Some stuff about Matthew

Hi folks,
it has been a while since there are posts here... and i discovered something about Matthew worth sharing...

Each of the four Gospels highlights or foregrounds things that distinguish it from the others. Matthew’s Gospel is written for the Jews, stressing Jesus as King and as the fulfillment of OT prophecy. It has apocalyptic and ecclesiastical interests as well. The arrangement of material bears the imprint of an orderly mind and a penchant for tidy organization and grouping, traits in keeping with the tradition that the author was Matthew the tax collector and bookkeeper.

The most important feature of the book’s structure is its arrangement on a principle of alternating sections of narrative and discourse, with the two loosely related in each unit, as follows: narrative of Jesus’ early years (Mt 1–4) and his inaugural demands for those who wish to live in the kingdom of God (the Sermon on the Mount in Mt 5–7); the miracles of Jesus as he travels about (Mt 8–9) and the discourse about how his disciples are to conduct themselves on their travels (Mt 10); Jesus’ conflicts with the Jews (Mt 11–12) and his parables about entering the kingdom (Mt 13); experiences with the disciples as the core of the new community (Mt 14–17) and a discourse about the duties of discipleship within the new community (Mt 18); events surrounding Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem (Mt 19–23) and eschatological instruction (the Olivet Discourse in Mt 24–25); the events of Passion Week, ending with the resurrection (Mt 26–28).

While it is speculative to ascribe the five-part arrangement of discourses to a conscious imitation of the five books of the Pentateuch (though this would fit the Jewish orientation of the Gospel), the convenience of the scheme (perhaps an aid to the memory of new converts being instructed) is unmistakable. One can count off the five discourses on the fingers of one’s hand, each one answering a question. The question of how citizens of the kingdom are supposed to live is answered by the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5–7). The question of how disciples are to conduct their travels is answered by the missionary discourse on servanthood (Mt 10). Those wanting to know what parables Jesus told about entering the kingdom will find some of them collected into a single chapter (Mt 13). The question of how disciples should live with each other finds an answer in the discourse about humility and forgiveness (Mt 18). The question of how it will all end receives its answer in the Olivet Discourse on the end of the age (Mt 24–25). The tidiness of the arrangement is highlighted by the way each of these sections ends with the formula “when Jesus had finished these sayings” [543] (see Mt 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1).