Matthew part 1

Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth

Dating the Gospel

Anywhere between AD 40 and 100 fits the data, though evidence can narrow that range to 58-69. Ensminger postulates a Sadducean persecution of Christians at least in both Jerusalem and Rom between AD 58-65. Irenaeus and Eusebius quote from Matthew and reference a Hebraic gospel by Matthew, which may be a sayings collection. Even so, references in Matthew include details unnecessary to a post-temple time for Judaism. “Why would Matthew (and only he) include references to the temple tax (17:24-27), offerings (5:23-24) and ritual (23:16-22), or to Sabbath keeping in Judea (24:20) in an era (after 70) in which none of these was practiced any longer? Why would he, throughout his Gospel, distinctively emphasize the antagonism of the Sadducees (and of Jerusalem more generally) when neither this sect nor this center of Judaism persisted after the war with Rome?”

Sometimes Christians skip over such discussions about dating, but if we do, we miss a very important detail about what Matthew records. Part of what Jesus teaches prophesies the coming destruction of the Jewish Temple. Now, we could listen to skeptics who tell us no human could make such predictions, but when the evidence continues to point to an earlier date for Matthew’s Gospel than the destruction of Jerusalem, perhaps that tells us Jesus is no ordinary human. The fact that Matthew records such prophecies before they happen reinforce the identity of Jesus as a true prophet.

The early date for Matthew reminds us of God’s faithfulness to accomplish what He says He will accomplish.

The Lord gives the Israelites a fairly simple test for prophets in Deuteronomy 18.

When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 18:22

Matthew gives many references to events that occur either later in Jesus’ life, and even events after Matthew’s Gospel. Every time one of those came true, it was one more instance where Matthew says, “We really should listen to Jesus.”

Themes to Watch For

There are four main themes seen in Matthew. Each of these reinforce the demand of a response to Jesus. We cannot simply allow the truth claims of Christ to be relegated to irrelevance, because Jesus demands a response from God’s people, as well as those who are far from God. Additionally, when we study the Gospel of Matthew, we see a perspective on Jesus meant for those who believe they have God figured out. No, Christian, you do not. Blomberg puts it this way,

“But R. T. France is surely correct in stressing that Matthew ultimately portrays Jesus as “the man who fits no formula” but whose authority and power (28:18), declarations of forgiveness (9:2), reception of worship (14:33), and demands for allegiance (10:37-39) all depict him as one “in the place of God,” or in Matthew’s own language, “Immanuel, God with us.”

In a world that constantly wants to place Jesus in some political or sociological box, Matthew’s Gospel reminds us Jesus does not fit in anyone’s box.

Instead, here are the four themes to which Matthew will return throughout his Gospel.

From Israel to the Nations—Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom of Heaven which will envelope all nations. Matthew culminates this theme in the Great Commission.

The Son of David—Jesus’ identity is in constant dialogue with the disciples, the Jewish leaders, and the wider population. Peter’s declaration in Matthew 16:13-20 marks a pivot in Jesus’ ministry and begins the road to the cross.

The Fulfillment of Scripture—Jesus regularly challenges the status quo of Hebrew interpretation, as well as, notes fulfillment of prophecy during his ministry. Matthew also insists that Jesus is greater than the Old Testament categories of national leaders—prophet, priest, and king.

Discipleship and the Church—Matthew focuses on the necessity of obedience to Jesus and his teachings as part of salvation. Similar to what James will write later, Matthew does not separate faith and works. False teachers are known by their fruit, and true disciples are known by theirs.

These themes can be summarized in this way:

God has visited this planet, has inaugurated His Kingdom on Earth, and demands allegiance to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The Author and his Purpose

Scholars often fruitlessly pursue the purpose for a given biblical book, and Matthew is no exception. Given the theme of “Israel to the Nations,” Matthew’s Gospel is certainly meant to be read, inevitably, by all. Still, he maintains a particular Jewish focus on the story of Jesus which has typically been seen as Matthew seeking a Jewish audience. Blomberg notes Matthew could also be reminding Gentile Christians of the Jewish roots of their faith—a reminder that has proven needed throughout Christian history.

