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TRANSFORMED ON THE MOUNTAIN:

RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW*

K. C. Hanson

Creighton University

ABSTRACT

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus repeatedly goes "to the mountain." Tradi

tionally, scholars have interpreted these passages solely in terms of their ideas(e.g., Christology and ecclesiology); but the passages also call for a ritualanalysis. Following a phenomenological analysis of the importance of mountains in a cross-cultural perspective, a ritual analysis is employed toanalyze how the Evangelist portrays Jesus as following a three-stage transformative process of separation, liminality, and aggregation. Beyond this recognizable sequence, the evangelist adds a further dimension by employingcatchword associations to call for mimesis of the transformations among thedisciples: the transformations are not solely experiences of Jesus in his earthlyministry, but are meant to be replicable experiences within the community on

the path of discipleship. The five transformations encompass some of the basics of the spiritual quest and encounter with the divine: testing, catechesis,healing, epiphany, and commissioning. In terms of redaction, the evangelistchose a set of five transformations—a number used repeatedly in this Gospelto highlight the Mosaic connection (the five books of the Torah). This connection is reinforced by the importance of Mt. Sinai and Mt. Pisgah forMoses. The placement of these stories of transformation in the Gospel narrative emphasizes their importance to the evangelist for the understanding of Jesus' ministry and mission.

I'm a dweller on the thresholdAnd I'm waiting at the doorAnd I'm standing in the darknessI don't want to wait no moreFeel the angel of the presentIn the mighty crystal fireLift me up and soothe my darknessLet me travel even higher

— (from Morrison 1982)

I am indebted to several people who are both friends and colleagues for their



148 SEMEIA

My connection to both valley and sky are different for being on a

mountain. One does not see clouds or stars the same way when they are

framed by peaks and valleys. The purity of the air, the smell of the trees,

and the sound of the river provide a different ambience than does the citybelow. Living at 5500 feet above sea level on Mt. Baldy has significantly

affected my perspective. An important aspect of social location is geo

graphical location: locus and worldview are intimately connected.

* * * * *

A Hermeneutic of the Mountain Symbol

My interest in rehearsing ancient references to mountains and thescholarly discussion of them is to highlight the importance of mountain

symbolism in the ancient Near East and provide the backdrop for my

analysis of mountains as ritual symbols in Matthew. Throughout the an

cient Near East, mountains were locations of ritual performance; the link

age between mountain and ritual is pivotal for understanding Matthew's

usage of mountain symbolism in the symbolization of Jesus' story in

Matthew.1

Numerous studies have been carried out which have demonstrated

the symbolic significance of mountains in ancient Mediterranean and

Mesopotamian cultures: Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Ugaritic, Greek,

Israelite, Judean, and Samaritan. Most of these works have focused upon

questions of terminology, ideological functions, and history of religions.

The emphasis here, however, is on the mountain as a focalizing symbol in

Matthew's Gospel. By "symbol" I mean:

any object, act, event, quality, or relation which serves as a vehicle for a conception—the conception is the symbol's 'meaning'...[symbols] are tangibleformulations of notions, abstractions from experience fixed in perceptibleforms, concrete embodiments of ideas, attitudes, judgments, longings, or beliefs (Geertz: 91, following Suzanne Langer).

1 A caveat, however, is in order. As Clifford's study keenly demonstrates(190-92), it is too simplistic to lump all references to sacred mountains in the ancientNear East together without nuance. Furthermore, every sacred mountain is not the



HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW I 4 9

Not only does this definition account for the multivalence of symbol, but

combines both the cognitive and emotive aspects, or "intellective" and

"affective," to use Geertz's distinction (81 n. 70).

The mountain in Matthew is a focalizing symbol in that it not onlydraws the reader's attention, but also concentrates key aspects of what the

Evangelist is trying to communicate, what Turner calls "condensation"

(1967:28). The mountain setting heightens, so to speak, the import of

events which transpire on it. F. R. McCurley sees Matthew's use of the

mountain as specifically exemplary of the "cosmic mountain" based upon

what Jesus does there (164). T. L. Donaldson suggests that Matthew does

not designate a particular mountain so as not to tie the Christian commu

nity to a specific location (202; see below). This may be a partial explanation: by not naming the mountain, Matthew allows "mountainness" as

such to come to the foreground and function in the manner that Turner

calls the "unification of disparate significata" (1967:28).

In addition to condensation and unification, Turner identifies a third

aspect of ritual symbols which helps to open up the mountain symbol in

Matthew: namely, the "polarization of meaning." The two poles are the

sensory and the ideological. By "sensory" Turner means the identification

between the physical characteristics of a symbol and its meaning. Withregard to mountains, this relates especially to height and distance from

society. The ideological pole relates to the moral and social order of the

culture (1967:28-30). Mountains are cosmological symbols of the divine-

human meeting, as well as the point of creation—of community as well as

cosmos.

Depending upon the era, culture, and text, the cosmological emphasis

on the mountain might be one or more of the following: the assembly

place of the gods, the connection between heaven and earth, the cen

ter/navel of the earth (and thus the locus of creation), the locus of revela

tion. Donaldson identifies four types of mountains significant for the in

terpretation of second temple Judean theology: covenant mountain, cos

mic mountain, mountain of revelation, and eschatological mountain (82).

Although Donaldson's conceptual categories are helpful, my focus

here is rather on the power of the mountain symbol when it is employed

in a context of rituals of transformation. To use J. Z. Smith's terms, the

mountain becomes "locative" in Matthew, where ritual transformation

"takes place " If ritual is a "mode of paying attention " and "place directs



150 SEMEIA

ers pointed to a distant, high mountain associated with divine presence,

abode, or theophany (e.g. Sinai, Zaphon, Olympus).2 The Sinai and Zion

traditions demonstrate that one society could identify with multiple sa

cred mountains for different functions, demonstrating the multivalence of symbols.

