The earlier sections of Matthew's gospel finishes up with the words
26:1 . "And it came to pass when Jesus ended all these words."
The crucifixion section of the gospel and the gospel itself finishes up with the words
"I am with you till the end of time." (Mt.28:20) So, in this sense Jesus will not be finishing his words
because he has told his disciples to keep teaching and he will be with them. Before this he tells them to "disciple" all
nations." (Mt.28:19)
Going by this "future" reliance by Jesus on disciples and discipleship as such, Matthew would have been at pains in his
gospel to explain
what discipleship means. In a close comparison between his text and the text he 'copied' from Mark we can see a
subtle shift towards Matthew's interest in the relationships being developed between Jesus and his disciples and between
the disciples themselves.
Consider a section in Mark (14:3-9) highlighted by semiotic analysis in the Reality Sarch analysis. This is about a woman who enters
a house where people are gathered for a meal and she anoints the head of Jesus with very expensive ointment. Mark writes
that some of those present "were angry within themselves, thinking the ointment could be sold and the money
given to the poor" Mark tells us what they were thinking here and he shows that Jesus knew what they were thinking.
Compare the same account in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew tells us that the 'some' referred to in Mark were the
disciples. He tells us they were angry and they were talking about this. Jesus reprimands them for 'troubling' the woman.
Reading between the lines here there is an implication that these people all
knew each other.
If we compare this story with the one in Luke we find that the 'woman' was a sinner (Lk 7:36-50). Then, to compound the
mystery if we consider the same story referred to in John 11:1-6 we are told the woman who anointed Jesus was Mary the sister of
Lazarus who was a dear friend of Jesus!
In terms of the overall gospel story the account of the woman anointing the feet of Jesus was also a key event
given that in Mark and Matthew it is followed by the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.
Whatever the 'mystery' of the identity of the ointment woman (who is traditionally thought of as Mary Magdalen),
it is Matthew who suggests that the disciples were angry about more than the use of expensive ointment. And, the betrayal by
Judas appears to come from a context that included this dissatisfaction of the disciples.
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Conclusion