow the
example of the magi, the kingmakers of the Parthians, who were the first to
perform such a proskynēsis before Jesus. (George van Kooten, “Matthew,
the Parthians, and the Magi: A Contextualization of Matthew’s Gospel in
Roman-Parthian Relations of the First Centuries BCE and CE,” in The Star of
Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the
Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy, ed. Peter
Barthel and George van Kooten [Leiden: Brill, 2015], 629-30)
