matthew gospel according to

Matthew, Gospel according to
The author of this book was beyond a doubt the Matthew, an
apostle of our Lord, whose name it bears. He wrote the Gospel of
Christ according to his own plans and aims, and from his own
point of view, as did also the other "evangelists."

  As to the time of its composition, there is little in the
Gospel itself to indicate. It was evidently written before the
destruction of Jerusalem (Matt. 24), and some time after the
events it records. The probability is that it was written
between the years A.D. 60 and 65.

  The cast of thought and the forms of expression employed by
the writer show that this Gospel was written for Jewish
Christians of Palestine. His great object is to prove that Jesus
of Nazareth was the promised Messiah, and that in him the
ancient prophecies had their fulfilment. The Gospel is full of
allusions to those passages of the Old Testament in which Christ
is predicted and foreshadowed. The one aim prevading the whole
book is to show that Jesus is he "of whom Moses in the law and
the prophets did write." This Gospel contains no fewer than
sixty-five references to the Old Testament, forty-three of these
being direct verbal citations, thus greatly outnumbering those
found in the other Gospels. The main feature of this Gospel may
be expressed in the motto, "I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfil."

  As to the language in which this Gospel was written there is
much controversy. Many hold, in accordance with old tradition,
that it was originally written in Hebrew (i.e., the Aramaic or
Syro-Chaldee dialect, then the vernacular of the inhabitants of
Palestine), and afterwards translated into Greek, either by
Matthew himself or by some person unknown. This theory, though
earnestly maintained by able critics, we cannot see any ground
for adopting. From the first this Gospel in Greek was received
as of authority in the Church. There is nothing in it to show
that it is a translation. Though Matthew wrote mainly for the
Jews, yet they were everywhere familiar with the Greek language.
The same reasons which would have suggested the necessity of a
translation into Greek would have led the evangelist to write in
Greek at first. It is confessed that this Gospel has never been
found in any other form than that in which we now possess it.

  The leading characteristic of this Gospel is that it sets
forth the kingly glory of Christ, and shows him to be the true
heir to David's throne. It is the Gospel of the kingdom. Matthew
uses the expression "kingdom of heaven" (thirty-two times),
while Luke uses the expression "kingdom of God" (thirty-three
times). Some Latinized forms occur in this Gospel, as kodrantes
(Matt. 5:26), for the Latin quadrans, and phragello (27:26), for
the Latin flagello. It must be remembered that Matthew was a
tax-gatherer for the Roman government, and hence in contact with
those using the Latin language.

  As to the relation of the Gospels to each other, we must
maintain that each writer of the synoptics (the first three)
wrote independently of the other two, Matthew being probably
first in point of time.

  "Out of a total of 1071 verses, Matthew has 387 in common with
Mark and Luke, 130 with Mark, 184 with Luke; only 387 being
peculiar to itself." (See {MARK}; {LUKE}; {GOSPELS}.)

  The book is fitly divided into these four parts: (1.)
Containing the genealogy, the birth, and the infancy of Jesus
(1; 2).

  (2.) The discourses and actions of John the Baptist
preparatory to Christ's public ministry (3; 4:11).

  (3.) The discourses and actions of Christ in Galilee
(4:12-20:16).

  (4.) The sufferings, death and resurrection of our Lord
(20:17-28).