The Gospel of Matthew: An Introduction :: By Donald Whitchard
Isaiah 7:14, 53:1-12, Matthew 1:1-25; Romans 5:6-11
Summary: Matthew’s account of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ was written to show his fellow Jews that Jesus was the Promised Messiah, liberating them not from the tyranny of Rome but from the tyranny and condemnation of sin. His death and resurrection freed all of us from this curse.
Dr. Frank Turek, the noted Christian apologist, said that the writers of the New Testament did not create the account of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ but that the resurrection created the writers of the New Testament. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, His life would have been lost to obscurity, becoming nothing more than an oblivious chapter of ancient history (1 Corinthians 15).
In His sovereignty, the Lord God Almighty saw fit to give us four accounts of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus, each one written from a different view. We are going to spend time in the first Gospel presented in the New Testament, written by Matthew, a disciple of Jesus and eyewitness of His ministry. His authorship was first verified by a disciple of the apostle John named Papias. This comes from Eusebius’ ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, written in 325 A.D. Matthew had distinguished qualifications to write this account of Jesus’ life:
1) He had a high literacy skill and was well-known in Graeco-Roman circles because of his previous occupation. Matthew was probably fluent in Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
2) Matthew may have been a scribe for the apostles. Little is known of Matthew personally. He is listed as one of the Twelve (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). His apostolic call is recorded in every Gospel except John.
Matthew wrote his Gospel around AD 50. This date was estimated by one of the early church fathers, Ignatius of Antioch. Other biblical scholars have dated it around AD 60. It was probably written first in Hebrew, then rewritten in Greek, and was probably the first Gospel account written. All of the Gospels were written before AD 70, except for John, written in AD 85-90. This affirmation is because none of the Gospels record the traumatic event of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans prophesied by the Lord Jesus in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). Why John did not record it is a topic for another time.
Matthew’s name means, “the gift of YHWH.” It is believed that he had an office on the highway from Damascus to Capernaum. His duty was to collect “toll taxes” from merchants and farmers carrying goods to the markets as well as the caravans passing through the region of Galilee. He was probably in the employ of the local ruler Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, who had ruled the nation of Judea from 40 – 4 BC. We will look at Herod’s life and character later. Matthew knew the value of all goods and the monetary systems of local and foreign lands. He became wealthy because he collected more than what was required from Herod and Caesar and was, as a result, considered a pariah by his fellow Jews, seeing him as a sellout to pagan rulers and customs.
After being called to be one of Jesus’ disciples, and after the events of the crucifixion and resurrection, another early church father named Clement of Alexandria wrote that Matthew spent several years ministering to his fellow Jews and then traveled to Ethiopia, Macedonia, Greece, Syria, and Persia. Ancient traditions state that he was martyred for his faith, probably by hanging while preaching in Ethiopia.
Some characteristics of Matthew’s Gospel include the great emphasis placed on Jesus’ teachings. It has the largest account of discourse material and is filled with prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). There are seventy-five allusions made to Old Testament events. This Gospel was written to show that Jesus was the promised Messiah of Israel through the use of genealogy (Chapter 1:1-18) and fulfilled prophecy concerning the role of the Messiah (Isaiah 7:14, 53:1-12).
According to the late Greek scholar and teacher A.T. Robertson (1862-1935), Matthew was in the habit of keeping accounts, and it is quite possible that he took careful notes of the sayings of Jesus as he heard them. At any rate, Matthew gives much attention to Jesus’ teachings, such as in the Semon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7), parables (Chapter 13), and the end-times (Matthew 24-25). Matthew wrote his Gospel not only for his fellow Jews, but for all people who desire freedom, not from material tyrants alone, but from the bondage and tyrannical hold that sin has upon our lives.
The apostle John wrote, “Jesus answered them saying, ‘Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed'” (John 8:34-36, NKJV). This is the foundation of not just Matthew’s Gospel but of all four accounts.
The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was the final payment and sacrifice that God instituted (Ephesians 1:4) before the foundation of the world in order to free us from the tyranny of sin and the consequences it brings upon us (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:6-11, 6:23). It is a free gift we do not deserve and cannot earn by anything we do or say in our own power (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23).
In light of what is going on in the world today, you know perfectly well that we cannot make anything better, nor can we somehow create a utopia from the cesspool that the world currently swims in and is oblivious to the stench. As we go through the Gospel of Matthew, it is my prayer that you will take the time to read it yourself and see that Jesus Christ is the King of kings, Lord of Lords, and the only hope we have for peace, joy, and salvation. Why hold on to the tyranny of personal pride and sin when He gives us the keys to freedom? Surrender your life to Him today (Romans 10:9-10).
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