Rather than write in chronological order, matthew arranges this gospel through six discussions. When we turn to matthew, we turn to the book which may well be called the most important single document of the christian faith, for in it we have the fullest and the most. While there is still argument over whether the gospel was written in hebrew or greek, it is unanimously agreed that the recipients were jewish or christianjewish people, who had converted to following jesus. It is assumed that the readers of this gospel understand the traditions and customs of the jews. Matthews gospel explains why israel, in their later books of the new testament, is seen temporally cast off by god, and why he is now taking out from the gentiles a people for his name. The gospel of matthew writing for a jewish christian audience, matthews main concern is to present jesus as a teacher even greater than moses.
Because the unknown author of matthew was rewriting marks gospel for a jewish audience. Who was the intended audience of matthews gospel answers. Fr michael mullins lectures in scripture in st patricks college, maynooth. Terms in this set 37 who was the audience to whom the gospel of matthew was written. Sep 07, 2018 matthew seems to have written this gospel to a christian audience who was either jewish or highly familiar with the jewish religion. Matthew s audience to whom was the gospel of matthew written. The audience of matthew download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl. The resulting text brings the story and teachings of jesus to life for contemporary readers of the gospel of matthew. Rethinking the gospel audiences, edited by richard bauckham, has had a profound effect on gospel study and has been probed and debated at major conferences, as well as at an international conference on the gospel of john 2002. In addition, matthew followed the format of grouping items andor events. It is shown why an argumentation analysis needs to be supplemented with a pragmatic literary analysis in order to.
The theme of mission has long been recognized as one of the fundamental interests of the author of the first gospel. Almost every commentary or major monograph on the gospels has had to deal with its thesis. He has already produced commentaries on the gospels of john and mark. The gospel of matthew writing for a jewish christian audience, matthew s main concern is to present jesus as a teacher even greater than moses. Matthew the evangelist, one of the 12 apostles, described in the text as a tax collector.
What impresses you most about matthews portrait of jesus. Gospel according to matthew, first of the four new testament gospels narratives recounting the life and death of jesus christ and, with the gospels according to mark and luke, one of the three socalled synoptic gospels i. The author relied on marks gospel for everything he knew about the life and mission of jesus. The gospel of matthew lesson 1 the geneology, birth and infancy of the king matthew chapters 12 outline 1a. With richard kiley, bruce marchiano, gerrit schoonhoven, dawid minnaar. Matthew recorded selected events from the life and ministry of jesus of nazareth in order to confirm to a jewish audience that jesus was indeed the promised old testament messiah and to explain the kingdom program of god for the present age in light of israels rejection of her king. Today i want to face more directly the question of his sources and how he redacted them in producing his gospel. Again this commentary on matthew gospel is a thorough and scholarly, but written in a readable style. This is the genealogy of jesus the messiah the son of david, the son of abraham.
This made matthew s writings highlight jesus as a fulfillment of the old testament hopes. The gospel of matthew was written to prove that jesus christ was the promised messiah of the old testament. Commentary, notes and study questions the ignatius catholic study bible. The first gospel and matthews mission narrative, theological. Matthew s gospel is clearly written for a jewish christian audience living within the immediate proximity of the homeland itself. It tells how israels messiah, rejected and executed in israel, pronounces judgement on israel and its leaders and becomes the salvation of the gentiles.
Abraham was the father of isaac, isaac the father of jacob, jacob the father of judah and his brothers. This class on the gospel of matthew is being taught by dr. About the audience of the gospels the discussion initiated by the gospels for all christians. Matthews gospel talks about jewish traditions without giving explanations of them. Matthew wrote his gospel to convince fellow jews that jesus was the messiah foretold in the old testament. Explain why the author of matthew appealed to the intended. Thus he shows the royal lineage of jesus from david, one of the first things required to convince a jewish audience that jesus qualified to be the messiah 117. A third characteristic of the gospel of matthew is its interest in ecclesiastical affairs. The missional audience of the gospel of matthew daniel w. The miracle of the healing of the centurions servant 8. The gospel according to matthew is the first book of the new testament and one of the three synoptic gospels. The only miracle recorded in all four gospels, those gospels being the synoptic gospels. The gospel of matthew as a literary argument springerlink.
Despite repeated challenges, the local audience thesis continues to dominate a large proportion of matthean scholarship, and, as such, the issue of determining the gospel s audience remains an open question. The gospel of matthew has long been the most popular of the four canonical gospels. Although the gospel of matthew does not specifically identify its audience, most authorities believe matthew is a gospel written by a jew, to jews, about a jew. Although the first gospel is anonymous, the early church fathers were unanimous in holding that matthew, one of the 12 apostles, was its author. The position of the gospel according to matthew as the first of the four gospels in the new testament reflects both the view that it was the first to be written, a view that goes back to the late second century a.
What was the tension that existed in matthews community. Who was the intended audience for the book of matthew. Matthew 1 niv bible this is the genealogy of jesus the. The great church historian, eusebius of caesarea, writes that pantaenus, a church leader in the late 2 nd to possibly early 3 rd century, came across the hebrew version of matthews gospel. The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelists community and the other jews, particularly with its sharp. This essay was extracted from the article isaiahs prophecy by t. Aug, 2017 because the unknown author of matthew was rewriting marks gospel for a jewish audience. The audience is a privileged observer which experiences things otherwise only available to certain characters like jesus.