Connected to this discussion are what sources Matthew utilized for writing his Gospel and which “Matthew” actually wrote the book. The latter is easier to nail down than the former. The Early Church tradition has long held the Apostle Matthew as author, and despite the attempts of skeptical scholarship to deny this tradition, the evidence still points to the apostle. A Jewish tax collector would certainly have the literacy in Semitic and Greek languages to write both a Hebrew sayings and a Greek Gospel, and having been an eyewitness to the accounts would have the necessary knowledge of details.

And yet, ample evidence suggests Mark wrote his gospel first, and Matthew may have even consulted with it. This evidence begs the question, why would Matthew need to consult with Mark if he was the eyewitness and Mark became a disciple after the Resurrection? Well, Mark’s Gospel has long been held to be more Peter’s memoirs than Mark’s original writing. Again, the Early Church understood Peter to be the source behind Mark’s Gospel, and scholarship has maintained this fact. Thus, when Matthew decides to record his own accounts, it would make sense for him to refer to the established work. Additionally, as alluded above, Matthew may have recorded a Hebrew sayings Gospel prior to his Greek Gospel. Eusebius mentions such a work, though it has long been lost to history. Scholars of the New Testament have proposed a lost work, named “Q”, to be source material for Mark, and by extension Matthew and Luke.

While conservative scholarship has been reticent to embrace such an idea, this critical line of scholarship inadvertently supports a very orthodox understanding. Christians, from the very beginning, have been a “people of the book”—meaning Christians have long held the necessity of recording events and passing those records around the world and down through history. But, humanity has long been a more oral species. Literacy has been a luxury of the wealthy and educated until the last few centuries. Even today, many of the poorest areas of the globe maintain oral societies simply because the people cannot read. So how were Christians to share the records of Jesus? They did so through oral stories. Q is seen to be a collection of sayings about Jesus. Matthew may have written, or at least collected, Hebrew sayings about Jesus. Perhaps these are the same material, perhaps not, but either way, the fact remains from the days of Jesus walking the earth (~3 BC-AD 33) to the first writings about him (most likely 1 Corinthians with Mark following a short time later), Christians told stories about Jesus. Of course the Gospel writers shared the same source material, they were sharing from the same oral traditions! In fact, many scholars have noted how Paul’s letters, John’s Gospel, as well as other parts of the New Testament, seem to answer the misunderstandings of local churches who followed this oral tradition.

This historical rabbit hole is not just about dissecting history for the theological nerds in the audience. It addresses one of the main issues Matthew records about Jesus’ ministry. Jesus spent three years on this earth teaching because the people had learned about God wrongly. “You’ve heard it said____, but I say to you _____.” Consider why Matthew directs his attention to a primarily Jewish audience. These were his brothers and sisters who were being led astray by the very people who presumed to speak for God. Matthew includes the reference to the rumors of the disciples stealing Jesus’ body, which is one last jab at those who would lie about the resurrection. Matthew wants us to get the story of Jesus correct, so that we can follow him correctly.

I once heard an educator tell our workshop that teachers too often are “learning by rumor rather than actually being trained.” Then he said, “And that’s why y’all are having so many problems.” Unfortunately, too many Christians learn about Jesus by rumor rather than actually being trained. Matthew reminds us that if we are to follow Jesus as He calls us to follow Him, we have to get our facts straight.

Matthew’s Gospel reminds us true discipleship requires a correct understanding of Jesus.

This understanding of Jesus centers on a particular word—authority. Matthew’s Gospel, among other things, points us to understanding the true authority on God is Jesus, because Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.

