Plymothian

He said:

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount and are actually a summary.  The word Beatitude comes from the Latin beatitudo/beatus (Wilkins).  This is because of the word which we translate ‘blessed’.  In each beatitude we have reassurance for those within the Kingdom of God.  This is emphasized by an ‘inclusio’.  An inclusio is a repeated word or concept at the beginning and end of a section.  ‘…theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven’ is such a phrase.  This list is not an entry requirement to get into the Kingdom, but it is the kind of life reflected in those of the Kingdom.

• Those in the Kingdom of Heaven realise that none of their personal attributes or possessions is of real worth.
• Those in the Kingdom of Heaven see the corruption of sin in their own lives and in the world around them and they are grief stricken.
• Those in the Kingdom of Heaven have little thought for themselves.  They easily stand up for the Kingdom without worrying about themselves as too important or too insignificant.
• Those in the Kingdom of Heaven desire to live life as God designed it to be lived.
• Those who live in the Kingdom of God realise they are forgiven for horrific sin and so they easily extend mercy to others.
• Those in the Kingdom of God have their hearts changed by God.
• Those in the kingdom of God encourage unity and peace.
• Those in the kingdom of God will stand out because of their choices and lifestyle.  People won’t like that.

Jesus reassures his immediate listeners with the assurance that if they move from the crowd of humanity to become his disciples they will be changed in these ways as they explore Jesus’ teaching.  There are also rewards:

• They possess the Kingdom of Heaven.
• They receive comfort from God himself.
• The earth belongs to them.
• There is a wholeness and a fulness which will not elude them any longer.
• They will receive mercy from God and from others in the Kingdom.
• God will reveal himself to those in the Kingdom.
• God adopts those in the Kingdom and gives them an inheritance.

Questions

1. What are the qualities of someone in the Kingdom of Heaven?
2. Are these qualities someone must perform to enter the Kingdom?
3. What is the purpose of listing these qualities?
4. Do you exhibit the Beattitudes?
5. What is the reward for those who exercise the Beattitudes?

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

Disciples

Jesus does not draw everyone to him to hear the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus is about to lay out the ideal life which is only truly pursued by disciples.  Jesus’ disciples were more in number than 12.  From his disciples he calls twelve to be leaders, but at various times we see that Jesus motivates and moves to action more than 12.  He preaches to the masses, the crowd in Matthew.  Out of the crowd a few bold souls step forward and follow Jesus.  To these Jesus preaches a series of discourses in Matthew which lay out exactly what Kingdom living should be like.  Because they have entered the Kingdom they will be set apart in lifestyle choices and actions.  The question is, do you stand out from the crowd as a disciple?  If you do, Matthew 5-7 will tell you how you can live.

Questions

1. To whom does Jesus talk?
2. Are you a disciple or are you in the crowd?

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,^[g] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Jesus Calls Disciples

The introduction to Jesus’ life is over.  Now he starts about his work in earnest.  It seems that he has got started in ministry and then moved north to the shores of The Sea of Galilee.  He had been hanging around with the fishermen of Capernaum for quite some time, according to John and the other gospels.  Now he calls them to a decision.  Are the these fishermen going to follow him?  He is calling them to make a radical life change and commence a journey with him that will not be at all smooth.  They have misconceptions of what he is offering them, they will oppose him, he will confuse them. However, when Jesus says, “Follow me!”  They drop their livelihood and change their plans.  Peter does not abandon his wife and familial responsibilities, Jesus does not call them to be cruel or reckless.  He calls them to live a life of walking in his footsteps.  Jesus takes the disciples with him on a journey which declares that God’s kingdom is at hand.  Jesus teaches in the synagogues of leaders who will reject him.  However, as he wanders around the countryside of Galilee more and more people join the crowd of people whose needs Jesus is taking care of.

A transition will occur as the disciples remain faithful to their commitment to Jesus.  The crowds will waver as he calls them to understand much more than taking care of their felt needs.  Perhaps we can learn that taking care of needs is a start to forming a relationship.  However, as we disciple people, we need to prepare them to walk a path which may be marked with confusion and suffering.  True disciples have faith that the Jesus who has called them is worthy of following.  False disciples walk away when they cease to see that Jesus is important to helping them with their own plans.  Whose plan for your life are you following?  Jesus says to you, “Follow me!”

Questions

1. What events occured before Jesus stepped up and started ministry in Capernaum?
2. What did Jesus’ ministry involve?
3. In your mind, why do you think the first disciples followed Jesus?
4. When did you first hear Jesus caling you to be a disciple?
5. How has your opinion of who Jesus is matured as you have walked with him?

