Matthew Introduction
Introduction
The Gospel according to St. Matthew has been called the most Jewish of the four Gospels. The author makes frequent connections with the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) and in general employs a familiar Jewish literary style. In every way Matthew endeavors to demonstrate the authenticity of Jesus as God's Messiah (Christ) who has come into human life in accord with promises made by God to the people of Israel in the books of the Hebrew scriptures (especially the Prophets and Psalms). Matthew makes clear that Jesus' coming is good news not only for Jews, but also for all the world's people.
This Gospel stands first among the four not because it was written first but because it was by far the most popular in the Early Church. It has been thoughtfully organized around five “teaching discourses” of Jesus (see indented sections of outline below). As Matthew presents him, Jesus is a Teacher of great stature and authority like Moses had been in his day (Deut 18.15). He speaks for God so persuasively that listeners marvel at his words. Significantly, like Moses, he also teaches from a mountaintop (the Sermon on the Mount), and his five central teaching sections in this Gospel compare in number with the five books of Moses (Pentateuch). Throughout this Gospel Jesus is presented as “the new Moses,” one who now speaks for God, bringing good news for his people, and for all people.
In the closing section narrating Jesus' suffering and death, Matthew brings out the majestic character of Jesus as Israel's Messiah. Jesus serenely predicted his eventual triumph over death (20.17-19), and this theme that death cannot defeat him is central to the author's purpose here. The final scene after Jesus' resurrection is again on a mountaintop, signaling authoritative revelation, and it is here that he commissions the disciples to go “and teach all nations” (28.19). Key themes in Matthew are struck again here at the end: Jesus the Teacher with authority, universal mission, commissioning of his followers to carry on his mission.
Matthew was written by an unknown Christian from Antioch in Syria around a.d. 90, but tradition has attributed this Gospel to Jesus' disciple, the tax collector of this name (but called Levi in the parallel texts in Mark and Luke).
Outline
Jesus' Origins (1.1—2.23)
Jesus' Preparation for Ministry (3.1—4.16)
Discourse 1: The Sermon on the Mount (“Living Rightly”) (4.17—7.29)
Jesus the Compassionate Healer (8.1—9.34)
Discourse 2: Mission Teaching (9.35—11.1)
Jesus Encounters Hostility (11.2—12.50)
Discourse 3: Teaching in Parables (13.1-52)
Jesus Continues His Ministry in Galilee (13.53—16.20)
Pointing toward Jerusalem (16.21—17.27)
Discourse 4: Teaching about Community (18.1-35)
Guidance for the Disciples (19.1—20.34)
Jesus in Jerusalem (21.1—23.39)
Discourse 5: The Final Age and Judgment (24.1—25.46)
Jesus' Arrest, Death and Resurrection (26.1—28.20)
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Matthew Introduction: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Matthew About this book
About this book
The Sermon on the Mount (5.1—7.28), the Lord's Prayer (6.9-13), and the Golden Rule (7.12: “Treat others as you want them to treat you”) are all in this book. It is perhaps the best known and the most quoted of all the books that have ever been written about Jesus. That is one reason why Matthew was placed first among the four books about Jesus called Gospels.
One of the most important ideas found here is that God expects his people to obey him, and this is what is meant by the Greek word that appears in many translations as righteousness. It is used seven times by Matthew, but only once by Luke, and not at all by Mark. So it is an important clue to much of what Matthew wants his readers to understand about the teaching of Jesus.
Jesus first uses this word at his own baptism, when he tells John the Baptist, “We must do all that God wants us to do” (3.15). Then, during his Sermon on the Mount, he speaks five more times of what God's people must do to obey him (5.6,10,20; 6.1,33). And finally, he reminds the chief priests and leaders of the people, “John the Baptist showed you how to do right” (21.32).
Matthew wanted to provide for the people of his time a record of Jesus' message and ministry. It is clear that the Old Testament Scriptures were very important to these people. And Matthew never fails to show when these texts point to the coming of Jesus as the Messiah sent from God. Matthew wrote this book to make sure Christians knew that their faith in Jesus as the Messiah was well anchored in the Old Testament Scriptures, and to help them grow in faith.
Matthew ends his story with the words of Jesus to his followers, which tell what they are to do after he leaves them:
I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
(28.18b-20)
A quick look at this book
1. The ancestors and birth of Jesus (1.1—2.23)
2. The message of John the Baptist (3.1-12)
3. The baptism and temptation of Jesus (3.13—4.11)
4. Jesus in Galilee (4.12—18.35)
5. Jesus goes from Galilee to Jerusalem (19.1—20.34)
6. Jesus' last week: his trial and death (21.1—27.66)
7. Jesus is alive (28.1-20)
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012