passion traditions reinterpreted very well be dealing here with a case where the half-canonical status of the
Gospel of the Hebrewsand its reputation of representing the old traditions
of the Hebrews were used by the mainstream bishops as the setting of a
passage which linked the Easter practices of Palestinian and Alexandrian
communities to Jerusalem’s first bishop, James the Just.
.. Conclusion:
Passion Traditions in Jewish-Christian GospelsThe fragments connected to Jesus’ passion and resurrection in the Jewish-
Christian gospels discussed in this chapter come from three different
gospels, two of which can be characterized as apocryphal: theGospel of
the Ebionitesand theGospel of the Hebrews. The third one, the Nazarenes’
Aramaic gospel, seems to have been simply a slightly altered version of
the canonical Matthew.
Epiphanius quotes theGospel of the Ebionitesin order to show how
the Ebionites have twisted the wording of the true gospel to support
their abstinence from meat. The reference is short, but if combined with
other information about the Ebionites’ practices, the fragment opens a
window on the Ebionites’ interpretation of passion narratives which may
also have affected the manuscripts of the canonical gospels (Luke’s D, Old
Latin and Old Syriac versions). In this tradition, Jesus’ death is not given
any sacrificial meaning. It exemplifies the interpretative tradition of the
Ebionites who were critical of the sacrificial cult in general.
The Nazarenes’ anti-rabbinic collection shows how key elements in
Matthew’s passion narrative were reinterpreted and “updated” by Jewish
Christians who had a similar, close love-hate relationship with their
Jewish compatriots as the original editor(s) of the gospel.^57 If a full
translation of this gospel were available, scholars would probably find it
equally difficult to place it on the axis between Judaism and Christianity
as they do the present canonical version of the Gospel of Matthew.
The fragment from theGospel of the Hebrewsgives James the Just a role
in the passion narrative which corresponds to the high esteem in which
he was held, especially among early Jewish Christians. Although James
the Just was originally the spokesman of conservative Jewish Christians,
(^57) Although Matthean scholars disagree on whether Matthew should be placed intra
muros or extra muros in relation to Judaism, it is largely acknowledged that Matthew
struggles to make sense of his Jewish heritage in the light of the new commitment to
Jesus. For an overview of the recent discussion, see Carter .