Поређење наратива о рођењу Исуса Христа у Еванђељу по Матеју са чудесним рођењима у грчко-римској литератури
Comparison of the Narrative of Christ’s Birth in Matthewʼs Gospel with Miraculous Births in Greco-Roman Literature

Summary/Abstract: Matthew’s story of Jesus shows striking similarities to Greek biographies and ancient writings describing famous rulers, their miraculous births, gloriously won wars, deaths, and deification. Matthew’s work was first given the appearance of a biography by the story of the birth of Jesus which is found at the very beginning of the Gospel. It contains numerous motifs that are widespread in the wider ancient literature: the motif of the birth of a child announced by angels, prophets, or heavenly phenomena; the motif of a miraculous birth; the motif of the persecuted royal child. It shows that in the description of the birth of Jesus, Matthew was significantly close to some ancient models; the question is: whether consciously or unconsciously. Answering the question adequately is possible only after looking at the literary content, the motif parallels between the story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew and the stories of miraculous births in ancient literature. Of the utmost importance is certainly the conclusion that although it is possible to make comparisons between Matthew’s Infancy Gospel and many ancient stories about miraculous births, the motif of the Holy Spirit in Matthew’s story of Jesus’ conception and birth is an early Christian concept that should point to the unique action of God throughout Jesus’ life, so that there is no corresponding parallel in the surrounding world. For the members of Matthew’s community, Jesus’ entire earthly life was designed from his very birth. The Spirit at Jesus’ birth is the same prophetic Spirit that led Jesus into ministries at baptism, like the prophet Jeremiah and other Old Testament prophets. Nevertheless, that Spirit made Jesus’ conception possible and, for Matthew and his community, Jesus was the first and the last born of the Holy Spirit, the incarnated Son of God.

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