Rather than beginning our reading of Matthew with Chapter 1, let’s take a look at this motif of authority. I have two reasons for this. 1) Chapter 1 requires its own sermon simply because of its content. (Matthew 1 is not a simple genealogy.) 2) A proper introduction of Matthew must end with the overall thrust of Matthew’s Gospel which boils down to the simple truth, the King of the Universe, The Most High God, has come to earth, and His Name is Jesus.

The Authority of Jesus

First, turn to Matthew 7 and take a look at how Matthew ends the Sermon on the Mount.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Matthew 7:28-29

When Jesus taught, He taught as someone who knew what they were talking about. He was not some scribe or academic who theorized about God, society, or politics. He was the authority.

Next, turn to Matthew 9.

And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew 9:1-8

Not only did Jesus teach with authority, he performed miracles with authority. He forgives sins with authority. He is certainly not “just another teacher.” The scribes were absolutely correct about one thing—only God has the authority to forgive sin. But, they missed the fact that God was right there in their midst. Interestingly, the crowds had not quite made the connection either. Matthew notes they were afraid, but not because they recognized Jesus as Immanuel, but because they believed God had granted a human such authority. Regardless, this scene brings us to:

Jesus’ teachings and miracles pointed to the reality of His identity as Immanuel and His authority to heal and forgive.

Jesus passes on this authority to the disciples in chapter 10. At this point in time, they are to only go to the lost sheep of Israel, but later they will be commissioned to go to all the nations. But before we get to that part of Matthew, turn to chapter 12.

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:1-8

Jesus is not giving us license to eat in church on Sunday. He is letting the Pharisees know they are so focused on the letter of the law, they are missing the entire point of the Law. Jesus quotes Isaiah who told the priests in his day the same thing. In Isaiah’s day, in Jesus’ day, and even still in our day, there are those whose sole focus is on keeping things the way they believe they should be rather than seeing what God says ought to be. David told his soldiers, “If you’re hungry, eat,” and God did not count it as sin. Jesus told his disciples the same. The Pharisees saw this as performing work on the Sabbath, but Jesus is telling them the point of the Sabbath is to rest and reflect on your relationship with God. It’s hard to do that when you’re hungry!

Jesus’ authority supersedes established religious authority.

As baptists, we tend to get excited when we are talking about biblical authority or Jesus’ authority over other religious traditions, but we also tend to forget that means Jesus’ authority also supersedes our own traditions and systems. That does not mean everything is wrong unless Jesus says it’s ok, as some would like to argue. It does mean that whenever our own desires and traditions get in the way of obeying what God is calling us to do, it’s time re-evaluate our priorities.

We will certainly see other examples of Jesus’ authority throughout this series, but let’s end today where Matthew ends. Turn to Matthew 28:18. We read it last week in light of Easter, but let’s read it again in light of Jesus’ authority.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

How much authority does Jesus actually hold? All of it belongs to Jesus—all authority in heaven and on earth. He sends out the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, and lets them know He will be with them every step of the way.

When Jesus says, “I am with you,” we could interpret that as a simple pronoun and linking verb, but we also could see what Matthew teaches throughout his Gospel. “I am” might be better rendered “I AM” because Jesus is the Great I AM with us. He is Immanuel, God with us. In fact, Jesus says, He is with us, and will be with us, to the very end of this age. Until this age is over when Jesus bodily returns to usher in the new heaven and new earth, He is still with us. Whenever we surrender to King Jesus, He gives us His Holy Spirit who indwells us, guides us, and empowers us to boldly proclaim “Jesus is King!”

On Jesus’ authority, He deputizes us to go and make disciples reminding us He remains Immanuel, God with us.

The authority of Jesus may still be questioned by skeptics, but Matthew’s Gospel reminds us the authority of Jesus still remains. Scoffers, skeptics, and religious leaders have been attempting to subvert Jesus’ mission for 2,000 years, but just as Matthew’s Gospel still remains, so too does Jesus Himself. He is with us, and He calls us to surrender whatever authority we think we have over to Him, because He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and one day he is going to return.