Matthew

Matthew

Finding the Context:

1.     What do you see in this book that tells about the Original Reader?

Matthew was written to the Jewish people. It was written to reveal to them that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. The genealogy of Jesus is included in this book and would have given the Jews “proof” that Jesus was who He claimed to be (1).  Jesus discusses several heart issues throughout this book (5:27-30, 43-47; 6:25-33; 7:1-5; 9:4-6; 15:10-20; 22:36-40). At this stage in history the Jews had become overly concerned with rituals and being ceremonially clean and would have needed to be reminded that God cares more about the heart and what is inside than what is on the outside.

2.     What do you see in this book that tells you about the author?

Matthew is traditionally considered to be the author of this book. There is little known about Matthew except that he was a tax collector and would have been considered to be one of the more “dirty” Jews because of his associations with sinners and Romans (9:9-11). Yet, out of all of the disciples He is the one who ends up writing the gospel that is addressed to the Jews.

3.     What are the main themes, and repeated ideas in this book, and what is a one-sentence summary of the “main idea”?

The main idea of Matthew is that Jesus has come as the long awaited Messiah and has fulfilled the entire law and the many Messianic prophecies.

One of the biggest themes in the book of Matthew is the kingdom of God. Matthew gives the reader several examples of what the kingdom of God can be related to. He also discusses what it will look like and how to identify it. The Jews would have been searching for this and now Jesus is found in the book of Matthew revealing more about what His kingdom is like (5:3,10,19,20; 6:33; 7:13,14; 13:11,24-52; 16:28; 18:1-3, 23-35; 19:14,23; 20:1-16; 21:31-46; 22:1-14; 25; 26).

You also see a theme of “living out commands, not just doing them” found frequently in this book. Jesus is constantly stating the importance of not just stating what is important but actually doing it. He also gives many practical instructions on how to go about fulfilling the law and living out His teachings from the heart (5-7, 15:1-20; 23).

4.     What is the primary reason this book was written?

Matthew was written to reveal to the Jewish people that their long awaited Messiah and finally come in the person of Jesus. Throughout the Old Testament you find many prophecies about the coming Messiah. In Matthew you see frequent references back to these prophecies that the Jews would have been familiar with, offered as proof that Jesus was who they had been looking for all these years (2:5,6,18,23; 3:3; 4:14-16; 8:17; 11:10; 12:18-21; 15:8,9; 21:42; 26:31; 27:7-10).

Theme Tracing:

1.     What does this book show about the character and nature of God?

In Matthew you find God revealing Himself as the Redeemer of the people (26:26). For hundreds of years the Jews has been offering sacrifices and awaiting the Messiah to come and redeem them. Matthew reveals that God is indeed a Redeemer by sending Jesus to die for His people (27).

You also that God still remains as honest as He was in the Old Testament. Jesus is not someone to “sugar coat” things but rather continually speaks out the truth even when it is considered offensive to those who may hear it (12:21-24, 39-45; 21:45,46; 23).

2.     What does this book show about God’s redemptive plan for mankind?

You finally see all the Messianic prophecies that have been previously prophesied fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Matthew refers to these prophecies over and over affirming that Jesus is the Messiah. Matthew also gives its readers a description of the death of Jesus, which was God’s ultimate act of redemption for His people (5:17-19, 27, see also above for references regarding prophecies).  

Application Questions:

1.     Personal Application

I’ve been thinking lately about motives and how they relate to actions. One thing that stood out to me from Matthew was Jesus’ command to do things for Him in secret. He commands to give, fast and pray in secret and not to do it before people (6:1-6, 16-18). I must be constantly checking myself and evaluating my motives in doing these things. Do I do them simply to be seen or do I do them to please the Lord? There are times and certain actions that when done for Christ need to be done in a place where just Him and I alone can see and I want to be faithful to do that and not live out actions for the sake of how it makes me look. Yet, Jesus also commands in 5:14-16 to let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify the Father for a light is meant to be put on a lamp stand so that everyone in the house may receive light.  So obviously, there is also a time to shine before men because it brings glory to Christ. As I think about how to reconcile these two passages, I believe that a lot of it boils down to motives. Why do I do what I do? Am I living for my own selfish desires or am I living to promote the Father? Lord, make my life so marked by such intimacy with Christ that I lose sight of the fact that I even exist so that every thing I do would be done out of a heart to please and promote you alone. May I always live for an audience of One in everything!

2.     Point of Passion

       I love the first command that Jesus ever gives His disciples when He calls them. “Come follow me” (4:19). The very first thing they were to do was simply follow Jesus and the result was that He would teach them how to catch men. I love the simplicity in this as it applies to evangelism. Jesus didn’t initially tell his disciples to follow Him and do some big great thing. He told them to simply follow Him. Once they did that, Jesus did the next thing. He SHOWED them how to catch men. Some versions say, “He MADE them fishers of men”. Either way it was something that Jesus did, not the  disciples. They were simply commanded to follow Him. So many of us can get so easily get caught up in doing a million and ten things and coming up with all different kinds of strategies and programs in order to win men to Christ that we forget that the first and foremost thing is to simply follow. Do we take the time and effort to make sure that we have done that well first or do we simply rush ahead with all of our own great ideas before we even stop to determine whether we are truly following Jesus? If we can reach the place in our lives where we are truly fixed upon Jesus alone and walking wherever He decides to walk, everything else will take care of itself. He will show you how to do what He wants you to do and He will change you to become what you could have never become otherwise. You don’t have to figure out all these great strategies and come up with all these great ideas to win men and women to Christ. All you simply have to do is follow. Just simply follow Jesus and He will take care of everything else. Too simple? Last I checked, Jesus usually doesn’t like doing things our way.