One can readily see why mountains came to have these polit

ico-religious significance. Their height is a multivalent symbol of: reach

ing up toward the sky (and thus the divine world); prominence and honor

symbolized as "above," "high," or "over"; center of attention; distance

from daily existence; danger (especially when volcanic); and inaccessibil

ity. Isaiah captured several of these elements in reference to Zion:

It shall happen in the latter days that the mountain of Yahweh's house shallbe established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above thehills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come andsay: "Come, let us go up to Yahweh's mountain, to the house of Jacob'sGod..." (Isa 2:2-3; all translations are mine unless otherwise noted)

And Exodus vividly captures the elements of purity, danger, and inacces

sibility with reference to Sinai:

On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and adense cloud upon the mountain, and a very load horn blast, so that all thepeople who were in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of thecamp to meet God; and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. AndMount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because Yahweh descended upon it infire; and its smoke went up like kiln-smoke, and the whole mountain shook mightily. (Exod 19:16-18)

It was common in the ancient Near East to construct temples and altars

with mountain symbolism (Clements: 1-16). The religious center is thusaccorded cosmic significance. That is, the mountain-temple or temple-

mount—especially in the political capital—manifests a divine sanction, a

sacral quality, and thus a relationship to the cosmos which other places do

not possess. The symbolic importance of David's bringing the ark of the

covenant to Jerusalem, for example, can readily be seen: Mt. Zion be

comes both the new political capital and the cultic center with divine

sanction (2 Sam 6:12-15; see Ps 99:9).

Besides natural mountains, the ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the Ca-naanite temples were constructed as sacred meeting places between hu



HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW I 5 I

Egyptian pyramids also bore this cosmological significance. In the in

scriptions found in the pyramids of Mer-ne-Re and Nefer- ka-Re (both

Sixth Dynasty, 24th century BCE), an analogy is made between the pri

meval hill that emerged from the watery chaos at creation and the building of the pyramid:

O Atum-Kheprer, you were on high on the (primeval) hill. ...(So also), O

Atum, put your arms around King Nefer-ka-Re, around this construction

work, around this pyramid, as the arms of a fai. (adapted from Wilson: 3)

And, indeed, mountains were favored as locations for temples and altars.

They take worshipers off farmland and up to divine heights. Before David

took the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, it was at Abinadab's house "onthe hill" (2 Sam 6:3). The prevalence of this practice in worship is demon

strated in Hosea's accusation against the Israelites: "On the tops of the

mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills they make offerings..." (Hos

4:13a).

In several instances, the terminology of the umbilicus/navel is used

with regard to the sacred mountain: Akkadian Dur-an-ki, Greek ομφαλός

γης, Hebrew f*ΊΧΠ Π13Β (see e.g., Eliade 1950^:38-47; Terrien: 315-20;

McCurley: 139-41). The identification of mountain with navel is itself multivalent: center, birth/creation, connection/disconnection, and gate

way. Judges 9:37 makes reference to troops descending from "the navel of

the earth"—probably so-called because of the central shrine on Mt. Ger-

izim (see Boling: 178-79). And the significance of calling Jerusalem "the

navel of the earth" in the biblical texts is certainly cosmological (Ezek 5:5;

38:12; see Stadelmann: 147-54; McCurley: 162; Levenson: 115-20; contra

Sperling: 622-23). While a minor motif in Old Testament literature, the

mountain's cosmic symbolism is elaborated in later Judean literature. InJubilees (ca. 2nd cent. BCE), for example:

And he knew that the garden of Eden was the holy of holies and the dwellingof the LORD. And Mount Sinai (was) in the midst of the desert and Mount

Zion (was) in the midst of the navel of the earth. The three of them were cre

ated as holy places, one facing the other. (8:19; trans. Wintermute: 73)

In 1 Enoch one finds the connection of the navel of the earth, the cosmic

tree, and three holy mountains, all symbols of connection between sky and earth:



1 5 2 SEMEIA

Levenson's analysis (1985) of the Sinai and Zion traditions as entry points

for understanding the Hebrew canon indicates how much ancient Israelite

and Judean self-understanding revolved around these two mountains as

dynamic symbols of their relationship to God.

Mountains in Matthew: A Symbolic Hermeneutic

T. L. Donaldson's Jesus on the Mountain: A Study in Matthean Theology

(1985) analyzes the six narratives in Matthew in which Jesus goes up a

mountain. He notes that "mountain" also appears in sayings material five

times (5:14; 17:20; 18:12; 21:21; 24:16), but these have no direct bearing on

Matthew's redaction or theology (12). His analysis has two components:analyses of the function of mountains in the Gospel and Matthew's liter

ary and theological use of the mountain motif (13).

