The Gospels are the most important part of Holy Scripture because all that preceded them led up to them, and all that follows emerges from them. If the revelation of the Gospels were to be removed, the Old Testament would be an enigma, and the remainder of the New Testament would never have been written. These two parts of the Bible, comprising sixty-two of its sixty-six Books, derive their value from the four which we call the Gospels.[5; Scroggie, p. 476.]
External evidence strongly supports the Matthean authorship of the first Gospel. The earliest copies of the Gospel we have begin: “KATA MATTHAION” (“according to Matthew”). Several early church fathers referred to Matthew (whose name means “Gift of God” or “Faithful”) as the writer, including: Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen.[17] Papias’ use of the term logia to describe Matthew’s work, cited above, is not clear evidence of Matthean authorship of the first Gospel.[18] Since Matthew was a disciple of Jesus and one of the 12 Apostles, his work carried great influence and enjoyed much prestige from its first appearance. We might expect a more prominent disciple, such as Peter or James, to have written it. The fact that the early church accepted it as from Matthew further strengthens the likelihood that he indeed wrote it.
Internal evidence of Matthean authorship is also strong. As a tax collector for Rome, Matthew would have had to be able to write capably, he would have been a note-taker and preserver (unlike Jews of his time in general), and he probably knew shorthand.[19] His profession forced him to keep accurate and detailed records, which skill he put to good use in composing his Gospel. There are more references to money—and to more different kinds of money—in this Gospel, than in any of the others.[20] …
Matthew humbly referred to himself as a tax collector, a profession with objectionable connotations in his culture, whereas the other Gospel writers simply called him Matthew (or Levi). Matthew modestly called his feast for Jesus “dining” (Matt. 9:9-10), but Luke referred to it as “a big reception” (Luke 5:29).[22] All these details confirm the testimony of the early church fathers.[23]
According to tradition, Matthew ministered in Palestine for several years after Jesus’ ascension to heaven. He also made missionary journeys to the Jews who lived among the Gentiles outside Palestine, Diaspora Jews. There is evidence that he visited Persia, Ethiopia, Syria, and Greece.[24]
“It was no ordinary man who wrote a Gospel which Renan, the French critic, eighteen hundred years later, could call the most important book in the world. How many of our current best sellers will still be leading human thought in A.D. 3600?”[25] (Constable)
It has been estimated that about one-fifth of Jesus’ teachings dealt with money matters.(Blomberg, Preaching … p 83) …
1:6b-11
Deviations from the otherwise repetitive pattern of “X the father of Y” throughout these verses begin with the addition of “and his brothers” to the reference to Judah in v. 2 Obviously, it was natural to speak of all twelve of the sons of Jacob as founding fathers of the tribes of Israel. In v. 3 Zerah appears along with his twin brother Perez, a natural pairing (Gen 38:27-30). In v. 11 Jeconiah also appears with “his brothers,” again a reference to the nation of Israel as a whole at the time of its deportation. Otherwise the most notable break in pattern in Matthew’s genealogy involves the introduction of five women, both unnecessary and unusual in Jewish genealogies. These include Tamar (v. 3; cf. Gen 381, Rahab (v. 5: cf. Josh 2), Ruth (v. 5. cf. Ruth 3), Bathsheba (v. 6, ef 2 Sam 119- referred to only as “Uriah’s wife.” perhaps to remind the reader of David’s adulterous and murderous behavior-and Mary (v. 16). (Blomberg, p 55)
Why are the first four of these women included? Suggestions have included viewing them as examples of sinners Jesus came to save, representative Gentiles to whom the Christian mission would be extended, or women who had illicit marriages and/or illegitimate children. The only factor that clearly applies to all four is that suspicions of illegitimacy surrounded their sexual activity and childbearing. (Blomberg, 55 f.; Blomberg referenced J. Schaberg)
In all four cases God acted in an extraordinary and unexpected way—just as he has in the case of Mary. (Evans, p 45)
1:18-25
Isaiah’s prophecy was not intended to be fulfilled seven centuries later; it was to be, and was, fulfilled in the lifetime of the feckless King Ahaz. The birth of the child who was named Immanuel took place long ago and had nothing to do with an awaited Messiah (and we in fact do not know who the young woman was-a new bride for Isaiah, or for Ahaz?— and we do not know who the young son was). But the event, which was indeed prophetic and is recorded in Scripture, took on typological significance for later generations. In the birth of Jesus the Matthean evangelist sees biblical history repeating itself, which is what typology is all about-the conviction that God will act in the future the way he acted in the past. (Evans, p 47)
Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and sometimes include other citation information from Constable.
Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom)
_______. Preaching the Parables : From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/2up)
Bradley, Marshell C. Matthew: Poet, Historian, Dialectician. Studies in Biblical Literature, ed. Hemchand Gossai, vol. 103, Peter Lang, 2007.
Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/2up)