Reference: Matthew, Gospel According To
Easton
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 (MT 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 (Mt 5:26), for the Latin quadrans, and phragello (Mt 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).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Hastings
MATTHEW, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO.
1. The First Gospel in the Early Church.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
All this happened in fulfilment of what the Lord said through the prophet,
to fulfil what the Lord said by the prophet, "I called my son from Egypt."
to fulfil what the Lord said by the prophet, "I called my son from Egypt."
and he went and settled in a town called Nazareth, in fulfilment of the saying of the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."
in fulfilment of what was said by the prophet Isaiah,
"Do not suppose that I have come to do away with the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to do away with them but to enforce them.
When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were astounded at his teaching,
When he got back to Capernaum, a Roman captain came up and appealed to him,
And I tell you, many will come from the east and from the west and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven,
in fulfilment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "He took our sickness and carried away our diseases."
As Jesus was passing along from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Take pity on us, you Son of David!"
But just as they were going out, some people brought to him a dumb man who was possessed by a demon,
When Jesus had finished giving his twelve disciples these instructions, he went on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
At that same time Jesus walked one Sabbath through the wheat fields, and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of wheat and eat them.
??n fulfilment of what was said by the prophet Isaiah,
At that time some people brought to him a man blind and dumb, who was possessed by a demon, and he cured him, so that the dumb man could speak and see.
But he answered, "Only a wicked and faithless age insists upon a sign, and no sign will be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonah.
to fulfil what was said by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in figures, I will utter things that have been hidden since the creation."
And he did not do many wonders there, because of their want of faith.
Peter answered, "If it is you, Master, order me to come to you on the water."
Then he warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. It was then that Jesus Christ for the first time explained to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and endure great suffering there at the hands of the elders, high priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised to life on the third day.
Six days after this, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain, by themselves. And his appearance underwent a change in their presence and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. read more. And Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. And Peter spoke, and said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three huts here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." As he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved. He is my Chosen. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard it, they were dreadfully frightened and fell upon their faces. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, "Get up and do not be afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus himself.
When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple-tax came and said to Peter, "Does not your Master pay the temple-tax?"
When Jesus had finished this discourse, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan.
For the Kingdom of Heaven is like an employer who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
When they were near Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage and the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples on ahead,
Now this happened in fulfilment of what was said by the prophet,
"Listen to another figure. There was a land owner who planted a vineyard and fenced it in, and hewed out a wine-vat in it, and built a watch-tower, and leased it to tenants, and left the neighborhood.
"That, I tell you, is why the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a people that will produce its proper fruit.
And Jesus left the Temple and was going away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the Temple buildings.
As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age."
"Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
"For it is just like a man who was going on a journey, and called in his slaves, and put his property in their hands.
So the words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver pieces, the price of the one whose price had been fixed, on whom some of the Israelites had set a price,
Now while he was on the bench his wife sent to him to say, "Do not have anything to do with that upright man, for I have just had a painful experience in a dream about him."
When Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing but that a riot was beginning instead, he took some water and washed his hands in the presence of the crowd, saying, "I am not responsible for this man's death; you must see to it yourselves."
they offered him a drink of wine mixed with gall, and when he tasted it he would not drink it.
Therefore go and make disciples of all the heathen, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit,
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were keeping a fast. And people came and asked him, "Why is it that when John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are keeping the fast, yours are not keeping it?"
And the Pharisees said to him, "Look! Why are they doing what it is against the law to do on the Sabbath?"
And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said that he was possessed by Beelzebub and drove out demons by the help of the prince of demons.
And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not observe the rules handed down by our ancestors, but eat food without purifying their hands?"
As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down."
"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out." And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. read more. Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them. But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings. But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them. For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen. When they are taking you off to trial do not worry beforehand about what you ought to say, but say whatever is given you when the time comes, for it is not you that will speak, but the holy Spirit. Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved. But as soon as you see the dreadful desecration standing where he has no right to stand" (the reader must take note of this), "then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills; a man on the roof of his house must not go down or go into the house to get anything out of it, and a man in the field must not turn back to get his coat. Alas for women who are with child at that time, or who have babies! Pray that it may not be winter when it comes, for there will be such misery in those days as there has never been since the beginning of God's creation until now, and never will be again. If the Lord had not cut those days short, nobody would have escaped, but for the sake of his own chosen people he has cut the days short. If anyone says to you at that time, 'Look! Here is the Christ!' or 'Look! There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear, and they will show signs and wonders to mislead God's chosen people if they can. But you must be on your guard; I have told you all about it beforehand. But in those days, when that misery is over, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the forces in the sky will shake. Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the world to the other. "Let the fig tree teach you the lesson. As soon as its branches grow soft and put forth leaves you know that summer is coming. So when you see these things happening, you must know that he is just at the door. I tell you, these things will all happen before the present age passes away. Earth and sky will pass away, but my words will not. But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father. You must look out and be on the alert, for you do not know when it will be time; just as a man when he leaves home to go on a journey, and puts his slaves in charge, each with his duties, gives orders to the watchman to keep watch. So you must be on the watch, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming??n the evening or at midnight or toward daybreak or early in the morning??36 for fear he should come unexpectedly and find you asleep.
Jesus was in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper, and as he was at table, a woman came in, with an alabaster flask of pure nard perfume, very expensive; she broke the flask and poured the perfume on his head.
They offered him drugged wine, but he would not take it.
When he saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven!"
When he saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven!"
Then he fixed his eyes on his disciples, and said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours! "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied! "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh! read more. "Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you and spurn the name you bear as evil, on account of the Son of Man. Be glad when that happens, and leap for joy, for you will be richly rewarded in heaven, for that is the way their forefathers treated the prophets. "But alas for you who are rich, for you have had your comfort! "Alas for you who have plenty to eat now, for you will be hungry! "Alas for you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep! "Alas for you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is the way their forefathers treated the false prophets! "But I tell you who hear me, love your enemies, treat those who hate you well, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To the man that strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from the man who takes away your coat, do not keep back your shirt either. Give to everyone that asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. And treat men just as you wish them to treat you. If you love only those who love you, what merit is there in that? For even godless people love those who love them. And if you help only those who help you, what merit is there in that? Even godless people act in that way. And if you lend only to people from whom you expect to get something, what merit is there in that? Even godless people lend to godless people, meaning to get it back again in full.
He said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Father, your name be revered! Your kingdom come! Give us each day our bread for the day, read more. and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive anyone who wrongs us; and do not subject us to temptation.' "
As the crowds pressed a round him, he went on to say, "This is a wicked age! It demands a sign, and no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah.
And he said to his disciples, "Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about life, wondering what you will have to eat, or about your body, wondering what you will have to wear.
For when you are going before the magistrate with your opponent, do your best on the way to get rid of him, or he may hurry you off to the judge and the judge hand you over to the constable and the constable throw you into prison.
Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?"
So the Word became flesh and blood and lived for a while among us, abounding in blessing and truth, and we saw the honor God had given him, such honor as an only son receives from his father.
The man who saw it testifies to it??is testimony is true; he knows that he is telling the truth??o lead you also to believe.
I tell you, when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will put a girdle on you and take you where you have no wish to go"
A great deal, from every point of view. In the first place, the Jews were intrusted with the utterances of God.