The Bible is in two different Testaments; we call them the Old and the New Testaments. Now, this is not a title or a distinction that has been chosen arbitrarily, it's what the Apostles chose. They called the Jewish Scriptures the Old Testament (2 Corinthians 3:14) and then the Christian Scriptures we call the New Testament (Hebrews 9:15). The word testament means the same as covenant; so, then, we have the writings of the Old Covenant and we have the writings of the New Covenant.
Some may think that the Old Testament is not important, but it really is. The Bible says it is a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). Technically, all of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are, in fact, Old Testament books. This is true in a practical sense, because they are the biography of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived and ministered before Calvary in an Old Testament period of time. The New Testament, of course, was ushered in and inaugurated by Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. So it would be a mistake to discard the Old Testament, because even the Gospels, strictly speaking, are referencing a period of Old Testament jurisdiction.
The entire Bible is important, both the Old and the New Testaments. Christians often refer to the Bible in its entirety as a rose: the Old Testament is the New Testament in bud form; the New Testament, then, is the Old Testament when that bud is in full bloom. Said another way: the New Testament is in the Old Testament enfolded, and the Old Testament is in the New Testament unfolded.
Date and Recipients
We may talk about the Gospel of Matthew as to its date of writing and of its recipients. The best that we can ascertain, the Gospel of Matthew was written between A.D. 48 and 58, and it was written to the Jews.
There is a debate over which book of the New Testament came first Matthew or Mark. The reason this question comes up is because about 95% of the Gospel of Mark is found in the Gospel of Matthew. So, did Mark write first and then Matthew use Mark's writing to elaborate? or did Matthew write first and Mark later on wrote his Gospel? The evidence seems to suggest that Matthew wrote his gospel before Mark wrote his. There are some reasons why that we believe that.
The order of the four Gospels were in a different sequence prior to Jerome’s writing of his Latin version (A.D. 383-404), as is illustrated by the Monarchian Prologues. In the Monarchain Prologues the order was: Matthew, John, Luke, and Mark. Since Jerome, the order has been what we have now. However in both the Prologues and Jerome’s Vulgate, Matthew appears first in the sequence. So, from the beginning Mattew held first place.
As has been remarked, Matthew and Mark are very much alike. Matthew is basically the book of Mark exploded, and Mark is fundamentally a condensed version of the Gospel of Matthew. Some passages in Matthew and Mark are verbatim (e.g. Matthew 10:21-22 & Mark 13:12-13. ). Does that mean that these texts are not the Word of God? Not at all. It simply means that one used the other as his guide to write his Gospel. Some might well ask: “Why then is there a need for two Gospels that are so much alike?” The answer is really profound and will be commented on next.
The first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are called the synoptic Gospels (synoptic means: the same) they cover pretty much the same material in the same format but the audiences are different. (Here, we are focused on Matthew and Mark only.) For instance Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience while Mark wrote to Gentile readers. There are some things about these two books that demonstrate that point. There was a time in the first century when the focus of evangelism left Judaism and went to the Gentiles. Matthew, however, was written in a time when the focus of evangelism was still on the Jews. We are told, for instance, in Acts chapter 11 that after the killing of Stephen the Christians scattered; they dispersed throughout the Roman world where they preached and evangelized. Moreover, we are, also, told in Acts chapter 11 that before Peter’s visit to Cornelius (Acts chapter 10) the Gospel was only presented to the Jews. But a little bit after that time Paul turned to the Gentiles with all of his zeal and fervor. The Gospel of Matthew was written, then, before the emphasis of evangelism went to the Gentiles.
We know that Matthew’s audience were Jews because of some of the terms he employed. For instance, Matthew would shy away from using the term God. He would use the word Heaven in place of God. For instance he would reference the Kingdom of Heaven were other writers of the Gospels would use the phrase Kingdom of God. The reason Matthew wrote in this manner was because the Jews had an abhorrence to even having the appearance of using the name of God in vain (Exodus 20:7). They had a fear of even referencing the term God. So, Matthew, rather than offend the sensitivities of the Jews to whom he was writing, would use the term Kingdom of Heaven.
Mark, on the other hand, wrote to a Gentile audience. He was the understudy of Peter, so, was not one of the original twelve. Peter, in one place called him his “son in the Lord” (1 Peter 5:13). Mark was only a child at the time of Jesus's ministry. Matthew, however, was an eyewitness and a major player in Jesus's ministry. Therefore, Matthew would not need Mark's Gospel as a guide to write his; it’s more likely that Mark used Matthew—it is just that he wrote a condensed version of Matthew. Thankfully, Mark did add some information that Matthew did not include; most likely it was information he received from Peter. A character of Mark’s Gospel that lets us know he is not writing to the Jews is that when he mentions things like geographical locations he goes into detail to describe where they are; when he mentions things particular to the Jews he elaborates on it because it's clear that he is writing to an audience that is not familiar with Jewish customs or locations. Matthew, on the other hand, is a totally different story.
