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There is debate as to whether this is in fact the same Matthew, the tax collector, who walked with Jesus. The more conservative theologians say that indeed, it is. The Gospel itself doesnât mention who the author is but it was accepted as Matthewâs work by the early church fathers. Only someone who was involved in Jesusâ daily life could have recorded the carefully transcribed details of His teachings.
Matthew the Apostle had been a tax collector. He was used to keeping detailed records and this is why he quotes Jesus extensively; he made notes. Matthew records words, parables and events in Jesus life that no other writer mentions. He was an eyewitness so he had access to more information than Mark or Luke.
Those who doubt Matthewâs authorship have many reasons for doing so. Evidence has shown that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source for their material. Mark wrote in about 65 AD. He was a very young man when Jesus was active in ministry. Matthew and the disciples must have been between twenty and thirty years old when Jesus called them out; Jesus was thirty when he left home and began teaching. If Matthew used Markâs Gospel as a source, he was very old indeed when he wrote.
These scholars have three theories. One is that Matthew wrote down Jesusâ sayings while he followed Christ. Subsequently, whoever wrote this Gospel used Matthewâs notes and ascribed it to the Apostle. If Mark was the source work, then the author of Matthew used the notes and inserted and expanded on Markâs more scant reporting of the teachings. Another theory involves a contentious âQâ document that Matthew, Mark and Luke used as a primary resource. These theories help to account for the synoptic quality of the three.
Finally, if this is the Apostle Matthew, then it isnât likely that he would have copied from young John Mark. Matthew was, after all, one of the original twelve. Mark was around but he was a very young man on the fringes of the Disciples and not privy to all of Jesusâ teachings. So itâs doubtful that the elder would have copied from the young Mark. Mark doesnât record a lot of Jesus words because he wasnât there and relied upon what Peter told him in Rome before the latter was martyred.
Matthewâs Gospel is aimed at Jewish readers. It is believed that he originally wrote it in Hebrew and later in Greek. He emphasizes that Jesus is the Messiah and quotes many Old Testament prophecies that point to Him. Thatâs why Matthewâs Gospel is first in the New Testament. It bridges the gap from the Old.
Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. He establishes the fact that Jesus is the son of David that the prophets foretold would come. He lists 42 generations from Abraham through to Joseph, Jesusâ legal father. He traces the ancestry through the father where Lukeâs genealogy traces it through Mary. Luke goes all the way back to Adam with his.
Only Matthew and Luke give the details of Christâs birth. They both handle it differently. Matthew tells of the visit of the Magi, while Luke goes with the shepherds in the field. Matthewâs account is more blunt and to the point than Lukeâs which is a masterpiece of writing and the version most often heard at Christmas.
The Magi were supposed to report Jesusâ location to King Herod, who had deceived them into thinking that he too wanted to worship the baby. Herod wanted this young threat, this new King, to be killed. An angel advises the wise men not to return to Herod but to go home by another way. Joseph is warned in a dream to go home by a different route, to avoid Herodâs soldiers but later an angel tells Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt.
The slaughter of the innocents took place after Herod realized that the wise men had deceived him. He ordered all male children under the age of two years in Bethlehem killed. After Herod died, the family returned from Egypt.
They wanted to settle in Bethlehem but God directed them to Galilee, in Nazareth.
We then jump right into Jesusâ public ministry with his visit to and baptism by, John the Baptist. From there He goes into the wilderness for forty days and submits to the temptations of the Devil. He emerges unsullied and victorious over the wealth and status offered him by Satan.
Jesus immediately begins to preach the good news of the kingdom and to heal the sick. He calls Simon, Andrew, James and John to follow him, and they do. Great crowds are following Him now and we go right into the âSermon on the Mountâ. Matthew devotes a full three chapters (5-7) to recording Jesusâ words here.
The Sermon on the Mount represents the heart of Jesusâ teaching and Matthew must have realized this. He gives it prominence. The Beatitudes are here as well as his comments on believers being salt and light. He teaches extensively on the Law and applies it to attitudes as well as actions. The Golden Rule is taken from the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus continues travelling around the countryside, preaching and healing the sick and demon possessed. He also spends a lot of time instructing his twelve chosen Apostles. He begins to tell them about whatâs coming in Jerusalem. How heâll be handed over to the authorities to be executed. He continues to instruct and teach the Disciples through parables, and perform healing.
The last week of Jesusâ ministry starts with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, what we celebrate today as Palm Sunday. Here is the famous scene of Jesus showing anger and clearing the temple of the moneychangers. The teaching and parables continue through His last week until Judas plays his hand and betrays Jesus to the authorities. They had been looking for a chance to stop Him since he was upsetting the apple cart of a religious hierarchy.
Matthew gives his account of the Passion of Jesus and includes The Last Supper, Gethsemane, Peterâs denial, and Jesusâ appearance before the high priest. He is finally turned over to Pontius Pilate, the reigning Roman authority in Jerusalem. Pilate doesnât want to get involved in a Jewish religious argument but he succumbs to public pressure and Jesus is condemned to die on a cross. Matthew gives details of the flogging and mockery that Jesus endured. He also tells the story of Simon of Cyrene, the stranger who was compelled to help carry the cross to Calvary.
If this is the Apostle Matthew, he must have heard the details of Jesus death from others at the scene. All of the Disciples except John had gone into hiding so Matthew was not an eyewitness of the Crucifixion. Matthew records some of Jesusâ final words, âEli, Eli, lama sabachthani?â that is, âMy God, My God, why have You forsaken me?â (Matt. 27: 46) He writes of the giving of sour wine to Jesus and the taunting as He hung on the cross. He mentions the tearing of the temple veil, the raising of the dead and the earthquake, which accompanied Jesusâ death. He then is a witness to the resurrection as Jesus appears to the twelve.
The value of Matthewâs Gospel is the treatment he gives to Jesusâ words. His record of the sermons and teachings provide much of the ethical theology for Christianity. His focus on fulfilled prophecy is the evidence required for his target audience, the Jewish community in Jerusalem. He adds much that is significant to Markâs original Gospel.
Iâm inclined to believe that this is the same Matthew who was called from the tax collectors booth. His intimate knowledge of Jesus points to his authorship. I am also ready to accept that he used Markâs original Gospel as a framework and expanded on it, filling in the details that he was aware of and Mark was not. It was important to have this account recorded at that time since the Romanâs were beginning to crack down on Jerusalem. With the destruction of the Temple in 70AD, there was no more Jewish community there to be influenced for the Gospel.
Sources:
Halleyâs Bible Handbook, Zondervan, 2000
William Neilâs One Volume Bible Commentary, Hodder & Stoughton, 1962
New King James Bible, Thomas Nelson, 1983
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