Theologically Speaking: An Introduction to the Gospel according to Saint Matthew

Prepared by parishioner James Hukari

I don’t know about you, but when I pick-up a book to read, I generally want to

know something about it. The author, the plot, maybe the general period of time the

book covers, how many pages it has, etc.

I’m sure many are aware that the Church is on a three year lectionary cycle.

Each year is dedicated to one of the so-called Synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark and

Luke. Synoptic comes from the Greek syn meaning ‘together’ and opsis meaning ‘view.’

You might translate it as ‘seeing all together.’ Matthew clearly qualifies as Gospel, as it

gives a clear and structured account of the life of Jesus Christ. As we begin this new

Liturgical Year we will be blessed by the companionship of St. Matthew and his Gospel

as he introduces us to Jesus. A short introduction might help us get our bearings as we

begin.

Matthew Levi was a tax collector. That means he was a Jewish bureaucrat, who

paid the Romans for the ‘right’ to extract taxes from his Jewish countrymen - both

legitimate taxes owed to the State and illegitimate. The tax collectors then swindled as

much as they could from the innocent taxpayers.

He was called by Jesus as he sat in his tax booth in Capernaum. Matthew 9:9

tells us he got up immediately and followed Jesus. Mark records his name as Levi, son

of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). While there might be scant information about the Apostle’s life

(he is listed as an Apostle in Mt. 10:2, Acts 1:12), we are left with his Gospel as a

literary monument to him.

It’s also interesting that Matthew’s Gospel is the only Synoptic Gospel written by

an Apostle. Reportedly Mark was a close associate of Peter, perhaps chosen to be a

scribe for him. Luke picked up pen in order to write an orderly account of the events of

Jesus’ life for the most ‘excellent Theophilus’ (Luke 1:1-4)

The aim of the Gospel according to St. Matthew is to present Jesus of Nazareth

as the fulfillment of all that was promised and went before him. All of God’s promises

are yes and Amen in Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20). There is no “Plan B,” there is no ‘Yes, but .

Jesus is presented as both the son of David and the son of Abraham.

Also, Jesus is presented as coming to establish a new Kingdom. With his coming

at the end of the line of David, St. Matthew is saying that Jesus is the ultimate and final

King.

It’s appropriate that St. Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy and birth

of Jesus. These opening chapters are often referred to as the “Infancy narratives.” The

link between Jesus and Abraham and David was highlighted in chapter 1. In chapter 2,

Jesus is presented as the new Moses.

Like Moses, Jesus has to go into hiding as an infant, so his family takes him to

Egypt. And like the early Israelites, the child is eventually safe to return to Nazareth.

After John the Baptist is introduced, Jesus comes to him to be baptised. A baffling event

in-and-of-itself, but really beyond the scope of this introduction. Jesus is then led out to

the wilderness to be tempted. Ultimately he’s tempted by power - an important element

in Matthew’s Gospel. Soon after, Jesus ascends a mountain to begin delivering

teaching.

The overall structure of the Gospel is centered on five main sections or

discourses of Jesus and has often been compared to the first five books of the Bible.

The discourses seem to harken back to the five books of the Torah. Again like Moses,

Jesus becomes the lawgiver, the leader and the ultimate deliverer of God’s people.

We can best understand Matthew by focusing on these five discourses or

Sermons that make up the bulk of the Gospel. Interspersed throughout are accounts of

the movements of Jesus and his actions. At the end of each teaching blocks there is an

editorial phrase: ‘Now when Jesus finished these sayings/teaching/parables . . . ‘

After the Infancy Narratives, Matthew records the most well known sermon of

Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). The through-line of his opening sermon is

life in the Kingdom. As much as the British venerate the Magna Carta and the

Americans cherish the US Constitution, followers of Jesus should focus on the Sermon

on the Mount.

The Sermon begins with a wonderful portrait of a disciple of Christ (Mt. 5:1-12),

followed by the ethics of the Kingdom. In verse 17, Jesus says, “I have not come to

abolish the law or prophets . . . “, he then intersperses, “You have heard that it is said . .

. but I say to you.”

How are we to understand that seeming contradiction? Jesus is not setting aside

what was said before, he’s moving it from a set of external rules to an interior mode of

being.

The apex of Jesus’s teaching is what we refer to as the Lord’s Prayer (Mt.

6:9-15). The prayer highlights the major themes of the Gospel - God as our Father, the

coming Kingdom, the central Christian practice of forgiveness, and the road ahead.

His second discourse is a sermon on mission - Matthew 10. His call on us to a

new way of living, to a radical different kind of allegiance, is not to be hoarded, but to be

shared.

In chapter 13, Matthew tells us how Jesus went out and taught the people in

parables. It was Jesus’s way of teaching about the mystery of the Kingdom using

earthly language. We are told that great crowds gathered around Jesus, so he got into a

boat and taught as people gathered on the beach. Jesus told his disciples that he taught

in parables, not to confuse people, but to make people work to understand. Those

disinterested might hear what Jesus is saying, but they won’t listen (Mt. 13:13).

Here Matthew seems to have buried a cryptic description of himself. Mt. 13:51-53

says, “every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of

a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” The Greek

word matheteutheis, ‘who has become a disciple’ found in verse 52, contains the name

of Matthew in it. Matthew’s task is to faithfully reveal for us, all that went before Christ

and points to him and all the new to the coming of Christ ushers in.

In chapter 18, Jesus delivers his most prolonged teaching on humility and mercy.

Here we might identify closest to the early disciples of Jesus. Forgiveness is a practice

we all struggle with. Jesus intensifies it by saying that simple forgiveness isn’t enough in

the Kingdom, our forgiveness must be limitless - just as God forgives us. (Mt. 18:22)

The last major section of Jesus’s teaching is found in chapters 23-25, delivered

on the Mount of Olives. There is so much speculation about this text, wading into it

hardly seems prudent.

By using human language and images people would understand, Jesus is saying

don’t let anything surprise you, be ready (compare Mark 13). These events will happen

in your lifetime and repeat over and over again. Be prepared and don’t let momentary

circumstances overwhelm you.

There is so much to say about Saint Matthew’s Gospel. The Sunday selections

allow us the opportunity to read as a community and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, be

intentionally shaped by our reading.

The beauty of St. Matthew’s liturgical year is being re-introduced to Jesus as first

century Jews and Gentiles were. While the year is divided in small segments of texts,

it's imperative to also take time to read large sections of the Gospel to really get a feel of

who Jesus is. Matthew didn’t write in chapter and verses, he set out to tell a story.

Maybe a helpful goal would be to read the entire Gospel through, once, every month of

the year.

A beautiful overview of the Gospel by Malcolm Guite:

First of the four, Saint Matthew is the man;

A gospel that begins with generation,

Family lines entwine around the Son.

Born in Judea, born for every nation

Born under Law that all the Law of Moses

Might be fulfilled and flower into Grace

As every word and deed in time discloses

Eternal love with a human face.

This is the gospel of great reversal

A wayside weed is Solomon in glory

The smallest sparrow’s fall is universal

And Christ the heart of every human story.

‘I will be with you, though you may not see

And all you do, you do it unto me.’