Intro to Gospel of Matthew

SLIDE 1 Good Evening Ladies; we are so happy you are here for Gastonia Women’s Evening Class. It has been three month since our CBS class have met together to study God’s Word. I really miss it during the summer months. The wonderful part about this Bible Study is that it engages the members to dig deep into scripture and consume the good news of God’s Salvation Plan.

SLIDE 2 Last Sunday as I taught Revelation 10 in our women’s class the Mighty Angel was holding out the little scroll to John. Warren Wiersbe states “God is a gentleman, even as he stands at the door and knocks waiting for you to invite Him in; He will not thrust His Word into our mouth and force us to receive it. He holds it out to us and we must take it. Read and digest His sweet promises.” To get the most from CBS experience you must spend personal time in bible study answering the questions in preparation for next week’s core group.

SLIDE 3 CBS Plan of Study

·        Wrap up by TD or ATD

·        Read you Commentary (Lesson 1)

·        Pray for Guidance of the Holy Spirit

·        Day 1-5 write answers to Study Questions

·        Share answers in Core Group

PRAY

SLIDE 4 Welcome to the teaching element of CBS which wraps up the lesson. As the Teaching Director I have the privilege and honor with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to study various versions of the bible and some commentary writers to add insight to the time and circumstances when the Gospel Matthew was written. I promise to dismiss at 8:30.*We ask that you answer your questions as I do without commentary or study bible prayerfully asking the Holy Spirit to teach you.

Last year we studied Revelation, the last book in the bible and this year we will The Gospel According to Matthew the first book of the New Testament.

SLIDE 5 Gospel means “Good News!” Did any of you find a wonderful new restaurant, a great bargain, a steal of a deal? We share these with our friends. Ladies we should be shouting from the rooftops about the inconceivable free gift “paid in full” we can claim by knowing Christ as our Savior. You are a Princess and your Father is the KING.

SLIDE 6 *As you traveled this summer, I’m sure many of you shared a specific experience with others, perhaps witnessed a car accident. (We’ll talk later!) As different witnesses view the same event each may highlight unique details from their perspective. And each gospel writer wrote with a different purpose is mind.

No one gospel is able to tell the entire story as God wants to reveal it but as we put the four Gospels together we have a composite picture of the person and works of our Lord.  

SLIDE 7 Matthew wrote for Jewish readers using OT to establish the lineage of the Promised Messiah. Matthew’s book is called the gospel of the king.

·        Mark the shortest gospel probably composed with Peter in Rome.  From Peter he received first-hand information of the events and teachings of the Lord, and preserved the information in written form. It is thought that this gospel had been written first. Mark aims to present Jesus as the humble servant constantly doing His Father’s business was written primarily to instruct Roman Readers.

·        Luke the physician and historian was not an eyewitness but he methodically collected and combined facts from those who were present. Being a man of science he arranged these accounts in a chronological order. Written for gentiles, mainly the Greeks, Luke presents Christ as the perfect Son of Man. He traces Mary’s ancestry from her father all the way to Adam emphasizing Christ’s humanity.

·       Johns appeal is universal. He presents Jesus as the Word of God setting forth seven miracles or signs showing Christ’s supernatural powers. Seven times Jesus announces He is “I AM.” Christ’s deity as the Son of God is John’s focus. His aim to convince the lost to believe in Jesus. “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31)

SLIDE 8 Of the four gospels, Matthew was probably placed first because he leads off with the paternal ancestry of Jesus by his earthly father Joseph to Father Abraham and King David. Since Matthew is writing primarily to Jewish readers he naturally began by emphasizing Jesus Jewish heritage. The Old Testament is a book a promise while the New Testament is a book of fulfillment. The word fullfilled is a keyword in the Gospel of Matthew use 15 times.

SLIDE 9 “The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be the Son of David; the son of Abraham.

In the very first sentence, Matthew points to Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.  Matthew 1:1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

There are wonderful resources listing thousands of  Prophecies of the Messiah and the scripture references. I will post a link to several sites if you are interested. http://www.newtestamentchristians.com/bible-study-resources/351-old-testament-prophecies-fulfilled-in-jesus-christ/
http://www.christsavesministries.org/index.php?proc=pbp&sf=vw&id=52

SLIDE 10 2 Samuel 7:12-16 English Standard Version (ESV) speaking of  David

¹² When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, ¹⁵ but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. ¹⁶ And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.^[a] Your throne shall be established forever.’”

Matthew not only connected Jesus to David, but back yet further to Abraham. Jesus is the Seed of Abraham in whom all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth
 will be blessed through you.

This genealogy in the early verses of Matthew establishes Jesus' claim to the throne of David through his adoptive father Joseph. This is not blood lineage of Jesus through Mary found in Luke’s gospel, but the legal lineage of Jesus through Joseph. Remember Jesus’ family had to travel to Bethlehem to pay taxes in the City of David.

SLIDE 11 Matthew also has more references to the Old Testament; 41 specific quotes by Jesus the Christ. The Gospel of Matthew is a bridge from the Old Testament to the New Testament a natural choice after a silence of over 400 years.   

Genesis 5:5Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
31 times in Genesis lists the names of descendant and he died
The first book in the NT introduces a genealogy that emphasizes birth not death.

Matthew’s name means gift of Jehovah. Jesus called him Levi. Matthew introduces us to  Jesus against the backdrop of Old Testament promise, prophecy, type and symbol emphasizing his royalty.

SLIDE 12 The Gospel of Matthew is very orderly and concise.
As a tax collector, Matthew possessed a skill that makes his writing all the more exciting for Christians. Tax collectors were expected to be able to write in a form of shorthand, which essentially meant that Matthew could record a person’s words as they spoke, word for word. This ability means that the words of Matthew are not only inspired by the Holy Spirit, but should represent an actual transcript of some of Christ’s sermons. Rather than write in chronological order, Matthew arranges this Gospel through six discourses.
For example, the Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in chapters 5-7, is almost certainly a perfect recording of that great message. Got Questions?

SLIDE 13 As an apostle, Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew in the early period of the church, probably in A.D. 55-65. The second generation of Christians when most were Jewish converts. Matthew’s focus on Jewish perspective in this Gospel is understandable. Matthew wrote for a community of Greek-speaking Jewish Christians, located probably in Syria (Antioch, the largest city in Roman Syria. )

•      25 parables

•      17- 20specific miracles

•      6 major messages

•      66 references to the Old Testament

•      41 of those are specific quotations by Christ.

•      Only gospel to mention the church.

SLIDE 14 As a tax collector, Matthew was viewed by other Jews as collaborators with the Romans to enforce paying taxes to Caesar. He probably was a rich man because tax collectors often took over the amount the government required.  We know in chapter 9 Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.   Ladies I am going to help you with your homework. A review question ask what is something new to Matthew’s Gospel. Here are some things I learned. SLIDE 15 Unique to Matthew •      Story of the Wise Men •      Angel visit to Joseph •      The Beatitudes •      Peter’s attempt to walk on water •      Only gospel to use of word “church” •      Full Olivet Discourse SLIDE 16 Nowhere in the four Gospels do we find any recorded word that Matthew spoke. Matthew describe Jesus as a doer and the teacher  60% of the book focuses on teaching of Jesus. Matthew’s book is not chronological but rather topical he groups 10 miracles together and chapters 8 and 9 instead of putting them in historical sequence. If you consult any good harmony of the gospel you will see while Matthew does not contradict the three Gospel writers he does follow his own pattern.

Matthew's account uses the word "kingdom" 50 times and the "kingdom of heaven" 32 times.

Using Fisher

Slides 17-20