Matthew: Good News for God's Chosen People

Introducing Matthew

What we Know about the writing of this Gospel

It is impossible to know for certain when this was written. However, it is generally agreed by Scholars today that Matthew was written after Mark. This is mainly because almost all of Mark’s content is contained in Matthew, but with more detail on given stories. However, it is impossible to know. The Church Fathers considered it the first Gospel written.

There is some debate as to whether Matthew was written in Greek or in Hebrew. Again, the church Fathers seem to have believed it was written in Hebrew or Aramaic. However, a study of the Greek used in the copies we have proves that the book we have in our Bibles was authored in Greek.

Matthew the Apostle, also known as Levi, was the only Author historically attributed to writing this book. It is unlikely that someone would fake this since Matthew was one of the least important disciples in any of the Gospel stories. There is no real reason to doubt that he is the author.

It’s likely that Matthew, like the other authors of the Gospels, pulled from the writings of many other accounts of Christ’s life (As Luke speaks of in Luke 1:1) in order to convince the reader of what he had become convinced of in his years of walking with Jesus: that he was the Christ, the Son of God promised by the prophets. It is impossible for us to know for sure who wrote their Gospel first, Matthew or Mark, but what we do know is that Matthew has a very unique role among the synoptics while sharing a common purpose of all four Gospels.

A Gospel of Jesus Christ

Above all, this is a Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is, it is a document written with the primary goal to deliver the good news of Jesus Christ to the readers. Although it is a document that presents historical accounts, the point isn’t to give you facts of a story, but to convince your to believe certain things about this Jesus:

That he is the Christ, the long awaited King that would save his people.

That Jesus lived a sinless life, died at the hands of his persecutors, and was raised from the dead in victory, establishing his Church as the new people of God.

Matthew was the most popular Gospel in the early church. In a way, it is Matthew’s specific account of the life of our Lord that sits at the foundation of the church’s legacy. It is one of the two Gospels with an account of Jesus’ birth and genealogy, giving a more complete account of his life than Mark or John do. Matthew also quotes the OT much more than any other Gospel, gives us many parables and miracles like Luke, contains essentially all the content of Mark, and still delivers lengthy discourses like John. In a way, Matthew is the catch-all Gospel, dealing with the teaching, works, life, and death of Christ. Matthew also ends with the magnificent Great Commission, and since its likely that Mark’s Great Commission is not original, this would make Matthew the only Gospel to give us this great and encouraging speech.

The book of Matthew is set up to be a helpful book both for showing the Jewish people that Jesus is their awaited Messiah, and for Christians seeing how Christ’s coming led to their faith, the formation of the church, and the hope they have in Christ’s victory and a future resurrection.

A Gospel to the Jew

It is a common observation that Matthew is uniquely a Gospel for the Jewish people. Matthew does not seek to separate the coming of Christ and the establishment of the church from the promises and workings of God in the Old Testament.

As Matthew appears to have been written before 70 AD and perhaps even as early as 60 AD, Christianity was only starting to be seen as something more than simply a Jewish sect. Matthew, rather than actively separating the church from OT Israel, tries to establish the church in the readers minds as the true continuation of the people of God. Matthew is not a book that is meant to be read apart from the OT. Rather, Matthew seamlessly weaves OT themes and patterns into the story of Jesus. He takes passages from throughout the Scriptures and shows the typology to Christ. His particularily Jewish approach to the story of Jesus reinforces that his coming was never a plan b, but was the focal point to which all the Scriptures were leading up to. This also clearly uncovers the Pharisees as being, not ultra-Jewish and ultra-religious as they came off being, but rather blind, ignorant, and careless in the things of God.

Matthew has the readers question and reevaluate what it means to be a Jew the same way that Paul does in the book of Romans. In both of these very different books, the point is made that being a true Jew, a true follower of God, has nothing to do with Genetic heritage in God’s eyes, but instead is about faith in the true Israel and in Israel’s God. Matthew also interprets Jewish history in light of Christ’s coming, showing Jesus to be a better Moses in a similar way that the author of Hebrews does. Matthew does this to entice his Jewish audience to a purer form of their religion, while the author of Hebrews does this to remind Jewish converts that going back to Judaism would be to abandon the true manifestation of God’s revelation.

The Themes of Matthew

Christianity the true continuation of Jewish spirituality. While Synagogues were becoming quick to distance themselves from Christianity, Matthew shows that Christians are true Jews and Jesus is the True Israel. This should establish two things for us today

First, the vitality of studying and understanding the OT. To understand the story of Jesus, we need to be familiar with the first 39 books of Scripture.

Second, the way that the OT lays the foundation for the New. This means that, in order to understand the OT, we need to interpret it through the NT.

So it is impossible for us to understand the NT without placing it in the context of the Old, and it is impossible to interpret the OT without reading it in light of the New.

Jesus the Fulfillment of the Scriptures as the Messiah

Since the fall, the people of God had been looking for one who would be anointed by God to perfectly lead the people in victory into God’s promises. Matthew’s main claim is that Jesus Christ fulfills those expectations.

Explicitly through direct prophecies which speak directly about the coming Messiah.

Through types and shadows. A lot of Matthew’s references are of types of Christ.

The Kingdom of God. This is one of the majour themes in the book and we see the phrase Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven come up over and over. The phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven” is used more in this book than anywhere else in the NT, and it is accompanied by references to the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom, and once in prayer Jesus addresses the Father “your Kingdom come”.

While some have made the argument that the Kingdom of Heaven and of God are distinct, there is no reason to think this. Matthew uses the term interchangeably, and sometimes simply uses the word “Kingdom” without specification. “Kingdom of Heaven” refers to the nature of the Kingdom, “Kingdom of God” refers to its King.

This “Kingdom” language has special significance to the Jews, especially in the context of the coming Messiah. The People of God were described as a Kingdom and nation since God called Abram in Genesis 12:2. In Exodus 19:6 God describes his chosen people Israel as a Kingdom of Priests and a holy nation. When Saul was made King in 1 Samuel 11, Samuel talked about renewing the Kingdom at Gilgal. When he failed to obey God, Samuel informed him that, had he obeyed God, his Kingdom would have been forever. Instead, this promise went to David,

2 Samuel 7:16 ESV

And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”

When Jesus says “the Kingdom of God has come,” he is implying two things:

The Kingdom was not present before his arrival. Although Israel had returned from exile, they were not truly their own Kingdom and so they were waiting for the Kingdom, that is, they were waiting for the promised King who would free Israel from the hands of their enemies.

Jesus implies that he is that King, the one who brings the Kingdom at last.

The Kingdom language thus points us to Christ as the continuation of true, Jewish religion while at the same time bringing the Kingdom to the world.

The Church Established as the new People of God. When Jesus says the Kingdom of God has come, he also establishes this Kingdom as one not populated nationally, but spiritually. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the nature of those who are in the Kingdom. It is a new Law, one in the heart and one which effectively fulfills the OT law by establishing it’s realities in the hearts of the people.

Calling out the False Spiritual Leadership that Opposed Jesus. Those who were revered in the national Israel reject and are rejected by the true, Spiritual Israel. Although these men are supposed to be leading Israel to God, they reject God’s chosen King and find themselves as outsiders in the Kingdom. Jesus makes it clear that ethnicity and status have no weight in God’s Kingdom. Instead, Jesus is the shepherd of Israel and he will show his sincerity by laying down his life for the sheep.

Conclusion