After an extensive redactional analysis, Donaldson draws conclusions

concerning the relation of the mountain motif to Matthean themes. He

understands the Temptation (Matthew 4) and Transfiguration (Matthew

17) stories as relating to Jesus' true sonship and the path of obedience. The

ecclesiology of the eschatological community is the focus of the Sermon

on the Mount (Matthew yj), the Feeding (Matthew 15), and the Commissioning (Matthew 28) narratives. "Salvation history" is the focus of the

Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Donaldson: 196). He also concludes that

Matthew's mountain symbolism is dependent primarily upon the Judean

Zion traditions. But the Evangelist also adapts this imagery for his own

purposes:

In Matthean perspective, therefore, it is when Jesus is 'on the mountain ' thathis significance and the nature of his mission are most clearly seen. Conse

quently it can be said that mountains in Matthew function not primarily asplaces of revelation or isolation, but as eschatological sites where Jesus entersinto the full authority of his Sonship, where the eschatological community isgathered, and where the age of fulfillment is inaugurated. (197)

* * * * *

For Matthew, there is no thought of a "holy mountain/' a Christian Zion torival the temple mount, to do for the church what Gerizim did for Samari-tanism. Jesus himself, and not any mountain on which he ministered, is forMatthew the Christian replacement for Zion...The mountain in Matthew has

significance only because Jesus is there. Matthew uses it in the framework of his christological portrait where it functions as a vehicle by means of whichZi h t f d t d f lfill d i J f N th



HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW I53

Matthew also functions as the focalizer of a ritual process in which those

who cross symbolic boundaries are transformed through imagination and

performance. Analyzing the symbolic and ritual dimensions will provide,

I hope, a more complex and nuanced approach to the material. Furthermore, it will bring into focus the "affective" aspects of the material, in

conjunction with Donaldson's more "intellective" analysis.3

Ritual Process and Matthew's Strategy

Every society employs means of creating, maintaining, and celebrat

ing its group identity. If we speak of these cultural performances—

whether religious or not—as "rites," then two basic types can be dis-cerned.4 The first are those performed repeatedly (daily, weekly, annu

ally), which can be labeled "ceremonies." Ceremonies emphasize an al

ready established identity, solidarity, meaning, and allegiance. They focus

upon those within the circle of belonging, that is, on members and mem

bership per se (see Neyrey 1991). Examples of ceremonies are: the celebra

tion of the Eucharist (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually—

depending upon the particular Christian tradition), the Passover meal

3 With regard to two of Donaldson's beginning points, I find myself in disagree

ment. First, he calls Matthew 15 the "mountain of feeding" (122-35). He sees the heal

ings in 15:29-31 as the introduction to the feeding of the four thousand in 15:32-39. But

this completely overlooks the healings on the mountain. Furthermore, it fails to take

into account that the Evangelist provides closure of the healing scene with the glori

fying of God (v. 31), and opens the next narrative by introducing the disciples into the

scene (v. 32). I recognize, however, that this is the least clear handling of closure of the

five mountain narratives.

Second, Donaldson includes the discourse on the Mount of Olives in Matthew24-25 among the relevant passages (157-69). He is able to show one linguistic connec

tion between this discourse and the commissioning in 28:16-20, the phrase "end of the

age" 24:3/728:20. But he dismisses four important indicators which demonstrate that

the Evangelist is not identifying this as a "mountain experience" parallel to the other

five. (1) In the other five the Evangelist employs a verb of movement (took, ascended,

led, went) followed by the prepositional phrase "to a/the mountain" (e¿? öpos or etc το

opos). In the Olivet discourse there is no movement ("he sat," 24:3), and the prepositional phrase is "on the mount" (kiri τον opovs). (2) While Matthew specifically omitsany name for the other five mountains, 24:3 identifies this location as the Mount of Olives (öpovs των ελαίων). (3) Each of the other five passages culminates in specific responses by those present (e.g., "the crowds were astonished at his teaching" 7:28). Noresponse is recounted at the end of the discourse. And (4) the Evangelist does not



154 SEMEIA

(annually), and the Sabbath (weekly). Ceremonies, then, celebrate and re

affirm an already existing status.

Related to ceremonies, but quite distinct, are "rituals/ 7 Rather than af

firm a status, rituals change a person's status by taking the subject across

social boundaries. Rituals occur as needed rather than according to

schedule, and thus, unlike ceremonies, are not usually tied to the calen

dar. They are "rites of passage," in the phrase of Arnold van Gennep

(i960). Examples are: circumcision, baptism, marriage, anointing the sick,

bar /bath mitzvah, confirmation, ordination, bishop's consecration. Purifi

cation rites also fall in this category (e.g., Christian penance rites, and

Jewish purification baths [mikvaoth]). Through these various rituals, par

ticipants cross a variety of boundaries: outsider to insider, single to mar

ried, life to death, laity to priesthood, priesthood to bishopric, unclean to

clean. The following comparative chart, adapted from M. McVann

(1991:335), illustrates the relationships between and distinctiveness of

rituals and ceremonies:

FIGURE #1: Rite: Ritual and Ceremony

R I T E S

RITUALS VARIABLES CEREMONIES

undetermined FREQUENCY predetermined

unpredictable CALENDAR predictable & planned

present—to—future TEMPORAL FOCUS past—to—present

professionals PRESIDER officials

status transformation CENTRAL GOAL status and role confirmation

We now turn to developing the implications of the left side of this

chart. Victor Turner (1967; 1969) has been the one most responsible for

building upon the anthropological foundation of ritual studies laid by

Arnold van Gennep. These two concluded from their fieldwork that ritu

als entail three basic steps. Rather than merely stepping from unclean to

clean, or outsider to insider, the participants must enter an intermediate

stage as well.Step One of the ritual process is constituted by the formal separation of




side, but in process. But they are also on the threshold of transformation

to a new state and status. It is here that ritual transformation occurs. The

change is usually signaled by overt acts: humiliation, cleansing, teaching,

healing, testing, cutting of flesh, etc. Turner identifies three aspects of thisliminal phase: 1) communication of the sacral; 2) recombinations and in

versions of traditional sacral images and symbols; 3) authority between

social categories (elders over initiands) and communitas (egalitarian rela

tion) is stressed within and among the initiands in a small-scale ritual

replication of the structure of society as a whole (1969:94-165).

Step Three is the aggregation of the participants to the larger group.

They formally rejoin society or the community, but are reintegrated with

a new status. They necessarily function differently now that the ritual has

taken place and now that they have a new status: they are clean, knowl

edgeable, ordained, married, and so forth, and thus empowered to act

with a new capacity in the society which they have rejoined at the aggre

gation.

