Matthew

Overview

Matthew writes to show that Jesus is the King Israel was promised. He opens with a genealogy tying Him to Abraham and David, and closes with all authority in heaven and earth given to Him. In between, more than sixty times, he stops to say that this happened to fulfill what the prophets wrote.

The teaching is gathered into five great blocks, the first and best known being the Sermon on the Mount. This is the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven — what it is like, who belongs to it, and what its King requires.

Background

Matthew — also called Levi — collected taxes for Rome, a trade his countrymen despised, until Jesus said follow me. He is the one disciple whose own calling he records almost without comment.

He wrote for readers at home in the Old Testament: he can say "the prophet" without explaining who, and he leaves Jewish customs undefined. That is why his Gospel has stood first in the New Testament from the beginning — it is the bridge back to the Law and the Prophets.

Key themes

• Jesus is the son of David, the King, and His kingdom is at hand.
• The Scriptures are being fulfilled, down to details no one could arrange.
• Righteousness goes deeper than rules — to anger, lust, motive and mercy.
• The King is rejected by the leaders of His own people, and receives faith from outsiders.
• The kingdom grows quietly now and will be sorted openly at the end.

Outline

1. The King arrivesChapters 1–4

   Genealogy, birth, the wise men, John’s baptism, and forty days of temptation.

2. The Sermon on the MountChapters 5–7

   The Beatitudes, the law read to the heart, prayer, worry, and two houses in a storm.

3. AuthorityChapters 8–9

   Disease, storm, demons, paralysis and death all answer to Him.

4. The Twelve, and oppositionChapters 10–12

   Workers sent out, John’s question from prison, and the Pharisees hardening against Him.

5. Parables of the kingdomChapter 13

   A sower, wheat and tares, a mustard seed, leaven, treasure and a net.

6. Toward JerusalemChapters 14–20

   Five thousand fed, Peter’s confession, the transfiguration, and plain talk about the cross.

7. The last week’s teachingChapters 21–25

   The triumphal entry, the temple cleansed, woes on the Pharisees, and the Olivet discourse.

8. Betrayal and crucifixionChapters 26–27

   The last supper, Gethsemane, the trials, and the darkness at noon.

9. Risen, and the CommissionChapter 28

   The empty tomb, and go ye therefore and teach all nations.

Key passages

• Matthew 1:21 Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
• Matthew 5:3-12 The Beatitudes.
• Matthew 6:9-13 The Lord’s prayer.
• Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.
• Matthew 16:16-18 Peter’s confession, and the church Christ will build.
• Matthew 22:37-40 The two commandments all the law hangs on.
• Matthew 27:46 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
• Matthew 28:18-20 All power is given unto me — go therefore.

Christ in Matthew

Matthew’s whole book is a case: this is the Christ, son of David and son of Abraham, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, called out of Egypt, preaching in Galilee, riding in on a donkey, sold for thirty pieces of silver, and risen. He is Immanuel in chapter 1 and with us alway in chapter 28 — the book is bound together by the promise of His presence.

Reading it

• Read the Sermon on the Mount (5–7) in one sitting, slowly, more than once.
• Watch for "that it might be fulfilled" and look up what is being quoted.
• Notice who believes: a centurion, a Canaanite woman, a tax collector — rarely the experts.