Introduction To Gospel of Matthew

Throughout this year we undertake a verse-by-verse study of the Gospel of Matthew. Trust that you will be challenged by it to have a closer walk with Christ. INTRODUCTION AUTHOR: Matthew DATE: 50 - 60 A D Authorship Matthew, who was surnamed Levi (Mark 2:14), was a Jewish tax collector (publican) for the Roman government ( Matthew 9:9). Because he collaborated with the Romans, who were hated by the Jews as overlords of their country, Matthew (and all publicans) was despised by fellow Jews. Nevertheless, Matthew responded to Christ's simple call to follow Him. After the account of the banquet he gave for his colleagues so they too could meet Jesus, he is not mentioned again except in the list of the Twelve (Matt. 20:3; see also Acts 1:13). Tradition says that he preached in Palestine for a dozen years after the resurrection of Christ and then went to other lands, but there is no certainty of this. Distinctive Approach of Matthew Matthew was written to Jews to answer their questions about Jesus of Nazareth who claimed to be their Messiah. Was He in fact the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament? If He was, why did He fail to establish the promised kingdom? Will it ever be established? What is God's purpose in the meantime? Thus, in this gospel, Jesus is often spoken of as the Son of David and the One who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah; and the kingdom of heaven is the subject of much of His recorded teaching. Matthew is also characterized by its inclusion of people outside of Judaism. The closing verses record the commission to go into all the world, and only in Matthew does the word church appear in the Gospels (16:18l 18:17). Jesus is also designated as the Son of Abraham (1:1) for in Abraham "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). Date Although the gospel has sometimes been dated in the 80s or 90s, the fact that the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 is viewed as an event yet future (24:2) seems to require an earlier date. Some feel that this was the first of the Gospels to be written (about A.D. 50), while other think it was not the first ant that is was written in the 60s. An OUTLINE OF MATTHEW will follow in later post.