Parallel MAT Intro

The Gospel of Matthew

Purpose

To demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah and to help Christians understand how to live in relation to Judaism

Author

Matthew (also known as Levi), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus

Date

Likely sometime between AD 65 and 80

Setting

Written at a time in which early Christians were struggling to make sense of the relationship of their new beliefs to the Jewish faith

Matthew demonstrates that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Messiah, the king of Israel, who fulfills the Old Testament promises yet turns the expectation of his contemporaries on its head. The Gospel of Matthew shows how both Jewish and non-Jewish people fit together in God’s unfolding Kingdom. It challenges the reader to live with total commitment to Jesus Christ as king.

Setting

Matthew wrote his Gospel when the early Christian community was at a crossroads. Would it remain a sect of Judaism or separate itself from Judaism and become a separate faith? Matthew’s Gospel derives from a Christian community near Jerusalem, surrounded by Jews who had not left their Jewish faith. This community, unlike the Christians of Paul’s churches, had to answer socially to the stipulations of Jewish law on a daily basis.

The Christians reading Matthew’s Gospel were challenged to live as Jewish Christians among Jews who were fully committed to the Torah. The letter from James similarly evokes a Christianity that is still firmly attached to the synagogue (see Jas 2:1-26). Here is a Jewish Christianity that remains as firm in its commitment to the Jewish community as to its glorious Lord (cp. Acts 15:1-41).

Matthew’s Gospel tells how the life of Jesus affected Jewish Christians who were struggling with ritual, legal, social, and political concerns. For those early Christians, Matthew answered the pressing question, “How are we to follow Jesus in our day, surrounded as we are by Judaism, while seeking to declare the Good News of the Kingdom to all?”

Summary

Matthew’s story follows Jesus from before his birth until after his death and resurrection. Jesus experiences a series of potential dangers as a child (ch 2). As an adult, he embarks on a very short career, proclaiming God’s righteousness (chs 5–7) and performing astounding miracles (8:1–9:34); he broadens his reach by sending out twelve apostles (9:35–11:1). Most of Jesus’ experience, however, is utter rejection at the hands of Galilean and Judean Jews (chs 11–17). He confronts the Jewish leaders in the Temple during his last week (chs 21–22), announces a final series of woes against authority figures who lead people astray (ch 23), and predicts that God will judge and destroy Jerusalem (chs 24–25). Jesus is arrested, tried, and executed by crucifixion (chs 26–27) for opposing the Jewish leaders and challenging the status quo. Then he is vindicated by his resurrection and gives the great commission to his disciples, to make disciples of all the nations (ch 28).

Matthew shapes his Gospel according to two structural principles. First, following an introduction (chs 1–4), Matthew alternates teaching material with narrative material. Thus, we have discourse and teaching in chs 5–7; 10, 13, 18, 23–25; and we have narrative in chs 8–9; 11–12, 14–17, 19–22, 26–28. Second, Matthew records Jesus’ confrontation of Israel with God’s message about the arrival of his Kingdom in the last days (4:12–11:1; see 4:17), followed by the responses this message evoked from various people (11:2–20:34). Matthew then tells of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection (chs 21–28) for the salvation of humankind.

Authorship

Matthew was a tax collector whom Jesus befriended and called to a life of justice and obedience (9:9). Matthew invited many friends to spend an evening with Jesus (9:10-13), and Matthew is named among the twelve apostles (10:2-4; see also Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13). Early church tradition reports that after he composed his Gospel, Matthew moved from Palestine in the AD 60s to evangelize India (Eusebius, Church History 3.24.6).

In the early AD 100s, Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, made the statement, “Matthew therefore composed the oracles in the Hebrew language [or, ‘in a Hebrew style’] and each interpreted them as he was able.” Papias’s statement is traditionally understood to mean that the apostle Matthew wrote a Gospel in Hebrew or Aramaic, and that this Gospel was later translated into Greek, perhaps by someone who also knew the Gospel of Mark. Recent studies suggest that Papias was referring to Matthew’s Jewish style, not to his language (Hebrew or Aramaic), because Matthew’s Gospel does not appear to be “translation Greek” (i.e., the type of Greek that is often found in materials translated from other languages).

In the 1800s, scholars became convinced that Matthew had used Mark’s Gospel as a source. These scholars argued that since an apostle would not have used another Gospel (and one written by a non-apostle at that!) to record Jesus’ life, Matthew was not the author of the Gospel bearing his name. But early tradition connects the Gospel of Mark with the apostle Peter, a fact that makes Matthew’s dependence on Mark more understandable. There is no conflict with one apostle (Matthew) using the accounts of another apostle (Peter) as a convenient source from which to shape his own report.