I employ this three-phase model as an interpretive tool to explain the

narrative, linguistic, and performative signals which Matthew inscribes

into his narrative. The model both clarifies the Evangelist's mode of nar

rative discourse and connects this mode of discourse with other narratives

which draw on the ritual imagination (see Bal 1990). If Driver is correct

that to "lose ritual is to lose the way" (4), then to create ritual is to make a

way and point a direction. The Evangelist thus cuts a new path by shap

ing these mountain narratives into ritual drama, and is therefore "ritual

izing," creating new ritual forms for the community (see Driver: 30).

If mountains in the ancient Near East are often symbolic of where the

divine and human meet, then one would expect to see a juncture wherethe sacred is experienced, boundaries crossed, and life transformed. T. L.

Donaldson ties Matthew's mountain narratives to the evangelist's themes,

and interprets them propositionally as cognitive expressions of Chris-

tology, ecclesiology, and salvation history. The evangelist, however, is not

merely interested in passing along data or iterating ideology about Jesus.

He wants rather to communicate transformative experiences o/and with

Jesus: actually moving disciples through the process of formation as disci

ples. The evangelist wants his readers to understand that entering intodiscipleship entails the transformation of life, and that transformation



ι56 SEMEIA

happens here is not what happens daily in the village or on the farm: it is

space apart and time apart. Comparing initiation rituals across cultures,

La Fontaine argues:

The effect is to separate members and non-members in terms of distance travelled. In those rituals, performed within a 'temple' or a 'lodge', the actualspace used is minimal. Those of the Mende and Hopi are not confined withina building; their candidates for initiation are taken into the forest away fromthe village, or down into the sacred chamber underground. Distance and location emphasize the separation of the novices from ordinary life. (84)

The evangelist has signaled these transformations and the connections

between them with at least three types of parallels: narrative signals (e.g.,

departure/separation and return/ aggregation, change in characters), vo

cabulary (e.g., "to the mountain"), and motifs (e.g., ascent and wonder

ment).

A further point should be made concerning Matthew's technique of

setting up these mountain ascension narratives. In each case, the Evan

gelist leads into the narrative by indicating to the reader Jesus' qualifica

tions to make the next ritual move. The initiation-ordeal is immediately

preceded by the declaration of God: "This is my beloved Son, with whomI am delighted!" (3:17). The instruction in yj and the healing in 15:29-31

are preceded by the notice of the spread of Jesus' honor as a healer and

exorcist (4:23-25; 15:21-28). The epiphany in 17:1-8 is preceded by Jesus'

declaration that: "the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with

his angels..." (16:27). And the commissioning is preceded by Jesus' resur

rection (28:1-10).

The following chart identifies the three steps of ritual transformation

as outlined by van Gennep and Turner. But I have also included two other columns of information indicated by Matthew's linguistic and narrative

clues: disciples' mimesis and communal consequences (usually wonder

ment and praise). The regular occurrence of these two features also re

quires interpretation in the sections below. Moreover, the evangelist each

time expands upon Jesus' separation by tying it to his ascent of the

mountain.




FIGURE #2: Mountains and Ritual Process in Matthew

R I T U A LP ROC E S S

LITERARY UNITS SEPARATION AND ASCENT[e/sorasj

LIMINALITYTRANSFORMATION

DISCIPLES'MIMESIS

COMMUNALCONSEQUENCES

AGGREGATION

41-12

MOUNTAIN OF

INITIATION-

ORDEAL

4 1 a 4 8Jesus was led the devil tookup[anêxthà] by [paralam- the Spirit into the banei[ him toWilderness a very high

mountain

41bto be tempted[peirasthênai\ by the devil

6 1 3do not lead usinto temptation[peirasmoti

[10 16 25], 18 72641

4 1 1angels cameand ministered[diêkonouri\ tohim

412bhe withdrew[anechôrêserii into Galileeand dwelt[katôkêsen] in Capernaum

4 2 5 - 8 1

MOUNTAIN OF

INSTRUCTION

4 25 5 1many crowds he ascendedfollowed [anebè] the

[êkolouthêsaQ mountainhim from Galilee,the Decapolis,Jerusalem,Judea

5 2he opened hismouth, he taught[edidaskeri\ them, saying

519the one whodoes them andteaches [didaxé] them shall becalled great inthe Kingdom

7 28the crowdswere astonished[exeplêssontdi at his teaching

8 1When hedescended[katabanto^from the mountain, great crowdsfollowed[êkolouthêsarii him

15 29-31

MOUNTAIN OF

HEALING

15 29a 15 29bJesus left there he ascended[metabas] [anebS¡ thepassing [either mountainalong the Sea ofGalilee

15 30and he healed[etherepeuserii them

1 0 1he gave themauthority to heal[therepeueirii every diseaseand everymalady

15 31the crowdwondered[thaumasah and glonfied[edoxasarii God

15 32then Jesus summoned¡pmskalesa- menos] his disciples to himself

171-8

MOUNTAIN OF

EPIPHANY

171a 171bJesus took he led[paralambane^ [anapherei\ with him Peter, them to a veryJames, and John high mountain

172he was transfigured [metamor- phôthê\ beforethemappeared[ôpsthêl to them

5 8

for they shall see

[opsonta\ God

17 9b

tell no one the

vision [horama]

until

1 7 6disciples fell ontheir faces,greatly awed[ephobêthê- sari[

1 7 9they weredescending[katabainontôQ the mountain

1714

and when they

came [elthontófì

to the crowd

2816-20

MOUNTAIN OF

COMMISSIONING

2 8 1 6 a 2816bNow the eleven to thedisciples went mountain[eporeuthêsarii

to Galilee

2818he commissioned[elaJêsen] them

28 20teaching[didaskontes],them to observe

all that Icommanded[eneteilamên] you

2817they worshiped[prosekunê- saril, but some

doubted[edistasarii

The Mountain of Initiation-Ordeal (Matthew 4:1-12)