As the only gospel that makes a direct mention of the church, much of the instruction recorded in matthew is especially appropriate for particular situations that arose in the christian churches of the first century. Ulrich bethany theological seminary richmond, in 47374 the gospel of matthew reflects an intense concern for mission, not only in the final command to disciple all nations 28. Tension between the desire to remain faithful to jewish roots and the belief that jesus is the messiah. The synoptic gospelsthe gospels according to matthew, mark, and luke are so similar to each other that, in a sense, they view jesus with the same eye synoptic, in contrast to the very different picture of jesus presented in the fourth gospel john or. The gospel of matthew chapter one matthew begins his gospel with the genealogy of jesus from abraham to joseph. Ryles expository thoughts on the gospels is a true classic. This summary of the gospel of matthew provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the gospel of matthew. Pantaenus also confirmed that matthew was the author of the first gospel. Matthew uses the expression kingdom of heaven thirtytwo times, while luke uses the expression kingdom of god thirtythree times. The gospel is not just good news but an elaborate argument for the standpoint that jesus is the son of god, the messiah. As a tax collector, matthew possessed a skill that makes his.
Matthew s gospel explains why israel, in their later books of the new testament, is seen temporally cast off by god, and why he is now taking out from the gentiles a people for his name. The jewish audience would have required the old testament. Matthews genealogy attests that jesus was the son of two individuals. Matthew is the writer, his countrymen the readers, and jesus christ the subject. The gospel according to matthew catholic resources. The discussion initiated by the gospels for all christians. The king was id entif ied as the son of davi d f ulf ill ment of the dav idi c covenant and as the son of abrah am fulfillment of the abrahamic covenant. Matthews audience to whom was the gospel of matthew written. Despite repeated challenges, the local audience thesis continues to dominate a large proportion of matthean scholarship, and, as such, the issue of determining the gospels audience remains an open question.
Jun, 2017 the symbol for the gospel of matthew is a winged man in the second century, st. Through an argumentation analysis can one show how it is feasible to view a narrative religious text such as the gospel of matthew as a literary argument. The gospel of matthew, like all the other new testament gospels, was originally anonymous and only attributed to matthew, the disciple of jesus, later in the second century. The gospel of matthew lesson 4 spiritual requirements for the kingdom of heaven multiple miracles. Commentary, notes and study questions the ignatius catholic study bible scott hahn, curtis mitch, dennis walters on. Irenaeus famously associated symbols from ezekiel 1.
The supply of works adapted for this purpose has never yet been equal. Subsequent edits were then made to the book of matthew after careful consideration of the king james bible and the current forms of modern english usage. This book seeks to establish the inadequacy of readings of the gospel of matthew as intended for, and a reflection of, a local audience or community. The jewish audience would have required the old testament to support matthew s claims of jesus as messiah. Matthew s attention to the jewish scriptures and respect for jewish customs, as well as the structure of this gospel, indicate that it was written primarily for jewish christians rather than pagan converts. We note two approaches for determining the authorship of matthew. The first gospel and matthews mission narrative, theological and historical perspectives eckhard j. The book of psalms the holy bible complete chapters 1 150 narrator max mclean duration. His gospel was written from a jewish viewpoint for a jewish audience. The gospel of st matthew asv american standard version. The book of matthew has always occupied a position of high esteem in the faith and life of the church. Schnabel trinity evangelical divinity school society of biblical literature, philadelphia, november 2005 abstract. We may approach the authorship by assigning the authorship based on second century early church fathers, who unanimously believed that matthew, one of the twelve apostles, was the author.
The importance of marks audience cannot be overestimated because it plays an important literary role. The credentials of the king 12 miracles matthew chapters 89 1b. There is, however, much material in matthew not paralleled in mark, in fact the latter supplied only about onehalf the material. The gospel of matthew is not consecutive except for the last weeks of jesus ministry.
The first class is by john oakes and is an introduction to the book of matthew, with emphasis on matthews use of historical prophecies, prefigures and foreshadows to show that jesus fulfills the messianic expectation. The story of the storytellers the gospel of matthew. Matthews attention to the jewish scriptures and respect for jewish customs, as well as the structure of this gospel, indicate that it was written primarily for jewish christians rather than pagan converts. The gospel of matthew was written by matthew himself, who was jewish. The story of the storytellers the gospel of matthew from. Despite repeated challenges, the local audience thesis. In the first preface to the work ryle writes, i indulge the hope that the work may be found suitable for use at family prayers. Matthews gospel is clearly written for a jewish christian audience living within the immediate proximity of the homeland itself. It was written to a jewish audience using many quotes from the old testament. Rediscover the book of matthew online with the new century gospels of jesus christ by. While there is still argument over whether the gospel was written in hebrew or greek, it is unanimously agreed that the recipients were jewish or christianjewish people, who had converted to. This contemporary version of the gospel of matthew uses the twentieth century new testament as its primary resource. While other books contain portions of the sermon on the mount, none cover it as thoroughly as the book of matthew. How did this affect the manner in which matthew wrote about jesus.
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