Lesson 5

1. Why was Matthew placed first in the NT? The early Christians saw it as: - most important. - having the clearest link to the OT. - the first gospel written.

2. Date of Matthew (traditional view): - Early church believed it was the first gospel

written. - Its focus was a Jewish audience and most of

the first Christians were Jewish.

2. Date of Matthew (traditional view): - Matthew deals a lot with the Sadducees who

were no longer around after 70 AD. - “If it would have been written after 70 AD

the writer would have added much more direct reference to the destruction of the temple.” (J.A.T. Robinson).

2. Date of Matthew (traditional view):

- In 1901, 3 small fragments of Matthew 26 were discovered in Egypt (Magdalen Papyrus) and have been dated as early as 60 AD by Carsten Thiede, however Carsten’s theory is disputed by most archeological authorities who place the fragments closer to 200 AD.

2. Date of Matthew (contemporary view): - Believe Mark to be the first gospel written

(around 65 AD). - Uses of the term “church” in Matthew was

not common until 80-100 AD.

2. Date of Matthew (contemporary view): - Ignatius refers to the gospel of Matthew in 100 AD. - Papias refers to the gospel of Matthew “written in

the Hebrew language/manner” in 110-140 AD. - Matt. 22:7 alludes to the destruction of the temple

in 70 AD. - Most modern scholars place it between 80-90 AD.

Common Theory Today

Mark

Matthew Luke

Q – source M L Material unique to

Matthew Material unique to

Luke

What is common in Matthew & Luke was borrowed from Q (Quelle - independent source)

Matthew borrowed from Mark

Luke borrowed from Mark

(Mark wrote first)

2. Date of Matthew (Pastor Stef’s view): - Matthew wrote first around 60-65 AD in

Aramaic (which was later translated into Greek). - This was the common view of the early church. - It is still upheld by some brilliant theologians

today. (i.e. Joseph Ratzinger – former Pope Benedict XVI).

2. Date of Matthew (Pastor Stef’s view): - Lack of detail regarding the destruction of the temple

appears to place it before 70 AD.

- I believe that, as the gospel began to spread to the Gentiles, Mark used Matthew to write a shortened story of Jesus and Luke borrowed from both Matthew and Mark. (See also Luke 1:1-4).

- Therefore, the gospels were written in the same order that we find them in the Bible.

Where is the gospel of John in all of this? - Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the

synoptic (similar) gospels because of how much their material overlaps - even word for word.

- John does not have these similarities and was the last written gospel.

3. Who wrote the gospel of Matthew: -No name was signed to it. a) Matthew wrote it. - Universally believed by the early church. - Emphasis on money (Matthew 17:24-27, 18:23-35,

20:1-16, 27:3-10, 28:11-15) and Matthew was a tax collector.

a) Matthew wrote it. -It is the only gospel to contain the story of Jesus’ paying the temple tax. (17:24-27).

-Refers to Matthew as Matthew rather than as Levi as Mark & Luke do (though Matthew refers to himself in the third person). -We first find Matthew in 9:9-13.

b) Matthew did NOT write it. - Mostly from certain sections of modern

scholarship in the last few hundred years.

Reasons: - Why would the disciple Matthew take

material from the non-disciple Mark? -This assumes that Mark wrote first.

b) Matthew did NOT write it. Reasons: - The term “church” is used which only became

commonly used after Matthew’s death. - Yes, the word “church” was more common

in later usage, but this does not mean the term didn’t exist in Matthew’s time.

b) Matthew did NOT write it. Reasons: - The Greek is too good for a Jewish disciple to

have written it. - As a tax-collector for the Romans we can

assume that Matthew would have been quite proficient in Greek.

- Many in the early church also said that the gospel was originally written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek.

c) Matthew SORT-OF wrote it. - There was a “school of Matthew” in which

Matthew’s disciples collected and wrote down Matthew’s teachings. - This is pure speculation with no historical

evidence.

4. The focus of Matthew is fulfillment in Christ: - In Jesus all of God’s purposes have come to fulfillment. - Ten times in Matthew we find words like, “This was to

fulfill what was spoken of by the prophets…” followed by an OT quote.

4. The focus of Matthew is fulfillment in Christ. - The kingdom of “heaven” is at hand. - Matthew wants to show his Jewish audience that

Jesus is the fulfilment of the OT and the promised Messiah.

5. Matthew is structured around five major “talks” given by Jesus about the kingdom of heaven.

- With a Jewish audience in mind, many believe

that Matthew modeled his gospel like this to pattern it after the Torah – the first 5 books of the OT written by Moses.

5. Matthew is structured around five major “talks” given by Jesus about the kingdom of heaven.

Talk 1: What people in the kingdom will look

like. (Matt. 5 to 7:28).

Talk 2: The missionary work of the kingdom. (Matt. 10 to 11:1).

5. Matthew is structured around five major “talks” given by Jesus about the kingdom of heaven.

Talk 3: The parables about the kingdom. (Matt.

13:1-53). Talk 4: Who will be the greatest in the kingdom.

(Matt. 18 and 19). Talk 5: The future of the kingdom. (Matt. 24 to 26:1).