The Gospel of Matthew
Jesus as the Promised Messiah and King
Jesus interprets the intent of the Torah (the Mosaic Law) as a life of love
· Matthew means “gift of God”
· Author generally thought to be the apostle Matthew, the toll or tax (See Matthew 9:9, and 10:3)
· Thought to have been written in Hebrew or Aramaic, then translated to Greek
· -Believed to be the earliest gospel account written: About 75-85 CE after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE
· Very important account of the life of Christ for the early church, particularly in the Jewish Christian community. (Possibly this text was placed in Syria. Parallels some of the text in the Didache, which came from Syria and was an early manual for church practices).
· Matthew covers these early church concerns
- Miraculous Birth
- Jesus’ moral discourses
- Views of church discipline
- Principles of discipleship
- Jesus’ presence with the church until he return
· Promise-fulfillment expectation. Jesus as the Messiah who fulfills God’s promise of deliverance
· The historical perspective: what happened in the life of Christ
· The first century church perspective: how this particular account of the life of Christ would have been understood by early Christians
· Application for us today: how does this text speak authoritatively to the church today
· The Tanak:
- The Torah: The first five books of the Old Testament
- The Nebi’im: The prophets
- The kethubim: The writings
· Other Writings:
- The Apocrypha: Greek additions to the Setuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, or Tanak
- Targums: Aramaic translations of Hebrew scriptures
- Pseudepigrapha: written in the name of someone else, many apocalyptic writings, or writings about deliverance and hope, the end of time and the ages
· Mishnah: The Oral Law or Pharisaic interpretations and applications of the Torah to everyday life (see Matthew 15:1 – the “tradition of the elders”)
· Gemara: The commentary on the Mishnah
· Talmud: The Mishnah plus the Gemara
The Gospel of Matthew
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· Pharisees
- Accepted the Tanak, and Mishnah as equally authoritative and inspired
- Held there was a future life past death, and believed in reward and retribution after death
· Sadducees
- Accepted only the Torah as inspired by God, and rejected the other writings and oral traditions (Mishnah) as inspired
- Rejected the resurrection of the dead, and the idea of a future life
- Rejected the idea of a spiritual world, angels and demons
· Zealots
- Very loyal to Jewish traditions
- Opposed to using the Greek language in Palestine
- Opposed paying any taxes, saying that allegiance was due only to God
· Essenes
- Observed the purity laws of the Torah
- Strong communal sense and common ownership of property
- Strong daily devotional life
- They attributed all that happened to fate
- May be identified with the Qumran community (Dead Sea Scrolls)
· Important Notes:
- What held these groups together was the Temple. When the temple was destroyed in 70 CE, then much of the cohesiveness was lost
- Upon the fall of the temple, two groups remained:
1. The Nazarenes who were Christians
2. The Pharisees who held to Rabbinical Judaism
- The dividing line between these two groups was the inclusion of the Gentiles in Christianity.
- The key question in time of the New Testament was this: Is this a religion from the Jews only for Jews, or does it include the Gentiles?
- Key question at the time of the writing of Matthew was then: “What does it mean to be Jewish?” Jesus answers this question. He is the final interpreter of the Law
1. Matthew 7:12 – The essence of the meaning of the Law and the Prophets (Torah, Nebi’im)
2. Matthew 11:28-29 – The essence of discipleship (to “take the yoke” is language that was used to mean ‘to study under a teacher or Rabbi’)
3. Matthew 15:1-9 – Jesus corrects wrong interpretation of the Law
4. Matthew 19:16—30 – Instruction on what “life” is truly like
5. Matthew 25: The point of the Law is “active love for one another”.
- Jesus is showing what it means to live out the Law.
- He is not giving new teaching, but showing how the Law is fulfilled, and lived out.
- Jesus is the interpreter of the Law once and for all. He shows how it will be fulfilled.
- Jesus shows that the law is not rules, but a life of active love. Love transforms life.
- Jesus shows what it looks like to have the Torah internalized
The Gospel of Matthew
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· The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Jesus reveals the heart of the Law (or Torah). The intent is to be transformed by God’s law of love
- The “golden rule” (7:12) – “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
- “But I say to you…..” – Jesus explains the “heart” of the law
a. Fulfillment of the Law (Matthew 5:17-20) – living out the intent of the law
b. Being reconciled to one another (Matthew 5:21-26)
c. Sexual purity (Matthew 5:27-32)
d. Integrity (Matthew 5:33-37)
e. Sharing (Matthew 5:38-42)
f. Love for Enemies (Matthew 5:43-48)
g. Spiritual disciplines (Matthew 6:1-24): Giving, Prayer, Fasting
h. Trusting God for Provisions (Matthew 6:25-34)
i. Judging Others (Matthew 7:1-6)
· Contains a number of references to Jesus as “king” 2:2, 21:5, 25:34, 25:40; 27:11,29,37,42)
· Discourses with Pharisees (Matthew 23)
· Discourse on the end of the age (Matthew 24-25)