The Gospel according to St.Matthew

Some basic reminders… The word ‘Gospel’ means ‘good news’. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon god spel, which can mean ‘spell it out’ or ‘proclaim’. In the Bible the Gospels spell out the good news about Jesus.

‘Synoptic’ means ‘shared view’ ‘Synoptic’ means ‘shared view’. Many passages can be placed side by side to show how similar they are e.g. Jesus’ baptism and temptations (Mt.3:13–4:11, Mk.1:9-13, Lk.3:19-4:19) John’s Gospel is very different in style and content to the other three.

After Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, many stories circulated about him. His close followers would have recalled incidents that other people would know nothing of. Initially,these stories about Jesus were passed around by word of mouth. This is known as the ‘Christian Oral Tradition’.

Many of the early Christians believed that Jesus would return during their lifetime (parousia ). However, as time passed, those first Christians who had met Jesus began to die out. It was important that the stories about Jesus were preserved, so they were written down.

Evangelists The four Gospel writers or ‘evangelists’ spread the good news about Jesus. Each writer tells the story of Jesus’ life and death in their own unique way.

Note well! It would be too simple to describe the Gospels as ‘biographies’ of Jesus. We don’t find any details on what Jesus looked like or what he did when he was growing up. Instead, the Gospel writers focused on the things that were important to them.

Many assume that Matthew’s Gospel is the earliest book in the New Testament, because it comes first. However, if we look at a timeline of the period we see that Paul’s letters, such as Romans and Corinthians, seem to be the earliest books. Most scholars argue that Mark’s Gospel, the shortest one, was the first to appear (around AD 64–65).

Times and dates… 63 BC 4 BC/5 BC AD 25/AD 28 Romans take over Palestine. Mary gives birth to Jesus. Jesus begins his public ministry. Jesus is crucified. On the third day Jesus rises from the dead. 40 days later Jesus ascends into heaven. 10 days later the descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost).

More times and dates… Paul takes the news about Jesus to Asia Minor and Southern Europe. Paul writes letters to Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus and Rome. Mark’s Gospel was written. Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels were written. John’s Gospel was written. AD 45 AD 51 AD 63/AD 65 AD 70/AD 80 AD 90/AD 100

Who was Matthew? Although the writer of the Gospel of Matthew did not identify himself by name, from its earliest days the church has agreed that the author was the apostle Matthew (also called Levi). He was a tax collector in Capernaum, before becoming a disciple of Jesus (Matthew 9:9). As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

The Purpose of Matthew’s Gospel Each Gospel has a different emphasis which shows us what was important to the author and his readers. Each Gospel writer had a ‘target audience’ in mind when writing his Gospel.

A Jewish Christian Gospel Matthew is writing for an audience of Jewish Christians who were familiar with the Old Testament. We can see this in certain unique features of Matthew’s Gospel: Jesus’ Jewish background Jewish Customs Language Messiah

Theme 1 : Jesus’ Jewish background Matthew begins his Gospel with a list of the ancestors of Jesus (genealogy) Ancestors were very important to the Jews and Matthew wanted to show that Jesus’ family could be traced back to many famous figures in Jewish history, including King David and Abraham.

Genealogy

Theme 2 : Jewish Customs Matthew makes reference to Jewish customs, for example hand-washing traditions (15:2) or the wearing of phylacteries (23:5), without explaining them to his readers. This suggests that his readers were already familiar with Jewish culture.

"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!“ (Mt. 15:2) They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long (Mt. 23:5)

Many of the issues that Matthew discussed in his Gospel would have been of special interest to Jewish readers: fasting (6:16–18), the Sabbath (12:1–14; 24:20), temple offerings (5:23–24), and the temple tax (17:24–27).

Mt. 6 :18 Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

The Law and the Prophets There is a focus on Matthew’s Gospel on the Law and the Prophets – the foundations of the Jewish faith.

Mt. 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments…

Theme 3 : Language There is a Jewish influence on some of the Greek that Matthew used. Where the other Gospels talk about the Kingdom of God, Matthew uses the term ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ after the Jewish tradition of not saying the name of God. Jewish terms such as ‘Son of Abraham’ and ‘Son of David’ are used often.

Messiah Matthew wanted to convince his readers that Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah. This Gospel contains more quotations from the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) than any other book of the New Testament. Matthew wants to show that Jesus fulfils prophecy. Examples are the prophecies of Jeremiah 31:15, (see Matthew 2:18),Zechariah 13:7, (see Matthew 26:31) and Isaiah 66:1 (see Matthew 5:35)

The Old is fulfilled in the New… Jeremiah 31:15 This is what the Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:17-18 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Slaughter of the Innocents by King Herod)

The House of Israel Matthew is the only Gospel writer to include Jesus’ statements that his mission was for “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (10:5–6; 15:24), referring to the Jews.

Mt.10:5–6 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.  Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.”

A Gospel for All Nations However, this Gospel is not only for Jewish readers. Matthew does stress that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, but he also includes many stories and events that suggest that Jesus’ mission is also to the Gentiles. For example, the Canaanite woman’s faith (15:21–28); the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard(20:1–16). Matthew’s Gospel ends with ‘The Great Commission’ (28:16–20), where Jesus told his disciples to go into the whole world to preach the Gospel.

Mt.28:16–20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Style Matthew’s Gospel was written carefully and with great skill. Because of the similarities between the two, it seems as though Matthew based his Gospel on Mark’s, adding his own details, mainly at the beginning and the end.

Structure Matthew’s Gospel is 28 chapters long. Some topics are described in more detail than others which helps the reader to understand what was particularly important to him.

The prologue (1:1–2:23),consisting of the ancestors of Jesus Christ (genealogy) and birth narrative. The body (3:1–28:15),consisting of five parts: – The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29) – The Commissioning of the Apostles (10:1–42) – Parables about the Kingdom (13:1–52) – Instructions to the Disciples (18:1–35) – Final Discourse (24:1–25:46) The Passion Narrative and the Great Commission (Chapters 26–28),telling the story of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension.

Symbol Matthew’s symbol is a man. This may be because the Gospel begins with the human genealogy of Jesus or because the Gospel presents Jesus as a ‘divine’ man.