Blessed Apostle Matthew, pray for us. We thank you that, by the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, you were able to write such a beautiful and profound Gospel that revealed the mystery of our Lord and bore witness to his divinity and fulfillment of the Law and Prophets. We ask that you pray for us, O Holy Apostle, that we may write as you did and bear witness to the glory and majesty of Christ our Lord! Amen!
“I love the Gospel of Matthew,” is a phrase I say pretty often with a lot of enthusiasm. And normally the first question in response to this phrase is, “why?” to which I respond with a variety of answers (because there are so many). That brings me to the reason for this article. In this article, I want to give you my reasons for loving the Gospel of Matthew and, in doing that, hope that you come to love the Gospel of Matthew as much as I do. This Gospel is rich in unique narratives, teachings, and parables and has a prominent place in the history of the Christian Church. This article is broken up into two major parts: (1) Matthew the Man and (2) Matthew the Book.
- Matthew the Man
Little is known about the Apostle Matthew. He is only mentioned in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in a very limited fashion. But from what we know from the Bible and the Patristic tradition, we can put together a somewhat comprehensive idea of who Matthew was as a person. Matthew is called in Matthew 9:9-13, when Jesus is walking and he sees a man at the tax collector’s booth named Matthew and tells him to follow him. After this, we find that Matthew, upon being called to follow Christ, has a dinner at his house with “many tax collectors and sinners.” This scene gives us a lot of information about Matthew. First, he was a tax collector, meaning he must have had training in reading, writing, and counting. He was also a collaborator with the Roman government, a traitor to the Jewish people. Secondly, he was a man of great means, in that he was able to provide food for a host of people at his own home. In the Gospel of Mark, we find Matthew being called ‘Levi’ and ‘Son of Alphaeus.’ If we closely read the rest of Mark, we see that James the Less is also called “Son of Alphaeus.” Scholars have postulated that this may mean Matthew and James are brothers. But it’s a bit unclear. Outside of the Scriptures, we have some references to Matthew the man. The Apostolic Father, Papias mentions that Matthew “put together the [oracles of the Lord] in the Hebrew language, and each once interpreted them as best he could.” St. Irenaeus also mentions Matthew in a similar way saying, “Matthew also issues a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the church.” We learn from the fathers that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew for the Jews specifically (more on this below). The Patristic tradition also gives us an idea of the final days of Matthew’s life. It places his apostolic mission in the Caucasus, Persia and Ethiopia, but how he was martyred is unclear. Given what we know from the Biblical and Patristic sources, we can say that Matthew-Levi was indeed an apostle of Christ, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew, a former tax collector and conspirator, and (a) son of Alphaeus.
- Matthew the Book
Matthew is my FAVORITE Gospel. The few words I use to describe this particular Gospel are unique, meticulous, organized, and comprehensive. This particular Gospel, as mentioned before, was written for a specific audience: Jews. Not only was it, according to tradition, originally written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek, it has ~50 explicit references to the Old Testament and ~150 allusions to it, collectively being about 200 references to the Old Testament. The goal, then, is convincing Jews that Christ is the long awaited Messiah spoken about in the Scriptures. One of the main points that typify this is Matthew’s want to present Christ as a new Moses. Christ, like Moses, is sought after as a child. Christ, like Moses, fasts 40 days in the desert. Christ, like Moses, appoints the 70 (or 72) like Moses. Christ as the new law-giver is also shown through the greatest sermon ever: The Sermon on the Mount. Christ, like Moses, gives the law from the mountain. Christ surpasses the greatest prophet in Israel’s history and demonstrates that he is “greater than the Temple,” “greater than Jonah,” and “Greater than Solomon,” that is, He is God, he surpasses the prophets, and is greater than the wisdom of the wisest man ever known. The Gospel of Matthew is divided into 5 parts (excluding the Infancy and Easter Narratives) with 5 major sermons: Infancy (Mt 1-2), Sermon on the Mount (Mt 3-7), Mission Sermon (Mt. 8-10), Mystery Sermon (Mt. 11-13), Mercy Sermon (Mt. 14-18), Mount Olives Sermon (eschatological discourse) (Mt. 19-25), Easter (26-28). And within each of these parts lies unique narratives, parables, and teachings:
- Unique narratives in Matthew:
(different) genealogy of Jesus (1:2-17)
Birth of Jesus Through Joseph’s Eyes (1:18-25)
Visit of the Magi (2:1-13)
Flight to Egypt (2:13-21)
Peter walking on Water(14:28-31)
Peter and the keys to the kingdom (16:17-19)
Peter and the temple tax (17:24-27)
Peter asks about forgiveness (18:21-22)
Death of judas (27:3-10)
Pilate washing his hands (27:24-25)
Resurrection of the saints (27:52-53)
Guard at the tomb (27:62-66;28:11-15)
- Unique teachings in Matthew:
Fulfillment of the law and prophets (5:17-20)
Six Antitheses (5:21-43) (“You have heard it said, but I say”…)
The practice of piety (6:1-18)
Pearls before swine (7:6)
Limit of the mission of the 12 to israel (10:5-6)
Invitation to rest (11:28-30)
Recovering the sinful brother (18:15-20)
Prohibition of titles (23:7-12)
Denunciation of the scribes and pharisees (23:15-22)
The great commission (28:16-20)
Unique Parables in Matthew:
The weeds and the wheat (13:24-30,36-43)
The treasure hidden in the field (13:44)
The pearl of great price (13:45-46)
The net of Good and Bad fish (13:47-52)
The unforgiving servant (18:23-35)
The laborers in the vineyard (20:1-16)
The two sons (obedient and disobedient) (21:28-32)
The wise and the Foolish virgins (25:1-13)
The sheep and the goats (25:31-46)
Taking all these things into account, I hope you find the Gospel of Saint Mathew to be as beautiful, meticulous, revelatory, and profound as I do!
Penn Epistle 