Gospel According To Matthew

Survey, Overview, & Chronology of the New Testament

Gospel According To Matthew

I. To Whom:

a. The book has been supposed as written to Jews for the following reasons.

i. Begins with a chronology and the birth of Jesus.

ii. This was important to Jews, and to the church, especially during the time of

the Judaizing teachers, because the chronology would show His right to the

throne of David (Gen 22:18; 2 Sam 7:12-14; Isa 9:6, 7), and His birth shows

the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy (Isa 7:14; Mal 2:7; Ex 4:22, 23).

iii. Matthew often quotes from the Old Testament, thus showing the fulfillment

of prophecy in Jesus.

1. Matthew quotes the Old Testament at least 115x.

2. Mark 61x.

3. Luke 77x.

4. John 29x.

5. Almost twice as much as Luke and Mark, and four times as much as

John.

6. He gives over 60 prophetic fulfillments in Christ.

iv. He also shows emphasis to Christ’s mission toward the Jews (15:24; 10:5,

6). He is the only gospel writer to note this fact.

1. However, because of the purpose, as will be later noted, he does

include matters pertaining to the Gentiles.

2. 8:5, 11; 21:43; 28:18-20.

b. Because of the afore mentioned reasons it becomes quite plausible that this

gospel record was written with the Jews in mind.

II. Date:

a. Around A.D. 60.

i. There are some who place the date as early as 8 years after the ascension

of Jesus and others as late as 100 A.D.

1. The earlier date disregards the statements of 27:8 & 28:15.

2. The later date is an attempt by critics to remove the prophetical

statements of Jesus such as the destruction of Jerusalem, and the

founding of the church.

b. The following flows from some of the most noteworthy and trusted scholars:

i. Deal places the date of A.D. 60.

ii. J.W. McGarvey states that 24 years after the ascension of Jesus is

plausible, hence placing the date at 57-58 A.D.

iii. Professor Sanday had given the date A.D. 60.

iv. Joseph S. Exell places the date at about A.D. 60.

v. Albert Barnes gives the date A.D. 63.

c. Some say Matthew was written first because it appears first, but this logic fails.

i. Men who were uninspired placed the books in their present order.

ii. Matthew was likely placed first because it begins with the genealogical

record.

d. Because of the uniformity of scholars we have placed the date at A.D. 60.

III. Author:

a. Matthew, who is called Levi (Mrk 2:14; Lk 5:27).

i. As pertaining to the authorship McGarvey quotes Smith as saying, “The

gospel which bears the name of St. Matthew was written by the apostle,

according to the testimony of all antiquity.”

ii. Thus, when the authorship of a book has never been disputed, then there is

little to no reason to doubt its credited author.

iii. From the earliest of historians, universal agreement exists that the apostle

Matthew has penned this writing.

b. He was a publican or tax collector (Matt 9:9).

i. These were people hired by Rome to collect taxes from their own race.

ii. They were viewed as traitors, and were often greedy and corrupt.

iii. The power of the gospel is seen in that Matthew and Simon were both

fellow-heirs in Christ (Lk 6:15).

c. He was selected to be an apostle of Jesus (Matt 10:3; Mrk 3:18).

d. His character is manifest in that he forsook all his riches to follow the Master (Lk 5:

27-29).

IV. Purpose:

a. Purpose passages—17:1-14.

i. These passages of selection may seem odd to some, but there are chosen

for good reason: They show the 1) deity and 2) authority of the Christ.

ii. “Transfigured,” “My beloved Son,” “hear ye Him.”

b. The time of this biography could not have been better:

i. Many Jews were questioning Christianity.

ii. Many Judaizing teachers were threatening the pure gospel (Gal 1:6-9).

iii. Mark’s gospel account had been in circulation, but did not emphasis the

prophetical Jewish significance of Jesus.

iv. Hence, it was perfect timing for Matthew’s gospel record.

c. The book, then, shows Jesus as the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy (chs.

1-2), thus affirming Jesus as King (21:5), and the Son of God (16:16; 15:36-39; 14:

22-33; Heb 2:4).

i. Matthew also gave lie to the notion that the disciples stole the body of the

Lord (28:11-15).

ii. He records the words of Jesus as pertaining to the misapplication of the

Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees teaching of the Law of Moses (chs. 5-7;

15:1-9; 22:23-33, 41-46).

iii. In Christ the Law of Moses has been “fulfilled” (5:17), and in Christ all have

access to the great feast (22:1-14).

d. Note what William S. Deal writes concerning the books purpose:

i. “Matthew presents Christ as the Son of David (1:1; 21:9) and therefore, the

rightful ‘King of the Jews’ (2:2; 27:37). He reports that Jesus often called

Himself the ‘Son of Man,’ qualifying Himself as the Heavenly Being of the

various revelations concerning Him in Old Testament prophecies; thus He

also announced Himself as the Son of God (16:16), accepting the homage of

the disciples at this time.” (p.251).

ii. He goes on… “…the church was faced with the necessity of knowing what

to do concerning many ethical questions regarding retaliation in persecution,

taking of oaths, divorce, the treatment of offending persons within the church

itself, the relation of the Christians to the ancient Jewish Law and ceremonies,

and other ethical matters. The followers of Christ also needed devotional

guidance in worship to be able to show wherein law the difference between

this new church and the older Jewish religion. The production of the life and

works of Christ, with an appropriate background of His divine and human

relationships to God and to man, was therefore a real necessity.” (p.252).

V. Things to Note:

a. The book does not follow a complete chronology:

i. 1-4 in order.

ii. 5-19 in topic.

iii. 20-28 in order.

b. Just because one is a religious teacher doesn’t mean he is correct in what he

teaches (5:21-48; 15:1-9; 16:6-12; 19:1-9; 22:23-32).

c. Religious titles which exalt one man above others are not acceptable with God

(23:5-12).

d. Christians are not to do things to be seen of men (6:1-8, 16-18; 23:6-8, 13-33).

e. In order to be forgiven we must be willing to forgive (5:23, 24; 18:15-35).

f. Problems are to be dealt with as privately as possible (18:15-20).

g. The church was built by and belongs to Jesus (16:18).

h. Purpose of parables is given (13:10-17).

i. Pattern of interpreting the parables is given (13:1-9>>18-23, 24-30>>36-43).

j. There are 15 parables in the book, 10 of which are unique to Matthew.

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