Matthew’s Purpose for WritingDate of Authorship
60 A.D. or earlier.The point of Matthew’s Gospel
This gospel is written to the first century church, mainly Jewish believers. Matthew’s Jewish audience best explains his extensive use of Old Testament prophetic scriptures. The phrase ‘this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet’ occurs 12 times.
This is not an evangelistic book in the sense that some may say John's gospel is, rather it's meant to instruct a generation of Jewish believers (namely the church) in the way of their faith who did not experience the earthly ministry of Christ.
Matthew is the only gospel writer who uses the word church (16:13-23; 18:17). He intends to teach the church corporate and individual, about who Jesus is and how his disciples must act within their communities and the world.
To teach, Matthew incorporates several parables and 5 major discourses that all end with the phrase ‘when Jesus had finished’.
With these purposes in mind, Matthew attempts to answer certain questions to teach his audience.
Who is Jesus? One of the most important questions that Matthew tries to answer is this: Who is Jesus? Because discipleship is in view, one can organize this gospel in a catechetical manner to teach doctrine and instruct disciples in how they are to follow their King. An example of the catechetical nature of this gospel is seen in Chapters 11, 12, and 17 where Matthew answers the question of who Jesus is in mini-Christologies.
What now? Another overarching question is in light of Israel's rejection of her messiah, how will the church function corporately and as individual believers within God's kingdom program on earth? What is the church and what is it to be about? What is the churches role in the world and what does a true follower look like?
What is to come? Matthew has a strong Apocalyptic interest with extensive teaching on Jesus’ second coming, the end times, and the judgment.
This gospel is written for the church. Discipleship, then, is one of Matthew's main goals in writing.
Perspective on the concept of Faith in MatthewThis gospel is written to the first century church, mainly Jewish believers. Matthew’s Jewish audience best explains his extensive use of Old Testament prophetic scriptures. The phrase ‘this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet’ occurs 12 times.
This is not an evangelistic book in the sense that some may say John's gospel is, rather it's meant to instruct a generation of Jewish believers (namely the church) in the way of their faith who did not experience the earthly ministry of Christ.
Matthew is the only gospel writer who uses the word church (16:13-23; 18:17). He intends to teach the church corporate and individual, about who Jesus is and how his disciples must act within their communities and the world.
To teach, Matthew incorporates several parables and 5 major discourses that all end with the phrase ‘when Jesus had finished’.
With these purposes in mind, Matthew attempts to answer certain questions to teach his audience.
Who is Jesus? One of the most important questions that Matthew tries to answer is this: Who is Jesus? Because discipleship is in view, one can organize this gospel in a catechetical manner to teach doctrine and instruct disciples in how they are to follow their King. An example of the catechetical nature of this gospel is seen in Chapters 11, 12, and 17 where Matthew answers the question of who Jesus is in mini-Christologies.
What now? Another overarching question is in light of Israel's rejection of her messiah, how will the church function corporately and as individual believers within God's kingdom program on earth? What is the church and what is it to be about? What is the churches role in the world and what does a true follower look like?
What is to come? Matthew has a strong Apocalyptic interest with extensive teaching on Jesus’ second coming, the end times, and the judgment.
This gospel is written for the church. Discipleship, then, is one of Matthew's main goals in writing.
"Faith for Matthew is always an obeying; it is not in any way contrasted with works, neither in the sense of James 2:14 nor in the sense of Paul. Matthew's faith, like Old Testament faith, is HOLDING FIRMLY 'to the covenant, to the promise, to the law'". This holding firmly should be understood as both trust and obedience (or, faith). Matthew's view of faith does present some problems when we try and harmonize it with Paul's understanding of faith as trust. Paul's faith does not want believers to look at themselves to see whether they are sufficiently obedient- Paul calls this self-absorption, a trust in the works and so not truly faith in God's free mercy. But in Matthew, BELIEVERS (especially in the 3 parables of Chapter 20) should look at themselves to see if they are,
- "going into the Father's field",
- "bearing fruit there for the Lord," and then
- "coming to the wedding of the King's Son with a wedding garment on."
Believers must take a hard look at themselves to see whether they really do believe, as believing is evidenced quite simply by doing God's will as Jesus has taught it clearly. As Charles Spurgeon saind in his collected sermons entitled 'Soul-Winner', "if one of your flock who professes to be a believer isn't bearing fruit, he isn't a believer."
But I agree with Bruner, and would say that faith in Matthew is not merely obedience. I believe he teaches both obedience and trust. Trust found in the Miracle stories in Chapters 8 and 9. So we could say that Matthew himself harmonizes both Matthew and Paul's doctrines of faith.
But I agree with Bruner, and would say that faith in Matthew is not merely obedience. I believe he teaches both obedience and trust. Trust found in the Miracle stories in Chapters 8 and 9. So we could say that Matthew himself harmonizes both Matthew and Paul's doctrines of faith.
Major Theological Themes
The Kingdom of heaven. The “Gospel of the Kingdom” is spoken of extensively (4:23; 9:35; 24:14; 26:13). The Kingdom of heaven is the reign and rule of God being realized now in history through the presence of Jesus Christ. Matthew uses the word ‘kingdom’ much more than the other gospels, some three times more than Mark.- The message of Jesus is the coming of the kingdom (4:7)
- And this becomes the message of his disciples (10:7)
- The kingdom is mystery and is unexpected (13)
- It involves a delay in judgment of the wicked (13:36-42, 47-50)
- But the excitement of what is to come is already here (13:16)
Discipleship. The noun disciple occurs 73 times in Matthew’s gospel. The verb form of disciple is unique to Matthew. Discipleship in Matthew’s gospel is a call to better or higher righteousness. It is a call to the doing of the will of the Father (7:21; 12:50; 21:31) in order to please Him (1 Thessalonians 4:1; Rom 8:8).
Eschatology. The promise of future judgment and deliverance make perseverance in the present a possibility as well as a necessity.
Summary
- Matthew is writing primarily to Jewish believers.
- Matthew's purpose in writing is for the church, instructing them as disciples.
- Faith in Matthew's gospel is to be understood as obedient trust.
Sources: M. Bailey, Notes from BE105 Gospels outline, 2009 Dallas Theological Seminary; M. Bruner, The Christ Book.
No comments:
Post a Comment