led by: Pastor Josh Franklin, Good Hope Baptist Church ( and
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
A Quick Look at the Gospel According to Matthew
Matthew is the gospel written by a Jew to Jews about a Jew. Matthew is the writer, his countrymen are the readers, and Jesus Christ is the Subject. Matthew is no more and no less than the written record that the apostles had personally received from Jesus during the years they accompanied him in his ministry.Through a selection of Old Testament Scriptures, Matthew documents Jesus Christ’s claim to be Messiah (or Anointed Deliverer).
The Promised Messiah must come from the kingly line – and Jesus does. He must bear the name of royalty – and Jesus’ name means “the Lord saves.” He must be worthy of worship – and wise men from the east travel great distances to show Him honor. He must be a light to the Gentiles, be announced by a forerunner, and demonstrate power over Satan, demons, disease, death – and Jesus does all this and more.
The reader is faced with the inescapable conclusion: Jesus Christ is King.
Reading Matthew You’ll See Jesus Christ …
…THE ______(there’s no one like Him)
Jesus is revealed as the King of kings. His miraculous birth, his life and teaching, his miracles, and his triumph over death show his true identity.Jesus cannot be equated with any person or power. He is the supreme ruler of time and eternity, heaven and earth, humans and angels. We should give him his rightful place as king of our lives, as well.
…THE ______(The Anointed Deliverer Bringing Salvation)
Jesus was the Messiah, the One for whom the Jews had waited to deliver them from Roman oppression. Yet tragically, they didn't recognize him when he came because his kingship was not what they expected. The true purpose of God's anointed deliverer was to die for all people to free them from sin's oppression – this is what we call SALVATION.
…THE ______(Explaining How To Live Right before God)
Jesus taught the people through sermons, illustrations, and parables. Through his teachings, he showed how to live right before God, the true ingredients of faith and how to guard against a fruitless and hypocritical life.He lived what he taught, and we too must practice what we preach.
…Beginning the ______of God (God’s rule in our lives)
Jesus came to earth to begin his kingdom. He spent a lot of time speaking about the kingdom of God. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God…” This just means to seek God’s rule. The way to enter God's kingdom is by faith -- believing in Christ to save us from sin and change our lives.
…Risen from the ______(He is alive)
When Jesus rose from the dead, he rose in power as the true king. In his victory over death, he established his credentials as king and his power and authority over evil. The resurrection shows Jesus' all-powerful life for us -- not even death could stop his plan of offering eternal life.
1) Matthew is primarily concerned with matters in which the first Christians were deeply and passionately interested, for example, the genealogy of Jesus, his relation to the Torah and to its rabbinic interpretation, and his fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.
2) It assumes that its readers were familiar with the customs and views of the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. It never explains who they are.
3) It further assumes that its readers know why these groups were so hostile to Jesus and that they were aware of the conflict between the Pharisees’ interpretation of the law of Moses and Jesus’ teaching.
4) It reflects a certain tension concerning the payment of the temple tax.
5) It indicates a situation in which its readers were used to being harassed by the Jerusalem officials.
6) It lacks any evidence that the church had already started officially to evangelize Gentiles, though of course it contains many foreshadowings of what was to come.
7) It indicates that the social setting of Jesus’ time was still intact when Matthew was written (see the phrase “even unto this day” in Matthew 27:8; 28:15).
8) It contained various themes that appealed to the religious patriotism of Jews but had no appeal to Gentiles, such as Jesus’ succeeding Moses as the giver of the new law.
9) The text poses no obstacle to the tradition that the author was the apostle Matthew, the former tax collector, who would probably have been the best qualified by education and worldly experience to collect and edit the sayings of Jesus into a coherent whole in the Greek language.
10) The internal evidence is not opposed to a date before 70, even before Paul’s first missionary journey (47-49), that is, prior to the departure of Peter from Jerusalem about 44 (cf. Acts 12).
RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL LEADERS OF JESUS’ DAY[1]
SCRIBES – Jewish experts at the interpretation of Scripture
RABBIS – Jewish teachers who passed on the scribes’ interpretations to the people
PHARISEES – A strict Jewish religious party who understood Scripture as literal, but sought to interpret it using oral traditions.
SADDUCEES – Wealthy, upper-class descendants of the Jewish high priestly line who rejected the Old Testament except for the five books of Moses.
HERODIANS – A political party of King Herod’s supporters
ZEALOTS – A fiercely patriotic group of Jews determined to overthrow Roman rule.
THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT MATTHEW[2]
1. Matthew makes first mention of the “church” in the New Testament (16:18), and makes the only reference to it in the Gospels.
2. Matthew contains the shortest prayer in the Bible: “Lord, save me!” (14:30)
3. Matthew contains one of the only two genealogies of Jesus (chap. 1), and it traces Him back to Abraham.
4. In Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, there are references to four Old Testament women with tainted pasts: Tamar (harlotry); Rahab (prostitute); Ruth (Moabitess); and Bathsheba (adulteress).
5. Only in Matthew’s Gospel do we have the record of the visitation by the Magi to the Christ Child (chap. 2).
6. Only Matthew refers to himself in Scripture as a “tax collector” (10:3) – the other Gospel writers refer to him as Levi.
7. There are several unique dreams recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter 1, there is Joseph’s dream in which an angel explains Mary’s pregnancy to him, thereby averting a divorce. In chapter 2, there is Joseph’s dream in which an angel wards him to flee from Herod with Mary and the Child into Egypt. Later on, in another dream, an angel tells Joseph that he can return to Israel from Egypt. In the same chapter, in still another dream, God instructs Joseph to relocate to Galilee. [note: It is interesting that each time, God spoke directly to Joseph, not to Mary.]
8. Matthew’s inclusion of monetary words (3 words for money not found elsewhere in Scripture) definitely reflect his background as a tax collector. Unique to Matthew is the account of the payment of the temple tax (17:24-27)
Life Lessons from MATTHEW[3]
1. Jesus shows you the Word of God is your best defense against the devil’s temptations.
2. Jesus has entrusted His message to His disciples, or His followers. You become a follower when you trust in Him.
3. Jesus did not merely preach abstract religious ideas, but a new way of living.
Matthew’s Gospel is the product of the earliest determination of the primitive church to preserve the teaching of its founder and to justify its separation from old Israel.
30 A.D.
- The Holy Spirit descends upon the Jerusalem church on the day of Pentecost.
- The believers witness to Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
- The Apostles realize the need for a written record of the ministry of Jesus to serve as a witness in their place wherever they cannot do so personally.
- The apostle Matthew is chosen to set down in a single commercial-length scroll the apostles’ witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
42 A.D.
- The “Gospel according to Matthew” is published before the apostles separate under the persecution of Herod Agrippa I in 42 A.D.
JESUS FULFILLED OVER 300 PROPHECIES FOUND IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Matthew’s Gospel cites many sections from the Old Testament, endeavoring to show Jesus as the only One who fulfills all of this prophecy. “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying...”
PROPHECY #1 – Jesus would be born of a Virgin
Matthew 1:20-23 (NKJV)
20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." [Isaiah 7:14]
PROPHECY #2 – Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
Matthew 2:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;For out of you shall come a RulerWho will shepherd My people Israel.' " [Micah 5:2]
PROPHECY #3 – Jesus would come out of Egypt.
Matthew 2:15 (NKJV)
15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." [Hosea 11:1]
PROPHECY #4 – Jesus would be able to heal.
Matthew 8:16-17 (NKJV)
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmitiesAnd bore our sicknesses." [Isaiah 53:4]
PROPHECY #5 – Jesus would teach, using parables.
Matthew 13:34-35 (NKJV)
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,
35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables;I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."[Psalm 78:2]
PROPHECY #6 – Jesus would be sold for 30 pieces of silver.