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^[a] by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God,tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[b]”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[d]”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^[e]”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Jesus Was temoted Like Us

Jesus is a man.  Jesus is God.  Being God didn’t make him less human.  This is important.  It means that Jesus becomes our model for how life should have been without the fall.  As a second Adam, Jesus redeems us, but he also models for us how a life is best lived.  When he is tempted by Satan in the desert, the temptation is real.  His flesh wants food, he could wow the crowds and become popular in an instant, he could rule the world without having to endure the cross.  He resists it all.  He models how we can too.

Firstly, being led to the testing grounds by The Holy Spirit means that Jesus knows there is purpose in his being there.  As he and the Holy Spirit commune, he knows that what Satan uses as temptation, God allows as testing.  Any testing allowed by God can be endured.  You have not been tested in ways that the Holy Spirit and you can not handle together.

Secondly, Jesus’ heart, soul, and mind are focused on the life that God has laid out for him.  He sees his whole life as one that needs to be lived in harmony with his calling.  This was true as a carpenter, now that he will be a ‘minister’ it is just as true.

Thirdly, he has committed God’s word, the scriptures, to memory.  Jesus has studied the Bible so that its words are readily available.  He has only learned the Old Testament and he knows it well.  We have two testaments to learn.  This is not a chore.  It makes us strong.

Finally, Jesus knows that temptation comes from lies that we are prone to believe.  From little lies like, “I need chocolate” to ever more destructive lies like, “I need to walk away from my family, it’s too much.”

Jesus was not born knowing everything.  He had emptied himself of that aspect of Godhood.  He did what you and I have to do.  He was obedient to his earthly parents as they modeled a Jewish worldview for him.  He studied torah and set time apart for prayer.  He fasted and focused his energies on the task God had for him.  In the Holy Spirit we can do likewise.  No-one has to sin and fall short – we just choose to.  We can choose to stop.

Questions

1. What three things did Satan tempt Jesus to do?
2. What bigger issues do you think these three temptations presented to Jesus?
3. How did relationship with the Holy Spirit and the Father play a role in the testing of Jesus?
4. What are things that regularly tempt you?
5. How can Jesus’ temptation narrative provide a model for you to resist the devil and pursue God more healthily?

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

⁴ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with^[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

John the Baptist turned his backs on the trappings of worldly living.  His clothing identified with the poor, and his food was a balanced diet of locusts and wild honey.  He had the appearance of a prophet of old and so in the wilderness he told the people to repent.  Every class of people came to see him, but he scolded the religious elite for their complacency.  His message of repentance was for everyone;  all people needed to change the focus of their lives in the light of the coming kingdom.  Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God was a new mode of life where God’s rule was reestablished in Palestine.  This kingdom was coming, but many thought it would be a wealthy, domineering kingdom like that of Rome of Babylon. John prepares people for something different.  When King Jesus establishes his kingdom it will be through internal change.  It will be by establishing the lives of his followers on values and principles that put God before all else.  Jesus affirms a kingdom with this focus when he allows himself to be baptized.  As the king he has no need of baptism into the kingdom.  However, as one baptized he shows that the kingdom has come and that he identifies with its subjects.

Questions

1. With what does John compare the religious leaders of his day?
2. What kind of kingdom do you think people expected in Palestine in 34 A.D.?
3. How do people need to change their attitudes in order to receive the kingdom?
4. How might you be calloused against the kingdom and its mode of living?
5. What does preparing for the kingdom require of you?

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[c]

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Adoptive Father

A lot of prophesy is fulfilled in a strange way above.  God the Father is taking care of his Son in ways that were laid out before the foundation of the world.  However, God has assigned Joseph as the adoptive father.  He obediently foloows through on God’s will for the family.  He protects the family as an active participant.  He moves the family to Egypt for at least a year.  Although Mary has seen an angel who told her she was having a child, in Matthew the recipient of visions and dreams becomes Joseph.  He takes initiative and leads the family wisely.  He could have distanced himself from Mary and a son that was not his biological offspring.  No-one would have blamed him.  However, he endures in his faithfulness under duress.

I am a father who has no bioogical ties to his own children.  Therefore I am challenged to step up like Joseph.  I need to take initiative in matters of spiritual well-being.  I need to protect those that God has placed in my care.  I need to endure when my patience wears thin or I feel devalued or threatened.  God works through such people.  He can raise up healthy children even in such unlikely places like Nazareth or McHenry, Illinois.

Questions

1. How is Joseph a capable father to Jesus?
2. How does Matthew use ‘prophecy’ to show how Jesus’ life mirrors the history of Israel?
3. How are God the Father and Joseph shown to work together in parenting Jesus?
4. How should God the Father and an earthly father work together in parenting today?
5. How can parents develop godly attitudes?

