In the last issue of this article I shared an impression about Matthew’s gospel. Although the most Jewish in nature, it   conveys a heightened hostility toward Jews. This calls for further comment.

The conflict between the early Christians and the Jewish community was particularly intense in and near the Jewish homeland, where there were, of course, large Jewish communities. The early Jewish-Christians, as you might guess, were typically from outlying areas like Galilee. Two factors were primarily responsible for this hostility. The first was the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. Not only did the Roman reconquest mean the loss of the temple, the traditional center of Judaism, it also resulted in a decrease in the Jewish population. Many were killed. These particular circumstances naturally led to a greater emphasis on Jewish identity and the social boundaries that maintained that identity and distinguished Jews from non-Jews.

The second reason was the growing number of Gentile Christians, especially outside of the homeland. Though Gentiles were still a minority of Christians and would remain so for perhaps another century or so, early Christian communities increasingly included Gentiles who had not become Jews. The men remained uncircumcised and adherence to Jewish food and purity laws were not required.

The more Gentiles there were, the less the movement struck other Jews as a form of Judaism. Rather, it seemed to transgress and transcend the boundaries of Judaism. Its success in the Gentile world began the process of separation from Judaism, the parting of the ways.

The conflict led to what has been called the “Jewish persecution of Christians.” It began in the decades around the time Matthew wrote. Compared to the much later Christian persecution of Jews, it was mild and seldom lethal. We have only two stories of Jewish followers of Jesus being killed by other Jews, in   both cases by temple authorities: the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7) and of James (executed in the early 60s). That is all.

Jewish persecution of Christian Jews in the decades after 70 took the form of social ostracism, called “expulsion from the synagogue.” It was far more serious than being expelled from a church today. We can always find another church. To be expelled from the synagogue, that is “the gathering” or “assembly”, which is what the word meant, resulted in exclusion from the Jewish community. Though we do not know the details of what this included,   presumably it meant no marriage between Christian Jews and non-Christians Jews and perhaps the severing of family and economic relationships. These are the reasons Matthew sounds more hostile.

The result: Christianity as a religion!