An Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew Trinity Cathedral Matthew Groups By the Rev. James Richardson Advent 2019 The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes the Gospel of Matthew as a “manual of Christian teaching in which Jesus Christ, Lord of the new-yet-old community, the church, is described particularly as the fulfiller and the fulfillment of God’s will disclosed in the Old Testament.” And Matthew is much more than that. This introduction is intended for use with our Matthew Groups, a six-week course of studying the gospel in small groups. This introduction touches on the main themes and issues of Matthew, but by no means is this introduction exhaustive. It is the hope you will explore deeply the Gospel of Matthew and go further than what is written here. At the end of this introduction are a few suggested resources for further reading and exploration. The study guide for your group maps out six weeks of daily reading from Matthew with suggested discussion questions. The study guide also points you to links from the website www.IntroducingNT.com, connected to the book, Introducing the New Testament, by Mark Allan Powell. To find the links on the website, click on the tab “Chapters,” and then click “Chapter 6. Matthew.” Scroll down to “Explore Readings.” The links listed on this study guide follow the numbering system on the above webpage. Let’s explore Matthew. Here is an overview… Authorship The author is unknown. The gospel is named in honor of Matthew, the tax collector disciple. But there is no claim in the gospel or anywhere else that he wrote it. The names of the gospels were assigned in the second century. It was common practice in the ancient Greek world to name literature in honor of someone rather than its author. For convenience, we will refer to the gospel and its author as “Matthew.” 1 Keep in mind that the gospel was written in Greek, the common language of the Roman world, but a language that Jesus did not know. He spoke Aramaic, a dialect common to the Jews living in northern Israel and what is now Syria. Note that his words are translated from that language into Greek and then to us in English. The gospel also quotes extensively from the Hebrew Scriptures, further complicating translations and interpretation. As you know, ideas and nuances can be lost in the translation. The gospel was probably written in the 80s by a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian with knowledge of Aramaic and Hebrew or both. It may have been written in Damascus or Antioch, in what is now Syria. Antioch was a major center of learning in the ancient world, and the rival city to Alexandria. Mark is the gospel of Alexandria; Matthew is the gospel of Antioch. There is no known “original” text of Matthew, but many early manuscripts dating from the early centuries of Christianity. Those manuscripts have differences, often subtle, which biblical scholars call “divergences.” Matthew draws on a number of sources. About 80 percent of the Gospel of Mark is reproduced in Matthew, which is half-again longer than the Gospel of Mark – 11,300 words. Matthew shares a source in common with the Gospel of Luke; the two gospels have many of the same parables and teachings. The common source for Matthew and Luke is designated as “Q,” though that text has never been found and therefore remains a theory. Matthew also has a source known only to Matthew; much of the gospel is unique to itself (more on that below). Audience Matthew appears to be written for an endangered community of Christian Jews, probably in the Antioch region. They see themselves as persecuted like the Jews in slavery in Egypt, and so the Exodus motif from the Old Testament is echoed in Matthew. Jesus is seen as the new Moses leading them out of captivity in whatever “Egypt” holds them and brings them to the Promised Land of God’s salvation. The theme is set immediately at the beginning of the gospel in the genealogy tracing Jesus’s roots back to Abraham and linking him to King David, the last “messiah.” (Matthew 1:17). 