Discipleship according to Matthew. A pragmatic-communicative approach

Abstract

A study of the subject of discipleship is proposed, based on the vocational accounts present in the Gospel according to Matthew (4,18-22, 8,18-22, 9,9,10-13; 19,16-22). The work, of synchronic methodology, follows a communicative perspective. Prepared to encourage interpretive cooperation, the gospel does not merely inform an event from the past, but offers several elements that tend to provoke the reader and lead him to an attitude that arises from the verification of his positions and expectations, in confrontation with the narrative. The objective of the article is to identify the literary and pragmatic strategies used by the author. It begins with the description of the genre vocational narrative, with the comparison between 1 Kgs 19,19-21 and Mt 4,18-20. Then an analysis of the reports follows, in order to identify the elements of cohesion and internal coherence of each of them, highlighting their communicative potential. Finally, with the pragmatic focus, we observe the progressive distribution of the narratives in the whole narrative, in order to identify their performative dimension, that is, the itinerary, traced by the implicit author, in order to lead the reader to assume the values and the proposal of discipleship of Jesus Christ, in the perspective of the Kingdom of Heaven.