Abstract:
The article aimed to describe the distinctive element in the use of the motif of the resurrection
in the Gospel of Matthew in comparison with Mark, Luke and the Sayings Gospel Q. It argued
that the distinctive element occurs where parallel texts in Luke 22:24–30, Matthew 19:27–29
and Mark 10:28–31 converge. The distinctive element pertains particularly to the meaning of
the Greek expression ‘en tē palingenesia’ in Matthew 19:28. By elaborating on time as a social
construct, the article showed how Matthew deals with the conception of time differently than
both Mark and Luke. It illustrated that the Gospel of Matthew represents a storyline consisting
of a circular movement between ‘genesis’ (Mt 1:1) and ‘palingenesia’ (Mt 19:28), where the word
‘palingenesia’ denotes the meaning ‘regeneration’ rather than ‘resurrection’. Matthew does not
narrate an abrupt transition from linear time to clock time. Both co-existed in a world where
illiterate peasants and literate scribes scheduled their lives in terms of motifs pertaining to a
linear and a punctual conception of time.
