188 Wim J.C. Weren 11,2-6 3. 11,2–16,20 Jesus’ actions reveal his identity as God’s commissioned agent, necessitating a response to the question of whether Israel will recognise him as God’s Messiah 16,21-28 4. 16,21–20,34 Jesus speaks to his disciples about his death and resurrection, an event that also shapes discipleship 21,1-27 5. 21,1–27,66 In Jerusalem, Jesus is rejected by the Jewish leaders 28,1-10 6. 28,1-20 The resurrected Jesus commissions his disciples to a worldwide mission Both authors come to a total of six narrative blocks. All sorts of differences become apparent in their demarcation. Carter agrees with the caesuras recommended by Kingsbury between 4,16 and 4,17 and between 16,20 and 16,21. He also places a caesura between 27,66 and 28,1, which is hard to defend. With the exception of 11,2-6, the “kernels” suggested by Matera are also revised. Major modifications include the replacement of 2,1a (merely a subordinate clause) by 1,18- 25 and 28,16-20 is no longer considered as a(n isolated) turning point in itself, but is given the status of a satellite of 28,1-10. The minor differences are that Matera’s “kernels” are demarcated differently in three cases (4,17-25 instead of 4,12-17; 16,21-28 instead of 16,13-28; 21,1-27 instead of 21,1-17). Both studies make it clear that certain passages have a macro syntactical function: they bring about a turning point in the plot, a turning point that is fleshed out in a large number of the subsequent pericopes. I agree with this principle, but also expand on it with the suggestion that such cardinal passages at the same time refer to the preceding block. With this double function in mind, I refer to them as hinge texts. In the following subsections, I will indicate which passages fulfil this double function and examine the scope of the narrative blocks that precede and follow these hinge texts. d) Matt 4,12-17 and 26,1-16 as hinge texts within the book as a whole Partly on the basis of the above, I will gradually develop a new outlook on the macrostructure of Matthew. My first step is that the book consists of a corpus (4,18–25,46), in which a continuous story is presented of Jesus’ ministry, and that this corpus is contained in an overture (1,1–4,11) and a finale (26,17–28,20). The overture is connected to the corpus by means of a hinge text (4,12-17), whilst there is also a hinge text to be found in the transition from corpus to finale (26,1-16). In a schematic overview: