Of course, the triadic baptismal command does not yet
imply the much later dogma of the Trinity, although later it was thusly
interpreted. One should not make of it the christological center of the entire
section. The expression “in the name” (εἰς τὸ ὄνομα) is to be understood
neither primarily against the background of Jewish analogies nor against that
of Hellenistic analogies but on the basis of the traditional Christian language
that Matthew inherited. On the one hand it expresses the belonging that is
constitutive of the new identity of the baptized persons, on the other hand it
reminds them of the baptism itself in which these three names were “proclaimed”
over the person who was being baptized. (Ulrich Luz, Matthew 21-28: A Commentary
[trans. James E. Crouch; Hermeneia–a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Minneapolis,
Miss.: Augsburg, 2005], 632)
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