Study in the Gospel by Mathew, Introduction

Mathew presents Jesus as the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah. Mathew wrote the Gospel primarily for Jewish people that had been waiting for centuries for the Messiah’s coming.

Through carefully selected series of Old Testament quotations (more than sixty), Mathew documents Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Jesus’ genealogy, baptism, message, and miracles all point to the same inescapable conclusion: Christ is King. Jesus turns even the seemingly defeat of His death into victory through the Resurrection, and so the message again echoes forth: The King of the Jews.

At an early date, this Gospel received the title kata Mathaion , “According to Mathew.” As the name suggests, other Gospels were known at the time, Mathew (which means Gift of the Lord) was also named Levi.

Mathew is the first of the three synoptic Gospels, so called because they see together the life and teaching of Jesus, Mathew, Mark, and Luke each record basically the same events, but with different angles.

Themes: the word “fulfilled” appears repeatedly  in the Gospel of Mathew, mostly referring to Jesus’ fulfilment of Old Testament messianic prophecies.

Author: Mathew, a Jew who had collected taxes for the hated Romans.

Time: most authorities believe that the Gospel of Mark predates Mathew and that Mathew follows Mark’s account in many of its narratives; if so, Mathew could be dated in the A.D. 70s.OIthers believe Mathew was written earlier, in the A. D 50s or 60s.

Structure: the Gospel of Mathew begins by tracing Jesus ‘family history all the way back to Abraham, and recording a few incidents surrounding His birth (1-2). It then describes the preparation and beginning of Jesus’ earthy ministry, including the ministry of John the Baptist, Jesus’ baptism and His temptation (3-4). The Sermon on the Mount (5-7) is followed by various accounts of Jesus ‘healings and teachings (8-9), and His words on missions. The Gospel then reports Jesus’ travels in which He taught the mases, often using parables, and performance of miracles (11-23). A special section predicting the events leading up to and including the end times (24-25) is followed by a final portion that reports Jesus ‘arrest, sentencing, crucifixion, and resurrection (26-28). 13/9/2026.