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his starwhen it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Three Wise Men

So, who is the King of the Jews?  This is one of the questions raised in the passage above.  Herod was a tyrant.  He murdered his own children and wife because he was paranoid of their taking the throne.  He wasn’t Jewish at all, but he was a puppet King of the Jews, put there by the Romans.  He had done a lot to ensure his own glory, and the glorious succession of his kingdom by his own children.  The leadership of Jerusalem had bought into his leadership and had received many great buildings and fortifications as a result.  Then a group of scholars from Babylonia trundles into Jerusalem looking for the new heir.  they have been following a star to commemorate his birth.  Herod finds out that Jesus is only two years old or younger.  No real threat, if he can just get the wise men from the east (it doesn’t say there were three), to tell him where the threat to his dynasty is.

However, the delicate dynasty of Jesus is preserved supernaturally and his true kingship is established more by the mighty protection of God than Herod’s is by his paranoid machinations.  A toddler is swept up and has gifts that can pay his way to Egypt and escape.  Angels subtly undo Herod’s subterfuge, and all is well.  The same God guides the way to the future in our days.  He brings together the forces that will do his will.  Quietly but firmly God opposes the proud, and the Father establishes the Kingdom of Heaven wherever he wills on the face of the planet.  Wise people turn away from busyness, consumerism, and power.  They find Jesus, and they walk a different path home.

Questions

1. What are the three kings really called?
2. How are Jesus and Herod contrasted?
3. How does God move along his plan of redemption for the people?
4. What forces tug for control of your life?
5. What direction is God leading you in for the future of yourself and your family?

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[g] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Immanuel – God With Us

If we are reading Matthew as a ‘How To’ book, we can often look first to Mary and her obedience and then to Joseph and see how we should behave.  This is Jesus’ biography, though.  Our first look is to what it tells us about Jesus.  Jesus is the Son of Man and he is the Son of God.  Jesus is the product of a divine overshadowing of Mary, but she carries her child in such a normal way, Joseph suspects adultery.  God’s presence through the Holy Spirit creates a new life in Mary.  The son who will be born will be like God in the Garden of Eden, He will be like the pillar of cloud or fire in Exodus, he will be like the Ark of The Covenant.  God will walk with the people, and the wise will walk with him.  Mary submits to this call.  Joseph is reluctant because he lacks understanding, but he submits to the plan once he understands.  It is the combination of the divine and the human that enables those on earth to walk with God with an intimate nearness.  This is what the name Immanuel conveys.  The question becomes for us, “Do we wish to walk with God?”  God is with us, and he has given us a choice.

Questions

1. Of what is this section the account?
2. If Joseph and Mary were only engaged, why was divorce necessary?
3. If Joseph had been harsh and legalistic, what was the potential outcome for Mary and her baby?
4. What would it have been like to crawl with God?  Babble with God?  Toddle with God?  Change God’s diaper?
5. How can you develop a more complete picture of Jesus both as God and man?

This is the genealogy^[a] of Jesus the Messiah^[b]the son of David,the son of Abraham:

¹⁷ Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

I See Dead People

When we read a list like the one above, we tend to glaze over.  We don’t know how to pronounce ancient Jewish names and we don’t know how to dig into a genealogy.  It’s like hanging out in a graveyard of people you never knew.  It is not surprising that we see little importance, my generation know the names of their grandparents but have difficulty recalling the names of great-grandparents.  In Jewish society it was important where you came from.  The claims to inheritance were settled this way.  The line of the king was settled this way.  Jewish priests kept records in the temple and families kept private records too.  Maybe we should be more intentional about passing on to the next generation records from previous ones.  Without written records, videos, and stories the legacy of lives lived blows away too soon with the dust.

Jesus’ line was biological and legal.  Mary is emphasized in the Greek as the biological mother of Jesus, Joseph is emphasized as the legal father of Jesus.  Legally Jesus inherits the right to be King of Israel through Joseph.  The Jewish audience would know that a claim to Jesus as Messiah, the Anointed One, is being emphasized.  Jesus has the right to rule.

Another interesting fact is that Matthew, who partied with tax collectors and prostitutes, includes a number of colourful women in his list.  This could be because he saw how women were increasingly abused by society and yet they were honoured by God.  It could be that the women were often Gentiles and Jesus line shows he is related to people beyond the Jews only.  Matthew had a purpose in including women, it was odd for the time.  What do you think that purpose might be?

The emphasis on checkered origins is emphasized by the lineage.  Jesus does not come from a line of righteous people.  The kings listed (the genealogy is selective and does not list everyone in Jesus’ heritage) are a mix of wicked people and good ones.  This shows that God starts new work in places that are not righteous and pure to begin with.  We have a hope that our family or personal histories are not a block to God using us in the future.

