Authorship:

• Traditional (from 2^nd century): Matthew the tax collector, one of the Apostles
• Modern: Greek-speaking Jewish Christian who was not an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry; likely written around 80-90 C.E.

Sources:

• Both Matthew and Luke drew from Mark (the first Gospel written), as well as another story of the life of Jesus called “Q” (from Quelle, the German word for “source”)
• Matthew uses about 80% of Mark, but Matthew adds the five great discourses (see below), which makes his gospel so much longer

Emphases:

• Written to a Jewish audience
• 65 references to the Old Testament (43 direct quotations, compared to ~20 in Mark and Luke)
• Emphasizes that Jesus is the Messiah, tracing his heritage back to Abraham
• Casts Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries in a harsh light
• Perhaps stemming from community of Jewish Christians who were no longer in communion with Pharisee-led Judaism after 70 C.E.
• Focuses on community
• Only Gospel to use the term church (ecclesia)
• Historically, the Gospel most used by the church in its worship

Outline:

• Introduction: Origin and Infancy of Jesus the Messiah (1:1-2:23)
• Proclamation of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)
• Ministry and Mission in Galilee (8:1-10:42)
• Questioning of and Opposition to Jesus (11:1-13:52)
• Christology and Ecclesiology (13:53-18:35)
• Journey to and Ministry in Jerusalem (19:1-25:46)
• Climax: Passion, Death, and Resurrection (26:1-28:20)

The structure is not linear, as it’s broken up by 5 great discourses (corresponding to the five books of Moses), each of which concludes with “and when Jesus had finished saying these things …”:

1. Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7)
2. Mission sermon (chapter 10)
3. Parables of the Kingdom (chapter 13)
4. Sermon on the Church (chapter 18)
5. Eschatological sermon (chapters 24-25)

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