Grace Institute: The Gospels & Acts: Matthew: Introduction

Matthew Survey of the New Testament: The Gospels & Acts Winter 2005

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Introduction

Audience

Matthew is well chosen to begin the New Testament since it is the best transition from the Old Testament into the New Testament. The book is Jewish in its vocabulary, grammar, and subject manner. Matthew uses Old Testament references, uses genealogies from Abraham. His audience is likely Jewish Christians who were removed from Palestine and had never heard of or seen Jesus but had heard many tales of Him.

Author

Matthew-Levi, the despised tax collector in Galilee, and the apostle of Jesus.

The earliest manuscripts do not contain the title “The Gospel according to Matthew.” Therefore the book is technically anonymous. However, early church tradition has attached this gospel to Matthew dating back to Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis. Papias, who died in AD 130, in regards to this book, stated:

Matthew collected the sayings in the Hebrew style and each interpreted them as best he could [1].

The early church believed that Papias meant that Matthew originally wrote the book in the Hebrew or Aram aic lang uage and then tran s lated into the Greek book we have today. Most modern scholars dou bt that the book was originally written in Hebrew because: 1) when quoting the Old Testament, the author quotes the Septuagint, (the Greek translation of the Old Testament); and 2) the author uses Greek word plays. It is therefore considered more likely that Papias meant that Matthew wrote the book in a Hebrew style and that the reade rs interpreted or passed these on [2].

Internal evidence, while not conclusive, supports the Matthew 's authorship. This gospel refers to money and taxes more frequently than any of the other gospels ( Matthew 17:24, 27, 18:24). Matthew appears more humble in this gospel, frequently referring to himself as “the tax collector.”

Date

The exact date of the book is uncertain. The debate revolves around two questions: 1) Does Matthew copy from Mark or vise versa? 2) Did Matthew know about the destruction of the temple, and so emphasize that in Jesus' Olivet discourse?

Because Matthew contains more unique material, it seems more likely that Matthew used Mark as a source and then supplemented that with his own memoirs. Therefore Matthew would have been written after Mark (which was written in the late 50s, early 60s) [3].

Many scholars believe Matthew 's emphasis on the temple's destruction in the Olivet discourse means that he wrote his gospel after AD 70. However, Matthew writes of the destruction of the temple in the future tense suggesting it was still a future event to him. Furthermore, most of the scholars who look towards a later dating doubt the prophetic nature of the Olivet discourse and look to a later dating to explain away Jesus prediction of the future.

Therefore, the book was probably written in the mid to late 60s.

Structure

Matthew structures his book around five narratives. Matthew concludes each of these discourses stating “when Jesus finished these words,” providing us with an important tran s ition marker. The five discourses are:

• The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29)
• The Sending of the Twelve (10:5-42)
• Parables of the Kingdom (13:1-53)
• Sermon on Forgiveness (18:1-35)
• Olivet Discourse (23:1-26:2)
• In addition, Matthew provides tran s ition markers by repeating a summary of Jesus public ministry in Both 4:23 and 9:35, suggesting this is a single major section [4].

Purpose

Matthew was written to demonstrate that Jesus was and is the Messiah-King predicted by the Old Testament.

• Matthew demonstrates how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah-King.
• Matthew explains the nature of Jesus kingdom in light of the rejection of the Messiah by the Jews. Matthew answers the question, “if Jesus is the King, where is the kingdom? [5]”
• Matthew provides insight into the nature of the kingdom and how one is to live as a disciple of the King.

Theme

Jesus, the King of the Jews.

Footnotes

1. Scott McKnight. “ Matthew, Gospel Of.” Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Joel B. Green, Scott McKnigh t, ed. (Downer's Grove IL : Intervarsity Press). Electronic Edition STEP file.
2. Ibid.
3. D. A. Carson. “ Matthew.” Expositors Bible Commentary . Frank E. Gaebelein, ed. Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan, 1998. Electronic edition STEP file.
4. McKnight.
5. Stephen S. Kim,. Classroom notes from “Gospels, Hebrews-Revelation.” (Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Spring 2003).

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