Matthew 27:3, 9-10 (NKJV)
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders...
9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced,
10 and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me."[Zech. 11:13]
Another 2 Prophecies – Jesus would be crucified, and people would gamble for his garment.
Psalms 22:16-18 (NKJV) - ...They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
Jesus Prophesied the GloriousTemple would be Destroyed in Matthew 24:1-2 (around 30AD). It was destroyed in 70AD.
Prophecies Respecting Christ.
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As the seed of Abraham. Gen 17:7; 22:18.
Fulfilled. Gal 3:16.
As the seed of Isaac. Gen 21:12.
Fulfilled. Heb 11:17–19.
As the seed of David. Ps 132:11; Jer 23:5.
Fulfilled. Acts 13:23; Rom 1:3.
His being born of a virgin. Is 7:14.
Fulfilled. Matt 1:22,23; Luke 2:7.
His being called Immanuel. Is 7:14.
Fulfilled. Matt 1:22,23.
His being born in Bethlehem of Judea. Mic 5:2.
Fulfilled. Matt 2:1; Luke 2:4–6.
The slaying of the children of Bethlehem. Jer 31:15.
Fulfilled. Matt 2:16–18.
His being called out of Egypt. Hos 11:1.
Fulfilled. Matt 2:15.
His being a stone of stumbling to the Jews. Is 8:14.
Fulfilled. Rom 9:32; 1 Pet 2:8.
His being hated by the Jews. Ps 69:4; Is 49:7.
Fulfilled. John 15:24,25.
His being rejected by the Jewish rulers. Ps 118:22.
Fulfilled. Matt 21:42; John 7:48.
His being betrayed by a friend. Ps 41:9; 55:12–14.
Fulfilled. John 13:18,21.
His disciples forsaking him. Zech 13:7.
Fulfilled. Matt 26:31,56.
His being sold for thirty pieces silver. Zech 11:12.
Fulfilled. Matt 26:15.
His price being given for the potter’s field. Zech 11:13.
Fulfilled. Matt 27:7.
His sufferings being for others. Is 53:4–6,12; Dan 9:26.
Fulfilled. Matt 20:28.
His patience and silence under suffering. Is 53:7.
Fulfilled. Matt 26:63; 27:12–14.
His being smitten on the cheek. Mic 5:1.
Fulfilled. Matt 27:30.
His visage being marred. Is 52:14; 53:3.
Fulfilled. John 19:5.
His being spit on and scourged. Is 50:6.
Fulfilled. Mark 14:65; John 19:1.
His hands and feet nailed to the cross. Ps 22:16.
Fulfilled. John 19:18; 20:25.
His being forsaken by God. Ps 22:1.
Fulfilled. Matt 27:46.
His being mocked. Ps 22:7,8.
Fulfilled. Matt 27:39–44.
Gall and vinegar being given him to drink. Ps 69:21.
Fulfilled. Matt 27:34.
His being numbered with the transgressors. Is 53:12.
Fulfilled. Mark 15:28.
His intercession for His murderers. Is 53:12.
Fulfilled. Luke 23:34.
That a bone should not be broken. Ex 12:46; Ps 34:20.
Fulfilled. John 19:33,36.
His being pierced. Zech 12:10.
Fulfilled. John 19:34,37.
His being buried with the rich. Is 53:9.
Fulfilled. Matt 27:57–60.
His resurrection. Ps 16:10; Is 26:19.
Fulfilled. Luke 24:6,31,34.
His ascension. Ps 68:18.
Fulfilled. Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9
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[1] Jim George, The Bare Bones Bible Handbook, 186.
[2]First seven are from Jeff Lasseigne, Highway 66 (Santa Ana, CA: Calvary Chapel Publishing, 2004), Matthew.
[3] Jim George, The Bare Bones Bible Handbook, Matthew.