Questions

1. Which women does Matthew include in his list?
2. Is this a legal or a biological list?
3. Who does this list show Jesus to be by legal right?
4. If Jesus is the Messiah, what does that mean for non-Jewish people?
5. What does this list of names mean to you?
6. How might you record your family history for the benefit of your children and grandchildren?
7. (For my mum)Can you find the book that you made with Grandma of all her recollections?

Tomorrow we will start our journey through Matthew.  Today, let’s use the NIV Study Bible introduction on Matthew to make sure that we all have a basic grasp of the book’s context:

Author

Although the first Gospel is anonymous, the early church fathers were unanimous in holding that Matthew, one of  the 12 apostles, was its author. However, the results of modern critical studies—in particular those that stress Matthew’s alleged dependence on Mark for a substantial part of his Gospel—have caused some Biblical scholars to abandon Matthean authorship. Why, they ask, would Matthew, an eyewitness to the events of our Lord’s life, depend so heavily on Mark’s account? The best answer seems to be that he agreed with it and wanted to show that the apostolic testimony to Christ was not divided.

Matthew, whose name means “gift of the Lord,” was a tax collector who left his work to follow Jesus (9:9–13). In Mark and Luke he is called by his other name, Levi.

Date and Place of Writing

Some have argued on the basis of its Jewish characteristics that Matthew’s Gospel was written in the early church period, possibly the early part of a.d. 50, when the church was largely Jewish and the gospel was preached to Jews only (Ac 11:19). However, those who have concluded that both Matthew and Luke drew extensively from Mark’s Gospel date it later—after the Gospel of Mark had been in circulation for a period of time. See essay and chart, p. 1943. Accordingly, some feel that Matthew would have been written in the late 50s or in the 60s. Others, who assume that Mark was written between 65 and 70, place Matthew in the 70s or even later.  However, there is insufficient evidence to be dogmatic about either view.

The Jewish nature of Matthew’s Gospel may suggest that it was written in the Holy Land, though many think it may have originated in Syrian Antioch.

Recipients

Since his Gospel was written in Greek, Matthew’s readers were obviously Greek-speaking. They also seem to have been Jews. Many elements point to Jewish readership: Matthew’s concern with fulfillment of the OT (he has more quotations from and allusions to the OT than any other NT author); his tracing of Jesus’ descent from Abraham (1:1–17); his lack of explanation of Jewish customs (especially in contrast to Mark); his use of Jewish terminology (e.g., “kingdom of heaven,” where “heaven” reveals the Jewish reverential reluctance to use the name of God; see note on 3:2); his emphasis on Jesus’ role as “Son of David” (1:1; 9:27; 12:23;15:22; 20:30–31; 21:9,15; 22:41–45). This does not mean, however, that Matthew restricts his Gospel to Jews. He records the coming of the Magi (non-Jews) to worship the infant Jesus (2:1–12), as well as Jesus’ statement that the “field is the world” (13:38). He also gives a full statement of the Great Commission (28:18–20). These passages show that, although Matthew’s Gospel is Jewish, it has a universal outlook.

Purpose

Matthew’s main purpose is to prove to his Jewish readers that Jesus is their Messiah. He does this primarily by showing how Jesus in his life and ministry fulfilled the OT Scriptures.  Although all the Gospel writers quote the OT, Matthew includes nine proof texts unique to his Gospel (1:22–23; 2:15; 2:17–18; 2:23; 4:14–16; 8:17; 12:17–21; 13:35; 27:9–10) to drive home his basic theme: Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT predictions of the Messiah. Matthew even finds the history of God’s people in the OT recapitulated in some aspects of Jesus’ life (see, e.g., his quotation of Hos 11:1 in 2:15). To accomplish his purpose Matthew also emphasizes  Jesus’ Davidic lineage (see Recipients, p. 1945).

Structure

The way the material is arranged reveals an artistic touch. The whole Gospel is woven around five great discourses: (1) chs. 5–7; (2) ch. 10; (3) ch. 13; (4) ch. 18; (5) chs. 24–25. That this is deliberate is clear from the refrain that concludes each discourse: “When Jesus had finished saying these things,” or similar words (7:28; 11:1; 13:53;19:1; 26:1). The narrative sections, in each case, appropriately lead up to the discourses. The Gospel has a fitting prologue   (chs. 1–2) and a challenging epilogue (28:16–20).

The fivefold division may suggest that Matthew has modeled his book on the structure of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT). He may also be presenting the gospel as a new Torah and Jesus as a new and greater Moses.

Questions

1. What language did those receiving the book speak?
2. With what two cultures were the recipients familiar?
3. What does Matthew draw upon to establish authority?
4. From what sources (e.g. scientific, biblical, historical) would someone need to write so that you were convinced of Jesus’ identity?
5. Before reading Matthew this time through, how would you identify Jesus?