Matthew

Author: the apostle Matthew (Levi)
Place of writing: possibly the city of Syrian Antioch
Time of writing: unknown: perhaps between 60 and 65 A.D.

Although it is very difficult to determine the precise time and place in which Matthew wrote his gospel, it is most likely that he composed it for an audience of Greek-speaking Jewish believers in Christ, living in Syrian Antioch, some thirty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. This would explain Matthew’s style of writing, and his emphasis on proving that the Church is not altogether different from the Jewish religion, but is instead the very fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures and prophecies. There is, therefore, perhaps no better book to turn to for an understanding of the relationship between the Old and New Testament scriptures, and the central position that Jesus the Messiah occupies in the history of God’s people, throughout all of time.

The story of Matthew’s gospel (and all the gospel accounts) is the very foundation of our faith and hope. When man first rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, he was cursed with death and eternal punishment. But God promised to send a Messiah, who would establish the Kingdom of God on the earth, and restore fallen mankind from his sin and misery. The gospel is the account of how this actually happened: God himself took on human flesh, lived a perfect life of obedience to the Father, did many miracles of healing and compassion, and finally offered himself up as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of his people. And he did all of these things for us: his perfect life won for all those who believe in him a righteousness sufficient to please the holy God; his sacrificial death was sufficient to satisfy the wrath of God against the sins of all who believe in him; and his miracles of mercy were a foretaste of the eternal joy and forgiveness that he purchased for all who believe in him. Without the story of this gospel account, we are without hope; but because these things did in fact happen, we have the certain hope of eternal life and joy in the presence of our loving God and Father, if we believe in his Son, Jesus the Messiah.

Some of the distinctive characteristics of Matthew’s gospel are as follows: he emphasizes the truth of the revelation given to Abraham and all his descendants, and shows how the church is the true continuation of the Jewish religion; he emphasizes how thoroughly Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, the promised King from David’s line; he emphasizes the fact that Jesus established upon earth the long-awaited Kingdom of God, and proves that Gentiles were to be included as citizens, along with the Jewish people; and he records much of Jesus’ teaching, especially in five great discourses – the Sermon on the Mount (ch. 5-7); the commissioning of the twelve (ch. 10); the parables of the Kingdom (ch. 13); life in the Kingdom (ch. 18); and prophecies of end-time events (ch. 24-25).

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