M. McVann has demonstrated the ritual structure of this passage. He

argues that Jesus, who had most likely been a disciple of John, is himself

transformed into a prophet (1993:14-15,19). Following Jesus' baptism by

John at the Jordan (3:13-17), he was "led up" (άνηχθη) into the Wilderness

by the Spirit 4:1a Jesus is thus separated from the community at the river



ι58 SEMEIA

This ordeal, or ritualized initiation (ττ^ιρασθήναι, v. lb), tests his

spiritual strength, loyalty, and obedience: will he opt for food, or perform

spectacular feats, or accept power from an ungodly source?5 The element

of testing is further accentuated by specifically playing on Deut 8:2-5 (seealso Exod 16:4), part of which is quoted in Matt 4:4. The motifs employed

are: forty, leading, wilderness, commandment, humbling, testing

(nassotheka), discipline, obedience, hunger, bread:

And you will remember each way which Yahweh your God has led you this

forty years in the Wilderness in order to humble you, to test you, to know what

was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. And he

humbled you, and let you hunger, and fed you with manna (with which you

were not acquainted, nor were your fathers acquainted), in order that hemight bring you to know that a person does not live only by bread, but that a

person lives by everything that comes out of Yahweh's mouth...Then you willknow with your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, Yahweh your God

disciplines you.

Note that the ordeal of the flood also lasted forty days (Gen 7:12). More

closely connecting the motif of forty with the mountain and fasting,

Moses fasted forty days and nights on Sinai when receiving the second set

of tablets (Exod 34:28; Deut 9:9-11,18); and Elijah fasted forty days andnights on his trip to "Horeb, the mountain of God" (1 Kgs 19:8). McVann

points to the importance of the fast in the ritual process:

The fast is what grinds Jesus down, empties him of his old self, so he can be

fashioned anew and endowed with additional powers for his new station in

life. Through the ritual fast, the patterns and dependencies of the old identity

are eradicated so the new can take root. It is at the end of the fasting in soli

tude that the testings begin. (1993:16)

Jesus successfully counters each of his temptations with the quotation of

scripture (Deut 8:3b; 6:16a; 6:20a), demonstrating his knowledge of the

tradition, his Torah-acumen, and his loyalty to God as well. This type of

ordeal of degradation or testing is especially well known in initiation ritu

als. In hunter-gatherer societies the adolescents are often required to go

into the bush alone and survive the elements, kill an animal, submit to

humiliation, or fight an opponent. In the initiation ritual of the Powamu

association, Hopi children receive the group's secrets while sitting in

cramped space for hours, then receive four severe lashes with a yucca

whip (LaFontaine: 89 111) La Fontaine goes on to identify several types




the initiand must successfully chant from the Torah in Hebrew before the

congregation. (Even in technological societies, dissertations have to be

written and defended!) If Jesus is to lead his disciples in taking on de

monic forces, he himself must first demonstrate his own abilities, survivedeprivation, and overcome demonic power.

A further element recognizable here is the folkloric triad (see Olrik:

132-33): the three tests are located in three different locations: the wilder

ness (w. 3-4), the temple pinnacle (w. 5-7), and the mountain (vv 8-10)—

each with its own associations: food, miracles, and power. This is dia

grammed in figure #3 :

Mountain: political power

Temple: miracles

Wilderness: food

FIGURE #3: Progressive Temptations in Locus

Thus Matthew not only emphasizes multiplicity in the formulaic three,

but movement, intensification, and ascension: as the tests become more

difficult, the location changes to a higher plane, culminating on the

mountain. This lends added significance to the mountain as ritual symbol

of the highest order for Matthew.6

The consequence of Jesus' successful completion of the tests is that

angels arrive to minister to him (4:11). This provides divine confirmation

of his status elevation. As God announced "This is my beloved son, withwhom I am delighted" after the baptism (3:17), here he sends messengers

to serve Jesus after his ordeal.

The final step of the ritual is taken with Jesus' aggregation into the

community: he went to Galilee to settle in Capernaum (v. 12). This leads

into his ministry of preaching repentance (vv. 14-17) and the calling of

disciples (w. 18-22). This follow-up to Jesus' testing further indicates that

the testing is preparatory to proclaiming his message; the temporal ori

entation is towards the immediate future: a new existence, a new status, anew mission.



ι6ο SEMEIA

ing is not of identical type (see Luz: 186). In the "Lord's Prayer" the disci

ples are taught to pray: "...and do not lead us into testing (πεφασμόν), but

deliver us from the evil one" (6:13). In 10:16-25 Jesus tells the disciples to

expect persecution; but he also assures them that they will be provided with the words to answer the accusers. But successful completion of the

ordeal is a necessity: "the one who endures to the end will be delivered"

(10:22; see also 18:7). And in 26:41 Jesus warns Peter, James, and John: "Be

on guard and pray so that you do not enter into testing (ττ£ΐρασμόν)"7

From the evangelist's connecting the testing of Jesus and the disciples,

one may conclude that he knows that testing is a part of the life of disci-

pleship, but a dangerous business. Jesus successfully completed the test

ing, but it is an open question how well the disciples will perform. Thedanger inherent in any ritual is that it will either be done wrong, or that it

will not be successfully completed. For an example of failure at a

three-fold "test," note Peter's three-fold denial of Jesus in Jerusalem (Mark

14:66-72; Matt 26:69-75; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18,25-27).

