Gospel of Matthew

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Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 1 Matthew 2 Matthew 3 Matthew 4 Matthew 5 Matthew 6 Matthew 7 Matthew 8 Matthew 9 Matthew 10 Matthew 11 Matthew 12 Matthew 13 Matthew 14 Matthew 15 Matthew 16 Matthew 17 Matthew 18 Matthew 19 Matthew 20 Matthew 21 Matthew 22 Matthew 23 Matthew 24 Matthew 25 Matthew 26 Matthew 27 Matthew 28

Old Testament
New Testament
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Multimedia Jesus, the Son of David--The Message of Matthew (MP3), by Mark Dever The Gospel of Matthew (QuickTime), by Robert Stein

Contents 1 Author 2 Date 3 Purpose 4 Structure 5 Themes 6 See also 7 External links

Author

The early church fathers were unanimous in that Matthew, one of the 12 apostles, was the author. Those who believe Matthew was dependent on Mark's Gospel have tended to believe otherwise.

Date

Due to Matthew's strong Jewish characteristics, some scholars date his Gospel around the early part of A.D. 50 when the church was largely Jewish and the gospel was preached to the Jews only (cf. Acts 11:19). Again, others who find that Matthew (and even Luke) were dependent upon Mark usually date his Gospel later, anywhere between A.D. 65-75.

Purpose

Matthew's main purpose is to prove that Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT predictions concerning the Messiah. All of the Gospel writers quote the OT, however Matthew has nine OT proof-texts that are unique to his Gospel (Matt. 1:22-23; 2:15; 2:17-18; 2:23; 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-21; 13:35; 27:9-10).

It has also been observed that Matthew seems to group his material around blocks of material suited for instruction, so that Jesus' actions and other concerns seem less prominent in his overall purpose.

Structure

This is a section stub. Please edit it to add information.

Themes

Matthew's theme is that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah of the nation of Israel, as his frequent tying in of material with the Old Testament indicates. He specifically ties Jesus of Nazareth in with the promised descendant of David, which would have been crucial for Jewish readers of his day.

Thus Matthew's portrait of Jesus Christ is focused upon Him as the Lion of Judah more than as, for example, the suffering Servant or the preexistent Logos. As the genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter indicates, Matthew is anxious to tie in the Son of God with a real person born of the Royal Line of David.

This is a section stub. Please edit it to add information.

See also

• Outline of the Gospel of Matthew
• Synoptic Gospels

External links

• IVP Commentary on Matthew, by Craig Keener
• Matthew: Introduction, Argument, and Outline, by Daniel B. Wallace
• Jesus as Israel: The Typological Structure of Matthew’s Gospel (PDF), by Peter Leithart
• Apologetics Bible Study: Matthew, by James Patrick Holding