Introduction to Mattehw

The New Testament begins with the Gospel of Matthew.  Generations have passed since the return of the exiles to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem.  Just as Daniel had foretold, the Persian Empire under which Israel was permitted to return gave way to Greek dominance which then gave way to the Roman Empire.  Matthew records the life of Jesus Christ for and Jewish audience with the intention of demonstrating that Jesus is King and the Messiah promised by the prophets of the Old Testament.  Matthew was one of the disciples and was called to follow Jesus from his previous position of a tax collector for the Romans.  He was, most likely, the first of the Gospel writers to record the life of Jesus which is why his is the first of the four Gospels.  The fact that he was a tax collector would have made him very unpopular within the nation of Israel.  They were viewed as traitors to their people and were often corrupt.  The fact that Jesus chose him to be a disciple demonstrates that God is not concerned with the popularity of the people He calls to follow Him.  Jesus was able to see beyond the externals and had the power to transform lives.  The Jews were anxiously awaiting the arrival of Messiah who, in their minds, would overthrow the Roman control over Israel and set the nation free from the oppression of the nations who had enslaved them from the time of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities.  Matthew presents Jesus as King, but demonstrates that He came to do much more than free the nation of Israel from the oppression of the Romans.  He came to free them and all the nations from enslavement to sin.

INTRODUCTION OF KING JESUS: Matthew begins by demonstrating that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and David through his earthly father Joseph.  Jesus was clearly demonstrated to be the rightful King of Israel.  However he also makes it very clear that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and therefore was actually the Son of God.  Matthew introduces us to King Jesus who was the Son of God that was sent to set His people free.  Not freedom from a political power but freedom from spiritual enslavement to sin.  Not just His people that were descendants of Abraham but all His people in all the nations.  Matthew seems to start his book with a desire to prove the Jesus was superior to Moses through their common experiences.  They were both saved from death as infants.  They were both called out of Egypt.  They were both baptized.  They both went to the desert.  They both taught the people on a mountain.  The difference was that Jesus did all of these things without ever sinning.  Jesus’ ministry was preceded by John the Baptist who was sent to prepare the way before Him.  These things were foretold in the Old Testament and fulfilled in Christ.  God miraculously brought Jesus into the world at the exact time He had determined.  None of these things were randomly accomplished.  God’s plan of redemption has been building from the fall of man to find its culmination in Jesus.  It is also very evident that Satan is active in striving to frustrate God’s plan.  The plot to kill Jesus as an infant and the attempt to tempt Him to sin in the wilderness were clear illustration of Satan’s awareness of Christ’s identity.  The Father’s protection and the Son’s obedience through the Spirit’s strengthening demonstrate God’s superiority and complete sovereignty over Satan.  The coming of Jesus should be a great comfort and source of joy to all who believe.

INSTRUCTION FROM KING JESUS: The ministry of Jesus can really be divided into three broad categories.  He performed many miracles in order to serve the people and demonstrate His authority.  He preached many messages in order to instruct us all in the way of the Lord.  He prepared His disciples to carry on His ministry.  Loving others, teaching God’s truth and making disciples are the basic components of any ministry.  This ministry model ought to be the basis of all of our ministry attempts.  The miracles of Jesus demonstrate His divine power and prove that He was much more than a skilled teacher or prophet.  However, they also illustrate His care and concern for the needs of people.  Sin brings a suffering to the lives of men that breaks the heart of God.  God desires to set men free from sin and all of its consequences.  The compassion of Christ must be modeled in our ministries.  The teachings of Jesus demonstrate the importance of truth and a correct understanding of who God is and what He requires of men.  The religious leaders of Israel had twisted the truth for so many generations that it was barely recognizable.  Jesus taught the truth with authority and demonstrated that God is not impressed with the outward legalism of the religious leaders but is concerned with the condition of our hearts.  The vast majority of His time was spent with His twelve disciples.  He chose men from vastly different walks of life and invested His life in them.  He made special effort to make sure that these men understood His teaching and were prepared to carry His message forward after His time on earth was passed.  These were imperfect men who Jesus patiently discipled and equipped so that the Gospel would be spread throughout the nations as a result of their future ministries.  In basically three years of active ministry Christ had a greater impact on the history of this planet than any other man.  Of course Jesus is God so any comparisons would not be possible.  However there is much we can learn from His example as well as His teachings.  Loving people, teaching truth and making disciples should be the focus of our ministries.   

INCRIMINATION OF KING JESUS: The purpose of Jesus coming to earth was far greater than His teachings.  He had a very specific mission to fulfill; which was paying the price to redeem mankind from sin by giving His life as a ransom for our lives.  His disciples were constantly thinking that He was going to set up His kingdom on earth and that they would be able to rule and reign with Him.  Jesus did not deny the fact that His kingdom was coming but He did repeatedly show them that there was much suffering to be endured prior to the establishment of His kingdom.  It seems that the disciples were especially slow to understand this teaching that suffering would have to come before glory.  Even though Jesus lived a life without sin against God or man, He was condemned to die by the religious leaders of Israel who convinced the Roman political leaders to carry out their sentence.  The incrimination of Jesus was unjust and completely untrue.  The religious leaders condemned Him because; according to them, He blasphemed by claiming to be God.  The Roman government condemned Him for political unrest because He presented Himself as the rightful King of Israel.  Since Jesus was both God and King there was no reason to condemn Him.  However, the reality of the entire situation is that God the Father sent Jesus to the earth for the express purpose of being condemned to death in our place; in order to pay for our sin.  Ultimately, Jesus was not killed by the Jews or the Romans; He was killed by the Father as the perfect sacrifice of sin on my behalf and on behalf of all men past present and future.  God demonstrated that the just punishment of sin was satisfied by the death of Jesus by raising Him from the dead.  Jesus took the sins of the world upon Himself and was killed in order to pay the just price for sin.  All of our sin has be paid by Jesus and the proof that price of sin has been paid is that God rose Jesus from the dead.  The death and resurrection of Christ is the only hope that any man has of salvation from sin.  Jesus commissioned His disciples to spread the news of His sacrifice to all of the nations of the world so that all men everywhere might be reconciled to God through faith in Him.  The death and resurrection of Jesus is our only hope and the only hope of all of mankind.  The task that we who believe have been given is to spread the message of Jesus to all the nations of the World.  We are to do as Jesus did: love others, teach the truth and make disciples in all naitons.