The Mountain of Instruction (Matthew 4:25-8:1)

The evangelist indicates the popularity of Jesus in 4:25 as a transitionin which Jesus gathered crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem,

and Judea (the north, east, and south). "And seeing the crowds, he as

cended up the mountain; and when he sat down, his disciples gathered to

him" (5:1); in ritual terms, he left the general population and gathered his

disciples for instruction. Jesus' disciples follow him, receive his teaching,

and acknowledge him; all this must happen on the mountain.

Like Sinai, this mountain is the place where revelation will proceed

from God to the community via a mediator. But whereas the Israelitesremained at the base of Sinai waiting to receive the divine message

brought down from Moses (Exod 19:10-25), Jesus' followers ascend with

him to receive his teaching on the mountain—the place where the divine

and human meet. The multivalence of the mountain-symbol is clearly

manifested here: it unites the symbol of revelation/instruction (mountain

as gateway to the heavens) and the symbol of creation, since a new com

munity is created here (mountain as umbilicus or point of creation). Both

of these themes are reflected in the Sinai narratives as well (e.g., Exodus19-24), and these are sources from which Matthew undoubtedly drew



HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW l 6 l

Jesus' message by gathering the many individual Jesus-sayings into this

"sermon." But in terms of the story, a single crowd of disciples is initiated

into his teaching. Prior to Matthew ^-y, the reader is only given one brief

summary of what Jesus is up to: "Repent, because the Kingdom of theHeavens is drawing near!" (4:17). So this "sermon" functions to instruct

Jesus' followers in the content of his message. Furthermore, the address is

Jesus' first full discourse as a prophet to his disciples. Hearing the message,

they know what they are responding to. The fact that this is the broader

group of followers, and not only the Twelve, is indicated by the response

of the crowd in 7:28, the same crowd (oi δχλοί) mentioned in 4:25 and 5:1.

They are now all initiands.

The response to Jesus' teaching is acclamation: "And when Jesuscompleted these sayings, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, be

cause he taught as one possessing authority, and not as their scribes"

(7:28-29). This highlights the distinction between what Jesus does and

what the scribes do. While the scribes interpreted the tradition, Jesus pro

claimed a distinctive message of the Kingdom. The acclamation also indi

cates that the master-teacher has guided the initiands into a new status.

The astonishment emphasizes that what has transpired is an ex

traordinary and uncommon, indeed, a divine event.Having initiated the crowds into his teaching, Jesus descends

(καταβάντος) the mountain, and is again followed by the crowds (8:1). He

and they reenter society. The revelation is complete, the meeting between

the divine and human concluded; they cannot and must not stay in the

liminal phase of receiving instruction. They step back across the threshold

into daily life, but with a new identity as Jesus' disciples. Thus, on the

Mountain of Instruction, Jesus is portrayed as the master who initiates

others into discipleship and thus transforms their status.

The Mountain of Healing (Matthew 15:29-31)

Sickness and brokenness are signs of disorder and chaos. On the

mountain of healing, Jesus demonstrates his power over these conditions.

He has healed before, but the mountain setting lays greater stress on the

significance of Jesus' healing action. "Then Jesus left there [the Phoenician

region of Tyre and Sidon], passing along the Sea of Galilee; and he ascended the mountain (àz;à/3aç eiç το ορός), sitting down there" (v. 29). Not

l d J l Ph i i b t th G lil ill ll



l 6 2 SEMEIA

(lame and maimed), heart-eyes (blind), and mouth-ears (mute). Symboli

cally, then, Jesus addresses the whole human person by healing in each of

body-zones in this narrative, also healing conditions which would ex

clude people from the temple (see Pilch 1986).As J.J. Pilch has demonstrated in numerous articles, what is at stake

physically in biblical healing narratives is not the "curing" of "diseases,"

terms referring to modern medical diagnosis and interventions. Rather,

traditional societies are concerned with "healing" of "illness." That is:

"When an intervention affects an illness, that activity is called 'healing.'"

This "involves the provision of personal and social meaning for the life

problems that accompany human health misfortunes"; put succinctly,

curing is to disease as healing is to illness (1991:192; see also 1986). This istrue in general for traditional societies, and it is especially clear in this

text. The sick and those who care for them separate themselves from soci

ety to follow Jesus up a mountain and through a ritual of healing. All

types of maladies are healed, and those healed cross the boundaries from

marginalization to integration; meaninglessness to meaningfulness; chaos

to order. Thus, the symbol of the mountain here is not linked to revela

tion, but creation, specifically the creation of order out of chaos.8

8 For a contemporary description and analysis of healing the blind which demonstrates these points, see Driver: 176-79.

Three texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls inform a symbolic interpretation of theMountain of Healing. The first is from the "Damascus Rule" (CD; otherwise known asthe "Zadokite Document"); and the second is from the "Messianic Rule" (iQSa). Inthem the handicapped are specifically excluded from membership in the community,or, if in the community, from fully participating (see CD 15 and lQsa. 2:5-8 in Vermes:92; 102).

In contrast to this exclusion, what Jesus does on the Mountain of Healing is transform and include the handicapped: they are no longer marginalized. This issue of marginalization, inclusion, and healing is also pivotal in the "man born blind" story inJohn, where the healed man's newly gained sight is contrasted to the "blindness" of the Pharisees who refuse to acknowledge Jesus (esp. 9:35-41; see also Mark8:22-26 and10:46-52).

