(last updated 12/26/04)Jan's Bible Notes
Matthew
Introduction
The Old Testament contains several groupings of books called the Law, Prophets, Poetry, and History. Now what section do we find? The Gospels. What does gospel mean? Good news.
A common question is, why four gospels? The four authors had different purposes and slants, wrote to a different audience, and portrayed different things about Jesus. We will notice those differences as we go along. So when we notice that one gospel leaves something out, and another adds something, that is not a problem; remember that their purpose is not to have four identical accounts. One may be telling in chronological order, one may be developing ideas in a certain order. Matthew and John were disciples. Luke was a physician. Mark’s gospel is thought to be based on Peter’s account.
They were not eyewitnesses of every event they wrote about, but there may have been numerous written and oral accounts circulating at that time for them to draw on. Sometimes we may wonder how they could remember exact wording, or they seem to have knowledge of events that isn’t explainable. We don’t know how much is from personal knowledge and memory, how much from others’ accounts, and how much God revealed to them, perhaps at a later time. What does John 14:26 have to say about the things they wrote down?
Who did Matthew write to? The Jews. If you compare it to the other gospels, you will notice many more quotations from the Old Testament, and the words, “that the words of the prophet might be fulfilled.” How does this indicate his slant, his purpose, and his audience? What aspect of Jesus does he focus on? Messiah/King. The Jews were concerned about the kingdom promised in the Old Testament; the Greeks and Romans were not. He will weave in more Jewish terms, customs, Old Testament references, fulfilled prophecies than the other gospels. These things would not interest Greeks or Romans, and are not found as much in the other gospels. Jews were expecting a king who would deliver them from Rome and usher in the promised earthly kingdom. Matthew knew Jesus was that Messiah; but now that the Jews had rejected, even killed, their Messiah, what would happen? Matthew was trying to show them God’s true program for Israel, the kingdom, and the world.
It helps to try to remember that the people Matthew was writing to did not know what we know now. Try to keep a Jewish mindset. Many Christians mistakenly think all the New Testament is to, for, and about the church. Not the gospels, not at first. The church age does not begin until after Christ’s resurrection. (The New Testament uses the term “church” to mean all those who believe in Christ, those who are “in Christ.” Rom. 8:1, 12:5. The church is Christ’s body on this earth, Col. 1:18, 24. The Bible does not use this term, as we do, to mean individual congregations or church buildings. The epistles do refer to the church in a certain city, meaning all the believers in that city, or the church that meets in someone’s house, which would be a smaller local group of believers, since all those in one city might not be able to meet in one place.)
Matthew 1
1-17 What does Matthew begin with? Why would this be important to Jews? If Jesus is the Messiah, He must come in the line of Abraham, of Judah, of David. Which other gospel has a genealogy? Are they identical? Why not? Luke gives Mary’s line, Matthew gives Joseph’s. (Critics who do not know the Bible will claim that these two are contradictory.) Joseph is not the blood father of Jesus, but he is the legal father. Every descendant is not listed; the Jews used family terms more loosely than we do. Several women are included, all of whom were “questionable.” Perhaps Matthew is showing that God works in ways we would not always expect. Note the change of wording in 16.
Compare Mary’s line (Luke 2:23) and Joseph’s line. They are in reverse order, and Luke goes back to Adam, where Matthew only goes back to Abraham. Note that at David, the lines trace from two different sons of David.
11 Joseph was in the line of Jeconiah. Read Jer. 22:30. If Joseph was Jesus’s blood father, Jesus would not be qualified to be king; Mary was not in that line. Here is evidence for the virgin birth.
18-21 Matthew gives not only Joseph’s genealogy, but his perspective on the birth of Jesus. Luke gives Mary’s line and Mary’s story. 18 teaches the virgin birth. Many people choose not to believe the virgin birth, but you can’t say that the Bible doesn’t teach it. God did not have sexual intercourse with Mary in a human form; it was the Holy Spirit. What does incarnation mean? God took a carnal (fleshly) form. This was not the first chronological event in the New Testament; before Jesus was conceived, the priest Zacharias was told that he and his wife would have a son, John, the forerunner of the Messiah, Luke 1:4-25.
19 Did Joseph believe Mary at first? He knew HE was not the father. It WOULD be pretty hard to believe.
20 God took this into consideration; an angel appeared.
21 So now he knows that this child is not only conceived by God, but is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Who are “His people”? Israel.
22-23 Matthew points out to his readers that this fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, Is. 7:14. Some of the Jews realized this and believed, but others did not. Let’s review Isaiah 7.
Ahaz, the wicked king of Judah, has been threatened by the king of Syria and the king of Israel. God sends Isaiah to reassure him that it will not come to pass. He also says that Israel’s days are numbered. To strengthen Ahaz’s and Judah’s faith, God wants to give them a sign, a short-term prophecy, that they will be able to see come to pass. Ahaz refuses to ask for one; he disobeys God. God gives one anyway. Is it talking about a young woman or a virgin? The word can be translated either way; consider the context. This prophecy, like many, has a short-term AND a long-term fulfillment.
Mt. 1:18-23 tells us three times that Mary was a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that this virgin birth was the fulfillment of Is. 7:14. What about the short-term prophecy, something that would be recognizable to Ahaz and his nation? Possible explanation: Isaiah is giving a timetable till the two kings’ lands are forsaken. Whether it is meant as virgin or young woman, the idea is that she will conceive and bear a son (9 months), his name will be Immanuel, and by the time he can tell right from wrong (a couple of years), this will take place; in just a few years the alliance would be broken. Also possible: 14 is a prophecy of the distant future, and then Isaiah adds 16 as a short term prophecy for Ahaz’s benefit. He might be referring to his son, who God specifically told him to bring along, and who could easily be an infant, since we see in the next chapter (8:3) that his second son is born then.
Jesus was never called Immanuel, so does He really fulfill this prophecy?? Yes; what does Immanuel mean? God with us. The Messiah, the one born of a virgin, would be God in the flesh, divine. He is the only one who has ever fulfilled that prophecy.
Joseph thought of divorcing Mary; they were betrothed, but that was considered as husband and wife, although they did not live together for a one-year betrothal period. To break that betrothal was to divorce. Joseph accepted the angel’s words, even though it would mean scandalous gossip about Mary’s pregnancy, and later, about Jesus’s birth.
25 Mary did not remain a virgin; see also Mt. 13:55-56. Nor does the Bible teach that Mary was sinless--without original sin. Mary herself realized that she needed a Savior (Luke 1:47); only sinners need a Savior. The Rosary begins, "Hail, Mary, full of grace," but nowhere in the Bible does it say that Mary was full of grace. The only person in the Bible who was said to be "full of grace" is Jesus (John 1:14). Full means not partly; He was not partly God and partly man, but fully God and fully man. Mary was human. Also, the angel's statement, "Blessed art thou among women" (Luke 1:28, KJV) does not mean she was sinless or more than human. "Blessed" simply means favored, happy. Many in the Bible are said to be blessed, such as those mentioned in the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-9), those who follow the teachings of Jesus (John 13:17), or those who find wisdom (Prov. 3:13). Our beliefs should be based on the Bible, not on any tradition, church teaching, later book or supposed revelation, on this matter or any other.
Copyright 2003 Jan Young