1. The Gospel According to Matthew
Written between ad
In antioch
By a jewish christian
Utilized the ‘Q’ document

2. Overview of the Gospel The Gospel according to Matthew is a bridge
between the Old and New Testaments.
It was written for
Jewish-Christians , but also welcomed Gentiles.
The author describes Jesus as the culmination of
God’s plan of
creation and salvation.

3. Theological Themes in Matthew
Jesus as ‘anointed one’ - Christ in Greek,
Messiah in Hebrew
Jesus as ‘rabbi,’ or teacher – the
new Moses with a law of love
Through Jesus, the Jewish people found a
spiritual home
after the destruction of the temple.
More than any other Gospel, Matthew includes
prophecies proclaiming Jesus as Messiah.

4. Structure of the Gospel
Readers of the Gospel of Matthew likely made a connection between Jesus’ five major teachings and the five books of the
Torah.

5. Jesus’ Birth & Infancy Narratives
Gospel writers wrote the stories of Jesus’ birth—
infancy narratives—
knowing that Jesus was the Messiah.
Matthew includes four gentile women in his genealogy of Jesus, indicating that Jesus came for
Jews and Gentiles.*
The name Jesus, given by the angel Gabriel, means
“God saves.”
*Why would Matthew have included Rahab, a harlot who aided Joshua’s spies?
Compare the genealogies of Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38.

6. Jesus’ Birth & Infancy Narratives
The Infancy Narratives’ stories of the Magi and King Herod foreshadowed the fact that some people would
accept Jesus; others would reject him.
The tradition of the creche, or nativity scene, is from
St. Francis of Assisi.

7. Incarnation save us show us God’s love be our model of holiness
The mystery of God ‘becoming man,’ or the
Incarnation,
reveals that Jesus is both fully
human and divine.
God became man to:
save us
show us God’s love
be our model of holiness
make us sharers of the divine nature

8. Jesus’ Temptation Jesus’ temptation was aimed at three things:
material, miraculous, and political
power.
The temptation in the desert contrasted the time the Israelites were in the desert and
failed to follow God’s commandments.
When we choose to resist temptation, we are
strengthened against future trials,
as Jesus was.

9. Jesus’ Public Ministry
Jesus’ message included a note of urgency and called for people to
renounce
whatever would keep them from fully responding to Christ’s call.
This call is the call for the kingdom of heaven, or
the gift of salvation and eternal life
and God’s rule of justice, peace, & love.
Matthew uses the term YHWH, the Hebrew name for God, because Jews tended not to use the word God.
“Turn the other cheek…” When Jesus told his disciples to turn the other cheek instead of follow the ‘Eye for an eye’ mentality, was he simply telling them to be submissive to the Roman authorities?

10. The Coming of the Kingdom
The full and perfect realization of the kingdom is still in the future, as affirmed by Jesus in the prayer he gave us:
The Our Father.