The third Dead Sea text is from the "Community Rule" (lQS). This includes a listof offenses identified as "the spirit of perversity." After several common items, such asgreed and haughtiness, the list concludes:

.. and a tongue ofrevilings, blind eyes and dull ears, a stiff neck and a heavy heart

in order to walk in all the ways of darkness and guile. (lQS 4.9-11; modifiedfrom Vermes: 66-67; m y emphasis)



HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 163

The "wonder" (θαυμάσαή of the crowds, and their "glorifying the God

of Israel" (èòó£aaav τον θών Ισραήλ) again emphasize the extraordinary

character of the healing Jesus performs as God's Son (v. 31). A profound

and world-encompassing change has occurred on this mountain-top, andthose who have experienced it return to the world below wholly renewed

and transformed. 9

The mimesis of the disciples, in parallel to the other mountain symbol

passages, is further argument that the ritual performance on the mountain

is healing, and not principally feeding (pace Donaldson). In Matt 10:1 Jesus

"called his twelve disciples to himself, giving them authority over unclean

spirits, to exorcise them, and to heal (θζραττϊνζιν) every disease and every

malady." The power which Jesus has demonstrated over all sorts of brokenness, he has now given to the Twelve. The healing, integrating, and

inclusiveness that he begins they are to continue. The aggregation is less

specific here, compared with the other passages: Jesus moves from deal

ing with the sick to addressing his disciples (v. 32), and feeding thecrowd. He dismisses the crowd—healed and fed—and he and the disci

ples depart for the region of Magadan (v. 39).

light for ignorance and revelation.

9 The healing of the people as a function of Judean leadership (being a"shepherd") is connected with the mountain in Ezek 34:1-31, where the prophet is directed to shame the leadership for taking care of themselves rather than the people(see also Zech 11:15-17). Ezekiel's prophecy does not only reproach the leaders, butspeaks of Yahweh taking care of the people's needs (on Ezekiel, see Zimmerli: 203-23;

for the translation of "shame" for the Hebrew *ήΠ, see Hanson, forthcoming):

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Shame on you shepherds...The weak you havenot strengthened, the ill you have not healed, the lame you have not bound up,the strayed you have not returned, the lost you have not sought...My sheep

were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill;my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one searchingand no one seeking..."

"And with good pasturage Iwill feed them, and on the mountain heights of Is

rael shall be their habitation...I myself will shepherd my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down," says the Lord Yahweh. "The lost I will seek andthe strayed I will return, and the lame I will bind up, and the weak I will

strengthen...! will feed them with justice.""And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing...Andyou are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God," declares the



164 SEMEIA

The Mountain of Epiphany (Matthew 17:1-8)

The particular narrative unit is 17:1-8, but the ritual process has to be

seen in 17:1-14. Verses 9-13 narrate the action "while they descended the

mountain" (v. 9), and full aggregation is not mentioned until v. 14: "And

when they approached the crowd..."

Jesus took Peter and James and John, separating them not only from

society generally, but also from the other nine disciples, "and led

(άναφέρ€ ί) them to a high mountain by themselves" (v. 1). This highly sig

nificant event is reserved for the innermost circle. The scene is reminiscent

of Moses taking Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders with him to

Sinai: "they had a vision of God, and they ate and drank" (Exod 24:11). What happens on the mountain as a vision/audition experience is a

variation on the classic form of an Israelite/Judean "vision report"; Jesus

was:

transformed (μεταμορφώθη) before them, and his face shone like the sun, and

his garments became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared

(ωφθη) to them, talking with him... and a voice from the cloud said, "This is

my beloved son with whom I am delighted; listen to him." (17:1-3)

McCurley clearly demonstrates that this account integrates different as

pects of Israelite/Judean mountain symbolism (170-77). Many of the nar

rative details are analogs of the Sinai narratives in Exodus 24 and 34 (e.g.,

cloud, audition, transforming glory). The auditory "This is my son" plays

on the royal adoption motifs connected with Mt. Zion in Psalm 2: "I have

placed my king on Zion, my holy hill" (2:6), and "You are my son; today I

have begotten you" (2:7b). And the phrase "beloved son" (νίός αγαπητός)

appears in the LXX only with regard to Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac on a

mountain in Moriah (Gen 22:2, 12,16). McCurley also notes that Mt.

Moriah and Mt. Zion are identified with each other in 1 Chron 3:1; thus he

identifies the integrative and resymbolization process as diagrammed in

Figure #4, what he calls the "Quality of the Transfiguration Mount" (176):

Narrative Details "This ismy son" "Beloved son"

(Exodus 24,34) (Psalm 2:7) (Genesis 22)

Mount Sinai Mount Zion mount in Moriah

(2 Chron 3:1)




Clearly, this passage has a double focus: attention is directed to Jesus'

sonship/kingship, and to the manifestation of the holy, whether one calls

this epiphany, theophany, or Christophany. That this is a vision is stated

explicitly in v. 9 (όραμα) and further indicated by the term "appeared" in v. 2 (ωφθη).

The reaction of the three disciples was to fall upon their faces, aw

estruck (v. 6). This is the appropriate and expected reaction to a theo

phany /revelatory experience, e.g.: "This was the visionary likeness of

Yahweh's glory. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face..." (Ezek i:28).10

But more than simply a literary motif, this is the appropriate ritual action

and posture. The disciples have been taken further along on their journey

of discipleship by being granted this vision in which Jesus' unique status

as God's son is revealed to them. Thus, their status as disciples is height

ened even as Jesus' exalted status is revealed.

One might expect this visionary experience to be unique to the three

disciples. But the evangelist indicates that it is much broader in implica

tion. In Matt 5:8 the grant of honor to the "pure in heart" is that they shall

see God. This is rooted in a long Judean tradition of seeing God in the

context of the temple worship: "They go from strength to strength; the

God of gods shall be seen in Zion" (Ps 847[8]; see further Hanson, forth

coming). Additionally, this vision prepares for the appearance of the res

urrected Jesus which the Eleven will have at the Gospel's conclusion

when they are commissioned as apostles.