2 Matthew is the most Jewish of the gospels, deeply enmeshed in Jewish culture and politics of the First Century. The gospel is written to prove that Jesus is the messiah, pausing frequently to quote the Old Testament. There are 40 such passages directly quoted from the Old Testament to make the point. In Christian tradition, Matthew is considered the “Church’s Gospel,” hence it is the first book in the New Testament. Why? Two passages: Upon Peter, the “Rock,” the Church will be built (Matthew 16:18), and “The Great Commission” to go forth and make new disciples by baptizing the “all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). Matthew’s uniqueness The imagery in Matthew is colorful, over-the-top, extravagant. Where Mark is stark, barebones, only-the-facts, Matthew is like opera. We pause at each scene, dwell in the details. Characters are richly developed, dialogue is full, the speeches are long, the dialogues fulsome, and the arguments violent. We get familiar but unique scenes and sayings like the “Sermon on the Mount,” with the “Beatitudes” – Blessed are the poor, the meek, the peace makers. We get the Lord’s Prayer. Luke also has a version of the Lord’s Prayer, but we use Matthew’s longer version in our worship (Matthew 6:9-13). We get a cascade of parables – the pithy stories with a point – including the parable of the seeds, the weeds and wheat, the mustard seed, the missing pearl. Matthew emphasizes an apocalyptic vision of the “end times.” You can read this as a prediction of the end of the world, or you can read this in the context of Matthew’s doctrine of the “harrowing” of hell, as Jesus descends into the chaos and rescues sinners. Jesus’s birth story is unique in Matthew. The gospels of Mark and John have no birth story, while in Luke Jesus is born in a manger, and is discovered by shepherds in the field. In Luke, Jesus has a quiet childhood. There is no star, no wise men, no conflict. But in Matthew, conflict begins at the start. The wise men, or “Magi,” from the east (note: Matthew does not specify how many) follow a star to Bethlehem. King Herod finds out and slaughters the children of Bethlehem; Mary and Joseph, with the baby Jesus, flee for the lives to Egypt. Only in Matthew do we hear this story. 3 The emphasis in Matthew’s birth story is on Joseph (unlike in Luke, where the emphasis is on Mary). It is through Joseph, who adopts Jesus as his own, that we understand Jesus’ legitimacy as heir to King David (through the genealogy at the start of the gospel). Hebrew numerology is embedded in these first verses of Matthew 1:1-17. Here is how: • 14 generations from Abraham to David • 14 generations from David to the exile in Babylon • 14 generations from Babylon to Joseph The numerical values of three Hebrews letters in David (DWD) add up to 14, symbolic of Jesus being the new David, the messiah. Content and organization We get more of Jesus’s teachings in Matthew than in the other gospels. Fully 43 percent of Matthew is taken up with teaching, compared with 20 percent of Mark as teaching. Distinctive to Matthew are the “Five Discourses”: (1) the “Sermon on the Mount”; (2) instructions to the disciples on their mission (3) the parables describing the Kingdom of Heaven; (4) the gathering the church in anticipation of the future followers; and (5) the “End Times” about the judgment to come. The division into five is not an accident; the “five discourses” are meant to parallel the five books of Torah, with Jesus as the new Moses. Many commentators have noted that geography is integral to the theology of Matthew. The stories are arranged around seven mountaintop experiences: (1) the mountain of the Temptation (Matthew 4:8); (2) the mountain of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1); (3) the mountain of the separation (Matthew 14:23); (4) the mountain of the feeding in the wilderness (Matthew 15:29);( 5) the mountain of the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1); (6) the mountain of the Olivet discourse (Matthew 24:3); and (7) the mountain of the commissioning (Matthew 28:16). And for every mountain there is a valley, with Jesus descending into the valley to heal, teach and lead people up to the next mountain. Commentators hear in this a metaphor for the spiritual life. 4 The geography of Jerusalem shapes the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus stands on the south steps of the Temple, where he preaches, teaches, and upsets the social order. The Temple is behind him where God is said to dwell in the inner sanctum of the Holy of Holies, but also where people are cheated out of their money to purchase animals for sacrifices. As Jesus teaches from the Temple steps, he looks downward to the Valley of Hinnom, where the sick and lepers are taken to die. Hinnom means Hell – the place is known as the Valley of Hell. We are challenged to ask which place is truly heaven and which place is hell? Is hell in the valley below? Or is it where the Temple authorities persecute and exploit people? Matthew challenges our very worldview of heaven and hell. Also note: Exactly halfway between the Temple and the Valley of Hinnom are the dungeons where Jesus is taken after his arrest, and where Peter denies Jesus three times before the cock crows.