Occasion of Writing

Unlike the letters of Paul or the Revelation of John, the settings of the Gospels must be inferred from comments and emphases within the books themselves (see 24:15; 27:46; 28:15), since direct evidence is unavailable. Matthew appears to have been written at a time when Christians and Jews were fiercely debating such issues as how to obey the law (5:17-48; 15:1-20), who the Messiah is (chs 1–2), who the true people of God are (Israel or the church; 21:33-46), who the rightful leaders of God’s people are (4:18-22; 10:2-4; 21:43; 23:1-36; 28:16-20), and how Gentiles are related to the church and to Israel (2:1-12; 3:7-10; 4:12-16; 8:5-13; 15:21-28; 28:16-20).

There is serious debate as to whether Matthew’s Gospel sprang from a community that was still within Judaism or one that was already outside Judaism. In other words, had Matthew’s Christian community separated from Judaism, or was it still within Judaism’s umbrella? Or, was Matthew written for a general audience rather than a specific community? Early Christianity was diverse; some Christian leaders, such as James, maintained a long-term relationship with the Jewish communities. In discussing this question, scholars examine the following passages: 2:1-12; 4:12-16; 8:5-13; 10:5-6; 15:21-28; 17:24-27; 19:28; 21:43; 22:7; 23:1-39.

Date and Location

Matthew was probably written sometime between AD 65 and 80. Those who argue that Matthew used Mark’s Gospel as a source usually date Matthew after AD 70; those who claim it is independent tend to date it earlier. Some have suggested that Matthew’s Gospel was written in the AD 50s. Many today think that Matthew was written at Antioch in Syria, which is more probable than any other proposed setting.

Meaning and Message

Matthew argues the case that Jesus fulfills the ancient faith of Israel and the hope of the Old Testament: In Jesus, the Messiah and the day of the Lord have come.

Some people do follow Jesus. In following the instruction of Jesus, these disciples would evangelize the Roman world and build a community (the church) that would include both Jews and Gentiles. In general, however, Israel refuses to follow its Messiah, and Jesus utters disastrous warnings that they will experience the judgment of God (chs 23–25) unless they repent.

Matthew’s Gospel is distinctive in its presentation of Jesus as Messiah and Teacher, its emphasis on the Kingdom of Heaven, its strong call to discipleship, its constant pattern of Old Testament fulfillment, its incisive criticism of the Jewish religious leaders, and its universal outlook that includes Gentiles in the Kingdom.

The Messiah (Christ).  Matthew emphasizes Jesus as the Messiah (Christ) (1:1, 16-18; 11:2-3; 16:16, 20; 23:10). He focuses on Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament expectations, though not in the manner his Jewish contemporaries expected. For Matthew, Jesus is clearly the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary in order to bring salvation to his people (1:21). In short, Jesus is “Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us’” (1:23; 28:20).

The Kingdom of Heaven.  The expression “Kingdom of Heaven,” used thirty times by Matthew, is a roundabout way for Jews to say “Kingdom of God.” Matthew uses this term to evoke (1) the invisible but present rule of God on earth through the saving work of Jesus the Messiah; (2) the fulfillment of Old Testament promises (4:17; 11:11-15); (3) the saving activity of God, often through quiet and humble means (11:25; 13:24-30, 36-43); (4) the power and strength of God’s activity (11:2-6, 12-13; 12:28); (5) the coming of the Kingdom within a “generation” (10:23; 16:28; 24:34); (6) the final, climactic judgment of God (25:31-46); and (7) the final, perfect fellowship of all God’s holy people with the Father (8:11-12; 13:43; 22:1-14; 26:29). The Kingdom of Heaven shows God’s perfect reign through Jesus the Messiah among his people, beginning with the church and consummated in the eternal Kingdom of glory and fellowship.

Discipleship.  Matthew’s Gospel stresses Jesus’ call to men and women to be baptized, to follow him as disciples, to obey his teachings (28:20), and to enjoy fellowship with him. Jesus summarizes the requirements of discipleship in his Sermon on the Mount (chs 5–7), and this theme recurs throughout Matthew (e.g., 10:1-42; 16:24-26). Matthew shows the disciples overcoming their failures through Christ’s help (see 14:28-33; 16:5-12).

Fulfillment of the Old Testament.  More than any other Gospel, Matthew highlights the deep correspondence between Old Testament expectations and promises and their fulfillment in Jesus. In the style of a Jewish commentary, Matthew links Old Testament texts to events in the life of Jesus that fulfill those texts and frequently draws out analogies between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Matthew’s procedure is anchored in the belief that what God has done once in Israel, he is doing again, finally and fully, in Jesus the Messiah.

Universal Outlook.  In a book so strongly Jewish in orientation, it is surprising to find such an emphasis on the inclusion of Gentiles in the Messiah’s saving work. More than any other, this Gospel emphasizes that the Good News is for all, including Gentiles. This stance put Matthew at odds with the Jewish community of his time on two fundamental questions: Who are the people of God? What future is there for the nation of Israel? The birth narratives show that God saves Gentiles, and throughout the book Gentiles are portrayed positively. Since God is sovereign, his Messiah is King of all creation. Though God has worked especially in and through the nation of Israel (see 10:5-6; 15:24), the inauguration of the Kingdom of Heaven shares God’s good favor with the nations as well (see 28:18-20).