Matthew means “Gift of the Lord.” Enough said. HAHAHA! Matthew was one of the 12 apostles. A contemporary of Jesus and one that Jesus had called out of a life that he hated. He was a publican or a tax collector prior to becoming an apostle and he has this heir of humility about him all through this gospel…when he names himself in Chapter 10, among the ranks of the other apostles, he calls himself, “the tax collector.” He never lost sight of what Jesus saved him out of and that produces in him a deep sense of loyalty, love and humility towards Jesus.

The dating of this gospel is very disputed. All I’ve ever seen until just recently dated Matthew somewhere around 50AD, placing Mark at an earlier date. But I just read a paper written by Don Stewart in which he suggests that Matthew is the earliest gospel, written before Mark! (Why didn’t the disciples just use APA formatting? UGH!) Here’s what we know. All four gospels were written before 70AD. How do we know that? Because in all four gospels, predictions regarding the destruction of Jerusalem were given and that didn’t happen until 70AD. So while folks discuss and reason together about the order and the dating of each specific work, I’m plenty satisfied to know that Matthew was written shortly after Jesus walked on this earth.

Although Matthew never comes out and says, “This is my work,” we know not only from the title of the book which is found on the earliest manuscripts but we also know from a second century theologian by the name of Origen that this gospel is indeed the work of Matthew, the apostle and contemporary of Jesus Christ.

Now, something interesting. Matthew is written with a specific “flavor.” Actually, all four of the gospels are quite particular in why they were written. What ultimate message were they trying to get across and who were they written to, specifically. And it all revolves around Jesus! I mean duh, right? We’re talking about the gospels!

Mark was written primarily to the Romans and presents Jesus as the suffering servant king. Luke was written primarily to the Greeks and presents Jesus in His humanity. John was written to the world and presents Jesus as God. And Matthew was written primarily to the Jews, the same folks he used to exact tax from, he writes his gospel to his own people and presents Jesus as the King, the foretold Messiah!  

Forty times, Matthew will speak of the kingdom of heaven and four times Matthew will write of Jesus being the King of the Jews. Matthew will quote, refer to, or point to an Old Testament scripture or prophecy of the coming Messiah no less than 67 times in his gospel. His aim is to prove to the Jews, that without a doubt, this Jesus is the Christ. The one that was so clearly foretold. And if that is the case, if Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, Immanuel…God with us…then drop everything! Stop everything! Erase everything because the highest priority has arrived! And so Matthew, under that backdrop, will deliver some of the most instrumental and fundamental teachings of Christendom in this story of God saving His creation. He starts on Ancestry.com…HA!

Matthew Chapter 1 Verse 1

• Right out of the gates, he establishes Jesus as the Son of David…rightful heir to the throne, rightful king and yet also, the fulfillment of so many prophecies concerning the coming Christ. Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11, Jeremiah 33, 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17, Psalm 89, Psalm 132, Hosea 3…they all declare that the Messiah will be a descendant of David…Matthew is slick!

• And the Son of Abraham! And this would be for those who were ready to hear this! Why? Because the Son of David, that prophecy is all over the place in the Old Testament but this Son of Abraham reference, this requires a bit more work. For those looking for the Christ, they would FAH-LIP out when putting these two facts together…for those just going about their world, they’d miss this…

• Genesis 22:18, God says to Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” Now turn over to Galatians 3:16. Paul says, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ!” BOOM! Matthew is establishing right out of the gates that by blood and by prophecy, this Jesus…He is the One the whole of creation has been waiting for!

Matthew Chapter 1 Verses 2 – 3

• Now right off the bat, in this genealogy of Jesus there is drama…I mean Abraham himself was a mess of a man but right here in verse 3 we come to Tamar. Tamar is someone of a great scandal! She married a son of Judah, Er, who was killed for his wickedness and since Tamar had no children by Er, she was supposed to become the wife of Er’s brother Onan (and have sons of Onan! HA!) in order to bear children to the line of Judah but Onan for some reason refused her…so naturally, she seduced Judah!   WHAT! And she did it by faking that she was a hooker! WHAT!
• See that! Already! Abraham was a mess…Isaac was an absent father…Jacob was a liar…Judah was a ho…I mean come ON! Here’s the point. You think you’re too messed up to be in the family of God…think again!

Matthew Chapter 1 Verses 4 – 6

• Who’s that? Bathsheba! WOW! If you’ve never inspected the lineage of Jesus…eye opening isn’t it?

Matthew Chapter 1 Verses 7 – 11

• Notice anything about these names? They were all kings. It’s interesting that all kings in line with Jesus…all of the other kings…Obama, Putin, Pope Francis, Gates, Zuckerberg…they are stink. Jesus is so set apart! He is so much the better! Look to Him!

Matthew Chapter 1 Verses 12 – 16

• And now you’re like…wait a minute. Joseph was not Jesus’ father…how is this Jesus’ line? And you’re right. But understand, Matthew is presenting Jesus as the king and therefore the lineage, the line has to come through His earthly father. Why? Because the right to the kingdom, in Jewish law and culture, always passes from the father to the son…What’s cool is that the genealogy of Jesus in Luke goes not from Abraham to Joseph but from Adam to Mary…and still includes David because both Mary and Joseph were decedents of the king…pretty cool!

Matthew Chapter 1 Verses 17 – 25

• Joseph was a just man. A man that loved his wife and even when he has suspicion of the worst kind, loved her and did not want to make a public example of her…We also know from verse 25 that Mary was not a perpetual virgin. The catholic church holds to the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary…but not only do we have brothers and sisters of Jesus named in the bible but we also have clarity of scripture such as verse 25.
• But most importantly, we have the birth of God on earth. Immanuel…God with us, and even in His name is hidden the secret of His mission. Jesus. Jah-Shua…God Saves…actually the story of Jesus was laid out even in a message to all mankind in the names of the first men. From Adam to Noah.

• Adam means “Man.” Seth means “Appointed.” Enosh means “Mortal.” Kenan means, “Sorrow.” Mahalalel means, “The blessed God.” Jared means, “Shall come down.” Enoch means, “Teaching.” Methuselah means, “His death shall bring.” Lamech means, “Poor or poverty,” and Noah means, “Rest or comfort.”

• Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the blessed God will come down to teach and His death shall bring the poor comfort and rest. The angel foretelling His coming said that His name shall be called “Jesus” for He will save His people from their sins…Here’s what I’d like to ask of you as we close…He saves His people…are you His?