MATTHEW---THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM
INTRODUCTION
1. The Gospels
A. The N.T. opens with four books that .present the Lord Jesus Christ in four different ways.
1) Matthew - Jesus as King
2) Mark - Jesus as Servant
3) Luke - Jesus as Perfect Man
4) John - Jesus as the Son of God
B. The gospels were written to impress four classes of people.
1) Matthew - Matthew was a Jew and wrote primarily to Jewish people. He answered the kinds of questions they would ask: Could Jesus trace His ancestry back to King David to prove He was the rightful king of Israel? What relationship did Jesus have to the Law and the Prophets? Did He fulfill the O.T. prophecies concerning the Messiah?
2) Mark - Mark was written primarily for the Romans and sets forth Christ as the Servant of Jehovah. His emphasis was on the doings of Jesus rather than on His sayings in order to impress the businesslike Romans that Christ was a man of action.
3) Luke - Luke was a physician, and presents the Lord as the perfect man, beginning with His perfect birth. He wrote to the Greeks.
4) John - John gives us the reactions of belief and unbelief to the ministry of the Lord. His emphasis is on the deity of Christ, going back into eternity as His starting point. His gospel was written to all men.
2 Matthew, the man
A. Before being called to be one of the disciples he was a publican (tax collector). (9:9, 10:3)
B. He is also called by the name Levi. (Mark 2:14)
C. Being a Jew himself, he fully understood the Jewish Messianic hope. His gospel is designed to convince his own nation that their long-awaited Messiah was none other than Jesus of Nazareth.
3. The time of the writing is about 70 A.D. in the city of Antioch.
PURPOSE OF THE BOOK
1. To strengthen persecuted Jews in their faith
2. To confute their opponents
3. To prove that the Gospel is not a contradiction but a fulfillment of the O.T. promise. Hence, there are some 60 references to the O.T. in this gospel.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES
1. It is the gospel of the King.
A. The word “kingdom” occurs about 50 times.
B. “Kingdom of heaven” - 33 times
C. The “kingdom of heaven” refers to the establishment of divine order and government on earth.
2. It is “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ”. (1:1)
A. It traces the ancestry of Christ back through His foster-father Joseph, through Solomon, David and finally Abraham. (1:1-16)
B. It thus establishes Him as one of regal lineage with the right to the throne of David.
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
1. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most revolutionary passages in the Bible. In it the King reveals His concept of the Kingdom as being spiritually oriented, otherworldly.
2. Its precepts are elevated far above the Law of Moses, and presents men with a standard of behavior that is, humanly speaking, virtually impossible to obey.
3. It is a presentation of the “by-laws and constitution” of the Kingdom Age, the Millennial reign of Christ.
A. As such, its laws are an example for the believers in this age.
B. Due to its nature, it will never be fully realized in this age. (cf. 5:5-7, 21, 22; 6:12, 14)
C. In this way, many of the 10 Commandments are able to be kept, but not all. So, the Sermon on the Mount may be partially obeyed, but not all.
THE PARABLES (Matthew 13)
1. “The seven parables of Matthew 13, called by our Lord “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (v. 11), taken together, describe the result of the presence of the Gospel in the world during the present age, that is, the time of seed-sowing which began with our Lord’s personal ministry, and ends with the harvest (vs. 40-43). Briefly, that result is the mingled tares and wheat, good fish and bad, in the sphere of Christian profession.” It is Christendom in the inclusive sense. --Original Scofield Bible, Matthew 13:3 note
2. The parables have to do with the establishment, value, and efficiency of the church. (cf. 13:45, 46)
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER?
1. It is not a chronological, but a systematic and topical presentation of Gospel truth.
2. Matthew’s tendency was to group his material so as to produce a cumulative effect.
3. There are five major teaching sections, all ending with the phrase, “and it came to pass when Jesus had finished”. (4:12-7:29; 8:1-11:1; 11:2-13:53; 13:54-19:2; 19:3-26:2)
4. For a comparison of the chronological events in the life of Christ the book by A.T. Robertson, “A Harmony of the Gospels”, is recommended.
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
I. THE KING AS PROPHET (1:1-16:20)
A. The person of the King (1:1-2:23)
1. His royal descent - genealogy (1:1-17)
2. His divine origin - birth (1:18-25)
3. His early circumstances - boyhood (2:1-23)
B. The preparation for the King (3:1-4:11)
1. The forerunner - John the Baptist (3:1-12)
2. The consecration - the baptism (3:13-17)
3. The testing - the temptation (4:1-11)
C. The presentation of the King (4:12-16:20)
1. Typical words and works (4:12-9:34)
2. The mission of the twelve (9:35-10:42)
3. The rise of opposition (chs. 11-12)
4. The change in teaching--parables (ch. 13)
5. Further work (ch. 14)
6. The renewal of opposition and the culmination of the ministry (15:1-16:20)
II. THE KING AS PRIEST (16:21-28:20)
A. The passion of the King (16:21-27:66)
1. The first announcement of the cross and its results (16:21-17:21)
2. The training of the twelve (17:22-20:28)
3. The last offer to the nation (20:29-21:17)
4. Conflict with the leaders (21:18-23:39)
5. The preparation of the disciples (24:1-25:46)
6. The death of the King (26:1-27:66)
B. The power of the King (28:1-20)
1. The resurrection (vs. 1-10)
2. The plot of the adversaries (vs. 11-15)
3. The commission to the disciples (vs. 16-20)
--W. H. Griffith Thomas