The evangelist extends the aggregation into a dialogue on the way

down the mountain (w. 9-13). Verse 9 begins with them descending the

mountain; but they do not fully aggregate until v. 14 "When they came to

a crowd..."

Mountain of Commissioning (Matthew 28:16-20)

This pericope is the conclusion toward which the whole Gospel

builds: here the transformed Jesus in turn transforms his inner circle from

an inwardly-directed, tightly knit, fictive kin-group to an outwardly-

directed group of teachers and disciplers. It also plays upon the dialectic

of presence and absence. Jesus is present with them in the story, and the

story ends without Jesus having left. But Jesus' words imply his absence,even while vowing continued presence.

11



ι66 SEMEIA

The Eleven depart for Galilee, and go "to the mountain" (v. 16); this

separates them from Judea and Jerusalem, and from Galilee itself. Note

that the phrase "to which Jesus directed them" modifying "mountain" (v.

16b) acknowledges that it must be a specific location, while maintainingthe mountain's anonymity. Important for the evangelist, then, is not the

identity of the mountain, but its "mountainness" and the resurrected Je

sus' presence to his disciples/apostles.

Jesus' commission of the Eleven is introduced with his statement that

he has been given "all authority in heaven and on earth" (v. 18; see also

7:29; 9:8; 11:27; 21:23-27; Dan 7:14; John 3:35).12

As in the other mountain

passages, the basis for Jesus' action is established: authority ascribed by

God (see John 20:21). Jesus had previously commissioned the Twelve topreach, heal, resurrect, cleanse, and exorcise (10:5-15); but this earlier mis

sion explicitly excluded gentiles and Samaritans (10:5-6). So, while they

had previously been sent out, their mission has now been transformed

from an ethnic into a global one. And a further shift is that they are now

to teach and baptize (v. 20b). The commissioning, then, changes the status

of the Eleven from disciples to apostles, matching the nature of their

changed mission.

The encounter with Jesus, however, produced a mixed reaction: "they worshiped, but some doubted" (28:17). Each of the earlier examples of

"consequence" were unequivocal: ministered, astonished, wondered and

glorified, and greatly awed. In this final scene, even some of the Eleven

are doubting. Note how Matthew had earlier played upon the "mixture"

within the church, for example: the sown seed with various yields

(13:3-9), the wheat and weeds (13:24-30), and the mixed catch of fish

(13:47-50). The evangelist seems to use this theme one last time to empha

size the lack of purity in the church, even among the leadership. As Inoted before, one of the dangerous aspects of ritual is that a participant

may be unsuccessful in its completion, and the evangelist is alerting the

reader to this danger.

The missing element in this pericope, when compared to the other

mountain ascension passages, is the aggregation: neither Jesus nor the

Eleven rejoin society; the scene ends with all of them still on the moun-

guards, who are paid off by the Judean leadership to spread a concocted story about' b d b i l ( 11 1 ) i h hi h li bli h




tain. This lack of closure provides the Gospel with a sense of openended-

ness: the success of the Eleven is left unnarrated, Jesus remains standing

within the community, and the future is uncertain except for Jesus' vow

of continued presence.^ That is, Jesus' status as resurrected Lord to whom all authority has been given is firmly established. What is uncer

tain is what will become of the newly commissioned apostles. Thus, the

ritual model further illuminates the purpose of the lack of narrative

closure.

CONCLUSION

Matthew's sequence of the ritual mountain ascents and descents is notaccidental. The mountain passages chart the developmental process of

discipleship and formation from initiation to deputation. This sequence of

ritual movements up and down mountains takes the disciples from

group-maintenance to group-building, from self-in-relationship to the

commurtity-within-society. Before they can move outward into the world

to preach, teach, and baptize (itself a central ritual of status transfor

mation), the disciples must be taught, "healed," and given a glimpse of

the divine. The ritual transformations associated with mountains in Matthew are not "once for all"; they are part of the on-going tradition. Neither

are they narrated in great detail, but are suggestive and multivalent. They

may be experienced and manifested diversely in the community: but de

spite that diversity, they are no less fundamental transformations. And fi

nally, Matthew's ritualized mountain symbolism integrates the affective

and intellective processes: the symbolization exhibits conceptual and

ideological content, but also provides the concrete expression of emotive

and experiential realities. A final comment on the disciples' mimesis is in order. The evangelist

has not only paralleled Jesus' action with that of the disciples in other

parts of the Gospel, but has set up the principle of mimesis. In the context

of the disciples' travels, deeds, and subsequent persecution, Jesus de

clares: "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his owner. It

is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the slave like his

owner (Matt io:24-25a). Thus for Matthew, Jesus' deeds are paradigmatic

for the community; mimesis is fundamental for identity, action, and relationship. Ritual becomes the creative medium which mediates mimesis. In orde



ι68 SEMEIA

process. Ritual, as Victor Turner has demonstrated, has the power and

potential both to preserve and to transform the community.

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i960 "L'h omme a l'image de Dieu." Nouvelle Revue Theologique 80:683-95.

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Driver, Tom F.

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Eliade, Mircea1959a Cosmos and History. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Trans. W. R. Trask.

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Geertz, Clifford

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i960 Rites of Passage Trans M B Vizedom and G L Caffee London: Rout-



HANSON: RITUAL ANALYSIS AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 16 9

Hanson, K. C.

1995 "'How Honorable!' 'How Shameful!' A Cultural Analysis of Matthew's

Makarisms and Reproaches." Semeia 68:83-114.

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Malina, Bruce J.

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1 7 0 SEMEIA

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