Matthew Blog 1

The authorship is traditionally credited to Matthew, one of the disciples of Jesus. However there are debates to the book’s authorship. The NISB suggests that the name was chosen because it means “Gift of God,” which is the point of the gospel. Matthew also looks like the words for “disciple” and “learn” in the Greek language. The IRSB states that “Matthew represents the gospel’s ideal reader as a disciple who learns from the story of Jesus” (Carter, 1745). The Early Church, on the other hand, tended to believe that Matthew wrote the book.
The time and place of the book of Matthew was written is also debated. Some think that Matthew was written during 50-60 A.D. While others believe that the book was written after the temple’s destruction in 70 A.D. The Early Church believed that Matthew was the first of the four gospels and that it was written around 50-60 A.D. The place that Matthew was written probably Syria, specifically Antioch or Galilee.
Matthew is an ancient biography which did not rely on being chronological like biographies of today. Instead they focused more on selected parts of the person’s life that they were writing about. Matthew can be seen as if it were written in “topographical order” (Keener, 45). In his commentary, Craig S. Keener, observes that there are five topics within the book of Matthew and they are: ethics of the kingdom, mission of the kingdom, presence of the kingdom, church discipline and forgiveness, and future of the kingdom (Keener 45).
The purpose of Matthew is to speak directly to Jewish-Christians who at the time were struggling with the Pharisaic members of Judaism. At the same time Matthew also has a discipleship message that goes beyond the Jewish community. The most important purpose of Matthew is to establish Jesus as the Son of God and as the Messiah. The first chapter of Matthew sets Jesus up as the son of David and the son of Abraham in verse one and then as the Messiah in verse 16.
Matthew’s message was probably used as a “training manual for new Christians (Keener, 45). The way Jesus acted throughout the book is the way the church is supposed to act as well. The way Jesus teaches, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5-7, is the way that his followers are supposed to be. Matthew reveals Jesus as fulfilling Jewish Scriptures. Jesus is the hope for the Jewish readers and also for the Gentiles.
Prior to this reading of Matthew I never saw the parallel between Moses and Jesus as the New Moses. This new understanding of the text opened up many revelatory moments. The first of these was in Matthew 2:16 which says “When Herod learned that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who was two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men” (NISB). I had never noticed that, like Moses, Jesus escaped the wrath of an angry ruler. Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness and the temptation he encountered parallels with Moses and the Israelites. Also, Moses prayed to God and God provided Manna, quail, and water for the Israelites during their time in the wilderness. Again I am reminded of Moses in chapters five through seven. My favorite “aha” moment was when my mind made the connection between Moses going up the mountain to receive the law and Jesus going up the mountain to give the law refined to the listeners. Jesus also fed thousands with only a small amount of food.
Another thought-provoking moment for me was in Matthew 9:20-12. Jesus is walking to the home of a leader of a synagogue because the man’s daughter had died. The verses say, “Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak for she said to herself, ‘If only I touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ And instantly the woman was made well” (NISB). The part that made me think was what the commentary said, “In an act of scandalous faith, she touches Jesus’ garment…” (Keener, 71). The word “scandalous” struck me in a strong way. I mean, it really was scandalous faith because she was considered unclean because of the hemorrhaging. Walking through the crowds would have made everyone around her unclean according to the Torah. Yet her faith was the thing that drove her. “If only I touch his cloak…” was her thought. She had the faith to be healed and the faith to act. Because of her faith in action, she was healed.

Works Cited:

Carter, Warren. “The Gospel According to Matthew.” Pages 1745-47 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.

Keener, Craig S. “Matthew,” Pages 43-131 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993