Matthew the Person
Who was Matthew? Matthew was a tax collector.
Here we will consider something about tax collectors that might help us understand Matthew. The King James Bible calls him a publican. In the King James vernacular a publican is a tax collector.
In Judea, in this period of time, a publican was a Jew who worked for the Roman government collecting taxes. He was working for an occupying government that the Jews basically hated. The way that Rome would determine how much taxes was to be assessed from a certain district was by determining how wealthy the district was in population, produce and other goods. Then Rome would determine that it required X amount of taxes from said district. The tax collector, who would have most likely been a native of that place, would say to the Roman government: I will contract with you to collect these taxes. Most tax collectors were very wealthy or became so. This would be true because Rome would say: We want X amount of taxes from your district and then the tax collector would be given the authority to collect these taxes and anything that the tax collector could collect over and above the quota Rome had required was his to keep.
So, tax collectors were not loved. Think about this: If an occuying government came and occupied your country, and your neighbor became an agent of that occupying force to collect taxes from everyone, he probably would not be invited to your children's birthday party, or to weddings, or anniversaries. You probably would not be going out for Sunday dinner with that individual. One might form an unfavorable opinion of Matthew, but we should not, Matthew was a business man, and that fact concerning him is going to add to the richness of his Gospel.
Matthew had two names: Matthew and Levi. Mark and Luke both call him Levi, but, in Matthew 9:9, 13, where Matthew is giving the account of his recruitment by Christ and of his conversion from his old way of living to being a disciple of Christ, he called himself Matthew. We conclude, then, that Matthew is the name that was his name of choice. Mark and Luke called him Levi. Neither Mark nor Luke were one of the Twelve Apostles, so, were not intimate with Matthew during the ministry of Christ; Levi, then, was a name that they learned from the other disciples. But Matthew Levi preferred the name Matthew. We can understand why: the name Matthew means gift of the Lord.
The Theme of Matthew’s Gospel
Each writer of the Gospels had a particular theme which is woven throughout their manuscript. Matthew's theme was that Jesus is the Son of David. He comes right out of the gate, in verse 1, making that declaration. In verse 1 of chapter 1 we read: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the Son of David, the son of Abraham.” This theme of the “son of David” is interwoven throughout the entire Gospel. For instance in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 27 we read: “When Jesus departed thence two blind men followed him crying and saying Thou son of David have mercy on us.” Then, again, in Matthew chapter 12, verse 23: “All the people were amazed and said, Is not this the son of David?” And, then, in Matthew chapter 15, and verse 22: “behold a woman of Cana came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter's previously vexed with a devil.” Matthew chapter 20 and verses 30 through 31 again: “And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us O Lord, thou son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried out the more saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.” Then again in Matthew chapter 21, verses 9 and 15 (this is a recurring theme with Matthew): “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” And, verse 21, “When the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,.” Then, lastly, in Matthew chapter 22, verses 41 through 45 this is what we read: “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say to him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then called him Lord, how is he his son?” Matthew is very clear that this is his theme. And throughout his entire Gospel. He is just hammering and hammering and hammering this idea of Jesus being the son of David.
Moreover, when Matthew gives Jesus's genealogy he divides it into three groups of 14 generations each (Matthew 1:17). Matthew is very interested in numbers; he is very esoteric in that sense in that he writes in a very Hebraic manner. Hebraically, 14 is the number of David's name. Hebrew, like Greek, did not have a separate set of symbols for numbers: instead, they use letters for numbers. Therefore, certain letters have numerical values. Another particular of the Hebrew language is that it was not written with vowels. David’s name is written with three consonants: Dalet, Vav, Dalet. Which correspond to the English: D, V, and D. Each one of these letters have a numerical value: Dalet = 4, Vav = 6, and another Dalet = 4. When these numbers are added they equal 14, which is the number of David’s name. This system of turning names into numbers and numbers into names is called Gematria. Matthew is giving the genealogy of Christ, who he declares to be the “son of David”. By dividing Jesus’ genealogy into three groups of 14 he is informing his readers that Jesus is, indeed, the David's son that was to come and occupy His father's throne.
To be continued:
Apostolically Speaking
By Bp. Jerry L Hayes D.D.
Be sure to read Part II and Part III of the Introduction To The Gospel Of Matthre at the lonks listed here:
Introduction To The Gospel Of Matthew II,
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2023/09/introduction-to-gospel-of-matthew-part.html
Introduction To The Gospel Of Matthew III,
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2023/09/introduction-of-gospel-of-matthew-part.html
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