The Gospel: Matthew Style
By Montserrat C., Morelia F, Lauren S., Gabby S., & Lacey Y.
Summary of the Gospel of Matthew
Author
Audience
Christology
Matthew depicts Jesus as a teacher for the people. He is constantly referred to as “teacher” not only by his disciples and followers, but by his opponents. Jesus instructs the entire community by his own authority. An example of Jesus’ teaching is when he told the Pharisees and chief priests the Parable of the Wedding Feast. The overall message was that they are being invited into the Kingdom but by refusing this invitation they are rejecting Jesus and the Kingdom.
Animal Depiction
The animal associated with the Gospel of Matthew is a human. The animal is connected to the very first thing that happens in the gospel: genealogy. Matthew includes the genealogy in his Gospel to show that Jesus truly is the son of Abraham and the son of Davis. Unique to his genealogy is the inclusion of five women. Three of these women were Gentiles and one was married to a Gentile so Matthew included them in his genealogy. This taught the audience if Jesus was a descendent of Gentiles, then there is no problem in allowing Gentiles to share in the Christian faith.
Division of The Gospel
The Gospel the Matthew is divided into 5 sections: The Infancy Narrative; The Proclamation of the Kingdom; Ministry and Mission in Galilee; Opposition from Israel; Jesus, the Kingdom, and the Church. There are 28 chapters in total. This division of these chapters is parallel to the division of the Torah, which also has 5 sections.
Uniqueness
Something unique to the Gospel of Matthew is that there was a guard outside the tomb of Jesus. Matthew places the guard at the front of the gospel because during that time that the gospel was written many people believed that the Disciples had stolen Jesus from the tomb.By placing the guard in front of the tomb Matthew discredits that theory. A pericope unique to the Gospel is the death of Judas Iscariot. The Gospel of Matthew is the only gospel to include the death of Judas. Another thing that is unique to matthew is the introduction of the responsibility for the death of Jesus. Some people believe that Matthew was saying that the Jews where responsible. This is the stem of a lot of antisemitism. This is incorrect. Matthew did not blame the Jews for the death of Jesus. Matthew was trying to talk about the conflict between the early church and the Jewish faith.
Model Disciple
Model disciple: those fully committed to proclaiming the kingdom of God and following Jesus. A true disciple knows that mercy and compassion motivate Jesus. The pharisees, never understood this, which is why they are not model disciples in the Gospel of Matthew, or any Gospel for that matter.
Citation
Ralph, Margaret Nutting. The New Testament: The Good News of Jesus Christ. Winona: Saint Mary’s Press, 2010. Print.
Wintz, Jack, ed. "Four Faces of Jesus." Catholic Update [Cincinnati] May 2013: 1-4. Print.
Witherup, Ronald D., et al, eds. The Catholic Study Bible. Second ed. N.p.: Oxford, 2010. Print.