
He records the coming of the Magi (non-Jews) to worship the infant Jesus ( 2:1-12), as well as Jesus' statement that the "field is the world" ( 13:38). This does not mean, however, that Matthew restricts his Gospel to Jews.

Many elements point to Jewish readership: Matthew's concern with fulfillment of the OT (he has more quotationsįrom and allusions to the OT than any other NT author) his tracing of Jesus' descent from Abraham ( 1:1-17) his lack of explanation of Jewish customs (especially in contrast to Mark) his use of Jewish terminology (e.g., "kingdom of heaven," where "heaven" reveals the Jewish reverential reluctance to use the name of God see note on 3:2) his emphasis on Jesus' role as "Son of David" ( 1:1 9:27 12:23 15:22 20:30-31 21:9,15 22:41-45). Since his Gospel was written in Greek, Matthew's readers were obviously Greek-speaking. The Jewish nature of Matthew's Gospel may suggest that it was written in the Holy Land, though many think it may have originated in Syrian Antioch. However, there is insufficient evidence to be dogmatic about either view. Others, who assume that Mark was written between 65 and 70, place Matthew in the 70s or even later. Accordingly, some feel that Matthew would have been written in the late 50s or in the 60s. However, those who have concluded that both Matthew and Luke drew extensively from Mark's Gospel date it later - after the Gospel of Mark had been in circulation for a period of time. 50, when the church was largely Jewish and the gospel was preached to Jews only Some have argued on the basis of its Jewish characteristics that Matthew's Gospel was written in the early church period, possibly the early part of a.d.

In Mark and Luke he is called by his other name, Levi. Matthew, whose name means "gift of the Lord," was a tax collector who left his work to follow Jesus ( 9:9-13).

Why, they ask, would Matthew, an eyewitness to the events of our Lord's life, depend so heavily on Mark's account? The best answer seems to be that he agreed with it and wanted to show that the apostolic testimony to Christ was not divided. However, the results of modern critical studies - in particular those that stress Matthew's alleged dependence on Mark for a substantial part of his Gospel - have caused some Biblical scholars to abandon Matthean authorship. AuthorĪlthough the first Gospel is anonymous, the early church fathers were unanimous in holding that Matthew, one of the 12 apostles, was its author. Theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. This summary of the Gospel of Matthew provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme,
