Matthew Intro & Chapter One

The Good News of Jesus
the Messiah
as reported by Matthew
Hebrew (Mattityahu)

Background to the Gospel

•The Author
•The Audience
•The Purpose
•Date of Composition
•The Cultural Setting

Matthew the author

•Matthew also called Levi
•Jewish Tax Collector in Capernaum
•Understood Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew
•Used Shorthand (invented in 63BC)
•Good knowledge of Hebrew Scriptures & access to Hebrew scrolls

In 63 BC Marcus Tullius, a friend of Cicero had invented a system of shorthand which was widely taught in the schools of the empire and was used to take down the speeches in the Roman senate.

The Audience & Purpose

Matthew wrote for the Jews
“To fully win the Jews for Christ”
His Gospel is Hebraistic making numerous references to the Old Testament and constantly referring to OT Scriptures to prove the Jesus is the Davidic Messiah

Date of Composition

Linguistic evidence points to a date of 44AD
Suggested date of 63AD – Irenaus Wrote
“Matthew issued a written gospel among the Hebrews in their own language while Paul and Peter were preaching in Rome”

Cultural Setting

•Palestine of the 1st Century ruled by Rome
•Christianity considered a sect of Judaism
•Majority of early converts Jewish

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, son of David, son of Abraham

•This genealogy begins with Abraham unlike Luke’s which begins with Adam
•Three generations of 14
•Hebrew DVD (David) 4+6+4 = 14
•The origin of Israel, The Rise & Fall of Israel, The eclipse of Israel.

The genealogy may seem boring to us but this was of great importance to the Jewish reader who had been raised with a deep reverence for genealogical records as these would establish the validity of the priesthood, the descent of Israel’s kings and finally would establish the right to Messiahship.
The beginning of this list is understood to be a supernatural event with “Abraham becoming the father of Isaac” a supernatural birth…..the end of this list is supernatural “Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ”
It should be noted that the line of the Messiah does not follow the natural or expected route and every Jew would have to admit that “Judah” assumed the line of blessing rather than the firstborn “Reuben”.
Not only does this genealogy reveal that God doesn’t restrict himself to human tradition or standards but that he acts with sovereignty to establish his purposes.

God makes His own path

•Isaac – Supernatural child of promise
•Perez – Child of Judah’s sin
•Boaz – the son of Gentile Prostitute Rahab
•Solomon – Chosen out of David’s sons
•Jehoiachin – the Jewish dilemma

Isaac – not the firstborn
Judah & Tamar — tell the story
Rahab – Jericho
In this section three gentile women are included Tamar, Rahab & Ruth.
Jehoiachin – the Jewish dilemma – see OT Jer 22.30 no one of this line shall sit on the throne of David.

Joseph & Mary Betrothed

•Betrothal – Legal Binding Agreement
•Matthew 19:7 “Certificate of Divorce”
•Matthew 19:7 “Hardness of Heart”

Betrothal should not be confused with our engagement, this was a legal and binding covenant and unfaithfulness during this period was punishable by death
We see this elsewhere in the bible and this practice of a binding agreement prior to consummation explains difficult passages elsewhere.
The Jews said to Jesus “Moses said we could divorce if their was something we didn’t like” Jesus said it was not always this way and that this was given due to the hardness of heart.
We must realise that this allowance made by Moses was for the period of betrothal only as after consummation divorce was not an option. Deuteronomy 24:1

Joseph’s Dream

Joseph encouraged and instructed in a dream.
•God’s angel speaks clearly with no need for interpretation.
•Dream reveals the work of God in the introduction of Messiah.

“Joseph Son of David”

Joseph is spoken to by an angel in his dream, clearly he is instructed to take Mary as his wife and to understand that this child is “God among Us” the deliverer promised to Israel ….. See Abraham
Joseph Son of David – the angel affirms the legal title and lineage of Joseph and his right to confer on this son of Mary the legal right to David’s throne.
Joseph is introduced to the new concept of Virgin Birth and now see’s the answer to the long held Jewish dilemma
Joseph is shown that this child would be the deliverer of Israel, one who would take away the sins of his people.

The Culmination of God’s Special Revelation

•General Revelation
•Providential Revelation
•Special Revelation
•“The Virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Immanu El”
(The name means “God is with us)

The peoples of the nations had received from the very beginning a general revelation of God
They had also received and experienced a providential revelation of God
But these although sufficient to demonstrate the existence of God and His active concern for His creation it did not reveal the way of salvation
This special revelation began in the revealing of God’s acts in history, recorded in Holy Scripture so that His plan could be found and understood.
Jesus is the culmination of this special revelation both in scripture and by His appearance to men on earth “God among Us”

Awakening to obedience

The Example of Joseph
•He did not demand his rights
•He was compassionate
•He thought
•He listened
•He obeyed
•He had reverence

He obeyed despite the fact that by taking Mary as his wife he would be giving an indication of possible premarital sex and therefore damaging his reputation amongst his fellow Jews. “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife”

Promises fulfilled

•Messiah by legal descent
•Messiah by God’s order not man’s
•Messiah by miraculous promise & birth
•Messiah according to God’s chosen time
•An appointed birth, life & death